Are We Heroes Chapter 1: Strange Winds [IC | Open]

[The Cyberiad Council]

click for OOC

The Pentagon
"This is a bad idea," John said, shaking his head as he snuck around the side of the Pentagon. "Sure, just break into one of the most secure buildings in the world; it will be easy! I hate drunk me." By now, the man known as John Smith had been picked up by dozens of security cameras and motion sensors, and he wasn't even inside the walls yet. The guards were on their way, but that was what John was counting on. He crept up to a side door and waited for the men in dark suits and guns to come storming out.

Sure enough, large men with dark sunglasses burst through the door, their sidearms trained on the man in the leather jacket with a snarky grin on his face. "Morning Gents." John mocked while slowly slipping his hands into the air. Biding his time, John waited until the lead man got within striking distance, then he lashed out. In a series of quick, lunging moves, John flew from man to man until the entire group of guards lay lifeless on the ground. "No hard feelings boys, it had to be done. 'For the greater good' and all that." John straightened his jacket and stooped down and swiped a keycard off of the nearest guard.

Minutes later alarms were blaring and people were shooting guns with reckless abandon. Ducking around a corner to avoid a hailstorm of bullets, John blind fired a pistol he plucked off a dead guard. "I swear, this is the worst hospitality I have EVER received." Continuing down the hall, John came face to face with a shotgun-toting man in body armor. "Wait, we can talk-" A pull of the trigger silenced John with a deafening explosion and a swarm of lead pellets.

"This is Adams, Intruder down, I repeat, intruder down."

"Don't be so sure, buddy." The guard looked down to see the barrel of John's borrowed gun pointed at his face. Putting a bullet between the guard's eyes, John clambered back to his feet and looked down at his bullet hole ridden chest. "I liked this jacket." Suddenly, another bullet tore through John's back, causing him to jump at the sudden sting. "Damn it. Would you all wait for just a minute!" Taking off with a sprint, John headed deeper into the building, dodging guards, and supernaturally breezing through more than a few locks. After a stressful search, John found what he was looking for: the server room.

John ran to a terminal and began searching the database. "I hate these stupid things. What was wrong with paper?" After a few tense moments of searching, John finally found the file he was looking for. "Cincinnati, Chicago, Honolulu, Honolulu, ...Honolulu, again, and Honolulu." Guards swarmed into the room but John had found the names he was looking for. John braced himself and the increasingly familiar sting of bullets sunk into his flesh. This time he went down...

---

Three Hours Later

A medical examiner looked confused. In front of him was a body that supposedly died from multiple gunshots, yet had no visible wounds anywhere. At all. "This doesn't make sense at all." The guard headed for the door to the supply room after tossing his clipboard on the table. When the poor man turned back around, his examination table was empty, and the door to the morgue was slowly swinging shut...

---

CIA headquarters

"One man, stormed through three levels of Pentagon security armed with nothing but a service weapon he picked up off a dead agent?"

"Yes, Sir."

The CADMUS agent had taken a keen interest in the floor after presenting the incident report. Interim CADMUS Director Kelly Thurman gritted his teeth as he watched security camera footage. "And no one though it pertinent to post a guard outside of the morgue. The man was shot over sixty times!" Work was well underway for a proper headquarters for the organization, but in the meantime, they were having to operate out of the CIA. Thurman himself had served as FBI director for five years before temporarily taking over CADMUS until a proper director could be appointed.

"The agents at the Pentagon weren't trained to deal with meta-humans, Sir."

Thurman massaged the bridge of his nose as he took a deep breath. "What did he take?"

"Nothing was transferred from the server, but he was apparently browsing the suspected meta-human list. The files he had access to are in the report. We've altered local law enforcement in Virginia and Maryland, and given his image to the TSA."

"You're not going to find him. Notify our Field agents; Mr. Smith just became public enemy number one."

[Segral]

#0139/CHRIS
Tokyo, Japan

"You have the right to remain silent."

The criminal was thrown against the wall of the dark alleyway, with a shattering thump. The man struck the wall so hard the trash bin nearby rattled slightly, his breath was sucked out of him into a choked gasp, the very wall seemed to shake slightly, imperceptibly. The man slid down to the ground, fully unconscious, into a muddy puddle, rain continuing to splash down on his knocked-out form, mixing with the trace amounts of blood that had appeared. Iron filled, copper-tasting blood.

"Exercising it would be beneficial to your health."

CHRIS stepped back to examine his handiwork. He had caught the criminal with several firearms, and heading towards a bank no less. His violent conduct and resistance against arrest hadn't helped his case either. It was a regular bank robber, probably in a desperate situation, left with no choice. But CHRIS had no sympathy for him. It was his job to arrest them, not provide emotional support. Slinging the man over his shoulder, he carried him over to the police car, opened the door, and threw him inside, cuffing him for good measure. It was only a precaution, as it would be highly unlikely he would wake before he was taken into custody. He briefly radioed in the report, settled into the small cruiser that had been assigned to him, and drove to the police station. There were many accidents on the road, but CHRIS was as careful and meticulous as ever.

Sometime later...

CHRIS was continuing on his patrols. Crime happened everywhere, and CHRIS had to cover all areas and remain vigilant in order to do his job, protect the people and uphold the law. So far, besides that robber, there had been no signs of activity all night, but crime happened at any hour, any day, and CHRIS could for prolonged periods without recharging, so he would be patrolling all night. Things didn't seem suspicious, but you could never tell. The car continued to roar across the asphalt, water splashing everywhere as tires struck it, lights beaming through the night. Rain pounded the windshield furiously, and the window-wipers couldn't wipe it off fast enough. But CHRIS was fine, even with the rain. He had his thermograph, if he so desperately needed it, and he could see clearly anyways.

However, as he was driving, he noticed something in his rearview mirror. There was a car, a black one, an unidentifiable logo on the front. It was slightly strange, but nothing worth investigating. However, suspicions started to grow as, through the next ten minutes, the car continued following him. It was difficult to concentrate on the vehicle as well as the supposed street filth he was tasked to exterminate. It was as if they knew who was in that police car...

