Blaze

by Maddie Valasek

Part 6

 

Jess had always felt that Nexus Technologies was a foreboding place. The efforts of the landscape and lighting designers' had fallen far short of giving the building a warm welcoming feeling even in the brightest of days. The hard square edges and solid granite walls left it feeling more like a modern day fortress.

The situation only served to give the structure an even more oppressive sense of doom. Jess couldn't escape the feeling of impending disaster. She knew she was missing something important. It didn't make any sense for Senator Morgan, Marco Draven, and Diablo to be seen anywhere together.

Even if they were all working together, it would make more sense for Diablo and his group to take whatever it was they wanted and deliver it to a more secluded location. Then either Morgan or Draven could discreetly pick it up. That's what they did at Midwest Chemical and it worked out quite well. Jack couldn't even confirm what if, anything, was taken.

There were lots of pieces to a puzzle lying around, but Jess couldn't fit them together. She didn't know if they were even pieces to the same puzzle. Jack had screwed a tenuous scenario together, but she found more holes in it the longer she thought about it.

"Blizzard, this doesn't make sense," Jess stated.

"I have the same feeling. Something isn't right here, but I can't put my finger on exactly why. The reasons why aren't vitally important at the moment. Right now we have a hostage situation to take care of. Let's get those people safe then work on the whys and how's," Blizzard returned.

"OK, but I don't like it. Any opinions, Fortress?"

"I don't like it any better than you two I. I've got the nagging feeling that we're walking into a trap."

"You're not the only one," Jess agreed.

The two girls and Fortress were forced to make a large circle and come at the building from the sewer system opposite the side the van was stationed on. Their access point was a small utility tunnel that led from the city's grid to the main electrical room inside Nexus. The Twins were too big to squeeze through but Jess and Piper could manage.

Fortress was there to cover their backs and make sure nothing came in after them. He would seal the passageway with one of his crystal walls then head back and prep an area for containment. It was a tight schedule for him. He would be getting back to the van about the time the first hostages were supposed to be released.

"We're here," Piper informed.

There was a short squawk in their earpieces followed by Jack's voice, "Stull just moved to level three. It's time to get this show on the road."

"That's our cue," Piper grinned.

"So who goes first?" Jess asked.

"You first, Red. I've got your back."

"It's not my back I'm worried about. Won't someone be watching this tunnel? I don't want to get blasted before I even get a chance."

"Don't worry, Hellstrom's taken care of that. They are going to "Forget" about this place for a little while. We should be able to slide through before anyone is the wiser. John, here, is gonna make sure nothing comes crawling in behind us. Aren't ya, big guy?"

"You got it. Once you two are in, nothing is getting past this point. Now move it, I gotta get back to the van."

The tunnel the girls were supposed to crawl through was little more than a small gap between two large lines of conduit going into the building's sub-level. It was just big enough to let them slide through on their stomachs with an inch or two clearance on either side. Jess dropped down and started dragging her self forward on her elbows. Once she was a few yards inside, Piper followed.

"How far do we have to crawl?" Jess asked gloomily.

"It's about a hundred yards, now move," Blizzard ordered.

Fortress touched the floor just in front of the opening the girls had crawled through and a crystal began to grow. It would take a minute to grow big enough to cover the whole opening so he'd have to wait but he didn't mind. The view of Piper and the new girl's butts was a beautiful sight in his mind.

'What was her name?' he asked his self. He knew it had something to do with fire. 'Was it Bonfire? No, that's dumb. Scorch? Nah, it definitely started with a B. To Hell with it, Red works for me. I definitely need to get to know her better,' Fortress thought.

He smiled as the crystal finished covering the tunnels entrance and turned to leave. Closing off an escape route didn't make the bad feeling he had any better. He knew that it was going to be bad in there and when he knew something, it happened. "Good Luck, girls," he said after them then started back towards the van. He had cells to build.

It only took Piper and Jess a few minutes to cover the distance and land them inside the main electrical room inside Nexus. Jess had been bracing for an attack but found the room to be empty except for the low hum of the equipment. Instead of easing her tension, the lack of activity made her more nervous. Her heartbeat had steadily climbed the farther along the tunnel she went and was pumping at full speed as she shut down the emergency generators and headed deeper inside.

"OK, Red, you're up. Get those supersenses to work. I don't want to run into anything unexpected," Piper informed.

Jess did a quick thermal scan and taste test. She was assaulted by a myriad of chemical tastes that left her gagging.

"Damn, you OK, Red?" Piper asked.

"Yeah, I wasn't expecting everything to be so strong. Give me minute to sort through everything," Jess answered.

She took a minute or two to try and recalibrate her brain for the massive influx of information. Her brain had to cross check all the thousands of new tastes with the ones Jess already knew. By separating them into categories, she was able to make some sense of the environment around her. Each time the source of an unknown taste was found, her mental picture became clearer.

"OK, what cha got?" Blizzard asked.

"Two humans with guns and two Lycans are prowling around here," Jess replied.

"Any ideas as to where they are?"

"The humans are together heading back along the outside hallway and Lycans are keeping tabs on the inner half."

"And we're right in between the two, just perfect," Blizzard said sarcastically, "Which one do you want to tackle?"

"Does it really matter?"

"Not really, I'll handle the furry ones and you get the humans. Mr. Wizard will be shutting main power down in less than a minute. You'll have to open the door for Zack and Zan then meet me back here when you're finished," she ordered while pulling on her infrared goggles.

"Yes Mommy," Jess smiled then headed toward the humans.

A few seconds later, the lights went out immersing her in an inky black darkness. The lack of light in the hall allowed her to take full advantage of her thermal sense. Concentrating on that, Jess was able to pick up the slightest temperature variance. Even the tiny amount of heat left by the humans' shoes was visible to her.

She silently closed the gap to her targets. Her task was to incapacitate them by any means necessary. There were three viable options for her and one she refused to contemplate. Killing them was out of the question. She knew she wasn't capable of cold-blooded murder.

Her first option was a direct physical attack. Even armed with guns, the humans posed little threat to her. But she didn't have the skills to handle both of them quickly enough to avoid raising alarm. Her second option was using her thermal powers but that was discounted for the same reason.

Mr. Wizard gave her the means for her third and preferred option. He provided her with a stun gun-like device he called an immobilizer. His explanation was a bit technical but it came down to it being a device capable of rendering its victim immobile for up to an hour. The batteries only allowed for eight full power shots and she used one of those making sure it was working. That left seven but she only needed two.

A quick sneak attack from the darkness surprised both men allowing her to hit both of them in one fluid motion before retreating into the darkness. Her preparations for a second round were unneeded as both men were sprawled helplessly on the hallway floor unable to move. She felt a brief moment of regret as she dragged them into a convenient storage closet. It passed as she reminded her self that they had chosen to take her friends hostage.

Jess removed their weapons and radios then, with a little concentrated heat, melted them down into a gooey pool. She closed the thick metal door and used her ability to weld a small section of it to the doorframe. Confident that they were safely out of play, she hit the squawk button on her COM link to confirm disabling the guards then headed to open an entry point for the Twins.

Her destination was a remote fire exit that was hidden from the rest of the buildings view. She easily navigated through the darkness and found it shortly before she was supposed to have it opened. It took her a few seconds to deactivate the alarm and open the door. Zack was first inside followed quickly by Zan.

"About damn time, Miss Priss, afraid you'd break a nail or something?" Zan growled.

"You mean these?" Jess asked digging five long gouges out of the concrete wall, "Not likely." She was getting very tired of Zan's attitude.

Zan just looked at her disbelievingly. "Good, I got your attention. You may not like me but we have a job to do. So drop the attitude and get to it. You can bitch at me all you want when we're through," Jess stated flatly.

Zan gave her the slightest nod and the Twins disappeared down the hall. Jess turned and headed back to meet with Blizzard. The Twins would be heading up to level two and clearing the guards up there. They were under a serious time crunch. It wouldn't take long before the missing guards would be discovered.

Once the Twins cleared the second floor and Blizzard finished with the Lycans, all four would continue to the third level. The basic plan was for the Twins to keep the bad guys busy while Jess and Blizzard got the hostages to safety. That's assuming everything went in their favor. They all knew that things could turn bad quickly.

A squawk through her Com link let Jess know that Blizzard had taken care of the Lycans and was moving toward her position.

'So far, so good,' Jess thought, 'hope it stays that way.'

She still had a bad feeling about the whole thing. Her own inner alarm system had been doing everything short of calling the National Guard. The big bad wolf was coming to blow their doors in and she didn't know which way he was coming from. She thought she knew how a rabbit felt knowing the hunter was out there but just couldn't see it. Piper's arrival helped quell her raising sense of panic.

Blizzard had a long tear across the back of her left shoulder. Jess could taste the faintly coppery tang of blood and knew that the Lycans had put up a difficult fight. Jess immediately went into Med Runner mode and started checking the wound. She was surprised as it stopped bleeding and began to heal right in front of her. Apparently, she wasn't the only one with that trait in her bag of tricks.

"I'll live, let's move," Blizzard whispered as she started after the Twins.

Another Com link squawk confirmed that level two was clear. Jess followed Blizzard up to the next level then north to the end of the building. The entire area was basically a large open room. Desks and tables were arranged into neat columns and rows with a long empty table dominating the nearest wall. It was usually used for meetings and demonstrations.

"Hold it, Blizzard. There's something here," Jess stated. She had picked up on a strange taste and weird temperature fluctuations.

