The_Ninjin

Last Words pt. II deleted for editing

(III. Last Words)

Zero Assault, Double Take, and Ballistic arrived at the mouth of the cave that held the Council base they were given a lead on by a captured Archon who was more than willing to tell about his comrades. His open demeanor led them to believe that there was possible plans of sabotage, but it was dismissed when the Council boss was murdered by his own suit. Apparently there was some sort of listening device on the collar and the listeners didn’t appreciate the information the heroes had obtained.

Ballistic set small sticky bombs on the hinges of the cave door. After setting them he took several steps back before he detonated them and blew the door in. He studied his handy work along the door’s frame and nodded in satisfaction.

“One day we have got to try knocking. I know they can’t ever appreciate this,” Zero Assault said as he stepped over a portion of the door.

“Yea ok, and while you’re at it, we can bring some tea and crackers,” Ballistic sneered. He had a deep, gruff voice. A voice that spoke harsh experience. He was a man in his late thirties and the years had definitely began to take a toll on him. However, he never minded the days and nights as long as his partners were there to back him up. He was a man who led and pushed the indecisive ones out of the way.

Double Take threw a hand in the air to silence them, “Don’t... both of you. Not today. Stay focused so we can be in and be out. I got a date tonight.”

The other two heroes both rolled their eyes at the third hero. He had joined the trio two years prior and quickly became a valued asset with his combat abilities. He spent most of his growing up fighting and put it to good use after his father died in order to that one good turn his father promised him to do. Double Take was a confident fighter and carried that confidence into his nightlife. A man of many words and even more actions, Double Take was the energy of the group.

“Hey don’t hate the playa,” he said and left it at that.

The three heroes followed in close proximity down the initial hallway of the cave. There was a calm and eerie silence that they had never experienced. The only sound that could be heard was the unsteady drip that fell out of the pipeline above them. The path led to a two-way intersection and as they all looked left and right, Zero Assault removed an Atlas coin from his pocket.

“Atlas left, World right,” he said and flipped the coin in the air.

World.

Zero Assault put the coin back into his pocket and pointed in the direction they were now to go. He was always the glass half-full of the group. Zero Assault always tried to make light of every situation because he was sure that everyday was his last day and that he wanted to go down either laughing or fighting, the two things that made him happiest. He brought forth a cynical view of life and a common sense to the group.

Ballistic took the lead and crept stealthily along the rocky walls. He allowed on hand to follow along on the stones and the other held tightly to Rebecca, his newly enhanced rifle with advanced scope options, grenade launcher, automatic fire, and flame thrower. It did everything but tell time. He named it after his late wife who died during a Devouring Earth raid that went horribly wrong. For years he was caught up in blaming himself for her untimely death and everyday he was plagued with “what ifs” and “how comes”. Eventually, with the help of his friends and team, he was able to cope with her passing and get back to what he was destined to do.

Ballistic raised a fist into the air to halt the group, patted his head and pointed forward. In seconds, Double Take returned to his position in the rear.

“Seven and the hostage,” he whispered, “Cake.”

Ballistic turned around and blazed a look into Double Take’s eyes. He pointed a finger at him and gave one shake of his head. DT mouthed the words, “Sorry,” and waited for Ballistic to stop staring at him so that he could breathe again. Nothing was ever cake. Ballistic had taught him to expect that which you hope to be there, but never be surprised when it’s not. Stay on your guard, ever-vigilant.

Ballistic pointed a finger to the ground and signaled for the two scrappers to stay where they were. He laid down on the ground and slithered as close as he could to the group of Council members that were nearest. There were four of them and they were speaking of the new design plans for the new Mek soon to be built. The other three carefully guarded the young woman that was held hostage. They never took their eyes off of her. One of the men poked at her with his rifle and laughed as the other two just continued to stare at her. The room was somewhat small. It was a dead end. There were various shipment crates on the right that had small spaces in between them for cover. A database console stood near the talking four and beeped endlessly. The lighting was bright and there wasn’t a shadow in sight. Every corner was illuminated and darkness had no where to hide.

Ballistic pulled two small EXS smoke grenades, one timed and the other launch-ready, from his tact-belt and prepped them for deployment. He zeroed in on the hostage through the scope on Rebecca and raised an eyebrow at what he saw. The woman didn’t move. She almost looked unconscious. He gazed once more into the scope and watched the senseless prodding that was done by the Council gunman and that was all Ballistic needed to get the ball rolling.

He set the grenades in front of him and loaded one into his rifle. The other he turned until he found a small gray button that initiated the four second timer on it. Grenade in hand he waved his hand into the air and Zero Assault and Double Take stood at the ready. Double Take’s boots lit up and gave an impression of fire. He was lifted inches off the ground. The illumination around his footwear seemed to hold his body in the air as he waited for the go. Zero Assault cracked his knuckles and neck and practiced making fists.

Zero Assault tapped DT on the shoulder and smiled, “You ready to do this?”

“Come on... when am I not,” he replied with a pat on Zero Assault’s back.

Ballistic aimed Rebecca at the hostages and placed a finger in front of the trigger. His other hand held the gun steady and the grenade.

The grenade’s button was pressed and the timer began.

4.

Ballistic rolled the smoke bomb into the direction of the 4 men who stood idly in the room.

3.

He once again checked the distance and angle for his shot and pressed the trigger on his rifle.

2.

The grenade was launched into the air and sailed effortlessly toward the members holding the young woman hostage. It landed and rolled several feet before hitting one of the soldier’s feet. The timed grenade rolled right into the middle of the men who were positioned next to the computer. The computer began printing data/

1.

The man turned around to see the grenade just as it emitted a fierce cloud of black smoke that surrounded all three men and sent them into a coughing fit. The timed grenade went off at the same time and gave off the same black smoke that remitted the same results.

0.

