[center][img]http://i65.tinypic.com/21o8tg4.png[/img] [img]http://i65.tinypic.com/b66f5i.png[/img] [img]http://i67.tinypic.com/2njvpci.png[/img] [img]http://i63.tinypic.com/2ijgg9d.jpg[/img]
[h2][color=33ec06]Marcus[/color]  | [color=8a3dff]Emma[/color] | [color=ff57ff]Siena[/color] | [color=B0C4DE]Brent[/color][/h2]
[hr][color=silver]𝕄: 𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥. 𝟙𝟜, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘   / /   𝕀𝕟 𝕋𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕤𝕚𝕥   / /   𝕋𝕣𝕦𝕔𝕜   / /  𝟙𝟜𝟝𝟘[/color][hr][sub]Collab with [@Chasers115][@Diggerton][@PapiTan][@ERode][/sub][/center]

It didn't take too long for Marcus to find Emma in the small space of the transport truck. Especially not with the gear that she was currently sporting. He sat down next to her, already chuckling and shaking his head, giving her one cocked-eyebrow look up and down. There was a brief second where he looked her in the eye, just to check if what he was seeing was a joke.

"[color 33ec06]So...uh...how's your day going, Mr.Roboto?[/color]" he asked.

Emma responded with a grimace. [color=8A3DFF]”Very funny. We’ll see who’s laughing when me and Hazel are the only ones that come back without a caved in chest.”[/color] Emma paused, stretching out in her seat, leaning slightly against him. [color=8A3DFF]”[i]Anyways[/i], speaking of Hazel, things went all right with her, thanks for asking. The armor was a… gift, I guess, from her.”[/color] She gave it a light tap, [color=8A3DFF]”Probably not my cutest outfit, but maybe it’ll help.”[/color] she said, a soft sigh escaping her lips.

Having followed Marcus into the truck, Siena had quickly taken her opportunity to settle in with a familiar group--primarily speaking, taking the empty seat next to Callan, considering that was where Marcus, Ernie, and Emma were all gathered. Interesting...their group was pretty firmly set in place. She hadn't expected that, but Siena had no complaints. Familiarity was something she wanted to find comfort in, after all. With one hand firmly placed on her tablet, Siena had been quick to slip it from its confines before she even settled down, but her initial plans to have some false sense of preparation were quickly trampled when Marcus brought up a fair point.

Glancing up from the object that should have held her interest, Siena took in the armor. Interesting...it made sense for Emma, given her abilities. The girl wasn't about to go rushing in headfirst with her summons doing the work for her, so there wasn't any fear of lost mobility. "[color=ff57ff]Ah...it seems like it's sturdy, but...[/color]" But was it really going to be enough against the monsters? Siena discarded that thought. "[color=ff57ff]Is it easy to move in...? Maybe the support team should have all looked into armor...[/color]"

[i]Clunk clank clink.[/i]

Waddling inbetween the corridor of human feet like a penguin, Brent made his way into the truck with his gear swaying at every step. He had done as much as he could to ensure everything was in place, but still, as expected, if he didn't want to wear a backpack, attaching everything to various parts of his body was going to make things awkward until he adjusted. Filtered air and the smell of rubber passed through his gas mask, while his almost entirely black attire made him look like some sort of freak that'd show up in Doctor Who.

Well, at least it looked like others had the same idea, showing up in shiny plate instead of black faux-military. Taking the first seat he found, Brent adjusted the ropes so they rested on his lap instead and sighed. Being inside a truck with twenty or so hormone-oozing teenagers should have made the air much worse than what his filters let through, but the lingering discomfort of the mask was more annoying than Axe body spray. He tore it off, breathed in, and si-

Wow.

Amethyst eyes flickered towards the other end, where Chris and Angel sat.

[i]Wow.[/i]

"[color 33ec06]Oh yeah...if we all want to try and undress with can openers later, su-[/color]" Marcus said, stopping suddenly as a figure boarded the truck. A walking armory of various weaponry and items, along with an unnerving looking gasmask. Whoever this guy was, he was certainly ready to go for the mission. Probably a little too ready.

Marcus let out an inner sigh of relief as the man revealed himelf to just be Brent, all decked to the nines. With that revelation out of the way, he continued. "[color 33ec06]Between the state-of-the-art alloy stuff, and your soup cosplay, you're not going to even get touched![/color]"

Emma’s eyes quickly shot towards Brent as he sat down next to them. She turned back towards Siena, hopefully before he noticed, secretly hoping that he wouldn’t get involved in their conversation. [color=8A3DFF]”Well, that’s the idea. At least I’m a pretty can of soup.”[/color] she said, accentuated with an exaggerated hair flip.

