HEROES Chapter 7

"Twenty five minutes to lock down." Announced the automated voice. The two RAID agents quickened their pace, they didn't want to get trapped in the shielded area if the core had a melt down. It meant certain death.

"Shit! Look at this!" Exclaimed one.

The other agent wandered over and took a look at one of the reactor monitors. The temperature was steadily rising.

"Let's sweep this area quickly and get the hell outta here!" Said the other.

The two agents had been drawn to a flapping sound, but could find no sign of the giant raven. They quickly scanned the corridor and finding nothing, hastened down the corridor toward one of the caged elevators. They closed the grated metal doors and road it down the ground floor.

After the agents had left, a small black head poked out of an open vent just above the floor. The raven's eyes darted about, inspecting it's surroundings and when it was satisfied that the coast was clear skipped out and immediately morphed into the semblance Scavenger.

Scavenger leaned against a grated wall, flipped a smoke into his mouth and lit it with his 'death's head' zippo lighter. Inhaling deep he threw his head back and spewed a great cloud of blue smoke into the air.

"Figured you'd a cleared out already." Said a deep voice to his right.

Scavenger turned his head slowly without surprise. His hyper-sensitive olfactory organs could smelled the meta before he entered the corridor. "Thought I smelled shit but I never pictured an asshole like you, Sigma. What the hell are you doing here anyway? This doesn't seem to be your scene."


Sigma's black mask stretched into a smile. "Shut your beak, kid. You ain't the smart." he snapped then his eye looked up and all around the young punk, "Nice bird cage."

Scavenger's confident smile suddenly dropped as he became aware of his surroundings. He was completely surrounded by caged walls and the only way out was opening the elevator doors or through Sigma Seventeen. Stepping away from the wall, he took one last drag on his cigarette, glanced at Sigma and flicked the butt into the air. The orange ember flashed across the dim corridor and before it ricocheted off a piece of metal, Scavenger was on the move. He bolted toward the doors, his heavy boots clanging hard against the expanded metal walkway.

Sigma's whip was quicker. With a flick of the heavy black rod in his right hand, the dark glistening tentacle lashed out, slashing Scavenger across the back. It was just a scrape, but the punk fell forward and sprawled along the gangway as if he was shot. "F&$%#!" he screamed.

Already the noise had alerted several RAID operatives and Sigma knew that it was a matter of minutes before he would have to deal with them. He had to work to fast.

"Where's your friend?" Sigma demanded as the black whip retracted back into it's casing.

"Go $%#@ yourself!" Roared Scavenger.

"Wrong answer."

Sigma readied his whip once again, but this time it was Scavenger that attacked. He sprang to his feet a chromed brass knuckle blade on each hand, the knife in his left hand was turned up, while his power hand had a stabbing grip. His lead hand slashed away with quick jabs and swings while his right hung back waiting for a opening, but Sigma wasn't about to give his opponent the opportunity.

High above the fray, Wraith closed in on the terrorist. He had been correct in assumption that the agile man was using the air ducts to travel through the complex unimpeded. Not a good move when one was being pursued by a wind mutant. If he retreated into one of the tight shafts, Wraith could compress the air generating enough force to shoot the man through one like a canon ball. Chances are he'd die from tumbling and the impact, but Wraith would not go easy on a terrorist threatening to generate an explosion that could wipe out a quarter or more of Chicago.

Hovering silently. Invisibly. Wraith awaited his unsuspecting prey. He would strike hard and a only apprehend if possible. He wanted to keep the man alive to learn how he was sabotaging the reactor but if worst came to worst, he'd figure out it out later.

As the man, quickly made for the air vent along a narrow gangway he was met by a man in black armour, a plasma rifle pointed directly at him. There was no where to run, it was just Grey and the RAID agent.

"Drop your weapons!" Ordered Garret, "You are in direct violation of the Riggs Act and wanted for murder! Lay down your arms and lie on the ground or I will be forced to kill you!"

Wraith slowly floated away from the scene. The RAID agent had come out of no where. Evidently they thought the same, but he questioned the man for approaching the terrorist without back-up. There was, however, something strange about this agent. The moment he appeared Wraith felt weak and as he slowly moved away felt himself turn solid and fall for a moment. Fortunately he was able to regain control of his powers and regained his wind-form just as it went awry. Instinct told him to stay clear of this man and Wraith decided he'd hang back and lend a hand only if it was needed but until then he would stay out of sight in case other RAID agent were on the way.

"Twenty minutes to lock down." Relayed the automated voice.

Standing before the RAID agent, their eyes locked, Greyson felt strange. It was as if someone turned a switch off inside of him. He couldn't quite explain how he knew it, but he became quickly aware that his meta-abilities, aside from his physical attributes were no longer working.

Garret stood his ground. He had the infamous Grey Pyre in his sights, but he knew not to under-estimate him. Even though he nullified this mutant's special powers, he was still faster and stronger than a normal human. He, possessed the enhanced meta traits that set his kind apart from most, but then Garret possessed those same attributes as well. Far stronger than a normal man, he was ready to tangle with the meta-human assassin if it came to that.

"Twenty minutes." Repeated Garret, "That's all we have. Why don't you drop those guns and we get out of here."

The Highwayman checked his monitor and smiled. "At last." he said to himself. The reactor had at last been destabilized and was holding.

"Good work. Initiating plan. Create distraction." he texted to Grey.

The Highwayman then sprinted down the long corridor. In three strides he accelerated to inhuman speed. In five, he was a blur and the sound barrier boomed as he broke through it. In ten strides he was moving well beyond the speed of sound and he was running out of corridor fast. Fifteen strides and he reached and surpassed the speed of light. Time slowed down as the Highwayman generated a warp, allowing him to defy inertia and turn corners at incredible speeds but such movement took its toll on his body. Already he could feel his muscles burning but he had to maintain the warp for at least minute while he planted the transmitters without being detected.

Sneaking across the platform, Grey felt the little vibration from his PDA and saw the text from Highwayman. Distractions... distractions he could do. He was quite talented in that area, in fact, often whether he liked it or not. Mid-stride, he hesitated considering how close he was to the vent when the figure appeared in front of him. Grey's eyes widened for a moment but it was hardly enough for him to lose his wits. In a split second, he had his gun raised and was being ordered to drop it immediately.

Then that strange feeling started... as though he'd been drained of something. He didn't feel weak or any more tired than he did before, but he found himself hoping the core didn't fix itself because somehow he knew there'd be nothing he could do about it. When the RAID agent recited his little script about dropping his weapons and laying down or else be killed, Grey's lip imperceptibly curled. Keeping the handgun raised, he reached his other hand to the rifle over his shoulder and moved very slowly. For all the RAID agent could see, he was simply trying to stretch out his "giving up" as long as he could.

Then he dropped his "guards." The pressure that had built inside of him burst forth abruptly and without hesitation.

"ASSHOLE!!" he screamed, his voice echoing over the core. The moment he felt the floodgates open, he aimed at the agent's neck and fired, luckily just before his head decided to jerk to back and to the side. "F#^%er!" he shouted again with the same lack of warning as before. It had been a while since he'd been able to reap any advantage from his tics but it was still just a tad amusing.

As soon as he'd fired, Grey darted forward, ready to plow through or around the agent if he had to to get to the open vent just behind him. He had less than 20 minutes before he'd have to find a really good hiding place.

Garret's visor recorded everything he saw, and while the members of his unit were not currently watching his feed would be able to play back the video.

Garret's instincts read the meta-terrorist's body language and just before Grey squeezed the trigger he crouched down low and fired a wide burst of plasma energy. He felt Grey's round ricochet off of his neck plate, the sting of the impact stunning him for a brief moment and in that second the hit-man had reacted. Bright blueish white tendrils of electricity danced before the RAID agent's eyes and out of it's center emerged Grey Pyre. Even before Garret and bathed the gangway in plasma energy the meta had lunged into the air crossing the distance between them in the blink of an eye. It was a moment that the registered-meta had secretly hoped for, a chance to meet the assassin in hand-to-hand for in his world the test of man had nothing to do with his marksmanship but with his fists.

Grey came in high and Garret low. The RAID agent threw his armoured shoulder forward with a force equal to a four hundred pound line-backer meeting Pyre's charge head on. The impact was jarring. Were his opponent a regular man, Garret would have stopped him cold but Grey Pyre was a meta, gifted with enhanced physical abilities much like his own. It felt like he just tackled car. Garret's entire body vibrated and for a moment he was weightless with only the sound of blood rushing through ears as he tumbled in the air. He had accurately predicted the meta's strength but Garret had under estimated the man's determination and Grey had hit with such vehemency that he dislodged his helmut.

