John watched in awe as Jasper's powers danced and moved and lit up the area close to them. He was dying for Oscuro to show himself and was very pleased when the slippery villain did just that.

"I'm gonna twist yer head off laughing boy!" John growled as he walked quickly towards the man in the fatigues.

John bent down a grabbed up a odd tire with the wheel still in it and tucked it under his arm. When the big man was a little closer to Oscuro he flung the thing like a giant discus, it sailed at the villain. Oscuro sidestepped the wheel with ease, but John had anticipated this. As the man in the black mask and goggles turned to miss the chunky tire John launched into the air, his mech leg let out a loud click/clang as the mechanic seemed to fly at Oscuro.

John landed right in front of the masked man, John brought his arm down on Oscuro and delicately palmed the villain's head in his large three-fingered mech hand.

"No more of yer crap nutcase, whattaya want?" John barked as he squeezed the man's noggin just a little bit.

Jasper's eyes narrowed as he regarded the masked man. He was hardly intimidated by his display but rather fascinated, so much so that the villain had the audacity to strike up a conversation in the middle of the fight! Still, it took Joy Buzzer by surprise and street wise crime didn't quite know how to react to the situation. He couldn't just light this man up like a christmas tree while he stood before him, seemingly prone to attack.

When the masked man commented on his handshake, Jasper mischievously extended his right hand. "The name's Joy Buzzer, why don't you try it out for yourself." he said smartly.

That's when a large tire came spinning toward the villain. He dodged it easily, and Jasper cautiously leapt back as well, but just as he planted his feet back on the ground, the big man propelled himself toward their opponent with incredible speed. He caught the masked man as if he were a pesky fly, holding his head tightly in his large mechanized hand.

"Well, well, now." Piped up the Irishman, "Not so spry now are we?"

Jasper spun his cane about menacingly, blue sparks flaring off of the twirling rod. "What's say we start with somethin' simple, now, like yer name? Then, we'll move on ta some more challengin' questions."

As Jasper moved closer to the captured villain he continued to maintain the bright orb that hovered above him. The hard part was conjuring the ball lightening, but once it was formed was quite easy for him to maintain. He didn't trust this meta's shadow ability and decided to err on the side of caution.

Bug spent several days moving, purely on instinct. He had taken in the subtle changes of the landscape, though much of it was as flat as it was days before. He had managed to find a wide, dirt road and made his way north until he found a second road that went east/west. He turned and headed west, “Denver” or some such place was the last he knew of, that was where he would start looking for John, however, he had no idea what or where a “Denver” was.

He walked for several days, finding water in large, silver, man-made ponds with huge spinning wheels attached to riggings high in the air. He had also encountered what appeared to be incredibly large dogs that would gently move out of his way and then stand and watch him as he drank. Food was tougher to come by, but occasionally he was finding little things here and there to sustain him, but what he was starting to really crave was one of those “steaks” John used to grill up for him, more than anything he was wishing he could get his hands on one of those.

Mid-day, Bug was walking along the long road that stretched infinitely to the west when he heard a rumbling behind him. A pick-up truck that was probably bright red under all the mud with a dented bumper and a cracked windshield pulled up and then stopped beside him. “Hey fella! Where you heading?” Bug looked over at the man sitting behind the steering wheel. He was very kind looking, probably in his mid-60’s and had one of the widest smiles Bug had ever seen.

“Denver.” Bug replied, trying to hide his tinny accent as best he could. “Denver? Why buddy, you’re a LONG way from Denver, how the hell’d you end up out here?” Bug shrugged his shoulders slightly and spoke, “I am not really sure. I woke up in a wide open space, with no knowledge as to how I got there.” The man looked at Bug with incredible curiosity and reached over, pulling the release on the door. “I’m Jude, my friends call me Rusty, hope on in, I’m heading back to my place, you can use the phone and get a hot meal.”

