Wednesday, October 14^th, 2020
Night :: Bayside
"Spiritual Return"

Maiara Rayen Huerta Cheshire was a girl of simple pleasures. As she bounced down the dark streets in her overly revealing miniskirt, crop top and schoolgirl pigtails, she was all smiles. The city had so much to offer, after all.

As she rounded a corner, she "accidentally" bumped into a couple clad in some rather expensive attire.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry mister!" she exclaimed as she helped the man that she had just knocked down to his feet. "Are you alright?"

He was tall, dark haired, somewhere around forty years in age. Short stubble. Graying hair. Lecherous.

"Perfectly fine, my dear," he responded with a chuckle. His arm returned to its interlocked position with the woman he was with as Mai began to walk past him. "Be safe now, you never know what could happen on these streets at this time of night."

Of course she noticed his longing stare as she skipped away down the sidewalk. That was part of the ploy, after all. A miniskirt, already too short for its wearer, fluttering up and down with her bubbly movements? What old creep could resist? She allowed herself a small giggle as the woman slapped her companion across the face for the unwelcome gesture. She allowed herself a larger giggle as she turned another corner and admired the gold Rolex she had just looted off of the man.

"You're going to fetch a pretty little price, my pretty little friend," she mused as she pocketed the watch.

She was about to continue her merry little stroll when she heard a scream emanate from where she'd just left. It was the woman from that couple, no doubt. It sounded like those two were having a bad night.

Against her better judgment, she decided to turn around and investigate the source.

She peered around the building she had taken her little respite by. The couple hadn't made it very far from where she'd left them. The man was lying on the ground, whether dead or just unconscious, she wasn't sure. The woman was being dragged off into a nearby alley by one man. The second man's pants were practically already halfway off.

"Shut the bitch up, we don't want any 'heroes' showing up!" she heard the second man say to his friend.

Well, "hero" might be stretching it a bit, but it's too late for that, darling, Mai thought.

She began creeping closer so that she could hear the rest of the conversation, making sure to stick close to the wall and out of reach of the street lights.

"Heroes? You're kidding, right? Ain't no heroes 'round here, just a bunch of pansies dressed up in costumes, who ain't no shits."

"Well I heard that Resistance group is trying to find more freaks for its cause, and they're having some sort of meeting tomorrow night to find 'em."

The first man snorted. "Yeah, sure. Doesn't matter anyways. That's tomorrow, and this is tonight. Screw the 'Resistance' and it's freaks."

Mai scowled. She'd heard of the Resistance, but she hadn't paid it much mind. The last time a group of supers had tried teaming up in Hyperia, the "New Champions" as they'd been known, they'd failed miserably. Mai hadn't been a part of them then, and she didn't really care for the idea now.

Though, she had been tied up in some government freak nonsense at the time, so maybe a chance to stick it to the meta-force could be fun.

It was a thought she'd save to entertain later. For now, she had a couple of thugs to deal with.

By the end of the conversation, she'd reached the alley way where the men had dragged the woman. She turned into it, and was promptly greeted by the sight of a man's bare ass. It wasn't even a pretty one, at that. The woman was still struggling as the man fumbled with ripping off her clothes. She couldn't let out any more screams, however, as the other man had already made sure that her mouth was too preoccupied for that.

Disgusting.

"Oh, boys!" Mai called, stretching out the word with a cheery tone. She gave her chest a little wiggle as the men turned to her, startled. She waved to them as she spoke again. "Mind if this lil' girl joins in on the fun?" She ended with a giggle and a head tilt, for good measure.

The men stared at her for a moment, then glanced at each other.

The idiots were too ravenous to realize it was an obvious trap. Then again, she made a fairly convincing whore, if she did say so herself.

As the man that had been removing the woman's clothes stood and began to approach her, Mai gave him a broad smile and raised her right arm. He reached out for her, and she snapped her fingers. Instantly her hand was ablaze in abysmal flames, and they scorched the man's fingers, causing him to reel backwards with a shout. Before he got too far, however, Mai reached out and slapped him across the face, melting his skin and sending him to the ground.

If he was lucky, he'd have died from that slap. The burn from a dark flame did not heal easily, and the resulting scar was not something anyone should care to live with.

An instant later, she was pushing the second man off from the woman with her regular hand. She used her flaming hand to grab the appendage that was freed from the woman's mouth, burning it off.

Mai couldn't help but smirk as the man let out a terrible scream.

He fell to the ground, unconscious and unmanned. There would be no salvaging that part of him. It was exactly what he deserved.

She silenced her flames and helped the trembling woman to her feet. She could tell that the woman didn't know whether to be terrified of her as well, or thankful for having been saved. Mai didn't give her much time to decide.

