Revealing truths (kit_Azazel)

'Keep it together...' Connor thought to himself, his battered body slumped against a wall as his vision blurred from blood lose. His regenerative abilities were working but it may not  be enough to keep him alive in this fight. 'Just need time to reco...' Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted as a voice broke his concentration.

"What's the matter Vigilante, can't pull yourself together?" The  voice came from above, it was a man slowly levitating down from above with fist pulsating with energy. AIVAS had categorized the villain under the code name 'The Cannon'. "Just surrender, it will so much easier for you." Cannon clasped his handed together which caused a the chain reaction from his pulsating hands to create a bolt of energy to fire at Red who narrowly rolled out of the way only to be caught and thrown by the shock wave of the blast.

Red nearly tumbled off the top of the building they were on, catching himself at the last second before plummeting to his death. "You are lucky we need you alive but they never said i couldn't have any fun with you." Cannon stated, chuckling psychotically  as he grabbed the weary hero by the arm and lifted him into the air. "I heard a rumor that your bone reset themselves, lets find out."

Cannon lifted Red high above the buildings roof and then dropped him down back on top snapping Reds ankles when he landed. "Oo! I heard that from up here." Red was in agonizing pain, despite his regenerative powers he felt pain all the same and it was intense. Red was hurt but not out of the fight, he got a close look at the suit Cannon was wearing, judging by the design and the strange circular pack on his back Red deduced it was some sort of flight suit which gave him the ability to fly.

Reds' HUD beeped, earlier he had called for assistance from H-1 (https://www.superhero-rpg.com/t2604-h-1-hercules-mach-1) and the beep indicated its arrival. "Hope you've had  your fill of fun." Red stated, standing up as a painful second snap occurred as his bone reset itself and healed.

"I hope you don't think your little robots going to help you." Cannon said smuggly as a hunk of red metal landed on the roof top followed by a very large, bulky man wearing a similar flight suit as Cannon. 'Damn' Red thought, as the gigantic man landed with a smug smirk across his face. "Caught this thing jumping to your rescue, come on kid you really think we don't know about your robot pal."

'They know me, they lured me out with that bank heist but their real objective was me.' Red thought to himself, taking up a defensive fighting stance.

"and dont flatter yourself thinking that your special. Honestly any hero who showed up would have worked for us." Cannon said with a smug grin across his face. His fists once again pulsating as he floated closer to Red still high above the ground. It was monologue time, they knew Red couldn't beat them, and Connor knew he couldn't beat them too.

"Worlds Changing, producing metahumans is becoming a marketable item more and more accessible. Making you super heroes obsolete." Cannon put his hands together and fired a blast which Connor somersaulted out of the way, re-materializing throwing discs into his hand and throwing them at Cannons flight pack. Cannon dodged, barely, his arm being gouged open by the discs sharp end. "Still got some fight in you well the-" Suddenly, Cannon dropped from the sky. The other meta human, who AIVAS nicknamed Hydra since in mythology it was believed the the poison from the Hydra is what lead to the death of Hercules, attempted to fly to catch him but his suit just took off lifting him far above the sky.

"You boys shouldn't have come after my friend. You might have lived if you just stayed hidden in what ever lab you were bred out of." Violet stated, appearing from the shadows. Cannon landed hard, breaking both his legs and multiple other bones in his body. Cannon was unconscious from the pain but Hydra had removed his flight pack and landed back on the roof unscathed. "Neat trick, but unlike your friend here. If i break you, you stay broken!" Hydra charged at Violet, who materialized her crossbow and fired a bolt at the titanic man. It pierced but did little to stop him.

Connor threw discs at the mans heels but missed. Just before Hydra slammed into Violet he was suddenly blown away by an invisible force sending him flying off the roof. "V, detain Cannon and help Red. I'll handle Hydra." Blue stated, having been the last one to the party.

Hydra jumped back up, only to be blasted to the adjacent roof top by Blue who wanted to keep the behemoth away from his friends. Blue jumped to the roof top and readied himself as the angered Hydra charged after him once again. Hydra was pissed, and went to punch Blue with all his might who used all his might to push the punch back. The resulting effect was a large shock wave which sent Hydra flying.

About to try again, Hydra readied for a second charge until he stopped suddenly. Blood spewed out of his ears and he dropped to the ground dead.

