I remember everything about that point in my life. It's easy to recall, since it's the single most influential thing I've ever done. I joined Z-Force.
To bring it to a start, I remember fire, the heat, the sounds of iron straining and glass shattering.
I was stationed in Faultline, my squad of Sinister Webs trying to grab the old data files on a dimensional separator. Apparently the head know-it-alls in Arachnos have been dying to get their hands on that tech. Not everything went as planned. Z-Force was on the scene to stop us, we don't know how they even knew we were there. They fought through the Wolf Spiders and Blood Widows at the base of the highly unstable building, and in turn, started the building to crumble.
By the time they got to us, we were prepared. Working for Arachnos had its perks. We got all kinds of fun toys, traps, weapons, armor. We laid out defenses, found appropriate cover, and waited.
Arachnos doesn't tell you that all that fun gear means absolute diddly when a super group is determined enough. Sure, we put a hurt on some of them, but they were so quick and coordinated. I think it's the speed at which they penetrated our defenses that really turned my head. Then again, Quinn turned my head with a solid right hook to my chin that sent me reeling that day, too.
The whole group simply marched right over us. Metric Ton threw aside our cover, Doc Von Trapp and Avitron blasted away our traps, Mystic Roar cracked our comm units with a single scream, and Lady Melons slipped in under cover of darkness to pummel us all into oblivion. That Quinn's a trixie one, I'll tell ya. I got knocked into some falling wreckage that pinned my legs beneath something heavy, I never actually got to see what it was. The pain was a special kind of hurt, though.
It was so clear, everything that happened. The fire, the heat, the shrill sounds of the building dying alongside my squad mates own shouts of pain. I'm sure many of them cracked open their cyanide pills, if they hadn't already been crushed by the wreckage. The din of battle was ugly that day, if you were on the wrong side, that is. I certainly was.
Roar came up to me once the battle had ceased and screamed, "What were you looking for in the base ruins?" His question shattered my blood red helmet's exterior visor, and gave he an instant migrane.
"I can tell you everything! Just get me outta here! I don't wanna go out like them!" Yeah, I sounded helpless. I was.
"You'll tell it from behind bars," Von Trapp said.
"Great. But if any of us want to make it out alive," Avitron exclaimed, "we have to get going. Now."
I loved my gun. It was everything to me, for a time. It saved me out of many a tight spot. Don't leave home without it, understand? So when Ton pulled the wreckage from off of me, and Doc helped me up, I started stumbling toward and proceeded to fall on my gun. I guess I looked hostile.
"Big mistake, spider," said Ton as Quinn grabbed my gun away and Ton slammed his fist on top of my head.
* * *
I came to in a gray and blue room, with iso-bars shimmering white in front of me. I knew if I touched them I'd just get shocked and knocked back. Been there, done that. Another look around me and I started to gather my wits, remembering what had happened. Great work, man. Got yourself into a no-win situation. Arachnos will never take back a traitor, and Paragon won't let you roam as a free man. I was dressed some real basics, plain white T, some athletic pants. I ran my hand through my short blond hair, and then rubbed my eyes.
Just then I heard some noises sounding like laughter coming from elsewhere in the base. I was obviously holed up in a detention cell in Z-Force's superbase. I was simply waiting to be interrogated, then processed and sent to the Zig. I knew there was no real way out of this. But still, my mind raced. I had to be a fast talker to get out of this in any way, shape or form.
The banter grew closer, and I saw their group glaring at me while talking low amongst themselves. The ones I had already encountered were there, along with one more. They were mostly out of uniform, Metric Ton's gray trench coat gone, his hulking frame now donned a simple tank top and jeans. He stood next to Quinn, who fashioned herself Lady Melons. She had dressed down as well, her blue and gray athletic gear a stark contrast to her devilishly red hair. The Doctor was still in uniform, his outfit a red and white display complete with cape; he was older than the rest, but you'd never guess he was fifty. Avitron was also suited up in his blue and gray power armor, he was hovering and turned to Doc, obviously conversing about something. Mystic Roar was ready for the town, in his black leather jacket, cool shades, and spiky hair. He had left just then, waving off to the new one who I'd not met.
