Riled

"We good Wolfman. But i'm sure you know this but you are walking a dangerious line Creyol. The TLF are not some-one to be screwed around with. I'll play this game only cause i know if things go wrong, i can vanish without a trace. You on the other hand, well, you just best hope that AI of their's doesn't get a wiff that you're invovled otherwise you're gonna have Hatesman pounding last weeks gumbo outta your gut Creyol..." he paused for effect,

"You really sure you wanna do this?"

Cyberspace studied Jean-Luc for a moment then chuckles lightly

"Alright Creoyl...I am going out on a limb here but I'm gonna assume you want me to confuse O.R.A.C.L.E, cause there is no other AI in the Isles that I know that is any good or WORTH hacking." he began to pace "Do you have any idea what she is like? She's the friggin' holy grail of AI programs. Skynet is a choir boy compared to what she's like wolfman! We are talking about one sophisticated piece of software, self learning, sentient and completely independent of her master." he raised a finger

"You better have a [censored] load on Benjamin's for me to take on O.R.A.C.L.E 'cause...and trust me when i say this...no-one else is nuts enough to say yes!"

There was a long silence,

"In short Wolfman...when do you want me to begin?"

The hand lowered and the valve snapped shut,

"Syn-Syndrome? Do i look like a friggin' twelve year old Technopath who's watched one too many pixar movies? I am no-one's nesmesis...we have enough of them as it is! Geeze! I can melt a man's face with the flick of the wrist and cause i'm labled Hacker, i must naturally be a geek...what is with you people?" he sounded genuninly insulted though the distortion on his voice added a slight comedy value to the rant.

Eventually his attitude changed and he gained back his bravado,

"You're damn right I'm good wolfman...I've hacked more computers than you've had hot dinners! I'm the friggin' Yoda of hacking dude! Arcahnos mainframe, Longbow mainframe, Crey, Aeon...you name it i've beaten it!" He went silent a moment then crossed his arms and his stance showed that he was most likely smiling under his mask,

"What kind of hack you after?"

The last part of his Armour had been slotted in place.

The red and white suit powered up with a gentle hum and for the briefest moment, the hands glowed a soft sickly green. He had not worn it in a while but he still marveled at how light it really was and how comfortable it felt. He knew it's powers well, how it generated a large amount of radiation that could be 'thrown' out from the palms, or vented outwards in a flood to cause widespread harm to those around him.

He picked up his newly repaired helmet and placed it over his. As the connectors touched the HUD activated brining up his connection to A, objects that could cause him harm in the near radiation levels, health and suit status and a variety of useless information. Kyle looked up at his monitors and saw that A watched him intently while occasionally giving readings and diagnostic reports on the suit and it's performance.

"Shall we?" The AI brought up the blueprints of The Forth Wall and quickly highlighted a area in the club. Information scrolled across the screen followed by a soft humming sound,

[Location prepared...system synched. Teleportation Module ready for long distance jump. All systems ready on your command.] Kyle nodded once, [Jump commencing in five, four, three...] Kyle took a deep breath, teleportation always made his stomach turn, [...two, one] There was a large flash of light and then,

His world was suddenly torn in two.

---

The air slowly changed within the club. It began being pulled towards a central point not too far from where Jean-Luc worked on his bike. Near by paper and dust was picked up by the increasing wind and rushed towards the source of the vacuum. Every-thing was quiet for a moment and then suddenly the air rushed back out, throwing any-thing not held down flying away from the man standing where before there was no-one.

The man known as Cyberspace shot his hand up and pointed it at Jean-Luc. Upon the palm a small valve began to turn and the air was filled with the smell of radiation. His head tilted as he took in Jean-Luc's appearance, the helmet recorded his features and sent them to A for an identification,

[Jean-Luc Santeres, 27, registered hero, retired, manager of establishment] with a heavily distorted voice, he spoke,

"...And what does the Forth Wall club owner want with Cyberspace?

Sparks flew as Kyle adjusted his power suit. It was some-thing he had taken on the day he had busted out of the Zig but now he never went any where without it. Lifting up his goggles he inspected his work carefully. He craned his head and looked over at his now fully operational computer bank, upon the screens sat the message from his would be hunter. He read the message through again then grinned,

The instructions had been clear, Forth Wall, Tuesday, come alone. He knew Forth Wall well, a nice club, good music, good food and very public. He also knew it would have plenty of cameras and computer systems to keep the place running, most new buisnesses did.

He had spent the better part of the night since reciving the message finding weaknesses in The Forth Wall's system and downloading the blueprints of the building. If he was gonna do this he was gonna need a quick getaway.

He inspected his work one more time before moving over to his keyboard

"A?" a long moment passed, then the digital face of his AI construct known as A appeared on the largest of the monitors,

[Yes?]

"Inform out friend that we shall attend. Also keep plugging away at his systems, i want full access to his security network and any other system he's left connected to the Greater Web."

[...As you command.]

Kyle sat back on his large leather computer chair and put his feet up on the desk. Cracking open an energy drink he clicked a button causing loud, agressive thrash metal to fill the walls.

Tipping point for Port Recluse.

It may seem like old news but the bombings in Port Recluse created a massive aftershock that has kept Sharkhead Isle on its toes. The Scrapyard faction were blamed for the attack against Marcone run businesses. Arachnos soldiers were sent in to arrest the terrorists and prevent other attacks. However fighting began in the streets between the two groups and now, for the past two weeks, Port Recluse has been a practical war zone!

The Scrapyarders are calling out Arachnos soldiers stating that the bombings was an Arachnos plan to finally eradicate their group and silence their call for a better life on the industrial island. Arachnos on the other hand are staying firm to the story that the Scrapyarders are to wholly to blame.

The tension between the two groups has been getting to unbelievable levels. Citizens in Port Recluse are warning to expect a full scale riot by the Scrapyarder group within the next few days. Heavy resistance is expected from the Arachnos who have been seen arming themselves to the teeth. Several evacuation procedures are being enforced for those wishing to leave.

The 'Lair' as it was known had become a mess. Cans upon cans of empty energy drinks littered the ground and desk space that once was pristine and clear. The lights flickered uncontrollably as the occupant had barely enough funds for maintaining them. Many of the screens that covered the wall now had a thick layer of dust covering them and all but one was turned off.

The one remaining screen constantly changed between command prompts, WebPages, forums, hidden Tor sites, mainly used by the hackers of the world, attempting to look for any form of recruitment. Rarely a digital face would flash on screen, and then disappear just as quickly.

Kyle James, aka Cyberspace, lay with his head on his desk snoring softly. Since his employers went back underground he had found little work, no-one needed a hacker. He attempted a few minor hacks on the Paragon banks to keep himself funded but soon he grew bored, he needed to be challenged once again.

Suddenly the face appeared on screen shifting all other windows off the desktop

[Intrusion detected, identification program running...]