Double Take lived up to the nature of his name and allowed his shoes to do the work for him as he moved through the first crowd with lightning speed. Zero Assault blinked hard and his eyes were turned into extra-sensory optic enhancements. He could see each man that stood over the hostage and physical attribute information. He sized up each man and planned his attacks accordingly. The retinal scanner in his eyes made recommendations as to what action to take, but it was something that he seldom listened to. He ran into the room and performed a roundoff into four back hand springs that sent him into the air. The double barrel back flip landed him in between the hostage and the men that watched her. He dropped to the ground and made a clean sweep under the soldiers’ feet. The men hit the ground with a thud. Their coughing was subsiding, but still continued. Ballistic took a sniper’s position behind one of the stacked shipping crates and waited for any stragglers. He knew there wouldn’t be any. There never were. That’s what he loved about the two.

Double Take used his speed and sprinted circles around the set of four. The smoke tornadoed about them and soon the men were losing their footing and fell to the ground. Zero Assault turned around and knelt next to the young woman that sat on the floor.

“Don’t worry, some people just need to learn that smoking is bad for your health,” he smiled and grabbed her hand.

His smile quickly faded and his hand went from hers to her arm and finally her face. Everything about it was soft and felt like a cushion. It hadn’t occurred to him that his scanner never picked up any life signs from her. He dropped the fake arm and looked behind him. The smoke had dissipated and all 3 Council members looked schemingly at him. They packed their fists into their hands repeatedly. Zero Assault looked past them to see Double Take drop the final member in the quartet. He shot glances around the rest of the room and his face wrinkled something serious.

“AMBUSH!”

Darkness filled the room with furious curiosity and all that could be heard was Double Take’s breathing. Soon there was no sound. None of the heroes took a step. The vents above everyone started to make a whooshing noise as air passed through the ducts.

Double Take took one step for the entrance to the room. Lasers appeared along the walls and DT retraced his step. If the lights had been turned on, each hero’s face would have been seen looking around the room as if they were tracking a fly. The lasers increased their length and decreased in timed in and out motions. A faint high pitched noise sounded off in the dark. Ballistic perked up his ear and tried to pinpoint the sound. He pulled out a flare from his cargo pocket and snapped it on. He threw it into the air and the light was shot out of the sky with a miniature missile.

The trio’s eyes went wide in the blackness.

Lights.

“MOOOOOVE,” Ballistic’s voice echoed throughout the entire cave building.

The rocky wall that gave the Council room its shape was lined with metal. All around the room there were robots, big and small. In between each mechanical creature stood a Council soldier. The infantry scowled at the three do-gooders and all of them, including the original seven men, beat the fists into their palms.

Double Take was the first to make a move for escape. His speed sent him flying for the entrance. As he neared it, a sliding door fell from the top of the entrance and locked down with a bang. DT reached the door and punched a fist into it to check its toughness. It was like punching titanium alloy. He looked back with a horrific look in his face. It was the look of a young boy who suddenly became very afraid. His face paled and Ballistic could almost see the energy drain out of him as his feet returned to the ground. A wide-eyed Zero Assault also looked at Ballistic for guidance due to his own fear. The leader shot glances at both of them and was thankful that he was far enough away that they couldn’t see the readjustment he was making to his own face.

*Not here. Not now. Not ever. These kids make it out of here ALIVE!*

Ballistic nodded at Zero Assault and then to Double Take. The confidence he showed renewed the two younger heroes and they stood taller. Battle ready and prepared for anything the trio turned to the back of the room where their threat lied. Double Take felt the speed initiate underneath him. Zero Assault inspected all options with his retinal scanner.

Ballistic cocked his rifle and gave a mischievous half smile.

“Lets go to work!”

Brian heard Newton's words and responded with a dash. The green emerald around his neck gleamed in the darkness and he felt his legs strengthen and tense up. he reached the back of the crowd of zombies and took a deep bend that resulted in a long swan dive. The jump floated him with ease over the zombies. His eyes flamed over again and something in him erupted. He clapped his hands and an explosion of smoke massed over the zombies. The shock of the power caused him to lland on his shoulder when he rolled and pain shot all the way down his right arm.

"Ahhh God... shoulder... let's go," he said as he struggled to stand back up without his hands.

Brian ran for the front doors and took a diving leap over a set of zombies. He landed on his hands and sprang forward. His land placed him in front of 5 undead that looked as eager as dead faces could look to rip him apart.

The first one wasn't an issue. Neither was the second. A roundhouse that fell into a backwards sweep took care of them. The third laid a hand on Brian's shoulder. He turned quickly to the zombie and grabbed its hand. He twisted it and turned his body to give a swift side kick to the monster's gut. Unaffected, the zombie twisted its own arm in Brian's hand. Shocked and a little freaked out, Brian let go of the arm and stood back... into the fourth zombie. It grabbed Brian and held him close. The foul and rotten stench burned his nostrils and he moved his head about to try and smell it less and less. Brian grasped the arms of the holding zombie and watched as the third zombie came at him. Once it was close enough, Brian jumped and kicked both feet forward. The kicked knocked the third back and put the fourth and Brian on their backs. He rolled off of his captor and stood up. Both zombies got back up. Brian gave a heavy sigh and threw his hands in the air.

"Are you serious," he said, "This is crap. How can you kill something that's already dead."

Both menaces got closer and closer. The situation reminded him of the fight at the train station earlier and it only made his insides worse. The pain from that battle still lingered and he was not about to have anymore. A justified rage built inside him. Controlled, but eager. His body had cooled down finally, but all of the heat seemed to have transferred to his eyes as the blackness was replaced with small orange flames.

Once one of the zombies had gotten close enough, he bent backwards and reared his arm as far back as possible. His face showed signs of aggravation and exhaustion.

"Why can't you just DIE AGAIN," Brian yelled as he brought his arm forward with full force.

The arm itself felt normal, but the look of it was something he had never seen. His entire fist was engulfed in flames and spread along to his shoulders. It laid down and wrapped around his arm as it flew wildly threw the air. Once he hit the zombie all the flames rushed like a wildfire and onto the monster's face. Brian's fist dipped slightly inside the zombie's face and the flames wrapped around its face and devoured it into a black ash. The face withered away and the zombie fell to the ground.

The surprise on Brian's face didn't have much time before he instinctively threw a backhand into the approaching zombie behind him. The same effects happened to it too. The fifth and last zombie had been standing there the whole time. When Brian looked at the the zombie, he saw that it was actually something else. It was small, brown, and wore red, blue, and yellow cloths. It seemed to be wearing some sort of wooden mask.

