@Kiwiwiwi@Lord of Evil

Natasha peeked over the edge, the two men having not gone far. She stayed in the shadows, her sensitive hearing allowing her to hear everything they said. They must have the same mark... or at least a mark. her interest was peaked, but so was her fear. The woman told me others would come to kill me... That I would have to kill them.... she returned her attention to the two men, If that guys tries to kill the other one... I'll know who not to trust. she said, eyeing the man who had... Kinda of saved her. She pulled her hood farther down her brow.

---

Himeko turned to the ambulance driver as he appeared to report to the police officer. She was pretty glad that he was cut off. Even her improved patience was wearing thin and she'd rather not blow up at the officer. She dreaded that moment when the driver left because that meant the officer would continue. Thankfully, though, his radio buzzed to life. Another call at the corner of Third and Main street? Must have been quite an incident but it wasn't exactly under her jurisdiction so she'd just ask someone to tell her what happened.

Before the police officer shut his door, she mouthed the words, 'Good luck.', and it was delivered rather sarcastically. She knew that not all officers were nice but she particularly hated this one. He's lucky that he's a police officer. If not, well, she might even go as far as challenging him to a duel or teaching him a lesson he won't soon forget. Once the police officer was gone, she breathed out a sigh and her form slacked even more - tense muscles dissipating and giving way to a little more relaxation.

That was when Ms. Woods decided to comment on what she said with a look that she wanted to smack away from her face. 'Are you blind woman?' She bit back the remark, deeming it unnecessary to create a situation between her and this girl. Himeko raised her right arm to show the wooden sword she had been holding all along. "Yes, I have a wooden sword. It's not exactly safe around these parts." She continued, trying to sound polite. It was quite an obvious change since she had addressed the police officer, a man who should be of equal respect as this woman.

When the driver of the ambulance came back, she once more turned her head towards him. When Ms. Woods, or now she knows as Cori, answered, there was this sort of tone that she didn't use when talking with her or the officer. She gave her a puzzled look and saw a hint of pink on her pale face. Uh, okay. Once Cori was done reciting her number, Himeko finally replied. "Himeko Arslan." She then continued on to recite her phone number. "I'll probably go visit later on so can you send me what room he'll be in?" The guy crashed in her district - so technically, he was still her problem. She also heard that the car was stolen so he might be in a world of trouble.

Things were slowly turning very bad for Stephan. Stephan pulled his hood up as the strange man ran to him. He would've been happy (sort of) any other time knowing that the man indeed had strange powers, but now wasn't the time. The man would arrive soon and Stephan would be officially linked with the guy, and he didn't really want to explain the situation when he didn't really know what was going on himself. But what to do?

Stephan quickly took in the situation. The policeman was bleeding so it was clear that the man had cut him in some way, but it hadn't seemed intentional. It would probably be possible to talk to the policeman, but it would be near impossible to do so while making the man seem completely innocent. It would also be nearly impossible to do all that as well as not have to explain the whole... thing. So back to the age old question; what would he do now?

Stephan quickly stepped forward. He was about to do something he didn't really want to do, something he would probably never do in any normal situation. But, although he was missing quite a bit of sleep, he felt energized because of what he'd done tonight - empowered by how he'd handled the situation. He wasn't sure it was a good feeling to get used to.

Stephan crept around the policeman's field of view, emerging at his back. Stephan raised his arm and slammed his elbow into the back of the policeman's neck.
Damn.
He'd really hoped that he'd never have to do that in his whole life. Assaulting someone with power was not something an upstanding member of society would want to do. But Stephan could at least comfort himself with the knowledge that, if no one saw it, it didn't happen. Or rather, if no one talked about it, it didn't happen.

As the policeman crumpled to the ground, Stephan had a small panic attack. Had he done too much? Had he inadvertently caused some kind of damage? He knelt down and checked the unconscious man's pulse. Strong enough and steady, it seemed that he was fine. Stephan breathed a sigh of relief before noticing that the policeman's hand was still bleeding. He turned to address the other man - the one who presumably had done the cutting.
"Don't move." Stephan said.
Realizing how gruff he sounded, he kept talking.
"Look, I know how you feel, but... Just give me a second."
He searched his pockets for a band-aid - he always carried a few - before remembering that he probably didn't want his finger prints anywhere near here. But he didn't have his right glove.

