The choices that we make - The origin of the Embal
By
Ex_Libris,
Posted on: 2004-07-14 10:56 in Roleplaying
Part one When power is given
Chapter 1: a step too far?
Quote from local Paragon News Program
[ QUOTE ]
We are here live from the headquarters of Crey Industries in down town Paragon. Which has recently turned into a blazing inferno for unknown reasons. Many eyewitness to the event have reported that there has been intense gunfire and the guards acting strangely such as flying from high storey windows and standing still to begin with. We are unsure of the source the disturbance but shortly after the building exploded a ball of green light was seen leaving the building and with eyewitness statements experts have confirmed that it was from the countesss office and we can only hope that she is all right. But there are many, many questions still unanswered such as whom or what caused the guards to act so bizarrely and was it after countess Crey? Or for some other reason was the building attacked? We will bring you news as soon as we can get any definite facts
[/ QUOTE ]
The inferno at Creys lit up down town paragon like a Christmas tree making every shadow sinister and warped. As I left through the window I could feel it. I knew it would happen the second I decided to do this. I could feel darkness creep into my soul. I could see the dark seed taking root and spreading into every part of my being and battling within me. Had I gone to far? Was I now as bad as her? Was I still on the side of light? Or had I finally stepped over to the other side. The side where the law was just advice and Justice was a formality. I never wanted this I never asked to be snatched, I never asked for my Uncle and Sister to become heroes and get killed in the Rikti war. I never asked for this, but after all this time I knew on thing. I was not one of them. I was no true hero. I was some mug in a costume and helping people out but to be a true hero you need to put your heart and soul in it. I didnt.
I stared into the blaze and considered. Crey wasnt dead. I knew that much and she would wriggle out of it with one in cover up and she would not incriminate me either. I know too much. Something like her wouldnt die. She was like a bad itch that no matter how hard and often you scratch it wouldnt go away. She was like the stray dog that followed you every no matter how hard you get rid of it. Creys ability to avoid death and the law was remarkable. Well not unless she was a fool and if I know one thing about Countess Clarissa Crey she is no fool.
I continued to stare into the blaze meditatively from a nearby skyscraper the heat intense on my skin and it was being absorbed by my costume like some huge black sponge. The rain came down suddenly as though a faucet was opened up by the big guy up stairs. I continued to stare small shapes began to appear. The heroes of Paragon had arrived to deal with my mess. But was there any other way? I didnt think so this was the reason I didnt want to do this - I couldnt make the choices when it mattered.
My meditations were interrupted when I heard it. I heard the footsteps approaching. Was it a hero or a villain I didnt care by now they were becoming one and the same. I turned to be faced by a mammoth of a man, which was clad in cold blue armour, and carry in a huge sword on his back.
Why arent you helping? A strong puzzled voice came over muffled behind the helmet. On the tip of my tongue was because I started it however considered that was a good an idea as playing Russian roulette with a fully loaded pistol. I thought quickly and came up with the lousy excuse
Im no use on fire control
But you must be able to help in some way He said exasperated.
I sighed this was my opposite in the world of heroes the guy who did it for the honour and for righteous reasons who used his talents for a single mind task. To do good in the world. I looked over quickly at the building. The fire was still going strong and a large number of heroes and the fire brigade were fighting it.
With all the heroes here parts of Paragon will be have less protection I said brushing pass the guy who was twice my size.
But
He began. I had already flew off into the night
I had no intention on going back to crime fighting tonight. In fact it was almost dawn. The sky was beginning to lighten from black to a murky grey. I flew to a partly run down part of Paragon and through an open window into my apartment. I landed silently and waved my hand and the light flicked on. It showed a basic room with the few pieces of crime fighting that I have ever got hung on the wall press cuttings, medals and so on. A computer stood there in the corner humming contentedly. I stopped and stretched the battle through Creys defences was tough, but it seemed that I was tougher. I staggered across the apartment. I was exhausted. Every nerve was turning off my muscles screamed to stop. I pulled back the hood of my costume and threw off the latex mask, which landed over a chair. I entered into my bathroom and turned on a tap and let it run into my cupped hands and threw the water into my face and looked into the wall mirror. Reflected was the same 6 foot 4 figure muscular figure. The same long lank face with the cold penetrating grey eyes and expressionless features. On top a mass of jet-black spiky hair with that shock of white that made me look like a skunk. I stared long and hard trying to find something but I couldnt. Nothing came. I didnt know what I was looking for. I went to my bed and collapsed and thought how did this all begin?
