At last! a new chapter! Sorry about the wait, computer and personal problems and...bleh.
Standard disclaimer rules apply, expect for the following: Kelly, Ravage, Melina, Switchblade, Plague and Frequency
Night in New York was always the same, when the evil crept out of the wood work, so did the heroes. It was almost as if the night time New York where another dimension.
For the girl known as 'Frequency', it was.
"She's here, she has to be…" she said to her self, climbing out from the dumpster she'd landed in, looking around. Frequency wore black metallic armour, with what looked like wires making up the joints in her arms, wrists, shoulders and legs. Her silver hair shone in the moonlight, along with her pale skin. Her eyes shone a icy blue as she looked at her surroundings.
"Well, this is certainly more roomy than Angel Island" she said looking up to the top of the alley. Frequency activated her stealth camouflage and walked into the street. She sighed in relief when she saw that the street was mostly empty, the occasional homeless guy or dealer, even more unlikely was the girl with black and blond streaks in her hair walking down the road. Frequency frowned when she saw her.
"Switchblade?" she said in the girls direction, as the girl got into a taxi.
That's even better than I hoped, the two of them are here, she thought, as someone walked past her, they must have settled their differences. Frequency walked around a corner.
She watched as a teenager goth-girl walked up the street, "Cas…" she started, but stopped when she realised that this girls hair was too short, she also noticed that she looked very ill. "Damn it," she said, when she realised that the girl wasn't the one she was looking for. Of all the people I need, it had to be her, Maybe I should start by checking any sudden body counts at the morgue... she said to herself. Frequency watched the girl, then yelped in surprise when she was pulled into an ally. She stood rooted to the spot for a few seconds, then felt her legs move, by the time she realised, she was halfway across the street.
Be the heroine for once, instead of a villain she thought as she reached the alley.
"What's going on in…There!?" she said, ending in surprise as a man ran out,
"Monster! Monster!" he shouted as he ran off, his jacket aging and disintegrating as he ran.
Frequency clenched her fist, and a blue light emitted from it.
"What ever is happening here, I am going to stop it!" she shouted, My God. What a tacky hero line she thought as she moved quickly towards the end of the alley. "Where's the girl?!" she shouted, grabbing a shoulder, and spun it. Except it disintegrated, and she was faced with a jawless skull. "AHH!" she screamed turning to her right, and saw the cause of the skeleton.
A figure in a gasmask, with long stringy black hair flowing over a faded and torn khaki-drab trench coat, was holding another man up by the throat, and said man was rotting away, until his remains fell to the floor. Frequency only looked on, horrified, finally putting the pieces together. The eyes flicking back between the girl and the gas masked figure.
"Y…You!? Kruze?!" she said, her eyes wide in disbelief. The girl looked up at Frequency as if she had called her name. The figure in the gasmask turned its head towards Frequency as well. The eyes narrowing in the lenses. Frequency suddenly felt weak, and couldn't keep standing. "Sky…lar…" she said weakly.
"That's not my name anymore, you know that, call me how everyone back home calls me" said Skylar, her rasping voice creeping from behind the mask.
"Plague…" said Frequency, as she passed out. Plague smirked under her mask, then turned to the girl pressed up against the corner of the alley. "Don't be afraid…" Plague began, offering her hand out to the girl, the girl took it, and began to feel faint, then she suddenly felt awake, the illness she had seemed to have gone. "Wh…what? I'm…What happened?" she said, in disbelief.
"Don't worry, the illness inside of you is now gone, Go home…Skylar" Plague said, watching as the girl ran up into the street and up the road. As she walked past Frequency, a rubber pipe swinging left to right, along with the hangman's noose tied around her neck, she kicked her in the shoulder. "You not the only one looking for our good 'friend' Castle" she said.
"So…How'd you get into this business" asked Ravage, his 'head' pointed towards Spidergirl.
Kelly's head was turned the other way mumbling about Ravage being too inquisitive.
The trio where sitting on the roof of a abandoned building, looking out over the skyline.
"Well, I was born with these…powers, when I turned 16, they started working, kind of," said May, looking at her hands. "What about you?" she asked.
"Me? I'm a symbiote, I was always like this" said Ravage
"I was asking Kelly" said May, giggling. Ravage smirked,
"I don't want to talk about it" said Kelly turning towards May, "Ever."
The look on her face gave the impression she was deadly serious. Kelly hadn't turned to look at her fully in the face, but she had turned slightly and tilted her head. Her eyes said everything.
