Icarus Smith, to be exact. A fact I came to find out from Byron, after inquiring who ‘Russ is. I was told the creature, who was now rampaging through the walls and trampling people, was formerly a man who had been an orderly at New Hero Hospital. Byron said the man was in charge of caretaking for the radioactive animals in the R&D department. I naturally asked what the hell Byron was talking about, to which he informed me Dr. St. Pierre and her staff were experimenting on all different types of creatures by subjecting them to blue matter, in order to better understand its properties and how it works. Their theory was, the effects the blue matter caused in the creatures could be replicated through DNA extraction, and implemented into a human host to create a powered-being.

Apparently, a unicorn (which I still have no idea how they obtained) was one animal they experimented with, and Icarus just so happened to accidentally come into contact with it. From the faint, circular scar on his abdomen, I took it the unicorn stabbed the man with its horn, creating a chain reaction in his biology that transformed him. It was truly extraordinary!

I could tell Byron was nervous. I attempted to alleviate the pressure by jokingly suggesting it would have been so much easier to deal with a guy who’d come in contact with a radioactive spider instead, seeing how I have a perfect kill rate against the eight-legged insects. Byron cracked a smile – it worked. But of course, there was no time for laughter.

Byron commented, he barely recognized Icarus and felt terrible for him. All I recognized was Icarus tearing apart NHH, and he was injuring many people in the process. I looked to Byron and told him it was time to make up his mind. He was either going to join me then and there, solidifying our deal and becoming part of my team, or he was going to remain alone, hoping NHH could find his fiancée all on their own. There was hesitation, I will not lie. Byron did not easily make his decision. However, when I saw him activate his new, fully charged suit and light up his hands, I knew Byron was gone and Shuttershock was in full effect.

I took off flying through NHH, carefully removing innocent bystanders from Icarus’ path. Meanwhile, Shuttershock tapped into the reserve power from the suit and projected a violent, yet, masterfully controlled beam of light energy. It blasted into Icarus’ chest and launched him down the hospital hallway. I continued to remove the last of the people, and after they were at a safe distance, I grabbed a sign pole and bent it around the handles on the double door. It was barricaded. I didn’t do that to keep Icarus trapped inside, though. He could easily bust through a wall at any moment and escape. I did it to make sure everyone else was kept out. Only us three needed to be there, and it was all on Shuttershock and me to subdue the creature.

As Icarus stood to his feet, he stumbled. The force from the light blast took a lot out of him. Nevertheless, he was still standing, and from the looks of things, was getting back to feeling alright. Except now, he was enraged even more, and that rage was solely directed at Shuttershock and me. My new partner and I nodded at each other and advanced.

Shuttershock fired another blast of light at Icarus. However, this time the creature spread his wings and shielded himself. They were incredibly durable. Though the beast was pushed back some, he remained unphased from the blast. It was apparent his unicorn anatomy was much stronger and more resistant to damage than his human parts. So, before he saw me, I flew by his side and used all my strength to stretch his wings out. I yelled at Shuttershock to fire again, which he did without hesitation. Icarus, however, thrust his body, and tossed me into the line of fire. Realizing I was about to be hit, Shuttershock immediately re-absorbed the light he emitted. I went zipping past him into the wall. My partner gathered himself and charged at the creature!

That was when Icarus unleashed his next surprise on us by firing his horn as a missile! Shuttershock jumped out of the way, as did I. The explosion blew another hole into another hospital wall, and as the flames erupted, Shuttershock absorbed the light the fire created, charged his fists, and when he reached Icarus, began swinging with fierce punches.

The creature parried and blocked the strikes, not allowing the energy-charged fists to damage him. That’s when I flew in like a flash, wielding a large wooden table and cracking it over his head. Icarus fell to the ground again, getting rolled up into his wings as they instinctively wrapped around his body to protect him from the fall. As he shook off yet another crushing blow, Shuttershock and I looked on. Another horn was growing out of his forehead. That was when my partner and I knew we had to end the fight quickly.

Icarus fired the horn at us immediately. We leapt out of the way again, but more horns followed in rapid succession. I drew the majority of Icarus’ fire, being that I was the faster, stronger threat. This allowed Shuttershock some openings. He blasted the monster with his light beams, sending him tumbling over. I would then rush in and pummel the creature with more devastating punches. One flick of his wings would send us both flying, though. Icarus may not have been experienced or too skilled at battle, but good Lord, was he powerful. A fact that continued to remain painfully obvious.

As the fight went on, I would feint, Icarus would strike and expose himself, Shuttershock would blast him, Icarus would get hit but quickly block with his wings, I would toss my partner a weapon before rising in to draw the beast’s attention, Icarus would turn towards me, Shuttershock would charge the weapon with light energy and smash Icarus over the head with it. The two of us were implementing a flawless, symbiotic strategy. Nevertheless, the creature world simply roar and go berserk with his wings, flooring us both again soon after. The fight proceeded in this fashion for some time.

Neither Shuttershock nor I knew what to do. Yes, we were winning. But we weren’t causing enough damage. The longer the battle drew out, the more of a chance Icarus had of gravely injuring me or my partner. Plus, NHH was taking a pounding. The floor was in ruins all around us. We needed to find another strategy, but that was when one seemingly found us…

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