"The heck was that?" Blue stated, approaching Hydra carefully. Red and Violet came up behind him. "There was something in his head, self destruct device I think." V stated, having sensed the device go off. "Who ever sent them must have done it. What troubles me is that they would dispose of him so easily, what Cannon said earlier about mass producing meta humans is troubling."

Police sirens could be heard in the distance. "V get to Cannon!" Red ordered, Violet obeying without hesitation but before she could get close enough to take control of the device in his head it went off killing him. "Damn, sorry Red i couldn't reach him in time."
"its alright, we better get out of here."

The next morning...

"I think it was a demonstration...they weren't specifically targeting me but any hero who would have answered the bank heist. They had intel on us and probably any other hero in Chicago." Connor stated, sitting at a round table along side Nicole, Noah and William.

"If it was a demonstration then it failed, we won. So maybe we've discouraged any buyers." Nicole stated, crossing her arms across her chest and sighing. She was tired, Noah and Connor had regeneration so they always seemed to be full of energy. "They might not have been selling soldiers, if the demonstration was about selling meta human abilities than i'd  be sold." Noah added, "Even if they failed to kill Connor, they destroyed the H-1 and had seemingly had no adverse effects to what ever was done to them."

"You can bet me and AIVAS will be studying the DNA samples you took to see what was done to them, I've also already begun reconstructing the H-1. So if you'll excuse me." William stood up from the table and walked away. He was a dedicated man to his research and knew the best way for him to help Connor was through his studies.

Connor stood up from the table as well, "We'll have to be careful from here on out. Work in teams."

Suddenly AIVAS came up with an alarm, something was going down in Chicago.

Zayka sighed glumly as she looked at the prospects in her fridge. She really needed the job to work out tomorrow so that she could afford some real food. Her cat, Lilith, mewed at her hungrily from the windowsill. "I know, cherie, mama is hungry too, but chasing bad guys doesn't pay the rent. Modeling barely even does that anymore." She mewed back to her cat and scratched her lovingly between the ears when Lilith padded over. "Merde."

Zayka moved over to her cabinets and scooped out two cans of tuna for them. "How about tuna, cherie?" Returning to the fridge, Zayka grabbed a tortilla out for her tuna. Once the can opener started running, she could hear Lilith's happy purring and muttered, "Not a spoiled cat at all, are you?" She scooped out one can onto a paper plate and put it onto the floor for Lilith, while she set about making a wrap for herself. Absentmindedly using her power, she warmed to tortilla for better flavor.

Once it was sufficiently heated, she walked slowly to her living room and looked about at her quaint living quarters. She had grown up on a farm with large rooms and expansive property, but now here she was in Chicago in an one bedroom apartment on the top floor of a shabby building that had suspected lead paint and abestos. "Life," she grumbled.

On the end table by her couch, the old police scanner she had scavenged from one of her recent raids was alight with chatter about some battle on a rooftop somewhere. Listening carefully, she decided that it sounded handled and didn't sound like the men she was after. Someone was not only killing off all gypsies, but also harvesting their blood. Zayka's grandmother had always said that her blood was sacred but she never explained why and when her grandmother had been poisoned and her signs of her blood being drained, Zayka was hot on the trail after the culprits. This brought her here, to Chicago.

Almost having used all of her money she had had saved, she had taken to doing sporadic photoshoots, mostly to draw out the villains but also for the money. Those calls had become fewer and fewer between, so Zayka started tomorrow a job as a barista. Plenty of judges and police officers frequented this coffee shop because it was across the street from the local precint and courthouse. She figured she could use this as her way to information.

Having finished her meal, she cleaned up and crawled into bed. After double checking that her beretta was in the nightstand beside the bed still, she called Lilith and they cuddled into sleep.

The next morning, Zayka rushed down the stairs with damp blonde hair tied into a side braid and clumsily trying to put her other shoe still on. Her white button up shirt and black pencil skirt made her look more like a secretary but it was the only professional clothes that she owned. Most of her clothes consisted of gypsy attire and was not deemed suitable for work.

Arriving on time with the luck of the gods on her side, she muttered a silent prayer of thank you to them. The manager smiled and waved at her from behind the counter while entertaining the customers as two other baristas worked tirelessly to get their orders to them. "Merde." Zayka swore in french, it was going to be a long day.

