//------------------------------//
// New Marais: Gas Works 
// Story: InFamous: The Unusual Conduits 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
//------------------------------//

The first thing that Cole and the Dazzlings did, after recovering from the truck being flipped over by the blast of the Beast pulling itself together, was contact Trish and make sure that she was safe and sound, since she had been in a part of New Marais that was near where the Beast had been walking, even though he was heading towards Flood Town. Trish was safe, which allowed Cole to relax a little, but she was upset that Zeke, when she asked why they were asking if she was safe and sound, had decided that firing a nuke at the Beast was a good idea, even if he had swallowed the entire blast and used that energy source to appear where the missile had been fired from. The four of them agreed with Trish, as none of them were actually happy that Zeke stole the missile and thought it was a good idea to use it, but that was in the past and now they had to deal with the fact that the Beast was somewhere in the Gas Works section of New Marais, if Zeke's words could be trusted this time around. They all knew that they would have to restore power to that part of the city, as it was likely where Bertrand was hiding as well, and they had no idea where the remaining Blast Cores were located, which means that flushing out their enemy was a good idea until they found something to power Cole up with.

Once they knew that Trish was safe, and their conversation was over, Cole headed out and the Dazzlings followed after him, heading to one of the transformers that Cole had used to power up Flood Town, as that was the best way to power up Gas Works without searching for a completely different transformer that may or may not be connected to the ones that he was going to be firing the missile at.

"This is bad... this is really bad." Cole commented, as he came to a stop when they reached the transformer that was their target, but he wasn't actually referring to the device in front of them, as it was exactly how they had left it earlier, rather he was referring to the fact that the Beast was somewhere in New Marais, somehow hiding himself until the time was right for him to strike.

"Cole, we'll find him and put him down before he can kill the city." Adagio said, knowing that the Beast had done that to Empire City, while they were in the middle of departing for New Marais no less, and she also knew that they had to be quick about finding him and Bertrand, especially since her sisters were nodding their heads in agreement, "Come on, how about we start by restoring power to Gas Works? That should give us some time to think about what happened and plan out how we're going to find the next Blast Core, and who we need to take out in the process to gather the power we need to actually stop the Beast."

"She's right." Sonata added, showing that she wasn't the idiot that Adagio and Aria always thought she was, because this entire experience in this world had allowed them to see that she was much smarter than what they always believed her to be, while at the same time Sonata smiled at Cole, "Besides, there are still a number of people that we need to save, bombs that need to be drained of power, and the overall plan behind why Bertrand has been creating a large number of Corrupted enemies and Vermaak 88 soldiers... there's something about that entire situation that has been bugging me lately, and I'm sure that the answer rests somewhere inside Gas Works."

"You guys are right, we should focus on the task, and enemies, in front of us," Cole replied, to which he blasted the water that was in front of him, taking out the pair of Vermaak 88 soldiers that foolishly entered the area while they were talking, before tapping his phone and connecting to Zeke, who was inside Gas Works at the moment, "Zeke, I'm about to start the process of restoring power to Gas Works."

"Roger that brother, I've got your back like the Dazzlings do." Zeke spoke up, meaning that he would assist Cole in whatever manner he could pull off if he needed assistance, and if the Dazzlings were preoccupied by something else in the area, while at the same time no doubt spying on the remaining Militia soldiers that were in the area that they were planning on invading soon, "Just be careful, cause you guys are gonna get tagged by a couple of ice guys along the way... maybe you can use that Tesla Missile ability, or whatever you call it, to take some of them out in the process?"

"You know, we never considered using that against enemies," Aria said, as that was true, none of them had even taken a moment to think about using that ability to take out a good number of foe that were in their path, and she could tell that Cole liked the idea of that already, "We'll be in contact with you Zeke... Cole's getting ready to restore power to Gas Works and start searching for Bertrand."

Adagio, Aria, and Sonata took to the air as Cole fired a Tesla Missile into the air and followed after it from a safe distance, watching it curve into the chest of one of the Crusher enemies, who belonged to Vermaak 88, and knocked him to the ground in defeat, before coiling back and started the trek towards Gas Works. They then watched as the missile took out two more Crushers along the way to the transformer that was the first one that needed to have it's power restored to it, bringing a smile to their faces, before they found exactly where the transformer was located, to which Sonata headed back and collected Cole so they could get the show on the road. When they returned to the transformer the four of them engaged the incoming Vermaak 88 soldiers that charged at them with the express purpose of stopping them from turning on the power to the area, though at the same time Zeke told them that Gas Works was a big industrial area that was made from Bertrand's shipping and oil interests, something that they mostly ignored while they took out the soldiers that were coming towards them.

