As darkness descended upon New York, a lone man ascended the rooftop of an old, condemned building. The view from the building wasn't great, but it did allow him a good look upon the greater downtown from afar, those lights just starting to lighten the night of the city that never sleeps. The man, silently, watched as the city's night life began to come alive, the thousands who chose to work or play in the grip of shadows rather than the light. And the man knew, within those thousands, would be terrible peoples, murderers, gangsters, rapists...and even they were nothing compared to the true monsters that lurked within the city. Like a plague, they infested the city little by little, endangering the people and spreading their disease like rats.

Well, tonight there would be a new kind of monster to stalk the streets. And these monsters would begin the slow process of eradicating this disease...with itself.

A slow smile creep along his face as he turned to his companions, who were just joining him now. These two, his most trusted advisers and companions, who had been with him in this project since the first step. Now, after years of planning, preparation, carefully outlining each step and finding all the pieces to complete the chess board, finally, it would all begin to come to fruition. Tonight was the first step to cleansing the plague that had invested the world...and the General, for he needed no real name anymore, could barely contain his glee. He would, of course, for he was The General and he had soldiers that followed his example and lead. But for these two, he showed them just a little bit of his joy before hardening like a rock.

"Report."

The first of the two, a man barely into his thirties, tilted his head to the side as he listened to a voice in his ear, before speaking. "Everyone is in position and awaiting your orders, General. Teams one through four report that they are ready to commence "Operation: Revelations" at any time." Nodding to the man, The General turned to his partner, a woman in her younger twenties.

"And our "special" forces?"

"They are in place, with all their targets acquired. They merely await the command that will unleash them."

Smiling, The General clapped his hands together, rubbing them palm to palm as he looked out over the night once more, letting that scene of peace sink in for one more moment, before giving his order. The first order of many to come. "All forces, we are a go. Commence operations. Show the world what he can do. Show them all."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Across the city, the different squads would be moving into action, the targets assigned to them all within reach for them to strike within moments. Several groups, like his brothers in the Zodiacs, would be focusing on individuals deemed to be worthy of being an example or a genuine threat. Others would be targeting places where mutants massed, aiming to inflict as much damage as possible in a sudden strike before retreating back into the shadows. The General had been clear regarding that matter, as well as another; aid your fellow man, but if the risk to save him is too great, end him. Or end yourself, as it were. No man was to be left for them to interrogate; too many mutants and mutant lovers that could spoil their plan otherwise.

Across the city, four duos would be striking out at appointed targets; Isabel Duskmorr, Simon Smith, Sam Johnson and Kyle Albatros. Strong mutants that needed to be taken down, to be used as example, to be removed from the equation. His fellow Zodiacs would be handing them; divided into teams to not only increase their effectiveness, but to ensure success. But there are twelve signs in the Zodiac and only eight accounted for. So what were the other four doing?

The answer was simple. Reek havoc and destroy as many mutants as possible.

Thus was the task entrusted to Virgo and his fellows; Pisces, Scorpio, Libra and the other half of the Gemini twins. Virgo would be their commander for this mission, while the others were to work in pairs to cause as much chaos as possible and eliminate as many threats as one could. Which is why Libra was paired with the female Gemini, overlooking a crowded street near Wall Street, licking his lips as he maneuvered his well captured pieces into place. They were spread out a bit, across the various businesses and malls and the like, but his plan needed not distance to matter. It had taken a gamble and some hunting to acquire the pieces he did, but their information network and the soldiers under their command had aided in the search. Now it was time for him to let his pawns loose and to continue adding more as he saw fit.

Oh, the havoc he would unleash tonight! It got his blood boiling just to think about it. "Now my pretty little pawns, its time to go to work. See the people, see all the people and the mutants that hide among them? They are jealous of you, they want you to die, they have something you want...it matters not your reason. Feel the hate surge within you...and go forth to enact your vengeance upon them! Go, maim, kill...DESTROY!!!

