Falling shadows [Closed to Data and Clockwork]

High up he could see the entire city stretch out beneath him, an ocean of lights glistening against the dark of the night. It was his home now, and in a sense perhaps where his heart was. A gust of wind blew across his cheeks, causing violent shuddering for a moment as the stark white wings would rustle against his back. Jordan hated the cold, it was always the one thing that managed to make him feel uncomfortable and sometimes it even managed to impair him. Still, a lot had happened within the span of a week, not that he wasn’t used to a tumultuous life. Despite that, for a moment he wondered what a simple life would have been like, to live like one of the many humans in Los Angeles without a care in the world.

Even now he could feel Hyperion in the back of his head, disdainful almost at the thoughts moving through their head. He didn’t want something so mundane, not when they were…as gifted as they were. ”Sometimes it’s hard to believe we’re the same.” He muttered under his breath but there would be no voice to respond, only the howling wind as he would let the wings spread wide. Now standing on the edge of the building, he would lean forward and let his wings catch the air, flapping as he would propel himself through the air. To hell with anyone that saw. For tonight he was free, the air was his guide and he would fly like he had never before.

In this moment nothing else mattered but the freedom he felt, wind whipping past his face and making a mess of his hair. Corkscrewing through the air he would ascend higher, until he could touch the clouds before making a sharp nosedive towards the ground as the beach would come into view. White sand kissed by the ocean and illuminated by the moon, greeting his feet as he would land with a soft thump. Wings furled around him, tops softly touching the ground before folding along his back again. Flight that fast had its uses, and reaching the beach as fast as he did was one of them, and just the thrill of it. Still, this was a spot that felt familiar, the place where his push towards something had begun, and yet he did not remember what that was. Perhaps it had just been a grasp for the only ray of light within an otherwise dark life.

He hadn’t heard too much from Matt ever since the incident involving Artemis, the damnable shape shifter. Not only did she have to ruin his life personally, but also the life of a person that he actually enjoyed. It looked like she would have to die, just not at the moment. Looking up to the sky, he could feel an encroaching sense of dread that much like a cold hand would grip around his heart. Something was dark was falling upon Los Angeles, and it was only a matter of time.

Finally that whole fiasco with the ice creatures was over, but Jake had to admit he had some fun. He never thought himself a hero until that event, and to be honest he was a bit self centered, but something about saving others and doing the right thing left Jake with a warm feeling. Unlike what he first thought he would do when dropped in this city, he stayed for awhile. He hadn't ever been here, and he heard the beach was nice. Much better then New Yorks probably. He wore a black t shirt and skinny jeans, his pale arms were likely to blind anyone who looked at them, but he could really care less.

He had managed to find a stray cigarette in his pack, thank god, not being 18 kinda made them hard to come by. And yes, he's a smoker, what did you expect from the kid who keeps a hand gun and bottle of vodka with him all the time? He lit up his cancer stick as he made his way down the beach, not really caring if anyone saw but for the most part the place seemed deserted, it was night after all. Jake had learned to see in the dark pretty well, so the fact that it was pitch black except for the moon light deterred him little. He was listening to music, letting the soft cold ocean air fill his lungs. He was at peace, he was happy, in his own way.

He walked and walked, finishing off his cigarette before finally deciding he should probably try to port back to New York. However, before he could, he noticed a faint silhouette in the distance. He wouldn't have been interested if it were a normal one, but this being had wings. He double checked to make sure he wasn't seeing things, he supposed it was possible considering the stuff he had encountered so far. Curious as he was.....was it safe to approach this thing? Meh, he could easily leave if worse came to worse, might as well go get a closer look. He walked toward the person, making almost no sound before finally speaking.

"Wings are something i haven't seen yet, pretty cool." Jake said nonchalantly.

Side stepping the knife that was heading for her, Q7 backhands the man, sending him into a wall. Noticing something passing overhead she looks up, giving the two thugs still standing their chance, which they took quickly. Both of them closed in, blades stabbing into Q7, which she didn't even realize at first. Finally looking back down, she notices the two thugs looking at her in horror and lowers her vision even more to see the two knives sticking out of her. "...Mindy bought this for me." She looks back up at the thugs, her eyes narrowing as she closes on them. Moments later screams could be heard coming out of the alley, though nobody was stupid enough to go see what was happening.

A few minutes Q7 was walking out of the alley while wiping the blood off of her hand. Tossing the piece of clothes into the trash, she reaches down and pulls out the new weapons she managed to acquire from the thugs one by one, deconstructing each of them as soon as she had them in her hand. As soon as she was done with that she sets off at a jog towards the direction the flying person had gone. Q7 hadn't seen anything fly like that before, and she wanted to see them up close, possible learn how to fly from them. Even if she couldn't learn, just talking to someone who could fly was bound to be interesting, maybe they could show her some sights that she wouldn't be able to see otherwise.

