Chapter 1: Welcome to the New World

When the door knocked, Chris walked over to open it, and was surprised to see the reporter standing outside. "Uh....can I help you?" she asked.

"Yes we are here to speak to James" One of them explained with surprisingly good manners for a reporter.

That made close to everyone in the room blink, save for Amy since she was asleep. James stood up, slowly and walked over to say "That's me....why do you want to talk to me?" Michael began to take a step from the wall, ready to step in if things became.....sour.

Immedately the reports filled the air with a torrent of questions. "James how did you feel knowing that Lauren was injured?" Another question from a different reporter. "James, James over here is it true that you and Lauren Milan have a relationship together?" "Why are you visiting another patient?" "What where your exact thoughts when you heard about the car crash?"

There were so many questions that for a moment James' head was spinning, but all he got was that Lauren was injured, and they though the two of them were in a relationship. "Wait wait wait," he said. "Lauren's injured? In a car crash? Where is she? And no, we're just friends."

"In this hospital now" Came a reply. "James you say your not in a relationship with her do you feel that you might be in the future?"
"Seeing as you didn't know about the car crash would it be possible to tell us your feelings right now?"
There where more questions but most blended into a buzz of words and a sea of camera flashes.

Michael stepped in then, sternly giving the reporter a look that said back off, while shutting the door on them. James stood there, looking....like he had been slapped, repeatedly. First Amy......then Lauren. How many of his friends were going to end up in the hospital? Kat, Amy, Lauren.....their names repeated and for a brief moment James curled up on the ground balanced only on the soles of his shoes. "James?" Michael asked quietly, but with no response. Chris walked to James, bent down and hugged him. "It's okay James," she said quietly. "We're here, and no one's dead yet."

It calmed him down, slightly, and he looked up. "But how many people I know have to end up here? Have to be hurt?" he asked in a hushed tone. "I mean.....we're not really friends but....I like Lauren, she's a good person. Good people shouldn't be in places like this, shouldn't be hurt," he whispered. Chris had a pained expression on her face, and said "It can't be helped James. It's not something you can control. But look they just said she was injured, not killed. I'll stay here with Amy....you go. Make sure she's okay would ya?" He was a bit surprised by that. After all he assumed she'd want him to stay, keep the Three Brooklyneers together. But then...they'd always be together. He just had to make sure someone else was okay. Nodding slowly, he stood up with Chris and headed for the door. "I'll walk with you," Michael pitched in. "Someone needs to keep the vultures away."

Thankful, James opened the door, and Michael took the lead as they waded through the reporters to an information desk, finding Lauren's room. Getting to her floor and room number, James stood outside, Michael keeping watch....and he knocked on the door, waiting.

Lauren's Stepfather heard the knock at the door and flung it open. "What part of leave do you filthy reporters not..." He stopped mid-sentence seeing James. "Who are you?" He inquired, blocking the door way but not the view.
Lauren heard the raised voice and glanced at the door way, glimpsing a bit of James. "James?" She said in seeming disbelief. "What are you doing here?"
Her Stepfather stood aside from the door, guessing that they where friends or something, he and her mother exchange a knowing glance but said nothing.

"I uh....." James started, though unsure what to say. The truth seemed best, so he explained "My friend Amy got roughed up by Dirk and his gang.....we brought her here and some reporters jumped me at her room." He walked inside, a few steps at least but a few steps closer to his friend. "They said you were here from a car accident. Plus they asked if we were an item." He tried smiling...and failed. "Didn't know you got in an accident Lauren. Oh and I told the reporters that we weren't anything but friends."

Lauren smiled at him, but it was a painful smile. "It's good to see you... Sorry about the press I didn't think they would badger you" Her smile faded. "Sorry to hear about Amy and yeah car crash... Get a taxi they said it would be safer they said" She chuckled wearily.

