[hr][hider=Black Lagoon - Let Me Know Your Name][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiIi8X68OCw[/youtube][/hider] [b]Saturay, June 29th. 3:23 PM.[/b] At precisely three PM, a massive celebration was to take place. A celebration that was advertised for several months. It was the annual Verthaven Summer festival! To start off a new wondrous summer that should be full of hope and optimism. Hosted in the Downtown section, the roads were full of people, and various vendors. Many of the streets had amusement part rides, and various other attractions for fun and game. The streets were paved with people, but those streets had a heavy police and NEST Presence. Everyone knew that a lot of Metahumans visited the Summer Festival. Which is why NEST, and the police, needed to maintain order above all else. The sun was shining brightly, and the temperature was very warm. [hr] [hr][h1][i][color=007236]Michelle Brianna Gallus[/color][/i][/h1][hr] [b][u]2:40 PM[/u][/b] The nozzle was turned and the wave of cold water splashed against Michelle's bare body. She let out a pleased sigh as the dark-blue shower stall, illuminated by the white light above them. She had a smile on her face as she ran her hands through her hair. Scrubbing a little bit of shampoo through her dreadlocks. The water reflected off her dark-skin, and she grabbing the washcloth and spread soap all over her body. This process was repeated until her body was clean. She turned the nozzle off, and the water stopped. Michelle turned around and pushed the stall door open, and took one small step onto the cold floor of the NEST shower room. She looked around - the room had navy-blue tiles, and several hallways full of locker rooms off to the right - and saw not a soul in there with her. The lockers were her destination. She walked up to the wall of lockers, and pulled open hers. It revealed her NEST uniform hanging. A black wetsuit, black combat pants with knee pads, and boots. She smirked as she looked down. Last but not least, her Barrett with the Captain symbol on top of it. It wasn't long until Michelle got dressed up, she had on her NEST Uniform and looked like a soldier. She stood there for a moment, then adjusted her cap. She walked out of the shower room, opening the door with her strong hands. She pushed through the hall of the NEST Headquarters, and kept walking up - the more she walked, the more fellow NEST Agents she encountered. She gave them a friendly smile, but kept it moving. She wondered where Sam was. That sneaky bastard better not have been watching her take a shower again. She'd have to break his legs if he did that. Michelle cut a corner, and double-doors denoted her destination. She walked through the doors, and was greeted to a wall, with only a large window to look through it (There was a speaker), and a door off to the right. On the other side of the window was a young woman with blonde hair, and perky features. She smiled when she saw Michelle. "Hey Captain Gallus." The woman greeted Michelle with a smile. [color=007236]"Hey, Ariella,"[/color] Michelle walked over to the window, and leaned up against the wall off to the side of the mirror. [color=007236]"They still got you working in the armory?"[/color] "Yeah... They're still mad about what happened at the Fire Shoes..." Ariella scratched the back of her neck and smiled awkwardly. Before turning towards Michelle, and that awkward smile turned much more sincere. "At least they haven't fired me yet!" She laughed, before getting dead serious. "You're going to the Summer Fair?" The Giant woman shrugged, [color=007236]"Got no choice, really."[/color] She smiled casually. [color=007236]"They assigned me to keep an eye on the Summer Fair. I'd love to be there on my off-time, you know, as a civilian, but you gotta follow your orders."[/color] "True." Ariella said. "... Until you make the orders." Both women shared a hearty laugh, before they stopped. "You gonna get your gear? You should hurry over to the van, Miranda will yell at you if you don't get there in time. Uh, don't worry about signing in your gear, I'll do that for you." Michelle nodded her head, and pushed off the wall. She walked over to the door, and pushed in her keycard. The light flashed green, and Michelle pushed the door open. The NEST Armory... What a magnificent place to behold. Tons of guns and weaponry. Reserved for the best, after all. NEST only gets their best Agents to show up at this festival to look all mean in order to make sure nobody tries anything stupid. And they get the biggest, meanest