Hidden 7 yrs ago 7 yrs ago Post by RedDusk
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RedDusk Likes cheese and slacking

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『𝕊𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣』 『ℂ𝕙𝕣𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕞𝕒𝕤』



ℂ𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 ℙ𝕠𝕤𝕥𝕤 / / @RedDusk@January


𝕊𝕒𝕥: 𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥. 𝟚𝟞, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝔹𝕒𝕝𝕕 ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕀𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 / / ℤ𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕘'𝕤 𝔼𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕖 / / ~ 𝟘𝟡𝟘𝟘






𝕋𝕙𝕦𝕣: 𝕆𝕔𝕥. 𝟙, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝔹𝕒𝕝𝕕 ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕀𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 / / ℤ𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕘'𝕤 𝔼𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕖 / / ~ 𝟘𝟡𝟘𝟘






𝔽𝕣𝕚: 𝕆𝕔𝕥. 𝟚, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝔹𝕒𝕝𝕕 ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕀𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 / / ℤ𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕘'𝕤 𝔼𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕖 / / ~ 𝟚𝟛𝟛𝟘





𝕊𝕦𝕟: 𝕆𝕔𝕥. 𝟜, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝔹𝕒𝕝𝕕 ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕀𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 / / ℤ𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕘'𝕤 𝔼𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕖 / / ~ 𝟙𝟘𝟘𝟘





Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by banjoanjo
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banjoanjo Still likes pistachios

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Week One



𝔹𝕒𝕝𝕕 ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕀𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 / / ℤ𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕘'𝕤 𝔼𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕖


September 21





September 22





September 23







September 26






Interlude: Conviction


Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by banjoanjo
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banjoanjo Still likes pistachios

Member Seen 13 days ago





Zoe
Ernest | Sander | Emma



𝕋𝕦𝕖: 𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥. 𝟚𝟚, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝔹𝕒𝕝𝕕 ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕀𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 / / ℤ𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕘'𝕤 𝔼𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕖: 𝕄𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕓𝕒𝕣 / / 𝟚𝟚𝟘𝟘


Collab with @Lasrever @RedDusk @Diggerton


Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by ERode
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ERode Odd One Out

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Empty Words


Brent | Chris


Assurance?


Brent | Sander


Two Guys, No Fish


Brent | Grant

Hidden 7 yrs ago 6 yrs ago Post by Lasrever
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Lasrever

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Zoe Fletcher


(90% of this is linking to other posts but whatever)

Week 1








Week 2












Week 3




Hidden 7 yrs ago 7 yrs ago Post by Vox Angelis
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Vox Angelis Dust in the wind

Banned Seen 24 days ago



𝓣𝓱𝓲𝓻𝓭 𝓦𝓮𝓮𝓴: 𝓡𝓮𝓼𝓸𝓵𝓿𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓰𝓮







Hidden 7 yrs ago 7 yrs ago Post by Bubsy 2
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Bubsy 2

Member Seen 11 mos ago



Week 1







Week 2



Week 3





Hidden 7 yrs ago 7 yrs ago Post by Chasers115
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Chasers115 The FatCat

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Doctor's Orders



Lawrence | Marcus



𝔽𝕣𝕚: 𝕆𝕔𝕥. 𝟙, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝔹𝕒𝕝𝕕 ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕀𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 / / ℤ𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕘'𝕤 𝔼𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕖 / / ~𝟚𝟘𝟘𝟘


Hidden 7 yrs ago 7 yrs ago Post by Chasers115
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Chasers115 The FatCat

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Fire in the Hole



Marcus | Angel | Kusari | Brent



𝕋𝕦𝕖: 𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥. 𝟚𝟡, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝔹𝕒𝕝𝕕 ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕀𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 / / ℤ𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕘'𝕤 𝔼𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕖 / / ~𝟙𝟘𝟘𝟘

Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Piercing Light
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Piercing Light ...

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[Kusari] [Sander] [Christmas]




𝕊𝕦𝕟: 𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥. 𝟚𝟝, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝔹𝕒𝕝𝕕 ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕀𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 / / ℤ𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕘'𝕤 𝔼𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕖 / / ~𝟙𝟝𝟘𝟘


Kusari rolled herself down the hall of guestrooms in a wheelchair. Her right arm and leg were gone, having been severed the day before. She thought they would grow back more quickly than this, she knew it would take longer than her alternate limbs but this was a gross miscalculation. She struggled to keep her chair straight as she looked at the named plaques on the walls next to rooms. She stopped in front of the room with Christmas's name next to it. She leaned forward and knocked on the door. After waiting for a full minute no one answered.

"Of course." She grumbled and wheeled herself away from the door, continuing to the room beside it: a door with Sander's name on it. After knocking she leaned back and waited. She wasn't exactly thrilled to be visiting potentially both of them, she knew they didn't like her. You don't go out of your way to move out of a room you're sharing with someone for no good reason after all.

Around that time, Sander was relaxing on the couch with Christmas resting snugly on his lap, the PS vita cradled in the blond boy’s hands. A visual novel game about mecha pilots fighting in magicked robots scrolled through as text overlaid on a letterbox and various, repeating art pieces. Sander leaned his chin on the healer’s shoulder, occasionally, his eyes would flicker toward the screen and he would supply a choice where Christmas was taking too long to decide between too many options. But most of the time, Sander wasn’t paying much attention to the game. Christmas had been curious about the mansion, and Sander had been trying his best to answer the blond boy’s questions.

Not sure where we are. But far from the city.

I saw a deer the other day, you know? Have you ever seen a deer? I thought they were all extinct.

All of the sudden, though, Sander tensed up, frowning at the door like it was offending him. Slowly, he disentangled himself from Christmas, reassuring the boy with a quick peck on the lips before heading toward the door.

He already knew who knocked. What he didn’t prepare for though, was the sight of her in a wheelchair.

Kusari?” -He raised an eyebrow, still keeping a hand on the doorhandle, as if ready to slam it shut any moment.

At the sound of their previous roommate's name, Christmas froze them scrambled backwards, dropping the Vita in his hurry to scoot towards the headboard of the bed and bundle the blankets around him like she was a monster he could avoid if he simply covered his head with the sheets.

Kusari's lips tightened as she saw Sander's face. How was she going to do this, be polite? Chopping off her other arm would be easier. "Yeah..." She looked past him to see a Christmas sized bundle of blankets on a bed. You've gotta be kidding me. It wasn't as if she was going to hurt him, he looked like a child hiding from the boogyman under his bed. "I need to speak to Christmas, could you let me in please?" She said, trying not to let her rough voice come off as abrasive.

"You can speak from here." -Sander frowned, speaking in a tone that brokered no argument. He opened the door a little wider, but moved to stand between Kusari and the bed -"I think Christmas can hear you just fine."

Kusari let out an internal sigh. This was going about as well as she thought it would. At least he hadn't slammed the door in her face, not yet anyway. She winced as she felt a sting of pain in her right arm, the one that wasn't there right now. She'd been feeling it a few times, this wasn't a pain she'd taken into consideration. Her amputated arm and leg weren't bleeding, but every now and then she could feel phantom pains. "S-sure... Hey Christmas, could you do me a favor? My um, right leg and arm aren't healing like they should, could you help me?"

