BlueBattler

Philippa Meraux's arc.

I believe.

Alternatively you can do the arc the Doc appears in.

“Welcome home, my dear Katherine.”

Her eyes snap open. Her lips curl back in a snarl. Her claws pop out.

She knows that voice. She loathes it. She wants to silence it once and for all.

But she can’t.

Amadeo Giacomo watches her as she struggles with a twisted smile on his face. Half his face is still covered in a bandage after all these weeks. “Struggle on, dear Katherine. You won’t get free this time. I designed those manacles personally. You will never be free again.”

“Want another kiss, Amadeo?” She looks at him through her lashes and laughs. “Given the way you look now the only way you’ll ever touch a woman again is when she’s bound hand and foot.”

Inside, part of her is still afraid. The part of her that was Kat Stevens. But the rest of her—the part of her that’s become Mynx—is angry and determined. She may be chained, but she’s no one’s captive. Not now. Not where it counts.

I am going to live through this. I’m going to survive. And he’s going to pay.

Carefully, she takes note of her surroundings.

She’s in a large lab, much larger than the one that she was originally kept in. The table she’s strapped to now is in a vertical position. Hot lights burn overhead. A tray of surgical instruments and devices—and some that look to be designed purely for the purpose of torture—is placed right beside her.

Out of the corner of her eye, she can see another table. Steve!

“Let him go. He’s not a part of this, Amadeo. This is between you and me.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that, Katherine.”

“Mynx, Amadeo. Kat Stevens is dead. You killed her.” A feral smile crosses her lips. “Mynx is just waiting to return the favor.”

Amadeo Giacomo looks into her eyes and inadvertently steps back.

Mynx laughs.

“You won’t laugh long, Katherine. Manx, come here please.”

A small, slender figure steps into her view. Clad in black and gold, not a single feature of the woman is visible. Something about the way she moves—something about the way she is—causes Mynx to shiver.

“Manx is how I found you, Katherine. I grew her from your very cells. I made her what she is from your raw genetic material. She is what you will become. Silent, obedient. My devoted servant.”

“You’re a sick man, Amadeo.” She believes him. It’s insane, but she believes him. Her skin crawls around the woman called Manx. They’re connected in some strange way.

And it sickens her.

Aside from Amadeo and Manx, there are roughly two dozen men and women in the room. Most of them wear the unique laboratory garb of Crey Industries. A few of them are wearing the gear of Riot Guards. One or two of them wear black suits and sunglasses and faces that are no more expressive than the mask of Manx.

Mynx herself is wearing a hospital gown again. She supposes that it’s Amadeo’s way of putting her in her place.

“I am so going to enjoy this, Katherine. Every moment of pain I have known since we last met will be repaid by you tonight. Every second of agony will be recompensed with hours of misery on your part. You will beg me to kill you before I am through …”

“Dr. Giacomo,” says one of his aides, his face obscured by surgical garb. “Mr. Hopkins said that he wanted her alive.”

“I said she would beg for death, Paul. I did not say she would find it.” He walks up to Mynx and strokes her cheek. “Yes, I am going to enjoy this so much …”

Mynx snarls and snaps at his hand.

Amadeo yanks his hand back. “You’re nothing but an animal now, aren’t you, Katherine? Or are you? Manx.”

The silent woman looks at Amadeo, expectantly.

“I want you to say hello to Katherine’s friend.”

Manx’s claws pop out.

“Amadeo, leave him alone!” She struggles frantically against her bonds. She can hear them strain, but she can’t break free …

“Let’s see if she can imitate the work you did on my face, Katherine. Do you think he will still care for you once he realizes that you are the reason that his face has become a horror show?”

“Dr. Giacomo,” Paul says diffidently. “I don’t think we want to do anything that might wake him up. There’s something about his bio-readings that I don’t understand …”

“Have no fear, Paul. We will learn all about him once Manx is through with him.”

“Leave Steve alone!” Mynx howls.

“Steve?” Paul says. “Did she say Steve?”

“What of it? Manx, do as you’re told. Say hello to him. Give him the gift of pain.”

Steve is bound as Mynx herself is bound, but he has yet to wake up. By twisting her neck so hard that it hurts, she can see him now. He looks so vulnerable … God, how could she have let anyone get so close to her? He’s going to die because of her! “Steve! Steve!”

Manx walks up to Steve and extends her claws to Steve’s face. They lightly scratch his face.

“Mynx?” Steve asks groggily, shaking his head.

“Steve?” Paul is frantically consulting a PDA. “Steve … Berry?”

“That’s my name,” Steve shakes his head. “Where am I?”

“Amadeo! Put him under! For God’s sake, put him while we still can!” Paul has rushed to the surgical table and grabbed a hypo. “Don’t you know who that is? That’s Steven Berry!”

“Cut him, Manx. Cut him!” Amadeo turns to Paul. “What are you blathering about, Paul?”

“Don’t hurt him! Please don’t hurt him!” Mynx hates the weakness in her voice but she can’t stop herself.

“Mynx?” He stares at Manx who seems transfixed by his face. He glances around the lab and struggles against his bonds. “Mynx!”

His eyes begin to crackle with electricity.

“Amadeo, you fool! That’s Synapse! That’s Synapse!” Paul rushes forward.

And that’s when the lightning strikes.