May looked a little taken back, "Ok, I was just wondering, that's all" Kelly, twitched and turned towards May.
"Sorry May, It hurts, for me. Y'know?" said Kelly, smiling. May smiled back,
"Yeah, Its ok Kelly, don't have to tell me if you don't want to".
Kelly chuckled, "Call me 'Kel', May, it's easier"
They sat in silence for a few minutes, until May asked Kelly what she had been wanting to for a while, "What's it like, Kel?"
"What's what like?" asked Kelly turning back towards May.
"Killing someone…what does it feel like?" said May, not sure of where to look, Kelly's gaze made her feel awkward.
"How do you mean? Shooting them or tearing their head off?" said Kelly, in a tone as if May had asked her what her favourite colour was.
"E…Either" said May, feeling her eyes widen.
"Well, when I shot someone for the first time, I didn't feel anything, I was so angry with them I didn't…I felt cold. As for the head thing, that's different, I just close my eyes so I don't have to look at them," Kelly looked up to the night sky.
"I can't describe it May, I was trained to kill, Sorry" she finished. Kelly's answer had given May more questions, but she kept them to herself for now.
"Ok, thanks anyway, Kel" she said, hoping Kelly would return her smile.
Kelly sighed, rubbing her hands together. "It never comes off…" she said
"What doesn't?" May was wondering if she meant Ravage.
"The blood, it never washes away" said Kelly.
"How do mean?" asked May, watching as Ravage slid off Kelly's hands, revealing them to be clean.
"It's something to do with Ravage, blood doesn't stick to him, it drains though onto my hands" said Kelly, sighing, "maybe its to remind me that I'm the one killing, not him"
"Do you have a problem with killing people?" asked May. Kelly stared directly ahead of her.
"Do you see that dealer down there?" she asked.
May looked down into the street, "Yeah…" she answered carefully, Kelly did scare her, and she was careful about answering the older girl, incase she suddenly turned on her. May found Kelly like a jack-in-the-box, ready to spring at any second.
"I could swing down there, tear him to pieces with my bare hands, and not even blink" said Kelly, so calmly that it had caused May to shift away from her. Kelly looked as if there was a slight smile on her mouth.
A few minutes of awkward silence followed. Kelly was sitting stock still and May was looking around. "Where are you from?" she finally asked.
"Another planet"
"I was asking Kelly" said May smiling, Kelly smirked as Ravage answered. Kelly didn't answer, but a smile worked its way across her face. Ravage's head had disappeared.
May wondered if they where talking inside Kelly's head again. "I was born in Alaska" Kelly said, cricking her neck, "I take it your from New York?" she asked, already knowing May's answer.
"Yeah, Long way from home for you" May answered standing up and stretching.
"Long way from home…something like that" repeated Kelly, look out over the skyline. The long silence was broken by Ravage's voice.
"So, we're going swinging, Coming?" said Kelly as her head was covered by Ravage. Kelly stood on the edge of the roof with her back facing the street below.
"Tell us something May…" said Ravage as Kelly outstretched her arms.
"What's that?" asked May. The suit slid from Kelly's face, Kelly looked deadly serious as she stared into May's eyes.
"What's it feel like to be a ghost?" asked Kelly as she fell backwards from the roof.
"KELLY!" shouted May, running towards the edge, as she reached the edge, Kelly swung up and knocked May onto her back, straddling her waist and pinning her arms above her head. Ravage's face stopped centimetres from May's own. "Did you actually think we trusted you?" asked Ravage. May went to speak, but the razor sharp teeth had already closed around her neck…
"MAYDAY!"
May's eyes snapped open and found herself staring at Ravage and Kelly, both had the same kind of look on their faces. One of Kelly's eyebrows was raised and one of Ravage's patch-like eyes where narrowed. "Wha? Oh, sorry daydreaming" said May, pulling her mask onto her head.
"Well, a few police cars just went speeding by, think we should go check up on it?"
May wasn't sure if Kelly meant herself and Ravage, or all three of them.
"Or are you still daydreaming?" Ravage and Kelly's sarcastic question made May twitch.