The healer peeked out from underneath his blankets, wary until he confirmed that Kusari's arm and leg were, indeed, "not healing as they should." They were completely gone, for one thing, though he was grateful she hadn't arrived gushing blood from the stumps. The sight was grotesque, however, and he gulped in fear, trying to muster up the courage to do something about it beyond cowering in bed. It didn't help that this had interrupted his time with Sander and a nagging feeling behind all the initial panic and fear prodded him to sit back up slowly.

"Kn-knife...?" he asked, mostly at Sander. He was trying to avoid staring at the amputated stumps, because the sooner he could get through this, the less time he'd have to spend with Kusari, and the missing limbs were terrifying in their own ways--a reminder of what could have been and what still might be.

"There's no knife." -Sander simply shook his head, his frown deepened -"Why aren't your wounds healing?" -He directed the question at Kusari, along with a withering look.

As Christmas mentioned a knife Kusari reached into a pouch attached to the wheelchair. As she riffled through it Sander questioned her. "I don't know." She said, not looking to him. "I think it might be healing, just way too slowly. For all I know it could stop at some point." She pulled out a disposable syringe, an individually wrapped antiseptic wipe, and a band-aid. "You don't need a knife, we can use this. It shouldn't really hurt, it'll heal in no time."

At the sight of the needle, Christmas blanched, recalling the many, many needles that had been puncturing him repeatedly during the days they kept him at Washington, and then at a nearby town, healing all the injured while he lay strapped to a bed or similarly secured to a wheelchair. It had been for his own safety, in retrospect, to prevent any straying hands from pulling him away and out of the doctors' reaches, especially after the first time they had brought him into a room without bindings. Still, the sight wasn't pleasant and he breathed in quickly, hoping the moment would pass.

It always boiled down to one person's pain being less than another's.

With a quick look at Sander, then back down to the sheets, he fumbled at the rough bandages on his left arm, pulling up the sleeve to the elbow and reluctantly unwinding the mess Sander had made yesterday.

Memories of the puncture marks that littered Christmas’s arms and thighs surfaced, and Sander simply stared at the syringe, dark rage bubbling in his chest. Was that what they all said? Just a little puncture wound. It would heal in no time. But unlike her, Christmas’ body didn’t heal like that.

No. Go away.” -He said to Kusari, voice cutting.

"I don't...don't mind..." Christmas mumbled from the bed, clutching at the segment of gauze in his hand and bracing himself for that now-familiar sting.

"I do." -Sander didn't turn to look at Christmas, but his voice shook -"Please."

But it was something Christmas had learned from days of the same types of people. They asked and asked until they got what they wanted--because it was true, after all, that their injuries were terrible. That they needed help immediately. That their loved one would soon die. The problems all melted into one large pit of anxiety for Christmas and the quickest resolution was always to oblige. They left faster when everything went their way. Especially with Kusari, with whom they'd have to share a general living space with, it wasn't a good solution to turn her away. She'd come back. Or, bully that she was, she'd remember it for another time. Another day.

Either train of thought sparked that coiling panic in his gut and he pawed at some of the newer punctures--the deeper ones where the nurses had been too tired, or stressed, or overworked, or uncaring that a subnatural suffered to notice they had pierced too far--that had yet to heal. The bandages fell off easily once the end binding had unraveled since Sander had never secured them piecemeal the night before. Small dots of blood broke through skin that had barely closed over, trickling downward only a millimeter before they disappeared into a fine, sparkling mist. It was slow to spread, but would soon reach the door not ten feet away.

"That's not up to you." Kusari said to Sander. She tried to keep her tone placid. Sander was still acting like a doting parent and she didn't like it. "If he really doesn't want to that's fine, I can deal with it. I just don't want to be crippled if something happens here..." She trailed off as she noticed Christmas's signature healing mist heading her way. "Ah,
thanks. Uh, hold on."
She didn't see him use anything to cut himself. Looking closer it was evident that he already had wounds on his arm. "Are you still hurt from D.C?" She asked.

He blinked at the mention of D.C., hiding back under the covers again, but leaving enough of a gap in the blankets for the mist to continue spreading. By the time it reached Kusari, it had filled up almost half the room and already her limbs were starting to regenerate, though progress was initially slow.

"You got what you want." -Sander was quick to notice the healing growth. He placed his hand back on the door knob -"Leave."

Kusari noticed her limbs begin to regenerate, albeit slowly at first. It seemed Christmas was trying to go back to playing fort, and Sander wanted her out. "Wait, I'm serious. Wasn't he alright when he left with you? She asked Sander.

"So? You don't really care."

"Stop assuming things about me and answer my question, what happened to him?" Kusari asked again, her tone still somehow remaining calm. The healing was picking up speed the longer she remained in the mist and her limbs, coupled with her natural regenerative abilities, were almost halfway reformed, muscle and bone drawing forth as if from thin air, ligaments and tendons fastening fibers of red and pink in place.

He used his power.” -The answer was curt, and Sander still looked like he expected Kusari to leave soon, ready to close the door any moment.

Sander's answer wasn't enough and he knew it, he was clearly being spiteful. She looked down and saw that her arm and leg's recovery was quickening. Pretty soon she could leave, but not yet. She glared at Sander before looking past him to Christmas. "Christmas, what did they do to you? You don't have to be afraid of me alright? I'm not going to hurt you, any of you."

There was no response from the mound of blankets, but Christmas peeked out briefly to see if her limbs were fixed, sorely regretting the sight of the half-healed arm and leg. He ducked back under the comforter, making a noise between "um" and a soft "augh," torn between explaining and just waiting for the terrible dismemberment to heal. He had no idea what had happened, but if it was from the fiasco he half-remembered, at least he was making sure she recovered. It was less from concern and more from anticipation that she'd leave soon--really soon if he had guessed the progress of the limbs correctly.

"He has to bleed to use his power. You know this." -Sander sighed -"Are you done?"

"No, I'm not." Kusari said. She was starting to see what the picture was. Once again they'd used Christmas like an inhuman healing station. She understood the need for his help, but the fact that they had left his arm so damaged made it clear how little they really cared about him. She looked at the syringe in her lap, she couldn't imagine how many times he must have been poked. "I'm sorry Christmas, I know this isn't easy for you. Just... You just need to know that I appreciate you, alright? I'm not going to treat you like an inhuman tool like they do." Her limbs were nearly healed by now, she felt a pang of joy upon seeing that she'd have her normal hand back.

Sander only snorted at Kusari's words, tapping his fingers on the door impatiently as the final touches of skin and nails formed at rapid speeds, finishing off with little fanfare. Some seconds later, Christmas peeked out again, dissipating the healing mist when he noticed Kusari seemed whole again and nothing else required healing. If he'd heard what she said, he didn't show it, choosing instead to duck back under the blanket.

Kusari didn't really know what to say, now that her limbs were back to normal it seemed they both just wanted her to leave. It wasn't as if she wanted them to hate her. Sander still pissed her off, and Christmas's cowardly behavior still annoyed her, but she wasn't going anywhere. They were all stuck together, and having her allies hate her wasn't going to make things easy. But she supposed she deserved it, like she always did. She stood to her feet, wiggling her right foot's toes. It felt a little odd being properly balanced again.

