10th Precinct

The ringing of telephones and chatter of busy officers greeted Donovan as he stepped into the New Belfast 10th precinct. Officers sat at their desks either scribbling the last page of their paperwork or shouting into telephones. The seemingly chaotic status of the station was a strange relief to Donovan. It provided him with a daily constant, a predictable and comforting part of his day. He greeted a receptionist as she ran past with a stack of newly printed papers and made his way to the office in the back of the station. The office had an old fashioned door with a frosted glass window and the words, "Det. Donovan Blackstone", printed on it. He unlocked the door and made his way to a desk stacked hight with folders and loose sheets of paper. An old computer chair was pushed into a corner and an even older laptop sat closed on the desk, next to a well used ash tray.

Donovan pushed the chair back into place and plopped down, lighting a cigarette. It was amazing how lax the department was now a days. It used to be that the thought of lighting a cigarette in the office was cause for suspension. But now, the department was so undermanned and underfunded that an officer would have to murder a civilian in broad daylight to even warrant an investigation. Hell, at least he could smoke. He opened the laptop and turned on the power. As he waited for the ancient machine to boot up he glanced over at the bulletin board behind him. On it was a map of New Belfast, with various pins and notes stuck over particular areas. It was Donovan's "official" investigations into the stranger incidents of New Belfast. One pin was placed on the address of a hotel that had burned down in September. A note next to it read, "Fires most likely due to arson. Cause of special interest to various parties.". The other pins held similar notations. He kept them just vague enough to pass as pure conjecture, at least to anyone not privy to special...events. He penned a new note and placed it, along with a white pin, on the recent homicide spot in New Orient.

As the computer finally finished loading the phone rang. Donovan sighed and lifted it off the handle.

"Hello," spoke a soft and sultry voice. "I'm looking for Det. Blackstone. Could I please speak to him?"

"This is him," replied Donovan, just a bit curious. "How can I help you?"

"My name is Amanda Summers," replied the caller. "I'm with the New Belfast Herald. I was hoping you could provide me with a little info on those recent murders in the New Orient District?"

Donovan's attitude changed immediately after hearing the woman's name.

"You're that bitch who slammed us for not predicting the serial killings aren't you?" growled Donovan. "Listen you uppity harpy. The only comment you can get from me is to get off your lazy ass and head down yourself. Maybe if I'm lucky your corpse will be the next one that I poke around!"

He slammed the phone back down on the hook and slouched in the chair. As he raised his head a heavy set man with a salt and pepper mustache stood leaning against his door. His head was balding and he wore a pair of suspenders over a collared shirt and khaki pants. The man shook his head at Donovan and sighed in return.

"Hard morning?" asked the chief.

"Yeah," answered Donovan. "Though...I probably could have handled that better."

Once she'd finished talking to the man, who let her borrow a white t-shirt, an old letterman jacket, short shorts, some converse, and an old varisty bag to stuff her dirty clothes in, she set off to find another man, Donovan Blackstone. Another member of Mythos, and used to sit in teh cell next to hers. She hated what they did to the poor man, and wanted to at least see him once more.

She found a pay phone, and called an old friend and cell mate who could find any person, where ever they were. "Wait, Det. Blackstone helped me find my brother when that man kidnapped him!" she said, trying to remember the local police number. "Yes, this is Phoenix Ultimatrix. Yeah, hah hah. Can you get Detective Blackstone on the phone?" she asked, tugging up the sleeve of the jacket.

"Oh okay, i'll just come up there." she said, hanging up the phone. She walked to the police station, since it wasn't far away. She walked in, and asked the receptionist if the Dectective was in. She nodded and pointed Phoenix in the direction. She walked in, and suddenly stopped in the middle of the doorway. "I'm Phoenix, i used to live in the cell next to you at Olympus. Could you help me?"

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

She kicked the two bastards, both falling to the ground. She flipped out the window, and started running. She turned and took alleys, but they always kept pace. She finally lost them in an alley, where a man, with wierd purple eyes was at. She smiled, and kept running, knowing they would catch up. Just let them catch you Talon, you are welcome with us! an unfamiliar voice sounded through her mind, causing her to run faster, morph quicker. Cheetah speed would work.

But then she tripped, adn morphed back to Talon. A woman helped her up, and threw her into the panting men. They caught her, but she morphed into a cat, running into an alley. Cosmos followed, actin as if he was just hungry. Talon morphed back in the dumpster, falling asleep with Cosmos tightly in her arms, turned into the wall.

At the mention of Olympus Donovan stepped up quickly and pushed the girl inside, closing the door behind her.

"Are you crazy?" he exclaimed. "Don't go shouting out things like that! You want to be hauled away to some lab somewhere?"

He plopped back down in the chair and lit another cigarette. These things were gonna kill him. He took a long draw and placed it between his fingers. The girl may have been someone he met but he wasn't completely certain. Either way he needed to be wary. He'd approach things with a cautious attitude.

