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       #Post#: 166--------------------------------------------------
       Not so normal
   DIR By: Overlord529
       Date: November 12, 2014, 5:35 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Yawning, Cole opened his eyes to stare at the pasty white
       ceiling. Immediately he started tossing the pros and cons of
       getting up. He felt tired, and more rest would be nice. But then
       again the city was still a bit shaky after the quarantine, and
       he had been asked to attend a conference to help motivate people
       in about three quarters of an hour.
       Giving a bit of a groan, Cole flexed his aching muscles before
       planting his feet on the floor and standing up.
       The room was empty, it had a mirror which double acted as a
       sliding door for the cupboard, but that was about it. He gave
       himself a look. He appeared to be a bit grubby, he hadn't had a
       shower in about a week, but he had at least managed to shave.
       His hair didn't grow much anymore, but he had given it a trim
       yesterday anyway. He was wearing plain blue pyjamas that were a
       bit too big, but otherwise comfortable. His clothes were
       currently drying, so they would be fine.
       All-in-all, he figured all he needed was a shower to be
       presentable. He gave a sigh, there was a reason he avoided
       taking showers when he could.
       He exited the room, and ended up coming face to face with a
       woman in her mid-thirties. She gave a smile. 'Aahh, I was going
       to wake you, Breakfast is ready.'
       'You're too kind…' His stomach growled, and he gave a sigh. 'But
       I think I need to take a shower first.'
       'To your left' She gave a cheerful wink. 'I already have a towel
       there for you; it's the dark blue one.'
       Cole sighed. He had just wanted to go home when it was all over,
       but the problem was that 'home' was Zeke's place. And Cole
       hadn't quite gotten over his betrayal as of yet. So he had
       decided to live on the street for a while, but then people had
       insisted he come to their home to stay instead. Part of him
       disliked intruding in their lives, another part was happy that
       the people were kind enough to do it.
       Turning, Cole entered. There was a Shower cubicle with soap,
       hair washing implements, and other assorted body care products
       that barely registered.
       Carefully, Cole twisted the cold water tap. Water began dripping
       down, very little pressure, or much coming out, satisfied and
       closing his eyes, Cole tested putting his hand in. Wincing not
       only from the coldness of the water, but pain as electricity
       danced around his arm, turning the water into steam and slightly
       reddening his skin.
       Well, he had to get it over with. Sighing, Cole stripped down
       and plunged into the torture…
       He came out, his skin red but healing, and his normal yellow and
       black attire on.
       The woman looked at him quizzically.
       'Don't ask.' Cole grunted, taking a seat on the wooden table,
       taking a bite out of a sausage on the plate in front of him.
       'It would be cold now; if you want I'll heat it up in the
       microwave.'
       'Don't have the time.' Cole replied, trying and failing to
       lighten his voice. People were always telling him he always
       sounded so serious. 'Got a conference to go to, keep the peoples
       morale up, we did just survive a massive crisis. And we're still
       repairing the damage. I'm supposed to get up there, say a few
       words.' He grimaced. 'Doesn't seem right, sure I saved the town,
       but I had help, you know? Not to mention these abilities.'
       Lightning danced along his fingertips, as if to emphasize the
       point. 'I think a normal person should go up there, you know?
       Show them how normal people survived, managed to make things for
       the better.'
       'You are normal Cole.' She seemed to look away as she said that,
       perhaps embarrassed. 'Just because you have abilities no others
       have doesn't mean you are not normal, some people can do things
       that others could never do. But everyone is different, which in
       a sense is normal.'
       There was a silence for a few seconds. It was ended rather
       unceremoniously by Cole giving a sigh. 'I'm not sure it's safe
       for me to believe that just yet.' With that, he left the house,
       climbing up the power pole and slid on the lines on the way to
       the docks where the conference was about to begin.
       'So, what information do you have about the saviour of this
       town, Wade?'
       Wade, an ex BLACKWATCH agent who was cornered by Alex after
       meeting pariah on that island one moth later. He nearly got
       himself killed until he "offered" his services to track down
       pariah.
       A bearded man gave a smirk. Here he was, once a low-level
       Blackwatch because he had asked too many questions, and now he
       was next to their bane, Alex Mercer. Or what remained of him, he
       quietly reminded himself.
       He made no snide comments; he knew Alex Mercer didn't take
       kindly, although he was trying to be more "civil". Learning the
       truth about what he was seemed to confuse him. Wade wasn't a
       psychologist, but he supposed Mercer was having an identity
       crisis, and if he should simply be what the template had been,
       or someone else entirely. Alex could always consume him and take
       the knowledge for his own, but he kept him alive. His reason was
       that he was "Sick of doing everything himself", but Wade had
       always suspected there was more to it. Perhaps he was trying to
       be a better person. Or perhaps he realized that keeping some
       people alive to help him may be a benefit.
       'Well, it wasn't too difficult to find out most of the
       information. Although I do have a feeling some pieces of the
       puzzle are missing.' Wade stroked his beard thoughtfully. 'His
       name is Cole McGrath, he was a bicycle messenger.'
       'Not a job that pays very much.' Alex murmured.
       'No, but he lived at his friend's place, his name is Zeke
       Dunbar, the job payed enough for Cole to do his share of the
       bills.' Wade scrolled down. 'It seems he was taking a package
       somewhere when it exploded, tearing a sizable chunk of the area.
       Cole was at the centre of the blast, yet he survived, and seemed
       to develop abilities after. Then, as if everyone was waiting, it
       seems several factions began acting, and the city was put under
       quarantine due to some black gunk that managed to get into the
       water supply. Cole used his abilities to basically stop the
       factions getting…'
       He paused, taking a breath before continuing. 'This was a bit
       tricky to find, but the factions were all after something called
       the "Ray Sphere". What it does is supposedly drain the
       Neuro-Electricity and allow the user to absorb it and develop
       their abilities. That was supposedly the thing that caused the
       explosion.'
       'Where is it now?'
       'Destroyed, Cole was supposedly very clear on that, he said it
       in one of the few times he allowed himself to be put in front of
       a crowd.' Wade gave a smile and looked at Alex Mercer, his dark
       brown eyes searching Mercer's face for a clue on what he was
       thinking. A difficult task, Mercer's hood and the poor light
       that only came from the computer screen obscured most of his
       features. 'What, were you hoping to use it yourself?'
       Mercer was silent for a few moments, before growling 'So then,
       is he Pariah or not?'
       'Possible, but unlikely.' He turned back to the computer and
       stroked his beard yet again, he liked doing that. 'There is no
       information in his past until after the time Pariah escaped, no
       recorded family. So that does increase the likelihood. However
       the problem is that he showed no abilities until after the Ray
       Sphere detonated, Pariah most definitely had abilities to begin
       with. I suppose he could have forgotten how to use them or
       something, but he had abilities, even if he was… Not like you.'