"I guess you won't be forgiving me anytime soon..." She let out a sigh and shrugged her shoulders. "Look,
if you're ever in danger, don't be too scared to ask for my help if Sander isn't there, alright?"


"You don't really want to offer that, Kusari."

Kusari looked towards Christmas, waiting for him to say something, but he remained silent. She wondered if he would ever grow any semblance of a backbone. "You don't know a damn thing about what I want Sander." She turned her eyes to Sander. "It seems to me that you just don't want anyone else protecting him. Do you think you can keep him safe by yourself?"

"It's not a matter if I can or not." -Sander crossed his arms -"I don't believe you. I don't believe that you genuinely care about Christmas. So don't pretend. Leave us alone."

Kusari narrowed her eyes at Sander. "And how do you know I don't care about him? Do you even know what you're saying?" She asked, her voice was calm but it was clear she was holding back from yelling.

"You showed it so well."

"Stop it." She spoke through grit teeth, her hands clenched into fists. "I was desperate, pissed off,
that doesn't mean I don't care. Don't you dare try to tell me how I feel. You two just ran off and left me alone, you didn't even attempt to talk to me. That was cowardly."


"I don't want to. For perfectly good reasons. You threatened us."

Things were sounding like a repeat of the night that had caused Sander to suggest leaving in the first place and Christmas pulled back the corners of the sheets, wishing Kusari had just left instead of beginning the brewing fight. Sander and Kusari didn't see eye to eye, that much was clear. Wasn't it enough to just be cordial? When Sander brought up the exact details of the old argument, he finally found the strength in nervous panic to speak.

"O-okay," he finally agreed to a comment that had long passed. "If...S-Sander isn't...isn't near. J-just...I'm...I'm--uh--t-tired r-right now?" The thoughts didn't really connect and it all sounded a lot more coherent in his head, but really, he just wanted to be back in Sander's lap and far away from the tension mounting in the room.

Why couldn't they just forgive her? Christmas forgave Sander, someone that actually did hurt him. Judging my how much time they were spending together she assumed he'd done more than forgive him in fact. What made her so much worse? It took her a moment to realize what Christmas was trying to say, as usual he was acting as if he had a damn speech impediment. She got the point, he just wanted her to leave already.

"Fine." Kusari turned around and folded up the wheelchair. "I'll... I'll stay out of your way." She said, heading for the way out.

"Goodbye." -Sander closed the door with little hesitation, then locked it quickly. However, he remained standing there until Kusari's scent finally faded.
Hidden 7 yrs ago 7 yrs ago Post by banjoanjo
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banjoanjo Still likes pistachios

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BEACH EPISODE YEEEEEEEEE





Emma | Brent | Marcus | Ernest
Angélique | Christopher | Lilianna | Sophia
Kusari | Zoe | Lawrence | Siena
Sander | Christmas | Grant


𝕆𝕔𝕥. 𝟜, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝔹𝕒𝕝𝕕 ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕀𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 / / 𝔹𝕖𝕒𝕔𝕙 / / 𝟙𝟛𝟘𝟘

SUPER COLLAB WITH @Diggerton @Banjoanjo @Chasers115 @ERode @Riffus Maximus @Dragonmancer @Kyrisse @VampireOracle @Piercing Light @Lasrever @Snagglepuss89 @PapiTan @RedDusk @January @Deathmyster


Emma had, of course, been the first to arrive on the beach donning the swimsuit she'd purchased from D.C. She started setting up, anchoring an umbrella into the soft sand and then unfolding a chair underneath it. Beside her was a cooler- snacks and drinks of both the alcoholic and non-alcoholic variety, likely more than they'd need.

She took her seat, looking over the empty beach. Hopefully it wouldn’t be empty for long. She wasn’t ignorant to the infighting in Unit B. Hell, she was involved in some of it. Something like this… she’d hoped that it would help bring them together, although she wasn’t ignorant to the fact that a day at the beach wouldn’t make everyone friends.

Maybe no one was coming after all.











































Hidden 6 yrs ago 6 yrs ago Post by January
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January

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𝕎𝕖𝕕: 𝕆𝕔𝕥. 𝟟, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝔹𝕒𝕝𝕕 ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕀𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 / / ℤ𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕘'𝕤 𝔼𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕖 / / ~𝟘𝟝𝟘𝟘


As evening wound down into night, Bald Head Island settled for another rest, creatures and subnaturals alike slipping back into the comforts of shelter and sleep as dark clouds obscured the moon, heralding the heavy storm to assail the island. Aldrich was performing the rounds of the estate and its far reaches, checking in with several soldiers in person and finally calling Andrew on his way back, sorely regretting not bringing an umbrella along as rain began pouring. The café owner had long been a friend and one of the few privy to Aldrich’s best-kept secret. Between the de facto leaders of the island’s two social divisions—those who lived on the estate and those who refused to—they kept a steady sort of peace and Aldrich made sure to provide Andrew with enough supplies to prevent the town from starving itself into nonexistence out of sheer stubbornness.

“Aldrich!” The panicked voice on the other line was followed by the unmistakable sound of stubble being scratched, one of the man’s nervous tics.“Christ! Finally got a hold of you!”

“What’s wrong?”

“Wish I knew it all, but you know how my power is. Won’t get me anything I want to know. Caught a glimpse while fishing—Amigos. Already on the island, but I can’t tell where. Landed off the north coast by the looks of those rocks.”

“Why didn’t I hear of this until now?”

“Couldn’t reach you all day. Went to the estate myself but they said you were off doing rounds. Signal’s really killing me on this island. The maid girl—Elvia I think—she said she’d go herself to find out and report to you, but if you hadn’t heard nothing ‘til now…”

“North coast, right?”

“Yeah, but doubt they’ll still be there when you get there.”

“Any idea why they’re here?”

“Not a recon group, tell you that. Armed to the teeth and nails. Teitel’s works. Siege, more like. Talked to that girl hours ago.”

“All right.”

Aldrich pulled a red flare gun from his coat’s inner pocket, firing it into the air immediately as he sprinted back to the estate. The watcher that night was Lucas, a newer addition to the estate, and already he worried the boy had fallen asleep on the job. A quick stop to send a warning to the soldiers’ phones, but his priority was the students in the estate. For the Amigos to mount a siege now was too much of a coincidence.

Luckily, Olivia was the one to catch the flare in Lucas’s stead, late from tending to the greenhouse. She dropped the watering can, abandoning her pumps for speed and running on stockinged feet back to the manor, screaming “Attack! There’s an attack!” at the top of her lungs. The reaction was instantaneous. Lights all across the manor lit up as the rest of the staff woke, the earliest responders already pulling on the warning siren installed throughout the estate.

