Chapter 1: Welcome to the New World

"that's why i wanted to get this place finished just incase"zeru replied yawning

"What? We hide like rats in a tunnel hoping that they won't find us?" She shook her head in disbelief. "This is your plan?"

zeru laughed before responding"oh no i got no intention of hiding at all i just want to make a safe for supers who need it to call home"

"You could have at least gone with a mansion or anywhere out of New York". She responded leaning against a crate. "I don't know how many supers would be happy to call a subway station home"

"eh this place seems more reliable plus home is where the heart is"

"In that case I should go back to Moscow since nothing beats the sight of the Kremlin in winter, everything is covered in snow it is magical". Her voice held genuine longing, yet she did not have enough money to travel back to her former home.

"hey maybe once we get things taken care of we could travel there for a vacation sometime"

"One thing I find is there is always something new to take care of" She sighed. "This conflict of ours will never end because evil will keep returning regardless all we do is stem the tide".

"there always's something going on but i still say there is always hope just gotta find it"

"Not in our conflict" She argued. "Where do you want this junk?" Klara inquired pointing at the box that contained all manner of wires.

"just leave it near urthus over there he'll take care of that"

"Er... A little help carrying the crate please?" Klara asked seeing that she could not move the crate herself.

"whoops my bad"zeru said as he went over and lifted up the other side of the crate."gotta love abilities huh?"

She picked up her side of the crate. "Yes I suppose but I don't feel any different... Other people want to make me feel it".

"then those people are posers"he replied as he began walking sideways to the crates new destination.

"I don't know about that"

"Nicholas!" A masculine voice shouted. Pretty much everyone in the research offices heard the man shout. In one of the workstations, a man with long hair sat. His head in his hands, his long hair draped over the desk. mathematical figures and notations scribbled over sheets of paper before him. His eyes were puffy from lack of sleep, but his eyes weren't bloodshot. Images flashed on his computer screen, depicting the electric eels they were using for research. Some of the images were biological information, alleles being isolated, DNA, chromosomal loci, genetic information as well as heart rate and survival statistics.

At the sound of his name he looked up ever so slightly. He wondered what the man wanted. Why he was disturbing him. He was busy, couldn't the other man see that? He heard a heavy-footed figure walk up behind him. Probably the man who called out his name earlier. He turned in his chair as the man approached. "Are you going to the Social on tuesday?" He asked, Nicholas had no idea who he was. He didn't recognize him from anywhere in the building, a new hire maybe? If he was new, it would explain why he was being so loud. And talking to him. "No."

With his short answer he turned around and went back to work. Scouring over data and writing down possibly important mathematical formulae. The new person didn't like that answer though, and proceed to pester the scientist who was hard at work. Eventually, Nick gave up. He packed up his things and left without a word. On the way out, the secretary wished him a good evening, to which he said, "See you tomorrow."

After she escaped from the museum, Sparrow was faced with a far more fun challenge: getting home. Her apartment was all the way in Brooklyn since her mom didn't want to spend too much for what was meant to be a short term stay, but Sparrow didn't mind. Having exited to the roof, she aimed her fist at the nearest building, and fired a cable from the wrist mounted launcher. One of her mothers contacts, was a tinkerer and a genius, and more than willing to give his friends daughter new tools.

Like the wrist mounted grapple gun, carbon nanotube cables spun around tiny spools, yet there was at least several hundred feet worth in each spool and they had a strength far beyond that of steel. They were fired by tiny electromagnets, miniature railguns really, that fired them as fast as a bullet and their ends latched onto the lip of a nearby rooftop, and she was yanked up and forward by the motors reeling her in. The plastic tube remained secured, and she let out a whoop of excitement as she went flying. Some pedestrians below looked up at the sound, but none really took notice in the streets below.

shortly after they arrived near urthus."just drop it down we need to wake him up"zeru said as he dropped his side down before stretching to remove the final kink in his back"by the way want some brunch?,still got some left"

"Nah I'm good and you can wake him up if you want" She said looking unimpressed about the remains of the thing called Urthus.