       He turned to Alex, to see his expression.
       'How did he kill those people?' Alex asked, recalling a memory
       he had absorbed. His voice suggested curiosity, pure and simple.
       'I believe I know who you are talking about, but alas that was
       strictly classified, after all, I shouldn't have even known
       about Pariah, let alone his actions.' A smirk crept on his lips.
       'Or that he escaped,' he added dryly. Carefully, he avoided
       Mercer's gaze, and asked 'what do you intend to do to Pariah
       when you find him, anyway?'
       'None of your business.' The reply was rough, and had an edge
       that meant if Wade wanted to live, he would drop the subject.
       Luckily he didn't have to. Alex Mercer asked gruffly 'so then,
       you don't know if Cole is or isn't Pariah?'
       'No, I don't.' Wade sighed. 'You would have to capture him.'
       Looking back at the computer screen, he began typing. 'You're in
       luck, it seems he is due for a conference in about ten minutes,
       wait until after and bring him back alive.'
       Alex's face was expressionless. 'Very well, I'll bring him
       back.' Tendrils covered his body, and once again the mugger
       appeared. It didn't make much of a difference, the mugger had
       been wearing grey and black, his green eyes were hardened with
       purpose. He exited the room. Mercer had always been a man of few
       words.
       Wade watched as he exited the room, and then returned to the
       computer screen. As he continued typing and finding out more on
       what happened, he couldn't help but notice a key word that
       Mercer had left out at the end of his sentence.
       #Post#: 171--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Not so normal
   DIR By: Overlord529
       Date: November 14, 2014, 3:39 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       'And so, while we have all done admirably, if we can keep our
       effort on for just a little longer, Empire City may well become
       better then it ever was.' Cole finished, hoping that the
       expansive crowd before him didn't notice his constant glancing
       to the palm cards he had placed on the makeshift stand.
       Either way, the crowd applauded and cheered all the same.
       Cole forced a grin. He still felt uncomfortable in front of a
       crowd; he gave a half-hearted wave as he exited the stand. As
       soon as he turned a corner out of the crowd's sight, he began
       running full pelt.
       As such, he was rather surprised when he looked back and noticed
       someone had managed to keep up rather well, although still a
       fair distance of a couple of dozen meters. The street was empty,
       most had been at the conference and would still be heading to
       their cars.
       The man smiled and waved. Even from a distance the smile was
       clearly fake, just like Cole's own had been.
       'Is there a problem, citizen?' He disliked using the word, but
       he felt like leaving in a hurry, and perhaps if he 'showed him
       his place', the guy would leave without wanting an autograph or
       something.
       'I just wanted to have a few words with you.'
       Cole frowned. The man sounded calm, very different from most of
       the people he had been around, who were relieved and mainly more
       optimistic. Shrugging, he decided for kicks to let out an
       electric echo.
       A good thing too, it came back to show the man indeed wasn't
       normal, perhaps not even human.
       Electricity began dancing around Cole's arms. 'Who are you?' He
       growled, pointing his right arm at the man.
       Before Cole's very eyes, the man changed as tendrils covered the
       body, dissipating inside the skin to reveal a different person.
       The outfit was roughly the same colour of black and grey, but
       thicker and now had a hood.
       'My name is Alex Mercer, and I'm wondering if you might be
       Pariah.' Well, the 'thing' was certainly blunt.
       'No idea what you're talking about.'
       Alex Mercer sighed. 'Very well then, come with me peacefully or
       I shall have to use force.' He got into a primal stance
       Cole grimaced. If the man was talking like that, he probably was
       an extremely powerful conduit. Since everyone knew him, he
       doubted he was unanticipated.
       Once again tendrils covered Alex, this time when it ended only
       one arm was affected, turning black and demonic-looking with
       sharp claws.
       Alex made a grabbing motion, as if Cole was right next to him.
       Cole quickly found out why, the arm extended towards him
       rapidly. Cole narrowly managed to roll out of the way.
       The arm retracted just as quickly, but Cole managed to shoot out
       a burst of electricity.
       Quicker still was the shield that formed in front of Mercer.
       Despite the block, the shield seemed to still have a degree of
       conductivity, as Mercer still felt a jolt of pain.
       But it was easy enough to ignore, the pain of thousands he had
       consumed still wracked his body, even as a memory. And yet the
       pain triggered something, a reflex, or perhaps it stimulated a
       survival instinct. The shield vanished to be replaced by Mercer
       being covered head to toe in some sort of insect-like armour,
       and his right arm into a blade.
       The next jolt of electricity didn't even penetrate the surface.
       Mercer charged forward.
       A small part of Mercer's mind was telling him that the blade
       wasn't the way to go if he wanted the person alive.
       Unfortunately Mercer had always been democratic, and the
       majority of him demanded he stop this man one way or another. If
       the guy was Pariah, it didn't matter too much either way he
       supposed. If he wasn't, then the man in front of him didn't
       matter at all…
       Cole brought his arm forward in what appeared to be a futile
       defence. But a blue glow surrounded Cole's arm in the nick of
       time and a blade made of what seemed to be solid electricity met
       the blow, not yielding.
       Electricity covered the apparently conductive blade, but stopped
       short of getting into the armour. Still, it was all a part of
       Mercer, and he felt the pain.
       Quickly bringing the blade back, he struck again, the electric
       blade flickered off before coming back on to intercept the blow.
       Once again electricity flowed.
       Giving a grunt, Mercer jumped.
       Cole looked up to see the armour vanish to be replaced with that
       seemed to be skin and clothes, and then the man flew. Hurriedly,
       Cole fired a few more bursts of electricity. Three out of five
       hit, but to little effect as Mercer kept moving.
       It looked as if he was going to crash into a tall apartment
       block, but instead he hit the block and started running in a
       vertical direction, bricks falling from the impact. Within
       seconds he had reached the top, out of Cole's sight.
       What was he planning to do there? Cole hadn't seen any attacks
       from the creature that could cover distance.
       It was then he noticed a chunk of building falling from the sky,
       Cole fired a shockwave and the chunk fell to the earth and laid
       there right at Cole's feet. Close one.
       But that was just a distraction; Mercer was already on his way
       down, like a bullet. He smashed the earth several meters away
       from Cole, but the shockwave was enough to knock him back like a
       rag doll.
       Cole got up quickly, a fist headed towards him ignoring Mercer's
       body being far behind. He brought his arm forward and a barrier
       appeared, the fist struck and Cole gave a small sigh of relief
       as the kinetic energy from the punch was transferred into his
       system as healing electricity.
       Another charge towards Cole, but this time Mercer had no blade.
       He had learned his lesson on conductivity it seemed.
       Knowing a normal blast would be useless, he fired an electricity
       orb that hit Mercer like a rocket, knocking him off his feet.