He was apparently still in uniform, shades of blue and white tracing over his metallic armor that fit him like a glove. He had white hair that tumbled around his shoulders, and some kind of bluish marking on the left side of his face.
He pressed his hand to a sensor outside of my cell, and the iso-bars faded away. As he entered, I could see him clearer; the marking on his face was no tattoo. It was faintly glowing blue, like trapped lightning you'd see in a science museum, but there was no pattern. It traced the side of his face like a scar...
"Hey, you alright," he said to me, "or did Ton hit you a little too hard?"
"No, I'm okay, I guess," I responded, dully.
"Good. We want you to make good on your promise of information," he said sternly.
"Who are you?" I asked, generally.
"We're the good guys, you're the bad guy. So I'm asking you, what was Arachnos doing in that building?"
I thought about the truth, and what it would mean for my future. I really wish I had more time awake to process what I'd say.
"We were given orders to infiltrate what was supposed to be an old supergroup base and extract any relevant data on any projects they had been working on," I told him.
"Well that sounds awfully vague," he narrowed his eyes and leaned in. I could see his eyes weren't human, they were cybernetic. His iris' were glowing like his scar, his pupils widening like a camera lens.
"Sure, sure," I put my hands up. "We knew it to be a former base of the Legion of Freedom, which we also knew was eventually made into the Freedom Corps. I suppose the brass knew there'd be something valuable inside."
"There's more here that you're not telling," he told me. "What was it specifically that Arachnos wanted?"
"That's all I know, really!" I'm sure I sounded convincing, to myself, anyway. "We were to infiltrate the base, dispose of anyone who came in our path, and take any data we could!"
"Fine. I know you Arachnos boys are probably subjected to worse just in your training..." I was pulled up from off the floor by the power; his pupils narrowed as electricity surged from his hand to my neck. "but I wouldn't want you to think we heroes have gone soft." The pain was incredible, but I wouldn't let this jerk see me flinch...
The expression he bore was loathsome. He let the lightning stop, eventually. My neck felt on fire, I could barely see, my ears rang...
"Now what were you looking for?" He yelled at me.
"I swear, I'm telling you everything!"
* * *
I swore a lot that day. Rage (as the others had called him) told the others I'd said nothing. Which I suppose, was true enough from their point of view. I figured there'd be no saving me from doing time no matter what I said. But hey, I gotta try something, right?
Ton and Melons came for me. They had mag-restraints awaiting me, for which I prepared my wrists in front of me, and stared toward the floor.
"I can help you," I muttered.
"Just save it, spider," Ton interjected.
"No really, not just information," I said as I craned my neck and looked up at him. "I really can help. I don't want back in to Arachnos. I want to help here in Paragon."
"And I'm sure that has nothing to do with the fact that if you do head back to Arachnos," Quinn said, "Lord Recluse would have your head for even coming back at all."
"That sure isn't helping their case, no," I replied. "But it isn't about that." I apparently had some real convincing to do. They walked me outside the cell, and I could see their base in further splendor. It was pretty posh, to me at least. Plenty of plasma displays, teleporter units, their own vault reserve, and lounge area. I could do this...
"Of course it's about that, little spider," Ton said. "It doesn't take a brilliant scientist to figure out that you've got no place to be but dead, or in jail. And you think that if we take you on, you'll slip under the radar, get some anonymity, and fight some crime-"
"Exactly!" I interrupted.
"-and then stab us in the back when the time is right to do your bidding for Recluse."
"What?" I was aghast. "No! I joined for the training, the military lifestyle, not for the maniacal takeover!"
"Just save it, Web," Melons said. "If you wanted the training and lifestyle, there's always the military to go into, you didn't have to sign up for Recluse's army."
"Well why don't you go back and live my life and see if you could have made a different choice!" I yelled at her.