"Oh geez.....sorry about that Lauren, didn't realize you'd get hurt. Most cars driving on the streets here never move fast enough for car crash speeds." James came a little closer, now standing by the bed and looking at Lauren's parents. "Sorry she got hurt so much," he said to them.

"It wasn't your fault James" Lauren whispered to him. "I was with my band well just coming back from band stuff"
"Thank you James" Her mother replied.

"Yeah but who was the idiot that suggested taking a cab?" James said, a smile coming to his face, though it was so small it may as well have been microscopic. Then a thought went through his head, he became slightly more alert, and said "What about the others? Your friends, are they all okay?

"They suggested a cab actually, we all took separate ones so it wasn't your fault" Lauren explained to him. "Yeah the gangs okay I think they wouldn't like me much if I kicked the bucket just before a concert"
Speaking of concert, Lauren thought. "I can still sing so it is still on"

"Well that's still good," James joked a little. "What would the world be like if you couldn't sing?" he asked, standing next to her bed now. "And thanks....now I don't feel so bad," he added, in reference to her first comment.

"It would suck without my fabulous voice and don't feel too bad James at least your not a reporter" She chuckled weakly at her joke. "I swear they get everywhere"

He bristled a little, and said "Yeah they really do. Can't they leave hospitals alone, I mean come on...." His fist clenched, the one that was still human anyway. Despite taking revenge on Dirk and his gang, it did little to quell the anger in him. "Sorry it's just.....there's still Amy, floor below us. Dirk and his crew they......they hurt her real bad."

"Why would they do that for?" Lauren exclaimed wincing a little as she tried to sit up, she elected to stay where she was, half buried by the covers. "If you want you can go back to her? I would myself but I don't think the nurse, doctor or my parents would be to pleased if I did that"

"Thanks, I intend to but when I heard you were here as well.....don't take this the wrong way but I had to come see you Lauren. Bad year for me so far where the people I like get hurt and all." He grimaced a little, then said "And they hurt her because of what I did yesterday. Dirk took it out on Amy."

Lauren listened to him. "You have a big heart James never let it be filled with bitterness or hate or revenge seeking... If you do that you will become the very people you hate"

"Yeah well....kinda late for that," he said, reflecting on how he nearly killed Dirk with his bare hands. Just the thought of his face changing color, the sound as he gasped for air, and the life slowly fading from his eyes.....it made James close his own and take a deep, shuddering breath as his legs felt weak. "Sorry," he mumbled, sitting down in a chair by the bed.

"What do you mean kinda late? James what did you do?" Lauren demanded as she forced herself to sit up.

"Nothing, I didn't....." James mumbled. "I.....ran out of Chris' house when we found Amy. Wanted to find Dirk and his gang and......I wanted to do things," he said quietly. "They hurt my friend and I needed to make sure they were just as hurt."

"That doesn't make it any better though hurting others just because they hurt you or someone you know and care about doesn't justify it" Lauren sounded appalled, her eyes hurt that James could be reduced to such a level.
"I think you should leave James" Came the stern voice of her step father, who had opened the door for him, indicating with his hand for him to go.

"Uh....yeah, I probably should," James said, a little alarmed at the tone of her father. Moving to the door, he turned back to the room and said "Sorry....for upsetting you all. Didn't mean to......sorry." And then he left, heading back for Amy's room.

Today was just another day at work. Nothing particularly exciting happened to Nick, or around him. He went through and recorded all the data he needed for other experiments, he recorded them and submitted them. He discussed projects with other researchers, the results they were getting, what it could mean for the future of medicine or the future of Panacea, for some of the more corporate minded people. Nick seldom participated in the discussions where the topic was the future of science or medicine. He felt too old for those discussions, a topic he loved to discuss, however, was the future of the human race and the benefits the research at Panacea would bring. He would speak quite amiably of the ideal society in which technology played only a minor part in everyday life. Irony being that Panacea was a BioTech corporation.

