[h2]A Xeno's Arrival[/h2] By the time the private flight from England had arrived in Robert D. Sherman airport it was late in the day, the sun dipping just below the horizon with only the faintest remnants of a reddish-gold sky to show it was even there. As the small plane slowly taxied up to the terminal, the half-alien hybrid girl Riley pressed her face against the window excitedly, trying to get a small glimpse of the distant sunset before it vanished into darkness. Mina had showed her pictures of what the sun looked like just before the day turned to night, but she'd never gotten to see an actual "sunset" before, since it had been raining and cloudy ever since she left Darrow behind her. Sadly, Riley was left with disappointment as the plane approached a stop and the terminal building blocked the last of the sunset from view, but it didn't bother her too much. After all, sunsets happen every day, so she'd be sure to see another one soon! [color=MediumOrchid]"Miss Mina, Miss Mina, We're here!"[/color] Riley shouted, bouncing on her toes with excitement and nearly making the ex-scientist drop her phone in shock at the sudden outburst. "Y-yeah, I felt it stop," Mina Seidel said shakily, readjusting her glasses as she stumbled from her seat. "Nice to have both feet back on the ground, I guess. Surprised I didn't get airsick." [color=MediumOrchid]"Air-sick?"[/color] Mina asked, mulling over the pronunciation of the unfamiliar word in her head before her eyes widened in shock. [color=MediumOrchid][i]"You didn't almost get diseased, did you?!?"[/i][/color] "No, no, it's just a term! Some people just get a little nauseous when they fly, it's perfectly normal and if I get it I'm not going to die from it, honest." [color=MediumOrchid]"Ohhh, okay,"[/color] Riley said with her usual smile. [color=MediumOrchid]"I am happy that you were not afflicted with sickness of the air, then!"[/color] "Sickness of the air?" came a voice from the cockpit as a cloud of cigarette smoke followed by the Dutch pilot Van Hassel appeared in the small doorway. "There's some bags under the seat right there, if you need it." "I'm not airsick!" Mina huffed. "I just want to get off the plane and see Jordan so I can try to explain this mess to her." "Well, slight problem with that," Van Hassel said, the cigarette in his mouth quivering as he pressed his hair back with his free hand. "The boss is currently in New York and thanks to these 'Pax Metahummus' people or whatever they call themselves, it's pretty much impossible to move anyone in and out of the major cities on the East Coast right now. So until this dies down we're all pretty much stuck in Lost Haven." "Stuck?" Mina repeated, her face flushing red as her anxiety mounting. "But we were supposed to meet with Jordan as soon as we got here! I told her we might have been in danger, why the bloody hell doesn't she-" "Whoa whoa take a smoke break, Seidel," Van Hassel interrupted her, holding out his hands in a pacifying gesture. "She's pulling every favor she's owed to get up here, and we're not expecting you to camp out on the tarmac until then. There's an Arbalest office right in Little Ulster that we use as a barracks and a safehouse that we prepared in case this happened. Believe me, you're in good hands with Arbalest." Riley gave a small start at those words, unnoticed by either of the two humans. Fear welled inside her as she was reminded of who had sad that to her before. [color=ed1c24][i]You're in good hands, my dear...[/i][/color] Riley tried to tear her mind away from Him, and what had happened back at the Darrow Labs. Jordan wasn't supposed to be like Him, Mina had said. He was evil and selfish and enjoyed hurting people like her. Jordan was brave and kind and liked to help people, to protect them from the bad people. Like how...how she protected Mina when He tried to hurt her. "You two had better get going," Van Hassel said suddenly in his droning tone of voice, knocking Riley out of her reminiscing haze for a bit. "I arranged a ride for you to get to the safehouse, escorts and all. I'd take you myself but I have to park this thing and go supervise the idiots in French Quarter. Our guys will let me and Jordan know when you get there safely. Look for the guy in the brown tweed suit, he's waiting at the entrance for you." "Brown tweed suit, got it," Mina repeated to herself as Riley lifted up the hood on the jacket she was wearing, her eyes gently