"Whatever," she said. "Besides, Rage already told us everything about you, and how you were seeded."
"Seeded?"
"Yeah," Ton said. "seeded. We've fought Arachnos plenty of times, and the special units never just throw up arms. And here comes you asking for forgiveness? For acceptance?"
I took my time with that one. Rage, that son-of-a-mother, gave a pretty dead on synopsis, hindsight being 20/20. He was wrong, but I should have realized what it'd look like I was doing before I did it. We walked to what was an end of the room, I suppose, where a shimmering blue light shined upwards in a cyclonic manner. Teleporter. Jail. The End.
"I won't deny that I broke protocol. But whatever you may believe or what Rage told you, I did it of my own free will." My solemn sincerity I hoped got through. "I'd been wanting out of Arachnos for some time now, but it's not something you can just quit. There's ways, yes, but I'd heard stories, and I wasn't going to be another of those statistics."
When we arrived at the teleporter, I got got shoved in first, we left at the same time. We appeared in a large black metal warehouse or sorts, a solitary teleporter receiver hanging over us like a shortened lamppost. All around was the same scene, dozens of receivers porting in criminals, waiting to be processed in the next room. The line seemed short, but I'd not been in a line like this before.
"Now you're a new statistic, spider," Ton declared. "While we always want new members for Z-Force, you've given us every reason not to trust you, and some expectant small talk in your defense."
"Who knows, webby," Quinn smiled. "Do your time and maybe one day you can right the wrongs."
They walked me to a security officer at Ziggursky Penitentiary, who was keeping the line in order. They handed over a small data chip that I assumed had all the relevant information on why I was a bad guy. I assumed it even had video footage of my former squad's stunning loss to Z-Force.
Then they smiled and waved like we were old friends, turned their backs, and teleported out the way they came.
Huddled amongst dozens of other criminals, I felt more alone then than I ever had in my life.
* * *
I wasn't special. I watched as plenty of known villains were being put in specific restraints, given dampening drugs, or having power fields erected around them. I was processed fairly efficiently, though everyone gets put through a stress test to see if they're hiding any latent powers unactivated by normal diagnostics. It's not a test you'd want done to you. So I was issued an orange jumpsuit with an embroidered name tag that said Brighton, Jonas. Great. Elementary school bullying all over again with people who kick puppies on their way to rob grandma.
I was placed in a group cell (only temporarily they said) with a bunch of gangers. I got ignored mostly, since they were apparently two rival gangs. A couple of them got in a fight, and got dragged out to do some solitary. Looking around, it was apparent that Statesman's call went out for heroes a bit late. Paragon City had a lot of troubles before the Rikti ever showed up. There were normals all around me, but normals could brew up enough trouble that it's a wonder heroes can counter all the supers in this city.
I eventually got relocated to a higher elevation cell all my own (since I wasn't a flier I presume). The day to day was....boring. Prison is a lot of nothingness. So you get to thinking a lot. "Who the hell am I?" was my toughest question. A kid from the Isles with no future that made the worst best choice of his life, I felt like I had no purpose now. Where do I go after jail? Was there a life after jail? Do I get out at all? Maybe there was some clause against Arachnos agents or something. Probably not. It might take me more time to get "corrected," though. I wonder...
Then I heard a lot of noise coming from outside my high barred window. VTOL fliers; I knew the sound well. The room shook as I heard several explosions come from outside, and flashes from gunfire came through every opening to the exterior. I backed up away from the wall just in time as an explosion ripped apart the wall exterior. I was punched in the gut by a small chunk of brick that got blasted apart, and my skin cut up by thousands of smaller projectiles. I stood myself up as quickly as possible to look out the smallish opening left for me to freedom.
