Are We Heroes: Broken World [IC]

[Lunas Legion]

Desperado-06
Current Location: Northbound, U.S Highway 89

There was a strange disconnect whenever they were travelling normally, Mari had found. There was just something... Odd and alien about three of the world's most wanted villains driving a battered sand-coloured Humvee along a road like they were just going shopping or something. XIII: Death was in the back since she didn't want him up front, he was too famous, too distinctive with his white hair so he lay down across the rear seats, hands behind his head, quietly napping.

Three of Swords rode shotgun, his katana sitting on his lap as he wiped a cloth over it. The air con was on full blast and some country music she didn't recognise warbled out of the stereo. Three of Swords was a fan of country music. Who'd have thought?

She didn't even know how to drive, she'd never learned, but her power told her everything to do so it was unnecessary. In this case 'travel to Idyllium, Montana, as fast as possible without attracting any attention from any hostile elements'. And that meant driving up Highway 89 following the speed limit for what might as well have been a thousand miles. She'd actually had to double-check that her power wasn't being odd when it said drive on the same road for a thousand miles, but it was completely true.

Their orders were simple; go to Montana, kill Dana Kane, leave and await further orders from Page of Cups. Easy enough.

Mari found herself staring out the window as Arizona rolled by. How hard could it be to kill one person?

[Higher Japan]

Catherine

Stepping slightly on the ice, it began to descend by half a meter as Catherine sighed. This time, rather than standing with her legs together, she was standing in a sort of ready position, her guard still on up high as she slammed the spear into the ice. "Trust me, I am grateful. But they don't call me the Lone Queen of the North for nothing. If there's nothing else, I must get going." Taking her spear, she raised a few more platforms in front of her. As she jumped from the 10 meter platform, she landed with a blast of ice, before continuing onward by using the spear to set a path as she slid along the ice.

[Union Princes]

Katyusha and Sherkov

Cowrite between me and Tau Empire

Taking out a key, Sherkov unlocks the door to their apartment. Entering into their room, Sherkov looks back to Katyusha.”Welcome home,” Sherkov says with a smile. The man would walk himself to the couch and sit. “Well, we’ll be living here for some time. So get comfortable,” he states.

Katyusha scanned the room. It was drab and rather maintain in a mediocre manner, but beggars can't be choosers as she set her backpack and mini gun down on the floor. Taking out the clothes and toothbrushes, she proceeded to fill in the empty co u byers and drawers with their supplies.
"How long we're staying here?"

"Hmm, that depends how long it takes us to figure how the drug issue is going on in Korea," Sherkov replys, giving up and taking out a bag of Ramen noodles from his bag.

"Need me to cook that?" Katyusha offered to do when she saw him take out the ramen.

"I got it, thanks," Sherkov ensures, heading off to their small-ass-kitchen to boil some water.

"I'll take a shower now." Katyusha alerted as she took off her armor and gauntlet before moving into the bathroom.

"We'll be heading off to the dark parts of Busan. We gonna find a dealer to buy these drugs, and ask about their supplier. Pack some weapons with you," Sherkov yells arcoss the room, turning the sink on, filling a cooking pot with the sink water.

"Alright." She yelled back before she closed the door and turned on the shower. While she took off her close, Katyusha's eyes then shifted to look at the mirror. The blue dye on her hair was fading a bit with her naturally black hair being seen. Taking a mental note to dye her hair again, Katyusha got into the shower and proceed to wash herself.

Sherkov turns on the stove, placing the water filled cooking pot on the lit flame. While waiting for his water to boil, Sherkov brainstorms the coming plans for his dealings. There were many parts of Busan that holds many shady places that one could gain explicit goods. Although unnecessary, Sherkov would have to plan out where to meet his dealer and then scout out the place. Then he would have to find exits, potential dangers, etc. A bit excessive for a simple drug deal, but it’s always nice to have backup plans if anything goes wrong.

Katyusha was scrubbing the dirt and dust off of her body and hair with her nails and soap. Taking deep breathes, she steeled her mind against the doubts of failure of this endeavor. She is in a foreign city in foreign land and she is just as much as an alien to the locals. Katyusha will have to be prepared for the worst cause there is no one that she can trust for protection here. Looking down, she realized she needs to shave.

timeskip to September 24th

It has been a few days since both Sherkov and Katyusha settled into Busan. He had been hard at work scouting out the shady parts of the city. The Russian man managed to find a good-place to find some dealers going about selling their goods. It was a wide area with various alleys that allowed for escape. If the alley ways were not a choice, then the many doors leading to large complexes were also a pick, having memorized the whole pathway leading out to the streets. If not the doors, then the sewers below, which Sherkov also scouted out, and figured out the complex tunnels routes. There were also the ladders that lead up to the roof tops - which also had Sherkov placed down walking boards for him and Katyusha to walk between the gaps of buildings.

[Skaldia]

|Alexander Vachel and Dr. Carroll|
Collaboration

Alexander immediately knew he had made a mistake when he noticed the emptiness of the residence. Cursing under his breath, he turned slowly around to the voice that had spoken. Gritting his teeth as he felt the effects of the power dampener, Alexander put on his best smile,"And here I got dressed up and lookin' pretty and you pull out that shite." He spat to the side, left hand slowly sliding up to a knife hidden in a sheath in the small of his back. He felt naked without his powers.

"Now, I hate those things but they won't stop me from taking this pig sticker and giving your belly a smile. So how's bout a deal? I put this away and you turn off your ball and then we can do busy? Eh?" He waved the knife back and forth, all the while his eyes screamed murder at the injustice of his power being stripped from him.

"You'll have to forgive my caution, but I need to make sure you just aren't here to steal my research. If you're this hot headed, maybe you aren't right for my project. I'm sorry you came all this way for nothing. Its a shame too, I was going to pay you quite well," Carroll put the sphere in his pocket without turning it off and turned to walk back to his car.

A knife went whistling so close to Dr. Carroll's left ear, the blade barely slicing away an errant strand of hair. Alexander was feeling the rage begin to rise within him and it took a moment of steady breathing for his heart and mind to calm to something resembling rational levels. In a tone and completely different voice, he begun to chase after the good doctor."Forgive my anger Dr. Carroll. My impetuosity gets the best of me sometimes." He said in a calm and even voice, as if he had not just hurled a knife at the doctor. Despite the sphere disabling his powers, Alexander did his best to ignore it.

Coming up around in front of the doctor, he gestured with his hands up."I answered your summons and I came in mostly good faith. Apologies for the door. Had to make sure it wasn't a trap. You understand why someone like me would do that right doctor?"

"I do," Carroll said as he pulled the sphere out of his pocket and pressed a button on the top. The hum in Cutter's skull faded, as his power came rushing back. "I'm glad we could find common ground. If you want to get started, follow me on your motorcycle."

Carroll walked over to a black car with heavily tinted windows and climbed into the backseat. The vehicle wasted no time pulling away , leaving Cutter to hurry or be left behind.

Cursing at being left behind by the doctor, Alexander hurried over to the motorcycle. Revving it up loudly, he burned a bit of rubber as he caught up to behind the black car. It felt good to feel his powers rushing through him again. Combined with the promise of a large payday and the wind whistling through his hair, and he was beginning to feel highly elated. Despite the snobbishness of the doctor, he could look past that and keep his eyes focused on the payday. Although, as soon as he got the chance, he was crushing that damn sphere.

[Gerdon Laughis]

Hashshashin

Rahid moved slowly through the ancient halls of the Nabetean ruin. As he walked, a deafening silence filled the room as his feet silently met the cracked stone floors. His chest slowly rose, the surprisingly fresh air if the ruin filled his lungs as he opened a small door, granting access to a room filled with artifacts. Statues of all kinds stood guard along the walls, defending the mosaics, hieroglyphics, and other items of particular value that hung between them. A large circular table sat in the middle of the room, with a bust of Zoroaster as its centerpiece.

Rihad walked past the artifacts, under the large metal chandelier that hung overhead, and approached a life-sized statue of an arab man. The statue held his hands out stretched, with a long balanced scimitar laying across it. It was dressed in an intricate set of clothrobes, and wrapped head to toe in the grayish-brown cloth. As Rihad undressed the statue, he ran his fingers over the material. Feeling how it was a smooth, and flexible, yet strong and firm at the same time, he dawned the robes, taking careful consideration to fully wrap his head before hooding himself and dawning his face covering. He then took the dark iron colored scimitar, and swung it through the air, feeling the balance of the blade. He lowered the blade to his side, and silently left the room, thr candles and torches going out one by one as he passes.

Hashshashin pushed through the woodem doors bolted into the Ancient stone walls, squinting as the bright desert light met his eyes. The sand blew lazily on the outside of the ruin, and he made his way to a small alcove where a Camel was placed in a small ramshackle stable. He mounted the animal, and slowly made his way towards Cairo.

[Skaldia]

I Alexander Vachel, Dr. Carroll, and Mary Santiago |
Collaboration

When Mary and Chahałheeł arrived in Sierra Vista, a little after noon, they took a time out at the city's Veteran's Memorial Park. It was a school day and the park's visitors were few, so even though she was wearing her Skinwalker attire, with the Mask of Mystery, she doubted that she'd run into trouble. Mary unpacked the coyote's lunch from her ice cooler and fed her canine friend, who made short work of the meal.

Mary stretched her legs and picked up after Chahałheeł. Then they were off to Dr. Carroll's home. Mary had obtained the address through computer records and they arrived in a brief amount of time.

Getting out of the Geep, Mary immediately became wary, because she'd seen that the door to the home had been destroyed. Maybe Dr. Carroll had gotten more than he'd bargained for when he began advertising for fighting-type meta-humans?

Then Windtalker saw the glint of metal in the sun and went over to investigate. It was a knife. There was no blood on the blade, so it hadn't squarely hit a living target. Mary went to the Geep for an evidence bag, collected the knife and stowed it away for further examination, later.

Then, along with Chahałheeł, Mary entered the house and continued her investigation.

A PA system crackled to life from somewhere in the empty home. "I'm sorry, but I just missed you. I assume you are here about my little offer. If that's the case, directions to my lab are in the mailbox. I hope you'll join us."

---

The black car drove out of the town, and several miles into the desert before turning onto a dirt road. The buildings shrunk in the distance behind them, until the black car eventually stopped in front of a small shack-like building. Dr. Carroll climbed opened the door of the car and walked over to a keypad on the door. "Are you ready?" Dr. Carroll said over to Cutter as he pulled.

Mary shouldn't have been surprised that someone looking for meta-humans would have electronic surveillance on his own home. The important thing, at this time, was that Dr. Carroll had not been the victim of foul play.

Mary went to the mailbox, accompanied by Chahałheeł, and obtained a copy of the directions to the doctor's lab. Yes, her primary interest was in preventing another Seattle tragedy and making sure that the offer wasn't a front for something diabolical, but she found herself becoming intrigued. And, to be honest, a little extra money, legally earned, wouldn't be a bad thing.

The woman and her coyote got back into the Geep and began driving to Dr. Carroll's lab.

Cutter was immediately suspicious as they drove in to the desert, but the smells of the desert were welcoming. There was something about the vast expanse of desert, it's beauty and austerity, that struck Cutter as both lonely and beautiful. As they pulled up to the shack on a lengthy dirty road, Cutter shook his head to mentally disperse the melancholy that had befuddled him on the tail end of this journey.

Despite the shabbiness of the shack in front of them, it possessed a keypad which in itself was pretty unusual. But this far out in the wastes and Cutter was not surprised no one had yet to discover the place. Then again, if they had, something told Cutter that Dr. Carroll would have known immediately."As ready as I'll ever be." He said grimly, rising up off the balls of feet and bouncing just a little bit to shake up his muscles and to make himself ready for action. His pupils dilated to their further as he prepared to use his powers.

"Ah, looks like we have someone else joining us," Dr. Carroll said as he spotted Mary's Jeep pulling up behind them. "I assume you're here for my little job offer," the old man called as the newcomer climbed out of her vehicle with what looked liked a dog in tow. "I'm Dr. Carroll, but we can commence with proper introductions once we are inside."

Carroll punched in a long series of numbers into the keypad. The shack's door swung open to reveal it was really more an elevator than any internal space. "Lets go," He said with a smile, stepping into the lift.

Dr. Carroll was an odd eccentric, thought Mary. Didn't even bat an eyelash when meeting an unknown masked woman with a pet coyote.

Was that another 'applicant' with him, or was this the Doctor's regular bodyguard? The man was tall, lean and stood with an air of self-confidence. Some sixth sense led Mary to the thought, 'Mercenary'.

When everyone was in the lift, the Dr. pushed one of the control buttons and the car began its descent.... How deep was this lab, she wondered after a bit....

He liked the way she looked but she had a pet coyote of all fuckin' things. Not natural. The confidence humming off of her also made him sure that who he was dealing with was certainly not a regular human. She eyed him and he returned the favor, admiring her curves and the way she moved. He reluctantly broke eye contact with her to stare at the inside of the shack, astounded to find that it hid an elevator, lord knows to where.