Kyle's head shot up from the desk and he looked at the screen. His AI known as A (he was not original with names) began to bring up new command prompts and fill them with code

"W-what's going on dude?" Kyle rubbed the sleep from his eyes and watched intently as the code scrolled across the window,

[It would appear that a rival program is attempting to contact you. It's been flying through several of our nodes unknowingly, I’ve been watching it wondering what it is doing...but it has become clear to me it is looking for us...you...]

Kyle opened a fresh energy drink and knocked it back before chucking the can over his shoulder. He cracked his fingers and activated another screen before furiously typing at his keyboard,

"Let's see what I can do, keep plugging away for an identification!"

[Affirmative.]

The two working in unison, clicking and typing away at their command prompts until suddenly Kyle threw his arms up in the air,

“Got a trace! Alright A, keep an eye, we should have a lock in a few seconds!”

A map of paragon appeared over the face of A and began flashing icons over different buildings, each icon brought up a collection of information about who owned it, who lived there or who worked there, how much their bills where a month and who had been doing what in the stationary cupboard.

Suddenly the connection was lost.

“What the hell A?! Why’d you stop?!”

[It would appear they have a firewall as sophisticated as your own. I did not want to press it for reasons of safety and anonymity. Breaking though might have given them a doorway into our own mainframe and in doing so discover your identity?]

Kyle swore loudly, then began to think.

“Okay, okay...try and set up a redirect program outside of the firewall, make it easy enough to find. Link it to one of our more public servers. I’ll leave a message for our friend?find out what this program wants of us?”
Kyle cracked his knuckles once again and got to work.

Things are beginning to get interesting again!

Tensions Rise In Port Recluse

It has been one week since the explosions in Sharkhead Isle halted the Marcone Families buisness in the area. Fighting between the Scrapyard, Arachnos & The Marcone's has turned the better part of Port Recluse into a warzone.

Scrapyarder leaders have been claiming that they were NOT the ones responisible for last weeks bombings. While on the opposite end the Arachnos are claiming that they are the ONLY ones who have motive to do such an act. With such differing stories from both sides, and no-one actually owning up to the event, this paper is confused on who to belive.

The Arachnos agents in the area have warned citizens to progress through Port Recluse very carefully over the next few days, as fights are breaking out in the streets almost every few hours. Arachnos forces, from the local Fort, are attempting to quell the attacks between the Scrapyarders and Marcone's and bring some order back to the busy port town.

Jean-Luc studied the sky-line dully, his thoughts miles away. The sea sparkled and glistened as the spring sun burnt away what little cloud hung in the sky. He shut his eyes for a moment and listened to the hum of the ferries engines and the lap of the waves against the side of the boat. He stood still and quiet for a long moment, just focussing himself, and then frowned - a scent...familiar.... He opened his eyes, turning to his left, and beside him stood the imposing figure of William Breaker. Jean-Luc jumped slightly as William did not take his eyes off the horizon.

“Nice day isn’t it?”

“Gah - Mon Dieu! Where didja come from Bill?”

William grinned at his friend and reached into his jacket removing a single disk.

“Wha’ is dis?” Jean-Luc asked.

William placed his hands together and leaned on the railing. “Couple of months back we got hit by a hacker. Kid thought we'd never find out who he was but a friend of mine, who is a bloody good hacker himself, managed to get some information for me. Guy goes by the name of Kyle James. Lives in Paragon and is bloody good at what he does too.”

Jean-Luc interrupted. “I don’ see wha’ this has ta do wit’ me Bill?”

“Do you really want me to spell it out for you?”

Jean-Luc stared at William with his golden eyes, his voice lowering to a murmur. “…Ya think he gonna be able ta hack the TLF?”

William shrugged and grinned. “I don’t know Jean, but it’s worth a shot though. He hacked us pretty good, but then again we didn’t have an O.R.A.C.L.E guarding our systems. The disk will help you find him…whether you want to our not is your choice. Even if he can’t get into their mainframe, I’m sure he’ll help you find some-thing.”

Jean-Luc chucked and looked intently at the disk, as he studied it he heard a slight grunt of effort from William beside him.

“I dunno wha’ te say Bi-“ he began, but when he looked up again, William was gone. Bewildered, Jean-Luc looked about quickly to spy him soaring through the air towards a boat sailing not too far away. Jean-Luc grinned and shook his head, then turned his attention to the disk. He flicked the disk with a finger, thoughtfully, then placed it in his pocket “Mesi bien, mon ami…”

Rogue Isles Marcone Family Under Attack

The Rogue Isles Marcone Family have been under seige. On Wednesday morning several of their factories and warehouses in the Port Recluse area were damaged by explosive devices detonated symontaniously. Since Wednesday Family members all over the Isles have been attacked and killed without warning.

While no-one has offically taken blame for the attacks, Arachnos still holds to their claims it is the Scrapyarder faction who have instigated these attacks. Arachnos have decided to take hostile action against the disgruntled group and fighting broke out over Sharkhead Isle yesterday. But the widespread attack on the Marcone's suggest that the Scrapyarders, who are mainly based in Sharkhead Isle, are just an easy scapegoat and that the Arachnos, and Marcone's , are hidding the truth.

Explosions Rock Sharkshead Isles

This morning Sharkhead Isle was rocked by several explosions badly damaging Marcone run warehouses and factories. No-one was seriously hurt by the explosions but production out of these buildings has been stopped while an investigation is underway. Arachnos were first on the scene after the explosions and quickly put the blame on The Scrapyarder faction that occupy the Island.

"We are convinced this is the work of the Scrapyarders. They are constantly causing trouble in this area and it would not suprise me they would take such measures."

The weather had taken a turn for the worse.

Rain ran from the sky and drove it's self into the ground, creating large, heavy puddles of water on the uneven ground that made up Sharkshead Isle. The sky could not be seen tonight, masked by a blanket of thick clouds.

Upon the roof of the Sharkshead hospital stood William Breaker, a villian by trade, but a good man at heart. Looking out at the fog covered sea, he thought about the difficult task that had been laid before him by the disaperance of the man he called brother, John Sebastian.
He was to rebuild an organisation, a criminal syndicate known as The Corporation. It's very existance was bearly tollerated by Recluse and the Arachnos.
He had ran a syndicate once before, The Von-Warbrook Family. For a time they ran high, each crime they commited felt as if they were giving Statesman and the rest of the heroes the finger, saying "Look at us, we are untouchable!". However that was not the case. Gunshots, shouts of desperation...then the explosion. He remembered vividly how it ended.

He refused to let it happen again.