"You would think crime would have to sleep at some point." Noah lamented into his HUDS mic, pulling back on the throttle and accelerating his motorcycle as he approached a stolen armored car from behind. The two back doors opened, two men armed with machine guns opened fire at Blue who raised his hand and sent out a pushing force to deflect the bullets.

"I tampered with the traffic lights." Nicole stated, having stayed back at their HQ to work with AIVAS on reducing collateral damage by redirecting traffic. "You are clear of cross traffic but there isn't much we can do about the people already on the street." Nicole brought up a satellite view from above the city. "Red they are heading for the docks just like you predicted, any chance you've found their escape vessel?"

meanwhile at the docks...

"break you, I will vigilante." Came the sharp, raspy voice of the Russian assassin, Anton Booskov aka Bone Yard. The man was clearly skilled, on par with Connor only Bone yards physical strength was near super human. Unfortunate for Red, Boneyard had gotten a hold of his good arm and snapped it before throwing him into a pile of wooden crates. 'I've been getting my ass kicked way to much lately' Connor thought to himself as he pulled himself out of the pile of broken wood. "So, true what they say, you do not break easily"

"I drink a lot of milk." Connor said smugly as the bones in his arm pulled themselves back together and healed. Drawing his stun sword, Red moved in close quickly to the over confident assassin. "Blade can not cut my skin!" A high pitch emitted from the sword and Red swung the blade at Bone yard who caught it. "Now, I break every bone you-" His threat was cut short as voltage surged from the sword into his body and fried the assassin unconscious. "No time to dance."

Looking towards the escape vessel, Connor could see two guards but in the distance he could see police patrol boats heading in. AIVAS and Nicole had already alerted the authorities. Placing a shock collar on Bone Yard to keep him unconscious, Red departed the scene. "Escape vessel secured, bring them down Blue."

Back at the chase...

"Easier said then done." Blue stated, still under fire from the hijackers. "Blue you need to stop them now!" Nicole called out over the HUDS speakers, "There is an accident up ahead and a blockade of cars. The truck is accelerating." Cursing under his breath, Blue tried accelerating but couldn't move fast enough. "Alright, tell Red I'm sorry about the bike" Using his gauntlet, Blue fired a grapple into the back door of the truck and lifted himself off the bike which fell to the side and tumbled to a stop.

Using his pushing ability, he forced the two gunman towards the front of the truck. The door he was hanging onto swung open and close, Blue barely keeping a hold as the gunmen recovered and opened fire once again. Blue swung himself on top of the trucks roof and ducked down to his stomach just in time to dodge a traffic light from taking him out. "Blue stop them now!" Nicole screamed, as the truck was about to smash into the traffic.

Noah quickly crawled across the truck to the front and jumped in front of it using his push ability to stop the truck. It was almost like the truck hit a rock wall stopping it instantly. Blue went flying and tumbling on the ground before slamming into the back of one of the cars stuck in traffic. He laid there for a moment as his body recovered, people surrounded him but soon Noah had the strength to stand. Looking to one side of the street he saw the precinct.

"Wait, if that's the precinct then..." Noah looked across from the precinct and smirked, one of his favorite coffee shops. Noah stumbled into the shop, body aching in pain. His recovery abilities not as good as Connors but still good enough that he survived that fall. Reaching the counter, Noah rotated his shoulder and looked at the menu. " Mocha Frap, er, grande please." He asked the well dressed Barista.

Meanwhile, cops were already apprehending the men from the truck who were injured but not dead. Back at the docks the police apprehended Bone yard and the remaining two thugs without the assistance of Red who was already driving to the coffee shop to pick up Noah. Nicole sat back in her seat signing heavily, estimated collateral was small compared to the amount stolen, a victory for sure.

Zayka started at the order, pulled from her mental reverie and realized she had warmed the countertop in her rage at thinking of the men who hunted her family down. Her eyes unhazing and a blush creeping up from her collarbones, she silently hoped the customer wouldn't notice the hot countertop.

"You got it." She answered in her heavily accented voice, a broad smile shining on her blushing face. She turned around and hummed "Alouette" while making the drink. Turning to the counter, she asked "Iced or hot and would you like whipped cream?"

