City of Heroes

Birth of the Brotherhood

Disclaimer: If you hadn't been paying attention to every chapter before this.. seek help.

The Awakening: 1 of 4

First there was only darkness, then gradually awareness returned to her. Everything hurt.. it was agony just to exist. Why did it hurt so much..? Eyes opened only to wince shut at the bright light from above. There was noise that she could just barely make out, heavy breathing... the sound of mismatched body parts awkwardly scuffling about on concrete. It was all she could do not to scream. Even then however, she wasn't sure she could take the agony of exerting herself that much if just breathing was causing her mind to become foggy.

"Ah.. you're alive. We won't need to throw you out then." Said a voice from somewhere above her. A hand settled on her stomach, almost making her scream from the white hot pain that brought. With a hiss she forced her left arm up and grabbed the wrist connected to the hand, but that was all she could do. From that point she was utterly spent. A ragged breath and a small whimper was out of her mouth before she realized it. "You were a long project you know.. my finest Eidolon to date. The pain will pass in time, and then you will realize what that new body can really do."

She sucked a breath in and managed to ask of the voice. "Who.. are.. you?" The effort in doing this lessened somewhat. The voice above her at least was truthful to that.

"I am your creator.. Doctor Coroner and you are Necrose, my child." Said the voice from above and then she felt the presence leave her momentarily. For a solid minute she felt alone, before a eight inch needle was suddenly jammed into her neck where it met the shoulder. She screamed, pain mounting from even that and it only caused her to cry louder. Then, just as suddenly as the pain came, it stopped. Necrose sat up slowly and was treated to a rather horrifying sight.

She was in a large oval shaped room near the wider end. All around her were trays and tables with hundreds of different tools. Bloody saws, scissors, and other things her muddled brain couldn't register. Her eyes narrowed in confusion before they focused on the other beings in the room. The first could have once been a man, if it wasn't for the bizzare animal parts, like arms that looked like they would have been better built on a gorilla and his legs, one slightly shorter then the other. Though her instinctive reaction was to scream again something just wouldn't let her. Necrose also realized that some part of her mind told her not to be afraid of this monstrousity, in fact it should be the one fearing her.

That creature was below her notice, so Necrose turned to look for that one that had spoken to her. She found said man standing on the opposite side of the table she'd been laying on. He looked rather old, possibly in his late forties. Receeding dark hairline, bloody lab coat, button up black shirt with slacks. A pair of rounded glasses rested on the bridge of his prominent nose. The man smiled, not necessarily a nice smile but enough of one to make Necrose aware that she was without a stitch of clothing.

"I nearly gave up hope on bringing you to life my child. You are the result of years and years of work.." The doctor admitted while gesturing at the creature on the other side of the table. "You, fetch our newest member some clothing. Just because she's dead doesn't mean her modesty is."

While the creature scurried off to find something suitable for her Necrose spoke again. "What do you mean? I'm certainly not dead." Her statement brought a smile to Doctor Coroner as he searched for something. He spoke up only when he pulled out a hand mirror and offered it to her. "Oh yes you are my child. It's nothing to fear, I've given you another life to live.. on a few conditions."

At this point she was allowed the mirror to see the 'new' her. For all intents she looked normal, except for a few visible stitch lines that held her flesh together. Her eyes were a strange milky blue, completely void of any white. Her ragged, uneven strands of black hair hung down about her face, ending just past the jawline. Her pupils contracted as the realization fully hit her. Necrose spoke with a slow and sullen tone. "You mean I'm a freaking zombie? Who was I before this!" She turned an angry glare on her 'father'.

Doctor Coroner seemed taken back by his creation's sudden anger and actually panicked a moment. However that was quickly returned to a placid expression of confidence. "That hardly matters Necrose. You are my daughter now and that is what counts. However.. so long as you're obedient to me I shall tell you all of your past one day. I won't lie to you about your powers. You could kill me where I stand, but then you would never know now would you?"

Necrose hesitated, the doctor's words bringing her mind back down to a more intellectual state if not a less angered one. "Fine. What do I have to do?"

Doctor Coroner smiled humorlessly as the light from the operating bulb reflected off of his glasses. "For starters, I'm going to need some supplies."

Billy Young, otherwise known as Tempest laid back in his new bed. Since the official formation of the Brotherhood of Justice there had been some major changes in the lives of the members. For one Eden Rolt displayed a previously unused well of money, hiring a private construction crew that constructed a two floor building that roughly took up half a city block all in about two month's time. On the surface it was an antique store called Touch of the Old World. The real structure was below it, spanning four floors. The first was something of a meeting room or congregation area where the team would be briefed on missions or otherwise just hang about. Floor two was primarily the exercise rooms, Bard had elected to have his room on that floor.

