It was in the early afternoon when Alex returned to the central clinic to check up on Dana. He didn't like leaving her alone for too long in dangerous territory anyways, so he made a habit of coming back every few hours and look after her. This habit had formed after they had left Manhattan and settled down in Miami. Back then they lived in the recently-cleared-out hideout of a bunch of drug dealers, just long enough for Dana to find a place to rent.
It had been dangerous, yes, but now with all those Reapers running around the Neon, Miami seemed like a walk in the park.
Unless he managed to bring their numbers down to a tolerable level, Alex wouldn't leave his little sister alone for long. He was aware his actions could become suspicious- that large amount of people couldn't disappear otherwise- but here the situation in itself played to his favor. In a city overrun with violence and crime, his actions remained hidden- as long he did not display his more obvious powers while witnesses were present.
He could almost say he actually enjoyed it. Of course, with this 'plague' going on, the nagging feeling that Blackwatch would sooner or later roll in to do their job remained. It was a miracle they didn't already- in Manhattan they managed to lock everything down within a few days. Here in Empire though, Alex hadn't even seen a glimpse of black uniforms. Maybe he should call Cross and figure out what was going on- but that would probably taunt Murphy's law. They never talked either, unless it was an emergency. And the only way they got messages from him were through Heller's sporadic communication attempts anyways- but the Evolved was even worse of a conversationalist than Alex was. And that meant something.
He was going to need to contact that bastard anyways soon enough, though. Dana had suggested having him check the serial numbers of the guns on the street, and have them delegate to Heller for confirmation. From his latest victim, Alex hadn't learnt much- and that guy was in a better mental state than the Reapers were. The soldier was the one he got at Stampton Bridge, but all he was aware of was that the gangs suddenly had big guns they weren't supposed to have.
He didn't even get much about that Moya woman. It was a bit disappointing, and it meant he would either have Dana check her out or do it himself by hacking into secure files. Not that Dana was unable to do that- but Alex was more skilled than she was. Also, she was constantly over-worked with the sick people in the clinic, so it would be nice of him to do the hacking himself, no matter how boring it was.
But Dana also lived for hacking. Best was to let her decide what to do.
He moved through the currently empty hallway to Dana's office/room. Since they lost their home in the blast, Alex had taken everything that was important to them from their destroyed apartment to this clinic here, where Dana occupied a room to work in.
He paused, listening. There was a second voice coming from the office, one he knew. But that one didn't know him very well in his normal appearance- hoodie or not. Usually, he rarely had contact with other humans outside of the vigilantes, so most of them wouldn't recognize him. Alex inclined his head and fell apart into a near shapeless mass of creeping tendrils. The transformation didn't take longer than a second, and when it settled, he was back in his disguised form. He took a moment to settle down, before he moved again.
He nudged the door open and entered, the conversation stopping for a moment so he could scan the room. The nurse, Trish, was there with Dana. He inclined his head, watching her closely. Her eyes were puffy and red, her hair was a mess. She had cried, recently and a lot too. Dana herself looked downcast too. Alex wondered what had happened. So he tilted his head questioningly towards his sister. Dana sighed and led Trish over to sit on the couch she usually slept on. As the nurse sat down, she wiped her eyes again.
"Is this about this bullshit that was on TV?" Dana asked. Alex's head snapped up, eyes narrowing. He knew exactly what she was talking about. The 'Voice of Survival' had shown the footage from before the explosion- how this courier handled the bomb before it went up. It looked pretty suspicious- especially since he got superhuman abilities from it, but then again, what terrorist would handle a bomb in public? And what terrorist would blow it up with himself still in proximity? Aside from suicide bombers, that is.
That courier didn't seem to be either, so Alex couldn't understand why the people suddenly believed him to be responsible. Either mankind had gotten even more stupid during the last years, or the situation in the city was even worse than he imagined, leading to their total mental degradation.
Anybody with a bit of brain would see the holes in that logic.
Dana frowned. "Listen, I doubt that Cole would ignite a bomb. Hell- I doubt he would've even been able to build a bomb able to take out six blocks downtown."
"I know", Trish sobbed, "But-it's something else-" She wiped her eyes again. "Cole- he-he got some Superpowers. He said he got them through the explosion", she sniffled, "Thousands are dead- Amy is dead- and he walks away from the center of the blast with a few burns and Superpowers!" She sobbed, staring at her knuckles. "I know it isn't his fault- but somebody wanted to do that. Thousands are dead because of him."
