Vertigo tucked his jacket a little more securely around himself as he and his two companions stepped from the warmth and light of the bar out into the swiftly chilling evening air. The soft glow of the street lanterns pushed back against the ever-deepening dusk, the light shattering in the occasional puddle. They were gas, not electric like Asapaco, but this place was a quarter the size, a tenth as rich, and they wouldn't be welcome back at Asapaco for a long time. Vertigo had lost track several drinks back but they were running out of bars to hit, he was starting to feel a little fuzzy, and it was getting to the point where he was beginning to contemplate heading back and falling into bed. Possibly not alone, since Bliss was starting to throw suggestive glances his direction.

Nathan's sudden stop sent Vertigo crashing into him, and Bliss into Vertigo. “Ow- What's wrong with-”

The other man made a sharp gesture for silence. “Do you hear that?” he asked quietly.

Focusing through his pleasant, alcohol-induced haze, Vertigo did hear a faint voice from around back of the building. It sounded distressed. “Nathan. No. Don't even think-”

He was already moving that direction. At Vertigo's side, Bliss sighed and spat a quiet curse. “I'm real sick of him tryin to play hero so he can get laid.”

Vertigo gritted his teeth, a headache starting at his temples. “C'mon, let's go.”

A quick peek into the alleyway made the situation clear. A dark-haired woman dressed in black leather cowered against the wall, hands held out to a large man as though trying to ward him off. “No...” Her voice trembled. “Please don't hurt me...”

Everything happened at once. Nathan sprinted down the alley, yelling, “Hey!” just as the man stepped forward and reached out, and the frightened, helpless expression on the woman's face changed to a wicked, predatory grin. Two long daggers flashed out of nowhere, crisscrossing bright lines of red across the man's shirt. Somehow he managed to react fast enough to pull back and avoid being butchered. In the next second her eyes flicked over to Nathan, who was trying to skid to a stop in sheer surprise. A strange tickling sensation washed over Vertigo as his skin prickled, and Bliss likewise shivered beside him. The woman snarled something in a deeper pitch which he couldn't quite make out, and before any of them could blink Nathan was on his knees, hands to his stomach trying to hold in the blood pouring through his fingers. He slowly crumpled to the ground, face frozen in pain and shock.

The other man had taken his opportunity to vanish when no one was looking, and the woman who was clearly not a victim glanced around with a frustrated sound. Bliss screamed in outrage and threw herself down the alley at the woman, intent on avenging Nathan's honor. With a sigh, Vertigo followed her to make sure that she wouldn't be avenging Nathan's death.

Bliss charged toward the woman, putting her superhuman speed on display, screaming epithets. The stranger didn't bother to respond but dodged to one side just as quickly, the daggers in each of her hands weaving in a defensive pattern. Streaks of blood opened up on Bliss' arm, her punch flying wide. This woman was stronger, faster, and more agile than any normal person could possibly be. She had to be a Talent like them, a strong one, and despite the fact that she'd just tried to kill Nathan Vertigo felt a twinge of excitement and curiosity.

Bliss clearly didn't feel the same way. She snarled and uncoiled the chain she carried wrapped around her other arm, the length of it sliding to the ground in chiming loops of shiny steel. It moved unnaturally, sinuous as a snake, as she used her metal affinity to guide it. Vertigo dropped to his knees beside Nathan, keeping one eye on the fight. Nathan was just barely conscious, and for his sake Vertigo hoped Bliss finished quickly so they could get him back to a healer. Unwinding his long scarf, he folded the end several times and pressed it to the wound, placing Nathan's hands over it. “Hold this down tight,” he instructed, wrapping it in place as best he could around the other man's body. Nathan obeyed weakly.

“I'm gonna kill you, bitch,” Bliss announced, stalking forward. Her rigid, aggressive stance stood in sharp contrast to the other woman's fluid, almost relaxed state.

