New Goals 2

"No way!" Roberta exclaimed, "I … I'm really going out on a real mission?" She made a small dance around the guy she had been walking with. The guy, Eric Den, couldn't help but smile.

Her name was Roberta Wilson, the daughter of the former vigilante (and now turned scientist) Robert Wilson. Against her father's wishes, she had joined the Project Conquer and had proven herself to be quite the prodigy. Save the black hair, she looked just like her father, with her blue eyes and petite figure.

"This is so amazing, now we can test out our suits. It's been so long since I put that thing on, I wonder if it even fits,"

"Don't worry, it's not like you grew in the last couple of months." Eric said with a smile. Roberta paid no attention to his remark, or rather was too excited to hear it.

"Took you guys long enough." A woman said, with a cool but stern voice.

"No way, you're…"

"My name's Sharon. I prefer that, since we'll be working together." The woman said with a wink.

Her name was Sharon Queens, but to the two of them, she was the Lock On. Once she set her eyes on anything, there was nothing one could do to escape her sight, unless of course, her vision was clouded. Next to the Wolfsbane, she was the next best tracker in the entire world.

"Wait, if you are here…" Eric's voice faded, as his statement was finished by the appearance of Hugh form the building. He was quite tall, with his white hair and green eyes, and his overgrown sideburns, he appeared menacing. Not to mention his badass signature outfit, the white long overcoat with black jeans with no top underneath.

"Ugh… he groaned, "So their sending you guys with me. Yay!"

"Sir," Eric began, "it is such an honor to…"

"Cut the formalities kid. I really hate that nonsense. Look I really like to work alone, and I can barely stand Lock On. You joining the fray… ain't my idea. So you kids better stay in line, or else, you guys are gonna pack your stuff. Capiche?"

"Yes sir," The two saluted, trying to hide their excitement.

"Good." Wolfsbane said, looking at the vehicle that came to a standstill in front of them. Ivy Robbs stepped out, followed by a younger guy with red hair.

"Sir," She said, "we are ready."

"'bout time. How many of your guys are coming along."

"Four, sir."

"Four?" Sharon said, obviously perturbed, "Is this some kind of sick joke? Your guys are going to patrol the area. Four isn't going to cut it."

"These are all the people I could get. And they are the best of the best."

"On whose standards?"

"Mine."

Sharon eyed her. "Listen, I…"

"Cut it out, Sharon." Wolfsbane said, "I'm enough for whatever this business is. Let's hurry up and get there."

Dynamo dropped on in front of the small house. The dog quickly rushed to her, licking her.

"Hey there Betsy," She said with a smile, petting the dog, "Who's a good girl."

A woman emerged from the house, a smile on her face. "Hey there." She said, "It's been a while."

Martha smiled, "I've been… a little busy."

"Oh yeah, your quite the hero. You might hear this every day, but the work you do is amazing."

"I only try," she said, quite shy. "Is he around?"

"Oh yeah, he's in the garage."

Martha thanked him, walking towards the open garage. The stuff in it were on a whole new level of technology, although they looked rather rough in nature, with the raw wires shown. But then, when you use old parts, there was nothing much to be expected.

The man appeared from the door, having a sandwich in his mouth. He put some tools down on the table, tinkering on something that appeared to be an old guitar.

"Guessing that belongs to Roberta."

The man jumped, the sandwich dropping to the ground. The man looked at the fallen food and back at Martha.

"That's gonna cost you, you know that, right?

Martha smiled, "Yeah. But I bet there's ten more from where that came from."

"Yeah, you bet." The man turned back to what he was doing. "So, what does the esteemed Dynamo want with a common peasant like me?"

"Common? That's a big downgrade."

"Yeah," Robert said, "But that's who I am. I no longer shrink to punch guys in the face. I leave the punching to you."

"Yeah. But the suits amazing."

Robert turned to her, "How did…you know what? Never mind. You were going to find out one way or the other."

