Heroes: The Road of Good Intentions

[LadyTevar]

"If anyone goes down, I will feel it," Argent said, more to Blackheart than to the team leaping through the wormhole. "I have enough strength for that."

[B4UTRUST]

The rift in space deposited the team in the desert. Before them was a tall chainlink fence with spirals of razor wire at the top. Contained within the fence was a large facility made up of multiple simple stone buildings containing administrative offices, dormitories, research labs and factories. Sunken entrances into underground storage areas were visible along with test ranges.

It might have been a peaceful place on any other day. However, it was currently doing its best to give the appearance of a warzone. Craters dotted the land and smoke was thick in the air. The ground shook with explosions and impacts and the sound of weapons fire was deafening.

The first thing that was obvious was that they weren't the only ones responding to the crisis. First response units from Ultima were on scene with more appearing rapidly as combat teleporters brought more agents into the field with every passing minute.

Several agents were already in the air moving swiftly to take control of the situation. They were met in force by flying drones and flight-capable power armors. They began to dance around each other, blasts of energy, sonic weapons and micro-missiles sending more then one of the combatants to the ground in a firey death. A large humanoid battlesuit rose up on a lift from one of the storage areas, gleaming polished metal shining to almost a mirror shine. It stood nearly ten foot tall and wielded an equally polished gun that connected to a large pack on its back. It turned and raised the gun towards the aerial combatants and fired, ignoring the fact its own teammates were there. It had no sooner pulled the trigger then three of the Ultima agents engaged in the fight disappeared into a pinkish mist as their bodies were reduced to a liquid state. The mechanical units around them exploded in balls of fire and liquid metal as whatever it was that hit them impacted. A second later a sonic boom deafened anyone around, far louder then the rest of the battle thus far.

The gleaming suit turned and fired into a group of heavy assault troops advancing across the field. They disappeared in a spray of blood along with a sizeable chunk of the building behind them. Another sonic boom. A flash of flickering light was seen for an instant as one of the agents appeared from the side of the deadly giant. The agent moved faster then the mecha could turn, closing the distance in a heartbeat before barreling through the thick armor, causing it to explode violently. The meta kept going, clearing the blast radius.

Small tank chassis rolled out, torsos of humans attached by strange mechanical means. The small mobile weapons platforms were guided by the remote controlled minds of the bodies, still very much alive though lacking any thoughts beyond their orders and means to accomplish them. In some cases, the shredded uniforms still clung to the chests, indicating that they were workers in these very factories. Behind the rolling death machines were more mechanically and cybernetically enhanced humans, their bodies distorted and bulding with implants and added systems. They moved in perfect unison as if a single mind drove them all.

It had become all too apparent what had happened to those who were working here. Whether they had willingly turned or had been forced too, however, was an all together different problem to figure out.

[rhoenix]

The next testing phase of the new optical processors was about to commence. IBM may have bragged about their version to the world, but Alexander Gordon, lead researcher in the OmniCorp optical labs, was going to prove their version inferior, and inefficient.

He half-heard an announcement over the overhead speaker saying that employee evaluations would be today, and each employee would get a chance to talk about their job, what they liked and disliked, etcetera - Alexander wasn't listening very closely. He was instead eyeing the optical diagram with close concentration, joined by his assistant, Joyce Ramirez.

Both were intently watching the last optical relay in the processor unit be connected, using the microscopic hand-tool to place it precisely. Both smiled grimly in satisfaction as it locked into place, a green light turning on to signal a solid connection, ready for testing.

The loudspeaker called for two of their assistants to the manager's office for their evaluations - Alexander and Joyce barely watched them go, so intent were they on their project. Joyce walked over to her workstation, and ran a few commands - everything appeared optimal. She took a deep breath, turned to Alexander, the man she had grown to trust as confidant, a brilliant mind in the field of photonics, and sometime lover, and nodded her head.

Grabbing the power relay, he pulled the switch down - only to see nothing happen. Both frowned, but Joyce spoke first. "I'm positive I notified the engineers that we'd need a significant power draw to test this processing unit."

Alexander nodded, looking thoughtful. "Well," he said with the frown he sometimes got on his face when thinking furiously, "its obvious they didn't allot the power. I'll try seeing if we got it allocated through the building power grid - would you mind asking Paul if he authorized it?"

Joyce raised her eyebrows. "He's probably giving that evaluation interview to Tim and Latrice right now; he might be pissed. You know how he is when someone dares to interrupt his timetable."

