Chapter 1: Welcome to the New World

Smiling a little, James showed her his prosthetic arm and leg, saying "What harm could someone like me be?" Chris rolled her eyes and said "Bathroom's on this floor, tiny water closet that's easy to see. I need to call my dad and check what time he's coming home, James you help Alexis down to the basement, make sure she's okay." Grumbling a little, James stood and held a hand out for Alexis to help her up.

Alexis looked at her food. Setting it down, she accepted the hand. "You can bring my stuff down later I guess." She said.

"What stuff?" James asked as he helped her down to the basement. First they had to go down the hall to the door beneath the stairs, then head downward to the basement. It was scarce, save for a spare couch, a relic that had yet to be donated and was still in fair condition. "Sorry for the dust, no one's been down here for a while," James said. "We'll get you some clothes soon, starting with a pair of pants."

Setting her water on the ground, she had managed to get the pizza and the water downstairs without disaster. She sat down, and funny enough didn't cough. "Thank you...I'll just...be quiet."
She took a bite of pizza as the period to her sentence.

"Alright then....and listen," James said, his tone both quiet and pleading. "Chris is a good person, and my best friend. Don't let her pay for anything this situation you're in, fall on her head. Please?"

had dragged urthus to the urthus to the beach and brought a metal detector to see if i could find anything when i notiticed something"hey urthus think i just found some high end jewelry"

"Kid...I don't want anything to fall on either of you." She said quietly. "If anyone demands me, give me up. Don't get killed protecting me. If hiding me down here doesn't do much, then just sacrifice me. Okay?" she said calmly.

Nodding slightly, Jason moved for the stairs to leave, then said "Well if they try to get in here....they're going to find more than they bargained for." Before Alexis had a chance to respond, Chris came down the stairs and said "Okay, my dad still has another hour at work, plus about twenty or so minutes to get home. Alexis, how are you feeling?"

"Better. Glad I have food and water, and at least a soft couch. Will be better once I get real clothes but hey, I'm not gonna be picky." She called up.

"Oh, speaking of that," Chris said. She pulled a bundle out from behind, which made James wonder if she was practicing magic tricks. It was a shirt, pair of pants, and socks all folded. "Bit old, but they should be in your size," she said as she tossed the bundle to Alexis. "Though they may be a bit tight."

Alexis caught the clothes.
"Thank you. I'll remain quiet until you let me know it is safe to break silence."
She went eerily quiet as the woman dropped the towel and began ton
get dressed, somewhat forgetting modesty.
She worked as a stripper, guys oogled her all day.
...and girls but thats another story.

In any event, her perfect B cups were on full display as she started fo pull the shirt on.
"I guess your bras are too big for me?" She asked Chris, the only time she broke the silence.

James immediately went red in the face and looked away, rushing up the stairs out of the basement. Chris had the same look, stiffening before looking away with an intense blush on her face. "Geez, give us kids a little warning would ya?"

Libra blinked, then lrt out a whimper.
"I'm sorry! I...I work as a stripper. I'm used to being naked behind closed doors and I wasn't thinking. Please forgive me, I'm sorry!"
She sounded a bit hysterical, hugging herself in fear.

Looking at the ceiling, Chris could only say "Christ, no wonder you weren't shy. Still, you think kids didn't show up clubs like that because it's not a popular place to be? .....okay it still isn't, but there's a reason they have bouncers."

"Money talks." Libra said calmly. "Pay enough and a few bouncers look the other way. Teens get lapdances all the time. Usually right before being thrown out."

"Oh.......well I think I can safely say James has never been among them," Chris stated plainly. In reality, and unknown to her.....James had once been inside a strip club, technically. He sunk into one from the roof and watched from a hidden spot for a few minutes, but in his defense it had been a hot summer and he only wanted to get out of the sun for a bit.

"And you?" Libra grinned. "Have you denied us dancers your presence, O' goddess?" She teased, tugging the pants on.
"Got something heavy to wear? My nipples are uh..poking out..."