"But Cole isn't to blame. It's not like he wanted to get blown up."
"I know", Trish replied with teary eyes, "But- I don't understand any of it." She stared at Dana. "I'm so worried about him. Somebody set him up for that- and I have seen him getting shot at. He will constantly be in danger."
Dana blinked, understanding on her face. "I just love him so much", Trish admitted, "I don't want to see him hurt."
Alex tilted his head in confusion. If she loved him, then why did she leave him? Why did she walk away if she should have stayed and been what the guy needed?
Humans. He would never understand them.
Dana, however, seemed to understand. She sighed and crossed her arms. "Okay. You'll stay here with me until we managed to sort this out." She nodded at Alex and gestured for the door. They walked outside, leaving the nurse to wallow in her misery.
"What's wrong with her?" Alex asked, glancing at Dana.
"She's confused", Dana replied. "Like, whoa." She shrugged. "Imagine that, the guy she's known for years not only survives being at the center of an explosion that killed everybody else, but he also got shiny new Superpowers from it. An explosion that killed her little baby sister and a whole lot of people she knew and grew up with- you need to understand that Amy was the last of her family she had left. Of course she was devastated. And when that TV Jacker suddenly blamed her boyfriend for everything, her world broke down."
Alex snorted.
Dana sighed. "I know you don't understand her. But try to. She's confused at the moment. I'll try to work her, but what she needs is time. And space. I don't think she actually blames Cole for what happened- but she does need an outlet."
This was something Alex understood. Just like Karen, then. She had been forced into making that parasite, had been the face he went after once he was cured of the thing. Karen had just been an outlet for his rage, but never wanted to betray him in the first place. Fear for her life had managed to make her do things she wasn't going to do normally.
She was just lucky he managed to figure that out before he sought her out, otherwise this would have ended in a blood bath.
With the courier it was the same- he was just the face somebody pasted across the entire mess, the scapegoat everybody turned their rage towards.
He inclined his head, watching Dana. "What she said- it made sense", he muttered. "This blast had not been an incident. The courier has gotten abilities. The city gets locked down. Gangs suddenly get their hands on high-end weapons. That guy is suddenly the center of attention and everybody with a gun is going to try to take a pot-shot at him." His eyes narrowed. "This looks like...a test."
"Test?"
"Somebody wanted that guy to get abilities. Abilities he had to use, if he wanted to survive. I have seen it, Dana. They way he fought a sheer number of foes at once- and he was the one to walk away from it." He frowned unhappily. "Somebody had prepared all of this. Killed thousands and endangered your life. And I will find out who."
Dana inhaled sharply. "You cannot be seen, Alex. With those military fucks running about, Blackwatch would probably be here within the blink of an eye. And you know what they'll do. If they don't get to you, they will nuke this entire city, murder millions- and sweep everything under the rug. Probably use Cole as a scapegoat just as they did you."
Alex scowled. "Don't worry."
Dana relaxed slightly. He knew she was aware he was going to keep his word, no matter what was going to happen.
"Dana, I have a request", Alex continued. "Can you look for information about a woman named Moya Jones? It appears as if she is the one in charge here." He paused. "Uh- if you want to and find the time, I mean. I could do it myself too, but I thought you'd want to?"
"Hell, don't take my favorite illegal pastime away from me", Dana groused with a lopsided grin. "What do you expect from this?"
Alex smirked. "Information. A seat of power. A connection to the higher-ups. This woman has them. And I want them."
Dana shuddered slightly. As she always did when reminded of his true nature. Yes, she had agreed to come with him, she knew exactly what he was- a thing, a weapon to be used- but she did not enjoy facing the harsh reality. Denial only worked for so long.
"Don't worry", Alex told her, "I will make it quick and painless."
Dana shook her body, before she tried to put that grin back on. It looked forced, and her eyebrows were a bit too quirked in the middle. Alex was good at reading faces and body languages. Dana didn't try to show it, but his true nature scared her.
"Hey", He mumbled soothingly. "Don't be scared, okay? You know I would never harm you."
"Doesn't make me stop being any less creeped out", Dana replied with a huff. She tried to grin at him, but it looked even more forced than the other one. "I still remember that guy that broke into our place in Detroit."
