RKMBs Forums .::Important::. Writer's Block Hero Revolution [The Metagene] #1

"Why?" Naecken asked.

"Because as far as circus acts go, we really look like freaks." Tobias replied. "Now let's hit the sack, we've got a lot to do in the morning."

In Chicago the infestation continues to spread among the population, causing havoc in traffic and carnage on a first class scale.
The police and a few military try bravely to fight the possessed people, but to no avail. Their powers, energized by the entities within are to much for them.
"Where are the metas, when we need them?" cries the desparate people.
-----

And in an abandoned ware house a small worm hole opens, and a beast dark as night with hoves and fangs emerges.
"Aaaaah, I have at last penetrated the veil between worlds. Now I will reach out and claim my new kingdom."
Go! Go! My dear obsidian servants, take them and bring the stupid men and women to me."
"Let the feast begin!"

Naecken: W-What?

Eurostar: We're going to Thunder City.

Naecken: But... we must stay here!

Danny: Why is that, Naecken?

Naecken: I'm not sure... but I feel something in this city... probably the cause of all the chaos we've seen in the news!

Nowhereman: Another problem? C'mon!

Eurostar: I've been to busy to watch the news, but... I'm sorry, we have to leave.

Naecken: Wait... Thunder City... that's where your "son" is kept captive, right?

Eurostar: Yes... but we have to leave anyway. We have to stay with the circus. On our own, we're too... showy. They'd find us right away.

Naecken: But...!

Mxy: Sorry, Nae! He's right.

Naecken's voice changed slowly from the human voice to the demoniac one.

Naecken: I am warning you... If we do not act now... this will spread beyond this city. I know that. Now, what is your choice?

I'm surrounded by the rest of our... "team".

I'm sitting silently.

Hal, however, is far from silent.

This is freaking me out, Danny. There's tension between Euro and Naecken here. Even I can feel it, and I don't have a body.

"Shut up, Hal."

The others look at me, startled by my sudden and inexplicable comment.

"Sorry..." I quietly mumble to them. Sometimes I forget that only I can hear Hal.

Only hearing my end of our conversations must seem strange to outside observers.

"The city is in danger. Of this I am certain," Naecken says to the assembled team.

"We just can't risk going out there! The government is still after us," Euro replies, frustrated.

"Are you sure this isn't more to do with tracking down your... 'son'?" Naecken says.

Eurostar is silent for a moment.

See, Dan?! Tension! You could cut it with a knife! Go get me a knife, Dan!

"Shut... up," I say quietly, inaudible to anyone but me and Hal.

"I'm not going to lie and say that it has nothing to do with him," Euro begins, "But it's about more than that. Our safety will be at risk if we expose ourselves in the city." Mxy nods.

Everyone is silent for a moment. Then another moment. A third moment passes without sound.

The moments seem to pile upon themselves into a veritable era of silence.

"If Naecken says there's something here... and the city needs our help... I'm inclined to believe him. He seems to know what he's talking about," Tobias hesitantly adds.

"Thunder City is practically our headquarters! Has been for years! We should head there!" Nowhereman exclaims.

"I have no idea what you're talking about... but I appreciate your support, Nowhereman..." Euro says.

"Daniel?" Naecken says, turning to me.

The entire team looks at me.

I suddenly feel like I'm under a huge spotlight. On a stage.

Or under a lamp in a police interrogation room.

"Uh... I'm not sure. But... if we stick with the circus routine... we'll be using our powers on a daily basis. Eventually, someone's bound to notice that what we can do is more than mere circus tricks. If we stick around here... we don't have to use our powers until it's absolutely necessary... and we really should be here. In case Naecken's right, and there's something here... threatening the city. We gotta be here. To protect the people. Not on the road, showing our powers to anyone and everyone who shows up..."

I suddenly realise that I'm rambling.

Shut up, Dan, Hal says.

I quickly do as Hal advises.

The group is looking at me. Euro seems to be glaring slightly. Although it could just be my imagination.

...GAH...

Pain.

Pain blasts me.

My skull seems to split in two down the middle as a headache strikes. I press a hand against my temple, and wince.

"Dan, you okay?" Tobias asks.

"Uh...I think so. Just a headache. I'll see you in the morning, guys. You've heard my two cents. Hopefully we'll have all decided what we're gonna do," I say to them. I quickly get up and leave, heading over to my trailer.

I stumble across the yard, one hand clamped against my right temple.

DANNY! What the hell is going on?! Hal yells. How he manages to yell without vocal chords is beyond me, but he's certainly louder than usual.

I climb up the steps into my trailer, missing the last step and collapsing forward against the doorway. I stumble into the trailer, and fall against the dresser.

I slam a closed fist into the mirror, and shatter it. My fist is covered in blood. And I don't care.

Blood.

Who cares?

...Blood makes us live. Without blood we die. Blood is a beautiful thing...

I scream. I have no idea what I'm doing.

I have no idea who I am. Who I was. Who I am becoming.

The headache subsides somewhat, and things suddenly become clearer.

Destroy.

Destroy what?

Destroy all that is good. Make way for my master.

...Havoc and chaos and anarchy and destruction and evil...

Yes.

Kill.

Kill?

Kill.

DANNY!

Kill the team. My friends. What friends? I have no friends. My friends haven't been born yet. They won't be born for decades. This team of freaks.

Kill them.

DANNY!

A voice in my head why is there a voice in my head who's there?

Kill them.

DANNY! Get a hold of yourself, man!

The voice of Hal snaps me back to reality.

I look up towards the shattered mirror in front of me. One eye is reflected in a vertical shard. Another eye is reflected in an adjoining shard.

My eyes are black. A deep, obsidian black.

"...wha'...?"

Calm down, man. Breathe. Get a grip.

Get with it, Dan. Hal's right. Calm down. Breathe.

Breathe.

You don't want to kill anyone.

Breathe.

I look up again. My eyes have been returned to their normal white, blue, and black pupils.

