[Exit]

Alyssa rejoined the others and relayed the information she'd acquired about the warehouse outside of Shimzu II and the creepy masked man that the Halfway Houses had been buying from for the Razors. Looking around, she noticed neither Delman nor Templer were around the area, even thick as it was with militia and their own officers. Once again, my entire team is gone. Fuck it, this is why I hate playing baby sitter. She put out the call on the comm, irritated that every time she turned her back, either Templer or Delman vanished. First Templer at the bistro, then Delman all during the fight, and now both of them now.

"This is Brynes. Where the hell are you, Templer? Delman? Report immediately... I've got candy for you!"

This last bit was said sarcastically. Alyssa caught Jason and Len's attention without waiting for her little team's responses. She wasn't really expecting them to answer. Templer had already ignored orders several times today and Delman was nearly as uncommunicative, although he had shown good sense in calling the militia and getting some ground troops into the area.

"So, should we report in to Toto or head directly to wherever this warehouse outside of Shimzu II is? Or..." She suddenly remembered the ground-breaking news about Kai. "Should we attempt to find K-... erm, the man behind the camera blackouts, right now?"

[Lathis]

Templer smiled as he heard his commanding officer's sarcastic comment over the radio. He activated his own radio to respond.

"Officer Templer here, Sir. Don't worry about us, I was just having Officer Delman show me where the little boy's room was. No emergency situation has arisen during this activity and we will be back in a matter of minutes so please don't worry yourself." He paused for a moment, before adding. "Just so you know, sir, your concern is appreciated."

Beginning to feel better about the situation, Templer returned his radio to his belt. Just because he didn't want to be like his commanding officer didn't mean that he couldn't trade banter with her.

This post has been edited by Lathis: 14 August 2009 - 01:18 AM

[Ryo-Wolf]

"Reporting to Todo won't do any good. He can't help us from HQ and we'd risk Gate eavesdropping. We'll save the briefing for when we get back." Jason said, leaning back against a building for a moment to think. Warehouse, or Kai? He didn't know what the halfway homes were up to, but Kai kinda took precedent over a bunch of Altered trying to be human. Then again, they were both probably the goal here. Kai was the one who took out the cameras, but it seemed the Halfway Home Altered were the ones doing the damage to the private property outside of Shimizu. So where the hell were they supposed to start?

"...Couldn't they be the same thing?" Jason suddenly realized, standing up straight again. "This's what he did. His original crime was Gun Trafficking, right? And we all know what kind of guns he preferred. It makes sense if our guy is the source for these guns." Jason said, keeping an eye out for the Militia types that might be in hearing range.

"We could hunt down the Halfway Home guys, but this warehouse sounds like our ultimate goal. Any suggestions?"

[Xero]

Chao winced as he accidentally touched his hands on his clothing, causing another brief flare of pain. Ignoring it, he considered the question Jason had just asked with a frown. On the one hand, he had a somewhat personal reason to want to find Kai. He was, after all, family. And as family, it was his duty to beat the shit out of him if he was being a dumbass and giving military-grade weapons to a bunch of morons. He would have already been hunting him down the second it was mentioned he might be behind it if the jackass gangsters had managed to get into a dick-waving contest with GATE and slaughtered half the city in the process, but the statement of it being the Halfway guys that gave them the guns could mean Kai wasn't aware exactly who was using them for what.

So he wouldn't get mad about it until he was sure if his cousin was doing it on purpose or not. THEN he'd shove Kai's face into a wall a few times to knock some sense into him. On the other hand, there was the halfway home people. THEY were obviously aware of exactly what they were doing, and he was really tempted to go over there and crack a few heads together regardless. So after a somewhat more difficult internal battle than it should have been, he spoke up with his suggestion.

"I think we should go to the source. Regardless of who's behind this, warehouse dude or the Halfway Homes, stopping the guns will stop them from getting the guns to give to the gangsters in the first place."

This post has been edited by Xero: 03 August 2009 - 08:17 PM

[Exit]

"Concern, Temp? I thought maybe some small kiddies had abducted you with sweets and the promise of warm milk. We're moving out soon, so shift it!"

Messing with people was always fun. A tiny bit more serious than before, Alyssa had been listening to Chao's response. She agreed with his simple statement. "If it is at all possible, I'm thinking hitting the warehouse creepy guy is the easiest way to take this down to the core of the matter, right? I mean... how many warehouses on the outskirts of the pyramid will have links to the Halfway Homes or are owned by altered? Though this dude we all know is very smart and has hidden for a while, eh? He could have enough fronts and paperwork to look totally legit." She thought about it for a moment. "We can more thoroughly interrogate the Razors for their contact information and then through that within a few hours if we get lucky, we may be able to locate the masked man. We should recognize him on sight if it is who we think it is, no? Unless a few years has changed him that much..."

[Lathis]

Templer smirked and looked over at Tyler. "It appears that our lord and master misses our company. Perhaps we should start to head back?"

Officer Delman only chuckled, shaking his head. "I'll see ya when ya get there, kid." Only to vanish is a rapid displacement of air, likely already at their destination.

Templer could only stare, impressed by the man's casual use of such a unique power. Of course that only meant that Templer would likely get to enjoy the brunt of their commander's 'touching concern' when he finally got back.

As far as first days on the job went, he could scarcely imagine how things could have gone any worse.

- - -

Rachael Stevens, proprietor of this particular little storehouse, and most powerful person in the room, glowered (so much as she could beneath her featureless silver mask) at the dozen or so of her subordinates. The Razor gang bangers were nearly frothing at the mouth and brandishing highly illegal weaponry of all types, their only desire to burst out of the warehouse and rush down to Joe's Tavern to avenge their comrades.

Oh, how Rachael wished she had some 'intelligent' people to work with. Sure, the Razors had been good to her, but they were so petty.

"Would you idiots calm down already?" she stated in her liquid, monotone voice. It was far too hard to worry about modulating or raising her voice, so she didn't bother. "The militia already dropped in, you'd be walking into another slaughter. Our job is just to lay low and make sure that no one finds this stuff we stole from those Halfway losers, and I don't see how bursting out in the streets, carrying said weapons and stuff will let us accomplish that otherwise simple task."

Miraculously, none of the Razor punks yelled back at her. They had learned, via Pavlovian training, that since she wasn't able to yell herself, she didn't appreciate it when people raised their voices at her. The last person that had shouted at her still had to be careful when helping move the crates around since he'd had his arm surgically reattached.

"But we can't just sit here and do nothing, can we?" Asked one of her subordinates in an even tone.

Rachael scoffed loudly and walked over to the window, preparing to make her point. "Look, we've got nothing to worry about here. Why would you wanna screw up a sweet setup like this by running out there?" She stuck her fingers between the blinds and pulled down so she could better 'see' outside. "I mean, what the hell would you do if there was some cop or another just walking by when you ran outside- shit!"

She drew her hand back quickly and flattened herself against the wall, before taking another careful glance out the window. The silver glare had drawn her attention, but the uniform was impossible to miss.

"The hell? A DMAC flunky . . . here? What the hell are the odds of that?"

Wait a second . . . A silver 'aura' around him? Why did that sound so familiar? She knew she'd heard about that somewhere before. Something about an indestructible suit of . . . armor . . .

Armor! He was only the most damned famous member of the Razors that had ever lived. That one had shot through their ranks like nothing, so she'd heard, only to move onto Reclamation to start doing some serious shit! Armor's younger brother was almost as well known among the Razors, having been a favorite punching bag of so many of their members after Armor made his triumphant exit from their ranks.

"Hmm, Armor's little brother? And he's a damned DMAC flunky? Damn . . . I might be able to do something with that . . .," she whispered to herself. She then turned to her boys.

"Jimmy, go grab the van. I think we just got a lucky break."

- - -

Templer was enjoying his leisurely jog back to Joe's tavern. Sure, he couldn't feel the wind on his face, or smell the various scents of the city, nor was he warmed by the rays of the sun . . . but at least it was quiet out and no one was shooting at him-

His train of thought was rather rudely derailed a moment later, when a large van suddenly sped past him, only to slam on its breaks, coming to a squealing stop - jumping the curb up onto the sidewalk in the process - less than a dozen feet in front of him.

Frowning slightly, Templer stepped forward intent on chastising the driver for his recklessness -

When the side panel of the van slid open with a loud slam, revealing four large men holding extremely bulky looking handguns that looked nothing like the plasma weapons he'd seen earlier. Unfortunately, they didn't give him a chance to ask what was happening before opening fire.

In a titanic roar of wind, four semi-solid spheres of charged particles tore through the air, slamming into Templer's chest. Taken completely by surprise, he didn't even have the chance to anchor himself, and was blasted off the ground and slammed into a nearby lamp post with enough force to collapse the metal structure.

Apparently his assailants weren't completely aware of how their own weapons worked, as the interior of the van was suddenly transformed into a contained tornado by the backlash of the weapons. Yells of shock were issued, even as several of the men were ejected from the van and the others were slammed into the sides of the van painfully.

Even as Templer, unharmed, though a bit disoriented, attempted to dig himself out from the lamp post that was pinning him to the ground, the passenger side door of the van opened and another figure stepped out.

'Obviously' female, if the virtual body glove she was wearing was any indication, the woman had long crimson hair which fell to frame the featureless silver mask which covered her face. She spent a moment to regard her fellows, shaking her head in disgust before moving to stand over the pinned officer.

"Hello there, Officer. I don't suppose you'd be so kind as to come for a little drive with us would you?"

Templer struggled against the collapsed lamp post for another moment, but lacking the super strength that his brother's protective armor had provided, said lamp post paid his efforts little mind. After a few more seconds of futile pushing, he finally looked up to the masked female and shrugged.

"Well, since you made the request so politely, I don't see how I can turn down your generous offer."

Even though the mask covered her face completely, he could have sworn she was smiling. "Me neither, baby boy." She then turned to her men. "Alright, cut this guy outta this mess and let's get the hell outta here before anyone shows up."

She then pulled out a cell phone and hit the redial button. "Alright, we got the package; I'll take him to a safe location. You guys do what ya gotta do to buy us some time."

Rachael then placed the phone in her pocket as she watched her boys cut out the young, tender looking DMAC officer.

"Oh, I've got plans for you, little boy," she whispered to herself gleefully.

- - -

Rachael waited impatiently outside the room as her boys were supposedly subduing that damned cop they'd captured. The worst part was that the little shit was being as polite as possible, but the logistics of tying a man to a chair when they possessed a protective aura which they could move around at his will were more daunting than one would have imagined. Finally, though, after a good fifteen minutes, Charles, Timmy and Pete exited the room, looking far more frustrated than when they'd entered it.

"Damned smarmy bastard in there, we ended up using fifty two bungee cords to tie the brat down," muttered Charles, "Not to mention the fact that he's still got his damn radio on him and nothing we've been able to do yet can turn it off. I've set up a signal scrambler in the room with him, but I'm gonna go see if I can't tinker together an EMP generator or something, see if that can't knock it out."

