"Get down!" "Get down now!" "I'm not kidding, buddy!" "Down!" "That's far enough, citizen." " Who the hell are you?" " The Adjuster." "And you're about to be adjusted!" "Let that be a lesson, you fiends." "The streets of Old City are no longer safe for your kind." "When crime's around..." "I'll be found!" " Let's go." " No, no!" "What in the hell was that?" "Mate, I have no idea." "Here is my favorite part." "You know, I'm so pleased that my pain amuses you." "God, look at the whiplash on that baby!" "I'm checking for broken bones." "Yeah, well, if you press any harder, you'll find some." "How does he manage to fly like that without wings?" "I've never seen an abnormal with that ability before." "Yeah, you know, I thought the same thing when my head bounced off the ground." " How is the shoulder?" " Nothing I can't handle." "Not exactly the welcome I had in mind, when you volunteered to come aboard." "I'm sorry the guy we chased got away." "He's an empath trying to break free from the mob." "If he's smart, he'll come to us." "As for the flying man, I'm having Henry look into it." "Keep me posted." "I'm dying for a rematch." "Well, if anyone needs me, I'll be coughing up blood." "Actually, I need you." "Get Dressed." "Happened around 8:00 am." "The staff was digging out a corner when the wall gave way." "They found.... this." "I called the city inspector right away." "He took one look at it and called you." "So..." "You guys are archaeologists or something?" "Would you mind rounding up the rest of the crew that were here at the time?" "I'd like to speak with them." " Ok." "Sure." "I'll be right back." " Thank you." "Ever seen anything like this before?" "No, but whatever it is, it hatched recently." "These are like claw marks." "You think something dug this hole, laid the egg, and then just left it?" "But it would have to had occur years ago, before the city was built." "It's difficult to imagine something surviving that long." "Not impossible." "The real question is:" "why did it hatch now?" "This room was probably the vacuum before the workers broke through." "Maybe the introduction of air kick-started the process?" "The men are outside." "Except Joe." "Joe?" "The backhoe operator." "First guy on the scene." "He left, said he was not feeling well or something." "Joseph Koster, 38, divorced." "No sign of any abnormal behavior." "I take it you tried to get in contact with him?" "He's not answering his phone." "He's not at his place, either." " Try putting out word to our contacts." " I already did." "Squid gave us a tip." "There's some guy matching this description acting very weird on the top floor of Saint Canare Place." "Saint Canare?" "That's a condemned building." "Yeah, I know it's a long shot, but Declan and I figured we had to check it out." "Absolutely, but be careful." "We have no idea what effect this creature could have had on Mr. Koster." "Any idea what is or was?" "The shell membrane would seem to indicate something reptilian, but... the amniotic fluid is definitely consistent with that of an insect." "I'll...." "Just read the report." "River Banshee." "Fire Shrimp." "Word of advice?" "Wear gloves." "Shouldn't you be writing this down or something?" "What for?" "In case you need to fill in for me one day." "Yeah, right...." "Hey!" " Hey, what's in here?" " I wouldn't do that if I were you." "Why not?" "Told ya." "That sound generally means you should answer it." "Yeah?" "Hey, it's me." "I need to see you." " I'll call you back." " Everything okay?" "Yeah I gotta go." "What's a guy like Joe doing in a place like this?" "No idea." " He was definitely here though." " Hey, Zimmerman..." "You hungry?" "Not anymore." "Got to be kidding me." "Likes chowing down on cats?" "Have you found anything, Henry?" "Looks like our mystery super-hero has been busy." "Doing what exactly?" "Everything, it seems." "Foiling robberies beating up bad-guys but the best is this." "Wait." " What we are we looking at?" " Video of a jumper taken yesterday." "Here, check it out." "Unbelievable." "Yeah, except the guy ended up with 4 crushed vertebrae from the force of the catch." "Any information on how we can find this flying man?" "So far he has done a really good job keeping his secret identity a secret." "Well, we need to track him down." "For one thing, he's getting in the way of our work." "For another, if he keeps this up, a lot of people are going to get seriously hurt." "Well, I don't know if it helps, but eyewitness reports say that he arrives on the scene right away, sometimes before the police." "Do you think he has some kind of ESP?" "Oh, Henry..." "Where..." "Where crime is found, I'll be around." "No." "Where crime is seen, I will be on the scene." "Where the crime is plotted," "I'll be... spotted?" "Damn!" "All units available,we have a 10-36 in progress at 820 Orchid." "Three