I Am (Invite Only)

"Gentleman, i believe this to be a high priority. I've seen plenty of acute abilities like this turn far, far worse. Judging by what we know of the target, he could end up being insanely dangerous, and will not be approached alone." Daniels spoke with that seriousness in his voice that he got when things were important. Usually the way he spoke was a bit lighter, but when he was like this, visibly concerned, that went right out the window and was replaced with an intimating and commanding boom from his vocal cords. The previously skeptical Agents in front of him finally shut up, and the high tech screen in front of them brought up a picture of their target.

"He is currently residing in a remote area of Chicago, the rest of the information you will need is in the briefings. Read them carefully before engagement." Daniels said, his eyes moving from one Agent to the next. They all seemed alright so far, nothing overly impressive about them but they were not bad from what he saw, so far anyway. He heard a slight groan from one, there it was, the oh so exasperated one of the group. Daniels threw the remote for the television at his head.

"Did i not make myself clear!? You are to treat this as any other high level engagement. I will not tolerate immature and disobedient behavior." Daniels said after his head twitched toward the Agent you had apparently forgot his professionalism, in Michael's eyes at least.

"I just groaned...." The Agent said, getting a glare from Daniels. He hated working with these field Agents. You see, when you first join up you are in the field department, you go out and do the dirty work while Agents like Daniels do the information gathering and people in the Tech department modify any gear needed to suit the metahuman's abilities. It's all a group effort, but since the field Agents are the least experienced, they tend to be a pain, especelly for Forensics.

"I don't know why i can't get a strike team with someone halfway competent anymore...... It's all you trainees nowadays." Daniels said, his New York accent showing at the end of his sentence. The trainees seemed quite offended, especelly since before this they were seen as the best of the best in their fields.

"If you're so good, why do you sit around here at a desk? I bet the field would eat you alive after this long." Those words sparked a fury in Daniels. He actually looked like he might just kill the guy right there, but that wasn't very up to code. Instead it was bitch session time.

"........How dare you insult me. I captained one of the only remaining Police units in the middle of the New York Assault! I have personally saw to it that thousands of infected be cleansed or captured! I have stood against beings that would make you piss your girly little underpants! If i ever hear you disrespect a superior again, I'll have you sign your resignation." Daniels said, getting in the mans face as his own turned red with anger. After that he calmly turned around, and picked up a briefcase, slipping on a couple bracelets and pulling out his large 500 Magnum. The Agent that just got screamed at was a little disillusioned by the weapon, but Michael wasn't going to shoot the little brat.

"You're in luck, because I'm coming with you. Maybe watching me will make you half decent Agents some day." Daniels said, and then they were off. Daniels lead the way out, and in no time they were on a helicopter heading toward where they needed to be. The ride was silent besides the actual helicopter and the sound of various pieces of armor being secured and weapons being holstered. They were going to do this quickly and efficiently, just like Daniels liked it.

Night was always when the city came alive for him, yielding the more interesting of its secrets. People stayed inside because they feared the unknown hiding in the dark, and yet when you could see through the night, well things became far less intimidating. Granted, it wasn’t exactly as if he took part in anything like he used to. While that life for a while was fun, Sebastian eventually grew bored with it and went on to do other things. Life had things to experience and he couldn’t do that while bogged down with the same thing eveyday. His current location was a cozy little bar, something with a dark atmosphere though for the moment he was playing a round of pool. There was nothing like hitting a white ball around a little felt covered table, trying to get other balls in holes.

”Aaaaaaand that’s another win for me” he said, flicking the stick forward and cementing his victory in this arbitrary but fun game. His eyes floated up towards the burly looking biker type he was playing against. He could tell he was annoyed with the whole not winning thing, but then again losing twice in a row tends to annoy one more than once. ”How about best...three outta three? All or nothing.” He asked, seeing a chance for even more gain from their little bet, but then again he was also partially expecting this guy to try kicking his ass. They looked like one of those angry types that would have preferred to kick some ass rather than actually talk it out.