High-pitched screeching pierced the night's downpour and several disheveled staff members were already unlocking the doors to the students’ rooms, rushing in to wake them. Any who seemed too groggy were picked up and carried swiftly downstairs to the basement where the more combat-capable staff members—relatively—were already preparing defenses. Several looked decidedly inhuman ranging from a bundle of ghostly wisps to a redhead who looked like she was smearing the air around her with every movement of her hands. As the last of the students entered the basement storage room, she slid her hands across the surface of the door, smudging the edges, the hinges, and the door handles until the door looked like a childish paint smear on the adjoining wall.

“Wait, we’re missing people!” one of the butlers shouted, hurrying to the door and trying to pry it back to its original form, but it was entirely two-dimensional now.

“Who?!” the girl shouted back, curly hair looking like a nest around her head.

“The singer girl—Lachance—and the Gregory boy! Elvia, too—” the butler stammered, turning back to the door.

“Aldrich is still out there, just leave it to him. You know the procedures!” An older girl snapped, hands dripping what looked like black ink. “Red flare is high danger. No chances! Anyone who didn’t make back here will have to find some other way to—”

A rolling rumble cut her off, rippling through the island as if right below their feet and shaking the very foundations of the manor. Rubble and dust rained upon them as the jolting shudder of the land finally died down. One of the floating wisps flitted up to check the structural damage and returned announcing, in a whispering voice, that no damage had been done, outside of small cracks that had sprung up in the tremor.

“Wait for Aldrich,” another of the wisps spoke in the same soft voice. “Three hours maximum. After, we head to the ferry. Get you guys off the island.”



A bright red whip snapped towards the Hellcat perched a safe distance away from the cliff edge, flying towards the driver’s seat from the right and narrowly missing Angel’s torso. Instead it simply split the car’s front end away, cutting away the vehicle’s front just before the steering wheel.

And both of Angel’s legs at the knees.

Before the girl could even comprehend what was happening, a shrill laugh echoed and something wrapped long, cold fingers around her neck, yanking her body out of the driver’s seat and away from the stumps of the singer’s calves. In the process it slammed her head against the new edge of the newly truncated car, knocking her out in the process.

“Get her cuff off right?” A dark blue sphere floated in the man’s hand as he addressed the stringy, tattooed girl beside him, her dangling red whips mowing the grass around her feet clean. Behind them stood a group of nine fellow Aberrations, all armed with either mundane weaponry or more exotic gear shimmering like the weapons couldn’t decide if they were real or not. Several of them were bloodied and bruised while one stumbled along, one arm twisted at a hideous angle.

“ ‘Course I fucking did. I don’t miss,” she spat back, turning frenzied brown eyes in his direction, the whites lined with red capillaries. “You think I shoot up a bit and can’t aim? That what this is? Think ‘cuz Teitel likes you best you get to boss me around like—”

An unseen force slammed her temple, sending her careening to the ground and pinning her arms down before she could retaliate.

“Don’t need you if you can’t control yourself,” the dark-skinned man replied, orb pulsating rapidly in his hand.

“…Fuck you,” the girl growled, but she dissipated her whips. Only when she had let the fight drain from her shoulders did the man let go, turning to the hulking shadow creature that had by now approached them, holding a legless girl in its grip and patiently waiting for instructions.

“Thi, patch her up. When that’s done, take her to the boat.”

“Right away, sir.” A small, Asian woman with a short bob cut carrying a metallic briefcase approached the bleeding girl, kneeling down to unlatch the case and pull out a long chain from which strange surgical instruments dangled, their forms twisted and seemingly unusable. She pulled a long saw from the chain, its end still attached to the main tool line by a thin, purple thread. Holding it out to her side she nodded at another member of the large group, a young man with half his hair shaven off and piercings along ear and lip. He grabbed the blade of the saw for a moment, then let go once it had heated to a white-hot gleam. A quick slide across both of Angel’s stumps cauterized the amputations and the shadow beast stalked off, the subnatural girl dangling in its hands like a toy.

“We still gonna hunt for the fucker?” the tattooed girl stood up, rubbing at the blooming bruise across her face. “Should just blow this entire place to hell.”

“We give Zhang a bigger reason to attack us than the monsters and we’ll get exactly that. Teitel wanted just one of her new toys and the client wanted the generator on the sole condition that we manage it without attracting Zhang’s ire. He’s made too much of a commotion now. We’ll have to leave.”

“Hah, this island full of fucking rejects. I can take ‘em all.”

“No. You can’t.”
The counter was delivered as curtly and firmly as a universal truth and the group’s leader turned back, heading towards the direction of their docked boat.

He stopped at the sight of a bespectacled maid glowing like a beacon. Even as a crushing force threw her back, her body had already let off a burst of light bright enough to wash the entire cliff field in white, permanently blinding several of the enemies in the area. The subnatural surgeon, lucky enough to have been turned around and gathering up her gear in the flash of light managed to get away with several seconds of blindness and heavy afterimages. She pulled at a strange pair of gloves on the chain, where each finger looked as if twisted needles grew from the tips. Donning the gloves in one hand, she took tongs in another and pried out one of her eyeballs, revealing heavy modification along the inside of her skull and along the length of the optic nerve, glimmering purple and black with her power. Easy enough for the suddenly living needles on the glove to repair the damaged nerve ends of her eyes once they made the right contacts and before long one eye was restored to normal. She tucked it back into its socket, adjusting the flap of her eyelid back to normal before working on her second eye as well.

By the time she was done, the maid had escaped, leaving behind a group of blinded Aberrations in her wake.

Thi set to work fixing her comrades, all of them already heavily modified by her powers and easily reparable once she had her hands on them. Whatever the maid had hoped to achieve would be quickly undone.

Once everyone had vision again, the group of Aberrations reoriented themselves and continued towards the beach, wary for any more attackers and moving on hair triggers as they headed toward their escape route. Despite the tension, the walk was relatively smooth and quiet, save for the wiry tattooed female’s occasional whines.

Man, we could totally take ‘em.” -She gritted the words out, stepping over a puddle of mud –“Maybe if you stop bein’ a lil’ bitch.

Maybe you shut your whore mouth, Isa.” -A tall blond commented, finally having had enough of the ramblings.

Maybe you shut up, cabrão.” -The heavily tattooed Aberration snapped, fists clenched and shoulders squared, ready for a confrontation. The blond only gave her a withering look, but the brown of his eyes suddenly flared red, like heated copper.

Other members of the group stopped dead in their tracks, gazes darting between both of them and their leader, waiting for the tension to sort itself out.

Then something clicked, metallic, like a chime. A round, heavy object rolled at their feet.

Rhohan!

The shadow creature lunged past them and threw itself onto the grenade, just mere moments before it went off. However, the muted explosion only heralded a rain of gunfire upon them, mundane weapons, but more than enough to kill.

Yet, the Amigos were also adept at what they did. Especially those that survived this long.

The tall blonde ducked, turning his molten eyes toward where the muzzle flashes were, while his nearby comrade had already had her laser whip out. A wall of solid ground rose between them, bullets lodged themselves uselessly in packed dirt while the shadow creature leapt up and into the slaughter.

Minutes passed, and the last of the gunshots were finally silenced.