       Cole grimaced, but he fired several more even while his
       opposition was on the ground. Each struck with an impact that
       cracked the pavement; he drained almost every watt as he fired
       still more.
       And yet, after that Mercer still got up; shaken, but very much
       alive.
       'damn it.' Cole murmured. He had pretty much bled himself dry
       with that attack.
       'You're one real pain in the ass.' Mercer grunted, although how
       he spoke with that seemingly airtight armour was anyone's guess.
       But even as he spoke, the arm extended and struck.
       Once again, the barrier came up. But Mercer followed his arm,
       dashing closer then jumping up, blade ready to cleave.
       A normal human wouldn't have had the reflexes, even Cole usually
       didn't. But time seemed to slow down, everything became clear.
       Cole pointed his arm at Mercer's head.
       And fired.
       The precision electric blast using the little energy he had
       absorbed from the previous punch drilled right into Mercer's
       armour, right into the softer interior.
       Mercer dropped, blade and armour deactivated, and screamed as
       his insides sizzled like sausages in a barbeque.
       Quickly Cole ran to a nearby streetlight draining electricity
       with one hand while aiming with the other.
       But Mercer was already moving, but he was moving away. That
       thing was running. Already he had turned a corner and vanished
       from sight.
       Cole made a mental note to scan anyone that came near him.
       Meanwhile, his thoughts drifted to what that thing was. Catching
       up to it was impossible, he could probably trace its echo, but
       odds were it would leave. And besides, people who had watched in
       awe were starting to close in, probably wanting to ask
       questions.
       He should probably get away fast, find a place to stay, and make
       sure that creature didn't appear again.
       'No, he doesn't expect anything yet. You were right; no-one he
       has consumed would lead him to suspect me.'
       Wade breathed a sigh of relief as he spoke into the telephone.
       'But you never know if he will find out! If he knows I'm working
       for you I'm dead!.'
       He paused, from his expression of distaste you could tell he
       disliked the answer he was getting. 'I'm doing my best to make
       him think cole is pariah! If one thing goes wrong,One
       thing!...He'll figure it out and then im......This whole thing
       stinks to be honest. What if a high-up in Blackwatch wanted this
       to happen? That's the problem with a need-to-know basis. When
       they die, the secret gets lost when we need to know!'
       Another pause, then Wade whispered 'Look, he could be back at
       any moment. I'll tell him what I need to, and I expect the
       transportation to be ready to leave as soon as they finish.' He
       shook as if there had been a winter breeze. 'Let's just get this
       over with, ok?'
       He put the phone back in its holder. A minute or so later Alex
       Mercer arrived. 'Very punctual', Wade thought wirily, although
       he tried his best to appear polite. 'Welcome back, although I
       see you lack company.' He eyed the slowly healing burns all over
       Mercer's body. 'It didn't go well?'
       'My abilities aren't exactly made for capturing.' Mercer
       grunted.
       Well, how was it then? I assume you engaged in combat.'
       'He wasn't as powerful as I suspected.'
       Wade's eyes widened. 'Really? And yet those wounds…'
       'Like I said, capturing isn't easy for me.' The wounds had
       sealed completely. 'I think a devastator would have wiped him
       out, he doesn't seem to be anything like me.'
       'Why should he? You were a forced survivor with all the nasty
       abilities that entailed considering what you were up against. He
       is the next stage, a new dawn of humanity' Wade chuckled. 'Or so
       Blackwatch hoped. Speaking of that, I've managed to hack further
       into Blackwatch files.'
       'Have you now.' Mercer eyed the computer screen. 'What's new?'
       'There was more to the Pariah project. It seems while he was
       indeed the next evolution, it wasn't quite what they expected.
       You know the theory of evolution? This is sort of like a far
       more rapid version. Pariah's cells were very adaptive depending
       on the environment it seems. The major thing his cells ended up
       reacting to were the electricity in numerous devices around the
       place in which he was kept under guard. But that wasn't all. The
       degrees of his abilities were based on how they were required.
       So they worked on his mind. Implanting memories, trying to make
       him feel like he was under constant attack. All to keep his
       abilities at their peak. They wanted him to be all-powerful.'
       He sighed, taking a sip of water before continuing.. 'But
       somehow he escaped. They're not quite sure how it happened. One
       of the guards was suspicious of the kid, always had him at
       gunpoint. He was found later, the gun seemed to have exploded.
       It's quite possible that due to the sudden loss of the numerous
       drugs they were pumping in his system caused the memory loss,
       while his unique genetics protected himself from any other
       side-effects.'
       'So, is he harmless? Will he infect others, or begin to develop
       abilities?' Alex asked, pacing to both sides of Wade,
       occasionally peering at the computer screen.
       'He will most likely develop, considering he knows he has
       abilities now and has the need to improve them. Hardly harmless
       if he survived you.' Wade gave a quick chuckle. 'As for
       infecting others, it appears not. In that aspect he seems to be
       similar to you… Well, not who you are pretending to be though.
       He certainly infected people…'
       'So, you think he is Pariah?' Wade winced at Mercer's cold tone,
       dangerously close; he nearly had his last laugh.
       'I am certain. I found the DNA of Pariah in here and ran it with
       Cole's that I found in a hospital database. It has changed, but
       I noticed key elements that are similar to Pariah.'
       Mercer sat on the floor. 'So, what does that leave me to do?' He
       murmured, staring at his hands. 'Pariah isn't a threat, hell
       it's a hero. I suppose there is still Blackwatch.'
       He got up. 'I have to warn him.' He said abruptly.
       No!.... I mean I doubt he will trust you after what happened.'
       'I can't let him be caught off guard and captured. Blackwatch
       could still use him. And if you found him, who knows? Perhaps
       they will put the pieces together as well.'
       'Perhaps' Wade conceded. 'You best go warn him. Doubt you'll be
       getting him to come with you to a safer area.'
       But Mercer was already gone, much to Wade's relief. He grabbed a
       suitcase he had hidden behind the computer monitor and rushed
       away briskly, exiting the room.
       Meanwhile, he took his mobile phone out and dialled a number.
       'Mercer is going to warn Mgrath. Sadly we have little use for
       him anymore, you were right; we cant allow mercer and mgrath to
       interact,Send in the Super Soldiers, shame we couldn't dissect
       McGrath, the conduit gene would have proved useful."
       #Post#: 172--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Not so normal
   DIR By: Overlord529
       Date: November 14, 2014, 3:49 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       'Well… It's good to see you again, Cole.'
       There was an awkward silence. Orange tinted glasses met those
       hardened eyes that had faced much adversity.
       On the rooftop of an apartment building, where what felt like
       years ago Zeke and Cole had laughed, had a few beers, and all in
       all enjoyed life.
       Now you could cut through the silence with a knife, while you
       would need a katana to cut through the feeling of awkwardness
       emanating from both of them.