Bug smiled gently and accepted the man’s offer with a nod, climbing into the cab of the pick-up truck. As the bounced down the wash boarded road the man went on and on about how his family had been in Nebraska for five generations, and continually pointed at blocks of trees that frankly all looked the same, explaining about who lived there. Bug was grateful that the man left almost no room at talk back; frankly he wanted to just sit and be quiet. Finally they turned up a smaller road that lead about half a mile in to a small little white house, again, surrounded by trees. Bug was fascinated how the people who lived out here created small forests around their property. The trees were beautiful, and he did enjoy the view of them, but the fact that they would take so much effort to surround themselves with trees was beyond him. The truck squealed to a stop and Bug quickly got out, his dislike for motor vehicles was in no way improved after that rickety ride. Rusty hoped out and met a white haired lady, about his same age with a hug and kiss, Bug couldn’t help but smile a little, seeing there was still some measure of good in the world. He barely knew this man, but the look in her eyes when she saw him, even after just what Bug assumed was a day gave Bug cause to believe that she loved him.

“Hello there young man, my name is Gretchen, but you can just call me Ma’, everyone else around here does.” She smiled and extended a well worn hand, covered in the evidence of someone who worked hard their whole life. Bug took it and shoke it gently, standing silent. Ma’ looked at him with a smile and then back to Rusty, then back to Bug. “Do you have a name young fella?” Bug looked up at her, completely caught off guard; nobody had ever called him anything other than ‘Bug’, so he never really considered himself to be called anything else. In this situation he didn’t figure that ‘Bug’ was appropriate, as well as the fact that he knew his moniker was probably all over the news, he used the first name that came into his head, “Oh, I’m sorry, John, my name is John.” He smiled his soft, crooked, charismatic smile and waited to see what they would say next, completely unaccustomed to this level of slow pace.

“Well, it is a pleasure to meet you John, that is a very peculiar accent you have, you must be from Europe or somewhere’s.” Well I have supper ready so why not come on in, you can get cleaned up and have a bite.” Ma’ looked over at Rusty who smiled and nodded, waving his hand forward for Bug to lead the way. Bug hesitated at first, but took the first steps and opened the front door, walking into the small farm house. The aroma’s were splendid, breads like he used to smell on the streets of New York as he walked past the bakeries, meat like he used to smell at the Deli’s, it was a splendid mixture of wonderful food and he smiled slightly at the prospect of eating something.

“The bathroom’s right through that door son, feel free to use the soap and towels.” Bug turned and smiled once again to Ma’ as she was gesturing towards the bathroom. He looked up at her and spoke quietly, “Thank you for your kindness, I won’t ever forget.” She smiled warmly and Bug went into the bathroom. Closing the door behind him he removed his hood, his tendrils of hair sprang forth as if smothered and began to move around freely. He ran some water and washed his dirty face and hands. His thought ran wild, and he could not help but think that he hoped John would forgive him for borrowing his name.

Oscuro was unafraid as John palmed his head like a softball, he was looking at Jasper and still asking questions. Oscuro's black goggles and SWAT style tactical mask reveled no signs of emotion from the tall villain.

"You can call me Oscuro if you like, my mother called me Vincent but she doesn't call anymore, at least not since she died. The papers call me nasty names, they say I am a 'terrorist', their minds are too small to see that these labels are beneath me, I like to think of myself as an Independent contractor, a builder of ideas. I also build machines, intelligent machines and the bigger the better! I wish that the media would get a clue and start giving my due credit, the call me a criminal!- I'm a scientist...and an engineer."

Oscuro turned and looked at John, John still had a tight grip on him. The small motors and gears in John's hand clicked and whirred as the mechanic held the masked meta.

"Big man, you're John MacManus and from where I'm standing you seem to be a bit of an engineer yourself. Did you build this yourself? It's mechanical isn't it, it's not actually cybernetic, it is an old fashioned mechanical hand."

Oscuro lifted a hand to John's hand, he began to pat on the mech fist, he seemed genuinely interested in it.

"Back to you 'Joy Buzzer", I bet you focus your particular talents through that cane of yours, you have lightning in a bottle don't you. What's the cane made from? Is it gold? No, wait it's copper..."

Oscuro was nodding as he yammered on, he was enjoying his game of 20 questions. As he spoke he turned to face JB's crackling orb of bright light, it hovered in the air just above them like a miniature sun.

"Don't suppose you'd be a mensch and click the light off, I am a bit photosensitive."
Oscuro tapped the side of his chunky black welder's goggles as he asked this of JB.

