Buoyed by the warm air currents of summer and floating high in the night sky, Midnight watches the city that never sleeps, wondering whereabouts amid the sea of lights below all those she knew were moving. She shudders and feels uncomfortable in her own skin.
The night's events turned over and over in her mind. Frustrated and feeling uncomfortable in her own skin, she closes her eyes as she lets herself drop down towards the earth. Moments before her fall would take her smashing in to the asphalt, her pupil-less eyes flick open and she swoops in an arc that takes her back up to the top of her apartment block in the heart of the Theater district.
Shoving the apartment door closed behind her, she flicks her laptop on, and the melodic beats of EDM are soon saturating the small apartment. The ebb and flow of the beats crash around the few pieces of furniture scattered haphazardly across the wooden floor of the studio flat. Aimlessly pacing around, her mind torments her with recent examples of how she doesn't fit, can never fit, in to this alien world. Their words, imprecise yet staggeringly complex. Their recreational chemicals, unpredictable with her anatomy. Their social interactions, confusing and opaque.
She wants to go out, do something. But there's nothing to do, and nowhere to go. She sits in the only chair, head arced back over the top. Her skin itches as she stares at the ceiling, then she closes her eyes, finally succumbing to sleep, drowning in the music.
Akio bows deeply in reverence to Master Wu. "Master." His demeanor loosens then as he smiles at a friend. "The bruises are to remind me of what I must learn, I won't be so easily hit next time. It all pushed me forward onto the path the Dragon set me on." He looks down at his tattoo he seems to shift under his skin wanting to get out. "No matter the danger I was sent here for a reason, they didn't expect me to stay in the temple training. Out there is the real test, I can make a difference in this city. I've already started to unlock more of my power."
The old master nods sagely. That's as may be Akio. But the world is not the same as it was. Always there have been Spirits and Fates. But now the world is full of horrors and wonders that even the Dragon did not fully foresee.
I can see you are becoming. But you will never reach the destination if you don't be wary upon the journey. These allies you have made, they will need your wisdom.
Be careful, my son.
I'm over in the Baxter Building this morning so I won't be heading in to the office with you. That doesn't mean you can dump that smoothie in the trash and swap it out for a Grande Americano ok? she turns then, smiling sweetly. I caught some of that, you manage to mix anything that'll give you thicker skin? Sounds like you'll need it.
"The Baxter Building? Don't they have some think tank there? Ok, well, now I've promised the techs some doughnuts, so I better get going." He gives her a kiss on the cheek. "See you tonight, babe."
Lucas walks into the SHIELD building with two dozen doughnuts balanced in one hand. "Hey, Tara. You seen Charlie? Tell the boys in forensics that I've got breakfast in the break room."
Spore spends the entirety of the evening, night, and early morning on Trystt's computer, getting to know what there is to know about the 'special' residents of Earth.
'Probably should have done this a long time ago...' he muses.
He entertains himself by playing with Rocky until Trystt starts to stir, then wordlessly gets up and starts making two very different breakfasts for the two of them.
"Coffee?" he asks, when she ultimately rises.
The group comes back together over the course of the morning.
Eventually you all meet up in the break room where Lucas is already waiting with freshly brewed coffee and a variety of pastries.
After ten minutes or so, Agent Lopez arrives and says;
Angstrom wants to see you guys in his office.
Making your way through through the mirror-like tiled corridors you are struck again by how labyrinthine this office is. A few Agents greet you as you make your way through led by Agent Lopez. She leads you to Angsstrom's office and knocks briefly on the heavy wooden door before heading inside.
Like most of the SHIELD HQ, the underground office has no natural light and is brightly lit by overhead LED lighting. Angstrom sits behind his desk, a pair of computer screens to one side and a sea of paperwork across the rest of it. Sat opposite him is Sharon Carter, dressed in a smart grey suit, her blonde hair tied back neatly. Beside her is another woman, severe looking and wearing a white doctor's coat.
Thank you for coming. Angstrom says before briefly introducing you. Agent Carter you know of course, this is Agent Nils. She's our chief forensic technician.