"Smart ass"
"C'mon, Spidergirl" laughed Ravage as Kelly dived into the street, May close behind her. May was amazed by how fast Ravage moved, keeping up with the speeding police cars with ease. May was struggling to keep up. She could move when she had to, but she always checked incase something messed up and she did a face plant into the sidewalk. She looked ahead, Ravage was gone. Had they gone on ahead, or taken a side street? Just as May tried to swing onto a building to get her bearings, something slammed into her. May felt her speed increase, she turned her head and looked into Ravage's left eye. "Am I too fast for you?" Ravage was asking the question, His voice dominating over Kelly's. May tried to speak, but felt the air leave her lungs when Ravage dropped towards the street, head first. Ravage had pinned Mays' arms to her sides, and she could appreciate the strength of the symbiote when she tried to move, and didn't move an inch. May swore she could hear Kelly screaming his name as they fell. Ravage just grinned.
"If man where meant to fly, would God have given him wings?" he asked. May went to launch a desperate web-line, until they jerked to a halt, their heads inches from the street.
"Or did God plan for things like us?" said Ravage as they shot up from the gawping crowds.
May felt her stomach lurch. "You cut that a little close?" said May, feeling the adrenaline pumping through her system. "That's nothing, I only do it because Kel's an adrenaline junkie" said the symbiote. May raised an eyebrow underneath her mask as the line Ravage had used to stop them falling sank into his back.
May was used to swinging, but the fact she wasn't in control of it made her uneasy, Ravage seemed reckless, but May had never moved so fast by swinging in her life. Ravage still had that insane smile he always wore, occasionally humming a non-existent tune. May also noticed that his body had changed, It was bigger. It didn't cling to Kelly's body, now it was like a mans body, like a less muscle built version of Venom, but the toned pure muscle of Ravage's body made up for his lack of bulk in his chest and shoulders.
"So…is…Kelly in control now?" asked May as they turned a corner sharply.
"Kinda" answered Ravage, stopping. May looked down and saw that they where close to the cop cars.
"Don't move" said Ravage. May looked down to see the symbiote start to stretch over her suit as well as Kelly. "What are you doing?" she hissed, not wanting to give them away to the police.
"Magic, I can make you disappear" before May could ask what he meant, she noticed her arm had gone. Ravage was turning them invisible, reflecting what was behind him onto his body. It wasn't perfect, but no one would notice in the low light. May inhaled sharply as she felt the symbiote crawl over her head. They watched the cops intently, hanging on every word.
"God, It stinks in there, I didn't see the point in bringing forensics down here, there's nothing left"
"Well, the guys skeleton is there, dental records man"
"Suppose, But did you hear them? They said they had decomposed, Surely someone must have noticed two bodies someti…"
"Three"
"What?"
"There where three bodies, apparently there was a girl as well, one of those Supes I think"
May listened to the brief description of the girl that had apparently been at the crime scene. Black-sliver hair, blue eyes, and an armoured, cybernetic-like body. May didn't know anyone like that, unless it was someone new. Ravage growled next to her.
"What is it?" whispered May, looking to her left even though she couldn't see him.
"It's Frequency, and we have a bad feeling about who the other was" Kelly and Ravage where speaking now.
"Frequency?"
"An old friend of ours"
"Who's the other one?" asked May, Ravage growled.
"You don't want to know, hopefully we're wrong"
"No, I'm not" said Melina, looking into the bathroom mirror. Her hair was wet, having just gotten out of the shower. She had pulled on her jeans, but didn't bother to do the top button up and had a towel draped over her shoulders so that it covered her chest. Dwayne wasn't in, and neither was Kelly, but May covered herself from the thing that was her reflection.
"Oh, Melina, Melina, Melina!"
"Shut up!" shouted Mel pointing at the mirror.
"Can't get over the fact, we're the same?"
"I'm not the same as you!"
"Oh but you are Mel, Your me, I'm you"
"Switchblade, I swear to God…" said Mel, holding the bridge of her nose. Switchblade smirked in the mirror. He had a similar head shape to Ravage, but that was where the similarity ended. Switchblades mouth which was pulled into a constant smile, like Ravage's, was full of misshapen shark-like teeth. Where Ravage had one set of tendons to keep his jaw from opening to far, Switchblade had two. Bone plates spread from the front of his Raptor like head and arched back over his head and neck like a carapace. His eyes where similar to Ravage, only with a red iris and slit-like pupil that looked like a lizards eye. His overall proportions where huge, and dwarfed many heroes. Switchblade was a monster, An un-official failed experiment that resulted from a clone of Ravage and two other cloned symbiotes then combined with Switchblade. The result was giving an already powerful, and completely insane symbiote, more power and strength he'd ever dreamed of.
"I thought you didn't believe in him?" Switchblade asked calmly, almost snobby, looking at his talon-like claws.