My headache is almost gone.

What the hell just happened?

"Hal, what the hell just happened?"

I have no idea.

"I swear, if this is anything to do with you, or that shit Feldman did to me..."

I don't think it is, man. Almost felt like something else was in here with me...

Great. Just what I need. Another presence in my head.

Eurostar suddenly appears in my doorway. He looks at my hand, and at the broken mirror. He must have heard me scream.

"Dan, what happened?!" He asks, concerned.

"Nothing... never mind," I tell him. "I just tripped... fell against the mirror. I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, sure. I'm just gonna bandage this up and get some sleep. See you in the morning, mate," I say.

"'night," Eurostar replies, and he leaves.

I bandage up my hand with the aid of the small first aid kit I found in a drawer next to the tiny bed.

I try to fall asleep. I try really hard to fall asleep.

It takes a long time, and proves to be more difficult than one might expect. I'm plagued by thoughts of what just happened.

What was up with that? What happened to my eyes?

What would I have done if Hal hadn't been there to calm me down?

I don't sleep well.

Navada

Fifty levels bellow ground level. Red energy crackles through each level as a man lowers himself towards an office located directly in the middle. Concrete crumbles as the man’s body descends through each floor, the rubble crushing bones as it free falls. Guards take position, and fire at him. The bullets stop in midair and shoot back at them, ripping through their chests, killing them on impact. The bullets maintain flight and shoot directly into main frames and hard drives, destroying years and years of research.

Then the man stops, his goal is at hand. After blowing the office’s door right off the hinges, he enters.

Two men occupy the room, Head of Operations Richard Turner and General Creed. Creed is standing, a cold look plastered on his face, while Turner sits at his desk, a cigarette in one hand and a small device in the other.

“Agent Turner, welcome back.”

“You piece of fucking shit!”

“Is that anyway to speak to your father?”

Agent Turner stands, speechless as energy leaks from his body in incredible amounts.

“I see that you have already destroyed our New York and DC headquarters. Costing us multi-millions of dollars. But that money is nothing, nothing compared to the fact that you have reached a status higher than anything we could have even hoped for. You are brilliant.”

”I am a monster.”

“You are the future.”

”You had no right to play god. You had no right to create me.”

“Those who hold power make the rules. I hold the power.”

”Why was I created? WHY?”

“You were created to lead an army. My army.”

Richard Turner gets to his feet and walks over to his son.

“Over the last decade, we have been modifying the metagene. Crafting it into our vision. Releasing it in athletics and soldiers. Tests have been going on for years. The news and history books might say that this is natural, evolution even. But in reality, every strand of human DNA holds the metagene, it is just dormant. We found out how to turn the ‘on switch.’ The problem is that it cost a lot of time and money to do so. But what is costly for us can be done in an instant for you, you have that ability, and you shall lead our army. I am the only person I can trust with this, you are me. Always and forever, our blood is one.”

”No.”

“What?”

Before Richard Turner can react, a blast of red energy shoots pass him ripping apart General Creed. Agent Turner flies directly up, the building collapsing as he passes each level. His father lets out a last scream as the government building is reduced to rubble.

The MCCA is dead. Their creation was their undoing.

In a few hours, the current president will classify this as a failed experiment, locking the documents away where no one can see them. In a few days, all remaining agents will be discharged, and mind wiped. In a few weeks, the MCCA will be nothing but a faint memory for some.

<RESOLUTION: Fin>

They all sit down except Naecken, who stares at the door.
Eurostar asks;" Naecken? Whats wrong?"
"For a second I felt something....no probably nothing."

He sits down and says; "A terrible darkness is spreading in the city...we have to help. We must find the source of this force and shut it down."

Danny lays down on his bunk, and stares at the ceiling.
Within him a sense unease is growing.

Naecken: We will start looking for the source of this madness by--

Eurostar: Wait, wait, wait... we haven't decided what to do yet.

Naecken: It is obvious that we must take care of the most inmediate problem.

Eurostar: Well, that's a decition for the entire team to make. We won't be able to help anyone if the goverment catches us. You have Tobias and Danny on your side, I have Mxy and Nowhereman in mine. My side is as important as yours.

Mxy: I wanna get some cotton candy.

Tobias: I assume this is Mxy and not Mick...

Mxy: Yes. How did you know?

Tobias: Oh, I just guessed...

Nowhereman: Come here pal, I'll buy you some!

Mxy: Yay!

As Mxy and Nowhereman leave, Naecken can't help smiling as he gives Eurostar a "I win" look.

Outside...

Nowhereman: I don't understand why they wanna stay here! Thunder City is so much better than this hellhole!

Mxy: Yeah... where's the cotton candy? How does it look like?

Nowhereman: I just hope it hasn't changed that much like you guys and the Nowherecar! I bet Cassanove Kamphausen is behind this charade!

Mxy: Camp-what? You gonna show me the cotton candy or what?

Nowhereman: Calm down, pal! There it is!

Mxy: What...? This is cotton candy...? Hey, is that Bosco in the floor over there?

Mxy points at a short clown on that lies on his knees, giving his back to Mxy and Nowhereman.

Mxy: Bosco...? You OK...?

The clown turns his head to the guys. His eyes are black.

Mxy and Nowhereman don't have time to react, when the clown jumps to them and starts biting Nowhereman on his coat.

Nowhereman: Hey! Let go of me...! You fuckin' gobdamn clown...!

Mxy tries to take the clown away from Nowhereman, but he gets kicked on the face.

Nowhereman: OUCH! You fuckin' bit me arm! Stop that!

Nowhereman angrily punches the clown away, but he doesn't stay in the floor for too long. He stands up and looks to Mxy and Nowhereman with the blood from Nowhereman's arm dripping from his mouth.

He is about to jump to them once again when he recieves a blast from behind that makes him go uncouncious. Neacken is floating behind, with smoke coming from his hand.

Naecken: Are you convinced now?

Nowhereman: Certanly!