Pocket D

The club was thriving with patrons. The endless and almost hypnotic bass beat that filled Pocket D was ever present, assaulting the ears and leaving an echo imprinted on the eardrums that endured long into the next day. In the middle of the dimensional nightclub was DJ Zero. He was an enigma. He was a mystery, even to the most knowledgeable of Paragon’s best. He had appeared one day in Paragon City and opened the first doorway to his neutral ground, a place where heroes & villains could congregate without consequence. Even the likes of Statesman & Recluse had come to Pocket D, if only to toss words to each other.

William strode from the villain’s bar known only as the Jolly Rodger, in account for the flag flying behind the main bar, and, with quickened pace, cross the dance floor and entered the Monkey Arena Bar.

(Furious George had been on a winning streak all this day.)

As he ascended the ramp to the main bar he could see Gabriel sitting in the corner table, drink in hand, newspaper in the other and a stupid grin on his face. William breathed in deeply and controlled his temper. He could not hurt Gabriel here. As he got close Gabriel slapped the newspaper on the table, the headline spoke of Britanic’s death,

“Always a shame. Fewer and fewer of the queen’s heroes these days…” As he looked up from the paper, he noticed William approaching,
“Ah William my lad! My, my, aren’t we looking different?” Gabriel waved him over, the gesture made it seem as if they were friends. Will approached the table and sat opposite his Mirror,

“…nice choice of location Gabe.”

“Yes I thought so too. Reminiscent of our days back in Dragon’s ring?”

“Very much so…monkey’s fighting each other for the sake of entertainment…very apt” Gabriel was silent for a moment; it was obvious the comment struck a nerve, his smile however never faded

“…you never did take it very seriously did you? The honour, the excitement, the sheer thrill of punching the other man until he was down, the skill involved and the man it shaped you into…”

“After you were gone I started too…”

“…well bully for you Willy...” he took a large sip from a pint glass, a thick black substance with a large white head to it. He gently put the glass down, licked his lips, then looked dead into William’s eyes, “…I know you’re not here to gossip or name call. We are here about our little…how to say...reunion!”

“…where is Laura?”

“One thing at a time Willy. Laura is safe…”

“…she doesn’t look very safe with all those cuts and bruises!”

“Mind your tongue Willy…yes she may have been roughed up slightly…”

“Slightly?!” Gabriel was getting frustrated,

“Can we please concentrate on one thing at a time?”

“You touch one more hair on my daughter’s head Gabe and I will personally be coming down on you like a tone of bricks!”

“…stop talking about Laura…our fight Willy…our fight is important…” his frustration grew

“No we’re gonna keep talking about Laura until you give her ba-” Gabe slammed his fist into the table causing his drink to topple

“STOP IT! WE ARE STILL PLAYING BY MY RULES HERE WILLY!” Gabriel cluched at his head, for a moment, he shut his eyes tightly and fought against the pain, William jumped back a bit.
“…And for the love of god, PLEASE STOP THAT STUPID LAUGHING!” It was a long moment before William realised what was said,

“…I’m…I’m not laughing Gabriel…”

“Yes. Yes you bloody are! You’re always laughing. I can hear it Willy. Every-where I go I can hear your stupid laughter! It’s ever present!”

“…but I’m not!” Gabriel pointed a harsh finger,

“Don’t [censored] with me William! Last time you [censored] with me all this happened. Because you [censored] with me Dr Miles is dead, your ex-wife is dead, your [censored] girlfriend is dead,” William rose and eyebrow in confusion, the gesture was lost on Gabriel
“Because you [censored] with me I have your daughter” he lent in close “a girl who I ever so enjoy hitting, she has such a pathetic cry!” there was a long silence between the two. Neither reacted until Gabriel eventually rubbed his eyes and looked at William with a stern glance; William merely returned the gaze
“I’m laying down the rules here Willy. If any of your friends find it within their hearts to help you out again by hunting me down then I’m afraid I cannot be held responsible for my actions against Laura! After all it has been a lonely few years Willy and she is beginning to look rather sweet…”
William’s eyes widened with anger. He wanted to reach over and grab Gabriel by the neck and strangle the life from him, watch his eyes roll into the back of his head and after the last breath of life left him, beat his remains to fleshy pulp, he wanted to make him hurt. William shook off the feeling, remembering Freddy’s words.
“Our fight is a one on one. No help from John, Richard, Freddy, that [censored] vampire or any other of your chums, this is our fight for YOUR daughter! Not their fight for some girl” he lent in closer to William and cocked his head to the side
“…I think we are in accordance?”

William nodded once,

“…just leave her alone…” Gabriel’s face softened for a moment

“…as you wish.” Then it turned cold once again “…I’ve waited a long time for this Willy. I’ve dreamt of nothing but this moment. Your laugher burning into my skull. I’ve been waiting for the day I can face you again and this time it will be me who is laughing. It will be me who is lapping up the applause...I’ll be the hero again!” William could see the madness in his eyes, the child like state he had fallen into,

“What happened to you Gabe?” the answer was as expected,

“…you William…you happened!” Gabe looked up towards the ramp and standing at the top was several Corporation members, as he looked around the bar he could see familiar faces sitting at the counter, at the tables, standing over the Rikti Monkey cage. He chuckled lightly at how William had used Pocket D’s neutrality to fill the Monkey bar with his own people. However, Gabriel was not worried,

“I think it is time for me to go Willy.” Both men rose and stepped before each other. Gabriel, who was shorter then William, looked up at the larger man who was looking down at him. “Just be sure you are ready…”

“…I will be Gabe. Just know this, your not going to win. Not back then, not when our fight comes, not ever…”

“…just be ready laughing boy!” and with that, he strode up to the Corporation members, who blocked his path. He looked from face to face and looked as if he was about to say some-thing when William shouted from behind,

“Let him go…Pocket D is a neutral place…we can’t keep him from leaving.” The Corporation members looked at each other and then stepped to the side. Gabriel tipped an invisible hat and, putting on a Texan accent, he simply said,

“Much obliged…” he dropped the accent, and looked backwards
“Oh and Willy?” William looked at him

“What?”

“Send my regards to Jessica will you…” he started to laugh as he descended the ramp and disappear from view. The Corporation members looked at each for a moment, then to Will.

William stood stationary before the anger got the best of him and he slammed the side of his fist into the wall

“DAMN IT!” he cried.

Corporation Base, Sharkhead Isle

The note had arrived outside the base some-time after midnight. The CCTV, recently set up by Nega, had shown a cloaked figure approaching the teleportation network and pinning the note to the wall near-by. They had studied the video carefully by the figure had covered up their features well.

William read through the note carefully, absorbing the well written handwriting,

Pocket D, Febuary 15th, Monkey Bar, Joe Young’s favourite table, come ALONE, Gabriel

William screwed up the note in his hand. Richard looked to him for a second, his Irish accent slightly thicker than normal,

“You’re not honestly going to go alone are you?” William nodded,

“He wanted to do it in Pocket D because he knows I can’t attack him in there…I gotta play it his way Ricky…” Nega shook his head,

“Pocket D’s a public place…he can’t stop some of the Corp drinking there right?” William grinned weakly.