Below him, at street level, his pawns would be moving. He'd already implanted his lovely little seeds, his parasitic darlings, into both human and mutant alike(some where random, others he had picked out personally), a full score of now enraged peons to do his work for him. All of them would think this rage would be their own, that what they were about to do now was entirely of their choice...in a way, it was true. But the puppetmaster was pulling the strings and directing their ire; it was going to be a bloody night indeed.

The city was a curious thing at night. All sort of things and creatures and people crept out of the shadows as light gave up its territory the the conquering darkness. Crow had felt surprisingly restless of late, and regularly found himself flying out from his new home base at all hours of the day and night. Hm. Perhaps that was it? That he had a home base? It was definitely a nice, protected place, and feeling full and warm and clean certainly did wonders for his outlook.

Why, then, was he scattered through these trees, the Predator nearby under his watchful gaze, staring at the evening's throngs of people with such rage?

Eh, who cared? This was a familiar rage, a rage that whispered from his scars and reminded him of the people who had raised arms against his fellows and tried to slaughter them - had succeeded in murdering some of them. Many of the remaining leaves fell from the trees he inhabited as he shuffled, cawed to himself, and took flight.

He swept a bird past Sylar to invite him into the impending fray, and then he was there, scratching and pecking and battering at faces throughout the entire crowd, screeching a path for the Predator to pave with blood and broken bone.

(Note-I used the color White when NPC/Rioters are speaking, Sylar is always in Gray.)

Sylar had spent years venturing into the vast city scape on his own, a lone wolf on the prowl for an easy meal, but tonight was different. Actually lately it had been different, spending days keeping an eye on Roach, his eccentric benefactor, and now he was exploring the city with another odd creature. Creatures? Crow was his name, a man comprised of a murder of crows, each it's own creature and him at the same time, mutation was truly an amazing happenstance. He kept along the rooftops as they traversed the land, Crow able to fly as he split apart it seemed.

They eventually came upon the oddest of sights, a bustling street full of businesses, and it's streets clambering with a cluster of thermal images. People obviously, but so many of them so active was a rare sight. It was a riot of some type, Sylar could smell the action, the violence, the sweat as man gave into his primal nature and lashed out. What the heck was going on? The Crow's seemed eager, swooping past towards the fray as if excited to see such a thing. Roach was clearly a terrible influence if Crow was already this eager to dive head first in something like a riot. Sylar spoke up knowing it'd be useless though. "Crow wait! This is way out of the normal man!" The crow's however made their way down, pestering and pecking random any men.

Sylar sighed and lept from the building latching onto a tree to use as a bridge between rooftop and ground, brachiating like a monkey as he hit he ground, his form imposing if not for the chaos around him. What was this? Another major riot like a few months back? He stood and looked around, but saw only violence. He rushed forward, sliding into a path made by the crows, placing him deeper into the pack of people. "What the heck man..." He mumbled to himself before some people noticed the monster in their midst.

Three men turned and glared at Sylar, fury he couldn't see oozing from their eyes. "Hey, it's one of them! It's a monster, We don't want your kind here mutie!" They hissed at him, rushing towards him with fist raised in anger.

Sylar flinched for a moment, his timid nature cowered by their aggression, but as these crazed grown men approached the boy they met force unexpected. Sylar lashed out. "Back off!" He shouted as he thrust his fist forward, sending one man flying back into the air, landing flat on his back a few feet away. This display of power staggered his two friends, who quickly met a similar fate as Sylar straight kicked the other man, his misfortune to be flying backwards clear off the street and through a large glass window, which shattered magnificently. The last man growled like a spooked animal, before Sylar gripped him by the shirt, spinning and throwing him into a crowd of other rioters. "Seriously Crow, why pick a fight with an ocean of angry normals?!" He shouted at his bird(/birds?) companion. However, Sylar's display of power had enraged the hive.

The crowd of rioting people he'd thrown the man into all turned and glared at the boy. And he noticed that some of these people were...different. Were their mutants here? Just random violence, against whatever caught their eye? What the actual heck was going on tonight in New York? Sylar flexed his body, steadying himself. He'd kicked the hornets nest, and he was not happy he'd been dragged into this. The men and women waited a moment, breathing in, channeling their hatred, before they began to move towards him.