Her team has been working on the van you brought in since late last night. Why don't you start by debriefing us on the events of last night, what took you to Metro Cab and what you found there?
"The Dragon chose me for a reason, this is a strange place but I just have to remember where I came from and I will keep those around me on the right path. As I said I have to help, with the skills I possess."
"I thank you for your words, with you and the other masters here I won't stay too far from my journey maybe I'll bring them to meet you one day, show them enlightenment's path. Now I have my chores and training before I must head out." He bows.
Akio goes about his chores and training putting in a few hours of sparring. Then heading out from the temple he puts on his hoodie and jogs to the SHEILD building.
Meeting up with the others in the breakroom, grabbing himself a glass of water and indulges in a plain donut. Nodding in thanks to Lucus.
Standing with the others he walks down the long halls ways to Angstrom office. Stepping forward he looks around and then start talking.
"Well we found a business card to the Metrocab offices at the crime scene where the man was kidnapped. The scene pointed to miss play and we made a new friend there, DareDevil showed up. We decided to go to the Metrocabs and stake it out, we also then decided to take a look inside at night where we found The Taskmaster and a large room full of cages."
And the dead guards, what happened there? Angstrom asks patiently.
He looks to the others and then back up taking the lead again.
"We didn't kill anyone. We worked very well in knocking them out even when they were firing bullets at us wanting to put us down for good."
He rolls his shoulder remembering how the bullet felt. "During our fighting with the Taskmaster we heard gun fire we assumed it was the security team attempting to get to us..." He pauses a moment after seeing all the dead bodys. "We only assume but, I think the Punisher was there he followed us in and clean up after us. We also think he got all the information we have off the van we brought in."
Angstrom pinches the bridge of his nose as if a terrible headache is developing.
The Punisher? Sharon exclaims, obviously the first she has heard of this news. Jesus Christ it's a wonder you weren't all killed. What the Hell was he doing there?
Well, perhaps we will never know. Dr Nils says with a look of distaste on her face. Most anything of forensic value from the van has either been compromised or destroyed completely since they drove it form the scene. My techs are going over the cab company but that will take some time and who knows how much of that will be of use.
Angstrom ignores this for a moment;
You mentioned the Devil of Hell's Kitchen. What does he have to do with this? What even is this? I've taken care of the police, there's nothing to worry about there. But evidence suggests that the Punisher killed Vanessa Fisk two weeks ago and now he may be responsible for another half a dozen deaths. I want to know who he going to war with and why.
Spore frowns at Angstrom's words. He'd hoped that SHIELD would make them feel better, or maybe prove them wrong. That didn't seem to be happening. "Hrm..." he muttered, not really sure where to go from here.
"Should we keep sticking our noses in things then-- it does seem to at least kick up some dust, so to say... if The Punisher is as good as everyone seems to think, if we don't at least try to find him before he strikes again, well, he probably won't get himself caught, is what I'm saying..." Spore says, slowly and methodically adding phrases to his long, thought-in-process, sentence.
You are closer to this than anyone so yes, you should pursue it. Whatever The Punisher is on to is definitely worthy of investigation if he's so ready to kill for it. It sounds like you have a lead with those addresses but nothing on the Punisher. Angstrom replies.
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Trystt stretches as she wakes, working out a few kinks. "Blech, no coffee for me, thanks."
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"We're not certain what all this is, outside of the kidnappings and it having the attention of some heavy hitters. We were planning on checking out the Staten Island address tonight. It's the most solid lead we have. Is that still the plan?"
Lucas nods impersonally to Agent Carter and then regards Agent Nils with a questioning look. Damn, were they that mad I dumped the van on them? As they recap the events, Lucas shakes his head.
"If the Punisher was there, he could have killed us easily. I'm not saying he's a good guy, but he recognizes that we might be. Or at least, we aren't worth punishing. Maybe that's enough of a truce for now."
"I took the van because it held the promise of further information as well as being a unassuming getaway vehicle. I was hoping we could learn something else from the computer system or any background on people who might have been inside it. We still don't know why Metrocab was kidnapping people or where those people are. I think Staten Island is worth looking into. I only hope the Punisher isn't following us, letting us stir up the nest and then picking out his targets."