She tripped a little when she turned around too quickly and counter-balanced the drink so that it didn't spill a drop, quickly and gracefully recovering her stance. Blushing even harder, she swore "Merde," under her breath. Bringing her smile of perfect white teeth back to her face, she awaited the customer's answer.

"Ice please" Noah answered, his shoulder suddenly snapping into place causing his body to twitch slightly as he placed his hand on the counter. He quickly withdrew as his suit diagnostics signaled the counter was hot. 'Weird...' Noah thought to himself, looking up to the woman who offered him a pretty smile. Most people in the shop were all looking outside as the police apprehended the armored car robbers. Noah couldn't place it but this woman was unusual, not at all deterred by the fact he was wearing a suit and had just stopped a armed robbery.

"Noah i've pulled up in back. hurry up before the police try to put cuffs on you." Connor stated over the helmets communicator. Noah let out a sigh and with a thought money appeared in his hand which he placed on the counter which had cooled down. "Je suis désolé" Noah stated, "But i have to go." Looking behind himself, Police started walking into the coffee shop having heard Noah went there after stopping the robbery. Quickly leaping over the counter Noah made his way into the back of the store and out into the alley just as Connor pulled up in a sports car.  The two sped off to their HQ avoiding being followed. Luckily, the rest of the day was quiet giving the heroes time to rest.

Hours later...

"Did you even sleep?" Noah asked, walking into Williams lab and spotting Connor in front of a series of computer screens displaying satellite imagery of Chicago. Connor was silent, he was focused so Noah decided to pull up a seat next to him and stare. "Live feed? What are you looking for?"

"That." Connor suddenly stated, pointing at one of the screens signaling AIVAS to freeze the screen. "AIVAS zoom in and increase resolution." The screen zoomed in on what seemed to be a blur running along the streets. "Looks like we have a speedster in town, what clued you in on him?"

"Some police monitors in town kept triggering for high speeds but no cars in sight...I had a hunch and..." The image cleared up and the man that was running wore a suit just like the ones that villains they fought the other night wore including the flying device.

"Damn your kidding me. Super strength, energy blasts and now super speed?" Noah sat back in his seat and exhaled a deep sigh. "Can we track him?"

"AIVAS has tapped into the sensors on traffic cameras and it looks like he is heading somewhere we just don't know where." Connor stood up and headed over to a table which had his belt and equip on it. "I don't know what he is up to but it can't be good."

"Could also be another trap to lure us out." Noah pointed out, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out his equip and following Connor who started heading towards their hummer. "Nicole already headed home. She hasn't slept in days and there is no sense in calling her in." Noah said, though he knew they were always better together than apart but Nicole couldn't fight for days on end like he or Connor could.

William quickly caught up to the two, handing Connor a device. "I wasn't able to track the signal which initiated the kill switch in the previous metahumans but i was able to devise a device to block the signal." Connor took hold of the device and help it close to the Equip which scanned it and then proceeded to digitize it. "Thanks Will, monitor the computers and make sure our speedster doesn't have any friends coming to back him up. Let roll Noah."

Both heroes tapped their equips and both were engulfed in a light as their suits materialized onto their bodies. They climbed into the armor plated hummer and sped off into the night to track down their target, where ever it was he or she was heading.

Zayka flinched at the guy hopping over the counter and effectively doused herself in the coffee she had made him and began shouting after him,"Connard Infect! Merde!" She looked down at her ruined blouse and groaned to herself, "Strange man in a strange suit and now I'm covered in coffee."  She checked her watch and then felt her rage bubble even more when she saw that it, too, was covered in coffee. She rushed to get a rag and wipe it off so as to prevent it from breaking. Letting a stream of curses in french flow from her mouth, she looked up at an expectant police officer waiting for her to collect herself, sighing inwardly, she pulled a smile to her face, "How can I help you officer?"

"Do you know the man who was just here at the counter?" He pulled from inside his vest a photo of the man in the strange suit.

Zayka shook her head adamantly, "No, I don't, but if you find him, kick him in the stomach for me once or twice for ruining my favorite blouse, yeah?" She grinned bitterly at the officer.

Returning her smile, he replied "Well here is my card, if he comes around again, call me and let me know immediately. Also, can I get a venti americano?"

