Trinity Force

Previously

The Trinity under command of Ziccarra Liafador, launch a mission to extract a mutant child , Kari; from South Africa's Eastern Cape upon learning of her "Genesis Gene". The team is met with attacks from the likes of: The Mercenary, Darkchild, The Sinister Underdogs, Adhene and others; Xenon aided by Andres Knightfall are able to secure the child, but her met with more opposition including Clara Mass and Cleopatra Thea of Kalli; Doc Stahl shows up and saves Kari from being killed at the hands of the Mercenary.

Samantha Weston recalls, Assualt, Ziccarra, Homicide and Selina Stone back to base; as she has located Kari's orgin and it's not an orphange.

NOW

Samantha watched intently as Assault rest, the incapacitated Malgan beauty on a sofa. She could tell, the speed force was far too much for Ziccarra’ degenerating to deal with; and the stubborn Marquesta didn’t make it any easier. She’d have to address the situation when Ziccarra awakened, but for now she had something dire for the recalled members of the Trinity.

Weston rested with her elbows folded on a nearby computer; Selina, Assault and Homicide all entered wondering what the deal was. While it was Ziccarra who lead them, Samantha financed them; and seeing as the Spanish Marqesta was down for the count; she’d assume fully control of the Trinity.

“Xenon, Doc Stahl, Alex, and The Dark Knight Detective have done an amazing job with securing the child; let’s hope they can get here back here without any hiccups.” Samantha instructed, turning to a map of South Africa again, this time 200 miles west.

“We’ve been tracking the origins of the child, Kari I believe her name to be; they lead straight to an orphanage in seemingly the wilderness” Weston instructed further, clicking a button on the mouse which pulled up a visual aid.

The new electronics and layout of the catacombs were thanks to Doc Stahl; his tech savy mind; enhanced the whole catacombs.

“When the girl was discovered, she was discovered in Port Elizabeth “Samantha pointed to the opposite side of the map, which was where Ziccarra originally searched. “So you want us to figure out, how an orphaned child got from here, to HERE” Cassandra said, interrupting Weston.

“Precisely, digital images of the orphanage show what appear to be a factory. Proceed with caution” Weston said, turning to the Trinity members. “I’d try to proceed with some sort of plan.”

The Abandoned Factory

Deep in the darkest and coldest part of the crypt rest stood the Liafador Handler. He stood to full form over a bed, which housed a small child. The child lay motionless, but aware; hooked up to the very same machine he used to shock Ellie; standing like drones in formation were hundreds more.

The one he was using to power these children or time bombs as he liked to call them. The Hidden Order had done a superb job in making sure the factory was well protected. Staring at the sickly child hooked up to a respirator, the Cardinal admin ; awaited further orders.

The Return.

She was completely knocked out. Didn't make a sound whilst he flew her the few thousand miles from South Africa to Trinity HQ, which made him extremely uncomfortable, especially when her boobs kept bouncing against his chest-piece. Normally the once playboy Jacob Stark would have made some smooth comments about it, but he'd felt awkward and had at one point contemplated throwing her over his back so that it would stop. He'd had Summit check all of her vitals, ensuring that she hadn't died whilst collapsed in the centre of that street. The scans had affirmed her health, she was just extremely worn out. He wondered why, but figured he would have to enquire later. Right now, he had priorities.

The Briefing.

Once more the titanium-clad titan found himself brooding at the rear of the trio, arms folded across his chest by way of isolation. His featureless helmet allowed what was within it to react without drawing attention, and his mental conversations with Summit kept him busy. Listening intently to the substitute leader and Trinity benefactor, Assault simultaneously had his AI companion do some research. It turned out the team had some dirty folk, Homicide at the fore front of this revelation. She was an assassin, serving the hero alliance only because she it was her job. She wasn't seeking any retribution. Jacob snarled beneath the Assault armour, instantaneously distrustful of the woman and resentful of her lifestyle. You didn't take lives without good reason. Money was not a good reason. But then again, he had been excessively wealthy his entire life, so he could hardly make any opinions on the matter.

The other girl, a kid, probably around the same age as him, was pretty fresh at the hero gig herself. He felt a kindred spirit there, a young avenger looking for salvation. He would initiate background checks on the remainder of the team much later, for now he was preparing himself for the new mission. The second one today. He blew out a short breath, mentally commenting on how the superhero vibe was turning out to be hard work. Summit retorted sarcastically and Jake swore at him.

The Trinity Force.

Samantha left the room, probably deciding she'd delivered enough information to the team and leaving the rest to them. A reasonable option, but only time would tell whether their combined abilities would prove fruitful. They stood together for a moment, awkward. Assault opted to break the ice with his cold voice and get the ball rolling, taking deliberate steps forwards, standing at the head of the trio.

