HEROES Chapter 7

Bathed in the golden light of dawn, sifting through the cityscape spread out before him, Special Agent Henkel stared out of the fifteenth floor window as he sipped is coffee. His new appointment as a R.A.I.D. collaborative had greatly improved his view. Since their meeting with Birkshire both he and his partner had received private offices a perk the Chicago Director wasn't too impressed with but he had little say in the matter. The recommendation for the joint operation had come straight from the top and his department had no choice but to provide the two agents access to whatever resources they required to assist them in their war against the meta-humans.

"So when you get near a meta, you what? Switch them off?" Posed Henkel as he turned around and walked back to his desk.


Sitting before the highly polished bureau with a posture that would rival that of a marine, was agent Lance Garret of the R.A.I.D. REG-MET Division.

"Yes, sir." Garret answered, "My mutation suppresses meta-abilities."

"All of them?"

"All, except those abilities that are due to increased muscle density or other permanent physical mutations." Explained Garret.

Henkel placed his cup on coaster and eased down into his large, plush leather chair. "So, if say, some guy is stronger than normal, you can't turn that off?"

"If their strength comes from their muscles, then, no."

Henkel nodded, satisfied. He wanted to make sure he completely understood the ability of the registered meta-human agent and the fact that he couldn't suppress a permanent physical trait made sense. He could, however, eliminate those with powers difficult to defend against which would make their job a whole lot easier. Henkel's thoughts immediately turned to Tim Rutherford and his associate the Chameleon. Agent Garret could eliminate her ability to change and nullify the Cowboy's time stopping, unfortunately he couldn't yet let the young agent in on his investigation. He didn't want, Birkshire catching wind of Rutherford; not just yet, and so with the REG-MET agent they would concentrate specifically on Apex Fusion and other renegade meta's like Amazon, Wraith and Seizure.


There was knock on the door and Jameson walked in while reading a report. He acknowledged, Garret with a cursory nod then dropped the piece paper in front of Henkel. "Here's that list you wanted."

Henkel slid the document before him and quickly perused the names of mutants that had the ability to change their appearances and also those who could move incredibly fast or even stop time.

"Good work, Rick. Nice to see you're putting your new privileges to good work." Said Henkel. He was referring to both of their access to the R.A.I.D. databases, allowing them to obtain information on meta's that the F.B.I. didn't even know about.

Jameson nodded as he crunched into a half eaten apple in his other hand, then flopped down in the other spare chair beside Garret. There was obviously no love lost between the two, and aside from his subtle greeting, Jameson made no other efforts to communicate with the meta-human. Registered or not, all agent Lance Garret was to him was a meta and the less time he had to spend with the guy, the better.

"I'm still betting it was the Cowboy." Stated Jameson.

Henkel shook his head in disagreement, then swung his monitor around for Garret to see. On it a movie played. A security camera recording of a dark alley had captured the assault of a man, but the attack had happened so quickly that the video had to be slowed down to see it clearly. One moment a man was standing around, smoking and the next he was gone, but once it was slowed one could see a streak strike the man and carry him away in the blink of an eye.

"So what do you think, Garret?" Asked Henkel.

The R.A.I.D. agent had read their report on the meta-human criminal, Cowboy and knew that he was suspected of being a time-stopper, but upon his review of the recording believed that whoever abducted the man was moving fast enough to warp time, but had not stopped it. "It's definitely someone who is very fast."

"I agree." Said Henkel, smiling triumphantly at his partner, "And this is who I believe it is."

Henkel struck a few keys on his keyboard and profile came up on the screen for a one, Lance Strauss, a.k.a., the Highwayman.

"The man's James Boyd." Henkel told Garret, and he stated to brief him on their recent discoveries, "Five days ago his body was found in the river and we managed to retrace his steps and place his disappearance around a downtown casino. The man had a few poker chips in his pocket which lead us to the place of his disappearance. The recoding is of a back alley where some of the guests sneak out for a smoke.

"James Boyd was one of the engineers for the new nuclear plant, Zion III, which is scheduled to go online in a few days. Seems he also loved to gamble. Apparently his luck ran out that night."

The phone rang, and seeing that it was the secretary picked it up. "There's an agent Romanolf Chikinsky from Russian International Affairs on the line, Mr. Henkel." she told him.

"Thanks. Put me through." Henkel requested.

Henkel signaled his two associates that he was going to have to take the call but motioned with his hand for them to stay seated. He cordially greeted Chikinsky and after they exchanged a few words, the Russian got to the point and mentioned that he was interested in obtaining any information for the known fugitive meta, called Chameleon.

"The Chameleon?" Repeated Henkel as his eyes flashed to his partner, who was also surprised at the coincidence. "Agent Chikinsy, would you mind if I placed you on speaker? I would like to include my two associates in on our conversation."

The Russian agent didn't see a problem with the conference and so Henkel went on to explain their current investigation surrounding, James Boyd. At first Romanolf didn't understand the significance but then it became clear where Henkel was going when he mentioned that James Boyd had been dead for at least two days when he showed up at the Zion III nuclear plant. Witnesses informed detectives that he had shown up to inspect his work one last time then left with hardly a word to any of his old colleagues.

"I suspect, Agent Chikinsky, that the Chameleon may have been behind this charade." Henkel told the agent. He then paused for a moment and reconsidered informing the Russian that he suspected that she might be in Texas for fear of tipping off Agent Garret. "Perhaps, we can work together on this and pool our resources. We may be facing an act of terrorism involving a nuclear reactor and any help that you can give us would be greatly appreciated."

After taking some pain-killing drugs, some haphazard stitching from Scavenger and hot shower, Grey was ready for some sleep. He closed his eyes and was just getting settled when he was awoken by a loud bang that caused the motel room door to shudder. Immediately, Scavenger had sprung to his feet, walked over and checked the spy hole.

"Holy shit!" He exclaimed, then quickly opened the door and stepped back.

Filling the doorway was an enormous man that had to duck under the door frame when he entered. He was easily seven feet tall and was powerfully muscled. His long, flowing white hair floated as he walked into the room and sat down on the chest of drawers across from the beds.

"Mr. Fusion." Greeted Scavenger nervously, "What can we do for you?"

Fusion? It then became apparent to Grey that the giant man was Apex Fusion, the leader of the gang he was being initiated into. He was every bit as powerful looking as he imagined, but he was hardly dressed the part. He had on a predominantly green plaid shirt, faded blue jeans and cowboy-style boots.

Apex looked at Scavenger but did not respond. He just stared at him coldly with his white eyes and submissively, Stefan backed away and sat down on his bed without another word. The giant man, then folded his arms and turned to Grey.

"Well done, Grey." Said Apex in his Australian accent, "Taking out the legendary, Damien Vallens was no small matter. I'm in your debt, but I have to ask you to extend the credit. Both of you are in now and for your first assignment, I need both you to infiltrate the new nuclear reactor, Zion III."

Apex reached into his breast pocket, took out a small vial containing a blue elixir and tossed it to Grey.

"In your hands, Grey represents ten years of research, the contents of which are no more useful than colored water but in short time will become more expensive than heroine. Wonder why? I'll tell ya. Many years ago I funded the research that developed a signal that would cause a mutation in Humans, but leave Meta-humans unaffected. The mutation would cause deformities, but that serum can reverse the effects, unfortunately it has to be taken regularly.

"In the city I have positioned three towers in heavily populated areas that will broadcast and maintain the pulse wave, but an extremely powerful source of energy is required to jump start the signal. Once it starts, the towers will maintain it but to initially produce the wave we need to draw the energy from Zion III, the newest reactor and the most powerful of its kind.

"What I need you to do, Grey is to get into the plant and use your ability to destabilize the reactor for long as you can. This will allow the Highwayman to plant the transceivers necessary to generate the pulse. A simple task if you do not melt the core of the reactor then Chicago will be at our mercy. People will either receive the serum under my terms or choose to leave, but Chicago is just the beginning. I will make more towers and spread West and with your help we can literally control the world.

"What do you say, Grey? Will you help me? Will you help UMBRA's cause?"

Nicolia , posing as Romanolf Chikinsky, stood across the street from the Federal Office building in Chicago and lisened on his cell phone, as Agent Henkle voiced his suspicions. "Da verhaps vecould meet and as you say share information? My government und I vuld greatly appreciate your assistance in apprehending dis inividual Yelena, dat you call "Da Camelleon". She iz one of most wanted criminals in my country." Nicolia paused then said "You may reach me at ze Raffaello Hotel Suite 1177. You are familiar with dis place da?"

Agent Jameson was writing down the address as it was said and placed it on the desk in front of his partner. He also wrote down the name, 'Yelena'. No one had ever been able to acquire identity of the shape-shifter and this contact seemed very promising.

"I know the place." Said Henkel, "I'll see you in one hour. I look forward to working with you agent Chikinsky."

Henkel hung up the phone, picked up the piece paper and leaned forward on his desk in thought. He looked at his partner, to the R.A.I.D. agent, then back to Jameson.

"I want the two of you to get a team together and investigate Zion III."

Already, Henkel could see the disdain creeping into his partner's eyes. He didn't like Garret. The man was a meta, and Jameson positively hated them but they had to work together and as far as Henkel was concerned this registered meta was a great asset. The man could nullify mutant powers. That would come in very handy and he knew that in time Jameson would appreciate the ability, the guy just needed time.