The young woman shrugged. "You do what you gotta do. All I wanna know is that he ain't going nowhere until I'm done with him."

Charles shrugged in response. "If we actually had a cell to throw him into, I'd feel a lot better, but restaurant basements don't usually tend to have too many of those."

Rachael groaned in consternation. "Seriously, we actually have the balls to call ourselves any kind of criminal organization and one of our more 'secure locations' is the freakin' basement of a run down greasy spoon? I can literally smell the septic systems through the air vents down here and we're supposed to be bad asses?" Shaking her head, she pushed past the men to enter the room. "Forget it, you guys get outta here, I'm gonna ask the punk a few questions. I don't want anyone bothering me while I'm doing it, got it?"

Nodding quickly, the trio ran off to do whatever it was, leaving her alone with her guest. Quickly closing the door and locking it, she turned to regard the bound person. Had she the ability, her brow would have lifted in bemusement as she regarded the young man, who looked very much like a bungee cord mummy from the sheer number of the things which had been used to tie him to the steel chair they'd found for him. "They certainly didn't go half assed on you, did they?"

Her captive shrugged . . . or at least tried to. "I'll admit I wasn't as cooperative as I could have been."

"Boy, but you got a smart mouth on you, kid. Why don't you prove that it's not just your mouth that is smart and answer a few questions for me? I've got some curious people harping at me from higher up, and they seem to think you might have some answers," she explained patiently.

The glowing youth stared at her, a serious look in his eyes finally. "Do you really expect me to cooperate with a common criminal? I'd offer you my name, rank and serial number, but I haven't received the latter yet. I would recommend that you simply release me now, and possibly reduce the severity of your inevitable sentence."

Rachael considered backhanding the impertinent brat, but wasn't a fan of useless gestures. "What are you, some kind of idiot? You're a cop, not a freakin' soldier; did you learn all your cop 'wisdom' from movies, or what?"

Templer's uncomfortable shifting told her all she needed to know. "Oh god," she barked, following it with monotone laughter, "You don't know anything, do you? You got some idiot notion about being a hero and hop skipped and jumped your indestructible little butt over to Gate and basically begged them to make you their lap dog, didn't you?" Her condescending glare seeming to pierce her featureless silver mask. "Is there anything you can tell me about what the hell DMAC's is doing tearing up one of our bars?"

The blond officer's eyes narrowed, as her jibes were obviously needling him. "I can inform you, that as an officer of the Department of Mutant and Altered Control, I'm obligated to inform you that you have broken several laws, including possession of illegal weapons, kidnapping, assaulting an officer, reckless driving and destruction of public property." Suddenly the corner of his lips quirked up into a defiant smirk. "I haven't actually been issued my copy of the criminal code yet, but I'm fairly certain that at least some of those are fairly serious charges, so I'm going to have to place you under arrest. Would you like me to read you your rights, or have you already heard this spiel before?"

Incredulous, Rachael could only shake her head in amazement at this kid's cojones. Either he was so confident in his aura that he was fearless, he was a complete idiot, or more likely, a strong mixture of the two. "Heh, funny you should mention that, Officer. I actually wanted to ask you how that was working out for you. You know, being a traitor to your own kind? Becoming a slave to the people that oppress and imprison our kind just because we're superior?" She paused for a moment, resting her hands on his bound arms as she leaned forward so close that he could see his doubly silver tinted reflection in her mask. "How about working for the man that killed your brother with his bare hands?"

Ahh, that was what she wanted to see. The look of shock that blossomed on the bound officer's face was a sight to behold.

"How - how did you know about that?!"

Again, her smile was more felt than expressed, but that didn't stop her from enjoying herself. "About you working for Jason Cray, the most infamous and hated altered on the entire planet? Or about him crushing your brother's skull like an egg a year or two ago? I gotta say that the first isn't exactly the most well kept secret on th-"

"My brother! How did you know about that? Did you know my brother?"

Rachael stood back up, daintily tapping a finger to her mask."Know your brother? Well, not personally - he was a bit before my time - but I knew of him. That guy couldn't stand to waste his potential by sticking with these Razor punks, either, and went on to do amazing things. I mean, going after the president?"

Templer winced. "I don't need you to remind me of that humiliating event. Do you have any clue the hell my family has gone through since that was leaked to the public? Of course you don't, you're ilk never think of anything beyond their own desires. You're just like my brother, not caring for the ramifications of your actions, only caring about what you want."

This time, Rachael did slap him, her hand making a sharp 'crack' as it connected with his aura, actually rocking his head to the side. The young officer looked surprised for a moment, but she didn't give him time to react. "You selfish little prick!" She struggled hard to make sure her anger was expressed in her voice. "Your brother was trying to make the world a better place for all of our kind. Your hero, Cray, is the traitor, working for the bastards that jammed half of us into this damned pyramid and the other half into that hellhole Seventh. If you were half the altered he was, you'd realize that it's not okay for them to treat us all like human garbage and actually be helping us."

The young mutant was struck speechless for a moment, struggling vainly to find a counter to her argument. "I . . . I would never work with the likes of you," he finally responded, though it lacked any real heat.

Rachael continued her faceless smiling. "Don't worry, I already knew that would be your answer, but that's okay. You might not know anything about what the hell is going on - which makes two of us - or, hell, maybe you know everything, but frankly I don't care. You see, you are going to help me. Help me to get out of this piss ant organization. All I gotta do is make a few calls."

With that, Rachael made her way to the door, unlocked it, and began to make her exit. "You don't go anywhere on me, now. You're about to become a valuable commodity, after all."

A moment later, the door was locked again and Rachael made sure to inform everyone in the hideout that the prisoner was not to be disturbed, fed, or even watered until she got back. It was time to start some plans of her own.

- - -

Left alone with his thoughts in the now darkened room, with only his own dimly glowing aura to cast a silver light, Templer couldn't even muster the desire to even contemplate any form of escape.

Was she right?

Had his brother been the traitor?

Or was he?

- - -

Templer wasn't certain how long he had been left in the near darkness. The painfully constant dripping from the sink by the far corner seemed to pass by, one eternity at a time as he dwelt on what his captor had said. No answers had emerged from the darkness, though, so he'd forced himself to find a distraction from the troublesome truths.

He stared intently at his right hand, or more specifically, the shimmering silver aura which surrounded the appendage. He was lost in concentration now, focusing on the narrow ridge which now ran along the length of his wrist, pushing up several of the elastic cords holding him in place. Now he was trying to visualize the small ridge becoming narrower, taller, sharper . . . a blade to cut himself free. As the seconds passed, desire and reality drew closer together as his protective armor molded itself to his will. It was harder than he would have expected, trying to mold his shield down to a razor's edge, not at all as simple as just flattening his aura down around himself for his 'glider' trick.

The burgeoning blade was just over an inch high now, and ran up most of the length of his arm. Slowly, he pulled his arm back, then pushed it forward, the bungee cords doing their best to hold him in place. Nothing happened, so he tried it again, focusing on forming his arm into a sharper blade with each passing second. Again, the bungee cords did little to acknowledge his efforts -

But on the third try, he was rewarded with the sight of several cords fraying around the edges. He smiled at his small victory, all he need now was time-

The sudden sound of the door being unlocked startled him, and his newly forged blade melted back into his arm instantly. Several seconds later, his captor entered the room, flipping on the lights as she did. For some reason, she appeared to check the corridor behind her before closing the door and closing in on him.

"So how's my baby boy? You haven't drowned in your own tears or anything, have you?" she asked in her frustratingly monotone voice.

"I've managed to keep myself occupied," he replied cheekily. Anything to keep the conversation away from previous topics. "Have you finally come to your senses and decided to surrender yourself into my custody?"

A gurgling chuckle was his reply. "If you weren't such a baby, I would have thought there was some innuendo in that question. Don't you worry, though, I've been occupied as well. You wouldn't believe some of the people I've been talking to lately, kid, you'd be surprised how difficult it is to get into contact with some groups, even for someone with as much street cred as I've got."

Templer bristled at the constant stream of age related comments. "And what street cred would that be, little girl? I've lived my entire life here and I've never once heard of you. And what does any of that have to do with me, anyway?"

Casually, she backhanded him again, but this time he was prepared and her slap didn't affect him at all . . . unfortunately the loud cracking sound didn't seem to cause her any discomfort either, as she began pacing before him. "Like I care if you've ever heard of me, punk. Some of us are just smart enough to keep our heads low, is all. As for what this has to do with you? Nothing." She moved closer to him again, running a finger down the aura which protected his face. "This is all about me moving up in the world, all you are is the price of admission, kid. No hard feelings, I hope?"

The bound officer frowned. "I can understand not wanting to belong to a group of punks like the Razors, but I can't imagine them being overly enthused with the idea of you using one of their hostages to barter for your own ends. Aren't you supposed to be questioning me regarding why such a petty group is suddenly touting military grade weaponry like it's about to go out of style?"

"Well, what they don't know won't hurt them, now will it?" she replied. "After all, if you sneak out with me now, you'll have a much better chance at escaping, won't you? I mean, you could stick here and try to fight your way through a Razor hideout and battle a dozen altered gang bangers, or we could just slip out together and then you'd only have little old me to deal with. Doesn't that sound like the perfect opportunity?"

Despite the monotone nature of her voice, he could tell he was being patronized in the most serious manner possible. This woman was not afraid of him in the slightest . . . he was almost wondering if the former alternative wouldn't be easier. Of course, if he tried that route, he would have to deal with all of his captors, as well as her, since she'd just accuse him of lying if he tried to rat her out.

Wait a moment-

"Wait a moment. What do you mean, 'sneak out now'? Where are you planning on taking me, and how would you manage to get us by everyone else without raising any suspicion?" He asked, curious. He wasn't really sure what she had planned for him, but she was right. Sneaking out with her, alone, would be his best chance to escape. True, he didn't know her abilities, but she didn't know all of his abilities either . . . he hoped.

"Heh. What did you think I was doing for the past few hours? I managed to set up a meeting with a member of a far more ambitious group. It wasn't easy, either, I gotta say. It wasn't until I mentioned that it was Armor's little brother that I actually drummed up a little interest for my application." She chuckled once more, tapping on his head as if she were knocking on a table for luck. "You should be honored, really. Apparently theirs something a bit symbolic to the brother of a hero going to work for the enemy. I bet they could figure out some way to make a straight up guy like you into a martyr for the cause somehow."

Well, that wasn't exactly what he'd wanted to hear. Still, he didn't have much choice at the moment.

Looking quite satisfied with herself, quite the feat with that mask of hers, his captor then moved over to one of the walls and pushed aside several large crates stacked against the wall - revealing a small hole in the wall, roughly two feet by three feet, which looked like it had been roughly cut with a plasma blade.

