Warning ⚠️: This book contains graphic content. Viewer discretion is advised.

"Let the people go and let's get this over with so I can go home! My wife will kill me if I miss dinner again tonight. You freaks are starting to get on my nerves!" A male with a thick, brown mustache yelled through a loudspeaker. Sweat drenching his balding head as he gave a hefty sigh at the annoyance of having to miss out on a delicious pot roast just to get outshined by a rock in a black costume.

"Obsidian will be here soon so just wait, Mall Cop! Better call your wife because you'll be missing dinner for the rest of your life!" A dark voice cackled from within the bank, the blue flames that surround the building, keeping the cops from entering blazed higher as the female within taunted the cops outside.

"Did she just call me mall cop?" The heavier set male turned his attention to the shorter, ginger male beside him who kept an emotionless face to hide the laughter that threatened to escape.

"I believe she did, Detective Stump." The male looked down to hide a grin as he avoided his elder cop's intense gaze which earned a scandalized gasp from the male beside him.

"Obsidian can't come to the phone right now. I can take a message if you like." Nobody had even noticed Skinwalker appear in front of the building, seemingly unaffected by the heat as she stood closer than the cops had previously been willing to go.

"Ma'am! I'm going to have to ask you to step away from the building!" Detective Stump yelled over the loud speaker but she seemed to ignore him as she narrowed at her eyes at the woman within the building.

"Get out of here, lady! You're not who I want!" The female yelled as the flames burst up, but Skinwalker didn't step back despite the heat making her hair billow around her from the sheer amount of heat.

"And you have a lot of audacity for someone who's so scared of one woman that you're willing to stop me from entering." Skinwalker called in return, causing the woman to falter as Skinwalker watched the woman's blazing blue eyes narrow rather dangerously before the flames parted to create a path where Skinwalker stood.

"Sensitive, are we?" The woman seemed surprised as Skinwalker appeared in front of her in mere seconds, eyes glowing gold in the darkness as she focused her attention on the hostages.

"Where are your friends?" Skinwalker's gaze focused on the woman in front of her, not being able to help but snicker at the realization that the woman's blue hair reminded her of Hades from the cartoon Hercules.

"It's just me here, Ninja Girl. You're in here now. What do you want, then? You want in?" The woman smirked as her highlighter blue hair billowed around her face like flames, it would've been shoulder length if it wasn't for the fact it was constantly billowing around her head rather than laying straight down.

"No. I don't. I'm assuming by your lack of acknowledgement that you don't want me to know that there's others here. Let alone that they are also metahumans. So I'll ask again.... Where are they? I already know where they are but we need to establish trust early on in this relationship so it doesn't come back to bite us later down the line." Skinwalker smirked beneath her mask at the look of shock on the highlighter's face, her pale skin turning red beneath Skinwalker's eyes as the blue veins that coated the woman's face and neck seemed to glow brighter.

"You don't know what you're talking about, lady." The woman warned as her hands sparked before igniting with blue flames, eyes seeming to glow brighter as the fire outside roared loudly, casting a blue glow into the building to illuminate all seven of the captives the women held hostage.

"So there's not currently... Three- No four, people trying to open the vault with another hostage? And all four of those people aren't metas?" Skinwalker smirked as the woman seemed taken aback for a moment, the blue haired meta turning to glance over her shoulder as if to make sure her acquaintances weren't behind her before getting into a defensive stance.

"Raquel, Lavender, Allara, and Avery. Interesting. You're here on a mission, eh Nyx? Is this a trap? Oh, it is? Interesting. Why do you want Obsidian so badly?" Skinwalker smirked at the emotions that flashed across Nyx's face, the woman's thin eyes incredibly wide now as she stared at Skinwalker in shock before her expression immediately switched to a look of realization.

"Mind reading. Interesting power you got there... Super rare... Obsidian might not be necessary if you're here." Nyx studied Skinwalker rather closely as if trying to recognize her through her disguise but said nothing more as she attempted to block Skinwalker from reading her mind now by continually repeating the song 'Mary Had A Little Lamb' in her head.

