The big apple

"I should probably come with you, then. You obviously have a lot of fans out there. You might need the extra protection."
He looked at her with a smile.
"What kind of monster would I be if I had you fend for yourself?"

The first officer in ran directly at Ana and snatched her up by the waste, he moved toward the kitchen in order to get her out of the line of fire. "Please Marcus for the love of God...surrender...please do it for me!" She screamed as she was swept away.

The SWAT team looked high tech even for a specialized police unit. They were dressed in beefy armor that showed hydrologically driven exoskeletons. Their weapons appeared to be amped up as well, instead of the normal AR-15's they carried something that looked more like laser rifles. One even sporting a shoulder mounted version of the lens capped energy cannons. They poured into the room and formed a semi circle around Marcus.

"SURRENDER? SURRENDER? Do you know to whom you speak?" Marcus growled, he reached down and ripped the track suit off his form in a single swipe. He stood in his cohort uniform posed for battle, a sword in each hand. His ancient Gladius in his off hand as he was more familiar with it and could use it in either hand. The alien's sword, however was strangely balanced due to is otherworldly construction and so he chose it for his dominant hand to achieve the most control.

"You've been warned! Men...Open fire!" Officer Johnson screamed and with that the squad pulled triggers. The lasers hit him almost as fast as the trigger was pulled and set his armor to flame.

Marcus cringed back as the heat blasted him, these energy weapons were specially designed to harm Metahumans, but not one that were made of what the Centrurion was made of. He put is arm out to block enough to the blast to get his barrings and then leapt into action. Using his massive leg muscles he threw himself into the air at the left hand bulk of the men. The ceiling was high but not high enough and his back and head smashed through, before he came crashing down onto the floor directly in front of him. Both swords spread wide, he brought them down in a cross cut. The blow encompassed three of the men and split them in half, spraying blood out in all directions.

The devastating brutal attack was enough to break the remaining mens rank, and they split and scattered. Marcus turned, slowly, menacingly back toward Officer Johnson and pointed his sword at him. "You should NOT have come here!" Marcus sneered at the man.

"No! you shouldn't have come here!" Officer Johnson smiled as he said it, and stepped to one side so that the trooper with the shoulder mounted energy cannon could get a clean shot. Marcus instinctively held up his sword, except his sword was in his other hand one this occasion. As the huge cannon fired it's massively powerful beam at Marcus it struck the alien blade. The beam superheated the alien metal and it began to glow only seconds before exploding with enough force to clear the room and blow Marcus out the wall and three stories below to the street. Officer Johnson was the first up and he surveyed the scene, all but three of his troopers lay dead, including the cannoneer. The room was filled with smoke and although his ears were ringing he could still here the muffled screams from Ms. Siren from the kitchen. He wiped the dust and plaster off his shoulders and started to walk toward the massive hole blown through the exterior wall. His laser rifle aimed and ready to give fire.

As he approached the gaping hole he could hear the screams of the citizens below. He looked down as his remaining troopers fell in behind him. Below on the street was a large pile of rubble that burned like a campfire. As it started to shift, Officer Johnson gave the order, "Don't fire till you see the whites of his eyes."

Marcus swam in an ocean of black, He dreamed of his childhood and the magnificent stories his father used to tell him about the majesty of the Roman Pantheon. About battles where smaller groups of heroes would hold off entire armies through sheer might and determination. But as the light and dust started to make it way to the front of his mind, Marcus realized that he wasn't back in his childhood bed, being read stories. He was trapped under debris and he felt pain. It was a surprising feeling, he hand't felt it in so long that he barely recognized it for what it was. His right arm felt hot, and tingly, and as he tried to flex it he felt the warm thick flow of his life blood pumping out at the rate of his heart beat.

The shock of it snapped him back into reality, He all at once snapped up to his feet, throwing the rubble in all directions. His right arm shooting up to view the unbelievable sight of a missing hand. In it's place was now just a bloody stump and two mangled bone shards protruding. Marcus's eyes went wide as he stared mouth agape. His awe wasn't allowed to long for grievance as the remaining police opened fire from above. As the pulses of energy blasted into him, he felt them with a new respect , possibly from the combined damage, and most definably as he was in shock. Marcus cringed down and tucked his mangled paw into his stomach. He took the first barrage and waited for a reload to make his break. His hair singed off, his armor in tatters and missing his dominant hand, Marcus summoned the strength and took off running as fast as he could. He could hear the lead officer calling for additional backup as he fled.

