[IC] Verthaven: Moved to a higher level of existence

[Maxx]

---

Sam Clarke

---

When Sam heard the first gunshot, his head snapped back towards the fair so hard that his vision blurred. In the distance, he could see a man with a metal rake and a gas mask standing atop a picnic table; the Fiends. Highly dangerous, highly aggressive, drug-injected maniacs, known to act with extreme irrationality. Use weaponized amphetamines mixed with a highly-toxic mutagen to infect opponents. I'll take them over the Skulls any day, Sam thought. He looked back at Fiona.

"Get down," he said to Fiona "Stay out of sight. Do not leave cover. Got it?" he turned and looked down at Anastasia. She was cut (hopefully not with the syringe) but she seemed fine. As he helped her up, his body began to fade into thin air. In his left hand was his suppressed Glock, and he made a mental note of where his knife was. Not that he'd need it; these fuckers didn't know what they were dealing with.

"Whatever you do," he said to Anesthesia, only his head still visible "Do not get stuck with that green shit. Now let's go to work. Take out any direct civilian threats and direct civilians away from the area. Let's see if you're KINGFISHER material." His head vanished and he walked out of the alley.

"KINGFISHER ALBATROSS, this is KINGFISHER CORMORANT. I'm going in, repeat, I'm going in. Permission to use lethal force?" There was a bit of static at the end of the comm line. Then an old, hard-sounding voice spoke in his ear.

"KINGFISHER CORMORANT, this is KINGFISHER ALBATROSS. Permission granted. Fuck them up." Sam smiled.

"Roger that. Going dark, ALBATROSS. Over!"

---

(direct you back to the music from earlier in the page)

In the middle of the chaos, six people sat on their knees, surrounded by fiends. Their hands were up and their eyes looked down as the lead Fiend shouted orders at them. A mother covered her young boy's eyes. The leader of the group of Fiends wore a sweat-stained wifebeater and jeans that nearly sagged to his thighs, along with a Borderlands-style gas mask. He shook an AK-47 in the air.

"Empty your pockets! I want everything on the ground!" the people complied, throwing phones and wallets into a heap in front of the man barking orders. The leader gestured to one of his cronies and they crouched to the ground. They rummaged through wallets and purses, tossing worthless things to the side and making a pile of money, credit cards, and condoms to his right.

"You!" the gunman shouted at a middle-aged man wearing a blue suit. The man's eyes widened in fear. "Stand up!" The man struggled to his feet "Up faster! Let's go I haven't got all day!" he stood at attention. "Good. Now gimme yer watch." The man clumsily unlatched his Rolex and tossed it into the leader's grubby hands. The leader looked down at the watch, gazing at his reflection in the glass. Then he shoved it in the pocket of his pants. "And the cufflinks. Them too." The man tossed the diamond cufflinks at the leader's feet. One or two of the Fiends giggled.

"Now take yer jacket off." Laughter from the crowd. The man took it off and sat it down. "And yer pants." The man looked around embarassed, and opened his mouth to speak. The leader shoved the barrel of the AK in his face "Did I ask you to speak, you fucking shitbag?!" the leader roared "Take your fucking pants off!" The man undid his suspenders and dropped his pants to the ground. A young child in the pile in the middle started weeping.

"Good, now y-" the leader was cut short as he felt something hit him in the back like a punch. He gasped and looked down at his shirt; a red stain was beginning to form just under his heart. Just behind him, a voice spoke from thin air.

"I eat dirt like your for breakfast." The leader gasped as the invisible knife twisted. Then he fell to the ground. The Fiends all looked at where their dead leader laid perplexed. Then one of them had their legs taken out from under them. One by one they died helplessly, some flailing aimlessly with their blades and firing their guns haphazardly into the thin air. In a matter of seconds, twelve Fiends lay broken and defeated on the ground, some dead, some with broken limbs. Behind the businessman, the voice spoke once more.

"Pull your pants up and run home." The man shrieked and pulled them back up to waist level. He ran off into the crowd, his suspenders trailing behind him like tails and his hands holding up his pants. Sam appeared momentarily, just long enough to gaze down at the boy who was weeping and let the people know that a NEST agent had saved them. Then he vanished again.

---

Claire Sparks

---

As Claire bit into her chimichanga, she was rushed from behind and driven to the ground. She cried out and rolled around to see a shirtless man covered in tattoos standing above her, a gas mask painted like a clown head shrouding his face. In one hand he held a rusty. He panted like a mad dog as he drove his knee into Claire's abdomen and punched her in the face. His belt was already undone and he unzipped his pants ravenously. Claire shrieked and kicked at him wildly, trying to get the man off of her. Soon another joined the fray and kicked her in the head with his boot. She rolled over and was able to struggle away from the first attacker, but the second on pinned her to the ground. She felt a hand uncomfortably close to her waist, and the second Fiend began punching her in the ribs from above.

"GIVE...ME...YOUR..."

She twisted out of the second Fiend's grip and, as she struggled to her knees, grabbed both men by the wrists. Claire gritted her teeth as 50,000 volts of electricity shot from her hands into their bodies. They writhed and spasmed as bolts of light arced up their arms and into their chests. As she let them go, steam escaped her grip. They both fell to the ground, incapacitated, but probably not dead. There were burn marks on their wrists. Claire shook her hands and shouted "fuck!" Both of her palms were burnt. Claire looked down at her feet. Fuck. They destroyed my chimichanga. Looking around, Claire decided that it would be better to not draw too much attention to herself. She grabbed her skateboard and, stepping on it, began to ride towards a nearby alley which pointed towards home. As she reached the edge, a Fiend ran out with a garden rake raised above his head murderously. Claire stopped, held out her hand, and blasted an arc of electricity into the man's chest. He staggered as if he'd been shot and hunched over, holding his chest. As she rode past him, she couldn't help but stop and poke fun.

"Stop being a fucking baby," she said "It won't kill you." The man lunged for her again, though he was so intoxicated that he missed her entirely and smashed the head of the rake against the brick wall. Claire shot him again, this time between the legs. He roared and fell over, his legs together and his hands at the...spot of impact. Claire laughed and kicked him in the ribs. Then she walked back off down the alley, her skateboard now under her right arm.

---

Eva Chilver

---

As Eva sat at the bench, watching a sparrow flutter through the air, all Hell decided to break loose. As the shouts began, Eva dove to the ground, smacking her head against the dirt. She covered her head with her hands and wriggled underneath the table, trying to look as inconspicuous. Once she was under the table, the smell of fresh-cut grass grazed her nostrils. The blades grew higher, concealing her. Orion crawled under as well and sat crouched, his head sticking out from under the bench seat. Every one of his muscles were tensed and he growled menacingly. The grass grew to conceal him as well. A few people ran by, but no one bothered the picnic table until a long-haired, shirtless man in a plain grey mask climbed to the top of the table and began to shout, waving his arms around in the air. In one hand was a Colt 1911, and in the other a copy of the Holy Bible.

"ARMAGEDDON IS NEAR, MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS!" he shouted, waving the gun in the air "DO NOT DESPAIR! I AM THE WAY, I AM THE LIFE, I AM YOUR SAVIOR! FOLLOW ME, AND I WILL LEAD YOU TO PARADISE!" Eva grumbled, but didn't speak out. "THIS WORLD IS CRUEL AND DIRTY, MY BROTHERS, BUT WE CAN BRUSH THE DIRT FROM OUR SANDALS AND BE FREE! COME WITH ME, BROTHERS AND SISTERS, AND WE SHALL DRINK THE MILK OF PURITY IN MY FATHER'S GARDEN OF PARADISE!" Eva was growing angrier, but she dared not come out of her hiding place. Luckily, though, a tree nearby decided to do her a favor. As the mad man opened his mouth to speak once more, the branch of a tree whipped around and smacked him in the face, sending him flying off of the picnic table and into a trash can. He staggered to his feet, his crazed eyes filling with fear, and he shot the tree three times, as if that would somehow damage it. Then he ran off into the crowd, the bible raised above his head, still shouting "BE FREE WITH ME, BROTHERS AND SISTERS! I AM YOUR SAVIOR!"

[ToadRopes]

Injae Park

---

"Unfortunately," Ratchet hollered back, breaking into a run, "our asses are directly connected to the rest of our bodies, all of which we would very much like to keep to ourselves. So I'm going to have to say no on that one."

"Don't give them any ideas," Kate hissed.

"Hey, they can bite my shiny metal ass."

"Your butt isn't even made of metal."

"Exactly. They aren't gonna catch us--WHOA, NELLY!" Ratchet heard gunshots from behind her. One thing that sucks about being tall: you're a larger target. Ratchet dashed to the side and hunched over. Thankfully, the Fiend who just tried to kill them only had two bullets left in the magazine, both of which Ratchet had the sense to move out of the way of. (Good thing that she quite towered over Kate as well; otherwise Kate would've taken those bullets to the head.)

Then again, he did send his mutant cronies after our friends.

Ratchet heard the warping noise of uneven footsteps. She looked behind her; the first thing she saw was the fellow with the newly-grown stilts. "This much trouble for a few kids?" Ratchet snorted, her gaze turning to the gentle lady who had recently taken up the profession of reaping, and therefore acquired the equipment to do so. "Who do they think they are? And why doesn't someone call the cops? Well, besides the obvious reason that these chaps order their victims to hand over their cell phones."

"Ratchet, help!" Winston cried. He was about to run into a wall.

Ratchet twirled her wheel and flicked her wrist, disrupting the atoms around Winston and causing him to accelerate in such a manner that his path ran directly parallel to the wall.

"I gotcha, bro," Ratchet called. "At least until you learn to turn yourself."

"Is this really the time to be saying things like that?!"

"Admittedly not! You know I get sassy when I'm nervous!"

Ratchet turned back to Jennifer. "I should hope that it's better!" Ratchet snapped. "Getting heckled and then outright attacked by not one but two gangs can REALLY put a damper on your mood!"

Ratchet and her family continued to run back towards the mainland. Thankfully, they made progress. Ratchet looked back at Jennifer again. "You're probably wondering where we're going. To be honest... I haven't the foggiest idea, I'm just trying to lose the guys," she said, catching her breath. She glanced back at their gaining pursuers. "Can't imagine these folks are born like that, unless they're really, really genetically modified circus clowns or farmers. Which, of course, I doubt they are," Ratchet remarked.

Winston grabbed onto a lamppost and swung around twice before coming to a halt. "This is so horrifying," Winston complained. "It's fine if you're watching it all from behind a screen--"

"You mean like with those militant--"

"Let me rephrase that. This ain't League of Legends."

"Oh, yes. And I bet that next you'll tell me that apartments aren't made of paper and crayon like they are in Elmo's World. Of course this isn't a game, Winnie!" Ratchet cried.

"If this was a game, we'd have power-ups," Kate said.

"What I wouldn't do for a goddam Fire Flower right now. Besides give up my good arm."

Winston folded his arms. "Can't you just use your powers to move a truck and slam it into those guys?"

"That isn't how my power works, Winston. Do you want me to get a hernia?" Ratchet sniffed.

"Well, we are running out of options..."

"Don't tell me you just said 'yes' on the hernia thing!"

"I didn't! Wait. Can you make them stop moving?"

"Too many widespread cells; the human body is too diffuse for my kinetokinesis to affect it."

Ratchet threw her hands in the air. "We need to keep moving," she muttered. "Otherwise, we'll never lose them. And let's try to avoid alleyways, that's how people die in the movies..."

[Aphelion]

Felicia Takashi

---

Felicia had been enjoying snacking on a veggie wrap and glancing at a NEST agent to take in how they handled themselves when the gunshots had started. Her first instinct was to duck behind a garbage bin next to a bench and peak around the metal cage that surrounded it. She realized as she saw several tattooed men running past with guns to harry the crowds of people into forking over their material possessions, that this must be a gang. A large one. Even while she watched, some of them dragged a few young women by their hair into a shadowed alleyway to do repulsive things to them. She couldn't place who the tattooed thugs were, she wasn't familiar with the plentiful gangs in Verthaven, but she knew that they had already pissed her off.

Being small was one advantage in a situation like this, as she just slid down further to hide herself between the garbage bin and bench to get her “costume” ready: A scarf secured around her head to hide her lower face, the hood of her hoodie pulled up and the strings pulled on to ensure it wouldn't move, and just as she went to reach for a charm on her bracelet, a loud creak sounded off behind her. She glanced up quickly and saw a tattooed man glaring down at her from the other side of the bench, his hand going for something out of her sight. Oh hell no! She thought furiously, grabbing for the garbage bin lid, only to find it tied down by steelwires. Fucking hell! She went to switch up her mode of attack, but the man already had a... wait, a glowing syringe? She stared in disbelief, shocked that it wasn't a gun or a knife. Whatever it was though, Felicia was sure it was bad news.

He looked at the syringe, then at her, considering his options as he obviously surveyed that she was very small and seemed child-like, with no curves to speak of to add to her femininity. She could almost hear his thoughts 'Is it worth using my pretty glowy to stop an itty bitty kid?' During that moment of his lapse of judgment, Felicia felt for a specific charm on her bracelet. All of the sudden though, the man fell over with a cry as blood came cascading from his shoulder. Felicia looked over to see the NEST agent with her hand outstretched towards the man, and more NEST agents moving into position. She couldn't help but feel a bit of hero-worship for them, but she quickly ducked and started moving as fast as possible away from the chaos. The men in the alley with the young women were already being shut down by the formidable NEST agents, pincered in and forced to step away from the women.

Felicia got to a nearly abandoned paved street amidst the chaos that surrounded it, and she finally extracted the charms she was looking for the entire time: Link's Master Sword and his Hyrulian Shield. Using her power tickled the back of her brain, beginning the onset of a headache, but the sword and shield grew to their respective sizes, and she rushed towards she was sure her parents must be. Please be there! She prayed fervently, her legs taking her as fast as they could.

Her heart stopped in her throat as six people were on their knees, one of them her very own father. The gang leader made him take off his Rollex, along with his jacket, before demanding that he start taking off his pants. A rush of rage made her clench her hands more tightly on the hilt of her sword and the strap of her shield, but surprise muted the rage when the entire gang standing there was suddenly … defeated? Her father ran off, screaming and attempting to pull his pants up. She breathed a sigh of relief and fought the urge to follow him. She needed to know where her mother was, and if she was still safe, so she continued towards the Gala Pavilion.

When she neared the area, she saw that it had been ransacked. As one of the places with the highest concentration of wealth in the entire Festival, it wasn't a surprise to her, but the sight unfolding in front of her left her breathless. The “doorsmen”, such as they were, had been dead for awhile, their hands outstretched towards handguns soaked in their own blood... with curious tear marks covering their bodies? Tables were flipped over, food piled in obscure and inedible looking lumps across the floor. None of the wealthy people were there though. Are they safe? She was unable to continue that thought, as she was plowed into the cement, her shield luckily, blessedly, placed between her and her assailant. She wasn't able to get a good look at him, but she got the impression of: big mouth, lots of teeth.