It wasn't long until she managed to get to the beach, still just following the path that they were going towards when they had passed over her. Two people happened to be there, one of which had a pair of wings on his back. She tilts her head to the side and was just about to head down towards them to ask some question when she heard an engine roar behind her. Turning in place, she had just a moment to see a truck racing towards her before it slammed into her. Q7 manages to catch onto the front of the truck, pulling herself up and putting a whole clip from one of her weapons onto the driver. Moments later the truck spins out of control, sending Q7 flying through the air and landing almost in front of the two people while the truck just crashes into the water and stops moving.

Picking herself up, Q7 dusts herself off before looking up, staring at both men before looking right at the one that had wings and tilting her head to the side. "Hello, were you the one that was flying through the city a moment ago?"

The waves lapped up at the shore, following that pattern for a few more minutes until the sound of someone speaking to him. Something was mentioned about his wings, causing them to ruffle along his back ever so slightly. Jordan turned his attention to the person who had approached him, looking to be a male maybe one year at the most older than him. What they had wanted with him, well that was unknown but honestly he didn’t really care in the end. Maybe they were walking but had found his wings interesting enough to talk to him. Either they were some manner of curious human or a curious meta-human, either one of them including curiosity.

”Well I guess there’s a first time for everything.” He said with a shrug, letting his wings spread out as if showing them off, white feathers seeming to catch the moonlight and only growing more luminous. His eyes fell to the cigarette in the youth’s mouth, partially wanting to ask if they had another, but more than anything that was Hyperion wanting that. Considering who was in control at the moment, well it was more a nagging desire than something he had to give into. After giving the guy a few minutes to take in the sight of his wings, Jordan would let them fold over his back once again.

Suddenly the sound of a truck could be heard racing towards them, suddenly crashing into the water rather loudly. Though what had drawn his attention was the woman landing before them, brandishing an obvious weapon and making him more than anything cautious about her. ”I…um…yes I am.” He said still a little taken back by what he woman had asked considering what she had done.

Well, this person turned out not to be some creature that would probably want to tear his jaw off, so that was a plus. Whoever it was, he looked......like a kid. Someone maybe slightly younger then Jake himself. Odd that he had wings, but Jake was a living computer, so he supposed he had no room to talk about weirdness. The wings ended up being a lot larger then Jake had thought, and they were a glistening white, almost angelic. Jake was pretty curious about this person, if only because he liked meeting people like himself, even still, he was about to leave after finishing his cigarette.

"Well, i should go, it was nice meeting you i guess." Jake said just as the sound of gunshots hit his ears followed by a truck flying off the road and into the water. And that wasn't even the shocking part. There seemed to be some manner of woman hanging onto it....with a still smoking gun in her hand.

"Jesus Christ!" Jake yelled, only because the truck nearly took his arm off. Gathering himself, he looked to the rather casual acting woman. He was a bit cautious of her, after all, she just shot a dude.

"You just....killed that guy.." Jake said, a bit of confusion in his eyes. He then realized this lady wasn't even organic. He sensed it.....she was.....a robot or something. Well this was turning out to be an odd night. A technopath, a dude with wings, and an android were all on the same beach.

"Can you teach me to fly? It seems interesting." Q7, of course, basically just ignored the other person, seeing as how he wasn't the one who was flying through the air just a moment ago. Of course, by that I mean actually flying, not being tossed through the air by a truck.

Of course, what just happened wasn't exactly unnoticed by the people that happened to be walking past and at least one of them was already calling the police so that the crazy person who just shot a guy would be arrested. Ignoring the fact that he was the one that started the whole thing of course.

His eyes would dart from the strange person to the vehicle that had been driven into the water, wondering what was up with that more than anything else. Why they had decided to do something like that, well it made no sense as far as he was aware. An upside was that he did not really have to ask someone how they felt to know, empathy was something that he truly loved in times like this. What he had gotten from this unknown guy was more than anything curiosity, and likely that was towards him. A metahuman should have not been something that anyone thought of as interesting, considering how the metagene tended to take form in others.

The whole wings thing kind of felt more like a parlor trick when compared to them actually, bur he wasn't a metahuman anyway. One thing that did catch his attention as much as the truck as the gun in this woman’s hand, suggesting that she was a threat. That meant he would have to think of ways he could disarm her, should she decide to turn the weapon upon the other male. At the mention of a dead body, he would walk over to the truck to see there was someone with a few extra holes in them.

With one hand extended, he would prod the body which made no moves. ”Poor bastard.” Jordan said with a small frown, Hyperion disdainful in the back of his mind. Heroic inclinations, they could be annoying at ties, but they were what he gave into quite a bit. Then he thought over what he felt from the woman, which was almost a lack of emotions, especially one of guilt. Killing this person was nothing to her, that much he could tell and more than anything Hyperion would have gotten along with her. ”You don't even feel a hint of regret for killing people, do you?” He would ask as a seafoam mist would radiate from his fingertips, circling over the bullet wounds and snaking their way into the mouth of the dead man.

