The first step (Closed to Zell)

"I have found that the hardest question to answer...is "Why?" When someone selflessly helps you, you silently wonder 'why?', when someone wrongs you terribly, you ask them 'why?', when you know the true meaning of sorrow you ask yourself 'why?'." Dominion began, the camera trained on his shadowed face. The fog of his ring, Smoke, had been fogging out his face from the average man. His voice was like that of a teenager, but there was a heavy sense of wisdom that seemed to slip through his callous heart. Every time Dominion said the word why he did so in a sorrowful tone, or a serious inquisitive one, until he reached the lat one, when he was dead serious, and almost threatening.” When you are forced to make a decision of soul shattering proportions...you will cry out 'Why?'."
"Too many people are caught in a trap. The trap which is known only as 'The Human Condition'. You search endlessly for the meaning of life, for gratification in what you are. You are curious, and are driven to find answers. You also refuse to accept the inevitability of isolation, and desperately try to find another to cling onto, in attempt to escape the fate. But finally, and most importantly...you are aware that your time is running out." He took little breaks as he looked into the camera, his sea foam glowing eyes pacifying anyone who would look into them, unless they were of a strong will power. He managed to stress the gravity of time running out. This speech would speak deeply to any man, but to one man it would speak to his very soul. This man was the one Dominion was told to go after.
"Rejoice, for there is a solution. I have decided to enlighten all of you to the Truth.” Dominion said with a glimmer of hope hidden in his dark depressing tone. “A 'Friend' of mine has shown me an individual, a worthy human who shall be the exemplar for all of you. The Jesus Christ of the modern man. He shall be tried, and he shall be broken. It is only when he has been broken that he will too see the Truth. When this man sees Truth, then so shall you all." He explained. The truth behind it was that the only truth they would see is that the worlds needed to function in unity, under one rule, and if what the notorious Elena Marie has said to him was true, then this man he was after, was the beginning of the establishment of his Dominion.
"You will know if you have been elected to such a position of honor, because you will be the only one who can learn from this. The first step to your ascendancy begins in one week’s time. I will be waiting."

The plan was in motion, a week’s time had passed, and now Dominion was ready to proceed. The target would be someone who could potentially be of help to the Gene-Tech C.E.O Zell Atterrius. The most prominent target would be the Canadian politician, Johnny Sheer. Johnny Sheer is a silver tongued fellow who would be a gateway for Zell to place his influence in politics, a very scary thought.
Things couldn’t have gone better. Johnny Sheer gave his speech, continued on his political drive, until he reached the airport. While at the airport he boarded a plane, and the plane flew off, but never reached its desired destination. It mysteriously vanished. Dominion smiled as the politician was tied to the chair, and he began to allow smoke to fill the room. This was the first step. How would Mr.Atterrius react? What would he do to save this man’s life? How smart is he really?
”Mr.Atterrius, this if the first step to your ascendancy.The only thing you need to know is you have three hours to save Mr. Jonathan Sheer. We are in Excalibur City…and you will fail.”

            Zell had been unable to triangulate an area that had a similar set up. Something was prohibiting him from being able to make a perfect match. There were several SIMILAR areas; however that pretentious prick had that fog to make everything all screwy. Zell continued on his path towards the first location he believed there to be the source. It was down in the lower income areas, the place where crime was most common. He landed where there were several cars and a ton of suspicious looking gentlemen in black turtlenecks like they belonged in a James bond movie. Zell landed his exo suit, onto his knee and he stood up. Several of the men in black knew who he was, and immediately greeted him with a joyous cry and the pattering of SMG bullets and the occasional shotgun. Zell walked, past them, sending out small protonic blasts at the humans, hoping it would only rattle them rather than kill them. However at this rate they were terrorists and death to terrorists wasn’t exactly on his list of regrets.
 
            One blast, two blasts, three blasts, four blasts. He took out every pathetic little human that thought they could stand against him. Zell had no mercy in his heart to share upon the filth who threatened his old friend, and even less for those who would condone the killing of innocents. Zell walked up the stairs, making it more than half way in the exo suit when a man started coming in with some high tech gauntlet, throwing a right hook. Zell ducked under the swing, while grabbing the man’s ankle, standing up to flip him over the metallic rails and send him down two stories to his fate. Two more came up, the first with a roundhouse kick with a tech-boot and the other with the fast and firm stomach jab with a gauntlet identical to the man Zell had just thrown over. Zell felt the impact of the high tech gauntlet and it sent a minor shockwave into his stomach, forcing the suit to bend while the other man’s large boot of similar design met his face. Zell cursed himself for lacking the proper reflexes to do what his mind commanded. It was practically unbearable. To be able to see something coming, it being so obvious and easily countered…but lacking the means to do it. It was the epitome of helplessness. Like allowing God to see, but robbing him of his ability to act. He staggered back and the man with the gauntlet sprung on him like a cheetah on a gazelle. Zell landed on his back, sliding down some of the stairs before feeling his helmet begin to rattle relentlessly as the man assaulted his helmet with a flurry of punches. Each punch produced a small rippling blue energy. He finally managed to free an arm and used the protonic blaster, medium charge on the man’s arm, taking it clean off. With the sinew and the gore Zell easily managed to break free, stand up and throw him out a window. Turning to the next man, Zell started walking. Another damn kick. The good part about that ‘god-like’ thought speed and perception was that no trick worked twice. Zell preemptively brought up his hand and caught the boot, crushing it, and the foot of his enemy in hand. Zell jabbed the man in the groin, probably crushing anything of importance, before sending the man out the same way he sent his friend.
 