As Garret landed hard on the metal grating he could hear his high tech helmet tumble along the gangway followed by the skid of his rifle. His armour and protected him from any further damage from the fall but Garret had actually been winded by the blow! Forcing himself to his feet, Garret's heart sunk when he quickly discovered that both his helmet and weapon had tumbled over the edge and he had given his side arm to one of his men when their own had malfunctioned. Unarmed and with out his visor, Garret could not communicate with his team. Grey Pyre had ended only a mere three strides away, but the registered meta knew he would never make it to the man before he put a bullet in his exposed head.


It was time to act.

Wraith had been observing the battle at a safe distance. He found the strange noxious feeling radiating from the RAID agent rather disconcerting and it triggered a memory from his extensive studies of meta-abilities. He thought it best to keep away from the man, but when the tables suddenly turned in favour of the wrong side, he had no choice.

Wraith swooped in as Grey flipped through the air and as he neared the fray could feel the control of his abilities slip away. He had been preparing to materialize but when he did it was not by his own choice, rather because his ability ceased to work .In that moment he knew what the RAID agent was. It was difficult to determine his origins by the man's strength alone, but as Wraith's meta-abilities ceased to function he knew without a doubt he was a meta-human. Worse yet, he was a 'negator', one gifted with the ability to suppress mutant powers.

As Wraith sailed over Grey in mid-flight, he grabbed hold of the hit-man's weapon. Even the highly skilled meta would not be expecting his weapon to ripped away by someone as strong as a bear while he tumbled in the air.

Wraith landed well despite the fact that his power of flight had been stripped away. He shoulder rolled along the gangway and before rising to his feet managed to grab the agent's weapon with his other hand before it slipped over the edge. In one smooth motion he spun around and pointed the plasma rifle at Grey Pyre. Before the super-villain stood a the tall powerful form of classic super-hero just like in the days before they were outlawed. He would have been just a kid when costumed crusaders like Wraith were being hunted long before the passing of the Riggs Act in 2004. Now of all times, one stood before Grey and his freedom, holding his rifle and leveling a plasma gun directly at him.

"Freeze!" The costumed crime fighter ordered. "Not one sudden move or I'll light you up!"

Two levels below, alerted by the sound of Garret's falling helmut, two RAID agents could be heard scrambling for a stairway to assist their commander.

"Shit." Thought Wraith. This wasn't at all what he had planned.

The RAID agents would just as soon shoot him as they would the meta-human terrorist. Perhaps even more so since he was in costume. All he wanted to ensure, however, is that the fight at least stay balanced. Right, now this was RAID's show and he was content to let it stay that way, so long as they were able to apprehend the suspect. It was risky but he had to keep the fight even until the two other RAID agents arrived. About five minutes he figured, based on their position in relation to theirs. All he had to do was keep the plasma rifle on the terrorist and let the meta-human RAID agent do the rest.

On the other side of the gangway from Grey Pyre stood agent Garret shaking the cob webs from his head, his body poised to react to whatever this new meta-human was about to do. At first he considered him to be an ally but then it quickly became apparent that he was on his side. A fortuitous turn of events for Garret, unfortunately it wouldn't end well for the costumed meta he recognized to be Wraith. Even though his assistance would help bring a notorious criminal to justice he was still violating the Riggs Act and had to be brought to justice.

Garret did not hesitate. He seized the opportunity and darted toward Grey Pyre knowing that he had to take him down while Wraith ensured that the hit man did not draw any other weapons that he had on his person. All he had to was keep the assassin engaged until his other men arrived then they would take him and Wraith down.

Moving quickly toward Grey, Garret stood square on the narrow gangway in a classic boxer's stance. He lead with his left, snapping out a quick and powerful jab toward Grey's face his heavy right hand waiting for an opening.

Grey involuntarily reacted to Wraith before he was completely aware of him.

"FAGGOT!" he screamed at the costumed meta. He didn't know who this clown was but he was in his way. Reaching for the handgun, Grey prepared to blow a hole through the idiot's gay-looking mask when he suddenly saw a fist flying his way out of his peripheral vision. Turning instinctively to block the punch, the gun fumbled out of Grey's fingers and slid a few feet away on the gangway. He saw the right punch coming just a split second too late and though he managed to knock it slightly off-course, he still took a painful hit to the ribs. Grey winced and returned with a quick uppercut aimed for Garrett's chin. He wasn't interested in fighting these guys. All he wanted now was to get the hell out of this place. Reaching a knee for the RAID freak's groin, Grey quickly pivoted away and darted out towards his gun.

Keeping his balance, Grey slid with inhuman speed and agility on his feet across the gangway and lowered his body to snatch up the gun. He then quickly straightened and fired at Wraith's head first. He knew the rifle would only fire for himself which would give the superhero geek a nice little surprise should he try to use it but somehow Grey had a feeling it wouldn't be the man's weapon of choice. He then would turn towards Garrett, keeping one eye on Wraith just in case, and aim for the RAID agent's forehead next.

Wraith had kept the plasma weapon trained on the terrorist-meta the entire time and when it seemed that he had gotten the upper hand didn't hesitate. Already having set the weapon to 'pulse', he squeezed the trigger and an intensely bright blue stream of electrical energy arched through the air as Grey Pyre reached his gun. The super-hero rarely used fire arms, but he could shoot, although he was hardly a marksman and he also had to compensate by the weapon's kick caused by the instantaneous super-heating of the air by the plasma burst.

His powers nullified by the negating ability of the registered meta-human RAID officer, Wraith had never felt more vulnerable and held the trigger. The pulse rounds of the plasma rifle licked out like micro lightning strikes, so quickly that it appeared as steady stream of energy pouring out. At such a close range hitting his target was as easy as watering the garden but flowers didn't move. Still, there wasn't any place to go on the narrow gangway, so Wraith just made sure the terrorist didn't get a chance to use his weapon, simply blasting away where ever the meta moved to. Unfortunately the man managed to squeeze off a shot and there was little that Wraith could do. Damn, he hated guns. They either hit or missed, there was nothing elegant about them. His last thoughts as the large man tumbled over the edge of the gangway, the bright electrical stream trailing behind as he held on to the guns.


Garret watched the old super-hero fall to his death. His long career ended by a cheap shot fired by some lowly minion. He didn't ever want it to end like that. As a meta-human he had always respected, Wraith. He wanted him to register, maybe even join the ranks of RAID as he did, but now this fidgeting freak had put an end to all that.

"You goddam, freak!" Roared Garret, his eyes red with rage.

Years of training kicked in and as Grey raise his gun, Garret instinctively protected the only vulnerable part of his body with his armoured arm as he tore head long toward his opponent. The hit man's new weapon had a greater velocity than normal and the RAID officer could feel the bullet penetrate his plating but it didn't slow him down. Garret then drove his front leg toward Grey Pyre's mid-section all the while concentrating on the gun, ready to position his plated fist in front of it, if not grab it or his wrist while they were in close combat.

Garret had a jaw of granite. He was one of those guys who ate pain like candy and he was hungry. The burning his arm, only added fuel to his fire and he was looking to crack some bones. The time for taking Grey Pyre alive had passed, now he was out for blood. Every kick, every punch he through was meant to disable and even kill. With his enhanced strength and his fist's encased it high grade kevlar the meta-human was lethal in melee.

"I'm going to kill you." Promised Garret in a low, growling voice and if ever Grey was fighting an officer of the law before, he was gone now. All that remained was a meta-human fueled by hate and vengeance.


As gun fire echoed through the large chamber, Sigma smoothly dodged Scavenger's acrobatic attacks. The smaller man was quick, and could fight when he had to, which wasn't very often. He twirled, slashed and kicked at the larger man who easily defended himself. Sigma dodged the razor sharp blades, moving just before they contacted his flesh and he blocked the kicks with his arms, unmoved by the force of the blows.

"I'm going to f$%^ing cut my initial's into you, Sigma." Taunted Scavenger.

The bird man, leapt high into the air, his hair grazing he cage above him and descended in a spiraling attack, his blades and feet spinning in an impressive aerial display.

'CRACK!'

Sigma stood for a moment in a classic boxer's stance, left hand to his face, right arm extended, drawing power from his legs. His opponent was out before he hit floor. Scavenger's head bounced like a rubber ball as he fell and sprawled out, blood flowing from his busted lips.

The crime-fighter, bent down low and hovered over the knocked punker, his masked face drawing nearer. He stared at him coldly for a few seconds, staring into the kid's face as if we was looking for something.

"Shut up." he told him, then Sigma stood quickly and followed the sound of the gun shots coming from high above him, near the ceiling. As he made his way up a ladder, a strange noise drew his attention below him. For a second he thought he something streak across the floor but he didn't have time to investigate. He had to find Wraith and this terrorist.

Grey didn't know what set this crazy RAID agent off, but he didn't really care. He managed to get one round fired before he was forced to duck and dodge quickly out of the way. In a glaring display of his inhuman abilities, Grey slid to the very edge of the platform, out of Garrett's way, one foot flying out off the edge. He then managed to re-gain his balance and jumped back on the platform, standing where Garrett had been. There, he raised his gun and fired off three rounds as fast as he could at the agent's back. Grey had been in his fair share of fights. He knew where the focus would be and it wasn't going to be on pounding the hit man's face in. Tightening his grip on the weapon, Grey poised as the RAID agent went at him again, screaming in rage. Eyes flicking towards the vent behind him, Grey fired another round at the agent but he dodged with the same shocking agility of Grey himself and leapt for him.

