[IC] The Mavericks | Neo-Genesis

[Stein]

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Ram

22:46

Ram checked his watch. It was later than he wanted. He had to be up early to run campaign strategies with the Congressman. He didn’t know this district overly well, but Ram remembered ‘a shortcut through an alley near here…’

His eyes rested on a familiar cut-through alleyway. ’That’s the one.’ And he darted down it, careful to keep an eye out for his surroundings.

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Miles

22:46

He slammed into the figure a little….gracelessly, though successfully tackling his target. Though...his target had gotten a little squishier.

’No metal? What the--Oh no..’ That definitely wasn’t the metallic torso from before. ’Wait, where did he go?’ Miles panicked.

”Woah!” He exclaimed as this Not-Purse Snatcher drug himself up from the ground, with no trace of a hole. ”Did he just...is he..?”

”Oh my God, no,” Miles shook his head, ”You’re already dead aren’t you? I’m too late…”

”What the hell was that for?”

Miles stopped, ”Oh wait...you’re not dead, are you?” He got closer and touched the man’s face. It was solid. He took a step back looked down, “I’m sorry about that Mister, I thought you were a purse snatcher I was chasing.” He took the time to look around him, noting the dingy settings. This building hadn’t been used for quite a while. The entire ground floor was clear of separating walls and the most bare debris remained in the spacious area. The entire top half of the wall of the building was lined with windows, showing the bright moon of the night. There was no one else here that Miles could see or sense.

“You didn’t happen to see a purse snatcher come through here, did you?”

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Ram

22:49

Ram found himself coming out of the alleyway, not far from one of the Larissa City Bank branches. This wasn’t necessarily the way he had meant to come out, but he’d wing it. He just needed to be home at this point.

’Why is this area so quiet? Not even the ghosts of the city are stirring? What is this?’

He remembered this particular area didn’t have much in the name of residences and typically closed down after normal business hours, though a number of the buildings maintained security and janitorial staff. Then why did it feel so devoid of people. Instead the space seemed to be waiting, anticipating something. ’What?’

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Miles

22:51

Any conversation or analyzation of what may have led the young and soon-to-be heroes to this particular nondescript building was cut short by a distinct chirping sound that filled the room for a few seconds. A beeping sound.

“Beepbeepbeepbeep-beepbeepbeepbeep-beepbeepbeepbeepbeep!”

Miles gave the older man a wary eye before he realized it was coming from the table before them. He took a slow step toward the object, poised to defend himself. Upon nearing it though, he could see the sound was coming from a speaker in the table. ’What the…?’ On top of the table were two rectangular objects. Smart phones.

Curiosity overtook Miles and he reached for one, unsure of what to expect at this point. Nothing in his guidebook had really covered creepy abandoned buildings while chasing a purse snatcher. Though, it seemed like something worth mentioning. The phone felt fine, but as soon he began to peer at it, the phone lit up.

“I didn’t do it!” he proclaimed as reflexes tossed the phone in the air from panic. He realized his actions and quickly scrambled to grab the phone as it began its descent to the ground, managing to swipe it just in time. ”Woops.”

He looked at the screen in time to see it flash his name.

“Good Evening, Miles Bergeron.”

Miles quickly covered the screen, pressing it against his chest. What in the world? How did it know? Who was this? Looking at it again, the phone had finished loading and was once again, unresponsive to any button commands. He picked up the other one, noting how it stayed dormant.

”Here, I think this one is probably for you.”

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Ram

22:53

Ram had slowed his steps, swearing he had heard a voice just now. The voice of a child? He had to be losing his grip on sanity. Maybe the Congressman was right with his adherence to 9 hours of sleep a night. The man never missed a beat, and certainly never hallucinated a childs voice. Ram shook his head and body. He needed to take it easy the next few days.

He was rounding the corner of the block, noting how the lights in the area seemed dimmer, when he felt it. The pureness of it shook Ram for a moment. He hadn’t felt such negativity so easily since leaving South America. His instincts took over, causing him to dive for cover. Peeking around the corner showed Ram it was two individuals standing in the center of the street, facing the Larissa City Bank. That’s where the feeling was permeating, and Ram didn’t need much more to know what he was seeing wouldn’t end well.

They just seemed to be staring at the large bank. The lights from the columns of the building bathed them in a faint light, but even these lights seemed slightly dimmer and Ram wasn’t able to make out much of the two.

What was going on?

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Miles

22:56

There was a grunt of frustration as Miles dropped his head.

“I give up!” He dropped the phone back on the table. Since they had turned on and given the aspiring heroes their odd messages, the phones had stayed silent. ”Clearly these things are useless.”

He eyed the other man once more, standing on his tiptoes to get his face closer. ”You sure you don’t have anything to do with this? Like,promise?”

The entire night was becoming more obscure, and he was close to calling it quits. But...what about that woman’s purse? How would he tough out the truly gritty days of hero life if he couldn’t take all of the introduction days? It sucked to say, but Miles Bergeron was in this weird night for better or worse.