I've just read the first couple of chapters, and I have to say that you have a definite gift for conveying a nonhuman viewpoint.

Well done!

Well, in this case, because the Doc isn't all that merciful.

The hotel is small, clean, discrete, and nondescript. It’s not the first time he’s been here, but it’s the first time he’s gotten a room for someone to just sleep in.

He feels curiously vulnerable to Mynx. He hadn’t expected that. He had expected her to open up to him. He hadn’t planned on telling her about the dark days after plain old Steve Berry had become the super-charged Synapse. It’s those eyes of hers. She looks at me and I can’t seem to avoid telling her the truth. Man, I wish I could wear my goggles around her. I can be ten times smoother when they can’t see my eyes.

Mynx had stayed in the room to shower and clean up. He had told her that he was going to go out and pick up a pizza—one super burrito wasn’t enough to make up for weeks of deprivation on the streets—and pick her up some clean clothes.

She sure was surprised when I rattled off her size, he thinks with a smug smile. Ray may be able to make a nuclear reactor out of some string and a couple of cocoanuts, but no one’s got an edge on me when it comes to knowing a woman’s measurements.

He knocks on the door. “Mynx, it’s me. Sy—Steve.” Man, I have to watch that. “Are you decent?”

“Come on in and see.”

He bites back his instinctive reply. Must not flirt with the girl I’m trying to help. Must not flirt ... “I hope you like sausage and pepperoni.”

Wrapped in a towel, Mynx is reclining on the bed watching the television. “I love sausage and pepperoni, Steve. You really didn’t have to go out for anything more. I’m not really that hungry.”

“You look hungry to me. Eat, eat. You’re nothing but skin and bones.”

“Yes, Daddy.” She opens the box and grabs a slice of pizza. She’s obviously more hungry than she’d let on because she devours it in about four bites and grabs another slice automatically.

He sits down beside her and grabs a slice of pizza for himself. With his metabolism, he burns calories like nobody’s business. “You clean up nice, Mynx.”

She surprises him by blushing. “Thank you, Steve.”

They eat in companionable silence. Some of the tension that’s been present in her since he first met her seems to leak out of her with each passing moment. “It feels wonderful to be clean and full again, Steve. I could sleep for a week.”

“We have plenty of time, Mynx. You can sleep in as late as you want to. I’m not big on being an early riser myself.”

“So what do you do, Steve?” She turns those eyes on him again. “You haven’t said.”

Great. I don’t think it’s quite time for me to tell her that I’m really the guy that she threatened to gut if she ever saw him again … “I’m in business with my friend, Ray. So what about you? What were you doing … before?”

“I was in college. I hadn’t really figured out what I wanted to do with my life, yet. I was just looking for a way to earn some extra money for school when I saw the advertisement for …” She shuts her eyes. “I was just an ordinary girl. People didn’t look at me twice. Things like this aren’t supposed to happen to ordinary girls.”

“I know the feeling, Mynx.” He squeezes her hand. “I never would have thought anyone would ever have a reason to do anything like that to me, either.”

“Steve.”

“Yeah?”

“Do you want to kiss me?”

Uh oh.

He looks into her eyes. She’s small. She’s tiny. She’s young. God, she’s so young …

But she’s also vivacious, vibrant, extremely attractive …

“Mynx—“

Something small, round, and metallic suddenly crashes through the window and lands on the floor in front of them. It immediately begins hissing out a green cloud of smoke.

As he starts to black out, he’s almost grateful..

Thank God the bad guys attacked before I could screw this up …

I wouldn't call Amadeo trustworthy, myself.

She is outside, but she is still a prisoner.

Her cell is a black and gold uniform. The air she breathes is stripped of scent and taste. The sounds she hears come to her through sophisticated microphones. Not a single centimeter of her skin is exposed so she feels nothing as she runs and jumps from rooftop to rooftop.

She is Manx. She exists to bring pain to Mynx. To do that, she has to find her.

“Find her, Manx.” The voice hisses a whisper into her ear. “Find her, and the pain will end.”

No, the pain will not end. She does not believe that pain ever ends. But it can be given to someone else.

She is Manx. She will bring pain to Mynx. She will find her.

Guided by instinct, she hunts.

“I wasn’t always like this.” The words seem to come out by themselves. She doesn’t know why she says them. She doesn’t know why she let this stranger—this Steven Berry—follow her up to the rooftop and share a meal with her. He gives her a meal; she saves his life. At the very least, she’s even with him.

But speak she does. It’s as though something compels her. “This was done to me.” She holds her hands up so he can see the ridges where her claws emerge.

“I understand.” There’s sympathy, but no pity in his voice. “Who did this to you?”

“I can’t tell you.” She can’t repress the bitterness in her voice. “They’re too powerful. I can’t go to the police. I can’t go to the Phalanx. No one will help me. I’m on my own.”

“No family? No friends?”

“My parents are gone. I don’t have any close family. As for friends …” She shrugs her shoulders. “Like I said, I’m on my own.”

“I can take you to a safe place.”

She looks at him through her eyelashes. “Look, Steve, I appreciate the burrito. I really do. But I’m not going home with a guy just because he gave me food.”

“That’s not what I meant.” He actually blushes then and looks away from her. She finds it oddly endearing. “Let me take you to a hotel.” He sputters when he sees the amused look in her eyes. “I mean, let me get you a hotel room. Your own room. Without me, I mean. A place you can shower in and get a good night’s sleep. And a change of clothing.”

