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Chapter VII: Horseplay

“Mayor?” Caleb exclaimed. He wasn’t sure whether to leap into her arms in joy and congratulate her on her decision or shoot Samson a suspicious look. “You want to fill in after Dalton?”

Lillian took a deep breath as if to consider her next words carefully. When she finally let it out, she nodded. “I know I’ve only ever been a secretary to the senator but I’ve organised a lot of charities, events and given my all to our city. I know the inner workings of the political scheme and I like to think that I’m more than qualified for the job.”

“You sound like you’re trying to convince yourself more than me, mom,” Caleb responded, his eyes shifting towards Samson. “Was this your idea or did Samson put it into your head?”

“It was Samson’s idea,” agreed his mom. “But I think it’s a good one.”

The prospect of his mother being mayor was intriguing and one that Caleb couldn’t see anything wrong with it at first. However, he was still suspicious about Samson’s presence. While he, in theory, didn’t harbour any ill will towards the werewolf, he still couldn’t help but feel bitter over the events of the Connors’ Christmas dinner.

“I say go for it,” he said cautiously. “I mean, having the mayor supporting us would be awesome.”

“Indeed,” Samson said. “And with the Alpha Pack’s resources and help –”

“Whoa! Wait a second here!” Caleb interrupted, waving his paws wildly. “The Alpha Pack’s help? You can’t be serious!”

Samson gave him a frown. “And why not? We are allies, are we not? And you are now part of our family.”

Caleb reeled himself in and remembered that the couldn’t afford to make an enemy of the Alpha Pack too. “It’s more that you guys get your funds in… erm… unsavoury means. If this gets out, mom’s campaign and her whole reputation could be utterly ruined.”

Lillian gripped her shoulder tightly. “That’s my concern as well. The thing is, we don’t have the money or resources to run the campaign ourselves. Plus there are some very good candidates…”

Alarm bells began ringing in Caleb’s mind. Thoughts of extortion, blackmail and other underhanded tricks to convince these candidates to drop the race for mayor immediately started bouncing around in his mind. Worse yet were fears of these activities coming to light after Lillian was elected. Even just mere association with the Alpha Pack made him squeamish.

“You’re not thinking about blackmail or something, are you?”

She shook her head feverishly. “No! Of course not. I want to run an honest, clean race.”

“That’s a noble and admirable attitude to have, Lillian,” Samson rumbled. “But I know you’ve seen the darker side of politics. That’ll be a nice front to put for the public but in the back end –”

“No!” Lillian snapped ferociously. “No, Samson. I am not going to lower myself to the level where I am bribing officials, blackmailing politicians and coercing people on the streets to get their votes. I was to protect West California Island from such things, not encourage them.”

“Then I think we find ourselves at a conundrum.” Samson’s eyes tightened slightly. “If we do support you we are essentially investing in someone who would be actively working against us, we are a criminal family after all. What assurance do we have that you won’t tell the world of our identity or undermine our efforts when you are put into power?”

Lillian grimaced and turned away.

“The Gene Stealers are our concern,” Caleb said. “And so is the US Government with their Genesians, which we still know very little about. That’s a lot to be pitching yourself against, Samson. I mean, I’m all for the alliance but in this way, you’d be better off having someone you knew was at least partially on your side rather than someone put there by our collective enemies. You might lose out on some business, but it would be better for everyone to have someone who would listen to reason in the mayor’s seat.”

There, the big werewolf let out a soft snort. “If you think an ambitious woman like Lillian Hale will stop at being just a mayor, then you’re sadly mistaken.”

Caleb’s eyes switched back to his mother in confusion.

“You’ve felt you’ve plateaued in your career, haven’t you Lillian?” Samson continued. “Kids are nearly out of the house. Three years more and Caleb will be going to college in who knows where. If he’s anything like your husband, he might travel abroad. That’ll just leave you and your husband who is now a werewolf and will now need to juggle life as part of the Alpha Pack and with Arsenal. As mayor, you’d probably have, what? A three, four year stint in office? Then what?

“No,” continued the werewolf with a shake of his head. “You see yourself in the senator’s office. Perhaps even beyond that. Perhaps in the Presidential Cabinet or even in the big seat itself, don’t you?”

Just the way she was holding her shoulder… Caleb realised it was true. His mom had dreams bigger than that.

“My sons and husband are fighting against the very government that we strive to protect,” she said fiercely. “The very government who took the scraps left over from the Gene Stealers and turned innocent people into those Genesians. Caleb has been turned into one of one of their mindless animals twice already and our president thought it was alright to give the go-ahead on a project to make their own?”

Lillian shook her head fiercely, eyes blazing with fury. She uncurled her fingers off her shoulder, paws formed into tight fists. “No. There is something very wrong with our government if they think that’s a good idea.”

Caleb’s heart melted. He hadn’t realised just what a profound effect his efforts had on his mother. Was that what inspired her or was she doing this to protect him and future generations? Even though he would always have critics in the world, it was clear that he would also have those that be driven by his actions in some way. No matter what he did, people would be affected.

“That doesn’t mean that you need to give up on your ideals, mom.”

“Your son is quite right,” Samson responded grimly. “We have our legal sources of money that we are happy to throw behind your campaign. I promise that we won’t use any underhanded tricks to attack your competition but the option will always be there should you need it.”

“Thank you,” replied Lillian with a sigh of relief. “I’ve got the paperwork already written up. I’ll submit it to the mayoral office tomorrow and let’s launch our campaign ASAP. Other candidates are already well known and established. I’ll be a newcomer.”

“If you want Arsenal to pop in and endorse you, mom…”

She gave her son a gentle smile. “Thanks honey. Anything you can do would be a great help.” She took another deep breath and let it out slowly. “Wolf Christ… so many things have been happening so quickly… How was your fight, Caleb?”

“Dangerous. Crazy. Another Genesian attack but Jake was there and he really had the situation under control.” He hiked a thumb up the stairs. “Is dad upstairs?”

“Yes, dear.”

“Cool, I’ll go see him before I hit the hay. Night guys.”

The two continued their debate over Lillian’s impending mayoral campaign. He could tell that she was getting very stressed over the situation. It was a big step in her career. She had been secretary to the senator for a while now. Maybe it was because she as content with much of her life but now there was a drive to do something better, to make a real difference.

The idea that she might eventually be the President of the United States was something that both excited and concerned him. It would be hard to run around as Weapons Master if he was constantly under surveillance by the Secret Service. They would certainly be in the public eye more. There would need to be changes. Abby might actually get her dream wedding if she was successful. Lance might actually be forced to be a full-time super all things considered but would he be willing to move from West California Island to D.C.? Leon’s job as a police officer might be even more complicated as well.

All of these were no doubt rushing through the Hale matriarch’s mind but Caleb had no doubt she could handle it. After all, she managed to feed a family of six ravenous wolves constantly even after juggling her job and her superhero husband.

That was reinforced by the fact that even as she chatted with Samson, she still had the time to shout, “Caleb! Claws!”

Caleb winced and retreated back down the steps, grabbed his slippers and headed up the stairs with them flopping against his feet. He quietly headed up to the master bedroom where he heard his father’s heavy snoring. It was funny because his dad only really snored when he was extremely tired. Although that usually didn’t last very long given how his powers tended to repair damage relatively quickly. The smell of his mom’s chicken soup wafted in from the bedroom and he could see an empty bowl sitting beside the large bed. David’s form was huddled up on one side of the bed, curled into a ball and struggling with the infection.

It was so strange to see his dad so vulnerable. David Hale had always been this immovable rock in the family, the undisputed Alpha. No matter how big Lance got, rebellious Leon became, demanding Abby grew or how many secrets Caleb had, David was the centre of the family. Seeing him so weak… it shook Caleb’s very foundations. But he steeled himself just as he knew his dad would, fists tightening in determination and eyes focused with ferocity.

“I’ll make you proud, dad,” he whispered softly. “I swear it.”

******

Thankfully, Caleb had a decent amount of sleep before Leon woke him. He didn’t snap at his brother when his brother nudged him awake and he was showered, dressed and ready to head off within fifteen minutes. Leon was very quiet as they jumped onto Ballistic and Caleb drove them to the regular coffee shop. About halfway, Leon broke the silence.

“Are you really okay with working with the Alpha Pack? I mean, they’re criminals.”

“Ben is my friend and the Alpha Pack have been nothing but supportive towards us against the Gene Stealers.”

“Yeah but… Isn’t it kind of like making a deal with the devil here? They support us but later they’ll start making demands. We look the other way while they rob a bank or do some dirty dealings here and there. They’re the mob, Caleb…”

“And they know that. The world isn’t black and white. We’re going to make alliances and enemies. I don’t think the Elemental Alliance is going to just let us be either. Hell, I think the only reason they’re not interfering is so that we’ll wear ourselves out along with the Gene Stealers so that they can sweep in and save the day.”

“Yeah, but at least the Alliance is on the right side of the law. The Alpha Pack though…”

Caleb slowed down a little so they could milk more of the conversation without having to include Matlock or Reggie quite yet. “Are you saying this because dad is now part of the Pack or because mom has the Pack’s support for mayor?”

“Both, really. Believe it or not, Cale, I look up to you and while I’m worried that mom might make some bad decision with the Pack, I don’t really care what dad does with his newfound power. Sometimes I even wish he’d do something stupid as a werewolf so I can arrest his hypocritical ass!”

“Dude!”

“I know, I know, it’s bad. But I sort of have mixed feelings about him lying there… Part of me thinks he deserves it for yelling at me for being impulsive and throwing myself into danger when he gets bitten by a werewolf but the other part loves him so much for protecting us like he did. But…” He sighed softly, misery in his voice. “I just don’t want you getting dragged down with them, you know? I mean, I’m not going to betray the Alpha Pack but if they do something shitty, I’m going to do what I can to bring them in. I don’t want you to be caught in the fallout.”

Caleb sighed softly and nodded in understanding. “Thanks Leon. I appreciate that. But they’re allies right now. Let’s not jump the gun while we still have the Gene Stealers out there, okay?”