"Inform, director Adams of the situation." Henkel instructed looking directly at Jameson the looking over at Garret, "You contact, Birkshire and get a team set up at the reactor a.s.a.p. The last thing this country needs is some meta-human terrorist taking out half of Chicago."

Garret shot up and nodded stiffly. "Yes, sir." he responded then started for the door.

Jameson got out of his chair in far less militaristic fashion and followed the meta. "See you at the plant." he said glancing back over his shoulder.

Henkel, opened his desk drawer and transferred his standard issue side arm, a Glock model 22, .40 caliber, to his shoulder holster. He finished off his coffee in one gulp, grabbed his trench coat of the rack and headed out of his office.

Henkel pulled out of the parking garage and made his way to the Stevenson express way, then took Lake Shore drive north to the Raffaelio Hotel at Deleware Place. He made sure that he arrived at his destination quickly, at least twenty minutes early. He entered the lobby and flashed his badge to the man at the desk. "I'm special agent Henkel of the F.B.I. I need to see your tenant list."

The young man brought up the recent bookings on his screen and rotated the monitor so that the agent could see it.

"Could you call suite 1177 please?" Asked Henkel while he scanned the list to make sure that the name 'Chikinsky' was indeed registered to that room.

As Agent Henkle scanned the registary the name Romanolf Chikinsky did appear as registared to Suite 1177. The desk clerk, said Agent Henkle, Mr. Chikinsky as asked me to tell you, when you arrived to please join him in the bar.

Nicolia, disguised as Romanolf Chiniksky, sat in a booth in the back corner of the hotel bar facing the entrance. His lap top computer and a club soda with a twist of lime sat on the table before him.

Exhausted and annoyed, Grey's control was low and the minute he saw the big man, he immediately insulted him loudly. For the first time since his childhood, Grey looked away, nervous but Apex seemed aware of his condition and didn't so much as blink. He listened in silence, watching Apex carefully a few times when his head jerked for any signs of confusion. Clearly word had gotten around about him an Grey wasn't so sure how he felt about that. Still, the task seemed relatively easy and Grey's face remained otherwise nonchalant until Apex got to the part where he said "we can literally control the world."

At this, Grey grew still, narrowing his eyes in suspicion as he surveyed the man. He'd seen these types of people. Hell, his own parents practically fell into the category-- rich, greedy snakes. He'd worked for those who strove to be the kings of the underworld, even if their idea of the underworld was only their pathetic little territory. There was one thing they all had in common, and that was an unwillingness bordering heavily on an inability to share power. Grey wasn't as stupid as he acted. He knew he'd been nothing but a tool since he'd left home and somehow his recent freedom hadn't lost its novelty. He was in no rush to end up someone's lackey again. He was already on RAID's radar because of it.

Slowly, he got to his feet, idly lighting a cigarette and scratching his bare side, scars slicing faintly across the toned muscles.

"What happens after Highwayman or whatever gets this thing goin'?" he asked. Apex inclined his head slightly.

"You will help me set up the mechanisms across the country," Apex replied with the obviousness in his tone.

"No, I mean, like, after that," said Grey through a twitch of his face. Apex looked back at him for a moment and Grey slowly paced across the room. "Here's the thing," he went on, keeping the slight pull at the corner of his mouth hidden. He couldn't even try to say he wasn't enjoying this new-found power. "I do this thing for you and make you king of the world or whatever. That's cool. But I ain't gonna be nobody's bitch, alright?" He pointed his cigarette at Apex much to Stefan's discomfort but the big man said nothing. After a pause, Grey straightened and took another drag from the cigarette. "First thing's first . . . and I ain't sayin' yeah . . . how much?" When Apex stated the number flatly, Grey froze, his face going lax for a moment. Numbers like that had barely been so much as spoken in his presence since he was a child. Still, he regained control of himself and wiped the expression from his face. "When this is over, I'm nobody's bitch, alright? You want my help for anything else--SON OF A BITCH!-- you're gonna pay me. You leave me cut loose 'cept for business shit and you gotta deal."

Grey turned his cold stare up to Apex, his expression flat, hiding the hope that fluttered behind his gaze. He was starting to realize that getting the living hell beaten out of him and having to flee New York may have been the best thing that ever happened to the meta, even if he did have to keep a closer watch out for RAID.

Grey's and Scavenger's motel room...

Apex Fusion leaned his back against the wall, folded his great arms across his chest and patiently listened to Grey's conditions. He wasn't used to being dictated too and in a way he found it refreshing. He knew the hit-man was not talking out of disrespect but confidence and he admired that. The little boy he had once knew had come quite far, much further than he had ever expected he would but now was not the time for a walk down memory lane. It was enough that he had finally found him.

"Don't worry, Grey, you'll get your money," Apex assured him, "but you needn't be so mercenary. You're family now, you and your bird." Apex's white eyes glanced over to Scavenger and a slight smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "You just do your part and we'll do the rest. That's all I ask, well almost."

Apex reached into his breast shirt pocket, took out a PDA and tossed it to Grey. "The password is your name." he told him, "I've entered all the information you need into it. It also has a scrambler. You've got five minutes of air time before anyone can trace you.

"After you, complete your task at the Zion III reactor, I want you to make your way to the northern tower and assist in defending it. Some of the others will be there as well. It's at the top of an apartment block, so they won't dare to attempt to use excessive force, they'll have to try and take it with ground troops. Of course they'll have a difficult time tracing the signal, but eventually someone will figure it out and that's where you come in. All you have to do is ensure that no one gets to the tower and know that each one is connected to enough explosives to level a city block, their experts will need time to disarm them. Time that they won't have. The deformities begin after twenty four hours, hold them off for that amount of time and they will soon after begin to lose heart.

Apex smiled and started to leave. "Is there anything else you would like know?" he asked, stopping before the doorway.

Grey paused, glancing over at his gun which was sitting on the bedside table, and scratched his bare stomach.

"One more thing," he said, "I want real guns. That piece of shit over there is all I got left and it's good for like, emergencies at best. Real guns with real ammo. And silencers. I don't need scopes." He looked hard back at Apex who hid the curl in his lip.

"It's done," he said smoothly, "I'll have them delivered here immediately." With that, the big man slipped out into the hallway and vanished behind the door. Grey's head was spinning. If Scavenger spoke to him, he didn't hear it as he took one final drag on his cigarette before putting it out in the ashtray by the bed. He then stretched out his sore muscles and pulled a shirt on one arm at a time. His mind drifted to the pharmaceutical goodies Stefan had brought back and found himself wondering how much time he'd have to get screwed up. Still, the job seemed like one he could easily do stoned.

Wandering into the bathroom, he splashed some water onto his face and quickly brushed his teeth before he turned his gaze up to his own reflection. There was a bruise coloring one side of his face and the gash in his neck had sealed up to a mere cut. His eyes were still reddened from the night before and this paired with the paleness in his face from having just woken up made him look pretty strung-out.

"Damn," he thought to himself before he straightened and headed back into the room. "Gimme some'a that shit before we go do this," he said. Scavenger tossed him a bottle and he tossed back a few pills before flopping spread eagle back onto the bed. The sore muscles in his back relaxed into the soft, worn mattress and he smiled watching the ceiling begin to fade and warp above him.

The Raffaello Hotel...


Agent Henkel walked into the bar and scanned the occupants. A few men stood out to him but he had no idea who what this Russian agent looked like. A few moments later the man sitting in the booth at the back corner of the lounge waved to him.

Henkel sauntered over to the table and slid into the seat across from the man who was currently engrossed in something on his laptop. A server came over and he ordered pint of whatever they had that was comparable to Newcastle Brown Ale.

"Mr. Chikinsky, I'm special agent Henkel." he said extending his hand across the table, "I am very interested to hear what you know about the Chameleon. You called her Yelena?"


Meanwhile...


Agents Jameson and Garret sped northward toward the new Zion III nuclear reactor at the head of a joint FBI and RAID task force. As they drove along, Garret apprised himself on the status of the reactor by reviewing the information in the cars onboard computer, the very same information that Grey Pyre would have access to on the PDA given to him by Apex Fusion.

Zion III was set to go live in a few days and before that happened the system was vulnerable to the transmitters that the Highwayman was going to install while Grey destabilized the reactor. The agents of course had no knowledge, yet of the Apex's scheme to siphon power from the plant to initiate his 'mutating signal'. They believed that someone, possibly a meta was going to attempt to sabotage he reactor and were going to set up to defend it which would make Grey's and the Highwayman's jobs all the more difficult.

"добрый день, Oсобый Агент Саймон Henkle" ( Good Afternoon Special Agent Simon Henkle)Nicolia said as he rose slightly and reached across the table, grasping Special Agents Henkel's hand firmly, then sat back down. "Ah Special Agent Henkle it is a plweshur to meet you. I am Major Romanolf Chikinsky of de Rushian MVD." he said as he presented his credintials to Agent Henkel. After Henkle handed them back, Nicolia continued "I do hpoe vee vill work vell togather to apprehend dis "Cameleon" und return her to Russia ver she veel be brought to justus vith extreme predujuice. Da?" He then slid a 4" thick file folder across the table to Agent Henkel. "Dis is a copy of our complete doiser on vee Cameleon."
As Agent Henkle reached across the table he noticed two other thicker files, in Nicolia's laptop case, on the table with the names Oсобый Агент Саймон Henkle ( SpeciaalAgent Simon Henkle) and Oсобый Агент Rick определению (Special Agent Rick Jameson) written in Russian and Engilsh on the tabs.

