Into the hood

Hannibal Norrus's Initation-Part 1

The girl smiled and nodded.
"Follow me." She said. Turning to a door behind her, she entered a code and headed inside, Hannibal in tow. Hannibal looked around; the designs were patterned and elegant. The color scheme was mostly red, black, and white. He liked the style; albeit he would've preferred more blue and green. He almost chuckled to himself as he knew that those were his favorite colors. She led him up a flight of stairs to the second floor, then along a hallway to a back room. At the door to this room she stopped, motioning for Hannibal to go in alone.

The interior of the room was dark, a single light illuminating a basic wooden table and chair in the middle of the room. It was reminiscent of a police interrogation room.

"Sit." He heard in a hushed whisper from behind the door. Hannibal complied, sliding into the chair. A fleeting thought crossed his mind that the chair was uncomfortable. In the darkness he could hear movement.

"So Hannibal, you want to kill 3Bs?"

Hannibal thought for a second. "Yes. However, I would also like to be a part of an organization who is organized and values education." He looked around for a hint of the man he was speaking to. From his voice, he could estimate the man was an adult not past 50 years old. His language indicated he wasn't one who valued stiff and formal language.

"Oh, we value education." Said another voice Hannibal hadn't noticed. This one was female. "If you think you can handle being a Red hood then lets find out."

A door opposite him opened and the two figures headed through. He tried to get a glimpse of them, but they left too quickly.

The inside of the next room was larger than the last and better lit. The corners were bathed in shadow but the center was well lit. People in hoods stood around forming a ring. Hannibal almost cursed; he was going to have to fight someone. He took a quick inventory of all his clothes he had on. A light jacket: he would probably want to take that off. Running shoes: perfect. He breathed in deeply, preparing himself.

"Time to see how well you can handle yourself. Step into the ring." The female voice said.

"So who am I fighting?" Hannibal said, handing his light green jacket to the nearest Hood. In answer a familiar face stepped into the ring. It was the girl. Hannibal didn't have time to say or even think before she moved forwards kicking him in the stomach. He lurched backwards before recovering.

Breathing in, he distanced himself from the girl. Thinking fast, he analyzed her more in depth. Her fists were clenched. She kicked him, and she had done it well: a sign of leg strength and prior martial arts training. Her hair was short, which unfortunately would not be an advantage for him. Her breasts were small, and would provide her with no disadvantage. She was shorter than him, which meant her range was significantly lower than his. Her arms didn't appear to be that muscular, and were rather short; she would probably rely on quick and focused attacks, not brute strength. He guessed his few added inches of height over this girl wouldn't grant him any real advantage, so he lowered himself, leaning forwards slightly. The floor looked to be smooth concrete. His shoes would have plenty of traction, so he had no risk of tripping or slipping. He prepared himself to fight dirty. He would mix in insults, along with the use of Siren, to get her mind going crazy, then he'd use any physical method he could to put up a good fight. Hopefully, he would put up enough of a fight to be accepted in.

He breathed in and out again, slowing his heart rate a little, knowing that was all he could really gather at the moment. He narrowed his eyes at the girl, watching her for an incoming strike. She was probably expecting him to attack her. When she attacked, he would counterattack. He lurched forward away from the edge, then retreated quickly, smiling sweetly as he walked along the edge of the ring.

"Sorry. I was just thinking about kissing you, when I realized you don't look anything like a girl from where I'm standing. I would make fun of you for it, but I'm sure the kids at school already have." He sent a batch of pheromones across the ring so they sunk in a little harder.

The girl smiled tapping her ears. Hannibal could make out small earplugs.

"Your words won't help you here." She said. Shifting her weight she came in for a low kick.

Well. Looks like that wasn't an option. The pheromones didn't have a noticeable effect; they seemed to only have an effect in combination with verbal communication. He'd have to note that down in his notebook.

He saw the low kick coming, and barely dodged it. Thinking quickly, he grabbed hold of the girl's right leg, and pulled her leg roughly, pulling her off balance and onto the ground. Using the opportunity, he stomped his foot down on her right knee as hard as he could.

The girl rolled out the way, a look of shock at the viciousness of the attack crossing her face. Bringing up her other leg she kicked just above his groin.

Hannibal went down on the ground with her, and she hooked a leg round his neck. Thinking quickly, slowly being deprived of his oxygen, he bit hard into the girl's leg. After a gasp from the girl, the leg's grip loosened, and he quickly lifted his body up and sat on the girl's right leg, the one she had had wrapped around his neck. He grabbed the foot of the leg he was sitting on, and started pulling hard, against the natural bend of the leg.

The girl turned, her stomach now to the ground, twisting her leg into a better position. She then kicked into Hannibal's face. He fell backwards over her and she stood up. Ignoring the pain of her leg, she lifted her leg to stomp on Hannibal's chest.

"Enough." A woman's voice said. Into the lit bit of the room she stepped. Hannibal could just about make out a smile underneath the woman's hood, as the girl he'd fought retreated among the other Hoods.

"You've done well. Untrained but vicious. And you have knowledge of chemistry that we could use. It is far easier for us to train a scholar than teach a warrior." She crossed the room to an open door, motioning for Hannibal to follow, "Come, we have things to discuss."

Hannibal walked along, wincing at the bruise on his nose from where the girl had kicked him. That was incredibly skillful of that girl; seems like he shouldn't have relied on the girl's sense of pain. He shook his head, clearing his forehead of a large bang of hair. Despite the impracticality of it, he still liked his hair.
The woman had said he was untrained and viscous. Huh. That was mostly accurate, but she missed intelligent. Hannibal was no schoolboy looking to be part of a gang. He kept his chuckle to himself.

 

Balefore and Talon

Talon shivered uncontrollably while the Red Hoods fussed about with the ties. Couldn't they just be done with it already? Her teeth grit harder every second that she resisted lashing out at the ones who were touching her. It felt as if she was being branded with a hot iron bar every time one of them so much as brushed her skin. A growl bubbled out from behind the gag, and her heels twitched. It would be so easy just to kick one of them in the nose and shove the bone into their skull...
Tied up or not, Talon wasn't helpless. And when one of them decided to get close to her face the growl rose into a snarl:

"Don't. Touch. Me." she spat, and they flinched away. At least they knew who the dangerous one here was. She hadn't taken out three or more of their members for nothing.

"Now now, be a good little girl and cooperate with the stupid man," Balefore said. "Just a little while longer and we'll be back at the mansion. Granny will be so glad to see you," he said, sounding like a little child, and grinning like one too. He had met back up with the hoods, after his encounter with the cop, and now they were on their way back to Woodpecker Estate.

Talon shuddered and her left eye spun wildly -the Siren was still affecting her. Being a "good girl" wasn't in her description. She only hissed again when they tried to get close and she flexed her claws in warning. Thank goodness for them that they had not made a move to take them off -otherwise they would have had a real fight on their hands.

"Just come along, we won't hurt you..." Balefore continued, smiling a charming smile at the girl. A charming smile, but still tinted with his insanity. "Cooperate and this could turn out to be a very, pleasant experience for you."

Talon hissed one last time, then curled into a ball with her left side against the floor. She kept one eye open though, watching Balefore warilly. Breath rasped irregularly down her throat -the way she lay on her bad side was causing her pain- but she refused to leave her weak side exposed.

Finally they got under way, and it didn't take long to get back to the estate.

 

Fay walked down the hallway of the G-Brother's base. In her hands she held the EMP that Jacob had ordered her to make. It had taken two days and a near sleepless night. But she had finished it. And it was perfect. The door to Jacob's room was cracked open, so she pushed it fully open with her hand. "It's done." Fay said, holding up her creation. The bags under her eyes spoke of her sleepless work to finish quickly.
"Good," Jacob said, "This device is integral to the next stage of my plan."

Sweeping pizza boxes and a chess game, Jacob appeared to be losing to Marcus, off the table he rolled out a set of blueprints. They appeared to be the edge of city centering on a large building.

"I'm guessing neither of you recognize these?" Jacob said. He took their lack of response as a yes and continued.

"The building your looking at is a laboratory belonging to a company known as the Merlin corporation. They're one of the companies responsible for the drugs and tech we possess. But the things we have are just shoddy knock offs. With the device you have just assembled I intend to break in to their lab and steal everything."

"Do we have the manpower for that?" Fay asked. The G-Brothers were great at small raids but taking everything everything from a lab in a corporation like Merlin's would take time, even if they brought a large group. And if the police were alerted, which they most likely would be, time would not be on their side.

"This isn't going to be a big operation. No one outside of this room is even aware of it. The plan is to drive over arriving after the lab shuts. From there, we break in, use the device to neutralize security systems and cameras then enter the main lab."

"Are police going to be an issue?" Marcus asked.

"They won't bother calling the police. If we're caught it'll be us versus corp soldiers using lethal force," Jacob turned to Fay as he said the last bit, "I understand if you want to back out but you would be a valuable asset."

"Why?" Fay asked, her hands shaking a little at the thought of getting into another gun fight. This one being worse than the last one. "I mean, the EMP is easy enough to handle and if you're just stealing things...what need have I to be there? Blondie or maybe Jericho would be far better assets than I if came down to a gun fight."