“Steve …”

“This is not a line to pick you up, Mynx. If I was trying to hit on you, believe me, you’d know it.”

“Why, Steve? Why do you want to help me?” She doesn’t want to trust him. It’s a bad idea to trust anyone. How could she possibly put herself in someone else’s hands after what happened to her?

He looks away for a moment. “Years ago … years ago, something bad happened to me, too. I was hurt too. Changed.” He raises his shirt, and she gasps at the horrible scars that cover his chest and stomach. They’re faded, but she still can see how awful they must have been when they were fresh. “Pos—Ray. My best friend, Ray. He saved my life. He got me away from them. And he kept me sane. I wanted to crawl away, Mynx. I wanted to die. I wanted to run and never stop. The pain—and the fear. Bad as the pain was, the fear was worse.”

He lowers his shirt and stands up, looking down at the street below them. “I was so afraid, Mynx. Afraid they were going to come for me again. That they were going to take me and finish what they started. The fear—it’s possible to be so afraid that you don’t want to go on living. That you’d rather die than spend another day—another hour—living with it.”

“But you’re here.” She’s surprised that she can still feel sympathy for someone else. She wants to help hm. She wants to hug him.

“Ray. We’ve never talked about it. Guys don’t.” He reaches down and takes one of her hands in his own. “When I needed him, he was there. He sat up with me on the nights I couldn’t sleep. He walked the streets with me at three in the morning when I couldn’t spend another moment in the apartment. And when I couldn’t stop running, he gave me something to run for—and not away from. He’s more than my best friend. He’s my brother. I love that man.” He smiles that naggingly familiar smile at her. “If you ever tell him that, I’ll deny it.”

She laughs then before turning serious. “I’m glad you’re here, Steve. I really am. But I still don’t understand why you want to help me.”

“You need a friend.” The words are simple. “I’ve been where you are, Mynx. It’s not a good place. I know people. I have friends. People who might be able to help you.”

His hand feels good in hers. It makes her tingle. “I don’t know, Steve …”

“At least let me get you a room and a fresh change of clothing. In the morning, you can bail if you want.”

“I want to,” she admits, more to herself than to him. “But I’m afraid.”

“I know, Mynx. Believe me, I know.” He takes her face in his hands. “But you can’t run forever. Believe me, I know all about running.” Again with that smile. “Maybe it’s time for you to stop running—and to start healing. Come with me, Mynx. Please.”

And then, looking deeply into the eyes of Steven Berry, Mynx makes the decision that will change her life forever.

For two weeks, she spends every waking moment watching over her shoulder. She never spends two nights in the same place. Senses at fever pitch, she waits for the speedster to come for her.

But he doesn’t.

Oddly, that disappoints her.

She listens to people talk. She snatches newspapers from the garbage. Perched outside high rise apartment windows, she listens to news broadcasts on radios and televisions.

But there’s nothing. No news of Synapse searching for her. No official pronouncements from the Freedom Phalanx. Nothing at all.

“It’s like I don’t exist,” she whispers to herself.

He was the first person who’s talked to her since she left The Can Man. To everyone else, she’s been a shadow, a ghost. And now, it seems, she’s less than that to him.

“I am the cat who walks beside herself,” she whispers as she leaps from rooftop to rooftop, on the prowl for something more than food. “All places are alike to me.”

But if that’s so, why has she come back to the place where she first met Synapse? Why has she come back again and again over the last two weeks like a criminal returning to the scene of a crime? If she’s been trying so hard to avoid him, why is she haunting this spot?

“So much for helping me.” She’s bitter. She had wanted him to stay away, but it hurts that he’s done so. He’s a hero. He’s supposed to help people like her, isn’t he? Isn’t he?

“Why don’t we talk this over, guys?”

The voice startles her.

She glances over the rooftop to the street below. A couple of Skulls, Gravediggers. A Brawler and a Slugger. She’s mildly surprised to see them this far into Outcast territory.

The guy they’re threatening doesn’t look like much. Old jeans and jacket. A bag of takeout in his hands. He’s got an easy smile, but even from here she can see there’s no fear in his eyes.

I’m hungry.

“We were hoping to bag us an Outcast, but you’ll do.” The Brawler is talking tough, but his voice is wavering. She wonders if he’s ever tried to kill anyone before.

“Guys, I’m just here because I had a craving for some Super Burritos. I’m not in the mood for a fight. You want the food? Fine. You can have the food. You want my cash? You can have the cash. Anything more than that, and we’re going to have a problem.”

“You talk a big fight,” the Slugger says, smacking his baseball bat in one hand. “What are you, some kind of hero?”

“Who, me? Do I look like a hero?” Takeout guy gestures at himself in a deprecating manner. His gaze flickers up.

He sees me. Why doesn’t he point me out to the Skulls? At the very least it’d give him a chance to run away.

She pops her claws and utters a cry like a mountain lion as she jumps down to the street in front of the Skulls.

“Oh man! A cape! I told you this was a bad idea!” The Brawler yanks out his revolver.

“I don’t think so!” Takeout guy chops the Brawler’s wrist with the side of his hand, causing him to drop the revolver with a howl of pain.

