Dreams and Pendulums

Living In the Shadows

2009-06-16T10:22:00.000-07:00

_________________Author's Note______________________

I originally started this story as a prequel to a longer story I plotted out. This story was to get to know my main character, who he was, what drives him, and what influenced him into becoming a "hero". This is a superhero story. I wanted to create a realistic type of superhero though. I didn't want green and half animal men. I wondered how could super people actually exist? I thought the brain. I thought of how little of it humans use, and even less we know about it. So what if a small percentage of the population is born with a massively increased brain usage, I wondered. Would some of those brains, maybe create faster ways for muscles to react, or configure muscles differently to make them capable of super strength. Maybe besides just super intellect, that some characters could get, maybe these brains would rearrange biological make ups, to make them more efficient. With this idea I saw a multitude of options to create natural superheroes. This was also, I thought, a good opportunity to not only study duality, what characters choose to do with their powers of super strength or super intellect. This was also a good chance to study cause and effect. The effects of someones environment and the people and circumstances of their life, and how this causes them to act in the future, especially with their own special gifts. This story is about a man who tries to ignore his gift, but is forced to change his neutral go with the flow life style. This story is about what influenced this man to become a superhero.

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Living In The Shadows

Everything seems to freeze in moments of extreme surprise or pressure. Supposedly this is because the human brain works at a faster rate than usual in these certain moments. Sort of a left over of evolution, from the times before civilization had formed. The effect happens so we can process more and react quicker. Its sort of like when you fall and everything seems to be progressing in slow motion. I read that somewhere once. Today I am experiencing it.

First there was a tapping on the window, like a sixteen year old throwing pebbles at his girlfriends window trying to get her attention while not waking the father. There is no sixteen year old girls living in this apartment though. Just Julius, my friend, and I, Alex. I walked over to the window and looked down into the dark and trash cluttered alley way below, but at this time of night and as inebriated as I was, I saw nothing. The window was old and had a tendency to stick, but I managed to jiggle it up, with a little effort. The window worked off an old rope and pulley system. The rope system for it broke, so I stuck the piece of scrap wood, that we used to hold it up, underneath it. Leaning out the window, I still couldn't make anything out below me out of the ordinary, just a dumpster, an old couch, and other stuff that stood in same place as if it was an oil painting. So I yelled, half expecting to see some kid running out, half expecting I was crazy. There was nothing though. Julius called me back over, It was my hit. That must be it I thought. I should cut back on the sticky icky, tomorrow that is, after all it was my hit. Sitting back down I roasted the bowl, and dammit the tapping came again. This time there was also a hissing sound though. The room filled with smoke but not from the wacky tobaccy. We didn't notice, at least until it was far to late. Apparently it had been some sort of smoke grenade or canister or something. There was no flash or bang, just the hissing from the sedative drugged gas. As if the liquor and weed weren't enough, the gas drug made everything seem hazy, as far as I can remember. Our heads began to pound. It felt like a walking drum that just kept coming closer and getting louder, to an illogical point. Julius later told me it sounded like thunder combined with a gong and timed to a metronome that seemed to accelerate at the rate of a sports car. Kneeling over we covered our ears at the perfect time to cover our mouths. Blinded by the noises we heard we failed to notice the shards of glass from window panes that flew around the room, indiscriminately cutting and scratching us and our things. Nor did we notice the men in black that acted as a catalyst for the shards of window that came crashing to the ground. As my body spazed on the ground, my eyes managed to catch the door to the apartment falling flat to the floor. More of the men in black came charging through the door-less hole in the wall. Surrounded it was at that moment, everything began to slow. The noises began to fade and the effects of the liquor and drugs began to wash away. Still on the floor, I began to slowly take in my surroundings, like waking in a place you have no idea how you got to. The pounding was almost gone by then. I realized their are only five of them, men in black. Their is an acronym on their chest, but everything was still somewhat blurry, either from their drugs or mine. Instinct had begun to take over. I know this because not only were they staring at me but I had also seemed to have gotten up one knee. The men are faceless, hiding behind their tinted goggles and ski masks. A man with a shot gun approached me. He pulled the butt of the shotgun back so he can hit me with it, but before I knew what happened......

Alex springs from his knee and before the agent can slam the butt of his gun down into Alex's temple, The agent is hit by Alex's elbow. The agents eyes begin to water as blood, gushing from his broken nose is soaked up by his cotton mask. A tall barrel chested man raises his assault rifle and a half second before he can pull the trigger, he is hit by the back of Alex's foot. With a loud thud the barrel chested man falls to the ground. A third agent grabs Alex's arms from behind as a fourth agent charges with a baton in his hand. Alex slammed his head back into the third agents head, and quickly ducked. The fourth agent with the baton accidentally cracked the already wounded third agent in the cheekbone forcefully. Alex jumps up from the ground and pulls the baton wielding agent towards himself as he simultaneously slams his knee into the agents gut. Alex slams his elbow down on the back of the baton wielding agents neck. Frozen in fear the final agent is hurled back through the window he came from. Alex picks his friend up on his back and dashes out the doorway into the night.

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"Don't worry I grabbed the weed" Alex joked. His friend Julius allowed a small chuckle to escape his lips as they sat on the pavement in a grimy alley way, relaxing against the tall run down red apartment buildings. Julius squinted at the brightness of the the high noon blue skies, that seemed to impossibly reach down into the shadows of the alleyway. Julius took a long slow drag off his cigarette, and held it just a little to long. He let the smoke crawl out his nostrils, and breathed out as if he was releasing his chi in some eastern meditation.

"When you brought me down here, did you drag me on my head? It feels like my skull exploded and was glued back together by a second grader with Elmer's glue." Julius painfully said. This time the chuckle escaped Alex's mouth. Julius continued to mumble, "I can't tell if I'm hung over or still drugged by those guys. Who were those jerks anyways?"

Alex began, letting out his own puff of smoke as he spoke. "Do you remember when I said I had a few warrants out? Well I may have understated that sentiment."

"Oh Really" Julius interjected. "At any rate, how did you learn to fight like that, and why aren't you crippled in pain like me?"

"When have you ever seen me with a hangover? I am not sure who those guys are though. I think they work for the government, but that's pretty much all I know. They have been chasing me ever since they took my father. Anyways it all goes back to my father, but that's a story for another time." Alex responded.

"Right... The daddy thing again. Alright you just got us attacked in my house, time for a therapy moment. Tell doctor Julius" Julius said as he stared at his cigarette butt for just a moment before he flicked it away, he hadn't realized it had gotten that close to the filter. He pulled out another one from the metal case in his shirt pocket and lit it. Enjoying that first drag taste, escaping from his injuries for the one silver of a moment.

"I was twelve when it happened. My dad was teaching me a sort of mixed style of martial arts. He worked so much that that was the only time we ever spent together. At the time I didn't understand, but looking back I can pick up on the signs of his regret and frustration. Maybe its just mine, infecting my memories, I don't know. Mom had died when I was young, so being raised by a maid didn't stick to well with me." Julius took a long look at Alex, not expecting this frankness. Alex wasn't really a feelings type of guy. He grabbed another cigarette out of the metal case and offered it Alex, who graciously accepted, while still off in his own dream like trance of reading out thoughts that had obviously crossed his mind a thousand times before. Alex just could not seem to get the lighter going. "Damn Wind". Alex continued, "Anyways one day, He was teaching me. It was the first chance I had to see him in a week. We had been practicing for a few hours or so. We had just took a break. I ran to grab a few waters for us. I turn around and men who look just like the men from last night were all over the living room." Julius looked at Alex's eyes they were straight ahead. He was in his own world now speaking thoughts in tranced daze. "There must have been ten times as many as last night though. They were silent getting in. I watched them fly across the room as my dad handled them. Our eyes locked for a flicker of a second. He paused for a moment, just long enough to tell me to run. In that fraction of a second pause agents swarmed him and he disappeared beneath a pile. I ran. He was never seen after the pile of agents in black engulfed him. I've been on the streets ever since. The past few years it was nice, I thought I had lost those agents or they forget about me or got a life. We started chilling, you know the rest of the story. Come on lets go grab something to eat." Alex said getting up. His shirt sticking to something that was probably nasty on the ground.

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"I hate that stuff", Alex spitefully remarked. He picked at his bacon and eggs and pushed them around the plate. The eggs seemed fake and rubbery, something between a commercial for fast food and a canines chew toy. The bacon was black and seemed to chip away at every touch. Alex always hated bacon anyways. On the bright side there was an English muffin the bared the same tenderness and color as the bacon. Alex didn't really feel hungry anyways, he was even less hungry when he saw the food.

"Oh come on, it wasn't that long ago you were spiking up too, remember?" Julius rhetorically spoke. Julius loved spiking up, it always woke you up, got you going again after a long night. Julius gobbled down his one pm breakfast, barely looking it. Julius was always a fan of uppers. "The perfect hangover cure, even if it is a government induced hangover. So what's the next move we can't go back to the house." Julius already had nearly finished his food, if you could call that food. That's what was good about drugs, you forgot about how terrible the food you ate was.

Julius slid a copy of the newspaper over to Alex, it had a small mention of a fire at the apartment they used to call their home. "Back to the streets for me, it looks like they burned our home. The government just trying covering their tracks. It says electrical fire, what a bunch of shit. So much for objective investigations. What I suggest is you get as far away from me as possible, and stay far away, you'll be a dead man walking otherwise." Alex replied. The diner was one of those fifties throwbacks, but with a quality of food that made most fast food places look like five star restaurants. If it wasn't so run down it would look out of place here in the city.

"Bull." Julius said flatly. " Where you go I go. Anyways those dudes were organized and serious. I try to start over again and I'll probably wake up in gitmo some day. Snot brothers till end. To the streets it is, we've been there before, time to go to the streets again." Julius eyed the waitress. She was young, and it had been while for him. He watched the seductive sway of her hips. She was you typical blond, must have been new to, she was wearing high heels. She will be icing her feet when she goes home.

Alex looked Julius in eye. He had to snap his fingers to steal Julius' eyes from the waitress. She wasn't even their waitress. "I appreciate that", Sincerely remarked Alex. He looked down again at the paper. He noticed a supposedly miracle magician in Las Vegas. Preformed illusions that should be impossible. Alex thought it must have been a puff piece. Those illusions always ended up being obvious when you saw them. Some guy named Baron DeMarlan, supposed to be the next Harry Houdini. The guy had a ridiculous mask, covered by beautiful Las Vegas girls standing next to him, and all that other glitzy and fake glamour Vegas stuff. Alex wondered if the guy sung "My Way" to.

"Quite the sensitive boy aren't you? Hey you gunna finish that?" Julius said as he was taking Alex's plate and scraping the food off of it. "So I know this place we can go. It an old abandoned school. It has one of those Fifties style bomb shelters underneath it, it may even still have some food, if the bums haven't gotten to it all. I tried to hide some food once, I always kept the place as a contingency plan in case I had some warrants out or something. I actually used to go there for high school, used to sneak down in the shelter and smoke between periods all the time.

"Sure go for it." Alex said watching Julius eat his food. Alex didn't care. They were snot brothers after all. A bond that only cold winter experience with a best friend could give. A bond that couldn't be broken. Julius had been with Alex through thick and thin, some of that thin coming now with their home being set ablaze and Alex being hunted. Not many would have stuck through all that. Alex knew he had a true friend, a rare one. One good enough to steal his hideous food. Alex figured he he would get some Caribbean rum for Julius, his favorite, in a show of appreciation.
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The night sky was dark, leaning towards black with a low visibility of stars and no moon. Standing on a black tiled floor speckled with white, as if the tiniest droplets of white paint had rained down on the floor, a man looked up into the darkness through the spherical glass. Surrounding the glass was more pitch black paint on the ceiling. The walls, however, stood in stark contrast with a bright purple coating of paint.

