Lord Wraith
Crimson Flame
Punished GNThe Mavericks | Neo-Genesis
Prologue
"Get Him to the Greek"
The sirens seemed as if they were getting closer and Miles couldn’t willfully ignore them anymore, glancing in the direction of their sound every few seconds. But he looked down it shoes and paled.
”Awwwwwww c’mon dude! My mom’s gonna kill me!” Miles wailed. He jumped back and kicked his feet around, resisting the urge to return the gesture. Though the smell made it hard.
”Um...so guys, any idea on how we’re getting everyone out of here?” He asked.
-
Ram looked up from his work with the final villain, flexing his hand. Both were out of commission for the moment now. ”He’s right, I think” the painstaking hours he’d spent combing through headlines and town meetings to find out what was bothering the ‘good people of Larissa’ flooded his mind. Images rife with hate speech, declarations of abomination, slander and all around curses. All centered on Hypes. ”I don’t think we will be able to explain all of this and be heard fairly. People are scared right now in this city, and we’ve got the makings of media scapegoats.”
”Might I suggest a solution to your current predicament?”
Ram turned, poised for another enemy--he cursed not being prepared for tonight--but was met with a female figure sporting a modern white biker outfit. She stepped from the shadows of the building the kid and other male had come from earlier. Her head was covered by a motorcycle helmet, but a cool voice could be heard. ”Your time is limited and your options even more-so.”
Ram’s eyes weren’t seeing with their usual clarity from so much strain tonight, but the woman’s body looked fine. However, the voice was...detached, in a sense. He couldn’t place it. ”How do we know we can trust you?” 'Woah,' when had this become a “we” occasion? But Ram took a quick huff, squaring himself and taking a step forward, proffering an answer from her with his hand.
-
The woman turned her mask in Miles’ and the medics direction, addressing each in turn. “If you would like Maxine and Travis to survive the night safely, you will follow me.” Miles could see the new guy bristle at being ignored, ”And Andrew,” she said suddenly, mid-turn. ”If you wish a safe place to monitor your condition, you will follow me.” And with that, the woman was engulfed by she shadow of the buildings double doors.
Miles turned to the group, ”I don’t think we have too much of a choice. I mean...you know how cops look at us, and I know you and Mr.Paramedic are one of us,” he pointed at the two in turn, ”I just can’t tell how yet. But if they show up...I’m scared I might not make it home. But…” His voice receded to a cracked whisper and he looked back to the steps of the bank. The body.
-
’The girl,’ Ram thought. The woman had made no mention of her.
”We had nothing to do with that,” Ram’s voice was lower with a soft intent. He himself paused, chewing on his lip painfully for a moment. This didn't feel entirely right, but what could they do? ”I don’t think there’s anything to be done for her by us, so you're right. There's not much of a choice. We have to leave.” He looked to the building again. What else could they do, but enter that dark void, accompanied by mysterious a white light?
[x][x][x]
Detective Diamond casually swerved to get over to the exit lane, narrowly cutting off a civilian car behind her. She shrugged, noting no scraping metal or overturned vehicles and continued on her exit. She’d been meaning to start her vacation the day after the rolling debacle with the Michael’s power plant--but of course…
’Larissa always has other plans,’ she thought to herself slowing her vehicle in the presence of the blockade of cop cars already on the scene. Their lights flashed with their usual intensity but without the sirens, the entire scene stood muted in their vibrant flashes. The eerie silence of this sector of the city (especially in the wake of the power outage) didn’t aid in the matter.
Detective Laura Diamond’s strides were long as she signaled to the officer nearest her upon exiting her vehicle. He hurried over, meeting the police line tape in time to lift it for her.
”Alright then,” Diamond surveyed the scene, trying to take in it’s bizarre appearance. The vague haze of smoke still hung in the air, slightly acrid in its wafts of burnt metal and the unmistakable scent of Ozone. ”I’m sure you want to get home, I’ve got a set of twins at home expecting to be in Disney World about hmm…” she checked her watch ”56 hours ago. Let’s see if we can make this quick. Whatcha got for me?”
