They stared at him as he lapsed into a smug silence, watching Marissa. She shook her head.

"I don't know what you mean by welcome home but it sure is a pleasure to meet you in the flesh." He didn't miss her sarcastic tone and tutted disapprovingly.

"We have much to discuss before the Master sees you. Come." He turned on his heel and with a wave of his hand, Marissa's door swung open. Jax and Lincoln watched wide eyed as Marissa looked between the Chancellor and her now open cell.

"Uh, yeah thanks for the offer but I think I'll stay here." She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him definitely. He turned to look at her and tutted again in disapproval.

"Your friends will be seen to have no fear. Tests need to be run to confirm our suspicions. You need not worry my dear but you must come with me now if you ever want to see your dear Ellie Rae again." He spoke like she knew exactly what he was talking about but at the mention of Ellie Rae, she stiffened, her nostrils flaring.

"If you've hurt her.." Jax threatened from his cell, hands wrapped tightly around the bars. The Chancellor gave him a pointed look and shook his head at Jax.

"Your friend is fine, Jaxon Darren. You have my word." Jax scowled. The Chancellor looked back at Marissa. "Come." He walked away and towards the door, it swinging open as he approached them and walked through. Marissa looked at Jax and Lincoln, both of whom were staring at where the Chancellor had disappeared. She sighed and tentatively walked through the open cell door, preparing herself for any kind of booby trap. Nothing happened and she gave a small sigh of relief. Marissa walked carefully up the stairs, following the Chancellor. He was waiting for her just beyond the doors, the hallway beyond alight, revealing concrete surroundings similar to the cells they had been in. She looked back at her friends who were staring up at her. Lincoln looked like he wanted to say something but he didn't.

"Come now." The Chancellor said again, his voice edged with a hint of impatience. Marissa sighed and walked after him. The Chancellor gave her a thin-lipped smile and led her away from the cells. The doors slammed shut behind her and she jumped. The Chancellor continued walking and she turned again to follow him, eyes wide.

"What did you mean, 'welcome home?'" She asked. He didn't answer her, electing to remain silent. Marissa sped up to catch up to the small man. "Why are we here?"

"I think you know why you are here." He said, not looking at her as they moved down the corridor. He turned a corner and another set of doors flew open. Marissa followed and looked around at her surroundings wide eyed. The room they entered was large and the room was lighted by a glass ceiling, revealing a blue sky. As she looked around, they were in a lab. Scientists in lab coats stopped what they were doing to look up at them. Marissa looked around at them as they placed their fists to their chests and bowed to them- The Chancellor. He copied the movement and turned to look at Marissa, small smile on his face. She wrapped her arms around her stomach as everyone stared up at her and the Chancellor.

"I'm sure you have many, many questions. All of which will be answered in due course." He motioned for her to follow him and she hesitantly followed him, expression guarded. The Chancellor pointed to a chair and Marissa found herself being lifted off the ground, grabbed by the arms by two men in lab coats. Marissa gave a yell and kicked her legs but was put down just as quickly, placed on the chair. She wasn't able to move, two heavy hands on her shoulders, keeping her securely in her seat. She squirmed but couldn't get free, her effort proving fruitless. The Chancellor sat down in front of her and folded his hands over one another and sighed. "You may begin." He nodded to one of the scientists and he ambled over to Marissa and gave her a shaky smile.

"I'm just going to run some tests." His voice wobbled as he approached her. She watched him pick up some stickers and he went to attach them to her temple. She shook her head, making it hard for him to attach them. The Chancellor tutted at her and motioned to the two that were holding her down. A hand placed itself on her head, cementing it in place. She hissed.

"Excuse you." She spat. The scientist gave her a sympathetic, sad smile and placed the stickers on her head. He attached wires to the stickers and handed the ends to a blonde woman, who attached them to a computer. Marissa couldn't turn her head to see what was going on but she felt a cold pinch on her arm and hissed.

"Sorry." The scientist murmured to her. The Chancellor sat quietly, watching all of this happen. He waited for the scientist to finish taking blood and walked away before he addressed her again.

"Now, shall we begin?"

"With what?"