suspects." "Shots fired." "All units, 820 Orchid..." "Right." "Hello." " Who are you?" " My name is Helen Magnus, and we need to talk." "You tricked me." "This is a trap." "Yes, but if you'll just listen." "I knew sooner or later my activities would attract the wrong kind of people, but you're gonna have to do a lot better than that to bring me down." "Nice shot." "Well... he's kind of hard to miss." "You will never get away with this." "You think that these puny restraints can hold me?" "How's he doing?" "He's still convinced we're super-villains, who have kidnapped him to conduct experiments." " What did you find out?" " Well, his suit looks homemade but it seems to be some sort of high grade kevlar type material." "I had to draw blood from between his fingers." " And?" " See for yourself." " He's not abnormal?" " Not according to his DNA." "But how is thait possible?" "The guy was flying." "I can't explain, but it does mean that we're going to have to do a far more detailed exam." "Well, that doesn't bode well for our whole" ""We're not super-villains" case." "Try to avoid the topic of total global domination." "Thanks." "Kate." "You have got a lot of nerve calling me out of the blue like that." "I haven't heard from you for months." "Mom didn't even know where you were." "It's good to see you, too." "When did you get here?" " Couple days ago." " A couple days?" "Oh, easy all right?" "I meant to call" "I just...." "I got tied up." " With what?" " I need a favor." "Oh no..." "No, Tad, I thought you were going to give that up." "I did." "I've been straight for six months." " Right..." " I swear!" "So what happened?" "I slipped." "I mean, these guys pulled me into a game." "How much?" "It's not the "how much" it's the "who to."" "A guy named Constantine?" " You know him." " Yeah." "Yeah." "Kate, you gotta believe me." "I never meant for any of this to happen." "I met this girl." "We were going to California..." "Save it." "Kate, I just need to get clear of this." "Please." "Now is my chance." "So..." "Come to face me at last, huh?" "Who are you people anyway?" "Hydra?" "League of Assassins?" "Circus of Crime?" "I just want to talk to you, Walter." "How did you know my name?" "Your DNA match some hospital records we had in our database." "It says here you worked as a claims adjuster?" "Yeah, well, that was before." "Now I'm just..." ""The Adjuster."" "Right..." "Right." "Yesterday afternoon you had a run-in with some guys on some motorbikes..." " Who told you that?" " I was one of those guys." "We were trying to catch the guy that you..." " Saved." " Yeah." "That's pretty much why I saved him." "Right, but what you don't realize is that we were actually trying to help him." "See, we are not the bad guys here, Walter, but there are some bad people who are after him." "Why?" " He's an empath." " Like Psylocke." "From X-Men?" "She was killed by Vargas and later resurrected without her tattoo." "Yes, just like Psylocke." "Seriously..." "Who are you guys?" "We'll get to that, but first, why don't you tell me how you got these powers?" "Never." "What are you working on?" "DNA tests on the eggshell didn't yield anything substantial, but when Will told me, about the cat remains that he found, it reminded me of encounter my father had with another abnormal." "Coleanthropus." "It was discovered by U.S. federal troops in 1892, when they were trying to quell a miners' uprising in Idaho." "What makes you think it's the same abnormal?" "According to reports, the soldiers found an egg inside the mine." "It hatched, and the creature went inside the body of one of the soldiers." "The victim ran away, but shortly thereafter, the others found the carcasses of several small animals." "It says here the creature attacked again the following evening, but its appearance had changed." "It was no longer inside the body of the soldier." "My father suspected that it had evolved to a further stage its life cycle." "Unfortunately, by the time he got there, the creature was long gone and most of the survivors had fled." " Not much to go on." " No." "However, all the eyewitnesses spoke of the creature's high pitched shriek, said it was unlike anything they had ever heard before." "Perhaps we can use that to our advantage." " You sure this is going to work?" " Absolutely." "We've tapped into the city's terrorism suppression grid." "If your monster makes any noise above 90 decibels," " We'll know about it." " Excellent work, Henry." "Thank you." "Now, I've calibrated it to detect high-frequency sounds." "So don't go getting too close to any ambulances, or Christina Aguilera." "No worries about that, mate." "Hey, how's it going with super-dude?" "Oh, pretty good." "I managed to convince him that are not evil." "So, that's something." " The big guy is checking him out now." " Did he say how he was able to