It was difficult at first, when she had started out using the cables. At first, she could only go to a single rooftop and run to the next. But after she started training with it more and more, along with getting some improvements, she was now able to chain together shots so she rarely had to touch a rooftop. She sped through the gaps between buildings and over the Brooklyn bridge, before she soon got home to her apartment.

School got out early, since apparently there was some incident involving a masked man, some knocked out gang members, and traumatized kids. It left James, Amy and Chris free to head home......however Amy decided now was as good a time as any to tell Chris. And maybe James. "Hey Chris, can you come with me? You too James, there's something I gotta do." It wasn't that odd, and they agreed to follow her as she led them....to Stella. Or as Amy was quickly starting to think of her....The Drama Queen.

"suit your self"zeru said as he walked over to urthus and kicked his armored leg."wake up we still got work to do"

"Hey dark, look at this." What. "Its a bunch of contacts with very interesting names like, suppliers and boss." Oh god really, we already did enough good deeds today. "It will be fun, come on" And with that Marcus picked the supplier contact and let it ring.

"I'm fine you two seem like you could really do with a proper meal, a shower and a decent place to sleep". She commented casually.

James and Chris were a bit perplexed at where Amy was taking them, an area by the large ports where cargo ships docked, shipping containers everywhere. She led them to one, and said "Okay Chris, I need you to come with me and help me with a drama queen." Chris blinked and said "What?" Amy sighed and said "It's Stella. She's in here, and has herself hooked up to some shock machine. She's going to pose a choice to you, on whether to shock her in revenge for her blunder that got me in the hospital or forgive her." Chris looked stunned, and then started laughing as she said "Wow.....well, at least we know she doesn't do anything by half measures..."

"i'm still working on getting the housing areas set up"zeru said as he walked over."just need to get furniture in the bedrooms and living slash dining room"

There were a few rings until someone picked up "Hey is this you Reggie." 

Mark was a little taken back but tried his best to reply. "Yea man, its me, my voice may be a little odd but still me any jobs."

"Yea, near where that giant guy attack that bank we have a deal going on, need you to go and make sure that it goes well and after that head to some docks, I'll tell you later."

hmm, "I'll think about the docks mate." and with that he hanged up and started to jog towards towards where Rev got his ass handed to him.

James could only burst out laughing, despite the seriousness of it all. "What is she expecting?" he gasped. "For Chris to fry her extra crispy? Oh man....." His friend turned a bit pink in the cheeks and said "Well, it's rude to keep her waiting. Come on Amy, let's go see if, if, I can fail to meet her expectations." With that, she entered the container.

"That guy was dumb" You think. "Hmm, well hey at least all we have to do is climb up a building and look around for a group of people to take down." If only it was that easy.

"I still cannot believe you chose a subway... You planning on making your own Metro world down here?" She inquired.

"hopefully"he replied

She shook her head. "Fine fine... I'll be in my apartment if you ever want to visit". Klara did not intend to be remaining in the subway station for any real length of time. It would never be her home, not while she had her own to live in.
Why should she have to hide like a rat underground for? Klara would never let herself be driven underground just by the mere thought that it was safe. If she desired safe then she should pack in the job as a hero and go get a better, full time job rather than her part time one.

"just so you know i got no intention of hiding form anyone"he resonded climbing up a series of crates to check the labels and ensure they were in the right spot.

"So why the subway?" She inquired, her phone buzzing as she received a text. Her phone was an old fashioned one that seemed to get signal just about any where she went. Klara pulled her phone out, smiling as she read the text, before typing a reply and sending it.

"more bang for my buck and convenience among other reasons"

"Yeah well whatever works for you." She shrugged, her phone buzzing again and sending another text message. "Maybe."

Right as Chris walked inside, James was given an alert by Gestalt, who was hooked into the police waves. There was a.....well, murder but something about it was making the police really active....or rather, quiet about it. "Amy," James said. "I need to go....something came up, and I gotta check it out." She looked at him and nodded, saying "Sure thing. Go get 'em." With that, he changed.....and for the second time that week, actually enjoyed the fact he didn't need to do it in private, having a friend there to see him off. He left Amy and Chris there at the container, moving onward to a location in Brooklyn. He was surprised then, to find that it was the same area where he and his friends had hung out with Lauren. It was in a back alley behind one of the buildings, and he arrived to stand on the roof and look down at a truly grisly sight.