The young officer threw a pep in his step, catching up to the redhead detective, who was already approaching the bank doors--or what was left of them at least. ”Um-uh...weell, it’s a thick situation, yeahyaknow?” he began. Laura heard the quiver in his voice and rolled her eyes. 15 years on the force and her patience for baby officer’s was slightly nonexistent. She turned to him, raised eyebrow evident, and waited. He stammered forward, ”Um-uh yeah! So, first responders on the scene about thirty minutes ago, give or take, yeahyaknow?”
Diamond nodded her head, trying to discern some of the markings on the steps of the bank. The scuffs and scratches. What kind of weapons were involved? Or maybe this had been the work of Hypes.
”Responders weren’t even responding to a call in the area. Didn’t even know nothing was over here,” the baby faced officer told her. He scratched his head, “Just trying to shortcut through the sector when they saw well…this.” The hunch of his shoulders told Diamond he didn’t know what to make of the scene either.
”This area was marked lower priority, right?” Diamond asked, her mind already working. ”And why is it so dark here?”
”Yeah, this sector and a couple others we marked lower priority while the city was a state of emergency, cuz most buildings here had their own security independent of the grid,” the officer told her. ”Not that it did them much good, yeahyaknow? The lights, well that’s one of the odd things. Power’s back on in this area as well, another reason why patrol has been lax in the area. Reports say power went out in the area around 2100 hours. But even with power restored, some of lights won’t come back on. They’re fried yeahyouknow?”
“And I’m willing to bet we’ve got no camera footage? Not even from the bank?,” Laura asked, pointing to the cameras on opposite corners of the building. The more this case opened up, the less she liked the amount of work it looked like she would have to do. And they were only five minutes in.
”Not even a frame,” The baby faced officer informed her. ”Even those bad boys, on their own power, got meddled with. Feed’s been looped.”
Detective Diamond cursed to herself, giving a full sweep around her. No one called it in, which means they likely wouldn’t have any eye witnesses. Nothing in terms of how this all started or played out. The crime scene didn’t tell her much either. The more she looked at it, the more it confused her. With a sigh, she waved her hand toward the center of the scene. ”What’ve we got on the original first responders here. Tell me about the junked ambulance over there.” In the center of the street, amidst twisted metal and strewn medical supplies and debris, stood an ambulance significantly worse for wear. Three of its wheels bent outward and numerous dents along with an impressively cracked--but in tact--window shield, Diamond knew there was a story there.
There was a slight pause from the officer. “We….don’t know actually. None of the ambulances had routes or calls in this area and most of their filing systems aren’t back online yet. As for the ambulance, it’s like someone picked up and tossed it around. Some of the boys and myself are guessing Hype work.”
”Well,” Diamond started, now studying the back of the vehicle closely. ”I’d say that’s probably the most apt guess you’ve had all day, Baby Face.” She righted herself as he opened his mouth to protest, but she continued talking. ”I mean, look at this thing. The doors have been ripped clean off.” She eyed the inside of the vehicle, sticking her hands in the pocket of her overcoat. Her fingers met a plastic object. Pulling it out she saw it was another Mavericks action figure one of her boys had put in her jacket, giving it an eyeroll.
”I just hope there wasn’t a patient in here, yeahyaknow?”
Laura Diamond groaned and rolled her eyes again, walking briskly to some of the other officers, Baby Face in tow. “Look Baby Face, obviously we hope there wasn’t a patient in there. But since we don’t know that for sure, I need you to round up these boys and get me some substantial intel to chew of instead of these breadcrumbs, do I make myself clear?” He nodded his head, turning to hurry off and parrot her message no doubt. But she caught him by the collar. ”Oh, and if I hear you say ‘yeahyaknow’ one more time, I’m going to use this action figure on you in a way that is not suitable for children. Got it?”
