HEROES Chapter 5

"Got it!" Announced Sigma triumphantly and immediately printed out McMannus' location for Bronze Devil. Gabriel reached down and plucked the sheet of paper out of the printer as Sigma also said that he was transferring the imagery over to the computer in the common area so that they could view the map on the large screen.

Behind them a young colourful haired girl snuck into the room. Sigma noticed her even with his eyes on the screen. "Why the hell are people always creeping around here?", he thought to himself and ignored her until she made her presence known with a throat clearing.

"O, Snap." Greeted Sigma, musing to himself in his usual sardonic fashion. Bronze Devil and Killswitch also acknowledged Snap Dragon with distracted nods.

After explaining rather coldly to the absent resistance fighter about the demise of Silicon Surfer, he nodded is head toward the stolid woman in the room. "Snap Dragon, this is Killswitch, our new controller." he introduced. Then in response to the plant mutant's offer to 'talk to the plants' he told her, "I already got a guy on it, but thanks." He wanted to say, "What the hell do vegetables know?", but he held his tongue. Grave Sight's psychometric powers that allowed him to read the past of the most infinitesimal speck of dirt would do the trick, that is if he decided to show up. He'd had a lot luck with his readings in the past and he usually stuck with what worked. Maybe, Snap Dragon was psychometric, he didn't know. All he knew was that plants had no intelligence so if some one was going to extrapolate anything from them they had to be psychic. Talking to plants just wasn't his thing.

Sigma stood up made his way to the door. He paused after he opened it and looked back over his shoulder at Snap Dragon, "I'm working on a theory right now kid. As soon as I prove it, I'll fill ya in." he told her, then left without a good bye.



Agent Birkshire emerged from his protected location that had saved him from the explosion which had caused him to lose sight of Cowboy but after a quick scan of the area he surmised where he might have gone. Signaling to a couple of free enforcers he pointed to the sewer grating where he had last seen his prize before the explosions.



The two officers in heavy armour responded and immediately ran out into the street. They had all memorized the layout of the sewer tunnels as part of the preparation for operation Sandman and surmised the two possible locations that the fugitive could be headed. They alerted other enforcers that were just arriving onto the scene from other positions and told them to split up and check all Green Street man-hole covers. Once car took off north and the other that went south was coming dangerously close the base. Perhaps in the end, Frank Shepherd's demise would provide RAID with more assistance than he ever could in life, all thanks to his excellent choice of his killing ground.



Wraith watched the events of the battle unfold from his high vantage point. He could feel the pulse of the psy-scramblers that made it difficult for him to maintain his dematerialized form. He could see RAID vehicles race north and south along Green Street, obviously searching for escaped meta-humans, but he could not tell what was happening in the warehouse. It seemed that the old super-hero was often too late to jump into battle these days. Experience had made him cautious and he rarely went into a fight without a plan, but since his arrival he had been brewing one.

Wraith just couldn't cook up a storm at the drop of a hat, but over the course of the struggle he had the time to increase the barometric pressure of the area and infuse the existing clouds with the power of a storm. A large dark cloud was growing over the warehouse, it's amorphous form visible in the fading light of day. Wraith became physical beneath it, hovering in the air high above the warehouse and as he became corporeal was able to generate and harness the winds of the small thunder head. A large swirling vortex was slowly engulfing the building, stirring up dust and debris. Micro-bursts and down drafts were throwing pieces of metal and plywood about, forcing all RAID enforcers to be on guard.

Toril, did not see any of his comrades below, but since he could not be sure, would not increase the winds to a lethal speed, else he injure one of the meta-humans. Without a plan, his powers when used at their highest level were rendered ineffective so he could only hope that his added distraction would assist in the escape of the others. He dared not enter the warehouse as his abilities which were a type of telekinises would eventually suffer the effects of the psyonic-scramblers.

As the hummer was making it's get-away, Morgan was in and out of consciousness, asking about Tim whenever she came to, her eyes focused on Yelena who looked like Tim. Somehow, she knew it was Yelena and not Tim.

At one point, she smiled at Yelena, seeing the worry on her face and told her that Frank was dead, she'd done what she'd set out to do and now she wasn't a liablitity to the group anymore. Then, she slipped into uncousciousness again.


Meanwhile, Allie was waiting where she was hoping Tim would come out at, listening to her instincts, not knowing as of yet that Kekoa was with him. She sat in her car, keeping an eye out for RAID, ready to burn them alive if she had to.

Everything happened so quickly that Yelena wasn’t sure which direction to point her weapon in first. It was like a swarm of angry hornets descended up on them as the RAID agents revealed themselves. Yelena never liked being in tight quarters like the warehouse and surrounding areas. It was m ore places for the agents to hide and catch them blind sided. Which was relatively easy right now with all the smoke and debris filling the place up.

As Tim stuffed the injured Morgan into the back of the Hummer where poor Shawn had found his way back into, Yelena got off a few shots at the agents before she saw where the armored Hummer was going to make its exit. Muttering a curse in her native language, she ducked into the vehicle and barked out the order for the hatch to be closed.

Without a second to spare, the hatch closed just as the hummer slammed into the side of the warehouse sending even more debris and smoke into the warehouse and the side street. Everyone inside the vehicle was jarred around but seemed to be OK. Poor Totem was sitting in the driver’s seat with his hands resting at his sides trying to figure out which way the vehicle was going to take them.

Yelena morphed back into her own form once they cleared the bulk of the damaged warehouse and checked on Morgan. Even in her wounded state the young woman smiled and tried to explain things were now over with as far as her deranged father was concerned.

”Shhhh….is OK, Morgan. Rest. No talk now. Save energy. We get you to safe place.”

As the hummer began making it’s way away from the destruction and threats, Yelena looked at the on board computer screen and noticed it was in eminent failure. It was only a matter of time before the vehicle was inoperative leaving them like sitting ducks in an arcade. They needed to find someplace to pull the vehicle and exit it before they were overcome by more agents and captured. The LAST thing Yelena wanted was to end up as someone’s prisoner again.

”Abby….find secluded location for mass exit. Preferably some place we can lose any looking for us.”

The onboard computer crackled as it registered Yelena’s request.

Rrrrrecalcuuuuuuuuuuulating rrrrrrroute. Stand stand stand by.