The woman just sighed, almost annoyed, and rolled her eyes. Bliss sprinted forward, chain whistling around her head. The twin long daggers the other carried moved like an extension of her hands as she swept them in front of her in a maneuver that was both protective and set her up for a counterstrike. Bliss saw the trap and circled, her chain always in motion in a silvery blur.

“You okay there?” Vertigo asked Nathan. “I might need to go give Bliss some backup.”

Nathan's eyelids fluttered, his gaze gone hazy and distant, but he managed a shaky thumbs-up gesture. Vertigo looked back toward the fight just in time to see the stranger catch the lightning-fast chain strike Bliss sent whistling toward her head. Steel wrapped her forearm and Vertigo winced in sympathetic pain even as his jaw dropped in disbelief that she had been fast enough to even see that strike, much less intercept it.

Similarly stunned for a fatal half second, Bliss lost her footing as the other woman yanked on her end of the chain. She stumbled and a booted foot planted itself in her midsection. Bliss went flying and skidded down the length of the alley, tumbling to a stop in the dirt. She lay limp and still, gasping for air. The stranger released the chain and let it drop carelessly to the ground.

Vertigo got to his feet, but Bliss was unwilling to go down so easily. She sprang to her feet, panting with one arm wrapped protectively around her midsection. Green eyes narrowed, she stalked forward once more and with a life of its own her chain coiled around the stranger's ankle.

The chain went taut. The woman let her foot slide out from under her in a controlled fall. She used her other leg to sweep-kick Bliss' feet out from under her and rolled over on top of Bliss, pinning her to the ground. One dagger's edge rested against the vulnerable, soft arc of Bliss' throat; the other's tip pricked just below her breastbone.

Heat was already prickling Vertigo's hands. His jaw clenched, sweat standing out on his forehead as he concentrated and threw a wave of fire. Before she had a chance to rip Bliss open, the stranger quickly rolled to the side to avoid the blast of flame.

“Fuck!” Bliss yelled from the ground, very nearly singed. “You wanna watch where you're throwin' that shit?”

“Great,” Vertigo yelled back, “that was all you could do? I already gotta patch up Nathan's ass and now you gotta give me twice the work?”

“Shut up! And also, fuck you!” Bliss spat, pulling a long knife from her boot as she regained her feet.

“You're wasting my time,” the stranger growled. She sheathed her weapons, thrust out a hand and a glowing ball shot from her palm. Bliss hit the far wall, striking her head against the stone with an ominous-sounding crack. She fell to the ground and didn't get up.

The woman turned to Vertigo. Her hands were clenched into fists, small sparks of electricity beginning to crackle around them. “Where'd he go?” Her voice was deep and husky and melodic, and full of rage. Her eyes glittered eerily at him and in that stare he saw that they were silver. Not grey, not the clear and depthless color of rainwater, but opaque, metallic, hateful silver.

“Um... what the fuck are you talking about?” he inquired.

She didn't seem to hear him, just strode forward as though unaware of the dancing lightning beginning to move its way up her right arm. The air around her went still and dead and began to feel charged, expectant, the sharp smell of ozone wafting its way to him. It was clear that she was pissed. From the way she'd taken out Bliss and Nathan she was also clearly powerful, but now he knew what to expect. She still hadn't responded, that dead look in her eyes remaining as she stared him down. “Damn crazy bitch,” Vertigo thought aloud. The lightning was starting to worry him a little but unless she had power on the order of Commander's he was pretty confident that his fire could match up.

She lost control of her temper and proved him wrong. A corona of energy flared around her, crackling with electricity and anger. The blinding white light drove Vertigo stumbling backward to one knee, an arm shielding his eyes. He squinted painfully through the glare to try and keep her in his sight. He hoped that no one happened to be passing by at the moment; the last thing he needed was more interruptions. Slowly the light died and he saw, struggling to blink the spots out of his vision, that her silhouette had changed.

