"GUUUUUHHHhhhh!!!"

Seth opened his eyes like it was the first time he had.

But found only darkness and the feeling of a sucking chest wound filling his lungs the wrong way. His body was a lead weight, his hands struggling to lift and fill a gap they could only assume was there, but couldn't even articulate let alone move. The life had been bled out of him, his heartbeat splattering what little it had left. The bottomless pit in his stomach leached into the open air bubbling out of what had been his sternum. Everything was cold, empty, numbed down to nothing yet callously tearing at phantom senses. He couldn't heave against the pit etching its way up, he could barely fight the suffocating hollow gurgling every shallow breath. And yet… The death he'd suffered was survived.

The void was denied him yet again.

He could remember the flashes, his life flowing in reverse and giving more than he'd lived with. Returning what he'd forgotten of the life he could have lived. He remembered coming back to this world, that 'new' abyss releasing its hold and leaving him to drown in this unmitigated agony, life draining away and a sword stabbed through his chest just to make sure he knew he was dead.

But he couldn't understand what had happened before, why all of this happened. Or why he was still here. He closed his eyes in hope that it was a figment of his dying mind again, just a cruel aspect of being locked in death forever. But all he got was more darkness. And the soft feeling of tears running down his form.

His body was numb near absolute, everything was dying or about to be. Only pressure and unconscious inaction, only traces of a whole. And yet he could still feel a gentle streak trace down from his shut eyes. It was probably a saving grace that everything was numb. The true pain of all this would have probably turned what little peace he had left in death to-

"ffffaahhhhh!!" 'WHAT THE HELL!?!'

His heart beat and a splitting dagger shot into his veins. It wasn't content to just shake his numb form and kill itself in silence, now it had to remember how it feels to beat while it's bisected.

"…aaahhhHHHH!!"

Another beat but now it was spreading. The bittersweet warmth of splattered blood was absolutely eclipsed by the massive gaping hole down his chest. Every screaming edge, every phantom piece demanding attention. He could feel it all again. And fucking hell it hurt!

His hands found their energy again, spreading feeling carrying every ounce of adrenaline still available. His left scrapped along the ground and flopped atop him, hand pressed to the screaming gurgling hole as tight as he could muster. The rough scraping feeling of his skin reminding him he took a tank shell to the face. And that fucking abyss left him to suffer it!

His hand clawed at the wound, like his fingers had been burned clean to bone. Hard edges tearing at his scared and charred skin, pulling it closed but nearly sliced through it itself. The pain was amplifying, nerves booting back up deeper and deeper in. Now he could feel the contours of that hardly staunched hole, all the way into that bottomless pit. But this time there was nothing forcing it upon him, no swallowing abyss to lock it across his psyche and gorge to its malicious heart's content. Now he was back in control, and he could use it himself.

His eyes shot open, back to the darkness surrounding him, the slight stain of vision returning only revealing that the dark surrounding him was natural. There were vague shapes he could make out, orientation to realign to. His head lying to the side seeing ahead of him. Arched ceilings, block walls, deep distances. His burned and rough skin tingled as the material world around him found definition.

Cold solid concrete beneath, wet air and cooled puddles tracing his outline, and a gradient chill crawling up to his feet. He tried fighting back the heave building in his throat, just to catch a full breath as he held down his wound. But his nose regretted taking in the rancid cold air as that heave received reinforcement. He was definitely in the sewers, no doubt about that. The feeling of warm bubbles and the sputtering stabs at his back told him his breathe still wasn't holding well, the loose ribs only adding to the stabs as he flinched up in rebudding reflex.

'Just hrgh had to get fffff-fucking impaled didn't I?!'

He released his tortuous breath, seething it through his gritted teeth. A smile a little too wide for his sense of vanity.

'I guhhh-uess lips don't take too kindly to getting struck with HEAT!!'

He could taste warm blood come up and spray his thankfully safeguarded tongue.

'Was it rgh always this metallic…? ghhh fuck…'

His nose betrayed its partner as the rancid air found more definition. And that heave still tried to pull that pit up.

