Covergence

O-lan gently set down the unconscious Brahma Bulleyes, in the grass in front of the Academy sport center. More than likely, he would wake up in the morning, if not found by ground security first. She didn't know what else to do with her former teacher, and this place was as safe as she could think of right now. It was three in the morning, and there was still night time left enough to hunt down her target.

Heading back towards Kings Row, she thought about all that happened to Professor Young in the last year. Crippled, disfigured, and according to rumours, it was best that he stayed in the special suit they had made for him. The sight of him, without it, was ghastly at best. Why would he go to Kings Row, to get drunk and raise hell? Why did he say that he was home?

She had to return to that building, and look more closely into this. There must be a reason why the one and only Brahma Bullseye was there. Upon entering the district, she headed in the factory direction. All was quiet, aside from a few street bums huddling closely to fires made in trash cans. Entering the abandoned building again, she proceeded back to main factory hall, to stand where she did an hour ago. All was dark, only the sound of rats and wind disturbed papers could be heard. Then...

Bear Cat and Shadow-Step appeared on the ramp above her.

"Be quiet and follow me" said Bear Cat to his new recruit.

They entered the side corridor, disappearing in the darkness. She nimbly jumped up, to land quietly on the second floor balcony. She didn't know the big tall ugly one, but she sure did know the small, annoying one... Shadow_step, and he was supposed to be in jail. She should know, she helped arrest him almost a year ago. What was he doing out? She followed them down the corridor. Was this why the professor came here? To meet them?

The tall ugly guy spoke into a cell phone, one word. "Open"

The floor in front of him started to slide open, letting out a dim green light. They both started to climb down, what must've been stairs. She counted to three, and dove straight ahead for the floor panel, it was closing itself shut. Landing three feet in front of it, she tumbled on herself, and landed on the stairwell, the opening closing behind her. Crouching, waiting, looking around for surveillance equipment, she held her position for a few minutes, expecting guards, on the ugly tall guy, to come back and challenge her. There was sound, muffled, coming from down there. Then, she heard a cheer of voices. Proceeding down the stairs, more like a cat on the prowl, than anything else, O-lan did what she did best, she followed her instincts.

Bear Cat and Shadow-Step entered the underground storage area, which was transformed some time ago, into the Hunters of Apocalypse headquarters, and were greeted by about twenty people. Bear Cat nodded to a few, others saluted him, military style, while others, probably hired help, went about their business without even a glance in their direction.

"People, I'd like you meet Shadow-Step, our newest member." Said the strong willed, strong armed Bear Cat. The small crowd cheered their arrival, some shaking hands with Shadow-Step, which was a bit confused about this reception. Most of the faces he saw were gruff looking, hard as nail types.

"I don't care who you clowns might think you are, but Shadow-Step, you’re coming with me." said the feisty scrapper.

Shadow-Step turned around, to lay eyes on O-lan. Surprised, but also, very much still attracted to the female fighter, Shadow-Step put on his best smile while walking towards her. Bear Cat made a hand gesture to his troops to remain still.

That criminal dares to still believe there might be something between us... What a puppy... Thought O-lan, who flashed back her most charming smile. That's it, just a bit closer...

Shadow-Step stood in front of her, looking her up, appreciating the sight of female curves. It had been a while since he had seen a true woman, an equal in character. "Want to surrender now, honey?"

She looked over his shoulder, to the gathering troops around the big tall guy, then looked back at him, smiling softly. Bear Cat and his troops all let out a sympathetic breath of shared pain.

Sticking out from between Shadow-Step's legs, the protruding boot of O-lan had knocked his balls to smithereens so hard, that the sound still echoed in the room a few seconds after. Shadow, himself, was looking straight at O-lan, one eye twitching, the other one shedding a single tear, rolling down his cheek. He fell limp on the side, to the ground, curled up and throwing up.

"All right boys, it's party time..." Screamed O-lan as she jumped into the fray. Only to land her face on a huge fist that moved faster than she had anticipated. Bear Cat had just achieved what no one could in a century, he had punched her lights out. She was stopped in mid-air, and landed like a limp wet cat, at his feet.

Letting out a long breath, Bear Cat said : "Get the doctor."


News from a fiend...

Captain Gillis stood behind the corporal, both of them looking at a surveillance video of the Storm Palace. The Peregrine Island treaty that followed the Firebase Zulu war of last year, allowed for both parties the possibility of keeping an eye on each other. For the humans, that meant a stationary electronic spy satellite aimed at the palace, for the Rularuu, that meant a stationary Observer, looking constantly at them, floating a few miles from the base entrance into the shard. Gillis is in charge of the night shift security for the entire facility. When Corporal Jones called him, a few minutes ago, he actually had to exercise his memory, as to when that had happened before. The last time, was almost a year ago, when the fuse box for the surveillance building had gone on the fritz.

"Play it again, corporal." Said Captain Gillis

The monitor showed the always still picture of the Storm Palace. That picture hadn't change in almost a year, never moved. The Rularuu had not communicated once with the humans since the treaty, not a word from them. Then, the huge round shaped stornghold of the Host, seemed to cave in on itself for a second, not so much as to implode, but as if a circular pressure had been applied to it, making it compact itself.

"Rewind that part, sharpen it, and I want a frame by frame." Gillis said tensely.