"I don't, If he did, he wouldn't let you exist" said Melina. Switchblade growled and chuckled at the same time. "Oh, But I am here, aren't I Melina…Hey, maybe I'm God?" he said, smirking.
"Switchblade. How, the fuck, are you my reflection?" asked Mel leaning on the sink and closing her eyes.
"Oh, Is this better?" asked Switchblade.
Mel opened her eyes and saw herself reflected in the mirror, her brief second of relief was gone when she noticed the huge withering black mass behind her.
"S…Switchblade?" she asked, as his massive forearms closed around her body.
"Boo"
Melina froze. The only way Switchblade could form in any way was if he shattered every bone in Mel's body and then changing it into his own. "How…"
"Mel…I don't really need to break you" Switchblade said sarcastically, looking down at his host, Melina felt the arms tighten. "I Just like doing it"
"You say the nicest things to me" said Mel, "Oh, and Switchblade…"
The monster grinned, "Yes?"
"Get. The. Fuck. Off. Me." she snarled. So Switchblade did. Mel arched her back and gripped at air as she felt him latch onto her bones again.
"Hmmm…feisty" said Switchblade, back in the mirror.
"Screw you, Switchblade"
"You wish"
Melina spun and put her fist though the mirror. It shattered under the impact, and Mel held her hand and ground it, glass covering her knuckles. She finally pulled her fist away, holding onto her wrist as her hand shook.
"Hold it over the sink" Switchblade was in her head again. Mel did what he said and held her hand over the sink. She watched as the glass was forced out and the cuts started to heal.
"Leave it"
"But…"
"I said…Leave. It." said Mel, watching the blood pump out over her hand. She heard Switchblade laugh. "Fine, talk to you laterrrr…" Mel could almost see the smile on his face. Mel walked out of the bathroom, as she got to the main living room/kitchen and started drying her hair, she heard Kelly's door open.
"Why did we come to your place?" asked May, as she climbed through the window, throwing her webbed-up clothes onto the floor underneath Kelly's window.
"Because we need to look into something" said Kelly, as Ravage slid from her face and off her body. May looked around Kelly's room as she put her clothes on, Kelly wasn't naked under the symbiote, she wore a training bra and tight training shorts, but May looked around out of pure interest. The room had an over powering smell of incense which made May feel drowsy. May sleepily put her clothes on, losing track of time. "Hey, May" said Kelly opening her door,
"Come on, Mel's bound to be he…" Kelly stopped mid sentence, Melina froze as well, the better part of her body exposed as she held the towel to her head with her un-damaged hand. May looked over Kelly's shoulder, her eyes glancing back between the two older girls. Finally, someone spoke, but it wasn't who May thought it would be.
"Hey Mel," Ravage slithered across the floor and stopped when he got half-way. Taking a sort of mock form of how he looked when he held May while swinging, he reared up and glanced over Mel. Everyone's eyes fixed onto him.
"Nah, lost the kick it used to have" he said and made his way to the couch.
"I…didn't expect you back…like, now" said Mel, not moving an inch, not even blinking. Kelly's eyes where darting all over the place. "I can see…are those my jeans?" asked Kelly, glancing down. Melina let the towel drop back over her shoulders and pointed towards May, one hand on her hip and a sly smirk crossing her face.
"So that's the girl that kicked your ass the other night?"
Kelly blinked, and turned back towards May. May smiled, a small tint of red on her cheeks.
"More like the other way around…" May said under her breath.
"Yeah, Melina, meet May Parker, AKA Spider…" Kelly stopped mid-sentence, her eyes fixed on Mel's bloody hand "What happened to your hand?!" she cried, as she ran forward and gently took Mel's bleeding hand in both of hers. May watched Mel's face, the short haired girl's eye twitched. "I slipped when I got out of the shower, hit the mirror" she said smiling. Melina was only a little shorter than Kelly, and it made May feel awkward that she was the shortest in the room. Ravage didn't really count, as he was a lump of goo. Kelly smirked and pulled Mel closer to her face.
"Your not a very good liar, Mel" she whispered into her ear.
Mel jerked back and stared into Kelly's eyes, the single ice-blue eye that could be seen made Mel squirm. The tension was broken by Ravage's sarcastic tone.
"Did Switchblade try and come out to play?" he asked, coiling around May, "I could do with a good workout" Melina cricked her neck.
"No, I slipped" she said forcefully, snatching her hand out of Kelly's hold, "Switchblade hasn't tried to do anything in a while". Ravage's right eye narrowed.
