Heroes WANTED!

James Lindel got back to his eigth story apartment at just after five in the afternoon. He stripped off his jacket, shirt, and tie tossing them onto his bed, and stretched. Running his hand over his buzz cut scalp decided tonight would have to be the night.

Opening his closet, he pushed aside the fake wall panel at the back and glared into the darkness. A blank face stared back at him. A faceless steel mask with nothing more than two holes for his eyes.

It was Time for James Lindel the man, to become Sypher, the cold blooded killer.

Four hours later, as the sun set. A black clad man in a mask materialised on the roof of James Sypher's building. A black hood obscuring his face in shadows.

The Man lept gracefully from the ten story apartment building to the one next to it. Easily a 30 foot gap, with ease. Heavy black coat fluttering behind him. Quickly and quietly making his way toward a massive neon sign reading "SHIRE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT".

Allen sat in the presentation room of Shire Research and Development, waiting for the presentation to start. The company he worked for had sent him here because they had heard that this company had developed something that could create more power, more efficiently, then the current methods. He was a researcher for Arizona Public Services, the main electricity provider for the state of Arizona, and he was charged with finding new and more efficient methods of generating power. He seemed like a natural, considering he was only four years out of high school, without a college degree. If only the company knew really knew the truth, they would plug him in and have him power the whole Southwestern United States.

As he sat there, waiting for the presentation to start, he had the odd feeling that something interesting was going to happen.

Sypher moved with a powerful grace, his movements measured and careful. The roof access door had been easily ripped off and tossed aside to give him access to the building, and as the building was still in use, the alarm wasn't set.

Down the stairs he went, slowly and quietly, as cool as ice. Rounding a corner he was confronted by a security guard.

"Hey, your not supposed to be here buddy" the fat middle aged man started to say. Sypher punched the man in the face, his nose crunching like an aluminum can, his head snapping back like a whip. The foolish guard dropped like a rag doll to the stairs his corpse rolling down the concrete steps.

"Now where could the lab be" Sypher started down the stairs. His heavy boots clunking softly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meahwhile:

"As you can see ladies and gentlemen of the board, or reactor is compact, creates an amazing amount of power, and is environmentally safe, the only real danger it poses is to humans directly exposed to it for long periods of time" Lead Scientist Gary Helm spoke excitedly. His diagrams and equations for the Shire Reactor were projected onto a large screen behind him.

Smiling brightly the nerdy looking middle-aged began to point out various parts of the reactor, explaining there function in jargon so specific to the field of Zulu energy that only a fellow expert could really understand.
Though knowone in the room would actually admit it.

"...So as you can plainly see the isotopes react in such a way that-"

The doors of the underground conference room suddenly shuddered violently. Then they bent inward, the steel flexing and bending toward the rooms occupants. There was a aggravating screech as the door was ripped from its hinges and fell to the floor. A man dressed all in black stood in the doorway.

A hood obscured his face, and he simply stood there for amoment allowing everyone in the room to recognize his presence before stepping over the twisted remains of the door and into the room.

One of security guards stepped forward gun drawn.

"Sir I'm going to have to ask you to put your hands-" the man would never finish what he was saying. Sypher took hold of him by the throat and lifted him clear off the ground tossing him aside like a toy.

"I'll take that" He said pointing at the reactor. His voice distorted by the mask.

Allen was about to raise his hand to ask a question, when the soild steel doors of the room were smashed up with inhuman strength. Standing there in the door was a man dressed in black, with his face hidden under a hood. Allen was frozen in place as he watched the man walk in, and then fling the security guard like he was a rag doll. When the man said that he was taking the Zulu reactor, Allen quickly formulated a plan and moved into action.

“Well, sir, seeing as how you’re going to be the owner of this wonderful invention, let me congratulate you on a such a good investment,” Allen said, as he slowly walked forward and extended his hand. He put on his best businessman act (which was pretty convincing), and proceeded. “This device can make you a lot of money, especially from companies like the one I represent. On behalf of Arizona Public Services, I would like to put up a business proposition for you’re consideration. Both you and my company can profit from a partnership.”

Allen was hoping that this would catch the would-be thief off-guard. No one would expect that someone they were stealing from would try to offer a business partnership that could easily net millions of dollars with in a year’s time. When and if the man shook Allen’s hand, he would get a rather “shocking” experience. And if the man asked for Allen’s name, that would make all the better.