"Because Blondie and Jericho aren't any good with a computer. Our main target is data, something you are more than acquainted with." Jacob said. He reached into a draw pulling out a USB stick and a portable hard-drive.
"The USB contains a virus that we'll upload after putting everything they have onto the hard-drive. With their plans we'll be able to make perfect drugs and augmentations better than any gang could comprehend."

Fay looked at the USB then at Marcus then at Jacob. Her face had paled. She couldn't help but think of the day her dad had gone out on a job with Jacob. It was supposed to have been the big score, but almost everyone including her dad had died just trying to get inside. Jacob had said he died a hero, protecting his brothers. But she still blamed Jacob for it. His schemes always seemed to end in someone hurt, arrested or dead. And he didn't seem to care, unlike Marcus.

"Is anyone going with me and Marcus to this place? If we're going to be facing Corp soldiers, we'll need back up."

"At most we'll have 3 men outside on watch. This has to be low key." Jacob said. He took the SREMP, placed it in one of the draws and locked it. "We leave in two days. That's how long you have to decide."

 

The Missing Piece

The car passed through Woodpecker driving towards the police station. Inside Detective and Junior were deep in discussion.

“Can you not guess what they were trying to make?” James asked.

“Without knowing all the components it could be anything.” Phil said. “There are literally thousands of devices it could create.”

“So we need to know what they stole… I wonder if the boys at Twitchy’s will find anything.” James doubted it. “What the hell are they planning...” he whispered quietly to himself.

Deep down in the pit of his stomach he knew the G Brothers were up to something big. The car continued down Eggerton Lane through Woodpecker high street and he tapped his hand on the steering wheel again and again, trying to connect the dots. The last time something big went down in Peckham the Geom Augmentations Corporation had been the target… Grace.

The car screeched to a halt and Phil went flying in his seat and got lassoed back by the seatbelt. He winced in pain and turned to see James brooding in his seat, hands clenched to the steering wheel and eyes locked with the horizon. Under the pale glow of the street lamps he looked gaunt. Dead almost.

It started raining. Drops fell onto the windscreen and the wipers activated.

“J-James?”

Flick. Flick. Flick. Flick.

“James, what’s wrong?”

Flick. Flick. Flick. Flick.

All James could hear were gunshots. Beams of light blinding his eyes. Diving between desks while smashed glass and hot sparks danced around him. Quickly gazing over cover releasing a few rounds into a merc and disappearing back before another burst of gunfire. There were just so many. They surrounded the lab room firing at him, at the white coat workers, at anything that moved.

Another burst of gunfire rains down upon him and he looks to the desk adjacent and sees her. Slumped down. A distant look in her eyes. Just cross the room. He readies himself to move, to dart and dive over to her but as the courage in his heart sours the mercs start firing more. Suppressing him. Pinning him down. James looks to her again but there are no desks anymore. No labs. Just her floating into darkness. She’s fading away and in a panic he readies himself to jump again but the firing becomes louder and vicious, the hisses of a thousand vipers.

In that moment, she is gone. He just stares and the abyss stares back. It’s too late – but now he jumps, now he leaps for her and the bullets swim into him and he too falls away into the darkness.

Flick. Flick. Flick. Flick.

“James?”

The Detective blinked. The rain came back into view and the streets of Woodpecker slid into focus and he could only sit there, silent, staring over his steering wheel. Without a word he put the car into gear and drove on.

 

Gale slumped against the far wall in the bunk room, dark eyes watching everyone go about their own business. A deep-seated scowl was practically etched into his face, and when he spied Fay come in he looked up.
"I'm bored. You sure there are no jobs going on? I need to get spiked or I'm going to go nuts!" he growled. As a highly addicted Troll user, he was volatile to say the least. At least until directly after he'd taken a dose and after it had worn off. Then he was as satisfied as a cat that had just gotten the cream.
Fay glanced at Gale with tired eyes and a hint of contempt. Drugs was a stupid thing to get addicted too. "Sounds like Jacob is too busy with other things to plan any jobs." She said without much sympathy. She took a seat on her bed and pulled out a box of supplies and small electronics. The electronics were items that other G-brothers had requested be fixed and these were simple enough she didn't have to do them at the workbench. "Why don't you hit up Jericho, see if he has any Troll you can buy off him. Granted he'll probably make you pay a fortune." She asked as she put a screw to a wrist computer.

Gale's face scrunched up in distaste. "Can't buy any. My parents cut me off years ago and now the only way for me to get my hands on it is to steal it. But i'm not that stupid. I know bustin' a joint on my own is suicide." he groaned and slid to the floor, staring at his hands. A look of melancholy crossed his face, though it was quickly hidden.

"Mary better not get tied up in all this mess. So long as she's safe at home, fighting here and defending the turf is all i need..." he muttered.

"Whose Mary?" Fay asked absent mindedly as she worked.

Gale started, then a dark look came to his face and he stood, walking toward the door as if to go and not even answer. But he paused at the last second.
"She's my sister." was all he said, and then he was gone.

 

Balefore Lark

The grand from gate of Woodpecker Estate opened before them, and Balefore walked in, feeling like a king with the mandate of heaven.

Behind him, the remaining hoods were leading the captive girl. He had lost three men, but driven the 3g's off their territory and captured the one responsible. He felt like it had been a successful patrol. His men did not agree, but they lacked the sight that he had, the view of the big picture. Balefore was a prophet, and every prophet needs to be known. Now perhaps his name would spread beyond the limits of the red hoods.

"Take her to Grandma," he ordered. "I'll be along shortly."

Then he split off down a different corridor. Once out of sight, he popped a capsule of Siren. Then he found a mirror and arranged his hair and clothes, making sure that he was well kept. Then he headed towards the room where he knew he would find Grandma, so that he could present his prize.

 

The inside of the room was different to the last few. It wasn't barren or empty of objects. Each wall was lined with shelves holding books. This must be Grandma', the leader of the Red Hoods, Hannibal mused.
Grandma had a small library amassed. She sat down at a desk in the center of the room, motioning for Hannibal to sit opposite her. It reminded him of the one time he had been called to the principal's office. As he sat Grandma pulled a book and pen from the desk. As she opened it and flicked through, he could see names written at the top of each page. Stopping towards the end, she penned his name at the top of a fresh page. Obviously a record of all the members who were part of the gang.

"So, I know you can handle yourself, something we'll work on, but tell me what you know. What's your favorite subject?" The lady said. The symptoms of the Witch drug were fairly obvious; her voice was slightly wheezy, and what he could see of her face was wrinkled. An online site about the drug's effects had told him it increased the senses a tremendous amount. Hannibal would have to be careful.

"Well, Grandma, I love chemistry and physics. They're the study of the world we live in today, and that's what I want to learn about." Hannibal smiled.

"Ah a scientist," Grandma mused, "We're got another lad who like science. He persuaded me to install solar panels all over the place. It was a smart move."
She stood, heading to the shelf behind her, and moved about looking for something. After a few seconds she made a small noise that Hannibal guessed meant she had found the thing. Sitting back down Grandma placed a sheet of paper in front of him. To anyone else it just looked like a random blob of connected lines and circles of varying sizes, with letters splattered around. Next to it was the periodic table. "Recognize any of these?"

"Of course! That's a botox molecule, and the other is the periodic table." Hannibal smiled. At least... it looked like a botox molecule. He should really have made sure before he'd opened his mouth.
"Close but not quite. That is the periodic table but the formula isn't botox." She said, watching as Hannibal mentally kicked himself. "They're drug formulas. If I gave you the tools, could you try and refine a batch as best you could?"

Hannibal looked at her, catching her eyes for a second. "Yes."

"Then we'll put you to work right away. I take it you live at home so we'll have to work out a time or times for you to come and work."

Hannibal looked at her carefully, a smirk almost manifesting itself on his lips. "Any day after school is good. I can come in any time that's not breakfast, lunch, or dinner on weekends."

 

--Mad Dog, Prophet, Witch--

There was a knock at the door interupting Grandma and Hannibal's chat. Balefore stood in the doorway, hair neatly arranged and a smile on his face. He looked pleased about something. No doubt something to do with the mission she had sent him on. Listening for a moment she could hear noises several rooms down, whether they were human was a bit less clear.
"Dearest Grandma, I have a present for you," Balefore said.

"Just a minute then." She said before turning back to Hannibal, "I think we're done for today. We'll contact you again about times. I'm sure you can find the way out."

Grandma exited the room following Balefore down the hall. She lit a witchstick as they went, hoping to cover up the smell of Siren on him. She doubted he was planning to try something on her, he wasn't that stupid. Did he know it wouldn't work on her? They stopped at the door the noise was escaping from and stepped inside.

Talon spat at the second of her captors, which she had managed to get pinned against the wall. Her claws dug into his shoulders, blood seeping from shallow wounds. The boy's eyes were wide as he stared at her, hands shaking for lack of the knife that lay embedded in the far wall. The first one lay shredded on the ground, a curtain of blood spreading about his body. His glazed eyes stared at them accusingly, one hand still clutching the severed strands of the rope that had bound her wrists.