"Get the monster! It's his fault! Kill the beast!" They chanted, like a mindless angry mob brandishing their torches towards Frankenstein's monster.

It was going to be a glorious day.

Ryden could feel it as he sauntered down the streets. The instructions in his mind drove him towards a nearby building, a chilling chuckle rolling from his lips. As he walked, the laughter attached to a nearby car window and send splinters across his surface. The silence was over. He felt like he had been holding his breathe for years, suddenly able to scream.

It was going to be a wonderful day.

This morning had been like any other. Pack his bag, go to work, but the monotony was so boring. Every day it was all the same. Work work work work work. No one had any fun, and nothing ever changed. But then, something happened. A change in mood, a change of personality. Annoyance became anger, and anger shifted towards madness. He moved by unseen puppet strings, but his mission was loose enough to allow a little enjoyment. Destroy! That was the word he heard, and the mutant of resonance was more than happy to oblige.

"What a beautiful morning, what a beautiful day. The sound of chaos looming, and coming straight your way...Knock knock!!!"

His final yell at a buildings store front send the metal door exploding inwards, and patrons scrambled for cover. Casually stepping over the wreckage, he grinned at their fear. "Is nobody going to ask 'whose there?'" He frowned, a window busting to his right. He spun in a circle, holding out his arms as his throat tingled with the vibrations of his powers. The headache forming in his mind didn't matter. This was just so much fun. The shattering. The rattling. His voice could command the attention of so many people. Writing never did this. Writing never made him feel so powerful.

"I don't hear any participants, and that is somewhat insulting! Let's try a new one then. Marco!" CRASH!!! The legs gave out on a table. Figures huddled against the wall. In a small corner, someone whispered 'Polo'. Ryden clapped with delight and pranced in a circle.

"See, now we're getting somewhere!"

Wait! Hah! There was no time to wait when there were fiends most foul awaiting their punishment! The Predator needed more confidence! More daring! A pirate hat should be acquired for him after this. Yes. Yes! Something bold and dashing! With a big magpie feather! Surely he could find some magpies to beat up after they dealt with this mob. Yeah! There was nothing here to stand in the Predator's way, surely!

Oh no! The mob shifted! Crow's entire murder was lifting away from their scattered targets and winging their furious shrieking way to the younger mutant's aid.

Because they deserve it, Crow thought dozens of times over, though the cooperation necessary to give voice to the drive was impossible like this. They deserve it! Madnesses resonated through what voice he did have as he swirled and threw all of his bodies into the front of the chanting mob without the slightest regard for his own wellbeing. Get them. Get them! GET THEM!

With each impact, Crow danced back and up, then raked through the heads and faces of his opponents on his way to regroup for another assault. GET THEM! He did what he could to funnel a narrow stream of fools towards the Predator, making use of his wider reach to distract and delay the larger group. Get them! Get them all!

Sylar stood his ground against the mob as they advanced, his tail swishing behind him frantically as his irritation grew. He just threw a man through a window, and could clearly hurl an adult like he was a sack of marbles, why weren't these people afraid of him. He hissed a bit, before backup arrived as Crow began to maraud various people distracting and pestering them, severing the unity of the mob before him. A few people still glared Sylar down though, before another shattering of glass rocked the air, hitting Sylar's ears like a ton of bricks. He couldn't pick up on a certain man's scent a midst the dozens of humans and mutants here, all of it creating a nasty human musk in Sylar's nostrils.

However a very loud voice sounded somewhat familiar. Somebody was shouting in the riot, loud enough for Sylar to wonder if he knew the owner of the voice. No time for that though, as a man lunged at him force Sylar to jump to the right just in time for a second person to run up and grab at him. "Seriously are people stupid? Don't you see what I am?!" He shouted as he pushed the man off him, sending him flying off a few feet as well, Sylar's physical strength making him feel like a gorilla surrounded by children.

"Ignore the stupid birds! Get the monster! Kill it!" They shouted and rallied, their rage turning on an obstacle they couldn't destroy alone.

Sylar gritted his teeth, feeling his own instincts start to well up, his blood began to pump. If this kept up, Sylar was going to get furious, and then this mob of idiots would get very bloody as he tore his way out. Sylar dashed forward, taking the offense instead, crashing into the mob of people like a freight train.