A second jump takes her to the Slugger who gets in one good shot with his baseball bat that would have sent Kat Stevens to the emergency room … or worse.

Unfortunately for him, he’s not facing Kat Stevens. Mynx shakes her head to clear it and spits at him like an annoyed housecat. With an almost contemptuous sweep of her claws she shears the bat in two and then yanks it out of his grip. “You have any idea where I’m going to stick this bat?”

“Oh, man!” The Slugger turns and runs.

The Brawler reaches down to try to pick up his revolver but Takeout kicks it out of his reach. “I really think that’d be a bad idea, fella.”

Mynx smiles at the Brawler through her lashes and gestures at him with the broken baseball bat. “I’d really hate to have this go to waste …”

The Brawler curses, pivots, and races after the fleeing Slugger.

Mynx lets the bat fall and turns and looks at Takeout. She opens her mouth to demand the bag he’s carrying, only to have him open it and hand her one of the Super Burritos.

“Thanks for the save. Dinner’s on me. My name’s Steve. Steven Berry. What’s yours?”

And there’s something naggingly familiar about that smile of his …

Dr. Giacomo is rather nasty, I must admit.

He's been writing himself at this point.

I found out about the Manx cat while researching "Minx." For those of you who don' tknow, Manx cats don't have a tail ... also the cross between a Manx cat and a sphinx cat, at least according to one website I found, is called a minx.

So the name seemed appropriate.

[ QUOTE ]
Well... This is new...

[/ QUOTE ]


Heh.

I don't intend to post so soon, but I'd been needing to introduce this character, and this popped into my head today.

Cuddles,

Slick is exactly right.

Write for yourself, first of all.

Second, this is not a competition. Believe me, none of us are gonna get paid for this.

Pain.

It writhes. It shakes. If it could, it would scream.

But it has no words. It can understand them—why it can understand them, it does not know—but it cannot speak. It can hurt, it can hate—but it cannot say a word.

Its maker prefers it that way.

“Lovely, isn’t she, Paul?”

“Dr. Giacomo, I’m not sure that Mr. Hopkins would approve of this. Project Revenant has barely begun. Dr. Friedken’s process is still in the experimental stage. So many things can go wrong …”

“The Countess applauds initiative, Paul. You’ll never get anywhere in this organization if you’re not willing to take a few chances. She’s beautiful, isn’t she?”

“She?” The one called Paul looks at it—and it realizes that it is not an “it.” It’s a “she”.

“Yes. My dear little creation here. She’s going to make sure that my pain is repaid in kind.” She cannot see all of the other’s face. It is half-concealed by bandages. “When the time is right, Manx will be sent to recapture her errant template … and the suffering I have known will pale in comparison to what Ms. Stevens will experience.”

Manx. Her name. She has a name. Manx is her. And she was a purpose. She is to bring pain.

But if she is to bring pain, why does she know it?

“Why do you call her Manx, sir?”

“Because she lacks a tail, of course.” The other presses the button on a small remote he holds in his hand and Manx’s head explodes in pain.

Again she writhes. Again she tries to scream.

But she can’t.

The one called Paul looks slightly ill. “Sir … is that necessary?”

“I have to make sure the implant is working, Paul. We can’t have Manx running wild on us, can we? One wildcat is enough.” The other smiles an unpleasant smile. “Though I confess that I love to see that particular face suffer. It eases my pain somewhat.”

“I still don’t understand how she’s going to find the girl, Dr. Giacomo.”

“In a sense, they are one being, Paul. Mynx is her progenitor. Manx will find her. She won’t be able to help finding her. And when she does … when she does, the pain will end for both of us. Do you hear me, my little cat?”

Manx stares at him through the green glass that surrounds her.

“When you find Mynx, your pain will end. She will take your place in torment. You will be free to assume your new role as a protector of Paragon City. Find Mynx, Manx. Find her, and your suffering will be over.”

Her name is Manx. She has a purpose. She is to bring pain. She is to bring pain to Mynx.

“But until then, the pain will belong solely to you.”

And she dances in agony for her maker once more.

“So let me see if I have this straight. You hear about some clawed wild woman stalking the rooftops of Steel Canyon and spend three nights looking for her. She proves fast enough to not only take you down, but also to make a complete getaway. And yet, you didn’t think any of this was important enough to tell any of us what you were doing?”

“Well, yeah, it does sound stupid when you put it that way, Manticore,” Synapse admits with a grin that doesn’t let anyone see just how torked off he actually is. Never let them see you sweat.

“It’s time for the grownups to take over now, Synapse. Statesman, Sister Psyche and I will go Steel Canyon tonight. Between her telepathy and my tracking skills—“

“You know, William Tell, you’d be a lot less of a jerk if you’d just take that arrow out of your—“

“Synapse, that’s enough.” Statesman’s voice holds no amusement, no annoyance. He’s worked with both of them too long for that. “You too, Manticore. Synapse isn’t some amateur fresh off the bus. He’s a professional.”

“Some professional. If Kitty Claws hadn’t changed her mind, we’d be recruiting his replacement right now.”

“She’s not a killer.”

“You seem awfully certain of that, Steve.” Ray’s helmet is off, and he’s drinking half a cup of coffee. He doesn’t drink a lot of liquids when he’s expecting to be on call.

