Prevent This Tragedy

The sunset faded over Chicago, and the dark gray clouds drenched the town with yet another freezing cold night. The wind blew drops of ice cold rain like they were tiny shards of glass on the sidewalk Emmett walked on. His eyes focused on each crack beneath his feet, counting every last one as they passed by him. Lonely nights like these, and the feeling that it's all a lot of oysters but no pearls were left on repeat for years it seemed. The golden times in Emmett's life were traded for copper, and now he wandered aimlessly for a life of normalcy, where more is more and less is weak.

It could have been hours, could have been minutes, but time moved slower to Emmett throughout the years of getting anywhere he wanted almost instantly.

"Chris? Where did you go?" The voice in his head haunted him, faded in and out with each day. His eyes jolted up to the soft voice that whispered his name. "Help me, please.." His body was covered with chills and his legs began to tremble. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and surely the voice faded.

"Be content, just count to ten like all the experts say." Emmett kept his eyes closed, and let out the deep the breath he held for a few moments. He took off sprinting as fast as he could without opening his eyes. His entire body was vibrating so fast that the molecules in his body were shaking. This made it possible for him to run through anything in his way, buildings, restaurants and cars alike. He ran for only a split second, and he already found himself on the other side of town.

He opened his eyes now, seeing an old crappy bar and a gas station side by side at the dead end of the road. The establishments looked sketch, but it took quite a bit more than a few banged up buildings and a few street hoodlums to intimidate Emmett. The front entrance to the bar was double-doored, and there was skull for each door knob. His left eye brow arched at the strange handle, but he just shrugged it off and began to walk inside casually.

Everyone at their bar stools looked back at Emmett as he made his entrance, except one man in a long black trench coat similar to his own. All the drunken one's eyes filled the rest of their faces with sadness, and that was fine. He ignored the repugnant faces that followed his every move and sat down next to the one man who hadn't paid any attention to him. ]"Scotch whiskey," He requested while resting his elbows upon the counter. He placed his index and middle fingers on both his temples and began to rub them slowly. The smell of cigarette smoke made the room reek of cancer, a stench very powerful, almost as powerful as resin. The man next to him was huge, far from normal. His skin texture was like that of a form of steel, but much stronger. He wore a hooded jacket under his coat to cover his head, and sunglasses as if he were hung over, "Have you ever heard of G.U.N.?" Emmett asked The Man Of Steel.

The man of Steel had just escaped from 'Project Perfection' a few weeks ago. They completely transformed him from his former super-hero self into a six foot, four armored weapon! Kane broke out of "Project Perfection" before they could wipe his mind, but Kane didn't learn much about the organization, all he knew was that they were after 'The worlds Greatest Hero', Pain. Whoever was in control of 'Project Perfection' wanted Pain, they already have several more Projects trying to track him down! Once Kane got back to Chicago he would start his search for Pain, and try and help him in his upcoming battles!

Kane stood at a large bridge, and just on the other side, it was the place he was be searching for this whole time, he finally made it back in his home town Chicago. It was a cold winter morning, and the sun was just rising. Kane stood tall wearing large hoodie with a dark gray shirt underneath and blue jeans. He walked around with his head held low, with both hands in hands in his pockets. Kane spent the rest of the day roaming the streets of Chicago, It was good to be home.

The sun was starting to go down and Kane was looking for a place to get a drink and celebrate, now that he was home, even though he still had a long journey ahead of him he deserved a drink. He was walking to a place that he used to go to get drunk when he was younger. It was some crappy bar at the end of the street just around the corner from were he used to live. He was just across the street from the bar, when he looked up and saw the sun was starting to set. Kane walked across the street in a large coat, he never got cold since he didn't have any skin, but he whore the coat since he covered most of his body. Most people aren't to nice to a guy made of steel.

He entered the bar and looked around to see everyone in the bar staring at him, he didn't expect any less, but it was still annoying. He took a sit on a bar stool and looked up at the bartender, "Vodka," Kane said as the bartender pored him a shot. He wore a pare of sunglasses that covered his eyes as if he was hung-over, but he they really just covered the tiredness in his eyes, he wasn't hung over, not yet. Kane reach out and picked up the glass, "and keep em, coming." he said then he gulped down his Vodka.