Good luck dude! You will be missed!

I hope things work out for you and hope you can come join us again soon!

Riled

Paragon City

Gabriel strolled down the street whistling a nameless tune. He was in his usual white shirt, black tie and his long black hair flowing and free. The apparition of the beautiful woman had given him some clarity. John Sebastian was an important part of the Corporation and a close friend of William’s. If he could defeat him then William would surely break down and the Corporation would crumble.

From atop of a nearby roof shadows crept and curled around a nameless figure. His flowing white hair masked his face; all that could be seen from the moonlight was a pair of sharp fangs. It’s mouth pulling into a twisted grin,

“Young master William would probably be most thankful for me defeating his enemy. That…or he will be most angry…a risk I am willing to take for the sake of the Corporation…” the stranger licked his lips “…I wonder what he tastes like?”

Gabriel’s footsteps slowed to a complete halt. He continued to whistle his tune as he looked about, he knew he was being watched.
The watcher crept closer to the edge of the rooftop, crouched as if ready to pounce.
Gabriel saw what appeared to be the shadow, slowly leaking off the rooftop.

Suddenly the attacker fell towards the ground with a terrifying scream. Gabriel lept backwards and watched as the figure gently landed on the floor before him. Both his hands lay flat as one knee rested on the ground, his head was hung low so his white hair fell over his face. The figure slowly rose to his feet as the shadows that followed him moved like a cape around his body. Soon he was standing straight with his held still held downward. With a sudden flick of his head, he swished the hair out of his eyes and fixed his gaze on Gabriel

“Very dramatic…Longier I presume?” the vampire known as Longier, medical officer of the Corporation, nodded once

“That I am young Gabriel. You’ve been causing us some problems these past few weeks. You’ve caused our William some hurt and I have promised him, in not so many words, that I will hurt you in return…”

“The rules were no-one was to help him!” Gabriel’s voice was filling with anger,

“I’ve not been one for the rules…not for a very, very, very long time at least.” The two men started to circle each other. Longier’s shadows occasionally snapped out as if they were reaching for Gabriel, but they pulled back as quickly as they struck out. Gabriel eyed the tendrils and sighed,

“What is it with me and those bound to the Netherrealm…first that Jessica [censored] now you?”

“I guess you just attract that kind of person young Gabriel.” Gabriel stopped in his tracks and swept his arms outwards in a receiving fashion,

“I suppose we are going to do this thing?”

“Yes young Gabriel, yes we are…” in a flash Longier was suddenly before Gabriel and with an almighty push flung him backwards down the alley. Gabriel landed on his backside and skidded for a moment before using the momentum to roll over and land on his feet. He began to charge forward at the Vampire and as soon as he was upon him he struck out. Longier however had vanished leaving only a wispy cloud of black shadows,

“Very cute trick! However you cannot hide forever vampire…” Longier’s voice echoed around the alley, it sounded as if it came from all angles; there seemed to be no focal point for it

“I do not intend too young Gabriel…” suddenly the shadows burst outwards towards Gabriel and Longier was suddenly upon his back. The vampire opened his mouth wide and bit deep, breaking the powerful skin and actually drawing blood. Gabriel yelped slightly then shot his fist up into the creature’s face. Longier shot backwards and before he had even hit the wall, Gabriel grabbed him by his shirt and added to the force in which he hit the bricks. The whole wall bowed inward with the force,

“I read this interesting article on reformed vampires the other day…” started Gabriel. Longier looked up into the Englishman’s eyes with his usually psychotic glare. His face an unreadable smile

“Do go on!” Gabriel laughed at the wit,

“It said they are drinking pig’s blood as it is more like a humans! Isn’t that fascinating?”

“I prefer the real thing…”

“I bet you do. Funny that it is Pigs blood because you know…I was just thinking of some-thing to do with pigs?”

“Let me guess…Jessica being an RIP Officer?”

“Funny! But no. It was a song actually, and old one so you might even know it. It goes like this…this little piggy went to market!” suddenly Gabriel’s hand shot out and grabbed Longier’s left arm. With a sudden pull, Gabriel tore the arm from his body. The vampire let out an inhuman scream that echoed down the alley as his arm turned to dust in Gabriel’s hands.

“This little piggy stayed at home!” Gabriel shot out again and grabbed the other arm and, again with a sudden pull, he tore the arm off. A black oozy substance sprayed from the wound, covering Gabriel’s white suit and much of the immediate alley around them.

“This little piggy had roast beef!” he lifted the Vampire higher and grabbed at his leg. He pulled on it, severing it from the kneecap. The appendage turned to dust as black ooze poured onto a puddle now gathering on the floor. Gabriel’s eyes met with Longier’s, a wide grin split across his face as he pulled his arm back,

“…and this little piggy had NONE!” with a forceful punch, he put his fist through Longier’s leg. Gabriel’s fist tore through to the other side and crashed into the wall behind. Gabriel removed his gunk covered hand and rose his fist up, aiming it at Longier’s face; the vampire was now half laughing, half sobbing against the pain that tore through his body. Gabriel’s voice turned cold as he prepared for the final strike,

“…and this little piggy went…”


“…HEADBUTT!” screamed Longier as his whole body moved forward and his forehead met with Gabriel’s nose. The blow was so powerful that Gabriel staggered backwards and blood sprayed outward. He had released the vampire who merely fell to the floor, but without the use of his arms or legs he just landed in a messy heap.

Gabriel roared with anger as he held the mess that had been his nose. As he removed his hands however his healing factor was already working, leaving only blood.

“You dirty vampire! How dare you!”

“A…little move…I learnt…from young…Nega…Knight…A good…ol’ Irishman!” Gabriel started to move forwards

“I’m going to enjoy killing you, you dirty undead son of a [censored]! Forget Pigs, it’s time for a stake!” Longier’s shadows started to envelope him. As Gabriel reached the mass of clouds he shot his fist inside, only to find the floor. The smoke cleared and Longier was gone. Gabriel pulled his fist from the ground and screamed with rage.

****

Sharkhead Isle, Corporation Base

Longier dropped from the ceiling. The shadows avoided the light at all cost and found respite above the light shade. The Vampire hit the floor heavily and for a long moment he trashed about like a fish out of water. Eventually he stopped struggling and lay still. Nothing happened.

Shadows began to fall from the ceiling and wrap themselves around him once more. They flew up and down until they suddenly gushed into his body. The air was still and silent.

Longier’s eyes snapped open and he looked down at his regenerated appendages. He chuckled light and pulled himself up of the floor before dusting himself off, checking his body in the process. Looking about the lab the vampire found what he needed and started to walk over to it. As he approached the counter he discovered a fault with his regeneration, he was shorter, much shorter! His body had shrunk in mass to recover from the wounds and, until he drank a sizable amount of blood, he would remain short.

