The first test (private)

Ace Arrived on the scene, Sullivan had it under control the man, who he could only assume was the crossword killer was curled up in the corner "Looks like you have this all under control" Ace said as he got out the phone "Your lucky your not dead Mr Yew, i may not be allowed to kill but Sullivan is under no restriction" Ace took a picture of the man and sent it in a text to the captor Done, But i assume you aren't, you probably have some big master plan to end the world, its not going to work, Hell you cant even face a 14 year old alone, you have to come up with some way to test him without facing him, some evil villain you are. Ace texted, intimidation tactics, they'd probably get him killed but they were usually effective. Ace looked around the room, it was a bit of a dingy old apartment, a table and couch in the middle of the room, on the table there was an assortment of knifes, a can opener and a laptop showing surveillance of the nearby streets.

The police arrived and took him into custody, Ace thought it might be over, but he was wrong, very wrong.

"Hmm, only partially correct. Evil may have existed since the beginning but the introduction of so called "superheroes" has allowed the virus that is evil to mutate. People go to stop evil such as muggers or robbers and it elevates. It's a constant attempt to one up each other. It's simple escalation. You start fighting back and they become more intense in order to make it difficult. You start getting better and more experienced as do they. They become more clever from the constant battles as you do. Eventually its to show that they are better than whoever constantly foils them. You pretend to be above it but you are not; no one is." John replied to the boy that was unable to escape from his clutches. The boy was nothing to him. John valued intellect above all and this boy had not proven his worth so far in Johns eyes. Thats why he chose him, to start at the bottom of the food chain of heroes and wok his way up to matching minds with the most brilliant, The Black Knight. Even he would fall to John; no one would be able to stand up to him. His eyes continued to follow the action that was going on via the tablet computer on his lap. The security camera rotated towards the window of where Michael Yew, the member of the Sentinels and some agent were.

Michael Yew was in the corner when the Sentinel Member that called himself Ace walked inside. He said some stuff that the infamous Crossword Killer did not pay attention to. Eventually, the police came to take him away. He willingly went with The officers as they led him out of the house. Inside the car, Michael Yew spoke to the officers. He told them what John wanted him to say."inside of an envelope in the safe of the CIA, there is a flashdrive. Bring it to him." The police would send this message to the member of the Sentinels that was back in the house. This game was far from over.

Ace was typing into the computer Yew had left on the table, trying to find some connection to the man who had set him up to do this, so far he couldn't find anything, whoever he was working for was smart enough to cover his tracks. The officer came in " This guy says you need to find a flashdrive in the CIA" Ace got up from the computer and got Sullivan to follow him "Get in the drivers seat of the police car, il be there in a second". Sullivan did as he was told and got in the drivers seat of the car. Ace went around the back and got under the car, he secured something to the bottom and got in the passenger seat.

"Mr Yew, About your employer, your going to tell me who he is, why he wants the flashdrive and where he is, otherwise that thing vie just secured to the bottom of the car will blow you to kingdom come. I am judge, jury and executioner Mr Yew now speak" Ace threatened, remaining calm while he was speaking, not allowing the rage to get to him. What he had secured to the bottom of the car was the phone he had been delivered, not an explosive by any means but it would hopefully be enough to make the man sweat. Sullivan was sweating under his brow as well, he knew he kept explosives in the back of his car, it wouldn't be too hard to get your hands on them if you had the keys, Sullivan checked his back pocket for his keys, they were gone. Ace had picked up the keys earlier, he'd left them on the table and Ace thought to teach him a lesson.

The Crossword Killer sat in the police car as the Sentinels member stepped inside. "I know you're bluffing kid. Just inside you said that you don't kill. Even if you did, it doesn't matter, I know you don't have the guts to do it." He smiled as he replied to the young boy's threat. This boy was all bark and no bite, there was nothing he could do to get him to talk. Though, he spoke once more to give him a little incentive. "Oh and I hear he has someone extra special planned for the finale. If you don't hurry, he may blow his brains out early. And you don't want this one to die." If the current hostage that was packing enough C4 to take down a house and was on the bottom floor of a hotel wasn't enough, the threat of John killing someone he knew would be. Looking at his watch, he said "You may want to hurry, the clock is just ticking away."