"You realize mind reading doesn't quite work that way. If you only focus on that, yes. But mind reading isn't just about reading your thoughts. It's also seeing fragments of memory, 3D models of what you want to describe, images... A variety of things. You have to train to only allow me to see just one thing when reading your mind, kid. But now... I know who you work for. And I want to know why. Why help the person who is stealing your whole life from you for their own personal gain?" Skinwalker's question caused Nyx to falter before the woman smirked, placing a hand on her rather large hip as she winked at Skinwalker who felt a shiver of disgust at the thought of working for a woman who used actual children for her own personal gain.

"You play a winning card, you get the winning payout. It's that simple. I work for her and she makes sure I want for nothing. But then again... I've worked for her for a long time. I just got the injection before a little wolf ruined her plans. I could've been so much more powerful had the Android not ruined all of the progress the scientists have made. But I'm not telling you this because I want you to know the evil plan. I'm telling you this and only this now... You should come with me willingly. You may not be completely free in the end but you will be able to live somewhat of a normal life if you work for Magdalene. We're allowed freedom if we do a good job." Skinwalker cringed at the conviction of Nyx's words, knowing full well that the beautiful woman fully believed what she was saying and stood by it 100%... It was sickening to her to think of helping someone so evil just because it was easier.

"You'd become a slave to the ramblings of a narcissistic madwoman who only cares about herself... Just because you believe it to be the winning side?" Skinwalker said the words slowly, not being able to fully process that Nyx thought that she was completely correct in thinking that.

Nyx shrugged before her hands burned hotter with the now lighter blue flames, eyes narrowing once again at the realization that there would be no way for the golden eyed Ninja girl to come peacefully. She'd have to do this the hard way now.

"You don't want to do this." Skinwalker warned as she rested her hand on her katana, flicking Nyx's gaze to the weapon that she had previously not noticed before.

"Oh, honey. You have no idea what I want. You may think I do but the bare minimum of what you get when you read my mind is all you know. You've no idea what I've had to do to get where I am today. And I like it." Nyx snapped out before she launched forward, flaming fist closed and ready to land what she assumed would be the only hit she'd need to land.

Skinwalker dodged Nyx's attack with surprising ease, noticing as Obsidian walked through the flames, cracks in his skin glowing blue as the fire began to absorb into his body.

Nyx let out a scream of anger as she barreled towards Skinwalker again, trying to land a hit on the woman who dodged every hit easily.

"Can't shoot flames at me, huh? Uses too much power? Makes sense, I guess. Everything has a limit. You'd have to put down your little wall to shoot flames at me, wouldn't you?" Skinwalker deduced as she avoided Nyx, not wanting to have to hurt her but she knew Nyx wouldn't let up.

"Enough!" Obsidian's voice boomed through the bank as the flames seemed to get sucked into his body, including the flames that burned on Nyx's hand, causing her to cry out in pain as she fell to her knees.

"You're hurting her!" Skinwalker snapped which caused a look of surprise to flash across both Nyx and Obsidian's faces, the blue glow intertwining along the cracks in Obsidian's skin fading as he stepped closer to the two women.

"You two ladies created quite a scene today. You friends or something more?" Obsidian paused as he looked at each woman carefully, sapphire blue eyes seeming to glow brighter before the glow lightened a bit.

"Ah, you're here to steal my hero title, eh? Skinwalker... Pleasure to meet you. Now, miss Nyx. It's time for you to settle down. We got a nice little holding cell specially prepared for you at the special forces police facility that we just had built. You can spend a little time there to... Cool off." Obsidian winked which earned a groan from Nyx and a snicker from Skinwalker, Obsidian simply seeming proud of his little joke as his eyes sparkled in amusement at someone finding his stupid jokes funny.

"I'm not going anywhere, rock boy. Not unless you're coming with us." Nyx slowly stood, pressing her finger to an earpiece that had previously been concealed within her ear.

