001.1 Chapter One - A Night at Jessica's

Seemingly out of nowhere, a large cockroach crawls onto the bar table. Richard puts his hand down and let's it climb on his arm.
"Powers are great and all but a roomful of guys with guns is still going to win against the insect freak any day of the week. What makes you powerful in the zone is not this..." He gestures towards Jack's invisible hand. "...It's your connections. You would be nothing in here without your contacts. And Alexis would be dead without mine. It's not my powers keeping her alive. It's who I know."

While Jack and Richard are talking at the bar, a monster of a man pushes right past them, shoving them both against the bar, spilling both their drinks. One side of his face is a mass of scar tissue, and he stares forward toward the stage area. He is wearing a bulky, well-worn, army jacket over a dirtry t-shirt, and loose, patched grey pants tucked into tightly-tied army boots. It's not an unusual outfit for this area, but it seems dirtier than most of the patrons, and definitely makes him stand out on 1940's night.

He continues on without a word of apology, advancing across the bar area toward the stage. In his single-mindedness, he hits a man who spins away, spilling his drink, and brushes past a woman in a short dress who falls back onto the ground, legs splayed out, a shocked look on her pretty face.

"Cool trick," Will says, feigning disinterest. In truth, the entire phenomena fascinates him.

His mind has been racing with possibilities since the infection ravaged the community. What was the virus? How did it spread? Why did it kill some, leave some disabled, and grant others superhuman powers? He had spent many nights borrowing Veronica's computers and lab facilities trying to find answers. He had reached out to his division at Wanneng and given them some information, even had blood and tissue samples smuggled out to his researchers, but so far they hadn't told him anything more than he had been able to figure out on his own.

Will looked at Veronica as she spoke. "Of course they're scared. They have no idea what they're dealing with. It's all about control. If someone has more power than you, or power you don't understand, you need to crush it, contain it, find a way to control it. You don't just let it out in the streets to find its own way.

"We're guinea pigs. We're being watched, studied, cataloged. Once they find a way to disable or control superhuman powers, then the quarantine will be lifted. Until then, we're a threat to the status quo."

Will looks around the table. "Trust me, I have a little bit of experience with the politics of the one percent."

Richard curses as the man walks into him and makes him spill the new drink he just got. He turns around to looks at the man. Richard has seen plenty of guys like him - scarred, bulky, intimidating appearance. It's usually a 50/50 shot between if it's all show or if they can actually back up that look with real strength. From the way this guy is trying to assert dominance with his powerwalk, Richard decides that this guy is probably more show than strength.
"Hey, scarface!", he yells, trying to get the man's attention. "You need any help? Did they not let you take your seeing-eye dog in?"

"More power HA ! Your mom has more power then any of us, the lives of her employees is in her hands, and political careers rise and fall at her command. How can we possibly be more powerful then the one percent. Besides you try to control anything it will strive for freedom from that control. Better to make friends with us then lock us in an ungilded cage. Sorry Will I guess I am still upset about being in here. I was just getting ready to see the world and colonies and now I might be locked up here for who knows how long."

Scarface glances back over his shoulder when Richard yells, which makes him pause just enough for the guy he spun away to get right in his face. The man is pointing at his half empty glass, face to face with Scarface, screaming about buying him a new drink. His friends have stepped back a half step each, clearly expecting things to turn physical.

Scarface looks at the angry young man without changing expression, and then shoves him. From where Richard and Jack sit, it looks like Scarface just extends his arm to the side without exerting much effort, but the effects are devastating. The angry man is propelled backward like he's been shot, moving so fast he is driven right into his ring of friends. Two of them are caught in his wake as he continues back through the crowd, knocking people, chairs, and tables aside or forcing them back along with him until they strike the wall next to a booth. The unconscious bodies and broken chairs collapse in a heap on the floor, leaving a clear path from the mound of carnage back to the ugly man in the army coat.

He doesn't even look to see what damage he's done, merely puts his hand up next to his face, flips the finger to Richard over his shoulder, and then continues on his way.

As people come to the edge of the balcony to watch the fighting below, security moves to intercept this obvious troublemaker. Two young men in black suits converging on him from the front, one off the the left, the other from directly ahead. One's head is shaved bald, multicolored dance lights reflecting off his pale skin. The other wears his hair in a mass of short dreads and bares his teeth. They seem loose, ready for a fight, and unconcerned about this newcomer.