"There, you're fine now. You should probably call an ambulance for your friend on the ground over there, though."

With that, she strolled out of the alley and was gone.

Now, to figure out where this "Resistance meeting" was being held.


The next night, she decided to stay home. She had already pawned off that stolen Rolex, and had managed to figure out that the meeting she'd heard about was taking place in some abandoned warehouse in Bayside. It had taken less spying than she'd thought it would to glean that little bit of information off of random passersby.

If that's all it took to find out the Resistance's plans, their future didn't seem too bright.

Despite that, she was still curious. While she might have been staying home, that didn't mean she couldn't also be at the meeting.

She laid down on her bed and began to concentrate. After a few moments, she felt her spirit detach from her body, and suddenly she was looking down on herself.

After all these years, it was still an incredibly interesting experience.

In this form, no one would be able to see her. She could attend the meeting and learn everything she wanted, and to everyone else, it would be as if she'd just been home asleep.

Her spirit took flight, soaring out her bedroom window and rising into the skies above Helios. It took only a few moments for her ethereal self to reach the Bayside region, and only a few moments more for her to reach the warehouse district.

As she slowed down and descended to the ground, she noticed a fair few people wandering around the district. Or, more accurately, wandering towards a single warehouse in staggered time.

A meeting isn't so secret if you make the location so obvious, she thought to herself. Sure, the only people around seemed to be the ones attending the meeting, but what things seemed to be and what the truly were were two separate things entirely.

Her invisible form was proof of that, albeit proof that no one else could see.

She glided towards the warehouse doors, taking a quick peak in to see how many people had already arrived.

She counted twelve figures in and around the warehouse. Two seemed to be keeping their distance, and one was trying to hide. She was doing well enough with it, but it wasn't the easiest thing to hide from a spirit whose eyes could pierce shadows with relative ease.

Inside, there was a girl in a sheep mask arguing with someone on her phone. Two boys appeared to be fucking with each other, though they weren't exactly fucking each other just yet, despite a few innuendos she overheard. Another had decided to crash through the warehouse wall Kool-Aid Man style. The rest just seemed to be standing around for the moment.

As far as Mai was concerned, it didn't appear to be a very promising bunch. At all. They'd be lucky if they weren't all discovered or even killed here tonight.

Giron stood there with the few other people, none of whom he recognised, for a while. He wasn't even completely confident he had the right place; anybody could have been having a secret meeting in that warehouse after all. Soon enough though, his confidence in the situation returned as through an extremely convenient skylight, in quick succession, two familiar faces (for want of a better word in one instance) descended into the building.

Quantum was first, in a suit that looked kind of different to Giron. He was pretty sure it was her though, it seemed kind of unlikely that there were two flying energy beings in robo-suits hanging about and he knew for a fact that she was still actively crime fighting around Hyperia.
""… Uhm. Hello," she began in typical Quantum manner. Giron started to move towards her to say hello, but it was at that moment that the second familiar face landed. Stargazer was one of the ones he'd heard literally nothing about, so he was extremely pleased to see her doing well. This confirmed to him that this was not only the Resistance meeting, but also that he'd be seeing old friends again (obviously). Things were shaping up to be worth the risk.

Giron once again begun his walk across the room to greet his fellow ex-Champions, completely forgetting at that moment that neither of them had the faintest clue who he was. He never made it all the way across to them however, as suddenly a tattooed man strode forth.
"I bet you're wondering why you've been gathered here today." He paused, an agonizing moment of silence." He paused briefly before breaking into laughter ""Yeah, me too."

The tension in the air suddenly broke and was replaced by a feeling of aggravation and disappointment, something that Giron was oblivious to as he started laughing hysterically. Not even noticing that the tattoo guy ended up in a tussle with a weirdly dressed person over the joke, that Giron loved. He was too busy trying to not fall into convulsions because he was laughing so hard at the joke.

With considerable effort however, he managed to pull himself together and resume his leisurely stroll towards his former teammates only for a moment later a wall to explode, and some guy to leap through it screaming "OH YEAH!" It was at that precise moment that Giron fell to the ground in complete hysteria.
"Its…" he managed to choke out between bouts of laughter "Just like… the Kool Aid guy!" he continued to laugh like a moron for several minutes, completely unaware of how strange the childish reaction sounded in his deep rumbling and not at all stereotypical voice. He was also completely unaware of the fact that several of the people in the room hated each other and that several of them likely were not very fond of him either at that point.