Emma stretched her arms out in response to Siena, [color=8A3DFF]”It’s a little uncomfortable, but if anything goes south I can always have Determination toss me down an alleyway.”[/color] she shrugged, [color=8A3DFF]”And anyways, if all goes to plan I shouldn’t be the one who’s in the middle of a fight.”[/color]

The first thought that came to Siena's mind was something along the lines of [i]'[color=ff57ff]That's way too much to carry, and--oh, no, the armory is sitting next to me.[/color]'[/i] The next was something more comfortable--just Brent. A twinge of awkward familiarity, but one that she didn't get to think on before Emma responded to the question. 

"[color=ff57ff]I see, that's a good point, but, er...Determination? Is that one of your summons...?[/color]" Siena questioned with a faint furrow of her brow. Also...[i]throwing[/i] her down an alleyway? Was that really okay? "[color=ff57ff]Is...is getting thrown by your summon really safe...?[/color]"

Determination? Was Emma...naming her summons now?

Actually, she probably couldn't call them 'tank dude' and 'pull dude' forever, now could she? Leaning back against the wall only for his helmet to smack against it first, Brent made a disgruntled noise before taking that off as well, creating a growing collection of things that were lying on his lap. [color=B0C4DE]"It's throw-and catch, Siena,"[/color] he explained, not really looking anywhere in particular, [color=B0C4DE]"Like when Emma stopped herself from falling by using one of her summon's powers."[/color]

Not that throwing would necessarily be as safe as just...not being anywhere near the fight to begin with. A power with a range determined by sound, in a world where phones allowed for long-range communications, and the administration still haven't made some sort of battle station in USARILN for Emma to do remote combat from?

[i]Maybe it's cause she's x-marked.[/i] 

Emma laughed, [color=8A3DFF]”Really, it’s mostly a joke. If it actually came down to a situation like that it would probably be easier to be carried out... unless I needed to dodge something, I guess.”[/color] Emma hesitated for a moment before continuing, [color=8A3DFF]”And yeah, they’re named… they… I guess they kind of came with names.”[/color] she decided not to elaborate on that. 

She still wasn’t exactly eager to explain the exact mechanics of a power- she’d prefer if they didn’t know that their lives might depend on her mood. That was a whole can of worms which she’d prefer not to open. No doubt people would start to treat her differently, and of course if her powers didn’t work everyone would see her for what she was, they would know exactly how she felt.

She didn’t want either of those things. An urge somewhere between her desire to keep up the lie and a resistance to change. Omitting the truth made her feel a guilty, but then again lies had always come easy to her. 

"[color 33ec06]There you go, just have Ink Man grab as many people as he can and haul ass out of there![/color]" Marcus said. As far as he remembered, Emma's creatures were the big black looking things that had once startled him way back in the lunch room.

God. That seemed like it had been so long ago.

"[color=ff57ff]Ah, I see...[/color]" What an odd name for a summon...but given Siena's own tendencies, she supposed it wasn't something she had to dwell on. With her tablet occupying her hand of choice, she soon found the restlessness changing from twisting her hair to mindlessly using her thumb to tap the corner of her tablet's screen. Off. On. Off. On. The flashing wasn't really registering. "[color=ff57ff]At least we have some security with that. A whole team would be harder to evacuate on my end than just one or two of us...[/color]" 

The thought of having to evacuate was a little unnerving, actually. She hid the internal grimace and kept her attention on the present instead of the future. Sending her gaze over Emma and Brent, the brunette allowed something that might have resembled a nervous smile to cross her face. "[color=ff57ff]I feel like I came underprepared between you two, though...[/color]"

[color=B0C4DE]"Nah,"[/color] Brent said, readjusting his handgun's holster, [color=B0C4DE]"It just looks like I'm prepared, but believe me, you have way more options in a tablet than I do with my miniature armory. Even with all this gear, I still can't make buildings explode, after all."[/color]

[color=8A3DFF]"Brent's right. Your power basically consitutes a mobile armory but with none of the weight. And anyways, who knows how well this thing'll do against one of Factory's monsters..."[/color] a slight frown came onto Emma's face. [color=8A3DFF]"I'm sure we're going to be fine. After all, by all appearances Zhang has some sort of vested interest in us... if it was [i]that[/i] dangerous would they really be sending us?"[/color] that certainly wasn't the case last time they'd been sent out, but wishful thinking seemed to be a trend lately for Emma. 

"[color 33ec06]Plus,[/color]" Marcus said, adding onto Emma's point, "[color 33ec06]they trust us enough to give us this wishalloy stuff - which doesn't seem like the sort of high-tech thing you falling into enemy hands. They wouldn't outfit us with the stuff if they weren't confident in our abilities.[/color]"

Another round of Marcus trying to convince himself more than anybody else. Once again, he'd managed to make an excellent point while they cynicism still coursed through his mind.

