Rebirth
Based
on the MMORPG City of Heroes by Cryptic Studio’s.
Disclaimer: This
is a work of Fan Fiction, all names, places, titles are property of
Cryptic Studios and NC Soft and are used without permission. Etc etc…..
you get the drift.
The dreams came more often lately, visions wreathed
in fire and pain tore at his mind, savaging his sleep…
...the fire
raced through the house, burning timbers, incinerating furnishings
and charring everything before I. The flames moved with an unnatural
quickness and purpose that defied the best efforts to halt its advance
or to extinguish its source. No one knew what had started the fire
but far too quickly it spread through the mansion cutting off rooms
and filling them with smoke and flame. A soot covered man coughed
from the smoke that had filled his lungs, he stood in front of the
house watching, his elderly face grave and terrified, a young boy
barely able to know what was happening clung to him his eyes brimming
with tears. The Boy watched as his mother appeared briefly at an upstairs
window, a burst of flame flashed horribly bright in the night air
and a scream cut off with sickening finality. With a cry the boy slipped
free of the man and raced towards the burning building his parents
where still inside, the man lunged grabbing at the boys shirt, his
hand scrapped across the fabric, the boy raced up the steps to the
mansion not feeling the heat, faint cries echoed after him. Across
the room pinned under a fallen beam the Boy saw his father, as he
tried to move forward the fire roared up reaching for him, the flames
curled around his body and this time there were no hands to rescue
him, no one pulled the boy free of the burning house, fire flayed
the flesh from his arms, charred muscle and liquefied fat, the boy
screamed…
…the young man jerked awake, his heart pounding and his
breath coming in vast gulps like a nearly drowned man, perspiration
beading on his brow, he looked around the dark room at first not seeing
anything but slowly his body calmed itself and his mind placed where
he was, it was early in the morning, a little before dawn, he was
home in his bed. Swinging his legs off the side of the large bed he
rested his head in his hands, the vision had been terrible, he swept
his hand across his face feeling the roughness of his palms, for a
while he sat not moving, not thinking until he realized he was trembling
slightly. A faint murmur caused him to turn, a lithe figure lay next
to him on the bed, covers long forgotten lying in a pile on the floor,
the first few rays of dawn glinted through the blinds revealing an
athletic body, beautiful in its naked glory, lightly sun tanned skin
marred only by the passions of the previous night, raven dark hair
from which she gained her name spilled about her head and shoulders,
a wry smile crossed his face, he pondered about how for such a powerful
individual she was incredibly submissive, and yet she was very protective
of her hair not wanting to change its colour, not even for him.
His
mind wandered as he watched her sleep contemplating trivial thoughts
and feelings until an ironic thought surfaced, how difficult it was
to wear out someone with such natural endurance and stamina as her,
the advantages of being a regen scrapper, he laughed under his breath
not wishing to disturb her.
Putting on a pair of silk pajama pants
the man padded on bare feet across the darkened room and quietly slipped
through a set of Japanese styled sliding doors, a waft of air drifted
through the door and the figure on the bed curled up a little as the
cool air picked at her skin. He slid the door closed behind him and
sucked in a breath of air still fresh given the pre-dawn hour, the
man moved to the edge of a balcony that surrounded his penthouse and
gazed out over he landscape of Paragon City, far below he could hear
the noises of the city coming awake, a garbage trucks brakes screeching,
a car roaring to life and in the distance the sound of police sirens.
He rested a foot upon a lower railing of the balcony and an arm on
the top, he surveyed the city, tall buildings surrounded him, apartments
and businesses for the most part with small shops closer to ground
level, his gaze was broken only by the glowing of the war walls that
broke up the city, to most they where a sign of protection but to
him they where a constant reminder of how much trouble the city was
in, before coming to this place he had visited very few cities but
none before the Rikti war had used such measures, walls of concrete
and force separating up the city into zones to curtail crime and destruction,
he doubted that New York or Los Angeles would have such measure even
now. He sighed inwardly, the war walls spoilt the sunrise, they reflected
the light casting a strange glow everywhere, he could see the sun
slowly climbing in its path across the heavens, the orange a fire
hotter than anything else, he shuddered and rubbed at his bare skin
as if chilled, the nightmare had been so real, there was only one
truth for it. His patron La’Non an entity known as the Lord of Nightmares
was warning him, as La’Non’s presence on the mortal world he had never
had such a deadly dream, for the most part his rest was devoid of
such things, he was no longer human, years before a magical spell
had stripped away his flesh leaving a drifting spirit who La’Non rescued
and sent forth cloaked in a powerful magic of black shadow and red
energy, a wraith, a creature of terror and wrath. He studied his hands
clasped before him, toned forearms resting easily on the metal railing,
his skin was a light gray the illusion that gave him the semblance
of a mortal form was difficult to maintain while he was asleep, his
skin was the first thing to change shifting from a more human colour
to its present state, if his concentration wavered further he would
begin vanish or slip back into his wraith like figure.