"We don't know each other that well yet, and I don't know if this whole team things going to work out, today's been pretty hectic. But I know one thing, and that's that we've got to formulate a series of plans, primarily entry. Perhaps a covert approach," he paused, willing Summit to alter the shade of his armour. It instantaneously shot to a shade of black, his eye slits glowing bright red now. "I've got a feeling Homicide's going to be a bit more stealthy than we are, being an assassin." He spat the last word as if he didn't want it in his mouth, nevermind his team. "She can sort out reconnaissance, get some info on the place and possibly other places. I'll sneak in myself, and when I meet resistance I'll make a scene. It should draw most of the security and that's where you come in Selina. We'll need you to clean out any other kids down there and if necessary, provide some back-up with my fight. I'm egotistical, but I'm not invincible and who knows what kind of business they have going down there."

“So you want us to figure out, how an orphaned child got from here, to HERE” Cassandra said, interrupting Weston.

“Precisely, digital images of the orphanage show what appear to be a factory. Proceed with caution” Weston said, turning to the Trinity members. “I’d try to proceed with some sort of plan.”

She didn't show an expression as her eyes gazed upon her other three teammates in the room but focused on Assault as he began stating the obvious about how this should be a more covert mission. But then again, their last mission was suppose to be covert and look how that turned out. Her expression didn't change either when he exaggerate the word 'assassin' as if being one was a completely horrible one. Governments have paid assassins, why is it that they are ok but when a paid assassin joins a hero team, everyone questions them? She was a killer, who just happened to go where the money was flowing and this time it brought her to Trinity. But the assassin knew her loyalties to the group were in question every time they were to go on a mission and this one wouldn't be an exception. But she liked that, it kept them on their toes, just like they should be. Only she knew where her true loyalties where... and that was all that mattered at the moment.

"We have to avoid another Queenstown incident." Her voice was cold and slightly monotone as she spoke, not really looking at anyone in particular. "If one of us goes in guns blazing they'll know something is going on and it'll blow Selina's cover as well as myself." Her eyes moved back to Jake. "We can't drive away from the main mission, to figure out how Kari got from point 'A' to point 'B', why she was brought to Queenstown and gather as much information as possible about the facilities, not save the children inside." She knew she sound like a typical cold blooded assassin, but she saw things from a different perspective. "We don't know how MANY children are there, there can be twenty or twenty dozen, would you have enough time to get them all out? Or are you going to select who are the worthy to be saved when the heat is brought down on us? Another thing, we don't know if they have powers and if they do, it means they can be potentially dangerous... to us. We have to be ready for anything, for all we know this could be a trap waiting to be triggered."

Her emerald eyes shift from teammate to teammate. "If you want attempt to save the kids then go ahead, but I'm going to gather as much information I can, and then I'm getting out, I'm not going to risk my life because you heroes get overly emotional when it comes to saving little lives. That's not what I'm being paid to do." Standing up from her seat she walked out of the room to the transport docks. She made sure she had everything she needed, backpack for any paper files and a SDT or Satellite Data Transfer), a small USB like device that will instantly transfer any valuable information from their computers, through a satellite and to the Trinity system. Now they just had to get there.

Homicide is a real assassin. Quick to do the job, leave and collect her money. In a few ways I am like her, except we are different when it comes to one thing. Life.

"I'll do it." This is where I disagree with her. Yes, collecting information is highly important when it comes to our job, however she needs to realize that saving a life is more important. In the future it'll benefit us. More allies the better.

"Rest assured I'll get the job done. It'll be easy for me to locate to the kids unnoticed. It may be a little tricky getting them out, but I can handle that." At least the other two heard me. Homicide was too busy storming out of the room to hear me.

"Assault, I'll be ready to assist you at anytime. If I have children with me just know that they might witness a fun fight before we leave." I don't want to endanger any of their lives, but I have my own ways of making sure they stay safe at all times.

My teammates don't know much about me, but they know I was put on this team for a reason. Hundreds of other people could have been put here in my spot, but I was the most qualified.

"See you on the field." I leave the room to mentally prepare myself. I am going to have to be the one who is depended on to save the children. No pressure right? All I need to hope is that everyone makes it back here alive.

