Chapter 4

John began to yawn as he slowly opened his eyes but became shocked. He looked up to see

the woman standing over him with her right hand aimed at him. He saw glowing blue veins

appearing on her arm as an aura of energy formed in her hand. John raised his hands to surrender

as she turned away. He was surprised when he noticed that most of her wounds had healed. Her

eyes were a bright grayish-blue color and appear to glow.   

“You’re welcome.” John said as he slowly stood to his feet.

He peered out of a broken window to see it was almost morning. The woman stood silently as

she looked around the broken-down house. Debris was everywhere and the furniture had been

scorched. John saw a few pictures scattered around the room. He picked up one to see it was a

family that lived in the house.

“Your help was not required.” She said in an emotionless sounding tone.

John shook his head as he placed his hand in his pocket and leaned against the wall.

“Well, you might have died or been taken by the task force if it wasn’t for me.”

John began to fold his arms across his chest. He turned his head to see her in front of him

causing him to glance over where she had stood earlier. He looked down at her as she stared up

at him. She was about five foot six and John could tell she was extremely athletic. She grabbed

him by his shirt and slammed him against the wall. More debris to fall around them.

“Who are you and what do you want?” She questioned in a monotone but menacing voice.

John gently placed his hands on hers. He stared at her as he slowly pried her hand off of him.

Once she let got she moved away. “I’m John and… I saw a woman in a ditch and figured I’d

help her. What were you doing out there anyway?”

She turned to him as she looked around the building once more. “A failure trying to atone for

my father’s sins.” She said vexingly.

“Who is your father?”

“I am Diane Lee the false daughter of Dr. Lee.”

John realized she must be related to Dr. Lee. The scientist who somehow formulated a serum

that helped him create his own race of superhumans.

“I thought Dr. Lee only had two kids…” John trailed off.

Diane glared at him with an angry look on her face. She looked outside appearing to be

scoping out the area. She waved at John as if she wanted him to follow her as she stepped

outside. John groaned as he shoved his hands in his pockets and stepped over the debris to catch

up to her. John stepped outside to see that the layers of snow in the ground was thicker. It was

everywhere which meant it had snowed again.

“When I was in my mother’s womb, she had a disease from some kind of mutated gene that

was slowly killing her and would have killed me if I was born.” Diane said as John looked over

at her with a creeped outlook on his face.

“Okay…so what happened to you?” He questioned as she pushed him in another

direction as lights flashed near them.

“They took me out four months early to do a procedure on her. Once they were finished they

never put me back in.” She said as they both ducked behind a hedge of bushes as a task force

vehicle drove by them. They waited silently until all the vehicles were gone.

“How the hell do you explain yourself?” John questioned as Diane began moving once more.

He took a deep breath as he proceeded to follow her.

“I was born in a lab where I had genes put into me and extracted from me. It kind of explains

why I’m not the same race as either of my parents. I have someone else’s DNA inside of me.”

John struggled to process this information. He couldn’t begin to understand why someone

would do that to their own child. The two kept sneaking around until they ended up on the

normal streets of Darko city.  

“Listen, I got to get going soon. I should hit the road before I get into more trouble.” John said

as he started to back away. Diane nodded as she folded her arms while she stared at him. John

stood unmoving as he waited for her to speak.

“You seem like a person with no purpose. Join me on my quest to save the city from Dante

and my father whenever he returns.” She requested.

John rubbed the back of his head nervously. He had no intentions of sticking around longer

than he had. John waited to get going and save himself the trouble of having unwanted

memories. He knew the more he stuck around bad memories would return to haunt him. John

hoped to forget as much as he could about the city. All his trouble came from growing up in this

place.

“Look... I did my share of helping people today. I’m not a hero and I don’t care enough about

this city to save it. This is not a place I belong.” John said in a serious tone.

Diane shook her head as she rolled her eyes while turning away. “I didn’t take you for a

coward but I guess I was wrong.”

He stood silently for a moment before he finally gave in. “You know nothing about me…”

“No… I don’t. But you did take the time to save me instead of leaving me to my fate.”

Her words were true and John couldn’t deny that. He hated to admit that she was right. Why

did he help her? Why didn’t he just leave her in that ditch for the task force to pick her up?

“I don’t have anything important coming up so I guess I’ll come with you. Although first I’d

like to go get some things.” John sighed.

“Well… we better get going.”

