We got to our cars. After placing Curtis in the co driver seat, I glanced over at Jonah. He was slowly placing Kasumi down, being the romantic he is. I shrugged my shoulders and got in, speeding right now would not be a very good idea so I traveled as slow as I could. It wasn't easy being a slow driver. Nonetheless, the radio was nice and the scenery on the way back to my apartment was to die for. Trees on both sides of the road would seem odd in an ordinary metropolis, but not here. The government had their scientists painstakingly searching for a strain of trees that could stall pollution in cities and yet would'nt be an eyesore to the public. As a result, these trees had undergone a genetic transplant and closely resemble the trees in the older movies. Without the hassle of falling leaves and extended roots. Sweet sounds of slow house music flow out from the speakers, as I journyed on the highway. Coupled with the soothing scenery of trees and road, it started to feel like I was starring in a romantic movie. Looking behind at Jonah's car, I wondered if he felt a sense of loss that Kasumi wasn't awake to share the moment. Suddenly the car intercom rang, wondering what the office would want with me out of the blue, I picked up the phone. It was Jonah. After teasing him about the scenery and hearing his confession, we got down to more serious talk. I told him about what happened at the basketball court. Hearing his voice quaver i told him not to worry, and that the effects have worn off. I then told him to contact the office to issue a company cheque for the damages caused by this incident. He agreed and got off the intercom, presumably to call the office. I took a look at Curtis, she was starting to stir. Feeling the effects of the scenery, a thought crossed my mind. As Curtis looked at me, I held her hand tight to reassure her. After setting the car to auto-pilot we embraced to enjoy the moment, till she fell asleep again.

Looking around the destroyed seats and broken fence, i realised that Jonah was in for a very severe headache when he gets back to the office. I barely disguised a laugh, and looked at Jonah who was scowling at the scenery. He gave me an inquisitive look, i nodded approvingly,"Don't worry Jonah, take the rest of the day off and come over to my place. We've got to tend to the girls first." Jonah sighed, throughout the long years I've known him, he's never once put his girlfriend out of the picture. They have been together for 5 years, and oddly enough have never advacneed further than this. Somehow I get the feeling that Jonah is holding back his proposal for some reason. Anyways, immediately we picked up the girls and headed to the carpark. Signalling to Jonah to take his car and promising that we'll keep in touch through the communicator built into our cars, I picked up Curtis in a bridal carry. Something in the back of my mind told me that Jonah would give a lot to be able to do this to Kasumi.

"Err, very difficult to explain.. tell u about it later. First lets get the girls, check on how they are, and see if they might need medical attention."I said as I got him an aspirin. Looking around i assessed the damage, good thing this basketball court was built on the top of this high rise building. The sky looked serene, as if oblivious to what had just happened. Glancing over the edge on to the street below, nothing stirred. I guess there were no witnesses, well just to make sure I better get some reporters over and set this thing up quick. Jonah would know what to do about this. "Jonah do you think you could get us some cover for these two people?" I point to the 2 dead bodies. Jonah nods, seeing his girlfriend get hit while not being able to do anything has muted him up. Looking over the limp dead bodies i remove the teleporters and head back to help Jonah. From up close i could see that the girls had no open wounds, but were somehow injured. Curtis's normally reddish pink face showed stark blue against the yellow colored tube top she was wearing. One thing that surprised me, even though i knew she wasn't in a good shape. I found myself thinking of her as attractive. Shaking those thoughts out of my head i focused on Jonah's side. Although her back was to me, from the worried look on Jonah's face i could tell that Kasumi wasn't doing much better.

"Son, you're here. Awaken now, by the command of the seer!"

Immediately a force pulled at my belly, as if someone big and strong just tugged at my navel. Sending me hurtling back to the basketball court. As i picked myself up i looked around, I realised my senses became sharper, at least 3 or 4 times sharper than they used to be. Anger reeked through my body, as i stood up i could feel a movement close to my body. The shorter black shirted guy sent another punch at me, this time however i could see it moving as if in slow motion. He clicked his teleporter, the punch was aimed directly at my face and started to move a little quicker. Avoiding the punch with ease, i returned the favor into his abdomen. Terror showed in his eyes, and i could sense the fear in his body as i sent the punch through his abdomen and out his back. Astounded by my sudden increase in body strength and senses i took a few steps backward and drew my hand out of his abdomen. Blood dripped from my hand as the black shirted guy fell to his knees. His hands over his abdomen, trying in vain to stop the blood from flowing. Leaving him to die in his self torment, I changed my target to the taller black shirt guy. I could see fear flowing from his eyes as I rushed over to his location. As i ran i realised that every step i took barely touched the ground, i was running on air! Smashing his face into the fence that surrounded the court, then sending him hurtling backwards to where his companion lay dead. Gazing over to the two assailants who were out cold, a sinister smile flickered over my face. However, looking at my fellow companions who werent in the best of shape my anger receded. The smile faded from my face and was replaced with a sense of worry and unease.
A stinging sensation pierced through my back. Turning my body, i realised there was a pair of dark leathery wings sticking out from where the pain throbbed the hardest. As I stared at them in shock, they started to shrink painfully back into my skin. Once they disappeared a flush of tiredness rushed through my body, accompanied by a brain splitting headache. Holding my head, I knelt down to steady myself. When I looked up, my senses slowed to normal reaction time and my body seemed tired and heavy. At that moment, Jonah was picking himself up groggily from the ground. When he stood up he scanned his surroundings. His face contorted from an awkward expression of disgust as he set his eyes upon the two bodies, to an expression of concern as he ran towards Kasumi. He turned to my direction just as i was walking towards him,"What in the world happened here?" he asked, an expression of shock and awe emanating from his voice.

