Evan Powell sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. It had been a long 
day, and staring at these computer screens was starting to giving him a 
headache. But some friends of his who worked here at Enzyme Laboratories had 
convinced the boss to let Evan come in and set up the new security systems. 
Evan wasn't about to turn it down, it was an extra five hundred dollars 
under the table, he could definitely use the money.

He went back to work, checking a double-checking the new firewall and 
encryption software. He wanted to be sure that it was all functioning like 
it should be. He let himself get lost in the work, and tried to ignore the 
annoying twinges his bladder was sending to his brain. Eventually however he 
had to give up and head for the restroom so he could continue to work in 
peace.

Standing in the bathroom after completing his business, Evan splashed some 
water on his face and studied himself in the mirror. He had slightly unkempt 
brown hair and green eyes that often seemed to stare right into things. He 
had all his teeth, and his nose had never been broken, as well as a strong 
jaw line. Most people considered him mildly handsome, and he normally didn't 
have to look to hard to find some female companionship for a trip to the 
movies or dinner.

Shaking his head to dispel his idle thinking, Evan dried his hands and 
walked out into the hallway. And wound up right in the middle of a mess. 
There were five of them, wearing camouflage face masks and military style 
uniforms. the one who seemed to be in charge was carrying a strange looking 
disk in one gloved hand. The men were startled at Evan's sudden appearance 
and gave him a moment to asses the situation. He immediately came to the 
conclusion that they were thieves, and slid into a fighting stance he had 
learned in martial arts class.

But the thieves wasted no time and pounced on Evan, the first one to attack 
got a broken nose for his troubles as Evan lashed out with a sudden high 
kick. The men stepped back after that to study their opponent as they began 
to slowly circle him. Even feinted a kick towards the man who was carrying 
the disk, and the followed up with a backfist punch to the man's temple. The 
man grunted and let the disk clatter to the floor, as one of his companions 
punched Evan in the back. After that the five men were on him yelling curses 
and striking blow after blow to his body. Evan went down fast and hard, but 
the men did not stop their assault. They continued to stomp and kick Evan as 
he tried to feebly crawl away. The men stopped and laughed for a moment, as 
he pulled himself forward an inch or two, then the man whose nose had been 
broken stomped on Evan's back, and he heard several of his ribs give way 
against the floor with a sickening crunch. He let out a scream of pain and 
tried to claw forward and escape, but in his thrashings his hand came down 
upon a strange object. His first thought was to hurl it at his attackers as 
a distraction, and his hand spasmed over it to try and find purchase. During 
his feeble searching for a grip, Evan's fingers brushed across what felt 
like cool metal, and the world went black.

*****

The next two and a half weeks were a blur to Evan. He recalled waking up as 
paramedics pulled him from a bloody pile of human remains. The walls and 
floor of the laboratory hallway had looked like a warzone. Pitted and 
pockmarked by what seemed to be flameless explosions.

He also recalled being repeatedly questioned by the police while he was in 
the hospital for two days. They asked him over and over again, always 
wanting to know what had happened. He told them what he could remember, but 
they always wanted more.

He also remembered having several ribs and other bones broken when he was 
assaulted. But the doctors told him that other than a few bumps, bruises and 
what appeared to be a mild concussion, Evan was in perfect health. He 
couldn't understand it, he knew he should be crippled or dead.

After these things Evan couldn't remember much except the sickness and pain. 
His life became a blur constantly racked by fever, pain and nausea. He would 
find himself vomiting at the slightest hint of motion, and was barely able 
to keep foods or liquids down. He often woke up at night screaming from 
nightmares that were forgotten instantly upon waking. He thought he had been 
contaminated while in the lab, and that he was going to die. When the 
sickness reached his peak and he couldn't stand it any more, he managed to 
dial 911 and summon help before passing out.

The doctors told him nothing was wrong. They could find nothing that was 
making him sick. No traces of infection, or after effects of injuries. They 
kept looking, sure that something had to be there as sick as Evan was. 
Eventually they called in a psychiatrist who thought Evan was merely 
suffering the after effects of the beating he received. Evan remembered none 
of this, indeed he was barely aware of it while it was happening.

Then one day Evan woke up, and he felt fine. In fact he felt better than 
fine. So he picked up his life from where it had been stalled, and things 
continued as normal. Well they continued for a week that is, until the world 
came crashing down.

*****

The tall pale man stormed through the halls of Enzyme Laboratories. His eyes 
burning with bloodlust, and strange tentacles which seemed to grow from his 
hands lashing back and forth. His hair was white, and upon his forehead was 
a blood red symbol, the Greek letter Omega. And as he rampaged through the 
building he could be heard shouting, "Where is the Unit?! Bring it to me or 
everyone dies!"