Taking a deep breath, he followed the couple onto the car, disturbed by the close proximity and the lack of space. He had never considered himself claustrophobic but something about this made him increasingly uneasy as the car sped down into whatever Hell awaited them.

After a slightly uncomfortable length of time, the elevator came to a stop and the doors slid open to reveal a clean white hallway. A man was waiting for them holding a clipboard. "Ah, I see you found some metas willing to help!" The man said with a chipper voice. "Have you briefed them yet?"

"No, but we're heading to my office now. Prep the Rabbit, then meet us there," Carroll replied. The man nodded and hurried off down the long hallway. Carroll beckoned the metas onward and led them to his office. In stark contrast with the white of the hall, Carroll's office was lined with bookshelves and an old wooden desk. The floors were waxed hardwood as well. "I'm sorry for all the cloak and dagger, but there are plenty of people who'd kill to have access to this technology. Please, have a seat," Carroll offered as he sat behind his desk.

"I have no doubt that you've heard of my company, and the very unfortunate accident that brought it to ruin. Well, I used the last of my fortune to build this facility and continue my research. That was my research parter James you saw in the hallway. It was his genius that finished the last piece we were missing that tied everything together." Carroll paused for a minute and looked at the two people in front of him in turn. "Are either of you familiar with wormholes?"

The ride came to a fortunate end and Alexander was ever eager to get out. However, he had appearances to maintain, allowing the good doctor and lady with the coyote to slip out before he followed. As he stepped out, he heard the last of the question being pelted at the doctor from a younger fellow who was far to exuberant for Alexander to like the man. A scowl flashed across his face before he smothered it.

Dr. Carroll replied and Alexander's discomfort was racked up a notch? Prepare the rabbit? What, was the doctor about to perform a fuckin' magic trick for the both of them? If it was all the same, Alexander could have done without the hullabaloo getting here for something so stupid. However, he knew that thought was irrational.

When they came to the office, Alexander was surprised to find the room both comfortable and lived in. The bookshelves drew his interest and, rather than taking a seat as the doctor had urged, instead walked over to the bookshelves and began examining the titles on the spines with an inquisitive eye. Physics mostly. Some philosophy, mostly heavy reading type stuff and none of the science fiction or fantasy Alexander himself loved.

He listened with half an ear as Dr. Carroll began his spiel. He only faintly remembered an accident occurring in Seattle where a lot of people died. Shit like that was common what with metas running around and throwing monkey wrenches in all the gears. It was only after a moment that he realized the doctor had finished speaking,"Wormholes. Tunnels right? In space? Able to cross great distances by going down one of them?" He speculated. Despite his preferred form of reading, he wasn't all that familiar with wormholes.

[WhatsamattaU]

Idyllium
(Southwest of Monarch, MT)
Sally Three Spells
(a Cyberiad Council & WhatsamattaU collaboration.

"You're too kind. Lets get started," Savant said as she motioned for Sally to follow. "I hope you noticed the wall on the way in. We had a few run in with some angry locals, but it would be hypocritical for an empath to lie, so I should warn you that if you plan on staying, Idyllium you should know that there will be those that will come to tear down what we've built. They think they know better; that they have the right to do so. We don't want to make war with the humans, but we won't bend to them, just like they won't bend to us. There are 134 people who rely on Idyllium for safety, well," Savant looked at Sally and smiled. "I guess we should make that 135."

Savant went on to show Sally where they grew their food and raised animals. There was a section of workshops where some Metas skilled with their hands could mend an repair or make whatever the community needed. She introduced Sally to a few of the higher-ups, and pointed her to someone who could find her a tent should she so choose. "We are actually getting ready to eat our evening meal if you would like to join us."

Sally wasn't quite starving, since lunch with the Poor Clares, but she could have eaten more. She was sure that the nuns would have not minded, had Sally asked for seconds, but Sally hadn't revealed her true nature to them, or at least not as much as she'd revealed to Lady Kane, and it seemed a little dishonest to pretend to be human and take human charity and then ask for more than what had been given.

"I'd be happy to join you for supper," answered Sally. "I must admit, I'm tempted to join Idyllium, too. But it's more complicated than just saying, 'yes'."

Where Sally had been wistful, longing and wondering if she might have a place here, she now became darkly serious. "Lady Kane, I could be more trouble for you than the humans in Monarch." She paused briefly and then continued, "With the safety of these people in mind, please tell me what your seers and the others have seen. What do you think you know about me?"

Savant smiled at Sally. "We have people here who are wanted by the government, those whoa re targeted by some very powerful individuals. I know what you are, or, at least, I have a very good idea. We are very capable of defending ourselves. Now, lets go eat," She said with a smile as she moved towards the central building.

Sally held her ground and did not follow her host.

"You don't know anything!" shouted Sally in frustration and forgetting her manners.

Sally deployed her hidden wings and flew up into the branches of a tall tree. She was thirteen! She was young but she wasn't a toddler. She had been alone for a year, on her own, without her parents. She was strong. She was fine. She was okay. She wasn't going to cry.

Sally sat on the tree branch with her hands over her eyes, trying and failing to hold back her tears.

Dana sighed as she watched Sally fly up into the tree. It was often times more of a burden then a blessing to know how people were feeling. "What's going on?" Dana turned to see a young man approaching. "Hey, Gideon. A newcomer. She's running. Either to or from something, but she's alone. The 'cogs say she's a faerie, but it seems too farfetched to be true."

"And she's hiding in a tree?" Gideon asked quizzically. Dana nodded. "She's defensive, and probably has a right to be."

"Want me to talk to her?"

"I don't think it would hurt. I'm going to talk with Seth, we have trouble coming." Gideon watched as Savant walked away and glanced up at the tree. His hands and lower arms began to glow and he aimed them downward. The grass rippled under an invisible force as Gideon rose into the air. "What's going on?" He asked with a smile on his face.

Sally pulled her hands from her eyes and stared at the man hovering in front of her. "No one takes me seriously", she whispered. Then she continued in a more normal voice, "I don't want to be caught, but I don't want anyone else to be hurt.... Puck it."

She looked at the hovering man. "Lady Kane says she had people who knew I was coming and knew what I was. I asked her what she thought I was and she wouldn't say. I wanted to warn her who might be after me, but she just pooh-poohed."

Gideon blinked. This girl was weird, but then again.... there were all kinds of weird people around, so wouldn't that mean that since she was weird she was normal? "Well, what are you, and who's coming?" Gideon asked. He was one of the younger residents of Idyllium, his parents were one of the first to join. He levitated a little higher and landed on the branch Sally was sitting on. "I'm Gideon by the way," He said, struggling to keep his balance.

"It's different if you suspect and say it, or already know, Gideon," answered Sally. "If I," and Sally stressed the personal pronoun, "reveal it and get caught.... it's awful! They'll find out and there will be no mercy!"

Sally looked at Gideon and moved over a bit to make some more room for him on the tree limb. "It's nice of you to come up here to talk," she said. "You look uncomfortable. Would you like to go back down?"

[The Cyberiad Council]

A.S.E.T.
Northern California
Co-write with Okayanos

Nate stayed in step with the rest of the team as they closed the distance between them and their target's abode. He couldn't help but look at the mangled pile of steel that used to be armored trucks. And was that a... battering ram punched through one of the doors? Nate had a bad feeling about this.

"Like I told the rest: Fuck off." Giles called from inside the house, making no indication of coming to the door.

"We're not 'the rest', we're from Argus." Fionn answers. "And we're much more willing to be reasonable than the other people trying to get to you." He looks in through the window, searching for a sign of a response- nothing. Eli speaks up next, keeping Vindicator focused on them while Fionn's eyes become reptilian, and small pores manifest on his face.
"Look, Andy, all we're askin' for is that you kill a few more threats like the Tarot and get paid for it. We'll throw some surfing breaks in and everything, just 'cause we like you that much." A small pink dot flashes in each of Eli's pupils, and she and Fionn both give Nate a pat on the back simultaneously. A signal that Vindicator's stationary and not completely thinking about storming out to wipe the floor with the four young heroes. In other words, telling Nate that Mr. Giles is wide open for a cheap teleporting hit from behind.

Nate nodded before being enveloped in the rippling form of a breach. It lingered a second or two after it appeared, looking almost like an iris, with strands of blue light emanating from a dark center. Nate opened his eyes in the Void and was met with the same azure-washed scene of a skeletal forest. Time was running different for him now, and he stretched his powers out from his position. The entire dimension shuddered at his presence, and he once again tore the barrier between the realities, winding up for a knock-out punch.

As soon as he felt the breach connect, Nate lashed out, clad in his iconic energy. His fist struck the back of Vindicator's head and he fell like a sack of lead bricks. "Ah, damn..." Nate said, feeling the sting in his hand. He massaged his palm on his way to let his teammates in. "He's down," Nate said in a relieved voice as he unlocked the door and swung it open.

"Xander, bring the wall in." Fionn orders. The three Agents of Argus step inside Vindicator's home- As they do, the ring of dark fire surrounding the house surges inward, moving the perimeter closer to the house. "Alright, let's get the old man packed up and send him to the bosses."

"....Hey, uh-" Synchro's eyes go pink for a second again. "He's thinking about kicking our asses."

"You're damn right," Vindicator growled as he got up to one knee before slowly standing up. "A teleporter and a cog. My favorites," Giles spat as he leapt forward with alarming speed, slamming into Nate and sending him soaring through the door and the wall of fire. Fortunately, he managed to get his void suit manifested in time. "You don't say?" Nate groaned at Synchro, lying on his back, trying to catch his breath.

"Sorry, Portal 2." Synchro speaks, only half-sincerely. The blonde girl ducks out of the combat situation as fast as possible- diving back across Vindicator's couch and making a break for the door. She's useless in combat, and losing her would mean losing the group's cog.

Fionn cues up his transformation, manifesting his tail and claws, but leaving his body human-sized and human-shaped. He clenches his fist, and the sink in Giles' kitchen bursts open, sending a spout of water upwards. Fionn bends it quickly towards Vindicator, focusing on gathering it around the man's nose and mouth to cut off oxygen supply. "Drachenkampf, get ready to go scorched earth."

"Right." The edgy agent replies, as his limbs slowly become coated in the same red-black fire as the outside. Meanwhile, Synchro begins hoisting Nate back up to his feet, which is more difficult for her than it should be, considering that she's 5'3" and hasn't lifted anything heavier than a laptop in years.

"We're gonna need to gas him after all..." She mutters while putting in physical labor.

"I better go get it then," Nate muttered as Synchro helped him up. He opened a breach behind him, but before he flew through it, he allowed it to dissipate. "But first... FIONN, DUCK!" Nate's void suit collapsed, flowing down to his hands, ready to fire.

Vindicator sputtered for a moment as the sphere of water began to form around his head, but soon his face was completely covered. He swatted at it, but he was only able to get in moments of breath. He'd never though his love of surfing would come into play in a matter of life and death, but here he was. He could hold his breath for defiantly long enough to rip them apart, but they were just children. He had to pull punches, but they didn't have any issue not holding back. Then he saw a blue flash through the flames rolling toward his home. Great, between the flowing water and the roaring flames, the lizard boy didn't hear the energy charging. If the friend gave a warning, it wasn't audible.

The old hero rushed forward and swiped Fionn to the side just as a beam of blue energy roared through the open door, striking Vindicator in the chest and launching him off the ground. He smashed through the back wall of the house and rolled for a few feet before staggering back up. The front of his shirt was torn to pieces, revealing a mass of necrotic tissue where the void energy touched his super dense skin. He needed to make them second guess this mission. Lower his mass back to normal, Vindicator used his strength to launch himself into the air, clearing the tops of the trees to the east of the house. Then he put all his willpower into making himself as massive and dense as possible. Bringing down a fist that alone possessed the weight of a tank, he struck with enough force to shake ground and knock back the mixture of Argus agents and US agents that had set up a perimeter around his home several large cracks spread from the impact as the bedrock below was destabilized.

"Back down. I did my duty, and I want to be left alone!"

"Holy shit-!" Synchro staggers, then falls backward from the force of Vindicator's impact against the ground. Fionn's smashed against the wall of Vindicator's house halfway through his full change, a midpoint between a human and a monster. He wrenches himself free, body expanding and growing further and further. But he's not the one who gets outside first to confront Vindicator properly.

Xander blasts the house's door- and the wall around it- into burning splinters, waving his hands to part the red and black flames in front of him. The teenager's eyes are intense and widened, and flames fly from his limbs.
"Andrew Giles, under the order of ASET, you are to stand down and comply- or the courtesy of mercy will be retracted. As long as you continue to make yourself a threat, you will be treated as one. Surrender, or be neutralized."
He'd practiced that speech on the trip over, in case of an event like this.