Chapter 2 the Beginning
Where did all this begin? Good question. Human philosophy states that everything that moves through space-time must have a start and an end. The universe. Everything. Im lucky. I have two beginnings. The first that springs to mind is me in a huge glass vat, surrounded by a green liquid and with tubes sticking into me.
No, I need to go back to the beginning where it all started. My birth. I was born on the 22 May in Paragon City. I was christened Maximilian Alexander Jerron. My family consisted of my parents and my older sister Megan we all lived in on of the suburbs in the north of the city.
My parents were OK I suppose. My mother was called Rose. She was a tall and thin fussy woman. She worked as a mechanical engineer at a local engineer firm that was designing a battle suit for the military. My father was a manager for a storage site for Crey Biotech. He was a quiet man who was a superb listener and was incredibly subjective. Then there was my older sister Megan. When we were younger I always found her annoying, inhumanly stubborn and disruptive. Yet when she was older she became the fearsome crime fighter the black lady and I saw she had become a righteous and headstrong young woman.
Because we lived in Paragon we were saturated in the glory of heroism and what every kid wanted be when he or she left education was to be a hero. Luckily my sister and I had a better chance than a lot of the kids, as we had mutant relative this meant that were most likely had mutant genes. The only thing that determined it was how strong they were (The irony with this was that because of my mutant genes I was snatched, but thats later on). The mutant in my family was my mums younger brother called Frank Seldorn, he was a member of the Freedom Phalanx and was given the alias Silverflash as he wore a silver costume and possessed super human speed. I remember that he would sometime when things were on the quite side take me and Megan flying around the city when we were kids.
I though that my life was complete. We were one fairly happy family living in Paragon City the famed city of heroes. I had friends, doing well in school and I though that nothing could go wrong. Funny, how your best plans can get screwed up by one event.
The event was my Mum getting laid off from the work; the military decided to pull the plug on the battle armour projects across the world due to admistrative cut backs. I can trace my life seeming to go into a downward spiral from then on.
After my Mum got fired she began to binge drink. She loved her job and she said that it was one of the hardest things in her life to accept. At first her drinking habit was secretive and none of us suspected anything. However the demons that were fed by her habit got stronger and possessed her more strongly demanding more. So she drank more frequently and heavily. Looking back it was sickening to see the changes in her from a bright and lively woman to the sad, mopping creature that she transformed into. When my dad found out my mums habit then the arguments began. They were never pretty, and always ended with at least on vase getting broken (After the first few me and Megan hid the nicer vases yet they always seemed to be at least one vase lying around while in the argument).
Soon after that my dad filed a divorce. He had had enough of the constant battle with mum. He quit his job and was snapped up by a London and firm. He gained custody of me, but Megan being over 18 and her usual stubborn self decided to stay with mum and try to help her. This meant that when I was 12 I had to leave my mum and friends to go to the Great Britain and restart my life. Though I regularly visited my friends and my Mum (When dad did leave it sobered her up pretty quickly) but on one trip was the turning point of my life, which was on an exchange trip at 15.
Chapter 3 Crescent inside a circle
One of the things that you must remember is that Paragon is as powerful, strange and mysterious as deepest Asia. It is so strange that it could be a completely different world. One of these things is the pressure of being in adolescence. Normal adolescents have the pressures of drink, drug, sex, the occult and the occasional mutant. Paragon meanwhile seems to magnify certain aspects. There are different types of drug available only in Paragon with the added kick of temporary super powers. Magic seems to be stronger than any other place with the whisper of the ancient city of Oranbega was underground. Magic cults also were more numerous in Paragon. We also arent so dismissive of these sorts of cults in the city as the city has a multitude of powerful heroes that are Wizards, Sorcerers, Warlocks, Witches, Spell Wielders and many more. Also there were several gangs that seemed to be more powerful than normal and try to recruit the meanest and dim into their rank and file. The number of mutants was also much higher that normal. How while on a school exchange trip when I was 15 there was something else stirring in the teenagers of Paragon. Fear.
There was a under current of fear that swept the youth population of Paragon. They fear the snatchers. Who or what the snatchers were was anyones guess. They seemed to take random teenagers do some sort of lobotomy on them and then leave a brand on the back of the left shoulder. The brand is of a circle, which was 3 cm in diameter with a crescent inside. The snatchers had everyone on edge (except the mutants, they had super powers) for no one new when they would strike or whom they would take and the skill of the snatchers was good, very good. They left nothing of their handy work; bar the brand they leaving nothing useful like fingerprints, DNA, even a psychic trace. Nothing.
