Public Enemies

"We have uncovered a few things about Cifer that you need to know and are not going to make you a very happy man. For starters the DNA tests were read wrong, Cifer is not a Primera nor is he even a part of the same species as you. We learned this after reviewing the tests and learning that the person who ran them immediately jumped to conclusions when he saw that there were some aspects of Cifer's DNA that were remarkably similar to those of a Primera." Agent Valentine, the telepath who had been the first to experiment on Cifer, stopped for a moment as she noted CORE Director Dallan's fuming reaction to these latest updates concerning Cifer. "We also did some in-depth research concerning the so-called Primera known as Shifā Lorkaine-Raezelas Arkinoue and as it turns out Cifer and Shifā are two completely different people. In fact, Shifā was a woman and she was an advocate for The Décima Generation Equal Rights Movement not The Multi-Generation Equal Rights Movement. She mysteriously vanished while making her way through The Aranko Nebula about thirty-one years prior to The Aranko Ambush and was pronounced dead shortly after. The dossier filled with information on the circumstances surrounding her alleged death was filled out wrong, she was accidentally marked down as a male and then her information was placed on the confirmed deceased list for a group of Primera who were killed when the warp core of a star cruiser heading to an outpost near Rinavera-Prime exploded in the same general portion of The Aranko Nebula where she had vanished." 
 
By the time Agent Valentine had stopped speaking, Dallan's face was beat red and his eyes were filled with rage, what were the chances that a mistake of this magnitude would actually happen in his lifetime? He wanted to yell and scream and trash his office and then kill Cifer while he was still asleep but luckily the professional side of him held strong as he opened his mouth to speak. "Okay...then what the Hell is he?"
 
"Cifer Arokine is a sentient multipurpose genetically-engineered weapon of mass destruction. He's almost like Laura Greystroke in many respects. He was built specifically for killing and he has a unique array of abilities which allow him to complete multiple tasks, most of which are impossible for any normal human being to accomplish. However...Cifer's creators were thinking on a much larger scale when they engineered him. They wanted to see what the next evolutionary step up was for living weapons such as Laura Greystroke and they ended up with Cifer Arokine, the destroyer of worlds." Agent Valentine explained.
 
"He...he can destroy entire worlds?" Dallan asked in a rather nervous tone of voice.
 
Agent Valentine shook her head. "No, that was just a term to describe the nature of his original defining purpose in life: to travel from one planet to the next annihilating all intelligent life and make room for the colonizers who followed in his wake. However, before his creators were able to use him in such a capacity someone programmed an artificial conscience and false memories into his mind, thus making him believe he was a real person. However, his original programming began to conflict with this third-party software and eventually caused massive brain damage that rendered him completely useless to his creators but useful in other capacities to different sorts of people."
 
"What do you mean?"
 
"Do I really have to spell it out for you? What is the main reason for CORE's existence aside from universal conquest?"
 
"To engineer an army of emotionless superhuman soldiers from the DNA sequences of a select few of Earth's mightiest super-powered individuals such as The Hunter, Lady Tlieso, Gambler, Light, Kiara Sullivan and so on and so forth."
 
"But in order to engineer this army you have to capture the individuals whose DNA sequences you require for doing so and right now, as it is, there is only one being in this entire complex powerful enough to even get within reaching distance of those individuals and he is currently laying dead asleep on an operating table waiting to be reactivated. Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth or do I need to telepathically burn them into your brain?! Use Cifer in the way he is supposed to be used...as a WEAPON!"
 
"I am sorry but I don't think..." Before Dallan could say anything else Agent Valentine pulled out her silencer and shot Dallan in the forehead.
 
"I should have done that years ago. You never deserved this job in the first place. You wasted so much of The United Nation's money doing whatever it took to satisfy the needs of your species without giving the rest of us anything in return. With you death that all ends now. I am taking control of The CORE, not Senna and I am going to use Cifer Arokine's power to fulfill the promise we made to The United Nations and the duties they gave us when The CORE was first assembled." Agent Valentine said to the corpse of Dallan before activating the intercom on his desk. "Attention all CORE personnel, this is the current Head of Weapons Research and Development speaking. Via intercom I am here to inform you that Dallan Minos is no longer amongst the living and that starting right now I, Melony Valentine, will be taking over as Director of CORE. That is all."

“At times, you are indebted to make a choice. Sometimes you will not be sure if it is the right one. Though I know where my place lies…it lies with my father…with the Lycans, as Princess. No…my place…I don’t know where my place is any more.” These thoughts ran through the mind of the almost seventeen year old girl know as Laura Greystoke. A troubled young teenage beyond any one’s help. There had been many attempts to retract her from the darkness that she would dwell  in, but they all had failed. So many hands outstretched toward her. So many friendships that she had turned down.

As she sprinted off to the Wolf Pack manor located on the off ground of NYC. She began having second thoughts about her decision. Was it really the best thing to leave her father and her team mates just   to go after a group for personal vendetta? These thoughts and doubts caused her to slow pace, until she eventually stopped all together. As she paused her raven locks blew in the recent gush of wind that over took her. A slight shiver ran though her body as she sniffed the air trying to figure out who was there and who was not.

“Tenjin” The demonic mighty warrior. He had been apart of the team for some times though mostly remaining in the shadow. She had never really encountered him let alone speak with him.   “Stryke” The recent adaptation to the team, he appeared to Talon as nothing but a mere weakling due to the fact that he unlike the other team mates had not taken a life though she would be willing to do it again. No he was still at the beginning of the journey that Talon started years ago. She cuold only hope he’d make it though this fight unharmed.

And then a scent appeared in her nose that made her froze all of a sudden as she whispered “Angle..” Shaking her head trying to regain her composure she sniffed again trying to make sure she was correct…she was. Hawk, the once known ICE Dragon, she could smell from his scent he was in battle. He was….defending her father and his team? But why? What made him do this? Her questions soon disappeared as memories of her past flooded her mind. Memories that where painful and overwhelming.

Past

He was trapped she needed to get him out. She needed to stop his pain. He was going through this because of her. As she fought her way through the many guards that swarmed the area   she could see that they where attempting to open the door. Not having much time she ran over to containment that held her angel as she unleashed both her claws and drove them into the consol. More watts of electricity flowed through her as she let out a scream of pain falling to her knees but never removing her hands. She wanted his pain to stop and she’d do that.  She could not watch his suffer, she cared about him…the being that captured her that forced her t endure this torture she cared for him….more than she knew she was capable of.

 As the large metallic doors began to part gun fire was thrown at her once more hitting her three times in the back. But she didn’t move she needed to brake it! In a crazed rage she leapt at the main computer and drove her claws into it. But as she tried she realized that the security on his was far greater than hers and they obviously didn’t want him out. Eventually as a last resort knowing it to be pointless she wildly sliced the glass with her blood stricken hands and claws trying to break it but knowing it would not work. By this time tears where streaming down her cheeks as she shouted in desperation “Let him out! Let the Seraph out! Please! Don’t hurt my Angel!” but as her strength began to fade with in her she fell to her knees crying. Broken and had lost.(More info go here)

Present

She almost lost her balance as she staggered to regain it. She hated when that would happen. When you keep memories suppressed with in you, the moment they return it hurts like hell and the pain…the emotional pain was unable to comprehend for her. And at that point she would have changed her mind. She would have ran back after her father to go protect him but that’s when she got her scent. A low growl resonated from deep with in her throat as she clenched her fist and her claws soon emerged from them. “Lady Tlieso…” with that her eyes darted over to NYC as an uneasiness over came her.

“What use does he have for me when she’s with him?” and with that out of the anger in her heart she ran, ran as fast as she could. There was no looking back because now his life was in her hands. There was no need for Talon to be present if her father’s attachment as present. Any way she was sure that the moment Hunter discovered her presence he will no longer pay any attention to her, or to her mission. As she ran her bare feet scraped against the harsh ground, she could feel that rain fall was about to commence. Entering the entangled forest, she continued her brisk pace. Though brambles and throes brushed against her skin and dew blood she didn’t care.

Talon was a very unemotional person on the outside. Never the less any thing that involved her…”Mistress” Lady Tlieso could always bring out the worst in this girl. Not to mention that she hated and despised that woman with all of her being. She only pretended to adjust just for her father’s sake. But now…if she was ever to encounter that whore she’d kill her. She was honestly sure that she would at least attempt to kill that woman! It was not because Miss Tlieso was a villain it went much deeper. It was sometimes like Joseph back in the bible. Talon was jealous! Jealously that this girl had promised herself not to feel, she was feeling it.

As the Wolf Pack manor came into view the scent of the CORE only grew stronger and the rage in her heart built to a point where the slightest things would piss her off. She stopped before she went any nearer to the mansion to think for a moment and try to cool herself off. So consumed in her anger she was unable to detect the presence of an unlikely guardian sneaking up behind her. “Laura!” Isaac said standing behind. On hearing his voice she raised her arm behind her smacking Isaac in the face and pushing him down. Noticing this she spun around and let out a sigh.

But before she could speak he spoke for her “Why do you have to go and do that!” she smiled slightly and crouched down staring him in the eyes for a moment “Because…I don’t give a damn” with that she stood up and walked toward the mansion. Isaac, was Talon guardian that the council had elected to watch over and Gemini, her supernatural weapon of light and darkness. But with the recent events that had occurred she was no longer the bearer and he was now a mortal being for his treachery in Saving Talon from the pits of hell and giving her back her soul.

“Laura” she heard his voice call after once more. Not stopping she answered “What is it!?” Isaac wasted no time in his answer and stated “They have Shadowstep!” On that moment she froze her eyes widened in shock as her attention was drawn to the massive hold in Shadowstep’s wall along with the scent of the CORE agents laced on it. After a few moments she said to Isaac in a low monotonous voice. “Isaac..get out of here…now. If you encounter any one who enquires about me tell them I am dead.” Before Isaac could object which she knew he would. She turned facing him as she whispered  “Transportēt” with that Isaac that moment disappeared and Talon could return to her mission. She had told him what she did because if she failed…she’d make sure she would die.

 Power’s that Talon contained where multiple. Some she had gained with birth like her claws, her feral instincts, along with her animal agility, speed ect. And other’s she had gained:   Vibranium skeleton, Lycanthropy. And other’s she had gained through supernatural means of her existence and those power’s remained a secret…to every one including her. As the thought of the CORE getting a hold of one of her team mates specially Shadowstep, caused her to feel pain. This was her fault and if it was not she’d make it her fault. Enraged with Anger she let out a roar as her voice echoed off the emptiness. And as she did the roar turned into a scream “SHADOWSTEP!!!!!!!” 
 
But as she did her phone that she usually kept on her began to beep meaning that there was a message. Snapping out of her state of mind she listened to the message, it was from Sylver "Umm...hey, Laura.  It's me, Sylver.  Listen...I was just wondering....ya know...what's been up?  I don't know.  It's just that lately I've been having this bad feeling that something's wrong out there.  Has anything happened?  Call me back when--"  The voice stopped. Curiosity soon over took her as she noticed another message and quickly listed to it.  "Laura, we need to talk.  I just heard what happened on the radio.  Tell me where you are.  I'm coming." With that Laura lowered the phone and let a sigh escape her as she diled the number and left a message "Sylver this is Talon...I can;t tell you where I am or what I'm about to do...the path ahead of me it clear and I don't need you getting hurt again because of me..please know I hold you in the highest esteem. I'm sorry but some things need to be done along. I'll miss you good friend and hopefully I'll...not die..Talon over and out"

With that she turner her head toward the congested forest set before her. There was no doubt in her mind, she was going after him and she would save him. With out even a moment to catch her breath she was off once again. Racing through the forest but she needed to go faster. Taking into consideration she was a Lycan she would simply have to transform into her wolf like appearance and run. As she ran her heart beat sped up as she began the transformation. As she did her nails grew out in length, as hair began to sprout forth from her skin. Soon enough she was running on all fours though the forest.

There was always a feeling of peace that would over take her when she was in this form. Her mind would clear itself as she could finally be at peace but for a moment. Following the scent of the CORE agents she soon found their base, though most of it like most based where set underground. There was part of it protruding from it. Slowly she walked down the steep passage toward the base. She decided to remain in her wolf for, for in that way she would be able to probably get through simpler than if she was Laura Greystoke. There where two guards at the main entrance due to the face that the door’s concealing the base  where pure Adamatium there was probably no need for a whole platoon.