Alexander smirked. "True, but he was the one all gung-ho about this project to begin with. If he wants us to hold to his precious schedule, he'll have to make sure we have the proper resources. Go on - I'll make some checks from here."

Nodding, Joyce got up and left the room, taking the elevator up one floor to the office of their manager, Paul Newberg. Alexander made some double-checks of all the power relays and couplings, and checked the software they'd written to test and run this test - all appeared to be in order, though the power relays were a little strange. Power distribution for this building wasn't normal at all; it had been routed in a strange fashion interlinking all the research buildings, and appeared to be having a power surge on the floor above the lab he worked in. His eyes narrowing, he traced the power feed, and shook his head in confusion - there had been repeated power fluxuations in all the manager's offices, and there was a larger one, compared to the previous ones today happening right now in Paul Newberg's office.

He leaned back in his chair, blinking at what the screen told him - it didn't make sense. Why would his manager, or the other managers, need that much power for their offices? They didn't do any true testing work; they just oversaw the ones who did.

The viewer told him that the most recent power surge had ended, and he shook his head as he watched the power be relayed immediately to other areas; areas that weren't his lab. What was going on?

He heard the doors to the lab open, and footsteps coming through. Speaking without looking, the fact that there were three pairs of footsteps moving in perfect sync didn't register at first. "Hey Joyce, did you get our power relay okayed?"

Her voice did not at all sound normal. It was monotone, and devoid of emotion. "No, Paul had other issues to attend to. Your evaluation will be next - we just had ours."

Turning around with eyebrows furrowing in confusion, they rose swiftly upward as he looked at his the two lab assistants, and Joyce - all three had slightly larger than normal upper skulls, with metal protrusions at regular intervals around their heads. Tim now had a mechanical hand; he noticed Latrice's jeans were cut, revealing a crudely efficient mechanical leg, attached at her hip. The loudspeaker blared, with Paul Newberg's voice sounding in a mechanical monotone. "Alexander Gordon, please report to my office for your evaluation."

"What the hell is going on?" he yelled to the three lab assistants. None of them seemed to react in any way to his outburst. Joyce spoke up however, and what she said sent chills up his spine. "We are now made properly efficient for this company to run properly. Your turn is now. Go, or we will escort you."

Alexander noticed Tim's new mechanical hand clench for emphasis after what once was Joyce spoke. He now grew angry. Using his senses other than the normal human five (or six), he felt electronic pathways within their bodies, and culminating in their skulls. Electronic systems have a very slow margin for error, being so carefully designed. The irises of Alexander's eyes suddenly went white as he forced the electrons to suddenly move much more furiously within those pathways within those three, and they suddenly collapsed to the floor, as if they were marionettes who just had their strings cut. Alexander knew that something was terribly wrong, and if what he had read of the power relays was true, he needed to get out of this facility as fast as possible.

He began to reason out what was happening, when he heard whirring noises behind him. Turning around, he saw that the three were standing back up, and beginning to walk toward him purposefully, with arms outstretched. Immediately, he focused again on the pathways within them, and sped up the electron flow again. What made his mouth run dry was that he had to push it much higher this time for the same result to occur - they were adapting to it, even as they were unmoving for less than a minute.

Alexander knew he had to think quickly. Especially given the second incident in less than a minute, he did not have time to carefully reason his way through this. Given his observations, the AI had gone online just last week, and given his lab assistants' behavior, were somehow affected or being controlled by this AI. Perhaps he could reach the AI, or find some other people who were unaffected, and see what could be done.

He heard the whirring noises again. "...Metahuman...shall become test subject."

All three stood up, and began marching toward him once more. Again, he forced the electron flow within their circuits to peak, but this time, the only effect was to have them move faster. With his mouth going dry, he tried the opposite tactic - stopping the electron flow completely. They froze in mid-stride, one falling over due to being off-balance. However, the instant he stopped concentrating on them, they began moving again, the robot that once was Latrice getting up mechanically and joining the others in coming after him. Concentrating again, they all stopped, Joyce and Tim falling over this time when their electron flow was interrupted.

Any aspirations of being a hero were now gone. They were adapting to his most prized secret alarmingly fast, and new tactics would be needed. He needed to just get out. Now.

Knowing that security personnel would be watching the doors, and had likely been converted already, Alexander knew his only option was the fire escapes. Holding onto his concentration of the three as he ran, he reached the door leading to the stairs, and began to ascend. As he ran up the second flight, he heard the mechanical movement of Latrice's new leg getting closer, followed shortly by the door below opening. Alexander controlled his breathing, and kept running. The number of footsteps up the stairs was perfectly in sync, and seemed unnaturally loud. He paused for a moment to look down, and saw that the three had been joined by roughly fifteen more people, all similarly "enhanced." One of them was his former manager, Paul Newberg, who had two mechanical arms. All of them were marching up the stairs in such perfect sync as to be unnerving.