Completely not bothered, and ignoring the weird looks some people had given him, Giron struggled to pull himself together so he could speak and managed to walk over to where Quantum and Stargazer were at last. He then opened his mouth and tried to speak but ended up laughing again and once again took a few moments to compose himself.
"Sorry-" he begun, taking a few deep breaths to get control of himself "It's been a while, how are you guys! I've missed you! What have you been doing? Well I know what Quantum's been doing I have to read about her a lot at work. You vanished though! What's new guys? Are you in the Resistance? Are you joining? Tell me all the things!"

When the response Giron received to his sudden torrent of remarks and questions was a quizzical stare. He stopped suddenly.
"Oh right! I'm some guy right now!" He took that opportunity, to change to his normal appearance: an enormous green lizard creature. "It's me Giron!" he chirped happily, paying no attention to how his sudden change into an enormous reptile might effect the gathered people.​

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Wednesday, October 14^th, 2020
Night :: Suburbia
The Grass is Greener

Later that day, Harper sat at home, watching the late night news. She seemed unphased by the state that her living room was in. The painting canvas littered with a palette of unorganised oranges, purples and greens, the discoloured pile of clothes that had found themselves blocking the door to her office even the curtains had been hit by a mess of stains. There was barely a ray of light from the lamposts peeking through the drapes. She preferred it that way these days. The droning of the news anchor was atmospheric, and having the curtains closed gave her that sense of security alongside it. She felt safe. She could see everything going on outside, while shutting it all out.

She almost felt a literal bubble popping inside her as unfamiliar and unwelcome sound came from the kitchen. A second later, a rush of wind smacked Harper in the face, and in less than a second, an all too familiar face was staring at the young woman. The face had not aged a day since the first time meeting this figure. If anything, she may have looked better than she did 5 years ago, seeming slimmer and more energetic even her average clothing of a pair of blue jeans and a plain, but low cut t-shirt (far less revealing than her spandex suit). "Hey, Harps. Did you move the spoons? Oh wait," the voice said. Less than a second later, the familiar woman returned, this time with a spoon and tub of ice cream in hand, munching on the cookie dough flavored delight. "Found them."

Helen? Harper was stunned into silence. A multitude of questions flooded her head at that moment. How did Helen know where she lived? Why was she here? How did she get in? WHAT THE HELL WAS SHE DOING EATING HER ICE CREAM?!?!? Her gaze slowly lowered to the tub. She resisted the urge to pounce then and there. "Helen...before I ask why, I think I'm gonna need a how and a when, oh, and of course the obvious, why are you eating my ice cream?" She ended with a harsh but passive aggressive tone.

Helen's eyes widened as she ate the ice cream at an accelerated rate, with half the tub gone by the time that Harper finished pestering with her questions. "Did you want that answered in order?" She asked, rushing back to empty her hands before seemingly teleporting back in another gust of wind. "Sorry, ice cream was gone and I wanted to at least be polite and put it in the trash, but you know I couldn't find your trash because I swear your apartment feels differently than last time but it's whatever, since I found you eventually which I guess answers your first question of how I found you which wasn't really that hard really." Helen said all that in a garbled mess of words with her mouth flapping at a mind numbing pace. "Oh, I should probably slow down, huh? It's been a while since we saw each other after all." With a pause, Helen attempted to reset herself into normal people time. It was nigh impossible for the speedster to do that.

"Okay, I found you pretty easily since I am a reporter. It was a matter of asking the right questions and zipping around the city. I got here about...45 seconds ago. And I was hungry. So I nabbed some food. I actually checked this place a couple of times, but couldn't find you. Probably came a bad time, between all the times I was trying to fight crime in the city like we were supposed to do all those years ago," Helen said at a slower pace with a smile. She was so proud of herself adopting the Overdrive persona on an unofficial vigilante basis, having even teamed up with the occasional other hero. "Oh, and before you ask the obvious, I vibrated through your door. It's okay, I didn't break it like the last time you saw me try to do that."

"Wait, wait, wait...you're a reporter?" Harper chimed in at the most surprising of the information that was fed to her. For the most part, when dealing with Helen, there was very little that she found surprising anymore. Despite that, the fact that the eccentric woman had an actual formal job completely threw her off guard. She'd long since gotten used to the explosion of words that one would be expected to endure when in a conversation with Helen, but that part left her completely bewildered.

"Oh, yeah! Helps keep me in the loop about things, especially when it comes to crimes and what not. I work under an assumed name though, since we still have to stay somewhat on the down-low given who we used to work for. 'Ada Keller.' I made it sound foreign so people wouldn't think twice. Also, it's funny to say," Helen said fondly, sighing with a glimmer of happiness. She was clearly proud of herself. "The old guys still try to catch me when I am super-hero-ing but I got about 5 times faster so they got nothing on me. How are you holding up?" Helen asked, genuinely interested in how Harper was doing. Helen always liked Harper a lot more than Mai. She was kinder and less judgmental. Also, she handled the headaches that Helen induced far better.