Well we appreciate your being our sounding board Agent, it's good to know you are comfortable with our actions.
She takes a drink from her bottle of water as the others discuss around the topic.
You mentioned the Devil, all we can really say is we met him and shared some information, he doesn't want anyone getting hurt and wants the Punisher stopped too.
She sighs
I think the Staten Island address is our only lead at this stage,
unless Dr Nils' team can pull anything of use from the van or scene...
She turns to the doctor, who still has a look of distaste on her as she stares at the team.
If it's too much for your team to handle, we could always call in
someone else with the right skill set?
The words hang there in mid-air as Midnight stares blankly at the doctor, her expression and tone a complete deadpan...
Well we appreciate your being our sounding board Agent, it's good to know you are comfortable with our actions.
She takes a drink from her bottle of water as the others discuss around the topic.
You mentioned the Devil, all we can really say is we met him and shared some information, he doesn't want anyone getting hurt and wants the Punisher stopped too.
She sighs
I think the Staten Island address is our only lead at this stage,
unless Dr Nils' team can pull anything of use from the van or scene...She turns to the doctor, who still has a look of distaste on her as she stares at the team.
If it's too much for your team to handle, we could always call in
someone else with the right skill set?The words hang there in mid-air as Midnight stares blankly at the doctor, her expression and tone a complete deadpan...
Oh we have the right skillset Ms.... she looks lost for words as she realises she doesn't know who any of you are. But we can only work with what we have and the fact you were all fumbling about in that van means that hair, DNA, fibre transfer - all of that occurred. So now we have to sift through trying to separate what you left there and what was there before - possibly from victims of who-knows-what. That being the case, I'll need a sample from each of you. she adds flatly.
"We're sorry about the Van, it was just quick thinking we just wanted answers." He looks around at the others. "We will be heading to Staten Island tonight, hopefully before The Punisher can go there and deal with it himself."
"I don't have any hair to give you a sample I'm afraid." He smiles at the Doctor.
Saliva works just as well. Dr Nils says knowingly. You can stop by the forensics labs before you leave.
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Trystt doesn't flinch, knowing that her DNA has been collected, filed, and tested many times throughout the years by every agency that she had ever heard of, and some that she hadn't. They would show up sometimes at the group home, out of the blue, and put her through the indignity of another forced physical. When she was younger, she would fight tooth and nail. As she grew older, she realized that only led to being restrained in some small room while it happened anyway. And she does not like being restrained.
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All right, anything else? Angstrom asks, business like.
Midnight smiles at Dr Nils
I'm Miss Mezzanotte doctor, and glad to hear your team will be able to process the evidence at the highest of efficiency.
She tilts her head almost sideways at mention of hair and DNA
You'll also need samples from Taskmaster, as for me, if you don't already have samples on file then you can simply eliminate any non-human DNA you find. If you find more than one sample of non-human DNA then we can talk further.
"Yes, you said the Punisher killed Vanessa Fisk. Daredevil mentioned it too. Do we have any information on that killing? Wilson Fisk seems to be a force to be reckoned with. Could this all be related to that?"
"Yes, you said the Punisher killed Vanessa Fisk. Daredevil mentioned it too. Do we have any information on that killing? Wilson Fisk seems to be a force to be reckoned with. Could this all be related to that?"
Fisk is in Riker's Island. Sharon replies. But I don't think anyone would suggest that just because he is in prison means that he doesn't still have a hell of a reach out there.
Security at the prison has trebled in response to Vanessa Fisk's murder in fear of a breakout attempt. Fisk himself hospitalised his own lawyer when he broke the news about his wife. Whether that has anything to do with this or not, Punisher needs to watch his back.
Midnight smiles at Dr Nils
I'm Miss Mezzanotte doctor, and glad to hear your team will be able to process the evidence at the highest of efficiency.
She tilts her head almost sideways at mention of hair and DNA
You'll also need samples from Taskmaster, as for me, if you don't already have samples on file then you can simply eliminate any non-human DNA you find. If you find more than one sample of non-human DNA then we can talk further.