'Yup… hrmph… definitely the sewers.'

A ringing filled the void around him as the final round of mundane senses booted up. But it fell back to dense stagnant silence, only broken by the ripple of his pain on the pool beneath him and the ragged shorted breaths he whimpered out.

The world was back to him, a shitty part of it, but a part none-the-less. But he needed more definition, one final sense to end this damn incessant stabbing in his chest. He focused as best he could, reached out from himself, out from the pain cutting into everything. Looked for the repetitive tinge, the constant oscillation back and forth, up and down. The flow of energy from one atom to another, driven by forces invisible to all but so clear to him. The darkness grew darker as the bright lines of a city wide grew in luminosity, but not in power transfer.

'grrr Too many data lines… Where's the damn-'

His trained extra sense expanded down this man made cave to the brightest spot it could see. Fat wires spidering out in neat arrangements, a godsend of proper cable management packed tight into a neat rectangle. A junction box for the city's power grid.

'Thank god for the… 'Kadia Lightning Wranglers'? Why does ehhhh… everything have to have a fucking stupid title!?'

But he couldn't complain about their due diligence, only hope they were more likely to scold him for borrowing some power rather than break his legs for stealing. His quarry was there at least, so he reached out to it, a still fairly over weighted right shakily pulling out in front of him. Coming into his near worthless view, outlined in burned through threading, single electrons altered from their standard laws and braided into controllable and controlling cords. The framework that made up his body and his power. But all of it dimmed, run thin, stretched in those altered laws to nearly their breaking point.

Regardless he reached out, his extra sight focused on that over bright box at the end of the tunnel. But… But nothing moved. The flow never abated, ionizing electrons were not freed of their charge to light up this dank smelly hell and heal Seth's-

"regghh"

Fucking persistent heart! He was too weak, his focus too stifled by this damnable pain in his chest. And the box too far away. He needed to get closer.

Another sputtering breathe, bloody foam stabbed his back again, loose ribs pinched their formerly covering muscles. Another bare releasing grit, and a self-affirmation that this was going to hurt. That extended dim outline of a hand jerked to the ground, cold wet concrete against rough yet feeling char. It felt thin at least, burn split skin only crisscrossed the surface, added grip to this arduous motion.

The arm tensed and pulled against weight that could do little to fight against gravity. Seth fell over onto his clawed closed chest, the smell of the puddles surrounding him a little too close for comfort. He just hoped to all that was good in this world it was his own blood, that was a preferable alternative to the abhorrent possibility. The extended hand pulled back in and pressed down with all the might he could muster through it, used and abused body lifting slowly and shakily from its dank tomb floor. His knees scratched against the concrete, but weirdly protective char stopped him from scraping them to sloughed free bone. The weight on his legs nearly buckled themselves as they pushed. He couldn't feel his feet, but felt similar hard edge scrap against concrete. His digits didn't feel complete, like they were naked like his teeth. A numb weight nagged at his spine, but he couldn't let gravity and whatever hellish wounds he'd suffered distract him from-

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"GRRhh"

Fixing this stupid fucking hole in his chest!

One last almighty push, a scraping of bony feet, and at last he had something under him that was meant to be there. A rattling attempt at bringing the other foot up left him unbalanced, so his freed hand shot out. The thankfully not slimy sewer wall close enough to lean on. Bony fingers raked the sealed concrete, desperate for grip. But the weight of the world can suck it-

'I'm standing the fuck up!!'

Knees nearly knocked together as his legs pushed with everything they had, the dark outlined world growing smaller and smaller. A natural stance finally found stability despite the half dead weight of its bearer. But it still felt… weird. Seth could only feel the ground on the front on his foot, cold puddles tingling exposed bone and rougher than normal sole. He only just now realized he was naked himself, the connector suit he'd taken into graduation not rated to survive the fire of military ordinance, leaving him exposed to the cold chill of-

"ghRRRRRHH!!!" 'Fuck the stupid world!! I need that power now!!'