The mass of people exploded as the sewer monster clawed his way through them, grabbing some people and tossing them into others, or into walls. The sound became littered with the sounds of broken property, fists pounding flesh, and now broken bones. Sylar held a grown man in the air by his throat, claw crushing windpipe as he spoke with a dark severity. "I don't know what the heck you people are doing, but you should really REALLY be afraid of me!" He hissed loudly into the air, a warning to everyone within ear shot. Their rage kept them from acting on their fears, as another man tried to rush the boy and found his chest torn open as he lashed out with his left arm, razor claws tearing clothing, flesh, and muscle like they were paper. He dropped to his knees holding his chest and coughing up blood.

Then it hit his nose, that powerful metallic scent that tickled his nose and stirred the beast. He glared at the man he was holding up, blood trickling from his neck as the claws began to pierce skin. "If the bird wants to fight you, and you guys want to fight back, FINE, I'll take a piece too!" His blood was pumping, adrenaline was starting to filter into his veins, and their blood was making him hungry. He dropped the unconscious man and turned to the street, wading forward into the chaos. Sylar was a conflicted boy, torn between his youthful naivete and his confidence as a mutant, but now beneath a murder of crows, now came the Boogeyman.

Time to split some heads.

The patrons in this little shop were terrible at Marco Polo. After two busted tables, no one was brave enough to play. That was boring. He needed something else to entertain him, and snatched someone's laptop that was sitting in the cafes corner. Turning up the volume, he navigated the browser to Viewtube, and started searching for the proper song.

"Let's try some Karaoke! I'll go first!"

It wasn't long before a melody started playing through the speakers, accompanied by the destructive voice.

"I know that your powers of retention, are as wet as a warthog's backside. But thick as you are, pay attention," CRACK!!! "My words are a matter of pride. It's clear from your vacant expressions, the lights are not all on upstairs. But we're talking kings and successions, even you can't be caught unawares"

He sauntered back towards the stand where the silverware was held and pulled out a few hand fulls of mental to accompany his clever song. A few on the patrons started sneaking towards busted windows, and he growled in his dislike of this idea. As he started into the chorus, he threw one of the pieces of metal at the nearest figure, barely within his rang. 

"So prepare for a chance of a lifetime," Pieces of metal went flying and figures ducked for cover. Ryden continued singing and moving closer, tossing more metal with each step. 

Children's music never looked quite so frightening.

Their only relief was when a particularly loud chorus of "Be prepared!" Busted the laptop's casing, and cut off the music.

"Well, that's unfortunate... does anyone have an ipod?"

((Edited ducky to hot dog because Paige can't shift into anything resembling people or animals. Sorry for any inconvenience.))

Paige was taking a much needed walk through the city. Time to relax, clear her head, and get over her still looming fears of going outside ever since that fight with Tses. But her night walk wasn't quite so peaceful as she headed back. She heard a chaos, things breaking, people screaming. And...was that karaoke?

Curious, the blonde had to go check it out. What she saw was wreckage, carnage, and some guy who's singing seemed to destroy everything. It was actually quite a frightening scene, the likes of which the former rich kid had ever seen. Her mind raced, and her heard sank into her stomach as she froze for a second.

Taking a deep breath, she realized she had to do something. In an act of bravery, she broke into a run at the guy before he realized someone was there to stop him. Then, she pounced, but in mid-air she began to shift. Maybe something like a brick or a flower pot or something. But her mind couldn't keep focus as she shifted; it was racing at a million miles an hour.

So, when she finally did collide with the back of the sound-guy, she was a three foot rubber hot dog that hit the guy, then the ground, each with a slight squeak. Sonofa...

A hot dog...like a giant dog toy, complete with ketchup and mustard. Very heroic, Paige. Very heroic...now what?

Ryden was not exactly the most battle ready minion. Sure, he could easily destroy things and cause chaos with just a few well placed words. But once things got physical, he lost some of his leverage. That was why the wayward shifter was such an unfortunate thing to encounter...