"As for the second, well, all good hideouts need an escape route. This particular one leads to the septic system of Tier Two. I arranged for our contact to meet us in the tunnels just outside the treatment plant near the edge of the tier. Plenty of time for you to attempt an escape," she supplied, though the laughter that followed led him to believe that her estimation of his chances of such a feat were quite dismal.

"Well, it appears that I have little choice in the matter. I suppose arresting a member of a more prominent terrorist organization alongside of you will help to alleviate the punishment I'm likely to receive for allowing myself to be captured in the first place," he replied. He then looked down pointedly. "Though, how you plan to transport me while tied to this chair, I have no idea."

The woman's head tilted to the side, possibly in amusement, as she regarded him. Absently, she lifted her arm to her side, pointing at the sink by the far wall. Instantly, like a snake being summoned up from a basket, a thin tendril of water rose out from the basin and flew through the air to coil around her hand. A moment later, the water reformed into a long, pointed blade which covered her hand and protruded nearly ten inches from the tips of her fingers, then froze into a solid, razor sharp shard of ice.

Templer's eyes widened at the display. He'd been working on that trick for over an hour and she'd just done it in an instant, and with water at that! With several careless strokes which scraped harshly along his shield, the cords around his legs were cut, and the entire back of the chair was severed from its base, allowing him to stand, but leaving his arms still bound to his sides.

His captor then gestured to the small escape tunnel. "Youth before beauty, baby boy. I don't need a hormonal little punk like you staring at my ass while we're crawling through there."

He glared at her indignantly, since he totally hadn't been thinking of doing that . . . seriously, he hadn't . . . but finally he relented with a sigh and did his best to crawl through the far too small tunnel with his arms bound as they were. The appreciative whistle he got from his captor was likely more an attempt to humiliate him then to boost his ego, he was sure.

Several meters later, they finally arrived in a much larger tunnel, one which actually let him stand comfortably at his full height. It was roughly circular, with walkways on both sides of a small channel of dubious looking water which ran quickly to some distant destination.

Yes, they were definitely in the sewer now.

A rough shove to his shoulder started him walking in the direction of the flowing affluent.

"C'mon, baby boy, we got some ground to cover before I can hand you over."

Nodding forlornly, he began to walk, doing his best to stay at her side as he did -

Hoping she wouldn't notice as he slowly began sawing away at the cords around his arm once again.

- - -

As the minutes passed on their trek through the sewers, curiosity began to fill Templer. Between his curiosity and his desire to distract his captor while he tried to cut his bonds - which was much harder to do while walking - he turned to the woman at his side.

"There are some things that I was wondering about. How exactly did you know where I would be so you could capture me?"

The villainess turned to regard him with that eerily vacant expanse of silver which covered her face. For some reason, he got the impression she was staring at him like he was an idiot. "What are you, an idiot? You were standing practically right outside our base and you aren't exactly an unknown in these parts. Did you think we wouldn't recognize Officer Lite-Brite in his new outfit?"

Templer's eyes narrowed in annoyance, but she didn't give him a chance to respond.

"You DMAC bastards start a brawl in our backyard and don't think we're gonna keep an eye out to make sure you guys didn't stumble across our other bases? Hell, you knew our warehouse was there, and yet you still wandered right up to it. Hell, if DMAC is hiring people like you, it's no wonder you guys are so outclassed all the time."

Templer scoffed at that. "While it's true that our organization may suffer from a complete lack of class, I would say that the outcome of the last battle was quite decisive."

She just waved him off dismissively. "You get into a tumble with a few low level goons and you get all proud? If I was there, things would have gone pretty damn different, that's for sure. Someone like you has no chance against someone like me."

Suddenly, Templer stopped, smiling broadly now. "You believe so? Perhaps we should test that theory?"

Even as she turned to face him, he roughly pushed his arms down one last time, and the numerous bungee cords wrapped around his torso split apart, flying off in all directions and dropping the back of the chair to the ground with a loud clang. He then reared back and slammed his aura clad fist straight into his captor's face with enough force to buckle the metal and send her tumbling back into the wall behind her.

There was an odd sloshing sound as she fell back, and he could have swore he saw several jets of water squirt out from around the crumpled mask when her back slammed into the wall, but he didn't have time to ruminate on that. Rather than collapsing to the ground, unconscious, or shaking her head dizzily, or any of the dozens of reactions which would have indicated she had just had her block knocked off, his captor steadied herself immediately and pushed herself back up to a standing position.

Despite the fact that her mask was so badly dented that it looked like her face should have been caved in - he was fairly certain he hadn't hit her that hard - her voice wasn't affected at all when she stated, "Wow, you really are as stupid as you look." She then held her hands out to her sides. "Do you not even comprehend where it is that you decided to pick a fight with a hydrokinetic?"

As if in reply, two large tendrils of water rose up from the raging torrent of sewer water which ran down the center of the tunnel, each one wrapping around one of her hands before solidifying into massive icy maces. He was fairly certain she was smiling on the inside as she suddenly charged forward, her cumbersome weapons leading the way. "Let me educate you!"

Templer crossed his arms before him as she closed in, but with a rising swing from her left ice encrusted hand, she blasted his defense apart before he could solidify his aura, then swung her right hand around in a haymaker which slammed into his chest, launching him clear across the tunnel and embedded him several inches into the reinforced concrete of the wall.

Shaking his head a bit, Templer pushed himself out of the shallow crater in the wall. Lifting his hands into a loose boxing guard, he looked across the channel to see the hydrokinetic already rearing back with her right hand. A moment later, a blur of motion and a crack like thunder filled the air as her water whip struck him in the face, sending him stumbling back a step. A second after that, his entire world turned upside down as she lashed out again, wrapping the watery tendril around his leg and pulled his footing out from under him.

He slammed heavily to his back, but she wasn't done yet as she grabbed onto the watery whip with both hands and literally tugged him right back across the channel of sewage. A shower of sparks went flying when he crashed to the ground and skidded to slam face first into the wall. More surprised than injured, he began to push himself to his feet a moment later.

"Well, I can see why the DMAC wanted you. What does it take to put you down, baby boy?" asked the woman as she regarded him curiously.

Taking a moment to brush some debris from his aura, Templer shrugged. "That's a question that I doubt you'll be able to answer."

Moving more cautiously this time, he moved forward and lashed out at her with a left jab. Moving fluidly, she dodged the attack easily, spinning beneath his punch and launching an ice encrusted elbow into his ribs, only to quickly stand, grabbing his extended left arm and flipping her over her shoulder in a display of strength that was quite impressive.

The concrete floor buckled where he landed, but he didn't waste anytime, digging his toes into the crumbling masonry and launching himself right back at her. He wished he'd actually fought more as a child, as he couldn't think of much else to do but string together a series of sloppy punches. With similar ease, she evaded his attacks, peppering him with ice laden counters. He finally found his opening, though, when she grabbed one of his arms to attempt another throw. This time, he anchored himself to the spot and her attempted toss came to an abrupt, jerking halt.

Taking advantage of her loss of balance, he jerked back his captured arm and grabbed a hand full of her hair as he slammed one, two, then three punishing blows to her kidneys -

His next swing hit nothing but air, though, throwing him completely off balance. He was shocked to see he was still holding a handful of bright red hair, but his victim was nowhere in sight, at least for the half a second it took him to realize he was holding a wig. He spun quickly, just to see the tail end of Rachael back flipping to the center of the channel, miraculously standing on the rapidly flowing water as if it were solid ground. The water just calmed down to a glassy surface directly beneath her feet while the rest of the raging channel continued on uninterrupted.

Templer looked to the red wig in his hand, then at Rachael. He hadn’t noticed it before, since her mask and wig had been concealing it, but her entire head, excepting the mask, was covered by the cowl of a diving suit.

“You ass,” she hissed, “Do you know how long it takes me to get that thing on straight in the morning?”

If she was even slightly inconvenienced by the pummeling he’d just handed her, she was hiding it like a pro.

Angrily, the woman swept her arm forward in a grand gesture and a fraction of a second later, a massive pillar of water burst out of the sewer channel, slamming into Templer’s chest and crushing him into the wall behind him, reducing yet more of the once pristine sewer into rubble.

A second water spout picked up his rag dolling body and tossed it clear across the sewer, again, pulverizing even more concrete. He didn’t even have time to land this time, when a watery tendril wrapped around his throat, only to freeze into an icy restraint as the hydrokinetic pulled him back to the center of the sewer to dangle several feet above the churning water.

For a moment, she regarded him, noting his relatively unscathed condition, all but ignoring his futile struggles as she held him over the water. “Alright then, baby boy, try this on for size.”

Templer had only a brief time to wonder just what she was talking about . . . when he heard the rumbling sound building up behind her. His eyes widened as a wall of water suddenly began to rise up at the woman’s back, apparently running into some kind of invisible wall. The channel before them quickly dried up as the invisible damn began to fill up the entire tunnel behind them.

Strain was evident in the hydrokinetic’s posture as she held back the building surge, her right arm trembling as she held it against the wall, and her left arm dipping slightly as she held him up by his neck. Then, just when it seemed like she would burst herself, the wall gave way and all of the back pressure which had built up exploded out, launching them forward with freight train force.

The roaring of the contained tsunami was deafening as it carried them down the tunnel. His silver masked assailant hooted wildly as she surfed the wave, her icy claw holding him before her, too far from any solid surface to stop himself.

A sudden flash of inspiration struck Templer, as he recalled one of Rachael’s earlier tricks. Not even really sure what he was doing, or if it would work, He swung his arm out to the side, praying every second. Perhaps it was instinct, or pure will power, or just dumb luck, but his desperate gambit worked as a narrow lance of his aura shot out, mimicking the water whip used on him earlier, and stabbed into the wall at his side.

His elation turned to shock a second later, though, as the insurmountable force of several thousand gallons of roaring water tore his makeshift anchor, as well as the several cubic inches of concrete he’d managed to drill into, straight out of the wall without slowing them in the slightest.

Templer reared back to try again, only to notice something disturbing in the myriad of reflections in his opponent’s shattered mask. A quick glimpse over his shoulder confirmed his fears: The tunnel was ahead of them split into a T-junction, which, unless they could make a ninety degree turn at these speeds, meant that their surfing lesson was coming to a very abrupt end.

Not sure what else to do, the frantic officer simply curled himself into a ball and solidified his aura as much as he could before they-

- - -

Ralph Witherspoon waited patiently at the intersection for the lights to change. A quick glance at his watch told him that he still had a good ten minutes to make it to the business meeting, so there was no need to start panicking yet. Still, it wasn’t everyday that you got to be involved in a deal that could see their humble store becoming the main provider for the office supply needs of half of the pyramid.

Soon enough, the small hand became a small man, and he began to cross the street . . .