It wasn't long until another man walked into the bar, Kane paid little attention to him, but out of the corner of his eye he knew he wasnt from around here, this guy was far to clean and well dressed, everyone from this side of town weren't really the best kind of people. The stranger sat down next to Kane, orded his drink, and realized what he was sitting next to. Kane expect him to freak out, but then he simply ask him a question.

Only this wasn't just a simply question. Even before Kane was transformed he had heard stories of the great G.U.N. and how Pain, Entropus were able to take down Mistresso and Doomplauge at the cost of Entropus's life! He wasn't sure who this man sitting next to him was, but if he had a connection with G.U.N. maybe he could help him find Pain. Kane turned his head towards Emmett, "Yeah, I've heard of it. What kind of connection do you have with them?" Kane said looking at Emmett, trying to see if he had any noticeable super-human abilities. The only thing he had was some kind of gadget attached to his wrist. Who ever this guy was, he was the best way to start my search.

Emmett looked over to Kane and with a dark grin he said, "Oh, I have quite a few connections." Emmett grabbed a napkin with his left hand and before Kane could even see him pull out a pen, one just appeared in his hand. He wrote something down too fast for Kane to even glimpse at it. The bartender then slid a glass of scotch whiskey down the bar to Emmett which he stopped with the two fingers he was rubbing his head with. With one big gulp, Emmett drank the whole glass and placed it down on the counter. "Come alone." Emmett said as he gave Kane the napkin he wrote on. Before Kane could say a thing or even look back at him, Emmett teleported to the rooftop of the bar, waiting for Kane to meet him there.

Entropus knelt down on one knee as he looked up to the skies and pressed a button on his wristwatch to communicate with his ally, The Black Knight. "Entropus to Black Knight, can you read me?" Although the Black Knight had invented Entropus' wristwatch himself, it held one problem: not being able to reach The Black Knight. "Damn thing hardly works anymore," Entropus thought to himself.

Kane finished asking his question, looking over at the man sitting next to him, waiting for his response. After Emmett spoke he turned away grinning. There was no telling if this guy has a hero, or a villain but since he had information about GUN, Kane could assume that he was a hero. Emmett turned back to Kane and extended his hand out to Kane holding a napkin. Kane took the napkin, and in the time it took for him to look down at it Emmett disappeared. Kane wasn't surprised that he had special powers, just he never expected someone to be able to move so quickly with such little effort. Kane looked down at the napkin and unfolded it.
'You are one, but with us we are many.'

A unclear message, with many possibilities. It didn't matter though clearly this was the opportunity he was waiting for. Kane flipped his hoodie up, place his hands in his coat pockets, stood up from the bar stool, and started walking towards the front door. Once he opened the door and walked out he took a few steps so he was at the edge of the sidewalk. Kane turned around and looked up at the roof, then he crouched and jumped up launching him self right over Emmett who was leaning against the edge of the roof. Landing a few steps behind Emmett, Kane stood up and turned around facing the man, "Alright, I showed up, so what information do you have about GUN?"

"G.U.N. was founded late in the autumn of 2006 by Pain and his two best friends. Sadly, the three of them have gone their separate ways and now it is up to me to keep these streets safe." Entropus appeared just a foot before Kane, he was just three inches shorter than the Man of Steel before him. The gray hooded cloak of the Virtual Man created a shadow that hid most of his face, but he could still make eye contact with Kane. Entropus' eyes were not normal although, they had a teal glow to them that created a trail every time he moved.

"From Darkness to Darkness, I will protect the innocent from the villain scum that walk amongst them." The Virtual Man then began to kneel down at the ledge of the building once more, his eyes focused on the gray cloudy skies above him. "I am Entropus, The Virtual Man."