There was no time to get out of the way. Grey pulled his gun away from the man and tried to bring his other arm up, preparing to block. The RAID agent tackled the hitman to the ground, knocking the gun from his hand. Grey watched helplessly as the handgun slid along the platform away from him. He then grit his teeth in anger. He knew the gun would only fire for him. This just made things more annoying. His head spun as Garrett slammed his kevlar fist into it, bouncing it off of the platform with a painfully loud, metallic clang. In between punches, however, Grey managed to flip himself over and in some mutant act of dexterity wiggled his way out from underneath the RAID agent. Wrapping himself around the armored body, Grey rammed his forearm into Garrett's neck and pinned him down while he freed the rest of his own body.

"Look, bitch, we ain't got time for this shit!" Grey snapped. Pressing his weight into his legs which he'd positioned onto Garrett's arms, Grey held him down and wrapped his own arms around Garrett's throat, squeezing tightly.

With unbridled rage, the RAID meta-human flexed his powerful muscles and pulled against Grey's hold. His kevlar neck guard protected his throat allowing him to wrench against the hold enough to pull a few inches away, just enough space to unleash a counter attack. Garret jerked his body and thrust his leg hard against the metal railing allowing him to propel the top of his head into the terrorist's chin. A glancing blow, but it produced enough of a shock to make Grey's hands to involuntarily slip. Garret thrust his elbow hard into Pyre's ribs, but his armoured arm only struck the gangway as Grey was already springing away.

"Clear!" Announced a RAID enforcer standing behind Grey.

The two other RAID officers, had traversed the stairs and were now on the side of the gangway opposite agent Garret, once more trapping Grey. The leveled their plasma weapons on him, but did not hesitate. The gave agent Garret warning and then prepared to bombard Grey Pyre with pulse rounds set to stun in order to incapacitate the terrorist. Unfortunately time was ticking. The count down was at six minutes and the chances of them escaping were growing slimmer by the second, and even less if they had to carry along an unconscious prisoner.


Down below, Sigma gave Wraith a firm slap across the face and groggily the costumed crime fighter opened his eyes.

"Shit. I thought you were dead." Sigma mentioned as he looked up at the bent railing twenty feet above them, "Good thing that bar broke your fall." he cynically commented, suspecting that Wraith was lot more durable that your average meta.

Indeed Wraith did have a form of invulnerability. Not the bullet stopping kind, but he was more resilient against stabbing and bludgeoning damage, but he could still feel the bruise forming on his backside from bouncing off of the metal railing.

"Damn. I'm gonna feel that in morning." Wraith groaned as Sigma helped him to his feet.

"Hey! Where in the hell d'ya think you're going?" Demanded Sigma, as Wraith started to rise up into the air.

"I've gotta a score to settle with that terrorist bastard that took a shot at me."

"There's no time. We gotta book it." Said Sigma.

Wraith settled back down on the ground but at that moment, the automated voice made a different announcement. "Crisis rectified. All systems normalizing. Evacuation continuing. Doors will seal in six minutes."

The Highwayman had pulled it off. He had installed the transmitters just in time before Grey's ability wore off and the reactor rectified itself but Henkel's evacuation still continued. Now it was just a matter of time before Apex Fusion utilized the energy of the plant to power his devices and bring the city to its knees.


"All systems online." Reported the Highwayman into his pda.

"Well done." Replied Apex, "What about Pyre?"

"I don't think he made it."

There was a long pause. "A shame." Stated Apex, "Clear out of there and prepare to initiate the transfer."

The Highwayman was already on his way. In moments he would be outside of the plant and making his way back to the boat. If Grey was able to get out he knew the location of one of the buildings that supported a transmitter. He was to report to the roof top that supported one of the towers and assist in defending it from any would be heroes who might attempt to thwart UMBRA's plans.


Wraith and Sigma made their way through the narrow corridors of the plant. They had decided to leave the terrorist meta for RAID to deal with and thought it best to escape while they had the chance.

"Just around this corner." Said Sigma as he traced back the way he had entered utilizing the stolen RAID card to bypass the doors. He opened the last set and sprinted through, followed closely by Wraith.

The kick came out of no where, right in the middle of Wraith's back. Now on any other day, the big man would have hardly been rocked by such an attack, but it just so happened to hit him square on the bruise from his fall.

"Aaaargh!" Wraith growled as he went down and spinning he caught sight his attacker.


Henkel had his gun aimed directly at Wraith. "Stay down!" He ordered.

Sigma didn't hesitate. With a flick of his wrist, his black whip lashed out with lightning speed, it's deadly tip aimed at the FBI agent's throat. Henkel didn't have a chance as the dark tentacle flew toward him.

Henkel gasped as a powerful gust of wind threw him backward and just out of range of the slashing barb. He fell on his butt and in the few seconds that it took him to get back on his feet the two meta's were already sprinting down the corridor. He'd never catch them and though he could have taken a shot at Wraith's back couldn't bring himself to shoot the guy that had for some reason just saved his life.

Grey's face now throbbed and stung between Garrett's hit and the burn where a bullet had grazed him. When he saw the other RAID agents, however, he sprung into action and immediately took a running leap. Kicking off of some piece of equipment with a loud gong, Grey literally seemed to fly sideways and bounce toward one of the agents. He then kicked off again from one of the plasma cannons, the push from his weight forcing the gun downward and letting the hitman launch over the agent's head. Curling to get his entire body over, Grey landed on the platform behind the agent and rolled, quickly getting to his feet. The other agent fired and he could feel the heat on his heel as the meta came out of the roll running. Without a glance behind him, Grey bolted for the vent as fast as he could and took one more flying leap for the opening. He managed to hook his arms into it, letting his body slam against the wall before he pulled himself up and scrambled into the tiny opening.

As soon as his feet were safely inside, Grey flatted himself against the vent, anticipating the plasma beam that predictably soared over his head. He could feel the searing, electrical heat from it and was fairly certain it singed a few hairs from the mop-like tangled mess that now sprouted from his head. Somewhere in the fight, the band holding Grey's hair in a ponytail had slipped out and the mess of loose curls hung over his shoulders and face, tickling at his nose and blurring his eyesight. Grey didn't care, though. He knew where he was going and as soon as the plasma beam had passed, he broke into a quick army crawl, moving swiftly through the vents back the way he had come. He easily found the elevator shaft and without a second thought leapt into it. Free-falling along the cable, Grey managed to flip himself from head-first to feet-first and braced for the hard landing that shook his body when he slammed into the top of the elevator. Grey crashed through the soft paneled roof and slipped on the bloody mess that still coated the floor, landing on his ass. Scrambling to his feet, the hitman hopped out of the pried-open doors and took hold of the cable where he climbed down to the basement.

There, with less than a minute left, Grey darted out a back door and took off away from the facility, not slowing until he was safely hidden in the tall grass that surrounded it; ironically, the same which had hidden his enemies before everything had gone down. Dropping down onto his stomach, Grey took out his PDA and saw the message from Highwayman. A sense of accomplishment and dread washed over him as he reported that he was on his way to the tower and stuck the PDA back into his pocket. He was exhausted and aching and now a little reluctant to move onto the next phase. He hoped that the do-gooders that might still be roaming the city would be too busy to try to stop them. He really didn't feel like dealing with anything else. All he wanted was to get back to his room and get f#*$ed up. That had been more of an endurance trial than he'd anticipated.

After a moment's pause, Grey began to move silently through the grass towards Highwayman. He had no idea where Scavenger was, but at the moment, he found himself wondering more where his prized guns would end up. Weaponless and exhausted, Grey realized with a slight pang that this may be the mission that finally did the hitman in.

Apex Fusion poured himself a brandy and strolled out on to the terrace of his penthouse apartment. The big man stooped slightly in order to pass through the doorway and took a delightful breath of the night air. Everything had gone according to plan and for the first time in a month the leader of Umbra was relaxed. He sipped his drink and stared out over the city of Chicago with smug look. They were all so oblivious of the truth but he would show them, he would show them all.

Reaching into the pocket of his leather jacket, Apex took out his phone and placed a call to Roulette.

"Da." Answered the Russian hitman who was standing atop a tall apartment building beneath an array which looked no different than a cell-phone tower.

"The Highwayman has completed his task." Apex informed him, "Contact Door Knocker. We will proceed in five minutes."

The tall dark haired woman was having a conversation with Snow Angel, when Roulette called and informed her to prep the array. Like the Russian, they were also at the top of a residential building beside a tower which they immediately engaged. As soon as Door Knocker, entered a code into the panel, the tower began to hum as the powerful signal began to charge up.