Alex sniffed. He remembered the guy too. He'd broken a window in the assumption that there was only Dana living there. He didn't expect a walking Bioweapon attack him. Alex had quickly snuffed his life by splattering his skull with his knee, then consumed what was left (he even got the stains out of the floor, the walls and the ceiling). He had long learnt that, as long the brain remained intact, he could get memories. If he didn't want them- like those of the burglar- he saw no point keeping the central nervous system in one piece when he had his way with them.
Only, splattering a grown man and then devour what was left of him in front of Dana might have been a bit too harsh on her mental state. They didn't speak for days, mainly because Alex felt he had to keep his distance.
But Dana knew it was necessary for him to hunt, it was as natural to him as was breathing to her- and as long he tried to keep it subtle and not prey on the innocent civilians, then she couldn't deny him this instinct. It wasn't perfect, but it was the way they lived. And Alex was careful about who he hunted, who could see him or who knew about him.
"What are you going to do?" Dana asked, "Go out again?"
"I don't think so", Alex replied thoughtfully. "Later tonight, maybe, but for now, I'll stick around."
"Good", Dana clasped her hands together. "I think Trish's going to be glad too. She is very fond of you, you know."
He snorted. "Yeah. Wonder how long that'll stay this way once she figures out who I really am. Who you really are." He glanced at his sister. "If she can't cope with her boyfriend ending up getting powers from an explosion he's being blamed for, then I wonder what'll happen if she figures out her best friend is the only sibling of America's top terrorist, and both had been lying to her the entire time."
"We will never tell her", Dana decided. "Hell, we can't tell her. It would be dangerous to her if she knew."
Alex nodded silently.
-----------------
Cole could tell Zeke was trying very hard to not flip completely. He had always been a fan of conspiracy theories and figuring out his best friend now was, in every sense of the word, the walking example of the X-Files, made him more excited than a terrier in a barrel full of rats. While he was more or less bouncing in his seat on their roof-mounted couch, he listened to Cole telling him what Moya had said. The courier himself only barely paid attention, speaking automatically. His mind was elsewhere.
He remembered the way the people were gunned down at the bridge. It almost made him want to throw up, but he fought that urge down. It was his fault they got so far in the first place, and that made him quite upset. He was the cause for dozens of people dying directly in front of his eyes, and their deaths would stay with him for the rest of his life.
Ever since he returned with Zek, there was only one thought running through his head. He would find the ones responsible- and he would kill them.
Rage wasn't unknown to him- he had flipped a few times, at his father, at his brother, even teachers and bosses- but the realization that he now suddenly had the means to actually do something was startling.
Cole wasn't a very violent person though. He had a short temper, yes, but was usually content with shouting at whoever had offended him. Never at Trish, though he and Zeke did have a few yelling matches in the past. It was when he got silent that things were going south. But the thought of actually killing somebody else was something he never really entertained. However, after those Reapers, he had started to realize just how easy it was. And Reapers- murderers, junkies, criminals- they didn't deserve his mercy anyways, since they didn't show him any either. An eye for an eye, maybe savage, but in this world nothing else worked. You either fought- or you drowned. And Cole was not going to drown.
He just hoped he wouldn't lose his own humanity. It was easy to fall, and so much harder to get back up.
Meanwhile, his mouth was working without any prompts from him. A part of his brain realized he was just in the process of describing the Ray Sphere to Zeke. "...and it drains neuro-electric energy", he finished.
What a way to gain powers. Cole would have preferred another way, one that caused less casualties, but those things were in the past. All they could do was pick their things up and continue with what they had.
"I knew it!" Zeke burst out, "All the stuff I've been sayin'! Every word is true!" He pushed his glasses back up his nose. "Government's in cahoots with a secret organization, the Ray Sphere...Damn. It all makes sense now."
He was so positively giddy, he was bouncing up and down on the sofa. Cole frowned at him. "Calm down. You're going to hurt yourself."
"That Ray Sphere must dish out powers to anyone controlling it", Zeke claimed, "You gotta bring it back here."
Cole rolled his eyes. Zeke stayed Zeke, apparently. That thing murdered thousands upon activation, and all he thought about was using it to get superpowers. "Sure", he drawled. "I could use a side-kick." One that draws all the bullets, for once. Man, the wounds had all but healed, but they still stung like a bitch. Plus, joking around was the best way to help get his mind of the many possibilities he would murder that Kessler person once they met.