Harper felt a warm fuzz, when Helen asked how she'd been. She could definitely be annoying, but she did care, and it meant a lot to her. The question definitely made her more self aware. She was a mess. Seeing Helen was ironically like a breath of fresh air, and helped her remember the good old days, back when things were simpler. When she was still going to school, living with her parents and seeing her boyfriend. Now she was self employed, with a job that wouldve been ten times better had she been in the capacity to advertise her brand, her boyfriend had moved away on business and her parents...well. She wasnt particularly fond of either step parent. All the competition for her affection left her at odds with both parents, so that was rarely ever an option. In short, life sucked, but she wasnt about to tell Helen any of that. "Ummm..haha, I've been doing well." She said with a very forced chuckle.

"Okayyyyyyyy," Helen said. She was hyperactive, but not stupid. She knew enough about Harper to know that she was lying, but she wasn't going to pry. Not yet, anyway. That would come later after Harper got off her ass and did some things. That's what Helen was here for. "Look, Harps. I caught a rumor in my reporting, superhero-ing thing. Apparently a group is shaping up to help out the city. It's called the Resistance or something. I think we should join. After all, we were supposed to do this thing anyway. We were part of a team, so why not join another one and do things like the good old times?"

"Yeah, I've been informed." Harper replied, her tone dropping at the mention of this stupid superhero thing again. "I'm not interested. If it was meant to be it wouldve worked out the first time." Harper replied coldly. She really didnt need this. The first time around, being a superhero was a get out. Life was boring and everything was running so smoothly she needed a get out. That wasnt the case now however. It was all an inconvenience to her.

Helen frowned before snickering. Harper got really depressing, really fast. Almost Helen fast. "You do know that I could force you to come with me, right? So why not just check it out willingly so I don't have to kidnap you. Looking around your place, it looks like you need something to restart your life. You aren't going to find it wallowing in your dark place here, Harps."

"Pfft, you've got nothing on me." Harper dismissed the ridiculous notion with a role of her eyes. Blackmail wasnt going to work on her. "Not sure why everyone's so caught up on the resistance thing anyway, I'm sure they've got more than enough support already." With that, she headed for the already invaded kitchen; the whole ordeal had left her with quite the appetite.

Helen sighed. She didn't want to have to do this, but it seemed like she had to. With a flash of wind and lightning, Helen grabbed her friend and in a matter of a couple of minutes, found themselves in the warehouse district of the city despite Harper's protests. Helen was supporting her friend's head and let go as soon as the rush of speed ended. "I learned that sometimes I give people whiplash, but I stopped that after a couple of weeks. Grabbing the head seems to help."

As she was released from Helen's dastardly clutches, Harper fell straight to her knees, gasping as much air as possible. "Helen...I think I might just hate you." She somehow managed to blurt out in two breaths. "How do you even..." She began, unable to finish her sentence. After taking a moment to recover, she looked up at the dark setting, much to her discomfort. Practically no light at all. She thought to herself with a frown. What if this whole thing was a trap? She'd be practically useless if it came to a confrontation. There was no sign of super heroes...her train of thought began to stutter as she came to a realisation. She looked up at Helen, before looking down at herself. At her pyjama vest and short shorts. "Helen...we...we need to go home, now!" She exclaimed with a shiver.

Helen waved Harper off, with a dramatic wave and a strange noise from her mouth. "Harps, you are being overly dramatic. Look, if there is any trouble, I'll bolt us out of her in a hurry. I'll go a bit slower for you so you don't get motion sickness. It takes a little while to get used to it, I'll admit. Probably should've warned ya about that one. My b, bae," Helen snorted with a little chuckle. We just need to find the right warehouse...." her voice trailed off. "I don't know which one that is, so give me a second. Or three." Helen disappeared in that instant, scanning each and everyone warehouse in the area. It took about 5 seconds. Two more than she wanted, but she was distracted by the fact so many people were already gathered in one of the houses. "Found them! And I totally don't think it's a trap"

Harper let out a small whimper at the fact her companion couldn't seem to care less at the fact that she was practically nude. She hoped that those inside the warehouse would share the same sentiment or lack thereof that Helen showed.

Robert Wixter
Q-85487384
R-52769365

Episode 1
Road Trip
Amarillo, Texas
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Kingside

"Oh no," Reid slightly loosened his scarf.