"Not likely, the Twins are very good at sniffing out threats. If they say we're clear, we're clear," Piper responded.

"No, there is something here," Jess insisted.

A strange dark form began rising through the floor. At first it looked to be an amorphous blob but soon it began to take a vaguely human form. Neither woman knew what to make of the new arrival but Jess was getting a distinctly evil vibe from it. Whatever it was, it was most definitely not good.

The impression of it rising through the floor wasn't exactly correct. Somehow it had managed to flatten and spread its body over a large area. Now it was merely pulling itself together giving the creepy sensation of coming up through the floor. Jess watched bits of it flow over and around objects.

"What the fuck is that?" Blizzard asked.

"Don't ask me. I've never heard of anything even remotely resembling that," Jess answered.

"Find some cover, I don't like the looks of this."

Blizzard hadn't taken a full step when a long whip-like tentacle shot out from the humanoid blob entangling her feet. The thing picked her up and viciously tossed her into the hard granite outer wall. There was a muted sick cracking sound as she hit the wall and slid down into a motionless heap.

The thing had followed Piper's flight and given a little dance of glee as she failed to move after her impact. The gesture sickened Jess, but she was too stunned by the display to move. As the thing returned its attention toward her, she remained frozen, motionless like a little girl trying to avoid the boogey man.

The thing seemed confused. It began turning in circles looking like it had somehow lost her. Jess stood as still as she could, watching the thing look for her. It continued scanning slowly around the room. It knew she was still there but not where exactly.

The only thing that she could come up with is that it was blind or it didn't see things the way she did. The question was, what could it see? Her instincts were telling her not to move and that seemed like a really good idea since it hadn't spotted her yet. She desperately wanted to get to Piper and see if she was OK, but she had to get around the blob first.

She had no other option other than to use her thermal abilities. She started to slowly draw in power and the thing's head snapped around looking directly at her. Another tentacle shot out in her direction, but Jess was ready for it. A quick dive behind a desk kept her from a fate similar to Piper's.

The blob wasted no time covering the distance between them. Jess could hear its tentacles tearing at the desk. She slid over to the next desk and continued charging up. The thing had reached the first desk, reducing it to a pile of splinters. It turned as she made an attempt to move again.

Two tentacles shot out grabbing her and lifting her into the air. Without thinking, she released what energy she had been able to gather. It lacked focus and direction but still hit the blob. She knew it was wasted shot but hoped it would stun the thing, giving her a chance to escape.

She did not get the results she wanted. The shot didn't stun it. It began emitting a strange bluish purple glow that traveled wave-like all over its body before being absorbed by a fist-size object in its core. The thing acted like Jess had just given it a piece of chocolate and shivered in delight.

It raised her up so they were looking face to face. It didn't have a face. It was more like a representation of what it thought its head should look like. It looked like someone had made a face out of wax then melted it just enough to give the impression of eyes and a mouth. Jess went into a full panic when It smiled at her in a cat that has a mouse to play with kind of way.

Any type of planning went out the door and she drew in as much energy as she could. It dropped her like she had just bitten it. The mild impact with the floor brought her out of her panic and got her brain running again. It had absorbed the energy she threw at it but didn't like her drawing anything from it.

A panicked howl told Jess that the Twins were in trouble as well. That bad feeling she had, got a lot worse with that sound.

"Jack, we are in serious trouble here. We need help," she called over her COM link but got no response.

"JACK!" she screamed again. Still nothing.

It was regarding her with some suspicion and trepidation. Jess knew that wouldn't last. They were all in serious trouble if she didn't do something fast. It decided on a distanced attack, using its tentacles as whips. Snap. Snap. Snap. They tore through her uniform leaving burning red slashes on her arms.

The pain was intense but bearable. She dodged another attempt then ran in under Its defenses and grabbed two handfuls of blob. She tried pulling as much energy out of it as she could. It went nuts. It began thrashing wildly about and slapping at Jess. Its tentacles slapped at her face leaving more burning red slashes but she wouldn't let go.

It was grabbing tables and desks trying to pull itself free from her grasp. It was fighting a losing battle as its power was quickly abating while Jess' was growing. She could feel the things power dropping and the intensity of the attacks diminishing. Its body began to harden, the gooey consistency turning ever stiffer until it became solid.

Jess held on for a full minute after it stopped fighting and became solid. Her knuckles had turned white and her hands were burning from the effort. She slowly released her grip on the thing ready to grab it if there was even the smallest hint of movement. There was none.

"Son of a bitch that hurt," Blizzard said pulling herself to her feet.

"Blizzard!" Jess yelled then ran over and gave the icy girl a giant hug, "I thought you were dead."

"Not quite, Chicky. Just out for a bit. You look like you've seen better days though," she replied returning the hug.

"Come on the Twins need our help," Jess said grabbing Blizzards hand pulling her along.

"Easy there, Red, I can't see very well."

"What? Damn, you're hurt and I didn't even bother to check you out," Jess swore.

"I'm banged up but I'll live. My goggles got trashed when I hit the wall. It's too dark for me to see in here," Piper replied, "I'm still good to fight I just need you to lead me."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Where are we going anyway?"

"I think the Twins might have another one of those things and they aren't equipped to handle it. How does your ice ability work?"

"I force energy out of things. Why?" Blizz returned.

"I beat that thing by drawing all the energy out of it. I'm guessing it's some sort of energy absorber."

"Then that last Fucker is lucky I didn't get a chance at him," she grinned evilly.

Another spine chilling howl echoed through the halls. Both girls put on a burst of extra speed, following the howl. They ended up in a room very different from the one they had been in. It had once been a busy lab with all sorts of equipment but most of that lay strewn about broken. There were glass and wood splinters everywhere. The jaundiced yellow light coming from the sodium vapor lights outside left the room feeling sick and evil.

As Jess had feared, another of those dark blobs had ambushed the Twins. From the damage about, they had put up one Hell of a fight but they were nowhere to be seen. Both girls focused their thermal abilities on the second blob. It was almost instantly turned solid. Jess felt an incredible rush of incoming energy.

"What the Hell?" they asked simultaneously.

"Later," Piper stated meaning we'll figure it out after we find the Twins.

They began looking for their missing counterparts. There was a large pool of blood dead center in the room. That worried Jess. The blob didn't bleed so that meant that one or both of the Lycans were seriously injured. She turned and did a quick heat scan locating two warm bodies behind a severely battered metal desk.

They made their way over to it, calling Zack and Zan's name. They were a few feet from it when they were met with a deep angry growl.

"Zan, it's us. It's Piper and Jess," Piper stated.

The growling stopped but Zan didn't say anything. The girls stayed where they were waiting for a response. One minute passed then two before they heard a quiet grief filled whimpering. They stepped around the remains of the desk to find Zan holding the lifeless body of her brother. There were tears rolling down her face as she rocked him.

"He's dead," she said flatly.

She hadn't escaped the blob unscathed. There were multiple deep gashes all over her body. One eye was completely swollen shut and she was missing teeth. Her leg was bent at an unnatural angle as well. The steadily bleeding gashes and her labored breathing told Jess she was in even worse shape than she looked.

"Zan, can you get up?" she asked her.

"No," was her barely audible response.

"You've got to get her out of here. She needs serious attention and fast," Jess said to Blizzard.

"Hold it, Red, I'm still in charge here," she replied.

"Look, you're pretty beat up yourself. Other than a few scratches, I'm in top shape and I'm fully charged. My eyes give me the advantage here as well. There is no response from outside, either. I don't know how to use any of the equipment down there and I bet that you do. If it's as bad as I think it might be, we're going to need help. You'll have to make that call. It makes more sense for me to go on and you to get her down."

Piper looked to be in the middle of a hard choice between what she wanted to do and what would be best to do. Jess didn't give her the opportunity to argue. She took two glow sticks from her uniform, cracked them, and handed them to Piper.

"Sorry, but you know I'm right," she said then disappeared into the darkness heading for the third floor.

"You stupid stubborn, Bitch!" she heard Piper call after her. "Come on, Zan, let's get you outta here."

 

*

 

Jess didn't want to be the one to continue on. She knew she was in way over her head and the likely hood that she would survive diminished every second she stayed in the building. She didn't have a choice in the matter. Seeing Piper's battered face in the red light of the glow stick confirmed that she wasn't in any shape to continue on. It was amazing that she was still standing much less wanting to continue on.

She stopped just before getting to the third floor to try and get her self calmed down. "Jack? Mr. Wizard? Anyone?" she called over the COM link but got no response, "If you guys can hear me, Piper's coming out with Zan. They are both in bad shape but Zan needs medical treatment fast. Zack's dead. Two energy absorbing humanoid blobs ambushed us and one killed him. Damn, someone answer me! I don't want to be alone in here!"

With a small scream of frustration, she took the COM link and tossed it down the stairs. Her emotions were catching up to her. The fear she had been able to restrain until then started flooding over her. Seeing Zack dead had affected her more than she would have thought. They hadn't known each other long but she knew he was a good man. She liked him.

Being able to retain his humanity through his change was a credit to both him and Zan. Jess had the devious honor of seeing how most Lycans turned out to be completely bloodthirsty insane evil creatures. Zack wasn't that. Calm, loyal, and intelligent, were more apt descriptions of him.

Zan wasn't going to take losing him well. He was the one solid thing that she could count on. He knew the real her. The one that hid underneath the bitchy hard Lycan exterior she liked to project. Her anger at fate helped fuel that image. Underneath she was a scared woman trying desperately to hold on to some semblance of a normal life. Now, fate's cruel hand had dealt her another blow.

