[h1]Chicago, Outskirts, July 27th. [/h1]

It was evening, cool, and as always, windy. The breeze whistled through the broken windows of the abandoned warehouse that stood roughly a mile past the city limits. It's peeling paint and graffiti covered walls stood proud despite disrepair. This building had no intentions of going anywhere. 

That was why Sulfer and his gang used it as a base, of course. Isolated, strong, and defendable. The skylights had long since been boarded over, and there only stood two large doors.  Impossible to enter any other way. This was the place where they did the worst of their crimes, where they performed the experiments that allowed their high tech weapons to exist. 

This was where they took Witch. They are gotten into an altercation earlier with the gifted telekinetic super, and had managed to incapacitate her for just a moment. It was more than long enough to tie her down and place the constricting band around her head. It couldn't stop her telepathy, but it could prevent her from manipulating matter. The band disconnected the powers from her emotions through the use of a highly adaptive metal, therefore making her incapable  of accessing them. The glare she gave them crackled with her locked power as they carried her away. 

That was hours ago, however. The chair she was currently tied to was cold, unwarming against her frigid skin. Her head had began to spin from the piercing noise emanating from the box they had locked her in with. The little black box was too far to touch, and she still wore the band so she couldn't break it. The sound was so high pitched that her ears had begun to bleed, her eyes heavy from the oncoming faint. There was a click, and then relief. The box was off. Her head began to clear almost instantly, until the door opened. The scruffy ginger who walked in, Malachite, was the right hand man to Sulfer. He unbound her from the chair slowly before yanking her to her feet and pushing her toward the door. He seemed to be restraining himself, his jaw set as he gestured for her to move. Not wanting to spend anymore time near that deathly box, she stumbled out the door, only to wish she could go back in. 

Standing in the open room were several people, including the tall, blonde that was Sulfur. His eyes seemed to glow lightly, and a haze rose from his skin as he gestured to the machine and back to several of his followers. Each one was disfigured in some way, ranging from lightly tinted skin to extra long frames due to hollowed and stretched bones. They belonged mostly to the class of Mutants, unlike Sulfur, Malachite, and Witch herself. Though they were gifted, their gifts didn't affect their appearance, causing them to be in the Super class. If only it was constricted to classes. But they were divided beyond that. There was the faction Justice, which both she and her partner Pyro were a part of, and the faction Obsidian, which everyone else in the room belonged to. 

Attention seemed to settle on her as the door shut behind Malachite. A wicked grin grew on Sulfer's face as he threw his arms open in a welcoming gesture. "Witch! Ah, my favorite little Super. How niiiice of you to join us. Come, sit down, you must be exhausted after coming out of that room. I hear that box can cause some hearing issues. Can you hear me alright?"

While he talked, he strolled up to her, taking her arm and leading her to a wooden chair near the machine. He shoved her, hard, to make her sit down. Almost immediately, a bar wrapped over her chest, clasping her to the chair. He happily walked, nearly skipping, over to the machine. One of the Mutants came up behind her and began to stick wires to her temple, running them parallel to the band. She felt an immediate sense of danger as he did, her eyes widening as her mind went into overdrive trying to think her way out. She didn't have the kind of physical strength that her partner had. She couldn't manipulate people. She couldn't talk her way out. She felt frustrated as the machine whirled to life, monitoring her vitals as Sulfer came back into view. 

"Now. This machine monitors your brain waves and your vitals. Do you know why I hooked you up to this, lovely Witch?"

"Is this punishment for not flirting back with you when you hit on me? Because if it is, you might understand why I would rather date a crocodile." Though her voice came out dry and sarcastic, there was a slight waver, a barely noticeable hitch of panic that Sulfer caught onto. He tapped her chin and laughed as he stepped back.

"No, no. But that might've been why we decided to test our new friend on you. You play hard to get too well. You and your little Justice buddies." The rest of the crew seemed to step away as well, nervous. There was a twenty foot ring around her before someone stepped forward. He appeared normal enough, with dark reddish hair and grey eyes. Except for his face, all of his skin was covered. He took a few steps toward her with a sigh as he pushed his hands from his sleeves. The sense of impending danger increased until her mind was screaming out, begging those around her to set her free. Her voice echoed through the group's minds, but they ignored it. "This guy's name is Transfer. He picked it himself. I think you'll find him fascinating, Witch."

His hand slightly touched her face, cupping the sides of it as his eyes slid shut. There was nothing, at first. And then-

She screamed. Her lips fell open silently as her mind screamed. A loud piercing shriek echoed outward, filling the building and then pushing outward toward the city. It blanketed the buildings and sunk down, briefly touching everyone around for miles before abruptly cutting off with a 'shkk'. The same noised seemed to fill the room as Transfer pulled his hands away. There was silence as Witch suddenly gasped in air, her eyes unfocused. And then...

"[i]It is done. She is done.[/i]"




[h2]July 30th[/h2]

"WITCH!! WITCH, ANSWER ME!" Pyro flung herself higher into the sky, the air current under her pushing her up further. She had been calling for hours. Ever since she had heard the faintest cry in her mind yesterday night, she had seen neither hide nor tail of her partner. Something was incredibly wrong. It was almost as if the presence of her was gone entirely. Since they had met, Witch had been a constant presence in her mind, hovering on the edge. She'd hear whispers throughout the day, little nudges of support. It was calming, relaxing to the high strung Super.

And now it was gone.

The panic that filled her was overwhelming, and it was causing her powers to flare up. She would randomly causing trees to catch fire, she superheated rooms, and anything meltable melted in her presence. When she had encountered a criminal on the street, she was ruthless. Her hammer swung at a crippling speed into knee caps and shoulders, incapacitating people before ordering any bystanders to call the police. Then, just as quickly as she had arrived, she'd be gone. As soon as news of her "no shits taken" altitude that evening had spread, the streets seemed to empty.

Nothing left to distract her from her search.

... But Witch was no where to be found. 


[h3]August 25th.[/h3]

The camera wouldn't turn on. "God DAMN it!" She slapped a gloved hand to the side of the device and it flickered to life. She hastily connected it to the computer before she began to speak earnestly into it. "Hello? Is this thing working?" 

The red light flickered and the uploading process began. She wasted no time. "This is Pyro, in Chicago. My partner and I are under attack. I need help, please, whoever can make it. Again, this is Pyro, calling for help in Chicago." The camera died soon after she finished once more, but she had gotten enough. She knew her voice was frantic, and she watched as the last percent on the upload bar finished. After the message "Upload Complete" showed, Pyro quickly scorched the laptop, frying everything inside it. The sound of footsteps behind the door at her back made her jump to her feet. She had just thrown the window open when the door was thrown opening. Behind her, the masked auburn super reached his hands put as he ran toward her. Without a second thought, the girl threw herself out of the window, taking flight on her hot air currents.

At least, now she knew.