"You look familiar," he started. "But I can't exactly remember too well. I wasn't...myself during those years. What's your problem?"

Before the girl could answer the phone began to ring again. He sighed and picked it up, hoping against hope it wasn't another reporter.

"Det. Blackstone how can I help you?" he replied.

Donovan leaned back in the chair and furrowed his brow. The voice was unfamiliar to him, as was the name. That, and last time he checked his luck with the ladies was still pretty poor.

"Emily, was it," answered Donovan. "I don't make a habit of arranging outings with mysterious strangers. Maybe you could tell me what it is you want to meet me for."

He rolled the chair back over to the desk and began rummaging through the mess of papers and folders.

"Emily... Emily... Emily," he whispered holding the speaker away from his mouth.

She obviously wanted to meet him something fierce. Donovan knew it might be a trap but if this person needed his help and he turned them down, he'd never forgive himself. He put out his cigarette, pushing it into the ash tray.

"Alright miss," said Donovan. "I'll agree to meet you. How bout later tonight, around 8:30 at McCain's. You know the place?"

As he waited for her reply he gestured to the girl standing in his office, motioning for her to have a seat.

"Yeah, and brother and I were there earlier yesterday. Sure, why not?" she said, sitting politely on the chair. For some reason, she didn't know what she wanted from him. Experience, sympathy? She didn't know, she just wanted to see him again. She smiled, playing with a plant on her desk. It grew and grew and grew...

She suddenly stopped it, coming out of the trance. Maybe some help controlling the forest inside her? "Um, I guess i'll meet you there then." she said, still sitting. She played with the plant again, smiling and budding the flowers. She waited for him to tell her to leave, a blank stare on her face.

Donovan chuckled slightly to himself. He listened as the girl mistook the directions of the meeting as being meant for her. As she finished speaking she began to play with a dead plant on his desk, one he'd never really tried to water. It began to grow and flourish in an instant. The girl seemed entranced as she worked her power over the once dead plant.

"Sorry miss," said Donovan. "I was talking to the woman on the phone. Why don't you tell me your name and we can talk right now."

"Oh sorry, I'm Phoenix." she said, not even looking at him. She didn't know what to say, but she thought about their powers. "Just a quick question, I never figured out your powers. I mean, you already found out one of mine, but i'm just so curious of people like me. Do you know an Issac Kain? Yeah, he has the most beautiful eyes..." she babbled on, twirling and twisting the stem of the plant, flowers bursting out of it.

She hadn't looked at him since she snapped out of that last trance. She kept on playing with it, until she snapped out and looked at Donovan. She didn't want to stop playing with the flowers, but they were a little too hard to stop once she started. She looked into his eyes, and fell out the chair, expanding herself too much. She kept on expanding until she was out of chair, and sat in it again, embarassing red cheeks on her face.

The question caught Donovan like a punch in the gut. His crooked smile quickly became a frown. The thought of what they did to him, those...scientists made him queasy.

"I have...animal like qualities," he said quietly. Their potency are inversely proportional to the amount of control I retain. If I choose to relinquish the control over myself things tend to get...messy. That's all I feel comfortable saying to you. So to the point, how can I help you again? I do have a meeting soon."

"The truth? I dunno. I just wanted to see you. I saw what they did to you, and I thought it was horrible. I just wanted to punch them in the face. I wanted so many things, but it always made me cry when you came back from expirements." She said, black and clear tears stained the borrowed shirt. She didn't know, she just didn't know...

"It seems we have something in common. I can't control some of my powers. I almost killed my brother." she said, the tears flowing faster and faster as the face of her brother stuck in her mind. She found comfort in getting entranced in the plant again, twirling and twisting again. "See what I mean!" she said, throwing her fists on her thighs.

"I wish I could help you," sighed Donovan. "But I'm not someone to talk to about control. I have a hard enough time controlling the impulses I feel every day. Its an uphill battle, with no peak in sight."

He leaned forward on to the desk with his hands folded together. He looked the girl straight in the eye.

"The only advice I can give you is to focus and fight it. Fight it with every bit of will you have left, whatever those greedy bastards left you with. Don't let it get the upper hand...ever."

He got up from his chair and threw his jacket over his shoulders. He headed to the door and held it open for the young woman.

"Now, I believe I have a meeting to get to. One with a very pushy young woman. Here, take this."

Donovan handed the woman a small business card from his pocket.

"I may not be able to help you control your abilities, but if you're ever in a bind feel free to give me a call."

"Thanks, that helps a lot." she said, wiping her eyes. She walked out the of the office, and out of the building. don't let it get the upper hand... That was a good idea, and she thought of what he said about him being not a good one to talk to about control.

She thought of Issac, and tried to find him again. (Sorry, major writer's block!)