The Dark Twin Chronicles:
Taste of Blood
By Myths n’ Wraiths
The glare of floodlights brutally yanked Myth from his foggy slumber
and blinded him instantly. He flinched at the brutal assault of his
vision and realized that he was restrained, tied hand and foot into a
steel chair. Squinting at the glaring light Myth attempted to get some
glimpse of his surroundings but to no avail. Instinctively his mind
reached out in an attempt to feel out other presences around him but to
his confusion and dismay his empathic abilities were also being blinded.
"What is your name?" A voice cut through the brilliant light. Myth
flinched as if physically abused and clenched his mouth shut, setting
his jaw.
"Why did your brother leave?" The voice ventured after a moment of
silence. Myth did not answer but inside him anger was beginning to form.
"Was it the same reason your father abandoned you?" Still Myth gave no answer but the anger inside him grew.
"Was it for vengeance?" Dead silence and still the anger grew. Myth
could feel it filling his veins as it drew off of the frustration of
his captivity.
"Why didn’t you leave?" The voice persisted, fueling the anger until it gave birth to rage.
"Did you not love your parents?" The rage swelled.
"Of course you did. But did you not love them as much as your brother?"
The rage was horrendous, on the verge of breaking Myth. But it could be
controlled, it must be controlled.
"What is your name?" The rage erupted.
"MYTH!" he yelled, bolting upright in his bed, gasping for breath and
dripping in sweat. He glanced around him, staring into the shadows of
his small room in a borderline frenzy. His eyes quickly took in every
bare corner and every sparsely decorated wall. As usual though, he was
completely alone.
Another dream, Myth thought to himself as he let out a sigh. He sat for
a moment, catching his breath as he tried to shake the memories of the
dream out of his head.
Slowly a chill worked its way up his body as the sweat that had pooled
up on his bed cooled in the night air and motivated Myth to get up. He
checked the clock as his feet hit the cold tile floor of his room. The
red digital dial read 3:45 A.M. He muttered a curse under his breath as
he eyed the clock angrily.
Forcing himself to his feet Myth snatched the soaked sheets off of his
bed, tossed them in the corner of his small room and headed for his
shower. It took him only a few short strides to cross the distance but
no sooner had he reached his bathroom than a chime sounded back by his
bed.
Cursing to himself again Myth spun on his heals and headed back to his
bedside table where he hit a button on a small silver console. "Myth
here," he said, trying to fight back the fatigue in his voice.
"Hey boss man." a gruff but alert voice responded. "You wanted me to
inform you as soon as we had a meeting set up with Saundra Chase."
"Yes, what time?" Myth asked suddenly more alert.
"She said meet her at 0500 at the statue. She said you would know which one she meant."
"Thanks Anarchy. I know exactly what she means. Wake the others; were
going to Perez Park." Myth said as he recalled the only statute of any
personal importance to him in the entire city. "And arrange for some
civilian transportation. I want to travel as inconspicuously as
possible."
"You really think the bloodsucker has caught onto us?" Anarchy asked more out of curiosity than doubt.
"We’re not going to underestimate him Anarchy." Myth said
pointedly before clicking off the console and letting out a long sigh.
"Finally," he muttered to himself as he leaned heavily on the bedside
table. "His days are numbered."
Statues of heroes of varying levels of renown and capability decorate
every corner of the expansive landscape of Paragon City. Each has a
story of its own to tell and behind each common story there are dozens
personal ones. One such statue, tucked in what was once a quiet
residential street of Perez Park, was dedicated to a heroine of the
pre-Rikti era known as Sage. The greening bronze plaque situated at the
foot of the elegantly carved amorous form spoke of how this psychic
paved the way for the founding of the G.I.F.T. program that now helped
fledgling mutant heroes establish themselves and how she gave her life
fighting the precursor to Dr. Vahzilok’s zombie forces. Saundra
sighed disappointedly to herself as she wondered what historian had
written such an impersonal eulogy for someone who had died for such
personal reasons.
Saundra had been many things throughout her years. In what now seemed
like a past life to her she had been a police chief in charge of gang
control in King’s Row. She had also once been a personal friend
of Sage and it disgusted her to see the life of such a woman summed up
so vaguely. For it to be said that Sage had died to stop some Vahzilok
force when in reality she had braved Paragon’s sewers to save her
abducted twin boys seemed a personal insult on a political level and it
made Saundra’s skin crawl. Was risking everything for your own
flesh and blood not heroic enough for the history books, she wondered
to herself as she grimaced at the aging plaque.
She took up a position under the statue where she could see clearly
down Perez Park’s abandoned roads in the dim morning light. All
around her light poles were toppling and windows were shattered.
