Broken Genesis [Quest]

New York, ever since it’s grand resurrection from the ruin that Necrodium had brought upon it managed to spring back with an almost supernatural vigor. Criminals much like flies over a carcass had returned to stake their claim within the resurfacing criminal underworld but as always there were those that stood atop this dark underworld. At once it had been a gang known only as The Ultra Gang but another had risen to take it’s place, a gang known only as Rise. Their aims were unknown but their resources were unquestionable. Those considered lesser would step in line, and at times even find themselves assimilated by the greater amorphous mass that was the gang. Many were content with such a system, having dealt with it before and in a sense were more willing to follow the flow. Cocksure metahumans also found themselves making use of their abilities for easy gain, an falling into the trap of crime as well.

”I don’t really know why we’re even here. Isn’t this your buddy Lucius’ territory?” Zeta grumbled in usual fashion, arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against the tinted glass of the vehicle. He was for the most part disinterested within what he saw beyond the window.

”It is his territory, yes but i’m following up on  a little information I caught wind of.” An explanation was not required really, but then again Alpha preferred giving one rather than simply because he wanted to. That response would only make him sound like a petulant child more than anything else. Someone had been stirring within the criminal underworld, drawing to them criminals of all kinds to an unknown cause. Not quite a bother for him personally, but it appeared they aimed to strike at the heart of Rise’ operation in New York. What would have been normally simple operations had been meeting with failure and money was lost in the process.

”Is it about that one fuck with the weird biblical name?” Zeta asked, taking note of the slightly annoyed look on Alpha’s face.

”Genesis...yes. There have been reports of the figure, but nothing beyond that. Nothing has been spoken of as far as powers are concerned and he’s followed around by two unknown accomplices with equally unknown abilities.” He explained with a slightly intense expression while looking over a small tablet resting in his lap. Despite not even touching it, it was scrolling along and displaying information as he went. Without information on this unknown figure, he could not quite make any moves against them yet. For all he knew, they could have capabilities that not even Lucius could overcome or they were just a human that knew how to fool a crowd. ”I do have information on a possible move being made by this gang of his however.” With a swipe of the finger at thin air, he let the page scroll down.  ”That will be something we discuss with Lucius however.”

”Well that explains that, but why didn’t you bring more than the two of us?” Zeta then asked, directing attention towards himself and then Delta who appeared to be within their own little world. The only really snapped out of it for a moment to look at the other two before spacing out once again.

”Oliver had other things to do. I’m sure he would be here if he weren't otherwise occupied.

”What about Chris? Wouldn't he want to attend something like this?”

”He’s busy with other things as well.” Alpha appeared slightly annoyed by that but the expression faded as soon as it came.

”Like what?”

”Looks like we're at our meeting point.” He said, cutting the conversation off before opening the door into what looked like a small parking garage. It was a place in New York Alpha had picked really, though he did a quick mental scan of the area to be sure everything was all set up. Now he would need to wait for Lucius to show up. He had good timing, so not like he expected to be waiting too long.

Ah, at last Lucius was back in New York, the city of his birth. Despite all that had happened here, he still truly liked this city. It had a sort of nostalgia to it really. He hadn't been here for awhile because of a certain takeover of a country. He had to stick around after the whole thing finished to do all that paperwork stuff and set things in motion. Finally though, he got everything sorted out and he was free to leave without the worry of being counter toppled.

The AI Hector was monitoring the country 24/7 for internal and external threats and the military got a major amp in technology and all around effectiveness. But that wasn't a surprise, ever since Rise took over all aspects of life seemed to be improving. Using a modified and harnessed form of the metahuman Data's powers Lucius managed to mass produce resources for the country, making the economy nearly perfect and money nearly obsolete. And that was only one example of the improvements happening in Belarus, but right now that wasn't the main subject of Lucius' focus.

