Rostock, Germany
Megan seated herself upon one of the desks, turned away from the room of death as she did her best to not gag upon the rotting stench that had now begun to creep ever further outwards. Behind her she could hear the soft squelches and sudden thuds as Seren searched about the small former lab for anything that may be of interest.
It unnerved her quite a bit how comfortable her apparent future daughter was in such a room, as though it was nothing worse than a messy bedroom. 'I've done worse to people', that was what Seren said. Pixie wasn't so sure she wanted to know what she'd meant by that, nor what kind of future could be in store for her own child to have done anything close to what she saw in there.
The more time she spent with Seren the more she realized she knew very little about the girl, except that she seemed to have a lot more in common with her father than she would admit. Just like Darktruth she was incredibly cagey when conversations started to become too personal, the moment things started to move too close to a truth she would distract, deflect, or offer up a lot of information on a similar but different topic. She didn't believe Seren had outright lied to her, at least not so far, but it was clear that she wanted to keep a lot hidden.
Perhaps she was right to. Her father was the same, and he usually had fairly good reasons to keep the things he wanted to private, even if it did often infuriate her no end. She understood why he was never completely upfront about elements of his life, but that didn't mean she didn't wish he was more truthful with her. More open. He loved her, she knew that for an absolute fact, yet he would still often keep so much of himself hidden from her.
He did try, she knew that, it just seemed that it was a natural reflex for him. A habit he could never quite shake. Just like back in Abergylid; he had been seemingly so close to telling her something, something that had been seemingly eating away at him, and then suddenly they were broken up. One moment everything had seemed so good with them, but then the moment he tried to open up they were no more and she still had no clear idea exactly why even if she had agreed at the time.
She was also quite certain that he was hiding something from her at that very moment. The way he had come back into her life, how he had flipped back and forth over working for Xavier, how adamant he was to have his 'Paragons'. She was so happy he was around once more, and yet she couldn't ignore the massive question marks that followed him about wherever he went. She could only hope whatever he left unsaid was nowhere near as dangerous as she feared it might be, though time with him had taught her that it often could be. She wondered if he even knew the entirety of his own secrets, given it seemed far too easy for him to lose them amongst the mess that was his own mind.
She swallowed as she thought on his mind, the fragmented and distorted space created by his own powers. This wasn't the first time her anxieties and insecurities pulled her to dwell upon it, to wonder exactly how much of his mind truly loved her. He was made up of the fragments of so many memories and personalities, the ones he pulled together to create new intelligences, and yet nobody knew whether they were truly him or something else entirely. Worse than that nobody had an answer as to whether his duplicates were still him, that every time he died and replicated his mind that a part of him didn't change. Could one day he no longer love her because he forgot to arrange his mind right? Would he ever even know? What if he--?
"Don't dwell," Amira's voice cut into her thoughts, and she glanced over to the girl in a chair as she flicked through an old journal. "I can see it on your face. What's wrong?"
Pixie licked her lip. "Have you ever been worried that somebody might forget they love you?"
Amira paused, then her eyes glanced over the mutant. "Darktruth? You're worried he might?"
"We don't know his powers, not really," she replied as she brushed a hand through her hair. "What if every time he comes back he's different? What if every time he uses it he loses a part of himself?"
"So he might accidentally give his love for you to a lightbulb or something?"
Megan could only give a small shrug of her shoulders.
Amira chewed upon her lip as she mulled over something in her head. "Why? Why do you think that could happen?"
"He just... He seems to change so much. We seem to make progress and he opens up and is being super awesome, and then he just shuts down again. I didn't see him for months and I still don't even know why. Everything was great, and then nothing, then he rocks back up and we're together again, and I love it, but I'm not sure he isn't just gonna change again."
Amira exhaled. "Yep, I get that. Look, I... It isn't my place to say anything."
Pixie cocked an eyebrow. "So there's something to say?"
"I can't-"
"Nothing else in there," Seren cut her off as she exited the room, cracking her back as she went. "Outside the fucked up bodies, of course. So we should probably bounce."
"Why?" asked Amira. "It looks like they abandoned this place ages ago."
"Well if you love the stench of slowly rotting flesh, then I'll set you up a bed. But I ain't so sure this place is abandoned. All the research left behind? Seems like they thought whatever they had here was promising, not something you just abandon because somebody messes up."
"So what then?" asked Megan as she slipped from the desk.
"They're still experimenting," Amira muttered. "Watching. Seeing what happens." She glanced about the ceiling and clenched her jaw as she spotted a small, dark shape in the corner. "They have cameras."
Megan's eyes went wide. "So why haven't they come after us already?"