Trying to buy himself some more time, he stopped the electron flow in the ones in front while they were in mid-stride, which caused them to topple back into the others. The others simply picked them up and carried them while marching, and didn't appear to even miss a stride. His blood went cold. He began jogging up the stairs again, trying not to listen to the syncopated footsteps behind him moving with machine-like precision. Only three more flights of stairs to go, and he'd be on the ground level.

Trying a desperation tactic, he pulled all the light and heat from the flights of stairs below him where his former co-workers were mechanically marching, causing it to instantly freeze and become pitch-dark within the stairwell. He, being able to see just fine, kept going, though was disheartened at the lack of effect - he saw a few infrared beams shooting out from a few of the members, and they appeared otherwise unharmed. As he ran up another flight, he tried to return the light and head with a vengeance, concentrated where they were marching. For normal eyes, it became unbearably bright, with temperatures reaching baking range - and still they kept marching. Some of their skin was alternately frozen or burnt somewhat, but their cadence was unaffected. Their number also appeared to have swelled greatly, with more than thirty people at a quick headcount below him visible. He swore beneath his breath.

Two more flights, and their rapid marching gaining on him, despite the fact that so few of his co-workers in their formerly human lives had done anything resembling exercise, he reached the ground level door, and burst through it.

His eyes adjusting to the sudden brightness of the afternoon sun, he heard explosions and the sound of what he swore could have been the experimental railgun design firing off, joined by sounds of helicopers, and other hardware on the opposite side of the compound. Not staying around, he began to run toward the outer gate of the compound, already hearing the door behind him open up, with the mechanical marching of the multitude behind him.

[SirNitram]

"Minimum civilian involvement. Well. Those who were within our range to help." Gravitas muttered. "Alright.. We hurt them until they stop."

The gravitational situation was a mess. What looked like a railgun sported by the biggest suit was the big concern though. It was shredding ground and aerial teams. Eyes and other senses whipped around, and he grabbed one of the 'tanks' covered in half-dead bodies. "May the fires purge this horror.." He muttered.

Gravitokinetics was not as precise as the real thing. Gravitas could, under the right conditions, thread needles, but at the end of the day, you slammed the target with fluctuating fields that propelled it. The tank was slammed backwards, careening towards the raised platform's base and lift. Anything to rob that gun of the high ground.

[frigidmagi]

"Alright, we need to get inside. Hydro, Grav can you blow us a way in? If not I'll take the lead. Hotfoot, I'm gonna need you to stay loose and try to evac any civies or wounded good guys you find. Try to stay close as you can though. Any questions?" Blast said, hoping his voice didn't temor as much as he thought it did.

I will be calm. Blackheart would be calm. If you look and sound like you're in control they'll think you're in control and they'll be calm. I can take any machine. I will be calm.

[General Havoc]

Hydro emerged in the midst of a chaotic situation. Mechano-Flesh Beasts stalked about the area, engaging in what was quite clearly battle with a number of figures that appeared to be Meta-Flesh Beasts (he was beginning to wonder just how many variants of Flesh Beast there were). Several fell victim to the mass projection devices and other weapons that the Mechano-Flesh Beasts were employing, a factor which apparently displeased Gravitas as he employed means beyond Hydro's capacity to discern to raise and cast one of the fallen Mechano-Flesh Beasts into another, still living one.

The picture of calm, despite the insane circumstances, Hydro did not move initially as his tendril spun slowly around drinking up the sight. "By all the Singularities..." he said, though it was uncertain to whom he was directing this statement, "what in the universe is occurring here?"

Bolts from a nearby mass projector zipped through the air, dozens of them striking the motionless water elemental, and punching straight through him. They did not have the effect anticipated by their owners. Hydro did not even react as he was shot with enough firepower to penetrate tank armor and reduce a normal flesh beast to red paste, the droplets of water flung out by the shots flowing back into his main body. Not even direct hits to his watery tendril made the slightest difference as he patiently sat there and was shot, ignoring the attack as though it wasn't even transpiring, before he heard what Blast had said.

