Chapter 2: Don't Feed the Animals

"You asking me or him?" James asked, not turning around. Not like he was given the all clear or not. Gestalt, what happened to the driver?

Drove off, headed for a hospital.

"You metal man. Also I have pants on, just need shoes."

"i don't got any spare shoes but if you wan't i could give you a lift my place isn't too far from here"

Avaelli had settled back down again, chewing on her thoughts more once the cat had appeared.

Ashaara had finally noted the shift change and began her work. She slithered her way into the morgue workers body, easing control of her brain off of her conscious. It was a feeble thing and have itself to her all too easily. From there, she pulled out the slab containing her body. She took up a needle and began sewing the parts back together. It only needed to be rough, once she had control again the body would heal back up, albeit slower than if Avaelli was here also. Once the patchwork was done, she closed off specific functions in her hosts brain, namely how to breathe, before sliding out of her mind and back into her own open body. She began the waking up process. Her brain was a mess, somethings were refusing to turn on at all.

"Oh well you see I'm an extra from the new James Bond movie where I play one of the bad guys servants he has covered in silver latex paint," Revenant said sarcastically.

Actually it's a malleable metalloid made up of self-replicating........wait, are you being sarcastic?

You still need to ask?

"really and here i thought you were a silver surfer cosplayer"zeru commented jokingly

"You see a board around here dude?" Revenant asked. Looking back at Effigy, he said "Come on, we can take you somewhere safe and more importantly, warm."

"urr. Yea sure." Bella agreed, waiting for them to well show her a warmer place.

"Then would you follow us?" Revenant asked, still keeping his suit on. "Because I've got my own places to be, and I need to be there fast."

He was taken to the 115th precinct station for questioning. He told them the truth, naturally. He had no idea who exactly the metal man was. He just knew of him from the news. He found it hard to believe this guy would do what he did. He had heard through the endless chatter over the radio of the goings on of the suspect and another strange being. The cops lost sight of Revenant and as for the other being, they had him in custody until he... melted through the vehicle. From what he heard, this one was also a suspect and they've also lost sight of him.

So many crazy things have been happening in this cold December night. He sighs and takes a cigarette out of his carton and lights it, walking out of the station into the night. He shivers slightly from the cold, wishing he had grabbed one of his jackets before leaving.

Do they think doin' this shit is helpin' the city? I don't get it much. This ain't no superhero comic book.

He began to walk aimlessly. Trying his hardest to forget the work he'll have to do when he gets back home. His thoughts land on his own power. He hadn't gotten enough time to actually train himself to use it better and now, he still hasn't trained. His mind lands on the idea of him becoming some kind of hero. Well... another kind of hero. One who can fight the good fight on his home turf.

Spandex ain't my kinda thing, though.

"then feel to follow me miss and we'll get going"zeru said standing up and waiting for her to follow.

Urthus stumbled out of the back, his suit on to mask his expression. His movements, however, were sluggish, slow, uncoordinated, and it looked like he might fall at any minute. He was mumbling, something in his native language that was nigh indecipherable to anyone who couldn't speak it. His hands made small gestures, like he was talking to someone, but mainly himself. He didn't seem to notice anyone near him, any of the new figures nearby in his home, though if he did it would be hard to tell. Something in the lighting, or perhaps his pose, darkened the color of his burnt black suit, with the lines seeming to be dimmer than normal, as if his energy was fading. Or, at least to him it was, in some part of his mind.

He had been studying the Void as best he could, swimming through it and feeling the changing of energies around him. It was something he couldn't document, no more than you could describe the sensation of having your muscles clench and relax while exercising. It was a feeling in the back of his mind, a tiny voice that he had listened to for days trying to figure out. Only recently had he returned from his voyage, sleep deprived from that blinding abyss and dedication to understanding what was happening.

Deciding they had waited long enough, Revenant moved to the girl and said "Come on, we shouldn't be out in the open like this." His hand went to her shoulder, gentle but firm as he made it clear that if she didn't start moving he would drag her along if needed.

"Bit grabby with your hands there. That's a sexual assault charge. Tut tut. You really don't know what you're doing."

Avaelli whispered to James in a childlike tone

Like I'm trying to sexually assault anyone, James mentally shot back. But in all seriousness, this was proving irritating......especially since the voice had a point, however much it irked him. He couldn't hope to start dragging Effigy along without her freaking out on him. Wouldn't hurt if it didn't take her an epoch to make a decision, he privately thought to himself.

The cigarette provides little for him in terms of heat. It's something, but not really enough. He digs his hand into his pocket for his flask. He grabs it and takes a gulp. He feels his blood constricting, giving him a bit more to go on.

"Ah... smooth..."

He looks at the flask. Silver, engraved with some markings in the shape of gun with smoke coming out of it. Really, just a generic flask. Worth nothing to no one, except for him. This was his father's flask. It wasn't exactly given to him. He basically took it after the news of his father's death in the war. It's a memento. Something he can't do without.

Miss ya, pops.

