Here's the second chapter from the ongoing novel.
Chapter 2 - Beauty And The Beast.
The sparks flew in every possible direction, as the blue pin-point flame approached the metal. The only sound present, that of the quiet humming of various computers dotted around the workshop, and the expulsion of flame from the welding torch Ethan was holding, as it fused various intricate designs of metal and heat-resistant industrial plastics.
Some weeks had passed since the project for the design of a user-controllable gravity manipulation device had been given the full approval by Mr Austin, the head of AusTech in Paragon City. Ethan was to complete the first working prototype of the device by the end of the next month, but already, he was far ahead of schedule. Ever since the analytical computer systems had finally discovered the mathematical formulae and scientific equations required to manipulate local gravitational currents, he had been working furiously, like a man possessed by the demons of hell themselves.
Ethan was only working this hastily for one reason though, for he was not interested in the prototype at all. As useful and beneficial the gravity manipulation device may well be, there had been other calculations Ethan had ordered the analytical computer to process. Though the idea might have been crazy, Ethan had theorised that by using a carefully-aligned arrangement of gravitational currents, it might be possible to hold a person in a type of stasis field, for an indefinite period of time, and be able to slow, or even completely halt their body's metabolic rate. Whilst this new wondrous technology could be used by the common public, or more specifically, the Paragon Police Department, to capture and hold specific criminals so that they could not escape, Ethan had only one person on his mind on who the technology could be beneficial for, Elizabeth.
Her condition had grown worse over the past few weeks, since Ethan had the go-ahead for his scientific project. The illness had spread from its original residence, and was now attacking other, more vital, parts of her body, whilst using her own food and energy supplies passed around the bloodstream to sustain itself. At first, whilst it was still dormant, the doctors had diagnosed it as a new strain of cancer, but recently, it had become apparent that this was something else, something new, and something even more deadly, due to its sudden surge in growth.
Ethan let go of the trigger for the welding torch, and laid it to rest on a trolley full of other engineering apparatus, such as screwdrivers, pliers, and soldering equipment for the more fine-tuned and delicate procedures the new equipment needed in places. He lifted the welding mask, covered in black scorch marks and a thin layer of grime, and removed it from his head, placing it on a separate trolley, and then peeled of the thick leather gloves from his hands, and relished the feeling of the air on his now glistening fingers and palms. Lifting his arms above his head, he stretched as far up as possible without straining his back muscles too far, and then slowly lowered them to his side.
Looking round, he could see the workshop was starting to become rather a mess. Spare parts and circuitry lay scattered around, either left on the few desktops and metal work benches there were, or placed in numerous unlabelled boxes, or simply left strewn over any empty floorspace that didn't get directly in Ethan's way when working. The room itself was not particularly suited for high-storage space, being not much bigger than an average living room in a house, except with a drab interior of dark stone walls, and a grey concrete floor, lit only by the 6 neon strip lights across the ceiling, and whatever lamps Ethan could find electrical socket space for. Unfortunately, that was the price to pay when working on a top secret new project, it made bad business sense to work in the more public labs upstairs, where industrial spies could sneak out blueprints and photos of prototypes.
Feeling his tiredness getting the better of him, and his eyes starting to droop, Ethan began to walk around and unplug the equipment he had been using. The computer terminal's lights flickered on for a few seconds, then dimmed gradually as they were all shut down for the night, the whirring of internal fans coming to an eventual halt. The room was now completely silent, and at these momenta, Ethan realised just how depressingly alone it was locked down here, day after day, working endlessly on new technology for which he wouldn't even be publicly accredited for. He sighed, wandered over to the door to the workshop, and opened it, before turning off the lights using the switch by the door. The door swung shut behind him, and he turned to activate the security alarm using the keypad by the door:
41...96...73..57 *beep*
The sound of a thick metal bar sliding across from the wall and into the slot in the door made a loud grating noise, followed by a hollow thump. Ethan turned away, and wandered up the cold stone staircase, holding onto the black cast iron railings with his left hand as he did so. He eventually reached the reception floor, opened the wooden door, now labelled both sides as a fire exit, to deter people from entering, and walked through into the reception. Rose was there, also packing away her things, ready to go home. As she was placing a few pieces of paper into her handbag, it toppled off the edge of the desk it was perched on, and spilt its contents all over the marble floor. Oh rats! This is just perfect! she shouted out, partially to herself, and partially to anyone who might be in earshot.
Ethan rushed over to the desk, and crouched down to start to help Rose put her belongings back in the handbag. She crouched down as well, and looked at him. Thanks Ethan, guess I was just lucky you were here. She smiled and began placing the items back in the bag. Say...Ethan. Would you mind if I caught a lift home with you? I live in Skyway City too, and well, if I can avoid paying the bus fare, it's always good to. Plus, it seems like those buses never turn up sometimes. Ethan made slightly shocked impression on his face, and then smiled. Sure thing. Rose smiled back and placed her hand on his; Thanks, I appreciate it Ethan felt his nerves shiver as her hand briefly touched his, before pulling away to get the last items into the handbag.
They both walked towards the lift, and Ethan pressed the call button. The wait for the elevator carriage to arrive seemed to take an eternity, as Ethan stood there glancing at Rose for a couple of seconds at a time, and smiling nonchalantly every time she appeared to notice and look back. Eventually, the door slid open, and Ethan let Rose enter first, before entering the elevator carriage, turning round, and pressing the button for the car park. The elevator carriage started to descend, and the familiar irritating music played from the speaker behind him. There was a small jolt, and the doors slid open again, revealing the underground car park.
Rose and Ethan departed from the elevator carriage, and started to walk to Ethan's car. It's just over here Ethan said, whilst motioning towards his car. He went round to the passenger side, unlocked the door, and held it open whilst Rose sat herself down in the seat, closed the door, and entered on the driver's side. He put the keys in the ignition, turned them, and smiled embarrassedly as the engine failed to start. Sorry about this, only ever seems to do it when I have to get someone else home as well as myself. Rose smiled again, and replied Don't worry, it's still quicker than the bus, or trying to time it right to get on the train. The engine eventually spluttered into life, and Ethan drove the car out of the car park, and into the evening sun of Steel Canyon.
The sky was red with the last rays of sunlight, as the sun lowered itself below the horizon. There was a noticeable number of superheroes flying about in the air, arresting the obvious criminals on the street who were snatching purses and large books off of the civilians. Sometimes, the heroes would be helping each other out, others would swoop down at the last minute and finish off a criminal in a vain attempt to steal the glory of the arrest, before police drones came and teleported the criminals to the Ziggurat prison, or possibly the hospital after their encounters with some of the more over zealous heroes wielding large swords and maces. Ethan drove through Steel Canyon, and through to Independence Port, and as he did so, it was immediately apparent by the fishing boat that flew over the top of the car that another giant octopus had surfaced in the docks. As he drove down the side of Independence Port, Rose pointed out with a loud Oh! as a large scale battle occurred between various heroes, and the octopus.
The beast itself was waving many of its tentacles around in an attempt to swat the heroes flying around its head, who in turn, took quick shots at the bulbous creature, and yet still, from a short distance managed to miss entirely. The sky lit up with the various explosions and beams of light and energy being emitted from the fracas. Ethan pulled the car over to the side of the road. Want to go out and watch? he asked Rose, who thought about it for a few second before replying through a grin Yeah, of course, why not? Ethan turned off the ignition, unbuckled his seatbelt, and got out of the car, making sure not to walk into any passing traffic. He waited for Rose to leave the car, put the key in the door, and locked it. They both walked over to the stone wall overlooking a small beach by the docks, and watched the fight in the distance.
Other people walked by with little or no interest, obviously used to the near daily tussle between man, woman and octopus, but Ethan and Rose sat on the wall, and watched the ongoing fight. Some heroes had managed to place a tentacle under some form of stasis, and were now calling for the other heroes to target that particular tentacle in order to hopefully nullify the octopus's attacking strength. Some did so, and blasts of energy, fire and machine gun bullets cascaded against the tentacle, causing the beast to let out a loud wail, and withdraw the damaged tentacle underneath the water's surface.
Some heroes were complaining on the shoreline, and seemed to be motioning how their powers weren't any use against the octopus, despite having been very effective some while back. Their complaints were met with shouts from the battling heroes to do as well as they could, and that the City Council would reward them with an honorary title for their efforts. This seemed to appeal to some of the group, who then went in and valiantly fought, whilst others seemed to continue complaining, and flew or teleported off to battle crime elsewhere. The still-remaining heroes used the same tactic of holding a tentacle in place before barraging it with their attacks, which appeared to be working effectively. One hero started doing a celebratory dance in mid air, and was met by the impact of one of the octopus's tentacles hitting him at full force, and sending him across the bay towards Ethan and Rose.
Ethan saw the incoming hero, and pulled her down below the height of the stone wall, just as the hero passed over the top of where they had been standing, and landed with a loud thud on the pavement near to them. Rose gasped and put her hand to her mouth Is he..is he okay? Ethan got up from the floor, and walked over to the hero. The hero was dressed in apparently nothing but a pair of red speedos, his muscled body apparently too well-toned to fit appropriately into most standard hero costumes. As Ethan wandered over to the unconscious hero, a glowing green light covered the hero, and he vanished. I guess he had a hospital tracking device, lucky for him. Ethan said. They both went over to the wall, and watched the remainder of the fight.
The octopus was in its last throes of battle, defending itself only by spitting large quantities of ink at the heroes still left standing. A small group of the heroes surrounded the head of the octopus, and used a number of stasis fields on it. With the head locked in place, the final bursts of powers were shot out, and the beast sank below the waterline. The deep shadow of the octopus's outline could be seen fleeing from the site of conflict, to hide away and wait until it had rested itself for another battle, another day. As the various heroes celebrated, Ethan looked at Rose as she gazed out over the water, and took in her natural beauty, before pulling himself together. Come on, we'd best get you home. My wife's probably wondering where I am now as well. Rose nodded, and they both went back to the car. Ethan unlocked the doors, and they both climbed in. After they had both strapped in their seatbelts, Ethan turned on the ignition, checked behind him for any inattentive heroes running behind the car, and drove off towards Skyway City.
The rest of the drive to Rose's apartment block was uneventful. Ethan did his best to concentrate on the road, instead of on the beautiful young woman sitting in his car, and managed successfully, for the most part. Rose herself, was looking out of the window, as more heroes fought skirmishes with Clockworks in the distance, the blue jolts of electricity lighting up the now dark sky. Eventually, they arrived at the address Rose had told Ethan to drop her off at. Thanks for the ride Ethan, and the nice side show too. Rose smiled again, and reached over to give Ethan a quick hug. Oh... no problem at all. See you at work tomorrow. He replied, as she out of the car. As she walked off, Ethan couldn't help but look as she walked up the steps to her door. As he did so, a voice sounded in his head:
You should have been with her, at least she wouldn't have gotten sick.
Ethan felt his stomach churn at the thoughts that had just run through his head. They were wrong, and he knew it. He loved Elizabeth, but the nagging feeling in his head would not cease for the remainder of the drive home. He drove the car onto the driveway, stopped the engine, exited the car, locked it, and sighed heavily, hanging his head in private shame as he went to enter his house.
Comments about first chapter (didn't read the second yet)
First, maybe nitpcking and can be tied to language issue :
[ QUOTE ]
She was a pretty woman, just turned twenty-two, with flowing red hair, and delicate facial features, her body toned to the near-ideal degree, with all the curves in all the right places
[/ QUOTE ]
The character starts being pretty , but then evolves to near ideal to finally ends having everything at the right places.
I then started to build a mental picture of a nice looking woman but not a wonderful beauty. Then, I realized such character is apparently more beautiful than I thought.
And then I saw it as being truly a beauty, someone I wouldn't have call only "pretty" in first place 
While the Marcone are getting a description. Outcasts are mentionned without any explanation (yet ?).
However, the Trolls are getting a scene but we don't know how they look, what they do, why or even why they are called Trolls.
***
I was confused about Ethan intents after the car park scene.
Was he going to pursue the "Marcone goons" ?
Then comes Mind Sweeper. And the "Marcone goons" are completely out of the story.
I was under the impression Mind Sweeper is passing over Ethan car just as he exited the car park. But where are the Marcone ? Long left ?
It might be as you say that Mind Sweeper is " shooting off towards some unseen crime" without explicit mention of the Marcone.
Actually, the setting you are creating is fun to read. The life of someone in a town of supers.
However, when I started to read the last scene about Trolls, I was wondering why Ethan was finally talking/intervening/interacting with such dangerous boys.
As he casually calls the Trolls to move, despite a possible danger (after all, you mention they are throwing rocks at each other for fun), I was wondering if Ethan expected to see a super coming.
Then I recalled the car park scene.
Ethan looked to be willing to help at first but slowly, this intent fades into nothingness and we find him just dirving home.
****
The text starts focusing on Ethan, his work, a discovery, his boss, a company, then a kidnapping !!!
But after, the story is stalling with a tour of the city and events.
I enjoyed the events and the humour but I was more willing to know about Ethan and everything else. Or, at least, know more about the setting from Ethan thoughts or comments.
I wasn't able to determine if Ethan was blasé by all the supers around or still a bit amazed, if he expects them to be here to not.
That sort of things.
Now I only read the first chapter. Maybe I'll learn more after.
Good writing.
The main focus I try to add, at the moment, (and with some humour of course) is that the people in Paragon are used to having such events happen, it's just day-to-day life.
With the pretty comment, I guess it's just how different people view the word. I personally see'pretty' as on-par with 'beautiful'. And of course, the first time you see someone, you may see them in differing layers of beauty as you take more in.
With the Marcone incident, I did state:
[ QUOTE ]
The police would have to wait, and by that time, those Marcone goons would be too far away to apprehend.
[/ QUOTE ]
So, at that point, Ethan is now just heading home, unable to help at all, and is frustrated at this, as shown by the scene where he hits the steering wheel.
I'll admit I forgot to add details for the Trolls and Outcasts, so in any future chapters, I'll remember to describe them more.
Very nice story! Very nice!
I was just saying I was confused about Ethan choices, thoughts.
The next chapter from the novel, and things start to finally go somewhere near the end. (At last 
)
Chapter 3 - Twelve Hours.
Ethan stared up at the patterned ceiling above his bed, his eyes tracing the spiralled outlines of the ridges in the paintwork, noticing small flaked areas that would need to be repainted at some point, and a small crack near the door that looked unsightly, but was probably nothing to worry about just yet. He turned over to his right hand side, and looked at the digital alarm clock on the small wooden bedside table next to him. The time was 4.17am, the doctor had left exactly two hours ago, having given Elizabeth some more medication, stronger dosages than she had been using before, and helped her into the ambulance to take her to the nearest Accident & Emergency centre, after she'd had a bad turn whilst making a late-night snack.
He hadn't noticed she was gone until he woke up to find her not there, venturing downstairs, he found her lying on the kitchen floor doubled over in pain, unable to cry out for help. The doctor had told him that if he'd been any later, there was a good chance that could have been the end for her. Ethan still felt sick in the stomach over the thought of what might have happened if he hadn't woken up at that point, and found himself unable to bear the thought of it. He'd wanted to go with her, but she'd told him, as strongly as she could in her state, to stay at home and sleep, and come by in the morning. As if he could sleep after that, he told himself. He looked over at the clock again, 4.30am, closed his eyes, and with no prior warning, fell into a comfortable sleep.
Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep
The alarm clock rang and rang, the sound drilling into Ethan's head as he sleepily reached out and attempted to turn the alarm clock off, the button however, was just out of reach. He sighed heavily, and sat up, and turned towards the wooden bedside table, and switched the alarm off, before placing his face in his hands and sighing again. Looking at the time, he realised he was running late, it was 8.45am already, and he needed to be at the work shop for 9.00am. Well, Mr Austin would have to wait, his wife was ill, and she was more important than the prototype. Ethan got changed into some casual clothes, and packed his lab coat and work clothes into a small suitcase, before heading downstairs and dialling work from the phone in the kitchen.
The phone rang continuously, until just before Ethan was about to hang up, it was answered by a slightly out of breath Rose. H..H..Hello, good morning, this is AusTech Ethan rolled his eyes, and replied Hi Rose, it's Ethan here. I'm going to be late in today, possibly not in at all. Elizabeth got taken to hospital last night and I'm going in to see her. Rose nodded, Sure thing Ethan, send my regards to Elizabeth, and I'll let Mr Austin know. Ethan hung up, picked up his keys from the kitchen worktop, went out the front door, and got into his car. Checking he had everything he needed, he put the keys in the ignition, and started up the car. Ethan contemplated which way would be quickest to the Steel Canyon Accident & Emergency Ward, he normally avoided the 'short' route through Atlas Park, as it was always busy, and also for some reason, more highly populated with heroes who had a habit of running in front of cars, hence why the scenic route through Independence Port and the Kings Row bypass always took a shorter time, and had better scenery.
However, today he decided it was worth taking the risk of the Atlas Park route, if there was a chance to get to Elizabeth quickly, he had to take it. He manoeuvred the car off of the driveway, and headed to the north exit from Skyway City, and to the tunnel leading to Atlas Park. The tunnel system had always annoyed Ethan, after they'd been created as part of the 'War Wall' defence system after the Rikti Invasion. He wasn't sure of the exact details of what happened, save for rumours of a large spacecraft appearing above City Hall, and being cooped up in his house for nearly a week by Longbow agents, who had said it was too dangerous to be outside. Thankfully, rations had been sent to people's homes during that time, but there were still tales of large families starving during that period, by no fault of their own other than having planned their shopping to be done on the same day the invasion started, and then living off of rations pre-packaged for four people rather than 6 or more.
The War Walls had been erected afterwards in order to prevent mass transit between city districts, so that future armies would be restricted in moving troops around. The major flaw Ethan could see, was that it also prevented civilians from evacuating an area quickly if a planned strike was revealed. However, that was for the city council to work out, what could he do himself? He was just a civilian. Driving onwards, the sunlight from the end of the tunnel eventually appeared, and the statue of Atlas holding the world on his shoulders loomed in the distance, with the usual small number of heroes flying up to the top of the globe to show off their powers. Ethan slowed his speed down as he turned onto the main road in Atlas, checking as much as possible for anyone running into his path, or more worryingly, anyone ready to use newly found powers they had no control over yet on a criminal on the other side of the road from themselves, with Ethan's car in the middle.
Thankfully, it seemed that the majority of heroes started work later than 9.00am, and the streets were relatively quiet, save for the usual mass of traffic at the junctions leading off towards Perez Park and Eastgate, sometimes nicknamed 'The Hollows' due to the fact half of it had collapsed into the ground a few years back. Ethan had never gone in there to check it out, despite his curiosity, thanks to the rumour the area was infested by Outcasts. A group of mostly young mutants, without homes or jobs, who had found life in crime, like many other kids these days, except these ones could shoot lightening and the like in their drive-by shootings. As such, it was probably best to let the few people who still lived there and the heroes venture in. Finally, after the traffic congestion cleared a little bit, Ethan took the turning off into Steel Canyon. He checked his watch, it was now 9.20am, a little quicker to get here than by the standard route, but not by an extraordinary amount.
Yet another tunnel loomed ahead, and Ethan was certainly glad he wasn't claustrophobic, otherwise this city would send him insane. With the tunnel system in place, it took a lot longer to get anywhere, as the design intended, and meant whole portions of the same district were cut off from each other, with streets literally divided in two, and Ethan couldn't help but think of the consequences that resulted with the Berlin Wall in Germany. Of course, things weren't as serious as that had been, but still, families were now cut off from having easy access to each other, and it made commuting to work feel like hell.
As he left this tunnel, Ethan noticed that a large number of heroes in the district seemed to be heading in the same direction. As he looked into the distance, he noticed a black column of smoke rising from the north end of Steel Canyon. The sound of sirens drew closer from his left hand side, and two fire trucks raced past, heading towards the scene of the emergency, followed a few seconds after by a police car. Ethan was just thankful it wasn't the hospital that had been attacked. The traffic started to move again, having let the emergency services go past, and Ethan continued to the hospital. He arrived there shortly after, and parked the car, checked he had his suitcase, and got out, locking the door behind him. He rushed inside, and went to the reception desk, where a short nurse with black curly hair was attending. Hi, my name's Ethan Mortimer, my wife, Elizabeth, she got brought in at around two o'clock this morning? The nurse looked up at him, and typed something into the computer without replying. After a few seconds, she said in a grating voice; Floor 2, Ward 6. Ethan thanked her, and went into an open lift.
The elevator carriage was empty, and no sound other than the whirring of engines and cables was heard during the short trip to the second floor, and Ethan found himself missing the annoying music from the AusTech elevator carriage. The lift doors opened smoothly, Ethan walked out, and began looking for Ward Six. Thankfully, the wards were numbered in a logical fashion, and it didn't take long to find Elizabeth's bed. As he walked in, she was still sleeping, and he checked his watch, 9.57am. He walked over to Elizabeth's side, and sat in the visitor's chair facing her left side, raised a hand to her cheek and stroked it slowly. She looked peaceful as she slept, a world away from the problems she faced, and the agony of the night before. Ethan took the hand nearest to him, and cupped it both of his, again stroking gently. Mr Mortimer I presume? a voice said from behind him, causing him to sit up straight and turn around on the chair, before standing up to greet the doctor. That's right, are you the resident looking after Elizabeth? he said, offering his hand to shake. Yes, I'm Doctor Griffin. Mr Mortimer, I think we need to have a word. Doctor Griffin motioned towards a visitor's room just outside the ward. Ethan nodded slowly, and walked into the visitor's room.
Doctor Griffin followed, and closed the door behind him. Ethan turned to face him, and asked What is it Doctor? Is she going to be okay? Doctor Griffin sighed, and removed his glasses, revealing tired-looking eyes. He obviously hadn't shaved for a day or so, and his mousy-brown hair was looking unkempt and unwashed. Is that what I look like at times? Ethan thought to himself as the Doctor replied. Mr Mortimer, your wife reacted badly to the medication we gave her last night. Instead of combating the illness, it served to in fact make it stronger. It's as if anything that enters her metabolic system is used as nourishment for whatever it is that's affecting her. I'm afraid Mr Mortimer, if no cure is found, your wife is unlikely to ever wake up.
Ethan's eyes glazed over as Doctor Griffin relayed the devastating news, staring into the middle space of nowhere, unable to fully comprehend what he had just been told. His face went pale with shock, before suddenly flushing red as he marched towards the visitor's room door and forced it open, before striding over to Elizabeth's bed, and taking her left in his right. I'm going to stop this Elizabeth, I'm going to stop this, and god help anyone who tries to stop me. He stood there for what seemed like hours when seconds had passed, before reaching over Elizabeth, and planting a solitary kiss on her lips.