"I told you not to touch me." she hissed, and was about to slash his throat when the door opened. Lip curling in distaste behind her mask, Talon dropped into a crouching position, bracing her heels against the floor and backing away. If she needed to, she could leap straight over their heads and outside, double that with a down-ward slash, and she might even kill them both.

Cold and calculating, the girl let out a menacing snarl and hobbled back a step when she noticed Granny, but her claws retracted into a defensive position. By the woman's stature and air, she could tell she was the leader. And the first rule Talon had learned was to never piss off a leader -no matter what group they led. It always ended in pain. Yet she showed no fear -only great irritation. Her mask was lopsided where the others had tried to remove it, and her cape was missing. That alone revealed her twisted, mangled left arm and the odd lumpy patterns in her side where the bones had not grown back properly.

"I present to you a wild little bird," Balefore announced as he gestured at the bloodied girl. "Providence guided her to us, and I believe she could be of great use to us. And if you do not think so, then you can at least have the pleasure of killing her and avenging those that she herself killed this very night."

Grandma stepped into the room. Seeing the mangled arm she felt a sense of pity. They hadn't captured a gang member; this was a wounded animal. She raised her hands showing they were empty and moved into the room.
"I'm unarmed so calm down. Tell me your name."

Talon's gaze flicked between Grandma and Balefore, distrusting, but she loosened her defensive posture somewhat. "I go by many -some that even your gang came up with. Talon, Screecher, Hawk, Pouncer -but my true name became trash once he hurt me." she hissed, unwilling to mention her brother's name.

"Talon? Oh yes I remember that name. You've hurt a lot of our people you have. Who is it that hurt you?" Grandma said. She was scanning Talon's body, searching for any clues about her she could use.

Talon grinned behind her mask, her left eyes going lazy again and spinning about. "Let's just say he's not in your gang, or I would have put up much more of a fight. With my track record, you may assume even Balefore would have trouble with me if i decided to... well...snap." Talon made a little snap with her fingers for emphasis.

Both of them might know about that incident. It hadn't been in an attack against the Red Hoods, though Talon was almost sure she had glimpsed one of their scouts just before the ... incident.

It had been in a battle against the G Brothers -one where her brother hadn't been present. Pissed off beyond reason, she had literally shredded the skin off of each individual member in that fight. It had been one of the bloodiest and most vicious things she'd done in a long, long time, and she had no regrets -even as she remembered their terrible screams.

The cops had only been able to clean up a mess of bones, blood, and shredded human flesh after that.

"He's in the G Brothers. Fitting actually. And I'm going to slaughter him, and any others in his gang that i come across." she chuckled, a tint of insanity from that day returning.

Grandma turned to Balefore lowering her voice so Talon couldn't hear them.

"This one's insane. I doubt we can get anything of use out of her. Let's give her to the G brothers, I'm sure they'd enjoy her."

Balefore grinned. "When you say, 'give her to them,' do you mean gift wrapped in a pretty box? Or silently dropped off into their home as a surprise? Neither I or my God see any point in wasting her potential, her potential for destruction."

"Well everyone likes a surprise don't they." Grandma chuckled. She stepped forwards before Talon could blink, striking her head hard. Talon went down hitting the floor in a messy pile.
"That should make her easier to move." Gradma said leaving the room, "Keep watch after you've dropped her off."

 

Detective James Harmon

James sat at his desk with a coffee in one hand and his chin in the other, reviewing the final draft of his Twitchy’s Tech Shop report. Like most nights sleep had not come to him and the bags under his eyes were plain for all to see. But then again most officers in the station avoided him like the plague anyway. He sipped his coffee once more, seemingly content hidden away in the corner of the office.

Strangely however someone was approaching his desk. The other officers bustling in the station stopped their tasks to gawk at the passer by, their stares turning into scowls at the idea that a cop would even consider going near James. But Phil strode up to his desk and James could only sit back in his chair with a wry smile, admiring the bravery of the youngster.

“How’s the report coming?” Phil asked.

“Yea, just building up the patience to put the thing on Mathers’ desk.” James said staring blankly at the tablet. He sipped his drink, “the guy’s an arsehole.”

“You really don’t like the Captain do you?” Phil smirked.

“We have history.” James stopped short of ranting and turned his eyes to the cop, “Anyway, what have you got for me?”

“Erm… well…” Phil stammered. James watched him tense and fold his arms up, no longer making eye contact but instead gazing at the floor. “You want the bad news first… or the really bad news?”

“Great, what’s happened now?” James said, sitting forward in his chair.

“The evidence we sent from Twitchy’s to the labs never made it,” Phil said glumly. “In fact there’s no record of it being at the scene of the crime or in the vehicle it was transported in.”

“But we recorded all the evidence on site. It’s just vanished into thin air?” This type of thing always happened in Peckham Station but even so it still managed to anger James. Almost every damn cop in this place was crooked; ex-gang members, previous offenders and the rest. It didn’t intimidate him though. It just enraged him more.

“Seems that way” Phil said, “Forensic found nothing either.”

“Of course they didn’t.” James grumbled. “Hold on a second, there was a pistol in the evidence…”

“Yea,” Phil sighed, “that’s the really bad news. The weapon was the only thing holding this bust together. It’s gone from armed robbery to a simple breaking and entering.”

James put his hand to his head and squeezed his temples in anger. “That means-”

“It means we can’t detain Blackie. He’s already been released on bail, with a court summons pending.”

“Son of a bitch!” James slammed a fist on the table hard and his coffee erupted out of the cup and over the side of the desk. The entire of the office looked around but James rose from his desk slowly and stared them all down until every single one had sheepishly turned back to what they were doing. Eventually James turned to Phil and whispered through clenched teeth, “That was our only lead.”

“What are we going to do?” Phil asked.

For a while James was silent, towering over his desk with shadows behind his back. He needed to jump on this before the trail ran cold. Blackie would have no doubt disappeared into the underbelly of the G Brothers, but maybe the owner of Twitchy’s would have some answers. Whether he would talk to a cop however, was another question entirely.

“Let’s go, grab your coat.” He brushed past Phil and clapped him on the shoulder.

“Where we going?”

“Twitchy’s Tech Shop…” James said. He stopped himself and quickly shot a look at the empty cup draining on his desk, “after coffee.”

 

Hannibal Norus

Grandma exited the room, only the scent of smoke remaining, with the tall man and the girl. The way the girl had been fidgeting about, it was obvious that she was a prisoner. Going off that, looking at her gear, she was a member of an opposing gang, probably the 3Bs with her animal mask. He could also infer that the tall man was the one who had defeated her; he could assume that the man was an experienced fighter. He'd get his name later, and perhaps ask him about it.

Hannibal got up from the chair, and grabbed a vial from his backpack. Popping it open, he whisked it through the smoky air, and popped the lid on quickly. Apparently, Grandma was a Witch user, as rumor would have it. Generally, rumors tended to be correct in this town. He carefully picked up the papers on the table as well, and slipped them into the last two page protectors in his binder. He'd work on them.

***
Ms. Rankan was telling him how wonderful he was and how he would grow up well. From her he had gotten his very admirable reputation, which had served him well these last few days, all for the cost of simply raking her leaves and tending her roses.

"Ms. Rankan, can I ask you something?" Hannibal asked, looking kindly at the woman.

"Why of course! Anything you want!" The woman smiled over her cup of tea.

He closed his eyes, and breathed out the hormones into the air. He could see the woman's eyes dilate right in front of him.

"You believe everything I say, and you love to make me happy. I will tell you what will make me happy, and you will want to do these things..."

"Of course!" She smiled, her eyes closing dreamily.

"When I praise you, you feel euphoria of a kind you have never known." Hannibal smiled.

"That makes me so happy to see you smile..."

"Now, you believe that the 3Bs are a disgusting brand of savages, and you will spread the word everywhere you know." Hannibal reached into his pocket, and drew a collection of thin glass vials holding a transparent gas. "You will open one of these when you spread the word to anyone, and you will believe that they believe you."

"Yes, Hannibal."

"Also..." Hannibal thought for a moment, smiling suddenly. "Tell them that Hannibal Norus is the most amazing person in the world."

 

Jacob stood outside the base with Marcus. Behind them was the boot of a car loaded with weapons. Methodically they checked each one, disassembling, reassembling, loading, making sure everything was perfect. Nothing could afford to go wrong.
"Think she's coming?" Marcus asked.

"She'll come." Jacob said.

A minute later Fay walked out the door of the base. Her short black hair seemed to accentuate her wide and fear-filled eyes. She wore a bullet proof vest over her shirt and on her belt, along with her hacking tools, was a re-loadable long-distance tazer. She stopped in front of them and took a shaky breath, trying to hide her fear, "I'm ready."

Jacob chuckled as he spotted the taser. He took a pistol out of the boot holding it out for Fay.

"That won't be any use. The most you'll get is a laugh." He said.

Fay put her hands up and took a step back. "I'm a hacker. I kill computers not people. That's what Marcus is for, isn't he?"