The leaning arm clawed ahead as a foot rose wobbly to get a fucking move on! Uneasy step after torturous step grew the supernaturally brightened junction box, the impossible to see world blurred by pain and stubborn determination. Closer and closer, the T junction ahead opening into a lateral path, the supporting wall giving way to a gap that-

*splash*

"Ahh!!"

*crack*

"FFFFUUU!!!"

*thud*

Gave space for a drainage channel. Seth's blind steps slipped and slammed his knee into the opposite edge of the channel, thankfully tossing him over at the base of the box on the other side. But fuck that hurt! His legs… and the numb weight behind him, immersed in the cold clear drainage this tunnel conveyed.

"grrrhhuhhh…" 'Oh thank fuck, this is just a storm drain!'

But the chill of the non-effluent water did not freeze his already cold wobbly bones. It… actually felt… nostalgic…? Comforting. A bad sign. The cold of death isn't something he should be accustomed to. But that didn't matter right now. The bright lines and enticing symmetry of the junction box were in reach. That free hand pulled up, Seth focusing hard, the dim lattice of his arm flared as best it could but…

"rrrrrrRRRRHHHH!!"

The cables were too deep, too far, too-

*splash* *shrrr*

Seth pulled out of the water hard, clawed his way forward. Concrete scraping apart under his need. That hand nearly skewering the wall beside the box as he pulled himself up. Before slamming into the casing, stabbing into the metal and wrenching hard. The warning signage rattling to the floor as the luminous cables drove Seth on, drove him to tell his hellish agony to eat shit! He clawed through the box, wrapping around the fattest main line he could see, pulling it free of its meticulous brackets. An urge too familiar and yet too powerful drove him like a hunger. He needed this pain to fucking stop, needed his power back, needed his goddamn fingers back!! The sheath on the line still denied his pull, he was so damn close! Too! Damn!! CLOSE!!!

"RRRRRRAAAGGGGHHHHH!!!"

Exposed teeth tore through the thick rubber casing, blind feeling melting away self-awareness. And a single spark illuminated the world true at last. The barest of moments, the slightest of visions, but none seen with any permanent record. Because the power came flooding in as a tidal wave upon a bathtub. The dark tunnel blasted away as the expanse of Seth's senses exploded out to the city proper. Down every line, across every subdivided grid, through to every outlet and application. The lights, the motors, the pumps and screens, the coffee makers, the stoves, the TVs, the dialysis machines, the elevators, the god damn pointless LEDs on every fucking thing!! All of it!! He could feel all of it!! And he needed ALL OF IT!!!

So he pulled.

A tinge of elation, masked and folded behind layers of concern and duty, but elation all the same. Her hope was fulfilled. Seth was alive. Somehow, someway, he'd survived. Or at least made it away. But that hope had more held to it, because it had to. Because Seth was going to answer for what he'd done. And hopefully be saved from whatever he'd become. Though Buster, of course, was seeing it differently.

"FUCK!!!"

Trained and meaty hands tried their damnedest to rev the oscillator buried deep in her sword. Muscle bound arms pulled hard as a foot pressed awkwardly against the back of the discarded shell of her escaped opponent. What was left of the heavy lift cart beneath both echoed the soft drone of the metal hearted sword each time it was brought to life. But it meant diddly squat as that oversized slab refused to move at its master's behest.

"GODS FUCKING DAMN IT!!!"

*CRAKkhkh*

The fused full body death mask was swung overhead and smashed down on already cratered asphalt. Buster was not as conflicted about this situation as Aegis was, as ironic as that sounded to her. There was reason for her to not be on the Elite yet, even if she was certainly strong and skilled enough. Technomancer meanwhile showed why he was, stood back a step next to her and letting Buster voice her frustrations as responses were ordered and planned out. Angry but not letting it boil over into super powered tantrum. Instead using his own want to see Seth brought down to crunch numbers as fast as he could. Between try to get her to stop.