Nodding, Zayka turned around to make the drink. Once she was finished, she rang the man up and bid him good luck on his hunt.

The elderly lady who owned the small shop with her daughter came out from the back office, having seen the commotion on the camera, she pulled Zayka into a tight nurturing hug. "Let me take over the counter today, honey. You did well for your first day and Sarah and I really need the help, but now you should get home and get out of that blouse."

Zayka began to protest but Marie put a finger to her lips, "Sarah and I have run this shop alone for three years, and now we have a Roma here to help us. Irish travellers may not normally get along with Romas but we will welcome gypsies of any kind over any outsiders."

Zayka smiled in understanding and hugged the woman, "Merci, madam."  Pulling her apron from her head, she sighed and headed home with a brisk walk, anxious to get out of the coffee ridden clothing.

When Zayka got home, it was nearing three pm, so she changed into wrok out gear and went down to the gym that her complex kept in the basement. Nearly all of the tenants avoided the area like the plague because of it's drafty, creepy atmosphere. This made it perfect for Zayka's needs. Hard wood floors that were creaking with age, swinging lights that consisted of lightbulbs only, and a big open space in the back that was used for ballroom dancing in the 40's.

Zayka entered and then barracaded the door with a stick to prevent anyone from coming in while she trained, after having checked that no one else was present. Satisfied that no one could get in, she began channeling her inner fire magic and worked to create pillars around her. Sweat was breaking on her brow with concentration but it was important that she practiced daily to not only maintain control but also to prevent it from leaking out in her sleep. Her grandmother had had her sleep in a metal mobile home on the property when she was younger and more willful. This prevented her from burning more than just her bed down as she kept the rest of her possessions in a metal, fire-proof wall locker. She spent three hours doing this and once she had decided she had practiced enough, she felt the weariness settling into her bones, and headed upstairs to her apartment.

Once she was in her apartment, she fed Lilith the last can of tuna, grabbed the beretta, and headed to shower. She always showered with the door locked and her gun nearby. She hated how vulnerable she felt in the shower or the bath but she was a clean freak so she settled for the safety of a weapon nearby. She knew she could melt someone who came through the door, but bullet wounds were easier to explain.

Coming from her shower, refreshed and cheery at the prospects of working with fellow gypsies. She slipped on a black lace nightgown and heated up a bowl of soup. Singing to herself, she went to the living room and sat down with her sketchbook and began drawing the man in the strange suit so as to add her to her wall in her bedroom where all the suspects were tacked on a world map. She had bought the map on a school website, it was intended to be wallpaper in a classroom but it and two other maps of equal size were her bedroom's wallpapers instead. The other two being on America and Russia.

"You are a talented artist." Came a strangers voice from behind Zayka. He wasn't in the apartment at all a second ago but had vibrated himself through the walls when she sat and started drawing the picture of the vigilante she had seen earlier that day. "Looks like somebody has a vendetta." The man was older, around mid 40s with a completely shaved head, eye brows and all. He wore a black suit which formed to his body which was toned and slender. On his back was some sort of circular pack which gave off a small humming noise and in one hand was a large knife, if it could be called that, which he already had readied to strike. "We can do this the easy way, or the hard way." The man said, smirking at the cliche ultimatum he just gave the woman.

Meanwhile...

"Traffic light sensors have gone dark, what ever has been tripping them has stopped." William stated over Connors communicator as they reached the block the last sensor was tripped by the speedster. "You are in an old part of Chicago, some abandoned buildings but there is a building which was renovated into apartments. AIVAS brought up some satellite imagery and it looks like the guy went there"

"Alright, keep us posted." Connor stated as he pulled the Hummer up behind the apartment building. "AIVAS see if you can pull up a list of tenants." Red commanded AIVAS, who immediately went to work by first identifying the owner of the building and then searching bank transactions from the accounts of those who pay the rent when rent is due. Once complete, AIVAS had a list for Noah and Connor.

"None of the names stand out, AIVAS do a background check on these individuals and see if any of them match the speedsters description or who might be a target." Noah stated, sitting back in his chair and looking through the windshield of the Hummer at the buildings walls. AIVAS beeped, and had nothing out of the ordinary, one tenant came up in a police report. "This woman had a murdered grandmother, poisoned and case was never resolved."