Most of the Aberrations still stood tall, some bloodied but Thi had already begun working on that. Still, her power did not work on the dead, so one of their own was lying still, broken beyond repair. The others only gave him a passing glance before they kept on moving, deaths and losses having already become an all too familiar part of their violent, fast lives.

However, another issue presented itself when the group finally made it to the site of their ship. The only thing left of the vessel was its charred hull sticking out from the shallow water. Obviously, they had not hidden it as well as they thought they did. That forced their leader to consider alternatives, and a certain boat docked at a southward pier.


𝕎𝕖𝕕: 𝕆𝕔𝕥. 𝟟, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝔹𝕒𝕝𝕕 ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕀𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 / / ℤ𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕘'𝕤 𝔼𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕖 / / ~𝟘𝟞𝟛𝟘


Aldrich returned to the estate to find everyone gone, which was exactly as he had hoped. He tracked mud and water into the hallway and ducked under the mantle of a nearby fireplace that always remained unlit despite constantly filled with firewood. "Decorative" was how most of the staff explained it to anyone who asked, but a small switch hidden in a concealed crevice opened the back wall of the fireplace, sliding it down to reveal a small shaft with a simple metal ladder installed against the lip. Aldrich leapt onto the ladder, flicking the switch and the sliding door closed before descending into a narrow hallway in the basement—another hidden passageway in the manor walls for exactly these sorts of situations. The bookcase door hiding the exit from the hallway took several slams of the man’s shoulder to open, stuck as it was from months of disuse. When he finally shoved it aside and stepped into the main storage room, the entire house’s staff along the students were there, but a quick headcount told him they were already missing two of the kids as well as a member of the staff. And there was no time to look.

Several of the estate subnaturals had already aimed varying weapons at the bookcase filled with miscellaneous boxes and old, folded clothing, but they visibly relaxed on seeing the head of staff despite the dripping rainwater and the man's heavy breaths from the sprint.

”Move! Go!” he shouted at them, pointing towards what appeared to be a clean section of the far wall. At his command several of the staff hurried to shove aside boxes and crates, clearing the path until one of them finally hammered a fist on a spot high on the wall. Something clicked and the wall opened inward into a door-sized passageway large enough for two people at a time to enter.

The walls of the hidden route were lined with simple support beams and basic wooden planks for flooring, but recent upkeep had kept it clean and the single line of small, electric lights flickered to life as the doors open, triggered by motion.

”Hostiles on the island. Amigos do Paí, if you know of them, and they’re not pulling their punches. Not enough information on why they’re here, but we need to evacuate the guests first. Follow the passageway. It’ll take you to the lighthouse in town, near the ferry. I need to remain here and make sure to buy time if they attack the house.”

”Aldrich—Elvia is—” One of the maids spoke up, the redhead from before.

”Dead until proven otherwise. Don’t take chances with the Amigos. She knows what it means to not return here in the event of an attack.” If he grieved for the missing girl, Aldrich didn’t show it, directing the students towards the secret passage with a firm raise of his hand. ”Leave, now. If they decide to attack the town and destroy that ferry, you’ll have no transportation out of here for at least an hour.”

He was already turning around to the bookcase entrance as he spoke, shoulders squared for a fight he knew he wouldn’t win.



In the chaos of both sound and storm, Gregory had been caught unawares outside, fiddling with the guns in the hunting shed as he alternated between testing out his new capabilities and conventional firearms. The flash of red in the sky out the window had caught his attention, however, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out something was wrong. He picked up a pistol and a pack of ammunition, stepping out of the shed and into the heavy rain warily before hurrying along the beaten path back to the mansion, eyes alert for any signs of approach and letting his Stigma fill in the blanks of shapes and shadows in the dark forest, approximating size and distance as well as what the object was. 5.322cm twig. Oak. Freshly snapped. Pinecone. 7.112cm in length, 5.896cm width at largest point.

He shook his head, trying to clear water from his eyes and as well as the influx of facts and figures that threatened to overwhelm him again. Letting his Stigma progress to a certain point had its benefits, but he had pushed it a bit too far and now textures and colors were starting to define themselves in his mind as well. It was debilitating at its worst when his mind couldn’t escape the mental crossfire of information and overloaded he had almost forgotten how to breathe. Now, though, he heaved steadying breaths and continued on, ignoring the exact weight in kilograms of the gun in his hand, the increasing weight of waterlogged clothes on his body, and the dizzying amount of calculations it took a human to take even a single, balanced step.

Sudden thumping and splashing to his left had him firing shots blindly into the darkness as panic overtook him, but his Stigma had its uses when it wasn’t blindsiding him with an overabundance of unnecessary information. The approximation was a giant rabbit, something he could hardly believe were it not for the certainty of his Stigma.

It bounded away terrified by the gunshots that had—by all calculations of his curse—completely missed.

One detail popped out to him in the steadily overflowing wave of data, though.

One thought. “Likelihood of noise attracting danger, approximating from location of flare, 43.76%.”

He ran faster, tripping over smaller logs and bushes when his feet couldn’t react to the information in his mind and stumbling on slippery patches of rocks and dirt. But it didn’t matter. He needed to get to safety first, and in this unfamiliar place only the manor meant “safety.” Relatively speaking, his Stigma reminded.



Hidden 6 yrs ago Post by GreenGoat
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GreenGoat Harmless Flower Person

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Hazel Baker


Alarms.

Her body was wide awake before she was, alert and standing before she even registered what caused her to wake up. Some sort of alarms going on. There was no time to think, no time to dress, as she simply bounded out the door before stopping dead in her tracks. Turning back, she scooped up a neatly folded outfit near the top of her bed before running back out, following the flow of people towards the basement.

There was —

***


She was floating again in the sea, unable to move. There was this creeping feeling that things were reaching up towards her, towards the surface to pull her in deeper. A white line caught her eye, before more and more came surrounding her. Blinking, she found herself standing on solid ground again, the table still laden with food and tea, looking as pristine as ever. There was no sign that it had ever been submerged in water before. More and more white lines swirled around her and the island, holding her safe from the creeping sea below. There was an odd quality about those lines, as if it was something someone painted with brush and some acrylic on the air. The black sea roiled with anger, large waves that seemed to extend themselves towards her, trying to pull her down into its depths.

She didn't want this, she didn't want to see —

***


Hazel leaned against the wall, trying to shake off that odd nausea and disorientation that came with these sort of dream. Making it to the basement with no other complication, she simply waited as ordered, with not even the shaking and the ceiling threatening to come down upon them fazing her.

”Move! Go!”

Her eyes snapped open as she watched people clear the passageway. Seeing no reason to disobey such orders, she walked first into the passageway, holding the outfit close to her as she made her way towards the lighthouse.
Hidden 6 yrs ago 6 yrs ago Post by BayRat
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Christopher Francis



The alarms awoke Chris from his slumber, with a quick change of clothes he left his room as quick as he could to join the others in the basement. Under attack? Chris never heard of the Amigos before, but it it had to have been some rogue subnatural group or something by his speculation. Leaving was a good idea, only that there were two missing, Gregory and..

Angelique, of course. It was only natural for the universe to rip away the friend that had given him advice and comfort thus far. He didn't give a shit about the danger or the orders of the others. He wasn't going to leave her behind.