I knew I was up a few levels, but the Zig is tall. There was a small ledge I halfway stepped out on to get a better look at the horrific drop. Below was an epic battle, with Arachnos gunships hovering over smoking anti-aircraft batteries that had dropped shock troops to the open field below. The ground assault was furious, and the Zig guards were being quickly overwhelmed by the blasts of the red staves of Arachnos soldiers. There were several more holes in the building below me; Arachnos was obviously breaking someone out, and it obviously wasn't me. I just got a bit lucky.
I saw a flier being chased by a super now...come to say, Arachnos's attention was now divided between the guards and an inbound threat looking like........no 'effin way...
* * *
Avitron was flying circles around the Arachnos flier, shooting off blue blasts from his armored gauntlets, crippling its gun turrets and causing it to veer high and close to my...
I jumped for the open troop bay of the VTOL, and found solid purchase as my arms clung around one of the interior seats. I coughed up some blood, having reinjured my gut, and looked up. The bay was open and empty save for one person, an Arbiter...
"Richards?" I asked with a strong sense of surprise and distaste at my former instructor.
"Brighton?" He replied with an acrid look of hate on his aging face. "You got processed? I knew you'd never go through with the pill. Well if Paragon's finest can't get you gone, I guess that task falls to me."
Arbiter Richards was good, but was also very full of himself, like most Arbiters I've met. He had one hand clutching a ceiling handlebar for stability, and tried to kick me out the bay opening. I used the smooth flooring to slide around the attack and kick out his other leg. His grip slipped just then as the flier took another hit, and he started to fall out. I reached out and grabbed onto his large utility belt.
"What now, you're gonna save me?" Richards asked. "Did you get un-brainwashed in your little stay in Paragon? You're out to protect the innocent and all that?" He laughed while he dangled high above the ground.
"Nope," I replied. "Just needed your belt." I clicked the release with my thumb, and Richards screamed as he fell.
I stood up, not watching what I'd just done. I put on my prize, and searched the troop bay for the gun compartment. And there it was, the Arachnos Venom MkII. I snagged the assault rifle and double checked the ammo. What I didn't realize was how fast we were descending. Avitron's assault must have taken its toll on the flier, because we were now on a crash course. I opened the cockpit door, and saw the pilot struggling to keep her airborne. We leveled out, but skidded to a halt into the side of the penitentiary. The pilot looked back at me through his black helmet.
"Are you Diehard?" he asked.
"Huh?"
"Doctor Diehard? Are you him?"
"Sure, buddy." I planted my gun butt between his eyes and hopped out the open side of the flier.
The grounds were a mess of fire, gunfire, energy blasts, broken vehicles, broken bodies, and general pandemonium as prisoners scrambled toward freedom. At the far end near a blast opening in the walls I saw Mystic Roar shouting at anyone who got close, all of them clutching their ears and falling to their knees. Rage was throwing down freezing rain under a group of Arachnos soldiers, and Dr. Von Trapp on the other side of the field assisting some other Z-Force members I'd not yet met. The Metric Ton had hordes of prisoners and soldiers on him, some clung onto him as he slowly dismantled them. Lady Melons was going toe to toe with a Crab Spiderbot, evading it and landing hit after hit, crippling it to pieces. The field was full. I was fighting my way out.
I ran across the grounds as fast as I could. I hoped to find some opening somewhere. I cleared my path by firing a couple rounds above the heads of those prisoners who tried to get in my way. They quickly scattered. I looked over, and near me Rage was locked in combat with a Disruptor Bot. The drone was large and obviously shaped like a spider, with energy fields that were deflecting his electrical blasts. It shot out a burst of flame at him, which he shielded his face from. While he was stunned, it charged forward and thrusts its forward pincers into his abdomen. He looked at it, eyes wide, and slid off, falling to the ground. He faced me, and saw me. His mouth was choking out some white fluid, oozing from his stomach like blood.