A vibrating feeling caused him to look down at his phone. It was vibrating! The screen lit up and vibrated again, someone was calling. He looked at the other male, only to see the same expression from him to his own ringing phone. With hesitation, Miles answered. ’This might not be a good idea…’

”Hello?”

A cool female voice met him. The kind of voice that you heard when leaving a voicemail...actually it sounded exactly like that.

”You were always meant for more, Miles Bergeron. And you are much more than they think you are. You have the chance to show that. A chance to start the path. Will you take it?”

“What? How do you--” Miles was interrupted by the click of the call ending. He stared at the phone in disbelief for a few second. ’Had she been talking about..?’

”You got the creepy lady call too, didn’t you?” Miles asked the older guy.

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Ram

22:58

The men had simply been standing, facing the building for the past few minutes. Doing nothing. But, Ram wasn’t leaving. He’d been a fool not listen to his gut, it was going off. There was something menacing flowing to him, tickling his senses.

But what were they doing?

He risked creeping closer, profile low, steps light and quick. A bus stop was his first stop for cover. ’What’s going on with all of the lights?’ None in the area seemed to be on, unnerving him further. He noticed movement from the two and tensed his form.

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Ren

23:00

”It’s showtime,” Ren breathed aloud. He even allowed a smile to play on his face, the sense of euphoria barely containable. “In and out, let’s not fuck it up.”

Allen knew well enough to stand back at this point, taking a quick hop a few meters away after giving a curt nod. The streets were clear as promised, and he particularly hoped the promise of the street cameras looping was fulfilled as well. The dimmed street lights seemed to be evidence of it, so Ren decided to proceed, taking a deep breath.

One of the most interesting features of the Larissa City Bank is it’s main doors. Large, grand doors paying homage to the grandeur of the roaring 20’s. The metal structures had deterred numerous thefts over the years. Throughout those years, they were refitted and added to, layers of reinforcements. It became a bit of a “thing” for the CEO’s and shareholders over the years, to be known for their near impregnable nature. The bank had been robbed/breached a total of 11 times during it’s existence. 4 of those were in the young stages of its life and “could hardly be counted” if you asked a CEO. Of the remaining 7, only two of those times had been a result of the doors physically being breached and damaged.

Ren was looking to be the cause of the third time.

His hands jutted forward and the air around him crackled with energy, the air hot and dry. The tingle ran from his feet and ran up him, eventually channeling through the space between his arms. Energy built on energy, the heat intensified, the static grew. Flames rolled down his arms, laced with the crackle of electricity. All this energy was intoxicating. Such a release!

’I swear this is when I’m closest to God.’

A torrent of fire and electric energy swirled around each other, launching from his hands and causing him to take a small step back. It hurled toward the door, it’s aim true. The resulting screech of metal, fire, electricity and concrete in one explosive cacophony was a violent symphony to Ren. It sounded like..

“Success.”

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Miles

23:00

The explosion didn’t register in Miles’ mind for a second, his mind still focused on the eerie call. But the shaking…that brought him back. His head jolted toward the other male, searching for answer. The sound came from outside and Miles was certain it was nothing good.

It had to be the bank, he just knew it.

”Uh-oh…” His voiced trailed off and took a mad dash to the doors of the building, bursting out onto the street, in time to see the freshly smoldering hole of the Larissa City Bank smoking before him.

[Lord Wraith]

► L A R I S S A | S O M E R S E T

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^{May 2016 - One Night After The Explosion}

At approximately 21:59, roughly 3 minutes after Evelyn Prince’s room was locked down, the New Hampshire general hospital's administrator, Gloria Akalitus, received a particularly troubling call. Why the call had even come to her in the first place was beyond her --as she was putting in extra hours for the upcoming budget proposal-- but the surprise of call made it that much more of an annoyance.

"One solitary night is all I ask to get this damn proposal out of the way," she muttered as she stalked to the ward where Eveyln Prince was being held, "Is that really so much to ask? Or I take it they like getting their scrubs from the irregular section of a Mexican medical surplus store!" She nearly spat these last words as she used her key card to override the lock to the ward, paying no mind to it.

"What the hell, Zoey?" Ms. Akalitus pronounced to the nurse heading the barricade. "Why in God's name am I getting a call at..." she checked her watch "10 'o clock at night with a federal agent on the end barking about the current status of his transfer patient?"

Akalitus was exhausted. Funding of this research based hospital had been on a slight decline ever since their recent scandals. They relied heavily on Government contracts as it was and couldn't start pissing off connections due to incompetence. She took another step closer to Nurse Zoey, completely heedless of the room around her. The sooner she got out of here, the sooner she could finish that budget.