Two women were cowering behind a table in one of the offices. They looked so 
alike that one can only assume they were mother and daughter. And indeed 
they were, here on a trip to see the local genetics lab. These two women 
were Erica Powell and Linda Powell, Evan's mother and young sister.

Cowering behind that desk Erica and Linda sucked in their breath as suddenly 
the pale man burst into the room. His eyes scanning everything and catching 
site of them. "And what do we have here?" The man's voice had become thick 
and guttural, full of the killing he had already done. With one hand the man 
threw the desk aside and his strange tentacles shot out, catching both 
mother and daughter and lifting them into the air. "Oh what fine beautiful 
specimens you are. Such a sweet treat. Tell me, where is the Unit?" But the 
man's prisoners were too frightened to answer and merely shook within the 
monster's iron grip.

The man sighed with pleasure and a cruel smile played across his thin lips. 
"If you can not provide me with the answers I seek, then I should not let 
you go entirely to waste." Throwing his head back the man laughed, his voice 
resonant with malice as he began to draw the life from his victims. Feeling 
them thrash against his Carbonadium tentacles, laughing over and over as 
their movements grew weak. Until finally the two once vibrant women were 
left nothing but lifeless husks. Smiling in satisfaction the man let the 
bodies fall and then continued on his search.

*****

Evan was wandering around his apartment, listening to the TV in he 
background as he gathered his equipment and made ready to head for the 
firing range. He was just slipping his Glock 19 handgun into a case when he 
heard snatches of an emergency news broadcast coming from the other room. 
Evan rushed in and stood in front of the television, all his attention 
centered there.

And he watched, his horror growing by the minute as the reporters revealed 
the story. They told how the lab had been devastated by an unknown 
assailant, and that officials had yet to locate any survivors. The mere 
thought of this level of carnage twisted Evan's heart in his chest, but then 
he remembered that his mother and baby sister were to have been touring the 
lab today on a trip. His face went blank, and a raw scream of pain and 
anguish ripped forth from the depth of his being. He ran to the other room, 
loaded his gun and then stuffed it into the waistband of his jeans. He 
rushed back to the broadcast long enough to see a picture of the man 
believed to be behind this attack, and to hear that he was spotted heading 
north towards the foothills with several prisoners.

Evan wasted no further time. He grabbed his car keys from where they sat on 
top of the TV and rushed to the door. He tore the door open, nearly tearing 
it off the hinges in the progress and dashed for his car. His mind was 
reeling and he gasped for breath as he started the battered vehicle, but one 
thought was crystal clear to him. He was going north, towards the foothills, 
and when he got there someone was going to pay for what they had done.

*****

Evan crouched behind some brush on a rocky outcropping and looked down at 
the scene below. The murderer responsible for the destruction at the lab was 
down there with his prisoners. He had already killed two of them when they 
didn't tell him about some 'Unit' he kept babbling on about. Evan tried to 
control himself as he watched, but even exerting all his will he couldn't 
fully stop himself. He reached down and readied the gun that was in his 
waistband, aiming it at the butcher standing obliviously below.

He almost  fired a shot to, but then something strange happened. Suddenly a 
small, muscular man who appeared to have claws growing from the back of his 
hands leaped from the bushes and attacked the pale killer. They engaged for 
a few minutes, tentacles lashing and claws slashing before breaking apart to 
circle each other. The pale man seemed to have little more than a few 
scratches, the short man, who know that the action stopped Evan could see 
was excessively hairy had several severe brusises that already seemed to be 
disappearing. After a few moments of silence, the shorter man spoke, "I was 
in the neighborhood, and to my surprise a story of a massacre flashes up and 
they show a picture of my old pal Omega Red. Guess I need to kick your rear 
some more to get you to mind your manners eh bub?"

The pale man seemed nonchalant and smirked at his opponent saying, "So 
Logan, someone has yet to skin you and make a rug from your hairy hide it 
seems? I shall have to remedy that today."

These were the only words spoken before the two men resumed their life and 
death struggle. The one called Logan was a skilled fighter, and his claws 
bit deeply into his opponent. But the butcher was strong, too strong and he 
managed to get those vicious tentacles wrapped around Logan's neck. Evan 
couldn't stand it anymore, he Had to stop the murdering bastard. He knew he 
could never get a clean shot from here, and he didn't want to wound a 
possible ally, so he backed up, and leaped from the outcropping he occupied, 
accidentally dropping his gun as he left the edge.