Dr Nils throws her hands up in the air in exasperation.
And this is exactly why the accords didn't go far enough. Reigning in the Avengers was the first step, how can we be sure of what we're dealing with when there is no effective registration and monitoring programme of visitors and super-powered individu....
Save it, Nils! Angstrom cuts her off in mid-stride. Not the place or the time.
He nods to the Doctor. "So be it, I'll make sure to stop by before we leave."
turning to Agent Carter. "This all comes down to The Punisher, there is a means to his madness. He clearly targets this Fisk. If we're to get to the bottom of all this, to stop all these killings we have to figure out why. Interrogation of the Taskmaster is one way. But our next step is to follow The Punisher and it seems he's headed for Staten Island, that place is going to be bad."
He sharply turns to the Doctor her outburst clearly aimed at certain people in the room.
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Trystt stares daggers at Doctor Nils. The slight breeze that surrounds her flares up and there is a noticeable static charge in the air. Trystt responds to Ebon in an icy cold tone. "You aren't likely to retrieve much from Taskmaster. From what I hear, his memory is a sieve. Some people are just dumb as a bag of rocks," she says, still glaring at Doctor Nils.
Spore watches the exchange soberly, staying mostly quiet, even as he sours on the Doctor.
"Heh, heh," he chuckles, as Trystt takes a less than subtle jab at the doctor. Satisfied that the conversation is over, he rips a large portion of one arm from his body, and using the other arm, tosses it messily on the Doctor's desk, where it writhes and squirms for a few seconds before coming to a rest.
As his arm starts regrowing, he turns his back on the agents, and begins to leave. "Sample for you. Bye, Doc."
Lucas looks at Doctor Nils and crosses his arms. "Angstrom, perhaps now is exactly the place and time. If she doesn't want to work with us on this, then we ought to get that understanding now."
"We should all register, Nils? Like get tattoos on our arms? What about Akio? He's a human weapon with his fists. How about Carter? She's a damn good shot, trained by her aunt. Maybe her genes need to be registered too. Who knows what next relative of hers will get a job here, or maybe we should monitor if she has kids." It was a cheap shot, but Lucas was annoyed.
"I'm assume I'm already registered with SHIELD. My wife though? The tech I use in the grenades is partially hers. Plus, you know, anyone who's that pretty ought to be locked up. But seriously, anyone with a PhD is an asset to this country. Let's register them too."
"You see, Nils, here's the rub. If the US government wants to register mutants and superheroes, then those that don't want to register will leave. Maybe we'll head to Brazil or Italy or England. Maybe we'll go to China, Russia, or Iran. If we're as dangerous as you think, do you want an Iranian special forces filled with super powers? I guarantee you some country is going to welcome us with open arms. And when that country feels threatened or slighted, they might just use the Hulk or the Thing or Iron Man to solve their problems."
Midnight opens her mouth, about to give the doctor a piece of her mind, when Lucas delivers a carefully thought out, articulate and meaningful dialogue on the subject.
Listening wholeheartedly, she let's go of her own need to contribute, she could only take away from what he's said. She settles for nodding as he finished and resting a hand on his shoulder in solidarity.
Lucas looks at Doctor Nils and crosses his arms. "Angstrom, perhaps now is exactly the place and time. If she doesn't want to work with us on this, then we ought to get that understanding now."
"We should all register, Nils? Like get tattoos on our arms? What about Akio? He's a human weapon with his fists. How about Carter? She's a damn good shot, trained by her aunt. Maybe her genes need to be registered too. Who knows what next relative of hers will get a job here, or maybe we should monitor if she has kids." It was a cheap shot, but Lucas was annoyed.
"I'm assume I'm already registered with SHIELD. My wife though? The tech I use in the grenades is partially hers. Plus, you know, anyone who's that pretty ought to be locked up. But seriously, anyone with a PhD is an asset to this country. Let's register them too."