"He's here." The ground rumbled beneath their feet immediately after the words left Nyx's lips, a smirk crossing her face as she backed up, the floor splitting open in front of her with a deafening cracking sound.

The rumbling intensified as three figures slowly rose from the ground, being lifted by a large mound of debris as the woman in front narrowed her solid brown eyes at the two heroes who struggled to maintain their footing from the shaking ground.

Obsidian slowly levitated from the ground, trench coat billowing around him as he stared at the woman in shock.

"Nice trick. What else can you do?" Obsidian sneered at the woman who scoffed before the ground rumbled once again, the floor cracking and breaking apart as the tiles began to rise into the air.

"Oof. Sorry I asked." Obsidian said before quickly avoiding the debris as it flew towards him, the male maneuvering gracefully around each piece as he landed gently on the ground once again.

"You two really don't even want to be here so I'm giving you full permission to sit this one out." Skinwalker turned her attention to the two women that remained standing on the mound of debris, turning their attention to the golden eyed woman instead of the fight between Obsidian and the woman that Skinwalker desperately hoped was the one named Raquel considering that her name would be a pun if it was.

Obsidian let out a bark of laughter which caused Skinwalker to glare at him momentarily as she realized he had heard her pun by reading her mind but she couldn't exactly stay mad considering she knew it was impossible to turn mind reading off.

"You know nothing about us." The older woman murmured as she rubbed her bare arms rather nervously, brown eyes flicking over to where Nyx had joined in to help fight Obsidian but without being able to use her powers, she was basically just a minor inconvenience to the much larger male.

"I do know you, Lavender. You think that this will earn your freedom but nothing ever comes without a price. You wanted to be a microbiologist to help people. This isn't helping anyone. If you come with me you can find a deeper meaning to your life. Be a hero. Be a microbiologist and go to college like you always wanted to. We can help you." Lavender seemed shocked as Skinwalker spoke, seeming shocked by the fact Skinwalker seemed to know details about her life that she had previously never told anyone else.

"And you, Allara... You wanted to be a vet when you were younger. You still can. It's not too late. I'm giving you the same offer." Skinwalker gave both of them a look, flicking her gaze to each one as she spoke to make sure they knew that she would fulfill her end of the deal.

"I can't. She'll find us and I don't want to lose my whole life and become... Just a pawn in a game of chess. It's bad enough doing what we're doing but at least she didn't send us to the frontlines. Please understand." Allara whispered so that Nyx couldn't hear, subconsciously touching her earpiece before her hand dropped once again, honey brown eyes full of fear as she gazed at Skinwalker who gave a soft sigh.

"Ah!" Raquel released a cry of pain as she held her shoulder, glaring at Obsidian who had hit a piece of her debris back at her, striking her in the shoulder.

"You done yet?" Obsidian questioned which caused Raquel to smirk as she rolled her shoulder before cracking her knuckles.

"I'm just getting started, handsome." Raquel raised her hands, causing a flurry of dust to rise from the ground and swirl around her while Obsidian just released a sigh.

"Guess I'm putting my dinner on hold." He murmured before his skin began to lace with an orange glow, his sapphire blue eyes turning red before fading to the same color as the lava that now flowed through the obsidian that made up his skin.

"Listen, we have a safe haven for people like us. Magdalene won't be able to find you. You can be safe. Just come with me. Stay back so you don't get hurt and I'll take you to a new home where you can either be normal or live as a superhero with a normal life on the side. It's your decision." Skinwalker's words caused both women to falter as they exchanged glances, both contemplating Skinwalker's offer but Nyx's roar of anger caused both to immediately falter.

"Get her!" Nyx screamed at the women before launching herself at Obsidian, desperately attempting to ignite her hands to no avail as Obsidian kept a firm hold over her fire powers by absorbing every little bit that she tried to use.

"Nothing personal, Miss. I just don't want to die fighting a war that I didn't know was happening in the first place." Allara murmured as she pressed a button on the center of her black suit, causing it to glow before turning silver as her darker skin began to slowly fade to a metallic silver.