"Christ, certainly not modest about this stuff are ya?" Chris said as she shook her head. Walking to a box in the basement, she opened it and removed an old, worn jacket that was once hers, but had since been sent down here to await being shipped as a donation. "Here," she said, tossing it over.

She slipped it on.
"...I...I know I am not modest in areas regarding my body..." she began....then relaxed, giving up. "I am sorry. Please forgive me for being a bit...familiar with you two."

"Look just be more mindful please. You're a guest here, don't abuse the hospitality by making yourself that at home here," Chris said in an exasperated tone.

"I did not mean to..." she said softly. With nothing left to say, Libra curled up on the couch, looking scared, confused, and exhausted.

"Gee, aren't you fragile," Chris snorted. "Look just relax and don't let it get to you. For now, stay here and I'll check in now and the to see how you're doing." With that, she headed upstairs.

[Literally waiting for a time-skip to happen, in the mean time, I'm going on a tangent.]

TANGENT
Night-time in the subway

Nicholas was sitting at one of the ends of the trains. He was staring out the window, watching the city and the landscape go by. His mind was elsewhere. There were only 6 people in the train. 4 of them were of either african ancestry or jamaican. 2 were white. Of the dark skinned riders one was a father, and one was his son. then there were 2 youths, wearing what could be considered gang attire. Of the white people, one was male, and one was female. The female was sitting on the other end of the subway train. Her hair was short, blonde, and looked to be in her 30's. The male had brown hair, and brown eyes, and was engrossed in his I-pod.

Of the people on the train car, the white male stood out as a victim, as prey. The two dark skinned youths were lowly predators. The white woman, Nick couldn't get a read on her, and the dark skinned man would do whatever is necessary to protect his son. Conversation was minimal. The two dark-skinned youths were the only ones who seemed to talk on the ride. It was late at night, people were tired. Near the end of the ride, or at least, near the next stop, the two dark-skinned youths start to get a little riled up. One of them turns to the the  young white male and says "Hey, what are you listening to?" His voice is aggressive, forceful. He looks like he knows that the young man can't hear him.

The young man doesn't respond, for how could he respond, if he can't hear the question. Both of the young dark skinned males get up, one gets up only after the other is within arms' reach of the young white male. Nick watches the scene unfold, seemingly oblivious. The two men get in the young mans face, repeatedly asking the question "What are you listening to?" with varying levels of intensity. They forced the young man up against the door, and took his I-pod. The kid looked afraid for his life. After a few seconds of this the dark-skinned father tells them to stop, or rather to "knock it off". One of the aggravators turn and shout at the old man, asking "What're you gonna do?" and then insulting him by calling him weak and threatening both him and his son. Then the train stopped, the door opened and both the old man and his son, and the young white male left hurriedly.

Across the train Nick made eye-contact with the young woman. She had an intensity in her eyes, and Nick knew what that meant, he stood up and shook his head. He approached the two young men. One turned and said, "You gotta problum?" His accent was clear, in the sense that Nick knew he wasn't from Queens, or the Bronx. The woman had her hand in her messenger bag. Nick knew it was clutching a pistol. The two guys had no idea the shit they'd gotten themselves into, nor how lucky they were to be dealing with him, and not her. Nick replied to the man, "You really shouldn't have done that." It wasn't a threat, it was a statement of fact. They didn't need to be so aggressive or do what they did.

They didn't seem to get what he was saying. "Oh yeah, what're you going to do about it?" they pushed him back. If their next move was a catalyst, they would be in a world of hurt. They took one step closer, and one of the got uncomfortably close to him and said "Well?" and then the catalyst came: the push. I was a one armed push to Nick's left side, that means the opponents right arm was used, their dominant arm most likely. With that push he swiveled on his right foot, and planted his right arm in the young mans face, as a right heel-palm strike. He also stepped in to the opponent, checking his right leg. In the precious seconds that followed he brought his arm down doing a crane and deadening the opponents arm followed by elbowing his ribs and hitting his kidney. Then he stepped back holding the hand that pushed him and he twisted it inward, so that the elbow was drawn taught, and he broke the young man's arm. Then he kneed him in the head, kicked him in the groin, and kicked him in the head again. It was a great day to be wearing boots.