The vampire sighed and hung his head in disbelief. He chuckled at his predicament and then reached up and grabbed a Petri dish from the counter. Spitting, he filled the dish with a large globule of blood before placed it back on the counter. He rummaged around his stationary draw for a sticker which, when found, he wrote Gabriel across. He attached it to the Petri dish and in turn placed that into a freezer. Satisfied he began to walk towards the Corporation’s private bar,

“Time to get some blood and then get some real work done…Ohhh William will be pleased!”

Sharkhead Isle, Corpmunitions Storage Warehouse 2B

Freddy charged at Will with his fist clenched tight. As he got close he lept slightly, raising his fist into the air and bringing it down, striking the floor with as much might as he dared use. The ground rumbled and cracked under the strain of the blow.
William had lept backwards and barely avoided the attack. Since he had started training with Freddy Jones, Will had already begun to show improvement. Not only in his fighting style, but physically as well. The large enhanced body he once sported was beginning to tone up. He no longer looked fat; instead his muscles began to gain character. He was becoming better at reading his opponents and was becoming better pacing himself, no longer wearing himself out during lengthy fight.

Freddy pulled his fist out of the crater he had created and lept forward to begin a chain of attacks. William rose his arms up and blocked several, some however still found home on his sides.

“Come on Will. You should have blocked them all!” William pushed forwards and began his own chain of attack, however Freddy read them well and blocked them before parrying and pushing back

“I’m - trying - okay!”

“You’re not trying hard enough! If I was Gabriel I’d have probably run you into the ground by now and sold Laura to some pimp!” Anger flushed within William but he pushed it down, he wasn’t going to get angry, that’s when mistakes are made. William caught one of the blows and pushed it away, causing an opening in Freddy’s defence. He threw a punch into Freddy’s side and suddenly his hits were beginning to find home. Freddy absorbed the blows, his body being invulnerable by all standards, after a few hits he suddenly kicked out, catching William heavily in the stomach. Will hunched over and gasped for air but before he could find any respite he found himself blocking blow after blow,

“Gabriel isn’t gonna fight fair Will, you should have expected that!” Suddenly Freddy caught William in the chest with a powerful blow. Will was hit with such force that he rocketed backwards into a metal crate stack causing them to collapse around him. He tried to pull himself from the metal that now pinned him in. He looked up to see Freddy’s fist stop inches from his face “…pity…”

“Damn it what is wrong with me today?” Freddy’s fist suddenly opened into a helping hand. William grabbed it and was pulled from the crates, with minimal ease, to his feet,

“You’ve got a lot of your mind. I can understand a few mistakes during training.” William dusted himself off before moving over to a towel he had laid on the side. He dabbed the sweat from his brow.

“I just don’t want to make any during the real thing.” Freddy took a sip of drink from a flask and looked at his friend,

“…do you want to know some-thing Will…it’s a secret of mine…” William looked over,

“I’m listening…” Freddy grinned and rubbed at his beard

“Mistakes are good. You’re not going to be a perfect fighter. You are bound to make mistakes; you just have to learn how to recover from them. Fights are dynamic things. There is no set order. Gabriel won’t attack high, low, high, mid, swing…blahblahblah and so on and so on…he’s gonna be looking for openings and opportunities, if he finds one you need to know how to recover from it!”

William was glad Freddy was training him. Freddy had been in the dark place William was so afraid of. Will had seen Freddy’s darker side thanks to the powers of Oroboros and it had been an eye opener. He had been a ruthless, heartless, sadistic killer and cared little for any-one who got in his way or stood by his side. Freddy had spent ages fighting to rid himself of that darkness and sought redemption for his prior deeds. He had succeeded and become a better man for doing so. It was inspiration in one way. William was not going to become a cape, but he knew if he put his mind to it he could beat back the anger that boiled inside. People could now look over to Freddy as he passed them and say ‘there goes a hero.’

Freddy cracked his knuckles and returned to the centre of the room,

“Alright Will…come at me!” Both men rose their fists, and the next fight began.

No, he's not a pirate. He's just Hatesman, you get use to him after a while

*Just keep treats in your pocket!*

Welcome to the RP world! @Riled at your service...

That-was-totally-wicked!

The cake isn't a lie...we had some...but Hates at it all...

In the words of GLaDOS from Portal,

"You shall be...missed!"

Paragon City

Laura lay on her side dozing. Gabriel had left the ‘lair’ two days previous and had not returned. For a good day and night she screamed till her voice was hoarse and she could scream no more. She pulled against her bonds but ended up causing more damage to her self. Eventually, after a long and much needed cry, she had fallen asleep. She had slept though the whole second day, ignoring the hunger pains that shot though her. She had lost a lot of weight through Gabriel’s neglecting. She hoped, at first, that even though he would torture every other night, he would at least keep her well fed as to keep her strength up. He said it himself that it was no fun torturing a bag of skin and bones. After a few weeks however he began to bring food every other day and most of the time they were simply scraps from what he himself had eaten earlier. The torture too almost came to and end, he seemed more focused now on her father than herself. She tossed and turned in her sleep, she had not had a pleasant dream in many nights, all she could see was Gabriel and each blow he brought upon her. She was sure he had broken some of her ribs as lying on one side caused her massive amounts of pain. Every-where else was now just a dull ache, bruises were turning dark yellow and purples and her cuts were now dark scabs.

Suddenly a brown paper bag fell in front of her with a flop causing her to jump and arise from her slumber. She looked at the bag before her and could see the ‘Up-N-Away Burger’ logo. She struggled to sit up strait and when she finally did she looked to Gabriel, whose expression was a soft one

“What’s this?” She asked him quizzingly

“I was coming back after going to the Etoils and I got hungry bought my self a burger. I started thinking about you down here and I felt bad, so…well...it’s a double cheese burger. I got you a strawberry milkshake as well but I drank it on the way back.” He could see the confusion on her face and began to scratch his head absently “…eat, please!”

“How am I meant to eat when you keep my hands tied behind my back!” as her voice began to rise, Gabriel tried to stop her shouting with several shhhh noises, but it had no effect on her. “You’ve been forcing my meals down my throat for weeks you are so adamant about keeping me tied up!” as her volume increased he became more frustrated until he suddenly he roared out,

“SHUT UP!” She fell into silence and after a moment he spoke, “I will untie you alright? Then you may eat on your own for once. However, because I do not trust you fully I will keep your legs bound”

He pushed her over and she landed heavily on her side as he began to release her wrists. She could try and attack him, but he was too strong and she was too hungry.