fly?" "Yes, three weeks ago he was hanging out on a friend's yacht off the coast of Africa when they got attacked by pirates called the "Singh Brotherhood"." "Somehow in the middle of it all he got pushed over the side and he swam to shore, and he found a cave, and the cave there was this temple, and in the temple there was this ruby" "called the Crimson Gem of Cyttorak." "Yeah." " How did you know that?" " This guy is good." "What are you talking about?" "For real?" "You never read comic books as a kid?" "I mean, yes...." "I was more of a Sherlock Holmes guy." "Why?" "Okay, the Crimson Gem of Cyttorak?" "That's the stone Cain Marko found in the X-Men number 12." "Turned him into Juggernaut." "The Singh Brotherhood is the Phantom, and the yacht, well, if you don't know the story the Green Arrow, then there's hope for you, pal." " Dude, you got played." " Crap." "What happened?" "Super-guy was in the scanner." "I turned my back for a second..." " Which way did he go?" " Away." " Come on." " Okay." "You go to the residences, I'll check the foyer." "What.... he couldn't use the door?" " You call that tea?" " Declan, it's Will." " Anything?" " No, nothing yet." "Although there was a faint..." "Stand by." "We got something." "Is that Joe?" "Bloody hell." "Alright, fella, out you come." "Take it down!" "Get him!" "Where's a bloody flying man when you need him?" "Well it's a lot bigger than a man now." "Yeah, the file was right." "The creature evolved." "Yeah, if you can call it that." "Good news is that Henry's sonic scanner worked." "We should be able track it." " You know..." " What?" "Magnus said that the amniotic residue inside the egg" " Was similar to that of an insect." " Okay." "Well, we've already seen three stages, the egg, Joe, and that creature that attacked you." "You think you there might be a fourth stage." "Well, it makes sense, doesn't it?" "I mean, maybe it's looking for a place to cocoon." "It also means it might go quiet on us." " We'll have to work fast." " Alright, let's split up and sweep the area." "Signal if you find anything." "Team two with Will." "Were you able to transfer the data from Walter's medical scan?" "Yeah, but it's no use." "Walter corrupted it." " Walter?" " "The Savage Seven", issue 319." " What?" " Dustin Blake is captured by a group called "The Sentinels"." "The perform experiments on him." "He wipes their computer clean while he escapes so they can't..." "Track him." "I been trying to recompile the image using raw data." "I don't think we're going to find anything," "Walter wasn't in there for very long." " Well, let's see." " Yeah." "Right there." "See?" "That's what I was afraid of." "There's a shadow." " Do you mind?" " Be my guest." "I'm just going to magnify the image." "You can magnify away, Doc, but I don't think you're gonna find..." "What the hell is that?" "That is Walter's suit." "Walter suit is made of bugs?" "Billions of them." "It makes perfect sense." "Walter isn't an abnormal, he's wearing one and I'll wager it's what's giving him his special abilities." "The bugs?" "Think of them more as a collective rather than individual beings, and yes," "I believe they are what's allowing him to fly." " How?" " I'm not sure." "I mean he must be controlling them somehow." "I need to take another look at his blood work." "Hey, boys, I've got something for Constantine." "Who wants a sentient fungus?" "This is not what we agreed." "I have to tell you, I don't like surprises." "Katie Freelander." " As I live and breathe." " You know why I'm here." "Of course." "Your brother's debt." "What terrible luck he has." "What's this?" "Payment." "In full with interest." "A Steno tusk." "I thought they were extinct." "Well, just gotta know where to look, I guess." "That more than covers his debt." "So don't try pretend that it doesn't." "You know, this selfless act of yours is touching, but I don't want your money." "Rumor has it, that you have found a comfy place to sleep, at the Sanctuary!" "Where did you hear that?" "Around." "Hey, I don't judge." "In fact, it makes you, uniquely valuable to me." "What are you talking about?" "I don't mind telling you that the Cabal's demise has opened up quite a few opportunities for me." "There is a huge demand for abnormals out there." "A demand I find myself unable to fill." "However, with an ally inside the Sanctuary..." " Whoa, whoa, wait a second, an ally?" " Why not?" "You're just staying there." "You're not "with" them." "You used my brother to get to me." "We used be such an incredible team together." "You and I. Don't you remember?" "I am not 21 anymore." "And I'm not a two-bit banger fencing counterfeit junk anymore." "This is real." "I urge you to take it seriously." "Those days are gone, Constantine." "You know, it was a really, really nice offer but I'm not interested." "Don't contact me again." "Well, we