First Tobias and then Eurostar appear next to Naecken. They see the clown on the floor with blood on his mouth.

Eurostar: My God... I guess you are right, lets take care of this first.

Mxy: Poor Bosco... he was a nice guy...

Nowhereman: Not really...

Mxy: No, I'm just trying to be nice...

Tobias: Uh... so, how exaclty do we "take care" of this... plague?

Naecken: Lets get Danny and then we'll make a plan...

My sobs echo loudly around me in the tiny trailer. I can feel the warm tears flowing down my face.

How the hell did I get myself into such a state?

Everyone I've ever known or loved is gone.

Well, not gone. They don't even exist yet. They won't exist for decades.

I had a life. Parents. A girlfriend. Friends. A university course I was doing rather well in. A dog named Cassidy. A favourite shirt.

And now... nothing. None of it.

To all those people, I have simply dropped off the face of the earth. They don't know what happened to me. They'll never see me again.

To everyone I know, I'm gone forever.

I'm... dead.

I'm a walking dead man.

I keep crying.

Nothing here is familiar. Nothing. This place... this time... it's ancient.

Damn it, I'm sleeping in an antique trailer!

These things don't exist anymore! Yet I'm staying in one!

I'm sorry for your loss, Danny, Hal says softly.

I don't respond. I just get up slowly from my bed.

Looking out the window, I notice that it's starting to get lighter outside. It's dawn. The morning has rolled around.

I'm so far backwards in time. And time continues to move forwards.

It occurs to me that if I live for another sixty-two years, I can meet myself as a baby. The thought amuses me somewhat, and I smile.

What time is it? I need to know the time.

A clock... I need a clock...

I spend a good five minutes looking for one, when a knock at the trailer door grabs my attention.

"Come in," I say, and wipe the tears from my face with my sleeve. Tobias steps in.

"We're, uh, having a team meeting. To decide how we're going to track down... whatever it is Naecken warned us about. In the big dressing room trailer across the yard," He says.

"Right... I'll be there in a second," I reply.

Tobias nods, and is about to leave.

"Hey... wait a second... do you know if there's a clock anywhere around here?" I ask him.

He turns back into the trailer, and points to the wall directly in front of where I'm standing. There's a round thing covered with numbers and moving lines.

"...that round thing?" I say, staring at it. Tobias nods.

"...wow..." I say softly.

"You can't tell time on one of these, can you?" He asks. I nod in confirmation.

"Okay... the short hand," He begins, pointing at it, "Indicates the hour. The longer one is how many minutes past the hour it is. The skinny one is for seconds," Tobias explains.

"How do you know if it means AM or PM?" I ask.

"...I dunno. I guess they just expect you to know whether it's night time or day time," He answers.

"...oh. So it's..." I pause, thinking for a moment, "...six-twenty in the morning?" I say, hazarding a guess.

"Right," Tobias says, nodding.

"Okay. Cool. Thanks for the help."

"No problem. See you at the meeting," He says, and leaves my trailer.

I set about trying to find my shoes so I can head over to the meeting. They turn up next to the bed.

I then try hard to remember how to do up the laces. They showed me how to do this the other day...

“I have signed the decree, Forrest. The MCCA is dead” says the President of the United Stated to General sitting in front of him.

The grey haired military man smile, and whisper “Very well, Mr. President”.

“And for the, ehm, remnants? There are still two hundreds of metahumans caged in the Zoo, in Chicago”.

“The Agency is taking care of them right now. The works of Turner has been totally lost, but we have some other little ideas on our own to develop…”

“And about who or what has caused the incident?”

“We have the proof, Mr. President. Mandelovia.”

“What?”

“Yes, Mr. President. We have discovered and tried to capture a commandos of Mandelovian agents in Chicago, near the location of a metahuman fight, two days ago. Sadly, we had to kill every member of the team, but we have found evidences of their relation to the incident on their bodies. Only their field leader has managed to escape, but he is totally cut from any contact with Mandelovia. If he tries to communicate with them, we’ll find instantly is location. And he will not commit this mistake.”

“Why are you so sure?”

“Because he was one of ours best men, Mr. President. Arnold Bibowsky”.

“And what do you think we should do. With Mandelovia, I mean?”

“Mr. President, I have a plan…”

While I wait for the others to show up for the meeting, suddenly the memories of a dream I had the last night. I awoke in my bed, and there was Lil’Jo, Tobias’ cat, glaring at me, sitting on my chest.

He opened his mouth and spoke. It was a dream, and I wasn’t shocked. “One of your enemies is no more, Eurostar” he said, “but soon one of your allies will follow the same destiny. One new friend is on your way, your worst enemy is borning right now”.

I forgot the thing until now. I wonder what those words mean. Then Naecken enters the van, and come to sit near me.

“Eurostar, I beg to listen to me. We must…”

“I know, I know. We have to fight this… this plague. But I want to have you to understand my motivation”.

“Your son”.

“Yes. And no. He is not really my son. It’s my clone. I have never met him, but I have seen his picture. He is so cute… but most important, he is the product of the same organization that has tried to keep Mxy and Tobias caged, and that has fought us two times. The same organization that has stolen my life fifteen years ago, and that is making the world fearing us metahumans.”

“MCCA?”

“The USA government.”

“Freeing the humankind from the evil thast is plaguing it will change its mind on the metahumans.”

“Are you joking? They will thanks us, and the next day they will keep to hunt us. Yes, we have to find the evil and destroy it, and then we’ll free my son. But then, we have to build an organization…”

“A team of superheroes”:

“No, not a team, a league. Something more official, some with a big image for the media. A foundation. We’ll need money, and support from politics, and recognition from the UN.”

“It’s a big dram, friends. Maybe I can help you…”

“No! I mean, we’ll need the help of everybody. But use your powers for our fights, and let us do every else in the human way. Have you seen what did happen with the headquarter under the lake. It attracted more problems than the ones it resolved. I know you could dress and feed us, but I bet the food you can make, it will have us starving in no time. That’s why we have to stay in this circus. We need a shelter, and money to buy food and dress. We need to travel unseen. And, most of all, we need to stay together.”