Even if she decided to attack him as a giant rubber hot dog.

"I asked for an ipod, not a dog accessory!" Ryden remarked after picking himself off the ground and dusting off his clothes. Taking the distraction, several of the patrons bolted for the door even as a nearby window finished breaking. A few of them sported injuries from the flying metal, but all things considered they were mostly emotionally rattled. Ryden threw a fork at the shifter.

"Think fast." He said in a bored voice as the metal exploded.

The streets were littered with the vestiges of normal civilization, destroyed and intruded upon by the crowd of rioting people. Windows shattered, debris littered the street, and the smell of blood and violence tainted the air. This was becoming a war-zone, and a burgeoning god walked through the crowd, leaving pain and chaos in his wake. Sylar was getting tired of people trying to assault him, finding themselves clearly outmatched by their new natural predator. Some had begun to ignore or avoid him, perhaps the bleeding unconscious man he was dragging alone his side was a good message. He grasped the man by his head, claws digging into the scalp, and blood escaping from various wounds upon his body. Sylar's hands were stained crimson red, the same color as his hair, and his tail swished happily behind him ready for new targets.

"What!? Done already?" Sylar shouted into the air, his voice heavy and sinister. "Nobody else wants to stand up to a monster?!" Sylar licked his fangs as the streets parted for him. It's true, it was a different experience to embrace your power. The strength, the agility, the lust for blood, giving in to it was feeding his monster, and the adrenaline and endorphin's running through his blood were like a drug. He felt powerful, he felt intimidating, he felt like a king. This was his jungle, and he would be head of the pack.

He heard a familiar voice again, this time able to hold it long enough to think. Was that Ryden? The man he'd met in the park awhile back? Didn't he say he enjoyed hiding his mutant status? Something really must be up if somebody like him is hear and engaging in such a display as this riot. What the heck caused all this anyway? Sylar was busy dealing with all the people running around and getting clobbered that he still didn't understand what could enrage so many people at once. The last riot had taken time to build up, a underlying sense of anger that finally exploded. This was more like an angry mob that just popped out of no where.

"Crow, something is still up with these people. We should tell Roach about this." Sylar figured the boss man would want to hear of blatant violence in the streets, that seemed to be aimed towards anything that could be smashed or broken. It wasn't a hate riot, just mindless violence. A woman rushed up from Sylar's right, trying to surprise him. He didn't even turn to look at her, his tail slapping towards her like a whip, the side of his blade smacking into her gut and sending her flying away from him. She smacked into a car with a sickening thud, bones had just broken. "Stupid creature. Why was I ever afraid of you people?" Sylar tossed the man he was still holding in front of him, spreading open a space for him to walk.

This was one heck of a party, but Sylar wanted to know who the heck started this. Maybe Ryden knew something, or there was someone with more brain power than these idiots further in, time to find some answers for all the bodies Sylar was breaking.

Why the car? The car was his baby. Streak drove along the streets, looking for a place to go tonight. It was a pretty easy night as far as nights go. He'd been cleared from the undercover work for a while and he was looking to just relax. A nice and normal evening is what he deserved. Unfortunately, his nice and normal evenings usually didn't end nice and normal. Something always got in the way and changed his night.

Streak's drive was a nice one. Traffic was light and didn't look like changing any time soon. That is, until he took a left turn. This brought him to a stand still. It looked like there was a mob happening. This wasn't a good thing. He sat in his car because there were other people stuck in their cars from the mob. His car was closest to the side of the road and there were only a few cars that were parked there. Streak was trying to tell what was going on before he jumped in. Assessing the situation was the best way for him to get an idea of the situation.

His head was on a swivel. He was looking around like an owl and missed seeing the person go flying into his car. A loud thump followed by a slump of a person went along Streaks car. He was definitely going to have to get it detailed after this. The silvermancer decided to step in. This was getting out of hand and he wanted to avoid the blood shed if that was possible. Unfortunately, he already saw some blood on the ground. Even though it was night, this was New York and it was always lit up pretty well.