glowing purple as she cast a psychic suggestion with her powers. It was a neat little trick she worked on with Mina that made other people subconsciously ignore her very inhuman features and allowed her to blend in with other humans. It was a handy way to practice controlling the somewhat unstable energy that fueled her power as well as a clever disguise for her to slip through a crowd without drawing attention. [color=MediumOrchid]"Thank you so much for your help, Mr. Van Tassel,"[/color] Riley said with sincerity as she followed Mina off of the small plane. "Call me Smokey, everyone does," 'Smokey' said nonchalantly as he exhaled another puff of noxious cigarette fumes. "Now go." Neither of the girls needed convincing. As they left the plane, Mina made a beeline for the terminal as Riley gave one last wave at the cockpit before bouncing along after her, substantially more cheerful then the nervous scientist. As they entered the building and Mina talked her way through security with Riley in tow, the half-alien girl took a cautious look around, her purple eyes filled with innocent curiosity. It was a very sterile and businesslike place, kind of like the 'metro' terminal she saw back in England, with colorful posters and large potted plants at every corner to break up the monotonous repetition of tiles and gray carpeting. Riley was much more interested in all the people gathered in a large waiting area near where they came in, but as she looked out at them her senses detected a flurry of emotions; Anger, confusion, desperation, sadness, and above all, fear. Haunting, paralyzing fear. Riley pressed into a few of the minds there and heard them thinking about loved ones, friends and family, hoping that they were safe, or convinced that they were gone. Her smile faltering at these thoughts, Riley's eyes turned to look at the array of televisions attached to the wall that most of these people were staring at. They were all covered with scrawling lines of text and unfamiliar people speaking with grim expressions, but the most striking images were ones were of the cities and buildings that Riley didn't recognize, all covered by that strange glowing dome. Was that the thing that was causing all of this chaos? Was that the thing people were so afraid of? "I think that's him," Mina said cautiously, pointing out a rather serious-looking man in a brown tweed jacket waving in their direction, holding up a white card with the symbol of a blue shield and crossbow clearly visible on it. "Come on Riley, he looks kind of impatient with us." Riley wordlessly followed, the usual spring in her step gone as her thoughts lingered on the fear surrounding her. She tried to pry her thoughts away from the miasma by focusing on the stranger waiting for them, who introduced himself as Hoxton in a strange English accent and escorted the two girls outside to a waiting car. Mina didn't seem to notice Riley's unusual silence as she fussed over the security details with Hoxton, leaving Riley alone with her thoughts and her feelings. As the airport vanished from sight and the buildings of what Mina called "Little Ulster" sprouted around her, Riley could still feel that miasma of fear coming from those buildings. People were afraid here worse then ever. Afraid of being hurt, afraid of losing their family, afraid of the bad men that roamed the streets. Every turn, every new building brought new fears for Riley to observe, and the more she saw, the more restless she became. She knew she and Mina were in danger, but every time a new fearful thought came to her, she wanted to cry out and tell them that they weren't alone. That she was there, and that she wanted to help them. But they were so faint, and there were so many. What could she possibly do? As the car pulled to a stop at a traffic light, Riley suddenly gasped as a new emotion hit her like a sledgehammer. It was the same fear that covered the city, but it was different this time. More pronounced, more urgent, and too close to dismiss out of hand. Strong fear, the same fear that she sensed Mina felt before Riley saved her from that wicked man. [color=MediumOrchid]"Someone's in trouble,"[/color] Riley announced to the car in an unusually deadpan tone. Mina turned to look at her curiously, only now noticing the emotional state she was in. "Riley, it's okay," Mina said in a calming tone. "There's a lot of bad things going on right now but-" [color=MediumOrchid]"Someone's going to be hurt!"