For a moment, Jasper considered turning up the power on his floating globe of electrical energy when he learned that this masked man was sensitive to the light. He chose not to, however. This man who called himself, 'Oscuro' had not really done so much as to warrant torture. He reached up with his cane and touched the orb. The bright light instantly shrunk and a small spark clung to the end of the aluminum cane which the electrical meta kept as dim light source while they continued their interrogation.

"Keep in mind, this can go super nova in the blink of an eye." Jasper informed the 'villain'.

Jasper was impressed by this man's inquiring mind, and couldn't help but to answer one of his questions. "The cane is aluminum. Lighter and more durable." he automatically responded.

Oscuro had been accurate assuming that he used the cane to focus his powers, but he was hardly defenseless with out it. Like an artist relied on a paint brush, a conductive item allowed him to work more detail into his electrical medium. Of course if the masked man considered for a moment that separating Joy Buzzer from his cane would render him powerless, he would be sorely mistaken.

"Well thar, Mack," Jasper began, slapping the big mechanic on his beefy shoulder, "seems we've come across someone who chats more than I do." he quipped.

Jasper waved the glowing tip of his cane before Osuro's face then pulled it back. "Enough o'the chatter, 'Goggles'. If'n when by buildin' intelligent machines, you're sayin' that you had somethin' ta do with that behemoth we just tangled with, then I say we've got a beef with you. Perhap's me friend here should clamp his hand a little tighter round that big brain o'yours, What d'ya say ta that? Now fess up then. Was that robotic titan yer creation? If so, it's in our best interest to make sure you don't get a chance to reactivate that 'demolisher'."

Fyedka was hidden among the piles of scrap when the mysterious man jumped his friends. His first instinct was to stay hidden and try to turn the shadows on the man before he realized what was going on... that is until the man vanished into the shadows themselves. Fyedka slipped silently away from where the man had disappeared, trying to work his mind around how he would get past this one. When he saw him melt away into them, Fyedka tried to take control of the shadows and see if he could unveil him but a burst of light from Jasper's cane cleared them away before he could get to them. Despite knowing Jasper was just protecting himself, Fyedka swore silently to himself as he dashed back into the heaps of scrap. He couldn't help but wonder if controlling the shadows while the man was inside them would give the young man control of the villain himself.

As the man ran around in the light, Fyedka tried to pull all of the remaining shadows toward himself, creating a kind of cloak around himself while hopefully taking away the villain called Oscuro's hiding places. After the fight with the robot, the strain was almost agonizing. Fyedka could feel his muscles beginning to quiver with exhaustion, sweat dripping down his face, as he managed to stretch all of the shadows towards him making the scrapyard look preternaturally bright despite the lingering night. It was as though the moon had created a kind of night version of high noon where the black sky remained dark and starry, yet none of the heaps of scrap seemed to cast a shadow anywhere.

Breathing hard, Shadow stepped away from his own cloak of darkness just long enough to spot John with his hand holding Oscuro in place by his head while the masked villain chattered incessantly. He heard the man all but brag about creating the robot that had attacked the people and Fyedka seethed. How could anyone care so little about human life that they would put innocents at risk for a stupid science project? The apartments the robot attacked could have been the one Shadow's family had lived in, filled with poor, hardworking immigrants just trying to get by, never bothering anybody. Fyedka felt his control on the shadows waver, his body aching to collapse, and forced himself to focus. This coward had no right to run around putting people's lives at risk for his own nerdy curiosities, especially if he was too ashamed to show his face. Slowly stretching one thin tendril of shadow along the ground, Fyedka put every ounce of his remaining strength into moving it towards the man's mask. If the slippery villain wasn't going to show himself, Shadow would unmask him himself.

"Aluminum...yes, oh that's good, lightweight and and a fine conductive material to boot. Does you power entail the drawing of an electrical charge from the ambient electromagnetic field that is always surrounding us or do you create the charge yourself like a walking tangle of electrons? You know they say the human mind contains enough energy to light a city block for a short time but I could not say how one would harness the energy contained therein. I dare say one would probably have to kill you and then perform a necropsy on your Irish meta brain. That would most likely yield the answers but then the power would be lost, perhaps it would be more prudent to dope you up and then perform some manner of open brain biopsy, I think I would wear some thick rubber gloves if I was poking around in your cranium."

Oscuro spoke these words as if he was making mere chit-chat, this was small talk to the sociopath in the black goggles. The villain was almost laughing as he spoke of wearing heavy insulating gloves if he were 'poking around' in Jasper's exposed brain.