The next few seconds seemed to happen in slow motion for Evan, his eyes 
locked on the gun as it fell towards the ground. His heart lurched and 
without a weapon he stood no chance in this fight, but there had to be 
something he could use. Suddenly he felt his mind burn with a fire and 
without knowing what he did, his will activated the weapon he needed. In a 
split second of travel, before he had even fallen 10 of the 20 feet between 
the ledge and the ground, a sphere of energy had enveloped his body. And 
upon reaching the ground, where once was Evan now stood something that was 
Other.

This other was tall and heavily muscled, and attired in a strange armor that 
seemed made of organic metals. It was dark blue in color, but in places 
seemed to shimmer with a lighter blue that almost resembled flames. The 
surface was angular and rough looking, and the figure's head was concealed 
by a helmet. A gleaming orb of brightness in the armor's forehead caught the 
fading sunlight and glinted as the figure spoke. Its voice was otherworldly 
and sepulchral, seeming to emerge from no where as it said, "Omega Red, I 
will see justice done for the death caused by your hands on this day. 
Prepare to face me in combat and die."

The one called Omega Red merely laughed and threw Logan and the thing Evan 
had become. Without having to think Evan caught the smaller man, noticing 
the great weight for one his size, and then charged into combat. Not 
noticing that the man he had caught was already charging into combat behind 
him.

The ensuing battle was furious. As claw, and lash and fist blurred together 
in an unholy melee. Each opponent seemed tireless, and all three were 
capable of receiving tremendous amounts of punishment. Evan had been sorely 
wounded by a lashing tentacle, his skull split along one side, and he felt 
it heal almost as soon as the wound was dealt.

But despite that both Evan and the man Logan seemed capable of quickly 
recovering from the most grievous wounds, Evan was too inexperienced. Both 
the other men were far more knowledgeable of combat that was he, and it 
showed. Pulling back for a moment Evan instinctively felt semi-concealed 
blades begin to emerge from his elbow region, and heard them begin to whine 
with a high pitched drone as they vibrated at an incredibly fast rate.

Evan jumped back into the fray then, these new bladed weapons striking at 
Omega Red, and making a sickening high pitched scream as they truck armor, 
and then suddenly slicing through. The butcher bellowed in pain and 
irritation, and Logan used that momentary distraction to slash with his 
claws, tearing open the enemy's chest. This infuriated Omega Red and he 
lashed out with his fists, knocking both men from their feet and bringing 
his tentacles to bear around Evan's throat. The bastard rested a heavy foot 
upon the back of Logan's head, pinning him there momentarily, as he began to 
apply pressure to Evan's windpipe.

Suddenly, as his throat was being crushed by Omega Red, even realized that 
he didn't need to breathe, and that the tentacles were only dangerous for 
the fact they could crush his neck and possibly sever his head. Not wanting 
to die Evan reached up, his hands clawing at the constricting weapons, but 
even with his new found strength he could not break the grip. That's when 
without warning, the chest of Evan's armor opened to reveal a glowing mass 
of transparent tissue that seemed to be filling with energy. A moment later 
that energy cut loose in a devastating blast which impacted Omega Red from 
point blank range. This force was enough to break the monster's grip, and 
send him hurdling backwards to impact and leave nothing but a smoking 
crater.

Evan fell to his knees, to stunned to catch himself as that deadly grip was 
suddenly broken. He merely stared at the smoking hole, located over a 
hundred yards away from where he was standing. The man named Logan stood up, 
and cast a look towards Evan before going to investigate the hole, waving 
the smoke away and searching for his opponent. "Damn," the little man 
growled, "that putz has more lives than a cat...he got away again."

Hearing a noise Logan looked towards the direction that the guy in the ugly 
armor had been in. The only thing there was a faint disturbance of the area, 
left by the man's sudden exit. "Hmph, sure was an ugly cuss, but his help 
came in handy. Had a weird scent though... hafta ask Beast if he's ever seen 
anything like it before..."

*****

Evan sat in front of the graves of his mother and sister and wept hot, 
silent tears. He was the only one here, the other funeral goers had left 
hours ago. Even his father had gone,  sensing that Evan wanted to be alone.

He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small flask, sipping from 
the whiskey within and making a face as it went down. Upending the flask, 
Evan watched the last of the drink pour to the ground next to the graves. He 
could not stay here any longer, he needed to do something, anything.

So he stood, and bending down to place a kiss on each headstone, he turned 
and walked away. He managed not to look back, even has he got into his car. 
A car in which all his those things which had meaning to him, were already 
packed inside. Starting the engine he put the car into drive and headed for 
the highway. He wasn't sure where he was going, only that he had to get 
away. Perhaps New York City was as good a place as any for now.