"West and East towers are operational." Roulette reported.

"Thank you." Replied Apex, "Please inform the girls to back away from the tower until after they have attained critical mass." he informed Roulette, then proceeded to punch a code into his phone that activated the tower on top of his own building.

At the nuclear facility, the reactor core was close to melt down and everyone was clearing out. During their evacuation, Garret and his men found the unconscious Scavenger and hauled him out with them just before the doors sealed. Alarms went off and the entire facility was illuminated by orange and red flashing lights, then nothing happened, at least not what was expected. Instead of a meltdown, the core produced a burst of energy that shot straight up into the night sky. A great white lightning bolt flashed out into space, struck a satellite and filtered down into the three arrays that formed a triangle within the city.

The pulsating lightning bolts filtered down for nearly five minutes and when they were finished the towers produced their signal and triangulated it into a field that encompassed all of greater Chicago. Already those Humans at ground zero would begin to feel strange as their bodies began to mutate and by morning everyone would already start to show signs of the deformities.

Apex Fusion sat down as his patio table and finished his drink. He placed down his glass and proceeded to dial the Chicago Tribune News Centre and inform them that tomorrow morning most people would exhibit some form of deformity. Whether they believed him or not at that point did not matter, but he told them the url of a link to video that would explain everything and that he would contact the mayor after it was aired. Apex then hung up, not caring to answer any questions at that point and made his way back inside to fix himself another drink.

That morning, most Humans would awake with some kind of deformity. Some would naturally be more resilient than others, but all non-Meta-humans would eventually develop horrible facial and body deformities. They would be mild at first but over time the condition would grow worse and the only thing that could reverse the effects was a green coloured elixir that could temporarily suppress the mutation caused by the signal. Of course, tampering with one of the towers would effect the signal, but Apex had already taken precautions. For starters, a Human could not approach the towers without developing such horrid deformities that they would most likely die before they got within ten paces, also he had set up other defenses to deal with do-gooder, meta's. Not only did his loyal meta-humans stand guard but he also set up traps.


"What the hell was that!" Exclaimed Wraith, looking up into the night sky.

"Was hoping ya might tell me, doc." Said Sigma, "Never seen lightning shoot straight up before."

Wraith shook his head. "I don't know, but I have feeling that terrorist is behind it."

The two crime fighters made their way to the north shore line of Zion island and stared out over the open water. Sigma couldn't see himself making the swim back to the mainland and so he allowed Wraith to carry him away. With the extra weight, Wraith had to stay low over the water and generate extra wind power beneath them to compensate, but they made it across and back to Sigma's car.


The Highwayman was just about to tear across the water, back to his boat, when he caught sight of Grey Pyre stepping out of the tall grass along shore.

"Ah, so you made it." He stated with little concern, "I believe you know the way to the West tower? Door Knocker and Snow Angel are there in the penthouse. They'll fill you in on the rest."

The Highwayman stared out at the dark waters, debating what to do with Grey. Honestly, he hadn't expected him to survive so he was making stuff up. "Tell you what there chap. I have a boat anchored a mile off. I'm going to go fetch it, think you can start swimming before RAID shows up? I'll drop by and pick you up."

The Highwayman then started to run along the shoreline and soon he was running so quickly he vanished. Only the spray that he kicked up as he sliced through the water betrayed his presence then he was gone.

Slate pulled off his mask and ran a hand through his thick black hair. Opening the back door of his Cordoba, he removed his trademark trench coat and tossed it and the mask onto the back seat. The tight black t-shirt revealed the man's build, his round biceps bulging at the cuffs.

Wraith changed out of his costume as well and into a pair of jeans and a stylish dress shirt he had left in the back of Sigma's car. He stashed his outfit in gym bag he had kept his clothes in and slid into the passenger seat. Slate fired up the engine and 'Enter Sandman' by Metallica started up at, "...off to never, never land...", making Devon jump a little. He shook his head. "Why do I always feel like we're in some sort of tv series when we're together?" he jokingly said to Slate.

"Must be my great sense of style." Sigma bantered, as he turned around on the dirt road and headed toward Devon's neck of the woods. For a while the rode in silence until Slate took note of a restaurant sign, "Say, I'm still a little wound up, wanna grab a taco? It's on me."

"No... I have work tomorrow."

Slate nodded. "Oh, yeah. Savin' the world pays shit." he remarked.

Devon nodded and smiled. Then realizing that Sigma asking anyone to join him for a bite was probably a rare thing, reconsidered his reply, "Y'know what, I could use a celebratory burrito or two."

Slate pulled into the drive thru and while they were waiting to place their order finally asked the question that had been pressing him since they left the reactor. "So, Devon why and the hell did you save that agent? When it comes down to 'him or me', I always go for the 'me'."

Devon glanced over and stared into, Slate's eyes, studying them. He was fishing for something else and was pretty sure what it was, but he didn't have to justify his actions to anyone. His sparing an FBI agent didn't make him a turn-coat, but his gut told him that's what, Slate was alluding to.

"I know the guy." Devon admitted, "Ran into him at the gym after I took care of this punk thief. After that we stopped by a pub and shared a few drinks. He's a good man and last I checked we weren't in the business of killing good men."

Slate nodded and bit back his tongue. It was obvious to him that Devon's former service in the Beacon organization still guided his morals, where as Sigma knew no bounds when it came to killing. Whether or not the FBI agent was 'good' or not was irrelevant. He didn't care who they were, but when somebody drew a gun on him he struck fast and aimed to kill.

Pulling ahead, Slate forgot about the discussion and placed their order. That's when someone from the car behind them screamed out, "Move that piece of junk, slow ass!"

Wraith checked the time on the clock then looked out the back window of the car. Shaking his head he said, "Bar's out. Just some young assholes looking for trouble."

"Well they found it." Said Sigma.

"Take it easy." Replied Wraith, "They're just trying to get a rise out of you. Ignore them."

That's about when a beer bottle exploded against the Cordoba's back window. Right as Sigma was accepting the food and paying for the meal. "What the F%$^!" he growled, staring back into the head lights of the truck that was right up against his bumper.

"Son-of-a-bitch!" Exclaimed Sigma when he realized they were riding his bumper. He accelerated and pulled ahead, but then instead of leaving the drive thru lane, hammered the car into reverse and smashed into the bumper of the custom painted truck. The Cordoba's reinforced steel bumper crumpled the flashy bumper and damaged the grill, infuriating the young guys as they watched the blue Cordoba pull away and burn rubber around the corner.

While Sigma and Wraith were making their getaway at the drive-thru, Ayana was herding Kekoa along the freshly stocked aisles of a 24-hour grocery store. Seizure never really shopped with a set goal in mind, rather, she perused each aisle one after another, putting things in her cart as she found things she needed. As her partner would space off, she would automatically reach out a hand and nudge him along without so much as looking in his direction. The only time she needed to supervise Kekoa was in the fruit section where the Hawaiian always seemed to turn ravenous and risked buying out the entire stock if she didn't limit him.

It was partway through the cereal aisle that something caught Seizure's attention and she stopped dead, staring straight through a box of Cap N' Crunch, blind to the gigantic cartoon on the cover.

Guy was probably a meta, callin' just tryin' to scare people, came an annoyed thought drifting in from the man a few feet down from her as he otherwise seemed to be deeply studying a box of Fruit Loops. I can't believe I have to write about some lunatic's raving dream about everyone waking up a mutant one day. Honestly, why do they take these people's calls let alone bother me with them in the middle of the night? The man dropped the box of cereal into his basket and headed off towards the milk section leaving Ayana to stare after him, narrow-eyed and unable to keep from probing him further. She managed to pick up that he was a writer for the Chicago Tribune just as he turned the corner at the end of the aisle.

When she turned to Kekoa, he was watching her intently, that unreadable look pinned and unfaltering over his face.

"Someone called the Chicago Tribune," she whispered, taking a step closer to him to ensure that no one heard them, "saying that humans were going to wake up tomorrow mutated." At this, Kekoa raised an eyebrow.

"That's a funny thing to say," he replied matter-of-factly.

"It is," Seizure agreed, "a very funny thing to say. It could just be some weirdo but . . . " Kekoa tilted his head a bit and gave her a significant look.

"But it's a funny thing to say," he said. Ayana nodded and after a moment, reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone where Sigma was on speed dial.

"Hey," she said when he picked up, "out of curiosity, what've you been up to all night? I've just heard something kind of interesting."

"What the hell is the matter with you!" Shouted Devon as he looked back and saw that the truck was pursuing them, "Great. They're coming after us. We don't need this kind of attention."

"Don't worry Doc, I'm not going to do shit to them." Replied Slate as he engaged the super-drive of the old car, expertly maneuvering the large car round a corner and down a darkened street.

"That's a relief." Said Devon.

"At least not until I find a quiet place." Finished Slate.

Devon threw his head back against the seat rest. "Great. Just great." he grumbled.