That was enough to send her into fight-or-flight, and she tried choking him by maneuvering her shield under his chin, but it was to no avail. He simply tried biting her shield ferociously, shaking it and her entire arm in violent motions. What the fuck is he!? He was heavy enough that she felt herself struggling for each breath, but she managed kneeing him in his junk pretty hard, and that set him sprawling sideways off of her. She, herself, rolled in the opposite direction and hopped to her feet in a fluid motion.

Felicia inspected her shield – moderate damage, gouges in the shape of teeth – and then looked back at him. His mouth was disjointed and ugly, chomping and gnawing at the air as if it had a mind of it's own. She hadn't ever faced off against... a metahuman? It wasn't more than a couple of seconds before he was back on his feet, his eyes rolled back up into his head as his mouth chomped down on nothing with a resounding CRRRREAK! Waves of disgust and fear rolled through Felicia when she realized that he must have chomped the armed “doorsmen” to death. Nopeeee! Screw this, NEST can handle him! And she promptly turned and ran.

No sign of her mother was a good thing, and she knew her father was alive – which, even as bad as it sounds, mattered to her more in her heart-of-hearts – but she heard the footfalls of the monstrous man behind her, which was a very not good thing. She moved her sword over to the hand gripping the strap of her shield, subsequently snatching up a nearby circular food tray as she kept running. She reduced it's size to that of a frisbee, her head throbbing painfully in the process, and she enhanced it's toughness, causing her to fall to her knees as the pain became momentarily too much for her to handle – she heard the food tray tell her to piss off through the buzz of pain, it was obviously not treated well.

She heard teeth-man before he descended on her, and she positioned the shit-talking tray so that it would lodge itself between his very, very scary teeth. She heard it cuss her out – <Fuck you, you dumb broad. I'll make sure a pigeon shits on me before a putain like you touches me again> – as she let go of it, silencing it's myriad of protests as she broke contact with it. It was effective though, only slightly bowing outwards as the scary-teeth-man tried to chomp down on it. She knew she didn't have much time, so she scooted backwards as his hands tried to grab for her, his mouth working on demolishing the very rude food tray. “You, sir, need to bugger off!” She growled between her own clenched teeth and kicked his reaching hands away.

Breathless moments later, Felicia got to her feet and ran as fast as she could. When she found herself a reasonable distance away, she ducked behind a stall with artsy craftsy things and puked up her lunch – the veggie wrap that had tasted much better going down – as her head continued it's throbbing headache. The only thought that came to her mind was that last year's Festival had been much more enjoyable.

[SepticGentleman]

Francis Baker

---

Saturday, June 29
Day 2 in Verthaven

I'm afraid I can't say much here that'd be different from what I've said about Black Fall or Stadium City, except the scenery. The weather's not deadly here but I'm no fan of it either. Had to swap out my sweaters and jeans for better options if I didn't want to get a heat stroke. Besides all that, Verthaven seems the liveliest out of the four I’ve been to so far. But at the same time it just seems so similar. Like it follows the same formula, just mixes the names and appearances up. That's how it's been for all the meta-human hotspots so far. It's not a bad thing per say, but I still find it odd. And I don't know how many people besides me notice it. Not about to go around and ask though.

Rented a room in the Stardust Hotel. Doubles as a club but I doubt I'll be attending any parties here. Heard about a summer festival happening later today but, not going anywhere near it. As much as I want to jump the talking-to-meta-humans hurdle, these festivals have been a thing in most of the places I’ve visited, and they have never turned out perfect. There’s always something that happens because of the major concentration of meta-humans in one spot, and it’s just hazardous for everyone involved. So yeah, I’m skipping it.

Jeez, I’m really looking for any excuse I can use here. I’m just going to stay in the hotel and read up on the town. Get myself ready to take the proper tour tomorrow.

…

“Yeah. Yeah, no, card’s fine.”

Francis was seated on his bed, watching the television, laptop rested on his legs, phone at his ear. He was having the usual check-up with his mother. Dad wasn’t available to talk this time, nor was Olivia. But it didn’t matter.

“Hotel’s nice. Bit flashy but, that’s all really.”

He was bringing up sites about Verthaven on his laptop. Locales, history, the like. Although as he searched, the word he wasn’t at all a fan of after his experiences in the other cities began to pop up. Gangs. In every city, without fail, there were gangs. And Francis had come to the conclusion that an inevitable side-effect of the meta-human collective was the formation of gangs. Definitely not a revolutionary realization, but oh well. He’d have to stay away from the known districts and establishments that were marked for activity. Lest he end up-

Sound of a news broadcast chiming in broke his train of thought.

“Breaking news from the ongoing Summer Festival – a hostile incursion is currently underway by the gang calling themselves “the Fiends”…”

Francis looked up from his laptop and watched the television begin displaying an overhead view of the festival grounds. As the reporter listed off details and warnings, he watched the crazed men in gas masks running around shooting the place up. And it just… it clicked. This had to happen. To prove his point. Not that he was making that point to anyone, but still. He watched the offensive rage on, and the on-point authorities – the VPD, and of course, NEST – counteracting the situation. And then it just came back to him that he hadn’t responded to his mother’s inquiry about the weather.

“Hey I have to go, I’ll call you back.”

All he said. Then he hung up without another word. He set his phone aside and watched the incident play on, the reporter’s commentary dwindling some.

Maybe it would have been a better idea to cut the trip short after Mendel.

[Valhalla]

Malik Tobias Wright

---

Once the first bullet rang in the air, Malik acted on instinct. Wrapping his arms around his niece and pulling her close to his chest to shield her from any stray bullets, his body fell into a low crouch. Kiara's terrified cries mixed together with crowds screaming creating a deafening ringing in his ears that made his head spin. Chest tightening, and fear setting in, thoughts reeled through his mind a mile a minute as the crowd around them scattered in a frenzy. On the verge of hyperventilating and getting caught up in his anxiety, Malik turned his head up to look for the source of the gun fire but was quickly put down by a sharp crack to his jaw.

Thrown back from the force of the hit, the back of his head hit the concrete with a smack as Kiara was pulled down with him. Hitting the ground, her body scrambled beneath Malik's limp arms before running away into the crowd. Stunned from the hit, the world around Malik was a fog. Sounds mixed together in an incoherent roar only to be overpowered by the loud and painful throbbing in his jaw and head. Vision clearing with every blink he took, the giant silhouette above him finally became clear as he stared down the barrel of a gun.

"Any last words, motherfucker?"

Head throbbing, and anxiety knocked out of him with the hit, Malik felt adrenaline and anger swirling in his chest now. "Yeah, I got somethin' to say," Behind the Fiend a small food cart trembled with movement as the masked gang-banger waited for his reply. Middle finger raising up between his head and the gun, Malik flicked his wrist, "Duck."

"Wha-" Before the Fiend could finish his sentence the food cart smashed into his back with a hard crunch. Body flying overhead and into a vendor behind Malik, the whole set was torn down as the broken cart and the gunman crashed through the wooden support beams. Rubbing his jaw and slowly pushing himself up from the ground, Malik stared at the limp body beneath the pile of debris. "Asshole." Licking the blood off his busted lip and spitting on the pile of rubble, Malik stumbled back and searched around for his niece, "Kiara?" Searching for her blue dress amongst the unfamiliar faces rushing by him, Kiara was nowhere to be seen. Fuck! Why hadn't he noticed she was gone earlier!?

Panic setting in, his eyes darted around the chaotic festival, "Kiara!" Stumbling to the side as a middle aged man shoved past him, Malik called out her name again, "Kiara!" Taking off in a run down the street, goosebumps rose on his skin as horrible thoughts ran through his head. The idea of finding her shot, or dead fueled his adrenaline as he sprinted through the panicking crowd. Out of all the days shit had to go down, it had to be today! Since it was just them going to the festival Malik had suggested going to the zoo instead, but his niece just had to insist coming here. It was already stressful enough being so close to Eagle-Rock, but now a fucking riot had to happen.

"Kiara! Kiara, where are you?" His yells were drowned out by the screams and gunfire around him. Ducking to the side and hurrying to the sidewalk, a girl on roller skates raced by him followed by a boy and two other females. Stumbling back and watching the group come to a stop a few yards past him, a familiar cry pulled his attention to the right. Huddled in an alley way, Kiara sobbed in fear as scrapes covered her arms and knees. Relief washed over him like a wave, but before he could call out to her, something else caught his attention.

Looking like something that came out of a horror movie, a mutated Fiend stalked its way down the sidewalk. "What the fuck!?" Its veiny flesh, and the awkward bumps of joints in its elongated knees made Malik's stomach flip, but as it noticed his niece in the alley way, his blood ran cold. Mid sniffle, Kiara's crying was immediately silenced and her eyes widened in horror once the stilted Fiend stopped in front of her. Her little head craned up, taking in its beastly shape until her eyes stared at the gas mask. "KIARA!" Clouded by terror and unable to hear her uncle's call, Kiara inhaled deeply and began to scream.

In a blast that rang through the street, windows near the alley way Kiara was in shattered as the street rumbled from the heavy vibration. With the shriek focused on him, the powerful noise caused the Fiend to cover it's ears, and stumble back in pain. Crouching beside an empty food vendor with his hands over his ears, Malik gritted his teeth together in concentration as he focused on a green trash bin in the alley way beside his niece. 'Come on, you piece of shit! Move!' Arm stretching out, the heavy bin shook with influence before sliding forward, "Gragh!" With a forceful cry, Malik swiped his fist to the right propelling the giant bin into the Fiends legs. Mangling its joints and body as the heavy metal crushed it into the building opposite of Kiara's position.

The action caused Kiara to grow silent as her wide eyes slowly shifted to Malik. Panting heavily, sweat beaded down his head as he held out his arms for his niece, "Kiara! Come here!" Sobbing once again, she raced into his arms and clung to his neck, "Malik! Malik, I wanna go home! I wanna go home, now!" Lifting her into his arms, his arm wrapped tightly around her back as his hand laid atop her head in a tight hug. "I know, baby! We're going home right now, okay? Just keep your head down and hold--Shit!" Pulling her to the ground as he fell back, a curved--Was that bone!?--blade sliced over their heads and sunk deep into a brick wall. Pushing Kiara out of his arms as the woman struggled to get her mutated appendage out of the wall, Malik shoved his niece towards the group behind him as the Fiend pulled the blade out of the wall with a sharp tug, "Run!"

[Luminous Beings]

Andy and Selena Royal

Leave it to the professional. Andy was happy to acquiesce-he was down to three bullets, after all, and there was more to be gained. To Andy now (in the nights and years to come, it would be different, but for now) there was no empathy or compassion for the people running for cover, screaming and trying to pull away from needles and blades and bullets. He simply viewed all this as it related to Selena-the Fiends were only a nuisance insomuch as they threatened her. He admired her composure, although Andy questioned her methodology. She unloaded the shotgun (eighteen shots, 12 gauge, buckshot) into the Fiends, ripping flesh from their bones and sending them down. Selena muffled a scream from the alley behind him, and Andy vaguely considered things such as psychological trauma. There was a remarkable risk for civilian casualties with weaponry such as that, Andy noted. Furthered his suspicions about NEST, and cemented the rather grave feeling that this temporary alliance would prove very costly. However, Selena would be safe. The agent had agreed to that much. Andy stayed pressed against the wall, scanning the area around them for threats as Michelle focused on the lightning-thrower.

"Somebody named Khan," Selena muttered, clutching a hand to the side of her head.

"What." Andy asked, pistol leveled towards Michelle's blind side. A Fiend came around a corner and Andy paused only long enough to confirm it was an enemy. He squeezed the trigger coldly and the Fiend dropped some seven or eight feet from the vendor. Double-tapping preferable, but unsustainable given ammunition reserves. Two shots remaining.

"Somebody named Khan, I heard on the radios. And..." Selena turned, furrowing her eyebrows and looking at Michelle. "They're bringing in some lady called the Director." She glanced up at her older brother, a moment of silent understanding passing between them. There was now a very real risk of discovery. Andy did not care.

"She's finished them. Come with me." Andy grabbed her hand and continued to shield her with his frame, unintentionally but mercifully guarding her eyes from the eviscerated remains of the Fiends Michelle had killed. Selena kept her eyes firmly on the ground, trying to block out the screams, the motionless kids and women and dads strewn about, the smell of gunpowder and smoke...

Andy paused long enough to tuck his pistol into the front of his belt (something which would run the risk of blowing off certain sensitive organs on most individuals; this risk did not pertain to Andy) as he picked up a sawn-off shotgun from a fallen Fiend. Double-barrelled. Horribly inefficient. Handle wrapped in duct tape. Barrels removed crudely, poor accuracy and irreparable damage to the firearm. But serviceable. Andy cracked open the barrels with the idle ease of a professional and checked the barrels. One round remaining; three shots toatl. Ugh.

"What is our next move?" Andy asked, pushing Selena down behind the cover of the vendor with a gentle but firm hand. He knelt as well, gripping the shotgun in one hand and the pistol in the other. He demonstrated, unconsciously, rather remarkable firearm safety. Both weapons were aimed at the ground, fingers off the triggers, muzzles clear of any living people. Selena eyed Michelle's hardware, chewing her lip and hoping for an opportunity to present itself. Had she wiped its records? Maybe she had some other recorder on her-she'd heard cops were starting to get more and more body cameras. Footage of Andy would be...bad. Really bad. Grr. The NEST chick would have to get distracted soon, right? Until then, Selena divided her attention between the radio frequencies buzzing in her head and the bullets buzzing through the air around her.

Anastasia Lytvyn

Oh, Samuel. Anastasia recalled a bit of philosophy-Chinese, she thought, or perhaps Japanese. One of her old WLC squadmates had been fond of the stuff, pushing Sun Tzu on all the new guys and trying to hook them in further as it went. Thought-provoking, if nothing else. But she'd always been fond of one little aphorism of his-be the lightning, not the tycoon. If Sam wanted to be a hurricane, that would be just fine with her. Lightning was more her style-and they'd never hear the thunder, either.

Anastasia tightened the straps of her backpack, making sure it clung fast to her chest, and turned the opposite way, seemingly running from the combat. She grimaced, hoping that Fiona kept her ass still in that dumpster for a moment. She jumped up, flowing from the ground to the top of the rusted green steel in one smooth movement. She crouched, absorbing the impact with practiced grace, and turned her eyes to the ledge above her. The girl was small, but she'd always left her comrades in the dust on leg days-years of running and gymnastics rose from slumber as she burst upwards, clutching onto the shingles (they scorched her fingertips in the intense summer heat, but Anastasia forced it from her mind) and swinging up and onto the roof. She crouch-walked to the roof beside the alley, dropping and pausing for a moment. It'd taken about four or five seconds total, and she wasted no time in swinging off her pack, drawing out a small duffel bag which she gently lay on the ceiling beside her. She tugged on a pair of shooting gloves and a mask, again with experienced quickness, and then set to assembling her rifle, a task that took under a minute. Anastasia was good-the well-maintained machine almost purred in her hands, the receiver snapping into place. She hooked her leg around her backpack and swung it before her as she turned, resting the rifle on the bag, staying prone to minimize her presence. Anastasia hummed softly, stilling her nerves and calming her breath with the practiced birdsong. She dialed in the rifle and found Sam-or, perhaps more accurately, a vague zone of Sam- sensing his wake moreso than him; she saw the branches sway and knew where the wind was. A Fiend fell to unseen hands, and Anastasia turned her rifle a good thirty degrees away from there. Samuel, darling, you really are going to get shot one of these days. Let's hope it's not me.

