A hundred blue screens glowed within a dark room. Megahertz's pointed hood stood like a tower between it all, unflinching and unmovable as she took in every sight and sound. 

[b]"Mary-Jane Banou here, with Channel 5000, reporting live from the Ares Justice Square,"[/b] a voice came from one of the screens. Of a middle-aged woman in a blazer, shouting into a microphone amidst a shrill choir of sirens. Vehicles came in swarms. Armoured carriers painted with red crosses over white, ambulances emblazoned with DocWagon's sigil, and hordes of Sector 7 police cruisers, their blue and red sirens shining behind a blockade armed with Ares's finest. [b]"This disaster, already called the worst in two years, came only just a day after the Tragedy Killer's latest alleged attack which left Cowgirl Blizzard in pieces."[/b]

The screen transitioned into the point of view of a shaky camera. It wobbled amidst a sea of sirens and police tape, then zoomed towards a Templar Knight and a Sector 7 Police Captain, their stances tense, their fingers pointing towards each other as an argument broke out, the words "Jurisdiction" and "Fuck off" barely audible amidst the chaos. 

On another screen, Katalina skulked beneath the shadowed concrete of a condemned building. A flock followed after her, of scientists wearing oversized glasses and Craftsmen clad in dingy aprons. She gestured to them to stop as searchlights shined through glassless windows, only charging forth as darkness returned. 

Sandstorm and his men appeared two screens below, brandishing rifles and shotguns as they stood guard in Downtown Northbridge. [color=dbdf95][b]"Give it up, coppers. These civillians are under our protection,"[/b][/color] Sandstorm declared, with his rifle rested against his shoulder, and a fist raised and shifted into solid rock.

A far right screen delved below the streets, within a circular interior, flooded with green-brown muck risen above a man's ankles. The walls were lined with layers of pipes that seemed to stretch forever, caked in layers of rust, moss, and filth. Rakshas emerged behind a turn, with two fellow mutants tailing him. An armoured hovercraft dragged on their rear, protected at the back with rifle-bearing, gas-masked soldiers. The giant's two heads looked up, down, and around, white vapour expelled from their nostrils as they exhaled their perpetual, needle-filled grins. [color=7ac2b5][b]“I smell…,”[/b][/color] the rounded head spoke. [color=7ac2b5][b]“...Pigs,”[/b][/color] the angular head finished, his voice trailed into a hiss. 

And then… something else. On the leftmost screen. An anomaly that drew all of Megahertz’s attention. 

[hr]
Ganta shuffled from a hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant to his car in an alleyway, in an awkward sideways crab-shuffle, his view obstructed by a mound of takeaway boxes. He chased the jingle in his pocket as he reached the driver’s side door, balancing the stack in his stiff arm - shit, other pocket, shit, other-[i]other[/i] pocket. A tub of sauce slid off the tower as he reached for the keys - his good hand shot out and leg kicked behind him, saving the sauce, keeping his balance, and protecting the entire tower from toppling.

… Alright, got the plum sauce, got the keys. Key in the door-

A pain [i]RIPPED[/i] through his right arm and uploaded directly to his spine. The split-second flare was the herald of a spasm that sent all the takeaway boxes scattering. He shouted and grabbed at it, but the Chrome limb fought him off, just as the burning pain that screamed [b]INCOMPATIBLE[/b] did. He was a helpless witness to its flapping until its final glitch and it fell limp, a dead weight dragging down his shoulder. Ganta panted against the side of the car, staring over the mess of boxes and mongolian beef spread all over the sidewalk. Murmurs trickled in from down the end of the alley. The two girls watching moved on fast when he looked over. Ganta clenched the keys in his fist and put them through the window.

[b]THUD.[/b]

The crunch of a body hitting pavement was almost lost in the noise of kicking the shit out of his car. Ganta backed off from the massive dent he'd put in the door and looked over the end of the alley it came from. The frantic beeps of the car alarm followed after him as he approached the body. A riot cop. The man had landed on his shield, which had held up in the plummet. The cop, not so much. Somehow still groaning.

Ganta pushed him over onto his back with a kick of his boot. The man's head rolled in a way that made it clear he probably shouldn't have been messing with the guy's spine. He put his foot on his stomach and leaned over, frisking the cop's chest. The cop's fingers twitched and he blubbered something, a prayer. Ganta dug his fingers in and tore a small device from the cop's vest. Body cam. He put a finger to his earpiece.

[color=#746733][b]"Hey, Megahertz. Who's out here killing police?"[/b][/color]

[color=e70849][b]“Huh? What’s this about killing police?”[/b][/color] Katalina replied.

[color=7ac2b5][b]“We’re KILLING the po-pos?” [/b][/color]Rakshas followed. His other head snorted in revelry. [color=7ac2b5][b]“Good… I was getting HUNGRY!” [/b][/color]

[color=b8cee5][b]“Ganta, you fool. You’re on the wrong channel,”[/b][/color] Megahertz replied, with the dry tone of a disappointed mother. 

[color=dbdf95][b]“So do we have the go ahead to ice these coppers?”[/b][/color] Sandstorm whispered into his comm, with himself and his men surrounded by the police horde. [color=dbdf95][b]“They ain’t backing down from this one.” [/b][/color]

[b]“We don’t negotiate with crooks!”[/b] A police spokesman shouted into his megaphone. 

Back in the Northbridge sewers, shadows of men and guns prowled ahead of Rakshas’s caravan. [b]“Base mother, we are deep in the South Industrial sewers, over. No sign of JAHANNAM yet,”[/b] the voice of an officer echoed through the tunnel. Rakshas stopped. His two heads looked to their mutant entourage, who all nodded with the same thought. [color=7ac2b5][b]“Let’s do it.” “They’re RIPE for an ambush!” [/b][/color]

East Harbour. Katalina perched atop a decayed construction beam, her gaze directed below. Another police blockade had been set up, surrounding all immediate exits. She flexed her clawed arm. [color=e70849][b]“My Lady, I ain’t gettin’ these geeks out of the docks without violence.” [/b][/color]

A hiss expelled from Megahertz’s hood, phased into a high-pitched sound not unlike microphone feedback. She hunched over her screens, her hands slammed upon the desk. [color=b8cee5][b]“Enforcers, stay your bloodlust! Killing the police is UNNECESSARY.”[/b][/color] She turned towards Ganta’s screen. [color=b8cee5][b]“Ganta, fool. You need to go to Bridge Street and destroy all the police cameras at once!”[/b][/color] Her hood swivelled towards a nearby screen. The anomaly. [color=b8cee5][b]"I will look into this… disturbance myself."[/b][/color]

An electronic hum came from Ganta’s arm as it came back into use, the weight lifting from it. He flexed its fingers, flicked up the camera, and caught it in his golden hand, where he crushed it. [color=#746733][b]“Yes ma’am,”[/b][/color] he muttered, letting the metallic dust slip between his fingers. He looked down at the dying cop, wheezing through a mouthful of blood, and stomped on his head.

[hr]
Bridge Street. The wind rushed past Astrid on her bike. It was daylight, yet the sun lamp barely shined through the fog and haze. Her surroundings were blurred by the speed of her traversal, the lights of street and traffic guiding her towards central Northbridge. 

Something stared at her atop a street lamp, through eyes like three slits of green. It leapt, and the street lights illuminated its form. Azure chassis, black synthetic muscles, a canine structure. The chrome dog landed ahead of her with an attention-grabbing 'THUNK', staring as it hunkered into a low stance, an assault rifle mounted on its back.