With that done, he laid her hand back down by her side, and stormed out of the ward, and to the lift doors. He pressed the call button, and waited. It didn't open. He pressed it again, and again, repeatedly until he slammed his palm onto the button at full force. Destroying hospital equipment isn't going to save your wife Mr Mortimer! Doctor Griffin called out to Ethan as he walked calmly over. The lift door opened, and Ethan walked in, turned round to Doctor Griffin and replied in a calm and collected manner; No it's not, but it certainly makes me feel better. Now, I suggest you let me leave, before I break something more valuable. Ethan pressed the button for the ground floor, and the doors to the elevator carriage slid shut as he glared at Doctor Griffin. The descent to the ground floor was as silent as the ascent upwards, save for the heavy breathing resulting from Ethan's increased emotional state. The doors opened, and Ethan strode out of the elevator carriage, through the reception area, and to the car park, the attending nurse calling behind him in her grating voice; Have a nice day.
Ethan walked up to his car, and suddenly realised he had left his work clothes back in the hospital, having put down the suitcase to hold Elizabeth's hand. Cursing himself, he considered going back into the hospital to pick the suitcase up, but decided against it, otherwise he would find himself unable to leave Elizabeth's side, and what she needed right now was someone helping her, rather than someone feeling sorry for her. He unlocked the car, and got in, fastened his seatbelt, turned on the ignition and drove off towards the AusTech building. As he entered the underground car park, Ethan checked his watch again, 10.46am. The traffic had been congested on the way over, due to the fire in the north of the district, causing a quick journey to become a half an hour one instead. He parked the car, got out, and locked the door, heading for the lifts. Why did his days consist mainly of driving and travelling in lifts? He thought to himself as the irritating music played in the elevator carriage. What was the point of it all? Why put up with the endless day to day chore of every day being exactly the same?
The lift panel pinged, and the doors opened onto the reception. Ethan marched straight over to the door to the stairs, either ignoring or seemingly not hearing Rose's words of greeting and condolence. He travelled down the cold stone stairs to the work shop, and entered the security code into the door panel. The metal bar in the wall slid to it's resting place, and Ethan went into the workshop, slamming the door behind him, the lock not catching and leaving it slightly ajar. He began switching on all the computer terminals and equipment, before remembering to turn on the lights. Mr Austin's prototype, though near completion now, would have to wait. Elizabeth's life was more important to Ethan than the profits of an already successful company.
As the computer terminals finally all flickered into life, and the whirring of internal fans began, Ethan walked over to the corner of the work shop, where a large object lay covered by a dark red shroud. He gripped the shroud with both hands, and pulled it from over the object. What was revealed was a large metallic pod, with a glass cover, bits of circuitry from panels lying exposed and unconnected, all attached to a circular base and supported by a singular hydraulic stand. He put his welding gloves on, followed by his welding mask, and began working furiously on the device, using as much expertise as possible to make wirings work efficiently, but still not be a danger to the patient inside. Time passed, and Ethan began to feel the strain of working hard take over him.
As he began to take his welding gloves off, a woman's voice sounded from behind him; Ethan...are you all right? You seemed upset earlier. Ethan turned around in horror, how much had she seen? Did she know this wasn't what he was meant to be working on? He couldn't take that risk. He shouted back at her; GET OUT! GET OUT OF MY WORK SHOP THIS IS PRIVATE! picked up a circuit board that was lying on a terminal next to him and threw it at Rose's general direction. She screamed and ran back out of the door, slamming it shut behind her, tears rolling down her face. But that didn't matter to Ethan, what needed to be done was to get the gravitational stasis machine running, and running soon. He looked at his watch, it was now 2.17pm, there was still time left in the day.
Next chapter, and hopefully the last of the scene-setters, especially as it's now a fifth of the way into the planned wordcount.
Chapter 4 - Work.
Ethan removed his welding mask, and wiped the sweat from his brow. He had no idea what time it was now, having removed his watch to avoid it becoming caught in the machinery he was working on, it was now somewhere in the room, ticking away the minutes and hours that Ethan had been working, and was going to work until he had finished the gravitational stasis machine. However, despite his conviction to work, he was only human, and he needed to eat, and also, to sleep. Feeling his stomach ache at the lack of food he hadn't eaten that day, he realised he hadn't had anything to eat since last night, before Elizabeth had been taken to that infernal hospital. He removed his welding gloves, placed them on the surface of a spare computer terminal, and began to switch off the numerous computer units in the room. The fans began their usual process of decreasing speed until they lay still, and the room was silent save for the flickering sound of the neon strip-lights. Ethan turned and looked around to make sure everything was turned off, and also to see if his watch was immediately visible, which it wasn't. He sighed and left the room, closing the door behind him. He entered the usual code into the computer panel, and the familiar sliding and thump sound of the metal bar echoed through the stairwell.
Climbing up the stairs, practically dragging himself up using the cast iron railings, Ethan suddenly felt the effects of exhaustion. He removed his glasses, and ran his fingers across his eyelids to try and relieve the aching of his eyes. Continuing up the stairs, he hoped that Rose wasn't at her desk, he didn't want to have to deal with the guilt of walking past her to get to the lifts. He reached the floor for reception, placed one hand on the handle, took a deep breath and opened the door. The reception was silent, and devoid of life. The moonlight glow from the windowed front wall illuminated the otherwise darkened room, and served as the answer to how long Ethan had been working for. Ethan began to make his way to the lift door, and halted as he heard a soft padding sound behind him. He turned around to see figure behind him, hidden in the shadows. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, Ethan saw that the figure was definitely female, but he couldn't make out the face. Who are you? You shouldn't be here this time of night. Ethan remarked, a slight note of hesitation in his voice. The figure took a step closer, and replied in a soft female voice: Oh Ethan...why do you try? Why do you try? You can't do it, why do you try? Why do you try?
Ethan recoiled in horror as the figure took another step closer, and emerged in the moonlight, revealing her face. It was Elizabeth, but her face was...distorted...covered in what looked like dead flesh, her eyes pale and glazed over, no pupils visible. Why do you try? she kept repeating, as she moved closer to Ethan, who remained terrified and rooted to the spot. Elizabeth...no...no...please! I have to save you! I have to! Elizabeth came closer and started to reach out, her skin starting to rapidly decay as she reached forward, and Ethan let out a cry of horror. Why do you try? Why do you try? Why do you try?
Beep-beep-beep-beep. Beep-beep-beep-beep. Beep-beep-beep-beep.
Dear god NO! Ethan shouted out as he sat up suddenly, his body drenched in sweat, his eyes staring wildly at a ghost that wasn't there. The alarm clock by his bed continued to beep incessantly as he adjusted to his surroundings, and his vision started to focus. Reaching for the alarm, he turned it off, and the room was silent, save for the slowly decreasing rate of Ethan's heavy breathing. He breathed in deeply, and tried to steady his nerves, it had only been a bad dream, just a bad dream and nothing to worry about. But why would his subconscious be telling him not to try and save Elizabeth? Ethan sighed, and put his work clothes on. Today was the day, or so he hoped. The gravitational stasis machine was nearing completion, and with it, he could preserve Elizabeth, keep the illness at bay until a cure was found, rather than keeping it alive and nourished on the life-support systems.
He headed downstairs, and checked the cupboards for anything suitable for breakfast. He'd have to find time to shop soon, once Elizabeth was safe. Amongst the spices and savoury sauces, there was half a jar of peanut butter left. Ethan took the jar and placed it on the worktop, and placed the last two slices of bread he had into the toaster. As he waited for the bread to toast, he ran through some last calculations in his head, the numerous variables and formulae seeming so simple now that completion of the device was within his grasp. Ethan jumped slightly as the toaster popped out the cooked bread, before taking the toast, and spreading the peanut butter on top of the slices. Taking a bite out of the first one, his mind began to wander to the gravitational control prototype, Mr Austin was expecting it to be finished very soon, and though it was functional, Ethan was unsure whether it was completely safe for use.
Finishing his breakfast as he moved towards the front door, he picked up his car keys, and left his house. Holding the last remnants of toast in his teeth, Ethan unlocked his car, and climbed in, trying to avoid dropping any crumbs, and more importantly, the toast. He finished off the rest of the toast, licked his lips clean, and put the keys in the ignition, before starting the car up. Checking the time on the dashboard clock, he saw that it was 8.30am, just enough time to get to work. He moved the car off the driveway, and headed for Steel Canyon. The drive to work was not as eventful as it had been recently, only the odd caped hero was seen flying overhead, or leaping from rooftop to rooftop, or the ones who seemed to be stuck with running about everywhere, only slightly faster than a normal human. Eventually, after what seemed like a quick journey, Ethan arrived at AusTech, and headed for the underground car park.
He parked the car, turned off the engine, and got out of the car. The underground car park was silent, as always. There had never been any sign of the Marcone gangsters from a while back, and though Ethan had called the police after getting home that evening they were there, the police couldn't find any decisive trail of evidence, and the security cameras had been disabled at that time. Ethan couldn't stop wondering what they had been doing here though, the person they had apparently kidnapped didn't work for the company, as no notice had been given of anyone going missing, and nothing had been stolen from the laboratories either.
Ethan headed towards the lifts, pressed the call button and waited. The echo of a police siren went through the underground car park as police car zoomed past the entrance, followed by the heavy rumbling of what could have been a fire truck. The fires in Steel Canyon had been on the increase recently, it seemed that the Hellions, a group of thugs rather obsessed with fire, were making a territorial move against other gangs in the district. The majority of buildings hit so far had been old and disused, probably gang hideouts, but in the past week, two inhabited apartment blocks had been hit by the arson attacks. The lift panel made a beeping sound, and the doors slid open. Ethan walked inside, pressed the button for the reception, and waited for the elevator carriage to ascend. The familiar haunt of elevator music rang through the carriage, until it halted, and the doors opened on the reception area.
Rose was busy getting started for the day at her desk, when Ethan strolled across the marble floor, towards the stairs to his workshop. She looked up, bit her lip, and got out of her chair, and walked swiftly over to Ethan, and put a hand on his shoulder. Ethan...please. I'm sorry I walked in on your work, but why are you ignoring me like this? What's wrong Ethan? He turned and looked at her, her hand slipping off his shoulder, his eyes meeting hers. I'm sorry Rose, I really am. But I have work to do. He attempted a small half smile, and walked off again towards the stairs. As he did so, Rose asked, in quiet voice no-one else could hear; Ethan...what are you doing down there?
The workshop was as he had left it the night before, tools laying scattered everywhere, the grey concrete floor barely visible any more, computer terminals being used as tables rather than as apparatus. Ethan turned on the lights, walked over to the gravitational stasis machine, pulled out a soldering iron from the trolley nearby, and started to make the final adjustments needed. It took him barely an hour to make the final connections, and the lights on the control panel for the machine flickered into life as they lit up, and a dull humming noise filled the workshop. Ethan went to the computer terminal nearest the machine, and swept the equipment covering its keyboard onto the floor, causing a loud clanging noise as various metal objects hit the concrete. He switched it on, and rooted around the floor for a connecting cable, which he attached from the computer terminal to the gravitational stasis device. The computer terminal adjusted itself to the new intake of data, and began displaying technical information relating to the machine it was attached to. Now, all Ethan needed, was the last component.
Until then, he needed to fill the time. Noticing the metal work table with the prototype on, he walked over, and began to work on it, grinning to himself as a plan hatched in his head for that night. Not only would both devices be built and ready to use, the control device would be given its first field test as well. The hours wiled by, with Ethan attempting to fit week's worth of calculations and construction into one day, until finally, the control device was ready. A contraption consisting of a mass of circuitry, circuit boards, and one transmitter device, packed into two braces, ready to fit on a person's forearm and shoulder. The design, whilst still bulky, due to being in the prototype stages, would easily fit hidden underneath a bulky enough coat. Ethan looked around for his watch, and saw its glint underneath the worktable he had just been working on. It was 4.30pm, enough time to buy some food supplies, and a large coat.
Ethan covered the gravitational stasis machine and the prototype with plastic dust covers, and left the work shop, putting the security code into the panel, his head blanking out the now too-familiar sound of the security bar closing. He ran up the stairs, opened the wooden door to reception, and walked in. Rose was directing a few suited men to the elevator, and caught sight of Ethan at the door. Ethan!..are you okay? she asked, a hint of worry in her voice. He looked over at her, and smiled, for the first time in weeks he smiled, and replied I'm fine Rose, thanks. Never felt better. If I'm not back, could you leave a side-door open? I'm popping down the road to grab some food, I'll be working late tonight Rose looked a little surprised, shrugged and smiled back; Sure thing Ethan, take care. Ethan nodded and headed out the door.
He decided, as he walked out into the muggy air outside, that getting the jacket would be best first, as Icon was a small walk away, and closed earlier than any corner shop he could get food from. Ethan walked briskly towards the west side of Steel Canyon, doing his best to walk on the opposite side of the street to anyone who looked like they could be a gang member. Occasionally, he'd walk by a small group of people huddled together wearing similar shirts and jeans, but he'd walk by in the hope they wouldn't notice him, and those that did notice, he simply gave a half-smile to and walked on regardless. The traffic on the roads was starting to pick up as rush hour approached, though it wasn't late enough yet for a significant decrease in people walking about, whom Ethan envied, having the free time to walk, possibly aimlessly for the day, without a care in the world, unless they were seen as an easy target by a passing criminal.
The walk up the steep incline to the west side of Steel Canyon took the breath out of Ethan somewhat, but he persevered onwards, avoiding going too near any alleyways as he passed by them, especially if there was a noticeably bad smell nearby. Finally, after a half hour walk, he arrived at Icon, and went in. The interior seemed even brighter than outside, especially with the light reflecting off the numerous shining costumes of the mass of heroes waiting in line for the changing rooms. The sheer amount of colour, and bad fashion sense, made Ethan's eyes begin to hurt. He walked over to the main counter, and asked the attendant there: Excuse me, I'm looking for a large bulky coat, preferably something like a trench coat? The attendant looked up at him, her heavily mascaraed eyes looking at him disapprovingly, and clashing awfully with her green top and bright red hair. Doesn't everyone these days? We're out of stock at the moment, you'll have to wait three months before any more come in. Ethan sighed; Anything else in stock? It just needs to be bulky enough to carry things in unnoticed. The attendant nodded and produced a dark brown jacket. That'll be 2,700 influence points please. Ethan raised an eyebrow, and pulled out his wallet. Do you take American Express? The attendant sighed and replied Oh, a civilian. Fair enough, that's a hundred dollars please. Ethan handed over a credit card, and the attendant swiped it through the machine. Thank you sir, have a nice day she said as she packed the jacket into a black Icon bag, and handed it back to Ethan along with his credit card. He nodded and walked out of the store. The sun had already begun to set in the distance, and Ethan headed for the nearest supermarket. There was going to be no time to head home for dinner tonight, he was going to save Elizabeth, and nothing was going to stop him.
Next chapter, and little bit longer than the others, but only a few hundred words, and I'm sure you'll see why I couldn't leave it at the quota level. 
Chapter 5 - The Rescue.
That'll be five dollars sixty please Ethan reached into his wallet and pulled out a ten dollar note, before handing it to the male teenager at the till. He looked around what he could see of the supermarket, people in matching uniforms of black trousers and dark blue shirts, pushing service trolleys stacked with food items and toiletries, having to compensate for the lack of brakes on such heavy objects as they rolled past the corners they were trying to turn around, all the while attempting not to push the service trolleys into the customers walking by. It was people in situations like this that the prototype was eventually supposed to help, by allowing heavy objects to be lifted onto the trolley without strain by reducing the gravitational pull downwards, or being able to brake with heavy trolleys by making gravitational forces go sideways in a localised area around the wheels. The gravitational control device would make Ethan a rich man, but what were riches without someone to share them with? Here's your change sir the till assistant said as he handed the money to Ethan, who thanked him, picked up his bags with some food in, and walked to the exit from the supermarket.
The last glimpses of daylight had long since disappeared since Ethan had gone into the supermarket, the sky now a hazy dark blue as the first stars started to emerge above. He started to walk back towards the AusTech building, Icon bag in his left hand, grocery bag in his right, as the streets started to empty of people, save for the odd group huddled underneath the overhangs of buildings, smoking and chatting, exchanging tales of whatever deeds they had been up to that day. As Ethan walked onwards, he noticed out of the corner of his eye, one member of a group point at him and laugh. He walked onwards, picking up his pace, and heard the sound of numerous footsteps behind, trying to keep up with him. Ethan resisted the temptation to look behind him and just kept walking forwards, getting closer to the AusTech building, only a block away now. He looked left and right quickly as he went to cross a road, not caring about if he was jaywalking, and reached the other side, taking a sharp right to get around the office block in front of him. Ethan considered going inside just to be out of the way of whoever was following him, but as he passed the front entrance, he saw that the lights were off, and everyone had gone home. The AusTech building was close, but if the front door was locked, he'd have to walk round to the side entrance, in the alley between it and the next building, which would mean wasting time to fumble with keys to try and get inside.
He wasn't going to have to worry about that, as a hand reached out and grabbed him by the shoulder, forcefully turning him round to look at his pursuers. There were five of them, all dressed in similar clothing, blue denim jeans, with orange jackets that had the sleeves cut off, and white shirts underneath, save for one, wearing a black waistcoat and some weird face mask, with a distorted facial pattern on it, and white horns protruding from its surface. What's in the bags pops? the masked gang member asked, pointing at Ethan, before bringing his face closer to Ethan's. And no fibs either, or I might get a bit angry, and you won't like me when I'm angry. The other gang members seemed to find this hilarious and started laughing, either at the joke, or at Ethan. One of them reached forwards and grabbed Ethan's right arm, whilst another grabbed his left. Now, what's in the bags? the masked member asked again. Ethan struggled to try and get free, to no avail. It's just some food, it's nothing important, please, just let me go! he said to the masked gang member. Well, that may be the case behind door number one, but let's see what's behind door number two shall we? I mean, a bag from Icon, it wouldn't be good for your health to find some hero's outfit in there, if you know what I mean? The masked gang member reached over, grabbed the Icon bag by the handle, and started to tug it from Ethan's hand. Hey! Let go of that! It's just a jacket, get off of it! Ethan started to shout. Hey, might want to lower your voice, don't want to attract any unwanted-- The masked gang member didn't get a chance to finish his sentence, as a large bolt of blue energy slammed into him and sent him flying off to one side.
The other gang members released their grip on Ethan, and looked around for the source of the blast, but the roadside was empty, with not a person in sight. One of the gang members slowly reached into his inside jacket pocket and pulled out a pistol. Just as he was about to release the safety catch, another barrage of blue energy hit him square in the chest, and he was knocked to the floor unconscious. The remaining three gang members looked upwards to see a female form hovering above their heads, and instinctively reached for their own weapons. One was hit with more energy blasts, and fell to the floor with a thud, as the other two started firing pot shots into the air around the female hero. She swooped down gracefully and effortlessly, and one of her hands started to glow red, a shining light coming from the glow which illuminated the immediate area. A gang member stopped to reload, and was met with heavy punch to the chest that flung him backwards a good twenty foot. The last gang member gulped, and started to run in the opposite direction to the female hero. She stayed hovering in mid-air, pointed her arm at the fleeing criminal, aimed, and fired a concentrated burst of energy that knocked him face-forwards onto the floor.
Ethan stood there shaking slightly, watching the events unfurl before him in a matter of seconds, before the buzzing sound of a police drone came into earshot, and moved quickly towards the scene. It hovered in mid-air, scanning the unconscious gang members, and one by one, teleported them, using whatever technology it was that was inside that small dome, to the nearest jail cell. As he watched the drone teleport the gang members away, the female hero landed next to him. Are you all right sir? She asked softly. Ethan nodded, thanked her and began to walk towards the AusTech building. My name's Shimmer, if you're ever in trouble, just give a call! she shouted cheerily to him as he walked off. The words didn't register with Ethan, instead he just felt a immense feeling of anger at his own ineptness. If he had powers, he'd have shown those muggers not to mess with him. As it was, he was just a man, and there was nothing he could do about it. He walked up the front door of AusTech, tried the handle, and rattled it as it remained shut. The side door had been left unlocked, as he had asked Rose to, and he was thankful at least for that. He walked in,and headed for his work shop.
As he entered the work shop, he checked his watch, the time was nearing seven o'clock. A couple of hours to eat and fine-tune the equipment would do to pass the time. Ethan set the two bags on a spare worktop, and took out the chicken and mushroom pastry slice he had purchased, opened the foil packet, and started to eat it ravenously. After it was finished, he swept the crumbs from his lab coat, and reached inside the supermarket bag for the bottle of water he had bought, undid the top, and began to drink it, and spat out a mouthful as he realised what a fool he'd been. He didn't have to put up with being an easy target any more, he had the power and the means necessary to defend himself, and it had been sitting in the work shop all this time. Ethan walked over to the work top with the prototype on it, removed the plastic dust cover, and looked at it intently. He removed his lab coat, and placed it on a nearby computer terminal, before picking up the prototype in both hands, and beginning to attach it to his right arm. The catches on the equipment fitted neatly over his forearm and shoulder, though the battery unit on his shoulder felt sightly heavy, but that was something to work out for the next development stage.
Ethan moved his arm around to get used to the weight of the device on his arm, lifting it up and down, and flexing the arm in and out. The device moved seamlessly, and after a while, felt natural to Ethan, despite the cold feel of the metal through his shirt and onto his skin. But it was time for a more practical test for the device. Ethan bit his lip, and slid the switch on the side of the device to the 'ON' position. A high pitched whining noise came from the device, which settled to a low hum after a few seconds. Ethan looked around the work shop, and spotted a wrench lying on the floor, he walked over to it, cleared the area around it, and stepped back, before aiming his right hand outstretched at the wrench, and raising his arm slowly upwards. Nothing happened. Ethan breathed in, concentrated fully on the wrench, and raised his arm again. At first, it seemed that it wasn't working again, but suddenly, the wrench started to shake slightly, scraping the floor, and without warning, flew straight upwards, and into one of the lights on the ceiling, causing a loud crashing noise and sparks to fly out as the glass tube shattered and shards hit the floor. Ethan recoiled as the sparks flew outwards, and half the room fell into darkness.
He cursed himself underneath his breath, and looked at the wrench again, laying on the floor having landed from its impact with the lights. Ethan concentrated on the wrench again, raised his arm outwards, and lifted it again, but kept concentrating on the wrench, and clenched his fist as it levitated into the air. The wrench stayed where it was, and Ethan lowered his arm, the wrench staying where it was. He wandered over, and touched the wrench, but it stayed where it was, he tried tugging at it, but it remained perfectly still and immobile. The device had somehow caused the wrench to become its own centre of gravity, without collapsing in on itself. As Ethan was looking at the wrench in wonder, it suddenly fell to the floor, clanging on the hard concrete. Ethan looked at it, pointed his arm at it, and raised upwards, clenching his fist again, resulting in the wrench once again becoming suspended in mid air, and again, after a short while, dropping to the floor. He timed it using his watch, the wrench would stay in the air for approximately a minute or so, sometimes several seconds more, sometimes several seconds less.