Diane turned with a faint smile on her face. She walked back toward John before stopping in

front of him. She grabbed him and leaped high into the air. John looked down at the ground and

became nervous.  

“You didn’t have to do that!” John yelled. “Wait, take me to Shade-arc inn.” John demanded

in a slightly panicked tone of voice.

Diane landed on a building as she continued running, dragging John on her back. He felt

embarrassed as she leaped onto another building. The foggy clouds of the morning dawned on

them as she continued to leap from building to building. After a few minutes, they were on the

building beside Shade-arc inn. She leaped down with John causing him to quickly get off her. He

glanced at her before he headed to the front entrance.    

“You sure you want to go in there like that?” Diane called after John.

He merely shrugged as he turned the corner. He stumbled through the doors of the inn as he

stretched his arms. He entered the lobby as he noticed people staring at him frightened. The clerk

at the desk slowly stood up to her feet.

“Mr. Xile are you alright sir?” She asked as John raised a thumbs up to her as he staggered

over to the elevator.

“Just a typical night saving people from fires.”

He waved casually as he stepped inside the elevator as someone followed him in. The woman

stared at him as he noticed her holding her purse. He leaned over to her causing her to become

frightened. He shook his head as the elevator door opened to his floor. He walked down the

vacant hallway until he got to his door. John dug in his pockets until he found his key card. Once

he was in his room he took off his shirt and headed to the bathroom. He was able to get a better

view of his body. There was not one sign of a scar. He took a deep breath as he turned on the

shower. John got undressed as he waited for the water to warm. When steam started to rise he

climbed inside.

The warm water greeted his skin as he leaned against the wall. All he could do was wonder

what was happening. Why did he even decide to stick around? He covered his face as the steam

from the water made it difficult to see. After another minute he finally got out. John hurried and

got dressed putting on a pair of black jeans, Dark blue shirt, and his dark blue boots. He quickly

packed his things in his duffel bag before finally walking to the door. John closed the door

behind him and hurried down the steps. He descended each step by hopping down to the next

one. He went to the clerk and handed her the key card as well as money before walking out of

the building. John stepped around the corner to see Diane leaned against the wall with her arms

folded across her chest.

“You could have showered later and that’s a big bag.” She said as they began walking down

the alley.  John followed her silently until they were headed toward the forest at the edge of the

city.

“Why are we going in there?” John questioned as he stopped walking causing her to stop and

pull his arm. He looked at her confused as her rubbed his arm. “Can't have a

base the task force can easily get to.” She said as they continued walking for another few

minutes.

There was a strange-looking marking a few feet away from a strange mound of dirt. Diane

walked over and began digging to reveal a hatch. She glanced at John before she tore it open.

Dust flew up in her face causing her to cough uncontrollably before she climbed down. John

stood at the edge peering inside looking at her to see her turning on a flashlight. He turned

around and started climbing in with the duffel bag. He closed the hatch above his head as he

landed on the hard ground. John breathed slowly as he walked behind Diane looking around to

see there were a lot of things down there. After walking for a few minutes they finally arrived in

a properly illuminated area. John realized that this was an extremely large facility with tons of

things to do in. 

“What the hell?” John question as he dropped his bag and descended down the stairs into a

large area. He looked around at of the gear and tools that was before him.

“Welcome to the bunker. It’s an old lab of Dr. Lee which he abandoned years ago.”

John turned as he heard footsteps before seeing a blur appear beside Diane. It was a man who

was about six foot tall and had long dark brown hair. He stared at John with a serious look on his

face.

“We’re bringing in outsiders now?” He said as a woman with long silver hair appeared from

another room. John looked around to see if anyone else was in the large facility. He saw a young

man with blonde hair, blue eyes and a scar across his nose standing on a catwalk bridge above

him. He stood silently as John continued looking around the building.

“He helped me and we could use more people. We’re running out of help.” She said as the

woman with silvery hair stepped up beside her.

“Hey, I’m Celina… that guy up there is Shane. Nice to meet you.” She said.

John nodded his head while slightly bowing to her. Diane walked away from the two of them

to head down a hall. She stopped and turned to point at John. He jogged over to her to follow her.

He continued to be in awe as he peered into other rooms that seemed to be empty while others

were filled with things. She got to a door and opened it causing the lights to turn on. There was a

flight of stairs that led to a lower level. John followed her down the steps in a barren room with a

dresser, desk, bed, television, and door to which John assumed to be the bathroom.

“I get my own room… cool.” He said unamused.