“If you don’t want me to make food, Eurostar, I could take it from elsewhere…”

“Naecken, that would be stealing. It would be easy for any of us. But that is exactly what we must fear most. We have to hide from the law, but to live outside the law, you must be honest, like Bob Dylan said.

“Bob Dylan?”

“One day I will explain, Nae” I smile, exhausted. The door opens, and the others guys begins to enter and sit near us.

When everyone of us six is sitting around the table, I speak: “OK, friends, we have something to fight, before moving away. Any suggestion?”

"My children...at last we have found a ripe world, that is ours for the picking. A feast of unimaginable proportions will commence...and no one will stand up as its defender!!!"

The crowd roars with unhuman glee...

"The ones who have hunted us have lost the track, and we are at last free to grow, multiply and spread across the creation at our leisure. Soon all will be a part of us...Me...!!!"

In the uproar of that speech, no one notices a little red-booted girl spying in the shadows.

"So go forth, my children. Spread your seeds afar. Fear nothing. Spare no one. And be swift...I sense a opposite force in the near vicinity...a angel of destruction and hope."

The shadow spawn spread out and loyaly follow their masters orders.

"I must seek him out....this time no one will stop me."

Eurostar: How is that going to help us find the source of the "plague"?

Mxy: Oh, I have the feeling we won't have any problems finding it...

Naecken: You are right, I have the same feeling...

Tobias: OK, then lets get moving!

20 minutes later, in the roof of an old building...

The group looks at the streets below them and the crowd of people flooding them. They all look like walking zombies, full of hate.

Eurostar: My God... this is worst than I expected...

Some normal people try to run away, scared, but they soon start behaving like the rest.

Danny: Looks like this stuff is highly contagious... what should we do?

Nowhereman: I say we follow em to wherever the hell they are going!

Eurostar: Good idea. But lets stay in the roofs, where they can't see us... and please be...

Mxy: AT-CHOOO!

Eurostar: ...quiet...

One of the infested people looks at the roof and sees the six freaks hiding there, and yells "OVER THERE!!!! LETS GET'EM!!!!"

Mxy: Hehe... sorry...

“Well, at last they haven’t any special powers, outside those black eyes” I note, watching at the crowd of thousands of zombie still on the street below.

“I wouldn’t be so sure” says a voice behind us.

We turn, to see the young girl that we spotted early at the circus, during the accident that happened to Bosco.

“Who are you?” shouts Nowhereman.

“No time for presentations. They are heading to the Zoo!” shouts the girl, and then she jump away on a nearby roof, quickly going out of sight.

“The Zoo?” I wonder.

“The Zoo is the secret prison for metahumans” explains Tobias, “the place where the MCCA brought me and Mxy. It’s a place full of metas. Two hundreds, at last.”

“But nobody of them had big powers, Tobias” says Mxy.

“That is of no importance” the female voice of Naecken says. “When they will be possessed, the metagene will manifest at its fullest potential”.

“And the ones of Alpha class, will be enough powerful to tore apart the whole country”, I add. “Fast, there is not a minute to waste…”

Naecken points to one of the circus tractors;
"Will that do?"

"You sure need to read more about our world Naecken." Says Eurostar.
"That heap of metal is way to slow. We need a van or something like it."

"Where did you get that?" Mxy asked.

"Junkyard." Tobias said. "It needs some work, but at least it runs."

"What are we waiting for?" Eurostar said. "Let's roll!"

Tobias: Hurry up, guys! More angry villagers are coming here!

The five men and the mysterious girl get down as fast as they can, and jump into the car, but it's too late; dozens of infested people are alredy surrounding the car, and more are coming.

Mxy: what are we gonna do?

Tobias (In the driver's seat): OK guys... hold on to your seats...

Tobias starts the car and it moves incredibly fast, running over the people blocking the way.

Eurostar looks back and sees that the girl was right: these people must have powers, because the do not blow up when they are hit by the car, as one would expect.
"It's a relief" he thinks "to know that we're not killing the infested people... after all, this is not their fault"

Tobias: How do we get to the Zoo? I was running when we escaped from there, I don't remember the way...

Mysterious Girl: Just follow the hordes of infested people on the street, that's where they are going.

Tobias: 'Kay!

Tobias drives the car to the center of the street flooded with infested people. He runs over them too, and he seems to be enjoying it...

The car finally gets to the "Zoo", a building Mxy and Tobias recognize instantly. The guys watch the hundreds of infested people coming from all sides.

They leave the car, and start getting ready for a big fight.

Danny: What are we gonna do? There are hundreds of them!

Eurostar: We can handle them.

Girl: And they are invulnerable, to some point, so you don't have to worry about harming innocent people.

Danny: I know, but when we beat them more will come to take their places! We have to do something about this...

Nowhereman: That's right, we have to come up with a plan to keep this place safe and stop whatever it's causing this at the same time!

Eurostar: Then lets start thinking!

Eurostar notices they are coming closer.

Eurostar: ...until then, lets fight!

Eurostar: "Hey! She just killed those civilians!

A black helicopter with no markings suddenly appears over the street. A rope is thrown down and Crasher grabs hold of it.

"By, boys!" She blows a kiss to the surprised heroes. And the helicopter speeds of.

Naecken opens the back door and steps out.
He climbs onto the car roof and starts chanting...

Nowhere Man: "Now what is that weird guy doing?"
He winds down his window and shouts; "Whatever you´re doing, it better help. They look a little irritated...and there are more on the way!"

Naecken starts emit a pale blue glow that soon engulfs a 30 meter radius.
The possessed within scream and twitch on the ground as the black force leaks out of their eyes and mouths.

Mxy feels the shadow within him starting to twitch, and panic.
But the force within feeds on Mxy´s powers and creates a safe haven in a deep hidden pocket of his mind.