Sypher was nothing short of amazed when the man from Arizona approached him and offered his hand. Though he didn't take long to get over it.

He made as if to take the man's hand, and then punched him across the face. As his hand connected with the other guys skin he was suddenly in agony. Electric current ripping through his body like shrapnel through paper.

The shock probably saved the other man from the worst of Sypher's punch, he would like not have much more than a bruise. Sypher however collapsed to the ground, struggling to rise.

Allen didn’t expect the man to take the bait, so he already had a 5,000 volt charge built up, ready to discharge at a moment’s notice. The blow from the big man spun Allen around, leaving a nice welt on his face that looked like the man’s fist. After Allen successfully shook the stars away from his eyes, he turned around to find the man on the ground, as if he had just been shocked. That was something that Allen didn’t expect: the charge releasing automatically when he was hit. That was new to Allen. So it seemed that the sudden impact from the blow caused the 5,000 volts to discharge into the man without Allen’s knowledge. And it seemed this automatic reflex had helped keep Allen’s skull in one piece.

Taking the opportunity, Allen charged up, ready for a fight. Then he got an idea. He turned and went to the Zulu reactor, which the man was after. To the amazement of the other people still in the room, Allen created a box of raw electricity around the device, preventing anybody from getting their hands on it without having nearly 15,000 volts of electricity run through them.

Turning back to the people in the room, he smiled and said “You folks might want to get out of here. I have a feeling that things are going to get ugly. And don’t worry about me; I think I can handle him.” He was nearly at full charge now, as indicated by the hum and the snapping in the air of electricity discharging from his body. He had so much electricity built up, that if he released it at once, it would be like getting struck by lightning. The resulting bolt would fry anything in its path, scorching the air, and creating a massive thunder clap.

He turned back to face the man, as the rest of the people left through another exit. He waited for the big man to get back up.

DAMN IT THAT HURT! This guy had Zulu powers... he had to think, he hadn't planned for this, he needed a way to avoid actually hitting the guy. Then he remembered the steel door, if he threw it, it wouldn't form a circuit between him and electric man.

Lurching to his feet, he picked up the door, tossing it at the man with all his strength. He knew the door hit something, and he hoped it was the man, but he didn't have time to find out, he needed that reactor.

He saw the cage of electrical current, hmmmm the man would probably need to concentrate on the cage to maintain it, so in theory if he was distracted, by say a battle for his life? He might lose focus.

Allen saw the man jump to his feet, and throw the massive steel door. The space between them was great enough that he had time to react. He sent out a bolt of electricity to hit the door, changing its flight path so that it missed Allen by a good two feet, and the reactor by one.

He then saw that the man had noticed the electric cage around the reactor. He smiled and said, “You might want to reconsider taking the reactor. If you somehow manage to get you’re hands on it through the electricity, the second that reactor touches the cage, it’s fried; useless in other words. And in order to get rid of it, you’ll have to overload it, which is a very hard thing to do. No amount of distracting me will get rid of it.”

Allen was honest about the reactor getting fried if it was pulled out while the electric box was intact. But the truth about the other part was that Allen would have to be killed in order for it to drop. It was entirely self-contained, so even if Allen was simply knocked unconscious, it would remain. So, Allen braced for a fight, as the air hummed around him with electricity.

Jedi blaster8 wrote:

Allen saw the man jump to his feet, and throw the massive steel door. The space between them was great enough that he had time to react. He sent out a bolt of electricity to hit the door, changing its flight path so that it missed Allen by a good two feet, and the reactor by one.

He then saw that the man had noticed the electric cage around the reactor. He smiled and said, “You might want to reconsider taking the reactor. If you somehow manage to get you’re hands on it through the electricity, the second that reactor touches the cage, it’s fried; useless in other words. And in order to get rid of it, you’ll have to overload it, which is a very hard thing to do. No amount of distracting me will get rid of it.”

Allen was honest about the reactor getting fried if it was pulled out while the electric box was intact. But the truth about the other part was that Allen would have to be killed in order for it to drop. It was entirely self-contained, so even if Allen was simply knocked unconscious, it would remain. So, Allen braced for a fight, as the air hummed around him with electricity.

"For some reason I just don't believe you.... maybe because the Reactor is so well insulated from outside electrical discharges," Underneath his mask Sypher smiled, this man might think he was telling the truth but he should really do his research. " just a little feature they designed too stop it from being fried while being used near other sources of power."