[IOTA Corp]

Nathaniel "Nate" Peterson, Aka Prophet
Chicago

Most people spend their days off running errands, or doing things around the house, or doing something fun. Nate was standing on top of the Willis Tower. That was what superheroes did right? They stood on a tall building and looked for trouble? "How are you supposed to see anything from up here?" Nate muttered to himself. He looked a couple blocks away, where some government building was being converted to a CADMUS Field office for Illinois. It brought so many unanswered questions to his mind; would he be locked up just for being different, or would he be monitored and tracked like some criminal? Either way, it made him question his allegiance to the Nation that promised equality for all.

"This is stupid; I'm no superhero." Nate stood up and prepared to open a breach to take him back home, but his eyes were suddenly engulfed in blue flames. In flashes of blue-tinted images, he saw people cowering, the barrel of a shotgun accompanied by the sound of gunfire, he saw bags, heard cop sirens, the squeal of tires, and a blue van. When the vision ended, Nate realized the ground was flying up to meet him. "Christ!" He must have fallen over the edge of the Tower when the vision struck. Summoning Void energy around his body, Nate felt the force of flight take hold. He managed to level off about ten feet above the tops of cars on the street below.

"Too close for comfort." Putting on a burst of speed, Nate climbed back into the air and zig-zagged between buildings in the direction he felt the vision was pointing him towards. "What was that, some sort of bank robbery? I'll admit it feels a bit cliche." Nate's vision flashed sapphire again, and he knew where the van was. He didn't see an image per se, just a gut feeling. "Oh, Shit!" Nate, distracted by the micro-vision, was flying straight towards a brick wall. Covering his face with his arms, Nate slammed into the wall, leaving a sizeable crater. "Note to self, to prophecy and fly." Nate pried himself away from the wall and jumped back into the air.

A few seconds later the blue van from Nate's vision came into view with a squadron of police cars in hot pursuit. "Come on, you can do this!" The Sapphire clad figure swooped down low to the road and flew up alongside the van. The Driver's eyes grew wide in the side view mirror, and he called to someone in the back of the van. Another masked criminal slammed open the side door of the van and quickly fired a shotgun at Prophet before he could react. Prophet's armor held up, but it caused him to slam into the asphalt while spewing a string of curses. "Motherfucker." Prophet picked himself off the ground and quickly opened a breach. Nate exited the breach just behind the van and quickly caught up with it again. This time, Nate was ready for the gunman. Nate felt the energy of his suit ripple as it pooled around his right fist. Rolling his body to build up momentum, Nate launched the void blast through the open door of the van. The blast struck the man aiming the shotgun in the chest and slammed him against the opposite side of the van. The force of the impact caused the van to lean to the right, and Prophet saw his opportunity. Nate slammed his shoulder into the side of the van and thrust his shoulder upwards. With the combined force of the void blast and the tackle, the Van flipped onto its side before sliding to a stop a short distance later.

Nate landed and charged towards the back doors of the van. Flinging open the doors, the two remaining men in the back flung open the sideways doors and started firing at Prophet. The Swirling energy shell managed to stop the bullets from tearing into Nate, but he didn't know how long he could hold it. Prophet quickly retaliated by firing a volley of blue blasts into the back of the van. After the two in the back had been incapacitated, Nate ran and jumped on the side of the van, and ripped off the driver side door. The man inside put his hands up, but Nate ripped him out of the vehicle and tossed him on the ground in front of the cops.

The Police swarmed the man on the ground and put him in cuffs, but then they trained their guns on Prophet. "Woah, Woah. I'm on your side." Nate put his hands in the air but kept the Void suit manifested just in case. A small crowd had gathered to see the superhero. Kids pushed through the gathering and started cheering. Others started to applaud, and Nate smiled under his suit. The officers looked around at the people, and then back to Nate. Slowly, they lowered their guns.

Nate descided that it might not be best to stick around for questioning, so he opened a breach, and vanished into thin air.

[The Knockout Gun Gals]

Selina Hyun
Honolulu, Hawaii
HPD, Narcotics Division

Selina was on a sentry watch. Looking out for the supposedly upcoming people of the drugs. People of the drugs, really? Not entirely people made of drugs, but more likely a group of drug dealers who were about to have a meeting with an opposite gang, the buyer. Italian gang, resided in New York. Drugs are growing in Hawaii, and somehow of the better quality. Cheaper to import than if they have to buy it from Southeast Asia. The massive drug flows put everyone on edge. Law enforcement, the governor, local gangs, and foreign gangs. Selina put up her undercover looks as another lookout, so to speak.

"Look up, they're coming," as her comms fired up. She looked down from her current place as cars coming in. "They bring some heavy guns," she muttered. "Not gonna be good," so to speak. The dealers and the Italians went out. They all spoke, conversations. Things normal happened, but then...gun firing not far from them. "Damn, what's that!?"

"Another criminal activity!"

"Fuck, they geared up theirs! All in!" and the place became swarmed with the SWAT as the two gangs desperately covered up themselves and pulling out guns. She'd better do something...

[The Cyberiad Council]

CIA Building

Thurman hated these meetings: they held them nearly every day, but they were necessary. At least, that's what everyone kept saying. Thurman sat at the head of a long wooden table that seated the Associate Directors, and other members of CADMUS administration. The breach at the Pentagon had set most of the DOD on edge, and they were breathing down Thurman's neck to fix everything.

"What is our next move director?"

Thurman snapped out of his daze and refocused on the faces looking at him with stern expressions. Thurman cleared his throat, "Having John Smith involved could complicate everything. We already have reports of a 'Blue-clad superman' stopping bank robbers and muggers in Chicago. Several others are under our observation, with the list growing longer by the day. We have managed to sequester a few overtly dangerous Metahumans, but we simply don't have the facilities to safely contain the vast majorities of powers out there as of the current date. The first CADMUS containment facility will be marginally operational within the next three weeks, but the fact that Smith is interested in the names on the server has me worried. Prep the LA garrison and have them ready to move out to Hawaii; most of the names Smith looked up were last reported to reside there. Prep other teams to round up the other targets around the U.S. If we can find them before Smith, it will be better for all of us."