"Aw, Hell with that", Zeke groused, "Zeke Jebediah Dunbar is his own man!"
Cole paused, realizing the absurdity of the situation, but nevertheless couldn't help but voice it. "Your middle name is Jebediah?!"
"Yes it is", Zeke replied with a grin. "After my grandfather. Strong man for a man his size." He paused, frowning. "Uh, don't know where Zeke comes from, but I'm certain-"
"You need to take a nap", Cole cut him off sternly, pulling off his best 'Older Brother' expression he could do, "And a bath." He glanced at the darkening sky. "I got things to do."
Zeke glared at him, before he threw his hands in the air. "Fine", he relented and got up. "Party Pooper."
Cole grinned at his friend's retreating back. He had no idea how the bastard did this, but sticking around Zeke always made him feel better.
His phone chimed and he picked it up. Probably Moya.
"I've already got a couple of leads for you", she started. "The coordinates have been uploaded into your phone. Give me a call when you're in position." She clicked the radio off before he could reply. Figures. No 'hello'. No 'how are you?'. No 'I hope you managed the trip back on the underside of the bridge with no problem because I'm a stupid controlling bitch and just had to kick you out on your ass'. Cole rolled his eyes and glanced at his phone to figure out where the location was. Much to his surprise the marker appeared just in front of him, on top of the tall building to the south of their apartment, judging by the marked height. He craned his neck to see the roof, then started moving with a heavy sigh.
The building had a smooth facade, and barely anything to hold onto. He did, however, spy a ladder on one side, just above the roof of a lower building.
Easy enough.
Cole jumped off Zeke's roof and hit the ground with a grunt and a roll. Even though he didn't hurt himself from falling anymore, he still went through the usual motions he learnt during his training. He jogged over the empty parking lot and glanced upwards. The smooth glass encircling the lower stories of this construction wasn't going to help him get up though. He headed sideways and around the complex. There was a rainwater pipe just to the side of the back door, allowing him to reach the second story with no great trouble. To reach the roof, he had to jump off the pipe and cling to the roof, then pull himself up. He wouldn't have managed this before the blast, by the way. His powers had greatly increased his strength, stamina and durability, allowing him to perform such complicated moves with ease.
They also enhanced his senses. There was a Reaper on the roof, shooting at the civilians down on the street, and Cole wasted no time to zap him once, sending him hurling three stories down.
He didn't feel remorse about what he did, and easily headed towards the rusty ladder without even looking after his latest victim. Two levels further up and on the roof, he stopped, wondering what the Hell he was supposed to look for anyways. He looked around, glanced behind the AC units and around the antenna on the roof for something that might interest Moya.
Seeing nothing, he rang her up.
"All right. Now what?"
"I'm picking up some weird interference from a rooftop not far from you", Moya explained. "You need to find its origin and purpose." And here he thought he was to look for this John White fella. Huh.
"What am I looking for?"
"Not really sure", Moya admitted, "Probably a transmitter of some type. Call me when you get there."
Cole huffed and jumped off the roof, landing on one that was slightly further down the street and lower, then made his way on top of a large tower-like structure, utilizing various ledges and billboards. He never felt this way of freedom before, not even when he started Urban Exploration in New Marais. He wasn't even breathing hard when he reached the flat circular roof.
He send out a radar pulse, and it came back to him with an electronic disturbance. Intrigued, he pulled closer, finding...a thingy attached to the satellite dish. He wrecked his brain for a name, until he remembered what Zeke called stuff like that.
He tapped his phone. "Found it", he declared. "Looks like a portable audio drive is attached to this satellite dish."
Moya clicked her tongue. "See if you can listen to it with your phone."
Cole frowned, trying to remember what Zeke had told him about those things. He called them 'Dead Drops' and they were something city runners would use to message each other. He hadn't been a city runner himself, but some friends of Zeke were. He often said he should join them, because he was the best runner in Empire, second only to a girl called Faith. Cole never met her though, and didn't have a great desire to spend even more time jumping over roofs if he didn't get paid for it. He liked parkour, but his job left him exhausted enough as it was.
Cole tapped a button at the device, and switched his phone to 'Record'. Static and garbled noises reached his ears. He snorted. "Sounds like a bunch of garbage."
"It's an encrypted message", Moya noticed. Cole heard keys clack when she fell silent for a moment. "I can't break it", she eventually grumbled. "See if you can find another one. I can cross-reference them then."