Before the guayds knew what hit them she lunged at the on swiftly ripping his throat with her dagger shark teeth. The other guard out of fear swore as he tried to load his gun. But before he could even lay down a shot she was on him as her claws dug into his chest and she swiftly severed hi head. Licking the blood from her paws she turned her feral eyes toward the massive door. Though before she could think up a lace the doors began to part. Quickly she got into an attack position as she soon saw that the battalion of men where waiting for her. With out hesitation she leaped through the gap in the door before it was open entirely. The first man met his end swiftly as she ripped his guts out. The good thing about being in Lycan form was there was not many ways of killing someone. She would either use her talons and jab then into her enemies chest and then use it to decapitate them. Or she would take the more animal approach and use her teeth to dig into their flesh. The latter was the one she enjoyed more. In that attack she could taste her opponents blood and they would scream much, much more.

As she darted to her right taking the one man by surprise she sliced off his shoulder and proceeded to puncture his stomach with her claws. Her objective though was not to slaughter every one….it was to save Shadowstep. But she soon forgot about that the moment she killed the first agent. Her anger boiled to a point of overflowing until she knew that she needed to retract herself from the battle and stop wasting time. Leaving the dead caucuses behind her she raced through the metal hall way and ducked into a storage room. With that she slowly took on the form of her human appearance once more….though stained grievously with blood and her clothes mostly torn.

Getting to her feet it took her a few moments to regain her bearings as she brushed aside her tangled locks of hair. Her emerald jade eyes soon returned to her as she knew time was short. Pushing the door aside she began to run, as fast as her feet could carry her. These bases where huge and she knew that she was either going to fight her way to her team mate or just make sure he could hear her so she could call back. Though as she cried out his name and ran, killing all that got to much in her path there was a fear in her mind. A Voice whispering telling her something over and over and over. The voice whispered “Your too late”…

 “Hello, my name is Avery Spottswood, otherwise known as Slight. This is Magick co leader along with me of the New Outsiders.

            As you may know, the Wolf Pack, a group of renegade so called heroes have killed a United Nations member. The actions taken by their leader is inexcusable, and should be penalized to the highest extent.

            However, I, we are not the ones who will be persecuting the team. There are already numerous real heroes on the job. What we are all here today for is one reason and one reason alone. The New Outsiders have been waiting for a chance to show the world that we can be just as good, if not better than what is currently offered. The New Outsiders are here to now take the place where the Wolf Pack left off, and do a better job. Their elusive and covert ways are no longer acceptable in this world of demanded transparency.

            We promise that when we start our newly authorized patrols of this city, and the state, we will answer to the people, and we will protect you all from criminals in the wild and unruly Wolf Pack.

            Thank you, and Good Evening.”
 
Wes, who wanted to make sure that nothing happened to slight called on chaos " Chaos I want you to hide up on top of the mansion where you can keep an eye on slight, I have a bad feeling about this"  " fine I'll keep an eye on him. why do I always have to do..." chaos mumbled as he flew up and landed where he could keep an eye on slight. Upon seeing that chaos was in position, Wes walked out  of the shadows where he was hiding and walked up to slight "Nice speech, by the way whats our next move going to be bro?"     "next we need to get the wolf pack and find out what's going on" "wait what some of my friends are in the wolf pack" Wes said  then after waiting three seconds he said "alright I'll go along just as long as nobody gets hurt"

New York Streets

 
In the middle. That's how Stryke felt. Like he was in the middle of something he could have easily avoided. However, he was unwaveringly devoted to the Hunter and Wolf Pack. Even if he had mixed emotions for their actions; he wouldn't let the Wolf Pack members die in front of him, not now and probably not ever. He couldn't let that be on his conscious, knowing that he walked out on the people who had allowed him to become a part of their family.  He shuddered as he saw the dead bodies of both sides. He could see it, the Hunter captured and studied. His Lycan brethren hunted and killed. William's daughter, Laura, also brought before the UN and prosecuted. The rest of the members either hiding, captured, or already hunted and killed and left where they were. Stryke could and would never let that happen. He would be disgusted with himself. That wasn't why he got into the business, not to see others wrongfully assaulted for crimes that were expertly planned or were an unfortunate accident. Right now though, Stryke couldn't save anyone, he need to save himself first.
  
The helicopter still roared overhead. It was menacing, the jet black metal and the extremely deafening rotors made it seem like a big bully picking on a little kid. The pilot inside was still trying to get him, the Hunter, and the rest of the team to raise the white flag in defeat. The snipers were all over the roofs, the soldiers were plowing out of vehicles and at the ready. The civilians in the area had been rushed, or rather pushed and shoved, away. The pilot was thinking about numbers, not skill though. Yes, Wolf Pack was surrounded, but they had the combined skill to kill everyone if they wanted. Stryke knew the Hunter would never surrender anyways. The man was a Lycan, a half man half wolf. There was no way he would just give up without a fight, his instinct made him want to tear things limb from limb. Stryke was glad for that; this was a prime reason for the Hunter to use his ferocious tendencies.  
 
Stryke didn't think he was going to be able to fight innocent people merely following the orders of their superiors. They were just pawns in the mysterious J1nx's plan. Just tools to win and show the public and other countries that the 'government' was responding accordingly to the death of a UN Councilwoman. Stryke didn't know if he could hold back his inner 'hero,' protecting and not hurting. But when the Hunter embraced the simple words,"Shield yourselves!," he lost all emotional feeling for the men around him. Every soldier had a big bulls-eye on him, so he now had a big bulls-eye on them. His heroic mind was deteriorating from a whole other problem. Death. This was a matter of survival of the fittest. Finally his mind shut down and turned back on in survival mode. Now he was noticing every little thing, every detail; every open area, every weapon in the soldiers' very different hands, every loose article that he could use against his enemies. 
 
A few flash bangs detonated around the team.  "Let's move!," the Hunter yelled. Stryke could see a sniper on the roof a building. That's going to need to be dealt with, he thought ferociously.  His priority right now though was finishing off a few of the ground troops that were caught off guard. Stryke himself wasn't necessarily blinded because of his visor. Although he was pretty aggravated, Stryke moved into the fray rather quickly. He was a scrapper and a brawler after all. No sense in spending his time shooting people with concussive blasts. Within seconds his left hand wrenched a gun from out of a soldier's hands and Stryke quickly wrapped his arms around the man's neck. In less than thirty seconds he was out, knocked unconscious from the loss of air. Stryke released. No need for a dead, bloated man, he thought. Stryke threw the man's weapon to the floor with a sneer.The hunted fallen hero had embraced the thing the Hunter, William Greystroke, had embraced a long time ago. Stryke finally let his animal instincts control. The man on the roof was aiming towards the Hunter. Now he was angry, the man was so afraid of the werewolf that he would rather get a cheap shot! Stryke let a blast from his visor towards a sniper on the roof of an old, out-dated Victorian building that had been converted into a Washington Mutual. It was practically just bricks and well-crafted wood and molding. It had some work done, but not enough to keep it 'modern.' Something very different from the metal, state-of-the-art glass, and cement that were surrounding it. Stryke just felt that that would be the first building to go in the ensuing fight, might as well take it out now. A sniper, his bulls-eye, was using it as cover anyways. 
 
The ten foot wide by one foot in length blast erupted from his eyes. The ruby quartz colored became distinctive as it rushed through the air and collided with the building. The bricks crumpled into tinier, but still medium-sized, pieces that crumpled to the ground and hit a few soldiers in the process. At the moment the blast collided with the sniper, he flew back into the air and out of sight. Stryke assumed he had probably ended up on the other side of the building since the side he'd been was completely gone. Stryke turned around only to see the helicopter crash to the barren (besides a group of soldiers) ground. Stryke winced as he witnessed the helicopter crash into the men and combusted. Instantly every man there was burned alive like a piece of steak. Those who didn't got hit by the large shards of rotor that were flying around like bullets. One man managed to escape, but he was set on ablaze and running around. His black S.W.A.T uniform was charred and still burning. His clothing was burning off of him. In hysteria the man ran into a wall and then collapsed. Who had caused that? Stryke looked around; he knew the Hunter wasn't holding out. He didn't have telekinetic powers! Stryke looked up and then saw an angel.
 
An angel by the rights of wings, but not by acts. Hawk. He'd sensed the man in the area, but then again he knew a lot of the superheroes and villains were around. The man had just killed everyone on the ground around the crash! He probably didn't even care at all. Just another few casualties. Inside though, Stryke died a little. This wasn't what he wanted to be known as. Just another killer found pardoned because he'd been 'tricked.' Stryke let out a deep breath. He glanced at the man who had collided with the wall of a building. He was unmoving. Stryke could feel his pain. Just by watching. Seeing the pain. Stryke whispered to himself, "God bless you. Man, boy, pawn, or not. No one deserves a death such as th-." Then a bullet from a sniper collided with Stryke's back, hitting him right between the shoulder blade and the area in which his heart was supposed to be. Stryke fell forward. His internal clock slowed. He could only think a few words as he slowly fell. His face hit the ground hard and he lie there. 
 
At first he was unmoving. Just like the police man lying near the building.
 
But then his body began to breath. Stryke opened his eyes. His visor was still on but there was this stabbing pain in his back. The advantage of a Vibranium super suit; bullets were just bitches you could pimp slap. Stryke got up slowly to look around at the carnage. Then he noticed a S.W.A.T officer using pistol aimed at him. Stryke put his hands up in a sign of surrender. Then as quickly he put his left hand and fired a blast. It hit the man straight across the chest. Knocking him back and leaving him on the floor near a dead body. Stryke looked around and saw the Hunter leaving the area. He staggered forward before barreling towards the man to catch up. Animal instinct wanted him to stay, but his thoughts said get the hell out. Somehow, Stryke knew the Hunter already had a plan to escape.
 

The Base of the Femme Fatales...

 
Stryke was pleased to find that he could finally relax. Even if relaxed meant just a few hours. At a moment's notice Stryke took advantage and slipped out of his black, Vibranium suit into a robe and some shower flip flops. He had been issued his own quarters to replenish himself. The room was simple yet elegant. His bed was made of mahogany with a wide bed spread with white and red pillows. The floors were also mahogany with a small, white rug here and there. There was also a closet to put clothes, but since Stryke didn't have any extra clothes, the only thing inside was his suit on a hanger and his visor on a small table. There were two small drawers on each side of the mahogany bed, and in front was a larger one with a television placed on top of it. He was tuned into the News of all things, listening to their lies. Stryke moved towards the shower and turned it on. 
 
With all the things happening, Stryke was going to indulge himself in a shower since he was covered in dirt, grime, and smelled like New York's sewers. He walked into it and then was immersed in a simulation of heaven. As he soaked himself in the water, Stryke thought. A few months ago he was a fully fledged hero. Saving people from fires, apprehending muggers, and helping save the world on step at a time. Now he was nothing more than a common mercenary. He had money; he just wanted the freedom to choose. That's all he wanted. 
 
Stryke got out of the shower and dried himself. He put his left hand through his soaked hair and ruffled it a bit. He wrapped a towel around his waist. Then he emerged from the bathroom to see a News report in big letters. "Lycans Killed and Captured!" Stryke plopped onto the bed with his mouth a gap. He watched as a few fleeing Lycans were shot and killed. After a few moments a reporter began to speak. 
 
"Lycans, the like of which the Hunter is associated with, have been a target by the American government. The Hunter has full control over the species and therefore the government thinks he can use these...beasts... to do more damage to the world. They've issued one order, that Lycans are to be apprehended. However, as the video shows, there are instances where that is not possible. We'll go back to the video in a few moments, parents beware, these videos are graphic and may be unsuitable for some viewers." And then it showed the Lycans being killed again. Slaughtered. Just like neglected dogs.
 
Stryke tried to get back up, but he collapsed back onto the bed. He looked in horror as a Lycan child was shot point blank.
 
"Oh Hunter..." He whispered to himself." I see who the true beasts are..." And then a lone tear ran down his left cheek as he witnessed a pregnant Lycan female killed in a crossfire between her suspected husband and some soldiers. The man rushed to his wife's side but was shot as he bent down. 
 
"We...are....beasts..." Stryke declared.

Moments had passed and a nauseating feeling consumed Kurrent. This FKL virus  was not to be toyed with. It was killing him, and it was probably killing off the rest of the Veritas members. Any other time finding out who unleashed the virus would have been priority number one but time was running out. For the first time in a long time Kurrent was tired the Living Battery was losing his steam and putting him inside a freezer was not going to work. Thoughts of how to track Gambler or even where to start plagued him. The Veritas Leader had been out of the game for a while but he knew that giving Gambler an inch was like giving him 100 miles. "I need to get a hold of Morte or G'bandit" he said a loud attributing to the fact that they were among the greatest assassins in the world. 
 
