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Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG Season 2- New Horizons (Closed)

What's this? I said I was going to get both Icon and Slipstream posts up by Tuesday, and I actually did it (I don't care if Slipstream came in after midnight...that's practically mid afternoon for me...).

More stuff coming soon

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG Season 2- New Horizons (Closed)

For Amanda Allen-James, nothing would ever be the same. Her life was changed forever the night that the so called Meta Domes encased Los Angeles, altering the very DNA of many of those trapped within the spheres. Though her powers did not manifest immediately and she was fortunate enough not to suffer physical changes, as many of the others had, she indeed was changed. She may not have developed claws, a tail, or even gills, but she suddenly found herself able to move faster than the speed of sound, able to move up and down the entire West Coast in mere seconds. At first, her new found abilities were not only exhilarating, they were frightening. While people with amazing abilities seemed to be more and more commonplace, there were still certain stigmas attached to those with powers. Amanda did not know how her friends and family would react, so initially she decided not to tell anyone.

Then her life changed again one sunny day in Pacific Point’s Huntington Park. While enjoying the day with her friends Izzy and Gemma, she saw a yellow Hummer jump the curb and veer directly toward an old man. The old man had no chance of getting out of the way. Before she new it, she was racing toward the old man, pulling him out of the way, and then rejoining Izzy and Gemma before they had even known she was gone. The entire ordeal happened within the blink of an eye, and the exhilaration she felt was unlike anything she had ever felt before. Soon after, she decided that she was going to use her abilities to help others in a way that she never thought possible. She had decided that some good was going to come from the horror that the Pax Metahumana terrorists had spread after all.

The first thing she did was something that she had originally decided not to do. She told both Izzy and Gemma everything. At first her friends didn’t believe her. However, a quick demonstration of her abilities, in this case, zooming out of the apartment and back in a matter of seconds with a bushel of strawberries from the farmer’s market across town proved that she wasn’t making it up. Her friends were naturally in shock, but they were nonetheless excited for her. Once the initial shock had worn off, she told them everything. She told them about how the dome over LA had been responsible for her new reality, and she told them about the old man at the park. She also told them how she planned to continue helping people. From there, she set about preparing for her newfound calling. Each day she would go out and test her abilities. She would push herself to see just how fast she could move. While she was preparing herself physically, Gemma was putting her artistic costuming talents to good use. An avid cosplayer, Gemma went to work creating Amanda’s costume.

When Amanda first saw her new costume, it was love at first sight. The purple and chrome suit had pink highlights on the arms, legs, and chest. At first Amanda was skeptical that it would allow her to move comfortably, however, a quick test run around the city proved her fears to be unfounded. Her favorite part of the costume was the mask and wig. Amanda had wanted to safeguard her identity, and had decided that a simple domino mask might not be the best way to do that. She had wanted to incorporate a purple wig into the costume; however, keeping the wig on her head had proven to be problematic. Gemma went to work trying to solve the issue, and to Amanda’s surprise, she had pulled it off. Instead of having the mask and the wig as two separate pieces, she managed to integrate them into a single, cowl-like piece that slipped on over her head.

Amanda took her time putting the costume on, relishing each moment as she suited up in the finished costume for the first time. Then she slipped on the wig and mask, and stood in front of her full length mirror and gazed at her reflection, and felt a sudden pang of excitement.

“Looks like you’re needed.” Izzy’s voice came from the living room.

“What’s up?” Amanda asked.

“Well, there’s a bank robbery in LA, it looks like the suspects have some sort of advanced firepower.” Izzy told her.

“Really? Cool!” Amanda said. “Uh…I mean, that’s terrible.” She corrected herself, embarrassed at how over eager she sounded.

“….and there’s videogame characters running around downtown. But it looks like that spider chick and a couple others have that under control.” Izzy offered.