He only made it halfway across something strange stopped him in his tracks. It started low, a deep, bass rumbling which shook his insides. With each passing second, the quaking grew until his was veritably shaking in his loafers –

Then a manhole cover was blasted into the air by a geyser of water a hundred meters down the street! Then the manhole cover after that was blasted into the air as well, coming straight in his direction! Several seconds later, the next manhole cover was sent sailing into the air!

Looking down quickly, Ralph looked down, noticing that he was standing directly over the very next manhole in the line! Time seemed to slow down as the manhole cover under his feet began to rattle ominously, a spray of water shooting up from the holes in the cover.

Moving as fast as he ever had, Ralph dove to the side, just as the manhole was launched into the air by a pillar of water. Completely soaked now, the business man scurried to his feet and began to run for his life-

Only to be thrown from his feet completely when a massive quake rocked the entire street! The manhole he’d just leapt off of and the two closest manholes to the left and right of the intersection literally exploded in towers of sewer water.

Ralph could only shake his head at the sight. “Maybe I have time to head home and get a shower?”

- - -

Templer winced as he returned his aura back to normal levels. Even through his shield he’d felt the impact with the wall of the tunnel, felt the incredible pressure over every square inch of his body . . . then nothing.

Cracking open an eye, he took in his surroundings . . . he didn’t appear to be in the sewer any longer. The vaguely familiar pipes and support structures that spread out as far as they eye could see told him that he was likely inside the super structure that composed the second tier. The veritable underbelly of the city itself, well, of the second tier, at least.

Several yards ahead of him was the colossal concrete construct which was the second tier’s sewer system - smaller pipes running off in every conceivable direction to service the various buildings above - a man sized hole punched clear through the wall, leaking a steady stream of water out onto the steel plating which acted as the ceiling for the first tier. He idly wondered if he was the first soul to be in this cavernous void of supports and machinery for years.

With a groan, he began to sit up – only to slam back to the metal plating of the floor as a familiar boot stepped down on his chest with surprising force. He quickly looked up to see the nearly unrecognizably crumpled silver mask of his opponent staring down at him. The rest of the hydrokinetic warrior looked little worse for wear, unfortunately, and she appeared to be no more injured than he was.

Her head tilted sharply in annoyance as she regarded him. “Damnit! Why won’t you die?” she asked in her gurgling monotone.

With another sweep of her arm, several streams of water rushed over from the spreading pool of water, forming a pair of bands over his chest a second before freezing into ice restraints holding him down. Templer struggled against his icy bonds, but to no avail; thus he was helpless as Rachael held up her arm and began to summon more water around her outstretched hand.

Swirling indeterminately for a moment the gathered liquid suddenly took shape along her forearm, taking the form of a heavy cylinder of ice easily four feet long and over ten inches in diameter. Two bands of roiling water wrapped around the ice cylinder and bound it to her arm at both the elbow and shoulder.

Her entire body trembled as she maneuvered the ponderous weapon over his head, the crystalline column beginning to slide up her arm until it was level with her elbow.

“Eat this, baby boy.”

Moving at several times the speed which gravity alone would account for, the ice piston collided with his face; a sound like a gong rang out, echoing throughout the super structure again and again and setting all the steel plates beneath them to rattling from the force of the blow.

Templer shook his head furiously, trying to dispel the ringing in his ears as he watched her slowly slide the icy pile driver back up her arm. “Stop it,” he barked hoarsely.

Lights danced in his eyes as the battering ram slammed into his face again. Cracks began to form in the ridiculous weapons as the echoes rang out across the emptiness again.

“Stop it,” he ordered more fervently.

Again the crystal column slammed down. This time he heard the distinct sound of metal buckling beneath him as the plating began to give way. His vision dancing and his ears ringing, Templer felt a nearly unknown sensation grip his mind, if he had to compare it to anything he’d read about, he would be fairly certain it was panic. The sight of the weapon rising again caused the sensation to deepen; filling him with what he was sure was terror.

“Get off of me!”

Suddenly his entire world flashed silver, leaving him temporarily blind, but when he could finally see again . . . He was free?

He looked around in confusion for a moment, however it only took him a moment to realize what had happened. He wasn’t sure why he’d done it, or even how he’d done it, but rather than being tightly wrapped to his body as it almost always was, his shield had expanded outward into a brightly shining dome nearly seven feet in diameter which had forcibly pushed away anything and everything around him.

Oddly enough, the dome was still connected to his feet by narrow tethers.

Before he even had a chance to dwell on what he’d done, though, his aura snapped back into place, forming his second skin once more. Both dazed and confused, he shakily rose to his feet. All around him were the shattered remains of his restraints and the ice pillar, and a few yards away, lying in a heap, was his opponent.

Templer let out a shuddering sigh, as the fight appeared to be over-

“Heh heh heh. So, it looks like my baby boy isn’t indestructible after all, is he?”

The DMAC officer gasped as the hydrokinetic villain easily untwisted her limbs and nimbly flipped up to her feet. She let out another watery chuckle as she ‘looked’ at him through the remains of her mask. “Is that blood coming out of your ears, baby boy? I didn’t rattle that itty bitty brain of yours, did I?”

On reflex, Templer reached up to his ear, his hand passing through his own shields like nothing. He pulled it back to reveal red stains on the tips of his fingers.

That strange feeling was clawing its way up from the pit of his stomach again, that unfamiliar sensation that felt very much like what he imagined fear would be. Could this . . . could this woman actually kill him?

Rachael shook her head in amusement. “This must be traumatic for you, isn’t it? What’s it like, knowing that I can kill you, but that you can’t even hurt me? Must be some kind of cruel reversal of fate for someone like you, I would think.”

With a flick of her wrist, another snake of water rose up to wrap around her hand before freezing into a four foot long blade easily eight inches wide and three inches wide. She hefted the unwieldy blade easily over her shoulder as she began to stalk towards him.

“Sure, it’ll take some time to crack you, but it’ll be worth it in the end. Once I’m done here, all I need to do is drag your carcass down to the treatment plant and then I’m joining the big leagues,” she explained quite happily as she closed the distance.

Templer’s hands shook as he took a step back for each one she took forward. What could he do? No matter how hard he’d hit her, nothing had worked. Not even being crushed between him and the tunnel wall had harmed her . . . Was she using the water to protect herself from impacts somehow? He did remember seeing water squirting out from around her mask when he’d first hit her, was that it? Did she have a layer of water under that suit to protect her?

“You know, I almost feel bad about this, picking on a kid like you. Why don’t you just agree to come with me again, and then I don’t have to kill you? Doesn’t that sound fair?” she asked sweetly as she took another step forward.

He wasn’t sure if the condescending note was in her monotone voice, or just in his mind, but another unfamiliar feeling ran through him, this one boiling hot rather than numbingly cold. “Shut up,” he muttered under his breath, taking another step back.

“Oh? What’s wrong, baby boy? I thought I was being fair. After all, it’s not like you can actually do anything to stop me. Still, I do wonder who it is you feel you’re letting down here? Is it your brother that you’re failing? Or is it that stinkin’ traitor Cray that you’re worried is gonna be ‘all disappointed’ in you?” she asked mockingly.

“Shut up,” he growled darkly in reply.

Rachael’s entire head tilted, as if she were rolling her eyes. “Oh, here we go again. Boy, you’ve got a short fuse. Well, if you want me to shut up, then why don’t you make me?”

Suddenly she surged forward, her heavy blade slashing down –

In a flash of silver, her sword shattered into a thousand pieces as Templer’s own shimmering blade slashed through hers as if it weren’t even there. With his next half step, he rammed the matching blade around his other hand into the woman’s gut, thrusting it in all the way up to his wrist.

The tableau held for an improbably long moment as he matched her featureless stare. Slowly, she turned to regard the blade surrounding his left hand, still held out to his side from destroying her ice blade. It was roughly four feet long, and six inches wide, just as hers had been, but looked to be only a fraction of an inch thick. The blade which he’d rammed through her torso matched it perfectly.

It was only then that Templer realized just what it was that he’d done, and roughly pushed himself back, retracting the weapons into his aura as quickly as he could.

He could only stare in shock as his victim wrapped her arms around her torso, trying vainly to stop her insides from tumbling out. Gurgling sounds of agony leaked out of the woman as . . . as . . . wait a moment-

The pitch of her liquid sounding voice continued to rise until her laughter was unmistakable. In a sudden move, Rachael straightened up, throwing her arms out to her sides carelessly. Something about the wound was striking Templer as odd as she continued her mocking cackle. It was hard to tell against the black of the diving suit she was wearing, but the liquid running out of the mortal wound looked too clear to be blood, flowed too quickly –

“Don’t you get it, you fool? You can’t hurt me!” she crowed triumphantly. “All you have done-“

There were no words for Templer to describe next, as suddenly the slash he’d cut into Rachael’s torso suddenly opened wide and a torrent of water spilled out onto the ground. The diving suit deflated obscenely, yet the pool of water began to rise up, rippling and shuddering as it did. Within a matter of moments, the pillar of liquid took on a vaguely humanoid, vaguely feminine figure; a wicked smile curving the lips on the half formed face.

“All you’ve done, baby boy, is make me angry."

- - -

Liz took the corner roughly twenty kilometers faster than was safe before turning to her partner in frustration.

"Okay, so what the hell? We get a call that there's some kind of altered combat going on in this neighbourhood, but I ain't seen shit but a flooded street."

Bill, holding onto the 'oh shit' handle for dear life, managed to hold in a shriek as they weaved through traffic. "All we got was a report about a malfunction with the sewer line! You're just pissed off that we missed out on the brawl a few hours ago. You shoulda just sent the message on to maintenance."

Liz scoffed loudly, spinning the wheel several times to the right. "Pfft, whatever! If as if! We got the call, so I'm checkin it out. We'll show those DMAC jokers that we can bring in punks without their help."

"Why can't we just take a bre-AHHH!" The rest of his rebuttal was drowned out by the squealing of tires as she pounded her foot to the pedal, desperate to find the alleged fight that had been called in.

If she hadn't been in such a rush, she would have seen an entire section of the street behind them suddenly shatter upwards - glimpses of silver light shining out from between the debris - before the dome of pavement caved in, dropping down into the darkness.

By then, she was already around the corner and half a block away.

- - -

With a harsh tug, Rachael dragged Templer down from the ceiling far above, slamming him back to the heavy plating of the floor by the water tendril wrapped around his leg. A resounding 'clang' echoes out from where he hit, multiplied several times by the rain of rubble that followed him.

Smiling broadly, she pulled back again, preparing to launch him skywards again - only to lurch to a stop as it suddenly felt like she was trying to lift the damn planet. Templer, who hand landed in a crouch, one hand planted firmly on the floor plate, looked up at her and smiled.

"You know what? I'm getting tired of being tossed around and, frankly, I don't think it's possible for me to be shocked by anything ever again after your last trick."

Rachael laughed in amusement. "You should feel honored. It's not just any guy that can get me out of my clothes like this."