He tapped the butt end against the floor, a single brow raised as he waited for them to respond.  Without a word they nodded,  and so he walked around removing the small ceramic balls from their pockets and the game continued. This went about the same, and he ended up counting a decent sized wad of cash. ”Pleasure doing business with you.” He said with a toothy grin, counting the green bills in hand before pocketing them in a beaten looking leather wallet. All they had to do was turn away for a second and he would begone, making off with his money before they could try to do something to get it back. Where he appeared was a small alleyway, briefly leaning against a little dumpster to count his gains once again. ”Wow, I manage to surprise myself sometime. Guess that means dinners on me.” Pushing up from the metal container he stepped out onto a sidewalk, mentally debating what that dinner would be,

”Yeeeeaaah, that might work.” Having mentally decided on something, he went with it.

And so, in the dead of night, the helicopter finally arrived at a landing pad atop a Police Station. Of course they were notified beforehand that some Agents were showing up, but from what Agency they didn't know, mostly because they weren't told. But Daniels and his Agents weren't staying there long, no, in fact they didn't even say a word as they walked out the front door and into the streets, where they then split and walked in different directions, all so they could reach their location from opposite sides, and of course not draw attention.  One person in a suit was fine, but multiple? Even a law abiding citizen would run like hell.

"Agent Gavins, you're the best marksmen. You'll take point while the other two of you stay concealed. As for me, well, you don't need to worry about that." Agent Daniels said over his communicator as the Agents moved in, strategically forming a large circle around the area and then squeezing in, all until the target was in sight.

"Target sighted. Should we engage?" Gavins asked. Even though he was supposed to be the leader of this mission, mentoring the two trainees, his authority was trumped by Daniels.

"No, me and you will approach. That way we get the jump, or maybe even talk him into coming without a fight. As for the others, hang back and keep him targeted." Daniels said as he slipped his glasses on. Gavins did the same and although it wasn't very fashionable in the dark, it's scanning system was invaluable. The two suited individuals walked slowly toward the male, making a B line to him. It would likely be creepy to the guy, but Daniels felt he wouldn't run. If he did, well at least they knew what type this guy was.

"Mr. Lazos, mind answering a few questions for us?" Daniels asked, hands folded in front of him. He was prepared for anything. He had already filled several high powered vapor smoke bombs with Zero Fluid imbued with diphenyl oxalate, meaning if he needed light, he had plenty.

It took him a few moments to actually remember where he would be going but once that was done, he was on the move. A place he had visited a few times in Chicago, and one that was good enough to keep him coming back. Just thinking about it made him even hungrier than he already was. From there he began to think over what he would get exactly, and that began another annoying mental decision needing to be made. His brows furrowed as he mulled this over, that being until someone approached him. His eyes scanned over them from head to toe, a single brow arcing as he considered the men. Both of them were physically older than him, granted he didn’t really personally count those thirty years. They looked pretty serious but then again he was not one known for taking things seriously, unless the chance for death was almost certain.

”You want to ask me some questions? Well, it’s not everyday I get two nice looking guys in suits, so I guess. So long as the questions aren’t weird anyway.” He turned fully towards them, keeping a minimal distance towards shade cast by a nearby building. The shadow itself was impossible to see with the human eye or even aided by their technology, but his eyes…well they worked pretty well in that respect. ”But first I gotta ask, you some kinda cops?” His manner remained calm, the usual ways he acted. If they were, well that may give him more of a reason to run but he didn’t want to give them a reason to whip out their guns yet.

Daniels smiled at the suggestion they were cops. Of course that's what they were pretending to be, not much need to ask. Unless of course he wanted to see ID, but why not ask that? Regardless, this one also seemed to the overconfident sarcastic type, judging by the statement about 'two fine men in suits'. Daniels didn't like that attitude, but then again he didn't like metahumans in general. Bottom line here is he wasn't going to like this guy no matter what.

"Yes, Donald Goodwin, FBI." He said, revealing his badge which cast the proper name and a badge number that would actually check out. After quickly flashing it, he put it back and took a step toward the male, followed by his partner.

"Were you at a certain...... Midtown Coffee House a few weeks ago? You see, we're investigating a violent incident that happened there and eyewitnesses say a man fitting your description was at the scene." Daniels said. He was feeling the situation, analyzing. He felt that this one got spooked easily. The last thing they wanted was a chase. He just hoped this one would be occupied with answering the question about what happened between Seraph and Lucius at that coffee shop.

