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It was a Thursday, nothing special or even slightly past normal was going on in the city that never sleeps. A slight breeze had brought itself about to begin the transition from fall to winter. The people about had started wearing longer coats, sweaters, and gloves more often than not. The talk of the holidays was about the ears of people who went about routines and errands trying to get whatever they needed done, done fast. The same could not be said for a woman sitting outside a local cafe drinking a warm caffeinated beverage, book in hand, and a mind abroad. She was waiting for someone, the other two empty cups made it obvious how long, but she was early. This was her first date in months and the man who was to be meeting her still had plenty of time but the anticipation was more than the woman could bare. Her eyes would read a line of her book, then dart up looking to her side as if she saw someone coming her way, then back to the very same line she had just read. The woman must have read the same page twenty times by now and still no closer to understanding what was going on in the plot.

The woman was an ordinary enough woman who did her part as a secretary for a nice business known as Ralpmet Incorporated. Her mind had not been on her work for some time now, thanks to a dashing young executive named Peter Helmesly, who was they very man she was waiting for now. They had played the typical cat and mouse game of teasing and paying just a bit extra attention to one and other until finally the man asked her out for coffee. A cheap enough activity that many had used to simply take the "work" environment out of the equation and see what a person was really about. The woman now sat with her book closed, no marker in sight, and slowly sipping her third cup of coffee and starting to fill some of the effects of the previous two. As she sipped a man approached her table, but not the man she was waiting for.

He stood straight with an odd coat on that flared oddly at the bottom and seemed to have place where other pieces of clothing could be attached. It was closed at his torso but allowed to open freely past his waist line, where the woman could see the lining was red. The collar of the coat was flared out dramatically, which made it hard to see the sides of his face, on top of the hood he was wearing, which seemed to be part of another coat under the larger one. The strangest thing to the woman, besides the entire thing, was that it was all white even the hood. However the mouth of the man she could see was smiling, and warmly so. The man pulled out a chair and sat down.

"W...wait, you can't sit there, I'm meeting someone..."

"I know you are Ms. Everheart, however I am afraid you are meeting a man you don't really even know."

"Of course I don't that's why I'm...wait a minute how did you know my name?"

" I know this sounds creepy but I know a lot about you Ms. Everheart, and I also know that this Peter you are meeting is not who he says he is."

"Wait, are you some kind of stalker or something, I have mace I'll use it."

"That won't be necessary ma'am for I mean you no harm at all. I came here to warn you about your date. This man is only here to get information from you and then, most likely kill you."

"K...," she lowered her voice as the word started to leave her lips, "kill me...that is ridicules, why are you doing this?"

"Like I said I am here to help you. This Peter is a member of an organization that is trying to acquire an object. An object that they believe you know the whereabouts to. They mean to extract that information from you, whether you agree or not."

"I don't know anything that would be worth killing me over, this is just some lame joke set up by one of my coworkers isn't it. Who hired you to do this? Was it Dana? I bet she just couldn't stand Peter liking me...I'm going to..."

"Ms. Everheart I assure you I am not joking with you, and if you know the information these people seek or not they do not care. They will find out what they can from you and then throw you away like a used soda can. We have only a few minutes before things get beyond my control, please come with me and I can explain everything in greater detail."

"I'm not coming with you, are you insane? Why in the world would I come with you after you started spouting off about people wanting to dispose of me like trash. This is nuts I'm leaving and if you follow me I'm calling the police...no, I'll spray you with mace, then I'll call the police."

The woman stood up with anger, confusion, and frustration furling her movements. She place some money on the table, not bothering to count out the right amount and began to leave. As she began to walk off the man in the white coat lunged at her quickly and without a sound. She saw him slam into her, then she felt it, and then she was falling to the ground. Her hair danced up quickly at that moment and the air whistled. As she watched the world around her fall away she saw her cup of half full coffee shatter apart and be replaced by what looked like a dart. Two more darts slammed into the chair the man in the white coat was sitting at. She hit the ground, but not hard, and that made less since at the moment than the darts. She looked to see the man who had just tackled her now under her and cushioning her fall.

Everything seemed to speed up at that point as the man in the coat stood up and produced an semi-automatic pistol with a long barrel and a long cylindrical tube protruding from it. The weapon made a few hisses and recoiled in the man's hands and then was just as quickly replaced back wherever it came from. His hand went to the ground quickly and smoke began to rise up and engulf all those around the man in the white coat. Ms. Everheart felt a tug on her coat and moved with the motion thinking only to get out of the choking wall of grey at the present moment. She found herself in an alley not far from the cafe and the same man in the white coat was just a bit further in.

"Do you believe me now Ms. Everheart? I am here to help you, please come with me," The man did not ask the last part but said it as a statement.

With a confused sigh and a look back at the cafe the woman followed the man who, she guessed, just saved her life. He lead them to a white car, that looked like something only the rich or crazy would drive. With a life and a hope that it was the former and not the ladder she got in the car and it drove off.

"I'm..."

"Elaina Everheart, remember I know this already," the man said with what sounded like a chuckle, and he pulled his hood down.

He looked no more than in his mid twenties with sharp features and a somewhat pointed chin. He was clean shaven and had bleach blonde hair that looked longer than it showed, with the hood and coat still obscuring a good look. His hair almost seemed white to Elaina but she shook the idea away as it entered her mind. He had green eyes that seemed warm and...she turned away as she saw him turn towards her.

"My name is Dante Storm, and I am a member of an organization as well. However my group wishes to help while the other only wants what they think is best. I will take you to who leads this section of our group and he can fill you in on the rest. Please keep an open mind Ms. Everheart, you are about to enter a very different world," as Dante finished the car stopped just outside the Chrysler Building and Ronyo walked around and opened Elaina's door," Welcome Elaina."