Jess knew that feeling. She had her own problems with fate and felt her own anger grow at its seemingly dispassionate role in their lives. Her tears began falling as that hurt overtook her. Life was so unfair.

"How do you keep going when life continually slaps you down?" she asked her self.

"You keep going for your friends and family. You keep going until your job is done. You keep going because you have to. That's why," she replied wiping the tears from her eyes. Her Dad's words echoed in her head as she pulled herself together and cautiously climbed the last few steps to the third level.

 

*

 

"We need the COM link up now," Jack ordered, "we've got to warn everyone inside."

"I'm working on it, Jack. This stuff is pretty busted up. It'll take a minute," Mr. Wizard growled.

The attack had caught them off guard. Jack was expecting something to happen inside but not for a direct assault against the van. He told his self that he should have reacted quicker when the COM link went down. He should have anticipated Stull's plan and been ready for it.

He knew that the building was a trap. He had even planned for it. With the COM link down, everyone inside was cutoff. With no way to call for backup, they were on their own and Jack didn't like that. It's one thing to send people into a dangerous situation but another to leave them there without any support.

They had to get the COM link back up. Jack couldn't call in his contingency plan or warn the teams inside without it. He wanted to run in and pull them out himself but that would leave Gates without any back up. Lauren was still out cold and Forte' hadn't made it back yet. He couldn't risk another damn Creeper attack.

Stull had sent seven to try to kill them, seven fully-grown adult females. They were no doubt chosen for being the biggest, badest, nastiest, girls around. All seven lay dead around the outside of the wrecked van. Lauren was alive though unconscious. Gates was battered but still able to fight if needed. The van was trashed along with the COM link, severely limiting communications.

It all started with Mr. Wizard picking up a strange signal then the COM link going down. Jack had thought it was a technical problem since the system was designed to withstand anything short of a nuclear EMP. He was concerned but not worried. If it started going bad and he needed to pull the inside teams out, he could just have Lauren drop them a mental line. He did want to know if there was an outside source of their problems.

Jack asked her for a scan to see if anybody was close by. A quick scan located the source of the COM link's disruption. There was an Altered less than a hundred yards away deep in concentration. He was emitting strange brainwaves that Lauren immediately picked up on. She piggybacked them to both the source and destination. There was little doubt as to what he was up to.

Somehow he was intercepting the COM links signal and filtering it through his mind before grounding it out. He could listen in and theoretically call out on their communication lines. That was definitely not something they wanted. Jack made the call to disable him.

Hellstrom used her ability to try and persuade him to release the signal and remove himself from the area. He started to agree and dropped the signal somehow causing an energy spike that ran back through the connection she had made with him. The split second spike caused enough damage to knock both of them into unconsciousness.

Jack had no way of knowing how bad Lauren's condition was. He was trying to check her out when the perimeter alarms sounded and the screens filled with dark shiny shapes. He knew what they were even before Gates could call out Creepers.

The van took three heavy hits in the rear doors creating a large gap where they meet. A fourth Creeper leapt out of the darkness onto the vans roof and began attacking the antenna array.

"Gates, protect Lauren, I'm going out," he ordered.

"You're doing what!? Jack, there are four big creepers out there," Gates asked incredulously.

"I'm only worried about the one on the roof. If it takes out the antennae array, we're screwed," Beowulf replied kicking open one of the doors.

The loose door caught one of the three Creepers squarely, sending it flying into the other two. The few seconds it took for them to get back to their feet allowed Beowulf to clear the door and get to the van's roof. The fourth Creeper looked up at the newcomer and snarled. To it, he was nothing more than an intruder. It didn't know that it was the one in trouble.

When Beowulf refused to move, the roof Creeper got angry and launched itself at him. One on one, the Creeper was no match for Jack. He caught it in mid jump, easily able to hold it with nothing more than his hands. The Creeper wasn't used to being handled like that and violently thrashed its head and tail. Its sharp claws dug deep into his arms but Jack held fast.

He knew that the Creeper was little more than an animal. It had no emotions or desires to do him harm. The sky-high anger and attack first, ask questions later mentality was caused by Stull's mind control. If he would have had any other options, Jack would have eagerly taken them, but he had no choice but to kill the creature.

There was no pleasure in that, only remorse that it had to be done. The only thing that he could do was make it as quick and painless as possible. In one quick sad motion, he slid behind the creature putting both powerful hands on the sides of its head then gave them a hard twist. The sound of snapping bones was loud and terrible. An instant before it felt any pain, the Creeper was dead.

Jack let the body fall and jumped down to meet the other three. The odds were turning in their favor. Three Creepers was enough to make even Beowulf nervous. If they were able to coordinate any type of attack he knew he was in trouble. He decided that an aggressive attack was his best course of action and launched his self at the nearest one.

Creepers are not used to aggression from anything other than other Creepers. They seemed confused by Jack's tactics; giving him just enough time to eliminate the second one before they realized what was going on. Back to two to one odds, Jack felt better about his chances. That feeling was short lived as two fingernails on chalkboard calls erupted from the darkness.

The fifth Creeper replaced the one Jack had just killed and the sixth focused on the van. Jack saw its intentions and tried to cut it off but the other three surrounded him.

"Gates, one's heading your way," he called out then returned his full attention to the three Creepers surrounding him.

They began circling him looking for an opening. He did his best not to let one get behind him but knew that wouldn't last for long. Then the attack came. Two of them leapt directly at him. He grabbed both of them but took two hard tail whips in the stomach dropping him to his knees. The third took the opportunity and jumped on his back, knocking him flat on his face.

Gates was dealing with the sixth Creeper. The hard reports of his modified Desert Eagles shook the night air. It was an ugly fight with all the sounds of breaking glass and tearing metal. The Creepers wounded call indicated that he had injured it but it was still fighting. More rounds sent the severely wounded creature flying from the van.

Even close to death, the Creeper still had fight left in her. She struggled to regain her feet as Gates emerged from the van. He emptied the last remaining bullets into her releasing the guns' magazines as the echoes reverberated off the surrounding buildings.

A seventh creature appeared as the last remnants of life drained from its sister. It attacked Gates before he had a chance to reload. Fortunately, he had enough presence of mind to get some body armor on when he realized he'd be dealing with them. Even a girl as big as number seven would have a hard time punching a hole in it. Their fight was about as even as one could hope for.

The first reports of Gates' guns had distracted the three outside Creepers enough to allow Jack to get back to his feet. His position hadn't improved much but he capitalized on their momentary loss of concentration and moved in close to the largest of the three. The only soft area of a Creeper is on its side just under the shoulder. Jack took advantage of that knowledge, delivering a strong blow that shattered ribs, collapsed a lung, and stopped its heart. The stunned creature looked down at him wondering just how something so small could hurt it so badly then fell without a sound.

The two remaining Creepers renewed their attacks on him. The first tried another leaping attack and was met with the same result. It was caught in mid leap then tossed back at the second. That one seemed to be a little smarter as it ducked under the first and hit Jack with a solid tail whip. It learned that it needed to stay away from him and attack from a safer distance.

Jack wasn't about to stand there and let her whip him to death. The next time she tried, he caught her tail and used it to toss her into the Creeper that had pinned Gates down.

"About damned time, Jack. You have any idea how bad that thing's breath was?" Gates growled, "keep those things off of me for a second would ya?"

"Make it quick, these girls are learning a lot faster than I'd like them to."

"I noticed," Gates replied picking up his guns.

The first Creeper made another run at Jack this time staying on the ground. It adopted a hit and run style of attack, slashing at him as it ran by then following that with a tail whip. Jack dodged the slash but was off balance and unable to avoid the tail whip. It caught his neck just above where it meets his shoulder.

The blow would have decapitated a normal human. Luckily, Jack wasn't a normal human. It hurt like Hell, but all he would end up with was a particularly nasty bruise and sore neck. The red haze of rage was beginning to fringe the edges of his vision.

He tried fighting it off, knowing that if he lost it and went into a full on rage, he'd probably win the fight but the others may not. They needed him to stay in control and lead them. He forced his concentration back to the attacking Creeper. It had made a turn and was coming back for another round.

Jack had about all he was going to take. The more time he spent dealing with the Creepers, the less he had to fix the COM link and get the inside team out. He rushed the incoming Creeper hitting it like a linebacker with a clear shot on a quarterback. The impact carried both of them into and through one of the loading dock cement walls. The two Altereds fell to the ground with Jack landing on top. He grabbed the creature's head and twisted, nearly ripping it off.

Gates reclaimed his guns, reloaded and was back in action just as Jack and his Creeper were doing their wrecking ball impression. He immediately turned his attention to the two remaining animals.

'It's about time to try these babies out,' he thought switching his DE's to full auto mode.

Everyone thought he was nuts when he told them he was modifying them for full auto. Then again, maybe he was nuts. Who in their right mind would decide they would need two fully automatic Trititainium Desert Eagles with double capacity magazines, laser sights, and enough other tweaks to classify them as a completely new weapons. About the only thing that was left of the originals was the trigger and handle.

"I'll just call 'em Wizards, then," he said to the night air.

The last two had scrambled to their feet and were heading straight at him. Honestly, it wasn't a fair fight anymore. The Creepers were dead they just didn't know it yet. Gates had one Wizard on each of them and was just waiting for the right moment.