---

John Smith and Somnus

"Dimitri, I'm back," John called as he slipped into the hotel room. "The Pentagon! You broke into the fucking Pentagon! Черт, Джон?"

John rolled his eyes and walked over to the closet. "Look," He began as he produced a fresh leather coat and clothes. "I saved us a lot of time. Your dream... thing can take ages to work. And watch your language; you're too young to be talking like that."

"Maybe so, but my 'dream thing' doesn't alert the entire nation to what we're up to." Dimitri's accent thickened with his emotions, but he managed to keep his cool. "And I look like I could be your father."

"Ah!" John exclaimed while raising his index finger. "But I am old enough to be your multiple thousands of times over great grandfather, so..." John shrugged with a smug grin before stepping into the bathroom to change. "большой!" Dimitri said shaking his head.

A few minutes later John emerged all cleaned up from his last escapade. "Where are we headed, John?"

"Hawaii, but we're going to make a quick stop in Chicago first. Are your bags packed?"

"Yes, and I packed yours too."

"Wunderbar!"

"Since when do you speak German?"

"I spoke one, fairly common, German word; that's hardly enough to assume someone speaks another language. But you're not wrong: I learned German in... let's see..." John acted like he was counting on his fingers for a second. "I learned old high German somewhere in the 5th century, then Early New High German during the Thirty Years' War, and finally I brushed up my Deutscher Wortschatz after a little stint with the Grimm brothers in 1860-ish."

"Fascinating," Dimitri muttered while looking at his watch. "Where is room service? I called them twenty minutes ago." As if on cue, a knock came from the door. "Come in," John called. A woman pushing a cart opened the door and smiled at the two men standing in the room. "I have room service for a Mr. Smith."

"Yes, that's me!" John said. He walked up to the cart and took a pastry just as the woman slumped to the ground, soundly asleep. "Are you really taking the pastry?"

"Yes, I'm taking the pastry, Dimitri! I'm hungry!"

"Whatever." Suddenly, the men dissapeared into a dream...

[Higher Japan]

Freyja Marrion, Honolulu

"Please don't touch me again." Freyja coldly muttered out, looking at the dead body below her as she slowly pushed her boot deeper into the remnants of his head. "Good, good, his soul will be useful to us." The voice in her head said as she slowly stuck her hand out, the blue plasma coming from the body as a scream could be heard in the spirit world, the body within the other world lifting up at the chest while screaming as his life slowly got removed. Freyja suddenly fell to the ground, holding her head as she saw the world from the view of the spirit world this time, Hyrania standing in front of her in front of her, facing both her and the body as the world around her suddenly began to be filled with images rolling by in film reel like forms, displaying memories.

"At the cost of this energy, you must experience true sorrow in this world. One that all killers are spared from, but not you. In order to gain true power, you must first learn to lose your humanity and heart, only then shall you advance further in the right direction." She looked around her, memories of the man flashing by for what seemed like a century before the world distorted back to the real one. By now, the corpse was grey and shriveled up. Looking down, she tossed down a small card, one written in the ancient language of the demon world as she heard the sound of footsteps coming up behind her. "Put your hands up and step away from the body." She could here guns clicking as she took a few steps back.

"Allow me dear." Within seconds, her body was now consumed by flames as Hyrania revealed herself in her true form, shocking the cops for a moment as they suddenly fell dead to the ground with 2 knives in their throat, before their soul energy was quickly taken away. "What misfortune for us to encounter them here, come now. We must escape." Quickly lifting up, the duo left as soon as they appeared as Hyrania quickly vaulted the body over the brick wall before giving it back to Freyja as they left as if nothing had happened.

[Arkeyana]

Prelude

"AGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH" Screamed the man as he looked down at the smoky blade protruding from his chest. "You know...It would hurt less if you told me where the shipment was." A shadowy figure said, if it had a face, it was either concealed by shadow or was shadow. "G-go.. back to wh-whatever Hell-Hole YOU CRAWLED OUT OF!" The man shouted back. "As you wish..." Wrait h said as he altered the structure of the blade he was wielding to protrude spikes. "AHHHGUGUGPEDEF" The man gurgled as his insides were torn apart. "Disgusting" Was the only word Wraith said as he disentigrated the weapon and made a scythe so Sammy wouldn't suspect anything. He made a portal and left through it.

He exited through the portal into the warehouse they used as a base of operations and said "Sammy, I'm back" as he shifted back to Drake Lawrence. "Uhhhh, Sammy?" He said as he didn't see her. He walked toward the computer they normally used for mapping and found some sorta romance comic on it. "Sams, what did I tell you abou-". He heard the sound of something charging and turned around, seeing Sammy Clara in her Archangel suit, it's white and blue plating illuminating the area. "Drake, we need to talk." She said. Drake replied, puzzled, "Yeah sure, what do you want to talk about, but why do you have to have that thing on, its distracting.". "Trust me, this is neccessary, and its about your methods." She replied. (Shite) Drake thought as he realized his predicament. "I've been reading the news, and it been going on lately about seemingly impossible assaults on people who turned out to be Criminals, all of the mturning themselves in whimpering about a "Grim Reaper" and suffering from blade wounds, sound familiar?" Said Sammy, her gaze unwavering. drake sighed and sat down on the edge of a table "Sammy, what, and please do answer this, else am I supposed to do? Ask them nicely over a cup of tea,? Maybe while playing chess as well." He said sarcastically. "You don't NEED to attack them! You can just threaten or use other methods, but not actively assault them!" She retorted, her armor glowing slightly brighter with Irritation. "Why the Hell are you so..so Sadistic towards the-" "NOW YOU LISTEN UP, BUCKO, WE GOT INTO THIS TO MAKE SEATTLE A BETTER PLACE,
AND THAT INVOLVES GETTING HANDS DIRTY, AND WHO'S DOING THAT? ME. WHO'S THE ONE GETTING THE INFO, ME AGAIN. IF YOU CAN'T STOMACH THAT, THEN GET OUT!" Drake yelled. The two of them were caught in stunned silence as the weight of his outburst settled in. He slumped, the shadows in the room shifting uncomfortably. Sammy finally broke the silence with a "Drake, I...I...". "What, you can chastise me for being "Overkill" but not muster the courage to say Fracking Sorry?" Drake shot with venom as the shadows formed a cloak around him.