One thing that the Dazzlings thought was interesting was that the first thing the soldiers said, as they jumped down into the area, was that Cole was the 'Prime Conduit', to which they believed that their enemies were referring to the fact that he was the strongest Conduit in the world at the moment... despite the fact that Sonata personally believed that the reality was different, since they weren't sure what the Beast was, but she said nothing as they defended the transformer with all of their might.

When the transformer loosed some energy, the sign that it had worked, Cole smiled and loosed another missile into the air, allowing the Dazzlings to follow after it and watch as it smashed it's way through the Crushers that were in the path that it was following, meaning that turning on the next transformer would be even easier once they figured out where it was located. Aria, this time around, was the one to go back and collect Cole once they knew where the second transformer was located, where they landed on the structure that it was on top of and the four of them started firing at the soldiers that were moving in to destroy them, just like the Militia and Corrupted before them tried to do. While that happened Cole smiled once more as Zeke said that there had been some recent sightings of Bertrand in this area of New Marais, as they were planning on finding him and taking him out at some point in time, which only motivated them to take out the soldiers that were trying to stop them from turning on the transformer that they were guarding. The interesting thing about this group of enemies was that they believed that Cole was powerless without a source of power, even though when there weren't any electrical sources he let Adagio, Aria, and Sonata take point, and proclaimed that they would never give up Gas Works... only for the power surge of the transformer turning back on to take out the enemies that were in the immediate area and drove the others out of the area for the moment.

The next transformer, and the final one from the looks of it, was in an area that appeared to have a gate that might close at any moment, though when the Dazzlings found their next destination Adagio went back and brought Cole to the area their target was in, only to land on a roof so they could observe what might happen... to which she and her sisters watched as the gates closed, trapping Cole for now, and Bertrand, accompanied by two soldiers, stepped out of the nearby building and stared at Cole for a moment.

"Mr. MacGrath, how do you like my new security system?" Bertrand asked, his tone revealing that he was smug about the situation that had been presented to him, but at the same time Cole noticed that he seemed to have forgot about the fact that there were three more Conduits like him running around the city, "There's no way out, not unless you have the strength to lift one of the gates. It's nothing special, but it will stop your lightning... even though it was originally intended to help me take out Kessler so I could seize control of the First Sons, had you and your friends not done him in first."

"You? Take out Kessler?" Cole asked, though at the same time he had to chuckle over that statement, as it was actually funny when he thought about it, before he grew serious as he glared at Bertrand, because he knew what was coming next and decided that he might as well stall Bertrand, "Please, even if you found a way to nullify all of his abilities, you wouldn't be able to beat him... and I'm positive that he's laughing at your statement at this very moment."

"True, I never did figure out all of Kessler's abilities." Bertrand admitted, showing that he had been taking his plans to betray the leader of the First Sons seriously, though since Cole and the Dazzlings took care of Kessler he didn't have to dirty his hands with that deed, "Now bullets, on the other hand, they can slip through these bars without a problem."

"You know, I have to admit that this is an elaborate mouse trap." Cole added, as he knew that Bertrand must have set this up some time ago, when he realized that Cole was in the city, though instead of doing anything he simply crossed his arms as he stared at the person that wanted to talk with him, "So, Bertrand, what is it that you want?"

"I've seen the way the winds blowing... been watching my authority bleed away ever since you and those unusual girls, those Unusual Conduits, arrived in my city." Bertrand stated, to which Cole raised an eyebrow, as it sounded like the term that Bertrand had used was more of a title than anything else, but he said nothing as he waited to learn what was going on at the moment, "And now the Beast, the thing that the First Sons was designed to defeat, is is New Marais... and, a you no doubt know, I cannot defeat the thing on my own. But together... oh, together the five of us would be heroes!"