Parking lots were bare of vehicles and as dawn crept over the once
serene park Saundra found herself completely alone accept for one loan
figure that had quietly slipped out of an alleyway only a few feet from
the towering statue.
"Perez Park sure has turned out for the worst hasn’t it," Saundra
said as she saw the young man, not even out of his teens, dressed in a
casual leather jacket and cap approach her. Despite the fact that she
knew this man was just a boy compared to her, his face held age beyond
his years and his long hair was a distinct white in contrast to his
deeply tanned skin.
"I never held much love for this place anyway," Myth said pointedly as
he walked up next to the elderly Saundra. He shot a wary glance around
the area, taking in the decaying neighborhood and dismissing it almost
out of hand. Perez Park was far from welcoming but for the moment at
least, this small corner of it looked safe.
Once he was confident that they were alone Myth spared a glance up at
the large marble statue of the tall slender woman that he and Saundra
were standing under. The intensity in his dark eyes faltered briefly as
he looked at the form of his mother carved in silky smooth stone,
reaching to the sky as if she were taking flight.
"I’m assuming that since you called for this meeting that you
have what I’ve been looking for," Myth said, turning his
attention back to Saundra before his mind had a chance to wander.
"Took me ten years and cost me three friends," Saundra said solemnly as she pulled a large manila envelope from her jacket.
Myth took the envelope from her outstretched hand and quickly tucked it
into his jacket pocket before speaking in a grim tone. "Well I
can’t promise that more lives won’t be lost before the end
but I can promise that they will not have died in vain."
"He has taken so much from so many people," Saundra said hanging her
head mournfully. She paused for a moment and let out a long sigh before
setting her jaw and fixing Myth in a firm gaze. "It’s all on you
to take it back."
Myth’s eyes dimmed unnaturally with his reply. "Count on it." and
then after a brief pause he added, "Thank you Saundra, for everything."
Saundra chuckled and Myth guessed it was an attempt to fight back
tears. She took a long moment to stare up at the heroic statue of the
beautiful young woman that towered over them before speaking again.
"Your mother was good woman, a selfless woman. She and your father were
heroes in their own right but this is about more than just them.
Bloodlust has stolen more lives over the centuries than most epidemics
can boast. He has to be stopped Myth; here and now, he has to be
stopped."
Myth nodded gravely but gave no response. He needed no lectures at this
point in the game; no motivation, no reassurance, just direction.
"I should warn you though," Saundra added, "you are not the only person with this information."
Myth started at the news. "Tell me you didn‘t give this to anyone
else?" he said, trying to contain his frustration but doing a very poor
job of it.
"No, not at all," Saundra said with a defensive wave of her hand. "But
two days ago, just after I was able to confirm my findings, someone
broke into my office. This was the only file that was disturbed, yet
oddly enough wasn’t stolen. It looks to me like someone else is
on the same track Myth," she said with a knowing grin on her face.
"Thanks for giving me the heads up Saundra," Myth said sharply. If he
had any idea of who else could be hunting his target than he
wasn’t showing it. "Why did you want to meet here anyway?" he
added, shifting the conversation as he cast one more glance up at the
statue.
"He must know you are looking for him and there is no telling what kind
of resources he has at his disposal. I wanted to pick a place that we
were both familiar with just incase there was an incident." No sooner
had the words come out of Saundra’s mouth than a loud clamor
erupted from an alleyway less than twenty feet away.
Myth lost focus on his immediate surroundings and reached out with his
mind. What he found was not very reassuring. Anger and fear were
flowing from the alleyway with alarming intensity.
"What is it?" Saundra asked as the sounds of trash cans being toppled and unruly jeering became more prevalent.
"A large mob, twelve at least, probably Skull," Myth said, glaring
menacingly at the alleyway. Suddenly something caught his attention and
he turned to stare in the other direction, where almost a hundred yards
away, another gang of Skull were emerging from a byway further down the
street. The gang spotted Myth and Saundra almost instantly and began
moving in their direction.
"We’re cut off," Saundra said with more annoyance in her voice
than fear. Myth paid her no attention but touched his fingers to his
ear lightly.
"Counter attack plan Omega," he muttered under his breath as he
snatched Saundra by the wrist and began leading her quickly toward a
narrow alley that ran between the two apartment complexes situated next
to the statue. "No, no teleporting!" he snapped sharply and Saundra
could only guess that he was speaking through some kind of com piece to
a team that was close by.
Saundra stumbled but struggled to keep up while Myth quickly pulled her
into the alley. Then, once inside the cover of the walls, he stopped
abruptly.