"Your questions. I'm sure you have many." Marissa narrowed her eyes at him. She couldn't move still and her neck was starting to ache from straining. She tapped her fingers on the arm of the chair. "You are in the Citadel. You were brought here by your friend, Daniel, of whom has been working with us."

"You're awfully forthcoming with all this information." She commented. There was a beeping sound from behind her and the pressure on her head lightened sand someone murmured an apology.

"Well now that you're here, it was decided that all information be provided to you to ensure your co-operation." He smiled at her. Marissa shuddered.

"So any question I ask will be answered honestly?"

"I only speak in truths, my dear." She grimaced.

"Don't call me 'my dear'. It's demeaning." He shrugged and sat back in his chair. "What are you doing with the Horsemen?"

"I would assume that would be the obvious- total world annihilation." Marissa raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"That is for the Master to answer, not me. I am merely a pawn in his plan." She frowned. The Chancellor sighed. "You will meet him soon, once these tests come back to confirm our suspicions."

"What suspicions?"

"That you are who we think you are." He said simply. Marissa's brain whirled, trying to figure out what he meant.

"And who is it you think I am?" The Chancellor smiled again and appraised her.

"I'm not sure you are ready for that information. We need these tests to confirm it first."

"You said you don't lie." She pushed.

"I was not lying. I am simply evading your question." Marissa scowled at him. There was another beeping noise and he looked behind her and smiled. "Perfection. Absolute perfection." Marissa pushed against the hands that held her down, wanting to see what was behind her. The Chancellor tutted and motioned to the two that held her down. The hands lifted and she shot up from her chair, the stickers ripping off her temples as she got up. Someone cursed and she heard the Chancellor tut again. She was going to rip his tongue from his mouth if he tutted again. She really, really hated that noise.

"What the hell?" She was staring at the screen that she had been connected to. It was a full body scan of her, her information. "What is this?"

"It's you." The Chancellor said simply. Marissa let her hands hang loose at her sides and shook her head in confusion.

"You got all of that from a brain scan?"

"The brain scan was to update your information- we only had a prediction of how you would develop and we were pleasantly correct for the most part." The scientist who had taken blood from her said quickly. She looked over at him sharply, then over to the Chancellor. The Chancellor was looking at him, mildly unimpressed. He sighed and looked at Marissa, who was standing in a more defensive stance. He waved at the two men and they moved to grab her again. She didn't have a chance to react as their hands clamped down on her arms again. She cursed and the Chancellor tutted. There was a buzzing noise and he looked up, a small sigh of relief coming out of him.

"Ah, the Master will see you now. Bring her." Marissa was lifted off the ground again and she gave a yell of surprise, feet kicking in the air. The Chancellor was on his feet and leading them away from the computer monitor and away from the chair. Marissa tried to kick at the knees of the men holding her but they didn't even flinch when she made contact.

"What, are you made of metal or something?" They didn't respond but she heard the Chancellor say,

"Or something." She stopped kicking and hung limply in the air, toes barely touching the ground. The Chancellor led them to an elevator and pressed a button. It opened and they entered. He pressed the top button and turned to look at Marissa.

"You'll have your answers soon. I promise." He gave her a smug smile then turned to face the doors, humming to himself as the elevator started moving. Marissa stared at the back of his balding head and wished that she could shoot him. Or stab him. She looked up at her captors and huffed. She would have to settle for kicking.

In the brief time that it took for her to decide to launch her attack, the moment she tried to swing her legs out at the Chancellor, the elevator doors opened. She let out a cry of frustration as he walked out of leg reach. The two men moved her forward out of the elevator.

They had come out on what must have been the penthouse of whatever building they were in- only it was an office with a view. Large windows covered every surface of the walls, giving a three hundred and sixty view of the Citadel, gleaming golden below.

And everything was white. The couches. The desk. The carpets. The walls. Marissa looked at it and all she could think was how fun it would be to break the Chancellors nose and decorate the walls with some fun bloody artwork.

"You can put her down here. She'll be no harm to us up here." A new voice stated. Marissa whipped her head around as the men plopped her down in front of the glass, white desk in a very uncomfortable white chair.

