Calm before the Storm ( Invite Only )

His flight was nearing the airport. Sure, he could have just flown himself, but he was keeping a low profile. He had lost too many of his associates to death and capture that he was running out of people he could count on to help him achieve his goals. Which just so happened to be the purpose of the visit. Apparently, one of his former friends whom he thought had been killed was still alive. It just so happened to be the brother to Rush, who was accompanying him. Slick contacted them with a brief message saying he was on the run and needed to escape as quickly as possible.

"Unbelievable. He died in my hands, Hurricane." Rush said. "How is it possible he's alive?" More than anything, he hoped and wished his brother had been alive. His rib cage was ripped apart by a manic prisoner at a facility that Hurricane was locked up in. They were able to rescue Hurricane, at the expense of losing Slick. Now it seemed they hadn't lost anything at all. They would be reunited again.

"I don't know, like you said, he died of blood loss. Whatever the case, we should just be grateful." He said, looking out the window. The plane finally made touch with the ground, as a motorized stairway came out to meet the transport. The two exited down the vehicle to a luxury Mercedes transport waiting for them, as was the arrangement. Hurricane instructed the chauffeur to meet with the coordinates Slick had last contacted them. The message was brief and distorted, not enabling them much detail.

The vehicle stopped at a very busy public street, as Hurricane and Rush exited the vehicle. It had residential buildings on both sides. A public telephone was positioned on the other side of the street.

"Perhaps that's how he made contact." Rush theorized. He wouldn't have had much materially on him if he did miraculously get saved from the brink of death. But he did make it apparent someone was dead on his track, and wasn't playing around. The two crossed the street in order to reach the phone, but weren't accustomed to looking both ways before they crossed the street. The loud screeching of tires echoed throughout the neighborhood as a speeding car tried to come to a halt before hitting the two pedestrians. Hurricane's head darted in the direction the vehicle was coming from, extending a hand and channeling into his inner power. A vortex of air shot up from underneath the car, hurdling it into the air and over their heads.

Hurricane spun around as the car passed over them. The car landed on it's side, its metallic exterior scratching against the ground creating a blinding amount of sparks. One of which, hit the gas tank causing it to explode. Hurricane's hand still outstretched, he channeled a milder wind around the car, causing it to spin rapidly on its side. The winds so intense it choked out the flames. Hurricane let out a heavy sigh and released his energy. The vehicle slowly came to a halt. Rush stormed up to the side of the vehicle. The man climbed out of the window of the car, coughing from inhaling some of the smoke. Rush speedily approached him as the man got to his feet and began brushing himself off.

"You guy's should really look both ways before crossing. But thanks fo-" Rush contorted his back backwards and leaned his whole body into a punch right into the mans face, flattening him out onto the pavement. Rush bent down and grabbed the man by the shirt. He proceeded to lifted him up, punching him in the face two more times. Blood ran down from his nose and out of the corner of his mouth, but it was apparent he was unconscious. Rush began to feel that feeling. The feeling that everyone's eyes were on him. He looked around as the neighborhood was staring at the scene that had unfolded. Rush dropped the man immediately and began walking away as if nothing had happened. People began gossiping about the metahumans they had heard so much about. Rush sheepishly returned to Hurricane's side, as they began walking away from the crowd that began to form around the unconscious man and the destroyed vehicle.

"Let's get going, there isn't much clues here for us to go off. All we're doing now is getting attention." Hurricane said to Rush.

Work was not the best, but it paid the rent, that was enough for him. Patrick had just finished his shift at the bank, one whose name he didn't even chose to remember, considering that the next chance he got, he would be working somewhere much better; at a place that paid so much better. Running a single hand through his rough, short cut brown hair, he he looked both ways before unlocking the door to a shoddy looking car and sat down. The engine issued a loud sound before cranking up. And with that he put the thing into drive.

As usual the traffic was horrific, sometimes he would find himself sitting around for hours just waiting for the damn traffic to move. This time it took him around thirty minutes to make any sort of progress, mostly it was him sitting around and occasionally hitting the car horn. A few rude words were said and even ruder hand gestures were made, but that was how life was now, not that he really minded it. Eventually the traffic grew less annoying and he was on his way to the shoddy looking apartment that he called home. It wasn't much to look at but he liked it nonetheless.

He could have made it home without a problem but this was Chicago, and where there are more people, there has to be its share of meta humans. This time though there seemed to be more than one here, a rather attractive looking male and someone else, both looking really tough. There was a destroyed car and what looked like a man that had gotten beaten up, something that the people of Chicago would have been used to. Hell, before the destruction of New York, the bad guys always had to attack that shitty place, but now everyone wanted a piece of fucking Chicago. Now he found himself staring at the scene of a meta human crime, with only what little skill he had with his strange ability, something he had learned form the wire man.

So it was either find a way around these guys or do something about it, though both seemed equally suicidal when he thought about it. Well since he somewhat knew what he was doing, no harm is trying to mess up their day, right? He had gotten the hang of the flying thing, and perhaps he could try to use the wind, considering it was much easier than that electric power. Well he had more control of his power than before, but would it prove useful when a fight happened? It was no or never though, time to see what he could do right?