"Other people," he muttered to himself, but even so, his voice trailed off. He grew more and more anxious as more people appeared. He they that they were suppose to have kind hearts, they were here for the Resistance meeting after all, but still, his social uneasiness kicked in. He loosened his muffler more as he remembered the pain.


A fat man clenched his fist, a vein popped out of his forehead. He swung his arm, the impact made a thundering thud. Reid began to feel light-headed, his legs gave way and he crumbled to the ground. His vision blurred as tiny droplets of sweat ran down his forehead. With nothing else to do, he ran to his classroom and silently held in the pain and went into recluse with his books.

Another group of bullies approached him and stop in front of Reid, "What do you think you are doing here? Huh?" But he didn't his my eyes off the book in his hand and pretend that nobody's around him. A boy snatched the book from his hand and throws it away.

"I'm talking to you," he yelled. Reid, still didn't look at him, seemingly tired of having people beating him up.

"Get up," he exclaimed pulling him up from the his seat, grabbing the hem of his t-shirt. Before he could get on his feet properly Reid felt the boy's fist colliding with his face. He felt on the ground, ashamed, as the group stood over him, looming like pillars. Laughter erupted from the others in the classroom.

"What a loser!"

"Freak!"

"Nerd!"

"Smartass!"

His eyes moistened and tears began to form and drop. His hands fidgeted as he tried to wipe his tears while covering up his bloody nose. Lately, he had been wondering what the reasons why his classmates loved bullying him so much, he had no money, so theft wasn't the option, but then it hit him - they were bullying him to show him that he didn't fit in, and for their own amusement.


He shook the hurtful memories of his past. "Just keep calm Reid," he muttered to himself again, trying to be optimistic. He reminded himself of the promise he made the day when he got his powers: to protect those who are oppressed, just like he was all those years ago. Admittedly, he was still a novice at controlling his abilities, and he this "Resistance" group as an opportunity to practice perfecting his powers and maybe, just maybe, to make so called "friends".

There were a lot of interesting individuals for sure. But he hesitated in conversing with them, after that tragic flashback. Reid leaned at a nearby lamppost, produced a small book from his pockets and began to read. With this, he felt more calmer while he waited for the meeting to start.

Quantum
Prologue:Organized Chaos

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002: First impressions are the most important 3

Robert Wixter
Q-85487384
R-52769365

Episode 2
Navigating

Sharing is caring! ​

Abraxas - Back in Black!

Jessie took a draw from her cigarette as she waited on the street corner. Her foot tapped impatiently, it was half past one, thirty minutes after they had agreed to meet. It wasn't unusual for these sort of affairs to be a little... off schedule, but his lack of punctuality made her restless nonetheless. After all, today was the day of the Resistance's meeting.

It only took her going through four more 27's until she felt a hand tap her on the shoulder. "Sorry I'm late."

Recognizing the voice, Jessie turned to face it, putting on the fakest of smiles. "Why, if it isn't my good friend, Christopher." She responded, her voice so icy cold that it could've frozen the cigarette in her mouth. She pulled the man in close so that the lit end of her cigarette was only centimeters from his ear. "Punctuality was a part of the deal... remember?"

The rather tall young man dressed in raggedy clothes gave a nervous laugh before pulling something out of his pocket and handing it to her. "Sorry, sorry, I got you a little gift to make up for things."

Jessie looked over the pack of Newport Reds the fidgety fellow had given to her. She released her grasp on him, slightly pushing him away from her. "Next time you try to make a peace offering go for the Marlboro 27s. But I suppose these will work for now." She started walking down the street, before calling to him over her shoulder. "Hurry it up, I don't have all day."

The bumbling man known as Christopher was one of the newer informants on Jessie's contact list. He could be rather stupid at times, and she wasn't completely sold on keeping him around long term, but somehow he was one of the most well informed guys on the street when it came to the Resistance.

The pair arrived at Dickey's, a small Oldtown diner, one of Jessie's favorite spots in the whole city. This section of town was quite the sh*t hole, but there were a few bright spots if you knew where to look.

After finding a booth in the back corner of the restaurant, the much prettier of the two ordered a pastrami sandwich along with some fries on the side. Christopher also began to order, but Jessie cut him off with a wave of her hand. "This isn't going to take that long."

After the waitress left them alone, they began to speak in hushed tones, starting with the fidgety male voicing his concerns.

"Are you sure this place is clean? There could be all sorts of people listening in on our conversation." He looked around the restaurant, with an expression filled with equal parts anxiety and suspicion.

Jessie gave a smirk as she leaned back into the cushioned seat. "Listen kid, I know that our working relationship hasn't been going on too long, but trust me. There's a reason that I'm known as the best at what I do. Now go ahead and spill the beans, where's the meeting being held?"