Yelena looked ove at Shawn, who was almost beside himself, and seeing his eyes still glowing green, she quickly typed in a message on his communicator.

looking for place to hide and leave vehicle. sorry to get you in shit again[/b]

The computer droned out again.

Alterrrrrrrrnative locaaaaaaaaaaation acquirrrrrrrrrrrred. Arrrrrrrrrrrriving in five…fourrrrrrrrrrr…thrrrrrrrrrrrrrree….tttttwo…..ooooooooooooooone.

The vehicle pulled up into another warehouse that appeared to be abandoned for the most part. Once it made a few turns left and right, the engine shut down and the doors opened. Yelena looked at Totem, still in shock in the front seat.

[i]”Quick…help me get Morgan out…..I take care of Shawn. We need to leave area quickly…I set Hummer for self destruct.”

Taking a hold of Shawn’s forearm, she tugged firmly then thumbed behind her knowing the young man could at least see her movements right now and understand she didn’t have time to communicate with him properly. Hopefully he could maintain his special sight for a little longer so he could follow her from the vehicle. Just as the young man stepped out of the vehicle the computer droned out again.

Hosssssssssstiles….oooooooooone hundrrrrrrrrrrrred yards and ccccccccccclosing frrrrrrrrrrom norrrrrrrrrth east corrrrrrrrrrrner.

Yelena looked around to see if she could see them yet but they were still too far away. Seeing that Totem had Morgan cradled in his arms, the shape shifter looked at the Native and saw his eyes looked very strange. No doubt he was using his meta ability to help carry the unconscious woman. With everyone cleared of the vehicle, Yelena gave one last command as she reloaded the automatic rifle.

”Self destruct mode, Abby.

The computer beeped and droned out more words.

Self destrrrrrrrrrrrruct mooooooooooode activvvvvvvvvvvated.

The computer began counting down from 20 and Yelena looked over at Totem then.

”Hurry….we need to get out of here….”

Running as fast through the warehouse as they could in the opposite direction the agents were approaching, Yelena covered her ear and made communication with Zoe hoping the young woman could help them navigate back to the safe house since the Russian didn’t have the slightest clue as to where they were.

”KillSwitch….need help returning home….quickly…please….”

As they half ran half walked through the building, Yelena would turn a complete 360 as her eyes scanned up, down and side to side holding the rifle at the ready. It was going to be a long damn night. And it had just begun.

Totem had summoned the strength of the great grizzily and in doing so the tell tale sign of his eyes turning to that of the creature had taken effect. Easily carrying the dead weight of Morgan he moved quickly to a safe location away from self destructing vehicle. He followed the others south, away from the north east where the cars warning system had detected hostels on approach.

If RAID wasn't sure where they were at the moment, after the car exploded they definitely would and Totem sure didn't want to be around when that happened. "We should get out of here, Chameleon." He said to Yelena, but she ignored him, awaiting guidance from Killswitch. One wrong move, and they could walk straight into a unit of RAID enforcers. They needed help from the eye in the sky, and they needed it fast.

All Totem knew was that they weren't far from the base and Morgan needed medical attention. "Wraith is a doctor, he can fix her up." he anxiously said to Yelena. It was obvious that the Haida man was tense. He wasn't used to urban war fare and he would give anything to be in a forest instead of a rusted maze of warehouses. Still he knew he had to focus. Their survival relied on following the capable commands of a leader, and it seemed that Yelena had stepped up to take the role.

Staring off over the warehouse roofs, Totem could see a dark storm cloud hovering over the warehouse they just escaped from. The winds were swirling about, as if a tornado were building yet there were no other signs of foul weather around.

(Friday, May 22, 9:45 pm. Green Street Warehouse District)

Morgan regained consciousness while Yelena was talking to Zoe and heard her frantic voice. She then heard Totem's voice say something about her and a wraith. She knew she was in bad shape and wondered if she was going to make it.

She gave a pain filled whimper when she tried to shift in his arms, feeling the wetness coating her side, wondering if she was bleeding all over this man's shirt. She was so weak and her whole body hurt, but she fought to stay alert. She'd heard what Yelena's voice had sounded like and knew that they were still in trouble.

"Yelena.......Yelena.....what is....it? Where's Tim?"

Her voice was a whisper, weak. She looked up at the guy holding her.

"Leave....me. Dammit.....I didn't.....go through.....this to make....things worse."

Morgan weakly began struggling, remembering now seeing the RAID agents swarm the warehouse. She'd wanted to get rid of her father and instead she had brought RAID to them.

"Yelena....leave me.....go....get out..of here. Get....Tim....keep him safe."

Wraith watched the RAID enforcers spread through out the warehouse district like plague rats. The dark cloud churned above and around him as he rose into it to make himself less of a target for the RAID sharp shooters that were attempting to hit him. Despite all their gadgetry, to fire a bullet at such a range in a wind storm and hit a target was still near impossible, but he had moved out of sight just to be safe. Floating amidst whirling winds engulfed in blackness all was bright and alive before Wraith's eyes. He could see the air moving about him, like glowing water flowing over a grey landscape of billowy clouds. This was his world and in it he was god and perhaps it was time to show these rodents what meta-kind were truly capable of.

The winds around the abandoned warehouse began to increase significantly. The enforcers could feel pressure building in their ears as the power of the storm increased around them and suddenly a twister descended from the dark cloud like a monstrous dark finger seeking to stamp out whatever it touched.

"Holy shit!" Screamed one of the RAID enforcers on the perimeter of the building pointing to the tornado as it moved like a black serpent writhing around the warehouse.

Agent Birkshire, grimaced. He had not anticipated so many meta's to arrive to rescue the girl and they had not been prepared for the variety of powers they had encountered. Looking up to the sky, Birkshire knew of only one meta-human who could control the weather and the winds with such vehemency but he not seen the mutant unleash such a display for many years. The Wraith he remembered would never risk injuring people but times were different now. Even the heroes of old were becoming killers and it only justified his position all the more. These meta-humans had to be contained or even destroyed to ensure the safety of humanity and he would help take back Chicago if it was the last thing he did. This day, however, belonged to the mutants and as he retreated to a safe location, ordered all units still in the warehouse to capture any remaining meta's then evacuate the area.

Wraith's eyes burned with a bright blue light; the power of the storm was intoxicating and he could feel it's strength course through his bulging muscles. He guided the twister in a sweeping pattern around the warehouse, clearing out all the vehicles and scattering the enforcers like insignificant ants. Wraith no longer cared about life and death, the resistance fighters took lives, they destroyed, so what made him any different. He was tired of holding back, of patiently awaiting a way to peacefully resolve a situation, there was no peace, not anymore.