Naecken´s force field lasts only 30seconds, but the effect is clear and instant.
As the glow disappears, people rise in pain and confusion...and they watch the eerie angel standing on the car roof.

A rumble from underground is heard and suddenly the street erupts, and a huge dark shadow being, quiet similair to a dragon but completetly without features rises from the depths.

"This is it!" Shouts Naecken.
"The adversary, we have to face or the world will be consumed in his hunger for souls!"

The giant shadow dragon growls at us, opening his large mouth.

Superheroes, aliens, conspirations and now a monster. A world that only weeks ago I would have labelled as B-movie fiction, now is real and biting at me. I watch the big creature moving and roaring, fascinated like in front of a computer graphic creature.

Then, the notion that it is real hit my mind, and I am back in my role.

“This puppy want to stop us while his minions enslave the metas inside the Zoo!” I shout. “Naecken, Mxy! Your powers are the only good in a transdimensional fight. Slow the beast down, while we go into the Zoo to stop the zombies.”

“Your orders are too wordy, Euro!” says Danny, smiling.

“I know, I know, I will work on that. Now, fast! And you, Tobias, don’t go there alone. Wait for us!”

And while Mxy and Naecken began to whisper strange formulas toward the enormous black dragon, I shout at them: “Hold on, we’ll be back in minutes”. And then, only to myself “…I hope…”

[ 12-17-2001: Message edited by: The Eurostar ]

Dr. Charles Walker sank low in his chair, a metallic orb floating about a foot away from his head. His eyes were fixated on a holographic image of a bizarre pathogen.

"So... what exactly am I looking at, I.G.O.R.?" Walker asked, looking up at the hovering sphere.

//Well, Doctor, we've obtained a sample of this pathogen from an aquired potential metahuman candidate. It has incredibly... odd tendencies.//

"For example?" Walker asked, peering curiously at the germ, which oscillated before him.

//The specimen we procurred had blackened eyes and ws basically raving mad. A slight empathic goad by Agent Owens revealed a raging bloodlust was the pinnacle of his thoughts and emotions.//

"Interesting," Walker smiled, stroking his chin and pushing his glasses up on his nose. "So, basically, all brain centers are controlled by this one pathogen?"

//At least the primary ones, yes. Enough to give the virus enough control over the individual.//

"I see. Any effect on the physical spectrum at all?"

//None that we can see. However, they are incredibly resilient and almost impervious to pain.//

"Fascinating, really," walker said, removing his spectacles from his nose, wiping the lenses on his shirt. "So, why are you showing me this?"

//Well, Doctor, it appears that this 'contagion' has effected many normal humans in the city of Chicago.//

"And what do you want me to about it?" Walker asked, placing his glasses back on his nose.

//A large mass of the attacking 'zombies,' as they're being called by the papers, have been spotted heading for the Zoo.//

"The... metahuman Zoo?" Walker said, looking up at the sphere. "Damn," he whispered under his breath, turning his attention back to the holo-emitted germ. "If that thing hits those metas, that bloodlust will probably result in the destruction of over half the city..."

//Actually, the projected damage figures project that...//

"Never mind, I.G.O.R.," Walker said, holding up his hand. "I wanted to wait until I'd heard back from our contanct to go into the field, but it looks like we need to get out there."

//Doctor? May I ask why? This does not fit into mission parameters.//

"Understood, I.G.O.R. However, you know the Zoo. They not only have large amounts of metas, but huge databases that contain all their various kinds of powers and metagene enhancements. We'll need those for our records."

//Understood, Doctor. However, why not just enable me to hack their system and...?//

"Consider it combat training, Eeg," Walker said, sharply putting up one finger to the front of the sphere's "face." "We've never operated as a team before, capece? This is as oportune a time as any. Now, call Agents Tweed, Owens, Reynolds, and Doe to the Dispatch Room."

A moment of silence stung the air before I.G.O.R. responded with: //Agreed.//

Two minutes later...

Five figures stepped into a large room, filled with giant free-standing doorways. In the center of the room, a slightly elevated control panel sat. Walker put on his headset and pulled his microphone into position.

"I.G.O.R., are we online?" he asked.

//Yes, Doctor,// the robotic voice came back as the other EPS agents placed their own headsets on.

"Good then," Walker said, standing before one of the doorways. "Activate doorway from sector one to the Zoo. Dispatch."

//Dispatching now, Doctor Walker,// the voice came as a shimmering pool of aquatic-looking energy began rippling in the doorway.

"Alright, EPS," Walker said, turning to his team and gesturing towards the door, "our ride's here. Next stop, the Zoo..."

[ 12-17-2001: Message edited by: Chewy Walrus ]

I am with Tobias, Nowhereman, and Danny, and a few yards in front of us there is the gigantic dark buiding known, in the metahuman community as the Zoo, a secret military facility where gifted people like me and my friends are held captive for the only reason of being different from the so called “common people”.

Between the building and us, hundreds of possessed people trying to break down the main gates, to spread the plague among the prisoners.

There is no time to wait for. We have to free the captive metas before they are turned into powerful zombies.

I point my finger to the black building, and shout: “Friends, that’s our Bastille, and today begins our Revolution.” I am about to add, “For freedom” but it sounds so corny that I stop myself a moment before the words are about to leave my mouth.

And, as a one only man, we attack the crowd, to gain the Zoo main entrance. Danny turns his head into the head of a ram, with big, rounded horns, and charge at the possessed people. Tobias creates powerful whirlwind rotating his arms at full speed. The few zombie that are still on their feet are easily kicked down by Nowhereman, which shows unexpected abilities as a martial arts fighter.

And while they have easy work defeating the crowd, I phase trough the closed gates.

I am inside the Zoo.

There are dead men all over the place. Men in uniforms. Different from the MCCA ones, this must be another government agency, but who cares? I must find why they are dead.