Later... (Really don't want to write the whole fight scene, so quick summary, Drake throws a punch, Sammy retaliates with a sword, it goes on until Archangel is thrown against a wall and is knocked out, her arm broken)

"Ohh, my arm". Moaned Sammy as she sat up, wincing in pain, she looked and saw it bandaged and turned to see drake over at one of the desks, his back turned as he was tending his own wounds. She got up and left without a word, leaving drake with the debris. upon returning home, both would be bombarded with questions and what caused the wounds. Both responded that they were working on something and it "Spazzed out" and went all over the place.

The Next Day, Drake didn't show up for class, or the day after that, or the day after that, he eventually had a missing persons report filed and searches were conducted. Sammy was the worst off. Many had seen her and Drake as more than friends, even though this was firmly denied, and with him gone the other guys at college started trying to make passes at her. On the 6th day, she was questioned by men in black about the two, was there anything going on, was Drake showing weird behavior, etc. Little did she know he had landed in hawaii and was attempting to start anew there, unaware of what was to come.

[Auphelia]

The Titan

She runs through an empty field, her dogs in formation behind her. The black dress she wears flutters in the wind and her feet pound into the ground. It feels good to run, an illusion of freedom. She goes faster, her feet leaving small craters in the earth and her body nearly becoming a blur. She grows larger as well, doubling her normal height the size of a one story building. Her dogs are left behind as she races for the opposite side of the field, to freedom. A pair of white hot torches appear in her hands, shooting flames a metre long. When she is almost a quarter of the way to the wood line, she suddenly leaps up and slams her torches down on an invisible barrier, shattering it and sending up a gigantic bronze pillar of light. She continues running, but the barrier behind her begins to repair itself, the broken shards flying back in to place.

She runs as hard as she can, knocking down trees in her haste. Run run run tree run tree run duck run jump run. She has no energy to think, just to get as far away from that barrier as possible. Suddenly, the barrier expands out, a small arm like jelly slides over her and encases her within. Then, with great force, the barrier snaps back, flinging the giant woman backwards. All of the distance she had covered, gone. Past nearly a half kilometre of woods, the barrier stopping from retracting once it is back where it had been. The woman, however, still has a monumental amount of momentum, causing her to fly halfway across the clearing and dig a burrow across the other half, stopping suddenly with a large explosion of white flames. Some of the dogs still in the field pace around the crater, seemingly afraid of approaching the crater but unbothered by the heat.

Again. I have failed . . . again.

She rises from the crater, wreathed in smoke and flame. Her dress is torn and scorched, her entire body covered in cuts and scrapes from which flow golden blood, and her torches by her side are shattered in half. But as she stands there, within minutes her body heals itself, her dress mended itself, and her torches regrew their broken ends and the fire encasing her body swirled onto the torch ends. With a flick of her wrists the torches disappeared and she shrank back to a smaller size, only three metres tall. Walking out of the crater, she again approaches the wall, walking rather than running. As her hand touches it it ripples, a rainbow of light, and solidifies into a thin glass dome. Her prison, and her sanctuary.

---

Daniela Nicolae

It is midnight and Daniela is still awake. Her grandmother, after another hard day at the office, has drifted to sleep on the bed they share in this cramped apartment. Her snores provide a gentle background to Daniela as she peers into a bowl of extra virgin olive oil from a nearby store. Normally she would have used oil blessed by the Matriarch, the oldest female Nicolae, but their family matriarch had been captured by that new government organisation, CADMUS.

She and her grandmother had peered into the past to assess what had happened, but there wasn't much to know. Their family store and home had been a fortress of magical spells, more secure than most government facilities. But these people, hypocrites, had used metas to punch through the magical barriers, zip past flung curses and risen talisman golems. Thankfully no one had been killed, as far as they knew, but when several family members were captured, the Matriarch (Gypsy's great-great-great grandmother) had been forced to surrender and drop the remaining defences. They had been shackled and put into grey uniforms, put onto an armoured bus and driven east. That was all they knew, or could find out.

She and her grandmother, as well as a few of her cousins and aunts who had not been home at the time (she hoped), had evaded capture, scattering to the winds. They raced to the airport, quickly buying the only remaining tickets on the earliest available flight: first class to Honolulu. The entire trip had been nerve wracking, and even a month later Daniela still found herself always checking over her shoulder and making circles on her way home.

In the oil she tried to find out where they were now, but it was hard without her grandmother to help her. She didn't dare wake her though, as she knew the old woman would need her rest. While she was young for a Nicolae woman, 80 years old and barely middle aged, she had never worked like she did now. She had only ever worked in the family shop, reading palms and making talismans. This "honest" work was draining and degrading. With a wave of her had, Daniela tore through the wavering image of rocks and dissolved the image. She should sleep as well. It was always best to be alert during the day.

[Lavan Tiri]

Nathaniel "Nate" Peterson, Aka Prophet
Chicago

RAFAEL GLEZOS
WASHINGTON, D.C.

Agent Glezos was bent over his laptop, studying the footage of the attack at CADMUS. It was sloppy, but sloppy didn't really matter when your body was seemingly bullet-proof.

The attacker was talking, chattering away. The footage had no sound, but Rafe gathered that he was nervous. So he wasn't utterly stupid--one would have to be to attack such a secure location alone, even with such power--but he was somewhat stupid, given that he appeared to have little in the way of a plan.

He did, however, have a goal. The servers, where he'd browsed the meta-humans list CADMUS kept--it made Rafe uncomfortable, but he rationalized it as a necessity. It was like keeping track of firearms, if firearms could do things like fly or shoot lasers from their urethra. Which, in theory, meta-humans might be able to do.

The CADMUS car trundled into the airport, where his plane--a tiny, subersonic jet--was waiting.