There was some discussion about some internet video. Nick paid no attention to it. He had no cell phone, no laptop, no digital footprint. He had no interest in things the internet posted, or what was posted on the internet. Whatever it was ruffled some feathers though, some people seemed a little bit angrier than before after watching it. Some people seemed completely unbothered by it. Which, to Nick, said that it was some sort of social message, something having to do with the social nature of humans, like mate preference, homosexuality versus heterosexuality. Those discussions could make people very uncomfortable, and violence to the former party is usually distasteful to some, while other secretly enjoy it.

However, eventually someone would attempt to show him the video, he would, of course, politely decline to watch it. He was a relatively new hire, however, and even with interns, they, with relative frequency, knew the people who worked in the research department through school or seminars, whereas Nick turned up out of the blue. So in that he was at a social disadvantage. He began to doubt that anyone would attempt to show him this offensive video. He was at a social disadvantage being in this world.

Regardless, he went about his work as per the usual. Upon the end of the workday, 4-5pm depending on the research being done, and sometimes much later, he went home. Walking home was always the same, he seldom saw anyone, because he took to a park to go home, as opposed to the shorter walk he used to get to work. The scenes were always the same, trees, bushes, birds, rabbits, and urban creatures like raccoons. Despite the unchanging scenery, he enjoyed it. He would feel a little closer to nature, a little more at peace. These walks home are what kept him sane, and calm. The day would feel incomplete without his stroll through the woods. Some days he would stop for a moment, take a nap in the park, and only someone who walked right up to where he was would see him, otherwise he was hidden from the world.

He was simple like that. Nature was his source of calm, and in a sense, his power.

Stella remained sitting there still. She was staring at the floor, unable to figure out what to do. She was reeling and confused and a swirl ofnemotions...
She felt like a failure.

While the activity outside the hospital was mildly hectic, it was a safe assumption that it was at least peaceful and conflict free. That all changed though, when a a large moving van turned the corner of the street, and as it passed outside the hospital's main entrance the back door of the container unit slid open, and a pair of large....things, were dropped out the back. It made a few people stop and look, since after all when was something like that ever seen? The pair stood up, and it became apparent they were human....barely, however. A man and woman, both were almost grotesquely deformed with muscle, slabs of it nearly visible beneath the skin. Their clothes were torn, and if one looked past the furious looks in their eyes they'd see signs of abuse, torture: cuts and healed over bruises, burns from flames or electrocution. They were attack dogs, taken off the street and experimented on by the Chemist....and he intended to make a show.

It wasn't their fault really, the pair of mutants. Kidnapped, tortured, and then injected with a cocktail of drugs that increased their muscle density and strength, an hallucinogen, and a chemical that caused rage. They were angry and seeing a fantasy world of things that made them afraid or even more enraged, and the drugs compelled them to attack, lash out, and destroy the threats. The male of the pair screamed in a rage and charged a car that was parked on the street, and flipped it over as he rammed into it. A few people screamed, some of the reporters tried to take a shot of what happened, and the cops on site moved to subdue....before the woman ripped a bus-stop bench off the concrete and threw it at the crowd, where it landed on some hapless people. Shots were fired by the cops then, reaching the decision to not use non-lethal but all the bullets did was embed themselves in the thick muscles....and served to make the roid-raged mutants angrier. Screams followed, and from where James stood in the hall, he could hear the carnage below. The hell? Gestalt, can you access th--

Already done, and you should see this.

James stood there, stunned as he saw in his head the pair of muscle bound.....people, he supposed, flipping over cars and tossing people like rag-dolls. A cop car arrived, but the occupants soon came under attack as they fired on one of the things. We need to help! Let's fine a spot to change and get out there, James said to Gestalt, who was only to happy to comply. There was an empty room nearby, and James went inside and shut the door behind him. Changing into his suit, he....performed some property damage and jumped out the window, breaking the glass. It wasn't entirely his fault--had the hospitals actually built in windows that could be opened he wouldn't have needed to break the glass. As it was, he landed in the grass of a courtyard, a place for staff and patients to relax when able. It was vacant, one side open to the street where he could see people running in fear. So he ran towards that corner and turned it, seeing at the far end the damage being wrought.