The assassin gave her thoughts on his rather simple plan, instantly rejecting two sections of it. She didn't want them to go in guns blazing? And what if one of the team was compromised whilst sneaking about? Then there would be an alarm and every nook and cranny of the facility would be searched. Assault would take them head-on and cause so much destruction, they would have no choice but to focus every able form of security on him. He regarded her with those luminous red eye slits, narrowing his own eyes in resentment beneath his helmet. Selina, on the other hand, she supported his plan whole-heartedly. Both heroes were fresh at the gig, but they knew that before the bad guys, before reconnaissance, before anything, came the lives of the innocent. And that as Trinity members, it was up to them to preserve those lives. He watched Homicide leave the room, his arms folded across his titanium breastplate.

"Thanks Selina. Remember to stay low and outta sight until I've drawn their attention. We don't know what we're up against yet, and I'd hate for one of us to be gunned down before the missions even started." His cold metallic voice thawed out a little speaking to her as so far he hadn't found any reasons to not trust her. And despite his disinterested disposition regarding most things, he hoped it would stay that way. There were already too many folk on this team that he didn't trust, primarily the mutant supremacist, Xenon. His intentions were questionable. He waited behind after Ms. Stone had left the room, giving the unconscious Zicarra another check-up to ensure her vitals were still in the green. Summit affirmed it, and he too, left the briefing room.

The Hangar.

Calling in the rest of the trio in over his comm-link, he waited patiently for them to stride into the expansive underground room. Assault spread his arms wide, presenting a massive jet, one that would store up to four people, with a Stark Industries logo on it's base. Anthony had donated it to the team as an act of good will by request from his little brother, supplying a means of transport for the Trinity. Unfortunately, they would probably have to organize another plane some time down the line, as the team possessed much more than four members.

"You ladies can take the jet, it has auto-pilot, and I've got my own methods of transportation."

So saying his boosters lit up and he hovered into the air before them, pointing a single palm at the Stark Industries logo and concentrating a repulsor beam that would remove the letters. Then with a crimson laser he inscribed a rough rendition of the Trinity team's insignia, three polygon's in a triangular formation. He gave them a nod before inclining his being forward and firing out of the hangar like a bullet, carried away by boosters that would allow him to travel at twice the speed of sound, leaving a slight stream of smoke in his wake.

The Abandoned Factory.

Assault appeared first as a dot on the horizon, nothing to be concerned about. But less than two seconds later he was launched at the factory by an incredible boost from his thrusters, propelled straight through the factory's roof and into one of it's corridors. Summit had scanned the entirety of the building through satellite imagery a few moments earlier and had determined a reasonable point of entry, one that would not possess any kids or any personnel. Surprisingly, it was the only area of the factory that was completely devoid of life, which was either a blessing or a veiled curse.

He hit the ground on one knee and one fist, his favoured entry pose. The impact caused by his being kissing the floor sent a tremor through the facility, a massive shock-wave accompanying it. He had calculated it perfectly, managing to induce some shaking of the walls, but not destroying any part of the building, besides the roof and the earth beneath his armoured being. A small crater surrounded his knelt-position, minute tendrils of smoke emanating off of his titanium-clad figure. Beneath the helmet, he chuckled excitedly.

"It never gets old, does it Summit?"

"I'm sure it is very badass, sir. Perhaps we shall continue with our objective now."

Always one for sass, Jacob thought to himself.

"Sir, I detect approaching hostiles."

Assault nodded, slowly rising to his armoured feet. He directed one palm towards the door, his repulsor beginning to glow in anticipation. He spoke out loud, his ice cold voice cooling the atmosphere around him.

"Looks like we got their attention."

@assault: Atticus wasn't exactly used to following orders, from someone he could see that is. Anyway, Ziiccarra pulled him back from the Queenstown intervention. She had an alternative mission for a few of the other, more subtle members of the team. It he was anything Atticus was subtle.

Unsure of how he fit into the crowd, Atticus was always alone, although for the sake of teamwork, none of the rest of the members were really that close knit from what he'd observed. Besides the fact that he wasn't even from this Earth, his aloofness only added to the mystique of his identity now. Operating a weave work of hand symbols, the Atropos Prince suddenly was gone from the rooftops, and replaced upon the dunes surrounding the infamous orphanage factory. Right off the bat, there was a sense of dread there. An eerie silence, cut in by brash sandy wind. Right now he wished he had a weapon, going in bare-fist was probably one of the worst ideas he could run with. But as things were, if blows came to pass, his training equipped him well enough to serve as some sort of lifesaving grace.

....Inside....

Slipping though, the one open window on the face of the orphanage Atticus found himself in a dark hallway. A makeshift string of dim lights strung along the ceiling, leading him to nowhere in particular. This time, the silence was thick and still. His footsteps made no sound as he crept along the corridors, adding to the dreary atmosphere. He could only think to himself, "This is no place for any child" Common sense dictated that children were fun loving. Bright colors, noise, playful chaos, described children, and what he witnessed was the complete antithesis to all of those things.