She was in her thirties maybe, hair down to her shoulders and when she was alive, would have bee beautiful. But despite her nudity....the state of her body detracted severely from that fact. The space below her ribcage was gone, the skin peeled back and her innards scooped out like the inside of a pumpkin. As if it were a shirt, her skin was cut up from that same spot and up to her collar bone, and the skin of her chest was peeled back and open to expose her musculature. Her arms had been splayed out, as if in a dance pose, legs reflecting the pose as they stood on the ground, somehow supported. More cuts and mutilations were evident on her legs and arms. Her head was missing.....at least, from the shoulders. It had been cut off, and placed into the space beneath her ribs, wedged in there with the skin still intact and the face contorted in a mask of terror and agony....which said she was alive and aware, when she had been killed. James nearly threw up at what he saw, but managed to keep his nerve...barely.

Urthus stirred and sat up, bits of plastic clinging to his back where they were impaled on his tool spikes. His suit was on, anticipating danger within the subway station that he and Zeru would have to deal with. He put a hand on his facemask, an idle gesture rendered pretty much useless do to the aforementioned facemask. He looked around and spotted his roommate along with someone he didn't recognize. At the very least not at first. His heart skipped a beat and his suit glowed with energy as adrenaline woke him up fully and his fearful mind raced to the worst case scenario. He made a sound, trying to make some sort of threatening growl, which came out more of a strangled cough due to lack of sleep and a build up of fluids within his mouth.

"oh hey your finally awake and about time too"zeru said noticing earthus wake up.

"That was fun" you mean dropping on one of them and knocking out the rest like a good little hero. "Yea that was good but man I felt like an assassin when I fell on him and this part is going to be fun." with that Marcus pulled out his last knockouts phone and dialed the police. "Yea, Hi this is the darkness again with about 10 guys in the middle of a drug deal." Oh, you don't believe me again, Shall I walk to another school and ask them too." "Stay right there, lady have you heard the definition of Vigilante, just go to the building on the west side to the bank that got robbed by that giant robot, look in the alleyway and your find them cuffed, I will stay hear until I hear sirens so please call every law enforcement you got, I'll still get away" and with that Marcus hanged up the phone and sat down, "Well this seems like an interesting day"

Chris would find exactly what Amy did.

Monitors. Stella hooked up to a few tazers. The red button and the blue button.

The works.

Chris walked further inside, looking at Stella for a brief moment, and said "So uh......we really gonna go through this show? Because it seems overly dramatic Stella."

James stayed where he was as the police arrived, roping off both ends of the alley and even going so far as to set up tarps to block the scene from public view. A pair of detectives arrived, and began talking as they examined the corpse.

If you would James, please extend your hand in the direction of the alley so we might utilize auditory listening devices.

Wait, you can turn into a listening device?

Yes. It is utilizes a concept similar to one your species employ, of discerning sounds from vibrations on objects.

Impressed, James crouched down and extended his right arm, thankful to still be cloaked. Then sounds began coming in, a bit fuzzy but understandable. "Definitely him," one of them muttered. "Has the same marks as the last three." His partner spat a curse and said "Christ.....okay, so the body's been mutilated, looks like he removed the stomach and intestines, plus everything else......then shoved our vic's head inside. Any ID?" One of the officers shook their head. "No. She was nude when we found her, nothing around to help us identify her. Only thing we did find, were some tire tracks on the ground." The other detective examined them, and said "Looks like the driver nearly burned rubber as they drove off. Probably stayed long enough to pose her, then got the hell out. Odd......they've never been rushed before."

"Something must have spooked them. Heh, maybe they were worried they'd get spotted by one of the vigilantes," his partner mused. "Man," the other said. "Almost wish they'd find the sicko......alright, let's keep looking around, see what else we can find."

Stella didn't react. She was hanging there, waiting.

When no response came, Chris sighed and without further ado, pressed the blue button to release Stella. Though she had to wonder.......what if someone else had walked in and found Stella?