"Sir", A member of the government research program UNM-bdp, an acronym standing for Unnatural Man-Brain development and psychology, named Tom Anderson stated attempting to gain his superiors attention, "We've received news on--."

"Do you ever look at the night sky Tom?" The Man rhetorically interrupted. "It's amazing, you can spend your entire life looking into space and never find anything that makes a difference in everyday life. Only steps another generation can build upon long after your six feet deep. That's only so they can, in turn, do the same. We've sent men on the moon, and discovered it was a useless rock. Billions spent on putting men an uncomprehending distance away so we can little more than gain a slight bit of understanding to our home planet. That billions spent so in maybe a few more century's it will make difference, while today the families who worked and suffered for it only suffer more, as they attempt to negotiate their golden years and bargain with their imaginations of god. do you understand Mr. Anderson?"

"Sir, potential subject 647 has been located. We should move quickly if we are to apprehend him." Tom replied ignoring his superiors usual strange statement.

The man sighed, "Fucking bland government agents. Okay call the on-site surveillance teams to the projector room. Dispatch the five nearest equipped strike teams, and local visual and hearing aids."

"Of coarse, Sir" Tom dutifully replied.

"Oh and Mister Anderson, let's test my new robotic sentries too."

"But Sir, in the city? We haven't fully---"

"Mister Anderson! I should have thought you would have learned to trust in my judgment by now."

"Sorry Sir, I will do what you ask now." With that Tom went to notify and dispatch the proper agents.

The Man watched as Tom walked away. He hated everyone he worked with. All that yes sir, no sir, sir, sir, sir, sir, stuff. He couldn't wait until all these mindless drones were replaced with sentient robots. He was working on some designs. Hopefully they would be complete soon, but still not soon enough. The man had always loved tinkering with electronics. He was close to developing some revolutionary robots. working closely with his subjects, he was able to create the designs. The man was the head of a special division of the government to deal specifically with the cerebral abnormalities that led to certain individuals having super abilities. By detaining these subjects they have been able to learn a lot through experimentation. Hopefully one day the government will be able to either use these supermen for war, or be able to spread their abilities to regular soldiers, giving us the upper hand and limiting battlefield deaths, maybe even eliminate war itself. The government would become unchallenged and be able democratize the entire world, liquidizing all threats. The man admired the office building. It was large stone building with an over sized octagon sunroof. It reminded him of a mansion on the inside. The actual work stations were in an extensive underground basement. The above ground palatial building was largely just for show, except for the man's office. He enjoyed doing lots of his work in there. His office was in the far crevice of the mostly empty building. It was small but lavishly decorated. It had gold and purple wallpaper. The man enjoyed the gaudy appearances his chose for decorations. They made him feel more comfortable.
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In the basement beneath a majestic government research facility, labeled the Premier Laboratory for the development of Symbiotic White and Red Blood cells and binary functions, was a large rectangular room with a large oval table at the foot of a dozen rows of computers and a TV screen as large as semi-trailer. At the table were six leather chairs on each side and one chair at the head of the table facing the TV screen. nameless attendants sat at each computer terminal, each typing hundreds of words a minute in a seemingly random fashion. In chairs around the oval table sat important looking men wearing suits that cost thousands of dollars each. At the head of the table sat a man in stark contrast to the elegant men around the table and sweaty nameless men in white shirts and black ties. The man at the head of the table wore a golden suit that seemed to sparkle when your eyes were set on it, he also wore a red dress shirt underneath with a tie that matched his suit.

"Sir" a tall lanky man sitting at the oval table said. The beak nosed man had a badge pinned to his navy suit that clarified him as Abraham Adams, the director of on-location strike teams in the greater city area. "The strike teams are in place. The potential subjects are in an alley off the corner of 29th Street and Surveyor's Ave. We have two sniper teams positioned on roof tops at the North and East ends of the alley. The alley has four entrances, four commando teams will each take a different entrance. Short-Range teams will also be on the roofs of each apartment building in the alleyway. We've broken down each team to maximize the coverage area."

"Very good, and the surveillance teams, when will I have a video feed?" The man in the Golden suit asked.

"Sir" A small round man with a small round face answered. This man's badge identified him as Roland Lattuce the Organizer of Surveillance. "My teams are in route. They will arrive shortly. I have one ground audio team, one ground video team, and one aerial video team. The Audio team will drive around the block and position microphones, and then park and focus the equipment on the center of the alleyway. The video team will position their equipment in as many places as possible without being scene. The Aerial team will come in last and provide the best tactical footage."

"Acceptable. And as for my new toys?"

"Sir" A boyish looking man said. He had a crew cut and large framed thick glasses. His badge read Melvin Buzz head of the technicians department. "Eighteen Wheelers are parked near by containing your new prototypes Sir. Model Numbers A-32; GC-72; TR-10; and JD-88. They are awaiting activation on your call Sir."

"Excellent." The Man In Gold gleefully responded."I want my visuals and audios qued up as soon as possible. Do we have radio contact with the Short Range and Sniper Teams yet Mr. Adams?"

"Yes Sir" answered Abraham.

"I want their radio feed patched into our communications system now. I want to know what they know while Surveillance is being set up."

"Sir the feed is connecting and will be patched through in one minute." The head of Communications, an elderly man with a white beard and sunken eyes, Salvatore Messina.

"If the teams are already there, why am I now waiting to talk them Mr. Messina?" The Man in Gold Spitefully asked. "Perhaps you are getting slightly too old for your own good."

"Sorry, Sir. It will not happen again." Salvatore dolefully replied.

"I know Mr. Messina."

"Excuse me Sir," one of the nameless computer attendants spoke up from his terminal. "I have the feed ready for you, I uploaded one the codes I've written and cut down on the connection time."

"What is your name?"

"Jim Smith"

"I will be in contact with you Mister Smith" The man in gold responded as he opened the link to the speakerphone in the middle of the table with a remote control.

"Are the commanders of the Sniper and Short Range teams there?"

"Yes Sir", they responded in unison.

"Good, give me the rundown then"

"Sir the targets have set up patio furniture in the middle of the alley. The expendable seems to be preparing a rolled marijuana cigarette for them, they each are surrounded by bottles of hard alcohol. They seem lax and unaware. There is little in the ways of protection for them."

"Sir, my surveillance teams are set up and ready to begin transmitting." Interrupted Roland.

"Excellent Mr Lattuce." The Man in gold responded as picture feeds began broadcasting various pictures of the alley way. the sound street began to buzz from loud speakers. "Okay sniper teams I want you initialize the attack when i give the order. Afterwords I want you to play coverage of the exits. Short-Range teams after the snipers start the attack I want you to keep them in the middle until the ground teams can cut off all exits. As soon as I give the attack order, I want those test mech's in route, and ready to back up the troops."

"Yes Sir" rang out in unison from the intercom and men around the table.

"Snipers, Fire when ready."

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Shots began to ring out from the loudspeakers. Panic could be heard from the alley way. Bullets began to tear across the lounging subject of interest, also known as Alex. The disposable also known as Julius immediately hit the ground in a prone position. Alex grabbed him as they began to run towards an exit followed by the sniper fire. The man at the head of the table, while watching the screen, said, "This your cue Short Range Team." Before the sentence was finished a hail of gunfire cut off the subject and his friend from the exit. They scrambled back the other way, reaching the intersection and they were forced to turn to the side upon seeing the ground troops, dressed all in black charging towards them. Before moving too far, they realized they were surrounded. In one quick move, as the troops were closing in and with out a doubt those who were firing upon them had they're sights fixed, the subject grabbed a hold of the disposable. He threw him to the side of the alley, and watched as he rebounded off the panels of an open dumpster and fell inside with a thud that matched the sound of the lids falling shut.

"What are you waiting for ground troops get him!" the Man in gold said impatiently. The ground troops charged twice as fast. Four men were charging from each alley. "Short Range Teams, distract the subject". More shots began to ring out. The subject seemed unaffected from the barrage of specialized bullets intended to tranquilize the subject, Alex. As the men began to reach the subject the initial few agents were hit in cross fire. The next agent to reach the subject was tripped and immediately grabbed by an arm and a leg. As more agents got closer and the shots began to cease. The subject began to spin holding out the man he held captive knocking back agents closer to him. Agents were flung around the alley like rag dolls. The subject released his captive, and stared down the circle of six men around him. All at once the six men charged. The subject took two down using a simultaneous roundhouse kick to the head. Landing on a knee, He took another agent by surprise jamming his elbow into the sternum of the agent, following up with a swift chop to the side of the neck. Seemingly soaring through the air, the subjects knee imbeded itself in the face of another agent. Spinning around he blocked the batons held in both hands of another. Wrapping the agents arms, the subject forcefully head butted the man. "Christ, short range and snipers continue firing", the Man in Gold yelled. The other two agents were quickly cut down by friendly fire.

From the loud speaker came the voice of the subject, "That all you got?" Jumping six feet in the air The subject grabbed onto a fire escape ladder. He quickly scaled the ladder. The agents on the roof began to panic and fire. Alex slowly stalked up to them with standing the barrage of bullets. One agent backing up fell off the roof as the subject got closer. The agent fell down and was impaled by the umbrella of the patio furniture set up. Alex grabbed the other shocked agent and grabbing the gun pulling it to the side with his left hand, the subject punched the agent with his right hand. After throwing the gun down to the floor of the roof, Alex tossed the agent off the roof like he was flipping a penny into a wishing well.

Picking up the agents gun, he sprayed bullets towards the other three rooftops at the other agents. Once all of them were down, Alex hopped down off the roof. Landing on his feet, he went over to the dumpster that held his friend Julius. Opening the lid and grabbing his friend, he noticed more dark figures. Quickly slamming the lid down and sending Julius back into the trash, the subject was ready for more fighting. Three small helicopters, the A-32's, came from over head. It had a short fat body with four outstretched arms. Two on each side. One on each side contained a machine gun. The other two had small projectiles it could fire, and vacuum hands it could pick things up with through suction. Four robots that looked like obese men sitting on a large round ball, the TR-10's, and were each holding large automatic weapons. They flew up to the roof tops, with their short term flight, taking the place of the agents, blasting still living bodies off the roof in the process. Six large robots that looked like minotaurs from old world mythology, the GC-72's carry large automatic weapons of their own. Those robots began closing in from all sides. Four more robots, the JD-88's. One at each exit. They stood guard. Each held a large shield and large metal baton.