“Alright. Not like I can make an arrest anyway.”

He parked in front of To Percolate and Serve and both of them entered the coffee shop. Reggie saw them and waved them over. Strangely, Matlock wasn’t present.

“Where’s the lieutenant?” Leon asked.

“Couldn’t make it on the account of all the shit that’s been going on,” answered Reggie. The enormous ebony, equine Adonis gestured at the three cups already waiting for them. “I took the liberty of ordering for you guys seeing as Leon always takes ages to get our order.”

“Hey, there’s a line!” Leon growled.

Reggie lifted a phone and waved it in front of Leon. “Yeah but there are apps that let you order well in advance, tell the store how far you’re off and then just pick up your coffee when you’re ready. You even get to pay online.” He smirked at Caleb while hiking a thumb over his shoulder at the older wolf. “Can you believe this guy? Still ordering at the line.”

“So I like personal interactions instead of cold hearted machines.” Leon sat down beside Caleb and grabbed his coffee. “The world is more than just machines and the internet, you know.”

“Right.” Reggie then nodded towards Caleb. “Hey Caleb, is it true that you really have it in with Weapons Master?”

Caleb inclined his head slightly. “I have his contacts, yes. Why?”

The equine leaned back against the big booth, then crossed his mighty arms across his chest. Underneath his short black fur and uniform Caleb could see every defined muscle and had to keep himself from drooling. His pectorals were practically bursting out of the blue uniform and the surly look he gave him a ‘brooding cop’ look that Caleb was so tempted to just sketch there and then. Not take a photo, sketch; so that he was compelled to take every line, every detail and every curve on the enormous equine’s beautiful torso.

“I’ve been doing some digging,” Reggie explained. “Some extra work for the lieutenant. One of the Gene Stealers was identified as Xavier von Dark, right?”

“Yeah.”

“And another one was Shaun Knox, the mayor’s bodyguard. Well, the funny thing is Xavier only recently transferred from another gym to the 4 Fitness one where he was found. Shaun was hitting the same gym for a while.”

“What gym?”

“Are you serious, Reggie?” groaned Leon. “You’re drawing a connection between them from the gym they went to?”

“It’s not just any gym, jackass,” Reggie snarled. “It’s my gym. Horsepower. Now tell me that isn’t a coincidence.”

Caleb sipped his hot chocolate thoughtfully. “I don’t know… I’m with Leon on this. It’s a bit… on the nose. I mean Horsepower Gym? Trojan being a horse and these two guys being in that gym and transforming? I mean, what about Dalton and Ulysses?”

The enormous equine shrugged. “I don’t know. But honestly, it’s a bit more of theory than anything else. But there’s this stallion that works the front counter. Bigger than I am. Been acting really strangely recently. Call it a hunch but he’s been pawning off the supplements they sell there to everyone. For free. I honestly don’t see that as normal. Plus whenever there’s a Gene Stealer attack, he’s not there.”

“Probably just his day off,” Leon reasoned.

There was genuine worry on Reggie’s face and Caleb understood where the fear came from. “You took the supplements, didn’t you?”

The horse shut his eyes briefly and then gave Caleb a fearful nod. “Yeah. This was before I knew what was happening or before I suspected anything.” He reached into his bag and pulled out a little tub of protein powder. “Here, I thought if you could get this to Weapons Master to be analysed… I dunno. Maybe it’ll help. I just… I just don’t want to be turned into one of those things.”

“What? A super stud with superpowers?” Leon scoffed. “Sign me up. It isn’t your power, you know, it’s how you use it.”

“Wise words,” Caleb agreed. “But I have a trip to NYC today so I gotta go pack.” He grabbed the protein powder and stuffed it into his own bag. “Thanks for the tip, Reggie. I’ll ask Weapons Master to look into it.”

“Any time.”

Caleb bit his brother a good day and headed towards Ballistic. He pulled his phone from his pocket and in view of Reggie and Leon, dialled Elliot.

“Muscles. So how was your romp with the older, better you?”

“Older better…? Oh! You mean Jake. Yeah. I get it. Funny.”

“Did you make out furiously after the media frenzy you caused? Or did you knock out Guinness while he was heading to his car and then make passionate love on his unconscious body?”

“Only in my head, Elliot.” He lifted the protein power into the light. “Hey, I got a crazy theory for you. Did you ever figure out how the strain is activated?”

“I have a few details but not to be discussed over an unsecure line. Can you stop by?”

“Sure. I’m on my way.”

Curious about this new development, Caleb jumped onto Ballistic and rode off straight to the Facility. He was alone there save for Elliot and Bren.

“Shouldn’t you be packing for your trip later today?” Bren asked.

“I’ve got plenty of time,” Caleb answered.

“Well Muscles, what’s this theory that you’ve come up with?” Elliot asked.

Caleb retrieved the protein powder and set it in front of Elliot. “A friend of Leon’s suggested that maybe Trojan works at the Horsepower Gym. He mentioned that he saw Xavier von Dark, AKA Unicorn before he transformed. Shaun Knox too. The guy he suspects has been handing out this powder like crazy. He’s afraid he’s infected. Thinks this might be the infection vector.”

Elliot’s eyes brightened behind his thick glasses. “Well, that’s certainly interesting. The problem with this strain is that from all appearances, the transformation signal is received via taste.” He gestured towards the screen where he showed images from the previous two Gene Stealer attacks. “We saw from Pegasus and Sleipnir that the moment someone tasted their… seminal fluids, people began transforming. The tastebuds receive the signals for transformation straight from the taste of the cum.”

“So the protein powder isn’t it?”

The orca waggled a finger at him. “Not necessarily there. The cum activates the serum. I was actually curious why Pegasus and Sleipnir became Gen 3s while Unicorn and Smokestack were just Gen 2s. I believe…” He patted the tub of protein powder. “… this is the reason.”

Elliot pulled his rotund ass off his seat and extracted a sample of the power, placing it under a microscope to be scanned. While he waited for the analysis he turned to the two in the room.

“There was something missing in the puzzle. Something that could trigger the Gen 3 mutation as opposed to Gen 2. In the previous strain, it was direct contact from Gabe. Our panda friend couldn’t create Gen 2s but Trojan seems to be able to at will. I wanted to know how. When I did the bloodwork on our captured Gene Stealers, I noticed varying levels of the Trojan Strain within them. Smokestack and Unicorn had significantly lower amounts while Pegasus and Sleipnir had an incredible amount, in line with other Gen 3s. Now from all accounts, Ulysses didn’t have any prior contact with Trojan and what triggered his transformation was a drink from a canteen that Unicorn provided. I think whatever was in that canteen was the trigger. The signal.”

“So probably Trojan’s cum,” Bren concluded.

“Likely.” The microscope dinged and Elliot turned towards his screen, tapping away. “Ah, here we go.” He beamed brightly. “Eureka! Looks like Muscles stumbled onto the missing piece of the puzzle!” He gestured at the screen which was awash with molecules and diagrams that Caleb simply could not understand. “The protein power carries the initial infection but it remains dormant within the person. Only by encountering the signal from taste, will the transformation occur.”

“So Reggie is infected…” Caleb murmured softly.

“Likely.”

“Wait,” Bren began, “if that’s the case then why were other people transformed as well? Shouldn’t they remain themselves even after being exposed to the signal?”

“I can only surmise that since Trojan is the Original, he has a far greater control of the infection than anyone else and is able to somehow separate his signal from the infection unlike everyone else. Sleipnir and Pegasus’ cum was probably the raw unprocessed strain.”

“It smacks of Shark Tamers experiments,” growled the tiger. “Probably why they could create Gen 3s. I remember Gen 3s were created after a delay from Gabe’s signal. This is probably a branch of that.”

“Correct!” Elliot exclaimed, waggling a finger through the air. “My guess is that Gen 3s are created through a greater inundation of the strain in the host without being activated. The longer the strain can sit within the host and the host gets acclimated to it, then the higher chase you have of creating a Gen 3. But when you infect someone else, the strain and the signal act in unison, thus creating the wilder Gen 2s or Gen 1s.”

Caleb mulled that over. It wasn’t really a change to the serum per se but the distribution of the serum. Chimera claimed all the transformations came from him. So that meant Chimera could create every Gene Stealer out there but he would only ever really create Gen 1s. Price didn’t display any real superpowers so he was likely just a Gen 1. When variations were made in the distribution method and delays between when the strain was activated, that was when higher tier Gene Stealers were made…

This was new information.

But it also meant that there was a lot of people infected right now and they could have a lot of Gen 3 Trojans running around.

“Bren,” he began.

“Already on it,” Bren answered, fishing out his phone. “Get the rest of the team. We’re heading to the Horsepower Gym.”

******

The questions about his actions the previous night didn’t stop even as the group approached the Horsepower Gym. Caleb ignored them all and said that he had a plan of approach. He told them that when he was put on the spot, he tended to let his emotions get the best of him so now with a week to prepare, he could at least be armed and ready when it came. Mary clearly sensed that he had something else in mind but he mentally told her not to pry. If anything else, she seemed to have stopped actively reading people’s minds and respected his privacy.

The Horsepower Gym itself wasn’t all too crowded given that it was still fairly early in the morning and a weekend where they usually opened late. It was a big, three storey building nestled amongst other, mostly modern buildings. Large glass windows displayed all the various gym equipment inside. The silhouette of a big equine flexing his biceps was displayed over the glass.

“Alright, I count fifteen civilians inside the building,” Rhiannon said from over their communicators. “One of them might be Trojan.”