"Given sufficient time," he said with perfect equanimity as slugs continued to perforate him, "I can force entrance to nearly any location, though the timescale may be somewhat non-conducive to our efforts here." He turned his tendril around again, not even reacting as a burst of rail gun fire chopped it off, forming a new one even as the old splashed back into his main body. "Where is the entrance in question?"

[Dark Silver]

Ghost sighed. He decocked his pistol and safetied it, sitting down on a chair facing the couch. The spook reached out and set the pistol down and then rubbed his face with his hands.

"Thanks, Saibot." He said. "I could use your help. I'm hoping you can get me info on an Ultima Meta, named Gazer. The basic info, nothing really serious, date of birth, SSN, his address, that sort of thing." Ghost said, not fully ready to admit he wanted revenge, not until he was sure Saibot was willing to help with revenge.

Garth watched Ghost, his lips turned into a slight smile, "Saibot's dead...he died when the shuttle exploded. I'm Garth. As for Gazer....Ultima froze and confiscated most of my bank accounts, and to be honest, I've damn near burned through what they didn't get to out in Nevada."

Garth seemed to mull things for a moment, "But....I could probably dig something up. I might still have one or two contacts who can find something out. If not, they may be able to point me to someone who can. "

Garth looked at Ghost, locking his gaze on the recent widower, "Be honest with my Ghost, after you got the information, what you plan on doing with it?"

[Agent Fisher]

Ghost nodded. "All right, Garth. I plan on killing him." He said. "Not sure how, or where or when, but I plan on making sure Gazer pays for what he did. He was too damn reckless, he knew there were civilians still in the area, and didn't care about his misses." The spook said, leaning back in his chair.

[Dark Silver]

"It's not like the old days..." he said, his voice seeming to trail off. "Not at all. Not when we tried to keep collateral damage to a minimum and deaths, criminal or civilian, to a minimum. Not all they want is to cause destruction....to kill....and damn anyone who gets in the way..."


Garth seemed to sigh, then looked at Ghost again, "I know the feeling. He killed your wife, the woman you loved. Just like they killed my wife, my unborn child, even my parents...."

Garth rose from the sofa, fixing his sunglasses, "Give me twelve hours to see what I can find out. I'll find you again by then, with whatever I can dig up."

With that, Garth started walking to the door, "I'll get what I can...and then we'll both take him down. It's time they relearned the basics, come hell or high water..."

[Agent Fisher]

The spook stood, following him to the door. "Thank you Garth." He said, holding out his hand. "And if we're going by first names, I'm Dan." He said.

[Dark Silver]

Garth didn't shake the hand, only nodded, as he was suddenly outlined with a faint blue glow, "Twleve hours Dan. I'll see you then."

With that, Garth stepped out the apartment, closed the door behind him, and found the quickest way to the roof; the jeans and t-shirt altering into a plain black, padded form.

[Hotfoot]

"I'll do...what I can. Give two blasts to the sky if you need me. Keep it short, I'll see them," He waited a few seconds for Blast to respond with any additional orders before snapping on his shield and running off, easing himself into a high rate of speed. Pulling out the wounded here would not be easy, since carrying a body would mean slowing down, but if it needed to be done....

Hotfoot looked around the battlefield, looking for any wounded in need of saving.

[LadyTevar]

The news channel continued showing scenes from the OmniCorp facility, keeping a running commentary that even a blind man could understand. It was not going well for the good guys at the moment. Argent found herself wishing she was there to help.

At least there was one thing she could do, as the fridge door opened and closed in the kitchen, and two shadow tendrils crept into the room, far slower than normal. Both carried beer bottles, one heading for Elias, the other stopping beside Blackheart. "Blackheart, beer bottle by your right hand," she announced, as the shadow wavered a little. "It's been a long time since I've had to -think- about doing this," she muttered to Elias, forced to admit she was still exhausted.

[rhoenix]

Still running a near-sprint away from Building 3, which housed the research labs he had once worked at, Alexander looked around him for the best exit to get to his car from. Finally, in the fence near Building 2, he saw an open gate, and began to run toward it. He took two steps when he felt a slashing pain through his right calf, and fell to the ground.

Looking back, he saw that one of the still-marching multitude of "processed" former co-workers of his had fired what seemed like a sort of grappling hook through his calf, for the shaft was sticking through his leg, with blunt anchors sprouted out from the other side to prevent it from being pulled out in that direction. He had just realized this when he felt a tremendous jolt of electricity come through it. A jolt of electricity strong enough to knock a fully-grown man such as he unconscious. Nearly on instinct, his body processed the electricity, storing it temporarily within his body - the only outward sign of this was the irises of his eyes turning from near-black to pure white.

