[Fiction] The Chase

[Typhoon]

Typhoon examined the patch job closely. He quickly agreed with Rose's estimate of six hours. He also noted that the water around him was beginning to boil and steam was rising, filling the area. "Maybe I can concentrate this heat for a purpose."

He places a titanium hand over the edge of the patch-job hoping that the heat he was putting off would fuse the plate to the wall. He sat there for several moments waiting for some noticeable melting of the metal.. but nothing. It would now be unbearable for a baseline to be in this junction; Typhoon could plainly see the heat radiating from his body in the EM range. It was radiation. At first the realization surprised and shocked him. He briefly wondered if he was really alive in the traditional sense. He quickly cleared his head and focused on the job at hand. "I do have to dial this down... maybe try harder at focusing it."

He attempted to visualize a coherent jet of fire coming out of his hand and fusing the edges of the plate to the wall. Slowly his hand began to glow and waves of heat enveloped the area of the junction, finally a glowing red ray emanated from the palm of his hand striking the seam between the wall and plate melting them slowly together... inches at a time. "Yes! It worked!" His metallic voice echoed down the corridors. "Shit. I just gave away my position... and this is going to take awhile."

[Blur]

A metallic voice echoed down the corridors, "Yes! It worked!" Another nova?

Blur shot forward above the high water of the sewers, tracking the sound back to its source. Soon enough, he came up upon an obviously metal nova holding pointing his hands at a large chunk of another metal that was against the wall. The waves of heat coming from the metal nova’s hands were obvious and the temperature near the wall was definitely higher than the rest of the sewer. “Is it patched,” he asked the heat producing nova.

"Nearly,” the metal man answered over his shoulder, not even turning to look, “Are you here to arrest me?" Whoever this guy was, he was definitely focused on his job.

If I had a nickel every time… “No, I’m not a cop,” Blur answered quickly, still scanning the damaged wall, “I’m just a concerned citizen.” Sure, a citizen from another country but he didn’t need to know that.

The metal nova kept his attention focused but he didn’t stop talking, "Can you let the authorities know I am down here and not a Terat?" Now when the hell am I going to get to do that? “I don't want to surprise anyone as I leave,” the nova added without turning back to look, “The name’s Typhoon, by the way.”

Isn’t this guy an elite? What the hell is he doing here? “Call me Blur,” he answered, nearly by rote more than anything else, “It’s what everyone else calls me. And if I see the authorities before you, I’ll let them know.” With the breach sealed, the next priority was helping any bystanders; waiting any longer could risk lives. Another but obvious thought occurred to him, “Care to do the same for me in return?”

“Umm, sure,” Typhoon answered, still not turning around.

Got to admire someone who can stay focused. “Thanks,” the hazy nova shot back before popping out of the sewers and into the closest subway tunnel. The flooding wasn’t nearly as bad here, but too much water on a third rail or a stopped car full of panicking passengers or an uncontrolled and frightened nova could make it all much worse. There never was enough time before breakfast to get anything done.

[z-The Morrigan]

The Utopians had been ordered to spread out and find any remaining Terats or the rogue nova. Nachtlöwe was scared; the image of Excavator's body was fresh in his mind as he took off down the tunnel alone.

Dauntless was still frozen, though once they had cleared the rubble off her, they could see she wasn't hurt. But she remained frozen and unmovable, and no one was sure if she'd ever move again. Now they were trying to decide what they would do if the water covered her completely.

Nachtlöwe moved through the tunnels swiftly, running from Excavator, his own doubts and fears and the hard worry for Dauntless. The sound of voices drew him short, his black-furred ears swiveling to catch the sounds echoing through the tunnels. With a low growl, he followed them to their source.

He was just in time to see a nova disappear. With a dark grumble, he stepped closer to see what the other was doing. He was arc-welding a metal panel shut over a gaping hole in the wall. Nachtlöwe waited until he was done before growling, "Identify yourself, nova. I am Nachtlöwe of Team Tomorrow. Who are you?"