“She spared the mugger. She spared me. I’ve looked into her eyes, Ray. She’s not a killer. She didn’t choose this life. It chose her.” He pauses. “Crey chose her.”

“You’re sure of this?” Sister Psyche looks over at him.

“I’m sure.” For a change, he doesn’t even make a show of lowering his gaze to her chest while he’s speaking to her. He looks her straight in the eyes.

“If you’re wrong, then you’ve left a ticking bomb on the streets.” Manticore’s not big on forgiveness. One of his less endearing qualities, Synapse thinks.

“She’s either a victim who needs help or a potential killer. Either way, we need to get her off the streets before anyone gets hurt. Shalice, do you think you can find her?”

“She’s one girl in a city filled with millions of people. Given time, I can probably find her, but it won’t happen overnight.”

“I can alert the Brawler and Blue Steel. With enough heroes on the job, it’ll only be a matter of time before we find her—“

“No!”

“Steve? What’s wrong?”

“We can’t hunt her down like a wild animal. She’s been hurt. She doesn’t trust anyone. If we sick the cape and cowl brigade on her, we’ll just make things worse. We’ve got to convince her to let us help her. We’ve got to earn her trust.” He hates this. He hates this because it’s not who he is. He’s not Mr. Responsibility. Statesman, Ray—even Manticore—call the shots, most of the time. He’s the one who runs where he’s told or blasts what he’s told to blast. He doesn’t take charge. “Let me do this on my own.”

“You’ve already bungled this once, Synapse. What makes you think you deserve a second chance?”

“It’s not about me, Mean Arrow. It’s about a girl who’s wandering around lost on her own who’s one step from putting on a black hat. She shouldn’t be chased down like a runaway house pet. She deserves better than that from us—from me.”

Steve, it’s not your fault.

Geez, Shalice! Give a guy some warning next time! I might have been picturing you in your underwear or something!

The equivalent of a mental chuckle, but it doesn’t last. What happened to Mynx isn’t your fault, Steve.

How do you know that, Shalice? Ray and I—we should have dug deeper, looked harder. We could have found the proof that we needed to shut down Crey once and for all! Instead, they remained in business and Mynx paid the price. Mynx—and God knows who else.

Steve, not even Statesman has been able to save everyone. Beating yourself up over this girl isn’t going to help p her—or you.

I’ve been where she is, Shalice. I know better than anyone what she’s going through. I was on that table, Shalice. Not even Ray knows what it was like—what they did to me. What they were trying to do to me. If anyone can reach her, it’s me. I have to try.

“I think that we should let Synapse try.”

“Shalice, are you certain?” Statesman doesn’t seem surprised at all. Of course at his age, there’s probably not a lot that can surprise him.

Manticore, on the other hand … “You can’t be serious!”

“I am. There’s no indication that the girl has placed anyone in serious danger yet. Right now, she’s just a potential threat. Until we have proof that she is actually a danger to herself or others, I say that we give Synapse the chance to try to help Mynx.”

“I agree.” He expects that Ray would take his side, but it’s still gratifying that he does. “But there’s no reason that we have to put all our eggs in one basket, so to speak.”

“What do you have in mind, Ray?”

“Just this, sir.” Even after all this time, Ray still can’t bring himself to get over his childhood awe and call Statesman by his given name. “While Steve is trying to talk Mynx into turning herself in for help, Manticore can be trying to figure out who she really is. Once we know who she is, we ought to have a better idea of how to help her.”

“I’ve seen Mynx in Synapse’s memories,” Sister Psyche volunteers. “I can help Manticore in his search.”

“Why I am not surprised?” Statesman murmurs.

“Steve, do you want my help?” Ray offers. “I can scan from the air while you search the streets and rooftops.”

“No—thanks, Ray, but I think I should handle this myself. I’m going to try something different.”

“What do you mean?”

“She’s going to be watching for Synapse—but she doesn’t know Steve Berry. I’ll try to talk to her in civvies. Maybe I can talk her down that way. It’s worth a shot.”

“Not a bad idea,” Manticore admits grudgingly.

“Thanks, Robin of Lockjaw. I appreciate the vote of confidence.”

“I think you’re right, Synapse. If you come to her without a mask, you may just be able to help Mynx.”

“Yeah, she’ll never recognize me without the costume.” He smiles to fake a confidence he doesn’t feel. He doesn’t like the idea of being anyone’s only hope, but he’s afraid that Mynx’s wellbeing is going to depend on what he does next … it’s a scary thought.

What he “hears” next, however, scares him even more.

You don’t understand, Steve. I’m not talking about the mask of Synapse. If you’re going to reach Mynx, you’re going to have to let her see Steven Berry. The REAL Steven Berry … can you do that?

I’ll do whatever it takes, Shalice. I’m not going to fail her this time …

Thanks, guys.

Petey, I know how you feel. I just keep hoping that sometime the game canon will establish at some point that Penny does care for CK and appreciates his getting beaten up on her behalf ...

Thanks, Mr. Grey, but I assure you I'm not.

If I had any kind of pull at all with NCSoft, you'd see a Dancin' Clockwork King and Prom Dress Penny in Pocket D during the Valentine's Day events.

She never sleeps in the same place twice in a row. She eats what she takes. She talks to no one, and no one is ever allowed to touch her again.

She’s never felt so free.

Or lonely.