”Well hell.” He muttered opening the car door, glaring at the two villains in question and mustered up the best badass face he could. ”Hey!” This exclamation was followed by a powerful bolt of lightning proceeding from his fingertips, one aimed for the other guy, that one that had beaten up the poor defenseless guy.

Before the two could begin to part ways, a boisterous voice was heard on the road. A man had gotten out of his vehicle to challenge them. At the sound of the voice, Hurricane and Rush spun their heads. However, they didn't expect anyone to be attacking them again. A bolt of powerful electricity shot out from the man's fingertips and hurdled at Rush. The blast landed in his upper shoulder, knocking the unarmed gunslinger several feet backwards, before the energy bolt pierced straight through his shoulder and continued its course. The continued bolt connected with a cable attached to a transformer post. The charge surged through the cables causing the transformer to explode, causing sparking cables to flail about before hitting the ground. Power to the street was instantly shut off.

"Hell! He's a meta!" Rush yelped in pain as he grasped his upper shoulder, still laying on the concrete. He wanted to go for his gun, but the pain was probably going to send him into shock if he tried going into combat. Had the bolt been a few inches in the wrong direction, he it could have pierced a vital organ. Hurricane hadn't budged from his position, or kept his gaze off Patrick. His lightning blast was powerful enough to capture his attention. With any meta, Hurricane deemed them a superior form of life in comparison to humans. But the powerful ones could be potential allies or enemies. Either way, not worth a fight. Not now, anyways.

"Hmhmhah! Well, I suppose it's an eye for an eye, isn't it Rush?" Hurricane said with a calmed laugh, still staring into the young mans eyes. "You have a remarkable talent, young man. It seems you are self-aware of your inner power. Is this what you planned to use it for?"

The general public of course, was terrified. They, being the weaker being, ran away in a panic. The metahumans once again wrecking havoc in their city, destroying their 'civilization'. A disgruntled man, not happy with the damage done to the city block, grabbed a beer bottle laying on the ground at a nearby dumpster and hurled it high into the air, hoping to hit Patrick on the head with it.

The bolt had made contact with the target, and damn did it look painful. The bolt had traveled further, hitting something important looking and cutting off power to the street, not very good at all. 'Shit.” he hissed under his breath. Yeah, he still had no control over his damn power but at least the guy wasn't dead, that was a small relief. The rather good looking male turned his eyes upon him and said something. Patrick turned his attention to the man that had only moments ago been brutalized by these two, something that he did not really enjoy.

”For what? I'm just using it because you douchebags start all this shit and waltz around like you're some tough shit.” Yeah he sounded like some badass, even if he were not that badass really. That was of course when the public opinion made itself known in the form of a beer bottle on a collision course with his skull and being the ever so suave guy that he was, Patrick got smashed with it. A sharp pain shot through his skull as he found himself falling to the ground, a small amount of blood running down his forehead.

”Awww shit! What the hell was that for you....agh damn.”He found himelf gripping his head where the collision took place. Sure he had felt some pain within his life, but nothing quite hurt like a beer bottle against the noggin, except being impaled; that sounded like it hurt like hell.

"Is that so." Hurricane replied to the boys claims. Rush reached for his gun, obviously irritated by the brash hero's words, only trying to antagonize him further. But Hurricane motioned to Rush with his hand to hold his place. He talked tough, but his response was still a bit off. It almost seemed as if he tried to be defensive by going offensive in his words. There was little to no reason to talk the way he did, unless he was afraid. Though, Hurricane couldn't know that for sure.

An unknown assailant, obviously angered by the situation accurately pelted Patrick from a distance with an empty beer bottle. He was down instantly, but was trying to recover. His blood dripped into the streets. Not as tough as he started out to be. The man by the dumpster began to take off, but Hurricane's eye was on him like a hawk gazing at its prey. Turbulent wind energy swept around the man, picking him up off his feet. Hurricane merely twisted his finger and the man came hurdling into the scene, flailing his arms and legs about in a panic.

"My friend and I were merely crossing the street, before we almost got killed by that motorist. An assured death, if not for my abilities. As you can see with his destroyed vehicle, I put out the flames. We initially meant no harm. However, my friend does not think as quickly before he acts. He gave into his anger, afraid he almost breathed his last breath. It seems you fall into the same category as he does. Act first, think later. Toughness has little to do with it." The man he held in captivity didn't seem thrilled of having his movements controlled in a stasis-like position. Unable to move himself.

"Put me down you freak! You guys think you can just use your powers whenever you want and wreck our city!" He yelled at Hurricane, who wasn't phased by his speech at all. With a thought he could asphyxiate him with a lack of air, and he would black out into nothingness. But he was hoping Patrick would kill him instead for revenge.

"And all the same, who were you trying to protect? The innocent man that was almost a manslaughterer? The people without powers, because they are weak and defenseless? See how they're grateful for your help. See how your 'heroic' actions are marveled and appreciated. They hate you as much as they hate me, because they fear us. What we can do to them, what we can become."

He let the man go, as he fell down to the ground on his hands and knees. He wanted to get up and punch Hurricane, but knew he would die if he tried. Instead he took off running again, trying to escape the metahumans. Hurricane let the man go.