searched the entire area." " Not a trace." " Damn it." "That thing could be anywhere now." "Are you sure this is the right sample?" "Absolutely, why?" "What's the problem?" "His CPK3 and creatinine levels are through the roof." "So what does that mean?" "It means we need to talk to Walter." "Right away." "All available units, we have a 411 in progress at 1310 Marine." "Suspect is fleeing." "All units available, please advise." "Right." "What the.... how did I end up back here?" "You'd be amazed at how much buzz it creates when a guy in a super-suit falls off his balcony." "Before you go knocking another hole in my wall know this; you are free to leave whenever you like." "But you might want to hear what we have to say first." "Your suit's not really a suit, but you knew that already." "What you may not know is that it is actually a parasite, and it appears to be feeding on you." "Your latest test results show the signs of early organ failure." "Your body is shutting down." "No." "You're lying." "This is just another one of your super-villain tricks." "Really?" "How are you feeling?" "Do you have any dizziness or shortness of breath?" "Walter, we need to get this suit off you, immediately." "But...." "I can't." " Walter, this is a matter..." " No!" "You don't understand." "I can't take it off." "I'm telling you, I've tried dozens of times." "Nothing works." "It's stuck." "Which means I'm a dead man." "What do you mean.... stuck?" "Stuck, glued, impossible to remove." " Hold on, so, you've been wearing this suit since..." " Since about 8 days ago, yes." "Well, how have you managed to, you know..." "I have no idea." "All I know is I feel lighter after meals." "How did you come by the suit in the first place?" "We need the real story, Walter." "Right, uh..." "Well, as I mentioned before, I used to work for an insurance company." "By the way, if you guys need any kind of coverage..." " We're good." " Right." "Well, every year the company took us on a team building a retreat to this dude ranch in the mountains." "I was leading this team through the forest, on a pretty cuthroat game of "capture the flag"..." "Hello?" "Hello?" "Hello?" "Guys?" "Guys?" "I must have slipped down into a sinkhole or something, because the next thing I knew, I woke up in a cave covered in slime." "What?" "What?" "The shorts and gloves I added myself." "The chestplate I had from before." "Don't judge." "When did you get your super-powers?" "That's the beauty." "I already had them." "All I had to do was think "fly" and I popped out of the hole, just like that." "Telepathic communication of course." "The suit's living off you, in exchange for giving you these powers." "I soon realized that I had speed, super-strength," "X-ray vision... it was like my greatest wish come true!" "Well..." "Be careful what you wish for." "We'll help you get it off, Walter." "Yeah..." " We are all ready in here." " Okay, here we go." "Walter!" " Hey." "Did you manage to..." " It's taken care of." "Thank God." "Thank you." "Thank you." "This is the last time, do you hear me?" "Totally." "This was a one time slip, I promise." "You should get out of town." "Take a cab to the bus station." " I don't need money..." " Just take it." " Good luck in Cali." " Kate..." "Thank you for.... everything." " Thanks." " Yeah." "Don't tell mom, okay?" "Hey." "How's Walter doing?" "Uh, he's stable." "How's things going with you?" "Take a look." " They're dead." " I believe so." "I was able to create a toxin that attacks the suit creatures' specific DNA." " Well, that's.... good." " Is it?" "I have no idea what kind of impact this will have on Walter." "At minimum, he'll be sick for weeks as he undergoes treatment, and there's no guarantee he'll ever fully recover." "Not to mention we are killing an abnormal who exhibits untold abilities." "The likes of which I've never seen before." "Well, we knew that going in." "Yes, but our job is to be smarter." "To come up with a brilliant clever way to save both human and abnormal." "Right." "But we don't have time for that." "I mean, this thing is killing Walter." "At least we're saving him." " I wanted it off, not kill it!" " Walter..." "Come on!" "It's my suit." "You can't do this to me." "You're gonna die, Walter." "Do you realize that?" "I don't care." "Do you realize what this suit has done for me?" "My whole life I've been scared to do anything." "Not even hobbies." "Do you realize how many people die each year in Renaissance fairy renactments?" "The statistics would blow you away." "But now thanks to this suit," "I don't even worry about it." "I fly around saving people." "It's pretty incredible!" "I realize how exciting it must be but is it really worth risking your life for?" "You risk your lives every day doing what you do." "Look, I may not have a lot of time..." "So I want to use it for what