"Could be coincidence, people are murdered everyday and there isn't anything that would indicate a motive." Red stated, sighing as he felt useless trying to figure out what the speedster was up to. AIVAS brought a picture up of the granddaughter, who Noah recognized as the woman at the coffee shop. "AIVAS bring up my HUDS recordings from after the armored car incident today. When i got my coffee." AIVAS brought up the imagery, which showed her heating up the counter top with her hands just before Noah made his coffee order. She was a meta-human, or at least thats what they were thinking. "What apartment is she!"

Zayka felt the fear bubble inside her as she started at the stranger's voice, then felt rage consume her at the intrusion. Fire began to dance at her fingertips as she elongated her neck to gaze up at her attacker, a coy smile played on her lips as she replied, "What fun would easy be, baby?"

She flashed the flame up towards his eyes to blind him as she dashed out of her seat, but not without him slashing her left arm in the process. Crying out from the strike, she scared Lilith out of the living room to prevent the cat being roasted. Glaring at the stranger, she let her flames build around her skin, keeping careful to not light her feet to avoid burning the ground. "Who are you?"

"My birth name is of little importance, not since i have been reborn..." The speedster stated, admiring the blood now dripping from the tip of his knife. "...you can call me Hermes and I have been sent to collect you." Hermes started to approach Zayka, his skin burned but healed simultaneously. Suddenly, a spherical device smashed through the window and landed by Hermes feet but before he could react it opened and sent out a high level shriek which could render anyone's train of thought or hearing useless.

Unless of course you wore a HUD similar to that Red was wearing as he followed through the window after the tweeter he had thrown. Rolling on the ground, he pushed off the ground with his legs and tackled the speedster who was in far to much pain to dodge. As quickly as he could, Red started pummeling the man in the face in a brutal tactic to try and render Hermes unconscious but failed as the tweeter self destructed. Anyone without protected ears wouldn't be able to hear anything but a ringing for a few seconds before their hearing would return but for Hermes that was instantaneous. The villain grasped his blade and plunged it into Reds' side as he was reaching back to throw another strike.

Throwing Red to the side, Hermes turned his attention to Zayka again. This was a unfortunate turn of events but he was determined not to fail. Dropping his knife, he was to charge her so he could take hold of her and take her to the people who hired her. Just as he entered his charge he was suddenly flung into a wall and pinned by an invisible force. "I got him pinned Red, activate the device."

Red pulled the knife out of his side and tapped the equip revealing the device William had constructed for him to block the kill switch signal. "Got it..." Grunting in pain, Red stood up and slowly approached Zayka. Raising his arms showing that he didn't mean her any harm. "Zayka, listen, I know you must be confused and scared but believe me when i say we are the good guys." The stab wound on his side closed itself and eventually disappeared completely.

"You can't stop me, no body can stop me!" Hermes boasted, only making Blue smirked beneath his helmet. "Looks like i got you pinned to the wall and you aren't going any-" Sudden Hermes started to vibrate until Blues powers pushed him through the wall as if hermes was a ghost. "Damn I got-"

"Forget it Blue, he is long gone by now. Besides, we won." Connor kept his distance, he could heal but being burnt still hurt. Noah walked up beside Red and patted him on the back. "Yeah but now what? They obviously wanted her for a reason and will be back."

"Well we better get out of here first, no telling if that guy has back up coming." Connor headed towards the front door and opened it looking into the hallway to see if it was clear. "We can't head back to HQ, he could follow us easily and figure everything out."

"That's fine, i have a base on the outskirts of the city where my equipment from Reading is stored. We could go there, it was all prior to the company." Red turned back to Zayka, he knew she had plenty of questions. "I can't make you come with us but I can promise you that if you do we will do everything in our power to protect you."

Zayka stared hard at the other intruder in her home and the flames flashed higher as her annoyance at two intruders in her home grew and the destruction in her home. She weighed the thoughts carefully, and finally let her flames die down and extinguish. She called Lilith to her softly, "Fine, but the cat comes with me and anything she doesn't like, I don't like."