agents out there to keep order. Looks like she's the toughest bitch they got. Only problem was that she would be standing on a corner while this wet-suit gives her swampass. Whatever. Michelle walked up to the locker, and pulled it open. Revealing her arsenal for today. It was her usual armaments. An AA-12 Auto-Shotgun, a Glock 17, and her taser. All painted jet-black, and have NEST logos on the side. Along with an armored vest, and a combat belt with two holsters. She put on the vest and belt first, before she hoisted the Shotgun over her shoulder with a strap, and placed the taser and the pistol into her holsters. Michelle nodded her head. It was time for her to get a move on. Michelle ran out the doors until she was standing in the courtyard of the NEST Headquarters. The ominous tower looming over her. Her enhanced eyesight eyeballed a large black van with the NEST Logo on the side. She ran over to the van, and got inside, along with a group of what had to be eleven other NEST Agents, also seated. The doors were closed and the bus pushed forward. Onto the Rosalina Isle. [b][u]3:43 PM[/u][/b] It wasn't long before the van dropped the group off, and they were given their patrol assignments. Michelle was given her assignment and walked off. The way NEST were set up here, was that they were positioned on different corners, with no NEST agent outside of sight of another. Michelle was set up on a corner, with her rifle's strap around her shoulder, going across her ample chest. Michelle stood at attention (And much higher than everyone else there, she stood out quite a bit). Waiting for whatever to spring up. She was hoping this would just be another boring meeting. [hr][h1][i][color=8dc73f]Fiona Ashley Barrett[/color][/i][/h1][hr] [color=8dc73f][i]It's not too late to turn back now, Fiona. All you have to do is turn around and walk away.[/i][/color] The thoughts ran through Fiona's head as she stood onto the bridge to the Rosalina-Isle. The massive crowd of people was certainly intimidating. People that weren't going to be welcoming of a giant-ass Cricket-girl like her. Even though she was wearing a white cloak, Fiona was afraid to take another step forward and considered just turning back around and going back to Academy 218. Even though it hid what was underneath, this cloak made her stand out like a sore thumb, why couldn't she just meet her contact at night? Where? Her heart was racing, her eyes were wandering, scanning for her mystery contact. [color=8dc73f][i]This was all a joke, Fiona. They were just trying to prank you....[/i][/color] She thought to herself again. Looking around. Fiona let out a sigh, and balled her fist, looking forward with a new found determination. [color=8dc73f][i]You came this far, Barrett. You might as well see what happens.[/i][/color] Fiona pumped herself up in her brain, and finally took that step. Fiona stepped forward, and walked into the crowd of people - eventually disappearing into them. This was so disorienting! All the sounds, scents... It overwhelmed her senses. All the chattering and footsteps... it became one blob of sound that she couldn't differentiate anymore. She grabbed her head, a pain was rushing through her brain like someone was driving a hammer through it. She felt extremely nauseous, and collapsed to her knees - which was certainly attention grabbing. Since the crowds of people started staring at her. And she felt [i]every. Single. One. Of. Them[/i]. She quickly gathered the strength to pull herself up to her feet, then shambled into an alleyway. The moment she was out of sight, she knelt forward. Breathing heavily. She could still hear the people outside the alleyway, but it was less overwhelming. [color=8dc73f]"I... can't do that again."[/color] This is why Fiona stayed away from large cities in the first place. It was so overwhelming. Fiona wiped a bit of spit off her face. She'd... have to stick to the shadows for a while. [hr][h1][i][color=00FFFF]Jennifer Marissa Caspin[/color][/i][/h1][hr] Jennifer sighed and looked around her room... It was hard getting sleep these days. This year, nothing has been going right for her lately. First her father died, and now she went through a near death experience and got superpowers against her will. She was laying down on her bed, wearing nothing but a white T-shirt and her glasses. Jenny scanned her room again - which was full of electronics, and the sorts, with a HDTV directly across from her bed, and underneath it, was a small shelf full of videogames - until her eyes rested onto her iPhone. She