The other kid, instead of backing up his friend, saw the amount of pain being inflicted on his friend and was half way out the door before his friend hit the ground. There would be no point in chasing him. There was no threat. Nick picked up the I-pod, and stepped off the train. The woman followed, he gave her one last look, as she stared wide-eyed and in disbelief, and then he walked away, going towards his apartment to call it a night. If he saw that kid again, he'd give him his I-pod back. As for now, hopefully that young thug learned a lesson tonight. A lesson best taught by pain. And hopefully he wouldn't carry a knife in the future, things could get messy then.

"Alright."
Libra watched her leave. With no other thing to do, the girl finished her food and fell asleep.

--Timeskip, Wednesday October 4th, 3:58 pm--

James and Chris, still under suspension, sat at home all day as they went back and forth between TV, games, and schoolwork. The strange woman from the previous night got out before Chris' dad had arrived home, which saved them plenty of awkward questions. Michael was back at work though, apparently because of recent cyber-attacks that had his employers worried. He was there to oversee what was being done and assure his bosses that everything was under control.

Which was why it was just the two of them, Chris and James, when they heard the sound of a car pulling up outside the house, a car door opening and closing, followed by the sound of tires screeching as it drove away. Neither gave it much thought, until the doorbell rang and James went to answer it. What he found outside left him stunned with disbelief, soon to give way to a rising rage. Amanda, his and Chris' friend, stood there albeit barely, bloodied and beaten. She had bruises over her face, both eyes swollen and dark purple. Her cheeks fared no better, and her lower lip was split open with a line of blood clear on her chin. Amanda's clothes, a large t-shirt and a pair of cargo shorts, had been torn to hell and barely covered her up, torn so much her shirt was barely able to hide the skin of her chest, her bra the only thing concealing her breasts. And the only reason James knew that, was because his eyes were drawn to the other bruises that blemished her normally pale skin. She was covering herself though as best she could with her arms, hands on her shoulders to hold up the shreds of her shirt and he noticed that her knuckles were torn. Whatever happened, she fought back. "J-James?" she said in a tight voice and James could tell she was on the verge of tears as she stumbled forward. Immediately he opened his arms to catch her as she feel forward, and as she leaned against him, he noticed that the back of her shirt was ripped open, and there was something scrawled on her back in black ink. "Chris!" he shouted, dragging Amanda back inside the house. Chris looked up from the couch and all the blood drained from her face. Getting up she bolted for them both and took Amanda off James, hugging her close. It gave him a good look at her back while Chris quietly whispered into her friend's ear, saying "It's okay, it's okay Amy we're here."

While she did that, James read what was on Amanda's back and felt his rage flare up to a point he feared he might split open. It was in big words written in black permanent ink; FREAK! SLUT! WHORE! DYKE! CUNT! were the words written there on her back, the lettering standing out against her pale skin. She began to sob wildly, all the while saying "They did this," and "Dirk." James and Chris had beaten him to a pulp, and he took it all out on Amy. He and his friends. James was barely aware of a sharp pain in his right palm, and looking down realized he was clenching his own fist so tightly the nails of his fingers broke the skin there, blood trickling out. More than anything he wanted to leave right now and find Dirk and his gang and......do things, things worse than just beating them up. But the only thing that kept him there, was Amy. Even with all his rage.....he wasn't going to leave his friend. Yet anyway.

Stella had been busy. Using her hideouts she was hacking Nexus fast, and needed to get her blood sample destroyed and the tracking system those assholes used destroyed. So she hacked...the web person.
She wrote up a few programs and released them to the web.

Every email address they found would start leaving the same email, and would chain to every email that messaged the main one. It was simple.