As the twister moved around the warehouse it's thunderous roar echoed within the building and rattled the structure. The enforcers stopped what they were doing and stared nervously at the vibrating walls, then part of one burst open forcing a several large sheets of metal slicing through the air and enforcers. Panic then ensued, and it was every man for themselves as more of the building began to collapse.

The burden of guiding the path of the tornado was becoming to great and so Wraith relinquished it's course to nature, allowing it to consume the warehouse and anything else in it's path for the duration of its life. He then dematerialized and rushed to earth, a speeding jet of wind empowered by the storm that blasted through a window and into the building. Wraith had to see if anyone was left behind. Even though he saw Cowboy's hummer and Flaming Angel's car speeding down Green Street he had to be sure that no one was left behind and as he rushed through the interior it seemed he was right.

Seizure was in a corner of the building. Around her were the slashed and decapitated bodies of enforcers but one yet remained. An enforcer in a heavy armoured suit moved toward her, apparently to engage her in hand to hand combat. The mechanized suit gave the man inside more than five times the strength of a normal Human and was impenetrable to just about any projectile and it seemed he was going to get some payback for his fallen comrades despite the imminent approach of the spiraling twister, circling the building with each pass moving closer to the center. In only a minutes time it would sweep through their section of the structure and tear everything to pieces and Wraith could do little to stop it in that short span of time.

Wraith was forced to materialize, due to the effect of the psy-scramblers that were still operational and hidden some place in the warehouse. It was of no matter since he had to become corporeal to help deal with RAID enforcer outfitted with heavy assault armour.

"Hey, Seizure." Greeted Wraith, "Sorry I'm late but I was cooking up a storm." Wraith's smile quickly turned to a scowl as he looked at the RAID enforcer. They had to get rid of him, then they'd have to get out before the building came down on top of them. Dematerializing was hardly an option for Wraith anymore, and he couldn't fly while carrying the woman so he would have to join her on foot. Of course then the entire area was still crawling with RAID agents and enforcers, so no doubt they had a bigger fight on their hands then this one little nuisance. Wraith prepared to blast him with a jet of wind that would probably only temporarily stun him, so he hoped that Seizure had something up her sleeve as well.

The enforcer, turned and upon seeing the other super-hero took up his plasma rifle and decided that it would be safer to use a ranged attack against two opponents. He leveled his gun at Seizure and prepared to fire.

Tim was wet, cold, tired, his body ached in places he didn't even remeber he had bady parts as he looked at the approaching R.A.I.D officers. "Come on boys lets be gittin this done ..... ifin' ya got tha balls. 'Cause sumbody's gonna die har taday an' I ain't figgerin' on being the first ta meet his maker." ....... It was then that the wall of water knocked the assault team down and Tim saw the young Polysesian stand before the wall of water smiling at him.

" 'll be damned ain't you a sight fur sore eyes, I'm a thankin' ya. Let's git these hombres hog tied and git the hell outta har." Tim said, then knelt down and used the enforcement officers zip ties and handcuffs to secure the R.A.I.D. agents. As Tim was securing one of the agents, the agent kicked Tim in the side, where his wound was. An explosion of pain ripped through Tim and he grit his teeth as he bent over clutching his side. The R.A.I.D. operative, with his hands secured behind his back struggled to his knees the stood up on his feet and glared down at Tim. In a thick Chicagoian accent he snarled "You baastuds has caused me to miss my daughters burthday fa the last time." He then drew his steel toed boot back to kick Tim again.

(Friday, May 22, 10:15 pm. The Storm Drains of the Green Street Warehouse District Several Blocks From The Resitance Base)

Shawn's head was pounding. This had to be the longest he'd kept his powers up and every movement from the colorful world around him sent a pang shooting through his head, pounding behind his eyes. He longed for the familiar nothingness and calm, even if he still had to run for his life. Seeing the figures around him standing in cautious stillness, Shawn waited, peering through walls and fixing his attention to the ground, attuned to any and all vibrations that passed to his sensitive feet.


Zoe received Yelena's plea and moved roughly up beside Sigma back at the safe house.

"I need to use this one," she said, taking over the second monitor and bringing up windows. Text appeared and scrolled and whizzed by before they seemed to merge, as though she had linked up something. At this, another window popped up that looked like a map with three dots milling around in a corner.

"You're not far," said Zoe to no one Sigma could see, "do you have a vehicle? What happened to Tim's car?" When Yelena gave her a quick overview of what happened, Zoe listened with an expression as flat as Sigma's before moving some things around behind the map. Finally she said, "alright. Look at your cell phone. There should be a path there for you to follow back. It's going to take you a while on foot. I'll keep an eye out."

Outside, Yelena looked at the clearly drawn map that had indeed appeared on her phone and motioned for Totem and Shawn to follow. Shawn hurried, squinting through the pain as his eyes darted around himself, focusing and refocusing to peer through walls. As he ran outside, the temperatures began to merge so that only the same fiery tones rushed past him, only vaguely contrasted by the sweating figures around himself. When several figures caught his eye, however, he abruptly stopped, grabbing Yelena who would have turned a corner and nearly run right into them. Unaware of the map, he began to pull her in the other direction. While he'd never doubted his ability to control the volume of his voice before, he wasn't quite willing to risk it now. Still, Yelena fought his efforts, apparently seemingly unwilling to waste time communicating properly with him so he attempted to sign, hoping the words he chose were obvious enough.

Holding up his two index fingers, he brought them down in front of himself in the sign for person before pointing in the direction that Yelena had wanted to go. At this, he glanced towards the figure who seemed poised, waiting for them, but luckily had not moved. Looking back at Yelena, her silhouette remained still, rocking impatiently on her toes showing she didn't understand so Shawn shifted tactics. Miming a large gun in his hands, he mimicked the weapon firing then pointed with lips thinned in frustration back to where Yelena had wanted to go and now her body language changed, moving in the direction Shawn had wanted her to go.

