Chapter 1
"Urrrgh..." I groaned. My whole body felt like it had been vigorously beaten with a spiked bat and then run through a combine harvester for good measure. As my eyes fluttered open, what little light there was decided this would be the perfect time to take out its impotent rage on my corneas. Also, my head felt like a team of cracked out dwarves were trying to mine out the inside of my skull.
"Fuuuuuucccck." I whimpered, electing to lie still for a little while and desperately hope that the pain would subside. When it didn't I tried to distract myself by remembering how I got here, wherever here was. Unfortunately, my memory was blank... mostly. I could still recall facts, events, knowledge, but nothing personal. Why would my memory be blank like this? That made no sense. If I was anyone else I would chalk it up to amnesia, except this wasn't how amnesia worked. Wait, how did I know how amnesia worked? I started hyperventilating, and then immediately regretted it when my sinuses were assaulted by the worst buffet of odors I'd ever experienced. Not that that was a particularly high bar to clear at the moment. Marshaling my will, I tried opening my eyes again. There was a refreshing lack of blinding pain, but all that meant was that I could now see my surroundings. In that moment, I wished for a return to blindness, since I would be spared the horrible realization that was somehow wedged between a dumpster and a pile of refuse in an alley that appeared to have been built from some form of condensed human misery. The crumbling brickwork and boarded up windows seemed to loom over me and the single flickering streetlight at the far end of the alley's entrance served only to reinforce the atmosphere of hopeless despair. With another groan, I pushed myself to my feet and leaned against the dumpster, fighting back a wave of nausea.
"Shower." I mumbled, setting a goal to work for in the near future. To take my mind off my aching body, filthy surroundings, and lack of memories, I started walking.
"Right. Shower first, then location, then... money? Somehow." I stumbled out of the alley, doing my best to organize my thoughts. The street was no better than the alley I'd just vacated, which did not bode well for my shower plans. Or hopes of getting any sort of help at all.
"Hey you!" A female voice called out from behind me. Well wasn't that just fucking perfect? I chose to ignore it and keep on walking. Well, shuffling really.
"Hey, I'm talking to you!" The voice was suddenly in front of and slightly above me. And it was coming from a young and statuesque blonde woman. She was wearing a one piece white dress that fell down to her mid thigh, boots that came up to her knees, a cape, and a golden tiara. Post-human, fuck! My mind went into overdrive, analyzing my response to her appearance, her appearance itself, and how I could hope to escape if it came to a fight. Her choice of attire implied a heroic slant, but that was no guarantee.
"Shouting 'hey you' isn't talking. In fact, it's usually the precursor to a confrontation." I replied, observing her posture. Hands on hips, chin held high, this lady was confidant... no, arrogant. Judging by her frown and disapproving gaze, she was used to getting her way and didn't like being contradicted.
"Whatever, junkie. Did you see a bright flash of light in the area a few minutes ago?" I was suddenly hit with a wave of terrified awe. Luckily for me, this just made think harder and faster. There was no actual reason for me to be afraid at the moment, which would imply that this girl in front of me was generating some kind of fear effect. And why did I automatically assume that super powers were responsible? Logically speaking that, made no sense... or did it? Shelving those questions for later, I focused back on the matter at hand.
"Lady, I just regained consciousness in an alley that looked like it was constructed by Satan as a monument to human suffering. I didn't see anything. Or at least, anything that doesn't make me regret having eyes." I replied, making good use of the fear induced rush of adrenalin to straighten up and stretch a little bit.
"Lady? Do you know who I am?" The girl rose upwards slightly, now looking slightly upset. Whether it was because she thought I was being rude or because she couldn't bear the idea of not being known, I had no idea.
"No, but I'm sure you're about to tell me." I replied absentmindedly, still puzzling out what I knew about super powers. According to the inexplicable knowledge floating around my brain, they came in three forms. Technology based powers attained through cybernetics, armor, or genetic engineering, seedlings who's latent genes had been activated by the unique trans-dimensional radiation emitted from a passing comet a few decades back, and Daemonite or Kherubim hybrids. I frowned, suddenly recalling quite a few ideas for enhancing humans using various forms of technology.
"... even listening to me?" The floating girl's annoyed voice derailed my train of thought.
"Glory Girl!" A new voice called out as a teenager clad in silvery power suit jogged up.
"D-Gallant! Hey, how are you? What are you doing here?" The girl, Glory Girl, brightened up and flew over to her friend. I frowned slightly. Glory Girl? How... tacky. Well, it certainly fit her attitude.
"We were on patrol when we saw this bright light, so we came to check it out. It, uh, wasn't you was it?" Another boy dressed in fire engine red armor with two large pistols strapped to his hips flew up on a hover-boardand addressed Glory Girl. I cringed. A hover-board? Really? If you could craft a propulsion system roughly the size and shape of a longboard then you could also turn it into something that didn't carry the risk of falling off. To do otherwise was simply... inefficient.
"No, the only person I've found in the area is this druggie, but he's not being very helpful." Glory Girl gave me a dismissive wave.
"First, I'm not an addict, the I'll thank you to stop making baseless accusation. Second, blatantly attempting to manipulate emotions tends to make people disinclined to help." I sneered. These three young post-humans were clearly untrained, or they wouldn't have taken their attention off of me to have a conversation like that. Huh, how did I come to that conclusion?
"You look like a junkie, you smell like a junkie, so you probably are a junkie." Glory Girl shot back snidely. She looked like she was going to continue, but the boy in silver body armor cut in.
"Sorry, our mistake. My name is Gallant and my associate here is Kid Win. Now, did you see or hear anything that might be relevant to the flash of light that occurred a few minutes ago?" He asked politely.
"No, I didn't. As I explained to Glory Girl, I just woke up in a pile of trash. I'm not sure how I got there, but I would desperately like a shower." I answered politely.
"So... should we call this in?" Kid Win asked, floating in little circles.
"Well, he's not lying, and there doesn't appear to be any sort of actual crime so I guess there isn't really a point." Gallant shrugged.
"Well okay then." Glory Girl declared and picked up Gallant. The three of them turned and disappeared over the rooftops, leaving me alone on the deserted street. I shivered as a cold breeze gusted down the street, reminding me the I should get inside or else I ran the risk of suffering from hypothermia. Looking around at the buildings, I saw a few warehouses and a couple of ancient tenement buildings all clustered together. With a grumble, I started walking towards an abandoned looking warehouse that would hopefully have someplace protected enough for me to survive the night. It galled me to have been forced to this. I had no idea what my life was like before... this... but judging by the fact that I was already making plans to construct a small efficient power source from assorted junk, I had no doubt that being homeless and forced to huddle in an abandoned building was not something to which I was accustomed. Grinding my teeth, I hopped over the rusting chain link fence and walked towards the building, searching for a way in.
I soon found a door with a broken window large enough for me to stick my arm through. I fumbled in the darkness for a few seconds, carefully avoiding the broken glass, before finding the lock, which refused to budge. With a snarl of frustration, I gave the door a good hard kick to break it open, sending a wave of pain through my leg as I did so. Limping inside, I gave my eyes a minute or two to adjust to the darkness. Unsurprisingly, the inside of the warehouse was absolutely filthy. With a limping stride, I made my way up a rickety set of stairs and into what might, at one point, have been a manager's office. Luckily for me, there was still an old desk in one corner, which would hopefully provide a survivable place for me to sleep for the night. So, curling up in the leg space underneath, I did so. , don't even