Caleb looked past the front, sliding doors and saw the enormous equine that Reggie had described briefly. The stallion was indeed bigger than Reggie, at an immense 8 and a half feet tall, the titan wore a bright red tank top that contrasted against his creamy, steely, grey fur. The strands of the top practically vanished between the folds of his shoulders and the neckline was stretched so much against his enormous pectorals that they were bursting close to his nipples. The fabric couldn’t even reach his waist and revealed the rock hard wall of muscle that were his abdominals. Each arm was as thick as tire and corded with so much dense muscle that it was a wonder how his skin didn’t burst apart. Blonde hair rolled down his back like a mane and cascaded down his shoulders like a pair of furry pauldrons. A crest of darker chest hair sprouted from between his pectorals, seemingly to have been suffocated by the two enormous mountains that made up his chest. As if to tease anyone looking upon him, a little eruption of blonde hair came up from between the waistband of his pants, hinting at what lay within the titanic bulge.

Lars lightly elbowed Caleb. “If he wasn’t a bad guy, are you open to a threesome with the hunk at the front counter?”

“What makes you so sure he’s the bad guy?”

A strangely dreamy look crossed his boyfriend’s features. “Oh he’s a bad guy alright…”

Clearly Lars had something for bad boys.

Good to know.

Caleb stormed into the gym, Mary and Lars right behind him. “Bren, Madman, you in position?” he asked softly into his earpiece.

“Copy,” grunted Madman.

“Ben?”

“Ready,” rumbled Blood Wolf.

They were ready.

The moment he passed through the glass doors, Caleb shouted, “Hey Trojan!”

The horse immediately looked up… and his face fell.

Weapons Master grinned. “Made you look.” He immediately slammed his fists into the ground. With Funny Bone wrapped around his shoulders, big walls of pure-white bone erupted behind Trojan, blocking his escape and access to other members of the gym.

The equine turned in surprise. “What are you doing!?” he exclaimed, his voice a rather surprising tenor.

“Give it up Trojan,” Lars snarled. “We know it’s you. We know you’ve distributed your strain through those ‘protein samples’ you gave out. Just come quietly. You’ve caused enough trouble.”

The towering stallion’s features turned steely and a sly smirk crossed his features. Then, with his enormous hands… he applauded. “Well done. Very well done. Bravo. Bravo indeed. Really. I think you broke the record of catching the Original. About three or four days since the first attack, right?”

Slowly, Trojan stepped out from behind the counter, showing off his extremely muscular legs that were on perfect display through his shorts. “The question is, now what?”

That… didn’t sound good.

“We’ve cut you off,” Caleb growled. “There’s no escape. You can’t turn anyone else around you for help and everyone you’ve already turned is securely locked away.”

Trojan closed his eyes briefly and gave Caleb a seeming benevolent smile. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but you currently have four of my people trapped someplace, correct? Imprisoned, incapable of using their any of their powers. It certainly isn’t Bal-Mordain and I doubt very much it’s some other government funded facility as if I recall, Arsenal is no longer funded directly by the government, correct?”

Fear was starting to rise in Caleb’s gut and just like when he had retaliated against Guinness on Chatter, he instantly regretted his actions. Only this time, he was against a Gene Stealer Original and not a loud-mouthed news anchor.

“That’s right…”

Trojan let out a small laugh and placed his enormous hands on his hips. “Funny thing. Whoever it was of you that kept messing with our surveillance will get a rather nasty surprise. See, we recently found a way into your system. And I do believe that your little defences keeping our four horse friends at bay are going to drop…”

Trojan lifted a finger, a big grin on his face. “Right… about… Now.”

“Holy shit! Caleb!” Elliot cried. “Containment breaches in the Trojan Gens’ cells! Fuck! They’re out! They’re out!”

“What…?” Caleb gasped, exchanging glances with the other.

“Now you have a lovely little problem,” Trojan laughed softly. “Either go ahead and try and bring me in or…” He jerked his chin in the some arbitrary direction. “… save what’s left of your home base and keep your little jackass from getting his rear ripped open by four angry, horny horses.”

“Caleb,” Rhiannon whispered in his ear. “I can throw illusions up to distract theme but these guys have access to your weapons. They could cause a lot of chaos over here. They’re moving through the Facility like they know exactly where they need to be!”

“We need you here right now, Muscles!”

Caleb glanced towards Trojan then to Mary and Lars. They were looking to him, waiting for his call.

But if he made the wrong one…

“Shit!” he scowled. “Elliot, Rhia, we’re on our way.” He began a retreat. “Flare Blue, BB, we got to go. Now!”

“But –” Lars began.

“Now!”

They scrambled out of the gym to Trojan’s laughter but even as he did so, Caleb pressed a finger against his ear. “Ben, meet us at the Facility. Madman, Bren, Trojan looks like he’s heading for the back door. He’s heading your way. Surprise him and smash his fucking face in!”

“My pleasure,” Madman rumbled followed by the ominous crackled of knuckles.

Trojan didn’t know about Bren or Madman. They were the trump card and right now their only hope of apprehending the Original. So close…

But it wasn’t over yet.

Caleb jumped onto Ballistic, Mary hopping onto the bike right behind him. He immediately kicked up the engine and rocketed down the streets, Lars high above and zooming through the air like a brilliant, blue comet.

What could have happened!? How did the Gene Stealers get into the Facility’s system? They were mostly off the grid and Elliot’s super-genius kept them safe from any sort of cyber-attack. Did they have a mole? Who else had made it into the facility apart from the members of Arsenal? Anyone from the Elemental Alliance? Could Trojan be another Gen 4?

“I don’t think so, Caleb,” Mary offered. “Gen 4s are non-infectious, remember? But Trojan clearly is. He’s an Original. I don’t know how this could’ve happened…”

“Less talk, more saving us!” Elliot shouted, alarms blaring in the background of his cries. “Fuck! Smokestack just made it into the Armoury!”

“What about the others?” Caleb demanded. He glanced over his shoulder at Mary. “Hang on, I’m kicking up the TSF Engine.” Mary tightened her grip around his waist and he jammed his thumb on the button to activate the Time-Space Fold Engine. Ballistic became semi-transparent and he drove it right through the buildings, making a beeline for the Facility.

“Sleipnir and Pegasus are diving for the exit. White Room defences are active but they’re charging right through them. Their fucking momentum armour is keeping them from being hindered. And Unicorn is –”

Suddenly, they were cut off. A rush of static filled their ears.

“Elliot! Elliot!” Caleb shouted.

More static met him and he though he heard some of the others trying to catch them but it was just too noisy. He killed the communicator, growling.

Now they were without communications…

“Not entirely,” came Mary’s voice within his head like she was speaking from inside his skull. “This is a trick that Jacob was teaching me. I’m linking up everyone right now. Lars, can you hear me?”

“Holy shit!” Lars exclaimed and Caleb noticed he stopped in midair. “Mary, is that you?”

“It’s all of us, buddy,” Caleb answered. “Mary learned a new trick.”

“Linking up the others… Bren, Ben, Madman. Come in.”

“Well… This is new,” Bren said dryly. “Word of advice, you might want to kill the link just before I die. I don’t know how your fragile psyches will do when I die.”

“You sure you’re going to die?” rumbled Madman. “I am here you know.”

“Then I’m really going to die.”

“Nice trick, Mary,” Ben chuckled softly. “Learned this from Legion as part of your training?”

He felt Mary chuckled. “You bet,” she answered. “He’s been teaching me all sorts of things. Some of you might actually benefit from his advice.”

“I’m a ninety year old werewolf that can control people’s blood. I’m good.”

“He’s a mega-divine entity of immeasurable power, age and experience playing a game of multi-dimensional chess with the deities of our world. Your move.”

Ben just remained silent.

An alarm began sounding on Caleb’s dashboard and he grunted as he was forced to pull into the nearby street. The TSF Engine could only be sustained for five minutes and he was down to his last sixty seconds. At least he shaved a good amount of time from his trip. He shut it off and took the normal route via the early morning traffic back to the Facility.

“Can you get Elliot or Rhia?” he asked.

“Trying but I sense they’re in the middle of a fight. If I try to contact them now, the shock might be fatal.”

“Fine. Keep them off for now.” Caleb began formulating plans just praying that he hadn’t made a terrible mistake.

Within ten minutes of the Facility Lar’s blue meteor abruptly stopped and there was an ear-splitting boom. He glanced up as something big and white collided with his boyfriend. The shockwave that blasted out shattered the windows of nearby buildings and broke the windshields of several cars. Caleb ground to a halt and spun towards where his boyfriend had been.

“Lars!”

“I’m alright! Just got company, is all! Caleb, watch out for Sleipnir. If Pegasus is nearby, so will he!”

As if on cue, several cars wailed as they were thrown high into the air and brushed aside. Caleb glanced down the street and tightened his paws into fists. The immense form of the four-legged equine came charging down the street, revenge and malice in his gaze.

Caleb tore off his helmet and slipped off Ballistic.

“BB,” he said aloud. “Take my bike and get to the facility. Find Elliot and Rhia. Get them to safety.” He slammed a paw against the panels of Ballistic. Light cascaded out of the bike and around him, forming Thunder Wire and recalling Funny Bone. At least that still worked.

Mary flicked up her visor and gave him a nod. “You got it.”

She took the reins of the bike and zoomed, taking an alternate route.

Sleipnir stopped down the street, seeing Caleb standing in the middle with Thunder Wire crackling and ready. Civilians immediately saw the destruction the Gene Stealer caused and dove to evacuate. In a world were super and supervillain battles were common, safety procedures were well established. Of course, there were those that would stay to snap a few pictures but then they had the common sense to bolt out of the way.

“Bet you didn’t think you’d be seeing us again, did you?” Sleipnir laughed with a deep, rumbling chortle.

“You were just a couple of days from being transferred to another facility,” Caleb snarled. “Somewhere secure and somewhere it would’ve been impossible to escape from.”

The enormous equine folded his arms confidently. “But you weren’t quite done interrogating us, were you? Plus it was the Christmas break and I’m sure people had better things to do than drag our asses across the world.” He threw his head back, tossing his mane and let out a trumpeting neigh. “Don’t you get it, Outsider!? We planned all of this! From the very beginning! Yes, Chimera’s appearance was a bit impromptu but Smokestack and Unicorn? Me and Pegasus? Hell, even you catching ‘Trojan’? All of it was planned and timed!”