"Killswitch," she whispered into her communicator, "this way too dangerous. Give us another path." Zoe said nothing for a moment, recalculating a path without questioning. Sending a new map, she asked "is this one better?" Yelena pointed to the alternate direction, looking quizzically at Shawn who turned in the direction she pointed and stared for a moment. He then nodded and followed as they took off away from the waiting RAID enforcer. Seeing them move, Zoe spoke again, "this way will take you twice as long. Want me to send you back up? All we've got is a motorcycle but Dominic could find you pretty quickly and take Morgan back at least so you're not slowed down."
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Seizure's eyes widened as she pieced together the strange weather and Wraith's appearance. She relaxed quickly though, thankful for the reinforcements though she controlled her expression, masking her relief. After her years of working with experienced resistance fighters like Killswitch and Cassius, she knew better than to let on that she knew someone... just in case. Watching the building crumble around her, she quickly locked her concentration on the biggest pieces of debris she could find. Unfortunately, this took up a large chunk of her concentration and she was completely unprepared to see the plasma gun raised at her. In the time it took her to process what had happened however, a gust of wind rushed past her, knocking the man backwards just as he fired. The heat of the beam stung her face as it whipped upward and was quickly devoured by the tornado.

The floating shards of metal and sheet rock faltered as they swayed in the wind high above Seizure and Wraith as she watched the man fall and remain still. Slowly, cautiously, keeping her concentration, Ayana approached the man, reluctant to close the gap. When the enforcer didn't so much as twitch, she kicked his helmet as hard she could before taking a few steps back, waiting for him to move. The helmet only shifted on his head, though, the man remaining still. Satisfied, Seizure gave the helmet another few hard kicks, exposing the man's neck and part of his face. She then moved her hands forward, the concrete and metal moving above her until she let her arms fall to her sides. With a deafening crash that rang out even through the thunderous tornado that swirled around them, the debris came down on the man's head, plowing him into the ground and cracking the concrete.

Looking up at Wraith, the young woman didn't waste time to see if he got up after that one. Turning, she darted out of the warehouse, away from the tornado headed back to the safe house.

May 22, 2010. 10:20 pm
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The soldier only made it so far as rearing his foot back when a burst of water rose up beneath him, slamming his head hard against the top of the pipe. Letting him drop, Kekoa brought his hand up again before turning it over in a dumping motion that brought the same burst of water back over the man's face with a crushing blow. Standing sideways to hide his wound, Kekoa inched forward and peered over to make sure the soldier wasn't getting up before turning back to Tim.

"It's a big damp down here, don't you think?" he said, holding a hand out to help Tim up. In the faint light, it would be hard to see that Kekoa's bronze skin was beginning to grow pale, the drifting look in his eyes growing even more glazed. In spite of how he stood, he wouldn't be able to hide the growing stream of his own blood as it began to mingle with the water he gathered at his feet. By then the blood had soaked through his shirt and all the way down his leg, the wound searing at his side.

Straining to keep himself steady as Tim took his hand and pulled himself to his feet, Kekoa grimaced if only slightly and resigned to pressing his other hand hard against the throbbing wound.

"I think we better leave," said Kekoa looking straight into Tim's eyes in the darkness.

May 22, 2010. 10:25pm

Yelena didn’t understand what Shawn was trying to tell her at first, but when the young man used miming as a way of communicating with her, she caught on very quickly. It was only a matter of moments now before the hiccupping computer system in the hummer reached detonation and the last thing Yelena wanted was for any of them to be anywhere near it.

With KillSwitch’s help, an alternative way out was found but Yelena knew who ever it was Shawn had picked up on would turn the corner and all hell would break loose again. They couldn’t afford the possibility of facing their pursuers. Not like this anyway.

As they started heading in the new direction Zoe had found for them after Shawn indicated it was safe, Yelena ushered Totem, still carrying Morgan and Shawn as quickly as she could in the direction they needed to go. Yelena kept checking over her shoulder to make sure who ever Shawn spotted didn’t get the jump on them. They were just about to exit the warehouse when the hummer’s on board computer system reached zero and exploded violently.

The percussion was so strong it knocked all of them to the ground on the street they were exiting on. Using her own body to cover Shawns, knowing he was more vulnerable than any of them, the fiery flash that blew over them was so hot she was certain it scorched her skin.

A few seconds after the fire flash was over, Yelena peeled herself off the young man. Shawn was none to happy and his body language told Yelena he didn’t appreciate her doing that. She would apologize to the young man later. Right now, they HAD to get the hell out of here and quickly.

Looking over at Totem, who slowly regained his feet with Morgan still in tow, she could see the strain this was putting on his body. Not to mention the handsome Native’s back was now littered with small shrapnel wounds that shredded his shirt. Grabbing the cell phone off the ground, Yelena looked at the display screen only to feel her spirits sink even more. The display wasn’t a total loss, but it made reading the map virtually impossible. Looking all around, she spoke to the unseen Zoe again to let her know they could most definitely use a guide home.

”Da….yes….cell phone display ruined and I not able to read map well. Besides, Morgan and Totem in need of medical attention. Have Wraith on stand-by. He will have hands full as soon as we arrive.”

With no clue as to where they were, Yelena was almost afraid to move the rag tag group but they couldn’t stand here in the middle of the street. The authorities would be arriving soon and the last thing they needed was to explain who they were and what they were doing.

Keeping them as close to the other warehouses as she could, Yelena had them walk as quickly as they possibly could away form the destruction behind them. Once they turned the corner and headed down a narrow ally between two warehouses, she had them stop at a small alcove to rest and wait, letting Zoe know they were safe, for now.

”We find small place to hide for now. Not sure how long can stay. I already hear sirens in distance.”

As Yelena took the time to catch her breath and try to figure out what was the next best thing to do, she looked at the others with her and realized they were depending on her to help them out of this very hostile situation. She never considered her the leader type but now it seems she had no choice. She wasn’t about to abandon them in their hour of need. But she couldn’t help wondering if the others were OK and had gotten out of the mess they found themselves fallen into.