"Yep. These days, information reaches my ears earlier than even the new head of the Special Officers."

"You know she actually hears it first, right."

"Yeah. But then I do as well doesn't make them higher than I do."

Robert smiled. "I'm guessing you came here for advice."

Martha smiled, "Exactly. Since most of the cities in the Everlast are becoming more and more peaceful, I thought that it'd be wise to turn our attention to the well forgotten places. Like Downtown."

"And, you've already began."

"Yeah. Wolfsbane has been deployed as we speak along with the best Special Officers and four other heroes."

"Including my daughter."

"Ri…Yeah."

Robert sighed. "I'm not going to talk about it. I already spoke to her about it and we had a fight."

"You just need to give her a chance."

"I know." He took a deep breath, "But Wolfsbane? Why him? Why not Velvet?"

"Velvet isn't the first choice of this. The higher ups still don't feel comfortable, giving his history and all…"

"Or is it the matter of his semblance to Deviant."

"That to. They want the Downtown and areas like that to stare at the might of heroes."

"Then what about Assault. Or Blindspot."

"Blindspot refused actually. She has to watch over Alexia Vlazerncroft. And Assault… the higher ups said no."

"A plain no."

"Exactly, got me confused as well. The guys a literal walking tank but they still refused."

"So why did you refuse."

"I didn't. Wolfsbane was voted by them."

"Despite knowing that the guy's a practical wolf?"

"Yeah. But I'm on standby. Anything goes wrong, I'll step in myself. And that's why I came to you. I need your advice about Downtown."

"Well, they don't like heroes. That's for sure. They're also underprivileged, below third class. Hell, most people there take the oddest of jobs they can grab their arms on. Oh, and vigilantes are all welcome, as long as they are sane. Like I was."

"Ugh…" Martha groaned. She hated the concept of vigilantism. It bored her. Sure being a hero was good and all, but without proper constraints, it was a gamble. "Doesn't seem like a big deal then," Martha said.

"No." Robert said, "But that's just the surface of it. There are a lot of underground activity that goes on in that community, Martha. So many gangs, so many criminals.

"Can't we just eradicate them all?"

"Yeah. But as vigilante, when we removed one gang, another bigger one took its place. You can't really clean up the entire place, Martha."

"But then you guys were able to make it safer."

"Martha… I only made it worse. I never did anything."

"C'mon." Martha said, "I saw the news reports then, Microman saves the day, uncovers gang hideout."

"Oh, right, that. But after that, another gang showed up and took the streets for themselves. That's when I learnt how Velvet and the Deviant controlled the streets. Martha, they didn't clear out the streets. The kept the gangs, but made sure they never stepped out of line. An unspoken agreement."

"But that's more or less letting crime go unpunished."

"Yeah, but by then, Project Conquer or the Special Officers Unit weren't a thing then. Those times were much different, darker. The worst. That's why when the Conquerors showed up, I just stepped down."

Martha took a deep breath. Sure, she didn't know much about how life was before the Project Conquer was a thing in areas like Downtown but Robert was right on one thing. The Project needed to expand.

"Thanks Robert."

"No problem, Martha. Always glad to help."

"Um, Robert," The woman Martha met outside called from inside the house, "the pies ready."

"Be there in a minute." He replied. "Want some?"

"Save some for me later." She said hovering a distance over the front lawn.

"Okay, I might as well eat everything."

"Hey no fair."

Robert laughed.

"Take care of yourself." Martha said.

"Oh yeah, Martha," Robert said, a seriousness to his tone, "Be careful in Downtown."

"You don't have to worry about me."

"I'm serious. You may have powers. But those people in Downtown…they're not hesitant when it comes to their goals. If they want something, they'd do anything to get it. Everything."