Oscuro relaxed a good deal as Jasper brought the intensity of his 'orb' to a small flicker.

" You saw my creation? It was a wonder to behold wasn't it? All full of sound and fury, it is akin to the titans of ancient Greek and Roman legend, it is a force of nature and on a whim I can bring this entire city to it's knees."

Oscuro was preparing to chatter on when a slim tendril of inky shadow slipped up behind the masked man and slithered over the top of his shoulder and hooked onto Oscuro's mask and gave a hearty pull.

The mask stretched and for a half second was held in place by Oscuro's goggles but it soon began to tear and come loose. The fabric began to pop at the seams, seams that ran down both sides of the mask at the ears. The seams ran up and down in the fabric, the front of the mask was peeling away, coming undone like a knit sweater.

"No,No, No, NOOOoooooo!" Oscuro screamed and began to try to force the fabric back into place.

"No, my eyes...my face...please anything but that!" The formerly smug man was pleading now, practically screaming as he begged.

As the mask came away, and in the absence of any darkness or shadow (thanks to 'Shadow") John, Jasper and Fyedka were beginning to get a look at Oscuro's face.

There was nothing to get a look at, as the mask shredded and fell away, and the heavy goggles slipped from his head there was simply nothing. Without the mask to give it form, and the goggles to show where eyes were formerly situated there was just and empty void.

Oscuro clawed at his head and face, his black gloves were indeed connecting something but it remained invisible. beneath his mask, gloves and clothing Oscuro was the man who wasn't there. A modern day invisible man.

John eyes grew wide as Fyedka pulled Oscuro's mask away revealing...nothing.

John let his grip slip on the babbling man, Oscuro fell to his knees, still attempting to put his shredded mask back on.

"Don't look at me you bastards, I'll kill you, don't look at me!"

John took a half step closer to Oscuro just in case he made a move. The big man turned and looked out into the rows of cars near where Fyedka was most likely hidden.

"Ballsy move kid! You took this bum out with one shot!"

"I don't know about you Irish but ain't never seen anything like this before, and I've seen some freaky stuff before."
John said rubbing his chin.

"What the hell do we do with 'em? He looks like he needs a hug."

Jasper's brow furrowed at the display, none too impressed with the Oscuro's outbursts. He did not respond right away to John's question, instead his mind was still pondering some of what he masked man had said and he had never before considered the true nature of his abilities. Jasper had struggled all his life just to control the power surges and harness his output and had never really considered how it all really worked.

"I dunno, Mack." Answered Joy Buzzer, snapping back into the moment, "Apparently our young dark friend here can contain this slippery fella, so maybe we should take 'em with us."

Joy Buzzer looked down at the man as he scrambled to put his face together, his arms folded across his chest. "Stop your blubberin'! Now, you're gonna take us to what remains of that robotic monstrosity o' yours or this shadow-master o'er here is gonna tear you apart until there's nothin' left. You got that?"

Jasper looked over to John for approval. He wasn't sure if this was the most prudent move but he'd learned in his life that when you had the upper hand you best follow through on it.

Bug’s stay with Rusty and Ma’ had gone from one night to weeks. He was awake and waiting for Rusty every morning, no matter how early, and assisted him in his cattle and farming duties with no complaint, enjoying the country and absorbing this slow but hard working lifestyle. Rusty found the short man fascinating, but mostly he loved having a new set of ears to tell all his stories to.

Rusty and Bug set out early, they needed to check on about 400 head of cattle up in the Northern pasture and then get down to the alfalfa fields to irrigate before the sun came up. As the old red truck bounced along the road, Rusty only stopped chattering to take small sips of his piping hot coffee. They drove up over a rise and just inside the gate of Rusty’s large pasture land there was two semi-trucks, cattle gates hastily set up and several men moving around, prodding cattle through the make-shift maze and up into the trucks. He pulled over and clicked off the lights, the men kept working, not having seen the truck in their haste.