"You guys can go ahead, I'm not going." He announced defiantly with arms crossed as he stood away from the secret passage.
Hidden 6 yrs ago Post by Bubsy 2
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”Emma, what’s the noise?” Determination asked passively, a high-pitched screech breaking the quiet of their room. Emma’s face remained motionless as she rose from her bed, but a distinct panic was rising in her chest.

”An alarm.” it could only mean one thing. She had no allusions that their stay at Bald Head Island would finish uninterrupted, no desire to pretend that this was some sort of vacation, but… well, that inescapable question came back. Who would it be this time? Did she have it in her to do this again?

No time to worry. She had to push the fears down. She stood up, gesturing for her tulpa to follow as she peeked out the door. Right as she did she found herself face to face with one of the mansion’s staff. She gave them a small nod, already knowing that she was supposed to follow. Quickly her hand shot to find an item that she’d left hanging by her door. She didn’t think they’d send it to her- it was among the rest of her clothes, but…

Well, she was grateful for it all the same. It’d been a gift so it seemed inappropriate to throw the purple scarf away, even if it was stained with Kusari’s blood. She wrapped the somewhat grisly garment around her neck, if only because she found some small comfort in its familiarity.



When they’d arrived in the basement Emma had already started trying to count out who was there and who was missing. Now that they were all assembled together it was clear that Angel and Gregory weren’t accounted for. She didn’t know Greg too well, and Angel was Angel, but all the same she’d hoped they’d make it out safely. Their team, such as it were, didn’t need more dead comrades.

But that didn’t mean she had any intention of staying. In fact, upon seeing Chris’s refusal she gave him an incredulous glance. ”No way. We’ve gotta go. We clearly don’t stand a chance against these guys given our past experience, and getting ourselves killed isn’t going to do anything for the others.” Determination, for his part, stood silently to the side.

@dragonmancer
Hidden 6 yrs ago Post by Piercing Light
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Piercing Light ...

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Kusari was startled awake by the sound of the alarm going off. She'd fallen asleep on a desk with her cheek flattened against a stack of papers. She quickly shoved the papers into the desk and grabbed a handgun she'd placed in one of it's drawers. She strapped a utility pouch that fit to the side of her hip, inside was her phone and more ammunition, strapped to it was also the axe she'd used back in Wisford. She'd fallen asleep in one of her red and black school uniforms, so she didn't feel the need to change. She could move around well enough in it.

Just then the door to her room swung open as the estate staff came to get her. Without a word she went with them. She was silent as she watched the door to the basement be sealed by one of the staff mages's strange power. She sat in a corner of the room, her right leg bouncing anxiously. She didn't want to think about what was happening too much, she didn't want to be distracted, to make a stupid mistake because she was too worried that Angel or Gregory could be dead already, that they could be attacked at any moment. Ah... too late. She shook her head, trying to focus on something productive. But she couldn't think of much, she wasn't a strategist. She didn't know this group that was attacking them and she couldn't formulate any plans. So for an agonizing hour and thirty minutes she just sat there, waiting.

When Aldrich arrived she jumped to her feet, prepared to fight if need be but there was no need. He laid out their next course of action, but she wasn't happy about it. "So we're just leaving Angel and Gregory... Are they really that dangerous?" Kusari let out a contemplative hum and looked to Emma. "Our past experience? I dunno Emma, if anything we seem to be pretty effective at the whole 'killing things' business." She let out a sigh. "Still, I'm not staying. If anything heading towards our only way out will increase our chances of running into those assholes."
Hidden 6 yrs ago Post by banjoanjo
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『𝔼𝕣𝕟𝕖𝕤𝕥』



𝕎𝕖𝕕: 𝕆𝕔𝕥. 𝟟, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝔹𝕒𝕝𝕕 ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕀𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 / / ℤ𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕘'𝕤 𝔼𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕖 / / ~𝟘𝟝𝟘𝟘



Real generous of the invaders, to have the alarm sound just as he was waking for his morning workout. Dressed in the usual tank top and sport shorts, Ernie was instantly alert as he was hurried to the tunnels with the rest of the team, his mind only coming to the worst of conclusions.

Fracture, again. They were finally going to be finished off, weren’t they?

Bad times only worsened as panicked staff streamed into the escape room. Gregory and Angelique. El. El, where could she have possibly gotten to? She’d said so herself, the servants here didn’t have the gifts for combat. Gregory and Angelique at least had a chance to defend themselves, but the maid? Stress piled on stress. Fists clenched and unclenched, itching for a pistol to fiddle with in this harrowing wait. Ernie sat against the wall, grimacing, struggling but ultimately unable to think of why Unit B would be targeted specifically. Hadn’t D.C. been enough?

The buzzcut Aberration curled further into himself, a frustrated hiss escaping through grit teeth. There wasn’t enough information. He needed to be out there or at least somewhere. The standstill was choking his senses. He just needed to know. He just—


The ocean raged, ravenous and fearful. Darkness engulfed everything, the only sources of light being the cord keeping him aloft and the swatches of white light swirling around him. There was something colossal in the inky water. Wrathful and foreboding. He’d surely drown if they met. Yet the whiteness protected him.

A monochrome war.

Ernie was safe for now. White-knuckled hands clung to a rope. Drenched yet shining, suspended in mid-air. Hanging from nothing. It had no origin in sight and despite the furious storm underneath, despite the uncertainty that was this braided phenomenon, for once the boy was not afraid.

He merely held on for dear life.



The boy tilted forward as he regained his senses, catching himself at the last second. His mind felt…something was wrong with it. But there was no time to dwell. Aldrich, the head of the house from what he’d heard, burst in with the information he’d been dreading.

“Amigos do Pai.”

Not the aimless Fracture. These attackers had a goal. Ernie wasn’t sure if this was any better.

“Elvia is—” “Dead until proven otherwise.”

No.

“I need to remain here and make sure they buy time if they attack the house.”

‘Buy time’. The markless butler didn’t think he was going to win. Of course he wasn't going to, he didn't even have powers. People were going to die for these subnaturals.

Ernie curled his hands. Between the sadistically low odds of survival and the dumbass teammates that were actually considering staying to fight, he didn’t think he could take much more of this.

No one here had any fucking clue what they were up against.

“The Amigos aren’t a fight we’re going to win,” he drawled lowly. Unhelpful, he knew that, but it needed to be said. “Anyone with the balls to attack USARILN property will eat us alive.”
Hidden 6 yrs ago 6 yrs ago Post by Chasers115
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Waking and Warning



𝕎𝕖𝕕: 𝕆𝕔𝕥. 𝟟, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝔹𝕒𝕝𝕕 ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕀𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 / / ℤ𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕘'𝕤 𝔼𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕖 / / ~𝟘𝟚𝟘𝟘



It was his fault, honestly; he'd grown complacent, and now he was paying for it. A few weeks of only minor nightmares here and there had left him thinking that everything was fine. Now, as the cold sweat began to envelop his body, his dreaming mind was plagued by a guilty conscience yet again, taking the form of another night of terror for him.