"You see, Nils, here's the rub. If the US government wants to register mutants and superheroes, then those that don't want to register will leave. Maybe we'll head to Brazil or Italy or England. Maybe we'll go to China, Russia, or Iran. If we're as dangerous as you think, do you want an Iranian special forces filled with super powers? I guarantee you some country is going to welcome us with open arms. And when that country feels threatened or slighted, they might just use the Hulk or the Thing or Iron Man to solve their problems."
Those things may already exist! Dr Nils exclaims. Or perhaps worse there are groups who owe allegiance to no flag at all. What about Magneto and his Brotherhood of Mutants? Who are actively working against the interests of mankind. Are you trying to tell me that some kind of monitoring system based on sensible precautionary registration of identity and ability wouldn't help with that.
I have to have a licence as a private citizen to own a gun for Christ's sake and Akio there might be able to level this whole building for all I. For all anyone knows. This is no different the the government exercising control over the police, the military and intelligence agencies. We are in unprecedented times and if there's one thing Stark was right about it's that without accountability how do you tell heroes from villains? Right now we're living in the g0ddamned wild west except everyone has a nuke in their holster instead of .45.
Sharon shakes her head through Nil's response but seems unable to bite her tongue any longer.
With all due respect, doctor that's absolute bullsh!t. Even back in world war 2 the government were trying to control Steve's actions. Instead of fighting on the front line he was selling war bonds like some media puppet. It's only when he broke direct orders that he was able to go behind enemy lines and save over 200 men.
He was a hero before your grand-daddy was even born so don't sit there and tell me you can't tell him from a villain.
She is flushed with anger and her hands are gripping the arms of her chair so hard her knuckles turn white.
Whatever your personal feelings, Agent Carter, Captain America and his associates are fugitives and you'd do best to remember that. Angstrom says coolly.
"Ok I think we've had enough." Akio steps into the middle attempting to break up the fighting. "We've all had our say, everyone has an opinion but maybe now is not the time to get into all this."
He's shoulders slump. "I know what I can do, I would never think of myself any different from you lot. We are special, people don't like change but we have to be better than them. We have to show them how good we can be."
Lucas raises an eyebrow at Dr. Nils' outburst and then smiles a little at Carter's defense. So she does have a heart after all...
He speaks calmly, trying not to reignite the conversation. "Dr. Nils, you might be right about everybody having a nuke in their holster. All I'm saying is that registration could leave the US with an empty holster. Why drive us away, when we're willing to help?" He holds up his hands, trying to signal that he's finished.
"So maybe we all need a break. I'll do some research on this address on Staten Island, and maybe on some of the other addresses too. I'll be in the lab."
As the group stands and breaks up, a voice calls from behind you.
Sharon walks up quickly and says;
Listen, SHIELD really hasn't found it's feet after what happened at the Triskellion and after the Accords. But at least for now they have your back and you're clearly on to something big here.
Then she leans in and says;
If you see a situation pointed south, you can't just walk away. you wonder if she recognises the words of Steve Rogers in her own voice. Good luck out there.
Shift and Napalm revert to their technology skills and head to the computer lab to conduct research on the addresses pulled from the navigation system of the van.
It takes an hour or two to go through the list and pull up information on each.
The addresses all have several things in common, most notably that they are among the poorest areas of the city.
You cross-reference the addresses and find that all aside from the port in Staten Island are lined with a recent disappearance reported to the police.
Furthermore, each of the names listed as missing, each have an extensive criminal record.
Shift meanwhile focusses on the port.
It takes him a while but soon he is able to bring up a series of satellite images of the port. It soon becomes apparent that the area is absolutely vast given that the port handles shipping and cargo for much of the greater New York area.
Thousands of containers and dozens of individual buildings are scattered over an area of several acres.
However, of particular interest is a huge structure to the north of the area. It is a massive metal and concrete construction that spans much of the area adjoining the water to the north and has it's own dock and sub-port area.
After searching thoroughly, he can find no listed purpose, only that it was constructed in a very short space of time some 12 months ago.
Whatever this site, it has somehow secured a portion of the port for private use and like Metrocab, it isn't long before you are bogged down in yet another web of companies and subsidiaries, making it impossible to pin down to any named individuals.