Suddenly he looked up to see and old face come into the room....it was an old friend The Genesis. The two have had their fair share of disagreements but they were both holding on to what Veritas could be. It was a short and very thin line but it was still there. Genesis began to speak but before Kurrent could answer another familiar face walked in. Instantly he pulled his other gun out of the holster and held it with a firm grip to his side and looked at Solis directly in the eye. The Electric Ace stared him down knowing  that with a thought he could pull the nails from the crossbeams and bring the level  of the HQ down over the more powerful Solis but pulling out his gun showed that he would not be intimidated. "Looks like the gang is all here, sorry I didn't clean up" he said sarcastically  Yes, they were teammates but they too had their disagreements and Solis needed a little of an aggressive approach to get him in line. 
 
The weak feeling that Kurrent had was growing so after Solis spoke he took point in the conversation needing to get out what he needed to say but first he stopped and looked around nervously... "SHHHHHHH" he whispered to his teammates. He closed his eyes and listened as carefully as he could. He could have sworn he heard his name spoken by a familiar voice but after a dead silence he chalked it up to the effects of the FKL Virus and began to speak informally to the member of Veritas..... "You guys probably walked into the guy I had to 'kick' out of here. He said that we all have some sort of virus that is probably why you all feel like crap  and the only known cure is Lebeau DNA. The only Lebeau that I know that is still around is....yep Gambler. So what I am saying is that we need to find my and probably this teams worst enemy and 'ask' for a sample of his blood" The looks on their face said it all and when Kurrent began to bleed out of his nose after he spoke probably sealed any speculation they might have. 
 
With the barrel of his gun he wiped the blood from his nose and said in a raspy and tired tone "Any idea on where we can find him?"

 Inside Solis he could feel the slight struggle he had to control his powers. He could feel the strength of his power growing. Its fury was like a wild animal that finally began to chew away at its cage after it grew weak from age. He made an unusually long journey to his super heroic team base belonging to the men who where more than men. He however could sense that he had chosen a bad time to arrive. After passing a beaten and barely alive human body that had  Kurrents finger prints all over it the horizon of a fight was just as bright as the sun. Even more of a signal pyre to the distress was the return of the anti hero Closure 

Closure: " I know your shocked to see me.  I'm taking this now direction in life.  In which, one moment I'm a dickhead and the next I'm as happy as I clam.  How did I get here?  Well I put trackers on all of you guys, before I departed.  I went rogue for a while and now I'm back to being neutral.  On a serious note, can anyone get me information on what the hell is going on.  My lackeys couldn't find sh!t, so I decided to see how you guys were doing.  Before anyone gets the villainy vibe radiating off of me, be aware that I come in peace.  I just need to know if you'll allow me amnesty to help you guys out in anyway possible.  It took a bleeding aunt for me to get my sorry butt over here.  So, Solis I want you to want me...tell me what I gotta do? "  

Solis:"First off a grown @ss man does not walk into a room saying "I want you to want me" k thats sooooooooo many kinds of homo really so the only thing I want from you is to shut up and have sex with WOMEN. Thats first but I'm glad you made sure to address me first given I'm the most powerful person here" . The solar charged ego lets his sun sized ego leak out from his mouth. Its a cover for how he truly feels; scared. No matter what he says to Kurrent , Closure he doesn't want to be the reason for their deaths.  

Kurrent: "Looks like the gang is all here, sorry I didn't clean up" The living thunder storm Kurrent speaks with a wit to rival Solis but for someone like him he must always get the last word.  

Solis : " Dude thats what maids are for. Stop worrying so much about mercs and killers get you a good maid. And don't be a stereotype and look for some short old lady from mexico please don't if you do I'm gonna oooooo just don't K K'.  

Kurrent: "You guys probably walked into the guy I had to 'kick' out of here. He said that we all have some sort of virus that is probably why you all feel like crap  and the only known cure is Lebeau DNA. The only Lebeau that I know that is still around is....yep Gambler. So what I am saying is that we need to find my and probably this teams worst enemy and 'ask' for a sample of his blood"     "Any idea on where we can find him?"

Solis : "Hmmm well thats explains my bad news."   The hero who enjoys expressing an ego equal to his power lets his true grim side out expressing his situation. "My internal solar furnace is losing stability. I'm having to put more effort into managing my power output. Earlier today I almost went hiroshima in the upper atmosphere, but I was able to fly far enough from earth to not cause any damage. We need to find that cure and fast. Not just to save us but whatever this thing is it's powerful enough to even weaken my body and it continues to degrade my body and my energy releases. I could possibly start a second big bang. Trust me I've done it before and don't plan on doing it again. 

But know that we know whats doing this to me and how to fix it well not to sound like a clin'ce but Lebobo or whatever his name is I hate french is not bout to be happy. He messed with the wrong super team. He's been screwing with people for years humans and supes and honeslty I'm sick of it. He made this crap personal for me and I know one thing. I am not someone to mess with. Oh and I know one more thing." The golden super charged super hero quickly turns his body. He releases a small burst of heat vision from his inhuman eyes, burning a small piece of the wall revealing the new target of his scorn Gambler. "We have guests huh speak of the devil ."

Magick was kind of sort of freaking out. She really did not want to have this press conference. At least Slight had promised that she wouldn't have to do any talking.  The frantic Outsider peeked out of the window of her room to see the media vultures standing around in front of the  HQ. Great. Just another thing to be worried about - after this everyone in the world would know where the New-Outsiders lived. Of course, she had discussed this with Slight. He had said that the"Whole point of this is to show the people that they can trust us and that we are reliable, and ..............." She had stopped listening after a while.  
  
Magick looked down at her the palms of her hands, which were covered in nervous sweat. Half instinctively, she reached down to wipe them off on her shirt, but they just slid right off the fabric of her costume. Stupid non-absorbent spandex. From behind her she heard the door to her room open, and Crysta walked in.  
 
"Quite a crowd forming. You're not really gonna do this are you?" Crysta asked with a certain indigence.   
 
"Of course I'm going to do it! Slight has been planning this thing for the past two weeks!" Magick responded, but kind of half-heartedly  
 
"Oh. Yeah. I thought he was joking."  
 
Yeah. Because Slight just the type of person to set up a fake press conference as joke. Right. Magick sighed.  
 
"I trust his judgment. And he's probably right anyways. " Magick grumbled. 
 
"Okaaaaaaaay. But if we get attacked , I'm blaming you." and with that Crysta strode out of the room. Well. That had just made things soooo mutch more easy. Thanks Crysta. Thanks alot.  
 
Magick looked at her watch and saw that the conference was about to start. Trying to keep her breathing steady, she slowly walked out of her room, to the front door of the HQ, into the front yard, and finally onto the stage where Slight was already standing. as she met up with him she saw him put up a smile that might fool the audience, but that she recognized as his "take the damn picture already" face. She tried to mimic him by faking her own smile, but she could only see to come out the a twisted sort of expression that you get when you drink spoilt milk. Slight launched into his speech.  
 
   “Hello, my name is Avery Spottswood, otherwise known as Slight. This is Magick co leader along with me of the New Outsiders.

            As you may know, the Wolf Pack, a group of renegade so called heroes have killed a United Nations member. The actions taken by their leader is inexcusable, and should be penalized to the highest extent.

            However, I, we are not the ones who will be persecuting the team. There are already numerous real heroes on the job. What we are all here today for is one reason and one reason alone. The New Outsiders have been waiting for a chance to show the world that we can be just as good, if not better than what is currently offered. The New Outsiders are here to now take the place where the Wolf Pack left off, and do a better job. Their elusive and covert ways are no longer acceptable in this world of demanded transparency.

            We promise that when we start our newly authorized patrols of this city, and the state, we will answer to the people, and we will protect you all from criminals in the wild and unruly Wolf Pack.

            Thank you, and Good Evening.”   

Eygpt

Heat pour over the desert sand as he stood looking over the distant dunes. Nothing could be seen for miles around except the dry, red sand. His long black cloak still floated in the wind, bellowing out behind him and the only visable part of his were his lips that were not shadowed under the hood pulled over his head. His lips slowly moved as he spoke to the breast of the Saints.  "I had to take care of some personal business.  I'm going to refuel then head to the new location."   Lord's Angel was already there looking over the site. "Come get him....the dead shall rise and praise my name. Thus says the Lord."

With those word darkness covered the noon sky blocking out the sun. Slowly the day returned from the night and he was gone, waiting for the first, the animal.  

Eygpt

Heat pour over the desert sand as he stood looking over the distant dunes. Nothing could be seen for miles around except the dry, red sand. His long black cloak still floated in the wind, bellowing out behind him and the only visable part of his were his lips that were not shadowed under the hood pulled over his head. His lips slowly moved as he spoke to the breast of the Saints.  "I had to take care of some personal business.  I'm going to refuel then head to the new location."   Lord's Angel was already there looking over the site. "Come get him....the dead shall rise and praise my name. Thus says the Lord."

With those word darkness covered the noon sky blocking out the sun. Slowly the day returned from the night and he was gone, waiting for the first, the animal.  

"SHADOWSTEP!!"

All it takes is one shout and his eyes flicker open, his fingers twitch and full consciousness is slowly but surely regained. For what feels like the first time in years Cifer's feet hit the ground and he goes running, stumbling and tripping over himself each and every step of the way. All of the IV's and electrodes attached to his body His head is pounding, his vision is half-blurred, the world is spinning and he feels the need to void the contents of his stomach out through his mouth.

After racing down three corridors he falls to his knees, the nausea settles in and as it does a group of CORE Agents come around the corner, weapons aimed and ready to kill. Unable to hold back any longer, Cifer opens his mouth and unleashes a powerful beam of raw plasma energy from his mouth.

It isn’t enough to kill them, not instantly, but hot enough to burn away their armor and flesh, leaving them alive to experience the pain of having no skin to protect the muscle tissue underneath. Cifer ignores their screams, the smoke pouring out of his mouth, ears and nose and the tears of blood running down his cheeks as he struggles to get back onto his feet.  
 
He can hear the voice calling out to him again and it’s getting louder and louder and louder until finally Cifer feels something bump up against him, causing him to stumble backward a few steps, for a moment instinct tells him to lash out in defense but as he gets a good look at the being standing before him he is hit by a bolt of recognition. 

“T-Talon…?” Cifer asked, smiling weakly. “Is…is that really you? It is isn’t it? But...” Before Cifer had a chance to finish, he began coughing violently, spewing droplets of blood onto the floor. He grabbed a hold of Talon’s shoulder and tried to maintain his balance as the coughing progressively grew worse.

After a few moments had passed, Cifer’s coughs died down and were briefly replaced by a couple of powerful sneezes which kept him from standing back up straight and forced him to kneel onto the ground. “Sorry…about that. The CORE’s telepaths…they did quite a number on me and my body is having a hard time kicking back into full gear. They...tore open my mind, picked it apart, sifted through all of my memories and brought to the surface details about myself that not even I was aware of.”

“I suppose I should thank them for that though.” A smirk slowly began to creep up on Cifer’s face as he extended his left arm out, opened his palm and made a katana materialize from out of thin air. “Because, if it were not for them…I would have never learned about my true self.”

Refusing to allow Talon any time to react, Cifer imprisoned them both in a force field, then as he pulled himself up off the ground Cifer drove the blade directly through Talon’s stomach and forced it to tear its way out her back. “Once…you and I were very much alike. We were both weapons. We were programmed specifically by our Masters to maim, to murder, to cause death and to create destruction.” He whispered to her. “But...then we were both fundamentally altered at the very core of our being by forces totally beyond our control. Forces that tried their hardest to make us more compassionate, more…Human even though they knew that in the end all of their work would have been for naught and that we would both revert back to our primal forms.”

Cifer began to twist the blade around in her stomach and smiled as the pain began eat away at Talon. “Listen closely now, for what I am about to tell you next is very important. All that exists on Earth-529 shall be replicated on Earth-616. Thanks to The CORE, The United Nations will finally be able to do its job and unite all nations both here and on worlds beyond this under Terran rule. You and I, who are slated to become the first Soul Hunters this reality has ever known, will be instrumental in making that dream a reality. But first we must remove the artificial soul that was grafted onto your being; we must also destroy this “Laura Greystroke” persona and reawaken your true self: X-23."

With one swift movement, Cifer pulled the sword out of Talon’s stomach and began to wrap energy constructs shaped like chains all around her body, ensuring that she would not be able to escape. “You’re probably wondering right now where the Hell I got the katana. Truth to be told it was in my hand the entire time; they just didn’t want you to see it until the time was right.” Cifer explained as CORE Director Melony Valentine, several telepaths and a contingent of armed guards materialized out of thin air and surrounded Talon’s fallen form. 