       Zeke coughed. 'Cole, I'm sorry for what I did.'
       'You endangered a lot of people Zeke, and betrayed me when I
       thought I could trust you.'
       Zeke winced, the shudder he did with it more visible then his
       covered eyes. He said nothing, he couldn't think of what to say,
       it was true.
       Cole sighed, 'but I shouldn't have put that burden on you. You
       always went on about how you would want abilities like me. I
       knew, yet I still gave the sphere to you.'
       Zeke straightened up; a small smile crept on his face. 'I guess
       you did blow it, hey Cole?'
       'Don't push it.' Cole muttered.
       '…But it all turned out alright in the end.' Zeke finished
       hastily.
       Cole paused, looking above to the cloudless sky. 'I wouldn't be
       so sure.' He muttered.
       Zeke eyed him nervously. 'Cole, is there something you haven't
       told me?'
       'There is something else coming Zeke, something worse then
       anything I've fought.'
       Zeke was silent, simply staring at Cole. Then eventually he said
       briskly 'Well, I'll grab us both a beer.'
       That caught Cole's attention, he immediately stared back at Zeke
       and raised an eyebrow. 'I don't think being drunk is going to
       help me fight the Beast.'
       'Oh, just a small amount Cole, for old times.'
       That got a smirk from Cole. 'If you say so.'
       Smiling as if it had never left his face, Zeke opened the door
       to the stairway and left.
       Cole was still for a moment, before taking advantage of his
       friend's absence and jumping on the couch.
       The train was coming early, he noted. He could hear it. Kinda
       funny really, he had always remembered it being late. Or had
       that much time flown already?
       His thoughts were interrupted as he heard glass and bricks
       smashing. Getting, up, he looked over the edge of the building,
       to see that hooded figure from before jump up and land about a
       meter away.
       Cole immediately, let the lightning dance around his arms and
       aimed for him. 'What are you doing here?' He said coolly.
       'Warning you, actually…' He broke off, stiffening. 'They're here
       already…' He said in disbelief. With that, he leapt over Cole,
       turning around; he saw Mercer was grappling with some sort of
       mechanized human in mid-air. They were interrupted when a second
       mechanized human crashed into Mercer, sending him hurtling away,
       followed by a resounding crash as they hit the earth.
       While those two headed for Mercer, two more came up to meet
       Cole. Both of them slowly circled closer to Cole like vultures,
       slowly getting closer.
       Cole fired at one of them, the man dodged it with terrifying
       ease, as if he had predicted it happening. Another burst had his
       partner giving a brief burst of speed in the circle to avoid it.
       A third burst had the first soldier twisting his head to the
       side to avoid, but he was surprised when Cole brought up his
       other hand and fired almost instantly after, and twisted out of
       the way only to ram into his partner. Cole immediately fired an
       electric hammer, and the momentarily stunned men were knocked
       off their feet, and off the building.
       Cole jumped down after them, gathering electricity as he fell.
       The soldiers were just getting up when Cole hit the ground,
       expelling the gathered energy in one blast that hit the soldiers
       like a solid wall, flinging them into an actual solid wall of an
       apartment building and smashing right through, and knocking
       senseless a man who happened to be on the other side.
       Cole gave a sigh of relief, but even as he did so the two men
       simply burst out of the debris, charging forward. They both
       tackled Cole to the ground, holding one arm each.
       Electricity flowed from Cole's arms into the men; they both
       shook violently as it flowed into them. But one managed to give
       Cole a hefty kick, breaking the connection and sent Hale
       skidding across the concrete, leaving a smear of blood with it.
       Cole didn't get up, he just forced his head and arms up, firing
       at his opposition with bursts of lighting and a hammer or two
       thrown into the mix.
       He zapped both of them a few times, but they managed to avoid
       the hammers as they moved, albeit slower then usual as their
       muscles jolted from the electric shocks.
       This time they didn't try to get closer, instead one moved to
       block, receiving blast after blast of electricity, while the
       other tore a section of concrete.
       Cole started to get up when it was thrown, but was unable to
       dodge and found himself once again hurtling further away. The
       soldier who had taken all the shocks before had collapsed, dead
       or unconscious.
       The concrete fell to the earth, Cole's face contorted with pain
       as the lower half of his body was being crushed. The soldier
       jumped up and fell like a meteor into the concrete covering
       Cole's lower half, a resounding *crunch* was heard and Cole's
       lower half went numb.
       'That's probably going to hurt when those nerves work again'
       Cole tried to force his head towards his opponent, who was
       currently tearing another section of concrete from the ground.
       Once again he threw it, but Cole was ready this time, sending
       out a shockwave which propelled it right back. The concrete
       shattered on impact and apart from taking a step back, he
       appeared to be unharmed. Another shockwave brought the concrete
       that had covered Cole's bottom half into the soldier's face. The
       soldier stumbled back again.
       Cole knew he had seconds, and he took full advantage. He
       propelled himself forward with his arms and grabbed the soldier.
       Electricity flowed from Cole into the soldier, shorting out the
       electronics and sending the soldier into a spasm.
       But Cole didn't let go until he was certain that the man was
       dead, the body continued the spasm but he could sense the brain
       and heart shutting down. He pushed the limp body to the floor
       before collapsing himself: Conscious, but hurting all over. His
       legs refused to move, broken perhaps, or he had lost that much
       blood.
       All he could do was wonder on the outcome of the fight between
       that creature called Mercer and those other two soldiers.
       'They've been upgraded.'
       That thought was solid in his mind, as solid as his opposition's
       fists.
       Both of the super soldiers struck at him, giving him no leeway
       to strike back. An outsider would see what amounted to a blur of
       movement.
       Mercer's arms shifted from weapon to weapon. Hammerfist, blade,
       claws. None of them made a difference, even the hammerfist just
       gave the soldiers an easy target which they took full advantage
       of. With the musclemass arms, he managed to grab the fist of one
       of the attacking soldiers and hurl him into the next one,
       unfortunately the super soldier refused to go alone and gripped
       Mercer, bringing him along for the ride. Leaving all three of
       them sprawled in a pile.
       Musclemass turned to claws as Mercer awkwardly slashed at the
       two soldier's under him. The claws raking at steel and flesh
       gave the soldiers a jumpstart, and sent Mercer hurtling into the
       air.
       Not deterred, Mercer did a bullet drop back down, the soldiers
       managed to get out of Mercer's way, but not the shockwave that
       sent them stumbling back to the earth.
       Claws back to musclemass as Mercer grabbed one of the soldier
       and took off, Shaking his head, the second soldier took off in
       pursuit.