"You won't have to if you come with me." Skinwalker assured but Allara didn't seem to be listening now as her long brown hair began to shorten until it receded into her now solid silver hairline, her skin gleaming beneath the emergency lights of the bank as she narrowed her now completely silver eyes at Skinwalker.

"We can't take that risk, lovely." Lavender murmured as her skin began to turn a beautiful shade of lavender, eyes completely filling with a light shade of purple as she cracked her knuckles before snapping as a small ball of purple flame exploded towards Skinwalker.
Her dark purple hair billowed around her neck as she narrowed her eyes when Skinwalker dodged the blast, seeming now to not care if she hurt the opposing woman.

"Don't do this." Skinwalker warned in a low voice, the hair on the back of her neck standing up as her instincts took over, eyes following Lavender and Allara's every move now as the two women began to circle in an attempt to surround her.

"We have no choice.... You'll understand soon." Lavender murmured as her dark purple hair billowed around her, eyes narrowing as Skinwalker rolled to the side when Allara shot towards her.

Skinwalker released a growl of warning as Allara's hand extended into a baton, the silver woman's eyes glowing as she grimaced before launching towards Skinwalker again.

Skinwalker snarled as the baton slammed against her ribs, having dodged Allara's fist at the cost of being hit with something much harder. Lavender sparked her flames at Skinwalker, ball of fire narrowly missing Skinwalker as she pulled herself and Allara out of the flame's path.

Obsidian released a growl as a piece of debris knocked a shard of the glass from his face, eyes now glowing a darker blue as he shook his hand, igniting them with a deep blue flame before he charged at Nyx who flipped easily out of his way, landing on her feet before she pulled a gun from a holster strapped to her thigh.

The sound of gunfire did nothing to deter the second fight as Lavender launched a punch towards Skinwalker, hitting her hip with a rather powerful punch as Allara slammed her baton into Skinwalker's calf in an attempt to ground her.

The roar of pain that escaped Skinwalker had both women faltering for a moment but the pain didn't seem to distract her as she rolled forward, using her palms to right herself but not before she used her leg to launch Lavender away from her.

Obsidian landed a rather hard punch onto Raquel, sending the woman onto the ground with a gasp of pain as she struggled to retain the air in her lungs.

"Some hero you are." Nyx taunted which focused Obsidian's attention on her long enough to fire a bullet directly into his chest.

"Ow." Obsidian grumbled as the glass around his chest shattered from the impact but otherwise he seemed unharmed.

"That's not fair!" Nyx screamed as she fired a few more at him until her clip clicked to signify it was now empty, each bullet causing more glass around his body to shatter but he didn't even flinch as he glared at her.

A metallic ring echoed through the room as Allara slammed the baton down, intending to knock Skinwalker out only for the woman to catch it, turning her now darker gaze to Allara who looked stunned now.

"You weren't even... You weren't even looking at her... How...?" Lavender whispered from where she sat on the floor, eyes wide with fear now as Allara's baton began to glow a bright white, Skinwalker's eyes turning silver momentarily before Allara collapsed to the floor with a gasp.

Skinwalker grabbed Allara by the front of her black bodysuit, irises glowing gold once again as she stared into Allara's eyes.

"Turn back. Now." Her voice was incredibly low, seeming almost feral now as Allara trembled in her hold but the woman knew she had to fight back somehow. She couldn't lose.... Not when she had her freedom right in front of her.

A split second decision was all Allara needed before her hand began to morph into a sword, only for Skinwalker to snarl as she shoved Allara to the ground, causing the silver woman to release a grunt of pain.

Lavender launched towards Skinwalker again, wrapping her arm around the woman's throat in an attempt to get her into a chokehold.

Skinwalker snarled as she grabbed Lavender's arm, the woman's purple eyes flashing in fear as Skinwalker launched the woman over her shoulder, causing her to land with a painful grunt next to Allara.