Caleb’s grip on Thunder Wire tightened. “What do you mean?” he growled though bared fangs.

“It’s simple.” Sleipnir grinned broadly. “And I’ll even tell you. If you can beat me.”

“And if I lose?”

The Gene Stealer smirked, absently pawing at the ground with a hoof. “Oh trust me, you do not want to lose.”

******

Trojan came bursting out of the Horsepower Gym, practically tearing off the fire exit with his powerful hands. He charged right through the doorframe, crashing through the wood and the brick with ease. Freedom.

Or so he thought.

WHAM!

A big, meaty fist came flying out of his left and smashed straight into his nose. The titanic stallion staggered away from the force and the incredible hyena that had delivered it. Stars still flashing in front of his eyes, Trojan was seized around the waist by Madman and hurled boldly onto the ground. Madman pressed his weight onto the horse’s chest and deliver punch after bone-crunching punch straight into the Gene Stealer’s face.

Blood splattered against the concrete of the sidewalk.

“Madman! That’s enough!” Bren shouted, a gun lifted and levelled at the Originals head.

Madman kept a paw around the Original’s throat just to keep him down.

“Trojan,” Bren growled. “Consider yourself under arrest.”

The stunned stallion looked up at the two before him, eyes switching first from Madman and then Bren. Then he began to laugh.

“Oh this is rich. He sent the Gen 1 and the guy with infinite respawns after me!” He flashed them both a diabolical grin. “What are you going to do, kids? Better question, what can you do?”

Bren stepped forward, inching his handgun ever closer to Trojan’s skull. “I don’t care how fast you think you are. You can’t dodge a bullet from five feet away. And a shot to the head is still the best way to put down a lame horse.”

Trojan snickered. “A horse joke. Classical.” His eyes narrowed while that devilish grin remained. “But let me ask you something. Do you remember what an Original’s powers are?”

Madman growled and tightened his grip around the equine but it was like trying to squeeze a solid bar of titanium Even with his enhanced powers, it was fairly difficult. Trojan barely seemed affected and he tried to keep the dread from rising up from his gut. Something was wrong. “Don’t humour this guy. Slap those anti-super cuffs on him and let’s drag his ass to the Facility.”

“Humour? From the hyena. Are you trying to make this an exercise in bad jokes?”

_ _Madman snarled at him while Bren retrieved a set of pure-white handcuffs from behind his back.

“Original powers,” grunted the tiger. “Baseline superpowers. Ability to turn others into Generation Gene Stealers. Generation type varies depending on time between when the infection is made and when signal to trigger it is made.”

Trojan seemed genuinely impressed. “Oh? You figured that out did you? Congratulations. As a prize, let me give you a little bit more.” His grin grew wider as he willingly offered his wrists to Bren. Madman sensed a trap and even Bren hesitated. “Depending on the emotional state of the Generation Gene Stealer, they can evolve from one Generation to the other. If a Gen 1 experiences a strong enough emotion, they can jump to a Gen 2 and even Gen 2s can evolve to a Gen 3 given enough time and emotional ‘stress’. Though it’s theoretically possible for a Gen 3 to jump up to a Gen 4 or a Gen 4 to a Gen 5, it hasn’t happened yet.”

“Emotions…” Bren repeated softly. His features hardened and he approached Trojan, cuffs ready while gun still cocked. “Makes sense. Supers’ powers can have unexpected leaps in heightened emotional states.”

“Right. But you did forget one power we Originals have.”

“Oh yeah? What’s that?”

Trojan’s eyes glinted. “We all have a unique power of our own.”

The big horse’s hands suddenly snapped out, one seizing Madman’s thigh and the other wrapping around Bren’s wrist. Thick veins pushed up against his hands and a loud dull ringing sound suddenly echoed through the alleyway. Both men were frozen as the veins coming from Trojan started crawling up their limbs. Madman suddenly felt very lightheaded. All the weight he had carried around just dropped drastically and his shoulders sagged.

Through heavy eyelids, he looked to Bren in concern. Terror seized his heart when he saw Bren’s entire form just shudder. The athletic tiger’s muscles shrank abruptly, definition fading into his orange fur. His suit started to wear him and Bren’s features began to sink, his cheekbones becoming more prominent and bones sticking out from his fur.

Madman immediately rolled off Trojan, seizing Bren with an arm. Trojan just laughed as his efforts as the two tumbled to the ground and collided with the alley wall. The equine rose to his feet, dusting himself off theatrically. Trojan lifted one arm and flexed it. The mound of his bicep grew but even as it reached its peak, it grew even more. Those veins that had coursed through his arm travelled through his shoulders, travelling across his face, his chest and legs. Where it passed, muscles and bone grew, thickening and growing even bigger.

“My power is mass transference,” chortled the growing stallion. “Any organic matter I touch, I can transfer its mass to my own body, making myself bigger and stronger.” He shrugged his tremendous shoulders and it was like watching mountains move. “Working as a trainer, it helps. Just touch a couple of people, give them some of the mass I’ve stored up and that’s all I need to convince them my regimen is what’s making them grow. Once that’s done its nothing selling them a few protein shakes to get them nice and infected.”

Trojan took a step forward and Madman immediately scrambled to his feet. He felt lighter, weaker than he had been before. His attire felt a little looser on him, the leather straps no longer hugging his muscles as tightly as they used to. More than ever, he wished he had some sort of superpower to back up his incredible mass.

“Funny thing about my powers though,” Trojan said, a dark grin on his face. “It’s not just muscle mass that I can affect. Bones, blood vessels, internal organs too.” He jerked his chin towards Bren. “I hold onto you long enough and I can make you a walking tank… or make your bones as brittle as paper.”

The hyena spared a glance at Bren and fought back a choking gasp. Bren’s eyes stared up blankly at him. The tiger was dead… again. It looked like his skull had shattered and blood was seeping out from the back of his head. His limbs were lying at odd angles to his body.

His danger senses kicked in and he immediately dodged to the right, rolling towards a bunch of garbage cans. Trojan collided with the wall, causing a rather large horse-shaped dent in the brick wall.

“You’re fast,” Trojan rumbled, pulling himself from the wall. He rolled his enormous shoulders ominously. “Hard to think that a Gen 1 reject like you could have made it this far.”

“I’m not one of your fucking grunts,” Madman snarled.

“Of course not. You’re a reject.” Trojan took a step forward. His enormous hoof came crashing down on Bren’s body. There was a sickening crunch of bone. Blood burst from the limp tiger’s form. “You could have been a Gen 2. Had you been driven by something, if you had some strong emotion to drive you, you could be more. But no. You’re still a stupid, fucking animal!”

Trojan suddenly charged, faster than Madman could react. The horse collided with him, hefting the big hyena over his shoulders with frightening ease and tossing him mercilessly to the ground. The tables had turned as Trojan suddenly pressed his entire weight onto Madman’s chest and his huge hand wrapped around the hyena’s muzzle.

“I hate it when those I train show no progress at all,” growled the stallion. “Stubborn, showing no initiative, no drive. Idiots like that need a little push over the edge. It’s only then will they learn how to fly.” He leaned down, grinning malevolently down at Madman. “And you better learn fast before the world catches up with you, Sanchez.”

Thick, blue veins began crawling down from Trojan’s forearm, seeping over his hand and through his fingers. Madman could feel them crawling into his muzzle like invasive worms wiggling beneath his skin. Wherever they passed, he could feel an odd numbness befalling the area and lethargy quickly striking his bones, joints and every muscle. Right before his eyes, his enormous chest began to deflate, enormous biceps withering away.

The pressure of Trojan’s weight grew more and more as the horse grew bigger and bigger. The straps of his tank top snapped but it couldn’t fall away completely as it was caught on his expanding chest. Only when a tear started to appear down the middle of the garment did it start to crumble away.

Madman desperately struggled, flailing and trying to pull the horse’s hand away from his muzzle. The moment he grabbed Trojan’s expanding forearm, he felt the veins crawl up his own paws and he let go of it immediately like it was on fire.

“How disappointing,” Trojan rumbled, clucking his tongue. “You know, if you’d just been patient, just waited for this moment, you could’ve been broken out with the rest of my team. You could’ve been much more than this. Now…” He leaned down further, almost nose to nose with Madman. “Now you die in this alleyway, alone.”

Alone.

Arcturus’ words returned to him.

He would die alone if he just remained the wild beast that he had been back then. It was the reason he joined Arsenal; the reason why he took up arms against the Gene Stealers that had made him. He did not want to die alone. Somewhere out there, there was someone for him and he was going to find them.

But was that the only reason? As he looked up at Trojan, tears welling up in his eyes, tried to muster the strength to break away but will to fight was fading by the second. He was going to die alone. Even though he fought for Arsenal, he was still going to die alone.

And… he felt regret.

Looking to where Bren’s body lay, he regretted being unable to do more. He felt so pathetic for not growing into a Gen 2 or more because he was just so busy being the Madman. Guilt wracked his shrinking chest. He had let down Arsenal. He had let down his friends.

His friends…

It hit him like a sack of bricks.

He wasn’t going to die alone.

Because he had friends who were depending on him.

And he was not going to let them down.

Madman jerked his head to the right, momentarily loosening Trojan’s grip on his muzzle. He opened his jaw wide and bit down hard. Even though he had been heavily drained, Hyenas had one of the most powerful bites in the animal kingdom. That was a lesson that Trojan learned all too well when his jaws drove his fangs deep into the horse’s hand. Trojan let out a cry and jerked his hand back. It was a terrible move as Madman refused to let go and with his fangs sunk deep into the horse’s flesh coupled with his super strength, when Madman was finally taken off he took a chunk of flesh with him.

The moment of distraction was enough. Madman swung his fists straight into the horse’s engorged balls. The stallion’s loud cry died off into a whimper and Madman shoved the Original off him with little resistance. He staggered over to Bren’s body, quickly pulled the prone form over his shoulders. With his significantly weakened form, it was much harder to scramble out of the alleyway and onto the streets.