            Zell opened the door and was now on the top floor of the building. He was in a sterile white hallway, a perfect cleanliness to it, and a shining spotless white tile floor. He walked down slowly and gingerly. He was not letting any detail slip past him. He made it down half way before he saw one of the most high-tech doors he’d ever seen in a ‘civilian’ structure. He growled to himself, activating his A.V.A.T.A.R to hack it. HE reached the door and held up his A.V.A.T.A.R and a flood of data and encrypt messaging and computer coding appeared in his field of vision. He watched as countless letters and numbers passed over at lightning speeds that could only be caught and comprehended by a true man, or woman, of intelligence. It was only a few seconds before Zell had hacked the door and it opened. He stepped in and saw a woman covering herself in sheets. Zell brought his arm over his exo-suits display, shielding his eyes for her privacy.
 
            ”Where is Sheer?” Zell snapped out loud. The clicking of footsteps could be heard, and so Zell instinctively took down his arm and looked in directin of the noise. He found a local crime boss, Vicente DeAngelo, buttoning his shirt.
 
            ”Ancestor Dragon. What a surprise, to have you here in my base of operations…although I assume you have a reason for being here? No don’t tell me. You’ve decided to come and kill Vicente, finally taking your place as a true vigilante, eh!?” He said with his potent Italian accent and laughter. He was acting as if it were the news that his daughter just married well. Zell stepped towards him and grabbed his collar.
        
        ”Do you have anything to do with the disappearance of Jonathan Sheer?” He snapped at the Italian ringleader. He simply shook his head.
           
        ”I am sorry to disappoint, but I have no need for Mister Sheer.” Vicente said. Zell couldn’t say Vicente was a good man, but Vicente had never told a lie outside a courtroom. Zell had less and less time.
            ”Alright. Don’t give me a reason to come back.” Zell warned him as he let Vicente go and stepped back, still eyeing him. He engaged the Exosuit boosters and took off, on route to the second point of interest. Hopfully this was the correct place. Sheer didn’t have much time. Leaving a hole in the roof as he left, Zell was on his way.   

The men had finished filling the room with the chemicals. There were twelve of them on premises while the rest retreated like Dominion had told them to. What the others didn’t know was that they were the selected few who were chosen to be sacrifices. Dominion was now on the highway to hell, or more specifically he was on his way to New Orleans. The rest of the time he trusted his summoned servant to ensure that everything went according to plan.
The men were set up specifically using the highest equipment they could get on the market. Their weapons would hopefully give the Dragon something to think about. Dominion smiled as he opened a laptop in the limo. There were several camera displays that were coming up. The one just outside the door where John Sheer was being kept with three armed men guarding it, the large opening with nine men and women there, and finally the room where the captured politician was under watch by a single guard, who was trained to shoot the man if the door opened, ever.
This was a war the Ancestor was sure to lose, and there was nothing that he could do about it. Dominion leaned back into the fine leather seating and crossed his arms behind his head with a smile.

(srry this was bad I'm tired and need sleep. I promise the next one will be better! <3 L.A.Nyx)

Zell flew form the 'accidental' decoy building and went to the next one. Zell's A.V.A.T.A.R was working tripple time. There were eight humanoid figures of unknown affiliation in the large opening on the building. Zell wasted no time and propelled himslf right into the frey. He landed in the middle of the room. Three of the men were close. Zell dispatched of them, rather quickly. He jabed the one in the stomach, then pivoted, using his leverage to flip the man he punched onto another. He then punched down on the oth of them, and as the third man charged, Zell unleashed a protonic blast, sending the man to the opposite wall, likely killing him.
 
