Still don't own either Prototype or Infamous.

Still mostly following Infamous canon, but we're making progress.

Alex makes a semi-heroic debut.

Debut

I found Cole around nine o'clock the next morning.

"That's new," I said, decloaking.

"Holy shit!" Cole barked, jumping away. "Okay, you can't keep doing that."

I held out my hand. "Phone". He rolled his eyes and tossed it to me and I put a shell over it. Not that I had anything majorly important to say, just didn't want to give Moya any more to work with than I had to.

"So where'd that come from?" I asked, gesturing to the cable he'd just jumped off of.

"What?" He asked, blinking before realization crossed his face. "Oh, the grinding thing."

He told me about the substations, I'd seen another section of the district regain power so I'd already known he'd visited another one.

"So you didn't have the grenade thing before the second substation?"

"Yeah, when I reconnect a circuit it's like it boosts my powers, and I just know I can do something new."

"Interesting. Guess that's one more reason to keep turning the power back on. So where are you headed now?" I asked, already devoting some thought to how to use the new information. Couldn't hurt to be prepared and I'd already suffered setbacks in the past because I didn't think ahead.

"Moya's got a few things for me to look into, marked some spots on my phone's GPS. I'm heading to one now."

"I'll tag along, help if I can. Just pretend I'm not here." I said, retracting the shell and tossing his phone back.

"Gonna have to explain that one to me eventually." Cole muttered, obviously referring to the shell I used to silence his phone.

"Cole?" Moya spoke up almost the moment the phone was out of the shell. "Cole what just happened? Is he there? The Conduit you talked to yesterday?"

"He's here, but I don't think he wants to talk to you." Cole answered, grinning.

"I don't know who you are but if you continue to interfere in FBI business you will regret it." She almost sounded threatening, but given who would already be after me if they found out I was alive I wasn't concerned with her.

"Moya, just relax. He doesn't trust you, and I neither do I to be honest, but he wants to help figure this out and deal with the First Sons. He just doesn't want you hearing everything he has to say. He's gonna keep blocking you out and I'm going to keep letting him. Now I'm headed to one of your checkpoints alright and he's going to help if he can." Cole turned to me and gestured to the edge of the roof. "Try to keep up."

He dashed to the edge and jumped, I hopped after him and landed right next to him on the next roof. I matched his pace the whole way, he seemed impressed.

"Runner?" He asked. I knew what he meant but it didn't stop me from mentally flinching at the reminder of Hope.

"Yeah." I said, as we walked up to the corner of the roof.

"I'm not happy about this, Cole, and I will expect an explanation later." Moya spoke up over the phone. Kind of voice that makes you hate someone, least that's what it did for me. "For now, see that old train? The Reapers have some people locked up in it, collateral to keep the people of the Neon in line. More importantly, there's a chance John is locked in there."

The train in question was covered in graffiti and it's windows were all boarded up and some had bars welded over them.

"And you want us to bust them out?" Cole asked, sounding more than happy to hit the Reapers and rescue the hostages, cracking his knuckles.

"No." Moya said quickly. "You're in the heart of Reaper territory, and they'll kill anyone trying to escape. You need to move the train to a safe location."

"How are we supposed to do that? Push?" Cole asked, scoffing.

"If the brakes aren't engaged you might be able to move the whole train just by keeping power flowing through front car." I said, interrupting whatever Moya's response might have been. I might have actually been able to push the train if I tried, but I didn't want to test it.

"He's right," Moya said, grudgingly. "Do it."

Cole shrugged. "Alright, let's move."

Two Reapers were moving down the tracks, I cloaked and jumped towards them. They saw Cole approaching and raised their guns. One got off a few shots, missed badly. I landed behind them and grabbed one by the collar, twisting and tossing him over my shoulder. He slammed into the side of a building and dropped twenty or so feet to the ground.