“Yeah, I think I’ll let them take care of that.” Amanda said as she bolted out the door of the apartment in a purple and pink streak. As she raced toward LA, Amanda Allen-James would finally introduce the world to…

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG Season 2- New Horizons (Closed)

When Alexa Winstone saw the images of the destruction of the Downeast Mall, she immediately cancelled all of her appointments for the rest of the afternoon and left her office at Winstone International. Once she explained to her assistant that she was leaving the office a little early, she went back to her penthouse apartment in Sherman Square that she had been more or less sharing with Scott for the last couple of months. The elevator ride to the 79th floor of her building seemed to take an eternity, and when the door doors chimed and finally opened, she quickly made her way down the hall toward her apartment. When she unlocked the door and pushed it open, she was surprised to find that the apartment was dark. No one was home, and from the looks of things, nobody had been in the apartment since they both left that morning. At this point, Alexa had begun to get worried about Scott. When she first saw the news, the first thing that she did was call him. However, he didn’t answer. He also didn’t answer the subsequent fifteen calls she made to his phone.

“Dammit Scott, where are you?” She said aloud as she slipped her phone back into her purse and then rushed back out of the apartment. She suspected she knew where he might be, and as soon as she got back to her building’s underground parking garage, she took off in her black Mercedes-Benz S65 AMG and headed west out of Sherman Square.

She raced through the city streets, or she got as close to racing through the streets as rush hour traffic would allow. The stop and go traffic had her cursing under her breath while regretting her decision to take the car rather than just use her abilities and simply fly over from her apartment. However, after about forty minutes fighting through the hellish city traffic, Alexa finally pulled into the parking lot for the hot midtown nightclub, The Hub. After she climbed from the car and locked it, she made her way around to the back entrance of the club, which led to the residential apartment upstairs. When she reached the narrow staircase that led up to Scott’s apartment, Alex leapt up the stairs two at a time until she reached the top. Once she got to the top of the stairwell, she went straight to the door to Scott’s apartment and opened the door with her spare key and went inside where she was met immediately by Scott’s little sister, Jenny.

“Is he here?” Alexa asked.

“No…sort of.” She said as she extended her index finger and pointed upward indicating that he was up on the roof.

“How is he?”

“He’s taking it really hard. I haven’t seen him like this since Dad died.” Jenny told her unable to hide the trepidation in her voice.

“I’ll see what I can do.” Alexa said as she turned and went back out of the apartment door, this time making her way up the stairway that lead to the roof access door.

Scott stood in silence at the edge of the roof looking out over the city just as the sky had begun turning majestic shades of orange, pink, and purple. He had been there for most of the afternoon, at least since leaving the ruins of the mall. He had just stood there, staring out at the city he had sworn to protect, as he went over the events of earlier in the day in his mind. Blow by blow, he recounted the encounter with the maniac who called himself The Hybrid, asking himself if there had been anything else he could have done to save all those people. He didn’t like the answer that he kept coming to. He knew that perhaps if he hadn’t held back like he has always done, afraid to seriously injure, or even kill an opponent, then those three thousand people that were lost in the mall on this day might still be alive.

He was aware that someone was coming up the stairwell behind him, and from the sounds of the footfalls, he knew that she was a woman. Then he listened to her heartbeat. Since his powers began to manifest as an adolescent, he learned that each human heartbeat has a slightly different sound, and that if he concentrated, he could differentiate individuals from one another by the sounds of their heartbeat. It was because of this, that he was able to identify the heartbeat, and thus, the person who was on her way to see him. It was a heartbeat that he had come to know over the last few months, one that he had memorized…one that he had grown to love. It was someone he didn’t know that he could face, not now. Not after his failure at the mall.

So he didn’t. When Alexa opened the door to the roof and stepped out to join him, he never turned to face her, he didn’t even acknowledge her. He just remained frozen in place, looking out at the Lost Haven skyline, at the smoke which was still billowing into the sky from the site of the disaster that had occurred earlier. He just stood silently as she walked towards him. Neither said a word as she wrapped her arms around him and getting up on her tip toes, kissed him on the back of the neck. And even though she wanted more than anything to tell him that she loved him, and that everything would be okay, she remained silent, and together, they stood in a quiet embrace and watched the sun sink out of view in the distance.

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG Season 2- New Horizons (Closed)

OK, so I removed some inactives from the roster. I also know that I've been a little lax as of late with updating the roster, so if you are not on it and should be, let me know and I'll correct it.