Brian turned his body and squared himself against the unknown. However, it only turned on its heels and ran back into the direction of the rest of the crowd that was trying to get into the 2-6. Brian tore at his hair and contemplated his next move. in one move he wanted to just do away with the entire group, but he knew that wasn't possible. He wanted to buy some time so the team could think of their next move. He paced lightly behind the zombies and looked nervously back at the precinct. We were outnumbered and being overrun quick. He faced the building and threw his hands in the air and let them bend backwards, his hands spread open wide behind his head.

He blew out air though pursed lips and became intimidated at the size of the whole situation.

Why can't the just... STOP, he thought and threw his amrs forward and let his arms drop wildly to his side.

At that same moment, each zombie that advanced into the 2-6 stopped moving. Not another step was taken. Black circles appeared underneath each miscreation. In that circle, rose fires that personally surrounded the behemoths. The fires grew slightly passed their shins and froze the demons in their place.

Brian didn't move. His eyes averted left and then right. He scratched his head and stopped in mid-scratch. A smile broke across his face.

"Bloody beautiful," he exclaimed and ran back toward the 2-6.

((The zombies are currently immobile for the next few moments. Brian unknowingly bought some time))

Brian began sweating as all the talk of the impending battle took place. His body heated up and he felt like the sun was beaming directly at him. He quickly unbuttoned his shirt and threw it on the floor. The white t-shirt underneath was slightly dampened.

"Is anyone else hot? I'm burnin up," he said and fingered the collar of the shirt.

Brian shook his shoulders and fingers. He jumped up and downa few times and shook his head from side to side.

"Forget it, let's do this."

Who do we tell???

((Where's the other 30 pages??????????))

Alexander didn’t know what to expect of the young boy who started his day of patients off. He never knew what to expect of anyone that came through the door. There was always some turn of events that caused him to doubt his belief in what to expect. The fact that he was dealing with being of power that could freeze him, snap him, burn him, beat him, hold him, and a countless number of other things, allowed him to open his mind to even more than he could ever imagine.

Alexander examined Preston during their conversation with a large amount of scrutiny. The hero had an abnormal bit of nervousness that did not seem to go away. It had started with just a twiddle of thumbs, but soon became the look of a paranoid delusionist who could not give a straight answer. He couldn’t have been more than sixteen or seventeen. Another look into his file told him that he was sixteen. Preston was looking for something to happen. Alexander was determined to find out what. Another factor that Alexander noticed was the special attention Preston was giving to his watch.

“Do you have somewhere to go, Preston,” Alexander asked, with raised eyebrow.

Preston was again brought out of the trance that took his curious eyes all over the room, “What? No... I have no where to go. I just uhhh, have a thing about time.”

“Tell me about that.”

“What is there to tell you. I like to know what time it is. I don’t want to be late for things.”

“So you’re usually an on-time person. Maybe even early perhaps?”

Preston fidgeted in the chair. He was sitting up again, “Yea I guess so. I don’t like to wait for others and so I wouldn’t others to wait on me.”

“And that’s why you look at your watch?”

“Huh? No... well... I guess so. Man, I don’t know. I just like to know what time it is,” Preston finished with a heavy sigh.

“Fair enough,” Alexander paused once he’d finished to collect more thoughts. Something didn’t sit right with him. Or Preston. The five and a half foot ice blaster placed his hands in between his legs and removed them again. He replaced them and them moved them again. He did this for quite some time until he again looked at his watch.

Dr. Savery leaned forward, put his hands on his knees and rested his chin of folded hands. He decided to delve into his history, “So tell me Preston and those are very nice classics you have on by the way. Are they new?”

Preston glanced down at his shoes, “Oh... thanks. Yea they’re new. Got them yesterday.”

On the inside, Alexander was marking down a point for himself for making the young man smile. He continued with his original thought, “But yes, tell me... how did you come to receive your powers?”

The question caught Preston off guard and his ogled expression was proof. His eyes moved furiously about the room and his head perspired just below his the top of his caesarean hair cut, “My powers? Umm, yea... well my powers... they were acquired by... you know... ice.”

“Ice?”

“Yea... Ice,” Preston replied, “Radioactive ice.”
He scratched the back of his head and looked to the ceiling often as if he were pulling answers from the air, “I slipped on some radioactive ice. Yea, and I was knocked unconscious and the ice melted into me and when I woke up I had my powers,” the story began to flow easily from him.

Alexander leaned back in his chair at the end of the story with a look of curious interest to hide the b.s. expression he held in his mind, “That is very interesting Preston. Almost like something I’ve never heard before. I’d like to know a little more though,” he placed his pad and pen down on the desk, won’t be needing this

Preston gave wide-eyed look as if to ask, astounded at the Doctor’s inquisitive sense, he wants to know more... man... this is harder than I thought. Not too much longer though.

“Well what else is it do you want to know,” Preston asked.

“Well is it hard for you to control these... radioactive powers? Do you get nightmares? Have you ever hurt anyone?”

“No, it’s not hard to control and why would I get nightmares from my own powers?”

“You’d be surprised Preston. A lot of heroes out there deal with the demons they call powers everyday. Its not exactly a grand privilege to own super powers. Takes a lot of self-control and discipline,” Alexander was giving the look of a father when he spoke to his son about life.

Preston was beginning to come to the end of his rope. He was having a hard time talking about anything, “Look...Dr. Savery... I don’t have nightmares and I have never hurt anyone. I’m in complete control,” he finished his last sentence with confidence as he laid back and rested on his hands.

Alexander rubbed his chin thoughtfully while he studied Preston and then stood up and walked over to a large open area of the room, “Ok Preston. Since you’d have that control, I’m going to need to see an exhibition of power right here,” he said and pointed at a corner of the room that had been turned into a testing station of sorts so he could examine the power level of each person and determine whether he felt that it was equal to the one who owned it. It had a linoleum flooring and two walls separate from the office room’s walls for targeting.

Preston eyeballed the area and walked over to it slowly. Each step he took got harder and harder and by the time he got there, it seemed as if his feet were glued to the carpet. He stepped onto the linoleum and faced one of the walls. Alexander had walked back behind his desk and opened the top drawer. He pulled out a clipboard with a “Power Control” survey on it. After writing down some information he pointed at the targeting wall and nodded.