"You've lost. Don't make it worse." Obsidian warned Nyx as she began to slowly back away, eyes darting around for a potential exit strategy.

"That's what you think, rock boy." Nyx pressed her earpiece, Obsidian's eyes widening as he realized what she was doing.

"Mission compromised! Send reinforcements!" Nyx screamed before pointing her gun at Skinwalker instead.

"You may be bulletproof, but is she?" Nyx snapped as she kept a firm glare on Obsidian who turned his sapphire blue gaze to Skinwalker who stood with her eyes narrowed at Nyx now.

"What makes you think I care at all about this chick? I literally just met her." Obsidian deadpanned as he turned his attention back to Nyx which caused the woman to scoff.

"He's got a point. He doesn't even know me." Skinwalker commented which turned Nyx's attention to her long enough for Obsidian to launch towards her at lightning speed, grabbing the gun as he squeezed it tightly enough for it to crumble in his hand.

"It's empty, anyway, Cartoon Villain. I heard it click. I'm not that stupid." Obsidian whispered to Nyx who stared at him with fear in her highlighter blue eyes, taking a step back as she allowed him to completely crush the gun now.

A gunshot silenced him for a moment as a bullet ripped through his chest once again, turning his blue gaze to rafters of the bank where a sniper sat.

"Already tried that, stupid!" Nyx screamed up at the figure who seemed to ignore her as they dropped down easily, narrowing their robotic blue eyes at Obsidian.

"And just who are you?" Obsidian sounded annoyed despite the fact that nobody could see his face, his eyes narrowing at the new figure who sneered at him.

"Names are irrelevant, patient 1025. You will report back to The Monarch or face the consequences. You as well, unknown subject." The male's robotic gaze turned to Skinwalker who stiffened beneath his eyes that seemed to be completely void of emotion.

"You're a cyborg." Skinwalker deduced as she studied the male rather intently so that she could remember his face in the far future should she ever come across him again. He was incredibly tall, seeming around eight feet tall which was tall by normal standards but he seemed short from where he stood in front of Obsidian. He had buzzed down sandy reddish blonde hair along the side of his head, his hair grown out and fluffed up a bit more on top. He was incredibly wide with how muscular his build was, seemingly built like a tank as he held the sniper in a single large hand like it was a small toy.

"And you are perceptive. That he is. You have one of your own under your little protection, don't you?" A woman's voice startled the two heroes as figure after figure began to drop from the rafters, the new voice smirking at Skinwalker as her lips seemed to stretch incredibly wide across her pale and thin face. Her long white hair being tied back in a braid as her blue eyes seemed to flash red with the lights of the sirens outside. Her skin was unnaturally pale, stretched tightly across her face which gave her an eerily beautiful skeletal appearance.

"You know of the existence of cyborgs. Meaning you have experienced one. Where is he?" Another voice piped up, causing Skinwalker to stiffen as she realized who exactly they were talking about, blood pumping loudly in her ears as she swallowed heavily. The new person sneered as they realized they had struck a nerve, raising their machine gun at Skinwalker as they took a step forward.

The new person had the same haircut as the cyborg, their own hair seeming almost purple in color with the shade of brown it bore. Their eyes being a mismatched dark brown and honey brown color while their skin seemed slightly tanned in color from what Skinwalker could see from the darkness of the bank.

"You're surrounded. Surrender and come quietly. Maybe The Boss will take pity. Maybe she won't. I guess we'll see." A male with longer black hair sneered at Joelee, green eyes seeming to glow as he pulled a broadsword seemingly out of his arm, the sword tattoo disappearing from his forearm as he did.

"So... You got anyone you can call as backup?" Obsidian questioned as he glanced at Skinwalker who shook her head.

"Great... Guess we do this on our own then." He mumbled as the group of around six soldiers began to advance towards them, Raquel, Lavender, and Allara all climbing to their feet as they too activated their powers once again.

"Guess so." Skinwalker said as she got into a defensive stance, eyes narrowing as she awaited the soldiers inevitable attack.