“Son of a bitch… Rustlers.” Bug turned and looked curiously at Rusty, and spoke in his tinny accent… “What’s a Rustler?” Rusty turned and looked at Bug, twisted his brow slightly and spoke, “Cattle stealers, people think they are a thing of the ‘old west’ but cattle thieves are just as big a problem in this modern world.” He looked back and grabbed his mobile phone, flicking it open but there was no signal out this far. “Damn, no signal, there’s really nothing we can do but wait until they load, follow them and get their license plate numbers…” As he turned to look at Bug again, the truck door was open and Bug was gone. “Kid wait!” but it was too late, Bug was in the side ditch of the road and moving up towards the trucks in the field. Rusty ducked and watched, the trucks were still a good three quarters of a mile off, but the youngster seemed to cross the distance in mere seconds.

Rusty watched as best he could in the darkness, there was suddenly a mass of commotion and dirt flew in every direction, and then Rusty saw a flash he knew what it was and closed his eyes, several seconds later he heard the tell tale report of a shot ringing out and Rusty’s heart sank, he knew that John didn’t have a firearm, and he feared the worst. He blazed the engine and stomped on the accelerator, speeding down the road and screeching to a halt, exiting the truck with his shotgun he leaned over the hood and yelled… “ALRIGHT!! COME OUT!!! THAT’S MY RANCH HAND YOU JUST SHOT!!!”

Rusty watched, wishing he had his young eyes, the darkness was getting harder and harder to see through. There was silence, not a sound except the moving of the cattle. He continued to wait in silence, his breath steaming slightly as he began to breath more rapidly. Suddenly, John walked around one of the trucks, but from what Rusty could tell it looked like there were snakes attached to his head…

“John?!?”

Bug twisted his head and looked over at Rusty, the long, sleek tendrils of hair waving gently, even though there was no breeze. Bug looked at Rusty, his face was slightly smudged with dirt, there was blood on his tee shirt and a big hole in his clothing jacket, exposing the skin but there was no injury. Rusty could tell that the hole was made by a shotgun blast at very close range due to the scorching all over the cloth. As he adjusted to the scene, Rusty could see five bodies scattered across the ground, and not a single one of them was breathing.

“John? What the hell is going on? What happened?” Bug looked at Rusty, walking over and standing in front of the elderly Rancher, letting his ‘hair’ really be seen now. “You … uh… ain’t from around here are you John? I mean, we knew you were a foreigner, but, you ain’t from Europe are you?” Bug smiled his crooked smile and spoke in his tinny accent, “Your cattle are safe.” He turned and looked at the trucks, then back to Rusty, “You need to call the Police, but I can’t be here when they arrive.” Rusty looked at Bug, knowing what Bug was saying, “I understand Son, I’ll tell Ma’ you said ‘Good-bye’”. Bug smiled and extended his hand to Rusty, “I appreciate that sir, I will never forget your kindness to a stranger, and thanks for understanding.”

Rusty’s eyes started to glass over slightly, he had taken to having Bug around, and he already missed the small fellow. He watched as Bug started making his way across the fields moving so fast the Rusty lost him over the horizon in only a matter of minutes.

Bug came to rest in a large groove of trees. He sat in the dirt, staring at the hole in his hoodie. He looked up and watched the late day sun, breaking the apex of the sky and beginning its long decent back into the horizon. Sighing heavily he leaned back against a massive Cotton Wood tree resting his head against the rough grain of the bark. He was completely unsure where to go from here, how was he going to find John. Hours passed as he played with some ants moving along the dirt, in so many ways they were just like him, going about their day, pursuing their purpose, but at least when they were done they got to go be with their fellows.

He leaned down and adjusted his belt, and then it hit him. He lifted his shirt and stared at the belt buckle that Cowboy had given him a year ago. Cowboy had given every one of them one, and when activated they would reveal the location of the team. He reached behind and tapped the power button, the buckle instantly came to life, revealing a small screen. He smiled and waited as the system acquired a satellite signal, and then a little red dot illuminated, John.

He smiled and looked at the directional compass, leaping into the air and heading in John’s direction, new hope in his heart. He didn’t care how far his friend was, he was determined to run the whole way.

John looked down at Oscuro, the man was having an 'episode', it would seem that in the light that Oscuro was like a ghost. The wiry villain was still trying to cover the void where his face would be, his sobbing was winding down and he seemed to be regaining his composure.

Oscuro took of his gloves and was feeling around his head and face.
"Get it together Vincent, you're not hurt, you're just naked. Calm down, they can't see you."
The man mumbled to himself. He began to wipe his forehead with the sleeve of his jump suit style fatigues.

