Computers in a closed electronics store in San Francisco began to light up the night. The light soon became blinding, luckily people were asleep at this hour and only a few had their sleep stirred.
Then the light was replaced by darkness again as quickly as  it arrived however, it left something in the store.
"Holy Shit!" Said the young man that just suddenly appeared out of the light.
"It's time for someone to do something about this!" He said angrily "Where am I?" He went out of the store quietly and started walking, he put up the hood on his black hoodie and put his hands in the pockets of his black jeans.
Soon he saw a newsstand with maps of where he is now.
"San Francisco?!" He also some of this morning's newspapers in the trash. "And it's the same date?! Time must move slowly when I'm in the internet. Good to know." It was then he realized. "Wait... If I'm in San Francisco... Alcatraz!"
"If what I've seen will proceed tomorrow the people like me in there are going to die!"  He thought as he remembered the messages sent from the government.
"If I don't break them out they're fucked!But I'm not equipped for a break out on a state-of-the-art government facility... But they are!" He thought to himself again. "I always wanted a more interesting life. I guess I got my wish."
Jimmy had gotten himself in a world that the government is hiding from the public. He was a "Neo-Human": a human that had incredible and unique capabilities. The Government had been capturing these people to run tests, do experiments on, and harness the power they have. Alcatraz was to be a testing facility that will specialize in "ability transfusion": an experiment where others could obtain the powers of the Neo-Human in question.
Jimmy had only just discovered that he has the power of technopathy hours ago when people burst into his cheap apartment just hours ago.
Needless to say he was terrified of the encounter, being a 5 foot 4 inch tall dropout, the most that he would expect coming out of the door would be the person he had to pay rent to, not a team of men armed with equipment for riot suppression and terrorist takedowns.
He managed to escape by unknowingly using his powers to vanish without a trace.

"If what I read was correct then there should be about four people in Alcatraz, and the facility is under upgrading so there's going to be a lot of places to get in, but I need to be smart about this think Jimmy! Think!"
Most of the plans that he thought seemed like suicide, however there was one idea that could turn the tables.
He ran to nearby convenience store and looked into the window. Luckily he was able to see the clock.
"10:04 I only have less than an hour before the drone arrives!"
While he was in his trip inside the web, he had bypassed through military firewalls in order to get information among some was there was a drone holding one of a kind prototype technology to Alcatraz at 11 p.m.
All he knew about the technology was it was the first and only working prototype of multi-purpose exosuit with strength enhancing, hacking, and non-lethal takedown capabilities.
It was to be brought to Alcatraz on a helicopter drone.
"There has to be a signal being broadcasted on the island, if I could tamper with that I could alter the drone's course and the delay it's flight. Maybe?"
Jimmy ran back to the electronics store to try to take the fastest way to the facility.
Jimmy's plan was to teleport into the facility using his powers, steal the tech in order to hack the more advanced systems, and in the midst of all of the confusion teleport everybody out of the facility.
"Okay, just relax and concentrate... I mean that's how they do it in the comic books right?"
When Jimmy turned on the computer he touched his hand on the screen, then he and the screen started glowing blue as his hand was phasing through it. Just as he jumped in, a cockroach crawled up Jimmy's pant leg in a panic from all of the bright light.
As he entered the World Wide Web again he felt something crawling up his leg, naturally he shook it off and saw the cockroach fall out. However what he saw next was going to change the course of his plan.
The insect soon became a manifestation of low resolution pixels and disintegrated in a flash of red light.
"What the Fuck?!" 
After a minute of thinking Jimmy finally put the pieces together.
"Only I can be in here?! I can't teleport things without blowing them up?! Well that just screws my plan then!"
As he hovered past the trillions of ones and zeros, images, and words that made up a small part of the Internet, he decided to proceed with his break in.
"I'll just improvise." He thought.
"I don't know how but I'll make this work... Somehow... Hopefully... "
For hours he searched for the right computer, but he knew that only a few minutes have passed in the real world.
He looked at data pack after data pack in order to get some clue on which computer was the right one, until he finally reached something protected by a military firewall that he was able to bypass, it had profiles of Neo-Humans that were captured and sent to Alcatraz.
"Well I have the time, let's see..."
He opened the file and sure enough four captured, all of them have extraordinary abilities.
One of them was Iosif Vadim, a 19 year old Russian that can control earth. 
Next was Quanesia Evans, a 16 year old Jamaican girl with polymath that learned "too much".
Quinn Parker, a 17 year old amputee from Florida with the ability to control plant life.
And Tracy Price, an 18 year old from Oklahoma that could make herself grow into a towering giant.
"This could work, they could help. Now to get myself in there!"
He took a look at the schematics for the facility and found that he was at a secondary computer room near the testing room.
He teleported himself out of the computer in the same fashion as in the electronics store, fortunately nobody was at the computer with most of the technical crew awaiting the drone's delivery for testing.
"Okay... Now for the stuff"
He looked at the time on the computer screen and it read "10:38".
"Okay! I got time to mess up stuff!"

Meanwhile, a young lady was crying her eyes out. She was with three others in the large cell deep in the facility.
"Why? I didn't do nothin' wrong, I ain't gonna hurt nobody, so why lock me up?" The nine foot tall Tracy said in a southern accent.
"The government is always doing shit like this, we just got caught ourselves." replied Quinn as he tapped the glass of the cell with his one arm.
"There must be a way to break out of cell, no?" Stated Iosif as he punched the glass.
"Not possible. That "glass" is made of industrial polycarbonate the same material used to make shark tanks, not only that but it's been reinforced with graphene, which has similar structure to Diamonds; the hardest natural substance on earth." Said Quanesia "The only way that this cell is going to open is if it's opened by someone, and the possibility of that happening is slim to none."
"So we're all just gonna be here for the rest of our lives?" Questioned Tracy.
"Seems so..."
Just as they gave up on hope, they heard an alarm go off.
"Emergency. All personnel report to the Chems Lab." 
It was repeated by the intercom over and over again.
"Is that bad?" Tracy said in a concerned tone.
"Perhaps, if it was a fire the sprinkler system would take care of it. Maybe it is a gas leak, or radiation." Quanesia said.
"Sure wish we can do something aside from sit in here and wait for G-men to come in and do god knows what." Quinn was always against the government and this just reinforced his belief.
"Yes, I agree with you. If only I could see or feel any stone, I can break out of here. I never expected my third year in this country to be like this." Said Iosif as he crossed his arms.
"Welcome to America: not the land of the free, but the home where the slave is." Quinn replied.
Just then the wall of the cell was lowered and they were free of their confines. Then the door opened to reveal someone with robotic arms and legs wearing a black hoodie and a metal mask. "Hi."

After making his way as stealthy as possible, Jimmy made his way to the near by chemical lab.
"Let's hope I can trick this alarm..."
He knew that an emergency alert will cause available people to drop what they were doing and investigate, but he wouldn't dare touch the chemicals to do that instead he was going to trick the detectors. He saw one and used his powers to make it trigger.
"Emergency. All personnel report to the Chems Lab." 
"Better get out and wait for them to spring my trap card." He thought.
He went back to the secondary computer room and the technical crew and some soldiers were heading to the disturbance. After the coast was clear he snuck to the testing room and he saw the drone about to land.
The ceiling opened up and the helicopter drone came in on a lift platform slowly descending to the ground.
"Few minutes early. Just makes it easier for me." 
He saw the drone drop off a black metal box under it which he assumed was the tech, however some soldiers carried the box and were heading towards him.
Jimmy phased himself in another computer as the soldiers made their way.
"Okay, close call."
Since he knew that real time was comparatively slow, she decided to look around for files on the technology that just arrived.
"Smart rifles, Drones, Neo-Human cells... Here! Multi-purpose Exosuit Enhancers!"
They were one of a kind prototypes ready for testing.
They were only arm and leg pieces since a piece for the body was still being made to not crush the user wearing it.
The arms are only capable of lifting 3 times that of a professional weightlifter in order not to crush the user, they come equipped with new military grade electrical charge launchers that can instantly incapacitate a fully trained soldier with one shot non-lethally, the right arm comes equipped with the latest in hacking technology allowing the user to easily hack any device or system that they are plugged into, and left arm comes with a small plasma cutter to access sealed panels.
The legs also come equipped with some strength enhancing capabilities, and flash bangs, smoke grenades, and tear gas that could be launched, dropped or dispensed from the front, sides, or back of each leg.
"This stuff can definitely be used to capture people like me... I gotta delete this!"
After reading what the prototype can do, he decided that if this was the only prototype he would delete all schematics and files for this device.
"You know what? let's wipe this hard drive clean!" He deleted all the data that was on the computer.
"This should set them back a couple of months."
After deleting the files he decided that enough time had passed for the soldiers to come in and exit and teleported out of the computer.
The room was empty except for the black box. Jimmy unlocked it by overloading the locks, opened it and quickly put on the tech, one thing that he didn't expect was the legs added 6 inches to his height so it would be like  walking on stilts but once it was all on he admired the work.
"Okay I got to admit this is pretty damn sweet, this is kinda like the stuff I see in my video games! Now if I'm remembering this right..." He opened up a panel near the wrist and turned on the right arm as with his left, he did the same with the legs on panels where the Achilles tendon should be and he was fully operational.
"One step at a time..."
He stepped forward but it was difficult with the extra 6 inches, however he knew that he didn't have much time before everyone came back so he pushed on and left the room.
He had to take the elevator in order to get to the cell the other Neo-Humans were being kept in. 
He made his way to the elevator surprisingly without any complications, he did wonder why there weren't many soldiers around but then he realized if he was in an underground facility under upgrading most soldiers would be in the higher floors to provide security and survey anyone coming in, while only few are at the lower levels.
He pressed the button to the elevator and a few moments later it opened up, with someone inside.
"Freeze intruder!"
He seemed different than all of the standard soldiers that Jimmy has seen, all of the clothing and gear that he was wearing was black and dark blue and it gave him a somewhat ninja-like appearance. He had a black bullet-resistant mask that had green lenses, a survival knife on his left shoulder, a long-range military walkie talkie strapped on the right side of his chest, a bulletproof vest, and an SR-30 Knight's Armament 300 Blackout assault rifle pointed at Jimmy's head.
"Put your hands in the air!"
"Shit! I could really use one of those taser things now!" As Jimmy thought about it the electrical charge launchers came out of his forearms like wrist mounted guns and on instinct shot the soldier with an electrical charge.
The soldier was hit and the electrical charge caused him to fire wildly.
Jimmy just managed to jump and duck out of the line of fire, then a few moments later the firing stopped.
He looked into the elevator, that had a couple bullet holes on the walls and ceiling, and saw the unconscious soldier on the floor. Thanks to the sound suppressor on the rifle he didn't really have to worry about attracting attention so Jimmy got into the elevator and went down towards the cell room.
While on his way down, he examined the unconscious man in the elevator with him.
"Let's see what's behind the mask..."
He took the mask of to reveal a camouflage painted face but aside from that nothing out of the ordinary.
When Jimmy took a closer look at the mask itself, he found out that the lenses were green because it had night vision and thermal vision built in.
He took some more of his gear; the survival knife, the walkie talkie, and the assault rifle. Although he would have wanted the bulletproof vest it was on the soldier tight and Jimmy was arriving to the cell room. 
When the elevator door opened he was greeted by a long hallway with a door at the end that looked more like a vault.
He dragged the man's unconscious body out of the elevator just in case someone from the higher floors were to use the elevator.
He ran as fast as he could towards the metal door and saw a security panel on the wall next to it.
"Okay, maybe I can..."
He tried using his powers directly to override the locks, however it just caused a denial to flash on screen.
"Fuck! This must be the more advanced stuff... But then..."
Using what he read about the hacking technology built into the right arm, Jimmy thought about the universal plugin and a thick wire came out of a hidden panel near the elbow.
Thanks to its powers Jimmy didn't have to manually open panels or press buttons on the enhancers, he could simply just think about it and the machines will do the rest.
He jacked the plug in the side of the security panel and a screen lit up on the bottom of his forearm.
"Okay, now this is cool!"
The screen was displaying various numbers and letters constantly changing along with a time limit on the top that said "2:42"
"This must be the ones that change password every few minutes, better do it fast!"
Thanks to his powers he also didn't need to physically type on the screen, he simply had to think about how to hack into the system and getting the right password.
After a minute and a half, he finally managed to decipher the password "D2Y98B" and he disabled the door's lock and the cell's power, then the door opened to unveil the four Neo-Humans free from their confines.
Not knowing what to say and the fact that he looked rather threatening with the mask on his face, the assault rifle on his back, and the robotic looking arms and legs, all he could think of saying was a dumbfounded.
"Hi."

Before he could say anything else Iosif charged and floored Jimmy.
"Wait Wait Wait! I'm here to help you guys!"
"How can we believe you?" Said Iosif
"I'm one of you! I have powers! That's how I was able to get in here!"
"Show me!"
"I can't! I'm kind of on the floor right now!"
"Let him go." Said Quanesia " he doesn't express any behavior expected from a trained soldier, also why would he open the cell if there was only one of him?"
"Well...Okay, I see..."
Iosif let Jimmy go and they both stood up.
"Thanks! Anyway, my name's Jimmy. A couple of days er... Hours ago, I was stormed in my apartment. I only managed to escape after I went into my computer, literally. I read up on some information while I was in there and now I'm here on Alcatraz rescuing you guys."
"Wait a dang minute! We're on Alcatraz?" Tracy said, shocked.
"Uh... Yeah, we're all in a secret underground facility on Alcatraz Island. You don't know?"
"We were all knocked out and woke up here dude." Quinn stated
"That is fucked up! Good thing I got here when I did. Now we don't have much time, let's go!"
"Don't need to tell me twice!" Quinn said
"Let's get to the elevator! Once we get back to the surface I think I can hack a helicopter."
As everyone headed towards the elevator, they ran into a problem.
"Uh, we're not all gonna fit in here." Quinn said.
"Sorry." Said Tracy
"It's fine" Jimmy said "We'll take the elevator first, then you follow."
"No! Please... I-I can't... I don't wanna be alone." Tracy said slightly embarrassed.
"Okay... I'll stay with you. You three go up, but which one of you has experience using guns?"
"Me. My father and I used to shoot guns" said Iosif, then Jimmy gave the assault rifle to him
"Thank you Jimmy. I'll not fail!"
Jimmy turned to Quinn and saw he only had one arm.
"Didn't get much off the soldier so here. At least it's better than nothing." He gave the survival knife to Quinn.
"Thanks dude."
He looked at Quanesia and remembered she was a polymath.
"And I guess you can understand the codes and give believable lies to the soldiers. Here." and he gave the the walkie talkie to Quanesia.
"I can. Thank you."
"Good luck, we're all going to need it. Just wait for us when you get up and we can all get out of here!"
The three went up the elevator leaving Tracy and Jimmy.
"Uh... Jimmy is it? I'd like to thank you for breaking us out. Your a real nice guy."
"T-thanks... And you look really pretty!" Immediately after he said those words Jimmy wanted to slap himself in the face. He was never really good with talking to girls that were attractive, and to him Tracy was much more stunning in person than in picture.
She had platinum blonde hair that reached halfway to her back, rare and bright green eyes, her physique was toned from the work she does on her grandfather's small ranch, and her figure was everything that defined "top-heavy". Although she had a decent rear, her chest was enormous! She would have been an F-cup at regular height but at a towering 9 feet everything about her was much bigger.
" Well... Thanks! First time I had a compliment since all this." She said.
"Uh... You're welcome?" Jimmy thought that he might be blushing, but then he remembered he was wearing a mask. "Good at least it hides my embarrassment..." He thought internally.
Just then the elevator door opened and they could come up.
"You go in first."
"Alright, let's see if I can..."
Tracy got on her knees and managed to fit in the elevator, although she did have to bend her back a bit and her head was against the ceiling.
"Come on Jimmy!" Tracy called out.
Jimmy got into the elevator but he needed to get very close to Tracy and his head was inches away from her chest.
For the next few seconds Tracy and Jimmy silently went up to as far as the elevator could take them, and when the door opened the other three were still there.
"Alright, now that we're all here let's think this though before things go to hell." Jimmy said "I've seen the schematics for this place and we're three floors under the surface. Now, there's a lift for helicopter drones in the testing room, we can use that to get to the surface and once we get there I can hack something to get off the island."
"Problem." Said Quanesia "The radio has gotten multiple messages about stolen technology from the testing room, and of course, logically thinking, it must be what you're wearing."
"Yeah... can you just drive them away from the testing room somehow?"
"I can get most of the soldiers out of the room however some will still remain along with the technical science crew."
"I think I can take care of that. Tell everybody to go to the medical bay on the second floor."
"All units, I have visual on an unknown personnel moving towards the second level medical bay, subject has the stolen items. I repeat subject has the stolen items!" 
Quinn peaked out the door to see some soldiers emerging from the test room to answer the fake report on the floor above.
"Alright, soldier guys are out. That plan you got better work." He said to Jimmy
"I got this! Just wait for a little so there's no one that can hear it."
"And what is this "it" you have?" Said Iosif
"A smoke grenade. I launch it at them then while they're disoriented from the smoke we can just run past."
"But none of us can see through smoke!" Tracy said
"Don't worry this mask i got has thermal vision so while in the cover of smoke, I'll take down all of the people in there and we can take the drone elevator out of here!"
"That plan seems good, and we don't really have any other way for escape. We're counting on you Jim." Tracy replied
"I'll do my best!"
He opened the door and quickly yet silently got his way back to the testing room and prepared a smoke grenade from the front of his right leg and turned on thermal vision.
"Okay... Okay... 1... 2... 3!"
Jimmy kicked open the door to the testing room and fired the smoke grenade, then only seconds later the room filled with thick, gray smoke.
"Smoke grenade! Take cover!" One of the soldiers said
From what he saw on thermal there were four armed men and eight scientists and technicians, the charge launchers came out and he took down the first two soldiers, luckily their fingers weren't on the trigger of their AK-12 assault rifles yet so no wild fire occurred. However the smoke detectors triggered and sent a beeping noise through the room and the alarm blared "Smoke detected in the testing room!". He didn't have much time, so Jimmy approached the third and fourth ones, grabbed their faces and slammed their heads together with enough force to knock them out.
Once all of the soldiers were down he just fired electrical charges at the scientists and technicians to clear the room.
He ran over and almost fell on his way back to the others and he slammed the door open.
"Let's Go!"
They all ran to the testing room but Jimmy tripped and fell flat on his face.
"It was bound to happen." He thought, annoyed by the situation.
Then while he was picking himself up, he was lifted up by Tracy, who was the last to get past the door, by his hood
"You a'ight?"
"Yeah... I'm just not used to these things yet. I'll be okay."
"Hurry up you two!" Quinn said
Tracy put Jimmy down and they all made their way past the testing room as the ventilation kicked in and started clearing the smoke.
They got past the double-doors and got to cargo delivery and storage where the drone came in however the drone was still on the lift.
It was one of the more full-sized helicopter drones, however it only had a relatively small weight limit and only two seats for passengers.
"We are free!" Said Iosif
"No, we can't use this. It's not big enough for everyone!"
"Then what now?" Questioned Quinn
"Now we take the lift up to the surface!"
Everyone got on the lift platform beside the drone and Jimmy pressed the button to make the lift go up.
As they made their ascent, the soldiers went into the test room and they could see through the window that the captured Neo-Humans were escaping.
The lift just barely got them out as the soldiers burst through the double-doors.
Quanesia got a message on the radio she was holding.
"All personnel get to the drone delivery pad. Five subjects, one of them armed, four of them highly dangerous, approach with caution but only use your Firearms if necessary we need subjects brought back alive!"
"That's not good." Quanesia said
"Can't you stop them from going to the pad?" Jimmy said
"Can't. They had visual on us, they know where we're going."
"Well in that case time to bring out the stuff..." Jimmy took out two flashbangs out of his leg enhancers and prepared to launch two more from the right and left side.
"Here's the plan I throw these flashbangs at the soldiers surrounding us, Iosif I know you can control earth so shake up the place, Quinn now would be a good time to Ivy these assholes so if you feel any plants around use them, Tracy get big and take guys down, me and Quanesia are gonna secure a chopper!"
"One problem..." Tracy said reluctantly "I don't wanna... grow..."
"Why not?" Jimmy questioned
"Because... Because..."
But Jimmy noticed that they were nearing the surface and he had to act quickly.
"Okay, okay, no time! Just follow us then! Everyone look away and then cover your ears! Get ready!"
Jimmy pulled the pins just a few seconds before they reached the surface and threw and launched them to the surrounding soldiers that came in the normal military uniform and the ninja-like outfits from before. The flashbangs detonated and the soldiers were blinded and deafened from the explosion.
As the soldiers were stunned, Jimmy, Quanesia, and Tracy ran towards the landed helicopters some distance away.
Meanwhile Iosif and Quinn finally started using the powers they had.
Iosif lifted the earth under some of the the soldiers feet and sent them falling off the large boulder, then he moved the boulder quickly to the right, bulldozing the soldiers in the path of the hovering rock.
On his side, Quinn made vines from the island quickly grow longer and stronger and used them to hang soldiers from their feet by coiling around their ankles and yanking them off the ground then he slammed the soldiers into each other knocking then unconscious, while he did so he even created an arm made of multiple small vines he had grown.
While Quinn and Iosif were holding the line, Jimmy, Tracy, and Quanesia reached the helipad.
Tracy was the first there but two soldiers pointed their M4 carbines at her, to which she stopped running immediately.
"Don't move! We are authorized to use deadly f-" 
"TRACY DUCK!" 
Tracy jumped and ducked for cover as Jimmy ordered
The soldiers were then hit by Jimmy's electrical charges and fired wildly in the air for a few seconds before falling to the ground.
Jimmy and Quanesia reached Tracy and helped her up.
"You okay?" Said Jimmy
"I'll be alright but I ain't sure my heart can take much more of this."
"Don't worry, we'll be out of here soon! Now let's get into that helicopter!"
They soon got into the NH90, it was the only helicopter that was there.
Jimmy and Quanesia got into the cockpit while Tracy got into the helicopter's seated area with her head against the ceiling.
"I have no idea where to hack this thing. where do I plug into this thing?!" Jimmy said.
"The helicopter cannot be hacked, what you can help me do is startup the helicopter." Replied Quanesia.
"Okay, well I was being stupid again. How do you start this thing? I've never flown a fucking helicopter!"
"You don't need to fly it, just help me start it up quickly and I'll do it."
"You've flown in a helicopter before?!"
"No. But I know all the systems and how it works so I'm the best shot you have!"
"Well this is going great..."
Quanesia told Jimmy as quickly as possible what switches to flip and buttons to press as she was checking the helicopter for anything wrong that might delay the flight.
"Okay, we are ready for takeoff."
"Alright! Now just hover over to the guys and Me and Tracy will grab them!"
Meanwhile, reenforcement arrived for Quinn and Iosif and they had no choice but to fall back and go defensive with their tactics. Iosif made multiple walls of earth around them to prevent the soldiers from getting to them.
"How long will those walls hold?" Quinn said.
"I don't know. Where is the helicopter?" Said Iosif
"Fuck if I know man I just hope it gets here and they didn't bail on us."
Just then Quinn noticed some off the ninja-like soldiers on top of the wall.
Using his vine arm he punched the one in the center by growing his new appendage, then he violently swung it side to side, yelling at the top of his lungs. Then he looked at Iosif and gave an embarrassed smile.
Just then they heard helicopter blades spinning close by, they looked up and saw one heading towards them.
Jimmy opened the side door of the NH90 and threw two teargas grenades at the soldiers below.
The helicopter hovered over the walls and With Jimmy and Tracy visible from it they knew it was time to escape.
Quinn extended his vine-arm until he could grab the landing ski, at caused a few problems inside the helicopter but Quanesia managed to get it under control.
"Grab on man!" Said Quinn to Iosif as he extended his normal arm out to him.
Iosif grabbed his arm and held on tightly, then Quinn shortened his vine-arm with him still holding on to the helicopter's ski pulling them towards it until both young men were hanging of the ski.
Quanesia saw them pulling themselves up and she knew that they were off the ground so she started to gain altitude but then a sniper round hit the bulletproof glass window to her right, luckily the glass stopped the bullet before it got to her. She immediately began to fly away from Alcatraz Island as fast as she could while Jimmy and Tracy grabbed the two and pulled them into the chopper then shut the the side door.
They all breathed a sigh of relief as they we're finally able to catch their breath from the stress that they just had to endure.
"Oh Holy Shit! I can't believe we just did that!" Yelled Jimmy in a state of euphoria
"That was fucking awesome dude!" Quinn said to Jimmy
"Yes! Thanks to you we are free once more!" Said Iosif.
"Jimmy, I am so grateful that you got me out of that horrible place! I wanna see your face! Take off the mask so we can see the man who rescued us, please!" Tracy requested.
"Okay..." Jimmy took of his hood and the mask to reveal his appearance to the people he helped.
He had short, messy, black hair, some facial hair on his chin and upper lip but not enough to make a full-on mustache or beard, a slightly flat nose, tan skin with some mild acne, and bluish-silver eyes.
He smiled as he looked at everyone.
"What? You were expecting Bruce Wayne huh?" He said jokingly.
"Not exactly the way I though you would look like, but you look good hero!" Said Tracy.
"Uh... Thanks..." Jimmy was flattered by the compliment as he didn't think he looked handsome at all.
"Jim!" Quanesia shouted from the cockpit.
"Yeah?"
"Where do we go from here?"
"Oh!" In the mist of all the celebration Jimmy completely forgot where to go. "Wait up..." he turned on the built-in computer in his right arm accessed the GPS function. "There should be a beach near Crissy Field that we can land on so that we don't attract too much attention. We should be able to reach there in 10 minutes, just keep flying where you're flying."
Then everyone took a seat and put on their seatbelts, except for Tracy because the seat belts were too small for her.
When Jimmy saw Tracy struggling with the seat belt he remembered her reluctancy to use her powers back on Alcatraz.
"Tracy?"
"Yeah?"
"Why didn't you want to use your powers back on Alcatraz?"
"Uh... well...my... my clothes don't grow! Haha... I mean I wouldn't want to be... indecent?" She put on the nervous smile and Jimmy knew that it wasn't the main reason why she didn't want to use her powers.
"Okay... That's... A good reason..." although he knew that Tracy was holding back on something, he didn't want to force her if she didn't want to tell him. Although he was very curious "If she didn't want to use her powers, why is she nine feet tall right now?" He thought to himself.
"Yeah. I'm sorry guys but a gal like me needs to have some privacy..."
"I mean we could have used some extra help though." Said Quinn
"I agree, you could have been useful if you were there fighting alongside us." Said Iosif
"Hey guys! It's fine! You're out! I'm sure Tracy could have helped you guys but let's think about the present instead of the past, okay?" Jimmy said wanting to break up any tension.
"Well, at least now I can get back to Florida." Said Quinn
"Hopefully my family will still be Detroit." Iosif stated
"Yeah, I just don't know if my family or my boyfriend is going to accept me like this back in Oklahoma." Tracy said has she looked at her hands that were easily bigger than other people's faces.
"You got a boyfriend?" Jimmy asked
"Yeah, last time I saw him he was in the hospital. Broke his arm in an accident..."
"Oh... Okay... Well, I guess we all have places to go after this. Uh... Quanesia? How about you?"
"I'm going back to Portland. My father is there after all."
"What about your mom?"
"She's in Jamaica. She didn't want to leave."
"Okay..." Jimmy began to feel awkward and uncomfortable as three of his conversations ended in someone's deep reluctance, personal relationships, or familial matters. It was silence in the helicopter for a few minutes before Jimmy decided to look at the GPS again. He opened up his arm's computer and looked at their position.
"Okay, Quanesia see that beach over there? That's where we land."
"Okay. Coming in for a landing."
They lowered altitude a little too fast and landed roughly but aside from Tracy bumping her head on the ceiling everyone was alright and got off.
"Let's cover our tracks. Quinn, sink it!" Jimmy ordered.
"Why?" 
"A military helicopter is going to be easy to spot and track so no one can keep it, blowing it up will attract too much attention, so sinking it is the only way to get rid of it."
Quinn nodded and made the seaweed wrap around the landing skis and pulled the helicopter into the deep.
"Now what?" Tracy questioned
"We split up." Quanesia answered
"Why? Shouldn't we stay together?" Quinn said
"It makes sense, after all we're all going to different places." Jimmy stated
"And as a group they can easily track down and recapture us all in one move. If we split up they will also be forced to split up their forces and it will be easier for an individual to hide." said Quanesia
"But we have no money!" Iosif declared
"Leave that to me..." Jimmy said as he smiled
A couple of hours later Jimmy managed to find an ATM, plugged in the enhancer, and made it dispense all the cash that it had, while deleting the ATM camera's recording. He came out with $25,000 and gave each person $5,000.
"I know it's not much but it should get you started." Jimmy said
"Thank you Jimmy! If we ever meet again I'm going to show you the best time!" Said Quinn
"Just make sure that you all stay out of sight and don't do anything that involves fingerprints, pictures, blood samples, and don't get arrested, lay low."
Quinn, Iosif, and Quanesia said their goodbyes and ran away, leaving Tracy and Jimmy.
For some reason Tracy just stood there, looking very shyly at Jimmy.
"Uh... What is it? Don't you want to go home?"
"I... I... I can't go home..."
"Why?"
"If you haven't noticed I'm nine feet tall, and I don't exactly blend into everyone..." Jimmy felt stupid for not noticing Tracy's problem.
"Okay... Uh... So... What do you have in mind?"
"Well... can you... come with me?"
"What?!"
"Please Jimmy! If I go alone I don't know what to do, and the government is going to track me down a lot easier than the rest of you, and I'll be locked up all alone in a cell again and I... I..." Tears started to well in her eyes "I'm afraid... I'm afraid of getting captured again, I'm afraid of getting tested on, I'm afraid I'll never see the sky again, I'm afraid I'll never see my family again, and I'm..."
"Tracy..."
"I'm afraid of using my powers because I don't want to be a monster and get shot at... The first time I grew big I couldn't go back to how I was and now look! So please Jimmy! I need you..."
Jimmy really hated the sound of women crying and begging, not because it was annoying or irritating, but because of his upbringing and the influence his mother, sister, and a friend had on him. 
"Tracy..."
"What?"
"I'll stick with you and get you back to where you want to be."
"Really?!"
"Yes. I'll make sure y-"
Jimmy was lifted off the ground and was given a massive bearhug by Tracy whom had an enormous smile on her face.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! You are the one of the nicest people I've ever met!" She said as she squeezed tighter to show her thanks.
"Tracy.... Can't.... Breathe...."
"Oh! Sorry! I'm sorry!" She put him down and he began to breathe deeply. "I still don't know my own strength..."
"It's... Okay. Anyway, we're going to need a place to stay for a little..."
Jimmy looked around for anywhere that he and Tracy can stay in, then after a half hour of searching he found an old, abandoned looking warehouse.
The door was rusty, some windows were shattered, but aside from that it was fine. They opened the door and saw the place was empty and the walls had graffiti painted all over them.
"I guess this'll do..."
"If you want I'll get us some sleeping bags."
"No, we're all tired. I could fall asleep now actually."
"Okay then... But first, Tracy?"
"Yeah?"
"What you mean by becoming a monster?"
"Well, I gave you that much so... the first time I accidentally used my powers, when I tried to shrink back I was stuck at this height... So, I'm afraid that by using my powers again I might get stuck at something bigger. If I get stuck at fifty, a hundred, hell! They'll be shooting missiles at me like one of those Godzilla movies..."
"I'm sorry I asked."
"It's fine... since we're going to be traveling together we might as well know each other... So what's your story cyborg?" She said jokingly
"Cyborg? What do you- Oh! Wait!"
Jimmy took off the enhancers to show Tracy how he really was.
"Whoa! You're so... Short! Uh... Pardon! I just didn't expect you to be like that!"
"It's okay. Runs in the family."
"Sorry, I wasn't expecting that. So those are..."
"The tech I stole from the military back in Alcatraz? Yeah."
"How did you get in? In fact start from the very beginning! I want to know all about you."
"Well... we definitely have the time... okay!"

Meanwhile back in Alcatraz, General Cassandra Brooks of the top secret black ops team specializing in the capture of Neo-Humans known as the Nightcaps arrived at the site and saw the damage to the area. She went up to the soldier that was shocked in the elevator.
"Soldier, can you put light on the subject? How were all of the Neo-Humans able to escape?" She said in a calm yet piercing voice with her red hair blowing in the sea breeze.
"There was a rogue ma'am. He came in, shocked me, and freed them while I was incapacitated."
"I'm also getting reports that prototype technology was stolen and all the data from the computers were deleted."
"I don't know anything about that ma'am, however I do think that the rogue is the one who stole the technology. His arms and legs were robotic."
"This is going to set us back months. However we are recapturing those fugitives."
"Understood ma'am."
"Were there any casualties?"
"Fortunately none ma'am. However most of our soldiers were injured."
"That is all."
She walked towards the battleground and saw soldiers still being cut out from vines, and the elevated earth around the drone pad.
"These were high profile Neo-Humans, their powers are too dangerous to be left unchecked" she thought "and applying them to the field could greatly turn the tables. With new ones appearing every day this is going to be difficult, however for the good of society we need to do this."

Jimmy woke up, having fallen asleep on his laptop again. It was a common occurrence, as he would spend hours playing games on it in his apartment. He massaged his head for a moment in an attempt to quell his headache.
"Do yourself a favor Jimmy. Don't fall asleep on your laptop", he thought to himself.
After he got up and drank his coffee, he felt better and went back to his laptop to search for any way of getting extra money.
He had dropped out of the 10th grade a year ago and had been jumping from gig to gig just getting enough money to survive each day. Just a couple of months ago he moved into a cheap apartment building with nothing but his laptop, a mattress, a fold-up chair and table, and a tube TV.
"What freelance jobs I can do today...?" , he asked himself as he sat down in front of his laptop looking through the search results while eating a leftover hamburger he had bought the day before.
"Crap, crap, crap, mega crap... Well... This looks good", he said.
He saw on the page that there was a need for a young man willing to take up tailoring in the nearby area. Jimmy didn't really want to admit it, but he was one of the best in sewing during his class days, in fact amongst all of his family members he was the only one that ever learned how to sew.
"Well, might as well use the sewing experience I have", Jimmy said as he sent his resume. He leaned back in his chair and then thought, "Wonder what Jeff's up to?" Jeff was his neighbor in the apartment directly above him. He was a large and tall young man of German and Irish mixed descent, about Jimmy's age, a very full beard and mustache, and somewhat of an outsider. They met when Jimmy moved into the apartment and he offered to help him out, they started talking and became fast friends.
"Maybe I can play on his Xbox if he's home." Jimmy put on a pair of jeans and a black tank top on and went up to Jeff's apartment. Once he was at the door he knocked a little.
"Jeff! You here buddy?"
The door opened to reveal the six foot, four inch tall man himself, it was hard to believe that they were the same age.
"Oh, Jim! 'Sup, man?", he asked in a jovial tone.
"I just applied for a job over the internet. A place a few blocks from here needs a tailor."
"You seriously just couldn't walk there?"
"I didn't fucking know that there was a tailor. Anyway, can I come in? I've got nothing to do and nobody's posted or uploaded anything."
"Sure. Come in."
Jimmy entered his apartment and it was much better than his, with a couch, a proper table, a nice TV, and an Xbox.
"Beat that boss yet?"
"No. Whenever I'm dodging one assassin, another one pulls me towards him with his telekinesis-type shit and slices my ass!"
"Need help?"
"Yes, please!"
Jeff turned on the console and TV and watched as Jimmy got hit like he did, however Jimmy exploited a glitch in the game to refill his health each time he went into the upgrade menu, and eventually defeated the boss.
"Dude, you cheated!"
"Hey, they forgot to patch it or some crap, so I might as well use it!"
"Fair enough. I mean, it's on a secondary playthrough to explore the alternative options anyway."
"Alright. Hey, can I ask you something?"
"Sure. What's up?"
"Do you think I'll ever get a life that's more... interesting? Everything has been so boring lately and we're supposed to be at our prime!"
"Hey. You'll get what's coming to you. You're a great guy!"
"That just so happened to dropout of high school and can't get a stable job."
"I'm sure your luck will turn around someday."
"Coming from a guy who's 1/3 Irish, that means a lot!"
"Oh, VERY funny."
They talked a bit more and drank a few sodas when Jeff noticed something.
"Oh. You start wearing contacts?"
"No. Why?"
"Then what's with your eyes?"
"Why? What's wrong with my eyes?"
"They're blue! You used to have brown eyes."
"Come on! You're bullshiting me!"
"No, I'm not. Look in the mirror!"
Jimmy got up and went to the bathroom and he soon saw himself in the mirror with blue eyes with silver rings at the inner irises next to the pupils.
"What the fuck? Uh... Dude... This is weird!"
"So no contact lenses?"
"No. I'm broke, how can I afford contacts?"
"Wait! Your eye color changed overnight? What did you do then?"
"I fell asleep on my laptop again! That's it!"
"Okay hold on..."
Jeff searched on his phone if what happened to Jimmy has an explanation.
"It says you might have "acquired heterochromia". You need to go to doctor because it's either acquired by injury or disease!"
"Can't I just leave this be? Because I kind of don't have the money for a doctor."
"You're seriously going to risk becoming blind?"
"Dude, I really don't have the cash in hand. I would go to the doctor if I could but, I couldn't even pay rent last month! Let alone a doctor!"
"Here."
Jeff reached into his wallet and handed $50 to Jimmy.
"Go see an opthamologist."
"Dude, I appreciate the offer but I can't accept that."
"Just take it."
"That's your money!"
"And I'm giving it to you so you can get your eyes checked."
"Dude, please. I feel fine!"
"Just take the fifty bucks."
"Jeff. It's fine! I don't have anything bad going on with my vision!"
"Still, take it. Please. You might regret this if you don't. Plus, if you're blind how can you work?"
Jimmy thought about what Jeff said.
"Well... It would make working harder... Okay. But I owe you! I'm paying you back for this!"
"Just please go to the eye doctor. Preferably now!"
"Alright, I'll go. There's one at the mall right?"
"Yeah, now here!"
He gave the money to Jimmy and asked him to go get his eyes checked immediately.
"Just tell me as soon as you get back. "
"Don't worry, you'll be the first to know. See ya later!"
"See you later, man!"
Jimmy walked out and got his black hoodie from his apartment and decided to head to the mall half a kilometer away.
While on his way there, he started thinking. "How does a guy have his eyes change color overnight? Soon before I know it my skin will be turning white and my hair will turn green!"
Unbenounced to him as he was passing by, people's cellphones started to flash blue light for a second before returning to normal as he walked farther away. For most people that noticed this they just shrugged it off.
Once Jimmy got to the mall he went straight to the opthamologist. 
"Hello!", said the woman in a lab coat. "Can I help you with anything sir?"
"Yeah. My friend thinks that I have acquired heterochromia and I think he's right since my eyes used to be brown but now they're blue, see?"
"Huh... I see... when did you notice your eyes starting to change color?"
"They changed color overnight."
"Overnight? Have you done anything that might damage your eyes?"
"No, just stayed up late in front of my laptop then this morning I had a headache."
"Alright."
"So is this bad?"
"I'm going to have to look at your eyes much closer and more detailed in order to get an idea. Please follow me."
Jimmy was led into a room with a special camera that took extremely close-up and detailed pictures of irises.
He sat down put his chin on the pad and let the doctor picture his eyes.
After the images were printed out and the doctor examined them, she came back to Jimmy whom was waiting on a bench.
"So, got an idea doctor?", he asked.
"Well you don't have any diseases affecting your iris, however there is something very strange..."
"What is it?"
"So, the silver part of your eyes seem to be, for lack of a better word, artificial-looking. I can't quite explain it but your irises are extraordinary!"
"Can I see?"
The doctor gave him one of the prints and Jimmy looked closely at it to see that part of his iris resembled a camera.
"Good god... Hey, can I keep these?"
"Of course, sir."
"Thanks."
After he paid the opthamologist he went back to his apartment building.
"I gotta show Jeff!"
He went up to Jeff's apartment and knocked on his door.
"Jeff! I got something to show you!"
The door opened and Jeff was holding a can of soda in his hand.
"What is it?", he asked before taking a sip.
"This is gonna seem weird, but look at this."
Jimmy took the image out of the brown envelope and gave it to Jeff.
"Pretty nice. Did you print this out or something? It's awesome."
"No! That's my eye! They said it was strange because part of it looks artificial or something."
"Waaaiiit, what? This cannot be your eye! It looks Photoshopped! Good Photoshopped but, still..."
"Come on, look at my eye closely."
Jeff did as Jimmy said and saw that his eye seemed to be emitting some kind of glow.
"Woah! What the hell is going on with you?"
"I don't know, but something doesn't feel right."
"Well, you want to sit down and relax?"
"Yeah."
Jimmy turned on Jeff's TV and the news was up.
"It seems that more and more people are reporting very strange disturbances around the country, with a steady increase for the past few months. From electricity surges, fireballs, to running neon lights, people are beginning to wonder: what exactly is the cause of all of this?", the reporter said on the TV.
"You don't think that this is all somehow connected, right?"
"With your eyes and all that stuff... I don't know."
Just as Jeff stopped talking, his TV started flashing blue light and the audio was gone.
Jimmy jumped off the couch and stepped away from it slowly.
"Holy fuck! What the hell is going on?!"
"It's not supposed to do that..."
Jeff tried to flip the channels but it was all the same, Jimmy checked his phone but the same thing was happening in his phone. 
"Jeff, check your phone."
"Why?"
"Just do it!"
As he looked at his phone it was still flashing blue light just like the TV and Jimmy's phone.
"What the fuck?!"
"Wait... Let me try something..."
Jimmy went outside of the apartment, much to Jeff's surprise, then Jimmy went all the way outside the building.
When Jim was outside the building, Jeff's TV was back to normal along with this phone. Then they began to malfunction again as Jimmy got closer to the apartment, and were back to the same state they were when Jimmy came back in.
"So?" Jimmy asked
"I-I don't understand... how were you able to do that?"
"I knew it! There's something wrong with me!"
"Dude! Calm down! I'm sure there's a logical explanation!"
"Yeah, the logical explanation being me having some sort of disrupter field or some shit!"
"This is weird..."
"Jeff... I have a very bad feeling about this..."
"Come on, it's okay, man. I'll get you back to your apartment. And we can talk things through."
"No... you've done enough for me today. I'll just think this through myself."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. Don't worry, you'll be the first to know if I think of anything."
"Okay... But remember, I'm always here for you. You just gotta come upstairs, and we can talk if you want."
"I know."
Jimmy suddenly felt a huge migraine so intense that he fell down on one knee from the pain.
"Jimmy! You Okay?"
Suddenly all electronic divices within the building shutdown and Jimmy passed out on the floor.
"Oh shit!"
Jeff picked up his friend with some effort, then carried him inside and put him on the couch.
Hours later the power came back on and Jimmy woke up and groaned loudly before saying, "Shit! Head feels like a bus ran over me!"
"Jimmy! Careful man! You okay?"
"Yeah... What time is it?"
"5 in the evening."
"Okay... What the absolute fuck happened?"
"You passed out and all the lights went out. I managed to convince anyone that was asking me that it was just a short circuit downstairs."
"Okay. That's it, I need to go!"
"Go where?"
"Anywhere but here! Things are freaking out and I think it's me that's causing it."
"Think about this! You're not thinking clearly!"
"I'm sure about this Jeff! If this weird stuff keeps happening people are gonna notice! Then before you know it it's gonna be a goddamn madhouse!"
"Please think about this!"
"Jeff... You've been a great friend these few months but that's why you can't get caught up in this."
"Jimmy..."
"Trust me. If there's anything that you need to know, I'll tell you somehow. But I have an insanely bad feeling about this, and I would regret it for the rest of my life if anything happened to anyone I know. I'm sorry."
Jimmy went out of Jeff's apartment and headed down into his and immediately started packing up his things.
Jeff was stunned to say the least when Jimmy said all that and decided to give him some time to calm down before talking to Jimmy again.
Meanwhile, Jimmy packed up all his clothes and was going to start packing up the few items he had left when his phone rang. He checked to his phone and saw that his mom was calling. She made sure to call her son everyday to know if he was alright and to offer help if Jimmy needed it.
"Hello? Hi, Mom."
"Hi my son! How are you? I couldn't call earlier, is something wrong?"
"Uh... No... It's all good! Just forgot to charge my phone."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah."
Jimmy didn't want his mother to find out about this and worry about him, the last thing he needed was her having a heart attack.
Unbeknownst to Jimmy, some men came in the building dressed as electrical maintenance and started emptying the building of it's residence.
One of the knocked on Jeff's door.
"Probably Jimmy." He thought
As he opened the door he was greeted by a man in a blue jumpsuit carrying a large toolbox. He asked, "Oh. Can I help you sir?"
"Evening sir! We're here to take a look at the electrical problem that you and your neighbors experienced earlier", he said in a professional tone.
"Okay... What do you need to do?"
"Well we're going to have to ask you to leave the premises of the building."
"Why...?"
"From the nature of the power outage, we have absolutely no idea where it started or what the cause is, so we need to search the entire building in order to know what caused it, and if we can fix it so that it won't happen again."
Jeff knew that whatever caused the power outage was connected with Jimmy, but he chose to remain silent and comply with the man.
"Okay. Let me just get my..."
"No need for that sir, more of my boys are going to start searching the other apartments so we'll only be here for a moment."
"Okay..."
Jeff begrudgingly left his apartment and went out of the building.
"Better look for Jimmy." He thought while going down.
While people were going out a man holding an EMP scanner and was secretly scanning people as they walked by. After they were all scanned the man entered the building.
Everyone was quickly out of the building except for Jimmy however the men in jumpsuits started to take them off revealing bulletproof vests and when they opened their toolboxes, they took out M4 assault rifles loaded with rubber bullets, along with tasers and riot shotguns loaded with riot suppression beanbag rounds.
"Where's the scanner?", one of them quietly asked.
"Here", the man that was scanning people said as he came up to the door.
He turned on the device and it detected a powerful yet isolated EMP was detected.
"EMP detected. It's here."
"Alright. Target is to be taken alive."
"Alright mom. Bye", Jimmy nervously said.
"Bye son!", his mother lovingly replied.
Jimmy tapped a button on his cellphone to end the call, then looked around with the phone in hand and noticed that his laptop was still on.
"Huh... How did this..."
Suddenly the team opened the door and ran in surrounding Jimmy quickly.
He dropped his phone from the shock and it slid unnoticed under the table as the team entered and pointed their weapons at Jimmy.
"Get down on the ground!"
"What the fuck?!"
"I said get down!"
From the shock he stepped back and unintentionally placed his hand of the screen of his laptop.
Suddenly the screen filled with blue light, and then Jimmy found himself being pulled into the screen. Soon his entire body was consumed in blue light and he was sucked in.
In less than a second he was gone and the men were left confused.
"Uuuhhh... Base... This is "Nightcap" team 6, we have encountered a problem. Target has vanished. I repeat target has vanished. Over", one said into his radio.
"Nightcap 6, this is Base. How did the Target vanish?"
"Target... Vanished into a... Computer screen. Uh... Over."
"Take the computer and head back for debriefing."
"Roger that."
As the team packed up their equipment and put on their disguises, Jeff became concerned when he couldn't find his friend.
When the team exited and told everyone they can come back inside, Jeff went to Jimmy's apartment to check if he was still there.
The door was locked but Jimmy told Jeff about a spare key he had on a piece of velcro he had placed on the bottom left side of the doorframe.
He bent down, got the key, and unlocked the door, poking his head inside.
"Jimmy? You still here?"
But no one replied. He looked around and entered Jimmy's bedroom to see his travel bag on the mattress.
"He wouldn't pack his stuff and not leave with it", he thought.
Just then, he heard Jimmy's phone. He looked for it and saw the faint glow under the table in the small living room and squatted down and reached underneath the table to get it.
"Why would he leave this?" He said.
He knew that something was wrong, but things didn't really add up and he couldn't make sense of it, so Jeff decided to keep Jimmy's stuff for now. He did wonder why his laptop was gone though.

Jimmy was panicking. His entire body was glowing pixels vaguely resembling a human form, but he gradually became more and more like how he was before.
"Holy fucking shit! What the flying fuck?!", he yelled out.
"I-I-I'm having an episode! I'm in shock and I'm dreaming this up!", he exclaimed as he paced around the area.
However as everything remained quiet around him he felt extremely unsettled.
He looked around and saw that he was floating in binary code and there was a large tunnel leading somewhere. 
He was scared out of his mind as everything started changing around him and he started recognizing some of the items around him as they appeared.
"Wha... Th-that's my... All of my social media site stuff... I'm... I'm inside my laptop!"
Jimmy tried to make sense of his situation, but couldn't think of anything that explained what was happening.
"How the fuck did I get in here?!" He yelled once more.
"I need to find out more..."
He looked at the tunnel and thought that it must lead the internet. But just before he went in there, he remembered the men that barged into his apartment.
"They must want something with me... I should delete everything here first! But how will I do it?"
He thought of pressing the option to delete everything on the hard drive, and it was highlighted as Jimmy went towards it.
He somewhat begrudgingly proceeded to make the computer delete its hard drive.
"This is so weird... am I going to be here forever!?", he asked himself fearfully as he went back into the tunnel. 
As he entered the tunnel, the entrance just behind him shut and the wall pushed him extremely fast towards the end. He felt like an astronaut testing G-forces with how fast it was going, then he came to a sudden stop. When Jimmy finally settled and opened his eyes he saw an enormous, intricate web that was the internet.
He was still in a tunnel which he assumed was a path for information to travel between sites.
"How the hell am I breathing?! T-This is impossible!"
His questioning was put aside as he was bombarded with data traveling at breakneck speeds.
The best thing that Jimmy could do was hold on for dear life as he was swept away and brought millions of miles across the web.
"GET ME OFF OF THIS THING!!!"
Then the data stopped as if to obey his command. Surprisingly inertia didn't seem to exist, as he was still on the data despite the abrupt stop.
"I wanna get out of here... Please!"
The tunnel warped and created a new passage, to which Jimmy immediately went into.
He arrived at a news site, evident from the news articles and images floating around.
"Not exactly what I meant but... okay."
He decided that since he was there, he would search up any information with any regards to his current status.
He looked around and came across multiple articles.
"Murderous clown on the streets, fake doctor... Oh god, this guy again?"
He came across a positive article about a candidate running for president.
"Because never mind the racism on that guy, look at his terrible hair!" Jimmy said sarcastically.
He decided to delete the entire article and he proceeded to look further.
"Wait... I think this could be it!"
He read an article dated about three months ago about a new conspiracy theory.
" 'Could They be Hiding Super Weapons?'
Multiple theories suggests that the government are conducting top secret experiments and are responsible for the disappearances of multiple missing people. Allegations were of course denied, but some evidence has surfaced.
A few accounts of people reporting bizarre occurrences in and around the state of Texas have surfaced. However, these have not been confirmed and the government denies any interaction or relation."
The article continues with the reports of multiple civilians that have seen unexplainable sights.
"Supersonic booms, small craters, trails burnt into the ground, this all started 3 months ago? Great Christ", Jimmy thought as he read.
"The government denies accusations but I know better than to trust them when this kind of stuff happening... maybe if I can find a government computer or something I could find out more!"
He tried making a direct link to any government network, but nothing came into sight.
"I still have absolutely no idea what I'm doing, or how this works."
But then something came to mind.
"This is Top Secret information they're keeping from people, it's definitely going to be protected. To make sure I can get the information I want, I need to learn how to hack systems." Jimmy thought.
"And if the internet has ever taught me anything, white hat hackers are the people to see... But black hat hackers are easier to find..."
Jimmy decided to just begin the search and take all of the information out of whichever one he found.
He exited the news site and thought about where to go next. However, as he wandered, he remembered the friend he left behind.
"Jeff's gonna to wonder where I am... I should probably send him something to assure him I'm okay. Well... kinda", he thought as he looked down at his legs, noticing his pixellated body.
He thought on how to accomplish this and after a few seconds he had an idea.