Lucas confirms that all the other addresses are of missing persons. "Robert, look at these records. Everyone one of them has a long rap sheet. Either someone was removing them a la the Punisher, or perhaps they were taking people who they hopes society wouldn't notice were gone. Or at least they might be thankful."
He comes over to peer over Robert's shoulder at the images of the port and the run down of businesses. "It looks just like Metrocab. A web of proxy owners and subsidiaries crisscrossing the whole world. Whoever is behind this is good. But it also is similar enough to Metrocab, that I would guess it's the same owner behind both."
"I'll leave you to it, I'm going to go spend an hour in the gym. I'll only slow you down asking stupid questions."
Turning to the others not helping."Well while these two do all the hard work, anyone wishes to join me in the Gym for some basic style exercises? Better to be ready for tonight."
He then moves to the gym waves to Robert and Lucus. Getting there he strips down to his track pants and begins some basic warming up exercises a few front flips and back flips. His tattoo more prevalent now seeming to ripple every now and then.
"Gym sounds good to me," Spore rumbles, following Akio down the the mats. As the human limbers himself up, Spore watches in interest, though he doesn't try anything nearly as fancy.
"You pack quite the punch, Akio. I'm more suited to taking them, myself. Your kind doesn't regrow nearly as fast as mine, I've noticed. Comes in handy, especially with all the bullets flying about these last few days."
Finishing a quick warm up Akio sits in front of Spore crossed legged and begins a deep breathing exercise. "I've been trained to become a living weapon, every hour of every day was dedicated to my training. But this..." He looks around. "Then everything we did last night is so much more, training is only a substitute for the real thing. I'm learning to perfect my styles."
Looking up the large plant creature he nods. "I have seen some fascinating things and people in my time but Spore you really impress me. That healing really does come in handy." He flexes his shoulder where the bullet passed through a faint scar still shows. "Luckily I had Trystt to seal up my wounds for me."
You can't find any plans that detail access in the way you describe. There appears to be only the main entrance that is a heavy gate and what looks like two towers and the peer that protrudes from the rear of the building but is obviously completely surrounded by water.
The construction appears less an actual building, more a canopy or 'shell' that covers a huge area. As to the make up or purpose of any structures within, it is impossible to tell.
"Mmm, yes. Trystt is very good at what she does. I'm lucky she found me when I first got here. What I'd learned about Earth before I came here was helpful, but I can't imagine having got this far without her. Some people are not as 'nice' as the SHIELD folks, even Nils back there," Spore says, thinking back to some of his earliest interactions with humans who'd found him living in the park.
"But yes, Akio, I like how my body is growing on this planet," he continues. At Akio's confused look, he explains a bit more.
"My people, each of us grows 'differently' based on where we are, and how we interact with the environment there: the soil, the air, and so on. None of my people have been to Earth before though, that I know of. I think we'd do well here. The spirits here are... prominent, and strong. And that is good."
Akio continues to move slowly working through styles. "She seems like a very interesting girl. Its good to have friends like us, I can't say I know how you feel leaving your planet but I left my home to come here and it was such a shock just simple things as the roads and pavements."
He does a front flip dropping his leg down and spinning into a sweeping kick. "So your people believe in spirits? I follow the spirits of my people. My power is granted by a great dragon spirit, my chest tattoo symbolizes that."
Midnight joins Akio and Spore in the gym, just listening for a while as she sets up some metal cylinders to one side of the room as the men talk.
That's very interesting Spore, what a wonderful means to ensure genetic diversity among your species
She smiles in wonder until talk turns to matters of the spirits. Pursing her blue lips she shakes her head
I cannot speak for Spore, but my people are not spiritual like yours Akio, temporal power, rules, consequences, all these things that can be visualised and made real, that is the focus. Adherence to a code of conduct, honour, these things have worth. I must say though, your people have a freedom of thought I had never considered possible before. Did you know there are in the region of over four thousand two hundred faiths or belief systems in use around your world!?
She shakes her head in amazement
It is truly staggering how many put their trust in intangible things they cannot see or get feedback from...