---

"We don't have enough resources to assign the metas individual agents," the director explained, creasing his brow impressively at Rafe, "so we're allotting one agent per city."

Rafe nodded slowly, his bowtie brushing against the stubble on his chin. "If I may, sir?"

"Ask."

"Why are you assigning me to Chicago, and not Honolulu, or--"

"Because," the director said, cutting him off, "we need to secure Nathaniel Peterson as soon as possible, before the attacker makes his way there. Peterson is one of the most powerful metas we know of, and now--"

"The enemy knows of him too."

The director nodded slowly. Rafe bit the inside of his cheek, waiting for the man to speak.

"Your plane leaves in three hours. Be ready, be armed, be smart."

Agent Glezos stood quickly and shook his superior's hand.

"Good luck, Hunter."

---

The driver pulled Rafe's three small bags--containing clothes, toiletries, and a battered copy of Beloved--and one large suitcase--containing three pistols, a rifle, twelve flashbangs, twelve fragmentation grenades, and ten smoke grenades, plus ammunition--on the ground. Rafe swung the bags over his shoulder and quickly lifted the suitcase. The driver--a massive man, missing several teeth and obviously packing considerable firepower, who had introduced himself with an unsettling smile and a mutter of "Nikolai" in an unidentifiable East-Euro accent--clapped a hand the size of a smallish couch cushion on Rafe's shoulder. "Watch out for bears," Nikolai muttered, and then he slid, oily, back into the car. Rafe nodded awkwardly at the tinted window and boarded the airplane.

The pilot--a hatchet-faced brunette woman--waved him to the only seat in the cabin, which he gladly took, reclining as he flipped through the dossier he'd been given on Peterson. It was distressingly incomplete in several areas, such as personality ("Guarded and reclusive"), and the origin of his powers ("CLASSIFIED"), but aside from that, it was helpful.

Included was a photograph of the attacker.

---

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

Rafe quickly walked down the street, having memorized Peterson's last known address en route. The wind was biting at the exposed parts of his face, making him very glad for his trenchcoat. The other reason he wore it seemed less important now that he saw just how armed the people around him were--not powerful weapons, but many had small pistols or large knives. Or both, which was overkill. Rafe took a moment to check his own pistols were still where he'd put them, holstered on his hips.

This is my boomstick. . .

When he reached the address, Agent Glezos looked around, scanning for potential threats. There were. . .well, quite a few, but none that were active threats, for the moment. Satisfied, he descended the stairs until finding the basement apartment that was supposed to belong to Peterson.

Knock knock

[IOTA Corp]

Nate Peterson, Aka Prophet

"Who's there?" Nate wasn't expecting anyone and he was on edge with CADMUS on the prowl, but he didn't think anything of answering the door. Nate made it within two steps of the door before his eyes burst into blue flames. He felt it; he felt the pain that could come from opening that door, the struggle. When the flames died down, Nate jumped on his feet and looked around wildly. This was the bad part of having a basement apartment; no windows. "I gotta get out of here." Nate's eyes finally settled on the door, and he grinned slightly.

Moments after the knock came, Prophet burst through the apartment's door, clad in his energy suit. "Look, I don't know how you found me, but I just want to be left alone!" Prophet took a defensive stance but didn't back down.

[Lavan Tiri]

Nate Peterson, Aka Prophet

"Who's there?" Nate wasn't expecting anyone and he was on edge with CADMUS on the prowl, but he didn't think anything of answering the door. Nate made it within two steps of the door before his eyes burst into blue flames. He felt it; he felt the pain that could come from opening that door, the struggle. When the flames died down, Nate jumped on his feet and looked around wildly. This was the bad part of having a basement apartment; no windows. "I gotta get out of here." Nate's eyes finally settled on the door, and he grinned slightly.

Moments after the knock came, Prophet burst through the apartment's door, clad in his energy suit. "Look, I don't know how you found me, but I just want to be left alone!" Prophet took a defensive stance but didn't back down.

Rafe felt his heart skip a beat or twelve, and he unconsciously reached for his pistols, stopping just short of yanking them loose. Instead, he raised his hands, in the universal gesture of "Jesus fuck, don't kill me."

"It's okay, Mister Peterson," Rafe said, stepping back slowly, "I'm not here to hurt you. I'm from CADMUS," he continued, holding his hand out to shake, "and we have reason to believe you're in danger. Not," he added quickly, "from me. I'm here to protect you, Mister Peterson. My name is Agent Hunter."

Rafe pulled the photo of the attacker from his pocket and thrust it at Nate. "Recognize this man?"

[The Cyberiad Council]

"How could he possibly recognize him? That looks nothing like me!"

"Its a photograph, John. It looks exactly like you."

The Eternal, John Smith, strode confidently down the hall towards Prophet and Agent Hunter with Somnus following a few steps behind. "There's no reason to be snappy, Somnus."

"Look, Nate, I'm here to save you from him," John said pointing an accusatory finger at Hunter. "We would have been here sooner to talk to you, but somebody couldn't find a sleeping person close by."

Somnus rolled his eyes and scowled at John. "If you would have preferred, I could have let you walk all the way to Chicago."

"I am like you, Nate. We both are," John said gesturing between the Russian and himself. "We represent people who are interested in you maintaining your freedom. Mr. Glezos, on the other hand, works for those who seek your permanent incarceration, or possible freedom in exchange for you working for them to capture more superhumans."

John then turned his attention to Agent Hunter. "I really don't like killing people, it starts to get lonely after a while, but I can't let you get your hands on Mr. Peterson. The survival of the world depends on it. I assume you know that I am one tough bastard to kill, so save yourself the trouble."

"John, you can't kill Mr. Glezos either. He is important too."

"Thanks, Somnus! Now he knows!"

[Lavan Tiri]

--SNIP SNERP--

Sloppy. Dangerous, but sloppy.

Rafe sighed, slid the photograph back into his pocket, and drew one of his pistols. "I'm sorry, John," the agent said as he flicked the safety off, "but I'm sure you understand. You did, after all, murder a great many of my coworkers very recently."

