Her name was Layla Burke and for over twenty years she had lived in hell. It was a highly personalized hell but all the worst ones were. It was the hell of her own conscience and knowing that she had abandoned the most important person in her life to one of the least...

Mysteria #1
"Headgames" (Part 1)
by Robery Flynn

Neil Ashwood sat nervously as his breath caught in his throat, he had read that in ancient times monarchs would kill the bearer of bad news... he had no problem believing this of his employer, Ms. Victoria Burke. She was a likable enough woman... well sometimes anyway... and he felt sorry for her, her having lost her father and all... It couldn't be easy to have this much responsibility just dropped in your lap.

He looked up at the elevator one more floor to go...Vaguely he wished that someone had replaced Eric so that he didn't have to deliver the news.

Ding.

The noise, although expected, still surprised him and he nearly jumped out of his skin as Ms. Burke entered the room shoving by him. It suddenly felt as if all the warmth and comfort had been sucked from the room leaving it as cold and lifeless as a tomb.

"Ms... Ms. Burke we have the new figures in on all Burke subsidiary companies..." He managed to stammer out.

"Yes, I know!" She snapped crossly turning back and giving him a look that sent chills down his spine. "But I have more important things to worry about. Bring me some coffee and I'll review them later."

She then did a swift about face and stormed into her office. Neil looked down at his feet and sighed under his breath, knowing that it was going to be one of those days...

Victoria took a sip of her coffee and almost spat it out it was getting cold and bitter. After the night she had she didn't feel like dealing with it.

Last night she had had a run in with a mercenary organization called the Flock. She had done a little research on them when an arms shipment bust had turned up the name earlier in the month.

The Flock was a strange little group of four former female soldiers who had gone AWOL about five years ago. From 1992 to 1996 they had been part of a paranormal experiment by the United Nations to test the effectiveness of those with superhuman abilities as soldiers. These four, and one other unnamed individual, had gone on various 'peace-keeping missions' until they
had disappeared. They had, inevitably it seemed, decided to become involved in international crime.

Perhaps the UN needed more stringent hiring requirements, she reflected.

They hadn't been too successful...at least that was what she had understood about them. Until last night the four had stayed primarily in the thick of battle working as bodyguards for hated dictator's and such. When it came to actual crime they were too impulsive... too eager to fight for any real planning to be possible and as such they were easily stopped... in theory at least. She had come across this former elite paramilitary group in the middle of, of all things, trying to rob a bank. Yes she was slightly
outnumbered but with her powers should have been enough to handle them. She wasn't.

Mysteria sat on top of the abandoned warehouse her view fixed across the street as she saw two figures drop to the bank's rooftop. One of them was rather small... probably a teenager, the other a larger more imposing figure... she couldn't make out much detail from this distance.

Carefully and quietly she got a running jump and easily made the leap, she landed rolling on the rooftop beside the bank gracefully allowing the impact on the rooftop to spread throughout her body lest she shatter her ankles...or have something worse happen.

She quickly got into position, looking to the next rooftop as the two figures began their work. As they leaned over the skylight of the bank she was able to recognize one of the faces in the pale glow.

The woman stood a good six foot one and her frame was heavily muscled. She looked as though she could easily rip Mysteria limb from limb. This wasn't what made the heroine nervous... instead it was the two large metal gauntlet's the woman was wearing. They fitted over the backs of her hands and tapered down into five long razor-sharp claws. This was the Flock member codenamed Sparrowhawk and as Mysteria's research into the group had shown she could use those claws quite well.

Mysteria stared at the other trying to see who it was, she expected the group de facto leader Nightingale but from the descriptions she had received this woman was far too small. No this must be one of the others...Snow Owl or Dunnock. She tried to remember if she had read anything what so ever about the power's each individual in the Flock had but couldn't recall any.

"I suppose I'll just have to find out." She muttered under her breath as she leapt to the bank's rooftop.

She hadn't quite made it. With a blood curdling screech something flew at her from the rooftop she'd just left and slammed into her side carrying her with it until she came free and began to fall. Instinctively she grabbed at an open window her hands waving madly until she caught the sill and managed to stop her descent although she felt as if she had ripped both arm's out of their socket's to do it. As she hung she took a quick look around but saw nothing at all. Carefully she pulled herself up crouching on the tiny opening and looking for a way back up to the rooftop.