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG Season 2- New Horizons (Closed)

Been working in a couple of collabs, I plan to get an Icon post up soon as well as the first Slipstream post. I'm going to try and get Icon up tomorrow, Slipstream probably Monday or Tuesday

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG Season 2- New Horizons (Closed)

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Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG Season 2- New Horizons (Closed)

Sammy’s heart jumped when she saw Lyger make an appearance on the rooftop of the Crown Ridge Museum of the Arts. Although for some strange reason his voice sounded strange, as if it was electronically altered in order to hide his identity, Sammy knew deep inside herself that this man who had just arrived to face the robber was indeed Lyger.

She eagerly watched Lyger as he dispatched the man who had stolen the Jewel of Horus. Her heart sunk when she saw the man try to attack Lyger. However, she quickly recovered when Lyger effortlessly blocked the man’s attacks and then counterattacked. Before she knew it, Lyger already had the ancient relic, which was secured in a container to protect it from damage, in his possession.

After Lyger had busted this robber, the Crown Ridge Police arrived at the scene. Once he had tossed the museum’s property back to the police, Lyger ordered that the four of them needed to move. Momentarily, the three young metahumans hesitated because it felt wrong running away from the police. Other than performing acts of vigilantism, they had not done anything wrong. In fact, they helped catch a criminal who did commit a crime. However, since the police officers had their firearms drawn, these police officers did not seem like the friendly kind that use a giant strobe light or a special direct phone line to the resident superhero. And if Lyger was telling them to move, they probably should.

As they tried to leave the roof, Sammy was still distracted by Lyger’s presence. However, she quickly returned to reality when she heard the whistle of bullets fly past her and her friends. The danger presented by these flying bullets unnerved Sammy, or at least until Lyger grabbed her arm and began to lead Sammy and her friends to safety. Once Lyger had taken her arm, Sammy was right back to her distracted self.

[color=khaki]“Oh, no.” Kelly mentioned to Zac. “What a time for Sammy to be on Cloud Nine! Thank goodness we’re here to make sure she doesn’t get hurt.”

“Who’s going to make sure we don’t get killed?”

With a firm grip on Bast’s arm, Lyger flung both himself and the cat-girl off of the roof of the Crown Ridge Museum of the Arts, hoping that the other two would be able to keep up. When he saw Bast and the others, he knew that nothing good could possibly come from them being in Crown Ridge. This city wasn’t like Albany, hell; it wasn’t even like Lost Haven. The criminals weren’t the only thing that he had to worry about, the Crown Ridge Police Department had taken a hard-line stance against vigilantism in the city, and on more than one occasion, Lyger had barely escaped their efforts to apprehend him.

As they fell toward the ground, Lyger cradled Bast’s body against his, pulling her close as he shot off a grapnel line from his wrist gauntlet, the hooked end of the line anchored itself in a nearby building and pulling itself taut as they swung out away from the museum, and descended until they landed gently across the street from the museum, and their assailants.

“What’ve we got, Harry?” Lyger said into the com built into his cowl. However, before the old man could respond, bullets whizzed by Lyger and Bast’s heads. Lyger spun quickly to face the gunfire, and to his surprise found that their assailants were not the CRPD, but more members of The Winter Park Gang.

It’s a setup! Lyger thought to himself. He had been putting a lot of pressure on the criminal organization as of late, and he knew that it was only a matter of time until they started pushing back. What he did not anticipate, however, was that they would use the police against him like this. The Winter Park Gang had always been more straightforward when dealing with their enemies. They were brutal and efficient. They were not known to use manipulation in such a manner. Such tactics were likely adopted after they began answering to The Cowl.

“This way!” Lyger shouted as Wasp and Raptor touched down on the sidewalk next to Lyger and Bast. He led them down a side alley just as the Winter Park Gang opened fire on the foursome.

When the first bullets began to pellet the alleyway street, Raptor instinctively used his superhuman speed to push his girlfriend, Sammy, and Lyger to the side, where they took cover behind the side of a dumpster.

“So, what’s the plan to get out of this one?” Raptor proposed this question to the other three heroes.

Wasp, without saying a word, turned to face the dumpster and placed her palms on the bottom of it. She then lifted the dumpster up and placed it on its side so that the metal container would provide some more cover.

“That should hold them for a few minutes until they can find a new vantage point.”

“Oh, I’m sure Lyger has a plan.” Sammy said as she wrapped her arms around Lyger’s torso and resting her head against his shoulder.