Stephan clicked his tongue. He'd have to do two things he didn't really want to do today. He carefully slipped on the right glove from the pair that the woman had dropped. It was a little tight, but he did't really have any other options. He peeled the band-aid open and applied it to the policeman's wound. With that done, he started dragging the policeman's body over to the police car, leaving it by the side. Finally, he turned to the other man and started speaking to him once.
"We should get out of here." Stephan said. "Let's move somewhere quieter."
He began moving back the way he came, although he wasn't entirely sure where to go. All that he knew was that they really shouldn't stay here. He adopted a brisk walking pace, hopefully fast enough to avoid being connected to the scene but also slow enough so that the older man could keep pace. They had plenty to talk about right now.

@Kiwiwiwi, @CornixElecti I guess

@Lord of Evil[@kiwiwi]

(Sorry mine have been so short! Been a bit busy)

Natasha peeked from her hiding spot, eyes locked onto the two men. When the first appeared behind the police officer and slammed his elbow into him, her breath caught, I guess I should.... her thought broke off as she noticed him check for the police officer's pulse, Curious. she thought, creeping closer. She noticed he had her gloves, her eyes narrowing as he slipped the gloves on, Why would he... she noticed him patch up the officer, shock and confusion reeling through her. Natasha bit her lip, but didn't dare look away. She could see the other man's mark now, Interesting... They have the same mark as me... Why? she thought, she had seen other manner of markings, but had yet to see another like her own. At least, until now.

Natasha crouched on the top of the building, noting the first man wanted to leave the scene, Smart. she thought, getting ready to follow the two men, Maybe they'll lead me somewhere worth while. she thought. Her mind went back to when the mark first appeared, and when Kevin had disappeared, Who knows, maybe one of them knows Kevin or Kain. she thought.

@Polaris North@Kidd

The man took down both names and numbers ensuring the girls he would pass them on so they could be contacted and kept informed, lastly he turned to Cori and after a slightly awkward pause and a playfully nervous smile asked.
"and if I want to contact you?"
His eyes study her deeply both in admiration and anticipation as he sought permission to use her details.
It was at that time the female in the ambulance leaned out the window and called to him. "Matt, c'mon we got another run to make."
Matt let out a sigh as he gave a nod goodbye and quickly rushed off to the ambulance, looking back before they left. His smile never leaving his face.

It had been some time now since the initial crash. The sun was up and the noise of traffic flowed freely in the distance. People were moving in nearby buildings and occasionally venturing through the backstreets as they cut corners or briskly took the risk of a familiar shortcut.
By now Carpe Noctum would be closed for its usual business.

@CornixElecti@Lord of Evil@kiwiwiwi

Before Stephan was completely cleared from the unconscious policeman an ambulance drove past. At first it seemed as though it was just going to continue on by until it suddenly slammed on the breaks and came to a screeching halt. From the passenger side a woman hung her head out the window, her ponytail flapping about as the vehicle was thrown in reverse and neared them.

"Oi you! Stop! What's going on here?"
The lady shouted towards Stephan as they came to stop beside the police car.
A slamming of the drivers door could be heard as someone darted out of the other side of the vehicle.
Meanwhile the lady picked up the two-way, ready to make a call.

Adrian sat outside a coffee shop, idly sipping his iced chocolate mocha and just watching people go about their business. These were the moments he liked to savor, no work, no worries about troubling anyone. Some might argue this wasn't the most productive use of his time, especially considering he had a Literature essay due in another two weeks, but he already had it half finished so he felt he had earned a little break.

Of course, there was another reason he had his head in the clouds right now...and it had to do with the marking on his hand. Making sure no one was watching him, he rolled up his sleeve to look at it again. Sure enough, it was still there, a bite mark like what you may get from a dog whom didn't like you. He would never forget the moment it had first showed up...or the pain that had come with it, and especially not that voice.

"Kill or be Killed."

Ever since then, things had been different for him. He had gained special talents, superpowers even. On one hand, it was exciting, the thought of being like the heroes in the comic books he had read. Someone who did what was right for the sake of doing it....but he had to remind himself this was still the "real world" where people like that were few and far between, and those few tended to be treated as little better than vigilantes and law-breakers.