Some stuff in New York was happening, a thorn in his criminal underworlds side really. Nothing major, just a general pain in the ass and some threats. However it had to be stomped out quickly, and that's why Lucius was back here in New York. A spark could turn into a blaze so very quickly, Lucius was a living testimony to that. The place of meeting was some manner of parking garage, not exactly formal but then again this wasn't a tea party. Lucius would appear about thirty feet from Zeta and Alpha in a flash of red, using his usual means of transport which of course was teleportation.

"What's the situation?" Lucius said, getting to the point and skipping all of that 'Hi there' stuff. When conducting business he usually skipped all that and got to the point, after all if this was really a threat they would want to get on it as soon as possible.

It's so hard to be a lizard, or a house pet, or a clown. Clown seemed about right as Jingles inspected himself. The clothes matched the description, gaudy, colorful, patchwork, he supposed maybe even comical given the right sense of humor. I must be a clown he commented allowed in a jovial tone, bobbing his head left and right with the rhythm of his own voice. But why he again spoke, this time slumping to the grey pavement and running exaggerated strokes under his chin as to mime thinking. Thinking. That was hard. Every time he tried to look back his head was full of Swiss cheese. One little fragment here, one little fragment there and none of it made much sense. So he stopped. It hurt his head to try to think back. If I'm a clown I'm sure I have a reason he confirmed with himself, quite satisfied with his logic.

Just as he spoke, a man approached him from the opposite side of the small room where Jingles was presently planted. Hey jackass! the the large man yelled, hobbling over to him more like a beast than a man. Nooooo that's not right he shot back, standing up and waving his finger like kid imitating authority. That's a donkey. I'm a clown, see? Jingles pulled on his clothes so as to better show the man exactly what he was wearing. The man was clearly not amused, aggressively grabbing one of Jingles' arms and pulling it towards the door. But that was all that came with the man was an arm as it stretched out from the rubber clown's body. He let out a childish chuckle as he watched the man realize he was making no progress.

Well if the man was unamused before, he was nearing furious now. Listen you little shit he barked at Jingles who immediately recoiled his arm and shrunk back in fear, something dark stirring within him. I'm not putting up with this crap. One of the lieutenants needs to see you and he sent me to get you so lets go. The man yelled this last part, making a threatening lunge towards the cowering clown.

Wet, that was what Jingles felt on his hands, warm and wet. Looking down he saw a thick red liquid soaked into his clothes up past his elbows. That was weird, he didn't remember having this stuff all over him. And it smelled funny, kind of like rusty metal. Huh, I wonder how that got there? he mused aloud, lifting each arm in succession to inspect it. Then he lifted his head to view the room around him. He wasn't in the same room as before. Looking down he noticed a carpet, colored very similar to the liquid on his hands. I was painting! Jingles blurted out abruptly as he jumped to his feet pointing excitedly at the carpet. I must have been painting and I spilled it all over. But before he could act a voice stopped him. Deep, dark and clam it brought Jingles back under control. It's quite alright. the voice said assuring the raving clown. We need you to do something Jingles, something I think you are going to enjoy.

”I’m sure you are quite aware of the situation.” Alpha stated matter of factly upon noticing that Lucius had arrived, arms crossed over his chest. Zeta as usual would stand to the side, likely keeping silent simply due to the fact that he did not enjoy being around Lucius too much. ”Normally I would let you deal with your own issues, but this was something I took a personal interest in. This criminal Genesis….well they’ve been leaving messages directed towards me strangely enough.” Alpha explained motioning as a tablet came to his hand, turning towards Lucius with a few images pasted across the glowing screen. The messages may have seemed like nothing important, numbers and seeming gibberish scrawled across walls, but Alpha could tell they had deeper meanings. ”However I imagine doesn’t mean much to you. All I know is this may not be as simple as you would think.”