The Cordoba barreled down a gravel road that ran parallel to a railway track on the outskirts of a residential area, the heavy car occasionally bottoming out, allowing the truck to gain some ground. Slate didn't want to lose the truck anyway, they were right where he wanted them. He crossed the tracks on a dirt road and bashed through a gate with a no trespassing sign and ended up in a dark lot separated from the houses and buildings around it by a large expanse of fields. The place was definitely remote enough, considered Slate and spun his car around so that his head lights struck the shiny black truck with the damaged bumper and came to dead stop.

The truck slid to a halt and three big men stepped out of the truck, one carrying a baseball bat. As they stalked toward the car two rather inebriated girls poked out of the sun roof and started cheering the guys on and screaming obscenities at the Cordoba.

"Damn!" Exclaimed Slate excitedly, "Looks like we've got us some football players."

"What's the point of all this." Reasoned Devon as he rummaged through the take away bag and checked to see if everything they ordered was there. He had no worries about the angry kids but he was concerned with what Slate was planning to do.

"Hey, these chumps got this comin', Doc." Argued Sigma as he opened his door and stepped out of the car.

Devon didn't interfere, he just sat back and watched as Slate exchanged a few words with the young men, then predictably the one with the bat took a swing at him. The kid hit air, then Slate hit him hard enough to spin him like a top and even before he hit the ground drove his foot into the next closest one's gut. The dark haired kid, doubled over and fell to the ground while the third tackled Slate and drove his shoulder hard into his abdomen. The powerful hit only drove the crime fighter back a few steps then he threw his elbow hard into the man's back, driving him to the ground. At that point the girl's shut up and one took out her cell phone and began to dial.

Suspecting that the girl's were phoning the cops, Slate headed back to the car and got back behind the wheel.

"Satisfied, now?" Questioned Devon, who still couldn't believe he was out picking fights with kids.

"Extremely" Answered Slate as he drove past the truck and back down the dirt road.

As the blue Cordoba made its way back down the dirt road Sigma's phone went off. The identification read unknown but there were very few people who knew his number so the crime-fighter decided to answer. "Yeah?"

When Sigma learned that it was Seizure he mellowed considerably, "Oh, hey gorgeous." he playfully greeted and whispered aside to Wraith who he was speaking with, "Me and Doc have been down at Zion III most of the night, dealin' with a freaky meta terrorist. Ya should'a seen it. The entire place was crawling with RAID and the FBI and the whole place just about went super-nova. How 'bout you?"

Ayana reciprocated by sharing what she had detected while shopping and Sigma immediately relayed the information to Wraith. Though there was no discernible connection right off the bat, Sigma shared with her the strange phenomena they had witnessed after they had gotten out of the plant.

"That's some freaky shit, girl. Hope that reporter's just dealin' with a wack-job, but something weird did happen after we got out. It was like something out of a sci-fi flick, these lightening bolts shot up and away from the reactor and went straight up into the clouds."

While Sigma spoke, Devon reached into the restaurant bag and took out a burrito. He bit into it and thought about the energy they had seen leaving the reactor. Was it just some sort of freak phenomena or did that meta terrorist have something to do with it? Being a firm believer in synchronicity, Wraith never discounted coincidences and started connecting the dots, trying to figure out what one could do with the other. If what the reporter was dealing with was in fact true, then how were these 'terrorists' going to pull it off? Being able to pinpoint a specific time, like tomorrow morning meant that some kind of viro-toxin was going to be released into the air that would instantly effect an area the size of Chicago. It was the last part, that didn't make sense to Devon. It would be almost impossible to release a toxin that would effect most of the city's population by morning.

Thinking about the strange electrical beam that radiated from the nuclear plant, the only connection that Wraith could make was that something had drawn power from it. For what means? Then it struck the doctor. A signal! A powerful enough signal could produce significant side effects in a human being.

"Shit!" Exclaimed Devon, "Give me the phone." he asked Sigma urgently.

"Seizure, it's Wraith. Say, I want you to do something for me. Can you find out if anywhere in the city they have had any effects that would be similar to that of an electro-magentic pulse? Call us back as soon as you learn anything. See ya."

"So what's up doc?" Said Sigma with a smirk as he accepted his phone back.

"Just a theory." Answered Wraith, "If any areas of the city have encountered EMP's, then we might be looking at a disaster of biblical proportions."

"You serious?" Laughed Sigma, finding it difficult to accept.

"Its just a theory. Hopefully I'm wrong, but if I'm not, many people are going to awake looking and feeling very differently." Said Devon.

The Highwayman reached down and gave Grey a hand up onto the deck of the fifteen meter motor yacht, then quickly raced up to the bridge on the top deck and accelerated away. After about ten minutes the 'Fairline Phantom 50' slowed and he ventured back down with a chipper smile.

"Well mate, we've gotten away scott-free. Nice work." Lance complimented as he reached into one of the many compartments on deck and pulled out a large towel for Grey. "I'd say you're about my size, go on down below deck and help yourself to some dry clothes."

The Highwayman took the helm once more and headed north for another twenty minutes before he turned into shore and moored the boat at a private dock. Over looking the lake was a house with a large deck, that apparently belonged to him.

As they stepped off the boat, Lance lead the way up the dock and took Grey into an underground garage. He hit the lights, revealing three beautiful sports cars in an immaculate garage. There was a black Jaguar, a silver Aston Martin One-77, and a red Porsche 911 GT3 which the Highwayman stared at for a long while as he made the painful decision of choosing which one to lend Grey. Finally he made up his mind and tossed the keys with porsche logo on them.

"Please try not to scratch it or leave any blood on the seats, would you." The Highwayman requested, "The coordinates to the West tower are in the GPS."

Except for the occasional tic, Grey was silent during the boat ride up to the Highwayman's ridiculously fancy property. He cocked an eyebrow at the cars in the underground garage but said nothing. His father had had a similar collection after all. Catching the keys in the air, he tossed some stray hair over his shoulder with a flick of his head and walked over to the Porsche. Sliding easily into the seat, the hitman took note of the dash and everything the luxury car had to offer and couldn't suppress a triumphant grin. Sure, he'd stolen his father's car once in a while, but it was always nice to have this stuff handed to you. As he turned the key and started the engine, he looked back up at Highwayman and spoke for the first time since leaving the nuclear reactor.

"I need another gun," he said, "fuckers back at the reactor took mine." The Highwayman surveyed him for a moment before tossing a handgun into his open palm and handed him a few clips. Saying nothing else, Grey revved the engine and took off, following the GPS's directions.
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Seizure hung up and relayed Wraith's message to Kekoa. "I'm not sure how we're going to find out about an EMP," she said as they loaded the groceries into the car, "unless it was strong enough to have some kind of effect already. I guess I can see if there are any power problems anywhere." She paused as they got into the car before starting the engine and backing slowly out of the parking space and heading out from the store. After a moment, Kekoa turned to her.

"Go towards the water," he said. Seizure blinked at him for a moment before the realization dawned on her and she took an abrupt turn towards the lakes. When they got there, she let Kekoa go down to the beach while she pulled out her phone and paced away from him. Laying flat down on the dock, the Hawaiian laid his golden-brown hands gently on the water, letting them float on the surface. Relaxing his body, he closed his eyes and took in the gentle undulating as it pulsed through the lake. He lay still, his breathing growing rhythmic as though he were asleep and did not open them until Seizure snapped her phone shut and came over to him.

"There's been power surges and outtages all over the city, particularly in that direction," she pointed, "that and that." For a moment Kekoa said nothing, he stared emptily across the water before he finally pulled his hand away and got to his feet.

"The biggest pulse that went through here came from over there," he said, pointing across the lake. Ayana followed his finger and her expression went stony.

"There's a nuclear reactor over there," she said; Kekoa simply looked back at her by way of ascension before they both jogged back to the car. Ayana flipped open her phone once more and quickly re-dialed Sigma. "Hey it's me," she said when he picked up, "tell Wraith there seems to have been an electric pulse that came from the nuclear reactor not far from the lake, but there have been power surges and outages but they all seemed to start in three other points that have towers around the city. Kekoa and I are going to go check out the area around the nuclear reactor since that seems to be where everything started. We'll let you know if anything else comes up."

Seizure had called back just as Sigma was walking into to Wraith's apartment. It was late and Devon had invited his new partner in as he still felt there was much to discuss about his theory he had formulated based the night's events and what Seizure had told to them. As they walked in and proceeded to make themselves comfortable in the living room, Sigma relayed to Devon what Seizure and Kekoa had discovered. The scientist was very interested in these three areas which had shown the highest degrees of electrical disturbances and was about request Sigma to inquire more about them when he mentioned that Seizure was going to head over to the nuclear plant.

"What?" Questioned Wraith, confused at the logic behind the psychic's thinking.

Sigma just shook his head, not sure either. Wraith then sprang out of his seat and took the phone.

