The Ascended, "This is the Future"

A Forming Team

Alex pulled up to the house. He drove through an opening in the fence on the left side. It led to an underground garage entrance! It was a garage door, with white walls and a roof around it. It obviously led underground.

They drove in, and parked their car inside a very large area! "Good grief you drive like a woman." Knull said, "Hey! What'd you say?! I drive just fine!!!" Alex replied! Red giggled, and Gill sighed. Gill went to move, and hit his head on the roof! "OW!" Gill exclaimed.

"This is it. Home." Alex said, "Well we aren't in the house yet. This is just a garage." Gill responded, "Obviously! Ya moron!" Alex exclaimed! They all got out of the car. The garage was all white, with...only Alex's motorcycle and the car. It was quite large, but had no other cars.

Alex led them over to a wall. There was an elevator door on it. It opened for them. They got in, and Alex pressed a button. As soon as the elevator started lifting, Red screamed and grabbed Alex! "Woah, it's okay Red! Calm down!" Alex exclaimed! Unfortunately, she didn't hear him!

Though they only went up for roughly twelve seconds, it was quite painful listening to her the whole time. Once it stopped, she realized everything was fine and stopped screaming. She laughed nervously. "Okay then." Knull said.

They exited the elevator, and ended up in a hallway identical to the one the rooms were in! Alex led them through the halls. "Nice place you got here. I love the grey on white." Gill said. Just then, Red noticed the floor was made of white tile. It looked quite nice. "Jesus. Are you an architect now?" Knull asked.

"Maybe I am! You'd like that, wouldn't you, Knuuuuuuulll?' Gill asked, "Uh...why did you say my name like an idiot?" Knull asked, "Had to emphasize it. It's very important you see." Gill answered, "Um, okay then, Giiiiilll." Knull said. Alex laughed. "Stop laughing at my name!" Gill exclaimed!

Finally, Alex stopped at a room. "Alright, time for you to meet our other partner." Alex said. They entered. It was David's room! David looked, and saw Gill and Knull. "Huh...hey there!" David exclaimed, "Hiya." Gill replied, "*Dead stare, with a cold silence*" Knull responded with.

"Who are you guys?" David asked, "Knull." Knull answered, "I'm Gill. I hail from Tokyo, Japan, though I'm actually Chinese. I have held many jobs in the past. Though I think this one will fit me quite well. My hobbies are-" Knull cut Gill off, "It's not a job interview. We don't need to hear your life story." Knull said.

"Man, and it was just getting interesting." Gill replied, "I see. You two are here to join the team?" David asked, "Mhm." Knull answered, "I see! Well, I'm the leader. Except right now, because all my bones are broken. Sooo, I need to heal. My name is David. It's nice to meet you!" David exclaimed, "Likewise! Well...not the leader part, or the broken bones part-" Gill got cut off again.

"We get what you mean." Knull said. Gill sighed. "Well, what should we do first?" Gill asked, "What do you mean?" David asked, "Well, standing around isn't gonna get us anywhere." Gill answered, "Hmm, I think I know someone who can help us get some information. But it is risky." David said.

"Who is it? And why is it risky?" Knull asked, "His codename is...Firehawk." David answered. Alex and Gill both burst into laughter. "That's the lamest name I've ever heard!!!" Gill exclaimed, laughing hard, "You're one to talk." Alex replied, "Shut up!" Gill exclaimed! David just sighed. He started to lean up, and felt intense pain everywhere!

"OUCH!" David exclaimed, staying in the position he was in, "Woah, don't move like that! Let's get you back down." Alex said, shifting David back into a laying down position. This hurt David more than leaning up! "Watch where you're grabbing! And goddamn, are you using as much strength as possible right now???" David asked.

They all stopped as they heard a sound. Red was...sobbing! "Hey, what's wrong?" Alex asked, "She started sobbing whenever we mentioned that dumb name." Knull answered, "And you didn't say anything???" Alex asked, "Sorry I didn't wanna interrupt you, you idiot." Knull answered sarcastically.

While they argued, Red recalled a particular memory. She remembered a man with black, screen-like armor glaring down at her. He had a helmet that looked like a mix of his armor, and a gas mask. It had a skull on the front, with a slash through the left eye. She remembered feeling intense fear as he glared down at her!

She started sobbing more and more, until Alex hugged her! She was scared of the sudden embrace, but she started to feel comfort. "Something's wrong with her..." Gill said, "Well obviously, ya moron." Alex replied. Red found some comfort in the hug. The memory faded, and she calmed down.

"Something in that name seemed to stress her out." Gill said. Alex put his hands on either side of her head. "It's okay Red, you can trust us." Alex said. Red felt something strange under his grasp, but she trusted him. Alex was looking into her recent memories! He saw what she had remembered.

He let go, and nodded slightly at Knull. Knull didn't understand. Alex nodded harder. Knull still didn't get it. Alex nodded very hard, and nothing happened. "Moron!" Alex exclaimed, walking over to him. He whispered to Knull. "Put everyone in telepathy other than Red."

Knull did so, and Alex told them what she had seen. "Strange...that sounds like the signature symbol of the Cross family. When I recently helped Red, she seemed worried about some Cross employees. It's possible our Firehawk may have current ties to them, and that the Cross family is embedded into this somehow. It was risky before since he worked with them in the past. But it seems riskier now." David said.

"I see, we'll need to be wary of..." Alex stopped, and burst out laughing! He couldn't say the name! Red was very confused. They broke the telepathy. "Where is this contact?" Alex asked, "I'll call him, and we'll see if we can arrange anything." David answered, "Alright, sounds good." Alex said.

Gill started coughing. "Ahh, I need some place to rest. Can we pick our rooms or something?" Gill asked, "Yeah, I'll show you the rooms and you can take your pick." Alex answered. He led them out of the room, and the two picked their rooms. Soon after David called the contact.

Soon enough, they would meet with him! But who was he?