There’s no one she can trust. The Crey are still looking for her. She’s seen them on the streets of Steel Canyon. They hunt her.

She’s even seen Amadeo. The bandage that he’s still wearing makes him easy to spot. He’s the one who hunts her the most.

His lips on hers. His hands on her body –

Her claws pop instinctively.

If I ever meet him again I’ll finish what I started!

“Hello, good looking!”

She turns and sees a colorfully clad man looking at her. He’s smiling—a smile that reminds her of Amadeo. “You’re pretty good. I’ve been trying to find you for three nights now. There aren’t a lot of people who can hide themselves that well. I’m—“

“Synapse. I know who you are. I’m not an idiot.” She’s balances on her toes, ready to leap—towards Synapse or away from him. She’s not sure which.

“So you know my name. Why don’t you share yours?” He’s still smiling. She hates that smile. She hates the flirting tone of his voice.

“I’m—Mynx.”

“Hi, Mynx. Charmed, I’m sure. So what’s a nice cat-girl like you doing on a rooftop like this?”

She stands there, uncertain. He’s a man. She can’t trust him. She can’t trust that smile. But he’s Synapse, a member of the Freedom Phalanx. Maybe he can help her--?

“I’m sure we could find a much more interesting way to spend a night like this—“

That smile.

That smug, arrogant, self indulgent smile.

She can’t help herself. More to the point, she doesn’t want to help herself. She wants to wipe that smile off his face.

She screams an incoherent cry of rage and leaps at him, claws extended.

“You don’t really think you can lay a glove on me, do you?” He’s smirking. God, she hates that smirk.

But she smiles at him through her lashes. “Oh, I don’t know about that, hotpants. Look down.”

Puzzled, he looks down and gasps in surprise.

Three bloody gashes mark his chest.

“How did you—I didn’t see you do that! I didn’t see you do that! How could you move so fast?!”

“I’m faster than I look.” She’s enjoying the look of surprise on his face. It gives her a sense of power, of strength. It’s intoxicating.

“Good shot, kitty. You won’t get another. Time for me to get serious.”

“You get serious? I’m shocked!”

“Not yet, but you will be.” Synapse frowns and waves his hand, and suddenly she’s surrounded by oscillating circular bolts of electricity. “That electric fence will keep you in place, kitty. Why don’t you tell me who you really are and why you’re saving damsels in distress and snatching takeout?”

“I don’t have to answer to you, sparky. I don’t answer to anyone now!” She tenses her legs and leaps out of the fence, landing on Synapse with sufficient force to knock him off his feet. She straddles his chest and puts her claws to his throat. “Give me one good reason not to give you a second smile.”

“I’ve got one. You’re not a killer.” To his credit, he doesn’t flinch. He just looks up at her through the goggles that mask his eyes. The smile is gone, but there’s no fear.

“You don’t know anything about me!” She jumps off him and points her claws at him. “You don’t know who I am. You don’t know what I am. You don’t know what they did to me! No one will ever hurt me again! I won’t let them! Come near me again and I’ll kill you, hero! I swear to God that I’ll gut you like a fish!”

“Let me help you, Mynx.” He rises slowly to his feet, cautious, but not making any overtly threatening movies. His voice is different now. The flirtatious tones are gone. It sounds … compassionate. “Who did this to you? Who hurt you?”

“It doesn’t matter. They can do whatever they want and no one ever stops them. Not the law. Not Statesman. Not you. No one ever stops them and they keep on hurting people! Where were you, Synapse? Where were you when they strapped me down to that table and cut on me? Where were you when they injected me with stuff that made my insides melt? Where were you when I needed a hero?!”

“I’m here now, Mynx. Let me help you deal with this. Believe me, I’ve been where you are. It was Crey, wasn’t it? Crey did this to you, didn’t they? They’re the ones who hurt you, aren’t they?”

“I don’t need you now! I don’t need anyone! Stay the hell away from me, Synapse! Come near me again and I will kill you! I swear it!”

She wants to run. She wants to stay. She wants to believe him. She wants to kill him.

She jumps. She runs away. She runs away from the pain, from the fear. She runs away because it’s the only thing she can do to keep herself sane.

“Mynx! Mynx!”

He looks for her for hours. She can hear him calling her new name until his voice is hoarse, but he doesn’t find her. Hiding from him—hiding from herself—she watches him all night long …

“Stay away, Synapse. Stay away. Please stay away from me…”

Thanks, guys.

Of the canon characters I've written so far, Synapse is the second one to have given me the most trouble. (Writing dialogue for The Can Man tops him.)

If I screw this story up, it'll probably be because I mishandle Synapse ....

I'd like to journey back into time and help Jennie and Henry Bassie, Miss Akihora, and Big Six in the 1920s adventure as related in "A Path into Darkness."

I'd also like to have an adventure where we meet Maiden Justice, and the early Freedom Phalanx.

Synapse is running.

He is running because there is lightning in his blood, power in his fingers and toes. He is running because the only time he feels alive is when he’s a blur of speed. Talking, moving, thinking at a normal rate of speed is like swimming in molasses.

And there are times when he simply can’t take it any longer.

Tonight is one of those times.

And of course, Ray isn’t content to leave well enough alone.

“I don’t understand you, Synapse.”

Ray only calls him Synapse when he’s mad at him. Lately, he’s been doing that a lot.