[/color] Riley announced again, more forcefully then the last time as her eyes widened with horror. [color=MediumOrchid]"They're afraid that...that they're going to die!"[/color] Riley's horrified expression began to melt away as something clicked into place in her head, her eyes beginning to glow an ominous purple. [b][color=MediumOrchid]"I won't let that happen."[/color][/b] There was a flash of purple, and Riley was gone. --- "Looks like we got a feisty one, boys. Hold him down and clean out his pockets." Joey screamed his head off and tried in vain to free himself as the two beefy men with punk haircuts and piercings violently went through his jacket and pants pockets for valuables. He nearly got one wrist free in his struggle, only to be rewarded with a sharp blow to the jaw and the taste of blood in his mouth as he was dragged to his feet again, the two thugs still holding onto him like a pair of vices. As his eyes refocused on his surroundings, he saw the tattooed and spike-haired ringleader of the group smiling at him, waving Joey's wallet in front of him mockingly. "Thanks for the donation, kiddo," he said with a leering grin, revealing quite a few golden teeth in the process. "Now what do we say to Uncle Jimmy, son?" "G-go to hell," Joey spat at him weakly in a brief moment of lucidity, the thugs bursting out laughing at the sound of his voice cracking. 'Uncle Jimmy' clicked his tongue disapprovingly, then gave a nod to his underlings, who then threw Joey violently against the wall and held him there. "You don't seem to know how to listen do you kiddo?" the ringleader said, reaching into his pocket. An icy chill of realization and fear washed over him as he heard the distinctive spring-loaded click echo in the alleyway and the flashing steel of the stiletto dance in front of his eyes and move to press against the bottom of his ear. "Well if you can't use these properly properly what's the point of you having them?" Joey made a whimpering plea that lost all coherency when it escaped his lips, causing the thugs to burst out laughing again. "Now now, don't cry, be a man and try to figure out why this is-" [b][color=MediumOrchid]"Take your hands off of him."[/color][/b] Everyone in the darkened alleyway jumped, Uncle Jimmy's blade nicking Joey's earlobe as he turned his attention to the source of the almost ethereal sounding voice. In the entrance of the street stood a lone figure, silhouetted by the street lamps illuminating the road, hands clenched into fists at its sides. In the darkness none of the alley's inhabitants could make out the features of this strange newcomer besides its hoodie, but its appearance nevertheless made the thugs turn to look at one another nervously. Uncle Jimmy was not so easily shaken, however. "Keep your nose out of our business you sneaky bitch, or you'll lose your ears too!" he snapped at the newcomer, wildly gesticulating in Joey's face with the knife. Despite the blade traveling dangerously close to his eyes, Joey's attention was focused solely on the darkened figure, who approached the group ominously despite the punk's threat of violence. The figure raised an open hand in his direction, and then...wait, was it his imagination, or was this figure floating a few inches off the ground? "Yeaaaaaargh!" The sudden scream shocked Joey out of his trance just as he felt the thug on his left release his grip. He turned to look at what was happening and caught a glimpse of the thug suddenly airborne like he was shot out of a cannon and flying in a graceful arc away from the group and over the head of the figure, who turned to watch him hit a pile of garbage on the other end of the road before snapping its head back to the now two criminals and their victim. Joey realized for a split second that the figure's 'eyes' seemed to be glowing violently before Uncle Jimmy pulled him into a headlock and pressed the blade to his throat, hard enough to draw a little blood. [i]"I'll kill him!"