Hidden 8 yrs ago 8 yrs ago Post by Hellis
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Hellis Cᴀɴɴɪʙᴀʟɪsᴛɪᴄ Yᴇᴛ Cʟᴀssʏ

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"Big Manny" Manuel Lowitz had seen better days. The 40 something empath had used his modest, low key power to manipulate men and women to star in his b-movies and softcore flicks for 20 something years. He lived in the cheaper but still prestigious part of Hollywood. He had powerful friends in the movie biz. He threw the parties every B-actor attended. And they all ate out of his palm not knowing what he was doing to them. And now, Big Manny sat staring into the glowing eyes of a man he only just met. They sat in his living room, eye to eye. Around them, men and women wear tearing each other apart in fear. His body guard lay in a puddle of his own blood, having shot himself. Manny had no idea what the being wanted with him. But he had the cold realization that it was this person that had orchestrated the hellish few days Manny had been experiencing. He was the cause of the movements at the edge of his visions, the voices at night. The prostitute who had killed herself infront of Manny.

Manny had gone under the radar for a long time. Nobody realized he was a empath. It was the beauty of his gift, he simply nudged feelings this way or that way. But unbeknownst to him, a predetor lurked the psychic community of Los Angeles. Parasite roamed the streets of the Californian metropolis, and the empaths brain waves had caught his attention. Now, while Manny wasn't what you called "powerful" empaths were Parasite favorite. Empaths were all about emotion and Parasite fed of fear and anxiety above all else. It was a simple manner to piece by piece eat the empaths mind in such a manner that his powers projected his pain and panic onto his surroundings. Hence why everyone around them was busy killing each other. The Parasites own aura was working in tandem with Mannys fear projection.

Sample F 221 aka Parasite, was smiling. At least Manny thought it was a smile. There was a void behind that smile, like he was staring at the facsimile of a smile, a empty gesture by a thing that wasn't even there. His body screamed for him to look anywhere else, to tear away from those deep pits Parasite called his eyes. It was of course, no use to resist. In those eyes Manny saw secrets no man should ever face. He saw the death of his friend. It replayed in his mind in a psychic loop. He relived the feeling of putting a bullet in his own temple again and again. Mannys friend and bodyguard had shot himself rather then to face what Parasite was showing him. And parasite had happily savored that feeling of despair just as death took the tall african man, and fed it Manny over and over again. His mind was being picked away at, eaten with with every fear inducing, maddening shock to the system

Trough Manny, Parasite had made people kill themselves in droves. First the hooker he picked up for a quickie, suddenly bashing her face against the window trying to escape the sorrow and disgust Manny was projecting. Then, he had made it so that Mannys poker buddies had shot each others in a fit of panic and paranoia. He made Manny marinate in his own fear. made him a humming nuke of negative energy and psychic bad vibes. He released that nuke upon the party Manny was hosting. Watching as he broke down admist a massive brawl to the death between C-list celebrities, porn stars and hangers on.

And now it was time to eat. He relished in the screams of unimaginable torment, beyond anything physical punishment could ever inflict on a man. He made sure Manny was alive during the final moment, made sure he felt as his psyche was pulled apart like a juicy steak. The very fabric of his sanity torn apart piece by piece by unseen fingers. By the time he was done, Manny was a drooling, lobotomized corpse.

"Thank you Manny... That was delightful" Parasite spoke as he got up to leave. Around him the dead lay sprawled across eachother, fingers torn to bloody stumps as they tried to tear into one another. He tossed a corpse aside with a flick of his wrist and a errant thought. As he moved out into the night, he strolled away into darkness just as the police arrived. The massacre would be on the front page of every national newspaper by the morning.
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Hidden 8 yrs ago 8 yrs ago Post by nitemare shape
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nitemare shape GM of Create A Hero and Star Wars: Legacies

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Redmond, Oregon

Nothing ever happened in the town of Redmond, Oregon. In this sleepy town of just over 26,000 people, that was a fact of life. In Redmond there was a true sense of community. The people of the town truly cared for one another, and the entire community tended to rally around one another in difficult times. However, the town offered very little in terms of entertainment or things to do. While the teens and twenty somethings lamented the lack of excitement, some of the old members of the community found comfort in the town’s tranquil charm.

However, for the patrons of The Grocery Outlet, that tranquility would be utterly shattered. On any given day, the isles of The Grocery Outlet were alive with activity as patrons wandered from one isle to the next as they checked items off of their shopping lists. Young mothers would try to shush their children who were fussing over a sweet or a toy that they had been denied. And on occasion, voices would rise as shoppers engaged in disagreements with staff, or even one another over prices or common courtesy. However, on this day there was none of that. There was a hushed silence as the customers and staff huddled together or tried to hide amongst the merchandise, trying to do anything to keep from drawing attention to themselves.

Aside from hushed sobbing, the only sound that could be heard throughout the entire store was Tiptoe Through The Tulips as it played over the store’s public address system.

Tiptoe through the window
By the window, that is where I'll be
Come tiptoe through the tulips with meeeee!


Within the store among the consumers, there were a pair of predators. They were a duo of siblings who were hellbent on causing chaos and destruction, and bringing death and uncertainty to the masses. Together, they happily walked up and down the isles, mindlessly tossing items into their cart as if this were just a normal day.

And to them, it was.

Oooooooooh, tiptoe from the garden
By the garden of the willow tree
And tiptoe through the tulips with meeeeeeeee!


As they came to the cereal isle, they stopped. The male sibling casually pushed the body of a recently deceased stockboy out of his way. As he put the cart in place, he slipped and nearly fell in the still warm blood in the isle, however, he managed to catch himself and was able to stay upright. He looked at the selection of cereals and settled on a box of Cocoa Chocos and tossed it into his cart, and then another, and another, and another.

“I want to hear them scream. I want them all to scream.” The pretty young woman said dreamily as they continued down the isle toward a group of huddled customers near the back of the store.

Kneeeeeeee deep in flowers we'll stray
We'll keep the showeeers away


Among the group huddled at the back of the store were Sandra Curry and her seven year old son Bradley. Since before the birth of her son life had not been kind to Sandra. Her high school sweetheart, Brian had left town as soon as she had told him that she was pregnant, leaving her to care for the child on her own. She had toiled away in retail jobs and even worked a second job as a waitress at the local Denny’s, yet still had barely enough money to pay rent and buy food for her son and her. However, she did the best that she could, and despite her financial limitations, she had managed to make sure that her child rarely wanted for anything.

When she saw the pair casually strolling toward them, pushing their carriage down the isle, smiling and covered in blood and gore, a lump formed in her throat. She wasn’t able to swallow, she had no spit.

“The monsters are coming, Mommy.” Little Bradley said in a hushed whisper, and Sandra could hear the fear in his voice, even though the child did his best to sound brave.

“It’s okay, honey. Just be quiet, and everything will be alright.” Sandra told the boy, hoping that her words would prove to be true.

And if I kiss you in the garden, in the moonlight
Will you pardon me?
And tiptoe through the tulips with meeeeee!


The pair stopped in front of the huddled group and watched them squirm in place as they stood over them. The male looked over the group, almost as if he was playing a mental game of eeny, meeny, miny, moe. Finally, his gaze fell on Sandra and her son. The young mother felt his gaze upon her head and looked up, confirming her fears.

He was looking right at her.

“Hi Mom. Lovely family. Cute kid.” The male said to her as he wiped bloodspatter from his face.

Maybe it's flowers you stray will be the showers of life
And when I kiss you in the garden in the moonlight


She watched as he pulled a small handgun from his coat and held it limply in his hand.

“Please.” She cried. “Please, don’t make my baby an orphan.” She finished pleading.

“Oh, I wouldn’t do that. I may be a madman, but I’m not a monster.” The man said to her as he began to turn and walk away, much to her relief.

Then he stopped.

“I’m the monster.” He said as drew up the weapon and fired a single shot, striking young Bradley square between the eyes.

The pair walked away from the shocked group, leaving them to deal with the mother who just knelt, cradling the body of her son, sobbing uncontrollably. As they made their way back to the front of the store and approached the exit, they stopped at a newspaper rack. One of the papers, the US Daily News had a photograph of Icon, the Lost Haven Marvel on the front page. The pair looked at the photograph for a moment before the male took the paper and tossed it in the cart, and then headed out the front door.

”Well Sis, I think I know where we’re going next.” He told her gleefully.

Will you pardon me?

“Lost Haven?” She asked with the excitement of a small child learning that they would be going to Disneyland for the first time.

“Lost Haven.” He confirmed. “That town sure seems to know how to have fun.”

And tiptoe through the tulips with meeeeeeeeee






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Hidden 8 yrs ago Post by Hound55
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Hound55 Create-A-Hero RPG GM, Blue Bringer of BWAHAHA!

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Arachne | Icon | Pendragon | Raptor | Vigilante | Wasp


“Beyond your ridiculous ‘counter-weights’, this form is pretty much identical to Black Widow’s” Effigy spoke, even though it sounded like Arachne’s voice was saying those words, “Far easier to train with than that stupid mercenary’s form.”

“Icon,” Kelly whispered to the blue marvel while Effigy boasted about his training with Black Widow’s form would translate into Arachne’s, “Although you’re our biggest piece here, it might be wise to keep your distance from him.”


The black garbed vigilante seconded the young wasp's sentiments somewhat more abruptly. "Sky. Now." as he stepped forward, a dark glower on his face. He didn't turn to see where the blue and silver hero went - he didn't want to draw more attention to him - but he assumed he'd keep himself hidden, as he looked to put himself at the fore of his young team.

Kelly then paused for a moment when she realized that she might not have used the proper pronoun for Effigy. “Wait, what pronoun are we supposed to be using? ‘She’?”

“How about ‘it’?” Raptor interjected. However, this momentarily distracted ‘their’ Arachne, turning back towards the others as if they had also called her an ‘it’. “Don’t worry. It’s blatantly obvious that you’re a ‘she’.” Although he could not see Arachne’s expression under her mask, Raptor knew that she was giving him a death glare at the moment.

While she was distracted, Effigy took this opportunity to lunge forward at Arachne, tackling her to the ground. After a short scuffle on the floor, one of the Arachnes pushed the other off of herself.

“Um, guys.” Raptor scratched his head, “Did anyone keep track of which Arachne was ours?”

“I’m the real one!” Both of the Arachnes claimed in unison, “She’s the imposter!”


Isaac racked his brain. He'd wanted this one. He had a plan in his mind before it all changed, and maybe even he could find a way to use it. But not like this. Not in a crowd. And while this was a foreseeable possibility, that this Effigy would take the form of one of his teammates he'd need to run his mind back. Think of everything he knew about this spider-girl he barely knew and find a way to distinguish Arachne from imposter.

Any way. What do you know about her? What can you do?

He strode forward, his head cocked to one side looking for something. Anything. And then...

A dark smile penetrated through the black mask as his leer focused on the spidergirl on the left, he kept walking forward.

"You!" he growled. He raised his grapple gun and fired a concussive bolt into the left spidergirl's legs.

"Ow! Wait! No!" The accused spidergirl stepped back in retreat, trying to cover up from more of the Vigilante's blunt bolts. Isaac relentlessly kept firing at her lower quarters (or eighths...) advancing all the while. He walked past the other spidergirl dropping some kind of object as he passed.

It all happened fast.

BANG!


A flashbang grenade went off at the second unsuspecting spidergirl's feet. The Vigilante turned on a dime and threw a heavy right hand...

But despite being blinded by the grenade she jumped back and out of the way of it, as if she knew the punch was coming from another sense.

Isaac cursed himself quietly, as he obviously must have telegraphed his play somehow...

But he'd flushed out the imposter. That was half of the job.

"Get the real Arachne clear!" he barked at Raptor, pointing at the spidergirl confusedly rubbing her legs. "That won't work twice."
Hidden 8 yrs ago Post by FacePunch
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FacePunch Death Comes

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French Quarter Police Precinct, Lost Haven

"Yo, Frankie. I think he's wakin' up."

Chike Baatul felt like he had been hit by a freight train. He tried to open his eyes but found himself temporarily blinded by the overwhelming amount of light. Chike rubbed the back of his hand against his eyes until his vision cleared up. He was sitting on a concrete floor, starring at a set of metal bars. On the other side of the bars stood two uniformed police officers. Chike placed a hand against his forehead, wincing in pain. That speedster had hit him harder than anyone else had since he lost his powers. Knocked him out cold with a single punch. It was obvious he was in some kind of holding cell. The two men's uniforms made them out to be cops, not prison guards. Chike concluded that he must be in one of the LHPD's many holding areas awaiting transport. Or trial. He had to wonder what sort of due process he was allowed as a metahuman. Speaking of which.. he thought to himself. Polemos slammed a fist against the concrete and immediately regretted it; definitely no superpowers. He had been out for quite some time then. And his fist now hurt. A hell of a lot. Ow.

"Whoa, George. He crazy or somethin'?" The second cop, Frank, asked. He was young, likely straight out of high school. The kid's accent made him out to be a native of Boston. "Not crazy, Frankie. Report says the guy had super strength when we got 'im." The other gentleman appeared to be in his early forties. His dialect denoted his origin point to be somewhere in New York; maybe Brooklyn? Baatul couldn't make it out. His head still hurt like all hell.

"Well what happened to him?" Frank inquired. He titled his head to the left, examining the prisoner with some curiosity. "No idea. Must'a lost 'em when he blacked out."