I was meant to do." "Not sit around on the sidelines anymore." "Magnus, it's Henry." "I heard from Declan." "He tracked the coleanthropus to Kennington row." "Alright." "Think about it." "Please." "Tell me you're at the bus station, Tad." "You should have accepted my offer, Katie." "You son of a bitch, where is my brother?" "He's fine, for now." "Look, this is between you and me, Constantine, okay?" " Let him go." " No, it was until you forced me to bring him back into it." "Seems to be the only way to get your attention." "Now, I'm a fair man, Katie." "You don't want to work with me, that's fine, but there is something that I need from you." "Inside that Sanctuary there is a very rare species of lizard." "I believe he's called "Steve"." "My client is prepared to pay handsomely for it." "You get me that lizard, and I'll release your brother debt-free." "I think you'll find that I'm being more than generous." "Katie..." "Fine, but this is gonna burn me with them so I'm gonna need a piece of the action." "Plus, I don't transport." "You supply the truck, bring Tad and Steno tusk with you." "I'll call you when it's safe." " Where is it?" " Far end." "I've got a man on each exit, two more keeping watch." "Henry was able to modify these for subsonic action." "Hopefully it will disorient the creature long enough and we can get the upper hand." "Declan, where are your men?" "I left them here." "Blood." "Uh, guys." "Bring it down!" "Watch your ears, everyone!" "Spread out!" "To be honest, I'm still just kinda playing with it." "Okay, you want to try it on me?" "Sure..." "Where evil lurks, that's where I work." "What it's no good?" "No, not bad, not bad, just.... a little sing-songey." "Right." "Try something along the lines of, like," ""It's time to.... " you know?" " "Time to take out the trash."" " Right." "Right." "You know?" "Or like, uh..." ""Time to put the kids to bed."" "Henry, come in!" "One moment." "Yes, go ahead." "The stunners are not working!" "We need large containment!" "Okay, I'll get there as soon as I can." "Hey, listen, Walter, man, I'm gonna have to put you..." "Crap!" "Did we kill it?" "I'm thinking we just pissed it off." "I got him!" "Coming at you!" "Okay." "Easy, boy..." "Easy now..." "Take it easy." "What, this thing?" "It doesn't work anyway." "Walter?" "Come on!" "You like that?" "Okay, everyone's out, but we don't have much time." "This is more impressive that I imagined." "This isn't a tour." "Keep up." "Oh my God!" "Will you quit gawking?" "We don't have a lot of time." "You're lucky they all got called out to fight some insecto-freak." "Your lizard is over here." " I can't see anything." " Just tap on the glass." "What the..." "Drop it." "Please..." "Unless you want to see your autopsy before you die," "I suggest you get the hell out of here." "And spread the word:" "Kate Freelander is not for sale." "Wait, what is this place?" "I've got to get you to the bus station." "But how..." "would you have really done it?" " Would you have killed that guy?" " Absolutely." "Wow!" "No-one messes with my family." " Do you think he's got a shot?" " Not without help." "Will." "Yeah." "Hey, what did I miss?" " These things don't work?" " Uh,... ish." "Fire!" "Keep firing!" "Magnus, now!" "Go, I've got it!" "Hey, buddy." "We need to get him back to the Sanctuary right away." "I'll take him." " Oh boy!" " There we go." "He's breathing." "Henry is getting the toxin." "We need to get this suit off him right away." "No." "Walter, we have no choice." "Thank you." "No, wait, please!" "It's leaving." "What the hell just happened?" "I guess I just.... wished it off." "I didn't want it to die." "For the first time since I got it I truly wanted it off." "I guess it was just granting my wish." "May I?" "Thank you." "I'll miss you, little buddy." "Live long and prosper." "Get him to the infirmary." "Yeah." "It just did that because of the heat of his hand, right?" "Right?" "Come on..." " Oh, hey, you asked to see me?" " Yes." "Henry said that when he was feed Sorkel tonight, it wasn't hungry." "I wondered if you know anything about that." "No." "Then I guess you would also have no idea, why all the security cameras in the main lab suddenly malfunctioned at exactly 9:14 this evening." " No idea." " I see." "I asked Henry to move your things into more permanent quarters." "You what?" "I trust that meets with your agenda?" "Uh, that would be great." "Dr. Magnus?" "Thanks." "Is there a meeting?" "What are you guys doing?" "Walter wrote a comic book." " What?" " Check it out." ""Time to put the kids to bed?"" "Oh, no." "No, no, no!" "He totally stole my idea!" "I was going to publish this when things to calmed down around here." " I was!" " That's too bad." " It's really good." " Nominated for several awards." "Yeah, and he already sold the movie rights." "That's you." "Oh, man..."