The rifle didn't make any noise as she dropped the first two Fiends, the disposed brass falling into her cupped hand. She curled up around the SVU, attempting to stay clear of where Sam was operating and avoid killing any bystanders in the process. Easier said than done-no one was standing still, and in the chaos of the surging, panicking crowd, the room for error was very minimal. She'd silence them, giving the Fiend who was halfway through a word or sentence pause-just long enough to make them stop, see a look of confusion wash over their face as they tried to determine whether their sudden aphonia was the result of an overdose or-

Their skulls split open and they hit the ground. Anastasia felt some vague sadness about all this, but she simply hummed softly, and the emotion like her heartrate calmed back down. She swiveled back to the right, leaving Sam's little alley of bloody mayhem clear. Once, a bullet kicked the edge of the roof near her, and she took swift vengeance on the shooter. With his kneecap shot out, another Fiend scrambled to drag him to cover, showing unusual camaraderie for a gang of addicts. Made sense-with the whole world against them, they really couldn't afford to be against themselves, too. Still, it didn't earn them any reprieve from Anastasia.

She ejected the spent magazine from the SVU and reached for another within the bag, trying to figure out howw much longer Sam wanted to keep this up. She hadn't come prepared for a fight-only one magazine for the GSh and ten more shots for the Dragunov. And there were so many of them, violently green syringes glowing in one hand and handguns and machine pistols roaring off in the other. Disgusting. So crude. She drew back the slide and sighed, emptying her lungs of air and her heart of hesitation.

Good night. The muzzle flashed and the slide racked back without so much as a whisper, cutting off a Fiend whom she suspected was dangerously close to running into Sam. Another Fiend had dropped with no visible cause, and this particular tweaker was curious as to the cause, a look of comprehension and fury dawning on his face. NEST. KINGFISHER. Always a flair for the theatrical. America's always got something to prove like that.

[Punished GN]

---

Jennifer Marissa Caspin

_{@ToadRopes@Valhalla}

---

They were basically spelling-out that they were Metahumans... Too bad Jennifer is too busy running for her life to pay attention to anything. Right now, she didn't give any fucks who they are, what they are, or what they do. Being with anyone that isn't a Fiend seemed appetizing right now. All Jen wanted to do was get the flying fuck out of this festival before she gets killed! The two goons were right behind her, and she was the one lagging behind the most. She tried her best to keep up, but she was getting exhausted- She felt something whip her leg from under her with enough force that it spun her sideways. It was so quick that it went from her standing up, hauling ass, to the world spinning. She hit the concrete hard, and rolled - skin tearing with each roll like it was paper. She let out a yelp as she came to a stop, landing on her back. Jen turned her head to the side, only to lose track of the Parks. She felt one hell of a pain in her hand, so she brought her hand up to her face and looked at it. Jeeez... She could move it, but it hurt like hell. Probably a sprain. Her hand was covered in cuts, and torn flesh - that healed at such a rapid pace that they were gone in a second.

She felt a boot come down so hard with her gut that she had to yelp. Jenny looked up, and saw that the two Fiends had caught up with her. The one with the tentacle arm had the boot on Jen. They were laughing from underneath their gas masks. "Looks like you didn't run fast enough, little bunny." The man the mutated legs laughed. "Looks like we're going to have a bit of fun with you...." He reached down. He wants to touch me... he wants to... No, no, no, no no! Once again, Jennifer felt so helpless. She opened her mouth to scream - but someone ran up and punched the Fiend on top of her in the face, hard enough to knock her out. That same person quickly swung around and smashed the other Fiend in the face with the butt of her gun - Enough to break plenty of bones.

The woman - revealed to be an abnormally large, African-American, NEST Agent - reached down, and grabbed Jennifer by the inside of her arm. She pulled Jennifer up to her feet... while shouting, "... Get your ass up!" Jen was happy to be back on her feet, but before she could get a good look at the woman (Or her companions) the NEST Agent pushed her by the back, barking, "Keep moving! Don't stop until you're out of the Rosalina Isle!"

Before Jen could even say anything, the NEST Agent left her... It seems like everyone was leaving her behind. She was all alone. She just couldn't handle this. "Th... Thank you...." She lowly muttered - knowing that the NEST Agent was too far away to hear her. Jennifer looked around - to her right, there was chaos, and to her left, there were more Fiends. Yet... Behind her, there was an alleyway. Yeah, that seemed real appetizing. Before she could think, she heard the mother of all screams, a scream that made Jennifer cover her ears from this distance. It was over in a few moments. She immediately turned her head over in that direction, and saw a twenty-year old man, comforting a young girl... And one dispatched Fiend on the ground. One of them had to be a Metahuman. Nonetheless, Jen started to turn towards the alleyway, when she spotted that another Fiend had approached them. A Fiend with a mutated arm had attacked them, - Any closer and that would have taken their heads... - fortunately she missed, but she quickly pulled the arm out of the wall.

This caused a bit of a dilemma in Jen, as she debated whether or not she should just run. Should I help them?! How can I help them?! She asked herself, as she bit her fingernails as she looked around. On the ground, she saw a discarded Fiend weapon - a metal pipe with duct-tape at the end to serve as a handle. Well, it's better than her fists. Jen quickly ran towards - quickly scoping up the pipe with one hand - them at top speed, slipping up behind the woman. She pulled the pipe back to arc it for one hell of a swing. The closer she got... the scarier this mutated bitch looked, but she made her decision. No backing down now. The second she was in range, she swung the pipe, full force, and it collided with the Fiendish woman's head. She was taken out near-instantly. Jen was panting, and she stared at the woman - before her gaze traveled upwards towards Malik and Kiara.

"... Hi."

---

Michelle Brianna Gallus

_{@He Who Walks Behind}

---

"What is our next move?"

Is he some sort of soldier? Michelle thought to herself for a moment as she observed Andy... And the very soldier-like way he handled his gun. With her level of vision, she missed very few things. And how a man handles a gun is one of them. She narrowed her eyes for a moment. ... I'm going to be asking you a looooot of questions when all of this is over. Michelle thought to herself - trying her damn near hardest not to say them out loud. She learned (The hard way) that it's not best to tip off people that you're on to him. Michelle nodded her head, and said, "... I'm going to check in with my superiors, and find out the supposed safezones are." She knew that she couldn't keep running around forever. She dipped down behind a vendor stand (She was a giant target waiting for a Fiend to get lucky). Michelle grabbed onto her radio, and held onto the button as she spoke into it, "This is Agent Gallus! I have two civilians with me, where is the extraction-"

"Agent Gallus," The Director calmly started off, "Leave civilian evacuation to the police. You are to recover the Fiend's mutagen."

"I'm not going to abandon them!" Michelle ordered.

"You have your orders, I expect you to carry them out. Director Caryl, out." The radio went silent, and Michelle nearly crushed the communicator.

"Ugh!" Michelle meant what she said. She'd rather personally get them out of here. She stood straight up and faced them. "I told you I'd help you, and damn well I will. C'mon!" Michelle hopped over the vendor-stand, and knelt down over the first Fiend she had dispatched. She quickly dug through his pockets, and pulled out a glowing syringe. Looks like the mutagen to her. "Looks like I got the Director exactly what she wants...." She said underneath her breath. Time to get a move on. Michelle started moving forward, at a slow pace. It was chaos out here, and rushing around was a great way to end up on the receiving end of an assault rifle. Case in point; a group of kids zoomed past her, running away from some Fiends. She quickly pointed her gun at them... but lowered her aim. I ain't gonna risk it, I could kill one of them. She thought to herself, before she continued across the street. Michelle heard one of them yelp, and her eyes went right for where those kids ran - One of them were tripped, and pinned down by the Fiends.

"Wait here!" Michelle said to Andy and Selena, she quickly ran towards the pinned Jenny - her footsteps were basically inaudible. She cocked her fist, and shot it out forward right at the female Fiend that was holding her down - with her level of strength, the tweaking bitch went down in one solid blow to the jaw. She was sent flying, with spit, blood, and teeth, flung out of her mouth. Before she even hit the ground, Michelle turned around and, with both hands on her shotgun, swung the butt of the gun at the other Fiend and absolutely shattered his nose on impact. He fell backwards. With the Fiends dispatched, Michelle reached down - Christ, she took some hits - and pulled the girl up to her feet. "... Get your ass up!" She roared at the girl. She looked back at Andy and Selena... Christ... She suffered a bit of a dilemma here. Is she going to save everyone? No. No, she can't. But she'll sure as hell make sure that she saves as many as she can, and tear these Fiends limb from limb in the process. Michelle's head went back towards Jennifer, and she said, "Keep moving! Don't stop until you're out of the Rosalina Isle!"

Michelle ran off back towards Andy and Selena... Yet, she couldn't shake off the guilt she was feeling. She gestured for Selena and Andy to come along. Where was she going? She was heading towards the outskirts of the downtown district - since she knew this section of the city pretty well. All she has to do is cut down this street and... On top of one of the stores, Khan stood on the roof, with her grenade launcher in one hand. She smirked. She put the grenade launcher down, and a white-ish blue fog was excreted from her body, and quickly surrounded her until she was invisible inside of it. The fog quickly blanketed the street Michelle's group was in. People, Fiends, and NESTs agents, alike were confused.

"Me and my friends..." Khan moaned, her voice was hollow and ghostly, coming from the rooftop.

"... Would like to play."

"Fuck! Why didn't anyone tell me she's here!?" Michelle roared, as she pointed her shotgun at the fog. She stood back, "Everyone, get out the fog! And stay away from anyone on the ground! And be careful, some of the things you see won't be real!" She put her back to Andy and Selena. "Both of you, stick close!"

Khan's power quickly went to work. Anyone that was dead or unconscious, the fog formed an aura around them (Forming three thick rings going down the body). They were lifted up to their feet, and seemingly revived. They started walking towards people and attacking them.

"Looks like we're going have to get a little serious here..." Michelle heard the screaming, and that's her cue to kick things up a notch. She was honestly hoping she wouldn't have to transform tonight, but desperate times call for desperate measures. "Cover me!" Michelle put her trust in the hands of these two, albeit momentarily. Blood started gushing down her arms, as she used all her strength and willpower to kept hold of her gun. She stared at free her arm as it underwent the transformation, and she grit her teeth. The pain of transformation was all too familiar to her at this point - she's done it so many times it has become trivial. Her arms puffed up a bit, and started to grow armored scales, tipped off with rather fearsome clawed nails. It would be hard for notice this transformation, due to the wetsuit obscuring her arm, but they would notice her claws, and the blood dripping down from her fingers.

Michelle flicked the blood away, only for a newly revived member of the Fiends, with a hole in his chest, to rush her. She quickly slashed out with her claws. Digging them in and ripping through flesh. Though, that wasn't enough to stop him, only slow him down. ... I forgot. The thoughts ran through her head as she shoved the Fiend away, and jammed the shotgun to his waist (Digging it into flesh for a few moments), and went full auto. Shredding the lower part of his body - enough for Michelle to gently push the upper half of his body away.

[ToadRopes]

Injae Park

---

Ratchet screeched to a halt. "Hey, where's Jen?" she realized. "Holy-- She couldn't keep up with us!" She turned to her brother. "You and Kate need to hop a bus and get back to Gommo's house as quickly as you can. Alright?" ((OOC: Phonetic spelling of Korean word for aunt on the father's side))

Winston nodded, handing Ratchet her roller blades. "C'mon, Kate," he said to Kate. "I've got the bus money."

As he turned, he called back. "Wait, Ratchet, where are you going?!"

"I'm going back to grab Jen and help her get out of here," Ratchet hollered, turning back around.

"Are you bonkers?!"

"Maybe a little!"

Ratchet spun her wheel and kicked her roller blades into high gear, rushing back to the last place she saw Jen. She screeched to a halt as soon as she saw the two dead Fiends on the ground. "Well, those two seem to have been taken care of quite nicely," she said, scratching her head. "But where's Jen? I hope those freaks didn't get her..."

Ratchet heard a scream; she whipped in that direction just as she witnessed Jennifer whack the bone-blade-arm woman from before in the back of the head with a pipe. Dang, she had guts. Ratchet's strategy was to run like a squirrel. She actually felt really bad for leaving Jennifer in the dust.

Ratchet looked behind her to see if any more of those mutants had arrived. Seeing none, she skated to Jennifer, Malik, and Kiara. "Jennifer, I'm so sorry, I should've checked behind me more often and not gone so fast," she apologized. She didn't make any excuses, like oh-I-was-just-trying-to-save-my-family; nor did she place the blame on Jennifer.

Ratchet looked nervously back at the distant mobs. "I don't think we can stay here very long," she remarked.

[Maxx]

---

Sam Clarke

@Mr Allen J
@He Who Walks Behind

---

Sam was reluctant to admit that he was having fun. This was all kind of entertaining, the flow of adrenaline and the rush of gratitude from the people who he was protecting. In civilian situations like this, Sam preferred not to use his gun and to instead fight with his knife and his combat experience. Guns were less accurate than a fist or a blade. As he ran through the crowd, attempting to liberate people who were being attacked by the Fiends. A middle-aged woman was pinned to a tree, a Fiend injecting her with a syringe of mutagen. Sam slashed clean through the glass syringe with his knife and then drove his knee into the Fiend's gut, knocking the wind out of him. As the man keeled over, Sam punched him in the jaw as hard as he could. The Fiend cried out and fell backwards into a fetal position, his jaw fractured. Now what to do with the infected. The woman's eyes were staring off into the distance and her skin was beginning to turn a sickly purple. Her pupils dilated and she began breathing savagely, foam running from her lips. Sam took the syringe from her arm and pondered what to do. Seeing that there weren't any Fiends in his general area, he reappeared. Sam didn't want to hurt a civilian, but she would be a major risk. As he thought, the Fiend laying on the ground rolled over onto his stomach and lunged towards Sam's ankle, digging his teeth into the leather of Sam's boot. Sam looked down, surprised that a man was biting him with a broken jaw, and, pulling out his gun, shot the Fiend twice in the back. It stopped moving. Sam rose his hand to his ear and spoke over the NEST comms:

"NEST this is KINGFISHER CORMORANT, I have a civilian injected with Fiend mutagen here. Can someone direct her to the NEST medical tent?"

"KINGFISHER CORMORANT, this is NEST actual. We are sending an agent to your current location to apprehend the civilian. Attack a GPS beacon to her is you're going to move again, over!" Sam pressed a button on his computer, and a small metal button popped out of the side. He grabbed it and stuck it to the woman's clothing. She attempted to slash at him, and he realized that he had no choice but to defend himself. She screeched barbarically and ran towards him like an animal. He backpedaled, falling onto his back as she advanced, and grabbed for his rifle. From where it hung at his hip he fired five times into the woman's chest (she was right on top of him, so it was near-impossible to miss. The mutant screamed and fell back, her chest sizzling as the Serum 17 kicked in. He shot her in the forehead with another pellet and she hissed, clawing at her face with her claws which were once fingernails. He fired a few more times. As she rolled in the grass like a mad dog, Sam grabbed a metal trashcan and removed the bag, tossing it at the Fiend laying dead on the ground (trash goes with trash, right?). He ran over and, as she attempted half-heartedly to lunge at him, shoved her into the can. She screamed and rattled around, but she could no longer move. He placed the trash can upside down in front of the tree and then moved away, reactivating his invisibility.