Trying to pay attention to the super powered villainous dude was much harder than you think when getting hit by a beer bottle on the head, but he managed pretty well. It was mostly something that sounded like a huge load of crap, but then again he wasn't really sure what was the load in the situation given. However the offender that had so rudely hit him with a bottle was apprehended by the meta human in question, much to his relief, considering all he knew to do was his powers was destroy things and that was not the aim of heroism was it?

Sure what he was saying made sense, but then again Patrick never considered himself the megalomaniac type really, still the whole Dominus stuff he saw on the tube kinda scared him. Sure tot he average person it would seem like nothing, but he dated enough conspiracy nuts to know one when he saw it. Either they planned to somehow control the meta humans or simply planned to find a way to eliminate them in the long run, both of which did not sound well. Stipulation maybe but better safe than sorry. Maybe this guy was speaking some truth after all, but he wouldn't swallow his crap just yet.

”Okay, perhaps I did believe what you were saying. What exactly would you propose be done about the “weaker” people?”

"Of course, the natural step of evolution. The weak become irrelevant and die off, and the strong surpass them. Assuming nature takes its proper course. It is only natural for them to fear that change. Hope to reverse it so they are the dominant species of this planet again. Either the fearful will succeed, and destroy the change to come, or the change will be the end of their existence." He knew with the metahuman virus, the humans had at least some plans to thwart metahumans if they became too dangerous or commonplace. That virus would soon become the bane of their existance, however. Hurricane was a natural scientist and was capable of tampering with the substance to turn it back on the humans. All he needed was time and resources.

"I feel our conflict should end now. There is no need for us to have any reason to engage in any form of battle, whether physical or verbal. You obviously need medical help, and a friend of ours that we thought dead seems to be alive. We're just trying to find him again. Then we'll leave your city and it can go about boring business. However, if you find anything I said interesting, or wish to make a profit from your powers, Feel free to try and seek me out. Your talents could prove useful."

Rush's cell phone rang, and he struggled to get his hand on it. His wound now restricting his movement on one of his arms. He claimed it on the third ring and answered it. A weak voice of Slick came on the other line.

"R-Rush.. Are you.. there?" Slick asked, followed by a gurgle of blood. He was somehow still wounded. But it had been so long since the attack on the prison. Was someone else trying to kill him?

"Don't talk Slick, we're gonna track you and be there in five." Rush responded, hanging up the call and immediately tracking the signal.

"Warehouse 13 by the abandoned train station." Rush said, looking up at Hurricane.

What he was saying was actually making some sense, humans seemed to fear meta humans because they were superior to them, and they could easily take over humanity if all came together. Still, he was not sure that he himself would enjoy taking part in what could be considered the genocide of a species. Just didn't really sit well with him, and there was always the comparisons with Hitler, and all that bullshit. Still, he knew that he would not last long in a fight with a meta human that knew what the hell they were doing with their power, he was a novice at best. ”I'll keep that in mind.” He said with a level tone, not trying to betray what he really thought, but then again he was never the one to decieve.

The metahuman, unknown to him was seemingly calmed down. Despite there possibly being some anger residing in Rush for vengeance, he knew not to challenge Hurricane's judgement of the situation. His intellect was far superior to anyone he knew. And besides, at the present Slick was the only thing on his mind. The thought of his brother being alive was outweighing any need to attack Patrick.

"My name is Hurricane." Hurricane said. His real name, of course, was Jack Kerriga. But that was a name he had abandoned and forgotten by now. It was only stated on his history records and known to few people. His metahuman name however was a bit more renowned as a villain to the common day world. Most news reports would have him being depicted as one who attacked public and governmental targets. While true, he never did such at random. They each had a purpose. His instruments of destruction, the men under his command, were responsible for more deaths than he was. They shared his displeasure with humans, but to a degree with hatred.

"He seems to be hurt, Hurricane." Rush restated the obvious. The wounded man made his way back to the vehicle grasping his shoulder, scarred by the electrical blast that damaged flesh and bone while travelling through his body. He would get healed later, but as of now he was probably functioning at half of his maximum effectiveness as a gunslinger. Though, Hurricane knew his inner strength. Rush could easily manipulate the influx of adrenaline into his body, easing any pain he is experiencing. However, he's saving his energy incase he has to protect his brother later on. Perhaps Patrick didn't know how strong Rush really could be if he were to tap into that power. For now, he appeared weaker than he really was.

Hurricane made his way back to the vehicle. The public still stared, but from a distance. They saw what happened to the man who threw the bottle at Patrick. Hurricane could have done anything he wanted to the man, but toyed with him instead, allowing him to escape. For now. His death would be eventual, if not today, perhaps tomorrow. Perhaps directly, or indirectly, depending how measure were taken.

"I must apologize. Time is critical that we retrieve our friend. He may be in serious danger." Hurricane said, rolling the window down of the luxury vehicle. He stepped a foot inside and closed the door behind him, gazing at the powerful metahuman that they encountered with sincere interest in his capabilities. The engine fired up as the driver threw the vehicle into gear, ready to depart to the warehouse.