He waited until they were less than ten feet from him then squeezed off two short bursts from each gun. Unlike Jack, he felt no remorse at killing them. As far as he was concerned they were the enemy and it was either he or they. As long as the choice was his, he'd pick them every time.

His extensive modifications kept the recoil to none and all twenty rounds hit their marks. Not even the biggest, baddest, and nastiest Creeper ever created could withstand that kind of firepower hitting it all at once. Both were dead before they hit the ground.

Jack waited for the next wave of Creepers to come, but they didn't. After five minutes he went back inside the van to check on the damage. Gates had been in already and reported that Lauren had made it through without any more damage but the van hadn't been so fortunate. Most of the electronic equipment was trashed but he thought he could get it up and running in a few minutes.

That had been five minutes ago and Jack's patience was being severely tested. They had been without communication with the team inside for nearly twenty minutes and there had been no sign of them on the third floor yet. If they had been able to keep to the plan, the first hostages should have been clearing the building two minutes before. So far, no hostages and no word from them. He was worried. Fortress being late didn't make him feel better.

 

*

 

'Vampira, they just had to be Vampira,' Fortress thought to himself. Until someone figured out how to break his crystals, they were the most dangerous Altereds for him. They weren't quite as strong as Lycans, but they were a lot smarter. They retained all of their human intelligence as well as picking up a little from their change. Depending on the individual, it could make for a very difficult adversary.

Fortress' main problem with Vampira was that they could find the weak points in his armor too quickly. The crystal armor that he would form around his self was as impenetrable as anything on Earth. Unfortunately, those crystals don't bend. That was a lesson he learned the first time he tried the suit of crystal armor thing.

His first attempt was to cover his entire body with crystals. It worked, sort of. He did manage to cover himself from head to toe but he didn't leave any gaps. That basically made him a giant crystalline statue. Sure he was perfectly safe from harm, but he couldn't move, either.

The next suit he made had small gaps at the joints that allowed him to move. Over the last few years, he had made many improvements on the design but he still had the gaps to deal with. Even though they were small, they were still his greatest weakness. That wasn't much of a problem when he was fighting Lycans and other not so smart Altereds. Vampira were different. They would relentlessly attack those points.

The four that had tried to ambush him were smart. They had concentrated their attacks on his right knee and hip joints, eventually able to do enough damage that he had to fuse his right leg into one rigid piece to fully protect it. That seriously reduced his mobility and forced him to change tactics. The Vampira switched their focus and started on his left leg.

Fortress tried calling over the COM link but was met with dead air. That worried him but he was prepared to fight on his own. His time with Jack had been fruitful. They had taken his natural abilities and honed them to a fine point, figuratively and literally. They had spent months working on tactics and difficult situations like the one he was in. They had also fine-tuned his control of the crystals he used.

One of the more useful aspects of that control were his edged weapons. The latest wrinkle in his repertoire, elongating one facet of crystal that covers his arms to form a very sharp sword-like appendage, came in very handy. He had yet to show that in any confrontation and only he and Jack knew about it. He feigned a worse injury than he actually had when he fused his leg to lure them as close as possible.

All but one kindly obliged, moving within striking distance. John had hoped to get them all with one surprise move but would have to settle for three of them. He purposefully gave them a small opening and they jumped on it giving him the perfect opportunity. The first two fell headless before the third even realized there was trouble. It's head followed shortly after. Decapitation is as fatal to Vampira as humans.

The fourth Vampira decided he wasn't interested in a fight anymore and turned to run. John couldn't risk letting him get reinforcements but he wasn't about to kill in cold blood either. He formed four small crystalline daggers about six inches long and used them as a kind of throwing knife. Three of the four found their mark catching the Vamp below both knees and on one ankle. The fourth crystal was a few inches too far to the right and missed completely.

Three worked well enough to cause the Vamp to fall. It tried to stand but was having trouble. John dropped his armor except for his gloves and caught the Vamp before he could get up. Two sharp blows with his crystal gloves dazed it enough that he could grow a holding cell for it. The cell would safely keep it out of trouble.

The sound of gunfire got his attention. He knew the unique sound of Mr. Wizard's guns. With all the modifications he had made, they sounded like no other weapon on the planet. Something big was going down if Gates was using his guns. John started back to the Van as fast as his wounded leg would allow.

 

*

Jess was getting uncomfortable. Her brain was buzzing on some sort of energy high. Whatever had happened when she and Piper had attacked the second blob had supercharged her. She was holding the biggest charge she had ever had. If she hadn't learned how to insulate her self, her clothes would be totally cooked. It was more than she could comfortably handle and was dangerously close to overload. Her skin itched and she felt like bugs were crawling all over her.

Occasionally she'd feel a wave pass up and down her spine that would leave her nauseous and unsteady. Even with the discomfort, she was very reluctant to let any of it drain away. There was no way for her to know what was waiting for her and she wanted to be as ready as possible. She would have to find it soon or drop the charge. The longer she held it, the worse her symptoms got.

Her mind was spinning so fast that she was having a hard time concentrating. Thoughts would run in and out of her head before she was able to fully make sense of them. She felt like she was sitting in a large noisy restaurant and catching little snippets of conversations going on around her but never getting the whole message.

She tried making a mental count of what she knew was left in the building. Piper had taken care of the two Lycans, the Twins had dealt with the Vampira, and she had removed two of the twelve humans. The two blobs were harder to classify. Lauren had said there were two low level 3c's in there as well, but the blobs definitely didn't seem low level to her. If she counted them as the two unknown Altereds, that left Diablo and ten armed men left on the top floor.

Eleven to one wasn't good odds no matter who you were. She was especially worried about Diablo's mind control. Lauren was supposed to be there to counteract anything he might try but Jess didn't even know if Lauren was still alive much less if she would be helping her. Lots of bad news and nothing good.

She didn't have much of a plan, either. She was hoping to find the hostages and get them out before anyone noticed. How she was going to do that, she didn't know. The remaining men were probably guarding the hostages. Having the bad guys so close to them complicated matters. She couldn't just run in and blast the hostage takers without having to worry about hitting an innocent victim.

'Man, this superhero stuff is harder than it looks,' she thought, 'I'm going to get myself killed. Dammit Jack, where the Hell are you?"

 

*

 

"Come on, Zan, it's just a little farther. Jack should be waiting for us outside," Piper encouraged.

They didn't run into any trouble on the way down to the first level. Piper took that as a slight blessing and pushed on trying to keep Zan from giving up. She was so close to letting go that Piper could almost feel it. She needed to get her outside so she could see the night sky and moon. A full moon could drive a Lycan crazy but a partial moon had a strange calming affect and that was exactly what Zan needed.

Piper's injuries were healing quickly and she was feeling much better. Everything would be back to one hundred percent by the time they got outside. There was still no word from Jack and she had heard gunshots a few minutes earlier, which worried her. If the outside was as bad as what was going on inside, they were in trouble and Jess was as good as dead.

That move was probably the most foolish and bravest thing Piper had ever seen. Foolish that she ran in to a situation complete unprepared and brave because she knew that. She just couldn't leave her friends in there; someone had to go help them. Neither Zan nor Piper were in any shape to continue so that only left her. As scared as she had to be, she made the hard choice.

Piper didn't like the fact that Jess didn't give her a choice in the matter. Other than all three of them coming down and regrouping, it made the most sense for Jess to go on and she knew it. Now that she had time to recover, Piper was itching to get back into the fight, but she had to get Zan taken care of first. They had finally made it to the outside door. Still not knowing what to expect, she took a deep breath and kicked the door open.

 

*

"Boss, the link's receiving now. Getting a message from Jess," Gates informed him," I'll put it through to you."

There was a short buzzing sound followed by Jess' voice " If you guys can hear me, Piper's coming out with Zan. They are both in bad shape but Zan needs medical treatment fast. Zack's dead. Two energy absorbing humanoid blobs ambushed us and one killed him. Damn, someone answer me! I don't want to be alone in here!"

"Jess, I'm here. Do you read me?" Jack called but got no response.

"Sorry, Jack, you can't call out yet. I'm still working on it," Gates apologized.

Jack was pacing back and forth like a caged wolf when he saw the doors open and Piper step out. Her face mirrored his relief and she disappeared back inside. The momentary sense of relief changed to cold fear as she helped an obviously seriously injured Lycan out. Zan was in very bad shape.

"You should be able to call out in a minute, Jack. I've just about got it," Gates called out from the van.

"Good, get a Med team rolling first, then give the A-team a green light," he replied running over to Piper and Zan. "Damn Blizz, what the Hell happened in there? Where's Jess?"

"We got hit by two gooey looking blobs. One just about put me out permanently. Jess drained that bastard while I was out. The Twins had their hands full with the other one. I don't know what happened to Zack. He was gone by the time we got there and took care of the second blob. Jess had me take Zan down while she headed on. She didn't give me a choice in the matter, either," Piper reported.

"What do you mean by drained it?"

"Basically, I guess Jess pulled all the energy out of the first one herself. We both got the second and that was weird. I felt like something was pulling on me and the damn thing just about froze instantly. The only thing I can figure is that we did a push me/ pull me thing on it. I forced its energy out while Jess pulled it in. I think we supercharged each other."

"Describe the blobs."

"Big, dark and mean. They're probably a little taller than Fortress and vaguely humanoid in shape. The one caught me with some kind of tentacle and tossed me like a rag doll."

"Alright, I'm going in. Blizz, you cover Mr. Wizard," Jack said and stepped toward the building.

