Built Different [Cyborg Superhero ProgFant]

Even knowing that I had a hit out on my head, I approached the mysterious man in the alleyway. Curiosity drew me in. Some search for answers or a clue as to why he kept cropping up in my peripheral. I knew by now that it couldn't be a coincidence.

[Looking to cause more mischief?]

His smile didn't waver at all as he stepped back into the alley, allowing me to move off of the sidewalk. "Every hero needs a little adversity, don't you think?"

[Hmm. I'm not sure I need much assistance in that regard. Any way I could dissuade you from continuing?]

"Maybe." He scratched at his messy beard. "How about having a brief talk? It'll be worth your time."

The time I had to meet up with Belle wasn't immediate, so I would humor him for now. I was slightly more on edge, and as he took me a little further into the alley, I looked around for any danger lurking in the shadows. Other than the smell of damp wood, there wasn't much to see. Some long forgotten trash and… two chairs.

[This is quite the setup. You must have been expecting me.]

He grunted and lowered himself onto one of the seats, gesturing for me to sit opposite. "In a way. I had intended for our little cat-and-mouse game to go on for a little longer… but we can't afford that anymore."

Against better judgement, I sat down with him. My brow was furrowed, but the old man didn't seem threatening at all. There was nothing remotely dangerous that I could sense around us. The oddity of it was what had me so interested.

[Who are you really?]

He hesitated and gave me a wry smile. "Straight to the meat of it, huh? I suppose in some ways, you could call me dad."

My muscles tensed up, and I resisted the overwhelming urge to leap forward and bury my shotgun in his face.

[Clarify.]

"I wasn't the one who created you, before you jump to conclusions." He ran his tongue across his lips. "But part of me is part of you. I was a hero, at one point."

As much as I was now on edge, I tried to relax back into the chair. It might have made some small degree of sense for him to be Boss. Lurking from the shadows to needle me or watch from a distance. Perhaps that was too dangerous in the current climate. I gestured for him to continue with the arm not made for violence.

"They made sure my name isn't that well known these days, but I was… Immutable."

Not something familiar to me, but it scratched an itch that I didn't know I had. I took a leap and made some guesses. It turned out that set off a chain reaction, and I bet it all on a wild assumption.

[You are… one of the thirteen demon princes. Demonic regeneration had you as the nigh-invulnerable hero who could recover from anything.]

It was the pairing of several small facts that Clara or Roxy had mentioned in the past. An absolute madman's sentence as soon as it left my vocalizer, but the usual smug confidence in the man's eyes evaporated further with every word I strung together.

"That is… nobody is supposed to know that." He furrowed his brow. "How did you know?"

[Is it through your demonic heritage that my own health regeneration originates?]

Immutable's face screwed up further. "I hadn't pegged you as being this clever, Gunquake. This was going to be a slow reveal where I became injured yet turned up back in full form at a later date to confuse you. Maybe I'd leave some blood for you to investigate and draw conclusions from the similarities to your own… to have you just come out with this all is…"

[Like you said, we don't have the time for wasting. Give me the whole story.]

He sighed and rolled his eyes. "Near-perfect regeneration is an incredible superpower to have, but not exactly marketable. I am neither strong nor able to access most of my demonic powers while stuck on this plane. Eventually, the League tired of me."

[The World Government, however…]

"Offered me money and purpose. All I had to do were a few tests and donate a little blood. At the time, I didn't even care what it was all for. Of course, once they got what they wanted, I was thrown to the curb."

I nodded along. Sounded about right. Ignoring for a moment that I had either demonic blood or some synthesized version of it running through my system, his story brought up further questions.

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"The League of 'Heroes' didn't care much for my moonlighting, so they killed me. Or at least, thought they did." He grinned, some light coming back into his eyes. "They brought in the big guns and assumed I must have a limit. I faked it pretty well, and then went underground once back in one piece. Took me almost a decade to find out what the Gov actually did with those tests."

[How long has it been since they took your blood?]

Immutable shuffled slightly and looked up as if trying to count the days. "A good three decades, give or take a handful of years. Sometimes… time just slips by, living like this."

That meant that the World Government created all the squad as babies, and we had grown to what we had become. Put me around my early thirties, which seemed reasonable. That was a lot of life that I couldn't remember, lost to the void the Gov themselves had put in my mind in trying to erase me.

[I suppose we have something in common then, in being rejected by the Government.]

"It's fair to say there's no love for either organization in my heart. The current League might be better than they used to be, but they're still shits just playing house with everyone in Goldarch."

[Why is it you stuck around? Surely you could have gone anywhere?]