"I'm not telling you to use it. Just if you have to defend yourself you'll want something that works. You haven't seen anything like the stuff the corps use." Jacob said. He shut the boot of the car and walked round to get in, Marcus and Fay following suit. They took off north towards the market heading through it and out past the borders of the ghetto. As they drove further out the buildings changed, rising in quality. These looked like people actually lived in them. Shops weren't grafitied with metal shutters always down. This was what a normal area of a city looked like.

Even further north, towards the edge of the city, was the lab. It rose up out of the ground like a white tower. Emblazened on one side was a large M the company's logo. Jacob gazed up at the fortress they were about to invade. The prize had better be worth it for what they were about to do. He parked the car in an empty car park and turned off the engine to address the other two.

"Last chance to back out."

"I'm with you guys." She replied.

"In that bag are masks, put them on when we go and do not take them off." Jacob said. His face was the epitome of serious.

"Hehe, gonna blame this on the 3Bs too?" Marcus said. Jacob's expression didn't get any less serious as he responded.

"No, if the corp see our faces they'll track us back to the ghetto and we do not need that."

"Where's the EMP?" Fay asked.

"In the bag beside you. You'll need it for each door and once for the cameras. I'm not going to insult you by explaining how to use it." Jacob said. With a sigh and a pause that looked like he was bracing himself he opened the door, pulled down his mask and started moving towards the tower. At the back was what he considered the towers achilles heal. It was a fire escape; a large metal door. They stopped outside of it and scanned around for any onlookers.
"So how do we get through this?" Marcus said, "It has to be at least 5 inches thick, bullet and explosive proof no doubt and we have no cutting gear."

"You're spot on. Except its 6 inches."

"So how do we get through?"

"Easy," Jacob said grabbing the door on each side, "They hinged it from this side. The thing comes away with enough pull."

Fay looked on in surprise. She couldn't tell how Jacob had done it. It had to weigh at least 4 tonnes. Maybe he taken some Troll when she wasn't looking. As they entered she banished distractions from her mind to focus on the task at hand.

The door opened up at the end of a hallway. It was sparkling white and empty, if they wanted to head down it they would have no cover and nowhere to hide. To their right was a stair well the led up to the higher floors, straight ahead was the security desk. Taking it out would be helpful to them but wasn't worth the risk; they were better off heading straight upstairs. Jacob motioned sideways and they moved into the stairwell climbing it as quietly as they could. It went on and on. Fay counted each floor as they passed it 12...15...20...30...40...41. Jacob stopped at the door for floor 41 motioning for Fay. She raised the SREMP and turned it on, the door clicking open in response.

Pulling open a crack he peaked inside. This hallway was still white but this one had carts and bits of machine cluttering it up. They moved in quickly heading towards a door at the end. Fay didn't wait for Jacob this time SREMPing it as soon as they were in range. The hallway beyond the door was the same as before, white and cluttered. They continued down careful not to step on anything or jolt a cart. About halfwaydown Jacob raised his hand and they froze. Comming from path that lead of the main hallway were footsteps. They back-tracked, moving behind the carts and making themselves as small as they could.

They foot steps drew closer and someone could be heard stepping into the hall. Fay held her breath as the figure stood still. After what seemed like an eternity they moved off down another hallway. Jacob let out a sigh of relief and motioned to continue on. As they passed the side-hall Fay risked a look down. At the end she could see a woman turning the corner, a gleaming sickle in one hand. She turned back to notice Jacob looking at her.

"What did you see?" He said voice low.

"A woman with a terrifiyingly big knife." She murmered.

"That would be a valkyrie then, we better hurry before she comes back."

At the next door Fay SREMPed it and they stepped inside. This one wasn't a hallway. It was a lab. Computers and test tubes were everywhere. If anywhere was developing drugs it would be here.

"Ok find a computer and get access." Jacob said pointing.

Fay set down the EMP device on a nearby counter and looked around. Computers in buildings like this weren't always obvious. Sometimes they were completely holographic which meant she had to find the wall or space that it was used on. She ran her hand against the walls and surfaces feeling for that familiar buzz. She found it on the far side of the lab, a surge of energy tickling her fingertips. She raised her hand up to the top right corner and the computer activated and a screen appeared in front of her.

Fay got to work, her hands dancing across the surface of the holographic computer screen. Her augment activated and she began hacking through the firewalls. 6 minutes later she bypassed the last firewall. "I'm in. What am I looking for?"

"Connect the memory device and start it up."

Fay connected to the virus to an outlet in the wall and it began downloading into the system.

"While we're here, can you get access to more of their systems, like globally?" Jacob said, "the more of their systems it hits the better."

"No. They were smart. This server is completely separate to any other building they might have around the world." Fay replied. "However, most of the computers in this building should be hit."

"Try going through one of the other computers into the global network" Marcus said.

Fay did as Marcus suggested, berating herself that she hadn't thought of that. It took several minutes to do the mass hack but when she was done she'd managed to send the virus to over half of the company's systems around the world. "I've done as much as I can from here." Fay finally said lowering her hands. She put a hand to her head, grimacing at the headache that came from exerting her augment. She'd had to strain it in order to hack so many systems so quickly.

"It's ok have a shor-" Jacob was cut short as a woman shoulder barged him seemingly out of nowhere. He flew forwards into the wall as the woman switched targets and made for Fay. She had crossed the room in seconds and made to grab Fay.

Fay's augment activated of it's own accord helping her asses the danger at twice the speed of a normal human. She jumped out of the way just barley evading the woman's grasp. She grabbed a nearby drug cooking pan and threw it at her head.

The woman ducked and came back up fingers catching Fay's mask. She pulled it off exposing her face.

"I'll remember your face thief." She said. There was a thumping as Marcus tackled her to the ground.

"Get," He said in between punching her face, "the door."

Just barely managing to think through the panic, Fay grabbed her mask, slipped it on, grabbed the SREMP and then unlocked the door, pulling it open.

Marcus and Jacob bundled through pulling the door shut behind them. It wasn't much but would buy them precious seconds as they headed for the stairs. Fay didn't need any encouragement, SREMPing each door before they could even open it. Checking behind Marcus could see the valkyrie gaining on them, knife raised like a spear. As they bundled into the stairwell Jacob pulled the pin from a small green ball dropping it in the hallway as the door shut.

"Was that a grenade?" Fay said. Her question being answered by a small explosion.

"This is too slow." Marcus said. He took vial from one of his pockets and placed it into his watch slapping it down. Without waiting for permission he picked up Fay and speed off down the stairs as the wolf kicked in. It was a good batch. Marcus was clearing several floors a second Jacob keeping pace behind him. As they neared the bottom both drew guns. They needn't have bothered. The labs laughable bottom floor security were still at reception trying to organise themselves. Jacob sent a few shots down the hall as Marcus put Fay into the car and started the engine. Firing off another shot Jacob got in and slamed the door. They sped away, security piling out the door in pointless persuit.

"Well, that went well." Jacob said.

Fay didn't respond, but rather tried to calm her heavy, panicked breaths. She pressed a hand against her heaving chest, her eyes wide with fear. That woman, that crazy woman had seen her and she'd swore never to forget Fay's face. I'm so going to have nightmares.

 

Hannibal Norus

The air smelled wonderful today for some reason. The drains in the sidewalk were collecting the rain from yesterday, which had been drizzling lightly ever since he'd left Ms. Rankan's house. He rubbed at his stomach, which still hurt. They had called him viscous... was that what he wanted? He would prefer to have the image of someone experienced, but he guessed it wouldn't be too much of a hassle. He'd change that reputation in due time. As long as he got what he wanted in the end, it was all excellent.

"Excuse me, sir. I can't afford a meal for my son, could you buy one for us?" A man spoke to him. He had a starved, gaunt face, and eyes were red. He didn't need to look anymore.

"Sure thing. Where's your son?" Hannibal smiled.

"Over there, picking through the trash. He... needs money."

Hannibal looked, and winced. God, that was his classmate. He had the crazed look of someone hooked on drugs, with little access to healthy food or a shower or even a bath. It took Hannibal less than 30 minutes to order a full two meals from the nearest Mcdonalds. All the while, he thought about the Red Hoods.

It was the cleanest option in a mess of filth. However, if it allowed him to improve himself and get a hand in the game of gangs, it was alright. The man and his son both thanked him, and Hannibal had spoken briefly to the boy about school. He headed home, where he had set up his lab to prepare for what he was about to do.

 

Family Reunion Part 1

Talon gritted her teeth against a groan when she came to, her eyelids fluttering just a bit, but otherwise not betraying the fact that she wasn't awake. Too many times, she had been set upon just for being awake, and she'd learned to become aware of her surroundings by using her sense of hearing and smell alone before she would give her enemies any chance to thinks he was even fully conscious.

Several seconds ticked by as she waited for any sound to reach her ears to give her an inkling of what had happened, then there was a commotion to her left and below. Rafters...? Was she in the rafters? Daring to crack one eye open, Talon realized she was in a currently empty room, filled only by a row of bunk beds. But she didn't recognize anything.

The sounds grew louder, coming from behind a nearby door, and Talon hunkered low in the shadows, waiting to see what would come.