A motel somewhere in Chicago...


A few hours and several pills later there was a knock on the motel room door.

Scavenger who always seemed to remain spry and alert despite how many drugs he had in his system, sprang off of his bed and landed, lightly, although unsteadily on the floor and answered it. He opened the door and squinting from the bright light, immediately reached for and put on his extra dark sun glasses. There standing under the afternoon sun was a nondescript looking man carrying a large case.

"Fusion sent me." he said and upon hearing the name, Stefan opened the door wide and let him in.

The man didn't stay long. All he did was walk in, place the case on the floor and toss a thin, black notebook to Scavenger. He then left and shut the door.

Stefan looked to Grey with raised eyebrows then slipping his sunglasses off he opened up the thin, jet black laptop and brought it over to his partner. He sat down on the bed beside him and set the computer on his lap so that they both could see.

The laptop had no keys or mouse pad, there was just a green coloured thumb print in the center of the screen that was slowly pulsating. Not really thinking, Scavenger placed his thumb to the screen, and the thumb print glowed red for a few seconds and the words 'Access Denied' flashed underneath it. It was quite obvious to Grey what the solution was and when he touched the print with his thumb, the graphic glowed brightly and Apex Fusion appeared on the screen.

"Hello, Greyson and you as well, Scavenger. This is a recorded message and it will only play once so listen carefully. In the case you will find the weapons that you have requested. They are state of the art, and are equipped with 'genetic-signature-verification' or g.s.v. A nice little security feature developed by one of my subsidiary companies, Genomorph Laboratories. Here's how it works. In the case you will find what looks like a silver aerosol can. I want you to spray your hand with it then grip one of the weapons as if you were going to fire it. Once the agent on your hand makes contact with the g.s.v. the only person that will be able to fire that weapon is you.

"I hope you will be pleased with them, the sniper rifle is a personal gift from me to you. The site offers thermal imaging at five hundred meters and will penetrate standard walls. I will call on you from time to time to put them to good use, but for now concentrate on the reactor.

"In the case you will also find a cell phone programmed to contact the Highwayman. Once you are in position use it to contact him. Good luck."

The screen went black then some text appeared that read, 'Please place the Message Book away from you.', then a count down starting at '10' began.

Scavenger wasn't sure what was going to happen, but count downs usually weren't a good thing. He hopped of the bed, put the Message Book on the dresser top and moved away. When the countdown hit '0' there was a fizzling sound and all the internal components of the system were completely burnt up while hardly heating the outer shell, rendering it useless and untraceable.

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The Raffaello Hotel Lounge...


Henkel accepted the heaping file folder from the MVD agent and tried to let on that he had not noticed the files of he and Jameson under the laptop, although they were pretty much in plain sight. If he didn't want him to the see them he could have hidden them better and so this lead the FBI agent to suspect that this man was well connected and possibly even had diplomatic immunity.

He flipped open the folder and quickly skimmed over the first few pages and he was very surprised to see that the Russian knew the true identity of Cowboy.

_______________________________________________________________________



Real Name: Yelena Petrokovich

Allias: Chameleon

Powers/Abilities: Shape Shifter with the ability to psionically shift the formation of her biological cells at will to change her appearance and thereby assume the form of other humans. Can only take on the shape of other human that are similar in size to her own body proportions. When she assumes the identity of another, she can also change her voice to be that of the persons as well. Her shifting abilities can only last for a no more than two hours.

Trained: martial arts, hand to hand combat, gymnastics, Olympic Gold Medalist.

Born: The eighth child of a farmer and his wife. Father, mother and syblings deceased.

Speculation: Yelena's abilities came about due to exposure to the radiation leaked from a nuclear disaster.

Appearance: Female - mid-twenties. Blond hair, green eyes
During the shape shifting her eyes take on a yellow color with reptilian like black pupils. The entire process only lasts about 30 seconds, blue skin that briefly appears upon her body just before assuming the form of another. Speaks with a soft voice, with a Slavic accent.

Languages: Fluent in Russian, English, French, German and Hungarian.

Last confirmed location: Lake Pleasant, New York - USA

Accompanied by:
Toril Njordhagen - AKA: WRAITH - File# MH060755
Dominic Cassius - File# NMH082510

Known Associates:
Timothy James Rutherford - AKA: "COWBOY" - File# MH050250
Robert Perovanini - AKA: "Mister DiVine" - File# MH043126 (incarserated R.A.I.D Faclility-New York - USA)
John McManus - AKA: "GEARBOX" - File# MH050479 (R.A.I.D. custody Chicago, Illinois - USA)
Unknown - AKA: "BUG" - File# MH012022
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Satisfied, Henkel then closed the folder and looked up at the man who was patiently awaiting him to keep up his end of the bargain.

"Looks like you've been keeping an eye on her for some time, Major Chikinsky." Said Henkel as he reached into his breast pocket. He then took out a flash-drive and handed it to him.

"I know I told you that we suspected the Chameleon might be involved with a terrorist attack on the new Zion III reactor, but what you don't know is that she may already be long gone." Henkel admitted, "On that drive is satellite video of a woman that I suspect may be Yelena Petrokovich."

"We've been monitoring the home of Tim Rutherford, aka, Cowboy, Arnette, Texas whom I've noticed you've been aware of for some time." Henkel explained, trying to hide the bitterness in his tone, "This woman showed up a few days ago out of the blue and just seemed a little to coincidental. You'll find all the information you need on the drive, including files on the Timbles. Henry Timble is the owner of the Circle T Ranch where the suspect is currently staying."

Henkel then handed agent Kaleb Mitchell's card to the Major, "This is the leader of the surveillance team I have in place, he's staying at the Embassy Suites in Lubbock. I'll notify him to give you their complete cooperation, sir."

_______________________________________________________________________

The Apartment of Devon Gale (a.k.a Wraith)...


Another day done, Devon thought to himself with a yawn as he made himself a snack. He thought he would just have something light since he was going to head over to Simon Henkel's barbecue in a few hours and sat in front of the TV to kill some time. He surfed the channels until he found an historic documentary then settled into his new leather recliner.

Placing his wrap down on the table beside him he picked up the newspaper and perused the front page that had as its feature story, 'ZION III TO GO LIVE IN TWO DAYS'. He also noticed in less bold type within the same article that an unknown source had disclosed that the FBI had been investigating what was believed to be suspected terrorist acts involving one of the engineers. There was very little information but despite that the media still had to elaborate on it, thankfully the public had reached such a state of apathy that there was little risk of panic. Devon, or rather Wraith was, however, intrigued. Maybe, Henkel would be able to shed a little more light on the case.

For a moment, Grey blinked and said nothing, staring at the smoking screen. He then cracked open the case and pushed it open onto the bed. One look inside and he almost had to change his pants. Inside he found exactly what he had been told he would, but somehow he hadn't expected them to be so . . . shiny and new. Spraying his hands, he gripped each weapon, pausing to point it at Scavenger each time and test out the scope. Used to this, Scavenger just rolled his eyes and stared blankly back at Grey even when he lowered the gun and grinned at him.

When he was finished admiring the weapons and making them his own, Grey stood and began loading himself up, his face falling into a businesslike calm as though he were in a morning routine headed to a desk job. Stowing the smaller gun in his belt, he threw on his jacket and zipped it up, pulling it over the gun so that there was no sign of it. He then dropped the phone into the pocket above his right knee while tossing a pack of cigarettes and two bottles of pills into the pocket above his left knee. Slipping the sniper rifle over his shoulder he paused, looking out at the darkening sky, the weight of the weapons and the apprehension of the mission playing through him like he had just come home from prison. Finally, it was all the fun he didn't know he missed and this time, he was in control.

Finally, Greyson Pyre turned to look at Scavenger over his shoulder.

"We're goin' over the buildings like before," he said, referring to his own habit of traveling across rooftops, "get me to this place." An excited smirk broke over Scavenger's face before he transformed into a bird and with a squawk, took off out the window the moment Grey cracked it open. Finding the fire escape, the assassin crawled out into the fading dusk and swung easily out onto the ladder. Without missing a beat, the expertly ascended it to the top of the building where the great black crow stood waiting for him. Like a cat, Grey moved silently across the dense roofs, barely a faint shadow blinking across it, heading straight for Zion III.

Zion III, Nuclear Reactor. Two days prior to going live...

Zion III had been seven years in the making, two of which were spent creating a man-made island for it, three kilometers of shore in Wilmette Harbor. The new nuclear reactor was approximately forty kilometers away, as the crow flies, but for Grey Pyre now burdened with his new weaponry the trek would be a tedious one. The journey, even if he could go full out for the entire journey would take him three hours, but the time would not be wasted. Grey had to plan. The security would be heavy and since the body of one of the top engineers had turned up who knew who else was going to join the party. Grey would have to be ready for anything.

The PDA that Apex Fusion had given to Grey had all the information he would need to infiltrate Zion III. Programmed into the database were several maps with a menu that allowed him to highlight the guard stations and all the possible pathways he could take to reach the closest point to the core allowing the mutant to use his ability. The goal was to temporarily destabilize the plant and not cause a melt down, so tampering with the main control room would not allow them to achieve their goal. Apex required the reactor operational.


Grey Pyre and Scavenger were still several hours from their destination while Special Agent Jameson and R.A.I.D. Agent Garret traveled by boat to the island. The two men stood at the bow, staring out into the black waters and beyond to the lights of Zion III while at the stern a crack team of specialized R.A.I.D. agents in full gear checked their weaponry and went over schematics to familiarize themselves with the reactor.