"Clearly you underestimate how pissed off I am." She spat as the two men let her go. The instant relief she felt in her arms as the blood started flowing through her limbs again was immeasurable.

"I learned a long time ago not to underestimate you, Marissa. And since I made that decision, I have been able to maintain the express ability to not be surprised by you." A man appeared in front of her, dressed immaculately in a white suit. His dark hair was slicked back and was greying around the edges. He sat down opposite her and looked at her with dark green eyes. Marissa leaned back in her chair.

"And who might you be?"

"Maarkus Vander, Master of the Citadel." Marissa lifted her chin and stared at him. He stared right back, not backing down from the evident challenge she provided. "And you, are Marissa Jackson. Long awaited returnee to the Citadel and a relatively giant pain in the ass for the Four."

"Well, I can't take all the credit. Especially when I didn't actually do anything." She cocked her head. "What do you mean by returnee?" Maarkus smiled and sat back in his chair and looked at the Chancellor. He nodded and she heard a scuffling noise and then a file dropped in front of her. She cocked an eyebrow. Maarkus motioned towards it, inviting her to open it. She leaned forward and opened it slowly, not taking her eyes off Maarkus. When she eventually looked down at the now open file, there was a picture of a young girl staring back at her. The picture was in black and white and could have been anyone but Marissa recognized the young face. And the sticker above it had a name on it.

Her name.

"What the hell is this?" She looked back at Maarkus. He gave her a serene smile and motioned for her to look through the file. She flicked through it. Stats and data from up until the age of six. Predictions, comments... Marissa flicked to another page and there were pages of images of her. As she was now. When she was living with Ellie Rae all the way up until a couple of hours ago, locked in a cell. She shook her head.

"No. No."

"No what?"

"Just no." She flipped over to another page then slammed the file shut. "This is all wrong. How can you have all of this?"

"We are very thorough and we don't like to lose our assets." Maarkus moved the file away from her and opened it himself and gave a small laugh. "I remember when you were three. You loved being up here. You would push yourself against the slanted windows and look down on the Citadel and pretend you were flying." Marissa was frozen as he talked. She heard a noise behind her, the elevator opening and there was a sound of metal on metal but she didn't turn around. "The day you left was the worst day of my entire life. You were my golden child, Marissa. You were the first and I treasured you for that. Everything I had been working for came through in you. You were the perfect template. So when you disappeared out of thin air on your sixth birthday, I was furious." Marissa grimaced as he spoke. She had no clue what he was talking about but he was talking to her like she knew him and knew what he was on about. He continued to talk, ignoring her expression.

"I sent many, many people to look for you. That was when we discovered that a number of our scientists had disappeared as well. You'd be surprised how long it took for us to locate everyone." He gave a small laugh. He looked over at her and saw the confusion on her face. He made a noise. "You're confused."

"Highly." He put her file down and turned to her, moving his chair so that he was facing her.

"That's understandable. Why don't you ask me some questions then." Marissa shook her head. "No?"

"I'm sure you'll get around to answering my questioning throughout you're long-winded, pointless story." Maarkus chuckled and shook his head.

"You're exactly how I hoped you would be. And a little more. I didn't see you being so defiant and stubborn." Marissa gulped. "Let me finish my story for you, shall I? Then you'll be more informed." She nodded nervously and felt her stomach twist. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up and she wanted to turn around to see what was behind her. Maarkus looked up and smiled.

"Excellent timing, gentlemen. Glad you could join us."

"We live to serve." Goosebumps ran over Marissa as she heard the voice. It was dull and flat but there was a menacing, familiar ring to it. Maarkus smiled more widely as he looked back down at her.

"I worked very hard to create you, Marissa. Your mother was the perfect experiment, she showed such resilience. It's such a shame you don't remember her. But that's not the point, is it?"

"What do you mean, my mother? My parents died when I was born." Maarkus shook his head.

"Your parents are very much alive, my dear. In fact, one of them is in this very room." She looked at him and scoffed. "You think I kid but I do not. But let me finish my tale before the grand reveal." He nodded and pressure pushed down on her shoulders and Marissa stiffened. She turned her head to see two metal, gloved hands securing her down again. "I can't have you running away right now. I can see in your eyes that you are wanting out."