Soon, Sam reached the edge of the fair, where he found some NEST agents and local police (who were entirely useless and unnecessary in Sam's opinion) directing civilians away from the fair and towards the bridge off of the island. Up above, a meta was shrouding herself in fog, and Michelle transformed. Suddenly, a Fiend laying on the ground rose to its feet and began to walk towards Michelle. It seemed as if all of the dead were rising again. Sighing, Sam grabbed his rifle from his hip and walked towards where Khan was shrouded in fog. Then he deactivated his sound nullification.

"Nightingale," he said into the mic "We have a situation over here to your left. Find the shroud of blue fog. A metahuman appears to be reanimating the dead. I could use some firing support. Over." Sam rose his rifle to his shoulder.

"Get down!" he yelled. He opened fire on the shroud of fog, flickering into appearance with every shot. Now visible, the animated creatures began to converge on him. As one swiped at him, Sam rolled out of the way and struck it in the back of the neck with the butt of his gun. He shot it twice in the back, but nothing happened. Not even the slightest degree of pain crossed its dead face. Another zombie grabbed his back and wrestled him to the ground. He elbowed it in the face and yanked himself out of its grasp. He ejected the clip of Serum 17 and reloaded a clip of regular bullets. He opened fire on the mob of zombies, but to little avail. His bullets connected, but they did little against the creatures who were already dead.

"Nightingale!" Sam shouted.

[Luminous Beings]

s

[Valhalla]

Malik Tobias Wright

@Mr Allen J@ToadRopes

---

The Fiends bladed arm raised high as Malik gave one last push and shoved his niece out of the way. Unable to do anything other then turn around and watch the blade come down on him, he felt his heart ram against his chest as he watched the woman grin, 'Shit! Shit! Shit!' Considering himself minced meat, a hard crack to the side of the Fiends head threw her body to the side and into the street with a heavy thump. Staring at the woman's crushed head in disbelief, a soft voice pulled his attention up as he made eye contact a teenage girl, "... Hi."

Swallowing hard, and making sure his body wasn't really in pieces, Malik finally responded with a shaky voice, "Th-thanks." If she hadn't stepped in just in time, he knew his time would have been--literally--cut short. Glass fell from his back and cracked beneath his shoes as he slowly stood. With the additional cuts on his back, and a few in his legs, his body trembled as his mind replayed the near death experience over and over in his head.

Kiara was already standing behind him. Still crying, small cuts covered her legs and hands from the glass on the ground as well. She was in worse shape then him though, and once she caught sight of the Fiends limp body her stomach flipped. As his niece turned and puked on the street, Malik grimaced in disgust before taking her hair into his hands, "Let it all out, it's okay." This was bound to happen. Bodies, blood, and scattered items littered the street around them. The sight of it made Malik's skin crawl, but he knew it must have been worse for his Kiara. Everyone had been taken by surprise, even the police and NEST agents that were stationed around the festival. If the Fiends were looking for a massacre then they sure as hell got one.

Once Kiara was finished emptying her stomach, Malik took the last of the napkins in his pocket and cleaned her face. Eyes red and puffy, a large frown was pulled down her face as she spoke through small hiccups, "I wanna' go home.." Answering her pleas by lifting her into his arms, Malik rubbed her back in a more or less useless attempt to comfort her, "I know. We're going now." This was way too much for her, and Malik needed to get her to a hospital now. Glancing up at Jen and Ratchet, he gave a small nod before introducing himself, "Name's Malik, this is Kiara." Grip tightening around his niece, another girl, the same one who had passed him on rollerskates earlier, raced across the street and up to Jennifer.

"Jennifer, I'm so sorry, I should've checked behind me more often and not gone so fast," As she apologized, Malik began to take slow steps back, his eyes glancing down the street towards the enterance of the festival, "I don't think we can stay here very long,"

Malik nodded in agreement as he already began to head down the sidewalk, "She's right. Let's get going before any more of those things catch up with us."

[Punished GN]

The fog was steadily stretching forward, inching closer and closer to the rest of the downtown neighborhood. The further it stretched out, the more dead and unconscious people would be "revived". Khan watched the chaos from the rooftops, as her zombies went to work, the fog would change their perceptions. Eventually they wouldn't even know if what they're seeing is real or not. Khan turned her head, and saw that two more NEST Agents were joining the fray. Good. Even less NEST Agents to worry about during future plans. Three flares went skywards in the far distance, and Khan raised her head and looked at them. One blue, one red, and one green.

They're done. They did it and nobody knows of this deception.

Khan successfully played her part of the plan. She raised her hand, and kicked the generation of the fog into overdrive. Instead of a slow and steady creation of the fog, the fog quickly spread at a breakneck pace. In less than a few minutes, the fog had completely covered most of the downtown district. Reviving the dead, along with sending a spooky message to the Fiends, "My Fiends... my Deviants... it's time to get the fuck out of there before they kill the fuck out of you all." Her words would only be heard by fellow Fiends. Immediately, they quickly retreated, taking everything they had stolen into the sewers (Or just making a break for the many bridges in and out of the city), and hauling ass from the Festival. Khan kept the fog going for awhile, until as many Fiends could get away as possible.

Until the fog had completely vanished, revealing the aftermath of the carnage. Any Fiends that were reanimated simply disintegrated. It revealed blood, dead bodies, broken buildings, bullets, and that sort. The kind of thing that this city would remember for years to come.

Khan nodded her head... She turned into the fog, then flew into a manhole.

---

Michelle Brianna Gallus

_{@He Who Walks Behind@Maxx}

---

Get your finger off the trigger, Gallus. Michelle thought to herself, as she realized that the fog would begin to get to her soon. Shooting like a maniac would be a great way to dash her job security. One of the zombies rushed up to her, and Michelle grabbed it's forearms with both hands. It was yelling, and Michelle kicked it in the stomach to make it stumble away. Michelle quickly rushed up, and smashed the creature's face in with the butt of her gun. That wasn't enough to stop it, it rushed her again, and she knelt forward a bit, and kicked it in the knee, bending it backwards. The creature fell down on it's face - which Michelle promptly stomped on with all her strength, crushing it's skull in. It stopped moving. Michelle quickly whipped around, she heard Andy and Selena dealing with some of the creatures in the meantime. She wondered if she should transform even further. It'd give her an edge against these fuckers, better than this gun- A fireman, with his face bloody, charged at her with a fireaxe raised above his head. Fuck! Why didn't I notice him!? She thought to herself, as she did the only logical course of action. She raised her arm for a block, then took a few steps back. The axe came down at high speeds... Then just went through her. Disappearing. She stared off into the distance, doe-eyed. Just more reason to put the gun away.

"Get down!"

Michelle heard rather close to her, and she immediately dropped to one of her knees, as bullets came flying overhead. She looked over her shoulder, and saw a familiar figure, she recognized his scent. It was Sam Clarke. "Thanks for the assist, Agent Cla-" She was cut off by a very overweight zombie jumping on her back and slamming her to the ground with a thump. "Oomph!" She said as her armored shoulder hit the ground. The zombie laid on her, spread eagle, and started biting her - fortunately, he couldn't find exposed flesh because of her armor. She bent her leg, pulling it forward close as possible, and pushed off of it with all her strength in order to flip herself over. She brought her shotgun above her head, and slammed it down on his skull, raising it up again, and slamming it again. Until the creature's skull was obliterated. She hopped back up to her feet - We can't keep fighting these things forever, they'll overwhelm us eventually, that's what Khan wants - and looked around. All she heard was gunshots and fighting. There couldn't have been that many people killed, could there?

"Agent. I suggest relocating to a more tactically viable area. Consider a bottleneck."

Andy suggested it. She hadn't thought about it herself because - holy shit, she's been fighting for her life for the last twenty minutes. Never before has she seen a warzone like this, only all out Meta-brawls on the streets. Right now, an alleyway was better than standing out here in the street. From her utility belt, Michelle produced a flashlight, and put it on high. The light shined brightly through the fog. "Everyone, follow me! Follow the light!" She shouted as she charged into the nearest alleyway - holding the light above her so everyone could see it. She ran into the alleyway, and her companions followed her. She turned around, and kept her bloody shotgun held tightly with both hands. Zombies began charging into the alleyway - she could smell the death and decay on them, and hear them shambling - the first one that walked up got the butt of a shotgun across the face, and was quickly kicked into the crowd. She got on top of them, and started shooting them in the head.

More started pulling in... Michelle was afraid to go full auto with her shotgun because she feared she'd kill an innocent civilian. Christ. Things weren't looking good. What was she going to do? Stand here and fight off every zombie? She'll run out of energy, or bullets, doesn't matter what happens first. Things weren't looking all that good right now... Michelle heard a group of the damn creatures walking up. They grouped up together, and peered into the alley. They quickly rushed her at speeds inhuman, and she responded by wildly swinging at them, closing her eyes, and realizing this was the moment where it all ended. Michelle didn't feel her gun hit a single one of them. They weren't real. She wasn't sure if she wanted to be happy, or disappointed. Either way, she remained on guard... She wondered where that bitch Khan was. If she took out Khan, then all of this would be over.

Then the fog began to fade.

It disappeared just like that. Michelle was wondering if this was another hallucination - then she remembered Intel saying that the fog is always present in Khan's hallucinations. Michelle, armed with her shotgun, walked out of the alleyway. "Stick close..." She said. She popped out of the alleyway, and looked around. The chaos was... it's all over. She didn't hear anymore gunshots, or fighting in the distance, and there was not a Fiend in sight... Yet, all she could smell was blood. It overwhelmed her nose, now that the fog was gone. She grabbed onto her radio, and held onto the button, "Control, what's the situation?" She spoke into her radio.

"Agent Gallus," Ariella (Not the director) said through the radio, "Khan spread her fog all over the district, before the Fiends retreated."

"So it's all over?" Michelle replied.

"Not quite, the Director wants to preform damage control." Ariella said, "Your orders are to escort civilians out of the area, and...." Ariella trailed off.

"Yeah, what is it?" Michelle asked.

"... Did you get the Fiend's mutagen?" Ariella asked, in a very worried and low tone - which tipped off Michelle that something was wrong.

Michelle reached into her utility belt, and pulled out the syringe. "... Yeah, I got it."

---

Jennifer Marissa Caspin

_{@ToadRopes@Valhalla}

---

Jen dropped the pipe. The man thanked her, and she felt legitimately happy. She helped someone. In her head, she mentally fist pumped. Now what? She wondered where the hell she was supposed to run. While she was wondering what she had to do, Malik was comforting the girl, and Jen could only feel a twinge of sympathy for them. Nobody asked for this - for a moment, Jen wondered if Penny was in the Festival, she honestly hoped not. It'd be better if she found Penny... anywhere that wasn't fucking here. Her reverie was broken when the man introduced himself as Malik, and the girl as Kiara. Well, she honestly wasn't expecting for them to introduce themselves. She looked down at them. "... Jennifer." She said, cutting out the unnecessary words. Jennifer heard someone roll up on skates, and she turned towards her....

"Jennifer, I'm so sorry, I should've checked behind me more often and not gone so fast," Ratchet started off, "I don't think we can stay here very long."

Ratchet came back for her, she came back. Right when Jenny thought that Ratchet had long abandoned her, she came back. Jennifer smiled - and without thinking about it, she gave Ratchet a hug. Like Ratchet was a long time friend that had come back for Jen. "Thank you, I wanted to hear that..." Then she realized how inappropriate it was right now. She detached from Ratchet, and took a step back. "Um... It's okay." She realized how awkward it was. Ratchet was right, and so was Malik. They needed to get out of there, they can play meet & greet later. "Uh, right, we really should, uh, leave." Jennifer looked around - I wonder what happened to Ratchet's family, I hope they're okay - before she started running, "Follow me!" Where were they going? She honestly didn't know, she was heading in the direction she was heading with Ratchet before they got separated.

This time, she wasn't going to fall. Nor let anyone trip her, she was going to keep running until they were out of here.

"Hey, you kids!" A man shouted at them as they ran by. By all reason, Jennifer should have kept running past him, but she peaked, and saw that it was a member of the VPD (Going off the uniform and police cap). Jennifer stopped. "This way! We're directing people out of the neighborhood over here!" He threw a thumb backwards, which made Jen nod her head and run in that direction. It wasn't long before she saw the line of police officers guarding the bridge, along with SWAT vans. She kept running, and running, and running - because victory was close.

"Look out, what's that?!" One of the police officer shouted, pointing in a direction behind Jen. Okay, the movies told her never to look behind her... but she looked behind her. Jen saw the wave of fog approaching fast from behind. Which made her run even faster - but she couldn't outrun the wave of the blue miasma. It blanketed her vision, she couldn't see a thing. Only thing she could see was the fog. People were screaming in the distance, and she heard gunshots.

"Zombies!" A woman screamed.

"Everyone, clear the area!"

"... Guys?!" Jennifer shouted to her friends, and she couldn't hear a thing over all the bullets and shouting. Jen was moving slowly, she couldn't hear her footsteps. She wasn't sure if she should keep moving forward or- In the blink of an eye, something went clean through her stomach. Before she could even react, it was over a flash. Leaving behind a trail of stomach acid and blood. She was falling backwards - I... never stood a chance. - she saw nothing but fog, even as her vision was forced skywards. She had no idea who shot the bullet - if she was even hit by a bullet. Jennifer hit the ground with a thud - I'm not dead, am I? - and blood flew out of her mouth. She laid there, motionless. Her head off to the side. Her regenerative factor almost immediately kicked in, and corrected the damage. Which is why she wasn't bleeding all that much, the blood was being clot at astonishing rates, and the hole was being closed. Her backup organs kicked into action, and kept her alive.

Someone walked up to her - Where are the footsteps? - and stood over her. Jen looked up, and saw that it was Penny. It had to be. The girl was the same height as she remembered her, and had the same Caucasian features. She was even wearing the same outfit. "Hey." Penny said.

"Penny, you're-" Jenny said, excited.

Penny reached down, and put her finger to her lips - Is she even touching me...? - and said, "No, no, rest, Jenny. Let your healing factor do it's work."

"I'm glad to see that you're okay, I've been looking all over for you." Jenny looked around.. and she couldn't hear a thing. Everything just turned into a blur. The screaming, the shooting, and the general chaos. Maybe...

"I know." Penny said.

"I... wanted to talk to you about something, I..." Jennifer trailed off, and wondered what she should say next. Maybe dying on the ground isn't the best time to be asking these questions. She felt the pain in her wound peak, and she squirmed in agony a bit.

"It's okay, you can ask me late-" Penny was cut off by the fog faded away, and Penny disappeared.