Cole jumped to the tracks, blasting the other gang member into the side of the train, then pelted him with a half dozen arcs of electricity. He fell down and stayed there. I nudged him over the edge as Cole climbed on top of the train.

"Crap." Cole grunted. The Reapers had somehow managed to get three cars up on the tracks and they were blocking the train. If it were already moving it could've probably bashed them aside on it's own but with no momentum it wasn't going anywhere.

"Got it." I said, waving him back. I didn't make it look easy, but I got the cars off the tracks quick and jumped up onto the second car as the train started to move. The whole affair turned into one of the most frustrating train rides I can remember.

Between the Reapers attacking us and the train stopping while Cole had to recharge a feeder box under the tracks, repeatedly, I was entirely disenchanted with trains by the end. The last attack from the Reapers was the high point if anything.

Two of their Conduits showed up, along with seventeen normal members. They had several barricades set up on the tracks, more cars too. Cole blasted the first barricade right way, jumping off the train and rushing the Reapers.

I watched the Conduits. If you blinked it looked like they teleport, to the human eye it's near instant. High speed movement in a roughly straight line, jumping from zero to approximately seven hundred miles per hour in a split second. They could only cover so much distance before dropping back to normal speed though.

Tracking them was a couple hundred mph easier than dodging hellfires and I'd made an art of that back in Manhattan.

One dashed and I met him at his destination with a right cross to the head. He nearly went down, I caught him and threw him at the second Conduit just as he was preparing a concussive charge. They wasted their energy projection abilities, truth be told. I can't really hold it against them entirely though, being little more than rabid dogs under Sasha's control it's no surprise they weren't very skilled with their powers.

I focused on them, lying in a tangle of limbs where they landed, and slammed my right palm to the ground. I sent all the energy I could through the street, gathering it under them, and as they started to disentangle themselves and rise I released it in a single blast.

The bright blue flare of energy produced a thunderous roar and hurled both Conduits in opposite directions and high into the air. They came down hard and didn't move again.

Cole had taken out most of the normal thugs already, I dashed up to the tracks and backhanded one of the remaining Reapers off. Between us it didn't even take half a minute to deal with the rest of them. Then Cole looked at me, eyebrow raised, and gestured to the patch of shattered concrete where I'd set off the explosion.

"Later," I said, shrugging. Cole nodded, still giving me a look, and climbed back up on the train.

Moya had let people know the train was being brought in so there was a crowd when we arrived. I honestly expected things to turn ugly, but Cole broke the locks and let the hostages out and suddenly it was all smiles and thanks. I stayed up on top of the train, out of the way and watched the crowd.

Even while he was accepting handshakes and all that from the people I could tell Cole was looking for John too. I'd seen him already and I guessed Moya showed Cole a picture or something. He wasn't there. After most everyone had left I dashed to the closest roof and Cole climbed up seconds later.

He tossed his phone to me without prompting and I sealed it in a shell.

"Okay, so I know Reaper Conduits all seem to have the same powers. So why do you have them to?" He asked, not angry or even really upset, just confused.

"The ability, the power I used to get some of what I told you yesterday doesn't read minds, it steals them. When I used it on a First Sons Conduit I found out it lets me steal Conduit powers along with their memories." I said, mostly the truth outside of implying I was a Conduit myself. "It's fatal though, in case you were going to suggest it's use on anyone."

"So the invisibility power?" Cole asked, arms crossed.

"First Sons. They have other Conduits with a related power but I didn't run into one of them. I got the Reaper powers yesterday in the park, one you knocked out wasn't quite as unconscious as he looked. He was going to hit you while your back was turned and you were still out of it from the tar."

"So you killed him and took his powers?"

"Yes. That's how I learned Sasha's name and face, and that the Reapers are all her slaves now. I almost connected to her psychically through the link she uses to control them but she shut me out."

"Alright. Care to warn me if you're going to hijack someone else's brain and powers? Not liking surprises these days." He said, obviously meaning the Ray Sphere.