Kane stood tall, gathering the information about GUN that he would need to locate the original 'Project Perfection'. Listening to the man as he spoke about the heroes that formed GUN and protected the world years and years ago. Pain, Entropus, and Ein where those heroes, they were truly a powerful team together being able to raise a army of superheroes and protect the world from darkness. Emmett finished his sentence and appeared right in front of Kane, his glowing teal eye's stared straight at Kane as he spoke again.

Just after finishing his quote he appeared back at the edge of the building. There was a pause, a moment of silence between his sentence. Then he revealed his true identify as the 'Entropus the Fastest man alive'. Kane had a surprised look on his face when he said he was Entropus, 'Could these really be The Virtual Man? Impossible he was labeled KIA (Killed in action) years ago, how could he return now?' Rain drops started to fain from the gray sky above. Kane walked to the edge of the building and stood next to Entropus, watching as the rain started to pick up, "So if you truly are the Virtual Man." The man of Steel took a pause for a moment and looked down at Entropus, "Then can you locate a former partner of yours?" Kane said as he looked back in front of him watching the rain started to pour. It was a heavy rain the made a rather loud tapping sound when it hit Kane's steel skin, as he waited for the Virtual man to respond.

1st PARAGRAPH// 1st PIC --- 2nd PARAGRAPH// 2nd PIC


Entropus stared at a car that sped through the streets. It was a hovercar traveling around 75 to 80 miles per hour along side the building he was knelt down upon. As the wind and rain that slowly became a storm picked up behind Entropus, rainfall dripped down his entire body all the way to his spiked gauntlets that were constructed by the very genius Black Knight. These weapons gave The Virtual Man the ability to deal a much deadlier blow on the tougher of enemies with his full speed at use.

After the hovercraft passed by Entropus he let out a quick breath and appeared about 10 feet behind Kane. The Virtual Man stood up as tall as Kane and began to speak. "Former partners are hard to find, and their location would not easily be given out like that either. It seems that you were tormented by the evil scientists at Project Perfection." Kane's fists were clenched and ready for a fight. But Entropus didn't back down at all. Kane looked back at Entropus over his left shoulder with a half-smirk on his face. After a few seconds of silence passed, Entropus could assume that Kane had actually escaped Project Perfection's grasp. "If that is all true, then you will have already gained my trust, Warrior." Entropus crossed his arms against his chest and awaited a response from Kane.

As the car speed by, Kane stood there looking up at the dark grey sky. It was a dark night in Chicago, as rain poured down from the sky above. After Kane finished his sentence he looked down besides him to notice that Entropus has disappeared yet again. Kane cocked his head back at Entropus's when his voice came from behind. When he spoke, he told Kane that Pain's location wasn't information that would be easily acquired. This was understandable especially for someone who knew what Kane did. Kane of all people knew the amount of people that were after Pain, so this wasn't any surprise to him. Entropus then made a remark about the dreadful orgnazation known as 'Project Perfection'. Kane's eye widened when those words hit his ears, he turned around to face Entropus, with his fist clenched. "Project Perfection... Yeah, they. Well I guess you can see what they did." Kane unclenched his fist and moved his hand in front of him, he stared at his hand for a moment thinking back at a time when he wasn't Kane, and he wasn't just a cold shell of a person, back when he was just Derek Skiba. Kane didn't speak of it, but Project Perfection completely changed who he was, at least on the old-side, even if he was still Derek on the inside, when your 6, 4 and made of steel it's hard for anyone to look at you the same way. Kane made a fist in the hand in front of him, and paused. After staring at his steel hand for a moment he brought it back down to his side.

Kane stood there, staring into the eyes of a dead man, he had no clue how the Vitrual man managed to come back, but these man could be Entropus, he had the speed for it, he moved faster then Kane's eyes could ever hope to follow, just as he would expect from the Virtual man, but for a man to over-come death, thats something else... He truly lived up to his title as "The fastest man alive". Entropus then spoke again. He could tell Kane wasn't hostile, if either of them had any evil intent they would have shown it by now, and that was enough to gain his trust. The two heroes stared eye-to-eye, Kane had much respect for Entropus, not many hero have a history like his, so to you have his trust meant a lot to Kane. "I'm happy I've gained your trust Virtual man, but Entropus died years ago. Men don't come back from death, so how did you manage to?" He spoke in a deep tone, trying not to insult the Virtual man, but his appearance here was far from ordinary.