       Meanwhile the soldier in Mercer's hand was still trying to get
       his bearings. Mercer didn't give him the chance, slamming him to
       the earth, muscles turned into a blade that stabbed the soldier,
       the armour and flesh stopped the blade from going all the way
       through, but it didn't stop the blade piercing his heart. Blood
       poured out as if fleeing from the twisted mix of flesh and
       metal.
       And the second one had already caught up, charging with obvious
       intentions.
       With an almost casual flick, Mercer sent the soldier's deceased
       comrade hurtling towards him. The soldier simply charged through
       the projectile, not slowing down.
       But he had been temporarily blinded, and in that time, Mercer
       had shifted slightly. And the soldier charged headfirst into
       Mercer's blade, bisecting it and the soldier kept his momentum
       going, not realising for a few moments, before collapsing, dead.
       'Stronger perhaps, but they seem to lack experience.'
       Mercer sighed with relief, the blade turning back into ordinary
       arms. 'I sure hope it wasn't a waste.'
       No sooner had he talked, a sound reached his ears. Shifting his
       sight, he noticed Cole slowly advancing towards him, his arm
       electrically charged.
       'I'm glad you survived.' Mercer stated.
       No answer, but Cole had stopped advancing.
       'Why did you come here?' Cole asked gruffly.
       'I'm here to protect you…' He hesitated, the word "Pariah"
       waiting to be said. He held it back. 'There are people after
       both of us, I was hoping we could work together to put a stop to
       them.'
       Cole watched impassively. At least until he grimaced in pain and
       found himself on his knees.
       'Are you alright?"
       'I'll be fine.' Cole got up, albeit unsteadily. 'Those wounds
       will heal soon enough. So then, how do we deal with these
       people?"
       It was probably for the best if he played along, Cole figured.
       He was wounded and if the whole thing had been a set-up, there
       was little reason for him not to be dead. So as strange as it
       seemed, this guy seemed to be telling the truth.
       Hey, he had just called him a guy rather then a creature. Cole
       was surprised at himself, but relaxed.
       Mercer picked up one of the super soldier corpses. Tendrils
       began to cover it. But Cole noticed that there seemed to be
       something wrong, the tendrils seemed to go around rather then
       actually touch the soldier, and when it did they seemed to
       dissolve each other.
       'Damn, they're still like that.' Mercer got up. 'These men are
       the only ones who would know where Blackwatch has set up base
       here. And I can't assimilate them.'
       'Let me try.' Cole took the corpse of Mercer, placing his palm
       on the soldier's head.
       Memories flashed everywhere. A boy being bullied into insulting
       his parents, a woman crying as he walked away with soldiers.
       Being briefed on what to do…
       At this point Cole concentrated harder.
       'You are to eliminate And bring the body of the demon of enpire
       city,this is his appearance.' An image of himself appeared, the
       one that had been shown by the Voice of Survival in fact. 'He is
       dangerous and should be approached with caution. Also Zeus has
       been sighted in the area, eliminate if possible. But The conduit
       is the primary target. He must be eliminated before his powers
       develop further. And he must not interfere with this city
       becoming the new test field.'
       'What do you mean by test field?' The person Cole was seeing
       through asked.
       'Pariah is meant to bring about the next stage of evolution in
       humanity, since he has been tainted by uncontrolled
       circumstances too early in development, he wants an army! we
       will do this by recreating the circumstances in Hope, only this
       time we will be better prepared. The strain of the virus is
       being brought by a vessel that will dock here at about 2400
       hours. Rejoice men, for you shall bring about the future.'
       Someone outside his vision said that, but the person in front of
       him, a general by the look of his uniform, continued.
       Before you go please note that Pariah is beyond top secret, and
       revealing it to anyone will get you shot.'
       Cole tore his hand off.
       'They're bringing some sort of virus to the city.' He gasped
       out, followed by groaning at the pain in his head.
       Mercer almost paled at the news. 'Damn it.' He murmured. 'Did
       they say how and when?'
       'Midnight, at one of the docks. What kind of virus is it?'
       'Probably the same one that made me who I am today.'
       Cole shuddered.
       'But anyway, we need to know which dock it is and wait.'
       Cole frowned. The image of which dock it would be had vaguely
       been there. Which was it…
       'The one… which had a Reaper's base next to. I'll show you the
       way...'
       '317, are you there?'
       Static, nothing but static.
       Wade sighed. That could only mean they failed.
       It was irritating. He had thought the upgrades would have made
       even one of them superior to Zeus in terms of strength and
       armour, so four of them should have been overkill. Clearly the
       experience factor had been too much for brute strength to
       overcome.
       Yes… it was no fault of his, he had followed Mercer's design
       well, and he had improved on it. Alex would be proud. But he
       still had to kill that twisted mockery, that imperfect specimen.
       He took a deep breath before getting his second communicator.
       'Commander, the super soldier team has failed. Zeus shouldn't be
       able to assimilate them…'
       A pause as Wade's mind ran through the possibility of Mercer
       being able to find a way around the failsafe he set in place. If
       there was a chance he knew, the soldiers should be alerted and
       stationed immediately. But if he didn't know and the soldiers
       were stationed, it would be a giveaway.
       Oh, damn it. The whole thing was falling apart so easily! Mercer
       had made one mistake and it was tearing Blackwatch to shreds,
       along with the dreams of a greater humanity.
       'Station the troops around the harbour.' He said in a deadpan
       voice, to hide the frustration and fear from his voice. Those
       emotions could get you killed if you weren't careful. 'Hopefully
       they'll slow Zeus down, although I doubt they will kill him. At
       the very least it will allow us to release the… extra defence
       protocol which should finish Mercer for good, and give us the
       chance to introduce the virus to the city. One way or another,
       we shall finish what we started.'
       He put the phone down. He considered telling them about the
       possibility that Mgrath was also alive, but that could get him
       in more trouble. No, better they learned it the hard way and not
       shoot him on the spot.
       That was a problem with Blackwatch, you had to watch your own
       back, sometimes using the corpses of others as a shield.
       But it would all be worth it in the end.
       #Post#: 174--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Not so normal
   DIR By: Overlord529
       Date: November 18, 2014, 7:08 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Cole could only gasp, followed by quickly hiding back around the
       corner, of the terrifying sight.
       The dock, and the tower in the Reaper's old area, was crawling
       with soldiers. They all wore odd black masks and were covered in
       body armour.
       Their ship was there though; At least he thought it was. The
       ship was fairly nondescript, but it was large and the soldiers
       seemed to eye it.
       But worse then that, at least to Cole, were the corpses.
       They littered the area. Cole recognized only a few of them
       vaguely. But even a glimpse showed just how much their bodies
       had been torn by bullets; some had only fragments of themselves
       left.
       Mercer didn't even check, the look on Cole's face, coupled with
       the scent of blood, told him everything.
       'I'll take care of these guys.' Mercer said impassively. 'You
       just look out for the boat, and support me should it come to
       that.'