grabbed it and checked the time. It was three o'clock exactly. She wanted to put her head back down and go to sleep, but she had work to do. Jenny yawned as she put her hands over her head. She got up off the bed, and stretched. While she wanted to do nothing but give up, Jen had no choice but to bottle up her emotions and push on. She had a girl she needed to find (And a dog!). Though... she couldn't do that with her bum out. She needed to get some clothes on before she went out. Jenny walked over to the dresser and grabbed her outfit.... Jenny put on her outfit for today. A [url=http://www.guyharveysportswear.com/scart/public/database/product/images_sets/pr1199img1.jpg]colorful T-shirt[/url], and jean short-shorts that showed a lot of leg. Jen also had on black combat boots. She looked presentable enough today. Okay, her plan was to check the Summer Festival for Penny. Since she hasn't turned up any other leads so far. She wondered if Penny would be drawn to such a large event. Jennifer walked out of her room, and down the wooden stairs of her house. They were apart of the few clusters of families who owned houses in University Row. One of the nicer houses, actually. Though, Jennifer felt out of place here. A girl like her would love Knightdale Rows. Either way, the second she made contact with the last step, she looked to the left, and saw that the living room was empty. Figures, Justin, Cody, and Kaitlin were probably off enjoying their summer vacation playing out... Who was she kidding? They were all playing videogames in their friend's house. It was better than the atmosphere that they had at home. Because... Jennifer took a few steps and peaked around the corner, looking down the hallway. Yup, mom's still there. [color=00FFFF][i]She still hasn't gotten over Dad.[/i][/color] Jen mused, somberly. She couldn't say that she hasn't gotten over the death of her father herself... but she was handling it better than her mother. Where Jen was at least [i]trying[/i] to move on, her mother seemed to have given up. Choosing to just sit down in the kitchen all day, drinking whiskey and any other alcohol. She hasn't cooked, or left the house in a while now. It was sad. A proud woman was reduced to this. All Jen would want to see was her mother pick herself back up. But, that was something she'd have to do on her own. For now, Jen has to focus on her own goals. [color=00FFFF]"Mom, I'm going to go look for Pudding."[/color] She told her mother, who merely raised her bottle of whiskey and somberly grumbled. That was permission enough - While Jen didn't like lying to her mother, in her current state, she didn't know how she'd take her actual mission. Especially since she was nearly killed that night, saved by a sheer stroke of luck. [color=00FFFF][i]I wonder if I'll ever have to worry about surviving ever again....[/i][/color] She thought to herself as she walked out the front door, closing and locking the door behind her. With that, she was on her merry way. Jennifer had enough money in her pocket to get a bus ride up north. Jennifer walked a few blocks, until she came across a small glass bus stop. It was somewhat inhabited. A few college males. Probably couldn't afford a car, so they have to take the bus that'd get them into the Rosalina Isle. Where she would normally cower, she casually sat down on the bench. That was a new found confidence that came with her power. They didn't say a word to her. Which was great, since she didn't want to test the full capabilities of her physical buffs. The bus uneventfully arrived, and the doors opened to accept Jennifer and the rest of the boys waiting here at the bus stop. She was the first to walk up the steps, and deposited her money. Before finding a seat all the way in the back of the bus. Which was vacant, but as the bus filled up, those once vacant seats were filled up. Being sandwiched between a very overweight woman, and a skinny man that looked like a member of the Fiends, was not a very comfortable position. Before she could even find another seat, they were taken too. [color=00FFFF].... Help.[/color] This didn't last for long. After a good twenty or so minutes, she finally arrived Downtown. Where everyone quickly got off the bus - with Jennifer being the last gal off. She took some steps off, and looked around. Jesus, this place was crowded. Yet, she felt like this was where she needed to be. Jennifer sighed. This was all in the name of finding Penny. She walked into the crowd of people, and promptly disappeared. Her eyes were always open for Penny.