He walked until he found a park, Travers Park to be exact. The cold wind blowing make the only sounds he hears the usual sounds of vehicles honking and the trees rustling. He looks around, not seeing anyone else. Of course he wouldn't no one in their right mind would be out at this hour, especially not at a park. He walks around until he spots a bench. He moves some snow away and takes a seat.

He takes a drag and puffs the smoke out. At the same time moving his hand in front of the smoke. Something materializes out of the smoke. A somewhat translucent combat knife, the smoke not completely forming what he wants to form, but the basic idea is there. He wafts the knife away and it turns back into smoke.

Still ain't used to this.

"lets get going incase weather gets worse then"zeru commented before walking onwards back to his home"

He puffs some more smoke out, and repeats the motion he used to call the knife. Concentrating a bit harder. This time, the knife that appears is a tad bit more solid. He points the tip at the table and lowers it. Hoping a scratch will appear. He keeps his focus as he lowers the knife. The tip hits the table and goes in.

A smirk appears on his face as he wafts the knife away again.

I see how ya are. Gotta be concentratin' real hard for ya to be of any use.

He stands and begins making his way back to his house. Until a scream pervades his ears. He quickly turns his head towards it. Barely making out what looks like to be two people running into a nearby alleyway and a third person on the ground. He takes off towards the one on the ground.

Bella dozed off into her own mind for a few moments before waking to the metal mans touch. "Sorry. Just wandered off in mind." She explained before waiting for them to move so she could follow. Not really knowing where they were going which kinda scared her but she could always shift and run if need be.

"Alright. Zeru, you lead the way since I don't think I can remember the way back," Revenant said.

Actually I can help yo-- Gestalt began to say before he was cut off by James.

Yes you can but I'd rather be standing behind the mystery guy with the guns.

A few moments later he arrives and kneels down in front of the person. Now able to fully see them, he sees a woman of average build and average height and she's donned in a lovely fur coat. She's holding her gut as if someone had stabbed it. Her breathing is erratic, implying that she might have been stabbed.

"What happened?" He says in a concerned voice

"I... was heading home... two men tried to take my... purse. I... I fought back but they..."

She moves her hands, showing him the blood and the wound it came from on her stomach. She looks up at him a bit of blood escaping her mouth as well.

"Please... call someone..."

He can see her eyes dropping. She begins to pass out.

Without a moments hesitation, he places his hand over the wound. Trying to stop the blood. He wants the blood to stop. He wants this stranger to live. His hand begins to feel warm, but it isn't from the blood. He slowly removes his hand from the wounded area, seeing that the wound had magically healed, not all of the way mind you, but enough to stop the bleeding. He looks at his hand and says.

"Ain't got time for that. Cmon, wake up"

He gives her a couple of light taps and her eyes flutter open. She tries to say something, but it interrupted.

"I'll be right back. Don't ya worry"

And with that, he shoots off down the alleyway, trying to make up for lost ground between him and the two slippery thieves.

"Any of you know where Marcus is? He such a dummy. Always getting into trouble." Bella asked them seeing as they knew her. She still wondered why the metal man called her Effigy.

"sorry don't know anyone called marcus"zeru said maintaining his pace

"We know where he is," Revenant said. "Shadow is hurt bad, real bad right now and he wanted us to find you. So we're gonna bring you back, make sure you stay safe." His grip on her didn't slacken, still firm as ever without losing the gentle feel he wanted to maintain. She wasn't a prisoner, but he didn't want her to run off. "Zeru, is there anyone else besides Shadow there? Someone you can call to meet us halfway?"

zeru sighed to himself when revenant mentioned shadow knowing they'd still have to talk when shadow recovered"let me see if he's there"zery replied pulling out his phone and hitting the speed dial.

"Shadow? No I only know... Marcus.. Wait, he's dead. Oh my head hurts." Bella finished while rubbing her head. Why did she think Mark was alive. He died all those years ago but something kept nagging her.

Urthus' ears rang with a deafening ringing, he flinched and nearly knocked his head on the wall before his tired mind sluggishly realized it was the ringer on his comm-piece phone thing. He turned it on and sort of mumbled. "What's going on." It was clear he was tired, nearly drained of energy.

"i need you to meet me at the door and open it fast got company and need to get them in where it's warm fast"he replied turning a corner.

"Who is it and how many..." It half mumbled half actually said, "And why are you shouting..." He slowly worked towards the door, kicking over a few things as he went. He stumbled and swore in Asadan before picking himself up.

"So it's not just you and Shadow down there, is it?" Revenant asked as he walked with the girl. "What, did you guys decide to make your own street fighting club?" He tried to enjoy the humor there, considering what he was doing.

"Seriously, Whose shadow." Bella kept asking. She was a little afraid and almost made a move to get away from the metal man's grasp on her shoulder.

"it's bella and she doesn't got shoes,also why would you assume you'm shouting have you been staying up for days again?"zeru said making sure only urthus heard him before turning to rev"sorry but that's not your concern and let go of her she's scared as it is" he replied before putting phone back to here to wait for urthus to respond.

