"I know you have a lot of questions." Tina said, leading Claire down a hall.

"Uh, yeah." Claire said, glancing in a room where a young woman with green hair held up her hand, green plant roots extending from her fingertips. "Because, and I am being honest here, I have no clue who you people are or what you do."

Madrid smirked. "Another of Azreal's strays, I see." Leading Claire to a makeshift war room, the two sisters motioned for the young woman to sit down. "And I'm assuming he didn't say much, just the standard "I see you have powers, if you feel like making a difference, go here" remark?"

Claire frowned. "Actually, he kidnapped me after saving my life, got mad at me for trying to punish myself, and then threw the card at me and left."

Tina and Madrid shared a look. "Meh, works for us." Both of them said.

Claire raised an eyebrow. "Ok then…spill."

"You know your history…this world use to be filled with heroes. But then, our parents and grandparents decided that it was better to hide themselves, to disappear rather than fight."

"Yeah. They did it to protect their families, after that nutjob Adam Monroe murdered a bunch of people."

Madrid bristled at that. "No, they didn't do it because of that."

Claire smiled sarcastically. "And why else did they do it, Persper-whatever."

"Persephone." Madrid stated. "And they did it because they were cowards."

"They are cowards for wanting to protect their families?"

"No, they are cowards because they didn't do what needed to be done!" Madrid snapped.

"And what do you know about any of this?" Claire asked, annoyed.

Madrid's eyes flashed, and suddenly Claire could see skeletal forms swarming around the room, ghostly wraiths wisking to and fro. Her body trembled in rage as she slammed her hands against the counter.

"Because my parents were his last two victims!" She screamed. "My parents died because Arthur Petrelli refused to put a bullet in Adam's head!"

^&^&^&^

"GRAY! HANSON!"

Audrey and Gabriel looked up at each other as the police chief bellowed from his office. "Wasn't me." Both of them stated quickly.

"GET IN HERE NOW!" The chief bellowed.

Looking at each other, the two cops quickly made their way into the office, shutting the door and finding themselves caught in the deadly stair of the chief. The man, a heavy weight African American man, around fifty with bags under his eyes and dark skin spots running along his checks, glared at them as he looked over a newspaper.

"Uh…what can we d for ya, chief?" Audrey asked.

"Did we lose Carmen Sandiego?"

"…cute." The chief said. "I don't suppose you saw the newspaper today?"

"Haven't read it since they stopped making new Foxtrot strips." Gabriel quipped.

Audrey elbowed him hard.

The chief held up the paper, the headline on the front page screamed in bold black letters, "THE SLAYER OF SUPERS" with a smaller headline stating "Azreal Strikes Again".

"Now, I don't want to even know why the papers know Azreal name. All I want to know is why I have another dead body aid out!"

Gabriel looked over the paper. "I don't believe it…Audrey…he got Parkman…the other one."

Audrey stared at the image of Matt Parkman laying on the floor of his cell, his throat ripped apart. "How do we know it was Azreal…doesn't fit his MO." She quickly scanned the article. "No torture, no mutilation like with Doyle or Murray, how are we sure this is Azreal?"

The chief pointed to a picture, where, scratched in the glass of Matt's cell, the words, "Azreal Was Here" appeared.

"…that answers that question." Gabriel muttered.

"I don't care what you have to do, or who you have to hurt, I want Azreal brought in yesterday! Because if you don't, I will be having your balls for breakfast, with a side order of your ass!" The chief snarled.

"Yes sir." Audrey said, dragging Gabriel out before he could make another joke.

^&^&^&^

Tina rubbed her adopted sister's back. "Sssshhh…calm down…send the ghosties away." Madrid took several shaking breaths, the phantoms disappearing. She turned to Claire, who was staring in horror at the two. "Her power…Madrid can call upon the spirits of the dead to defend her."

Claire gulped. "And…what do you do?"

Tina shrugged. "Enhanced cerebral cortex. In layman's terms, it means I can plot out complex plans within seconds…I think fast."

Claire sighed. "That's…a relief."

"Not really. I already know of 500 different ways to kill you…" Tina paused. "525, I just noticed that bracelet you are wearing."

"That's…comforting."

"If we wanted you dead, you would have never past the door." Madrid said, her temper in check.

"So…why exactly am I still alive?" Claire asked.

Tina smiled slightly. "as we were saying, the old heroes turned coward, decided to hide…only, that didn't prevent death, did it?"

Claire nodded. "Yeah…it didn't." Her mind flashed to her brother, watching as Carter slammed his fists against the window before the fire engulfed him.

"We decided we couldn't stand for that anymore…that we were going to do what our parents couldn't…take out evil once and for all." Tina smiled darkly. "We found likeminded women to join us, and we formed the Amazons…been operating in secret for over a year now because…well…who would expect girls like us to do anything?"

Madrid nodded. "Us helpless little girls."

Claire considered all of this. "And…me?"

"Apparently, Azreal thinks you have what it takes to be one of us…we are going to see about that."

^&^&^&^

"Hey Pete, you mind coming in here for a second?"

Peter frowned, entering his father's study to find Nathan, Meredith, and his parents all seated, waiting for him.