Meanwhile, George was filling out a piece of paper attached to a clipboard. Probably some kind of incident report about the vigilante's capture. "What's that?" Frank poked his head over his partner's broad shoulder. "It's everything we've got on this guy. Forensics says he's the same guy who threw down with Icon during the riots. Calls himself 'Polemos.' Jerry down in accounting told me that meant War in Greek." George informed the ignorant youth. "His boss was Ares, God o' War, right?" George just nodded. "Yup. STRIKE's suppose ta show up later today and haul him off to some dark hole."

Now that got Chike's attention. He thought he'd get away on bail; he and Ceri were still rolling in cash after Hephaestus and Ares were defeated by Athena. They hadn't figured out what to do with the mansion or the army of automatons living underneath it. But if STRIKE was coming for him, there was nothing Chike could do to get out of this. Not legally, anyway. Baatul didn't particularly enjoy breaking the law. He'd purposefully gone out of his way not to engage the police at all until recently; and he only did that to save the city from a metahuman apocalypse. If I don't get out of here, none of that will matter. Can't let STRIKE take me. But what am I goin' to do? No powers, no weapons and no backup. Damn it. No way outta this one, is there?

"Po-lee-mos."

"Nah, I think its more of a...Pole-moss."

"Pfft. No way, that's stupid. We should ask Jer-"

"It's pronounced Paw-leh-maws." Chike corrected between gritted teeth. His knuckles were turning all shades of purple from their impact with the concrete flooring. "Ey, buddy. You need somebody to look at that?"

"That'd be nice, actu-" Chike's words were drowned out by the slamming of a nearby door. A trio of men in standard BDU camouflage marched into the holding area. The momentarily frightened police officers managed to shake off the scare and greeted the soldiers. "You boys must be STRIKE operatives," George assumed, "your man's right in here. We've been expecting you." Something buzzed nearby. A moment later the door to Chike's cage slid open, allowing the STRIKE team to step inside. The two officers kept their hands near their weapons. Chike noted that his escorts had sidearms at their hips as well; yet, the three seemed tenses for a fist fight rather than a shootout. Can't exactly take me in alive if I'm full of bullet holes. He mused in silence. He didn't resist when one of the STRIKE agents slapped a pair of cuffs on his wrists; nor did he bother trying to fight them as he was led out of the building and into the back of a nondescript black van.

"Hello, Mr. Baatul." Chike froze where he stood. Every muscle in his body coiled, like the spring of a mouse trap. He knew that voice. That voice belonged to his most dangerous foe. The CEO of SuperIOR. Jack Grey. "I've been looking for you." The suave businessman's grin made Chike's blood to boil. He wanted to choke the life out of Grey with every fiber of his being. But without the serum, he was little more than a man. A man fueled by rage and vengeance, but a man nonetheless. "I'll kill you, you piece of shit!" Baatul roared. He struggled against the vice-like grip of his captors. Neither gave a centimeter. In fact, both only seemed to squeeze harder. Holy hell. Chike gasped internally. They're super soldiers. The man's epiphany must of shown on his face, because Jack knew exactly what he was thinking. "Surprised? You shouldn't be. You didn't really think I'd let you disappear into the ever hidden shadow of STRIKE, did you? Oh no, escaping me isn't that easy. I still have some questions for you. Besides, I think I have an offer you can't refuse."

Chike became still. No matter how much he struggled, the two men who held him down wouldn't budge. Resigned to his fate, Baatul chose to instead listen to Jack's proposition. "What could I possibly want from you?" He spat. Jack's easy-going manner didn't change as he wiped the spittle from his cheek. "Well, it's quite simple. You crave power. Every since Ares gifted you with the Polemos enhancements, your body has changed. You'd become comfortable being a god. Relied on it, even. When that was all taken away from you, you sought a way to satisfy that hunger within you. The Super Soldier Serum was your ticket to peace. Not for others, as you so passionately preach to your friends. No. You only wanted peace for yourself. Your soul is broken, Mr. Baatul. Ares shattered the man you once were. No one could help you. Not even Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom, knew what had become of you. You're such a little man, pretending to be a god. But you don't have to pretend any longer, Chike. I can give you the power you seek."

"I've never told anyone that before." Chike whispered. "How could you know-"

"Because I was a god once as well." While the two spoke, Jack had begun unbuttoning his dress shirt. Chike shifted in his seat, a feeling of dread rapidly building up in the pit his stomach. "My name is Archangel Uriel, the god of wisdom. I came to this earth thousands of years ago because I was cast from the heavens for my rebellion. My people are known by many names; a heavily embellished version of our history was recorded by humanity and still remains in circulation to this day. At least, that is what I have been lead to believe. My memory was fragmented centuries ago when I was...separated...from my armor. I am no longer whole." Chike's eyes widened at the sight of it. Jack's chest was covered in glowing alien symbols. It shouldn't have been possible, but somehow Chike recognized the language. "The Athanatoi and my people shared a similar dialect."

Chike's eyes flicked away from Jack's tattoos and at his face, confusion and fear billowing like a terrible storm in his heart. "I can read your mind. I'm a telepat-"

"Stop. Interrupting. Me." Chike growled. His anger momentarily cut through the terror and flooded to the surface of his consciousness. "I cannot tell you how insufferably annoying it is to hear you speak whatever I'm thinking. And its making my damn skin crawl." Uriel gave a slight nod of acknowledgment. "Very few talk to me in that tone and live to tell the tale. Be warned, Polemos. My patience runs thin. You may be too important to kill now, but the future is uncertain."

"Yo-you said you can give me my powers back. How? What did you mean?"

"I believe one of the Cowl's affiliates is in possession of a device called the Uzziah Tablet. My sources claim that it is inscribed with powerful magic. If my theories are correct, the tablet will lead us to the body of one of my people-"

"-Uzziah?"

"Yes. He was not one of the Fallen, as I am. So it is reasonable to assume he died with his armor on him. If we get that armor, you and I are one step closer to restoring our godhood."

"What if his body was looted? He's likely been dead for hundreds if not thousands of years.

"No power on earth can separate one of us from our armor."

"Hold on, you keep talking about 'your people.' Are you an alien?"

"We are called the God-Machine. Our existence is beyond your immediate comprehension and my knowledge of my past is limited. Without my restoration, there is little I can tell you. Will you help me?"

"On one condition. You'll leave my friends alone."

"Deal."
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Hidden 8 yrs ago 8 yrs ago Post by Fallenreaper
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Fallenreaper ღ~Lil' Emotional Cocktail~ღ

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Natural Selection Arc


Location: Lost Haven, Maine- Tyburn Avenue, beneath the North Bridge underpass (drop off location)
Timeline: Present

Racheli stood alone in the darkness.

Her figure was feeling numb. There was no cold or air that seemed to circulate around her, drawing an unsettled sensation within her core. Something was wrong. She could easily feel it as she tried to peer through the veil of shadows, their forms twisting together like a curtain and hiding the exit from her. In the far distance was a faintly glowing dot that drew her attention. Her eyes fixed on it with suspicion as she started to step forward, her right foot leading and shortly the rest couldn’t stop the motion that had began. The first thing Rach noted was that she was bare footed. Her soles slapped against the smooth surface with a determined and haste brought on by instinctive fear, that sounds the only thing breaking the silence around her. For anyone, the light was a beacon to life but for Rach, it would chase away the night which had fallen. With any luck, it might also relieve the unbearable sensation of something stalking her by revealing the source.

Spurred on by the dread, the numbness faded when she entered the light. Pale warmth washed over her image and immediately chased the shadows away, revealing the scene she had been traveling to her. It was obviously alien world because while it shared elements with earth, the differences were too difficult overlook. Mostly it was a desert with a too clear miniature ‘sea’ reflecting the oddly shaped cliffs back to her and savanna grass sprouting around her feet. The sand was hot but tolerable. Her eyes glanced down at the pure beach like like coloring as she furled and unfurled her toes, small clamps in her fisted feet. The most notable image was the towering rock nearest her. It seemed to be a bizarre hybrid of organic bark and stone, its presence radiating a sense of superiority that increased the subtle loathing within her at it. Overhead and orbiting dangerously close was a moon like saturn planet with a ring of ice circling it. An elegant image despite how uneasy it made her.

Rach’s eyes stared at the strange beauty until movement caught her eyes.

Her head turned to the side and spotted a red skinned figure, her image humanoid for the most part though covered in a blocky, white robe. At first, Racheli got the sensation it was a single piece but the thought faded when she spotted it fracture and shift with the creature’s movements. Each one was graceful and delicate, the gestures controlled down to the smallest spent energy and gave off an aura of complete beauty. For several moments longer than needed, Racheli merely stared at the alien’s casually walk. Her eyes taking in all the details and sensations given off by the strange being with surprising accuracy, something that Rach had never noted before.

The creature’s skull was more oblong in the back, her ears crystallized to her head side and long tendrils of white hair seemed to stick off her in both strands and feather layers along her skull back. Her pupiless eyes blue, glowing slightly, idly glanced about in searching. Transparent energy wisped about her in narrow lines, almost outlining it. They seemed to harmonize with her aura while they orbited her. Use the display that Rach guessed it was common place, the alien’s three toed feet skirted from her robes then shifted the white sand in her path. Suddenly, she came to a complete stop. The creature’s narrow, almost human featured face tightened in concentration when realization smacked across it. Her blank expression soften while she curled her biped legs underneath and reached out an arm to scrap away the sand quickly.

Rach studied in silence. A sensation of dreadful knowing filled her core causing her figure to stiffen and still, her eyes watching the alien gradually reveal another buried behind the shifting sands. A smaller, younger ‘sister’, the corpse looked almost identical to the one uncovering it through the red coloring had long since dulled. There wasn’t any orbiting of energy or spark of life within the empty shell. Sand collected to her face thanks to a black, sticky liquid leaking from her eyes, nose and mouth which Rach suspected covered the alien’s front and was the cause of her death. Curiously the original creature touched the outside curve of the dead one’s face, gently brushing away the sand. A sense of foreign confusion mixed with fear filled Rach, her mind reading the being’s uncertainty over the death’s cause. While she knew the reason, the alien woman was still ignorant.

Some part of Rach, old and primal, screamed for the alien to run away. To flee and stay away from the corpse, but every time she made to open her mouth, no words came out. Instead like a useless statue she just stood there waiting and watching. After a time, the alien stood up then walked away. Her figure vanished into the landscape leaving Rach alone. Moments later the background shimmered like a mirage, the landscape dissipating back into shadows and darkness once more enveloping her.

The sensation of something lurking nearby caused Rach to address it, her tone harsh and accusing to the thing inside her. “You’ve done this before. Haven’t you?”

“Yes.” The answer appeared before the virus entered into the remaining light, its image was still that of her father and smirking that same smug way since the last time she saw him. Her teeth gritted in anger over the sight causing the man’s gesture to deepen before he continued. “I’ve traveled a long time, often set adrift on meteors or other things floating in space. The cold was where I thrived and when I came into contact with an individual, I spread like a wildfire. Infecting all those who came into my path.”

His hand raised, summoning an image of another planet. At first Rach thought it was Mars, the outside surface barren and dry, but it held a ring about its center. It cracked, crumpled and then blackened into a lifeless rock like it had been burned up in invisible flames. When finished, it shifted away to orbit around the pair when another planet appeared and repeated the very same cycle. Rach could sense the thousands suffering through the very pain she had, their cries filling the silent skies and anything that couldn’t adapt merely died during the process.

Unfazed by her growing anger, his words spun through his grisly tale. “A suitable number always survived my infection whenever I altered their very building blocks. I’ll admit, I wasn’t focused on being gentle as I was being fast and effective. Various species from humanoid to energy life forms were changed into something much more suitable for upcoming war.”

Michael snapped his fingers, the images of the planets rotating about the pair dissolved in the numerous races found upon each. From those almost human to too bizarre to accurately describe, the virus’ voice never pausing in his speech. “Most becoming much less than what you are now, identical copies of each other and merely fighters to serve some greater cause.”

His arms pulled back to rest against his lower back, his eyes studied Rach’s expression while she absorbed his words. The man’s head tilted much like a teacher observing his student in silence.

“Why are you telling me this?” Racheli finally asked, her eyes turned upon him and fixed in a glare.

“We’re bonded, Racheli. What power that should’ve been spread over a population of trillions is now contained within you instead of spreading and being allowed to infect other, dwindling the power over many rather than one. My original function wasn’t to house this much raw power into one person but a whole civilization. In fact, you never should’ve survived at all.”

She was quiet for a moment. Her eyes shifted and arms tightened against her chest, her irritation growing for a moment before she forced herself to relax. “Why did you chose his face?”

“You know why…”

“Enlighten me again.”

‘Michael’ sighed then let his vision shimmer and sway, his figure melting into another form. His size diminished into a smaller height, his face became childish and feminine. The hair grew out then pulled back into a ponytail, held in place by a scrunchie, as an eight year version of herself was smirking back at her. Instantly, Rach’s eyes averted from the image. Her stomach churned in her middle causing her to feel sick while she started to pull away.

A small childish chuckle erupted through ‘her’ lips as she watched the woman retreat, the voice slightly delighted in the reaction. ”At least as your father, I know you’ll never ignore me.”

Without another word, the virus reverted back into his original form. His expression fell into one of interest and subtle surprise, his eyes stared into space as if noting something she didn’t. He hummed slightly in disappointment then added more. “Looks like we’ll be finishing this conversation later. It’s time for you to wake up now.”