And he should know, he had helped develop the insulator, and the Reactor for that matter, he just didn't have the materials necessary too replicate it. As black market Urainium was still slightly out of his price range. Smuggly, he thought of how shocked Shire Research would if it was to discover that James Lindel, on of their top minds and a part-time college proffessor was about to steal there most precious device.


"So how about this? You stand aside, let me take the reactor, and leave me alone, and I won't kill you or anyone else as I leave"

Allen heard the man speak. This guy seems to know a lot about this reactor. This company hasn’t released any information on this project until they announced to the world of electric companies that they had a new development. This presentation was the first time they gave out specific details, though Allen. The presentation must have been interrupted before they got to the topic about insulation, because I sure didn’t hear it. The only way this guy could know so much is if he had helped develop it. Let’s try to find out.

“It’s insulated, you say? What’s it rated to? How much electricity can it take before the insulation fails? And what if electricity was applied directly to it? If the insulation was designed to protect it from nearby power sources, then it’s designed to protect against ambient electrical sources, not direct,” said Allen. If the guy was able to answer, that would mean the guy knew too much to be some guy who had heard about it on the streets; it would mean he was actually on the development team. “And about you’re offer, it does have its benefits, but I’m going to have to decline. You’ll have a very hard time killing me, and you’ll have to actually take your time to find innocent people to kill, because I’m sure the building is empty by now.” As he finished this last sentence, the security alarms started to wail. Took them long enough.

Ethan was forced to step back as the man's fist connected with his jaw. He looked at the man as he ran the back of his right hand over it then smiled as he felt the slight twinge of energy run through him. He hated having to take this man's life force if that was what it was called but he had brought it on himself and Ethan had been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

All that he had wanted was a quiet night in this bar but as soon as he had walked into the place and seen all the fat drunken people fighting everywhere he knew that he wasn't so lucky. He had tried to remain anonymous and just move to a seat to get a drink but it was then that he had been grabbed by a man who was obviously having a bad day, the man who had just punched him again. He looked at the man as he raised his huge fist again and watched as it came down towards him in what seemed like slow motion.

Ethan just stood there and then at the last moment moved to catch the hand, surprising the larger man with his speed and now his strength. Ethan looked at the man's friends before he twisted the large man's hand, listening to his wrist snap. As soon as he let the man's hand go he dropped to his knees and let out a shout of agony that was quickly swallowed up by the fight in the bar.

He looked down at the man with a smirk on his face before turning to the man's friends and as soon as he did he saw the strand of white hair fall into view. Ethan let out a exasperated breath and wished that he really didn't see that but he just raised his hand and pushed it back before walked towards the man's friends. They quickly moved out of the way and Ethan knew that they were actually making a smart move as he made his way to the bar.

Before he could get to it however he was thrown forward by someone smashing a chair over his back. He began to slowly get to his feet, turned around just to see a young man holding what was left of the chair in his hands. Ethan grinned at the man before he grabbed him and with an ease he wouldn't have had before coming into this place picked him up and threw him over the bar and into the bottles at the back, causing the bar tender to duck.

Ethan stood there for a second, looking at the man as he slid down to the floor then moved slowly to it, sat down and slammed his hand down onto the top. It was then that the bar tender stood up, his eyes going wide as soon as he was face to face with Ethan.

"I do not want any trouble this night."

Ethan let out a laugh as he looked into the bartender's eyes.

"I think that it is a little late for that. I know that I won't be causing you any trouble though if you give me one thing. All I want is a shot of whiskey. If you give me that then I will be very happy."

The bartender moved quickly and the shot glass was in front of Ethan before he knew it but before he could raise it to his lips the front door of the bar opened and several police officers rushed in. They all started shouting at once and breaking up the fight which Ethan was quietly grateful for. All that he wanted was a drink; not to have another fight this night.

He started to raise his glass up to his lips again but before he could he felt a hand on his right shoulder and let out a sigh. As soon as he turned around he knew that he wasn't going to be able to finish his drink and his night had gotten worse as there before him was a police officer and the man who had attacked him.

"Is there a problem officer?" Ethan asked calmly.

"Yeah, there is. This man says that you attacked him."

If Ethan had been drinking he would have spat it out over the police officer's face which given the circumstances would not have been a good thing. He sat back and looked at the police officer's face as he tried hard not to laugh.

"I just came here for a drink and this man attacked me."

"And broke his own wrist and forearm? Tell me another story because if it is not convincing then I will take you in right now."