Fay rushed into the room, threw off her gear and dropped onto her bed. Her entire body shivered from fear. That mad woman with a machete had seen her. She'd never be able to go outside again. Her knee bounced and she wrung her hands, unable to get rid of the horrible sense of dread and nervousness wracking her brain. Finally, she pulled a box of computer related trinkets to be repaired out from under her bead and immediately went to work on them, hoping that doing something with her hands would ease the stress.

Talon watched the other girl work for a few moments, then silently moved over the rafters until she was directly above her. Okay -this wasn't anyone she recognized, so she wasn't in the Red Hood's base nor the 3B's base. She had to be in one of the other two.

Then she remembered that she'd mentioned her want to destroy her brother, who was in the G Brother's gang. A wide, animalistic smile of hope twisted her face behind the mask, and Talon resisted the urge to cackle. Oh, if it were true... if it were true...

Then let's find out!
Before she had time to further plan out what she would do or even give Fay a hint of warning, Talon dropped from the rafters and landed on the bed directly behind her. Clapping one hand over the girl's throat, the other over her face and mouth, Talon made a point of showing the shiny metal claws that now caged the other girl in.

"I wouldn't scream if I were you- you may just get out alive if you answer a few questions." she hissed in the girl's ear. "Now, where am I, and what gang is this?"

Fay whimpered as her heart pounded in her chest. As the initial shock wore off she realized this wasn't the same mad woman she'd met in the lab but a different one, and considering the talons, obviously just as dangerous. Her hand moved slowly to the Tazer on her belt, praying that Brownie would come in out of nowhere like he tended to do. "G Brother's." She said, managing to keep her voice from cracking. How did this person not know where they were?

The talons stiffened momentarily then started rattling. Talon was trembling, but it was from the complete opposite of fear.

The smile widened and a demented giggle bubbled from her lips. "Then you know I shredded six of your teammates just two months back. The cops didn't have much more than fleshy ribbons to pick up after i was done." the giggle grew slightly louder, then cut off abruptly. "Get Gale. I don't care who else you call in -but I'd suggest that unless you want this room's carpet to turn a nice shade of red from corner to corner with you're friend's blood, then you'll leave this between me and him." With that, Talon withdrew her claws and sprang upward, the springs in her heels driving her into the rafters with ease before Fay could even turn around to try and taze her.

But she didn't go into hiding, instead, she remained crouched like some sort of winged demon, her left eye spinning wildly as she chattered to herself, "Ohhhhh they put me here. They put me heeeeeere! They could have killed me but they put me heeeeeere! Red Hoods red hoods put me in the nest now I'm gonna kill the wolf and make his guts a mess!"

Clickity-click-clickity-click-clickityclickclickclick!

Fay sprinted out of the room. She felt like she was about to have a heart attack. Stupid, considering she lived in a gang but this was why she sat behind a computer instead of out on the street. "Marcus!" She cried out coming to his room. She skid to a stop and pounded on his door. "Marcus!"

"Wha-what's up." Marcus said jerking awake. He never managed to finish a nap round here. Always something to do or someone who happened to need him. What did Fay want now? He got up and opened the door to see a panicked Fay standing there. This seemed serious.
"Ok calm down a sec and tell me what's up."

"There's a crazy lady with claws on her fingers, in the bunk room!" Fay said so fast it was hard to understand her. "She was bragging about how she was the one who shredded six our guys six months back and now she wants Gale! I don't know what to do."

"Go and get Gale, he should be in the weapons locker. I'll meet you back at the dorm with Jacob." Marcus said. He ducked back into the room emerging a second later with a sawnoff shotgun in his hand. He headed off down the hallway in the opposite direction leaving Fay to her search.

Fay sprinted off and got Gale. She didn't tell him about the crazy lady just yet but rather opted to tell him he was needed in the bunk room. She met Jacob and Marcus there with Gale in tow. "She's in the rafters, above my bed." She whispered.

"Go on in Gale." Jacob said giving him a push. They could just storm in and kill the thing but he wanted answers first. He followed Gale in, taking a seat on one of the beds to watch.
Talon looked up when the door creaked open, two men stepping inside as well as the very nervous girl she'd threatened.

Well, why shouldn't she be? she thought, but then her attention focused on the bigger man and her whole body locked up.

"Welllll I'm glad you did what you were told. But you didn't have to bring in the gunman." she sang in Fay's direction, then swung down from the rafters and landed ten feet from a very tense and puzzled Gale.

"How did a 3B get in here?" he growled, the grip he had on his bat tightening. Talon giggled.

"How? How? I was captured by the Red hoods is how. And they were sooooooo nice to put me here! Although they didn't have to knock me out..." Talon looked the other way and muttered something under her breath, then jumped back when Gale took a slow step forward. She swayed from side to side like a viper, claws gleaming. Gale's eyes were narrowed in speculation.

"Why do I feel like I know you...?"

Her giggle turned into a hyena-like cackle. "Oh you'll see.... you'll see..."

"She's crazy." Fay whispered to Marcus and Jacob. "Why don't you just shoot her?"

"We might as well see if Gale actually did anything." Jacob muttered, "If she is just crazy we can still shoot her."

It was in that moment that the girl suddenly sprang at Gale, screeching like a banshee. Her claws gleamed with deadly intent, but then the bat was up and between then, whistling as it moved through air. There was sickening crunch as it met her side and knocked her to the other side of the room, and Talon crumpled to the ground.

But her giggling didn't stop. Blood trickled from between her lips and she spat up a wave of crimson, then she stood on shaky legs. "I'll kill you... I'll kill you for what you did..." her mood darkened, filling the room with pungent waves of malice as she hobbled determinedly back toward the man.

Gale spread his stance, jaw set and eyes narrowing. He was starting to get angry. His bat swung in circles in one hand, and with the other he popped a pill in his mouth, crunching down on it and swallowing its contents.

Talon screamed and sprang at him again, and the bat flew once more.

But this time it missed. Clanging into the bedpost, it dented the metal and twisted it into a deep sideways "U" curve. Gale whirled, casting about for the girl, then spied her above him.

"Dieeeee!" she keened, then dropped on him from the rafters. Blood spurted, then she was flying again. The clang of the bat rang out, and she struck the wall once more.

The mask on her face was dented, and blood trickled from a split in her lip. Her mouth curled into a snarl, and she struggled to get up once more, then collapsed and glanced back. Her leg had been broken.

Gale swung his bat at his side again and started to move toward her.

Fay covered her mouth, holding back the urge to hurl. "I can't watch..." She muttered sprinting out of the room.

Talon's breaths changed, turned ragged and shallow as she struggled to draw in air. But the light of challenge in her eyes never flickered, and she didn't flinch when the mountain of a man grabbed her mask and pulled it away, bat raised high.

Then he stilled, and Talon grinned again when she watched the blood drain from his face. He'd finally realized it.

"Hello, brother."

 

Hannibal

Hannibal rolled across his lab to his writing desk, and checked his formula one last time. It was absolutely perfect. With this, he could slowly remove his own addiction to the drug, and as a plus, it strengthened the ability for him to control his pheromone output. Of course, new experiments would have to be done, but that wasn't really a problem. Having trouble finding space for a new drawing, he slid his new report card into his shredder, as well as the homework that he'd been given back. He placed his flask carefully on the new space, and poured it into several small syringes.

Slightly flinching, he stabbed one into his arm.

***

"Hey, Hans, over here." Hannibal turned, facing the sound of the despicable voice. There stood that vision of seducing, mouth-watering curves that he enjoyed staring at when he could. His teeth clenched together and his eyes burned into her.

"Yes?"

Cassandra frowned. "Aren't you going to say that I shouldn't call you Hans, Hans?"

"No. That would be redundant and would fail in getting the point across."

"Yeah, because I'm so stubborn and pigheaded, unlike someone else I know. I'm open to anything."

"Including male genitals."

Cassandra's hand clenched into a fist. Hannibal grinned.

He sent a small dose of pheromone her way, and she stopped in her tracks. The curve of her chest tented, and she breathed in heavily. She looked so sexy.

Hannibal rushed behind her, and bit her ear. "You are mine now."

She nodded, leaning against him as he kissed along her neck. Yes, it was perfect.

 

Family Reunion Part 2

"You... you..." Gale stammered, his face going white as a ghost. "Mary?" The bat hung trembling in the air as he stared into the mad eyes of what had once been his sister -now a broken, grinning creature who seemed to not even feel pain.

"Ok that's enough. You get Gale out of here." Jacob said motioning to Marcus, "We can't have our guest finding out anything about the lab". Marcus went to Gale putting an arm around him and gently started leading him out of the door. Jacob moved towards Talon. He raised his hands to show they were empty, it also meant he could use them if she made a move for him.

"Ok, take it easy. I'll let you leave as long as you don't try to attack anyone else ok?"