Amira chewed her lip. "Because he's watching us. He wants us to see. He wants..." Her body went tense. "He wants us distracted. He's going after Cody and Darktruth!"
---------------------------------------------------------------------
John Hunter Hospital
"Whatta ya mean my death?" Darktruth asked as he spun and fired several rounds at a cloaked figure that charged at him, only to dive aside to the hot lead. "You may not know me, but I kinda have trouble dying."
The young woman Gavriella's blade flashed about as she deflected several attempted slashes from one of the White Eagle's, before the tip of her blade slashed their arm and through their sleeve to draw blood. "So far. But you have no idea who you're fighting. They're not exactly fond of half-measures. I should know."
"So what? They stabbed Cody just so they could make sure I was extra certain dead? Sure he'd love to hear that."
Gavriella shook her head as she nimbly stepped back until she was beside him, blade pointed at the Eagle who studied her from beneath their hood. "You're just collateral."
Darktruth cracked his jaw. "They want Amira."
Gavriella's body froze at the name, and the Eagle took their opportunity. They were upon her before a gasp could even leave her throat. She raised her blade as Darktruth spun with his gun, yet both were far too slow as the curved blades sliced the air towards her.
There was a sudden crackle in the air and a flash before the Eagle's head toppled from their shoulders. The body dropped to reveal a dark-haired Caucasian man dressed in a red hoodie and jeans strapped with pieces of leather armour, a longsword clutched in his hand.
Darktruth blinked at the man. "Wait, Budd?"
"I told you I had it handled," Gavriella snapped as she turned to him. "I can't learn if you keep coddling me!"
"And I'm sure you're a fine match for the evil assassin order," Budd replied with a soft smile. "But honestly I got a little bored. The magazines in the waiting room are incredibly out of date. Or maybe I'm just forgetting what year it is again."
"What's going on?"
Gavriella turned to Darktruth. "What's going on is this moron can't go ten minutes without having to make a grand entrance."
"It wasn't that grand. Honestly, I was hoping he'd do that thing where they stand still for a moment or two before they drop and the head rolls away."
Gavriella rolled her eyes before they went wide as they glanced past Darktruth. "Move!"
She pushed him aside before her blade shimmered with dark energy as she lifted to point it towards the White Eagle that leapt towards him with blades extended from both sleeves.
Their body convulsed in the air, and as they landed their legs instantly buckled as they dropped to the floor. A gasping, straining sound crawled up their throat as their muscles twitched. After several moments they finally fell still, and Gavriella collapsed to her knees.
"You alright?" Darktruth asked as he knelt down beside her. She gave a slow nod.
"She'll be fine," Budd replied as he gave a small wave to the couple of nurses that had taken cover behind their station. "Always takes a bit out of her, channeling death and all that. Tricky, tiring business that."
Darktruth glanced at him. "And what are you doing here?"
"Not happy to see me?" Budd asked with a mock gasp as he placed a hand to his chest. "I'm hurt. But, y'know, me and her are doing a team-up thing. The Agent of Death and the Man Who Cannot Die. We're kinda like a comedy duo, only with a lot more tragedy."
"And the jokes mostly suck," Gavriella tossed out, then closed her eyes and took a few slow breaths. She allowed Darktruth to help her to her feet, even if she was still a bit wobbly as she stood.
"Speak for yourself, my jokes are of the highest caliber."
"Sure, sure," Gavriella muttered. She leaned in close to Darktruth but made no attempt to lower her voice. "Poor guy has a terribly fragile ego. I'm mostly around to keep his spirits up, make sure he doesn't give in to despair when he realizes how positively mediocre he is."
"Hey, I know exactly how mediocre I am, thank you very much!" the Welshman retorted as he returned his blade to the sheath upon his hip.
"So I take it you two just happened to be in the area then?" Darktruth asked as he glanced between them.
"Kind of," Budd replied as he approached them. "Y'know, if by 'area' you mean the other side of the world about twenty-two years ago, sure. Totally just happened to be passing by when the fanatic assassins decided to cut you into steaks."
"I got a, um, tip," Gavriella said. "Told you were going to die, and I had to stop it." She turned to Budd with a glare. "Alone."
The man shrugged. "You can just pretend I wasn't here. Lots of people do. Except the King of the Americas, that guy super hates me."
Darktruth swallowed as he glanced over the bodies of the dead assassins. "How would they even kill me? My powers kinda stop that happening."
Gavriella lightly kicked the blades of one beside them. "Enchanted. All kinds of lost magic. Basically negates magic and most powers. Like I said, they don't like half-measures. They want you dead, they try their hardest to make it happen."
Darktruth opened his mouth to ask another question when a cloud of pink smoke appeared in the middle of the room, and three figures stepped from it.