And suddenly, the voice of a child echoed clearly. It was a voice of frolicking laughter, which made Atticus uneasy; a very hard thing to do. Not being able to pinpoint its origins made it difficult for him to orientate himself as well. To boot, the rest of the team didn't even know he was here yet. Just then he felt a tremor move through the foundation of the building. Could it have been one of the children displaying the awesome magnitude of their power, or was it something even more sinister? Continuously creeping around the corner, until he reached an opening along the high railings on the second floor.

Comensing a back flip to the ground floor, Atticus moved slowly towards the door. There was a definite energy radiating from the dark cold foyer. He could here the metallic voice of some unknown assailant, and it infuriated him. He would act. Forward, a rhino kick to the locked door, and as they sprang open breaking from the hinges, he saw Assault ready to blow him to bits. If it hadn't been for his absolutely impeccable skills of evasive action, he would have been eviscerated by the energy beam. "WAIT. Its just me." He called out from the side of the door. "Ziccarra asked me to come and assist the rest of the team here. I'm my name is Atticus." Relieved that he was now in the presence of a friendly, Atticus still questioned the methods of someone who would readily shoot down the unknown.

@_sojourn_:

The door was kicked in from the other side and shot at Assault, missing his armoured being by a few inches. The titanium-clad titan hadn't even flinched, his suit could take some of the world's most heavy fire power, a simple flying door wouldn't even scratch his paint-job. He had released an instantaneous repulsor blast, concentrated at 2%. A beam of that calibre would do little other than throw his opponent to the floor. Whilst impulsive and aggressive, Jacob Stark was anything but stupid. His thermal scans had shown an adult figure moving towards the corridor, but Assault wasn't going to fire any potent shots at an unknown hostile. And it was good that he hadn't, as it turned out to be none other than Atticus, a somewhat seclusive member of the Trinity. Obviously, he'd forgotten to call.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?! I could have popped a hole in you!"

He strode forwards through the door, giving the man a filthy glare. Turning away, the metallic maestro performed another scan of the area surrounding them, picking up numerous approaching figures. Somehow he doubted they were more unannounced team members. He spoke without looking at Atticus.

"I'm here to make a noise. You can help if you like," He paused, delivering another cold glance. "But don't get in my way."

Raising both palms, he blasted a section of the granite wall outwards, marching through with a mini-machine gun protruding from each of his gauntlets, firing off bullets at the floor, attracting as much attention as he possibly could. He was ready to lay in to whatever opposition he faced, taking them on with an armada of weapons coupled with extreme prejudice.

The Assault was on.

“Go.” He said, listening to the invasion of his stronghold, it appeared as if the Trinity’s second team had arrived. He never batted an eye, this was something he had planned for all along. Kari the mutant child with the “genesis” gene; was currently being fought over in Queenstown. Over the course of the last few months, he had done a phenomenal job of kidnapping children; purposely replicating their genes so that he could wield his own army.

The Red Cardinal leader, turned his shoulder to a child and nodded his head. The child’s eyes glazed over with an emerald stare; soon the whole factory became a fun house; they bio-metrics and heat signatures of disguised Red Cardinals matched that of the missing children. This was so no interfering Infrared, or thermal optics could pick up on the large number of Cardinals, masking themselves within the corridors of the facility.

Following the Monarch’s invasion of Venezuela; Isabella Marisol replaced Z, as the leader of the Red Cardinals ‘their message became so radical that, they were seen as mutant-liberators; but were willing to go to murderous lengths to get their points a crossed. After his fated encounter with Quintus Knightfall, Kane Liafador changed his name to Despot; something he felt matched his personality.

The Red Cardinals moved through the facility converging on the invading Trinity, with a strategically placed child in the bunch; one that would do the most damage when called upon. The moment the member Assault smashed through the building, with his mighty only to be immediately assaulted by a gang of Red Cardinals, hiding behind a telepathic child. Casting multiple illusions at one time; however much Like Ziccarra’s Mask of Cortez; with each time an illusion is cast the next tier is harder to break.

Despot winced just a bit, from a strategically position the Trinity had him and the Cardinals pinned in, but quite often with these type of situations things weren’t what they seemed.

Doing a lateral triple jump until he landed on the cold floor, the Renegade Liafador, moved towards the rear of the facility; the mirrors, the hard to distinguish illusions; and now children thrown into the mix. It was as if he planned on the Trinity Coming from the beginning.

"Sir, it's time to go to sleep."

"Whaaauuugh..."