She then flowed forward, forming a pair of ice hammers from her hands as she did. Her target rose to his feet, she noted an odd spider webbing of silver spreading out from his feet as he did, but dismissed it quickly. Rearing back, she swung the first hammer forward furiously, only to watch in shock as Templer held up his hand, the aura surrounding it darkening to solid silver, and caught her swing, the face of her ice hammer shattering on contact. She followed it up quickly with her other hammer-hand, but it met a similar fate when he lifted his other arm and blocked her attack with his forearm.

"Is it just me, or are you goin' all 'immovable object' to my 'irresistible force'?" asked the Elemental. She quickly backed up, trying to take a better measure of him. "You haven't been holding out on me, have you baby boy?"

Templer shook his head, he was still looking pale and dazed, but his stance bespoke strength rather than panic now. "I don't think I've ever been so terrified, so close to death as you've brought me. I've never fought anyone like you before, and I'll admit that I wasn't prepared, but now I've finally found my footing. I won't let you hurt me anymore."

"Feh, punk," she spat. Instantly, her arm grew to twice its length, flattening out into ridiculously large blade once more. It whistled through the air as she swung it at the brat's head - only to shatter to pieces. A moment later, she felt her entire body bisect and she lost control for a moment, splashing to the ground into a large pool of water.

It only took her a few seconds to pull back and pull herself together. When she did, she noted just what it was that happened. Templer was standing, rooted to the same spot, but now both of his hands were held together, a massive blade, nearly six feet long and four inches wide extending from them. She quirked an eyebrow at the new addition and smirked to herself.

"Over compensating for something? Seriously, though, baby boy, are you just copying all my best tricks now?" Slowly, she turned around, taking in the destruction they'd caused so far. It was only a matter of time before someone stumbled across them, even down here. "Still, we seem to be at an impasse. You can't harm me, but I haven't exactly been able to do much to you either, now have I?"

Templer looked at her warily before nodding slowly. "You . . . have a point. So what do you suggest, an amiable parting of ways?"

That sentiment actually caused her to laugh out loud. This kid really was too much. "Not so much. I think I need to stop playing on your level. Time to put an end to this fight."

She didn't even wait for his inevitable response of 'how?'. Instead she just flowed forward in a reckless charge. She ignored his blade as it passed through her body once, then twice. In fact, she used it to her advantage as it spread her body out even more quickly as she began to wrap around his aura, flowing out to cover every inch of him in a death embrace.

"I know it's cliche," her voice echoed out from from everywhere, eerily sourceless, "but how 'bout I take your breath away? Say, how long can you hold your breath in there, baby boy?"

Being as she was as close to the young man as anyone would likely ever be at the moment, she noticed it immediately when he slid his hand beneath his armor vest and appeared to twist a valve of some kind, a quiet hiss following it a second later. The DMAC officer chuckled to himself. "Strange you should ask that, since I actually have an accurate answer for you. The air tanks that I use when I sleep are rated to hold ten hours worth of breathable air. I don't think I'll be waiting that long, though, as you've given me another clever idea to emulate."

An airtank? This kid lives with a freakin' air tank on him at all times? She didn't have ten hours to spend trying to suffocate this punk. She began to flow back to come up with another plan-

Suddenly her world was turned inside out and silver as something bizarre happened. She tried to pull back faster, but found her escape blocked. What was happening!? Her entire world had suddenly gone silver!

- - -

Templer breathed heavily as he held his hands out before him. It was taking all of his concentration to do, but thankfully he'd been quick enough. Just as the watery girl had began to pull back from his body, he had used her own trick on her, he'd unfurled his aura away from his body completely, only to wrap it around her, encapsulating her in a silver sphere of shimmering energy.

It took him a moment to take in the almost unknown sensation of being completely exposed to the world, save for his hands which were buried in the shell of the prison he'd crafted. Small sounds he couldn't hear before, smells both subtle and not, a gentle breeze from somewhere. The entire world was brighter, no longer tinted silver. All at once, he felt as if he had shed a constant pressure on his chest he'd never noticed before, but also that he'd suddenly doubled in weight, as if gravity had just remembered that he existed. Above all, though, he just felt terribly, terribly exposed . . .

He shook his head to rid himself of those distracting sensations. He stared intently at, into the silver sphere that rested on the ground before him. It was only five feet in diameter, and relatively thin walled. His watery opponent sloshed around the inside of the spherical cell, but couldn't find any purchase to escape.

Worried that she might escape the cell as it was, he quickly willed it to shrink, contracting in upon itself. The walls of the sphere grew in thickness, becoming more resilient with each passing second as it condensed down. At first, Rachael's human form pounded against the walls of the sphere, but soon she was unable to do that, as her body was compressed down to fit the interior of the sphere, squeezing her down into a perfect orb of water.

"What are you doing?" came a panicked voice from inside the sphere.

Frankly, Templer wasn't sure himself. Only her lack of bones and such had let him press her down to fit the interior of the sphere. There really wasn't much else he could do to her. Even if he was able to, crushing her didn't seem feasible, since water was pretty much incompressible anyway . . .

He nearly slapped himself upside the head. "Oh right! My radio, I can just call for help." Feeling quite foolish now, he pulled his left hand off of the sphere - now that it was solidified no force he'd run into would be able to break out of, or into it - and he reached for the radio hanging from his belt-

"AGGHHHH!"

It took Templer several seconds to realize that the howl of pain had been his own. Instantly, his aura snapped back around his body, an unfamiliar pressure on his shoulder causing him to collapse to his knees in agony. In front of him, a great pool of water splashed to the ground.

It took both of him several long moments to recover, falling backward to sit against a nearby support strut. Rachael, on the other hand, pulled herself together relatively easily. Laying nearly side by side, the two of them looked at each other in surprise.

"W . . . what happened to you?"

"What - what did you do?"

Both asked their questions at the same time, neither sure what had just happened. Rachael pointed to his shoulder, and when he turned to look, he noted what appeared to be a long, narrow steel rod protruding from his shoulder. Blood was oozing out around the metal lance, but slowly as his aura was applying pressure against the wound automatically.

He looked to her, surprised. "That . . . that wasn't you?"

Slowly, Rachael shook her head. "It wasn't me . . . but it if wasn't me, then who. . .?"

"Actually, that would be me."

Needless to say, both combatants were startled by the sudden and unexpected voice. Both spun as quickly as their states would allow to regard the slim, well dressed man standing several yards away. He smiled broadly at the two of them, making a quick bow as he did.

"Polarity, self proclaimed chief recruiter for Reclamation. At your service."

Templer frowned at the newcomer, noting the very audible sigh of relief coming from his opponent when he identified himself.

Polarity looked them both over for several long moments before nodding himself and turning to the watery female.

"I feel safe in assuming that you are Rachael, correct?"

She nodded nervously, looking somewhat unsure of the proceedings.

Polarity then turned to face Templer. "And that makes you Lukas then, not to say that there is any confusion between which of you is which, I just like to get all my facts straight beforehand."

The dapper man chuckled to himself, obviously amused with his own sense of humor. He then glanced around the area, apparently taking stock of all of the damage they had caused.

"I must say, I had my concerns when I was contacted in regards to you, Miss Rachael," he spoke at her, though he continued to scan their surroundings. "You see, we usually prefer to deal with individuals of a certain power level, and the easiest way to do that is to recruit people that have tangled with Gate. Not only does it give us a ready made power scale to use, it also gives us the most clever nick names."

Rachael raised a hand, apparently wanting to say something, but he continued straight on, ignoring her. "Being a complete unknown, I had no idea if you would be powerful enough to warrant entry into our organization . . . but, I must say that the trail of destruction you've left in your wake has put my worries to rest."

Polarity gestured to Templer. "You've managed to fight our innocent little Paladin here to a standstill, well, at least until he caught you at the end there, and he's a B ranked altered . . . though, considering his pedigree, I doubt he'll stay there for too terribly long."

"Hey!" Rachael exclaimed. "I wasn't in any actual danger there, just so you know!"

Polarity chuckled to himself again. "I'll grant that surviving in an airtight bubble is an impressive feat, but what if I hadn't shown up to stop him from using his radio? You don't always need to kill your opponent to defeat them, you know?"

Rachael looked about ready to reply, but looked down in embarrassment instead.

"Don't worry, though. You might be a bit raw, but you'll make a grand addition to Reclamation. With the proper training and support, I bet you'll leap straight to the top of Gate's most wanted when you finally make your debut."

Templer scoffed, he'd heard more than enough. "As amusing as this conversation is, and as helpful as it is that you've willfully incriminated yourself, I'm afraid that I have to call for back up now."

He then reached for his radio, quite hopeful that it still functioned-

"You look very much like him, you know?"

Templer's hand stopped halfway to his radio.

"Excuse me?"

A self satisfied chuckle. "Like your brother. I can see a lot of him in you, now that I look at you."

Templer's eyes narrowed. "You knew my brother?"

Polarity shrugged, smirking in amusement. "It was a few years back, but yes, I had the opportunity to work with your brother. He spoke of you fairly often, actually."

The young mutant scowled. "I find that unlikely. I never heard from him after he left us to join whatever that damn terrorist group."

"Heh, and you think he did that to spite you? Do you have any idea what Gate would have done to you if they even suspected that you were in contact with an active insurgent?" Polarity shook his head, bemused. "He was protecting you and your family. He wanted what was best for you, just like he did for all of our kind. We only did what we did because it was the only way we could actually make things change."

"Feh. Killing people is never justifiable-"

"Unless you're left with no options, right?" Polarity interrupted, a sly smile on his lips. "And what about your DMAC chums? It's been hours, you know? News of your 'heroic victory' over the Razors is all over the pyramid. Two dozen altered dead, all in the name of the government? Tell me, was it as a 'last resort' that you took the lives of those men and women?"

The words caught in Templer's throat as he tried to reply. He wanted to say yes, but his own earlier thoughts seemed to choke him. Lethal force had been their first response, not their last resort. DMAC had instigated that fight, waltzing right into the Razor hideout in full uniform, as if that wouldn't cause the gang members to panic . . .

Moving calmly, Polarity walked over and took a seat between him and Rachael. The well dressed man then pulled out a pack of cigarettes and pulled one out.

"You say that we have no reason to use violence, but what options do we really have?

Polarity stuck the cigarette between his lips and lit it, taking a long draw before continuing.

"If an altered, any altered, steps out of line, they're thrown into Seventh with little more than a kangaroo court for show. Do you know the kind of hell that goes on in that place? Why don't you just ask some of your colleagues; I'm certain they'll have some interesting stories for you."

Templer wasn't sure what to say to that, so he held his tongue.

"And what about the rest of us? The ones that behave themselves and just try to live good lives? They jam us into this architectural abomination, like animals in a zoo for the 'normals' to look at from their safe cities. Oh, sure, the most human of us can live out in the city, but only if we're chipped, and monitored, and taxed and approved." The altered terrorist spit on the ground at that. "You want to be a policeman. Why don't you tell me where the justice is in that?"