Thousands of the innocent were laying there dead on the floor, crying out for help. They watched as G.U.N. fell to it's knees and crumbled. Their dying breaths coldly shuddering out that only God could save them. Entropus was tormented by these memories for years, but with the Man of Steel before him, he could only digress.

Booming thunder followed Kane's question, and a petulant remark layed still on Entropus' tongue. Kane's inquisitions weren't a nuisance, but the doubt was shocking. Within a second, Entropus began to flicker and then transformed into the man Kane saw earlier in the bar. Emmett wore casual dark gray jeans, a plain black t-shirt and his usual long dark brown trench coat. "My name is Emmett. My identity as Entropus was buried years ago with the sacking of the galaxies most powerful warriors, Doomplague and Mistresso. I have since returned to find my old ally and help destroy Project Perfection, once and for all."

Emmett's eyes never left Kane's, in an attempt to prove to him that it was not a lie. Although Kane may have been curious about how he returned from the dead, perhaps Entropus never died. "Life rotated back, and Earth was finally at peace once more... For years, I was believed to have died and never returned. Although, I merely disappeared and lived a life similar to a pacifist. Vengeance is at hand, Entropus will now seek seek out to kill those who are after his brother... Pain."

He then reached into the loose pockets of his trench coat and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He pulled out two cigarettes, offering Kane one as well.

Emmett put the death stick loosely in between his lips, now looking for a lighter. He aimlessly patted down all of his trench coat and jeans pockets. No luck, but little matter. Emmett lit the cigarette with heated energy that radiated from his finger tip. "Yeah," smirked Emmett while exhaling the drag of smoke.

The rain got heavier and thicker until it almost felt like hail. "Let's find some shelter, I gotta dry myself off." Emmett sprinted off the building into the air letting his trench coat glide him to the floor.

The storm started to pick up as Kane finished his question. It was a another dark and rainy night in Chicago. The sound of thunder, and rain hitting his steel skin filled his ears. There was a pause after Kane asked his question. Perhaps Entropus has his own memories with Project Perfection. Kane dug his hands into the large pockets on his trench coat, while he waited for Emmett's response.

Kane squinted, then reopened his eyes assuming that his vision had just lost focus from looking at the same spot for so long, but Entropus's entire body actually just flickered. Then standing in front of him changed from the Virtual man, to the man who brought him here. Entropus then spoke.

After revealing his true identity as Emmett, he went on to say that he was also looking for Pain, and that he wanted to destroy Project Perfection and all of their 'Projects'. Just like Kane planned to.

Kane recieved some information on a data pad from a scientist back when he was at one of Project Perfection's many laboratories. The data pad was a update message from another one of their labs. The location of the other lab was unknown, but it said that there newest project was nearing completion. C.O.D.E.N.A.M.E "asudeM tcejorP". The pad had more information written in a computer code that Kane couldn't read, but maybe Entropus knew a way to crack the code.

As Emmett finished speaking he pulled out a pack of cigarettes and popped two out offering one to the Man of Steel. Kane pull his hand out of his pocket and extended it, taking the extra cigarette from Emmett's hand. Kane moved the cig to his steel lips, and pulled a lighter out of his pocket. Kane held one hand over the cigarette covering it from the rain and lite it with the other. He took the first puff as Emmett searched for a lighter of his own. After taking the smoke deep into his lungs, Kane started to move his hand forward offering his lighter to Emmett, but he seemed to have it handled because he managed to light the cigarette with his finger tip. Kane smirked at Entropu's nifty power, "Thanks." He said exhaling the smoke from his lungs and looking into the air. Kane then moved his hand back to his pocket. While he exhaled, a loud thunder clapped from the sky above. With his other hand, Kane wrapped his large fingers around the base of the cig. He took another drag and looked back down from the sky at Emmett, then moved the cigarette away from his mouth, down to his side. While exhaling Kane spoke, "It seems we share some common goal's Emmett.". After he spoke a quick flash of lightning lite the sky. "There's something I want to show you, but it's gonna have to wait until we get out of these rain."