I phase trough many walls, trying to find evidences of the killings… meanwhile, a roaring noise and an unbearable smell become greater and greater at each of my step forward. But my attention is caught by a computer monitor, with a flickering red light.

The words on the screen are appalling: -MCCA closed down by presidential order- Zoo to be taken care by Tri Vex- Wait for order from Thunder City-

So these men were from the security corps of the TriVex… but what has killed them?”

And then, I finally stumble into the cells. There are many men and women, even children. Hungry, and angry, most of them heavy battered, and bruised. Who could be so… inhuman to do something so evil? And why? What there is really behind this project? What they are trying to do?

The caged people cry and shouts. I don’t know how much time has passed since the last time they had a meal, and water. The dead warders on the ground smell bad. The door of a cell is broken, the cell empty.

“Who are you, stranger?” a voice asks from behind me.

I turn, suddenly, and by instinct vary my density to the point of becoming invisible. There are four men and a woman, dressed in strange uniforms, appearing out from a strange opening, like a vortex out of thin air.

“You! We have seen you!” one of them shouts, having lost sight of me.

But then, a powerful roar behind them chills me, and maybe them, too.

The mystery of the death of all the guards is easily solved. Two obsidian large eyes glows out from the dark, and something too horrible to describe appears…

Naecken: Honestly, Mxy... I think this is more than we can handle.

Mxy: W-What...? C'mon, don't say that...

Naecken: I'd be lying if I said anything else, Mxy...

Mxy: Damn... WATCH OUT!

Neacken sees Mxy pointing at something behind him, then he looks back and sees the shadow creature with its mouth open coming quickly to him. Then all he sees is darkness.

Mxy: NAECKEN!

Mxy, shocked, skips the head of the monster at the last second.

Mxy: It... ate him... It ate Naecken...

Mxy starts gathering energy in his right hand, to blast it at the shadow monster, like he has seen Naecken doing before.
The monster opens its mouth and heads in to Mxy again. Mxy stays there, waiting for enough energy to gatherin his hand.
When the monster is two inches from Mxy, he decides to blast the energy.

Mxy: TAKE THIS MOTHERFU-- Uh-oh...

Mxy realizes his blast wasn't powerfull enough one second before he's swallowed by the monster, like Naecken.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Eurostar:
Two obsidian large eyes glow out from the dark, and something too horrible to describe appears…

---

"Holy crap!" Agent Tweed whispers to himself.

"Good Lord!" Agent Owens yells aloud.

Agent Reynolds crosses himself while Agent Doe merely stands his ground.

Meanwhile, Doctor Charles Walker looks up at the obsidian-eyed creature before him and smirks.

The thing was enourmous. At one point in time it may have actually been human. Maybe.

Now, it was utterly unbelievable. The creature before him was the most disgusting thing he'd ever laid eyes on. Large, puss-filled boils covered his body from head to toe, leaving very little room for any skin of any sort. It was approximately nine feet, ten inches in height with an estimated weight of no less than seven-hundred pounds. Sharp fangs protruded from his mouth, blood dripping from them. The heavy, coarse sound of his breathing and the monstrous footsteps he took caused Walker's blood to run cold.

It's craggy, blistered black skin and the heavy billows of smoke coming from it's nose made the small, cramped hallway smell of sulfur and ozone, burning together. But, obviously, the most striking feature of them all was the glossy black eyes, as though they had been carved from an onyx stone, that stared at the assemblage of metas before him.

And Walker chuckled to himself.

"Agent Doe, knock this... thing out for analyzation..." he said, smiling fiendishly.

"With pleasure," Doe said, holding his hand straight out in front of him. As Edulcore Cicciotto and the EPS looked on, a fissure formed in the roof of the Zoo complex facility as a lightning bolt struck the beast/man/thing to the ground.

"Medre!" Cicciotto exlaimed, looking at the fallen titan before him, then at the fissure in the ceiling. "MEDRE!" he exclaimed louder, spinning towards Walker, who was walking over to the beast, syringe in hand.

"Do you realize what you've done?!" the man screamed in a thick Italian accent. "Don't you know that there is a hoarde of attacking zombies carrying a plague that, if it infects these metahuman brothers of mine, will surely destroy us all? DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND!!??!"

"Yes, of course," Walker said, pulling out an ebony blood sample from the fallen creature. "We just don't care."

"Damn you," Cicciotto said, as he took flight, attempting to use all his strength to close the fissure caused by Agent Doe's bolt.

Walker turned to his men, whispering in low tones. "Alright, people. Doe's diversion bought us some time, but that thing could wake up at any time, and when he does, he's gonna be pissed beyond pissed. I say we take this opportunity to get to the control room, download the files, and get back to the base as quickly as is humanly possible. Got it?"

"What of Cicciotto?" Doe piped up. "What if he tries to follow?"

"Believe me, he'll be too pre-occupied with that mega-beast to do us any harm. Besides, you're stronger than he is. You'd have him on the ground screaming 'mama mia' before he'd be able to land a punch," Walker said, placing his hand on Doe's shoulder. "Alright, men, let's go. Kill anything that stands in your way..."

"...filthy metas...." Walker mumbled as his team ran through the complex towards the data repository/control room. "If only we could treat 'em worse..."

Kristogar Velo let out a sigh of relief as he strolled toward the unconscious heap, the thin line of snow crunching underneath his feet. He noticed for the first time this night how unusually empty the city street was, devoid of the usual night life. As he crouched down to examine the body, he collapsed to one side of his body. "My fucking knee!" he wanted to exclaim, but gritted his teeth and let out only a loud groan. He touched his now vanquished foe. "You took much more than I should've had..." he thought to his adversary. The alleged man had a dozen darts punctured into his body, each filled with various forms of knockout drugs. It wasn't until Velo was able to move in close and give him a straight injection of air that he finally ceased, only after experiencing a violent backlash that jetted him over a block away.