He blinked once more, sure that what he saw was some kind of afterimage or echo, but the wings stubbornly remained. Not perfect feathery white wings, not even bird wings, but big black bat wings that eclipsed the sky. Her long black hair had somehow bleached a silvery white, gleaming against her dark skin. Slowly she drew her right dagger and raised it to point at him, stalking forward as though she had all the time in the world to cut him up and watch him slowly bleed out.

“Wh-what the hell are you? Where did you come from?” Vertigo fought the urge to scramble backward, unable to take his eyes off those wings. He was suddenly conscious of just how much his hands ached, and a little twinge of fear shot through his gut. She had gone that whole fight without showing a fraction of the power she had just displayed. Glancing over to Bliss' still form, and then to Nathan and the puddle of blood forming under him, Vertigo swallowed hard. “He... he was just trying to fucking help you,” he choked out.

“Ah...” Her eyes were wide now and she breathed out the noise so softly he almost didn't hear it. Something that could almost be called a smile if it weren't so cold crossed her face. She walked up to him in measured paces and he tensed, preparing to send a burst of fire through her chest, but she only reached out a fine-boned hand and tilted his chin up to her. Her touch was gentle, but impersonal and cold. “You've got no idea what you just ran into. You don't know what you are, do you, half-breed?” Without the anger marring her voice he could make out an odd accent he wasn't familiar with.

He jerked away from her, losing his balance and catching himself on one raw hand. “What the hell are you talking about? What do you mean, what I am? Bitches with wings don't just come dropping out of the sky! At least I'm not some kind of freak!”

Amusement tugged at one corner of her full mouth. “You're not human, anyway.”

His temper rose. “What do you mean I'm not? What kind of crazy game are you playing?”

Her hands were at her hips and she looked at him impatiently. “I said you're not. At least not fully. I don't care if you believe me or not and I don't care if you blow yourself to hell. Just try not to take too many innocents with you.” She turned to walk away.

Within seconds he was on his feet. “You shut up!” Anger surged through him, more anger – hell, more anything – than he could remember feeling in years. Echoes of everyone who had ever mocked him, turned away from him, feared him rode her voice. His hands trembled and grew hotter, prickling. “I'm not a monster.” She stopped, her back still to him.

“Interesting choice of words.” Her tone was now calm and still. “Haven't you ever wondered why you're so different from normal people? Stronger, faster... Haven't you ever wondered just why you can throw fireballs? Haven't you ever thought that maybe, just maybe, you might be something a little... more... than human?”

“So what if I can throw fire? There are plenty of people who can do magic! That... that doesn't make me inhuman. You're not human, that's what.”

She turned her head the slightest bit, just enough to look at him sidelong. “I never claimed to be human.” A flicker of something lurked behind her eyes for a second, but it was gone almost before he realized it was there.

“Fine, whatever you call yourself... how the hell are you so damn certain of what I am? Talents aren't normal? Are you saying we're all... mutants? Freaks?”

Very calmly, she said, “Yes.”

Far from controlled at this point, Vertigo launched himself at her with the intent of doing serious harm. Forget that Commander had ordered them not to cause trouble in the city, forget the attention that throwing magic around would bring, forget that Bliss and Nathan needed help. She was, piece by piece, slowly cracking his world apart.

The woman only turned, putting her hand out toward him as though telling him to stop, and he crashed into some sort of invisible barrier. Electricity jolted through him, freezing his muscles, and the pale-hared stranger moved with threatening grace close enough to kiss. Her massive, trembling dark wings spread behind her, blotting out the light. Low and savage, she spoke in his ear. “You are spawn of the demonai, of beings who live to hurt and rape and kill the innocent on this world, beings like the one you just helped escape. I am angelus, and I will not hesitate to bleed you dry.”

Vertigo growled, feeling everything he knew shattering further into pieces. “Demons? Angels?” he ground out from between clenched teeth. “Those are myths, goddammit.” She was so full of herself she thought she was some kind of angel? Disbelief warred with anger, and heat exploded from his body.