"So, can you see in the dark or anything like that?" Asked Jameson before sipping his coffee.

Agent Garret smiled. "Nope."

Jameson nodded, never once looking over at the meta and apparently that was the extent of the conversation he wanted to have since he remained silent for the rest of the short trip. When they reached the dock, the sixteen men immediately mobilized and hastened to their check points, while Jameson and Garret brought up the rear.


The Apartment of Devon Gale (a.k.a. Wraith)...


Devon lowered the volume on his TV while he spoke on the phone. "That's alright." he replied as Henkel broke it to him that he had to cancel his barbecue. Something had come up with work,and the agent seemed very anxious. He was disappointed of course to change his guests plans at the last minute, but everyone that knew him realized that was the nature of his job, and Devon completely understood.

"Hey, no worries. You've got my number, give me a call some time." Said Devon. He then said his good byes and hung up the phone.

The big man eased back into his chair and took a sip out of his water glass while retrieving Henkel's address from his shirt pocket. His eyes glanced over at the clock on the wall and figured that the agent would probably be well on his way to whatever emergency he had to deal with in a few minutes.

"5320 North Kenmore avenue." Devon read to himself. Only a short flight away.

He grabbed his plate and drank the rest of his water on the way back to the kitchen, debating whether or not to break into Simon's house if only to satisfy his curiousity. That was definitely a misuse of power, not to mention it was just plain underhanded, but whatever Henkel was dealing with was big. He could sense it in his tone of voice. The agent, he had quickly learned, could be pretty much be taken at face value and not much scared the man, but there was a slight tremble in his voice that denoted an event that could be potentially life threatening. What could it be?

Silently, Wraith glided through the nigh sky. As he neared Henkel's home he became the wind and invisibly approached it. He circled around the perimeter a few times, checking the windows and seeing no activity slipped in through a crack and navigated through the dwelling in his wind form.

Wraith moved very slowly, careful not to stir up his molecules and produce a glow. He was in the house of an FBI agent after all and he wouldn't put it past the man to have some hidden cameras around. Still, even at his slowest rate the ghostly hero mysteriously stirred the curtains or curled papers left on table tops no matter how careful he was.

Eventually, he came upon Henkel's office and still not wanting to expose himself, Wraith remained invisible. The computers were off, but there lying on the desk was a print out of a schematic diagram for the Zion III nuclear reactor and beside it was a profile of the murdered engineer, James Boyd. Wraith's instincts had been correct! Somone was targeting the new nuclear reactor! But who?

Wraith searched the bulletin board on the wall opposite the computer desk and their amidst several other pictures from various cases, one stood out. It was the picture of a meta that the super hero had encountered a long time ago, a man by the name of Lance Strauss, also known as the Highwayman and that could mean only one thing — Apex Fusion.

There was so much more that Devon wanted to look into, but to do so he needed to materialize and that wasn't an option, also maintaining his wind form for the extended period of time was beginning to wear on him. He knew now where to go and who to look for and that would be enough. The air mutant, found a partially open window that would make for an easy escape but before he left something else caught his eye. On a second desk tucked into the other corner of the room was a thick file with a name that he knew on it. It was written in cyrillic but, Devon could read it, 'Yelena Petrokovish - Chameleon'.

Astral Traveller by the band Yes, reverberated through the old garage, originating from the open doors of the 1983 Cordoba in the far bay. In the center, Slate worked away at adding a new modification to his retractable whip weapon, humming along with Anderson's cybernetic sounding voice. It had been a long day, and he was feeling the urge again, so he focused on some technical work. Sometimes, it helped him control the blood lust, some times it didn't, but with the increased presence of R.A.I.D. in Chicago he had to be all the more careful. Damn, if he didn't enjoy a challenge though.

Slate focused on replacing a computer chip amidst a mass of minute brass coloured gears he had exposed by removing the black grip. He needed to wear magnifying glasses to perform the modification and as he dropped the chip in place his enlarged eyes flicked toward a ceiling vent over the third bay, to his left. A sudden gust wind whistled though it drawing his attention for a moment, then he returned to his work. He removed the glasses and sealed the inner mechanisms with it's strong casing, the satisfied with his changes stood up and made his way to the back of the garage.

Beside the office which he had converted to his bedroom was a small lunch room he used as a kitchen. He entered through the open door, grabbed a cloth to clean his hand then opened the door to the bright red, 'Coca-Cola' refrigerator. Slate grabbed himself a beer from a shelf devoted to it and without looking reached over the door and handed it out to the air.

"Wanna beer?" Sigma casually asked, prompting the large man to materialize out of nothing and take the bottle with a curious smile on his masked face.

"Thanks." Said Wraith, wondering how Sigma detected him.

"You should be a little more in tune with the weather." Said Slate, as he shut the fridge, cracked his beer and leaned against the grimy counter top.

Wearing blue cover-alls, with the name, 'Patrick' embroidered on the shirt pocket, Slate was hardly dressed for the occasion that Wraith had obviously dropped by to invite him to. "So, where ya off ta, all dolled up, Wraith?"

Wraith filled Slate in on his suspicions that something major was going down at the Zion III, Nuclear Reactor and when he was finished, the dark crime-fighter was very interested. "Always wanted to take a tour of one of those things."he mentioned.

Wraith just smiled and took a swig of his beer.

When the reactor came closer into his sharp sights, Grey ducked himself into the grass and pulled out the sniper rifle. His inhuman sight let him see the first of the unfortunate guards standing outside of the building and with one glance through the scope silently dropped the both of them. Moving quickly, patiently, Greyson Pyre worked his way towards the reactor, careful to keep from making too much noise or ruffling any of the tall grass that swayed above him. Finally, he paused just behind the parking lot and scanned the open space. No one had noticed the guards were dead yet. Saying nothing, the cat-footed assassin leaped out of the grass and ducked behind a car.

Slowly, he worked his way across the parking lot, darting between cars until he was ducking in the shadow of the building, pressed against the wall, careful to avoid cameras. There, he leaned on his gun and checked the map again on the little device Apex had given him. Glancing between the map and the building, he made a rough, mental path in his head. He then motioned to Scavenger and whispered almost inaudibly to him.

"I'm gonna open the doors. Go in and tell me where the guards are on this floor." Without waiting to see if Scavenger had anything to say about it, Grey hurried up to the doors, disabled the lock, and slipped inside where he immediately flattened himself against the front wall and shot out the first camera he saw. Almost immediately, a security guard emerged around a corner and reached for his gun the second he laid eyes on Grey. Grey was faster, however, and quickly raised his gun and pulled the trigger, blowing a hole straight through the man's head. For a moment, Grey paused, listening for heartbeats and footsteps before he motioned for Scav to go ahead. There, he scanned the walls and found two more cameras which he took out quickly and silently. His first instinct was to swear but he could already tell his body was rebelling against the prolonged silence and the increased pressure of the heavy patrols didn't help.

Taking a deep breath, he paused at the sound of wings flapping along with footfalls and shouts. Grey raised his gun and waited, head down, peering over the scope, waiting like a predator in the grass. When Scavenger came squawking around the corner pursued by two confused and annoyed guards, Grey fired off two quick rounds, hitting on in the chest and one in the neck. The two dropped before they could react to seeing him. Lowering the weapon just slightly, Grey turned expectantly to his partner who reported the corridor was clear but that he didn't know about the rest of the floor. Apparently large, black birds were more of a disturbance than they would have been to the assassin. Sighing, Grey hurried across the hall towards the elevator and paused, listening to the whirs and hums inside. The chances of it coming to the first floor were slim but he didn't want to risk the stairs.

Checking the map again, Grey lowered his head by the door and tried to focus on the sounds of the machine's movements within the shaft. There were two elevators working on either side of the building. With a moment's pause, Grey flicked the kill switch that was his mind and listened again, holding his breath. The whirring still continued on one side, but not the other. Breathing a silent sigh of relief, Grey forced the elevator doors open and looked up. In the distance, he could see the working elevator drifting up, away from him while one hovered between the two floors above him. Without looking to see if Scavenger was behind him, Grey flipped the gun over his shoulder and lept through the shaft and grabbed hold of the cables from the broken one. He waited for Scavenger to follow before he disabled the mechanisms holding the doors open and let them slam shut with a metallic crash that echoed through the whole shaft and reverberated painfully in his ears.

Pausing with his legs wrapped around the cable, Grey hovered for a minute and listened through the flutter of Scav's wings to the elevator above him. The sounds practically echoed back to him: The shifting and muttering, the frustrated clicks of fingers pushing buttons, the squeak of the emergency door opening which Grey quickly destroyed and listened to the shout when the one reaching for the phone got shocked. The mutant's lip curled as he began to very carefully pull himself up the cable towards the car. When he was just beneath it, he paused again, listening to the shuffling talking. He then placed a hand on the bottom to make sure of their positions before he swung the gun back around and fired through the floor. The second person was easier to find thanks to his shocked swearing and Grey easily shot him through the cheap metal bottom of the elevator before he reached around and scurried up the side. Now perched on top of the car, he checked his position in relation to the core.