Why did I come back to Paragon then? Well I came as a chance to see my friends on the cheap as my school was hosting an exchange with one of the high schools in Paragon. Paragon has always been one strange cookie in the world but it never shows it more than in its teenage population. Mutants were more respected and numerous in Paragon. Views of mutants in Britain are mixed from total loathing and branding them to unholy and freaks, to reverence. The reason for reverence also varied, some people used mutants especially the ultra strong ones who werent too bright for there own means. Others knew that the mutants they know are going to be famous and attempt to exploit that. However there were those in a small minority that respected them for a person and not a genetic evolution, but as people. The occult usually takes a small percentage of any teenage population transforming into Goths however this percentage increases dramatically in Paragon they usually huddled into a corner with old dust volumes that never saw the best sellers list even when they were first published hundred of years ago and boards with pentagrams covered in them. You couldnt help but laugh yet deep inside you envied then because if they did get successful then they be able to tap into a very powerful vain of power.
I entered the social area of Paragon High school on a bright and sunny July afternoon. All the little adolescent social groups were huddled in there respective areas the football team were restless as there social role of popularity enforcer was diminished as in wake of the size and power of the mutant population at the school. The Goths and Hippies were gathered in respective corners talking about what ever they talk about.
Hey, Jerron A voice barked from one place of the social area. I turned to see a small group of five of my friends that Ive known since I lived in Paragon.
There were five of them. Three lads and two girls.
Hey Max One of the girls the girls said in her high breathless voice. She was called Jodie, I thought that she was hot and in my more sentimental moment I wonder what would have happened if
but theres no need to think about the past there are thinks that Im not proud of and Sarah is one of them.
Hey, Jodie
Yo Jerron The second woman of the group cut in. This was Rebecca Collins who in fact was mutant and became the heroin Gravel storm. She was a large Afro-American woman with large mass of black curly hair and wonderful oaken colour eye.
You wont guess what? she said and clapped me on the arm. One of her mutant powers was that she has super strength and a simple clap on the arm was like being hit but a baseball hat.
Ive go a powder for a Humorous I said while coaxing some feeling into my arm.
Very funny Rebecca said flexing her fingers No She came closer and all of us came closer and in a hushed conspiratorial voice Rebecca began.
They got another one
Who? said Jason asked blankly. Jason was not the sharpest knife in the draw and usually was in his own little world. He had a long horse like face and an untidy mop of white blonde hair.
Who do you think moron? Rebecca snapped The baseball talent agency? No the snatchers Even though I had been in Paragon for a less than a week I, like the others shivered in spite of the warm day.
Who was it? I asked
A 15 year old kid goes to the other high school in founders falls Sarah said, whats up?
Sarah said seeing the look of deep thought on my face.
Im trying to see the pattern in these snatches
Anything good Said Michel. This was one wise *** if you ever were going to meet one. A cynical SOB if ever there was one. He had a round tennis ball like face with vivid red hair and lots of freckles, masses and masses of them.
Well, lets go over the facts I said giving Michel a scathing look. All six
Seven Michel piped in
Seven I corrected my self Victims were all in there late teens, they are from different parts of Paragon and have never met
And thats about all we know Sarah said. I sighed I remember feeling helpless yet something was really nagging at me I just couldnt put my finger on it you knew but couldnt put it into words.
Never mind about that Richard said in the moment of silence. He was tall as in tall as in tall basketball player tall. He was also very twig like with very pointy shoulder and elbows and with mousy brown hair and small dark eyes that were set in a slightly sneering expression.
My parents are out for the whole week so we can do what ever the hell we want how about it
There was a general murmur of consent.
***
The remaining seven of us bustled out of the house with three of them still strongly under the influence of alcohol several hours later.
You know what slurred Sarah forget the snatchers it not likely that they will get us especially with our own mutant with us At that she violently flailed her arm in Rebeccas direction. She then turned on me. I can always say that I did have some drink earlier it had all but warn off.
And you Jerron she said and fell on top of my chest as she was a good head short that I was
What about me? I said feeling the blood vessels in my face began to expand and my face burn
You Max She said will poking me you Max She repeated and again poked me I
This is my turning I interrupted and pointed down a dark and dingy alley. Sarah looked real put out
Oh, ok
See ya all I said and headed down the alley.
Then it happened on the rest of the group were out of sight and earshot an immeasurable agony gave over me inside my head. The pain was blinding it felt as though someone had put a white-hot needle in my head. I staggered with the pain in my head; my mind began to shut down in an attempt to minimize the damage. I hit the floor with arms that were shaking and felt like lead I tried to reach my mobile phone. With shaking phones I tired to ring someone, but it was no good through watery eyes I could make out a figure coming from the shadows before I blacked out of the pain.
I would never have a normal life from then on.