As Tim got to his feet, his hand brushed acros the Polynesian's side and he felt something warm and wet. Rubbing his fingers together, he said "Ya hit thar pardner?" Tim then put the young man's arm over his shoulder and said "Let's git tha hell outta har. Ya hang in thar, soon as we can't git ta sum place with a tad a light, 'll have a look see at that." Tim and Kekoa, leaning on each other made their way thru the drainage tunnel. They had not hobbled more than about a city block when the ground trembled and they heard a violent explosion. Then in the distance they heard muffled vehicle alarms going off and the distant muffled sound of sirens. Shortly, they came to a place where a steet light shone vaguely through a manhole cover. Tim said to Kekoa "Har ya sit down rigch har." Tim knelt down and liften the Polynesian's shirt. Tim ripped a piece of the tail off his t-shirt, wiped the blood off Kekoa's side. He then reacj around and felt for an exit wound, finding it he said "Well know ma friend, I gots good news an' not so good news. First yur lucky tha bullet went clean thru an I think I kin patch ya up 'nough ta git us ta sumwhars safe. Tha bad news is it's gonna hurt like hell, but it'l stop the bleedin'. An 'pears ta me like ya have lost a bit 'lready."

With out waiting for Kekoa to protest, Tim reached in his jacket and pulled one of the ammunition clips out, thumbs a 40 caliber cartidge out of the clip. He then palced the clip up to Kekoa's face and said: "Ya bite down on this har real hard, thar son." Tim then placed the slug part of the cartrisge between his teeth and twisted the casing. Spiting the slug out on the ground, Tim poured the gun powder into Kekoa's wound. Tim then dropped the casing, reached in his jacket, removed his lighter, wuth a flick of his wrist he lit the lighter and placed the flame to Keokea's wound. There was a falsh and an almost silent whoosh as the gun powder ignited cartirorizing the wound. A small plume of blue smoke drifed up wityh the aroma of burt flesh and sulphur. Tim gave the youg polynesian a pat on the shoulder he said : "Ya don yur momma proud thar son. ...... Now what asy you an' me git tha hell outta this har tunnel?" Tim then stood up and climbed the ladder to the man hole cover, lifting it slowly, he peared out of the crack. The street looked abandoned and Tim could not hear any vehicles so he slid the cover off the hole and climbed out. Kneeling on one kee he looked around, there was nothing but a Chicago Metro OTC stop. "Cum on up thar son." Tim said as he offered his hand to Kekoa. "Less ya have a hankerin' ta stay down thar."

As Tim was helping Kekoa climb out of the drain a '69 black mustang would be pulling up next to them.

"Need a ride?"

Allie was smiling at them, glad that her instincts were right on where she'd thought Tim would come out at.

As they climbed into the car, she grabbed her cellphone and phoned the safehouse. Jessica answered and Allie quickly told her that she had Tim and Kekoa and she was bringing them back to the safehouse.

When Jessica asked if the others were with her, Allie looked over at Tim, a worried look on her face.

"No, Snap. They should have made it to the safehouse by now."

Allie instantly thought of the shape she'd seen the young girl, Morgan, in and worried that something had gone wrong and the others had been forced to stop to care for her. Then she heard a stranger's voice in her ear, telling her where Yelena and the others were in the most non-emotional voice she'd ever heard.

"It'll be a tight fit, but I think we can pick them up. Tell Yelena that I know exactly where they are and my ETA is 5 minutes."

She looked back in the back at Kekoa and saw the blood on his side, worry instantly filling her eyes before she turned back to the road.

"It'll be a tight fit, but we're picking up Yelena and the others on the way back to the safehouse. I'm assuming the girl that was messed up pretty bad is Morgan? She looked pretty bad, Cowboy."

Allie didn't say anymore as she drove to where the others were, keeping her eyes open for any RAID agents, taking to the side streets and alleys to get to them.

Morgan couldn't stop the cry of pain that escaped past her lips as she hit the pavement, being thrown from Totem's arms. As she hit, the impact re-opened what wounds had stopped bleeding, including the two bullett holes in her side which had begun to slow, but hadn't stopped.

As Totem picked her back up, she could feel the strain on him as he carried her and knew that she somehow had to get them to do what was best for them all. Leave her...hide her and return later.

When they all hid in the small alcove, she was gathering what strength she had left to tell them once more when Allie pulled up.

Friday May 22, 2010 11:05 p.m.

Wraith couldn't believe their luck. His fast wind blast would have only thrown back the heavy mechanized battle suit, but at that exact moment a powerful draft from the tornado ripped through the wall and something large had struck the RAID enforcer in the head, rendering him unconscious.

"He's out, Seizure." Said Wraith as she continued to strike the fallen man, but only when another large piece of debris landed on the enforcer with crushing force did she let up. "We have to get out here before we become victims ourselves!" Warned Toril and the two of them were forced to run across to the other side of the warehouse where they found an exit.

Night had fallen, and the alley the door lead into was dark. Seizure had ran out first and seeing no enforcers around sprinted down the alley to get some distance between them and the tornado. Then as she proceeded south to the base, was stopped by Wraith's firm grip on her arm. "We can't take the risk of leading any RAID enforcers back to the base." He advised her, "Even if they don't follow us, they're going to wonder where we went. They've probably already set up a perimeter and when those check points don't spot anyone coming out, they're going in. Understand? We have to lead them away from this area. I only hope none of the others have been too hasty to make it back." Wraith grimaced then and looked around them for any movement before continuing, "RAID uses satellites and thermal imaging... the works. Rest assured that they are surveying this entire area right now and it's not exactly the kind of place one goes for stroll, if you get my meaning. They're going to find the base if we don't take precautions."

While Wraith and Seizure debated their next move a giant man hovered in the sky far away from them. His long white hair and black trench coat waved in the wind as his pale, pupiless eyes gazed westward into the warehouse district north of Greek Town. His powerful meta-eyes, breeched the great distance between him and the two fugitive metas, seeing straight through roof tops and walls until it saw them as if he were only standing a few feet away from Toril and Ayana. The leader of UMBRA smiled fiendishly as he read their powers and determined which one he would mimic.

Wraith suddenly felt strange. A tingling sensation rushed through his body and for a few seconds he felt dizzy and even wavered. The feeling passed quickly, however, and he thought nothing else of it as he and Seizure made their way west. As they wove their way through the narrow dark allies that separated the many storage facilities in the area, far to the east of them the UMBRA leader, known as Apex Fusion flew toward the already dissipating tornado. He then summoned the power he borrowed from Wraith, and infused the storm and the twister with more power, until it regained it's full strength once more.



"Now, we'll see how supportive the homo-sapiens will be after one of the resistance fighters terrorizes the city." He roared aloud to himself then laughing maniacally as he focused on the twister and directed it south down Green Street, toward the residential areas. Apex had no idea, however, that he was also driving the tornado toward the Green Street Base and the destruction of the buildings above could expose all that they had built, below.

