Cole MacGrath scaled the rooftops of Flood Town, gliding across with the use of his static thrusters. A sudden plea for help nearby caught his attention - he located the source of the cry and jumped down off the rooftop next to a group of injured people laying on a rare patch of ground in the dead center of Flood Town. His hands were brilliant with electricity as he placed them on the chest of an injured man. "You'll be okay." Cole said, as the electrical pulse spread to the others, healing the entire group in the process.
"Thank you so much!" cried a woman of the formerly injured group, as stood upright.
"Don't mention it." Cole replied, preparing to take off onto the nearest rooftop, until a member of the group began to sway uneasily. Cole stopped himself just in time to catch him. "Woah, easy there. You alright?"
"Yeah, thanks... I - I just got a fever, that's all..." the man explained.
"I'll take him to a clinic, thanks for your help Cole." the woman intervened, smiling before guiding the sick man to the nearest medical clinic. Cole launched himself upwards by a mass of ice, then glided to the nearest rooftop, where he observed the sunset. The Beast was now in New Marais, surviving the nuclear attack. Surviving seemed like such an overstatement - more like using it as sustenance, and now it had just disappeared, and would turn up any moment, with two more blast cores still undiscovered. Time was precious. If only he could absorb time rather than electricity. No - more like, if only he never opened that package back in Empire City, then none of this would have happened. He wouldn't have had the burden of electricity coming out of his fingertips. He wouldn't have lost his old life. He wouldn't have lost Trish...
His thoughts were interrupted when Kuo's voice came through.
"Hey Cole, you there?"
"Yeah I'm here. What's up?"
"There's some really strange stuff going on. The clinics in Flood Town are full to the brim with sick patients."
"Well, in case you haven't noticed, there's a damn plague spreading."
"Yeah, I know. It's just that there are reports of people attacking each other. Awful lot of gunfire from that area, too."
As if on que, Cole heard a series on gunshots right next to his building, and a series of panicked yelling. Immediately, he jumped to investigate.