“Good work, we will take things from here.” An armed guard said as he knelt down next to Talon and checked her pulse.

“Cifer, this contains all the information you will require to accomplish your next assignment. Go get washed up, take whatever precautions you deem are necessary and then get it over with as quickly as possible.” Melony said as she handed over a memory stick containing a dossier filled with the aforementioned data cache. "Do you understand?"
 
"Yes, Director Valentine." Cifer replied. "I understand."

Sector 13 Base

Crysta walked over to a window and peeked outside. She couldn't believe. The media was actually here. Crysta had been HOPING that he was joking. No such luck. With a half-hearted sigh, Crysta walked over to Magick's room, and opened the door. She was wearing a costume. A. STUPID. COSTUME. Who where's costumes right now? Nobody did! Crysta frowned, but had to admit Magick looked more like a good guy now. Crysta grew a little indignant. Magick. Good? Hopefully not. If Magick turned good, Crysta would MURDER her. Not literally. Just murder her spirit. Crysta hadn't murdered anyone's spirit since she grew good. She sighed. Why did Magick have to be an idiot and get them to join the New-Outsiders? Even though she like the New-Outsiders SO much better. 
 
Quite a crowd forming. Crysta said. And there was. All for a fake speech. Crysta knew it was fake, and hoped that Slight could lie enough. If he didn't manage to convince them, the New-Outsiders are so dead. Crysta tried not to think about it. You're not really going to do this, are you? Crysta asked, trying not to let her indignance show in her voice. Not succeding, sadly. Because, right now, Crysta didn't know how long they would be able to live.  
 
Of course I'm going to do it! Slight has been planning this thing for the past two weeks!" Magick replied. Crysta could tell her heart wasn't in it, though. 
 
"Oh. Yeah. I thought he was joking." Not really, but still. Slight was just too serious to set up a PRESS CONFERENCE for jokes. Right now, there needed to be a big joke. Perhaps turning everybody into sheep after the press conference? It all depended.
 
"I trust his judgment. And he's probably right anyways. " Magick mumbled, grumpily. Magick could so play Grumpy in Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Crysta hadn't seen that movie since she was five, and even then she thought it was stupid. And it turns out that Grumpy helped and worried. Seriously. Grumpy people should NOT help and worry.  Crysta thought of the media people. This would be on T.V. She HATED T.V. They changed everything. They had even made the cookie monster not be a cookie monster anymore. I think he's a vegetable monster now. Crysta thought. But seriously.
 
"Okaaaaaaaay. But if we get attacked, I'm blaming you." Crysta said, stomping out. She walked to a bedroom window, and opened it. From up here, Crysta would be relatively safe and able to see if anything went wrong. Slight was smiling, but forced. Crysta wanted to tell him to relax. Magick went on and grimaced. Magick was never one for faking. That was what made her so bad at blackmailing.  
 
“Hello, my name is Avery Spottswood, otherwise known as Slight. This is Magick co leader along with me of the New Outsiders.  As you may know, the Wolf Pack, a group of renegade so called heroes have killed a United Nations member. The actions taken by their leader is inexcusable, and should be penalized to the highest extent. However, I, we are not the ones who will be persecuting the team. There are already numerous real heroes on the job. What we are all here today for is one reason and one reason alone. The New Outsiders have been waiting for a chance to show the world that we can be just as good, if not better than what is currently offered. The New Outsiders are here to now take the place where the Wolf Pack left off, and do a better job. Their elusive and covert ways are no longer acceptable in this world of demanded transparency. We promise that when we start our newly authorized patrols of this city, and the state, we will answer to the people, and we will protect you all from criminals in the wild and unruly Wolf Pack. Thank you, and Good Evening.”        
 
The speech was over. They got off the stage and walked towards the house. Crysta held her breath. If anything happened, it would now. Crysta knew everybody else was waiting. And watching. And hoping. And then.......   
What happened made Crysta choke.

"Looks like the gang is all here, sorry I didn't clean up."   This wasn't exactly the response Genesis had been hoping for; sure he and Kurrent disagreed on some things but they'd still been partners for ages, Solis had major ego problems, but Kurrent wasn't entirely free from them either, Closure had gone rogue, yet Kurrent had always walked on the edge between good and evil. Genesis didn't like it, and he was somewhat influenced by these issues as well. Still, it didn't exactly promote the whole "Veritas Unite!" team spirit he'd remembered. 
 
 "You guys probably walked into the guy I had to 'kick' out of here. He said that we all have some sort of virus that is probably why you all feel like crap  and the only known cure is Lebeau DNA. The only Lebeau that I know that is still around is....yep Gambler. So what I am saying is that we need to find my and probably this team’s worst enemy and 'ask' for a sample of his blood."  Well now, that explains a lot Even more than why I’ve been so exhausted lately. If there was one thing Genesis knew for sure about Kurrent it was that he hated the very idea of anything whatsoever to do with Gambler. The Cajun had been a major enemy of Veritas from the team’s beginning, but that was likely owed solely to the fact that Kurrent was its leader. Almost all of Earth’s metahumans had warred, the two forces led by The Electric Ace and the Living Legend. They’d been mortal enemies ever since.   And now Kurrent’s life, and every other Veritas member’s, depended on making some sort of antidote with Gambler’s blood and injecting it into themselves (at least he figured that much). From what Genesis had seen, the only place Kurrent wanted Gambler’s blood was on his hands.

”Any idea on where we can find him?" Genesis was about to answer, knowing he could hone in on the Cajun’s mind in seconds. But Solis spoke first. "Hmmm well that explains my bad news. My internal solar furnace is losing stability. I'm having to put more effort into managing my power output. Earlier today I almost went Hiroshima in the upper atmosphere, but I was able to fly far enough from earth to not cause any damage. We need to find that cure and fast. Not just to save us but whatever this thing is it's powerful enough to even weaken my body and it continues to degrade my body and my energy releases. I could possibly start a second big bang. Trust me I've done it before and don't plan on doing it again.”If you’ve done a big bang before, why aren’t we all, well, dead? Genesis didn’t voice his skepticism, but he somewhat doubted the solar hero could spontaneously destroy the whole Earth, maybe more. The wielder of the Alpha Energy was sure Solis was very powerful, and that him not being able to fully control his powers was a bad thing, he knew what it was like. But one second-fine, next second-boom there goes the world? Maybe Genesis just didn’t want to believe it, but he couldn’t help feeling it wasn’t that bad. He’d still have to keep an eye on him though.

But know that we know what’s doing this to me and how to fix it well not to sound like a clin'ce but Lebobo Please, please call him that, I would love to see you call him that or whatever his name is I hate French is not bout to be happy. He messed with the wrong super team. He's been screwing with people for years humans and supes and honestly I'm sick of it. He made this crap personal for me and I know one thing. I am not someone to mess with. Oh and I know one more thing."  Then Genesis heard it; footsteps. They were almost inaudible, and those he could barely hear were scattered, as if he was only hearing the occasional step. The young hero could think of very few people capable of moving so quietly and remaining undetected from even his senses for so long, and only one who would be invading the Castle. "We have guests huh speak of the devil." Gambler.

A small breeze brushed the locks of Werner's face to the side. His calm body had tensed up when the fire goddess, Feral Nova, broke the news of what happened. “The Hunter is accused of killing a UN Councilwoman, and there is a massive man hunt for him and all of Wolf Pack members… including yourself Dread…” He looked back at Nova to drop his face to a show of awe and sadness. Hunter is a killer but he knows who not to kill and isn't mindless, especially with U.N. members, Werner wanted to think she was lying and pulling a prank on him but the look on her face showed nothing but sincerity. 
“I’m here… because We Are Legend have been ordered by the government to find all of you and bring you in. I thought you knew… which is why I came in so defensively. I know Hunter is innocent but… I have no way to prove it, until then, I have to follow orders.”  Werner's frown quickly turned into a expression of bewilderment and disdain towards her. 

As she raced through the seemingly empty corridors of the base her heart raced through out the run. Sweat poured down her face as desperation grasped a hold of her like a demons hands. Her cries instead of just cries turned out to screams of worry and pain.  As she ran she found herself losing control for her emotions. Her emotions seemed to flood through her body and need to exit herself. The only way they could was through her cries through her screams, through her tears that slid down her blood red cheeks.

“Cifer!” she screamed his name. It was the firs time she had ever called his name before, the first time she had really called any of her team mates by their real name…well except for Ronnin. As she continued to run she thought about what the CORE was capable of. What they did to her, and to her comrades. No! she could not let that happen to him she cant be to late…could she? She had kept denying that they’d be able to do anything to her in this amount of time. Though she knew she was wrong, they could do what they did to her and far worse in even less time if granted.

“Please…Damn it Cifer where are you!!” she screamed as her cries echoed off the metal walls of the halls she could feel her body giving way. She had pushed herself had been running for who knows how long and was utterly exhausted. If any thing she would collapse and lose consciousness. “No..no..no” she murmured to herself pushing herself further not about to give up on him and on herself. She knew she had to keep running she had to save him she had to stop him. She’d kill all on her way. Continuing her run she soon saw a group of armed soldiers blocking her way. It was pitiful that their existence would end like this.

Leaping upward she sent her right foot the neck of one of the men kicking it with all he strength. The man’s neck snapped as she landed and soon standing to her feet sent the back of her elbow into the other soldiers chest fracturing his lungs and causing him to fall. One of the other soldiers grabbed her and around her neck gripping her tightly. Swiftly she sent the back of her head against his skull, before she sent a kick in front of her hitting another CORE agent trying to restrain her legs. Breaking free of the one mans grasp she flipped around to see that she was able to over come the first wave.

Soon gathering her bearings and seeing that she was gladly not wounded she continued on her brisk chase after him. She might not have had any thing in common with that man, she might not even had really liked him as an alley. But he was a team mate, part of her father’s Pack. She was her father’s daughter, she would do every thing in her power to protect them to protect him and to save Cifer.  As the sweat poured down her body and drenched her cloths as they mixed with the blood that seemingly encompassed her figure, she picked up his scent. Her emerald eyes widened as he pace sped up, she didn’t know how fast she was going. All she knew was that she’d find him…and find him first.

Anguish began to set in as she was at the end of her rope. Despair crept on and latched onto her back like a leach, a vampire slowly sucking the life out of her. Her exhaustion was beyond any thing, her senses where loosing themselves. Her body was limb and she could hardly continue running and even though she did she could barely control her movements. Before she was about to near the point of losing consciousness, she found herself clash with something resolving in a sudden thud and hr legs failing, causing her to fall backward. Moaning in slight pain of the impact of the fall on her spine she thought she had run into another platoon of men, she was wrong.

Instantly her eyes rested upon the being that stood before her. She gasped in totally shocks and relief as she was flooded with a river of emotions that swarmed with in her. “Cifer Arokine…. Shadowstep….your ok..” she whispered as she staggered to her feet trying to contain the amount of relief that she had been granted. “T-Talon…?” he said as a faint smile filled his pail face “Is…is that really you? It is isn’t it? But...” before could continue a spell of coughs came over him as he spat out blood. Grabbing onto Talon’s shoulder to maintain his balance she stood firm and grasped him till he could maintain his stance.

“Sorry…about that. The CORE’s telepaths…they did quite a number on me and my body is having a hard time kicking back into full gear. They...tore open my mind, picked it apart, sifted through all of my memories and brought to the surface details about myself that not even I was aware of.” Instantly regret came over her, they had already worked on him and for that she was dreadfully sorry. But before she could say something he continued “I suppose I should thank them for that though.” That caught her off gaud as she looked at him too see a dark smile appear.  “Because, if it were not for them…I would have never learned about my true self.”

Her eyes flashed up at him but before she could make any more she soon felt instant pain run through her already jaged body.  She stared up at him unable to speak de to the large amount of pain that ran through her body.  As some kind of shield encompassed the two “Once…you and I were very much alike. We were both weapons. We were programmed specifically by our Masters to maim, to murder, to cause death and to create destruction.” He whispered to her. She was unable to move partly because of the pain but even more so because, the fact was, she was too late. “But...then we were both fundamentally altered at the very core of our being by forces totally beyond our control. Forces that tried their hardest to make us more compassionate, more…Human even though they knew that in the end all of their work would have been for naught and that we would both revert back to our primal forms.”

He began to twist the blade in her stomach. As she gasped for air she began to taste blood inside of her mouth as nausea and pain began to mix. “Ci..Cifer” she was only able to muster before the pain over came her entirely as he kept talking “Listen closely now, for what I am about to tell you next is very important. All that exists on Earth-529 shall be replicated on Earth-616. Thanks to The CORE, The United Nations will finally be able to do its job and unite all nations both here and on worlds beyond this under Terran rule.” For a moment in time every thing stopped, replica 529? Never! That was not possible there was no way they could do that, no! She’d stop them she’d fight them like she did last time!