Making progress . . . and one non-working elevator shouldn't be cause for too much worry. Moving the top aside, Grey dropped into the car and forced the doors open. There, he kicked the bodies down the shaft before kicking off of the wall and pulling himself back out through the top. Before replacing the tile he'd jumped through, he looked with dismay at the bloodstains on the floor. Nothing he could waste time dealing with now. He just had to get to the core before anyone noticed. He checked the time. Still plenty more to get to where he needed to be. Shouldering the rifle, Grey started again up the cable, watching the floors move up. His arms were aching by the time he got to where he needed to be and he wrapped his legs tighter around the cable so that he could free one hand to motion to Scavenger. He then pointed the vent, telling him to try to peck it open.

The huge crow perched on it and began to peck and scratch at the screws. When almost a full minute went by, Grey motioned impatiently for him to move and raised his gun again. Firing two rounds into the thin metal, Grey ignored the burning in the muscles of his arms for long enough to swing his body forward and kick at the vent as hard as he could. After two hard kicks, the vent buckled and sat in a crumpled heap in the open air shaft. Now, the stealthy killer was home. Balancing with his strong legs, Grey threw himself at the opening, pulling himself inside where he paused for a moment, flat on his stomach, letting his back and arms rest.

Finally, he motioned for Scav to move along ahead of him and began his very quiet journey through the ceilings and walls, following the map towards the core.

As Greyson Pyre infiltrated the Zion III reactor, an old blue Cordoba with darkened headlights rumbled to halt on a dirt road near the shore line. The driver slipped off his night vision goggles and stared our across the water at the nuclear power plant, then over at his passenger.

"So what's the plan?" Asked Sigma, which is was sort of rhetorical since he always had a plan.

Wraith twisted his mouth in thought. "Well, we have to remain as covert as possible. There'll be a team of RAID enforcers present." he surmised.

Sigma wasn't impressed. "Wow. You planned all that in the time it took to drive here. Impressive." the masked crime fighter snickered.

Wraith glanced over at his partner and gave him a slight half smile. He then returned his gaze to Zion III and remained silent. If he knew what was actually going on he would formulated some kind of strategy but the truth was he didn't have the foggiest idea. All he knew was that RAID was sending a team to secure the reactor, possibly due to a terrorist threat that somehow involves meta activity.

"Tell ya what." Said Sigma, "You have the PDA you're able to carry, so you head over there and we'll keep in touch. I'll find a way to get over there."

"No killing." Said Wraith just to make sure Sigma wouldn't go rogue.

"Scout's honour." Replied Sigma holding up his right hand.


"Check point seven. Do you copy?" Relayed Jameson from a base set up nearest to the core of reactor.

"Seven, here." Responded one of two enforcers that were stationed in one of the many access points one would need to take to gain access to the more sensitive areas of the plant. "All clear."

Jameson looked over at the two RAID enforcers that were with him, noticeably agitated. He had expected at least one of the paired groups to discover something, but maybe it was just as well. As much as he wanted to bust some meta-human heads, he was thankful that the threat was probably just a false alarm.


"Wait a minute." Announced team seven, "We've got a malfunctioning elevator here."

The two enforcers repeatedly pressed the button then forced open the doors and found that the elevator car was between floors. Deftly they one by one leapt into the shaft, caught the cables and quickly slid down to the roof of the elevator. They popped off the maintenance and safety hatch then thrust their lighted rifles into the car. It was empty, but they caught site of the blood all over the floor and immediately went on red alert.

"Sir! Sir! We have blood! We have a breech. I repeat, we have a breech!"

"Shit!" Exclaimed Agent Jameson then he quickly made a call to RAID agent Garret, "Unit seven has just found evidence that we have at least one terrorist. They have discovered blood in an elevator in sector five. Be on alert!"


Agent Garret, put out a call to all units informing that they had an murderous intruder present. "If necessary shoot to kill." he told them then advised those wearing heavy armoured battle suits to proceed toward the core area since they would be able to survive in radioactive areas if necessary.

Morgan, Allie and Mikayla had made it to the Rosebud reservation in South Dakota safely and with no more mishaps with Sasha/Frank. Mikayla was now on a flight back to Chicago while Allie stayed with Morgan for a while longer.

Morgan was stronger than she'd been when she first arrived and kept growing stronger day by day under the ministrations of her Aunt Jackie, the shaman and wise woman of their tribe. Morgan had shown Allie around, even taking her horseback riding over the reservation acreage. She knew Sasha was nearby...she could feel her and her father within the woman. She was simply waiting for the confrontation that would make or break her, as was Allie.

Morgan also thought a lot about Tim, missing him horribly and finally realizing where she'd gone wrong. Thanks to Tim, she had more confidence in herself now than she did before and she wished she could see him again. Maybe, in time, they would meet up again and things would be different. Until then, she needed to concentrate on herself, on getting stronger so that she could face Sasha/Frank and end this once and for all.

Allie had been getting reports from Jessica aka SnapDragon on what had been going on around the city and was chomping at the bit to get back but refused to leave Morgan to face Sasha alone even though Morgan had repeatedly told her to go.

Allie had mentioned though, that maybe it would be best if the confrontation took place back in Chicago, where Wraith was. She knew that he was the only one who could probably make sure that Morgan survived and had said as much to the girl. Luckily, Morgan had agreed and soon, the two would be headed back to the windy city. Allie would be calling Wraith soon, to let him know what was going on and find out if he was still willing to help.

Jackie had been keeping a close eye on her niece since her return, clearly worried about her. When Morgan had first arrived with her two friends she'd been pale, withdrawn and weak. Jackie had cleansed the girl spiritually and mentally allowing her to heal from the inside out. She'd watched as her niece had gone from the withdrawn, insecure girl that had first arrived to a girl that was strong inside and confident. It hadn't taken long, Morgan simply had to find herself starting with the inside of her spiritual self. Once she'd done that, her strength....mental, emotional, spiritual and physical quickly followed. Her abilities had grown by leaps and bounds and she could now control multiple animals at one time easily, manipulating them to do as she bid them. She walked taller, her head held up now instead of hunched in on herself. Jackie knew about Sasha/Frank and knew that Morgan would have to face this entity in order to be free of her evil father once and for all. This was what worried Jackie the most and she wished that Tim were here with Morgan, but she understood why he wasn't as did Morgan.

On this sunny day, Morgan was walking around the village, smiling to the children who were running about heading for the community corral to saddle her favorite gelding and take a ride. Upon reaching the corral, she opened her mind and called to the large bay named Zeus who whinnied to her as he came running up to the fence. Morgan smiled at the horse, walking around to the gate to let him out, not needing a lead rope, saddle or bridle. Closing the gate back, she grabbed a handful of mane and swung herself up onto his back. Using her mind, she directed him to head up to the northwestern part of the reservation, up by the hills and boulders and the small pond where she liked to go to think.

Grey wasn't surprised to hear the talking below him about a breech in security. This was pretty normal timing for security to realize people were dead. His mind drifted over to the destroyed vent where he had entered in from the elevator shaft and knew his minutes were numbered from here. Laying his head on the floor for a moment to get a feel for the number of agents milling around the core, Grey reloaded his sniper rifle and rolled onto his side to give himself access to the handgun in the waist of his pants. The pressure was building within him and the increased need for silence as he hovered right above RAID's head only made it harder to keep quiet and still.

Motioning to Scavenger he spoke in an almost inaudible voice, backing away from the vent and setting his hand over it to keep any sound from leaking into it.

"Act like you're just a bird that got stuck in here," he said, then his face screwed up as something else leapt up from within him wanting to burst out. He paused, forcing it away before he continued in a strained voice. "Like you're . . . tryin' to . . . get through the vent. When I break it, fly around the . . . room and . . . distract 'em and shit. Get it?"

Scavenger who seemed to be quite comfortable contorted in the vent scowled disapprovingly at Grey as he whispered his order. "The bird thing again." he replied then seeing the seriousness in his partner's eyes complied and instantly transformed into a large raven.


The large bird then flapped about in a panic, squawking and scratching at the vent so that the RAID enforcers would be able to easily tell what and where he was.


"Wait a minute." Said one of the enforcers as he activated a tracer in his visor that allowed him to zero in on the sound. Before his eyes then, the computer in his visor created a grid system based on the noise and the agent was able to determine that some kind of large bird was trapped in a vent within the elevator shaft.

"There's some kind of bird stuck in the shaft. Sound recognition says its a corvid. A crow or a raven." The enforcer relayed back to his commanding officer.


"A bird?" Repeated agent Garret, but he was not one to throw caution to the wind. He opened up his built in PDA with the forearm of his armored suit and quickly cross-referenced crows and ravens will all meta's suspected to be associated with Apex Fusion. Within a few seconds, a reference to a meta named Scavenger with the unique ability to form into a raven came up, and then his closest known associate, known as Grey Pyre also appeared.

"Holy shit!" Exclaimed Garret, "Code red! I repeat, code red! Reinforcements to sector 5!"

The two enforcers quickly responded by vacating the area and running for a highly defensive area where two hallways crossed ten meters from the elevator. Training and experience told them to retreat until back up and Garret arrived. As long as the Reg-met troop leader got close enough to a meta he would negate any special abilities not ingrained in their physiology. Often the only thing Garret couldn't nullify was increased physical attributes, but such things hardly worried the enforcers. They could take on just about anything, so long as they didn't have to worry about elemental ranged attacks or other freaky abilities effecting them.

Elsewhere in the complex, the next nearest team of RAID enforcers scrambled to the area designated as sector five. "We're on our way." alerted one of the men as they sprinted down the hallway. As the opened up a set of security doors with their overriding security badges, a large familiar figure appeared in a side hall as they slammed shut.