Rapidly the wounds would begin to heal, flesh knitting and the bullets coming up from the wounds that had formed. Once that was done, they would take in a deep gasping breath as they seemed to wake from a sleep. If they had been dead for too long, Jordan wondered if he could have even brought them back. ”And great, the cops are getting involved.” he sighed.

Ok then, raising the dead was new. It might have just been an advanced form of healing, but it was still freaky, and impressive. Jake was starting to wonder if he should just go, avoid getting shot and all. But he had never met an android, so that might be worth sticking around a little longer for. Despite the fact she just killed someone, he did lower his guard a bit, she didn't seem threatening at all besides the fire arm.

"Yay, dead guy isn't dead anymore.........please put the gun away now." Jake said nervously. Sure he could phase and teleport to avoid bullets, but sometimes he wasn't quick enough, if this android decided to kill him, it likely could.

"I noticed something.....about you. You're not a person are you? You're....a robot or something." Jake said, trying to move past the whole guy getting shot thing. He was pretty curious about whatever she was, and even more curious about what he could do with such a being. This seemed like a rather odd encounter, and it was on a beach of all places. Either this was a huge coincidence, or superhumans were becoming far more common.

Q7 watches what the winged man did, eyes filled with curiosity and wonderment. Of course, seeing how he brought someone back to life that was considered a hostile, she was now somewhat on her guard around him, since he could be a lot of trouble if he tried to attack her. Tilting her head to one side, Q7 considers what regret is, trying to figure out if that was something she was able to feel. She hadn't had her emotions for long after all, and wasn't able to sort through them all quickly like normal people.

The much easier question was asked by the other male, the dorky looking one. Shifting her attention to him, she just hands him her gun, figuring that is what he meant by put away. "Yes, I am not a human. Father calls me an android." That being said, she turns back to Archangel, her search having come up empty. "I do not know what regret is, can you teach me? I would also like to know how you caused that man to come back to life. It was very interesting."

Jordan could feel the nervousness radiating from the guy like heat really, almost as if he were basically shouting such. He would have laughed if it were not both rude and his attention were not more focused on being annoyed at the robot girl. Something about killers always made him annoyed, especially how they well….killed. A more proper title for her seemed to be android, but then again to him robots were all the same in the end. A culmination of mechanical parts that did as they were programed.

”Great an android that doesn’t know what feelings are.” He muttered with an exaggerated roll of the eyes. ”It's where you do something bad and feel bad about it. Like killing, that's not a good thing.” Despite him answering, one could tell Jordan was slightly annoyed with the robot at hand. Perhaps it might have been the killing part that got him down, but whatever it was, he didn't like it. Add in the fact that the air was growing unnaturally cold and well….he was not happy at all. Shooting a glare at Q7, he would turn to Jake with a less severe expression.

"That aside, you're not a human yourself are you? Well not a normal one anyway. Because normally, humans tend to stay away metahumans, not quite the case with you." Was he making an assumption? Yes, he was but then again not like Jordan cared too much if he looked like an ass.

Jake was tossed the gun.... Ok, that was not exactly what he meant by put it away. He nearly dropped it as he had a cigarette in one hand and his other in a pocket, and he was kind of a stiff kid. Even still, he managed to clumsily catch it. What would he do with this thing? Well, he supposed it might come in handy later on, so he quickly put it in his bag and slung it back over his shoulder. The angel boy then asked Jake something.

Was he human? That was a question Jake had asked himself a few times. He didn't know really, but he did know he was far from normal. It was almost unsettling to think he was not human anymore, but he supposed in the end it made no difference; he was what he was. It was interesting that the kid with wings acknowledged the fact he wasn't normal, sure your average teenager didn't usually walk up to strange creatures, but he could have been an adventurous type kid. It was either a guess or the being had some form of extra sensory perception, but that didn't really matter.

"No, I was told I'm a metahuman. Some dick head in a sith outfit activated my dormant gene." Jake said sucking on his cigarette.

"And since the next question will inevitably be what my powers are, I'm a technopath. It's how i sensed the android wasn't, ya know, flesh and bone." Jake said removing his smoke stick and stomping it into the sand beneath his feet.

"Why in the hell is it so cold out?"

Q7 looks back and forth between the two men, now feeling completely ignored. Her mouth turns slightly downwards as she begins to feel something like annoyance. She was answering their questions but they were ignoring hers. Luckily for both of them, they hadn't been labeled as threats, so she didn't take out her annoyance on them with gunshots to the face. That being said, she was still getting annoyed and needed a way to express her annoyance.

"Why are you not answering any of my questions? What did I do to you?" Q7 tilts her head to one side as she asks the question, staring directly at the one with wings. "You never said how you brought that man back, or if you can teach me how to fly." Of course, lacking the ability to actually feel cold meant that she was not even sure what was meant about it getting colder, and in her annoyance just ignored it completely for now, filing it under questions she should ask later.