Jacob Stark's eyes fluttered a few times but he could not fight the sleep hormones released throughout his brain and fell prey to unconsciousness. It was an emergency protocol instilled within the AI that would immediately render Assault asleep upon detecting any telepathic intrusion, so that the Stark would be unable to have his mind clouded over by the whims of others. Now Summit took full control of the armour, ceasing his fire and immediately emitting a massive flash bang effect from the arc reactor in an attempt to temporarily blind his opponents and buy some time. The intellectually peerless AI back-tracked the intended telepathic intrusion to a small figure directly before them. It was a child, and Jacob had been moments from taking it's life. Prepared to reinstate the unconsciousness upon his host, Summit retracted the hormones and let a slight jolt of electricity pass through the brain, waking the young Stark from his slumber.

"... Are you talking about? Huh? What just happened?"

Summit explained the situation to him and Jacob listened intently, all the while fighting what appeared to be illusions. Every foe that fell was replaced by a much stronger one and he felt his attempts at gaining the higher ground were proving futile.

"Sir, might I suggest a non-lethal method to neutralizing the child?"

"Anything. I can't keep this up much longer."

Following his AI's suggestion, Assault directed a single palm towards where Summit had traced the child to be. Then he fired off a minuscule sleeping dart, aimed at the young mutant's jugular. Hopefully,it would knock him out instantaneously and reveal his true foes.

"Face me cowards!"

Homicide sat silently on the jet that was currently flying over the facilities, with it's cloaking on it hoovered two miles above the area, the exact amount of distance Cassandra could teleport in .50 of a second. When the pilot gave the go, the team assassin stood up from where she stood and pulled up her lower facial mask before walking over to teammates. Grasping them by the shoulder she closed her eyes for a second before taking a deep breath, and upon opening her eyes, they went from standing inside the team air craft to just inches away from the factory doors. Still holding onto her teammates she pulled them through the door with her,phasing right through without any problems. Looking back and forth she could hear sounds of confrontation from outside the factory, no doubt it was Assault going on with his plans even after the experiences villains warning. Turning to whoever was with her she nod her head before rushing off deeper into the building on her own, not phasing through walls or teleporting throughout the building, not wanting to accidentally teleport or phase into a room filled with guards or workers. The less amount of attention she drew to herself the better.

Climbing into the vents she slithered her way through, silently and swiftly she moved from room to room, until she reached the third level of the facilities, a dark room that was filled with computers, their screensaver the only thing keeping the room currently lit. With a sly grin she phased through the metal container and landed silently on the ground. Making her way to the computer she began typing away, using all the hacking techniques she had read in dozens of books since yesterday. Hacking was something she never had to learn before, so thankfully with the help of her photogenic memory she knew exactly what to do. Her fingers flew quickly along the keys of the keyboard, her eyes focused on the screen as she finally gained access to the mainframe of the entire system. With a sly grin she pulled out her SDT and slipped it into the USB port of the computer. Pressing a couple of more keys she pressed enter and the download began, sending it over to the Trinity Data Center where computer techs were looking through the files, making sure no hidden virus was being sent over.

While that was going on the deadly thief made her way into a glass cased room next door, where filing cabinets were seen, dozens of them lined up against each other. She cursed to herself, there was no way she was going to be able to go through all of this before she had to take off and there was no way she was going to be able to carry all the files herself. Opening one of the files her fingers began digging through, her eyes quickly scanning then to see if anything of importance was on them. Occasionally pulling some to the side to place into her file carrier she heard the door open. Her head jerked to the right to see red dressed four warriors standing before her and she instantly recognized them, Red Cardinals. She knew who they were, anyone in the 'hero' or 'Lillian' world knew who they were, and in that instant she knew this little rag tag team was waaaaaaaaaay in over their head if this building was filled with Red Cardinals.

But the fighters separated and reviled a small child, a boy, his big blue eyes looking right at Cassandra, he couldn't be more than ten. His eyes began to glow and Cass reminded everyone in that instant why her name was Homicide. She vanished and appeared in half a second behind the child, jamming the teeth of her Vernichtung Klingen into the small child's chest, blood spewing downward as he began gagging on his own blood. The Cardinals eyes widen, they must have assumed she was a 'hero' and would have attempted to save the child, instead of instantly go for the kill. Ripping her blade from the child she kicked him down to the ground flicking the blood off her weapon and leaping towards the two of the Cardinals she grasped them by their shirts, and vanished, only to appear two miles in the air above the facilities. Letting go of them she teleported back into the building, leaving the two warriors to fall to their deaths. Half a second later she appeared back in the room where the other two Cardinals stood ready for her. Looking over at the computer she saw it was only at 50% completely she had to kill them fast, the longer she had these Cardinals in the room, the more likely back up will be on their way. She just hoped her teammates were having better luck than her right now.