As he gazed
at his skin his mind turned over the images of his dream, seeking
the hidden truths, pondering La’Non’s less than direct method, normally
he was simply told what to do, whom to seek out and whom to bring
his wrath against. They called him Rayth and he was according to the
greater populace a hero, a person who protected innocence and freedom,
he scoffed at them, he was no hero, he cared very little for those
he rescued, most just were very lucky that his patron sought to bring
Nightmares that would last forever to those deserving them. To that
end she had granted Rayth with considerable powers which had grown
and flourished over the past year and a half since coming to Paragon
City. He had already been a student of magic thanks to his Uncle Theodore
before his accident and joining with La’Non had accelerated the growth
of his powers, he knew spells of energy and ice, how to create bursts
of destruction and auras of frost, spells of levitation and flight
and spells of imprisonment and agony. His studies of magic had even
given him a powerful incantation that unleashed a wave of energy sweeping
away most opponents around him with the power of a small Nova. Lately
his powers had changed, they became erratic and his mastery over new
incantations took a different path and he had added spells of fire
to his repertoire, there was one such spell left as yet untried. It
was a complex weave, far more powerful than his other spells, it had
no verbal component that he could fathom and even when he tried it
there was no effect. It was funny the spell had been there the entire
time he had served La’Non, yet he rarely gave it any thought, La’Non
had told him that such an ability was there only to be used when truly
needed and at such a time it would all make sense.
Rayth shifted leaning
his back against the railing feeling the morning air breeze through
his hair and across his skin. He looked at his penthouse, high atop
a building it was fashioned after an old Japanese home, he liked Japanese
thing, enjoyed their culture, he couldn’t speak more than a word or
two of their language but he enjoyed it none the less, the fortune
his parents had left him allowed for a ridiculously comfortable life
which allowed him to indulge in certain passions. He was not a playboy
or a socialite he was always too busy for such things but where he
could he lashed out buying those things he enjoyed. For a while he
leaned there listening to the world, his mind cleared of all thoughts
the breeze rippled at his pants he shut his eyes and relaxed, the
world slowed and stopped, everything was as normal as it could be.
With a burst of movement he vaulted over the side of the building,
his eyes opened fiery energy blazing from them, the wind whistled
in his ears as he plummeted head first for the distant ground below,
his body positioned as if a diver leaping into a pool. Windows raced
past as he twisted in his fall exhilarating in the uncontrolled feeling
it provided, with the ground rushing up to meet him he uttered a half-spoken
word, his flesh vanished, power filled his body, clothing itself in
night. Where his head was a black void appeared surrounded by a deep
hood only his fiery red eyes gave it a semblance of a face, a long
cape streamed from his shoulders which were adorned with huge organic
looking spikes that swept out in a huge mantle, metal gauntlets and
boots armoured his fists and feet, his clothing blended together with
detail apparent only in the brightest light but normally so black
that his form seemed a hole in space. His body grew, swelling with
unleashed power, becoming larger until it towered over most men by
a head and shoulders. With nothing more than a thought his descent
changed from an uncontrolled fall into a directed path curving away
seconds before reaching the ground, a loose piece of paper whipped
about madly in his wake as he raced inches above the street, he darted
past parked cars and pedestrians, a man honked his car horn screaming
abuse at heroes in general out his window, a lady clutched at her
hat and skirt letting out a surprised shriek as the movement of the
air generated by his passing caused them to flutter wildly showing
more than a fair bit of graceful leg, gaining enough height to survey
the area and still make out details he slowed looking about. Everywhere
people started their day and not just good people, lurking in the
shadows he saw them, all forms of trash trying to corrupt the innocent
and encourage the guilty to more desperate acts. Many cowered when
they saw Rayth speed past, previous run-ins having taught them their
lesson, Cyborg Junkies of the Freakshow, Demon Worshiping Thugs of
the Hellions, Robotic servitors of the Clockwork, he had fought them
all and many others at La’Non’s request. Today he did not stop, he
was not interested in such petty criminals, there were other heroes
in this city who could and would deal with them, his tasks had become
larger, the dangers even more real, facing foes of enormous strength,
they would all suffer the lessons of the Lord of Nightmares or he
would die trying.