"... Huh?!" Jennifer said, as she got up, and looked around. Wait... Jenny looked down, and saw that the wound was gone. It was closed, and replaced with porcelain-colored flesh. Aside from the hole in her clothes, and blood, there was not a trace that she's been shot. She wondered if anything that just happened, actually happened. She was content with saying that the gunshot never happened, but.... "Was she even there...?" Jennifer asked herself. She climbed up to her feet, where everyone was looking confused. She inhaled, and loudly shouted, "GUYS, WHERE ARE YOU?!"

---

Fiona Ashley Barrett

---

It was absolute chaos out there. Fiona was hiding in her dumpster, and she could hear all of it. She curled up into a ball, and prayed that all of this would be over soon. A stray bullet ricochet off the dumpster, and made Fiona loudly yelp. She couldn't stay here! She had to get out of here! Just risk it. Fiona pushed the dumpster lid open slightly to peak out, and saw that the coast was clear, and hopped out onto her feet. The hood of her cloak was down, with the whole seeing that she was a Metahuman. Didn't matter. With all this chaos, it's unlikely that she'll be noticed in all of it. She made a quick hop to the corner of the alleyway, peaking around the corner. There was a group of four Fiends heading her way, all armed with automatic weapons.

"Hey! Look!" One of the Fiends shouted, spotting Fiona. They ran towards her, brandishing her vials of mutagen and stabbing themselves with them.

Fiona yipped as she quickly ducked back in the cover. She could hear them getting closer and closer - and she got more and more worried. Before she just simply went "fuck it" and made a break for it. Fiona squatted down as low as she would go, then shot off her legs high up into the air. In an attempt to get up on the roof. The Fiends immediately spotted Fiona, and began firing wildly at her. Most of the bullets missed... because the Fiends suck ass at shooting.

The ledge of the building got closer and closer, she outstretched her hand to grab it. Then... She felt something go into her body, that made her body go limp. She quickly fell - hitting the wall, and rolling onto the ground, and hitting it with a thud. Her exoskeleton cracked on impact. Fiona felt a pain like no other in her side. She put her hand over it, and felt something wet. She displayed her hand saw green blood all over it. Oh, God, oh, God, oh God! The thoughts ran through Fiona's head as her heart raced. She was going to die here. These men were going to kill her. She fell into shock as her thought process became frantic.

The Fiends were getting closer.

Her vision was fading.

One of the Fiends were shot in the chest, and fell down. Fiona could (barely) hear footsteps coming, she felt someone grab her by the shoulder, and start pulling her away. Then an armored man, with the NEST Logos on his back, stepped into her field of view. Armed with a rifle, he began shooting at the Fiends.

"Quickly!" One of the NEST Agents shouted, as he provided covering fire. He was shooting wildly at the Fiends in order to force them into cover. It wasn't long until Fiona was dragged out of view of him... That's when she fell unconscious.

The NEST Agent dragged Fiona all the way to the safe zone, and when he walked up to the ambulances, he said, "She's injured!"

They looked at her, then looked at the NEST Agent like he was crazy. "What do we do with her?!" One of the paramedics asked.

"Take her to the NEST base, ASAP!" He shouted, before he turned around to see a group of teenagers running towards them... and the Fog. "Hurry up! We don't know what that stuff is!"

The Paramedics put Fiona on a stretcher and quickly hauled her out of there.

[Maxx]

---

Sam Clarke

@Mr Allen J
@He Who Walks Behind

---

Sam followed Agent Gallus into the alley, Nightingale right behind him. His gun was on full auto now, and he sprayed blindly into the crowd of dead, aiming for the heads. He didn't worry about hitting civilians; if they were in that crowd, they were good as dead anyways. Unfortunately, bullets don't last forever, and as Sam loaded his last clip (he only brought two of regular bullets as he didn't expect an armed terrorist attack), he began to panic. As he had seen before, Serum 17 did nothing to the dead, and the bullets themselves were a temporary solution to a permanent problem. A zombie lunged forward and dove towards his knees. Sam drove the stock of his rifle into the creature's skull and then stomped on its head until it stopped moving. Panting, he fired his last three-round burst into an advancing zombie's head. The creature fell to the ground and then got back up, the left side of its skull no longer present. He pulled the trigger of the rifle, and a clicking sound let him know that he was out of luck. "Well fuck." Sam muttered. He let the rifle drop, its strap causing it to hang limply from his right shoulder, and drew his handgun. He began firing into the crowd of dead once more.

"I can't do this much longer!" he yelled at no one in particular "I'm running out of bullets!" He was fully visible now, as there was no point in hiding when he was firing a gun as fast as he could. Just as things seemed most hopeless, the fog cleared and the zombies fell to the ground, collapsing into piles of ash. Sam remained motionless for a moment, his gun still raised in case this was a trick. When nothing happened after a few seconds, he holstered the gun, and let out a sigh of relief. He leaned back against the wall with his hands pressed to his forehead, just panting.

"KINGFISHER CORMORANT, this is ALBATROSS. Do you copy, over?" a voice spoke from Sam's earpiece. Sam sighed and held the button on the side of the piece.

"I'm here, ALBATROSS," he replied " I managed to survive the zombie apocalypse in one piece. What's the situation?"

"Camera feeds show that the Fiends retreated in the fog. We are unable to get any sort of reading on them. Unfortunately, we'll have to let them go for now. CONDOR's unit is attempting to track them down."

"Roger ALBATROSS. What do I do for now then?" Sam asked. On the other end, he could hear someone whispering in ALBATROSS' ear.

"I was just given word that the NEST Director wishes to speak to you personally, CORMORANT," ALBATROSS said "One moment." The line was filled with static for a few seconds, and then another voice came on.

"KINGFISHER CORMORANT, this is Director Caryl. Do you copy?" The woman's voice said.

"Roger, Director. I copy," Sam replied "How can I help you?"

"In the course of the attack, Agent Gallus acquired an extremely important package. Considering that we just experienced the biggest single gang attack on a civilian area in NEST history, we need to make sure that this package is delivered safely. You and your trainee are to escort Agent Gallus to NEST Headquarters. The number one priority is to protect that package, even if Agent Gallus herself is killed. It is imperative that the package arrive at NEST Headquarters intact. Got it?"

"Roger that, Director," Sam said "We'll make sure it gets there." The comms clicked off. Sam turned to Gallus.

"Welp Agent Gallus, looks like Director Caryl just made me your bodyguard from the time being. We need to get whatever package that you have back to base pronto." As he began to walk towards the end of the alley, he nudged Anastasia with his elbow.

"Thanks for the assist, Nightingale," he said "Once all this shit is over, I'll have to buy you a beer."

---

Eva Chilver

---

Eva had never been more terrified in her life. As the fog enveloped the fair, she felt some powerful and unnatural force fill the air around her. She nearly squirmed as she felt the force move through the air. She looked out from under the picnic table to see a dead man limping towards her, dragging his broken leg behind him. She had to cover her hands with her mouth to keep herself from screaming. Two more converged near her, and soon the table was surrounded. She was terrified, and Orion snuggled against her side for comfort. The grass grew tall to protect her, but the creatures seemed still able to detect her. They reached the picnic table and began to shake it from side to side, unsure as to how to reach the girl underneath. One zombie even had the bright idea of biting the table, and some of its teeth stuck in. Eva closed her eyes and pictured a fresh summer day, a warm breeze blowing past her face, carrying with it the smell of fresh-cut grass. She reached out to the grass around her, and gripped a few of the tall blades tightly, pleading for assistance. After a few moments, the smell of grass shrouded her scent. The zombies stood perplexed, wondering how their meal had been replaced by grass, and then wandered off to terrorize someone else. Eva breathed a sigh of relief and let go of the grass; the smell still remained.

She laid this way for the entirety of the zombie attack, hiding in the grass with the smell protecting her. Orion growled at a few stray undead, but none came close enough to be a threat. Soon the fog faded and the dead collapsed into dust. The disappearance of the force told Eva that it might be safe to come out now. She heard at least two dozen sirens in the distance, and police were scrambling all over, looking for something that was no longer there. As she crawled out from under the bench, the smell of grass faded and the tall bladed flopped over, crushed under their own weight now that they no longer needed to protect the Earth Mother. She began to wander around, Orion at her feet, looking for somewhere to go.

[ToadRopes]

Injae Park

@Mr Allen J@Valhalla

---

Ratchet tensed in surprise as Jennifer hugged her, as if Ratchet had flown to Europe for a year and returned or something. "Thank you, I wanted to hear that..." Jennifer said to her. Ratchet, unsure of what to do, patted her good hand on Jen's back. Jennifer then realized that this gesture of friendship was pretty awkward, considering the extenuating circumstances of bloody dismemberment and grotesque bodily deformity.

Jennifer agreed with Ratchet, and then dashed back to where they originally had taken off. This time, Ratchet made sure to keep Jennifer in her sights, coasting a little more slowly as to not pass the shorter girl. She screeched to the halt when the Verthaven Police Department officer told them to turn around since the evacuation was the other way. Ratchet pondered this for a bit. "Oh, crap! I sent Winnie and Kate on a bus in that direction!" she cursed. "Geez, I hope they'll be okay..."

Ratchet turned around and followed Jen in the direction at which the VPD officer pointed. She skated alongside Jen, eyeing the bridge, until--

"Look out, what's that?!"

Ratchet, startled, screeched to a halt and nearly upended herself. She instinctively dropped her left arm to the ground to form a solid base before she went flying, and awkwardly saved herself from taking another spill. She looked up. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at the blue, milky mist rather quickly covering the district. The haze, like a violent tidal wave, swamped over the fleeing citizens.

Ratchet heard in the distance the somewhat unsettling moans of reanimated corpses/unconscious people, before the gunshots began. Ratchet had the sense to drop to the ground, though she didn't know how that would help her if she's got these fellows taking potshots into the air. Gravity is a thing, and Ratchet would prefer not to experience the harsher, more violent properties of force and motion.

She heard an uncomfortably close gunshot upon Jenny's call. Ratchet couldn't tell where anyone or anything was; the sound seemed lost in the fog. But Ratchet did hear an unmistakable thump. "Jesus, Jennifer, are you alright?!" Ratchet called. She then heard some disconcerting shooting noises within her vicinity; thankfully, none of them followed with pain in any vital areas of Ratchet's body. Ratchet could see Jennifer's fallen body on the ground, yet... she still moved and breathed. Ratchet crawled closer to Jennifer; upon closer inspection, she could see that Jen had begun to bleed. At the same time, though, the pool of blood had also begun to slow in expansion.

"Jen, can you hear me?" Ratchet called.

Ratchet heard Jennifer talking to someone else, but she couldn't tell who it was. She waited for Jennifer to finish her conversation (hot-headed as Ratchet was, she also had a grasp of the concept of courtesy).

The fog dissipated, and Jen stood up, calling for her companions. Ratchet struggled to her feet. "Present and accounted for," she hollered. Ratchet, upon looking at Jennifer once more, saw that although whatever hit Jen had punched a bleeding hole clear through her shirt, Jen herself had nary a scratch, let alone a gaping wound in her abdominal cavity, upon her pale skin. (Other than a bit of relative pastiness on the newly-formed hole.)

This led Ratchet to question whether Jen had been shot at all, though that doubt would beg the question of how Jen had gotten two parallel holes drilled into her shirt exactly where the awfully-bullet-hole-shaped pasty spots on both sides of her body were.

"Are you OK?" Ratchet asked. "I mean, besides..." She gestured with her palm to the blood on the floor. "I heard some shots."

Ratchet's surroundings worried her. The acrid smell of bodies in the first stages of decay, festering in pools of blood and grime and dirt... Collateral damage and dust, polluting the ground... Generally some unpleasant imagery.

[Luminous Beings]

s

[Punished GN]

---

Jennifer Marissa Caspin

_@ToadRopes

---

Jennifer didn't realize that Ratchet was even this close... It... She didn't know. Everything went real weird the second the fog hit. Maybe there was never a fog to begin with. Jen grabbed her head and sighed - the moments where she was shot ran through her head over and over again. Just... forget about it, Jen, it's over. She thought, wondering if it'd be that easy. Either way, she looked up at Ratchet, who asked if she was alright - implying that she knew that Jen was shot. She looked down, and saw the bloodied hole in her shirt, which was all but confirmation. "Yeah... I'm fine, I just want to get out of here." She put a hand over the bullet hole, or where it was. I'll have to grab a T-shirt on the way back, I can't let mom see this. She thought to herself - she was still trying to hide the fact that she was a Metahuman to the best of her ability. She's surprised that Ratchet didn't already deduce that she was a Metahuman. Maybe she brushed it off to the fog?

"Hey, you kids!" A man shouted in the distance, and Jennifer looked at him to see that it was a potbellied VPD officer. "Hurry up! You need to get out of here!"

That was Jennifer's cue to get out of here. While... the circumstances were less than ideal, and she didn't find Penny, she really thought that she made a friend out of Ratchet. And maybe... maybe that made the trip worth it in the end. She turned towards Ratchet, and nodded her head and said, "Thank you." In a very grateful tone. She would have said more, but she couldn't say much without breaking down into hysterics. It was time for her to leave - yet, she didn't want this to be the last time they met. Jen didn't know if Ratchet would be here all summer, or just this weekend, but she wanted to make sure that they'd meet again. There was a napkin on the ground - blowing in the wind, it was likely from someone's food - and Jen walked over and stepped on it. She reached down and picked up the napkin. Then she walked over to a nearby food vendor stand, selling nasty hotdogs, and reached in and grabbed a pen. She pressed the napkin against the stand and wrote down her cell-phone number.

Holding the napkin in her hand, she walked back over to Ratchet, and handed it to her. "... I... don't know how long you're sticking around Verthaven - especially after what happened - but here's my number if you want to meet me again." She nodded her head. "We can play games, I can show you around the city... or we can juuuuust - you know - talk." She said the last word very nervously, because she wasn't sure if she was interesting enough to maintain a conversation. Or if Ratchet would just cut ties with her, and never speak to her again. It'd be mighty easy for Ratchet to just drop the napkin and walk away as if she never saw Jen again.

Jennifer took two steps towards the police line - her gaze was still dead centered on Ratchet. She awkwardly pointed towards them, lowly saying, "I think I should head home before my mom gets worried... " Then she looked down at the bullet hole in her shirt. "... And I need to get a new shirt..."

Stepping away, the distance between them expanding with every step, "... I'll see you around."

---

Michelle Brianna Gallus

_{@He Who Walks Behind@Maxx}

---

"Welp Agent Gallus, looks like Director Caryl just made me your bodyguard from the time being. We need to get whatever package that you have back to base pronto."

Hmph. Michelle put the shotgun over her shoulder, a pose. She looked down (With her height, she had no choice but to) at Sam and this woman. She put her hand on her hip, and shot Sam a smirk. The Director herself told them to escort her back to base? Well, that old bitch must greatly underestimate Michelle's strength. She looked at Andy, then Selena. She kept two civilians safe, and took out a large number of the Fiends, along with tangling with Khan and coming out with a little bullet grazing her. Michelle shrugged, "We'll be drawing more attention than we need to, but if the Director herself said so, then I guess you have no choice." Michelle said - part of her wanted to decline and head there herself.... The likelihood of the Fiends singling her out and attacking her on the way there, when they're likely licking their wounds, was very low. Though... Something was off here. The Fiends, or anyone for that matter, aren't crazy enough to attack a crowded place like this, then run off, without good reason. Hell, NEST and the VPD had a heavy presence in the event to deter events like this.