He stammered a yes before hurrying off and Laura was left massaging her temples. ”Can someone please give me some type of news I can go off of?” She laid eyes on a pair of officers standing next to the second, functioning ambulance on the scene. They seemed to be finishing up their reports on the two bodies lying on gurneys. ”You two,” her words came out a bit sharper than she meant and there was a jostle among the pair as they looked in her direction. Diamond cleared her throat and ducked her head down apologetically, coming closer to them. These especially brutal hours, the recent stress and now this -- a blatant attack on one of Larissa’s city landmarks. It was all wearing on her. ”I mean, officer’s, how goes it?” As she got closer, Diamond saw handcuffs chained to both gurneys. Her eyes widened and she met both officer’s gazes again. ”Waitasec, these aren’t bodies? But, from the cuffs, I’d bet these aren’t witnesses.” A quick once over--’Combat boots. Those jackets have a ballistic weave to them. They’re both wearing gloves…’-- told her all she needed. ”The bank robbers, I see?.”
”Attempted bank robbers,” The shorter of the two officers told her. He signed a form brought to him by a medic before looking at Laura and offering his hand with a “Officer Berns” to introduce himself, before continuing on. ”The men had nothing on them. No bags, no jewelry, valuables. Nothing,” he shrugged.
”So we’re suspecting at least a third member of the crew?” Laura guessed
”Detective,” Berns gave a heavy sigh. She knew that sigh. That was the sigh of an officer who knew a convoluted case when he saw one. Laura knew what was coming next. ”We don’t even know, to be honest. Evidence isn’t giving us much, prints are turning up nada and we don’t have any witnesses or hard visuals to start from. The footprints we were able to get from the extinguisher residue on the ground puts at least five or six different individuals on the scene.”
Diamond followed his gaze toward a spot where it looked like someone had spattered an entire fire extinguisher in the midst of the road. Scuffs and marks checkered the foamy substance. ”What…?”
”And get this,” Berns told her in a hushed voice, heading back to the gurneys. ”If the reports on those shoe prints are correct, there coulda been a kid involved in this.”
”Fuuuuuuck,” Diamond let out.
”However, we did find this on one of the perps,” the officer produced a small vial and syringe combo held in a plastic baggie. ”You’re a detective, so I betcha can guess what this might be.”
Laura took the bag, eyeing the tiny vival and breathed out the world ”Ichor”. There was almost a sort of reverence to her tone. Ichor, the new drug that’d been making its way onto the streets. Known unofficially as the “Hype Drug”, the D.E.A. had been trying to get their hands on a sample of the stuff for months, to no avail. ”So, we can almost be certain these guys are Hypes.”
Berns nodded and Laura addressed the second officer. He examined one of the perps, though his focus didn’t seem quite there. ”Whatcha got?”. The officer gave a surprised look, stammering and looking around for a couple of seconds. ”Well?”
”Yes, of course,” he responded hurriedly, Nodding focusing on the perp again. He leaned in and clicked on light of his pen sized flashlight, examining the man’s eye. ”Both of them are sedated, but we aren’t sure why.” Laura leaned in with him, getting a good look at the man. This one seemed to be older of the two and his face, even sedated, seemed intense.
”Isn’t that the new protocol being put into place for insubordinate and dangerous Hypes?” Diamond asked.
”Yes,” Berns cut in, ”but the first ones on the scene found the men in this state. Someone else did this.”
The second officer produced a chart, showing their heart rates. He leaned in, showing it to Detective Diamond. ”The effects are wearing off, so we have sedatives at the ready.”
”So, we’ve potentially got a criminal on the loose, with stolen goods? And there’s a chance that he or she may have turned on the rest of the group, and let’s throw in a minor to add something spicy to it huh?” Detective Diamond rolled her eyes, following it up with an exaggerated groan. ”But hey, at least we smell good and have sedatives, right?”
She waved off his stammering, ”Already sedated…” She paused and graced each perp with a detailed look. ’That hand--that wound. Scrapes, scuffs. Dried blood, fresher blood.’ ”Berns!” Once again, that shrill tone crept into her voice and she chided herself. ”I think we might have a situation on our hands. Those marks and dings on them, those are signs of a fight. So either we’ve got a rogue or we’ve got someone doing our work for us.” She eyed him for a moment and let the words hang.