"I don't do it if I don't have to." I said. After a second, I added "It's not a very clean or pleasant process, I'll keep it out of sight if it comes up. You're taking this well."

"Hey, you're helping me out, could have killed me if you wanted already. Hell, you could have stolen my powers if you wanted, along with everything I know. I figure you've earned a bit of trust." Cole said, shaking his head. "I've got some more stuff to take care off, sticking around or what?"

"I'm heading back over to the Historic District later, check on the safehouse and look into some things, see if I can't pick up more from the First Sons. But I can spare a bit more time now if you need help."

"Don't know if I'll need help, but it would be nice to have it. Zeke keeps talking about it actually, getting powers and being out here with me. Think he's a Conduit?" Cole asked, holding out his hand.

"Don't know, can't without some tests I don't know how to perform." I said, removing the shell from the phone and tossing it back. "Do you want him to have powers?"

"Not sure. It is nice having some backup though." He said and we headed off to a new marker on his GPS. "Couldn't hurt to have more."

The marker practically led us straight to Trish. Considering the Reapers tendency to ambush I stayed on a roof as a lookout. I could still hear everything they said though.

Trish saw Cole approaching and ran over to him, animosity plain on her face.

"This is like the fountain all over again. Why aren't you stopping this?" She demanded, her tone actually implying that the tar was Cole's doing.

"I blew up a whole tanker full of that stuff under the park. Figured that would do it." Cole said, hesitating in the face of Trish's visible anger.

"Well, it's coming from somewhere - these people aren't getting sick on their own, Cole." She retorted, practically snarling.

"I'll find out what's going on." Cole started, trying for a calming tone. "Once I find Sasha I can-"

"Sasha?" Trish snapped, interrupting him.

"A Conduit, a person with powers like me."

"Conduit? You named it now? Zeke's idea?" Trish asked, crossing her arms and glaring at Cole more intensely. "And who's Sasha?"

"She's the leader of the Reapers. A- another Conduit I met found out about her, he says the tar is her power, part of it anyway. I'll explain everything later, alright. Look, about Amy-"

"NO!" Trish shouted. "I'm not talking about it C-Cole, just deal with-with this alright." She turned and hurried away. Cole just stared after her for a moment before calling out.

"Trish! Wait!"

She didn't stop, just waved back sharply. She was crying, I could see and hear it clearly. Some people don't take loss well, though given that her sister was actually alive the whole scenario just annoyed me rather than inspiring sympathy.

I took one more look around, checking for Reapers, before jumping down to Cole.

"Pulling teeth, Cole." I said, having dozens of memories of the same advice in similar situations. "Just tell her, don't warn her you're going to bring it up if that's how she's going to react."

"Easier said. Damn it!" He swore, rubbing his eyes with one hand. "Let's just find out how the Reapers are getting the tar to these people."

He spoke up again almost as soon as we started moving.

"Kinda figured they'd need time for Sasha to make more of the junk, honestly."

"She's been in charge for at least eleven days and is only now trying to spread it through the city. She's probably been stockpiling it to try and take the whole district at once." I said. It seemed the most likely explanation for how quickly she'd gotten back to it. "If it's not coming from the pipes in the ground we should check the water towers."

Cole nodded and we headed up. Of course I got to the roofs quicker, not a building in the city I couldn't jump clear over if I tried. Thinking about water towers reminded me of Hunter incubation. I knew, intellectually, that there wouldn't be any monsters coming out of the towers in Empire, but it still bothered me.

I took a bullet to the shoulder almost as soon as I landed. Three roofs over I saw six Reapers by a water tower with some kind of pump attached to it. Hard not to hear the gunfire so Cole figured out we had company pretty quick.

"I'll clear the Reapers, get to the tower." I shouted to him, using a tone picked up from Blackwatch lieutenants. I dashed to them, stopping right in front of one with a shotgun and jerking the gun out of his hands.