Chapter 4 If only a little more
Scientist
Good. The subject had been subdued. This one was more resilient than the others. Interesting, he will prove a powerful subject. The scientist walked forward and brought out a pocket scanner and scanned the unconscious boy. Fascinating if only a little more and he would be able to produce his own abilities on his own only what 12 16 sequences that arent evolved enough. The scientist then signalled to two drones. The drones bobbed noiselessly and stood between the subjects and then surrounded him in a stasis field and they then bobbed back into the shadows.
Down in Independence Port the scientists had swatted in an abandon warehouse. Once the doors were opened then the dead and dusty outside was very different from the inside. Though the walls were old and rusty, the floor was snaked with wires of various thicknesses from the size of a human wrist to wires that looked like cheese wire. Each of the wires that snaked the dusty floor were linked up to various computers and various pieces of scientific instruments. All of this was centred around a large tube that about the size of a large swimming pool.
The scientist stopped and clicked his fingers twice. Firstly the drones that were carrying the test subject stopped leaving the subject hovering. Then the whole lab, which had already been a hub of activity, seemed to then turn into a frenzy of activity and an electricity of anticipation seemed to fill the air. Two scientists seemed to float to the scientist that had just come in.
Take him and prepare him for the treatment The scientist that came in said
Yes Doctor Temco One of the scientists said and gave a low bow. And processed to take the weight of the subject after the drones let off the stasis field and the flew off to the drone bay.
***
After two or three hours the subject was ready and was being wheeled through the warehouse on a trolley completely stripped of clothes and hair. The subject also had the necessary implants in his body. They then moved the limp body of the 15 year old into the large glass vat and strung him up with several large pipes that went into the plugs and several hundred electrodes that covered his body. After the subject was secure they but a respirator on him and the scientists climbed out of the vat and sealed the vat up. They were ready to do another one.
Doctor Temco was standing over the technician of the procedure and was looking over the various waves that came up on various monitors of vital statistics such as heart rate and brain waves however on another monitor was more lines and data but it was about machines that were in the base of the vat. He turned to the technician and said.
Begin the Procedure, He said in his cool and almost mechanical voice.
The technician fingers began to the fly over the keyboard but then stopped and pressed the microphone into the ear and spoke quietly. Within a few seconds another technician appeared and both were hunched over a screen covered with vitals of the test subject. After a urgent discussion they both turned to the doctor.
Sir, we believe that the subject is about to wake The technician sitting at the console said. Temco turned his head sharply
I though you were to sedate him for several hours he said in a harsh cold voice
I I I did sir The other technician spluttered I calculated for his height, weight, genetic resistance but it seems that his body is more resistant than the information showed
Temco considered for a second.
Continue as planned he said and turned towards the vat that was filling with a green gel.
But sir The Anaesthetist protested, If we continue with the procedure there is a high probability of killing him
Temco turned his head slowly and evenly his glasses hiding his eyes.
You know what our benefactor wants and we must get results as they want results Temco seethed
But at what cost sir The technician at the console asked tentatively
At any cost Temco hissed Now begin the procedure before I test it on you
The technician began to type commands into the console when it began to bleep wildly. The technician turned and said
Hes now awake
Temco said then very philosophically Lets hope that fate is on his side then
Embalancer
Tired, groggy and with a feeling that my head was cleaved in two. That was how I remember waking up I felt sluggish, slow and dim witted. At first I though I had the mother of mother of all hangovers, but then gradually it occurred to me that I hadnt drunk anything the night before. My senses then began to sharpen up again. I was still moving sluggish but not because of my muscles but I was in some sort of thick gel I tried to open my eyes but whatever it was stunk my eyes. Though I could hear nothing because of the pressure of gel on my eardrums I suddenly heard a sound like the start of a turbine.
And then I felt the pain. This pain that I felt could not be described in words or compared to anything it can only be felt. It was a deep pain a pain that was beyond physical and mental it was a pain that tore at the deepest part of your soul. My back arched as my muscles contacted, my brain receiving messages from my sensory neurons that they were on fire and with such an overload of information the brain could shut off and I had to endure the pain.
Cold and wet water splattered my face. I opened my eyes slowly I was in a cold and wet alleyway in the early morning as at the end I could see the sky turning a pre-dawn grey and it was beginning to rain. I tried to get up but my muscles ached horribly I managed to stagger up and weakly stagger about I got to the main road I didnt know where I was. This is where a car horn sounded and I was bathed in a dazzling light then blackness descended upon me again.
ok be warned this is a long origin i think there is about 25 chapters to it and it is an on going project but i hope u enjoy also all comments (good or bad) will be appreciated