       With his mastery of his own energy, he unsheathed Misanthropy and stuck it into the ground, then boosted away. With a boost up and Gravity working to his advantage, the dropped, giving a full forced Exo-suit gravity punch to the other two who were dumb enough to stand so close together. Zell stood up after having the crushed skulls of the morons bloodying his Dragon-claws. He stood up and noticed that he had been correct in his placement. The blsade of the Misanthropy was right where he nedded it to be. Firing a protonic blask at it would splice the energy in half and send them on trajectories that would hit two of the gunmen. he did jusdt that, with half a success. One of the men managed to dive out of the way. The other was destroyed, almost utterly vaporized.
      Zell had his back turned, and suddenly he felt a shot that ripped off the shoulder of his armor. He turned back to see another of this imbiciles that thought they could take him down. This man had a rather impressive gun, great technology. Zell activated his Anti-Hero Aegis, shieldign him form any other atrempt by the gun. He charged the man, picking him up by the throat with the help of his Project:Empowerment addition to the A.V.A.T.A.R Zell went form beign ale to bench what a normal human could to what a peke human could, and the same with his running speed. With the man in hand he crushed his trachea. The bastard deserved it. This armor takes for fucking ever to fix when broken like this.
    Zell slowly made his way to the next room, as hge went to openn the door he felt a little tap to the back of the head, He turned to see a single man left. Zell sighed. He held out his hand and Misanthropy came to Zell, Blade first, impaling the man on it as it came. The blade turned and Zell began to shake it by the hilt. He was attempting to shake the body off, but that was apparently not working. He finally just shot the corpse with a protonic blaster, lettign it drop off as he fially managed to turn around and advance intot he next room.

His men were shooting at nothing? Well this made no sense at all. Whatever was there wasn’t showing up on the cameras. It made it difficult for Dominion to actually look at the enemy and judge its weakness. It also might be an illusion for all he knew but he’d assume that since none of his expendables gunned each other down that there was something in the line of fire actually taking the shots. This turned out to be rather amusing for him.
A shine of energy randomly would form from nowhere and take one out, then an random flying sword. The way the sword attempted to shed the expendable was interesting. The way the body just flopped about and the violent shaking in attempts to get it off probably belonged in a comedy more than reality.
Then finally opened the door, and once more the men could obviously see something he could not. There was the two guards at the door and directly behind them, the guard that was to kill the politician once the door separating him from the two. The men fired their rpg attachments, sending the propelled grenades at the unknown thing. Two explosions followed by the advanced shotguns didn’t bode well for whatever was intending to stop then. Dominion placed a finger on his forehead. He didn’t think something so simply would turn out so hard.
"Well who." Dominion mumbled to himself as he watched the unknown react to the events. "Are you?"

The invisable thing was not only a total annoyance, but he was just a flat out pest. He was a cancer in the entire body of Dominion's plans. He never lost his calm mind though, while to did have to take a sharp inhale now and again, it was understandable. His plans were thwarted by something he couldn't see. The plan wasn't all for waste thankfully. There was one last trick up his sleeve, but for now he would just watch. She would know the perfect time to do what she did best.

Zell kicked the door, even without the hole in it, he would have easily removed it. He walked in, seeing the bleeding corpse. He looked to the left and to the right. There were Gene-Tech containers everywhere. The A.V.A.T.A.R identified them as hazardous components for gene synthesis. Not good to let out into open air. There would be detrimental consequences for years to come, and it couldn’t be allowed to happen. Zell used his A.V.A.T.A.R to signal S.T.A.R.K corps to come and deal with the issue. Zell then tended to John Sheer. He removed the cloth preventing him to speak.
”Thank God you’re here. I can’t thank you enough. I owe you so much.” He began. Zell shook his helmeted head.
”You don’t owe me anything. Do you remember who did this to you?” Zell asked him through the modifier. Hopefully there would be something this person could tell Zell.

"Jesus!" Zell snapped. He felt several peices of his armor clipping off. He was taking pretty heavy damage. He had no external armor left, at least none of significance. The being...the angelic being...it just stopped. It started glowing, a beautiful bright celestial light. It was beautiful, but Zell could tell already, whatever it was was deadly. His A.V.A.T.A.R detectd a rise in energy coming from the core. It was volitile energy, all worthy of a mass explosion. Zell had little time to react, there was nothing he could do. He was going to lose this. Even if he could save Sheer, it was far too late. This thing was going to blow, and with the explosion there were mutative chemicals. Hundreds would die.
      
       There was a sudden shock of inspiration, an idea. The Exosuit, there was nothing to fear. Zell had an answer to his solution. He took a stepforward, but upon his command the exo suit was shed and it consumed the astral figure as if the figure were Zell. It then took off full thrust into the sky. The explosion was beautiful. Zell laughed, knowing nothing else to do under the stress. He let out a sigh of relief and tried to calm his racing heart. His heart would stop utterly when he heard-
  
       "Zell? You're the Ancestor Dragon?"

Dominion showed no emotion. He simply sat and closed the laptops top. He sighed, disappointed in the failure of the day. There was still more to come. This was only the beginning. The beginning of the end.