They responded, seemingly unaffected by the quick flirtatious line. So that’s the kinda guys they are. He thought to himself, keeping the smirk playing across his face as the agents would go about asking their questions. They did manage to jog his memory as far as the coffee shop incident was concerned but not something that he found himself overly concerned about until now. ”Midtown coffee...that’s the one that got blown up by that one guy, right?” He asked, scratching the back of his head trying to recall what exactly happened then. While he thought, he did a bit of pacing in a manner that just looked like he was doing a bit of thinking.

”yeah, I was there. What does the FBI want with me? Is your eyewitness accusing me of blowing things up or what?” he would ask, and should they make any suspect moves he would have shadowported out of there within less than a second. Honestly, he did not want to deal with them for too long, and any chance to get away was fine with him.

Pacing. He was pacing. He was either looking for a way out or doing something to help him get out, that or he was nervous. Regardless, Daniels knew he would probably run. Espada was moving a lot, staying mostly in the shade. That was of course practical for someone with their sort of power, but not enough was known about the extent of it to make any moves so quickly. Daniels smirked.

"No, no one is accusing you of anything. We are just trying to fill in the blanks. How about you stop moving for me and just answer a few more questions, ok?" Daniels said. It was at this point he gave Gavins a look, and the other Agent split off, walking just out of earshot before touching his ear piece.

"Prepare to fire. None lethal shots to the legs is preferable, but not necessary." Gavins said, returning to Michael's side just as he finished up asking a question. It was just to buy time of course.

"And did you recognize the others that we-" Daniels was cut off by the sound of two rifle shots going off. They came from the window of a building across the street, and the bushes quite a ways away to the groups left. These two shots were expertly aimed at the foot and knee of Espada, and just as they went off Daniels pulled his large magnum with one hand and a smoke bomb with the other, hopping the shots distracted the male long enough to detonate it. He dropped the bomb instantly and it would explode into glowing smoke VERY quickly. It was a surprise how much of the stuff came out of the bomb in so little time, but it was an Agency grenade. Soon the area would be covered in a thick glowing green smoke that illuminated all within it and a decent space outside of it. It was like a lingering flash bang, all due to some Zero Fluid imbued with diphenyl oxalate and then stuck in a smoke bomb.

"On the ground!" Daniels said, training his gun on the male and rushing to where he was, hoping to quickly detain him.

His eyes followed the one that seemed to be walking away, pressing onto something in his ear however he couldn’t tell what they were saying. Okay, that was pretty suspicious but then again the FBI operated in mysterious way. Half of his attention snapped back to Daniels as they were continuing to talk. That was when they suddenly stopped talking, as a loud bang and a sharp pain rang through his leg. That location being his knee, blood rapidly flowing up from the wound as he was force to one knee. Well, the knee that wasn’t absolutely destroyed anyway, but then again he had an idea he wouldn’t even be able to stand on it. Okay, exit stage left. He thought to himself a little frantically, quickly dragging himself to any nearby source of shadows. It was obvious these guys were either not FBI or some kind of secret branch that got a kick out of attacking people.

That was when the strange mist began to form, glowing brightly as it began to snuff out a large portion of shadows and yet there was one problem with that. Still, even if the area around him was brightly lit, there would likely still be some kind of shadow being cast if he looked for it. That was when he remembered that he obviously would still be casting a shadow, and so he went with that. Trying to move through it, and...it actually worked.

The same familiar darkness enveloped him and despite the blood rapidly oozing from his wounds, he ended up being vomited out of the shadows of an alleyway a good few blocks away.  ”Who the hell were those guys?” He growled, ripping off a section of his shirt and wrapping it around the knee as tightly as he could, keeping the wound from bleeding anymore than it was now. Reaching up, he grabbed onto what felt like some kind of metal container as he tried to pull himself up and a sharp pain in his leg only caused him to crash to the ground once again. ”Okay, can't run now. This is just great.” He growled, grinding his teeth as  he took a few seconds to breathe.

He couldn’t stay still for long probably anyway.

"Son of a bitch!" Agent Daniels said, kicking what was left of the smoke bomb and holstering his gun. He was a bit angry, but it was quickly shook off and he took charge immediately. This thing was not getting away.