"Seizure. It's Wraith. Look, don't go to the plant, we were just there and the place is crawling with RAID. We know that the electrical anomalies originated there, we need to check out these three areas in the city that showed the highest frequency of the disturbances. I have theory that if what you 'over-heard' is true, these deformities are going to be caused by a powerful signal and if I'm right maybe those buildings which are supporting these towers are capable of projecting one."

Wraith had wandered over to his computer while he spoke with Seizure and accessed a site that belonged to Beacon. If offered satellite imagery recordings of any anomalous meteorological condition in the last forty eight hours world wide and through it he was able pinpoint the the three hot spots that Seizure had located. He didn't know how she could have been so accurate, but he suspected that Killswitch might be the reason.

"These areas are really spread out." Wraith said to Seizure, "The closest one is just south of the Meacham Grove County Forest Preserve west of the city. I can't be as accurate, but it looks like its around the Springbrook Shopping Center. Christ! It's right in the middle of suburbia. It should take you guys a little over an hour to get there. We'll meet you around the Springbrook mall, make sure you wait for us, we don't know what we're getting into here. See ya."

"A mall!" Sneered Sigma as he cracked a beer. The man had made himself right at home and had been rifling though Devon's kitchen, "No damn way, I'm goin' to a mall!"

"Relax." Said Wraith, "It's..." he looked over at the clock on the wall and gasped, "... one in the morning. It's the burbs, everything has been closed for hours." Devon sighed once more as he thought about work, "Christ. Second day on the new job and looks like I'll be calling in sick."

Sigma laughed as he looked over Devon's shoulder and studied the map. "Caputo's Fresh Markets.", he read, "Well, I'll have to make sure I pick up some produce on our way back." he joked.


Meanwhile...

While Scavenger was being transported away in the custody of RAID, Grey screamed up West Lake Street in the flashy Porsche. The GPS map was leading him to Bloomingdale, in the land of green parks, shopping malls and pep rallies, everything the meta-criminal wasn't. It was late and the streets were pretty much vacant as he whipped past the Glendal Country Club and officially entered the Bloomingdale Township. Know doubt, Grey Pyre was wondering what the hell, Apex was thinking when he sent him out to this location but it was pretty evident why he chose it. The authorities would have take into effect the collateral damage of an all out attack, and would have to be subtle. If they discovered their location they would send in small teams to take them out, they couldn't risk using high powered explosives.

Grey pulled off of Fairfield Way and into the parking lot of Avery Towers. Two ritzy high rise condos right across from Walgreens Pharmacies, which was somewhat ironic for the self medicating meta. Just west across the road he just turned off of was the Springbrook mall, the large parking lot dotted with just a few vehicles of the night staff.

Just as he was parking the car, the phone that had been given to him rang and upon answering it a female voice on the other end immediately gave him directions. "Grey Pyre, good to see you." She said, and as he became instantly aware that he must be on camera, the hit man quickly located the flashing red light in the front vestibule just before him. As his mutant ability should have protected his identity he assumed that whoever he was speaking with it recognized the Highwayman's car.

"This is Door Knocker." She introduced, "Apex told us you were on your way. You made pretty good time. Go into the tower ahead of you and take the elevator to the top floor. The level is locked, so for the elevator to take you to the 24th floor, you'll need to enter the security code, 45982. Got that?"

As the elevator reached the twenty fourth floor the doors opened to a hallway and standing within the open doorway at the end of it was a tall dark haired woman dressed in a tight black leather out fit.

"Com' on in, Grey." She invited with a twinkle in her eye.

There was another woman in the room when he entered, an attractive blonde who introduced herself as Snow Angel. Later on Grey would get to know them as Jenny Knox and Deirdre White.

"N-ice, to meet you Grey." Said Deirdre, over emphasizing the 'ice' sound in 'nice'.

While Grey apprised himself with his surroundings his two new partners explained that their assignment was to protect the tower which was sitting on the roof of their penthouse condo. It basically looked just like a cell phone tower but it was far more powerful. Jenny explained that even without it the signal would still work with just the other two, but then only part of the city would be effected.

"There's no way to trace the signal." Said Deirdre, "So basically we have the whole place to ourselves, so make yourself at home."

"And in the off chance that someone does come a knockin'." Added Jenny, "You'll find plenty of weapons in the game's room. Just remember and try not to make a scene."

"That's right." Agreed Deirdre, "Should any do-gooders come along, you and Jenny knock 'em down then I'll put them on ice."

The cryokinetic meta placed her open hand before a vase of fake flowers and instantly it turned white with a layer of frost forming over it. Looking back over to Grey she smiled evilly then strolled over to the bar, "Cocktail?"

Tim , rode his Harley south on US 73 out of Nebraska and into Kansas. He was following his instict, he had little else to follow at this point, after hearing of the events back in Chicago. There was something else driving him south, call it a preminition, someone or something else was creeping up behind him. That someone or something was also pursuing Yelena. Tim could not yet put his finger on it but it was there.

The Timbles were indeed good people and Yelena couldn’t thank them enough for all they’d done for her. It had only been a couple of days and already she felt very much at home here. Henry and Kathy took time to show her their property and Tim’s property that butted up to theirs. She was a natural at riding a horse since she had done so since she was a child on her father’s goat ranch before the disaster that altered her life forever. When she had her own goat ranch she had a few horses as well to help ride the perimeter of her own property.

Now, as she rode leisurely with Henry and Kathy as they took her to see the hunting cabin on the far side of Tim’s property, Yelena sat the saddle naturally without any trouble at all. When they made it to the top of a hill, Yelena could see the cabin in the distance. It was nestled in a small valley. A natural creek ran down the middle of the valley, about 50 yards from the cabin.

A ground level porch seemed to invite people to the door. Yelena could see the cabin wasn’t all that big but it wasn’t all that small either. It was bigger than the home she left to come back to the states but it was smaller than the Timbles comfortable home. Curtains adorned the windows; it had a green, tin roof and what appeared to be a hand powered water pump out front.

A small barn was off to the right of the cabin and a small corral allowed a couple of horses some leg room to walk around a little. In short, it looked like something out of an old west show. When they reached the cabin, Yelena was pleasantly surprised to find electricity and indoor plumbing ha been added a few years ago.

“Tim and I ran a line out here ourselves a few years ago. We buried it underground so no one would be able to follow the power lines. The place looks primitive enough, but it’s got all the comforts of home.”

Yelena smiled and nodded.

”Is good to know, Henry. Thank you.”

After a brief tour, Kathy and Henry left Yelena with a promise to be back in a couple of hours with some much needed supplies such as food and clothes. In the meantime, Yelena went to work cleaning the place up. It was decorated nicely with cozy furnishings and what not, but it had been a good while since anyone had been to the place and dust had collected on everything. Thankfully Tim had the forethought to cover the furniture with sheets to keep most of the dust off.

As Henry and Kathy rode off, Yelena opened the windows and doors to the place then started removing the sheets and taking them outside for a good shaking. Once all the furniture was removed she found some cleaning supplies and started making the cabin livable once more. With the Timbles out of sight, she was able to drop her illusion and bring her normal shape out of hiding again. It felt good to be herself. As much as she knew her life, and the Timbles as well as Tim’s, depended on her disguise, she couldn’t help but feel as though she were slowly suffocating to death. Perhaps, in time, she would explain to Henry and Kathy who and what she really was, but until then, she would keep her charade up for as long as it was necessary to protect these good people.

The bus driver pulled up to his last stop and picked up few weary bar hoppers ready to call it a night. He checked his watch. Two o'clock in the morning, time to turn off his sign and head in, he just a few stragglers to drop off before he himself could call it a night. The bus driver turned eastward weaving his way through the downtown area, passing by a few pissed off people but his shift was over and union rules were the gospel.

"I'm a comin' to the end of my line here, folks." the driver announced on the P.A. system, "Ya'll best be lookin' to transfer onto the train."

There was a protesting scream and the driver just sighed. He almost had an event free ride, but he figured one asshole during his shift wasn't bad. He slowly reached for his microphone to give a warning but before he even touched it there was another scream, this one shriller and more panicked. Instinctively the driver slowed down and pulled over, then headed to the back of the bus where five younger people had been sitting but as he got out of his seat the pretty blonde haired girl was right before him.

"Oh, my God! Look at me! What happened! What happened!"

The girl was hysterical and at first the driver couldn't tell what was wrong with her, not until she turned to the left and exposed the other side of her face. The flesh had deformed and her cheek bone appeared to be swelling. Her ear looked abnormal and the brow above her eye had begun to protrude.

"Jeezus!" Exclaimed the driver as he tried to calm down the girl. Just then there was another shout and a young man was staring at his reflection in the window and pawing at his face nervously. His skin looked as if it had just aged another fifty years and he too was beginning to show signs of deformities.