The storm was getting pretty bad, so Emmett suggested shelter, then sprinted past Kane and leaped off the rooftop and glided to the ground. Kane put the cigarette between his lips again, and bit down with his teeth to keep the cig still. He turn around and placed his hands on the edge of the building. Using little strength Kane lifted him-self over the edge and landed on the side walk. The streets were clear because of the storm, and Emmett who was knelt down in the street. After landing Kane took yet another puff of his cigarette and looked up at Emmett. As he exhaled the smoke Kane started to speak,"Do you have a secure place we can go?" Kane patted his back pocket with his free hand to make sure he still had the data pad. The pad was still there, and Kane was making good progress on his quest.

ENTROPUS WORD COUNT : 1795
KANE : 2290



Emmett descended towards the cracked streets that were lit by dim artificial lights from here to there. He began to meld with the darkness, becoming a shade among shadows, a ghost in the fetid gloom. "I have a bad feeling about this," Emmett began to scowl and his lips quickly twitched. He noticed the heavy downpour slowly fading to a light drizzle, and then come to an instant halt. His eyes peered over his shoulder to the dark gray sky above. Within only a few seconds, the thick rain clouds above vanished, turning it into a starry night under a Chicago sky.

The Virtual Man was also a calculating man, processing various thoughts and memories at one time, but most importantly he remembered the mission at hand. "Getting in contact with The Black Knight is top priority right now, not this lost man searching for a cure to his problems."

Entropus appeared in every shadow, sprinting circles around Kane. Gusts of wind began to hurl up from the ground around The Man Of Steel. The speed of The Virtual Man was truly magnificent! A cold voice began to whisper to Kane, as if it were inside his own head. "If you think you're worthy of fighting along side Pain..." Kane attempted to adjust his eyes to see Entropus move, but only got a rare glimpse of a dark gray blur every few seconds.

Even better.

Kane's distraction was in place, the moment to strike was now. The Phantom twirled his body and flipped forward. His training in aerobics were mastery, as he landed from the flip and ascended further more into the sky and spiral-kicked towards the back of Kane's neck. "Then show me your power!"

(Since my signature has changed here is what my powergrid would look like, just in case ya need it for reference, ect.
INT: 2
STR: 6
SPE: 4
END: 6
EP: 0
FS: 4
)

Kane stared up to the sky as the pouring rain faded almost instantly. Just as quick as it came, it just vanished with no explanation. The Man of Steel turned his attention to center of the street where Emmett should have landed from his glide down. Only there no-one there, just a blank and lifeless street. Something strange was going on here in Chicago. 'The black sky's darken up the night, the groung beneath my feet is hard and cold just like I've come to be...'

Kane looked around him for The Virtual Man, but only saw glimpes of him appearing in the surrounding shadows, but never a clear picture. Entropus's speed was truely great, Kane's eye couldn't possible keep up with such amazing movement. A whisper came through the shadow's, Entropus's. Kane felt like he was spinning in circles trying to keep up with The Virtual Man. The voice came again, this time from behind. Kane quickly turned around to meet the voice, only making things worse. Instead of seeing the Virtual Man he meet the full force of his kick smashing right into his face. The incredable momemtum behind his kick cause Kane to stumble backwards and drop to one knee. He face was swung back facing the ground after getting hit with such power. He squinted his eyes a few times trying to make the stars go away.

The Man of Steel quickly got it back together, and quickly turned around swunging his left arm upwards throwing a deadly upcut at the Virtual Man. The sher force behind his attack caused a mini shockwave to follow his fist as it soared through the air. Kane's attacks chances of hitting were very little, not only the time gap between hits, but also because he knew Entropus wasn't a en-experience fighter in the slightest. He had been in dozens of more fights then Kane has, and theres was way he'd just let Kane get a hit in like that.

Trashed.