"What's…what's going on?" Peter asked.

Arthur sighed. "Peter, we know what you've been doing."

"…huh?" Peter said, confused.

"We know what you've been doing these last few days. We know about the Silver Streak."

Peter frowned. "Wait a minute…are you guys going to accuse me of being that superhero again?!"

Meredith smiled weakly. "Accuse is such a strong word…"

"You are, aren't you?" Peter waved his hands in the air. "I don't believe this…why is it you guys always suspect me of doing this kind of stuff?"

Angela leaned forward. "Look at the facts, Peter: You are gone all the time, the Streak is found in our city, he uses your hospital, and you tend to be…overly caring…"

"Its called being a decent human being." Peter snapped. "I care because that's what people with hearts do…in case you forgot."

Nathan sighed. "Pete, no one is accusing you…"

"No, I am." Arthur said. "Peter, you are risking the entire family by doing this. The only reason the government never arrested your mother or I for playing vigilante is because we finally volunteered to help prevent any new heroes from popping up. If they find out my son is flying about…"

"I'm not the Silver Streak!" Peter snapped. "And I'm getting sick of everyone accusing me of it!" Peter spun away from the group, storming out of the house.

"I'll go see if I can find him." Nathan said, hurrying off.

Meredith sighed. "Nathan was right…we should have planned this better."

Angela smiled weakly. "It will all work out, my dear…Peter can't be allowed to run around like that."

"Why not? If no one knows…"

"Because it is only a matter of time till he runs into someone much…worse." Arthur stated.

^&^&^&^

"So, who is this Azreal guy?" Claire asked as she followed Tina and Madrid through the building towards the "Testing Ground", as the two women called it.

"No one knows." Tina said, making her voice sound spooky. She chuckled. "Seriously…no one does."

"You mean you don't know him? I thought you guys were his friends or something."

Madrid raised an eyebrow. "Have you met the guy?"

"Point taken." Claire stated. "So…no idea what he does, who he is…what's up with that grim reaper hood?"

Tina began ticking the points off. "As far as we can tell, Azreal can twist your power against yourself. When he first showed up, he took one look at me and suddenly I was dumber than a hillbilly crossed with a bimbo. He turned Madrid's ghosties against her…it was enough to make us never want to tangle with him again. We formed a shaky truce, knowing that while we may protect the streets, he's the one that truly runs the show around her."

"As for who, no clue." Madrid said simply. "Rumor has it he wears that mask because his face is all twisted up and destroyed, like Two-Face, only all over." She shivered. "That's why he talks all raspy…damaged vocal cords, I hear."

Tina nodded. "All I know is, as long as he is happy, we get to live, and I'd rather not forget how to use the potty again." She stopped at a door. "What is your ability?"

"Excuse me?"

"We wish to test you against someone who can rival you. Are you elemental, physical, mental, or creationist?"

"…I can make fire." Claire said, holding out her hand and letting a ball of flames dance on her fingers.

"Elemental." Madrid commented. "Good…then we already have the perfect opponent ready for you."

The door swung open, revealing a large room, set up similar to an office. Tables, chairs, a computer, all sat around ready to be used. And in the middle of the office was a woman with whitish blue hair and the same outfit as Madrid and Tina."

"This is Freya, otherwise known as Charlie."

"Please ta meet ya." The woman said with a southern accent, before her hand cracked, covered in ice.

^&^&^&^

"Don't worry madam, I have you!" The Silver Streak said heroically, lifting the Hispanic woman from the ruins of the bus. "It is a miracle that you were not harmed."

"No miracle, senor." The woman said in broken English. "It is a curse, my curse…"

"I don't…" The Streak began, only to be cut off as he felt his throat slam shut. He felt himself losing altitude, finally crashing to a rooftop, managing to soften the blow for the woman. "What…what…" he gurgled, black blood staining his mask.

"God no…' The woman whispered. "Again…why must I claim the lives of the innocent…why does God allow this to happen?!" She screamed into the sky, her eyes black.

"He allows nothing." A gruff voice said from the shadows. "You only allow it with your weakness." Stepping from the shadows, Azreal held up his hand, the woman crying out in pain as her own poisoning power was reflected back on her. The Streak panted as he felt the disease lifted from him, his body healing quickly from the foreign attack. Azreal took another step forward as the woman fell to the rooftop, dead.

"You…you killed her." The Streak whispered.

"She killed herself, I merely aided her." Azreal turned to leave.

"Wait!" The Streak called out. "Who do you think you are, playing God like that?"

"You save lives, I do as well."

"That woman would disagree!"

"She killed 30 innocents because she refused to master her powers. Instead of learning control she allowed others to die, never once placing blame on herself." Azreal scoffed. "She died before she could kill again."

The Streak rose in the air. "I've read about you…you are the Slayer of Supers, Azreal…the murderer."

"I'm a hero, Silver Streak…a greater one than you."

"And why is that?"

"Because I do what is needed."

The Streak shook his head. "You killed that woman…I must bring you to the proper authorities."

Azreal chuckled. "And here I thought the Amazons warned you…" He flexed his hands. "If you want to die…so be it."