Ethan got to his feet and looked at the police officer.

"I can see that you are not going to believe me and I do not want to try and convince you of my innocence so you can take me in right now and be done with it. Does that sound good to you."

He turned around slowly and as soon as he felt the handcuffs being slapped around his wrists he smiled as he knew that he might be getting a good night's rest this night.



He sat back against the wall of the police cell and looked at everyone milling around him as if totally lost. He knew what it was like to look like that, even if he wasn't drunk as he had felt lost ever since he was eight, when he had thrown the poor boy across the play ground. He had run away as fast as his legs could carry him that day and his parents had been forced to put him into another school as his old one didn't want him there anymore.

He slowly closed his eyes, hoping that he would be able to get some sleep but a second later he felt the presence of the man sitting next to him and felt the shock run through him as soon as the man touched him. Ethan's eyes shot open to look at the man and wished that he hadn't been sitting in the corner of the cell. The man reached out to touch him again and Ethan could feel the build up of something between them, he swore that he could see it.

He quickly got to his feet and looked down at the man.

"Get away from me."

The man reached out to touch him again and Ethan pushed it away, his hand turning white as the ice crystals flew from it to embed themselves in the walls around him. At once all the people in the cell turned to look at Ethan as his hands began to go transparent and a fog formed around them. The man who had been touching Ethan stood quickly to stand in front of him and looked into his eyes.

"How did you get this power. I thought that I was the only one."

"You would not believe me if I told you."

The man smiled as he looked at Ethan, "You would be surprised."

Ethan opened his mouth to speak again but before he could he heard the footsteps of several people walking his way. Ethan looked at them and knew that this was not going to go well judging by the angry and fearful looks in there faces. He looked down at his hands and flexed them a little then looked at the crowd.

"Get away from me now."

They kept advancing on him and Ethan knew that there was only one thing that he could do, the one thing he didn't want to. He turned to the man, "Get behind me."

The man opened his mouth to argue but when he saw the look in Ethan's eyes he moved quickly behind him just as Ethan shouted out, "Get away from me!"

A sonic boom exploded in the cell and everyone was thrown through the air at the same time as the wall furthest from him exploded and was blown outwards. Ethan dropped to one knee and the first thing he saw was the other strands of white hair.

Liliana sat in her dorm room in relative silence, the only sound the soft song coming from the radio a few feet away. She'd been lucky enough to get her own room, her last roomie having killed herself, unable to bear the strain and stress of being in such a demanding school. It had left Lily shaken, but she'd mostly recovered after finding the body of her roommate hanging in the closet from where she'd hung herself from the clothes bar.

Lily's mismatched eyes flickered back to the closet and she grimaced, swallowing hard as she remembered that it had been like to find the swollen, purple face of the other college student, eyes glassy and devoid of life. Shuddering, she tore her eyes away but still the image of the other girl lingered in her mind's eye. Taunting her. The girl had been quiet and withdrawn, and Lily had left her be, reasoning that she was like her and enjoyed her privacy. Now young Ms. Shire found herself wishing every day that she'd taken the time to talk to her. Maybe if she'd had an outlet, a friend, someone to listen... Caroline DuPont would still be alive.

Swiping a stray tear away from her fair skinned cheek, she dropped her book on the bed and rose. She had to get out of the room... out of the building. She needed to clear her head, to get some fresh air flowing into her lungs. Lily could only hope it would work to help rid her of the horrid images that haunted her dreams.

Shrugging on her trench coat, she tugged on her black silk gloves as well, then grabbed her keys and pushed out of the door, sure to lock it behind her. Her arms crossing over her chest, she hurried down the hall, the stairwell, the out one of the side doors, hearing the electronic lock beep as the door swung back into place. Taking a long, shuddering breath, she allowed her mismatched eyes to close as the cool crisp air of the evening fill her lungs.

A minute later she was walking along the side walk, gloved hands shoved into her pockets, a pair of purple-lensed, black framed glasses over her mismatched eyes, hair hanging in it's usual long ringlets down her back to her knees. Her boots thudded on the sidewalk as she approached the bus stop, and just as she stepped up in front of it, the bus pulled in. She let out a soft sigh of relief. Just in time. Now she wouldn't have to pay some ridiculous amount for cab fare into the city.