“Whenever you’re ready Preston, fire away... hmm, or ice away. Whichever,” he said with a playful smile.

Preston endowed an uneasy face when he looked back at the Doctor. This was definitely not in the plans for him to be doing this. He had no right to be angry but in a way he was because he felt like the doctor was toying with him. He returned his attention to the wall and cracked his knuckles. He shook his shoulders and moved his head from side to side while he blew out audible breaths of air. Pretty soon his whole body looked like it was going into convulsions. He lifted each knee to his chest and began doing stretches and jumped up and down.

“Sometimes you gotta do this,” Preston stated, “ya know... get the blood flowin and all,” he bent over to touch his toes.

Alexander tilted his head to one side while he watched the spectacle but decided to keep quiet. Preston took a sideways stance and brought balled fists to his chest and skeptically looked at the silver targeting wall. He was taking in deep breaths and didn’t move outside of that, C’mon, c’mon. Work damit, work.

His hands frosted over slightly and there was a light flurry that appeared about him

Yes!

Preston smiled and popped his arms forward to give off a rumbustious blast of ice crystals. The jagged pieces of frozen water hit the targeting wall with a crackling roar. It shattered and fell onto the ground like broken glass. An amazed and shocked look spread across Preston’s face followed by a triumphant smile as he looked back at the Alexander.

“See? My power.”

“Oh yes, I saw Preston. Very impressive. Now what else can you do?”

“Oh... well I mean... I haven’t done too much outside of that lately you know? I just got the powers recently and knew my calling was to be a hero.”

“Your calling,” Alexander said with an agreeable nod, “Good, I’m glad. However, you must have something else that you can do. Use your imagination. Try anything.”

“Oh... well I did see one guy throw his hands in the air and an ice shower came down. I bet I could do that,” he said, convinced that he really would be able to.

“Ok let’s see it.”

An overly confident Preston raised his hands into the air and closed his eyes. He imagined what he saw the day he watched the battle with the ice storm and concentrated all his efforts into that thought. He had been looking for ice, but what he got was rain. It heavily sprinkled all over Preston and onto the floor. He brought his hands down in defense to the cold rain and stepped off the floor. He watched the water run down the drain and he spun around to gauge the doctor’s reaction.

“That was uhh... a fluke. I mean.. I’m new. I guess it takes a little more concentration,” Preston said with a nervous chuckle.

Doctor Savery walked over from his desk to the testing area and peered into the drain. The sounds of drip drops could be heard. Alexander politely smiled at Preston and put a hand on his shoulder, “It’s quite alright. Don’t worry, these things happen. However, I would like to make sure that it was just a fluke and not a loss of power. So if you would,” he pointed back at the wall, “Give another couple of blasts over here.”

Preston looked at his watch and averted his eyes upward in thought. He shrugged his shoulders and stepped back onto the linoleum flooring. He gave a sideways glance at Alexander to which he responded with a light wave and an enthusiastic smile. The would-be hero brought his fists back to his chest and again took a few moments in preparation. His hands began to water and leaked out from his fingertips. It ran down his arms and fell off his elbow. His hands were so close to his chest that two wet prints were made there and spread down the rest of his shirt.

He closed his eyes in defeat and dropped his hands. He ungraciously walked back to the recliner and sat down. Alexander went to a closet near the office door and pulled out a large white towel. He handed it to Preston who took it without looking up at Alexander. The Doctor sat down in the chair across from him and let him dry off a little. He rest the clipboard on his desk without taking his eyes off Preston.

“Preston... this is the part where you come clean.”

Preston sadly looked up at the Doctor while he continued, “You don’t have any powers do you?”

Preston shook his head slowly and sighed, “No.”

“Where did you get these ice powers?”

There was a moment of silence before Preston realized that it was probably better he tell the truth now instead of him finding out later, “My brother is what they call a scrapper I guess. He found a lot of cool stuff when he went away on a weekend mission. When he got back, me and some friends of mine went to his room while he was gone and looked at the temporary powers he had been able to bring back. One of them was... this,” he said and showed the wetness on his clothes, “so my friends bet me as to how far I could make it into the hero process and well... I guess the buck stops here.”

Alexander’s initial reaction was to call someone in to take him away. It was a procedure he looked at with a lot of trepidation because he was never sure what would be done with some of these kids. Most of the time he handled things on his own.

“Preston, what you did was wrong. You endangered yourself and... you lied.”

“I know,” Preston said and fell back into the recliner.

“I’m guessing you were looking at your watch because the power had a time limit didn’t it? And I imagine your friends are probably waiting outside for you now to see how far you got, aren’t they?”

Preston nodded to each question with full regret.

“Well Preston, I think it is safe to say that you are not ready to become a hero and that your application processing stops here,” Alexander extended his hand toward Preston and stood up, “Have a good day.”

A surprised Preston shook Alexander’s and stood up as well, “That’s it? You’re not calling the cops or anyone?”

“You’ve got a lot to learn son, and calling the cops is not going to help you learn anything. I suggest you tell your brother what you did... and then find a new set of friends to hang out with.”

Alexander returned behind his desk and put his clipboard back into the drawer. A confused Preston walked to the office door and turned the knob. He opened it and peeked outside to see another man sitting outside by the secretary’s desk. He turned around and gave one last look at Dr. Savery.

“You always knew didn’t you Doc?”

“No... I didn’t.”

Preston focused on the carpet and shook his head. He left with a smile and closed the door behind him.

“Thanks.”

I. Preston

In a presidential suite, on the 21st floor of the Hotel Geneva, a room was fixed with a marble gas fireplace and 52" plasma television. The room was decorated in bronze, bone and brown tones. It offered spectacular views of the city and floor-to-ceiling bay windows and a furnished balcony. Near the balcony window was a white leather recliner that sat across from a large contemporary executive desk with matching credenzas and files. The desk was complete with a desk lamp, telephone, family pictures, and an events calendar. Behind the desk was a burgundy leather Highback executive swivel chair. There was a small notepad open with a few notes scribbled on it. Drawers lined along the sides of the desk. It was a wood grain finish that had been polished complete with an oil-based varnish. Along the wall were various oil paintings with abstract and non-objective imagery influenced by architecture and landscape. The suite is accessed by a private elevator.