Chris gave one more suspicious glance around the diner before responding. "Alright, there's this abandoned warehouse over in Bayside." He pulled a folded up map out of his back pocket. "You probably could find it yourself, but just in case."

The woman sitting across from him could hardly contain the grin starting to spread across her face. She snatched up the map, memorizing the warehouses's coordinates immediately. As she pored over the other details provided on it, she noticed that Christopher was still sitting there watching her. Clearing her throat, she addressed him. "Good work, you're dismissed."

"And your part of the bargain?"

"Good as done, take my word for it, and if not take the word of any of your lowlife thug friends. I get sh*t done, and I appreciate someone who can do the same." She said with a wink. "I'll drop off the papers within a couple days, and if I don't I'll let ya have your way with me."

The man stood there, presumably trying to think of a response, but ended up just nodding his head and leaving the diner.

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Jessie rubbed her hands together in anticipation. The sun was beginning to set on Hyperia. It was finally time.

Today was turning out to be quite the great day. The Cuban Sandwich from Dickie's was superb as always, she pulled the number of that cute waitress she had been flirting with for some time, those Newports that Chris had gotten her turned out to be pretty decent, and most important of all, the black trench coat was back.

When Jessie flipped on that coat, she almost started to tear up out of sheer excitement. The black trench coat seldom saw use, as her brief crime fighting stint had ended five years ago. The only time it was ever used was during her more... involved cases. It was a little strange that she didn't wear it more often, considering she loved the piece of clothing so much, but a special outfit had to be saved for special occasions.

She had suited up quite a bit early, making her way to Bayside even before sunset. She sat from afar, watching the entrance of the warehouse, indicated on the map, with bated breath. It wasn't until much later that she saw a number of figures walk in and even so she waited for even more to arrive. As excited as she was for this, she wasn't going to let that get the best of her. After all, this could've been just some sort of trap set up by someone out to get her, or those interested with the Resistance in general.

Following the arrival of a few more people, Jessie decided that the scenario seemed safe enough. With two shots out of her hand, she was standing in the entrance of the warehouse to find a number of people inside, many of whom were fraternizing and making conversation with one another. While it wasn't necessarily surprising, it seemed much more like an awkward middle school dance than a top secret meeting of an underground group fighting against an oppressive government.

After scanning the room, Jessie realized that she recognized many of those that had gathered. Some from her brief stint with the New Champions, and others from private cases that she had taken over the years. Whether or not they knew her, was a different story, but it was quite clear that this was a gathering of "super-powered" individuals.

It also didn't seem to be the most promising bunch, but that was besides the point. her goal was to gather more information about the Champions' disappearance, and that could be fulfilled without the Resistance's plans succeeding.

Resisting the urge to join the rest of the group in socializing, Jessie stood by the warehouse's doorway. She silently observed the gathered individuals, taking in all the details that she could. In her line of work she'd learned that information on these types of folks could be quite useful.​

Smiley​

Prologue: Reevaluation ​

"What? How do you even plan to get us through there?"

The reaction was basically the same from all five people.

"It's way too high, we can't reach there!"

"And even if we do, we're fully out in the open there!"

"Not hard for a killer robot to take us out there. Or anywhere, really, for that matter!"

James sighed simultaneously through all his bodies.

"I don't want to hear a word anymore. It's our only option. I will distract the robot, you will leave through the window. There's literally no other way out."

The Clockwork Man shot by. It was weird, James thought. It seemed to either move at incredibly speed, or at a snail's pace. The thing was probably incapable of keeping balance at a normal pace. He wouldn't be able to draw it out, but knowing more about the enemy never hurt.

Group 2 stopped in its tracks. James signed to Zara that she should keep quiet. They could hear the robot stepping closer, as its gears ticked a deadly rhythm. The two pressed themselves tightly against the crates, hoping it wouldn't notice. Angled through the crate, a sword appeared, straight through James' chest. He screamed out in pain. It didn't kill him, but it hurt incredibly.

"Run!"

Zara rushed away, and James saw her dive between the crates. He quickly sent multiple duplicates off from the other two groups, trying to find her.

"Zara!" He exclaimed. "Find the voice nearest to you!"

The two James's that accompanied David, Mikael, Damion and Craig guided their groups towards each other, and from there on towards the stairs. They stayed behind the foursome, so the machination couldn't sneak up on them from behind.

"Steps are broken! Can't go up!"

Dammit, James thought. There's too much happening right now. He started overlooking the room to find another way up.


Zara ran for her life, with no clue as to where she was going, and even less of a clue as to where the robot was. She could only hear the heartbeat in her ear and her feet striking the pavement.