The subject muttered an obscenity. The six minotaur robots, the GC-72's, all charged at once. The TR-10's on the roof top began to fire. Alex ran towards one of the GC-72's and jumping into the air gave it a forceful kick to the chest with both feet, knocking it back. Hopping up in a flash, he grabbed the next GC-72 and lifted it straight up into the air, and threw it up at one of the three A-32 helicopters, causing a massive explosion, illuminating the city's night sky. The subject was then knocked down from behind. In the nick of time Alex managed to roll out of the way of the feet of one of the GC-72's. Grabbing one leg, the subject ripped it off. Using it like a baseball bat in the midst of a home run derby, the subject wildly swung at the remaining GC-72's knocking a few heads off along the way. Picking up two of the decapitated heads and wearing them as gloves, The subject boxed the rest of the GC-72's into submission. Discarding the gloves, Alex picked up a few of the robot corpses and threw them to the rooftops easily discarding of the bulky TR-10's. The A-32 helicopters hovered above him and rained down bullets and small explosives knocking the subject off his feet every time he tried to get up, but not trying to kill him, until they were out of ammo. It wasn't long before blood began to fly. Eventually lying on the ground in pain, Alex looked up to see he was surrounded by the four JD-88's. All of which began to rain down their nightsticks on the broken and bloodied man. Mysteriously one by one, the heads of the JD-88's began to explode. But as they're bodies kept moving, it was long before they're torsos exploded as well. The sniper fire had strangely stopped too. Taking advantage, Alex slowly and dazed got up. He staggeringly made his way over to the dumpster containing the expendable. The subject threw Julius over his back and made his was out of the alley. All surveillance teams were oddly unresponsive.

The Man in the Golden exclaimed, "Would someone like to explain to me exactly what the hell just happened?". The Man was fuming.
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Julius woke up in a shock. His head hurt, why did his head hurt? Oh yeah, he was repeatedly slammed into a dumpster by his supposed best friend. Julius looked over his surroundings. It was familiar. Dark and dusty. Cobb webs above, rats below, and other creepy crawlers to the left and to the right. This place was clearly long forgotten, except by the bums in the winter, apparently. There were charred rusty trash cans and old cots and couches littered around the area, even a few chairs. It was that type of furniture that people left out in their yards with the sign free on it, or maybe just dropped off on the side of the road if the free sign didn't work. You know the type that always seemed to smell bad, was missing cushions, and had holes and cigarette burns all over it. Julius spotted a bruised, bloody, and broken Alex sleeping on one of these pieces of disgusting refuge for the belly of the underworld that lived literally beneath the pretty and pristine world. This was where Julius had been talking about to Alex. The bomb shelter underneath the abandoned school. It was late spring, so the bums likely weren't around now, instead choosing park benches, where they might be able to scrounge a few dollars for food. Julius had hideout here before, once when he had a warrant out, but they ended up grabbing him when he went for cigarettes anyways. Julius took out his metal silver colored cigarette case and grabbed a smoke out of it. He lit it, taking in a deep breath of smoke as he tried to understand everything that had transpired in the past two days. His best friend turned out to be some sort of superman being hunted by the government. It was like something out of a bad work of fiction. Now they were here hiding out in this underground haven. It wasn't the best of circumstances, but Alex had saved Julius from some dire situations before. Like one time when Julius was in deep to a local gang, they wanted his head, but Alex took care of it from him. Alex never told him how, but Julius had a pretty good idea now. Julius grabbed an old can of beans that looked like it was from the fifties and probably contained some kind of old lead poisoning, and began to lit a fire in one of the trash cans. There was an old iron grate, from some old grill, Julius threw it on top of the trash can fire. Opening up the can of beans he put it on the grate to let it cook. Spotting another can on the other side of the room, Julius grabbed it off an old shelf. He threw it on the grate, so Alex could have some food too, when he woke up. Julius kept going over it in his head as he started to tip apart a cushion on the ground for pot/can holders. How was this all possible? Julius caught a look in the alley as they left before he passed out. He saw bodies of men and odd looking pieces of machinery strewn all about the alley way, it looked like a war zone. Julius doubted Alex grabbed the weed this time. How could he do all that fighting alone and survive, both times? This was all beginning to give Julius a headache. Julius found some old cheese in his pocket. He mixed it in with the beans and started eating pondering everything waiting for Alex to wake up.

Julius thought back over his friendship with Alex. They were always great friends from the first moment they met. They were both just poor pot head teenagers hanging around a mall made for consumers and loiterers, yet they went there mainly because it was the easiest way to find a way to get high. Someone else they both knew always had some weed, and they went off to a little point behind the mall to toke up. There in the shadows they....they....Julius paused in his thoughts. The shadows, he dwelled on the word for moment. It seemed like a good metaphor for their whole friendship. They spent the entire past few years living under the radar, in the alley ways, under bridges, in the forests out side of the city, and so on. Julius had only recently gotten the apartment from a friend actually. It was a fun time while it lasted, but getting older that teen age rebelliousness becomes stale rather quickly. Julius was trying to hang on to their youth more so than Alex. He liked the their youth, the running from the cops after stealing cigarettes from the local convenience store. Alex though seemed to be getting tired of it all. Wanting more from life. Julius remembered once when they were living in an alleyway between tall buildings hiding the sun from them...
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The man previously in the gold suit was adorned in a simple black silk dress shirt with a tie covered in diamond shapes, which themselves were alternatively colored black and blood red. The man looked like he should be at a funeral. To him it was appropriate though. He was in a funeral....of sorts, thanks to the massive destruction and mayhem in the alley way while he was trying to capture potential subject 647, an alleyway containing four well stocked apartment buildings. Apparently his superiors didn't contain the same amount of vision that he contained. Even further infuriating was the fact that all of the cybernetic prototypes had failed, except for the JD-88's who managed to keep going, despite losing their heads, even if there were ultimately mysteriously defeated.

"Mister Newton. I can't believe you would act with such wanton disregard for the public. You know how secret this project is! Furthermore sending out untested cybernetic units..." They weren't entirely untested Mr Newton thought to himself as his superior berated him. This was just their first time in the field, the government was always so short sighted Newton thought too himself. "Are you even listening to me?" The superior shouted, snapping Newton back into reality as he answered no to himself. "Your a loose cannon. You've lost it. You will pay for your actions. I will personally see to that." The superior was fuming. Newton expected smoke to start coming out of the mans ears.

"What would your father think?" The superior said calming down a bit. Newton thought, who is this guy, my mother?. "He was one of our highest regarded researchers in history. If his work wasn't secret, he would have been a national hero. Its hard to believe you are his son. You should be happy he wasn't alive for this. You are a disgrace." Newton felt like knocking his superiors teeth out after that last bit. Who the heck was this guy to talk about his father? " You never deserved to be appointed to the head of the UNM-bdp, and you proved it last night. You better enjoy our little talk right now, because it is your last few minutes as the head of the UNM-bdp, hell as a member of the government all together. You are black booked. You will never work in government again, and as far as were concerned you never did. You should be happy your getting off this light, and I will do my best to make sure worse times are ahead, hopefully jail time. You , a common researcher," Who was he to call me common, Newton asked himself, "like to pretend your a member of the military, having every one calling you Sir, I'll see if I can get you time in a military jail. I never wanted you appointed to this post and now I can say what I have been waiting to say for a long time. Your Fired. Now get out of my sight."

Newton gave him the middle finger as he walked out the door. He was happy to never answer to that ugly mug again. Newton hated being called by his name, he enjoyed it when the ants around him called him Sir and cowered in fear when they did it to. He was going to have to see who was going to come with him, because no way was he giving up on his baby UNM-bdp. This was his project, he grew it from the ground up. He created the cybernetics for the division. Designs that would probably be pillaged now that he was gone. No Newton wasn't done yet. His cybernetics, his employees, and his research subjects. They would all be his again and those who betrayed him inside of the government would fall to their knees and pray forgiveness. He, Newton, was the Mastermind and his new design would make them all cry in terror.
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Alex sat poking and prodding the beans in his tin can. He wasn't very hungry, but he knew he had to eat. He forced a sloppy bite down. It was like mush. He could feel it slowly slide down his throat like molasses or syrup. He kind of felt like spitting it back up. Alex saw a rat scurrying by his feet. He wondered if the rat would taste better. A smile crept across his face with that thought. Alex closed his eyes as another spoonful entered his mouth. He looked around at the decrepit surroundings. It reminded him of one of those basement caricatures or maybe abandoned haunted house from old cartoons(yeah that was it), when he was a kid. The place smelled musty and felt like an odd mixture of dust and stickiness. Alex winced as another bite tortured his taste buds. Seemingly out of no where, Alex slammed his foot down. He picked it up to see the crushed head of a rat underneath. Blood split on to the floor as brains stuck to his shoe. Alex said with a grin, "I just caught us lunch".

"Dude." Julius said in a grimacing 'what the hell' type of tone. "So how did you gain your, umn....well...ugh....powers, I guess?", Julius queried.

"Supposedly it has some thing to do with my brain. Apparently I was born with a greater usage of it or something like that, I am not exactly sure though." Alex answered picking at the brains on the bottom of his shoe with his fingernail.

"So that gave you super toughness?" Julius asked dumbfounded. Reaching for what turned out to be his empty pack cigarettes. Damn He really needed one to.

"I guess so I am not sure though, My dad used to say something like that. Alls I really know is the government has always hunted me." Alex said kicking the rat corpse to the side.

"Right so what kind of superman are you? Can you fly or teleport or something like that?" Julius asked hoping for some comic book stuff.

"That would be awesome, but no. I seem to have extreme awareness, resilience, and strength. I after a good nights rest, or a few nights, I seem to heal faster than others. My father trained me well in hand to hand combat, and short-range weapons, like sub-machine guns. " Alex took a moment, after speaking, to reflect on his past. His father. His only good memories before the alcohol helped him to just past time.

"That's crazy man." Julius stated, still trying to grasp the entire situation. He felt like he was some weird story.

"Oh and the super strength type thing, plus when I get into a dangerous fighting type mode all drug affects just seem to wash away and pure instinct takes over. That's part of what helped me back at the apartment when those government guys drugs didn't work on me." Alex said, not really sure how to classify everything.

"Really? Gee I couldn't tell when you keep slamming me into that dumpster back in the alley way." Julius snapped with a fake pissed of look on his face.

"Haha, yeah that was funny" Alex said genuinely laughing.

"Yeah don't say sorry or anything," Julius said with a grin, "Hey have you seen my cigarettes around anywhere?"

"Nope sorry man, I'm all out too."

Julius was dieing for a cigarette. He searched around their hobo house/hideout to no avail. He would pick up empty packs shakes them around, listening, feeling, to see if maybe there was that one forgotten one in their. He felt like a crackhead. To Julius cigarettes were a funny thing. Sure they're horrible for you. Sure they're terribly addictive to. When you can't get them you feel like tearing your hair, and don't even mind searching for that last cigg, even if there is only a one percent chance you'll find one. The thing about these moments, or just any general stressful, dire, or any moment of great concentration. Having a cigarette in these moments(nicotine induced or not), it was pure heaven. Its sort of one of those denial rationals, yeah, there was definitely twice as many reasons to quit, but that still doesn't change the feeling.

Alex watched Julius frantically search for even half a cigarette. It looked sort of pathetic from that outside, not to say the Alex himself wasn't guilty of the same thing some times. It was this type of thing that made him want to quit though. Cigarettes just seemed like they were part of some in the past teen rebellion thing. The whole I can do what I want even if it is bad for me mantra. Watching Julius run around like something in between a chicken with it head cut off and a parent looking for a missing child, it was just sad. From this moment on Alex was done, no more cigarettes.

"Hey, Julius what the hell? You can't leave. We know they're looking for me, and we can bet the house they're looking for you to. You can't go anywhere. A dumb little thing like cigarettes will get us caught." Alex said in that pissed off yet worried kind of way.

"Yeah, yeah your right. I'm just dieing for that sweet relaxation you get from a long slow drag off a cigg." Julius said taking a deep breath trying to calm himself down.

"Me too, just relax. Let's take a walk through some of the hallways, there's got to be something down here." Alex figured a walk would do Julius good, help him clear his mind.

