LOTUS

VOL. 1, ISSUE 1

CHAPTER 1

There was a full moon that night as Colleen Wing, along with her associates, the other Heroes for Hire, were following up on a lead about a wanted drug lord. This particular drug lord had risen to prominence in recent weeks as one of the Bureau's most wanted. This guy's product was the purest of any of his competitors. There wasn't much to go on, but what profile there was on him stated he was a level 3 mutant who called himself Abyss2. Stupid nickname as far as Colleen was concerned. At least it was something. They didn't even have an idea as to what his powers might be. So instead of sending Normal agents, she and her friends get called in for the job. Red tape and legal hierarchy bullshit or some such.

The tip included a possible location of operation outside of Hell's Kitchen. The Defenders were out of the question for aid because Wilson Fisk was "at it again," as Jones told it. Smart-ass drunk.

It was decided they would tackle the location from three separate areas, Misty from the west, Black Cat from the air, and Colleen herself from the east. None of them wanted to be doing this, and all just wanted to get the job done: Find the base, scout it out, and provide info on Abyss2. Colleen wished there was more cover to go around. Hard to sneak with a big skylight in the sky illuminating the whole area. However, if the bad guys could see them, then they could see the bad guys coming.

The air was deathly still and quiet. Colleen was covering the pier, and there was literally nothing going on. No movement, not even a car. It was all too eerie. She kept her katana ready at the slightest sign of enemies. It was then she heard a strange buzzing sound whizzing through the air, towards the western section of their search pattern. Deciding to follow, she broke into a run. She was crossing over into Misty's area, coming up on an alleyway. The buzzing sound suddenly stopped, sounding like it hit its target. She also heard a soft groan, and thump as if a body just hit the ground. She stopped where she was right before the entrance to the alley. She drew her sword, and tried to prepare for what she feared she might find.

Turning the corner, she saw Misty in a pool of her own blood, knife protruding from her chest. There was no life in her eyes, and sauntering out of the shadows a little ways from her, there was who Colleen assumed was Misty's killer. She used her hidden radio to signal the SOS to Black Cat. "Who are you," she asked? It was all she could do to ask the question in a steady voice. Who could be so good as to kill Misty with nothing but a simple throwing knife? The stranger gave no answer other than making their way towards her.

Black Cat received that which she hoped to never receive: an SOS from one of her teammates. The only reason why Colleen, for it was her signal, would send it was if she were in grave danger or incapacitated. Following the signal, flying through the air using her grappling hooks, she hoped and prayed it wasn't too late.

She finally arrived only to find Colleen being run through with her own katana. Her killer was obscured by overcast shadows, but she did see they were wearing an over coat and a hood. Where was Misty; this was her area? Cat landed on all fours readying to attack when she all of a sudden couldn't move. White hot pain of what felt like 1000 needles penetrated her body. It was like nothing she'd ever experienced. She literally couldn't move. Blackness soon followed.

"Agent Fury…Agent Fury," chimed the computer rousing Nick Fury's interest. "A report coming in from Fringe: Code Blue." Fury opened the report and read the report quickly, but slowed the further he got into it. Not since S.H.E.I.L.D. decided to officially recognize the FBI's Fringe division as their "ground forces has anything like this happened. Officially this was out of his jurisdiction as he tended to operate only on higher levels of national security, but there was one thing he could do.

"Tell Fringe I'm sending in Parker."

"Sent."

Special Agent Broils, leader of Fringe Division, and therefore the FBI's liaison to Fury, received a reply not three minutes after he sent his initial report. Not a moment after reviewing the reply, there was a knock at his office door. Knowing who it was, he bid the knocker enter.

"Agent Maxwell," he said acknowledging who it was and gestured to the two chairs in front of his desk. Special Agent Paul Maxwell walked in and took one of the two chairs. Paul Maxwell was an up and coming star at the Bureau, and within Fringe.

Crossing his fingers and resting his elbows in his desk, Broils asked, "Are you at all familiar with the Abyss2 case and its recent events"?

Maxwell nodded. "I am indeed sir. Tragic what happened last night. Has there been any new developments"?

"Black Cat is in a medically induced coma barely clinging to life. And S.H.E.I.L.D. is sending in Spider-Man to provide protection for her, so her safety is no longer our major concern. However, whoever attacked her is our concern, and the only clues we were able to recover were both the knife used to kill Misty, and the needles used incapacitate Cat," Broils explained. Maxwell sat in silence appearing to absorb what he was being told.

"Was there something you wanted from me sir,"?

"Yes," came Broils' reply a little too quickly for his liking. He mustn't let on how disturbed he was about the attack on his, or at least formally his, superhero team. "Initial reports of the metal composites of the weapons shows that the minerals are indigenous to China." Maxwell was giving him a puzzled look. "It is my understanding that you are sort of a... specialist in Chinese martial arts and culture. Correct"?

"It was a favorite pastime of mine growing up, but I'm not sure a childhood hobby would help with finding the killer, or Abyss2 assuming they're not the same person."

"On the contrary, I think you're exactly what we need. You have more knowledge and experience in this than any other agent we have, so I'm assigning you the case." Maxwell looked perplexed. It was understandable. There were several other agents with more experience with unexplained phenomena. Agent Dunham for example was sort of an expert with these things, but she was still back in Boston heading up her own Fringe Division. So Agent Maxwell was the best he had.

"I assure you, you are more than capable. You're knowledge in physics and psychoanalysis are other qualities I considered. The case is yours. Know that you will have the full support of Fringe," he finished, fingers still crossed, waiting for Maxwell's response.

After a few moments, Paul nodded and replied, "Yes sir"!