Dropping her money into the tray, she made her way to an empty seat toward the back, sitting down and keeping her eyes on the floor as the bus pulled onto the street.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Half an hour later, Liliana shire stepped off the buss onto the side walk in one of the outskirt neighborhoods of New York City. She could have stayed on the bus and kept going deeper in, but she had no desire to continue sitting there, listening to the annoying hum of the fluorescent bulbs above her head. Instead, she simply shoved her hands back into her pockets and went about her merry way, ignoring the occasional passer by.

Some offered her drugs, others offered weapons, and still more seemed to whisper soft cat-calls. She didn't care, she ignored them all and just kept walking. The cool breeze that came down the wind-tunnel created by the buildings brushed at her hair, which hung down her back almost like a cloak. Between it and her coat, she was all a flutter, the coat parting to reveal the red form-fitting t shirt she wore and the basic, loose fitting black jeans which were tucked into her boots.

Chewing her lower lip, she found herself soon passing by a dark alley... not the first one of the evening, admittedly. But this time was different. She felt the arm around her waist and the other clamped over her mouth before she saw her attacker. They dragged her back into the alley, squirming and kicking in an effort to break free, before throwing her roughly against the brick wall of a building. She whimpered in pain as her head connected with the rock-hard surface, leaving her a little dazed.

The small almost snap-like sound of a switch blade coming free of it's sheath met her ears and she forced her eyes to focus on the man before her through the lenses of her glasses. He pointed the knife at her, then suddenly was on her, his body pressed against hers, pinning her to the wall as the knife found its way up to her throat.

"Keep your mouth shut and I wont kill you," he whispered harshly, his breath smelling of alcohol and smoke. She could only whimper, fear causing her to stand there docilely. It wasn't until one of his grubby hands was tugging at the button of her jeans that panic set in.

"No... n-no!" she cried, one hand coming up to grab his own where it held the knife. She felt the blade begin to cut into her skin, however only slightly, just enough to draw blood.

Blue surrounded her gloves and an instant later, they disintegrated around her fair hand, and the knife followed suit, dissolving in the man's grasp. Her knee came up in a flash, aimed for his crotch. He fell with a howl, and she didn't waist any further time on him, but instead simply took off down the alley, back onto the street.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Collapsing outside the door of the apartment, Lily curled into a ball, her lungs burning. She'd been running for what felt like forever, stopping only long enough at a phone booth to check a listing in the book, before taking off again.

And it was at that listing that she now sat in the hall, her side pressed to the door, her head resting against it as she gasped for breath. He wasn't home, she knew... he hadn't answered when she'd rung the bell or knocked. Hopefully he'd be home soon. She wasn't sure she could brave the streets again to take the bus back to campus.

She could only pray he wouldn't blame her for coming here, to his home. He was a teacher, after all. But he was one of the only people she trusted enough to go to with her problems. And even though he wasn't aware of her powers, she would definitely say that showing them in front of someone on the street definitely qualify as a problem.

"The files I took off the upstairs computer didn't go that far into it... I don't really know, but it's resistance is upwards of 40,000 volts..." This was of course a lie. The machine was designed to absorb electric charges exceeding 9,000 volts, but he hoped the man would try to ruin the machine in hopes of denying him his prize.

"FREEZE!" Several police officers in riot gear wielding automatic weapons burst into the room. "HANDS UP! DON'T EITHER OF YOU MOVE!"

Sypher nearly laughed. They were clearly new at this, their every movement was straight out a training manual. They spread out flanking him and his fellow would-be combatant.

"Looks like you win this time" He said to the electric man. Two police officers approached his back on either side. The larger of the two was just reaching out to take hold of his raised right hand, when his elbow crashed into the mans face.

He spun taking hold of the man and charge of situation. Blood was gushing from the man's face and down onto Sypher's sleeve. The blow had shattered the mans face, leaving him on the ground sobbing and wheezing.

The next officer didn't get off so easily, he became a humanoid projectile. Soaring through the air toward the would-be hero, screams of the flying man filled the room. The Automatic rifle of the third cop blazing as Sypher disappeared out the door shouting back at them

"Good bye Electrode remember that the definition of a hero is someone who gets people killed!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

20 minutes later Sypher was nearly home, the building had been easy to escape with all the police flooding into the basement. He sincerely hoped that the electric man would have to spend the night in lock up. He climbed in through his window shedding his mask and tossing it onto the bed.

His arm was still soaked in blood, made him glad he was currently single, having a woman about could seriously complicate-

"Liliana?" He said, stepping into his living room, blood soaked black sleeve and all. "How did you get in here?"