Making their way through the allies that ran parallel with Lake Street, Wraith paused when he detected the sound of the tornado moving south, still as strong as ever if not greater. 'How can that be?' Toril wondered. He had designed the tornado to be short lived and move in a circular pattern, but by some unknown force the twister had changed course and was now on route for the base and houses beyond.

"Shit!" Exclaimed Wraith while he watched the tornado. He then looked back to Seizure apologetically, "I have to stop it." He told her, "Innocent people could die because of what I have made. I'm sorry, but I have to go." Then with little hesitation, Wraith generated a mass of swirling winds around him and flew into the air. He knew that only his power could disrupt the minute molecules of the air, but he wasn't sure he had the strength to stop a tornado.

The tornado barreled down Green Street in serpentine manner, crashing through warehouses with each sway, like the tail of some great beast. High above it, obscured by the dark and clouds, flew Apex Fusion guiding the powerful destructive force into a heavily populated area to make the resistance fighter appear to be even more ruthless than UMBRA.

(Friday, May 22nd, 11:00 pm. Tornado on route with Green Street Base.)

___________________________________________________________

With the strength of a bear coursing through his muscles, Totem could carry Morgan all day if he had to, but the wounds in his back, though minor were agitating him. He was happy when Chameleon decided to take a rest and he placed his back against the soothing cool of a wall that caused the pain to subside a little.

The distant sirens were growing louder and Totem estimated that they would arrive in a few minutes and from the sounds of it, their were ambulances, police and even fire trucks on their way. Pretty soon, not only would the area be crawling with RAID, but the local law enforcement would also be joining the party, making it difficult for the fugitives to navigate the streets effectively.

(Friday, May 22nd, 11:05 pm. Warehouse District off of Green Street)

Hearing the sirens as she pulled up to where Yelena and the others were hiding, she knew that she would have to make a judgement call.

"It will be a tight fit, that's for sure, but we can do this. Get them in the car and we'll go back to my place. I have a fully stocked first aid kit there and anything else we need I can get."

The turned, looking at Kekoa, her eyes once again filled with concern.

"You stay here. You hear me, Kekoa? Stay put, I'll take care of you once we get to my place."

Jumping out of the car, she ran over to the small alcove, not 6 feet from the car.

"Come on guys, squeeze in and we'll get out of here. Sit on each other's laps if you have to, the cops won't notice. They can't see into the windows."

She watched as Tim took Morgan from Totem and she did a quick assessment of Totem's back, noticing that while painful, it wasn't too bad. She let Yelena lead Shawn to the car since he knew her and was familiar with her. Once everyone was in, she sped towards her place, about a mile south from Stanton Park close to the river, avoiding the police and firetrucks.

Friday May 22, 2010 11:15 p.m.

Looking over his shoulder, Apex Fusion could see Wraith approaching. He could dispose of him easily but he would better serve his purposes if he remained alive. High above the twister obscured by dark clouds and too high to see no one would ever know that Apex had mimicked Wraith's powers and manipulated the tornado. It was the perfect set up. Citizens and resistance fighters alike would blame the super hero and this would serve UMBRA in many ways.

Apex Fusion looked ahead, a devious smile curling his lips. He had nursed the tornado long enough and satisfied that it's path was set accelerated high into the air and sped far away from the scene.

As the tornado swerved east and west of Green street, one of it's long sweeping passes set it on a course for Flaming Angel's vehicle but the meta-human's would have plenty of time to escape before it was upon them. Still, it became apparent to them all, that Wraith's twister had gone rogue and was now bearing down on the base. If one of it's sweeps happened to cross over it, they could be exposed.



Wraith was moving as fast as wind could move, whistling through the air with the speed of a hurricane. He caught up to the tornado and manipulating the high winds was able to move close to the funnel without being blown away. Glancing downward, he couldn't miss Fire Angel's car and quickly flew down it.

Toril landed before the car, his dark blue suit shining in the head lights. "Is everyone alright?" He asked, noticing that there were injuries among them.

"We might need you Doc." Called Totem as he handed Morgan to Tim, then instantly his eyes went from bear back to human.

"I am afraid I might have my hands full." He said looking up at the approaching tornado, "I don't know what happened. It should have died out, but instead it got stronger and changed course, now I have to stop it." Wraith then looked at Flaming Angel, "You can't go back to the..." She interrupted him with a "I know.", then explained to him that she was taking them all to her dwelling, which made sense since she made little effort to protect her identity from the others as Toril did. Even knowing her address made him nervous as he didn't believe in having too many connections when trying to maintain a secret identity.

The super-hero then stood in an iconic pose, facing down the task before him, his eyes beginning to shine with a blue light behind his mask. Already the tornado had caused enough destruction to have the Green Street area crawling with construction crews for at least a month. He had to try and extinguish it before it drew anymore attention to the area, but he feared that was already too late.

(Friday, May 22, 11:15 pm)

The serenity in Kekoa's face was beginning to give way to true pain and a thick fog. His head lolled back against the seat as his dark eyes fluttered. When Allie spoke to him, he didn't respond, his expression heavy. His normally bronze skin was pale and ashen as laid a hand across his injured side and grew more and more still. Finally, his head dropped to the side, barely on the back of his seat, and his body relaxed, going limp. Giving in exhaustion and blood loss, Kekoa passed quietly out, his hand sliding off of his bloodied side to land softly beside him.


Seizure watched him with a look of concern, watching as her housemate's body seemed to drop in the seat and his sweat-flecked face lolled into view.

"Kekoa?" she asked softly as the others piled into the car. Reaching over, she shook him softly and watched as his eyes peeled open for a mere second before they rolled back into his head and he dropped off again. Ayana swore quietly but sat back, knowing there was little she could do now.

It was a tight squeeze in Allie's car, but they piled in, Shawn slipping in to sit on the floor, positioning himself around everyone's feet. There, he curled up into himself, finally shutting off his powers, though it did little to relieve the throbbing headache which by now had turned into a full on migraine. Squeezing his eyes shut, the young man pulled his knees in close and pressed his fingertips against his temples, attempting to relieve the pressure. He was tired, in pain, and annoyed and the last thing he wanted right then was more pity from more people. As he leaned against his knees, Shawn could think only about how little he truly cared about Morgan. She was just another human after all and he'd nearly gotten himself killed because of her. On top of it, he was getting sick of people treating him like he was made of glass, but that would be something he'd address later, when he was more inclined to interact with people. Sighing, he tried to let his mind settle into their safety and rid himself of his headache.