“ You and I, who are slated to become the first Soul Hunters….” “Soul Hunter’s” the very beings that she had fought in her reality, They where he enemies she hated them! She hated the humans! All of them! But no, she’d never become that she could not! This reality has ever known, will be instrumental in making that dream a reality. But first we must remove the artificial soul that was grafted onto your being; we must also destroy this “Laura Greystroke” persona and reawaken your true self: X-23."  With that he removed the weapon from her stomach as she cringed in pain, as she fell backward. And as she did she found energy that had been bent  into chains that curled around her wrists.

“You’re probably wondering right now where the Hell I got the katana. Truth to be told it was in my hand the entire time; they just didn’t want you to see it until the time was right.” She stared at him,  she was to late she had not made it she failed. She was an epic failure. As she stared up at Cifer pain filled her emotional pain that she could not describe. He was gone, Shadowstep was gone. And now that he was gone she knew it was over. And with that she began to lose consciousness entirely. As she laid on the cold floor a tear slid down her cheek as she could only pray for them to have mercy on her soul, because she knew very soon. She would lose it and all the humanity with in her......

"He did what??!!" The red face commander screamed at the top of his lungs, stabbing his finger in the chest of the sergent in front of him. "Sir he blew up a helicopter and threw it ...um...at...a building."  The viens popping out of his face sent the message, even though his word became a jumbled mess of spit and vulger language. The message was still the same,  "Get me HAWK!"

With those words planes hit the termac and men loaded up their guns and ammo. The sky filled with planes all heading for one target, "Are we really going after him? Isn't he.....?"  The red lights inside the plane made the men inside it look like night stalkers. But really they were all glad that the dimness of the lights hid their sweat and nerves. "Yes, we've got our orders ...And yes he is...The former ICE agent code man, Hawk black  opts specialist Weapon X"  With those words the men in the plane tightened up their weapons and put on their game faces. They were going into battle, they were going to face their worst nightmare, a killer who had no hesitation and nothing to live for.  
 
Ready men! 3.....2....1....GO GO GO! The red light turned to green and all of the mens fears and doubts were left behind as they moved to the open door with out hesitation. Darkness and wind passed by them as they dropped out of the plane keeping in mind their Sgts last words of advice. "Pull your ripcoard at the last possible moment, this man owns the sky, don't speed much time there."  They dove further and further dropping from the sky more like rocks, than the bird that they chased. As the ground came chasing towards them, a sudden tug pulled them back as they deployed their shoots.  
 
Moving in the night they came up to the location the intel had provided them. Guns drawn they turned the corner ready to take down the ledgend. There in an empty alley was nothing. Where he was suppose to be only emptyness. "Bravo leader, this is team leader...target is not in...."  As he spoke the words he came down from the sky, landing with a whoosh. All of the men were on their backs looking up at warrior from the sky in astonishment. He stood over each of the men walking above them as they lay there, knowing that though they were armed they only lived because he willed it.  
 
I will not harm you brothers in arms. I just want you to know that I come with you, by my will alone. He spoke holding out his hands to the CO, showing that he carried no weapons and that they were not needed. Hawk turned letting his nanotech wings collaspes into his back until they were gone with out a trace. They would return ony when he called on them again. "Um..Bavo we have the target." The commander laughed over the microphone. "Team Leader, that was easier than expected Sgt, how did you capture him so fast?" The Sgt looked Hawk in the eyes before he spoke. "He is coming under his own free will commander."

 
The Next Day

He walked the prison yard like that of any other prisoner, amoung the imates in their respective groupings. He passed by the latinos, Asians, and then the blacks, all of them looking him up and down trying to protect their territory from the new prisoner who no one yet knew. As he walked past the Nazi's they called out to him. "Hey man come over here and join us, even a big boy like you needs protection"  He may have looked like he belonged a huge man covered in tattoos, but he had no love for the hate. "I'm fine just as I am." They laughed knowing that they would attack him soon, making him pick a side or die in prison.  
 
They moved in quick, seeing their opening. He felt them move behind him like the cowards they were. Being a big man they figure six or seven guys would be able to take him down easily. The first one came  and tried to knock him back, as he ran into him the man could only feel a wall of man in front of him. The others came on quickly like a brood of vipers, with make shift blades and weapons they came to kill or take out the newest member of this band of prisioners. But his hands moved faster than belief as he broke and maimed each man one by one until only their leader stood before him. Hawk turned his back on the man and walked past the upcoming guards. I don't need your protection. He made his way past the others never once looking over his shoulder or for attackers. On his first day in prison, he had become the most feared man there.

"I know you! I've seen you on TV!" A little mouse like man speaking to quickly for Hawk's southern liking squeaked in his ear. "Yeah your that guy, I saw you hold up a whole building to save a group of pre-schoolers." He didn't feel like explaining the saga of his life, that that was not actually him but Lord's Angel....he hated even thinking about it. "So your a hero! What are you doing in here?" Hawk gave him a stern look and at once the man quited, "I'm looking for someone who might know where something is......? Someone who thinks they are inoccent. Someone who thinks their mind was controled. You know anyone like that?" The mouse of a man scratched his head as he thought, like a tired old cartoon. "I might know a guy who fits that bill.....but it's gonna cost ya'" He almost laughed when mouseman said it. "Name your price."

Base of the Femme Fatales (Africa - 6:00 A.M.)

Other Side of the Shadows  (North America - 11:30 P.M.)

"I'm coming, Laura. Don't give up." Sylver whispered seconds before a frightening shadow masked her soul-piercing eyes. "If they harm you, may the last thing they see on God's Green Earth, be their own blood, and the last thing they hear be the raw shrieking of the full grown men among them. And then they shall know what horrors they have awoken."
 
"You shouldn't use such strong words Sylver Tiana Cathal. They make you look weak." Cifer's voice rang out from the Heavens above just moments before a teleport flare signaling his arrival at the front gates illuminated the darkness blanketing the world around them. Cifer stood before her all cleaned up, wearing a white jacket and sash over an exact replica of his old Shihakushō and sporting the same dark grin he had on his face while stabbing Talon.
 
His eyes had changed though, they were no longer that of man whose very being was his own, they were those of a man whose very being now belonged to others. When he spoke, the words he spoke were not his words, they were the words of someone else talking through him. "You also shouldn't underestimate the power of our Telepaths or...the power of our Mages. That just makes you look like a fool. They knew you were coming even before you did. They also knew that you are destined become the third Soul Hunter." As he spoke, he unsheathed his katana and pointed the tip at Sylver.
 
"Of course...given that you and Talon are so alike in terms of personality I already know that you won't come quietly. So I have no choice but to force you into submission and make you come." The world around them began to quiver as the exposed main entrance to CORE HQ along with the bodies of those Sylver had killed and those she had failed to kill vanished leaving the two combatants standing alone in the middle of an empty wide-open field at the heart of densely wooded forest.
 
Cifer briefly took one eye off of Sylver and glanced at the empty space around them. "Huh. Director Valentine must have shut down The Dimensional-Wave Inducer and shunted CORE HQ into "The Back-Up" for the time being. Which means...it is just the two of us now. All right then, draw your sword...Sylver. Show me exactly what you can do with that precious Caldavich of yours!" Cifer roared as he anchored his arm back and then made an attempt at striking Sylver with his katana. If he succeeded his blade would connect with the top of her right shoulder and would then proceed to carve a deep but non-fatal wound into her body, one that would reach all the way down to the edge of the curve of her left hip.

The New Outsiders had just finished their first ever press conference. And to his surprise nothing went wrong, which was perfect, because things usually went wrong for him. They stood there talking about it, and some seemed to be against it, although not whole heartedly, and some seemed to be in full compliance with the idea of teaming up with Veritas. Slight thought that it might be a good thing to receive help for a more established team, and so did Magick, but Power Surge, and Crysta didn’t sit well with it. Which for him, was an understandable feeling, since they’d never met. Slight was about to inform them both that they had nothing to worry about, well save the fact that The Solis was a little arrogant, and high on himself, but for any reason to be scared or wary, they had none. Then, something unexpected happened. That safe feeling, the residual nothing-had-gone-wrong feeling vanished. An explosion from a building not far from where they all stood happened. This was a double edged sword, it would provide them with a chance to show themselves off, but at the same time people were likely dead, and it was an explosion.  
 
Then an idea popped into his mind. He knew that he was not in fact against the Wolf Pack, and he really wanted to lend a hand. He also knew that they could not run forever and that they would eventually be caught. This also meant that they would have to be taken to a very high, if not super max prison, where most if not all of them, would be held. So if he could somehow get into that prison then he’d be able, with the power of the Oracle Force on his side, to break them out, and have all attention shifted towards the New Outsiders. Now this sounded like he was backstabbing his own team, in which he’d put so much time and effort, and pride into. A team that he’d just announced would keep the peace, but he saw now that what must be done, had to be. 
 
The idea was simple,… get arrested. Slight would, while in Oracle mode be able to access telepathic abilities in which he would be able to relay the plans to his fellow team members and most importantly Magick. He knew that she had in her strong leadership ability and this would give her a big task, and it would show him just how well she could do. There was no doubt in his mind that she would do fine, no, exemplary. All of this, played out in his mind within a minute, which was already too long, but the public who was still watching might would think that it was just because they were all marveling at the actual beauty of the marvelous plasma. Slight, knowing the consequences started the plan that would help the world, or destroy the world he’d worked so tirelessly to create. In the short term it would seem selfish, he admitted, but in the long run it would be seen as courageous he hoped. Slight began to take flight, but not before he sent a telekinetic wave out behind him to keep his team mates in place. He saw from the corner of his eye, Crysta yelp for air, and he relinquished the barrier just a touch so that she could be more comfortable. They would know soon enough what this was for. The fire from the building poured from the gaping mouth the explosion made. And Slight looked it right in the metaphoric face. To get himself arrested, he would have to do something drastic, and that is what he did. 
 
Still high above the ground, he placed his hands downward, palms facing that way as well. New York was just as much sewer pipes, as it was sidewalks and buildings. Taking this knowledge, he used his water controlling ability and ripped a water main pipe, a vital part of any city, and expensive as hell to repair, up from the ground. Water poured from the opening, and sprayed everywhere. Guiding that very water upward into a reverse waterfall, he directed its cooling grace towards the burning war inside the building. His goal was to inflict more damage than good, and this would do it. With the ability of hydrokinesis, one could do all sorts of things included increasing pressure one thousand fold. Slight increased that water’s pressure three thousand to ensure nothing would be left standing in it’s watery wake. The blast of liquid tore through to the other side, bringing rubble with it. The ceiling collapsed from loosing the other supportive wall, and then the second floor buckled under the stress.  
 
All in all, Slight had become a huge pain in the ass. And it would surely land him a spot in a jail with at least one person that had information on were the Wolf Pack members was being held. Now, he had to do something he’d feared for a while, tapping into the Oracle power that had brought him so much power and pain. Looking deep within himself, he found the spot of connection, and with that, brought out the ambivalent force. Because it was always inside him, Avery could continue the plan without informing it of what needed to be done. He sent out the telepathic message to all of the New Outsider members. 
 
“Let me say first of that I am truly sorry for what I am doing. But understand that this is for the betterment of the world, you will be able to see in due time. I’ve come up with a plan that will finally be let the world see that heroes are for the good, and that making them pariah’s are not the way of solving problems with them…Magick, I leave all power in your hands, and as first task, I want you to hand me over to the highest of authorities. The reason being, I need to get in with at least one person who knows where the Wolf Pack members are, and if I’m lucky then I’ll be sent to a prison where they are. I know this doesn’t make sense but my mind is very unstable at the moment, with trying to figure everything out right now…” 
 
 
With that, he fell to the ground. Unconscious, but he could feel the presence of his friends around him, and policemen, and bystander who would turn into haters. His hope was that by the New Outsiders turning him in, public would see that they would no doubt hold up their promise of no matter who, or what they would protect the people.

New York

Her location was in a cell. Fortified with an unknown metal stronger than Adamatium and Vibranium. The lighting was dim, and gave the room a gloomy feel, along with a red ora, as it entrapped the little girl. There was the constant dripping of water that would drive any one insane , but not her. The cell was empty except for a stool in the corner. And that was where she sat. Hunched up her face berried in her legs. Her dangled locks laid across hiding her face and her blood shot emerald eyes. She was unsure about how long she had been here. All she knew was that she had not slept since she awoke and even though she was still reeling from the effects of her wounds both physical and mental.