As they walked and mindlessly chatted in attempts to ease Julius' mind, Alex got lost in his own thoughts. It seemed like every day was another day that Alex drifted away from his own personality of the past few years. Ever since he left home, his life was like a sea of drugs and alcohol. Now it like he was the wave crashing ashore. Alcohol had lost its voice, and the allure of drugs had faded with time. It all felt closer to inconvenience now. He used to love to live while getting high, the more that happened, that longer the span of time that went by, it felt likehe ended up just living to get high. It felt zombie like. Now watching Julius act like a zombie searching for cigarettes, it hit the message home. Alex felt he just turned the page and opened a new chapter in his life.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Julius took a long drag of his smoke. It felt good and relaxing, maybe even Zen like. He probably shouldn't have snuck out, but he needed a cigarette so damn bad. He almost felt like smoking two it felt so revitalizing. The adrenaline causing the blood to surge throughout his veins, he closed he eyes and took a moment to imagine the surge. He waited until Alex was well asleep. His recovery sleep put him out like a dead light bulb. Julius' heart pumped and pulsed as he snuck out, he could feel the reverberations all around his chest. As he reached the exit he had second thoughts. While he paused to think things over, it was like he was frozen in time. That moment was brief though, the call of addiction moved Julius' limbs for him, and pushed him through the exit back into the world, to hunt for just one cigarette.

As Julius sat on the sidewalk pavement, his back against an oriental restaurant, he continued to chain smoke. He stared across the street at the convience store he just bought cigarettes in. He watched the commotion inside as a few punks in ski masks robbed the store. There was so much crime in the city, and no one ever said or did anything about it. The police were useless and corrupt. Julius wasn't going to do anything either, just sit and smoke his cigarette and watch the store clerk get his face smashed in by the butt of a gun. Julius thought he could probably get a few more packs of cigarettes when the robbers were finished. He took another drag of his cigarette as he threw a can laying next to him, for no particular reason. He watched it bounce a few times, then roll to a stop.

The can only laid there for few seconds in peace before being crushed underneath the tire of a black SUV, with gold rims. Three giant men, that looked they belonged on the worlds strongest man contest, got out of the SUV. Quickly surrounding the still sitting Julius, "Come with us." One said in a thick Russian accent. "Sorry guys I don't swing that way" Julius quipped back. The three men seemed to growl, before roughly grabbing Julius and throwing him in the SUV. Squished in between two of the thugs, that were over sized for their purpose. The other Russian thug got into to drive. The man in the front passenger seat slowly turned around and lowered his gold glasses.

"Hi Julius, how are you today?" The man, also known as Albert Newton, the Mastermind, spoke in a smooth calming voice. The acoustics of his voice stood in stark contrasts to the three large menacing men surrounding Julius.

"What the hell man?" Julius shouted as the SUV peeled out, scrambling for any type of way out only to be held down by the bears next to him.

"Ha relax. I just need a simple easy thing from you." The Mastermind, still unknown to Julius, spoke in an unsettling serene manner.

"Let me out out of here. Who the hell are you man?" Julius again shouted, becoming very nervous. and wondering if he really did get that Russian girl pregnant.

"I just need you to tell me where Alex is." The Mastermind, staring Julius directly in the eye, as he sat in the SUV seat wearing a bright red suit, with a black under shirt.

"Your one of those Gov't guys huh?", Julius spit in the face of the man with gold glasses, "Screw you. I ain't telling you nothing."

"I was afraid of that. I mean look Julius, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. It's entirely up to you." The Mastermind took a gold pocket square out of his suit and used it to wipe his fore head.

Julius spit in the man's face again. "I guess it won't be the easy way" Julius said hoarsely.

"That's fine with me. I'm surprised you would choose to protect some freak, rather than live the rest of your life, but hey its your choice." The Mastermind said relaxed about to turn around and enjoy the rest of the ride.

"Its an easy one" Julius spit in the mans face one more time.

"Would you guys please stop him from doing that" The Mastermind said, finally a little annoyed, wiping his face yet again. The man to the left of Julius gave him a hard right handed punch. This caused a little bit of blood splattered on the man with gold glasses, The Mastermind grimaced. After that everything went dark, for Julius.
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Waking up, I found nothing but cob webs, empty bean cans, and rats. Julius was gone. I took a quick run around the bomb shelter/ basement, but he was gone. I only found homeless people, dead birds, and a rat painted gold. The bastard went out for smokes. Coming back to the old smelly burnt couch I slept on, I found a note on the floor. It said "Be back in Five minutes ~Julius~". I gave him the benefit of the doubt. I waited five minutes on the couch twiddling my thumbs. I paced around the musky rodent infested basement for another five minutes kicking what ever I saw on the floor. I sat down for another ten minutes watching the second hand on my watch. I spent eight more minutes deciding whether to go look for him or just keep waiting. I spent thirty seconds dashing out the door. I threw away my watch after that.

The tall corporate buildings shielded my eyes from the over bearing sun in the middle of a cloud less sky as I left the abandoned boarded up and fenced off school grounds. The buildings had bill boards on the side of them, one read Liquid Hydrogen Bomb, some new energy drink. Another read Titan Atlas, apparently a new action movie based on some cyborg limbed guy out in Seattle. I looked around at the city bustling and buzzing. People on side walks packed together like sardines in a can. A highway with cars blurring by on the horizon of a never ending traffic jam right in front me. I saw, beyond the motionless sea of cars jammed together, an Oriental restaurant. To the right of me was a convience store surrounded by cops. Taking a statement from the clerk inside. "Oh man dude probably got pinched by the cops again". I said as I kicked a flattened can on the ground as I walked by the Oriental shop trying to see if I could see Julius in the back of one of the two police cruisers. Things began to slow down again. Similar to back at the old house. I heard the whizzing sound , I turn my head slightly to see what it is. A missile gunning for my chest. Well, I thought, at least they made things harder. I side step the small missile and it explodes as it is impales it self in one the the cop's cars. I try to see what fired the missile and I see a giant twenty foot tall robot thing. It had bulky arms, a fat chest, small head, and six spider like legs. It was painted orange and blue. People were screaming and jumping out of their cars running in terror at this behemoth, even the cops were running away. Their always there to ticket you going six miles over the speed but when it hits the fan, they're no where to be found, I thought. The massive mechanized hit man fired three more small missile as it's legs crushed cars and street signs, I ran looking for cover anywhere. One missile hit a car in the the traffic jam, the second and third missile demolished a small building containing a lawyers office. I doubled back and dove behind the rubble that was a building seeking cover. Now I sit here behind the rubble. The robot is distracted as legions of cops and swat teams swarmed in efforts to neutralize the amazing menace. Bodies and cars are flying everywhere, smacking up against the third floor of a business building, or even just flying forty feet in the air and falling down again. I have to think quick, time is running out. This robot is clearly after me. From who though? The government wouldn't be this destructive coming after me, besides why would the government be fighting the government? Who else would be targeting me. A swat team member flying over my head broke my concentration, and him being impaled on a piece of metal put my thinking right back on the getting the hell out here track. I took a look out from behind the rubble, the cops force assembled to attack the mechanized menace were either running, dead, or dying. That's when I noticed someone in the cybernetic monster's third arm, which poked around from its back. It was Julius. Damn.

I had to act quick. Julius was clearly the decoy, but how can I save him without giving myself up? If I die, how can I ensure the safety of him? I hopped out from behind the rubble and ran behind an empty car stuck in what was a traffic jam. I am running toward some sort of giant behemoth of a robot with no plan, smart move I think to myself. I dash out from behind one car to another, slowly inching my way towards my mechanical assassin. Still wondering myself what I would do when I got to it. At this point the cybernetic basterd noticed me. It began firing bullets from a chain gun attached to the center of it's chest. I am running and dodging for my life now, bobbing and weaving between the cars that were strewn all over the street and side walks, some upside down, and also using those fat blue metal mail boxes and debris and rubble from the missiles that had been fired as cover. He trapped me behind a swat team truck on its side. The robot was toying with me now, he knew I couldn't get out, but he could easily blow it up with a missile to.I heard a big bang on the other side of the truck. It wasn't a missile, it sounded like something was thrown, but it couldn't have been very big, it didn't move the truck. I peaked out, and no shots. I slowly crept out, and nothing. The big hunk of wires metal that was trying to kill me was just standing there. Not doing anything. Did it break I wondered? I noticed the third hand was empty. I looked to my left, as I now stood on the other side of the swat van. I saw a limp body. It was Julius. I ran over to his life less body. I screamed at the top of my lungs as I held his head in my arms. My best friend is dead. A new vigor, a new type of adrenaline ran throughout my veins. I looked dead square at the mechanical man. Now I noticed a man seating in the bubble that stood in for the robots head. I was looking at what was soon to be a dead man. There was a lightening post lying on the ground. I picked it up and spun around a few times to gain momentum before hurling it at cybernetic monster. It hit square the in the chest seemingly damaging the chain gun. I just started running towards the machine and the man in its head. It responded by firing missiles, I flipped cars in their direction or used what ever else I could to deflect them and shield myself. I am coming near. The robotic monster raised up its arms as high as it could using force from all of its six legs it jumped in the air, and using all the force it could muster it pounded the ground, split seconds before the fists caused shock waves in the ground I saw the man in the bubble head. He was wearing a bright red suit with a black shirt. I remember him. The fists move a split second closer to the ground. He was there when my father was taken. He was the ring leader, I watched in hiding from across the street. Like ticks of a clock, the fists inch themselves closer to the ground. He took my father, He killed Julius. The fists hit the ground I jump in the air avoiding the earth quake like shock wave only for a pick up truck to bounce up from the ground and knock me down. My nose is now broken. I hurl the truck out from on top of me. I continue running towards the robotic basterd. He tries to kick with one leg, but I grab on. I start climbing up the leg, he tries to vigorously shake me off. I make it to his mid section. I start punching the metal until I can just rip it off. I find pretty sparkling wires underneath. I start digging my hands and ripping out handfuls of wire at a time, laughing hysterically, warm oil splashing over my face an body. One arm seemed to go limp. Then two of the legs in the back of mechanized monster went limb causing it to slide back unable to stabilize the weight. This caused me to go rolling down behind the monster. The body swung around repositioning it self, so the back was now the front. The one usable arm reached down and grabbed me just before I started tumbling down a leg. The hand squeezed like a vice, air escaping as quickly as my dreams of revenge. I tried to peel apart the grip on me, but it was impossible tight and the fingers seemed locked in. My breathes becoming shorter pressure on my insides increasing. The man is looking at me and smiling. The robot begins to walk, dragging two legs behind him, holding me in his one hand. Where are we going, why is he taking me, will my father be there? We pass over Julius' limp lifeless body, laying on the ground like a rag doll. I am losing hope. I was wrong he doesn't want me dead, he wants me alive and likely wishing I was dead. I am passing out....fading.....going....I feel a large shock....things go black......both me and the robot are on the ground.....things go black.....the bubble is cracked I don't see the man......things go black......I am picked up by an old man.....things go black......I see cops and the man in red in handcuffs....things go black...

______________________Epilogue_______________________________________________________

Alexander awoke in an old log cabin. Stretching feeling sore, battered, and bruised, Alex got up and walked around a little bit. He looked out of a large glass window. There were hilly forests as far as he could see. It was green. Alexander wasn't use to this living nearly his entire life in a major city. It was beautiful. Alexander had never been in a log cabin before, he didn't even know they still existed. The cabin was a mess, clothes were thrown all over the place, though there was a few cool deer and bear heads on the wall, he thought. "Hello?" Alex said, calling for any sign of life. He sat down in an over sized wooden rocking chair. A large doberman ran out and started barking, seemingly dreaming of ripping into Alex's flesh.