Suddenly, he had his inner thoughts interrupted by a voice, "Help! Someone! Police!"

Suddenly, the young man sprung into action, pulling his hood over his face and darting back into the coffee shop where the few customers inside were watching the store clerk be assaulted by some hoodlum dressed all in black and keeping them from getting close with a knife. "Shut up, old man! Just give me the money and I won't gut you like a fish!!"

Normally, a situation like this would cause the young man to freeze up like a statue...but instead, he just sighed and walked towards the hoodlum who brandished the knife in his direction, "Oi, stay back! I-I'm warning you...I'll kill you, I swear it!"

"Yes, yes, that's all well and good, now please drop that before you poke your own eye out, kid," Adrian retorted, not having the patience for this right now. Just from a glance, his powers went active. Holding the knife all wrong, jittery and disgruntled means he hasn't had much experience wielding it. Putting on a show, trying to appear tough..."Look dude. There's better ways to make money than holding up a flipping coffee shop. Trust me, you may act tough but you're just a kid trying to play pretend, aren't you?"

"S-Shut up!!" The hoodlum seemed to freeze where he stood but he didn't move, "I...I said shut up! Get down on the ground before I cut you to ribbons!!" Without another thought, he lunged forward...but Adrian was already prepared. He ducked under the man's swing and grabbed his forearm before sweeping his legs out from under him with his foot and slammed him down onto the ground hard enough to cause him to cry out in pain.

"Y-You..." The hoodlum tried to sit up but a fist between the eyes kept that from happening.

"Gosh darn it, my hand!!!" Adrian howled as he tried to shake the numbness out of it, "Oh man, that happens every time!...Uh..." He looked over to the clerk, "You might wanna call the police before he comes around...and maybe an ambulance....Bye!" With that, he darted out of the store before anyone could say anything.

The only thing Sam found on TV that he felt like watching was one of the Harry Potter movies, but that was fine with him. For some reason he felt the urge to listen to the message Felicity had left him again. He did and something about it seemed...off. He couldn't pinpoint it exactly, and he couldn't explain why he felt that way, he just felt like something about the call was weird.

He didn't have much time to think about it as he heard the knock at his door, must be them. Sam got up and opened the door, "hey Felicity, hey Michael. I've got a movie on the TV right now, how about you go sit down, I'll be there in a sec." It was strange talking to Michael, partly because he was taller than Sam by a few inches when so few people were, and partly because he had to remember Michael was a lot more like a kid than an adult. "I have someone over, she's sleeping, so just try not to wake her," he was off and he turned to Felicity. Before she could say anything about a girl sleeping on his couch he explained, "possible new roommate, she was really tired and just kind of crashed." He hoped that didn't sound too weird, it was the truth after all.

The reason he sent Michael off first was because he wanted to talk to Felicity, but now that she was here he wasn't sure what to say. "So, you're off to do....something," the spot on his neck started tingling again. Why was it happening again? "Just, be careful out there," he wasn't sure why he was saying this, but something inside him was telling him he should, to make it sound less weird he added, "you know, it's a big city, weird things happen all the time, so just don't get in to too much trouble."
@BubblegumQueen

---

Himeko was entirely fine with the one-sided flirting - but when the male bit the bait, she wanted to high tail it out of there. It was one thing watching someone make googly eyes at another person, but it was another thing entirely when they're both making googly eyes at each other and you're just standing there awkwardly waiting to be dismissed. But of course, she didn't want to seem too rude by just walking away so she decided to wait it out. She looked back at Cori and noticed that the pink flush from earlier turned red. This was a laughable experience. The nervousness in her voice as she replied to the male was so obvious that it made Himeko embarrassed for her, though she didn't show it. As the other paramedic called out to the male - Matt - she waved goodbye at the two.

When Cori spoke up, soon after Matt had left, she turned towards him and gave her a lazy grin. "Yeah... that was pretty pathetic. But I don't think he minded, he was just as awkward as you." She assured the female, stating the obvious to be honest. But they could make a good couple. Hm... well, whatever, she shouldn't worry about that anyway. "Between your car getting stolen and that grumpy police officer, I'm guessing that this probably wasn't your best night."