"Oh, shut up, kid," Vindicator sighed, rolling his eyes. He reached down and fished around in the chasm he created, and caught hold of a boulder. dragging his hand through the earth and launched it at Xander's face. It wouldn't kill him. Probably.

"Tch-" Xander growls, raising his arm to guard his head from the boulder- he still gets brained by it, falling to the ground with a sizeable wound opened in his head. The screams of pain are evidence that it did not, in fact, kill him. Synchro's the first one to respond, seemingly more annoyed than concerned about Xander's condition.
"Nate, we really need this guy to not hit Xander anymore. If he dies, we all get to be the ones who let a kid get murdered by a grumpy old fart."

"I'll go get the gas, then," Nate said as he opened a breach and stepped through it. He returned a second later, holding a canister between his hands. "We need to distract him, incase he can pull a thunder-clap of some kind."

Prophet summoned the void suit and took off into the air, trying to stay out of range of Vindicator's crushing grip. The old hero was on top of his game, though, and unleashed a volley of boulders. "Great," Nate sighed. He came to a stop as quickly as he could and tossed the gas canister into a breach he manifested above his head. With the boulder incoming, Nate leaned into it, and drove his fist through the rock. "Its actually oddly softer than vindicator," Prophet thought to himself. "Fionn, we need to mess him up!" Nate yelled down to his scaly friend below.

"Working on that." Fionn growls, powering up into his usual battle form. It's grown in size since the Battle of Greenland, easily measuring at around 25 feet from snout to tail. Despite his size, his movements are lithe and agile, almost graceful as he steps over Eli and Xander. Fionn can't quite describe the feeling of his bones, muscles, and skin becoming tougher and more durable, but it's enough to give him the confidence to dive into melee range. He forces a specific adaption onto his body as his transformation progresses further, making his respiratory system more adept at filtering toxic materials from the air.

Water from Vindicator's burst pipes swirls out from the house, covering Fionn's skin in a thin, churning layer. Vindicator's tough and smart, with years of experience under his belt. But luckily for the Agents of ASET, they only need to knock him out in order to slap a power dampener on him and bring him in. So, having fully changed into Kaiju, Fionn barrels towards the old hero without fear. The chasm created by Vindicator's landing gives him access to a water line- he uses that to his advantage as he lunges for the hero, causing a forceful, geyser-like eruption to come from below, allowing him to attack from two directions at once.

"Sloppy," Vindicator said as he used his strength to force as much air as he could into his lungs. He didn't move a muscle as Fionn completed the lunge. Even with the monstrous size of the Kaiju form, the young hero wrapped around Vindicator's form like a car around a tree at 100 mph. The geyser of water just splashed against his superdense and heavy form. When the monster was in range, Vindicator grabbed ahold of Fionn's arm and spun on a dime, putting his strength into a massive throw, aiming slightly lower than parallel to the ground so his foe would scrape across the hard earth. "Even though you're bigger, I'm heavier and stronger. Focus your attack and don't deprive yourself of the friction you need. Don't force down, try to move another super strong opponent laterally or into the air."

Vindicator sighed. "Now... try again..." he said reluctantly as he took another deep breath.

"Is... is he coaching us?" Nate asked as he hovered nearby, holding the gas canister.

“...He is.” Fionn growls, heaving himself up off the ground. His skin is torn and bloodied from being scraped along the ground, but the wounds knit themselves closed as he lets his power out further. “You’re not taking us seriously, Vindicator.” Fionn rumbles. “I can’t move you, and there’s nothing you’ll do to me that I won’t regenerate. What’s your goal, here? To make everyone on the planet hate you?”

Eli’s eyes go pink again as she searches through Vindicator’s mind for the answer to Fionn’s question. Xander, his face painted red with his own blood, focuses his power under the telepath’s guidance. The air around the destroyed government vehicles heats up, turning the water Fionn had used to steam.

"I fucking told you, kid. I just want to be left alone. I've done my job. I fought CADMUS before you were born. I slaughtered the Tarot, I did what I did because I thought it was right. And now, I want to be left alone. Argus wants me sanctioned, and the United States wants me to be their weapon. Is it wrong for me to say 'no'? Piss off lizard boy and go tell your bosses to fuck themselves!"

Nate had been waiting for the right moment to strike. Fionn was the strongest one on their team, but Vindicator was something else entirely. His strength was insane, but it was is control over his mass that made him so hard to beat. But Fionn had got him to start talking, exactly what they needed. He was distracted, and forgot about the flying blue boy who made it a point to hover above Vindicator's head. Then he finished his rant, now was the moment to strike. He would have to take a breath.

Prophet wound up and threw the canister in front of the old man's face. When it got within range, Vindicator's eyes widened and he tried to grab it, but the Voidwalker fired a blast of energy. Nate's aim was impeccable, and caused the canister to explode in a pale fog that quickly surrounded Giles' body.

Nate lowered himself to the ground, but remained on edge, keeping his void suit manifested.

---

---

"I say that's a job mediocrely done," Nate said with the hint of a smile on his face from his anti-joke. Edgy was hurt, and he couldn't help but think it might have been avoided if he hadn't wanted to get his hit in with the energy blast. But the medic said he should be fine with time. Vindicator was near the rear of the dropship, chained to the floor and ceiling with his fists in massive rectangular restraints that covered his hands and lower arms. His feet were also cuffed to a bar under the bench he sat on, with a plethora of power dampeners in the gauntlets and in the seat around him. Argus wasn't taking any risks with him. They really couldn't. International politics were a bit outside of Nate's wheelhouse, but he knew enough to know that they were struggling to re-assert their influence. Any bad PR could hamper that.

[WhatsamattaU]

Idyllium
(southwest of Monarch, MT)
Sally Three Spells
a Cyberiad Counciland WhatsamattaU collaboration

"No, I think I've got it now," Gideon said, adjusting his grip on the branch. "So, something is coming for you, but if you tell us, what's coming will know and be more angry? I mean, how do you expect us to take precautions if you won't tell us?"

Gideon seemed to be getting it, but was still a little slow.

Sally said, "There's a qualitative difference between volunteering the answer to something secret and talking openly after the other person already has some knowledge of the secret. If someone unlocks the secret, then I haven't broken it. Lady Kane said she had the key, but if she does then she isn't putting it in the lock and turning it."

Sally gave Gideon a hopeful look and said to him,"Tell me what you see."

"Uh.... a girl sitting in a tree?" Gideon was still at a bit of a loss for what she was driving at, but he was trying to play along.

Sally breathed a sigh and hung her head. She could just pretend that she was a meta-human and deny her faerie heritage, dying a little more each day while her magic grew weaker and weaker. What fools these meta-mortals be. It was better to be alone, perhaps.

Maybe she would just live in the wilds, become feral and share her magic only with the woodland creatures? If the Goblins and Trolls ever came for her, then they'd just kill her instead of trying to enslave and reform her....

Sally pushed herself off of the tree limb and used her gossamer wings to slowly descend to the ground. Once there, she drew her wings into herself and cast Human Kind on herself, losing her green skin and hair colors and now looking like a pale human girl.

Maybe Idyllium wasn't the place for her....

"Hey, wait up!" Gideon called as he slid off the branch. On the way down, his hands and arms lit up with energy as his drop slowed. "Hey, why do you look different?" Gideon shook his head and asked a different question, "You said no one takes you seriously, but you aren't taking Idyllium seriously. We have some very powerful metas. They've fought some really powerful people. I doubt whoever is after you can beat all of us. So why don't you take US seriously?"

"Why don't I take Idyllium seriously?" said Sally with a touch of sarcasm. "Oh, I did. But, too soon, I actually started to care about it. I could have stayed here and never said a thing. Let them find you while they were looking for me and escape in all the fighting and confusion."

Sally was getting angry. "And if I look different, it's how I survive. It's a disguise." Sally motioned softly with her hands and spoke the word that dispelled Human Kind. "Or do you only care about people that are not like most people? You're about as blind as they are!"

Sally turned her back to Gideon. She would probably leave tonight, at this rate.

"You still haven't said anything except that you can't say anything! You can't complain that we won't listen to you if you won't talk! I don't care if you look different or not."

"Don't you have rules you have to follow?" asked Sally, over her shoulder. "Whether you want to follow them or not, there are rules!"

Sally began walking away, to the northeast, back to Monarch. Maybe she would join the Poor Clares....

"So you're going to go back to the humans? To people who can't defend themselves from whatever's chasing you? You're going to put them in danger too by not telling them about the things coming after you? We want to help you, but we can't if you refuse to let us."

Gideon let out a frustrated sigh and turned back into the heart of the community. What did she expect from him? He couldn't read her mind. She was the blind one, not able to see those that were wanting and able to help her. They had heroes that had fought real villains among them. And faeries, faeries of all things! Could there be anything more ridiculous? And what; did she honestly thing they couldn't defend against a little magic? Hell, they had over a dozen magic users. If she was going to be stubborn and cryptic she shouldn't expect people to help her.

Sally knew that Gideon was right about one thing, she would be putting the humans in danger if she tried to settle down among them. She'd actually stayed in Boise too long. But she knew that most faeries disliked modern human cities. The fact that she liked Idyllium and Monarch were actually strikes against staying.

But it was getting dark. It really wouldn't be a good idea to try to get back to the Poor Clares tonight. Goblins had superior night vision, Mom said. It would be best it she stayed in the meta-human camp. She would leave in the morning.

Sally looked about. The tree she had sat in earlier would do. It had some other branches that were better suited for sleeping. Once more Sally spread her wings and flew back up into the tree.

Once there, Sally cast her Weather-Weather spell and was very much at ease in the open air. She made herself comfortable on the branches and began to drift off into sleep. Maybe the morning would make things better?

[The Cyberiad Council]

Adam Dixon, Aka Riot

"Shit shit shit shit..." Dixon hissed to himself as he dove behind a stack of wooden crates. A hail storm of bullets filled the air he'd just been as he land very ungracefully on his stomach and slid to a stop. He pushed himself off the ground and scrambled to his feet. Staying crouched over, he dashed across a short gap in the stacks of crates and another volley of lead found a new home among the wood fibers. "Am I hit? Negative." Dixon said as he patted himself down. He drew one of his pistols and ejected the spend clip before loading in a fresh one. He followed suit with this other gun. Dixon took a deep breath and turned about face. He used the stacked boxes as a makeshift ladder to climb to higher ground. The group of very angry men shooting at him were too his left, and while they didn't expect for him to appear up high, it didn't take them long to train their guns on his new position.

Dixon singled out a man carrying an old leather briefcase and exhaled, firing a round from his right gun, and then another round with his left. "Damn!" He yelled as both rounds missed. Spouting what Dixon could only assume were obscenities in Korean, the men opened fire. Luckily, Riot had timed his approach correctly, and dove off the end of the row of crates. Tucking into a roll, Dixon ended up behind more cover. The wall to the warehouse was no more than ten feet to his right, but the men with the goods were getting away. The gunmen were waiting for him to pop out again roughly eighteen feet dead ahead, covering the exit their compatriot had used.

"You're messing with some..." It was nice of the man to try and speak English, but Dixon popped up from cover and popped a cap in his knee. He fired in rapid succession and managed to land several more rounds. He didn't purposefully shoot to kill, but some accidents happened. "Epic" would have been the choice word to describe the scene, if one of the Korean fuckers hadn't gotten lucky and landed a shot on Dixon's chest. The meta fell backwards and landed hard on his back. "Fuck!" Dixon thought to himself as he struggled to breathe with the wind knocked out of him. Eventually he managed to suck in a breath, but in the time he had been stunned, the surviving Kkangpae surrounded him and trained their guns on his head.

"Whoa guys, can't we work something out?" Dixon asked in a suddenly amicable voice. One of the men raised the butt of his rifle as if to knock Dixon out and the meta's eyes went wide under mask. "Hold on, you don't want to do that..." Ignoring Dixon's plea, the man drove the gun down and Riot went limp as the fluorescent lights in the warehouse flickered for just a moment.

But, a moment later, he jerked awake again. "What kind of mess have you gotten yourself into this time, Dixon?" the masked figure asked sarcastically.

"Geuleul dasi chyeola!"

The same man struck at the masked man again, but this time, he caught the rifle by the grip, easily countering the downward motion. "Bye bye!" The masked man said in a voice that was slightly gruffer than it had been just a moment ago. The Korean man seemed surprised, but the vigilante and caught the gun in the perfect position to pull the trigger...

The gun went off in the man's throat, showering gore on the scene. While the Koreans were finding their senses, Harrell flawlessly executed a Kip-up and ducked under the right arm of the man in front of him, wrapping his own right arm around his back. Using strength a man of his size shouldn't be capable of, Harrell Threw the man back into his friends before turning to disarm the next man closest to him. In a flurry of perfectly executed moves, the remaining six men lay broken and bloodied on the ground. Most of them had broken jaws, hands or ribs, but none of them were waking up again soon. Holstering his pistols after fetching them from the ground, Harrell snagged a rifle from the ground and took off after the man with the brief case.