"Look, I can not and will not take another scandal or slip-up from this nursing staff," Akalitus told the nurse. "First Jackie with the pills and then that temp nurse Willam with her sexual harassment case! Not.another.slip-up." She held up her hand to quell any of the complaints she could feel bubbling from the nurse. "Hub-bup-bup. Not a word. It's above our pay grade. Get her stabilized, get her in the transport vehicle. Now."

► L A R I S S A | S O U T H B E A C H

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^{May 2016 - One Night After The Explosion}

Thirty Minutes Ago...

Sleep was something of a fleeting chore for Joseph Thoreau, at least that's how he felt about it most days as the ringing of his phone stirred the man from his power nap. Lights from the streets below, filtered up through his blinds as Joseph sat up with a groan, stretching his tired back and cracking his neck with a satisfying 'POP' before answering the cellphone on his bedside table.

"'Ello." He yawned as the voice on the other end chuckled.

"Up and at 'em Joey Boy, Dispatch has a patient transfer for us. We've got to go down to Somerset and get a lass from New Hampshire General." The voice belonged to none other than Travis Young, Joseph's on duty partner.

"There again?" Joseph groaned. "That's the fifth on this week, don't they have enough hands to take care of their intake. It's Somerset for fuck's sake."

"I think the problem is too many hands." Came the smug reply from Travis on the other end. "Either way, be downstairs in five, I'll pick you up."

As the click in his ear signaled the end of the conversation, Joseph sat up and made his way to the bathroom. Splashing some cold water on his face, he ran a hand along his chin, the rough stuble scratching against his smooth palm. Running a hand through his hair, Joseph gave himself a shrug in the mirror as he decided it was good enough.

The bed head look is hot right now anyways right?

With a smile smile in the mirror, Joseph grabbed the navy blue jacket off a nearby chair and headed out of his condo. A vibration from his pocket alerted him of a text as he pulled the phone expecting some smart ass remark from Travis about hurrying.

-Come over after work? I'm bored.

Brynne

Tapping out a quick reply, Joseph hit send on his phone as the elevator arrived.

-It's going to be a late night, are you okay to stay up?

Joey

-I don't work tomorrow ;)

Brynne

With a soft chuckle, Joseph stepped off the elevator and walked towards the door while sending Brynne another text.

-I'll let you know when I'm done Beautiful.

Joey

-I'll be waiting.
-In this.

Brynne

Joseph's eyes went wide at the picture on his screen as he climbed into the passenger seat of the ambulance. Leaning over Travis tried to peek at the screen before Joseph quickly pocketed the phone and gave the other man a mock scowl.

"If you're getting laid later, you're driving." Travis said with a slug to Joseph's shoulder.

"Then we're switching seats, move over." Joseph retorted with a laugh as the two men swapped spots. Turning the ignition on, Joseph pulled the ambulance onto the road. Making himself comfortable, Travis put his feet on the dash as Joseph let out a heavy sigh.

"I guess we're off to Somerset then."

► L A R I S S A | S O M E R S E T

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^{May 2016 - One Night After The Explosion}

Now...

Ensuring the patient was secure, Joseph and Travis returned to the front of the ambulance. For the time being the patient, a Jane Doe was unconcious in the back and quite frankly Joseph preferred it like that. In a city like Larissa, the last thing you needed was some wailing lunatic fighting against their restraints while they drove across the city.

"I'll bet you someone in there got handsy with her." Travis stated as he fastened his seatbelt. "This hospital has a rep for pervy doctors."

"Honestly rather not dwell on it," Joseph replied as started driving the vehicle. "The city is bad enough as is, the last thing we need are corrupt hospitals."

"Always so preachy man, you need to lighten up. Live each day as they come." Travis replied as the vehicle merged onto the highway.

"You'd think after being in our line of work, you would have realized by now life is fragile." Joseph replied as he focused on the road.

"And you'd think you'd have realized that we don't know how much time we have. Don't be so afraid to have fun, fall in love, do something silly." Travis argued as he cracked open a soda. Taking a deep swig, he smacked his lips together with satisfaction before wiping the residual sweet liquid with the back of his hands.

A tense silence fell over the two for a few moments, interrupted only by the running of the EMT vehicle. It was abruptly broken by the crackle of the radio. "Unit respond. Distress call came in from the Olympus District. Financial block area. Reports of a potentially fatal accident. Expectant mother believed to be involved. Over"

Joseph picked up the receiver, giving Travis a glance of mild confusion. "Unit responding. We're close, but in en route for a patient transfer. Over."

"Tonight is being hit hard. You're the closest emergency respondents we've got. Over." There was another click and Joseph knew that was the end of the conversation. Really nothing to be done about it, and their transfer was stable. He gave Travis a shrug.

"I hope this isn't setting the tone for the night," Joseph told Travis, taking the next exit. The financial district was right around the Larissa City Bank.

"Let's do it to it, mang. Get that mother and child home safe!" Travis said, clapping Joey on the back as Joseph turned the vehicle onto the correct street. Covered in an eerie darkness, it seemed as though the power outrage still had a grip here. Outside of the direct path of the ambulance's high beams, there was nothing that could be seen. "Would you look at that Joey, no street lights here."