Meanwhile, the syncopated marching footsteps brought the legion of formerly-human closer still. He could feel the vibrations in the ground as they neared, and knew that whether or not he could deal with the electricity, he had to find some way of not getting too close to them, or he would be just as lost as they. Using some of the stored-up energy within him, he created a tight-beam laser between his thumb and forefinger, and used it to slowly cut through the metal mesh wire connecting the taser grapple to the swiftly-approaching modified person. The legion, now officially a crowd and larger in number than he had seen as he first made it outside, was within ten feet of him when he finished cutting through the wire. Clenching his teeth to the pain, he pulled the grapple out the other side of his calf, and forced himself to his feet.

Before he began hobbling to his feet, he created a tremendous flash of light directly in front of them, which predictably caused them to stop. This was his cue to begin hobbling away as best he could, and he began doing so. Too soon however, he saw IR beams moving around, and the multitude began moving again in lock-step. Inanely, he realized that they weren't a collective of individuals - they were all controlled by one mind. This made him clench his teeth in sorrow and anger, as many of them were if not friends yet, at least good acquaintances.

Sudden instinct made him hop to his left, and his eyes widened as another grappling taser flew by his head, still going quite a distance. His eyes narrowing, he grabbed the wire as it stopped, and began absorbing the high-amperage electricity rushing through it, using it to create another small laser to cut through the wire. This time it was a bit easier, as he was actively absorbing sunlight as well this time to fuel the laser. Soon enough, the wire parted cleanly, and he hobbled quickly to the grappling end. All this tasering had given him an idea, as he didn't like being defenseless, especially as the multitude was beginning to fan out to surround him and prevent him from reaching the exit near Building 2.

Grabbing the grapple, he smiled grimly in satisfaction when he found it would work well as a handle for a whip. As five of the multitude closed in on him, he tested it out by swinging it at the one on the left, he concentrated on the electrons within the wire, pushing through a jolt of electricity strong enough to knock out a horse as it made contact with the technologically-modified human drone. It flew backwards a yard or three, and twitched uncontrollably when it landed. This made Alexander's grim smile a little wider. He was able to push through much more electricity through the whip than he could remotely through their circuits, and now, he wasn't as worried about hurting his former co-workers. Given the way they acted, they were almost certainly lost. Still though, he couldn't bring himself to cross the brink of being a killer, despite their actions. He still kept the pulses of electricity down to a point where it would knock out a horse, or cause a human burns, nerve damage, and knockback.

Ducking another grappling hook, he used his new makeshift whip to scatter and stun the remaining four approaching members of the techno-legion. That taken care of, he moved at a hobble/run toward the gate again, flashing out his whip at one or two of the legion that got too close. At last, he made it to the gate, and stepped through, his makeshift whip still in hand.

[B4UTRUST]

The warzone was rapidly growing out of hand at Ultima forces were joined by Mirage team. The sound of approaching aircraft signaled that even the US military was going to get involved.

More of the tank-hybrids were rolling out, weapons attached to the chassis swiveling and firing at any targets that made themselves available with large bore rounds and high-intensity lasers. Several of them were shifting parts of their armor, rising up on hydraulics to slide in place in front of them, creating overlapping shields. The shield units moved in front of the weapons platforms to cover them. Energy blasts scored the shields, blackening and denting them, tendrils of smoke rising.

More lifts rose up from the storage depots, bringing up an additional two of the highly polished railgun wielding suits. The immediately opened fire on any available target. Along with those more of the attack drones rose into the air on rotors, launching smoke and frag grenades.

There were cries for help in some of the buildings and factories, holdouts from the mass conversion sweeps.

[SirNitram]

"Too many to clear them all... Blast, hold on." Gravitas grabbed the gravity holding him and the energy channeler, shifted, compressed... Then let it loose. The two sailed through the air in a crude flight, powering through the air low and fast to avoid the anti-air fire and the Ultima teams.

Gravitas let go of the low, fast arc of a flight, reshaping his concentration around the air in front of them, forcing a way into the headquarters structure, or what was left of it, with a sudden barrage of tidal forces to rip metal apart and warp the rest.

"He'll be drawing power! Find him!"

[frigidmagi]

Gravitas grabbed the gravity holding him and the energy channeler, shifted, compressed... Then let it loose. The two sailed through the air in a crude flight, powering through the air low and fast to avoid the anti-air fire and the Ultima teams.