"Commander Jackson and Captain McMathews have already started setting up! They'll find him! Now stop throwing your toys around so I can work on-"

"LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE YOU'VE DONE!!!"

Buster charged him with the malicious fervor of a struck batter.

"I'm not waiting another MINUTE for you to do jack shit and say we just don't have an answer!! THIS FUCKER TOOK AWAY THE ENTIRE REASON I CAME HERE!!! I wasn't supposed to just be given anything by default!! I was supposed to earn it and show everyone!! AND THIS BASTARD TOOK THAT AWAY FROM ME!!! TOOK ZIYOU AWAY FROM ME!!! I'M NOT LETTING HIM GET AWAY WITH THAT!!!"

That buried tinge of elation in Aegis was battered by armor piercing reality. Seth had killed three heroes trying to get back at Para. Killed her teammate. As much as Ziyou could have been called anything but a fightaholic, she was still a good person. Didn't deserve… to die like that.

And Phazer Shock and Glacial Glaz. They were just trying to stop what was already out of control. Were always caring, if a little pushy to those they saw as holding back. None of them deserved this.

So he wasn't about to be forgiven. And hunting him was only going to exacerbate this reality above whatever truth she wished she could glean. Things were only going to get worse. Buster's forceful return to bat shook her back to the immediate though.

"I don't care if I have to beat him to death with his own fucking suit!! HE WILL NOT GET AWA-!!!"

*BWWWWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooo*

The cloudy morning suddenly ruffled, an incorporeal shockwave resounding through it with anomalous intent. No rumble or kick, just static cling and a forced away air. Followed by sequential overload.

The newly replaced streetlights shattered over the workers who just put them up, along with their every fixture in between. The surviving building facades flashed and popped in kind. Slow to move military were ground to a halt. The screeching of bollard walls loosed from their electric motors accented the cacophony of the sidewalks cracking in set lines.

The former trainees who had followed her here scattering as underground wiring melting down and flaring its death. As the sky voiced its displeasure. The growing cold dour that hovered over the city flashed in brilliant wake, thunder rolling out as the already quiet din fell silent.

Techno shot down at his wrist pad, shaking in a rising frustration compounding with recent history. The screen was dark, dead, drained of power and filled with fearful possibilities as to the status of his newly entered data. But his deepening trance broke as-

*blip*

A drop splashing against the screen. The sudden common quiet was slowly filled as the dour clouds above released their contents over this suddenly siphoned city. Turning it to soft patter and sympathy. Aegis following that sequence and thunder above the slowly drenching road ahead. Buster, lost of her fury, watching what spread as well. This was a level they hadn't witnessed, more power feeding into an already ponderous black hole.

Too much power.

Buster's grip loosening on her quad length handle. She had fought this, won at barely a cost, and had been denied despite it. But her resolve found footing for her grip to retighten, the hum of her sword's heart carrying under the growing rain. But instead of bursting ahead… she turned away.

Her fused trophy dragged behind her as she snarled passed David covering Maya from the coming rain in stunned silence. Passed Jacob and Zeleny staring in shared broken fear. Passed Ohm crouched to the powerlines below and Kabar locked to what she refused to see more of, both nearly equal in their ire. Through the now delayed construction grumbling behind them and yet stunned to silence. The look of rebuke fueled malice driving all who were not lost in the sight behind her away. As her fury denied his show of force.

"Fine then… I'll make you come to me."

Aegis barely registered her leaving, could not look away from what now lit this city up in modernity's stead. As the rain shimmered in brilliant colors, reflected that which marked power's path. Lines of glowing particles dissipating through the rain, between buildings and through clouds and people stopped in their tracks. Ionized aurora running down streets, following paths with no clear end points, power pulled too fast to take everything all at once. The thunder above pushing the shimmer along as the rain washed it away. A beautiful expression, a fleeting curtail of pursuit. And ominous sign of what awaited those who disregarded it. Because the whole city's grid had just been rendered to a single point.

And only one person was at its heart.

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