Joseph's eyes widened as he saw a brilliant beam of light suddenly rip through the velvet darkness. A shudder and explosive sound followed and instant later, causing Joseph to slam on the brakes. The vehicle lurched and pulled as it was pulled into a sharp turn by the sudden halt in motion. Smashing his head off the dashboard, Travis slumped down limp in his seat as Joseph braced himself against the steering wheel until the vehicle came to a complete stop.

The radio crackled to life once more, and on instinct Joe looked over at the device. "Will you tap into the potential of you, expose the darkness hiding in white light?" The female voice on the radio said. "Will you walk down the path, lifting yourself and New Friends in tow?" A short pause was followed by white noise on the radio and nothing more.

"What. The. Hell."

Evelyn Prince

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The back of an ambulance, Somerset
The night after the blast...

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Something wriggled in Evelyn's palm, and then went dead before shuddering once more, buzzing all the while. Bzz. Bzz. Bzz. She groaned in submission as her consciousness hit her like a brick wall, and she was thrown into a collision with the sensory overload that was 'reality'. Her hand instantly moved to her skull, which felt as though a hatchet was lodged into each temple, and her bleary eyes squinted as they adjusted to the world around her.

It was dark. And it was moving. It didn't take a genius to identify the setting as the back of a vehicle, and even in her delicate state Evelyn was fully aware of two men talking in the driver's cabin. She was also aware of an irritating buzzing sound, coming from the device that she had let slip from her grip as she became alert.

Bzz. Bzz. Bzz.

She could see the dim light of the interface illuminating with each vibration, an unidentifiable string of numbers lining the caller ID screen. She wearily assessed the situation, before hastily picking up the cellphone and answering the call.

"I need help," she whispered, her voice cracking through lack of use. "I've been kid--"

"It is your mind and your spirit that can bring about change." replied a woman on the other end of the line.

"What?" she asked, both confused and irritated by the cryptic response. "You don't --"

She was cut off by the voice yet again, and realised that it was automated. "Sometimes, all you need is a small amount of trust and a jolt of inspiration. Take the chance, follow the path. It won't lead you astray." The recording concluded its recital with a singular extended dial tone, before the line went dead.

Fuck. she thought to herself. What kind of Riddler bullshit was this? Eve suspected that whomever was currently carting her towards unknown territory was also responsible for planting the spooky cellphone message. Inquisitively, she ran a hand over the device, concentrating as best she could through her migraine and trying to tune in on any psychic remnants of whomever might be behind this.

All she heard was that same woman's voice: "Leave no trace. We don't exist."

She had barely a second to consider the message before her vision flickered, and she saw two men. Driving. Panicked, not sure what. What the heck? Swerved, collided. Impact. Impact of wheels to curb. Impact of head to wheel. Black.

Eve had a moment of difficulty differentiating the man in her vision's pain from her own head trauma, but as a commotion erupted from the driver's cabin and Eve felt the screeching of rubber beneath her, she realised that her ordeal was not over yet. As the van her captors were commanding took a cruel turn, Eve found herself crashing into the double doors of the rear, which burst open and spilled her gowned body out onto the concrete.

[Nemaisare]

ANDREW

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Not dead? He sincerely hoped he wasn’t dead! And if he was, his question remained. Who the hell tackled dead people? No, no, that was all wrong, he wasn’t dead. His head hurt too much for that, and this was most definitely not the afterlife and-Why was he touching his face?!

Instinct, as well as some small sense of indignity prompted Andrew to lean away from the prodding fingers. Not only was he generally against having hands shoved in his face for whatever reason, but he didn’t want anyone poking his bruise just now. Probably never. Tender things, faces. And bruises. And pride… Great. He’d been bowled over because this kid thought he was a thief. “No, no, and three times no. I didn’t, I’m not, and I shouldn’t even be here. Where even is here?”

Yep, his pride was bruised, but he was more concerned that this night was definitely not going according to plan (well, his plans, anyway), and that he seemed to have been kidnapped for his clothes, and then dumped somewhere else. The thief/kidnapper having been kind enough to offer an exchange, even if he was pretty sure he was getting the better deal. Sort of. He really wanted his jeans and shirt back, even if they were, collectively, probably only 30$, maybe 40. He didn’t keep an expensive wardrobe. At least the new clothes fit… Bright side, right? Maybe? Sure, whatever, he’d take what he could get right now and at least he wasn’t tied up in a basement somewhere, if this guy could get in, then they could get out. Good to know. Soooo, why was he still sitting here?

That was yet another question Andrew couldn’t answer. But since he was no longer being tackled, and had caught his breath, he worked his slow way to his feet. Making it look like a lot more effort than it really was as his head tried to file for divorce, or flip the switch, or just roll back to the ground. Had to move slow to keep it from any unreasonable jostling. Really though, he was feeling less and less energetic the longer the younger fellow stood beside him. Fidgeting, questioning, investigating the funny beeping noise…

Aw, bugger you, too. Just stop already.