As soon as she was loose she grabbed the bag and hungrily stuffed the burger into her mouth. Gabriel walked off and sat in a small, half rotten armchair,

“So…” he started “…How have you been feeling my dear?” Laura stopped eating and looked at him with disgust, she swallowed her mouthful and began to talk,

“How am I? How am I?! You can’t buy me food and suddenly expect us to be friends Gabe! I have been kidnapped, locked up, beaten and starved by you…how the [censored] do you think I am you *******?!” She chucked the remains of her burger in his direction. He moved his head to the side as it sailed past him. He watched it pass him and watched it splat against the wall on the other side of the room. He watched it slowly slide down the grimy wall before retuning his gaze to Laura,

“It is not nice to waste food bought for you! You shouldn’t be angry at me dear, your father is the one you should be angry…” she cut him short,

“My father is not the one who is hitting me! My father is not the one who is beating up a girl to get back at some-one! My father is trying to save me from a scared little boy who lost a fight with a real ma-“ Gabriel lept to his feet and charged towards her before she could finish. He rose his hand to strike her then suddenly screamed out in rage

“WHY DO YOU MAKE ME A BAD PERSON?!” Laura, who was able to cover her face with her arms, slowly lowered them to watch Gabriel move towards the armchair. He was pointing at it as if some-one was sitting there, to Gabriel however there was some-one sitting within…

“Gabriel my sweet. She is the bad one. She is the one who makes you do the bad things. Her and her father…” Gabriel looked at the beautiful woman, the pain burned deep into his mind. He tried to look at her face but could only see the searing glow of her eyes and her long raven hair,

“What have…you done to me?”

“I have done nothing to you Gabriel my dear. Headbreaker was the one who hurt you remember?”

“But why did you make me kill the woman?!”

“Because she was close to William…you would prefer to kill a child? Be my guest!” she gestured Laura. As she did the room began to fill with laughter. Gabriel covered his ears; he looked almost as if he was a child,

“That laugh! He is laughing at me again!” he fell to his knees and tried to block out the laughter,

“It’s him my sweet. It’s Headbreaker. He is laughing at how weak you are. He knows he can’t beat you. Don’t let him get to you my sweet. You must train to become stronger…Miss Black was the start…just think what he would do if John Sebastian fell by your hands!” Gabriel nodded,

“Yes…his brother would be a worthy foe.” Eventually the pain and laughter died into nothingness. Gabriel looked back at Laura who was huddled into the corner, he knees to her chest and her hands holding them close. Gabriel rose from his knees and slumped into the armchair and stared at her. She simply store back.

(Written By Synthet)

Mercy Island

Gabriel walked away, cleaning the blood from his hands with a white handkerchief and tossing it away when he was done, the stained material fluttering towards the ground like a broken butterfly. He paused by the door before he left, looking over his shoulder at the body. She bad been beautiful, but now her blonde hair was stained with blood and her lovely face was badly bruised. The angle of her neck… well, it wasn’t so bad, but the bone protruding from it certainly spoiled things. Many things he was, but a necrophiliac wasn’t one of them.

“Sorry about that dear, I hadn’t quite meant to kill you. But to be perfectly honest… well, you just got creepy. Hopefully William finds you because quite frankly, I’m bored of you know and haven’t the patience to do any gift wrapping. Still, if it’s any consolement you put up a smashing fight.” He smirked as he turned away and walked out the door, leaving the corpse of Jessica Black, Spellbound, lying behind him.

***

Jessica sat at the small desk in her study-come-bedroom, going through dull paperwork. It was amazing how even paperwork about serious criminals could be boring, but since she was an officer in the Rogue Isles Police, most of the really ‘fun’ troublemakers got passed onto the Wolf Spiders. With a sigh she slumped forward onto the desk, pressing her forehead against the papers.

“This is so dull. I’m bored out of my mind.”
“And you think talking to me will make you anymore sane?”
“It’s better than filing a report about how some guy took a leak on my squad car.”
“At least I rank highly on your list of priorities.”

Jessica laughed a little and sat back up, pushing her hair away from her face and turning around in the chair to look at her sister. She was sprawled out across the bed, flicking through channels on the television. Unlike Jessica, her hair was black instead of blonde. She was dressed in old blue flannel pyjama’s that were covered in blood. Her wrists were cut wide open but didn’t bleed and she was deathly pale. Apart from those minor differences, they were identical.

“If you get blood on my sheets, I’m going to kill you Emily.”
Emily rolled her eyes and began to float slightly above the bed. “The blood isn’t real, and I’m already dead in case you’ve forgotten. And if you haven’t and that was a joke, you’ve got bad taste.”
“Yeah, well, you’re dead.”
“Oh go back to your paperwork.” Emily snapped.
“You’ve gotten so touchy since you died.” Jessica mumbled as she turned back around.”
“What was that?”
“I said that you’ve-”
“No, not that. You’re a [censored], I already know that. Listen, there’s somebody outside.”

***

Gabriel frowned. Who was in there? He knew this was where “Spellbound” lived, he’d followed her back here. Was it William? He’d seen them together before, and he was certain they were a couple. But no… he could hear her voice, but no one else’s. Was she talking to herself? He would have to risk it, but if there was someone else in there this could get messy. Lifting his hand he rapped smartly on the door three times and it opened almost instantly.

She stood there, dressed in her police uniform. Oh, she wasn’t wearing the hat or the jacket, but her blue shirt still had R.I.P.D stitched onto it, even if some of the buttons were undone and her black tie was loosened. Terrible shame about the trousers though… he much preferred to see a woman in a dress or skirt. It was much more becoming, distinctly more ladylike. Still, she was very attractive, in an angry sort of way.

“Can I help you?” She asked him coldly.
“That depends. I’m sorry to interrupt your evening dear, but are you Jessica Black?”
“I am. So?”
“Do you mind if I come in for a minute?”
“No. What do you want?”
“I’m a friend of William’s. I was hoping we could have a quick word about him, I’m a touch concerned about how he’s doing.”

He must have said something to tip her off because her eyes narrowed dangerously as soon as he had mentioned William. She gave him a venomous look. And then… something odd happened. She was talking. He hadn’t seen her begin to talk, hear her take a breath and he felt he might have even missed part of the sentence. It was if time had jumped. It reminded him of those horror movies were the ghost was suddenly three feet closer to you, as if they’d sped up time around themselves or pushed it forward somehow…

“-who you are, but I don’t have time for this.”

He took a moment to shake off the slightly unsettled feeling he had. He knew that his quest was driving him to certain measures that may not be considered normal but… surely, he wasn’t going mad? Sleep deprivation. That was it, that was all it was. He hadn’t been sleeping well. Having to keep an eye on William’s disgusting little spawn meant he couldn’t leave her alone for too long. Even this trip was a risk.

“Simply put darling, I’m afraid you’re going to have to make time.” He kicked her straight in the stomach, sending her flying back into the room and crashing into the opposite wall. “Sorry about that, I’m rather stronger than I look.”
She looked up at him with those same venomous eyes, her lips curling away from her teeth in a snarl. “That makes three of us.”
“Three of us?”