People stared as the average-looking hyena carried a bloodied and battered tiger in a suit over his shoulders.

“We’re not done here, Sanchez!”

He grunted and dared a look over his shoulder. Trojan was staggering out of the alleyway, clutching his balls through his shorts which looked more like an oversized jockstrap. The equine came charging out –

Screeeeeeeee!

And froze as a big, black van came careening towards him.

WHAM!

Trojan somehow managed to hold his ground even as the van collided with him. The vehicle actually bent around his body. Windows shattered and showered him in shards of glass but that only seemed to provide some vague annoyance. After the shock had worn off The Original snorted and seized the side door of the van and tore it open.

Then his eyes widened.

“What did I tell you about horses and bullets?” Bren said coolly, handgun raised.

BAM! BAM!

Trojan screamed as bullets embedded into his shoulder, blood splattering out onto the ground. He staggered back, arm hanging limply by his side. Bren launched out of the deformed van, calmly striding forward with his gun raised.

“So you can steal my mass,” the tiger said nonchalantly. “Well, too bad for you that I’ve got thousands of bodies to spare.”

Trojan glanced over his shoulder at Madman then back to Bren. A disgruntled grin crossed his features. “Well done. You actually forced me to retreat. You won’t be so lucky next time.”

He turned and suddenly vaulted into the air. Bren fired after him. Two shots cut into the same injured arm and the equine staggered in mid-air before landing a good block away. Bren lowered his gun with a sigh and holstered it.

Madman stumbled to the ground, sighing with relief as Bren came up to him. “You look like shit, Sanchez. Lost some weight?”

“And you look good for a dead guy,” Madman rumbled. He regarded his body. He looked like an average hyena now. Probably a lot like Gnoll. It was a little ironic. “Fuck…”

“Let’s get you back to base,” Bren said, offering his paw. He paused a moment and regarded his dead body. “Why’d you bring my corpse back? You know it really has now meaning, right?”

Madman stared at the bloodied feline body and just shrugged. “I really don’t know.”

Somewhere off in the distance, there was an explosion.

******

Rhiannon pressed a finger against Elliot’s lips, keeping him silent. They were huddled in a corner right next to the entrance to Elliot’s room. Unicorn stalked into the room, looking around with his nostrils flared. The Gene Stealer’s eyes were wide, mad and filled with fury. He immediately made a beeline for the large array of screens and consoles but when he found no one there, he began wildly sniffing the air.

“Where you!?” shouted the stallion. “I know you here!”

“How good are your illusions?” Elliot asked.

“Good enough that he won’t notice us,” Rhiannon answered. “Even if he were to touch us, I can mess with his senses to make him believe he’s just grabbing thin air. The only problem will be –”

Suddenly, Unicorn threw his head back and let out a roar. His horn launched off his forehead and slammed into the ceiling. A fiery explosion engulfed the roof and metal and debris came crumbling down around them.

“Is if he starts shooting wildly!” she cried. “Come on!”

She grabbed Elliot’s hand and pulled him towards the exit. Explosion after explosion followed after them as Unicorn rampaged in Elliot’s room. Fire erupted from the chamber and the anti-fire response immediately started. Robots came bursting out of the walls carrying tanks of flame-retardant foam. The entire Facility shook from blow the eruptions and the entire compound became bathed in red light of alarm.

They came to a stop at the atrium, panting heavily, Elliot more than Rhia.

“We’re safe for now…” the Hound breathed. “But Smokestack is still in the Armoury.” He glanced towards Elliot. “Do you think you can lock it down from here?”

“Give me… a… second…” panted the overweight orca. “… to… grieve… my… porn.”

Rhiannon rolled her eyes then went rigid as the tell-tale noise of doors opening brought her attention to the front doors. Relief washed over her as Ben and Mary came storming in.

“Elliot! Rhia!” Ben exclaimed, loping forward on all fours. “You two okay?”

“Could be better,” Rhiannon said. “Where’re the others?”

“Fighting the others that’ve escaped,” Mary responded. Her head jerked back towards Elliot’s room. “Unicorn is heading this way.” Then she turned towards the Armoury just as a thick, grey smoke began pouring in from the gaps between the steel doors. “Smokestack has some new toys as well…”

“You two go after the assassin,” Rhiannon said. “We’ll take care of the stupid horse with a stick poking out of his head.”

“We!?” Elliot exclaimed. “I don’t know about you, but I’m a strictly non-combatant Outsider! I’m a super-genius! Not a superhero!”

She gave him a firm stare. “Powers don’t make the hero, Elliot. Your actions do. Now get up and think of some way we can beat the horn-head!”

They both turned as another explosion ripped through the Facility. The ominous sound of hooves on metal came from the hallway leading into Elliot’s room. Malicious eyes glimmered in the red light as Unicorn’s silhouette emerged.

“There you are!”

Rockets came shooting towards them. Elliot screamed and immediately bolted for the exit.

“Sonofa –” Rhiannon began and swept her paws through the air, quickly uttering a spell. The rockets struck an invisible barrier, erupting into flames. “Go!” she shouted. “Take care of Smokestack! I can take care of Unicorn!”

“You sure?” Ben asked. “With my blood powers –”

“Mary will need your help with Smokestack,” she responded. “I’m still the Hound of Destruction So I can still sense when there’s great destruction at hand. Smokestack has grabbed a few of Caleb’s weapons and you know how destructive each of them are.”

Blood Wolf exchanged glances with Mary and they both nodded in turn.

“Good luck,” he grunted and charged towards the Armoury.

Rhiannon grunted as she dismissed her barrier. Unicorn was stepping towards her, eyes wide and the stupid grin of someone who thought they had won on his face. “Alright… Just you and me then, big guy.”

“This gonna be fun,” rumbled the Gene Stealer.

Rhia immediately erected an illusion and charged straight for Unicorn. The stupid beast began launching rockets at her, each of the horns missing him completely and going for the illusion that looked like it was running away. She scrambled behind him and drove her heavy boot into the back of his knee. Unicorn toppled forward with a gasp, shocked as Rhiannon caught him in a crushing headlock.

Though her powers were severely restricted, she still benefitted from centuries of combat expertise. She swung around Unicorn’s thick neck and wrapped her thighs around his windpipe. She grabbed his arm for further restraint and squeezed hard.

“Night, night, you mythical motherfucker,” she snarled.

But she seemed to have underestimated a Gen 2s strength.

Unicorn got to his feet even though her full weight was on his shoulders. He rammed her straight into the nearby wall. Pain erupted from her back and the force of the blow forced her to loosen her grip. She slid off the Gene Stealer only for the mighty stallion to seize the back of her head and lift her into the air.

“Stupid wolf,” he growled, lowering his head towards her, horn levelled straight at her face.

Rhiannon snarled. Just as the base of his horn began to ignite, she seized it and drove it straight into his arm. Unicorn roared in agony, letting her go. She dove away as –

BOOM!

She was hurled a good twenty feet away and came crashing to the ground. The loud crunch of her shoulder hitting the ground came first, then there was the brief moment of warmth as her body registered that it was injured. And then came the pain.

She bit down on her lip, looking up to the heavens and wondering why the hell the gods ever invented the concept of pain. Struggling to sit up, Rhiannon found her left arm tender but thankfully not broken. Maybe a fracture or two but nothing very critical. She would live. Looking towards the hallway, flames engulfed the cylindrical path and black plumes of smoke began flooding the atrium.

A blast like that would’ve severely injured a super.

Her heart began to fill with dread.

A great sense of destruction emanated from the hallway. Unicorn’s silhouette came charging out of the flames, flesh burned and his entire right arm missing from the elbow down. He was screaming like a madman, purely driven by animalistic instinct. Rhiannon scrambled to her feet and –

Squish! WHAM!

Rhia felt blood flood down from her abdomen. Unicorn’s trademark horn was embedded deep into her gut to the point where it was pushing out of her back. The Gene Stealer grinned at her, a horrific sight given the charred and burnt flesh all over his body.

“You die now!” roared the stallion. Even as he said this, his skin began to mend, fur starting to grow back and even his arm was starting to regenerate. Flames began to emerge from the base of the frenzied Gene Stealer’s horn.

Rhia wondered where she would go now if she died as a mortal.

What would Arcturus say?

Would Jacob actually greet her at the end of her life?

Or would that smug bitch Gwen be the one and she’d have to deal with her wounds being rubbed with salt?

“Hey, dickhead!”

The rocket horn sputtered as Unicorn turned his head, swinging Rhia comically through the air. It was painful but the pain was doused by surprise and relief. Elliot stood in front of the atrium wielding an enormous black gun under his arm, with a massive pipe leading from the walls of the Facility like a chain gun.

“Friendship is magic, bitch.”

Elliot pulled the trigger and big, white, gelatinous globs came shooting out of the barrel. The super-genius orca was a terrible shot but one of the blobs struck Unicorn’s chest. The moment it made contact, the goo began expanding rapidly, adding incredible weight and forcing the Gene Stealer to stagger.

Rhiannon grit her fangs together and seized the sides of Unicorn’s stunned face. Her knee made contact with his jaw and it felt like driving her leg into a titanium wall. She was sure something shattered but Unicorn was stunned. Still with her paws on the horned equine’s head, she pushed herself straight off his horn and dropped to the ground, panting and blood seeping out of her gut.

With her no longer in the line of fire, Elliot went full-auto. He roared madly, body shaking madly as the goo gun covered Unicorn in expanding blobs of goo designed to incapacitate supers. Unicorn flailed as much as he could but the heavy, sticky spheres quickly weighed him down and sent him toppling to the ground. One struck his head and began to expand over his horn. He instinctively launched a rocket into the sphere but it just absorbed the explosion with no effect. This goo was, after all, designed to test Lars’ abilities and was naturally flame resistant.

Unicorn raged and roared like a wild animal but he wasn’t going anywhere.

