12 A New Dusk Part 1

My name is Yamato Lee, and I think I'm going to hell in a world gone mad. Though considering my mile-long wrap sheet, I don't blame you if you have no sympathy for me, especially the people of Philly. A couple of months back, I was hired to kill Mayor Greene for five figures by some pretty high up figures in the underworld. Usually, I wouldn't have gone for such a risky endeavor, but with my large win streak throughout Genesis, I was feeling confident. However, with my overestimation, my powers lead to the underestimation of my enemies. Angry and determined over my failure, I was forced to double-back and try double-tap or lest my iron-clad reputation is tarnished. And the rest, as they say, was history.

Lucky for me, I at least had enough connections at my disposal to cast a sentence bargain that would allow me to escape death row and a life sentence. Combine that with good behavior, and I was hoping to get out in 30 years. Emphasis on the hoping part as with my bargain going out, I had unofficially been blacklisted in the underworld, which made my prison life less than stellar. A week didn't go without someone trying to take my life, and with every encounter, I was forced into solitary confinement. I also wasn't as strong as my prime due to the lack of sunlight. And as I laid in my prison with darkness all around nostalgia replaced depression.

It reminded me of my father, a veteran who served in the tail end of the Sino-Vietnamese conflict. A conflict that instilled in him a need to make sure that I was "prepared" for any situation. He would lock me in a dark cellar, punch me until I vomited blood, drowned me until my vision started to grow hazy. My mom, in fear of the man she once loved, left me alone to deal with his cruelty. Too bad, dear old dad realized far too late that he did indeed created the perfect soldier he always wanted as I heartlessly watched his life fade away. I tried going back to my mother, but when she discovered what had happened instead of accepting me back, she again turned away in fear like she always did. And with that final rejection, I decided that if the ones that were supposed to love me the most couldn't, then why should I even care about anyone else's life?

I managed to survive on my own for a while, going from place to place, and when I finally indoctrinated myself as a mercenary, I already knew what my codename would be. I always thought that the two types of people in the world were those who took crap from the world or the people that made moves that effected earth itself, and if there was any role that performed the latter the best, it was undoubtedly the marauder.

When Genesis came, I took the opportunity that my powers bestowed me and used them to perform my phantom assassinations, which lead me to the position I am in now: in a convoy that was heading to what I described before would be hell on earth and that is truly saying something. With the tension of helixes and humans with many of them started asking the hard questions: how can we possibly imprison helixes that go outside the law? How can we possibly know how to build helix countermeasures without fresh subjects? I've mostly heard it from conspiracy theorists and certain bribes, but there is a place that unfortunately tries to answer said questions. They call it the Neo Gulag, and if I were to be imprisoned there where my new daily life will consist of being brutally experimented.

Deciding that I would rather die than be a prisoner, my mind came up with scenario after scenario, but they all ended in resounding failure. So with my body straitjacketed and drugged beyond belief, I tried to focus all of my remaining focus into one last fight. Too bad that concentration was completely broken up with a sudden crash that swerves us out of control. Along the way, I accidentally bump my head against the wall and quickly fall into slumber.

Next time I wake up, I groggily took notice of my surroundings. In a couple of minutes, I noticed that I was in an average room with me on a bed and a fresh change of clothes on a nearby desk. Curiosity claimed my still hurting brain, but soon a bizarre camera answers them.

"Ah, it seems you have finally awakened Mr. Lee. If you want to understand your peculiar predicament, I suggest you walk out and move to the far right."

Still uneasy from my prior imprisonment, I instantly light up my room with an all-encompassing golden light and bust down the door with a fist! I then held my hands in a gun like position and followed my maybe captors directions. And what I find is a sight to behold indeed. My gold finger seemingly gets the attention of 7 individuals eating at a large table. I saw four men, a Cuban man with a couple of scars on his face, a blond guy with freckles, a bony yet short fellow with dark brown hair, and finally an old white man with stark white hair and a bit of a potbelly at the head of the table. Next up were two girls, one was ginger, and another girl with tied up hair dyed pink. Though what caught me by surprise was the tall ass bear-man was gnawing on a whole stack of BBQ ribs with a large bib. All of them had varying looks of a surprise, but the potbelly guy took control.

"Nice of you to join us at the table Mr. Lee, but I suggest you lower your hand. We are all comrades here, and we mean you no harm lest you seek it out on us. Other than that, you are free to do whatever you wish."

"So, you expect me to believe that you put all of this effort to break me out of a heavily armed convoy so that I can leave whatever this is of my own accord?"

"I know this seems unorthodox, but I see no need to force others to join my cause. While your skills would be very much appreciated in my alliance, the choice is yours. Though I think that you would be misusing your potential elsewhere."

"And what is this cause of yours exactly?"

"I'm glad you asked."

???POV

Hello, my name is Lucas Masters, and I intend to be a savior of this world gone mad. But like any story, I'll start from the beginning. I was born into a family of nobility. With my unearthly intellect, I was able to seize the greatest opportunities presented in front of me to create Masters Industries from the ground up: now one of the most influential companies in the world right now. But as my intellect grew each day, so did my frustration. While I had reached my full potential, the rest of humanity did not follow my example. Year after year, I saw as we slowly destroyed ourselves as an idiot after idiot rose to power. But by far, one of the people I hated the most was certainly Chelsea Danvers.

All that intelligence wasted in such a stupidly idealistic philosophy. With the pinnacle of my disagreements with her being Zenith. Oh sure, free energy is undoubtedly beneficial, but its fatal flaw lies in one of the first rules of business. You never ask for power. You take it. True peace cannot be achieved in a hopeful manner. A defiant change needs a defiant nature, and Chelsea lacked that in many ways due to said idealism.