"I get what you're saying," Cole said, though at the same time he walked a little, showing that he was thinking about something, while his eyes glanced at the roof that the Dazzlings were standing on, as they were preparing themselves to tackle Bertrand or come to his aid if something happened, "It's interesting that you would want to team up with my group, to defeat the Beast... only, I have the feeling that once everything is said and gone, and you have your chance, you'll try to backstab us and run off once more. Listen to me, Bertrand, you want to help me and the Dazzlings defeat the Beast and save New Marais? Then get out of the way, let us find the remaining Blast Cores so I can power the device that Wolfe gave me, and we'll leave once the Beast is defeated... all you have to do is free me and stay out of our way."

"I wish I had the same faith in your abilities, and those of your friends, that you do," Bertrand said, his tone revealing that he didn't believe that the four of them had the power necessary to take out the creature that he had been warned about when he joined the First Sons, "But if you aren't with me, than you're against me. Very well then... boys, take care of this Conduit freak while I hunt down the girls that came with him... they have to be around here somewhere."

Cole said nothing as Bertrand walked out of the area and headed off into the distance, causing his soldiers to nod their heads as they prepared their guns, but before they could fire Zeke ran into the area and declared that the pair of soldiers didn't stand against Zeke Dunbar, the so called 'Man of Action'... who took out both of his targets before getting into the forklift and drove it towards the gate, which he pulled up so Cole could get out of the area as the transformer activated and restored power to Gas Works.

"Zeke, that was... amazing!" Cole said, as he had never believed that by letting Zeke follow them into all these areas of New Marais, and spying on the Militia so they understood what was going on, would have paid off in such a manner, but at the same time he smiled as he walked out of the caged area, while the Dazzlings landed near them, "I'm sorry that we've been treating you badly since our arrival in New Marais."

"Don't sweat it, brother." Zeke replied, waving his hand for a moment, as he already knew that he deserved the treatment that his friends had given him, including the slaps from Trish every now and then, before he focused on the four Conduits that were around him, "In fact, I'd say that you guys have been treating me too nicely since the events of Empire City... I mean, I did try to activate the Ray Sphere and gain superpowers, not to mention that I gave the device back to Kessler and ended up getting John killed in the process."

"Zeke, I'm sure that all the help you've been giving us makes up for all of that," Sonata spoke up, to which Adagio and Aria nodded their heads, because at the moment they knew that Zeke had done more than enough to redeem himself in their eyes, before she focused on the task at hand, "Okay, now that we've restored power to this section of the city, where do we go from there?"

"Actually, I heard something from a 'friend' of mine." Zeke stated, indicating that it was one of the few Militia soldiers that had joined with the sole purpose of protecting his family, but with Bertrand being discredited his friend had departed from the Militia to keep himself alive and find better employment, "My friend seemed to think that there is a Blast Core tucked away in one of Bertrand's warehouses in the area, so it might be worth a look since you're after them."

Cole grinned and declared that Zeke was the man, causing a smile to appear on their friend's face as he departed from the area, though they waited a few seconds for the coordinates of the warehouse to arrive before they headed out of the alley and made their way over to the warehouse in question. As they headed towards the warehouse they had to contend with a few Vermaak 88 soldiers, which made sense considering that they had claimed the area for themselves earlier, but the four of them wiped the floor with them and continued on their way like nothing had happened. At the same time Zeke told them over the phone that the Blast Core was supposed to be in a crate that was marked with the Militia symbol, so all they had to do was break them up until they found the safe that was supposed to be inside one of the warehouses. When they arrived they found a pair of Militia soldiers blasting some holes inside a dead Vermaak 88 soldier, laughing as they did so, meaning that they never saw the four of them coming and had no idea what hit them in the back before their worlds went blank... before they found the crate not even a second later, with the safe inside it, and Cole immediately went to open it, though when the container was open he found no Blast Cores.

What he did find, on the other hand, was three property deeds to the three remaining warehouses that Zeke had heard about, meaning that they needed to check the other ones to confirm or deny the story that Zeke had been told by his 'friend', and found that the second warehouse was right across the street from where they were standing.