Cole arched his brows. Moya was a demanding and bossy woman, but she had awesome toys. Plus she would clear his name too, so he was willing to let it pass. He concentrated, letting his Radar Senses pick up everything around him. He winced at the sudden increase of electrical noise all around him, but there was something tugging at the edge of his mind. Another Dead Drop? He glanced into the direction he felt the pull from and focused, trying to fade out everything that was not the signal. He climbed atop the billboard, frowning. It was there, somewhere in the closer area of the Neon.
He glanced down at the street easily ten or so stories beneath. He swallowed, remembering how jumping off Archer Square's statue didn't even shake him, and jumped off. For a brief, panicky moment, he feared he'd splatter on the ground and he flailed with his arms, but then he hit the ground with a solid thud and everything was okay. Cole blinked, looking back up from where he just jumped. "That was...easy", he muttered. Didn't even rattle his teeth. Actually, he enjoyed the jump. He send out another Radar Pulse and found the nearest Drop on top of another building just down the street. He started moving, quickly as there were still some people. By now, his picture had made the round throughout the whole city, and pretty much everybody was out for his blood. He'd better stick to the rooftops for now. He hopped off the ground and latched onto the first window sill with his right hand. He didn't stop to place his other hand though, and threw his body upwards with a light kick against the wall, grabbing the ledge just above the window, then pushed off again and grabbed the next window sill. Cole paused, frowning. He was hanging from one hand, had only one foot against the window below, and didn't find the position in any way uncomfortable.
Huh. Superpowers. Awesome.
Cole had never scaled a five-story building that fast. As he pulled himself over the edge, he glanced back down to make sure he had just been at street level.
He grinned.
A bullet bit into his shoulder painfully, making him stagger to the front with wide eyes. Reapers. Here. On the roof.
They really were everywhere, huh? Cole scowled at them, electricity sparking out of the injury on his shoulder as it grew shut again, pushing out the metal ball while at it. The Reapers weren't bothered in any way by it and tried to attack him, but Cole only flung out one arm, smacking them with a Shockwave and throwing them off the roof. No mercy, no regrets.
He didn't even bother watching them meet the concrete below as he hurried over the roof and jumped up on the side of a billboard. Like before, digging his fingers into a near-invisible crack was more than enough for him to find the required grip. He lunged upwards, reaching the roof above the billboard with laughable ease. He headed towards the metal grates of another brightly colored neon billboard and balanced along it. Any other time, he would have said that anybody who was doing this in the early night time without any proper security measures was suicidal- but now he couldn't help but enjoy the feeling of freedom. The soft breeze stroked past his body as he climbed along the wall, unseen by the people down there. To any other, this would be dangerous, but Cole just felt...happy he could see the world like no-one else could.
It was easy reaching another eaves and latch onto another rainwater pipe to scale the building.
Again- he didn't even feel an ounce of fear as he balanced precariously along the edge, glancing down. The feeling of freedom was just too much. There was no other word for it. Cole felt drunk on it, high- and it was absolutely amazing. He laughed out, feeling the wind rushing over him.
"If you're done being crazy, will you please continue what you were supposed to do?" Cole's jaw snapped shut and he glared irritated at his phone. Of course, Mrs I-don't-pay-you-for-being-happy had to shoot him down. With a grumbled explicit (he made sure she could still understand it), he scaled the last roof and stood in front of another satellite dish.
Garbled and broken voices reached his ears, and he frowned.
"Hear that?" he asked his partner, "Same thing as before."
"I'm running the signals through an encryption program on this end", Moya explained. "I've almost cracked it, but I need another sample." Cole snorted, knowing what she would say next. "Look around for more of those files." Yup. Called it.
Cole turned, activating his Radar Pulse again and checking the area. The next one came from further down the block. He moved towards a high-voltage wire suspended between the roof he was on and another one across the wide street, and hopped on. It swayed from the combination of his weight and the wind breeze, but it didn't bother the courier too much. He moved over it, his arms held to either side lazily. Cole doubted he'd actually need them to keep his balance, because his entire body was constantly correcting his position, allowing him to head over the wire without even swaying. His sense of balance was inhuman. At this rate, he could probably stand with one toe on a pinprick and zap people all around him without even stumbling off.
He stopped in the middle of the wire, eyes narrowing. He could make out the satellite dish in a distance- and four Reapers around it. He could see their guns glint in the artificial light from below, and he saw the riot shields two of them held.