"Shut Up!" A shout came from around the corner. "Go lay down" the voice commanded as the dog followed orders. An old skinny man with long white hair, and a long white beard. The man was carrying some scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast on two plates. "Here you go" The man said handing over the plate. "I am Sir Frederich Issac Churchill. I knew your father. We were partners back in the day. He would be ashamed of your life right now." Churchill said sternly.

"Hey man what the hell? What happened to Julius? Wheres that man in red?" Alexander asked wondering what was going on.

"Julius is dead as diligence. The man in red is Albert Aristotle Newton. He was the head of part of the government that experimented on people like you and your father. He was fired when he attacked you in the alleyway with those robots, another place I had to save your ass. He was arrested by the cops after I saved your ass again. I am starting to regret the promise I made to look out for you to your father. Now here's how its going to go, your going to stay here. I am going to train you.". Churchill said in another stern way. Alex was just trying to make sense of everything. He didn't feel very hungry. Alex simply excused himself and went outside. As he softly closed the old squeaking door he stood in the shade of a mixture of the house and the trees. The fresh air filled his lungs, it almost tasted good compared to the city air. On the horizon he saw a see of green trees tops in a valley. As he stood by the house on a hill, he thought of Julius, his dead best friend. Looking in his pocket he found Julius' metal cigarette case. Wondering how he even got it, Alex tossed into the valley below as far as his arm would let him throw it. Alex did this in the way a friend tosses an item of remembrance or a favorite item to a person formerly animated now just lying in the best clothes in a coffin. Alex had not a body, nor a coffin, simply no means to hold a funeral for Julius. He only had a silver cigarette case and memories. Alex would one day avenge Julius, but today he would only remember him. A day for mock funerals and mock wakes and true mourning. This day in June the year 2000, as Julius died at the age of 20 years, This day would mark a death and rebirth.

Living In the Shadows

2009-04-09T17:18:00.000-07:00

Living In The Shadows

Spring of 2000 Alex and Julius age 19

Everything seems to freeze in moments of extreme surprise or pressure. Supposedly this is because the human brain works at a faster rate than usual in these certain moments. Sort of a left over of evolution, from the times before civilization had formed. The effect happens so we can process more and react quicker. Its sort of like when you fall and everything seems to be progressing in slow motion. I read that somewhere once. Today I am experiencing it.

First there was a tapping on the window, like a sixteen year old throwing pebbles at his girlfriends window trying to get her attention while not waking the father. There is no sixteen year old girls living in this apartment though. Just Julius, my friend, and I, Alex. I walked over to the window and looked down into the dark and trash cluttered alley way below, but at this time of night and as inebriated as I was, I saw nothing. The window was old and had a tendency to stick, but I managed to jiggle it up, with a little effort. The window worked off an old rope and pulley system. The rope system for it broke, so I stuck the piece of scrap wood, that we used to hold it up, underneath it. Leaning out the window, I still couldn't make anything out below me out of the ordinary, just a dumpster, an old couch, and other stuff that stood in same place as if it was an oil painting. So I yelled, half expecting to see some kid running out, half expecting I was crazy. There was nothing though. Julius called me back over, It was my hit. That must be it I thought. I should cut back on the sticky icky, tomorrow that is, after all it was my hit. Sitting back down I roasted the bowl, and dammit the tapping came again. This time there was also a hissing sound though. The room filled with smoke but not from the wacky tobaccy. We didn't notice, at least unitil it was far to late. Apparently it had been some sort of smoke grenade or canister or something. There was no flash or bang, just the hissing from the sedative drugged gas. As if the liquor and weed weren't enough, the gas drug made everything seem hazy, as far as I can remember. Our heads began to pound. It felt like a walking drum that just kept coming closer and getting louder, to an illogical point. Julius later told me it sounded like thunder combined with a gong and timed to a metronome that seemed to accelerate at the rate of a sports car. Kneeling over we covered our ears at the perfect time to cover our mouths. Blinded by the noises we heard we failed to notice the shards of glass from window panes that flew around the room, indiscriminately cutting and scratching us and our things. Nor did we notice the men in black that acted as a catalyst for the shards of window that came crashing to the ground. As my body spazed on the ground, my eyes managed to catch the door to the apartment falling flat to the floor. More of the men in black came charging through the doorless hole in the wall. Surrounded it was at that moment, everything began to slow. The noises began to fade and the effects of the liquor and drugs began to wash away. Still on the floor, I began to slowly take in my surroundings, like waking in a place you have no idea how you got to. The pounding was almost gone by then. I realized their are only five of them, men in black. Their is an acronym on their chest, but everything was still somewhat blurry, either from their drugs or mine. Instinct had begun to take over. I know this because not only were they staring at me but I had also seemed to have gotten up one knee. The men are faceless, hiding behind their tinted goggles and ski masks. A man with a shot gun approached me. He pulled the butt of the shotgun back so he can hit me with it, but before I knew what happened......

Alex springs from his knee and before the agent can slam the butt of his gun down into Alex's temple, The agent is hit by Alex's elbow. The agents eyes begin to water as blood, gushing from his broken nose is soaked up by his cotton mask. A tall barrel chested man raises his assault rifle and a half second before he can pull the trigger, he is hit by the back of Alex's foot. With a loud thud the barrel chested man falls to the ground. A third agent grabs Alex's arms from behind as a fourth agent charges with a baton in his hand. Alex slammed his head back into the third agents head, and quickly ducked. The fourth agent with the baton accidentally cracked the already wounded third agent in the cheekbone forcefully. Alex jumps up from the ground and pulls the baton wielding agent towards himself as he simultaneously slams his knee into the agents gut. Alex slams his elbow down on the back of the baton wielding agents neck. Frozen in fear the final agent is hurled back through the window he came from. Alex picks his friend up on his back and dashes out the doorway into the night.

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"Don't worry I grabbed the weed" Alex joked. His friend Julius allowed a small chuckle to escape his lips as they sat on the pavement in a grimy alley way, relaxing against the tall run down red apartment buildings. Julius squinted at the brightness of the the high noon blue skies, that seemed to impossibly reach down into the shadows of the alleyway. Julius took a long slow drag off his cigarette, and held it just a little to long. He let the smoke crawl out his nostrils, and breathed out as if he was releasing his chi in some eastern meditation.

"When you brought me down here, did you drag me on my head? It feels like my skull exploded and was glued back together by a second grader with elmers glue." Julius painfully said. This time the chuckle escaped Alex's mouth. Julius continued to mumble, "I can't tell if I'm hung over or still drugged by those guys. Who were those jerks anyways?"

Alex began, letting out his own puff of smoke as he spoke. "Do you remember when I said I had a few warrants out? Well I may have understated that sentiment."

"Oh Really" Julius interjected. "At any rate, how did you learn to fight like that, and why aren't you crippled in pain like me?"

"When have you ever seen me with a hangover? I am not sure who those guys are though. I think they work for the government, but that's pretty much all I know. They have been chasing me ever since they took my father. Anyways it all goes back to my father, but that's a story for another time." Alex responded.

"Right... The daddy thing again. Alright you just got us attacked in my house, time for a therapy moment. Tell doctor Julius" Julius said flicking his cigarette away, he hadn't realized it had gotten that close to the filter. He stared at for a moment before he flicked it away. He pulled out another one from the metal case in his shirt pocket and lit it. Enjoying that first drag taste, escaping from his injuries for the one silver of a moment.

"I was twelve when it happened. My dad was teaching me a sort of mixed style of martial arts. He worked so much that that was the only time we ever spent together. At the time I didn't understand, but looking back I can pick up on the signs of his regret and frustration. Maybe its just mine, infecting my memories, I don't know. Mom had died when I was young, so being raised by a maid didn't stick to well with me." Julius took a long look at Alex, not expecting this frankness. Alex wasn't really a feelings type of guy. He grabbed another cigarette out of the metal case and offered it Alex, who graciously accepted, while still off in his own dream like trance of reading out thoughts that had obviously crossed his mind a thousand times before. Alex just could not seem to get the lighter going. "Damn Wind". Alex continued, "Anyways one day, He was teaching me. It was the first chance I had to see him in a week. We had been practicing for a few hours or so. We had just took a break. I ran to grab a few waters for us. I turn around and men who look just like the men from last night were all over the living room." Julius looked at Alex's eyes they were straight ahead. He was in his own world now speaking thoughts in tranced daze. "There must have been ten times as many as last night though. They were silent getting in. I watched them fly across the room as my dad handled them. Our eyes locked for a flicker of a second. He paused for a moment, just long enough to tell me to run. In that fraction of a second pause agents swarmed him and he disappeared beneath a pile. I ran. He was never seen after the pile of agents in black engulfed him. I've been on the streets ever since. The past few years it was nice, I thought I had lost those agents or they forget about me or something. We started chilling, you know the rest of the story. Come on lets go grab something to eat." Alex said getting up. His shirt sticking to something that was probably nasty on the ground.

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"I hate that stuff", Alex spitefully remarked. He picked at his bacon and eggs and pushed them around the plate. The eggs seemed fake and rubbery, something between a commercial for fast food and a canines chew toy. The bacon was black and seemed to chip away at every touch. Alex always hated bacon anyways. On the bright side there was an english muffin the bared the same tenderness and color as the bacon. Alex didn't really feel hungry anyways, he was even less hungry when he saw the food.

"Oh come on, it wasn't that long ago you were spiking up too, remember?" Julius rhetorically spoke. Julius loved spiking up, it always woke you up, got you going again after a long night. Julius gobbled down his one pm breakfast, barely looking it. Julius was always a fan of uppers. "The perfect hangover cure, even if it is a government induced hangover. So what's the next move we can't go back to the house." Julius already had nearly finished his food, if you could call that food. That's what was good about drugs, you forgot about how terrible the food you ate was.

Julius slid a copy of the newspaper over to Alex, it had a small mention of a fire at the apartment they used to call their home. There was a bigger fire out in Seattle that took up most of the main page, some guy lost his family and the use of his limbs it seems. "Back to the streets for me, it looks like they burned our home. Have to love the government, always covering their tracks. It says electrical fire, what a bill of goods. So much for objective investigations. What I suggest is you get as far away from me as possible, and stay far away, you'll be a dead man walking otherwise." Alex replied. The diner was one of those fifties throwbacks, but with a quality of food that made most fast food places look like five star restaurants. If it wasn't so run down it would look out of place here in the city.

"Bull." Julius said flatly. " Where you go I go. Anyways those dudes were organized and serious. I try to start over again and I'll probably wake up in gitmo some day. Snot brothers till end. To the streets it is, we've been there before, time to go to the streets again." Julius eyed the waitress. She was young, and it had been while for him. He watched the seductive sway of her hips. She was you typical blond, must have been new to, she was wearing high heels. She will be icing her feet when she goes home.

Alex looked Julius in eye. He had to snap his fingers to steal Julius' eyes from the waitress. She wasn't even their waitress. "I appreciate that", Sincerely remarked Alex. He looked down again at the paper. He noticed a supposedly miracle magician in Las Vegas. Preformed illusions that should be impossible. Alex thought it must have been a puff piece. Those illusions always ended up being obvious when you saw them. Some guy named Baron DeMarlan, supposed to be the next Harry Houdini. The guy had a ridiculous mask, covered by beautiful Las Vegas girls, and all that other Vegas stuff. Alex wondered if the guy sung "My Way" to.