He would have liked to be done for the night. Seemed the world had other ideas… Couldn’t it just apparate his bed to right here or something? Summon it? Call it like a dog. He didn’t care how it happened, just that it would be a whole lot better than some random phone set ups beeping at him. If he wasn’t going to get to that tech opening, then, yeah no, he was going to bed.

Needless to say, he’d just been watching Miles fiddle with the devices, he was still thinking phones and nothing the kid had done yet was proving him wrong. So, when he was handed one of them, he stared at it like he was being handed literal crap, but he took it anyways, because as much as he did not want this to go on any further, curiousity was a vice. He’d probably pay for it in the morning. But the little bit of surprised mime the teen had going for him sparked some intrigue. Unfortunately. Like this wasn’t already weird enough.

Oh no, there had to be personalized phones, too. Andrew only blinked mildly at the screen when it winked on in a way too cheery manner, scrolling his name in block letters and then winking off again like it was just taunting him. He was seriously not in the mood for this shit. At all. But he didn’t have much choice, because if he wanted to know why he was here, he was going to have to play along. So, Andrew made a few dismal attempts to see if he could turn the phone on or make it do something a little more exciting, though he let the kid do most of the legwork, as it were.

“Woah hey, no, I’ve got less’ve a clue than you, this rate. I’m not even supposed to be here.” And if he didn’t take this up with Dr. Maddison tomorrow, you could be sure it was for a damned good reason. Before he could work up to explaining that he’d learned a new lesson about transportation services, his hand vibrated. Or, the phone did, but it must have been set on massage mode and he hadn’t realized that was an option until now. He stared at it for a moment, his thumb automatically hovering already, then, since at least it was something, he shrugged and answered.

“Yeah?” No reason not to be familiar, they’d already undressed him, whoever they were. Seen his Stitch boxers, what more was needed to get past formalities? Would have been nice if he was being invited out for a beer, or something. Instead, he got some lady being cryptic. "There's a strength beyond what you could possibly conceive. If you follow the path, you'll find your 'heart' is in fact your strongest source of power."

But not cryptic enough.

Andrew was a little pale beneath his dark bruise as he pulled the phone away from his ear, hanging up without waiting to make sure that was it. His heart. He didn’t make it some big secret. There were enough people who knew about it that questions in the right places could figure it out. Hell, he had a medical bracelet… He’d had-no, still there. They could have read it and set this up after whatever happened in the car. Still though, still… “Yeah, creepy lady. I mean what the fff-” Ehhh, screw it. “-uck?” Censoring be damned.

Neither of them had the answers. But at least he wasn’t the only one. And he was clinging to that comfort, brain sludgily trying to work through the message he’d just been given, trying to figure out what this whole set-up was intended to achieve, when he either had his answer, or a really horrible coincidence decided to explode nearby. Bright flash, trembling ground and horrific amount of noise in too small a timeframe notwithstanding, he was inclined to move away from the big bang. On general survival instinct.

But there, curiousity was his downfall yet again. And it sounded big, really big. Damaged building big. If people were hurt, he couldn’t just walk away. Not to mention- “Hey! Wait!”

Making a grab for the other guy before he could rush headlong into probable danger, Andrew missed by a mile, but followed after quickly enough, headache settling into a dull bother in the back of his awareness as adrenaline took over, pushing it away. “Holy shit. Holy shee-it!” The bank was on fire.

It was almost the only light on the street, but bright enough for the moment he didn’t even notice the streetlights weren’t on. Didn’t notice the few cars either speeding away or slowing down or crashed. Just glowing metal doors and flames licking up their edges and a big, black hole in the middle, yawning wide.

“Hey! Hey! Don’t go in, you don- woah, not cool!” When he saw two other figures walking towards the bank doors, the hot, twisted, half melted bank doors, Andrew moved to stop them. Thinking they were liable to burn themselves in their haste and it wasn’t like anyone would be in there at this hour, right? Right? Hell, he didn’t even know what time it was but after the first freaking fireball got thrown at his head, he figured they weren’t worried about anyone possibly inside.

He’d ducked the first one, felt his hair get a little crispy it was so close a call. And stopped just short of stepping into the second when the other figure rushed way too fast towards him and started dragging him by his collar. Making a sound very like a cat choking on a hairball, his next protest was cut-off and he spent a few precious seconds grabbing for the wrist attached to the hand that had hauled him off his feet and was threatening to give him roadrash on top of the whiplash attempt before remembering he wasn’t exactly helpless, even in the face of fireballs and uhh, really fast running. The fingers slipped through his collar and he flailed midair to get back on his feet right as he rushed through a-an ambulance. The side of the vehicle abruptly blocking his view of the surprised expression on the guy’s face as he finally came to a stop. Ha! That was more like it!