She stayed silent as Cori patted herself down as if looking for something, but looked dejected when she only found her phone. "I only have a motorcycle if that's okay with you. We can head over to Carpe Noctum, get you some coffee and then get you back to wherever you live." She then paused, only now registering what she had previously said. "Why would you need sunglasses?" Poor girl doesn't know what an albino is and what it entails for people who have the disorder.

@CornixElecti@Lord of Evil@Dark Light
"hey, you gonna do whatever you did again or...", not waiting for an answer Darren ran towards the ambulance and pulled the two way from her hands, pointing his knife-hand at the one in the drivers seat. "look, I've had a long night and I don't want to deal with this shit.", just then he realised he was threatening a civilian, something he would never do, he crushed the two way in his hands and stepped back. "hey let's go Before more of them come!", Darren ran from the scene pulling Stephan with him, down the alley way and up the ladder.

It seemed as if the world was conspiring against him. First he almost gets pulled into a situation he didn't want to be in, he gets forced to do something he didn't want to do, and now he might get in trouble for it. Scratch that - with the man's actions he would definitely be in trouble for it. Maybe this was his karma for hitting a police officer.

Stephan could've probably bluffed his way out of the situation if he was alone but the strange man had taken initiative. Thinking quickly Stephan snatched the cut cuffs off of the floor as he was dragged away by the strange guy. Stephan kept his head down and started following, all thoughts of damage control scattered to the wind. He could only hope that the people in the ambulance didn't see his face as he started getting away.

There were several ways he could run right now; he could just run and hope for the best, or climb a fire escape and hope for the best. Either way, to maximize his odds of escaping, he'd have to split off from the man. But if he wanted to talk to him they'd have to meet up elsewhere. A makeshift plan slowly formed in Stephan's mind and he almost sighed in reluctance.

As he ran he quickly increased his pace to catch up to the man, getting as close as he could before talking into his ear.
"Meet me at the park nearby." Stephan said quietly. "You better lose them by the time you get there."
With that, Stephan took a deep breath and willed himself into the grey world. Instantly the feeling of the ground under his feet disappeared and he began falling for the second time tonight. This time, however, he knew the timing. A few seconds later, Stephan emerged in the sewer.

This time he landed on his feet, using the experience he'd gained from the first time. He got up and glanced around, wondering where to go. He'd never been in this particular stretch of sewer before but he could remember where to go from above. He picked the direction that went towards the park and started jogging. He didn't want to be late, after all.
@Kiwiwiwi@Dark Light@CornixElecti

@Lord of Evil@Kiwiwiwi

Natasha darted across the top of the building, her eyes flitting between the incoming obstacles and where the two men were running. How the night seemed to be going, she started to wish she'd stayed in bed, Seems fate has other plans... she thought, jumping over pipes and boxes and edges of buildings. She skidded to a halt, doing her best to stay quiet as the first man spoke, "Meet me at the park nearby." Stephan said quietly. "You better lose them by the time you get there." she blinked, she didn't have to follow them farther, maybe she wouldn't. She peeked over the edge in time to see the first man disappear below the concrete and asphalt, "What the hell..." she breathed, "Well that's decided." she murmured. Looking to see what the other man would do, They must be... Ok, otherwise the first man would have either just ditched or killed him. I'll keep following... she thought, she knew where the park was but she didn't want to take the chance of loosing them. This was the closest she'd gotten to another with powers.

It was quiet now. In a way, it was worse then the terrible noise that had come before.

As Denis sat down on the edge of a desk, he stared with a hollow gaze over the sheer mindless carnage that had been left behind in the wake of the Betrayal; One final act of desecration of where they had been granted the gifts of life and choice. His body shook as he tried to keep his rapid breathing under control and prevent himself from looking down at the pair of pure white gloves that had been the first gift from his creator... the first gift that anyone had ever given him. He had always taken great strains to keep them in good condition and keep them clean because the idea of letting something so important to him grow tatty and dirty was absolutely unthinkable! He could even remember to a note the music that had been playing in the back ground when he had slipped them on for the very first time...

