[hr][color=dimgray][h1]Sam Clarke[/h1][/color]

[@Mr Allen J] 
[@He Who Walks Behind] 
[@SepticGentleman] 
[@Swich01] [hr] 


Sam sat in his chair with his arms crossed, watching as Lihua introduced the members of the Fiends known to NEST. He sighed and looked up at the ceiling. This was absolutely ridiculous. Big-Dong? Long Dragon? Next they were gonna have a lieutenant named Deez Nutz. He looked over at CONDOR, who looked slightly uncomfortable. After this meeting, Sam was definitely grabbing some of the cooler agents and heading to the bar. CONDOR rose to speak, and Sam looked up at him. 

"Excuse me, Agent Lihua," Condor said "but the FBI and I have identified one other lieutenant in the Fiends' ranks. We believe him to be the metahuman known as Darrick Trenton. He goes by the name of Plague, and is a carrier of some sort of painful and toxic disease. He is known to attack opponents with gigantic calcium-based creatures which appear similar in shape to T4 Bacteriophages. He is known to be extremely dangerous, and may possibly be responsible for the trafficking of their mutagenic drug into Union Point Hills and the downtown region. We have been unable to find many leads on him, and he was not present at the festival attack." He sat back down. Sam shrugged. He had only seen one of these fuckos, and something told him that he didn't want to see any of the others. He looked over at Nightingale, the third KINGFISHER in the room. One thing was certain; they had a lot of work to do. 


[hr][h1][color=OliveDrab]Rafael Davila[/color][/h1][hr] 

"Good evening, everyone. This is Sandra Collins from CNN with our four o'clock report on the Verthaven Lockdown." all around the United States, film of the police line separating Downtown from the rest of Verthaven was shown, a news reporter in a red pantsuit standing in front of it. Superimposed in the top right-hand corner of the screen was a picture of a chain-link fence with the words "VERTHAVEN LOCKDOWN" across the front of it. Behind the fence, darkness and fires rising from the abyss. The title at the bottom of the report read "50 dead in Verthaven Terrorist Attack". From the standpoint of nation and international news media, the terrorist attack was the best thing since the Baltimore Riots in April. The front page of CNN was a dramatic picture of a man in a gas mask standing above a woman cowering in fear, a haze of fog obscuring the background, and all morning CNN and Fox News had been reporting the situation from Downtown Verthaven. 

"As of this exact moment, the exact death toll of the attack yesterday is fifty, and the hospitals are packed with the wounded. A few hours ago, the National Guard arrived" the footage cut to film of Humvees driving down a central street downtown as the reporter continued talking "and since then things have gotten quite interesting. At least four suspected Fiend hideouts around Verthaven have been raided by a combination of NEST and National Guard troops, and the number of gang members apprehended is estimated to be around fifty," a number which she blindly pulled out of her ass as the footage switched back to her standing at the closed-off bridge "We now take you to James Schuyler, who is at NEST Headquarters with the NEST Director of Media. James?" 

The footage cut to outside of the NEST Headquarters on Isabella Isle. A middle-aged caucasian man with balding brown hair stood outside, a microphone in his hand. Next to him, Rafael Davila, NEST's Director of Media Relations, stood with his hands behind his back and a look of general disinterest on his face. He was a tall and imposing man, 6'3" with a look of professionality to him. He wore a black suit with NEST insignias on the shoulders and a purple-and-white striped tie. 

"Thanks Sandra," he said "I am here with Mr.Rafael Davila, NEST's Director of Media Relations. What can you tell us about NEST's efforts in this lockdown, Director?" 

"Not much that you don't already know, James." Davila said, a slight Hispanic accent to his voice "NEST is working very hard to ensure that the people of Verthaven are safe, and our agents are stationed around the city in areas where we know that a Fiend presence exists. Thanks to assistance from the National Guard, we have been able to fully secure the Rosalina Isle district and can assure citizens in these areas that, so long as they stay in their homes and abide by the rules of the lockdown, they are perfectly safe." 

"Can you give us more information on these supposed raids of Fiend hideouts around the city?" James asked. 

"Due to the sensitive nature of those raids, I cannot, James. I can tell you, however, that with the help of the National Guard, we have been able to bring many of the members of the Fiends to justice." 

"Good, good." James trailed off "Now I'm sure you're expecting someone to bring up this video footage which was caught during the attack and went absolutely viral." [i]The screen split, and on the other side a video from a smart phone was pulled up. It showed the fair enshrouded in fog, and limping through it several of the animated dead which Khan had summoned, their arms outstretched and their mouths agape and dripping saliva.[/i] "Now what can you tell us about this seemingly zombie-like encounter, Director?" Rafael paused a moment, thinking of what to say. 

"Well we know that this was an incident caused by a metahuman member of the Fiends, James." Rafael said "Their name and information have yet to be discovered or declassified, but we know that they are not in NEST's database of registered metahumans, meaning that they are almost certainly a professional criminal. We also know that this fog has a hallucinogenic effect, making this metahuman extremely dangerous." 