His eyes flicked to Peterson, before he continued, "Unprovoked."

Heart racing, Rafe raised his pistol and pointed it at John's knee. His mind quickly worked to connect all the dots. Would he be able to incapacitate the man before he attacked? John wouldn't kill Rafe, obviously, but what would he do? What capabilities did this Somnus have? What would Peterson do?

Distressingly, Rafe could answer none of those questions. So, he decided to keep the gun raised and his eyes fixed on John's--a confident front. "What do you want?"

[The Cyberiad Council]

"To be perfectly fair, most of them shot first. I didn't kill any more than what was necessary. Beleive me, I have the rest of eternity to have their souls weigh on my conscious."

Somnus pushed himself up from the wall and walked forwards with his hands raised until he was slightly in front of John. His accent was faint as he spoke with absolute clarity. "We don't set out to harm anyone; my colleague gets bored and excitable. The group we represent has come to the knowledge that the world is in grave danger. They have dispatched us to locate and recruit individuals with the powers and standing that could alter the current outcome. Mr. Peterson is a man of powerful abilities; your continued long-term survival might hinge on him remaining free for a few months more. As I have already said; we need you alive for the role you must play. That, however, does not mean we will allow you to fight us."

The Russian stared unwaveringly down the barrel of the gun. "CADMUS is not yet strong enough to fight us, but they will be soon. Let's make inroads towards a diplomatic relationship between our two organizations."

John's gaze wandered during Dimitri's monologue, and he happened to look at the wall... "A window?" He quickly looked at his palm, and his suspicion was confirmed. "Somnus, you sly dog," he whispered under his breath.

[Rupudska]

Selina Hyun
Honolulu, Hawaii
HPD, Narcotics Division

Selina was on a sentry watch. Looking out for the supposedly upcoming people of the drugs. People of the drugs, really? Not entirely people made of drugs, but more likely a group of drug dealers who were about to have a meeting with an opposite gang, the buyer. Italian gang, resided in New York. Drugs are growing in Hawaii, and somehow of the better quality. Cheaper to import than if they have to buy it from Southeast Asia. The massive drug flows put everyone on edge. Law enforcement, the governor, local gangs, and foreign gangs. Selina put up her undercover looks as another lookout, so to speak.

"Look up, they're coming," as her comms fired up. She looked down from her current place as cars coming in. "They bring some heavy guns," she muttered. "Not gonna be good," so to speak. The dealers and the Italians went out. They all spoke, conversations. Things normal happened, but then...gun firing not far from them. "Damn, what's that!?"

"Another criminal activity!"

"Fuck, they geared up theirs! All in!" and the place became swarmed with the SWAT as the two gangs desperately covered up themselves and pulling out guns. She'd better do something...

Keizer

Selina was not the only parahuman watching the actions of the gangs that day, nor was she the only one in that area. Hidden in the shadows, crouched a figure in a suit of black mechanical armor, viewing the scene from the fire escape of a nearby building with the assistance of her mask's infrared cameras.

It would be so very nice to pound most of these gang-bangers to a pulp, but Keizer was not here for cleaning up the streets of Hawaii, nor did she particularly care about the gangs here - Honolulu was a large city with a respectable crime rate but compared to South Africa it was downright tame. No, Keizer was here for a singular purpose, and that was a certain individual among one of the gangs that had information she needed.

And there he ran from the scene, narrowly avoiding being spotted by the SWAT crew that Keizer had called in to smoke him out. She wasted no time leaping from the balcony and knocking him to the ground with a gentle sucker punch to the back. Not enough to seriously injure, but enough to knock some of the wind out of him and get his attention. He drew a gun on her which she batted aside. Pulled a knife, in response Keizer grabbed his wrist and pinned him against the wall.

"Goeie more, Kekoa Hansen. I was wondering if you would be so kind as to inform me as to who your gang's supplier of cocaine is."

[Higher Japan]

Honolulu, Hawaii

Looking out of the window, Tia looked at her watch as the time slowly ticked by. For months she had been tracing the target down and now it was time to sweep in for the kill. Loading her musket and equipping the sight, she looked out as she took a step back, instead firing in a position such that the barrel was still hidden inside the building. Looking out the building, the target slowly left the area as she trained her gun onto him. Soon, he was going to enter a back alley and deal some drugs with some gang, no big deal, except she had suspected him as a potential superhuman and no chance must be taken.

Her concentration was broken at last as the swat team arrived, busting in to take 2 gangs down. A wrench in everything. Keeping her musket, she instead decided to pull two auto guns out while also taking her modified bazooka along as she jumped out the window, shocking some people and rolling out as she arrived towards the scene. Seeing that her target was not only escaping, but being pursued, she quickly gave short chase before arriving next to the two of them as she drew her gun.

"I see that we have common interests, if you're not here to kill him ask what you want and leave him for me."

"How interesting indeed~"

As Hyrania sat from the top of the building, watching the scene before her, she took a small orb of soul energy and began to manipulate it as she sighed. "A potential super human soul, possibly going to waste. Let us watch my dear, for you must learn the ways of the demon monarchy."

[IOTA Corp]

Nate Peterson Aka. Prophet

This was all too much; CADMUS, secret organizations. Everything Nate feared was coming true. "Sorry, I'm not signing up any of this." Prophet's suit flared briefly before a breach opened around him. In a split second, he was on the street. "Bunch of crazy psychos," Prophet muttered before taking to the air. He tried to open another breach, hopefully, to somewhere far from CADMUS, but nothing happened. "What the Hell is going on!?"

---

Dr. Lance Turner
New York City, New York

They're coming for you...

Turner woke in a cold sweat, breathing heavy, with adrenaline coursing through his veins. He looked around, trying to calm himself. Then Turner noticed the pain in his hands. He looked down to see several bone fractures protruding from his hands. Dried blood caked the wounds. Wincing, Turner grabbed the bones with his powers, and forced them back into place, flowing the splinters together, good as new. The skin, however, remained broken.

"Get ahold of yourself. You can control this."

---

"Good morning, Dr. Turner."