Revenant.Contact me.

It was signed A.R then an address. The address of the alleyway that he had caught her in.


MEANWHILE

Jake was patrolling the skies. It was a beautiful day.

Gestalt of course soon received the email....but did not yet inform James. It was aware that he had greater priorities now.

Chris and James got Amanda to the couch, and Amy fell silent as she soon fell asleep, though she still shook now and then. James saw more marks, what looked like....burns. They burned his friend with lit cigarettes, and it was nothing more than fuel on an already raging fire. Chris left to grab her first aid kit, using it to clean up Amy while she spoke in a soothing tone, tears streaking down her face. It wasn't often that Chris cried, and when she did it was only when her friends were in the same kind of trouble and pain Amy was in. Despite the tears, her jaw muscles were tight, eyes cold despite being so red from the tears. There was a rage brewing behind those eyes, an ocean of hatred that wanted to pour over Dirk and his friends. But for the moment she took that anger, turned it into passion, and focused it on making her friend better.

Gestalt, James thought. Can you track down Dirk's cellphone? Or his friends?

One moment, Gestalt responded. We've located his cell number, and can track him. We also hacked into state records and accessed his juvenile criminal record, along with his known associates. Known hideouts and locales frequented by them are on record, if you would like to know.

Oh I do, James thought. Grabbing the house phone, he called 911 and asked for emergency services to get Amy, before running out the door. "JAMES!" Chris shouted after him, though she didn't get up. She couldn't leave Amy as he ran to find Dirk and the others.

By now the UNESD had packed up their equipment and their operation centre that had been established. The bodies and wreckage had all been recovered, the UNESD left no one behind, alive or dead, everyone would come home. The night sky was filled with the roar of helicopter engines as a trio of heavily loaded Chinook transports thundered off into the distance. Daubed in black, they bore the letters UNESD stencilled in white on their sides.
Each crafted was loaded with all sorts of equipment, as well as personnel, the black body bags containing comrades and the red body bags containing slain enemies. The UNESD needed to regroup and reorganise itself while analysing the alien technology that they had recovered. The war against the alien threat would be an eternal one, but the price for human peace would be eternal vigilance.

//

Lauren awoke to the sound of bleeping machines and the clatter of hospital life. Her eyes flickered open and she saw the concerned faces of her mother and step father. Her whole body ached painfully but she was alive. "Hey" Her mother whispered, resting her hand on top of Lauren's, her step father doing the same. "Don't try to talk my darling angel, just rest"
"We're so glad your alive Lauren" Her step father informed her.
Lauren's mind struggled to make sense of what had happened, yes she was in hospital, that much was obvious. But how did she get here? Then it dawned on her, after James and company had left, Lauren and her band had gone off to do super hero business. After saving the day by taking down a gang of thugs, they had changed back into civilian wear, each getting a taxi back home. Lauren realised that somewhere in the journey home, she must have been involved in a car crash. That would explain everything and also explain why everything throbbed painfully in time to the beating of her heart. Still... She was alive and roughly intact so couldn't complain.

James was luck the street was empty and that no one was looking out their windows. It was just luck for that one moment, that one day. Because he was too enraged, too blinded by his anger and want to inflict harm on Dirk and his friends, to care about finding a hiding spot. He just turned as he ran, the nanomachines spreading out and forming the suit, before he fired one of the cables from his fist and hauled himself onto a rooftop, running quickly over a house before jumping to the next. Gestalt already began highlighting a route that would lead to Dirk's cellphone.

His route took him out of the neighborhood, and according to Gestalt, he'd wind up near an old movie theater, abandoned though power was still being funneled to it. In the meantime, as if to give even more reason to his beating Dirk, Gestalt found something, a recently uploaded video circulating the web. It showed....Amanda, tied to a chair in the middle of a circle of guys. They all had masks on, and one at a time took turns hurting her. It made James wonder then......if he was willing to kill.

The ambulance arrived not long after James had run off, Chris helping the paramedics load Amy inside the van before calling Amy's parents. They'd meet her at the hospital.