“It’s not much but you stay as long as you like. I can tell you’re a loner so it’s far from

everyone else.” She said as he nodded slowly while looking around. He set his duffel bag down

and rubbed his shoulder.

“It’s perfect…thank you.” He said gratefully as he stared at the ground. He sighed as he

walked over to the desk and looked at the strange lamp.

“I hope you can fight because we will be in a fight soon.” She said causing John to turn

toward her confused. He walked over to the bed and sat down.

“I really don’t want to be part of a team. Tell me what you need me to do and I’ll get it done.”

John said in a serious tone as he stared at Diane who also had a serious look on her face.

“Can you kill my brother Dante?” She questioned.

John froze while he stared at her confused. He wasn’t prepared to take another man’s life. He

knew he didn’t have it in him causing him to look away with shame. Diane then walked away

with out another word. He sat in silence pondering his options and wha he should be doing

.

“You don’t belong here if you can’t do what’s necessary for the greater good.” A voice said.

John looked up to see the man referred to as Shane staring at him with an odd look on his

face. John stood to his feet and approached the two standing near the steps.

“If you can’t resolve anything without taking a life… then what good are you?” John said in a

serious tone as the two remained silent. He shook his head as he pushed past him to walk up the

steps to leave the room. John, took his time walking around the facility to get familiar with the

place.

“Well, here we do what we must. So, are you going to help us or just here to crash?”

John stopped. “I haven’t decided yet.”.

“Diane saw a reason to bring you here. Don’t disappoint her.” He said as he turned away.

John let out a deep and irritated sigh. John was unsure why he truly came with her. He headed

back down the hall as he glanced into a large room. He stopped and peered in to see a

refrigerator. He continued to look around to see Diane eating pizza at a wooden table. Diane

looked over at John as she pushed the box of pizza across the table.

“I’m sure you’re hungry and have questions.”

John licked his lips as he hurried over at sat down beside her. His stomach was growling from

hunger but it became quit once he started eating.

“Why is everyone after Dr. Lee and Dante?” John asked as Diane slowly stopped eating her

pizza as she looked up at him.

“Dante is using the superhumans for power. My father is giving criminals powers.” Diane said

as she grabbed a cup filled with water off the table.

John watched as she took a few sips before she set it down. “I’m guessing Dr. Lee is building

an army while Dante is using them for his own gain?”

Diane nodded her head slowly. John stretched his arms before standing to his feet.

“Dante wants to wipe out the human race. I don’t know why my father is still giving

people the serum.” She said as stared down at her glass of water.

John assumed she was trying to figure something out in her head as he began to think as well.

“It doesn’t seem like anyone is truly worried about them.”

“My father has been in hiding for three years. Dante is honestly probably protected by

Michael Kang.” Diane replied.

John looked at her confused as he sat back down trying to understand what he was missing.

“The mayor?”

Diane nodded appearing to be disappointed. He folded his arms and stared at the pizza in front

of him.

“It’s up to us to find Dante and take him down for good.”

“Why are you all doing this anyway?” John asked as Diane sat silently for a long time as she

stared at him strangely. She sighed as she leaned forward in her seat.

“I want to see a world where everyone accepts each other while the other tow have family

they’re looking for.” She said as the two stood up simultaneously. The two stared at each other

awkwardly for a moment before John turned away.

“I’ll help but I don’t care about those things.” John said as she nodded her head.

He sighed as he left the kitchen and headed to his room. As he headed back down the hall

figure emerged from a room on his left. He bumped into the short figure causing him to step

aside. Her silver eyes stared at him slightly startled.

“Sorry about that. Before you settle in… we go to Reaper’s Island tomorrow. Dante doesn’t

know I remember the place and I’m sure that’s where he is.” She said slowly.

Then she walked away from John who stood surprised. He never expected to find himself

going to a place like that. He knew it would be nothing but trouble when they got there. John

headed into his room and walked over to the television. He pressed a button until he heard the

sound of it coming on. It was left on the news channel and something was going on. There was

reports of a sighting of Dr. Lee with a crowd of people. John’s attention taken by the sight of a

man walking with glowing skin. The man wore a strange suit making John assume it was to

control his powers. For years, John had avoided things that was going on with society. He also

ignored anything that had to do with Dr. Lee but now he felt he had to meet him. John needed

answers as to why he was still alive. He took in a deep breath as he collapsed on to his bed. He

closed his eyes as he tried to ready himself for tomorrow.