Alexander Savery was a man of strength and resolve; he was unyielding and uncompromising. He was a kind, thoughtful, and pleasant man of education and honest demeanor. He was husky, broad-shouldered, a little short of six feet tall. He had a smooth, tan complexion devoid of any imperfections, as if he was immune to the usual curses of puberty and a smile that turned brooding eyes into twinkling lights. The 32 year old man was dressed in a black single breasted, 2 button, light weight jacket which looked like it was made with comfort in mind. It was matched with a pair of black plain bottom trousers and black casual shoes. Inside the jacket was a royal blue collarless shirt that had the top two buttons undone.

He sat behind his executive desk and leaned back in the leather chair that always gave him that empowering feel when he sat in it. It was something made just for him. A matter of perfection that he could never achieve. He always spent the beginning of the day in a type of random thought mode in order to broaden his mind when he listened to others when they spoke. In a sense he felt like a better man when he sat in the chair. It was silly of him to think of himself in that way , but it was all he could do when he was in his office alone while he waited for new patients. On any given day, Alexander was usually backed up with all the clients that needed or wanted to see him. He enjoyed being busy and he enjoyed helping the people of the city, particularly the heroes of the city.

He sat up in the chair and pressed the intercom button on his phone, “Angela, will you send in whoever’s next please?”

“Sure thing Mr. Savery,” was the reply from the phone.

A young man ducked his head in through the door of the office, “Is it ok to come in?”

Alexander stood up and motioned for the boy to come in. The new patient walked inside and revealed a plain white t-shirt and blue jeans. He wore blue and white converse shoes that looked brand new. He walked over to Alexander and shook his hand with a nervous smile, “How ya doin sir?”

“Sir,” Alexander replied with a laugh, “Now unless you find it comfortable within you to call me that, I suggest you call me Alex. Or Dr. Savery. But Alex will do just fine.”

“Ok... Alex,” the boy responded, still somewhat nervous, but a little more at ease, “I’m Preston.”

“Alright Preston, pleased to meet you. Why don’t you go ahead and have a seat and let me know what’s on your mind.”

Preston straddled the stretch recliner and checked out his new surroundings. His eyes studied every facet of the room. They stopped at one particular painting of a night life in New York. Alexander noticed the stares of the young man and saw his attention focus at the painting.

“You ever been to New York,” the Doctor asked as he came from around the desk.

“Huh... oh, no. I haven’t. I haven’t ben anywhere outside of here.”

“Oh you must try and visit sometime. It is a very busy place. Lights and life. An amazing place to visit.”

“Oh ok... I’ll keep that in mind.”

Once at the front of the desk, Alexander turned around and picked up the file he had on young Preston. He opened it and flipped through a few pages before he closed it again, “Says here that you’re an ice blaster.”

“Yea... I guess,” he said as he twiddled his fingers and looked down.

“What’s that like?”

“It’s pretty cool... I guess.”

Alexander could see that he wasn’t going to get anywhere with small talk so he went another route, “Preston, tell me something. How long have you-“

“Why do I have to do this,” Preston piped up.

Alexander shot Preston a surprised look. Took him aback that he spoke up the way he did. Preston’s breath had an abnormal shortness to it that only came with a guilty man during an interrogation process underneath the heat lamps.

Alexander leaned on his desk, “Well Preston,” Alexander began, “From the beginning, after a series of physical and mental tests, citizens of this fine city were able to become heroes at any given time. For a while this was ok, but soon complaints were coming in from the non-heroes of the city, filling City Hall with issues of the heroes that they had dealt with.”

Alexander paused a moment to gauge a response from Preston. He held a blank expression, but the twiddling fingers let him know he was still uncomfortable. Alexander continued, “Some of them were abusing their powers. Others became emotionally unstable when the situation got out of control. And then others endangered themselves and the lives of those they were teamed with. Basically, the city is now setting up a program of evaluation where a panel of psychiatrists spend time with new heroes and some of the old ones to see if they are fit to protect our city.”

Preston stopped twiddling his fingers and gazed into the doctor’s face. For the first time, it looked as if Preston realized why he was there.

“Did no one tell you why you had to come here,” Alexander asked.

“Not really. They just said gave me this address and told me to do what everyone said. All of it was kind of shady and secretive.”

Note to self, talk to Mr. James.

“Well Preston,” Alexander said, “If you want to leave, you can. I don’t want you to be anywhere that you don’t want to be. If you’re not ready to do this then it can wait. But I will say this, you cannot become a hero if I don’t approve you. And I can’t approve you if we don’t talk. I’ll give you a few minutes to think about it.”

“No it’s cool,” Preston replied quickly. He stood up, still straddled over the recliner, “I mean... if this has to happen, it has to happen right?”

“Exactly.”

Alexander shifted his weight and turned to grab his notepad and a pen off of the large wooden desk. He strode over to a smaller, cushion chair and sat down. Preston sat back down and slowly started to lay back into the recliner. His expression showed a scared boy who wasn’t sure what to expect when his back hit the chair. Once he did, his demeanor relaxed and he actually kind of smiled a little.

Alexander cast his weight to one side of the chair, “Alrighty, let’s get started, shall we?”

I'm on my way back anyway... what the h-e double hockey sticks...

Apartment: Seven OH Seven
Name: Eric Browning AKA Vengent
Current Location: Small Park in Founder's Falls
Storyteller:The_Ninjin
Summary:A quiet person man of a few words who takes life extremely serious. This regimen of living was broken recently due to the new acquaintance he had made in Pandora. He didn't have the normal upbringing of most teengae boys as he ended up being with a mentor of a dark clan called the Shidao. An excellent fighter, Eirc was trained in the shadow arts and sent back to Paragon to right the wrongs done over 2 years ago. A man who would live his life in solitude if it was possible. However, since he can't he makes feeble attempts at socialization. Prefers the dark to anything and has just recently gained complete control of his powers. Was last seen in the Whitmoore apartments the day of the "spirits" incident. After that, he was no longer seen. For quite some time. He returned later in the vicinity of Paragon University after a fight for his spirit. Now he returns to probably answer a few questions and continue his reason for living.