Streak covered his body in silver and walked through the mob of people. Many didn't notice him walking through until he was already in front of them, and when they saw him they moved away. Streak walked right in front of the alien looking mutant. "What's going on here?" Streak asked. A punch came at his head, accompanied by a cry of "Get the mutants!" He caught his arm and flipped the man over, slamming him into the ground. Streak looked back at the other mutant looking for an answer. There had to be a reason for all this chaos. People didn't usually just mob like this unless something, or someone, was involved. The last time this happened was the riots. Streak was on assignment for it but there was still some whiplash effects from it all.

The X-men kept himself on guard. Why were there so many birds flying around? They were all attacking the people like seagulls being offered food at the beach. Streak swatted at one of the crows as it came at him. They didn't seem to care what they went after, human or mutant. Either way the silver manipulator didn't see any reason this violence had started.

((Sorry for the wait. I've kind of been a bit out of things for a while >.>))

This was fun and so very, very satisfied. The chaos, the carnage, the sheer majesty of the Predator so truly in his own.

Even if the Predator's logic was a little bit of a spoilsport. The birds nearest to Sylar sighed, but one peeled off to go see if there was anything recognizable as reporting to Roach within range. Poor bird had to go and be responsible. Such a pity.

But everyone else got to have fun! Except for the one that just got a hand in the face. Idiot wasn't paying attention and no one else happened to be looking in that direction at that moment. No more harm than perhaps a bruised nare, though, so after suffering a moment's derisive cawing that bird sprang back into the air and rejoined the fray.

"A fork?!? Really?!? Sonofa..." the giant squeaky hotdog murmured as the fork pierced the rubber body with one last squeak. Luckily she wasn't destroyed, otherwise she'd have shifted back in alot of pain.Her mind raced, plotting her next move. But what could she do? She was a hot-dog...

And there was really no hope of going toe to toe with a guy who's voice could do such things as his was. Great going Paige...now what.

Sylar continued his warpath through the mobs, his anger starting to boil. He tried to avoid violence generally, even against the normal people that he didn't care for. But this stupid mob was making him angrier with each passing moment. Was this some sort of test, or revelation? Was his fear just holding him back from how he should treat these idiots...these cattle? It was like a stampede of herbivores spooked by some misstep of a predator, and now they were attacking everything in sight to vent their pent up stress. Well enough, if they wanted violence, wanted destruction, he was going to step out of this on top of that food chain. That little pang in the back of his head seemed to enjoy the thought, that feeling of hatred starting to flush through his body.

However his moment was cut short when suddenly somebody not screaming kill the monster spoke to him. His head turned to a man, someone he didn't know but normal looking enough. Weren't all the normals crazy at this point? The man's silver tone sadly didn't read through thermal vision so Sylar had no idea this was another mutant on the scene just yet. "What's going on? The normals went crazy...no everybody else is crazy. It's a stampede, and they've got no where to run." As Sylar spoke another woman ran up to attack him, screaming some obscenity at him. This was the moment when Streak might see just what kind of mutant this alien boy was. Sylar didn't even turn to acknowledge the woman, instead grabbing her with his lengthy tail, the appendage coiling around her like a python. It squeezed tightly, drawing the air from her lungs. "Stupid, they're all so stupid! Worthless!" Sylar shouted in anger, his mind giving into the blood lust that was taking every one else.

He spun and flung the woman away, her body flying through he air like a rag doll and smacking into the ground with a sickening thud. She didn't get up. "Can you smell it? The smell of blood lust! Crow!" He shouted into the air, summoning the mass of birds to his side once more. "Let's show them who's top of the food chain." Whatever mercy Streak might have for these people, Sylar had given up on showing any himself.

The dog toy made no move to retaliate when the fork went her way, and Ryden found himself loosing interest in her. Rolling his eyes, he moved towards the cash register on the other end of the store, humming as he went.

"Any dolt with half a brain, can see that humankind has gone insane..." The register snapped in half, the drawer exposed in the twisted metal. Fishing out a few bills, he looked at them with boredom, glancing back around the room. Most of the humans had escaped now. He might have to find someone else to sing to.. Stuffing the bills in his pocket, he moved in the direction of the door, ignoring the rubber shifter once more.