"Jake."
"Yeah, Aries?"
"Linking you to online video. You need to see this."

What Jake said is too graphic for the younger audiences. All that can be divulged is he blasted off towards who he was sure the perpetrator was.
"Only one person in our school had that happen."
"Who?"
"Dirk. Dirk something something. Sounds like a complete and utter tool."
"Trace implemented."
"Thanks."

Stella was broken. Amanda...that...that...
She hacked hospital records and got out of the hideout, and sped towards the hospital.

Arriving opposite the location, James stood atop a rundown apartment building overlooking the theater, an abandoned, old theater that had not been in use for a year at least. Plywood covered the spaces where the glass used to be. He briefly considered taking a quiet approach.....before jumping down to the street and crossing the road to the doors, forming a fist into a large block for a hammer, and slammed his way through the plywood, splintering it into dozens of pieces. The main entrance was vacant, a concession stand opposite the doors and devoid of any edible items. Lights were on, though the old fluorescent bulbs flickered now and then. There was noise coming from the one door that was closed in the building, so that was where James headed.

Easing it open, James turned on his cloak to hide himself. Inside in the theater, he saw what looked like Dirk and his crew in the seats, the theater screen displaying images and it was clear that it was a game of sorts. The volume was so high that clearly his noisy entrance went unnoticed. He took a few steps inside, Gestalt and the HUD targeting people. Ten. There were ten in total.

The ambulance carrying Amy arrived at the hospital, (the same as Lauren though that fact was unknown to either party) and she was carried to the emergency department. While Chris was forced to wait in the waiting room, Amy was worked on by the doctors and nurses. Her parents arrived.....and it left Christina alone to answer. She wished James was there....and that he was indeed okay and not getting into trouble. Though if she knew him....he was going to face Dirk.

Her mother kept vigil watching her daughter, her eyes filled with love and concern for her child. The stepfather had left the room, mostly to deal with the press that had begun to turn up... This sort of incident always created media attention, no matter how much it was unwelcome and unwanted.
The press crowded around the entrance to the hospital. There voices filled the air like a angry hive, completed with the buzz of cameras and their flashes. Lauren's stepfather gave a quick few lines to the press hoping to clear them out, since few of them seemed to have any real concern for their privacy nor the other patients in the hospital.
"Lauren though injured has survived her injuries, Doctors say she will make a full recovery now if you don't mind I would like to ask you kindly all to leave since you are crowding the hospital disrupting the work of the wonderful nurses and doctors... And so that I can return to the side of my daughter" He finished and left returning to Lauren's room, ignoring the cries of the press for more questions and information.

Amanda had been moved to her own room, no longer in any real danger: the worst of her injuries was a broken jaw, with the rest being things like multiple bruises, burns from small objects that were probably cigarettes, her lip and black eyes. Thankfully, medicine had progressed quite a bit and instead of needing to wire her jaw shut, all the doctors needed to do was apply a relatively new product of Panacea Biotech, helping to encourage rapid cell growth and regeneration. She wouldn't be able to talk tonight, or even the next day. But by week's end her jaw would be mended and while slightly painful she'd be able to speak. Chris remained by her bedside, along with Amanda's parents. So far, all attempts at reaching James had failed.

Deciding to get their attention, James grabbed one of the chairs and ripped it off the ground, the bolts rusted and weakened. The sound alone made at least one person turn their head.....and suddenly all their heads turned as James threw the chair across the theater where it impacted on the screen and tore a wide gash through it. Everyone there stood up and looked at him, and James spotted Dirk among them. Some still had cigarettes in their mouths, clearly shocked, as James strode towards them and said in his distorted voice "Welcome to the most painful day of your miserable lives."

I groaned. "Zeru, we have things to do. I have things to do. Tests to run, simulations to program...I haven't even fully mapped out the properties of the Void Mist." I get up and put my dishes in the sink. "I need to focus on working, Z, not playing."