The thought of what the Fiends (Or someone pulling their strings) have some sort of long term plan made her worried. Enough for her to put that gun in her hands, and stand on edge. "C'mon, then." Michelle said to them, wanting to get back to base soon as possible. Though, there was one thing she needed to address, Andy and Selena. She turned her head towards them, and looked down at them (Again). "Don't mention it." Michelle answered Andy, starting off, "Helping people, and stopping maniacs like the Fiends from going crazy, is why I joined NEST in the first place." Michelle nodded her head, and clenched her shotgun tighter... She couldn't shake off the welling-worry that the Fiends won in the long run. Andy asked if they could be assistance to Michelle, to that, she shook her head, and answered in a very professional tone, "Negative, I can get medical attention back at the NEST base." She was ignoring the pain from her transformation, and the bullet, thus far. She blamed the adrenaline. Her wounds still stung like hell, and they were bleeding, but she's fine. "... Uh, don't worry about me," She started off, "My power makes me a lot tougher, and helps me heal faster... This is just a flesh wound." Michelle felt like she was just bragging at this point (Though, it was true).

"Just... do me a favor and get out of here safe? The nice police officers over there will help you." Michelle told them, hastening her departure to the best of her ability. She began walking away, towards the bridge, and the line of NEST Agents. She spoke to Sam and the Nightingale, looking back at them halfway, "Let's go, we have lots of work to do." Yeah, they have to find out what surprise will arise later. She wasn't sure what would happen.

One thing's for certain...

... This city is fucking nuts.

---

Sunday, June 30th. 4:00 PM.

TVs across Verthaven showed a woman in a dark-purple pinstriped suit, standing in front of a bridge that lead into the Downtown Neighborhood - closed off by Police Officers, there was a police blocker, and two policemen standing at attention in front of it - holding a microphone.

"Hello, everybody, this is Molly Schuler with the news. It's one day after the very daunting assault on the Summer Festival, perpetrated by the gang known as the Fiends. A massive firefight took place between the Fiends, the VPD, and NEST as the the latter-two were attempting to restore order. The Fiends retreated, but not before causing damage that the City has to repair. And as a result, the downtown district has been completely locked down.." Clips went by of city-workers cleaning up the damage done to the district. "Reports say that fifty people dead, and hundreds more were injured - some critically - in the attack. As a result, NEST, and VPD efforts have been increased up to put an end to the Fiends, and bring the ones responsible for this attack to justice. The National Guard has been deployed to Verthaven in order to assist in their efforts. Launching Raids against known Fiend hangouts. So far, Raids have been going well, and dozens of Fiends have been arrested, while recovering millions of dollars worth of drugs owned by the Fiends." Videos of Military trucks rolling into the city limits were shown.

"The VPD Police Commissioner has advised everyone to report any and all suspected sighting of the Fiends, but do not approach or engage. They are extremely irrational and dangerous."

Molly dramatically paused for a moment, facing the camera with a neutral expression on her face. "However, that isn't the only news to report today. An Intelligence System Design lab in University Row has been found to be completely desolate. Every scientist has gone missing, every computer has been wiped clean, and several sections of the lab were destroyed entirely. All without a trace or hint as to what happened, or who's behind it. Going off scheduled shifts, every Scientist working was clocked in during the attack on the Summer Festival. It's been deduced that it's very unlikely that the Fiends are behind this. It has also been reported that at least ten other people were kidnapped during the Fiend's attack on the Festival. NEST Reports that each of the people gone missing are Metahumans. Everyone is asking... Are these events related? Now to Mike, with the weather."

---

---

Lihua VuHong

Massive Attack - Dissolved Girl

---

Silly Americans... If they had the same strict rules on their Metahumans as China, then we wouldn't be in this predicament to begin with.

The thoughts ran through Lihua's head as she took a bite of her glazed doughnut, wrapping it around a napkin so she doesn't get anything on her fingers (That'd be disgusting). She stepped through the halls of the NEST Headquarters. Her bright-red heels creating loud taps against the floor. People walked past her, and she didn't notice them. She had that condescending, and determined, look in her eyes that scared most people. Hell, with the black pinstriped suit she was wearing (With a nametag, and badge, over her breast), sharp and intellectual glasses, files she was carrying in one hand, black lipstick, she was on-point... Only undermined by the doughnut she was holding in her hand - but she couldn't resist! She just found them so good! She finished off the doughnut, and stepped into another room - offices. This was where Lihua did most of her work. She walked through cubicle after cubicle, until she found the one with the nametag of "LIHUA VUHONG, INTELLIGENCE OFFICIER". That meant she was here.

Lihua stepped into her cubicle, and planted herself firmly onto her computer chair - using her heeled shoe to push herself into her computer desk. She put the files on her desk, and began typing away. Just a few more things she had to sort out before this meeting started. "A-ha!" Lihua's hand quickly went to her phone, and she went through her contacts until she hit Meifeng. She hit dial, and she listened the phone ringing with a calm fury, tapping her red-painted fingernails on her desk. The second the other end answered, Lihua barked into her phone, "Meifeng, what are you doing in the Crystal Shores?"

"Hey, mom, relax," Meifeng said on the other end of the phone. "I'm just helping Jen look for her dog."

"You said that you were going to be in Central Valley, playing Basketball with your friends. I expect you to be doing just that." Lihua replied.

"Yeah, I was, but Jen came around, and she was really sad about losing her dog, so I offered to help her go look for it."

"... In the Crystal Shores?"

"... Yeah, we're just here for a little bit. Maybe get some food, enjoy the beach, then we'll head back to the Priscilla Isle." Meifeng said... only to get stern silence from Lihua.

"Fiends are everywhere, Meifeng, and the attack on the Festival proved how dangerous and desperate they are."

Meifeng was silent for a few second... before she came up with a way to change the subject. "... H-hey! You're tracking me with your NEST computers again, aren't you?! Isn't that, uh, against your protocol, or something!?"

Lihua leaned back in her chair, and smirked. "I'm simply monitoring a particularly troublesome Metahuman, and I'm an Intelligence Officer, it's my job to know things." She laughed for a few moments. "... And it's protocol here in America to grossly invade it's own citizen's privacy." She started snickering more intensely this time.

"... Hey, that's n-not funny!" Meifeng answered.

"I hope you realize how close the Crystal Shores are to the NEST Headquarters...." Lihua mused, still smirking. "Two minutes and I can be right there...." It'd be funny to ruin her daughter's fun for disobeying her. She spun slightly in her computer chair... and she looked over her shoulder and saw that the meeting was about to start. Lihua turned the phone away, and cursed in Chinese. "You and Jennifer best head back to the Priscilla Isle at once..."

Meifeng sighed out of relief on the other end of the phone.

"... Once my business is over, I'll come check up on you." Lihua said, as she stood straight up. "Zai jian." She said goodbye to her daughter in Chinese, like they always do. Lihua reached into her desk, and pulled out a USB drive, before she began walking out of the office, and started heading towards the meeting room.

Lihua stopped at the door, and smirked. She's going to be in a meeting with the director and some of the best NEST Agents. She pushed the door open, and....

---

The NEST Meeting

_{@He Who Walks Behind@Maxx}

Sonic Adventure - Theme of E-102y Gamma

---

"Lihua," The NEST Director said, sitting in the opposite end of a large, wooden, oval-shaped table. The room was large, grey, and rectangle-shaped. With no windows, and on the middle of the table there was a projector. Seated all around the table was various NEST Agents (Lihua recognized Michelle, Ariella, Agatha, Sam...). "I've been waiting for you, would you mind getting seated?" On cue, Lihua sat down on the table near the projector. "Now that we have our Intelligence Officer, we can get started." The Director leaned in forward, putting her hands to mouth level, interlocking her fingers. "You all should be well aware of what happened, so I'm not going to beat around the bush when I say that the situation is fu- not looking good." Miranda said.

"We've been played." Michelle said, her arms crossed, and looking forward in the most neutral facial expression she could muster. She was wearing her standard NEST uniform without armor. Underneath the wetsuit there was gauze and bandages wrapped around the bullet wound. Along with bandages around the wounds caused by her transformations. They stung like hell, but she'll be fine in the end. What really bothered her was all the people going missing. She was right. The Fiends were just a distraction, while someone else did their devilish deeds... Michelle turned her head to the side. When I get my hands on Khan... She thought to herself.

"It sure seems that way." The Director said, "We are entirely unsure of who is behind the disappearances in the lab, but we are certain it is not the Fiends." She closed her eyes, and looked around the group. "I want to devote efforts towards investigating the disappearances... but, the NEST Council demands that we focus most of our efforts on eliminating the Fiends." She took in a deep breath, then let it all out. "Which is what we'll do. Intelligence Officer Lihua, did you gather the information I requested?"

"I have, ma'am." Lihua replied, monotone.

"Review the information, please."

Lihua nodded her head, stood up, and placed the USB drive into the projector. The lights of the room went dim as the projector turned on. "First, I'd like to discuss the Fiend's special mutagen." It displayed pictures of the Fiends brandishing their mutagens vials, and Fiends after they've mutated. Lihua stood up, and walked over to the projection. "The attack on the Festival told us that their use of Mutagens was much more widespread than previously believed. Before we thought they only sold small amounts of it at a high-price, and few members took it during gang brawls." Lihua nodded her head, as the imagine changed to a Fiend that was hideously covered in muscles, throwing a hot-stand stand several meters in the air. "After analyzing the Mutagen Agent recovered by Agent Gallus, it has been discovered that the Agents use low dosages of the raw form of the Metahuman energy in order to induce temporary powers at the cost of hideous." The image changed again to a female Fiend breathing a toxic. "Only organization that is allowed to use raw Metahuman energy is the Intelligent System Designs corporation."

"So what you're saying is that the ISD is giving the Fiends this stuff?" Michelle asked Lihua, with a raised eyebrow.

"It could be the ISD..." Lihua looked at Miranda Caryl for a moment, and they exchanged. "... It could be a splinter group of them, or a whole new faction altogether. Point being is that someone is supplying them with this toxic mutagen." She grabbed the tips of her glasses, and adjusted them slightly. "... It goes without saying what we have to do."

"Does anyone know where do we even start?" Michelle asked.

"... Thus far..." Lihua sighed, "We have no solid leads, but does anyone have anything to contribute before I review anymore intelligence?"

---

Jennifer Marissa Caspin, & Meifeng VuHong

_@ToadRopes

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure - Arrivederci!

---

Both Jennifer and Meifeng stopped off the bus, having been dropped off in the Crystal Shores - with the latter just finishing her conversation with her mother. "... Dāi huǐr jiàn." Meifeng said, before hanging up the phone and sliding it into the pockets of her red basketball shorts, as they continued walking down the street. A NEST Truck drove by.

"... She didn't buy it?" Jennifer asked, in a lowly tone.

"... She didn't buy it." Meifeng sighed, hunching forward somewhat. "She'll be right here any moment. Damn, I thought she'd be busy!" Meifeng hissed.

"Well..." Jennifer trailed off. "We got on our swimsuits and everything, we might as well just meet her already." Jenny gestured down at their outfits. She was wearing jean-shirts, and combat boots, and an N7 T-shirt (Mass Effect merchandise she got from Amazon) - Underneath it was a cyan blue two-piece bikini. And Meifeng was wearing her basketball team uniform, red basketball pants, and a rather tight jersey - with a matching red two-piece bikini. The whole point of this trip was to meet the girl Jennifer met last night, Ratchet. In truth, neither of them were supposed to be out here - with the attack on the Festival, everyone's on high alert. It was just that Jennifer wanted to meet Ratchet... and she didn't want to come alone, and she asked Meifeng, and Meifeng was happy to go alone... They agreed that the beach was the best place to meet since Ratchet was staying in Knightdale rows.

It just made more sense. Ratchet didn't know the city that well - most likely not well enough to cross two isles to get to them.

"Yeah, but are you sure that you want my crazy mom interrupting you?" Meifeng asked Jen.

Jennifer shrugged, "I... don't think it'll be that bad?"

"Pttf... It'll be that bad alright." Meifeng shook her head.

It wasn't long until the two girls made it to the beach. They stepped through the stone walls, and made it onto the concrete pathways of the beach.

Now to find Ratchet...

[ToadRopes]

Injae Park

@Mr Allen J

---

"Hey, no prob," Ratchet said, brushing her good hand in mid-air. She watched as Jen found a napkin, wrote something on it, and pressed it into her hand.

"... I... don't know how long you're sticking around Verthaven - especially after what happened - but here's my number if you want to meet me again." She nodded her head. "We can play games, I can show you around the city... or we can juuuuust - you know - talk."

Ratchet took the napkin and folded it, putting it into her pocket, making a mental note to punch that into her cell phone. She nodded and smiled at Jen. "Thanks. I'll text you once I put the number in."

The cops continued to usher people out the bridge. Ratchet heard Jen's last remarks, before waving to her and crossing the bridge.

"Shoot, do I have enough money to catch a bus?" she muttered, sticking her hand into her denim pouch. Thankfully, she had enough cash to pay the fare and return to her aunt's place. Ratchet walked, her hands behind her, to the bus station, and waited for a bus.

---

"Now, listen, young lady," Ratchet's father said, "I don't want you stepping foot on Rosalina Isle until this whole Fiend thing blows over."

"You don't have to worry about me," Ratchet said. "The only Rosalina I'm associating with during this trip'll be the one in my games."

Mr. Park patted Ratchet. "You know that I want to keep you, Winston, and Kate safe, right?"

"Is that even a question?" Ratchet asked. Hell no she ain't going back to that island if there's going to be terrorists running around, shooting people. If there weren't terrorists, that would be a different story. But the fact of the matter is, there are terrorists. And therefore Ratchet's keeping her distance.

Mr. Park turned his head at the door. "Injae, why don't you go to the beach for a little bit?" he suggested. "You can't spend all your time in Verthaven cooped up in your cousin's room."

I wasn't gonna, Ratchet thought to herself, before checking her iPhone. Her father slammed the door shut. As soon as Ratchet had returned home the previous night, she put the number into her contacts Good as her word, she had texted Jennifer (albeit with a simple Hi! ;)). She wondered if Jen had a Facebook account or an Instagram. She would have to find out.

Ratchet had been lying on her cousin's twin-size bed in a clean (shocker!) T-shirt and underwear. She pulled off her T-shirt and brassiere, before digging through her luggage for her one-piece swim suit. "Winston, you better not come in here," she hollered, hearing a thump on the door. Ratchet put on the white one-piece and slipped her T-shirt back on, before tugging on her overalls and packing her phone, wrench, screwdriver, and Nintendo 3DS into her pocket.