A few years ago was when it happened.

The x-gene kicked in. It gave me a future. One that most people would be jealous of. One I would have wanted. This is a future that is missing a piece.

A shard of time slips from my hands. The taste of his lips touching mine. The heat of his body soon ceased to exist. My body felt cold, but I wasn't numb. I then saw time was still. He laid with me like stone. There wasn't a scent in the air. No breeze. His green eyes forever watching mine. I kissed him.

I could then feel him slipping away from me. Ceasing to be within the lines of reality. With a touch my powers took that away from him.

I lost him.

I can't risk losing any of these children. I need to rely more on brain power, than my x-gene for this mission.

Homicide phases some of us in. She immediately goes her way without saying a word.

I am then on my own. Not a soul in sight. Time to do my mission and get the hell out of this creepy place.

I shut my eyes closed.The sounds around me slowly halt to a complete silence. I could feel the cold air pouring out of my mouth.

I open my eyes to watch everything around me frozen. The air around me doesn't even feel warm or cold. It's just.. empty.

I sneak pass men and women as they walk motionless through the hallways. Human statues unaware of what is about to happen.

To them I am nothing but a ghost. Slipping through the air. For me it take a few minutes to walk my way around anyone I come in contact with. Careful to not touch anyone. I wouldn't wanna panic and lose control. Them noticing me is like literally the worst thing to happen on this mission. Homicide would probably murder me herself if I jeopardized this and ended up surviving.

I come to a locked door. I'm pretty sure behind this is where a child must be. It's just locked. What the hell am I supposed to really do? Make it va-

Wait. I press my hands against the giant steal door. Blue energy radiates from the palms of my hands. The pressure of the metal withers away. In seconds the door is gone. I honestly had no clue until now I could make solid objects vanish. As to where they go? who the hell even knows.

Looking inside the room I see three children sleeping. Here is the part that gets tricky. I need to get them out undetected, find other children, yet if I touch anyone while time is frozen they'll be sent somewhere unknown.

Time soon reverts back to normal. The three children wake up. "Anyone wanna go on a little adventure?"

The iron clad hero marched on without him. What was it about his presence that allowed people thoughts that they would be better off on their own; Atticus wondered silently to himself. The darkness of the place, the coldness of it was still as haunting now that he was alone once more. On his guard, the Prince of Atropos scanned each hallway from this open corridor. The light from outside crept only close inside so that it illuminated three hallways. The one he had just came from, and two other mystery doors that he could choose from. His choice was number three. Upon turning the corner left, there was one stairway down, where drips of water set a demented rhythm to the macabre game.

His footing was light as to not oppose the utter silence and alert nare-do-wells to his presence. The likelihood of someone ambushing him while minuscule were still a concern. In this time, he thought of the time he spent in the Evergreen Yonder, a place of pure serenity, where he was offered this a chance to right the so many wrongs of his recent past. But here, on this mission, he knew what he didn't want too. His hands would be red again, with the blood of someone. He would give his own sight to have it be his own, but in the heat of battle, the mind relies on survival instincts.

Nearing the end of the hallway, was another door. A knot balled inside of his gut, telling him, pulling and him and preventing him from taking another step forward. He could hear it, the clicking and swishing of a lock being turned, and the corrosive creak of a door being opened up. The door in front of him. Atticus utilized his chakra control, and hung upside down from the ceiling, barely allowing breath to escape from his mouth and nostrils. A parade of soldiers marched from the abyss, hurriedly as if they were being beckoned elsewhere. The tiniest splat of sweat beaded upon his brow, and it dropped on the shoulder pad of one of the guardsmen. Looking up, causing a frantic halt in the line, the men and women now gazed upon the mahogany man stuck to the ceiling. "Bingo. Looks like we don't have to look too far after all. These idiots just come right to you." Pilling on top of each other trying to get to him, Atticus crawled recklessly toward the stairway entry. And just as his escape was imminent and hand reached out and grabbed his shirt, pulling him into the mess. A knee to the gut, and punch to the ribs, a kick to the back to the leg, and he was down on one knee. "Fight" This pain was intesified by the unknown of if anyone knew he was down here or even cared. But by ripping one hand from the grasp of the redman he utilized a one handed chakra weave technique. "Water Style: Elusive Dance. A genjutsu that would for only a moment; because of the one handed seal, allowed him to move in unnatural ways without bodily harm. Swinging one leg back, he kicked from the kneeling position one of the guards in the croch, then jumped up and spun into a perfect helicopter kick. Bouncing from the wall, he cracked the cranium of the left most guard, and flat palm punched the other. One left, closed in, but Atticus saw only the threat of death as a gun fired rapidly into the dense blackness. He back flipped twice creating enough distance, all the while, he felt the searing pain of a leg wound. "Water Style: Eroding Current." From nothingness, a crashing turbidity current ran through the tight corridor, washing away the men, stripping them of flesh and bone.