"Gavins, get eyes in the cameras in the area. I don't care what you have to look through, cell phones included. The system picks him up, have it notify the entire team of where he is through their glasses." Daniels said as he stomped off, heading down the street. He knew the being couldn't have got far with an element based teleport, especelly while injured. He was close, and he would be found with Daniels' own eyes or the brilliant hacking technology at work. For now though, the four agents moved quickly in each direction. They would be one on one when they found him, but he was injured. They had him.

"Switch to close range weaponry, no need to put another sniper round in him. Still, approach with caution." Daniels said as he scanned everything he looked at with his glasses, looking for heat signatures and movement as well as metagenes. Even in the dark, if he crossed Daniels or one of the other Agents he would be spotted.

”Well..what the hell do I do now?” He spoke to himself,  slowly calming himself down now that he had made some distance between himself and the men in suits. Steadily he pressed himself up against the wall, trying to get on his feet once again, though supporting himself on his undamaged leg rather than trying with the other. This left him with a rather pronounced limp and some pain, however he could live with that for now. What he could likely not live with was the fact that he was now being probably chased by some suit wearing psychos with some kind of beef against him.

Normally he could deal with that but they were pretty prepared for what he could do, which was not something he could deal with. So he had to get away as quickly as possible, however considering how damaged he was, well actually getting out did not feel plausible right now. Chewing on his lower lip, he stuck to the shadows and waited with bated breath, and that was when one came into view. Not wasting any time, he shifted through the shadows and appeared only a few good feet from him, his shadow striking out at their head, or rather where the head would be on their shadow. They would feel a powerful force strike them, and then they would collapse like a sack of potatoes.

They weren’t dead but they would be out for a small while. Kneeling down, he looked around and found their gun. ”Don’t mind if I do.” He noted, taking the weapon and checking it for ammo. ”Now lets see if they like having bullets shot into them.” With that he sunk into the shadows once again, dragging the agent with him.

"There goes one of our Agents. His glasses picked up our perp." Gavins said over his communicator, sending the remaining three Agents blazing toward the area their comrade was taken down in. They may not have been superhuman, but the way they quickly and efficiently traversed the environment without getting tired made it seem so. They were quick, and in all honesty it wasn't all that far. In mere moments they would be in the alley, only to find no body and no infected. Slippery bastard. The first to show up was Gavins, who quizzically peered around the alley, looking for any sign of the pair. Even his glasses picked nothing up though. That's when Daniels and the other made it though, and Michael stopped Gavins from moving any further in.

"He uses the shadows. With an injury like that there is no way he could have took a grown man with him on foot very far. He's in there, or not even close to the area." Daniels said, tossing another glowing smoke bomb in. In only a second the alley lit up like the forth of July, and the confined space made the smoke even more dense and illuminating. No shadows in the alley would be untouched, and the Agents had their guns drawn firing squad style. If they saw him, they would fire. Thankfully though, these weren't lethal rounds, just taser darts. Would hurt like a bitch, but at least he would still have a head.

Espada appeared out of the shadows cast over the roof of the building overlooking the alleyway, his fingers curled around the collar of the shirt of the downed agent. ”One down….some more to go.” He muttered as the light of the strange mist would radiate upwards from the alleyway, made obvious to him. Slowly he looked over the edge of the building, squinting as the various shapes of the agents came into view. Well, they likely weren’t expecting it and so he went with it. Aiming his now ill gotten gun, he fired off a round at one of them, or rather multiple rounds before ducking backwards. If he wanted to get away he would have to use a few guerilla tactics to get them off his back, and then he could go from there. ”Alright guy in the suit, i’m gonna leave you here. Try not to wake up or whatever.”

patting them on the head, he winced as he put a little pressure on the leg and slipped through the shadows. This time however, pain muddled him up enough to end up falling through a shadow cast...on a ceiling as he collided with the floor. ”Okay, ooooowww.” He groaned, looking to see… someone looking down at him. Some guy, weird silver eyes and black hair a little younger than him even.

”Woah, where did you come from?” They asked, looking down to his leg and getting even more concerned, or perhaps interested.

”Not important right now. Ummm…where am I?”

”You’re...in a burger joint, fell through the ceiling it looks like.” He noted, offering a hand to help them up and so he took it. ”What’s up with the leg there? Looks like you got messed up there.” he noted, looking down.