"Anyway, Mel, I'd put some clothes on, don't want to get chilly now, Do we? And we have, company" said the symbiote, smirking. The way Ravage had said 'company', made May shiver, "Oh thanks" she said. Ravage gave a sort of shrug and grinned.
"Bite me" said Mel, walking into her room, she had taken a cigarette from the counter in the kitchen and lit it. Kelly frowned slightly, a small smile crossed her face, making her look like an evil villain from a film. "Smoking again Mel?" asked Kelly, playfully. Mel tilted her head, looked over her shoulder and coyly raised an eyebrow, "What of it?" she asked, smiling. Before Kelly could even stop herself from saying what she was going to say, Ravage interrupted her.
"Thought you quit adding nails to your coffin?"
"Like I said Ravage, Bite me" said Mel, walking through the door.
"Thought that was Kel…"
If looks could kill, Ravage would have been killed at least three times. Kelly laughed, "Ignore them May, they're always like this" she said. May smiled.
"So what did you want to find?" she asked.
"To see if I'm wrong, I hope I am" said Kelly, falling onto the couch. May went and sat on a reclining chair opposite. Kelly had gone rag doll when she fell, and her left forearm was covering her eyes. May noticed the tattoo on Kelly's arm, it looked like a series of numbers, pale, and barely noticeable, but against Kelly's almost white skin, they could be seen good enough. May read them in her mind, '8-0-7-6-6-4'
"So, wrong about what Kel?" May persisted. If whatever had happened had Kelly like this, then it was probably bad. Kelly sighed and put her arm down. Her Emo-fringe had fallen back against the couch, May got a good look at Kelly's full face. If Kelly turned up at the high-school, there would be a lot of turned heads, mostly guys drooling all over her. Her eyes where half shut.
"Plague" she said, staring at the ceiling.
"Plague?" asked May.
"Her real name is Skylar Kruze, she used to be one of my friends, she was on my team when we'd go after super-crims' and gangs" said Kelly, the same dreamy look on her face, twirling her fingers in the air.
"During one of these little tumbles, I accidentally knocked her into a chemical tank. I thought she was dead, but she survived and came back a few weeks later calling herself Plague" finished Kelly, rubbing her face, "Oh, and she hate's me with a passion"
"How bad is she?" asked May, edging towards the edge of the chair.
"You heard of the four horsemen?" asked Kelly, her eyes flicking towards May.
"Yeah…"
"Plague could put Pestilence out of the job. She can control any sort of disease and virus you can think of, give them to you at will. She can make her own as well, and can cure any of them" said Kelly, running her hand across her stomach" May's jaw dropped.
"Sky' can also make anything rot, if she concentrates on it, humans, buildings, anything" said Kelly, her hand still on her stomach, "She's completely insane May, that's why I hope it's not her, Now I need to find Frequency to find out if it is her". By now Ravage had slithered his way across Kelly's body, giving the look May was used to.
"Soo, we going hunting?" he asked.
"Yeah, Frequency might need a hand after a run in with Skylar" said Kelly, standing and stretching. May glanced over her body. It didn't seem right, although Kelly's muscles where toned perfectly, but she was still thin, May could see all her ribs and it made her feel a little sick.
"Jeez Kel, you look sooo good in black" Melina's voice drifted though the room, the now dressed short haired girl smiled coyly. May coughed.
"Wha…Oh shit! Sorry!" said May holding her hands to her mouth. May laughed and waved her hand,
"It's ok" said May, still smiling. Kelly climbed out of the window, "Have to wait till later, ok Mel?" Kelly smiled as Ravage slid over her head. Mel cocked an eyebrow,
"Wait? You like to leave me waiting don't you" Although Mel said it under her breath, May could hear the snarled tone when she said it. May looked at Mel, as did Kelly as Ravage slid from her face. "What'd you say?" said Kelly.
May glanced between the two girls, obviously un-aware of this part of their history.
"Nothing, cya later" Mel winked at Kelly, walking back to her room.
Before May turned away, she noticed Mel holding her head and whispering "Shut up, just shut up…"
Kelly raised an eyebrow and smiled, then jumped out of the window. May followed her. After about ten minutes, they stopped on a building. May turned to Kelly, desperate for Kelly to answer her next question. "Kelly…" said May carefully, but with a stern tone in her voice.
"Hmmm?" said Kelly not looking from the street below.
"Who's Switchblade?"
Until next time, please review with positve critisim, and not pointless rants about the story-line