Wraith peeked around the corner then pulled back into the corridor. He took out his specially designed PDA and called Sigma. It rang several times but eventually the crime fighter answered with a rather agitated and quiet, "What!"

Wraith guessed that he had caught his partner at a bad moment. "This place is crawling with RAID and they have a security a breech. In sector five, where ever the hell that is? Where are you?"


Sigma had crammed himself into small compartment and surrounded by life jackets, floatation devices and other nautical equipment. "On my way." He texted back, then tucked his phone back into his pocket and remained perfectly still while listening to a tapping sound above him.


Special agent Henkel anxiously tapped his foot on the deck of the boat as it drew nearer to Zion III. He just finished talking with his partner and was trying to surmise what was going on. Greyson Pyre was an assassin, a suspected meta but aside from enhanced physical attributes they had no other data on what his abilities might be. Henkel was thinking worst scenario and had already put in a call in the plant technicians and engineers preparing them to take all the necessary precautions and actions necessary to prevent a disaster, if possible.

The agent tucked his hands in his pockets and sighed, wishing he was relaxing with a beer in hand at the barbecue he had to cancel. He stared out over the dark waters wondering what else would transpire and little did he suspect that a meta currently lurked just beneath his feet in the storage locker of the boat while a mutant that could move near the speed of light, skipped across the water toward the far side of the island.

Lance Strauss otherwise known as the Highwayman, sped across the water from a ship anchored three miles north east of Zion island. Moving fast enough to glide across the lake, the powerful wake of his warp parted the water into two fans of mist that went unnoticed in the dark of night.

On the rocky shore, he became visible as he reduced speed, requiring several steps to slow down and finally skidded to a stop at the far end of the island. There were no trees, only a rocky beach and several spots lights making it difficult for anyone to approach without being seen, but the speedy mutant and managed to slow his run at a recessed doorway to which he had the access code to. Hiding in the shadows of the alcove, Lance's tight fitting silver suit would go unnoticed, a rather garish costume but it was necessary. Lance wasn't one for masks and flashy outfits, but the areas where he had to secure the transmitting devices were radioactive and the costume had been specially designed so as not to impede his super speed and also offer suitable protection.

Lance entered his code and slipped in through the security door and before him stretched a long hallway more than ample enough for him to build up his speed enough to warp time. With his freakish quickness he then placed a cap like device over the security camera that looped back a continuous image then checked the pack he had slung over his shoulder. He made sure the transmitters were functioning properly then also procured from it a PDA which was the sister unit to the one that Grey carried.

The Highwayman casually looked around him checking the side corridors for any movement then nonchalantly sent a text message to Grey that read, "I'm here. Move your ass."

Amused by his message, the corners of his mouth rose ever so slightly, then returned to his usual stone face while he awaited his partner's reply.


Wraith dematerialized and pursued the RAID enforcers, keeping his distance to ensure that they would not take notice of the occasional glow of his otherwise invisible form produced by the extra speed required to keep up with the running men. It seemed quite apparent that they were the backup and would most likely lead him to whoever was threatening the nuclear facility. Hopefully the enforcers would be able to handle whatever they came up against and Wraith could head home and get a good nights sleep knowing that the threat was nullified, but somehow he had a feeling that things weren't destined to go that smoothly. If Apex Fusion was behind all of this, Wraith didn't doubt that the man had invested a lot of time and planning, and his goals would hardly be transparent.

Hearing the reaction to Scavenger's squawking, Grey swore silently and shifted himself away from the vent. Unfortunately, his frustration on top of the pressure building within him caused his suppression to crack and a few other swears burst from him a little less quietly. Now there was no question as to where he was. As the last of his tics tumbled from him, Greyson raised a foot and pounded on the weak metal that was the vent until it dropped out. Within a second, Grey stuck the end of his gun through it and fired at the closest guard he could detect only to quickly retreat back into the vent, shifting away from the barrage of bullets that followed. As his face twitched and his head jerked against the air shaft with an echoing clang, a thought briefly passed through him about how badly he could use a Vicodin and a cigarette right about now.

Finally getting control of himself, Grey paused, falling silent and listening with his unnatural hearing to the tiniest shifts in steps, the click of ammunition. He knew they were just regular human guards by the heavier breathing only barely kept even and the spike in their heartbeats. No problem. It was then that he checked the PDA and rolled his eyes in annoyance at the Highwayman's message. Shifting his gun to rest against him, Grey quickly typed a curt response "Workin onit" before stowing the PDA back in his pocket. Slowly, silently, Grey shifted himself again so that he was wedged in an uncomfortable-looking position in which he could aim his gun, listen, and then move if he had to. After another moment's pause to create a kind of mental map of their positions, Grey fired through the vent again based on what he could hear. He was no more than two shots in, however, when the movement began to blur together and the sound of bullets made it impossible for him to aim.

In a second, Grey dropped down into the room and fired at the first two people he saw before dodging quickly to the side and diving behind the first large object he saw. The sound of grunts and one body falling told him that only one of his bullets had found its mark. Crouched behind whatever this was, Grey pushed back against the mounting pressure within him and finally got his muscles to settle. He didn't know what he was using for cover, and he didn't care. All he knew was that it was big and plastic and plastic didn't do very well when it came to stopping bullets. Checking his ammo, Grey leaped up without warning, kicking off of the big plastic thing and fired at every head he saw as he literally bounced around the room. Moving with inhuman speed, Grey dodged bullet after bullet as he zig-zagged his way towards the core only to stop short when a bullet nearly grazed his cheek.

There was a split second in which Grey quickly spun around, putting a bullet in one guard's head while bringing his foot around to the back of another's. It was when he was aiming to put a bullet in roughly the same spot his foot had hit that he heard the words he'd been dreading.

"We gotta meta! We need backup!" Grey raised his gun to shoot the one calling for RAID but there were still at least four guys left and the three not shouting into a radio fired at him. Dodging, Grey darted away from the two bodies at his feet and ducked behind the core where he paused listening to bullets thudding against it and the equipment around him.

"Stop! Stop, you moron! That thing could kill us all!" shouted one of the humans quickly ceasing the barrage. It was there that Grey paused, turning to the core, breathing hard as he tried to listen to the guard's movements. There wasn't much time before RAID came running in. Suddenly, the distant echo of his old bosses' voice, warbled in his then half-conscious mind, drifted back into his ears. The words RAID and meta floated within his own name and he grit his teeth as a renewed surge of hate for that asshole back in New York flowed into him. This was the first time Grey had been anywhere near engaging RAID since that fat bastard had given them his name and now he had no real idea what they knew and what they didn't. The anger almost made him lose control again and he felt an almost overwhelming urge in his neck wanting to jerk his head back. Managing to suppress it, he reared back up and curled around the core before he could think about his own actions and quickly popped a hole through one of the guard's heads before whipping back around behind it. The sound of a body dropping and whispered, frantic messages rose up behind him as he turned his focus back to the core.

For the entire time he'd been aware of his meta ability with machines, Grey had only ever used it to completely destroy. He'd never taken the time to slow down his ability and consider how exactly he did it, he'd always just kind of connected with a machine and just broken it down. Trying to keep one ear on the guards, Grey very slowly, very carefully focused on the core, settling his mind as best he could until he only just barely felt that little connection with it. The assassin couldn't be quite sure what exactly he was doing, but there was no time to sit around trying to figure it out. As the core began to destabilize, Grey could feel his concentration doing the same and he tried to break his focus before he broke the machine. It was only then that he suddenly picked up on the heartbeat behind him and instinctively turned towards it, firing quickly and dropping the guy.

Now the assassin's heart began to pick up speed as he realized how his focus had deafened him to the approaching guards nevermind the distant, heavy footsteps that were getting steadily closer. There was no time to worry about these guys, he needed every second he could get. As the others rushed around the sides of the core, Grey took out one and kicked off from the core itself, bounding back into the room. The last one was a fighter and managed to keep his aim even when Grey all but climbed the walls, moving with inhuman speed and agility. It was only when those tell-tale black uniforms appeared that he finally managed to drop the guard. The flash of a plasma gun rushed past him and Grey could have sworn he felt some stray hairs get singed away as he dove back behind the plastic whatever.

Glancing back toward the vent, he wondered if he could somehow get Scav's attention. If nothing else, he guy could be a distraction while Grey somehow took out the armored pigs and messed with the core again. Quickly peeking up over his cover, Grey fired a round aimed for one of their necks before dropping back behind it. A clanging sound rang out but sadly was not followed by the tell-tale sound of a body dropping to the floor. Grey grit his teeth, listening again to their heartbeats, muffled almost into silence by their armor. He could only really rely on the quick glance he'd gotten to determine their positions and that was not how he liked to operate. Now, things were going to get interesting. At least they seemed reluctant to destroy whatever it was he was hiding behind.

Pushing back against the pressure that now threatened to boil over, Grey jumped out from behind his cover, rolling across the floor and firing as best he could at the RAID agents as he darted across the room moving as erratically as he could. His path became unpredictable even to himself as he had to stop and redirect himself more than once to avoid getting his head taken off and it was only when he finally settled again in the little nook behind the core that he felt the burning that now throbbed from his left shoulder down to his elbow. There was no time to inspect it and he tried to ignore the searing pain and focus on the core which had apparently gone right back to its normal, stable state in the time it took him to kill the human guards. He tried to reach to it again but the sudden appearance of a gun drew him out of his hiding place where he finally managed to put a bullet into the armored man's neck. Without waiting to watch him drop, Grey turned back to the core and tried to be careful.