They both looked at the images in slow motion, while the corporal digitally measured the shrinking effect on the huge structure. It was the first recorded event of any activity from the Rularuu. This was news of importance, even the general public would feast on it. The Host was still alive and kicking.

While they were both actively looking at the playback screen, an orderly called their attention to the live satellite feed screen. A whisp was flying towards the surveillance system, coming straight for it. All eyes in the room were glued to that screen, another sigh of activity from the Host. The flame being came to a stop in front of the camera eye, and said something, that no one understood, only one word, then turned itself about and headed back for the mother ship. Gillis's mind was racing, should he wake up the general, should he call in the heroes or should he evacuate the base.

"Get me that university professor that's been begging for months to explore the shard." Said Gillis, who recalled that this young man could actually understand some of their language. How, it was beyond him, but they had to use translators from both sides after the war, and this guy, actually followed a language class on basic rulaarite language. Maybe he would know what that flame thing came to say. The authorities had granted him access to the base, so he could study the Host. The live feed camera was still centered on the ship, still showing the whisp flying back to wards it.

"Prepare a recording for the nerd." Said Gillis to the corporal, who noded and executed the captain's orders. Minutes went by, nothing happening, but a sense on impending doom was lingering in the room. Then, the doors opened to let in two soldiers escorting a frail looking, glasses thick as bottles wearing, library rat type, still in his pajamas man.

"What's your name son?" Asked the captain to the young man.

"Raoul Beauregard sir, from ze university of Montreal. I am a student of archaelogy and also hold a teaching position in Paragon University as a forgotten language teacher." Said the geek looking man, with a strong french accent.

"Well, mr. Bawreaguard (badly mispronounced), can you translate this for us?" Asked Gillis, while gesturing for the corporal to start the playback.

"Bordel de merde, mais c'est quoi ce machin la?" Expressed the young man, while stepping closer to the screen. He was having his first look on a whisp, and didn't hide his schock. No one else in the room understood what he said, but they all recognized outraged surprise, when they heard it. The small man listened intently to the word the flame being spoke, asked for a playback, listened again, then turned to look at the captain.

"Ze word in itself could mean three things of different origins, and also, it could be interpreted differently, but, according to what we know of ze Rulaaru language, it means..." said Beauregard

'Sir!" cried the corporal, pointing at the live satellite feed camera.

The picture there showed a huge explosion on the upper right side of the Storm Palace. Flame gouging from it, must've reached the five hundred meters. The shockwave itself was being recorded by instruments, and the spikes on it were almost off the chart. The Storm Palace started to fall, like a sinking ship, rolling away from the picture.

"...Help"



News from a fiend: part II

That guy, will be singing soprano for a few days, and this one over there is a regen, she’ll be fine." said the doctor to Bear Cat, who had just walked in the infirmary to inquire about them.

"I sedated Shadow-Step, I doubt he'd be able to walk around without assistance, and more than likely, the pain in his pelvis would be unbearable." Continued the doctor, who was looking wonderingly at O-Lan.

"Something else you should see." Bear Cat always was a quiet one when the doctor spoke, reverence and respect, made him listen well to the old woman who had come to help them, about a year ago, when the Hunters were in dire need of a professional healer. She was not the most caring person in the world, but she was really good at patching his people up, and that's what counted the most, to get them back on their feet and out there. Almost seventy years old, she was a retired physician left homeless after the Ritki war, and who had dedicated her life to helping other homeless, the forgotten, as she called them.

"Look at this kid, Bear Cat, and tell me what you see." She stood next to Shadow-Step's bed and and brought down the sheet covering his chest.

"Well now, that's interesting." Replied Bear Cat.

Shadow-Step's chest was covered in scars, most of which had healed by themselves, no stitches. They criss-crossed his rib cage, arms, shoulders. Some looked deep enough to have cause major bleeding.

"Got any theory on these scars doctor?" Asked the leader of the Hunters

"The angle on some of the cuts, also notice the separation between the smaller ones, and here, if you look closely, the sharp, deep, cutting edge that left that long one from the clavicle to the solar plexus." She looked at Bear Cat, expecting him to put all of the facts together.

"This kid was almost killed by Tsoos, Bear Cat, and it's a wonder he survived at all. But more importantly" She grabbed Shadow-Step by the left shoulder and rolled him over to his right side. "Look at the back of his shoulder."

Bear Cat leaned over, looked where the doctor had indicated, then straightened up, flipped his cell phone open, pressed the call button and said

"Code red."

A second later, all the lights in the underground factory went from soft white to green.

"Doctor, is this thing active?"

"Yes, and I cannot remove it without killing the kid."

We need to know which frequency it's broadcasting on, there's only one other person who had such a device installed on him, Voyager, and that was just before they had banished him to Firebase Zulu. With it, the authorities could pinpoint his location and life signs." Was the city about to banish another person there? Has it been done more than once?

"Never heard of him, but what matters now, is that it cannot be removed without surgery, and even then, I would need a stasis scalpel to do it. There is only one scalpel of this type in the city, in PI Hospital."

"I'll see what can be done, thank you doctor." Bear Cat walked out of the infirmary more puzzled than anything else. He had reviewed extensively the "Voyager report", and knew almost all that could be known about the issue. But what if, what if, the city authorities had been banishing fallen heroes there, on a regular basis. Are there more of them roaming the Firebase Zulu grounds? Is there a clear and present danger accumulating itself over there? Could that forsaken place be considered the first real prison for super-powered beings?