"Who the fuck do you think you are?" Dirk shouted, as he took a step forward. The rest of his crew started moving to form a loose circle, covering the different aisles of the seats to cut James off. Some had aluminum bats, others knives, and one had a gun. "I'm Revenant," James said flatly. "Like video games do ya? Well then tell me if you played this one: GET OVER HERE!" he snarled, shooting a cable to latch onto Dirk's right-hand friend before yanking him over with his nanite infused strength.

The poor guy flew across the distance to James, stunned to the point he had a silly look on his face before James extended his arm to the side, reminiscent of the wrestling move known as a clothesline. Normally he wouldn't have had the strength to remain standing or keep his arm stable (let alone from breaking) but since his right arm was made out of nanites and he had his strength augmented by them, his arm might as well have been a solid steel beam. Dirk's friend slammed into it, and somehow James just knew that the impact had left him with several broken ribs and a fractured collarbone. They were instantly down, so fast they didn't even have time to scream in pain, and James didn't stop with them, already darting towards the next guy who drew his gun and fired off a few shots.

Bullets pinged off his armor, the tiny rounds doing nothing to even dent the nano-epidermis as James screamed in rage, and just the sound of his scream, distorted by the machines combined with the raw animal like charge of his advance, made the gunner blanch in response. It gave James time to deliver a swift punch to his solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him and making him bend forward as if to puke. Taking advantage of the movement, James followed with an uppercut to the chin with his left hand, and he was dimly aware of a few tiny white things flying into the air. He didn't have time to reflect though, as from behind something hit him, and through Gestalt he saw that two of Dirk's friends holding the aluminum bats were striking him. He was knocked off balance and to the ground, caught off guard as they tried to hurt him, though it was a lost cause as the strength of each hit was not enough. Still, he was on the ground and being wailed on by them, and preparing to fight back.

Stella slid into the waiting room, panting. She had to park a long way away and sprinted, and was definitely not a long distance runner. She fell to her knees in front of the other three, looking frantic.
"Is...she okay?" She looked up, eyes red. "Is she going to be okay?"


As the jackasses wailed on James, the ceiling exploded. The massive white armor fell through the insanity, and landed in the center of the room, drawing all the attention.
Landing in the iconic Iron Man Pose, Jake slowly lifted the armored head up, to stare directly at the assholes.
"Judgement comes on swift wings." His armor intoned, the voice modifier making him sound pretty crazy. "Unhand the man before you meet my blade." The massive sword was ejected, the blade easily bigger then their heads. "Any questions?"

Chris and Amy's parents stared, surprised and a little confused by Stella's arrival. After all she was certainly no friend (in a non-negative way) of Amy's, so it made them wonder why she was here....and more importantly how she knew. Chris stood up and demanded "How the hell did you know she was here?"

Before any of the crew could answer, James stood up with a cry, arms raised dramatically before shooting a cable at the nearest guy with a bat, the tether wrapping around the bat and pulling it out of their grip. Now in James' hands, he bent it like it was cardboard with only a small grunt of effort, dropping it to the ground without giving the armor clad newcomer a second glance. Growling, James ran at the now weaponless goon and lifted him into the air with a hand and flung him into the wall at breakneck speeds, where he dented the wall and landed without getting up. There were ten, he thought to himself. Three down.....seven to go.

Stella looked up.
"I did it. I made the animation where Dirk was sucking a...phallus...and I hacked the school to show it on everyone's screen. I hacked to find Amanda after this." She sobbed. "It's my fault. it's my fault."

Jake raised the wolf head and it opened. The cannon extended, warming p.
"Now boys, stop moving. He looks pretty pissed, and after that wonderful video you posted, you all deserve to let me watch you get fucked up by this guy. So I'd give up, before you really get hurt."