He expected Lucius to be….well Lucius, sure of his own power and to likely consider the problem a small one. Doing that would likely lead to problems for him, but then again it was all in the end up to how he conducted himself really. If he took everything lightly, well then he would end up finding everything falling around him sooner or later. ”I’ve been following them for a short while and they appear to be planning something big in New York, likely a move against you actually.” He explained turning the small device around as the screen would darken. What they were doing was the issue and an interesting one at that. So many things could go wrong with this mission really, and he wondered if this Genesis would make a personal appearance ”I don’t have too much information on what we’re dealing with, but it’s a small gang being led by a metahuman known as Genesis. Well my sources say he’s a metahuman, I have no real idea what his powers are, or if he even has them. All I know is that he’s been gathering strength by taking over smaller gangs to improve his owns power.”

This proved they were nothing to sneeze at but then again that also did not mean they would be able to stop the power Rise had at their disposal in New York. ”I have my own plan on dealing with the threat, but of course I would want to let you give your input on something like strategy.” Alpha explained, knowing more than anything that Lucius was the more tactically competent of the two of them. Experience brought that knowledge, so he wasn’t surprised by that.
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”Amusing as always.” The mechanically filtered voice reverberated through the room as Genesis looked over the crimson soaked clown. He sat in a simple wooden chair, one leg crossed over the other with hands rested within his lap. The only distinguishing feature to note about them was the fact they wore a strange silver mask styled like the cosmos, with a radiant dark blue color spattered with purples, oranges, and other colors. They weren’t an impressive figure, topping at around 5’7 with a rather slim figure. ”If only they would learn.” Shaking his head, he would turn attention from one of his lieutenants to Jingles. ”Now, let’s get to have our fun.” From there they would roll out as always, with Jingles likely having to be coerced into going along with things with the promise of fun. It appeared that was all they needed to really get them going with it.

The meeting would be a simple deal really, or so it appeared to be. Protection money was likely involved, but then again Genesis’ aim was to wreck things. There were around eight men with high powered weapons, two metahumans with unremarkable powers really, but they were bait in a sense. The meeting would be attacked by Genesis’ people but in turn they would likely find themselves being turned upon by Alpha and Lucius as well.

It was true Lucius knew of the situation, he had been getting threats as well, he just hadn't taken them seriously. Rise wielded far to much power to be toppled by some Deathbringer wannabe uniting small gangs, but then again no threat could be taken too lightly. It seemed Alpha had some manner of plan, as did Lucius. It would go smoothly really, unless this man's intellect rivaled Lucius' own as well as Alpha's and he had a sentient AI.

"I've been having Hector search communications coming from the city and it's outskirt towns, if he is gathering forces they have to be communicating somehow and I'm willing to bet it's not with carrier pigeons. Whether it's by phone, radio, the internet, whatever, Hector will find it and break through any encryption here in about.....a minute. After that finding a location will be easy, and we'll take this Genesis down." Lucius said. Hector was nearly finished with that actually. He was checking literally everything, if this guy was even near technology he would get a lock on them, but it seemed that would be unneeded.

"SIr, It seems one of your operatIons Is under attack, most lIkely by thIs GenesIs person." Hector said to Lucius after picking transmIssIons from the group of men under attack, Lucius just smiled at that.

"However, it seems this person isn't as smart as i thought he was. One of my operations is under attack, leave the aggressors alive for interrogation." Lucius said as he set his teleporter up and got ready for the coming fight.

Fun!? what kind of fun? Jingles asked the disembodied voice. It was all too eager to inform him. A party Jingles, you're going to be attending a party. Well that just sounded like just about the best thing ever to Jingles. After all he loved parties, not to mention the fact that he was already dressed as a clown so all the better. What kind of party? he asked back cheerfully, nearly shaking with excitement. A surprise party Jingles. You and nine others are going to a surprise party for three very lucky individuals. That just made it even better. A surprise party! he burst out, his legs coiling around to allow him to literally bounce off the walls with excitement. But remember, its a surprise, so you have to be super quiet. Immediately Jingles calmed down as he put a finger to his mouth and shook his head, confirming that he could in fact be quiet. And when you see these people the voice spoke as three images appeared on the wall across from Jingles you get to be the one to let them know its their party.