Raptor shook his head as he heard his girlfriend’s best friend speak. Anyone could have recognized that Sammy was falling all over the cat-themed hero. Her obsession with Lyger was the reason why they were all in danger at the moment.

“I hope you do have a plan, Lyger.” Raptor said as he heard lead bounce off the garbage dumpster. “Because we really need a plan. I could run us out of here, but I can only do so one at a time. And there’s no telling whether a bullet might ricochet off something and hit one of us.”

“I have a plan.” Lyger said as he turned to face the dumpster and began to push it, moving it from where Kelly had left it. The dumpster was full, which made it very heavy. Lyger struggled at first to get it to budge. However, after a few tries, he was able to get the dumpster rolling. He pushed it and turned it sideways, and as he was getting the dumpster into place, he turned his head to look at Zac.

“Run.” Lyger told him as the dumpster blocked the entire width of the alley, separating the four young heroes from the gunmen rushing toward them. After he locked the wheels in place, he began running to catch up with the other three.

Across Town

Sam Myers sat on the couch listening to the police scanner that she bought shortly after she found out that Kyle spent his nights moonlighting as the vigilante Lyger. It had become something of a nightly ritual for her. She sat there alone in silence, monitoring the police band hoping to get word about his whereabouts, and praying that she didn’t find out that he wouldn’t be coming home that night.

It was something that she wouldn’t ever tell Kyle that she did, not because she was ashamed of it, but because she didn’t know if he would understand. However, she didn’t know that she really understood it herself. It didn’t make him being out there night after night in a city that didn’t appreciate what it was that he was doing any better, but at least she knew that he would probably be coming home.

Suddenly the police scanner came alive with activity. Apparently, gunfire had been exchanged on the rooftop of the Crown Ridge Museum of the Arts between the CRPD and unknown assailants. Then her heart sank as a voice on the scanner reported that the vigilante Lyger, as well as persons unknown were involved in the incident. She didn’t know exactly what was going on, in fact, it didn’t seem like anyone did. However, she could hear the gunfire over the police scanner, and the one thing that she did know for sure was that her boyfriend was caught in the middle of it. Before she even knew what she was doing, she had gotten up from the couch and had gone over to the entryway cabinet next to the front door, had grabbed her car keys and was out the door and making a beeline for the driveway. She jumped into her beat up blue Toyota and backed out into the street before taking off in the direction of the museum.

Sam raced through the streets toward the museum, and before she knew it, she could see the famed building off in the distance. She had been so focused on getting into the area that once she was there, she wasn’t entirely sure how she had gotten there in one piece. As she approached the museum, she found that she had another problem, the police had cordoned of the street leading to the museum.

“Shit.” She said as the blue lights flickered ahead of her, causing her to jerk on the steering wheel, diverting her route to the next street over. However, the sudden diversion proved to be a fortuitous one, as just up the street she saw three young metahumans running out of an ally with Lyger right behind them.

When they had gotten to the end of the alley, Lyger stopped and was about to use a grapnel line from his wrist gauntlet to bring himself and Sammy up to the next rooftop. He figured that Kelly could carry Zac to the rooftop. He just hoped that they had put enough space between them, the police, and the Winter Park Gang, but he had a feeling that their pursuers would be right behind them.

“....” He was about to tell them to head to the rooftops when the sound of squealing tires caught his attention. When he looked toward the source of the commotion, he was shocked to see a familiar beat up blue Toyota racing toward them, then come to a screeching halt directly in front of them. Suddenly, the passenger door flew open, and his disbelieving eyes looked directly at the driver.

Sam must have recognized his surprise, even behind his mask. She shot him a look that was part exasperated and part annoyed, then directed the look at his companions.

“Are you going to wait here for them to figure out where you’ve gone to, or are you going to get in the car?”

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG Season 2- New Horizons (Closed)

Icon stood amidst the smoke and rubble of what remained of Lost Haven’s Downeast Mall, where just a short while ago, the madman known only as the Hybrid caused a massive explosion that gutted the building, leaving little more than a smoldering pile of brick and mortar. In the hours since the explosion, Icon had been assisting local authorities in combing through the rubble trying to locate survivors. However, the explosion had proven so destructive that there were few survivors to be rescued. It soon became obvious that the search and rescue efforts would soon become one of search and recovery.