Ethan moved over to one of the metal workbenches, cleared it of the various soldering and mechanical items on it, and wheeled it to the centre of the room. He stood back against the wall, looked at the workbench, and began to raise his right arm and clench his fist, like he had with the wrench. Sure enough, the workbench shuddered, and levitated into the air, before hanging in mid air. The next few hours were spent experimenting with the device, lifting up various objects, suspending them in the air, and eventually, with practice, being able to move them through the air with a reasonable degree of control. He looked at his watch, it was gone 10 o'clock now, how time and various objects flew when having fun. Ethan took the brown jacket out of the Icon bag, and put it on. It was a little baggy and oversized for him, but that meant it served its purpose of covering up the device on his arm.
He headed for the door to the workshop, opened it, and left the room, leaving the security bar unlocked, and headed up the stairs, his footsteps echoing as always throughout the cold and empty stone stairwell. The wooden door up the stairs led into the reception area, and Ethan continued striding onwards, his footsteps creating the only noise in the dark empty space. Unlocking the catch on the metal shutters covering the glass doors, he lifted it upwards with both hands, manoeuvred past the shutter point, and let it slide to the floor. He turned and unlocked one of the front doors, and left the building, before heading in the direction of the hospital, hands in the pockets of his jacket.
The streets were clear save for the odd taxi or van that went past on the road, and Ethan reached the hospital in no more than twenty minutes walk. He walked to the front door, and entered the hospital, where the reception area was empty, with no one attending the desk. Ethan looked around the ceiling level, and spotted two security cameras, one pointing near the desk and the other towards the lifts. He outstretched his arm, and both the cameras bent upwards until they were simply recording the ceiling, allowing him to walk casually across the reception floor, keeping an eye out for any one around. He pressed the call button for the lift, which opened immediately and walked in, without turning around, he fumbled for the lift panel, and pressed the button for what he hoped was Floor 2. The chances were reasonably high that there were cameras in the lift, and would be pointed towards where people would be facing the lift door. The elevator carriage's doors shut, and it started to ascend. The doors opened again, and Ethan stepped out backwards, looking up at the floor indicator above the lift door, it was the second floor. He turned around slowly, the halls were again all deserted, and Ethan was thankful for a quiet night accident-wise. Ethan looked around for any more obvious cameras, but none were to be seen, and so he headed for Elizabeth's room. He opened the door to her ward, and closed it quietly behind him, before heading swiftly to Elizabeth's bed. She was still hooked up to various tubes and machines, those machines that were probably keeping whatever was afflicting her alive and strong. Ethan followed the cables from the machines, to a few sockets in the wall, and flicked the switches on the wall to the 'OFF' position. The machine's low humming faded away, and Ethan started to remove the various tubes from Elizabeth's body.
Once she was removed from the various medical tubes, Ethan placed one hand underneath her shoulders, the other underneath her knees, and lifted her from the bed. He hurried over to the window, and peered through the glass. He couldn't take the lift, as regardless of not having his face shown, a person carrying an unconscious woman was going to be noticed by anyone who could be watching the security footage at the time. He stretched his palm underneath Elizabeth, and the window eased open by itself, before Ethan took one step out, and onto the ledge, and jumped, concentrating as hard as he could, as he lowered gently to the ground two floors down, and landed on the tarmac below with barely a sound. He turned in the direction of AusTech, and leapt forwards, the reduced gravity in the area around him causing him to leap massive distances with ease, and land without a sound. Within a minute, he was back at the AusTech building's front entrance. Again outstretching his palm, the glass doors swung open and the metal barrier rose upwards as Ethan, still carrying Elizabeth, passed underneath. Once he was inside, he turned around, motioned his hand, and the doors and metal barrier closed, and shut.
Ethan walked calmly onwards to his work shop, opening the doors with a simple gesture of his hand, the actions becoming easier as Ethan grew accustomed to using the powers at his disposal. Upon entering the work shop, he let go of Elizabeth, and she stay suspended in mid air as he hurried to removed the dust cover from the gravitational stasis machine, and started it up, before opening the door to the pod, and rushing to Elizabeth's side, ready to catch her as she dropped out of the air. He walked over to the machine, and laid her down inside the pod, ensuring she looked as comfortable as possible, and closing the door. He pressed a button on the side of the pod, and a hissing sound indicated the hydraulic lock sliding into place. Another button was pressed, and the whirring sound of internal fans began to sound from the machine, however, before Ethan could start the machine up, a voice sounded from behind him. A bit late to still be working, isn't it?
The next chapter, I won't say anything, or I'll spoil the surprises.
Chapter 6 - Downfall.
Ethan spun round on the spot, his right hand still staying as close as possible to the computer terminal, as he looked to see who was talking, but the wrench accident from earlier on meant that half of the room was still covered in darkness. He could just about make out the outlines of four people at the other end of the work shop, three of them wearing similar fedora hats, and a slight glint of light reflecting at what would have been around waist height revealing at least one of the figures had a gun of some sort. Who are you, and what are you doing in my work shop? Ethan asked, his voice trembling slightly as he tried to remain still so as to not risk any trigger-happy shooting from the other people. Your workshop Mr Mortimer? YOUR workshop? Why, Ethan, how can you take such personal ownership of something that doesn't even belong to you, why, next you'll be saying how this machine...whatever it is, that's running on company power and resources, is YOURS too! As the shadowy figure finished his sentence, he walked forwards a few deliberate steps into the light. I own this building Mr Mortimer, I own the equipment you're using, I own you. Ethan's eyes widened as he realised that the person opposite him was Mr Austin, the head of AusTech. Surprised to see me? I should hope not. You do happen to owe me something, that my...friends are really rather eager to get a hold of. On that sentence, the three other men walked forwards, revealing their neatly creased pinstripe suits, and tommy guns all pointed at Ethan. Hey's, this is the's jerk who's was in's the car park's a while's back. one of them said in a whiny mock Italian voice. Mr Austin smirked and replied; Really? Oh Ethan, you should have phoned the police sooner then, although I had a business partner round, who had a very important appointment to keep down at the docks. At this, all four men laughed at what was, at best, a very private joke.
Looking round for any sort of weapon, Ethan stood rooted to the spot, and moved slowly to cover the computer terminal with his body, as to obstruct the screen. I wouldn't try anything rash Ethan, my friends are watching you very closely. Now, I have a deal to provide them with the first prototype of the gravity control device. Where is it? It's needed rather urgently for an important business venture at the bank in Founder's Falls. Ethan shook his head and replied; You're working with criminals Austin, no good can come of this. Mr Austin suppressed a laugh, and replied back; Mr Marcone is a very generous man, and helps with funding difficulties, I think a lot of good can come from my business arrangements with him. Ethan took a step forward, and there was a loud explosion of gunfire as one of the Marcone goons fired a burst of bullets from his tommy gun. Ethan dived to the floor, as the shots flew past and hit the computer terminal. What on earth did you do that for you fool! Mr Austin exclaimed angrily at the goon, as sparks flew from the terminal over Ethan's head, and a low humming noise started to rise in pitch from near Ethan. He's got's a bomb there! Fire! one of the other goons shouted, and started firing wildly at the computer terminal, and the other two opened fire as well beginning to obliterate the computer terminal. Stop firing you idiots! STOP! Mr Austin's voice was lost amongst the sound of gunfire.
Click. The clips of the tommy guns were empty, and the noise had started to reach a high-pitched whine, as the gravitational stasis machine hummed, and made clunking noises, before a surge of electricity jumped out and struck one of the goons, sending him flying backwards into the wall, smoke rising from his jacket . The other goons looked at each other, reloaded their clips, and started firing at the pod of the gravitational stasis machine. Some bullets bounced off the metal casing, others hit exposed areas of circuitry. Please god no! Stop firing, stop it! Don't damage it please! The machine started whirring loudly, and the goons stopped firing. Ethan got up from the floor and rushed to the pod, looking through the protective cover. Oh god, it's started working...I can't stop it... He rushed over to a spare terminal, and tried to re-route its connections to the gravitational stasis machine. No! Nooo! he cried as he saw what was happening. The damage done by the gunfire was causing the machine to malfunction, and instead of completely stopping the metabolic rate of Elizabeth, it was speeding it up beyond normal human levels. He ran over to the pod, and tried to force open the door, and was thrown backwards by another surge of electricity, picking himself up he lunged at it again, an agonising cry emerging from him as he struggled to try, somehow, to save Elizabeth from her impending fate. The high pitched whine raise up in pitch even further, and Ethan clutched at his ears as the sound began to cause physical pain, falling to the floor as it reached agonising levels, Mr Austin and the remaining goons doing the same, until suddenly, the noise peaked, and started to quickly fade away.
The room fell silent, save for the odd crackle and spark from the damaged computer terminal behind Ethan, whose ears were ringing intensely, as he picked himself up off the floor, and staggered over to the gravitational stasis machine, which had thin columns of smoke rising from various parts of its structure. He pressed a button on the side, and the hydraulic lock creakily slid opened. Looking away, he lifted the cover of the pod, and bit on his lip, tears already starting to roll down his face. He forced himself to look into the now open pod, and let out a loud cry of anguish, as he dropped to his knees and began to sob violently. Inside the pod, there remained simply a thin layer of dust, the only remnant of the life that only minutes ago had still been in there, now lost forever. Mr Austin reached out one hand, grabbed hold of a nearby table, and dragged himself off of the floor, before dusting himself off and speaking. Mr Mortimer, I don't know what exactly was in that machine that's caused all this, but hand us the prototype, and we'll be on our way. Ethan wiped the tears from his face, and stood up again, his body shaking with trauma and a rising feeling of rage. That...that was..my wife..you heartless...inconceivable...son of a bi- His words were cut out as the click of a weapon being readied stopped his progress forwards. Ethan licked his lips, and looked at the two goons aiming their tommy guns at him. You want the device Austin? You want it bad, huh? Well, I wouldn't want to give it to you without a...demonstration. Ethan raised his right hand up, the scorch marked brown jacket still concealing the device underneath, and clenched his fist as he pointed towards one of the goons.
H..hey! What's going's on? The goon shouted as he felt his body start to constrict itself and lock up. Help..help..I can't move! Ethan raised his arm further up, and the goon started to move upwards, a look of panic in his eyes as he lost the last amount of control over his own body, and strangled, garbled noises came from his frozen mouth as he attempted to speak. Still clenching his fist, Ethan suddenly swung his arm to the left, and rammed the held goon into the other, knocking him off his feet. He then flexed his arm outwards, resulting in the floating goon being flung backwards into a computer terminal, the loud crack of a broken bone being heard. Ethan looked at one of the metal trolleys near to him, reached out, and motioned for it to be lifted into the air, where it hung for a second, before it flew wildly towards the other goon, who was just clambering to his feet at the time. It hit him at full impact, sending him unconscious before he hit the floor with a dull thud, the metal trolley carrying onwards and hitting the wall with a loud clanging noise. Ethan turned, and look straight at Mr Austin, who went white and started stumbling backwards as he talked; Look..Look, Ethan...I had...I had no idea...really...I'm sorry..please don't...please don't hurt me. Mr Austin glanced at the nearby door, still swinging open from where he had entered earlier, and ran through the exit, slamming the door shut behind him, entering the security code, and running as fast as he could up the stone stairwell.
Ethan simply stared at the door, raise his right hand, clenched his fist, and pulled backwards, causing the door to buckle, then fly backwards into the room, before hitting the opposite wall and falling noisily to the floor. He walked through the now open doorway, and heard the frantic cry of Mr Austin, just as the door to the reception slammed shut above him. Ethan strode briskly up the stairwell, climbing over multiple steps at a time, and opened the door to the reception. The moonlit room gave no clues as to where Mr Austin was, but a soft thud from the distance in the otherwise silent room indicated the elevator was being used. Ethan ran over to the lift, and hammered on the call button, as the floor indicator above the door showed the lift going down to the underground car park, before slowly rising back up to the reception. The lift doors slid open, and Ethan hurried into the elevator carriage, and pressed the button for the underground car park. The lift doors closed, and the elevator carriage started to descend, the irritating music playing as always, until Ethan raised his right hand up, and the speaker fell from the ceiling, the connections severed, leaving the elevator carriage silent.
The elevator carriage jolted to a halt, and the doors opened on the underground car park. Ethan rushed out, and saw Austin running towards a red car in the distance, just finishing on a phone call. Austin turned around, saw Ethan, and began running faster towards the car. Ethan outstretched his arm, and pulled backwards. Austin's face showed a look of horror, and he dived to the floor as his car hurtled towards him through the air, and landed on the other side of him. The car stayed still for a second, before sliding slowly across the floor towards him, the tyres screeching slightly as they were forced sideways across the tarmac. Austin got up from the floor, and ran, covering his head as the car jerked slightly, then was again flung in his direction, missing him by inches. Austin started to sob slightly as the car scraped along the floor towards him, not flying any more, but herding him back towards the lifts, and to Ethan. Austin lurched forward suddenly, and attempted to clamber over the slowly moving car. As he got onto the bonnet, it picked up speed and he held onto one of the side mirrors in a desperate attempt to stay on, as the car raced towards Ethan, still motioning with his arm, and came to a sudden halt, causing Austin to fall off the car and onto the floor by Ethan. Don't try to run from your crimes Austin. Ethan said coldly, as he grabbed Austin by his jacket with his left hand. Now, we're going to show the world what a piece of scum you are. Dragging Austin, Ethan went back into the elevator carriage, hoisting him inside, and pressed the button for the top floor. The elevator carriage climbed slowly upwards, Austin still sobbing as he remained defenceless against Ethan. The door panel made a pinging noise, and the doors slid open, as Ethan dragged Austin out, and towards the stairs up to the roof.
The air on top of the AusTech building was cool and fresh, and a slight wind was starting to pick up as Ethan dragged Austin towards the edge of the rooftop. As he looked over the edge, he was met with the intense brightness of a spotlight in his face from down below. There were a dozen or so police cars stationed outside the building, with spotlights aimed at the roof. I see..there's a..there's a welcoming committee for you Mr Mortimer. Austin said as he slowly released himself from Ethan's grip. Give me your phone. Ethan replied without hesitation. Austin chuckled slightly, and handed his phone over to Ethan's open hand. What good is that going to do you Mortimer? You're a criminal now, violent attacks, kidnapping, attempted murder. Ethan stared back at him as he dialled the emergency services. I'm not going to kill you, at least, so long as I get a confession to whatever crimes you've been involved in with the Marcones, and you get to spend the next 25 to life as penance for what you did to Elizabeth..yes..this is Ethan Mortimer, currently standing in the cool air on top of the AusTech building and enjoying the view. Could I be put through to the officer in charge down below please? Ethan said as the operator answered on the other end of the line.
Hello. Mr Mortimer? This is Chief Newman, of the Paragon Police Department, we are advising you to release your hostage, and descend from the building peacefully. Ethan rolled his eyes, and replied. I'm not the criminal here, Mr Austin is, and I'm going to get a confession to prove it. Down below, Chief Newman turned to talk to one of his tactical advisers, covering the mouthpiece to the phone he was using. If he tries anything to endanger the hostage, you have permission to give the order to fire. Newman removed his hand from the mouthpiece, and replied back. Don't do anything you may regret Mr Mortimer, we just want to end this all peacefully.
Ethan turned to Austin, who was standing there looking triumphant, and reached out his right arm. Austin barely had time to register surprise, as he was lifted from the ground, and moved swiftly over the edge of the building, suspended in mid air. Ethan pointed the phone at Austin; Now, tell the chief everything, and I'll let you down safely. Austin cried out as he looked down past his feet at the street below, a good forty or so stories down. Okay! Okay! I admit it! Please let me down! I did it ,all of it! I'm working with the Marcones, I was in on the Steel Canyon protection racket! All of it! Please, for the love of all that's holy put me-- His confession was cut off as a single gunshot echoed over the top of the building, and Ethan staggered backwards, clutching his chest with his left hand, still holding out his right at Austin, before stumbling sideways, and toppling off of the building, his grip releasing on Austin, who suddenly fell out of suspended air and towards the ground below.
The next chapter from the novel, and a one-off for now, looking at the situation from someone else's point of view rather than Ethan's, who in turn, does not appear in this chapter.
If anyone has any views on the story so far, now that it's developed more, feel free to comment. 
Chapter 7 - To Serve And Protect.
Code seven! Code seven! We have a medical emergency at the AusTech building in Steel Canyon! I repeat, an urgent medical emergency in Steel Canyon! Chief Newman put the mouthpiece for the emergency radio back into his police car, closed the door and ran towards the yellow warning barriers currently holding the public and press at bay from the scene in front of them. Terence Austin, the head of AusTech, a leading research and development organisation, was currently lying face up on the road, having fallen from the top of the AusTech building only moments beforehand. Newman pushed the barriers aside, and closed them back up as he walked past and towards the body of Austin. He looked at one of the other officers standing close by. Any signs of life Harris? He asked, before chewing on his lip and shaking his head in disbelief. No sir, no pulse or breathing. I don't think anyone could have survived that fall. The ambulance should be here in a minute. Newman looked around, and got his police radio out. All sniper units, any sign of Ethan Mortimer? He waited a second before the reply crackled through the speaker; No sir. Unit Alpha Two got a clean shot on him sir, he fell off the side, and should be down there as well. Newman shook his head and had a look around again in case anyone was trying to get his attention, but most officers were still either keeping the growing crowd at bay, or searching round the side of the building. Well, he sure as hell isn't down here Harris, and there's no way he just flew away, he wasn't registered with any powers, and someone would have seen him sailing away.
Newman walked over to the body of Terence Austin, and spoke in a low tone. We almost had you, a damned confession being recorded, and then you snuff it right after. Something tells me this Ethan Mortimer wasn't acting alone, and I'm going to find out who he was working with. As he finished his sentence, the quick wail of a siren indicated the arrival of the ambulance, and the crowd moved to both sides to let the vehicle through. It reached a few feet away from Newman, and stopped, before two paramedics got out of the front cab, and ran over to Austin's body. One of them reached down, and put his index and middle finger just below Austin's left ear, feeling for a pulse, whilst the other positioned his face close to Austin's to check for breathing. They both looked at each other after about 10 seconds, and shook their heads. How long has this man been here Chief? one of them asked as the other began to take out white protective gloves and put them on. About 5, maybe 6 minutes. The paramedic asking the question nodded, and turned to his partner. Not long until permanent brain damage occurs, we need to do this fast. Newman stepped forward, and posed a question; Can't we get one of those healing heroes in here, or teleport him to the hospital? The paramedic with gloves on replied back as the other ran to the back of the ambulance; Those things only work on people still alive Chief Newman, you can't just heal someone back from the dead. Maybe you can heal wounds and minor problems, or even bring someone out of unconsciousness, but revive them? I've yet to see a hero or machine do that by itself, there's no easy way to do this.
The other paramedic came back from the ambulance carrying a defibrillator, and laid it down by the other paramedic, before taking protective gloves of his own from his pocket, and putting them on. He then picked up the two paddles from the defibrillator, as the other paramedic unbuttoned Austin's shirt and laid two protective pads on his chest. Charging, everybody stand clear! the paramedic with the paddles shouted as a small whining noise came from the red box next to him, increasing in pitch, until it peaked, when the paramedic shouted again; Applying shock, everybody stand clear! and pressed the paddles to the pads on Austin's chest, and pulled the triggers in the handles. There was loud snapping noise, and Austin's body convulsed as the current ran through it. Chief Newman turned away and wiped his brow. He hated nights like this, especially when he was supposed to be off duty, back at home, and in a warm, comfy bed with Linda. Newman shivered as the cold air of the night breezed past him, and the sounds of the paramedics applying more shocks came from behind, the same as it happened with every fall victim or suicidal jumper in this city, and he knew what the result would be.
The defibrillator box made a constant whining sound as the paramedics placed the paddles back, and removed their gloves, the noise halting as the paddles rested on a hook on the red box. The paramedic at the top of Austin's body shook his head, and went round to the back of the ambulance, whilst the other walked towards Newman. It seems the trauma was too severe from the fall. Can't say it was unexpected from that height. If you want your men to dust for prints, best do it now. Chief Newman turned around and nodded, before motioning for the forensics team to come over. Okay, split into two groups. You three, dust Austin for prints and any other evidence, before taking the top floor and roof, and take two officers with you. The other three, you're coming with me, and you two, over here. He said as he pointed at two officers. We're going to check and dust the bottoms floors, Austin's phone call earlier sounded like it came from somewhere large and spacious, possibly the car park underground. Newman checked he had his radio and his gun, and went into the building by the front entrance, followed by the other officers and forensic team members. Okay, you, dust this reception area, and you watch over in case Mortimer shows up again. Newman strode over the marble floor and towards the lifts, before putting a plastic glove on his hand and pressing the call button. The lift doors opened to reveal the elevator carriage with the speaker hanging by a few cables from the ceiling. I don't trust it, could have been tampered with by Mortimer. There any stairs about? They looked about, and caught glimpse of the wooden door to the side of the reception area. Over there sir, looks like a fire exit. one of the officers exclaimed as he pointed towards the door.
The group walked over to the door, and one of the officers withdrew his pistol, and made a quick covering sweep of the stairwell before everyone else entered. Any light switches around? Newman asked as they descended downwards. The others shook their heads and looked around as they carried on downwards. Great safety feature for a fire escape. Newman said sarcastically. As they went down the stairs some more, one of the forensics team started sniffing at the air; Can anyone smell cooking? she asked as they reached the end of the stairwell and the door to the work shop lay open. One of the standard officers walked in and swept the room again with his gun. Chief, I think you really need to come and see this. he said, covering his mouth and nose with his hand as the smell of burnt flesh invaded his sinuses. Newman pushed past the other officer and forensics people, and went into the room, covering his mouth and nose also. Two bodies lay on the floor near some computer terminals on the wall adjacent to the door, thin wisps of smoke still rising from their clothes, one other person lay sprawled out on the concrete floor, a heavy bruise mark visible on his forehead, but otherwise apparently unharmed. Newman unclipped his radio from his belt, and pressed on the transmit button before speaking into the radio; Harris, we need some more medical assistance down here, we're in some sort of a laboratory or work shop, two probably deceased, one injured but apparently alive.