Turner just nodded at the receptionist as he walked into the hospital. He wasn't in the mood for idle chit-chat. The Hospital was threatening to cut him loose if he didn't pull himself together.

"...MR. TURNER!"

"Yes, Sir." bringing himself back to the situation at hand, Turner looked at his boss. "That right there. We can't have you doing that during surgery; that's how people die. You have an impressive record, Lance. Hell, you're one of the best surgeons in the damn state."

"Thank you, Sir. I've just been... stressed lately. But I'm dealing with it." He added quickly at the end. "I've started seeing a therapist, Dr. Walker. He's helping me deal with the pressure that the job can bring."

Turner's boss nodded. "Alright, but we'll be keeping a close eye on you. You have a surgery in a half-hour; better start prepping."

Without a word, Turner got up and left.

---

The Surgery got off to a smooth start, The ribcage was opened, and the incisions were being made. Everything was perfect until the patient's blood pressure started dropping. The team jumped into overdrive, attempting to stabilize the patient. Turner was doing his best, but he was losing the patient. "I can't save her." Then it dawned on him: Why should he save her? Humans were so fragile, so weak. If she managed to survive the surgery, she would just go off and be hit by a bus, or die in a mugging. It was humanities role to die. "Dr. Turner?"

Laying down his scalpel, Turner back away from the body, and walked out of the operating room, and out of the hospital.

[Kenmoria]

Tutamen
Anchorage, Alaska

A cool breeze swept over the landscape, the wind rustling the trees as it invaded the city. It was perhaps the most threatening element present in this isolated area, for nobody really cared enough about the state in general to pressure it with any form of police, military or CADMUS presence. That was, for now. Tutamen had moved to the city to seek protection, ironic given his power enabled essentially unlimited protection for as long as he could hold it. No-one was fully safe from the wrath of the secretive organisation but, short of moving to Hawaii, this was the best a meta-human could get.

Sighing slightly, Tutamen stepped onto the cold pavement; his feet protected from the icy conditions only by some thin, worn-out shoes. He strolled forwards, noticing John from the butcher's shop and waving him hello. Continuing, he passed some more familiar faces, interspersed with a few new ones, before coming to his destination. It was his house. A small, dilapidated affair that was warmed only with the cheerfulness of those around it. Inside was a television, perched on top of a wooden table. Next to it was a green armchair upon which sat a remote control. With a small measure of excitement, Tutuamen picked it up and pointed it towards the screen in front of him. Nothing. It seemed as though the tranquility of Anchorage would still pertain, though he knew not for how long.

[The Cyberiad Council]

Somnus and the Eternal'

"We better follow him!" John took off running, heading for the stairs. Dimitri dropped his hands and vanished into thin air. When John made it to the street he found Dimitri standing on the street talking to the hovering Nate. "The World is in danger, Mr. Peterson; you can do something about it! Don't trust CADMUS, whenever you do."

While Nate was processing Somnus' plea, A sniper shot struck him in the chest. Armored CADMUS agents wielding a mix of assault weaponry came out of the woodwork, Their guns trained on the two men on the ground. Somnus; body turned to a thick purple smoke, when it cleared, he was a massive black wolf with glowing red embers for eyes. Another sniper shot rang out, and a massive hole appeared in John's head. Two seconds later, he was getting back on his feet. "Did you have to make it feel so real?" He hissed at Somnus, who remained in an attack position.

In a deep, distorted voice Somnus called out to Nate again, "You must decide. This is the fate CADMUS has in store for you!"

---

Port of Los Angeles

Several men in black suits stood in a semi-circle as a crane unloaded a cargo container with Gencore's logo on the side. When it landed safely on the ground, four men came forward and quickly unlocked the door. "Check his vitals, then prep him to move."

A flash of red and black energy erupted behind the men, causing them to turn and raised their pistols. A man with fire-red hair in a suit stepped through the swirling mass of smoke-like energy, and the men lowered their guns. "Shard, thank you for joining us."

"It is my pleasure. What's the job?"

"Our technicians are prepping Subject W for transport. We can't risk CADMUS knowing that we have him, so the board has elected to have him transported via armored truck. We want you to personally guard the truck, he is not to fall into the hands of anyone. Understood?"

"Perfectly. Where is he being shipped to? Timpanogos?"

"Very intuitive, Shard."

The four technicians wheeled out an average looking man strapped to an advanced looking medical bed.

"So that is the man who destroyed St. Petersburg? Doesn't look like much."

The man in charge chuckled, "Perhaps not, but he has enough sedatives in him to stop the heart of nine bull elephants." The man called Shard widened his eyes but stayed silent.

One of the technicians walked around the armored truck parked nearby, "Subject W is secured and ready to move."

"Get moving. I'll see you in Utah, Shard."

"Yes, Sir." Shard climbed into the passenger seat of the truck, and it pulled off.

[IOTA Corp]

Nate Peterson, Aka Prophet

"Uhh. What the Hell?" Prophet Sat up off the pavement and felt his chest. "No bullet holes, good" Nate looked with fascinated horror at the wolf creatures that had previously been the strange Russian guy. Then, he noticed the approaching CADMUS agents. He tried using his powers again, but he still couldn't open a breach."

Calling out to Nate again in the terrible voice, the wolf said, "You cannot run from This. Fight or Submit!"

"Damn, it!" Nate summoned the void energy to his fists and began unleashing blue hell on the armored agents. His energy suit warded off damaged from the men who got too close, but he tried his best to take down the ones carrying shotguns before they got too close.

"I could use a hand!" He yelled to the smoke-wolf, and the more-normal looking guy.

[Lavan Tiri]

Somnus and the Eternal'

"We better follow him!" John took off running, heading for the stairs. Dimitri dropped his hands and vanished into thin air. When John made it to the street he found Dimitri standing on the street talking to the hovering Nate. "The World is in danger, Mr. Peterson; you can do something about it! Don't trust CADMUS, whenever you do."