Again, he felt the strange little connection with it and tried to focus more and more without going too far. The core teetered on the breaking point and more than once Grey found himself back to reality, sounds of chaos echoing around him. He glanced around and heard the telltale sound of flapping wings and squawks as well as some aggravated shouts from the RAID agents. Grateful for the distraction though he doubted it would be effective for much longer, Grey turned back to the core and tried to hold it where it was. It was like trying to keep a refrigerator from toppling over a cliff. The core seemed to be barely teetering between functional and completely dead and it took what felt like every fiber of Grey's concentration to keep it from dropping off completely.

The battle had now moved within the concrete shielding, the building around the containment structure of the reactor. At it's center was a large cylindrical object; the core which housed the superheated fuel rods, nestled within a web of grated metal walkways and platforms. The exposed labyrinth of gangways and ladders reaching as high as ten stories allowed access to the heat exchanger, pumps, pressurizer and all the other pipes and components necessary to regulate the reactor. The repercussions of a stray bullet or plasma-electricity burst would now have serious consequences and so the R.A.I.D. enforcers were forced to fire only when necessary.

As core temperatures began to rise due to the 'glitching' power of Grey Pyre the agents and enforcer fighters of R.A.I.D. fanned out through the massive structure. They scanned the area with the visors, utilizing infra-red, thermal, night and even electro-magnetic vision to locate their quarry. Trained and equipped to locate even invisible meta's, they were like wolves seeking their prey. Their very presence struck terror in the hearts of most meta-humans, a fear they used to control their quarry, but not all reacted to them in such a manner. Some did not respect their authority and then their were those that fought back and it was they that R.A.I.D. had to break.


The large platform adjacent to the core housing was littered with the bodies of security guards, their blood raining down to the floor several stories below. On a connected walkway, safely hidden away from the last known position of the meta-human gunman was Agent Garret. The RAID agent was standing before one of the many temperature and radiation monitors which was beginning to climb out of the green coloured 'safe zone'.


"Something's going on over here." Reported Garret into his communicator.


Outside of the concrete shielding in another section of the facility was the main control room. Technicians in white coats and yellow coloured jump suits were scrambling about checking monitors and re-calibrating systems but one man in a dark suit was still.


"All hell is breaking loose over here, Garret." Added Henkel as an anxious man in a white lab coat pushed passed him, "Ya get that bastard yet?"

Garret looked up above him where he could see two of his men in pursuit of the large raven that darted about the area. "We've got the one know as Scavenger in our sights and we're closing in on who we suspect in Greyson Pyre."

"Good." Said Henkel and at that moment there was a shared sigh of relief across the room, "What's happening over there?" asked the special agent curiously.

Garret glanced back at the monitor and smiled. "Back in the green, sir. Look's like they fixed the problem."

"Maybe." Said Henkel doubtfully, "Concentrate on Pyre, for some reason I have feeling he's behind this malfunction."

"How?"

"Use your imagination, kid." Snapped back Henkel, surprised that the meta didn't make the intuitive leap based on the series of events, "Just find him and use that ability of yours to cork his powers."

"I'm on it."

Garret looked over his shoulder and signaled to two of his men who were lurking in the shadows. They had to flush the meta out and try and take him down without minimal fire power which was going to be difficult. Looking around him, the registered meta-human saw a virtual jungle gym, an advantageous environment for a physically enhanced meta. It would be like wrestling an ape in a tree, and the cybernetically enhanced RAID enforcers would be too slow to assist until they slowed him down. That's where Garret came in. An enhanced meta-human himself it would be up to him to give chase, but first they had to find him.

Grey Pyre could suddenly feel the mechanisms about him flowing in a positive direction. Whatever his ability had been causing to go awry had been somehow repaired by the technicians of the plant for the moment. It was difficult to say how they remedied the problems caused by Pyre's ability. They could have initiated a back-up or perhaps re-routed control? Whatever they did, Pyre could break it again but he would once more have to strain his will and return the core to the brink of malfunction without causing a meltdown. He would have to do this while highly trained RAID agents closed in on him.


Wraith observed as the monitor he stood beside normalized. He was no nuclear physicist but he knew enough that whatever had caused the reactor to de-stabilize was unnatural. From his high perch above the reactor core he watched the RAID agents surround and close in a specific area. Two others, which were closer to his level pursued the large raven which he assumed was most likely more than it appeared. Seemed that RAID had everything under control for the time being, so the big meta-human decided to stay hidden for the moment. He had tangled with RAID before, and knew well the extent of their scanning devices. Their electromagnetic scanners could detect his wind form when he moved so he didn't want to make his presence known unless it was absolutely necessary. He actually kind of liked just hanging back and observing for a change even if the team he was rooting for at the moment was RAID. He wondered where Henkel was. The guy didn't seem the sort to throw on a black uniform and he hadn't spotted him yet but then he spied someone in a suit. This guy, however, seemed to moved more fluidly and had full head of dark hair.


Agent Jameson moved quietly across the gangway. He moved along with two other RAID enforcers who had worked their way completely around the last position they had confirmed seeing the gunman. The one wearing the heavy mech-suit stayed behind at a crossroad and then Jameson and the other lighter armoured enforcer crept closer. They had no idea whether or not the gunman had held his position so they were extremely cautious on their approach. The RAID agent signaled Jameson to hold his position and scanned ahead of them using the thermal capabilities of his visor. Most of the piping and metal around was cooler than body temperature so heat sources within his line of sight would be very apparent. Still, if a body was well hidden enough, he wouldn't see through the metal so they still had to be very cautious.

The gangway intersected another and two split up. The RAID agent heading one way and Jameson the other. The walkways went around a large pump and then apparently met up again, so for a brief moment the two men would not be able to see one another. Jameson nodded to the enforcer as he disappeared round the large piece of machinery and carefully moved along the dimly lit grating, suspended high above the ground.

Jameson was alerted by a noise behind him and only as he spun around did he recognize the sound to be that of flapping wings. He was too late to react and from above him one of Scavenger's heavy boot's descended hard onto his head. The FBI agent's knee's buckled and crumbled to the hard metal grating. Feebly he raised his gun, but Scavenger easily kicked it out his hand. The weapon skipped along gangway and over the edge.


"Com'on FBI man. That all you got?" Snickered Scavenger his quick black eyes darting about, watching for the other RAID agent and trying to spot Grey who he figured was very close.

Jameson saw stars and he struggled to pull himself into a crouched position only to have Scavenger savagely kick him back down. "Grey." called Scavenger in a low voice, "Where the hell are ya, man?"

As Scavenger scanned his surroundings, he failed to notice that the RAID enforcer that had accompanied he FBI agent had back tracked and was coming up behind him, his plasma rifle trained on Scav's back. Jameson could see the enforcer though and made one last ditch effort to ensure that his partner would not be discovered but already Scav's hyper-sensitive nose detected the man's scent. All he had to do was quickly transform and fly around behind him but as he began his change, Jameson leapt and locked his arms around Scavenger's legs. With another living being touching him, Scav couldn't transform nor could he move with the agent holding his legs. The RAID enforcer aimed. Scavenger was as good as caught.


On the other side of the facility, the Highwayman impatiently awaited Grey to give him the 'go ahead'. His PDA had access to the core monitors and was fully aware that it had normalized again.

"work harder!" he texted back to Grey.

Grey wanted to scream when the core was somehow fixed. This was starting to get old and now he had RAID to deal with. The text from Highwayman only made him even more annoyed but he didn't have time to text back everything he wanted to say to him right about then. Slowly coming up behind Scavenger, he didn't bother to respond when he heard his partner mutter a question as to his whereabouts, just raised his gun and took aim at the RAID agent who was coming up between himself and Scav. Staring at the tiny window of opportunity in the man's armor, Grey quickly pulled the trigger and sent a bullet into the agent's neck. The sound of the dropping body made Scavenger whirl around and lay eyes on Greyson just long enough for the hitman to take aim at another, shoot, and then disappear again taking off into the shadows.

Shouldering the weapon, Grey jumped onto a narrow metal pipe and pulled himself up onto one of the platforms where he instinctively dodged the anticipated gunfire. Rolling across the surface of a bridge, Grey ran at full speed across the narrow platform headed for the core. When he reached the end of it, he jumped into the air straight off the edge of the platform and swung himself into a dark little nook. Bullets tinked off of the metal around him and a burning sensation that shot across the arch of his foot let him know how closely he'd cut it. Here, he managed to perch behind a metallic tangle of instruments and whatnot with just enough of a view of the core. His first instinct was to pour his powers full force into it out of sheer annoyance and growing fatigue at holding back what he knew would be an awful explosion when this was over with. He managed to control himself however just before destroying the core completely but this time pushed it just slightly past where he was comfortable. The thing didn't completely shut down but for a split second, the meta hitman wasn't so sure.

A loud clanging crash startled him and Grey nearly fell off of his perch when a bullet whizzed by his leg and then by his face. Maybe it was the focus he needed to use his powers this way or maybe just sheer stupidity, but somehow a RAID agent had managed to at least find his hiding place. Thankfully the man seemed hesitant about using the plasma so close to the equipment. Nonetheless, being startled was never a good thing when it came to holding back his Tourette's and Grey lost the delicate hold he had on himself. At first the swears almost felt voluntary as they certainly ran through his head when he was nearly killed but he quickly realized he couldn't stop. At the same time, the jerking that took over his head nearly took over his sense of balance and he nearly threw himself over the edge.