The bot noticed me. I had my gun at the ready, but did not shoot. I knew what to anticipate here, having trained against these machines. It reared up to pounce me, and when it did, I charged forward and rammed it with my side, sending it legs-up. I quickly scampered up its underside and pointed the gun at it. A shotgun blast tore it inward, and I quickly reached onto my utility belt and grabbed a mini-frag grenade. I tossed it into the opening, leaped off of it, and covered Rage's body with my own. The explosion sent shrapnel into my back, though none of it too deep. I checked Rage's breathing; he was faintly conscious. He looked up at me, eyes squinting with a shred of disdain. All around me was the sensation of fire, heat, and the sounds of metal crunching and screams of people hurt. I picked up Rage, and headed toward the Doctor.
* * *
Von Trapp met me halfway, having seen what happened. "Thank you, you've done us a great service," he stated. "Now please put him down and step back."
I did as the good doctor asked. His hands glowed with a green light as he spread them out over the fallen hero. Rage's wound closed immediately, his coughing ceased. He was still obviously groggy.
Avitron descended near the Doctor. "I need to get him back to the base to get him 100% again, his cybernetic nature always is an issue," Von Trapp declared.
"Fine," Avitron replied. "Longbow just got here and the spiders are retreating. Wait...didn't we just send this one here not too long ago?" He pointed at me.
"Yes we did," Metric Ton answered. "So what's he doing here now?"
I tossed the gun at Metric Ton. I didn't want to be a repeat offender.
"He saved Rage of Thunder from a certain demise by an Arachnos Bot," Von Trapp pointed out.
I had my hands up. I looked a bit of a contrast, all in orange standing around the elegantly garbed superheroes, my utility belt out of place.
"That true, webby?" Melons asked.
I nodded. "Look, I know that trust can be an issue, but-"
"Save it, spider," Ton interjected. "Lil' dude needs to get home, right Doc?"
"Indeed he does."
"Then we're going back now," Ton said as he flipped out some device that made the whole area glow bluish...
Then we were standing in a clean, open area inside a familiar location. This must be what their base looks like outside of their detention cells. It was simple, with tables and devices for experiments and work all over. Not too shabby.
The Doctor and Mystic Roar helped Rage down the hall, as Avitron, Metric Ton, and Lady Melons turned their attention toward the guy in orange.
"You were saying?" Quinn asked me.
"Uhh...yeah. I was going to say that I would really appreciate a second chance, don't send me back there, I can help you...that sort of thing," I muttered. "I kinda lost my steam when we got taken out of the moment."
"Uh huh," Avitron said blankly through his expressionless helmet.
"Stay here," Ton said. The three of them turned and walked away for the longest two minutes of my life.
"You have a chance here because of what you did today," Avitron said. "But there are some definite ground rules. One, you can't leave the base unless you're assisting the team. And trust me, you can't, you won't have the permissions."
"Two," Ton started, "you won't have access to any of your gear-"
"You guys kept my gear?"
"-and you'll NEVER interrupt me again. Your gear will be issued to you on a need-to-use basis only. A lot of it was damaged, including your guns, so you'll be allowed special access to repair them on a case by case basis and with supervision."
"Well, okay I suppose," I responded, "pretty much anything outside Arachnos or the Zig is better. So yeah, I'll do what it takes."
"And," Quinn piped up, "you will have an extensive list of chores to keep the base tidy and organized, we'll get you a chart and a checklist and will also have you try your hand at cooking for the lot of the team, plus there's the laundry service...." she went on for a while coming up with new ideas by the second.
* * *
So that's my rocky start with the Z-Force. Rage of Thunder will never trust me, and doesn't hide his distaste of where I came from, even though I saved his life. The ground rules stuck for quite a while before a real trust was established. I've gotten my gear up to spec, and haven't found a better replacement since, so I still use it to this day. Plus, it's a reminder of where I've been. I suppose my name will chase me everywhere anyway...Sin, Web, Sinweb, Sinny, Webby, Webster...there's more I can't remember right now. It's a good life. I got extremely lucky to be given the chance to do the right thing. Now I just have to prove it over and over again. Maybe sometime I'll head back to the Isles with Z-Force and show them who's side I'm really on. We'd need to build an even larger prison in Paragon on that day...