---

---

It wasn't that hard to follow the only other American in sight. He stuck out like a sore thumb. He had a significant head start, but Harrell was much faster. He didn't know why Dixon wanted the case, but it looked like fun. Eventually, the man seemed to calm down a small degree. He evidently wasn't in close contact with the Koreans that had been protecting him. After winding through several dark alleys, Harrell decided to tail his target from a distance to avoid spooking him.

The American ducked into a small street shop and as the door was closing Harrell spotted two others. One was a European looking guy with a weird goatee and the other was a girl with blue hair. Harrell smiled under his mask. It was time to spread some Anarchy...

"...I have it, just like we discussed," The American was saying to his Russian customers. Sherkov didn't have much trouble tracking down a dealer who sold the Yong-ui sumgyeol, and quickly arraigned a meeting. The dealer put the briefcase on the table, but before he could open it, the window exploded in a shower of glass. Harrell popped up from a roll and snatched the case off the table. "Later bitches!" Harrell shouted, running through the shop and out to the alley behind.

[Talchyon]

Argus' Project Archangel Deep Space observatory
Mauna Kea, Hawai'i, Hawaii

Horizon Line
n. In artwork, the point where the sky meets the land or water below, often but not always a straight line. The horizon line helps to put objects in a painting or drawing in their proper positions, and makes them appear realistic. Artists use the horizon line to make objects in paintings proportionate, and to set the stage for outdoor and landscape paintings.

The already-hurried staff of scientists, researchers, and technicians had reached a new level of tension. The worry was evident in their grim faces, in their brisk but strained movements, and in the general lack of chitchat. The deep space observatory was rife with dread.

Nonetheless, the presence of the fairly tall older man with more salt than pepper in his hair, and a kind smile, brought a few smiles from those who passed him. Not everyone knew Richard Weinkauf, and more did by reputation than by actual sight. But for those who did know him, the older man brought a glimmer of hope. Much more of an artist than a scientist, Weinkauf had devoted his life to helping people in general, and people like him more specifically. People with abilities. People who were often misunderstood. People who sometimes had greater stressors and baggage. Nonetheless, Weinkauf had mentored all kinds. Years back, it was only as an art teacher. Then, working with people like Paladin, John Smith, even Cypher, Richard as the Artisan was able to help meta-powered people as they battled against CADMUS back in the day. Then, teaching at the Academy, and the years since trying to help coordinate groups of metas to work together.

One of the lead scientists at the observatory, a friend of a friend, had led Weinkauf to a conference room. Opening the door, Richard was not at all surprised to see other people, some in lab coats, some in suits, one of whom looked almost familiar, as if Weinkauf had seen him long ago. The mood was just as tense as everywhere else in the building. Sitting in the one empty seat that wasn't at the head of the table, Richard didn't have long to wait before they launched into the reason he was there.

There was a reason for the mood. Footage was shown of Hyperion, the crater, and above all, the up-to-date chart of the current progress of whatever it was that was out there and coming to Earth.

What was coming up on Earth's horizon line? A knot in Richard's stomach gave him the sense that it wasn't good.

---

New York

The figure in a royal blue costume with a white cape and white blank face mask just stared at the CADMUS agents in the junkyard. As they raised their weapons, automatic rifles, mostly, but a few with power-dampeners, their squadron leader repeated one more time, "Don't make us use force. Surrender at once!" Yet the figure remained silent, and not moving.

The toughened squadron leader gave the signal, and the agents began to fire their dampeners. The only problem was, the blue and white costumed figure was no longer in their target zone. One of their own, a newer recruit, still facing the same way he had been before, was now standing in the place where the meta had been. When the recruit noticed his new placement, he checked his gun, and then turned around, weapon in hand and ready to fire. What he saw both frustrated and boggled his mind.

First, the meta was jumping around, somehow switching positions with random agents. It made targeting practically useless. As soon as one noticed where the meta was and began to fire the dampeners, he had changed positions again. What was more, the meta was now beginning to disarm the agents. Those who held the power dampeners were disarmed first. Instead, the CADMUS agents were annoyed to find themselves holding various items such as an old store sign, instead of weapons!

The squadron leader gave the command to apprehend the meta. Given his ability, they weren't going to risk firing their weapons. Instead, they closed in on him, grabbing, gripping, and once putting him in a tight wrestling hold. But to no avail. The meta somehow switched places with another agent, and then a third. Grabbing a discarded PVC pipe lying in the street, suddenly the PVC pipe was missing, and the meta was holding an assault rifle! And the agent who had been holding the assault rifle, now held a PVC pipe at an odd angle. He threw it down in disgust.

The caped meta aimed the assault rifle at the agents, who dived for cover. He didn't open fire, though. Possibly because at that moment, an armored mecha suit, roughly about 10 ft. tall, lumbered into view three blocks away. The meta didn't waste time, or bullets, for that matter. Instead, the armored mecha instantly vanished, and was replaced by an old Ford pickup truck. The mecha was now immobile, magnetically attached to an abandoned crane, 25 ft. up. It's shoulders opened panels, and weapons emerged. The immobile mecha opened fire at the caped meta. As soon as the weapons fired, however, the meta was no longer standing there, and the shots hit a CADMUS agent, who keeled over. The mecha targeted the meta again, but the result was the same. Another burst, and another agent killed where the meta had been.

The mecha's shoulder panels closed as the weapons withdrew, but panels on the front slid to the side, and two columns of three black tubes poked out. They punched out canisters that began filling the area with a yellowish, heavy gas. The CADMUS agents began coughing, and choking, and eventually losing consciousness. But the meta (who had also avoided the canisters' impact) didn't react any differently than he had before. The meta began to move - switching places with random other assorted things such as old dishwashers and beat up armoirs, and making his way to the crane. Despite trying to fire more gas canisters at him, the meta dodged almost as if he knew they were coming. Eventually making his way to the crane, the meta turned the ignition and started the machine up. Despite being unable to target the meta with the gas canisters, the mecha tried and failed, yellowish gas erupting on the ground, far from the cab of the crane. Meanwhile, having started the machine up, the meta drove the crane to a garbage compactor nearby. Blinking out of the cab (and being replaced temporarily by a broken tall floor lamp), the meta stood near the garbage compactor controls, and turning a key, hit a big red button. The garbage compactor turned on. Meanwhile, the mecha fired gas canisters at the caped meta, and opened up its shoulder panels to fire blasts at the meta. But again, the meta switched positions with other pieces of junk, and the blasts further destroyed pieces of junk that had long been trashed.

Meanwhile, the meta had "jumped" again, trading places with the floor lamp in the crane's cab. Neither the shoulder blasters nor the gas canisters of the armored mecha could find an accurate shot inside the cab from the position the mecha was magnetized in. And with the crane holding the mecha above the churning garbage compactor, the meta hit a button. And the mecha fell. The crunching sounds of the mecha being pulverized happened immediately. Attempting some last-effort blasts, the meta again dodged before it could hit. Eventually, the massive garbage compactor made enough progress that the blasts stopped, long before it had even gotten halfway up the mecha. The sickening crunching noises also eventually died down, as the mecha had been broken and reduced to cubes of compacted garbage. After several minutes, the meta calmly drove the crane back and magnetically picked up the same old Ford pickup that he had earlier traded places with the mecha. And just as calmly, he turned the crane off, got out amidst the dissipating yellowish gas, and walked over to the compactor. He shut it off, since none of the CADMUS forces were threats anymore.

Switching spots with random pieces of junk but heading in a certain direction, the caped meta stood over the fallen agents. He bent down, and began rifling through the gear and possessions of the agents. Taking all the clips of ammo and putting them in a small black duffel bag unnoticed in the surrounding environment, the meta also took other things that seemed valuable. Then, he removed the unconscious agents' armor and replaced them with debris from the piles of junk at all places in the vicinity. Same thing for the weapons, other than the assault rifle the meta had taken earlier, which he was keeping. While the nerve gas had knocked out all the agents, the meta wasn't going to leave too much to chance, and made a grand exit by switching spots with various other similarly-sized objects. The meta continued this for several blocks, making sure to avoid all detection and getting help from some of the sensors built into his facemask.

Eventually, the meta was in a smallish, but clean storeroom inside a locked and sealed abandoned building. He took off his mask - and it wasn't a he, but a she. Molly Shanahan shook out her hair and emptied her little black duffel bag of all the ammo she had taken from the agents. All in another day's work. Maybe what she had confiscated from these agents would be helpful in figuring out how CADMUS got started again, and had extra money for high tech suits of mecha armor. So far, her investigations had hit a snag. But she would prevail. CADMUS didn't stand a chance with Molly Shanahan jinxing.

Afterwards, Molly put on her facemask again, and blinked out of the room, replacing her space with a large, beat-up bench. Molly had heard some gunfire elsewhere in the city close by, and was going to go check it out.

All in a day's job.

[Robosia]

Newark Liberty International Airport
Newark, New Jersey
Lucas Cedar, AKA Shade

Lucas swore under his breath as another taxi drove past him without stopping. Why did his employer give him a plane ticket, but didn’t provide any transportation to leave the airport? He was certainly risking his life enough to be worth hiring a chauffeur. Another cab drove by him. He checked his watch. 4:12 PM.

He was going to have to find another way to get to New York.

Looking down the street, he saw a bus heading down the road. It looked like it’s shadow would pass over him as it drove by. That was all he needed. The bus drove past and he disappeared.

About an hour and a half later, as the bus pulled over next to a bus stop in Fort Lee, he materialized on the road underneath it. He crawled out, dusted himself off, and teleported into Manhattan through the shadow of the George Washington Bridge. He stood in the shade of a wrecked building and disappeared. Now he just needed to wait. If CADMUS was really as active in New York as his employer said, it wouldn’t be long until an agent walked into his shadow.

[WhatsamattaU]

Idyllium (near Monarch, MT)
Sally Three Spells
a Cyberiad Council WhatsamattaU collaboration

"And she's been up there since last night?" The man that looked up at the tree Sally was resting in was rather tall and lean with blond hair and piercing eyes. "Yeah, I think so. I asked Ms. Kane and she said to just leave her."

"Hmm. She needs to either join or leave. We have made it a point not to let tourists in. Ann, if you please," the man said to another woman with green veins under her skin. She nodded and the tree began to shrink until Sally was at eye level.

"Ms. Sally, is it?" He asked in a voice meant to wake the sleeping girl."

Sally woke with a start! The high tree limb that she'd been sleeping on was now very close to the ground! No, her tree had been shrunk! It wasn't an enchantment, it must have been one of the meta-humans in front of her! She scooted backwards towards the tree's trunk.

Sally arched her back and deployed her gossamer wings, subconsciously trying to make herself look big. Sally's face, however, showed that she was terrified. Her eyes searched for an escape route. Could she escape by flight?

"There's no need to run, we just need to talk," The blond man said, eyes focused on Sally. He didn't seem hostile, but he wasn't warm. It was clear he was on a matter of business.

Sally took a minute to calm her mind and breathing. Once she had regained her self control, she drew her wings into her body and effortlessly changed her appearance with her Human Kind spell.

Sally stepped to the ground, managed a nervous smile and gave the duo a respectful curtsy. "I'm Sally," she said and the asked, "What do we need to talk about?"

"We don't allow visitors in Idyllium. We allowed you to stay the night, but you need to leave today if you don't intend on staying."

This wasn't right, thought Sally, somewhat outraged, Lady Kane had offered her hospitality. Who were these churls to make demands of her?

Sally calmed herself, before replying, "I'm sorry, but I don't believe I have your names. Also, Lady Kane has offered me hospitality. Her exact words were, 'I invite you to stay as long as you wish, our doors are always open.' So, I must ask, are you of sufficient rank to gainsay Lady Kane?"

Sally hoped that she sounded more diplomatic than angry or irked, but the manners of these two were atrocious. Even thick Gideon had better manners.

"I don't mean to outrage you and I don't appreciate being called a churl. I'm Seth, and I represent Idyllium. What Ms. Kane meant was that we would be happy to take you in if you wanted to be a part of this community. If you want to stay, we will welcome you. However, if you have no interest in staying, we don't run a charity or a daycare. And you do sound irked."

Sally's jaw dropped momentarily, then she clamped it hard and stared at Seth. Churlish is as churlish does! Sally tried harder to suppress the desire to punish Seth for his intrusion into her thoughts.

Adopting a polite tone, as the situation might yet prove fruitful, Sally said, "I'm quite interested in staying, but not committed."

Sally calmed herself even more. "I am hampered by laws and some fears. For me to be completely open and tell you the perils of my staying here, you need to use the key and turn the lock. Lady Kane said that there were people here that know what I am." Sally took a hopeful breath and then asked, "Do you know what I am? Will you say the word?"

Seth sighed and hung his head. "I'm not reading your mind. I'm an empath like Ms. kane. And you really refuse to give up on this little charade of yours, don't you? Fine. Faerie," Seth muttered, looking like he couldn't believe what came out of his mouth.