Elliot collapsed to the ground, panting heavily and dropping his makeshift weapon. “I’m going to need some new pants…”

Rhiannon gave him a shaky smile. “I’m going to need a new liver.”

******

The winds raged around Lars. Blue flames kept him suspended in mid-air while opposite to him, the former mayor of West California Island hovered, flapping his wings idly. Pegasus crossed his impressive arms against his chest, an arrogant smirk on his equine muzzle.

“How the hell did you assholes get into our systems?” Lars snarled, flames shooting out between his fangs.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” snickered the winged horse.

Lars flung his right paw forward. A bolt of blue flames shot forward from his fingertips hurtling straight towards Pegasus’ head.

The Gene Stealer dodged it lazily. “Is that all you’ve –”

WHAM!

Pegasus gagged as Lars’ flaming fist drove straight into his abdomen.

“Little trick I learned while in the Alliance,” Lars growled. “Aim for the head and your opponent will have no choice but to keep their eye on the flaming ball of fire.”

Faster than even Pegasus could follow, he pulled away and then spun, delivering a spinning kick straight at the equine’s head. The winged horse stumbled in the air, dropping several feet as he fought to keep his balance and altitude. Lars bellowed and dove straight at the Gene Stealer, his entire body becoming engulfed in blistering blue flames. Brining his football skills to bear, he caught Pegasus in a brutal shoulder check that sent them hurtling towards the ground.

He couldn’t let either of them drop too far. They needed to keep themselves away from the public at all costs. As soon as Pegasus sounded like he was about to retaliate, Lars seized the horse’s head with both paws and slammed their foreheads together. To him, it was just a mild bump but he could almost see the stars flashing in front of the Gene Stealer’s eyes.

A gust of wind suddenly blasted him away from the flying horse. It was easy for him to regain his balance but Pegasus had to stagger in the air for a little while before he turned back towards Lars, gritting his teeth together.

“You’re not a super,” Lars accused. “You were never trained to be one. You don’t know how to fight. You’re not even the better Gene Stealer amongst us! I’m a Gen 4, bitch!” For emphasis, he thrust a thumb at his chiselled chest.

Pegasus gave him a bloodied smirk. “Finally admitting it yourself, eh boy?” He spread his arms wide. “All that power you feel coursing through your veins, the speed, the strength? That’s all because of us. You have us to thank for what you’ve become.”

“Shut up!”

Lars lunged forward.

Pegasus blasted him with a gust of wind and veered off to the right. The Doberman followed him but the winged horse was surprisingly fast despite his size and weight. He was zooming around Lars in a tight circle.

“You know what’s the best part?” Dalton continued as he sped up.

“I don’t want to hear it!” Lars snapped, launching a torrent of blue flames in the path of the horse. A gale of wind blasted straight through the concentrated fire, brushing it aside and knocking Lars back.

“You could be more.”

Lars balked for a moment and Pegasus saw.

“That’s right. Every Generation Gene Stealer can advance. All they need is the right stimuli. Just like how supers’ powers develop through heightened emotional states, so too can Gene Stealers. You know Smokestack? He started off as a Gen 1. But then he evolved into a Gen 2 in mere minutes. I may be a Gen 3 but give me enough time, put me under enough emotional stress or give me something to get really riled up about and I can be just like you!”

WHAM!

Another blast of wind struck Lars from behind, knocking him forward.

BAM!

Stars flashed before Lars’ face. At first, he wasn’t sure what hit him but then he felt the distinct impression of Pegasus’ face against his cheek. He staggered in the air, fighting to maintain his altitude.

WHAM!

Another blast knocked him from the right, hurtling him towards the left. Pegasus’ fist came rushing straight at him and he instinctively lifted his arms to block. The blow threw him back to the centre of the alabaster horse’s little whirlwind of doom.

“And you, as a Gen 4, are just one step away from achieving perfection. One step from becoming a Gen 5!”

“I am never going to be one of you!” Lars snarled. He stretched out both his paws out to either side of him and let out a ferocious roar. Flames blasted out of his palms and he spun in place, sending them sweeping around him. Pegasus just laughed as the gale around him intensified. Even his intense blue fires were doused by the mass of whirling winds.

“You are an impudent child. Chimera isn’t some terrorist. He’s trying to save the world!” A thick arm suddenly wrapped around his neck and Pegasus pressed his muzzle directly at Lars’ ear. “Armageddon is coming, boy. And Chimera is the only one that can save us.”

“Fuck you!”

The Gene Stealer grinned. “You might get that chance.”

Pegasus suddenly folded his wings and pulled Lars back, angling them both downwards. They plummeted to the earth at high speeds, the wind wailing past them. Lars desperately trying to yank Pegasus’ thick arm from around his neck and he was winning, succeeding inch by inch.

WHAM!

The flying horse’s other fist slammed into his flank, the shock of the pain making him gasp and lose all the ground he gained. The thick arm closed around his windpipe and he gagged. With a snarl, he gripped Pegasus’ arm with both paws and launched a blast of flame straight into the guy’s flesh at point blank range.

Dalton roared and let him go but –

BOOM!

It was too late and Lars slammed head first into the roof of a building.

First there was no pain.

Then there was a sense of warmth…

… and then there was the agonising inferno that erupted from every bone in his body.

“Fuck!” he cried, writhing on the ground.

Alliance training taught him to fight through the pain and quickly check for broken bones. Given his regeneration, if the bones weren’t set properly, they would heal incorrectly. After a quick pat down, he surmised he was injured but nothing was broken too badly. Grimacing, he propped himself up on his paws and knees.

The sound of Pegasus’ wings flapping brought his attention to just a few feet in front and above him.

“You know, if you just joined us, you could learn how to become the best Gen 4 you could be,” Pegasus said. “You could become a Gen 5 in no time and be one of the strongest beings in this entire world.”

Lars had to keep him talking. The longer he talked, the more Lars could recover.

“So what? Is this some sort of unnatural selection? Chimera is infecting groups of people, transforming them into Gene Stealers so that they’ll survive the apocalypse? What’s going to happen? An asteroid is going to crash into the planet? Super volcano? Ice age? Solar flares? Some god is going to rip open the gates of Hell?”

Pegasus’ features twitched slightly. “We don’t know but we know it’s bad. Unless Chimera succeeds, no one will survive. No super, no Outsider, Gene Stealer, Genesian or anyone else will be able to survive what’s coming unless Chimera can produce Gen 5s.”

“That’s some pretty heavy stuff…”

“So you see?” Dalton said, with a spark of hope in his eyes. “You understand?”

Lars slowly got to his feet. “I understand this.” He pressed a paw against his chest, just over the ‘FB’ emblem on his right pectoral. “The reason why you guys are batshit insane is because you believe in some bullshit prophecy that Chimera has fed you! You’re religious nut jobs! And I should know something about zealots. I’m a Republican!”

Pegasus actually seemed stunned by the last comment. “You are?”

“Yeah, and you know what we Republicans cherish most apart from family values, American identity and big guns?”

“What?”

“Oil.”

Lars slammed the emblem on his chest. Brilliant white light suddenly erupted from the little crest and swirled around his form. A broad metal horned helmet and two, enormous bear-shaped pauldrons sitting on his shoulders. With a roar, unleashed two blasts of flame which he led straight into the snarling jaws of his shoulder armour. The eyes of the bears glowed brightly as they returned that strength back into him but new and different.

A different kind of power filled his veins. His already large muscles swelled into a greater size, his 7 foot height rising to a towering nine feet. Short, dark brown fur became a thick, ragged pelt capable of braving winter storms. Stubby claws expanded into law razors capable of shredding a man in minutes and his canine features gave way to a more ursine look.

Pegasus staggered in the air and gawked as the Doberman in front of him transformed into a huge, hulking bear.

“Surprise, bitch,” Lars growled. He thrust his paws forward. Instead of flames, thick, black oil came shooting out of his palms. It coated Pegasus’ pristine, white pelt but most of all, it latched onto his feathers. The sudden weight and muck between his feathers dropped Pegasus to the ground like a stone.

Lars lumbered over to the Gene Stealer with a snort.

“So I’m a Gen 4 huh?” he growled, lifting a finger. A little flame appeared at the tip of his claw as Pegasus looked on in terror. “So what? I’m still a member of Arsenal. And that’s what counts.”

He extinguished the flame and –

WHAM!

Drove his fist right into Pegasus’ face.

The flying horse dropped into unconsciousness.

“You’re grounded.”

******

The Armoury.

Basically a hall of fame for all of Caleb’s weapons that managed to survive.

Thick, black smoke covered the entire chamber. Only the faint lights of the various displays where the weapons managed to cut through the haze, that and the ever-present red from the alarms. Mary passed a display that had been shattered and she could only guess what had been contained within.

“So we’ve got an assassin in here who can control and generate smoke,” Ben rumbled, fangs bared. “And he’s got access to all of Caleb’s weapons. Fun.” He grimaced and squinted through the haze. “I can’t see a thing in this…”

“We don’t need do,” Mary responded telepathically. “I can sense him. And you can detect his blood.”

“That’s not what I’m concerned about.” Ben suddenly went rigid. “Look out!” He suddenly hurled himself at Mary, pushing her to the ground.

“Aaaargh!” he roared over a distinct sizzling noise. “Sonofabitch!”

She looked up and saw a sickly, green liquid had splattered onto Ben’s flank, bubbling away and eating at his flesh.

“Isn’t this familiar?” came Smokestack’s voice. “Once again, I find myself facing off against you two. This time, things will end differently. I’ve got a few new toys.”

“So do we!” Mary shouted and focused directly at Smokestack’s consciousness. She imagined jabbing a spike straight into the presence and she heard the equine grunt in annoyance.

“Ah, I had heard you had some sort of psychic power. I had no idea it was so potent. No matter. I am well-versed with dealing with your kind.”

Mary suddenly found a huge, iron wall blocking her psychic attack and she was knocked back with an almost physical blow. “What…? But how…?”