The lights flickered as she raised her head to revile her gray colored eyes and stared at the walls. Her eyes changed with her mood, if she let them. She was able to change them on thought. Any way since this was not exactly hr real form she could slightly alter certain aspects of her appearance in order to adapt to her surroundings like she was. Looking at the would that her team…Cifer has caused in her chest she found the healing process to be greatly painful and long. She placed her right hand over the wound pressing the flesh back in placed with her muscle as her stomach was barely healed and just able to work.

She thought about what happened. He remembered staring into his eyes. Those cold eyes, they remained her of some one, her father. Her biological father Weapon Alpha, James, those eyes. They where cold heartless uncaring only caring about one thing, the mission.

“ You and I, who are slated to become the first Soul Hunters….” She thought over those words that seemed to bounce off the walls of her broken mind. Soul Hunters she knew who they where but the question was how as it possible to do this? But first we must remove the artificial soul that was grafted onto your being; we must also destroy this “Laura Greystroke” persona and reawaken your true self: X-23."   That was the part that worried her that chilled her to the bone. He knew, they knew about the truth and it scared her. They knew the secret behind every thing of this girl. She was a soul, that’s all the body…was a simple shell in the body of a machine. A ghost, her soul was movable and was simply able to be transferred into another body of tier choosing,

That’s why they where called Soul Hunters. A Soul that could be moved, never could die and could be simply transferred to another body in order to complete the right job. Due the advanced technology of reality 529, she had been turned into a weapon! She was not real just some replica some clone and what ever was going to happen she would not let it. She’d fight, she’d fight to become a weapon. Her further, he’d come for her she knew he would. If she could not get out Wolf Pack would come through…there was no doubt but the only thing was when? And would they be to late?

As she continued to ponder these harsh thoughts the mechanical door opened slowly as a tall dark and slightly robust man entered the room. He had long dark brown hair that went just past his ears. He was dressed in a casual jeans along with a blue shirt. He had brown glasses that where oval in shape along with slightly dry lips. His emerald eyes starred at her for a moment before he looked outside the cell and nodded his head as the door slowly closed shut behind him and blotted tightly. With that he took a seat on a stool that seemed to materialize before he sat himself down.

Flipping his glasses down he stared at her for a long time. She avoided eye contact with him and tried not to look but she found herself in an eye lock with this man. “Laura Greystoke?” he eventually said. Laura remained silent “Are you Laura Greystoke daughter of the recently captured King of the Lycan empire, William Gryestoke?” She froze as she stared at him in sudden shock, captured? How could this have happened. Seeing the interesting in her eyes he added “He seemingly gave himself in…for what reasons I don’t know but it was pretty stupid.” “No..” she growled in a low voice.

His attention was soon drawn as her heard her low and slightly disturbing voice as it echoed off the empty walls. “What was that?” he asked as he removed his glasses. “I said no, he did it to protect the people he cared about. It was not stupid, it was honorable and courageous.” She had now gained his fill attention he marveled at her speech and how she did not seem to disrespect him only ensuring her father’s good name was preserved. “I see, now..what about Shadowstep?” The question shook her as the  hidden anger soon arose with in her though she remained silent.

A devious smile appeared on his face as he leaned forward to touch Laura on the cheek. But she didn’t pull back she let him touch her all she did was shut her eyes yet showed no singe of disgust. “You’ve come far way my dear, a lot father than most Weapon Alpha victims..” he chuckled slightly “Most of your team mates either are insane or dead…you..appear to be neither” her eyes raised as she looked at him darkly, “Then you are wrong..because I am both” though her words where few he took great interesting in every word she said. Running his hands through his hair he continued to ask “So, mind telling me about Wolf Pack? Where are they, what are their defenses…if any one you must know far more concerning well you’re his daughter?”

She despised his questions yet retained her all out composure as she answered monotonously “I will not tell you any thing Sir.” His eye brows raised as he was caught off guard with her respect by addressing him as “sir”, “Why?” he started “Why do you respect me like I was your leader?”   She paused a moment she didn’t fully know why. “You never treated HYDRA, SHIELD or any one who imprisoned you like this, so why me…why the CORE.” Her answer was brief but understanding “Because with out you I would not exist you gave me life, and I should have some respect for those who created me should I not?”

With that he got to his feet and nodded his head and briskly left. Leaving Laura slightly confused. Why did he come here just to ask questions that he knew could never be answered not by her never! She knew that he must have know that, and why where they taking so long. She should have already been assimilated by now..but they where holding back for some reasons.   They didn’t want to control her just yet but why, why keep her humanity for what purpose. As she continued to think she began to feel groggy as the effect of the gas that they where spraying into her cell crept into her lungs. At first she began to feel tired and then disorientated. She didn’t know for how long but eventually she collapsed all together on the floor.

She began to cough violently as blood was coughed up as well. Her breathing began to speed up as she began to feel strange. Eventually se was able to muster up the strength to push her back up against the wall as she took in deep breaths that pained her throat every single time. Feeling the sudden feeling that she needed to get something out of he system she began to vomit, blood from her mouth as she was out of breath. This continued for a few minuets but felt like an eternity. Talon never got sick! She never did get any kind of sickness  this feeling of actually inner body disorders was frightening to her and new.

Eventually she was able to regain her composure and hold back the urge for now. By now part of the floor was covered in the blood tat and come froth from her mouth along with certain stomach acid and blood. As she staggered to sit down the door opened once more as the same man entered this time dressed in a full lab uniform. At this time Laura was taking in deep breaths as she would completely out of breath. He seated himself across from her life before, but this time he had writing ad and   pen which made her even more confused. “Now…About Shadowstep” She sighed as she recalled him diverting this question before.

“What is he too you?” the questions was slightly shocking as she raised her eyes staring curiously at the man. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand before she replied “My team mate” she answered simply. He chuckled slightly as he removed a small device, pressing a button on it a holographic screen appeared showing, the moments of Talon running through the facility in order to fine her team mate shouting his name over and over. Deactivating it he turned his attention back to her with a sinister smile “If he was just a team mate why where you so desperate to find him? In there any thing else?” The question made her uneasy like he was implying there was more to the truth of her answer “No, he’s my team mate and I will die for him, for any of my team mates. That is how I work and how I will.” He was satisfied with her answer as he went on.

“What do you feel toward him?” if the other’s caught her off guard this one would have made her fal to the floor out of shock. She tired to make it appear that she was fine but honestly this was crazy! She was getting a counseling session from an Agent of CORE…What the hell was going on! “Laura..answer the question” he said. Mustering up” her composure she sighed “I feel nothing toward him” “Oh but how so, you appeared so desperate to find him, you where crying..and your telling me you feel nothing..?” he said with that same devious smile on his face one she just wanted to slice off. “He it my team ma…” “He’s more than that” the agent finished off her sentence cutting her short. “You are incorrect.” “Am I” he said with his right eye brow raised.

“Now…you will tell me every thing you know about Wolf Pack and about the members…oh and will become a CORE agent like you fellow team mate..” Running her hand through her locks as she wiped her blood shot tired eyes she answered “No”. Jotting something down on his pages he said much more devilishly “If you don’t we’ll kill Shadowstep…simple as that”  She showed no singe of emotion at those words but at that moment she was in a battle with her conscience. Fighting over what she should do, she knew the logical choice let one team member die who was already controlled and assimilated instead of the whole team, but then why was it so hard! Even though she hid it he could see the inner conflict and soon got up. “Too bad…he was such a success” “Why would you kill him, he’s the first you can’t do that!”

Laura shouted he stopped instantly as he turned back to look at the mangled teen. “We can make more..you should know all we need is one to make a million.” She froze as she remembered what they had done, and was silent. “Well then if that’s your final answer I’ll make sure you watch every thing about his death..” With that the door opened as he slowly stepped out, and only when the door was half way shut she screamed “WAIT!” Instantly the door stopped and began to open as he entered once more “Yes Laura Greystoke, what is it?” He said just to taunt her. Taking a deep breath she stood in attention “I will comply to your wish’s and supply you with any and all information involving Wolf Pack and their allies, as long as you…”

She paused a moment wondering why, she was doing this. Just for a team mate?...no there was something more..he was more but she didn’t know what. “As long as you do not harm Shadowstep” He nodded his head in agreement as the door opened fully, outstretching his hand he answered “Well done, good choice, now accompany me to the many rooms where we shall begin once more…your assimilation into the CORE.” She didn’t hesitate she didn’t even fight it, taking his hand she accepted and didn’t think of fighting. Because she knew that what ever she did, Cifer would be hurt, and she could not let that happen.

Magick was relatively content at the moment. Nobody had gotten shot during the press conference, so that was good, (although it did mean that she now owed Slight twenty dollars because of a bet). Even though the situation was dire, she had alot of confidence in the plan. Then, out of now where, there was a mass explosion in a nearby building Causing Magick's ears to ring for a few moments. By the time she had regained her bearings Mr.I'm-a-big-water-hero-so-I-can-just-go-off-to-save-the-day-with-out-my-team was already flying to the rescue. Magick started to sprint to the building as well, but as she was running, her face slammed against a wall. When she looked up, however, she found there to be nothing there. Cautiously she reached out her hand, and again, it hit a wall. A telekinetic feild. Slight. Of all the stupid, overly heroic, idiotic- Magick sighed. Slight was know for being overly good, but why would he want to block the Outsiders from a simple explosion? Like they couldn't handle something like that.  

What Slight did next made Magick's mouth hang open. He used his powers to lift a water pipe out of the street, and turned it on the flaming building, making the situation entirely worse. So that was why he had blocked them. He had gone crackers. Maybe he had too many Advil this morning? Or maybe he had just cracked from the stress. As much as magick wanted to believe these things, they just didn't ring true. What could possibly be going through his head for him to inflict so much damage? Just as she was thinking this, Slight started talking at her in her head. This really annoyed Magick, as she didn't like the thought of someone who apparently was over using prescription drugs being inside her brain.  

  “Let me say first of that I am truly sorry for what I am doing. But understand that this is for the betterment of the world, you will be able to see in due time. I’ve come up with a plan that will finally be let the world see that heroes are for the good, and that making them pariah’s are not the way of solving problems with them…Magick, I leave all power in your hands, and as first task, I want you to hand me over to the highest of authorities. The reason being, I need to get in with at least one person who knows where the Wolf Pack members are, and if I’m lucky then I’ll be sent to a prison where they are. I know this doesn’t make sense but my mind is very unstable at the moment, with trying to figure everything out right now…” 

He said this, then passed out. So much for him not being crazy. Because those were the words of a psycho. He didn't really expect her to send him to jail did he!? How could she do that? After everything they had been through together it would feel so much like betrayal. Then again, not doing it would feel much the same way. Magick silently resented Slight for putting this on her. The force field was down, and she and the other teammates started walking towards where Slight was slumped on the ground. the media was swarming them like vultures.  

"What happened?" 

"Why did he put out the fire that way?"  

"Does he have a history of mental conditions?' 

"Has he ever endangered citizens like this before?" 

"Do you still consider him a hero?"  

Magick bit her lip, trying to make a decision. Finally, she responded. 

 "Slight has been acting weird for a while now. He's been easier to anger, and more violent.  We've all tried to tell ourselves it was nothing, but after the incident today, we can no longer continue that facade. I just did a magic scan of the area, and it told me that Slight was the one to engineer the explosion in the first place. Most likely so that he could put it out, and be seen as a great hero. This man is a criminal, and highly unstable. It is my recomendation that he be put in the strongest and most escape proof prison possible." 

Magick couldn't say any more, if she did, the tears that were welling up in her eyes would spill onto her face. She and her teamtes waited at the site for the police to come and collect Slight. By that time he was beginning to wake up. He looked at her as if to ask if she had followed his plan. 

Family Reunion

  "It's GREYSTOKE!  Move!  Move!  Move!"
 
Guards poured out of doors in the prison courtyard surrounding the Hunter, virtually ignoring her prescence in their haste to restrain the imagined killer. As the blows began to rain down upon his unresisting form she turned from the scene retreating to the shadows behind her. A strong hand grasped her arm before she could depart whirling her about, Tlieso stared coldly at the guard her pretty face an emotionless mask. His left eyelid began to droop and her released her arm before he vomited as the blood vessels in his brain burst from the weight of her thoughts. Turning her back on the scene behind her she disappeared into the comforting darkness of the shadows.

Light streamed through the open balcony doors as she emerged back into her bedroom in Sierra Leone, the faint breeze had swept his scent from the room. The only indication that she had not been alone were the rumpled bed and the ring that weighed heavily on her soul. Removing it from her pocket she stared at the offending item, a gift to be passed onto his daughter Talon. Sinking to the floor Tlieso clutched it to her chest as the enormity of his actions overtook her.