The two muscle bound freaks were roaring and snarling like animals, while the cops on site fired their guns at them to little effect. One of the things ripped a freaking fire hydrant off the ground, sending a geyser of water into the air. He or she, honestly James couldn't tell, flung it like a baseball at one of the cops, missing them while into the brick wall behind them. They were about to charge, until something hit them in the back: James, coming in from a running start and jumping into them, a kicked aimed at their lower back. All it did was piss them off even more.

And then, to a rain of light bolts and a choir of crackling noise, the two monstrous men were blasted by a hail of lightning. Orion leapt up onto on of the police cars, frowning in anger as he looked around at everyone, his body coated in fine, brushed aluminium, shimmering in the light, as he stood and held his hands at his sides.

"Officers of the law, please take a seat. This isn't something you can help with."

He leapt down, into the 'arena' and made his way to the two lugs, cracking his knuckles with each step. He slowly began to warp his form, his metal growing thicker, larger, bulkier, and covered in nubs and ridges to enhance intimidation. Finally, his form of full titanium coated every inch.

"Are you two reasonable gentlemen going to move along? Or are you two lug heads gonna make me kill you?" Orion scowls, more than used to mutants of science at this point.

The lightning certainly caught everyone off guard, heck even the raging pair James was fighting. He had fallen onto his back from the not-so-effective kick, and by the time he stood up he saw Emperor Palpatine clad in metal skin talking to the two brutes. Whatever he had to say though, they didn't want to listen. One of them spun, arm out, and hit James like a wrecking ball. He went flying, crashing into a parked car and collapsing the frame from one side, along with the doors and glass. "Oww...." he said, and it really did hurt. Gestalt was showing bone damage all around the impact point, though the nanites were already at work patching him up. Then the other of the two brutes walked to the side of the street and tore out of the ground a one post sign for the hospital, a chunk of concrete clinging to the end as they wielded it like a bat.

They didn't have the brains or coordination to plan anything, they just acted: the one that hit James charged towards Mecha-Palpatine, while the one with the new weapon came running at James. He had recovered enough to claw his way out of the wrecked car, right as the sign came down, concrete end used like a sledgehammer. It did even more damage to the wreck, but James slipped away as he slid under the legs of the brute. "You better have car insurance!" he yelled out, before standing at the ready. One hand started to form into a shield, the other a long blade as he made ready his counterattack.

Orion sighed and increased his density, watching the beast as his body began to ripple with electricity. He felt his skin crackle for a second before he adapted himself properly, and prepared to feel the brunt of the hit.

He noticed the kid, utilising speed over strength for the moment. He wondered if that'd be as effective as this next move. Orion readied himself, his body tense, his body freezing up as he practically became a statue, his body as dense and strong as he could possibly make it.

The one charging Mecha-Palpatine (the female of the two brutes) slammed into the guy, arms going around him as she lifted him up and continued charging until she slammed him into the side of a news-van that had been parked. The occupants had run out of the way as she came at them, and the side of the van crumpled like a soda can.

James' opponent swung the hammer at him, a sideways attack that hit the shield and while not dealing damage, did send him flying a few feet and knocking him off balance. Okay, taking direct hits even with a block is a bad idea. Need to be maneuverable. Ditching the shield and blade, both absorbed back into his body as he ran this time towards the oncoming brute. Jumping up, James slammed his fist into its face with as much strength as he could muster, and it sent the creature stumbling backwards, blood trickling from his nose and mouth.

Orion felt himself shaken up, but still at least alive. His form remained the same, but this meant one very important thing - these guys weren't pushovers. They'd need to be beaten properly, not worn out. Orion sent a blast of electricity through his body and sent it straight into the beast, using every single watt he had. He took the brief moment of weakness and changed his form, slipping away and panting, as his new, lightweight carbon form took over. He looked over to the other fighter and yelled out.