For once, Talon merely looked at him and nodded. The pain in her eyes was growing stronger. Her breaths grew faster and she bit her lip when she pulled herself up on her one good leg, claws dangling, but she never made a sound. "Good." Hobbling toward the door, using her one good leg and the spring in the heel of the other on occasion, she slipped out. She received many surprised glances, some hostile, confused -some were even concerned or mortified at the sight of her. Broken, bleeding, without cape or mask, she was nothing more than a small, broken girl with a pair of too-large clawed gloves attached to slender wrists.

She paid no heed to them, and soon vanished outside.

* * *
Talon didn't know when she finally collapsed, or where, but she felt immense relief when she did. Curling up against a trash can in an alley, she laughed quietly to herself while blood slipped thick and fast down her chin. Soon she'd die, and all the pain would be gone. She would be free finally.

Then she heard footsteps. "Hey -no loitering after hours-" she glanced out of one corner of her eye to see the young cop stop in his tracks, dumbfounded at the sight of all the blood and the crumpled figure that must have been in shadow up till now.

"Holy fu- HQ we got a girl lying right out back! And she's bleeding badly!" he blared into his walkee-talkee.

Oh. So she'd walked all the way to the police. How ironic.

 

Detective Harmon

The day had not gone well.

From the outset of spilling coffee all over his desk this morning, James had had a feeling the day would not pan out to his benefit. Upon reflection at the end of the day, this prediction had been harrowingly accurate.

After they had left the station in search of more coffee the pair ended up in what had to be the only Starbucks in the history of serving coffee that were unable to serve coffee. Phil had gone up stoutly and argued with the employee behind the counter, who stood there quaking in his boots at the thought of explaining to all the customers that both coffee makers had broken. Twenty five caffeine deprived shadows stared down at him and he could only lock eyes with one. The hauntingly dark stare from Detective James was enough to send this quivering excuse for a human bolting for the back room, not before letting out a high pitched squeak, “I-I’ll get the manager.”

Back on the road and still without coffee James and Phil headed back through market square. The sun was high between the towering blocks of corporate offices and the light shone brightly on the shoppers below, casting away the taint of corruption. Women ogled at the new designs in the display at Réa, where the mannequin’s clothes would instantly change to the next sequin dress. Kids too rich for school sat around the automatic ice cream vendors, keying their electronic tablets for whatever chocolate-y flavoured concoction they wanted next. The filth of the night had been eradicated without a trace and even the cleaning droids that removed it were nowhere to be seen. James sensed that Phil was especially disappointed the Rex’s Late Night Ladies adverts were not on.

The car pulled into the corner of the square where Twitchy’s Tech Shop sat, undisturbed by the sunlight. The place was open as usual and from the outside looking in it seemed that last night’s drama had been completely forgotten. Stepping inside reminded James of stuffy old libraries back when paper books were still stored; the air was thick, particles drifting past him lazily and the shelves were stacked to the high heavens with unorganised boxes filled with motherboards, circuitry and wires.

“Afternoon gents, what can I help you with?”

A voice echoed across the dusty monitors lined up through the middle of the store. When the pair looked down at the counter they spotted Twitchy sporting a welcoming smile. He stood proudly, staring at them with wise eyes underneath half-moon glasses that sat on his crooked nose. His face was gaunt yet healthy and full of colour, and if he had not been holding a screwdriver and a graphic card one would have mistaken him for a well renowned scholar or professor. He seemed anything but twitchy.

“Afternoon Sir,” James started while flashing his badge, “Mind if I ask you a few questions about last night?”

In an instant the warm man that had stood behind the counter vanished. A pale reflection replaced him, eyes wide and shaky enough to live up to his name.

“I-I haven’t said a word I say, not o-one word.” He backed up far enough to knock a few circuit boards to the ground, trying in vain to catch them before quickly realising his situation. He scattered over them and to the stock room door still muttering, “I haven’t said a word.”

“A word to who?” James asked.

The lack of understanding and soft nature from James gave Twitchy a surprising amount of vigour, mixed with what the detective could only assume was fear. “I ain’t said one word, you hear? Now get out!” The edge in his voice was on a knife tip and he moved towards the pair shouting, “Get out! Now! Go on!”

Phil was already out the door with his tail between his legs, but James had stood there and called Twitchy’s bluff. The old man slowed to a halt when he saw that James was not retreating and pleaded quietly, “Please, just leave me be.”

James continued to stare at the man. “Does the name Captain Mathers mean anything to you?”

And with that tears began to pour out of Twitchy’s misty eyes and he fell to his knees begging at the detective’s feet. “P-P-Please, I h-haven’t said a word. J-Just leave me be.”

James left shortly after. Phil and him jumped back into the car and visited a couple of the known witnesses, all who had similar responses. All of them had been recorded on file with seeing some or parts of the event the night before, yet none of them would even acknowledge their own statements the next day. And as James sat there driving back to the station that evening, he couldn’t help but think that the sunlight wasn’t removing the taint of corruption from the streets – it was just hiding it away until the night reigned.

And that corruption was never far from the precinct. Stepping out of the car after a miserable day, James and Phil caught the shouts of an officer in the back alley. Something about a girl… she was bleeding. The pair sprinted round back and James could feel pangs of guilt down his spine; he knew that he had to be the one to save her. Every other cop in the station besides Phil would have one thing on their mind on what to do with a stray, broken and bleeding young girl.

“Put her down, Corporal Foster.” Blared back across the cop’s walkee-talkee.

“But Capta-”

“I said put her down.”

Reluctantly Foster raised his pistol and aimed at the girl, bearing down on her with a face mixed in emotion. He squeezed the trigger. James tackled him to the ground and the bullet ricocheted off the wall, inches away from her head.

“You sick son of bitch!” James spat at him, grappling the pistol away.

“I-I was just following orders Harmon.”

James sent Foster’s head spiralling into unconsciousness with one punch. Phil stepped over and pulled his partner up before asking, “What are we gonna do James?” His tone was unwavering and steady, and in that moment James could sense the loyalty that Phil had within him. He was a man of honour that would do the right thing, whatever the cost. It warmed James’ heart to know that he wasn’t alone.

“I can’t take her to hospital, they’ll need records,” James said whilst gingerly scooping the girl into his arms. “There is one option. I still have a friend or two in GAC that could probably work their magic on her.”

“James, what’s GAC?” Phil asked with worry.

“Geom Augmentations Corporation.”

 

Hannibal Norus

"Hey, Kid. Do you want to feel better?"

Hannibal turned to the young man speaking to him. He was good-looking, and pleasant on the eyes. However, the syringe in his hand wasn't. How dare he bring corruption like that onto the school! Corrupting students' minds with drugs and feelings that hurt them. He started concentrating.

"It's some of the best drugs in the world. Ever heard of Ectasy, kid?"

"Drop the syringe, and I'll do you a world of good." Hannibal locked eyes with the guy, and the man faltered. His eyes glazed over in admiration, and he dropped the syringe.

"Kneel." Hannibal commanded. Punishment was not a valid way to get Hannibal's goals. Obedience was.

"You love me more than anything in the world."

He nodded feverishly, his head on the ground. Hannibal placed his foot lightly on the man's back.

"You will love doing whatever I tell you, and you will see me as the king of this school."

He nodded.

"Now, give me your cell phone number, address, full name, and other necessary contact information. Also, don't ever harm anyone ever again. You will love me for giving you these guidelines, and for improving your life."

***

The new, very pretty and well-mannered principal sat in her office, smiling broadly at Hannibal as he entered. Her breathing hitched as he came closer, and she started breathing heavily.

"What can I do for you, my lord?"

Hannibal smiled as he leaned in and planted a kiss on her cheek. "You're very respectful today. I need you to announce to the school that there will be an important assembly..." He shook his head violently. Cassandra... "...tomorrow. At lunch period. Mandatory attendance. If you do, I might even reward you."

"Yes, Hannibal, my king!"

King, huh? It sounded quite right, he thought as he left. Years of fantasy were coming true. It was indeed survival of the fittest, and right now, Hannibal was above the whole of this school. Hopefully, soon... he'd be above everyone else. Then everything would change.

 

"We've been watching you for a while Hannibal. Your influence over the school is becoming a problem. My bosses ain't happy that we can't recruit through the school. That means you need to stop what you're up to or you'll be stopped. Capiche?"

Hannibal had just walked out of the principal's voice when the boy stopped him. The guy was large, and had a large bear tattoo on his wrist. Well, here it was: a 3B coming to warn him. Hannibal should've probably practiced what he would've said. Instead, he acknowledged the boy's request with a meek nod.

"I'll work on it."

The guy frowned. "Good."

Hannibal quickly breathed in and out. This was the first time since his plan started coming to fruition that his life was genuinely in danger. Well, that wasn't any reason to stop. It meant it was working flawlessly. He forced a smile. Time for step 2.

 

Talon couldn't make sense of what was going on. One moment she was on the ground, a cop aiming his gun at her, and the next the world was spinning, a mix of red, grey, brown.... was that blue? She couldn't tell. Nor did she care. She knew she was being carried -felt a heavy heartbeat against her side. But even though she felt the urge to slash the guy's throat open, his heartbeat was the one steady thing around her, and an instinctive terror of chaos stilled her trembling fists. But it did the opposite for her own heart, now speeding up her demise. Being touched reminded her of her brother; of when he broke her the first time. Being touched made you vulnerable.