"Is that enough? Can we move on like logical people?"

Sally's Human Kind spell shattered with the elation that she was feeling! Her gossamer wings spread, seemingly of their own will and she felt as if she were glowing with happiness! She flew into Seth and wrapped her arms about his neck, saying, "Thank you!" multiple times while crying tears of joy.

Maybe, Sally hoped, maybe I really could stay here....

"You put too much importance on your arbitrary rules," Seth muttered as he stood to his full height. "Are you done being cryptic now?"

"I am what I am," answered Sally, releasing Seth from her embrace and wiping her eyes. "And while I have much more freedom to speak, now, how much I intentionally or unintentionally vex you is conditional on the circumstaces."

Sally then went to the topic that Seth and the tree shaper seemed to be interested in. "I would very much like to stay here, in Idyllium, but, and I'm not saying they absolutely will come after me, would you let me stay here if other Fae, like Goblins and Trolls and such, came after me? They might cause a great deal of trouble."

Sally had a nagging thought, "Seth, If you sense emotions then how did you know that I was thinking that you were a 'churl'? That word isn't terribly common."

Sally's eyes widened in shock. "You're a spy." she said, barely above a whisper.

"You got me," Seth said sarcastically in mock surrender. "Everyone knows spies can read minds. I'm a spy who has invested my life in Idyllium. And no, Goblins and Trolls cause us no concern. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to my espionage."

Gideon watched as Seth and the arborist walked away, and gave Sally an apologetic smile. "Sorry about Seth. He's in charge under Ms. Kane, but he's an asshole. He's just a really good empath from what I hear. So, you're actually a Faerie?"

It was good that Gideon had been present and had accepted the truth, at least enough for Sally to not be evasive in her answers.

"In a world where there are humans with incredible powers, why should people doubt the existence of faeries?" answered Sally. "And yes, I am actually a faerie."

"But mark my words," continued Sally, "Seth is more than a talented empath. I should hesitate to call him 'good' as well. It may be that he thinks himself an empath, but outside the lessons of my parents I have never heard a man nor woman use the word, 'churl'. It was the very word I was thinking about their rude behavior and Seth said openly, '...I don't appreciate being called a churl.'"

Sally looked earnestly at Gideon and pleaded, "Gideon, please, would you relate what I've told you to Lady Kane? I know I have little history with the people of Idyllium, but I fear for Lady Kane's safety, as certain as I cannot tell a complete lie."

Gideon laughed. "I doubt Ms. Kane is in danger from Seth. I know he's hard to swallow, but he gets easier to deal with. Seth is Ms. Kane's right hand. They've known each other for years. He's the one that pushed her to found Idyllium. She may be the face, but he's the brain and the heart," The young meta shrugged. "I guess he doesn't like the spotlight. And as for the weird mind-reading thing, he explained it to me as human emotions don't use words, but are way more complex, so once you get a feel for how people's emotions correlate to thoughts, you can get a lot more than what you might think. But he can't see mental images and all that as far as I know."

"It could be as you say," admitted Sally, "still, I'm not fully convinced."

She looked down at the ground and then into Gideon's eyes. "Gideon, now that you know about me, know that I want to stay. If I disappear or am killed, then think on what I've said. I plan to not say more on my thoughts about Seth, unless asked...."

Just then, Sally's stomach audibly growled.

[Futrellia]

12 Miles outside of Fernie
British Columbia, Canada
September 17, 2022

“How much further, Ollie?” Asked Richard, impatiently checking his phone for any texts or calls from his old friend Jessie. When Jessie and Richard parted ways so many years ago, they didn’t leave on good terms. An ancient altercation that Owl couldn’t remember the details of, something Richard should have made amends for long before now. Ever since, Richard has been attempting to reach out to him for a while.

“Eleven miles away and counting, Richard. I detect no heightened alert or indication from CFB Esquimalt that they are aware of our presence in their airspace.” Reported Ollie, controlling the IronJet’s movements for the moment as they screamed through the thick white cloud layers, ensuring that none on the ground could see them. Though since they were flying over nothing but miles and miles of thick forests, high mountains and tundra between Fort Steele and Fernie.

“Twelve years you haven’t said a word to me. Why now, Jessie….what’s going on?” Whispered Richard under his breath as he watched the radar blimp known as Jessie’s house grow closer. The text that Jessie had sent him sent chills down his spine as he looked over it again and again and again.

“Something’s wrong. Very wrong. I need you here, now.” He read over that line more than ten times as he tried to figure out how the most independent and headstrong former teammate he’s ever had was now begging for him to see him. When he and Richard were early Regents next to Cypher, where Owl needed help, Myriad would clone ten of him. There was no problem that Jessie couldn’t fix as Myriad. He remembered when Jessie first built this house out in Fernie, took twenty five of him to finish it in a three month process. Jessie was never one to ask for help so if he was asking now, this was very wrong, indeed.

“Preliminary scans of Myriad’s farmhouse and land surrounding indicate no signs of damage or hostile presence. I recommend sending drones to investigate further.” Asked Ollie.

“No time, Ollie. We go in.” He said solemnly.

“Understood, Richard.”

“Sending a ping out to Watchpoint, just in case.” Said Richard as he interacted with a panel of buttons, pressing a sequence and the panel responded with a light beeping noise. The ping would be relayed to Watchpoint’s computers and show the location of the IronJet, just to give his Sentinels some peace of mind.

---

The Myers Farmhouse
Wine Cellar
Outskirts of Fernie

In a chair surrounded in a pool of his own blood, Myriad sat, head bowed low, blood slightly dripping off of his bruised and battered face. Wrapped in rope and ductape, Myriad’s clothing was ripped and bloodied, cuts all over his body in a show of torture.

With heavy footsteps, another presence entered the room from the steep staircase. Myriad slowly began to stir, trying to lift his tired head from it’s position to see through his swollen eyes.

The individual came into clear view of Jessie, his signature helmet reminding Myriad that this was in-fact not a nightmare.

“Your pal’ll be here soon. Can’t wait to have a little reunion with him.” Said the figure. Myriad let out a little growl, leaning his body forward in an act of limp defiance before his head bobbing back down to his chest.

“Still got some fight in you, yeah? You’re not my target anymore, so I’m not gonna indulge your masochistic ways any further, bud. And uhh...sorry about your family. I don’t like killing women and children, but you just wouldn’t fuckin’ stop, you and your army of clones. I told you to stop, cut that shit out, I ain’t tryna hurt anybody, but what did you do? I kill ‘em, you keep makin’em. Ha, I mean, what was I supposed to do. All I wanted was the Owl, I mean, that’s who I’m gettin’ paid to kill, right? I just wanted to ask you some questions, maybe get a location. I was all fuckin’ civil at first, and after I bring up the fact that I’m tryna kill him, you go all bat-shit crazy on me, like you’re still a wittle hewo!” The figure said as he pulled up a chair in front of Jessie’s, resting his EBR rifle on his lap.

The figure raised his hands to his helmet, pressing two buttons on the side, causing a hissing sound of pressure releasing the locks on the helmet. The man pulled the helmet off slowly to reveal a grizzled Garret Wolman, otherwise known as “Wolfenstein”. He sat the helmet down by the side of his chair and looked Jessie up and down, seeing the work he did to him.

“Damn, I really fucked you up, didn’t I?” Garret took a moment to see the work he did, letting out a small chuckle and half-smile.

“Man, I’m sorry about that. I just wanted the Owl. But, shit happens.” Garret’s face lit up as he dawned on something he hadn’t considered just yet.

“Well, I’ll be. You know, I’ve been torturing you for two days straight without even telling you why I’m looking for Iron Owl! Wow, where are my fuckin’ manners. Well, hear hear! Papa Garret’s got a story for you.” Said Garret as he cleared his throat.

“Obviously this is more than just a standard catch-and-kill mission, oh no, we are way past that. See, I know you and Owl have a history, early crime-fighting, tights-wearing duo, yeah? Haha, maybe not tights, but anyway. Me and Owl have a colorful history of nearly killing each other, right? I was paid one time to take him out at the Seattle Docks one day and I fuckin’ thought I did. I mean, I made that dude do a backflip from the sheer velocity of the round I hit him with! I mean, who wouldn’t be dead after that. But, you see, I was careful and I shot him twice in the back when he was down, because you just gotta make sure with these kind of things, I mean, it was a 3.5 million dollar contract. I hadn’t seen money like that since….shit, since I started this whole thing. So I reported him dead, got the money, went to Thailand, Australia, toured the whole damn world. Truth be told I probably got some little squinty-eyed Garret babies running aro-anyway. Sorry, gettin’ off topic. Eight months later, I’m setting my shit up for another contract in New York, taking out some big time emissary from Russia. Eight hundred thousand dollar contract. I mean, I could wipe me ass with eight hundred K, but I was already now to my last mil, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt. Guess who I see strollin’ up to the building in their little jet? You guessed it, nine lives owl coming out of nowhere! I think for the first time in my career, I let my guard down, didn’t think he could have lived through the rounds I put into him, but he somehow did. Sent two missiles into my setup, fucked my shit up all the way, lemme tell you. Long story short, NYPD comes in to save the day while I’m taking a nap under a cement pillar, newspapers have a fuckin’ field day while I’m shipped off to Bossier Maximum Security Prison in Louisiana. Big mistake on their parts because I get out three months later. Switched my spot with someone who looks just like me. I’ve got friends in high places, what can I say.” Garret saw that Jessie was fading back into unconciousness, slapping him in the face to wake him up.

“So anyways, I got the attention of the US government on me and I realize that Owl was a little too much for me, I’ll admit it. I retired afterwards to a little town in Texas. And this is where it gets funny. I get approached by a group of shady motherfuckers. They look like Men In Black, I shit you not. They tell me that they will pay me ten mil to take another shot at this motherfucker. So I think, yeah why not? Chance to get some payback and live it up before I O’D in the Palazzo in Vegas. Sounds good to me. So now, you know the story.” Garret’s wrist-mounted terminal began beeping as the IronJet entered within the established perimeter.

“Ha! It’s show-time. Don’t go anywhere, alright?” He said as he jumped up from the chair. Jessie’s eyes grew heavy and he once again passed into unconciousness.

---

Arriving at the Myers’ Farmhouse

The IronJet slowly lowered to the ground in front of the wooden fence perimeter Jessie had built when he first finished up the house, a few beams had rotted out and fell to the ground.

“Scans indicate no heat signatures in the house, Richard.” Said Ollie as he set the Jet down softly on the field of white snow. Richard let out a deep sigh as he donned the Owl’s helmet.

“Checking HUD, establishing secure connection. Connection confirmed.” Said Ollie, before Richard opened up the cockpit.

“Stay alert, Ollie.” Said Richard.

“Always.”

Richard walked towards the house, scanning the perimeter as he went. His HUD searched for anything out of the ordinary, scanning the interior of the house again, then the shed nearby, then the storage house out in the pasture where his dozen or so horses grazed. Nothing. He walked to the door, knocking on it slightly, just enough to push the slightly cracked door all the way open. Richard was shocked at what he saw. The interior was a mess. The furniture in the living room was wrecked, chairs smashed up, tables flipped, holes and bullet holes adorning the walls, blood splatter covered the white couch.

“No…” Said Richard as he looked over to see a pair of feminine legs sticking out from behind the island in the nearby kitchen. He ran over to examine who it was. It was Jessie’s wife, Lynn, drenched in a pool of blood she was laying in, a bullet hold dead-center in her head. Richard had to step back and breath deeply, nearly about to vomit. Laying above her on the other side was his son, Gavin, a boy of only seven, adorning several bulletwounds to the abdomen and to the left eye.

“I’m so sorry, Lynn.” He said, trying to hold back his stomach’s repulsion of the scene. His next Richard walked through the hallway leading to the bedrooms, obvious signs of a fight adorned every corner of the house. Whatever had happened, Myriad really put up a fight and whoever was fighting him, knew what they were doing. When he arrived to the first door on the left, he looked inside to see Jessie and his wife’s bedroom, torn up, mattress thrown to the side, shell casings adorning the floor. The conjoined bathroom was a mess, the mirror was shattered, the vanity was split in half and collapsed. He moved on to Gavin’s bedroom. His bedroom was the only room seemingly untouched by the chaos that filled the rest of the house. He turned and walked back to the living room, seeing another hallway leading towards the dining room and the wine cellar. The glass dining room table was smashed and bulletholes decorated the walls in every direction. Owl made his way towards the cellar door, opening it up he saw nothing but darkness.

“I have detected a missile launch, moving to evade.” Said Ollie in his earpiece within the helmet. Richard darted back towards the front door, watching as the IronJet lifted off the ground.

“S-s-ssystem failur-ur-ur-re, electromag-mag-mag” The IronJet’s engine howl died back down as the ship whirred down, falling lifelessly back down, smashing into the thick snow, sending up a cloud of white.