A slump met Officer Berns’ shoulders as he began to speak. ”Oh God, you’re talking--”
”NooO,” Diamond cut him off, playing with the pitch of her voice to add emphasis. ”I’m not and neither are you, and we’re both going to think it, pray that it isn’t it, but we will keep an eye on it.” Laura looked around her, noting their relative space from others on the crime scene. ”I only say this so you can keep me informed if you see anything suspicious, okay? You know how to get in touch with me,” she told him with a parting shoulder pat and moved on.
Diamond turned back once more, speaking to the second officer. ”God, that fragrance does smell good. Good enough, I think my husband would actually use this if I got it for him. Where’d you get it?”
The second officer began to stammer before she waved him off once again. ”Oh never mind, I’ll just ask my secretary. He's got a knack for that stuff” And she made over to the Medical Examiners.
”Alright guys, what’s the news and body count? Tell me something good,” she announced as she came up to some familiar fied faces: Kazinsky and Rosch.
”Great news: there aren’t any,” Kazinsky replied with a shrug. ”We’re semi just hanging around right now, not gunnalie.”
”Y’know, for once,” Diamond told him, leaning against their vehicle, ”hearing you got to be lazy makes me feel good.”
[x][x][x]
”So what now?” Miles asked, looking before him. The young hero and the rest of the unlikely group from that night stood in the basement of that Nondescript building across from Larissa City Bank. After collectively (some, begrudgingly) making the decision to follow the mysterious woman, the group found themselves standing before an offshoot door in the spacious yet low setting basement of that Nondescript building. A section of metal shelf had already been moved and the biker woman shone a green light from her wrist on the wall. The silhouette of a rectangle appeared in the wall, glowing brilliantly before it died down to a gently pulsing array of lines interwove at angular intervals--a spiderweb of them all making the framework of a door.
”Woah,” he breathed.
”After the Mavericks,” the woman began as the space in between the network of lines -- that used to just be brick -- now began to depict a warping and swirling green mass. ”There were others who tried to take the mantle of hero. None held the same weight the Mavericks did, but there were gems in the darkness. A duo of heroes came up during the turn of the century: Archimedes and Jackal. They held approximately an 18 month run before Jackal disappeared. Three months later, Archimedes disappeared as well. The interesting thing to note about the pair was Archimedes’ method for traveling the city. A brilliant mind and Hype, he used his ability to steal plans from Michael’s industry. With it, he built a network spanning the entirety of Larissa in a pattern only known to him at the time. The beauty of this network is that none of the entrances to it lead you directly to the tunnels.”
Miles shook his head in an exaggerated fashion. ”How does that even work? Is this a riddle? Are you the Greek guide to our final challenge before we can finally go home and get some sleep? A huff left his nostrils and he folded his arms.
The woman didn’t answer him, but instead, held up her wrist, prompting a gentle tone to sound. A light flashed, situated at the top of the doorframe and the space in between its borders--once normal concrete--began to shift and warp, swirling into itself it became a light blue swirling mass, contained within the doorframe.
”Short range teleportation and a constantly shifting algorithm that randomizes which adjoining Door this one will link to,” the woman told them, as if she’d just reported the sunrise and sunset times for the week. It was followed by an equally level announcement of “Gentlemen: welcome to the Labyrinth.”
[x][x][x]
What followed next, Ram wasn’t aptly certain how to describe. All he remembered was a whoop of joy from the kid, a brief explanation from the woman, warning them to “make sure you are a maximum of 4 seconds behind me.” At that point, she’d waved her arm again, showing a metallic bracelet that pulsed with a blue light in its center. From her explanation, Ram understood the signal to the door would only last for 4 seconds after the recevier passed through it.
But he was still gawking at the aspect of teleportation. How had one man built an entire network of tunnels---well, perhaps portals was the better word--around the entirety of a city? ’With no one noticing?’
But he ran through. Namely because the kid had barrelled through the portal after the woman with one final exclamation of joy--’Seriously, how did he have energy still?’--but there was also a draw. Something he felt he could see and pick up. This talk of destiny, fate, heroes and dreams. It called to him on a level he veered from delving too deeply in.