Half an hour after Jimmy disappeared Jeff was at his apartment, saddened that is friend left without so much as a goodbye. However he knew that something was off because Jimmy didn't bring most of his belongings with him. He didn't want to assume that something bad happened Jimmy but his mind would drift to those thoughts unintentionally.
"What could've happened? Why'd he leave his phone? Was there some kind of accident?" Those questions and more entered his mind as he sat down on the couch.
Then his phone lit up, when Jeff looked at his phone and saw that he had received an email from an address he didn't know.
"From... MuricanIdiot06 ? Who the hell is that?"
He opened up the email and there was a video link, he tapped on it and loaded the video.
It was an extremely edited video with seemingly random cuts from many different sources. 
At first Jeff thought it was a prank however as the video went on it started to convey something to him.
"Slow- DOWN!- there...- Jeff-"
The video said it so fast that he could just barely hear it, however once he did he decided to slow down the video.
As he slowed it down and played it, he noticed that there were symbols flashing in between the cuts, he slowed it down even further until he could clearly see the symbols which turned out to be letters.
"What the... Letters? I gotta get paper for this!"
Each cut had two letters in between, and as soon as Jeff saw it, he paused the video in order to write down the letters.
By the end of the video, he had a seemingly random collection of letters.
"QVUURNLPZBWLMGGIFHGGSVT-NVM"
"What the fuck?", he said out loud. "The Hell does this mean?"
He wanted to dismiss the letters as nothing but a prank, but something at the back of his head told him that this has meaning to it.
"I'm the first one that viewed it, and it told me to slow down, there must be something in this..." He thought.

"Hope he got it in time..." Jimmy worryingly said. "If I know TV shows the government is going to come knocking on his door before he knows it!"
It had taken him his equivalent of six hours to create the video, make a new email address, and send it to him.
"Now... How do I find a hacker?"
Jimmy tried to get himself into CIA or NSA systems but, as expected, firewalls blocked his way. They were like force fields to Jimmy in his state, and no matter what he did, he couldn't get past it.
"So close! So fucking close to the truth!"
Just when he was about to give up he saw a tunnel link itself to the CIA system.
"It's the only shot I got now!" He thought as he went towards the source.
As he got closer, Jimmy saw that it was an enormous black cube making more and more connections to systems and sites. At first Jimmy couldn't get in because another firewall was protecting it and he tried to find another way in but, half an hour later, the firewall was disabled and he immediately went inside.
"Whoa..." Jimmy said, shocked "Those are a lot of files to read..."
He saw thousands of files that had information, programs, and techniques in hacking right in front of him. The computer he was in was a recently confiscated PC from a black hat hacker that managed to hack into CIA and NSA systems days before, a white hat was tasked by the CIA to see how he did it using the PC. Unbeknownst to the hacker, Jimmy was reading all the files as fast as he could and was learning just as quickly.
Jimmy pondered on why he didn't need to eat or sleep while he was in the computer, but he decided that answers will come once he could infiltrate the CIA computers.
Nearly a day had passed for Jimmy, but only about two hours had passed in reality. 
"Holy fuck! It's done! Thank fucking God!" he said, relieved that he could finally get the information he needed.
Jimmy went back to the firewall to test his new skills. 
"I've wasted enough time already!" he thought as he touched the firewall.
He ran a program in just a thought to get passed it.
"Come on! This needs to work!"
Soon the wall blocking his way was bending and a hole was created. He had now entered the system!
"A day of learning programing and hacking FINALLY paid off!" he said, relieved that it wasn't all for nothing.
He quickly made this way into the confidential files, all of which containing hundreds of top secret files. After going through enough files to confirm, disconfirm, and create hundreds of conspiracy theories, he finally came across something that was relevant to his situation.
"Top Secret: LHC Incident Aftermath.
The second LHC or Large Hadron Collider, in Texas has caused some unforeseen, yet potentially extremely dangerous, side effects.
The effects of testing the Collider while the first one in Europe is still operational has caused matter and energy to change 10 to 15% of the population of the Earth.
Changes include, but I not limited to: 
Superior strength enhancement in humans.
Speed enhancement in humans capable of breaking the sound barrier.
Extraordinary polymath.
Telepathy.
Invulnerability.
And more people with new capabilities are being revealed regularly."
Jimmy felt his blood run cold from what he read.
"That was what they were hiding from everyone?! Motherfuckers! What else is in here?!"
Soon he saw video and audio files associated with the document. They were from the NSA and had hundreds, maybe thousands of hours of recorded data.
Some of the videos that he saw were popular videos that he watched online. Like most people, he thought it was only a hoax, however seeing all of this footage changed his mind.
"It's not just here either! All over the damn planet people are turning up! United Kingdom, Singapore, The Philippines, everywhere! This is fucking insane!"
Jimmy frantically searched for more files that were connected in any way to this, his interest piqued when he had stumbled across a folder entitled "Facilities".
When he opened it there were total of 30 files, each of them corresponding to a different facility somewhere in the country.
Most them had started construction a month ago and were still not finished, however one particular facility was merely undergoing the process of upgrading.
"Alcatraz Island
Military construction had begun months before the incident occurred.
Original purpose was for experimental weapons research and development.
Repurposed and renovated as per orders of General Brooks.
Now it is to be used as a holding cell for empowered individuals, and will primarily research on "Ability Transfusion" like the facilities in Nevada and Kentucky.
Weapons research will now be it's secondary objective.
Drone delivery of some experimental technology to the facility is scheduled to arrive at 1100 hours.
Currently holds four highly dangerous subjects."
Jimmy immediately looked at the files for the Nevada and Kentucky facilities. After he found them, some videos were attached to the file and when he played them he saw ghastly tests being conducted, some were forced to show their powers at gunpoint, for others special shock bands were placed at their necks and arms as precaution, and in some extreme cases, some were placed in a medically induced coma to research their bodies.
Jimmy was horrified from what he saw, he felt he's seen enough to give him nightmares for the next month or so.
He left the system and wanted to leave his current state so he chose a random computer to try to exit from if he could. He prepared himself and said, "Kay. Here we go!" He then vanished, making his way back into the real world.

"Then I got back to the real world, found out that only a couple of hours had passed, and made a plan to get these things and break you and the others out, then you know how it went", said Jimmy as he finally finished his story.
"Wow... You've been through a lot. But why did you risk your life to save us? You coulda hightailed outta here and left us, why save people you've never even met before?", Tracy questioned, curious in Jimmy's motives.
"After everything that I've seen, I felt scared, and when I actually thought about me being tested on like that, it terrified me. Knowing that you guys were captured and were about to be tested on, it felt... wrong, wrong to even consider leaving when I knew I could do something! So, I finally did something good with my life."
"Did somethin' good with your life?"
"Well... I haven't told you everything about me. Breaking you guys out was the most stressful yet most exciting thing I've done."
"Uh... breaking folks out of Alcatraz would prolly be the most stressful thing in anyone's life, but I'm glad you did. Thanks again Jim, there ain't that many people like you around nowadays." 
"Heh... uh... Thanks!", Jimmy said as he blushed slightly.
Tracy yawned and realized that it must've been well past midnight. 
"Really getting late, I ain't used to being up at this hour. Mind if I hit the hay?"
"Sure, we can think on how we're going to travel tomorrow."
"Okay. Nighty-night Jimmy."
"Are you sure you can just sleep on the floor? There must be something I can get outside."
"Nah, you've done enough. Besides, I can... *yawn* sleep through anything... at this point."
"Okay then. Just tell me if you need anything."
"A'ight."
Tracy laid down on the concrete floor, put her head in her hands, and in just a few short minutes fell asleep.
Jimmy also tried to sleep but for some reason couldn't, no matter how hard he tried.
He stood up and decided to fiddle around with the enhancers but noticed Tracy shaking slightly.
"Must be cold." he thought.
Tracy was just wearing a large white shirt, a large pair of camo pattern pants, and extremely large flip-flops that all looked hastily made.
Jimmy took off his black hoodie and placed it on her shoulder.
"Not much but at least it's something."
As Jimmy started to tinker to pass the time, Tracy pulled Jimmy's hoodie to cover as much of herself as it could and smiled.

Late in the morning at an abandoned warehouse, Tracy was beginning to wake up from her less than comfortable sleep. After forcing herself to open her eyes, she saw something black underneath her breast. Her vision adjusted moments later and she recognized it as the sleeve of Jimmy's hoodie. 
"Oh Shit! Jimmy!" She yelled loudly as she sat up.
She thought that she had crushed Jimmy underneath her body in her sleep! 
Jimmy came running towards her when she yelled. He was wearing a black tank top and one of the limb enhancers on his right arm.
"Tracy!? What is it?!", he asked with an electric charge ready.
"Jimmy?! But I thought you were..." Tracy said as she lifted up the black hoodie, realizing that it wasn't him. 
Her face went red with embarrassment as she realized her mistake.
"Oh... uh... Sorry 'bout that! Uh, this must be yours” She said as she shyly handed over Jimmy's hoodie.
"Yeah... Thanks..." He said as he took it from her hand.
"Anyway... W-what's the plan Jim?"
"I've been thinking. Since we can't take public transport for obvious reasons, I'm going to go out and buy a car!"
"Good idea, but how about me? Pretty sure people are going to be suspicious 'bout someone that's taller than Shaquille O'Neal."
"Which is why you're staying here."
"Wait! I don't wanna be left alone here!"
"I know... I would bring you along if I could but... Like you said, you’re kind of obvious."
“Well… It is hard to hide me. But what do I do 'til you come back?"
"Just wait, I guess. I promise I'll be back as soon as I can."
But before Tracy could say something, her stomach did it for her as a loud grumble reverberated from her midsection.
"Okay... maybe I'll go get some food, come back, then I'll leave for a car after."
"Good idea, I'm starvin'!"
"There should be a few bakeries nearby, and I still have my cut of the money I got from the ATM. In the meantime, just... Ah, I'll be back!" He said as he took off the enhancer and put on his hoodie.
"Thank ya Jim! And please hurry!"
"I will!"
As Jimmy left the warehouse to get some much needed food, Tracy laid down and looked at the ceiling.
"Wonder what's been happening back at home?" She thought to herself.
"My family must be worried sick! I've been gone for days now!
My Ma, Grampa, Gramma, my friends back there... and what about Samson? He must be out of the hospital by now! Then when he comes back I'm missing!" Soon her thoughts came to how her loved ones will react to her new physical appearance.
"I never thought them growth spurts I was having would have me ending up this big! Hope Sam doesn't mind me being taller than him... I wonder if I ever have to go gigantic again? Hopefully I won't, last time I did was fuckin' terrifyin'!"
She thought about the night her powers manifested, she had snuck out of her house to walk and relax on an open field. Tracy was always fond of the outdoors, especially at night, the stars in the sky, the cool air blowing in her hair, and the calming silence that allowed her to think.
For a couple of weeks before that night, Tracy had grown much taller, as she was originally 5 feet and 8 inches tall, however after two weeks, she was just an inch below her boyfriend Samson's height of 6 foot 3. Most of her family and friends thought that it was just a late growth spurt, but it was also very strange as to why she was getting so tall so fast without any growing pains.
After leaving her house in a pair of denim jeans, a pair of black cowboy boots, and an olive-green jacket, she walked for almost an hour through the field.
"Wonder when Samson's going to visit me again." she thought then. "I told him not to go up that ladder to get to my room, but that idiot didn't listen..."
As she thought about her boyfriend, she felt something strange in her body. At first it was like a pleasant stretching sensation, but it gradually became more uncomfortable as time went on. She was concerned and tried to walk back home but then she felt like all her muscles had just had an extremely demanding workout and she collapsed.
Unbeknownst to her, the Nightcaps were on undercover patrol.

Because the second Large Hadron Collider was located underneath Texas, it and all surrounding states were the first areas to get these patrols.
Two undercover Nightcaps were driving when they noticed Tracy trying to crawl back to the road. They stopped and got out to investigate.
Tracy was relieved, but still in pain.
"Please... c-can you p-please... take me to... to the hospital?" Tracy asked as she got on her knees.
"What happened to you miss?" One of them asked her as the other one put on an earpiece.
"I... was walking when-"
But before she could finish her sentence Tracy started growing rapidly, quickly going from her 6 foot stature to 10 feet. The growing was extremely painful at first, but she didn't stop. Soon she was 15 feet tall. Her clothes ripped off of her body at 20 feet and when she saw what was happening to her she covered herself with her arms and screamed.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING TO ME?!?"
"Holy shit! Bring out the tranquilizers!"
As the man's partner went to open the trunk, while contacting his base with the earpiece.
"Base! This is patrol 32, we have a potentially dangerous target at our location! Send available backup and a large transport trailer ASAP!"
Once he got the truck open he took two tranquilizer rifles and threw one to his partner.
Tracy tried to force herself to stop growing, but only managed to slow down her growth by just a fraction. She was 40 feet tall at this point and still growing fast.
"Miss... y-you’re coming with us!" the man said, very scared of the enormous growing woman in front of him.
"PLEASE HELP ME!!"
Tracy's muscles were on fire as she had another surge of growth, rocketing her up to 75 feet.
"Calm down miss. Or we will be forced to make you calm down!" said the other man, obviously being the more professional of the two.
"Okay... calming down..." Tracy said in between her panicked breathing.
She managed stop her growth when she was over a hundred feet in height. She felt her muscles relax and the burning feeling had gone away, but she was so scared that she started crying. Everything was so small around her, and she was so high up that she was experiencing vertigo.
"Okay miss, just wait here. Don't do anything, and nobody has to get hurt."
The man's partner was shaking, he had been debriefed about the existence of these kinds of people, but he has never actually seen one up close and personal, let alone someone with Tracy's ability.
"Wait... I think I can..."
She thought about going back to her normal size, at first to no avail. However, slowly, she started to shrink down.
Inch by inch she was beginning get closer to the ground, much to her relief.
After a few minutes of watching her shrink, Tracy was down to a smaller, but still towering, 9 feet tall.
The men still had their tranquilizer guns trained on her as Tracy stood up. When she took a step towards the men, the nervous one accidentally pulled the trigger and shot Tracy with a dose that could incapacitate a grizzly bear into her shoulder.
"Agh! You... You.... shot... me..."
Tracy took another step but the tranquilizers quickly rendered her incapacitated as she fell to the ground.
The last thing she heard before blacking out was the two men yelling at each other and more vehicles arriving.

"That was a nightmare!" Tracy thought as she remembered that awful night.
"If I ever have to experience that again, it'll be too soon! I really hope Jim can get me back home! He's all I got now..."
Just as she finished her thoughts, her stomach growled loudly again.
"Where is he by now?"

After leaving the warehouse, Jimmy jogged around to find a place that sold food.
After few minutes of searching, he found a bakery that had lots of goods to choose from.
He walked in and was greeted by the woman behind the counter.
"Can I get you anything?"
"Yeah... I'm gonna need a dozen large breakfast muffins, a dozen bagels, and 6 cups of coffee, to go please."
"Whoa! That's a lot! I highly doubt that you're eating this all you by yourself."
"I'm buying for... some friends."
"Understandable, not that many people want to go out today." The woman said as she was getting Jimmy's order.
"Why is that?"
"Haven't heard? Some people heard some commotion going on at Alcatraz Island."
"Really?" Jimmy said, curious yet slightly nervous. "What kind of commotion?"
"I haven't seen it myself, but people are saying that the government is doing a lot more to Alcatraz than making a disease research facility. Choppers were flying to and from the island last night. Some people are even saying that they saw Soldiers with guns from their telescopes when they were looking on the island last night, but I just think that's a bunch of bull."
"Yeah... Right..."
"So how do you want your coffee?"
"Four of them... uh... large mochas? Then the other two medium iced, please."
"Alright, must have a lot of friends for you to order this much. They must really like their mocha!"
"To be honest, I kinda left without asking what she wanted."
"Wait "she"? you meant to say "them" right?"
"Oops... uh... Yeah! That's what I meant, it's just that they're all... girls that's all!"
"Ooh. Any of them your girlfriend bright eyes?"
"No..."
"Got Friendzoned?"
"No!"
"So it's complicated?"
"Yeah, like you wouldn't imagine..."
"I've been there before. This guy I was seeing would always help me out on anything that I would ask him to do, then when I texted him that I had a crush on him he just continued as normal. I would talk to him and he wouldn't mention it but... I always felt weird around him since then”, she explained as she made the coffee.
"What's your name?" Jimmy asked.
"Michelle"
"Listen Michelle, whoever this guy is he's probably terrified to say anything out of fear of messing up. I've had... similar experiences. So the best thing you can do is begin the conversation and talk to him about it, do it before he thinks he's a total idiot for not doing anything because he was nervous!"
"Whoa... That's... some good insight on how he might feel."
"I've been through a lot..."
"Well, I don’t doubt it... Anyway, here's your order." Michelle said as she handed over two large paper bags and the coffee.
"Thanks. What's the damage?"
"$58.80"
"Here you go." Jimmy handed her a one hundred dollar bill. "Keep the change, consider it my tip.”
“Wow! Thanks!”
"You’re welcome!"
Michelle got the change and put it in her tip jar. Then she realized she didn't catch his name, but Jimmy had already left the store to get back to the warehouse.
"Hmm. Nice guy!" She said with a smile on her face.
Fifteen minutes later, a man wearing sunglasses and a suit came in.
"Espresso, please", he said.
"Coming right up, sir.” Michelle responded.
As she prepared his coffee, he opened his briefcase to show something to Michelle. The man gave her a sketch of someone that looked like Jimmy.
"Miss, have you seen this man?"

"Tracy?" Jimmy asked as he entered the warehouse.
Tracy sat up and looked down at Jimmy holding cups of coffee in one hand and two bags of what she assumed was food in the other.
"Thank the Lord! What’d ya get me?"
"Some breakfast muffins, bagels, and… Mocha. Is that okay? Sorry I left before asking what you wanted."
"It's fine. Besides, everything you got me sounds delicious!"
"I got a dozen of each so it should be good enough."
"Are you sayin' I'm fat?!" Tracy said in a serious tone.
"No! Your body is fine! Uh... not that I... Not that... You know... ah fuck!"
Jimmy pulled his hood over his face in a feeble attempt to hide his embarrassment. Tracy just laughed at Jimmy getting flustered. It was funny to see her "savior" being so awkward with her, and a laugh was just what she needed after everything that's happened.
"Don't worry, I was just messin' with ya!"
As Tracy laughed, Jimmy started to chuckle nervously and take off his hood.
"Anyway... I'll go, uh... find a car..."
"Wait? Ain't ya gonna stay and eat?"
"You go ahead. The sooner we get a car, the sooner we can get out of here!"
"Can't you stay for a little?"
"We can stay with each other all we want once I get a car. I'll be back as soon as I can."
"Come on Jim, at least eat something before you go! I'm sorry about the joke. Please stay for a bit!"
Jimmy looked up and saw Tracy's pleading look. He gave a sigh, took an iced coffee, and sat down with her.

"What's this guy in for?" Michelle said, concerned about whether to say she saw him or not.
"He's a wanted man. What he did is on a need-to-know basis." The man said.
Michelle was intimidated buy the tall, African-American man in a suit. Michelle's small, petite form had to look up to the imposing man as she judged what action to take.
"I have a lot of people come in and pass by here, you can't expect me to remember a specific person's face. Sorry I couldn't help." She said as naturally as she could.
"It's alright ma'am. Just be on the lookout."
"Will do!"
"How much for the coffee?"
"$3.45."
He paid for his coffee and left the store, leaving Michelle thinking to herself.
"I hope I didn't make the wrong decision trusting you guy..."

"Wow..." Jimmy said in disbelief.
Tracy ate all 12 bagels, 11 of the breakfast muffins, and all four of her mochas.
"That... was... impressive!"
"Sorry if I ate too much."
Tracy honestly felt a little hungry still, but she didn't want to seem ungrateful to Jimmy so she kept quiet.
"Don't worry about it, strangely I'm not that hungry. I also only slept for two hours last night and I feel fine so, it must be something with my body? Superpowers are weird!"
"How did we get these powers anyhow?"
"Turns out there was another Large Hadron Collider built underneath Texas, those machines were made in order to test out the conditions that created the universe. However because there's two hadron colliders... let's just say things got a little messy with matter and energy and 15% of population the planet either has powers or will have powers."
"Good fuckin' Christ! That's... more than a billion people!"
"I know... and the government is pretty much trying to cover everything up and try to use people like us to turn the tide of security, war, excetera."
"Sadly, why can't the world just get along? We're supposed to be the smartest beings on the planet and push come to shove we resort to hitting each other!"
"Exactly! And now we're in the middle of it! If things get worse we might be fighting to survive! Let's just hope it doesn't get that far."
"Amen!"
"Anyway, I'm done with breakfast, now I can get the car!" Jimmy said as he stood up.
"Alright. Be careful!"
"Don't worry. Once I get a car and some supplies, we are outta here!"
"I'll just be here. Not like I can go anywhere..."
"I'll make sure to get us new phones too, just in case I have to go and you have to stay back again."
"Hope I can still use a phone. These fingers are huge!"
"I'll keep it in mind. Back in a few!"
"See ya!"
As Jimmy left again, Tracy just sat down and let her thoughts flow.
"Wait... how will I get new clothes now?"

Jimmy walked around searching for a car dealership with a car he could afford, but was also big enough for Tracy to fit in.
A few more minutes of walking, no dealership in sight but Jimmy did notice men in suits, holding briefcases were walking around. Suspicious, he made sure stay out of sight and look natural around, not just the men in suits, but everyone.
Half an hour later he found a car dealership and started looking around. Jimmy was soon approached by a car dealer with red hair and a smile on his face.
"Good morning sir, what can I help you with?" The dealer asked.
"Do you have any cars for sale that are big and have a lot of storage space?" Jimmy asked in response.
"I just might! Follow me."
Jimmy was lead to the back of the dealership and a car was presented to him by the dealer.
"This Ford Transit is the car for you!"
The dealer went on about the features while Jimmy made sure to maintain a neutral and somewhat unimpressed "What's the price?"
"$19,000"
"Okay..."
"So, interested?"
"Maybe, give me some time to think and I may come back to you."
"Of course, take your time."
Jimmy left the dealership to get the money he needed to buy the car.
Later he found another ATM but he realized that without the enhancers he has to enter the ATM using his powers. He looked around to see if anyone was watching and when the coast was clear he entered the machine. However this momentarily caused a large EMP and two nearby Nightcaps in suits detected it with sensors built into their briefcases that started vibrating intensely for a few seconds.
"All patrol, this is Nightcap patrol 1-7. I just detected an EMP. Target may possibly be in my area. Over"
"Nightcap Patrol 1-7, this is Nightcap Patrol 9-8. I also detected an EMP in the area. How will we proceed? Over."
"Be on the lookout. Report if EMP returns. And call available patrol to our location. Over."
"Understood. Over."
After contacting one another on communicators made to look like wristwatches, they were on high alert.

Five or so minutes later Jimmy exited the ATM and it dispensed $20,000, enough to buy the car and a little extra.
Jimmy made sure to keep a negotiation in mind for the price, but that was for later. He grabbed the money and jogged away towards the dealership.

The Nightcaps in the area detected another EMP spike, and this time they were closer to Jimmy's general area. 
After a brief moment, one of them saw a person wearing a black hoodie and jeans jog-walking away. He remembered the clothing description given by the Nightcap soldier that was questioned for the sketch and decided to pursue.
"Possible contact. Await confirmation. Over."

Jimmy kept walking, but something didn't feel right. He looked around and noticed a man in a suit behind him when he looked at the rearview mirror on a parked car reflecting him. He made sure to look natural and took three left turns to see if he was being followed. Sure enough he was still there. Jimmy knew this could be the end so he had to act quickly.
He went into a nearby mall that was full of people and as soon as the density of people was high enough, ran from the man.

"Possible Target on the run." The man said calmly to his communicator as not to draw attention. 
He picked up the pace to keep Jimmy in sight but Jimmy seemed to be immune to fatigue which, combined with his small stature, caused the Nightcap to lose sight of him.
"Lost sight of possible target."
"Can you confirm it was the target?"
"No. Didn't get a visual."
"Get back to your assigned area and resume searching."
"Understood."
The Nightcap left the mall, leaving Jimmy inside, as he sat at a table in the food court, pretending to read a Game Informer magazine that been left there.

"Damn, that was close." Jimmy thought as he looked around for the man. Then he had a thought. "I need to change my outfit, at least then, they won't recognize me straight away."
Jimmy went into a clothes store, got a new pair of blue jeans, a grey shirt, a dark blue bomber jacket, a cap with a hand holding a heart-shaped grenade, and a pair of aviator sunglasses.
As he put on his new clothes, he couldn't help but think about Tracy. Aside from what she was wearing she didn't have any clothes, and she's probably too big to get anything off the rack.
"I'll get her something... somehow."
After paying for his new clothes and putting his old ones in a plastic bag, he exited the mall and quickly headed back to the dealership.
"Hello” Jimmy said to the dealer from before.
"Ah, welcome back sir! Have you thought about the car?"
"Yes I have, I'd like to negotiate the price for it though."
"Alright! Let's go to my office then."
After sitting down in the dealers office, the negotiation began.
"$19,000 is my starting price” Said the dealer.
"How about $14,000?", Jimmy replied.
"Sorry, I can't go that low."
"I've gone around and there's a dealer willing to give me the same car for that price."
"Hmm… $17,000."
"$15,000."
"Look, that's as far as I can go."
"Okay. I have the money in cash right here” Jimmy said before pulling out a wad of cash.
"Whoa... Okay, how about $16,500?"
"$16,000" Jimmy said with a slightly smug look.
"$16,300" The dealer said for his final offer.
"Alright. Deal." Jimmy responded in agreement.
After signing the papers using a forged signature and paying in cash, Jimmy was driving away in the Transit.
He had to be careful about driving because he left his license back in his apartment, but aside from that he was fine.
Thanks to his brush with the man in the suit, which he assumed was the government looking for him he drove straight back to the warehouse and went in. 
At first Tracy didn't recognize Jimmy, so she stood up and tried to look imposing.
"Who are you? What're ya doin' here?!" She asked with her leg ready to kick, since she knew that punching people would be pointless at her height.
"Woah! Tracy, it's me!" Jimmy said, taking off the sunglasses and cap.
"Oh! Jim? The hell you wearin'?"
"I'll explain on the way. But right now, let's get in the car!" 
"You have it?"
"Yeah! We can go now! And there's guys in suits also, so we need to leave fast!"
"Oh! Alright, let’s go then!”
Jimmy got the enhancers and the mask, then looked around outside. Thankfully there weren't that many people willing to hang around at an abandoned warehouse so it was clear for Tracy to come out.
"Okay, let's go!"
"Ya sure?"
"Yes! Now come on."
Jimmy put the enhancers in the passenger seat, the mask in the glove compartment, then opened the back door, and folded up the extra seats inside so Tracy could have some leg room.
After signaling Tracy to get in, she crouched down and got inside. When Tracy sat down she still had more than a foot of clearance from her head to the roof of the car.
"Looks like you made the right choice." She said as she got her legs in.
"I made sure to keep you in mind. Watch your feet." Jimmy said as he closed the door.
He got in the car, started the engine, and drove away.
"So... where we going?"
"Oklahoma City, I'll tell you where my home is when we get there"
Jimmy turned on the GPS and set the coordinates with just a thought.
The GPS gave them multiple directions to the location but Jimmy decided to take the shortest route that passes through Vegas.
Jimmy asked, "Hey, Tracy, do you mind if we go to Vegas first?"
"Are you seriously thinking of gamblin' at this time?" She asked with a slightly angry look on her face.
"No! God no. Remember my friend Jeff that I told you about?"
"Oh. Yeah, why?"
"Well, he lives in Vegas, so we’re gonna to pay him a visit so that he at least knows what's happening. Also, I need my license as soon as I can and it's probably with him."
"Alright then. But how many miles until we get to my home?"
"The route that I picked is one of the shortest, but we still got more than 1,600 miles to drive."
"That's a long ass way! Well, at least we'll get to know each other better!" 
"Yeah... Which reminds me, tell me about yourself. I mean... If you're okay with it, obviously. I completely understand if you don't.”
"Well... You already told me about you, it's only fair that I tell you a bit about me. So, I was going out in the night..."
Jimmy drove on as Tracy told her about when she was captured and she felt better telling him, like a weight was being lifted off her chest.
Jimmy listened to her until she was finished, and he felt sympathetic. He decided some music was needed to lighten the mood. He turned on the radio and after going through a few stations playing trashy pop and rap songs, some old songs were playing on one station.
"Wait, is that Passenger Seat?" She asked.
"You know this song too? I used to listen to this song with my Mom on the radio when I was a kid."
"Me too!"
They both smiled as they listened to the song and drove on, enjoying each other's company.

A few hours after leaving the warehouse, they were making good progress on getting to Vegas where Jimmy would hopefully meet with his close friend.
However, a loud, familiar sound surprised Jimmy as he drove. It was Tracy's stomach again.
"Can we get somethin' to eat Jim?"
"Well... There should be a convenience store next to the gas station that I’m gonna fill up the tank at. I'll get you a snack in there before I go buy supplies."
"How many minutes?"
"Not too long now."
"Anywhere closer?"
"Uh... A drive-through just a few blocks from here?"
"Sounds good!"
Jimmy altered the GPS without even touching it, so he knew the way.
"So… Why don’t you tell me about how things were before everything? To pass the time while we're still getting there…"
"Before what?"
"All this, and your life before you had powers. If you’re… You know... Okay with telling me, that is."
"Well... My Mom and Pop were good people, they raised me well and we would visit my Mamma and Grampa a few miles away from where we lived. But then..." Tracy changed to a soft, and sad tone. "My Dad got called into "work" and never came back..."
"What kind of work?", Jimmy said, concerned that he may have unintentionally hit something touchy.
"Army... Iran..."
"Oh... Tracy... I'm sorry. Every time I make small talk I-“ Jimmy let out a sigh. “Goddamit!”
"It's okay... it was years ago. I was depressed for a while, but now, it's… It’s okay."
"I'm still sorry... I'm sure he was a spectacular father."
"He was..."
"Well... While we're on the topic, how about I tell you about my parents?"
"Alright..."
"I was the youngest of three. I had a good life with my Mom, Dad, sister, and brother. But... it was short-lived. Things went downhill when I was 10. My Dad would get drunk, and sometimes it got so bad that my Mom would yell at him and bottles started breaking."
"That's awful!"
"It got worse when he threw out my brother for wanting to marry his girlfriend and then my sister got knocked-up a few years later."
Tracy remained silent, as she felt bad for Jimmy as he was telling her about his past.
"Long story short, my childhood was cut short and we left him for good."
"I'm so sorry you had to go through that... Looks like we both had it bad in some ways."
"It's fine…” Jimmy let out a sigh and cleared his eyes with his hand. "at least now I know what I shouldn't be."
"So where’s your family now?”
"My brother's back at my home country, happily married. My sister got a new partner and my nephew is like 8 now. And my Mom, she's a strong woman, even at 49 she's still working hard back home."
"Nice to hear that!" Tracy said with a small smile.
"Yeah. It is!" Jimmy said as he smiled as well
The GPS told Jimmy to turn left in a boring monotone voice.
"I wonder if I could..." Jimmy used his powers on the GPS again while keeping his eyes in the road.
Then the GPS had the hilarious voice of Gilbert Gottfried.
"That's better! We're almost there."
"Kay...", Tracy said, looking at Jimmy thoughtfully.
Jimmy noticed the look Tracy had on him on the rearview mirror.
"Uh... Tracy? What is it?"
"Nothin'." 
"Okay... Just order anything you want when we get there, and I can pay for it. Got more money from an ATM."
"We shouldn't keep stealing from ATMs though. What if they use that to track us somehow?"
"You’re right on that. I just got out of the ATM when some guys in suits were chasing me, which is why I changed my clothes. But... what do we do for money when this all runs out?"
"Maybe work for some place? Find some people? We'll get there when we get there."
"Okay. Anyway, we're here! Order up Tracy."
"Okay..." Tracy looked at the menu through the window. "I'll take... two number nines, a number nine large, a number six with extra dip, a number seven, two number forty-fives, one with cheese, and a large soda."
Jimmy called out her order to the microphone, along with his. He couldn't believe how much she ordered, but he said he'd buy her anything and he will.
Tracy was still hungry even after breakfast so she went all out on her order, however after receiving it she realized how much she had truly ordered and was a little embarrassed.
"Sorry I ordered so much..." She said, face slightly red.
"It's fine! Powers that affect your body are weird. I only had two hours of sleep and I'm still all good and feeling fine!"
"Lucky! Meanwhile I have to eat all this food for one meal!", Tracy said as she practically inhaled an entire burger.
"I mean, biologically speaking, you need all the energy you can get for your body to function."
"Wonder what my family's going to think when I could easily eat enough for four people!"
"So..." Jimmy said, nervously taking a sip of his root beer. "What's it like in Oklahoma?"

For nearly a day now, Jeff had been trying to figure out the code given to him through a mysterious email. He was taking a break and was watching some reruns of a very popular animated mystery show. He knew the show well and by the end credits he saw a sequence of seemingly random letters like the ones he had received. Since he knew from the internet how to decode the code on the show, he figured to do the same on his to give it a shot.
"Worth a shot I guess..."
Using the letters he had and the info on how to decode, he wrote down the alphabet and reversed it on a piece of paper.
After doing that, he wrote down the code on another paper and started writing which letter corresponds to the letters he had. A minute later he had the message: "JEFFIMOKAYDONTTRUSTTHEG-MEN". 
"Jeff I'm okay don't trust the G-men? Oh God! This was for me!" Jeff thought as he finished reading.
He looked at the email account that sent it "MuricanIdiot06" and finally put it together.
"MuricanIdiot. American Idiot! Jimmy's favorite album!" He thought.
After looking up the songs in the album, he saw that the sixth song was "St. Jimmy" and he was sure that it was Jimmy who sent it, as the message had been given in a clip of the music video for that song.
"Oh man… What the fuck did you get into, Jimmy?" 
Jeff went to his safe and opened it to retrieve his Smith & Wesson 327 M&P, three speed-loaders made specifically for the eight round capacity revolver, and his belt-clip holster to be on the safe side.
"You better have a really good explanation for this Jimmy!” He said aloud while pacing around the apartment, closing all the blinds on his windows. "This is getting really fucking disturbing!"

Tracy gave a loud belch as she finished off her meal. She covered her mouth with both hands and her cheeks went rosey red.
"Excuse me! Sorry doubt that!"
"Don't worry about it, I'm not a snob. You should see my apartment! Seriously, it looks like a tornado went through it!" Jimmy said as they both chuckled for a moment.
"So...", Jimmy said, "If you want I could get you some clothes while I'm getting supplies?"
"Well... I highly doubt anything can fit me if you buy stuff off the racks."
"Well, I could buy some large clothes and maybe... alter them?"
"How would you do that?" Tracy said, curiously.
"I... uh... took sewing classes back when I was in school... I was actually the best one at sewing with a machine", Jimmy said, a little embarrassed.
"You are just full of surprises, Jim!" 
"Well... I'm gonna need a sewing machine... and uh..."
"What else?"
"Your..." He was very reluctant to say it “Measurements..."
Tracy laughed a little at Jimmy's reluctance to say that he needed her measurements.
"Look at you getting all flustered! I ain't shy about my measurements. But I am gonna need to remeasure myself."
"I'll... make sure to buy a tape measure."
Jimmy drove on until he got to the gas station. After he paid for the gas and filled the tank, he parked the car with Tracy inside to buy some items at the convenience store that should last them until Jimmy makes any major supply runs.
Most of what he bought was food that should last them the rest of the day, along with some snacks for the road. He did make sure to buy an extra long tape measure along with some pocketbooks to keep themselves entertained.
After paying for the items, he got back in the car and started the engine. He took a look at the GPS to see the where's next stop.
"There should be a market place a couple miles from here, I can buy everything we're gonna need there. How are you holding up?"
"I'm good, thank ya' for askin'."
"Here." Jimmy gave Tracy the snacks and the pocketbooks he bought. "Sorry about the trashy romance novels, but I figured it was better than nothing."
"I like readin' these because of how trashy it is."
"How does that work?"
"I like laughin' at the "Oh your so perfect and handsome! And I'm so perfect and pretty! We must be destined for each other!" parts." Tracy said while comically posing like the girl in the cover.
The two laughed as they drove on.
They kept driving for hours, Tracy had started reading one of the pocketbooks while munching on the snacks Jimmy got for her. She did find it hard to read some the words initially because of how small the words were, but she eventually adjusted to it after the first few pages.
Jimmy was bored and started messing with the GPS voices again. He changed it from Gilbert Gottfried, to Homer, to GLaDOS, but Tracy got a little annoyed and told him to stop.
They did some more small talk as they were on the road and the two found out a lot about each other.
Tracy used to be a gymnast when she was younger, she only stopped when puberty hit and her new figure impaired her to do some routines.
Jimmy, on the other hand, specified that he was of Filipino descent. He lived in the Philippines for most of his life and only moved to the US close to a year ago because he was tired of his old life living with his older sister and wanted to be independent. Tracy asked on how he could speak without a Filipino accent but it turns out Jimmy learned English as a first language and developed an American accent as a result.
They found out that they had similar taste in music, although Jimmy was the only one that listens to Punk Rock on a regular basis and Tracy wasn't much of a fan of that.
Tracy also has a case of Antlophobia, which is the fear of floods. Tracy was afraid of floods since she visited her aunt in Louisiana as a kid. She was unfortunately caught in a flood while she was there.
Jimmy was never really afraid of floods because he experienced them multiple times and it was a regular occurrence back in his home country.
They soon arrived at the market where Jimmy could browse from shop to shop for supplies that he and Tracy may need for this trip.
He parked the car and put on the sunglasses and cap, but before he went out...
"I might be gone for a while, are you sure you're okay in here?"
"I got books and snacks, I'll be fine! You go on, but be back as soon as you can a'ight?"
"I'll just buy what we need and I'll come back, don't worry."
Jimmy got out of the car and went to see what he could find while Tracy was left in the car.

Meanwhile, General Cassandra Brooks was thinking deeply on the next action for the Neo-Humans that have been extremely unwieldy.
She was staying at a hotel for the time she was in San Francisco.
She got a call from one of the Nightcaps on her work phone.
"Hello?" She asked in a calm voice as she looked out the window.
"General Brooks, we've searched all of San Francisco. Aside from two EMP spikes and a possible sighting, there's no sign of the rogue Neo-Human or the ones that escaped."
"Send undercover units to all of the escapees' home States."
"Affirmative."
"Has anyone found out the identity of the rogue yet?"
"Afraid not ma'am. Although a case in Vegas might shed some light. We're looking into it now."
"Good. Anything else to report?"
"Nothing yet ma'am. We'll call of anything turns up."
"Make sure of it."
She hung up and rubbed her temples.
"So many complications..." She pondered as she dialed on her phone. "Hopefully the new team will be ready. This new Neo-Human's abilities eludes yet intrigues me. Breaking into and out of the Alcatraz facility with the others was close to impossible, yet he's done it."
She called in for transportation to Oregon to see the progress herself.
"Hopefully they passed the tests."

Jimmy opened the door to the driver's seat.
"I'm back!"
"Finally. I was wonderin' when you'd be back."
"I got a lot of stuff for us, okay. Now I'm gonna open your door and load up the stuff for you."
"A'ight. What did ya get me?"
"Pillows, a big blanket, lots of sleeping bags, and a lot of food."
"Sounds like a camping trip."
"Yeah… It does, doesn't it? Never been on one myself, though. Anyway..."
Jimmy closed the door and dragged the pile of items to the back of the car, opened the door and started loading it up. He made sure Tracy wasn't too exposed and she helped Jimmy in the loading as he wasn't very strong.
After getting most of the items in the car, Jimmy opened the passenger door and began putting the enhancers and the Nightcap's mask in a duffle bag he bought earlier. After he placed the bag with it's contents back on the seat, he closed the door, slid across the hood of the car and got in the driver's seat.
"Now that that's taken care of, we should be back at my old place by morning. But first..."
Jimmy gave Tracy the tape measure he got from the convenience store.
"Well... I can't measure myself in here." 
"I'll look for a place near here where you can stretch and take measurements. And with my handy dandy notebook, I'll write them down."
"So I'm assuming you bought the clothes for me?"
"Yeah, five shirts, and five pants. Soon to be modified."
"What about underwear?"
"Uh... I don't... Uh... Can I just shock myself to sleep?" he said, uncomfortable with talking about women's underwear.
Tracy laughed hard at Jimmy's reaction.
"it's fine. I got somethin' under here, so no need for you to be worryin' about that."
Underneath her white shirt and camo pants, Tracy was wearing an extra large sports bra and a pair of spats that were a little more well made compared to what she had on the outside, but were a little too small on her.
"Okay... Wait, here should be good."
He stopped at a secluded spot behind a closed salon.
After carefully backing up the car and making sure it was clear, Jimmy opened the door and Tracy stepped out.
After stretching from being cooped up in the car for so long, Tracy uncoiled the measuring tape and said, "Hope it's long enough."
Jimmy was tempted to say "That's what she said!" but thought that it was bad taste and decided against it.
"I made sure to buy the longest one they had. So, measure away!"
Tracy tried to measure her self as Jimmy looked around for any passerby that may see them. However She found it difficult to measure on her own.
"Jim?"
"Yeah?"
"Can ya help me out here?"
"On what?" He nervously said as he walked closer to her.
"Help me measure myself."
"What?!"
"I only have two hands, and this dang thing is so thin to me!"
"I... uh... c-can't you just take the measurements from the front?"
"C'mon Jim, help a gal out!"
Jimmy sighed. "Gimme the tape measure."
Tracy gave one end to Jimmy and started to go around to measure her hips.
However, thanks to Jimmy's short stature, as he was measuring Tracy's hips he had a very clear view of the young woman's ass.
Jimmy started blushing. He would be lying if he said he wasn't attracted to Tracy, but he reminded himself that she has a boyfriend.
Jimmy himself has never been in a relationship, however thanks to his brother and sister having many unsuccessful relationships, he promised himself that he would be faithful to his significant other, and to not be the cause of two people breaking up.
Tracy handed over the other end of the tape measure and Jimmy soon got a measurement.
"55 inch hips."
"Whoa! Might need to go on a diet!" Tracy said jokingly.
"You’re fine the way you are! Not that... I... w-whatever..."
"You know, you should work on your confidence. I do notice that you're a lil' shy with me."
"I'm not... Shy. I’m-I’m not… not shy…" Jimmy said as he struggled to get her waist measurement.
"Sure ya don’t... need a boost or anythin'?"
"No... I got it."
Jimmy was on the tips of his toes, but he got the measurement.
"Waist... 37 inches. Okay! Now for the lengths of your legs..."
"Okay."
"Stand up straight... 56 inches."
"How many more?"
"Just a few more and we're good."
Jimmy measured how wide her hips were and had 22 inches. Then the arm length of 34 inches. She sat down for Jimmy to measure her how wide her shoulders were and got 29 inches. And now was about to get her bust measurement.
Tracy held one end while Jimmy had the other and was circling around like last time. However, he accidentally touched the side of her breast while reaching the other end.
"Oh God! I'm Sorry! I'm So Sorry!"
"Jim!"
"I Know! I'm Sorry!" He said nervous and frantically.
"I was just gonna say "buy me dinner first"! Stop your worryin'! I ain't mad!"
"Still. I'm so sorry!"
"It's fine, it's not like you meant to touch. Now what's my measurement?"
"Uh... B-Bust is... 63 inches. Okay, that's all I need. Uh... Let's get back to the car."
"Alrighty. And Jim?"
"Y-Yeah?" He said as he nervously wrote down the numbers.
"Now there you go again. You shouldn't be so shy 'round me. You're the one that's helping me out, and we've talked a lot!"
"I suppose..."
"You and I have been through a lot, you broke in and out of Alcatraz! And right now we're all we have, so please don't act so shy." She said while putting her large hand on Jimmy's shoulder.
"I'll try... Now let's get back in the car."
"Okay."
The two of them got in and Jimmy drove until he was parked in front of the tailoring shop.
Tracy was eating the food Jimmy got from the market, while he was marking the cuts he going to make on the clothes.
"How did you learn to sew?"
"5th and 6th grade. My teacher said I was really good at it and I started doing simple repairs at my house for stuff like bedsheets."
"Ever done anything like this? Like what you're gonna do to these shirts and pants?"
"Yeah... once. As a test for Home Ec, got an A for it."
"Nice!"
"Haven't done it in a while, but I hope this'll be okay."
"It'll be fine. But now I just thought... how will I take a shower?"
"Oh... well then... uh..." Jimmy thought about it for a second. "Car Washes?"
"Not too fond of Hot Wax, thank you!"
"Okay... Uh... Pools?"
"I love the feeling of chlorine on my skin!"
"Well... I did pick up a trick from a camping magazine I read once."
"What is it?"
"Fill up some clean garbage bags with water and tie them to a tree branch. Poke a few holes with something sharp. You got a shower!"
"Could work."
As the two were talking, 6:00pm went by and the man that owned the tailoring shop went out and closed the place up.
Jimmy noticed it and drove up to the establishment.
"Okay... Guy's gone. Should be empty."
"Why couldn't you just ask him to do it instead of breaking in to use his machine?" Tracy said as the thought just came in.
"Giving him the job to make your clothes with your measurements? He's either going to think it's a joke or going to get suspicious and curious. Either way, he's not doing it."
"Shame."
Jimmy stuffed the clothes in a bag and opened the door. 
"I'll be back in a few hours. You gonna be okay?"
"Yeah. I'll just be reading."
Jimmy turned on the light above Tracy so she can read.
"Okay then. see ya!"
"Make them look pretty, okay?"
"I'll try my best!"
Jimmy went to the backdoor of the tailoring shop and opened up the duffle bag to put on an enhancer.
"Hope they got insurance for a superpowered teenager with a plasma cutter."
Jimmy easily cut through the lock with the plasma cutter and got inside.
He made sure to disable the security cameras so he can work in peace.
"Okay... let's do this!"

Tracy was a little surprised by the door opening again two hours later. Fortunately, it was just Jimmy.
"Lord above! Oh… 'Bout time you got back. I was beginnin' to worry."
"Well don't worry, I'm back and I made the alterations that you asked for." Jimmy said, trying to sound British as a joke.
"Let me see!" Tracy said, exited.
As Jimmy started the engine and drove away, Tracy took out the clothes he modified.
From the five pants that he had, he made four pairs of Tracy-sized Capri pants and a pair of shorts. Of the five shirts he had, he made two short-sleeved crop tops, two long-sleeved shirts, and a tank top in Tracy's size.
"Thanks so much Jim! I'll try them on later!" She said in gratitude.
"You're welcome... A-Anyway, I'm going to drive overnight so we can get to Vegas by tomorrow."
"Sounds good." As she said that, a yawn came out. "Mind if I hit the sack?"
"Not at all. I'll just..." Jimmy changed the radio and it fortunately had a nice soft mellow song playing, it was "Across the Universe" by The Beatles.
"Nice!" He said as he lowered the volume slightly.
"Thanks Jim... I really like this song..."
"You're welcome. Now don't worry, if anything happens I'll wake you."
"A'ight."
Minutes later Tracy fell asleep in the back of the car on numerous sleeping bags and a pillow so she was more comfortable.
Jimmy, not being able to sleep drove on to Vegas. The only thought in his head now being: "How the shit am I going to explain all of this to Jeff?"

"Tracy... Tracy.. Tracy!"
Tracy sat up quickly and frantically looked around. She was still in the car and Jimmy was waking her up.
It was almost seven in the morning.
"I'm really sorry to wake you but.. we're here!"
"Vegas?" Tracy said, still sleepy.
"Not just in Vegas. We're at my old apartment."
"What?"
"Yeah, we're here! So I'm going to get my stuff and explain things to Jeff. You-"
"Stay here? Like I have anywhere to go."
"Sorry. Just figured you'd want to know where I'm gonna be."
"It's fine Jim. I'll just sleep in a little more."
"Okay."
As Tracy laid down again, Jimmy parked the car in an alleyway and got out with the duffle bag in hand.

Jeff heard a knock on the door and took out his revolver as a precaution.
"Who is it?"
He didn't hear a reply from who was at his door so Jeff looked through the peephole, but it was covered by something. He opened the door and saw nobody, however there was a piece of paper stuck to the door by a needle right over the peephole.
"What the?"
The note told him to go to the alleyway nearby.
"Hmm..."

Minutes later, Jeff was in the alleyway. He had his gun in his holster concealed by a jacket he was wearing and his hand was ready to pull it out if trouble came his way.
"I got the note! Whoever the fuck you are, you’d better show yourself!"
"Jeffrey..."
He recognized the voice that called him.
"Jim… Jimmy?! What's going on?! This better not be a fucking prank!"
Jimmy tapped his shoulder and he turned around nervous, clutching the gun in it's holster, and a confused expression plastered on his face.
"WHAT THE FUCK JIM!? Where have you been?! Why did you leave your shit?! What the Hell was with that note?!" He said angrily
"I can explain! Sorta..." 
"Go! Explain it then!" 
"Okay. Just keep and open mind about this!" Jimmy took a deep breath "On the night I disappeared some military group barged into my room and I teleported into my computer! I was in the internet for two days and when I came out I was in San Francisco and only a few hours had passed! I went into Alcatraz and broke other people with powers out and I did it and now I gotta go to Oklahoma to bring one of them back home and I took a detour to tell you all this!" Jimmy said it as fast as he could and at the end he was breathing heavily
"What…?" Jeff said more confused than ever
"I can prove it!"
Jimmy put down the bag and showed Jeff the enhancers.
"A costume? Really?"
"Not a costume."
Jimmy put it on and started showing the features, such as, mobile computer, plasma cutter, and charge launchers.
"The fuck...?"
"I got more to say, but first I need to wake her."
"Wake who?"
Jimmy made a gesture for Jeff to follow him and they got to the van.
"Just wait.”
Jimmy went in the car as Jeff was just trying to process everything. He soon heard Jimmy and another person, a woman, arguing inside the car momentarily. Then the back door opened and a pair of large legs came out.
"Uh... Hey there... Jeff?" Tracy said nervously as she came out of the car.
"Whoa..." Jeff said stunned to see the 9 foot tall girl come out of the car.
"Don't freak out! Just breathe!" Jimmy said trying to calm down his friend.
"Tell me everything... Slowly this time.”

