The story you're about to read is of my own creation, along with some friends of mine. It is set in England in the near future, around 2035-ish, and all the characters are original as well, except for certain mentions. Those are DC property. Other than that, the world of Helix: Ascent belongs to the amazing game creator FarmerJaller. Enjoy!

Chapter 3: Flightbury

They arrived at the courthouse as the sun went down, and sat in the car as they watched all the people leave. The last person to go down the steps at the door was Jacqueline, and she smiled when she saw her husband and children. She made her way over to the Chariot at a faster pace. When she opened the door, she hugged her children, gave her husband a kiss, and sat down. Henry started the car down the street.

And then the world exploded.

Robert awoke with a fuzzy, aching head. He could barely open his eyes, but he worked at it until he could see. He had no idea where he was, when it was, or why everything was blurry. "Ugh, everything hurts…"

Someone noticed that he was awake. They said in a familiar voice, "Hey, Rocky. Are you feeling alright?"

"No, I'm not. Who are you? Everything's blurry."

"Your cousin Elizabeth. I'm here with Max. We heard about what happened as we were coming to see you for Christmas. I'm so sorry." The blurry blob that must have been Elizabeth moved, and something mostly black but peach-colored at the end protruded in an odd manner. She must have been beckoning to someone, because another blurry blob moved closer.

It spoke timidly. "Hi, Rocky. I'm glad you're okay."

"Hi, Max." Rocky turned his head back to Elizabeth and said, "You said you're sorry about what happened, but… I don't know what happened. The last thing I remember is that we had gone to pick up Mum from the courthouse, and we were coming back home."

"Oh, poor boy. Once you get your vision back, we'll show you a street-cam recording. But are you sure that you want to see that?"

"I need to know what happened. And my eyes are already clearer than they were a minute ago."

The Chariot had hit something in the road, but it was no speed bump. It flew over a metre into the air, flipped sideways, and landed up-side down. The family could have been mostly fine if the car hadn't kept going. It careened sideways through the street, finally stopping once it smacked into an office building.

The woman whom Jacqueline had been representing was still nearby when it happened, and she rushed to try to help them. She managed to get the doors open, and she pulled Robert out onto the street. A man called 999 for medical help, and the woman tried to pull Jacqueline out of the car, but couldn't. She urged the onlookers to help, but only two came forward: the man who had called emergency services, and another man whose face was concealed. The first of those two helped the woman pull Jacqueline out, but the second went around to where Cato was trapped. He pulled Cato out, said, "David says hello," and shot the other two with a previously hidden pistol.

The man got into a van that had just driven up to the scene of the crash, taking Cato with him. The van sped off, and then the ambulances arrived.

Elizabeth pressed a button on a remote controller, and the screen turned off. "Robbie, I'm so sorry…"

"Don't call me that. Mum calls me that. Mum… called me that." Rocky's eyes welled up with tears, but he blinked them away. "Mum… Dad… Cato… They took Cato! Where did they take him? We have to go get him!"

"Rocky, it's been ten months, and no one has seen him."

"Ten months? No…" Rocky's expression was one of despair. He knew that his life would never be the same again. Nowhere even close.