Disclaimer - All non recognisable characters are my own, any similarity to
any existing characters created by marvel or any other original character
is purely coincidental. I'm not in the business of stealing characters, so
if I have used names that you have seen before, tell me and ill change them
Ta.
If you want to use any of my characters, drop us a message and Ill write you a back-story for them.
I've tried to sort out the paragraph problem that is so obvious in the prologue, but I can't guarantee it won't happen again in later chapters. The Prologue is complete. The necessary at the bottom of the page, was accidentally left in before I uploaded the chapter.
Chapter 1 - Ghosts in Shadow
It had been two months since the events at the lake and Marcus had become part of the mutant underground, what ever had caused the pain in his head, had hit the world. Tensions were high on both sides, The mutants blamed the humans, and Vice versa.
So he'd gone into hiding, he'd gone back to the US, once people had known him as Sgt Marcus Grant, now he was known as Pulse. He had spread the name as a way of hiding his past. Basing it on the blue haze that pulsed from his hand as the energy balls left them.
He'd fallen in with a group of mutants holed up in New York. They called themselves the Ghosts of Manhattan. The members of this motley crew were powerful mutants who had fallen from favour with whoever they knew because of their mutations.
Their Leader Maelstrom or Edgar Marlow, was a middle-aged man, whose gaunt frame concealed an immense power. He could create huge tornado's that on his command ignited to create a blazing 'Maelstrom'.
The second member of the group was both immovable object and unstoppable force, the man-mountain Terra. Stephan Eriksson, ten feet tall, and about as wide. Stood still He looked like a nightmare in stone, his skin had the appearance of a craggy rockface, It was Adamantium in its purest form, not as indestructible as its refined state but still as impervious as stone.
Next were the twins Lara and Lana Jones, Known as Psion and Kinesis, identical twins in appearance, relatively short, with shoulder length blonde hair and body's models would die for. The only difference between them was their mutant abilities, Lara was a powerful telepath, who could read or control unprotected minds. Lana was an incredibly powerful telekinetic, able to move things at a whim.
The final member of the Ghosts was a young girl, no more than twenty years old, shoulder length black hair, a cute face, and through the brief glimpses he had when she opened the black long coat she always wore showed him she had a nice figure. At some stage in her life, he figured something had happened to her that had broken any confidence she could have had. To a lesser extent her mutant ability was identical top his, just to a lesser extent in that where he could create super dense, super explosive balls of energy, she could create hundreds of small energy sparks, each with about as much destructive force as a firecracker.
She called herself Jubilee, although Maelstrom had since informed him that her real name was Jubilation Lee. Much of her time was spent in her room. Nothing was known of what, if anything, she did in there, they only really saw her at meals and even then she said nothing.
They lived a modest life of crime, stealing if they had to. They fought, almost constantly, to survive, mutants, humans, anything that threatened them.
In the time he spent as a ghost Marcus learnt to control his powers a little more. He learnt to soften the density of his Pulses so they wouldn't kill. He'd killed enough for one lifetime. He still could but he now had a choice.
They lived like this for a while until Maelstrom decided they had lived in the shadows for too long, Marcus presumed he was referring to the ghosts' pre-him. He had decided they would make a surprise attack on the friends of humanity, A neo-nazi organisation that had sprung up after the pain had hit the humans. They wanted to see every mutant purged from the Earth. Maelstrom had used the excuse that they had killed a family of mutants living in the Bronx, but there had been no news other than his say so. He knew they kept the more powerful mutants in a prison in one of there facilities.
Maelstrom was recruiting.
Arriving on the outskirts of the complex, the first thing that struck Marcus was how much this place looked like a military installation than a terrorist hideout. This group had some serious, possibly government backing. A sweep of the perimeter found the location of close circuit cameras, Electric Fence generators, Heat tracking, remote guns, motion sensors and armed patrols. Whatever was inside, thought Marcus, they wanted to keep quiet.
Maelstrom's plan was an all out assault, but after discovering these defences a new plan of attack was needed.
Their entry point was a short section of fence, which backed onto the surrounding forest, dark enough that the cameras and patrols wouldn't pick them up. Kinesis obliged as she lifted them up and over the fence, and then glided over herself. Moving quickly to the nearest out building, they encountered little resistance as they reached a large storage warehouse. Psion had proven useful when any patrols had got a little to close. She just told they're minds to carry on and that there was nothing of interest in their direction. Well-placed Pulses saw to any cameras they spotted. The same fate awaited the guns.