Kristogar grabbed the man's head and reached into the black eyes that were giving him an obsidian, zombielike stare. They weren't contacts as he had hoped--they were actually his eyeballs. Kristogar reached into his costume and produced a syringe. "Just for evidence, mind you," he told the man who could no longer hear him. "Don't take this as me being a prick." He poked the end of the needle into the skin, but when he tried to draw blood the glass shattered. "The hell...?" he asked, annoyed. He took out a second syringe but once again got nothing. "Twice is a coincidence, thrice is a pattern..." Kristogar remembered an old cliche. A third syringe met the same fate.

Velo took out a headset-like communicator. "Ron? Me. I have a pickup for you at..." He looked around. "Where the hell am I?" he thought. After finding a sign with the street's name on it, he continued. "Meeting spot. Chicago. See if you can draw blood from this guy. Unconscious, but take every precaution. Every precaution." He disconnected before even receiving a response.

This morning...

Kristogar got an early copy of every single newspaper in the Chicago area and was skimming through them all. It was most of the usual until he came across a column about the circus buried deep in the Chicago Tribune where the writers half-assed their assignments and only those with time on their hands ever read.

The show was easily stolen by a late group of misfits. Despite being raw and mischoreographed on occasion, the Amazing Sardella Brothers lived up to their moniker and then some with some truly eye popping special effects. In fact, if it wasn't for their painfully obvious inexperience, one would initially perceive them as renegade metahumans.

"Wow, sometimes this is just too easy," Kristogar muttered, and smiled to himself. "The circus is on the other side of town. I'll have to reload, then I'll put in my token cameo." And Kristogar Velo was off.

Imagine the sound of a drop of water hitting the surface of a lake...

The absence of light was overwhelming...
Claustrophobic even.

Naecken´s inner selfs screamed at the void.

But wait...a glimmer in the darkness.

Far away, a small light burned.
Naecken used his senses to probe it.
It was the man called Mxy, his soul glowing in the obsidian space of...where?

Mxy felt the probing forces of Naecken and turned towards him.
On the brink of total breakdown...he reaches out...towards Naecken...
Naecken somehow draws closer to Mxy and finally the two grab each others hand....

"My Quadinc persona has the solution...I must merge with the shadow being, as I have merged before. I will become six instead of five.
But it will cost me my current personality.
The angel inside me has the power to negate this monster...and in doing so, liberate all the posessed.
I/We will die...but I hope that I will be remembered?"

"No!!!" screams Mxy.
"We will figure out another way...we can do this together...I can..."
"No, this is for the best...I was never suited for your plane of existance. I was to dangerous...
Goodbye Mxy...say HI to them and tell them to practice on the circus act...god knows they need it." Naecken says with a smile, and shoves Mxy away.
Mxy finds himself on the street again.
And the shadow monster is writhing and roaring at the top of its ability.
Suddenly the famous cold blue glow that Naecken usually emits, surrounds the monster.
It screams in agony.
And all the posessed stop in their tracks.
Their eyes now having the same color as the glowing aura...

Mxy witnesses the impossible...
The monster shrinks...and suddenly implodes on itself...twisting away at an impossible angle through an otherdimensional pinhole.

The resulting sucking sound of air and sreet dust getting caught up in the event horizon sounds like a vacuum cleaner gone bust.

The only thing remaining of the huge monster and Naecken is a totally black version of him.

Mxy walks closer to inspect the once blue angelic being.
The same body but black, a bit more muscular.

The eyes open, and the red glow within show no feelings at all.

"Who?...Where?...Mmmm...mmmmyy...Mxy?" a dark voice, not at all at the same pitch as Naecken´s, asks.
"Yes. Who are you?"
"I....I...don´t know. Where is this?"
"Chicago, America, Earth."
"Oh...we live here?"
"Oboy...you need help. I better get you to the others."

All around them, confused people wake up, like out of a weird sweaty nightmare.

Meanwhile...

Between Nevada and Chicago. A dark alley.

A man, his hands stained with his own blood, his eyes’ glowing the same color.

quote:

---

Doctor Knell gets to his feet and gets a file out of a cabinet.

“The date was May 12, 1997. That was when the process was finished, and in many ways you can say you were born. For months afterward, you were kept suspended and aged rapidly.”

“You than planted the false memories. Ritchie Stevens, no such soul. All my memories were fake! School! The academy… They were all fake right?!?”

“Yes, they were. It was essential that you had no memory of the clonation. We didn’t want you going all CRAZY or anything. That’s just what we needed, the perfect AGENT going crazy.”

---

The man’s fist hits the wall, busting the bricks apart, shedding more blood from his raw knuckles.

quote:

---

Doctor Knell smiles and points his hand upward. Agent Turner looks around, vials and papers are flying all around. Red energy is crackling around his head, coming from his eyes.

“I… I… You mixed a sample of the Metagene in my body… You fucking piece of shit! I SHOULD KILL YOU! I’ll ask one more time, who am I?”

“Your “father,” is the MCCA Head of Operations, Richard Stephen Turner…”

---

“No… No… Metagene… Clone… Not real, not fucking real!”

quote:

---

Agent Turner stands, speechless as energy leaks from his body in incredible amounts.

“I see that you have already destroyed our New York and DC headquarters. Costing us multi-millions of dollars. But that money is nothing, nothing compared to the fact that you have reached a status higher than anything we could have even hoped for. You are brilliant.”

”I am a monster.”

“You are the future.”

…

Richard Turner gets to his feet and walks over to his son.

“Over the last decade, we have been modifying the metagene. Crafting it into our vision. Releasing it in athletics and soldiers. Tests have been going on for years. The news and history books might say that this is natural, evolution even. But in reality, every strand of human DNA holds the metagene, it is just dormant. We found out how to turn the ‘on switch.’ The problem is that it cost a lot of time and money to do so. But what is costly for us can be done in an instant for you, you have that ability, and you shall lead our army. I am the only person I can trust with this, you are me. Always and forever, our blood is one.”

”No.”