Cole snorted and sped up, running the last few feet across the wire before he ran over the roof, jumping off at full sprint to avoid being shot. He hit another roof in a roll, then dove towards the wall of the complex with the satellite dish. He latched onto the brick ledges and pulled himself two stories up. By now, the Reapers had changed their position, trying to take him out from above, but that was when Cole struck. Using his free hand, he unleashed several lightning bolts to make the guys stagger back, giving himself enough time to pull his body over the roof edge and face the four. Without waiting, he threw his hands to the front and smacked them with his Shockwave, sending them careening off the roof and to their demise.
The Dead Drop was easily accessible now. Cole knelt down and activated it again, listening to the broken record once more. "That's the last one."
"Give a second", Moya replied, followed by the sound of her fingers tapping her keyboard. "All right. That should do it. I'm uploading a decrypting algorithm to your phone. It should let you listen to the messages." Cole blinked. He wasn't even aware his phone could do that.
He crouched down to listen.
"I couldn't stop Kessler from detonating the Ray Sphere", a man's voice spoke up with a breathless tone. Cole heard Moya gasp. She was maybe a controlling bitch, but apparently, she was also incredibly worried for her husband. Cole could understand that.
It made his heart wrench a little when thinking of Trish, but if there was one way to clear his name, it was through Moya's help.
"Damn thing took out five or six square blocks, killed God knows how many", John's voice continued. "Found the Ray Sphere in the blast crater, next to some kid. Dunno if he was dead or not, didn't have time to check." Cole winced slightly. Oh god. This guy had been right next to him. "I'm going to try and hole up somewhere", John continued. "If anyone is even listening to these things, I need immediate extraction." The man paused, as if listening to something. "Please. You've got to get me out of here before Kessler finds me."
The voice was cut off. Cole frowned. "You understand any of that?"
"I don't believe it", Moya whispered, "That's John. He must have used Dead Drops to communicate with his handlers."
Cole blinked. "Uhm...English?"
Moya sighed. "It means there are probably more of those scattered around the city. You should try to find as many as you can. They might tell us where he took the Ray Sphere."
Back to being a bossy bitch. Great.
"Find John and Ray Sphere", Cole summed up, "And I'm out, right?"
"I know the deal, Cole."
"Just making sure."
The phone went silent again, though he knew she was still listening. Huh.
Cole scratched his scalp, wondering what he could do now. Return to Zeke? He didn't leave too long ago, and there was still a lot to do. He could try out his powers.
The night was still young.
He frowned for a moment, before he decided to look for the clinics around town. He wasn't to be blamed for the explosion- and he had the Dead Drop message to prove it. He could show it to Trish, have her learn the truth, ask to start new.
And even if he didn't find her- the Reapers were starting to turn into a real menace. He had powers now, so he could easily knock them down all the pegs to get them to back off and leave the Neon alone, if only to finally find some peace and not being constantly shot at. Cole snorted. Yeah, taking out the Reapers was personal to him, but if it helped to keep those other idiots off his back, then he wouldn't complain. If he took out enough gang members, then the civilians would probably be too afraid to do something against him.
Not that he cared about those idiots and their opinion of him anyways- there were a grand total of two people in the entire city he gave a shit about- and one of them probably never wanted to see him again.
He started moving, dropping down onto the street just to climb another building at the other end of the street to reach the safety of the rooftops again. He found a few Reapers shooting at random, so he took them out with no trouble. Most of them didn't even see him coming until several hundred volts slammed into them and send them falling to their doom.
As he headed towards the nearest clinic, he became aware of more shooting. Cole threw his body to the side to change direction, then rushed towards where he heard the gun shots crack.
He lunged across another roof, then rushed over a wire suspended between two buildings, scaled another facade and hopped over AC units. He was moving fast, fast enough to find a small group of civilians with big guns trying to keep Reapers at bay.
Cole wondered briefly where they got the weapons from, until he realized that they had no idea how to shoot and were about to be overrun. He jumped off the roof, charging lightning all around him. When he hit the ground in front of the Reapers, he send about half of them flying. The others flinched back and turned to aim at him. Cole scowled and unleashed several lightning bolts, frying those idiots while also moving rapidly to take cover behind a low wall. This time, he was quick enough to avoid being hit by bullets.