She pushed herself back to her feet as the lights in the room began to fade out, flickering weakly. She took one step forward, and suddenly it happened again. She was about three feet closer to him without having crossed the intervening space. She flexed her hands and the space around her became distinctly darker, as if the light in the room wasn’t able to reach her.

“Yes. Three. I hope you’re not afraid of ghosts, because I am one haunted [censored].”
“Well then.” He said grimly, walking forward. “This should be interesting, shouldn’t it?”

He threw a punch at her that seemed to slow down as it entered the dark space around her. It was like punching through thick treacle. She easily ducked underneath his sluggish fist and punched him directly in the chest, her own hand swirling with shadows as she struck. He staggered a step backwards before regaining his balance by shifting his weight forwards and slamming his fist straight ahead, punching through the darkness around her and smashing her in the face.

“Note to self. Power, not speed.” He quipped cheerfully blocking her counter attack and throwing himself forward, ramming his shoulder into her and driving forwards until she hit the wall. Small hands with incredible power grabbed the front of his shirt and spun him around, pinning him against the wall. She had flipped them both around and now lay into him with a flurry of attacks, her fists becoming a blur and leaving shadowed after images of themselves.

His body jerked each time he was punched. Whatever ghoul or beastie was powering her was obviously not weak and she was actually managing to hurt him. But his healing factor was dealing with the damage she was causing almost as soon as she pulled her fist back for another strike.

“That, my darling, is QUITE ENOUGH!”

He slapped her across the side of the face, hard enough to send her reeling.

“Sometimes you just need to take a good firm hand with a woman when she steps out of line. And you are certainly out of line my dear. Do you know who I am? How many generations of breeding it has taken to create this specimen you see before you?”

He sneered and pulled himself away from the wall where the force of her punches had left an imprint of his body. Broken plaster fell from his back as he stepped closer to her.

“Of course you don’t. You’re nothing but a [censored], a mongrel without class or aspirations beyond being a crooked cop. Oh, sometimes you dress up in a silly costume and play at being powerful. But you simply haven’t the drive for greatness that men like I and William possess! The determination -”

He swung his hand again, catching her under the jaw with a backhanded strike. She staggered backwards a few steps, blinking dizzily. The darkness around her was weakening considerably and the lights in the room were flickering a touch brighter now.

“- the dedication to do whatever is necessary to others, to ourselves, in order to become men worthy of our destinies! But there can only be one of us, my dear, and that is going to be me. I have pushed myself further than William is capable of imagining, and you… well, whatever ghost ‘haunts’ you and gives you this power clearly isn’t [censored] off enough to do anything truly magnificent.”
She panted for breath. It looked as if he’d broken her jaw. “Shut… up… about… my… sister…” She growled out, darkness beginning to creep in across her eyes.
“Oh, your sister is it? Send her my regards.”

***

Gabriel walked away, cleaning the blood from his hands with a white handkerchief and tossing it away when he was done, the stained material fluttering towards the ground like a broken butterfly. He paused by the door before he left, looking over his shoulder at the body. She bad been beautiful, but now her blonde hair was stained with blood and her lovely face was badly bruised. The angle of her neck… well, it wasn’t so bad, but the bone protruding from it certainly spoiled things. Many things he was, but a necrophiliac wasn’t one of them.

“Sorry about that dear, I hadn’t quite meant to kill you. But to be perfectly honest… well, you just got creepy. Hopefully William finds you because quite frankly, I’m bored of you know and haven’t the patience to do any gift wrapping. Still, if it’s any consolement you put up a smashing fight.” He smirked as he turned away and walked out the door, leaving the corpse of Jessica Black, Spellbound, lying behind him.

***

A faint clicking became a slow scraping growl, followed by a horrible grinding sound and finally a snap. A faint rattle became a wheeze, followed by a rush of air and finally a gasp. She sat up slowly, dazed and confused. Looking drunkenly at her hand she opened and closed it slowly, before running it down her leg. Her other hand went to her neck, feeling the beautiful complete skin, free of a hole or protruding bone.

“I’m… alive…” She said in wonder.
“Yes. I, on the other hand, am [censored] DEAD!”
“…Jess?”

St Martial

William sat atop of the Golden Giza as the sun was rising. He had come up here at midnight and hadn’t moved since. Even as the cold rain fell and stopped he did not move. He just stared out towards the East and waited for the dawn. He had not watched a sunrise since way back when.

As it peek above the sea a memory came to him. He closed his eyes and let it appear in his mind

****

“…what do you mean it looks stupid?”

“I’m telling you, cut your hair short again Willy, you looked so much better.” William moved over and kissed his wife on the lips. She put her arms around him and quickly ruffled his growing hair,

“Aww come on. You use to love it when I had long hair in College.”

“That was University Willy. You were a in a band and it worked then. You’re a businessman now; long hair does not suit you.”

“Spoil sport!” the two kissed again and, cheek to cheek, they looked out the window as the sun rose above the city “Urgh…I don’t want to go to work. I wanna stay here with you…if you get my meaning?” this brought a squeal of excitement from his wife before suddenly Laura came bursting into the room, waddling the way small children do, and all while screaming with laughter as she ran into William’s arms, who swung her up into a hug. “Hello sweetie…what’s with all the noise?”

“Um….I want to show picture I dew of you an’ mommy?” William smiled and tickled his daughter’s stomach, causing her to laugh louder. He put her on the floor and was then led, by the hand, to the lounge. He looked back at his wife as he was pulled around the corner. She stood and smiled before blowing him a kiss. He remembered the lounge was always covered in her toys, mainly dolls and things that only a young girl could possibly enjoy, but one toy she always used was her crayon set. He thought about how the images she drew and how stereotypical they were, my house, my family, my dog (who tragically had jumped out of the window while barking at a pigeon) and green fields and happy scenes. She rummaged around random balls of paper until she found what she was looking for and then handed it up to him with a large grin on her face. He looked at the picture and saw crudely drawn figures holding hands in a grassy field with the words, Mum, dad and me written over each. He chuckled lightly and then looked back at his daughter…

…suddenly he was no-longer looking at a small child but a teenage girl. He looked back at the picture and he found the page blank. The room about him was empty, all the toys and childish objects were gone. He looked at the teenage girl, who suddenly spoke in the Childs voice,

“What’s wrong daddy?”