       Not very likely, but possible Mercer supposed.
       With that, Mercer dashed around the corner, and jumped upon the
       first unsuspecting soldier, quickly tearing him in half.
       A hailstorm of bullets followed, a shield came up to block them
       and Mercer crashed into another soldier, smearing blood across
       the pavement.
       The shield shattered and Mercer was forced back from a missile
       fired by someone in the throngs of soldiers. Undeterred, Mercer
       was now covered in armour, and yet his arm still extended and
       swept into a chunk of soldiers, bisecting them.
       There were a couple of snipers in the tower, as well as one guy
       with as rocket launcher. But they were silently eliminate with a
       few blasts of lightning from Cole that drilled into their heads
       and sizzled their brain.
       'Well, at least he cleans up most of his mess after.' Cole
       thought dryly. Mercer's body seemed to absorb the remains of who
       he killed.
       Honestly, it was horrifying for Cole to watch, and yet he had
       seen what those soldiers had done, he knew what they were
       planning to do. He had killed before.
       But not quite so ruthlessly, Cole noted as Mercer tore a soldier
       in half before picking up his rocket launcher and decimating
       still more soldiers.
       Hurling the rocket launcher away, he leapt up and struck another
       soldier with a kick, riding him to another soldier like a
       skateboard before jumping off and shattering another soldier's
       skull with his own head. Grabbing that soldier's rifle, he
       opened fire, ignoring the bullets that embedded into his flesh.
       The bullets tore through the soldiers, despite the armour. Funny
       how the weapons were always one step ahead from the armour.
       And then, Mercer stopped. The place was empty. They were all
       dead.
       He shifted back to his default hooded form. 'We'll hide out in
       the building for the moment, I'll clean up the mess, and you
       just get inside.'
       'the mess?' Cole looked around. Looks like Mercer didn't consume
       all of them, he left the heads of everyone.
       What; was he a picky eater?
       Unbeknownst to Cole and Mercer, a secret compartment in the hull
       of the boat opened up, a submarine exited silently.
       The driver quickly took out his radio. 'Ok, the virus is secure
       and they are about to enter the boat, it's on autopilot to lead
       them out to the sea, along with the defence protocol. They
       should realize too late that the boat doesn't have what they
       want, and the creature's sedation will have worn off and it
       should be able to kill them both.'
       Wade sighed with relief from those words as he walked the
       crowded streets, mobile phone in hand. It had all worked out.
       Soon that abomination would be eradicated and the flawed
       specimen killed. 'Did you set up the camera and television?'
       It had been an optional thing, Wade had wanted to watch, and
       gloat at the abomination's defeat.
       'I managed that, sir. Come to the submarine after we load the
       Virus at the other dock if you wish to speak with them.'
       'Brilliant.' Wade smiled for real this time. 'Then let's get
       this experiment underway.'
       Something strange was going on.
       The ship had started moving almost the instant they had boarded
       it.
       Mercer currently had his infected vision activated. There was a
       definite source, which was the reason he had shrugged off Cole's
       idea of leaving the ship as it moved out to sea from the
       possibility of a trap.
       Interestingly, the ship seemed to almost be designed to be a
       maze. Mercer was tempted to simply smash his way through, but
       the possibility he would make a hole in the hull was not
       comforting, so they found their way through.
       Finally, they exited the maze and entered a large, open area.
       The only thing in it was a massive box. Far larger then both
       Cole and Mercer combined.
       It was also the source of the virus Mercer was detecting.
       He was about to open it, but the door opened itself. And an
       inhuman roar came out of it.
       The creature that emerged from the crate was all-too familiar to
       Mercer.
       The Supreme Hunter snarled as it tasted the air, its
       slime-coated skin looked simply unnatural, and even seemed to
       ripple. The twisted humanoid shape seemed more… solid then
       Mercer's previous encounter. The claws seemed more sharp and
       nasty-looking as well.
       There was a sudden burst of light. The far end's "wall" was
       revealed to be a giant television screen and the face of Wade
       beaming at Mercer within a silver-coloured area.
       'Glad to see you there, Abomination.' He laughed. 'You do make
       it far too easy, you know that?'
       'Wade…' Mercer's voice was completely neutral, concealing all
       emotion.
       The Supreme Hunter charged forward, towards Mercer. Mercer
       charged back, quickly shifting into armour and blade form as he
       moved and clashing with the Hunter, followed by a few quick
       blocks as the Hunter lashed out with his clawed hand.
       A burst of lightning from Cole stunned the creature, allowing
       Mercer to impale it.
       It didn't exactly have the desired effect, there was a strange
       hissing noise as both of their bodies around the wound seemed to
       become tendrils and interact, destroying each other.
       The Hunter tore the blade out and hurled Mercer into a wall.
       'Aahh yes, I forgot about you Pariah.' He frowned. 'I thought
       you would have been killed, what a pity. 'Well, delta stroke six
       echo echo.'
       Cole frowned. 'What the hell is…'
       Suddenly, he collapsed, writhing in pain.
       'What the hell did you do to him!' Mercer growled, getting
       himself out of the indent in the wall.
       'Strange how he has one of the same weaknesses as you. That was
       the code to bring back his memories if it was ever required.'
       Smirking at the writhing form of Cole, he added. 'And oh boy,
       does he have a lot to remember. Well, now that he is out of the
       picture. Sic em, boy!'
       Roaring, the Hunter lunged forward again, claws outstretched.
       Shifting to hammerfist, Mercer swung his arm and struck the
       Supreme Hunter.
       The strike basically cancelled off the Hunter's momentum, the
       impact however seemed to have little effect, as the Hunter then
       proceeded to swipe away the hammerfist and claw through Mercer's
       chest, puncturing the armour.
       Once again there was the hissing noise as their tendrils
       interacted and tore each other apart. The Hunter brough his
       other hand up, ready to crush Mercer's head with one strike.
       Shifting to whipfist, Mercer threw a punch that managed to shift
       the hand's path, narrowly missing Mercer.
       In that moment of distraction, Mercer's other hand shifted to
       blade and lashed out towards the Hunter's neck.
       The Hunter tore his arm out of Mercer's chest, the blade merely
       gave a nick to his neck rather then the decapitation Mercer was
       hoping for.
       But at least the hand was out of his chest, and it was slowly
       regenerating, or at least covered over with armour.
       Still, it wasn't looking good. Mercer felt…
       Weaker perhaps? It was difficult to describe, his energy seemed
       to be drained and his reflexes were slowing, he was barely
       parrying the slashes from the Hunter, who still seemed ready to
       go for days on end.
       And then he was too slow, a clawed hand managed to tear through
       the armour. Only a shallow wound that was already refilling, but
       it was a bad sign.
       'Dammit Cole, wake up!'