Right as one of the guys said "Fuck you!" and charged at the newcomer with a bat, they were knocked aside by a thrown chair, ripped off the ground and thrown by James. He looked at the armored figure and said "Stay. Out of this." Then he moved for the next guy, engaging in a brief fist fight: one blow was blocked, the other was dodged, and he followed up with a single kick to the knee which broke the leg at an odd angle, before breaking the arm as well with a deft twist and snapping pop.

Chris grabbed Stella by the collar of her shirt and lifted her up, glaring at her. "Why. The fuck. Did you do that?" she demanded. Even Amy's parents were getting angry now, realizing what Stella meant and coming to stand behind Chris.

"Dirk was a bully! I used my talent to get back at him! I didn't think he'd blame Amanda, I wasn't even sure if she knew how to do that!" Stella sobbed. "I was fighting back. Someone had to fight back." She looked at Chris. She had nothing more to say.

"How about...no." Jake growled.. His cannon fired into the ceiling, making a nice sized hole. "Beating up random kids like this man...I think we share a reason." The sword retracted, and the guy smacked two of the bullies across the room. "But you're liable to kill someone, so calm the fuck down. Unless you want to be a murderer."

Chris snarled, and shoved Stella against a wall. It drew some looks, from visitors and staff, but she didn't care as she said through gritted teeth "Then it's your fault they did this to her. You stupid bitch!" To say she was angry was an understatement. "My best friend is out there now, trying find the guys that did this. If anything happens to him, I'm coming after you. You started all this and God as my witness, if he so much as gets a scratch then Voy a montar su puta cabeza en mi habitación." (Translation: I'm gonna mount your fucking head in my room.)

"Like these asshats don't deserve it!" James snarled. Someone from behind slammed a knife into his back, but it bent as it made contact. He spun around, grabbing the knife wielding hand at the wrist and squeezing, crushing it with a sickening crackle of snapping bone. Then he saw Dirk trying to make a run for it, let go of the guy with the knife, and started running for the bully.

Stella broke down further, and just cried. She was scared and now even more terrified...then the death threat hit.
And she brought her arms up and shoved Chris back.
"FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU AND THE UNESD AND EVERYONE ELSE! FUCK YOU ALL!" She tried for the door, but she slipped on the smooth surface. She hit the floor, hard, her glasses skittering away.

Stella lay there sobbing. "First them now you. Soon Canada will threaten to kill me." it was safe to say she was wholly unprepared and completely hysterical. She managed to roll onto her knees, but she couldn't see her glasses.
"And now I can't even see!" She sobbed out.

Jake blasted across the room, and slid in front of Dirk. The cannon out, it was feet from Dirk's head.
"Not so fast, asshole."

Someone came to help her, grabbing her glasses and getting her seated in the hall, away from Chris who was simply seething. Amanda's parents gripped her shoulders, gently pulling her back into Amy's room and away from Stella.

Coming up behind Dirk, James grabbed him from behind and slammed him against the wall. He was very close to choking him, hands already around his neck. "I oughta do it you know? For what you did? The world won't even miss you at all, and I just need to apply a little more pressure to do it!" James said, teeth gritted and voice strained as more and more red seeped into his vision. "Gahk, glurck hrek....." Dirk sputtered, his face turning purple. As James looked into his eyes, he saw the light slowly beginning to fade....and as if jolted, he let go with a gasp, standing away from Dirk in shock. Oh my god.....Jesus Christ I was gonna.....but I'd never......I wouldn't....

Jake couldn't stop him with the suit...but Revenant got his senses.
Gently bopping Dirk on the head to knock him out (possible concussion, who gave a fuck) and looked down at the other 'hero.'
"So. Was this the revenge you wanted?" Jake shot in the dark.

Stella trembled in the seat, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Just.....just leave me alone," James said, stepping away from the armored guy. He walked away, intending to leave until something caught his eye: a crate. Walking to it, he found it was open, and lifted the lid. Inside was...well, an assortment of items. Guns and ammo, some money, and canisters of drugs.