The words echoing through her mind, her eyes snapped open abrupt. Rach’s body tried to jerk up and immediately felt resistance, her arms pinned to her side and head flipped about to see what was restraining her. Thick, sturdy straps held her tightly against the stretcher drawing a dumbfounded look from the two idiots sitting in there with her. It didn’t take her long to realize where she was at: within the back of some type of ambulance, she assumed. Various equipment from a heart monitor, which was beeping quickly, to defibrillator and surgical tools. In short, the back was filled with everything possible in the event something went wrong.

Save, for this one.

Both men were still in shock over her sudden awareness when one quickly snapped out of it and moved. His lanky figure shot up and reached for a nearby bag at his feet, his fingers fumbling over the contents for a sedative. Neither of them had noted the truck’s vibrations had ceased, meaning it had stopped, due to Rach becoming conscious. However, she had but she had better things to worry about. Her unwanted guests were too concern about the current threat locked and sealed within the back with them.

Not eager to be put back under again, Rach’s anger increase. Things of a metal nature started to hover gradually. Several tools from clamps to scalpels to even the paddles off the defibrillator rose into the air around her. Slow and gently, barely noticeable, the straps removed themselves from her figure. They floated by their clasps like hairs on ends allowing her to raise upright completely. It was at this point, the other man started to dart toward the vehicle’s door in panic. He shoved the first out of his way, his eyes round in terror and thick arms nearly knocked away the sedative from the hand. Assuming Rach was going to attack him, the CDC employee raised his left hand as if trying to calm a wild animal then approached.

“Easy ma’am. Now let’s just remain calm while we get you situated and explain-” He never got a chance to finish, his sentence cut off when the syringe needle made a small, straining noise. Sounding like nails on a chalkboard, it wrenched to the side and snapped off to embed itself into a wooden cabinet with a loud thunk. “Shit…”

Racheli smirked, her eyes completely black as her pupils extended to swallow all the white within them. “I think I’ve had enough rest as it is.”

She jerked her head to the paddles causing them leap to her mental commands, the large metal pieces flipped forward and stretched the cords enough to entangle the man bolting for the door. It tugged and twisted about his legs, jerking him back to the vehicle’s other side. Realizing the sedative was useless, the younger and lankier man rushed her in hopes that her dealing with the first was enough to keep her distracted. It wasn’t. The moment he got near enough, one of the clasps twisted about his arm then jerked down hard. He immediately went face first into the metal edge of her seat then crumbled into a heap. Too pissed to care if she killed him for time being, she flipped her legs over the edge and pushed off onto the floor. Cold metal greeted her soles as she applied pressure, her legs gaining strength the harder she straightening into an upright position.

Balancing herself against the stretcher, Rach’s eyes turned upon the door toward the back. She ignored the man struggling with the cords and stared upon the object in her way, blocking her exit. Her free hand raised in an open palm motion causing the hinges to jiggle and rattle. It was quietly at first and gradually gained more momentum, strengthening in volume over a few seconds. A voice whispered in her mind back, encouraging and softly, like a father encouraging his child.

‘Just let go.’ Her virus said and for once, Rach listened.

Closing her eyes, she shoved her open hand at it. Abruptly the hinges gave away and metal ripped from its position as the door was launched from its position into the street. It made a ear deafening thump upon impact causing Rach to winch in pain, her eardrums throbbing from the sounds echoing her heightened hearing. Pupils still dilated, she opened her eyes and carefully edged toward the vehicle’s end. Each step she was using her hand to brace herself until she arrived at the end, noting it was higher than she expected. Inhaling deeply she hopped down and stopped herself from tumbling face first into the pavement as she shot her arms back, leaning into the edge to catch her breathe.


Hidden 8 yrs ago 8 yrs ago Post by DearTrickster
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Natural Selection Arc


banner credit to Hellis


Drop off Location – Lost Haven, Maine


After spending the night in the best accommodations Lost Haven could provide Odette had woken that morning refreshed, despite the jetlag. Quickly getting ready for the day checking out of the hotel at 9:00 AM sharp she had breakfast provided by the hotel’s restaurant being sure to eat a big meal. With the day planned ahead she’d be expending a considerable amount of magic and her magic needed calories.

When she arrived by broomstick the underpass was deserted. The odd car would pass through but never slow down to garner suspicion. It was damp and dark, the sounds of lapping ocean were close by. The underpass provided perfect cover from above as well as privacy. Even through her coat Odette gave an involuntary shiver at the drop in temperature as she entered the shadowy area, Bach not far behind.

Relying on her main grimoire tome she flipped through page after page, casting spell after spell. Sigils, circles, tiny spell anchor trees littered the area. She set traps long the highway going back into the city and heading out covering her possible exits. By the time lunch had rolled around the clock Odette had the energy for one more, a portal.

She opened a portal to her dimensional home away from home, through the portal Bach and Odette carried through a table and set of chairs. Odette folded her dress beneath her legs waiting patiently for Bach to return with her fine china tea set. He set the tray on the table carefully lifting the set piece by piece. Vienna had prepared the tea set for them along with an array of snacks and a hot lunch. Steam perfumed the distinct smells of jasmine pearls steeping in the pot.

Odette tucked into the meal while Bach had a bowl of berries to snack on. His magic didn’t rely on his calorie count the way Odette’s did. Satisfied and after an hour’s rest of chit chatting and tittering around on her phone she went back to work this time instead of setting nasty traps she erected magical wards and illusions. This process of warding took more time; full area wards took considerable amounts of concentration. Many of the spells she knew often had layers of words and processes but nothing quite compared to the patience it took to carefully build a ward with no cracks.

Finally finishing her preparation late into the afternoon she opened another portal for dinner. This time when dinner was cleared she leaned against the table to have a quick nap.

An hour later she awoke with the sun heading toward the horizon meaning to set. She went about stretching her entire body warming up her muscles, the distinct pops and snaps of her body bending with the flexibility only acquired through years of dance. When she was done she reopened the portal for evening tea along with inviting her guest, a faerie she had called in to help.

The creature brought with it a great dread, the smell of rot and decay permeated through the rich aromas of the black tea being served. Its antlers were strewn with gray and brown vines and moss. Its body hair was matted and was covered with deep varying patches of brown, black mold grew in varying amounts as well. Despite the stomach churning smell it’s face was by far the most unnerving. Vaguely humanoid in appearance it’s eyes a little bit too big for it’s face while it’s mouth drew much like that of a deer but it lacked the proper snout. Odette greeted the Archon of the Old Earth with a bow gesturing for the creature to sit. She carried on having already prepared her nose with a spell. Odette made light conversation while Bach stared with reverence. The Archon of the Old Earth was highly respected among the Earth Fey. Now there were only a couple hours to wait for the drop off.

Her phone tingled while a message from Silence read that he was on his way from the CDC. A broad smile graced her well made up face, looking the part of a gracious host. Her Brownie faeries that infiltrated the ambulance had already relayed to her that much. Much to Silence's credit she was pleased he followed through.

---


“Ms Ambassador? We have arrived.” Lekh arrived with the ambulance backing it up into the safety of the underpass.

Odette sipped her tea then gently placed the cup back onto it’s saucer, her thumb caressing the cup, “Right on time. You are well on your way to impressing me, Silence.” She said rather smoothly, her words and tone dripping honey.

Now, my dear Archon could you please be sure to reveal yourself? I'm sure our guests would love to meet you.” Odette said rising from her ornate seat. The Archon nodded it's antlers glowed briefly then based on Lekh's reaction she assumed he could see the creature. The first noises of struggle began she stood directly in front watching with furrowed brows.

I thought she was asleep…?” Odette let the question hang between them. The noises slowed to a few seconds of silence then were filled with a creaking and complaints of metal on the doors of the ambulance. Odette watched the hinges bend in real time as if being peeled back like the skin of a banana.

When the door launched off the back of the vehicle Odette side stepped to avoid it. Racheli stepped unbalanced out of the vehicle looking a mix of enraged and utterly unstable. When the pair of raw green eyes met Odette’s cold blue eyes she felt a chill travel down her spine, not one of fear but anticipation.
Hidden 8 yrs ago 8 yrs ago Post by MelonHead
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As Lekh rounded the front of the ambulance he was met with an odd sight he had missed when pulling up. Table and chairs, what in the world were they doing in the underpass? He shrugged inwardly, accepting the eccentricity of his strange partner in crime. If he was the sort he might have been amused at her remarks then, well on his way to impressing her? He smiled, though it did not quite reach his eyes.

Archon, reveal yourself? Lekh started in alarm, his right hand shooting to the gun holstered on his hip (security issue handgun) and a Polish curse word leaving his lips as he momentarily lost his composure. Lekh was no coward, pragmatic maybe and not particularly prideful, but panicking offered no advantage to the professional criminal. However, while the man could accept meta-humans and impossible acts, the appearance of a sudden monstrosity directly out of nightmare was almost more than he could stand. If not for Odette’s calm introduction, Silence would have probably drawn and unloaded on the horned beast the Ambassador called ‘Archon’. Instead he stood, steadying himself, his hand over his holstered pistol as his mind fought to adjust to new information.

“That is an ally of yours?” Lekh asked, struggling to keep the fear out of his voice. His nose wrinkled at the stench of the moss-strewn creature, but he kept a hold of his reaction and mastered it, replacing the mask. He paused as the sounds of the disturbance in the back of the vehicle also reached his ears. The Ambassador asked the obvious question, wasn’t she sedated?

“She was. Perhaps her ability to manipulate metal was not the only change in her biology?” He theorized with a calm detached air, as Odette rounded the vehicle to stand by the back. The Pole suspected the noises emanating from within, and maintained a cautious distance as the door burst forth and the girl within poured out.

“Careful. Remember she was in the CDC, she may be contagious.” He wasn’t sure how relevant his warning would be to an evidently supernatural individual like Odette, but he figured it was worth a mention. He had actually taken steps in that regard himself, quickly pulling a simple doctor’s mask from one of his pockets and putting it around his mouth and nose. It would only protect him from airborne contagion, but it was better than nothing. He wasn’t sure if The Ambassador was going to deal with Racheli or not, he was pretty sure he could leave her to the meta-human. Thing was, he was hired to do a job, and part of that was delivering Racheli to The Ambassador. He couldn’t have his target running off, not when she was still technically his problem.

Lekh walked up beside Racheli cautiously with a plastic syringe in his hand, filled with the same liquid he injected the driver with. He’d actually stolen it from the CDC while he was working, four syringes to be exact, two were empty and made of metal, and he had them stowed away in his pocket, two were filled with powerful sedatives.

“I am sorry about this, panienka.” The Polish criminal, ever apologetic, made to exploit Racheli’s weakness and press the syringe into her exposed neck, forcing the sedative into her bloodstream. It may take its time, but in her current state she could not resist for long…

Hidden 8 yrs ago 8 yrs ago Post by nitemare shape
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Radiance watched as the last giant Venus flytrap withered and died under the stress of her electrical attack. With the final man eating plant fallen, she turned her attention to the young girl who she had watched summon the plants from beneath the factory floor. The young woman wore an expression of pure hatred.

“You bitch!” The young woman screamed with murderous rage.

Radiance was about to make a retort when something grabbed her arm out of nowhere. Before she realized what was happening, she had been pulled off of her feet and toward the ceiling, where she found herself in the clutches of the spider woman, Black Widow. Before Radiance can react, the spider woman is on her, stunning her with a series of punches to her face.

“Care to try that on me?” Black Widow mocked as she tossed Radiance from her web, sending her crashing hard to the concrete floor. Not pausing to gloat, Black Widow leapt down to the floor, straddling Radiance. The vile spider woman began producing her silk-like web and began to encase the electromancer in a cocoon-like web.

Radiance struggled against the spider woman, however Black Widow quickly encased her lower body in the web as she moved up the heroine’s body.

“It’s useless to struggle, but by all means, keep fighting. It only prolongs your suffering.” Black Widow taunted as she leaned in within centimeters of Radiance’s face and bared her sharp, vampire-like fangs.

“Didn’t anybody ever warn you...?” Radiance started to say.

“About what?” Black Widow asked, confused by the question.

“Bug zappers.” Radiance said as she grabbed Black Widow’s arm while simultaneously unleashing as much electricity as she could muster in her dazed state. Black Widow cried out and her body writhed in pain as over 200,000 volts coursed through her body. Radiance held onto Black Widow for several excruciating seconds, and when she finally did let go, the spider woman’s body flew several feet away from her. Radiance lay there for a moment as she gathered her wits, and then slowly got to her feet after freeing herself from what remained of Black Widow’s webbing. She then went over to the spider woman who was laying motionless on the factory floor and checked her pulse.

Good, she’s alive. Radiance thought to herself.

After being satisfied that the vile spider woman would survive, she stood and readied herself for the next wave. However, she began to feel unsteady on her feet. The combination of the injuries that she had sustained in the fight with Black Widow as well as the energy she had spent was too much for her, and she collapsed to the ground where darkness took her, at least momentarily.
Hidden 8 yrs ago Post by Shard
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Lost Haven, Slums


"Has anyone told you that you're tiny?"


Finding himself a distance from the scene of disaster, Milo could breath in relief now that he no longer resided within the eye of storms. Though still a distance from his home, the boy was drawn to a reclusive spot he could call haven for the time being. There were many bridges in Lost Haven, each one having acted as home for the homeless more than once. As it was, Milo found himself in solitude beneath the molding stone as he dropped down to the hard asphalt. In an attempt of comfort, the young swordsman leaned against the thick stones together building the decrepit bridge which had undoubtedly seen better days in an age old past. Dirty, torn and bloodied clothes told a tale quite grim, but as had been established, Milo too had seen days considered better than the disastrous outcomes which had come to greet his current situation. Trying to evaluate and go over the day's progress, Milo's thoughts would continuously find a single stop, Masamune. It was still a task in and of itself to fully comprehend the gravity of the situation Milo was facing. Indeed, it wasn't a fact of worry or discomfort, but rather an addition Milo never expected to have.

