Chapter 1

The Awakening

"Another world, another time. In the age of wonder..."

Peaceful grassy fields flowed with the wind as butterflies fluttered from the flowers who shared refuge with the tall grass. The field seemed to grow larger and the butterflies grew smaller as well as the large oak trees. Almost as though the view had been going backwards into the sky and the view keeps going back into that direction.

"Another world, another time. This land was green and good until the crystal cracked."

The view pans back as we see that the entire grassy field was covered by some kind of glass dome with a black metallic frame. Tall concrete buildings and large metallic structures connected by pedestrian and traffic bridges surrounded the dome. Television screens were on nearly every building and advertising trucks also carried these flat screens advertising everything from soda to frying pans. This is the heartless mechanical view of Neo Vita city.

"Once more they will replenish themselves and cheat death once again."

The view then approaches a building where bars covered the windows and the men behind those bars wore white straight jackets with tan straps and silver buckles. The rooms they had been occupying had nearly no corners and had been covered with a soft rubber-like surface.

"the power of their source, the crystal."

We then see the view inside a room where an old man stands in front of the barred window of his room, void of any actual brain activity. Two other men in white lab coats look at him, as if her were a scientific experiment, and took notes using a pen and notepad.

"The crystal..." Said the old man as he kept staring outside to the lights of the metallic structures outside.

"...and how long has he been like this?" Asked the short man with the notepad in hand. If this man took off his large framed glasses, he would look as normal as anyone else, just less intelligent than he looked now. His short black hair easily demonstrated the strong muscular features of his face and his brown eyes showed a slight look of intrigue. He also wore a nametag with the name "Frederic Norstrum" written on it, obviously, this was the man's name.

"He's been like this for several days actually. He just seems a little bit more responsive tonight for some reason." Said the taller man who stood next to him.

"Hmmm... Must be because of the full moon. However, you would think it would be hard to see with all those apartment complexes all around here." Said Frederic.

"The crystal..." The old man added one more time. He kept staring blankly out the window without even acknowledging the two other men in the room with him. His white long beard and hair had been left unkempt and nearly looked like white dreadlocks from the lack of attention. The man was terribly thin and you could tell he hadn't eaten anything in days from simply looking at the reduced fat around his fingers and bare feet. The nails were kept cut and clean in case he ever used them as weapons on the staff of this insane asylum.

"Hmmm... Maybe we should try giving him a VR mind probe to find out what he's thinking and try to cure him using what we'll find."

"the would seem like a reasonable approach. I'll get the tranquilisers in case he becomes somewhat hostile."

"Good idea."

They both walked out of the room, leaving the old man to stare into nothingness. They both stepped out of the room and then the shorter man closed the door and locked it. Both men simply walked down the corridor, thinking of ideas on why this man has been acting like this and even with all the possible distraction that had happened behind him, the old man still stared out the window.

"The Crystal..."

*****

Several miles away, hidden underground, is something that looks like a well secured military base. Hanging catwalks and vending machines were present along with the constant traffic of the overworked staff. Everywhere you looked were monitors of television screens and computer screens. The computer screens had numbers and codenames scrolling from the bottom to the top, almost as though it were some kind of numerical chat room and the television screens showed scenes that looked like they were caught with a security camera. One of those television screens had been showing the man who had just been observing the mental patient just moments ago.

"...and this man's Frederic Norstrum." said a strongly built man as he extended a hand towards the television screen. This man looked like the poster child for the army. His strongly built physic and strong, bold chin, along with the blond buzz cut. It didn't matter if he wore normal street clothes or not, you would have no trouble knowing that this man was a military man. "he's been studying psychology for years. He has studied in the finest Universities this globe had to offer and his father was a psychologist, so he already had a leg up over the competition." He added.

"Umm... sir, may I ask you something?" Said a nervous looking man in a business suit.

"Go right ahead."

"Well, I would like to know, why are we keeping such a close eye on all these people?" He asked, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Frankly, I don't even know myself, but it's something big. These men and women who are on these screens at this very moment will probably save the world some day, however, we have no idea if it will happen this century or the next."

"Then, how will we know if whatever happens will happen?"

"Actually, all we know is that something huge will happen. We don't know what it is, but it'll be hard for us to miss it."