After an hour... perhaps two, Lily had finally gotten tired of the weird looks people were giving her as she sat in the outside hallway. So, on a last ditch effort, she tried the door. Unlocked... she thought with relief. Praying he wouldn't have her arrested, she'd let herself in, eyes searching he dark living room as she locked the door behind her, then stumbled to the couch. A moment later, she was curled up on it, her trench coat draped over her like a blanket, more for the comfort than the warmth.

She was half asleep when he entered... Far too groggy to notice that he'd come in through the window. Her glasses had been taken off at some point, and now were on the coffee table across from the couch. Leveling her tired, mismatched eyes on him she felt tears well up.

How did she get in? "The door was unlocked... I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't have..." she said softly, her voice trembling as tears slid down her cheeks. "But I didn't know where else to go." She looked down at her hands... her bare hands. No gloves. How long had it been since she'd gone without them in public? Certainly since before she moved here for school. It wasn't that they saved people from her powers, but they made her feel less self-conscious.

And of course she'd destroyed them when she'd disintegrated that knife. What would he say if she told him about her powers? Taking in a deep breath, she felt the skin on her neck stretch with the movement, and tiny shocks of pain slid through her body. A hand lifted, fingers brushed over her neck, came away bloody. It had been a closer call than she'd realized.

"Hold on!" James ran into his bedroom, once again the kind, considerate, teacher. Shedding his blood soaked shirt he snatched the first aid kit from his closet. Pulling on a plain black shirt, he walked briskly into the room. Laying the kit on the coffee table he snapped it open and pulled out a bottle of disinfectant and a cotton cloth.

Gently he pushed her hands away and lifted her chin. There was a shallow gash, about 3 inches long, trickling blood down her chest. It looked alot worse than it was because of the amount of dried blood. Clicking open the first aid kit, James took out a bottle disinfectant, and a cotton cloth.

Pouring some of the disinfectant onto the cloth, James began to carefully clean away the dried blood. He reallly needed to start locking his doors...

"Now, why don't you tell me what happened?"

"I was out... Just needed to get out of the dorm, is all. And since that car took out the front of the pizza place on campus, there's nowhere to eat, so I came into the city, figured I'd grab a bite. Some guy tried to..." Tears were still sliding down her cheeks as she watched him wipe at the cut, to clean away the dried blood. "I'm not sure what he wanted... didn't stick around to find out," she whispered.

"I ran all the way here," she said softly. "I just didn't think I could stay out there..." She wiped at the tears on her cheeks, sniffling, lowering her eyes with a soft sigh. "I'm sorry, I probably shouldn't have come... but the cops don't do anything about stuff like that. Besides... they'd want to know how I got away."

Her eyes lowered to her hands, watching as the moonlight filtered in through the windows, landing on them and more tears fell from her eyes. She fought back the sob that threatened to come from her lips, clenching her eyes shut. Admitting defeat, she let out the sob and bowed her head, effectively cutting off his access to the cut on her neck.

James sighed, great less than two weeks ago this girl had lost her roommate. Discovering the girls dead body in her closet, and then she had nearly been raped. All of sudden he very much regretted becoming a teacher.

"It's alright, don't worry about it, you know your welcome here anytime Lily" Again he lifted her chin, wiping more of blood away so that he could dress the wound. "This is a nasty little cut, after we get you cleaned up do you want me to drive you back to the dorm? Knowone has to know about what happened, this isn't the first time you've come to see me in the evening for whatever reason"

Lily visiting him had of course made work alittle less pleasant, she was an amazing student, and he was quite certain that one day her knowledge of Radioactivity would far surpass his own. She came to visit when she wanted to run theories by him or get some additional research material, but of course some of the staff questioned the morality of such "Visits". He had already recieve half a dozen lectures or more from one teacher or another.

He always maintain that her visits were always strictly about school, and of course they always had been. Until now, he supposed.

Lily waited while he cleaned the wound on her neck, not giving a single sign that it hurt to have him wiping at the cut like that. He didn't ask how she'd gotten away, and that made her feel even more guilty about the fact that she hadn't told him. And then he was offering to take her back to the dorm, reasoning that no one needed to know what had happened.

But could she go back to that room without the images of Caroline's bloated face haunting her? Probably not, she reasoned. Not after the night she'd had. What if that guy decided to go to the cops? What if some one found out about her? What would she do then?