A faint rumbling woke her from her daze, the shadows had grown long around her as the sun moved overhead, hours had passed unnoticed since her return from the prison. The small phone flew into her outstretched hand, relief flooded through her as she saw the caller ID. "Hello Homicide," she answered with a smile.

“Lady Tlieso … I think you should come back to the manor… or what’s left of it. We were attacked, I don’t know by who, but I believe they took the other girls.”

"I'll be right there." She answered numbly before closing the phone and securing it to her side. It was all too much. First Hunter, now this. She needed to find Talon but had no idea where she was or time to track her, she would have to leave the ring where she knew the Lycan Princess would find it. Stalking into the shadows Tlieso materialized in Williams room in Greystoke Manor. The ring was smeared with her blood, her short nails had cut into the soft tissue of her palm without her realizing it. Placing it on his bed she entered the shadows once again.

Rage filled her as she saw how the Femmes home had been violated. As shots rang out on the floor above a grim smile came to her face. Someone would pay for this, for all the pain she held in her heart and payback might begin sooner than she hoped.

Handcuffed, and led away, Slight ducked his head into the steel police car. As they drove away, he looked back out the window, to see Magick face. It was one of worry, and anger, mostly anger though. He knew what he’d done was a bad thing, and if the situation was any different, he would have never done something so barbaric, but it was what it was, and now he was going to jail.

 
At the city prison house, The Hydro Hero stood an immediate trial. The wait was not as bad as he thought it would be, since he knew the result of his actions would be prison, and not just any prison, the highest security they could possibly build. Part of him was delighted that they thought so highly of his ability. Slight was sitting behind a cheery oak bench, it smelled of sweaty palms and paper. There was an ink blotch that was at the dead center of the tables.

 
Slight’s lawyer walked up to him, and outstretched his hand, he told him his name. Taking his hand, he shook it, and wiped it off on his pants’ side. Slight hated to touch other people’s hands; one could never tell where it had been. After that was done, the judge walked out of her chambers, her face looked tired, and hoary. It should have been though; her age was clearly screaming early hundreds. She asked him, if he had anything to say for himself.

 
Avery, being the modest person he was, shook his head, signifying no, and she went on. Reading the charges, which he’d expected to be extreme in this case were worse than he’d imagined. She began “One count of extreme vandalism, destruction of state property, endangering public citizens, and one count of reckless endangerment leading to death.” His eye’s widened at the thought. The thought of him killing someone in his right mind; this couldn’t be, he couldn’t have murdered someone. It was impossible. But, as she read, he quickly took to the idea that it wasn’t.

 
The Water Guardian stood up, and began to speak once the trial was over. (It was not a jury trial, the judge would set the time in prison in this case) She said “A minimum of thirty five years” It almost made him vomit. The thought of his life being stripped away was more than he could bear. And, like many other people in his situation, he pleaded, out loud, trying to make her reconsider. But, her word was well…law. And he would have to face the music.

 
A week has passed…

 
Slight sat in the truck, his arms and legs restrained by power draining technology. He could only think that this was the biggest mistake of his life. He half heartedly regretted ever even getting the idea. But he knew that what he was going to do was going to help the world. And for that, he could endure. As the truck pulled into the entrance of the prison, he could hear men talking on the outside. They joked around about, the age of the new comer, and how he’d never make it in a place like this. They gave him, Slight, a maximum of a month before he’d committed suicide. Scoffing hardily at the idea, they opened the door to the back of the vehicle, and for the first time in three days, Avery could see sunlight. It startled him, then as his eyes adjusted, he saw gray bricks, and metal bars, and thick glass. Yes, this was indeed prison.

 
They led him, to the worst place he’d ever been. The showers; inside there, he was alone, because of his ability to control water, they didn’t want him to try anything. But, they did have a power inhibitor around his neck to prevent him from escaping. The stench of the mildew and bodies that had previously exited was punishment enough, but again, he would endure.

 
Being King of the Sea didn’t seem to matter much now that he was a number. His power didn’t seem to matter now that he was in a place where powers were all to common. And even worse, Slight was not sure that anyone from the Wolf Pack was here, all he could do was hope.    

Nova barked orders at Con to go to Hawk, in all truth he was more concerned with her safety. He was ordered to go to Hawk and stop whatever he was doing in the city, he was just slightly preoccupied because amidst the confusion Dreadmaster had disappeared. Suddenly from the sky came a black bubble and it encased Nova, it was not large enough to contain both of them and Con felt that Dread didn't want it to. Even with his skills dread wouldn't be a match for Con and Nova, Scott wasn't sure he'd even be a match for Steph, especially with her newly found, or better phrased, given powers. Con quickly tried to make his way back up to his leader and brake through the bubble, but before he got within reach the two disappeared, leaving Scott to grasp at thin air. An animal like roar ripped through his lungs, angry at his own failure.
 
Using magic he searched the area, looking for a trace in their teleportation, something he could grab onto and use to get himself where they were. He found nothing, which frustrated him even more. He checked the com-link it would be able to pick up her signal if she was nearby, nothing happened, he'd have to go back to HQ to be able to find her signal if it was not within range of his. Then suddenly he remembered about Hawk, and the orders given to take him down. Even though he couldn't reach her he'd do something to help. He teleported to Hawk's destination, but it seemed he was too late, which was almost a relief, he appeared in time to see Hawk being taken into custody by police. He had been handled and Con no longer needed to even give a second thought about him.
 
He turned around the corner leaving the police to do their job and disappeared, reappearing in the safety of WAL HQ. He headed to the communications room, where he switched on all signals, his eyes quickly scanned for Nova's, if she was outside New York it may take a few minutes before they would receive her. He spoke into the mike and spoke to her com, "Nova? nova are you ok?... can you hear me? I'm coming to help you", he turned the mike off and flicked a switch widening the receivers making it easier for her to reply. Whilst waiting he sent a message out to the other WAL members, "this is Constantine speaking, we may have a situation, Nova is currently missing, any free members can you please come to HQ so we can set up a rescue party- Nova's safety is my main priority, as far as we know Wolf Pack could be innocent, let the police handle them..." he switched the mike off again. All he could do is sit and wait, if her tracking chip was still working she should appear on screen soon and if her com was working she'd be able to reply Con calmed himself down. Suddenly he jumped as from the corner stepped a dark figure "Hello Scott..." Con stared bewildered, how did he know his name? no one knew his name, not even in WAL...

"You...stupid, vile animal. You betrayed us! You betrayed the William, Laura...EVERYONE! And for what? Nevermind, I don't want to know. Whatever it was, it was clearly number one on the list of your priorities. And now...I'm going to show you mine: killing the gutless dirt bags who take my friends. I am not as forgiving as Talon, Cifer. I am your worst nightmare: a painful death beyond words. You're lucky...I would spend all day torturing you...but I have someone to save.  Someone who trusted you. You'd better start learnin' to pray, wretch...because no one down here's going to save you."

As Sylver's screams pierced the Heavens and brought death to the countless number of woodland creatures that had been watching this short spectacle from the beginning, the last remnants of Cifer's old self began to break their way through The CORE's telepathy-based programming. But as Sylver's screams became unbearable, Cifer began to thrash about wildly until, after a few moments, he grabbed her by her hair with the one arm she had failed to secure and slammed her face into the ground, thus forcing her to let him go.

"S-S-SHUT UP!" Cifer roared as he staggered his way up onto his feet, prepared to kick Sylver in the stomach, but was forced to come to a complete halt as a sharp, throbbing pain drilled its way to the core of his mind and broke open all of the floodgates, allowing streams of black blood to flow from his nose, ears and eyes. A series of violent coughs began to follow as well as the vomiting of even more blood and to add one final insult to injury, sent Cifer involuntarily walking enough steps forward to trip over Sylver's body and come crashing face-flat onto the ground.

Following a loud thud and a couple of strained groans, Cifer attempted to turn his body in the direction of the last place he remembered Sylver being. "NNNGGGHH...not a traitor...CORE...telepaths...mind-control...Soul Hunters...U-United Nations...J1NX...L-L-Laura...William...to be executed..." Cifer mumbled and moaned in despair, knowing that in his current condition he could not properly convey everything he was trying to tell a hopefully still-conscious Sylver. 
 
So he continued to repeat the words over and over again, not stopping until he knew for sure Sylver could understand what he was saying. "Not a traitor! CORE! Telepaths! Mind-Control! United Nations! J1NX! Laura! William! To be executed! Not a traitor! CORE! Telepaths! Mind-Control! Soul Hunters! United Nations! J1NX! Laura! William! TO BE EXECUTED! EXECUTED! EXECUTED! EXECUTED!" 

Tears were beginning to stream down Cifer's cheeks as he sobbed in despair, his healing factor was stalling and making it impossible for him to kick back into full gear. He was now an incommunicable, potentially irreparable wreck laying at Death's Door. He was in Hell and no matter how hard he tried he could not escape from it, he was no longer strong enough to do so. But that fact alone did not stop his still-functioning subconscious from begging for deliverance. 
 
It was then that a familiar sensation began to stir at the core of Cifer's very being and as that sensation grew stronger, radiant light erupted Heavenward, forming a column of energy as it drilled its way through thick cloud banks and pierced the night skies beyond. Then, just like that, both the radiant light and Cifer himself were gone, leaving in their wake the dying embers of a teleport flare.

The orange jumpsuit and chains made him feel like a criminal, even though he knew they were the ones who deserved to be in here. They were the ones who brought an all out assault, they came over gunned and over manned, but he just was born for this. The guards walked him through gate after gate slowly knowing that the chains didn’t allow his legs to move very fast. As he walked by cell door after cell door he could hear them calling out with bird calls and howls. A sign of respect to a men who earned it.

48 hours earlier

The yard was empty when the guards walked him out. They told him to enter alone. As he walked in he could feel a trap brewing, someone was coming in the other side and Hawk could smell the sweat and adrenaline pour out from the man. Then the bitter smell of copper, blood. He saw the figure stumble into the darkness running as fast as he could fully chained. His long hair covered his face as he half ran half stumbled across the yard, like he was being chased. Then Hawk saw the others, 10 maybe 15 men walking slowly in the dark stalking their prey.

The long haired man ran right into Hawk as he stood under a light, his face still covered with blood and hair. Hawk looked down at the man who now lay on the ground, chained around his feet, hands and neck. "Hello old friend." A smile broke across the bloodied man's face. The next several minutes were filled with blood and voilence, Hawk ripped and tore through the men in front of him with little effort, though his hand were chained to his feet, he moved with strength and deadliness of a viper back into a corner. Then as another wave of men came after him, he heard it. CLICK..... The sound was something he had heard time and time again. With a burst Hawk jumped on his friend and new teammate. BOOM! The explosion filled the whole yard and heat flooded over his back charring his skin and melting his orange jumper onto body. Hawk let out a howl and he stood in the midst of the fire, letting Hunter catch his breath in his human form. Hawk's eyes were full of rage and fire, blood rain down his mouth and a savage growl escaped his lips. He was no longer the man who had raised to children, he was no longer a hero who had saved the world, he was what they trained him to be...the killer, the weapon. The wings that Hawk had commanded away just a week ago grew out of his back once again and reached to the sky. His chains lay around his feet as he searched for his target. Hunter looked up into the eyes of a killer in front of him astonished. "Oh shit!"  
 
 Now

They marched them through the corriadors of the prision into an underground tunnel. They came out and were brought in through the side door. The courtroom was polished wood and suits, nothing like the place were they had just come. They sat them next to each other at the defendent's table and they waited on their lawyer. Hunter whispered to him below that which any human could hear. "Do we have a lawyer?" Hunter could sense the rage building inside of Hawk, "Oh shit!"

 
47 hours earlier

Hawk stood in the middle of the yard, or what once was the yard. Sirens and alarms went off all around them as he looked over the scene he had made with no hesitation. The guard tower lay crumbled on top of what once was the basketball court and the men who had attacked them had long been silenced. Hawk ripped the chains from around Hunters neck and hands. "Do you want to leave?" Hawk spoke knowing that 50 guards had them in their sights. "No we stay. We will face judgement, we will tell our side of the story."

Hawk nodded in agreement and his wings resided back in between his shoulder blades once again. Shots fired over and over again and blood pour out of their bodies. Hawk fell to the ground, his head bouncing off the cement.  
 