Gravitas let go of the low, fast arc of a flight, reshaping his concentration around the air in front of them, forcing a way into the headquarters structure, or what was left of it, with a sudden barrage of tidal forces to rip metal apart and warp the rest.

"He'll be drawing power! Find him!"

Blast hit the ground and rolled with a explosive grunt. He came up to his feet and hearing Grav's words went running deeper into the structure. To much energy flowing around he had to get a away from Grav so he could seperate it out. He called back over his shoulder.

"Get Hydro if you can."

He ran down a hallway, he could always blow open a path if he needed to. He ran for a 20 count and then ducked into the nearest open room. Stopping he began to breath deep and slipped into the other sight, tracking the various flows of energy throughout the building.

[General Havoc]

Unable to determine what else to do, Hydro followed Gravitas and Blast into one of the buildings located nearby. There were at least five dozen questions he wished to ask, but this was plainly not the time. Even if the mass projectors being released could not cause him harm, they plainly could inflict terrible traumas upon those whose forms were more rigid.

Into the building the others raced, and Hydro did the same, slithering along the ground and flowing over rubble and steps. Blast was apparently searching for the agent of this catastrophe, though he did not have the first idea how he proposed to do this.

There were other sounds as well, overlapping the ones produced by the engagements outside. Flesh-Beast voices, crying out in what Hydro decided was likely to be a fair amount of distress, partly from an analysis of the words, partly from the circumstances surrounding them.

"There are other Flesh Beasts requesting assistance in forceful terms," he said to Blast, unaware that the meta-flesh beast was scanning for things beyond visual capabilities. His voice was as placid as a still lake on a cloudless day. "If your objective is the preservation of said Flesh Beasts, perhaps I can be of some assistance in that regard?"

[frigidmagi]

"There are other Flesh Beasts requesting assistance in forceful terms," he said to Blast, unaware that the meta-flesh beast was scanning for things beyond visual capabilities. His voice was as placid as a still lake on a cloudless day. "If your objective is the preservation of said Flesh Beasts, perhaps I can be of some assistance in that regard?"

Blast was a bit jarred by Hydro's appearence. The... person was faster then he has thought. He made a note of that.

"Yes, that would be good. Please do so." Blast replied.

[LadyTevar]

Argent raised one eyebrow, watching the news carefully. "Was that... Hydro?" she asked as the camera panned around the chaos. Yes, water could run really fast downhill, but ....
"I really want a shower now," she said, carefully moving so not to jar Tachyon's wounded arm and the cold-pack she had on it. "Then, I'll start cooking. I think the team's going to be half-starved when they get back," she added with a weak smile before vanishing into the shadows, retreating to the Master Bathroom.

It did not take long to remove what was left of her uniform and step into the shower, scrubbing her long straight black hair and petite body fiercely to get rid of the dried on blood -- hers and from those she'd killed in the hallway. Thoughts of what she'd done, and how she failed made her scrub harder, as if trying to wash the stain away. The soap and water re-opened more than one of the cuts covering her body. That was when she turned off the water and brought out a large off-white plastic bottle.

"This ... is going to hurt," she muttered, mentally walling off the links to the team as tightly as she could before opening and pouring the bottle of rubbing alcohol over her body. "Nnnneeeeeenngggggnnnnnggh!" It wasn't a scream, it was too muted. It was more an animalistic whine as the alcohol hit the wounds and burned like a thousand papercuts exposed to acid. There was the off chance that Blackheart or Tachyon might feel it in passing since they were in the house with her, but she truly hoped she'd managed to keep the pain to herself. This was the only way to clean all the wounds quickly, before her body started healing them up again.

The bottle empty, she stood panting and shivering in the shower, slowly counting to 30 before turning the water back on to wash the alcohol and the tears it had caused down the drain. It took less than ten minutes for her to shower and return to the living room dressed in a loose cotton gi, her wet hair pinned up and smelling only faintly of rubbing alcohol. The long pants and loose sleeves of the martial arts outfit hid the worst of her wounds, but not the bruise that climbed up the side of her neck to her cheekbone. It was clear one of the things she'd fought had backhanded her hard.

"So... any preference for dinner?"

[Cynical Cat]

"Not really," said Blackheart. "As long as there is a lot of it, I'm good. On second thought, something I can eat with my fingers would be good."

[Marcao]

It was not often that he felt that a discussion was above his comprehension, but this was turning out to be one of those times. He had thought that he had understood well Blackheart’s condition but it seemed that his information had only been scratching the surface. Still, one of his fears seemed to not have materialized. He would not need to contend with an out of control Blackheart. That in of itself was a enormous relief. Li Na moved and his eyes naturally gravitated towards her. He was exhausted but that did not mean that he could not look.