He lurched up in bed, breathing heavily as panicked tears threatened to well in his eyes. On his nightstand, his phone's screen was lit up. It must have been the notification that woke him. He rubbed his face, rolling towards the device and bringing it closer to his face to look at the screen.

23 Missed Calls. 7 New Voicemails. 1 New Message.

We're fine. I've been trying to get a hold of you for the last few weeks! I don't know where you guys are since you left D.C, so let me know you're at least alright. Tell whoever's in charge that they had better damn well let you call me when you get a chance, or Sammie and I are going to come looking for you!
Max

He sighed in relief, sitting up in his bed. She was fine. Nothing had happened, it had just been terrible reception like he'd thought. He took a moment to gather himself, typing out a quick return message.

Sorry, we're at some sort of estate out on an island, and the phone reception is terrible. As soon as we get somewhere with better service, I'll call you immediately!
Marcus

Message Failed to Send

He grumbled angrily. He'd have to remember to wander around in the morning, climb up a palm tree or something before Max flew a jet into the building. Setting the phone back on the stand, he laid his head back down on the pillow. The foggy images of his latest nightmare ran through his head again, Emma's screaming echoing in his mind like a catchy song. He involuntarily gave a small shudder, adjusting his position on the bed to stare up into the dark ceiling.

Tonight was going to be another long night.


𝕎𝕖𝕕: 𝕆𝕔𝕥. 𝟟, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝔹𝕒𝕝𝕕 ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕀𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 / / ℤ𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕘'𝕤 𝔼𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕖 / / ~𝟘𝟝𝟘𝟘


If only he'd known how right he'd be.

A warm glow outside his window was merciful enough to catch Marcus's eye, dragging his tired mind away from the darkness he'd been staring into for the last few hours or so. Between the periodic checking of his phone and the moments of silence, he'd nearly lost track of the time.

He rose out of his bed, grabbing his phone and nearly yanking the charger out of the wall before he corrected his mistake and wandered over towards the window. He almost would have believed he was still in his hellish dreamscape with the way the scenery looked; something in the sky splashing the world with bright red shadows.

He had only a few moments to unsuccessfully try and locate the shining object before something caught his ears: a sound he was disturbingly familiar with at this point - the heavy footsteps of people running and the muffled sound of shouting.

He already had one of his shoes on when the skull-piercing sound of an alarm rang out, shocking what little grogginess he still had away. Nearby, sitting on the desk; the object he'd avoided since it had been delivered. A simple pistol, stuck in a simple holster. The gun that had been useless at Wisford. A small measure of safety...his only defense.

'You can kiss the team goodbye.'

It was better this way. Safer. He left the pistol sitting on the desk, slipping on his other shoe.

He lunged for the door, only narrowly avoiding it as it flung open. The maid who'd barged in wasted no time in grabbing the slightly surprised Marcus and tugging her along with him, nearly yanking him off his feet.

He needed no explanation however, and quickly caught up, his strides matching hers as the two of them sprinted through the hall.


Everyone had finally made it down into the basement, and Marcus had wasted no time in doing a headcount, as he imagined everyone else had also done. He came up with one person missing, and it was none other than the rockstar herself, Angel.

"Dead until proven otherwise"

The callousness of the statement impacted in Marcus's brain, and he found himself sitting on the opposite side of the fence. Hopefully Angel was fine. She could take care of herself in a pinch like this, and while the notice hadn't exactly been timely, it was something at least. He was grateful to have not woken up dead, and he hoped that wherever Angel was, she could say the same thing.

He tried to ignore the sickened pit in his stomach, focusing on the conversation as it went around the room.

"There's no point in sticking around. They caught us off guard, and it's best to assume that they're better manned and better equipped. All we can do is play defensively and see if we get the chance to retaliate later." Marcus said, leaning on the wall nearby. His hair was slightly spiked up from the amount of times he worriedly run his hands through it, but he was mostly calmed down right now.
Hidden 6 yrs ago Post by RedDusk
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『𝕊𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣』 『ℂ𝕙𝕣𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕞𝕒𝕤』 『ℍ𝕒𝕫𝕖𝕝』



ℂ𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 ℙ𝕠𝕤𝕥𝕤 / / @RedDusk@January@GreenGoat


𝕎𝕖𝕕: 𝕆𝕔𝕥. 𝟟, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝔹𝕒𝕝𝕕 ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕀𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 / / ℤ𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕘'𝕤 𝔼𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕖 / / ~𝟘𝟝𝟘𝟘


It all started with an alarm. Sander and Christmas had been sleeping up until that point, and when sounds and lights began to flare, Sander was up immediately, tugging Christmas with him and throwing clothes onto the boy. By the time they made it down to the basement, the sounds had subdued, but Sander could still tell the distinct scent of blood in the air. Without blood though, his power was useless, so there wasn’t much he could do. He probably wouldn’t be able to protect Christmas, if it all came down to combat.

And it probably would.

Christmas was panicked and shaking, eyes wide as he looked around the basement, waiting for the worst and hoping for the best. He held on to Sander's arm, afraid to lose the taller boy in the rush of movement and then continued clutching at Sander for the duration of their wait, heart hammering in his chest.

So when the order was given, Sander didn’t give it much thought. He complied, moving toward the passage quietly with Christmas beside him.

Having gone into the passage first, Hazel turned towards the two before continuing walking forwards, clutching the outfit close to her. There was still the flare of anger and resentment whenever she looked at Sander, but oddly enough, it wasn't as intense as before. Was she getting stronger? There was that odd foreboding feeling, but she pushed it away, focusing on the now as always.

Noticing Hazel walking before him, Sander narrowed his eyes. She was going to join them on the ferry too, huh? Then he needed to have a word with her. Tapping on Christmas' grip around his arm, he prompted the blond boy to let go before jogging a few steps to catch up to Hazel.

"Hey." -He tapped lightly on her shoulder, scrunching his nose at the off scent of drugs -"Can I have a word?"

She froze for a moment when someone touched her shoulders, muscles tensing. Hazel relaxed as he spoke, resuming her walk towards the end of the passage.

"What is it?"

"Do you mind if I ask...what are the drugs for?"

Hazel stopped walking, silent as she stared straight ahead. A moment after she continued walking. "It suppresses my destructive urges."

There was no point in her keeping silent about those; it wasn't any sort of secret after all. But still, why that question, and why now of all times?

"Are you worried?"

"Yeah." -Sander admitted easily -"I think you're very dangerous."

Seemingly unfazed by that remark, she stayed silent. There was no need for her to refute or acknowledge that comment, it was a simple fact, and a truth that she had already accepted. She was dangerous, that was why she was a weapon. But they were dangerous as well, that was why they were here with her.

But being unable to find the correct words to reply with, Hazel simply stayed silent.

"I wish you weren't." -There was another beat of silence, and Sander had a look on his face that was probably regret -"But you are."

"I'm dangerous, too. And I don't have the pills."

"I see. Then, could you not ask for some?"