The lightest touch on his bicep kept him from moving, electrical paralysis locking him in place. Her lips just barely brushed his ear as her husky voice dropped to a near-whisper, terrifyingly intimate and dangerous. “Where do you think magic in mortals comes from? I'll tell you. It's demon blood.

“Something happened to you, didn't it? Years ago. Something awful. People died, maybe someone close to you. And ever since then you've changed. It's harder to keep a leash on your temper. Little things make you want to explode. And that darkness keeps whispering in your ear, asking you to let go and give it control. That's your demon side talking.” Abruptly, she withdrew and Vertigo fell to the ground as his body went limp.

“Who doesn't get pissed off once in a while?” he gasped, even as his heartbeat picked up speed at the uncanny accuracy of her words. “In fact, you're pissing me off right now. Lemme up and we can settle this.”

She glanced up at him through her eyelashes. “I'm really regretting the fact I'm not supposed to kill you. But I'm in a hurry. So please do give me a reason.” She stepped back, spreading her hands. The wings vanished. “I'll let you stand up. And if you insist on throwing your life away, we'll fight. I promise it won't last long. Otherwise, I'll walk away and let you go back to your miserable life and patch up your friends. Choose. Quickly.”

Vertigo clenched his fists, snarling viciously, and wavery tongues of red flame licked from his hands as he readied a searing dose of fire. He struggled to his feet.

The stranger sighed, almost apathetic. “All right, then.” She raised her right hand over her head, poised and calm as a dancer. Electricity began to crackle around her fingertips, and a slight warning breeze ruffled her silvery hair. Vertigo braced himself to fire, but before he could move she dropped unconscious to the ground.

The dangerous rage slowly drained from Vertigo's mind and the fire faded from his hands. Confusion held him motionless. Like a mirage Commander stood behind the woman, the butt end of his rifle still cocked from the brutal blow he had delivered to the back of her skull. A small trickle of blood traveled from her head. Coming out of the haze of his fury, for a moment he was utterly blank, focused only on those tiny details. His memories of the past few moments wavered like the reflection on a puddle of water, threatening to shatter apart at any moment.

Commander moved to Bliss and laid a hand gently on her head. Soft golden light flared around Commander's hand and she responded with a low groan. After a moment he moved on to Nathan and pressed a hand to his torso for a moment, then slung him over his shoulders. Bliss stumbled to her feet, looking dizzy but walking under her own power. Vertigo was only barely aware of this, still frozen in shock and looking down at the motionless body of the woman who had just turned everything he knew inside out.

“Vertigo. Come on. Wake up.” Fingers snapped right in his face. He started slightly, blinking, and his eyes focused. Commander stood in front of him. “That's better. Let's go, I need you to carry her back.”

“Carry-” He looked for Bliss, but Commander was already supporting her on one arm. His gaze followed Commander's attention down to the unconscious stranger. “What? Back?You're taking her with us? What the hell for?”

“I want to talk to her. Shut up and do as you're told.”

“Commander, I-” He didn't want to touch her, didn't even want to look at her, but the look in his superior's eyes offered no room for either explanation or negotiation.

“Vertigo. Now.”

“I say we just kill the bitch and have done with it,” Bliss muttered darkly. Commander shot her a look, and she immediately shut up. Vertigo sighed and scooped the strange woman up into his arms, none too gently. At least the wings were gone; it made her easier to carry, and he definitely did not want to deal with the stares from carrying around some kind of winged freak.

A few steps down the street he felt something spatter wetly against his foot, and he looked down. “Aw, hell!” he groaned. “She's bleeding all over my new boots! ...Commander... C'mon...” Commander made no reply. He was already several feet ahead, still helping an unsteady Bliss. “Heartless bastard,” Vertigo muttered, and kept walking.