“Ollie?! Ollie, what the hell happened!” Richard looked out of the side of his eye to see two missiles zooming in, twirling around each other.

“Oh shit.” He said as he ran back in to take cover. The IronJet exploded into a wave of noise and fire, busting the windows of the house and sending the shockwave moving throughout the house, shaking the home to it’s foundation. Richard could feel the heat through his suit as the shockwave subsided and the initial force died off. Raising back off from his huddled position on the other side of the couch, he saw the husk of the IronJet crackling and popping, the flames enraged and engulfed what was left of Iron Owl’s transport.

“Miss me?” He heard from his behind him. Instinctually, Iron Owl reached on his belt and deployed his staff, twirling around, he pointed the end of the staff at the voice, exposing the 12 gauge barrel right at the figure. He looked at the figure, not recognizing who it was under the helmet. Owl’s reaction gave way to the figure’s chuckle, raising both of his hands, balling his fists, his EBR rifle laying down by his waist from the strap around his neck.

“Identify yourself! Where’s Myriad!” Ordered Richard to the figure.

“Aw, is that anyway to treat an old friend?” Said the mechanical voice.

“I said where’s Myriad!” Yelled Richard once more. In retaliation, the figure opened up his right fist to expose a circular device lodged into the palm of his hand, unleashing a bright white light that disoriented and fried Iron Owl’s HUD.

Wincing in pain, Owl stepped back and shook his head, trying to regain his vision. As his sight returned to him, the helmet’s heads-Up display was essentially scrambled as every system was shorted out. He looked back up to the figure through the scrambled displays to see him walking closer to him.

“Let’s just get this over with, what’d’ya say?” The figure said. Owl shot the staff up to the figure’s face and unloaded a round, the figure quickly ducking down from the, using all of his force to drive the staff from his hands, the staff slamming up against the wall. Owl went for a quick right punch to the figure, with the figure responding with catching his fist and driving his right fist into his side, pulling Owl’s fist upwards and over his shoulder. Owl was cast into the coffee table, shattering it.

As Iron Owl jumped up from his prone position, Wolfenstein speared him, sending them both into the kitchen’s island, collapsing under both of them. Wolfenstein rose up, sitting on top of him and began sending his fists into Owl’s helmet. After several debilitating punches, Owl caught his right fist and attempted to pierce the man’s helmet by sliding his suit’s talons across the helmet, leaving a large scar on the helmet. The man shook his fist loose and continued his barrage of punches, though the brief intermission allowed Richard to regain some of his senses and he began to deflect a few of the punches. Owl activated his JumpJets, sending him zooming from his position to into the wall. It wasn’t ideal but it allowed Owl to get out from his position and stand up. Wolfenstein, seeking to get him back down on the ground, attempted a spear once again, though Iron Owl was ready for it. He lowered down and caught the spear, going for a knee to the chest. Before he could connect, Wolfenstein broke free from the hold and engaged in a series of kicks and punches, moving too fast for Richard to counter. As Wolfenstein gained the upper hand, he drew out a knife and sent it into Richard’s helmet, striking right where the enclosed helmet’s visual cameras were. The knife cut deep enough to sever the visual systems, but not enough to touch Richard’s skin. Richard then felt a kick to his stomach that sent him into the dining room, falling down, struggling to regain his breath. With his helmet compromised, he had no choice but to rip it off of his head, exposing who he really was. He saw the figure simply standing there, his rifle trained on Richard.

“Holy shit. So that’s who you are under that helmet. I didn’t know who you were, just that you were the motherfucker I was gettin’ paid so much to kill...again.” His words began to ring within Richard’s head as he tried to remember where he may have faced him from.

“Well, since we are showing our true faces.” The figure lowered his rifle and removed his own helmet, revealing a smiling Garret Wolman.


“You did this….You...killed his family..” Said Owl, trying to gain a grip on who actually did all of this destruction.

“Aw, shit. Here we go. C’mon then.” Wolfenstein said as he threw down his helmet and rifle and began approaching Richard. In a fury of rage, Owl jumped at the chance to engage him, throwing punches, kicks, every move he could at Wolfenstein.

Wolfenstein’s foresight allowed him to dodge most of the hits, but due to the sheer power and volume of the strikes, Richard managed to connect a few to his face and abdomen. Owl connected a quick roundhouse to Wolfenstein’s side and jumped down to grab Garret’s EBR. With his staff out of reach, he had no choice but to utilize Wolfenstein’s own rifle to put him down. Before he could effectively aim it at Wolfenstein, he grabbed the barrel, curved his body to the side, unleashed several knees into Owl’s side and used the rifle to propel him into the far wall.

“You really have mellowed with age, Owl. Either that or you are entirely out of practice. For someone who faced down a bunch of metahumans, you sure are gettin’ your ass kicked.” Said Wolfenstein as he walked towards Owl, preparing to use the butt of the gun to bash his face.

Owl used his feet to grab Wolfenstein’s ankle and attempt to twist it, either breaking it or causing Wolfenstein to twist with it, causing him to fall, which he fell. Owl capitalized by knocking the rifle out of his hands and sending uppercuts and elbow smashes his way. The hits were deflected but at great cost to Wolfenstein’s stamina.

“Alright, that’s enough!” Yelled out Wolfenstein as he drew a curved dagger from the side of his pants, digging it deep within the meniscus of Owl’s left knee, cutting through the kevlar and strengthened classified material of his suit. Owl winced and groaned in pain as he turned his attention to getting him away from the knife. Owl swiped down at his hand on the knife with his Talons, barely missing it as Wolfenstein drew his left fist up and connected with Owl’s jaw, causing him to fall off of Garret’s body. As Owl moved his left hand down to his bleeding knee where the knife was still stuck in, he tried to keep his leg as stiff as he could. Wolfenstein slowly got up from his position, grabbing his rifle.

“Motherfucker, you don’t give up. I’ll give you that.” He said as he smashed the rifle’s stock in the back of Richard’s head, followed by a swift kick to the right temple of his head.

Struggling to stay conscious, Owl shook his head a bit, trying to regain his blurry vision, crawling towards his staff.

“Alright.” Said Wolfenstein as he flipped Iron Owl over with his foot, smashing the rifle’s stock into Richard’s face. Owl spat blood from his mouth as he was near unconciousness. Wolfenstein, impressed with his ability to stay conscious, dropped down to one knee and hammered his face with his left fist, causing his right cheek and eye to swell. With one last heavy punch, Wolfenstein succeeded in knocking out Richard, his head falling limp and to the side. Panting, Garret rose up from his position and wiped a bit of blood from his own mouth.

“Damnit, boy.” he said as he dragged Owl towards the wine cellar.

[Union Princes]

Two Russians trying to get their share of the Drugs

Cowrite between me, Tau Empire, and Cy Council

September 25th

"Well, shit..." says Sherkov, watching a thief running off with their goods. "Let's go," Sherkov runs off to the black alley way. The man would see Harrell dash his ass off into the complex backways. Pulling out a 9mm Colt pistol, Sherkov turns his heels and runs. "I know a way to cut him off. There's only a few pathways in these allys," Sherkov ensusres. After-all Sherkov did memorize each every single exit, pathway, etc, in order to form up a escape plan - if anything went wrong. In this case, Sherkov is not running away, but chasing someone.

Katyusha pulled out her PPSH-41 from her backpack while she followed Sherkov to the alley. She figured they're gonna need a place to store the drug before they went out. Though she wasn't as fast as the thief, she does have endurance of a camel. "Should I lead him into you, Sherkov?" She asked, clutching her smg in her hands.

"Go for it, lead him to the left side - if you know what I'm talking about." Sherkov advised.

"I'll try." Katyusha affirms as she picked up her pace and chased after Riot. Hopefully, she'll simply outlast him as she sprinted.

Harrell's powers let him keep and maintain a constant adrenaline response. It wouldn't be a problem outpacing the Russians, but they were damn persistent. "Look, you've lost. Accept it and move on!" he called back over his shoulder to Katyusha. This was going to be easy. "Aaaaand that's a wall," Harrell deadpanned as he came into a dead end of the complex. The blue haired girl was still on his heels, so he darted to the left, heading back towards and open street to lose them in traffic. He also unholstered a gun and fired over his shoulder to discourage his pursuer.

"Stop!" Katyusha shouted in her Russian language. "Give it back! It doesn't belong to you." She quickly turned left after him and continued the chase. The bullets did not effect on Katyusha due to her durability nor did it sway her to stop. She would use her smg but the traffic is too crowded for the moment to fire.

Sherkov is trying to catch up, but he's just a normal man (besides from the fact that he's a smart man), so he's a bit behind.

"Sorry, I don't speak gopnik!" Harrell shouted back as he came out onto the street. Instead of weaving between cars, he quickly clambered on the roof of one and started jumping from roof to roof, putting him even further ahead of Katyusha. Even if she could get going all he had to do was escape her line of sight to hide.

"How many times do I have to yell "stop?!" Katyusha screamed, getting frustrated that her words are not reaching him. Seeing that Riot was climbing on top of the roofs of cars, an idea popped into her head. Following the thief's plan, she also ran onto the car roofs. With a better line of sight, Katyusha took aim with her smg as she hopped from roof to roof. "Last chance! Drop the case!" She yelled in Russian.

From the distance, Katyusha hears - "JUST SMOKE HIM." from Sherkov.

Harrell heard the call to end his life and let out a short, barking laugh, and slid off the roof of the car he was on. He ducked down and used the vehicle for cover, cutting off Katyusha's line of sight. "I hope this case is worth it, Dixon."
The masked anti-villain looked around for a way out, but nothing was a coming up favorable. As much as he hated to admit it, Harrell could use Dixon's powers in a situation like this, but no, not yet. After hyping himself up with several rapid breaths, Harrell popped up and aimed his dual pistols at Katyusha. She seemed immune to the bullets, but he doubted her gun was. His coordination served him well as he opened up a barrage of bullets aimed at the PPSH-41. At last one had to hit. Right?

For one moment, Katyusha had a mini heart attack when Riot ducked out of sight. Frantically scanning for any possible escape routes that can be used by Riot, the work was cut out for her when he revealed his location by shooting at Katyusha. She cursed loudly under her breath when a bullet struck the spring mechanism of her drum mag as she immediately ran towards him by jumping between the car rooms. Katyusha's gun may have a broken magazine but she still has one bullet in the chamber.

Anarchy smiled. This girl had some balls. Either that, or she underestimated him. He needed cover, or Dixon's powers, but waking up the goodie two shoes here would just get him killed. The older looking guy was coming up behind him, so if he was going to make a move, he needed to do so soon. Harrell swung open the door of the car he was crouched behind and used his strength to ram into it, knocking it off its hinges. "Cheap Asian crap," Harrel mused. But now he had to focus. He charged Katyusha head on, protecting his head behind the car door as he ran.

Katyusha was slightly confused at the sight of Riot breaking off a car door. Her first thoughts was to use it as a makeshift shield from her one bullet. She was partially correct as he soon turn to run at her intent on running her over. With Riot being an angered bull, Katyusha picked up her speed and quickly shot at his feet. The smg has firepower, not accuracy, as it's biggest strength so the bullet may have just struck the concrete or at least graze his boot. She then hoped that she could leg trip him as soon as she made contact.

Anarchy hissed in pain as he felt the bullet dig into his leg. It might of stopped a normal person, but Harrell's powers let him live on adrenaline constantly. It was like a constant rush, and helped dull the pain. Some. It wasn't quite enough to slow Anarchy down and he slammed into Katyusha, trying to push her up and to his right.

"Just give us the case!" Katyusha shouted in Russian before she dashed to the right to avoid his rhino charge. Quickly opening the zipper to her backpack, she took out a new drum mag to replace her broken one for her PPSH-41. No time to put the damaged drum mag inside her bag, Katyusha let it fall to the ground as she reloaded her smg.

"How many times to I have to tell ya, I don't speak Gopnik!" Harrell shouted as he slid to a stop. No way. The bitch stopped to reload with me right in front of her? Dropped her bag and everything!" Harrel thought to himself. He quickly spun, using the shield with a blunt force weapon and slammed it into Katyusha. Her hands were full with the gun and the mag, so there was little she could do to stop the attack. The metal door hit the Russian with a dull thump. Harrell's strength was more than enough to knock the slim girl over, and Anarchy was quick to capitalize. He flew over to her and quickly slid an arm around her throat, the crook of his elbow on her Adam's apple. "You can maybe take a bullet, but can you survive without oxygen?" Harrell hissed as he struggled to secure her limbs. She was strong, but Harrell's hysterical strength put him on an even playing field.

Katyusha grunted when he slammed his door at her when she was reloading her gun. She cursed in Russian as she fell onto the floor with her smg only to be placed in at choke hold. Katyusha let out out a garbled cry when he prevented her from grabbing her smg. "Sherkov." She whispered, "Where the hell are you?!"