"Hold it, Jack. You're still needed out here. I see you've had a Creeper problem and I can't handle many of those myself. Let me go after her. I was the one that said I'd watch out for her."

Jack wanted to tell her no, but he knew she was right. "Fuck! OK, but you go in and get her out of there, no hero stuff. If you find anymore of those blobs fall back. I'll have reinforcements soon and we can go and get her then," he said taking Zan from her.

"Yes, sir," Piper called over her shoulder as she ran back into the building.

Jack really didn't want to let her go back inside but he had a feeling the only way to get Jess out of there was to drag her kicking and screaming. He hoped that maybe she would listen to Piper. He didn't think the odds were great that she would, but he knew that Blizz could be very persuasive.

"Jack, I just heard Jess. I don't know if you're copying this, but I got jumped by four Vamps. Three are dead and one is safely under lock and key. I got a little nicked but I'm moving your way. Should be there in less than two minutes," Forte's voice crackled over the COM link.

Hearing his voice helped lighten some of the load on Jack's shoulders. He was afraid that Zack wasn't going to be the only casualty of this mess. Fortress was a tank but even tanks can get cracked. With everyone accounted for, Jack could start regrouping.

First thing was to get Zan stable. He carried her to a grassy area near the van where she had a clear view of the moon. Her breathing turned from ragged gasps to a more regular, but still labored, pace.

"The moon, Jack," Zan whispered.

"I know, Zan, hang on for a little while longer," he encouraged.

He didn't like how quiet she was being. She was a mess but her pulse was relatively strong and steady. He gave her a dose of stabilization nanotechs. Those microscopic robots should be able to stabilize her condition long enough to get her the help she'd need. What the Hell could kill a Lycan and tear another up so badly?

He didn't like hearing about the Vamps, either. That put the worst Altereds in the area performing coordinated attacks. The Blobs that Jess described sounded like Ameboids but they usually don't get big enough to cause adult humans problems much less, Altereds. A few dozen could potentially drain a full-grown man but he'd have to be unconscious, restrained, or immobile. A normal human can pull one off with a little effort.

The only thing that he could come up with was that Draven had found a way to super size them. A man sized or larger Ameboid wasn't something that Jack wanted to think about. A regular one was little more than a parasite. It lived by draining the energy out of its host.

They were a pain in the ass to kill to. Physical attacks were useless. Their bodies would just deform and absorb all the energy from a punch or bullet. Cutting them wasn't any more successful. If you managed to cut a piece off of them, it would just try and crawl back and reform with the main body.

Fire was useful if you could get it big and hot enough. You'd probably have to burn the whole building down to do fatal damage to one as big as Piper described. The best method was freezing them. The quickest method that Jack knew of was to simply drop them into a vat of liquid nitrogen. Freezing them with ice would work, too, only slower.

Piper and Jess would be the perfect team to go after them. Sending them in was a lucky call on his part. He'd normally send two teams of bricks in a pincer move to clear the building. He'd only use elementals if he knew that something inside was particularly weak against them. He decided to put Piper in just to do something different. He was afraid he was getting too predictable in the way he handled things. It looked like he was right. They'd be in serious trouble if he had just sent two teams of bricks in.

"Jack, the COM link is fully functional. A med unit is on its way and the A-team is coming in. They should be here in a few minutes," Gates told him.

"Good work, Wiz Kid," Jack said then made a call out, "Jess, are you still out there?"

There was no response. He repeated the call half a dozen times but got nothing. "Dammit, Jess, answer me!"

 

*

 

Once Jess figured out how to refocus her concentration, she picked up the trail and found the hostages pretty quickly. Half a dozen guards with night vision goggles stood watch over them. That still left at least four gunmen unaccounted for. There were taste trails leading off to the opposite side of the building. Jess figured that Diablo was keeping a few armed guards for his self. That left just the six for her to deal with.

Disarming them was the easy part. She could heat up their guns until they were too hot to handle with a little concentration and some of that energy she had stored. It would be easier for her to be touching the guns, but she could do it from a distance as well. Now she needed some way of keeping them quiet long enough to get the hostages out.

She still had five shots left in her Immobilizer. If she was careful, she would only be left with one guard to deal with. She felt she could handle the one without too much fuss. Her hyper speed mind actually became a valuable tool in filling out the details of her plan. She was able to run through multiple scenarios and find gaps in her plan in seconds. Less than a minute later, she felt she was ready. If it all went as she hoped it would, her attack would be over before they even realized it started.

There was one last piece that needed to be figured out. She needed a distraction. Her mind swirled with a few ideas but none seemed workable. The sprinkler system sounded good but it would be better to keep things contained. The last thing she wanted was the sprinklers in the whole building to go off, not exactly stealthy.

That was the best of a lot of bad ideas. Jess was getting frustrated trying to find a solution. She happened to catch sight of a child's photograph. There was nothing particularly special about it, just a picture some lab technician's child, but it triggered a memory.

When working at Nexus, Jonathan had been assigned to give short scientific demos for some of the tour groups that would come through. He didn't think much at it when he was given the assignment. The whole thing had already been planned and set up. All he had to do was do the demos and explain about the principles behind them.

He did fine with that until his first group of children. For some reason, a little girl in the group reminded him of Alexandra. It had been years since he had lost her but the hole inside him remained. It took all he had to continue the demo. His attention kept returning to the little girl as she watched. He tried to will himself to turn away, thinking that someone may get the wrong idea if they noticed him staring at her.

With a great deal of effort, he maintained control until the last demo. It was simply igniting a small strip of lithium to cause a bright flame, nothing too dangerous but enough to leave an impression. The little girl's face lit up and she had a huge smile across her face as the demo finished up. Jonathan felt like he was being crushed under a tremendous weight.

As fast as his feet would carry him, Jonathan ran out of the demo lab, down to the first level and outside. He hadn't said a word to anyone. He just had to get away. His anxiety didn't decrease. More out of desperation than thought, he jumped on his VFR and raced away.

The speedometer's needle continued rising well after he had exceeded the speed limit. He was riding fast, too fast and he knew it, but he couldn't stop. The faster he went the less pressure he felt. Some small part of his brain was telling him he could get killed if he didn't slow down, but he didn't. Maybe he was hoping that he'd crash and then his miserable life would be over. Maybe he just lost it for a little while.

It would be hours before he regained control and returned to Nexus. He knew he had messed up and expected to be fired. He headed to his manager's office to apologize for his behavior and take care of any paperwork that might need to be done. His manager didn't want to lose him as an employee. They worked out a deal that he wouldn't do the demos or deal with the public as long as he got some counseling.

Jess never did go to the counseling sessions but the memories of that day gave her an idea. A little bit of fireworks would do nicely as a diversion. All she had to do was round up a few items and get into position. Fortunately for her, Nexus hadn't changed where things were stored so she found everything relatively easily.

Once she had everything she needed, she took a few deep breaths to help her calm down and began concentrating on the men's weapons. Jess knew that once she started, there was no going back.

When she heard the first one hit the floor she stepped into the room and said "Hi ya boys." They all turned their attention toward her, which was exactly what she had hoped for. She tossed her miniature version of the sun into the center of the room and ignited it. The lithium foil ball flared up brightly. It would be painful to the naked eye and downright damaging in the amplified light of the night vision goggles.

There were a few loud groans as the men tore the goggles off their eyes. Jess was moving toward her first target as soon as she let go of the ball. She wasn't sure if it was her perception of the events but everything seemed to be moving at half speed. She had covered the distance just as the foil ball flared up. She watched as the man reached for his goggles in slow motion and her hands as they moved at normal speed. She hit him with the fourth shot of the Immobilizer.

She closed her own eyes as the bright light filled the room and used her thermal sense to find the second gunman, hitting him with the fifth shot. Jess continued around the room taking out the third, fourth, and fifth man just as the lithium ball consumed itself and went out. All she was left with was the sixth guard and she dispatched with him easily. He was bent over rubbing his eyes and never saw her coming.

The hostages sat in shocked silence. They didn't know what had just happened. All they knew was that a bright light had flared up in the room then it was dark again. Jess dropped the spent Immobilizer and pulled her last two glow sticks from her uniform. She cracked them as she looked for her friends.

Dan, Robert, and another man that looked familiar to her were sitting together near the back of the room. Other than a Dan's bloodied nose, they looked to be in good shape.

"Robert, are you guys OK?" Jess asked.

"Jess? Is that you?" Robert relied, "What just happened? I can't see anything."

"Sorry about that, I needed a distraction. You should be able to see again in a few minutes. I'm here to get you guys out of here. Where's Mandy?"

"They took her," Dan sounded angry.

"Where?" Jess asked.

"Third level high security."

"What are they doing there?"

"Getting the rest of what they came for," Dan said.

"Come on, Dan, we don't have time for games. What are they here for?"

"They're stealing my last four years of work. We've cracked the human machine interface and they're taking it."

"Human machine interface? I thought you were working on prosthetics."

"Imagine integrating mechanical hardware systems with the human body to make limbs as lifelike as the real thing. That's what I've been working on."

"Cybernetics? You've actually gotten that to work?" Jess asked amazed.

"Yes, but I don't care at this point. They have my wife."

"I'll get her back, Dan, I promise. I need you three to take these and get everyone out of here. The building is clear so you shouldn't run into any trouble," Jess said handing them the glow sticks.

"Are you nuts? You can't go after Diablo all by yourself. He's got five guys with machine guns, too. That's suicide," the stranger said.