The effects of the signal had begun. It effected the young first but in a few more hours the bus driver to would suffer the aftermath of Apex Fusion's devious and demented scheme. The super villain was positively beside himself. Too anxious to sleep, he eagerly awaited the first news reports and once people accepted the reality of the situation would he unleash his demands.


"Finally! Umbra's time is at hand!" Said Apex triumphantly holding his glass high in a toast with the Highwayman who had ran over to join his leader in celebration.

The two men drank deep their vodka and Apex was quick to refill their glasses. Strolling out onto his balcony, the giant meta took another drink and cast the city below a disparaging smile.

"Vanity, my friend! All is vanity! They will pay dearly to keep it! They'll line up in the thousands for my antidote, especially to restore the beauty of their children. How pathetic! Aside from the deformities there is no suffering, no adverse effects, they are merely unsightly. Society has grown so weak!"

The Highwayman stood beside the large man and stared out over the city lights. "So how long before they are dependent on your antidote?" he inquired.

Apex laughed. "It is highly addictive. Two doses, maybe three." he answered, "After that the signal itself will not even be required and we will have an entire city in the palms of our hands. Then next we hit Los Angeles and work our way south and bring the country to its knees."

"Ambitious," Commented Highwayman, "but don't you think that our opposition might learn how to deal with the towers long before then?"

Apex smiled once more. "Do you think me a fool?" he growled and the Highwayman looked worried that he might have crossed the line, "Calm yourself, Lance. You have a raised a valid point but one that I have already taken into account."


Wraith folded his large arms across his chest rippling beneath the blue and white costume. He leaned back against the Cordoba and shook his head.

"I was just suggesting that we might want to let the FBI handle this." he said defensively.

"And just what do we tell them? We don't even know if this is the place or that your theory is even right?" Argued Sigma, who was also in costume.

They had found a dark corner in the parking lot of the Springbrooke Mall, and had been debating the best course of action while they awaited, Seizure and Kekoa to show up.

"Well once we find out, will you at least consider putting this situation in the hands of the professionals." Said Wraith.

Sigma tucked his hands into the pockets of his trench coat and huffed, "Maybe. We'll see what the others have to say once they get here."

Standing there, looking up the two tall towers across the street, Wraith debated flying up there right then and now, but knew that it was best to wait for the others. In his younger days he had rushed in and suffered the consequences, so now a little more wiser chose to exercise patience. He was curious though, "Who could be up there?" he wondered. Little did he or Sigma suspect that the very same meta-human terrorist they had tangled with at the nuclear reactor awaited them.


Special Agent Kaleb Mitchell missed the bed at his hotel. He was developing a knot in his back from sleeping in the passenger seat of the black Humvee, but staying up most of the night he was tired enough sleep through it. While the agent dozed, his team used video feed from well hidden micro camera's they had managed to set up around the Timble ranch.

"Sir?" Requested an agent. He received no response and deepened his voice, "Sir."

Mitchell awoke with a start. "Yeah."

"Still no sign of the woman and the Timbles haven't arrived back either."

Mitchell nodded as he forced his eyes open to combat the fatigue. "Good work. Check the satellite imagery of the area. Let me know what you find."

"Sir."

Kaleb leaned back in the seat and yawned. He didn't know what, Henkel was waiting for. They could move in and apprehend the fugitive meta any time, but he had become obsessed with catching the meta known as, Cowboy. Nothing else seemed to matter, and he felt that his one track mentality was going to cost them capturing the Chameleon.

Grey pulled his hair back with a rubber band he found and moved quietly up to the darkened wind. Peering down at the street below, he saw the blue cordoba pull up and narrowed his eyes. When the two men stepped out, however, his jaw dropped and he stepped back.

"Aw HELL NO!" he hissed before a barrage of "FAGGOT! ASSHOLE!" As his anger boiled up within him, his face ticked and he had to take a deep breath, calming himself, to get them to stop. When the others looked up at him inquisitively, Grey paused a moment to peek back down at the street as though making sure he had seen what he thought. Then he whipped around to face them. "That's that f#*%ing costume-wearin' faggot that f#%*ed with me back at the reactor!" he told them, "I thought I f$(%ing killed that motha-f#*$er!"

Turning again, he moved with long strides across the room.

"You gotta sniper?" he demanded, his voice cracking like a whip in his anger, "I'ma take this f#*%er out for real this time!" Finding nothing covert, however, Grey clicked his teeth and pulled out the hand gun he had taken from the Highwayman and cocked it back. "F#&% this shit, I'll take 'im out myself."

His quick steps almost silent, Grey rushed out of the building and flew down the stairs to the street level. He emerged into the shadows a few yards from the two other metas just as another car pulled up with a black chick and an Asian-looking guy in it.

"Cool your jets!" Screamed Deirdre as the radical hit man stormed out of the penthouse apartment.

As Grey Pyre, headed out the door and for the stairwell door, Snow Angel looked over at Jenny and shouted, "He's gonna trip the explosives!"


"Way ahead of ya." Replied Door Knocker, as she hurdled over a dividing half wall and landed before a table upon which were four laptops all networked together. She went to the one that was running their security program and quickly deactivated the stairwell defense just as Grey bolted through the door.

"That freakin' maniac is going to blow the entire operation!" Growled Jenny, "Stay here Snow, I'm going to see what's got his panties in a knot."

The black leather bound thief smoothly strode after Grey, gracefully leaping from landing to landing after him. When she emerged from the doorway she tucked her hand and into her jacket and let it rest on her silenced 9mm. She peeked around a tall hedge toward the mall parking lot that the frantic man had been so concerned with and couldn't see a thing, but then her attention was caught by movement beside a row of bushes. It was Grey, it had to be. He on the other side of the street already, creeping up behind a hill fringed with a low decorative hedge.

It was a busy street and even though it was late, there were still a few cars that passed by, so Jenny stepped out as if she was walking over to a car in the parking lot of the two towered apartment complex. As she nonchalantly strolled through the lot she kept an eye on Grey and from her new vantage point spied what he was so concerned about. There was a late model blue coloured car parked in the shadows of what appeared to be a loading dock alcove at the side of the mall. There were two guys standing beside it, but there wasn't enough light to make out any details, except that one was taller than the other, and by the width of their shoulders they both seemed fit. How in the hell, Grey picked them out, Door Knocker had no idea. Enhanced sight maybe? Pretty impressive. From the top of the tower, she would have never taken any notice of the vehicle or the two men.

Jenny pulled out her cell phone and contacted, Snow.

"Snow. I've got 'em in my sights. Our eagle eyed friend spotted something alright. Might be trouble, then again this new guy might be a whack-job. Keep ya posted."

At that moment she saw Grey duck down as another car pulled up and parked beside the hidden car.

"Snow. We got another car. I'm going to move in closer to get a better look."

Door Knocker walked down the street until she was obscured by the hill that ran along the parking lot, then crossed over the street, near to where Grey was lying low.

"Who the hell are these, guys?" She whispered. "What the f$%# is your problem? That f#$%ing stairwell you ran down is rigged. This is a team dips$%^! You better get with the program!"


Sigma's mask stretched into a smile when he saw, Seizure get out of the car.

"Good to see ya, girl." He greeted then nodded to the her ever constant companion, "Kekoa."

Sigma thumbed behind him to Wraith who remained leaning against the car.

"Doc, here thinks that one of these towers across the street is supporting one of those signal projecting towers. I don't know if he's right or not, but I'm itchin' for a little action. What do ya guys say we go take a look."

Wraith remained silent but waved and smiled to the other two meta. With the power of flight and invisibility he already knew what his course of action was going to be, but he wasn't sure what the others had in mind. He had a special, non-magnetic PDA that he could communicate with so he could keep in touch.

"Wonder which one?" Said Sigma looking up at the two towers, then he reluctantly looked over his shoulder at Wraith then back to Seizure, "I suppose we could send up ol' 'wonder-guy' here to check it out." he mentioned then turned around with an authoritative finger pointed at the big man, "No heroics though. In and out like a duck-mating. Got it!"

Wraith nodded without saying a word and awaited to hear what the others had to say.

Zoe stood against the wall, cigarette dangling out of her mouth as she watched with narrowed eyes the scene before her. It wouldn't have ever occurred to her to be a possibility and yet here it was, playing before her in real time. Cassius, however, seemed less surprised than he was ecstatic. The human was grinning ear to ear when the deaf-blind kid clocked him full force in the jaw, sending him stumbling backwards. Sapien bounced off of a pillar and moved around Shawn, ducking another punch and side-stepping away from him. The kid missed the punch and seemed to lose his bearings by his own shuffling. For a moment, everything was still. Shawn stood with his back to Zoe, dead eyes staring forward, half buried by his upper eyelids. Dominic Cassius was poised behind him, weight centered, barely even breathing as he fell stock still. His grin never faltered even as he very slowly lifted his foot and placed it silently one step closer to the other meta.