He paused for a moment, sending out his Pulse to map the area. He noticed the Reapers running around the wall to get a better shot at him, but they all came from one direction. He smirked, charged up and just waited.
Once the gang members came around the corner, Cole send out a massive discharge, knocking all of them back.
Not a single Reaper remained standing, while Cole got up and dusted his pants off.
The civilians stared at him with wide eyes, rifles trembling.
Cole frowned at them, then took a step towards them. They flinched back, weapons going up to target him. He stopped. "Until now, I have been nice", he said in a low tone, "Though if you fire those guns, it won't hurt me, but I will take it personally."
They backed off fearfully. "Good", the courier grunted. He glanced at the men, finding the guy that looked like he was the one in charge. "You"
"Me?"
"Yeah." Cole curled his finger. "Come over here for a moment, will you?"
The man frowned, glancing at the lightning still rushing over Cole's arms. The courier sighed and pulled the sparks back. "Listen, I just want to ask you something."
The man didn't seem convinced, but still carefully stepped towards him. "What is it?"
"The guns", Cole asked, "Where do you have them from?"
"Used to be Reaper's", the 'captain' explained
"Really?" The courier tilted his head. "And how did you get them?" These guys are about as useful as beached jellyfish in a fight, after all.
"Some guy gave them to us", the man explained.
"Some guy?"
"Yeah. Heard he's doing that stuff for a while now- he gets his hands on Reaper weapons and gives them to us to fend 'em off. Sometimes helps us if we have problems. Never seen a better shooter. Guess he's military."
"What does he look like?"
The man shrugged. "Not like much. Skinny guy, tall, dark hair in slight curls. White shirt. Jeans..."
The courier hissed. "Blue eyes?"
"Yeah. That's him." Great. The guy who splattered two Reapers at once. Cole had hoped to not see him too soon again...but then again...
He frowned. "Where is he now?" Guy like that might be helpful taking back the Neon, after all.
"No idea. He just vanishes after he's done."
Great. "Any idea where to?"
"The other clinics, I heard."
Cole paused. Might be worth checking out then. He turned to go, but was stopped by the man clearing his throat.
"You- you're the guy from television, right?"
"And if I was?" He growled.
The man twitched slightly. "Uhm- well, if you want my opinion- that looked pretty much like fake news. Guy like you can't be a bad guy, right?"
Cole scowled, half confused, half angry. The man didn't even know half of it. But if there was one guy thinking like that, then maybe there were more. Maybe helping people had its merits. The more saw how he really was, the less he had to worry about waking up with a bunch of guys about to lynch him. But he didn't trust easily. As far as he knew, those guys could be planning something. Better keep to himself then.
"Don't mention it", he grunted, then stalked away.
---------------------
Dana and Trish had left the clinic. Every available doctor and nurse had been called to stand ready. It appeared there had been an incident with several people who suddenly got sick. Alex had stayed behind. He waited for most of the personnel to leave, before he started to move down the hallways. The central clinic was, because it was the one Dana was at, the one best defended. With Alex's help, not many Reapers dared coming here anyways. And that also meant that here were the most weapons.
Weapons Alex had taken off the gangs in Empire. Arms they weren't supposed to have at all.
He glanced around to make sure nobody was there to witness him, before he shifted into his usual appearance, sans hood and jacket. In this shape, the people here knew him as the guy who helped fending off Reapers. They had asked for his name a few times, but Alex never told them. He just appeared before them, gave them weapons, ammunition, food or supplies, or fought off a few bastards, and vanished again.
So nobody was going to bat an eye at him wandering the clinic. If anything, they were assuming he'd check up on supplies.
Which was true for tonight.
Alex headed to a previously empty storeroom in the basement. Originally filled with filing cabinets and old or rarely-used medical equipment, it became their little armory after they fortified everything.
Two Vietnam Veterans stood in front of the entrance. They and a few others had volunteered to guard the stash and train the other militia.
Both glanced at him as he approached, before they clacked their heels together and saluted him. "Sir."
"At ease", Alex replied with his gravely tone. No matter how often they saw him, they always did that military crap Alex was only all too familiar with. Sometimes he wondered what they would think if they knew he was the one to have thrown America into chaos, who murdered thousands of their brothers-in-arms. Would they try to fight him?
He snorted. Old men and inexperienced civilians. They wouldn't last a minute, even if he toyed with them. Hell, he could easily take out an entire street worth of enemies with a single Whipfist swing, these people here won't stand a chance.