Floor number three was the rest of the sleeping quarters, and the final floor was the mainframe computer combined with a rather impressively sized library. Though the team was together a few ground rules were made. The first was unmasking. Identities were made known, and in most cases it wasn't a good thing. Now Edward seemed to have melded completely with his Bard persona, treating everyone but his sister with a cold demeanor. It was safe to say Billy was at odds with his once good friend.

Widow, who was now known to the group as Crystal was revealed to have been an orphan until younger Eden had taken her under her wing. Apparently she had opted to only speak to Eden when it was only the two of them, hence the silence from her. That didn't explain her creepy nature, but Billy was willing to look past that. The biggest shocker to him was the revelation of Betty being the Sentry. There just seemed to be something so wrong about a bookworm being a super hero it wasn't even funny. At least that was how Billy thought.

The biggest mystery of the team was Eden. What had driven her underground? She wasn't very willing to disclose the subject, so it was left entirely to speculation. Billy sat up and turned so that his feet now rested on the insulated steel floor. These sleeping quarters weren't actually a permanent residence, just a place for times after or in between hectic missions that were very demanding. Eden and Crystal were making it a permanent home for lack of any actual dwelling to stay. Besides, someone needed to run the shop above it.

Billy stood up, brushing his shirt off to get rid of imaginary dust bunnies and headed out the door. The hallway was a sterile gunmetal grey with one long strip of flourescent lighting going to the end of the hall where the bathrooms were, and came back to where the stairs to the upper levels were. A simple lay out but it was all they needed at this point in time. Even Eden had admitted that she was unsure as to whether this particuliar team combination would work out.

He got to the stairs and started to head upward to the first level of the base, it was more likely that he would get some sort of interaction there then in his room. Edward wasn't around at the moment, so Billy would have to wait to repair their friendship.

He came out into the circuliar room which was declorated with a couple of couches and chairs. None of which were really in style. Eden had some catching up to do in that department. He was met by the sight of Crystal and Betty talking over a cup of some beverage. Out of all of them Betty was the one Crystal seemed to get along with most, where there was some sort of distrust with the Fallen Saint, Crystal almost acted like a little sister towards Betty even if she hadn't spoken a word to her.

It was at that moment that the younger of the Taylor siblings noticed him. Betty acknowledged Billy with a friendly smile before she went back to an odd staring contest with Crystal. Seeing nothing amiss he headed on past them and into the locker room on the east side of the room, as opposed to the south entrance that he had just come through. It was in there he changed into his Tempest uniform in a timely manner. Nothing to do here, so a flight sounded good along with some patrolling. It had been quiet since Garm was put into the wormhole but Paragon still needed at least one pair of watchful eyes out and about.

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The streets of Steel Canyon were just as calm as Galaxy City had been. Tempest flew through the air, occasionally catching a glimpse of another hero doing just what he was, and the electric hero was heartened by this. Statesman may have been gone but Paragon didn't solely rely on him. Tempest barrel rolled into a right turn down another street, welcoming the night wind rushing by him.

Another thirty minutes of flight had Tempest heading back to the antique store / base when he suddenly caught sight of the doors of the neighborhood morgue wide open. Puzzled, he landed with a slight crack of electricity while his wings retracted into their bracers. He walked quietly up to the door and peered in, only to see nothing but darkness. Knocking came to mind, but something just screamed the wrongness of this situation. Should he go back and get help?

No, by the time he returned whoever was in here would have most likely gotten away with whatever they'd come to get. Tempest took a deep breath and then crept in with one of his left bracer's wing extended for a quick blast. The opening hallway beyond the door was narrow with moldy wooden walls and a musty pea green carpet. He could smell the numerous chemicals in the still air and just on the edge of his hearing Tempest could hear a slight scuffling motion.

A sudden motion in the dark, something charged directly ahead of him! The electric hero leapt back, firing a sparkbolt that had the capability of knocking a normal man flat on his back. The attack didn't completely fail him, the attacker did stagger backwards, but the second of illumination had given Tempest a good look at what he was up against. He felt like his heart had dropped somewhere near his right boot.

The zombie moaned, bringing a hand up to push it's dislocated jaw back into place with a sickening squelching sound. It's tattered clothing smoked and had the odd flame dancing off of it but the undead didn't seem to notice. With another jerk it came back again, bloody maw wide open as Tempest yelled in disgust just before he fired another bolt. The attack once again hit, but the zombie just kept coming; knocking Tempest to the ground under many relentless punches. Slowly, his world began to grow darker. Just at the corner of his vision he could see a tall, feminine form reign the construct in much to it's displeasure. Then Tempest knew nothing else as he fell into unconsciousness.

To be continued.