Newman took a handkerchief out of one of his pockets, and covered his mouth and nose with it, before walking forwards slowly. Has anyone got a flashlight spare? he asked, his voice muffled by the cloth covering his mouth. One of the officers passed him a large torch, and he flicked it on to light up the dark side of the room. One of the computer terminal's screens had been smashed inwards by something being forced into it at speed, which seemed to somehow have been one of the bodies on the floor, and high voltage electrocution would certainly account for the burning of the body, but how had someone, possibly Mortimer, have thrown them at that force and speed? Newman raise the torch slightly further, to see a buckled door propped up against another damaged computer terminal. Turning to his right, the terminal riddled with bullet holes was still emitting the odd spark and crackling noise, the lights flickering on and off randomly, it was then that he noticed the pod lying open at the far side of the room next to the shot-out terminal. Walking over cautiously, he put his handkerchief back in his pocket, switched hands with his flashlight, and drew out his gun, aiming it at the open pod. He walked closer and closer, and looked over the side, the light from the flashlight illuminating only an empty space, and a thin layer of dust on the inside. Hey, you guys and girls might want to get a sample of this, might be important, whatever it is.
He turned away from the pod, and walked towards the door. Okay, I want this room swept from floor to ceiling. Every hair, every grain of dust, every damn air sample, I want analysed to find out...what...on earth happened here. Newman went through the doorway, and climbed back up the stairs to the reception, feeling the iron railings to help him through in the dark. Once in the reception, he went over to one of the forensics team. Find anything useful yet? he asked, the forensics investigator shook his head and Newman walked back over to the lift, pressed the call button, and stepped in. As the doors slid shut, he saw two new paramedics coming through the front entrance, and towards the stairs to the work shop. The elevator carriage descended smoothly, with no sudden jolts or anything unexpected, and stopped at the underground car park, as the doors slid open and Newman walked in, and looked in disbelief at the dented red car right by the elevator doors. The tarmac floor had tyre marks in many seemingly random directions, the light from the bulbs in the ceiling failing to reflect off of the rubber stains. It was as though the car hadn't been on the floor for the entire time it was moving, which was impossible, wasn't it? He spoke into his radio again; We're going to need some forensics people down in the underground car park. The lift from reception works fine, so no need to walk round to the other entrance. The radio crackled, and the reply came through; Roger that Chief. Newman thought for a second, then spoke again; Have we got an address for this Mortimer character? he asked. Yes sir. Number Forty-Three, High House Street, Skyway City. Newman walked back to the lift, and pressed the button for reception. I'm going to go check it out, Mortimer may head back there.
The cold air blew in through the gap between the door frame and the window as Newman drove along Steel Canyon's roads and towards Atlas Park. As much as it made him shiver and get goosebumps, he needed to stay fresh and alert. It was late, somewhere near midnight. The crowds outside had mostly dispersed save for the journalists and news crews still reporting from the scene of the crime. It was a crime wasn't it? He thought to himself. Mortimer had thrown Austin from the roof after being shot, despite getting a confession from Austin, and if he was innocent, somehow, through some mistaken circumstance, why hadn't he come forward to say so? As he contemplated this, he realised he was now exiting the tunnel from Steel Canyon to Atlas Park, and had been driving without thinking for the past few minutes. Great way to stay alert he said to himself, as he drove through the district. The air was awash with costumed heroes flying, running and jumping around, attacking anyone who was committing a crime, or looked like they could be committing a crime, or simply standing round Ms Liberty as she looked nervously at the heroes gathered around her looking for 'encouragement'.
Thankfully, being so late, the traffic, on the ground at least, was almost non-existent, meaning Newman drove through Atlas Park reasonably quickly, and entered the tunnel to Skyway City. What had happened in that building? He wondered next, as he ran through what he had seen in his head. Obviously a fight or struggle of some sort had occurred, but had those men in the work shop been working with Mortimer, or with Austin? The one still alive certainly looked like he could have been Family, but they wouldn't know until they found some evidence or he woke up. But when had that occurred? Had Mortimer chased Austin in the car, then into the workshop and onto the roof, or had the incident in the work shop happened after Mortimer was on the roof, or during that time? Only one person knew the answers to these questions, and Newman was going to find him.
The lights at Ethan's house were off when Newman arrived, and no car was parked on the drive. He pulled up at the side of the street, and readied his gun as he got out of the car. He looked around and walked carefully over to the front door, tried the handle and found it was locked. Raising his foot up, he booted the door near the lock and it swung open violently. The inside of the house was silent. Newman looked to his side, and saw a small hall table with some photos on it. He picked one up, and saw it was a picture of Ethan and Elizabeth. At that moment, his radio crackled, and Harris spoke; Chief, we just got a report from the hospital. One of their patients is missing, and it's Ethan Mortimer's wife. Newman placed the photo back down, and replied back; Harris, put out a warrant for Ethan Mortimer's arrest, in conjunction with charges of murder, and kidnapping. And off the record, use any means necessary Harris.
Roger that sir.
Next chapter, and we're back with Ethan today. I might consider a spin-off chapter for his new-found 'accomplice', I'll have to see as the story progresses.
Chapter 8 - The Journey.
The leather upholstering for the seats in the car squeaked slightly as Ethan groaned in pain and clutched at his right hand side with his left hand, curling up slightly as the pain peaked for a second. The car hit a small pothole, causing it to bounce slightly, and Ethan cried out again as the feeling flooded through his chest. That's what I like about leather, all the stains wash off easily, even blood. the figure driving the car said in a light-hearted fashion. He glanced quickly behind him at Ethan lying on the back seat, his navy blue cowboy hat scuffing the head rest on his seat, and slight reflections of light gleaming on his circular red sunglasses. Stop complaining friend, you're not dead, be grateful for that at least. Ethan looked up at him, and replied back through gritted teeth; I...have...been shot, and you want...me...to be thankful for that? And another thing...where are you taking...me? The driver of the car smirked, and turned back to look at the road, before switching on the radio to a country and western station, and tapping his hands on the steering wheel in time to the upbeat music. Ethan fumed and shouted over the music: I SAID WHERE ARE YOU TAKING ME!? The driver of the car turned the dial on the radio, through some static, and onto a news bulletin. The news announcer's voice crackled through the speaker: ...an Ethan Mortimer, wanted for counts of kidnapping and the murder of Terence Austin, well-known CEO of AusTech Industries. The suspect was last seen at the AusTech building near midnight, and police have urged any civilians to report sightings of him, and not to approach the suspect-- The driver turned the dial back to the country and western station, and began whistling along to the tune. Ethan shook his head, and clutched at his wound again. So you're turning me in, is that it? Hoping to bag some...big reward? The driver chuckled and replied; Hell no friend, I'm taking you to the finest hospital the Rogue Isles has to offer, well...maybe not the finest, but they're sure used to cases like yours, and it sure isn't a good idea to be going to a hospital in Paragon City, the police will be watching every one in the city.
Ethan sighed. laid back on the back seat of the car, and rested his head on the leather seats. The wound in his side was burning like hell itself, and still leaking out a trail of blood over his hand and the inside of the car. Who are you anyway? He asked, as the car started to slow down. The name's Nova Violet, and that's all you need to know for now. the driver replied, as the car came to a halt, and he switched off the radio. Nova Violet turned off the engine, undid his seatbelt, and opened the door of the car, letting in a cool breeze that felt extra sensitive around Ethan's bullet wound, causing him to grimace slightly as the nerves began to sting, before becoming acclimatised to the cold. Nova Violet got out and looked around in the darkness, before walking to the back door to the car, and opening it, grabbing Ethan by the underarm of his shoulders, and hoisting him out of the car into the cold night air. Ethan squinted at the bright light from the street lamps around, and gazed around before being supported by Nova Violet and starting to walk down a concrete walkway set into a small cliff face. The smell of sea air invaded Ethan's sinuses, and the gentle crash of waves was heard a short distance away. Where are we? he asked weakly as they carried on walking down the walkway. Talos Island, I have some transport here that should get us safely to Cap Au Diable. How's the injury holding up? I'm guessing not too bad, seeing as you're not dead yet, but we're halfway there now. Just a quick sea voyage and we're home free. They reached the bottom of the walkway, and started heading across the wooden docks towards Nova Violet's boat. Ethan started to feel his eyelids drooping, and the feeling of sleep flooded his head, Nova Violet looked at him and noticed him starting to fall unconscious; Hey. Hey! Don't fall asleep on me! I'm not going with the risk of you not waking up friend. and he gave Ethan a quick slap on the face.
Ethan struggled to keep himself awake, as they finally arrived at a rusting fishing trawler, mostly coloured military grey, with a dark brown underside. Nova Violet gently lay Ethan down on the dock, and jumped on board the ship, before rooting around on the deck, and producing a large piece of wood with step sized ridges in it, that hooked onto the side of the boat at one end, and lay on the dock at the other end. He walked down the makeshift ramp, helped Ethan to his feet again, and carefully guided him up the ramp and onto the boat, round the deck, and down some steps into a small cabin room with a faux wooden interior. Nova Violet guided Ethan down to a bed inset into the wall of the cabin, and helped him slide inside. Right, you rest there friend, and we'll be with a doctor in no time. Nova Violet patted Ethan on the shoulder, and went back up on deck. He walked over to the makeshift ramp, and lifted it back on board, before heading to the bridge of the fishing trawler, pulled a set of keys from his pocket, and inserted one into the ignition. The engine of the boat spluttered, and then roared into life, as Nova Violet suddenly remembered to jump back on the dock, and untie the rope holding the boat in place, and leaping over to the vessel again. It's a pirate's life for me. he said to himself as a private joke, before placing the engine up to speed, and manoeuvring the trawler away from the dock.
The sea was relatively calm that night, though below deck, Ethan was feeling every bob and jolt of the boat worse than Nova Violet did. The bleeding had stopped now, but Ethan didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. On deck, Nova Violet began whistling some country and western tunes, his navy blue jacket billowing slightly in the wind entering the bridge. The journey continued unhindered for around an hour, until a droning noise was heard above the sound of the engine and the waves crashing against the side of the boat. Nova Violet looked through the windows of the bridge trying to discern the source of the noise, and was met with a dazzling light in his eyes, and the sound of a male voice booming through a megaphone. This is a Longbow investigation! Please halt your vessel, and allow us to come aboard! Nova Violet swore to himself, and ducked below the window frame of the bridge, opening a wooden cupboard underneath the bridge controls, and pulling out a black sub machine-gun, and two grenades. He placed the strap of the sub machine-gun around his neck and concealed it under his jacket. He placed his two index fingers through the ring pulls of the grenades, and held the main grenades in his hands, before getting up and walking out on deck, arms held up in a false pose of surrender. He walked to the edge of the boat, and looked at the small Longbow boat. It was small and fairly weak looking, obviously used for approaching stealthily rather than for attacks. The Longbow Officer and two Agents on board the boat were dressed in the usual Longbow gear, red boots, white trousers, a red and white militaristic top, red gloves, and an embarrassingly awful looking helmet. The Longbow Officer spoke through the megaphone again: Whatever you may be carrying, put them down, and stop the boat. Nova Violet smirked and replied; Certainly. and threw one of the grenades towards the Longbow boat, the pin sliding easily out as it stayed attached to his finger. The grenade landed next to the boat, and promptly exploded, sending a cascade of water flying in all directions, and knocking a sizeable chunk out of the front of the vessel. At that point, Nova Violet threw the second grenade, and withdrew the sub machine-gun from underneath his jacket and started firing wildly at the boat, the second grenade landing squarely inside the vessel. Grenade! shouted one of the Agents, as all three of the Longbow members dived from the boat and into the water, the subsequent explosion blowing the small boat to smithereens. Nova Violet ran to the bridge controls, and increased the boat to full speed. So long friends! Send my regards to City Hall! he shouted as the fishing trawler sped off into the distance, and into Rogue Isles waters.
Eventually, the dark outline of an island appeared on the horizon, and Nova Violet began to guide the boat around the coasts of the various islands, keeping on the lookout as he passed Bloody Bay, in case any late night heroes spotted the boat and attempted to stop it, or indeed, late night villains seeking some non existent treasure. Faint turquoise glows from the shoreline indicated the area was possibly clear of people, as the Shivan monsters patrolled the area. When nobody was around They mostly came out at night, mostly. A few sharks could be seen trailing alongside the boat at times as it carried onwards, desperate for the possibility of bodies of people being thrown overboard in the empty mass of water between Sharkhead and Mercy Island. Thankfully, Ethan wasn't dead weight yet, and there was still a good chance of saving him. Nova Violet hadn't told Ethan, but the wound was mostly harmless, it wasn't in an area that could hit vital organs, all that needed to be done was to remove the bullet, and patch him up. But having someone owe you the favour of having saved their life wasn't something Nova Violet was going to miss out on. The boat started to enter narrower inclines of rock, and the outline of Port Oakes could be seen as the light levels started to increase ever so slightly as night became early morning. The docks were quiet, save for the odd cries of seagulls, a few lights could be seen on shore where homeless people stood huddled around fires in barrels in an attempt to ward off the cold. He began to slow down the engine, until it moved the fishing trawler at a snail's pace, and manoeuvred the boat into an empty space on the dock, before turning off the ignition, pocketing the keys. Walking out on deck, he grabbed the end of the anchor rope, leapt to the dock, and tied the boat to a mooring post.
Ethan breathed in heavily, and took his left hand away from his wound. The blood had dried now, but the pain in his side was still near unbearable. The steps to the cabin shook slightly as he saw the black leather boots Nova Violet was wearing start descending the steps, before the man himself came into view. Right friend, let's get you out of this box, and to a doctor. Nova Violet went over to the bed Ethan was lying on, and helped lift him out, before supporting him on his shoulder again. As they stumbled back out on deck, the sun was beginning to rise over the horizon, and Ethan looked away and squinted as the bright light hit his eyes. Come on friend, the hospital's not far this way. They walked off the boat, over the makeshift ramp, and headed towards another walkway in a cliff face, this one in a state of disrepair, and not entirely safe looking. Regardless, they climbed up it, the upwards step causing Ethan more pain, the ascent seeming to never end, until they reached the top, and a large open stone-cobbled area greeted them, a large dome building covering the skyline ahead of them, and various worn-down houses and apartments making up the majority of buildings in the area. Nova Violet motioned to his left, and they carried on towards the hospital. Looking down the streets they passed, Ethan could see groups of black-outfitted troops patrolling the area, and chasing after apparent law breakers, whatever the law may be in this place.
They reached a tall brick-walled building, the metal doors on the front rusted over, one of them buckled heavily inwards from the inside, and moss covering the brickwork around the door frame. Well friend, we're here at last. Nova Violet said as they walked towards the doors. Ethan looked around, partly in disbelief, and partly in disgust. This is a hospital? It looks more like a morgue...although even those are meant to be clean and tidy. Nova Violet smirked, and replied; No, the morgue is downstairs, and it's pretty clean actually. The Necromancy types don't like purchasing corpses that smell too much. Ethan shook his head, and hobbled over to a chair in the empty waiting area, whilst Nova Violet went to the reception desk and talked to the attending 'nurse'. Ethan looked around the room, the walls were bare grey stone, and the floor was constructed of cheap beige lino tiling. Most of the chairs were blue plastic, with various chunks ripped off or scratched out, and lighting was provided by a solitary light bulb in the centre of the room. Nova Violet walked back over, and helped Ethan up. Don't let the looks fool you, everyone in here is guaranteed to be a fully qualified doctor, or your money back. Ethan couldn't help but wonder whether the doctors in here were in fact, fully qualified doctors in medicine, or botany.
The next hour was a blur for Ethan, as he was taken upstairs by Nova Violet to a private operating room with the same lino tiling and stone grey walls, which didn't look particularly clean. He was lain down on what looked like a dentist's chair, before he lost consciousness. The doctor looked at Ethan and exclaimed; Oh good! No need for anaesthetic! Nova Violet shook his head, and produced a small wad of money, which made the doctor's eyes light up, literally. Okay then! Anaesthetic it is! Nova Violet left the room, and went to the canteen to get himself a cup of coffee whilst the doctor operated on Ethan.
Next chapter, after a day's break of writing. Hope you enjoy.
Chapter 9 - Overground, Underground.
Nova Violet sat down at a wooden table in the canteen, which looked like it had been 'borrowed' from the Ziggurat prison back over in Paragon City, especially with the tally marks carved into the surface seeming to show the counting of days by one prisoner. That, or someone was waiting an awfully long time for a friend to get out of surgery. He lifted the styrofoam cup to his lips, and took a sip of the hot coffee, which instantly burnt his mouth, causing him to recoil away, and spill some of the hot liquid down his black shirt and red tie. Damn it! he exclaimed as he went and grabbed a paper towel from the canteen's service counter, dabbing at the coffee and trying not to spread the inevitable stain any further. Might want to watch that mate, could be a bit hot. a male server said from behind the counter, his voice buzzing as he did so. Nova Violet looked up at the server, and replied to his numerous domed eyes; Oh really friend? I really hadn't noticed that, thank so very much friend for pointing it out. The insect featured man chuckled, buzzing again, and went to attend to some food cooking on a nearby stove. Nova Violet finished dabbing at his shirt, and sat back down at the wooden table. He picked up the now half empty styrofoam cup, blew over the top of the coffee to try and cool it down a bit, and took a few sips. The coffee felt refreshing after an entire night spent awake without anything to eat or drink, although his training with the Malta Group had ensured he could function normally for a few days without sustenance, it didn't stop his stomach from feeling the pangs of hunger. He finished the coffee, and went back to the canteen counter, grabbing the attention of the insect-man server. Can I grab a cheeseburger, no gherkins, extra brown sauce? The server grunted, and began to prepare the burger.
Doctor Forrester looked up as Nova Violet walked back into the operating room eating a burger, before proceeding to finish off the stitches on Ethan's wound. Your companion should be right as rain in a day or so, nothing serious was injured, so a quick healing aura mended most of the damage up right away. He just needs to rest so as to not aggravate it. Nova Violet nodded, unable to answer with his mouth full. Quickly chewing the food and gulping it down, he asked back; When can he leave? Doctor Forrester finished the stitching, and cut the thread, before tying the remainder into a small bow. Just as soon as he wakes up. A voice sounded from behind Nova Violet as the doors to the operating room swung open; I'm sure we won't need to wait that long Doctor. Before he could turn round, Nova Violet felt the crack of the stock of a gun hit the back of his head, and everything went dark.
Stomp stomp stomp stomp stomp.
Ethan slowly opened his aching eyes, as the loud noise of synchronised marching on stone pounded through his head. He looked at the concrete floor, and saw a pair of knee high jack boots, looking further up, the boots joined a desert-coloured uniform, overlaid by some metal body armour, before meeting a calm, stern face obscured by red blast goggles, and military cap. I see you have awoken, Dr Mortimer. The person said, in a horrible mock German accent. Ethan tried to move, but found that he was tied to the chair he was sitting on by a length of rope around his arms and legs, he still attempted to struggle, and was met with a swift slap round the face by the person in front of him. I would suggest you do not try to escape Dr Mortimer, I would find it most...unfavourable. Ethan gritted his teeth as the slap woke him up further; Who the hell are you anyway? he asked. The person strode up and down deliberately for a few seconds in front of Ethan, before replying; I am Archon Rossi of The Council, and I think it would be best for your health if you let me ask the questions Dr Mortimer. Ethan took in a glance of surroundings, or lack of them. He was in a small holding cell, around ten by ten foot, the whole room a drab concrete, lit by strip light on the ceiling, which flickered noisily every few minutes. Nova Violet sat in a chair next to him, tied up also, and still unconscious. Now, Dr Mortimer, tell me what you know. Ethan looked at him quizzically; Know about what? His reply was met with another slap to the face. You know what I am talking about Dr Mortimer, tell me why you are so wanted in Paragon City. You have a secret worth knowing about, and I want it. Ethan shook his head, and did his best to look apologetic; Seems like you got the wrong guy Rossi, I'm just on the run from the police. This was met by yet another slap to the face. I would aim to be more co-operative Dr Mortimer, if you are not co-operative, we have ways of making you talk.
At that, Archon Rossi strode out of the room, turned to a numeric keypad on the wall, and entered a code, causing a thick metal door with a grill in to slide shut from inside the wall. Ethan turned his head towards Nova Violet, and started to speak firmly at him; Wake up. Come on, wake up. Wake up you idiot. Nova Violet grumbled slightly, and started to regain consciousness. Ugh...what happened? Ethan sighed and replied; I thought you could tell me that, seeing as I was the one under anaesthetic. Nova Violet blinked and regained the focus in his vision. Oh yeah, the Doctor said you'll be fine, you just need to rest for a day or two. Now, where are we and how do we get out of here? Ethan looked at his right arm, and realised he was still wearing his brown jacket, and underneath, the gravity control device was still concealed. I think I have the means, if you can get me out of this chair. Nova Violet smiled, and stood up from the chair as the ropes fell from his hands and feet. You mean like this? he said as he walked over to Ethan, and undid the knots in the rope in a matter of seconds. I've been captured enough times by The Council to know how they tie their knots, like amateur boy scouts. Ethan worked himself free of the rope, and outstretched his cramped arms, and doubled over in pain as his wound began to flare up in pain again. Easy friend, you're supposed to be resting that remember? Now, what's the plan that doesn't involve us getting captured again?
Ethan motioned Nova Violet over to a corner of the room near the door, out of sight from the grill in the door, positioned himself in the adjacent corner, and waited for the marching of footsteps from a patrolling guard, as they neared the door to the cell, stopped, and a voice said under its breath; What the--? and the light clicking of the numerical keypad was heard. The door slid open, and the guard ran into the cell, as Ethan raised his right arm, and clenched his fist. The guard attempted to emit a cry if surprise, but found himself unable to speak as he was held in place where he stood. Ethan nodded at Nova Violet, and left the cell, checking for any other guards, as Nova Violet walked over to the held guard, and took the sub machine-gun from his hands. Thanks friend, much appreciated. He ran out of the cell, and smashed the stock of the gun into the keypad, causing a slight explosion of sparks, and the door to the cell clanged shut. Sweeping the area with the barrel of the gun, Nova Violet took the lead, and rushed over the metal walkway they were now on, and headed for the only visible exit, with Ethan following behind, who was glancing behind every now and then, in case they were flanked from behind. The corridor they went down eventually led out into convoluted area of metal walkways embedded in stone walls, or suspended from the ceiling, and numerous control terminals in bunkers hidden amongst the cave's rock formations. A voice suddenly cried out; HALT! and Nova Violet opened fire in random bursts as Council soldiers emerged from various positions and started firing back. Ethan ducked down as bullets whizzed over his head and into the wall behind him. Looking up, he saw three Council soldiers positioned on one of the metal walkways above, firing shots at the two of them as they moved to one side to avoid the incoming bullets. Ethan looked out from his cover spot, and quickly reached outstretched his arm, and pulled it downwards, causing the walkway to snap loose of its supports, and fall to the ground below, taking the three Council soldiers with it.