"But anyway, where was I? Ah, yes. When we found you, you were nicely integrated into a colony. And to our surprise, a number of our people were there as well, hiding in plain sight. Of course, we had to take them out but we were curious to see how you would develop. So we worked into our grand plan. And then, to our bigger surprise, some of our scientists had kids. And those kids? Somehow turned out more like you." Marissa struggled against the hands the held her down. She looked at Maarkus with wide eyes as she fought to get free but she knew he knew that she had heard every word.

"You see, Marissa, you are from the Citadel. You were born here. You were made to bring around the perfect human race. That's why these gentlemen are here right now." He motioned behind her. She couldn't turn her head but her stomach chilled. "I have this idea, my girl, that the human race is flawed. Imperfect. Actually it's not just an idea. It is true. The Four are helping me to end the imperfects and bring around a flawless human race. Of which you were the first." He gave her a cold smile. Marissa felt sick and shook her head. She squirmed. He nodded.

"I found the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse after my predecessor hid them from me. He didn't like my ideals but he was very, very sick old man. He stole something from them and then I killed him. In doing this, I was able to awake these fine Horsemen, recruit them to my cause-"

"Somewhat unwillingly." Pestilence's voice came through his mask and Marissa stopped fighting. The Four Horsemen. In the same room as her. Listening to Maarkus. She wanted to howl and curse but at this point, she wanted to hear the end of his story, her heart pounding.

"Yes but without my help, the only way you can return to your full, glorious power is through me." Maarkus pulled something out from under his white suit and it gleamed in the sunlight that streamed through the windows. It was a necklace with four metal shards on it. He looked back at Marissa. "My predecessor stole something from the Horsemen, reducing them in their powers. They have been able to wreck some destruction throughout the world but not as much as I would have liked. You see, without their full armour intact, their powers are reduced. The former leader of this place stole chucks and hid them throughout the world. These Four gave me these chunks," He motioned towards his necklace, "As a sort of... Security deposit. So we've been working together. I've used them to get you back here and in return, my armies and my men have been searching for the missing pieces of their armour. We haven't had much luck but I think, and this is only a hunch, you and your friends might be our missing link." He smiled as he said that. Marissa brows furrowed and the hands on her shoulders tightened.

"What is that supposed to mean?" She asked, voice quivering slightly. Maarkus sat back in his chair, crossing one leg over the other.

"I'm glad you asked. You and your friends are different to most other people. You're smarter. Faster. More resilient. Lincoln, Jax and Ellie Rae were a surprise, I must say but their parents were exposed to the things that made you so in reality, it was a pleasant surprise to be graced with... A mutated, less perfect version of yourself." Marissa swallowed back bile that rose into her throat and shook her head. "Oh yes, they are mutants but they came out better than I anticipated. Each in their own ways. And it doesn't surprise me at all that despite everything, the four of you became a group. And I'm glad because it makes it all the more easier for us." He nodded to the Horsemen who had her by the shoulders. She gave a small yelp as she was pulled to her feet and away from her chair.

"Marissa, you are the key to us finding the parts of the Horsemen's armour. You, Jax, Lincoln, Ellie Rae. You are the key to helping us succeed in wiping the scourge of this Earth and beginning anew, with a better human race. We would appreciate your compliance but I am willing to take whatever measures I must take to make sure you are complaint." He got to his feet and moved around his desk, coming to stand in front of her. He looked down at her with piercing green eyes and smiled. "It's good to see you again, Marissa. I'm sure we will see each other soon." He nodded and there was a sharp pain at the base of her neck. She yelped in pain but almost instantly, the world began to blur. Maarkus started to turn and walk away but turned to look at her.

"And before I forget and you are returned to your cell. I said one of your parents was in this room. I never told you who." He smiled and the edges of Marissa's vision darkened. She clung to the last bit of her consciousness to hear what he would say. "It's nice to have you back, my daughter. You look exactly like your mother." Marissa was rolled away into unconsciousness before she could react. The last thing she remembered after him saying that was being dragged to the elevator, watching his face as he grinned. His eyes. It was his eyes. It was always the eyes.

Maarkus was her father.