"I had to....something...going on in the Void..." He managed to get to the door and started pulling on it. "feels like it's changing. Hard to...explain...like how you would explain breathing to someone who has never done in..."

"Your brother," Revenant said to the girl. "Least, I think so. He certainly acts like you're his sister." Letting Zeru carry on, Revenant followed.

"No. My brother died in 2015-2016. Why did I think he was alive. Can you let go?" She asked and said, her head was hurting all over now. She wanted to shift, she could feel her bones twitching and if he was holding firm he would too.

zeru eventually led them to and down the hidden staircase to the so called home"ok we're here"he said waiting for everyone to come inside.

There was definitely a soft rippling beneath her skin. At first James thought it was something from a Ridley Scott film. Then he wondered if she was trying to change. "Don't change," he said sternly. "I promise we mean no harm. And the man we are taking you to claims to be your brother. So give it a chance."

At the bottom of the stairs, James gave a brief look. It was all new, at least new to him. Before him was just a corridor, recently furnished but for lack of better term......stale. There wasn't much else to it.

Bella didn't have much to do but follow, the metal man had arm strength in him. She sniffed the air and the smell of the place did seem familiar. Then another scent picked up, a man came by with a scent she liked. And when she saw him her memory of pictures and recent events stirred. "My head hurts. I think I might fall." She said in warning as she blacked out.

Marcus came by down the corridor. His eyes on the now slightly falling Bella.

Catching her as she began to fall, Revenant managed to hold her upright as Shadow came shambling down the corridor. "Hey man," he said casually. "One sleeping beauty, slightly bruised."

"Thanks Rev. What happened to her. Did you check if she had any sort of virus in her. She was covered in that blood." Marcus asked as he got closer to get a good look at Bella.

"No idea man," Revenant said. "All I can tell you is she wasn't in control of her beast form and she has no memory of you, at least of late anyway." It was then that James finally noticed the elephant in the room. Looking at the armored figure, James wondered if the thing was as evil as it looked. Humanoid and glowing red in spaces, Revenant asked "When did you guys get a Sith?"

"nah he's an alien that lost his home world." Marcus explained before hearing slight groans from Bella. "Also thats odd, shes been in beast form and out no problem, like a flash really. Only minus the.." Marcus finished their as Bella stirred a little more and lazily opened an eye. "Why does my pillow feel weird?"

Urthus took a deep breath, the noise muffled slightly by the suit and blinked. There seemed to be a silver humanoid in front of him, holding someone who looked vaguely familiar. Almost seemed to be talking...yup, it was talking to him. "What's a sith?" He said with sleep deprived voice. "I'm an Asadantsu. And you look like a human version of those...food thing. With the beans."

"Oh you did not just call me a bean burrito," Revenant said, bristling at the words.

Asadanstu? My makers never heard of them.....

"And an alien? Seriously? When did New York become the hot place for......okay, guess Hollywood is to blame...." he trailed off. "Look pal, it's not aluminum foil it's an epidermal shell made of nanites. Name's Revenant."

zeru leaned against the wall silently watching the conversation while thinking to himself great now i'm going to have to rethink everything

Bella woke once more and realised she was resting her head in someones lap, her reaction was not pretty and she tried to punch whoever was above her in the chin. Her extra strength would help with it but while this she smelt the scents of people. People she remembered.

"Nanites?" He slowly started to perk up. "Interesting. How did you manage the power requirements? We had issues with size and power, so we developed semi-organic nano-tech instead, controllable microorganism. And I'm Frentiu Fanalan Asa Urthus. Most call me Urthus. or Frank. Urthus is the least painful sounding when you say my name."

Oh he'll never know how we're powered, Gestalt said rather smugly.

Revenant sighed and said "I didn't make them. A different race did, and according to the AI in these things they never heard of your people." Before the conversation could go further, James was struck in the chin. It caught him off guard and he dropped Bella as he stepped away, cursing in, of all things, Spanish. "Maldita sea usted follando perra! Esa es la última vez que te ayude a salir de un aprieto mierda estúpida......" he muttered, trailing off.

[[Translation: Goddammit you fucking bitch! That's the last time I help you out of fucking a bind stupid.....]]

Urthus lead out a small giggle at the human. "I'm not surprised. We never made it out of our own orbit. We were working on a warp travel type method using alternate dimension. I was the lead scientist. Long story short, mistakes were made, I came here, my planet is stuck in the dimension, and I have the ability to open portals into said dimension much to my own personal irony, shame, pain, and hatred. I am working on it though. What was the name of the race that made your nanites? I was unaware humans had any other sentient allies on this planet.

Rubbing his jaw out of habit and less to soothe, James said "There are none. The race that made these guys is from way, way outside our cell coverage." Listening to Gestalt for a moment, James then said "Also the AI, gestalt, he says that's interesting about your people. His own creators, the Tu'Vari, had made some of their own strides in dimensional technologies."