Picking the lock, they entered the store. Inside, there was pile upon pile of surplus weapons crates; equipment crates were also present. Searching one of the back corners of the warehouse, Terra came across a trapdoor to the service tunnels under the complex. They had found what they were searching for. A way in. Another search of the store brought some more luck. Bulletproof vests for those of the ghosts without near invulnerable skin, A new sight for Marcus's Arm rig. He may need it, he thought. Terra made a slight adjustment to the hatch, a slight adjustment only a tonne of stone could make to a service hatch. Taking point the Man-mountain entered the tunnel. Maelstrom and the twins followed suit. Pulse was to take the rear, looking round he found Jubilee was strangely absent. They'd brought her along, in case she could prove useful or at least as a distraction, maelstrom had mused.
"Go ahead" he called to the others. "Leave her" ordered Maelstrom "We may need her. " he replied. "I don't see how" "You made her come" "Very well, hurry, we'll wait here" "I'll find her." He said leaving the mouth of the tunnel.
He found her huddled behind a crate of mortar shells.
"Are You OK?" She looked at him despairingly, she replied in voice so quiet he had to strain to hear. "I can't do this, I shouldn't have come." "Why not" "Compared to the rest of you, what do I do, nothing, I do nothing, Edgar has it right, I'm just a distraction, You don't, need me here at all". She was practically shouting. "Of course your needed, your part of the team." He reasoned. "Yeah the weak link, I've never been needed by you guys before. I've never been on a mission like this, because I can't do anything useful. "If your not useful" Marcus replied " Why are you here? Do you think Edgar would bring you here if you weren't?" "I suppose, but that's not the Poi." she tried to argue. "Clearly it is." He interrupted "there must be some skill, other than you considerable mutant ability, that made him bring you." "My ability is nothing more than a cheap light show, and you know it." She screamed. "Calm Down, What the hell makes you think that? I've seen your sparks and although there not as powerful as say, my Pulses, I bet they can still knock a guy down or bring a wall to dust if pour enough of them into it." He replied. "You think". She said shakily. "Yeah, you just haven't had the opportunity to use them at they're fullest. But apart from that you must have other skills." " I'm pretty good with computers." a small measure of confidence was returning to her voice. "How good?" "I once hacked in to my school's computer, cause my grades were low". She said. "So you're a computer expert, why didn't you say anything before?" "You never asked." For the first time since he'd met her, she smiled. he could have sat there talking with her for hours, but as it was , they had no time. "We've gotta go." "OK."
She was still withdrawn but as she climbed down into the tunnel, a glimmer of hope, was in her eyes.. It was one of those cliché tunnels found in every military or commercial complex, a floor slick with water, pipes, tracing along the walls to an unseen source. They followed it as it continued towards the main building. They came across the others near a large set of blast doors. There was something that clearly needed to be hidden behind them. " What you couldn't get through these by yourself?" Behind him, Marcus could hear a stifled giggle. "Very Funny." replied Maelstrom " you were in the military, you should be able to get through them."
Marcus checked the surrounding area for a way through the door, he found a small hatch to right of the door. Behind it he found a mass of coils. "I'm sorry, I can't get us through here." "What." Inquired Maelstrom. "I can't get us through here, but" "But what?" "But" he paused "Jubilee, come and take a look at this, you should be able to sort this." He gestured for her to come closer. "What would she know what to do with it?" Said Kinesis with an air of arrogance. "Didn't I tell, Your looking at our electronics expert". "What?" Exclaimed Kinesis. "What?" said Jubilee thrown completely off guard. "Yes she should be able to get us through here". "I should" still in shock. "Yes, if you come and have a look at this panel here, I'm sure you'll know what to do with it."
Finally getting it "Oh yeah, I'll take a look. Shouldn't be a problem". Crouching down beside Marcus, she looked inside the panel. "Now what" She Whispered. "Short it" replied Marcus. "Huh." "Use your sparks to short the circuits of this door, not too much you don't want these guys to see how you do this." "Right."
Placing her hand inside the hole she let the sparks flow, a short burst later and the doors slid open. They continued inside the doors, Jubilee held Marcus back by the arm. "How did you know that would work?" She asked. "I didn't" he replied. "Oh OK. Hey, Why didn't you try anything?" "I would have killed us all." "Really." "Possibly, but who cares, we found a use for you, the doors opened, well done."
They continued down the tunnel. It opened out into a small antechamber. Several similar tunnels led away in various directions, a small Stairway, was directly in front of them. "The main building should be up there." Said Maelstrom." We need to get the mutants they have here out, and then, we blow this place to hell." They climbed the stairs, at the top they found the guide they would need. Psion tapped into the guards' mind. Lifting the map from his mind, she signalled she had what they needed. With this signal Terra, knocked the terrorist out with a flick of his huge finger. The middle finger, thought Marcus, he was mocking them. Psion instructed them to the right. They made there way to the Prison Wing.