"Same reason as you're here, Gunquake." He shook his head. "World Gov finds out about me and I'm locked up in some black box for an eternity of testing or imprisonment. I'm half sure the League knows I'm still here, but as long as I stick to the gutter, they'll at least allow me freedom within the gilded cage."

That was certainly a drab way of putting it. For as much as Goldarch was a haven for those with powers, it was also a gated lot. What freedom could we really grasp as our own? Yesterday, Roxy had been talking about the permits we'd need to travel out of the city to see her family. It was more difficult for supers, some leniency granted by the World Government with their noses held. For as much as they despised the power under the League, they couldn't afford to make us their overt enemy.

A thought that circled back to why Immutable had drawn me in for a conversation.

[You know something about the tension between the Gov and the League?]

"You'd be surprised what people discuss when they think only unmentionables are listening, or even what people carelessly throw out." He rubbed at his messy beard. "The Gov are eager to get Goldarch back under their thumb, but will play the long game. The tide eventually erodes the shore. That said, there are opportunists within their ranks that will take any excuse given."

I nodded. Politics were like that, where the organization as a whole was a slow-moving beast, but the individuals comprising it still acted out if they saw any personal benefit.

"Your decision to join the Heroism Arena is something of a powder keg."

[Oh? Something is going to happen?]

He shrugged and turned up his nose. "I will tell you this, Gunquake. You are not a demon, even in the slightest. Do not worry about that. Due to the way in which you were created, however… I have a way of sensing you. All of your kin."

That explained how he had been able to follow me around lately.

With a sigh, he closed his eyes. "There was one time I thought I could escape the city. Made it almost five miles through the wastes before some mutated wolves tore me apart. Took almost two weeks of crawling as I regenerated to get back to Goldarch. You want to know why I tried to leave?"

I gestured for him to tell me.

"It was the day I felt many of you die, all at once. I was compelled to move in that direction, almost against my will. Still, four of you remain." He opened his eyes again, but some tiredness remained in them.

[Do you know where the others are?]

Immutable grunted and gave me a humorless smile. "That's the crux of it, Gunquake. You already know of Silhouette, and he knows of me. One other is half the continent away, and hasn't moved for three years. Not by any degree that I am able to sense."

[And of the last?]

"Getting closer, every day. He will arrive this week."

I let that sink in for a moment. Part of me had wanted to find all my living brothers, and perhaps hash things out like I had with Silhouette. I had a feeling the one moving toward Goldarch wasn't here for a reunion to congratulate me on how well my life was going. If they were active and functional, there was a high chance they were working for the World Government still.

[What do you have to gain by telling me all this?]

"A change in the status quo." He smiled and gestured back to the street beyond the alleyway. "I have walked this world for one-hundred-and-fifty years. My desire to learn about the mortal world has waned and I cannot return to the hells. Not for lack of trying."

[In return for your help, perhaps I can assist you in finding a way?]

Immutable clicked his tongue and grinned. "I accept. Although, don't expect me to come join your commune. My vagrancy is a current necessity if I want to stay out of the crosshairs."

[As you wish. You have a way of being contacted, however?]

The man pulled up his sleeve to reveal his forearm. A tattoo of three intricate runes ran up his skin. I used Comprehend Languages and read them.

"My demonic name," he explained. "Not to be used lightly, but in an emergency, just speak it out loud."

It wasn't even a name in the traditional sense. I had translated it to something my brain could understand, but it was more of a guttural sound. Something with emotion and intent behind it rather than a phrase easily vocalized.

"Otherwise, I am sure I have taken up enough of your time. Not to mention burdened you with things you didn't care to know." As he continued smiling, he stood from the chair and looked down the alley. "Plus, there's a donut place that throws out their stale stock around this time and I want to get there before the rats do."

I was still reeling from everything he had told me to give a worthwhile response. Instead, I just nodded and likewise stood.

[Thank you.]

He waved me off dismissively and turned to stroll off down the darkened alleyway. Humming a tune to himself. I remained in place for a few moments, stun locked.

//Dubs: Any chance you could get some stakes blessed with holy power?
//Clara: Sure, let me just call up the angel I know.
//Clara: That was sarcasm, Gunquake.

I rolled my eyes and headed back towards the Meteor. No doubt the lingering knowledge that one of my brothers was on the way to throw a spanner in the Arena and League would keep my mind overworked for the rest of the day. As soon as Belle and I were finished, it might be prudent to call a team meeting together.

While my thoughts swirled around, I stepped out into the light and onto the sidewalk near my vehicle.

A shotgun to my side immediately greeted me with a percussive 'hello'.