"Need a new rifle?" One of the veterans asked. Alex never bothered learning their names.
"No", he answered. "Just need to check something."
They nodded and he walked through the door, closing it behind him. He looked around. Assault rifles, shotguns, hunting rifles, sniper rifles and a wide assortment of handguns were stacked against the walls. Now, it was laughable easy getting weapons like that, especially in America, where you could almost get them from vending machines, but it was impossible to have them in such quantities.
Someone must be supplying these guys. But what for?
Alex snorted and grabbed the closest assault rifle. It was a M16, a model he was familiar with. Very familiar, because they have been the first weapons to impact their bullets into his chest, back when he woke up at Gentek. Good memories.
Alex turned the weapon around, pulling it apart. With the ease and security of several hundred soldiers at his disposal, he dismembered the thing, glancing at every piece. They were nearly brand-new, and in good condition- which counted against the idea that they were old models.
He frowned, glancing at the number etched into the barrel. The number didn't mean anything to him, and he did lack the ability to check it, but he knew someone who could.
He glanced around suspiciously, as if somebody might be lurking into the corner, before he tapped into the Hivemind. His world was dyed in dark tones of red and brown, and only he glowed with an unnatural white aura. The Hivemind was silent. Not like in Manhattan, when millions of voices were talking at once. Now, only two voices remained. His own voice, loud like a thunderstorm, and the much more silent one of his Evolved.
"Heller"
He felt the other man flinch over their connection. It was rare for them to communicate, even though neither of them were solitary by nature. But they also despised the other, and did not enjoy being together. Heller and Alex- they were like mongoose and snake.
"Fucking Hell, Mercer", Heller grated through their connection. "What is it?"
"Are you aware of the situation in Empire City?"
There was a mental silence. "I am. Terrorists blow up half the city, city gets locked down, people have to be supplied via air drops. Heard of it."
"What do the news say?"
"Hell. People are doing fine. Not good, but fine."
Alex barked a short laughter. Amusement was rare for him, and it made Heller nervous. Understandably.
"Sure. And the people starving in the streets are just my imagination."
"Fuck. Do we have another Manhattan here?"
"It's not that bad yet, but yes. It's similar."
"Fucking Hell."
"That's not why I contacted you, though."
"No?"
"Listen. Here are too many guns on the street. And I mean the stuff you would wet yourself for. Assault Rifles, RPGs, everything you can name. I want to know where they came from, but the people who use them are of no great help."
Heller sighed. "You got a serial?"
"I have." Alex shifted the barrel and glanced at the number, the muted world of the Hive Mind requiring him to be closer to read it. He told it to the Evolved.
"I'll look into it", he said. "Got to find an excuse to do so, though. People might get fucking suspicious if I pull a serial number out of my ass."
"Do that", Alex replied. He paused for a moment. "Another favor, Heller?"
Heller snorted. "What else?"
"Who is Moya Jones?" He asked as he started to put the rifle back together.
"Moya Jones? Never heard of that name."
"She seems to be in charge here in Empire."
"I'll see what I can find out. Just a question, though: Why don't you open your own can of Mind Fuck, see what you'll find?"
"I'll see what I can find out. Just a question, though: Why don't you open your own can of Mind Fuck, see what you'll find?"
"I don't want Blackwatch to know where I am. I have no great desire to see another city go up in nuclear Hellfire."
"Yeah. Fucks, all of them." He gave a mental shrug. "I'll check things out."
Alex nodded to himself. "Good." He halted with a frown. "And...Dana told me to say hi."
"Tell her the offer's still valid", Heller replied with a much softer tone."Maya misses her."
"Not a chance", Alex smirked. "She doesn't want to let me out of her eyes."
"Smart girl. Who knows what a bastard like you's gonna fuck up."
Alex rolled his eyes. "Do me favor, shove a gun up your ass and fire, Heller."
"Only if you start with a Thermobaric Shell on yourself, bastard."
The Evolved cut the connection. Alex placed the rifle back where he got it and left the Hive Mind. One problem less. As much as he loathed Heller, he could trust him to do the things correctly on his side. Now he only had to wait.
But who said he had to wait here? He could always hunt some more Reapers, and now, with the late hour, there wouldn't be too many people out.
A grin appeared on his face as he turned and headed back outside. It was time to stretch his claws again.