Jason Caldwell had spent the night enjoying the evening with friends. It was the first time he had been out since his recent "inhabitance". It never left for too much time to do anything outside of his new profession. A profession which he came into doing the one thing he hated most - jogging. It had just been a nad night that night. Sometimes he wished his mother didn't teach him right.

He came out of a club running, shirt halfway on, while two others came running after him. He took off down the street and tunred right down a nearby alley. He sprinted toward the fence, jumping over trash and spinning off homelss people. For a drunk guy, he was doing pretty good as far as sense of direction and coordination went. The other two men came down the alley, chasing him. He felt a small rumble inside of him as he neared the fence and in secodns he was defying gravity and hovering over the fence. As he landed, small white-blue tendrils emitted from his body and faded when he touched ground. The men reached the fence and tried to climb, but stopped short at the barb wire at the top.

"Cheater," one of the men exclaimed.

Jason turned around laughing, "Yea... I know... but what can ya do? "

His question answered quickly as both men took a few steps back and ran full speed at the fence, clearing it with no issue.

"Oh sugar honey iced tea," Jason said and ran around the corner and opened the first door he came to. He closed it quietly so not to attract attention and a few minutes later, heard footsteps run by.

He sat down to look at his surroundings, "what the heck is this? A booth of some kind."

There was a small computer screen in front of him and a stool for him to sit on, "Big Brother? Hmm, I need to kill time anyway. Make sure they aren't still around. Let's see what my drunk [censored] can comprehend at this hour. 0o0o touch screen."

1) Please state your name and security level.
Umm, Jason Caldwell. Level 35 security level security...umm, crap...35.
2) Can you please tell us about your origin and powers?
Hmm, jogging, light, alien, BAM! Questions... oh yea
3) Please tell us about any hobbies or interests you might have?
Well what i USED to like doing, I did tonight. Hanging with my people. Having a good time. I also like extreme sports even though I don't do em. I love movies. I also like girl... does that count here... hmm, also i like racing and... gosh why does this have ti be so hard
4) How would you describe yourself?
Drunk, he laughed loudly at his answer but shushed himself and gave a paranoid look around to see if he was heard.
5) Do you think you are easy to get along with?
What's easy? I mean, I would suppose I am. I'm your typical common sense guy. I'll call out the stupid folks and meet and greet with anyone. I'll trust anyone till the give me a reason not to.
6) Please tell us a little about one of your recent missions?
Last one I did, some friends asked for my assistance in handling some Crey and boy did tap that a**. Man... it was crazy. Basically, I came in there and took care of a small group that had brought them down some. I was a great asset... heh, asset. But we completely it and then went and had pancakes.
7) Why do you wish to appear on Big Brother: Heroes?
Appear??? Appear where? Umm... crap what was the question? Oh...level 35 security level.
8) What do you think you will be able to bring to the Big Brother house?
Dang, I mean you know... the essentials. A toothbrush, toothpaste, some clothes, few books I guess. Don't know what for...stuff like that.
9) What would you do if you win Big Brother Heroes?
Is this almost over? He took a peek outside and saw that the coast was clear. The question repeated itself on the computer. What?? Alright, alright... I would uhh, come back the next day I guess to win again. Isn't that how these things work? Come back till you lose? Whatever
10) ((OOC question: How regularly can/do you post?))
Not sure how often per day, but I can say daily.
11) ((OOC question: Do you wish to be picked?))
Oh please Auntie Am, please oh please... nah. If I fit, let it be so. If I don't... IMMA CRASH IT ANYWAY.

(( Assuming the field comes down))

Beofre Brian could really do too much about the new "doorway", it had disappeared and all that stood between him and the inside was air and opportunity. A little wary at first, he went inside in time to see his uncle coming down the stairs.

"Well good morning there sir. I turst you had a nice, safe night, considering our new shielded doors. I guess we might wanna tell the workers that things are good to go now. "

A phone call once again interrupted him. Sometimes he just wanted to throw that damed thing, "Hello... yea... you're kidding...," a look of annoynace came over Brian, "yea, well I guess you did the right thing... yea be right there... bye"

Brian shook his head placing the phone back on his hip wondering how they were ever going to get a long without him back at HQ, "Hmm, seems that I am needed for a special exercise at my other job. That's about all I can say now. I have some paperwork about Ion. Nothing bad right now, but just something to be very aware of. I'll be gone for a couple days, but will contact you as soon as I get first chance. Sorry about this."

He handed Mystic the manilla folder and after a quick hug, turned to head back to the station.

((I'll be out for 3 days. Be back Friday afternoon. Be on a boat with the navy... pray for me, haha))

Brian went back to the station and found Gordon Wakefield, his first partner, burning the midnight oil.

Sitting in the desk opposite him, Brian logged into a computer and pulled up a file marked "Heroes".

Gordon took a long sip of his nearly cold coffee and looked over at Brian, giving him a small nod of acknowledgement, "Hmm, thought you weren't comin back here for a while," Gordon said.

"Well," Brian replied, "I want to make sure we have all the info we can on those we need it for."

"By using our resources," Gordon replied with a snicker.

"Ha, these are my resources punk," he laughed, throwing some paper clips at his former partner.

"Yea well do what you can and get out, the commish plans on makin a nightstop for some reason... reason I'm here right now. Soon as he's done, I'm outta here."

"Sounds like a good time, thanks for the warning," Brian remarked as he pulled up the file on IonFlux.

As he continued to read, he began to see some interesting reads on his father and Ion's lifestyle up until now. One thing in particular caught his interest and he knew it would catch that of his uncle's. He printed out the information, found a manilla folder and placed it inside.

Yelling back from the printer, Brian waved goodbye to Gordon, "Hey, I'll see ya around and don't worry about the commissioner. All talk and no bite... you know that."

Gordon gave a smile and a dismissal wave as Brian left the building.

On his way out, he's interrupted by a phone call.

"Hello?"

A young woman's voice could be heard, "Hey!"

"Oh what's up? What can I do you for?"

"Hmmm, a few things. think you can swing by tonight?"