If you want to use any of my characters, drop us a message and Ill write you a back-story for them.
I've tried to sort out the paragraph problem that is so obvious in the prologue, but I can't guarantee it won't happen again in later chapters. The Prologue is complete. The necessary at the bottom of the page, was accidentally left in before I uploaded the chapter.
Chapter 1 - Ghosts in Shadow
It had been two months since the events at the lake and Marcus had become part of the mutant underground, what ever had caused the pain in his head, had hit the world. Tensions were high on both sides, The mutants blamed the humans, and Vice versa.
So he'd gone into hiding, he'd gone back to the US, once people had known him as Sgt Marcus Grant, now he was known as Pulse. He had spread the name as a way of hiding his past. Basing it on the blue haze that pulsed from his hand as the energy balls left them.
He'd fallen in with a group of mutants holed up in New York. They called themselves the Ghosts of Manhattan. The members of this motley crew were powerful mutants who had fallen from favour with whoever they knew because of their mutations.
Their Leader Maelstrom or Edgar Marlow, was a middle-aged man, whose gaunt frame concealed an immense power. He could create huge tornado's that on his command ignited to create a blazing 'Maelstrom'.
The second member of the group was both immovable object and unstoppable force, the man-mountain Terra. Stephan Eriksson, ten feet tall, and about as wide. Stood still He looked like a nightmare in stone, his skin had the appearance of a craggy rockface, It was Adamantium in its purest form, not as indestructible as its refined state but still as impervious as stone.
Next were the twins Lara and Lana Jones, Known as Psion and Kinesis, identical twins in appearance, relatively short, with shoulder length blonde hair and body's models would die for. The only difference between them was their mutant abilities, Lara was a powerful telepath, who could read or control unprotected minds. Lana was an incredibly powerful telekinetic, able to move things at a whim.
The final member of the Ghosts was a young girl, no more than twenty years old, shoulder length black hair, a cute face, and through the brief glimpses he had when she opened the black long coat she always wore showed him she had a nice figure. At some stage in her life, he figured something had happened to her that had broken any confidence she could have had. To a lesser extent her mutant ability was identical top his, just to a lesser extent in that where he could create super dense, super explosive balls of energy, she could create hundreds of small energy sparks, each with about as much destructive force as a firecracker.
She called herself Jubilee, although Maelstrom had since informed him that her real name was Jubilation Lee. Much of her time was spent in her room. Nothing was known of what, if anything, she did in there, they only really saw her at meals and even then she said nothing.
They lived a modest life of crime, stealing if they had to. They fought, almost constantly, to survive, mutants, humans, anything that threatened them.
In the time he spent as a ghost Marcus learnt to control his powers a little more. He learnt to soften the density of his Pulses so they wouldn't kill. He'd killed enough for one lifetime. He still could but he now had a choice.
They lived like this for a while until Maelstrom decided they had lived in the shadows for too long, Marcus presumed he was referring to the ghosts' pre-him. He had decided they would make a surprise attack on the friends of humanity, A neo-nazi organisation that had sprung up after the pain had hit the humans. They wanted to see every mutant purged from the Earth. Maelstrom had used the excuse that they had killed a family of mutants living in the Bronx, but there had been no news other than his say so. He knew they kept the more powerful mutants in a prison in one of there facilities.
Maelstrom was recruiting.
Arriving on the outskirts of the complex, the first thing that struck Marcus was how much this place looked like a military installation than a terrorist hideout. This group had some serious, possibly government backing. A sweep of the perimeter found the location of close circuit cameras, Electric Fence generators, Heat tracking, remote guns, motion sensors and armed patrols. Whatever was inside, thought Marcus, they wanted to keep quiet.
Maelstrom's plan was an all out assault, but after discovering these defences a new plan of attack was needed.
Their entry point was a short section of fence, which backed onto the surrounding forest, dark enough that the cameras and patrols wouldn't pick them up. Kinesis obliged as she lifted them up and over the fence, and then glided over herself. Moving quickly to the nearest out building, they encountered little resistance as they reached a large storage warehouse. Psion had proven useful when any patrols had got a little to close. She just told they're minds to carry on and that there was nothing of interest in their direction. Well-placed Pulses saw to any cameras they spotted. The same fate awaited the guns.