Nova Violet continued to trade bursts of fire with the remaining Council troops, ducking for cover as their shots fired around the area he was taking cover in, and returning fire as they stopped to reload. As he fired back, he suddenly heard the click of the gun's clip emptying. Oh bother...not good. he said to himself. He looked over to Ethan, thought about an idea momentarily, and shouted out to him over the gunfire; Hey friend, this might feel a bit strange, but trust me! he pointed his arm out towards Ethan and a shaft of turquoise light travelled from Ethan to Nova Violet. Ethan suddenly felt light-headed, as he found himself struggling to move, as though his muscles were refusing to work properly, and he collapsed to the ground as the effort to move became too much for him. Nova Violet,on the other hand, now had the turquoise light surrounding him, as he started to move at a superhuman speed, his body becoming a blur as he sped towards the nearest Council troop, taken completely by surprise by the sudden speed increase, and grabbed his gun before knocking him out with the stock. He aimed at the Council troops and started firing as they dived for cover or retreated, the spray of bullets covering the room, until the gun clicked empty again, and Nova Violet grabbed a spare clip from the unconscious troop and reloaded the gun in one fast and smooth motion. Ethan began to feel his body returning back to normal, and clambered to his feet, the bursts of gunfire now aimed directly at Nova Violet, who dodged them simply by running quickly from one direction to the next. He scanned the area, and raised his right arm towards one of the computer terminals near the remaining group of troops, moved his arm swiftly to the side, and watched as the terminal was ripped from its stand, and ploughed through the group, scattering them in all directions.
The sounds of gunfire ceased, and Nova Violet signalled for Ethan to follow him as they headed towards an open blast door on the opposite side of the room, and into a large tunnel dug into the rock, supported by metal frames, and lit by a succession of light bulbs on a black cable. The place looked more like a mine shaft than a military base, Ethan thought to himself as they traversed through the tunnel as it started to climb upwards. The next room they reached consisted of a narrow black tiled floor, leading through to a door on the other end, with the rest of the vast room filled with four large lit pools of what looked like water, though a thin white vapour was apparent on the surface, and dark pods hanging suspended above the water. What on earth is this? Ethan asked in a hushed whisper. Nova Violet gazed around, keeping his sub machine-gun ready at all times, before hoisting himself up onto the edge of one of the pools, and kneeling over to dab his finger in the liquid and sniffed it. He recoiled at the offensive smell, and wiped his hand on a handkerchief in his pocket, which he threw into the liquid. I don't know friend, but I sure as hell don't like it. Especially as we should have had more troops following us by now. He climbed back down, and nodded towards the door on the other side of the room. They started to hurry towards the exit, but as they reached the door a siren started sounding, and previously unnoticed red warning lights started flashing on the walls. There was a loud hiss from above them, and the top of the room started to fill with steam being emitted from the sides of the pods, as they started to descend slowly towards the pools of liquid.
I don't think we want to be here much longer friend. Nova Violet said as he pushed Ethan slightly towards the door, and they both started to back away slowly as the pods reached the water, and a mass of loud hisses were heard as the hydraulic catches on the doors were released. Green leather gloves reached around the sides of the pods as their inhabitants clambered out, and studied their surroundings. Ethan started to run through the tunnel, as Nova Violet kept walking backwards, and tripped over an indent in the floor, dropping the sub machine-gun he was carrying, which hit the stone floor, making a loud clatter. Immediately, a mass of hissing came from the room with the pods in, but this time it sounded as though something alive had made it. He picked up the sub machine-gun and started running alongside Ethan as a mass of loud scratching sounds came from the room they'd left behind. The tunnel continued onwards for a long distance, climbing upwards, and it seemed that whatever was behind them, they'd left it well behind. They slowed their pace, and carried onwards, until a loud cracking sound was heard, and the lights in the tunnel flickered, then went out. Ethan and Nova Violet stood there in silence, until a faint scuttling sound was heard echoing from the tunnel behind them, drawing closer and closer. Run. Nova Violet said, and sprinted off into the darkness of the tunnel, as Ethan followed.
Ethan ran as fast as he could, the scuttling sound scraping the walls behind him, and getting closer all the time. He looked behind him in the darkness, and could make out the faintest glint of red specks of light in the distance, before he tumbled over onto the floor, and picked himself up again, running onwards, and clutching at his wound, from which pain was shooting through his side, until he caught up with Nova Violet, who had stopped. The way ahead was blocked by a metal blast door, which he was scrabbling around trying to find a switch or keypad for, as the scuttling sound drew even closer. I suggest friend, you find the way to open this door, and quickly. He readied his sub machine-gun, and aimed it at the darkness, as Ethan moved his hand over the rock surface near the door, trying to find a way of opening the door. The glints of red in the distance were now becoming larger, and Nova Violet pressed down on the trigger of the gun, and let out a wild spray of gunfire. There was an inhuman screeching from the darkness as some of the bullets hit their target, and in the flashes of light from the gunfire, he could just make out the pale skin of the creatures approaching, and the red goggles they were wearing, probably infra-red enabled somehow, to let them see in the darkness. They were crawling on the floor and walls at a great speed, and however many were taking down by the gunfire, more seemed to replace them. I suggest you hurry up friend! he shouted over to Ethan, who looked at the door, and pointed his arm at the door, raising his arm. The door creaked, and started to lift up, revealing the bright dazzle of sunlight from outside the base. Nova Violet noticed the beam of sunlight, stopped firing and hurried under the half open door, as Ethan moved towards it, still keeping his arm outstretched and sliding under the door before letting it slam down as loud thuds came from the other side. They both looked at each other, and started to laugh in shock at their narrow escape.
Next chapter, and though there may be some inconsistencies with game-lore, it makes things a bit more realistic.
Chapter 10 - Hunted.
Nova Violet picked himself up from the grassy area they had emerged onto, and dusted off his navy blue jacket with his hands, checking nonchalantly for any mud stains, before he looked around at the area they were in. Any ideas where we are? Ethan asked, clambering to his feet, and checking for any injuries. Well, the good news is, we're still in the Rogue Isles. The bad news is; we'd better start running this way. Nova Violet replied as he pointed his thumb behind him, turned and began running from some unseen danger. Ethan looked out into the horizon, and saw a large expanse of water, with an extremely large structure made of metal and stone on an island, covered with blinking lights, with what looked like gun turrets mounted around the perimeter. Why, who does that belong to? he asked as he started running after Nova Violet. I think it's Longbow, don't take my word for it, all I know, is that it's Hero central in this area, who will think nothing of hunting us down and 'incapacitating' us. Oh, by the way friend, welcome to Bloody Bay. Nova Violet's words were met by the distant sound of klaxon sirens from the large structure behind them. Great, we've been spotted. Keep your eyes and ears open, and follow me. Nova Violet grabbed hold of Ethan's left wrist with his right hand, and started to drag him over the grass and towards the shoreline of the small island they were on. Can you swim? Nova Violet asked Ethan as they got closer to the water's edge. Yes..why? This was met by being dragged further into the water. Wait..wait! I can't get my arm wet! Ethan yelled, and stepped back from the water. I don't give a damn friend, if your arm dissolves in contact with water. They find you, they can guess that someone a bit more experienced is around, and damned if I'm going back to the Ziggurat, friend. Ethan found himself dragged back into the water, losing his balance and landing with a loud splash. Now come on, swim and follow me.
They swam over the expanse of water, towards the next island, Ethan struggling to keep up with Nova Violet as he swam ahead like a fish in water. As they neared the coast of the island, Ethan saw that it seemed like a residential area, though the buildings were of an old Eastern European design, with crumbling brickwork, with a few modern touches here and there of concrete paths and ramps around the area. He reached the shoreline, and staggered onto dry land, before hearing a voice shout from above and behind him. Over here! Targets sighted! He looked up to see a man in a finely dressed black suit, with sunglasses similar to Nova Violet's, and finely combed back hair. Nova Violet looked behind him, and shouted back; So Tremeur, resorted to chasing easy prey nowadays? Tremeur sneered, and flung a bolt of dark light at Nova Violet, sending him to the floor. I'd advise you not to mock me Violet, I'm a different person to who you knew before. He raised his arm, holding a purple and black light in it, which started to link between itself and Nova Violet, who writhed in pain. Ethan raised his arm out, and clenched his fist, but nothing happened. The device must have short-circuited having been flooded with water. Tremeur laughed coldly, and walked over to Nova Violet, before kicking him in the side. I've waited a long time for this, and I'm even going to be rewarded for it. Ethan looked around, and saw a large grey stone near his feet. He picked it up in his right hand, aimed at Tremeur, and threw it as hard as he could. The stone hit Tremeur squarely in the left side of his head with a sickening thud, and he fell to the ground with a loud cry. Nova Violet grunted, and was helped to his feet by Ethan. You okay? Ethan asked. Nova Violet took in a deep breath, and replied; I'm fine. Let's get out of here, I haven't got any weapons to fight this guy with, so I don't want to be around when he wakes up. He adjusted his hat, and ran off towards the crumbling houses, searching frantically as he ran forwards, with Ethan still struggling to keep up. Who was that anyway? Ethan asked, as Nova Violet continued onwards, still searching. An old friend, but no longer a friend. was the only reply given, until a quick; Ah-ha. and he ran over to a metal hatch on the floor, and lifted it up to reveal a metal ladder leading downwards. Down here friend, quickly. Ethan went over to the ladder, positioned himself properly, and began climbing down the ladder, the initial wall of soil being covered by metal panelling as he descended downwards, with Nova Violet checking around out top before climbing into the shaft himself, and closing the metal hatch behind him, plunging the shaft into darkness, save for a glimmer of light at the bottom.
Ethan reached the bottom of the ladder, and his footsteps echoed as they made a clanking noise as they moved over the metal floor of the storage room he had entered into. Nova Violet followed soon after, and walked straight over to the containment door, and turned the handle, before walking through. Ethan followed him through the doorway, and was met with an assault rifle pointed at his face. He slowly raised his hands into the air to indicate surrender, and a gruff voice asked; Who are you, and how did you know to get in here? Ethan looked at the owner of the gun being pointed at him. They were wearing black body armour, with red trimmings, and spider-like symbol on the chest plate. They had a similar style helmet, which obscured half of their face. Nova Violet replied, hands in the air also; We're both Rogue Isles inhabitants, I'm Nova Violet and this is Dr...um..er...Apocalypse. He's new. The Arachnos troop spoke into an integrated communication system; Looking for details on a Nova Violet, and Dr Apocalypse. Ethan looked over at Nova Violet and frowned. We don't want them knowing your real identity friend, you do appear to be worth something. Nova Violet whispered at Ethan, before standing up straight as the Arachnos troop paid attention to them again. Seems there isn't a Dr Apocalypse registered with us. Nova Violet smiled, and replied; Like I said, he's new. Needs an I.D card The Arachnos troop looked at Ethan, and nodded. This way. They were led further into the underground installation, where Ethan saw dozens of identically uniformed troops marching to and from various computer terminals and weapon arrays. One wall covering screen showed what looked like an overhead map of Bloody Bay, and the positions of various deployed troops around the area.
Eventually, they reached a small side-room, where one female troop sat at a desk with a computer looking rather bored, before she noticed the trio enter the room, stood up and saluted. This one needs an I.D card. The female troop nodded, sat down at the computer, and started typing at the keyboard. Name. she said bluntly, and Ethan replied; Ethan Mortimer. The female troop sighed, and repeated the question; Name. Ethan rolled his eyes, and answered; Dr Apocalypse. She typed some more, and asked another question in the blunt tone: Powers. Ethan chewed on his lip, and replied: Um...control of gravity using a technological dev-- He was cut off as the female troop said Gravity Control. and typed into the computer. Look at the camera. Ethan looked around and saw a small electronic camera mounted on a stand on the desk. As he caught sight of it and looked towards it, there was a clicking sound. The female troop typed some more, and a small device on her desk whirred into action, and produced an I.D card, which she handed to Ethan, who placed it in his jacket pocket. They were escorted back out of the room, and the male Arachnos troop turned to them: Do you need any supplies? Nova Violet nodded instantly, Ethan shrugged and replied; I suppose so. They followed the Arachnos troop further into the installation, and into a room marked as the 'Armoury'. We're awaiting a supply drop from the mainland soon, so we've only got a few basic things left you can take. Nova Violet immediately rushed forward and started to pick up a couple of pistols, which he slotted into his belt, some grenades which he placed in his jacket pockets, and two automatic rifles, which he hung from his right shoulder, before picking up some ammunition clips, and also slotting them into his belt. Ethan walked nervously forward, and picked up one of the pistols, feeling the weight of the gun in his hand. You ever fired one before friend? Nova Violet asked. Ethan shook his head, and placed it in his jacket pocket, before taking three clips and putting them in the other pocket. If you've got all you need, I'll show you to the exit. The Arachnos troop motioned them out of the room, and they headed through the installation, until they reached another metal ladder leading upwards. We're an isolated outpost, so you've still got half a mile or so until you reach a safer part of the bay. Nova Violet nodded and saluted, before climbing up the ladder, with Ethan following.
They emerged into a cobbled stone courtyard area, surrounded by more fanciful looking buildings, the flashes of light from the near distance ahead of them indicated the signs of a fight. Nova Violet put his finger over his lips, and motioned for him to be silent. He closed the metal hatch they had emerged from, grabbed Ethan's wrist with his hand again, and moved swiftly but silently through the built up area. The sounds of various powers being used got louder as they moved onwards, until a small bolt of flame shot overhead and into a building behind them. Nova Violet readied his automatic rifle, and scanned the area around them. The streets seemed empty. They began to pick up their pace, and came to a low brick wall. Nova Violet placed the automatic rifle back over his shoulder and clambered up, before reaching over and giving Ethan a hand up and over. They descended from the wall onto another grass-covered area. We're getting close, we should see the Arachnos base round the edge of this island. They carried on forwards, following the curve of the island they were on, until the looming shape of the Arachnos base was visible through the increasing fog. A thin strip of land connected the island to the the Arachnos base. Thank goodness for low tide friend, was almost another swim there. They started to run over the narrow stretch of land, the grass being replaced by wet sand, with flung up as they ran, and covered Ethan's shoes and trousers. Halt villains! a stern female voice sounded from behind them, and a blast of energy hit the ground in front of them, sending up a small shower of wet sand. They both turned to see a female hero floating in mid air, and three robots, of different types, standing on the narrow pathway. Ethan's eyes widened as he remembered the female hero from a couple of days ago, it was the same one who had saved him from the gang members on his way back to AusTech.
Nova Violet immediately swung one of the automatic rifles round from his shoulder, and started firing at the trio of robots on the pathway as they started to slowly advance, and dodged out of the way as another volley of energy bolts came flying at him. Could use some help here friend! He yelled out to Ethan as he let another burst of gunfire off at the approaching robots. Ethan frantically withdrew the pistol, held it up, and fired a shot at a robot. The bullet hit, and ricocheted off, and Ethan staggered backwards at the kickback. Not them, the cape! Nova Violet yelled again, as he reached into his jacket pocket with his left hand, and produced a grenade. He pulled out the pin with his teeth, and threw it towards the robots, Ethan shakily aimed the pistol at the female hero, and pulled the trigger just as the grenade detonated, sending the robots flying into the water around them. There was a loud female cry, and the hero fell to the floor with a heavy thud, slight traces of blood coming from her shoulder. Good shot friend, now come on! Ethan looked in horror at the downed female hero, and ran over to her. He felt a sickening feeling in his stomach, as he saw her laying there unable to defend herself, in the same way he had been. She's injured! We can't leave her here! Nova Violet ran over to Ethan and grabbed him by the collar, throwing him to the floor. She would have done the same to us friend. Now get up, and move, the medical teleport system will take care of her, and we don't have that luxury. The robots had emerged from the nearby water, dripping with the cold liquid, and started marching faster towards the duo. Nova Violet let go of Ethan and started racing towards the Arachnos base. Well come on friend! he shouted, and Ethan scrambled off of the floor, and ran in the same direction. HALT VILLAINS. came the metallic voices of the robots in unison, followed by the sound of gunfire from Nova Violet's automatic rifle. Just be thankful these are close distance bots. He shouted above the sound of the automatic rifle going off. They reached the side of the Arachnos base, and Nova Violet headed towards a domed door in the side of the building, and started waving frantically at a security camera pointing towards him. The robots marched closer to them, closing the gap, until a loud droning noise was heard, and a tentacled drone appeared from above, hovered in front of the robots, and disintegrated them with a wide spread laser beam, before flying off again into the top of the Arachnos base. The domed door opened, and Nova Violet rushed inside. Ethan scanned the way they had just came, but there was no sign of the female hero, only a crater in the sand from the grenade explosion served as any reminder that there had been a fight there at all.
The door started to slide shut, and Ethan ducked inside, bumping into Nova Violet as the door shut behind him. He caught his breath, and asked; So...what do we do now? Nova Violet looked at him, and replied; That's not up to me. I got you here friend, and you owe me a favour for that. But aside from that, it's up to you now. Ethan took off his sand covered jacket, and looked at the device on his arm. I need to get spare parts for this. I need to head back to my work shop. Nova Violet sighed, and nodded. Fair enough friend, but my help comes at a price now.
Slightly shorter than normal chapter today, due to distractions here.
Chapter 11 - Keeping Up Appearances.
Ethan rubbed his chin, feeling the effects of having not shaven for a few days. How do we get over to Paragon City, in a way that doesn't involve us having to run for our lives? Nova Violet started walking towards a metal door in the wall, and opened it. You get there by boat or submarine friend. My boat, bit risky as it's not registered. Arachnos provided ones will get you through, but they come with a price tag. Ethan walked towards Nova Violet, and grabbed the handle of the door. How much is this price tag? Nova Violet rolled his eyes up ward, and started doing calculations in his head, whilst counting on his hands. Probably about five grand friend, maybe more, maybe less. Ethan swung the door fully open, and started walking through into the main interior of the Arachnos base. And where can we get five grand from that easily? Nova Violet followed him through the door, and shut it behind them. I know a place. Got another friend who owes me a favour. First up though, for what we need to do, you need some much better gear friend. Ethan looked at him quizzically; Gear? Nova Violet sighed and carried on walking, avoiding the Arachnos troops running to and fro in the large control room they had walked into. Clothes friend, clothes. They carried on walking, past the control room, and to a corridor leading to a lift door. Nova Violet pressed the call button, and the doors slid open. They entered the elevator carriage, waited for the doors to slide shut, and Nova Violet pressed the button on the elevator panel for the roof. The elevator carriage remained silent for the ascent upwards, save for the humming of outside mechanics, until there was a rattle of metal against metal, and the elevator carriage jolted to a halt, the doors sliding open to reveal the helicopter pad on top of the Arachnos base. The wind blew against them as they walked over to the Arachnos flier, Nova Violet's jacket billowing to his left, and Ethan suddenly wishing he hadn't left his jacket in the entry room downstairs. The Arachnos troop stationed next to the flier turned to Nova Violet, and asked; Where to? Nova Violet thought for a second, and replied; Cap Au Diable friend. The Arachnos troop nodded, and pointed his thumb at the flier next to the one he was guarding.
The inside of the flyer was cramped, with enough room to fit six, maybe seven people, though one side of the flier was taken up with an extremely large and muscular man dressed in a green tank top and camouflaged trousers, leaving Ethan and Nova Violet with just enough room to squeeze in on the other side, next to a person in a dark brown robe, who muttered incomprehensible words as they sat hunched over. The loading door was slammed shut behind them, leaving the cargo area lit by only a singular red strip light embedded in the ceiling, and the flier's engines roared into life outside, causing a deafening noise within the flier. Ethan gripped onto the handrail beside him as the flier lifted up, and tilted forwards towards is destination, whilst Nova Violet sat back, and tipped his hat over his face as he relaxed. Ethan glanced quickly over at the large muscular person sat opposite him, who glared back at him and growled, he responded with a quick weak smile, and stared at the floor for the remainder of the flight. After around quarter of an hour, the flier levelled out, and started to descend, before hitting the ground with a slight thump, causing the cargo section to jolt. After a few seconds, the loading door was opened, and Ethan walked out into the cool air, onto a small airfield, surrounded by half a dozen large hangars. Nova Violet followed after the large muscular man stomped out of the flier and marched heavily towards the city in the distance.
Right friend, follow me, and try avoid grabbing anyone's attention, it could be bad for your health. Nova Violet started walking towards the city, and Ethan followed. As they walked towards their destination, Ethan brought up a question with Nova Violet: One thing you've never told me...how did you stop me from falling from the AusTech building? All I remember was falling, then being in the back of your car. Nova Violet adjusted his hat, and replied; Some things friends, are best left unanswered. It spoils the magic of the moment. Ethan frowned and grabbed Nova Violet by the lapel of his jacket, and brought him face to face with himself. What were you doing there...friend? And why did you save me? Without warning Nova Violet grabbed hold of Ethan's other arm, twisted, and flipped Ethan on to the ground, before taking one of his automatic rifles from his shoulder and aiming it at him. You want to know friend? I was in Paragon City on my own errands, and was approached to help with some dirty work by some guy in a suit. He wants me to help clean up some mess in case things go wrong. They went wrong, and I ended up with you. Ethan's eyes widened as he focused on Nova Violet. You mean, you were working for Austin? So what, you were supposed to kidnap me in case I didn't give them what they wanted? Nova Violet pulled the gun barrel away, and placed the automatic rifle back over his shoulder. Yeah, and now Austin's not in much of a position to pay me, so I figured I'd go with someone who'd be a good long term investment. Ethan picked himself up from the floor and dusted himself off, before swinging a punch at Nova Violet and landing it it square in his face, causing his red sunglasses to buckle and shatter. My wife died that night, and you helped the man who caused that to happen? Nova Violet took the broken sunglasses from his face and dropped them to the ground, revealing more of the intense scarring around the left side of his face. Now I need more glasses. I had no idea what happened in there friend, I was just paid to wait outside, and if there was any trouble, to get you under wraps. And as you're wondering, it was a two-shot teleport device. One trip up to you as you fell, and another one to next to my car. Nice punch though. He said as he rubbed the side of his face. Now, come on, you're still dressed like a civilian. Heck, you are a civilian,and that makes you an easy target.