Pulling his knees closer to the boy's chest, Milo closed his eyes in response to the action. He had been gone for a while, and James was probably worried sick. Then again, it was a well known fact that the assassin could take care of himself. Though, as it stood friends tended to worry nonetheless. Speaking of friends, Masamune spared no questions in getting to know his new master. For a sword, the blade was quite talkative, indeed. Of course, one could also mention the weapon's rather flamboyant attitude and sassy personality. Having existed for so long, Masamune undoubtedly possessed more than a few changes in personality. "How long are we going to sit here, Milo?" Like an eager child, Masamune appeared less than willing to remain in the same place for long.

"I just need to collect myself..." With a moment to think finally showing itself, Milo would find himself blessed with serenity, albeit briefly. Masamune, while a welcomed addition, was quite a lot to get used to.

"Come now, Milo. You can't always succeed. That's a fact of life!" Having told Masamune about Milo's grand failure, the boy had unlocked a series of conversations he would rather avoid but knew he needed to get off his chest.

"Yeah..." The blade was correct, but in the swordsman's line of work, a failure meant someone's death. Failing to protect an innocent individual usually resulted in their demise, thus not always succeeding was a heavy burden indeed.

"I have to say, kid. You're a lot more emotional than you look." It was no secret that Milo's appearance hinted at a lack of care and sometimes apathy, although behind such a surface resided a boy offering both care and passion. Getting met with silence, Masamune continued. "So tell me! What do you intend to do with that eternal life you have running through your veins, Milo? Are you going to chase petty criminals until the world withers?"

"I don't know..." In truth, Milo had not considered the future in terms of occupation. Was he going to chase criminals forever, or was he going to do something better with his time? There were much more powerful and dangerous individuals out there that needed to be stopped. People hiding behind a series of guards, making decisions that shake an entire city, perhaps even a country. "I've been wanting to go after bigger fry..."

"That's the spirit!" Perhaps one could call the eager blade an instigator looking for excitement but as it was, Milo saw the futility in cutting down a few of the countless bad apples swarming Lost Haven. "So how do you intend to go about it? Are you going to pack up and move to the east side, gate crashing the governor's house?" With a loud chuckle, Masamune laughed at his own example but continued on a more serious note. "Or you could grab that friend of yours, what was his name, James? Yes, James. You could take him and go on a little adventure together! I hear New York is filled to the brink with supernatural bullshit."

"New York...?" Ascending to his feet, the boy ran his hands across the dirty clothes covering his body, dusting the fabric before he started on the path home. "Maybe..."
Hidden 8 yrs ago 8 yrs ago Post by Fallenreaper
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Natural Selection Arc


Location: Lost Haven, Maine- Tyburn Avenue, beneath the North Bridge underpass (drop off location)
Timeline: Present

Rach had barely kept herself upright. Her legs stretched out and her back leaned backwards, propped against the van rear bumper, as her mind tried to collect her senses. Each sound made her head throb with a pain when they shot into her ears. It didn’t help her hearing was flexing like crazying, going from normal to heighten in a process too fast for her groggy mind to keep up. Part of her wished she could blame the damn drugs, but in her core she knew otherwise and that fact just pissed her off more. Using it for fuel, she edged her arm against the bumper’s surface then propped herself farther up.

Her hearing jerked back into high gear, catching the sounds of feet stepping across gravel causing her to raised her eyes. The first person she spotted was the blue hair, doll like woman standing at the side of where she had tossed the metal door. The bitch’s face seemed to display slight amusement at her current issue. Racheli managed to rise a few more inches, only to slip down several and nearly fall on her ass again. Shit..

Anymore mental cursing was ceased when she heard a male voice speak.

”Careful. Remember she was in the CDC-” The man’s words continued, unaffected, but most of it was interrupted when her hearing flexed again.

It was enough to cause her focus to split into many directions, trying understand key information that escaped her attention. Namely what the hell was going on.. It didn’t help her mind wasn’t cleanse from the prior sedation effects and it felt like her last meal would curdle within her stomach. There was a gag reflex in the back of her throat, her teeth clenching and resisting the urge to hurdle. She had anything left in her stomach, she likely would’ve vomit it up onto the ground by now. Thankfully there wasn’t. Her eyes shifted toward Lekh, nothing about his appearance jogging her memory at first through there was a vague, uncomfortable sense she knew him somewhere.

A doctor’s mask was placed over his lower face, protecting him, as he started to walk up to her. Her arms adjusted to push herself higher where her tail bone perched upon the bumper edge, preventing her from once more being helpless in a sitting position. Her body bent in half while pushing her full weight behind her and managing not to crumple at the same time.

“I am sorry about this, panienka.” He said, his voice seemed apologetic, as his hand started to raise with something plastic in it. Rach’s eyes sharpened to see it was syringe.

” You really do have a death wish. Not many would merely approach an individual who has been displaying more and more changes rapidly in a short time and not be taking additional precautions, mainly to prevent unexpected harm…” Michael's calm voice rippled across the air, his image shimmering from air just a few feet from Rach and the man about to stab the needle in. “If I was you, I would brace for the aftermath. It won’t be pretty.”

Not acknowledging ‘Micheael’s’ heads up, she dropped to her ass then jerked her hand toward Lehk more viciously than she intended. The stretched rattled in protest and for less than a second, she thought it wasn’t going to budge. A loud, steel screech proved her wrong when the thing came bolting out of the back right at Lehk.

”Too late…” The virus replied.
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Hidden 8 yrs ago Post by Hellis
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Man, Gator, All the Same.


SEWERS, NEW YORK

Collab Between @Hellis & @VATROU

”Shit” Johan swiped his spear in a wide arch, power bristling from its tip as he tore chunks out of the closest aproaching undead. By now, the herd was thinning, and he was seeing a dim light at the end of a very dark, corpse strewn tunnel. He was tired though, using tihs much magic at once was not good for him. He could taste the coppery taste of blood on his tongue, not to mention the numerous little cuts on his body was bleeding him slowly but surely. This was pretty much classic Hildebrand tactics. The damn woman loathed doing anything by her self, always sending her minions to do the heavy lfting. And she knew he had come unprepared to face a throng of undead and was now wearing him down slowly but surely.

He danced back and smashed the butt of the spear into the mouth of a armless draugr that tried to bite him. Then he pushed forward, driving the draugur into another, toppling them both. It was looking grim however, becouse while they were growing less agile and their numbers were dwindling, everything was hurting. Johan spun arund, driving the spear into another when a blade stabbed him the shoulder. The magic of his coat flared, keeping it from getting trough. But the force knocked him onto his back. He expected them to swarm but they stopped. Something was making a awfull lot of noise in the back. Then he saw a draugr go flying and he was as confused as he was terrified.

Backing away from the source of the chaos, he killed whatever beings that turned to follow him into the room. He stared trough the doorway at the hulking creature.

”The hell are you supposed to be?” was all that escaped him as he stared. Was the man dressed as a damn Alligator. What one earth was wrong with these people.

"I am the guiding light in the sewers of chaos! I am the coin that falls through the grates that lands on it's side refusing to stay down! I am Sewer Gator!" He said as the pads of armor on his forearms were swung into an undead charging towards him with reckless abandon. "The Dead rise today to make new graves for the living, they will fail in this endevor."

"You... Do you always talk like that?" Rune said, not quite believing his ears. He hated New York some times. "Think maybe one to many coins fell down onto your head mate."

"I flow as straight as the river of time! As do my punches!" He said clipping a draugr with his backhand and following up by grabbing anothers arm and swinging it into the crowd.

"Uh-huh... By the way. Time is a ocean, not a river." Rune got up with the help of his spear. Groaning as he felt like he had taken a few of those punches. He smashed another Draugrs face in with his spears, embolden by his new strange ally.

"Well What ever you are, you likely saved my life." He said as he speared another and drove it into two others, vaulting over them using his spear as a vaultpole. He landed next to the Man-Gator and stood back to back with him. The Draugr hesitated. Clearly, their master had left them when the turn began to turn.

"I heed the call of the city, and it cried out in pain. These things endanger the lives of city workers and homeless folk. I have seen no end to them, and try as I might I fear I shall not find the source of this today."

The source is a woman called Hildebrand" Rune said as he despatched another one. "She is a necromancer. No doubt about it. These things are called Draugr. They are.... Like zombie... Only they are vikings.... Well. Based of Norse Magic. You'll have to excuse the jargon. Magic is terribly convoluted."

"Magic is as strange and as fleeting as the wind. But fists. They can still smash, and smash they will! TO BATTLE!!"

...Dear Odin make it end:. ." Rune mumbled under his breath before the two once more went into battle and wrecked havoc. The last of the Draugr was finished off some 10 minutes later. No doubt Hildebrand was off somewhere else, massing another horde. That one would be more specified, more dangerous. Now that she knew Rune was onto her, she would conjure some really bad things.

So.. What do I call you big guy?" Rune asked as he wrenched his spear out of the skull of the last Draugr.

"I am Sewer Gator. And there will be more, I have seen more. For now we savor our victory with drinks. I know a place not far. Come Heavilly Cloaked Friend, to the Hero Bar!!"

"Call me Rune." Johan said. "A drink sounds good" In the back of his head his sisters voice echoed. 'You drink to much'
Hidden 8 yrs ago 8 yrs ago Post by Shard
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Lost Haven, Slums


"You're actually doing it? Let's have some fun!"




"Where the hell have you been!? What the hell happened to you!?" Seeing Milo step through the door, James jumped from his seat and evened the distance between them with rapid steps. "You're all bloody and your clothes are freaking torn! Is this you taking a walk!?" James spared no time in placing his hands on Milo shoulders, desperately shaking the boy as if he was unconscious on the floor. "And where's your sword!?" The worry in James' eyes was heartwarming to say the least, but after all this time, he should have understood that worrying for Milo was a heartache he didn't need.

"This is just adorable." Masamune began, a soft chuckle following his words. Though none but Milo could hear the blade's voice, it managed a soft smile across the boy's lips as he gazed up on his friend.

"I'm alright, James. Don't worry..." In an attempt to calm the immense worry emanating from the young Asian, Milo placed his hand upon James' before turning his eyes to Kaya. The boy hadn't been gone for longer than three hours but in that time, a lot had managed to happen. He did try to fill James in on the events which had transpired but the young man was quite easily overwhelmed by the story. Mobsters, a failed rescue, a sword master and a magical weapon all in the span of three hours? It was hard to feign understanding, let alone comprehend the words leaving Milo's lips in a calm, collected manner. One had to grant it to the boy, despite everything, he was yet to fall beneath the weight of struggle. "I want to go to New York..."

"Oh, so you've decided, huh?" Masamune added, his words fading beneath James' surprise.

"What? Are you serious? Why do you want to go to New York? That place is huge, not to mention that you and I need to help Kaya!" Raising his hand in the woman's direction, James had not forgotten the promise he made.

"You said that..." Since acquiring Masamune, Milo found it a waste to combat lowly thugs and in truth, humans. With a blade like Masamune in his possession, it would be a crime in itself not to combat creatures who would otherwise never fall to mundane weaponry. It would be a waste, a soldier placed on the wrong battlefield. "You can stay, James..." The boy would continue, a sense of confidence clear in his voice. "Help Kaya. You know where you'll be able to find me later, okay...?" Milo had left the hideout to clear his head and returned three hours later with a new mission all together. While an unexpected addition, it was nothing unique to the boy. Epiphanies were not rare and unless a deluded fool saw the words of the Divines spelled out in the clouds, it was a path the heart truly wanted to follow.

"You're serious about this, aren't you? You're actually leaving for New York? Why, because you have some kind of magical sword, now?" Crossing his arms, James raised his voice slightly in frustration but he had to concede to the fact once Masamune's splendor materialiserad in the boy's hand. With wide eyes, he glared down at the sword glowing dimly within the darkness of their home. It was true. What Milo had said not only rang true but now painted a picture no one could deny. "Shit..."

"This isn't a higher purpose bullshit I'm spewing..." Milo continued, the blade vanishing from his hand. "But I was made to be a weapon, and I want to do what I can..."

"You're more than a weapon." James objected, shaking his head. "You're a person, never forget that!" Pulling Milo into a hug, James couldn't help but clench his teeth in a desperate attempt not to seem emotional. "Look, if you feel like you want to go to New York, go for it. I can't stop you even if I tried and I know what happens when you've made up your mind. I need to help Kaya though, I promised her. After that's done, I'm going to come looking for you, you hear?"

"You better..." The boy finished, a soft grin crossing his lips. Milo had always been known as a cautious individual. He wasn't one to act on impulse very often but sometimes even he understood that one could not sit by and consider everything until the day of judgment. Milo wanted to achieve something more, something better. If he didn't use what the day had offered to reach new heights, everything would have been for naught. Kaya and James could undoubtedly deal with Lost Haven together. They were capable individuals and their place was in the Haven, fighters for justice.

What Milo was after wasn't quite the same thing. Thirty two years had passed since his creation yet he found himself clueless in so many ways. He needed to go to New York not only to pursue another path but also to learn, to experience what the world had to offer. Of course, this involved the underworld, the supernatural world. That's where he was heading.