Now what?

[Stein]

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The Mavericks | Neo-Genesis

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Prologue

"Blitzed, Bolts and Bad Luck

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Ram

Ram scrambled back, suppressing his yelp of surprise to a grunt as he was nearly blinded from the change in light. As the shudder subsided, he risked rising to a low squat and peeking to see the damage.

He was only dimly aware of the ambulance halted in the middle of the street, only having eyes for the destroyed door.

”What have I thrown myself into?” he whispered as he viewed the destroyed bank door. The darkness of the block dampened his vision, but he wanted to garner what he could from these men. The chances were slim that he could do anything as a solitary individual, the least he could do was get intel. Whatever these men wanted, standing in their way seemed suicidal to Ram.

”Don’t be a hero, unless you’re willing to pay the hero’s price”

”You’re damn right, abuelo,” Ram said with a nod as he prepared to back up and get better view elsewhere. The words rang fondly in his head, coloring the dark humor of the situation he found himself in.

Those words also left his mind almost immediately as he saw the doors on the opposite end of the building he peeked around burst open, and a smaller figure charged out. As the figure came to the curb--Ram took a deep breath, stimulating his vision to make out more detail, able to see this person was likely a child-- purple light began to extend down both his arms and past them before quickly massing into a pair of larger glowing arms.

Followed by another form, Ram saw as the two heading to the bank suddenly turned, alerted to more people.

”That...will not end well,” he stated as the first fireball was launched from the criminals.

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Miles

“Dude! Don’t try to save the criminals,” Miles chided the older man with a cry. There was no time for more conversations as the pair across the street launched into action simultaneously.

Miles dove to the side, narrowly missing the first wave of heat. Landing on his feet, he spun around and crossed Fitz’s arms in time to block the second fireball headed straight for him.

“Ooph!”

His feet slid back slightly from the force. That last fireball had packed more of a punch. Miles looked up in time to see the fire guy direct his efforts at the Not-Dead Guy. Miles took the opportunity to dip low and dart around, giving the Fire guy a wide berth before darting in and launching himself with Fitz’s hands from the hood of a parked car. Coming down on the man, Miles let out a holler! ”Get some!”

Bad idea.

The cry gave the man the heads up he needed and he turned to meet Miles, releasing a quick burst of electric energy. Miles’ body locked up, Fitz absorbing a good amount of the energy before quickly dissipating, and he fell to the ground with a soft thud.

Miles saw the man look to his partner. ”Go!” he barked.

The pain wasn’t overwhelming, but his joints were locked up and spasms ran the length of his body. Miles knew he was in a relatively tough spot. He felt like there might have been a lesson on being a Hero on the Rise, that covered something like this situation.

“Dammit kid,” a voice said above him, he could just move his still tensed head to see the Fire-Lightning guy standing a few feet from him, “you really should have just stayed in your lane.”

Ah. There it was.

---

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Allen

First off, the job hadn’t said anything about civilians. Hell, that was the whole reason Allen had taken the job. No riff-raff, no problem. Secondly,

“Are you fucking kidding me?” He asked, a beautiful blend of irritation, anger and fear playing into the inflections of his voice. At least one of these civvies were Hypes, and what were the chances of that? He took a pause, slumping forward.

He was irritated because the dark figure had been right, even worse that fucking blitzed looking chick had been right. His anger stemmed from knowing the night had just become that much longer. And that voice of fear whispering in his ear told him, that blitzed bitch was probably right about everything.

“Fuck that, fuck that fuck that!” His partner would kill him if he fucked up further, and he liked living. His proclamation rang out as he shook his head and produced a smooth black cube from the inside of his jacket.

However, the memory still crept in for a moment. Jilted flashes of Allen leaving their assignment pick-up spot. Walking down a hallway. Peering--for one stolen second--into the crack of a partially opened door. Seeing that blitzed bitch from before, talking to someone.

”He isn’t ready. His error will be a great one.”

Allen knew she spoke of him. There was no question about that. But, he wouldn’t fuck up, not with this much money on the line…

Ventus shook his head and took off running, quickly building momentum as he neared the entrance of bank, it’s entrance still smoldering slightly. ”Get in and get out,”, he told himself as his image began to blur with his increasing speed.

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Ram

Old memories of panic began to play in Ram’s mind as he ran into the fray unfolding itself. But a touch of exhilaration traced the length of his form as well. Some of the frenzy he felt just like that day back home, so long ago. This time though, maybe he could do something. He darted forward, noting the patient who had spilled from the back of the vehicle. This definitely was no place for someone already injured.

”Are you well?” Ram asked her, kneeling quickly beside her and hoisting her up into his arms, ”sorry about this. Gotta get you to safety.” He stepped into the back of the vehicle and set her down. Images of acrid smoke, coughing people and a toppled building met his minds eye, but he pushed it before it overwhelmed him.

’Not here.’ he scolded himself.