"What’s wrong?" Saundra asked anxiously. Myth did not answer but
stood in plain sight at the opening of the alleyway until the mob was
within throwing distance. He ducked slightly, letting an empty glass
bottle fly just past his head and shatter against the wall before
turning and snatching Saundra by the wrist once again. The two sprinted
down the alley as fast as Saundra could manage and emerged from between
the two buildings with only seconds to spare.
While Myth had paused inside the alley, the first mob they heard had
made its way around the building in an attempt to cut Saundra and the
young mutant off and they had nearly succeeded. Myth and Saundra burst
out of the alley, running at full tilt, and just barely managed to make
it across the street and into another alley before a hail of bottles,
rocks and makeshift clubs came hurtling down on them.
Saundra let out a slight yelp as she heard glass and wood hitting the
pavement just behind her heals but Myth held onto her wrist with unreal
strength and pulled her into the safety of the alley before the Skull
could get close enough for their makeshift projectiles to be effective.
Fear of the Skulls behind her was compounded with dismay when Saundra
saw that the opposite end of this alley was blocked by the large brick
wall that encircled the entire park. The barrier was over ten feet tall
but it might as well have been a hundred because there was no way that
Saundra could scale it at her age. Myth however; charged recklessly
toward the wall, pulling Saundra behind him.
While they were still several yards away from the towering barrier, a
massive form crested the wall and landed in the alley in front of Myth
and Saundra. Saundra felt her heart skip a beat when she saw the huge
dark man land in their path. He stood at least nine feet tall and was
built so solid that his wrists looked to be as thick around as
Saundra’s waist. His large dark eyes glared down the alley and
his thick lips parted into a snarl.
"Myth!" Saundra shouted a warning but the mutant continued to charge
toward this new obstacle. Saundra tried to yank her hand free from
Myth’s vice like grip, instinctively trying to pull away from the
seemingly suicidal mutant before he came within arms reach of the brute
but despite her desperation, Myth’s grip held strong on her wrist.
The huge man’s eyes focused on them and a smirk spread across his
lips. He hunkered down, placing one hand on the ground like a football
player ready to charge.
Myth lead the charge to within a few feet of the dark mountain of a man
before Saundra screamed for him to stop. Her scream fell on deaf ears
however, and Myth closed the gap between them and the most terrifyingly
huge man Saundra had ever seen.
Suddenly, just before Myth collided with the dark form, Saundra felt
his grip loosen on her wrist and in two quick leaps the agile mutant
landed on the massive shoulder of the hulking man and then cleared the
barrier wall with ease. Saundra’s momentum carried her into the
grasp of the dark form that easily gripped her around the waist with
one of his huge hands and with amazing gentleness tossed her into the
air.
Terrified and confused, Saundra let out a long scream. She watched with
a sense of detached awareness as the barrier wall passed beneath then
the whole world slowed as she reached the apex of her hurl. The ground
was soon rushing up to meet Saundra and she clenched her eyes shut and
tensing her body in anticipation of the pain. No sooner had her eyes
closed however; than she felt two strong arms snatch her from the air
and break her fall.
"Open your mouth," Myth shouted before she even had a chance to open
her eyes. She felt her body being shoved forcefully onto the ground and
Myth’s strong hands press down over her ears. "Open your mouth
and keep your eyes closed." He shouted again and Saundra could feel the
weight of his body pinning her smaller frame to the ground. She obeyed
him as quickly as her frantic mind could manage to figure out what he
was telling her. No sooner had she followed his instructions than the
whole world seemed to erupt around them.
A deafening explosion rocked the very ground she was lying on, tearing
the buildings and foliage around them to pieces with its raw power. The
explosion was over on half a heartbeat but it must have been the
longest heartbeat of Saundra’s life. When the noise subsided the
world was left in an eerie and complete silence.
Only after she felt Myth stir on top of her and slowly move to his feet
did Saundra dare to open her eyes and take in her surroundings. The
blast had definitely come from the opposite side of the barrier wall
where the alley sides of the two buildings that Myth and Saundra had
just passed between were collapsing in on themselves in disturbing
silence. The skeletal remains of one of the exposed top floors
collapsed, falling to the rubble strewn ground and casting up a wave of
dust that forced Saundra to turn her head in the opposite direction.
Once she was able to see through the dust cloud Saundra noticed that
this side of the barrier wall was surprisingly undamaged. The only
thing that looked the worse for wear was Myth himself. Trickles of
blood were running out of his ears and his back was singed and scared.
Faint wisps of smoke were drifting off of his now tattered leather coat.
The wounded mutant spoke a few words to Saundra, though she could not
make them out, and offered her his hand. She took it at once and the
two stumbled weakly away from the scene of destruction.