Shawn quietly sniffed the air, pivoting quickly toward Cassius making the human pause. Then, in a split second, the two jerked into motion, as though time itself had paused and was just then rushing to catch up with itself. The two rushed towards each other each threw a punch. Cassius's narrowly whizzed by Shawn's ear as Shawn's grazed off of Cassius' side with enough force to leave a burning feeling streaking through him. Immediately, the human rushed past him, leading him back towards the other end of the room before taking a nimble leap and landing lightly to the side of him. When Shawn paused again, apparently having lost him, Cassius's grin widened and he motioned for Zoe to hand him a pen that lay on the cluttered desk beside her. Zoe tossed it to him and Cassius immediately chucked it across from him, letting it hit the ground not far from Shawn's feet. To his shock, the other meta immediately turned in Cassius' direction and rammed full-force into him, his shoulder slamming into Cassius's gut. Cassius let out a choked grunt and doubled over, his eyes widened in shock as Shawn took him to the ground. There, he dropped down onto him, settling his weight on Cassius' hips while his hand wrapped around the human's neck, pinning him to the floor.

Zoe cocked an eyebrow, her eyes widened a little. The young men's chests rose and fell in deep rhythm and Cassius turned to grin over at Zoe.

"See?" he said, "and that wasn't even with his radioactive vision er whatever!" he exclaimed excitedly. He moved to stand up only to choke against Shawn's grip which remained around his neck, threatening to squeeze. "Okay dude, that's good," he said before turning back to Zoe, "tell him it's like, cool or whatever. Like, game over, he wins." Saying nothing, Zoe walked over and tapped Shawn lightly on the shoulder. Shawn raised his head and blinked for a moment before getting to his feet and stepping back to let Cassius up. Cassius dusted himself off and took a deep breath before looking from Shawn to Zoe.

"We could like, totally use this dude," he said with a grin.
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Seizure looked up at the towers before them, her eyes scanning one and then the other as though looking for some clue that would expose the culprit. Then she relaxed her mind for a moment and tried to see if she could pick up anything from them, for the mind wasn't the only thing that gave off electrical waves, but nothing came from them.

"I hate to put you at risk, Wraith," she said, "but I think that'll be our best--" she paused suddenly, her brow furrowing as another sensation fell over her. Her mind began to cloud and pulse and she touched her hand to the side of her head in an attempt to focus and calm herself. "Guys . . . " she said, her tone hushing to a whisper. "There's someone else here. Two maybe . . . I . . . I'm picking up a . . . consciousness." The others looked around now and leaned in closer to her.

"How many?" asked Sigma. Ayana squinted for a moment in concentration before she replied.

"I . . . I'm not sure. One's really angry, it's overshadowing the other . . . but I'm pretty sure just two."

Hidden in the shadows, Grey's heart jumped and his anger seethed even more when his sensitive ears picked up their conversation. So the black bitch was a psychic. Great. He turned towards Door Knocker though he kept the other 3 in in his sights.

"F#$*ing bitch knows we're here," he whispered so quietly that even she could barely hear him. "The costumed freak tried to stop me at the plant. Thought I killed him." His words were chopped and tensed as he struggled to hold back the other ones that were threatening to burst loudly forth.

Ayana reached out with her mind, pinpointing the other two, reaching into their minds, especially the one that was radiating with angry energy . . . and . . . something else . . . she couldn't quite place.

"There's definitely two," Ayana whispered, then her eyes widened, "they . . . they have something to do with all of this. Wraith . . . the angry one . . . he . . . tried to kill you?"

Grey listened and considered just jumping up and shooting the costumed bastard while he had the chance, but now he had to be part of a goddamned "team," and he couldn't be so sure Door Knocker wouldn't hold him back just long enough to f#$% up everything.

"There's . . . something wrong with him though," Ayana continued, in her attempts to find their physical location from their brain waves, she ended up digging just a little deeper into their minds. "The angry one . . . there's something off . . . in his brain . . . I'm not sure . . . there," she whispered, surreptitiously pointing straight at Grey and Door Knocker's hiding place. "They're over there."

"F#$*!" Grey hissed, then turned to Door Knocker, "they know where we are, you gonna let me handle this or you gonna make this a f#(%in' team effort?"

Jenny cast Grey a slight twinge of a smile and waved her hand in an exaggerated manner allowing him proceed on his own.

"This ain't my style, kid. You wanna get yourself killed, you go right ahead. JUST don't give up any information."

Even as Grey was responding, the tall woman in black leather, smoothly back away further behind the hedge and drew her gun. She made sure she was well hidden between two rows of hedges and waited to see what the hit man was going to do.


Sigma wasted little time when Seizure alerted them to the location of two potential enemies and drawing his retractable whip in one hand and a nickel plated 9mm in the other. He starting moving toward a dumpster at the far left of the low hill just outside the docking bay, keeping his eyes on the hedge at the top of it for any movement. He signaled to the others to circle around the other side so that they could surround them but Wraith had another idea. The wind mutant vanished from sight and went on head on toward the decorative hedge at the top of the hill.

As Grey, quickly clued Door Knocker in to his obvious disdain for teamwork, his sensitive hearing could detect Sigma's foot steps running across the pavement, about thirty meters to his right on the other side of the hedge he was hidden behind. The wind also picked up at that moment, vigorously rustling the leaves of the decorative shrubbery.


As Wraith, rushed over the hedge in his wind form he only caught sight of Grey, since Door Knocker had nestled herself into hiding spot away from the hitman. Normally he would not have been able to clearly remember, Grey's face due to his 'mental-scrambling' ability but, Wraith had gotten a good look at him when he was battling it out with the RAID meta-human who was able to suppress mutant powers. He was sure he had seen this guy before, but it was still difficult to place his face, but then he had a distinct flash of someone shooting him, then he remembered.

"Son-of-a-bitch!" Wraith thought to himself, "What the hell was this joker doing here?"

Grey quietly swore when he lost sight of the masked freak but now had the others to deal with. Damn, this really coulda just been quiet. Where were the scoped sniper rifles when he needed them? He coulda taken this faggot out quietly in a split f#$*in' second from the rooftop. Figuring it was pointless to still hide, Grey jumped out from behind the hedges and turned towards the footsteps. Even in the thickening darkness, he could make out the figure that was Sigma coming towards him and quickly fired twice in that direction. He then took off with quick, silent steps across the shadows and dove behind another group of hedges. There, he took aim at the other two and fired again. Kekoa and Ayana were ready, however. Ayana was already moving behind the car where she ducked and re-connected with the strange conscience she had picked up before. There was something very off about it and if there was a weakness in there she could exploit, she was going to. If anything, they could capture him and force information about this whole disaster out of him.

Guys, she "said," or rather, they heard her say as she paused to project her thoughts into their minds, don't kill him. We can maybe use him. I'll try to figure out what's going on with him. He's got a weakness, I'm sure of it. And it's in his brain.

Kekoa had rolled away at the first sound of gunshots and nodded to let her know he'd gotten the message. Meanwhile, Grey's sharp eyes darted around looking for the masked freak who was his real enemy. He didn't want, or even have time to deal with these other do-gooder idiots. All he wanted was to kill the big faggy one once and for all for almost screwing him over back at the plant. The very thought of it made Grey's blood boil again and he felt the pressure building within him. The rippling of electricity that ran across his brain projected back to Ayana making her narrow her eyes and focus harder from her position behind the car. Gritting her teeth, Seizure suppressed the urge to growl in frustration. She had no idea what to make of the odd waves coming from his mind and now she wasn't even sure where he was. Slowly, she slid along the car and peeked carefully around the side. If she could just get him in her sights, she could blast him...

Wraith listened to Seizure's telepathic message and considered it. He did not believe in killing, but this meta-human was as bad as they came. He had tried to kill him! There was no hesitation, no second thoughts, he just up and shot him without a care. There were very few times that Wraith ever considered simply killing someone, and now was one of them, but he would go along with Seizure's plan for now.

Sigma on the other hand only heard a few words. His natural telepathic shield, also prevented him from any sort of psychic contact so, Seizure's message was nothing but few garbled and incomprehensible words or ideas. As Grey opened fire on him, he dove behind the dumpster and popped out around the other side blasting away in the direction the shots came from.

Bullets whizzed through Wraith's non-coporeal form and when Sigma was done and began to advance, it was his turn.

Even as Sigma and Grey had exchanged gunfire, the winds had began to pick up. Swirling gusts whipped around their immediate vicinity as Wraith conjured his power, then when Grey least expected it he materialized behind him. Wraith, however, was full aware of the kid's speed and agility and so wasted no time and simple blasted him with a powerful jet stream of air, strong enough to flip a car. It was just about the most powerful burst, Wraith could muster but he was done playing around. He figured this guy could take it, and if he couldn't he guessed he'd owe Seizure an apology.

Wraith's intention was blast, Grey into the docking bay where he would be just on the other side of, Sigma' s car and in the direct sight of Seizure. Hopefully then could do her thing, but if not, Wraith would be on stand-by.