While Nate was processing Somnus' plea, A sniper shot struck him in the chest. Armored CADMUS agents wielding a mix of assault weaponry came out of the woodwork, Their guns trained on the two men on the ground. Somnus; body turned to a thick purple smoke, when it cleared, he was a massive black wolf with glowing red embers for eyes. Another sniper shot rang out, and a massive hole appeared in John's head. Two seconds later, he was getting back on his feet. "Did you have to make it feel so real?" He hissed at Somnus, who remained in an attack position.

In a deep, distorted voice Somnus called out to Nate again, "You must decide. This is the fate CADMUS has in store for you!"

Agent Glezos chased after the pair, face set grimly. He skidded across the slick steps, nearly falling--ran out into the street after John and Somnus--and found a nightmare. A giant black wolf, eyes shining with hellfire, stood in the street.

"You must decide. This is the fate CADMUS has in store for you!", the wolf called, it's voice terrible. Rafe cried out and stumbled a few steps backward--fell on his ass--yanked out a pistol and aimed at the wolf, while CADMUS agents swarmed about, firing at everything nearby. His mind raced, figuring out how to respond, when something struck him.

You must decide.

Rafe cocked his pistol.

This is the fate CADMUS has in store for you!

And took aim at the back of John's knee. He couldn't kill the man, but he could disable him and then deal with Somnus.

It's not real.

Rafe pulled the trigger.

[Kenmoria]

Tutamen
Anchorage, Alaska

Tutamen had decided to go for a stroll in the forests nearby, based on the advice of his yoga teacher, someone he had a great deal of repeat for. It was peaceful, despite the extreme cold and occasional slip. He had half considered it so devoid of human life that his shields could be put up safely, to test his powers, but though he was relaxed in the small city, he was not foolish, and declined to do so.

The path began a steep hill, that climbed higher and higher for what looked like eternity. Continuing on it, Tutamen found himself getting no closer than before, sinking back despite never losing his footing. Walking backwards, he saw the slope was still there, and looked unmarked. In a fit of annoyance, he activated his forcefield, and the odd slope faded away. Thinking it was a trick of the lighting that his shield had diffused, he deactivated it. He looked back to check he hadn't went the wrong way, and found himself in a street, with other people looking around. He saw a group of CADMUS guards, holding back an immense dog before him. "You must decide," called the group of guards, and the huge canine, in a choral voice that echoed around him. "This is the fate CADMUS has in store for you!"

Chicago, Illinois

Tutamen knew that this must be some sort of psychic projection, for it appeared to happen only after he de-activated his force field, which blocked things of that nature. Across from him, were three men, one of which looked to be in intense concentration, one who had a gun pointed at another's knee, and the third just standing there. Looking at a sign, Tutamen saw the words, "Chicago!" Which told him his location. Walking over, some things appeared distorted and strange, probably a side effect of the psychic dream image, or whatever it was. Turning back to the guards and the nightmare dog, and now armed with the knowledge of none of this being real, Tutamen flung his fist into the canine's neck, spraying blood on the guards, who disintegrated as soon as he turned their guns against them.

Tutamen walked over to the others, "I want answers." He said.

[The Cyberiad Council]

Somnus and The Eternal

"Ah, Fuck!" John yelled as his knee gave out. He fell to the ground, gripping the wound that was strangely devoid of any blood. "Did you have to aim for the knee?" He asked in a manner more fitting for spilling a drink on someone; it was not the normal tone used by someone who had just been shot. John felt the muscles, tendons, ligaments, and bones flow back into place, literally just as they were before the bullet rudely tore through the skin, just as they had been for millennia.

Seconds later, John stood back up and faced Glezos. "You can't hurt me!" John yelled, throwing his hands out to the side like he was scolding a child. Then he was interrupted by another sniper round tearing through the back of his head. Before Hunter's eyes, the wound closed from the outside in. John didn't even hit the ground, he merely stumbled. "See !?"

One of mysteriously appearing CADMUS agents charged The Eternal from behind. John spun around and merely touched the person, who promptly fell to the ground, unmoving.

---

Somnus' new form shifted like an inky liquid under the blow. It recoiled and flowed up the wall of Prophet's apartment building. Reforming to the wolf-shape, Somnus was standing horizontally on the wall, looking at the metahumans below. Suddenly, metahumans from all over the world were standing in the midst of the crowd of Armored agents that had multiplied to ridiculous numbers. They had just arrived, but along with Tutamen, they suddenly understood what was going on. Memories that shouldn't exist took hold in there subconscious until they were indistinguishable from their real memories. The crowd of agents swelled even more until the individuals Somnus had pulled from sleep were dots of individuality in a sea of black body armor and identical faces. They were being pressed against on all sides, almost to the point of drowning. Those that reached out to their ever-faithful powers found that they were gone.

"This is what awaits all of you..." The wolf called out from its impossible perch. "... To be swallowed up. Captured. Killed by the organization born for the sole purpose of becoming your opposition." Suddenly, the entire world began to tilt. The sea of indistinguishable CADMUS agents containing the trapped metahumans turned into a river as the street became a vertical surface. The Black Wolf's wall became a horizontal surface, a ledge jutting out from a cascade; a raging waterfall sweeping the metahumans into a bottomless void below.

The metahuman's vision faded until they suddenly found themselves standing in a circle around an unfamiliar man in tattered clothes. Blood dripped from his knuckles and a violent red energy surged over his body. As the metahuman's looked around, they noticed they were standing in the middle of a blast zone. Destroyed city surrounded them on all sides. The rubble was so utterly flattened and destroyed that the only hint as to its identity was an obelisk, cracked and shattered. Creatures raced around them, just beyond their range of sight. They could be heard, though, screaming in the ruined city. There was something hauntingly human about their cries...

The man and the ruined city faded away until all the Metahumans were standing in a white void. A voice called out to them from an unseen source. "What you just saw was a vision; a possible future that we believe you all must play a hand in avoiding. I am Somnus, a member of the organization called The Watchers. I have summoned you here, from your peaceful sleep, to show you a nightmare of the future. CADMUS will be after you. If you need protection, travel to South Dakota."

Once again, their vision's faded to black, a voice gently called through the darkness. "For now, its time to wake up..."