"[color=ff57ff]I...suppose that's true.[/color]" Another uncomfortable squirming in the back of her head. That seemed awfully...hopeful--she supposed that was the right word for it--considering their previous engagement against literal monsters. A vested interest didn't mean very much if there were those deemed as [i]acceptable sacrifices[/i] in the grand scheme of things...but she supposed those weren't words that should have been said out loud. Instead, Siena gave a nervous smile. Little more than an upward tic of the lips. "[color=ff57ff]Well, at least I know you guys have some preparation.[/color]" 

She tried not to think too hard on the last person she'd thought was prepared for a fight.

He could mention some things, couldn't he? About how an unstable prototype that can only be produced by a single person didn't matter too much if it fell into the hands of the rogue subnaturals that caused this incident. About how they clearly didn't care about safety if they were bringing children like Savannah into this. But that was pessimism, and pessimism was losing. This was most likely another trial by fire, weeding out the weak. Twenty or so students, but not all of them were useful.

[color=B0C4DE]"Meanwhile,"[/color] Brent smiled,[color=B0C4DE] "All the preparation you'd need would be to find that one character who can turn metal into rust and dust, and you're set, Siena! Got some real champions in your particular team as well, so."[/color]

When was the last time he said stuff like that?

[color=B0C4DE]"Like Emma said, things are going to be fine~"[/color]

[color=8A3DFF]”Yeah. Things are going to be fine.”[/color] Emma was trying to convince herself as much as the others when she repeated the words. [color=8A3DFF]”After all, we’re the new guys and they’re already making us into some kind of team. We must be some pretty badass subnaturals if that’s the case, right?”[/color] Emma’s grin grew. Maybe the lie [i]was[/i] working. 

[color=B0C4DE]"Well, this time Hazel's on our team, and if she can do to metal what she does to your Determinations and Ink Dudes..."[/color]

Shit, was this another landmine he stepped on?

If Emma cared, she didn’t let on. [color=8A3DFF]”Right. I’m sure Hazel will be a big help. Between Siena, her, and I we’re going to clean up.”[/color] Emma’s tone seemed somewhere between genuine optimism and hopefulness.  

"[color 33ec06]Going to have to keep score with a power group like that.[/color]" Marcus interjected. He chuckled a little bit to himself, but more of a nervous chuckle than he meant to let on. "[color 33ec06]At the end of all of this, I want to know which one of you got the most points![/color]"

"[color=ff57ff]Can I concede before we start that competition?[/color]" Siena questioned with a shadow of a smile. The sound of Maya's voice chiding her for backing down accompanied by an image of Gerwulf's disapproving frown made the brunette [i]almost[/i] flinch physically. Almost. "[color=ff57ff]I don't think I can match up to five summons or someone that can level a building with no trouble...[/color]"

[color=B0C4DE]"Just gotta find an common weak point and get the perfect power to exploit it,"[/color] Brent replied, [color=B0C4DE]"Emma and Hazel are basically demigods of destruction, but you don't need to destroy buildings or have your own summoned entourage if you can just press the self-destruct button on those robots!"

"And guess I'll play as record keeper then. Doubt I'll need to do much outside of the occasional sneaky pew pew."[/color]

Well, he'd probably still have to pick up Gregory's slack.

[color=8A3DFF]”I’m sure we’ll all do fine. Anyways, it doesn’t matter how many you get as long as we all come back alive.”[/color] as Emma spoke she fiddled with her armor, still mentally pouring over the question of who would die first despite the words coming out of her mouth [color=8A3DFF]”That being said I’m sure you’ll be able to hold your own. You can do all kinds of stuff with your power Siena, I doubt you’ll have too much trouble keeping up.”[/color]

"[color=ff57ff]Y-Yeah, right...[/color]" At the least, it was relieving to see that there was enough faith in her abilities to keep up with the others. Certainly, there was a bit of momentum in it, but...it was better than being a burden. Her mind conjured images of the metallic creatures, uncertain of what she could have done if she relied on conventional means. How in the world did common soldiers face off against monsters like that? "[color=ff57ff]I've gotta do my best not to hold anyone back.  Hopefully with orders, we won't have to worry as much about potential friendly fire.[/color]" 

"[color 33ec06]Yep, just keep your wits about you, keep an eye on your surroundings, and check your targets. Should be easy-peasy lemon squeezy.[/color]" Marcus said, locking his hands behind his head and leaning back.

[color=B0C4DE]"Mhmm, got six others to share the burden in this group project of ours, after all!" [/color]