The interesting part about the second warehouse was where they found a number of Vermaak 88 soldiers trying to find the Blast Core as well, based on the message they left on the ground and the words that they were shouting at each other, though Adagio sighed as she manipulated the moisture to her advantage. Cole and the others stood back, so they could search the remaining crates for the safe in question, while Adagio turned the moisture into ice and used it to attack the soldiers that converged on her location. Aria and Sonata smiled as they watched that, as their sister's power over water made it harder for her enemies, whose powers were iced based, to do anything to her, not without giving her more power to use against them, based on the ice crystals that littered the area around her enemies, who were knocked out and would remain that way for a good amount of time. The second safe, however, was located near the roof of the warehouse, where it wouldn't be located by normal people, and they found four Blast Shards inside it, to which Cole informed Zeke of the news and looked at where the remaining two warehouses were located.

As the four of them headed out to the third warehouse they found a group of soldiers, with a Crusher watching over them, walking down the street, to which they rapidly dealt with the lower powered foes first, so they didn't run off to get reinforcements, and then focused their grenades on the Crusher, blowing him up and allowing them to continue on their way to their destination.

The third warehouse had Militia soldiers guarding it, instead of Vermaak 88 soldiers, and yet none of them were prepared for the group's arrival, as Sonata took point this time and unleashed a powerful wind that tore through the foes that were in front of them and made sure to get rid of anyone that was hiding as they dropped to the ground. Once that was done the four of them walked into the warehouse and smashed their way through the crates that were scattered all over the area, only for a surviving soldier on the exterior to seal the doors and start to gas the area, causing Sonata to sigh as she blew off the metallic roof and the gas was blown out of the building. She was sure that the tactic was a good one, but against a Conduit that controlled the power of the wind itself that same tactic was pretty much worthless, allowing the four of them to continue their search for the safe, since it was the whole reason they were here to begin with. The safe that was hidden in the warehouse didn't have anything and Zeke, upon hearing that over the phone, apologized for wasting their time and decided to call it a day, since they had cleared three of the four locations, but both Cole and the Dazzlings said that they were heading to the last one, as there had to be a reason behind all the opposition that they were receiving at the moment and moved out immediately.

The fourth, and final, warehouse was close to the third one and they found that the Militia intended to guard it with their very lives, though at the same time the group simply destroyed the watchtowers that were around the area, dealt with the Militia soldiers that were coming at them, and then walked into the warehouse once the coast was clear. What they found inside the warehouse were more of the containers that the Vermaak 88 soldiers had been trapped in, which reminded them of what they found when they were freeing Kuo, and found the safe in no time, but before they could open it they heard something make some loud noises behind them. As they turned around they found a large ice soldier, larger than the Crushers they had fought so far, slowly walking towards them, though at the same time it appeared that the creature seemed more monstrous than all the other Vermaak 88 soldiers, but as they turned towards it, however, it roared and waved it's hands, where ice erupted from the ground and showed that it was the strongest foe in the Vermaak 88 forces... a Titan, as Sonata suggested.

"Aw, he thinks he's intimidating," Adagio said, though at the same time she turned to the side and Aria stepped forward, to which her lands blazed as the entire area seemed to catch on fire, but while Cole noticed that some parts of it was on fire he also spotted some parts didn't catch on fire, to prevent the entire area from exploding due to the gas that happened to be in several of the large containers around them.

The Titan, on the other hand, didn't stand a chance against the magically enhanced flames that were dancing around the area that they were in, as it's body started to melt before their very eyes and eventually it was reduced back to the man that was wearing the same suit of armor that Bertrand had stuck him in... allowing the four of them to open the safe, where they found the Blast Core that Zeke had promised them, which made Zeke happy, and, as an added bonus, they found Bertrand's briefcase. The four of them were disgusted by what they found inside the briefcase, as they found a number of invoices for these forced Conduits to be shipped all around the world, not to help him earn the respect and love of the people of New Marais, rather to start a new war with Conduits being a new weapon on the front lines. Adagio, Aria, and Sonata recognized what they were seeing, as this seemed like the genocide of anyone and everyone that had the Conduit gene, showing them that Bertrand hated what he was so much that he was willing to destroy anyone that might have the specific gene that gave them powers, while at the same time hiding his true nature and making money off of the unfortunate souls that he had turned into monsters.

They were sure that the four of them would do everything in their power to stop this from becoming a reality, and they were positive that the others would agree with them once they showed them the briefcase, but first they had to find a safe place for Cole to activate the Blast Core... and then they could begin sabotaging Bertrand's shipments, or whatever else they might have planned for their war against both Bertrand and the Beast.