He had been watching how the discovery of Kari broke down in Queenstown; it was rather sloppy. Much like their Queenstown counter-parts, every member of the Trinity team stormed into the building with doing so much as a recon. “Pitiful” he thought, standing like an admiral with his hands resting just above his coccyx, the Trinity navigated his illusion filled corridors.

He methodically evaluated each of their preferred use of tactic; Assault was the biggest thorn in the grand scheme of things; he was able to knock down walls, analyze patterns and most importantly he could see through the deception the Cardinals built themselves on. “If this plan is going to go through, I’ll need to take out the apparent powerhouse”.

Homicide was actually the prime suspect for his targeting, she killed a child mercilessly without hesitation; but in the end he opted to engage them all. Pressing a button on the master control panel, a thick and potent hallucinogen began to spray from the sprinkler system lining the walls.

The indiscriminate gas rained down upon everyone inside the factory, the gas was a neurotoxin one used on enemy P.O.W’s during Vietnam to interrogate.The gas would essentially attack the temporal lobes of the brain releasing an erratic count of messages; this would pit the Trinity members against what they thought they saw.

The only control of this plan was assault, his armor undoubtedly allowed him to resist the kiss of fear, but that’d soon be rectified as he’d find himself combatting the combined efforts of the Red Cardinals and his own team.

"Sir, there has been an attempt to breach the armour via near invisible gas. The attempt was neutralized almost nano-seconds after it's infliction."

"Absorb a sample and scan it. I need to know what it can do."

Mentally conversing with his AI implant, Assault remained stead-fast to his namesake and rained down utter decimation upon the approaching Red Cardinals, utilizing every inch of his ability, making an attempt at regulating the damage down to the building. He didn't want to bring it down upon his team and every other innocent adolescent soul here.

His legs were kicked out from beneath him and he almost fell flat on his arse, grasping at his reflexes and activating his palm thrusters, pointing both hands at the ground and keeping himself levitated. Endorsing his attacker with a cold stare he gave the Cardinal a moment to react before he threw both palms out and spun, simultaneously unleashing his repulsors at 30%, enough to leave frightful burns upon the human anatomy. Managing to clear out the relentless ninja for a few seconds he used the time to access the mental images uploaded into his consciousness of the facility, using satellite imagery to target thermal activity in the building.

He detected a single figure somewhere behind him, fighting off a mess of what Assault presumed to be Cardinals. Atticus? Jacob could only hope the man would hold out his own. Here was a sudden disappearance in one section of the factory and an instantaneous appearance of the same heat signature all the way across. Selina, definitely. And ah, Homicide. She was the only person within the place that could move that fast whilst taking on so much opposition. The young Stark smirked at her resilience despite himself.

FWAHHH!

A sudden ball of fire had struck the rear of his helmet and sent him staggering forwards, amazed at the concept of being surprise attacked. Upon turning, palms out ready to incinerate whatever it was making an attempt at penetrating his nigh-invincible suit of armour, his surprise only escalated. A little child, no older than 4, stood before him, her entire being wrapped in a terrifying crimson flame. Another sphere of pyre tore through the air at him and he only just managed to side-step it, completely bewildered by the situation.

"Sir. I have a rather unhealthy portion of news for you. The gas is a neurotoxin. Everybody it touches will experience a near berserk effect upon their temporal lobes. I am currently formulating an antidote, but it will take me a few moments."

"Whatever, whatever, just keep quiet. I'm busy."

Having formulated an antidote of his own, but one that applies to his individually problematic situation, Assault pointed a single finger at the child and fired off a mini-repulsor beam concentrated at 0,5%. It struck the girl's forehead and her body jerked a little, a slight electric shock coursing through her wiry frame. She blinked twice before her knees grew weak and she prepared to collapse, rescued only by the titanium-clad titan's hands. Assault lifted her up within both arms and, sighing exasperatedly at the course of events, strode forwards, activating his weapons systems and firing projectiles at any advancing Cardinals, unable to utilize his arms or legs to fight the villainous cult warriors. They were more than skilled, evading his fire with guile befitting of a nest of serpents.

His priority? Find the being responsible for this and take him down.