However, even that proved to be difficult. As the crews poured through the remains of the mall, they found that when The Hybrid had crashed into the mall’s atrium and detonated, the people in the maniac’s vicinity were vaporized in the blast, making any sort of recovery, much less identification, impossible. Icon and the recovery workers pulled body after body from the other parts of the destroyed mall, each one weighing heavier on Icon than the last.

As he dug through the rubble, something on the floor caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. When he looked over to the object, his heart sank. It was a child’s blood soaked shoe. He picked up the pink and white sneaker and held it in his hand, and in that moment he felt the true weight of what had happened here earlier in the day. The lives cut short, the families that had been torn apart, and the dreams that had died all because he wasn’t able to stop The Hybrid in time. Lost in his thoughts, Icon was surprised when he felt someone place their hand on his shoulder. He turned toward the person, and was surprised to see a member of the rescue crew staring back at him. He was an older black man who wore the weight of his work in his eyes. However, it was easy to see that he had a certain sympathy for the younger hero.

“Don’t let it.” The older man told him.

“Excuse me?” Icon asked, genuinely confused by the man’s words.

“Don’t let this break you.” The older man clarified. “Look Son, I’ve been at this a long time, and I’ve seen that look more times than I’d care to remember. You did what you could, I know that. Hell, we all know that. You’ve saved this city more times than I can count, and even though it doesn’t feel like it right now, you saved more people than you know today.”

“I don’t know. I could have done more. I should have…” his voice trailed off.

“The thing is, bad things happen. People die. You did what you could.” The older man continued. “Nobody can save everyone, not even you.” He finished with a nod and a sympathetic half smile as he began to walk away to continue the work of sorting through the rubble.

Icon looked down again at the bloodied sneaker in his hand, and after several beats, he dropped it to the ground. Then, with the older man’s words echoing in his mind, he took to the skies, leaving the rescue workers to continue searching through the rubble without him.

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG Season 2- New Horizons (Closed)

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Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG Season 2- New Horizons (Closed)

BITCH AND THE BEAST

Location: Midas Industries, Lost Haven-Maine
Time: Morning (some time around 3-4 am)

Richard Midas stepped into the laboratory in the sub basement of Midas Industries with a smile on his face. Since the so-called meta humans began showing up in Lost Haven, and in various cities around the world, he had wanted to get his hands on one. He wanted a powerful meta that would be at his beck and call, a meta that would answer only to him and see that his will be done. Shortly after Icon had made his spectacular debut in Lost Haven, Midas had reached out to him, offering his hand in friendship in hopes of cultivating a mutually beneficial relationship that would ensure their places in this world. However, the blue and silver clad hero had rebuffed him. It was a rejection that still fueled Midas to this day.

However, due to recent events in Chinatown, his fortunes had changed.

He had first heard about an amazing young woman through a well placed mole that he had placed within one of his largest rivals. The young woman in question, Racheli Desdemona supposedly had an almost unlimited potential, and if her potential was realized, could rival Icon himself, as well as any potential threat that could endanger this world. However, in order to reach that potential, her abilities, and whatever it was that was inside of her that gave her those abilities would have to be nurtured.

Not only would he be the man to nurture her and her gifts, but he would study them, and if at all possible, replicate those gifts in others. However, those aspirations would have to wait, because for now, he needed gain her trust, if at all possible. And if her trust proved difficult to gain…he had other ways to get her to cooperate.

Midas approached the hospital bed in which Racheli lay, still unconscious after her battle with the super powered mercenary War-Pulse had been cut short by his drones. Her torn and burned clothes had been replaced by a thin hospital gown. He watched her chest rise and fall with each breath, as he waited for her to awaken. Fortunately for Midas, who was never known for his patience, he did not have to wait long. Almost as if on cue, her eyes fluttered, and then opened. Midas watched her as she stood up suddenly and slowly came to the awareness she was no longer in Chinatown’s street, battling War Pulse.

“It’s alright, Ms Desdemona. You’re quite safe. Nobody is going to come looking for you here, I can assure you of that.” Midas said with a warm smile as he addressed his guest for the first time.

Racheli’s hand reached up then started to rub away the grit in her eyes, clearing her vision. Her head cocked toward Midas’ voice when he spoke causing her to stare a bit and tried to register his face from her memories. Nothing. That meant, she quickly deduced, she had never encountered him before in her life as her feet slide to the side of her current bed and hung down. It was then it came to her attention that she was currently dressed within a very thin gown instead of her usually thicker clothes.