Nevertheless, I tried everything in my power to stop her knowing that a singular infinite generator of power would cause the world to fight for dominance. Every two-bit tycoon would be fighting tooth and nail to stop her. I tried everything I could as well but still kept myself civil. And then, Genesis happened. And with all the chaos that birthed with it, I didn't see the end of the world but the beginning of a new one.

Think about it, with the untapped potential of helixes, we could freeze the polar caps, fix the ozone layer, and bring back animals long extinct. But even with such a gift right out in the open, we are still shackling our potential. So with the reigns of our future ripe for taking, I decided to step up by breaking my final binding: my notion that anyone else could save us. But every ruler needs his army, so using my immense resources, I recruited the strongest, the most determined crusaders that would join my plight and would carry out the change I needed in my new world order so that we may not only survive but thrive. Ursa, Rebound, Slime, Barrier, Gyro, and Scale all accepted. And I knew that Mr.Lee's alliance would ensure my future all the more. So with my speech reaching its end, I decided to wrap it up in a grand finale with an outstretched hand.

"So what will it be Mr. Lee, do you want to stay hidden in the dark and become a footnote or will you rise above and make history?"

Yamato POV

The sheer weight of the decision presented to me thickened the air and tensed my body as I ran through the choices presented to me. And only now did I realize how limited I indeed was. Between my ruined reputation, my numerous confessions, and the prior threat of termination, I knew that at the very least, my life would become that of a nomad, with the rest of my days consisting of looking over my shoulders wandering from place to place, which for me was no life at all. And even if this guy was crazy, I could tell that deep down we had a kinship, we both were fed up with the way things are. And I wanted to be free. So with nothing to lose and everything to gain, I shook his outward hand.

"My name is Lucas Masters, and I hope that this marks the start of a beautiful partnership."

"Likewise."

Lucas POV

With the addition of Mr. Lee to our ranks, our power grew all the more. Despite my unique leadership, he was able to adapt to the group within a couple of months. One of the first rules of business I learned was to keep honest with my allies. I worked with them, talked with them, and made them feel like they could trust me. Because I knew that if our group would remain, we had to remain as equals. Through this method, I managed to see the fear of Mr. Stalin (Ursa), the hunger of Mr. Quick (Gyro), the ambition of Mr. Fern (Rebound), and, most of all, the humanity of Mr. Straits. When I heard the reports of my colleague Domonic Beck about Mr.Straits, I decided to do everything in my power to fund his escapades into curing him. And when I did, I didn't find the statistic that the news brought me, but a man with immense potential who no one gave a chance on. And just like I had done many years ago, he took the chance gave him in stride. But beyond that point, I knew that at the end of the day, we all needed to trust each other for our next step.

With the rise of a vigilante group called the Champions growing more popular by the day, Philly has become one of the biggest Helix hotspots in the world. And I knew that with them at my side, and the popularity of our groups combined, the growing threat of the Purifiers would be nothing more than a memory in mere years with an army of helix celebrities. So after a quick calculation over the response time of the group, I made my play on a late November night. Using one of my drones, I quickly tripped the alarm to a high-security facility, and soon enough, I was greeted by the hidden heroes of Philly. Wildfire, Armory, Gargoyle, Blackout, and finally, their newest member: Winter. Using my computerized voice, I diplomatically made my claim.

"Hmm, I appreciate the speedy arrival, and with the whole team no less."

"Well, I think we would appreciate if we knew what you were doing here, considering your calmness at our presence," said Armory.

"That is because I do not seek monetarily gain; all I seek is an alliance between our shared groups. My name is Algorithm, and I've noticed that your actions like or not have caused a wealth of popularity to erupt across various countries in this world gone mad. And I believe with your popularity combined with my resources, we can instill a new world order."

"And what is it that your new world order exactly entails?"

"Inspiring other Helixes to join our worthy cause. Making sure that groups like the Purifiers are nothing more than a memory, making sure our incompetent leaders of this world submit to reason! Allowing us to achieve a united world where Helixes don't need to hide from society! Right now, you are simple icons, but with me, at your side, we can be legends."

"It doesn't sound like you want an alliance Algorithm; it sounds like a war. And we are trying everything in our power to achieve the opposite. We reaching hearts and minds to make them show that there is a better way."

"Then tell me, Armory, what is that better way that you speak of? Tell me in your infinite wisdom how we will prevail against the collapse of business after Zenith's destruction, blind optimism? Will you use aimless hope to answer the Helix brutality of the new anti-Helix task force? Your stopping pickpockets and thieves where you could be stopping helix traffickers and making revolutions. Don't you get it? The people don't need inspiration they need solutions, answers and we can give it to them if you stop holding back!"

"And what gives us the right to impose our will? To decide what's right and wrong? We don't have all the answers, but I know that our ideals are what we need now more than ever. I know that we have already lost far too much to give into war. And I promise you that we are going to do everything in our power to make sure that it never comes to that."

Realizing the depths of the group's conviction, I knew that there was no convincing them. So as I set the self to destruct on my drone, I made my final claim.

"Fine, if you do not want to live as my ally, then at the very least stay out of my way. Because I would not want to have, you die as an enemy."

And with the cutting of the feed, I knew now that plan A was over, and that plan B would now have to commence. If I can't gain followers, then I will gain soldiers instead. Since Genesis, the thick underbelly of Philly has been more ever-changing then ever. And from that chaos, I intend to control it all. I turned to the rest of my comrades, all ready and raring for action at my command. And with lives on the line with the fate of the world on my shoulders, I warded off every hint of doubt and prepared myself for the journey ahead. Like before, I gave my offer to every crime family left in Philly. From the Philadelphia crime family to the tiny rascals, I gave them the promise that changes for a lifetime. Those who agreed had the chance to take the world by storm and for the future footnotes that chose wrong ... I allowed them to prepare for war!