Once everyone had piled in and Morgan situated in the front seat, the girl still fighting to stay conscious, Allie pulled out and taking side streets and alleys, headed for her warehouse apartment.

Once there, she flipped a switch and headed into the underground garage that housed the rest of her toys. Getting everyone out of the car was no small feat and she helped Ayana carry the unconscious Kekoa while Totem carried Morgan. She led them to the large elevator and took them upstairs.

When she led them inside, Yelena guiding Shawn, she quickly organized everyone, having Totem carry Morgan to her room as her and Ayana got Kekoa settled in the guest room. She then ran and gathered the large medical kit and two of the smaller ones. Once she gave to Ayana and the other she set down next to Totem, then went back to her room and did her best with Morgan as quickly as she could, her gaze worried when she looked down at Morgan.

Sitting down on the couch behind Totem, she made it clear when he would have argued with her that she was going to care for his back as she helped him out of his shirt. She talked to Yelena while she looked at Totem's back.

"Yelena, make yourselves at home. The kitchen is fully stocked if you and the boy are hungry or thirsty."

She turned her attention back to Totem, helping him remove his shirt so she could extract the small shards of metal and glass and clean his wounds.

As the resistance fighters squeezed into Flaming Angel's car the scene reminded Wraith of some nighmarish circus performance but even more impressive was how they were going get past RAID and police with the tires of the car so noticeably overburdened. Then again they did have the advantage of night, he considered.

As they drove away with hardly a word of encouragement, Wraith knew that they blamed him for the destructive tornado that bore down upon them. They were right of course, but perhaps deep down he would have at least like the offer of some assistance. The others were too injured, he realized but the fire mutant was healthy and he could have used someone to help keep RAID and the police off his back while he attempted to stop the twister but he could see now where her priorities lied. At least, Seizure somehow managed to make it to the car and seemed to be doing fine, he didn't really expect her to lend a hand after he had abandoned her.

Wraith watched as the car sped away while behind him loomed the tornado bathed in the lights of the city below it. Turning then, he propelled himself into the air and focused all of his energy on the massive wind tunnel. Around him, RAID shooters were taking positions on the taller roof tops in an attempt to stop him before he could increase the strength of the tornado anymore, since for all they knew he was driving the destructive force instead of trying to stop it. The brave meta-hunters remained in position despite the imminent threat that approached praying that if they could kill Wraith they could stop the tornado.

Toril moved with the tornado, keeping his distance while he began to generate a vortex of cold air that spun in the opposite direction of the twister. It was extremely difficult to thin the atmosphere to produce cold and Wraith was immediately feeling the strain, but he had to undo what he had created. He faltered for a moment when a lucky sniper shot from a helicopter grazed his leg, but he quickly regained his composure and continued to build his icy tornado. Temperatures began to drop so rapidly that soon it was snowing, and high winds began to whip back and forth as the two twisters converged.

With his own icy vortex surrounding him, Wraith was safe from the snipers, unfortunately RAID, desperate to stop him did the unthinkable and pulled out the large artillery and aimed their rpg rockets at the former super-hero and fired. As the rockets streaked through the night sky, the two tornados collided and as the smaller cool vortex was absorbed the larger immediately began to lose form. At the same time, the rockets exploded, creating an intense firestorm that was extinguished as fast as it began, and when the winds calmed Wraith was no where to be seen.



While Allie worked on his back Totem had turned on a TV and found the live coverage of the what was transpiring around Green Street. He watched in amazement as the two tornados collided while simultaneously two rockets exploded within them. "A good death." Totem expressed coldly, "I can't say I am going to miss the guy, he worried too much about everyone else and not his own kind. I am glad I did not stick with him."

The news caster then came on explaining the events and then openly cursed the existence of meta-humans. She attempted to get an interview with a tall black man, but a few enforcers barred her way before she get close to him.

(Friday, May 22, 11:45)

Tim , slid Morgan in the front seat and straped her in after the others had squeezed into the 1968 Mustang. He looked at Alley, then at Yelena and said "Git tha hell outta har! Ya make right shur thay all git patched up, 'llo see ya all at tha base." Tim then looked back at Yelena "Ya know no one left behind." He then glanced over at Toril and slambed the door.

As the Mustang sped off, Tim pulled his two semi-automatics from inside his jacket and yelled at Toril "Thro a lassoe round that thar wind will ya? Then I reckon it a be a right good idear ta git ar asses outta har, like a couple a jack rabbits with a pack a coyotes on ar ass." Tim then opened fire on the shapshooters that were taking pot shots at Toril. Tim ran down the alley looking for cover or a way out of the crossfire. Bullets riccocheted off the remainder of the other buildings, sirens wailed and the forces assailing them increased in numbers. Tim thought to himself "Damn Tim sometimes I think ya gotta a death wish."

(Friday, May 22, 11:25 pm)

Wraith's face felt cool and wet. As his eyes came into focus, he could see the shimmering of lights reflected on the wet surface of the pavement. His body ached, but as he slowly flexed his muscles he was thankful that nothing was broken, although he had some serious bruising all over his body. Sliding up to a sitting position, he surveyed his surroundings. He was in an alley, although he had no idea where and it had been raining. Looking up, he could see that the buildings were of an older architectural style and it was still night. A cat moaned down one end of the alley, startling Toril, who smiled at his nervousness, 'It was to be expected', he told himself.

Leaning back against a wall then, he let his memories role back to the battle. He remembered the mustang driving off, and thinking that it would be so much cooler if Flaming Angel drove a Firebird. He was relaxed despite the task at hand and he couldn't be sure why, then he recalled that one of them stayed behind to run interference for him, who was it? Cowboy, he then remembered. He ran out into that street guns a blazing, allowing him to generate the vortex. Then he merged the tornados and all went white. He could recall plummeting and trying to dematerialize to protect himself from harm, but he couldn't maintain the form.

Toril looked up again and saw the sign he had crashed through, swinging in the wind on it's one remaining hinge. He was lucky to be alive and in one piece he considering, how far he had traveled which he estimated to be at least a couple of miles judging by his trajectory. As he hobbled down the alley, testing the strength of his limbs and meta-abilities he wondered how Cowboy was. "Did he make it?" He figured he owed that guy a drink when they next met.