He looked around the small area, before finding a fire extinguisher. Perfect! He took it and handed to her. ”You take this, and if that guy outside gets in here, you give him a hefty cooldown, yeah?” With a nod, he darted from the vehicle, peering around the open door, just in time to see the older figure from the abandoned building run through the ambulance!

God, what was this night? He didn’t have time to worry, as his eyes rested on the boy from earlier. Things weren’t looking good. He focused on the figure hovering above the boy. What did he know? Quickly!

’His body is like a conduit. He channels the energy, but has the most control in his hands. The hands!’

Producing his pocket knife from the side of his shoe, Ram knew he only had one shot. But, with his enhanced aim, one shot would be all he needed. He hoped. Ram straightened, darking a deep breath and holding it. His eyes welled, pupils dilating and expanding. Gaze narrowed, breath held, heartbeats felt, the weight of the blade taken in, the path of the blade accounted.

The man lifted his hands up, and a small glow appeared in between them, aimed directly for the young boy on the ground still.

And, go!

A swift motion and Ram chucked the blade through the air, the slice of it creating a small cycle of whistles.

Its aim sat true as the knife lodged into the right hand of its target.

---

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Ren

Ren felt blinding pain--jarring him from the budding cathartic release of expelling more energy. He had been about to toast this kid. He cried out, turning his hand over to see the knife blade sticking through it. His head whipped to the right, focusing on the ambulance, the source of the assault. Pain dulled the edges of his eyesight for a moment and a groan of pain doubled him over as he ripped the knife from his hands.

He seethed now, bits of spittle dripping from his mouth following the effort of “de-knifing” himself. They had been assured there would be no external interference. Yet here they were,

“And if I have anything to say about it, someone’s going to burn.” He lobbed a fireball at the ambulance, the concussive force more than the heat rocking the vehicle.

Ventus appeared in the entrance of the bank, and Ren looked at him expectantly. He’d be damned if they didn’t finish their primary objective: switching out those metallic cube containers. Ventus nodded at him curtly, before Ren focused his attention back to the ambulance, momentarily forgetting the boy. He pointed to the vehicle.

”New rule: no loose ends,” he stated simply.

---

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Allen

Allen sped forward, reaching the ambulance drivers side door and opening it in one swift movement. He gave the driver a quick smile, “Sorry bud, nothing personal. But, ain’t nothing more important than the moolah. You know how it is.” He gave the driver a weak smile before reaching in, un-belting the seat belt, taking out the keys and grabbing the man in less than a second. He flung the driver from the ambulance and out in the street.

Allen shrugged again nearing him, ”It’s just business.” After he took care of this guy, he’d be taking care of that Hype from before. He’d leave the freakshow kid to Ren.

Blitzed bitch predictions or not, Allen Ventus was getting paid tonight no matter what.

[Lord Wraith]

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J O S E P H T H O R E A U
_{A . K . A N E M E S I S}

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► L A R I S S A | O L Y M P U S

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^{May 2016 - One Night After The Explosion}

Why is it things always go from bad to worse?

Joseph's thoughts echoed through his head as he struggled to free himself from the locked seatbelt. Held taunt against the seat as a safety precaution, Joseph watched as the beam of energy he originally braked for became only the first strange thing he had witnessed tonight. Thankfully Travis was unconscious for this otherwise he'd have to deal with his ongoing commentary. Reaching forward, Joseph turned the keys in the ignition only for the ambulance to shake and sputter out. The sudden stop had seized up the engine meaning they weren't going anywhere fast and even if the engine had turned over it was unlikely the rest of the ambulance was in great condition. Unlike the corrupt police department which always seemed to have money in the budget for top of the line vehicles, the hospitals had to make due with ambulances that should have been retired well over ten years ago. If Joseph was forced to bet on it, there was a pretty good chance at least one tire had blown out in the screeching halt and he'd even venture to guess the same tire's rim was damaged in the sliding stop.

That all said, Joseph wasn't about to simply just sit about and wait for rescue. Especially not after the blast of heat further rocked the already damaged ambulance. This was Larissa and Joseph and Travis were prepared for danger, perhaps not the kind brought on by people with extraordinary abilities but they were prepared to deal with hostile patients. Reaching into a medical bag kept up front, Joseph pulled a couple syringes out, each one filled with a potent sedative meant to be quickly injected to subdue rowdy customers. He was especially thankful that Travis had actually remembered to replenish their supply, a gratitude that swelled as his door was pulled open and he found himself launched from the ambulance and laying on the cold concrete below.

"It's just business." The crook smiled as he stood over Joseph. A scowl crossed Joseph's face as he looked up at the sorry excuse for a man before he sprung into action. Lashing out with his legs, Joseph swung hard at the other man's feet, dropping him to the ground in order to buy himself time to scramble to his own feet. Despite being a paramedic, Joseph knew better than to work the streets of the city unarmed as he reached to the back of his belt, drawing a collapsible baton with his other hand held a ready syringe.