"sir, I think we've found Conner." Said another man in a military outfit.

"Great! Don't lose the weasel this time Jenkins. We know how slippery he can be."

The man salutes and returns to the computer he had been working with.

"Could I be so bold as to ask who this "Conner" is?" Said the nervous new co-worker.

"Well, Conner is someone we would arrest right away if we didn't want to blow our cover. He's been known as a master thief and has always seemed to be able to escape our miniature fly cameras and he's not the kind of guy to leave a large information trail."

*****

Outside, somewhere in the city, a dark figure stands at the top of a roof and he looks about ready to do something which would take any man's breath away. The man is wearing nothing more than black. His pants are black, his shirt his black and so are his gloves and the ski mask. The only color you can actually see throughout the entire ensemble are his silver eyes, a mutation that has been handed down from many generations within his family. He looks around himself, trying to see if anyone might be looking. He pulls out an object that looks like a small gun, of course, it is hard to see it with all the darkness around him. He aims it into the lower part of a neighboring building and shoots, his hand going back with the recoil. He looks back and sees a rope hanging onto the ledge of the neighboring building and smiles, ready to start whatever he had planned.

"Time to start the fun."

He pulls out another similar gun and jumps off the roof without any hesitation, letting himself fall as the rope swung him in the direction he desired. He shoots his other gun up to several yards ahead as he makes the rope from the other gun retract back into it's proverbial home. He keeps going deeper and deeper into the metallic heart of Neo Vita, shooting one rope after the other and swinging all the way until he feels like he had finally reached the point where he had wanted to go. He retracts the last rope into the gun and jumps onto the roof of an ancient building with pillars and two resting lions standing before the giant doors. The sign above the door was hard to read because of all the shadows and darkness. The shadowy figure looks around to see if he's actually alone, then walks on the roof, looking for an easy way in. He sees a skylight and walks towards it, searching in his pockets for something he can use as he examines the glass structure carefully.

"Hmmm.... Laser detection devices... If it's got something that complicated, then... Yeah, Pressure sensitive frames. I'll have to do this the old fashioned way."

The man in black pulls out a glass cutting key and a large suction cup with a handle on it from the black backpack he had carried on his back. He gently puts the suction cup onto the glass, making sure not to trigger the pressure device, and presses the button, sucking the air out from between the cup and the glass, permitting a strong grip of the fragile material. Using the glass-cutting key, he gently slides it near the side of the frame, slicing it carefully. After a few minutes, he pulls out the glass without any trouble and lays it right next to him carefully. He touches the button on the suction cup one more time and the air came back between the glass and the cup, making the cup let go of the glass. He takes the cup and puts it back into his pack. The dark man pulls out a grappling hook from the black bag, hanging it from the edge of the skylight. He then proceeded to drop the rope, which had been attached to the hook, into the darkness of the building. The dark figure then started to climb down into the abyss.

"Now that was easy."

*****

"Christ!! Can't you handle that by yourself?" Yelled a blond man into his cell phone. He had been stuck in traffic in one of the bridges which connected the building from his work to the car elevator which would take him back to ground level for a short ride back home afterwards. "I told you, the kids are yours now, O.K.? You won the God damn settlement and you got the kids like you wanted so deal with it." He argued, not sure if he was getting angry about the divorce situation, the traffic or both. He put a hand on his forehead in frustration. the headache he started to feel felt like it would be pounding in his brain for years. "Like I said Judith, the only thing you'll get from me is the damn child support... Then you shouldn't have acted pissed off like you did... HEY!! You cheated on me, remember? I gave you everything you wanted and you cheated on me. You should've seen the papers coming after you did that... Yeah, a little bit late for saying that, aren't we? I gotta go. Leave a message on my machine. Bye!" He hung the phone inside the car where the receiver had been patiently waiting for it, next to the car's radio.

The man wiped his forehead, combing his hair back with his fingers as he let out a sigh of relief. He didn't like dealing with his ex-wife and he was tired of her always conning him out of money. At first, she asked for money to get the kids school clothes and the next week, when he saw the kids on visitation, there was a brand new surround sound system for her big screen television set. This man, Jonathan Seymore, was tired of getting screwed. His wife, his boss, even his parents. He kept getting screwed and he hated it and with that hate, came a strong lack of trust for anyone he met. It's a sad life you live when you don't have anyone you can trust or love and he knew that very well. John moved the car several feet and had to wait once again for the traffic to move. He put his forearm on the wheel and rested his head on it.