”Which reminds me. Thanks for the...umm...help up but I gotta go.” With that he attempted to stumble out.

"Run run run, but you can't hide." Gavins said as the bullets bounced off his mesh armor. Sure the impact hurt a bit, and took him off guard, but he was fine. Immediately the trainee made his way up to the roof to find the knocked out body of his fellow Agent, but no Espada.

"He's gone." The Agent said over the comm line. Daniels just sighed. But that's when his glasses got a hit. A burger joint down the street their system had previously connected to through mostly phone networks had cameras that picked their mans face up. Only issue was it was a good five minute walk, maybe three minute run, even for them. That was far too much time.

"Stay with the injured one and give him any medical attention that is needed. Gavins, you're with me." Daniels said. The trainee just sighed and did as he was told. He was actually having fun, now he had to play medic.

As for the two lead Agents, they broke into a car and hot wired it, bolting from the area at high speed to the burger place. They were speeding, nearly hitting things on the way there, but luckily Gavins was a good driver. Daniels took the time to make a quick super fluid bomb with a little something else in the vapor this time. In about a minute or two, they would make it to the burger place.

That's when they crashed the car into it, hoping to hit Espada but he probably could easily avoid it. Rock and wood and tables were sent flying everywhere, but what Espada's real issue was was the two Agents rapidly opening their doors and firing taser rounds at him, a few even being shot the clerks way. They were so skeptical about the powers, they would fire even if he wasn't there.

”On that leg? Even if you can teleport or whatever like you did right now, don’t think you’re getting anywhere.” They noted, and yet he could tell they were...trying to help.

”Well thanks for the concern whoever you are but I can take care of myself.” He responded, preparing to port once again and yet he felt fingers dig into his shoulder with an impressive grip. This caused Sebastian to let out a small yelp as his leg threatened to give out under him.

”No I insist, let me give you a hand.” He noted, strange eyes looking up to see the vehicle that was slamming into the front of the place. Espada was jerked back as they held a hand out, seemingly stopping the vehicle while sliding back a good foot. ”Talk about property damage, hope these guys have a good explination….unless. ” Within that instant, the two agents had burst out of the vehicle and he found something firing his way. His hand holding back the vehicle snapped up to grab the dart only an inch away from their neck.

”Woah, now that...is convenient.”

”Okay gentleman. I don’t know who you think you are, but it’s against the law to crash your vehicle into public establishment, and really dickish too.” This unknown noted, letting the dart fall to the ground. ”I’m going to kick your asses now. So if you want to run, now would be the time.” he used his free hand to shove Espada back, giving a silent gesture for them to run. He blinked, confused as to why someone would be helping him, but took advantage of that moment to...fall to his knees rather dizzily.

”Oh, well this does not look good.” He sighed, taking a few steps towards the agents as his eyes took an an ominous gray glow. "well not for you two anyway."

Ok, two infected. One just stopped a car and a dart with nothing but his body, and they were both standing right in front of them. This was just great, excellent in fact. No, I'm not being sarcastic. The confined space, the whole behind them to escape through. It was absolutely great. Daniels just smiled, holstering his taser dart gun and getting out The Magnum, fixing it on the new mans head as Espada went down.

"CIF3." Was all he uttered, and the Agent next to him knew exactly what he meant. Daniels threw his smoke bomb, and instantly bolted out of the burger shop as he fired a thermite shell. Now, what he had done in the car was imbue his Zero Fluid with Chlorine Trifluoride, or CIF3. This stuff boiled when exposed to air, exploded when you touched it, was corrosive and lethal to humans when inhaled, and the best part, heated up to 2400 degrees celcius when burned, and that's what his shot would do as the mist quickly filled the room. Let me remind you, Chlorine Trifluoride produces some of the most violent and volatile explosions on the planet, and if you do manage to not have your flesh turned to soup in mere milliseconds the smoke will cause a lethal poisonous effect on your lungs. That shop would be ripped apart like it was tissue paper as green flames shot out. The fucking Nazies thought this shit was too crazy to work with. The Nazies. That is something to think about.

As for Daniels and Gavins, they both ran and dived. Daniels made his shielding focus on his back as he ran, and Gavins' mesh managed to protect him from death. They were launched quite a ways and cut up, but they were fine. They couldn't speak for the pair at the center though.