Taking a quick shower lead to a change of clothes before a final goodbye would fill the air. It was time to leave, and eagerness was thick enough to drown the boy's desires. He had no interest in waiting for the next day, nor was he emotionally capable of staying for any longer. Returning to bed would leave him lost in his own thoughts for several hours, hours of which would more than probably change his mind due to a longing to be with James. He would need to push those personal desires aside for he was a soldier on a mission.

Though time had left him outside their hideout, Milo found his thoughts returning to Kaya and James frequently on his way to the train station. His goodbye had been offered and it was time to move on. Masamune's endless topics of conversation did help quite a lot in keeping Milo focused on his goal, but he would not forget his friend. One day they would be reunited, but not now.

The train station was quite a distance from the ghetto, a trip Milo would have to make by bus if he ever hoped to get to his location before the next day. As it was, the setting sun was soon visible through the window of public transportation. New York was far away, but as James had stated, Milo had made up his mind.
Hidden 8 yrs ago Post by fdeviant
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Diplodoc’s Hideout
West Virginia


Marie looked in shock as the sorceress and her doppelgangers hovered above the factory. Three of them departed, flying down through the hole in ceiling while three more stood in her way. Dammit! Marie thought, landing on the roof and readying herself for another attack. She could combat the sorceress’s magic all day, but that wouldn’t stop her from wreaking havoc when possible. Even if she managed to take out these duplicates, there’s no telling what other tricks she had up her sleeve. Marie knew that she needed to end this, but how?

“At a loss?” the Silver Sorceress taunted, her words echoing between the three copies. They raised their arms and, with a flash of white, sent an array of mystical bolts at Marie. They crackled with energy, but dissipated as they neared. The amulet around Marie’s neck shook violently, it didn’t have much juice left. Marie would have to take the sorceress down now or risk taking some serious damage.

Marie held out an arm, a small bit of rubble raising from the ruined ceiling and launching itself at the sorceress and her copies. With a similar motion, they halted the debris and sent it back at Marie, who dodged at just the right time. The three sorceresses began to spin around one another, chanting and conjuring. At their center was a great, wispy sphere, growing in size with each pass. They meant to destroy Marie’s protections!

Marie acted without thinking. She grabbed her broom in both hands and began tapping the hilt upon the roof while whistling a steady note. To an onlooker, she might appear insane, but there was a method to her madness. As she went about her ecstatic ritual, the wind picked up and the sky clouded over. Marie lifted the bottom of her mask long enough to bite her thumb and draw blood. She offered up her crimson essence to the winds, who graciously accepted and came to her aid. The outside was swallowed in chaos. Marie’s winds threatened to level Diplodoc’s base, and the sorceress’s mystical cyclone was still growing.

With increased force, Marie spun the winds around the sorceress and her clones in an attempt to lessen their focus, but they were determined to perform this spell. They grabbed each other’s arms and spun about, but their chanting went uninterrupted. A few moments later, they broke ranks and released their own mystical storm, a violently whirring vortex of energy that would overtake Marie if she didn’t act quickly. It fought against her wind and barreled towards her unabated. Is there nothing else I can do?

Something came over Marie then, something she had never felt before. Her vision blurred, her consciousness shifted, and she fell into a trance-like state. She heard a voice in the depths of her mind. It sounded like her own voice, but it was shadowed by another, a familiar voice that she could not place. Fight! it urged her, and with that Marie’s body responded, not entirely under her control. She held out an arm and with a power she had never before experienced, ripped through the sorceress’s spell.

Just then, her amulet shattered, its pieces lost to the great winds. The Silver Sorceress smiled, despite having her spell broken. The three of them sent forth a barrage of mystical bolts, but to their surprise, none of them connected. Instead, Marie issued a forlorn stare that cut through the sorceress’s magic. Now was her chance to destroy these clones! Marie quickly took a pinch of witches salt from her cloak and released it into the wind. It flashed and sparked, attacking the sorceress’s doubles. Their forms seemed to burn away and before long, all three of the clones had been destroyed. Marie hopped on her broom, her actions still not entirely her own, and descended upon the rest of the heroes.

Inside the base, the real Silver Sorceress, along with two other clones, stood near the ceiling entrance, ready to stop Marie, but she was determined. With an odd sort of strength, she charged through the clones, knocking them out of her way.

“It’s useless!” The Silver Sorceress shouted. “You’re defenseless without that amulet of yours!” She charged forward, her hands glowing with power, but Marie was quicker. With an outstretched arm, Marie forced her will upon the sorceress, focusing all of her malice into a single motion. The sorceress stopped, her own magical defenses suddenly breaking with a visible and audible shatter. With a second wave of her hand, Marie took hold of the sorceress’s body.

“No,” she struggled. “I-I can’t lose here, you don’t know what he’ll do!” She was powerless now, unable to escape Marie’s grasp.

Marie ignored the Silver Sorceress’s pleas, and with a strange coldness, sent her flying into an adjacent wall, the force of the impact knocking her out. The other clones faded with their mistress’s consciousness. Marie shook her head, waving away whatever force had taken over during her battle. She felt light headed and stumbled away from the others, momentarily collapsing in a far corner of the factory.

Meanwhile . . .


The Red Devil
Lost Haven


“Will you stop your worrying!” Puck called to Joseph, who paced up and down the hallway leading to his office. The large red door flew open in response to Puck’s voice. “Get in here,” he commanded. Joseph drudged through his heavy emotions and did as told, taking a seat at Puck’s desk. The room was exceptionally messy this evening, scrolls and parchments littering all corners of the candlelit room. Puck’s own worries had cluttered his office, he didn’t have time to deal with the sulking of his employees.

“Have I not assured you that she will be safe?” Puck’s voice was both nurturing and harsh.

“I’ve just got a bad feeling about this. She’s never gone up against something like this, and your unwavering confidence in her abilities has no doubt given her a big head.” Joseph responded with an equally harsh and questioning tone. He had a closer relationship to Puck than most, given him the ability to speak to him with more contempt than respect. “She needs help, I know it.”

Joseph’s feelings toward Marie were only a secret to him. Puck was well aware of them, as was Joseph’s familiar, Holt. In fact, all the regulars at The Red Devil knew that they had chemistry, but he refused to admit anything.

Puck rolled his eyes as the boy spoke, knowing that the spark of young love had also kindled the fires of worry. “Do you doubt Marie’s abilities?” he mocked Joseph.

“Of course not, but neither do I hold to the false notions that she can face anything thrown at her. It’s just not realistic. I mean, she’s only been practicing for like 16 years, and she’s only been White Witch for one and a half. I’ve got 300 years of experience and you don’t see me running about Lost Haven, scantily clad and trying to save the day.”

“Ah yes,” Puck replied, “the noble Joseph Mathers, son of Increase Mather and brother of Cotton Mather, who rejected the word of God as a young boy, cried to the Devil in the night, and became a member of his infernal flock.”

Joseph turned away, ashamed of the mention of his past family. He was lost to history, much to his dismay. Born to Increase Mather, famous witch-hunter of the 17th century, he refused to go into the family business of preaching and witch-hunting. He took an interest in witchcraft, just as his brother had, but instead of combatting it, he wished to learn it. Shortly after making his deal with the Devil, gaining great knowledge and power in return, he too was hunted by Increase, who chased him all the way to the New World, where he met with the dastardly Robin Goodfellow and entered into a contract with him in the hopes of having his name known worldwide. Unfortunately, he had made no such accomplishments.

“I see what this is about,” Puck continued. “You’re not worried that she’s in trouble, you’re worried that she’ll steal your spotlight.” He stood up, walking around his desk and kneeling behind Joseph. “My dear boy, you’ve had 300 hundred years to make a name for yourself. You amassed great fortune while working at my side, and yet your name was unknown to all but your clients, and even they forgot you once you had done their dirty work. It’s someone else’s turn, Joseph, and the magic that kept young expired three years ago. Our contract ended, yet out of the kindness of my heart, I let you stay here and mentor my newest employees, but if you continue to sulk and bring down my spirits, you’ll have outstayed your welcome.”

“But why her?!” Joseph shouted in anger. “What has she got that makes her so right for this job?”

“Well for one thing, an inside voice.” Puck taunted. Joseph huffed and slunk down in his chair as if a child being scolded by a parent. “And if you must know, birthright.”

Joseph sat up in his chair again. “What?”

“That’s right, unlike you, Marie’s powers come from her blood. In fact, she isn’t just any witch, she’s a witch reborn, though she does not yet know it.”

“Why haven’t you told her?”

Puck laughed. “It’s much more fun when they find these things out on their own.”

Joseph wasn’t sure how to react. It made sense now why Puck had given her so much freedom, so much attention. Her powers came from some long-dead ancestor. She really was something else, he’d known it from the moment he saw her.

“Now, if you’re so determined to meddle, then by all means go to the crystal mirror and divine her location and status, or that of some other trouble, but please, for the love of everything unholy, stop your sulking.”

Joseph nodded, lifting himself from the desk and descending the stairs to the second floor workspace. He would scry for Marie. And so, he took up a large crystal and peered into its surface. He expected to see Marie, but instead he was greeted with the image of a large underpass, along with a thick haze. He took a pen and paper and began an automatic writing session. Among the normal gibberish was a set of numbers, the latitude and longitude of an area in Lost Haven.

“Holt,” he called for his familiar, who appeared as soon as he was called.

“You rang?” he greeted Joseph with his normal sass.

Joseph pointed to the numbers. “I want you to go to these coordinates and tell me what you see.” he instructed.

“Does this have something to do with Marie?” Holt questioned.

“I’m not sure. It could, but I think it’s something else.”

Holt nodded and assumed the form of a raven. He gobbled down the paper with the coordinates and flew to the location. He appeared several yards above the North Bridge underpass on Tyburn Avenue. He couldn’t seem to fly lower as his way was obstructed by an invisible barrier. He peered down and saw only fog, but with his supernatural vision, was able to make out about three definite figures, as well as sense the presence of something else . . . the Fae. He disappeared in a puff of black smoke and appeared before Joseph once more.

“What did you see?” Joseph questioned him eagerly.

“Hard to say, but the entire area around the North Bridge underpass is heavily warded, and I felt the presence of the Fair Folk.”

“Faeries? Why would they be warding such large areas?”

Holt shrugged. “No clue. It’s probable that the outer wards were the weakest, but even if you managed to get through those wards, you’d be trapped inside several more layers, and the entire area was glamoured. I saw everything as a thick fog and could only make out a few figures.”

Joseph stood up and paced around the room, unsure how to proceed. He could just ignore it and go back to trying to find Marie, but now that he knew about her powers, he felt the need to prove himself. If he could uncover some faery mystery, maybe take down some villain of his own, he might finally gain the recognition he’d always dreamed of, but how would he combat such heavy magic?

“I’ve got an idea,” he exclaimed after several moments of intense silence. “Bring me a hawthorn blasting rod, an iron ring, and some rowan ash.” Holt nodded and disappeared for a few moments, returning with the requested items.

Joseph took the ashes and created an enchanting sigil on the floor. Next, he placed the iron ring at its center and, using the hawthorn rod, which was riddled with sharp thorns, he cut his hand and let the blood spill on the ring. He finally waved the rod over the whole thing while reciting an old Irish incantation, the ring shimmering red for a few moments, then returning to its normal sheen. Joseph took the ring and placed it on his finger.

“This should cut through any enchantments I encounter, especially those performed by faeries.”

“Let’s hope it does,” Holt replied.

The pair went down to the ground floor and to a large red door, intricately embroidered and bearing Puck’s symbol. Joseph knocked on the door three times, priming it. “Lost Haven, Tyburn Avenue, North Bridge.” Joseph instructed the door on its location as best he could. The symbol at its center spun wildly, then the door flung open, revealing a thick fog on the other side. Joseph and Holt stepped through, the door closing swiftly behind them and disappearing into the thicket of brush they had emerged from.

“Here goes nothing,” Joseph said, holding up the hand that bore the enchanted ring. Sure enough, his hand made contact with the outer barrier, and as soon as it did, the barrier began to visibly burn and retract, leaving a large enough opening for Joseph and Holt to go through. He continued to hold out his hand and eat through the enchantments until they had reached the center, where Lekh, Odette, and Racheli were doing battle.
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Hidden 8 yrs ago Post by EnterTheHero
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EnterTheHero Heir to the Throne of the Roaming Rhullo

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Natural Selection Arc




Lost Haven Center for Disease Control and Prevention


==~==


Gabriel was waiting patiently out by his car after he'd gotten off the phone with Jacob. It would be nice to have someone intellectually stimulating to talk to as he escorted Rach to her latest destination. And speak of the devil, here he came, his approach heralded by the oddly-sloshing sound he made as he walked. He raised a hand in greeting as his coworker approached.

”Hey Doctor. Got here as quick as I could. What did you need?”

Gabriel smiled. "Doctor," he said, inclining his head in greeting. "I suppose mostly I wanted someone to talk to, during the drive, but I also wanted to have words with you about your condition. I think I have some ideas about how to stabilize it, if you'd like to come along." He unlocked the door to his sedan. "Shall we proceed?"

==~==


The drive was mostly uneventful- Gabriel was usually the one talking, except when Jacob decided to intervene every so often to ask a question, or provide input. He told Jacob about his idea- a nanite lattice that would be able to reinforce his physical structure, while still maintaining the same level of flexibility of movement and form. It was skirting dangerously on revealing just by what method he was able to come up with so many breakthroughs, but the same could be said for a lot of his other ideas, anyhow. Besides, if all went well, he'd have plenty of time moving from concept to reality- enough time to disguise the advanced nature of the nanite structure.