Back in the warehouse, John smirked at the boy as he escaped and then spoke. "I wasn't expecting any less." He said as he raised the bottom end of his cane so it was inches away from his calf. He pressed down on the jeweled top so that it fired a tranquilizer dart out of the bottom. The boy would be sedated and they would just wrap him up again. If it was unsuccessful, Azazel would come charging up. No doubt he had heard the sounds of the prisoner's escape and was on his way.

First, Azazel would throw a punch towards the young man's skull in an attempt to shake him up enough to keel over so that they could rewrap him in tape and handcuff him once more. If this attack was unsuccessful, he would attempt to wrap his hands around the man's neck and bring his face down on his knee. He would follow up this attack with a punch towards the abdomen. Hopefully the boy would not prove too much trouble. There was no doubt that he was powerful with his water attacks but hopefully Azazel would be able to defeat him. If he fails in doing so, he will die. John did not accept failure. It wouldn't be hard to find another skillful fighter.

Ace cursed under his breath, the man payed attention but he obviously wasn't as smart as he thought he was. He let information slip, crucial information *He's holding someone special………. No………………. But only i……….* Ace's thoughts were in pieces, before he came to a conclusion. "Terry i need you to go back to the tower, tell me if something is wrong" Ace spoke with a mix of determination and desperation
"Terry…. you never call me Ter- Oh" Sullivan realised what was happening, his tone drooped slightly " What are you going to do"
"The only thing i can do"
"THAT'S SUICIDE, You'll never be able to do it"
"I don't have a choice, whoever he's holding is in danger" Ace explained. Sullivan simply nodded, got out of the car, into his jag and sped off towards the tower. "Your a horrible person, you know that" Ace told Yew with a serious tone "But seriously crosswords? Your the laughing stock of the prison block". Ace got out of the car and on to the bike, he revved the engine and sped off towards the CIA's base here in San Fransisco.

(Sorry it took so long, been in and out of the house)

The Crossword Killer snarled at the Sentinel member's comment. "I could carve one into your flesh as well if you would like." He offered, annoyed at him. The boy left to do something that the government agent considered suicide but Michael Yew did not know what it was.


John never moved even when the blade was inches away from him. The tranquilizer was successful and lodged itself in the boy's leg. "Oh you heroes, you always think that you can always win. I'll let you in on a secret." He leaned in closer to the dead body and finished what he was saying with a whisper. The tranquilizer should make him still able to hear him speak. "That only happens in the movies. In real life, the so called villains win much more often. What hope do you have?" He taunted before propping the boy back in the chair. He taped his body back to the chair and replaced the handcuffs. He placed an inhibitor chip this time. It would attach to the back of his neck and would be more difficult to get off for him. This boy and the other members of that kiddy hero group weren't going to be a threat, they were weak. He wouldn't let them live when he brought the world into a new, better age. But for now, he could still make them play his games.

Ace sped through the San Francisco traffic "This Son of a bitch will get his USB alright" Ace said, venom lacing every word "I've had enough of hostage bullshit, I'm getting this USB and stopping this once and for all." Ace's jacket flew back in the wind, his sleeves  being the only thing holding it on his back. The flash of speed camera's was almost constant and the verbal berating of other drivers lost in the wind against Ace's ears. 

