Spirals of Fate is a serialized work of fiction centering on the intellectual property of City of Heroes and City of Villains. Chapter One centered on two villains, Vincent and Mara, and their breakout from the Zigg, a prison used to house those with super powers. They met another villain named Mosaic and the three headed for Arachnos flyers and freedom. In Chapter 2 Part 2, the young heroes have just received notice that all are being called to deal with trouble at the Zigg, a prison for people with super powers.

Spirals of Fate: Chapter Two (Where Heroes Walk)- Part Three
By Michael Lafferty and Matthew Eberle

“Better to be too quiet than …” the words drifted away, the sentence unfinished. Snowman’s back stiffened. He sensed it rather than saw the trouble heading their way. Several escaped prisoners had found their way to the top of the building. Leading the charge was a large, reptilian creature with four arms and a long, snakelike tail instead of legs. The bizarre creature rushed towards the group, red eyes blazing with bloodlust.

Snowman clenched his fists and concentrated. The carefully constructed barriers in his mind that allowed him to suppress his powers began to fall away. His skin, already a pale white, gained a bluish tint. The techs scurried away from him as the ambient temperature in the air dropped like a rock. Ice formed across Snowman’s powerful frame, forming a defensive shell. Caution did not slow the reptilian assailant, but the cold did.

Lumiare was also using her powers freely. She rose into the air as emerald light blossomed around her. She gestured at one of the humanoid prisoners, a green-skinned Troll by the looks of things. The Troll froze, motionless, until two of the other prisoners slammed into him from behind. Unable to shift its balance the Troll went face-first into the pavement. Released from the telepathic hold by the impact the Troll snarled viciously and began rising to its feet.

The snakelike mutant waved its head from side to side, all four paws clawing at the air. Snowman waded in without hesitation. Talons scraped along the thick ice protecting him. Fangs chipped at his neck without doing any damage. He drew back one fist and then slammed it into the beast. The prisoner squealed in pain as it was thrown backwards. It flew in a short, painful arc that ended on the pavement 15 feet away. The creature writhed on the ground, lashing its tail furiously. Snowman spared it a single glance before moving toward the Troll.

The green-skinned convict had regained its feet and proceeded to bludgeon the two other prisoners into unconsciousness. He was now setting his gaze on the floating Lumiare. The Troll slammed both hands into the cracked pavement beneath them and pulled a large boulder free. Snowman didn’t hesitate. His mind locked onto the area just in front of Lumiare and he flickered out of existence.

Lumiare tried to ensnare the mind of the violent criminal again without success. She knew that boulder was going to be hurled her way. She considered her dwindling options. I’m support, not a fighter. Maybe I could simply stop flying and drop below the path of the boulder. I could try to dodge, I could -

With a flash of light and sound Snowman reappeared directly in front of Lumiare. The hurled boulder slammed into his chest. His protective barrier of ice splintered under the force and Lumiare heard his grunt of pain clearly before he fell to the ground. The Troll blinked in confusion for a moment as Snowman rubbed at his chest. Lumiare could see the ice reforming, the cracks mending themselves beneath his fingertips. Snowman straightened and made a contemptuous gesture at the Troll while he said something. Given the Troll’s reaction she was just as happy not hearing it clearly.

The Troll howled in rage and beat its fists against its chest. It lowered its head like some kind of bull or ram and charged headlong at Snowman. Her immense teammate widened his stance and prepared for the rush, both hands outstretched like a football player waiting to block another. Lumiare heard an odd whine beside her and glanced over. She found herself flying next to some kind of robot, a metal figure in gray and teal. Massive gauntlets were pointed at the Troll and seemed to be the source of the whine.

Lumiare was forced to look away as several emitters built into the gauntlets released streams of highly charged, blindingly bright particles. The energy beams slammed into the center of the Troll’s chest. The prisoner was thrown onto his back by the blast. Before it could do anything more than howl again in rage the newcomer shot it with a small, orange ball. The sphere burst on contact, expanding in to a burning network of cables that adhered to the pavement. Now bound in place and unable to move the Troll could do little more than growl before the stranger shot it again with a less powerful energy blast. The prisoner slumped unconscious on the ground.

Snowman was scowling at the newcomer as both the unexpected assist and Lumiare landed back on the ground. He was obviously sizing the metal figure up and seemed singularly unimpressed.

“Looks like you needed a hand there,” a surprisingly young male voice sprang from the suit.

“I had it under control,” Snowman said sharply. “There was no need for you to get involved.”

“Right. That’s why that guy was still attacking?” the stranger said sarcastically. “Excuse me,” he said with a slight nod as he shot another flaming web at the reptilian mutant who had finally struggled upright again. The creature dodged nimbly to the side with the speed of a cobra. The metal-clad figure reared back in surprise as the snakelike prisoner charged him. Before it could close the gap between them Snowman intercepted it. A single heavy punch to the side of its neck had the creature unconscious on the ground.

“Need to work on that aim,” Snowman said simply.

“That or recalibrate the targeting systems for that kind of speed,” the newcomer replied ruefully.

Lumiare was shocked when the figure pulled its head off, but she laughed at her own presumption a moment later. The newcomer wasn’t a robot at all. It was a young man wearing some kind of armor. Given how common those types were she was a little embarrassed it had not occurred to her at once.

“My name’s Charger,” the boy said. He had to be at least 18 to sign up with Hero Corps, but Lumiare would have guessed he couldn’t be much older than 16 after looking at his face. “And you are?” he said, holding out his hand toward her.

“Lumiare,” she replied, accepting the pro-offered hand. Her head inclined toward Paul, “and my large friend is known as the Snowman.”

“Ah, great, just who I was looking for,” Charger said, a smile gracing his face. “I’m your third.”

Snowman scowled, muttering as he turned toward the prisoners being shackled down by the med techs, “wonderful,” the sarcasm dripping from the words as the melting ice armor liquidified and fell to the pavement, "a blaster!"

… to be continued
In Chapter 3, Vincent, Mara and Mosaic land at an Arachnos base and soon find trouble and surprises.

This is a fictional story is based on the intellectual property of City of Heroes and City of Villains. That property was used as a backdrop for this story with the permission of both Ncsoft and Cryptic Studios. While this story uses that world as a backdrop, it is not meant to reflect either gameplay or storylines with the massively multiplayer online world. Some of the images used with Spirals of Fate have been taken from the game and modified to suit the illustrative purposes of this story. This story is intended for entertainment purposes only.

del.icio.us | Digg This | Glink It

---