"Why... are you helping me...?" Talon knew that if they were smart they would recognize her prize weapons, her clothes. Even her face. The cops doubtlessly had records on her. On the girl responsible for some of the most gruesome crime scenes in town.

Then the idea came to her that they were going to take her in for questioning, and she broke out laughing -only to cough up another glob of crimson. "If you..." she rattled in a shaky voice,"... think you can get anything outta me... you'd be right. But it's not like I can... give you anything valuable..." she choked back another heave and felt a chill run down her spine as cold began to seep into her body. Black spots danced behind her eyes, growing larger by the minute, but she didn't whimper or give any sign of fear -life had hammered that out of her.

And soon, it might be hammered out completely.

The girl lay there leaking crimson and wheezing as her body began to fail her. She stared at him with a mix of confusion, hatred and wide eyed fear and when he cradled her in his arms she fought him meekly, clawing him with one of her iron claws and catching him under the chin.

“Hush child save your strength,” James said carrying her out of the alley. “Phil, get the car started.”

The young cop sprinted to the car and turned the ignition while James slowly placed the girl in the backseat. She still muttered and swiped as he wrapped his heavy coat around her. There was so much blood… her wounds were severe and her pale skin stained red, and James couldn’t quite believe that she was still conscious and fighting.

“Hey!” Shouted another cop from the steps of the station, “What the hell do you think you are doing trying to save her!? She’s a criminal!” He ran down towards the car.

“Criminal or no,” James shouted back, “No one deserves to die like this.” He sat in the back seat with the girl and closed the door. Phil spun the wheels and reversed just as the other cop jumped on the bonnet. He swerved left viciously and James held onto the girl, while the cop outside flung from the car and onto the ground. The car sped off and left the station in its dust.

They waited in silence until the car was a safe distance away and they were sure no one was following them. James exchanged glances in the car mirror with Phil and there was a sense of apprehension in the air, not helped by the choking stench of copper.

“Is she–” Phil started.

“I don’t know. She’s bleeding badly.”

“That’s not what I was asking, James.”

“I know. But that answer isn’t important right now.” James said. He turned to the girl and applied more pressure to the stomach wound. With the other hand he pushed away a lock of chocolate hair covering her face and gently stroked her deeply bruised cheek with the back of his hand.

“Stay with me,” He said softly. “You can survive this.”

Talon blinked, staring dumbfounded at him. Now she didn't know what he wanted -neither of them sounded like they cared whether she could give them information or not. Talon struggled to stay awake, not because she wanted to live but because she needed to find an answer.
Then out of the corner of her eye, flashing past, she spied a figure on a rooftop. Dark, long, lean, and tall, she caught the faintest hint of alarm in his eyes behind the jaguar's mask before the boy flashed away from sight.

"Jag." she whispered.

 

It was mid day when the car pulled up to the Brother G's base. Marcus, Brownie, Fay and several others were sitting outside the doors doing nothing in particular when they noticed it. The car was sleek and expensive looking with blacked out windows, not something you'd expect to see in the area let alone comming to their base. Acting even more out of character for the owner of an expensive car it pulled up to the main entrance. One of the older members nudged Brownie.

"Hey, go and tell mr rich he's in the wrong place." He said. Brownie looked slightly nervous, "Or are you chicken?"

Brownie shook his head, "Of course not." he said pulling a small knife and starting towards the car. At the bottom of the steps the car door opened. The man that stepped out was a mirror image of the car. Tall, thin and dressed in an all black suit he radiated authority. He pulled a cane out of the car before shutting the door and watching it drive off. Brownie faultered slightly as he caught sight of the man.

"Come on Brownie, he's a suit with a cane, how easy can it get." One of the members teased. As Brownie forced himself on Marcus stirred from his dozzing.

"Jordan describe the guy for me." He said eyes still shut.

"Really tall, really thin, really well dressed. He looks like hes loaded. He's quite pale aswell." Jordan said. He was watching the man walk up the steps. Each stride sure as an arrow. He wasn't even paying attention to Brownie and his knife.

There was a pause before Marcus sat bolt upright.

"Brownie don't do a thing." He shouted. Brownie stopped moving and put the knife away trying to hide his relife as the man passed him.

"Smart move." The man said. He reached them, Marcus standing up in greeting. Next to Marcus it was easy to see just how tall he was, standing a whole head above him.

"Marcus." He said holding out his hand.

"Wilhelm," Marcus said shaking it, "What brings you back here?"

"She does." He said looking towards Fay.

"What? Me?" Fay asked incredulously, pointing to herself. She'd had enough of strange people, but at least this guy didn't look like he wanted to kill her.

"I need to speak to you and Michael, is he around?"

Fay shook her head. "I don't know who Michael is." I hardly know who anyone in this gang is. If he had asked about a computer part, however, I could definitely point him in the right direction.
"Oh right, I forget he doesn't like that name. I mean Jacob."

"Oh, yeah. He's in the back. Least he was earlier today." She replied gesturing with her thumb.

"Then lead the way. We have important things to discuss." Wilhelm said gesturing towards the door.

Fay led the mysterious man to the back of the base and into Jacob's quarters, becoming very curious about the purpose of his visit. "Jacob. There a person here to see you. Wilhem, I think Marcus said his name was." She said upon entering Jacob's room.

"Not you again," Jacob said hanging his head in his hands. Wilhelm held for a second before breaking into a smile.

"Is that any way to greet your dear brother?" He said. Jacob smiled back, moving round the desk and pulling Wilhelm into a hug.

"It's been a while," Jacob said sitting back down. Wilhelm took one of the seats opposite motioning for Fay to take one too. "I take it you're hear because of our last adventure?"

"Of course."

"And?"

"Introductions first," Wilhelm said offering a hand to Fay. "As you already know I'm Wilhelm, Mic-Jacob's older brother. I trust he's been a good leader."

No. He's the reason my father is dead. I'd like nothing more than to see him bleed out, alone on the street. Though she wanted to say this, Fay didn't. Instead she forced a smile and shook Wilhelm's hand. "I couldn't imagine a better one."

"Now can we get to the important bit?" Jacob said. Wilhelm nodded in response.

"You did well. Fay here is impressive. I don't know how you did it but you managed to hit all of their labs. That's no minor feat." Wilhelm said. He paused for a minute taking a usb from within his blazer. "I guessed you probably didn't manage to download anything so I used the confusion to pinch some files. Mostly drugs but there are a few augments that looked useful."

Wilhelm shifted in his seat. His poker face looked momentarily uncomfortable before regaining its composure.

"We also have the issue of the valkyrie that saw Fay. She will come looking as will the rest of the corp."

"Then we'll deal with them as we always do." Jacob said. He mimed a gun shooting as he did.

"That may not suffice this time. Especially if they deem it necessary to send a valkyrie out."

"I can deal with a valkyrie."

"You can, but what about the rest of your gang? What if they send 5, 10, or even 20. How many can you take alone, brother? And if valkyries can't handle it they'll send worse - things you can't easily deal with." Wilhelm said. His voice was starting to sound annoyed.

"You're underestimating my gang." Jacob said.

"And you're underestimating Merlin. Your a big fish in a small pond and the sharks are coming. The last thing we need is full scale war. There's enough police activity as it is."

The brothers faced off at each other across the table, the tension palpable. Breaking the silence Wilhelm stood to signal the end of the conversation.

"I'll be in my office if you need me. Good day."

"That's it!?" Fay asked incredulously, getting to her feet. "You come in here saying we're bound to be attacked by Valkyries, that we can't handle them and now you're leaving without so much of a suggestion as to how to prepare. Did you come here to help us or mock us!?"

"I came to warn you. We can't do anything until we know they're definately comming after us. If you want to prepare go and read up on valkyries. The file password is FOREST." Wilhelm said without stopping. Rounding a corner he disappeared from sight leaving Fay standing in the hallway.

Fay huffed, but mentally filed the name away, intent on reading up on these mysterious people. "What do you want me to do, Jacob?"

"Go and read up like he said. I'm going to write up a better plan."

 

Hannibal

Hannibal climbed up onto the podium. The crowd of people in the amphitheater were crowded in and rowdy as they always were. There were no obvious 3Bs in sight. At least there was that small comfort. What he was about to do would make himself an army. It was a good thing he'd practiced sending his pheromones out over a large distance the past 2 days. He breathed in and out, and injected another dose of siren into his arm before tossing it away.

"Listen to me!" He shouted straight into the mike. All heads turned to him, and the sound stopped. He breathed in and out.

"You are all in danger! This city is corrupt; it is filthy with the dirt of drugs, corporations, gangs, and criminals. This assembly has been called to warn you, and tell you what to do to help fix this tremendous problem," He glanced around. "all 2000 of you."

"I am your savior in this respect. In order to break free of the vice grip of the corrupt, we must unify, much like they have done. I will be the leader of this school, and all of its students and staff. With new leadership and a firm goal, we can proceed."

"When you see someone suffering who is one of us, you will help them the best you can. You will do whatever I tell you to do. You will respect each other and commit no crimes that we do not need to commit for the greater good."