---

Knightsdale Rows was quite close to the Crystal Shores, though Kate had warned her that some of the locals didn't like trespassers on their property. "Figures, with these high-end rich folks. They probably don't want a machine-girl trodding all over their white sand," Ratchet mused.

"Gommo, can I borrow your moped?" Ratchet asked, walking into the kitchen to get through to the garage. "I'll be extra careful."

"Injae, I know you're never careful," her aunt replied, "yet you still haven't managed to kill yourself in an accident. I suppose it couldn't hurt." She tossed the ignition key to Ratchet.

"Well, it could, but yeah, I haven't died. Yet." Ratchet caught the key and put it in her pocket. She swiped an orange tube of sunblock off the kitchen island.

This type of morbid humor was somewhat commonplace with Ratchet.

"Have fun. Remember to keep your phone on," her aunt called as Ratchet opened the door to the garage.

"Got it, Gommo," Ratchet replied, before shutting the door behind her and pressing the garage door button. "Love ya," she added. With a rumble, the slats of the garage door slowly opened and folded into the ceiling, wobbling a bit, as Ratchet found her aunt's midnight-blue Vespa. Ratchet wheeled the moped out the garage door and eased onto it, before starting it up and turning around, driving down the street and turning the corner. She steered remarkably well for someone with one arm. Thankfully, the accelerator was right-hand oriented, otherwise she would have some trouble moving around.

The beach was relatively close, enough so that Ratchet could find it just via the street signs. It took her a little bit of time, since Ratchet hadn't really driven around alone in Verthaven since her vacation began.

Ratchet's hair blew behind her, pinned in that clamp of hers, as she drove down the streets and turned into the beach's parking lot. She found a space and unfolded the kickstand, pulling out the key and removing her helmet. She smelled the salt of the ocean and heard the cawing of seagulls. A flock had congregated near the sand-dusted entrance to the beach. "MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE! MINE!" Ratchet crowed, scattering the seagulls. Ha. She always wanted to do that.

She thought about it, and figured that she should've recorded that on video and put it on Instagram. Not for the likes, but for teh lulz.

Ah, well, Ratchet thought, shrugging with a "Mmrenh." She pulled out her iPhone and snapped a photo of the beach, before making a post on Instagram.

Ratchet had worn her sneakers, but no socks. If she was going to get wet--wait, she forgot to bring a towel. "Goddammit," Ratchet muttered. She could dry out in the sun, she supposed.

If it's one thing Ratchet didn't like, it's stuff that got in her shoes. Ratchet swore that Astroturf was a race of evil aliens that inhabit synthetic football fields, preparing to unleash their assault on planet Earth from the soles of the Dinkles of marching bands all over the United States. Sand was no different; if anything, sand was even more annoying given the minuscule size of the granules. I ?!$#@ing hate getting sand in my shoes, Ratchet thought. She wasn't going to let that screw up her beach day. Balancing her iPhone on her false forearm, she double-tapped the home button, swiped her apps over to Messages, and texted Kate. At the beach. Love you! :)

Ratchet put her phone back into her pocket, shutting it off with a click. She would have to get a phone peripheral for her fiberglass arm sometime; one of these days her phone's gonna fall right out and shatter. That would be bad.

Ratchet continued to walk down the beach. The sea breeze blew her shoulder-length ponytail in the opposite direction. Ratchet adjusted the clamp so that it didn't blow right off, and raised her thick arms, letting the breeze flow into her sleeves. The air had a pleasant, salty smell and the waves shone in the sunlight. "Thank goodness that Verthaven isn't all like what happened yesterday," Ratchet said to herself.

Ratchet spotted two other people on the beach, or rather, on the sidewalk. She squinted, and as she walked back towards the sidewalk, she could recognize Jen. Ratchet beamed and broke into a run. "Jennifer!" Ratchet called, her long legs allowing her to cover ground slightly more quickly than an average girl would.

Ratchet caught up to Jennifer and Meifeng. "Hey, what's up?" she asked. She was in a significantly better mood than yesterday's, mostly attributed to the significant lack of cis scum and crazed mutant terrorists in the general vicinity. "Fancy meeting you here, Jen! D'you live around here?" Ratchet asked. She then turned to Meifeng. "Whoops, there's another person here. I'm Ratchet, but not for the reason you might think," Ratchet added, sticking out her right hand for a shake. "You friends with Jen??

[Maxx]

---

Sam Clarke

@Mr Allen J
@He Who Walks Behind

---

It had been a rough and incredibly boring day. From the time Sam had gotten to work to five minutes before the meeting, he had been buried in paperwork from NEST and KINGFISHER all day; police reports, cross-examinations of witness accounts, profiles of the alleged kidnap victims. He had read the profiles of the ten metahumans who went missing during the fair, but he hadn't been able to figure out any pattern between them. He scanned the profiles over to KINGFISHER headquarters in Mendel and figured they would be better at finding the links than he would. While dull and boring, he figured it was better than being shot at. Yet again, invisibility couldn't hide you from your paperwork, whereas bullets...

He put those thoughts out of his mind. Of course he preferred paperwork over getting shot at. Sure there wasn't that same rush of adrenaline and sense of hunter-like euphoria that overtook him when fighting, but it was only normal to prefer non-deadly situations...right? He sipped his coffee and plowed through, burying himself in his work to stave off the thoughts. There was always something rather therapeutic about doing the same arduous, mechanical task over and over again. Soon the meeting started, and he came on down to the conference room, where he met up with Anastasia. Technically, she still wasn't a KINGFISHER agent per-say, but after the day before he had begun to trust her. Admittedly, he wasn't sure how comfortable he was trusting someone from outside of the Agency, but she had saved his life before. If she had ill intention, why wouldn't she have just let him die?

As he sat down in his seat across from Lihua, a member of the agency who he admittedly wanted nothing to do with. It wasn't until he sat down in his chair and took a briefing folder from the table that he realized how truly hungry he was. He had worked right through lunch to get the paperwork done, and boy was he starving. After the meeting he'd have to get the KINGFISHERs together for an early dinner or something. A few seconds later, KINGFISHER CONDOR sat down to Sam's right.

"How are the feds, Samson?" Sam asked.

"They're absolutely awful." CONDOR replied in his Rwandan accent "I'd take NEST anyday over the damn FBI. So many protocols, and they all look at me like I'm some kind of monster." The room quieted and the meeting began.

---Allen's post pretty much goes here---

"Exactly how difficult would it be for someone else to acquire metahuman energy, though?" Sam asked "It doesn't sound like something which is easy to acquire, but I'm sure that other scientific agencies with a less ethical approach to things could theoretically acquire them. Perhaps the Fiends are being fed by someone else. If I am correct, however, I believe that my colleague Samson Omondi, codename KINGFISHER CONDOR, has been researching the mutagen alongside the FBI." He turned to CONDOR, who stood up at his seat.

"I have been working with the FBI as well as VPD detectives, but we haven't found anything more than what agent VuHong has already said. I would like permission to look into the Intelligent Defense System more closely. Perhaps the FBI and I can find some more compelling leads. It's possible that there could be a double agent within the company who is supplying the Fiends with the mutagen." The word "double agent" seemed to ripple through the room like the shockwave of an explosion. Sam sat back in his seat and looked up at the ceiling. God this was dull. He wished the conference room had a window to stare out of.

---

Rafael Davila

---

"Good evening, everyone. This is Sandra Collins from CNN with our four o'clock report on the Verthaven Lockdown." all around the United States, film of the police line separating Downtown from the rest of Verthaven was shown, a news reporter in a red pantsuit standing in front of it. Superimposed in the top right-hand corner of the screen was a picture of a chain-link fence with the words "VERTHAVEN LOCKDOWN" across the front of it. Behind the fence, darkness and fires rising from the abyss. The title at the bottom of the report read "50 dead in Verthaven Terrorist Attack". From the standpoint of nation and international news media, the terrorist attack was the best thing since the Baltimore Riots in April. The front page of CNN was a dramatic picture of a man in a gas mask standing above a woman cowering in fear, a haze of fog obscuring the background, and all morning CNN and Fox News had been reporting the situation from Downtown Verthaven.

"As of this exact moment, the exact death toll of the attack yesterday is fifty, and the hospitals are packed with the wounded. A few hours ago, the National Guard arrived" the footage cut to film of Humvees driving down a central street downtown as the reporter continued talking "and since then things have gotten quite interesting. At least four suspected Fiend hideouts around Verthaven have been raided by a combination of NEST and National Guard troops, and the number of gang members apprehended is estimated to be around fifty," a number which she blindly pulled out of her ass as the footage switched back to her standing at the closed-off bridge "We now take you to James Schuyler, who is at NEST Headquarters with the NEST Director of Media. James?"

The footage cut to outside of the NEST Headquarters on Isabella Isle. A middle-aged caucasian man with balding brown hair stood outside, a microphone in his hand. Next to him, Rafael Davila, NEST's Director of Media Relations, stood with his hands behind his back and a look of general disinterest on his face. He was a tall and imposing man, 6'3" with a look of professionality to him. He wore a black suit with NEST insignias on the shoulders and a purple-and-white striped tie.

"Thanks Sandra," he said "I am here with Mr.Rafael Davila, NEST's Director of Media Relations. What can you tell us about NEST's efforts in this lockdown, Director?"

"Not much that you don't already know, James." Davila said, a slight Hispanic accent to his voice "NEST is working very hard to ensure that the people of Verthaven are safe, and our agents are stationed around the city in areas where we know that a Fiend presence exists. Thanks to assistance from the National Guard, we have been able to fully secure the Rosalina Isle district and can assure citizens in these areas that, so long as they stay in their homes and abide by the rules of the lockdown, they are perfectly safe."

"Can you give us more information on these supposed raids of Fiend hideouts around the city?" James asked.

"Due to the sensitive nature of those raids, I cannot, James. I can tell you, however, that with the help of the National Guard, we have been able to bring many of the members of the Fiends to justice."

"Good, good." James trailed off "Now I'm sure you're expecting someone to bring up this video footage which was caught during the attack and went absolutely viral." The screen split, and on the other side a video from a smart phone was pulled up. It showed the fair enshrouded in fog, and limping through it several of the animated dead which Khan had summoned, their arms outstretched and their mouths agape and dripping saliva. "Now what can you tell us about this seemingly zombie-like encounter, Director?" Rafael paused a moment, thinking of what to say.

"Well we know that this was an incident caused by a metahuman member of the Fiends, James." Rafael said "Their name and information have yet to be discovered or declassified, but we know that they are not in NEST's database of registered metahumans, meaning that they are almost certainly a professional criminal. We also know that this fog has a hallucinogenic effect, making this metahuman extremely dangerous."

"Interesting. And what plans does NEST have in protecting people from this powerful meta? Do you have a way to counteract her abilities?" Once again, Rafael paused.

"Well, figuring out how to counter metahumans is a task that takes a lot of time," Rafael said "Because a metahuman ability is something which is unique to every metahuman, we cannot create any sort of counter for a metahuman ability until we can analyze their DNA, which, in this case, we do not have. Needless to say, our agents are on full alert for this metahuman, and if anyone sees any kind of supernatural-looking fog or experiences unexplained hallucinations, please dial 911."

"Alright. So what about these disappearances in University Row, Mr.Davila? Do these have any connections to the attacks yesterday?"

"Well it sure seems like it, James," Rafael said "But I cannot speak definitively on the matter. Our detectives are in the process of investigating the disappearances of those men. We at NEST send our condolences to all of those families who are missing loved ones due to those kidnappings. We will do everything in our power as an organization to see to it that those men and women of Intelligent Defense Systems are brought back home safely."

"We know you will," James said "That about wraps us up, Director. Thank you for speaking with me."

"It's always a pleasure, James." Rafael said. The camera stopped rolling and Rafael took a deep sigh.

"Thanks for that, Rafael." James said after a moment "You feel like getting some coffee?"

"Wish I could James, but I've got to get back to HQ." Rafael said.

"Alright, then," James said "See you around." The man walked away, and Rafael rolled his eyes. God, he hated news reporters.

---

Eva Chilver

---

When Eva got home, she locked her door and ran upstairs into her bedroom with Orion at her heels. She crashed into her bed, pulled, the pillow over her face, and cried. For about a solid hour she cried, and as she did the roses in the garden box outside of her window wilted. Orion snuggled up next to her and he too began to whimper, hearing his master's cries of fear. God, she was never leaving home again. That night, she ate dinner in her room, snuggled up near all of her animals, and then drank some tea and talked to them to calm her down. Talking to her animals always made her feel better.

The next day, Eva went to work at the zoo as normal and tried to bury herself in her work. She couldn't help but think back to all of the things that had happened yesterday, though. After she left the safety of her bench, she ran home through the wasteland. As she did, she couldn't help but notice all of the bodies laying around, and bloodstains on the sidewalks. She had never been more terrified in her life; she had watched one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in United States history right before her very eyes. The animals didn't giver her much trouble (they never did), and though she was distracted she got everything done. She didn't talk much all day, and went home as soon as she could, where she planned to sit and drink tea for the rest of her evening. Goliath, her Rhinoceros Iguana, had other ideas, however.

"No, I'm not going out tonight, Goliath." she said. The iguana croaked back.

"No! My decision is final! This place isn't very safe right now and I don't want to take my chances." He croaked again. They continued arguing for about five more minutes. In the end, the iguana won, and Eva decided to take a load off and go to the beach. This time of day, the number of tourists would be decreasing, and she would be able to relax in peace. She put on a seafoam green bikini top, a pair of jean shorties, seafoam green flip flops, and a pair of green sunglasses. She grabbed a backpack and placed a few items in it: a beach towel, some sunscreen, Orion's frisbee for when he inevitably got bored. Then she put Goliath's and Orion's leashes on and they walked out of the door.

It was a very short walk from Eva's apartment to the beach. Most of her neighbors had gotten used to her walking down the street with a lizard the size of a beagle, and there were few tourists around (Eva was sure this had to do with the attacks). When she arrived at the beach, it was relatively clear. She found a nice flat spot of ground and rolled her beach towel out. Then she put sunscreen on her stomach, back, arms, and legs, and laid down in the sun.

She had only been laying there for a few minutes when Orion began to get bored. He ran around the sand, jumping at seagull and frightening tourists (Eva began to understand exactly why there was an ordinance against a dog not having a leash on) until Eva decided to shut him up. She sighed, petting Goliath, who was just fine snuggling down in the sand and taking a nap, and whispering to him "I wish all animals were as chill as you." She got up and went to chase the dog. Goliath shrugged and waddled over onto the beach towel, where he curled up in a little ball and quickly fell asleep in the sunlight.

Orion ran towards a small crowd of girls talking at the edge of the beach, his eyes locked on a seagull behind them. If he could just catch it...Just as he reached them, Eva shouted for him to stop. He came to an abrupt halt and looked back, whimpering. She walked over and clipped a leash onto his collar (not that it would matter; he could pull her weight).

"Sorry about that." she said to the girls. Then she noticed one of the girls as a student at the Academy; Meifong.

"Oh hey!" she said "You go to Academy 12, don't you?"