Sherkov arrives at the scene, watching the lot fight. Breathing heavily, Sherkov says in English, "Oi, mind that we stop killing each for a second?"

"No! Back the fuck up bub. Eject the mag in your gun and empty the chamber. Try anything funny and I'll snap her neck right here. I know she's tough, but you have no idea how strong I am. And to be frank, I'm a bit curious to find out if I can do it. A friend of mine wants the drugs in that case, so I plan to deliver. Savvy, Ivan?" ordered Anarchy.

Katyusha squirmed to no avail as she was beginning to panic of what he might do. She can just see her PPSH-41 off to the side in front of her.

"Well, already," Sherkov unloads his pistol mag and throws the full mag to the side, putting his pistol into his coat. Sherkov would also take out a bag of donuts too, grabbing one and eating it. "Want some?"

"Next!" Harrell said, putting emphasis on the word to prove to Sherkov he wasn't in a joking mood, "Slowly pick up the smg, and eject the clip. Then, throw the gun as hard as you can away from us. And finally, put the donuts on the ground and back up until you can't see me or your little girlfriend here anymore. She just might make it out of here alive if you listen."

"Oh that one," Sherkov finishes his snack before taking the SMG from the ground and rejects the mag, throwing them off to the sky or whatever. "I got a pizza to get to. So...Yeah," Sherkov fucks off to get his Pizza because he did order a Pizza while the two fought it out.

Katyusha cried as loud as she could when she saw Sherkov throw her grandfather's weapon of the Second World War into the distance. She thrashed wildly hoping to throw Riot off of her so she can retrieve her gun. Tears were forming around her eyes as she couldn't believe what she had just witnessed.

"You might need a new boyfriend," Harrell said sympathetically. "My name's Steven by the way. Are you free later? Actually no, wait. You're a bitch who tried to shoot at me." Harrell slid a knee under Katyusha and boosted her off of him. He quickly scrambled to his feet and snatched up the drug case and the bag of donuts as he sprinted through the cars, keeping his head low to try and keep them from tracking them as he slipped off into the distance. "Sayonara! " He called over his shoulder as he ran towards a crowd of people gathering to watch the spectacle as police sirens cried in the distance.

Katyusha immediately ran to the area she suspected her smg landed. Not caring about Sherkov or the fact that Riot took the case, she felt so naked without her weapons. Luckily, the gun was a tough nut to crack with only a few dents around the barrel and butt stock as she gave the gun a very long hug.

Sherkov would rush his ass back to the same place, and after a quick search - finds Katyusha. "Let's get going. We rather not be open in the now."

"Why?" Katyusha demanded. "Why did you do it?"

"It was your life over your gun." He answered, "The pick was simple."

"And now our entire time here has been wasted because of that bastard!" She spat. "It's not like we can arrange for another purchase!"

"That won't be necessary," A man said from the back seat of a limo that pulled up through the slowly moving traffic. It was their American contact from earlier, the one selling the drugs. "I have a business proposition for you two. Get in the car, and we can settle the score with that asshole."

"Well...I guess that's a offer that I can't give up." Sherkov said as he turns to Katyusha, "Ladies first."

Dejected, Katyusha picked up her smg and drum mag and got into the car before she begins to wipe her tears.

Sherkov follows in after her.

[Talchyon]

New York
Molly Shanahan (aka "Jinx") and Lucas Cedar (aka "Shade")

Molly sat down on an abandoned bench seat, resting her legs. She thought that the previous encounter had been too reckless. "These guys had to be new. There's no way I would have made it if they had been seasoned CADMUS agents," she thought to herself. Still, the fact that CADMUS was recruiting was troublesome. Molly was getting closer in her investigation. But closer to what, she didn't know.

Shade noticed the mysterious, costumed woman sitting down on a bench underneath the from his perch on the top of a tower. "Well hello there, Ms. Spandex," he said to himself, "You look like the kind of person who might run into one my targets." Then, he leapt off the edge of the building and disappeared, reappearing standing at the bottom, a few feet away from Molly.

The sudden appearance of the costumed figure took Molly by complete surprise. "What the hell...?" she practically screamed, before realizing she was trying to stay unnoticed. The figure looked CADMUS. At least of a sort. But she saw nothing red yet in her field of vision, and the carbonation-feeling in her head that came with her danger sense was completely still. Whoever he was, he wasn't a threat... yet.

In a more reasonable voice, she asked, "Who are you? What are you doing?"

Shade narrowed his eyes. "Depends; what are you doing? And also, what the hell are you wearing?" Meanwhile, he cautiously reached towards the knife in his pocket.

The cautious man was reaching for something, and his hand and side where he was reaching began to take on a shade of red. A little fizzy feeling - just a smidge - crept into her head. Molly knew that could only mean one thing. Danger.

She stared at him and said, "Whatever it is you're reaching for, stop it. It's not going to help you. Anyway, don't CADMUS agents go in packs? Going at a meta alone is a little out of character."

He said, "CADMUS? I don't work for any CADMUS." He relaxed and moved his hand away from the knife. "Actually, quite the opposite, I'm being paid to kill the bastards. Although, I'll guess by the way you carry yourself you're probably more of the 'do it because it's the right thing' type. Or do you work for ARGUS?"

Molly slowly nodded. The man looked something like her enemies, but wasn't. Or at least, he said he wasn't. Good thing was, he wasn't going for anything in his pockets now.

She said, "I'm not with ARGUS. But I'm trying to get to the bottom of this. CADMUS wasn't even on the radar a few years ago, and now, they're back, and being fully funded somehow? Guns and bullets are one thing. Advanced tech and robotics are another. And that's just what I've been able to see."

After a beat, she spoke up and said, "I'm Jinx."

He chuckled. "Jinx, huh? Funny name. They call me Shade. I was hired by someone to-" He paused. Dammit, Lucas, pull it together! What makes you think you can trust this girl? For all you know, she could be a CADMUS agent in disguise!

"Actually, I'm getting ahead of myself, aren't I? In fact, how do I know I can trust you?" He leaned in towards Jinx, an angry venom filling his voice.

"I want you to prove it."

Sometimes Molly wished her facemask actually showed facial expressions. She would have loved a picture of her face right then. She actually snorted, "You want me to what? Prove what? And how would I go about proving what I'm trying to do, any more so than you?"

Giggling, Molly said, "This is just stupid. No CADMUS recruit would ever dress like this. Their superiors would beat them up and make them do extra calisthenics!"

"Oh, do you think I don't have any experience with spies and traitors? That I haven't trusted anyone and then they turn on me?" He sighed. "I want you to go and jump over a building, or shoot lasers out of your eyes, and prove that you're a fucking meta. Hell, I'll do it too if you want. Just prove it."

He sat down on the bench and crossed his arms. "Go ahead, I'm waiting."

Under her mask, Molly was grinning huge. Ok. She stood up and walked a few steps away. As the man watched, Molly switched their spots. She was now standing on the bench, facing the back. He was now sitting on the street, facing away from her.

Molly turned around and said, "Now imagine that in a battle. Your turn."(edited)

Before Shade knew what was happening, he fell back on his rear in the dirt. He jumped up and looked around, and found that he was now a few feet away from the bench, which Jinx was now standing on. He dusted himself off,and we walked behind the bench so his lower body was in its shadow.

"Adios," he said, and disappeared.

Shade suddenly went invisible. Molly looked around, but she was the only one as far as she could see. "Ok. Very nice. You can come out now."

He then reappeared behind her. "I can also blind people, but unless you want me to do it on you, I don't have a good test subject."
"So, now that we know who we both are, shall we go out and kill some Meta-hunters?"

Molly started a little, not expecting him to show up breathing down her neck. Whoever this Shade was, he could be stealthy. She didn't even feel a stirring of the air behind her.

Trying to sound as unaffected as she could, while inwardly being pretty impressed, Molly said, "If it helps me figure out what's going on here, then I'm all for it."

[WhatsamattaU]

Mary frowned behind her mask. This talk gave rise to some important questions. Now seemed an appropriate time to air them.

"Dr. Carroll, thank you for this opportunity. I'm sure you're being thorough, but I would like to ask a few things: First, as much as you know, what really happened in Seattle? Second, what's been done to eliminate or minimize the possibility of a repeat disaster? And third, how is having meta-humans with combat abilities and skills figure into the picture? Finally, since you've mentioned wormholes, are you expecting trouble from the other side of the wormhole and why?"

Carroll nodded at Cutter. "In essence, yes," He was about to exposit further, but Mary's question cut him off. He sat up a little taller and clenched his jaw slightly at the mention of Seattle. "That was an unfortunate accident. There were numerous stories by every news source imaginable. We had too many volatile experiments in too close of a proximity. And there are only two people: myself and James, who work at this facility and are in the line of fire. We are several hundred feet underground, so any criticalities would be stopped by the rock above us. And then we get to the good part."

The old scientist opened a laptop on his desk and turned it around. "We have finally been able to create and sustain a stable wormhole. However, it doesn't just cross space. Our initial readings and drone explorations revealed we could also cross multiple dimensions; alternate realities. I don't know if you realize the magnitude of this, but this is a quantum leap forward in our understanding of physics. It could even be a source of free, unlimited energy generation. This image shows our current mapping of our neighboring alternate dimensions we can currently detect. Unfortunately, we can't currently pull any energy back through the wormhole. We have a device that we designed to do that, but it must be installed on the opposite side. Two-way human travel is possible and safe, but we have almost no idea what might be waiting for us on the other side. James will have to go to build the machine, but I want metas there to protect him from any possible threats."

To Mary's mind, Dr. Carroll was beginning to sound like a cinematic Mad Scientist. Granted, he had discovered something incredible, but was only concerned with the success of his goals. Had he considered contamination between the worlds? Had he considered that siphoning energy from a world might be detrimental to that world? Had he considered this experiment inspiring another world to replicate his wormhole machine and inadvertently invite an invasion?

Maybe she ought to start with the simplest of questions. Mary asked, "What do you suppose the danger of microbial contamination might be, doctor?"

He had turned around and leaned against the bookshelf gingerly. The last thing he needed to do was send the bookshelf falling and show exactly why not he should be there. He listened to the back and forth between the coyote woman and the doctor with only feigned attention, listening to half an ear about alternate dimensions and other realities. Would that mean he could find a version of himself and ask the most important question ever asked to one's doppelganger? Which hand did he beat his meat with? Nah, he had to do some Neil Armstrong-y, like say 'one small step for metas' or some bullshit like that. Hmph. A difficult decision for a man who hadn't even finished kindergarten.

"Oi, you lady, stop being such a damn wet blanket. Any kind of bad joo-joo we run in to we can just cut up nice and with a pretty bow." He said with one of those infuriating grins that had been a panty dropper in so many other situations."I'm sure he's got a contingency plan in case of some shite like that so relax you're shapely ass and let's get to the good questions." Turning his attention from the huffing and puffing woman to the mad doctor, Alexander reached in to his back pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes.

Mary was irritated. Only Marko was allowed, in her mind, to say anything about her butt. But now wasn't the time to punish whoever this was....

He took his time to light one up and take a big inhale before speaking once more."We get any fancy suits to wear when doing this dance?" Now, those were the important questions.

"The danger of microbial contamination is non-existent. We can filter what comes through the wormhole. And as for the matter of suits, they shouldn't be needed, but if we happen to open the wormhole to a hazardous environment, they will be provided. Any further questions?"

"Can I be the first through?"Alexander said with almost childlike exuberance at the idea of stepping on to some other world or what not."Get my name up there with the astronauts and what not, only more dashing and less bald." He said in a somewhat more rational voice,"Less dead for that matter too."

What do you think this is? The Muppets 'Pigs In Space'?" said Windtalker to the other meta-human. "Not that I have any objections to you dying first. It's not much fun."

Privately, Mary did have reservations about dying in general and specifically in a strange dimension. It was possible that she might not bounce back if she was cut off from this Earth's magical field. Maybe it was time to politely take a powder....

Other than killing everyone, Mary couldn't see how she might stop Dr. Carroll, if he was determined to open his wormhole then and there. This was a job for Mari. Still, it would be best if Mary was there to try and minimize any damage from this event, so she felt like she was stuck. Maybe one last appeal for caution.

"Dr. Carroll, said Mary, "I have reservations about this. Your plan is brilliant and bold, but are you sure that two meta-humans are enough of a security force to protect your assistant?"

"We've opened dozens of wormholes, and we've never come across any large fauna, so we aren't expecting any hostile creatures to be waiting for you if that's what you are asking. We just don't want to leave anything to chance. We have yet to find a way to open to the same dimension twice, but this new device should make it easy to locate a specific dimension between openings. And yes, there shouldn't be a problem with you passing through before the others," Dr. Carroll said looking at Alexander.

Alexander had enjoyed the dig about muppets, although his experience with muppets had been largely limited to moments of theft in malls and seeing them ogled at by the idiot children that came there with their parents. He ignored the bit about dying first with a shrug. We all gotta die sometime precious. He thought without exclaiming it out loud, a rare moment for Alexander. He could just as easily be getting this information by mind-jacking Dr. Carroll but had refrained since the guy was his employer and all.