"Why the hell do the wrong things always happen to me...?"

*****

The dark figure swung from building to building like he had done previously, until he landed onto another rooftop. On this rooftop, a man with long, dark purple hair stood. He wore a trench coat that flapped in the wind and a pair of silver framed shades that gleamed in whatever light was around. Underneath his trench coat, the man wore a red shirt along with a pair of black pants. He had a very interesting sense of style and wore it very well, but it felt as though that was the only good thing about him.

"You have what I paid you for this time Conner?" Said the man in the trench coat.

"Sure thing Devil Ray, I got your package right here." Said Conner as he took off his backpack and laid it on the ground.

Conner then decided to remove his mask, revealing his long died red hair which made his silver eyes a lot less obvious. He rubbed his goatee on his chin then proceeded to unzip his black pack. A haunting white glow shone through as the zipper was unfurled, making Devil Ray smile in anticipation, and although he wore shades, you could tell that his eyes had widened with joy. Conner then dove both hands inside the black pack and pulled out a pretty large pink crystal, but it looked like it was only half of an entire piece. Devil Ray grinned as he saw the prize right before his very eyes and motioned Conner to hand it over to him.

"Hey, what about my pay? My expertise aren't free you know." Said Conner, hugging the crystal shard to his chest.

"*sigh* I promise, you will get what is coming to you in all due time. Just hand me the crystal and everything will be fine."

"Nah-ah!! I didn't become a thief by being stupid. Now gimme the cash and you'll get your crystal."

"Fine!" Devil Ray Growled.

Devil Ray looked down at the two duffel bags he had brought which were standing next to his feet. He kicked one of the two duffle bags, pushing it towards Conner. Conner smiled and bent down to unzip the duffle bag, making sure everything was in there like he had asked. Inside were thousands of bills and Each Million inside the bag was different currency for every country on the globe. Conner looked back up to Devil Ray and smiled.

"Not bad. Here ya go boss." He said as he tossed the crystal to Devil Ray.

Devil Ray grinned as he caught the crystal shard without any trouble then holding it up to admire it. He then reached down for the other duffle bag next to him and unzipped it, revealing another eerie glow, similar to the glow that was emitted from the crystal when Conner took it out of the backpack. Devil Ray pulled out another shard which was similar in every way to the one in his other hand.

"Ha ha ha ha!! Finally!!" Yelled out Devil Ray.

All of a sudden, a gunshot echoed throughout the area and one of the two crystals landed on the ground. Devil Ray was shocked. He looked down at Conner who was holding a gun with a smoking barrel into his direction. Devil Ray was now infuriated with this turn of events.

"YOU IDIOT!! You could've damaged a valuable piece of crystal!!"

"Yeah, and I probably saved some lives, didn't I?"

"Ah!" Said Devil Ray in surprise "So you knew what these crystals could do?"

"Not really, but I know that it can't really be good from what I've researched."

"Smart man. Now tell me, what do you plan to do next?" Said Devil ray as he approached Conner. "You can't really call the authorities because they could arrest you as well." Conner got the gun ready to fire another shot. "and I sincerely hope that you aren't planning to kill me with that gun of yours." Devil Ray now had the gun touching the center of his chest, showing no fear of the weapon at all. He then whispered something to Conner's ear. "Go ahead, I dare you to shoot."

Another shot rang and Conner flew several feet away from the recoil, nearly falling off the ledge of the building. Conner looked back up to Devil Ray and was surprise to see him still standing, however, Devil Ray's shirt now had a giant hole in the center and underneath was a chrome plated chest.

"Damn it!! You're a cyborg!!" Yelled out Conner in shock.

"Now aren't we a well educated one?"

Devil Ray punched Conner across the face, making Conner drop his gun. To Conner, it felt as though a brick had been thrown to his face. Devil Ray grabbed Conner by the collar and took off his shades, revealing a pair of cold metallic eyes. You could literally see digital information being written in the artificial whites of his eyes.