“I am an assassin little girl. In this world of ours, assassins need to learn how to fight all sorts of people. Supers amongst them. Even those with psychic powers. I’ve even learned how to deal with the odd werewolf or two.”

Suddenly, a tall, towering figure appeared behind Ben. The writhing werewolf was still in pain and didn’t get to resist as Smokestack seized his arm and –

Crrrrack!

“Aaaaargh!” Ben roared, his arm twisted at an obscene angle. Smokestack instantly moved to the other arm and –

Crrrrack!

After he broke both of Ben’s arms, he disappeared back into the thick haze.

“Fucker!” Ben growled, struggling to his feet. “I’m going to –”

There was a loud hiss and thick, iron spears suddenly erupted from the ground, shooting through Ben’s calves and pinning him in place.

“I am well aware of the Alpha Pack,” Smokestack said with chilling cool. “I’ve taken a contract or two from you or your intermediaries. Werewolves but also supers. You have incredible powers and amazing regenerative powers. But you know what they say about those that keep regenerating…”

Ben suddenly went rigid as a metal spike shot through his throat. His blood splattered all over Mary’s face.

“Blood Wolf!” she cried.

“Just keep doing damage,” Smokestack continued. “If their bodies don’t eventually break down, their minds will.”

Mary seized the iron rod from Ben’s throat and yanked it completely out. Ben gurgled in thanks, using his power over blood to keep himself from bleeding out.

“What the hell do you want!?” Mary shouted. “You were turned into a Gene Stealer but you don’t have to be one!”

“I have no intention of joining that little cult. But they did give me a powerful new ability. One that would make me invaluable in my field.”

A faint wailing noise cut through the air and Mary turned. Sharp, paper shurikens came flying out of the smoke and but into her. Though her uniform was strong and held up against them, they still drew painful, thin cuts all over face and hands.

“Join us!” Mary exclaimed. “Get revenge against the Gene Stealers who did this to you!”

“Revenge? Oh I intend to kill von Dark for turning me into this without my permission and I still do have a contract to fulfil, after all. But I bear the Gene Stealers no ill will. Like I said, they gave me a powerful tool. I am honestly rather grateful. If they leave me alone, then I will leave them in peace.”

There was a hiss through the air. Mary wasn’t sure where it was coming from and hoped that as she stepped back, it was the right move. Bright green fluid flew in from her left, flying past her. Had the acid touched her, she would’ve been dead, surely.

“Then why are you attacking us?”

She froze and felt Smokestack’s breath down her neck.

“Now that is revenge.”

Mary pulled out her two swords and immediately ducked. The dark equine’s arms swung overhead in a desperate bid to grab her and she punished him with a slash from her blades. He made no reaction as her swords bit into his forearms. The equine just glared at her with cold, black eyes and disappeared back into the smoke.

A clatter of metal came from Ben and the werewolf had managed to pull himself free of the iron bars. He fell to his knees, panting as his regeneration kicked in.

“You’re a fucking coward,” he growled, the hole in his neck having healed. “Hiding in the smoke. Face me like a man!”

“I am not a man. I am an assassin.”

The dark horse appeared behind Ben, a gauntlet with a spider-motif latched onto his arm.

“Ben!” Mary cried.

Ben immediately ducked and lashed out with his claws. Smokestack dodged backwards but didn’t get too far. Ben’s claws still managed to graze his ripped abdominals. Something was strange with his movements. Then it hit her.

“Ben! I don’t think he’s used to his new size and weight yet!”

“So?”

“He has to use the smoke. There’s no other way he can hide! It’s his only cover. Get rid of the smoke and we’re on an even playing field!”

“Great. How do we get rid of the smoke?”

Mary thought fast. Smoke alarms should have triggered the sprinkler systems and ventilation fans should have started trying to pump the smoke out. But the haze still lingered. Smokestack had been waiting in here for them. He had set this place up as a killing ground.

An idea sprang to mind.

“Distract him!”

“Great. I’m just your big furry meat bag. Thanks.”

Mary turned and scrambled through the thick smoke. She was grateful that David had managed to organise the clutter that was Caleb’s Armoury. Before, Caleb had just thrown all his weapons everywhere. Now she had an unobstructed path to the control panel on the far side of the chamber. Coughing and spluttering, she regarded the display.

As she suspected, the ventilation and sprinklers were sabotaged. She wouldn’t be able to active them from the panel.

“Clever girl,” Smokestack breathed. “But I’m smarter.”

She jerked to the right just as a sharp, metal rod jammed into the panel beside her. She tumbled to the floor and Smokestack stood over her, murder in his eyes.

“So you say,” she said with a grin. “But all you did was confirm the way to beat you!”

Mary shut her eyes and focused just like how Jacob had taught her. She expanded her mind, reaching out with ghostly hands to the various fans embedded into the walls. Slowly, those very same fans began to spin with her influence. The soft whirring of the ventilation working started to echo in the Armoury and the smoke was being drained away.

Smokestack looked around in surprise. That moment of distraction gave Ben the chance to seize him around the waist and slam him against the wall. The assassin glared at him coolly and pressed the spider gauntlet against his face.

Splash!

Ben roared as his features were covered entirely with acid, his eyelids being welded shut. But he didn’t need his eyes to see. He could feel were Smokestack was and all he needed was just one nick… With a snarl, he dug his claws into the assassin’s shoulder. Smokestack grunted and delivered a crushing kick with his hoof into Ben’s gut.

The werewolf topped back straight into Mary’s arms. He gasped, pressing a paw against his muzzle as the acid burns on his features stung.

The equine assassin grunted and shook his head. “An admirable effort but you are just children. A pity. I do so hate taking the lives of children.” He lifted his arm towards them both, spider gauntlet ready to douse them both in acid. Smoke began emitting from his body, filling up the Armour once more. “Now die”

Mary shut her eyes…

… but there was no hiss.

And no pain.

“What?” Smokestack gawked, looking directly at Mary. “My mental defences are up. You cannot control my mind with your powers!”

“It’s not her powers that’s controlling you, asshole,” Ben grinned, managing to keep one eye open despite his severely burned features. “It’s mine.”

Smokestack’s entire body suddenly went rigid, his arms snapping back to his sides like he was being drawn and quartered.

“Fun fact about my abilities,” Ben said. “If I get a taste of anyone’s blood, I can control every drop in their body. I am Blood Wolf, after all. Took me ages to get that ability down and it’s still pretty restrictive but when I get that little drop…”

There was a sickening crack as Smokestack’s entire arm just seemed to collapse upon itself, squishing up against his shoulder like an accordion. The equine screamed.

“Then your ass is mine.” Ben’s features started to heal over and he managed to get to his feet. “Now what was that about dealing with guys that keep regenerating? Oh yeah. Just keep dealing damage.”

Crrrrrack!

Smokestack’s other arm crumbled like a spring and the assassin still managed to stay conscious through the pain.

“Ben! That’s enough!” Mary shouted.

“Oh no,” Ben snarled, shaking his head. “This asshole thinks he can come into our house and try and murder us. No. I’m going to make him suffer.” He lifted a finger towards Smokestack’s thick thighs, making a gun with his fingers. “Bam.”

SPLAT!

As if a bullet had actually burst through the equine’s leg, a hole appeared in Smokestack’s leg, blood blasting out painfully.

Ben turned his ‘gun’ to the other leg.

“Bam.”

SPLAT!

“Ben!” Mary cried, grabbing his arm. “That’s enough! We’re not this kind of team! You’re not this kind of person!”

“Says who!?” Ben snapped. “I’ve been a fucking werewolf for far longer than you’ve been alive! This is what I do!”

“People have changed for far less,” Mary pleaded. “History means nothing if you’re willing to change and Ben…” She held onto his arm tightly. “I know you’ve changed.”

Ben’s bright, red eyes lost their fury… and he turned back to Smokestack. “You’re lucky, Smokestack. I just had a brilliant, fucking idea.”

The equine dropped to the floor, finally free from Ben’s control.

Blood Wolf stood over the panting and bloodied assassin, a devilish grin on his face. “I’ve always wanted an assassin-slash-butler.”

******

Sleipnir grunted as Caleb’s wire steed stomped on his sides. A bluish-white glow wrapped around Caleb’s jacket and whip as once again, the weapon metamorphosed. A broad cowboy hat was added to the attire, completing the Western look. The whip itself began crackling with bolts of lightning.

“It’s over,” Caleb snarled.

Sleipnir only laughed.

“You think it’s over?” challenged the four-legged fur. “You think you’ve won!? We got into your base dumbass! We know everything you know! Don’t you get it!?”

His brow furrowed. “What…?”

Sleipnir rolled his eyes. “God, you’re fucking dumb. The serum Shark Tamer gave you. He gave it to you so you’d take it and we could study how you made a fucking Gen 4! Your buddy, the orca, analysed the data and the serum. Once he did that we were in. We know everything you know! We know about your base, your operations, your security, even how you made your cures! That is what we wanted! That’s what Trojan was all about!”

Caleb’s eyes widened in realisation.

Trojan.

Like the Trojan Horse.

As in a Trojan Horse virus.

The Gene Stealers had dangled the threat of another Gene Stealer threat over their eyes and then wormed their way in somehow. They had stolen everything Arsenal knew! That was probably why Unicorn had attacked Elliot’s place as well, to destroy the data!

“How!?” Caleb shouted, cracking his whip. “How the fuck did you get in!?”

Sleipnir threw his head back and laughed. “You know what? It doesn’t even matter!”

Sensing his fury, Caleb’s wire steed reared up and slammed its hooves straight into Sleipnir’s blooded and burned side. The Gene Stealer gagged but didn’t stop laughing.

“Tell me!” Caleb roared.

The look Sleipnir gave him sent his heart into a pit of ice.

“It’s your fault, Weapons Master. It’s all your fault.”

*****

“Caleb’s phone.”

