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“…..ott, can you hear me?” A familiar voice rang in his ears as he opened his eyes. At first, everything was a big blur, however, after blinking his eyes several times the room around him began to come into focus. 

He was confused. 

The last thing he remembered was stumbling into his apartment after having faced off against the entity known only as Nightmare and his female associate, and collapsing just inside the doorway. However, now he found himself in his own bed, and despite some stiffness in his neck and upper torso, he felt pretty good.

“Scott, talk to me. Are you alright?” The voice belonged to Eric Dean, his best friend and one of the only people in the world that knew his secret. 

“Yeah…I, I think so.” Scott said as he sat up in his bed. “How long was I out?” 

“Two and a half days.” Eric said.

“Two and a half days?” Scott asked rhetorically, stunned that he had been unconscious for so long. “And you were here the whole time watching out for me?” 

“Yeah, but I had help.” Eric admitted. However, before Scott was able to ask him what he had meant, he added, “But that isn’t important right now. How are you feeling?” 

“Not bad, actually.” Scott said as he rose to his feet. It was the truth, for the first time since his escape from the Valor Institute, he felt close to one hundred percent. He wasn’t sure if it was a result of the deep sleep he’d gone into, or some other factor. However, one thing was for certain, his strength had returned, and he felt like he could take on anything that was thrown at him.

“That’s good, because I think you’re needed.” Eric said, the nervousness in his voice was unmistakable. It had been there from the moment Scott had awoken, however, Scott had assumed that it had been out of concern for him. However, Scott was beginning to realize that something else was going on.

“What is it?” Scott asked.

“Dude, the city is going to Hell.” Eric said bluntly. 

Scott almost chuckled, Eric had always been somewhat over dramatic. However, the tone in Eric’s voice told him that something was seriously wrong, and Scott found himself starting to worry.

“What’s going on?” Scott asked, concern showing in his voice.

“I told you. All Hell is breaking loose…Literally.” Eric said as he motioned for Scott to follow him into the living room, where he pulled back the curtain that covered the large picture window that had a slight view of the city. Though the view from the window wasn’t anything to write home about, it did give one a decent look at the city in the direction of Sherman Square, and what Scott saw sent a chill down his spine.

“When?” He asked, his voice taking a markedly darker tone.

“Not long, maybe a half hour, tops.” Eric said. “I think it might be time to suit up.”

[center]***[/center]

Melanie Stebbins knew that she was going to die. 

She had just finished her shift as a cocktail waitress at The Golden Cabaret and was about to head home to her apartment when the sky seemingly caught fire, and those…things poured into the streets like something out of a horror movie. 

She had watched in terror as winged creatures with grotesquely demonic features tore into the club, and had begun tearing into everyone inside. She had seen dancers and regulars that she had known since she arrived in Lost Haven ripped apart. One of the monsters had seemed to take immense pleasure in slowly devouring one of the girls while she was still alive. 

Another of the creatures picked the eyeballs from the face of “Creepy Pete,” a regular who none of the girls wanted to dance for on account of his poor hygiene and nonexistent tips, and simply tossed it to the floor before going to work on the other one, taking delight in the man’s screams. 

Instead of sticking around and sharing in her colleague and customer’s fates, she ran. She ran as fast as her feet would carry her. She didn’t look back, she couldn’t. She knew that if she did, those things would have gotten her. So she just ran.

However, she wasn’t fast enough.

One of the hateful winged humanoids had seen her, and delighted by the prospect of sport, had given chase. As the creature pursued the girl, it cried out, the sound it made was a hateful cry, that sounded something of a cross between a baby’s cry and a cackle. 

As Melanie ran, she could feel the creature’s hot breath beating down the back of her neck. 

She continued to run until her legs became wobbly and she could no longer carry on. She stopped, and turned to face the creature that would be the death of her, and hoped that it would grant her a quick and painless death. Though, when she saw the gleefully malicious look in the creature’s eyes, she knew that was more than she could hope for.

Suddenly, as the creature was getting ready to attack, she caught something out of the corner of her eye. At first she assumed it was just another of the flying monsters. However, the sight of a blue and silver blur streaking past her and the beast gave her new hope. 

The monster suddenly stopped its advance, and gave her a puzzled look just before it exploded into a cloud of smoke and smoldering embers. The embers hung in the air, and through the cloud that was all that remained of the monster that had terrorized her, she saw a familiar figure standing and facing her, his eyes still glowing red from the optic blast that he had just administered to the demon. 

[b]“Get somewhere safe, now.”[/b] Icon had instructed her, his voice had a commanding air about it, and for the first time since the hellions attacked, Melanie Stebbins knew that she was not going to die. 

She did as he had said and started off toward her apartment, which was to her surprise just about a block away. However, she stopped and turned to thank the hero who had saved her, only to see him rocket into the sky and out of view.