-

Destrock woke up. It was with suddenly, and minor alarm. He sat up and swore "Fuck it. " His head was hurting badly. He was no longer bleeding bu he still had a cut. He got up and walked across the room, to the mirror. It looked like it would scar. 'fuck me!" then he realized something. Something that made his heart stop. His sword was gone. he looked franticly across the room. He saw a note on the table. "I HAVE YOUR SWORD". "Damit" exclaimed Destrock, so he garbed a jacket and strode out the door, smacking the door with ferocity.

Adriano nodded as she walked over to the bedroom. He walked over to the couch and just kinda plopped on it. It was obvious that in these coming days, peace and quite will be like a myth to him. He grew bored while waiting for her, so he started to shape the glass into various forms. They were faces on the street that he had seen. This was a memory practice. He tried to get as descriptive as he possibly could in the short time he had seen them.

-

"You like it, huh?"
He then formed her face and had it slowly adjust itself onto a nearby shelf. He stoop up and walked towards her.
"He found some item of his over at Turkey apparently. He asked us to come with him. I am not sure I can though. I still have my courses. I also have to think about my parents. I have an idea of what to tell them, but they might not be so supportive."

He started to lean on a nearby wall, his legs crossed and his head hunched downward as if he was thinking.

-

Adriano started to crack up.
"Yeah he eventually found something. I am really sorry you had to see that. Also yeah, he isn't all there.." He thought back to the pills. He never did answer what those pills were about...

Marcus hunched over in a shadowed alley, He'd run at top speed for the last 60 seconds and put good distance between him and the pursuing police force. The exertion made blood pound in his veins and gush out of his decimated limb. He bent down and ripped one of the leather strap from his battle dress and tied off the wood, it did little to ebb the blood flow. He now saw the true extent of the injuries as well, it wasn't just his missing hand; his entire front of his torso was covered in small alien sword shrapnel. Small jagged pieces of the strange metal jutted out of his nearly invulnerable. "Curse you Destrock...." he groaned.

Marcus Could hear the sirens starting to close in, he looked up to eye his surrounds and there he could see the tall smoke stacks of a steel mill. He bolted toward it and burst through the factories doors shocking the employees. Most stood back as the giant man stalked through the work area uninvited. He was a man on a mission and very little was going to get in his way.

When he found what he was looking for he march over to the vat of molten metal; removed the tourniquet and plunged his damaged arm in up to the elbow. Steam. smoke and the smell of BBQed meat filled the air and the looker-ons stepped back in surprise. " AAAAAAAUUUUURRRRRGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!" The Centurion howled.

What he pulled out was a cauterized, 360 degree metal brazier. The liquid metal cooled and lost it's orange glow as the Centurion held it out so that he may watch. When satisfied with the results he looked up and saw all the factory workers staring in horror. " Good as new...." he said in a hushed eerie tone, and accented by dinging (*ding) the newly metaled arm off a nearby shelf.

With that the Centurion headed out the back of the factory and hopped a fence and was on his way back to the abandon house.

-

"You know, I'd be a little surprised if he even knew how to use a phone." He joked.
"No, he didn't give me a number. I am sure he is in that old home though. As for how exactly he intends on getting there, all he said was he had a boat or something. He said an "associate" helped him out with that. Who that however, no idea. It all seems rather shady to me, really."

Coffinhunter wrote:"Sure kid...of course I understand, Money is tight all around...I certainly can't offer you millions but then again, I am not asking you to do villainous things.....What I am offering is a chance at real adventure, in a land you've never been before and the opportunity to stop some terrorists from causing harm to innocents...but I hear ya...'you gots to get paid........The boat, that my contact arranged leaves in about two days. If you change your mind, please think about it anyway,,, OK?" Marcus concluded and then turned back toward the alien. He cracked his knuckles and smiled.

"Now where were we....?"

(OCC:Are you just not telling her? Or did you forget I told you this already?)

(Not even going to lie to you, that slipped my mind. I'll edit right now)

-

"all he said was he couldn't offer millions. Np idea if that means he can offer anything at all. If I recall correctly, what he is collecting is specifically for him. He called it one of his holy vestments. What it is exactly, your guess is as good as mine."