Alexia sat waiting in the exotic room, Jenna by her side. She had engrossed herself in some news; the sudden leave of Solomon Hunter to Iceland, a place nobody really talked about, the government deciding to increase the wages of Special Officers, which had brought an uproar in other areas. The most interesting of them to her was the expedition to the giant tree in the Everrain continent, mainly because she was going to be a part of it.

"Madam Alexia, Mr. Adalwolf would see you shortly. He apologizes for the inconvenience" A butler said.

"Sure. I don't mind."

The butler bowed and left. Alexia resumed her reading, her mind wandering to the Adalwolf tragedy. Of all the Great families, the Vonharte, Adalwolf and Vlazerncroft were the most powerful, followed by the Ororo and Blitzkonig. Aiathor lived in Iceland, so remained as mysterious as the place was.

The Adalwolf family was the oldest of them all, having the generational ability of blood manipulation (in simple terms. The full details of it was complicated). Karvan Adalwolf was the new head of the family. Two years ago, his parents had been killed by Supremus. The two were caught completely unaware, as the full force of a ship crashed into their abode. The two were found dead, along with the other staff of the house, covering the young Karvan and their baby, Katherine.

Ever since the funeral, Karvan had secluded himself from society. Ordinarily, he'd have joined the Conquerors. But the incident had left a scar on him, both physically and emotionally. Not to mention he had a little sister to raise. He'd chosen family over duty…over revenge.

"Sorry for making you wait." Karvan said, descending the stairs. The little Katherine was wrapped around him, a cute red eyes peering inquisitively at the visitors.

Alexia stood up, making a gentle bow. Jenna's bow was a bit lower. Karvan only nodded, sitting down in the couch opposite them.

"So, how may I help you?"

"Oh, I just came to see you before I left. That's all."

"Ah, so you're still going for the expedition." Karvan said, surprised.

"Yes. I would love to see the results for myself. History has a lot of secrets, and I want to be there when they are uncovered."

"Well, it really doesn't concern me in the least."

That was a lie, and they both knew that. He had funded the expedition. If anything, Karvan was more or less a historian of some sorts. The Grand library may have the most amount of books, but Karvan had the oldest ones. Books that even proved the devolution of mankind right.

"Karvan, was ist diel endspiel?

Karvan smiled, "Endspiel?"

"Tausche keine unwissenheit vor, ich bin nicht so leicht zu tauschen. Ich kenne dich schon lange damit du es versuchst und Spiel emit mir spielst"

"Neither am I trying to, Alexia. Neither am I."

The two stared at each other for a long time, raising the tension in the room, and the uneasiness for Jenna. Katherine, however, was unperturbed by this, rather she seemed all the more interested in the matter, her eyes looking around at the faces of those in the room.

"Well, that's why I came here." Alexia said, standing, "I will see you in a week's time."

"So will I," Karvan said with a smile. Alexia and Jenna bowed, escorted by the butler. Karvan sat silently, a smile on his face, patting Katherine on the head as he sang an old song.

"Madam Alexia," Jenna began, "What do you mean when you asked about his endgame?"

Alexia turned to her, surprised, "You know how to speak old language?"

"Yeah," she said, shyly, "I try my best."

Alexia let a little laugh, before replying. "Karvan has changed, Jenna. Its unclear what he wants, or why he does nothing at all. He's knows things that no one else knows, and that alone gives him an edge over everyone."

"But it won't help in the present times, right?"

"How would we know, Jenna?" Alexia asked, "The past has given as a lot of hints, devolution of mankind, the Great Tree, the Pyramid…there is something that has been going on for a while that only Karvan knows. And that means that something big is going to happen."

"And what does that have to do with us?"

"If the man knows something, then our best shot should be to support him. Who knows, he might let us in on it."

Alexia sighed. It was truly annoying when people knew about something big and decided to hide it for reasons which were…underwhelming to say the least. But she would wait. Karvan was no fool. And the fact that he funded the expedition, meant that he wanted something from it. Which meant she could get the info from him, a trade of sorts.

"Where to Madame?" the driver asked.