[Punished GN]

---

The NEST Meeting

_@Maxx

---

Lihua's gaze from underneath her glasses went directly to Agent Clarke, and CONDOR. They certainly have much to contribute. "The ISD's method of extracting raw Metahuman energy is via a device specially designed to drain the energy out of Metahumans.... Theoretically speaking; anyone that gets their hands on such a device, and have the methods of containing it, could obtain Metahuman energy." Lihua answered Sam's question with the most professional demeanor. She thinks that she got it clear why she's NEST's Intelligence Officer. And why that filled her with so much pride. She earned the position, and was dedicated enough to spend the last couple hours absorbing as much information as possible - as per the Director's orders. Though, she doubted any of these jarheads even reviewed anything... Which is why she's here to fill them in.

Hmph? Raw Metahuman energy? Michelle honestly didn't know that there was a way to extract the energy... but, maybe there was something else going on here. While they were talking, she was fiddling with her gigantic thumbs, trying to make sense of all of this. She didn't know why they made her come to this meeting. Meetings and arrangements like this weren't her kind of thing. Michelle was more of a soldier. Yet, she was determined to get to the bottom of this as every other person in the room. Which is why she was going to give it her all. "... Permission to speak, Director?" Michelle said the very second Lihua and KINGFISHER stopped talking, standing straight up at attention.

The Director answered, "You may proceed."

"Thank you, Director." Michelle said, in the most orderly manner she could. She was talking to the Director, and usually she'd be a bit more lax - but you don't disrespect the Director. She'll have you scrubbing toilets having someone took a super-shit in it. Michelle looked around the room - all eyes were on her, she knew she couldn't screw this up - before she began with her theory, "I have a personal theory; what if the attack on the lab was to recover means to steal Metahuman energy?" She started off, looking around for reactions in the room. "It only makes sense, ma'am. A lab gets raided for all it's equipment, and ten people were kidnapped - doesn't that sound like someone wants to get some of the energy?" It quickly became clear to Michelle that, in the Super-Science world, Metahuman energy was as valuable as oil to the United States... and people are just as willing to spill blood for it. "Continuing off that, what if it was an inside job, too? It's entirely possible that crooked ISD Scientists have been creating Mutagen for the Fiends."

"Interesting thesis, Ms. Gallus..." The Director said, "Which is why I'm all for investigating the lab in University Row - and all ISD operations within the bounds of Verthaven." The Director turned towards CONDOR and Sam. "You have full permission to launch an investigation into the ISD."

There was something about this Lihua couldn't put her finger on - she didn't know what, but she knew it was best that she keeps it to herself. At least until she gets something more concrete. She nodded her head. "... If we're off this subject, may I continuing reviewing information? I have much to say about the Fiend's Hierarchy, and other key notes." Lihua adjusted her glasses.

"You may proceed, Agent VuHong." The Director said.

Lihua nodded her head, and the projection changed to a line of Fiends, armed with garden tools, walking down the street. "The Fiend's chain of leadership, due to their chaotic nature, is very hard for us to be certain." Lihua adjusted her glasses, and then continued, "Yet, we know that there are at least four high-ranking members of the Fiends under Khan. Each of them command different areas of the Fiend's territory, and they were likely chosen by her because they're equally dangerous Metahumans."

The projection switched to the image of a very tall (Nearly the height of Michelle) Caucasian man, thin, lanky, and was wearing a longcoat that dragged onto the floor, and had a greasy head of unkempt hair. Along with the Fiend trademark gas mask. "This is Aiden Smith, also known as Long Dragon, first of the Fiend's lieutenants, and the one who we know the most about. He is known to command Fiends in the Bazaar Riviera." The projection snapped to another image, of a tall, black-skinned, reptilian creature. At least twenty-feet tall, and had very thin limbs, hands tipped off with massive claws, a long snout, glowing white eyes, and, and four wings. "As you can see here, he is capable of transforming into a massive Dragon-like creature. Capable of breathing fire, flight, extreme feats of strength, and is tough enough to resist small arms."

"I fought him, he's one tough bastard." Michelle mentioned.

The projection image changed to a woman, Asian, sickly pale skin, short, and had very lanky - very well toned - limbs. She was shooting down a group of Highway Stars with an AK-47 - while they took cover. "Sulfur, the second Lieutenant we discovered - yet, we haven't confirmed her actual identity. She's seemingly Khan second in command, going off how often they're seen together on the field, and the authority she holds over the Fiends. We suspect that she has familiar ties with Khan." The image changed to a greenish-black sludge stretching forward, filling the street - seemingly melting vehicles as it created a yellow gas. "We don't know her exact ability, but it seemingly revolves around creating a toxic substance that causes a chemical reaction when it collides with metal that breaks it down, and produces a toxic gas in the process. This gas is capable of causing severe chemical-burns, and severe lung damage, and suffocation, if inhaled." The Gai Hexin Yuan would have made her a fine soldier. Lihua thought to herself as she continued.

The projection changed, to a tall, Caucasian, that was very muscular, and shirtless. He stood in between two gates, with his arms rested on both sides of the gate. He looked at the camera-person very seductively through his gas mask. Lihua looked at the projection for a moment, confused, as she looked through the files she was holding. "This is John Travis, also known as... Miss Director, are you sure we have the correct name?"

"Yes." She answered.

Which made Lihua sigh. "I don't get paid enough for this..." She muttered underneath her breath, "... Big-Dong Travis-" She made it clear that it was painful to say that, a direct insult to her pride. "-one of the lieutents that we know the most about. He usually engages in... fornication parties, with the other Fiends, and willing participants. Yet, Travis is the Fiend responsible for many of the Fiends larger drug trades with organized crime in, and out, of Verthaven. It is also suspected that Travis has access to serums that can give people powers - most commonly sold to the wealthy in Turtle-Creek." Lihua adjusted her glasses, and continued, "... Which we believe that he has taken himself. Up until a few months ago, he had no powers. Now, he's likely their most destructive Fiend." The image changed to Travis, now several feet tall, and skin was jet-black and shiny (Coated with bulging red veins), being fired upon by teams of NEST Agents - which had no effect on him. "Like Long Dragon, he is capable of changing forms. He can transform into a super-strong, super-dense, form - which is seemingly impervious to physical attacks - yet, we suspect that energy attacks may have an effect on him."

Everyone looked on and wondered how a lowly band of tweakers were getting all this stuff.

Lihua coughed, and the projection flipped to another image, to an thin Caucasian female, wearing combat pants, and a t-shirt, her face was obscured by a gas mask. Various burns on her body was seen as was in the middle of what seemed to be a tornado - objects and debris were flying around wildly, and getting crushed. "This is Burnmark, the newest Fiend Lieutenant we identified, and she's the most unpredictable one - suspected to be a side-effect of her." Lihua stepped to the side, and continued, "As you can see, she's telekinetic without control... Her power creates a wild telekinetic storm that destroys everything that's close enough."

Lihua nodded her head, before the projection changed to Khan herself, standing on a roof with a grenade launcher over her shoulder. "You all should know who this is, Khan. The one Fiend that has authority over them all. We have little information as to who she is, or where she came from - but we do know that she is a soldier of some sort. She's demonstrated impressive hand-to-hand and combat skills. She is our highest priority target." The last image the projection displayed was her fog, and the creatures she revived shambling inside the fog as silhouettes. "Her power is... very strange. She is capable of creating a fog that revives the dead and unconscious, which Khan seemingly has control over. The fog also causes hallucinations to the point where standing inside the fog can cause insanity. Along with the ability to turn into the fog, Khan is very hard to apprehend and track." Lihua nodded her head. "The attack on the Festival told us that the range she's capable of spreading the fog is much larger than we believed. She's capable of blanketing an entire city neighborhood with it - even for a few minutes." Lihua looked around the room, before nodding her head.

"This is all we know about the Fiends lieutenants."

"I have a question..." Michelle raised her hand. "... Where the hell were they during the attack on the Festival?" She then shrugged.

The two women exchanged glances for a moment, before Lihua answered, "Their whereabouts were unknown at the time." She looked around the room. "Any comments or suggestions?" She asked the group.

---

Jennifer Marissa Caspin, & Meifeng VuHong

_{@ToadRopes@Maxx}

---

"Jennifer!"

Speak of the devil - finding Ratchet wasn't as hard as Jennifer previously thought. Both girls turned towards Ratchet, and Jen smiled widely, waving her hand at her new friend. "Inj- Ratchet!" They both stood there as Ratchet approached them. There were certainly a few similarities between Meifeng and Ratchet - both were taller (than her), somewhat athletic (Or tomboy), and were Asian. That was all in looks. Hopefully, Jennifer would be able to see Ratchet's personality outside of a life or death situation. And Jen could tell that Ratchet was in a much better mood - So was everyone! She couldn't name a single person that wouldn't be happy to make it out without a scratch.... Images of the bullet running through her flash through her thoughts yet again. Her eyes started racing around - disconnected from reality - as her mind tried desperately to calm her down.

"... Jen, you okay there?" Meifeng asked, with her, seemingly trademark, smirk.

It was enough to get her back in reality. "Y-yeah, I'm fine... Just a little hot." Jen said, trying her best to cover up her anxiety. She turned to Ratchet, and coughed. "... N-no, me and my friend here-" Jen watched as Meifeng turned towards her with her arms crossed, it took her a little bit to realize that she forgot to even introduce her. "-Live in the Priscilla Isle, and we decided to visit the beach...." She trailed off, scratching the back of her neck. "I was, kinda hoping to meet you here, you got my text right?" She awkwardly said, her eyes drifting over to the side.

Meifeng couldn't help but crack a smirk that bared her teeth. That was Jen for ya'. Didn't know how to do social interactions worth shit. It's a wonder that they met in that shitstorm. Though, Ratchet decided to actually acknowledge Meifeng, and introduce herself... As Ratchet. What a silly name. Who would use a tool as their nickname? Nobody, that's who. Though, enough of that, it was time for introductions! This will be fun. "My name is Meifeng, basketball superstar, it's great to meet you, Ratchet." Meifeng said, her accent was very thick. "And, yeah, I'm Jen's friend," She started off, she slid over to Jen, and quickly slung her arm around her shoulder - getting a quick, "Hey!" from Jen. Meifeng smiled widely, and leaned inwards, using her ounce of her strength not to let Jen go. "Jen here wanted to go to the beach! And I wouldn't let her go alone - what? So those crazy Fiends can tear her apart? - so I elected myself to go with her!" Meifeng explained what happened.

Managing to wrestle out of Meifeng's grip (By sliding downwards), Jennifer got herself free. She took a few steps away, then looked at Ratchet, then Meifeng. "... That's what happened." Jen confirmed, coughing. "But, now that you're here, do you just want to, you know? Hang out? We can talk just like I said..."

"Yeah, it's a beautiful day!" Meifeng looked up at the sun - not directly into it. "... Just tell me if you see a tall, crazy, Chinese woman in a suit! Hehe!" She laughed, and Jen started laughing very nervously. A fucking dog ran towards them, and Meifeng was pretty certain that the damn thing was going to take a bite out of them. "Oh shit!" She said, as she reached towards each side of her waist - as if she was reaching for something. Fuck! I don't have my water bottles! In which case, Meifeng dropped into stance.

Jen's eyes were wide, and she was taking plenty of steps back. The immediate thoughts in her head, were: I'm about to demonstrate my regeneration again, aren't I?

Before Meifeng had to kick this dog a new one, it's owner told it to stop - and like a complacent pup, it just sat down. Which was a relief to all three girls. Jennifer sighed, while Meifeng put her hands on her hips, and looked the woman down. She was some blonde-haired girl, wearing beach-goer-wear like everyone else. As she got closer, Meifeng noticed that they were pretty much the same height.

"Sorry about that."

Well, Jennifer didn't hold it against this woman. She stopped her dog before it could bite anyone, and that was fine. "Yeah, it's fine. Nobody got hurt."

Meifeng wanted to say something along the lines of "Watch your dog", or "Watch yourself", but that'd be rude, and unnecessarily hostile. Her mother told her to pick her fights very carefully... and don't be overtly passive-aggressive. She just shrugged, eyes absentmindedly closed, and said, "No harm, no foul, I guess." She was detached, and pretty much uncaring. Because this blonde-haired broad would be gone in no time. Though, that changed with one question....

"Oh hey!" she said "You go to Academy 12, don't you?"

Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit... The thoughts ran through Meifeng's head as this broad basically broadcasted (Pun totally intended) that Meifeng (and herself, really) was a Metahuman. This made Meifeng begin loudly coughing, in order to cover up mention of Academy 12. Drawing plenty of attention to her. Last thing that Meifeng wanted to do was give out that she was a Metahuman, especially if her two friends are frightened by them - And the Pure are fucking everywhere in this city! Then she looked at Eva... and kinda recognized her. She didn't know. There was a lot of people at Academy 12. She couldn't remember all of them. Meifeng leaned in, and whispered to Eva, "What are you trying to do? Broadcast that I'm a meta...?" She asked, somewhat annoyed. The only thing that'd be worse is people knowing that her mother is with NEST! "Yes, I go there, just be a little more lowkey next time, okay?" Meifeng pushed her weight back, and stood normally.

Academy... Jennifer wondered what Eva was going to say before Meifeng cut her off. She wanted to ask, but it seemed like Meifeng was trying to hide something - going off how she was whispering to her. She wanted to ask what was that about, but she was afraid that she'd overstep her boundaries! So, she choose to find a way to distract herself. Jennifer looked off to the side - and saw a group of five young women walk by. She certainly found a distraction once her eyes landed on one particularly large backside.

She blushed.

[ToadRopes]

Injae Park

@Mr Allen J @Maxx

---

Ratchet nodded in the affirmative. Um, she didn't specify which text, so technically Ratchet wasn't lying. But she decided to leave it at that.

Ratchet tilted her head in respect for Meifeng. "B-ball all-star, eh? Nice. I do marching band; I'm the trumpet section leader for this year and I have a solo in our field show's opener. Marching band is at least just as competitive and physically taxing as any other sport, so I don't get why people don't consider it one. Thankfully, I'm still getting my phys. ed credits from it." Ratchet rolled her eyes; the idea of marching band not being a sport was beyond her.

Ratchet turned back to Jen. "Hey, sure. We're all standing on the beach; it wouldn't do to just stand around and twiddle our thumbs or something--"

Barking.

Ratchet jumped back. "Holy mackerel!" she yelped. The seagull squawked and fluttered away as Ratchet backed into the spot where the bird had just stood. "Dog alert!"

But just as quickly, a woman not much older than any of them commanded the canine to stop before it could plow into any of them; obediently, the dog took a seat.

A question addressed to Meifeng seemed to significantly agitate the Chinese girl, though Ratchet didn't particularly take interest. Though her frantic desperation to silence the woman did raise Ratchet's eyebrow. She'd have to ask once she got the chance...

Ratchet turned to Jen, who was staring off into the distance at a group of five women. "So, um, you play Smash, I heard you say before, well, you know," Ratchet said, trying to initiate a conversation. "Who do you main? I'm not ashamed to admit that I use Rosalina. A lot. Though I do use Lucina and R.O.B. as well. That side-B of R.O.B.'s is pretty darn useful. I'm terrible at countering with any character, though."