Richard gets up from his chair at the bar. He's not planning to get involved in a fight, especially not here. First, this bar is run by Xinjen and he doesn't want to pop up on their radar more than necessary, and second, he doesn't want to risk getting kicked out or even banned from Jessica's.
Still, this guy is definitely a super and if he's making trouble, Richard might be forced to intervene. Eli and Veronica are in here somewhere and he can't risk either of them getting hurt. Same with Jack. As much as Richard would like to see that guy's face kicked in, he needs him.

Before Jack can answer that in the future everyone will be as connected as he is, the scarred man pushes through the crowd. Jack immediately offers help to the woman that was knocked down. "Are you ok miss?" he asks as he offers to pull her back up in a very noticeable way. Richard couldn’t say he wasn’t capable of selflessly helping those in need now, could he? His grand gesture is interrupted as the other man goes flying into the tables and chairs. "Another super?" he thinks as he studies the brute moving away and the two securities moving in, waiting to see what the newcomer would do.

"What is that maniac doing ? Hey stop hurting people !" Veronica called down to the mad man.

Will jumps up and rushes to the railing. He doesn't know why, but he's suddenly afraid for Veronica, worried that she might have just drawn the attention of the hulking brute. He watches as the security team gets ready to take on the intruder and wonders if his power to negate those of others will be able to help against this man.

Eli gets up and calmly walks to the rail. Looking down at the mysterious goon, Eli flashes a wry grin on his face. They're going to need help, want me to go down there?

When Veronica appears and calls the man out, Richard tenses up. He closes his eyes and mentally calls some allies towards him. Within moments, a small group of mosquitoes is circling around him. They may not look dangerous but with Richard guiding them, they can be more threatening than one would think.

The man did not turn to attack Richard after his comment before but if he decides to go after Veronica now, Richard will intervene without a second of hesitation.

Malachi steps to the railing, looking down at the two security guards closing on the scarred intruder. He shakes his head at Veronica's outburst.

"No need to worry, ma petite ami. My boys got this," he says, his voice filled with swagger. He turns and smiles at Eli, cocky, some might say overconfident. "Watch."

As he points to his security guards, they move in, confronting the scarred stranger.

"Sorry Malachi, those people might have been really hurt." Veronica says as she just watches as he said.

Richard watches silently, hoping the guards have it under control but prepared to strike at any moment if it looks like there might be danger to his friends.

The stranger pauses, looking from one to the other of the two security men. He seems less worried and more annoyed.

The security guard with the short dreadlocks steps forward, fists up, and as the lights flicker briefly in the club, what appears to be electricity crackles along his knuckles. "Let's take this outside, big fella," he says, as lightning dances around his fists.

The second guard shows no physical sign of powers manifesting, but he also steps forward, appearing confident.

The scarred man shakes his head slowly and steps forward, raising his hands as if to fight. Electricity crackles as the dreadlocked security guard moves in, feinting to the left, then swinging right, but the scarred man blocks the blow as if they had choreographed it and he knew it was coming. There is a flash of electric energy, then the guard swings again, is blocked again, and gets slammed backward by a simple push to the chest. He flies backward, striking the wall hard enough that the loud crack could be the wall or bone, then slumps to the ground.

As he flies back, his partner moves in, swinging hard. His fist connects with the scarred man's head, spinning it to one side. The scarred man turns slowly back to stare at the guard, getting his feet under him, and the two rush each other. Fists fly and the sound of them striking each other is reminiscent of a martial arts movie, hit after hit, neither seeming hurt, neither wanting to back down. The guard is methodical, obviously trained, and does his best to move the fight toward an exit. But the scarred man is also quite skilled, his moves become more focused as the fight goes on. Soon, the scarred man gets the upper hand, the guard takes two hard hits, drops to one knee, and then finds a knee in his chin, followed quickly by an elbow to the back of his head. He drops like a puppet whose strings have been cut.

The scarred man looks up to the balcony. He points slowly up toward Malachi's group, his finger aimed directly at one person.

He points straight at Eli, then restarts his steady stride toward the stairs.

"Eli, take your sister and get the hell out of here!", Richard yells while simultaneously sending his mosquitoes after the man. Scarface seems tough but the not quite natural insects' poison should still be strong enough to take him out.