"And that's what happened." Jimmy said after he and Tracy finished explaining everything what had happened.
"Then why are talking here?! There's cameras! They could be on to us!"
"Relax. I disabled all of the cameras in the alley before I left you that note."
"Okay... So why did you come back?"
"Because you're my best friend and you deserve to know this! And my stuff... but you're the main reason!"
"I'm touched…”
"You haven't been questioned or anything, have you?"
"No."
"It's been a day, so they could be at your door any moment. Better be ready for that."
"Well, why don't I join you? I can help you out!"
"Jeff, if your gone a day after my disappearance people are gonna notice."
"I'll tell them I'm going somewhere."
"Uh... Tracy help me out here... uh..."
"I don't know! Don't look at me Jim!"
"Okay... Uh... Jeffrey… You are my best friend. And you've heard the things me and Tracy went through, I am in some really hot water! Getting you in it and risk you getting hurt or worse is something I can't take! I don't want to see you kill yourself for me if things get batshit crazy! That's why your staying!"
"Come on Jimmy! Let me come along!" Jeff pleaded.
"No! Jeff, it's too dangerous!"
"Please! You're like a brother to me."
"All the more reason for you to stay..."
The two friends looked at each other knowingly and Jeffrey gave in.
"Okay... I'll stay... But give me a way to contact you without getting tracked!"
"I have an idea... You stay with Tracy and I'll jury-rig something up."
"Uh... Okay..."
Jimmy ran off, leaving Jeff with Tracy.
"Well..." Tracy said "That was sudden."
"He does that sometimes. So..." He couldn't think of anything to say to the Southerner.
"Can you tell me more about Jim?" Asked Tracy as she sat at the car's backdoor entrance.
"Well... he's been one of the only people I've been comfortable taking to since... Things... Happened to my family. And I know that he'll do anything to help people in need, like you."
"I can tell. I'm really lucky to have met him."
"Me too..."

Nearly an hour later, Jimmy came back to the two talking. Tracy had gone back in the car and closed one of the doors because people were beginning to walk around. But from what he could see, Jeff was having a good conversation with Tracy.
"Hey!" Jimmy called out as he walked towards them with something in his hand.
"Jimmy! What are holding?" Jeff asked.
"A couple of old cellphones. Just let me do a few things and we can contact each other anytime we want."
"Okay... How?"
"Watch." Jimmy said as he connected all three smartphones to the internet.
"A-Are you gonna-"
"Sure am buddy. Get in the car and watch the awesome!"
After everyone was in the car, he was going to show Jeff and Tracy something that they hadn’t seen yet.
"Okay... I'll be working on this for a few hours maybe, but that'll just be a few minutes for you guys."
Jeff and Tracy watched closely as Jimmy made the phones glow blue and in a flash disappeared without a sign of ever being there.
"What... The... Fuck...?" Jeff said
"Wow..." Tracy said, also amazed
"I have a best friend that can do that... my life just went from boring to Holy Shit!"
"I ain't never seen him do that until now. It's a fuckin' magic act!"
"I'm jealous..."

After a few minutes, Jimmy came out of the phones as they rebooted.
"I'm back!"
"Dude, that is so fucking awesome!"
"So, what did ya do Jim?"
"I rewrote the code of all the phone's software, created a private and secure network that's heavily guarded, and connected the phones to it."
"Uh... Okay..." Jeff said confused
"What does that mean Jim?" Tracy asked
"I made these phones able to contact each other while removing it's traceability."
"Oh. Awesome!"
"But, how do I use mine? My hands are twice the size of the phone." 
"I made yours so that it works on speech primarily. Downloaded a more accurate program for it as to avoid any autocorrect errors as well."
"A'ight. Thank ya Jim!"
"If anybody has an emergency that involves the G-men, call or send a message."
"Okay... how will you deal with it?" Jeff asked
"You saw me teleport into the phones and out. I can just teleport through mine to get to either one of you guys, as long as they're connected to each other by the private network."
"Awesome!" Jeff proclaimed
"How did you do all this?" Tracy asked
"I read a hacker's files for a day, nonstop. I picked up a lot of tricks from all that."
"So what now?" Jeff asked
"Same. I'm taking Tracy home and I'll decide what to do from there. At least now you know the truth, and if I need you? I'll call."
"I still think I should go with you guys."
"Sorry bro, I won't allow it. And this time, no arguments!"
"You should trust him Jeffrey. If he's smart enough to bust in and out of a government facility, he knows the right thing!"
"Okay... J-Just... Make sure to call whenever you can Jimmy. And be safe... Or I'm gonna run fresh out of friends..."
Jimmy put his hand on his best friend's shoulder.
"I promise, I'll come back... when it's over... no need to say goodbye."
And with watery eyes, the two friends hugged.

After getting his important items from Jeff's apartment, Jimmy was back in the car and was about to leave.
"Thank you Brother... for everything." Jimmy said as he shook Jeff's hand though the driver's side window.
"You better keep that promise!"
"I will. Be safe Jeffrey."
Jimmy closed the window, started the engine, looked at his friend one last time, and drove off.
As he saw his friend drive into a world of potential danger, Jeffrey said one last thing.
"I can't guarantee that...."

"You are here today on a matter of utmost concern." General Brooks said. Her blue eyes calm yet piercing, almost like she was looking through a person to see the inside of their mind.
"You men and women have been effected by the Hadron Interference and were tested in order for you to control your new abilities. And from the reports that I've read, you selected individuals have passed. However, the real work? It's about to begin. All six of you, follow me."
The group walked out of the room they were in and into hallways with glass panels for walls.
They were in the Oregon facility, experimental technology was moved here after the Alcatraz facility's infiltration and breakout. The scientists were seen testing a new jetpack technology, dubbed "The WidowMaker" after the first prototypes caused the untimely end for the test subjects after the propellers went haywire and caused decapitation.
The individuals that were following General Brooks composed of:
Domenick Hanes, an Austrian-American that was training in the Navy. During the Hell Week training his body flooded with an organic steroid that caused his muscles to grow exponentially, give him super strength, and made his skin turn dark red. However he could only sustain such a form for a limited time before his body gave out and became temporarily anorexic. After waking up in the infirmary a day later, strapped down to the bed for precaution, he was approached by Nightcaps that explained his situation and offered to undergo a special program, which he accepted.
Kimberly Marcel, she was a riot police when she started getting frequent skin irritation, but she shrugged them of. During a riot, she about to be stabbed in the arm by a rioter but the blade broke against her skin and she took down the rioter. After some news of this came out in her department, Nightcaps came to her doorstep to offer the program. After some thought, she joined in.
Joseph Arber, a farm boy that joined the military to become an elite sniper. He received his wish when he went blind one day and his sight was restored in three days for an unknown reason. When he went back to training, he discovered that he could see in different ways, ranging from infrared, the visible spectrum, ultraviolet, and even see targets from miles away as if they were only feet away. He kept this a secret and became a sniping legend overnight. His officers were suspicious of him and his profile was sent to the higher ups and eventually circulated to General Brooks herself. She tested him in various ways before an interrogation had to be done in order for him to confess his ability. Seeing the potential for him, Brooks offered him to join herself and he jumped on the opportunity.
Jamie Savage, he was a European hitman working for the mob. He gained the ability to control the liquid plasma commonly found in blood, and was eliminating people for the mob by controlling the liquid that flows in the unknowing victim and making them kill themselves, making it look like a suicide. However he needed a few minutes of concentration and focusing on the target in order to do this terrifying act. He was caught after a sting operation surprised the mob he was working for and he couldn't focus from the resulting firefight. However, he escaped jail using his powers. The resulting manhunt and recapture at his known safehouse caused him to be put into solitary confinement without a chance of parole. But after the jail guard that he controlled could not rationally explain why he let him free during questioning, the video recording was sent to the FBI and got it's way to the Nightcaps and General Brooks. They offered Savage freedom, if he worked for them. Seeing no other way out, Savage had no choice but to join in on the project. However, as a precaution, Brooks had irremovable explosive ankle straps placed on him so if he acted against them or try to escape she can push the detonator and blow his feet off.
Delilah O'Hara, a Canadian woman that worked as a ranger. She bailed out of her job as a ranger after the park caught fire and it was found out that she had communications with a missing person that was hiding a death in the park. She went to a different state to escape. Then, she discovered that she could change her appearance to look like anyone. All she needed was a full body shot and half an hour to fully change her appearance to look like anyone she wants. However, one drawback was she couldn't adjust her height, eye colour, and her DNA was the same. After multiple robberies and thefts left unsolved in the town she stayed in, undercover Nightcaps were suspicious and decided to tap into the NSA video surveillance in the town and found multiple different men and women going into the same motel room, and different people coming out every time. After capturing her and placing her in the White Room so she couldn't get any visual stimuli they questioned her hours later using the room's intercom. She easily cracked and confessed everything to them. General Brooks reviewed the video recording and knew she could be useful. Soon the Nightcaps let her out and offered to wipe her record clean and give her a new identity and transportation to anywhere she wants if she participated in the program. She accepted.
And Audrey Kane was a young woman who had an abusive father that beat her for most of her childhood up until adolescence. After years of torment, she passed high school and ran away to join the military. There she had the opportunity to turn the pain she endured into strength and use it to become one of the best in training. But, slowly, she noticed her body becoming progressively heavier, the ability to feel physical pain was becoming numb, and she didn't feel hunger or fatigue. After acceding training standards she was approached by Nightcaps that wanted to conduct a test. During an MRI scan, she was attracted to the enormous electromagnet and was turning into a liquid metal against the MRI's surface. After the MRI was cut from it's power and she managed to pull herself together again, Audrey tried to escape but was stopped by the electric fence outside. Waking up in a medical theater, scientists calmed her down and explained her situation. After slightly coming to terms with this, the Nightcaps told Audrey about her potential in a Black Ops project that they had planned. She agreed to join under the condition that they imprison her father for life.

After walking past the labs General Brooks and the team entered a room with a large monitor and a round table.
"You are all here for a reason. Whatever that reason is, we shall fulfill it after an agreed two years of service for those who didn't already serve the government and five for those who do. As your first mission, we are giving you a manhunt." She turned on the monitor to display recorded video surveillance from Alcatraz. She then selected the video that had a masked, hooded man wearing robotic devices on his arms and legs.
"An unknown Neo-Human broke into our Alcatraz facility, stole experimental weapons and hacking technology, and also managed to set free the captive Neo-Humans in the holding cell. We have yet to pinpoint his identity, and his ability is still under speculation."
"Any leads?" Savage asked with an unamused tone. He obviously didn't want to be there, but it was marginally better than solitary confinement.
"Some blips and traces of him have been showing up, however we can't get a good track on him."
"How do we scope him out then General?" Arber questioned.
"We have the permission to tap into the data bases and surveillance systems of the NSA and FBI for any leads on him. The latest suspicious activity was cameras being disabled in a small block for two hours. We're sending Arber, Savage, Kane, and O'Hara to that location. Hanes, Marcel. You two remain here until needed."
"Understood General Brooks." Hanes said.
"The rest of you leave at 0800 hours. That is all."
The group was leaving the room however Brooks silently stopped Kane and as the young woman turned around to look at her superior, Brooks gave her a special order.
"Kane, make sure to keep an eye on Savage. He's dangerous, and you're the only one on the team that's possibly immune to his powers."
"Of course General!"
"Good. I want to be sure that there's a backup for him if what I have fails."
"Affirmative! I'll keep tabs on him."
"Thank you Kane. That is all."
Kane saluted and turned to walk back to the group. leaving Brooks to think.
"If this goes well, imagine the applications!"

Jimmy and Tracy were resting in the car for a while in a parking lot of a mall. He had bought some electronic parts, USB wires, a battery case for the phone, power banks, and solar chargers.
"Why all the stuff Jim?" Tracy questioned.
"Well, now that we have phones that work off the radar, I plan on keeping them off the radar. Charging them at public stations can get the data stolen without us even knowing it, so that explains the chargers. Then the parts? I have a plan for my phone!"
"What's it gonna do? Drive cars?" She said jokingly.
"Yep! And more!" 
"Wait... what?"
"Yeah! I can modify this to hack a car's mobile computer, traffic light sensors, and other people's phones."
"Wait, how?!"
"People have hacked those things before, I'm just going to use the parts and the computer on the enhancer to modify my phone."
"No, I mean how did you learn all this?" 
"I had a day to read a hacker's files and picked up some tricks."
"Your just full of surprises, aren't you?" She said in an impressed tone.
"Yeah, but it'll drain the battery pretty quickly when I do that kind of stuff, since it needs a shit-ton of processing power, so I need to be careful with my usage."
As he spoke, Jimmy handed Tracy what he thought was more food and water, but it ended up being a can of black spray paint.
"Black spray paint? What's this for?"
"Oh! Uh... Haha! I was gonna use that actually..."
"For what?"
"Well... I figured that since the enhancers are mine now... I should customize them to my liking. So I bought some paper to make some stencils that I can spray paint on. With that." He said, pointing at the black spray paint.
"Well, they are yours now. You can do whatever you want with them. But you're planning to wear them around? I thought we were supposed to be off the radar." 
"I'm only ever going to use them when I need to knock people on their ass. And I'm going to be wearing the mask as well, so people aren't gonna see my face."
"I guess that makes sense. You're lucky that you can hide yourself so easily, if it wasn't for you finding a way to get me around unnoticed I'm sure I woulda been the first one they found." Tracy said sadly.
Jimmy was saddened thinking about how Tracy can't go out in the public eye anymore, and how she's confined to a small metal box on wheels. Soon his eyes wandered to the GPS map and he had an idea. Using his powers he searched around the map for a suitable location without touching the screen.
"You know what?"
"What?" 
"There's a place about a half hour away from here where we can camp out. So you can stretch your legs!" 
"You sure?"
"I'll scope it out first to make sure."
"Thanks for caring Jim."
"Again, it's no problem."

Later the two were at an abandoned construction site. There had been numerous zoning disputes with the company that was planning to erect the building and the local government officials, so it was shut down and abandoned since. Most of the building's first, second, and third floor was already constructed, it was covered in graffiti, and there wasn't a soul in sight. It was the perfect place for them to camp out and lay low.

Jimmy carefully drove onto the site. There were plenty of wooden palettes and rusty beams to obscure the van and Tracy from people walking and driving by. He backed up and parked in a good area and shut the engine.
"We're good here, we can camp out and sleep here for tonight."
"A'ight"
Jimmy stuffed the electronics into the duffel bag with the enhancers and the painting supplies into the paper bag, then he exited the vehicle. After putting the bags he had outside, he opened the back door for Tracy.
She got out and they both went into the building with their bags in hand.
Tracy was reminded by Jimmy to duck under the doorways as she was about to go though them. It was very strange for her to be so tall and having to duck under six and a half foot high doorways, fortunately the first floor was constructed with very high ceilings and not that many windows.
"It's not much but, at least you're not sitting down for hours at time for once."
"Yeah, my legs were beginning to go numb."
"So... uh... Oh! I got those garbage bags to fill up with clean water for your shower, and I got a bottle of shampoo and liquid soap. I got them while I was browsing through the electronics. Forgot about them! They're back inside of the car, but first we need to find some running water. It’s a construction site, so there should be some around here somewhere.”
"Yeah. Thanks Jim! I get to finally try out the clothes that you made!" 
"And you don't have to worry about me being a peeping tom. But if you catch me doing it, you have permission to punch me the face." He said jokingly. 
Tracy laughed at his joke.
"I'll definitely do more than punch you if that happens!" She said while giggling.
"More reason for me not to do it!" He said with a smile. "Alright, I'll look for water. You make yourself comfortable."
"Okay."
The two split up. Tracy going deeper in the building, and Jimmy going back out to the car to get the needed items.
After getting the garbage bags and walking around the site, he found a large, rusty, faucet. It was installed in case of a fire so the firefighters could attach their hoses, so it basically functioned as a fire hydrant.
"This could work!"
He secured the garbage bag to the faucet with an elastic band and tried to turn the valve. After a few attempts he realized that it was rusted stuck, but he had an idea.
“Hey, Tracy!”
Tracy came over as soon as he called.
"So, I'm guessing you want me to turn it on, that right?”
"Yeah... I-I'm not very strong."
"Okay, I got it."
"Gently. We don't wanna burst the bag."
"I know."
And, with hardly any effort, Tracy turned the valve and the water flowed in and filled up the bag.
"That wasn't so hard now!"
"Thanks Tracy."
"Ain't no problem!" 
They fill up two bags then, Tracy shuts it off. After they're tied up, Tracy carries them back to the building she was in with Jimmy following.
After making some makeshift shower curtains with some tarp and rebar Tracy bent into shape and tying up the bags on some iron rods and hanging them off the second floor window, Tracy had herself a shower. Jimmy gave her the shampoo and soap, then walked away to give her some privacy.
While Tracy was cleaning herself, Jimmy started working on his phone.

After Tracy was done she put on the clothes Jimmy modified for her. They were an okay fit. She wore the olive green tank top and the black "capri" pants. Jimmy made sure she was modest so the tank top mostly covered her assets, but did show a little skin.
Tracy then walked back in the building to see Jim with an enhancer on, rapidly looking between his phone and the computer on his arm with his eyes having a slight glow to them.
"Hey Jim!" She said with a little smile.
Jimmy looked up from his work. "Oh! Hey! You're done... a-and you're wearing what I made for you... so... do they fit okay?"
"They do! Thank you!"
"No problem."
"So, Wha'cha workin' on?" She said as he sat beside him.
"Uh... Well, I'm installing hacking software on my phone with the computer on the enhancer. I've already established a connection between the two, so that means they're going to work in tandem. Since I just found out that I can't install everything on my phone."
"So, they're gonna be splitting the load?"
"In a sense. The enhancer is going to do the real hacking, while phone is going to be used to wirelessly infiltrate what I need to hack. Like plugging your phone into a computer to download or upload things. Speaking of, I can already upload viruses."
"So, what are ya doing now?"
"I think... I can... hack cars now! Just finished." 
"Really?" 
"Well, I'm going to have to test it on our car first. So... care to join me?" 
"Absolutely!"
They both stood up and walked to the car. After a few seconds. Jimmy had successfully hacked into the car's mobile computer.
"And... Lock!"
The car's alarm started blaring.
"Shit! Shit! SHIT!"
"Jim! Turn it off!" 
He quickly shut off the alarm and everything was silent again. Fortunately nobody took notice of the alarm.
"Sorry! I think I'm going to have to fine tune this a little bit more."
"Jim! You coulda gotten us spotted!"
"I'm sorry! Maybe I shouldn't have gone for cars first. Should've gone for something simpler!"
"Yeah. What was the simpler option?"
"Phones. Like calls, messaging, and personal information."
"Why would you need someone's personal information?"
"To know if they're dangerous or something. At this point I think a little bit of paranoid caution is needed."
"Okay, fair point."
"I'll start working on it now. Hopefully I can get it done before tonight."
"Okay. Let's go back inside." 
"Oh! But first... Can you help me hide the car? Can't be too cautious now."
"A'ight, how?"
"Cover it with a leftover tarp. Just use the ones I used in your shower."
"Sure thing."
After pulling the tarp down and covering the car, they went back inside. Dusk was approaching.

An hour after Jimmy started working on the phone again, Tracy had a few thoughts.
"Hey Jim?"
"Yeah?"
"Why can't you just control tech straight away? You can already control some things by thinking it, why can't you just control anythin'?"
"I still don't entirely know how my powers work. But, I can only control simple things while I'm here in the real world. And for complex computers and systems, I seem to need a medium to do things. But when I'm inside something, I can do anything!"
"Huh... Could it be that, when your out here, your power is weakened. And while you're in there, your powers are at their strongest?" 
"Hmmm... That's a good theory. As much as you see me talk like I know things. I'm not entirely one hundred percent sure on everything. I'm just keeping a cool head on things."
"At least I can count on you to be cool at this time. If I was on my own, I'd be freaking out! Looks like your cool rubbed off on me!" She said with a little laugh.
"Maybe." He said with a small smile.
Suddenly the phone intercepted a call.
"What the? Hey! I did it!" 
"What is it?"
"I'm listening in on a call!" 
He turned on speaker mode and listened in, and a man with an obviously fake New York accent was speaking, followed by a Hispanic man.
"Hey Karim! You got the van?"
"Hell yeah! Bullet-proof glass and armor plating. Amazing what you can buy on the internet nowadays!"
"Good! Me, Frank, Trev, and Norm are gonna hit the jewels quick. You better be at that corner by 6:10! Got it?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't even fucking worry about it!"
"You better not mess it up! It's just a small score."
"I got this!"
"You better! Now lose that fuckin' phone!"
"Okay! Easy, boss! Christ almighty!”

The caller hung up. Jimmy and Tracy were a little shocked by the call they had just heard.
"What was that?" She said.
"I think we just heard some guys planning a robbery..." 
Immediately Jim traced the call using the GPS function on his enhancer's computer, and it showed that the man who called was only a few blocks away. "Sh-Should I stop them?!"
"I don't know!"
Jimmy had to make a split decision, it was either stop whatever robbery was going to happen or stay there and do nothing.
"Errr... Will you be okay until I get back?"
"You leave me by myself all the time and nothin' bad has happened yet. But.. I'll make sure to hide as best I can while you're out."
"Are you sure? I can always just let it slide!"
"Jim! I really don't want you to go out there but... people might get hurt! And I know that you can help! Because you helped me... If I don't let you save people when stuff like this happens, I know we both would feel guilty for not doing anything if and when people get hurt, or worse! Now go!”
"Alright! Let me just gear up."
He quickly put on the enhancers, his black hoodie, and the mask.
He wished that he could have painted them before going, but right now that wasn't important.
"I'll be back!" Jimmy said as he pulled the tarp down and got in the car.
"Be careful Jim!" She said out of concern.
"Don't worry, I'll be smart about it!"
Tracy looked at the car as Jimmy drove off. She felt so much concern for his well being, she didn't want him to do this but at the same time she knew he had to.
"Please make it back in one piece! You're all I got..." She said to herself.

Minutes later, Jimmy was at the site the call was made. He looked around and saw a nearby jewelry store. He parked the car in an alley and went on foot to get a closer look.
He saw two men with ski masks and SG-90 shotguns pointed at people that were on their knees with their hands behind their heads. Jim knew there were at least two more guys, but he couldn't see them.
"Okay... I need a diversion..." He thought as he looked around.
He looked up and there was an electric transformer on a pole.
"Perfect!" 
He launched a powerful EMP charge at the transformer and sure enough, a blackout occurred.

Tracy went up to the second floor to get some more wooden palettes to cover the windows and entrances at the first floor. It was the only thing she thought of doing while she was waiting for Jimmy's return.
But then, she heard something as she was about to go down the stairs.
"Gary... please... don't..."
"SHUT UP!"
"Someone... please... Help!"
"Nobody's gonna come help you! It's you and me! Now quit playing hard to get!" 
They sounded like two teens, and the guy, Gary, sounded very unstable.
"Gotta do something!" Tracy thought.
At that point, she didn't care if she was going to be seen. She went down and saw them, the girl on the floor and Gary on top of her, holding her down. She was no more than Tracy's age, while Gary seemed a bit older. The girl was trying to fight back but she had been drugged earlier, and they were beginning to take effect and would soon render her unconscious. While Gary seemed to be unusually energetic, probably high on something as well.
"Hey!" Tracy yelled as she grabbed the collar of Gary's vest with one hand and lifted him up. 
"What the Fuck?!" Gary yelled as he was lifted off the ground, leaving the girl on the ground.
"There's no way in hell I'm letting you do anything to her!" Tracy said angrily.
"Let me go you big bitch!" Gary said. He was definitely a slightly older teen with brown hair and a scar on his left eyebrow.
"No! I'm gonna- I'm gonna... Shit!" Tracy said after realizing that she had jumped into the situation without thinking of how to properly get rid of Gary.
As she paused to think, Gary pulled out a switchblade and slashed Tracy near the wrist. But, surprisingly, it didn't cut her. 
"You little!" She promptly backhanded him. The force from which knocked him out.
"Oh Crap!" 
Tracy checked if he was still breathing, and was relieved that he still was. As much as she wanted to see him get what he deserved, she didn't want to become a murderer.
"Well, that takes care of that." She said as she put him down. Then, she heard the girl moan.
"Uhhhh..." She said, still on the floor.
"Oh! Uh... Are you okay?" Tracy questioned.
"No... please... d-don't hurt me..."
"I ain't gonna hurt ya! I'm gonna keep you safe. Uh... What's your name?"
"M-.... M-Mika..."
"Okay, Mika, please let me help you."
"O-... O-Okay..."
"I'm just gonna carry you to my corner, a'ight?"
"T-Thank... You..." 
Tracy gently lifted her up and started walking to where she set up her makeshift bed.
"I can spare a sleeping bag for you. That okay?" But she didn't get a response.
Tracy could feel that Mika still breathing, so she assumed whatever drug Gary slipped into her has now taken full effect.
"Oh, Jim! I could really use your help right about now!" 

"What the Hell? The Power's out!"
"FUCK! We're screwed!"
As the jewel thieves argued what to do until their driver came. Jimmy got in through the back door by cutting through the lock with his plasma cutter. 
As he walked in, he heard gunshots nearby and he hid behind a wall.
"T! There's no power! There's nothing we can do!" 
"FUCK YOU! AND FUCK THIS! I'M GETTING IN THIS FUCKING SAFE IF IT'S THE LAST FUCKING THING I FUCKING DO!" The robber said as he fired his assault rifle at the safe
These two robbers were at the electronic safe and were making a lot of noise, which made it easy for Jimmy to walk up to one of them and take one out with an electrical charge. This didn't go unnoticed by the other robber shooting the safe as he turned around to see his friend twitching on the floor and Jimmy.
"FUCK! YOU'RE GOING DOWN COCKSUCKER!" 
He pulled the trigger but all he heard was a click, he wasted all the ammunition on the safe.
On instinct, Jimmy grabbed the gun and smacked the butt of the rifle on his face breaking the man's noise and chipping a tooth.
"ARH! FUCKING PIECE OF SH-" 
Before he finished his cursing, Jimmy slammed his head against the steel safe and he finally lost consciousness.
"Two left."
Jimmy carefully walked along the way leading to the display room where the two other robbers were still pointing their guns at the terrified hostages that were just employees at the store. He was dragging the other two unconscious men with him as he went along. He got to the part of the hall behind the display room behind a corner. Jimmy pulled out his phone and began hacking one of their phones.

"Hey! I got a message from Karim! Says he's gon' come by ‘cause of the blackout."
"Thank God! Go get Norm and Trevor!"
"A’ight!"
As the armed man walked into the hall, only to be greeted by Jimmy grabbing his gun and tripping him up once he got to the corner. Jimmy hit him while he was down on the ground with the shotgun, swinging it like a bat, and knocked him out.
"Last one..." Jimmy thought as he fired the shotgun at the wall away from the people, it was to attract the last robber.

"Frank! What's going on?" He said as he got closer after hearing the gunshot.
"Frank! Frank! Fuck!"
He ran in and was met with another swing by Jimmy at the corner. He didn't get knocked out but he did let go of the shotgun. 
"Argh! Mother Fucker!"
He was then shocked by Jimmy and was out like the rest of his crew.
"And that takes care of that." Jimmy said.
He walked into the display room and everyone looked at him as he checked the door.
"Don't worry people." Jimmy said, in a deep voice. "I took out all the gunmen. You're all safe."
"Th-Thank you!"
"Thank God. You got here just in time!"
"They said they were gonna kill us! Thanks for taking them out!"
The various thanks from the people he saved made Jim feel good with what he's done. He went up to the African-American security guard with a nasty gash on his forehead and helped him up.
"You okay?"
"Am now! Thanks to you!"
"Do you have anything to secure the robbers? I'm not sure how long they'll be out."
"I... oh! I got some spare handcuffs in my office!" 
"Get them and secure the gunmen. They're all unconscious on the floor over at the corner."
"How did you take them all out?"
"I've done things like this before." Jim lied
"Man, you're a hero! I'll go get my cuffs!" 
"Have another ready, their driver's going to drive by soon."
"Okay, thanks again!" He said before he ran to his small office.
"Alright. Everyone! Find a safe place to stay! The driver for the robbers will arrive soon! I'll take care of him. Then you can call the police!"
Everyone complied and took cover, while Jim waited beside the door under the cover of a wall.
A dark blue van soon arrived and the driver's seat opened after Karim didn't see anyone.
He opened the door with a semiautomatic pistol in his hand.
"Guys? What's going on?"
"This."
Karim turned his head to see a metallic fist for a split second before he dropped on the floor with a funny open-mouthed expression on his face.
"Ouch, Wasted." Jimmy said in victory. 
The rescued employees and security guard came out of their hiding spots and saw Jim about to walk out, but, he paused for a moment.
"Can you all do me a favor and not tell the police about me?"
"What? Why? You're a hero!" A male employee said.
"It's complicated. Please? It's all I ask in return."
"Well... Alright… We won't tell the cops." The security guard said.
"Thanks. You can take the credit for this. Now, I have to go."
"Thank you so much... Uh..."
"Uh... Cy... Cyber-Punk!" Jimmy came up with a name on the fly.
"Thank you!"
"You're welcome."
Jimmy ran out though the door and around to the alley where he parked the car, after hearing the sirens, he carefully drove off to return to Tracy.

After securing Gary with some rebar on his wrists and ankles, Tracy lifted his unconscious body into what is supposed to be a break room on the second floor. After dumping him in the room, Tracy went back to Mika and anxiously waited for Jimmy to come back. That was when she remembered that she had a phone and decided to call him. She turned it on and a microphone symbol was waiting for her to speak.
"Uh... call Jimmy."

Jimmy's cellphone rang as he was driving back. He answered it without even touching the screen and mounted it on the car's dashboard.
"Tracy? What is it?"
"I didn't call in a bad time, did I?"
"No. Everyone's safe, and the robbers are in police custody."
"Good, but I... have a situation..."
"What is it?"
"Uh... There's... two unconscious people with me..."
"WHAT?!"
"Well... one of them dragged the other one in here! And he was going to do things to her a-and I couldn't just sit there and do nothing!" 
"Okay! Did they see you?"
"Yeah, but they were both on something. T-The girl I'm with was knocked out with whatever she had in her and the guy was on something when I knocked him out."
"Okay... I'll see what I can do, I'm on my way back now."
"Thank goodness!" 
"Just make sure neither of them leave!"
"Okay. Please hurry!"
"Alright. Just hang in there!"
The call ended and Jimmy thought to himself.
"This fucking day..."

Tracy saw Jimmy pull up and park the car. She stood up, went closer the the entrance, and she restlessly waited for him to come in.
"Okay, where are they?" Jimmy asked after walking back inside.
"The girl is at my corner and the guy is up in a room at the second floor."
"Okay, so you said the guy was the one that dragged the girl here and was about to do stuff?"
"Yeah, I'm sure it was a date rape he was gonna do. So, what are you gonna do?"
"Have him arrested."
"How?"
"Gonna frame him for car theft."
"Seems a bit harsh."
"Against attempted rape?"
"Okay... So, the plan?"
"I'll stuff him in a parked car somewhere, hack into the car, then send an anonymous tip to police while driving the car by hacking it."
"You sure you can do that?" 
"Should be easier than what I just did."
Just then they heard Gary shout above them.
"Hey! HEY! WHERE AM I?!"
"I'll take care of it." Jimmy said as he went up the stairs.
"I'll stay with Mika and make sure she's okay."
"Yeah. I'll think about what to do with her later."
"Okay."
"HEY! ANYONE THERE?!"
Jimmy let out a sigh.
"This is gonna be a long night."

After shocking him and carrying him down, Jim put him in the car and started the engine.
"I'll give you an update on what happens."
"Sure! I'm sorry about this Jimmy..."
"Don't be. Mika could have been hurt or worse if you didn't step in. What's important now is that you're safe, she's safe, and this asswipe is going into the clink."
"Okay. Be careful Jimmy!"
"I came back to you from stopping an armed robbery. I can handle one guy."
"Still."
"I'll be fine. Anyway, I'll go now."
"See you later... Again."
"Don't worry. I'll be back in no time!"
"I hope so."
Jimmy started driving with Gary in the car in search of a car to steal. Leaving Tracy with a passed out Mika.

After half an hour of searching, Jimmy found a good car, and spotted a nearby Dodge Challenger, painted in a nice dark green.
"A muscle car... Someone's gonna miss that..."
After selecting his target, Jimmy hacked into the car's computer and had control over it's accelerator and breaks. He carefully drove it out of the parking valet and around into a nearby alleyway and stopped when he was sure nobody was watching. He drove his car into the alleyway and checked for any bystanders or cameras. After disabling three surveillance cameras, he got an unconscious Gary out of his car and into the stolen muscle car.
"Have fun in jail!" 

"So the boys booked 5 jewelry store robbers and here we are, on speeding duty. Again."
"At least it's quiet."
"True. But we gotta book somebody Brandon. We're falling short! That's why we're always on this!"
"At least it's better than Wu back at the pre-"
The two police were rammed from the back of their car by a green muscle car. It wasn't hard enough to cause injury or serious damage to the cars, but there was definitely some dents and scratches on both car's bumpers.
"What the fuck?!"
"Come on!"
The two police got out of the car and had their tazers ready.
"Get out of the car!"
"Out with your hands up!" 
No response from the car's driver prompted one police officer to approach the car door and try to open it, to his surprise it was unlocked. He opened the door to see an unconscious Gary, strapped in with the seatbelt of the car.
"Hey Lou! We got a guy!"
After taking him out of the stolen muscle car and placing him in the back of their police car with handcuffs, As Brandon secured Gary in he noticed something on the young man's nose. 
"Lou, we may have a possible drug user."
"Search his jacket, pockets, anything."
Soon enough a small packet of cocaine was found in Gary's front pocket.
"Drug possession. Coke."
"Well, call the precinct and let them know. We're booking this guy."
Brandon contacted the police precinct about Gary and the stolen muscle car as Lou drove. Gary soon regained consciousness and saw he was in the back of a police car. His cheek, head, and pectoral muscles hurt from the slap and shock he received courtesy of Tracy and Jimmy respectively.
"Wha? The fuck? SHIT!!!"
"Looks like he's up." Lou said.
"LISTEN! THERE'S A GIANT BITCH AND A CYBORG AT THE FUCKING CONSTRUCTION SITE!" 
"And still on it apparently..."

Jimmy returned to the site and went back in the building Tracy and Mika were in. He found both young ladies asleep in their corner, Tracy slept next to Mika and shared majority of her blanket to her.
Jimmy sighed and took off his mask.
"I'll think of what to do tomorrow..."
He sat down a few feet next to the two and took off the enhancers. After putting them back in the duffel bag with the mask, he too fell asleep.

In two hours time Jimmy woke up, he checked the time on his phone and it was late in the night, he knew it was futile to try to sleep again so he thought on what to do next.
"Hmmm... well, I can finally do the stencils and paint my stuff." He thought as he stood up and started waking back to the car.
"I wonder what I'll do about Mika... if she saw Tracy but fell asleep after, maybe I can convince her what she saw wasn't real." He thought as he took out his pencil and started sketching. Little did he know, earlier, other things were developing…

"So." Arber said as he scanned the room. He changed his vision to ultraviolet and was looking in Jimmy's apartment for any evidence on who the reported teleporter was. "I got nothing. Except for the bedroom. But you don't wanna know… That's up to the guys at the lab to test out."
"Okay, uh... Arber. Over. Gross." Delilah said. She was very inexperienced with working in a military team and only received the minimal training required to be deployed into the field.
"Better start questioning people to get this weird business over with." She thought
She knocked on some doors and posed as a representative for an electric company.
After a few unsuccessful questionings from the residences of the apartment she came to the door next to the one Arber was in. She knocked and Jeffrey opened the door.
"Hello. I'm here to ask some questions about the block-wide power-out that happened a few days ago."
"Oh... Okay..."

"This should be good..."
He looked at the designs, an octagon with a spider at the center and a hexagon with a scorpion at the center. Each were sharply stylized to resemble graffiti he's seen in a videogame he played months ago.
He cut them out with a box cutter and got out to start spray painting near a street light.
"I never thought things would get this weird in my life. A week ago, I was struggling to pay rent. Now, I'm stopping armed robberies and framing a guy that almost date-raped a girl." He thought as he shook the can of black spray paint. "Is this my wish being granted? Because this new life is interesting, granted, but fuck is it risky!"
He started wrapping the parts of the enhancers he didn't want to get paint on in some old newspapers he got from the last stop.
"I mean, I don't need to do this. So... why do I continue to?" 
He placed the stencils where he wanted the design to be.
"Either way..."
He sprayed some paint at the wall to test it.
"Too late to back down now. After all..."
He started painting the design on, and a minute later, it was done with both.
"She said I'm the only one she's got. I won't leave her."

"Come on Jim! Pick up!"
"Jeff? What is it?"
"Jimmy! There's people investigating the power-out you caused!"
"That's normal."
"What's not is the guy I was listening in on at your old room!"
"What?!"
"I think it's them! Be careful!"
"I trust you didn't say anything to the person asking questions?"
"I said I had no idea the best I could."
"Good. Keep an eye out for any suspicious stuff!"
"Okay bro. You better watch yourself as well!"
"That's what I'm doing. Be safe Jeffrey."
"Yeah. You too!"
Jimmy hung up the call. He was in the car with the enhancers on the dashboard to dry the paint.
"Fuck... We better move soon. After I handle Mika tomorrow, I better get as far as I can with Tracy."

Tracy yawned as she woke up in the morning. The sun was up and Mika was still asleep. Then she turned to see Jimmy wearing the enhancers and pacing back and forth a few feet anyway. He didn't seem to notice that she woke up.
"Jim... What're you doin'?" 
"You're up! I... was just practicing walking in these things." He said as he pointed to his legs. "And making sure the paint doesn't scratch off of these when I move." He said as he showed off the shoulders with the design.
"A'ight. So... what do we do about Mika?"
"Well... I'll talk to her while you hide. I'll confirm if she remembers anything from last night and convince her it wasn't real if she does. Then, we get moving. Fast!"
Tracy stood up and walked towards him.
"Why?"
"Because Jeffrey called last night and... things... don't look good if we stay any longer."
"Is the government looking for us?!"
"Yeah. They were at my apartment last night!"
As they spoke to each other about that development. Mika stirred in her sleep and was slowly coming to.
"So after I take care of her, I- Oh God!"
"What?" She said as she turned to see Mika moving.
"Tracy. Hide. Now!" Jimmy said, quietly
She nodded and quickly went up to the second floor.
Jimmy knew he didn't have time to take off the enhancers, so he quickly put on the mask to hide his face. He was planning to pretend like he just found her at his "hangout" but that was out of the window.
"Crap! Looks like I have to wing it!" He thought as he secured his mask and put his hood up.

Mika woke up very dizzy from the the drugs Gary slipped in her drink last night.
"Shit! I'm gonna KILL Gary!" She yelled angrily.
"You don't have to worry about him anymore." Jimmy said in the deep voice he used back in the jewelry store.
Mika looked to where she heard the voice and saw a man that looked like something out of Deus Ex.
"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU?! WHAT THE FUCK!?" Mika said while backing away until she was sitting with her back against the wall.
"Calm down!" Jimmy said with his arms in the air.
"WHO ARE YOU?! WHAT KIND OF FUCKED UP HELLHOLE DID GARY DRAG ME TO?!"
"Like I said. He's been dealt with. I had him arrested."
"Fuck that! You're just saying that!"
"I'm serious. Think about it! I let you sleep here and on sleeping bags too. Then, where's Gary?"
"This is a trick!"
"It's not, honestly."
"Really!? Take off the mask then!"
"I can't."
"Then how am I gonna fucking trust you?!"
"Look, I just want to ask a few questions. Then, you can leave and forget about all this."
"Really?" She said cautiously.
"Really. After you answer them truthfully, I'll let you go."
"What is it then?"
Jimmy stepped closer and got down on one knee to not seem as threatening. 
"Do you remember anything about last night, like how you got here?"
"Uhhh... I remember Gary... dragging me... here? And... it was dark... then... he was on top of me..." 
"Then?"
"Then... he got off and... there was this... blonde chick?"
"Fuck, she remembers." Jimmy thought.
"She picked him up and Gary was... gone after that."
"Do you remember anything about the blonde?"
"No, except she was tall. Like super tall!"
"Uh... You sure it isn't just you're memory being hazy?"
"I'm... pretty sure?" 
"Okay... Just keep all this to yourself, okay?"
"Why?"
"Just promise to keep it to yourself, and you can go home." Jimmy said as he stood up again.
"Okay! Can I go now?"
"Yeah, but if I see any-"
Suddenly Mika tackled Jimmy, and the two fell.
"Get off of me!"
"You're going down!" 
She started punching Jimmy in the solar plexus. 
"I didn't do any- Argh! Ow! Stop!"
"I'm gonna make sure everyone knows that some freaky cyborg fucker is around here, and that he kidnapped me!"
"Don't make me do this!" Jim said as the charge launchers came out of the enhancers.
"JIM DON'T!" Tracy shouted.
They stopped and both looked at Tracy standing a few feet away.
"Crap..." Jim said.
"What the..." Mika said as she stared in disbelief.
"Just, get offa him and I can explain."
"Tracy. You didn't have to do this." Jimmy said as Mika got off.
"I'm sorry Jim but... I couldn't help myself. When I heard the fight I just had to-"
"EXCUSE ME! But... what the fuck is going on?!"
Jimmy stood up, holding his chest from the multiple blows she landed on him.
"It's a long story... Just, don't tell anyone..."
"I'm listening..."
Jimmy sighed as he took off the mask.
"We're on the run. Tracy here was captured from her home and taken to San Francisco because she's... different. And I am too. So... I broke her out and now I'm taking her home."
"What do you guys mean by "Different" exactly?"
"Well..." Tracy said sheepishly "We... have powers... like... comic book kind of powers..."
Mika was wide-eyed and shocked silent from that revelation. She wanted to say it wasn't real and they were tricking her, but Tracy was a very big piece of evidence to the contrary.
"Well, at least you were already sitting down when she told you..." Jim said.
"So... you guys are like superhumans?"
"Yeah... that's why we didn't want you to tell anybody about this. The people that are hunting us down are watching constantly. One blip on the radar and we could be absolutely screwed. The jewelry store robbery and arresting Gary was an extremely dangerous gamble, I only did that because we didn't want to see people get hurt."
"Jewelry store robbery? Did you see a girl that works there?! Looks like me but older?!"
"Uh... Yeah, now that I think about it. Why?"
"Is my sister okay?! What the fuck happened?!"
"Whoa! Calm down. I took out all the gunmen and nobody got seriously hurt."
"Can you take me home now?! She must be freaking out from me not coming back!"
"Okay. You ride with me and Tracy."
"Okay."
As Jim went out to get the car, Mika approached Tracy. She craned her neck to look at her face, it was strange for her, talking to someone so tall.
"Hey. Thanks for saving me."
"No problem!"
"If you weren't there, who knows what Gary might've done."
"I had to step in. I can't let that happen to anyone!"
"Again, thanks. And uh... you think your boyfriend's mad at me for punching him?"
"Boyfriend?"
"You know, that cyborg guy. "Jim" you called him?"
"He ain't my boyfriend. Jim's just a friend that's lookin' out for me is all." 
"Really?"
"Yeah... Besides. I got a boyfriend already, back home."
"Hey, don't worry about it. I just thought, since your together, you guys seem really close, you’re alone most of the time I think."
"No, just stop. He ain't my boyfriend, he's just taking care of me and helping me out."
"Okay. Okay. Okay."
Jim backed up the car near the entrance and opened the back door of the car.
"Come on. Let's go."
Tracy got in and Mika rode shotgun. Fortunately Jim was still wearing the enhancers, so the seat was available.
"Where to?" Jim said as Mika took the seat.
"I'll give you the directions on the way."
"Alright."
"Hey, sorry about going crazy on you earlier. I was confused and your cybernetics freaked me out."
"It's fine. But these aren't cybernetics. They're more like exosuit parts."
"Then why are you still wearing them?"
"No time. So, where do we go?"
"Oh! Uh... take a right here."

"Why don't we have a match!?"
"I'm sorry General Brooks, but the DNA has no matches on the US citizen database."
"Search for DNA matches elsewhere! He might be an illegal immigrant! Or he had fixers make him a new identity!" 
"Yes General."
"I'm surrounded by incompetence..." She thought to herself. "That, or this Neo-Human is good at erasing his tracks. Either way, it's annoying."
"I'll be in my office, any update in the matter should be reported to me immediately."
"Yes General."
She made her way back to her office, sat down on her chair, took a small flask of rum from under her desk, and took a small swig.
"Why are you so hard to pin down? You must have done something to be so well-hidden..."
Then her work phone buzzed, and she answered the call.
"Hello?"
"Miss Brooks? The new equipment is doing good on testing so far. Soon we can have some Nightcap soldiers wear them to even out the odds."
"Good. Update me when they're ready."
"Yes Miss Brooks."
She terminated the call and took another swig.
"At least there's some good news."

"There's my house." Mika said.
"Alright." Jimmy said as he pulled over.
"At least I lucked out when I met you guys. Thanks again."
"No need to thank us." Tracy said.
"Just don't tell anybody about me or Tracy, Okay?"
"You got it, cyborg."
"For the record it's Cyber-Punk. Or at least, that's the name I came up with after that robbery was taken care of."
"I like it." Tracy said.
"Me too. So, see you around. Cyber-Punk."
"Try not to get into trouble next time."
"Don’t worry, I’ll stay out of trouble."
Mika got out and walked up to her front door and rang the doorbell, her sister answered and gave her a hug after seeing it was her.
"Alright, we gotta move." Jimmy said as he drove away from them.
"I hope we'll be able to see each other again." Tracy said as she took a last look at Mika before she was too far to see properly.
"Yean... but we gotta keep moving. Sorry, Trace..."
"It's fine. We didn't ask for any of this, but we got it. At least you're here to keep me company, and safe."
"I'm not really doing much."
"Yes you are! You've done so much for me that I'm at a loss for ideas on how to pay you back for all you done."
Jimmy blushed a bit, but kept his composer.
"D-Don't worry about it. I promised to help, so I'll help you."
"Thank you." She said with a smile.
"You're welcome. We still got a long road ahead."
"We'll be alright. I trust you."
"Thanks. At least you trust me." 
"Why wouldn't I?"
Then, Jim decided to share something about him that only his closest friends know.
"Frederick..."
"What?"
"My name was Frederick before I had it changed... figured you should know since we're in this together."
"Oh. Well, it's alright. I prefer Jim over Fred."
"Oh Thank God! I honestly didn't like that name." Jim said, relieved.
"It doesn't really suit you anyway. And you'll always be Jim to me!" She said with a wide smile.
Jimmy smiled with similar joy as he kept driving.

Quanesia was doing her best with staying under the radar.
She was on her way back to her father in Oregon, but her progress was slow.
She bought the essentials and a backpack to carry them in, including new clothes and a phone. She knew not the search anything suspicious or log into her accounts for anything as to minimize her chances of getting caught, but she figured it was a good idea to know the routes, bus schedules, pathways, and motels on the way home. 
She browsed and scrolled through some sites to pass the time while on the bus. She needed a form of income, just so that the money Jimmy gave her doesn't run out.
"This bus is going to a location with a university. Perhaps my ability can be useful there. Students needing a person to do their work for them is a struggle I can find profit in." She thought. "Afterwards, me and my father can escape, and I'll be back with my mother. Of course, I can't really believe that this plan is foolproof. After all, they know me and so they know who my father and mother are... Hmmm... I need a contingency plan..." 
Despite her polymath ability, she was still driven to do things by emotional connection. Her father was a number one priority for her and she'd do anything for him to be safe with her, and now that she had become a polymath, she could do a multitude of things to make it happen.
"Perhaps Jimmy's hacking capabilities had a point, I can use it to my advantage. I do wonder about how things are going with him."
Just then, she saw an article on an online news magazine.
"Phoenix, Arizona. 
Cyborg in the Dark?
Four criminals say that they've been thwarted by a "Cyborg" during a blackout in a small town outside Phoenix.
Karim Fernandez, Trevor Townie, Michael Murray, and Gary Boyle are said criminals in question.
They say that a person with metallic arms and legs that was wearing a mask was responsible for knocking them unconscious and handing them to police.
Witnesses say that they were making the story up and that security guard John Tenpenny is the true hero that stopped the robbery, whereas Gary Boyle was said to be under the influence of cocaine and other drugs at the time of his arrest.
Whether this "Cyborg" is real or not remains a mystery."
Quanesia didn't need to be a polymath to figure out that it was most likely Jimmy that the article was talking about.
"Speaking of, it looks as if he's up to more good. Good to know those abilities went to a responsible, albeit reckless, person.... Hmmm..."
She pondered more and had a thought.
"I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him... I want to help him but... My father... Such a conundrum..."
But after a minute of thinking, she had her answer.
"If I could find a way to contact him, I can help while I'm on my way to Oregon. Learning even the most advanced hacking procedures will take me hours at most! Then it'll only be a simple task of triangulating his location via any contact device he has... If he has one, or perhaps satellite. Whichever way works fastest." She thought.
She knew that a university would have a library and internet connectivity so she was on the right track to helping Jimmy.

"General? We have a sighting on what we think is the rogue Neo-Human in Phoenix. How shall we approach?" 
"Quickly and discreetly. Send an undercover team to catch them. And if they can't, try to plant a bug on him. Send them out with reinforcements just in case."
"Affirmative, General."