She had nothing on save for her collar and cuffs, carrying only the outfit, so Hazel had nothing to offer him. There was still that feeling inside her whenever he spoke to her. A raspy feeling that made her head go strange and filled it with the urge to scream, or maybe slap him. An improvement from wanting to gut him certainly, but she still had no desire to stay near him for long.

"Doesn't work that way for me." -Sander shook his head, memories of syringes and pills surfaced. None of those ever worked for him then, and he doubted they would start working now.

Then again, those pills didn't appear to be very effective, considering what happened between him and Hazel in the woods the other night.

"You hurt Christmas once, Hazel. I won't let you do it again."

At the mention of his name, the healer tensed, still steps away from the conversation because it seemed like he had nothing to do with it. Nothing to say. He swallowed, feeling the panic drying out his mouth until his tongue felt like cotton.

"It's--s'okay," he mumbled, afraid to commit to the conversation.

"Is that so?"

Once again, Hazel remained silent as she continued walking. So, even he had someone he wanted to protect, someone he liked. Did she have any such things? No, she simply did not need any. It would just be a hindrance to her if there was someone like that. Perhaps if she was ordered to protect someone.

"Then, I'll leave it to you if I should try again next time."

"I don't want to kill you." -Sander's steps slowed, and there was a bit of distance between him and Hazel before he finally called out -"Good luck."

He watched with blank eyes as Hazel’s back slowly grew further away. He had seen that look in her eyes. A look no normal human should wear, and yet also one that adorned his own face every so often. Clear, just like the mark on his throat, to tell him what he was. What he will remain.

A damn animal.

As if on cue, the world fell away into a sea of darkness. He saw the riptide, again, but this time, he was suspended above it, looking down into a swirling sea of black rage. What was holding him back? He turned, but he couldn’t look. Couldn’t take his eyes away from the void below. It drew him, and it called to him, even now.

The light protected, but did he really need it? Its grasp was so taut. So close to snapping.


The blood mage blinked back into reality with a stagger, suddenly leaning onto the wall. Christmas ran to him, the boy shaking as he placed a hand on Sander’s arm, mouth open to voice concern, but instead he stared at Sander, worried and anxious.

I’m fine.” -Sander said quickly, feeling another spark of power collected in his chest. It gave and kept on giving. Why? It was never like this before, even back when he would beg and plead.

Letting out a shaky breath to calm himself, he leaned onto Christmas, wrapping one arm around the blond boy’s shoulder, then just let the silence stretch between them for as long as he dared. Eventually though, it was him who broke it.

I would kill for you.” -He admitted, tugging Christmas’ into a slow stroll next to him -”I would die for you.

Devotion of that caliber terrified Christmas as much as it flattered him. He didn’t know what to do with feelings that weren’t his own—and he could hardly manage the riptide of his own fears and thoughts most of the time. But he took heart in Sander’s wish to hear more of his wants, because it was permission to want and permission to express, two things he had never realized he desperately craved until they had been given to him.

”Don’t die,” he whispered back, shaking hands holding fast to Sander’s forearm.

Can’t be with you if I do. So I won’t.” -The blood mage squeezed Christmas’ shoulders for a few seconds -”But for you, anything.

”…M-Me, too.”

Then do it for me too? Don’t die.

He didn’t know if he could promise it because Christmas at least understood one thing about himself: he was weak, in so many ways. But for Sander he had promised to try to he leaned against the taller boy as they walked, a slow nod the only agreement he could muster. And yet, it was more than he had managed in a long while.
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It was supposed to be an ordinary morning. Just wake up, get dressed, and leave for the gym. But when that red flare shot upwards, lighting up the night sky, accompanied by a panicked maid’s screaming off in the distance, it was all too easy for Brent to change that routine. They had a pleasant enough of a break. He blew off steam with Siena, discovered the fluffiest cutiepie with Marcus and Ernie, finally got around to chilling with Grant, and even made some pretty sweet corndog recipes. Not to mention that super fun beach party that Emma organized.

It had been a fulfilling, relaxing experience, and it never was going to last.

It was easy enough to change his routine. A proper belt, threaded through the loops of cargo pants. A tough coat to accommodate for the weather. Steel-toed boots, just like the ones that Ernie lent him during that friendly game of Flag and Seek eons ago. Combat helmet, his machete, and a canister of pepper spray, all remnants from Wisford. And, most importantly, most gloriously, his night vision goggles and his gas mask. Clipping the goggles to the rim of his helmet, the overdressed, underprepared arbiter was just about finished when a maid kicked open the door, waving at him to get out.

Gas mask went into his backpack then. Another smart trick learned from Ernie. As sirens blared, familiar and unfamiliar faces merged into a disorderly line, Brent’s eyes flickered about, confirming as many people as he could. Lisa was there. Ernie. Marcus. Over there, Emma. Allison without Angelic handholding her? Weird. Siena of course. Oh, Callan came out of hibernation.

His own headcount continued as they were ushered down the steps and his own headcount was just as grim as theirs. Brent didn’t know an Elvia, but Gregory and Angelic? In the darkness of the storage room, the arbiter pulled out his combat phone, bringing up the GPS once more.

A sharp intake of breath.

Gregory was outside, moving. Alive.

Angelic wasn’t.

[DISCONNECTED].

Amethyst eyes turned towards Allison.

Brent slipped the sturdy phone back into his pocket.


Hostiles. Amigos. Dangerous. Attacking USARILN property? No, Zhang’s property. No monsters in the basement here. Just kids with enough power to drive them mad. Ernie was scared. Past experience? Chris wanted to stay. To fight. A martyr. Kusari was cocky. Confident. Hah. Hazel and Sander were already gone, taking most of the Unit’s destructive power with them.

Take it in.

Blink.

That butler, Aldrich, was going to die for them. That maid, Elvia, may have already going to die for them. Zoe and Lawrence duelled with words, the latter somehow managing to convince that firecracker to leave, to make sure everyone else left. Brent noted the glow. Funny, how the first time that blond’s power was used was on an ally. Leave two to their fates so that a larger group could make it out. Compromise and sacrifice.

Take it in.

Blink.

He h-

It seeped into him, an eternal expanse of ethereal blankness. No longer an ocean, but an endlessly, dazzlingly, painfully bright space. No turmoil, merely tranquility. No light, just white. Every color and no color at all.

Birds of a feather flocked together.

The blankness fused with his body, caressing his bones, blotting out his veins. Burying and burying and burying him in the pointlessness of it all, until he was but a skeleton fused with the canvas.

Likes repelled.

And yet, that skeleton stayed distinct, pushing and pushing and pushing against the pointlessness of it all, the whiteness that consumed his skin, hair, flesh, and organs unable to bridge that final gap. There was something there in that blank garden, a faintly yellow tinge.

Overhead, another star, another gift, another fruit ripe for the picking was swallowed by the Other within that garden.

But the skeleton didn’t even notice.

Bury. Push. Bury. Push. Bury. Push.

Overdose.


-eaded towards Siena. She had her e-reader. She had unlimited power.

But she was still so frail. Like tinder. Burning bright and burning easily, but burning out so soon.

“'ena,” the arbiter said, standing beside her, “Teleportation range?”
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