       #Post#: 179--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Not so normal
   DIR By: Overlord529
       Date: November 26, 2014, 4:09 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       He was alone, all alone.
       He had left those bad people, one of them gone for good. He
       still remembered the look of disdain on the man's face. An all
       too common look from the people who had been with him. He didn't
       even have the time to be surprised as the gun blew up in his
       face when he had touched it.
       He had no idea where he was, there were lots of large buildings.
       People moved around, most not giving him a second glance.
       But someone did.
       That someone came over to him, dismounting off his bicycle that
       he had only before been expertly weaving around people, kneeling
       so they were face to face.
       'Hey kid, are you ok?'
       The kid looked at the man, unsure of how to react. The worried
       look seemed sincere. But after all that had happened, it was
       difficult to trust him…
       And yet, what else could he do?
       'I'm… not so well.'
       'You know where your family is?'
       'I-I lost my family some time ago.' It was true, at least.
       Suspicion clouded the man's eyes, but it didn't last. Perhaps he
       looked that pathetic.
       'Well, I suppose I can't just leave you here.' He said rather
       gruffly. Taking his hand, they began to walk away. 'I'm Cole,
       and what's your name?'
       'Damnit Cole, wake up!'
       As if responding, the world seemed to accelerate into a blur.
       Now Cole could only make out flashes of images. Being introduced
       to Zeke, laughing as he worked up some static on the carpet to
       shock his adopted father, rather shocked himself as a hooded
       figures barged into his house, guns blazing, Crying over Cole's
       corpse.
       And with that, he was in the present, catapulting himself to the
       side as a chunk of steel flew towards him. The Hunter had
       attempted to strike Mercer with it, but had missed. And to make
       matters worse, that chunk missing was now allowing a torrent of
       water to get in.
       Mercer leapt up, the armour gone to allow for a greater leap,
       and punctured the ceiling with a single claw, attaching himself
       while his other arm turned into a blade and he began slicing
       through like a can opener. The Hunter leapt up at him, claws
       outstretched. His trajectory was altered from an electric hammer
       that made the Hunter's head crash into the ceiling and the claws
       puncture through. However it's stunned body didn't have the
       reflexes to bend the claws as to prevent them exiting the hole
       and it plummeted back into the rapidly filling bottom of the
       boat.
       Cole could withstand a little water, a puddle for instance was
       fine. But the water was rapidly rising and he was starting to
       feel an unpleasant sensation in his legs. Luckily Mercer
       finished making the hole quickly. Getting out, he launched his
       whipfist to grab hold of Cole and get him out. Then he waited
       for the Hunter, armour activated and blade at ready.
       Unfortunately, the Hunter crashed through the hole and rugby
       tackled Mercer, ignoring the fact that the blade had very nearly
       sliced his forearm clean off and left his hand dangling next to
       his shoulder.
       But it still had it's other hand, which now held Mercer with all
       it's might, you could hear crackling noises as fractures began
       appearing on Mercer's armour.
       A burst of electricity did nothing this time, and the Hunter
       merely used Mercer as a melee weapon and struck Cole who skimmed
       dangerously close to the edge of the boat.
       The clawed hand of the Hunter had now healed up. And it charged
       forward.
       Cole gathered all the energy he could muster, and a bolt of
       lighting came from the sky right on the hunter, it game a
       strange gurgling noise, but the electricity also found it's way
       through the cracks of the armour into Mercer, a loud sizzling
       noise could be heard.
       Stopping, Cole charged his right arm into a blade of
       electricity, charging forward and leaping through the air as he
       sliced the stunned hunter's head off, followed by charging his
       other arm as he landed and slicing the creature's arm off,
       freeing Mercer.
       But it wasn't over yet. Another head quickly started forming to
       replace the old one, but even as its arm began to regenerate
       Cole gave it no leeway. Charging his arms with the electric
       blades for slice after slice after slice.
       Mercer grimaced as he looked down and noted the ship was still
       taking in water. They didn't have much time, and most likely had
       no way off the boat.
       Cole, having realized that the creature was probably going to
       keep regenerating even after he had been bled of every watt,
       yelled out 'Any ideas, Mercer?'
       Actually, he did. Damaged though he was, Mercer shifted to
       musclemass and, as the creature was regenerating, hurled it into
       the ocean.
       Cole looked at the massive splash made by the creature as it
       sank like a rock and asked 'Is that actually going to stop it?'
       'Well, it can't swim. Not too sure if it can drown though.'
       Mercer looked around at the ever closer water. 'Do you have any
       ideas how to get off this boat?'
       Dry land was visible, but a mere speck in the distance. The boat
       had stopped moving due to the water intake and possibly the
       engine had been damaged. And somehow Mercer doubted that Wade
       had been kind enough to leave life rafts or anything of the
       sort.
       In other words, they seemed to be screwed.
       '…Well, I guess we could try to build a raft.' Cole suggested
       weakly.
       'Don't think either of us have the… finesse to make one with the
       available material…'
       Cole sat down, contemplating what they had. A boat with nothing
       of use on it, and themselves.
       Damn, after all they had done! He had to think of something.
       Cole froze. 'All we have done?'
       'I hope you've recovered your strength, Mercer.' Cole said
       grimly. 'Because this might strain it a bit…'
       A nightmarish scene.
       Armoured Blackwatch bodies littered the area, fragments of metal
       from broken guns and other sources were scattered everywhere
       like it was shattered from a window. Blood seemed to bathe the
       entire area.
       And Wade looked at the sight not with fear, or even disgust. He
       looked at it with fury.
       How had this happened?
       The virus they were suppose to be guarding was gone, the guards
       were dead and the tanks were gone, apart from one which seemed
       to have been crumpled up into looking like a paper ball.
       It was… inconceivable. Had he not gotten rid of the nuisances?
       But he found something. Among his soldier's corpses there were
       some that were definitely from the attackers. Although very few
       he noted.
       This was strange because that the opposition wore trash bag
       capes, cobbled together junk for armour, and rather outdated
       weaponry.
       That could only mean that there had been more powerful enemies
       among them that were not killed.
       He quickly got his phone out.
       'I want a team here stat.' it was natural for Blackwatch to
       trace any call made to them, so there was no point saying where.
       'I also want a team to confirm that the abomination and Pariah
       are dead, but keep your distance from the boat! Last thing I
       need is you giving them an escape option.
       He paused. 'What do you mean you've already done this!' He
       thundered. 'On whose orders!?'
       A pause, the colour drained from Wade's face. All that fury
       replaced by an equal amount of fear. 'Well, I'm happy he has
       decided to get personally involved with this experiment. So
       then… How are those imperfect specimens doing…'
       'He called them "Imperfect Specimens"?' The Blackwatch soldier
       shook his head in disbelief. There was no way to tell him apart
       from another soldier. The outfit covered everything and whatever
       his voice came out of in the suit made it sound basically the
       same no matter who talked.