Jimmy was now on the other side of Phoenix after a day of driving.
Tracy was in the back, nearly finished with her trashy romance novel as she ate at the back of the car. Fortunately, Jim didn't eat as much food as he used to, so it balanced out.
For the time being, Jimmy parked the car and was just doing nothing. Some minor thoughts came to him, like going to the laundromat to get his and Tracy's clothes cleaned and what to paint on his mask. But his main thought was Tracy's plan once she got back to Oklahoma.
"So... once we get there, to your home I mean, what next? You can't live in hiding forever Tracy." 
She looked up from her book and thought for a moment.
"To be honest... I didn't want to think of that... Mostly because... I don't know."
She put the pocketbook aside and Jimmy slid over to the back of the car so he can talk to her properly.
"It woulda been easier if I was like you, or the others... but I'm not. If I could go to my normal height, I'd be solved, but... This… This superhuman thing didn't work out for me as well as it did you..." She said sadly.
"Things in my life didn't go in a good direction either. Sure the technopathy is good, but..."
"But what?"
"I've done some things that I really don't want to think about..."
"Me too... and I really prefer not to think about it either but...you need to sometimes."
"The things we did, huh? You wanna talk about it?" 
"Okay... Well... It started a week after I found out my daddy passed away... I couldn't sleep and I was a wreck."
"Go on..."
"Well... some girls in my class were making fun of me. It was a regular thing that happened and I usually just ignore them but... I was so torn apart that I stooped down to their level, lower than that, actually. And it wasn't even their fault because they didn't know, but... When one of them said, "Run back home to Daddy!" And laughed... Well..."
Jimmy held Tracy's hand and nodded.
"As she walked away, I grabbed the back of her head and slammed her face into a locker. Then, when I let her go, she fell to the ground with a bleeding cut across her forehead. It wasn't her fault, but I made it personal... I felt like such a bad person after that..."
Jim put his other hand on top of Tracy's and saw her eyes beginning to water.
"I got a week of suspension for that, and that poor girl had to get seven stitches on her forehead. Then she got a nasty scar once it healed. My mom was so disappointed, and I knew my daddy would be even more if he was still around..."
Tracy began crying and squeezed Jim's hand tightly. A bit too tight for Jim as it caused him some pain, but he endured it to speak to her.
"Tracy, it's okay... I don't know what it's like to have a proper father figure but, you regret what you did. You reached your breaking point. You do some very regrettable things when you snap, I understand that! A little too well..."
"Was... Was it something about... Your family? I know you... You’ve got some issues... With ‘em." Tracy said between sobs.
"When I was sixteen, on my birthday, I found out that I was only a bastardized son... My biological father wasn't the man I grew up with. But honestly, I would've preferred if I didn't grow up anywhere near him."
"Right... You told me about him..."
"Yeah. Not exactly father of the year."
"But... Who was your real dad?"
"Some guy named Barry that lives in Canada. I don't really know him that well. We went bowling one time but that was pretty much it. So that's my situation. I got a father I didn't want and I don't even know my real dad... I know it's not that big a deal but... It bugs me a lot."
"No! It's a big deal for you. I understand that. We've both been through our own hell."
"Yeah... That's how I met Jeffrey. After paying for new documents, I moved into my old apartment and I didn't have much money. But he helped me out and we talked... Then things got deep after a few days. The world dealt us a pretty bad hand... I'm surprised we still turned out good after all we've been though..."
"Jim..."
"Sometimes... I feel like I wasn't even meant to exist."
"Jim..."
"Yeah?"
Tracy pulled Jimmy in and gave him a hug. Her eyes still watery from crying.
Jim's eyes began to well with tears as well.
"Jim, don't you ever think that! In this world, good people always get the short end of the stick and that sucks. But they're the only ones people that need help, like me, can rely on. And when they're down, they'll be the ones that have the friends to help them back up!"
"Thanks..."
"You know... You can stay with me in Oklahoma. You've been so helpful that it's the least I could do now that your basically homeless."
"I don't want to intrude. I mean, it's your family and I'm just some guy."
"No you’re not. I can convince my family to let you stay."
"I'll... Think about it... What about your boyfriend?"
"I'm sure he'll be fine with you staying too."
"I doubt it..."
"I can talk to him. He can't say "No" to me."
"I'll consider it when we get there."
"Please do. Not keeping you around would be a big mistake."
Jimmy just hugged her and they both enjoyed the little moment they had with one another.
Little did they know, makeshift checkpoints were being set up around Phoenix and black sedans were being deployed to the streets to find them. The sedans all had EMP detectors to track Jim and all major roads leading out had men that had to inspect the inside the car along with the driver's ID, and they also had EMP detectors on them.

Jeffrey was on a bus, he decided to go against what Jimmy told him and decided to follow him and Tracy to Oklahoma. He packed his essential belongings and left the apartment after he told the landlord that he was going to go on a trip and paid them a month in advance. 
"I'm coming bro, whether you like it or n-"
His thought was interrupted by the phone Jim gave him ringing, he pulled it out and answered the call.
"Jimmy?"
"What the-? Who are you?!" Quanesia said.
"I should be asking you that! How the hell did you get this number?! Who are you?!"
"Before I answer..." Quanesia paused for a moment and whispered a question "What's Jimmy's power?"
"Who are you?! This is the government, isn't it?!" Jeffery whispered back in an angry tone.
"No! Look. I apologize that we got off to an unpleasant start. My name is Quanesia, I'm one of the people that Jimmy... Set free from the island in San Francisco..."
Jeffery knew she was talking about Alcatraz. He still couldn't believe Jimmy pulled that off. But he remained sceptical and whispered back in a calmer tone.
"What's Jimmy's power?"
"He's... A technopath. His eyes are blue. And he gave me a walkie talkie to divert the attention of the armed personnel."
"Okay. I imagine that you're the Jamaican girl he talked about. So, what are you doing?"
"I attempted to contact Jimmy after discovering this network. I must say, he encrypted this very well, took me an hour to get through with my phone, nearly overheating it from how much processing power it took. And no, you're not compromised."
"Uh... Okay... So, you're the polymath, huh?"
"Yes."
"Okay, just tell me the thing you really wanted me to do."
"Help Jimmy. I can keep the network safe. I can warn him of danger. And all from a distance.”
"Okay, I see you're trying to do good. You know... You think you can... Find where he is and send me the location?"
"Why?"
"I'm on my way to him and I plan on a more hands-on approach to help my brother out."
"Okay... Hold on..."
Jeffery thought that his luck couldn't have gotten any better now that he was about to get a huge help from Quanesia on tracking Jim.
"Wait... We need to call him! NOW!"
"Wait, why?!”
"There's a government-only network that's been recently active all around Phoenix! They could be onto him!"
"Alright! I'll get him in the call! Shit!"

Jimmy was currently driving, he was on his way out of Phoenix, completely unaware of the government checkpoint that he was heading towards.
His phone rang and he answered while putting it on speaker.
"Jeff? What's up?"
"No time to explain, bro!"
"Jimmy. It's Quanesia! You need to know that the government is on to you!"
"WHAT?!" Tracy shouted in shock.
"Yeah, what?! And Quanesia, how did you get into my network?!"
"No time to explain!"
"You need to watch out bro! You and Tracy might get caught!" Jeff warned.
"Oh shit!" 
"Jim! Don't let them catch us!" Tracy said frantically.
"I won't! Just let me think. Uhhh..."
"They'll be expecting you on the main roads and streets, you must find an alternative route." Quanesia said.
"Any ideas guys?!"
"Turn back and hide out until the heat dies down?" Jeffery suggested
Jim slowed the car considerably while they were thinking up of a plan.
"Sounds okay, but we don't have a place to stay. And I can't exactly check into a motel with Tracy!" Jim said
"Well... What about Mika?" Tracy suggested.
"What?!"
"Jim, we can stay with her until this blows over!"
"Oooh... She lives where the guys that saw me are arrested in. I'm sure the government would be ALL over that place considering they're putting up checkpoints."
"Uuuhhh..." Jeffrey said in confusion.
"It's a long story." Jim answered.
"Hello! We're still tryin' to think of a plan!" Tracy called out
"Okay! Okay… I have an idea. If there's a checkpoint, that means that there's bound to be traffic because cars are going to be examined one by one. So… I can hack a car to lock the driver in and run the checkpoint as a distraction while me and Tracy slip through." 
"Sounds solid. Just make sure there's no children onboard." Jeff said.
"I see many risks with this plan." Quanesia added.
"I highly doubt there's any other plan anyone can think of that doesn't comprise us or leaves us stranded here in Phoenix with the government combing the place!" Jimmy shouted.
Momentarily, the car went silent. Everyone but Jim tried thinking of a plan but they couldn't think of one that would work to Jim's demands.
"Look. I'm sorry I yelled. But there's just so much stuff all at once that I can't focus. Now, do we agree on my plan? Tracy?" 
"I trust you Jim." She said with a smile.
"Jeff? Quanesia?"
"I'm with you man."
"There's a lot of risk factor in this plan. But it's the only one that conforms to your needs."
"Then it's decided. We're going with my plan. Let's just hope I don't end up in a car chase."
"Uh... Bro, I think you just jinxed it..." 
"Come on Jeff, that's just BS." 
"Excuse me." Quanesia said "Now that everyone is cohesive and collective, I have a question; Tracy, why are you with Jimmy?"
"Jim's helpin' me get home. Since I can't blend in and all. Ever since we broke out."
"It would make sense. I just didn't expect Jim to help you. I did assume after Alcatraz that he'd be wanted and would want to be on his own to increase his chances of not being caught."
"She asked me to help, and I couldn't just leave her. I was the only one there that knew her and she stands out too much to move around on her own."
"Yeah, I'm just glad Jim here agreed. I reckon I'd still be clueless in San Fransisco if he didn't help me." Tracy answered.
"Your form does make it difficult for you to go across large distances without being noticed."
"Yeah..." 
"Okay. Jeff, Quanesia, great to hear from you guys again but I need to hang up now. At this point, we cannot afford to be suspicious. Thanks for the info. Anything else to say?" Jimmy said.
"Nothing at the moment."
"Me neither, man."
"Okay, hanging up now then. I'll call you guys when I pass the checkpoint. See ya!"
"Good luck man"
"Agreed. Good luck Jimmy."
Jimmy blinked and the phone hung up. He let out a long sigh as he collected his thoughts.
"Why?!?"
Tracy looked at him and felt guilty. She felt like it was her fault Jim was going through all this. Quanesia's question reminded her that Jim was doing all this for her, and so, the stress she's currently seeing him go through is also thanks to her. 
"Jim..." 
Jim lifted his face from his hand and looked at Tracy with a forced smile.
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry I've been too much trouble... I haven't been doing anything but relying on you since day one..."
"Tracy, it's okay! It may have gotten harder, but I can manage this! Just trust me!" Jim said frustrated.
"Jim, look at yourself! You're all stressed out all because of me."
"It's okay. Really. There's just so much! I just need to relax and get my shit together..." 
Jim stopped the car once he was at the traffic build up. He took his hands off the wheel and started rubbing his temples. His hands were shaking a bit, a normal thing that happens to him when tired or stressed.
"Oh God..."
"Jim..."
Tracy reached over to him and turned his head so he would look at her.
"I... I'm sorry for being such a burden... I'm surprised you didn't ditch me in that warehouse..."
"No... Look... it's easy for me to get overloaded when there's too much... I should be the one saying sorry... I'm venting my frustration and you're absorbing all of it... I-"
Before another word was uttered, Tracy kissed Jim on the cheek.
"That's to make up for all this... I know it ain't much, but... From now on, I'll carry my weight. Help you out instead of add to your problems... it's the least I can do for you Jim."
Jim was dumbfounded and wasn't able to speak. It was like he was in a trance.
"Jim?"
He snapped out of it when the car behind them honked it's horn.
"Guh! Shit! Crap!"
Jimmy drove the car forward to close the gap.
"Sorry but... I didn't expect you to kiss me..."
"I think you've done more than enough to deserve it, Jim."
Jim blushed until his face was practically red.
"Oh I'm so confused! L-Let's just talk... after we get past this checkpoint, okay?" 
"Yeah, sorry if that was a bit sudden. But you were just-"
"I-It's fine... It's fine..." 
Jim spaced out a bit and lied back against his seat. After a few moments to breathe and calm down Jim was regaining his composure. After more than fifteen minutes he neared the checkpoint.
"Okay... Fingers crossed... Good thing the guy in front of us is a road rager. They'd buy him trying to rush though this..."
"Okay. You gonna be okay for this Jim?" Tracy said in a concerned tone.
"Yeah... Just let me do this..."
Jim took out his phone and got closer to the car. He managed to connect to the computer of the car and hacked into the systems after a few minutes.
"And now, we wait..."
They slowly inched closer to the checkpoint and eventually the car in front of them was next. The checkpoint had three men there dressed in navy blue suits that resembled protective police gear, gloves, boots, bullet proof vests, and they were armed with Wilson Combat Border Patrol Shotguns. They checked cars by having two of the men check the undercarriage with curved mirrors on long poles while the other one asks the driver for their license. After that they scan for EMPs before checking the inside of the car and trunk for anything suspicious.
The car in front of them was driving up to the checkpoint, from the honking throughout the entire time he was in traffic Jim could tell he was impatient.
"I'll speed things up for you then..." Jim thought as he hacked the acceleration and made the car drive straight passed the checkpoint. But before the car could get far, something went wrong. The car stopped moving forward and slowed down to a stop only 20 feet away from the checkpoint. Jim tried hacking it again but it wouldn't work. 
"What the hell!? Why isn't this working!? What's going on!?" 
The men had a device with them that could jam communications, and disrupt technology. It was usually used by the military to disrupt enemy communications temporarily before an ambush at a target enemy compound. They had a smaller version of it that only worked on devices within it's shorter range. But it was this device that was rendering
Jim's powers over technology useless. 
"Shit! SHIT!"
"What is it?"
"Something's messing with the enhancer's computer. I can't hack the car anymore! And it's not far enough for us to slip unnoticed! Shit!"
The three men ran over to the car to question the driver.
"Maybe if I gun it?"
"They'll see us!"
"I don't have anything else left to do! I need to gun it!"
"Oh God!"
"It's that or they see you and we get shotguns pointed at our faces!"
With that, Jim slammed his foot on the accelerator and sped past the men at the checkpoint.

"We got a runner!"
"Get to the motorcycles! After them! Go, go!"
All three of the men got onto two military-grade dirtbikes parked by the checkpoint and chased after Jim. 

Jim saw them coming after him in the rear view mirror.
"SHIT!!!"
"They're onto us!"
"I know! Come on you stupid car! FASTER!"
The car went as fast as it could on the road but the motorcycles were faster.
"Fuck it! I can't lose them! Tracy, this might get a little bumpy!" 
"Jim what're ya doin'?!"
"We're gonna get out of this! I swear!" Jim said as he quickly put his mask on.
Just then, one of the men drove up to them on his motorcycle and spoke into a radio attached to his vest to amplify his voice.
"Pull over!"
Jim promptly gave the man the middle finger.
"Take him down!" The man yelled into the radio.
On the other side of the car, the two other men on one motorcycle drove up. The man riding at the back pumped his shotgun and fired a slug shot at the tire of the car, thus exploding the tire.
Jim lost control of the car and swerved off the road. 
"HOLY SHIT!" Jim screamed as the car lost balance and flipped over.
"JIMMY!" Tracy could only brace for impact as she sensed the car flip onto its side.
As the car crashed, Jim hit his head against the driver side window with enough force to knock him out and shatter the tempered glass. 
Tracy, on the other hand, was very shaken up but still conscious. She checked herself and saw a few bruises on her arms and she was a bit dizzy, but otherwise she was fine.
She turned her attention to Jim whom was hanging by his seat belt. 
"Jim? JIM! Jim! No! Please no!" 
She checked his pulse and was greatly relieved that he was still breathing. But something else caught her attention…
She heard the motorcycles stop right next to the car and the men pump their shotguns.
"Jim! Jim please wake up! Please! They're here! Jim!" She frantically said as she shook his unconscious body.
"Shit! Jim please wake up!"
"I hear you! Come out with your hands up!"
She tried removing the seat belt from Jim but her fingers were too big to press the button.
"Aww, come on, goddamit!"
"I won't ask again! Get out of the car!"
Tracy didn't have many options, Jim was out and she was surrounded in a totaled car. 
"Okay... there's only one way outta this now Tracy." She thought to herself.
Tracy thought about getting bigger and slowly her body began to grow.
With her growing strength and adrenaline coursing through her veins, she kicked the rear doors of the car straight off their hinges.

The men outside were shocked by this, yet proceeded slowly. Unbeknownst to them all, a dust storm was heading towards their area and would hit them in a few moments. 

"Get out of the car! NOW!"
They heard some noises come from the car then an enormous pair of legs come out of the car. Soon Tracy crawled out with Jim still in his seat and the bags in her arms before standing up.
"Ma'am... uh... put the seat down and come with us!" The man said nervously as he looks up to the enormous blonde.
"No! You're gonna let me go! Or else I'm gonna kick you boys into the next state!" Tracy said as she started growing faster, she felt her bones and muscles stretch and expand rapidly and it wasn't very pleasant for her, but it was better than the burning sensation from the first time she grew.
In just a few seconds Tracy grew to more than twice her height, already she was uneasy with seeing everything around her seemingly shrink but what was very strange feeling was having Jim in her hands and feel him getting smaller in her arms. Her clothes were now just tattered cloths draped on her body, but surprisingly, her bra and panties were still intact. 
"Oh shit..." The man said as he dropped his gun out of the shock of seeing an already towering young woman grow even more massive. The other two men also didn't know how to handle the situation and just kept their guns aimed at Tracy. 

Tracy reached a towering 35 feet tall and still continued her rapid growth.
"Y'all seen enough? I can crush you all under my feet like bugs! So come at me if ya like!" She said angrily. She didn't like talking like that, but she figured scaring them was a good idea.
But her bluffing was interrupted by some strong winds bowing behind her, she turned to see a massive wall of dust and sand coming right for her.
She knew that this was her only chance of escape so she quickly ran into the dust storm with Jim and their belongings in hand.
The men tried to shoot her legs, but the buckshot bounced off her skin. This caused Tracy a lot of pain but it just motivated her to keep running. Soon enough she was in the thick of the storm the men followed her but due to the lack of visibility, they went around aimlessly and ultimately lost sight of her.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" One of them yelled.
"I don't know! But we lost her!"
"They'd better have a damn good explanation for this!"
"We need to get back! The dust storm's getting heavy!" 
The men all agreed and rode back to the direction where the checkpoint was.

Meanwhile Tracy was wandering around in the thick dust storm. She took a piece of cloth from her shirt to cover her nose and mouth but was having difficulty seeing anything.
"Jim! Jim wake up! Please!" The now 50 foot blonde desperately said to the unconscious young man in her arms.
She didn't get a response. 
"Please! I don't know what to do! Wake up! Please!"

Tracy was not in a particularly good situation. She was nearly naked, fifty feet tall, in the thick of a massive dust storm, wandering around aimlessly, and the only person that could help her was unconscious in her arms. 
She decided to wait out the storm so as not to get lost or go around in a circle, and sat down and began to rest after her ordeal.
"Jim! I really need your help! I don't know where to go! Please! Wake up!"
He was still unconscious.
Tracy let out a sigh and surveyed her surroundings. It didn't do her any good, as visibility only seemed to decrease as time went on.
"Why's all this happening to me?! THE HELL DID I DO?!" She yelled at the top of her lungs as she slammed her free fist into the ground, causing a deep hole to form in the sand. The stress was too much for her usually calm self to handle, and she just broke down and started to cry.
"What did I do... To deserve this? I'm just a girl... I didn't ask for any of this..."
Tracy started weeping and tears flowed down her face, only to be blown away in the wind of the raging dust storm.
"My life's ruined... What's the point of coming back to my family now? My ma’s gonna have a heart attack when she finds out her daughter turned into a monster... I might as well quit now... I'm all alone again anyway..."
Luckily, Jim was beginning to regain consciousness, and the world was beginning to come into focus for him.
"Ugh... where... where am I? Wha- TRACY!"
She heard that and looked down. Jim was on her hand rubbing his head on the spot where he impacted the glass. It was strange for Tracy to see him like this. He looked so small to her, almost like a doll.
"Jim! You're up!"
"Tracy?"
He looked around and was shocked by the raging storm of wind and sand around him, but he was even more shocked when he looked up at Tracy.
"T-Tracy? Is that you?"
"Yeah... I had to use my powers to escape..."
"Oh God.... I... I'm so sorry. I-I couldn't control the car! I couldn't protect you..."
"It's... It's okay..." She said sadly.
"Where are we?! Why's the weather like this?!"
"We're in a dust storm. I don't know how far we are into it! I was walkin' for a while, but I didn't know where I was goin'!"
"Hold on! Where-Where's my phone!?"
"I put it in your bag before I busted you outta the car."
Jim got out of the ripped out seat, then unzipped the duffle bag and frantically searched for his phone. After finding his and Tracy's phones in the bag, he took his out and accessed the GPS to display where they where. 
"O-Okay... Uh... We need to go... That way! Just go straight and we'll be headed to New Mexico!" Jim said as he pointed to his left.
"Okay. But what about this storm!? It's huge! And it could go on for miles!"
Jim thought for a second as he examined Tracy in her 50 foot form.
"Tracy, if we want to get out of here fast... You're going to have to get bigger! As big as you're comfortable with!"
"I'm already not comfortable with this!"
"Tracy! We need to get out of here as fast as we can! Not just because of the storm! But the government can be on us if the men saw you! Please!"
Tracy didn't want to but she knew Jim was right. The men would report immediately and search for them, even in the thick of the storm once the right people were called.
"Okay... But I ain't gonna like it!"
"I'm sorry..."
Tracy thought about growing again, and her body began to expand once again. Yet again, the feeling of her bones and muscles stretching and adding mass was strange and very uncomfortable for her as she grew.
Jim watched in amazement and a bit of fear as the already towering young woman became even more massive. She may have been on her knees but she was still taller than some buildings, and she kept on growing.
From 50 feet, she shot up to 60 feet and maintained a growth rate of 2 feet per second. Within the next twenty seconds, Tracy was one hundred feet tall and forced herself to stop growing. 
"This is surprisingly easy... But goddamn is this weird to do!" She thought.
After the feeling of her bones, muscles, and even organs expanding subsided, she felt the same as she was at 9 feet tall. Her bra and underwear were still on her, fortunately, but she felt that they were being stretched out to their limits. 
"My God..."
"Quit gawking, Jim!" She said with a hint of embarrassment. "Let's go. Get on my hand..."
Tracy put her right hand next to him, still very concerned by the enormous size difference. 
Jim carried all the bags with him and hopped onto her hand.
When Tracy stood up to her full height, Jim couldn't help but be afraid. He couldn't see the ground due to the dust storm, but he knew he was very high up. He clung onto her middle finger tightly.
"Whoa! This is a lot scarier than I thought!"
"Now you know how I feel!" She said matter-of-factly.
Tracy started walking while Jim told her where to go.
"This might still take a while... A storm like this is usually pretty big." Jim said
"Just our luck..." Tracy said, still embarrassed.

"Finally! Look! I'm sorry for being rude but, WHAT WAS THAT?!" Said one of the men as he stood up from his fold-up chair when he saw a man in a suit come through the door. The three men from the checkpoint were in the basement of an undercover FBI building disguised as a post office. They were brought there after they reported their findings, but also demanded answers.
"I am Agent Savage. What I’m about to tell you is Top Secret. Facts concerning the incident cannot be made public in any way, shape, or form." Jamie Savage may have been a hitman, but he also knew his way around negotiations and interrogations.
"WHY IS THAT A THING?! IS IT BECAUSE THEY WERE ALIENS?!" He couldn't hide his hysteria anymore and wanted his answers.
"No. Calm down, alright? You want answers? Read these files."
He opened up a suitcase and gave the men some folders.
But when the men opened them, they didn't have anything in them.
"Is this some kinda jo-" 
The man stood straight and froze, but his eyes were still frantically moving around. 
His colleagues were confused by this then they looked at Savage whom had his arm raised with his fingers separated like a puppeteer.
"Now listen... you need to tell me EVERYTHING you know. All the details so I finish my contract. And if any of this gets leaked to the public... Well..."
The man's colleagues went into action, with one going to help him and one about to tackle Savage. But Savage had all of their bodies under his control and stopped them in their tracks.
"Naughty..." 
He made them stand stiff and line up in front of him. 
"Tell me what you know. Or I'll make one of you hurt..."
Audrey Kane was watching the entire thing behind a two-way mirror. But once Savage made his threats, she had to take action. She ran to the door to stop Savage's unnecessary interrogation only to discover that it was locked.
"Typical." She said.
Kane turned her arm into a giant blade and trusted it through the gap of the door, then sliced the lock. She shoulder tackled the door open and pointed at Savage with her blade arm. 
"Let them go Savage! I've been authorized to deal with you any way I need to."
Savage looked at her, and knew he was at a disadvantage. He didn't take the time to focus on her, and he knew that his ankles could explode at any time if he did anything General Brooks saw as out of line.
He let the men go and walked calmly to Kane as the men fell to the ground feeling their blood flow return to normal.
"Alright. They're all yours." He said as he walked to the wrecked door.
"Another outburst like this and you're out!"
He stopped at the door.
"It's the only way to get information, Audrey."
"Shows what a person like you knows. I’ve got my eyes on you!" 
Savage rolled his eyes and walked away.
"My apologies. He's a liability more than anything." She said to the men.
"Th-The Fuck is going on?! First a giant, and now swords for hands!?"
Kane noticed her right arm was still a blade and shapeshifted it back to normal. Her arm looked shiny and metallic for a few moments before it changed back to her light skin tone.
"That still feels so weird to do... Now, tell me what you know. We need to find the giant you saw. It's a matter of national security!" 
"O-Okay! Th-There was a car that tried to run past us. The EMP detectors picked up something and it automatically triggered the jammer."
"Jammer?" 
"Jams any device. All the checkpoints had them with the EMP detectors. We were told that there was a man with stolen tech. That’s why we needed to get it back and arrest the guy."
"Go on."
"Yeah. Then the car behind ran once the other one stopped and we were all questioning the driver. We got to the motorcycles and chased after the car once we saw it run."
"I-It just kept going until I shot it's back tire, a-a-and then it lost control. Then it toppled over onto its side." The second man said.
The third man was in a state of shock and couldn't be spoken to. He was completely unresponsive from the trauma he’d seen and experienced.
"Then?" Kane asked.
"We surrounded the vehicle and heard a girl's voice. We couldn't hear exactly what she was saying, but I think she was trying to wake someone else in the car... We ordered her to come out and after a few moments we heard something breaking in the car then..."
"Then?" 
"The car's back doors flew off it's hinges and a giant pair of legs came out of the car. Then a nearly naked girl came out carrying the masked man that was driving."
"Then she just grew to like 50 feet tall! Right in front of us!"
"That's enough of what happened. I assume she got away from you three somehow then you reported to your superior." Kane stated.
"Yeah... Then we were asked to wait and shut up until a car came by."
"Right. Now tell me, what did the giant look like?"
"Caucasian, young, blonde hair, spoke with a southern accent."
Kane started making the connection. "Looks like Tracy Price is getting help from the rogue Neo-Human." She thought. "Probably going to New Mexico now to hide. But now that they're on foot..." 
Kane took out her phone and started typing a message to General Brooks. As she was typing she started walking out.
"Wait! What about us?!"
"That's for the agents here to decide. Thank you for your cooperation."

A few moments later, the information about the encounter with Jim and Tracy reached General Brooks. She was extremely pleased by the news, but she knew her window of opportunity was closing soon.
She quickly made her way to the training room where Hanes and Marcel were sparring.
"Hanes! Marcel! The rogue Neo-Human has been located. Unfortunately he is with the escaped Neo-Human Tracy Price. Your team is going to need reinforcement. Get to the planes." She said.
"Where are we going?" Marcel asked.
"Arizona, outside Phoenix."
"That'll take an hour at least." Hanes stated
"Which is why we should move. We'll be right on it General!" Marcel said before she started walking to the changing room to change into the special suit made for her.
Hanes nodded then saluted before heading to the changing room as well.

Meanwhile, back in Phoenix, Savage, Kane, O'Hara, and Arber were making their way to the location where the men encountered Tracy. It was hard to see in the thick dust storm, but with Arber at the wheel of the hummer, it might was well have been a clear sky.
"Alright. I see the crashed car. They couldn't have gotten far."
"Okay, but shouldn't we wait for Dom and Kim? If Tracy is as powerful as the men from the checkpoint say, we may need some heavy-duty backup." O'Hara said, concerned about jumping into a fight.
"We'll find them and keep them occupied until they get here. They'll have the cages and hopefully the power to get them in." Kane said.
"Hopefully? Not exactly reassuring..." 
"Shut up! Not like you're gonna do any shooting or fighting anyway. Leave it to the professionals!" Savage said, irritated by O'Hara's doubts.
"Remember, we want them ALIVE! This isn't a Hit." Arber said while searching through the storm.
"Fine. But nobody said anything about hurting them, verkligen illa..." 
"Hold on..." Arber saw something in the distance and he enhanced his vision to focus on it. It was Tracy, and her current size made her easy to detect. "I got her! Five miles away from here! She's big and moving fast!" He said as he slammed his foot on the accelerator.

More than an hour and thirty minutes after their car chase, Tracy and Jimmy were finally out of the storm. Covered in sand from head to toe.
"Thank the Lord above we're finally out! I'm not sure how long I could go on..." Tracy said as she brushed the sand out of her eyes.
Jim took off his mask and brushed the sand that managed to get into his eyes as well, but he also began to think about his mistake after guiding Tracy out of the storm.
"I'm... I'm so sorry... It's all my fault. I shouldn't have ran past the checkpoint. Now you had to use your powers to save me and walk me through the storm..."
"It's okay Jim. You did what you had to."
"I did something stupid... I fucked up... like always." He said in a quiet, sad tone.
"No! This mistake ain't the end of the world. I'm still here. We're still here!" Tracy was still a bit weirded out talking to Jim while he was on her gigantic hand. But as she saw him drop to his knees and hang his head, she knew his morale was at its low point.
Jim remained silent, he didn't even look up to make eye contact with her, as he still felt guilty for his reckless actions.
"Why do I always fuck up?" 
"Jim... Now is no time to feel sorry about what you did. It's okay..."
"I know you're just saying that. Just be honest. Please."
"No... I admit, you messed up. But it's no reason to give up. This is just a little bitty set back. I know you can fix it! You've done so many great things these past few days since I've met you! Sure you messed up, but who doesn't? Jim, please."
Jim breathed in deeply and exhaled to calm his mind.
"Okay... I'm sorry for that..."
"Enough with all that... Where do we go? The sooner I shrink back the better."
Jim looked at the GPS on his phone.
"Crap... we need to get a car. We may be out of the storm but we're still really far from New Mexico."
"How'll we get a car out here?" 
"I don't know... Until then you're gonna have to do the legwork."
"At least I get to use my legs aga- OW!" 
Tracy staggered from a sudden pain she felt in her left calf muscle causing Jim to fall flat on his face on her hand.
Jim quickly got up while Tracy looked at her leg.
"Tracy, what's wrong?!"
"I think I got shot!"
"You got SHOT?!"
"We're being hunted! It's the government!"
She covered Jim with her other hand and started running.

"Goddammit, Jamie! You weren't supposed to shoot her yet!" Arber yelled when Savage took a shot at Tracy's leg with the latest and most advanced Smart Rifle.
It can calculate the distance that the bullet will travel, wind resistance, rotation of the Earth, and will even not fire when the computer says that the round will miss the target.
Unfortunately, the hitman found it too tempting not to shoot the advanced firearm at the giantess once he could just barely see her enormous silhouette.
"We can take her down faster the more we shoot her legs."
"That doesn't mean you get to shoot her before we're even close!" Arber lashed at Savage. 
"Pipe down! Both of you! Just focus on catching up to her!" Kane hissed.
"Why did I have to let him set that fire?" O'Hara thought, regretting her life choices that brought her up to this point.
Arber kept speeding, soon reaching nearly 80 miles per hour and still climbing.

"Hey- OW! Frick! Ah- TRACY! Stop jostling me around in here!" Jim said as he was being tossed around in Tracy's fist.
"Sorry Jim!" Tracy opened her hand and tried not to jostle her friend anymore.
"Wait a minute! You can't run into a town like this! You'll attract too much attention and we'll be finished!"
"What do I do then?" 
"We’ve gotta fight the government agents! They must have a car because no way is anyone going into that storm without one!"
"They have guns!"
"Get to a place with a lot of cover! I'll take care of it!"
"You can't fight armed men on your own! Let me help you for once."
"Okay... You draw their attention, I'll throw my last smoke grenade, then get their car."
"Sounds good!" 
"They stopped!" Arber said.
"What?!" Kane said, caught by surprise.
"They stopped! What're they doing?"
"Who cares? We're taking them in!" Savage announced.
"Now they're heading to us..."
"Perfect. Give me a moment..." Savage said as he cocked the Smart Rifle.
"Enough with the sniper! Load up your shotguns! Rhodesian jungle shells are in the back!" 
Rhodesian jungle shells are special shotgun shells with birdshot and buckshot behind it. It was their ammo of choice to disable the targets without hurting them too badly.
"Give me the full-auto with the drum." Savage demanded.

"You ready?" Jim asked as they waited for the government vehicle. He was fully equipped with the enhancers and had the last smoke grenade in his hand. He looked at the ground almost ninety feet away, ready to take action.
"Not really. I know I need to do this but..."
"You're not going to kill anyone today. I know you're really concerned about that because the way you spoke when you subdued that asswipe Gary. But I promise, nobody is going to die today."
Tracy remained silent, still worried about the possibility of her taking a life. Another reason she didn't want to use her powers was there didn't seem to be a way for her to fight without killing, or at the very least disable, a person. If the intimidation tactic failed and she was forced into a fight she could easily break someone's back, even if she was trying to hold back, but it would destroy her on the inside if she knew it was all her fault why anyone had to live the rest of their life in a wheelchair. And she could only imagine the guilt she'd feel if she killed anyone. 
Then she saw the truck in the distance coming towards them. Her mind snapped back into reality and she examined the car coming the best she could. What surprised her was there was only one, she expected at least three to come at them if they planned on capturing them.
"Alright... It's a hummer. Only one… Weird. I expected more.”
"Alright… Only got one of these left. Gotta make it count." Jim said as he got ready to pull the pin on the smoke grenade.
"Don't you think they would send a lot more men at us?"
"At this point, I just want that car so we can get to New Mexico and relax. I wanna put this day behind us as soon as possible..." He said with a hint of guilt still lingering in his mind.
"Well... If it is only one than that means only a few are coming at us. We'll get that car faster than you can say potatoes and molasses!" Tracy nervously joked, trying, but failing, to break the tension.
"Potatoes and Molasses..."

Arber stopped the car about fifty feet away from Tracy.
"Wow... That's... Quite the ability... Savage, you got a lock on her?" Kane said, regaining her composure.
"Not yet. She's got more blood in one arm than two men."
"She... Sure is big... I think I'll stay here and guard the car." O'Hara said fearfully. Seeing Tracy, even fifty feet away, was terrifying. Needless to say, she didn't want to get any closer.
"Good ide- WHOA!"
Tracy jumped towards them and landed on the ground 15 feet away, which was just a few inches away in her perspective. The group in the hummer had to brace themselves as they felt the ground rumble under Tracy's bare feet from the impact.
"OH MY GOD! NO NO NO! I WANT OUT! NOW!” O'Hara screamed.
"Fuckin' hell! Okay, that's it!" Savage yelled as he swung the car door open at started shooting at the enormous pair of legs.
Just then an object was thrown from her outstretched hand and landed near their the car. It burst and started spewing gray smoke everywhere engulfing the group and the car.
As he tried to run away from the smoke, the shotgun Savage had was grabbed by two giant fingers and pulled out of his arms.
Tracy had bent over to put Jim down so he can begin jacking the car.
Tracy squeezed the gun between her pointer and thumb and it was crushed to bits. 
"Fuckin' stupid Bimbo!" Savage yelled but then he was picked up like a doll off the ground. "Lass mich runter! Ich töte dich für dieses!"
"I didn't understand that, but I don't like your tone!"
Tracy held Savage in her fist and started making demands.
"Shoot me, he turns into paste!" She said in the most intimidating voice she could muster. 
Meanwhile Jim ran over to Kane and tried to punch her to knock her out and get her gun. But he found out the hard way when he felt like he punched a wall.
"The Hell!?"
Kane morphed her left hand into a large wrecking ball and took a swing at Jim. 
He narrowly dodged out of the way but couldn't believe what he was seeing through the infrared settings of his mask.
"You're a Neo-Human?!"
Kane didn't bother answering and took another swing.
"The Fuck is- DAAAHHH! Get Off Me!" 
Jim was grabbed by Arber and put into a body lock.
Kane took aim at Jim's enhancer-clad legs with her shotgun, but then Jim broke the body lock with the increased arm strength provided by his enhancers and threw Arber at Kane. 
Kane caught him while Jim took the opportunity to run to the hummer.
"Fuck... They're sicking super-soldiers on us! They're stepping up their game!"
He punched through the side window on the passenger side of the black hummer and opened the door after unlocking it.
O'Hara ducked and hid when she saw the metal fist punch through the tempered glass of the window and clenched the shotgun tightly.
"Please God in heaven, don't let this be the day I die! Merciful God in Heaven, Please!" She prayed silently.
Jim searched for it's keys but they weren't in the ignition. 
"Fuck my life..."
He then started searching for the hummer's computer and once he found it, plugged his enhancer in, and started hacking. It would take some time thanks to it's heavier encryption, but this was the only shot he had.
Meanwhile, Tracy still had Savage struggling in her fist, while the thick smoke at her feet started to blow away because of the strong winds.
Savage knew he had to get control of at least part of Tracy to be released from her clutches. So with all of the brain power he had, he focused on making Tracy's fingers move. 
She felt her pointer finger twitch a tad but didn't pay much attention as she started stomping the ground to keep Arber and Kane occupied and distracted.
Kane saw another stomp come and attempted to catch Tracy's foot only to be crushed into the ground.
Tracy, shocked, took her foot off Kane and kneeled to see what she had done. She saw the young woman with her arms and legs bent into a weird angle and embedded into the dry ground.
Tracy let Savage go and covered her mouth as the fear, guilt, and regret began to build. 
"Oh no... no... No... I-I... I-"
Before she could burst into tears Kane turned her head and sat up right.
"You're stronger than I thought. But I'm tougher..." Kane said as she begin to reform her broken body.
"Wh-Wha... What are- Agh!"
Before she could get another word out, Savage shot her in the upper arm after taking Arber's gun. The smaller birdshot bounced off of Tracy's skin, but the larger buckshot broke her skin and made her bleed, but it didn't embed itself into her flesh like the sniper round in her leg.
"Fick dich! Du riesige Schlampe!"
Arber punched Savage hard enough for him to let the shotgun go and stagger back a few steps. Arber picked his gun up off of the ground and went up to the hitman.
"I've had enough of you!" Arber yelled 
"Bring it!" 
While the two men started bickering, the hummer's engine roared to life as Jim finished hacking into it. 
"T! Let's go!" Jimmy shouted.
Tracy stood up and ran while Jim floored it and drove after her. Leaving Arber, Savage, and a barely reformed Kane.
But as he sped forward, O'Hara shakily pointed her shotgun at Jim's head.
"This day is against me..." 
"S-Stop the car. Now!"
"Not today."
Jim turned and simultaneously slapped the gun away. O'Hara pulled the trigger just a hair away from shooting Jim's head. The buckshot and birdshot found itself in the bulletproof glass windshield and Jim zapped O'Hara with an electrical charge, rendering her unconscious. He grabbed the gun from her and kept driving with Tracy running in front of him. She did hear a gunshot go off but thought it was the people she fought so she kept running.
After a few moments of distancing themselves from the Neo-Human team, it became difficult for Jim to keep his eyes off of Tracy's long legs and firm buttocks as she ran, perfect shape and size relative to her body, with her butt bouncing slightly with every step. it's not that he wanted to look, it's just that Tracy took up most of his field of vision as he had to remotely drive with his head out the side window thanks to the windshield having a series of web-shaped cracks everywhere from the shot O'Hara got off.
"Agh! What am I thinking?! She needs my help and I'm staring at her butt..." He thought as he focused on the ground in front of him and the GPS on his arm.

Meanwhile, General Brooks was in her office when her communication line to her team rang. She answered it expecting good news.
"Arber?"
"No, General. This is Audrey Kane reporting."
"Then why are you using Arber's line?"
"My apologies, but my communicator was destroyed. Which leads to why I'm calling..."
"Well, go on soldier."
"They escaped, threw a smoke grenade, hijacked our vehicle, and kidnapped O'Hara."
"I see..." General Brooks said, keeping her composure.
"Hanes and Marcel would've been a great assistance. But they haven't arrived yet. And if anyone is to blame for this, it's Savage."
"Why is that?"
"He shot the target too early, alerting them to our arrival. Got himself caught by Price. And he forcibly took Arber's gun to shoot her himself when Arber was heading to the Rogue Neo-Human hijacking the hummer. He's a liability."
"I give you permission to straighten him out then Kane."
"Thank you, General."
"Now wait for the rest of your team to arrive and await further orders."
"Yes, General."
"That is all."
"Alright. Kane out."
General Brooks took out her flask and started to drink.
"GOD DAMMIT!" She yelled as she slammed her fist on her desk.
Fortunately her office was padded with sound dampening foam. No one would be able to hear her while she had the door shut. She had that built for when she needed to speak about confidential information.
"This has gone on long enough. Capturing them and any other Neo-Human is is going to be tricky once they start working together against us."
She pondered for a moment, but then, she had an idea and contacted someone.
"R & D? How's development of project Iron Scorpion coming along?"

After minutes of running and driving as fast as they could away from the fight, Tracy tired out and told Jim to stop. 
"I think we're far enough away, Jim. Let me shrink back down so I can ride with you." She didn't even look at him, as she was still rethinking the whole event she went through. Especially thinking she killed Kane.
"Good idea!" Jim shouted. He figured it was the only way she could hear him at the speeds they were going.
Tracy slowed her run to a jog, then a walk, and gradually got slower until she came to a stop.
As Jim pulled up beside her she kneeled down to get a closer look at the stolen vehicle but noticed the windshield on the hummer was cracked.
"Was it like that when you got it from them?"
"Was what like what?"
"The windshield."
"Oh. No..." Jim said worryingly.
"What happened?" Tracy said, concerned.
"Well..."
Jim opened the door to the driver's seat, then opened the back door.
"We have... A guest..."
He pulled O'Hara's unconscious body out of the car and sat her up against the side.
"Jim!" She shrieked with worries and concerns filling her mind. 
"She was in the car while I was driving! She pointed a gun at my head! I had to!"
"We can't keep her! That's kidnapping!"
"I know! But, hear me out! The girl we both saw, she was like a fucking Terminator!"
"Don't remind me... I thought I killed her when I stepped on her..."
"I'm sorry... But that's why we're gonna keep her. At least until we get answers. I swear we'll let her go once we get the answers to our questions."
"I don't know Jim... This is different. When I kept Gary in the room, it was only until you could come in and do something. But now, you're outright kidnapping someone!"
"Tracy, I don't want to do it either. But... We need to know what the government is throwing at us and she's the only way to find out."
"Do you promise not to hurt her, and to let her go afterwards?"
"I promise."
Tracy let out a sigh, which to Jim was a moderate to strong breeze.
"Okay... Just let me shrink down..."
"Sure. I'll clear the broken glass in my seat and the floor."
"Okay."
Tracy stood up and began concentrating on becoming smaller, not wanting to be 100 feet tall any longer than necessary.
After 30 seconds of focusing, she began to dwindle in size. Slowly at first, but it gradually picked up pace.
In about a minute and a half, she was at the point where she couldn't get any smaller. Unfortunately, her underwear didn't shrink back with her and were stretched and distorted beyond being wearable. She took the overstretched fabric of her bra to cover up. Lucky for her, Jim had his back turned as was a tad bit occupied. But something didn't look right.
She noticed that the ground was farther away, but she didn't want to make any assumptions, so she went over to Jim.
"Jim, don't look, but can you hand over the bag with my clothes." Her suspicion was raised again. Jim looked much shorter even with his enhancers on.
"Uh... Sure."
Without looking behind him, Jim gave her the big with the modified clothes in it.
"Thanks."
She walked back and started putting her pants on, but found them quite difficult to button up. The same could be said for her shirt, as it was too short and exposed her midsection.
It was then that her fears were confirmed.
"I'm... Bigger than I used to be..."

Tracy didn't say a word, out of fear of how Jim would react if she suddenly screamed. But the reality was that she was indeed bigger and taller than her former 9 foot tall self hours ago.
She hypothesized that every time she intentionally grew, her minimum size would increase, and this was indeed the truth, much to her fear.
"Uh... Jim... Still got that measuring tape?" She said as he was still clearing the hummer of shattered glass. Fortunately it was tempered glass so it didn't make razor sharp shards.
"Yeah..." He said, wondering why she'd ask that.
"I... Uh… Might need a change in attire..."
Jim turned and saw her a few feet away. She was definitely taller than before.
"What happened?!"
"I can't shrink down any more than this."
"You're like, 2 or 3 feet taller..."
"I know. I knew usin' my powers would lead to this..."
"No... Look, blame me, okay? I did this! I caused it. If it wasn't for me screwing up the plan with that car chase, you wouldn't have needed to bust me and my stupidity out."
"Jim, please, I thought we over that. It's alright. Nobody coulda known what was gonna happen, and this ain't your fault. No need to apologize."
"Still..."
"Think of it this way... How on Earth would you know that they had somethin' that could stop your powers? Huh?"
"..." Jim thought about what she was saying "I... guess that... kinda justifies it?"
"So will you get it off your mind now?"
"I can't promise that... but I'll try."
"Good enough for me." She said with a smile. "But to address the elephant in the room... I really am gonna need you to make me some new clothes..." 
"After all this? It's the least I could do. But first, we need to find a new place to hideout. And one that's preferably away from anywhere people want to be since..."
He gestured to the unconscious O'Hara sitting against the side of the hummer they stole.
"Right... Well, you were always good with that, so I'll just get into the car." 
"I'll strap our guest into the passenger seat..."
Jim finished clearing the broken glass and carried O'Hara to the seat and secured the seatbelt, as well as some zip-ties on her hands just in case.
But Tracy was having some trouble getting into the back.
"Jim, could you move these seats further back, please?"
"Sure thing." 
Jim went around and started adjusting the back seats to go farther back, giving more room for Tracy's new 12 foot tall form. But he noticed he was pushing something along with the seat.
"Hold on. Something's in the back..."
"A'ight…"
He tried to squeeze over to the back of the seats but the leg enhancers impeded him with their bulk around the calves and shins so he took them off. After doing so, he got to the back of the seats and saw a black case with an electronic lock.
"What is it?" Tracy asked, unable to see what was going on inside.
"It's a case. Let me just..."
He touched to lock on it and started to hack into it.
"A400CP... okay..." 
He opened it to reveal a case full of lethal and non-lethal munitions, consisting of frag grenades, smoke grenades, flash grenades, tear gas, shotgun shells, and shotgun beanbags.
"Score!"
"What's back there?"
"Only their ammo. I can use some of these and maybe sell the others that I'm not gonna use for cash!" 
"Looks like things are turning around for you!" 
"Looks like!" 
He closed the case and moved it out of the way, then pushed the seats all the way back.
"Try to get in now Trace, that's as far as they go."
"Kay..."
Tracy rocked the car side to side in her struggle to get in, trying to cram her more than double the average height in the car was difficult, but not impossible.
After about five minutes, she finally got in, albeit uncomfortably. Her legs didn't have much room, she was hunched over to keep her head low, and her added weight made the hummer's suspension creak.
"We are not keeping this, are we?"
"No. Too conspicuous. We're just using this until we're in New Mexico. Then we'll abandon it and get a truck or something. Some vehicle that can fit you better."
"The sooner the better."
"Right... Okay, let's go."
Jim got in put on his right arm enhancer and started driving remotely again.
While driving, he decided to call Jeffrey and tell him what he’d been through. So he took out his phone and brought up his number on his contacts list.

Meanwhile, Jeffrey was making his way to his best friend, even though it was against what Jim told him. He is currently at a motel in a small town on the way to Kingman, Arizona.
After a long day of riding busses and trains to catch up as fast as he can, he needed to lie down. It was times like these he'd be a bit envious of Jimmy's powers, but alas, he had not been the one of the individuals severely affected by the interference of the the Large Hadron Colliders. 
15 percent of the world's human and animal population was affected unknowingly, but only 0.5 or 35 million individuals will manifest powers within the next decade. Fortunately the government stopped operating after realizing what the side effects were doing. 

Jeffrey's phone rang and he quickly pulled it out of his pocket and answered.
"How's it going brother?"
"Jeffery... I'm gonna be blunt, we wrecked our car."
"WHAT?!"
"The plan got fucked over by something messing with my powers at the checkpoint and... me and Tracy got into a car chase and we crashed after they shot my tires."
"A-A-ARE YOU ALRIGHT?! WHAT THE HELL!?" 
"I'm fine bro. Tracy busted me out and, long story short, we fought more guys to get some new wheels."
"Oh, Thank God. Bet you kicked their asses, huh?"
"Actually no... This is gonna sound bad but... The government has Neo-Human agents on us..."
"Ah, shit..."
"Yeah... So the whole "Be Careful" thing I told you. That is now multiplied hundred-fold. Stay in your apartment and wait this out."
"Well... You see..."
"What?"
"Ah, fuck it. I left! And now I'm on my way to you. That Quanesia girl gave me your location."
"Jeffrey! Why? It's not safe for you to be with me! I told you that!"
"Fuck that! I want to be there for you!"
"Turn back and go home Jeff, I'll be fine."
Tracy just watched awkwardly, pretending not to hear Jim argue.
"No! Dude, you're important to me!"
"And you are to me too! Which is why you need to stay! You're my best friend! And if you die thanks to what I'm in right now? I'd never forgive myself! Go home! Be safe!"
"Fuck that! Jim! You've been my brother since the first day we met. You helped me through dark times and you never judged me or looked at me in another way when I told you my secrets. That's why I want to help you!"
"Why are you making this so difficult?! Please! You're essentially sentencing yourself to become a fugitive if you come to me! Your life will never be the same ever again!"
"You'll thank me soon..."
"JEFFREY!"
The call hung up.
Jim tried to call again, but it seemed he turned off his phone to block him from calling.
"FUCK! DAMMIT!" Jim yelled furiously as he stopped the car abruptly and smashed his fists on the dashboard.
"Jim, calm down! I-It'll be okay." Tracy said nervously.
"I don't know anymore..." Jim said as his eyes started welling with tears. "He's going to get killed out there and it's going to be my fault. And all because I don't have the guts to stop him..."
"Jim... don't you think he thought about that too? It's not like he doesn't know the situation."
"He doesn't. He's not going to last out there without a means of fighting back. It's going to take a lot more than guns and bullets to even stand a chance against... Them!" 
He said as he pointed to a still unconscious O'Hara.
"Jim, calm down! There's nothin' you can do now. If he turned off his phone you're just gonna have to wait until he turns it back on until you can talk again. I mean... At least you even get to talk to him... I can't even get a word to my ma to tell her I'm okay..."
Jim went silent and stared at the floor of the car. The day seemed to be constantly against him, but he was so focused on what was happening to him and his feelings, he forgot that Tracy was taking everything as well as his ranting.
"I... Okay Trace... I'll calm down... I'm sorry. Again... This day's just been really hard on us. I just couldn't keep my cool..."
"It's alright. This experience we have goin' on was never gonna be a cakewalk from the start. But I'm glad it didn't get to you until now."
"How are you so... Quiet about this?"
"Because... When I'm around you, I... Don't want to freak out. I want to be calm for you because I owe you that..."
"You don't... You don't owe me anything. I'm doing this because I genuinely want to help. In fact... I feel like I'm doing a shit job at doing so today."
"You made it this far. That's a testament to the great things you've done so far."
"You give me too much credit..."
"You're too humble, Jimmy Hughes."
Jim just remained silent. With so many things on his mind, he decided to focus on getting to New Mexico first before he worried about anything else, so he started driving again.