Ace arrived at the CIA headquarters in San Francisco, he assumed the USB was being kept here. He walked in, there was a receptionist desk flanked by two guards, Ace could tell that they were glaring at him through their sunglasses, he didn't care, he came here for the USB and he wasn't leaving without it. The receptionist looked up from the computer, she was clearly in her mid thirty's, judging by the quality of her suit, she was underpaid for such a high stakes military job, Ace was probably going to make her job higher stakes after this. "How can I help you, Sir" She said with an undertone you would only ever use with a child. "I'm here for a USB, would you have any idea where I could get it?" Ace said in his most serious of voices, the clutter of CIA armor could be heard to the left of Ace and the click of a safety could be heard to the right of him. The receptionist paused slightly before replying "Young man, you don't realize what this is, you can't just come in here and ask for military weaponry" 
"Military Weaponary?" Ace cocked an eyebrow "I was looking for a USB that my father told me to collect, he's an IT guy and he left his USB here" 
"Oh" the receptionist cursed under her breath "You realise what we'll have to do now don't you? We'll have to kill you" 
*Oh Shit* Ace thought *This was not part of my plan, time to do some quick thinking* There was a click of a safety to his left now *Ok, make that really quick thinking* Ace was starting to sweat now "WAIT!!" Ace screamed "Can I just do one thing first, before i die, please?" Ace said putting on his best puppy dog eyes 
The receptionists shoulders dropped "If you must, what is it you want to do?" 
"I want to, uh, check my emails"
"Check your emails, that's the thing you want to do before you die, check your emails?"
"Yes, it would bug me for the rest of my life if I didn't, however short that may be" the receptionist thought this over, clicked three times, assuming to close some of her tabs and got out of her seat, gesturing for Ace to sit on it.

The barrels of the guns followed Ace like the Mona Lisa's eyes, he sat down in the chair and pulled himself in, with the mouse in his right hand he clicked through to Hotmail, and his left, it seeped under the table to find a chord, eventually he found one and dug his nail in, just in time too, he couldn't keep up this charade much longer, with a flash he dissipated and several bullet holes were made in the wall.

Ace reappeared in a dark room, the hum of generators surrounded him. "This must be where the building gets its power from, The way to the usb must be here somewhere." Ace was about to teleport away when Jet filled his ears, Ace answered his phone "Hello" Ace answered
"Ace, its me Sullivan" Sullivan's voice ran through the other end of the line
"And?"
"Sean, he isn't here."
"He's probably just passed out drunk, like all the other times, but we have to assume the worst. Search for him, see if you can find him"
"Where are you?"
"I'm in the CIA building, In the generator room"
"What are you doing i-" Sullivan's voice was drowned out by the sound of boots running down a hallway, they stopped in front of the door, there was a click of a key and light flooded into the room. Ace could see them clearly, Black jumpsuits covered in every type of ammunition possible, Knifes, smoke grenades and other things that caused Ace to shiver. The Guards could see him clearly too as they threw something at him, it landed and started emitting a smoke, Ace made the mistake of breathing in and fell down into a sea of black.

Ace awoke, there were metal clasps around his hands and around his waist, he was strapped to a chair, they didn't know he was a metahuman, he intended to keep it that way. A man with a thick grey mustache was standing in front of him, he looked mid 50's and clearly an officer of some sort, "Your finally awake" He said in a gruff voice.
"Really? Thanks sherlock." Ace replied cockily *I've had a horrible day, if this guy thinks he's going to torture me then he is sorely mistaken*
"Listen son, your going to tell me why you were at the building today"
"I was looking for a usb"
"What did it have on it?"
"I don't know, i'm just trying to save a friend" Ace thought for a second "Wait, what's the time?!" the man looked at his watch
"Its Twelve thirty at night"
"I see"
" Why do you ask?" Ace didn't answer, he just electrified the metal and teleported through it launching himself on to the man, driving his elbow into his temple, he was out cold, Ace estimated he had about ten seconds before the guards came storming in, Ace grabbed his phone and grappling hook off the man and grappled himself to the bit of wall above the door. As if on cue the guards burst in to the room. Once he was sure there was no more coming, he slipped out the gap and sprinted for the exit. Ace ran through the building without to much trouble, if there was any pain he didn't feel it. eventually he made it outside and checked his wounds, a bullet had scathed his right thigh, he had about five minutes until the pain kicked in.