Templer frowned to himself, words still failing himself. Why wasn't this person just attempting to kill him like everyone else, lately? It would certainly make things so much simpler.

"Heh, what's the problem, baby boy? Cat got your tongue?" Rachael inquired mockingly from the far side of the Reclamation member.

"Please shut up, Rachael," he replied cuttingly before turning his attention back to Polarity. "And yes, things are unfair, but it's not like our kind is any better. I've spent most of my life learning that altered people are every bit as petty and small minded as you claim the humans to be. Let me tell you this, I've never had a human attempt to electrocute me, just to see if he could."

Polarity looked at him for a moment, before nodding sadly. "Well, that's the way of it, isn't it? Gate and the Government treat altered like garbage, but being unable to fight back, they take their frustrations out on someone 'lower' than themselves. But let me ask you this. Altered citizens might have mistreated you for being a mutant, but who was it that never even let you set foot outside of the Arcology? Were those armed guards at the entrance of the pyramid altered?"

Templer raised a hand to rebuke the man . . . but found himself unable. "Today was the first day I have ever been out of the pyramid . . . and even though I volunteered, I was transported as if I was just as great a threat as the criminals from Seventh . . ."

Rachael actually burst out in laughter at that admission. "They carted you around in a cage, and you actually volunteered to help those bastards?"

"Now, now, Rachael, that's enough," stated the dark haired altered. "Here's another thing for you to think about, young Paladin. Did you know that any altered that is believed to be rank S or greater in power is arrested and sent to Seventh, regardless of whether they've actually committed any form of crime? Simply for the reason that Gate is afraid of them, an altered can be plucked away from his family and friends and thrown into prison for life. Where is the justice in that?"

"That . . . I don't even know what you mean. What are these ranks you're talking about? And why do you keep calling me Paladin?" Templer stared at the man, confusion clear on his face.

Polarity rolled his eyes. "You really are a neophyte. One would think that you of all people would know about Gate's ranking system. Or didn't you even realize why everyone began calling your brother 'Armor' after he joined us?"

Templer frowned in thought. His brother's alias had become quite well known, even he'd started using it, but he hadn't ever really considered where it came from. "I hadn't thought about it . . ."

The smoking man looked at him for a moment, before nodding absently. "I suppose I can hardly blame you for that, all things considered. Would you be surprised that 'Armor' was the name that Gate gave your brother, a derogatory term they could use to more easily tell 'our kind' apart over the radio? They also assign relatively arbitrary 'power rankings' to us as well. The ranks range from D to S, for the most part; and, as I mentioned earlier, we don't usually recruit from anyone less than rank B."

Both of the younger mutants stared at the man expectantly. "So, what rank are you?" Rachael asked before Templer could.

Polarity just smiled in amusement. "Well, that's a rude question. I think I'd prefer to keep a bit of mystique at the moment, thank you very much." He then turned back to Templer. "Don't think that criminals are the only ones that Gate is monitoring like that, Paladin."

Templer mused on that rather distressing bit of information for a moment, before something else struck him as odd. "Wait a moment . . . why are you telling me all of this? Aren't you supposed to be executing me for being a 'traitor to our kind', or something to that effect?"

Rachael nodded in agreement.

Polarity's crow of open, honest laughter took them both by surprise. The darker haired man nearly lost his cigarette before he finally calmed himself down again. "Ex - execute you? Where did you get that kind of idea? We're the ones that are fighting for the lives of Altered, remember?"

Almost immediately, Polarity's expression became serious again.

"Look, Lukas, your brother was a great man. Not only was he a powerful altered, he was also willing to fight for what he thought was right. I see that same potential in you. Given time, you could become your brother's equal . . . possibly even one day finish the task that he sacrificed his life for."

Templer was struck speechless . . . Rachael was not.

"The hell, man!? Are you trying to recruit this DMAC punk, too?"

Polarity simply smirked. "And what if I was? I mean-" he gestured to the devastation around them. "- Think of what the two of you could accomplish if you were working together, rather than against one another?"

Taking the moment of distraction, Templer rose to his feet. "So that's your game. Well, that was all a clever fabrication on your part, but I can see that was all it was," he stated, though his voice was lacking in conviction.

Polarity looked up at him before slowly rising to his feet. The darker haired altered shook his head sadly. "It doesn't have to go down like this, Lukas. My motives might be suspect, but you can't deny that everything I've said is true."

"I can't say for certain either way at the moment, but I'm certain that once I've taken you into custody, we will be able to determine just how much of your story was true," replied Templer, a grim expression on his face.

He reached for his radio, this time intent to use it.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Polarity's voice was deadly serious for the first time. The older altered stared at him intently, his hands held calmly at his sides.

Feeling a bit less certain of himself, Templer continued to reach for the radio, though more slowly. He then slowly unclipped the radio and lifted it up to his mouth. A bead of sweat rolled down his cheek as he began to depress the transmit butto-

Suddenly an impact that made Rachael's earlier attempt to crush him with a tidal wave feel mild in comparison, slammed into his entire body. The nail biting squeal of shredding steel drowned out anything he might have shouted as the freight train force of the assault punched him through the reinforced floor plates of the Tier like so much tissue paper.

Then he was flying, nearly parallel to the distant ground, the incredible force of whatever had hit him launching him through the air on the downward angle . . . Unfortunately, just as Rachael had mentioned, they hadn't been too far from the treatment plant, which was right near the edge of the second tier.

Templer's rag dolling body overshot the first Tier completely before it finally crashed into the bay on which the pyramid had been constructed. He skipped several times, bouncing wildly for dozens of meters with each skip, before his fourth skip landed him on one of the not so distant piers which were constructed on the shores of the bay.

He bounced several more times across the reinforced concrete of the pier until finally the wall of a conveniently placed warehouse stopped his momentum dead.

Several seconds later, Templer fell out of the personalized indent he'd made in the wall of the warehouse and collapsed to the ground in a heap.

The last thing he thought was how glad he was that he'd already turned on his air tanks during the fight.

A moment later, everything went black as he passed out.

- - -

Rachael could only stare at the man called Polarity. The gentle breeze coming from below them made an odd whistling sound as it blew through the long hole which he had just torn into the metal flooring using Templer's indestructible body.

She wasn't even sure what had happened, just caught a fleeting glimpse of . . . something coming from the sharply dressed altered, and then 'bam'! Templer had been flying away like he'd just been rammed by the space shuttle . . .

Still . . .

"Why did you do that?" she asked, incredulous. "After all I did to that guy, I somehow doubt that a little terminal velocity is gonna finish that guy off."

Polarity turned to regard her, his face was oddly pale and his breathing was somewhat ragged, but otherwise he looked quite calm. "Finish him off? Perish the thought, I just wanted to get him away from us so that we can make our getaway."

The hydrykinetic stared at him oddly. "What? You didn't want to kill him? But he turned down your offer to join us. Why let him go after that?"

He chuckled politely, even as he began to walk towards the nearest exit. "When I said I saw a lot of his brother in him, I wasn't lying. Lukas is an idealist, just like his brother . . . and the DMAC is no place for an idealist. He may have turned down my offer now . . . but we'll see how long his resolve lasts in that place."

Not sure what else to do, Rachael quickly began to follow him. "Whatever, I'd rather never see baby boy again, if it were up to me. All I wanna know is that we've got bigger stuff on the go than poaching babies from DMAC."

Polarity glanced back at her, an enigmatic smirk twisting his lips. "Oh, don't you worry, my dear. We have something very interesting in mind for the future . . . something very interesting indeed, all we need is time."

The mysterious man then turned and began walking.

"Now let's be off. We have a lot to do over the next months, and it wouldn't do to have Gate track us down."

This post has been edited by Lathis: 14 August 2009 - 01:17 AM
Reason for edit:: Merged and fixed it's accidental 'wall o' text'...

[Ryo-Wolf]

"Report." Jason looked out over the bay with his radio in hand, briefly wondering if they were going to get anywhere anytime soon.

"There's nothing here. East is is a bust, over." The voice of Serge said over the radio, crackling out soon after.

"This is Julie. I think I found a halfway home. These guys look like they're about to start a war over here. Advise would be nice." The radio cut out again at the end of Julie's transmission as Jason rose it to his face again.

"Hang tight, Red. Don't engage. Len, take your guys and regroup with LaRue."

"Way ahead of you. Out."

"Alyssa, any sign of Templer?" Jason asked while looking towards Chao, who was still examining the vandalized building.

"There' s been a bunch of explosions in the street up here. That's probably him." Alyssa replied as Jason turned his view back towards Shimizu. A sudden streak of silver light caught his eye, flying out from the second tier and smashing into the warehouse district a few blocks away.

"Copy that, Lys. I see him. He just took the shortcut out here. Jason out." Jason replied, before putting his radio down and turning towards Chao.

"Move out, Rookie. It's cannonball collection time." Jason said, before moving towards where Templer landed with Chao close behind.

[Xero]

Chao looked up at the large dent in the side of the warehouse wall, as he and Jason came closer to it before stopping under it, a few feet away from the wall. Frowning, he turned to his superior and asked a question.

"So we've found him... But how do we get him down?" Jason looked up at the dented metal wall, which rather firmly held Templer's body in place. It was almost comical in a way. Cartoonish.

"Pull?" Jason ventured, wondering how successful they'd be if they each took a leg.

The chinese man considered the option for a few moments, before shaking his head. "Could we even get a grip? He has that field thing around him."

"Well, I got a good grip of his brother a few times..." Jason muttered under his breath, giving the wall a few hard kicks in an attempt to shake Templer loose. The warehouse reverberated loudly, but it didn't seem to be working.

"I don't think a little light taps are going to knock him loose." Chao commented as he watched the former kickboxer hit the wall a few times. "You'd probably have to hit it hard enough to dent it or something to make him shake loose, and that still might not work."

"Alright, you wanna see me hit it harder?" Jason asked, looking up at the dented wall before taking a few quick steps back, seeming to limber up a bit while taking a stance he hadn't used in years.

"Been awhile since I tried this..." He muttered to himself, taking a rapid step towards the warehouse and jumping off his lead foot, twisting around in the air before lashing out with a hard kick towards the wall right beside Templer.

- - -

A sharp jolt shot through Templer, jostling him enough to rouse him. Groggily, he shook his head a few times and opened his heavy eyelids. The first thing he noticed when he came to was the rather large amount of pain in his shoulder. The second thing he noticed was when he gingerly reached to grab his pained shoulder -

Only for his sudden movement to loosen him from his metal restraints and drop him heavily to the concrete ground several feet below.

". . . Ow . . ."

Slowly, he twisted himself around to a sitting position and started to take in his surroundings.

"Where the hell am I?" he muttered to himself.