After he'd dressed the wound on her neck, she sighed. "I want to show you something, professor..." she said softly, before pushing off the couch. She walked to the entertainment center, picked up a pencil he'd at some point left laying there, and brought it back to him. Sitting down on the couch, she focused on the object in her hand.

After a few seconds, the pencil took on a bluish glow before suddenly disintegrating into a pile of dust. And then that dust disintegrated, and after a few more seconds, there was nothing left in her hand. Lifting almost guilty looking mismatched eyes to look up at him, she bit her lower lip.

"That's how I got away..." There was a long pause, and she stood from the couch, moving to look at herself in the mirror hanging on his wall. "Can I stay here?" she asked, looking back at him. "Just... just for tonight?"

James watched the pencil disintergrate with fascination. This girl had Zulu powers. For just a moment he was once again the cold calculating Sypher. He could put this girls abilities to great use! But no, James decided, at least not yet. She would need to be carefully conditioned, and trained, her powers explored. Most of all, he would need to gain her absolute trust. Starting with tonight.

"Lily I think it would be rather dangerous for you not to stay tonight" James said gravely. "Did that man survive your encounter?"

James' mind was racing, this was perfect, just what he needed to combat the Electric man! If she could use her powers from a distance he could have her simply rip him apart. He had always thought of her as having amazing potential, it had just doubled. He would have to be careful though, for the most part Lily was a strong, confidant young woman, without a vain bone in her body. That would make her hard to manipulate.

Then again, maybe he wouldn't have too manipulate her. If he could convince her to join him outright, to assist in his efforts, the world could be their's on a platter.

Did he survive? Of course he'd survived! Lily couldn't even imagine killing someone, let alone actually doing it. And she wasn't sure she was strong enough to actually kill someone anyway. She nodded in response to his question, looking back at her reflection in the mirror. Her own mismatched violet and green eyes stared back at her, lost and lonely. She'd never felt quite like such a child before... having to turn to someone, unsure how to handle a situation she'd gotten herself into.

Why had she panicked like that? Why didn't she just let him have what he'd wanted from her? He could have taken it and left her alone... Another tear slid down her cheek and then the sudden realization dawned on her. Turning wide eyes on him, she looked worried, almost sick with panic. "What if he tells someone about me?" she whispered, a small, frightened whimper escaping her.

"If people found out... Well... I mean... you've seen how people react to things as simple as an illness they don't understand... Professor... what I can do... I can actually kill someone. Not that I would, but they wouldn't understand that... They could put me away, saying I'm a threat to society." She was trembling, staring at her hands, and not for the first time, she felt ashamed for something she couldn't help.

Another sob left her and without thinking, she crossed the room to him, burying her face in his chest as she slid her arms around him, clinging to him and crying. The fear was sending tremors through her, her entire body was shaking.

Allen listened to the man with a small grin. Little did the man know that Allen was capable of unleashing millions of volts in a single strike.

And then the police rushed in. This distracted the man, and taking the opportunity, Allen silently, and discreetly, left a small electric charge on the man that would not fade, nor would it be noticed by anyone, even the big man; only Allen would be able to detect it. If the man did somehow notice it, it would feel like a small tingling sensation, located on the man’s right hand. If the two of them were to ever cross paths again, Allen would instantly recognize him, disguise or not.

Then mayhem broke out as the man smashed the face of one of the officers, and then launched another in Allen’s direction. Reacting quickly, Allen created a net of electricity to catch the officer. Allen made sure that the electricity wouldn’t discharge into the officer; he wasn’t about to be accused of hurting an officer of the law. The net managed to halt the officer’s flight slow enough that he didn’t feel like he had hit a wall, but fast enough that he stopped before reaching Allen. Allen set the man down gently, and then dissipated the electricity. He himself sent the charge that he had built up harmlessly into the surrounding environment. The officers wouldn’t have noticed, except that the air around Allen had stopped humming.

Smiling innocently, Allen put his hands forward, palms up, to show he meant no harm. And then he waited.

"Lily calm down" James said softly. "Knowone is going to lock you up, I won't let them, and besides who would you believe? A upstanding young woman attending one of the states finest schools, or a grubby thug?"

The thought of it nearly made him laugh. She was mess right now, poor girl. Her mismatched eye's wide in fear, he wrapped his arms around her softly, as a big brother would to a frightened younger sister.

"Besides, your not the only one with abnormal abilities you know..."