[/i] Uncle Jimmy shrieked, his voice filled with manic fury and horror. [i]"You make one more move and I'll slice him open like a-"[/i] Jimmy's outburst was interrupted when Joey suddenly felt himself being wrenched from his grasp by some unknown force, which left him hovering in the air as Uncle Jimmy watched him go, his gold-toothed mouth agape in shock. As Joey looked on, too awestruck to be afraid of whatever the hell was going on anymore, Uncle Jimmy himself was jerked violently off the ground, cussing up a storm. As the knife fell from his grip, Joey saw it freeze in midair, vibrating slightly before it cracked and shattered into small pieces and scattered itself along the ground. Then with a jerk of its head, the figure (assuming the figure was the one doing this, Joey decided) sent the hopeless gangster spiraling into wall with a resonating thud before he fell into a nearby dumpster and landed with a splash in a couple feet of garbage water. Joey felt himself gently lowered to the ground as the figure stepped past him towards the last thug, who cowered in fear despite the fact that he towered over it. [color=MediumOrchid]"Are you afraid?"[/color] the figure asked the thug with surprising gentleness, allowing Joey to identify the voice as distinctly youthful and feminine. "Y-yeah," the thug stammered, his eyes darting between the figure's eyes and the nearest exit route. There was a pregnant pause as the two exchanged stares before the figure spoke again. [color=MediumOrchid]"You're afraid that she's hurt,"[/color] she said gently. To his surprise the thug seemed to relax slightly after she said it. "S-she lives in Sherman Square," he said meekly, staring down at his own shoes. "I haven't talked to her in years but after the rioting I was worried that she would have been..." [color=MediumOrchid]"Go find her,"[/color] the figure suggested. [color=MediumOrchid]"She probably misses you too."[/color] "Yeah, I will," the thug replied, and Joey was surprised to see him turn and leave the alleyway, unharmed and calm as ever. As the figure approached him in turn, Joey found himself without a voice, but for much different reasons then when Uncle Jimmy had a blade against his neck. [color=MediumOrchid]"Are you hurt?"[/color] the strange girl asked him, genuine concern evident in her voice. For some reason, even though he couldn't make out her face besides the strange eyes, Joey felt calmed and soothed as he looked at her. "A little bit, but I'll get it checked out just to be safe," he explained, pausing to wipe some dried blood from his chin as the figure nodded before a question came to his lips. "You're...you're one of them, aren't you? One of the superheroes." [color=MediumOrchid]"A what?"[/color] the figure asked. "A superhero," Joey repeated, thinking that this girl might not have been all there. "You know...the guys with powers that go around helping people." There was another pregnant pause, one in which Joey felt an unnatural yet faint feeling of happiness for some strange reason. [color=MediumOrchid]"I...help people?"[/color] "Well you helped me when you saved my life," Joey said with a weak laugh as he bent down to pick up his wallet and phone from the ground. "Saving lives, stopping the bad people in the world, that's what the supers do, you know?" He looked over the screen and was somewhat surprised to see that his new phone by some miracle had survived without a scratch. He looked up from his things and saw that the girl was nowhere to be seen, though he could have sworn there was a faint purple glow in the air where she had been standing... --- [color=MediumOrchid]"MINAAAAAAAA!"[/color] Dr. Seidel, who had been waiting by the pulled over car with a couple of security men at her side, shrieked as she was pulled into a hug by the suddenly reappearing Riley. As one of them sent a message on their pagers to inform the group that Riley had been found, Mina pried herself out of Riley's grip, who let her go without too much of a fuss as she waited to tell her what had happened. "What were you thinking?" Mina all but shouted at Riley, her tone a cross between fury and hyperventilation. "We were supposed to be hiding out Riley! You can't just relocate to random parts of the city, you could have been killed or captured and then they would-" [color=MediumOrchid]"Mina, I helped someone!"[/color] Dr. Seidel blinked at these words, her face quickly turning a sickly shade of white as she hoped she heard the half-alien girl wrong. "You...helped someone!?!" [color=MediumOrchid]"I helped someone just like when I helped you, Miss Mina!" [/color]Riley said proudly, placing her hands on her hips in a triumphant pose. [color=MediumOrchid]"I'm a SUPERHERO!"[/color] Hoxton returned from his search and rounded the corner just in time to see Dr. Seidel passed out on the ground at the foot of a very confused and somewhat hurt Riley.