Picking the lock, they entered the store. Inside, there was pile upon pile of surplus weapons crates; equipment crates were also present. Searching one of the back corners of the warehouse, Terra came across a trapdoor to the service tunnels under the complex. They had found what they were searching for. A way in. Another search of the store brought some more luck. Bulletproof vests for those of the ghosts without near invulnerable skin, A new sight for Marcus's Arm rig. He may need it, he thought. Terra made a slight adjustment to the hatch, a slight adjustment only a tonne of stone could make to a service hatch. Taking point the Man-mountain entered the tunnel. Maelstrom and the twins followed suit. Pulse was to take the rear, looking round he found Jubilee was strangely absent. They'd brought her along, in case she could prove useful or at least as a distraction, maelstrom had mused.
"Go ahead" he called to the others. "Leave her" ordered Maelstrom "We may need her. " he replied. "I don't see how" "You made her come" "Very well, hurry, we'll wait here" "I'll find her." He said leaving the mouth of the tunnel.
He found her huddled behind a crate of mortar shells.
"Are You OK?" She looked at him despairingly, she replied in voice so quiet he had to strain to hear. "I can't do this, I shouldn't have come." "Why not" "Compared to the rest of you, what do I do, nothing, I do nothing, Edgar has it right, I'm just a distraction, You don't, need me here at all". She was practically shouting. "Of course your needed, your part of the team." He reasoned. "Yeah the weak link, I've never been needed by you guys before. I've never been on a mission like this, because I can't do anything useful. "If your not useful" Marcus replied " Why are you here? Do you think Edgar would bring you here if you weren't?" "I suppose, but that's not the Poi." she tried to argue. "Clearly it is." He interrupted "there must be some skill, other than you considerable mutant ability, that made him bring you." "My ability is nothing more than a cheap light show, and you know it." She screamed. "Calm Down, What the hell makes you think that? I've seen your sparks and although there not as powerful as say, my Pulses, I bet they can still knock a guy down or bring a wall to dust if pour enough of them into it." He replied. "You think". She said shakily. "Yeah, you just haven't had the opportunity to use them at they're fullest. But apart from that you must have other skills." " I'm pretty good with computers." a small measure of confidence was returning to her voice. "How good?" "I once hacked in to my school's computer, cause my grades were low". She said. "So you're a computer expert, why didn't you say anything before?" "You never asked." For the first time since he'd met her, she smiled. he could have sat there talking with her for hours, but as it was , they had no time. "We've gotta go." "OK."
She was still withdrawn but as she climbed down into the tunnel, a glimmer of hope, was in her eyes.. It was one of those cliché tunnels found in every military or commercial complex, a floor slick with water, pipes, tracing along the walls to an unseen source. They followed it as it continued towards the main building. They came across the others near a large set of blast doors. There was something that clearly needed to be hidden behind them. " What you couldn't get through these by yourself?" Behind him, Marcus could hear a stifled giggle. "Very Funny." replied Maelstrom " you were in the military, you should be able to get through them."
Marcus checked the surrounding area for a way through the door, he found a small hatch to right of the door. Behind it he found a mass of coils. "I'm sorry, I can't get us through here." "What." Inquired Maelstrom. "I can't get us through here, but" "But what?" "But" he paused "Jubilee, come and take a look at this, you should be able to sort this." He gestured for her to come closer. "What would she know what to do with it?" Said Kinesis with an air of arrogance. "Didn't I tell, Your looking at our electronics expert". "What?" Exclaimed Kinesis. "What?" said Jubilee thrown completely off guard. "Yes she should be able to get us through here". "I should" still in shock. "Yes, if you come and have a look at this panel here, I'm sure you'll know what to do with it."
Finally getting it "Oh yeah, I'll take a look. Shouldn't be a problem". Crouching down beside Marcus, she looked inside the panel. "Now what" She Whispered. "Short it" replied Marcus. "Huh." "Use your sparks to short the circuits of this door, not too much you don't want these guys to see how you do this." "Right."
Placing her hand inside the hole she let the sparks flow, a short burst later and the doors slid open. They continued inside the doors, Jubilee held Marcus back by the arm. "How did you know that would work?" She asked. "I didn't" he replied. "Oh OK. Hey, Why didn't you try anything?" "I would have killed us all." "Really." "Possibly, but who cares, we found a use for you, the doors opened, well done."
They continued down the tunnel. It opened out into a small antechamber. Several similar tunnels led away in various directions, a small Stairway, was directly in front of them. "The main building should be up there." Said Maelstrom." We need to get the mutants they have here out, and then, we blow this place to hell." They climbed the stairs, at the top they found the guide they would need. Psion tapped into the guards' mind. Lifting the map from his mind, she signalled she had what they needed. With this signal Terra, knocked the terrorist out with a flick of his huge finger. The middle finger, thought Marcus, he was mocking them. Psion instructed them to the right. They made there way to the Prison Wing.