Prior to Wraith's generation of the tornado, Sigma had left the base via the eastern corridor that met up with the sewage tunnel that ran under Green Street. He followed it until he came to Washington street then proceeded further east and located a forgotten line no longer use by the city that lead to a man-hole in an alley.

His mask removed, Slate emerged into the alley where he had parked his blue '83 Cordoba. As he approached the car a sadistic smile curled the edges of his mouth when he saw the dried blood spilling down the side of his door from the handle. He was disappointed when he didn't see any fingers and made a mental note to increase the velocity of the saw blade trap when he had the chance. He hated thieves, especially stupid ones, 'Why and the hell would anyone want to steal his piece of shit, Cordoba, anyway?' he wondered. The bastard deserved what he got for being such an idiot and it seemed that in his frustration he also scuffed the windshield with the brick he bounced off of the reinforced glass. Slate just shook his head.

As he slipped his key into the lock the chip in it disarmed the trap. Slate slid in behind the wheel, started the engine and pulled out on to Washington and drove east. If Grave Sight was going to show up it would be late, so he headed back to Silicone Surfer's apartment for his early morning rendezvous.

Morgan could hear voices coming from the other room, but she didn't recognize any of them. Then she heard Yelena's voice. Trying to get out of the bed, Morgan gasped in pain. There wasn't a place on her body that didn't hurt, sting, or ache. She finally was able to rise from the bed and slowly made her way to the door. Opening the door, she stepped in a living room she didn't recognize and saw people she didn't recognize. Looking around, she saw Yelena and Shawn, but not Tim.

"Yelena, where's Tim?"

Her head was still fuzzy, but she was beginning to remember now. The torture, the rescue, RAID. She gave a cry, gripping the doorframe to keep from sinking to her knees. What had she'd done?!

"My fault......all my fault!!"



Her gaze turned to Yelena, then to Totem, seeing the wounds on his back. She heard voices from another room and could tell from the sounds of them that someone was also injured in that room.

"Oh God. I did this. He'll hate me, now."

Allie rose and gently led Morgan back to the bed, laying her down, checking her wounds. Her gaze was worried when she saw that everything had stopped bleeding except for the two bullett wounds. They were still seeping, bleeding through the bandaging so that she had to change them again.

"Morgan, it's okay.....you stay here and rest. I'll be back to check on you. You're safe."

Allie walked back outside, looking to Yelena, wondering how the Russian felt, if she were angry with Morgan as Morgan feared that Tim would be.

"I can't get the two bullett holes to stop seeping. She needs more medical care than what I can give her. It's slowed, but not stopped."


Friday May 22, 2010 11:45 p.m.

Unbeknownst to Wraith, someone DID see him plummet to earth. While some would have considered it good luck, there was no doubt the tall super hero would consider it to be bad luck. At least for him.

Jennifer Milan happened to be watching things from her penthouse vantage point at the incredible twister rip up the other side of the city of Chicago. Too bad for those saps, she thought. But as the two cyclones collided, her super human sight saw the projectile thrown from the entangled air flow. While she only glimpsed it, she could have sworn it had blond hair.

”Well, Jenn…let’s go see what or who that was.”

Within the blink of an eye, Jennifer Milan was quickly transformed into The Amazon and heading to the roof top court yard of her penthouse apartment. Once on top, she moved to the edge and searched the direction she’d seen the projectile fall. After a few moment, she spotted what she was looking for. Damage. A sign was barely dangling from it’s hinges.

With a devious smile on her lips, The Amazon leapt from the edge of her building and glided easily on the air currents as she moved towards the possible landing site of what ever that was that fell from the twister. Slowly easing herself down to the ground, she could see where he’d landed hard against the building, but now, they were no where in sight.

Hearing a noise further down the darkened ally and she began following slowly. It didn’t take Amazon long to close the gap between them and when she saw the rather tall blond haired man hobbling down the street, she furrowed her brows. He was damn lucky to be alive. Could it be there was some one like her out there?

Looking skyward, Amazon leapt into the air, easily glided well over head of him then landed in a crouched position a few yards in front of him making sure she landed in the dim street light filtered into the ally. Seeing the man stop his forward motion, she slowly stood up to her full 6’5” height, placing her left hand on her hip and smiling.

”You know….it’s not safe to be in dark ally ways. You never know who might be….prowling about. Not to mention you could be plucked off easily in your condition.”

While Amazon didn’t know what his abilities were, she could tell he was part of the resistance since she’d never seen him in Apex’s company or sporting that nasty UMBRA crest on his outfit. And speaking of that outfit. Damn if he didn’t look down right delicious wearing spandex. She could even see his washboard abs through the material. As she stood there assessing Wraith, he could easily see she was certainly liking what she was seeing. Finally her eyes drifted back to his face. She couldn’t see it clearly yet but she knew if the body looked that good, there was no doubt the face matched.

”You look like you could use a hand. Or two. Mine happen to be free right now. Of course, I’m not cheap help, but I’m about all ya got right now. So….Whadda ya say?”

Totem rose tentatively when he heard about Morgan's condition. His back stung, but he'd live, right now finding help was more important. "We need to get her to a doctor. It's too bad that big hero had to go and get himself blown up, he could have been some use." he said as he slowly put his blood stained shirt back on. He walked over to the balcony and looked out over the night time city, then looked back to the group. "I can fly." he told them, "I can go back and find Cowboy, make sure he's safe while someone else finds a doctor for Morgan." he suggested.

Allie looked over at Totem, surprised by the fact the man could fly.

"I don't know any doctors who are sympathetic to non-registered metas, Totem. I will do what I can for her, the bleeding has slowed a lot, maybe it will stop. I will keep a pressure bandage on it and wait. But, go ahead and find Cowboy."

She ran to the utility room and grabbed a small cell phone, handing it to Totem.

"Here, take this. It has my number automatically programmed into it, that is if you can carry it on you when you fly. Call if you need help, if not, then I would suggest with RAID snooping around, bring Cowboy back here. We don't want to lead them back to the base and this place is like Fort Knox with a few twists. Hit this button here, and the tracker inside the phone will guide you back here with a map."

She turned and went to check on Ayana and Kekoa. Seeing that things were okay there, she came back out and asked Yelena if her or the boy needed anything before going to check on Morgan.