"You need a career change." Joseph retorted as he rushed the man, hoping to keep him down. Swinging the baton, it was knocked from his hand by the more skilled opponent. But thankfully the man had anticipated the syringe as Joseph drove it down into his foe's forearm. Crying out in pain, the other man knocked Joseph's hand away before he could inject the sedative, delivering a swift kick to the paramedic's ribcage. Winded, Joseph stumbled backwards trying to regain his breath as the other man advanced on him, suddenly he disappeared, only to reappear behind Joseph as he launched a series of attacks seemingly moving at superhuman speeds as Joseph found himself hit from every side until suddenly his hand met skin and the crook appeared in front of him again. Joseph could tell from the man's face he was just as confused as he was but there was no time for hesitation as Joseph delivered a swift upper cut with his elbow, the man's nose spraying blood on the navy blue paramedic jacket. Reaching into his pocket, Joseph produced a second syringe and stabbed it into the man's neck, injecting the sedative into the man's blood stream.

Maintaining his grip on the man, Joseph watched the crook's eyes roll backwards as he slowly slumped into unconsciousness. As the body went limp, Joseph let go before collapsing to one knee himself in order to regain his breath.

[Nemaisare]

ANDREW

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You know, there were some things Andrew had never really thought about dealing with. Exploding doors, men with fireballs for hands, and someone moving in fast forward motion were among that illustrious (and not well liked) list of things he’d never thought about that he was now regretting having no contingency plan for. In fact, they were just about the only things on that list.

He didn’t usually sit around making lists of things just so he couldn’t plan for them. Plus, that would have disqualified them from the list in the first place aaaand… He was babbling in his head.

He wasn’t sure if that was more or less sane than babbling out loud, but hey, at least he was willing to acknowledge that he was way out of his depth right now and didn’t know what was going on. But he could summarize the situation pretty succinctly all the same. It was bad.

Thank you, Captain Obvious.

It took him a moment longer to realize that he was standing frozen on the sidewalk in front of a crashed car, ambulance, definitely an ambulance, and much as he was grateful for the reprieve it offered, he didn’t like the reminder it gave him that he was in no fit state for whatever he was about to do. Probably something stupid. But he was still standing, which was better than any worse case scenario, so he might as well do something with that good luck. And though he was sheltered from the fireballs and had no idea where the running dude had gotten to, he could see that another guy, hopefully on their side since he’d just pulled out a knife, was obviously focused on something, and he snuck around to look for himself just in time to see that knife lodge itself in the fiery man’s hand.

Good aim. And definitely on their side, good, great, because if that wasn’t the kid who’d tackled him, then Andrew didn’t know where the youth had gotten off to, and it didn’t really matter, because either way, the guy with sparkplugs for hands didn’t look like he was playing around. “Cripes!”

He ducked back behind the ambulance when the fireball was tossed their way, covering his head because it seemed like the smart thing to do, and was half a step towards the driver’s door, thinking to get him out of the line of fire, or at least out of the vehicle that was under attack, when that other guy got there first. “Aw hell…” Tonight was not awesome. Tonight was the very definition of blown to hell.

Well aware that he wasn’t likely to be any use in a close quarters fight with someone who could move that fast, or really, with anyone, Andrew backed off before he got in the way, or attracted attention, hissing towards their impromptu ally with the above par knife throwing skills, trying to keep quiet. “Hey, can you uhhh…” Do something about that? “Help the driver? I got to get the, uh, the kid.”

Yes, this was a great plan. He didn’t wait for an answer. Didn’t have time. Sparkplug and thief chaser were much closer together than he was to either of them, but if he picked up some momentum… maybe… He’d already been reminded twice today that lighter meant people could throw him farther. He had no idea if he could time it right, or what he’d accomplish once he got there, but hey, if you didn’t try, you weren’t going to succeed (at potentially getting fried). He set a foot to the ground and started running (so much slower than Speedy, thank you) before fear could freeze him up again. He could already feel his heart skipping a few beats—and no, it wasn’t because it was in his throat, good excuse though—and his breathing had already been ragged, but he couldn’t stop once he’d started.

It was mostly just a matter of flinging himself forward as hard as he could manage and then letting momentum do the rest. He couldn’t carry anyone fast enough to get out of range of a fireball or whatever had ruined those doors, but he could distract the man, maybe for long enough to let the kid get off the ground at the very least. And as he dropped his density, he did pick up speed, or at least, each step took him farther until he drifted up a little too high and had nothing to push off of besides air. Then he started slowing down again, but maybe, maybe he was close enough.

With a determined, out of breath growl to see this through no matter what, Andrew forced his density back up as fast as it would go, higher, higher, higher and he didn’t even notice when he passed the usual cut off point because he was focusing all his energy on just getting there before Sparky did anything. But he arrived with quite a bit more weight behind him than he’d ever intended, barreling straight at Ren.