"Quite the sensitive boy aren't you? Hey you gunna finish that?" Julius said as he was taking Alex's plate and scraping the food off of it. "So I know this place we can go. It an old abandoned school. It has one of those Fifties style bomb shelters underneath it, it may even still have some food, if the bums haven't gotten to it all. I tried to hide some food once, I always kept the place as a contingency plan in case I had some warrants out or something. I actually used to go there for high school, used to sneak down in the shelter and smoke between periods all the time.

"Sure go for it." Alex said watching Julius eat his food. Alex didn't care. They were snot brothers after all. A bond that only cold winter experience with a best friend could give. A bond that couldn't be broken. Julius had been with Alex through tick and thin, some of that thin coming now with their home being set ablaze and Alex being hunted. Not many would have stuck through all that. Alex knew he had a true friend, a rare one. One good enough to steal his hideous food. Alex figured he he would get some Caribbean rum for Julius, his favorite, in a show of appreciation.
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The night sky was dark, leaning towards black with a low visibility of stars and no moon. Standing on a black tiled floor speckled with white, as if the tiniest droplets of white paint had rained down on the floor, a man looked up into the darkness through the spherical glass. Surrounding the glass was more pitch black paint on the ceiling. The walls, however, stood in stark contrast with a bright purple coating of paint.

"Sir", An officer of the government research program UNM-bdp, an acronym standing for Unnatural Man-Brain development and psychology, named Tom Anderson stated attempting to gain his superiors attention, "We've received news on--."

"Do you ever look at the night sky Tom?" The Man rhetorically interrupted. "It's amazing, you can spend your entire life looking into space and never find anything that makes a difference in everyday life. Only steps another generation can build upon long after your six feet deep. Thats only so they can, in turn, do the same. We've sent men on the moon, and discovered it was a useless rock. Billions spent on putting men an uncomprehending distance away so we can little more than gain a slight bit of understanding to our home planet. That billions spent so in maybe a few more century's it will make difference, while today the families who worked and suffered for it only suffer more, as they attempt to negotiate their golden years and bargain with their imaginations of god. do you understand Mr. Anderson?"

"Sir, potential subject 647 has been located. We should move quickly if we are to apprehend him." Tom replied ignoring his superiors statement.

The man sighed, "Fucking bland government agents. Okay call the on-site surveillance teams to the projector room. Dispatch the five nearest equipped strike teams, and local visual and hearing aids."

"Of coarse, Sir" Tom dutifully replied.

"Oh and Mister Anderson, let's test my new robotic sentries too."

"But Sir, in the city? We haven't fully---"

"Mister Anderson! I should have thought you would have learned to trust in my judgment by now."

"Sorry Sir, I will do what you ask now." With that Tom went to notify and dispatch the proper agents.

The Man watched as Tom walked away. He hated everyone he worked with. All that yes sir, no sir, sir, sir, sir, sir, stuff. He couldn't wait until all these mindless drones were replaced with sentient robots. He was working on some designs. Hopefully they would be complete soon, but still not soon enough. The man had always loved tinkering with electronics. He was close to developing some revolutionary robots. working closely with his subjects, he was able to create the designs. The man was the head of a special division of the government to deal specifically with the cerebral abnormalities that led to certain individuals having super abilities. By detaining these subjects they have been able to learn a lot through experimentation. Hopefully one day the government will be able to either use these supermen for war, or be able to spread their abilities to regular soldiers, giving us the upper hand and limiting battlefield deaths, maybe even eliminate war itself. The government would become unchallenged and be able democratize the entire world, liquidizing all threats. The man admired the office building. It was large stone building with an over sized octagon sunroof. It reminded him of a mansion on the inside. The actual work stations were in an extensive underground basement. The above ground palatial building was largely just for show, except for the man's office. He enjoyed doing lots of his work in there. His office was in the far crevice of the mostly empty building. It was small but lavishly decorated. It had gold and purple wallpaper. The man enjoyed the gaudy appearances his chose for decorations. They made him feel more comfortable.
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In the basement beneath a majestic government research facility, labeled the Premier Laboratory for the development of Symbiotic White and Red Blood cells and binary functions, was a large rectangular room with a large oval table at the foot of a dozen rows of computers and a TV screen as large as semi-trailer. At the table were six leather chairs on each side and one chair at the head of the table facing the TV screen. nameless attendants sat at each computer terminal, each typing hundreds of words a minute in a seemingly random fashion. In chairs around the oval table sat important looking men wearing suits that cost thousands of dollars each. At the head of the table sat a man in stark contrast to the elegant men around the table and sweaty nameless men in white shirts and black ties. The man at the head of the table wore a golden suit that seemed to sparkle when your eyes were set on it, he also wore a red dress shirt underneath with a tie that matched his suit.

"Sir" a tall lanky man sitting at the oval table said. The beak nosed man had a badge pinned to his navy suit that clarified him as Abraham Adams, the director of on-location strike teams in the greater city area. "The strike teams are in place. The potential subjects are in an alley off the corner of 29th Street and Surveyor's Ave. We have two sniper teams positioned on roof tops at the North and East ends of the alley. The alley has four entrances, four commando teams will each take a different entrance. Short-Range teams will also be on the roofs of each apartment building in the alleyway. We've broken down each team to maximize the coverage area."

"Very good, and the surveillance teams, when will I have a video feed?" The man in the Golden suit asked.

"Sir" A small round man with a small round face answered. This man's badge identified him as Roland Lattuce the Organizer of Surveillance. "My teams are in route. They will arrive shortly. I have one ground audio team, one ground video team, and one aerial video team. The Audio team will drive around the block and position microphones, and then park and focus the equipment on the center of the alleyway. The video team will position their equipment in as many places as possible without being scene. The Aerial team will come in last and provide the best tactical footage."

"Acceptable. And as for my new toys?"

"Sir" A boyish looking man said. He had a crew cut and large framed thick glasses. His badge read Melvin Buzz head of the technicians department. "Eighteen Wheelers are parked near by containing your new prototypes Sir. Model Numbers A-32; GC-72; TR-10; and JD-88. They are awaiting activation on your call Sir."

"Excellent." The Man In Gold gleefully responded."I want my visuals and audios qued up as soon as possible. Do we have radio contact with the Short Range and Sniper Teams yet Mr. Adams?"

"Yes Sir" answered Abraham.

"I want their radio feed patched into our communications system now. I want to know what they know while Surveillance is being set up."

"Sir the feed is connecting and will be patched through in one minute." The head of Communications, an elderly man with a white beard and sunken eyes, Salvatore Messina.

"If the teams are already there, why am I now waiting to talk them Mr. Messina?" The Man in Gold Spitefully asked. "Perhaps you are getting slightly too old for your own good."

"Sorry, Sir. It will not happen again." Salvatore dolefully replied.

"I know Mr. Messina."

"Excuse me Sir," one of the nameless computer attendants spoke up from his terminal. "I have the feed ready for you, I uploaded one the codes I've written and cut down on the connection time."

"What is your name?"

"Jim Smith"

"I will be in contact with you Mister Smith" The man in gold responded as he opened the link to the speakerphone in the middle of the table with a remote control.

"Are the commanders of the Sniper and Short Range teams there?"

"Yes Sir", they responded in unison.

"Good, give me the rundown then"

"Sir the targets have set up patio furniture in the middle of the alley. The expendable seems to be preparing a rolled marijuana cigarette for them, they each are surrounded by bottles of hard alcohol. They seem lax and unaware. There is little in the ways of protection for them."

"Sir, my surveillance teams are set up and ready to begin transmitting." Interrupted Roland.

"Excellent Mr Lattuce." The Man in gold responded as picture feeds began broadcasting various pictures of the alley way. the sound street began to buzz from loud speakers. "Okay sniper teams I want you initialize the attack when i give the order. Afterwords I want you to play coverage of the exits. Short-Range teams after the snipers start the attack I want you to keep them in the middle until the ground teams can cut off all exits. As soon as I give the attack order, I want those test mech's in route, and ready to back up the troops."

"Yes Sir" rang out in unison from the intercom and men around the table.

"Snipers, Fire when ready."
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Shots began to ring out from the loudspeakers. Panic could be heard from the alley way. Bullets began to tear across the lounging subject of interest, also known as Alex. The disposable also known as Julius immediately hit the ground in a prone position. Alex grabbed him as they began to run towards an exit followed by the sniper fire. The man at the head of the table, while watching the screen, said, "This your cue Short Range Team." Before the sentence was finished a hail of gunfire cut off the subject and his friend from the exit. They scrambled back the other way, reaching the intersection and they were forced to turn to the side upon seeing the ground troops, dressed all in black charging towards them. Before moving too far, they realized they were surrounded. In one quick move, as the troops were closing in and with out a doubt those who were firing upon them had they're sights fixed, the subject grabbed a hold of the disposable. He threw him to the side of the alley, and watched as he rebounded off the panels of an open dumpster and fell inside with a thud that matched the sound of the lids falling shut.

"What are you waiting for ground troops get him!" the Man in gold said impatiently. The ground troops charged twice as fast. Four men were charging from each alley. "Short Range Teams, distract the subject". More shots began to ring out. The subject seemed unaffected from the barrage of specialized bullets intended to tranquilize the subject, Alex. As the men began to reach the subject the initial few agents were hit in cross fire. The next agent to reach the subject was tripped and immediately grabbed by an arm and a leg. As more agents got closer and the shots began to cease. The subject began to spin holding out the man he held captive knocking back agents closer to him. Agents were flung around the alley like rag dolls. The subject released his captive, and stared down the circle of six men around him. All at once the six men charged. The subject took two down using a simultaneous roundhouse kick to the head. Landing on a knee, He took another agent by surprise jamming his elbow into the sternum of the agent, following up with a swift chop to the side of the neck. Seemingly soaring through the air, the subjects knee imbeded itself in the face of another agent. Spinning around he blocked the batons held in both hands of another. Wrapping the agents arms, the subject forcefully head butted the man. "Christ, short range and snipers continue firing", the Man in Gold yelled. The other two agents were quickly cut down by friendly fire.

From the loud speaker came the voice of the subject, "That all you got?" Jumping twelve feet in the air The subject grabbed onto a fire escape ladder. He quickly scaled the ladder. The agents on the roof began to panic and fire. Alex slowly stalked up to them with standing the barrage of bullets. One agent backing up fell off the roof as the subject got closer. The agent fell down and was impaled by the umbrella of the patio furniture set up. Alex grabbed the other shocked agent and grabbing the gun pulling it to the side with his left hand, the subject punched the agent with his right hand. After throwing the gun down to the floor of the roof, Alex tossed the agent off the roof like he was flipping a penny into a wishing well.

Picking up the agents gun, he sprayed bullets towards the other three rooftops at the other agents. Once all of them were down, Alex hopped down off the roof. Landing on his feet, he went over to the dumpster that held his friend Julius. Opening the lid and grabbing his friend, he noticed more dark figures. Quickly slamming the lid down and sending Julius back into the trash, the subject was ready for more fighting. Three small helicopters, the A-32's, came from over head. It had a short fat body with four outstretched arms. Two on each side. One on each side contained a machine gun. The other two had small projectiles it could fire, and vacuum hands it could pick things up with through suction. Four robots that looked like obese men sitting on a large round ball, the TR-10's, and were each holding large automatic weapons. They flew up to the roof tops, with their short term flight, taking the place of the agents, blasting corpses off the roof in the process. Six large robots that looked like minotaurs from old world mythology, the GC-72's carry large automatic weapons of their own. Those robots began closing in from all sides. Four more robots, the JD-88's. One at each exit. They stood guard. Each held a large shield and large metal baton.