"So, in short, it's basically a system of using your own surface tension to reinforce itself- you'll be able to walk, run, jump, and what have you like you did before the incident in question, while still keeping the benefits your unique structure grants you. I'll need to run a few tests, see what I'm up against, but I think I... can..." He trailed off, a concerned look crossing his features as his AEGIS alarms triggered in his head. The ambulance was out of visual range, since Gabriel had had to wait for Jacob for a few minutes, but he still had eyes on it with his AEGIS drones. And it had taken a wrong turn, pretty deliberately at that. He zoomed his vision in on the ambulance, wondering what was going on, but there was some sort of mild interference. He couldn't quite make it out.

Gabriel's hands tensed on the steering wheel- there wasn't a jammer on the planet that was advanced enough to interfere with his equipment. Which meant meta interference. And a meta interfering with this transfer could only mean one thing.

Someone was taking Racheli somewhere she shouldn't be going. And he was willing to bet it wasn't for tea.

Gabriel pressed his foot further down on the gas pedal, turning to Jacob. "There's a problem. Hang on." He accelerated faster, his AEGIS drones following the ambulance as it ambled along its errant path. He saw it stop at a shady underpass, the strange interference blocking him from seeing exactly what was waiting. But he could see the phase signature readings pulsing from Rach as she apparently woke up. And he saw the doors blow off of the back of the ambulance.

"Shit!" Her powers were manifesting even faster than he'd anticipated. And he was still a few minutes away. He could shift up to Mode-01 here, but he was still driving. And Jacob was in the car.

It's not as though he'd react violently to another meta, though... later. Daedalus, call Justine- she needs to know about this.

acknowledged. The tone rang in Gabriel's ear as he turned toward Jacob. "Okay. This is all probably very confusing, and I seem like a crazy person right now, but I don't have time to explain much. Short story, I'm a meta as well. The ambulance is attempting to go off the grid for possibly unsavory reasons, and things might get ugly very soon. Hold on, I need to make a call- backup," he rattled off, before turning back toward the road and answering the phone that Justine had just picked up.

"Justine, this is Icarus. We have a huge problem- I think someone's trying to kidnap Rach!"

Hidden 8 yrs ago 8 yrs ago Post by nitemare shape
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nitemare shape GM of Create A Hero and Star Wars: Legacies

Member Seen 5 days ago



I’m dying.

I have done everything in my power to stop it, but it wasn’t enough. All the years that my company has devoted to scientific advancement, to helping people…to curing disease….

They say that there is nothing that can be done. They say that I should accept this, that I’ve tried everything. Despite my best efforts, my body is shutting down, my insides liquefying within me, even as I stand here watching the city that I love crumble. I will die knowing that I’ve failed my city in ways that most people can’t even imagine. I’ve made mistakes, and I will answer to those when I meet my Maker. Though some of my actions may have been foolhardy, I had only the best intentions.

But you know what they say about the Highway to Hell and good intentions.

It was a mistake to allow a shipment of advanced weaponry to fall into the hands of street gangs. Though I knew that there would be some civilian casualties that resulted from the turf war that would be enhanced by my guns, which were more or less hand held blaster cannons, I thought it was a small price to pay for the gangs to eradicate themselves.I believed that the sacrifice of a few would outweigh the benefit to the many, that their sacrifice would be for the greater good.

Unfortunately, I was wrong.

Very wrong.

While at the time I was infuriated when one of Lost Haven’s masked vigilantes destroyed my stockpile of weapons, costing my company over half a billion dollars in losses, I’ve come to realize that it was for the best, and I’ve done a lot to in the time that’s passed since then to make amends for my past sins. However, in some ways I feel that it is too little too late.

When I first received my diagnosis, I thought that the doctors were fools. There was nothing that I couldn’t fix. I’d never even heard of Snyder’s Disease, and up until that day I’d thought that I’d heard of everything. However, I was ignorant about Snyder’s Disease because it is exceedingly rare, having only been known to have affected twelve people in history. Soon after I learned of my illness, I shifted the focus of RenCo to finding a cure. The experiments we conducted ran the gamut from DNA manipulation to gene splicing. Not even human cloning was off the table, yet the results were…varied.

The last experiment before this so-called Pax Metahumana crisis was both a success and a stunning failure. The result of that experiment was an amazing display of how far science has advanced, and proved that RenCo would be on the forefront of scientific advance for years to come. However, the subject of that experiment was…unstable.

Still, I was left with hope. There is no cure for Snyder’s Disease, but I am determined to leave no stone unturned in my search for that cure. Once that cure is discovered, I will personally lead the charge to eradicate disease the world over. I may have caused great harm to countless people in a misguided attempt to help, but I will make things right.

I am dying.

But I’m not dead yet.

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Hidden 8 yrs ago 8 yrs ago Post by Hellis
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Hellis Cᴀɴɴɪʙᴀʟɪsᴛɪᴄ Yᴇᴛ Cʟᴀssʏ

Member Seen 3 yrs ago


IN

SHIT HIT THE FAN


"You saying you got something James." Kata leaned over the wizkid as he did his thing.

"Yeah. I set up a program crossrefferncing every union cash draw in the last six month. You see, it is all about information and data. I had my computer draw up a pattern and it seems the foreman for Dock Six alternates between three different ATMs but there is never any money deducted from his accounts at these moments."

"...YOu hacked the bank?"

"No. Just the cameras at the ATM. He didn't bother to cover his hand when he punched in the code. Never mind that, look here." He pointed a bunch of numbers that made no sense to her." Kaya was never a math person. She could understand the basics well enough, but it never had interested her.

"I see big numbers" She spoke slowly. Something was dawning as she said it. These were payments.

"They are the amount he withdrawn once every month the past year-. It spiked by nearly 400 percent from the usual bribes.."

"Holy... shit... 25 grand each time?!." She whistled. "That is certeinly paying for something."

"Holy shit is right." He said as he switched to another tab "I took the time check the ship manifests and cross reference big shipments being moved around the time of each bribe." Kaya read the manifests in turn, noting how the same oiltanker docked each time.

"Hey... You think Milo will be allright?" She asked when he realized the "boy" wasn't back yet. I unnerved her, but James seemed to not be overly bothered about it. He was to absorbed in his task it seemed.

"He is doing his thing. Don't worry. He can take care of himself." James said dismissively "What do you think is in that tanker" He asked, looking up at her. Her face was full of a terrible realization.

"People." She mouthed.

"People?"

"The Triads main income is drugs and people trafficking. The Jade Spiders are no different! Can you access one of the cameras and see what it saw the time of this payment. Only down at the Docks this time."

"Sure thing" James brought up another screen, grey and grainy, one could none the less see the doors of two cargo containers open. There were tons of people being helped out of them and into vans. How did the police not do anything. They HAD to know. "But there has to be so many of them.. Surely they can't keep them all hidden."

"My teacher said that they they also do wierd magic that involves killing people in the name of their Jade Spider totem. Something about infusing it with the spirits of the dead. Ancestral worship gone horrible wrong."

"Why is the time stamp... Wait a fucking minute. This isn't a month ago. This is happening right now!" James fell silent. "What are we going to do?" He asked but Kaya was almost all the way to the door by then. She stopped, then returned to grab one of the Sub Machinegunes from ther duffel bag. It was a standard, heckler and kosh creation. It would do nicely.

"I am going down to the docks. You are staying here." She said as she pointed to the screen. "Keep me updated. And If Milo comes back before then, tell him where to find me." Cabbie sprinted over to her trusted Taxi and hit the ingitions as soon as her rear touched the seat. She was off in a rush, jamming her foot down on the pedal. She cut corner with every turn, almost hitting a young man at one point.

When she was almost there. James spoke to her in the bluetooth. "Um... Kaya... We have a problem."

"What."

"Someones allready there." He said. HIs voice unsure "He is killing them." But as she said that last part, she had just arrived. Blood splatter where everywhere, and gunfire could be heard further in. She grabbed her H&K and silently but quickly made her way down trough the cargo container. When she rounded the chaos, she saw what had caused it.

"...What" She began as she watched a man dislodged his blade from another mans split skull. "The" The man turned, flicking the blade off it with the ease of a practiced samurai. He wore a half mask, fashioned after a Oni. Yakuza. Seems she was not the only one going for the Triads today. Then he moved in the blink of a eye and he jsut barely ducked under the blade of his katana.

"Fuuuuuuck"

Hidden 8 yrs ago Post by DearTrickster
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DearTrickster

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Natural Selection Arc




banner credit to Hellis

Location: Lost Haven, Maine - Tyburn Avenue, beneath the North Bridge underpass (drop off location)
Timeline: Present




"Racheli is really unstable, now would be a good time to-" Bach began having watched Racheli tear open the ambulance, he spoke with slight awe at the sight. The rattling of the stretcher inside the ambulance and Racheli's attention on Lekh's approach gave Odette only a few seconds of warning.

Odette's hand snapped out in front of her shouting a Word of Power to stop the stretcher flying toward Lekh, "Prohibere!"

The stretcher coming to a sudden stop inches from Lekh. She wrenched control of the object from Racheli tossing it effectively well out of reach.

"Silence! Back away from her!" She said inching further away from the ambulance door. Understanding now that Racheli could manipulate metal objects.

Lekh, for his part, had slowed his approach upon the sudden materialisation of Michael and his warning. Despite that, he would have been lucky to escape the ensuing projectile if not for the quick thinking of his magical ally, who halted the gurney before it could clear him out. He listened to Odette's warning, even as his free right hand sped to the pistol holstered at his side with practiced ease.

"My thanks, Ms Ambassador, but I advise you to back away from me." Silence said, and without further notice he unleashed his reined in power full force, saturating a ten foot radius with his debilitating aura. That roughly coincided with his pistol levelled at Racheli's head. Though his face was concealed by his mask his eyes suggested only death.

"If you try that again, you will die." He told her, and her phantom ally, certain that despite her ability to manipulate metal she would struggle to overcome his own debilitating aura in time to stop a bullet perforating her skull. Of course, he needed her alive, but there was no way for her to know that, was there?

Rach's teeth gritted in anxiety at seeing the stretcher abruptly stop, the thing seemed to have been gripped by an invisible hand and held there before being tossed away. The word said felt like nails on a chalkboard to her as she forced it from her focus. Her hands had clasped over her ears when the woman shouted causing Rach to flinch in pain, her eyes had shifted to blacker than night and alien in appearance for a second. Her ability was stll tempermantal, Racheli realized, her body trying to move but seeming to refuse to listen to her.

Odette noted the strange colour change in Racheli's eyes her instability growing more apparent with every passing second. Her ability to move metal objects seemed to be rather new to her. That much was clear by her chaotic display. Odette's mind raced trying to piece together what exactly Racheli was. By all appearances she was simply a metahuman but the colour in her eye suggested something otherworldly. Feeling a bit out of her depth with the lack of information Odette knew she'd have to act quickly in order to subdue her before anymore surprises surfaced much like the strange apparition of the man. Bach was at her side while the Archon had remained silent watching the scene unfold with eyes unblinking.

Lekh leveled his gun at Racheli, at first it alarmed Odette greatly he'd be threatening her life. He knew The Cowl wanted her, alive. Her fingers twitched then she bit down on the inside of her cheek. If Lekh truly intended to see her dead he would have pulled the trigger, she loathed the idea of having to trust Lekh's judgment. He forced it.

Now the security guard was jerking out his gun out of its holster, pointing it at her. She tried to focus as her head got foggier, her mind was finding it hard to focus and center upon his gun. The weapon jiggled briefly but not enough to rip it from his hands or even affect his aim much, the motion stopped as shortly as it started. Another thing occurred though she wasn't aware of it. The blackness in her eyes faded a bit, the color retreated back to the sides, revealing the green eyes underneath.

'Interesting. I wasn't expecting that.' Michael stated, his telepathy directly at Rach only. His eyes however were fixed upon the security guard in a cold, hard stare then shifted to the woman with blue hair. His mind seemed to determine which one was responsible due to the information that was belayed already, either Silence or The Ambassador.

'Get the fuck out of my head, now... Racheli replied, her head turned to glare at the man threatening her. Her eyes fading into black then back out, strugging to make something move. An action that pointless as she was quickly learning to be a waste of energy, weakening her more.

'And how, do you intend to get out of this? Keep tapping into your ability that's not ever fully functionable? I think not. I think the best thing to do is, well, run.'

Hating that the parasite was right, Rach inhaled deeply then ceased her movement. "Who the fuck are you?"

Odette flinched with disgust at Racheli's flagrant cursing, she said with a voice cold as ice "That is none of your concern. Do as we say and you won't find a bullet through your skull, Racheli. My associate," She gestured at Lekh playing along in hopes this was simply a show of force. "Has very little patience for such flipant behaviour. It doesn't matter how we capture you, dead or alive." Odette lied holding Racheli's gaze with her own. They had an opportunity to take advantage of her while she was unstable, confused and weak.

Rach gritted her teeth at the blue haired woman, staring at the one dubbed Ms. Ambassador, and felt her rage boil underneath. Her eyes heated with it while she listened to each word nailing itself into her head causing her to consider actually taking her virus' advice. Her eyes broke contact briefly to the 'associate' someone she distinctly heard called...Silent, no Silence, wasn't it? Her focus was going in and out, unable to stabilize itself as Rach tried to keep her attention between the two of them.