"Kid! Get over here!"

He ran to meet the guy and spun, hoping to get a bit of a 'back to back' thing going.
"Okay, you're fast, which means we might be able to work their lumbering-ness against themselves. We get the two of them to charge each other, you go for a stab, I'll do everything I can, and we go from there. Thoughts?"

"Yeah, here's a thought: WHO THE FLYING FUCK ARE YOU?" James demanded. Before he could get a response though, the female brute that had been shocked shook off the new guys attack, and grabbed one of the cop cars. She couldn't lift it, but she did have enough strength to push the damn thing like a battering ram, running behind it as she shoved with all her strength and came at the pair. Her partner chucked his street post weapon at the pair like a high-speed missile. James saw that bit, and ducked the to side.

Orion was caught off guard, taking a deep breath and calling out, frowning to himself and to his 'partner'.
"We can discuss pleasantries after these two are buried! Jump!"

With a strong downward push, Orion leapt up into the air, suddenly feeling something slam into his back and send him forward with a sharp pain deep down in his spine. Orion rolled and snarled as he stood back up, stretching and swearing to himself, as he looked at the bent and warped post nearby.

"today is a good day"I said as i found a couple more items in the beach"not too high end but good enough for today,hey urthus how you doing?"

Coming to his feet, James stared down the now charging brute, and this time ducked into a slide that once more brought him under the legs of his opponent. Quickly coming to his feet again James fired his cables, and they wrapped around the legs of the charging brute. Yanking back with all his strength, he managed to trip the creature up and send it crashing to the ground. Reeling in his tethers James ran and jumped up, landing on the back of the fallen titan. However, he was unsure of how to restrain it. Oddly though...the fight seemed to be out of the creature, and soon enough the strangest thing happened: it began to shrink. The mass started to recede, though slowly. In fact it didn't shrink by much, just enough to show it happened.

As for the female, she began to slow down, panting deeply now as she came to her knees. Like the male, she too began to shrink, and it became clear that whatever was done to them was starting to wear off. Cops began moving in to restrain the brutes, while James stepped off the fallen thing and found himself staring at a few cops who had their guns trained on them. "Down on the ground now!" one of them shouted, to which James groaned "Not again!"

I snarled, moving forward and quickly draining some electricity from nearby lamp posts. I take a few moments before I push through the police lines, and angrily let out a pulse of electrical power, incapacitating the officers for a moment as I begin to zap both of them hard, ensuring as much as possible went straight to their brains, wanting to end their wretched lives now.

The.....shocking, development of the new guys attack made James blanch before running towards him, slamming his shoulder into the guy and knocking him off balance. "The hell are you doing?" he demanded, while the cops recuperated and aimed their weapons at Mecha-Palpatine.

Orion composed himself and swore loudly before turning to face the police, quickly encasing himself in a second layer of thick carbon alloy. If they so much as twitched, he'd have them on their knees, guns to their own throats. He turned back to face the newcomer, clenching his fists as electrical charges ran up and down his arms, eager to be unleashed. Really, he shouldn't expect this guy to know a whole lot about beasts like these. They weren't human, it was as simple as that. Some lunatic like Orions father had taken them in and warped them into something entirely new. And, if the lunatic was worth a damn, he'd have made sure them shrinking down to size wasn't the end of it.

"If you honestly think these creatures have had their fill, you're an idiot. They're not finished yet. Whoever or whatever did this and turned them into those monsters wouldn't waste his time and effort for a short display. They might turn back, or they might have something far worse in their system. If they do turn back, no prison cell is going to hold them. We either put them down now, or we risk losing everything."

A few of the cops began to nod in agreement, their minds going hazy as Orion spoke, his own 'charismatic' power once again taking control without his own desire.

"You don't know for sure," James growled out. "If they were made this way then there's bound to be a way to cure them. Look at them for Christ's sake, they're just people! They're no more responsible for this than a rabid dog!" A poor choice of words he realized, as rabid dogs were after all put down....