"Yeah well, those guys had guns, too, but here I am. Help is coming. I just have to delay them long enough for it to get here," Jess replied. She didn't really think help was coming but thought they might leave easier if they thought she'd have help.

"I don't like it. It's way too dangerous."

"What's too dangerous is for you guys to stay here. We've got to get these people out before more bad guys come. Now, move it. There's not a lot of time to waste."

With a bit more grumbling, the three men started gathering up the remaining hostages and moving them down stairs. Jess stayed with them until only she and Dan were left.

"I'll get her back, Dan," Jess repeated.

"I wish I could have met the new you on better circumstances, Jon, I mean Jess. I guess Jon doesn't fit anymore. We both know that the chances of you and Mandy coming back are slim. This whole place is a trap. I heard them talking about how getting the interface was a bonus. The real job is to kill Beowulf and as many of his team as possible."

"Yeah, I kind of figured that out when everything went to Hell in a hand basket. That doesn't change the fact that my friend is still in trouble. As far as I know, I'm the last person left that can help her, so I'm going."

"I thought you said help was coming?" he asked.

"Sorry, I lied," Jess shrugged.

"I'm not going to try and stop you. You made it this far and took out those guards before I knew what was going on. I just hope you're good enough to bring my wife back to me. Good luck," Dan said as he made his way down.

 

*

 

Blizzard had made it half way up to the third level when she met the group of descending hostages. She was as surprised to see them coming down as they were to see her coming up.

'I don't freakin' believe it,' she thought, 'damn, that girl is good.'

Robert had stopped the group when he saw her approaching. He wasn't sure if she was a friend or another of Diablo's men. As she got closer, he could see that she was wearing the same uniform as Jess had been wearing. The lump that had climbed up his throat loosened and he took a deep relieved breath.

"You're here with Jess, right?" he asked the woman.

"Yes, is she with the group?" Blizzard asked.

"No, she's upstairs. Diablo still has Mandy and Jess is going to try and get her back."

"What's she doing? Going for super hero of the year or something?"

"I don't believe so. Those two are more tightly bonded than any other Med Runner team I've ever seen. Jess won't be happy until Mandy is safe, but she could use all the help she can get," Robert stated.

"My first priority is to make sure you guys out safely," Blizzard replied.

"I think we can manage to walk down a few steps on our own. You go and make sure Jess gets out of here as well."

"It's not the steps I'm worried about. Diablo has turned this place into his own personal fun house and I can't be sure that there aren't any more surprises here. I'll make sure you get down safe. Jess will have to watch her own ass for a few more minutes."

"Then let's get out of this place as quickly as possible," Robert said and started back down the steps at a surprisingly quick pace.

Piper couldn't help but smile at the good doctor, "Jack, I'm on my way out with the hostages. Diablo still has one and Jess has gone after her."

"Alright, but get your ass moving back up as soon as the first hostage hits the door. I'm betting that Jess has used up eight of her nine lives. Fortress should be here any second. He had a Vamp problem to deal with and is running a little late. I'm sending him straight up if he's good to go," Jack's voice crackled back.

"Copy, we're on the first floor. We'll be there in about thirty seconds."

"What do we have here?" a strange voice asked, "Trying to steal our hostages, are you?"

Three dark forms materialized out of the shadows. Piper knew that they were in trouble. The talker was a very tall muscular guy wearing all black. The other two forms were not something she wanted to see, Creepers. They weren't fully grown yet but still extremely dangerous.

"You always walk around with Creepers, Mr.?" Piper asked.

"They're really not all that bad once you break them. I wouldn't recommend them for children but they do make wonderful guard dogs. Though, they may eat any dogs they find."

"Ok, you're just creepy. Why don't you take your Creepers home before they or you get hurt?" Piper asked coldly.

"I believe you should be the one afraid of getting hurt, Miss."

The mystery man blew on some sort of whistle and the Creepers leapt forward to attack. Piper ran ahead to intercept them.

"Jack, I could use a little help here!" she called over the COM link.

As she ran, she formed two long ice daggers. If the Creepers had been adults, she wouldn't have bothered. Their body plaiting would be too hard for her to pierce. The juveniles would be tough but she could handle them. She had a feeling their master was more than he appeared to be. No regular human dares to get close to Creepers.

She was worried that they may split up and go after the hostages but they were concentrating on her only. That was both good and bad. Good that the hostages were relatively safe and bad since she now had two Creepers to deal with.

According to the field reports she had read, Creepers prefer a jumping attack and usually try that first. Piper used that information to form a plan. If she could time it right, she could hit it before it hit the ground. The second one complicated the issue but she hoped to have a little help with that one. She set herself and waited for the Creepers to make their move.

The first one to her stayed true to its nature and tried a jumping attack.

'This is gonna hurt,' Piper thought. She had to stay in close to the creature if she was going to have a chance. She was going to take a hit regardless of what she did. She would rather take it on her terms and give her an opportunity to give one. She twisted at the last possible second to avoid the main force of the attack. The Creeper caught her arm with a claw cutting three slashes through her uniform and down to the bone.

Ignoring the excruciating pain, Piper brought her other arm around and under the Creeper's arm, driving her ice dagger deep into its side. It gave a shrill wounded call and fell over. The second saw what had happened and screeched in rage. Piper turned and froze the ground between under it. The creature tried keeping its feet but was having difficulty.

Blizzard didn't think a little ice would stop it but needed a little time to let her arm heal some. "I am not having a good night tonight," she told her self.

"You terrible Bitch!" the man yelled, " Haven't enough of my Creepers died tonight! Must you kill them all?"

"If you didn't send them after us we wouldn't have to hurt them," Jack said.

"YOU!! You've killed all my beautiful girls. I'll see you in Hell," the Creeper master yelled launching him self at Jack.

"STOP!" Beowulf bellowed loud enough to make the walls shake. The remaining Creeper and its master did just that. "Enough blood has been spilled. Take your last Creeper and go back wherever you came from. I'm giving you this opportunity one time only. Should you not take it, I WILL kill you both. As you've said, I've already killed the females. A small male and its master aren't much of a threat to me."

The Creeper Master realized that he neither had the will nor the ability to challenge Beowulf, "Very well then. Release him and we will go."

Piper removed the ice under the Creeper. It followed its master into the darkness, "Until next time, Beowulf," the Creeper Master called back.

Jack just shook his head, "You OK, Blizz."

"Yeah, give me a few minutes and I'll be good," she answered. The blood had stopped and her muscles were reforming as she spoke. The pain had fallen back to a dull ache that would disappear shortly. "Let's get these people out of here."

As soon as Dr. Stevens opened the door, Piper turned around and headed back upstairs taking them two, sometimes three, at a time. She didn't like having to escort the hostages down but it had been too great a risk to leave them alone. She felt like every second she spent going down put Jess in more danger. She was quickly onto the second level and heading to the third.

"Piper, the hostages are all clear and Fortress is on his way in," Jack informed her over the COM link.

"Tell him to move his ass. I'm not waiting for him," She answered without slowing.

"I didn't think you would. I'm still not getting anything from Jess so it's up to you to let me know what's going on."

"Copy. I'll let you know as soon as I find the little minx."

 

*

 

Jess felt a little better after expending a bit of energy on the hostage guards. Her itching crawling skin had fallen to a tolerable level and only about a dozen voices were trying to talk to her instead of what had seemed like hundreds. One thing was bothering her, though. The attack on the guards had taken much less time then she had thought it would.

Honestly, she thought she'd be lucky to get one guard while her flare was burning but she managed to get five. The flare should have only burned for a second or two, give or take a few milliseconds. She had intended it to distract the men, not to cover her attack. Five men in two seconds sounded impossible.

Her hyper brain picked up on a few details she would normally have missed. The first was that the flare burned out while it was still high in the room. Only having about eight feet from floor to ceiling didn't give her much hang time. The second detail was the men moving in slow motion. When she saw it happening she thought it was just a trick of the light but she wasn't so sure now.

She used a bit more energy than she would have expected as well. Granted she may have added a little more to the flare than absolutely necessary but that was only a small fraction of what she felt she had used. An extra burst of speed was the only plausible, though difficult to accept, answer she could come up with.

'Great, now they're gonna tack on super speed to my resume',' she joked, 'Jack's going to have a field day with this if I survive.'

That comment reminded her that she didn't even know if Jack was still alive. If what Dan had overheard was true then there was a very real chance that he was dead. That scared her more than a little. If Diablo could come up with something nasty enough to take out the great Wolf, he'd have no problem with her.

"No, I'm not going there. Think positive, Jessica, that's all you've got right now," she told her self.

She made it to where Diablo was holding Mandy. She briefly thought about some sort of plan then realized that she had neither the experience nor natural ability for that. She adopted a bold just walk in approach simply because she figured Diablo would know she was there. With his telepathic abilities, he would see her coming from a mile away. Trying to sneak in would be pointless and dumb.

"You are proving to be a quite capable adversary, much more so than that muscle head Beowulf," Diablo stated as Jess entered the room.

"Look, whatever is between you and Beowulf has nothing to do with her," Jess replied, pointing at Mandy.

"That is true she really is just an innocent bystander but innocent bystanders make the most effective hostages. They give me quite a bit of leverage, too."

"So the great and powerful Diablo resorts to hostage taking when faced with little ol' me? I'm touched, really, but that isn't very becoming."

"I'm afraid it's a bit of a holdover from my misspent youth. I've decided to give you a second chance to join me," Diablo stated haughtily.