Boredom. I expected as much in this game. Nothing happens for long periods of time, boredom is sure to ensue. I suppose I could have some fun to pass the time. John thought, a mischievous smile crossing his face for a few seconds before fading away once more. His captive, Deluge, was tied up in a chair a few feet from him. Standing up, he made his way over to the chair and raised his foot. His foot slammed the front of the chair, sending it falling backwards. "Get up." John growled, spitting in the face of his prisoner. He knew very well that he was unable to get up but insisted on it anyway. Pulling his chair back up to a normal position, he knocked it forward so his prisoner smashed his face against the concrete floor. Pulling the chair back up to it's normal position once more, he spat in the face of his captive. That was fun. Now for something a little more extreme. He thought as he made a hand signal to the mercenaries downstairs. They wheeled out a large bronze bull statue with a hatch inside. Once he locked him inside of it, it would kill people, after enough time, normally. This one had been custom made though. It would only burn rather than kill. Killing would be too easy. It makes the torture end. John had no intention of letting the torture end any time soon. Two mercenaries hustled up the stairs and picked up the chair that Deluge sat in. Once they had made it down the metal stairs and rested it on the concrete main floor of the factory, the untied him. Their guns were pressed against his back and his front side was covered in red dots, reminding him that escape was impossible. One of the other mercenaries opened up the hatch and the two with their guns pressed against the hero's back shoved him inside and locked the hatch. One of the other hired soldiers lit the fire beneath it as John watched from the top of the rusted iron staircase.

Ace sat atop a hill within walking distance of the CIA building. He was aware he would have to clear out soon, the guys who were perusing him would come out of there in a few seconds, Ace had little time to stop and recoup. He'd taken a bullet to his leg, it had left an unsightly gash but hadn't completely ripped through his leg which is something he should be grateful for at least. "Well this is quite a mess, Sullivan will have a hard time cleaning this up" Ace chuckled slightly, as soon as he said this four heavily armed guards clambered through the exit and drew their scopes to their faces. "Sheep" Ace said as he scampered over the top of the hill and tumbled down the other side. *Sheep? Seriously? Out of all the things, you could have been really badass and said-* Ace's thoughts were interrupted by gunfire "Oh god damn it…" Ace said as another bullet embedded itself in his shoe. Ace kicked into high gear and sprinted for his life, his legs were burning after about a hundred meters but he kept going for a good three hundred meters before coming to a stop at a light post. The guards are almost fifty meters away, Ace grasps his hand around the pole and disappears into the power lines.

Ace reappears in his room in the tower. He sits on his bed and brings his shoe up to his knee, he winces as he lifts it up and pulls the bullet out of his shoe. He stumbles out of his room and down to the bathroom. He took down the first aid kit from the cabinet and laid it out on the bench. As he was pulling out the bandages someone walked in behind him "My god…" said Sullivan "What happened?"
"Funnily enough, the CIA don't just like me running in and grabbing their secret plans." Ace replied, poison lacing every word.
"Just because you were an idiot and got shot in the leg doesn't mean you need to be an ass."
"Fair enough, would you mind giving me a hand?" Ace asked, gesturing to a pair of tweezers in his hand. A few minutes later Ace was up on the bench as Sullivan took boiling hot tweezers to his leg, removing the bullet from the unsightly gash. "So is everyone alright? Everyone here?" Ace asked Sullivan
"Everyone that usually is, other than Sean"
"He's probably passed out in an alley or something"
"We have to assume the worst" Ace looks at Sullivan quizzically
"So you mean he's gone to New York, teamed up with a bird a robot and some other guys and are now fighting crime?"
"What? No, where did you even get that from?"
"I don't know, probably the blood-loss, So i need to go save Sean?"
"In a nutshell, yes" Sullivan wrapped Ace's leg up in bandages and helped him down off the bench. Ace walked into his room and retrieved his grappling hook from his draw "This would be a good time to test this" He slipped it on to his wrist and walked downstairs.