Oscuro quickly pulled down the zipper of his fatigues and broke into a run down a row of crushed cars. Oscuro's body was the same as his face and hands, there but unseen. As Oscuro ran his fatigues slid down to his ankles, it appeared as if a pair of highly polished combat boots were dragging a set of gray and black urban fatigues.

"Catch me if you can fuckers!" He yelled as he shuffled away.

Folding his arms across his chest, Jasper shook his head and cast John an apprehensive look. "Maybe we should just get this guy ta the coppers, ya think?" He whispered and that's about when the maniacal villain began to strip down and make a run for it.

"Well now there's another thing y' dun see day ta day, eh Mack?" Remarked Joy Buzzer, then he quipped, "So, is a streaker with an invisible arse, still a streaker?" His face then twisted into a wry smile as he raised his cane above him and pointed toward a magnetic crane at the far side of the yard.

Joy Buzzer's cane began to vibrate and fizzle. The vibration moved through his arm and John could once more detect the smell of ozone, then a faint bolt of electricity lashed out like a spider web. It touched upon the distant cane and pulled the electrical mutant into the air with amazing speed. He sling-shotted over the pair of running combat boots and dragging pants, past the crane then pulled himself back like his cane were the end of a bungy cord. Flying through the air, he lightly landed before the fleeing villain and blasted a mass of bright bolts from his naked hand at the crushed cars he ran upon. They were immediately electrified, but since the criminal yet retained his boots he wasn't effected, but Jasper was not trying to electrocute the man. No. As Oscuro, bolted across the cars one of them right before him flipped up like a catapult.

Jasper watched as the combat pants which obviously had come off, lightly tumbled to the ground while the combat boots, the only thing of the man they could see flew high above the yard. They arched in the air and struck at McManus' feet, rolling across the ground, empty.

Joy Buzzer's triumphant smile faded and his jaw dropped. The rat had wiggled out of his boots! He could be anywhere!

Fyedka watched with a look of disgust crossing his exhausted face. As the villain stripped and the pair of pants went running through the yard, the last of Shadow's energy drained and he dropped to his knees, finally exposing himself in the light. The shadows in the yard sort of shifted as they released from the meager control he had still held and he knelt on the ground, panting, sweat dripping down his face as he watched the disembodied boots get flung into the air. For a split second, he felt a wave of relief as the boots landed in front of John and Joy Buzzer only to see that the invisible freak had somehow wriggled out of them and taken off somewhere. Fyedka's exhausted panting actually paused as his jaw dropped and his eyes widened. Instinctively, Shadow pulled one foot forward and planted to the ground, prepared to run after the faint footprints that formed only to realize he would be useless even if he could catch him. He had utterly drained himself. His muscles felt like they'd been turned to jelly left to tremble and jiggle through his body. His black hair was matted to his face with sweat and only peeled away when he leaned on his bent knee and pulled himself arduously to his feet.

"I'm . . . sorry," panted Fyedka as he took a few steps toward them and bent forward again, leaning his hands on his thighs. "I . . . can't catch 'im . . . again."

John squinted into the darkness, Oscuro was gone, it mattered not finding an invisible asshole in this old dark scrapyard was easier said than done. Fyedka looked exhausted, the young meta had proved to be a great help at discovering Oscuro's weakness.

How strange it seemed that a man with no face was so terrified to show it, it made no sense, but neither did the things that Oscuro had done in this part of town, the villain was clearly a few sandwiches short of a pack lunch.

"I think he's gone JB, that psycho should be in a nut house, ya know the type of place where you take pills that make you feel sleepy and they don't let you eat with a fork." John said as he lit up his cigar.

"Fyedka, you alright? You done good kid, you had that mutt cryin for his mama, that put a smile on my face." John said as he put a beefy hand on Fyedka's shoulder.

Puffing on his cigar John looked around the scrapyard.
"Oscuro came here because the hardware was easy to steal and he wanted to test his machine, he knows now that the 'bot can kick ass so he will probably go somewhere different for more armor. This is an old scrapyard, he will probably hit a military base or research facility next, there's no telling which one."

John wondered how one would track down an invisible villain, especially one a slippery as Oscuro.

"When this nut pops his head up again I'm gonna put my boot in his ass." John said as smoked.