"Let the girl go and we'll talk," Jess offered.

"No, I think she should stay for a little while. You have a choice of course but killing you would be tragic."

"Oh, not this join me or die crap again. We've been through that once already and I'm still here. Just in case you didn't get the memo, those guns don't frighten me. About all they'd do is put me in a bad mood."

The four remaining guards looked a good deal more anxious hearing that.

"Did the big bad devil not tell you guys that?" Jess asked them, "apparently not. You boys should put down your toys and leave before you get hurt."

She knew that the bold mocking approach was dangerous, but it had worked well so far. However, one of the guards took offense to her tone this time and fired a shot at her. That was something that she thought might happen and was prepared for it. The instant she saw him move she started drawing in energy from his general vicinity.

There was a bright flash and loud crack as he pulled the trigger. The bullet traveled down the relatively narrow field she had projected rapidly draining off speed until it dropped harmlessly on the floor two feet short of her.

"That one was free. I'll take offense to anyone who tries that again," she said icily.

"Most impressive. I thought you were relying on your rather tough skin to protect you. I never thought you'd just stop them before they got to you. Then again, stopping them gives you a double bonus. One, it's intimidating as Hell. I'm surprised they haven't run for their lives yet," Diablo pointed at the guards,' two, you get the energy bonus. Now you're holding that energy in reserve. Yes, you are a much more interesting adversary."

That reasoning worried her. Contrary to how Jack had described him, Diablo was very intelligent. He was a thug, too, but a thug with a brain. She didn't like that he had figured out her ability so quickly. Was that part of his telepathy? Was he inside her mind right then? The thought repulsed her.

Diablo laughed, "No, my pet, I'm not inside your head. I know that's what you're thinking. I'm merely reading the energy waves you're emitting and I must say, they are quite unlike anything I've ever seen. I'll tell you a little secret about my ability. The stronger the mind, the harder it is for me to take over. Your mind, as I can see, is yours and only yours.

That's a shame really. Blocking yourself off and not letting anyone in close is such a lonely way to live. Yes, it's an excellent defense against being hurt but you must risk a little pain to reap the rewards."

'I'm getting relationship advice from Diablo? Someone just shoot me please,' she thought. "So, are you going to let her go or am I going to have to come get her?" Jess asked.

"I'll tell you what, if you can get over here and take her from me, she's yours. However, should you fail to make it, I get you instead."

"Deal," Jess agreed.

"Excellent, this should be fun. Oh, I'd like to introduce Sludge. I believe you met its sibling Slime earlier," Diablo laughed as two more blobs began rising from the floor.

"Sludge? But there's two of them."

"Technically, yes. They are clones but it's so much easier to just call them both the same name. They aren't really smart enough to figure out a new name anyway. They do love a nice warm energy source, though."

"You mind if I go with big ugly number one and two?"

"Suit yourself, makes no difference to me," Diablo answered calmly.

Jess knew she was in trouble. The massive charge that she had been carrying just became a major problem. To the blobs, she was lit up like a Christmas tree. She was nearly maxed out on what she could hold and definitely didn't have enough room for one much less two blobs worth. Dropping the charge was a bad idea as well. She was sure that they would just suck it up as fast as she dropped it, making them even more difficult to deal with.

'So this is how it ends,' she thought.

She never told anyone, but she always thought that RV would be the death of her. There were even a few times that she prayed for it to take her. That wasn't often but it did happen. She never thought it would be like this though. There was no doubt in her mind that she wouldn't make it out of this. She had no great plan for saving the day. She'd only made it this far on luck and quick thinking.

Jess thought her life would end after a bad meltdown or maybe after being attacked on an OA run. Never in her wildest dreams did she think it would be facing off against Diablo. She never thought she'd end up a she either, funny how life does that.

"You're a real dick, you know that?" Jess stated.

"Such language is very unbecoming of a lady as pretty as you. I believe I'll have to punish you for that. I think I'll let my boys take a little target practice as well," Diablo added.

'I really need to learn when to be a smart ass and when I should just shut up,' Jess admonished her self.

The room erupted with the sound of gunfire. More out of panicked reaction than any deliberate action, her speed burst kicked in and she managed to dodge all but one bullet. It caught her just above her left breast. The shot probably would have been fatal if she wasn't as tough skinned as she was. That's not to say it wasn't affective. The force of the bullet spun her quickly enough to make her lose her balance and go down hard.

The dual impacts of the bullet and hard floor did enough damage to momentarily stun her. She heard the men's triumphant cheers as she looked up at the ceiling.

"All right, now I'm pissed," she said as she stood up.

The gunmen tried to quickly get their weapons in firing position, but Jess was a step ahead. She poured in intense doses of energy into the guns causing them to glow red hot. They were dropped almost immediately then the bullets in the magazines started going off. The men all dove for cover and Jess sucked up as much energy as she could, trying to replace what she had just used.

She had decided that speed was more important at the moment. It seemed logical that high doses of energy were needed for that extra speed. She didn't have any clue as to how low that level could go before she lost that one advantage. The last thing she wanted was to run out of steam and leave a slow moving target.

Her concentration had shifted to the gunmen but the big uglies still had her in their sights. She had stayed in the same place too long dealing with the guns. Big ugly number one shot a tentacle out and grabbed her leg. Big ugly number two mirrored the move and grabbed her other leg. Together, they jerked her off her feet and started pulling her towards them.

"No you don't," she yelled and pulled a little energy from them.

They simultaneously dropped her like a hot iron. She jumped back to her feet and tried putting all her focus on them. She had drawn in too much energy and was back to feeling like a thousand people were talking to her again. The big uglies changed tactics and went to swiping at her with their tentacles. Jess was able to dodge most of them but would get distracted by the mess in her head. The net result was her taking a hard hit that knocked her into various walls and debris.

Those moments hurt but ultimately would have little impact on the outcome of the fight. She could dodge the attacks long enough to heal between successful attempts. She, in turn, could run in and steal small amounts of energy from them that they could replace just as easily. Jess had to come up with something better.

 

*

 

"Jack, gunfire on level three," Blizzard called out. She had just cleared the second level and was nearly to Jess.

"She's still alive and fighting then," Jack answered back, "Bullets won't be very affective against her. I'm betting that's not the last trick up Stull's sleeve. He'll have something he's holding in reserve. Get to her before he plays that hand."

"What the Hell? Now we've got very sporadic gunfire. There was a cheer a second ago but now all I hear is random shots."

"I'd say our girl just took the shooters out of play."

Blizzard wasn't wound up enough to go running into a fight before she knew what was going on. She wouldn't be any help to Jess if she got herself killed. Finding her was easy. The commotion coming from that area was unmistakable. Splintering wood, breaking glass, and general chaos sounded down the hallways and stairwells.

She moved in to take a look at the situation. She wasn't surprised to see Jess holding her own against another two of those blob things. What surprised her was the speed that she was moving. It wasn't quite fast enough to classify her as a speedster but definitely more than most Altereds could match. It seemed to be just enough to keep her out of trouble.

There were five men scattered about the outside of the room watching the battle. Some were cheering and some watching with a mixture of trepidation and morbid curiosity. Piper slipped in closer to two of the men.

"What the Hell do you think she is?" the smaller one asked.

"How am I supposed to know? All I know is that she stopped Jimmy's shot cold, took one square in the chest and got up, then cooked our guns with hardly an effort, and is going toe to toe with two of Draven's Super Altereds. If Beowulf's got any more like her, I'm going straight. This shit's getting too heavy for me," the second answered.

"I wouldn't mind seeing her naked though," he grinned lewdly.

"Forget this, I'm out of here. You wanna stick around and play Romeo fine, but I'm getting out of here while I still have my head."

"Sounds like a damn good idea to me. Let's go."

The two men made quick exits, walking passed Blizzard and not noticing. She returned her attention to surveying the room. Diablo was on the far side holding a woman hostage. He looked like he was enjoying the fight and had no intentions on leaving.

Piper ducked back out of the room just as Fortress reached it.

"Whatcha got, Blizz?" he asked.

"Jess, Diablo with a hostage, two more blobs, and three men," she told him.

"Damn, and Jess is still alive?"

"Alive and kicking ass. The girl is holding here own and, from what I just heard and saw, not having an easy time of it."

"Let's get in there and give her a hand then. It's just not right to treat a lady that way."

"Hold it big guy. Let's get Jack in on this and maybe we can come up with a plan to end this and get Diablo for good." John nodded and Piper made the call "Jack, you aren't going to believe this..."

 

*

 

"Damn, this isn't getting me anywhere," Jess told her self.

She could see that while she was still standing, both Big Uglies were still one hundred percent. She was fighting to a stalemate but telling them that didn't seem to be a good idea. They wouldn't get it anyway.

"Hey, guy in the funky red suit, we aren't getting anywhere here. What do you say to a draw and you let the girl go," she yelled to Diablo.

"That doesn't seem fair. You get what you wanted from our deal without fulfilling your end," he answered, "besides, I'm rather enjoying this."

"OK, you turn her loose and I won't come after you. How about that?"

"Dear girl, you can't catch me. Hasn't Jack told you that yet?"

"Well, you know Jack. All quiet and self contained. The only time he tells me anything is when I'm doing it wrong."

Diablo laughed at her comment, "It will be such a shame when they kill you."

"I'll take that as a no, then?"

Diablo didn't respond so she returned her attention to the Uglies. She still couldn't think of a way out of her current predicament. She needed help.