With his weapon trained on her form Lekh advanced on Racheli, slowly drawing the weapon down to point at her legs as his aura increased in intensity to combat her own attempts to manipulate his gun. To its target, it would feel as if the world was spinning, with massive chunks of information somehow missing from the overall picture. Imagine severe intoxication, not dissimilar from the sedatives Racheli had only recently recovered from, and one would get some idea of the effect of Lekh's debilitating aura at close proximity. Odette was doing an amicable job of scaring the living hell out of the woman, so it was up to him to live up to his name and keep quiet, letting his visage do the talking.

With each step, he reduced the range of his aura while also intensifying it, concentrating it, on the woman in front of him. At that point, even Michael may have began to distort, linked as he was psionically to the woman, Lekh's aura was disruptive to almost all forms of being. This was almost the ideal situation for Silence, at close proximity with someone already made vulnerable by drugs and illness his aura could easily have rendered her unconsious, but it seemed she was incredibly resilient. He silently thanked fate for not putting him in front of her when she was well.

Still, he had a job to do, and with Odette supporting him with her magic, he only had to inject the woman with the sedative. He noticed Racheli wincing at relatively normal sounds around her, storing that piece of information away if he needed it. Unless she chose to run away at that moment, it should be pretty simple.

Racheli noted something strange happening to her parasite's image that was projected. It started to become fuzzy, like static interference, then fade gradually until he completely vanished. For a moment, her eyes narrowed on where the image once stood with utter confusion and slight fear, something feeling off. Anymore thoughts were interrupted when she noted him approach her causing her to bolt to the side, risking being shot as she aimed to use the van side for cover and try to get some distance between herself and him. Her heart trying to leap into her throat while her stomach curdle in her middle, weighing and slowing her down in the attempt.

Odette's head snapped at the intruder glaring at the man who seemingly cut through her ward. The Archon's attention now squarely on the stranger and his iron ring. When Racheli bolted did her attention snap back like whiplash and she huffed angrily. "Archon, sir. If you would be so kind to take care of the intruder with the iron first. I must fetch my target." Odette said rather sweetly in Common Fey. It nodded, it's antlers scrapping away the ceiling of the tunnel little flakes of cement raining down on it's head. It took menacingly slow steps toward Joseph a thrumming noise of discontent could be heard emanating from it's throat.

Of course, things were never simple for Racheli, and run she did. Or at least, she attempted to, though with her ungainly stride she wasn't going anywhere fast. The Pole sped after her, keeping her within range of his aura as he skirted wide around the van, losing some time in an effort to protect himself from ambush. He would catch her, either with his aura or his speed, either would end with the same result. The insidious debilitation lurched after Racheli as the psychic criminal extended its radius to ten, then fifteen, feet until it once again saturated her in nauseating waves of confusion.

Rach's foot stumbled underneath her, the leg tangled due to her upset balance and a drunken sensation that hit her like a sledgehammer. Her body tilted too far to the left bring the rest of her with it as she smacked into the pavement hard. The gravelly surface grated into her skin, peeling past the surface and drawing some black blood from her wounds. Her arms had been exposed thanks to the medical pjs provided by the CDC, the material not made for the outside to hold up against rough activity as they made a loud rip. There was a hole in the side of her shirt, her side slightly cut up from her unexpected tumble, causing Rach to let out a loud, verbal curse on impact.

Odette raced to follow but stopped short coming within range of Lekh, something felt horrifically off. Was this what he was warning about? Then much akin to what felt like food poisioning did her stomach roll and flip in nausea. She backed away immediately feeling the strange effects fade with the distance she shared a confused look with Bach he seemed to have felt the affects as well his face having turned a darker shade of green. At the safe distance she watched on like a hawk staring down Racheli as she had stumbled and her feet gave out.

She was curled on the ground into a tight ball, her figure too heavy to move at this point and realized, even if she did get up there was no way in hell she was going to be able to stay standing. The whole world was spinning around and around. Breathing hard, Rach glared at the man named Silence. "What the fuck did you do to me?"

"I stopped you from hurting my associate and I, because you are a danger to those around you and we have been tasked with transporting you to a location where you will not accidently kill anyone." Silence lied, partially, as he approached her with his weapon low, somewhat sympathetic to her plight as she struggled, bleeding, on the ground.

"You don't know anything about me..." Racheli spat out the words, venom clearly in each syllable. Her head leaned back down upon the pavement, her arm weakly pressed against the nasty road rash she had gotten in her stupidity. "What would anyone want with a virus has killed literally populations, anyway?"

"Tell that to the bloody messes in the back of that ambulance, they were just doing their jobs." Silence sighed as he approached her."And I am just a man doing his job, panienka, the CDC evidently lacked the ability to contain you and your virus. I am taking you to people who can, but failing that I must kill you. That is what I am paid to do, but it is also what is right." Silence lied to set her at ease, but there was just enough truth mixed in with his words that the lie was by no means evident. "Please, accept your chance at life, allow me to sedate you before you attempt to hurt others like those doctors back there."

"They're not dead... I've got a temper, but I'm not my father. I don't kill." Rach growled, her head raised upright a bit again, as she watched the man approached. Her tone angry to hide the pain each of his made facts had caused. Her fingers whiten their grip on her skin and dug in, a hint of doubt in her own statement. She pasued for a few seconds then added, her tone calmer strangely enough when she spoke. "And if I refuse?"

"Is that how you justify your actions, then, Panienka? So long as they are only beaten to within an inch of their life for attempting to sedate a dangerous patient, your conscience is clear?" Silence shook his head, though his carefully formulated expression was somewhat obfuscated by the mask on his face. "I suppose if you refuse then I will have to take the safer option, and dispatch of you here. You would make me a murderer as well then, I suppose? Take no heed of the destruction you leave behind, the easy option, so to speak. I cannot blame you, but it saddens me, Panienka." He knelt beside her with his syringe and weapon in each hand, a mute reminder of the choices offered.

"I won't lie and convince myself or you that I'm a saint or even selfless, that's bullshit. As for making you a murderer, I didn't make you pull the trigger. You're making the final choice if you hadn't noticed, fighting back seems to be a bit of a bitch." Rach said.

"I could perhaps overcome you and sedate you by force, but there is risk in such a prodedure and I would rather convince you of the necessity rather than force it upon you like those others back there." He pointed towards the ambulance with a backwards nod. The real reason was of course that sedating someone by force was often fairly dangerous, and he couldn't really afford to accidently rupture her artery and have her bleed out on the street. "As for making me pull the trigger? I think you know better than I the danger the virus within you poses, I do not fault you for your affliction and would not have you die for something you did not ask for. But to suggest that there is an option other than containment or destruction is simply irrational, Panienka, please think."

Rach made a soft, slightly amused chuckle. She knew she was screwed as she tried to think, her instincts screaming for her to focus through the haze locked within her head. "It's sterile and locked in a host, which unfortunately is me. I don't know why or understand it myself, despite what it has told me. Given the choice, I rather die on my feet at least."

"If what you say is true, do you not realise you have nothing to fear from sedation? You must understand that we are not like the CDC, we will discover the nature of this virus and the nature of your mutation. At the moment, to kill you would rend my heart knowing that if you had simply allowed yourself to be sedated and moved to a facility away from harm, you could be cured or learn to control this ability. Unless you are far more brutal than you suggest, those doctors are evidence that you are not safe around people at this time. Your attempt to kill me on sight is evidence enough. You do not want to be a murderer, so do not make me one. Allow me to sedate you, for everyone's sake, Panienka."

"It didn't work for long the last time. I doubt it will work again, and let alone as long. At least with the CDC, I know what they have... done. I have...." Rach blinked, her mind was at its heaviest, her head unable to remain upright, as it pulled down to the street's hard surface. She laid there while her eyes drifted shut and body curled tighter, more out of instinct than being useful in protecting herself. "No idea..."

Unable to withstand Lekh's ability much longer, Rach's attention drifted then faded out. Her body breathing in slumber as her hand and arm were covered in her own blood from pressing into it.

Silence sighed, slightly dissapointed he couldn't twist his target's point of view to his own. It always lessened the guilt when he managed it. He leant over, taking her wrist in his hand after holstering his pistol, and brushing away the blood there. He tapped the veins for a moment, looking intently before slowly pressing in the syringe to flush sedatives into her system. When he left her proximity the effects of his power would quickly fade, so chemicals would have to take over. Working quickly, he pulled the two metal syringes from his pocket in quick succession and extracted a good measure of black blood from the slumbering woman, before replacing them in the reinforced box in his pocket.

"I really am sorry, Panienka, but there was no other way for this to end." The often apologetic and introspective criminal muttered, staring at Racheli for a moment and recognizing her as a person for the first time. He winced beneath his mask, stooping to scoop her up and carry her back around to the back of the ambulance, his aura dimming and receding as he went.

Odette had watched the pair speak with lingering curiosity. It gave her an open window to see how Lekh operated and the strange feeling that had overwhelmed her minutes before had knocked Racheli out cold. Chewing the inside of her cheeks she nodded giving Lekh a wide berth to walk on, "Good work. If we aren't expecting any more foul mouthed surprises then let's carry on. I'm sure the Archon has taken care of our uninvited guest."

"I certainly hope not, Ms Ambassador. Unless you would prefer I tend to her wounds first, I shall relinquish Miss Desdemona to you now."
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Hidden 8 yrs ago 8 yrs ago Post by Hellis
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Hellis Cᴀɴɴɪʙᴀʟɪsᴛɪᴄ Yᴇᴛ Cʟᴀssʏ

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The Tengu Mask was way to fast for her. He swiped at her with his blade and it was all she could do to dodge and weave and duck and jump out of the way. She tucked her shoulder in a roll across pair of smaller crates and fell to a knee while bringing her Heckler up to shoot a burst at the direction he was coming from but he wasn't there by the time she squeezed the trigger. She barely got the gun up in time to block the blade swung at her.

"You're no triad."[/b] The man said as he pressed the blade into the gun harder. Was it just her imagination, or was it slowly sinking deeper into the goddamn metal? She decided she was
gonna have to take him out quick.

"No shit, fucko'" She suddenly dropped the gun and side stepped. He didn't loose his footing as she had hoped but he did pitch forward briefly at the sudden lack of resistance. He did not see the Teep Kick to the ribs before the ball of her foot connected solidly with him. He recoiled from the shock of getting hit by her and looked at her with renewed respect.

"A martial artist.." He grinned as he sheathed his sword. She only then realized the man vore a jade eye patch. "Very well. What is that you use? Muy Thai?" He took a wide stance, reminding her a lot of a karateka she had sparred with back in Burma. The man had been half-japanese, half-vietnamese and ran a little dojo. Often beset by Burmese nationalist for his heritage, he had become very proficient in defending himself. He remembered him chastisting her for looking down on karate. And the way he had managed to sneak in kicks at the strangest of times.

"Something like that, yeah." She breathed in, lowered her head as her arms lifted in a traditional thai guard. And then she sprang forth with a kick. He blocked blocked with his right arm and shoulder and aimed a punch to her face with her left. She tossed her head back and weaved under it, throwing a mean counter-cross. But just as it seemed like it was about to connect he moved his head out of the hands trajectory and gripped her arm. She felt a jolt of pain as he smashed his elbow against her shoulder joint then kicked her stumbling form right in the face. The world exploded into a stars of pain and her vision grew foggy as she stumbled back.


"...Disappointing." He said as he took the same stance again. He seemed to take the fight most seriously. She on the the other hand had so much experience fighting desperate 1 on 3 styled fights as of late she didn't know where to begin in a one on one fight with a evident master of his art.

"That... wasn't Karate.." She got out as she spat part of her left canine out. "You are gonna have to pay for my dental"

"Taijutsu. And at this rate, you will not need a dentist. You'll need a mortician." He moved again, slamming forward with his fingers in a point. He went straight for her eyes and she just barely ducked underneath, moving forward suddenly to jam her elbow into his sternum. He let out a 'oof' as he danced to the side and chanced a quick sweep of her legs that she rolled over. The two stood still, back into their original stances. But Kaya was breathing much, much harder. The smashed nose made it hard to breathe. She was loosing. But she still had the flame.

"...Wait... You are a fucking ninja!??" She burst out when it suddenly hit her, he used Taijitsu. The question seem to have cought the man off guard.

"No? I a-" He began but Kaya interrupted.

"Bull-fucking-shit. You wield a katana, wear a tengu mask and do Taijitsu. You are a fucking ninja." She got a shit eating grin of her face as she took a stance. Her head cleared again as he fixed her with his gaze. "Well. I never killed a ninja before" The smile of her face was a ugly thing, full of hate and anger.

"Let's get this over with." The man sighed.

And she flew at him like a bat out of hell. Her punched had more force to them this time, raw adrenaline driven power that made her strikes sloppy and she payed for it. A punch to the ribs cracked something. She snarled as something familiar built inside her, A white fire. She spun and feigned a punch only to catch him with a kick to the side of his knee. But it didn't faze him noticeably. He danced with her, moving smoothly and rolled with every punch and met every kick. She was outclassed so badly something inside her was about to break from the sheer humiliation. Then she noticed it. He was smiling at her.

It was to much. Anger and Humiliation raged trough her system. She screamed as white fire erupted from her eyes and the power of the sacred flame bolstered her speed and strength. She punched, putting all she had into it. He had a shocked look on his face as her punch sailed towards the mans face.

And then the world stood still and she noticed something was wrong. Terribly wrong. Her body had seized up. She gasped for words. Nothing came. Instead she felt a terrible pain in her abdomen. She looked down. A sword was sunken halfway into her lower stomach. Had he snatched blade up? No, his arms was up in a guard. IT was as if they both frozen in time. The sword wasn't his. This was somebodies else, a black blade that led to a Emerald colored, turtle shell shaped hand guard. His blades had not been so ornate or fancy looking.