Meanwhile, Kane, Arber, and Savage heard the piercing sound of a jet engine high above them and they saw it dropped off what looked faintly like three black dots as it quickly flew away.
"What’s that?" Kane asked
"It's Hanes and Marcel, with a package to get us outta here." Arber said as we saw them coming as clear as day.
They pulled the two parachutes on either side of the large, metal shipping container, then pulled their own after free-falling for a few more seconds to land before it.
Kane started running, pulling Savage with her by his arm. 
"Let go!"
"I intend to use my full power of authority on you. Especially after you let the targets get away with O'Hara."
"You don't control me, girl."
"I can. And I will!"
Savage tried desperately to break from her grasp but her grip was like a vice. To add to his irritation, she turned her hand into a shackle.
"Now you're trying to piss me off."
She stayed silent but had a smirk plastered on her face.
Arber followed and saw Marcel and Hanes land some distance away from where they were. The shipping container soon followed.
"Arber? Do you read? This is Marcel."
"Affirmative. Saw you guys land. We're coming to you. Heard from the general, huh?"
"Yeah. We have a new jeep in the shipping container. We'll get O'Hara back."
"And it's good we got extra muscle. You wouldn't believe the size that our secondary target reached."
"Tell us about it when you get here."
"Alright. Arber out."
"What's the update Arber?" Kane asked him.
"They have a jeep. We're getting out here."
"Good."
As the four of them made their way to the airdrop, Marcel and Hanes were opening up the container to unhook the jeep.
"Pretty crazy..." Marcel said.
"What?" Hanes asked, confused at her remark.
"The two of them outsmarted the team and took Delilah. I don't know about you, but they sound like they know what they're doing."
"They were lucky because Savage was being impulsive. Just like the general told us."
"Sure, there's that..." 
They opened up the door and saw that the jeep was still hooked to the floor.
"But still. They seem pretty dangerous. You think we can make the difference?"
"I think we can. With the edition of smart planning beforehand."
"Right... So... You doing anything later?"
"What're you saying?"
"I mean... Now that we're out... Maybe we can..."
"We’re on a mission!”
"Sorry, sorry! It's alright, I was just-"
Hanes took off his earpiece.
"But... Maybe later tonight? Go off the grid?"
Marcel took off hers.
"Seriously?"
"Yes."
"Okay. Tonight."
"Got it."
They both put their earpieces back on and unhooked the jeep.

As the Neo-Human ‘Nightcap’ agents progressed, so did Jimmy and Tracy, as they soon reached the border of New Mexico.
"Alright... Just gotta find a good spot to stay for no-"
He was cut short by his phone ringing.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Bro..."
"Jeffery?! Are you alright?"
"Yeah... I, uh... I went for a walk... Listen... I know I left on a sour note earlier, but... I want to help you out because you're the last real family I have..."
"That's why I didn't want you to come. But... I know you have another thing to say..."
"Yeah. I'd rather die fighting for you than die because of who you are."
"That did the opposite of reassure me."
"Dude, look, whether you like it or not, I'm coming."
"Jeffrey... It won't be easy. You're going to have to commit to this life if you stand with me. You're gonna be running, you're going to be constantly on the watch, you are going to be occasionally chased by the government. Is that truly the life that you want ?"
"The life I want is one with my brother. And if those are going to be the terms... Count me in."
Jim could only sigh. He looked at Tracy in the back.
"What do you think Tracy?" He said in a defeated tone.
"I think... You should follow what your instincts tell ya..." She said softly.
"Thanks... In that case... Do you mind if we wait somewhere for Jeffrey to come?"
"Wait, what?!" Jeffrey said, not believing what he just heard.
"If it helps, I can wait. I ain't in a rush."
"Thank you, Trace. I promise I'll make up for this."
"It's okay."
"Jim? Does that mean?" Jeffrey asked, anticipating a response.
"We'll wait out in New Mexico until you arrive. I needed to get a truck for Tracy anyway. This hummer is too small for her."
"Thanks, brother! I'll see you soon! And I promise, you won't need to worry about me at all!"
"I hope so... Stay safe brother."
"I will. See ya around. I got things to take care of."
"Okay! Bye man!" Jeffrey said happily as Jim hung up.
"Well... That just leaves where to stay for a few days and... Her... In fact let me just..."
Jim started patting down O'Hara's pants to see if she had anything.
"Jim, what're doin'?"
"Finding out who our guest is..."
"I doubt agents like her would carry any sorta ID wi-"
"Found her wallet..."
Jim showed Tracy a brown leather wallet that looked a bit worn out.
"Oh. I stand corrected..." 
"To be fair, I don't think she's fully an agent. She acted really nervous when she told me to pull over. So, she may be a rookie or something. Now..." He opened her wallet and saw her driver's license. "Delilah O'Hara... Huh... Well, at least we know her name now."
"So, where to now?"
"Well, we're going to need somewhere secluded and a place where people wouldn't dare to go so we can get info outta Delilah... Let me scout around..."
"Better hurry up though. Don't want her waking up while we’re driving into town. We already have a broken windshield, so if she calls for help, we're screwed."
"Right... Lordsberg seems like the best place to go. Once we're there, I scout the place for a building, interrogate Delilah and leave her there while we drive as far as we can to the next town."
"Sounds solid."
"And maybe then, we'll get some answers... In the meantime, sit tight."
"You have no idea how much that fits now. Or... In this case, doesn't fit." Tracy said as she pushed back on the seat, attempting to adjust, but alas, her head was still uncomfortably pressed against the ceiling of the car.
Jim continued driving for nearly twenty minutes until he reached Lordsberg.
He did get a few strange looks from other drivers as he had his head sticking out of the car and his phone out while driving but Jim just sped up or slowed down to avoid their gazes peering into the hummer.
Fortunately a place the interrogation could take place in popped up nearly immediately, as they saw a row of dilapidated houses set for demolition behind some chain link fence.
"Okay... Let me just cut the links so that I can drive in."
"Okay. Please hurry. My back is starting to tense up."
"Will do."
Jim parked the car up to the fence, took his duffle bag with the enhancers and mask inside, and got out.
He only had to plasma cut through two metal parts that were connecting fence sections, then he would be able to open it up like a gate. But the problem was that it was two in the afternoon and there were still a lot of people going around with their day.
"Gonna need to make this quick. We don't need police on us." He thought as he put the enhancer on his left hand and turned on the plasma cutter function.
As Jim was cutting through with his mask on to protect his eyes, O'Hara was beginning to stir in the car.
Tracy noticed this and brought her hand to her mouth gently to prevent any shouting that would blow their cover. O'Hara slowly opened her eyes and felt huge fingers covering her mouth, immediately she tried yelling for help but it was muffled by Tracy's hand. As she struggled, she realized her hands and feet were bound together and Tracy's strength kept her from moving from her seat or lifting her arms.
"C'mon Jim! Hurry!" She thought anxiously.
She saw him finish cutting the bottom part and start with the top one.
O'Hara started stomping the floor with both feet but in the end it was for nothing as Jim finished cutting through the last part and kicked the the fence open.
He took his duffle bag off the ground and took out the phone to make the car drive through, much to Tracy's relief.
After getting through that hurdle, Jim closed the fence and drove the car to the second row of dilapidated houses. He was a bit weirded out that he was outside the car while driving it, it was like driving a giant toy car that weighed more than a ton.
After parking it in a secluded place, he opened the passenger door to see that O'Hara was awake. He was glad he still had his mask on, otherwise he'd be in for it later.
"Thanks for keeping her down, T." Jim said as he put on and secured the other enhancer arm. 
He also took out some duct tape from the duffle bag. 
"This'll keep her mouth shut."
He tore off a piece and nodded to Tracy. She let her mouth go and before she could say anything, Jim slapped the duct tape on her mouth.
"Okay. I'll bring her in, you can go out and stretch while I take care of her."
"Thanks."
Jim pulled O'Hara out and dragged her into the house.
"I hope he goes easy on her..." She thought as she popped the door open.
O'Hara struggled the entire time Jim dragged her to the abandoned house, attempting to escape any way she could. But she wasn't strong enough to free herself from him as long as he wore the enhancers.
Jim opened the door of the house and put his duffle bag down. 
He dragged O'Hara to what looked like the dining room and ripped the tape off her mouth, and also noticed her beginning to cry.
"Please don't kill me!"
"Tell me everything, Delilah!" Jim put on his intimidating, low voice for the interrogation.
"H-How do you know my name?"
"Next time, don't bring your wallet to a government mission. That is... If there will be a next time for you..."
"No! Please! I'll talk!"
"First of all, why are there Neo-Human agents after us and who are they? Tell me what their powers are, as well as yours!"
"Uhhh..." O'Hara knew that if she said anything to him, she'd be in huge trouble. 
"I thought you said you'd talk."
"I... Can't..."
"We're in a soon-to-be demolished house, you think there would be any cameras in here?"
"I just can't, please!"
"Fuck..."
Jim then pulled out the shotgun she had on him previously.
"The tables have turned Delilah. I control the situation now, so if you don't want me to use this, you will tell me what I need to know!"
"Please! I just want to live a new life!"
She cried pathetically in front of Jim as he held the gun in resting position, he never liked hearing women cry and he felt awful that he was doing this to this poor woman, but the reality was that he had to.
"Look! I just want to bring my friend home, that's all. But the moment you people were sent, that changed everything! Now if you talk, rest assured that none of it will be leaked and you can go on, I'll even give you enough money to go on for a few days, but only if you answer my questions! Deal?"
"I..." She thought for a moment, the offer he had told her was a great improvement over her current state, even if she didn't know where she was. "Okay... just please, don't let them know!"
"To start off, who are they? Your entire team, names and powers. Now!"
"Okay... Jamie Savage can control blood, he can basically make people into his puppets if he can focus."
"Was he the one that grabbed me?"
"No, he was the one Price grabbed at the start. Joseph Arber is the one who grabbed you. He's our scout and sniper. He basically has X-ray vision and can zoom in on targets miles away even without a scope."
"Who's the girl with the wrecking ball hand?"
"Audrey Kane. She's basically made of liquid metal so she's near indestructible."
"Shit... What about you?"
"I'm just their undercover person, their spy. I can shapeshift."
"Good thing I have my mask on, then. Anyone else I should know about?"
"Our other muscle. They didn't arrive yet when you and Price... Attacked us."
"Spill it."
"Kim Marcel has bulletproof skin and Dom Hanes is basically The Hulk. Okay? Got what you need now?!"
"A few more things. Who's in charge of all this?"
"General Brooks. She collected us and tasked us with finding you and the others."
"Tell me about her."
"I-I don't know her, honestly! She just put me in the team and gave orders! I don't know anything about her, I swear!"
"Okay... What sort of methods are the government using to track down people like me?"
"CIA, FBI, NSA, they're pulling out all the stocks. They overhaul and start investigations, surveillance cameras to satellites, monitoring calls and messages, everything! Then they strengthen searches in places of interest or confirmed places where more can be but that's all I know. Now please let me go!" Delilah pleaded one final time.
"Do you people know who I am?"
"N-No. General Brooks is having a hard time finding you out."
"Okay. You swear that's all? Today is not a good day to lie to me."
"I swear! Please let me go!"
"Alright... And just so you know..."
Jim pointed the gun straight up and pulled the trigger, nothing came out.
"I emptied the gun while you were out."
Delilah breathed a sigh of relief as she was cut from her bounds with a small utility blade Jim had and showed her wallet.
"You have an extra 500 dollars there. That should be enough for you to last until they find you and pick you up."
"Th-Thank you!" Delilah stood up shakily and pocketed her wallet.
"I'm going to give you a headstart. Get as far away from here as you can. Now." 
"Thank you."
Jim let her out of the house and she ran out like a bat out of hell. Tracy was startled to say the least and she thought about catching her as she ran past, but she saw Jim calmly walk out with his bag in hand.
"Let her go... I got what I needed. I'll tell you about it on the way"
"Oh... Okay... You didn't hurt her or anything, did you?"
"No. I just made her a deal she couldn't refuse. Gave her 500 dollars and a headstart. But now, the government knows we're together, so the only advantage we have is that they still don't know who I am, and that's the only good thing we have with us. We need to get to the next city as fast as we can."
"Where's that?" 
Just looked at the screen on his right arm and searched for the next city.
"El Paso. Very close to Texas and from there it'll only be half a day to Oklahoma City. So we lay low there, let the heat die down, get a truck, and wait for Jeffrey. It's also pretty far away from here, so we have quite a lot of distance from them."
"So close... I hope my family’s okay..."
"Don't worry. I'll take you back to them. I promised you that, didn't I?"
"Yeah. Thanks to you, I made it this far."
"Yeah..." Jim sighed "But at what cost?" He thought. Guilt still in his mind.
"So..." Tracy stretched one more time. "Back in the car?" She said, already feeling uncomfortable.
"Afraid so... I'll make it up to you later tonight."
"Thanks. But you don't need to do that, you know."
"I know, but I want to. We're so close, but we have to wait for a few more days because of me..."
"Hey... I can wait. No need to be hard on yourself. And besides, a few more days with you sounds good."
"Right... Well, let's get moving."
"Kay."
Tracy reluctantly got back in the too-small car and Jim drove it out of the fence remotely before closing the fence and then getting in himself and driving towards El Paso.

Delilah watched the hummer drive away as she hid amongst the crowd across the street from the fence.
She wondered why Jim let her go. He didn't seem unintelligent so he knew that letting a shape-shifter go free would mean that she could be anyone, and it would also mean reuniting her with her team. It just didn't make sense to her. This was the rogue Neo-Human that was causing so many problems?
"Scared the shit outta me but... He let me go... And with cash too..."
It made her question some of the things that she and the govenment were doing. However, she had nowhere else to run to but them, so she had to spare those thoughts for the meantime and decided to wait things out until the team found her.
"Should probably- What the?"
She touched her right ear for her hidden earpiece, but it wasn't there.
In fact it was with Jim! He took it away from her along with the duct tape when the interrogation started.
"Okay, now I know he knows what he's doing!"

"How are holding up, Tracy?"
"I'm good. Aside from my leg. Where the sniper hit."
"Sorry. I don't have the tools for bu-bullet extraction. Ugh..."
"Squeamish?"
"Only if it's deep in."
"Well you don't need to worry, when I shrank down, the round got pushed outta my leg. The gunshot wound's just really sore."
"In that case, I'll buy some first aid stuff and any other supplies we can afford. Then when we get to El Paso, we’ll wash all the clothes we have, along with selling this car for scrap."
"I'm half-tempted to scrap the roof and turn this into a convertible."
"I'll make this trip as fast as we can. We'll be there by... I'm guessing 5 o'clock?"
"Great... I better get used to tense back muscles then..."
"Well... I can also get some massage oil. I'm adept at massage therapy."
"Really? Anything else you're good at?"
"Boxing. It was the only sport that appealed to me. Never been in the ring though."
"So that's how you know how to take care of yourself out there!"
"It’s also the reason I know first aid. See, punching a bag bare-fisted? That is not a good idea…”
Tracy chuckled a bit as they continued to drive on.
It was a long road to El Paso but Jim knew the government would have trouble tracking him and Tracy in a relatively large and densely populated area as opposed to a small town with fewer places to hide. However with more places to stay also came with more people. He was concerned about finding a shelter for Tracy in particular. She could always hide in the car like before, but now, she was an even bigger target, and much more conspicuous.

Meanwhile, Delilah was just waiting in a nearby deli ordering a sandwich and some coffee to calm her down after all she had been through. The waitress brought her order and filled her mug as she spaced out in thought while looking out the window. The waitress noticed this, along with her dusty clothing.
"Something the matter, miss?"
"It's nothing really. Just... Having some doubts about things."
"Must be pretty serious judging by how you look. No offense."
"None taken." 
"If you need anyone to talk to, I'll just be here."
"Thanks..."
As the waitress left, Delilah resumed her thoughts as she looked out the window.
Her previous line of work didn't involve reconnaissance and interrogations, the most she had to do was evacuate in a helicopter when a fire got too wild in a forest, so the adjustments she had to make for the deal she had with the government were hard on her. She wanted nothing more than to go back to her watchtower and read her books on a quiet summer day.
"It's so messed up now... and now I'm hunting good people... what the hell am I doing?" She thought as she took a bite out of her sandwich.
However, her train of thought was disturbed by seeing Kane and Hanes on the back of a jeep passing by. It stopped a street away and Arber came out of the driver's seat.
"What the hell?" She said silently.
Arber saw Delilah nearly immediately and told the rest to wait. After barging into the diner Arber went to Delilah's booth, sat down, and spoke calmly as not to make a scene.
"You got away?"
"They let me go."
"What?"
"After finding a place to dump me they just kicked me to the curb."
"Did you see what he looked like?"
"No. I was knocked out the whole time. Woke up in an that demolition site over there."
"Did they steal anything?"
"They took my piece, and my..."
Delilah pointed to her ear to show she didn't have her earpiece on.
"Fuck. So now they have a line straight to us, gonna need to call Brooks about that."
"I'm sorry. This was all my fault for hesitating..."
"If it's anyone's fault it's Savage's. Anyway, it's good that they didn't do anything to you. If you feel up to it, you can still be on the team. But if you need to rest, I can call transport in to take you back to base."
"Yeah... Back to base sounds good..."
"Alright, just take your food to go and ride with us for a little while I call in, alright?"
"Thanks."
Arber stood up and walked out of the diner while Delilah called for the waitress to bring her a to-go box.
"At least I can get some peace and quiet back at the base..." She thought as she looked at Arber waiting at the jeep with the others though the window.

Hours later, with Jimmy and Tracy, after a few stops for food and other supplies, they finally reached El Paso after speeding though the clear highways and waiting for traffic to go by on some roads.
At almost 6 in the evening, the day was almost over for them.
"Alright, we're here. Just gotta find a place to stay..."
"Finally, my back is killin' me!" 
"Just a little more and you can lie down."
"What's the plan this time?"
"We're gonna stay in a storage unit. There's one close by, the outdoor garage units should be big enough for us."
"As long as I can lie down, it'll be fine."
"I'll get us some new bedding in the morning, but right now, I think we both need a break from this day. It's been really hard..."
"You got that right."
Jim drove to storage garages a few blocks away, making sure to shut off the head and tail lights so as not to draw any unwanted attention.
They soon reached the storage garages, and fortunately for them, the facility had electronic gates.
Jim easily hacked into their systems through a backdoor and opened the gate, along with freezing the security cameras temporarily.
"Nice tech here. Free security for us, I guess."
"That's one way to look at it.”
"Alright... The 10 by 25 garages should be good."
"250 square feet is plenty."
"Okay. And all of the locks here are electronic too! Yes!”
"Never seen a storage unit with electronic locks."
"They must be weary of people sneaking in with bolt cutters, cutting their way into a garage. Looting people's shit."
"Fair enough."
Jim saw three units marked as ‘vacant' and unlocked one, the garage door opened loudly so Jim just drove the hummer in quickly and killed the engine.
He unlocked the other doors and got out to shut the door of the unit containing the hummer, but it jammed.
"Crap!" 
Jim jumped, but couldn't reach the door 5 feet above him.
Tracy squeezed out of her vehicular confines one final time, severely denting the roof outwards during the process in her rush to help Jim. As soon as she was out, she grabbed the door and pulled it down easily.
"Did we get spotted?!" She said quietly as she shut the door.
"Hold..."
He unfroze the surveillance cameras and saw the feed, a few security guards were checking around but they weren't close enough to have seen them.
"No, but we need stay quiet for the rest of the night."
"Yeah... Ugh, my back is killing me." 
"At least you can stand here... Just barely..." 
"Well... top of my head brushing the ceiling is a lot better than me having to hunch over. I just wanna... Lie.. Down..." She said as she bended her back backwards to an impressive degree.
"Your talent in gymnastics still shows..."
"I could never quite do the splits, though..." She joked.
"Alright, let's relax. I'll give your back the massage it needs."
"Do... I need to... take off my clothes?" She said, a bit embarrassed .
"Uh... Well you don't need to if you don't want to. I can work with them on, don't worry."
"A'ight... Sor-"
"Don't be sorry, I understand. Just sit down and let me work my magic!" He said extremely confidently to humor Tracy.
"Sure."
She sat down and Jim started massaging her shoulders and back.
At first Tracy was a tad uncomfortable, but she soon relaxed as Jim worked on her back. He had a lot more muscle to deal with than the regular person, but he adapted.
Before long, he was finished, and Tracy felt a lot better, sighing in relief.
"That's just what I needed. You should charge for that."
"That's what my mom used to say."
Tracy chuckled a bit, then yawned.
"Mind if I hit the hay?"
"Yeah... We should sleep. We'll concern ourselves with everything tomorrow."
"Kay. Thanks, Jim."
"Anytime."
Tracy lied against the wall at the corner with Jim taking their belongings out of the car.
Then he started typing on his phone, Tracy noticed this and decided to speak up.
"Hey, Jim?"
"Yeah?"
"Wanna relax and sit next to me?"
"Uh... Sure."
Jim sat next to Tracy, and she wrapped her left arm around him.
"What's the matter?"
"Nothing. Just thought you should take a break too, even if it's only for 2 hours."
"I can take care of myself, T."
"Nope. I ain't letting you go until you sleep along with me."
"Fine... I know I can't break away from your grip anyway."
"You better believe it!"
They both laughed.
And with that, Jimmy and Tracy lay next to each other and soon fell asleep, putting the day behind them.

Jim woke up an hour later. Tracy no longer had a grip on him, so after lifting her arm off of his shoulder, he got up.
He checked his phone for the security camera and saw that the guards were no longer there and that it was 9 in the evening, where most of the night life was beginning to die down save for a few clubs and typical partying teenagers. Jim was never quite fond of that kind of stuff.
He plugged in his phone and the enhancers to his power banks and stuffed them into the duffle bag along with his mask.
"I should probably get this Hummer out of the way. Just gotta take the munitions crate out and sell this for scrap. It'll last us a bit more without me taking money from ATMs, since they're upping their game after all." He thought.
After quietly unloading the crate of munitions and making a note in case Tracy woke up, he opened the roll-up garage door of the storage unit and backed up the car.
He shut the door, opened the gate and drove out all while the cameras were frozen.
"Man, I love these powers!" He thought.
Just in case anything popped up, he kept his phone open to all possible threats. After he stopped the robbery at the jewelry store, he managed to refine his system, so now it patched Jim into conversations that have certain trigger words that he downloaded into the algorithm. These trigger words range from literal, metaphoric, and common street slang of many different crimes. But of course, he always had the classic method of police scanner hacking.
"Let's hope nothing too big happens tonight, I got a girl to go back to... Huh... Never thought I'd be able to say that..."
He then started imagining if Tracy was his girlfriend but immediately suppressed his thoughts and shook his head. 
"Shit! Come on Jim! She's with someone else, don't think about that!"
Jim began to drive away to clear up his mind.
He was always more of a night-person. The cool air, the light contrasting with the dark, and in most places, peace and quiet.
As he was making his way to a salvage shop half a mile from where he was, he managed to enjoy the sights a bit. Another positive aspect to his situation was that he finally got to travel around the country.
As usual, he kept to the smaller streets, avoiding law enforcement when possible. 
The entire trip going to Texas he had to avoid speeding cameras by hacking into them, preventing them from picturing him in the hummer. 
"Better ask Quanesia to check out the system's defense while I do this." He thought as he dialed up the polymath.
"Hello? Jim?"
"Hey Quanesia, how's it going?"
"Making progress to Oregon. Did your plan go well?"
"Not exactly. You were right, we just barely got away, me and Tracy..."
"Unfortunate but I'm happy you successfully evaded them."
"But there's something that you need to know, the government also has Neo-Humans for agents. I guess they figured fighting fire with fire how to go."
"This is going to be difficult, for all for us..."
"Yeah… So, can you please check up on my network system? I've been using it like hell to hack and communicate and it just occurred to me that the government might be finding a way to spy on even the most secure networks."
"No problem. I'll call when I've improved the security dramatically. I will not allow you to fall into their hands that way."
"Thanks."
"How's Tracy?"
"She's good. Taking it well, but... She grew again and this time she's permanently 3 feet taller so I'm on my way to get a new truck that she can fit inside of."
"That's surprising... Would you like me to theorize on that on the side? I could use some complex thoughts."
"Knock yourself out, Q."
"Anything else for now?"
"Nah, that's it. Call you later Quanesia."
"Alright. Goodbye."
Jim hung up and continued driving to the salvage shop.
A few minutes of driving later, he finally reached the salvage shop. The lights were still on, so Jim parked the car. He was a few blocks away thanks to having limited space, but figured it wouldn't take that long.
He got out with his duffle bag so it wouldn’t get stolen if someone managed to break in, and then started making his way to the shop.
However he saw three large men on motorcycles ride up to the shop. They got off of their bikes and pulled out weapons. One of them had a heavy chain, while the other two had baseball bats.
Jim decided to hide amongst the parked vehicles and watch how things transpired.
They started banging the door to the salvage shop and yelled demands.
"Come on, Shitbird! Come Out!"
"Boss wants you beaten to a pulp for what you did, you rat bastard!"
The door opened to reveal a man of average height in his late twenties with spiky black hair. He was also wearing a black leather trench coat with hot rod flame patterns along the edges of it, jeans, work boots, and black fingerless gloves with metal parts on his forearm.
"Guys, please, your boss was an asshole that's just the way it is."
"He's in jail because of you!" The biker with the chain said.
"How's that my fault? He stashed the stolen money in one of my cars, I found it, and called the police! You guys should be happy that you don't have to work for him anymore! I'd hate to work for someone that stupid."
"THAT'S IT!"
One of the bikers swung his baseball bat at the man, hitting him hard in the stomach.
He fell a few steps back and tried to regain his breath after having the wind knocked out of him.
Jim decided it was time to act, so he went into the alley and disabled the cameras to change.
"You... Don't want to... Do this!" The beaten man said, regaining his breath.
"And why is that?" The biker with the chain said confidently.
"Because now... You Made Me Angry!"
The man swung his fists at the three bikers, missing almost all of them. He was hit in the back by the chain, causing great pain, but it only served to fuel his blind rage.
"NOW YOU’VE DONE IT! RAAAGGGHHH!"
He managed to land a punch on one of the bikers, but it was apparent that his strength was not equal to his anger as the same biker floored him.
"Go ahead, be angry! That's not gonna help you, and nobody's gonna save you!"
"I wouldn't say that..."
The bikers turned and saw a man in a black hoodie that had robotic limbs and a mask with green lenses.
"Let him go." Jim said in his Cyber-Punk voice.
"Haha, and what're you suppose to be? Get lost, freak."
"I'll give you to the count of three. If you don't leave, you're waking up in a jail cell."
"Oh! So the freak wants to fight, huh?"
"Three..." 
The bikers stood up straight and left the man on the ground.
"Two..."
The man looked up. From his perspective, all he could see were the bikers slowly walking to whoever was counting down, but he couldn't see who it was defending him.
"One."
Almost like a western duel, Cyber-Punk shocked and knocked out two of the three bikers before they could even react. The one biker left was stunned and became terrified after the realization that this guy was serious.
"Oh shit! Uh... okay! I'll put my bat down! See?" The last biker said shakily as he dropped his bat.
"Too late."
Jim rushed towards him and grabbed his head, then pulled it down to his knee.
Jim's armored knee made contact with the biker's forehead with such force he was immediately knocked unconscious and a large lump started to form on his forehead as he lay on the ground with his friends.
The man was speechless. He couldn't believe what he had just witnessed.
Jim walked to him and extended his hand to the man on the ground.
"You alright?"
"Alright? I'm better than that!" He said excitingly as he stood back up. "I just got saved by you! A real-life superhero!"
"What?! I'm not a superhero!"
"Like hell, you’re not!"
"Not a superhero."
"Oh... I see... The whole "Unknown Vigilante" angle! I dig it! I see the appeal!"
"Oh God, what have I gotten myself into?" Jim thought.
"Man, I always knew there were real superheroes out there! I mean sure, there's those people who dress up like superheroes, but they act so cheesy and lame! You! You're the Real Deal!"
"Okay... You sure you're not hurt?"
"I mean... Yeah, my back aches a bit... But at this point, I don't care!"
"Okay... Before we continue, do you have any padlocks or anything so I can secure these guys?"
"Yeah! Wait up!"
The strange man rushed into the salvage shop as Jim dragged the unconscious bikers together and tied them up with the chain used by the one guy.
The Man came out of the shop with a large steel padlock and handed it to Cyber-Punk.
"Here ya go."
"Thanks."
After locking them up, the man stuck a note on the forehead of one of them that said "Asshat".
"Too much?" The man asked.
"Honestly? Not enough."
"I like the way you think! Mr... Uh..."
"Cyber-Punk."
"Awesome name!"
"If you want to do me a favor, don't tell the police anything."
"Yeah! You'll remain in the shadows of night… Your secret's safe with me. But... Seriously, is there anything else I can do for you? Anything at all!"
"Is it okay if we make a deal?"
"What is it?"
"I need to get rid of a hummer and I'm in need of something bigger. Like… A somewhat big delivery truck."
"Wait... So, you're saying you wanna trade your Hummer for a delivery truck? Say no more! I’ve got an old delivery truck. It's a bit of a fixer upper, but me and my friends can get it running for you just like new!"
"How long will it take?"
"Well... Give us... Three days to fix it up."
"That works for me."
"And you say you got a hummer? Why do you want it gone?"
"Roof is dented outwards, shattered windshield, no keys, too small."
"I understand everything, but how is a friggin' Hummer too small?"
"Let's keep that a secret."
"Right. Can't give everything. That's cool."
"Let me just roll it in." 
Cyber-Punk took out his phone, and a few blocks away, the hummer started up and moved towards them.
The man was amazed by the display. Cyber-Punk was controlling a car like it was a toy with his phone being the controller.
"You are so cool..."
"Well... At least he voices out his thoughts..." Jim thought.
"Oka- Oh! Lemme just open up my gate so you can roll it in!"
"Yeah. You do that."
He may not have been getting any money out of this deal, but it saved him the headache of finding and buying a new truck. So to Jim, it was worth it. 
After parking it in the salvage yard, Cyber-Punk went up to the man again to confirm things.
"Alright, I'll be back here in three days at the same time as now. Don't tell the police anything about me, but do tell them that the men that tried beating you up are under orders."
"What about them telling police stuff about you?"
"They'll dismiss it as the crazy ramblings of people who are desperate to be free."
"God, even the way you say things is so cool..."
"Yeah… Well, I'm gonna go now."
"Oh, wait! One more thing!"
The man ran to the inside of the shop and, after a few seconds of audible rummaging, came out and ran back to Cyber-Punk.
"Here! It wasn't really my style but I figured it's the least I could give you... Aside from the truck." The man handed Jim a neatly folded black leather jacket.
"Thank you."
"And there's a place in the back to put a thing if you want. Like if you ever think of... Getting a logo or anything. Oh! And there's a hidden hood there too!"
"Okay. Thanks, mister?"
"Fur- Uh... Ben."
"Thank you, Ben"
"No problem, Cyber-Punk."
With a quick nod, Cyber-Punk ran out the yard and back into the night. 
Ben was ecstatic and quickly pulled out his phone and texted some people he knew.
"GUYS! GET HERE ASAP! I GOT SOMETHING TO TELL YOU!"

Jim decided to tinker with his tech while he was out. He already had the ability to upload viruses, however he thought he needed something a bit more convenient.
"Hmm... Disabling cameras automatically with a trespassing virus could work. Disabling all those cameras around Ben's shop took longer than I would've liked. Could’ve disabled the situation before they hit that poor guy in the gut..." He thought.
Jim began creating a virus that would copy itself, then trespass security measures and disable all tech around him when activated. However, before he could even think about using it in practice, he needed a way to have the virus copies self-terminate after a period of time while the original wouldn't.
"Gonna need to go in the enhancer's computer to program something like that without taking forever. I can do that when I get back to the storage garage so Tracy can look after me. In the meantime, while I'm out here and walking back, I’d better get breakfast for Trace before the stores close. And... maybe a little something for me, since we're gonna be held up here for three days. Wonder if the new Green Day album's out..."
Jim continued to walk in full gear in the dark alleyways. He was beginning to get used to the increased height he had with his leg enhancers.
However, as he kept on going at a steady pace, he couldn't help but shake off the feeling that he was being watched. He found it odd seeing that he disabled the cameras on the street prior and there were no cameras in sight within the alleyways thanks to them being so narrow.
"It's probably just the dark. Better switch to night-vision."
Jim did so and saw nothing behind or in front of him, however he looked up to see a person watching him from the rooftops. He couldn't make out their appearance from the distance between them but they started running as almost as if they knew he looked at him.
"What the hell? Probably just a kid. But I think I should get a bit farther away before I change. He could just be hiding."
Jim continued on, at a quicker pace, further down the alley and turned left to the back door of a pawn shop to evade whoever was watching. Little did he know, as long as he was in the dark, unbeknownst to him, he was being watched very closely.
Jim hastily took off his gear and stuffed the enhancers and mask into his bag.
Afterwards, he got out of the alleys and walked along the sidewalk, with his duffle bag in tow. 
After a sufficient distance, and the fact that he was in a well-lit area, he was finally able to shake off the feeling of being watched. But, ever so cautious, he voted to go back to Tracy and hide out.
While on his way, he remembered that he didn't give his current location to Jeffrey. Jim figured it was a tad too late to call so he just sent a text to Jeff on his whereabouts.
"Hey Bro, I'm in El Paso for the next 3 days. Meet you here. Call me when you're in town."

The following morning, Tracy woke up with Jim in front of her. He was making BLTs for breakfast.
"Morning, Tracy!" Jim said with a smile.
"Mornin'. Whacha makin', Jim"?
"BLTs. Bought the ingredients earlier while you were asleep. There's a flea market close by, so that's where I got the stuff, pretty cheap too!"
"Thanks for breakfast!"
"You're welcome."
"I'm glad a night's rest made you come back to your old self!"
"Yeah... Anyway, we'll be staying here for three days while the new truck is being fixed. In the meantime, I promise to find ways for you to walk around and not to be confined here all the time."
"Thanks. That also explains why the hummer's gone. So, how did you buy a truck so fast?"
"It was more like trade. I gave the hummer, they gave me a decent truck. They just need time to make it look and run good."
"Looks like our luck's turning back around."
"Yeah. So, how was sleep? I imagine not entirely good since we lost our sleeping bags."
"I'm fine. Don't worry about me."
"Still. I'll find a way to get some extra cash without stealing so we can replace the things we lost back in Arizona. It may be the home stretch, but I want you to be comfortable. I do want your family to like me, and taking care of you is a good step." 
"Your courtesy is much appreciated, and trust me, they'll love you! Breaking me out and taking me all the way back home halfway across the country is more than anyone would do for me. They'll be more than appreciative!" She said, smiling brightly.
"I don't expect them to be, but that would be nice."
"For an admitted punk rocker, you're such a gentleman."
"Thanks..." Jim said, blushing a bit. "Anyway, eat up and I'll check your bandages after. I did the best I could in the car, but now that things are all calm I can treat them properly."
"Right."
As Tracy started eating, Jim's phone rang and he pulled it out of his pocket.
"It's just Quanesia. Probably giving me an update."
Tracy gave a thumbs up as her mouth currently had 3 sandwiches in it simultaneously.
Jim answered his with an amused smile on his face, putting the phone on speaker as he answered.
"Hey, Quanesia. How's my system coming?"
"Security and speed have been optimized greatly."
"Thanks, Q. How's your progress going?"
"Well enough. Just waiting for public transport."
"Nice. Me and Tracy are having breakfast."
"Speaking of, I spent a few hours thinking, and might have come up with a theory to Tracy's powers."
Tracy looked up, wide-eyed and curious to what Quanesia said.
"What is it?"
"I believe she's getting her extra mass from an outside source. Howver, since rapidly adding mass directly from the environment around her would cause... Serious destruction in the surrounding area… I concluded that she's getting mass from somewhere else."
"And where is that?" Tracy said after swallowing.
"I theorize it to be another universe. But I have yet to prove it, though..."
"Really? Wow..."
"Thanks, Quanesia..."
"Alright... I'll leave you to process that information. Good luck again!"
Quanesia hung up. Leaving Jim and Tracy to ponder on her theory.
"Your thoughts?" Tracy asked.
"I mean... It's possible. The Large Hadron Collider deals with universal forces as it attempts to replicate the Big Bang on a smaller scale.”
"So, it's possible that I have access to a universe's worth of mass..."
"Or multiverses, seeing as Quanesia went with that universal theory."
"So, if I'm understandin' this right... I can be as big, or even Bigger, than the universe itself?!"
"Yes..."
"Whoa... Suddenly 100 feet tall doesn't seem so big... But damn... no wonder the government wants me... I'm scary powerful..." She said with a worried and frightened look on her face as she looked at her huge hands.
Jim saw this and decided to comfort his amazon-sized friend before her mind strayed into dark territories.
"Hey, don't be concerned about it. You're still you."
"Yeah, but... I'm dangerous..."
"No you’re not. Look, your powers are a bit scary when you think about it, not gonna lie, but they’re not what defines you."
"I coulda killed someone... And that can happen again... I'm dangerous and now... That's a part of me forever…" She said, breaking eye contact with Jim.
Jim reached her head and turned it so she could see him.
"Tracy. Hey... I'm here, aren't I? I don't think you're a dangerous monster. You're Tracy Price. Sure, you have powers that can level places in seconds now, but the young woman I’ve come to know would never do that because she's a good person. I'd be afraid of someone else getting your powers, but you? There's nobody else I'd trust but you. Because I know you would never do anything to harm innocent people. You saved Mika and me from harm, that just shows the kind of person you are! Do you see now? You protect, not destroy." Jim said as he held her hands.
"You mean it?" 
"I do. You may have to live like this now, but as long as I'm here, you don't need to worry. And if you need help? I'll help you to the best of my ability, I promise. I never back out of helping the people closest to me."
Tracy kissed Jim on the forehead.
"Thank you."
"It's what I do. No need to thank me at all."
"I'm glad I met you..."
"Me too. This is the best thing to come out of this experience."
"I agree."
"Tell you what, after I go out on one more quick run after taking care of your injuries. I'll spend the whole day here with you and we can even walk together later tonight. How's that?"
"That sounds great. Thank you."
"So, shall I take a look?"
"Yeah, go ahead."
Jim started unraveling the bandages on Tracy's arm and revealed no evidence of an injury whatsoever. Not even any scarring.
"Huh... The shots to your arm are fully healed!"
"Really?! It was strange that they stopped hurting yesterday..."
"Let me check out the one on your leg."
Jim went over and unraveled the bandages on Tracy's leg, same story. No sign she was ever shot there.
"I can't believe it, you're fully healed!"
"Really?!"
"Yeah! Not as fast as Wolverine or Deadpool, but still. Wow!"
"I guess we don't need to worry about going to the hospital."
"Saves us from getting caught... And amateur surgery from me..."
"Yeah. I trust you with a lot of things-"
"But we can both agree to let that shit be done by professionals."
"Right..."
"But anyway, this is great! Now I just need to buy you food for the day. 200 dollars should fit, but I really need a way to get money."
"Hmmm..."
"Well... I could cheat people?"
"What?"
"I used to... Cheat people... out of their money."
"How?"
"Fast hands, short stature, quick wit... admittedly not the highest point in my life but... I needed money for new... everything, when I immigrated so... I got a little desperate."
"So... You used to rob people?"
"Is it robbery if they give you the money?"
"How did you go around doing that?"
"Ever heard of the Three Card Monte?"
"You did card tricks for money? Like them guys with cups and a little table?"
"Yeah, that was my most-used method for quick cash."
"First you sew, then you’re a masseuse, then you box, and now you're some sorta street magician. My word…"
"I had a lot of interests back then. And I still do. Although, I never got around to learning how to play guitar."
"You can ask Samson for lessons."
"Your boyfriend? Maybe... Of course, they're going to have to adjust after a period of comprehension that superpowers exist. But, how long can that be?"
"They may freak out at first, but my family's pretty level-headed. I may need you to put it to my friends gently, though..."
"I'll work on a speech. In the meantime, are you going to be okay here?"
"As long as the guard or owner don't come in, I'm good."
"They won't. I change to their database for this particular unit, it's been paid for a month as far as they know. But tonight, we'll scout for other places to stay."
“Alright. And I may call up Quanesia if I get bored."
"Good idea. Anyway, I'll be right back."
"Take care."
"I always do." 
Jim picked up the duffle bag with his gear then did all the hacks to avoid detection before opening the roll-up garage door partially.
"I'll make it quick."
"See ya soon!"
He got out and closed the door. Jim did feel for Tracy, he wanted to go out and walk with her now, but the situation they were in made it impossible without attracting attention. But instead of feeling sad for her and saying sorry, he decided it's time for a grand gesture to his new close friend.
"Hmm... I did see a music store close by, I should probably check out the albums and see if there's a song I can play for her." He thought as he walked out of the storage lot.

A few minutes later, in his blue bomber jacket and sunglasses, Jim was across the road from the music store.
Raven's Records was the name of the establishment. It looked as if it was only recently opened. It was a smaller establishment that didn't have as much of the equipment of larger stores, but, it was the closest one in proximity. And as long as it had good music, Jim didn't care.
Unfortunately, the light had changed to red just as he was about to cross. 
"Two minutes?! Nope." He thought as he pulled out his phone and hacked the light to discreetly change to green.
After the light changed, a few cars went forward, but the traffic flow eventually stopped and he, along with a few relieved civilians, crossed the road.
After everyone was across, Jim hacked the lights again and they reset to normal functions.
However the isolated EMP from Jim's powers was picked up temporarily by the devices around him.
Most didn't notice and chalked it up to a malfunction or bug, but inside the music store, a young man wearing a black shirt, jeans, a cross necklace, and two studded bracelets on each wrist, was listening to some rock on his headphones when they picked up Jim's EMP and they started playing white noise.
This made him look around and stop drawing in his notebook. And he saw Jim enter the store.
He looked at the drawing he had in his notebook, slightly baffled. He stood up and started clearing the store of patrons as Jim browsed the Punk Rock section.
He managed to clear the store by giving the other patrons a free album each if they left for the day, and sure enough, the 5 other people left. Leaving him with Jim.
"Hey, looking for something?"
"Revolution Radio, Awake, Rise, 21st Century Breakdown, Pick A Universe?"
"I have those in the back. If you'd follow me, I'll find them for ya."
"Cool. Saves me time."
The young man led Jim to the back of the store. After he locked the door behind him, the young man wasted no time and confronted Jim.
"I know what you are." He said flatly.
"What?!"
"You’re a Neo-Human." 
He flipped through a few pages of his notebook and showed a sketch of Jim taking off his gear the night prior.
"This is you, isn't it?"
"What?! Dude, I have no idea what you're talking about!" Jim tried denying everything, in hopes he may think that he is the wrong guy.
"Let me jog your memory. You know someone by the name of General Brooks."
"General Brooks?! Shit!"
Jim sweep kicked him from behind the ankles, causing him to fall backwards.
Jim put down his duffle bag and choke-held the young man with his left hand and had his right balled into a fist, ready to punch.
"How do you know her?! Who are you?!"
Thinking he may get his face reworked, he calmly said.
"I'm not with that bitch if that's what you're getting at."
"How can I trust you?!"
"Look, I don't have any cameras. the only thing I got is a laptop, and it's not even connected to anything. I know you can do stuff to tech, so you can check it yourself."
Jim pulled out his phone and scanned for all devices. He was telling the truth.
"Alright…" He let go and got off of him "Care to explain who you are and what you know?" He said as he extended his hand to help him up.
The young man took Jim's hand and got up. "Damn floor. Okay, so I go by Zero." He said as he was dusting himself off. 
"What do you know about General Brooks, Zero?"
"I don't know her exactly, but I do know of a plan she has."
"How?"
"I'm like you, a Neo-Human."
"Show me what you got, then."
Zero's eyes went black for a second, then a snake crawled up his shoulder and wrapped gently around his neck. It was a very peculiar snake, pure black, but not a natural shade of it, and it didn't appear to have any scales.
"Not a species I know of. Wait... is that snake made of darkness?"
"Smart. This is Shadow. A manifestation of my own shadow. As you can tell, I have the power of Umbrakinesis."
"The power to manipulate shadows..." 
"I can make animals, weapons, the works. I can even make a ball when I'm bored."
"Okay. I believe you now. So what's this plan and how'd you get it?"
"Me and a few others are making a rebellion in Chicago. There was a facility there, where me and a few others tried taking over, but we didn't have the power to overcome them and their tech. But in our latest attempt, we got out with this." 
He booted up his laptop and showed Jim two files.
"Two files? That's it?"
"Well, we can't control tech like you, Technomancer!"
"First, I prefer Cyber-Punk. Second. Alright, fair enough. Let me see what's on the files then."
Zero clicked on the file named "Iron Scorpion" and it showed blueprints of a hight-tech APV. 
"Whoa... They look like the Tumblers from Batman. They were serious when they said they were gonna make those?!" 
"Afraid so. They plan on taking the war to us if the whole discreet thing gets thrown out the window."
"What's the other one?"
Zero clicked on it and it showed a prototype of what looked like a new form of high power, floor-mounted Radar.
"Radar?"
"Not Radar."
Zero scrolled through and revealed it's purpose.
"It's new tech being made to track us."
"What?!"
"The scientists say that Neo-Humans have a certain anomaly in them than can be tracked. It doesn't say here, but what it does say is that they're made from parts of the Hadron Collider under Texas."
Jim read a bit more and discovered that they are theorized to be just accurate enough to tell the general area and concentration of Neo-Humans in 3 mile radius.
"This is big..."
"Hell yeah, it is."
"But wait… If you're from Chicago, what're you doing here in Texas?"
"I left the rest of my team to find and recruit more. Figured the best place to start was near where the Hadron Collider that gave us our powers is. I've been gone for a while and when I heard some news about a cyborg in Arizona days ago, figured it was worth a shot to get as close as I can."
"But why did you stay here?"
"There's a lead here to the government and maybe even Brooks. And I need as much info on them as you do."
"What lead?”
"There's an underground Neo-Human Fighting Ring here. Run by the daughter of someone that used to work for the government. Which explains how she kept it under wraps. Whether she has info on Brooks or not, I need the info she has. And if you wanna join me..."
Zero handed Jim a ticket that had been made for the event.
"Fight is up in less than two days."
"Well, then..."
"I'll give you time to think about it. If you need me, I'll be here. And here's a little something extra."
Zero handed Jim the Limited Edition copy of Revolution Radio.
"Whoa..."
"Keep it and my offer in mind."
"I will."
Zero showed him out after Jim gathered his belongings.
"The Fighting Ring is under the horse racing track a few blocks from here. Just so you know."
"Alright."
"Consider my offer."
"I will."
Zero went back in as Jim crossed the road again and went back to Tracy, wondering what to do next.

"O'Hara?"
Delilah turned her head as she snapped out of her trance. She had been spacing out during the entire trip to her extraction point.
"Yeah, Arber?"
"We're almost there."
"Oh... Okay."
"You alright, O'Hara? Haven't said a thing since you got on."
"It's only been 10 minutes."
"We've been driving for half an our now."
"Really? I lost track."
"It's alright. You can have all the time to think about it while you’re training at base."
"Right..."
Arber continued to drive until he was at the drop-off in a remote area.
There, a smaller helicopter with a maximum capacity of 4, including the pilot, was waiting.
"We'll still update you on how the mission's progress is going while you're out."
"Where are you guys gonna go to find him?"
"At this point, we'll search every town for the hummer or them. Hopefully our rogue will want to play hero again and it goes on the news."
"Okay."
"Alright. We're movin' out!"
"Bye..."
Arber backed up and drove off as Delilah got on the chopper.

"When will those trackers be ready?! I'm sick of not knowing if there even is someone to look for!" Kane said, still having a firm grip on a struggling Savage.
"If you took the time to read the file on that, you'd know we still need to search for them. That "Tracker" is only gonna scan an area. And even then it's just concentration, not individuals."
"I know, but it would still be useful."
"Be patient."
"Yeah I know, ‘Wait for the perfect time.’ Easy for a sniper to say. But we had him! If it wasn't for this one taking your gun, you would've gotten the shot out on the rogue."
"It was unfortunate, but we'll get him. Someday soon. Probably..."
"And this time, Savage won't be a liability."
"If you weren't metal, I'd kill you right now!" He said angrily to Kane.
"But I am, and you can't." She replied with a smirk.
Arber found it a bit funny that a such a young trainee was back-sassing around a dangerous European hitman.

General Brooks, on the other hand, was busy in her office, balancing calls to the multiple projects that would help aid in this undercover war.
Iron Scorpion was coming along nicely, they did base the design off of the Batmobile in the movie "The Dark Knight", as it could adapt to both urban and rough terrain. They also found the motorcycle deployment system useful in both a practical and a surprise attack standpoint, as the motorcycles are the wheels of the original car, they can be attached to a new shell to remake the APV. Then, an opponent would not be expecting a downed APV to continue to fight, thus letting their guard down and allowing the two motorcycles to ambush.
They were made with capturing Neo-Humans in mind, so it's main weaponry was concussive cannons and a controlled electric shock administered by large tasers hidden in the outer layers of the wheels.
The Neo-Human trackers, on the other hand, were not progressing smoothly, if at all. Recycling parts from the Large Hadron Collider was theoretically needed, but difficult, as in a city-sized machine, it's difficult to find what part would make the tracker function as hypothesized. So until they were made, there was no way to know until they see it.
Balancing the multiple progress reports and orders was a difficult task, so much that Brooks was slightly buzzed from the rum she consumed to get through the tasks.
After the end of her last call, she breathed a sigh of relief and stood up from her seat.
"I signed up for this..." She reminded herself.
After the discovery of Neo-Humans was made months prior, General Cassandra Brooks personally signed up for the role of overseeing the Nightcaps. One would think that the president of all people would know about this, but in truth, they have yet to be made aware, as the election was nearing it's close, and the government didn’t want to inform someone who may be out of office in a few more months. Not to mention the debate that if one of the new candidates is elected, that they may not be trustworthy enough to know this secret. 
Thus, the headache of keeping Neo-Humans in control fell to Brooks, while research on Neo-Humans fell to the scientists that worked on Texas' LHC.
So far, attempts to transfer powers into normal individuals had been fruitless, but in some cases, special cells and other technology can be made to render a Neo-Human's abilities useless. But with new powers being discovered nearly every day, it was difficult for scientists to keep up.
After her quick break, Brooks was about to do more paperwork when her personal line with Kane rang.
"Yes?" 
"General Brooks. We were successful in getting O'Hara back." Kane said.
"I assume that that isn't everything you have to tell me…”
"The rogue wasn't with her. He just dropped her off and continued on his way, O'Hara said she was unconscious the entire time."
"Keep trying. We'll have new tech to point out specific locations soon." 
"Yes, ma'am! But another thing you should know General… O'Hara lost her comms. They were taken by the rogue."
"Noted. He so much as rings, I'll tell you where the area of the call was made."
"Alright. Well, that's all, General. O'Hara will be back at base soon."
"Thank you, Kane. And before you go, how is Savage?”
"Handcuffed for going against orders."
"Continue to assert dominance. Make sure an outburst like that does not happen again." 
"Yes, General. Over and out."