The rest of the journey was made in silence, as Ethan continued to fume, barely taking any notice of the sights he passed, whether it be the electrical generators with small electrical gremlins clambering over them, or the black and yellow armoured figures flying overhead, towards a larger, sleeker looking city on top of an artificial hill. They carried onwards towards a small dock area, where ferries were constantly transporting passengers to and from the island. Numerous costumed people ran to and fro, making progress reports on their schemes to Arachnos's Arbiters, dressed almost solely in white armour, taking down endless notes on a data pad. The journey continued into a small warehouse district, until they came to a large wooden shack. Nova Violet walked to the entrance, and opened the door to reveal a more medical looking interior, before walking inside with Ethan following behind him. They were greeted by a woman in a grubby nurse's uniform; Hello there, and welcome to Facemaker's! How can I help you gentlemen today? Nova Violet pointed at Ethan and replied; Make this guy less of a target, and make it cheap too. The 'nurse' nodded enthusiastically and grabbed Ethan's hand, pulling him behind some curtains that would have surrounded a hospital bed. Now now now, what could suit you sir? What's the name gorgeous? Ethan felt a little flustered, and replied; Um..Dr Apocalypse. The nurse grinned: Nice name! Nice name! It's simple and effective, which your costume should be! Wait here! She dashed out of the curtained area, leaving Ethan alone to idle away the few minutes with his hand in his pockets. The building, despite not being a proper hospital, was certainly in a better state of repair and cleanliness than the one he had been in earlier...was it earlier today? He had no idea how long he had been unconscious for between arriving at the hospital and waking up in the Council cell room. It had certainly been getting towards dusk during the journey to this 'Facemaker' place, so it was possible everything had happened in the same day. As he pondered this, the nurse rushed back into the curtained area carrying a small pile of clothing underneath one arm, and dragging a metal table on wheels behind her with her other hand.
Now then! Here's some lovely bits and pieces! And in your friend's price range! Ethan watched as she placed the pile of items on the metal table. He's not my friend. he replied as he perused the clothes. The nurse stood there grinning at him. Um...do you mind? he asked as he started to unbutton his shirt. Oh, spoilsport! she said to him as she left the curtained area. The clothing consisted of a short sleeved black flak jacket, with a bulky metal zip up the front, black armoured leather trousers, black leather boots, an aqua blue shroud, and some fingerless leather gloves. He reluctantly began to place the clothes items on, and found that they fit surprisingly well, and even felt clean and comfortable to wear. He stepped outside of the curtained area, to see Nova Violet standing there, looking quite pleased at the result. He needs sunglasses. he said, and the nurse went to a drawer in a nearby desk, and pulled out a pair of black sunglasses, along with a new red pair for Nova Violet. Now, there's something missing, but I'm not sure what. He stated, and the nurse rushed off again, returning with a folded cloth, that matched the aqua blue of Ethan's shroud. Technically, we shouldn't give these away! But who's going to know! It's reward for such a great performance sweetie! Ethan raised an eyebrow; Performance? he asked. The nurse pointed up, and he followed the line of her finger, until he saw a wall mounted camera pointing into the area he had just changed clothes in. Now, try it on! try it on! the nurse exclaimed before he could respond at all. He took the cloth, and unfolded it to reveal a long cape. He swung it behind him, and attached it to some pre-made mantles on the front of his flak jacket. Oh, what a cutie! The nurse squealed as she began to write down costs on a notepad she took from her pocket. She gave the notepad to Nova Violet, who took out some notes of cash, and handed them over. Thank you sir! Have a nice day! she chirped as they walked out of the building. Why do I feel like I look like a Terminator movie reject? Ethan asked as they left. Because you do, and that's a good thing. Shows you mean business. Did you pick up your I.D card and guns from your other clothes? Ethan checked the compartments on his new belt, and nodded, before asking; How did you pay for that anyway? Nova Violet smiled and replied; I took the money from their till whilst you and the lady were occupied in the changing room.
Next chapter, and the longest to write so far, at six hours, despite in the end, being rather an easy one to write once I got into the swing of things...after four hours.
Chapter 12 - Withdrawal.
Ethan adjusted his sunglasses, and made sure the gravity control device was sitting comfortably on his arm. The exposed circuitry looked a mess when combined with the outfit he was wearing, and he would need to manufacture a cover for the device, preferably one that matched the outfit, and also which was waterproof. Okay. We need some money, where do we go? he asked Nova Violet in a calm, collected voice, as he found himself slipping easily into the persona his outfit created. Nova Violet replied; Wait here, and I'll find out. He walked over to a nearby phone box, opened the door, and slid inside, before picking up the receiver. From outside, Ethan could see Nova Violet listen to the receiver, before banging it on the dialling section, and lifting it to his ear again, before dialling a number. The person on the other end responded almost immediately and Nova Violet began talking to them, whilst Ethan leant against a wall with his arms crossed, keeping himself to himself as various civilians walked past, trying to go about their daily business without disturbing the various gang members and individual villains that littered the narrow streets. Generally, the various criminals were too busy with grander schemes they were planning for the more profitable Paragon City then to waste time shaking down someone who would only have their week's wages on them. This strange social code puzzled Ethan slightly. When back in Paragon City, the television and papers always portrayed the Rogue Isles as an anarchic place, in a constant state of open gang warfare, where it was unsafe to even walk on the streets. Though the place was no Garden of Eden, it certainly wasn't the 9th level of Hell either. Nova Violet hung up the phone receiver, and exited the phone box, leaving the door swinging open. Luckily for us friend, it's a local place.
Nova Violet nodded his head in the direction of the large city on top of the artificial hill, and began walking back the way they had come before. The sun was beginning to set on the horizon, and Ethan was thankful for having dry clothes rather than his damp shirt and trousers from earlier as the air cooled around them as they headed through the streets of Cap Au Diable. As they were walking, a few apparently random members of the gangs huddled round the entrances to alleyways would shout a greeting to Nova Violet, who would respond with a tip of his hat or a slight wave. You're quite the celebrity here then? Ethan asked, as they drew closer to the large bridge leading to the city on the artificial hill. I've just helped a lot of people, in a lot of different situations friend. And people like to work with someone who has no set affiliations. They reached the foot of the large bridge, and Ethan looked up the road, and around him before heading up the bridge. I wouldn't bother looking friend, I don't know a single person who drives round these parts. I see the cars parked, but never moving. Ethan shrugged, and carried on walking up the bridge, his shoes thudding up the steep incline of the cobbled stone road. Numerous tentacled drones hovered motionless at various intervals at the sides of the bridge, and Arachnos troops patrolled up and down the bridge, stopping people and asking for I.D cards. Before they could reach the top, they were stopped themselves by a troop. I.D cards please. Ethan produced his, and showed it to the guard, and Nova Violet did the same. Neither of you two are registered as residing in the Aeon City district. What are you doing here at this time? Nova Violet took his card back, and replied coldly; We're here on business friend, and we're running slightly late, so, if you could let us pass. The troop handed back Ethan his pass, and grumbled to himself as he marched off down the bridge. Ethan and Nova Violet carried onwards, entering a much more modernised city district, with high-rise buildings, and smooth stone footing, as opposed to the 19th century designs of where they had just arrived from. Nova Violet led the way through the open spaces, as Ethan looked at various red costumed people patrolling the area, some of which were completely cloaked and floated in mid-air, expressionless, and letting out small crackles of red electricity as they scanned the area, whilst women in red bodysuits and long black coats generally accompanied them or a small detachment of Arachnos troops. Who are those people? Ethan asked in a hushed tone. The cloaked ones are Mu, trained by some guy named Scirocco. The others are Seers, and are the type who like to mess with your head. Don't mess with either of them, and you'll be fine. They carried on over a plaza area, until they reached a building with heavy looking, reinforced doors. Okay, we're here. Now get inside quick.
Nova Violet opened one of the doors, and Ethan dashed inside, to find himself in a small entry hallway, with cheap blue carpeting and fake wooden décor. Where are we? Ethan asked as Nova Violet closed the door behind them. Aeon City 1st Bank. Now get your guns out, follow my lead, and don't let security get any funny ideas. Nova Violet readied one of his automatic rifles, opened the next door, and ran into the main room of the bank with a blaze of gunfire aimed at the ceiling. Oh god. Oh god. He's robbing a bank. I'm robbing a bank. I'm robbing a bank! Ethan said under his breath as his adrenaline levels increased, and he fumbled for his two pistols, and readied one in each hand. He opened the door which had swung shut to see Nova Violet holding one of the bank tellers at gunpoint, and motioning towards a door at the back of the main banking room. Two security guards lay on the floor nearby, and Ethan felt his stomach churn as he ducked his head back behind the door and leaned against it, breathing heavily through his shroud. The door rattled, and opened, and Nova Violet glared at Ethan; You want the money, then come and earn it friend! he said sternly. Ethan nodded hesitantly, and walked out into the main banking area, where one of the tellers was trembling. She looked relatively young, was dark skinned, and about the same height as Ethan, dressed in the same dark blue skirt and sky blue shirt the other female tellers were dressed in. The captive teller led Nova Violet and Ethan back over to the room on the far side, and used a key attached to her belt to open the door. I..I don't have any other...access to the safe..please don't...hurt me. Nova Violet pushed her out of the way and walked through the door. Ethan looked at the teller, the look of sympathy in his eyes blocked out by the sunglasses and shroud. He pointed to behind the service desks with one of his guns; Stay over there, and stay out of the way. I don't want anybody else to get hurt, so please, don't trigger any alarms. The teller nodded, and scampered over to the desk, and hid behind it, poking her head up to look at Ethan fearfully as he walked through the door, shaking his head in disbelief.
The next room was full of empty computer cubicles, with the PCs switched off. It must have been nearly closing time, Ethan thought to himself. It also explained why there had been no customers in the main banking area, for which Ethan was grateful. The image of the two guards on the floor continued to prevail in his mind, there hadn't been any signs of blood, but he didn't know if they were alive or not. He looked down at the guns he was carrying, thinking back to only a few hours earlier, where one of them had shot the female hero. He felt a sickening feeling in his stomach again. This wasn't right, but what else was there? He was seen as a murderer back home anyway, there was nothing left to go back to, no job, no home, no Elizabeth. Upon thinking about Elizabeth, he felt himself grip the pistols tighter in his hands. He could do something, he could go back and avenge her, somehow, or find a way to bring her back. There had to be a way to bring her back, there must be. Every action has an opposite and equal reaction, Newton had said, and surely he could reverse what happened somehow? There must be a way, there was always a way. And the way he was going to find out, was by getting the money from this bank, taking it from people who probably didn't deserve it anyway. He strode forward and into the adjoining corridor, where Nova Violet was talking to a security guard. Dr Apocalypse, meet Cash Davies, professional mole. Ethan nodded at Cash, and turned to Nova Violet. Can we get this over and done with? Nova Violet smirked, and led the way for the trio, as they headed through a steel door, which Cash opened with a security key card, and they walked into a long corridor coated with sheet metal panelling, with a raised ceiling between regular security points, which had thick steel bars blocking the way through. Cash strolled over to the first security point, and swiped his key card through a small black box on the wall. The first set of steel bars started to raise slowly, as red warning lights warned of the moving items. They proceeded through the now open archway, and headed to the second set of bars. How many of these things are there friend? Nova Violet asked, as he glanced behind himself quickly. Cash replied; Five gates in total, only one can be open at a time. So we've got to wait for the one behind us to shut, before the next one can open. Cash swiped his key card through another small black box, and the bars behind them lowered slowly to the ground, fitting into slots in the metal floor. As soon as the bars hit unseen pressure switches in the holes, the bars in front started to rise. So much for a speedy escape friend. There'd better be a good load in here. Ethan turned around and watched the entrance as the bars climbed towards the ceiling. The trio went through the next archway, and Cash swiped the key card through yet another small black box.
As the gate behind them started to lower, Ethan nudged Nova Violet, and pointed towards the slowly opening steel door they had entered the corridor through. The barrel of a gun emerged from behind the door, and suddenly it was kicked open to reveal two private security guards in blue shirts, and a security officer in a brown shirt, with mirrored sunglasses. He was heavily built, the shirt fitting badly on his muscular frame. He adjusted his sunglasses with one hand, and held a pump action shotgun in the other. This is Securis Services. Cease your actions, drop your weapons, and return to us slowly. Nova Violet walked over to the just-closing gate facing the security team, raised his automatic rifle, placed it between the bars, and fired a small burst of bullets at the security team. They dived to the sides of the corridor, one security guard to the left, the other and the security officer to the right, taking cover behind the columns forming the archway of the first gate. Get that gate open friend! he shouted, as the bars rose slowly upwards to the next area. Ethan and Cash ducked under the half open bars, as Nova Violet fired another covering burst from his automatic rifle. The clip on the rifle clicked empty, and he rooted around for a new clip on his belt. Using the opportunity given to them, the security guards and officer ran towards the first small black box, and swiped a key card through it, causing the gate behind Nova Violet to stop rising, and start descending again. He looked behind him, and dived under the lowering bars before they sunk into the holes in the floor. Brushing himself off, he stood up, and fell back to the floor as his jacket dragged him back, caught between one of the bars and the socket in the floor. He tugged at the caught section, but it wouldn't come loose. A burst of three or four shots clanged against the bars and the floor as the security guards realised he was caught there, stepping through the open first archway.
Cash swiped the key card in the next small black box, and the bars started to raise into the last caged area, as the bars behind the security personnel started to lower into the floor. Nova Violet struggled, and wrenched his left arm free of the jacket, before dropping the automatic rifle and removing his right arm from the jacket sleeve. He picked up the automatic rifle, and headed through the half open archway, as it started to lower again. Grabbing a clip from his belt and slamming it into the rifle, he fired a continuous burst at the approaching security personnel, who again ducked for cover. Cash ran to the last small black box, and swiped his key card. Ethan crawled under the narrow gap between the bars and the floor, dragging his cape with his hand so that it didn't catch in the bars. Nova Violet slid himself backwards across the metal floor, still firing at the security personnel, until his ammunition clip ran empty again. The security personnel returned fire as Nova Violet continued to slide himself backwards under the gate. The bullets whizzed past and hit the floor, save for one, which ricocheted off of a bar and hit Cash in the arm, causing him to drop the key card and fall to the floor with a cry of pain. Nova Violet pushed himself forwards, and grabbed the key card, before sliding back under the bars as they started lowering again, from the security personnel opening the bars to the next area. He picked himself up from the floor, and ran to the door at the end of the corridor, swinging it open, and running through, followed close behind by Ethan, who slammed the door shut behind him. What about Cash? Ethan asked, as he caught his breath quickly. He's down friend, and he'll live, but he's behind the bars now, and we'll all be behind bars if we don't get out of here. Ethan looked around, they were in the adjacent room to the safe, which had been inexplicably left open. The walls were lined with safety deposit boxes, Nova Violet tried a few, but they were all fixed into the wall. He wandered into the main safe itself, picked up a nearby money bag, and began filling it with cash. Ethan kept a watch on the door, aiming both pistols at it for when the security personnel would inevitably come through. He felt queasy, as he pondered the fact he was likely to kill someone soon. It was wrong, he knew that, but it was that or spend the next 10 years in the Rogue Isle's version of the Ziggurat prison, which he guessed wasn't going to be very favourable. Nova Violet chucked a money bag through the door of the safe, and was about to start filling a second bag, when a loud klaxon alarm started to sound, and without warning, the door to the safe slammed shut. Ethan looked behind him, and ran over to the door, trying to prise it open. A digital clock next to the door was counting down from fourteen hours. A time lock. Ethan banged the stock of one of the pistols against the door, but could not hear a reply from the other side. He looked around, unsure of what to do, and saw the money bag lying on the floor. He glanced back at the door, then at the bag, dropped the pistol in his left hand, before picking up the money bag and heading back out of the door into the room.
The security personnel had reached the last gate. One of them spotted Ethan and shouted something his head blocked out. Ethan looked up, and saw a fire detector hanging on the ceiling. Taking the only chance he had of getting out, he aimed his remaining pistol at the detector and fired. The shrill ringing of the fire alarm echoed through the metal corridor, and a shower of water sprung from the ceiling in an effort to put out the non-existent fire. Amongst the spray of water, Ethan saw that all of the bars were raising up to allow easy escape. He covered the money bag with his cape, and ran as fast as he could for the door at the opposite end of the corridor, ducking under the half open archways, and weaving from side to side, hearing shout from behind him, and the burst of gunfire as he exited the corridor. He carried on running, not taking any notice of his surroundings, passing through the main banking area, where the female teller was still cowering behind the desk Ethan had told her to hide behind. He reached into the money bag, pulled out a wrapped bundle of cash, and left it behind on the floor, looking at the female teller as he did so, before pointing at it and nodding, running out of the door of the bank, and into the outside world.
Wow, really really cool mate, loving the way your showing Nova Violet's personality.
I am the Blaster, I have filled the role of Tank, Controller and Defender
Sometimes all at once.
Union EU player! Pip pip, tally ho, top hats and tea etc etc
I apologise if this chapter isn't up to the usual quality of previous ones, I've been writing since 5pm after a busy day, and not even had dinner yet. 
Chapter 13 - They All Come Back In The End.
Ethan looked around outside frantically, there were sounds to indicate an alarm was going off, nor were there any police waiting outside the door ready to arrest him. He tensed up as a tentacled drone hovered past, scanned the surrounding area, then carried onwards. A few Arachnos troops who had just gone off duty walked past, one of them pointing a thumb at Ethan as they walked past and laughing, their conversation too far away to make out. The darkness of night had all but invaded the landscape of Cap Au Diable, and for the first time since arriving, Ethan felt alone as the last ray of light from the sun dropped below the horizon, and he stood there in silence, almost wanting the private security guards to leave the bank and catch him, just so there was someone around. Instead, there was silence, and the distant chatter of people as they walked around the city. Some gang members began congregating at the corner of the bank, and Ethan wandered off aimlessly, hoping to avoid attention with the bag of money he was carrying. Walking in no particular direction, save for away from the bank, he walked back down the bridge that had taken him into the modern city, and headed back into the disrepair of the lower city. He had nowhere to go where he could stay the night, nowhere to keep warm, and no one to keep him safe from whatever it was like in the Rogue Isles at night. Walking slowly through the cobbled streets, he eventually reached the small dock where ferries had been operating from earlier that day. There was one ferry still docked, waiting for passengers, the engine humming loudly over the silent night air. As he approached the ferry, he was knocked slightly by someone in a suit who rushed past him, towards the white-armoured Arbiter. As he was about to speak up at being shoved aside, Ethan stopped as he noticed that the suit was occupied by a large green lizard man, speaking in a snarled manner, revealing sharp looking teeth. Ethan let the situation go this once, and carried on towards the ferry, walking on board via the car loading ramp, figuring it to be safe as there were no car on board, just a few various people sleeping on the floor, probably gaining a free ride by staying in the cargo areas. He walked up some cast iron stairs along the side of the ferry, the white paint peeling off even as he walked on the steps, until he reached the top if the ferry, and walked to the bridge. The metal door was open, he knocked, waited, and stepped into the small room. A well-dressed captain was standing over the bridge controls, who turned around and greeted Ethan with a large smile. Good evening..can I help you? the captain asked. Um...does this ferry go anywhere near Paragon City? Ethan asked nervously. The captain laughed heartily, and slapped Ethan on the arm playfully, before returning to the bridge controls. This isn't a prison ship, and I don't intend it to be. the captain said, still chuckling; I'll get you to Port Oakes, you're more likely to find transport there. Now, are you riding free, or first-class? Ethan reached into the bag he was carrying, and withdrew another wrapped bundle of wrapped money, labelled as five hundred dollars, and handed it over to the captain, who greedily snatched at it and began counting out the notes, hunched away from Ethan, before turning back with a smile. Welcome aboard the S.S. Anne! Please make yourself at home in the first-class area!
The said first class area was in fact, surprisingly luxurious, consisting of a reasonably large dining area, with a dozen or so dinner tables arranged around the room, each perfectly set, with four white ornate chairs situated around each. The floor was clean and carpeted, with a cream colour, and a wooden panelled open bar sat at the head of the first class area. Ethan walked over to the bar, sat down on a cushioned stool, and showed the neatly dressed bar maid a small paper ticket the captain had given him. She smiled and nodded, before asking; What drink would you like sir? Ethan thought for a second, he hadn't had anything strong for a while; Whiskey, please. he responded, and the barmaid went to prepare his drink. As he waited, a grinning man in grey leather combat gear sat on the stool next to him, and ordered a drink as well. Ethan turned to him and asked; So, how comes the rest of the Rogue Isles looks like a dump, and we get this rather nice treatment? The man turned to him, still grinning, and replied; Because, we my good friend, are the ones with the money to afford such a fine service! A toast to fine service! He raised his hand, and the barmaid placed a glass in it, and handed Ethan his whiskey, who proceeded to raise it in the air as a toast. A few people scattered around the tables raised their glasses, and the grinning man downed his glass, before banging it down on the bar. Another my fine woman, and another for my friend here! Ethan downed his whiskey, before asking; So, who are you then? The grinning man downed the next drink the barmaid handed him and replied: Me? You don't know the great Citizen Smith? Robotics extraordinaire? Why, there I was thinking my marketing was top-notch! And yourself? Ethan took a sip of his next whiskey, and responded; Apocalypse..Dr Apocalypse. I'm new around these parts. Smith grinned again; Fair enough, I'll let you off the hook this time. Nice start you've made for yourself here. Ethan nodded, and carried on drinking from his glass.
The rest of the ferry journey consisted of Ethan and Citizen Smith trading stories over drinks, Ethan relating the story of who he had been just a week beforehand, how he had come to be where he was now, but leaving out the most recent part of the story where he was in possession of rather a large amount of money. Smith told Ethan of how he was a successful businessman back in Paragon City, and how he realised that any publicity for his robotics firm was good publicity, and hence, had come under a guise to the Rogue Isles, in order to 'promote' his wares, by causing general mayhem. The ferry crawled to a halt at Port Oakes, and Ethan made his goodbyes to Smith, before departing from the ferry. The cold sea air whipped around Ethan and caused his cape to flutter wildly in the wind, as he walked across the wooden docks, towards the only lit ship on the dockside. There was a woman dressed in dark waterproof clothing, smoking a cigarette, her long oily brown hair sweeping across her face in the wind. Where do you want to go stranger? she asked, and continued smoking. As close to Steel Canyon as possible. Ethan replied. Well, I'm sure as hell not taking this boat then. She stubbed out her cigarette on the wooden dock, and pointed towards the hatch of a small submarine at the end of the dock. You've got to be kidding me... Ethan said under his breath. You want Steel Canyon, we go through a war zone. I'm not taking a fishing boat into a war zone. Ethan sighed, and handed a wad of cash to the woman. He clambered through the hatch, and into the cramped interior of the submarine, which consisted of enough wooden benches to seat around six people, and the controls at the front, with various lights flashing on apparatus scattered across the inside of the vessel. The woman clambered in behind him, closing the hatch, which cause the engines to flare into life.