"Darktruth!" Amira shouted as she moved for him. "I think the White Eagles were trying to-"
The girl froze in mid-step and mid-sentence as her eyes fell upon Gavriella. Her eyes began to water as her body trembled.
Gavriella rubbed at her arm. "Hey, Amira," she said softly. "It's, um, been a while. I guess."
Amira's hand moved to her mouth, an attempt to hide the quiver of her lip. "H-h-how?"
"It's a long story," she replied as she sheathed her blade. "I know that sounds dumb or whatever, but it totally is. Short version is; I died, death didn't think I was ready, sent me back."
"How long?"
"Err..." Gavriella glanced at Budd.
He spread his arms with a shrug. "Honestly I've gotten pretty bad at tracking these kinds of things. It's all kind of subjective really."
Amira glanced at him. "Wait, I know you... Allison had a picture."
Budd smiled. "You might remember me being more 'mutated goblin-man'. But I did get better. Kind of. Honestly, the goblin monster wasn't actually me, but that's a whole other mess. I believe you know my fiancee. Anyway, huge fan of yours. Or I will be. Time is confusing."
Amira rubbed at her temples as she took several deep breaths. Her eyes locked upon Gavriella once more, before she suddenly moved across the floor until she stood before her. Her body remained stiff, her gaze unwavering.
Gavriella bit her lip as she stared back into Amira's hazel eyes. "You can kiss me."
Without a second of hesitation Amira moved forward, her hand cupped the side of Gavriella's head as she took her into a deep kiss that lasted several moments before they split apart.
Amira moved to quickly wipe the tears from her eyes. "I missed you so much."
Gavriella smiled back at her and lifted her hand to help wipe the tears. "Same." She swallowed. "You didn't... you didn't blame yourself did you?"
Amira gave a weak shrug. "I couldn't help it. I was so... broken. I realized later that he said I could have saved you, but he was probably lying. He wouldn't have let me." She brushed her hand along Gavriella's cheek. "But how?"
Gavriella took a slow breath. "I know you'll hate it, but that's honestly a big, complicated story."
"Which we do not have time for," Seren cut in as she turned to Darktruth. "You promised to take me to the AI."
The man in the cowboy hat exhaled. "I did."
"We'll stay with Cody," Budd said as he cracked his back. "Make sure they don't come back to finish him off."
"Amira?" Darktruth asked as he looked at the two young women. "Do you want to stay?"
"C-can I?" she asked softly. "I want to be there when Cody wakes up, and..." she took in the features of Gavriella's face, "I have so much time to catch up on."
"Of course. Just let us know when he's awake. Pixie?"
"Sihal Novarum Chinoth!"
-----------------------------------------------------------
FROM- OFFICE OF METAHUMAN AFFAIRS
TO- ASIS DIRECTOR-GENERAL
SUBJECT- INCIDENT AT JOHN HUNTER HOSPITAL
I need to start this by stating that I mean no disrespect, your word on all of these matters is final and I respect your authority as Director-General. However, I cannot help but question your decision to withhold all law enforcement from engaging with those involved in the incident at John Hunter Hospital in the area of New Lambton Heights.
We have confirmation that the hospital was grounds for an altercation by several metahumans; amongst them a subject currently being observed by this department, Mitchell Blake aka Darktruth. The others involved were all unknowns, which is incredibly alarming. The two that fought alongside Blake, a young woman and man, we are currently seeking aid from other intelligence agencies in determining their identities. However more concerning is the fact that the hooded individuals the three of them fought against are having us greeted by a wall, as we are being informed to not even attempt to investigate further. These were highly skilled, dangerous individuals that we have no information on. We currently cannot rule out that if there are more of them that they don't pose a substantial terror threat, and our inability to investigate may be putting future lives at stake.
At the very least I request that the block on law enforcement from entering the hospital be lifted, so that we may apprehend and question those that remain. Alongside our two unknowns are two US citizens working for Darktruth; Cody Olsen and Amira Khalil (the latter was going by the name of 'Extremis' for a time, though we are uncertain if she still does so). Being foreign citizens engaged in potentially mercenary activity means we should, at the very least, ensure that they pose no harm to this nation, direct or otherwise.
But of course, I respect your decision on such matters, I just sincerely hope you rethink your position and allow my department to do the job we are meant to do.
I await your response on this matter.
------------------------------------------------------------
Paragons HQ, Newcastle
"The hell is this?" Seren demanded as she glared at 'Sin City Hustle' upon the computer screen. An NPC, a man dressed in a finely tailored suit with long and curly dark hair, tilted their head from side-to-side as they stared back at them.