Despite his efforts not to even think of looking down, his hands met his eyes halfway and he couldn't help but feel sick at the sight of his beloved gloves; Battered, torn along some of the seams and covered in ink... only some of it was his own. His shaky hands started to close into fists before he managed to force them back down to his sides again while his eyes were drawn to the one sight in the room that was worse then the state of his gloves.

He... hadn't seen his creator for a long time. It had been quite a while since he had last opened the book and added a new adventure for him and his friends to go on but that had been alright; Luke was busy creating other worlds and at any rate he wouldn't have wanted to send them on some lack luster adventure that didn't have much thought and care put into it. Even without the wounds and the fact that he wasn't alive anymore, Denis could tell that Luke had changed a lot since he had last looked their way... and it wasn't in a good way either. He looked far less healthy then he had remembered...

Considering some of the creatures that he had born witness too when he had been granted access beyond the forth wall that Luke had created, maybe it was for the best that he had turned his gaze away from him and his friends.

Denis closed his eyes for a moment as he remembered some of the beasts that he had been forced to defend himself against, shivering at the sights he had been forced to bare witness to and the sounds that he had heard so recently...

Then it was quiet. He was left alone to reflect on what he had done.

He hadn't been the last one standing at the end, he had seen several creatures flee the apartment and the battle that was going on within it; He was merely the last one left in the home of their creator. What was he meant to do now?

Taking a large, deep breath, Denis finally opened his eyes again as he came up with a plan. The creatures that had fled the apartment had been bad... very, very bad creatures that only cared about spreading pain and misery wherever they went. They needed to be stopped and by Luke he was going to be the one to do it!

There was still something that he needed to do first through...

Sliding off of the desk that he had perched himself on, Denis couldn't help but wince in disgust as he tried to step around as much of the ink stained carpet as he could while feeling sick to his stomach whenever he saw a little bit of red mixed in with the black. Reaching the door to the bedroom, he turned to gaze at his deceased creator one last time and felt his throat choke up. "...Wherever you are now... I hope you're happy there." was all that he could say before he turned away, crossing the threshold to see if he could find his next objective.

He found the phone in the kitchen. Taking it off the hook and hitting 911, he waited as calmly as he could for someone on the other side to pick it up. "This is nine one one, please state the nature of your emergency."

"I... just found someone who has been murdered in apartment..." Glancing towards the nearby stack of mail for an address, he offered it up quickly. It didn't take him long to be introduced to other operators, asking important questions that he attempted to answer as truthfully and in as much detail as possible. When they asked him who he was, he had answered that his name was Denis and that he had come to see his old friend Luke for the first time in years... only to never even get the chance to speak with him.

When he was promised that some emergency services were on their way, he politely hung up and headed out the front door. He... didn't know how the police would handle his presence and he didn't exactly wish to find out. He had things to track down.

@CornixElecti@Lord of Evil
Darren climbed the fire escape and made it to the roof, bounding from roof to roof before feeling a pain in his back, his war wound. Missing a step he slipped and fell to the side and off of the building, a moment later his hand had turned into a knife, digging his knife-hand into the wall to stop the fall was the best he could do other than falling to his death. The park which was "nearby" lay on the other side of the block, Darren dropped to the side walk and hid by a bin as a car rolled by, hopefully not the police, he thought. A while later he'd make it to the park Stephan spoke of, Darren hid by one of the few trees in wait, slowly, he drifted off to sleep.

---

Himeko had registered Cori's body stiffened at the prospect of riding a motorcycle - did she not like the idea? Though the words that came out the white haired woman didn't exactly reject the idea. Was she just being polite or did she just misread it? Then again, Cori seemed assertive enough to tell her if she didn't like the idea. "It isn't. It'll be free anyway." She said with a small shrug. With her being friends with Dennis, Carpe Noctum's owner and her 'uncle', it gave her special privileges to order whatever she wanted for free.

Upon hearing what her disorder is about, the younger girl slowly nodded but made no other comment. What would she say anyway? That it was sad that she had that kind of disorder? That she was awesome for battling with her disease and try to keep a normal life? Hell no. She was pretty damn sure that Cori didn't need anyone's pity and she was not getting hers. Though she did appreciate the extra information, at least she knew more about the world now.