She sat by his side and wordlessly reached for his arm. He did not struggle, at that point struggling was the last thing on his mind. The cold pack pressed against his skin and he shifted slightly beneath the contact. It was a bit colder than he had expected, his eyes watching his forearm and the bruise that dominated it. It had been a simple mistake, an opening that had lasted a fraction of a second. He had been fortunate. His eyes left his arm and the sign of weakness that resided therein and looked up at Li Na herself. His free arm moving to gently snare her waist for the moment.

When she smiled as she looked at him, it was difficult to sit there and do nothing. His arm left her waist and moved upwards, the back of his hand brushing against her cheek.

“I will be fine.â€

[LadyTevar]

"I think I can work something out," Li Na answered as she walked into the kitchen. In the back of her mind she could feel Tachyon's quiet support, as well as his exhaustion. She did not try to actively touch Blackheart's emotions, although she could feel he was weary as well. Food first, since she and Blackheart would both need fuel for their healing. They needed something quick, easy, and plentiful.

With those thoughts Li Na checked the fridge and blessed foresight. "Looks like it's tacos and fajitas tonight," she announced, sending Elias a smile as she started pulling out various ingredients and firing up her stove. "If you can stand, Elias, there's tortilla chips, salsa, and gaucamole. Set it up where the two of you can snack while I work, if you can."

Trusting in Tachyon to put the appetizer together for himself and Blackheart, Li Na focused on cooking for an army. It took longer as her control over her shadow 'helpers' wavered, but the smell of spiced beef, savory chicken, and grilled pepper and onions filled the air and several dishes. While Blackheart literally ate for two, Hotfoot could match him bite for bite. Blast was also a 'growing boy' with a healthy appetite, making Elias and Gravitas look like they were on diets. Legac........

A bowl fell in the kitchen with the sound of shattering ceramic, followed by muttered Chinese and an wave of guilt that was ruthlessly squelched as soon as Li Na noticed she was broadcasting.

[SirNitram]

Gravitas stayed away, well aware he naturally shed enough power to be noticable in Blast's other senses, but ready for combat, must have been like a spotlight as the excess quantum flowed away. A blink paused after a moment. This place had to supply power somehow, and it would be off the local power grid by now...

His node began to pulse, listening for the telltale and revitalizing flow of nuclear reactions. Gravitas was as still as a statue.

[rhoenix]

As Alexander made it to the gate, he saw that the parking lot was a long way off, and from the looks of things, the security guards normally keeping watch on the place had been...processed, just like most of the other people he had seen within the past half hour. Suddenly, he realized that the best thing for him to do would be to get to a roof. It would allow him to see what was happening, and be more easily rescued. He hoped.

Looking around quickly, he noticed that in addition to the processed legion moving to surround him again, Building 8 was both nearby, and rose three stories from the ground. He could faintly hear screams and cries for help from that building, a keening noise that sent shivers down his spine. His jaw set in determination. Despite the heavy fighting he heard somewhere in the distance, he appeared to be the only one around who was remotely capable of doing anything. Alexander didn't have a costume, a catchphrase, or a thought-provoking name, but he did have a limp, scientific education on how he might possibly use his control over photons in interesting ways, and a makeshift whip. What the hell, he thought, as his fear began to subside. He'd been hoping for something more interesting to happen at work anyway.

Moving at a swift hobble, he moved in a zig-zag fashion. When the processed formerly-human legion began to surround him, he tried a new trick. Suddenly, the entire area around him for a radius of over a hundred meters suddenly went pitch black, as he absorbed all the photons within him. At the same time, the area began to swiftly rise in temperature, quickly approaching human body temperature. Though he was wryly wondering if he'd put on enough anti-perspirant that morning, Alexander could see just fine, and was moving as fast as he could toward the outer entrance of Building 8. He knew this ruse would probably fool the AI-controlled processed people until he got to the building, but if the doors had been secured, the ruse would come to a swift end.

Even so, he could tell the processed legion were confused - their thermal imaging senses could barely penetrate the hot surroundings, and normal vision was right out, given the inky blackness. Soon enough, he reached the doors, and peered closely at the mechanism. It was a relatively simple electronic lock, one he'd had experience with before. Simply sending a gentle jolt of electricity in the right place from the right direction would open the doors, similar to how he had first made his former co-workers stunned when this whole nightmare began to happen.