Her head snapped up, bring her spine to stiffen in reaction to this fact. If had been possible, then all color would’ve faded from her skin and given her a sickly look before her eyes darkened into anger, “Where the hell are my clothes and who the fuck are you?”

Midas had expected such a reaction. While he was not accustomed to being addressed in such a manner, he was slightly amused by it, and due to the extraordinary events that had lead her to be in his possession, he was willing to forgive her abruptness, for now.

“My name is Richard Midas, and I own this facility.” Midas started. “But more importantly, I’m a friend. I’ve been following you for some time, Ms Desdemona. You have drawn quite a bit of attention to yourself, some of that from people whose attention you really do not want. I can help you with that.” Midas told her, noting that her expression did not change; it remained one of anger and contempt.

“Of course, once we know that it’s safe, you’ll be free to go. Your clothes have been boxed up and I’ll personally bring them to you if you would like.” Midas told her. “Racheli, you’re safe now, you don’t have to fight anymore. We can help you.” He said, his tone softening as he offered her a kind smile.

Inwardly, Rach was wondering why she kept getting into these types of situations. Was the bastard upstairs trying to tell herself and didn’t quite take no for an answer or was she just unlucky? Either way, complaining wasn’t going to help her now. Shifting slightly on her bed edge, Rach tried to keep her tone steady and calmer than she felt in the moment,[colo=indianred] “While I appreciate the offer, I have friends trying to help me and I don’t think I need your help. So, would it be much trouble to get my clothes so I can be on my way?”[/color]

“I’m afraid that you can’t leave, not quite yet, anyhow. You see, Ms Desdemona, I have plans for you. I believe that we are under an unprecedented threat posed by these meta humans. And you, my dear, are the key in ensuring our survival.” Midas told her, his tone taking a slightly darker turn. “I’m well aware of your friends, and it would be a real shame if something...were to happen to them due to your refusal of my offer.” Midas said plainly.

Rach’s lips frowned. She didn’t like what she was hearing and her expression showed it, her mind ticking over what he had said for several moments, “It would take a lot to imprison my friends. I don’t think you have enough power or resources to keep or even hurt them. Now… either you kindly get my clothes and I walk out, or you will regret it.”

“You seem to be under the impression that you have a choice in this matter, my dear.” Midas said with a smirk. “As for your friends, I have little interest in imprisoning them.” He told her, allowing the implication of his words to sink in. “Why don’t you run your fingers behind your left ear?” He waited for her to do so.

Rach gave Midas a confused looked as she raised her hand toward the indicated spot and felt something underneath her skin. It was thin and protruded from the bone, making her spine seep with dread while she followed it right into the back of her skull. She knew deep down the nanites should’ve dismantled and reconfigured anything that wasn’t natural to her anatomy, but this wasn’t affected.

“Do you feel that bump at the base of your skull? It’s an explosive charge that my doctors implanted in your head. Should you become a problem, it will detonate, and all of your problems will be over, if you get my meaning.”

A shocked and stunned look crossed her earlier scowling one, replacing it quickly. Immediately her fingers, more out of instinct, started to dig into the flesh where the device was. Her desire to get out clear with the deeper her fingers started to tear into her skin. Meanwhile the bed frame screeched then made a metallic scream when crumbled slight from her magnetic abilities showing through. Several metal tools nearby on the cart jerked and flew from the top, burying into the wall nearest the room’s door.

”What the fuck did you do to me? This isn’t possible, the nanites and… how did you do it?” Rach growled in frustration, still trying to remove the foreign object in her skull. Her eyes narrowed on the man as she began to stand upright from her bed and took one step toward him.

“You may want to rethink that.” Midas said to Racheli, who was moving toward him, no doubt to put an end to him here and now. He calmly unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it open, revealing a small incision in his chest, about the length of a quarter.

It took everything within Rach to pause when Midas spoke. Her left fist was clenched at her side, the other one occupied, and every fiber wanting to force him to fix this then finally rip him to pieces. Her voice, filled with rage, spoke, “Funny, that’s what everyone fucking says. Give me one good reason why I should?”