[Conduit]

Conduit was down the street from where Typhoon had fallen. A transformer exploded and the danger from downed power lines and the flood waters was too much for Conduit to ignore.

Tapping his comm unit Conduit begins, "Iron Rose, I'm still in the neighborhood. There was an issue with a power line, but it's been resolved. Sounds like you guys got that flood under temporary control.

"Do you have a read on anything in the area that warrants my attention?"

[Typhoon]

Typhoon had detected the secondary contact as Blur had disappeared but decided to only break his concentration if the nova interupted him.

He was strangely polite as he pateintly waited for Typhoon to finish the weilding job. This wall was now stronger than any other wall in the sewer system.

Then, just as he finished his work, "Identify yourself, nova. I am Nachtlöwe of Team Tomorrow. Who are you?"

Typhoon sighed inwardly and slowly turned around. He found himself faced with a bipedal Lion standing almost waist-deep in watery sewage. "I'm Typhoon, I'm just a concerned citizen who didn't want the sewers to flood." He borrowed the line from Blur, he didn't expect him to mind. "I'm just finished as you noticed, I'll just be getting out of your... hair." He had almost said fur.

[Ares]

The fight seemed to have fallen behind him, but the target of the search could be made out weaving up ahead. The density of the crowds kept the foreign nova in sight, but she was clearly pulling away. She ... it appeared to be a she ... kept hold of his spear as she made her way throught the crowds. Now the race came down to speed (she seemed faster), distance (she had a head start), and desire (her desire to shed all pursuers versus his desire to stick with her in particular). Any second now, she would be gone and the chase ended, still ...

She was gone. The crowds had parted and the nova had vanished. The inner city had fallen behind them and multiple possible pathways now existed for the stranger to have taken. Ares could even feel the energy from his spear dissappate, rendering it back to being a simple stick.

Ares hesitated for a moment and scanned his surroundings. Nothing gave clue to her possible direction. For Ares, it was time to head back. Family first and the country could pay if they wanted his services. Any struggles between Utopia and the Teragen were there problem, not his.

[z-The Morrigan]

Ford blinked as realization slowly dawned on him. "Mother-fucker!" he screamed into the quiet Amsterdam neighborhood where Blur had teleported him. Ranting in English, he darted one way, then another in blind panic. Finally, defeated, he stopped and stared at the cobblestones at his feet listlessly.

He'd failed again. The pain from yet another personal loss hit him hard. He pressed a clenched fist into his foreheard, the knuckles grinding painfully into his forehead. The pain in his head was only an echo of the pain in his chest. "I'm sorry," he whispered, "I'm just sorry."

His words were a self-assessment, not an apology.

* * *

A black tail as thick as a man's wrist slashed the water behind Nachtlöwe as white fangs glistened against black fur. "You will not be allowed to pass," the bipedal lion rumbled in lightly accented English. "I have my orders, and they are to question all novas down here. What are you doing here?" Golden eyes flickered to the repaired wall and Nachtlöwe faltered for a moment. "Besides repairing walls. Now, what are you doing here?"

[Typhoon]

"I'm being confronted by a younger member of T2M, calls himself 'Nachtlowe', what do we know about him? By the way: I'm guessing these tunnels are just crawling with Uppies." Typhoon radioed back to Rose on the Aumakua and Conduit on the street.

Typhoon looked the creature/nova over. "I was attempting to coorditate an evacuation and assist in the capture of the rogue nova before I noticed there was a danger of flooding, my abilities make me somewhat useful in situations involving water." He added with a smile. "Didn't want anyone drowning."

The lion-creature hesitated again and finally nodded. In his best I'm-a-kid-wearing-a-lion-suit authortative voice, he asked "What is the status of the wall?"

Typhoon smiled inwardly at the rookie trying to be the seasoned veteran. "It's probably the strongest support wall in the entire system now." He gave the stone wall a friendly thump with his knuckles. "Hey listen this has been real, but I have to take off now."

[z-The Morrigan]

The black-furred were-lion nodded at Typhoon's statement regarding the strength of the wall, but he didn't say anything. But when Typhoon started to talk about leaving, the young Utopian spoke up.

