[Chapter 1]

The Beast is 1500 miles from New Marais

"Kuo," Doctor Wolfe starts through his device. "The militia are back; they're trying to force the door to my lab."

Lucy Kuo brings a hand up to her ear. "Listen, Wolfe, I'm on my way," she says, then turns to Cole. "MacGrath, you're on your own. The Blast Core glows purple, you can't miss it."

Cole gives a sharp nod and splits from her, taking a back alley to scale the side of a building. He could hear the militia firing at Kuo as he went higher up. 

Clear Out The Militia Guarding The Blast Core

The militia's attention was directed right at him as he flipped onto the roof.

Rockets flew his way and bullets rained down.
An alpha blast and a few bolts is all it took to empty out the rooftop, leaving Cole alone.

It wasn't a hard search for the case that held the Blast Core. Kuo was right; small flickers of light shone through the cracks in the case.

Cole reached a hand for the locks.

"Somebody, help!"

His hand paused mid-air.

"I know Wolfe's in trouble, but you got time for this," Zeke's voice came through Cole's phone, "right...?"

Another shout for help came from the street below.

"A mugging," Cole said to himself and pulled the weapon Zeke made from his pack.

Save Civilian From Getting Mugged

"Hell m-" the shout was cut short and Cole lept off the roof, raising his weapon, electrifying it, and bringing it down with a strong swing.

He didn't wait for the dust to clear before swinging again.

What he expected was for his weapons to hit one of the men, not for his foot to get caught on something and leave him stumbling for balance.

Zeke must've heard Cole's struggle, because he asked through the phone, "you okay there, man?"

Another grunt and Cole collected himself enough to look at what he tripped on.
"Yea-" he stopped himself short at the sight.

Both militia were out-cold, bodies buried in the ground so only their head showed through. And the victim of the mugging was long gone.

"Zeke, you seeing this?" Cole asked, and flipped on his phone's camera.

"Oh, man..." Zeke trailed off. "What the hell happened? It looks like they got frozen over by some cement."

"Well, whatever happened, it took care of the mugging," Cole replied, placing his weapons back in place.

"Alright, just get the Blast Core, we can look into this later," Zeke finished and disconnected from the call.

After taking one more questionable glance back at the men, Cole went back to the roof and flicked open the locks connected to the case.

The rush that went through him when he lifted the Blast Core in his grip made him feel powerful.

"Kuo, Wolfe, I'm pretty sure I found it. Still at the lab?"

"MacGrath..." Wolfe's voice came through strained and raspy. "The shards... they're...."

A loud explosion cut off what was the last of the doctor's words.

"Wolfe!" Kuo shouted in concern.

Cole took no other second of hesitation to jump onto the nearest cable wire and head towards the flaming rooftop as fast as he could.

"I'm on my way."

All around him, strange objects fell from the sky and landed with small blasts.

Militia blocked the way, but he paid no mind and launched himself through the air, landing on the designated roof with a call for the doctor.
"Wolfe? Wolfe!"

Cole searched around the piles of sheet metal that were all scattered around the rooftop.
He found the doctor under a few and helped lift them, pulling Wolfe out.

"My god, you look just the same," the doctor said and took a step back.

"Same as who?"

"Kessler," Wolfe started and watched as Cole pulled away from his arm. "The man who gave you your powers."

"I know who Kessler is."

Wolfe faltered at Cole's hardening expression.

"A-A-At the beginning we were friends. H-He told me about his plans for you, and the Beast."

Eyebrows furrowed.
Lips frowned.

"Then you know I failed. I couldn't stop it; Empire City is gone."

"Yes!" Wolfe was quick to say and picked up a spherical object, "and it won't stop unless you expand your abilities, and become powerful enough to use this."

"Another Ray Sphere," Cole tried, staring at the glowing blue object intently.

"No, a Ray Field Inhibitor. I call it the RFI." Wolfe pushed the RFI into Cole's hands. "Think of it as an Anti-Ray Sphere.

Cole glanced at the doctor.
"So, instead of giving powers, it takes them away...?"

"Precisely." Wolfe grinned. "With that device, you can combat the Beast, subtract his abilities."

"With help, of course," he added, low enough so Cole didn't hear and casted a glance at the edge of the roof knowingly.

"Yeah. What about... what about this?" Cole exchanged the RFI with the Blast Core.
He pushed it over to Wolfe.

"Ah, Blast Cores. They power the RFI." Wolfe held up the core. "They're batteries for the same energy that fuels all genetic mutation. Pass a current through it, and it's energy will release into the nearest conduit."

"Woah, woah." Cole took back the glowing rock. "So this is going to make me stronger?"

"Oh, lord, yes. That's just the first, together we will defeat the Beast!"

"Oh-ho-ho," Cole chuckles. "Enough with the pep-talk, Wolfe. Let's do this."

The next few seconds, Cole absorbed the Blast Core, electricity flowing out of every limb with enough power to lift him a few feet off the ground.

He fell from the powerful high and landed on the ground in a passed-out heap of limbs, lightly vibrating.

Doctor Wolfe removed his gaze from Cole's body and went back to share a look with the edge of the rooftop.

"I know you're here," he says, voice falling on a certain pair of ears. "You stopped the nearby mugging."

A figure emerges from the under-edge lip of the building, crouching on all fours.

The figure, a girl, age twenty-four, moves along the rooftop hesitantly, stance low and sturdy.
"How did you know?"

"How did you know?" Wolfe mimics, a passive hand outstretched. "About the mugging, how did you know?"

"I hacked into the phone's frequency," she says simply, stalking closer to the other conduit.

She missed the doctor's eyebrows raising in surprise.
Impressive.

"I am assuming you heard everything," he asks, watching the girl round Cole's body in question. "Is that right?"

She doesn't lift her head to nod.

Doctor Wolfe doesn't think before he says his next words. "You could provide your assistance."

With a scoff, she finally stands and silently heads the opposite way of the doctor.

Wolfe tensed at his sudden choice of words, and before he realized it, he's already blurted another bold statement.

"You both want the same thing!"

She stills.
Her back is turned to the doctor, but her neck cranes his way.

He can see the way she restrains herself, hands clenching in attempt to keep herself from showing interest.

But it's too late, she's already frozen in place.

"Think about it," Wolfe adds.

The girl snaps out of her trance with the shake of her head. Out from under her, rock emerges and boosts her into the air and away from the un-responsive Cole and the doctor.

Wolfe's next words fall on deaf ears.

"Y/n Brookstone."

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