The subject muttered an obscenity, a synonym to bacterially infested excretions. The six minotaur robots, the GC-72's, all charged at once. The TR-10's on the roof top began to fire. Alex ran towards one of the GC-72's and jumping into the air gave it a forceful kick to the chest with both feet, knocking it back. Hopping up in a flash, he grabbed the next GC-72 and lifted it straight up into the air, and threw it up at one of the three A-32 helicopters, causing a massive explosion, illuminating the city's night sky. The subject was then knocked down from behind. In the nick of time Alex managed to roll out of the way of the feet of one of the GC-72's. Grabbing one leg, the subject ripped it off. Using it like a baseball bat in the midst of a home run derby, the subject wildly swung at the remaining GC-72's knocking a few heads off along the way. Picking up two of the decapitated heads and wearing them as gloves, The subject boxed the rest of the GC-72's into submission. Discarding the gloves, Alex picked up a few of the robot corpses and threw them to the rooftops easily discarding of the TR-10's. The A-32 helicopters hovered above him and rained down bullets and small missiles knocking the subject off his feet every time he tried to get up, until they were out of ammo. It wasn't long before blood began to fly. Eventually lying on the ground in pain, Alex looked up to see he was surrounded by the four JD-88's. All of which began to rain down their nightsticks on the broken and bloodied man. Mysteriously one by one, the heads of the JD-88's began to explode. But as they're bodies kept moving, it was long before they're torsos exploded as well. The sniper fire had strangely stopped too. Taking advantage, Alex slowly and dazed got up. He staggeringly made his way over to the dumpster containing the expendable. The subject threw Julius over his back and made his was out of the alley. All surveillance teams were oddly unresponsive.

The Man in the Golden exclaimed, "Would someone like to explain to me exactly what the hell just happened?". The Man was fuming.
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Julius woke up in a shock. His head hurt, why did his head hurt? Oh yeah, he was repeatedly slammed into a dumpster by his supposed best friend. Julius looked over his surroundings. It was familiar. Dark and dusty. Cobb webs above, rats below, and other creepy crawlers to the left and to the right. This place was clearly long forgotten, except by the bums in the winter, apparently. There were charred rusty trash cans and old cots and couches littered around the area, even a few chairs. It was that type of furniture that people left out in their yards with the sign free on it, or maybe just dropped off on the side of the road if the free sign didn't work. You know the type that always seemed to smell bad, was missing cushions, and had holes and cigarette burns all over it. Julius spotted a bruised, bloody, and broken Alex sleeping on one of these pieces of disgusting refuge for the belly of the underworld that lived literally beneath the pretty and pristine world. This was where Julius had been talking about to Alex. The bomb shelter underneath the abandoned school. It was late spring, so the bums likely weren't around now, instead choosing park benches, where they might be able to scrounge a few dollars for food. Julius had hideout here before, once when he had a warrant out, but they ended up grabbing him when he went for cigarettes anyways. Julius took out his metal silver colored cigarette case and grabbed a smoke out of it. He lit it, taking in a deep breath of smoke as he tried to understand everything that had transpired in the past two days. His best friend turned out to be some sort of superman being hunted by the government. It was like something out of a bad work of fiction. Now they were here hiding out in this underground haven. It wasn't the best of circumstances, but Alex had saved Julius from some dire situations before. Like one time when Julius was in deep to a local gang, they wanted his head, but Alex took care of it from him. Alex never told him how, but Julius had a pretty good idea now. Julius grabbed an old can of beans that looked like it was from the fifties and probably contained some kind of old lead poisoning, and began to lit a fire in one of the trash cans. There was an old iron grate, from some old grill, Julius threw it on top of the trash can fire. Opening up the can of beans he put it on the grate to let it cook. Spotting another can on the other side of the room, Julius grabbed it off an old shelf. He threw it on the grate, so Alex could have some food too, when he woke up. Julius kept going over it in his head. How was this all possible? Julius caught a look in the alley as they left before he passed out. He saw bodies of men and odd looking pieces of machinery strewn all about the alley way, it looked like a war zone. Julius doubted Alex grabbed the weed this time. How could he do all that fighting alone and survive, both times? This was all beginning to give Julius a headache. Julius found some old cheese in his pocket. He mixed it in with the beans and started eating pondering everything waiting for Alex to wake up.
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The man previously in the gold suit was adorned in a simple black silk dress shirt with a tie covered in diamond shapes, which themselves were alternatively colored black and blood red. The man looked like he should be at a funeral. To him it was appropriate though. He was in a funeral....of sorts, thanks to the massive destruction and mayhem in the alley way while he was trying to capture potential subject 647, an alleyway containing four well stocked apartment buildings. Apparently his superiors didn't contain the same amount of vision that he contained. Even further infuriating was the fact that all of the cybernetic prototypes had failed, except for the JD-88's who managed to keep going, despite losing their heads, even if there were ultimately mysteriously defeated.

"Mister Newton. I can't believe you would act with such wanton disregard for the public. You know how secret this project is! Furthermore sending out untested cybernetic units." They weren't entirely untested Mr Newton thought to himself as his superior berated him. This was just their first time in the field, the government was always so short sighted Newton thought too himself. "Are you even listening to me?" The superior shouted, snapping Newton back into reality as he answered no to himself. "Your a loose cannon. You've lost it. You will pay for your actions. I will personally see to that." The superior was fuming. Newton expected smoke to start coming out of the mans ear.

"What would your father think?" The superior said calming down a bit. Newton thought, who is this guy, my mother?. "He was one of our highest regarded researchers in history. If his work wasn't secret, he would have been a national hero. Its hard to believe you are his son. You should be happy he wasn't alive for this. You are a disgrace." Newton felt like knocking his superiors teeth out after that last bit. Who the heck was this guy to talk about his father? " You never deserved to be appointed to the head of the UNM-bdp, and you proved it last night. You better enjoy our little talk right now, because it is your last few minutes as the head of the UNM-bdp, hell as a member of the government all together. You are black booked. You will never work in government again, and as far as were concerned you never did. You should be happy your getting off this light. Now get out of my sight."

Newton gave him the middle finger as he walked out the door. He was happy to never answer to that ugly mug again. Newton hated being called by his name, he enjoyed it when the ants around him called him Sir and cowered in fear when they did it to. He was going to have to see who was going to come with him, because no way was he giving up on his baby UNM-bdp. This was his project, he grew it from the ground up. He created the cybernetics for the division. Designs that would probably be pillaged now that he was gone. No Newton wasn't done yet. His cybernetics, his employees, and his research subjects. They would all be his again and those who betrayed him inside of the government would fall to their knees and pray forgiveness. He, Newton, was the Mastermind.
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Alex sat poking and prodding the beans in his tin can. He wasn't very hungry, but he knew he had to eat. He forced a sloppy bite down. It was like mush. He could feel it slowly slide down his throat like molasses or syrup. He kind of felt like spitting it back up. Alex saw a rat scurrying by his feet. He wondered if the rat would taste better. A smile crept across his face with that thought. Alex closed his eyes as another spoonful entered his mouth. He looked around at the decrepit surroundings. It reminded him of one of those basement caricatures or maybe abandoned haunted house from old cartoons(yeah that was it), when he was a kid. The place smelled musty and felt like an odd mixture of dust and stickiness. Alex winced as another bite tortured his taste buds. Seemingly out of no where, Alex slammed his foot down. He picked it up to see the crushed head of a rat underneath. Blood split on to the floor as brains stuck to his shoe. Alex said with a grin, "I just caught us lunch".

"Dude." Julius said in a grimacing 'what the hell' type of tone. "So how did you gain your, umn....well...ugh....powers, I guess?", Julius queried.

"Supposedly it has some thing to do with my brain. Apparently I was born with a greater usage of it or something like that, I am not exactly sure though." Alex answered picking at the brains on the bottom of his shoe with his fingernail.

"So that gave you super toughness?" Julius asked dumbfounded. Reaching for what turned out to be his empty pack cigarettes. Damn He really needed one to.

"I guess so I am not sure though, My dad used to say something like that. Alls I really know is the government has always hunted me." Alex said kicking the rat corpse to the side.

"Right so what kind of superman are you? Can you fly or teleport or something like that?" Julius asked hoping for some comic book stuff.

"That would be awesome, but no. I seem to have extreme awareness, resilience, and strength. I after a good nights rest, or a few nights, I seem to heal faster than others. My father trained me well in hand to hand combat, and short-range weapons, like sub-machine guns. " Alex took a moment, after speaking, to reflect on his past. His father. His only good memories before the alcohol helped him to just past time.

"That's crazy man." Julius stated, still trying to grasp the entire situation. He felt like he was some weird story.

"Oh and the super strength type thing" Alex said, not really sure how to classify everything.

"Really? Gee I couldn't tell when you keep slamming me into that dumpster back in the alley way." Julius snapped with a fake pissed of look on his face.

"Haha, yeah that was funny" Alex said genuinely laughing.

"Yeah don't say sorry or anything," Julius said with a grin, "Hey have you seen my cigarettes around anywhere?"

"Nope sorry man, I'm all out too."

Julius was dieing for a cigarette. He searched around their hobo house/hideout to no avail. He would pick up empty packs shakes them around, listening, feeling, to see if maybe there was that one forgotten one in their. He felt like a crackhead. To Julius cigarettes were a funny thing. Sure they're horrible for you. Sure they're terribly addictive to. When you can't get them you feel like tearing your hair, and don't even mind searching for that last cigg, even if there is only a one percent chance you'll find one. The thing about these moments, or just any general stressful, dire, or any moment of great concentration. Having a cigarette in these moments(nicotine induced or not), it was pure heaven. Its sort of one of those denial rationals, yeah, there was definitely twice as many reasons to quit, but that still doesn't change the feeling.

Alex watched Julius frantically search for even half a cigarette. It looked sort of pathetic from that outside, not to say the Alex himself wasn't guilty of the same thing some times. It was this type of thing that made him want to quit though. Cigarettes just seemed like they were part of some in the past teen rebellion thing. The whole I can do what I want even if it is bad for me mantra. Watching Julius run around like something in between a chicken with it head cut off and a parent looking for a missing child, it was just sad. From this moment on Alex was done, no more cigarettes.

"Hey, Julius what the hell? You can't leave. We know they're looking for me, and we can bet the house they're looking for you to. You can't go anywhere. A dumb little thing like cigarettes will get us caught." Alex said in that pissed off yet worried kind of way.

"Yeah, yeah your right. I'm just dieing for that sweet relaxation you get from a long slow drag off a cigg." Julius said taking a deep breath trying to calm himself down.

"Me too, just relax. Let's take a walk through some of the hallways, there's got to be something down here." Alex figured a walk would do Julius good, help him clear his mind.
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Julius took a long drag of his smoke. It felt good and relaxing, maybe even Zen like. He probably shouldn't have snuck out, but he needed a cigarette so damn bad. He almost felt like smoking two it felt so revitalizing. The adrenaline causing the blood to surge throughout his veins, he closed he eyes and took a moment to imagine the surge. He waited until Alex was well asleep. His recovery sleep put him out like a dead light bulb. Julius' heart pumped and pulsed as he snuck out, he could feel the reverberations all around his chest. As he reached the exit he had second thoughts. While he paused to think things over, it was like he was frozen in time. That moment was brief though, the call of addiction moved Julius' limbs for him, and pushed him through the exit back into the world, to hunt for just one cigarette.