       'Well, you have to give those things credit for ingenuity.' The
       other Blackwatch soldier's eyes never left the sight in the
       distance.
       Mercer would shoot out his whipfist and grab hold of the other
       side of the boat. Meanwhile Cole would jump off the boat holding
       on to Mercer and use his electricity abilities to hover while
       Mercer would pull with all his might, slowly dragging the boat
       towards land. Then when Cole began to feel water brushing his
       toes he would shout and Mercer would quickly retract his fist
       back to the boat, taking them with it to repeat the cycle.
       The Blackwatch soldiers should probably try to stop them. But
       there was little they could do, apart from shoot from a distance
       and hope for a lucky shot. Although it would probably take quite
       a few lucky shots to do any real damage to those… things.
       'We should probably return to base…'
       #Post#: 180--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Not so normal
   DIR By: Overlord529
       Date: November 26, 2014, 4:39 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Battered, beaten, exhausted, but alive.
       The ship had nearly reached the shore before it hit the seabed,
       and Cole held onto Mercer and with a leap managed to reach the
       beach. The hit the ground with a thud and collapsed into the
       warm sand.
       They just remained there for about a minute before shakily
       getting up.
       'We better hurry and stop them from unleashing the Virus.'
       Mercer grunted. In his mind two thoughts ran rampant. Gentek had
       to be stopped. And he really should see if he could make all his
       muscles cardiac.
       Cole just nodded.
       They dragged themselves up the beack before realizing they
       really had no idea where to go.
       'Can you sense the virus like you did before?'
       'A faint trace, enough of a trail to get us to it.'
       'Well, we best get moving.'
       His phone rang.
       Seriously? Did he need to be checked on every minute?' Wade was
       getting irritated. Everything had gone wrong, and his phone
       would not stop ringing with one problem after another. He
       shouted 'What is it!' Right into the phone.
       'I do believe you lost something.'
       The voice was unfamiliar, and Wade's blood ran cold. 'Who is
       this?'
       'The man who has your lost property. But I suppose you want my
       name so you can look it up, yes? My name is Alden Tate.'
       Probably a lie, but Wade figured he would get some people to
       look it up anyway.
       'One of your men was kind enough to tell me your number to
       negotiate his release. But don't worry, I took care of him for
       you. But I must say, what I have here is interesting…'
       'What is it you want?' Wade impatiently asked, trying to skip
       the threats.
       'I don't know yet. What you've lost is interesting, but I'm not
       quite sure what I want to do with it yet. I'll keep in touch,
       hopefully we shall meet. Try to stay alive, would you?'
       The phone went dead, almost immediately after a Blackwatch
       soldier approached him.
       'The commander wants you for debriefing.'
       Wade sighed. 'Of course, lead the way.'
       The soldier turned, and Wade acted, drawing his pistol and
       firing. Two shots into the skull, followed by a third into the
       heart, Just to be safe.
       The soldier collapsed. Most likely dead, but you could never be
       sure with Blackwatch individuals.
       'Yeah, I know how the debriefings work.' Wade said coolly. 'I
       think I'll take my chances with leaving.'
       He bolted, not waiting to see if the bullets had, in fact,
       worked.
       'It's… gone.'
       Cole had run out of being terrified for the day, and as such
       didn't care much for the blood and bodies that littered the
       area. What he did care about was Mercer suddenly losing the
       trail.
       'How can it be gone?'
       'I don't know.' Mercer replied flatly. 'I don't recall it
       happening before. Something seems off around here, screwing with
       my senses.
       Come to think of it, Cole felt… heavier then usual. It wasn't
       major, but it was there.
       'There seems to be some sort of…' He hesitated even as he said
       the words, and phrased it more as a question then anything.
       'Magnetic field?'
       It was odd, magnetic fields weren't known to stick around after
       the source was gone, and yet he couldn't determine any source of
       it. Also, it did seem to be weakening, albeit much slower then
       it was suppose to.
       There was something familiar about the feeling. His mind began
       to race. A massive behemoth made of trash…
       'Alden.' Cole murmured.
       Mercer didn't notice, he was too busy searching in vain for a
       trail.
       'Don't bother.' Cole said in a deadpan voice. 'The guy we're
       looking for wouldn't leave a trace. He's good at hiding.'
       'You know what happened then?'
       A powerful guy, somewhat similar to me, killed these guys and
       took the virus I'd be guessing.'
       'Would he be planning to use it himself?'
       'I… don't know.' Cole hesitated. 'I'm not sure he would have the
       knowledge to use it correctly, although that isn't exactly
       comforting.'
       Mercer growled. 'It could take months to find it! And in the
       meantime Blackwatch could be doing whatever the hell they want.'
       'I have a suggestion.' Cole murmured as he checked one of the
       dead Blackwatch soldiers. 'You go find Whoever started this;
       I'll keep an eye on here.'
       There was an awkward pause, and in that it occurred to them that
       not long ago they had been fighting each other.
       'It's where we both belong.' Cole reasoned. He was trying to
       convince himself more then anything.
       Mercer looked at Cole, a hint of a smile on his face. 'You know
       i thought you were the guy who started this? You sure you trust
       me to go out in the open world to find him? Can you have that in
       your conscience?'
       The memory of all those dead Blackwatch came to mind. But so did
       other things, the civilian corpses definitely, but mostly it was
       Kessler that invaded his thoughts.
       'I understand that sometimes it's the way it has to be.' Cole
       said firmly.
       'Quite often, I find.'
       Cole said nothing, he merely stuck his hand out. It took a few
       moments for Mercer to realize what it was for, and a few more to
       actually grab hold. They shook hands.
       'Well, hopefully we won't have to see each other again. The best
       of luck to you.' Cole smiled as he let out a small jolt of
       electricity before letting go.
       Mercer grimaced, but replied with a 'you as well.' Before
       turning around and bolting off at amazing speed. Off to find
       what was left of Blackwatch, especially Pariah
       But there was one more stop he had to make...
       Alex walks to a destroyed dock. A red vortex forms and a dark
       skinned man in a red coat walks out. "So you are the man that
       cole is shitting his pants over? Not impressed." "Who the hell
       are you!" "Whoa whoa there beasty! Wouldint want you to go and
       explode again would we?" "What..do...you...want?" "Your help. I
       want to help you destroy the man your meant to destroy, and have
       a little fun while your at it." "Why would I help you?" "For the
       same reason you havent tried to kill me yet.These people will
       fight change with all there heart not knowing that change is
       what they really need." "Why would I work with you!" "Because
       you need me and I be you. Together nothing will stop the next
       step for humanity."
       #Post#: 187--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Not so normal
   DIR By: Second son
       Date: November 27, 2014, 11:48 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       When the hell did I say you could use infamous? Your lucky this
       story wasint crap.
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