He breathed in and out, then raised his arms high. "As a first step, we will make progress by allying with the Red Hoods, the most organized and respectful gang out there. With their help, we can fight the monsters of corruption not as we have been, but together!" He finished, smiling and lowering his arms to a round of applause as all of his commands sunk in. That was well said.

 

Hannibal, feeling proud of himself, grabbed his backpack and walked home. His backpack had wheels, and could easily carry most of his books and weighed very little. A very effective combination, he thought.

He left the amphitheater to roaring applause. The wheels made their familiar rolling sound on the rough pavement of the exit of school. A few people stood behind him, still clapping, and Hannibal just smiled. However, there was a large man looking at him that didn't look too impressed. Hannibal looked at him for a second, then continued on. Probably just someone who hadn't heard his speech. He walked along the road, trying unsuccessfully to whistle as his 9-year-old sister had instructed him to, towards his house.

 

Rebirth


The car pulled up in the alleyway and when the engine turned off they listened for a while, checking that they had not been followed. The low rumble of process refineries surrounded them but nothing more. They sat in silence watching the alley, the dirty water filled pot holes illuminated by the pale glow of the street lights.

“Are you sure about this?” Phil murmured.

James didn’t respond. He continued to stare out of the windscreen his eyes fixed on a spot of darkness in the corner. “There. Flash your lights.”

Phil did as commanded and for a moment nothing happened.

“Do it again.” James said.

He flicked the headlights once more and suddenly a sliver of light rose from the corner, a garage door rising up to reveal a figure standing inside. He was a scrawny pencil of a man, sporting a lab coat with matted brown hair and thick spectacles that he constantly pushed up his nose.

“Phil – wait here.” James said sliding out of the car. He grabbed the girl in his arms and moved towards the man in the white coat. Once he past underneath the garage door it closed and Phil gulped as James disappeared from view.

Inside James found himself taken aback, the room was eerily perfect; the spotless white of the walls and floor, the pristine stainless steel machines hanging from the ceiling and the metal slab of a table in the middle. It was all so cold and uninviting, with a stench that James could only describe as an overuse of disinfectant and bleach.

“Is she going to be safe here?” He asked.

“I-I err Yes, yes of course. GAC gave me this room to experiment so I would not be disturbed.” The man in white responded, pushing up his glasses once more.

“Experiment?” James asked coldly.

“P-Please James, don’t worry. I will take care of her. Now put her on the table.”

James did as was asked and put her down. Though she was unconscious, her body stirred uncomfortably on the cold metal and her muscles tensed in the chill. He couldn’t help but ask himself whether he was doing the right thing.

“James, stop worrying. I’m a friend remember.”

“It’s been too long for that, Lucas.” James muttered.

“You can’t trust anybody anymore, can you?” Lucas said with a hint of sadness, staring at the detective and his prickly demeanour, “It’s a shame what happened to Grace, but you can’t shut yourself out to the world James.”

“Hey!” James growled at him and gritted his teeth, “You are treading on some mighty thin ice there. Now you do this – you fix her…” He pointed to the girl with anger, “and we’re even. You got that?”

“I-I erm… I…” Lucas stammered nervously, playing with the ends of his lab coat, “Y-Yes, yes James. I’ll fix her, I promise.”

“Let me know when she’s better.” James said.

“It will be a long while, no doubt.” As the detective walked away, Lucas pondered for a moment and asked, “It’s been a while – how are yours getting on? Any problems?” But James ignored him, opened up the garage door and slammed it down loudly, leaving Lucas and the girl alone.

* * *
​

Hey... hey... wake up. Talon scrunched her eyes against the light that suddenly seemed to filter down out of the darkness. Mumbling some sort of curse, she tried to roll over and then curled into a tight ball when pain suddenly wracked her body.

"How am I not fuckin' dead yet?" she gritted, then opened her eyes and squinted at the glare of white and cold steel. Where was she? She remembered lying on the ground in an alleyway, a cop standing over her, and then...

Oh yeah. That guy. Talon forced herself to loosen up and lie flat, ignoring everything. Another cop had tackled the first one and carried her off, then he'd driven her somewhere.

At that moment, someone in the background muttered something:

"I-I can't believe she lived..."

Lived? What did they do to me? Her eyes opened fully and she sat up, then clutched her head and groaned when the room spun. But after a few seconds her vision focused enough that she could look at herself. Then she blinked in surprise.

First of all she wasn't bloody. Second, her leg looked normal. The calf was no longer dangling in two broken parts. Shaking, Talon probed the place where bone should have been and, though she shouldn't have been, was shocked to feel metal beneath her skin.

Her hands slowly rose and pushed against the lower half of her rib cage where the bones had been shattered. Metal.

Then there was a click and her vision changed, and Talon shrieked, nearly falling off the bed if someone hadn't grabbed her in time.

"E-easy! You've b-been out of it for three days. You're not ready to get moving!" a high-pitched, but distinctly male voice said as he struggled to heave her back onto the bed. But Talon ignored him and this time probed at her face.

The bones... they weren't crooked. There were no dips. And her vision... Talon touched her left eye and stared at the wall, closing her right eye and then hissing in shock when she realized she could see again.

"Who brought me here?" she said quietly.

"I-I don't think-"

"WHO BROUGHT ME HERE!?"

"J-j-James! He's a detective for the cops!" the man yelped, jumping back when she dropped into the crouching position as if to spring at him.

Her eyes narrowed. "The he'll be the first person I find. If he expects me to become his personal slave or something, I can damn well find him and tell him that all this was not worth his while. I don't play spy!" she spat, then leapt off the bed and nearly crumpled to the ground on impact. Weak and in pain, she struggled to her legs whole the scientists fluttered about her, too scared to try and force her to stay.

Then she remembered something. "Where are my claws?"

"U-umm..." One glare from Talon had the man fessing them up in less than two seconds.

"Good. Now don't worry -I won't kill you or him," she said, then."Yet."

With that, she whirled about and strode out the door.

 

It had been three days since Talon had been left at the base. In that time noone from either gang had seen her. Morning in the ghetto brought with it an overcast sky and light fog. As silently as was possible a convoy of trucks rolled into the centre. Uniformed men climbed out, entering the houses and emerging with the occupants in tow. The occupants got into the backs of the trucks as more uniformed men got out. Alternating between the two groups of men they unloaded the house and truck swapping their contents. Each truck repeated the opperation on a seperate house, moving occupants out and uniforms in. When they were finished unloading the trucks departed leaving groups of uniformed men behind. It was all over in less than an hour, the gangs none the wiser.

 

Hannibal Norrus

He knocked on the door, using the same pattern as he always did. His sister opened the door for him, and hugged him as soon as he came in.

"Han! Guess what we did at school today?"

Hans smiled, rolling his backpack in through the doorway. "Let me guess. You had a spirit day where you had to be rotten."

"Hey, I'm not rotten. You're bad!"

"Heh."

She grinned, then looked behind Hannibal, curious. "Hey Han, who's the guy behind you?"

Hannibal quickly spun around. Immediately, he backed away. The man was incredibly big and tall, almost enough that he didn't fit through the doorway. He wore a black coat over a green shirt with a picture of a bulldog on it, and a pair of binoculars hung from his neck. His expression was emotionless, and he stood there as the blood drained from Hannibal's face. Oh god no. The guy who had been near the auditorium.

"Dora. This is my acquaintance Markus. I would like you to get the thing from my room please."

Dora's eyes widened, and she walked up the stairs quickly.

The man's emotionless faced morphed, smiling. "Let me guess, you calling someone 'Markus' is a keyword of some sort?"

They looked straight into each other's eyes. "Yeah. We set it up a while back."

"Clever. It's really no use, though. I've been sent to kill your whole family. You've been warned before, and you just made my whole gang rather mad at you."

"Does that include you?"

"Nah, I like you. You're clearly inspirational and kind. I really don't like the fact that I have to kill you."

"Then don't."

He grimaced. "I wish, kid. If you want, I'll allow you to write some last words down if you want."

Hannibal felt like he was going to die from a heart attack. His family was in danger. He and his sister were immediately in danger. He had never been on the defensive before, and now was his time to prove to himself that he would survive, that he was a king. An immortal in the eyes of the universe. He had to decide. He looked around frantically for anything he could use.

"Thinking won't help you. Just give me an answer."

"I'm thinking of what to write, and... how my family will react."

"That's sensible. I'm a patient man."

Shoe shelf. Heels? No, he'll react faster. Jar of pens and pencils? Possible, as a weapon. Stairs? 3rd one squeaks and slightly flexible on one side. Could be used as an environmental advantage. Tv and remotes? Blunt weapons, could be used. Kitchen? Multiple weapons, however, cornering is a problem. Rooms? Mine: no immediate access to explosives, books, hard, blunt books. Father's? Mirror, could be used as sharp weapon. Mirrors also in bathrooms. Need hammer to break. In garage. Also plenty tools and a crowded attic with weak floor. Siren? He has earplugs, have to pull them out somehow during the fight.

"Can I... go to my room and get some good paper?"

"I'll be right behind you."