The voyage was made in complete silence by Ethan, who sat worrying about the water that was dripping through the seams in the metal, whilst the submarine's equipment hummed, and the female 'captain' mumbled to herself, the odd expletive emerging that Ethan could understand. After around an hour's voyage, and Ethan's paranoia about drowning increasing, the submarine stopped, and rose to the surface. The woman turned back to him: Now, in three hours, I'm going to surface in this spot again. I'll wait for fifteen minutes, and if you're not here in that fifteen minutes, I leave without you. Now scram. Ethan frowned, and climbed out of the small submarine, still carrying his money bag, feeling the sweet caress of fresh air as he lifted the hatch. Looking around, he found he was in the coastal district of Siren's Call. With it being near midnight, there were thankfully no heroes about fighting for control of the district. He closed the hatch behind him, leapt to the half destroyed dock they had surfaced by, and began running towards the exit to Steel Canyon, waiting for the security guard to go inside his sentry box for a cup of coffee before gliding through the large open gate. The sight of somewhere he used to call home made Ethan feel giddy on the inside, it was good to be back somewhere more...safe, despite the warrant for his arrest. He began heading towards the AusTech building by foot, attempting to ensure he stuck to the shadows and alleyways, so as to avoid detection the nearer he got to his destination. After a short time sneaking, he reached the back of the AusTech building, heading round to the side to the side entrance. He tried the metal door. Locked. Fumbling around in his pockets, he searched for, and found, his keyring. Trying the key, he found it still fit, unlocked the door and stepped into his old work place. Heading through a small corridor, he emerge into the reception area, which still retained its moonlit glow through the glass front of the building, though this was obscured slightly by the mass of yellow and black hazard tape, reading Police Line Do Not Cross. He strolled across the marble floor, his footsteps making an echoing noise he found he sorely missed. The doorway to the stone stairwell was also covered with the hazard tape. Ethan lifted up a low section, and ducked under, before walking down the cold grey stairwell to the work shop. The door to the work shop was also taped up, and Ethan clambered through the web of tape, and switched on the lights, to see his work shop being much tidier, and emptier than before.
Elizabeth's remains, and the gravitational stasis pod were gone.
Ethan walked slowly over to where the machine had been, and a small clean circle amongst a thin layer of dust was the only proof it had ever been there at all. Feeling tears well up in his eyes, he fell to his knees, letting out an anguished cry, unaware of how he was in the same position as when she had died. Without the machine, and her remains, there was no way to bring her back, no way to save her, no way to redeem himself. Looking at the money bag in his hand, he dropped it to the floor in disgust at what he had descended into, in just a matter of days. If Elizabeth were still alive, he wouldn't have been able to look her in the face. He got up from the floor, tears still rolling from his eyes and staggered over to an empty work table, before detaching the broken gravity control device from his arm and laying it down on the table's surface. Reaching for a screwdriver, he undid the makeshift casing with it, and began to repair or replace the damaged parts, soldering wires, readjusting connections, and covering the results with a proper casing, made of lightweight, waterproof plastic. He allowed the plastic to cool down from being heat-fastened into place, and attached the device to his arm again. Walking over to one of the computer terminals that was undamaged, and still left in the room, he unfastened the front panel, placing it to one side, and removed a hard disk from the insides of the terminal. Glancing around, he caught sight of a small tool bag, made for clipping on a belt. Emptying the bag of the contents, he attached the small navy blue bag to his belt, and placed the hard drive inside it, as well as two bundles of cash from the money bag, leaving the rest sprawled across the floor.
Switching the light off, Ethan left the room, for possibly the final time, and clambered through the police hazard tape, heading up the grey stone stairwell towards reception. He climbed through the second lot of police tape, and found a torchlight shining into his eyes from across the room, dulled by the sunglasses he was wearing. Place your hands on your head, and get down on the floor! a stern voice yelled at him. Ethan stood there, and heard the click of weapons being readied. Looking to his sides, he began to raise his arms slowly, before clenching his fist, and flinging it forward, bringing a large framed map of the building from behind him flying into the torchlight, knocking over the person with the flashlight. He rushed for the front entrance as the other two people he could now identify as police officers tried to get their bearings, whilst he drew his pistol from his belt, and fired twice at the panel of glass in one of the doors, before covering his face with his cape and dashing through the gap made as the glass fell to the floor. Some of the falling glass glanced past Ethan's face, making some small incisions, which for now were ignored, as he bounded outside, to see half a dozen police cars parked around the entrance to the building, and a number of police officers all aiming their guns at him. Aiming his hand down at the floor, Ethan leapt forwards toward the officers, and climbed higher and higher into the air, over the tops of the police cars, and climbing higher until he landed on top of a small apartment block opposite the AusTech building, and instantly leapt again, heading in the direction of Siren's Call, as a volley of shots whistled past him, hitting the side of the building, or travelling as far as they could go, before falling to the floor, hitting the tarmac of the road with a small tinkling noise. Ethan positioned himself, and made another jump from the side of an office block, and landed gently in front of the gate to Siren's Call, running through as fast as possible, and heading back to the shattered dock.
Today's chapter, and a late thankyou to Beet. Nova Violet started out in my head as a pretty 2D character, just there to get Ethan out of the AusTech incident, but ended up accidentally becoming a full character along the way.
Chapter 14 - Everybody's Got Somewhere They Call Home.
Ethan's feet registered sharp points of pain as he ran over the mass of rubble between himself and the dock, small pieces of stone flying out from under his feet. Realising he still had his pistol in his right hand, he slipped it into his belt, and felt the side of his face, and grimaced as the sensation of his fingers stung against the multitude of small cuts, and as he pulled his fingers away, he saw traces of blood on them. This wasn't how jumping through windows worked in the movies, he said to himself, as he kept running. The sound of police sirens approached in the distance, as two police cars raced through the gate to Siren's Call, the officers inside scanning the area for any sign of Ethan. One of the officers spotted him moving through the darkness as they shone a flashlight towards the area he was running through, and motioned for his partner to give chase, the car speeding up and heading towards Ethan. Hearing the crunching of tyres getting rapidly closer, Ethan turned and raised his arm towards the approaching car, and clenched his fist. The car rose up, moving forwards still, before stopping abruptly in mid air, causing the air bags inside to deploy, and obstruct the police officers from exiting the car, or seeing Ethan run off, keeping closer to the shadows, as he drew closer and closer to the dock. The second police car headed over the rubble laden ground, stopping by briefly for the officers inside to check on the first car, before heading in a general direction forwards, on the look out for Ethan. Passing by some gang members staying out of sight, in the midst of some sort of deal, he gave a little mock wave, and bounded onwards, before pulling out his pistol and firing a round into the air, attracting the attention of the police officers, who increased speed, and spun round a corner, to come face to face with the gang members, who promptly started opening fire at the police car, as they also tried to escape the glare of the car's headlights. The police officers ducked below the dashboard of the car, and readied their guns, before ducking back up and returning fire through the side windows of the car doors.
Now a couple of minute's run from the dock, Ethan weaved into an alleyway, and leant against the brick wall, out of sight for the time being, and caught his breath. Huddled in the alleyway with him was a messy looking tramp, dressed in a brown overcoat and trousers, a long grey beard covering his face, and his hands outstretched over a small fire he had made in a metal barrel. Ethan looked at him still catching his breath, and nodded in a slight greeting. Have you...got the time? he asked. The tramp looked up at him, and rolled back his left sleeve to reveal a nice looking silver watch. Heh, got this beautiful thing after some guy in a suit dropped it in a trash can. I mean, who throws away a perfectly good watch? It's about two forty-five at the moment anyhow. Ethan thanked the tramp, and walked over to him, as he began to cower in fear. Hey! D-don't take it! It's the only pretty thing I got! Ethan reached into the bag clipped to his belt, and pulled out a few notes of money, before handing them over to the tramp. Get yourself something to eat. he said, as he scurried off, his cape flowing in the night air behind him. The tramp grinned and waved at him as he went off. Thanks Batman!
He had about fifteen minutes left before the submarine surfaced, and cursed silently at the fact the repairs to the gravity control device had taken so long, the police had time to show up and cause all this hassle. As he finally approached the waterside, the sound of crunching rubble and quick siren burst sounded behind him. The first police car had escaped its state of gravitational holding, and had Ethan in its sights, driving forward at a quick pace to catch up with him. Ethan turned and ran as fast as he could towards the docks, reaching the water's edge at a stone dockside, before rotating round to look at the police car and the officers inside face to face, raising his right arm, and flinging it wildly towards the water, the car lifting up from the floor, and suddenly catapulted into the bay, flying on a large arc, before splashing into the water, sending a spray of water out in every direction. One police officer had already started to get out of the car, and dragged himself loose as the car hit the water, shielding himself from the splash, the other followed shortly after, gasping for air, before being helped back towards a jetty by the other officer. Ethan did not stop to watch the results, he had just under ten minutes left before the submarine surfaced. He raced towards the broken wooden dock, and looked around for a place to stay out of sight, seeing a group of large boxes, he ducked behind them and waited. The sound of gunshots still rang in the distance from the shoot-out with the police officers and gang members, and there was no sign of the police officers from the water. Hearing a low rumbling noise, Ethan stepped out from behind the boxes, to see the submarine reaching the surface, water frothing around its edges. He walked over once it had fully surfaced, and banged his fist on the hatch three times. There was a clunking noise, and the hatch opened, with the woman aiming a harpoon gun in his direction. You're eager. Get in. she said. Ethan clambered in through the hatch, shut it behind him, and waited for the journey to take him back to Port Oakes.
After they arrived back at the docks in Port Oakes, and had exited the submarine, Ethan turned to the woman, and asked: Any ideas where I could start to get my own place? Any estate agents, that sort of thing? I need to get my research work started. The woman lit up a cigarette and replied; You're not going to find anything that way. Nobody sells round here. Though, I hear an old lab's going spare near Marconeville. Ethan raised an eyebrow at the name of the district. The woman sighed, and walked over to her fishing boat, climbing on board, and pulling out a small map from the bridge. She clambered back off the boat, and handed the map to Ethan. You're here. she said, pointing her finger at the docks on the map. The vacant place, is here. she tapped the map on a small looking building. Now go get, before someone else does. Ethan thanked the woman for the map, and started walking towards the building she had indicated on the map. After walking up a crumbling stone ramp, he found that the streets of Port Oakes were pretty much deserted, save for the ever ominous presence of Arachnos troops on patrol, and tentacled drones hovering in the skyline. Walking on the paved streets, he kept heading towards his destination, noticing a rise in the number of late-night meetings with men in suits on darkened corners, the closer he got to Marconeville. A couple of gunshots echoed in the far distance as Ethan kept on walking, placing his hands in the pockets of his leather trousers as he started to feel the chill of the late night air. Following the map, he headed down a small alleyway, and stopped as reached a metal door inset into the beige coloured brick wall of the building the alley was next to. Trying the handle, he found, to his surprise, that the door swung open freely, and crept cautiously inside. The next room was illuminated only by the small amount of moonlight from behind Ethan, though he could hear the creak of wooden floorboards beneath his shoes. He reached around the walls for a light switch, and found one, flicking it on. A singular bulb hung down from the ceiling, which flickered as the current ran through it, before lighting up the small entry room. Ethan closed the metal door behind him, and slid shut bolt lock at the top of the door to stop it swinging open again. The floor of the room was decorated with a deep brown wood, the walls painted in a simple mauve colour. A singular wooden door ahead of him was the only other detail in the room, which Ethan opened to reveal a half open folding grate, in front of a 1930's style elevator. He walked into the elevator, and swung the wooden door shut, before closing the folding grate, and pressing the 'up' button. Nothing happened. He pressed the 'down' button, and the lift shuddered into life, and whirred loudly as it descended below street level, for what seemed like the equivalent of around five stories to Ethan. As the elevator reached the bottom of the shaft, another entry room similar to the one upstairs became visible through the folding grate on the lift. The elevator carriage stopped, and Ethan opened the folding grate, before walking into the second entry room, and opening the metal door in front of him.
Through the doorway, was a metal balcony, still looking rather new, overlooking a room filled with numerous computer terminals and scientific equipment, of all shapes and sizes. The walls were coated in metallic plating, which still reflected the contents of the room as though they had only been installed yesterday, and the floor was a sea-blue marble. The place looked magnificent to Ethan, and he couldn't help but feel lucky at having found such a place. Looking to his sides, he saw a ramp heading downwards, which he descended, and walked amongst the various items in the laboratory, a broad grin forming on his face.
Two doors led out of the laboratory area, one on opposite side of the room, adjacent to the door he had entered through above. The door on the left was another metal door, with a handle that at first refused to budge, but eventually gave way, and allowed Ethan access to a red wallpapered room, with a cream carpet. An executive oak desk sat right in front of him, with a space where a PC had probably been, and recently removed going by the square patch without any dust on it on the desk. A phone with an old dial on it sat on the desk, Ethan picked up the receiver, there was still a dialling tone. Looking around, he saw two ventilation grilles in the wall, one near the floor, the other nearer the ceiling. The wall next to the door had an empty wooden bookshelf in front of it, and a wooden door to the side led through to a small living area, consisting of a very small kitchen in the corner, a small one man bed, with a clean mattress still on it, and a door leading to small en-suite bathroom. Everything looked so...recent, and new, despite the odd piece of 1930's décor. There were ventilation ducts in the walls for the bathroom and living room, and Ethan was glad that at least he wouldn't suffocate down here. He went back into the main laboratory area, and walked to the opposite door. It was metal and featureless, with no discernible handle. A small black panel, inset into the wall, consisted only of two LED lights, one red, currently lit up, and one green, currently off. Ethan tried waving his hand in front of the black panel, with no success. He sighed and knocked the door with his foot. The green LED light lit up, and the door slid upwards.
The next room caused Ethan's eyes to widen. A cavernous room lay before him, with a metal balcony he was standing on, on all four sides of the room, attached firmly to the brick-work of the walls. Below him, the room stretched into darkness, further than Ethan could see. Lighting was provided by a number of circular light lining the walls. In front of Ethan stood the centrepiece of the room. A giant metallic tower, covered in coolant pipes and large electrical cables went from wherever the depths of the room led to, up into the stone ceiling high above. A howl of wind came from the bottom of the room, and Ethan shivered as the air blew through the room. Walking around the balcony, he saw nothing of interest on the side walls, but on the opposite side of the room to the entrance, was a junction box, with simply a level attached, currently in the 'off' position. Ethan cautiously walked nearer, and grabbed hold of the handle, as another howl of wind swept through the room from the depths below. He pulled the handle down, and pushed it into the 'on' position. Almost instantly, the metallic tower sprung into life, light flashing all over its surface, and machinery sounding from within it. Sparks of electricity jumped over its surface, and Ethan made the initiative to leave the room quickly, hearing the tower scream further into life, at least, it sounded like the tower to Ethan. Stepping back through the automatic door, he found that the laboratory's computer terminals and equipment were all starting to power up, various unconnected wires started sparking, and a glass vat started bubbling in the corner, unseen until now. Ethan dashed around the various computer terminals, switching them all off. Whoever had left here, had certainly done so in a hurry, going as far as to simply pull the plug on everything rather than take the time to shut down the apparatus.
Ethan tried to ponder what could have made the previous occupants leave in such a hurry. There certainly didn't seem to be any signs of an accident, nothing was broken, and aside from a few PCs, and the bedspread, nothing much had been taken either. Switching off the last computer terminal, the laboratory once again fell into silence, the automatic metal door being thick enough to block out the sound of what appeared to be the generator in the deep room. Ethan wandered back towards the office, and towards the living area. Feeling the strain of tiredness on his body, he headed towards the living area, and went to the cupboards, to find them still full of food, most of which had yet to expire. Ethan checked the kettle to make sure it worked, which it did, and proceeded to make himself a cup of tea, though the milk had gone off, which he promptly poured down the sink whilst the kettle was boiling. He went into the en-suite bathroom, checking his face in the mirror. Aside from being stubbly, he also had cuts down the right side of his face. No glass had lodged itself in, but he wasn't going to win any beauty contests for a few weeks. The bleeding had stopped, but Ethan took some antiseptic wipes from the bathroom cabinet, and dabbed it round his face, cringing at the stinging as the wipe went over his cuts. He left the en-suite bathroom, and found himself unexpectedly face to face with a man dressed in what looked like pristine clean surgical gear, his face covered by a red visor. I'm afraid, you happen to be trespassing. the man in surgical gear said, before rapidly withdrawing a strange looking gun before Ethan could react, and shooting him in the neck. Ethan fell to the floor, not feeling any pain, and watched his world fade to grey.
Today's chapter is around 4,000 words long. I apologise for the length, but it's not a part of the story I could have shortened down.
This chapter is based on a Batman:TAS episode. For spoiler reasons, the name of the episode is "Perchance To Dream".
Chapter 15.
Ethan stirred, and emitted a small groan from his lips, as bright lights from the ceiling above caused his eyes to sting as he opened them wider. Indistinct beeping sounds and a woman's voice could be heard from his side, as he felt the almighty ache in his head start to rise to painful levels, and he raised his right hand to his forehead as the pains started to reach more unbearable levels. He felt a pin [censored] on his left arm, and turned to see a person in a white coat injecting something into his arm, and almost instantly, he felt the pain starting to go away. The doctor spoke, but Ethan couldn't make out what he was saying, he just stared at the beige tiled ceiling, the lights still causing his eyes to sting. Turning his head to the right, the muscles in his neck feeling weak and underused, he looked at the room he was in. It looked like a hospital ward, with three beds on his side of the room before the large framed window inset into the white painted wall. The opposite side of the hospital ward had four beds lined up in the same fashion, though they were all empty, save for the bed Ethan realised he was laying in. He looked down, and saw he was in a hospital gown, and nothing else. Reaching to his face with both hands, he felt his face, no shroud, no sunglasses, little stubble, and no cuts. His right arm was clear of any technology, and upon reaching into his hospital gown, there was no indication of any bullet wound in his side. He felt the touch of someone's hand against his left arm, and he turned to see a female hand, with perfectly manicured nails, leading up to a brown ladies coat, worn by Rose, who was looking at him with small tears in her eyes, and a quivering smile on her face. She was speaking in bursts, but the words sounded mumbled to Ethan. He adjusted himself to sit up, feeling the slight tug of unnoticed tubing in his left arm, attached to a small machine next to his bedside. The world behind Rose began to come into focus, revealing the same door frame he recognised from somewhere, but he couldn't quite place where. Doctors and nurses were hurrying from one end of the corridor outside to the other, carrying clipboards and cups of coffee, and Ethan saw Dr Griffin running from the left to the right, on his way to whichever emergency he was being called for. Suddenly, his ears began to attune to the sound being projected at him, and Rose's words began to become discernible.
--oh Ethan, I was so worried, I thought you'd never wake up! They told me you might not make it! She started to sob, and she reached over and held Ethan in her arms, crying into his shoulder. Taken by surprise, he jerkily moved his arms up, though they felt weak, and loosely placed them around Rose, as she pulled him closer to her. Through cracked lips, he croaked the question; Where...where's Elizabeth? Rose pulled back, wiping the tears from her eyes with the sleeves of her brown jacket. E..Elizabeth? Who's Elizabeth? she replied, choking slightly, as she looked at Ethan with a puzzled expression on her face. My..my wife...is she...alive? Rose started crying again, and took his left hand, placing it between both of hers, and giving a small smile. Goodness knows what's being going on in your head you silly man. I'm your wife, have been for almost two years now, and there's the ring to prove it. she said, as she raised her left hand to show the simple gold ring on her finger. Ethan tried to speak, but didn't know what to say, the words wouldn't come out of his mouth. Instead, he squeezed gently on Rose's hand and laid back, resting his head on the pillow. He tried to remember back, how he had got here, but all there was, was distant memories, blurred shadows of people, a glimpse of a gunshot, and waking up here. How...how long have I been...here? He asked again, turning to look at Rose, still holding his hand. Almost two months...do you remember anything at all darling? About what happened? Ethan shook his head slightly. Rose wiped the remaining tears from her eyes, and continued speaking; There was an accident at your laboratory, something you were working on went wrong, and there was a fire. Mr Austin...he was in there with you...he managed to get you out, but he...he didn't make it himself. Ethan tried to comprehend what was going on; But..he fell off the roof...I dropped him...I didn't mean to. Rose reached over and held him again. He inhaled too much smoke Ethan, it wasn't your fault. Ethan smiled slightly, and lay his head back down, everything was...right, it felt right, as though he belonged here, that everything that happened had been just a bad dream in a coma, but it had all been so real...so hurtful.
During the next few hours, Ethan and Rose talked, filling in all the gaps that Ethan had in his memory, though Ethan found himself beginning to remember events in his life that had never occurred to him in his comatose state, such as his wedding to Rose, days working at AusTech, buying his first house, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not remember the accident that had put him in hospital. He had met Rose at work, she was the receptionist at AusTech, but had always been good friends with Ethan beforehand, and as they got closer, they eventually had decided to get together, and tie the knot. Mr Austin had been an understanding boss, allowing Ethan to leave work at five, not allowing him to work late, so that he had a personal life outside of the workplace. He lived in a luxury apartment in Founder's Falls, his area patrolled by private security, the buses were always on time to and from work, and he earned a comfortable amount to live off of. Ethan felt himself accustoming quickly to his forgotten life, and over the next few days, he waited eagerly for visiting times, to see Rose and find out more about himself, and about what had happened in the world outside whilst he had been in the coma. During one of their talks, Dr Griffin walked in, to Ethan's bedside. Excuse me Mrs Mortimer, Mr Mortimer, I have some good news. It appears Mr Mortimer is recovering much quicker than expected, in a few days, he should be fit to go home. Ethan grinned and replied; Thank you Doctor, that's great news. The next few days suddenly seemed like a blur to Ethan, as he began making preparations to finally go home, before on the last day, dressing into black pressed trousers, and an aqua blue shirt, and waiting for Rose to finally arrive. He began to make his way down to reception, wandering down the antiseptic corridors, and from round the corner, came a crash cart carrying a woman pushed by two doctors, one male, one female, another pulling along an IV drip and small piece of machinery on wheels. Ethan looked at the woman on the crash cart as she was wheeled speedily past, and uttered out a name; ...Elizabeth... The female doctor looked back, and asked: Do you know this woman sir? as she slowed the crash cart to a halt. No...no. But...the illness, don't feed it. She needs to kept in stasis. The female doctor looked at him blankly, then turned back to the crash cart and motioned for it to be pushed forwards again, going down the corridor, further and further away down the corridor, as he stood there staring. He felt an arm encircling his, and Rose's voice perked up behind him; Hey there handsome, something wrong? Ethan turned to look at her, and kissed her gently on the lips. No. Nothing wrong at all.