Not that I needed it but the shotgun was useful in dealing with the remaining Reapers, dashing to them and tagging them point blank being an effective tactic. Cole caught up just about the same moment I dealt with the last one.

"Couldn't have left one or two?" He asked, mild amusement in his voice.

"We're in a hurry, aren't we?" I said. I knew he was joking but my sense of humor was underdeveloped back then, to put it mildly.

"Right, let's see what this is." Cole said, shrugging and climbing up the water tower.

"Just get rid of it, it's leaking tar and the Reapers put it there. That's how they're getting the tar into the water around here." I scanned the nearby rooftops for any other water towers or Reapers as I said it.

Cole grunted and blasted the pump. It exploded and knocked him off the tower, covered in tar.

"Fu-damn it! You've got to be kidding me!" He snarled, wiping at his eyes. "Breathed some of that crap this time!"

Moya chimed in there, waving off Cole's problems as minor in the face of helping others. She didn't sound like she really cared either way. Then two of the Reaper Conduits showed up, aiming for Cole while he was messed up by the tar.

I intercepted one mid-dash, slamming him into the side of a building and taking his rifle from him, emptying it into his chest before he could recover. Cole dealt with the other one almost as fast, even with the tar on him.

We took out two more pumps, two Reapers guarding each, Cole didn't even give me a chance to try anything before blowing them up. There were more Reapers guarding the fourth tower though, including two who'd picked up RPG launchers somewhere.

Not a threat to me but I hit them first anyway while Cole aimed for the others, I could take the explosives if I had to but I'd already seen that Cole wasn't near as durable as I was. He blew up the pump but seemed pretty messed up by then.

"Take a break. I'll clear the Reapers around the last pump." I said, dashing away before he could protest. They had a mounted machine gun up on the last roof, but I'd dealt with entire platoons wielding the same weapon, so it wasn't an issue.

Cole arrived a half a minute later.

"Short break." He said as soon as he was on the roof.

"Apparently."

"Alright, I'll deal with this and-"

"Wait. I might be able to spare you another face full of tar." I didn't know for sure I could do it, but given how much less complex it was than the Reaper's normal projection method I figured it was possible. I hopped up onto the tower and threw out my hands, a cone of concussive energy expanding out and forward.

Just like Cole's shockwaves did it blew the pump apart without flooding the water pipes with tar. I got splashed with the tar but Sasha was still keeping me firmly locked out of her psychic link and none of the tar's other effects worked on me.

"Alright, that works." I said, dropping back to the roof.

Cole smirked. "Guess Zeke's right, I should get my powers copyrighted before everyone starts tossing around knockoffs."

"Not sure how you'd work that out. I'm heading back to the Historic District, I'll catch up with you later." I said, mock saluting before dashing to another roof and heading back across the Neon to the Fremont bridge.

If I'd stuck around a bit longer I might have had a chance to take Kessler out, or he might have just waited until I was gone.

Along the way I debated cloaking, but being able to move freely again was a relief and I didn't want to give it up again so soon. People saw me, pointed, took pictures. But no one shot at me. No strike teams were called, no soldiers sent in.

The only thing that might be faster than light is rumor, people had seen me on the train with Cole and I was being treated as almost as much of a hero as he was. So I didn't cloak, I just kept moving from roof to roof until I reached the bridge.

Notes!

Powers: Alex.

Flash Step (Open to better name suggestions): High speed movement in a straight line. (Augments Air Dash by default and greatly boosts speed and damage of flying kicks.)

Concussive Blast: A blast style attack projecting concussive force. (Effectively identical to Punch Blast(Infamous 2) but lacking the electrical component.)

Concussive Strike: Energy focused through the ground to create an explosion under the target. Capable of targeting multiple points at once or focusing all power on one point. (Effectively a energy projection variant of Ground Spike in concept.)

Concussive Bolt: A ranged, concussive energy ball. Not exceptionally powerful but has a high fire rate, projectile travel speed and decent range.