****

Will’s eyes snapped open to see the sun fully arisen. He looked to regain his bearings and then began to wipe tears from his eyes and began. Pinching the bridge of his nose he had begun to realise he had no real idea who his daughter was. The only time he had actually spent with her was before he was kicked out. He only knew about what she had told him on the phone, they spoke only on her birthday and usually without her mother’s knowledge. He had no real idea what she liked, what her music tastes were, who her friends were, nothing about the teenager he saw on the video. Sure he would have his daughter back after all of this, but for a long time she would be a stranger to him, and he to her. The only thing, he hoped, was she was as strong as she told him she was. For otherwise, he was sure, she would have gone mad by now…

Paragon City

The plan was coming together. He had done his research and before him, pinned to the wall, was a chart showing the members of the Corporation & its friends and allies. He had written beside each image, what he felt, was their connection to William and their importance to him. He scanned across the names, John Sebastian, Jaqueline Thornwood, Richard O’Haley, Longier, Tony Fedele, Freddy Jones, Jessica Black…and so on and so on. The plan was simple, hurt those close to William. The more he hurt them, the more reckless Headbreaker was sure to become and the more reckless he was, the easier it would be for him to be defeated. He gazed at one of the images of Jessica Black, codenamed Spellbound. He ran his finger across her ‘face’

“My, my! Aren’t you a looker. What are you to William and do I see you together so often?”

He rubbed his tired eyes as he moved towards the entrance. He needed some air and any-thing that came close to a decent cup of tea.

As he came to the surface he moved up towards the water of Independence Port and sat on a nearby bench, dedicated to some husband who loved the view. He watched as the orange sun slowly began to lower into the sea, touching every-thing with a golden glow. He closed his eyes and yet again he was struck with pain and images of the beautiful women, her raven hair, her soft glowing eyes and her delicate voice. Pain shot through him and his eyes snapped open as the laughter started. He looked around, yet saw no-one. Rested his elbows on his knees he looked out towards the water edge as the darkness of night slowly began to envelope the City Of Heroes.

For a brief moment he was calm. As the darkness had finally fallen he rose to his feet and headed towards the docks. He had picked his first target.

Cap Au Diable

The air was cold and held a freezing mist that crept down into the narrow streets of New Haven. The only warmth in the cold town was the heat that radiated from the large, twisting pipes of Doctor Aeon’s PTS. Groups of cold homeless gathered around the imposing structures, trying to steal whatever warmth they could.

Running though the cold streets were William Breaker and Fredrick ‘Freddy’ Jones. Ever since the video had arrived at the Corporation base, and William had seen his daughter was alive in the hands of an obsessed maniac known only by the name of Gabriel, Will had been pushing his body as far as it would possibly go. He knew that Freddy, whose skills were not unlike his own, was the best person to turn to for training. He had explained the situation and Freddy quickly agreed without hesitation. The training had so far been hard and tiring but William would not give up, what little was left of his biological family was at stake.

Both giants stomped down the street, their breath turning to steam in the bitter cold. People moved aside as they passed, afraid of being run over by the two imposing figures. Freddy chanced a glance at Will; he saw that his eyes had changed since seeing the video. The usual cold, soulless tint that haunted them was now replaced with what could only be described as hope.

“Alright Will, slow down,” started Freddy “I think we forgot some-one…” Both men stopped running and began to stretch. After a long moment Tony ‘Big Game’ Fedele slowly appeared around the corner. He was wearing tiger print shorts, not unlike his famous pants, a white vest and his hunter’s hat. As he approached the two men they could hear his huffing and wheezing. Sweat freely rolled down his face and he looked incredibly flustered.
Tony had only agreed to come along with the training session as he felt it would make him look good in front of the Students of Cap University.

He finally stopped before the two men and then hunched over, resting his hands on his knees and fought for air,

“When…I agreed…to do this…and take…valuable time…away from the Hyenas…I did not realise…we would be running…FOR FOUR HOURS…WITHOUT…A BREAK!”

William chuckled and rested his hand on Tony’s back, ignoring the sweat

“We told you it’d be pretty intense Tony; you didn’t have to come along…” Freddy chuckled and looked up towards Aeon City

“Tell you what Tony; if you can make it as far as Aeon…I’ll buy you a beer and a good woman.” Tony managed a weak grin as he straitened himself out,

“…I…am going to hold you…to that…” Freddy started to run at a slower pace, shortly followed by William and then eventually by Tony.

“So Will…” started Freddy “…are you sure about all of this?” William nodded,

“Yeah. Gabriel was always strong due to his mutation. Now being coupled with the same enhancements I went through he’s bound to be stronger. I can loose this battle, not when my daughter is on the line.” Freddy nodded

“I understand. She means a lot to you doesn’t she?” there was a long silence,

“…The whole world Freddy, she’s all I’ve got left of my previous life.”

“I understand. You don’t need to worry about being alone in this. You have friends you can turn to. To a lot of people in the isles to whom you are a friend, a brother, some-what of an anti-hero to others and soon you’ll be a father again. I know how hard you’ve been treating your self these past few weeks” William went to complain but Freddy merely rose his hand “Nothing escapes my ears Will. You are not a monster, you never have been. You’ve been close, but some-thing has always brought you back. If any-thing Laura is going to keep that monster you are so afraid of away. You’re already trying to be a different man because of her.”

They slowly started up the ramp to Aeon City; William pushed himself harder and moved ahead of Freddy. Freddy soon followed suit and laughed when he heard a groan from Tony who trailed behind him. William pushed himself past the giant globe that dominated the centre of the city and began to run to the edge of the city wall. As soon as he reached the very edge he let off a nimble skip and then soared into the air towards Old Haven. Freddy grinned and too leapt towards Haven.

Tony came skidding to a halt as he watched the two fly off into the air, he fought for breath, looked about and then waved the two off,

“Ahhh to hell with you…” he fought off the fire in his lungs and slowly limped back towards New Haven “…I’m going home…to ice…my legs…no way…I’m doing this again…hunting monster…easy work…training with…Will and Freddy…freakin’ nightmare! No…woman…or drink…is worth this…pain” he rambled on as he left the city.

William and Freddy landed heavily and rolled away as they did. Both came up to their feet and looked at the distance they had travelled

“Think Tony’s gone home?”

“Most likely…”

“Think we were a bit harsh on him?”

“Nah, he’ll be fine. Probably go to the University and end up in the sack with a student.”

“Yeah you’re probably right…” Freddy interrupted,

“Just remember what I said to you a few weeks ago Will. It’s easy to loose your temper here. This is personal to you and it’s going to be easy to loose it. Get mad, don’t get angry, if you loose it for a moment with this guy there is a good chance you are going to loose your self. You are strong but by the sounds of it he will be stronger so you’re going to have to be smart and don’t think you have to do this alone. You have a lot of powerful friends…use them!” Freddy looked at his watch and then towards the Airport on the far side of Old Haven “Listen, I’m gonna have to go but good session today…” Will nodded,

“Thanks for this.”

“Don’t sweat it. I’ll be seeing you about our next session…” Both men shook hands. Freddy began to walk away and then suddenly with a hop, skip and jump he leapt towards Cap Au Diable airport and disappeared behind a building.

William walked towards the waters edge and peered out to sea.