Mika was at her home in Arizona with her sister Zoe after Tracy and Jimmy saved the two from their unfortunate, and potentially fatal, situations.
Mika only told her sister as much as she needed to know, not mentioning Cyber-Punk's true identity or his partner, but she did tell Zoe that she knew the hero.
They were both enjoying their day off at their house when they heard the doorbell ring.
"I'll get it." Mika said as she got off the couch and went past her sister reading a book.
"Sure, thanks. Oh Caitlin, when will you learn?" Zoe said, commenting on her book.
Mika took a peek from the peephole and saw a man that had brown hair and wearing glasses, slacks, a white button-up shirt, and a red tie. He had a notepad in his hand and looked a tad anxious.
"Uh... sis? This might be your thing."
"Who is it?"
"I don't know. Some guy with a notepad."
"Hold on."
Zoe came to the door and looked into the peephole.
"Let's... Ask him what he wants."
Zoe opened the door slightly and spoke to the man.
"Hello? Can I help you?"
"Hello, are you one of the employees of the jewelry store that was robbed a few days ago?" The man spoke with an English accent. Obviously from the United Kingdom.
"Yes..."
"Allow me to introduce myself then. I'm Shaun Snow. I'm a journalist."
"Oh. Okay... Anything I can do for you?"
"I just want to ask a few questions. May I come in?" 
"Sure, come in."
"Thank you."
Zoe let the man in and let him sit on the armchair in front of the couch. Mika then pulled her sister to the for a moment.
"Okay, so... A journalist." Zoe said quietly.
"Obviously gonna ask you about... Him." Mika said extra quietly.
"I know. Don't worry, he won't get to me."
"I'll still be there with you, and my lips will be sealed too."
Zoe took out some water and a glass from the refrigerator and walked back to Shaun. Mika sat down on the couch 
"Water?"
"No, this will just be quick."
"Okay. So, what would you like to ask?”
"On the day of the robbery, the gunmen held you hostage. What happened that night that made the tables turn?"
"Our security guard, John, jumped into action, grabbing one of the three in the room with us and tasing him. One of my coworkers grabbed the other one while he was distracted by his friend getting tased."
"Go on..."
"John got hit in his forehead and a struggle went on but in the end he got the guy's shotgun and hit him with it to knock him out while the other guy, held by my coworker, had surrendered. Not wanting to take a chance, John knocked him out too and cuffed all of them before going to the safe."
"It was an electronically locked safe, yes?"
"Yeah. So they couldn't get in, but they were still trying."
"I assume Mister Tenpenny took them down too, correct?" 
"Yes, he did. And as soon as the driver arrived, he tased him too."
"Alright, that'll be all. Thank you for your time."
"Alright, glad I could help."
Shaun and Zoe shook hands and he showed himself out.
"That went well." Mika said.
"Surprisingly..."
Shaun made his way back to his car and while in his seat reviewed his notes
"They all have a different story..."
Prior to Zoe, he had questioned the other employees and the security guard as well.
Thanks to approaching them individually, the stories each one told were slightly different. Inconsistent stories were what he was looking for.
"What are they hiding?"
Shaun was convinced that something was going on with all the strange reports and sightings going on in the country, so he took it upon himself to uncover the underlying truth. 
"Okay... Next up, the giant raven reports..."
Just then, Shaun received a call.
"Bloody Hell! Not this again..." He said, irritated.
"Hello?"
"Snow, we need you to cover a story while you're in Arizona." A man on the other end said.
"Not now. I'm in the middle of something."
"Look, if you want to keep using that van and keep your job as our traveling journalist, you need to do some work."
"Fine, Steve. No need to remind me. Where to?" 
"Go to Phoenix, cover the new pieces in the Phoenix Art Museum. I heard some of them were imported from Venice."
"Will do..."
Shaun hung up and started the engine.
"At least it's on the way."
As Shaun drove, he tried to connect his findings, however he couldn't find anything that could connect. 
He only had two theories that could make sense; Government doomsday weapon testing or aliens. Either one meant that the government was hiding something from the public, and he didn't much care for that.
For as long as he could remember, he had believed that there was more to the world around him then what was shown, and as he grew into adulthood, his curiosity about the world grew as well. Taking the path of journalism was an obvious choice, but alas, he was not given what he wanted to do as a journalist. However it seemed to be a blessing in disguise when traveling and just so happened to be at locations where out-of-the-ordinary events happen.
Unlike some conspiracy theorists, he was polite and composed as he knows that evidence is required for anything to be proven real, and gathering evidence is difficult to say the least when no one trusts you or thinks you've gone insane.
As he played a CD of AC/DC while driving, he wondered… What were the motives of the employees to all lie?
"Money? Blackmail? Threats?" He thought. "Covering up their test run, or weapon gone rogue?"
He kept on thinking while on his way to Phoenix.

After hours of flight, Delilah landed back at the Oregon facility. But her thoughts were still unclear and unfocused as she walked back to the main building.
As she made her way though the corridors to her quarters, she saw General Brooks pass by.
"General." She said as she saluted 
"I'm glad to see you return to us O'Hara. How are feeling after your kidnapping?"
"I'm alright, I just need to rest for a few days after that."
"Sad to hear, I was hoping to give you a mission."
"What is it, General?"
"I see you're still interested. Quanesia Evans, one of the escapees from Alcatraz, has a relative in Portland. Her father."
"So, you want me to watch him and maybe pose as her to keep an eye on him?"
"Yes."
Delilah thought about it. This would be a more quiet mission, watching was really all she did as an occupation prior, it seemed good.
"What did Evans do, if I may ask."
"Learned our secrets from deduction. As a polymath, her intelligence knows no bounds. She could've potentially hacked our databanks had we not acted."
"Did she manage to hack into the systems?"
"Prior to her capture, no. Although, during her breakout on Alcatraz, the rogue may have helped her wipe the system there."
"Alright, I'll take the mission. I'll see where it goes.”
"Splendid. You'll start at 0600 tomorrow."
"Will do, General Brooks."
Brooks continued to walk, leaving Delilah.
"Okay, Delilah... Let's... Keep a straight, one-track mind on this. Just watch the guy and call in if things get messy. Simple..." She thought to herself. "But first... I need a drink. There any wine here?"

A tad later that same night, Jeffrey was making a break for Jim after receiving his message. He wanted to be with his brother and now that he was nearing New Mexico, he felt so close yet so far.
He got off the bus with his luggage case and began walking to the next stop some distance away.
As he was walking, a teen in ratty jeans and a brown hoodie approached him.
"Hey man, got some some money? I need it." The teenager said.
"Sorry, I'm on my way somewhere."
"Come on man. I need cash!"
"I need it too."
Jeffery continued walking, leaving the teen, but his shoulder bumped into two men that looked like they were on… Something. With rotted teeth and ghetto clothing, the Caucasian man was hiding his one hand in his oversized pants while his African American partner had nothing.
Jeffery took a glance behind him as they passed And saw the teen from earlier turn back and start running away from the men and a chase started.
Jeffrey made a split decision to chase after them too, so he lifted his rolling suitcase and started running after them. 
Three minutes of running later, Jeffrey was at the end of an alleyway that the teen and his pursuers ran into.
As he looked in while breathing heavily from the chase, the two men had the teen cornered at the dead end of the alley.
"I don't have the money right now! Just wait and I'll pay you!" The teen said with his back to the wall.
"No money? NO MONEY?! Bullshit!"
"Yeah, cracker! If you ain't gon' pay now then we just gon' have to fuck you up!"
One of them pulled out a Glock 9 and pointed it at the teen's head sideways.
"Don't shoot if you know what's good for you." Jeffery said as he aimed his Smith & Wesson 327 M&P revolver at the man with the gun in the weaver position.
"Shit, man!"
"Let him go and nobody gets hurt!"
"This ain't about you man! Walk the fuck away!"
"Fuck that.”
The man pointed his gun and Jeffrey with his friend watching.
"You ain't got shit on us man!"
With the Glock 9 pointed at him in a sideways position, Jeffrey saw something in the man's gun.
"Man, you gangbangers are stupid as shit."
"Wha'chu talkin' 'bout?!"
"That gun's fake, wouldn't hurt a fly!"
It was true, the gun had screws where a real Glock would never have in order to secure the metal plating.
"Shut up!" 
"Nice try buying one with metal plating, but it's not gonna work! This gun I have? Real! So back off!"
"Bull-"
Before he could finish, a fed-up Jeffrey shot him in the leg, the bullet went in trough his kneecap and out through the back of his knee.
The man fell to the ground and screamed in pain.
"GRAAAHHH! YOU SHOT ME IN THE FUCKIN' LEG!" The man said, writhing on the floor with pain, trying to cover up the bleeding hole in his left knee.
"Oh SHIT!" His friend said as he ran away.
"Come on! Let's go!" Jeffrey said to the teen
With a nod the teen ran away with Jeffrey, far away from the alley.
After a few moments they reached a convenience store, both panting from running so much.
"Thanks man... I thought for sure... they'd get me."
"No problem... But why were they after you?"
"I..." The teen was reluctant to say it. "Bought something from them... And I didn't have the money to pay them off."
"You bought drugs off of them, didn't you?"
"What the- How did you know?" He said in a defeated tone.
"The look you have, the look of those guys, the fact you're begging for cash."
"Shit, man..."
"Look, I'm gonna be blunt with you and say you're going to get into some really bad spots if you keep going down this road."
"You don't understand! I need it!"
"No, you don't!" Jeffery raised his voice in annoyance.
"You wouldn't say that if you saw what I saw!"
"Oh, yeah? Try me."
"I... Don't wanna talk about it."
"Spill it. I'm not the best conversationalist, but I'm going to say what I think you should do."
"You wouldn't believe me. Nobody does..."
"I've seen more shit than you know, so talk to me, man."
"I... I know it sounds insane but... I saw a girl break her leg. Like full 90 degrees, the shin was all purple and shit, then she just... Straightened it out and... Walked like normal."
"Okay... Go on..." Jeffrey knew he was dealing with someone who had witnessed a Neo-Human display their powers.
"So, I'm thinking that... It can’t be real, so I follow her, and when she's watchin' TV while painting her toes, and for some reason, she cuts off her pinky toe and then... It grew back! I'm not joking, man!"
"Okay. Look, I know what you saw was probably rough on you, but that's no excuse to take whatever they're selling!"
"Why not?! She keeps denying it! No one believes me! It's all a mess!"
"If you don't want to die, or for the people closest to you to get killed, you'll stop. You wanna know how I know so much about it? I speak from experience!"
"You've... Done this before?"
"No, but my mom and girlfriend did... For a long time and... It was Hell."
"What happened?"
"My mom made friends with some tweakers, shortly after we had moved to LA after my dad had passed away a few months prior. They gave her what she wanted, and every month, even knowing that we lived from paycheck to paycheck, they leeched off of her until she was dry. My girlfriend, who had previously had a problem, and had started recovering shortly before we met and started dating, got hooked back in, but for her, it was just pot."
"I heard this story before. School always says it's bad for you and it'll destroy-"
"Shut up! I'm not done. Those tweaker gangbangers leeched off my mom CONSTANTLY everyday, even when she was starting to quit and my girlfriend had been recovering, they kept trying to tempt them back in and took all their money even when they were dead broke. It got so bad that I convinced them to leave and just start anew. It took a few months but my mom finally listened to me and my girlfriend. But... Then something happened."
"What?"
"They got killed. Some men barged into our apartment and shot them. I was out on a walk then, by the time I came back, I was only met to the sight of the two people I love dead on the floor in a pool of their own blood."
"Shit..."
"After they got sent to the morgue... I went ahead with what we had in mind... we were going to pay fixers to ‘alter’ what documents we needed to move away, but... I was alone instead."
"Shit dude..."
"But then... When I wrote my name down, one of the fixers asked me if I was related to someone and... they gave my mom's name. I was shocked and then I slammed my fist on his laptop, breaking a bunch of the keys, and asked him what he knew. At first he wouldn't talk, but when I pulled my gun out, he told me that other fixers he knew, the ones that work like hitmen, took the contract. I asked him with the gun to his forehead who hired them and surprise, it was the two tweakers that had already ruined their lives... Because my mom had traded some jewelry with them for some pot, so that she could save her actual money. And I guess the jewelry turned out to be fake or something, so… Yeah… You’re probably smart enough to realize where that goes…”
"What did you do?"
"What did I do? Something that felt right at the time... But now I regret... I put a suppressor on my gun and snuck into their house. Picked the lock on the back door, snuck past some of their pals that were hanging around there with them. When I found them, they were high off their minds and didn't even notice me come in. I was so angry that they killed the only people I had in life, they took away EVERYTHING from me so... I shot them.... Both, in the head. They stopped moving and with all the loud Gangsta Rap playing no one even knew. So... I went on with my life and moved away before the police could even think of coming to me. Luckily the fixer finished my documents quick after having his client pull a gun on him. But something... Didn't feel right..."
"Why?"
"Revenge was... It made me feel better at first, but... After a while, I realized that..." Jeffrey sat down as he remembered how he felt that day. “Nothing that I do will ever bring them back. I felt dead inside as I stayed in my new apartment in Vegas, a good way away from all the shit that happened back then. I was alone, not very good at conversations, and just generally not really social at all after my dad had passed away. Anyway, over and over again, I thought about what I did to the point where... I thought a LOT about ending my life. But... One day I... met someone." Jeffery began tearing up. 
"Who?"
"A new person moving in caught me coming back from the convenience store and asked for some help with his stuff. I wanted to go but... Something about him made me want to help him out. So I did. And that small choice I made that day was the best one I had made in my life in a long time. After a few weeks of talking with him, I opened up and... He was a great guy. I was prepared for the worst, but he gave me his best. He said that he judged me on who I am now, not what I did then. That day... I had a new family. And that's where I'm going. He left to do some stuff but now I'm heading to him. He got me out of my guilt and misery and for that... I owe him my life."
"Wow..."
"So, do you see my side of things now?"
"I... think I do... Thank you. It must've been hard bringing all that up."
"It was. But you still have a chance, don't throw your life away, you never know who will be affected." 
"Thank you..."
"Here... I'll take you to the police station. It's not that far from the bus stop anyway so I can still make it."
"Where is your friend now?"
"El Paso. Why?"
"Well... Let me return the favor. My dad doesn't know about me doing Crack... yet. I'll tell him though, and start going to rehab or something. But anyway, he's a taxi driver. After explaining what you did for me, I'm sure he'll give you a free ride. But only as far as he can go. He can't take you all the way to El Paso."
"It's plenty. Thank you..."
"Wally"
"I'm Jeff."
The two shook hands and started walking to the police station.

Brooks paced around in her office with a phone in hand and the same calm demeanor.
"Colonel? How's progress?"
"The high profile target, uh… Sorry if I butcher the pronunciation... Iosif Vadim... Anyway, that guy has been recaptured along with 60 more Neo-Humans throughout the country, General."
"Good news. Any setbacks?"
"None reported, General. Some facilities have been attacked, but the attackers were either subdued and captured or retreated."
"Thank you Colonel, that will be all."
Brooks sat down and leaned against her chair, then started to remember who she was doing this for. Her calm and usually stern, emotionless face suddenly becoming a face of sadness, with a bit of regret.
"I'm sorry, Lucy..." She thought sadly. "I hope Washington is keeping you safe…”

As Jim walked back to the storage unit, he looked at the ticket Zero gave him to the fighting ring. It gave the location in a brief fine print text under the "Admit One" print.
"I have two and a half days... I want to make sure this isn't a trap first. Let me see… How far Jeffrey is now..." He thought as he began calling him.

Jeffrey was on the last bus he needed to ride to get to El Paso. Wally's father dropped him off at a motel by the strike of midnight after thanking him for saving his son. While Jim bought breakfast for Tracy that morning, Jeffrey just had to settle for two cream-filled donuts and a bottle of chocolate milk from a convenience store. 
He had just finished eating on the bus when Jim called him.
"Hey man, I was just about to call you, actually." 
"So... Where are you man? Something's come up."
"I'll be there later tonight. What happened? Did something-"
"No, nothing I can't handle. I'll explain it with you and Tracy. We're going for a walk later tonight."
"You sure that's safe, man? Bringing Tracy out?"
"I'll be there with her. And she needs to go out. I've been keeping her in tight places and... She may not say it, but I can feel she's not very comfortable being in enclosed spaces for such a long time."
"I would be too if I was in her shoes." 
"And besides, it's gonna be late in the night, so it'll be fine. But the next night? You're going to have to stay with her while I do a thing, tell you and T about it later."
"Okay..."
"See you soon, man."
"See you soon, brother."
The two hung up and continued on their ways. Jim even started listening to the album Zero gave him.

Jim was back at the storage unit, but before he opened the roll-up garage door with his phone, he pocketed the ticket for the fighting ring.
"Can't tell her about it. Not yet."
He opened up the door partially and went back in to see Tracy reading the pocketbook he gave her days ago.
"How are you?"
"I'm good. Just wish things didn't look like fine print on this book."
"It is a pocketbook... but don't worry, I got something that you just have to listen to." 
Tracy watched Jim set his phone down then clear his throat a bit.
"Now... This is purely for making you feel better. I know that these past few days have been a bit crazy to completely understate it, and it's been just as hard on you as it has been for me, if not harder. So... I wanted to sing a song for you. Because when I heard it just now... I knew you’d like it." 
Jim started playing the instrumental of "Are We the Waiting" by Green Day from the album American Idiot on his phone. The album Zero gave him came with Green Day's last album in it as well and Jim finally got to listen to his favorite songs again on demand as opposed to hoping the radio will play or take a risk and download music on his phone.
"Starry nights, city of lights
coming down over me-"
"Jim, you don't have to do this." Tracy said as her cheeks went rosey.
"Skyscrapers
Stargazers in my mind
Are we, we are
Are we, we are the waiting?
Lost and found 
City bound in my dreams
The Jesus of Suburbia is a lie..."
Tracy found the whole performance beautiful, even though Jim wasn't singing into a microphone, and the instrumental wasn't as loud as it was supposed to be, due to coming from a phone speaker, the thought that he would do this to someone he only met days ago was extremely thoughtful to her that it made her heart beat a bit faster.
"Are we, we are
Are we, we are the waiting
Unknown..."
Just as Jim was about to sing the rest, he was disturbed by a call on his phone.
"Sorry."
"No need. Thank you."
"Thanks... Wonder who's-"
He picked it up and saw Quanesia calling.
"Oh! It's Q. This could be important."
"Well, answer. I won't mind."
Jim nodded and answered.
"Hello?"
"Jimmy? I have bad news. I need technopath help."
"Why? What's happening?!"
"Checkpoints have been placed here. The Government has my profile so they'll know me when they see me. I already thought of a plan however, I need your assistance."
"What will I do?"
"I need you to cause a minor explosion." 
"What?!"
"This will serve as a much better distraction while I sneak past. I'm already off the bus and just walking there so I won't be so obvious."
"Glad you're learning from my mistake... Anyway, switch to video call and point me at whatever I need to blow up. As long as people are clear."
"I assure you, no one will be injured."
She switched to video call and Jim was ready to send his self-terminating virus. He figured he could make another later and refine it.
"Just tell me when and where okay?"
"Alright...." 
Quanesia neared the checkpoint, the gridlock it caused was sizable, but the other side was clear, perfect for what Quanesia had in mind.
"See the fuse box?" She said as she pointed the phone to a fuse box on the checkpoint.
"Blow that up?"
"Yes. It will cause a small, yet loud explosion and an electrical fire. It will also cause their cameras to lose power, thus giving me enough of a distraction for me to hide behind cars and remain undetected."
"You really thought this through. Can you zoom in so I can see? This is the first time I'm doing this."
Jim cloned his experimental virus, then hacked into Quanesia's phone. After that, he used her phone to detect the fuse box and installed his virus copy into the system that regulates the flow of power at the checkpoint.
"Okay. Just hold."
"Overload in 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2..."
The screens in the checkpoint flashed, then went black. As the men at the checkpoint tried rebooting their surveillance monitors the fuse box's rubber insulation on the wires melted from the heat, then caught fire, and finally blew up.
As the fire spread and the men got out, Quanesia hid behind the cars away from their view and passed through the checkpoint. 
All the while the men tried extinguishing the flame unsuccessfully with water.
Quanesia bypassed the checkpoint unnoticed, but she knew chances were someone in the front cars will tell the men about her so she ran for it.
"Thank you. I need to go for now, contact you if I need more help."
"O-Okay, you know I can-"
Quanesia hung up before Jim could finish.
"She hung up on me..."
"She good?"
"I think she is... So far she's proven that she's smart enough to know their moves beforehand."
"Alright..."
"Well, she's smart enough to have some sort of contingency plan if ever... The worst happens to her..." Jim said as he spaced out.
"Jim? You okay?"
"Yeah... Just thought of something that I should probably do... But, anyway… Jeff’s going to be with us later tonight. And since we are going on a walk tonight as well, we're going to meet up with him while we're out later."
"Good thing he didn't run into any trouble."
"Yeah. But until then, let's relax. I got more songs I want you to listen to."
"As long as I hear you sing them, I'm good."
"Even if most of them are loud Punk Rock songs?"
"I'll give them a chance."
"Okay, let's do this!"

The rest of the day was mostly uneventful, with Jim and Tracy spending the day together, eating lunch, singing, and talking about anything they can think of.
As night fell, Jim decided to send Jeffrey a message. 
"Okay... We can walk in a few hours. Let the night life die down first."
"A'ight. What do we do until then?"
"Well... Uh... Hmmm... I don't know. I'm out of topics."
"How about... I don't know, Truth or Dare?"
"How about... No."
"Scared?"
"No. I just find it uncomfortable for all parties involved."
"You're no fun."
"I can live with that."
"Hmmm... How about a good old fashioned arm wrestle?"
"Uh... I prefer my shoulder in my socket..."
"You afraid o' takin' on little ol' me?" 
"If I said I was terrified, would you understand?"
"Crystal clear." She said with a giggle.
"Well... have any other family? You mentioned that you have an aunt in Louisiana."
"I do. And two cousins! Whenever I was in town we always hung out. Well... mostly my cousin Bonnie. Her brother Jessie always kept to himself."
"Okay. Any other relatives?"
"Well... Hmmm... As far as I'm aware, my Uncle on my daddy's side lives in Illinois. But I don't know him that well. My ma does though. And... I'm not sure if he had kids, so I don't know if I have any cousins from him."
"Okay... Illinois... Like... Chicago, Illinois?"
"I dunno."
"Okay... As for me, my uncle from my mom's side lives in Canada with my cousins. And I'm an uncle myself as my sister has a son and my brother’s wife is expecting."
"Nice!"
"Yeah. Honestly, my sister can be a bit of a bitch sometimes but that's just how she grew to be. Overall, she's a good mom. As for my brother... Well... He didn't want kids. But he loved his wife so... Now they're having a kid!"
"Good for them!"
"Yeah." He said with a smile.
"Okay, my turn to ask you something. Ever had a girlfriend?'
"Uh... What?" Jim said, shocked by the abrupt change in topic.
"Ever had a girlfriend?" She repeated.
"No... I've never been in a relationship..."
"And why is that?" She said, genuinely curious.
"I don't know. I just never became attached to anyone back in my country."
"Ever had a crush on someone?"
"Back in my high school days, someone had a crush on me, but I never really felt anything for her. I do feel sad that I was too chicken to tell her that I don't like her because..."
"Because?"
"She tried to kiss me in junior prom. But I just... Ran away."
"Why?"
"I didn't know how to handle a situation like that at the time, and I just... Took off without thinking."
"Yikes..."
"Tell me about it... She was pretty shaken up and miserable for the next few days. Didn't wanna talk to me either. Figured I'd give her some space but then she just up and left. Switched schools thanks to that incident. I always knew school sucked but to have that happen and be the cause of it? I felt awful."
"I never really had an issue like that with my proms, but it's okay. You didn't know how to respond back then."
"Yeah..."
"Well... How about somethin' positive?"
"Like?"
"Well... Had any unique food over where you used to live?"
"A lot. We had some pretty weird food like Purple Yam cake and ice cream."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"I'm open to trying it. I mean, I do admit, that sounds weird, but I've heard of weirder."
"Oh, that's just the tip of the iceberg..."

A couple of hours later, Jim decided it was late enough to walk out with Tracy. 
"Alright. It's about time. Let's go for our little walk."
"Are you sure about this? Spending time here with you is fine."
"No. I don't want you to get claustrophobic."
"Okay... But what if-" 
"People come by? I'll handle it. We'll keep from the main streets and I'll have the scanner function on my phone active. That way if anyone with a phone is nearby, I can sense them."
"Thank you. For all of this."
"Hey, no need to thank me. Just looking out for a friend."
"Still, you've given me so much. I don't know how I can ever repay you."
"You saved our lives. That's more than enough to make it even. And by that logic, I owe you." 
"No, it's alright. Don't even worry 'bout it."
"Hey, I'm grateful to my friends. So I remember when I owe them and I'll do anything for them... Within reason of course."
"Right."
Jimmy opened the roll-up door slightly and made sure the coast was clear.
However as he scanned to pick up the cameras and hack them as per usual, he picked up a mobile phone that was nearing him.
"Hey!" The guard yelled at a distance.
Jim shut the roll-up door and put up his hood.
"What the hell are you doing kid?!"
"Leaving!" Jim said, not facing him, so as to avoid having his face seen.
"I've been hearing a lot of noise here since yesterday!" The guard was suspicious with all the cameras playing on loop at certain times. So he decided to see for himself what the trouble was.
"And what the fuck do you think I have to do it?" Jim stalled as he was hacking into his phone to insure he won't make any calls.
"I don't know. Everything! So turn around!"
After pocketing his phone, Jim suddenly started running.
"Hey!"
A chase ensued as the guard ran after Jim.
Jim led him deeper into the storage facility, despite carrying the duffle bag with enhancers in it on his back while running, he didn't feel any fatigue. This proved to be advantageous to the young technopath as he stopped to hack into another garage unit's door while the guard struggles to keep up.
"Slow... Down!" He said between tired breaths.
Jim opened the roll-up door of the random garage unit and it was half-full of items from the person renting it. 
"Want me? Come get me!" Jim said as he went inside.
The guard went into the open garage and turned on his flashlight.
"No need to hide kid!"
That was when Jim struck him in the back with an aluminum baseball bat he found in the garage.
The guard fell to the floor and held his lower back in pain.
"AAAGGGHHH!"
Jim went out with the bat in hand and closed the door, locking the guard inside.
"Sorry." Jim said as he ran back to Tracy.
After quickly opening the roll-up door again, Jim got in to see a distressed Tracy.
"What happened?!" 
"We need to go! The guard saw me. I trapped him in another unit, but his phone won't be disabled for long."
"Fuck. Not again..."
"Yeah... Moving night." 
"I'll take the crate."
Jim carried Tracy's bag of clothes and his things as well as the baseball bat while Tracy carried around the munitions crate like a small cooler. They quickly exited the storage facilities after Jim froze the cameras. and opened the gate.
They got out and distanced themselves from there as fast as they could. 
"Great. Just when we got comfortable."
"It's alright."
"Eh. Honestly, I shouldn't really be surprised why things never go my way."
"Things rarely go well for anyone all the time."
"I know, but... This has been a streak of bad luck for us."
"At least progress is still being made. That's something we can be glad for."
"I guess... but I wanted this walk with you to be relaxing and not another against the clock, shelter-hunting thing. I'm sorry, Tracy..."
"We weren't gonna stay there forever anyway..."
Jim remained silent as they continued to walk in the small, mostly empty streets.
After a couple of minutes, Jim realized that he forgot to call Jeffrey from all of the excitement.
After dialing him up, the two started talking to each other as soon as Jeffrey picked up.
"Hey man. Where are you?"
"I'm pretty much there. I just need to walk there."
"Okay... Listen. We're going to meet you out here but you should know that me and Tracy were forced out of our place. So... When we meet up, we're going to be looking for a place to stay until I get the delivery truck."
"Sure. What happened? You alright?"
"We're good. I just got caught before I could hack the cameras."
"Shit... Sorry man."
"It's alright. Anyway, I'll send you our location by turning on my GPS so you can see where I am."
"Okay. See you in a bit."
"Bye."
Jim ended the call and looked at Tracy.
"Okay. We're gonna meet up with him and he'll help us look for a place to stay for the night."
"Okay."
Jim went silent as he walked with Tracy. However she knew he was beating himself up internally over what happened, so she decided to start some small talk to get his mind off of it.
"So... What kinds of games do you play?"
"Why the sudden change in subject?"
"Just curious is all."
"Okay... Well, it depends on what game. I know a lot of games and played a lot too."
"What's the last one you finished?"
"Titanfall 2. As with most games like it, I start the campaign before multiplayer. A shame there wasn't any Vanguard class titans in multiplayer. It was fun in the campaign." 
"Uh... Vanguard?"
"Well, in the game, the robots or "Titans" are given classes. The one you play with in the campaign is a titan named BT and he's a Vanguard class Titan."
"Huh... sounds interesting..." 
"Yeah. The game was good overall. There's a few things off about it, but no game's perfect."
"What other games have you played?"
"Well..."

"Dude? Are you here?" Jeffrey announced in a relatively wide alleyway.
He followed the location of Jim's phone and knew he was there.
"Hey, man." Jim said, tapping his shoulder.
After turning, Jeffrey picked up his brother and hugged him.
"Hey! I've only been gone for a few days!"
"Doesn't matter. I missed you, man."
"You too bro..."
"Awww..." Tracy said, smiling at the sight before her
"Oh! Right! Uh, well... Now that everyone is here, we can talk."
Jeffery released Jim and listened to what he had to say.
"What is it, man? Is this the thing you told me on the phone?"
"And what you said you'd tell me earlier?"
"Yeah... So... Full disclosure, I met someone. Another Neo-Human, but not government. He's a guy that calls himself "Zero". Pretty sure that's not his real name, which makes him shady at best, but he does have files from the government about stuff that can be used against the Neo-Human population."
"What?!" Tracy and Jeffery said in unison.
"I know. Which is why tomorrow, I'm establishing an investigation on this guy. See if he's telling me the truth or not."
"What has he told you so far?" Tracy questioned.
"Aside from the files and stuff." Jeffrey added.
"He told me that he's the head honcho of some movement in Chicago. But he can say anything because I don't know him, so I'll need to verify if he's telling the truth. But for that? I need to leave for a while. That's where you come in brother o' mine."
"What do I need to do?"
"Be with Tracy while I'm gone. If Phoenix taught me anything, things can happen even in the shortest time. But first… Tracy? Are you okay with me being gone for a while?"
"As long as you promise to come back." She said, looking at him with concern.
"I will. Remember, as long as something is connected to the Internet, I can teleport."
"I know. Just be safe while you're out doin' what you're doin'..." 
"Yeah, man. I can't do anything with Tracy unless you're here. Not to mention, I just got here."
"I know, you just got here and I'm leaving in the morning, but this is important. I wouldn't leave if it wasn't." 
"Fair enough." Jeffrey stated.
"Now that that's out of the way. Jeff, got your guns?"
"Hell yeah! I've got my same revolver that I had in Vegas, but also a Beretta handgun with a silencer, and a Steyr AUG A3 assault rifle. Also with a silencer.”
"Great!"
"I may not have superpowers, but I'm bringing the firepower!"
"Then you'll like this. Tracy?"
Tracy put the black munitions crate down in front of Jeffrey.
"It's a munitions crate. It mostly has shotgun shells and beanbags, but you can put your guns and ammo in here so you're not toting around a bunch of guns like The Punisher."
"Wow... Where'd you get this?" Jeffery said as he opened it.
"The hummer me and T stole."
"Awesome. Give me a minute to put my stuff in."
"Alright. And after that, we'll find a place to stay for the night."
"And preferably sooner rather than later." Tracy said. "It's getting really late."
"We will Tracy." Jim said.
After Jeff finished putting his guns and ammo in the crate, Tracy picked it back up, and the three began walking. Jim was searching the GPS for anywhere suitable while talking.
"So, dude... Anything happen to you while on your trip to us?" Jim asked.
"Nothing much. Got into a little trouble, helped a guy who really needed it."
"Awww... Why didn't you call? I could've helped."
"I can handle wannabe gangbangers that don't have a real gun."
"Okay..."
"Uh… ‘Gangbangers’?” Tracy said, unfamiliar with the term.
"Gangster low-lives that don't have anything to do but ruin lives." Jeffrey said flatly.
"Jeff has some real beef with them." Jim said, putting his hand on Jeffrey's shoulder.
"Oh. I'm sorry."
"It's okay, Tracy..."
She was about to say something when he spotted a place to stay in the distance with her increased vantage point.
"Hey Jim? Can a scary-looking factory work?"
"Where?"
"Over to the left... Quarter mile or so?"
Jim looked over for factories and saw the one Tracy pointed out.
"Hmmm... Old cereal production place... East part burned down after a worker lit up a lighter to smoke while not in the break room. Multiple third and second degree burns. Been abandoned for 3 years! Perfect!"
"Uh..."
"I know, Jeff, not the best place to stay. But we're against the clock here."
"I know. Just sounds kind of eerie..."
"Hey. I met a guy that can control shadows earlier today and I don't know if he's who he says he is. Now compare a spooky cereal factory to that... Which one would you rather take a chance at?"
"Cereal factory." Jeffery stated almost immediately.
"This Zero guy can control shadows?!" Tracy said in surprise.
"Yes... Like a Black Lantern, or some obscure anime character." Jim stated.
"You do know, on the Black Lantern thing, that's still light slash energy and he controls the opposite..." Jeffrey said.
"How can he do that?" Tracy questioned.
"Uh... I need Quanesia to look into this because I can't come up with anything to explain that..." Jim stated as he scratched his head.
"Whenever she calls again." Tracy said
"What did she get into?" Jeffery asked.
"A lot of things. Good thing we have the time catch up..."

When they got to the cereal factory, they were met with an old chain link fence. Tracy grew to a little over 14 feet and got over the 7 foot high fence.
She put the munitions crate down, then stuck her arm out over the fence.
"Jim. Jeff."
Jim understood and grabbed on Tracy's arm, She lifted him up and over the fence.
"Thanks, Trace."
"You’re welcome."
She put her arm out again and Jeffery got on. He was surprised Tracy could lift his weight and the bag he had so easily.
"Thanks."
"No problem. Let's get inside."
As the three entered the factory, they surveyed the insides. A few parts of some walls had scorch marks and some windows were smashed. The ceiling had cobwebs everywhere and the floor was littered with debris. Most of the machinery was taken out but some still remained, rusted and corroded partially over the years.
"A bit dirty..." Jim said.
"Anyone got a broom?" Tracy joked.
"Well... I brought some sleeping bags." Jeffrey said as he pointed to his bag.
"Got a big sheet? Tracy's been sleeping on hard ground for the past few days..." 
"Surprisingly, I feel fine."
"Still. I doubt sleeping in debris is gonna be comfortable for anyone."
"Well I do have a few blankets." Jeffrey stated.
"You're a lifesaver bro. Okay... let's look for the least dirty room here and see if I can clean it up for our purposes."
However after the 3 got into, what appears to be, an empty loading room, and were in the process of cleaning it. Jim's phone vibrated.
Jim took out his phone and saw on his scan that something with a GoPro and smartphone was in the building.
"Shit! Guys! Stay quiet. Someone's in here!" Jim whispered.
"Who is it?" Jeffrey whispered back.
"I don't know. But judging by the GoPro... UrbEx YouTuber." 
"What is that?" Tracy asked, keeping her voice as quiet as possible.
"Guys that explore abandoned places no one else would go into and post their videos."
"What do we do then?" Jeffery asked.
"I can stop his recording. But he's not gonna know until he goes or checks his stuff."
"So... No promise on him leaving..." Tracy added.
Jim shook his head. "I'm open to ideas though."
"I could... Fire a warning shot." Jeffery suggested.
"No. He could call the police and it can attract attention."
"Fuck..."
"How 'bout we scare 'em?" Tracy suggested.
"That... Could work... Yeah!"
"Okay. How do we do it?" Jeffrey asked.
"Okay... I'm making this up as we go along, but here's how we start..."

"Hey guys! This is Maurice the Spelunker and tonight we're going to be entering the burned-down corn flakes factory in El Paso. This place had a massive fire 3 years ago and was left to rot after some safety laws were apparently broken. So now. we're going in to see if the rumors of it being inhabited by other-worldly entities. Before I go in, Like and Subscribe for more content like this. Now! Let's enter!"
The Urban Explorer walked into the factory.
He started looking around the place, using his phone's flashlight to light his surroundings.
"As you can see... the machines that were scorched by the fire were just left here..."
As he went on with his video recording, Jim and Jeffrey went outside, while Tracy stayed.
"Okay. I'll creep him out, then text you when you need to break windows. I'll be sneaking behind him and hack his phone."
Jeffery gave a thumbs up and Jim gave him the bat he took from the skirmish at the garage. Jim put on his mask, collected some sizable pebbles, and went inside as the Urban Explorer was looking around.

"As you can se-" 
Maurice looked up after hearing a noise. He went silent as to listen if it will happen again and started searching the place. But just then, his phone's flashlight started turning on and off over and over again.
"What the hell?"
His phone shut down. Thus, leaving him in the dark. With only some distant artificial light seeping through the windows.
"I’ve gotta get an upgrade..."
Just as he was rebooting his phone, he heard the windows shatter.
"Fuck!"
Maurice backed away and got closer to the exit. 
"Anyone there!? Who's there?!"
Another window shattered, then Tracy's door burst open and her limbs came out.
"SHIT!" 
Maurice ran out of the building all the while he was screaming and jumped on the fence, nearly falling off of it trying to get away. 

By the time he was far enough away, Jim and Tracy came out of their hiding spots.
"Huh... That was... Easier than I thought it would be..." Jim said.
"He just bolted!" Tracy said as she pulled herself out of the door
"How did it go?" Jeffrey said as he came to the front door.
"Looks like he won't be coming back." Jim told him.
"Okay. Well, we better get some sleep. This night has been rough." Tracy announced.
"Yeah. You and Jeffrey sleep. I'll keep an eye out. Can't be too careful."
"You're not tired man?" Jeffrey asked.
"I only sleep for 2 hours a night anyway. So pulling an all-nighter probably won't be too bad."
"Okay... You sure?"
"Yes. You and Tracy rest up. I got something to do anyway..."
"Okay. Gonna work of your tech, Jim?" Tracy questioned.
"Yeah. And plan out my investigation of Zero..."
"That's understandable. But don't overwork yourself, brother."
"I won't dude. Now take the load off."
Tracy and Jeff set up their sleeping places on the floor while Jim was looking at his phone.
"I'll see you guys in the morning. With breakfast." Jim said. 
"Thank you, Jim." Tracy said as she lied down.
"Yeah. But you sure you're okay?" Jeffrey asked one more time to be sure.
"Yeah. I'm good. Don't worry." 
"Okay. Night man." 
"Yeah, good night Jim."
"Good night, guys." 
As they slept, Jim got to work on a new virus. One that was designed to be more powerful than his previous one he made. 
"This contingency better work when I need it..."

Morning in the abandoned factory was filled with the scent of boiling meat and vegetables.
Tracy stirred in her sleep as the scent reached her, then she sat up to see where it was coming from.
She saw Jim with a pot and a small electric stove. 
"Hey Jim..." She said groggily.
"Morning, Sunshine." Jim immediately regretted saying that. "Uh… Sorry... It just came out." 
Tracy giggled. "That's what my mom says to me when I wake up."
"Yeah... Anyway, soup’s on!"
"How'd you get all these?" She said as she pointed at the car battery-powered stove.
"It's technically all stolen... But nobody really wanted it. The pot is a burned to hell on the outside, but I managed to clean the inside well. Got the stove from an appliance store in the spare parts room because it was broken, but don't worry. I fixed it. Then the car battery? That, I actually did steal..."
"Jim..." She said, annoyed.
"I know... But we need it. Besides, the government isn't gonna care about one car battery being stolen. Happens everyday."
"You need to stop stealing, now that we know what's on our tail."
"I know! But we're in desperate times." 
"I understand, but tell us next time. I thought you were just gonna buy cooked food again."
"Yeah... We can't afford food that's already cooked. So I had to get these and buy stuff that you need to cook to save what little cash we have."
"Okay, that's fair."
"Still, this soup should be good. Beef, corn, lettuce, noodles, carrot, black pepper. Should last you and Jeff till I come back."
"You're leaving soon?"
"Yeah. But first, I’m gonna join you guys for breakfast. Do you mind waking Jeff up, please?"
Tracy nudged Jeffrey while he was sleeping. 
"What... Is it?" He said, still very tired
"Breakfast." Tracy flatly stated.
"Breakfast?" Jeffrey said as he sat up.
"Soup's on." Jim told his best friend.
"Okay." He said with a yawn.
"Let's eat, everyone!" Jim announced as he got two regular bowls and an extra large popcorn bowl that he had on top of the munitions crate and started pouring the soup into them, which they then let cool off for a moment before eating it.

"Okay... 8 AM. If I'm gonna be back by lunch, with cash, I’d better go now." Jim stated as he finished his bowl of soup.
"Be careful out there, brother."
"Yeah. Careful around that Zero guy." 
"I will. First him, then Chicago, then making money. Heh, I haven't been this busy since high school."
"Well, at least it's more fun than high school." Jeffrey replied.
"True." 
Jim got his duffle bag and went out the door.
"Remember. Anything happens, contact me."
"Okay!" Tracy and Jeffrey said in unison.
"See you guys later."

Zero was in his music store. Reading a magazine while listening to My Chemical Romance with his feet up on the table.
But just as he was getting to the chorus of "Welcome to the Black Parade" Jim knocked on the door.
He thought it was a customer so he didn't look up from his magazine.
"Not open yet." He yelled.
Jim hacked into his phone and stopped his song.
"What the- Oh." Zero said as he put the magazine down and saw Jim.
He groaned and got off the chair to unlock and open the door.
"What's up, Technomancer?"
"Cyber-Punk. Anyway, what's up is I have a few questions."
"Come in. Let's talk inside."
Zero let Jim in and took a seat, putting his feet on the table again.
"So, questions. Shoot."
"You're making a rebellion in Chicago, right?"
"Yes."
"Tell me. How many are you in this rebellion?"
"Five. Me included."
"Members?"
"Me, Flare, Escape Velocity, Shift, Ghost."
"That... Means nothing to me."
"Of course it doesn't. You don't know them."
"Okay. Got a hideout in Chicago?"
"Northernly Island. Warehouse 13-M."
"Okay..."
"Why are you asking?"
"I wanna make sure you're telling the truth. For all I know, you can be pulling all this out of your ass."
"So... The fact that I'm not putting you in a shadow box, where all you'll see is endless darkness as long as it's up, is Not a testament to me telling the truth?"
"Zero, I'll be frank with you. From what you told me, we're going through similar things. So you should know that it's hard to trust people that claim to be this when they're actually the government."
"Fair enough. But last I checked, Chicago is far as fuck. How are you gonna go there and be back for the fighting ring tomorrow night?"
"I'll solve that. Who's at the warehouse now?"
"Probably Flare. The others go out a lot."
"And Flare's power is?"
"Force Field Generation."
"Okay... That's all I need. I'll be back later."
"Really? That's it?"
"Yeah. I'll just verify if your telling me the truth."
"Whatever."
Jim walked out of the store and left Zero to continue reading his magazine and listen to his song in peace.
That was until a genuine customer knock on the door.
"Seriously? We're still closed!"

Jim looked for anything he could teleport into to get to Chicago. Seeing a few cars parked around the corner gave him an idea.
Hacking one particularly dark tinted car to unlock, Jim got in and first searched the glove compartment for anything he could use. Unsurprisingly there was nothing in the compartment but papers.
"Worth a shot. Okay... Computer on... Connection established..."
Jim pocketed his phone and re-entered the Internet in a flash of blue light.

"So..." Jeffrey said awkwardly. "How have you and Jim been getting along?"
"He's a great guy. While I don’t know why he doesn't tell me things like how he got breakfast, he's been nice to me."
"That's Jim, he just does things."
"Yeah... So... Ah! Before you came arrived last night, Jim was talking about video games with me."
"Go on..."
"Well... He talked about Titanfall 2 and the Vanguard class Titans."
"BT and Jack. The main campaign. I'd show you since I got my Xbox One, but we don't have a TV..."
"Eh, it's fine."
"I really like the guns in game, though.”
"Gun enthusiast?"
"Yeah..."
"Sweet! What guns do you have again?"
"A Smith and Wesson Revolver, A Beretta 9 millimeter, and a
Steyr AUG A3 assault rifle."
"Nice!"
"You used to shoot?"
"No. I just watched my Daddy. He had a Beretta too!"
"Cool. Was he a collector or in the military?"
"Military. But..."
Tracy's face spoke for her as she frowned.
"Oh... He-"
"Yes.. He was in Iran..."
"I'm sorry, Tracy..."
"It's alright. I... Was depressed about it, but soon enough, I accepted that he was gone."
"Well... I know how you feel. My dad died too."
"Oh... What happened to him?" She asked sadly.
"He had... A stroke in his sleep. Pretty sure it was related to his alcohol problem.”
"I'm so sorry..."
"It's okay... But you wanna know the worst part of it?"
"What?"
"There... There have been times in life... Times where things have been bad, and I've just felt like... I am nothing. Like I have no purpose. No reason to exist. No reason for being. And in those moments... I have... Contemplated suicide. I mean... I'm not sure that there is an afterlife. But if there is... I'd like to hope that I would end up with my dad. Because... I miss him. I miss him so much..." He said, getting choked up as tears started streaming down his face.
Tracy put her hand on Jeffrey's back.
"I never thought about suicide. When I did... I was disgusted at my own thoughts. But I did think about my daddy... When he was gone, I wanted nothin' more in my life but to be with him, even if it was just for a minute. I just wish I could said goodbye properly..."
"Yeah. Me too..." Jeffrey said as we wiped his tears away.
"But still... Life goes on. It's great to remember the people we lost, but... It's better to be what they would've been able to look at and say... 'I'm proud of you'. Or at least... That’s how I take it."
"Yeah..."
Tracy moved to sit next to Jeffrey.
"And with the world how it is now. It's best to see what we can do in, and for it."
"Yeah. And I used to think that, there's not a goddamn thing that a little pissant like me can do to make a decent difference in the world. But now... I think that... Together.. We can change the world... You. Jim. Me. All of us."
"That's the spirit!"
"Yeah. But years from now, when people are telling stories about this stuff... Compared to you guys, I'll probably be forgotten. But you know what? That's okay. I don't mind being forgotten. I'm... I'm okay."
"Hey! That ain't no way to think. You're in this as much as me and Jim."
"Well, whatever happens... I'll be okay. Maybe I'll just fuck off and become some kinda wandering hero like Mad Max or something."
"Hey. Your brother can control and teleport into phones and you're sitting next to a 12 foot tall me! Anything can happen." She said with a beaming smile to brighten up Jeffrey's mood.
"Yeah..." Tracy's smile was infectious. Jeffrey soon had a small smile in his face as well.
"And with Jim meeting this Zero guy. Who know who we'll meet. Maybe you can meet someone for you."
"Yeah..."
Tracy squeezed him against her side to hug him.
"I'm glad to have you as company."
"Glad to be here. You're a good friend, Tracy."
Tracy a Jeffrey just sat there. Enjoying each other's company.

After hours of searching in the internet for the right device to exit out of in Chicago, Jim settled for a PC on sleep mode in the apartment of a teenager that posted he was heading out to the airport to pick up his girlfriend.
The PC booted up from sleep mode and the screen went blue and grew brighter and brighter until Jim reappeared. 
"Who needs planes? That is considering I am where I want to be..." Jim thought as he took out his phone.
The GPS showed that he was in Chicago, just a good several blocks away from where he needed to be as well.
"Alright. I'm just one ride away from the island. Time to go."
He opened the window of the apartment, closing it behind him, and went down through the fire escape.
Once he was back on the ground, he sent a message for any drivers nearby that accepted credit. Soon enough, a car pulled over to Jim.
He opened the door and got in the back door.
"Northernly Island." Jim said.
"Okay." The driver says as he started driving.
"How much is the fare?" 
"16 bucks for 20 minutes."
"Okay. But please, make it quick. I got a meeting."
"Will do."

Quanesia's successful checkpoint bypass was a great first step, but her journey to get to her father was far from over.
Managing well on her own so far, she found herself in a donut shop, thinking about the next four steps she will take.
"So close to my father... Of course I can't expect it to be easy. After all, I am being hunted. My father will obviously be watched closely by the government. I can call Jim again to take care of the cameras and microphones, but the men... Even if Jim teleported here to fight with me, chances are stacked against us still, considering the worst case scenario..." She contemplated. "However, with proper planning beforehand, considering I have the time, I can take down the men all by my self. However the possibility of a curveball in the form of Neo-Human Nightcap agents like the ones encountered by Jim and Tracy are another possibility that I must have a contingency for..." She thought as she took a sip of her coffee.
"A visit to a hardware store is going to be needed... Yes... sodium for yellow... strontium for red... going to need calcium... manganese too..."
Quanesia unlocked her phone and started typing down what she needed on a notebook app.

Nearly 30 minutes later, Jim was at Northernly Island.
He had hacked digital payment to the driver for his services, thanked him for the ride, and got out of the car.
"Warehouses..." 
Jim searched for the warehouses. Fortunately, Northernly Island was relatively small and detached from the rest of Chicago. In a way, Jim saw the reason why Zero would set up his base here.
Soon enough, Jim saw the storage houses and walked towards the chain link fence around the perimeter.
After getting through the fence, he looked for the warehouse Zero told him his crew lived in.
"11-K, 12-L, 13-M! There we go!" He said softly with enthusiasm.
He approached the warehouse and used his phone to scan for any devices. Surprisingly, there weren't any, or at least one that was connected to the Internet.
"Strange..." 
Jim knew someone was inside, as he could hear faint music playing from the outside.
He pressed his ear against the door and heard the tune of "Rock and Roll all Night" being played by an electric bass.
"Okay... Time to be direct, then..." 
Jim knocked on the door with his fist, hoping whoever was inside would answer.
The music stopped after a few moments then the sliding grate opened, revealing a pair of blue eyes with heavy, black eyeliner.
"What do you want?!" A young female voice yelled. It carried a tone that seemed like a mix between Avril Lavigne and Hayley Williams.
"Are... You Flare?" Jim replied.
"How the Hell do you know that?!"
"So you are! Look, Zero sent for me. I-"
"Zero?!"
The door swung open and a leather gloved hand forcibly pulled Jim into the warehouse.
Inside, Flare threw Jim onto a couch. Then she made a sphere of blue cold plasma hover above her left hand ready to strike.
Jim looked at his captor, Flare was a lean, pale-skinned girl. She was wearing a black grunge tank top with a flaming skull on it, black leather pants, spiky elevator shoes, a leather glove on her right hand, and had her hair dyed teal.
"START TALKIN'!"
"Okay! Put the force field sphere down! I'm... I guess a new recruit."
"How do you know Zero?!"
"I met him. Told me about your trouble with the facility here."
"Really? What's his power?"
"He can control shadows."
"Okay... what's he look like?"
"Like he should be in My Chemical Romance."
"Okay... What's your power? And how can you help us?"
"I'm gonna be your hacker. I'm a technopath, so I can control technology, even government technology."
"I need proof on that..."
"I'll show you what I got, but I need my gear."
"Alright. But I got my eye on you!"
Flare let Jim stand up to take his phone out.
"What are you doing?! No phones! The gov-"
"Can use the NSO to track phones? I know. That's why I made this one untraceable, amongst other things... Come on, I'll show you..." 
Flare let her cold plasma sphere dissipate into the air and looked at Jim's phone as he was doing something.
"See these screens? These are the cameras outside. I froze them."
"For Real?"
"Don't believe me? How about some stolen government technology to prove I'm cool?"
"What tech are we talking about here?" Flare said with skepticism.
Jim put his duffle bag on the couch and put on the right arm enhancer to show Flare what he meant.
"Dude... I'm not gonna lie. That's awesome."
"Told ya. Now are we cool?"
"I guess you're cool. You know Zero, you know me, you got power, and you got gear. Looks like he got us a full package."
"Speaking of, mind telling me what this whole thing is about? The way Zero talked to me, he gave the bare minimum of info I needed."
"Sure. Basically, we're a revolution in the making. Government thinks they can just take people and do whatever shit they wanna do with them. Us here? We say fuck that! And we do what we can for the people like us."
"And how's that been going?"
"To be honest? Not well. We know there's a facility here and that there's prisoners, but we don't know where it is"
"What? Than how did you get those files? Zero told me you tried to get into a facility but failed."
"Yeah. That's Zero alright. He lied to you... Kinda. We thought it was the facility when it was just a place they were making the plans under the disguise of a car manufacturing place. It was still full of hella guards, though. So we couldn't take them down when they called reinforcements. Zero just made it out with those files that night."
"Okay then..."
"Look, I know it's hard to trust the guy, I mean even I don't know his real name, but would you join a side that you knew was failing?" 
"That's fair, I guess."
"So..." Flare took her black and white electric bass and started strumming a bit. "Where is Zero at right now?" 
"A music store in El Paso..."
"El Paso? Damn… You came a long way."
"Yeah. Honestly, I wasn't expecting all this to be real when I spoke to him this morning. I thought it was all some lie he cooked up."
"You better believe it now… Wait, did you say this morning? You gave him one of your untraceable phones... Who are you?"
"I'm Cyber-Punk. And no, I talked with him like an hour ago. Face to face."
"An hour? So you like, what, hacked a plane here?"
"No. I can teleport via the Internet. All I need is two devices connected to the Internet to teleport from one to the other."
"You gotta show me that, man. That sounds fucking hella cool!"
"Not yet. Got a few more things to do before I get back to El Paso."
"Wait, you're not staying?"
"No. Now that I know Zero was telling the truth, more or less, I'm gonna go to a fighting ring with him. May have some info you guys could need."
"Alright, that's fair. What do you need to get done?"
"I need money. And since I'm away from my friends in El Paso, I'm going to rob a bank without them even knowing it. Wanna come with?"
"Sure. I can finally see you do some Real hacking!"
"Awesome. And while we're out, I'll get you an untraceable phone so you can contact Zero using my private network."
"Sweet."
Jim packed his gear and Flare put her bass back down, and then they went out.