“What?”

Before Richard Turner can react, a blast of red energy shoots pass him ripping apart General Creed. Agent Turner flies directly up, the building collapsing as he passes each level. His father lets out a last scream as the government building is reduced to rubble.

---

“I’M NOT FUCKING REAL!”

Turner screams from the top of his lungs releasing energy all around him, bringing a 10-story building down to rubble. Dust and ash fills the air around him as he almost passes out on the cold steel and concrete scattered around his body.

quote:

---

Turner jump down, hanging to the rope.

It’s a matter of one second. With a hand, he takes Cicciotto around his wrist, and soon they are over the next roof.

A puff of gas from a bottle, and Edulcore Cicciotto, the Eurostar, is put in sleep.

Turner takes his recorder.

“Mission accomplished”

…

“…do you think it will take to discover that him it’s not Cicciotto?”

“I don’t know. At this time they should’ve crossed the Atlantic: I’m surprised Turner has not discovered it was Agent 57 disguised as Eurostar. It was such a clever man time ago. I bet he has some sort of problems in his private life.”

…

BANG

The bullet rips through the doctor’s skull and splatters blood all over the steel walls of the hallway. The three other doctors turn, but it is too late, they receive the same fate. One bullet to the head. Ciccotto gets to his feet and morphs into Agent 57. He moves down the hallway, setting up explosives. Finally he uses a small laser on his belt to create a quick exit. Waiting for him on the other side is an army of guards. Without any words, they all fire, bullets from all sides rip into his body. Pain. Blood. Just before his last breath he presses a small red button on his control belt.

“…for mandelovia…”

The lab blows up in a firey blaze, taking out all of the guards and a good portion of the huge MCCA compound.

---

“Cicciotto… Metagene freak… Malvan-X… The freak works with MX… Death… He deserves only death… All the freaks do…”

Turner gets to his feet, fire blazing from his eyes.

The five costumed people that knocked down the possessed meta are gone, disappeared while I was up, working hard on the beams. Now there is no sign of them, except for the result of their work: the senseless body of the monster.

Wait! The monster’s eyes… they are normal human eyes. The obsidian glow has disappeared… maybe… this means…

I run to the main gate, and open it. Outside, hundreds of people freed from the possession, marvel at the sights of my five friend… oh… Naecken has turned all black.

“Euro!” shouts Mxy. “It’s unbelievable! Nae has…”

I put my index finger in front of my mouth. “Shhh. Later Mxy!” I says, quietly. “Later you will explain to me. Good work, but now we have something more to do. Follow me!”

And I am back in the dark prison, with my friends, this time.

“Tobias, scan the place and looks for any sort of information: paper, files, all. If you find stange dressed agents, come back instantly. The others, come with me. We have people to free”.

And the few minutes after, are the first moments of joy since the moment of my “abduction” weeks ago. Breaking down the doors of the cells, and watching Mxy, Danny, Nowhereman and Naecken (but I am not sure he is still himself, since his voice is very differentI) doing the same make me happy, nearly hilarious.

But the conditions of the men and women that comes out of the cells, make me angrier than before.

“Help, help” is the only thing they are able to whisper. Yes, we have freed them, but now?

Then my eyes note that one thing is missing: the passed out monster. It was here before I went out, then it was missing. Those men in costume, I’m sure…

Where I was? Ah, yes… what will we do, now? We can’t bring all these people to the circus, and we can’t let the police find them… maybe the police is not part of the conspiracy, but, who know?

“Good works, guys!” a voice from the rupture in the ceiling says. It’s the girl, why I can’t ever remember her name? Crusher, cushion? These English nicks…

“Euro, I will take care of these people. Now, go away, soon this place will be full of federals!”

And the sound of sirens begins to fill the place, just like a cacophony of voices. They are arriving.

“Mxy” I say, “can you open a door trough the dimension to reach the circus? We’ll come back later to retrieve the van…”

“Sure I can. But it will make me very tired…” he responds.

“You will have plenty of time to sleep, at the circus. The battle has ended, there is no need to save energy for later… go, fast.”

“And you?” asks Tobias, which has just returned, without any paper or file storage in his hands.

“I will come back later. I must see a thing…”

Mxy do the gesture of opening a door, and a true door opens out of thin air. They enter it, then Mxy closes the door, and it is like they never have been really here. Meanwhile, the last of the prisoners disappears trough the opening in the ceiling. There is the noise of more than one ‘copters, coming down from there…

But I want to check another thing.

I phases trough the walls, going straight to the vast place outside the main gates. There is a security line of the police, and behind it, the hundreds of men that were possessed by the “obsidian demon”. Dozens of journalists are interviewing them.

Perfect.

I become light, lighter than air, and levitate. I fly, I can say. And when I am high above the crowd, I turn visible. Soon, someone points at me, and then everybody look up.

I smile.

“People of Chicago! Today, six metahumans have freed your city from a menace that was about to kill every one of you. The very ones that you hate and your government hunts down, are your saviours”.

Many cameras are pointed to me. Luckily I have a full face mask.

Now, three ours have passed. It is dark, outside, while I sit at the round table, in the caravan that is heading, with the rest of the circus, toward Thunder City. Tobias is at the wheel, so Lil’ Jo, his cat, purrs over my legs. My friends are all with me.

The TV shows my speech.

“Do you think it was wise, Euro?” asks Mxy.

“The MBL was outlawed more than one time” says cryptically Nowhereman.

“They will not change their minds for what you have said, Edulcore” says Tobias, from the driver seat.

“I didn’t talk for them, Tobias. My words were for us, for the metahumans. They have to know that things are gonna changing…”

“How can you be so sure…”

“Because if MCCA has been shout down, we are not the ones to fight the conspiracy. There must be some unknown ally, out there…

“How do you think we’ll find out?”

“Going to the heart of the problem. To TriVex.”

“To Thunder City” whispers Nowhereman.

THE END

Someone please begins the next story in a new thread.