Instead, he just decided to follow the white rabbit down the rabbit hole.
The best way he could describe it was walking through a frigid amalgamation of water vapor and gel. An instant of feeling like he was being pulled back and all of a sudden, a wave of darkness. Rapid blinks and he could see again, but the smell that met his nose wouldn’t leave. Layers of a light stench and sharp odor of must seemed to fill his entire body.
They now stood in the middle of a tunnel, a light trickling of water running its center. The curvature of the tunnel, the smell and the old brick told him they were underground. At the far end of the tunnel, a football fields length away, he could make out another door. This one seemed permanently set into the all, a black metal frame and white light shone from it--unlike the swirling mass of blue that…
He turned to look behind him, but found himself flailing his arms to find a door that was no longer there. ’Didn’t we just?..’ However, the woman was already walking again.
”Direct routes to this location aren’t common through the Doors,” she explained as if that was all she needed to explain. ”They require more energy and time.” She neared the black metal door.
”By the way,” the kid who led the group behind the biker woman, turned to them all ”I guess I’ll just go ahead and say it--I’m Miles.” He took off his mask and hood, revealing a smiling face. ”I figured--well, we’ve already saved each other’s lives tonight, might as well know who we’re thanking the universe for.” He shrugged and turned, adding ”All forms of payment accepted, make all checks payable to PsycheOut Inc. I also accept precious jewels!.”
He looked around, and gave everyone a gentle wave--as well as he could while carrying Maxine--and smiled “Ram, short for Hiram, it’s good to put a name to the mighty hero,” he told Miles playfully.
The visual suddenly struck Ram as they neared the door--a door of light, set inside an underground tunnel of darkness. An angel -- or devil, guarding the door. Such a beautiful motif.
”But once you get to this tunnel, you’ll have no further to travel.” The woman continued her speech, almost as if completely heedless of their transpired conversation.
”Travel for--”
”And the entrance here will be the same as the Doors. Just a bracelet, and your admission is granted.” She raised her wrist and gestured to the door once more, beckoning them entrance. ”The decision will be difficult to make, but it is our hope that you whatever choice you make will be done with a clear mind.”
”We? Who is we? Mamacita, you need to start explaining and quickly.” He bristled at this new twist. This night was already long enough, what else did they have to put up with?
But the woman offered no answer, only proffered her hand toward the door of light. Ram eyed her before stepping into the light, feeling he had no choice.
There was a gentle hum he heard as he stepped into a small antechamber, leading to a larger room. It was dark, but he could see one section of the room was all windows, revealing a brilliant night and vibrant moon.
He looked around to find the source of the sound--expecting some machine or technology-- unable to make out many more details of the room. It was large and there was a circular indentation in the middle of the floor. The kid stood there, looking at the view, seeming heedless of the hum. The others followed in tow, a range of expressions playing on their face.
”Hello,” A voice spoke. He spun to meet the source, but found no one new in the room. However, the voice didn’t care, and persisted anyway. He turned, trying to find its source yet again. He noticed now the dark paneled floor leading up to the circular indentation which seemed to some type of metal. The room was rather large, and Ram got the impression it had been someone home at one point--it had the feel of being deliberately built for comfort, but also something else he couldn’t identify just yet.
”I apologize for the events thus far. Especially those bringing you here,” the voice continued. “However, it seemed the safest way to do so.”
Light bathed Ram and he turned to see one of the windows now lit up with a face on it. Well, a geometric array of light blue lines that formed a female face. Its lips moved in time with the voice. “And I do apologize for Kat. She’s a prototype I’ve been working and I haven’t fully programmed her functions yet. She’s only set to perform minimal and specific tasks--no artificial intelligence.”
Ram didn’t have a chance to question what she meant before the face disappeared from the window screen and a blue light shone above, bringing with a holographic array of pixels that fell into the shape of a woman. As the pixels finished their form, the head looked up, the same face from before.
”I’ve been so rude without introductions. Hello,” she said with a slight wave, ”I’m Glitch.”