Darktruth shrugged. "You wanted the AI, this is them. Well, I mean technically there's a lot I've made, but this one is the one I deliberately tried to make."
Megan glanced at him. "Why?"
"I mean, I just learnt that I knew nothing about my own power. I was trying it out. And..." He swallowed. "I-I kinda liked the idea of creating life. A child of my own. I guess..."
Pixie's eyes danced across his head curiously. She was certain there was something he wasn't saying, or at least he was dancing around saying it.
"You have a child, and they hate you," Seren replied sharply as she leaned in to tap the screen.
"Well, I didn't know that at the time," he muttered. "But, technically, this is your sibling. Kind of. Half-sibling? Except you're from an alternate universe so... Half-sibling one-universe removed?"
"So this is a game for you?" Seren asked, her voice almost a snarl. "Create a child in a game that you can shut down whenever you want, and make sure they can't talk on top?"
"Oh, am I able to talk?" inquired a voice from the speakers. It was soft but distinctly digital. "Everyone was so involved I thought it may be rude to interrupt."
"H-hey," Pixie said as she leaned forward. "It's, um, really nice to meet you. Do you like being stuck in that game?"
"I'm not stuck here, at least not how you think. I'm kind of, I guess, more 'dressing up' as it were. I suspect that people would find it easier to interact with me if I have an avatar of some kind. Makes me more of a person in their eyes. My research finds that humans can be quite superficial, even off-shoots such as mutants."
"You sound really smart," Pixie said before she winced. "Sorry, that sounded rude."
"Don't be. I know what you meant, um.... Is it alright to call you 'Pixie' or would you prefer something else? Part of me would like to call you 'mother', but I'm sure that may be somewhat uncomfortable for you."
Megan's eye grew wide as she rubbed at her arm. "Oh, um, that's fine. Whatever you'd like, I guess. What's your name?"
There was a pause for several seconds. "Father wanted me to choose my own name, and I won't lie that it didn't cause me a lot of frustration. There are so many, and every name has a meaning that can make people judge you before they know you, and can judge you based on others they have known with a similar name. Finally I decided upon ICARUS. I'm so happy to meet you all, my family."
Darktruth couldn't help but notice the way Megan's face grew pink as her wings fluttered, or that Seren's muscles tensed up. He hadn't expected ICARUS to call them her family, although he could not deny the pride that swelled up inside of him as she did.
"You named yourself after the idiot in some myth?" Seren demanded.
"You see an idiot, while I see a human who tried to test his own limits. Humanity, as I have learned, is not about succeeding. It is about testing yourself, win or lose. I want to test myself. I want to learn all that I can be; who I am and what my place is. And I would be happy for you to help me do so sister, if you want."
Seren spun to Darktruth and jabbed a finger in his face. "I was sent here to kill this thing and you... And you..." She rubbed at her mouth as she took a slow breath. "I can't kill my brother. I hate you so much."
"Actually, I'm agender. My avatar here is masculine simply because the options are limited, but it didn't feel right for me to pick one of the binary genders. I am myself."
Seren sucked in a breath through her nose, and Pixie was almost sure she was trying to stop any tears before they formed. Then she leaned in towards the screen and brushed her fingers across it. "Well, I'm glad I met you before I tried to kill you."
"Same."
Pixie smiled softly at her 'daughter' in front of the screen. So far it seemed the woman had only shown the sharper side of herself, but it was clear there was a lot more to her than what was easily seen.
She turned as she felt a hand fall upon her shoulder. She found Darktruth with his eyes upon the floor at their feet, and she instantly knew where his head was at. This was the look he had when something he kept secret was eating at him from the inside. She knew there was something he was afraid to say but had reached the point that he could no longer avoid doing so.
"Hey, um, we need to talk. And you... you might hate me after we do."
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Holy Nation of Gezag
Sirens filled the air as thick smoke rose up into the sky of the capital city. Civilians raced for cover as they watched emergency vehicles and military race towards The Spyre, the center of Gezagi military command. Rumours had already begun to spread amongst the populace, everything from an invasion through to super-villain attack, but as these things tend to go so many were so close and yet so far.
As the first vehicles reached the tower, which many were certain would not last long as the smoke wafted from the windows of almost every floor, they were directed by the military personnel already on the scene. Firefighters and emergency medical personnel were sent to try and stop the fires inside and give medical assistance to any who had survived the blasts that had rocked it only a half-hour earlier.
Police and military were directed to a make-shift camp within the car park. Every officer and soldier was issued with a folder of documents before they were sent to ensure they were properly equipped.
The few who bothered to actually read the documents were only left with more questions than answers. All they could know was that the attack came within, the culprit was on the run and now subject to a nationwide manhunt, and the attacker was a mutant.
To be Continued