Brian figured that everyone had turned in by now and didn't want to bother anyone with any paperwork until the morning.

"Yea sure, gimme about 20 min."

***

When Brian got back to the 2-6, he shook his head at the workers across the street as they relaxed on the curb. He knew they couldn't have been working too long, as it was still pretty early, "Hey what's up fellas?"

"Nothing at all," one of them commented.

"And why's that?"

"You try walking in there and see what happens to you," he said, pointing at the rundown precinct's front doors.

Cocking an eyebrow, he looked toward the building and walked to it's front doors. As he closed the distance between him and the first door, he slowed his steps and strained his eyes. As he carefully took each step, he couldn't help but think that he was seeing things that wasn't there.

But he didn't have to wonder long as he came hard into a near invisible force field, putting him on the ground.

"Ok, interesting..."

“And could you please explain what you mean by ‘we are going to need all the help we can get’? I think we have been doing pretty well so far on our own.” He said as he pointed to the pile of unconscious thugs.

Sting was now standing next to IonFlux, his 6’8” height towering over the shorter, armored man.

Hmm, tea and phone calls may have to wait. Uncle may need a level head with some sense given this situation. Hell's Kitchen might have a few pots and pans fly if this doesn't dissipate.

Brian made a 180 back inside the precinct and placed his cell phone back onto his hip, "You know what? That can wait. We got a lottle work to do here. Hate to miss out on the renovative experiences. I mean hey, this is my place not too right?"

He looked back at the crates and then at each of the men in the building, "So I don't suppose any of you possess super strngth abilities...," then a thought struck him, "Hey Newton, what about you? Could you wormhole these suckers upstairs?"

Mystic turned to Coolant, “I suppose we should step up our renovations to the aesthetically appealing variety at this point, what with little Brian and Ion joining us. Oh, dreadfully sorry Brian, your calling me uncle Al has brought back memories of when you were four and you used to run around naked in your little cowboy… alright, alright. Just so we understand each other.” Alfred gave a menacing look.

Brian's vacantly surprised face was filled with a bright red, "Wow... you went there. Hmm," he said half-smiling, "understood."

“Hey Coolant, bring that blowtorch over here, maybe we can open this guy up and use him as a microwave oven. The spare parts we can use to help with your barricade.”

Brian's initial reaction was to step in and say something, but he had only been there for 20 minutes and knew he wouldn't have been listened to anyway. This wasn't like back at home or back on the beat. This was something different. Egos of every kind, compiled together like it was something out of Hell's Kitchen. Well the hell part was pretty accurate. Brian just gave a discerning look to his Uncle and looked on.

Mystic sipped his tea as Poison Sting marched up to Ion. He looked at Newton, "That didn't take long." He put his hand on Brian's arm, "it will work itself out."

"Brian, if you’d be so kind as to check our friend’s credentials to make sure he’s not an evil genius in disguise, then we can start putting that brain to work for us. "

"Oh yea, I can get on that right now. I need to make a few phone calls anyway," he said fishing a small business card out of his pocket, "here's my number. If you need anything while I'm out just give me a ring. Matter fact, I'll bring some tea through on my way back and anything else. Like I said, just give me a call."

“The one thing at least two of us have in common is an instinctive distrust of authority figures,” Newton said, leaning back and looking at the police detective. “Just thought I’d warn you about that.” The green-haired man grinned at Brian.

Brian returned a courtesy smile, "It's not a problem. Happens all the time with people. I know we have bad people out there. However, I was taught to trust those until they give you a reason not to."

Raising an eybrow, he continued, "Of course that reason can usually befall someone within seconds of meeting them."

"I guess that makes it my turn."
A lean 5'10" armored figure stood in the doorway of the 2-6.

[ QUOTE ]
"My name is IonFlux... ...Any questions?"

[/ QUOTE ]

Brian let out a stifled laugh he had tried to supress hearing the 'any questions' part. He was thinking back to the old drug commercials with the cooked eggs resembling it to your brain on drugs.

He straightened his face rather quickly so as not to draw any more attention and having to explain himself about what was so funny.

“So, are you to be joining us? We were just discussing our previous levels of experience, so we could determine what we can expect of each other in the field.”

"Ah, yes indeed. I'm here to stay," he replied, removing his jacket and drapin over his right arm, "Umm, " he thinks looking at the ceiling, " I guess my experience go go all the way back to when I was a little boy and I got into it with a couple of Hellions, thanks to my good-life leading brother. Oh wait... yea, actually it was after that incident that made me want to be a cop. But anyway, in highschool, I helped deal with the exposure of the CoT base being held underneath Paragon High. Something they liked to call "The People Under the Stairs."

He took the necklace off to reveal a black leather rope necklace with a diamond shaped jadestone about two inches long. It glowed with a faint, sickly light green color, pulsing as if it were breathing like any human does.

"This," he said, "belonged to the Jade Knight. A broadsword warrior who died in a battle with some Nemesis during one of those hero/cop cases. One of their contacts were on a lead that we were on as well and it all just kind of threw itself together. Anyway, Nemesis made a surprise visit, or he looked like him, and the heroes got pretty overwhelmed. I fought along side the Knight for quite some time before he literally pushed me out of the way to fight to the death. His last words, 'Take this... unnnnnhhhh,' he said, trying to muster up the best last breath he could, " and he kind of died in my hands."

He replaced the necklace around his neck, "I didn't get it at first but the changes did occur rather quickly. After checking the history of this thing, which I'll save for another day, I knew what was going on."

"Other than that, it's been your average run of the mill encounters with every villain type possibly out there. Some more interesting than others, but I at least have had the oportunity to study each of their group files. It has saved me much bruise and burn in a fight knowing their weaknesses and somewhat how they think. If you guys want any of this info, I'm sure HQ would be more than happy to give up on some of it."

“I can lift up to 825 pounds over my head if need be, and while fully armored I can withstand most direct attacks with the exception of incendiary weapons. I can emit a controlled aura of cold in close ranges, and I have very good audio and thermal scanners for scouting. For anything more specific, I can give you exact technical readouts.

Brian responded with an impressed look with a raised eyebrow, "Cool, a giant walking refrigerated computer."