"Hey Jess, mind if I join in?" Blizzard called out stepping into the room.

She was immensely relieved hearing that voice, "Blizz! I could use a little help with these two."

"Oh goody. I've been itching for a little payback," she answered moving next to Jess. She didn't have the speed to dodge the tentacles, so she formed an ice wall between them and the blobs. With the wall between them, the blobs couldn't see the girls and quit attacking. "We using the same strategy as the last one?"

"Not this time. I'm maxed out. Any other ideas?"

"Hmm...,according to Jack and Mr. Wizard, these things are Ameboids that have been fed a lot of miracle grow. There's two ways to kill them; fire and ice."

"I tried fire and the just soaked it up," Jess added.

"I guess they're supposed to. They can absorb it in small amounts but if you go H-bomb on them, they can't take it, " Piper clarified.

"OK, so I nuke one Big Ugly while you put the other one on ice."

"Big Ugly? I like that. You start on yours first, then I'll force the energy out of the other and you can funnel it into the first."

"We'll need to separate them. They'll trade energy if they're close enough to each other. Trust me I've watched them do it," Jess stated.

"I got nothing on that one. How about you?" Piper asked.

"Just one, throw them a bone."

"Huh? I don't follow"

"I throw a nice warm juicy energy bone over on that side of the room. If one goes after it, great. If they both go, I hit one with a fireball to keep it interested over here," Jess offered.

Piper agreed to the plan and moved into position. All she had to do was wait for Big Ugly number one. Jess grabbed a thick operating manual and scrap piece of metal that was lying close. She gave the metal a quick heat treatment then tossed it toward Piper. Both Big Uglies headed towards it immediately. Jess stepped around the ice wall as the manual burst into flames and threw it at one of them. It stopped and headed back toward her just as planned.

With their trap closing, Jess hit Big Ugly number two with everything she had. It just stopped and started sucking in as much as it could. She was starting to think maybe they'd made a huge mistake when she felt a huge rush as Piper gave the other the deep freeze.

Jess watched as number two turned to ash in front of her. She turned and saw number one frozen in a familiar position. Piper's plan had worked. Both Uglies were taken out in seconds leaving the room eerily quiet. That silence was broken by the sound of someone clapping.

"Well done ladies, well done. I must say that I am most impressed," Diablo stated, "I was so getting bored of Jack and his usual methods. That's why I decided I had enough of him and had planned on killing him today. Maybe the old dog still has a few tricks left. I'll give this round to your side but the battle is far from over. Jess, as promised, I will release your friend. Until next time ladies," he said with a slight nod then phased through the floor.

"Mandy!" Jess exclaimed and ran to meet her friend.

"YES!" Piper yelled and started doing a little dance step.

"Jess, that was amazing you moved so fast and stopping the bullet was wow and then you got shot and I thought you were dead but you got up and destroyed the guns then fought with the blob things," Mandy rambled.

"Mandy, slow down. I can't understand a word you're saying. Are you OK?" Jess asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just can't believe I just saw what I did and you were the one doing it," Mandy replied more clearly. "What's with the dancing?"

"I dunno. What's up Blizzard?"

"You'll see, come on," Blizz answered.

The three girls headed down to the second level directly underneath where Diablo had been holding Mandy. Jess was surprised to see Fortress standing there with a large crystal structure about eight feet high and five feet square. Something inside was moving but Jess couldn't figure out what it was.

"We got him," Fortress grinned.

Piper gave a little squeal of delight and resumed her dancing.

"Someone care to fill us in?" Jess asked

"We weren't sure if this would hold him or not. He can pass through most solid objects but we had to try. Looks like he can't get through though. We finally caught him. We got Diablo," Fortress answered.

 

*

 

The cool night air tickled Jess' skin as she and Mandy finally walked out of the building. There was a marked difference in activity from when she went in. Now there were police cars, ambulances, news crews, and even a fire truck parked haphazardly about. People were running all over the place doing whatever it was they wanted or were needed to do.

Jack and Mr. Wizard were talking to a group of men in uniforms. Jess neither recognized them nor cared for who they were. Piper and Fortress were overseeing loading of the recently captured Diablo and his men. A shaky looking but otherwise uninjured Lauren and another unknown man were apparently deep in discussion about something. Jess just caught the sight of Robert helping load Zan into an ambulance before they closed the doors and headed away, presumably towards Skyview.

Dan was near one of the other ambulances and she pointed him out to Mandy. Without a word, she went running to him. Jess watched as the two were reunited, amazed at how strong their bond was. She imagined them at eighty something years old and still sitting together holding hands.

The scenes chaos was bothering her. The people running about, flashing lights, sirens, and occasional horn blasts, were strangely unsettling. Before her anxiety reach an uncomfortable level, Jess slipped away unnoticed. She had no destination in mind, just any place calm and quiet.

Nexus had built a small recreational area next to its main building. It was intended as a place for their employees to rest and relax. A few benches and tables were scattered about for those who may want to eat their lunches outside in pleasant weather. Jess wandered through the area finally settling down at the edge of the large pond.

The clear night sky, with its sparkling stars and crescent moon, reflected off the pond's glasslike surface. For a moment, Jess imagined the surface not to be water, but a giant mirror and she was Alice stuck on the strange side looking back into the normal world. She reached a hand out and touched the surface, half expecting it to be solid but it wasn't. Small ripples traveled silently across the pond as her evening caught up with her.

She finally allowed all her fears and emotions freedom. The night's events had been more upsetting than she had let on. Losing Zack brought the gravity of the situation into sharp focus. She had only been nervous up until then. The reality that she could die didn't register with her until that moment.

It would be a lie to say she didn't think about giving up and getting the Hell out of that place. Only knowing that she wouldn't be able to live with her self if something happened to her friends drove her on. They were all she had and losing them was just not an option for her.

Jess couldn't believe she had done all those things. A week earlier, she would have said you were insane if you would have told her that she would tackle some of the worst Altereds, attack groups of heavily armed men, and have a conversation that would seem more appropriate for the pages of a comic book than real life. It was all too surreal.

"Is this all for real?" she asked no one in particular.

Her quiet tears fell, as she sat on the pond's edge and relived her adventure. All the emotional and mental stress had bubbled over but she didn't try holding it back. For a while, her emotions were tumultuous. Grief, anger, and fear roiled together then gradually fading out. Relief, amazement, and happiness took their place. She was alive and so were her friends.

"How did I know you were going to be here?" came Jack's voice.

"Do you always sneak up on people," Jess asked drying her eyes.

"I didn't sneak, I just walked. It's not my fault you didn't hear me."

"It's all these damned emotions. I get so distracted by them. This whole thing would have been easier if I was still a guy."

"Maybe it would, maybe it wouldn't. Thinking like that will drive you nuts."

"I can't help it. I don't know how to handle all this."

"From what I'm hearing, you handled yourself extremely well in there," he commented.

"I didn't mean inside. That was hard but I wasn't really thinking about it. I just did what I had to. Now, out here, everything's catching up to me. I used to be able to hold all the emotional stuff in check but I can't do it anymore. I don't understand how I can have tears of sorrow and joy at the same time. Look at me, I'm a total wreck," Jess rambled before turning away as more tears fell.

Jack had never been one that was comfortable with the subject of emotions. Even when he was still Jacqueline, it was avoided if it could be managed. That's another thing that he liked about his gender switch, the lack of emphasis on emotions. That suited him much better. Strangely enough, he couldn't stand seeing Jess in such turmoil. He needed to help.

"Jess, what you just went through is emotional and mental Hell. A few teardrops shouldn't embarrass you. You're only human."

"The tears I can handle, but my hearts beating at about a million miles an hour and I'm all shaky. All three together are more than I care to deal with," she remarked.

"It's called nerves. It'll quiet down shortly. Just try to relax and breathe," Jack advised, "Deep calming breaths."

She tried taking a deep breath but was having trouble. She was still gasping more than breathing.

"Don't gasp, Jess, breathe. Relax, just concentrate on getting some air," Jack said calmly and gently. "Slow and easy, now."

Jacks voice was level and soothing. She listened as he continued talking softly. Slowly, her short breaths grew until she was back in control replaced her gasps. She was surprised how much better she felt.

"Thanks, Jack. I really needed that. Did you guys recover the interface thing?"

"No, they managed to slip out with it. I don't even want to think about what Draven is doing with it."

"What happened to Draven and Morgan?"

"Nothing. They were both at a charity dinner with hundreds of witnesses. What we thought were the real things were a couple of shifters. They led us right into a trap.

"It's only a matter of time before Draven starts combining weapons and Altereds. Not to mention all the possible mechanical improvements that could be made. A lycan that can run faster and farther, has a cannon for an arm, and a computer in its brain would be formidable opponent. Add a megalomaniac like Morgan into the mix and you're just asking for trouble," Jess stated.

"You forgot about Lycans penetrating into the City zones and attacking people. I'm not going to lie to you, it's getting bad," Jack added.

"Looks like you're going to need my help then."

"You think you can handle it?"

Her red hair turned to flames and fire flickered behind her eyes, "Yeah, I think I can handle it. I don't like it when people mess with my friends."

"Welcome to the team," Jack smiled.

**

 

Authors note: So this ends the first adventure for Jess Kahne. They say that all great stories must come to an end. Well, my stories are far from great but they, too, must come to an end. I have enjoyed writing this story, but it's now time to move on to something new for a while. Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read this and another thanks to all those that have left their wonderful comments. I really do appreciate it.

  

  

  

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