James, still cloaked, jumped down into the alley as quietly as possible,avoiding the cops and detectives as he walked past them silently, before coming to the body. It was worse up close, since he could smell it. He had never known what that much blood smelled like, and to see the body so mutilated and decapitated.....it wasn't right. Human bodies, even dead, should at least look like the person was asleep. Not desecrated and posed like a statue made from the mind of psychotic. Fighting the urge to vomit, James stood still while gestalt examined the body, millions of eyes across the epidermis scanning the body in various ways.

Without full contact, we can only draw a few conclusions. The cuts on the body are precise, and made with precision tools made for medical work. Coupled with the skill of each cut, it stands to reason that either the killer has had medical training, or is perhaps very good with a knife, a butcher maybe. Unclear of how the body is able to stand and retain such....stiffness. However, further examination may determine how.....though we advise against it, as it would expose us.

Who knows, maybe they'll approve of us helping.

"So what do you need doing now?" Klara asked as she typed off another reply to whoever she was talking to on her phone, before putting it back in her pocket.

Sirens were closing in and it wasn't very loud. wow, seems they still think I'm just posing, Dark find a dark corner and hide us. sure thing boss. with that Mark walked into an corner and allowed Dark to meld themselves to the darkness. Man this hurts, allowing my body to just meld with the darkness. well it beats thermal vision plus its going to hurt more if you move, or shadowskip as you like to call it. Yea true that. 

I had arrived home a few minutes ago, only to be handed an outfit similar to that of a forensic scientist and told we were going to a crime scene. The three guards were unusually heavily armed; each of them holding a submachine gun and wearing bullet-proof vests. The car didn't take long to arrive at the scene, though I could smell the blood from quite far away. We got out of the car, and after being stopped by a police officer, a guard handed him a piece of paper, and we were let through with no other protests.

I glanced at the body as I and the guards walked towards it. It looked strange, seeing such a heavily mutilated body. The guards were trying their best not to look at it, and instead were standing guard a little farther away. I stopped next to the body, crouching so that I was at eye level with her stomach, from where I could see most of her exposed organs. I touched the body, my gloved finger coming back red with blood. I stared at my finger, taking in the smell of the victims blood and committing it to memory, before I wiped it off on my coat.

Ahead behind the body, the tarp at the other end of the alley pulled back to let in four people: three of them armed personnel, plus one individual in a lab coat. What was surprising though, was that James recognized the girl in the lab coat. Kristen? he thought to himself, stepping back to avoid her. Things were certainly becoming weirder than normal if she was here, and he stepped back to stand near the wall while one of the detectives walked over and asked, "Who are you? You and those three." He indicated with a hand the armed guards. Neither Kristen, nor the guards, were wearing any kind of clothing indicating they were part of the police, so naturally the officer was curious.

One of the guards turned to the officer, SMG pointed towards the ground.
"Black Fox Special Operations and Interal Affairs," He answered the officer with a rehearsed confidence, "The victim here was involved with Black Fox PMC, and as such, our employers are obligated to investigate her death. I'm Lieutenant Parkes, this is Private Richards and this is Corporal Mason." He said, motioning to the two other Black Fox guards, "This should clear anything up," He added, handing over the same document he had shown to the officer to gain access to the crime scene.

While they were talking, I'd noticed something on the ground. A single droplet of blood, a little way away from the corpse. I stepped over to it, and making sure nobody could see, wiped it up on a clean finger. The smell didn't seem to be the same as that of the corpse, though blood didn't really smell too different from person to person. Double checking that I couldn't be seen, I lifted up my mask about an inch and wiped the blood onto my tongue.

The detectives looked over the slip of paper, and it showed their captains signature, along with the district attorneys. "Huh....you guys work fast," one of the detectives said. "Says here that with exception to internal matters regarding your company, we're to expect full cooperation and sharing of relevant information." It sounded good on paper.....however, the downside was that Black Fox could take over the entire thing, if they declared it a matter of internal security. It wouldn't earn them any goodwill with the police of course.

James didn't pay attention though, moving so he could look at Kristen....and nearly choked out a gasp when he saw her taste the blood. What the hell?