As Rose began to drive him home, Ethan sat back on the passenger seat, and closed his eyes, still feeling tired after his stay in the hospital. There was a woman on a crash cart back there, before you found me. I could have sworn I knew her...knew what was wrong with her, but I'm sure I'd never seen her before, not in real-life anyway. Rose turned the car left towards a tunnel entrance, and responded; Is this the Elizabeth woman you were going on about when you woke up? Ethan tried to focus his memory back, but found simply a blurred shadow of his dreams in the coma. Yes...maybe. I'm not sure. I...I think I might need to see someone, you know, just to help sort out a few things in my head. Rose smiled; Well, you should ask Diane, she is a counsellor after all. Ethan looked at her quizzically. Rose sighed mockingly; She's a friend of yours, from back in college. She came to visit a few times when you were still unconscious. She's been out of town recently though, should be back today actually, she said. Ethan nodded. I'll phone her up later then, I'm sure she'll want to see me anyway. He looked out of the window as they exited the tunnel, to see Atlas Park, and the city hall standing proud in the distance. Bit quiet today isn't it? Can't see many capes around. Rose gave him a funny look as she drove. You know, capes, superheroes. People running around hitting bad guys. Rose tried to stifle her laughter as she drove onwards. Oh Ethan, it sounds fantastic inside your head when you're asleep. You'll have to let me in with your super powers some day. She giggled and carried on driving. Superheroes, honestly. Ethan continued to look out of the window, still expecting to see a brightly clothed person flying over the skyline, and slowly realising such a thing was implausible, but still the feeling of disappointment filled his heart.
After around half an hour's drive, they arrived at Ethan's apartment block, which looked more like a contemporary rendition of an Eastern European building, and most certainly looked expensive. Rose parked the car in the private underground car park beneath the building, and after she had turned off the engine, Ethan undid his seatbelt and got out of the car. He looked at Rose as she left the car, and at an open elevator carriage nearby. Race you to the flat. He said, a cheeky smile spreading across his face. Rose looked up, and smirked, before suddenly running towards the lift. Ethan began chasing after her , and easily overtook her, heading straight into the open lift. He turned to the elevator panel, and stared at the buttons, realising he couldn't remember which one to push, the numbers looking all jumbled up in his head. Rose ran into the lift, and pressed a button on the panel. Floor seven honey. She said, pushing him against the wall and kissing him as the doors slid shut. The elevator whirred, and ascended to the seventh floor, stopping suddenly as it reached its destination, and the doors opened. Rose led the way down the hallway, and into their apartment, closing the door behind them, and locking it shut. The apartment was large and open plan, taking up one half of the floor, with presumably a similar apartment taking the other half. The flooring was made of fine panelled wood, with carpeting around the living area of the apartment in the corner, where a number of leather seats sat around a large television, and bookcases lined the walls, filled with books. On the opposite corner was the kitchen area, near the windows looking outside. Ethan and Rose headed through a doorway in the wall adjacent to the kitchen, and into the bedroom.
The afternoon slowly turned into evening, and Ethan picked up the telephone by the bed, dialling the number he had in a phone book for Diane. He placed the receiver to his ear, and waited as the ringing sound was replaced by a quick crackle, and the sound of a woman's voice. Hello, this is the Budwick residence. Ethan replied; Hi Diane, it's Ethan. There was a gasp from the other end, and the shout of Diane's voice telling someone who was on the phone. Ethan! Oh my goodness, this is fantastic! Are you at home? Ethan responded: Yes I am, do you-- I'm coming round now, put the kettle on. The other end of the line clicked, leaving Ethan's end in silence. He placed the receiver on the hook, put the phone on a nearby dresser, and walked out to the main area of the flat, towards the kitchen, where he promptly switched the kettle on, and prepared three cups of tea. Memories started to flash back to him, of times in college, times spent with Diane as friends, and also briefly, as lovers. He remembered how Diane liked her tea exactly the same as Ethan did, white with two sugars, whereas Rose's was one sugar, with no milk. As the kettle boiled, there was a knock at the door, and Ethan saw Rose out of the corner of his eye walking towards the front door, and letting Diane in, who was wearing a red coat, and a white blouse and black trousers underneath. Ethan turned to face her, and Diane ran over and hugged him tightly. It's good to see you up and about Ethan, it really is. She said. Ethan hugged her back, before going to pour the water for the cups of tea. He handed Diane and Rose theirs, before speaking; It's good to see you again Diane. I was just wondering, could we talk this evening? You know...professionally? Diane nodded and smiled, replying; We could do that now, get it out of the way. Rose kissed Ethan on the cheek. I'll go and read in the bedroom for a bit, so you don't feel embarrassed. Ethan and Diane sat on the leather chairs by the television, and he recounted to her what he could of what he had seen during his coma. It all seemed so real, like I'd lived out everything for those years and years of my life. He said, as his story drew to a close. Hmm, well Ethan, it's a tough one. Diane replied. It seems to me, you're possibly secretly feeling intense guilt about how well your life has gone up to this point, and so, when asleep for all that time, your subconscious made you a whole new life, one in which things were all going horribly wrong, in order to try and atone for your guilt. Ethan nodded. Ethan, fetch me a book I think you have, its the one with the purple spine just there. Ethan nodded, and got up from the chair, headed up to the bookcase, and got the book. The cover had a picture of a human brain on it, but the title was jumbled up, and Ethan couldn't discern the letters on it. He flipped open the book, and found the pages filled with incoherent nonsense, letters scattered all over the pages in various fonts and sizes, none of it making any sense. No. he said to himself under his breath. He reached for another book from the shelf and opened it, the same incoherent writing was inside. He threw the books on the floor, and reached for another, and another, all of them featuring incomprehensible words. No, no no! It's all a lie, it's not real! He shouted, throwing the books on the floor. Diane came over to him; Ethan, what it is it? What's wrong? Ethan turned to her, tears forming in his face. The books, they can't be read! Dreams use the left side of the brain, reading uses the right side of the brain, you can't read things in dreams, because the left side of your brain can't make sense of the words!
Ethan ran past Diane, and picked up a set of keys from the counter in the kitchen area. He stormed to the front door, opened it, and slammed it shut behind him, as Rose came out of the bedroom to see what the shouting was about. Ethan went to the open lift at the end of the corridor, and pressed the bottom button on the lift panel. The doors slid shut, and the elevator carriage descended to the underground car park. He exited the lift once it stopped, and ran over to his car. He unlocked it, got in, and drove out of the car park, heading for Steel Canyon. The light of dusk was disappearing as Ethan drove to his destination, and the roads were emptying as rush hour drew to a close. He stepped on the accelerator, and sped down the roads, swerving round cars in his way, and hearing the tooting of horns behind him as he kept going. He reached Steel Canyon in little under quarter of an hour, and headed towards the AusTech building, before screeching the car to a halt outside the front entrance. He walked to the glass walled entrance, and went through his keys, until he found the right one for the lock, opening the door, and entering the building. The reception was as he had always remembered it, starting to become encompassed by the glow of moonlight behind him. He walked to his left, towards where the stairwell to his work shop should have been, and found nothing but a wall in front of him. He looked at the wall. It was very flat, the wall. Flat and smooth. Flat and smooth like all walls should be. But it was too smooth, like it had only recently been put there. He looked around, and saw a small metal post with a map on it. He picked it up, walked to the wall, and swung it at where the stairwell should be. The wall shattered, and collapsed like glass, the fragments disappearing as they hit the floor, leaving a rectangular archway in the wall, leading to the stone stairwell downwards. Ethan went through the archway, and walked down the stairs towards the work shop. The metal security door was absent from the door way, and he entered inside.
The room was bare, the concrete walls and floor devoid of the computer terminals that normally characterised them. All that was present in the room, was the gravitational stasis pod in the middle of the room, suspended in mid air, the door to the pod open. Ethan breathed in deeply, and walked over to the pod. Inside, a man lay, dressed in black leather trousers and boots, a black flak jacket, and an aqua blue shroud and cape. Ethan studied the man's face, recognising it, until he realised it was himself lying in the pod. The alternate version of himself opened his eyes, and looked at Ethan, before speaking: About time you got here friend. Now friend, make a choice. You can leave friend, and live the happy life friend. The best life friend, never worrying about things again friend. Or you can wake up friend, to the misery and pain you have friend. Ethan looked down at the floor, and left the room, heading up the stone stairwell, walking upwards, past the gap to reception, and up stairs that had previously not been present. He walked up the seemingly never-ending steps, tears forming in his eyes, and reached the top, where a wooden door opened, and led to the rooftop of the AusTech building. He walked slowly towards the edge of the building, the same spot he had held Austin over the edge. Ethan, stop! A voice cried from behind him. He turned to see Rose standing at the doorway. She ran over to him, and held his hand, trying to drag him away from the edge. Please, Ethan, come back! It's not what you think it is! she cried at him, as tears streamed down her face. Ethan looked out over the edge, and felt something he had never felt before. A sense of vertigo. He looked at Rose, and kissed her on the lips, before removing his hand from hers. It's been great Rose, but it's not real. He said, as he stepped backwards, over the edge of the rooftop. He felt the sensation of falling, the wind rushing in his hair and clothes, and the sight of Rose reaching out over the edge, getting rapidly further and further away. Then there was darkness.
The sense of floating was the first thing that entered Ethan's mind, as he opened his eyes, and found himself in a tank full of a blue liquid. He instinctively swam upwards, the top of the stasis tank uncovered, and grabbed the edge with his right arm, before removing the oxygen mask from his face, and various wires attached to his skin. He clambered over the side of the stasis tank, spilling some of the blue liquid onto the marble floor of the laboratory, more of it dripping from his soaking body. He was wearing his leather trousers, but nothing else. Walking over to the main computer terminal in the room, he wiped the liquid from his eyes, and saw the strange looking gun lying there. He picked it up, and walked towards the office area, still dripping wet, and readied the gun in his right hand. He turned the handle on the metal door, to reveal a surprised looking man in a white coat and yellow shirt looking directly at him, as he entered the room. What the..!? How did you get out? How did you wake up!? Ethan aimed the strange gun at the man, who raised his hands in the air. Wait..wait...don't shoot! Maybe we could work together you know? Or, or you could go to sleep again. You should have had the perfect world, that's what the gun does, it makes things perfect, targets the right area of the brain, and induces a permanent dreaming state. Ethan replied; Point one. Nobody messes with my head. Point two. Teach your damn gun to read. Ethan fired the gun, and a small projectile hit the man in the chest, who promptly slumped in his chair, unconscious. Ethan fired again, and again. We'll see how much of a good time you like. He fired the gun again, as the man's body started to spasm uncontrollably, and finally slump onto the floor by the desk. Ethan placed the gun on the desk, and felt for the man's pulse. There was nothing. Ethan waited for the feelings of guilt and shock to start flooding in...but nothing happened. He stood there staring at the corpse, feeling nothing at all, except a sense of satisfaction. He picked up the man's body by his legs, and dragged him through the metal door, into the main laboratory, and through to the generator room. He hoisted the body onto the railings, and flung it over the edge, watching it descend into the darkness, and disappear completely without a sound. Ethan left the generator room, and stared at the functioning laboratory. Well. he said to himself, crossing his arms. Time to get some work done. He wandered back over to the office, and into the en-suite bathroom. He promptly showered and dried himself down with a towel inside, before heading back out, and rooting through some drawers by the bed, until he found his clothes in the bottom drawer. He put the clothes back on, and wandered over to the desk the man had been sitting at. A newspaper lay on the desk, with the main page article circled in red pen. City Hall unveils new time-travel technology. Ethan said out loud. He grinned wildly, and laughed out loud as a plan began to enter his head.
This is the first chapter of my submission for the NaNoWriMo competition, and I'm writing a story set in a slightly modified CoH/V universe, which means some content in future chapters won't be strictly canon.
The Long Drive Home.
Click-click-click-click-click.
The complicated-looking machinery whirred and clicked as it made its calculations, analysing every piece of data from every possible scientific perspective it had uploaded into its vast array of data-banks. Differing vectors and possible trajectories were calculated in fractions of a second, numerous theses were scanned, and rejected, in the blink of an eye.
And in that blink of an eye, Ethan Mortimer knew that yet, again, the results would be printed from the machine, and yet again, those results would be negative. Years of research, and yet still, very little in the way of actual progress.
Ethan straightened himself out from his hunched position over the computer terminal, stretching his arms up and over his head, before slowly lowering them back down, feeling the muscles in his back tensing, then relaxing. He sighed heavily, and took off his glasses with his left hand, and produced a yellow cloth from his lab coat pocket with his right. He tilted the glasses to begin cleaning, and caught a glimpse of himself in the reflection from the lenses.
A male, in his late twenties, a gaunt look on the pale white skin of his face, black hair trimmed in a centre parting, cold blue eyes, and the stubble present on a man who had clearly not been home for days.
Whir-whir-whir-whir-whir-whir.
Pages and pages of notes started to be ejected from the computer terminal's printer, landing neatly in a tray just below. Ethan walked over to the tray, picked up the first pages, and began to scan through them nonchalantly. He read through the differing mathematical calculations, and scientific formulae, when suddenly, his eyes widened. It...it can't be! he exclaimed, quickly picking up the other pieces of paper as they were printed out.
Ethan quickly read through the rest of the printout, and rushed over to a black telephone hanging from the wall opposite the computer terminal. He picked up the receiver, punched in a three-digit number, hung up, and picked up the receiver again, cursing himself for forgetting the new dialling code for inside the company in amidst all the haste. Ethan held the receiver close to his ear, and waited as the droning of the ringing was finally replaced by that of a woman. Hello? This is AusTech Industries, how can I help you?
Rose, it's Ethan, from Gravitonics, I need to speak to Mr Austin right away. There was an over-emphasised sigh from the other end. Mr Austin is in a very important...business..meeting right now. Ethan rolled his eyes, and placed the receiver on the hook. He picked up the newly-printed research notes, and headed for the door to the stairs from his laboratory.
The sound of Ethan's heavy footsteps echoed up the grey stone stairwell as he ran up them as fast as he could, before flinging open a dark wooden door, and emerging in the reception area of AusTech Industries. The reception was notable for having its front wall made entirely of panelled glass, letting in the bright sunlight from outside, which illuminated the polished marble floor, and creamy-white walls, causing Ethan to squint slightly as he grew accustomed to the sudden change in light levels.
He bounded over to the entrance to the lifts, adjacent to the receptionist's desk, opposite the main entrance, where Rose was sorting through a number of files, and placing them in the correct order. She was a pretty woman, just turned twenty-two, with flowing red hair, and delicate facial features, her body toned to the near-ideal degree, with all the curves in all the right places. Ethan couldn't help but take at least a quick glance as he rushed into the now-open lift, and hammered on the button for the top floor.
The elevator carriage started to ascend, and gentle music started playing from a speaker in the back corner. Ethan gritted his teeth at the irritating sound, and was more than happy to depart from the elevator carriage after the ping sound indicated he had arrived at the top floor. He emerged in a small mini-reception area, where nobody appeared to be around. The door opposite him to Mr Austin's office was slightly ajar, so he swung open the door and exclaimed loudly; We've done it! We've found the rules of gravitational stasis!
Evelyn, the secretary who should have been outside, promptly got off from sitting on Mr Austin's desk, and started buttoning up her open blouse as she made her way hastily to the door, avoiding any eye-contact with Ethan as she coldly passed him by. That's great news Ethan. Perhaps it could have been timed more...appropriately, but no matter. This means AusTech is finally at the forefront of gravitational technology! No longer will we have to rely on the aptly super-powered members of Paragon City, for with our technology, any person can safely use gravitational forces in their own home, isn't that right Ethan?
Ethan bit on his lip as Mr Austin spoke, and replied: Mr Austin, I'm not sure we're quite at the stage of personal home use yet...I'm not even sure I can manifest this data into a usable prototype for quite some time..and there's other uses for this technology, rather than as a home appliance, or a useful tool.
Of course Ethan, and I expect you to work on a wide variety of ideas for this new technology, but of course, the funding I'll be sending your way should really go to towards a more...practical use first. The other work can wait until afterwards.
Sure thing Mr Austin. Ethan started to walk towards the exit from the office. Oh, by the way Ethan, take the rest off the week off. I think you've earned it. Ethan smiled, and left the office. He walked towards the elevator door, turning and giving a small wave to Evelyn, who stared back with half-open eyes and pouted.
Ethan pressed the elevator button for the garage, and waited for the doors to slide shut. They did so, and the elevator carriage descended slowly, seeming slower than normal to him, as he anticipated getting home early. The doors opened, and Ethan left the elevator, entering into the cold dark interior of the underground car park. As he walked towards his car, Ethan heard a muffled sound, like that of someone shouting, but restricted as though something was covering their mouth.
He raised an eyebrow, and headed slowly in the direction of the muffled yelling. Turning a corner, he saw a 1930's saloon car, with the boot open, and three men dressed in sharp-looking suits and fedoras, two of them in matching purple pinstripe suit and hat, the other dressed in a black suit, with a white hat. The white-hatted man was looking around, whilst the other two were attempting to force a person with a brown sack over their head and rope-tied hands, into the open boot of the car.
Ethan yelled out Hey! What do you think you're doing!? The three men looked up suddenly, and without hesitation picked up Tommy-Guns from the boot of the car, and opened fire at Ethan. Quick! Get him in, and let's get out of here! the white-hatted man shouted over the bursts of gunfire.
Ethan dodged back behind the corner he had just turned around, and pressed his back to the wall as bullets ricocheted off the corner of the wall, causing sparks to appear, and a small cloud of smoke near Ethan. The firing suddenly stopped, followed by the loud clank of doors being slammed shut, and the revving of an engine. Peering round the edge of the corner, Ethan saw the car gain speed and race towards the car-park exit. He held his hand to his chest, and slumped down against the wall, catching his breath as his heartbeat started to settle down.
He reached into his lab-coat pocket for his phone, and cursed himself, remembering the fact he had accidentally left it at home. The police would have to wait, and by that time, those Marcone goons would be too far away to apprehend. He pushed himself up from the floor, and walked back towards his car. It was nothing special, simply a standard family estate car, coloured a deep, dark blue. Ethan sighed at the fact it was unlikely it would ever be a proper 'family' car, Elizabeth's treatment had made it next to impossible for her to have any hope of conceiving.
As he sat down in the car and pulled the door shut, Ethan rested his arms on the top of the steering wheel, and placed his head on them. Breathing deeply, he tried to mentally lower his anxiety level, to no avail. He sat up suddenly, and slammed his hand into the steering wheel in a show of anger and frustration, before inserting the keys into the ignition, and starting the car up.
He fumbled for his seatbelt, and slid it into the socket, before pressing on the accelerator and leaving the car-park. The sun was still shining in Steel Canyon, reflecting off of the numerous skyscrapers in the bustling financial and business areas, filled with people making quick-fire decisions that could affect the market for years to come. Other buildings were more down to earth, so to speak, as Ethan left the business area, and headed through the more residential area to the south of the district. He could remember the days when this district was simply a large shopping area when he was a kid, nowadays, the laughs of children replaced with the beeping of horns, and supersonic shouting of some heroes.
Hearing a loud whooshing sound over head, Ethan instinctively started to apply pressure to his brakes, but eased off as he saw a brightly coloured figure in a cape flying over. Ethan recognised this particular hero, his name was Mind Sweeper, a telekinetic with some sort of 'draining' abilities that could boost any nearby allies. Quite how this Mind Sweeper could make his ability differentiate between friend and foe, Ethan couldn't work out. The flying hero hovered in mid air, his purple and red costume fluttering slightly in the breeze, and red cape billowing, before shooting off towards some unseen crime.
Ethan decelerated the car as he drove up to the west-side exit from Steel Canyon, towards Independence Port. As he entered the tunnel, the loud kaboom from behind him served as a reminding factor as to why you could insure your car against trainee superheroes in this city. After what always seemed like eternity, he exited the tunnel, and made a sharp left down the east side of Independence Port. Trying to keep his attention on the road, Ethan peered out of the right-hand side of his car to see if he could catch a glance of one of the giant octopuses that sometimes surfaced in the area. Today seemed to be an unlucky d...
*SMACK*
Ethan pressed hard on the brakes as the person slid off of the bonnet of his car, and into an unconscious heap on the floor. He wound down the window, and leaned out to see the damage done. Good work citizen! He would have gotten away if it wasn't for your vigilance there! Ethan looked to his side, and saw another superhero standing by his car, looking slightly out of breath. Oh...oh...no problem. I just...couldn't...stop..myself from apprehending him Ethan blurted back, going slightly red in the face. I'll take care of things from here citizen, carry on! The extremely large, well built woman replied, before picking up the thug, draping him over one shoulder, and running off at an incredible speed.
Pressing down slowly on the accelerator, and double-checking for anyone running in front of him randomly, Ethan continued his drive home down the side of Independence Port, watching the various heroes running, jumping and flying about, apprehending various criminals,who would be teleported away to the Ziggurat prison in Brickstown by passing police-drones. Ethan was glad he could afford to live somewhere slightly more upper-class than Brickstown. It certainly didn't seem safe to live in a district where prison breakouts where the norm, especially one master of escape, some young Outcast called Frostfire. Thankfully, the entrance was further south than he intended to go, and soon enough, he took the turning to Skyway City.
The drive home took Ethan along the main bridge-road in Skyway City, and for that, he was glad he didn't have a fear of heights. Spanning almost four hundred feet tall, and with no high-barriers to stop cars falling over the edge, it wasn't a drive for the faint-hearted. Especially if there were Trolls around causing a nuisance. Which, to go along with the rest of Ethan's luck for the day, there were.
Around a dozen Trolls and several of their bigger ilk were in a large group blocking the road over the bridge. Although they weren't causing any actual trouble, save for throwing large rocks at each other for fun, there was no way Ethan could get past them. He pressed on the horn and shouted out of the window; Hey! Get out of the way, I'm trying to get across here! As soon as Ethan had finished his sentence, he felt the car jolt and judder, before rising up in the air and jerkily moving forwards above the heads of the crowded Trolls. The car was lowered gently to the ground, and given a gentle push to get it going on its way again. As he drove off, Ethan saw the reflection of a tall, skinny man, who certainly didn't look like he could have lifted his car, suddenly emit a large ring of fire, and start taking on the Trolls who despite now being slightly aflame themselves, had decided to all attack the superhero at once.
Ethan carried on, and eventually, wound up at his home on the north side of the district. He positioned the car onto the driveway, turned off the ignition, and exited the car, fumbling for his door key as he did so. As he approached the door, he found the key, unlocked his front door, and was greeted with the smell of cooking steak and ale pie. He took large sniff of the aroma, and quietly shut the door behind him.
He crept through the hallway, putting his lab-coat on the coat-stand near the door, and approached the kitchen to find no-one there. As he wondered where Elizabeth was, he was suddenly grabbed from behind, and hugged tightly. Thought you could sneak up on me did you? Elizabeth said through a broad smile. Ethan turned around and kissed her, before replying; Apparently not, maybe you should be out there with the heroes if you can sneak like that Elizabeth grinned, gave him a kiss back, and went into the kitchen to continue preparing dinner.
Ethan smiled, and realised, it didn't matter about the crazy world outside his front door, he had a woman he could rely on to always be there for him, no matter what, and that no illness was going to tear them apart.