John waited for a bit as Sean roasted inside of the bronze bull statue with the fire burning away under it. A smile crossed his face as he told one of his men to grab him a cup of tea. The man in the Kevlar SWAT armour came back with a cup of tea for him about 5 minutes later. It was quite the odd sight, to be honest. John took a sip of the tea and peeked at his watch. The digital face told him that 5 minutes had passed. The prisoner should be burned enough. "Take him out." John ordered after taking another sip of the dark, hot liquid. Harsh, red hot burns should have found a place on his body. They would not be fatal, that would be too kind for John.

The men, dressed in armour that SWAT wore, opened up the hatch on the bull and yanked Sean out. As predicted, burns had found their place on parts of his body. Now, what should I do next? Oh, I know, low powered electrical chair. John smirked as he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. He dialled the phone he had given to the Sentinels. John put the phone against the side of Sean's face. "Say hello, boy." He instructed him. He gave them some time to talk to each other before taking the phone back. "If you want to see him again, you bring me my flash drive. It's all very simple. All I'm asking is a teeny little flash drive with missile plans on it for your friend's life and you can't even do that." John made 'tsk' sounds as he walked back and forth across the room. "Is his life really that meaningless to you? Do you want him to die? I mean, he is pretty annoying. Oh, I've got it. You do want me to kill him. Well, I can oblige to that. You can come collect his splattered brain from the concrete in a doggy bag. Now, where is my flash drive?"

As Ace exited the tower his phone, that was dropped off for him earlier, started ringing. "Hero" by Enrique Iglesias, *Fitting* Ace thought *Nice to know this guy has a sense of humor, even if he's a giant dick.* Ace answered "Hello, This is Ace speaking, who the hell are you?" Sean's voice rang through the phoneline, it was laced something Ace couldn't put his finger on, whatever it was it wasn't Sean, Sean would make more gay jokes that Ace wouldn't get. The phone switched hands and suddenly he was on the line to the captor. Ace wanted to say so many things but the guy just wouldn't shut up it was all 'Your friend will be dead' this and 'Where's my flashdrive' that. Ace thought relying on a flash drive was a bad idea, relying on something that could be wiped with a small magnet never worked in your favour.The man asked where his flash drive was, Ace had to think quick "The flash drive, I have it with me" Ace lied "Just meet me at the Sleepy Pig Motel in two hours, ask the receptionist for Alan Alias" Ace had a plan, whether it would work or not would be a different story. Ace hung up, Ace didn't have anything to say to this man that wasn't a repeated string of curse words.

Ace went back inside and spoke to Sullivan "How fast can you make some fake missile plans?" Ace asked him
"Infallible fake?"
"More like looks normal at first glance fake"
"A couple of days"
"How about an hour?"
"That would be the equivalent of a white crayon on blue paper."
"Great, scan that on to a usb then meet me at the Sleepy Pig Motel with handcuffs and some sort of flashlight, ask for Alan Alias"
"There are so many things about that list that i want to ask about"
"Well, you'll just have to wait and see." Ace explained as he headed outside once again and hailed a taxi. He arrived at the motel and booked out a room, the receptionist looked like all hell, But it was 2 in the morning. "Hi, Can i get a room?" The receptionist threw him a key and Ace continued "Also, if some men come by and ask for Alan Alias point them my way please" The receptionist raised an eyebrow but didn't ask any questions, it might have been the fact it was 2 in the morning or maybe it was because around here there were so many stupid names.

Ace opened the door to his room and went to work, he drew over the curtains and turned on the shower. He grasped the light fixture and pulled it out, leaving wires hanging from the roof. He yanked all the switches out of the walls and pulled out all the wires. When Ace was finished the room was, not only trashed and a serious hazard to society, literally crackling with electricity. Sullivan arrived at 3:30, His jaw literally dropped when he saw the room. "My God" He exclaimed
"Its all part of my plan, stick the flashlight and the USB down there, next to those wires, give me the handcuffs and then go stand outside and cover the door" Ace instructed, Sullivan did as he was told, Ace clipped the handcuffs around his left hand and crossed his fingers, the rest of this plan was sheer luck and hope, if it worked it would be because the captor wanted it to.