As Julius sat on the sidewalk pavement, his back against an oriental restaurant, he continued to chain smoke. He stared across the street at the convience store he just bought cigarettes in. He watched the commotion inside as a few punks in ski masks robbed the store. There was so much crime in the city, and no one ever said or did anything about it. The police were useless and corrupt. Julius wasn't going to do anything either, just sit and smoke his cigarette and watch the store clerk get his face smashed in by the butt of a gun. Julius thought he could probably get a few more packs of cigarettes when the robbers were finished. He took another drag of his cigarette as he threw a can laying next to him, for no particular reason. He watched it bounce a few times, then roll to a stop.

The can only laid there for few seconds in peace before being crushed underneath the tire of a black SUV, with gold rims. Three giant men, that looked they belonged on the worlds strongest man contest, got out of the SUV. Quickly surrounding the still sitting Julius, "Come with us." One said in a thick Russian accent. "Sorry guys I don't swing that way" Julius quipped back. The three men seemed to growl, before roughly grabbing Julius and throwing him in the SUV. Squished in between two of the thugs, that were over sized for their purpose. The other Russian thug got into to drive. The man in the front passenger seat slowly turned around and lowered his gold glasses.

"Hi Julius, how are you today?" The man, also known as Albert Newton, the Mastermind, spoke in a smooth calming voice. The acoustics of his voice stood in stark contrasts to the three large menacing men surrounding Julius.

"What the hell man?" Julius shouted as the SUV peeled out, scrambling for any type of way out only to be held down by the bears next to him.

"Ha relax. I just need a simple easy thing from you." The Mastermind, still unknown to Julius, spoke in an unsettling serene manner.

"Let me out out of here. Who the hell are you man?" Julius again shouted, becoming very nervous. and wondering if he really did get that Russian girl pregnant.

"I just need you to tell me where Alex is." The Mastermind, staring Julius directly in the eye, as he sat in the SUV seat wearing a bright red suit, with a black under shirt.

"Your one of those Gov't guys huh?", Julius spit in the face of the man with gold glasses, "Screw you. I ain't telling you nothing."

"I was afraid of that. I mean look Julius, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. It's entirely up to you." The Mastermind took a gold pocket square out of his suit and used it to wipe his fore head.

Julius spit in the man's face again. "I guess it won't be the easy way" Julius said hoarsely.

"That's fine with me. I'm surprised you would choose to protect some freak, rather than live the rest of your life, but hey its your choice." The Mastermind said relaxed about to turn around and enjoy the rest of the ride.

"Its an easy one" Julius spit in the mans face one more time.

"Would you guys please stop him from doing that" The Mastermind said, finally a little annoyed, wiping his face yet again. The man to the left of Julius gave him a hard right handed punch. This caused a little bit of blood splattered on the man with gold glasses, The Mastermind grimaced. After that everything went dark, for Julius.
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Waking up, I found nothing but cob webs, empty bean cans, and rats. Julius was gone. I took a quick run around the bomb shelter/ basement, but he was gone. I only found homeless people, dead birds, and a rat painted gold. The bastard went out for smokes. Coming back to the old smelly burnt couch I slept on, I found a note on the floor. It said "Be back in Five minutes ~Julius~". I gave him the benefit of the doubt. I waited five minutes on the couch twiddling my thumbs. I paced around the musky rodent infested basement for another five minutes kicking what ever I saw on the floor. I sat down for another ten minutes watching the second hand on my watch. I spent eight more minutes deciding whether to go look for him or just keep waiting. I spent thirty seconds dashing out the door. I threw away my watch after that.

The tall corporate buildings shielded my eyes from the over bearing sun in the middle of a cloud less sky as I left the abandoned boarded up and fenced off school grounds. The buildings had bill boards on the side of them, one read Liquid Hydrogen Bomb, some new energy drink. Another read Titan Atlas, apparently a new action movie based on some cyborg limbed guy out in Seattle. I looked around at the city bustling and buzzing. People on side walks packed together like sardines in a can. A highway with cars blurring by on the horizon of a never ending traffic jam right in front me. I saw, beyond the motionless sea of cars jammed together, an Oriental restaurant. To the right of me was a convience store surrounded by cops. Taking a statement from the clerk inside. "Oh man dude probably got pinched by the cops again". I said as I kicked a flattened can on the ground as I walked by the Oriental shop trying to see if I could see Julius in the back of one of the two police cruisers. Things began to slow down again. Similar to back at the old house. I heard the whizzing sound , I turn my head slightly to see what it is. A missile gunning for my chest. Well, I thought, at least they made things harder. I side step the small missile and it explodes as it is impales it self in one the the cop's cars. I try to see what fired the missile and I see a giant twenty foot tall robot thing. It had bulky arms, a fat chest, small head, and six spider like legs. It was painted orange and blue. People were screaming and jumping out of their cars running in terror at this behemoth, even the cops were running away. Their always there to ticket you going six miles over the speed but when it hits the fan, they're no where to be found, I thought. The massive mechanized hit man fired three more small missile as it's legs crushed cars and mail box's, I ran looking for cover anywhere. One missile hit a car in the the traffic jam, the second and third missile demolished a small building containing a lawyers office. I doubled back and dove behind the rubble that was a building seeking cover. Now I sit here behind the rubble. The robot is distracted as legions of cops and swat teams swarmed in efforts to neutralize the amazing menace. Bodies and cars are flying everywhere, smacking up against the third floor of a business building, or even just flying forty feet in the air and falling down again. I have to think quick, time is running out. This robot is clearly after me. From who though? The government wouldn't be this destructive coming after me, besides why would the government be fighting the government? Who else would be targeting me. A swat team member flying over my head broke my concentration, and him being impaled on a piece of metal put my thinking right back on the getting the hell out here track. I took a look out from behind the rubble, the cops force assembled to attack the mechanized menace were either running, dead, or dying. That's when I noticed someone in the cybernetic monster's third arm, which poked around from its back. It was Julius. Damn.

I had to act quick. Julius was clearly the decoy, but how can I save him without giving myself up? If I die, how can I ensure the safety of him? I hopped out from behind the rubble and ran behind an empty car stuck in what was a traffic jam. I am running toward some sort of giant behemoth of a robot with no plan, smart move I think to myself. I dash out from behind one car to another, slowly inching my way towards my mechanical assassin. Still wondering myself what I would do when I got to it. At this point the cybernetic basterd noticed me. It began firing bullets from a chain gun attached to the center of it's chest. I am running and dodging for my life now, bobbing and weaving between the cars that were strewn all over the street and side walks, some upside down, and also using those fat blue metal mail boxes and debris and rubble from the missiles that had been fired as cover. He trapped me behind a swat team truck on its side. The robot was toying with me now, he knew I couldn't get, but he could easily blow it up with a missile to.I heard a big bang on the other side of the truck. It wasn't a missile, it sounded like something was thrown, but it couldn't have been very big, it didn't move the truck. I peaked out, and no shots. I slowly crept out, and nothing. The big hunk of wires metal that was trying to kill me was just standing there. Not doing anything. Did it break I wondered? I noticed the third hand was empty. I looked to my left, as I now stood on the other side of the swat van. I saw a limp body. It was Julius. I ran over to his life less body. I screamed at the top of my lungs as I held his head in my arms. My best friend is dead. A new vigor, a new type of adrenaline ran throughout my veins. I looked dead square at the mechanical man. Now I noticed a man seating in the bubble that stood in for the robots head. I was looking at what was soon to be a dead man. There was a lightening post lying on the ground. I picked it up and spun around a few times to gain momentum before hurling it at cybernetic monster. It hit square the in the chest seemingly damaging the chain gun. I just started running towards the machine and the man in its head. It responded by firing missiles, I flipped cars in their direction or used what ever else I could to deflect them and shield myself. I am coming near. The robotic monster raised up its arms as high as it could using force from all of its six legs it jumped in the air, and using all the force it could muster it pounded the ground, split seconds before the fists caused shock waves in the ground I saw the man in the bubble head. He was wearing a bright red suit with a black shirt. I remember him. The fists move a split second closer to the ground. He was there when my father was taken. He was the ring leader, I watched in hiding from across the street. Like ticks of a clock, the fists inch themselves closer to the ground. He took my father, He killed Julius. The fists hit the ground I jump in the air avoiding the earth quake like shock wave only for a pick up truck to bounce up from the ground and knock me down. My nose is now broken. I hurl the truck out from on top of me. I continue running towards the robotic basterd. He tries to kick with one leg, but I grab on. I start climbing up the leg, he tries to vigorously shake me off. I make it to his mid section. I start punching the metal until I can just rip it off. I find pretty sparkling wires underneath. I start digging my hands and ripping out handfuls of wire at a time, laughing hysterically, warm oil splashing over my face an body. One arm seemed to go limp. Then two of the legs in the back of mechanized monster went limb causing it to slide back unable to stabilize the weight. This caused me to go rolling down behind the monster. The body swung around repositioning it self, so the back was now the front. The one usable arm reached down and grabbed me just before I started tumbling down a leg. The hand squeezed like a vice, air escaping as quickly as my dreams of revenge. I tried to peel apart the grip on me, but it was impossible tight and the fingers seemed locked in. My breathes becoming shorter pressure on my insides increasing. The man is looking at me and smiling. The robot begins to walk, dragging two legs behind him, holding me in his one hand. Where are we going, why is he taking me, will my father be there? We pass over Julius' limp lifeless body, laying on the ground like a rag doll. I am losing hope. I was wrong he doesn't want me dead, he wants me alive and likely wishing I was dead. I am passing out....fading.....going....I feel a large shock....things go black......both me and the robot are on the ground.....things go black.....the bubble is cracked I don't see the man......things go black......I am picked up by an old man.....things go black......I see cops and the man in red in handcuffs....things go black.
_____________________________Epilogue________________________________

Alexander awoke in an old log cabin. Stretching feeling sore, battered, and bruised, Alex got up and walked around a little bit. He looked out of a large glass window. There were hilly forests as far as he could see. It was green. Alexander wasn't use to this living nearly his entire life in a major city. It was beautiful. Alexander had never been in a log cabin before, he didn't even know they still existed. The cabin was a mess clothes thrown all over the place, though there was a few cool deer and bear heads on the wall, he thought. "Hello?" Alex said, calling for any sign of life. He sat down in an over sized wooden rocking chair. A large doberman ran out and started barking, seemingly dreaming of ripping into Alex's flesh.

"Shut Up!" A shout came from around the corner. "Go lay down" the voice commanded as the dog followed orders. An old skinny man with long white hair, and a long white beard. The man was carrying some scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast on two plates. "Here you go" The man said handing over the plate. "I am Sir Frederich Issac Churchill. I knew your father. We were partners back in the day. He would be ashamed of your life right now." Churchill said sternly.

"Hey man what the hell? What happened to Julius? Wheres that man in red?" Alexander asked wondering what was going on.

"Julius is dead as diligence. The man in red is Albert Aristotle Newton. He was the head of part of the government that experimented on people you and your father. He was fired when he attacked you in the alleyway with those robots, another place I had to save your ass. He was arrested by the cops after I saved your ass again. I am starting to regret the promise I made to look out for you to your father. Now here's how its going to go, your going to stay here. I am going to train you.". Churchill said in another stern way. Alex was just trying to make sense of everything.