She turned on her heel quickly then remembered she was in a lace nightgown and flushed from her cheeks, down her collarbones ,and creeping into her chest. "Baisse," swearing louder again, "Merde! Ay!" She rushes past the man bashful and closes her bedroom door behind her. Finding her yellow silk dress, she tosses the nightgown into the hamper, pulls on her black rider boots, and then pulls the dress over her head. She then went to her closet and found her black cloak to clasp around her neck. Lilith mews lazily from the bed and Zayka turns to her to put her in the mesh cat carrier.

Lastly, she went to her mirror and draped her grandmother's rosary over her head. Still flushing down her collarbone, she walked out of her bedroom and nodded to the man, "Let's go."

The woman suddenly realized she was dressed in her night gown, embarrassed she charged off into her bedroom to change. "Like cats?" Connor asked Noah, who looked at him and shrugged. "More of a dog person myself but Elizabeth had cats who were affectionate." Noah cleared his throat, it had been a long time since he had brought up her name. Connor rested his hand on the young mans shoulder. Noah simply nodded, and as Connor removed his hand from his shoulder Zayka exited her room dressed and ready to go but obviously still embarrassed.

"I know you have no reason to trust us." Connor stated as he climbed out the ruined window onto the fire escape. "But  you briefly meet my friend Blue here, after he stopped the armored truck robbery and saved those peoples lives. We are the good guys." The hummer was beneath them, a dark red Hummer which looked slightly more bulkier than the usual hummer.

Climbing down, Red took the driver seat while Noah got in the back so Zayka could sit in the front. The back was hollowed out like a van and had computer screens set up which Blue immediately started bringing up the traffic light grid. "If he tries following us we'll see."

Red hit the gas and sped off onto the street, on his HUD AIVAS put up a secret alert only meant for him and not Noah or Nicole. 'Impossible, that is the same part of the brain that....' Connor looked back at Noah, and then back to the road which was strangely vacant. "Something isn't right." Noah stated just as the Hummer suddenly stopped. The vehicle slowly lifted off the ground. "GET OUT!" Connor screamed, pressing a button which jettisoned the hummers doors allowing Connor and Zayka to jump out. Noah was about to join them when the Hummer was suddenly flung away where it tumbled and rolled to a stop.

"Hermes said you interfered with his work." A woman stated, she wore an identical suit like hermes and her white hair was cut short, pixie style. She lifted her hand up and levitated a manhole cover into the air which she then swung it at Connor rolled off to the side followed by throwing several throwing discs at the woman. The discs stopped in mid air and simply dropped to the ground. "Hermes calls me Magneta, and as you can guess." She lifted both arms to her side and pulled up to fire hydrants from the ground. "I have control over all metal."

From behind Magneta came Hermes, who immediately turned his gaze towards Zayka. "You handle the zeroes, I'll grab the girl quick and get on out of here"

Zayka was annoyed. She held Lilith's cage close to her in the car and when it was time to leap, she took her with her but landed awkward and ended up rolling with the mesh container. "Desolee, cherie."

Zayka stood carefully and felt rage consume her, "These men are going to get me killed." Fatigue was setting into her from lack of rest but seeing Hermes charge at her caused her to ignite with flame, pushing it out to a protective wall around the two men that had came to get her and herself. The fire was burning blue with pure heat and the ends of her hair were lifting with little flames dancing on them. Her anger continued to fuel the fire as she looked at Hermes coming at her.

Preparing herself by lowering into a crouch, she clicked her tongue, "You almost hurt my cat." She drew one of her daggers from her leg and flicked it towards Hermes' eyes while rolling closer to the men. The blade was dodged successfully but it provided the distraction she needed. She could hear Lilith frantically mewing and it fueled her rage further, making the flames grow hotter.

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, and when she opened them, she found Hermes and enclosed him into a pillar of flames that would cling to his suit as long as she could hold it, melting it down and into his skin. The strain on her caused her to feel like the oxygen was being pulled out of her lungs, but she didn't care, she would kill this man bent on capturing her. All of the pain that she felt at losing her family and her heritage was fed into the flame and while he tried to vibrate out of it, she kept the flame trained on him. She would have to trust the other two to handle the cocky female because if she broke concentration, the wall protecting them and the wall around Hermes would disappear.