In the destroyed atrium of the Facility, Arsenal gathered. Smokestack was taken into custody of the Alpha Pack where he would be treated. FBI troops came in to restrain Pegasus, Sleipnir and Unicorn and transfer them to a more secure facility. Elliot began looking into how the Gene Stealers had managed to get into the Facility’s security system and free the hostages. Rhiannon was sent to the Tower Hospital to recover. She was the most grievously injured of them all and by most standards, mortal.

“My phone?” Caleb stammered. “How?”

“That’s what I’d like to know,” Elliot answered with a shrug. “Somehow, they managed to hijack the signal your phone was running on and insert a worm into our systems while we were in contact with you. But it’s hard to tell how. Maybe they hijacked the signal used by your phone service or somehow got into your phone somehow. Without my equipment, I can’t tell.”

Sleipnir’s words haunted him.

“It’s your fault, Weapons Master. It’s all your fault.”

“What did I do…?” he croaked.

Mary gripped his shoulder lightly. “You couldn’t have known, Caleb…”

Bren looked about the Facility and sighed. “This… is going to take some time to fix. Time and money. I’ll see if I can pull some favours but… I’m really not sure how this will turn out…”

“Not to mention the data I lost when Unicorn trashed my room,” Elliot sighed. “This is messed up…”

Ben shook his head grimly, back to looking human and just wearing his ragged shorts. “All the destruction and commotion on the streets will raise some questions. You can bet the Alliance will try and move in on this.” He nodded towards Bren. “With David on the Alpha Pack’s side, we can probably pay to fix this place up. No need to worry.” He sighed and reached for his phone. “I’ll call my shuttle to cancel our trip. We need to be here to fix this.”

“I completely disagree.”

The team turned as Arcturus came striding into the room, Gwen and Jacob right behind him.

“What do you want?” Lars snarled.

“I’m actually here to see Madman,” Arcturus said. “Where is he?”

Bren hiked his thumb over his shoulder. “In the training room. It was the only part of the Facility not hit and he’s a little hurt he lost some muscle mass to Trojan.”

“Good. I shall take my leave then.”

That left them with Jacob and Gwen.

“And where does that leave the two of you?” demanded Lars. “What do you want?”

“I was actually here to see Rhiannon,” Gwen responded. “I can heal her wounds and I understand that she is effectively mortal.” A sly smile crossed her features. “I wouldn’t want my punching bag to die on me.”

Jacob nudged her in the ribs.

“She’s in the Tower Hospital,” Lars snarled.

“Told you,” Jacob muttered.

She gave him a glare. “Don’t make me brick you.”

The black wolf fell silent.

Gwen turned and left.

That only left Jacob.

“Look guys,” said Legion, “I know you’re bummed but you need this trip to NYC. Trust me. You need to get out of here, have some Christmas cheer in you, have some fun and come back new and refreshed.”

“This isn’t something we can just brush under the rug!” Elliot shouted. “The Gene Stealers broke into our Facility, stole all our data and smashed the place up! We don’t have anywhere to stay!”

There, Jacob gave them a little smile. “Oh… I don’t know about that.” He pulled out a little golden key from his pocket, hanging on a silver string. He spun it a couple of times on his finger and then jammed it into the air. Brilliant, golden light erupted in front of him and formed a big, golden door to the surprise of everyone in the atrium.

Apart from the fact that it was purely golden, it seemed rather… ordinary. A doorframe, doorknob and a keyhole. They waited for something to happen but… nothing came.

Jacob poked his head out from around the door. “In retrospect, I should’ve opened this damn thing behind me. Would you mind coming over here. It only opens one way.”

Despite his melancholy mood, Caleb couldn’t help but laugh and was the first to move behind the door. Once they were all gathered, Jacob pushed the door open and stepped through.

What met them… was nothing short of spectacular.

“What the…?” Ben gawked.

“The Gods have been calling in ‘favours’ from me for a while and more than one super or high ranking official has asked the same,” Jacob said with a smile. “I just called in a few of those favours. Given that I’m officially part of Arsenal, I figured I’d give this to you guys as an early Christmas present.”

In front of them was an enormous facility that looked a lot like the bridge of some airborne ship. They had a full panoramic view of the entirety of the West California Island through glass windows. Beyond that, Caleb could see the length of a huge runway complete with matter fabricators and fighter drones. There were people running around the flight deck and manning the stations of the bridge.

“Arsenal has arrived!” Jacob shouted.

Officers from all around the stations immediately stood up and saluted them. One man in particular turned around and strode towards them. The left side of his face was concealed in a white mask while the rest of his features were that of a distinct Asian descent. He stood up to Jacob and the two shook hands.

“Director Rage,” Jacob greeted.

“R3,” grunted the tall, athletic man. “I see you’ve finally brought in Arsenal.” He let go of Jacob’s hand and turned towards the team. “Lady and Gentlemen, my name is Nathan Rage. I am the Director of AEGIS.”

“AEGIS?” Bren asked, frowning. “I’ve heard rumours about you but I’ve never had those rumours confirmed.”

“What’s AEGIS?” Lars asked.

“The Allied Extreme Global Intelligence Service.”

“Extreme?” Caleb repeated. “What? Like snowboarding? Skydiving? That sort of stuff?”

Rage laughed softly. “Cute but no. Extreme as it what can’t be handled by normal forces such as the Secret Service, CIA or even FBI.” He man in the long, black coat gestured towards the rest of the crew. “We are a collection of specialist soldiers from all over the world, from all different countries, species and even planets that have come together in the hopes of providing impartial assistance to the world where necessary.”

“In short,” Jacob said, “they’re guys that have either become disillusioned to their country’s activities, discharged for doing the right thing, hunted down for serving their country or just the victims of circumstance due to some underhanded dealings. For all intents of purposes, these men and women are dead to the world and AEGIS does not exist.”

“And where do you fit into this?” Bren asked suspiciously. “How did you know about AEGIS?”

Rage gave Jacob a smirk and clapped his shoulder. “Reaper actually founded AEGIS years ago on the instruction of Athena.”

“My mother?” Mary whispered in surprise.

Jacob stepped forward and placed a paw gently on her shoulder. “Your mother is still a Goddess of wisdom and at times, war and justice. She predicted that these people will be wronged by their governments and asked me to save them. She also predicted that you would need a home as a base of operations for your budding powers. In fact, she actually hoped you’d found AEGIS eventually but then the thing with the Gene Stealers came around and… well, you know. The Gods can’t see the future of those involved and so far and so on.” He gave her a wink. “In fact, the name itself should be a dead giveaway that your mother is involved. After all, the Aegis was carried by Athena in mythology.”

Her eyes dropped and her features became very still.

“Don’t let your mother define you,” Jacob said reassuringly. “My brother made that mistake. Let her death drive him through his entire life and made him obsessed with finding out the cause. You’re going to see her everywhere. She’s going to get mentioned time and again.” He gently cupped her chin, lifting her gaze so that it levelled with his. “She’s your mother. But you’re still Mary Brightwater. I mean, at least you have a last name. What’s hers? It’s just Athena. Do you have any idea how many Athenas there are in the world especially after that movie about those teenaged demigods that go to some sort of camp for half-breeds like them? Oh and the pen that turns into a sword? Come on.”

Mary broke her stoicism and let out a short laugh. “You’re right. Thank you.”

Jacob smiled and took a step back. “No worries.” Turning to the rest of Arsenal, he said, “As per Athena’s wishes, AEGIS’s resources are now at your disposal but AEGIS doesn’t work for you. You don’t work for AEGIS either. You’re allies in this. I’ve convinced Rage to let you have free reign when dealing with the Gene Stealers, Genesians and whatever problems you come up with within reason.” Jacob’s eyes switched to Elliot. “That means no hijacking the voting system of your favourite lesbian porn site to convince the producers to put your two, favourite actresses to do it on screen.”

Elliot huffed. “Do I get a supercomputer?”

“Better. You get a temporal computer.”

The orca’s eyes widened in shock. “You’re kidding! But that’s purely theoretical! The power required… the disk space, the – the –”

Jacob lifted a paw to silence him. “You’re talking about an organisation founded by a guy that stands outside the space-time continuum on the behest of the goddess of wisdom. It’s not theoretical.”

Elliot suddenly lunged at Jacob, seizing his shirt. “SHOW ME MY BABY!”

Rage rolled his eyes and pulled Elliot off the wolf. “You’ll also have top of the line training rooms, an armoury, research facilities, individual personalised quarters for all of you should you need it and every amenity you’ll need to protect West California Island and indeed the world from the threat of the Gene Stealers. All from the security of our airborne cloaked carrier-class ship.”

Rage nodded to the members of Arsenal, each of them looking either stunned, in awe or excited. “Arsenal, welcome to the Cornucopia.”

******

Arsenal was led to have a tour of the Cornucopia leaving Rage and Jacob to themselves. As the rest of the AEGIS soldiers went back to work, the Director turned to the No One with his one good eyebrow cocked.

“You didn’t tell them the true purpose of AEGIS,” he accused.

“They’re not that deep yet,” Jacob answered grimly. “Besides, in a huge pantheon of gods plus all the other pantheons out there, only Athena was willing to listen about the Ring. And even then, it took a lot of convincing. Given what they’ve just experienced and what little proof we have, you honestly think that they’ll believe us?”

Rage let out a soft grunt in acknowledgement.

“Athena was worried for her daughter,” Jacob said. “That’s admirable. It’s good that she let us form AEGIS.”

“Too bad it pissed off the other gods to the point where they shackled a collar on you and made you their little errand dog. Genesians…” Rage spat. “Just one order and we could destroy Washington’s base of operations. One.”

“I know. But Athena senses that Washington still has a role to play in this. As the future continues to become obscured to the gods, they can still see what isn’t affected. To those who know how, seeing the ripples as they expand is often a clear indication of where the stone dropped even if the rock had sunk well below the ocean’s surface.”

The Director of AEGIS let out a soft laugh and turned towards the rest of West California Island. “You can see past the veil, can’t you? You know how this’ll end. It’s why you became involved.”

Jacob gave him a sly smile... but remained silent.