However, as the doors opened with a hiss, he noticed the processed legion of his former co-workers had been alerted. Moving inside, he let the doors closed, and ran a small overload of electricity through the device; enough to fry the circuitry and render the door closed until repaired. Assuming the worst, he gave the AI's avatars now marching in sync toward the door about five minutes to find a way to open the door. Realizing the futility of wasting his ability like this, he abruptly cancelled the inky darkness around him, and released control over the heat around him as well. That done, he moved to the stairs, not trusting the centrally-controlled elevators.

On the second floor, Alexander thought he faintly heard hoarse screams for help from down the hall. His heart pounding loudly, he moved at a cautious limp down the hall, and toward where he thought he heard the pleading for help. Reaching the door, he was unsurprised to see that it was locked. Not knowing what else to do, he knocked on the door. "Hello, are you in there?"

He heard scrambling from the other side of the door, and it was momentarily opened just a crack. He caught a glimpse of a wide-eyed and frightened face, just before whoever it was screamed into his face and closed the door, locking it again.

Seeing a mirror close by, he looked at his reflection, feeling forlorn and somewhat shocked. He saw torn and somewhat bloodied blue jeans, a somewhat dirty OmniTech collared shirt, and the metallic makeshift whip in his hand that had once been a taser grapple line and hook, held and worn respectively by a man who looked like he had a very bad morning. Overall, not the most heroic look, but it would have to do.

He returned to the door, and knocked again. "Look, whoever you are, I'm going to the roof to see if we can get rescued here. Come with me, and I can try to protect you."

There was a more cautious movement toward the door, and it unlocked and opened more slowly this time. A frightened-looking trio of women, each holding a makeshift club, looked at him. After a few seconds, one of them spoke. "Where the hell did you come from, and how did you..."

Alexander raised his hand to stop her. "Not now, we don't have time. We need to get to the roof, then we can talk."

The woman, looking rather pretty despite the dirt smudges on her face and a few burns, narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Why the roof?," she asked in a tone of voice significantly lacking in trust. He noticed the two behind her taking fresh grips on their lengths of pipe as she spoke. "We were doing just fine before you got here," she said with almost a sneer.

Alexander's nervous system had just taken a beating in the past half hour, and he was a bit lacking in patience. Therefore, he answered much more sarcastically than he might have otherwise. "Really? You were doing just fine? Is that why you three had locked yourselves in a second story closet and were screaming until you were hoarse for help?"

The three looked at each other, and then looked back at him, looking him up and down appraisingly, as well as suspiciously. "Fine, let's go - but you'd better explain things once we get to the roof."

Alexander nodded, and motioned to the stairs. "This way - I don't trust the elevators."

Nodding, but still looking suspicious, they let him go first, which he did with a shrug. Taking a new grip on his whip handle, he cautiously ascended the stairs to the third floor. Suddenly, all four of them felt a rhythmic thudding that sounded like many footsteps in sync, and it appeared to be getting louder. Alexander shook his head. "Oh, shit, they got inside. We need to run!"

Moving up the stairwell as fast as he could with his torn-up right calf, shock was beginning to set in, and with it the pounding pain from his calf that almost seemed to pulse in time with the legions' footsteps. Urging himself to move faster, he heard the ladies right behind him. Reaching the door to the roof, he pushed it open, and kept moving until the four of them reached the center of the roof. Holding his hand out to one of the ladies for one of their lengths of pipe, she wordlessly handed it to him. Moving quickly toward the door, he jammed the pipe between the handles of the door, which would make for a crude, but relatively effective barricade.

Hobbling back, he moved toward the edge of the roof, and what he saw took his breath away. He saw the sheer carnage, the spartan-like shield wall used by the combat units controlled by the AI that was effectively stopping efforts to get by them, other armored AI units sporting what looked like experimental railguns, some people in strange costumes, and lots of military personnel and hardware.

He hadn't noticed the women walking up to stand next to him, but he heard their soft gasps of shock. One of them, the dark-haired lady who was the one who had opened the door, turned to look at him. "Well, let's assume for the moment that the good guys will win and we'll get rescued. How did you manage to escape?"

Scratching the back of his head, Alexander was silent for a few moments as he tried to think of a good answer that wouldn't involve him mentioning that he was a meta-human. "...I, uh...ran like a bat out of hell."

Nodding, she then pointed to his makeshift whip, looking somewhat concerned. "I saw some of the...converted people using something like that on the people that weren't. You know it doesn't conduct electricity without being connected to them, right?"

"Uh, yeah," he said lamely, "But it makes me feel a little better."