"Son of a bitch!" he shouted when his head hit the pole and another bullet grazed his shoulder. With no other options he could see through the facial and head tics, Grey grabbed the pipe and swung down a few feet before he simply let go and landed easily where he literally hit the ground running. Finding the lucky RAID agent and the friends he'd summoned over, Grey tried to focus through his tics and aim at the joints in the armor. One found its mark the other two were thrown off course by involuntary movements. He struggled to push them back but now the dam was broken. In one more desperate move, Grey kicked off of walls and equipment and ran with all the speed of an olympic runner straight for the core. There, he dove behind it and fired three rounds at a RAID agent who had rushed over there. One missed completely, one hit armor, the other went straight through the man's neck. Taking the split second to check on the core's progress, Grey destroyed any progress that would have been made to try to re-stabilize it.

Pressed against the equipment surrounding the core, Grey took a deep breath and tried to relax, knowing the situation itself would just make things worse. Childhood memories crept into his head, his heart flaring with anger as he remembered being shoved in an uncomfortable suit sitting with his siblings in the fancy dining room. Angry glares seemed to close in on him as he struggled to control the horrible things that tumbled from his mouth, each more insulting than the next even when he avoided their eyes. Wanting to stop always seemed to make it all but triple.

"F#^@ it," Grey muttered to himself only to set himself off with the very comment and shout it three more times at progressively louder volumes before he popped up from behind the core and shot at the first sign of life. Kicking off from the floor, Grey stomped indifferently over computers and equipment using them as launching points to move erratically around the room. He focused on aiming anywhere he was sure the armor would be weak which finally helped bring the ticking back into his control. A few dared to shoot their plasma guns at him, forcing him into a spray of bullets from the others. Grey found himself spread out over the floor, legs spread, arms bent, holding his balance as the rifle slipped from his shoulder and clattered against the floor. There was a split second in which Grey actually paused, shocked that he could get into such a ninja position and even more shocked that the only hit he took had merely created a deep gash in his side. Though the blood was soaking through his shirt, it was hardly enough to slow him down. When time seemed to pick back up, the hitman snatched the gun up again as he easily pushed back from the floor and backed himself into another little corner between some equipment. There, hunched over but still well balanced he took aim at a RAID agents hand and gave him a little sting to throw off his gun before he finished the job with the man's throat.

Grey was back in the game. Nestled between some expensive-looking machines, he removed his handgun and using both hands, his sharp eyes flicked from one agent to the other firing with the true aim he was used to. When he had taken out the ones closest, he checked on the core again and kicked it back to death's door before finally slipping out of the corner and firing on either side of himself as he ran across the room. He then shouldered the bigger gun, jumped, kicked off of something to the side and grabbed hold of another one of the platforms. Pulling himself up, he fired the handgun at the RAID agents in pursuit before scrambling back into the shadows and disappearing.

"F&%# me!" Exclaimed Scavenger as a spray of blood erupted into the air and the RAID enforcer that was about to finish him off fell to the ground in a writhing heap. For a split second he saw Grey, then tore off into the shadows as his gun fire alerted the other enforcers to his presence.

Scavenger figured he better do the same but before he could do that he had to deal with FBI man wrapped around his legs. "Get the f*#$& off already, man!", shouted Stefan as he cracked his fist into Jameson's face several times.

Agent Jameson, blacked out for a moment allowing Scavenger to break free of his grip and back away.

Shaking his head, Jameson focused and saw his opponent. "Hold it right there!", he growled and reached for his back up gun kept in an ankle holster.

"Jeezuz, man!" Groaned Scavenger, "Why don't you f#$%ing lie down!"

As Jameson rose with his spare weapon, Scavenger moved with surprising speed and lashed out with his heavy boot, catching the agent under his chin. Jameson staggered backward. The room spun, and the next thing he knew he was falling.

"Another for the bad guys!" Jeered Scavenger, striking a goofy martial art pose before transforming into a raven and following Grey as best he could.


Seconds ticked by as Jameson fell and he knew that he was dead. All he could do was await the impact and perhaps miraculously he might live for a few days at best. Another long second elapsed, it would not be much longer then he felt his hand strike something. He could feel a cold sensation on his arm. Oh, God! It was severed! No, he could feel something gripping it. He was slowing down!

Jameson looked up and saw a large, muscular man in a dark blue costume and flowing blonde hair above him. He had caught the agent's arm in mid-fall and through the power of flight had slowed his descent. The agent was not fully aware of how it was done, the meta-flight ability varied, but it seemed that his saviour was using gusts of wind to levitate. Wraith, could not carry too much weight while flying but he could glide and slowly descend while carrying heavier objects, and he had just managed to slow the agent's fall enough to gently set him down on the floor.

As Jameson looked down into the darkness he could see the floor approaching from below him. He was only ten feet away from the ground and he realized then that he still had his back-up gun in his other hand. Even though the mutant had saved him, he recognized him to be Wraith, the meta wanted for destroying several blocks of Chicago's warehouse district with one of his tornados. His first and foremost duty was to the law, and regardless of the heroic act, Wraith was a criminal and had to be taken in.

"Wraith, you are under arrest for destruction of private property and infringement of the Riggs Act." Announced Jameson as he whipped the gun toward Wraith, "Set me down and keep your hands where I can see them!"


Wraith couldn't believe it. He had exposed himself and risked his life to save the agent and this was the thanks he received. He considered just letting the man go and dematerializing but then he realized that he was touching the metal wrist watch of the arm he gripped. This made assuming his wind form impossible to achieve and so he had little choice but to comply for the time being.

Wraith set the agent down on the ground then lightly landed before him with his hands raised. Free of the metal inhibitor, Wraith was no longer worried and new he could escape at any time. He looked up above him and scanned the walkways for any sign of the gunman. Whoever he was he was fast and stealthy but betrayed by his companion who flew over head in the same direction he figured.

"Who is that man?" Inquired Wraith.

"That's none of your concern." Snapped Jameson as he pulled out a pair of handcuffs, "Now turn around and place your hands behind your back," he ordered, "and no funny stuff or I'll put a hole through you. Got that!"

Wraith turned around shaking his head. In the blink of an eye he faded from sight and all Jameson could see was a ghostly glowing image quickly ascend into the air.

"Son of bitch!" Cursed Jameson as he reached for his communication device and placed a call to Henkel. "It's Jameson, we got a man down here and I just had an encounter with Wraith."

"Wraith? What the hell is he doing here?" Questioned Henkel, "Christ! If he goes all cataclysmic here, we're looking at a major disaster. I'm ordering an evacuation."

"What? Sir, we can get these guys."

"Sorry, Jameson. Protocol states that we evacuate the personal then we'll tackle the terrorists."

With little hesitation, Henkel looked over at a technician who was awaiting his orders and gave him a nod. He hit a series of buttons and an automated voice alerted all personal in the facility to evacuate. "Doors will permanently seal in thirty minutes." Said the voice, and the countdown began.


Sigma quickly skulked away from the body of the RAID agent and slid his stolen security card through the key pad and slipped through the doorway. Arriving moments before Wraith had saved Agent Jameson's life, the masked crime fighter had watched the meta-human gunman from his hidden location, studying his moves, searching for a weakness.

When the gunman's partner kicked the FBI agent over the side of one of the high platforms, Sigma watched the man plummet to his death with little emotion. Unhindered by morbid curiousity, Sigma lashed out with his black retractable whip and caught hold of a railing high above him, then with a flick of his wrist it recoiled pulling him upward.

Sigma landed silently like a cat as he flipped his body over the railing and onto the gangway while the automated voice counted down until the plant was locked tight. He headed in the direction he had seen the gunman run and approached cautiously ready strike out with his whip.

Doors will permanently seal in 30 minutes? Grey wasn't sure if that was irritating or interesting. Just then, he was beginning to get tired, the fight getting old, and he wasn't sure if he wanted a race just then. Turning to the familiar crow hanging over him, Grey swiped at the air and hissed at Scavenger.

"Get the f$#% away from me, dumbass, you're giving me away!" Shifting into a corner where he could see the core, Grey tried to tune into its inner workings and see if it needed another kick towards the edge. So far, so good. He then turned his attention toward the vent which would lead back into the air vents. People were already filing out the door looking haggard and Grey wondered if people would be there to fix the core much longer. Was it worth it to just go for the escape?

The burn on his arm seared, the gash in his side throbbed and stung. Sweat began to bead and trickle down his face, matting stray hairs to his forehead and cheeks. He looked back at the vent again and shouldered his gun. Peeking out at the remaining agents milling around the room, Grey launched himself silently from the platform up onto the one above. An agent caught sight of him and fired prompting others to do the same. Grey quickly pulled himself to his feet and took off across the platform towards the vent. He then leapt up to the highest level platform and zagged away from it leading their attention that way until he ducked once more into a dark entanglement of metal. While agents still fired in the direction they'd last seen him, Grey slowly moved back down to the lower level and pressed himself flat against the wall, keeping every bit of himself in shadow as he could.

The vent was in sight but it was smack in the middle of the top of the wall above the core. The only way he could get to it was by moving into the open. Luckily, moving silently was ironically easy for the meta, so long as the RAID agents weren't too sharp and didn't start looking in the right direction. Without making a sound, Grey started on his way along the platform, ears pricked, eyes on the agents below him, headed for his escape.