But first, Nachtlöwe hesitated; somehow asking one question didn't seem like questioning, but else to ask? His training kicked in, and he remembered a really good question. "Wait," he ordered, his abnormally deep voice rumbling in the air between them. "You say you were trying to help; why did you not coordinate with Team Tomorrow? We are the authority here; why did you not work within the proper channels?"

While his words were stern, Nachtlöwe remained calmer than one would expect from an animalistic nova. Even his tail seemed to have relaxed, now that Typhoon was giving him answers.

[Typhoon]

"Because..." Typhoon allowed some his natural commanding presence enter his voice overshadowing his laid back demeanor. "... T2M is a bit too facist, even for me."

He gave a shrug. "Lives were saved, that all that really matters. Tell your superiors that we're not Terats or Utopians we are only interested in protecting the innocents, baseline and nova alike."

At that moment the water level dropped almost imperceptibly, maybe a quarter of millimeter. Typhoon's form became somewhat translusent.

"Nice meeting you though." was all he said as he backed through the titanium patched wall passing as though it was not even there.

[z-The Morrigan]

Nachtlöwe snarled as Typhoon disappeared through the wall. Great, he sighed, angry and disappointed in himself. Your first real mission and you just let him walk through the wall. Stunning performance, Hans.

With a final growl, Nachtlöwe began to radio in his report.

* * *

The warm breeze played over the blonde man's skin as he relaxed under a tree. The white sands stretched before his veranda to a blue ocean; the unnamed private island was a paradise of sunlight and warmth. After the murky, wet atmosphere of Amsterdam, this paradise was heaven.

But the blonde man was not enjoying it.

Jan Vyse nodded pleasantly to his attractive servant as she put his drink on the table, but that was a blank facade. Inside, he was trembling with rage as the news came out of Amsterdam. I will get Ford, somehow, Vyse thought, taking a calculated sip of a drink he didn't taste. He sabotaged me, ruined everything I was working for. I will make him pay, somehow.

* * *

Ford wasn't sure how long he walked, but it was for a long time after the alarms had stopped sounding. His head down, broad shoulders slumped, he trudged through the streets, a picture of despair.

He was well into the Dutch suburbs before something caught his attention. Lifting his head, he focused on the building, drawn by the music and laughter ringing forth. It was a bar, and his feet carried him inside.

Without hesitation, he slumped into a spare stool. "What will you have?" the barman asked in Dutch.

"Something hard," Ford muttered. A shot glass was placed in front of him, and the American snapped it back. "Again," he ordered, waiting impatiently while the bartender complied. By the clock, he only had a couple of hours left to get shit-faced, and he didn't want to waste a second.

* * *

Something was wrong. Nachtlöwe could feel it in his bones. It was pure instinct that had him back at the laboratory when everyone else was asleep or grieving Excavator. The forensic team had already been here; Nachtlöwe was careful not to touch anything.

But he finally found something that overrode his caution, and the dark-haired youth bent to pick it up. It was a data disk, carefully labeled as evidence. Someone must have dropped this, he realized, almost putting it back down. But his hand stopped in mid-motion as a thought occurred to him. This is what I'm looking for; this has the answers I am seeking.

Trembling hands make a quick data transfer to his portable device; by the time he has wiped his fingerprints from the disk and set it back on the floor, his whole body was shivering. What am I doing? he asked himself as he hurried out of the lab. Aside from risking my career?

But he already knew the answer: he was finding the truth.

* * *

She rested in the embrace of a tree, her feet hanging in the air. She was tired, but she felt good; the wind blew, and the animals made their night-noises, and she was at peace for the first time she could remember.

Her belly was full of stolen food, gathered from several garbage cans. It had been really good, despite the near-rotten taste; she had been ravenously hungry. With a burp, she stretched, feeling the pleasure down to her toes.

No thoughts or concepts tainted her pure mind; she simply existed in the moment, falling asleep as the moon watched over her. Tomorrow, she would begin to travel, following the tugging in her chest toward an unknown goal.

But for now, she fell slowly asleep, safe and free.