Flare and Jim were walking to the nearest bank. As they did, they discussed their plan. “Alright... Here's the plan. You look for any cops or government asshats and signal me with a timeout gesture. I'll be in the bank, waiting in line while I create a throwaway bank account and take 4,000 dollars from the bank."
"Why just 4,000?"
"Can't be too big. Banks log the particularly big withdrawals."
"Fair enough."
After twenty minutes of walking, they were at a bank. The walls of which were mostly comprised of clear tempered glass to allow any person from the outside to look into the building. Seeing what was going on inside, whether it be an armed bank robbery or the employees going on with their day to day job.
"Okay. You keep a lookout. I'm going in."
Flare gave him a thumbs up, then sat at the stairs of the bank while Jim went in. 
He connected his phone to bank's systems and while he waited in line for the cardless ATM, created a new bank account.
He then started to load the bank account with one dollar from four thousand different accounts in the bank's files. This took a few minutes, but soon enough, the account had all the money he needed.
Jim waited for the person in front of him to finish their withdrawal, then waved his phone over the ATM, and it dispensed 4,000 dollars.
Jim folded the bills, pocketed them, and walked out.

"Let's go." Jim said.
"What? That quick?" Flare asked.
"Yeah. You'd be surprised how many flaws there are in the security of banks."
"Okay. What now?"
"You get a phone that you can use to contact me and Zero. Then I go."
"Man, when they come back, the guys are gonna be Hella jealous."
"I'd get them phones too, but I need the cash."
"Eh. Looks like they're stuck with burner phones."
"Good tactic."
"Whatever, just get me my phone!"
"Here, 500. Get yourself any phone you want and keep the rest for whatever."
"Nice!"
"Before we go... how old are you?"
"I'm 17, dude."
"Okay then. Now, let's go get you your phone."
"What? You're not going to let me ask how old you are?"
"How old do you think I am?"
"I dunno man, 16?"
"I'm 19."
"And yet, you're shorter than I am."
"Shut up."
Flare chuckled as they started walking.

After buying Flare a new smartphone, the two made their way back to the warehouse.
Jim opened the box, booted up the phone, then placed it on the couch.
"This is where I say goodbye. Just wait for my call so you know it's not gonna be traced."
"Sure. Tell Zero I said hi."
"Will do. I'll see you around, Flare."
"You too, Cyber-Punk."
Jim touched the new phone's screen, then everything went blue.
The flash of light blinded Flare and when she reopened her eyes, Jim was gone.
"Damn... You sure know how to pick 'em, Zero..."
She sat back down and started strumming her bass again.
"Gonna Rock and Roll All Night! And Party Everyday! Yeah!"

Minutes later, Jim was back in El Paso. He went straight to Zero's music store. As he entered, only one other person was inside with Zero.
"No... Death and Heavy Metal are not the same, man..."
Jim got in his line of sight and he pointed to the back door. Jim got in and waited.
About five minutes later, Zero came in as well.
"Sorry. Annoying customer."
"Hey, it's alright. Anyway, yeah, just got back from Chicago." 
"Seriously? It's only been… What? Less than 2 hours ago since we last talked?"
"Told you. I can do things. I met Flare, and she's.... Nice."
"Really?"
"How about you ask her yourself."
Jim called Flare's phone and nearly immediately, she picked up, and Jim put it on speaker so Zero could hear.
"So... You sure this thing's untraceable?" She said.
"Flare? That really you?" Zero said as Jim gave him the phone.
"Zero?! Fuck yeah, it's me! How's it going, dude?”
"So the Technomancer really did go to Chicago…"
"Yeah! So, how's it goin'?"
"Things are alright. Just a few more days before I come back."
"Sweet! I'll tell the guys when they get back here."
"Anything happening over there?"
"Nah. We've been keeping a low profile. We're good here."
"Alright. Just keep doing what you're doing. Wait for me. I'll ask Jim for my own phone soon."
"Jim?"
"That would be me." Jim said.
"Oh! Okay! Cyber-Punk's real name is Jim... Alright, see ya soon, Z."
"See ya."
Flare hung up and Zero gave the phone back to Jim.
"Okay. Thanks for giving her a phone so I can get updates."
"And thank you for... Partially telling the truth."
"Yeah... So, you still with us?"
"Under one condition."
"Name it."
"I have someone really close to me that's normal. He's in the know about all this. If I'm gonna be a part of this, he's gonna be a part of this."
"A normal... You sure?"
Jim just gave him a serious glare and an eyebrow raise.
"Okay. We really need your skills, so if those are your terms, fine. We'll let him in too. But if he backstabs us-"
"He won't. He's my brother. Not to mention, he's good with guns."
"That just gives me more reason to watch him."
"He's not a traitor. So do we have a deal?"
"Deal..."
The two shook hands. Zero's shadow snake coiled around his forearm.
"And now that I know you're legit, where do we meet tomorrow? For the fighting ring?"
"Meet me here at 10 tomorrow night. Fight starts at midnight, so if we're gonna get info, we better start early."
"Agreed. I'll see you here tomorrow."
"Bring the ticket."
"I will. Don't worry. See you then."
With that, Jim got out of the room with Zero and exited the store. Leaving Zero inside.
"With him on our side, we just might win." Zero thought. "Now all I need is some muscle... Where do I find that?"

The Neo-Human Nightcaps were in Albuquerque. After losing Jim and Tracy, then taking O'Hara back to the drop-off, they tried looking for signs of their targets, but nothing really came up.
They were in the middle of lunch, when Brooks contacted Arber.
"Arber. I need updates."
"Unfortunately, nothing. After our close encounter, the targets have gone silent."
Brooks let out a quick, audible sigh before speaking again.
"Alright. But while you and you're team are in New Mexico, I need you to look into something."
"Say the word, General."
"Reports of a giant raven with a 40 foot wingspan have shown up. Apparently it only travels in the night, and the most recent sighting of it is at the border of New Mexico and Texas. People can be reasoned with to a degree, distracted easily, can be read easily, but animals? They're unpredictable. And with abilities they can't control? They need to be put down before a volatile incident with the population happens."
"Don't worry. If I see it, I'll shoot it down."
"Hopefully you can find it in time. And get a lead on your main mission. That will be all."
"Alright. Over and out." Arber heard the line disconnect.
"What did the General say?" Hanes asked.
"We have another target. A big bird."
"So... Guy in yellow feather suit?" Kane joked.
"You're definitely eighteen..." Marcel stated as she gave a small cackle.
"Anyway, when night falls, I'll ride in back while someone else drives. I'll be on look out for any giant ravens."
"Fuck... What the hell is happening in this world?" Kane said.
"What it deserves. To give people power to even the stakes... Or to overthrow..." Savage said flatly, his hands secured with actual handcuffs.
"Thank you, but nobody asked for your opinion." Arber said.
Savage grumbled and looked out the window. Sick of being with these people.

Jim came back to the cereal factory to see Jeffrey and Tracy talking happily. 
"I'm back, guys!" Jim called out.
"Hey Jim!" Tracy said as she waved.
"How did it go, bro?" Jeffery asked.
"Well, Zero is legit. Just got back from Chicago and met one of his crew. So I guess he's cool."
"Whoa, really?" Jeffrey said.
"Yeah. But we're going to keep going and take Tracy home first. At least now I know the only other Neo-Human here won't try to kill us all."
"Well that's good news." Jeffrey said.
"Thanks, Jim." Tracy said.
"No problem. Tomorrow I'm gonna get the delivery truck so we can leave for the last leg to Oklahoma. But can I borrow my brother for a little private talk?"
"Sure!"
"Thanks, T! Come on bro!"
Jeffery stood up and walked out the door with Jim
"Okay... Confession... I'm not going just get the truck tomorrow night..." Jim said quietly. 
"What are you gonna do?..." Jeffery replied quietly, but deeply.
"A little fighting ring Zero introduced me to... He says there's a government lead as the guy running it is government and his kid is Neo."
"WH-" 
Jim covered Jeffrey's mouth with his hand.
"I can't let Tracy know that I'm going there because this is a fighting ring and her powers... She wants to protect me as well but if she goes in there she might not come out the winner, because she's not a fighter. Who knows what kind of sick shit is in there!"
Jeffery removed Jim's hand from his mouth.
"Alright, I see your point. So keep watch of her here?"
"Unless things go bad. If they do I'll send an SOS to you both."
"Dude... Okay fine, but this better not go wrong!" He said as quietly as possible.
"I promise it won't. Zero and I are going in there, so it should be good."
"Okay..."
"I'll be fine. Trust me...”
The two hugged, then went back inside.

Jim and Jeffrey both got back inside the factory. Jeffrey sat back down with Tracy, and Jim put his bag down.
"So, what do you guys want for lunch? I got cash from Chicago." Jim announced as he opened his bag to get the cash.
"I could go for some baked potatoes..." Tracy said as she thought about how she used to bake potatoes with her mom.
"With cheese and bacon!" Jeffrey suggested.
"We're in Texas, so that shouldn't be a tall order. Aside from how much I'll need to buy for you two." Jim said with a smile as he took a 500 dollar cash stack. "Hmm... while I order that, why not go to the laundromat? My hood is beginning to smell..."
"Could you take the two sets of clothes I went through too?"
"Of course! Jeff, got anything you need washed, bro?"
"Nah, I'm good man."
"Alright. Just let me get my extra clothes so I have something on while I get our clothes washed. Then tomorrow night, I'll get the truck and we’ll be on our way."
"Yes! Almost home!" Tracy thought excitedly.
"Alright. So… You guys sure everything's good here?"
"Yeah." Jeffrey and Tracy said simultaneously.
"Okay. I'll be back with lunch and clean clothes, then I'll stick around here with you when I come back. Afterwards I'll tell you what I did in Chicago."
"We'd love to hear it!" Tracy said.
"When I get back, and over lunch. See you soon guys!”
"Take care out there, brother." Jeffrey said to Jim.
"I will. Bye guys!" Jim said as he took the bag of laundry and left again.
"You think he's overworking himself?" Tracy asked Jeffrey.
"Well... Considering you can't go out, he's just taking responsibility... But trust me when I say that he usually stays in and does nothing but play games most of the time."
"So... What people on forums would call 'The Gamer Lifestyle'?"
"Hmm… Pretty much... And honestly… I kinda live that life too when I’m not at work." He said, slightly embarrassed.

Jim had just finished loading the clothes into a washing machine. As he waited for the wash cycles to finish, he looked at the leather jacket Ben gave him days ago. It looked nice to him. Not even that worn out, but the blank patch on the back was the main issue. 
"Needs a... Personal touch..."
Jim thought about what he'd put on the jacket. He figured, if he was getting serious with the vigilantism, might as well look his best. And with the fighting ring tomorrow night, he needed to look intimidating when interrogating the manager.
"Hmmm... The anarchy symbol is a bit... Overused... But... What if..." He thought to himself.
Jim took out his phone and started messing around with a few applications he had.
"Hmmm... A cybernetic twist on the Yin and Yang symbol? Yeah!" 
Without even touching the screen, he drew out the logo he wanted to wear. 
"Simple... But something is... Missing..."
Jim snapped his fingers as he coated the image in binary code. 
"Now That's a logo a technopath would wear! Wonder where the nearest printing shop is..." He thought to himself.

Zero was setting up for his mission with Jim. He was selling out his entire shop before the rent on the place expired. This was so that if the investigation of the fighting ring goes bad, he can slip away with all his money and not have a thing left to give him away.
After tending to quite a few customers, he closed up the shop temporarily to take a break. 
He went out for a small walk while the store was closed, thinking about getting some of his sketches done. He liked drawing as a hobby.
With his notebook in hand, he slowly climbed up a fire escape to the roof of a building to begin sketching whatever was on his mind.
However as he made his way up, he heard some men arguing in one flat.
"This ain't the Shit!" A man with a Ghetto accent yelled.
"Look! This ain't exactly the easiest shit to smuggle, okay?! Cops and soldiers is running around all over the damn place and our guys keep getting picked up!"
"Man, Fuck That! We agreed on 20 pounds, man. This ain't even 5!" 
"WE GOT CAUGHT, YOU FUCKIN' IDIOT!"
Zero heard enough and knew this was a drug deal gone wrong. But as he thought of his approach, he heard a gunshot go off inside.
He turned his shadow into a hammer and used it to shatter the window. Stunned by the window shattering, Zero used the opportunity to throw his shadow hammer at the nearest thug with a pistol and jumped onto the room. While the one he threw the hammer at was on the floor, holding his face in pain, Zero made the shadows casted by his fingers into two knuckle dusters and punched the other thug in the chin, then grabbing him to throw him down onto the first thug on the floor. He quickly grabbed the gun off of the floor and pointed it at them.
"I'm not fucking around! Call the police and turn yourselves in!" Zero demanded.
"Shit! Okay! Just don't shoot!" One of them said.
"Shoulda known yo’ stupid ass would get the both of us caught." The other thug said.
"Give me your phone!" Zero yelled
One of them frantically pulled his phone out of his pants and threw it to Zero's feet. He bent over to get the phone, but the second thug suddenly sat up and grabbed Zero's hand that had the gun. They struggled, fighting to get the gun but trying not to shoot.
Zero had to think fast, so he turned his shadow back into a snake and made it bite the thug's arm. The thug let go of Zero and tried shaking the snake off while screaming in fear, all while the other thug was just cowering on the floor.
"That was a stupid move!" Zero said.
He saw a particularly long extension cord lying at the corner and had an idea.

A police car pulled over buy the apartment building minutes later, they were told to investigate a gunshot heard on the 3rd floor of the building.
Two officers came out of their cars and started walking to the door. However they heard someone yelling for help from the fire escape at the side of the building.
When the cops looked over to see who was calling out, they had to suppress their laughter.
"Anybody there?!"
"Man, you have got to be kiddin' me."
The two thugs were hanging upside-down at the fire escape by an extension cord tied to their ankles with their five pound bag of dyed blue meth tied to their bound hands.
"Of all the ways to get caught, hangin' like a mutherfuckin' punching bag is the most pussy-ass way to go."
"Whatever..."

Back in Portland, Quanesia was about to start her mission to get her father. After a visit to the hardware store to get supplies, she had formed quite the arsenal, consisting of improvised smoke pellets, flash bangs, explosive devices, and detonators made from cans, pipes, paintball pellets, various electronic parts, and the chemicals and elements she listed down. She also had multiple improvised bolas made from rope and small, rounded concrete weights at the ends.
With the smoke pellets and detonators in a work belt around her waist, bombs in her backpack, bolas hanging from the right side of her waist and flash bangs on the left.
Covering it all with a long trenchcoat, she started scoping out her neighborhood. 
Keeping her profile low and analyzing each person that passes by her line of sight for any tells of being an undercover operative.
"Natural walk, not looking around as much, no... Jogging, has an earpiece, keeping tabs on her..." 
She pressed her back against a wall to make sure no one snuck up behind her.
As she continued her observation, she saw some vans in the distance. They were all the same model and parked too strategically, which made her think they were placed there to monitor the area.
"Need to disable each van... Fortunately, I have a hacker on speed dial..."

Jim was in the middle of putting the clothes in the dryer when Quanesia rang him. When he pulled out his phone and saw who was calling, he recklessly stuffed all the clothes into the dryer and set it to spin dry so that he could take the call.
"Hey. I was getting a bit worried about you for a second there."
"Apologies, but I have been busy trying to get back to my father. But right now I am very close to achieving my goal, I just need your skills once more."
"Okay hold on. I'll switch to video in a bit to help you out there. Just..."
Jim looked around and saw some bathroom doors, he made sure to take his things with him before entering then switching his phone to a video call as he locked the door.
"So, what's the sitch?"
"I have vans around my home, my suspicion is that they're monitoring camera and audio feeds with them."
"And you want me to disable them. Got it, want me to come over there?"
"Yes please.”
"Find a secluded spot first. When I teleport, it's really bright."
"Noted. Already on it..."
While Quanesia was searching for a secluded spot, Jim took a quick peak at the laundry he had in the dryer of the establishment. 
"Nothing to do now but hope it all doesn't get stolen. Impeccable timing Quanesia..." He thought to himself.

Quanesia found a large recycling bin for paper and cardboard, after looking inside and seeing there was enough space, she knew this was where Jim could teleport in without attracting attention. 
"Alright Jim, get over here."
"Stand back then."
Quanesia dropped her phone into the bin and closed the lid. A dimmed flash of blue light and a thud on the bin later, Jim opened the bin's lid with an irritated expression plastered on his face and handed Quanesia her phone back.
"Thanks Quanesia."
"Apologies, but we are on the clock here."
"Okay, where are the vans?"
"There..." She said as she pointed at them.
"Okay... We just need to take one over. I don't have my enhancers so I'll have to enter their little network, but once I'm in, consider all of them fried." 
"Thank you. Of course there are armed men inside each van..."
"Well you're the polymath. Don’t you have a plan?"
"Indeed, I do..."

A very old, beat-up parked car exploded. Not a very large explosion, but it was certainly loud enough for the van full of men nearby to investigate. The driver and one of the men from the back came out, leaving only one man to monitor the feeds. 
Jim and Quanesia approached the van discreetly amidst the chaos. 
Jim went in though the driver door while Quanesia knocked on the rear door.
Just as the undercover government agent opened the rear door, Jim came from behind and put him into a body lock while also covering his mouth. Quanesia hopped into the van and shut the door.
Jim and the man were struggling, she knew they had to render him unconscious quickly.
Quanesia grabbed his legs and told Jim to do something.
"Jim, apply pressure to the side of his neck!"
"Here?" Jim said as he pinched the side of his neck with his free hand.
"Yes! Put pressure there as hard as you can for 12 seconds!"
Jim did as she told and as the seconds went by, the man got weaker and weaker until he fainted.
Jim let him go afterwards and exhaled in relief.
"What did I do to him?"
"You blocked oxygenated blood to his brain, thus making him faint. But you can only hold it for 10 to 12 seconds, or else he might suffer permanent damage."
"Okay, good to know. Now it's my turn..."
Jim looked at the screens, then they, along with his eyes, glowed blue. Quanesia covered her eyes and in a flash, Jim was gone. 
In 20 seconds, the screens started displaying "Error: Camera Offline", Quanesia turned on audio and it too was offline as all that played was white noise and static.

The screens flashed blue again and Jim reappeared in the van.
"That's that done. Those cameras and microphones aren't gonna be picking up anything anytime soon."
"Thank you. Now let's get to my house."
"Whoa! Buy me dinner first!"
"No time for jokes..."
"Right, right..."
The two got out of the van through the passenger door and started sneaking to Quanesia's house.
While the undercover agents tried to get their equipment back online, Jim and Quanesia snuck to the back door of the house.
Jim turned the doorknob and it was, surprisingly, unlocked. They went in and heard a television playing the news.
"My father's in the living room." 
"Let's go get him!"
They walked to the living room, but we're met with a confusing sight.
Quanesia's father, a Jamaican man that was slightly overweight but still looked quite healthy for his age of 42, was expected.
Another Quanesia sitting next to him was not. 
All four of them stared at each other in utter shock.
"Okay... What the Fuck is this?" Jim said as he looked at the two Quanesias.
"I... Never expected this..." Quanesia said, never even considering this as a possibility.
"Waah Gawn Here?!" Quanesia's father shouted.
"Dad, please, I'm your real daughter!"
Jim's mind was filled with many conflicting thoughts, but then it hit him.
He charged at the other Quanesia ramming her into the wall then grabbed her arm and twisted it until she was on her knees.
"Ah! Ah! Stop! You're hurting me!"
"Quanesia, I know who this is!"
"Really?"
"Am I right to assume you're Delilah O'Hara?"
The other Quanesia was in shock, how did this boy know her real name.
"Yes! You caught me!" She said in her own voice, no longer imitating Quanesia.
"She's a government agent, she can shape-shift. Get your dad out now! There's no telling how much backup they have with this one here!"
Quanesia pulled her still stunned father upstairs, at first he refused to go and spoke so fast in Jamaican Patois that Jim couldn't understand most of it. But when Quanesia looked at him and embraced him, he knew this was his daughter, the one he was with was so distant that deep inside, he knew it felt off, but figured it was just from being missing for about a week. After that realization, he agreed to follow Quanesia upstairs.
As the reunited father and daughter went up, Jim twisted Delilah's arm more.
"Change back!"
"I can't! It takes ti- Ow!"
"Where are the others?"
"Why do you want to know? I don't even- AAAGGGHHH! OKAY, Okay, okay, they're in New Mexico. Searching for their targets. I swear that's all I know!"
"Crap..." 
Jim let Delilah go and she held her arm in pain.
"I don't have time to deal with you again!"
"Wait..." She said, defeated. "I... I don't want to do this anymore..."
"What?"
"This. All this crazy, undercover black ops, superpower bullshit! It's Too Much!" 
"Should have thought of that when you signed on to be one of their agents."
"I DIDN'T HAVE A CHOICE! I was running and they found me... they made me do all this, I never wanted to do any of this... I just... I... I want to go back to my tower..." 
Delilah broke down and started sobbing on the floor.
Jim felt very awkward about this whole situation, but he went on one knee and patted her on the back.
"Hey... it's alright... Look, we're not trying to do anything bad here. It's just a girl and her dad wanting to go home and be safe, that's all."
"That's it... All I do is deceive and betray, that's all I do..."
"Hey, you can still make this right. Look... they aren't listening and the cameras are out... Escape."
"What?"
"I can give you money for a new everything so you get the fuck outta here."
"No... I can't... Just go... leave me here..."
"No, you speak as if you've been through some really low points in your life. And we may not have time to discuss it now, but sitting here and choosing to not do anything because things are getting heavy, won't solve anything. I can't make you act, but I suggest that you do if you truly want things to be right again."
Delilah just stared blankly on the floor.
"I don't have time for this..."
Jim left her and went to Quanesia upstairs.

"Quanesia? What's happening up here?"
"Just... Taking everything important to- Dad we can bring this..."
Jim saw the father-daughter duo packing their things.
"Uh... Need some help?" Jim said.
"No, we have this."
"Okay, but better make it quick. Delilah-You is kinda broken down... but I'm sure the Government is thinking something screwy is going on here."
"My thoughts exactly."
"Exactly who you?" Her father asked Jim.
"I... Broke your daughter out of jail..."
"What? How?"
"Uh... She'll explain when things are clear Mr Evans. Right now, as you saw, things aren't what they seem."
Just as they were speaking, Jim heard someone come up the stairs, only to to be greeted by Delilah, still looking like Quanesia, looking depressed.
"Hey... Look... if you want to get out of here without them knowing, you said you disabled their cameras and microphones?"
"Yeah..."
"Well, they'll resort to a breach soon if they can't contact me. Safest thing to do is use the basement window if you want to avoid them."
"And why should I trust you?"
"Look, I'm tired, and with you messing things up, I can fake an attack that takes me down. Just light up this house."
"No need for that. But alright... you're coming with us to the basement though!"
"Why?"
"To make sure this isn't a trap."
"Fair enough..."
"You done Quanesia?" 
"About so. I'll smoke up the house as we go along. Come on dad."
The four of them made their way downstairs and Quanesia lead the way to the basement as she dropped several of her improvised smoke bombs.
Jim grabbed a nearby step ladder so that everyone can reach the window.
"Alright. Me first, I can scope out if it's safe"
Jim went through the window and quickly looked around him for any undercover government agents.
"Okay, clear. Give me your things!"
Quanesia gave Jim her and her father's essential belongings and Quanesia let her father go through first. Once Quanesia was out, O'Hara kicked the step ladder aside.
"I'll... buy time... I guess..."
"Hey... Thank you, Delilah..." Jim said to her sincerely.
"Just go..." 
With one final look, Delilah went back up while the smoke was filling the house to stage her takedown.
Jim, Quanesia, and her father started running away from the house just as the government was beginning to create their formation to breach the home.
While they were busy, Quanesia pulled out two detonators and pulled the triggers on them, this caused the trashcan in front of their home and another car nearby to blow up. Not enough to create a massive fireball or to injure someone, but definitely enough to keep the government agents' attention for a little while longer on that area to give the sufficient time to run away.

Minutes of running later, Quanesia and her father were extremely tired, but Jim had only just started breaking a sweat.
"Thing we're far enough away?"
"I..." Quanesia said as she panted heavily. "I'm still going... To have to... Get my father... And me… To the airport..."
"Need any more help? I can probably make fake tickets... gonna have to look up how to make them and it would take a while."
"I... Already bought... Plane tickets... Prior to this."
Quanesia held Jim's hands.
"Thank you... So much for this."
"No problem, Quanesia. You'll still keep in contact right?"
"Of course! If you need help with anything just call and ask me about it... I'm sure I'll have the answer."
"Okay. Call me when you're on the plane. If you run into anything, I'll be available to teleport back in."
"Thank you again. For everything..."
She hugged Jim quickly then gave him her phone.
"You can return to Tracy now."
"Any time you need me. Remember that."
"I will."
Jim nodded then went into a dumpster in an a nearby alley.
Light flashed from the gaps and holes in the dumpster, then Quanesia approached it, opened the lid, and took back her phone. 
Her father was in disbelief from everything that had just happened but was trying to be rational for his daughter.
"Quanesia. Waah Gawn Here? Mi-"
"It's a long story dad. I'll tell you everything when we get back to mom."
"We..."
"Yes... We're going back to our true home!" She said with a bright smile.

Jim teleported out of his phone and he was back in the laundromat bathroom stall in El Paso.
"Woof... Just when I thought I could rest today..."
Jim grabbed his phone and got out of the stall. To his surprise there was an older woman outside that looked at him with a puzzled expression.
"Uh... I'll... just... go now..."
Jim practically bolted out the door to get out of the bathroom.
"God’s sake... Trends nowadays... Snapping pictures even on the toilet..." The woman said.

After getting the clothes out of the laundromat and getting enough food for lunch, Jim was finally making his way back to the abandoned factory where his friends were. 
"Man..." He started thinking. "Wonder how I'm gonna fair in the fighting ring... Hopefully Zero and I can take care of it quickly. So close to getting Tracy home, and after that? It's gonna be straight to Chicago! Living out the dream of being a crime-fighter that doesn't go by the books!" 
He began thinking of all the cartoons, anime, video games, comics, and other stories he's exposed himself to. The stories he experienced, the characters he looked up to, the situations they found themselves in and how they managed to triumph in the end.
A car then blared it's horn and he was snapped back into reality.
"MOVE!" A driver angrily yelled as the car in front of him was slowing down and subsequently broke down.
Jim saw this as nothing more than typical road rage and elected to walk away.

"Two Missions where you were easily taken down..." Brooks said over the phone.
Delilah was in the back of a van, on her way back to the Oregon facility.
The undercover Nightcap agents informed the general about Delilah's failure and after 10 minutes, the general called Delilah.
"Evans had someone with her. Another teen, but I don't know if he was a Neo-Human..." 
"No excuses O'Hara, I'm going to have to penalize you. An extra year to your signed contract sounds fair..."
"What?!"
"You were given a deal. You have been given training. Yet you have failed to deliver proper service. No arguments O'Hara, extra year. This is but a mere strike for you, the real punishment goes to the men that let Evans and her ally take out the monitoring. We're finished here O'Hara, see you back at base."
"Fuck my life!" She shouted out loud.
Delilah wanted to throw the phone out the window right then and there but controlled herself and angrily gave the phone back to the Nightcap agent. 
"Maybe I should have taken that kid's offer of escaping this fucking place." She thought angrily. "A bottle of wine or three is what I need tonight. Not to mention changing back into me. I don't care if that stupid bitch sees me hammered as fuck. At this point, can't get any worse..."
Of course, what Brooks had in mind for Delilah when she arrived would make her feel the time she has to serve.

"I need to say, having to sleep less is nice, but not eating as much anymore? Sucks..." Jim said as he finished eating. 
He has barely eaten half of what a normal meal was and he was already full. 
"I'm sorry man..." Jeffrey said to him.
"I'm getting the opposite problem though... I always ate more but I'm pretty sure I had a full two days worth of food in one meal." Tracy stated.
"Nothing wrong with that though. You need to keep your strength up after all." Jeffrey replied.
"Yeah but I'm not really doing anything... I usually walk, do a little cardio, maybe some lifting everyday."
"Yeah, pretty hard to keep that routine when you're on the run. Well... most of these machines are at least 300 pounds of metal..." Jim said as he looked at a scorched machine by his side.
"Hmmm..."
Tracy stood up and grabbed one with both hands and lifted it quite easily.
"Have to go with two..." 
She grabbed another and started doing some lifting.
Jeffrey nudged Jim while witnessing Tracy lifting 600 pounds as if it was 10.
Jim showed him his phone while Tracy was busy and wasn't facing them.
"I didn't expect this... But I'm not complaining. ” Jim’s phone read.
"Same here..." Jeff whispered back after seeing the message.
Jim deleted the text by thinking it and typed a new message without touching the screen at all.
"I gotta tell you... I really like Tracy, but that's why I can't let her go to where I'm going. "
"I know, man..." Jeffrey whispered.
"Unlike us, she's got a family to go back to. I think it's best that we don't let her get into this kinda stuff. It's hard enough she's hunted by the government, she doesn't need stuff like a fighting ring to get riled up over. "
Jeffrey looked at him with a small frown and nodded.
Jim pocketed his phone again, then resumed watching Tracy.
"Why do I even bother? I mean... Why am I so concerned over her- I mean... Why do I care for her THIS much..." Jim thought as he slowly zoned out. "Maybe it's because she deserves a better life and not this crap. Yet, here she is..." 
"Jim?" Tracy called out after turning around and seeing Jim.
"Huh?!" 
"Something on your mind?"
"Uh..."
"It's nothing Tracy! Really." Jeffrey said to Tracy
"Yeah, I was just thinking about Picking up the truck tomorrow night. Gotta go get it from the guy in my disguise and such. Just hope Ben kept his promise." Jim said.
"I'm sure he did."
"Hopefully. And hopefully he kept his promise and didn't tell anyone about me."
"What exactly did you do for him though?" Jeffrey asked.
"Saved him from some biker thugs."
"Really? That's awesome, man!" Jeffery said.
"And I'm sure he didn't tattle to anyone." Tracy said as he put the machines down.
"Hopefully you're right. That guy was kinda eager to meet a 'Real Superhero' so I won't be surprised if he told somebody."
"Scope out the place first make sure things are cool first." Jeffrey suggested.
"Good idea. And if he's got his phone, call him."
"Yeah, but still. Don't worry too much about it." Tracy said.
"I know. Tomorrow night shouldn't be too bad, hopefully..."

"Tomorrow night." Jim thought. Everyone else was sound asleep, Jim had finished his two hours of sleep and was working on a new virus as well as creating emergency messages. "First Actual Mission... Hope I don't have to use these, but it's always good to have backup." He knew that if he was going to get in a fight there, he'd have no element of surprise, which was a huge factor in why all of his previous encounters had ended with him as the victor. "Wonder how-" Just as Jim thought of it, he received a message from Quanesia. "Just so you know, I'm in Jamaica with my father. Thank you so much for your help, Jim. I couldn't envision accomplishing this had you not broken me out of the facility in San Francisco. I'll still help any way I can. If you need information, contact me." "Well that answered that..." As he typed and sent a reply to Quanesia, Jim got up started doing a few stretches.  "That's enough of looking at my phone, time to break multiple laws!" Donning his enhancers and mask, he went out of the factory with his leather jacket in hand. The following morning, at a printing store, the employees saw something was wrong. "What the Hell?" A female employee stated as she looked at the back door of the shop. It was missing it's doorknob and only had a piece of paper jammed in between the gap keeping it closed. She pulled the paper out and unfolded it. "What does it say?" A male employee said. "It says that there's 200 bucks inside to pay for damages and supplies...Someone broke in, used our machines but payed more than enough... Huh. I say... We take the extra 150 and get coffee..." "Okay... I'm going to ignore that and call insurance, you check the cameras." "Alright, fine!" She went into the office and turned on the computer inside. But little did they know, Jim left no trace that he was ever there aside from the cash and note. After printing his symbol on a thick piece of fabric and using the shop's machines to cut it to size and sew it onto the back of his leather jacket, he wiped the camera's recordings clean. Meanwhile, the team of Nightcap agents had been patrolling around El Paso for the past day now, unbeknownst to Jim, Tracy, or Jeffrey. Luckily for them, they weren't close to their location. Arber had been monitoring the skies for the giant raven only to have no luck spotting it." "Alright, it probably left. We'll leave here tomorrow. Kane, tell the General about it." "Will do." Kane said. She tapped on her communications piece and rang the General. But after some time of not answering, she quit. "General's not responding." Kane stated. "Must be busy." Hanes said. "She's probably overseeing some tests or in a call with someone." "We'll update her later then. We aren't leaving here yet anyway." Arber responded. "Works for me." Kane announced. "So... Where to?" Marcel asked. "Nothing to do but one more sweep after lunch. After that, contact the general and we head to Oklahoma for the last ditch effort to catch Price and maybe even the rogue. That is if they're heading there." Arber said. "Even if we see her there, how are we gonna catch and subdue her? She's the size of a damn mountain from what you said." Marcel asked. "She's weak, she was about to cry when she stepped on this one." Savage pointed at his young captor. "For once, you're actually making sense." Arber said. "She's only young, I guess her own powers scare her more than us chasing her. And growing up, kids are always told killing is bad. No matter what the circumstances." "Thinking of a plan?" Kane asked. "Once you manage to get in touch with the General, tell her this..." "Nice outfit!" Jeffrey said. After a mostly inactive day, Jim dressed up in his Cyber-Punk attire only with a change, instead of his regular black hoodie, he donned the black leather jacket Ben gave him. The Jacket was a vintage-style, riding leather type where the zipper to shut it was off to the right. Jim turned to show his two friends his vigilante symbol. "So, how's it look?" He questioned. "Put the mask on." Jeffrey requested. Jim placed the mask on his face and put the hood up. "Like you're about to kick ass!" Jeffery said excitedly. "You look like somethin' straight out of a movie!" Tracy stated with a smile. "Alright, just..."  Jim sticked his right arm in one of his enhancers and it secured to him with just a thought. "Time to get that truck. I'll park it out there while you guys take a rest, and tomorrow morning, you'll be home Tracy!" Jim stated while securing the left arm and leg enhancers. "Thanks again. For everything." Tracy replied with a smile. "No problem! I may stay out a little later though, just gonna cruise around, get a feel for the thing since it's a truck and I’ve never driven one before." "Understandable." Jeffrey said. "We'll just be here. As always." Tracy stated. "Thanks! And whatever happens, you'll get to see your mom and your boyfriend soon. I promise." "Thanks Jim..." She said with another smile. "Okay, see ya guys later!"  "Bye!" Jeffrey and Tracy said almost at the same time. Jim opened the door and went out. He checked his phone for the time but saw there was a message from Jeffrey. "Be Careful Brother" It read. "I will. But be ready, just in case. I'll leave the truck there before I go with Zero." He replied. As the message sent, Jim put the phone in his jacket and started running. Later at the salvage yard, Jim, in his Cyber-Punk costume, is scanning the surrounding area. It picked up 4 phones, he was sure one was Ben but the other three where unknown. He decided to hack into one of them to hear if they were late customers or something he should be concerned with. "So, is this... Done-done guys?" "Yes, for the 7 billionth time!" A man yelled at Ben. "Sorry, but come on! This thing is for a REAL superhero!" "How do we know you're not just fucking with us?" A woman called out. "Yes. This all sounds like an, admittedly, riveting story but you probably just didn't want to pay us to work on the truck." A man with a Turkish accent accused. That was when the garage door opened and the lights went out. "Told You he's real..." "Who are they?" Jim, in his Cyber-Punk voice, questioned. "Just some friends. they helped me work on the truck." "I thought I told you to keep this to yourself." Ben pulled out his phone and saw it was coming from there. "Come on! After you showed up, I had to! But they won't tell! Right guys?"  "Uh... Yeah! Whatever Mr Deep Voice wants!" The woman said, a little shaken. "Wait how do I know this isn't a joke?!" The man told Ben. "Stay quiet." Cyber-Punk said as the lights turned back on. Everyone saw him open the door of the delivery truck and get off. "Holy Shit!" "Yep! Knows how to make and entrance huh?" Ben said as he laughed at the man arguing with him. "Jeez... He some kinda robot or cyborg?" The woman said as she checked Cyber-Punk out. "I'm right here..."  "Right. Sorry!" "Thanks for the truck." Cyber-Punk said to Ben. "Thanks for saving my ass, and the hummer, and for looking a lot cooler in that jacket than I ever did." "Thanks. But really, these guys?" "Yeah, don't worry about 'em. Now that they’ve seen you, they won't tell!" "Well, I'm leaving Texas tonight anyway. I got things to take care of. But if any of you tell anyone else, I'll be there to add a few things to your police records." "Ooooh!" "Wait..." The Turkish man said. "You can do that?" "He's a Superhero! That's how he knows criminals! Accesses their criminal records and crap!" "There's also extending sentences. Adding new crimes. You get the idea." "Okay..." The Turkish man said as he backed away with his hands up. "Anyway, thanks for the trade. I'll be out of the state by tomorrow morning." "Wait, what? Where you going?" Ben said. "Saving a friend." "Man... This is second time I seen you and already you're blowing my mind with how superhero you are all over again!" "Yeah. And for the trouble..." Cyber-Punk reached in his pocket and gave Ben five 100 dollar bills. "Split it up with them. This isn't much but it's all I can give for doing this." "Thanks, man..." Cyber-Punk opened the door to the delivery truck and started driving out. He drove slowly as he wasn't used to driving a vehicle as large and wide but he managed and rode off. "There goes the guy that saved my life..." Ben said as he watched the truck drive away. "So... You... Gonna give us the money?" The man that was arguing with him before said "Them? Yeah. You? No." "Aw come one Ben!" "You refused to believe, I get your 100 bucks. Sounds fair to me. At least they believed a little, even if they were skeptic. You were against me from day one!" "I Believe now!" "Too little, too late!" Jim parked the truck outside the abandoned factory his friends were staying in. He texted Jeff to let him know it was there before he went on foot to Zero. He packed his enhancers and started walking to the music shop. Before long, Jim had arrived, only the shop had no sign anymore, nor were there any more stands with albums lining them. Jim knocked on the door to see if Zero was inside. "Get in." He said as he unlocked the door. "Zero?"  Jim walked in to see Zero in quite the ensemble. His shoes and pants remained the same, but he wore a leather jacket with two white stripes on the upper part of both sleeves and three belt straps on the front to secure it. The partially opened zipper of his jacket revealed that he was also wearing a dark hoodie underneath but had not yet put the hood up. Finally he had a black riding mask with a white, diagonal slash across the face, it concealed everything but his eyes, which were all black, making him look like he was possessed.  "Nice suit!" "You ready to go?" "Ready as I'll ever be. Just let me get my enhancers on."  "Those mech arm and leg things?" "Yeah." "Take your time. We're still a bit early but we'll know the layout." "Yeah." As Jim put on his enhancers, he decided to ask Zero some questions. "So... I gotta ask, why are you doing this?" "What do you mean?" "Well, I mean this whole Neo-Revolution you’ve got going on. Sure fighting crime and stuff is good, but… Why did you think to make a shadow revolution, no pun intended, and ban other Neo-Humans together to fight in secret?" "Because I'm sick of being a victim. I'm sick of not standing up to a force because of fear. I'm sick of seeing history repeat itself before my eyes. That's why I wanted to start something that would put an end to all that. Or at least make them question themselves on what they're doing. Because even planting the seed of doubt is a small victory. And when you're fighting a force as big as the US government and military? You need all the victories you can get." "Well, I'm sold. Because that's definitely a cause I can get behind. Not to mention the first good cause I found after all this Neo-Human stuff." Jim said as he got all the enhancers on and stretched a bit with his exo-armored arms and legs. "Rest assured, your powers will be a great help to the revolution. Hopefully one day, we can start assaulting facilities that imprison people that didn't do anything, but are there solely because the government scientists want to know what makes them tick." "I know... I've seen research videos..."  "Yeah... So, ready?" "As I'll ever be."  "Let's go." Jim nodded, put his mask on, and put his hood up. Zero put his hood up as well and the two went out. "We're taking my ride by the way." Zero said firmly. "What's your ride?"  Zero lead Jim to the back of the building and started to draw shadows from the darkness. "Ooooh!" Jim said excitedly. Zero then constructed an enormous raven out of the shadows onto the roof of the store, easily big enough to carry them both with a wingspan that's roughly thirty-six feel wide. "Wait... we're not going to ride that are we?" "It's the ride I took coming here." "What?!" "Think about it. It weightless, so it will only be concerned with carrying us, I'm in full control, and it's not detectable in night vision."  "Those... Are very good points..." "Besides, it's only at night I can construct things this big." "Do you ever sleep?" "Mostly power naps in the day. A LOT of power naps." "Okay, and you're sure this is safe?" "It... Took a while to get the movements of birds right… But yeah, totally safe." He elevated the two of them using a shadow platform he made under their feet to reach the roof. "Okay..." "Don't worry." Zero said as they stepped on the roof. "It'll be a short ride." "I can't believe you talked me into this."  As Zero climbed on the raven, Jim started to think about how shocking it was to be high above the ground while in Tracy's hand during the sandstorm. "At least with Tracy she could catch me quick if I fell. Or you know... I would hope." He thought. "Man, I wish I could bring her with me... But, I can't PUT her in danger! Better me than her." "You getting on or what?" Zero said, snapping Jim back to the present. "Yeah, Yeah! Just thinking of some things. Nevermind that though."  Jim climbed onto the back of the giant shadow raven and Zero spread it's wings. "You gonna focus on this thing now?" "Yeah, don't even worry about it." "Alright. Let's go!" Flapping the raven's wings, Zero slowly started gaining altitude. Oddly enough, it generated little to no noise. Still, Jim was a tad in edge. "Immediately having second thoughts!"  "It's fine! It’s fine…” Once the two were high enough, they started to fly forwards, towards the fighting ring. As the two flew, quite a few miles away, Arber spotted them. "I got two flying Neos. And… One of them is the rogue!" "What?! How are they flying?!" Kane asked. "Hold on, not picking up anything on night vision... Infrared... They're riding on something if thermal is to be trusted." Arber turned around the jeep and drove as quickly as the traffic would allow. Once he was forced to stop from some minor gridlock he undid his seat belt.  "Marcel, take the wheel, I can't drive and keep him in my sights at the same time!" "Got it!" She undid her seat belt and they both got out of the jeep then switched places. Once they were in their seats, Marcel began to drive while Arber gave directions. "How are you driving this thing?!" Jim said, clutching tightly on the shadow raven. "With full concentration! Now let me do this!" Zero said. Jim slowly crawled to him and saw something that made his heart go a million beats per second. Zero had his eyes completely shut while flying. "Why are your eyes shut?!" "I see though the raven. Now shush!"  "Well that could have been useful info to have BEFOREHAND!"  "I will be forced to land this raven if you don't stop yelling." "I'm sorry, I'm not the one with his eyes shut while flying!" "We're nearly there! Just relax!" "Easier said than done, you know-OH!" "I know it's nerve-wracking at first, but calm down. And don't look down." "Thanks for the obvious advice, Shrek!" "Are you done?" "Maybe!" Jim just resorted to shutting his eyes and hoping for the best for the duration of the flight. After the longest 10 minutes Jim had ever experienced, he felt the raven slow and gradually lower. "Are we there?" He said with his eyes still shut. "Yes. We walk from here." "Oh, Thank Fuck!" "I understand it's not easy to get used to." "Yeah, I've been high up off the ground before, but at least I was still kinda connected to it!" "How?" "Uh..."  Jim realized that in his momentary hysteria, he gave a detail on Tracy.  "The... Thing I was on was still on the ground." Zero looked at him with a skeptical eyebrow raise but decided there wasn't any use in wasting time asking about it. "I'm gonna assume it was one of those glass walkway things." "Similar..." "Alright."  Zero knew Jim was keeping something, but he didn't want to ask, since if he had a secret there must be good reason to keep it. He landed and slowly deconstructed the raven, returning the shadows where they belonged. Jim slowly started walking, knees weak from fear. "Why was I so afraid? I went through worse! I was in a fucking sandstorm!" He thought to himself as he started to regain his footing.  Zero started walking, leading the way to the location of the fight club, and Jim followed him. "So, you've been staking out this place for a while. Mind telling me if there's anything in particular I need to know?"  "The reigning champion is a literal chimera." "And that means?" "Imagine a rhino, a crocodile, and a man had a baby." "I'd rather not, but I have to huh? Still, basically Killer Croc?" "You could say that." "Now I'm both glad and worried that I didn't bring Tracy..." Jim thought as he walked. While his thoughts wandered, he came across a question that just came to mind. "Why did you need me here with you? If you can make all that stuff, you can take them down by yourself, right?" "They got lights on the inside. As you saw, I'm not as powerful in the day as I am at night because it's not as dark. And even though inside the place, I'm still more powerful than I would be in the middle of the day. But if they flip on every light they’ve got, best I can do is fight guys with smaller shadow weapons." "Dang..." "So just in case, I needed a guy to take out the lights or bail me out." "And I'm the guy?"  "Yep." "Okay then, no pressure." "You can walk away from this if it's too much, no hard fee-" "Made it this far, and I survived a flight on a giant bird, so it's past the point of no return." "Guess I was a bit late saying that..." "Yes you were, but it's fine. No hard feelings." Jim said with a cheeky smile under his mask. Before long, Jim and Zero reached the place. They were looking at a casino's horse racing stadium from across the street. "This is it? I expected more shouting." Jim asked Zero. "Really?" "No, not really. I just expected at least a guy standing under a light to maybe take us to the entrance." "Like that guy?" Zero pointed to the far left and Jim slowly saw the figure of a man walking towards a street light. "How does you seeing things through shadows work? Or even look in your... Mind's eye, I guess?" "I'll answer that after this is done. For now, let's get to him." They walked towards the man as he loitered around.  "Nice suits, but it ain't Hallowee-" Cyber-Punk flashed the two tickets to the man and he stopped talking. "Oh. You... Here for the fight?" "We'll just be watching. Take us to the place." Zero said. "Okay then... Not gonna tip me thou-" Cyber-Punk popped the grenade launching feature at his right leg, intentionally choosing the one that didn't have anything loaded in it as just to make a sound. It was enough to scare the guy into voting against asking for a tip. "He a legit-"  "I'd quit asking while you're ahead." Cyber-Punk said. "Okay! Okay. Okay... Relax, I'll take you to the pit, and no doubt you guys are used to seeing weird suit, so I can just throw the warning away. Come with me."  The man took their tickets and pocketed them before leading the two towards a door at the side of the stadium. "Right here, gentleman. And… Weird bodyguard." Jim was tempted to stun him right then and there, but he just went through the door. Zero came through after him and the man. "There'll be a guy in there to take ya under. Enjoy the fight." The man said as he shut the door. After walking straight for a bit, they saw an African-American bouncer standing in a corner. "Kay, here's the deal. Bets are called by the managers, no throwing shit into the pit during a fight, no touching the cage, and no cops. They'll know." "Yeah, we got it." Zero said calmly. "Kay. Welcome to the pit!" He pushed some stacked boxes on a wooden palette to reveal a hidden hole in the wall with some lights and crude wiring on the ceiling. "That's VERY reassuring." Jim thought. "Store robbers were one thing, but this is well organized... I REALLY need to watch my back here. Along with Zero's..."  The two of them went inside, the bouncer pushing the boxes to block the entrance behind them. They spend the next few moments going through the passage and got on a small mining elevator after a few signs pointed them towards it. “Man, how did they get all this?” Jim wondered. ”Well, with what I found out about this place, they stopped construction and hid this unfinished underground area. It was supposed to be a waste management place. Making more money for the house and easy disposal for when horses die.” Zero answered. ”How did you find that out?” ”I know how to get answers from people. Though he may be released from lack of evidence soon so, another reason for me doing this quick.”  ”Man, you are active.” ”I like doing things whenever I can.”  As they went down, they started hearing music being blasted from speakers, and crowds yelling and cheering. They were getting close. ”Til I Collapse…” ”What?”  ”The name of the song playing. Sorry, force of habit…” ”Music must’ve been important to you…” ”It kept me sane… Things were complicated when I was in my early teens.” ”I know the feeling…” They reached the bottom, two to three stories under, and got out. And after walking out of the elevator, they saw the fighting pit. Rows and rows of stadium-type seats with nearly a hundred people on them. Most of them being young men and women dressed in modern fashion. They were cheering, yelling, drinking, and talking among themselves, some were even making out with each other.  At it’s center, a large dome-shaped cage over a pit that goes down about ten feet. It’s concrete walls had cracks and some holes, along with various blunt weapons on weapon racks bolted onto a few places on the wall. ”This… Is just like every movie’s fighting pit.” Cyber-Punk said. ”You’re free to critique it to the manager when we talk to him. See that big window overseeing everything?” Zero said pointing to a large office with a one-way mirrored window above the rows of people spectating.  ”Yeah.” ”That’s where we gotta go.” ”Let’s do this then. These Beverly Hills Rich Kid wannabes are borderline gonna fuck each other soon.”  ”Damn…” ”Sorry, but… Spoiled rich brats are the worst. And here some are, about to watch people beat the shit out of one another to have something to spend their parents’ money on.” ”No arguments here.” They walked up to a door with a “KEEP OUT” sign on it and another two bouncers. ”Hey, only the boss gets through here.” One of them said as he held his hand out. Cyber-Punk grabbed and twisted that bouncer’s arm with his left and launched a remote electric shock at the other one. Zero uppercutted the one Cyber-Punk had arm-locked and repeatedly punched the other that was still seizing up from Cyber-Punk shocking him after. Once both bouncers were knocked out, they went though the door, and up the stairs it lead to. Cyber-Punk kicked open the door in the office only to be met by a man in a suit that was waiting for him with a revolver pointed at him. He looked a bit overweight and looked a bit stressed and scruffy. ”Think I didn’t see this coming?” He said. Zero wrapped a shadow around his forearm quickly and made him point the gun to himself. ”Bet you didn’t see that coming, asshole.” Zero said. ”Agh! Shit! Let go of me, you freak!” The man yelled. ”Something’s off here. He knew I was coming through the door!” Cyber-Punk told Zero. ”Okay, start talking! What do you know about Brooks and her army?” ”The Fuck are you talking about?!” ”TALK! I know you work for the Government!” ”Is that what this is about?! You Fucking Retard! If they knew about this I’d be in a Federal Penitentiary for the rest of my life!” ”Are you serious?! I spent two weeks on you for nothing?! Tell me about anything the government has!” While Zero was interrogating him, Jim looked on his table and used his phone to hack into the laptop that he had on there. He quickly downloaded the files he had on the laptop into his phone but as he did, saw fourteen other devices in the room, all of them being remote controlled strobe lights.  It was just then he saw the large glass panels on the ceiling, and when he looked at Zero, it clicked. ”ZERO SHUT YO-” But before Cyber-Punk could warn him, the lights flashed on and blinded everyone in the room.  ”SHIT! ZERO!” Jim yelled as he was blinded from the sudden bright flash of light. ”FUCK!” Zero yelled.  As they were blinded, more bouncers stormed in and started beating Zero. He tried to use shadows to fight back but his powers were too weakened to make anything that could cause any significant damage.  Soon Jim felt his mask being forcibly taken off and got punched in the jaw forcibly. He clutched his phone and sent the emergency message to Jeff before he was hit in the gut and kicked down.  ”AAGH! Fuck…” Jim said in pain. His vision was beginning to adjust to the light and he barely saw the image of Zero trying to fight back but he was outnumbered.  Jim picked himself up and punched one of them. The charge launchers came out and he aimed at another bouncer, however one bouncer came from behind and hit him with a chair, causing him to fall to his knees. He was quickly bombarded with punches and kicks until one strong boot to the head caused Jim to loose consciousness. Zero’s sight was just barely adjusting when a young woman’s silhouette loomed over him. ”Hehehe… Look ‘atchu…” She said in an obviously fake Boston accent. “Knock his lights out, boys. I got plans for the two of ‘em!”  They followed and one of them with a bat swung at Zero’s head and sending him down as well. ”Take the cyborg looking fucker down. The rider ninja goes in the room there!” She ordered as she pointed to the other door in the office. However, Zero wasn’t quite knocked out, so he sent his shadow into Jim’s jacket while they were being ordered around. Knowing the situation was out of his control, he played it safe and pretended to be unconscious while the bouncers dragged him and Jim away. Meanwhile back at the abandoned cereal factory, Jeffrey just got the emergency message.  ”Dude, if you got this message, you know things went to shit. I need you and Tracy to back me up. This message has my last known location. Get to me quick!” It read. ”FUCK!” Jeff yelled. He started shaking Tracy to wake her up. ”Mmph… What is it?” She said, a bit groggy. ”Jim’s In Trouble!” Tracy sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes frantically. ”WHAT?!”  ”Jim went out and… Did something with Zero…” ”WHAT?!?” Tracy grew a few feet in shock. ”Woah, okay. Calm down!” Jeff said, getting a bit weak in the knees with Tracy getting bigger. “Jim needs us! We gotta get to him!” ”Okay, I’ll get your weapons crate!” ”I’ll get the truck!” ”Yeah! Wait, the truck’s here?” ”Jim… Left it before he went out…” ”You KNEW he was going out?!”  ”He told me not to tell you, that he’d be fine but… Something went wrong and he sent me an SOS so- I’m sorry!” ”Shit! Get us there quick, I’ll talk to Jim later!” She said as she grabbed the weapons crate and everything her arms could carry. Jeffrey, without another word went out and ran to the truck to open the rear door and start it’s engine. ”Jim you better be okay when we get there!” He thought as a million other thoughts raced in his mind. Tracy got out holding all the stuff she could, just as Jeffrey unlocked and opened up the rear doors. She crammed all the items in the truck and started getting in, hitting her forehead at the entrance while doing so. ”Shit! You okay?!” Jeffrey asked. ”Yes, get to the wheel. I’m fine! Agh...” She said while holding her head with her left hand. ”Okay!”  Jeffrey shut the rear door of the delivery truck and ran to the front. He opened the door, got in, shoved the keys in the ignition, and started to drive. ”Please be okay. Please be okay. Please be okay.” He said as he looked at the GPS with the location Jim sent. “We’re coming, man… You HAVE to be okay!”