She was three buildings down from where she started and now they knew she was coming... this was going to be one hell of a night.

It hadn't even occurred to her that whatever had hit her had done it while she was invisible...

Quickly she located a fire escape and climbed to the roof keeping an eye out for ambushes as she ran back for the bank.

This time she reached the rooftop with no problems and launched herself into a drop-kick that should have floored Sparrowhawk. If it had ever connected with the big woman. Instead Sparrowhawk had dug her feet in and backhanded the still invisible Mysteria as hard as she could.

She went flying back tasting blood and skid across the roof until she hit an air-conditioning duct that stopped her.

She groaned in pain and looked up to see Sparrowhawk standing over her.

"Life's a bitch ain't it, honey?" The big woman asked laughing as she stomped hard on Mysteria's chest forcing the air out of her.

"Go on, get back up. I know you aren't done yet."

Mysteria coughed out a bit of blood. "After a love tap like that? You'd better believe I'm not finished."

She pulled herself up into a crouch and launched into a series of kicks to the gut that staggered Sparrowhawk. It was only when she felt something wrap around her neck that she remembered she and Sparrowhawk weren't alone on the rooftop. It felt like a garrote wire tightening around her neck and as the air flow was cut off and the world started to get dark she almost allowed herself to panic. Almost. She reached back and grabbed the person behind her flinging her overhead and into Sparrowhawk.

The smaller woman connected and the impact sent Sparrowhawk falling backwards. Mysteria walked forward grabbing the bigger woman and pulling her to her feet. She began a barrage of lefts and rights that ended in Sparrowhawk moaning on the ground even as the other woman had started to rise.

Mysteria turned and spin kicked the other woman dropping her back down to the rooftop. She looked around and seeing no more enemies took a deep breath and a moment to relax.

It had turned out to be a mistake as something dropped on her from her out the sky and she hit the rooftop hard her world going black. She woke there who knows how long later blood dripping from her mouth and her chest sore as hell. She had barely had time to get home and a get a shower before sunrise.

She hadn't managed to defeat them and had in fact gotten her ass kicked so soundly that she honestly believed she at least one broken rib, but she couldn't go to the hospital what would she tell the doctors that she had broken it while shopping?

The thing that had particularly bothered her about this was that she had the impression the whole robbery had been set up simply as a test for her. To give them the chance to gauge her to tell how dangerous she was... after defeating her and leaving her on the ground they had simply left.

And to make her day even worse with no sleep whatsoever in the last forty eight hours she was supposed to go to the Delgado Estate for a dinner party/Pacific City Tower Benefits fundraiser this evening. She could back out but it would make people suspicious and she knew they where already commenting on her 'weird behavior' as of late. She had to go and endure it...with a smile if it was at all possible.

"So what are we doing tonight. boss?" The woman asked stretching out across the couch, she was an attractive woman who looked to be in her mid-thirties she had long curly black hair and striking blue eyes. Many people had fallen into her power upon looking into those eyes... and that had been without her using her 'abilities'.

"Simple my dear Nightingale, you ladies will be doing nothing tonight."

The black haired woman and her companions began to shout out objections, the large apartment quickly becoming filled with the raucous noise or arguing voices.

"Calm down! There will be plenty of time for you to have your fun but for now let the target wait. We are nowhere near done with our little game my old friends but I refuse to allow you to spoil it by not waiting!"

"But all night cooped up in here!?!" Nightingale responded sounding disgusted. "It's a nice enough place to sleep but I won't spend every waking moment in this penthouse!"

"Then leave. By all means walk out... leave behind your pay and other rewards and go back to enforcing the will of some second rate Hitler clone. I will not work with selfish ignorant little prima donna's who cannot follow orders!"

Victoria smiled and laughed politely at the joke as the annoying little man who told it continued making his rounds along the buffet table.

She looked around for someone, anyone, she could tolerate talking too for more than half a minute but was disappointed to see almost no one she knew. Not even Regina Darling had put in an appearance yet.

"Ms. Victoria Burke I presume?" Came a voice from behind her.