The woman had brought up a good point though and, after the doctor had gone on another spiel about fauna and dimensions and and wormholes, Alexander spoke up,"If we're done yee hawing and what not, can we check out this wormhole device and what not?" He had begun to feel closed in inside the doctor's office with two men, a woman, and a coyote.

Mary was still amazed that no one had bothered to ask who she was. But the anonymity stopped being fun, so Mary decided to introduce herself. She turned to the other meta-human, offered her hand as a professional courtesy and said, "Call me 'Windtalker'. " Then she said, "Did you say it was 'Armstrong' or 'Columbus'?"

A flash of a grin broke Alexander's features as the woman finally introduced himself."Ooh. Since we're going with that, call me 'Cutter'," He winked and shook her hand, briefly. He was beginning to feel uncomfortable around the lady for some reason that he couldn't yet explain except for a feeling. Letting go, he listened to what else she said with a bit of a puzzlement. Columbus? Armstrong? Ohio? Louie?

"We will get to the machines in just a moment. First, I just need you to sign these NDA's and waver to personal safety," Dr. Carroll answered Cutter's question, pulling out four stacks of paper and giving two to each participant.

With a roll of the eyes, Cutter signed the wavers in his usual slap dash manner, an 'A' and a 'V' scrawled across the signatory lines in barely discernible English.

Mary carefully read the two legal forms..., it took some time, but Mary hated being tricked by not noticing 'paragraph 4 of subsection C of the addendum'. However, everything appeared on the up and up and the recompense was more than generous.

Being a sanctioned hero had its advantages. Mary could walk into a bank and cash a check made out to 'Windtalker'. And that's how she signed the contract . Argus would be pissed with it, but it was the only way to keep her cover in the investigation.

She took note of Cutter's initials, which might be important at a later date....

"Excellent, lets get started," Carroll said, rising from his seat and heading back out into the white hallway. They walked for several minutes and it soon became apparent that the floor had a slight downward slant. Other than that odd feature, nothing stood out on the blank white walls and floor. Eventually, the white metal gave way to dark grey and the hallway opened up to a massive chamber with a large device in its center aimed towards a circular structure on the far wall.

"This is amazing", said Windtalker. "The security used had to be flawless to construct something like this without anyone or an organization noticing." Unless they got The Russian that built the new Novae Saeculum, thought Mary.

When they reached the device, Alexander whistled sharply in appreciate and nodded in agreement with what the Windtalker was saying. As he looked it over, he became more and more excited to give this thing a go and check out what was on the other side. He'd be famous! Wormhole extraordinaire!

"Nature is the best security measure. Hundreds of feet of rock block out any signal or radiation coming or going. James, are we ready for ignition?" Dr. Carroll walked to a section of the lab floor cordoned off with caution markings on the floor, and took a seat in front of a series of controls and computer monitors.

"Yep. We are clear for breach. Okay, you two," James said pointing to Cutter and Windtalker. "Go and do whatever you need to prep. I'm initiated the device in forty-five seconds, but it will take about seven minutes to open a wormhole."

The large disks of the machine began to spin slowly. Each one rotating in an opposite direction than the one before it. The air in the room took on the sharp taste of copper as a blue-white beam shot from the aperture in the front of the device. On the opposite wall, a circular device came to life as the beam struck its center, diffusing into a brilliant multi-colored sphere.

Other than mustering one's courage in the face of the unknown, Mary wasn't sure how a person ought to prepare to walk through a hole in the space-time-dimensional continuum. It may have been a mistake to bring Chahałheeł along on this mission, but Mary couldn't have guessed how quickly Dr. Carroll would be moving to implement his experiment. Fortunately the coyote wasn't the least bit gun-shy and took this episode in stride like all the other unlikely things a coyote could encounter while traveling about with two shape-shifters.

In Navajo, she told her friend to get ready to run forward. Then Mary took a stance indicating she was ready to run through before Cutter, not really meaning to, but just to tease him.

Cutter watched in awe as the sphere came to life. It was just like that movie from back in the day, the one he had watched on a crappy tv that had been stolen from a crackhead he had known. The crackhead needed crack and Alexander wanted a tv. Too bad Cutter never came back with the crack, or it would have been a win win. Unsheathing his favorite knives, Cutter concentrated and felt the weapons on his body as if they were all a part of him. With a mental thought, he could summon them to do what they did. Until then, he would keep them where they were.

Notching an eyebrow at Windtalker, he shook his head once in a choppy, aggressive gesture."Don't be thinking you're going through first, little lady. Hate to trip you and see you skin one of those beautiful legs."

He'd taken the bait. Let's reel him in, thought Mary.

"Do you think you can run fast enough to trip me up?" she asked.

"This ain't no race to the fuckin' candy store," He waved a hand to take in the sphere and the humming of machines he would never understand in a thousand years."This is history. Now, you take a step back and I won't hamstring you." He said, all the seriousness in eyes having gone to deadly."If you ignore what I say and go through anyways?" He smirked."Only one of us will come back."

Windtalker doubled over in laughter. Old Man Coyote probably would have thought it a good joke, too. Chahałheeł let out his own howl of laughter, because he knew that his mistress was laughing.

Recovering herself, she said, "Cutter, you should have seen your face." It was funny on a number of levels, but She'd had her joke, so she sobered up some and apologized. "I'm sorry that I teased you," she added, "I didn't know you wanted it that much."

Then Mary allowed her own smile to fade, "Please don't threaten me," she said. "It's not a good idea. You don't know what I'm capable of and if you did manage it, my husband would find you."

Mary turned to Dr. Carroll and asked, "How will we know that the other side of the wormhole will support life?"

The laughter had him in so much rage that, without even being consciously aware of doing it, suddenly a dozen knives, razors, and other blades were out of their hiding places and floating around him like a horde of angry wasps, each one pointed at Windtalker. The knives in his hands shaking so much that he had to take a breath to calm himself. Who the fuck did this lady think she was?

She apologized but that made him all the more angry. Of course he wanted it! Who in their right mind wouldn't? Oh yeah, a bitch traveling around with a mangy wild animal."I'll threaten you all I please, bitch." He snarled, but his knives were back in their sheaths and so were all the other blades and weapons returned to their positions,"And I don't give a fuck who your fuckin' husband is. When this shit is over, I'm going to make sure to take my time carving you up like a turkey at Thanksgiving. Best believe that." And then smiled and turned to Dr. Carroll.

"Let's get a fuckin' move on before this bitch gets cut!"

"Not impressed", said Windtalker. "The Chosen were much scarier."

"I can answer that," James said as he appeared on an ATV with a trailer which carried a large metal crate. "And to put it simply, we don't. There are infinite possibilities for what we open up to. I can aim it to some extent, but I'm still learning. I can guarantee we're going to land on a planet. An that reminds me; you two need to go grab some environmental protection suits like this wonderful piece of fashion I'm sporting for the fall line," James said with a joking smile on his face. "You can grab them around the corner. Look for the yellow marked crate. But make sure you grab the yellow ones. The grey ones don't have atmospheric filtering."

A dust-devil enveloped Windtalker's form and quickly dissipated, revealing her in the form of the three meter tall Sasquatch. The form was a little uncomfortable, but it seemed the best choice as she probably would break the suit if she changed form after putting it on. Talking was a little more strained, but she made sure to speak a little more slowly and clearly. She turned to James and asked, "Do you have anything in this size?"

He had slipped in to one of he environmental protection suits (annoying how they seemed to bunch around his crotch) and trying to figure out the helmet when Windtalker changed from a petite woman to a giant bigfoot. He tried his best not to gape at her but it was impossibly difficult. He made a mental note to stop antagonizing her and, if he planned to kill her still, to do so while she wasn't expecting it. He cursed. Of course, now it seemed that the possibility of getting it past her was most likely impossible now.

If Windtalker was making a joke, it didn't seem to amuse James, "No, we made one HUMAN size. I didn't plan for an overgrown gorilla to be coming along." The young scientist walked over to a monitor and checked a few readings. "We'll be good to go in two minutes."

"Puny Scientist, stupid on so many levels," said the Sasquatch before she was engulfed in another dust-devil and emerged in her 'normal' skinwalker form.

Windtalker quickly donned a yellow environmental suit. The helmets had radios, so James and the doctor weren't totally stupid. Before putting the helmet on, she instructed Chahałheeł to be good and to guard Dr. Carroll.

Then, to Cutter, she said, "Lead on, Mr. Cutter, I'll have your back."

With a hiss, the helmet settled on his head and he grunted in satisfaction. He felt like someone in a movie about to deal with some deadly disease or contagion. Let's hope it ends up better for me than it did for them. He thought with some apprehension. He sneered over at Windtalker,"That gives me so much comfort." He said sarcastically and walked over to where James was reading some stuff on a monitor, doing his best to keep his eye on Windtalker.

Behind the helmet, behind the mask, Mary just smiled.

"And we have complete tunneling in 3. 2. 1!" The blue beam cut off and the prism-like sphere collapsed into a two dimensional disk. While the actual depth didn't change, it appeared that the disk became a swirling vortex stretching off into oblivion when viewed from the front. "Lead the way, Mr. Cutter," James shouted as he hopped on the atv and turned the ignition."

This was his time. His moment. He had retained holding his knives and he was thankful for the suit, otherwise his grips would be drenched in sweat. Terrified and exhilarated as the prospect, Alexander took a breath and ran right in to the disk.

"By the way," quipped Windtalker to James and Dr. Carroll, "did anyone check the gravity of wherever this thing is going? Light gravity might be fun, but I'd hate to pinned to the ground by heavy G's when we arrive."

[WhatsamattaU]

Chicago, Illinois.

The fog was really really thick this morning in the Windy City, thought Vito Figura. Earlier, he'd thought it was letting up, but now, well now it was just like pea soup. Vito couldn't see clearly more than five feet away. Anything more than that was just shadows, if that. It made him nervous and he said as much to his fellow Barone Nero, Leo.

"What?" replied Leo, "Ya nervous over some fog? Lemme tell ya, we got our turf covered, fog or no. Sure, fog's thick, but we know where everythin' is and we have the choke points covered. Fog or no, nothin' comes in here without us knowin' and I don't care if it's Shou-Lin Dragons or those uppity Warsaw Warriors."

Vito knew that the Dragons were great fighters and the Barones had been hard pressed in the past to fight them off. The Warriors had a history in Chicago. In the past, they were content to just hold their neighborhood. Now, they were expanding. There'd been some fracases in the clubs between their territories. Some of the Barones had recently taught a lesson to a Warrior, or someone they thought was a Warrior. Busted the kid up good, Vito had heard.

Tensions were up between the gangs.

Then Leo and Vito heard steps coming their way, through the fog. No civilian would be out in the fog like this at this time. The boys got ready for trouble.

Two shadows resolved into the forms of two young men. They stopped five feet away. One looked like a kid of typical east European descent, the other didn't look like any ethnic Vito had ever seen, but he was on the ugly side, for sure.

"I have a message for your leaders," said the East Euro, "Aleksy wasn't a member of the Warriors, but his older brother is. Stupid kid, likes Italian food, don't look like no tourist, shoulda known better and now he does." The Warrior paused and then said, "The Warriors want ten Gees to forget about about an injury done to a civilian from the neighborhood. Get the kid's bills paid while he heals up."

Ugly just watched and listened.

Vito thought about it. ten Gees was a hefty sum, but it wasn't outrageous considering medical costs. He figured that this was just the first part of negotiations and dickering before things got smoothed over, so he didn't think there was any problem with delivering the message. Leo, however, had other ideas.

"You two get lost and tell the others that Barones Nero ain't their effing insurance company," said Leo, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a pistol.

Unbelievably fast, Ugly kid pushed East Euro to the side, away from where Leo had the pistol aimed. Leo started to move the pistol back at them when something like a spear erupted from his chest.

Vito turned to run but someone tripped him up and landed on his back. Whoever it was said, "That was my brother your friend pulled a gun on. Everything would have been fine if he'd not pulled the gun. But he paid the price, yes? Now, you go home and tell your other friends that now the Warriors want twenty Gees and then everything will be fine. Oh, and one more thing, my brothers and I aren't members of the Warriors. We're 'contractors' and we won't be bought off. You just lie there for a minute. If you move before then, well, you saw what happened to your pal."

Vito felt the weight come off his back. Instead of just sixty, he counted to a hundred before he moved. Vito got up and went over to Leo's body and screamed and screamed for help as the fog began to lift again.

---

At the Medical Examiner's office, the doctor inspecting the fatal wound raised an eyebrow. While she couldn't say with one hundred percent certainty, the wound bore a resemblance to a wound she'd seen from a falling icicle. But that was very unlikely. There hadn't yet been any snow that year and who in their right mind carried huge icicles?

In her report she wrote, "unknown spear-like weapon".