Jim's head snapped back, some smelling salts right under his nose waking him up. He saw a young lady, around 20 years of age, green and purple highlights in her hair, a nose piercing, and wearing a green army jacket over a black shirt and shorts with torn leggings.

He tried moving, but his hands were tied together and his feet were duct taped to the legs of the chair he was sitting in. He also felt that his enhancers were off, so no way was he snapping out of his binds.

"Ow..." Jim said as he felt sore all over.

"So, how are ya?" The woman said.

"You’ve gotta be kidding me..."

"No kiddin' sweetness. Just you and me! If it was up to my dad I'd have bodyguards in here, but I convinced him I could take you."

"Okay Tank Girl, what do you want? Something along the lines of information? Because I don’t have anything you need."

"Oh, I ain't lookin' for info! I wanna see you fight!"

"Trust me, you're going down!"

"Oh, it ain't me you're gonna be fighting. You are gonna go in the pit and put on a show."

"And if I don't, you insane junkie bitch?"

"Then your friend gets it."

"Shit... Why make me fight? Not like I'm the biggest dude you have here."

"People demand new meat. And all the other fighters are kinda out on this next one... Dude is tearing them apart!" She said, laughing at the end.

"Great, caught by a high-off-her-tits junkie and she's giving me a one-way deal. You're gonna regret this."

"Hehehe, well... You are awfully cute. The whole semi-exotic thing is workin' OUT for ya!"

"Okay, now I know you're high..."

"Tell you what. I can change the future. There was a possibility that you'd agree to giving me some sweet lovin'! So..."

"Tell you what... I'll take that deal..." Jim said with a smile, and she began to smile as well. "And SHOVE IT UP YOUR ASS!"

Jim spat on her and had a, slightly creepy, wide grin on his face. Aiming to make her unsettled.

"That's it... Looks like you're gonna be beaten to death..." She said, looking at the spit on her shirt with a disappointed expression on her face.

"I'd rather do that. At least if I win or lose, I'll have my dignity. You're a vacuum of dignity."

She promptly slapped Jim so hard that he and the chair toppled over.

"Boys! Prep him to fight Chimera. I wanna see BLOOD!"

Two bouncers came in the room and lifted the chair back up with Jim still in it. He didn't even struggle as they dragged him out.

"You can dish it, but you can't take it huh? Typical." Jim said as he went out the door.

The woman just scoffed his remark off, and lit a joint.

"Damn... Alright smokey, show me what's to come..."

Zero was stuck in the room right next to the office, the room was full of strong lights and reflectors bombarding him and practicality frying him with the heat it was giving off. If he could knock the lights out he would, but both of his hands were handcuffed to a radiator.

With one eye closed, he was looking where Jim was while simultaneously thinking how could they have prepared for all this.

Seeing that Jim was being taken away, he decided to make his shadow leave him and slither away.

"Gotta find out how they're getting all this, there's no way they could've known about me or Jim beforehand..."

He kept maneuvering his shadow around the hall the best he could. Fortunately, due to his powers being partially nullified, his shadow wasn't as large and obvious as it would normally be under lower light conditions.

A few moments of slithering went by before Zero saw the woman through his shadow.

She was lying on the floor, looking at the ceiling, circling the air and smoke with her left hand and puffing what looked like a cigarette with her right.

She appeared to be saying something, but Zero couldn't hear through his shadows, so he had his shadow hide under her jacket. Knowing she was going to the office-like room eventually, he planned to lock the door behind her after finding a way out of his current situation, then hold her hostage after, to regain control of the situation and shut the place down.

"This whole thing you got going? It's gonna come crashing down soon enough…" Jim said calmly.

"Yeah, and I'm Chris Evans. Like you're gonna take down Chimera, let alone this whole place." The bouncer dragging him said with a smug chuckle.

"Trust me, Chimera is just another thug."

"Just so you're prepared, dude is undefeated, strong as fuck with skin as tough to match. You'll be lucky if you had every-"

"Bone in your body broken. How original. That threat has been used so much it lost all the threat. Just get me in the fight so I can win and take you all down."

"Your funeral."

They dragged him out the door back to where the crowd of people watching the fight were.

"Oh great, wonderful..."

Some of the audience saw him and gave him a few looks.

"That's right assholes! Don't bet on me! Wouldn't want your parent's money to go to waste!"

"You talk too much."

"I only talk like this when I'm around stupidity. And DAMN there's a lot of it here."

"Yeah, channel that inner crazy. You're gonna need it..."

The bouncer opened another door on the other side of the arena and dragged Jim in to prepare him for the fight.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the fight will start in 7 minutes! Start prepping for betting, we'll show the fighters in a bit!"

The young woman turned off the microphone connected to the speaker system.

Still a bit high, she decided to clumsily walk to the chair and picked up one of Jim's arm enhancers.

"How the fuck does this work..."

She looked to the door where she ordered the bouncers to lock Zero in, she walked over and used the enhancer hand to knock.

"You awake yet, Mr Rider Ninja?" She said through the door.

"No." Zero said.

"Hehehehe, you're funny. But for real, how the flying fuck do your friend's Robocop arm… Things...How do these things work?"

"How should I know? Go ask him."

"Well I woulda, but the little prick spat on me, so I put him in the ring."

Zero decided to keep talking to her so he can squeeze more information out of her while he was spying on her through his shadow. Waiting for the right moment to break out.

"You know... I just have to know. How did you prepare for us? That guy, the lights, just… How?"

"Would you believe me if I said I was... Clairvoyant?"

"You don't strike me as that type. But considering my situation, I'm willing to believe in that."

"Well, considering I have your short friend's Iron Man hand, I don’t think that'd be the weirdest thing you've seen or heard."

"So... You're a Neo."

"Haha! You got it! Give this guy a Prize!"

"What's with the smell of weed then?"

"You can smell it from there? Dammit. Knew I shoulda had brownies instead... Well, since I know the future I guess I can tell ya! I can only see the future after I get a nice hit! The nice and mellow hit of Mary Jane can let me see glimpses of what's to come! I saw you and yer friend break in here before you arrived. So I prepared. And..."

"That's how you know the outcome of a fight... So the house always gets money while the people get their betting fix."

"Bingo! Smart cookie, ain't ya?" She said with a grin as she knocked on the door.

While she was distracted, Zero slithered his shadow out of her jacket and into a nearby corner unnoticed.

"So why make Cyber-Punk fight without his equipment? You know he won't be a popular choice."

"Hey, house has to sacrifice a few to keep the customers comin' back. So every now and then, you gotta have an obvious fight. I may have foresight, but even normal people can see he's gonna get DESTROYED!"

"I have faith he'll make it."

"Not from the glimpse I saw of him..."

"That's the thing about a glimpse... It doesn’t tell you the whole story..."

"Hey! I'm good! I got almost all my predictions right! The fact yer stuck there and I'm able to leave this room freely is proof to that!"

Just then, the door opened and the man in a suit came in.

"Roxanne..." He said with an angered expression. "Why are you touching the guy's fucking... Arm!?"

"Dad, don't ya wanna know how this works? Like how he made it?!"

"I know how exactly how it was made. This has Brooks written all over it! The moment I read her file and what she's ordering be done to people like you, I had to get away from her as fast as possible!"

"Fuck... Sorry daddy..."

"It's okay, Rox... So... You got the results for the fight with the new guy?"

"As usual, saw that Chimera threw him into a wall, at that point, I'm sure he'll win. Hell, even saw him grab the guy! That cyborg wannabe is as good as beat!"

"You sure? Last fight the house nearly lost because the fight came to a tie, not a win for Levi like you said."

"Dad, I'm not a hundred percent sure on this shit, ya know..."

"Which brings me to this... I was thinking that maybe marijuana isn't cutting it. Perhaps you can be more accurate if you took something... Stronger."

"Dad, I'm fine with weed. I may smoke pot a fuckload, but I know what meth does to people's body. I don't wanna be a skeleton with rotting skin!"

"Actually, that’s what Krokodil does. And I’m not talking about meth either... I'm suggesting... Heroin, maybe coke."

"Dad, I'm good. Business is fine with me just smoking pot."

"Yes, but we could always use more money. And! And... We can apply the, hopefully, more accurate predictions to other things! We'll be rich!"

"Just... Let me think about it, dad..."

"Okay, but I got dealers ready in case."

"Whatever dad, I'm going to watch the fight."

"I'll be waiting on that answer, Rox."

Roxanne left the office, absolutely disgusted at her father for even suggesting she take those drugs.

With Roxanne gone and her father distracted, Zero made his shadow slide under the door.

He made it slither up to his arm and started picking the keyholes on his cuffs.

"C'mon... Running out of time!"

Jim was shoved into the ring, striped to his jeans, tank top, and shoes. They were kind enough to give him some boxing wraps on his hands and forearms for the fight.

The crowd booed and laughed, despite having a mildly toned build, Jim was skinny compared to all the men they seen enter that pit.

"THAT'S RIGHT! ALL YOU FUCKERS ARE GONNA SHUT THE HELL UP WHEN I BEAT YOUR CHAMP!" Jim shouted to them, making the crowd want to see his demise even more.

The other side of the arena, as Jim's entrance closed with iron bars, the other side's entrance opened.

"Oh... Shit..." Jim said softly as he saw what he was up against.

Chimera, the reigning champion, was 8 feet tall, he was a wall of muscle with a strongman's physique, gray-green skin, patches of rough scaly skin around his shoulders, chest, back and neck, and a forehead with bone-like protrusions sprouting out just above the eyebrows and the bridge of his nose.

"Where the FUCK is Tracy?!" He yelled internally.

"So... You're what Rox scraped off the street huh? She ain't even trying no more!" Chimera said, confident and cocky.

"Bring your A-Game..." Jim said, more to himself than to Chimera.

"FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!" The crowd of excited watchers chanted.

An airhorn went off to signal the start of the round and Chimera charged at Jim!

He rolled to the side and dodged him just in time.

Jim saw the weapon racks and ran to it, quickly grabbing two short, metal fighting sticks.

Jim then started climbing up on the weapon rack and onto the metal dome that caged them in the pit.

"GET DOWN HERE, YOU FUCK!"

"Nope."

Jim knew he didn't stand a chance against him in a straight-up fight without his equipment, so stalling for time was all he could do till Tracy arrived.

Roxanne had seen this kind of thing happen in her time watching over fights, people agile enough to climb onto the cage thought they could stay on, but she had a way implemented to get them off.

The bouncers put on some rubber gloves and attached some jumper cables onto the cage then hooked it up to main power generator.

This was usually enough to shock the unlucky fighter to letting go, but not enough to do any lasting damage to them.

However to everyone's surprise, Jim still held onto the dome's iron bars!

"What the Hell?!"

Jim held on as if there wasn't any electricity flowing. With his feet touching the rim of the pit and his hands on the electrified bars, he should have been shocked back into the fight.

Some bouncers approached him as he hung just feet away from Chimera as he circled the pit, waiting for him to fall back in.

The bouncers tried to push and kick Jim back in but they received a shock the moment they put their hands on him.

"I'm... Shock-proof?" He thought, surprised at his new physiological curiosity.

But as he marveled at this new development, Chimera grew impatient and threw a wooden baseball bat at Jim, striking him dead-center in his back. He yelled out in pain while letting go of the bars and then fell back into the pit, dropping the fighting sticks as well.

"Now, better not pull that Shit again and FIGHT ME!"

"Fuck... Ow…" Jim said as he got back up, holding his back.

Chimera rammed him and slammed Jim into a wall, this nearly broke his back as Chimera then kicked him in the face against the wall.

Jim's forehead started to slowly bleed as the fight was going in Chimera's favour.

"Hahahahaha! Pathetic! Big Talk, but you're just a lightweight!"

Jim was burning with a rage, pulling from something deep inside for strength...

"Make fun... Of me... Again, and you'll… Regret it..." Jim said as he stammered back up on his feet.

"What? You think you're tough? Quit the big talk, you're bullshit! I'm not even trying!"

Jim picked up the metal sticks he dropped when he fell back in.

Chimera just watched has he hobbled along, picking up the metal fighting sticks.

"You good now? Got them twigs you're gonna fend me off with? Haha-Ha! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Jim's irises turned a dark, burning red as the rage and adrenaline numbed the pain he felt and he focused on one thing...

"I'm gonna beat this motherfucker to death..."

"Okay, here we are, I think..." Jeffery said to Tracy at the back of the truck.

"You think?" She questioned.

"Well- His last message says he's here! Or... More specifically in that place… But I don't get it, the place is closed now and if they're having a fight in there, I'm not hearing or see it."

"Ask around! You know, look for shady people that could know about it!"

"Okay..."

Jeff got out of the truck and started walking around, looking for anyone that can have information on where the fight was taking place.

That was when he spotted a guy counting his money while leaning against a pole.

He went back to the truck to open the back door and let Tracy out.

"You found someone?" She quietly asked.

"Yep. Gonna need you to back me up, he could be armed."

"Got it. So where is he?"

Jeffery walked to the side of the truck and pointed towards him at the light pole.

Tracy saw his position and formed a simple plan, this time she had quite a bit of leeway due to it being dark and no other people would see her.

"Okay, you distract and ask, I'll sneak up on him to back you up while you entertain him. And if things get bad, he's not gonna get a finger on you before I come in!"

"Solid. Let’s do it."

Jeffrey went ahead and Tracy watched until he was close enough for him to take the man's attention before following.

Jeff approached the man who, upon seeing him get close, stopped counting and pocketed his cash.

"Hey." Jeffrey said.

"Sup, what do you want?" The man replied.

"I was... Wondering where a... Uh... Fight was taking place?"

"Ooooh, want in? Where's yer ticket?"

"Well that's the thing, I don't have one. My friend left for the fight but I got left behind."

"No ticket? No problem! Just gimme 150 bucks and I'll show you the entrance."

"Shit man… Can't go any lower?"

"Nope. Fight's probably goin' on as we speak. So best pay up or get outta my face!"

"I got a better idea..." Jeffrey said as he grabbed the man's shoulders. "You're gonna let me in there now, for free, and you still get to eat with a full set of teeth..."

The man attempted to reach for a gun he kept hidden under his coat, but Jeffrey grabbed his arm and twisted it.

This was enough for Tracy to know she had to act, so she grabbed the man by the back of his coat and lifted him off the ground.

"H-HOLY SHI-"

Tracy shut his mouth as he flailed, the gun fell out of his coat from his erratic flailing and Jeffrey picked up the 9 millimeter Glock 17, and proceeded turn the safety on.

"Okay, so you gonna tell me now?" Jeffrey asked as he pocketed his gun.

"And you best be honest! We ain't in the mood for tricks!" Tracy said as she let go of his mouth.

"Okay! Okay! I'll lead you to the entrance! Just please don't tell anyone that I lead you there! Now let me go!"

Tracy dropped him and he fell onto the ground. As he got up, he got a look at Tracy looming intimidatingly above him.

"Shit man! What's with the giant B- B-Broad?" He stopped himself from calling her something that would have made her angry.

"Not important, now take us to the entrance!" Jeffrey demanded.

"Okay! But you'll want the fighter entrance with her! I'll take you there, just don't hurt me!"

"We won't as long as you don't fool around with us!" Tracy stated.

"And if you do? We'll come back for you after!" Jeffrey threatened.

The man nodded as he fearfully lead them to the fighter entrance.

Back in the fighting pit, Jim was dodging, rolling, and getting some hits on Chimera. But his thick hide was preventing him from doing any real damage.

"Just give up little man! You ain't takin' ME down!" Chimera said as he slashed at Jim.

He just managed to dodge that attack but it left a huge hole in Jim's black tank top.

"FUCK! Gotta take this guy out somehow! He's GOTTA obey SOME human anatomical..."

Jim's thoughts generated an idea on where to strike next.

Jim ran as far as he could, knowing Chimera would chase after him.

"Come Back Here!" He yelled.

Jim then suddenly turned around and started running towards him.

"Take this!" Jim yelled out.

He got down just as Chimera was about to strike and with the momentum he gained, slid underneath him and struck him hard in the groin.

He rapidly got up, expecting Chimera to be in pain, but was met with him just being more enraged.

Seeing this, he decided to go all out and give him all he had in a last-ditch effort to take down this goliath.

Jim ran up and jumped onto Chimera's knee to give him a boost before forcefully shoving the fighting stick in his left hand into the monstrous man's mouth, breaking some of his front teeth!

"Ooooooohhhh!" The audience exclaimed seeing the pain in Chimera's expression. As he stumbled back, Jim smacked him in the face with his remaining fighting stick with enough force to eject the contents of his mouth.

The bloodied metal rod, along with some sharp teeth and torn gums, landed on the floor with a splat with a small puddle of blood and saliva.

Chimera looked at Jim with an expression of pure rage and bloodlust.

"You... GONNA REGRET THAT YOU LITTLE SHIT!"

He ran up and kicked Jim so hard that the technopath went skidding across the pit and hitting the wall.

The audience cheered on as Jim was just squirming on the floor. Bloodied, battered, and bruised, he coughed and held his stomach, severely winded from that kick. His eyes faded back to blue as well as the adrenaline rush wore off.

Chimera walked slowly towards Jim as he lay there in pain, desperately trying to get up.

Up on the office room, Zero kicked the door to his room down with the handcuffs still hanging off his wrists.

Roxxanne's father tried to pull a gun on Zero, but the umbrakinetic threw his shadow at him after morphing it into a throwing knife. It hit and embedded itself in the arm of Zero's would-be attacker and caused the corrupt official to drop his revolver. Zero kicked the gun away, picked up the man and slammed his head against the glass so hard it cracked. Upon doing this, he saw Chimera grabbing Jim by the neck and showing off to the cheering crowd.

"Shit! End the Fight!"

"Ah! Fuck You!"

Zero made the show knife go deeper in his forearm.

"Ah! AAAHHH! AAAGGGHHH!"

"I can make it hurt. A LOT Worse! End It!"

"I CAN'T YOU PSYCHO! CHIMERA WON'T STOP TILL THEY'RE DOWN FOR GOOD! AGH!"

Zero slammed his head into the glass a second time in anger, enough to knock him out cold this time and put more cracks in the glass.

"Gotta help him!"

But as Zero retrieved his shadow, he saw something he never expected to witness.

"SHOULD I KILL HIM? OOOOR... LET HIM GO?" Chimera shouted to the people watching the fight.

"KILL HIM! KILL HIM! KILL HIM!" The ruthless and frenzied crowd chanted.

"So little man, any last words?"

"What's... The square root... Of 42?"

"What?"

"Square root of 42!"

"The fuck you talkin' about?"

Jim was completely out of ideas on how to buy time and resorted to confusion. Sadly, it could only stall for so long.

"Fuck it man, you want your tombstone to have something funny on it, I don't give a shit."

Chimera was just about to slam Jim into the ground when the iron bars of the fighter entryways were lifted up and a voice yelled out.

"STOP!"

Chimera stopped, and looked to where it came from. Tracy came though Chimera's entryway and stopped right in front of him. She was easily four feet taller than he was when she stood up straight.

"Let. Him. Go." She demanded with an expression of pure rage.

Chimera dropped Jim and punched her in the side of her stomach. Tracy winced a bit, but that only served to further anger the giantess, as she grabbed him by his shoulders and struck him in the chest with her knee before giving him a right hook, knocking him out immediately.

As chimera fell onto the ground with a thud, Zero and the crowds watching were in complete shock, stunned by the giantess knocking out the monster of a man in a mere two hits!

"T-Tracy?" Jim said, holding his chest in pain.

"You were gonna DIE! Why in the HELL did you NOT tell me about THIS?!" Tracy said to him, furious.

Jim was scared out of his mind from her sudden outburst, but knew exactly why she was so angry.

"I-I can explain! Just hold on... Not the place..."

"Yeah, that's why I'm bailin' you the HELL outta here!"

"Wait... I need my stuff..."

The window of the overseeing office shattered with a gunshot and the crowd below started running away and heading towards the exit, finally realizing this isn't part of the show anymore.

Zero grabbed Jim's enhancers and phone, then jumped out of the shattered window making a large shadow beanbag below him to break his fall.

The bouncers started coming out in force, closing in on him. More gunshots were heard but this time, bouncers were dropping to the ground and holding their bleeding legs.

Jeffrey closed in with his Smith & Wesson 327 M&P and the ticket man's 9 millimeter Glock 17 and wearing a bandana over his face.

"You Zero?" Jeffrey asked.

"Yeah... Who are you?"

"He sent me, now let's go! I'll cover you." Jeffery said, gesturing to Jim and Tracy in the pit.

Zero nodded as he and Jeffrey got out before more bouncers could arrive. Meanwhile, seeing Zero had Jim's things, Tracy lifted him up quickly and placed him in her right shoulder.

"He's got your shit and Jeff's leadin' him out. I'm getting you outta here, and then we talk, Hughes!"

"Shit... She's PISSED..." Jim thought as he was carried to the vehicle elevator used by the fighters.

Tracy put Jim on the corner of the elevator and waited for Jeffrey to get back.

"Come on! Get in the elevator!" Jeffrey told Zero as they neared it.

"I won't argue."

Once all four of them were inside the elevator, Jeffery frantically pressed the button to go up. Tracy shut the elevator's scissor gate and soon, just as more bouncers arrived, the elevator started moving, taking them away.

"Sorry guys... This... Didn’t go according to plan..." Jim said.

"Dude, it's okay. We just gotta take you to a hospital. You got fucked up really bad, man!" Jeff said.

"We can't!" Jim and Zero said, nearly at the same time.

"I'll take this Zero... We can't go to a hospital because it's going to take too long and the government is gonna overtake this place soon."

"How do you know that?" Jeff asked.

"They're after us after all, bunch of preppies running in the street WILL get their attention, and they'll talk..."

"Right, so we gotta get outta here... Anyways, I'm sorry this mission went downhill." Zero told him as he gave Jim his phone back.

"How were we supposed to know the daughter could predict the future? It's fi-"

"Ahem..." Tracy interrupted.

"Oh... Yeah, an explanation... Zero, this is Tracy... Uh... I didn't tell her I was out here with you... Or about you at all to her..."

"I knew you had secrets, but I never expected this. I'll explain when we-"

"No, I want Jim to explain when we get outta here. And I'd like it to be private. After he's gets some first-aid ‘course." Tracy stated.

"Understandable..." Zero said.

"I'll help him with first-aid when we-"

Before Jeffrey could finish, they reached the top and Tracy picked Jim back up and carried him out after Jeff and Zero got out.

Moments later, they ran out and away from the hidden fighting pit, then got back to the truck. Tracy opened the back door, got in with Jim, set him down and Jeffrey shut the doors behind them. After that, he unlocked the truck and got in the driver's seat with Zero, who was still holding Jim's enhancers, riding shotgun with him as he stepped on the accelerator and started driving out of the area.

Moments later, after they were a sufficient distance away from the casino horse track that housed the fighting pit, Jim was in the process of administering first-aid on himself, knowing Jeff was busy driving.

"So, care to explain now, Hughes?" Tracy asked with the most irritated and angry look on her face.

Jim took a deep breath and sighed.

"Okay... Well... In one of the times I went out, I met Zero. He was the guy running the music shop. Then he told me that he was a Neo and that he knew I was a Neo-Human too, but more importantly, he was here on an investigation on the government."

"And then?"

"And then he... Invited me to be his partner in the investigation. And I made sure I could trust him, and I went to Chicago and- Long story short, he's a leader of a team of Neo-Humans, showed me some info and documents that can change how the government will track, capture, and fight in the near future, and... I accepted to be part of the investigation that... Lead to where we were..."

"Okay... I ain't gonna be mad that you did all that Shit, but the thing I'm gonna complain about is that you didn't tell me a dang thing! Now why didn't you?"

"I... Was afraid that you'd want to come with me. I didn't know that I'd be fighting and the plan was just a simple interrogation but they ambushed us and caught us off guard... Then the sicko manager's daughter threw me in there with that monster guy! I didn't even... Know he was that... Tough." Jim realized that he had a heads-up all this time, but was too confident in what he could do.

"You know, if you had just told me, I woulda let you do all that! I know how important it is to know the enemy and stay ahead! I'M THE DAUGHTER OF A SOLDIER JIM!" Tracy shot up a foot taller in her emotional outburst and hit her head against the ceiling. "Ow! Shit! But you know why I'm REALLY mad? I saved you in the sandstorm! I carried you outta that shitheap and we worked together on things! Then you go and charge in without telling me because you think I'd wanna be thrown into the ring? I appreciate that you're looking out for me, but I'm here to help you too! I don't want you to treat me like some deadweight or dainty flower!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry..."

"I really appreciate that you look out for me, I really do. But you ended almost dying in the hands of that guy! And you kept this secret for a while, how can I trust someone that keeps important plans and information to themselves while I'm just left, not knowing I could do something to help until the last minute!" Tracy said, starting to tear up and grow a few more inches.

"I sorry! I... Just... Cared about you too much... I guess. Don't worry though... This should be the final stop for us. I'll take you home soon enough and that'll be the last you see of me... Probably." Jim said, sadly.

"Yeah... The sooner I get home, the better. So I can tell my mom about what's going on with me, and tell my boyfriend about all this too."

"Right... I promised that to you and I wasn't lying when I said I'll fulfill it..."

"I know... And after I tell them, I'll tell them I'll stay with you now on."

"Wait, WHAT?!"

The Nightcap Agents arrived at the casino horse racing track. Arber located where Jim and Zero had previously landed by approximating the distance and general area. They were led to this location after the sudden influx of people running away from the establishment. "Why would people be running away from this place? It's closed." Kane said as she got out of the car, pulling Savage with her. "I'll scope things out. You look for anyone that may know anything about this place." Arber said as he got out as well. "We'll keep watch, call if anything comes up." Marcel said as she and Hanes remained at the vehicle. Arber nodded and started scanning for anything suspicious, while Kane was pulling Savage along. "You know... you have potential..." Savage said to Kane. "In what?" "Becoming like me. A hitman, a hunter! Think about it…" "As fucking if, you goddamn sociopath!" "You don't know what it's like being a hitman. Trained since childhood. Living for the thrill. Isn't that what you want? To be a great combatant, soldier, mercenary, killer..." "Yeah, like I ever want to be like you! I follow orders from the superiors and do them." "So young, so naive. Your loyalty is misplaced…" "What do you mean by that?" Savage went silent with a smug smile on his face. He was trying to get in Kane's head. Being a liability in the team though, Kane knew better than to allow him to get to her. "Fine. But last I checked, I'm in charge of you! So don't expect your damn mind games to work on me.” "Guys, over here!" Arber called out. The team assembled near him as he was looking at a metal door. "I don't need superhuman vision to see that this door was left open. The people running away earlier went though here, there's too much dirt kicked up here for a closed track. They were running away from here alright. Look alive. Who knows what could be in here. I don't see anyone inside, but get your guns ready in case." Arber placed a hand on the door, readied a Beretta 92FS handgun in his other hand. looked back to the team, nodded to confirm entrance, and slowly opened the door. Soon, the team found themselves at the entrance tunnel in the wall leading to the elevator. "This is getting interesting..." Hanes said. "Proceed with caution." Arber told the team. "That's good." Brooks said while in a call. "Make sure she’s constantly monitored, we can't have her create a disaster." "Understood, General." "But if any harm comes to her, I'll find out who did it and have them court-martialed." "Understood, General. And don't be concerned, my team will take care of her properly." "Do update me when any new information comes up. You have my direct contact information. That is all." "Yes, General." Brooks hung up and exhaled while reclining in her chair as she drank from her flask. "Another day..." As she took another swig of rum, she received another call, this time from the Nightcap Agents. "Agents?" "General, this is Kane reporting. We're at the Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino. There seems to be a hideout of some sort here. The rogue, as well as another Neo-Human, were spotted by Arber flying to this general area. We're currently going underground." "Flying? How?" "Unknown means, but we hope to find answers here. We request backup to our location." "I'll send a few nearby teams to aid you. Good luck, Kane. I'll await further updates." "Than- ou- neral. Over and o-ou-." All Brooks heard was static after her contact with Kane broke up. "Lost connection? Must be pretty deep underground. I’ll have to send backup." Brooks took out a laptop and turned it on to look for the closest search team to send as backup. "So, what did the General say?" Arber asked Kane as the team rode down in the elevator. "Backup will arrive shortly. And good luck." She replied. “Alright, good.” Arber said in response. Almost 2 minutes later, they reached the bottom and got out of the elevator. "What the heck is that?" Arber said as he looked into the fighting pit. The rest of the team looked in to see Chimera, still knocked out, lying on the floor of the pit. His mouth still bloodied. "What is this place?" Marcel asked. "It's a fighting pit..." Savage answered. "Been to many of these before, but it seems this one is fairly new..." "Looks like they were having Neo-Human fights here..." Kane inferred. "Looks like something went wrong here. Marcel, go to the room up there. I'll join you there shortly." Arber said, pointing to the office room with the broken glass wall. "Okay." Marcel said as she walked away. "Kane, let go of Savage. You two take the guys knocked out around here. Hanes, that Neo in the pit." Kane and Hanes nodded, doing as Arber ordered. Savage went along with Kane to look at the bouncers, some of them had bullet wounds in the thighs and knees. "What happened here?" Kane thought as she felt their pulses. "These men are still alive..." Savage told her. "Yeah, they're messed up but alive. At least we’ll be able to get information on what happened." "True..." Savage said, trying to be agreeable this time around. Trying to plant a seed of trust in Kane. "We're gonna need a medical team here as well..." "And a capture team for that... thing..." He said, looking at Chimera in the pit. Hanes turned off the generators to keep from being shocked by the cage-like metal dome over the pit before going in. Both to prevent getting shocked and in order to reduce the noise so that they could hear anything suspicious. Meanwhile, in the office, Arber and Marcel looked at the manager, knocked out on the floor with a bleeding arm. "Look around for ID. Based on the attire and the fact that he’s in here, he's gotta be the one running this place..." Marcel suggested. "Probably..." Arber looked on the man's person and saw his wallet loaded with cash, and an FBI badge. "Joshua Mills... Looks like this one has to answer to Brooks. An FBI agent running a place like this? Shame." "FBI? With a Neo right there at the pit?" "Looks like he knows about them... That team better get here soon. In the meantime, looks like we have to conduct an impromptu interrogation for a proper report..." "I'll take it, Arber. You keep searching for any clues." "Alright." Marcel lifted up the unconscious Mills and sat him down on a chair, cuffing him to the chair using zip ties. She sat down on the table in front of him and waited for him to come to for an interrogation by taking a smelling salt packet from one of the pouches on her suit and waving it under his nose. "Come on... wake up..." Mills stirred and opened his eyes, only to shut them again in pain as he held his bloody arm. "Agh! Christ!" "Joshua..." He looked up at Marcel, subsequently realizing that his bad day was far from over. "Ah shit..." He said, exhausted and defeated. "What happened here?" Marcel asked him, straightforward and to the point. "Who are you?" "I work for General Brooks, that's all you need to know." "Shit! Not her! Urgh!" "Oh, so you do know her, and about Neo-Humans. Do tell, along with what the hell happened here." "I know what you'll do to me! You can't make me!" "Oh, please! You have no leverage! Your place is destroyed, and nobody here to protect you. So you might as well tell me how you know Brooks and what happened here so I can send the good word and maybe get you a lighter sentence." "I know how this works, I been interrogated before!" "Yeah, you're FBI. I know. But you're obviously dirty, so..." Marcel pulled out her gun and took aim at him. "Wait, what are you doing?" "Eh, if you can't tell us about what went on here, that big lug knocked out in the pit, so on and so forth, well… I can just say that you were dead when we got here, nothing to it!" "You can't do that!" "Yes I can! That's the beauty of being Black Ops. No laws restrict us. But you already know that." Mills shut his eyes as Marcel pulled the trigger, followed by a near-deafening bang. He flinched and screamed a bit before realizing that he was still alive. That was when he opened his eyes to see Marcel as she had her palm a few inches in front of the pistol's barrel. She moved her hand closer to reveal the now crushed bullet that would have found a home in his brain, had Marcel not blocked it with her indestructible skin. "So, you gonna talk now? I'm not sure my patience will last with this extended magazine..." "Okay, take it easy! I'll talk!" "That's it… And I'll put in a good word saying that you complied. Now, how do you know Brooks? You may be FBI, but no way in hell do you have the clearance for those secrets." "I... I extort data, government files and secrets, sell them to the highest bidder at black market auctions. I got a hold of files about Brooks and Neo-Humans. I always review the files and data I get from my handlers." "This place wasn't making you enough money?" She said a judgmental manner. Mills looked at the floor, ashamed of his greed. "Yeah, I thought so... What about this place by the way?" "Two weirdos came in and wrecked the place. I thought I had them cornered! But one broke free, knocked me out, next thing I know you're interrogating and damn-near shooting at me!" "What did they look like?" "Both of ‘em had leather jackets on, don’t remember if they were regular leather jackets or riding leathers or whatever, but when they busted into my office, they both had masks, and one guy had arms and legs that looked all robotic at first, ‘til we took ‘em off, anyway.” "Robotic-looking arms and le- That's him! Tell me what he looked like! NOW!" "Whoa! Bit desperate I see." She pointed the gun at him again. "Okay! Jesus! What, you got an Itchy Trigger Finger?! He had slightly tan skin, short and messy hair, looked Asian-Hispanic I think, weirdly bright blue eyes that looked like they were neon or metallic blue, slim build, short, late teens." "Right. You better tell the same thing to the people that are gonna arrive for your sorry ass later." "Okay! And you'll put in the good word?" "Sure. I think you'll only get 40 years in the State Penitentiary after I say you complied." "What?! You bitch!" "Hey, I don't make the law, just enforce it. You should know that." Mills scrambled onto his feet, still tied to the chair, and desperately tried to run away. But Marcel simply tackled the soon-to-be former Fed and grabbed him by the waist, forcing him down onto the ground with her superior strength, breaking the chair in the process. "Kane! Come up here! I got a message for the General!" She yelled as she restrained him. "What do you mean you're staying with me?!" Jim said, utterly baffled with what Tracy said. "Look... I know that at the start of all this insanity, I wanted to go home, and... I did! I really did! At the time... But after travelin' along with you... I know it sounds selfish, but I can't have my mom take care of me anymore! With how I am now, I'll eat her outta house and home, I can't do anything but stay at the home, and I'll just be a big burden! I don't want that for her." "I... I understand." He said, not knowing how to respond properly to what Tracy was telling him. "All in all, I realized that, if I stayed home now, I'll be everythin' that I don't wanna be; A burden on people. At least with you, I have a chance to do something better with myself!" "When did you think this through?" "All those times ya left me, had a lotta time to think. And I was gonna tell ya about this, but you had to run off and pull that arena bullcrap under my nose." "I'm sorry..." "Enough of that... I appreciate that you protect me, but I'm never going to learn to fight and save others if you do things without me knowin' 'bout 'em." "Right... I'm sorry, still. I shouldn't have done that..." "It was a good reason, Jim. It was the right thing to do, but you just didn't prepare enough for things goin' off the wall like that." Jim went silent and looked at the floor. This painfully reminded him of the many mistakes he made in his life that resulted in talks like these. Though they were much smaller, they still made him feel guilty for being the way is. And this was no different. "But... Stay with me? After what I just did? Really?” "You're the only person that I know that could help me now. My mom can't provide for me anymore. My boyfriend can't either. And I can't live in a tornado shelter for the rest of my life!" "Waiting for the suits to come knocking..." Jim completed. "Exactly." "Okay... But... Are you sure you're okay with staying with-" "I am... But that don't mean that what you did wasn't the most reckless damn thing I’ve ever seen you do. You know I can help, so just let me!" "Okay..." "Hey..." Tracy inhaled and exhaled deeply. "This ain't gonna break you. You just needed a reminder that you don't have to take the weight of the world on your shoulders. You have friends that can help." Jim nodded, he knew she was right. "So... You feelin' better?" Tracy asked as the situation was finally calming down. "Better than I was..." "How bad did that guy beat you?" "Enough to punch me into a wall... And kick my face into it... And throw a bat into my back... It was pretty bad overall... Although, I did discover something. I'm apparently shock-proof." "They tried to shock you?" "Yeah, but it didn't work. It was weird... I felt the electricity, but it wasn't making my muscles spaz out, it was just... tingling me. And when people touched me, they got shocked." "Huh… What does that mean for you, then? You don't sleep much, eat much, and now you're shock-proof?” "Maybe I'm slowly transitioning to my true form... A robot?" Jim said, half-joking. "Don't be ridiculous." Tracy said with a smirk. "Don't worry, I'll ask Quanesia what this could mean later." “Alright, good.” "But now... What are... What are you gonna tell your mom?" "I'll just wing it, I guess..." "That sounds like me. And you saw where that got me." He said, spreading his arms to show off his battle damage. "True, but this is way different. It's my mom and my boyfriend for one, I'm twice the height of them, and I'm gonna tell them that I'm going away for the for the foreseeable future. It's pretty hard to plan anything for that." "Okay... You got me there..." "If you'd like to help me though, I'm open to suggestions." "Well... Who will you visit first?" "My mom. Family always comes first." "In that case… How about I knock on her door, tell her to come out and follow me, then open the truck doors?" "That sounds about as good as any other plan. I think you and Jeff better do it together, though. You're not exactly... Presentable in your current state." She said, gesturing to all of him. "Yeah... Can't exactly trust a beat-up looking guy that says to follow him to a truck..." "My thoughts exactly." "Same thing with your boyfriend?" "Yeah. And you HAVE to get them. They need to know things before those special agents catch up to us..." "And I'll make sure to disable all electronics in the area. Don't want Big Brother listening in on us, after all. Hmmmm... Should really work on making Proximity Jammers..." "Good idea." "Yeah... Again... I'm sorry. I'll get better, I swear." "I know you will..." Meanwhile, at the wheel, Jeffrey was thinking about breaking the ice with Zero, after quite a few minutes of them overhearing Tracy's yelling every now and then. "So...You're Zero, huh?” Jeffrey asked. "And you must be Jim's brother?" "Yeah." "Gotta say, it was pretty brave of you to come in and rescue us like that." "Thanks." "So what tipped you off that we were in trouble?" "Jim sent an S.O.S. my way, along with his location." "Good to know he thinks ahead." "Not ahead enough to... You know..." Jeff gestured to the trailer with his left hand. "True, so... What's with her? She Jim's girlfriend?" "No, he's just helping her get home. It's a long story." "Well, we are just driving, we have the time." Zero pointed out. "Well, Jim trusts you. That's good enough for me. It started like any other day with him. But then Jim went missing. I was worried, he left his phone and his laptop was gone, but nothing else. I eventually just shut the phone off because Jim's mom kept calling... Anyway, a couple days later, he showed up, showed me his new gear, then introduced me to Tracy, and explained that he broke her out of a facility in San Francisco. Alcatraz Island, to be specific. Told me he was helping her get to Oklahoma. That's the gist of it." "He's broken into a Neo-Human containment facility already? He's more experienced than I thought." "He's got a lot of experience. But I'll let him tell you that himself." "Understandable. And hey, you earned a lot of respect for coming in and saving us, despite not being a Neo. I was skeptical about you since Jim told me his terms, but I see now that I should trust his judgement." "His terms?" "Jim said he'd join my crew, but only if you were there too. Honestly, I’ve only been recruiting Neos so far, trying to keep everything low profile. But I can see that you're a devoted, determined, and loyal man. You're okay in my book." "Thanks." Jeffrey was a bit flattered, and felt proud of himself after hearing all that from Zero. "Don't mention it. Just keep doing what you're doing." "I try." Brooks' face cracked a small smile as her agents gave her the news that they had a lead on Tracy Price, along with a better description of the rogue. "Good work, team. You'll be commended for this. But you can't lose this lead. Get to Oklahoma and detain them at once! That is all. Best of luck to you, agents.” Brooks hung up the call and stood up. "With hope, they'll be captured soon. Best prepare for this..." She held her work phone to her ear and made a call. "Colonel? It's Brooks. I would like to arrange a scheduled transport to the Texas facility." "Will do, General. May I ask what for?" "I'm expecting a few new captures there. Be sure the facility has spare protective equipment for me. Because if all goes to plan, I'll be interrogating said captures." "Right away. We'll schedule a transport there immediately, and I'll call in for updates." "Thank you, Colonel. In the case that they are not captured, I’ll go there regardless to observe. See how the upgrades are going and everything.” "Yes, General." "That's all for now, Colonel. Over and out." She terminated the call, and walked out of her office. After entering the R&D laboratories, she approached a middle-aged man in a lab coat looking at his tablet. "Excuse me, Doctor." "Oh! General! I assume you want a progress report on O'Hara?" "That’s correct." "Well if you would come with me, I'll show you. She's doing quite well." Brooks was led to a large window to see doctors and lab assistants in a large, white room, training Delilah to shift appearance faster, and to a better degree. From her expression, Delilah was clearly bored of this monotonous task given to her ever since she returned. "How fast can she change now?" "She's improved by 20%. And it's all in the archives." "Her cell samples?" "We've tried electrical stimulation of her cells. They change in response but not for very long." "Keep testing. Also, any updates on the fabric?" "Yes General, the fabric is certified to be bulletproof, and we mean 'Bulletproof'. The fabric layers only experienced minimal damage after repeated shots to the same area. Explosive resistance testing, as well as extreme temperature testing is underway. However, interestingly, the fabric has gained an unforeseen, but not unwanted, trait." "What is it?" "It can stretch, to quite a large size. To about 50 times its original size. Then contracts back to it's original size without issue. It seems to be that the fabric's durability also gives it the ability to stretch quite dramatically. While it's not as durable when stretched out as it is normally, we can see some applications for this..." "Do send a soft report of this to me, Doctor." "Will do, General." Brooks dismissed him and exited the lab. After R&D, she went on her usual rounds, checking if everything was in working order in the facility before going back to her office. Meanwhile, the traveling journalist, and amateur detective, Shaun Snow was interviewing random people on the streets, asking if they had seen the giant raven. Reports of it led him to El Paso in Texas. He had limited luck with his questioning, as only some knew what he was talking about. However, only two people actually saw the raven; two teenagers that were stargazing. One of them was named Melvin, he was Caucasian, a bit overweight, wore glasses, and had brown hair. His friend that was with him during the sighting was named Oscar. He was African-American, quite skinny, and wore glasses as well. "So it had... people on it?" Shaun repeated back to them, to clarify what they said. "Yeah! They looked like they were riding it!" Melvin blurted out. "Riding it?" "It's hard to believe, I know, but that's what we saw!" Oscar told him, Melvin nodding in agreement. "Right. So, did you get a good look at the people riding?" "No, they were WAY too far away." Melvin said "We only barely saw it. It was moving so fast!" Oscar told Shaun. "Okay, well, thanks boys. Are there any other particular details you think I should know about the sighting?” "Well… It may be my telescope, or how low the light was at the time, but that raven did Not look like an actual raven. I mean, it looked like it was made of something else, right Oscar?" "Yeah! It looked almost like… Like it was just solid black." "Huh... Okay... I'll take note of that. Thanks, boys. You can go now." The two teens left Shaun to ponder on his new findings. He wrote "People Riding?" and "Solid Black?" on his notepad as he walked back to his van. He knew something was going but just couldn't point it out. But the moment he had evidence, that would be his big break. The big story that would start his career as an investigative journalist. "Years of waiting for a story like this... But why does this feel like it's just starting?" As he pondered, he couldn't help but reflect upon the choices he made to reach this point. Born and raised in Newport, he always had a fondness for discovery and uncovering the truth. His father and mother were approving of his interests, buying him all the books he wanted, as well as his favorite Transformers toys. The intricate workings of the more complex ones served to teach him puzzle skills at a young age. However, as he grew older, his mother encouraged him to pursue different things for practicality. She wanted him to have a comfortable life. However, he found a way to compromise by taking up journalism. He figured it was close enough to what he wanted and what would make him a fair deal of money. Eventually, he made it to the US, telling his parents that he was going to continue his higher education there. But in reality, he was going to try his luck there. But so far, at age 29, it hadn't gone that well for him and his pursuit of a dream career. But his train of thought was derailed by his phone ringing. "Oh... You got to be kidding me." He said as he looked at who was calling him. He decided to reject the call and get back out on the streets to continue his research. Almost immediately, he sees a young woman with green and purple highlights in her hair, wearing a green army jacket over a black shirt and shorts with torn leggings. She was hauling a large backpack and looking quite on edge. "Excuse me, miss, care for a few questions?" Shaun asked her. "No." She said abruptly as they briskly walked on. "You sure? It'll only be quick." "I fucking said no!" "Fine then, it's perfectly alright. Thanks anyway. Jaysus..." He allowed her to go on her way and continued his research interviewing.  Meanwhile, outside of the Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino, backup had arrived and closed off the establishment, agents keeping people well away from the area.  Mills was properly cuffed and taken away in a van for further questioning. Chimera gained consciousness as well but was in no condition to talk. Tracy had fractured a few of his ribs as well as cracked his skull! It hurt for him just to breathe, let alone speak. Still, ever cautious, they sedated him before taking him away. As they were taken away, Arber looked to the rest of the team. Glad for their lead on Jim and Tracy, and looking towards their future capture. ”Well, now it’s only a matter of time before we have our targets…” ”Yep, and General Brooks gave us the okay to go to Price’s home.” Kane informed. ”So, I’m guessing we’re going stealth with this as usual.” Marcel commented. ”Yeah, she told us that Price will either go to her mother or partner. Marcel, you’ll go undercover as a police officer to question her about Price. Far as she’s supposed to know, her daughter is missing. You’ll have Arber as backup. Meanwhile, Hanes will do the same with her partner. With me as backup.” ”Sounds good. But if things go south, what about Savage?” Arber asked. ”We’ll just have to hope Price is with her mother, or doesn’t reach them at all…” ”Best plan we got for now… So let’s ride, team! Back to the jeep. Our next destination: Oklahoma City.”