"Bakersfield. Where the hell do you think you are?" Jason replied sarcastically, grabbing Templer by the arm and returning him to his feet. "This is the warehouse district outside the pyramid."

Templer looked at his commanding officer, still woozy. "Wait . . . outside the pyramid? But I was just on the secon . . . ahem, never mind. So . . . how goes the investigation?"

"We've been looking at all the vandalized buildings out here. Most of 'em just look like storage houses, but a couple look like they saw all out war. Vandalism doesn't really cover it." Jason explained, pointing towards one such nearby warehouse that was completely missing an eastern wall. "Julie just found the Halfway Home, too. Len's team is on their way to back her up. So where the hell have you been?"

Templer scratched his head, looking to Chao for any kind of support, not really sure why since he didn't know the man at all. He didn't exactly feel comfortable with spilling his guts about his strange little adventure. ". . . Ahhh, would . . . would you believe that I fell down a staircase?" he replied, turning slightly to try to hide the metal rod impaled through his shoulder.

Chao snorted, slightly chuckling at the extremely lame excuse, before regaining his composure. "Stairs? What, did it lead to the metal pipe factory?" He commented, gesturing to the poorly hidden injury.

"I . . . ah, think it might have . . . Seriously, though, shouldn't we be focusing on this investigation? Such rampant destruction of property seems to be excessive for childish vandalism. . . . And why are Officer LaRue and the others investigating a Halfway Home again?" It was the worst dodge he could think of, but he could only hope that Officer Cray would be willing to save a more serious grilling for later . . . though that hope was likely in vain.

"The Razors got their gear from a Halfway Home group, who seem to have bought it off Kai, so we're checking them out. But, we would be done by now if you hadn't disappeared for 2 hours. So, where the hell were you for real? Gotta keep my reports straight for Todo. He hates it when I summerize." Jason replied, looking none too happy.

Templer cursed quietly to himself. "I had a small run in with the Razors while . . . scouting another possible location to gather intel. There was very little of note, though, it just took time to deal with. I'll be sure to fill out a full report later, though, as I think our time is better spent assissting our comrades. Do we have any leads on this Kai character, or are we simply searching the entire wharf area in hopes of stumbling across him?"

"Alyssa got a Razor to talk. Said some weird weapons dealer in a mask was holed up in some warehouse north of the pyramid. That sounds like Kai to me. Chao and I were working our way in that direction. Alyssa would have checked it out by now if she hadn't been busy looking for you." Jason said, before turning towards the northern shore, "Oh, and you get to be the one to tell her where you were. No way in hell I'm standing between her and you."

--------

"Len, report. What's the situation on that Halfway Home?" Jason stood with his back against a warehouse, watching the two rookies stake out the area. They seemed to have found the right building, if the multitude of empty weapon crates in the area were any indication.

"Well, I could just walk in and say hi, but I don't feel like getting perferated today. They look like they're about to declare themselves sovereign. We need an actual plan before going in there." Len replied, earning a slight chuckle from Jason. Great, that's just what they needed.

"Alyssa, go back them up. I think my little group here found something." Jason said into the radio, looking towards Chao and Templer again.

"How's it looking, gentlemen?" Jason called out, moving towards the warehouse himself.

Wincing slightly, Templer turned back to reply, "I don't see anything out of the ordinary. It looks clear to proceed."

"Me either." Chao nodded in agreement with Templer's assessment. "If anythings waiting for us, its not out here."

"Well, guess that leaves going inside and seeing what's waiting there." Jason remarked, pulling out his sidearm and chambering a round before approaching the warehouse door. He tugged on it, only to find it held fast, most likely locked on the inside.

"Great. Okay, stand back. This might cause shrapnel." Jason said, holstering his gun again before grabbing both doors and pulling them apart. For a moment, they continued to hold, but as Jason continued to force them, there was a distinct sound of metal groaning before the doors came open and slid free. Jason grunted, stumbling back a bit before pulling a hunk of steel out of his vest, dropping it to the ground.

"Nevermind, seems it hit me." He said simply, before gesturing towards the warehouse. "Let's go."

Chao looked mildly impressed by the display, nodding and stepping closer to the warehouse. He briefly tapped a hand against the wall, and a light flash occcured - Though nothing disappeared, he only took a bit in order to reinforce himself a little more comfortably. Satisfied, he looked to see if the others were following.

While the other two were preparing to move forward, Templer did a quick check of his equipment belt, only to slap himself upside the head. His pistol was right where it had been since he'd picked it up from the armory floor. On the one hand, it wouldn't have helped him in his earlier fight, but it hadn't even occured to him to draw the weapon. He scratched his head sheepisly before pulling the weapon from its holster.

"Alright, let's proceed." He then stepped through the shredded door and began to scan the interior of the warehouse.

The warehouse was predictibly dark, though with a surprising number of crates stacked towards the ceiling, very nearly reaching it in several places. Though oddly enough, the warehouse seemed smaller on the inside than it had on the outside. Judging from the large door in the far wall, it was probably cut in two sections.

"Who wants to bet Kai's on the other side?" Jason asked, looking between the two rookies.

"Isn't betting against regulations?" Templer asked quickly.

"Read that book for us sometime, Templer. You'll be the first one who did." Jason replied just as fast.

Chao smirked lightly at the short banter, looking around carefully in the dark to try and see if there were any unpleasant surprises waiting. Unfortunately, it was far too dark to see much.

"What the hell took you?" A voice suddenly reverberated through the warehouse, just before all the flood lights came on. A quick glance up revealed a man standing on the catwalks above, looking down at them through a relatively featureless white mask.

"Well...This is new." Jason muttered, feeling slightly exposed and half expecting an ambush to jump out from the nearby crates.

"Great, just great . . . more masks," Templer muttered under his breath.

"Jason, you guys really need to learn subtlety. I mean, really, you've used every codename I've ever gone by hours ago, over the radio for all to hear. I listen for that kind of shit, you know." Kai shouted, pulling the mask off his face. It disappeared into a flash of light in his hand before he placed it on the banister again.

"Going all super villain on us, Kai? The mask's a nice touch. Very classy." Jason remarked, holstering his gun.

"Don't be stupid. Super villainy isn't worth it. But considering I'm supposed to be dead, the mask helps keep the recognition at bay." Kai replied indifferently.

Chao was both annoyed and relieved to see that it was in fact Kai beneath the mask. Or at least someone that looked, sounded, and was pretending to be him. You couldn't ever really tell with all the powers running about. On the one hand, he was glad Kai was alive and apparently well. On the other, he was involved in something major from what he could tell.

"Kai!" The chinese man shouted up. "What the hell do you think you've been doing? I should come up there and drag your sorry ass all the way back home!"

"The hell? Chao-wei? I thought you were in Nevada or something. When the hell did you join DMAC?" Kai asked, completely surprised to see a relative of his. Of all the people to realize he was still alive, his relatives were pretty low on the list.

Chao was slightly thrown by the question, and the apparent surprise Kai was showing. "What? I joined not to long ago, literally a few hours, to get out of that hell-hole. But thats not the issue! What the hell are you doing giving those dipshits weapons like that?"

"We have mutual goals. I help them wage their little war, and I get what I want in the process. Everyone's happy. Well, not everyone, but I don't really give a fuck about Normals these days." Kai replied, obvious anger entering his voice.

"If any of you had any sense, you'd get the hell out of DMAC while you still have the chance. Things will never get better working for them." He added shortly after.

"You should have stayed dead, Kai. It was a lot easier to think you were a matyr than to see you preaching that shit." Jason repied, looking at Kai with a hard glare.

"And you don't make nearly as pursuasive an argument as others I've heard, either. Do you even have any ideals, or are you just doing this out of greed?" Templer asked, unimpressed with this individual after hearing Polarity's pitch.

Chao's face turned to a frowning snarl as he contemplated what Kai had just said, before pointing up at him and yelling. "Fuck all that race war crap! Innocent people, Kai! Do you know how many people get caught in the crossfire of this little bullshit war?"

For a moment, it seemed that Kai was in deep thought, his head downcast. However, it quickly became apparent he was trying to contain his laughter before he simply let go, raising his head and laughing at length, wiping tears from his eyes.

"Greed? Innocents? Oh man, did I ever sound like that when I was a newbie?" Kai asked of no one, before looking down at them again.

"You haven't seen shit yet, boys. Though you surprise me, Jason. You of all people should have figured this out by now." Kai said, only to see Jason scoff.

"Do you even know what they actually think about us? What they do behind our backs? We have access to most of the gate mainframe, with a few exceptions. One of those exceptions happens to be a file within the DMAC. Something labeled 'Personnel Responses.' Didn't you ever wonder what the fuck that actually was?" Kai asked, the anger returning to his voice.

"Can't say I ever gave a shit." Jason replied. The frown on Kai's face only deepened.

"Well I did. And with a little digging in the last 4 years, I've gotten my hands on a few Gate ID cards and have looked at that file. It's Contingency plans. Against us. Gate has a file on every DMAC officer, specifically, their plans on how to kill us if they need to." Kai shouted angrily.

Templer's eyes widened in shock. "Paladin. He was actually telling the truth!?" Before shutting his jaw with an audible click.

Jason glanced at Templer for a moment in confusion before looking back up at Kai. "Can't say that really surprises me. I doubt they'll ever make good on it, though."

"Oh really? Well how about an Excerpt. 'Officer Shi's powers continue to rise in power and potential at a startling rate. It is highly likely that he will be an S-rank before the end of the year. Several countermeasures have already been considered. The most promising of which is to use his own powers against him.'" Kai recited, seemingly from memory, getting angrier by the second.

" 'We believe it is likely he has a maximum weight capacity for absorbtion. Forcing him to exceed this may very well be fatal. There are several possible means of achieving this, such as staging a collapse in his vacinity, or forcing him into a scenario where absorbing a bomb of far greater mass than he can contain is his only option.' " Kai finished, practically spitting out the word 'bomb' as if it tasted foul.

"Do you remember how I went missing? Just curious." He added, once he was finished.

Chao's scowl turned from one of rage to one akin to tasting something horrible at the revelation, but kept silent. So none of the DMAC officers were really even trusted as far as a normal human could throw them, which was just typical if he thought about it. Still, to go so far as to kill people who may have worked for them diligently just because of a stupid rank... It was one of his least favorite things, preemptive attacks. It basically was one step beyond guilty until proven innocent, and didn't even wait for a person to even think of doing something they may never actually do.

"So that's what this is about? You think Gate tried to assassinate you and are all pissy?" Jason asked, seeming unfazed by Kai's rant. Kai narrowed his eyes slightly.

"I'd be careful if I were you, Jason. You're coming up on S-rank yourself. You should see some of the shit they have planned for your retirement. They're pretty confident you can drown without issue." Kai remarked, smirking slightly when he saw the uncomfortable look cross Jason's face.

"But no, that's not what this is about. That's just my reasons for being pissed off at the Normals. My attempted murder has nothing to do with my current goals." Kai continued, still looking down at them.