I was surprised at myself for being a ble to dream in this kind of situation, somehow i did, and i was flashed into my nightmare once again. I was back in the weird foggy place, this time the fog felt thicker and cold against my face, and the area seemed to be darker than usual. The wind blew, and once more the strange feeling of a presence came over me. I turned and saw a silhouette once more, the fog cleared revealing at long last whom it was, it was... mother?

Somewhere, in a different time and place...





A woman walks down the streets in Al-Graros, a city in the outskirts of the bustling metropolis Khalid-dil. She had frenzied hair, long to her knees, her dirtied face and broken smile hide the beauty she once had. The dim lights shrouded in the thick fog of night, provides even more cover to the once beautiful figure that used to be the craving of many men and women alike. She walks unsteadily down the lonely, dank streets, laughing randomly at anything and everything that stirs her fancy. Repeating to herself,"my son shall awaken... He shall awaken... Soon..."
Suddenly she sees the silhouette of a man, she straightens herself. Wiping her face with a clean part of her sleeve, her eyes begin to shine with new fire, as if something stirred deep within her. With a shrug her hair fell into place on her shoulders, straight, smooth and silky; once again showing her long hidden beauty. Removing the overall that hid her attractive feminine curves, revealing an intricately designed dress, and a gorgeous body that would turn the heads of men anywhere.

Turning around a corner in the foggy streets, a heavily cloaked man walks briskly through the all consuming mist. Suddenly, he stops dead in his tracks. He calls out to what seems to be emptiness ahead of him. An empty howl echoes from his throat, a signal only for the initiated. Up ahead, a silhouette of a lady assembles itself in the fog. "So, the time is now?", asks the cloaked man in an empty yet deep voice. "Yes, he shall awaken to the summons."The silhouette answers, not implying any emotions. The man then tips his hat and walks off into the night, leaving the lady to recover her beauty and disposition. Another silhouette appears not too long after the man walks off, this time the lady walks towards it. As she stands next to it, the fog momentarily clears between them, in a smooth voice she says, "Son, you're here. Awaken now by the command of the seer."

Turning around, I saw that a ball had hit Kasumi in the face and Curtis was helping her up. Jonah on the other hand was fuming, I could see the anger burning in his eyes as he stood up to his full stature. A deadly pose for most people, his full 183 meters of height dominate most people just by staring them down. Now he used that full height to loom over a pair of dark shirted people. One of them had a bal in his hand and the other had obviously thrown the ball. From this distance their long squiggly hair covered most of their faces, however it wasn't hard to recognise that these were just ordinary street thugs. For they had unkempt hair, jagged teeth, and reek of foul smelling sewer wastes. I started walking up the stands, and I saw Jonah telling Curtis something as he moved towards the pair that was sniggering.
In a flash, the two black shirted guys were in front of Jonah and about to hit him when i shouted, "Stop!", the two guys then turned to look at me, from here i could see their full height was only around 5 foot 5 inches, they had untidy long black hair, stubbles, and their faces were sunken though fair.
"What do you want with my friend?"I asked,"Nothing, we just want his girlfriends haha." the taller guy answered with a snigger. A flex in his muscular body just before he appeared right in my face told me that he used a teleporter, a glint in his belt confirmed that it was from my company.
"Get lost we've got no time for the like of you." I answered, backing off from the black shirted guy's bad breath. I looked up and saw Jonah lying on the bench. His assaulter was laying his hands on Kasumi and had his hands in Curtis's hair as well.
"Hey show some respect and look at the guy who's about to hit you will ya?" A sudden blow to my face knocked out my sense of balance, struggling to regain it I placed a hand on a nearby bench. I turned and looked at the guy in front of me, just as he sent another blow into my stomach. Pain rushed through my body from my face and my stomach, my vision became white with anger, my veins starting pulsating with adrenaline as my mind contemplated how to strike back.

Elsewhere,

"Hi Curtis, ready to go for basketball?"
"Hey Jonah, hey Kasumi. You bet I am, I'm all set and raring to go."
Curtis gets up Jonah's blue Cadillac. Jonah then puts pedal to the metal and a surge of adrenaline pumping acceleration his all 3 passengers in his Cadillac. It was a modified prototype model that his company was testing, packed with a turbo boosted 600 horsepower engine capable of 0-100 in undder 4.2 seconds. Running purely on electricity, it could burn up to 6 hours of road time at max speeds. Stop by any point with a 3 pin consumer plug and you could charge it up to full in a matter of hours. Straightening his body as the car enters constant velocity on the highway Jonah gets slapped by both Curtis and Kasumi.

"Hey what was that for?"Jonah grunted in protest,"Reckless driving," came the short, curt and synchronous reply. Laughing it off, Jonah turned up the stereos and continued the drive. Within minutes, they arrive at the ball park. turning around a few bends to arrive at the parking lot they spot a red dodge viper vsx-270's with a charger hooked on its base.

"Look who's here!! He's always so early, I wonder why he wants the new prototype engineput into his car. He's always earlier than we are even without it."
"Stop complaining Jon, you have to avoid all those people in the office that's why."Answers Kasumi. They get down to the court and see Raymond warming up.

Hearing familiar voices I stood up and saw Jonah, Curtis and Kasumi up in the stands. Beckoning them to come down and join me i pointed to my bag at a corner of the court. I did a couple more stretches and headed to the side of the court to pick a basketball. Just as i was reaching for a ball, I heard a "thunk" followed by a scream.