*****
A disturbance had occurred within the Astral
Plane, that place which was the home to powerful mental entities both
ethereal and material, the disturbance had been there for some time,
years in fact but until recently it had remained passive, small, weak.
Now it was like a vast storm, the gray clouds of the Astral Plane
boiled with darkness. Probing spells were crushed or reflected, revealing
little or no clues as to the cause. In the Palace of Nightmares La’Non
sat in her throne crafted from pure magic, a ball of energy hovered
before her flashing with random visions of the storm, she surveyed
the disturbance, something in there had grown beyond itself, had over
stepped the limitations it had been prescribed, it had avoided the
gaze of La’Non for a while, but it had now stirred her ire, it was
time to act her power must be put into action.
*****
Harvey Maylor
was the editor and owner of the Tattler, one of the gossip magazines
published in Paragon City, it dealt primarily with many of the less
famous heroes, those unable to get on the front page of the Paragon
Times and with mysteries a more reputable paper would refuse to publish.
His business was located within the section of the city called Peregrine
Isle, the locale was one of the more troubled spots within the city
that wasn’t classified as a Hazard Zone, mainly this was due to the
presence of the Portal Corporations main facilities, and this to Harvey
made great sense, with so much trouble focused on the area, stories
would come to him, rather than he having to go looking for stories.
Too many of the various criminal organizations such as the Malta Group,
Circle of Thorns and Nemesis made their way here in the hope of appropriating
new technologies or gaining illicit access to the various other realities
catalogued by the Corporation, others like the Rikti hoped to find
a way home or to disrupt the wards separating the two realities so
that the Invasion might resume..
Crowds of people filled the streets
shoulder to shoulder with lunch time traffic as business men and women
all dressed in suits moved to and fro, it was a break in the monotony
of their work, some did a little shopping and others sat and ate with
friends chatting about various things. Harvey stepped out of a small
bakery with a sugar-dusted sweet roll in his mouth, his left hand
held a mobile phone to his ear, he was an over-weight man, balding
with a bad comb-over, dressed in a dark brown suit, yellow shirt and
chequered tie, he muffled words down the phone line around the sweet
roll, lunch did not mean a break for Maylor, their were always stories
in the making and today was busier than usual, it seemed one of his
best writers had vanished, probably just trying to avoid a deadline,
or kidnapped because of a story he mused to himself, either was a
likely reason especially in this city. He wandered through the crowd
before turning a corner into a quieter boulevard lined with trees
"Harvey Maylor." A soft voice spoke his name, it was not a question.
All sound died away as a figure draped in night stepped free of a
concealing shadow, Harvey’s eyes widened and he gasped in fright promptly
choking on sugar dust, the roll dropped to the ground as he pounded
on his chest fighting for air.
"Jeez, don’t sneak up on a man like
that will ya." Tears streamed from his eyes as he finally stopped
trying to breathe and cough at the same time.
"I am called Rayth"
the sound emanated from the hooded figure, try as he might Harvey
couldn’t make out a face.
"Yeah, I know who you are, been wondering
when you would turn up, sooner or later all you hero types come to
Maylor, begging for a piece in my magazine, well listen I got…" his
words stopped abruptly as Rayth strode forward, towering over Harvey,
his shape blotted out the light, Harvey gasped as their eyes locked,
he felt his mind swept away, his vision filled with fire, he whimpered
trying to break free from the intense gaze.
An eternity seemed to
pass before Rayth spoke. "Ellie Wiessman" the name whispered from
the dark figure like a wisp of smoke.
It was as if a horrible pressure
had been lifted from Maylor’s mind, Harvey dropped to his hands and
knees feeling as if he had been pole-axed. His strength still seeped
from his body, he sobbed uncontrollably, he had seen things in that
burning red gaze, terrible visions, things his mind refused to identify.
His eyes fixed on the forgotten sweet lying between his hands.
"S-she’s
missing, no one has seen her for t-two days" The crunch of a boot
turning on loose gravel caused Harvey to start, he looked up to see
Rayth pacing away his cloak snapping in the air, with a word and a
gesture he flew off, gaining altitude swiftly, his body disappearing,
cloaking itself from sight.
"If your going to rescue her, at least
take some pictures!" yelled Harvey at the disappearing figure.
Clambering
back to his feet Harvey looked around, the sounds of the street returned,
the hubbub of voices, the noise of traffic and the sounds of what
nature still lived in the city, the roar of the ocean not so far away,
no one seemed to have noticed what had just happened, feeling slightly
awkward, Harvey quickly walked away, putting as much distance between
what had just happened as he could.
A pair of sparrows seeing the
discarded roll alighted on it chirped to each other and set to their
feast.