". . . Which are?" Templer asked, intrigued.

"None of your damn business. And to keep it that way, I'm afraid this warehouse has to go. Now, Chao's my cousin and Jason's an old friend, so I figure it's only fair I give you a warning. This place is gonna explode in about 59 seconds." Kai said simply, as if talking about the weather. As he did so, he pulled a small remote out of his jacket, pressed a button, and then absorbed it in a flash of light.

"I say you get while the getting's good." He added, before breaking out into a run for the opposite end of the catwalk.

Templer turned to Jason, not overly worried. "So . . . should we go after him?"

Jason's only reply was to grab a hold of Templer and Chao and pull them back towards the door they came in from in a full out sprint.

"Kai doesn't believe in small explosions! This place could very well go nuclear!" Jason shouted back at them, not looking back as he continued to run. He wasn't entirely sure if even he could survive such a blast in one piece.

Chao cursed as he glared at the retreating Kai, letting Jason drag him for a moment before turning towards the exit and running as fast as he could - Unfortunately not his fastest, as he was a bit weighed down. But if it WAS a big explosion, he'd probably be better off being a tad slow but tougher than a tad faster and dead.

They didn't get far, however, running headlong into a wall of Gate officers in full infiltrator armor. While the two rookies started to slow, Jason grabbed them and pulled them forward again, having no intention to stop.

"DMAC, halt. The fugitive will be taken into custody and-" One of the infiltrators started to say in his robotic voice, only for Jason to duck right past him.

"Can't talk, shit exploding." He replied in passing and kept going, several of the infiltrators turning and leveling their weapons in the direction of the retreating officers.

'57 . . . 58 . . .' Templer counted down in his head as they ran. He didn't know what kind of bomb this 'Kai' person might have had, but if even Jason was worried, perhaps he should be worried as well . . . And if the two of them needed to be worried, then what chance did someone like Chao have? '59 . . .' He was already running beside his fellow recruit, so, moving quickly, he reached out and grabbed Chao's shoulder, pulling the smaller man to his side; at the same time he stretched his shield out to envelope him as well. '60-'

Which was roughly when the building exploded. The flash was indescribable. To call it blinding would be an understatement. In an instant, the entire world seemed to become a shade of white previously undiscovered, one that the retinas of the human eye were never meant to withstand. A fraction of an instant later, the shockwave struck, bringing with it a sound that was akin to having a jackhammer shoved down your ear canal.

As Jason felt the shockwave smash into his body, lifting him clear off the ground at startling speed, a single thought went through his mind with crystal clarity, 'Well, this remarkably unpleasant.' He mused to himself.

The world had practically become non existant around them from the combined light and sound that were beyond what humans were meant to experiance. They didn't really become aware of their surroundings again until after impacting with the water for the 24th time, when they finally went under.

As they began to sink beneath the waves, Templer quickly reached into his jacket and opened the airtanks beneath his jacket wide open, and allowed his shield to expand into a thin-walled sphere around both him and Chao . . . Unfortunatly this only seemed to slow their descent as his partner's ridiculous weight continued to cause them to sink. "Ahh . . . I don't suppose you can lighten our load?" he asked politely.

Chao blinked as he regained his bearings, just in time to hear Templer's comment and take note of the situation. Eyes widening, Chao frowned at the barrier that was preventing him from getting rid of his mass into the water. Quickly turning his head to look at Templer, he explained the slight problem.

"I need you to open a hole so I can touch the water, or I can't dump this mass."

Templer nodded, but his vision blurred a bit as he leaned forward. A quick glance to his shoulder informed him that his wound was bleeding more freely now that the constant pressure from his aura was gone. Moving with a touch of panic, he pressed his hand to the side of the sphere and nodded to Chao. "Place your hand on the wall and I'll let it pass through."

Chao nodded quickly, placing his hand against the glowing sphere wall and watching as it passed through and felt the cold water on his hand. A moment later, there was a flash of light and he felt himself suddenly get much lighter. Simultaniously, there was a sudden and unexpected shockwave in the water next to the sphere, violently slamming outward and propelling the ball away and upward at a rather high speed with a loud explosion-like sound.

Instantly, dark splotches and bright lights danced across Templer's vision at the sudden and unexpected change in pressure around them as they shot towards the surface. He collapsed to his knees, the walls of the silver sphere nearly collapsing down in on them as he almost lost control for a moment.

Thankfully, moments before he could black out from blood loss or any of the other pressures on his body, they exploded from the surface of the bay, bobbing wildly several times before coming to a relative stop, rocking gently on the water. Then, with agonizing concentration, the top half of the sphere began to pull back, converting the sphere into a makeshift raft.

"Oh good, you two didn't drown." Jason remarked, looking towards the two rookies as they surfaced before turning back towards where they came from. "Not something you see everyday."

"I . . . I would like to make some kind of witty comment at the moment," muttered Templer, "But I think I'm losing blood at a troubling rate, and if we don't get back to shore soon, we may have only delayed the drowning problem."

Meanwhile, Chao was busy staring at his hand with a look of concentration on his face. How the hell had he done that? Was that just a result of dumping that much mass that quickly into something that doesn't condense? That was violent enough to be a bomb of some sort... But more importantly, it had to be somehow useful... Some way he could make it into a defense or an offense or something.

"Templer, pull your field back in. We've got a lot of swimming to do and I'm not gonna have you bleeding out on me." Jason ordered quickly, before looking towards the nearest shore and starting to swim.

He nodded quickly in response, and his shield instantly slid back to encompass him, unfortunately dumping Chao into the water as a result. The comfortable feeling of pressure settled across his body again and he felt his wound stabilize once more. Now floating freely, bouyed by his airtanks, he began to swim after his commander with his good arm.

Chao spluttered at the sudden removal of the aura construct from beneath him as he fell into the water, quickly starting to swim as he was snapped out of his thoughts. Filing the situation away for later review, he started to swim after the other two DMAC Officers towards the shore.

"Len, Alyssa, come in, over." Jason said into his radio, backstroking towards the shore to free up a hand. It was a good thing these things were waterproof.

"An infiltrator team is wiping out the Home. Gate's telling us to pull back to base. We're off the case." Alyssa replied through a crackle of static. Well, maybe it was just water resistant. Or maybe the explosion broke it a little.

"Was the northern shore going up like a roman candle your doing?" Len's voice followed up, earning a slight chuckled from Jason as he looked back at the towering fireball again.

"Kinda. I'll Debrief at HQ. Gotta get out of the bay first."

"The bay? The fuck you going for a swim for?!"

"Not now. Busy swimming. Jason out." Jason turned off his radio and switched strokes, going a bit faster to catch up to the two rookies.

"So," He started, noticing they still had a hell of a way to go, "Do you think those infiltrators made it?"

"I'm sure they're armor would be sufficient to . . ." Templer paused in mid sentence as he swam past what looked like a melted chunk of armor floating in the water. ". . . I'm sure they're fine . . ."

[Ryo-Wolf]

EPISODE OVER

General Assault and Tactics Echelon Report

A great number of security cameras in the area surrounding Shimizu II were rendered inoperable, resulting in a complete surveillance blackout of the wharf and warehouse districts surrounding the bay. During this blackout, a great number of private property was vandalized, some to the point of causing severe structural damage. An investigation was launched into these properties, and results show that each one was owned by the Novo Corporation or one of its subsidiaries. The significance of these attacks are not yet known, but an investigation into the activities of Novo Corp is underway. Thanks to the work of the Department of Mutant and Altered Control, it was determined that a former member of the department, code named 'Armory,' was responsible for the destruction of these cameras, and that he was providing high powered weaponry to a Halfway Home group, who was in turn responsible for the vandalism. The Halfway Home group was apprehended by a Gate Infiltration Team shortly after DMAC confirmed their location.

An Infiltration Team was dispatched to capture Armory as well, however the criminal detonated a high yield explosive device and escaped, destroying over 3 square blocks of warehouses outright, with significant structural damage being dealt to neighborhoods as far as 12 blocks away. Windows were not found intact within a radius of 4 miles, and a great deal of underground infrastructure suffered collapse within the blast radius. The damage cost is being estimated in the billions of dollars.

It was also discovered by the DMAC that a small gang within Shimizu II managed to acquire a large payload of illegal weaponry from the previously mentioned Halfway Home, which resulted in a large scale scuffle between the gang, the DMAC and the Shimizu Militia.

DMAC Altered Report

Lukas Templer
Subject number: 12-V01232087
Current Risk Rank: B

Lukas Templer was seen taking fire from a significant number of illegal and high powered weaponry, though seemed unwilling to engage in extended combat. Not much else was seen, as the officer apparently disappeared for several hours during the course of the mission. A great deal of damage to the substructures of Tier 2 was found sometime later. Due to his disappearance, it is possible that Officer Templer was somehow involved. Officer Templer's powers appear to manifest in a silver forcefield around his body, which offers him a degree of defense from outside attack. He is also able to shape this field for a variety of purposes, though the extent to which he can do this is currently unknown. More data is required before any useful plans can be made.

Juliette LaRue
Subject number: 16-C70343625
Current Risk Rank: D

Officer LaRue had little interaction with the battle that took place, however several surveillance videos did record her arrival on the scene, rushing over rooftops and through alleys at incredible speeds with remarkable agility. The exact extent of her physical abilities appear to be greater than originally predicted, though it is currently unknown what risk this poses. Further details about her powers are currently unknown.

Chao-Wei Shi
Subject number: 13-C70341571
Current Risk Rank: C

Officer Shi managed to single handedly destroy a mech equal to an Imp class with little apparent difficulty, showcasing his ability to absorb matter to a great degree. His ability to cleave through objects in this fashion was previously unknown, and could prove extremely dangerous to Gate personnel. Like with his cousin in the past, it is highly recommended that we research possible means of shielding objects from this absorption. Due to the need of physical contact with the chosen target, a charged shield or plasmium field may be possible deterrents.

Tyler Delman
Subject number: 17-V06252080
Current Risk Rank: C

Officer Delman was briefly caught in action during the confrontation with the gang today, showing a surprising degree of agility in combination with a remarkably potent teleportation ability. Exact limitations and specifics of this ability are currently unknown, however, it is clear that the actual process of teleportation allows Officer Delman to shed any momentum he has accumulated, which is a previously unheard of trait for a teleporter. The exact ramifications of this are great, as most current means of capturing Teleporters relies on the fact that they reappear going at the same speed they disappeared with. This ability alone may warrant an increase in risk rank.

It is also highly likely that Delman is incapable of transporting others with his abilities, though further data will be needed for confirmation. There is also currently no indication of any limits on the distance he can travel, or the number of times he can teleport in succession.

The remaining Rookies were not seen using their powers with enough clarity to sufficiently construct a report. The senior officers have been well documented, and no new information has been gathered at this time.