"Damn! Why didn't I figure this out sooner...?"

"Why?" Asked Devil Ray "Because, like any other human on this planet, you hate to think that something better than a human can exist. Why? Because your egos are so strong that your race doesn't want to believe in something better, like aliens, Artificial Intelligence and even God himself."

Devil Ray lifted Conner above his head and threw him into a nearby skylight, shattering the structure to pieces. Devil Ray grinned and walked next to the shattered skylight to look inside. He saw Conner's body lying on his back with shards of wood and glass lying on top of his bloody body.

"Because I am better than you Conner..." Said Devil Ray with a grin. "Now, it's time to prove to the world that there is no such thing as a 'better man'. Ha ha ha ha!!"

Devil Ray took a hold of both halves of the crystal and held one in each hand. He looked at them both very carefully, making sure they would both fit in together like two very well sawed puzzle pieces. He then put the two halves together and their glow suddenly became more intense as the crack between the two suddenly disappeared. Devil Ray let go of the crystal as it hovered in front of his face. He put his silver framed shades back on and admired the intensifying glow.

*****

Back at the asylum, the old man suddenly woke up from his trance and was now screaming through the bars of the door to his room.

"The world will sleep as the heroes re-awaken and just as they did several years before, the good of the land will return and evil will never resurface again!!"

Frederic Norstrum was seen running in his lab coat towards the mental patient as he kept screaming the same thing over and over again. Frederic tried his best to ask the old man what he had meant but he couldn't get a single answer from him. Frederic however, did notice a very strong glow from looking through the old man's window.

*****

Jonathan Seymore was tired of sitting in his car for so long. He decided to get out and breath some fresh air and stretch for several minutes. All of a sudden, a voice scratched over the tunnel's intercom.

"Sir, I suggest that you return into your vehicle immediately before anything serious happens."

"Screw that!" yelled out Jonathan. "I just came out to stretch and it's not like I’m going to have an accident in this stinking traffic!! So let me move a little bit damn it!"

"I'm sorry sir but I cannot allow..."

"Then come here and arrest me, alright? I don't care, O.K.?"

John looked outside and saw something glowing in the distance, then suddenly, the glowing subsided and a large crash was heard from a distance. After several seconds, John started to feel everything around him shake and so did other people in their cars. drivers and passengers then started to put their hands over their ears in pain, seemingly ignoring the fact that their noses were bleeding, however, John didn't feel a thing. Car windows, glass booths and other objects made of glass suddenly started to shatter to miniature pieces, even the high-pressure glass around the tunnel began to crack. John then looked down and saw the floor starting to break apart from between his feet.

****

From high above the city of Neo Vita, we could see a giant shock wave emitting from the center of the city as bridges and buildings began to break apart and fall. The same grass filled dome we had seen earlier had cracked apart, leaving the glass and metal framework to fall onto the trees and flowers bellow. Other rubble started to fall through, making the grass disappear beneath metal, glass and heartless concrete.

****

Utter darkness was all that left following the aftermath of the giant blast. even if you opened your eyes, it would've been a miracle to be able to see anything, especially if you were underneath a pile of material that used to be part of a skyscraper. Suddenly, above all the rubble, some movement could be seen as a piece of concrete slowly started to lift off the ground. John Seymore lifted the piece of concrete, despite the cuts and bruises he had suffered when Neo Vita literally fell apart, and pushed himself out from underneath the piece of human fabricated rock. John wiped his forehead, trying to remove the dirt and dust on his face. He then looked around and the entire city now looked like the site of a war zone. He looked down right next to him and saw a dead body looking right at him with it's mouth gaping wide and its eyes staring into emptiness. He also noticed blood encrusted from its nose and even some had poured from the ears. John fell down to his knees and got sick on the spot. He never saw a dead body before and it was too much for him to handle. Then, up to his left, he heard something move and a voice called out.

"Ah, so, at least one of you is awake by now. Would you care to introduce yourself you pathetic husk?"

John turned around and saw Devil Ray, standing right before him on the hood of a broken car. Devil Ray grinned as he looked down at John, knowing that he'll be a very simple target to annihilate.