“Ray, unless something has come up in the last ten minutes, I’m off duty.” The nice thing about having a mad scientist for a best friend is that he’s fully capable of building a doohickey or whatchmacallit that can slow down a speedster’s speech enough to be understood by normal ears. Arguing with Ray by comlink while running at breakneck speed through Paragon was bad enough; having to do it while slowing his speech down would be as annoying as heck.

“I can’t believe you stood up Margaret for the third time,” Positron says as though he hasn’t said a word. Ray’s annoying like that. “She’s a brilliant woman, and actually seems to like you for reasons that escape me.”

“Ray, she’s not my type. She’s your type. Why don’t you ask her out? Have you even had a date since the turn of the century?”

“We’re not talking about my social life—“

“Or lack thereof—“

“—we’re talking about you. I know how much you enjoy the night life, but we all have to grow up sometime, Steve.”

“Ray, look. I like being single. I like not being tied down or having any responsibilities. When I go out, I like dating pretty girls who aren’t looking to settle down and raise 2.4 kids and have a house in the suburbs. Margaret is a nice woman, but she’s looking for Mr. Right. I’m Mr. Right Now.”

“That’s a pretty shallow attitude, Synapse.”

“Again with the ‘Synapsing’, Ray? Look, I do my bit for Paragon. I fight the good fight. I save the world on a regular basis. Don’t ask more of me than that. I’m going to turn the comlink off now, Ray.”

“Synapse—“

“Good night, Ray.” There’s nothing quite so satisfying as getting the last word on Ray! Wait a second … what’s that up ahead? Looks like trouble …

The woman is a pretty young thing. The man is young and stretched out flat on his back on the sidewalk.

“What seems to be the trouble here?” Remember to flash a smile at the girl.

“Synapse!”

“That’s my name. My friends call me Syn.” Man, my goggles are great for protecting my eyes but they don’t exactly make flirting easy. Chicks really dig it when they can see your eyes. “What happened here?”

“I was picking up a pizza for the gang and this guy jumps out of nowhere. He says he’s going to—“ There’s real fear in her eyes and he doesn’t need her to elaborate; he just nods to show that he understands.

“Then what happened?”

“This girl jumps out of nowhere and beats him within an inch of his life. She’s got these claws and it looks like she’s going to cut him to ribbons and then—and then she just stops and looks at me.”

A new hero on the block? Might have to track her down. She sounds like she’s a little too bloodthirsty. On the other hand, sounds like she stopped herself. That’s a good sign. “Then what happened?”

The girl’s eyes widen in surprise. “She stole my pizza!”

“Little Kat, Little Kat, come with me. Follow if you want to be free.”

He was the kind of man she would have crossed the street to avoid. Bearded, befuddled, with eyes that seemed to be looking at everything else but what was right in front of them. Even in the sewers, he smells.

But he feels kind and he gently bandages her injured wrist with a piece of surprisingly clean cloth. The simple act makes her want to cry.

It’s been so long since anyone did anything to help her.

“Who are you? How did you get here? How did you find me?”

“I am I am I am the Can Man. I hear that which is not spoken. I act to help those who are broken.” He fishes into a bag he’s carrying and tosses her some dirty clothes. “The Crey mark what you wear. Discard it and better you’ll fare.”

“Mark it? You mean its bugged?” She wants to get rid of the gown anyway. It reminds her of what was done to her. She steps behind the Can Man and swiftly dons the torn jeans and T-shirt. They’re too big for her, but then most clothes are. She’s always been tiny.

She tosses the gown into the water.

No sooner does she finish…. “Someone’s coming,” she tells her strange ally.

The Can Man makes a strange gesture with his arms. “No eye can see you or I. Say not a word lest they find us as they did the invisible bird.”

The Can Man pulls her to the side, to the shadows, and they see an armed party of Crey Agents come tromping through the sewers.

One of them is wearing the uniform that Crey gives their scientists, and he’s carrying a tablet-sized piece of equipment. The right side of his face is heavily bandaged. “We’ll find her. I’ll find that minx and rip her heart out!”

“Calm yourself, Amadeo. The Countess has plans for the Stevens girl. Just be thankful that you aren’t being punished for your … indiscretions.” Though clad in a business suit like everyone else but Amadeo, he’s much taller and more formidable than his companions. Even in the darkened sewers, he’s wearing sunglasses.

“The feline freak hurt me, Hopkins! I’ll make her pay! I swear I’ll make her pay!”

“You will do as you’re told.” The tone is not that of a man who expects to be obeyed; it is the voice of a man who takes it for granted that his commands will be followed without question.

Fear-- and anger-- war within her. She wants to run away where they’ll never find her. She wants to tear into them with the claws they have given her, make them pay in pain and blood for the torment they have given her.

But the Can Man’s hand is on her arm, and somehow that makes her stay where she is, watching.

“She’s nearby,” Amadeo mutters. “I can feel her.”

Her claws twitch and she remembers the feel of his flesh rending …

The device in Amadeo’s hands emits a rapid beeping noise. “I told you! She’s near! She’s here! And we’ll have her soon!”

Her breath catches in her throat.

Hopkins glances at the machine and grimaces. He reaches a meaty hand into the muck and foul water at their feet and pulls up the gown she’s just discarded. “I don’t think she’s all that near, Amadeo.”