“Tactics are not my strong point. I pretty much find who needs to be stabbed and do it. Oh and sometimes I lose my temper a little bit and fly into a blind rage. It is normally triggered when I get hurt bad. Well not really blind, I can usually tell friend from foe…usually.”

Brian thought back to what he had thought earlier, usually, huh, .

"Interesting," was he could say.

“Hello Brian.” Sting eyed the newcomer with a little suspicion – it was just a natural reaction for him, even though he had been identified. Sting also noticed the badge on his belt.

"How's it going everyone," he said with a nod toward Sting, "Hope I'm not coming in the middle of something too big. I came in at the very end of this conversation."

He'd recognized Sting from the files upon files that had been sent up to Headquarters about his "tactics". Personally, Brian kind of liked the guy. He did what he did because he had too. More people needed to realize that. He noticed Sting's apprehension toward him and shifted his weight a little to cover his badge a little more, as if it would do any good. He knew he saw it. They all did.

"Yea, actually tea sounds pretty good right about now," he said after making his rounds of handshakes with the crowd.

He followed his uncle to where he was brewing the tea and gave a long low whistle as he looked the place over, "You guys really have outdone yourselves it seems. Last time this place looked this good, I think Kennedy was president."

Taking a seat in the lounge chair, he sipped his tea and felt the relaxation begin to course through him, "Ahhh yea, almost forgot how good you made this stuff. You still got it," he remarked taking another sip, "but aside from all this small talk, I can imagine you're wondering why I'm here."

"Well," he said, leaning forward and setting the tea down, "the 2-6 project has been long in the works, but you know how some of those higher powers that be are. For us down at Headquarters - oh and I got promoted to Detective by the way, hence the move to HQ - the call went out at first to any cops that happened to be metas as well. They wanted to keep things within the police system for jurisdiction type purposes. When not enough cops were coming forward, they decided to kind of take it to the streets and find a few of the actual heroes that might be interested."

He stood up and began to tour the common area as he spoke, "When I first heard of it, I was all for it, but wasn't a priority because I wasn't a meta. Well I kind of was, but not really, " he said, opening his shirt a little more to reveal a necklace holding a jadestone at the bottom, "apparently old relics that allow you speed, strength, and agility didn't count."

He stopped back at the table and picked up his tea and took another nice long sip. Barely finishing his swallow he began to speak again, "Man, this is really good tea. So anyway, after much plea bargaining and making haste to finish out other cases I had to keep my schedule open, they decided to consider me and placed me on a list," by now he was standing next to his uncle, "but when they found out who my uncle was and that he was running this joint, they were more than happy to send me here, thinking that I had been holding out on some power I never told them about."

Smiling, he placed his arm around Alfred, "But we all know this type of thing doesn't really run in our family does it Uncle Alfred," he gestured with a wink.

"Oh and what's this thing about having two names? Hmm, not sure about that one. I registered last week after I found out I was coming here, but they delayed some of the paperwork because I couldn't think of anything concrete. So... we'll see."

((Edited to fit Sting's reaction))

((After all that Averick... look what I did, ha))

"My frail, old man body can't take the pounding that you younger heroes can at all. I have a tendency to over extend myself when I see someone in trouble, and I'm slow to run away. I've been working on that, though. What about the rest of you?"

"That sounds just like you Uncle Al. Nice to see some things haven't changed after all this time."

A young man, in his early twenties, leaned against the doorframe of the rundown precinct. He had a boyish face, blue eyes, light brown hair that seemed to lighten even more in the sunlight. It had a messy look about it, but not like he had just rolled out of bed. It was more like it all just kind of fell randomly into place.

He stood at about 6 feet tall, weighing about 200 lbs. He was wearing khaki slacks, a white button up, unbuttoned halfway down. Outside that was a medium length leather jacket that held one of his hands in the pockets. On his belt hidden by the clothes, you could see a small flash of a badge.

Brian Wincott stepped into the station, smiling, "Of course when they said you were helping bring this old dump back to life, I just had to see it for myself."

[ QUOTE ]
Been alot of that lately

and BTW.... why does everyone else but me have hot female friends? Do i need to move?

[/ QUOTE ]

According to a guy I know that hails from the CO, what he had said was that all the chics in his area were tight. So....maybe you need to just relocate...or maybe walk around the corner. Or perhaps hit up your local 7-11.

DO SOMETHING MAN

[ QUOTE ]
bumpin

[/ QUOTE ]

What he said

[ QUOTE ]
Dont worry Ninj, I promise not to take you to the beach I took Fayt to...

[/ QUOTE ]

I've been to about all of em...so nothing will be of surprise to me

[ QUOTE ]
I grew up in Kahala and hope to make it back to Oahu before end of the year.....Folly Beach is closer to home for you? I spent alot of time there and absolutely love Charleston! In fact my two favorite places in the world to party on Halloween is Waikiki and Charleston.


Ill be on Oahu in about 2 weeks for 10 days. Up for some surf lessons??

[/ QUOTE ]

Yea anyone who rolls thru charleston says that it's one of the more beautiful cities that they have visited. Folly Beach is pretty close. Not too far. I had a friend who would go there to see his mom on weekends.

Surfing...it's that one thing your friends tell you to never do when you go, but know you just have to try it once and then tell them so they can look at like you were the most retarded person in the world. Wouldn't be too far from the truth.

So yea, I'll surf.

Yea...we got a reversal goin on....

I don't mind Hawaii...much. Wish I was back home tho.Never lived in Columbia. Been there but never live. I lived far east coast (Charleston). Now I'm on Oahu

Aight my turn...

I'm 22, staying in Hawaii at the moment...trying to figure out ways to escape it's islandy clutches...in the military(AF) for a little bit longer, then going to NYU in....New York
Born in Jersey, raised in S. Carolina.

I work in the Intel field...doing things....have...trouble....sleeping....at night...

Also attending school, studying aeronautics.
I enjoy reading, writing, and arithmetic...no, I don't. I like to listen to music, make music, see movies, outdoorsy ish, if it could possibly get me in trouble...I might do it....once *sigh*.
Where the heck did long walks on the beach come from anyway...*shakes head*

And that would be me

...fro is gone now though....