Well, drugs was a loose term for this one, in this instance being primitive nanomachines. Normally they were used for medical purposes, but someone had found a way to re-purpose them for use as a narcotic, making them stimulate the pleasure centers of the brain. They had fewer risks than most drugs but what made them illegal was that they were stolen. Drug dealers and producers couldn't even afford the materials needed to make these things, let alone reprogram them. So they were stolen from hospitals and medical centers, small shipments now and then.

James smashed the canisters against the floor, breaching them and the contents now spilled out on the floor, impossible to see but now rendered worthless.

Jake let him go. Powering up, he roared through the ceiling hole he made earlier and disappeared into the clouds.
"We're not the only aliens."
"No shit." Aries said calmly. "Stella...is at the hospital."
"WHAT?!"
"She is unharmed. No records of her being admitted."

Jake frowned. Then why was she there?

After the armored figure left, James left the theater and began heading for the hospital where May had been taken. Gestalt told him, hacking the records and locating her through them, and soon James was running once more over the rooftops. He called Chris, and was not that surprised to hear she was upset. "Finally, where are you James?" she asked, her tone somewhere between tired, worried, and angry. "I tracked down Dirk but.....I couldn't do it Chris. I just couldn't," James said, not exactly lying. She sighed, and said "That's good James.....really good. Listen we're over at the hospital right now, so get here stat, okay?"

"Already on my way Chris. And Chris....look, before I could go inside, I saw that guy that was on the news. The one who stopped the bank robbers." An edge crept into her voice, and he could all but hear her smile. "Good, maybe then Dirk and his friends will get what's coming to them." You have no idea, James thought.

He found a secluded space to change before arriving at the hospital. There was a news crew outside....make that three, along with photographers of all types. It made him wonder if Amy's beating was that big a deal.

Jake landed on the roof of his apartment. Sending PERSEUS back to where it was stored, he jogged to his apartment.
Stella was still missing.


Stella hadn't moved, still sobbing in the chair, albeit a bit less hard. She was slowly regaining her composure.

Walking past the people, James entered the hospital and asked for Amy's room. Following the directions, he arrived outside her door, closed, and hesitated for a brief moment. He had passed Stella, which was surprising, especially to see her crying, but he said nothing. Knocking on the door, he gently opened it to see Amy's parents inside, Michael leaned against a wall, and Chris, looking tired and somewhat gaunt. "James....thank god," she said, moving to hug him. He returned the gesture, both their arms wrapped tightly around the other as she nearly sobbed into his shoulder. She held tough though, letting go after a few seconds. He moved to Amy's bed, where she was sleeping, doped on meds. She had a neckbrace on to keep her jaw from moving while the regens did their stuff, along with several bandages. She looked almost like a mummy....and it hurt to see his friend like that.

It gave him an idea of how Chris must have felt seeing him in a hospital bed before.

A reporter knocked on the door James had gone through, well a gaggle of reports with supporting cameras crowded round the door that James had gone through. All determined to ask him questions that Lauren's Stepfather hadn't.

//

"Oberleutnant the UNESD are currently transporting the device" Came the voice of one of her fighters. The Oberleutnant was quiet for a moment, pouring over the map of New York that lay over a old wooden table. A pistol lay on the table, with a dozen figures acting as markers on the map.
"Let them retreat once they activate the device they will be crippled leaving us free to operate" She informed him. The fighter saluted before turning and leaving the underground room in a abandon subway. It was a cunning stratagem that the UNESD had bought willing into. Arm several hired guns with weapons and leave them to guard some mysterious technology, which was actually a bomb but place information around it that declared it to be a generator... Well the UNESD was nothing if not predictable. That problem would take care of itself.

The new focus was on finding these heroes, some of their technology appeared to be particular alien in origin. A selection of photographs lay on the table, she wondered how they where to find them all. Members of Cabalt where out searching for them but... Finding them, or any of them would be difficult, it however was a essential objective. The aliens if they actually were, may be convince to share their knowledge with them and advance human growth exponentially. Humans using alien technology required a large degree of understanding, which often took a while reach.