Dead at his feet lay Master Dark, the best hope for revolution, killed by his own hand. In the doorway, three men who wanted to kill him, undoutably sent by Chaos. The rage that filled Rabid was not rational. With a feral snarl, he launched his bloody javelin at the three men. He leapt after it, grabbing another javelin from his quiver.
The three men scattered from the missile. One, an animalistic man covered in red fur leaped at Rabid, trying to sink his claws into him. Rabid planted a kick in his jaw, knocking him backwards. He twisted and threw another javelin at a second man. The short man dodged impossibly fast and was behind Rabid in a blur, trying to hold him still.
"Hold him, Speed!" the third man who had ducked into the hallway called.
Rabid waited patiently as this man leveled a gun at him and blinked to the side as he pulled the trigger. The shriek from the weapon nearly burst his eardrums. The unfortunate Speed was knocked half way across the cavernous room.
The furry man came at Rabid again. "Now, teleporter, you are Rage's!" he snarled.
"I think not."
Rabid tumbled into a ball and teleported. Rage tripped over his prone form, landing heavily on the floor.
The shriek came again, and Rabid twisted as the blast of sound glanced him. He blinked away, to Master Dark's still form, grabbed the dead man, and disappeared from the room.
Rage swore. "We lost him, Captain!"
Captain calmly walked over to Speed and gently brought him back to consciousness. "We'll track him again. I believe we underestimated our young oppenent. Did you notice the corpse?"
Rage looked puzzled. "Just another streeter, wasn't it?"
Speed sat up groggily. "Not even close, Rage. I had enough time to get a look at it. That was Master Dark."
Rages eyes grew large.
Captain nodded grimly. "We're going after him again. But this time, your orders are to kill him."
Rabid stumbled across the roofs. He tripped once, spilling the dead man onto the building. He paused for a moment, then gathered the body up again. He crossed to the apartment where the Ironhawks were, and put himself above the room he had slept in the night before. He withdrew into himself, concentrating, then dissappeared.
He reappeared two feet above the floor of his room. He and his load landed with a heavy thud. Rabid groaned at the new bruises.
"My god, Rabid! What happened?"
Fireball hurried over to him, seperating him from his burden. Seeing that Rabid wasn't seriously injured, she turned over the body.
Rabid looked at her intently. "Do you recognize him? He said his name was..."
"Master Dark," Fireball said, her eyes wide. "Man, oh, man, what a mess. I better go get Topnotch."
Rabid grabbed her wrist. "Hang on. What do you know about this guy?"
"He's an underground leader. He wants to get rid of the ACS and CORE so powered can live normally. I've seen him a couple times. He and Topnotch have talked a few times. Who killed him?"
Rabid sighed. "Unfortunatly, I did. I thought it was a trap set up by Choas, and I killed him before I realized he wasn't involved. Three guys busted in right afterwards, and I split. He said to bring him to Topnotch. I don't know what good it will do now though."
Fireball frowned and nodded dubiously. "I think I had better get Topnotch. This is definitely something he'll need to know about."
Fireball was half way to the door when it burst in. Not recognizing any of them, she sent the first, a short, lithe man, up in a ball of flame. From behind the second man came the rattling of an automatic rifle. Fireball flew across the room, a hole where her chest should be.
Barehanded, Rabid launched himself at the door. Rage met him halfway and they tussled on the ground, each trying to get a good grip on the other. Rabid's anger boiled beyond all sanity. He grabbed Rage by his wrists and teleported. He reappeared still gripping Rage's furred wrists, the only parts of the unfortunate man sticking out of a solid wall.
Captain pointed his gun at Rabid. "Die."
Abruptly, Captain screamed and a hot glowing hand appeared through the middle of his chest. The blue and red clad man slid to the ground, revealing Topnotch, his hand and eye glowing with deadly radiance. Behind him was Tough, calmly surveying the room.
Tough's crossed the room, his face a mystery. He placed a hand on Fireball's temple. "Dead," he announced sadly.
Topnotch flipped his victim over. "Captain Josh Carter. ACS. The other two were probably Speed and Rage, two of his men."
Rabid voice was cold. "So this is the work of ACS?"
Topnotch shook his head doubtfully. "The Captain would occasionally work for CORE. We keep track of the double agents because they're the most dangerous."
"Then I know who caused this," Rabid said, his fists clenched at his side. "And this time I'm going to kill him."