Orion quickly drew back the alloy covering his face, as he stepped forward over the bodies, right up against the little do-gooder. He looked down at the kid in fury, his body shaking, his bolts crackling even louder as they spread up to his shoulders.

"Look at me! Am I human?! Am I any different from them?! No! They are freaks, just as I am! And I intend to put them out of their misery, before it's too late! Too late for them, and for anyone else who is put in their path!"

Stella watched her computer screen, the dashcam of the Police car having a perfect view of the mysterious asshole and Revenant, the guy who broke into her car without problems. She had audio from a radio close to Orion and James transmitting the conversation while she watched.
"This..." she muttered. "is crazy."

She wiped her eyes. Sorrow later. Spying now.

This was getting dangerous, that much was clear. Gestalt, how are you with electricity? he asked the nanites.

We are....complicated; since there are several different breeds of Hreshtak that use bio-electricity as an attack, our makers were able to give us limited resistance that protect the host. Direct, concentrated bursts for more than six seconds will cause errors in our system, and sustained contact will cause us to lose structure. In other words, the epidermis will collapse and leave your body exposed.

Alright, so we use hit and run tactics, if it comes to it, he thought. "Back off now, or I will put you down, hard. They're innocent people, they don't die today, or any other day."

Orion frowned, as he quickly froze his heart in steel for a split second before letting it go. He could feel himself losing control. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and stepped back, before looking at the police. He probably knew someone who could pull some strings.

"Fine. Take them away. But if these 'innocent people' begin to rampage again, we're doing this my way. The right way."

With that, Orion held a hand out, to shake. After all, he'd not met someone of this caliber who wasn't registered by the officials in quite some time.

"I'm Prophet Steel. It's rare to meet the likes of you these days."

Hesitant at first, James then extended his hand and said "Revenant. And I'm a bit new at this.....and probably already filled with more moral fiber." As he spoke, the police began restraining the brutes in an....odd fashion. Certainly one that had never been tried before: the riot tanks arrived, and like the police gunships, were armed with the taser nets. Once in range, they fired on both of the brutes, snaring them in the carbon fiber weave....before once more all the guns turned to aim at James. "Surrender now......Revenant, or we will use lethal force." Turning to look at them, James groaned and said "What do I have to do to convince you idiots I'm on your side!?"

That was when Stella cut every single light in a ten block radius and cut every single Police car and radio into static.
The side of the hospital facing revenant had lost all lights, and only lights. Pinpricks of computers and all were seen, but it was black as night for the nanite crusader.

Orion looked at the tanks and choppers and frowned, as he covered his face quickly before anyone got a good look in him, resuming the dark skull motif of his mask. He turned to face them as Revenant spoke, clutching his fists and slowly drawing in more of the electric power around him, trying to channel everything in the vicinity. Already, the lights began to flicker, both along the streets and those fitted to the tanks.

And then, much to his disdain, the whole area went dark. Everything, from the street lights to the radios, was cut. That was more than a little bad for a guy who was very much helped by electricity. In fact, the only thing that remained properly lit at the moment was Orion, as the electrical currents ran over him.

"Shit."

"What the fuck?" one of the cops yelled. James was momentarily blind before Gestalt overlaid the thermal vision, everything being coated in shades of gray and black. Firing a cable, he pulled himself up to the roof of one of the nearby buildings, before circling back to the hospital, the only thing still lit as the backup generators came online.

In the hospital, during the chaos outside, Chris and Amy's parents panicked when they heard the screams and gunshots. She tried calling Jams, but there was no response on his cell, and the only thing that kept her rooted to the spot was Amy.

It didn't take much for Orion to see the faint outline of the man by his side quickly fling up onto the rood of one of the nearest buildings. With a low sigh, Orion ran for it, down the street and into one of the nearest alleys, as he let his body return to normal, before walking out onto the street and looking for any sign of-

"The hospital... That'll work."