“You see, that device in your head is directly linked to my heartbeat. Should anything happen to me…” Midas said as he brought his hands to the side of his head and mimicked her head exploding.

“Also, you may want to stop trying to pull it out...it has a real hair trigger.” He told her, purposely not answering her questions. “You see my dear, you really have no choice in this matter. I was hoping that you would be see reason and we could do this the easy way. But you seriously underestimate my ability to play dirty. I always get what I want.”

Feeling her fury about to burst, Rach’s hand stopped picking at her skin and fell to her side. Blood trickled down her ear and along her neck where it gradually dried, the nanites dying in the air. Her eyes didn’t move from Midas as she trembled in rage, her figure subtly shaking. With little warning, her right fist darted out in immense speed. The wall cracked inches from the man’s head, the impact spider webbing as she pulled away causing the plaster to crumble onto the floor and his suit.

Rach was still breathing hard when she decided to voice her thoughts outloud, “You are a spoiled shit, aren’t you? You have my attention so what happens now?”

“Listen, I’m a reasonable guy. I need your help to safeguard not just this city, but the entire world. Once we have done that, you’ll be free to go, if that is what you want. But somehow, I get the feeling that once you see what’s going on, and once you get to know me...You won’t want to leave.” Midas told her confidently. “You’ll be well paid, and you’ll be provided with everything you need. I need you to trust me, or at least trust in the fact that I will do whatever I have to do in order to get what I’m after...even if it’s something that I really don’t want to do.”

“Well, you’ve started off being a real charmer. How can I resist trusting you after this,” Rach shot back sarcastically, her figure gradually lowered back down to the bed. Impulsively she shifted her hospital gown to cover her as much as possible, her ears still listening, “Instead of planting a bomb in my head, shouldn’t you be finding like minded individuals with abilities? I don’t care about your damn war or desire to protect the city. If you haven’t opened your eyes, I pretty much tore up a whole street in one small skirmish and brought down most of one building at least.”

“I’m well aware of your destructive abilities, and your...lack of discipline in utilizing them. That building that you tore down belonged to me. Hell, child, I own half of this city. And as far as you’re concerned, I did what I had to do to ensure your cooperation. Once you get to know me, you’ll realize that I’m not a bad guy. And more importantly, once this is all over, you’ll realize that I’m right.”

“Until then, if ever, I’ll keep hating your filthy guts. It makes me feel better,” Rach snapped, still unimpressed with the argument, “You still avoided my question: what now? I assume you aren’t going to keep me locked up here and since I have no choice, I want to know what is going to happen next.”

“You’re right, I’m not going to keep you locked up. In fact, as we speak my people are preparing your penthouse apartment in Sherman Square. There you’ll find a new cell phone, which you will want to keep on you at all times. Should I need you, I’ll call, and you’ll come, lest you want to lose your head.” Midas said in a tone which made it difficult to tell whether he was joking or not. “You’ll be free to go after I get one small thing from you.” Midas said as he walked over to Racheli. He put hand down on the bed next to her and leaned in slightly. “I just need a blood sample.”

Racheli leaned away to look at him, commenting on the odd fact he hadn’t gotten one yet, “I’m surprised you didn’t get one while I was out. It would’ve been easier.”

“Indeed it would have been.” Midas conceded. “But I was hoping to get your approval first.” He said with a smile.

Annoyance swept over her face at the fact the choice was out of Rach’s hands as she glared at him, her arm extended for the blood to be taken, “You’re really funny, you know that? Get it done and over with.”

Midas beamed as he produced a needle to take the blood sample. “Relax, this might sting a bit.” He said with a smile as he plunged the needle into her arm, taking a vial full of viscous black blood. “There, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Midas asked as he took the sample and placed it in a lock box to be processed by his scientists as soon as possible.

Moments later, the door to the lab opened and Ms Sparks stepped inside with a small box containing Racheli’s clothes. She looked over to Midas and then to the Racheli. She leered when she saw the barely covered form of Racheli. She glided over to the infuriated woman and dropped the box of clothes at her feet.

“Get dressed, we’re getting you out of here.” Ms Sparks said as she turned and led Midas out of the lab.
“Gee, thanks for the update. Keep leering like that, it might stick that way,” Rach said in the woman’s wake, hopping off the bed and started to dress.