Hermes cried out in pain as flames engulfed him, his suit did not melt as Zayka would hope for because it was designed to withstand the frictional heat produced when Hermes was at top speed but his uncovered face could barely heal fast enough to keep his bones from turning into burnt cinders. Hermes wasn't to smart but he knew one thing for sure, fire needed air. Spinning into a vortex, Hermes extinguished the flames on his own body and then in a flash began running around Zayka and her feline friend. The resulting whirlwind he created began to suck the air out of the area surrounding Zayka which could make it hard to form flames as well as breath.

Meanwhile, Red was busy with Magneta who was simply toying with the vigilante, throwing random street objects at him such as mail boxes, more man holes and fire hydrants. Every gadget he had contained some sort of metal in it and would prove useless against such a force. "You are going to lose, just give up and maybe we'll let you live. After all, your healing ability is impressive and we might want to harvest it from you in the future."

Blue had recovered from being thrown and had made his way unnoticed by Magneta. "Harvest this!" He called out, charging in towards Magneta who began flinging street objects at Blue who deflected them with his ability and then used them to throw her into a wall. "Red go help the girl, I'll hold-" Suddenly Noah was hit by a street pole forcing him down to one knee, the street pole went to slam into him again but he stopped it just before it slammed into his head with his power. "-go!" With loud cry he threw the pole off into the distance out of Magnetas' reach.

Red charged right into the whirlwind Hermes created, the chances of getting run over my Hermes was high but worth stopping him for a second to help Zayka. Just as he predicted, Hermes ran into Red and they both tumbled but Hermes, being super fast, recovered and grabbed Red. Spinning again like before, Hermes gained super momentum and tossed Red into a near by building. "Now, where was I" He stated, turning to see what Zayka was doing.

Zayka's flames died down and she panted with exhaustion seeping into her bones. She drew three throwing blades in between her fingers and lit their tips with flames, crouching down to prepare for Hermes' attack. "I guess we will just have to dance then."

Her mouth set into a grim line, she used her other hand to release the cloak from around her throat for easier maneuverability. Cracking her neck and rolling her shoulders, she pulled all her energy into to heal for her next move. All she needed was for him to dance long enough for her reserves to build. Her lungs were still burning from loss of oxygen but she was using part of her power to heal that as well. She hoped she wouldn't have to heal anything major on the other two after the fight. She didn't have the energy as she currently was and wouldn't if she had to do what she had planned.

Curved again into a fighter's stance, she waited for Hermes to attack, never the one to rush into the offense.

Hermes could see that Zayka was tired from using her powers, it wouldn't be long before he exhausted her enough that she couldn't fight back. He decided to try the same tactic, run around her and suck the oxygen from her lungs. Just as he was about to take his first step a bullet pierced through his calf blowing away the muscles and nearly severing the foot from the rest of his body. Hermes dropped to one foot screaming in pain until he was silence by a second bullet which exploded his head forcing the body limb. It was brutal, and if one followed the trajectory of the bullets they would find Violet on the roof of a nearby buildings peering down the scope of a fifty caliber rifle.

"That is how you take down a meta-human." She stated coldly, standing up and dropping off the roof top using her grapple to slow her decent. The weapon digitized and her cross bow re materialized in its place. She took aim and fired a bolt at Magneta who lifted her arm up to deflect the bolt which quickly planted itself in her shoulder. "THE HELL!" Magneta screamed out in pain, looking at the bolt in her shoulder and seeing it was wooden and freshly carved.

"Blue i only had time to make one, finish her!" She called out, as Blue charged at the distracted Magneta getting close enough to punch her once across the face before a hydrant smashed into him and sent him flying into a dumpster. Violet digitized her cross bow so Magneta couldn't use it against her and got in close. Violet went to sweep Magnetas feet but the villain jumped, avoiding the attack and then her flight back activated allowing her to fly into the sky.

Metal from all around began surrounding her as she laughed hysterically, "I have control over metal, the very foundation of this city. I could tear it all down and you couldn't stop me. I am all powerful." More and more steel began to surround her as she readied to launch a deadly, final attack at the heroes.

Red emerged from the building he had been tossed in, seeing the situation her turned towards Zayka. "How hot can you make your fire!" Connor pointed at her target, the steel now swirling around Magneta.  "I need you to make it as hot as you can and take her down!" Noah was on the other side, he could hear Connor talking to Zayka and knew sort of what he might be planning so he readied himself.