"Eiko!" The man shouted. "Why did you interfere?!" The man sounded upset. Very upset. The dissaproval was clear in his voice. Like that of a father scolding his child. Kaya thought of her own father. The way he had scolded her when she had sneaked out of church to run with the gangster boys. Maybe she'd get to see father again. Maybe mother was waiting for her.

A pale hand wrapped around a black, leather covered hilt. Kayas eyes followed the arms lenght upwards. Her eyes found the face of a woman around 30 years of agae, wearing a modernized version of a samurais Kimono. Clearly cut to display her femininity in a classy and subdued manner while still practical. Her eyes were black pools of cold, unflinching killer instinct. Kaya never seen something so scary framed in something so fragile looking as her face. It was like a shark wearing a womans skin. It unnerved her to no end. For a moment, that stare made her forget about the blade in her gut. Only for said blade to be yanked free and the pain to come rushing out into her very fingertips. Kaya screamed and fell to the ground. a pool of blood forming under.

"You were toying with her Father, but you did not see her magic in time. I merely stepped in when the fight was no longer one of pure martial skill." The cold, feminine voice echoed in her head as her world was turning black

"Ah. I ask you to trust your old man next time Eiko. She was hardly a Jade Spider Officer..."

"She isn't a Triad?" The woman named Eiko asked in mild confusion.

"No. Just a fool." The man answered. Their voices were feint now, subdued. Her vision was almost gone. She was scared. So scared and alone. She wished she was back in Burma with the boys. No, further back. She wished she was at church, watching her Father preach. A tear ran down her face.

"Oh." Was all the woman said as the two left the poor woman in a puddle of her own blood.

"Mother...Father..." Kaylas voice croaked out in the silence. "I don't want to die.."

-------------
Hidden 8 yrs ago 8 yrs ago Post by Culluket
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Culluket Tertium Non Data

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When the cat vanished for the third time, she found the phone booth, and all through the neighbourhood dogs were howling, baying and whimpering piteously from hidden corners and empty lots. The rain was coming down hard, now, Caroline's hospital gown plastered to her body like wet newspaper as she fumbled with the door and pushed herself into the cramped, lamplit enclosure. Gang signs and graffiti covered the glass on all sides. To her shivering, fevered mind, it felt like a cage.

She picked up the receiver and put it to her ear, double-taking as the silence reminded her these things cost actual money. She swore, ran the muzzle of the gun through her soaked hair and paced back outside, taking a shaking breath and leveling the weapon at the lock on the coin deposit. She fired twice, closing her eyes and flinching away from the thunderclap din as the cabinet fell open and a waterfall of quarters rang to the floor of the booth.

The money quickly rattled into the ransacked slot, dropping through and rolling back out onto the floor. Caroline's hands shook. This was the last thing she had ever wanted to do. But she had no choice.

Please have the same number.

The candyfloss storm whipped around her like a bloated carousel as the dialtone sounded. A pair of bats fluttered through the downpour beneath a streetlight, clipped the phone booth heavily and impacted with an abandoned apartment building, biting and clawing at each other even as they fell to the cracked, wet pavement. From a broken window, someone began screaming in their sleep.

At the fifteenth ring, there was a click, and a tired, irritable, familiar voice on the other end of the line. Caroline closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Momma?" she braced herself against the glass, letting her head fall back, "Momma, it's me."

The line went dead.

Caroline stared at the phone, swore, punched the glass, crouched and scraped up another two quarters, slotting them into the machine and thumping redial, shivering and grinding her teeth. There was a click and a hard, tinny noise from the receiver.

"...I know, I know what you said, I..." Caroline swallowed, thickly, "Momma, I'm sick. Okay? I need help and I don't know who else to--"

Water dripped to the floor like a broken faucet from her saturated hospital gown.

"No, it's not--" Caroline's grip shifted on the plastic bottle, "It's not drugs, I--" She screwed her eyes shut, little pinpricks beginning to stab at her tear ducts. "...Please, okay, I'm in big trouble."

"...No, I didn't get arrest--" she wiped her mouth on the back of her hand, "...Okay, yeah, I got arrested, but they weren't..."

"...Holy shit, NO! "

"...Well if I am then it's your fault!"

"...Mom I am not f***ing drunk--"

"Y--"

She cut off, the receiver buzzing with half-heard recriminations. Caroline stared out into the street through rain-speckled glass and a maze of colored paint. Her heart pounded in her scrawny chest and her breath shook between her parted lips. Her mind churned like flaming molasses.

"You d--"

She couldn't believe it was happening and yet she'd known it would end exactly like this.

"...I didn't WANT TO!"

"Then why did you leave me with--"

She dug her nails into her hair, strangling her feelings, listening to the same self-righteous tirade she'd already heard a thousand times. She bore it. She bore it as long as she could.

It didn't take long.

"Why do you have to be like this?" she tore the handset from its cable with both hands, shrieking into the lifeless receiver, "WHY CAN'T YOU JUST BE NORMAL??"

The severed handset sailed through the air and smashed into halves against the side of the nearby building. Caroline staggered out of the booth and back out into the pouring rain, screaming in frustration and inarticulate rage. She picked the broken plastic back up and threw it back at the phone booth with a clatter and tinkle of cracking glass before the world tilted like a ship at sea and she collapsed, splashing to the sidewalk, shrieking and pounding her fist over and over into a freezing puddle as the street gaped beneath her like a bottomless pit.

The white noise of rainfall was abruptly drowned out by the low drone of a vehicle horn and the phone booth where Caroline had been standing a moment ago was obliterated by an out-of-service bus which mounted the curb at high speed, bulldozing it and a nearby fire hydrant before ploughing heavily into a convenience store window. The ground shook with the tumult, car alarms going off in every direction, water fountaining upward in a foaming jet beneath spinning tires. Another car swerved, skidding sideways and crashing into the intersection. The metal carriages mounted as one vehicle after another lost control. Caroline didn't even look up, only lay there, staring straight ahead, choking back tears and spitting up dirty rainwater. The cat paced around and sat in front of her, grinning and licking its paws in the red flicker of hazard lights.

"After this, the deluge." it proclaimed between licks, as the rain came down relentlessly.

"What the hell is happening to me?" Caroline hiccupped.

"The truth of the universe is not order, but chaos."

"Oh that's real f***ing helpful, thanks a million" she slurred bitterly.

"If you cannot swallow your pride, perhaps you should swallow someone else's." The cat padded silently around in a half-circle, its grin now fixed on the plastic bottle still clutched in Caroline's white-knuckled hand. "The medicine will help, until you have learned control. Shutter the pane, Caroline."

"Shutter... the pain..?"

She groped at the child lock with wet hands, shaking out one of the plastic tablets and placing it on her tongue, trying to protect the rest of the contents from the pouring rain. Another car careened noisily into the pile-up from further down the street as she cupped her hands, gathering enough oily rainwater to swallow.

The sensation was half like a swelling going down and half like wrestling a tiger wrapped in a blanket. The fever diminished, little by little, subsiding into a dull pink roar and she could move again, in some unseen way, tightening her grip on the mental vortex and reining it in to within a few meters of her skull. Her temples throbbed with a grade-A stress headache as the street slowly righted itself, and she pushed back against a dumpster, shivering in the sparse white garment and trying to shelter from the downpour. The cat's smile shone down at her from the lid.

"When one seeks to build a tower to heaven, one should first be certain heaven is a place one truly wishes to see. The mind is a window, Caroline, your former captors, children with bricks. And the wind is blowing so very cold."

"No k-kidding," the girl hugged herself tightly, gasping and soaked to the skin. "You know it would be really f***ing swell to actually have something to actually wear."

"There is a place, not far, where the well-to-do frequently slip into something less comfortable. If it is your wish, I will guide us, but the way is difficult, on foot."

Caroline picked herself up, half-crouching in the bitter deluge. She looked up at the rear end of the bus, jutting out of the shattered convenience store, the red lights still blinking helplessly. The cat twined itself around her legs, twisting its head to smile up at her.

"...Have you ever piloted such a thing?" it enquired.

Babel stared at the enormous vehicle a moment, and shrugged.

"...Eh. How hard can it be?"
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Hidden 8 yrs ago 8 yrs ago Post by Hellis
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Hellis Cᴀɴɴɪʙᴀʟɪsᴛɪᴄ Yᴇᴛ Cʟᴀssʏ

Member Seen 3 yrs ago


Wake my child.” A voice called out in the darkness. It was so gentle.

”Mother?” Kaya asked, eyes bleary with tears. Why was she crying? She looked at her hands, why were they so small? Like that of a childs. She looked around herself, as the darkness gave way for a brightly lit church. Her father was at the Podium, talking about the acceptence of all people, regardless of stature and wealth. He was so passionate, so strong in his devotion and will to do good onto others. Her mother was sitting in the front row with some kind looking lady.

Am I dead? She asked herself as she realized just how wrong all this was. They were dead. She had indentified the bodies herself. But it all felt so right. She felt safe for the first time in years. But why wouldn't she stop crying? She wiped at her tears, but it wouldn't stop. They just poured down her round girly cheeks. She looked up and saw her mother looking down at her with concern.

”Mother?” Her voice croaked, drowned by sobbing. ”Why are you alive” She asked, wiping her eyes, trying against hope to stop crying. But it was worthless. Her heart beat at its own pace, her throat was tight and a lump rested in her stomach.

Wake my child

”Oh honey.” Her mother said and hugged her. Kaya buried her face in her shoulder, sobbing uncontrollably into the fabric. She smelled like lilacs and something sweet. Like the first whiff of a newly baked blueberry pie. But then it changed and the smell became rosey and tinted with lotus.

”I AM NOT.” The voice changed and her mother felt suddenly alien and cold against her cheek. She screamed and pusher her away, pushing away a woman in a red, traditional Chinese dress. From the look of her she was chinese. A giant jade colored spider hung just above her. Her face was full of loathing.

”Poor girl.” The woman mocked. ”So cought up in your own vengeance you forgot where your roots are.” Her smile was cruel. But it wasn't that of the woman who stabbed her. This one was full of malevolence. The other woman had simply been a predator. She killed, because it was what she did. This woman was evil on a different level entirely. The pain of having her happy memories ripped from her enraged Kaya.

Wake my child

”WHO ARE YOU?!” Kaya screamed. She was back in her own body, strong and adult once more. But the tears kept streaming down her face as she demanded answer. This was cruel. This cut deeper then any blade. Why would someone impersonate her mother. Who would be so sick.

”Why I am the Spider little one. ” The Woman mused. Green light shone from her eyes and she began to stride towards Kaya. But Kaya couldn't move, her feet were stuck in spider webbing as everything changed again. She struggles, swore and cursed in every language she knew off. The woman got closer. Then Kaya felt it. The fire. The Mothers Flame. It rippled out in a wave, banishing the red woman and her giant jade spider.

Kaya was standing a white room now. There was nothing but white marble around her. Nothing but her and a woman. The woman stood perfectly still, robed in a blindingly white a coat that shone like the polished marble around them. IT almost hurt to look at her radiance.

”Hello Kaya.” The woman said with a warm smile.. It was the voice from the very start of her fever dream. ”Do you know whom I am?”

Wake my child

[color=#6660CC][/color]”Y-yes. I-I do. You are the venerable mother. Greatest and truest of all...” She said in a slight stammer. Her eyes wide. The woman laughed, a sound that put Kaya instantly at ease. IT was like listening to the little brook running trough one of those Japanese gardens.

”Goodness no. If only we could be so lucky. My name is Guan-Yi. I was known as the-” She began as Kaya interruped

”You're the 'Goddess of Mercy.'” Kaya said, not believing her own words. ”You're the first of the Flame.” Kaya was reaching for something more to say but the woman smiled and held a finger to her own lips in a hushing gesture.

”Indeed child. The Mother touches all our souls, even after our death. She sent me to pull you back from deaths jaws.”

”..So I am dead after all?”

”Not yet. But it was close. More importantly, your spirit came under attack the Jade Spider.”

”The woman in Red...”

”Yes. She is one of the shamans that uphold its power in this world.. When you were hurt, your mind flared like a beacon. Her scrying stumbled upon you and so she tried to devour your soul.” She spoke softly. ”Luckily, I arrived just in time to ward her off. You must go to where you and i first spoke.”

”But I.. I was stabbed. I am bleeding to death.” Kaya began. But again she was gently hushed by Guan-Yi.

”You were. But it didn't kill you. You are strong. You are of my blood. Of the Goddess blood. Wake, and fight. Wake and see the world for what it truly is. Your sight will show you why you need to go there.” She leaned over and kissed Kayas forehead. Kaya felt a jolt run trough her. Fire burned away the feeling rage and humiliation she hadn't realized still held her.

Her eyes flew wide open as she gasped for air. She looked around, everything was vibrant and strange. She littel creatatures crawl around in the blood. Little strange blobs of sot and blood. Pain drinkers. She knew them from when she tried her third eye before. She blinked, her third eye was active and she didn't have to concentrate on it. This was both amazing and unnerving. What else had changed. She grimaced as the pain from the stab wound made itself evident.

”That... Hasn't changed” She said as she dragged herself up to one knee. Blood ran from her mouth. She heard someone yelling. Looking up she smiled weakly at the young man running towards her.

”Kaya!” She looked up, seeing James come running. ”Holy shit Kaya. We gotta get you to a hospital.”

”No Hospital. Take me.. to Little Thailand. I need.. to go home..
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