"Left!" one of the masked men said, and she took the first turn possible.

"Don't stop. Keep running," he said, as they continued crisscrossing between the crates. "I'm getting as much manpower here as possible. Don't worry." As he said that, the brass blade beheaded him, and he turned to ashes. Another masked man jumped on its back, and with all his weight, tried to pull the thing down. Zara took her moment of heroism and pushed it. It wiggled and gave in, but it quickly regained balance. With the sword it wielded, it spliced the man on its back.


"I got it," James said. "You, Mikael, give me keys to a forklift."

With what felt like an eternity of fumbling in his pocket, Mikael presented the keys.

"Okay, I'll stay here," the other body accompanying them said.

"I'll be back in a second," said the James leaving them.

James raced towards the nearest forklift, put in the key, and started driving it. The weird steering wheel immediately threw him off as he tried to drive himself out of the corner it was parked in. Instead of cleanly driving backwards, he turned and pushed three huge crates of fish over with the fork.

"Well, I got priorities."

The pace of a forklift felt ridiculous in this rushed situation. He tried his best to make it go as fast as possible, but it still only moved forwards at a safe for work pace.



The ticking gear man suddenly spun into another direction, with complete disregard for Zara. She put on a final sprint, and slid away into a narrow pathway between two crates. Smiley #5 rested his hand on her shoulder.

"It's unable to focus if there's too much happening," he whispered in Zara's ear. "I hope, at least, because that's what I'm planning around. There's nine of me, so I'm hoping to keep him sufficiently distracted. Keep in mind I'm not here to fend him off for you, now. Just run, run, and only look back once the death wish sets in."

A muted whistle came through a yellow hockey mask, from far to the other side of the facility.

The machination didn't react. It just continued its rush towards the forklift, the frightening rhythm of its legs hitting the concrete increasing in pace. Smiley #2 leapt at its legs, intentionally missing. It turned around, sliding to a complete standstill as it walked over at its slow, maybe even more frightening pace. Its leg came down on Smiley #2, shattering his spine, as it grabbed the rusted blade from its back, and slowly lowered it. Smiley #2 turned to dust, and a couple of feet behind him, Smiley #4 split off a new duplicate.


The forklift now stood in position, and Smiley #8 guided the workers up.

"Quick, quick," he hushed, trying not to draw attention to the people escaping. The whole set up was unstable. The forklift lifted the crate up as high as possible, making the ledge of the office-floor reachable by jumping.

James clenched his fist as the clockwork robot kept destroying his duplicates in fell strikes and painful stabs. It was distracted, yes, but it didn't feel great being impaled. Especially not in quick succession.

Only the fat man and the short man were left to go up. James agilely scaled the make-shift tower, and tried to pull them up. The short man wasn't a problem, but the fat man just didn't seem to want to raise himself.

Zara hopped onto the forklift, climbing not only over the crate, but also over her overweight colleague as she rushed to get up.

"Fucking hell!" he exclaimed. Suddenly, the steel on concrete tapping started again, as the robot had turned around and started running towards the escapees.

"You bloody idiot!" James yelled, through nine different hockey masks, from nine different locations. "Now it's onto us again. Run! Run! Run!"

They all took off, rushing towards the windows. James braced his umbrella, as he rocketed towards the glass, and smashed it with the steel handlebar. He landed on the scaffolding on the side of the building. Quickly the workmen followed him.

"Get me something to cover this with!"

"Mikael, grab the cover of that crate!"

"You could fucking help, dude!"

The cover didn't exactly fit the window, but it would do the job. James had planned the next couple of hours out completely. Bar all exits, and keep fighting the robot inside. The gears would stop turning at some point, and it would need to be wound up again. Until then, James need to make the sacrifice of constantly dealing with the rusted steel cutting through his skin.

He sighed.

"I'm a bloody idiot," he said and he sat down on the scaffolding. He could see a lonesome figure move around on the docks three stories down. Vanessa.

"I shouldn't have listened to you. I shouldn't have taken your bait," he yelled to her.

"Want to talk about it?" She yelled back, with her refined British accent.

Smiley​

Prologue: Reintroduction ​

It was 7:30 AM. It was too early in the morning, for most people. If the people passing by the coffee shop's window didn't hate their jobs, they at least hated their morning routines. Baggy eyes, tired drivers, and expensive cups of coffee dominated the too early mornings.

"Don't you miss having a job?" Vanessa asked, going through her coffee with the plastic stirrer.

"I don't," James answered, "but I miss having a purpose. I could fill my bank accounts out, and I'd have lost it within two years. I can't take anything with me when I move."

"What's a purpose, though?"

"Something to work towards."