"Interesting. And what plans does NEST have in protecting people from this powerful meta? Do you have a way to counteract her abilities?" Once again, Rafael paused. 

"Well, figuring out how to counter metahumans is a task that takes a lot of time," Rafael said "Because a metahuman ability is something which is unique to every metahuman, we cannot create any sort of counter for a metahuman ability until we can analyze their DNA, which, in this case, we do not have. Needless to say, our agents are on full alert for this metahuman, and if anyone sees any kind of supernatural-looking fog or experiences unexplained hallucinations, please dial 911." 

"Alright. So what about these disappearances in University Row, Mr.Davila? Do these have any connections to the attacks yesterday?" 

"Well it sure seems like it, James," Rafael said "But I cannot speak definitively on the matter. Our detectives are in the process of investigating the disappearances of those men. We at NEST send our condolences to all of those families who are missing loved ones due to those kidnappings. We will do everything in our power as an organization to see to it that those men and women of Intelligent Defense Systems are brought back home safely." 

"We know you will," James said "That about wraps us up, Director. Thank you for speaking with me." 

"It's always a pleasure, James." Rafael said. The camera stopped rolling and Rafael took a deep sigh. 

"Thanks for that, Rafael." James said after a moment "You feel like getting some coffee?" 

"Wish I could James, but I've got to get back to HQ." Rafael said. 

"Alright, then," James said "See you around." The man walked away, and Rafael rolled his eyes. God, he hated news reporters. 



[hr][h1][color=DarkSlateGray]PLAGUE[/color][/h1][hr]

[hider=Hysteria by Muse][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYWklAV_cwQ[/youtube][/hider] 

"THIS IS THE NEST! COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP!" Shouts came from the floors below as a crowd of NEST agents, armed in full riot gear, stood outside of the doors of one of the many Fiend hideouts in Union Point Hills. It was a seemingly-abandoned row house on a row of houses like it, all of them with the condemning red "X" spray-painted on the front. The windows were boarded up and the brick facade was crumbling. Inside it wasn't much nicer, with holes in the floor covered with plywood and drywood decaying within the walls. All in all, it was a perfect place for a hideout. Unfortunately, it had been compromised, and now NEST was standing outside. 

Plague was lying in bed in his room at the top of the house, his mask sitting on the crooked nightstand. Like the other rooms, Plague's bedroom was dilapidated and aged, with drywall sticking out of the walls and cobwebs on the ceiling. The corner of the room leaked, and the windows were shattered and boarded-up. As the knocking echoed up the house, Plague became vaguely aware of the sound of helicopter rotors outside. These guys weren't fucking around. 

There was a knock at the door. 

"Enter," Plague groaned weakly, sitting up and strapping on his mask, he watched as two Fiends came in, both high. They had their masks strapped on. One was painted white with red flames, and the other contained a clown motif. 

"The fuzz is outside, boss," one of the two said. Plague frowned under his mask. He reached for the amplifier under his mask and flipped it on. His voice now came on artificial and static-like, like the voice of a man speaking through an old radio. 

"I am aware," Plague said, rising to his feet. "I hope you are prepared to fight. It would be terrible if you perished in a fiasco such as this." The two men gulped. Plague had a nose like a bloodhound for pot. The two gripped their guns tightly and looked back down the hall. Two floors down, all Hell was about to break loose. 

"Are you sure that we shouldn't run, sir?" one of them asked Plague. Plague opened a drawer in his nightstand and took from it his trusty MAC 10 machine pistol. He loaded a few clips into his belt. 

"Ah, but what is the fun in that?" Plague said "Either way, we are surrounded. NEST will not tolerate us escaping after what Khan and her men did at that festival. We are, as the saying goes, rats in a trap." The two men exchanged glances. Plague took a kevlar vest from his closet and pulled it on over his wifebeater. 

"Why are you still standing here?" Plague shouted, turning up the amplifier in his mask "Arm yourselves, you morons! And tell Daniel below to prepare the floor mines." The two men skittered out of the room and ran down the stairs. Plague sighed and looked up at the helicopter above through a crack in the boards on the window. He sighed, and began to walk towards the door. As he walked, two bacteriophages, the size of housecats, generated at either side of him. They floated behind him, making odd screeching sounds as they scratched at the walls and swam through the air aggressively, looking for something to attack. In a few more seconds, two more generated. Plague walked down to the second floor and stopped at the landing. Below, seven Fiends were congregated in front of the door, all armed with AK-47s and machine pistols. He looked to Daniel, a Fiend who wore a stark white mask. He was on the second floor as well, and had an RPG sitting on his shoulder. He was one of Plague's Favored, Fiends who he deemed intellectually superior to the others. They exchanged glances and Plague smiled under his mask. All of the imbeciles on the floor were dead meat, and if NEST decided to go in further, he had a plan. Two more bacteriophages generated. The six perched on the railing above the stairs and stared down, shaking with excitement. 

"COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP!" the voice shouted "THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING! WE WILL ENGAGE YOU!" Plague turned his mask's volume as high as it would go. 


"Then come on in!" he shouted "and stare upon the face of true horror!" 

(to be continued)