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A parking garage was not exactly Jinges best idea of where a party should be but who was he to judge. Maybe these three people liked cars, or maybe the party room was set up somewhere else. Either way he was more than excited to get to spring the surprise on these guys. Nevermind that he didn't have any clue who they were, he just wanted to put a smile on someone's face.

As they approached the area where the party was supposed to happen Jingles began to make exaggerated steps, all the while making sure to stay super quiet. Then one of the men dressed in all black gave Jingles a weak shove. He turned around to see the man pointing off in the direction of the three guys who the party was for. Oh boy, he could barely contain himself. Curling himself into a perfectly round wheel spun rapidly in the direction of the three men. Once he was close he bounced high into the air and stretched out his arms and legs. SURPRISE! he yelled at the top of his lungs as the bells on his hat rattled manically.

Genesis watched as the maniacal clown coaxed into the operation with almost insane ease, silently watching while his lieutenant seemed to do his work with admirable skill. ”Let’s see how this plays out.” He muttered with interest while Jungle would approach the gangsters in question, yelling surprise and surprising them actually.

While the job went on, Genesis would watch from an office that gave him an overview of the  deal going down, and as Jingles greeted his playmates. HIs eyes would scan from the thugs to the more important ones, Alpha, Lucius and their underlings. As expected they would react like that, yet none of them could hope to harm the stretchy metahuman with their powers save for the uppers, their weapons would do no good either. Gun’s were a rudimentary thing really, good for killing humans but not quite useful against the more durable metahumans. “Who the hell is this clown?” One of them would growl, not quite thinking over their wording as they raised one of their weapons at the metahuman. The figure to Genesis’ left would chuckle, almost amused by the soon to be vain attempt.

“Doesn’t matter who he is, shoot the bastard.” One of the others sneered as the one raising a weapon would nod before pulling the trigger as the bullets would likely ricochet from the rubber body without doing any real damage, a few of the bullets even damaging the humans with their weapons. Regardless, Genesis had already taken into account that they would likely be able to do nothing against his little clown.

”Now they dance.”He muttered as one of the two metahumans would approach Jingles and aim to strike them in the face,  not quite knowledgable of what trouble they were getting themselves into. ”Looks like our guests are almost here. Exodus would you mind greeting them? ” The masked person on the left would nod, before stepping back into the shadows of the room overlooking the warehouse.

”Well...that’s not something I expected.” Alpha stated confused by the clown as he casually defended himself from one of the bullets being shot at Jingles. This was used more to protect the people he had come with really, though Lucius could have shrugged bullets off fine. Zeta however was not so lucky really when it came to some manner of durability. ”Looks like we might have a small issue.” Not a large one though, considering that thinking of counters to an elastic physiology were not too difficult. What was difficult was that fact that it appeared someone had jumped into the fight as well, masked with a rather unimpressive looking mask but dressed colorful compared to Alpha and Zeta.

”Well it looks like i’ll be playing with you three while Jingles here gives the thugs some fun.” Their manner of speech was confident in an almost irritating way as they stood there as if daring the two to attack.

Lucius was sincerely offended by this guy. Like, wow, why was he so confident? Did he know who he was dealing with? Or maybe his boss had just thrust him into a fight he knew little about, either way he was getting his head kicked in. The meeting was seemingly ambushed by...a clown, and then this guy. Lucius didn't know what the males powers were, but was quite confident he could take whatever it was this guy could throw his way.

"Mhm, and you expect to win? You're facing two of the most powerful and influential superhumans in the world, i would drop a bit of that confidence you have in yourself." Lucius noted, not even bothering to move against this guy. I he wanted a fight, he could make the first move. One thing Lucius could give this Genesis guy was he had balls of steel, that or a lack of all around brain power, it was unclear at the moment. Honestly Lucius just hoped Alpha would crush him and move on, it was an annoyance more then anything. Lucius would have respected this guy if he wouldn't have tried to take him head on, anyone worth his salt knows that's not the best thing to do when toppling someone wielding much more power then you.