Courtroom

She walked into the courtroom with a swagger, heels clicking with every step. He didn't have to turn to know it was her, since the scent of her passed over him like a wave of desire. It had been 10 weeks since they had faked her death, 10 weeks since she had left him, 10 weeks since he had seen his kids. She stood next to him and looked him up and down, "Orange is not your color, love." He turned to look her in the eyes that were as blue as the ocean. "It's good to see you too Mani"

The next moments of her life were hard to recall. They where vague almost like a dream one that had been long forgotten. She felt like her existence was about to come to an end, for very soon that would be true. Laura Greystoke, Talon would be gone forever and replaced with her. This was not like with SHIELD or HYDRA or any time she had been captured, this was different. This was the CORE, the facility that had sporned her, that had created her. That was able to transfer her soul into another body. They where capable of permanently deleting her present personality and replacing it with the Soul of some one else entirely. She was scared, scared they would do this to her and far worse, because they where capable of much, much worse.

Her eyes remained fixed on the steel grown below her as she followed head sagged behind the man that had been able to win her, loyalty with just three simple words “He will die”. It was strange. She never really understood her bond to the alike known as Shadowstep. She honestly had not spent much time with that specific team mate. Though she did bear a connection to him. He was right they where alike. And it was only time before they both met fate, and this one was hers. She had accepted it and even though it cost every thing, she could finally make good on what she had swore. When she joined Wolf Pack she sword to never kill her team mates, never to let them down, always obey them for they where more important that her. To fight for them and to die for them, that is what she was going to do.

This was what she had promise, to die for her team mate. For she would die, Talon, Laura Greystoke would disappear into oblivion. Every thing that every one knew about her, the girl they had met. The girl that had been adopted by Hunter, the girl that became dear friends with Sylver that girl would be gone in a few hours, and what would replace her would be nothing but a monster. She would be come X-23, of The CORE, nothing more nothing less. And this time they would not make the same mistake like they did before. They gave her a conscious they gave her emotions. This time they would give her none of that. Every thing would be stripped away, like the curtains from a window and instead of light filling the room. There would but nothing but darkness and hatred.

“You seem quite silent” the cold voice of her commander said as he walked in front of her, not looking back only speaking. Lifting her head slightly she whispered in a broken voice “That is because I am thinking” she simply state. This caught him off guard. That amount of words, what she said about herself. He did not expect such an interesting reply from her. Truly she had transpired into a quite interesting young girl. Especially comparing her to what she was years ago, she had evolve to such a state of humanity where it was possible for her to become, what she called Human. Though sadly her own fear bared her and made her lose her way. It was sad really, how some one so close to something that had wanted all their life could so easily deny it when the opportunity arose.

“Interesting, so tell me…what are you currently in any sort of relationship?....I thought I read in your file you are involved with your team mate? Ronnin I think was his name? In this information correct?”  Laura stopped a moment catching the attention of the man before her. He stopped and turned to look at her for the first time since they had exited the cell. “Why do you desire to know this information?” He chuckled slightly before speaking “So I can inform him of your…death”. With that he continued to walk. Though for a few second Talon remained still thinking. So this was what they where going to do. Just simply erase her from existence. I mean if she was dead who’d come looking for her.

She knew they could do it. As much as she hated to admit it there was no way of getting out with out going through with the procedure. She began to briskly catch up to him and at that moment his communicator beeped. He quickly answered it and as they walked a devious smile came onto his face as he placed the phone back in his pocket. “It appearance that I have some disturbing news my dear” that did not sound good and instantly a cold chill ran through Laura as she took in a deep breath. This time he stopped all together and faced her placing his hand on her shoulders and staring into her emerald eyes once more.

“It appearance that Shadowstep has some how been beaten by the likes of Sylver you team mate, kill in cold blood.” He said lying to her in hopes that it would some how break the youth down even more. “Oh” he said pretending like he forget “And I’ve been informed that your father, William Greystoke along with Hawk are to be executed shortly..” It took Laura Greystoke a few moments to take all this horrible information into her system. Her father,   her team mate, and Hawk dead. Soon enough they’d all be dead. And where was she? She was here in steel walls in silence not there. She was not there to help then to aid them in their struggle like she had promise! She…she had failed.

Soon enough she began to feel overwhelmed with emotions of pain, hatred, anger and malice. For soon enough her father and her…close friend Hawk, would face death and there was nothing she could do to stop them! Shadowstep was gone and she was sure that Sylver would attempt to rescue her and there dying gin the process.  No…she could not take this. Every one she cared about every one she held dear in less than 24 hours would be dead and she could do nothing to change it…except maybe..Instantly her eyes flashed up at the man before her now in their grey state. “Take me back” she whispered slowly. He stared at her in confusion before she said louder “Take be back now!”

“Earth 529! You have the technology take me back and assimilate me immediately after that.” What she said took him back she sated at her a moment shocked at her sudden and illogical reaction to all of this. He expected her to start fighting or attempt o kill him. Or possibly commit suicide not return, not what she had just asked for. She saw his confusion and then spoke “I was a fool in coming here, in thinking I could some how create a life for me. I’ve wasted too much time already. Holding onto dreams and desires that where so futile and meaningless. By coming here I have only made things worse for myself and for those that where foolish enough to care for me.” She paused a moment and looked up at her commander as she sighed.

“And now I will make the first right choice in this reality. In hopes of some how fixing what I have done. I want to return back to earth 529, I want to be stripped of all the memories all the emotions and I would like to return to the CORE, and Alpha squad.”   He stared at the girl standing before her making sure that this was her. “As you wish Laura..” “Don’t call me that” she snapped back “My designation is X-23 clone of Weapon Alpha.” With that he escorted her to the temporal gate that was a gate way to other reality’s. There was only one in each reality and once you went through it there was no coming back. “Please try and make my death look good” X-23 said looking back.

 As she looked before her she knew that the moment she stepped through this portal every thing would be gone. All the memories all the emotions would soon enough disappear. But that didn’t matter she was not doing this because she wanted to. She was doing this in hopes to punish herself for every thing she had done. All the pain she had caused. She need to be punished and she’d give herself the worse. She’d lose every thing, every thing she had gained all of it. She’d delete herself and that would be her final punishment. With that she stared at the portal before her and let a sigh escape her. “Forgive me…father…forgive me for what I am about to do…” with   that a bright light encompassed around her body as she was briskly teleported instantly to realty 529, where all part of the girl once known as Laura Greystoke..would be lost…forever..

Slight had put up a telepathic force field. And choked her. Then Un-CHOCKED her. Good gosh gracious. Seriously? SERIOUSLY!?!?!??! He was running off to be a hero. Wait a second........ Now Crysta was confused. Why stop them? He might need help. Unless..... Slight set up the explosion. Crysta sighed. She always KNEW he would go crazy from being called a puppy by Holly Cross. It just SHOWED a little... late? Crysta was so confused. She tried to use her magic to get out. She couldn't. God Slight, seriously? SERIOUSLY?!?! Now the team couldn't get him even if he got attacked or arrested. Was that what he was planning?  

  “Let me say first of that I am truly sorry for what I am doing. But understand that this is for the betterment of the world, you will be able to see in due time. I’ve come up with a plan that will finally be let the world see that heroes are for the good, and that making them pariah’s are not the way of solving problems with them…Magick, I leave all power in your hands, and as first task, I want you to hand me over to the highest of authorities. The reason being, I need to get in with at least one person who knows where the Wolf Pack members are, and if I’m lucky then I’ll be sent to a prison where they are. I know this doesn’t make sense but my mind is very unstable at the moment, with trying to figure everything out right now…”  
 
It was in her head. Crysta didn't know if it was because it had been sent at HER or if it was because she was reading that part of Magick's brain. Crysta rushed down the stairs, slammed open the door and sneaked out. In the quiet she wasn't noticed. Magick was being attacked by a barrage of questions, and Crysta hoped she would say that he wasn't really there, that wasn't Slight, some CONVINCING lie. Instead, she said what Slight had said. Unstable. Seriously? Crysta would have to talk later. She didn't want to attract attention right now, at the most crucial part....... 
 
"Slight has been acting weird for a while now. He's been easier to anger, and more violent.  We've all tried to tell ourselves it was nothing, but after the incident today, we can no longer continue that facade. I just did a magic scan of the area, and it told me that Slight was the one to engineer the explosion in the first place. Most likely so that he could put it out, and be seen as a great hero. This man is a criminal, and highly unstable. It is my recomendation that he be put in the strongest and most escape proof prison possible." 

But Crysta barely noticed. She was too busy concentrating her power..... This was the hardest spell she had done yet. Just as the authorities had arrived, Slight woke up. Crysta knew Magick was feeling REALLY sad. But Crysta had finished. 
 
Just as Magick was getting up, Crysta muttered softly,  If this doesn't work I will murder Magick and Slight and whoever is making this not work except for me, of course. She flicked the blue feather at Slight, and it landed in his hair. Soon, it would sink deep into his head, dissolving slowly, giving him a chance to get freed. Crysta was sure that he would be in jail for a looong time. 
  
Then it was over. Everything. Down. Crysta went to Magick and said,  Come on Magick, let's go walk. I need to talk to you. Magick went along with Crysta, first telling the rest of the team to make sure that no reporters were left. 
 
Crysta went along to the back. Then she turned to Magick and asked, "Why?" 

"Why what?" asked Magick.

 
Why did you say that?!  

I don't know..... I kinda HAD to. Magick said, looking confused.
 
Was someone controlling you? Crysta asked, her heart stopping. who would do that?! slight wouldn't sink THAT low.  

No, I just felt like it. I knew we had to do SOMETHING. Magick said, obviously trying to calm Crysta. But Crysta was on a roll. 
 
Really? Really? Well, I think it was the WORST thing you could have done. Why didn't you consult us? Or me? Or anybody? Just deciding BY YOURSELF!  Crysta shouted the Reallies, but then whisper-shouted the rest. This conversation COULD NOT be heard. She was about to continue her rant when she realized that Magick was looking oddly...... sad?  
 
You're not the leader! The rest of the team, I'm sure, would agree! They would think this is the RIGHT thing to do. Magick said. But how would she know? Crysta KNEW she hadn't asked them. 
 
You know what, whatever. Crysta said. She stomped back to the house and went in. She found some of the team in a room and plonked down in a seat. She was feeling weird, like her magic was spiralling out of control...

 Seeing as her powers were no use, she put her flames out, standing as a chill began to fill the area around the fire goddess, the air escaping from her lips becoming visible in a thin white smoke. Goosebumps filled her arms as she got into a defensive stance, she had pissed off Warner, and she knew she was about to feel his wrath. As the dome then suddenly burst open, covering her face for a moment to protect herself she prepared for a attack. When nothing happened, she slowly lowered her arms and found herself standing upon a large boulder, snow covered some of the area around them as her eyes scanned the area, the sting of the wind hitting her face as she tried to look for Dreadmaster.   

"Hey bright eyes!!! If you believe Hunter didn't do it, then why don't you speak up in his defense?" She looked up to find Dreadmaster looming over her in the air. She opened her mouth, ready to defend her actions, only to be cut off before she could even get a word out. "Don't answer that....you may have your team hunting down mine and bringing them in, but it will take far more than just one person to take me down, always has been the case and even with your powers its not different."

He than got into a fighting stance, landing before Nova, his eyes intense and looking right at her. Dreadmaster was waiting for her to make the first move, Nova couldn’t help but frown at him, she lowered her head as made a fist with both hands, looking down at the metal like gloves that covered them. ‘Can’t use these… I haven’t tested them out to their fullest potential… I’m going to have to relay on my own power… unless things get too out of hand’ she thought to herself as her right fist burst into flames, as it suddenly consumed her body in a flash. Her golden flames lighting up the dark area around them, her light reflecting off the white snow as her fire danced around her body, her eyes turning from an emerald green to a bright yellow glow. She could feel the heat of her energy radiating off of her, warming up the bolder that they stood on. 

Sure she may be starting off strong, but she knew she was going to have to be careful while fighting up on this elevation level. Since they were up higher, it meant that less oxygen was around them, which meant that it would be harder for her to keep her fire going around her at full power. This fight was going to have be a fast one, or else she would be stuck using the power that Darkchild gave her. 

In a last attempt to prevent the brawl that was about to begin, her expression soften. “Dread… PLEASE, don’t make me fight you. You have to see it from my point of view, Hunter hasn’t made himself look very innocent by running away, not to mention Talon taking the woman’s body. Please, PLEASE, I’m begging you, dont make this harder than it has to be. If we fight… I’m not holding back, and its only going to make the Wolf Pack look more guilty than they already do. Even if your as strong as you say you are... others will come after you, stronger people, and they wont give you a chance like I am right now. Do you really want to keep running?” She knew her plea was going to be in vain but she had to try, she wasn’t about to make the first move, if he really felt the need to fight her, he would make the first move.