"At Carpe Noctum. Don't worry, it's close. We'll get there before the sun fully rises." She reassured her before gesturing for her to follow and then started walking. "I kinda live there." She explained after a moment. She internally wished that Cori didn't know what that place's business at night was. Because then she'd have to explain why she lives in a club, of all places, and then have to explain that she isn't doing anything illegal... or at least, not in terms of doing drugs.

“Awesome!” Michael said happily, toning down his voice at Sam’s warning. The tall boy quickly moved over to the living room where he plopped down on the floor, the ground shaking a little at his weight. But, Michael didn’t notice, not sparing the sleeping girl a glance. (Felicity did, of course. A quick glance as if checking if she was a threat. Then again, Felicity was rather ‘overprotective’.) He was distracted by the TV.

Felicity’s smile softened at the sight of him and her heart warmed. Only her brother was capable of eliciting such an emotion from her.

But, she was brought from her happy feelings as Sam caught her attention. Giving her brother another glance, she moved over to the side away from her brother.

She’d initially felt suspicious and worried, wondering what sort of bad news would come up NOW. But, it wasn’t what she’d expected. Sam was… concerned for her. He’d wanted her to be… safe? She could feel the concern and… confusion? It came off of him in waves. The confusion was what got her. Why was HE the confused one?

But, she couldn’t sit there and analyze his emotions for the rest of the day. SO, instead, she adjusted her sunglasses before widening her grin for him.

“Glad ya care, Sammy. Don’ worry, though. I’m a big girl, I can handle myself.” The look of her smile changed a bit as if she knew something he didn’t. “Trust me, 'kay?”

Her eyes flickered to her brother once more before she forced herself to move. Going towards the door, she gave Sam one more look. “Thanks, dude. For, uh, watchin’ Michael. And the whole concern thing… thanks.” Smile a bit uncomfortable at the sentiment, she gave a quick nod before leaving.

Outside the apartment, her smile finally fell. Expression serious for once, she glanced around the deserted hallway. Knowing there were no cameras and feeling safe in her abilities, she mentally prepared herself.

Finally. A quiet voice murmured in the back of her head which she POINTEDLY ignored before Felicity disappeared with an almost indiscernible ‘pop’.

@BubblegumQueen@duskshine749(I'm missing someone)

Felicity had only just disappeared when a team of three detectives came down the stairs and into the main hallway. Pens and paper in hand they took to the arduous task of questioning everybody in the premises through door knocking.
It wasn't long untill a heavy impatient knock reached Sam's door.
It came from a man of average height in a gray top and black suit jacket. His hair was kept short on the verge of bald and his face cleanly shaven.
Intense narrow brown eyes stared at who ever answered the door.

"Hello, I am detective Jackson, I'm with the NYPD" he flashes a golden badge as confirmation. "I need to ask you a few questions pertaining to an incident that occurred last night. I hope you can be of some assistance." The man readies his notebook and pen while trying to peer inside at a sudden sound. "I'm sorry, could you bring the others here so I may question everybody at once?" he asks.

He waits patiently before beginning.
"Firstly is this your residence?
Can I please have your name?
Where you here all last night?
Did you hear or see anything suspicious? Out of the ordinary?
Are you acquainted with the Grey family who live two floors up? Perhaps Luke or his father?
Do you know anyone else who might be?
Have you heard anything or have any information regarding a possible homicide last night?"

After that lengthy discussion it appeared he was almost done until he pulled out a piece of paper and held it up.
"Are any of you familiar with this girl?"

Woken from sleep, first by an overenergentic man and then by the police, Quinn was none too happy. She stood with a glare, half from being tired and the other from irritation. When asked the questions she took her time in answering in order mostly out of spite. "No... No... No... No... No... No... No... No..." Really she'd only been there for like a few hours at most. All of this had nothing to do with her and she knew even less. Turning to Sam she pointed to the detectives. "This isn't a normal occurrence I should know about before moving is it?"

Leaning back against the wall again she dropped her head and shut her eyes to rest a little bit more. She allowed the other two answer in the meantime. It didn't look like the universe was going to let her sleep after all. By now she almost didn't care anymore and was beginning to wonder if the whole being afraid of going to sleep was her just losing it. Every now and then her eyes fluttered open just to take a glance at the people around her.

@Dark Light@BubblegumQueen@duskshine749