"Yes." She answered, slowly turning.

Before her was an older man with salt-and-pepper hair. He wore an expensive suit but in such a manner that it looked as if he might ooze out of it any moment, "Jackson Frederick Crowley... I was a... business associate of your mother's."

"Good for you, Mr... Crawley, now please I'm not in the mood to discuss my mother. If she had been even worth half the breath I am wasting telling you this she would never have abandoned me and my father." Victoria answered coldly. "I honestly have not thought about her in years and I don't wish to start thinking about her now."

"Tsk tsk sweetie, we aren't discussing your mother, we're here to discuss your father... as you are no doubt aware by now he had some rather interesting hobbies..."

"Mr... Crawley I have no idea what you are talking about."

He raised a finger in the classic quiet gesture and then pushed it up to her lips silencing her. The touch made her want to vomit. She felt as though a slimy toad had been dragged across her face.

"It's Crowley, love... and yes you do. No use pretending otherwise... I already have the proof that you know. So unless you want daddy's secret getting out you'll stand here shut up and hear me out!" Crowley growled just loud enough for her to hear, "I am not the kind of man you want to piss off, love. Believe me I will make your life a living hell for the slightest insult."

Victoria turned to walk off and he grabbed her and spun her around violently.

"Didn't you pay attention to anything I have said you little bitch? I know more about you then you know. I know things that would cause your precious father's body to be exhumed and then burned... I know every little secret of everyone in this room and every tiny black mark on their soul. So go ahead provoke me. I will ruin you, people much more powerful then you have tried to ignore me Ms. Burke and they ALWAYS end up paying for it."

"What do you want!?!" Victoria demanded as she tried to pull her wrist free of the man's grip.

"Oh no no no," He smiled. "We haven't gotten that far yet. I just wanted you to know that I am aware. We can discuss my conditions later on." He pulled her close and surprised her with a kiss that left her retching, "We'll talk about it some other time my dear... at your place perhaps."

Then he pushed off through the crowd humming to himself, he stopped at the door and called back, "We really should do lunch sometime Vicky. I'm a fascinating individual once you get to know me."

Then he threw his head back laughed and strolled out into the night.

Victoria looked at the small group of onlookers who had gathered for the scene muttered to herself angrily and then started forcing her way out. Before she had made it completely to the door Denise Delgado stood in front of her.

"Victoria... you can't leave yet we haven't even started the..."

She was cut off as Victoria shoved her old friend out of the way and stomped out the door.

Unseen to any of them in a corner towards the back of the room Livingston Chance lit another cigarette, despite the fact that the party was a non-smoking affair no one hassled him, and continued to watch.

"That slimy no good bastard!" Victoria screamed to herself as she walked to her car. "Who the hell does he think he is! Damn it I have enough to worry about already without some arrogant blowhard trying to blackmail me!"

Sometimes she hated who she was, from the day that her father had died she had been buried in HIS problems, HIS company, and HIS secrets. On some level she just wished she could walk away from it all screw his company and screw Pacific City... but no, she couldn't do that not with Manly having quit.

Without a Millennium Man Pacific City was lost and she had taken the responsibility to try and keep it from going to hell the day she had first put on her costume... no, she couldn't just run away from her problems. She was a Burke and that name had always meant something, she wouldn't be the one to ruin it. No matter how hard times got.

She unlocked her car and got behind the driver's seat as much as Pacific City might need her tonight she really needed some sleep. Besides if the Imperial Magistrate showed up again Silver Shadow could handle her this time.

Victoria yawned sleepily as she rolled out of bed and turned off her alarm clock. Her ribs were killing her but perhaps after a nice hot shower she could convince herself that the day wouldn't be too bad...

She stepped into the bathroom and started the water letting it heat before getting in.

She found it taped to the mirror when she came out and she was quite sure it hadn't been there before she had taken the shower. A photo. A photo of Millennium Man with her father's head pasted over Manly's.

She snarled and ripped it off the mirror. The bastard had been in her home. He had been in her bathroom while she showered. She would kill him. Slowly, painfully and with as much viciousness as possible.

She finished toweling off, called in sick, and made a mental note to call and apologize to Denise... But first she had more important things to do...