“No! How could she know to get rid of it?! How could she know?!”

Beside her, she can see the Can Man grin.

“We’re not going to find her tonight.” Hopkins’ face is as impassive as stone, but she can feel the anger simmering beneath that calm surface.

“I promise you I’ll find her, Hopkins! I’ll bring her back the Lab with my own two hands … AFTER she pays for what she did to me!”

She’s probably the only one who sees the blow that strikes Amadeo to the ground. Even so, she’s appalled by its speed and power.

“Your petty vendettas are of no more importance than your twisted desires, Amadeo. You will find Ms. Stevens. You will bring her back to the Lab … not for revenge, but because the Countess commands it. I command it. Fail me again, and you will wish that Ms. Stevens had finished you. Now, come.”

He jerks Amadeo back to his feet and gestures for the others to follow him. Within minutes, they’re gone as though they had never been.

The Can Man turns to her. “Safety you will not find here down below. To Steel Canyon you should go.”

“Steel Canyon? Why?”

“The Crey are strongest in the places of shadow where only the lost and the lonely go. Dwell in the world of light and the Countess’ power you can fight. In the Canyon of Steel you will be able to heal.”

It’s insane. The Can Man is insane. But she knows that she’s going to do what he says. She owes him that much. “Thank you. Thank you for your help.” She hugs him impulsively.

His body stiffens at her touch, trembling like a bird that’s about to take flight, but he finally, stiffly, returns her embrace. “For a time you must walk alone, but there are others who will help you grow strong. No matter have they have done to you; your inner self will always shine through.”

He leaves her beside a door that leads out of the sewers and into Steel Canyon. One moment he’s there; the next he’s gone.

She’s hunted, cold, and alone, but she’s free.

For now, that’s enough.

[ QUOTE ]
I notice that Mynx's Story does not have a *Complete* stamp next to it. Does that mean that more is coming?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, there's more to come.

In the beginning, she cried. She begged. She pleaded.

But none of it made any difference. They didn’t stop. They kept on hurting her. They kept on changing her. Tearing away who she had been, making her into someone else.

Something else.

Now … now she doesn’t cry. She struggles when she can. Glares at them when she can’t. She lets them see that she’s watching them. She lets them see that she knows what they’re doing to her.

And many of them—the ones who still have souls—look away.

Now … now for the first time in ages, she’s alone.

And that can’t be a good thing.

It’s hard for her to think, now. She tries to free herself, but her restraints still prove themselves greater than her strength. For all her newfound might—and she can feel it coursing through her veins, singing in her ears—she doesn’t have the power to shatter her chains.

But she tries. Again and again, she tries … until she realizes she’s no longer alone.

“Ah, yes. Still you fight.” The voice has a heavy Italian accent. “I told them that your soft exterior concealed a tigress. You’re the first subject to survive this far, Katherine. I am proud of you.”

She hisses at him.

He laughs. “Is it the beast that hates me or the woman, Katherine? It doesn’t matter, you know. You won’t hate me for long.”

“I’ll kill you!” she threatens, moderately surprised to find that she can still speak, her voice a husky whisper.

“No, I don’t think you shall. You see, you belong to us, Katherine. Body and soul. And soon … soon your mind will as well.”

She struggles so hard that she can feel her left wrist start to bleed.... “Never!”

“Yes, my dear. Oh yes.” He steps out of the shadows, then. A handsome man … one of those who had interviewed her when she had volunteered for the research project. He had movie star good looks, she had thought. “You see, the others have done their work on your body. Tomorrow, I will complete the project by altering your mind … when I am through, you will serve Countess Crey with all your heart.”

She glares at him.

“But that’s for tomorrow, my Katherine. Tomorrow, you belong to Crey. Tonight … tonight you belong to me.”

He walks over to the table she’s bound to, his hand sliding across her leg, up to her taut stomach. “You are no longer human, Katherine. You were not an especially attractive woman, you know. Now … now you are a fine little minx.”

Her wrist … the blood …! She can’t break the restraint, but there are other ways to get out of a trap …but if he sees what she’s doing … if he calls the guards ….

She forces herself to look seductively at him through her lashes. Her lips curve in an invitation and she licks her lips. “Amadeo, right? Your name is Amadeo.”

“I’m pleased you remember my name, my dear.” He bends down and covers her mouth with his own, kissing her passionately.

She makes herself respond, distracting him as she works her left hand free. She chokes on her own bile, but she lets the man who’s more a beast than she’ll ever be kiss her …

Until her hand is free!

And then she strikes with the claws they have given her, raking the man’s handsome face … once, twice … three times ….

He screams horribly and breaks free from her, howling in pain as he dashes through the door.

The animal part of her hisses in frustration. The human knows that she only has minutes, at most, before they come for her, so she forces herself to think once more.

With her hand free—with her claws free—it only takes a few strokes to cut through the restraints that bind her right hand and both legs. In seconds, she’s on her feet.

Run, Kat! Run as fast as you can and don’t look back!

She doesn’t know where the thought comes from, but she knows good advice when she “hears” it.

But the creature that runs through the door no longer thinks of herself as Katherine “Kat” Stevens. No, Kat Stevens died when she was laid down on that table …. She’s someone else now. She’s something else.

She’s a … Mynx.

Thank you. ^_^