"Why isn't a job something to work towards, then? You could always just save up for a tele-"

"I don't watch TV."

"Point still stands."

"I'm content with what I have."

"Except you aren't. You miss a purpose."

"I miss my purpose like narcissistic millionaires miss friends. I know I don't have it, but at this point, I've come to accept it."

"Replacing it with existential dread doesn't sound much more appealing."

"You get used to it."

"Of course you do."

James took a sip of his tea. English blend, as always. He was glad the coffee shop offered it, but slightly disappointed in their lack of milk and sugar. But knowing America, the tea would probably be pre-filled with sugar anyway. Although, knowing modern times, the sugar would probably be a chemical compound instead.

"Why don't you make your own?"

"Tea?"

"Purpose."

"Because I can't. It needs the impediment of time. Death is its greatest motivator."

"Man, you're grim."

"Look, I'm not saying I've given up on everything. I, well," he paused for second, staring out the window dreamingly. He still hadn't gotten used to the cars racing by, and the sidewalks being as busy as they are. He had lived in London for a long time, but the population of London back then was only a fraction of current Hyperia's.

"I've just stopped caring about a lot of it."

There was a long pause. Or maybe it just felt long, like pauses tend to feel once tension is applied. All James really knew is that it went on for too long.

"You act like you're ancient, you know that. Like you've seen worlds fall and rise up again, as if a country was just a rotten leave breezing by in the wind. But there are people, and I mean people without powers, mind you, just as old as you out there."

"It's not about age. It's about aging. The world is drastically different every 20 years or so, and I've lived quite through quite some 20 years. I'm still drastically the same. I turned 120 this year. And, yeah, that's nothing in the grand scheme of things. Me as universal dust, that's nothing, but when I reach a million years, and I have no doubt I will, it'll still be nothing. I see my world through my eyes, with my experiences and memories. I'm my own filter. And my filter is sepia colored, and only fit to hang on the walls of this bloody coffee shop."

He pointed towards photos on the wall. Photos of young man with wild mustaches, looking through a magnifying glass at coffee beans, digitally toned to look sepia. He continued.

"And even then I'm too authentic. I don't ask you to understand, I understand you won't. I'm asking you to admit my mind won't change, accept that, and walk away."

Vanessa clenched her fist. She quickly got herself together, before unprofessional outbursts would become her staple here in Hyperia.

"Maybe you feel too grand, too ancient to stop those bank robberies, but you don't have to stop fighting. There's a lot looming over us here. If there's a resistance against it, you know there's trouble."

"Well, to be honest, Renegade has always stricken me as the rebellious type."

James laughed. Vanessa would to, but she'd rather maintain the serious tone.

"There's a lot of people in this city. And I mean a lot. Apart they might be dust to you, but if you'd put them together, and I'm doing that, you're saving a giant. Don't give up on this city as you gave up on your daughter. The world doesn't deserve you giving up again."

There was a long pause. It didn't just feel long, it was. The robot in the warehouse killed eleven of his duplicates while the pause lasted.

The first got stabbed through the neck.

The second got beheaded.

The third got his skull beaten against the ground.

The fourth received a blade through the heart.

The fifth got beheaded.

The sixth got cut open through the back.

The seventh beheaded.

The eight beheaded.

The ninth got his throat slit.

The tenth broke his neck.

The eleventh beheaded.

"How deep did you dig?"

"Deep enough."

"I'm not one to be morally extorted."

"I'm not trying to extort you. Just trying to convince you. Look…" she took a sip of her coffee that had been thoroughly untouched, but plenteously stirred, "go to the resistance meeting tonight. They'll show you how dire it is."

"I'll attend."

"Good."

"But I can't guarantee anything. I let you convince me to move out once already, and I didn't like the result of that."

"You beat the bad guy, right?"

"I think that if you get down to the nitty-gritty of it, I was the bad guy. I was lucky no one got harmed."

"I'll attribute it to skill, if you're alright with that."

"Attribute it to stupidity."



James took a bite of the sandwich he had just bought at the night store. It tasted alright, but it wasn't good enough to distract him from the robot slaughtering him. Luckily the Clockwork Man had started to slow down a bit. He estimated 4 more hours of it before he could get himself out of the warehouse, and stop being continuously stabbed.

Currently, he was focusing on another warehouse, a mile further on the docks. It was riddled with holes, and sometimes flashes of light erupted outwards. He purposefully kept his distance. A warehouse being blown to bits and just a constant barrage of powers being activated was sure to draw out the meta-force, or other curious onlookers. James rather keep away from that. He entered the warehouse as a man in a dark suit, carrying a briefcase, made his way to the center of the room.