Her body loomed over the now dead bodies of the two former Red Cardinals, the Vernichtung Klingen dripping with blood as she turned her attention back to the computer as it began beeping. A sigh of relief filled the stale air as the screen blinked ‘Transfer Complete’. Pulling the SDT out of the port she tucked it inside a pocket of her uniform, as she walked back into the glass cased room. Plucking the files she laid out and tucking them in her backpack. “Cassandra to Trinity, information transfer is complete, gathering files now and I’ll be heading back to pick up zone." But then something began to take over her, her vision became slightly blurred for a second, shaking her head and rubbing her eyes she could feel her heart begin to race, sweat developing along her forehead and her entire body trembling, not from being cold, but from anger. Slamming her hands on the table she could feel the tingling and numbing feeling adrenalin rush created from rage cover her entire body.

She closed her eyes for a few moments, trying to keep herself calm, trying to meditate out of this, if she could just focus, just for a few seconds…

But then the glass began crashing all around her as Red Cardinals filled the small room, with two children standing by the door. Each of their blades were drawn, circling the assassin. Breathing heavily Cassandra stood her ground, her hands still pressed firmly along steel table. “Fck it." she grumbled before letting out a feral roar giving in to the thirsty blood lust that began to consume her.

The highly skilled assassin went on a blind teleporting rampage, vanishing and appearing, digging her blades deep inside the cardinal’s delicate flesh before quickly vanishing again. The Cardinals struggled to keep up with her speed, moving at the speed of half a second from one Cardinal to the next like a vengeful demon.

But upon coming down to the last three, when she appeared behind one of the cardinal’s a surge of electricity filled her body. Dropping to the ground she let out a shaky breath as she turned to the door, the two children still there, a little girl and a little boy, neither of them older than ten. The girl’s arm was stretched out and glowing blue. Gritting her teeth Homicide was about to launch herself at the child but then a sharp pain pulsated through her back, a Red Cardinal stood over her, their sword impaled into her back and through her abdomen. Crying in pain as the blade was twisted, the assassin then let out a frustrating growl as she phased right through the floor. She then appeared in front of the cardinal and swung her arm vertically across their neck, blood splattering against the wall as their head rolled to the ground. The remaining cardinal’s then attacked at the same time as another electrical attack was thrown at her. Phasing back through the ground the ball of energy slammed into two of the Cardinal’s their screams could be heard echoing above her as she wrapped her arm around her waist. She could feel her body slowly beginning to heal itself but the blood loss took a tole on her, she could feel her vision blur a bit as she let out a huff of air, the job wasn’t what was on her mind anymore… it was the thirst of death.

Appearing back to the room she let out a yell, tackling down one of the Cardinal’s head-on, her blades slamming right into his chest as the two fell to the ground, but instead of stopping, they phased right through, dropping down two levels before finally slamming into the ground, shoving the blades deeper into his chest before pulling them out sideways out of his chest, causing his chest to be ripped open, blood scattering across the room. Looking up from where she was she saw she was now in a room filled with children. Her body literally dripping with blood she limped a bit closer to them, her eyes crazed with blood-lust as the children's eyes began to glow. The only thought in her mind right now, was to kill everything in her path.

We walk down the lonely halls. A few of the children close behind me. With each enemy we would come upon I would simply lock them in a time bubble. A layer of blue mist would rip from the palms of my hands and swirl around them. In their mind they are simply just doing their job, while in reality we pass right by them without notice. As we make the turn the blue mist leaves their bodies and returns to mine.

I come across the last door that should bring me to the rest of the children being held her against their will. Opening the door the first thing I see is the rest of the children. All I could do is smile knowing that I'm now almost done with my mission and I get to go home and take the longest bath of my life.

Oddly enough, none of them bother to turn to look at me. Walking more into the room I then see her. Homicide standing with the children. Nothing but fiery rampage fills her eyes as she is covered in blood from head to toe. Sh!t Sh!t Sh!t. She couldn't have gone feral instead on another mission which in fact doesn't involve this many innocent lives?

"Agent Homicide, you need to stand down please.. I know you're really pissed off right now, but our main priority is to get these children out, alright?" The woman stares at me in absolute silence as the warm blood drips off of her weapons. I don't know what'll kill me first on this team? Being stressed that at any second she might kill me or she'll snap and kill me? I'm not going to wait and find out.

Getting the children out is my job. "Now that I found the lot of you I bet you all would agree that we should get out of this place, shall we?" I turn to Homicide once again. I smile. It's all I can do in hope that she'll not hurt them.

"This is Agent Selina Stone, I believe I have found all of the children. I will proceed in escaping with them. If anyone needs me, just let me know. Over."

"Homicide, If you don't comply with me I will do everything in my power to protect the lives of these children." Hopefully these kids run like hell if she decides to kill all of us. Blue energy releases from my hands. I walk towards her. "It's your choice if you'd like more blood to be spilled tonight."