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Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by ShyDot
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ShyDot

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Time: Evening - Present Day
Location: Smithy's Grocery Store - Meat Aisle, Las Vegas

What a fascinating assortment of people that Miss Ambassador had found. The lighting was somewhat shoddy with the dramatic entrance that had been arranged, but it was hard to miss the pair that were either almost as tall or taller than herself. Mandate's burning gaze tracked them steadily as they moved, zeroing in upon Freya as she seemed to consult with the others in low tones that the golem could not pick up. It's all petty plans, anyway. she decided, her eye catching the sight of the twins seeming to toss something to and fro. It was at least discernible by their hand movements if nothing else. The lighting was somewhat difficult.

The golem made a mental note, and shifted her attention. On the other hand...

That boy appeared to be falling apart- no, transforming. His body was cracking and contorting into something that it was never meant to be, and the shuffling about caused the tearing of cloth and flesh alike. The blood flowed until in the place of a young man stood a beast of golden fur. It loomed in comparison to his previous meager height, though both were meager to Mandate, and seemed much fitter for battle. I wonder what he looks like inside while this is happening. Maybe I can ask Miss Ambassador for a vivisection.

The thought of it would have had the massive mercurial being salivating if she was capable of it, but her V of a smile made it impossible to discern. Instead, she spoke. "Miss Ambassador, I think we took a wrong turn. This is an animal shelter." the golem declared in a mock whisper, her tone jovial as she stared down the teenage werewo-

Wait a moment...

"Oh!" Mandate announced suddenly, her head snapping around to face the much smaller Ambassador while her hand raised up as if to say 'aha'. "So that's what you meant by 'young adult novel'!" she declared, immensely pleased with her deduction and even further amused by Miss Ambassador's wit. She cast her gaze back to the group with a renewed giggle.

The others were mostly less amusing, unfortunately. In fact, some of them seemed like a cause for concern. There was one that seemingly hadn't done much of anything yet, but the other two were more alarming. They were a pair of what seemed to be twins, smaller than the other twins, who were giving her human companion some very nasty looks. At least one of them was hunkered down, as if ready to bolt forward.

Mandate shifted on her feet, her weight increasing a fraction despite the fact that there was no cause for true concern. The 500 pound golem became 600 pounds, and the floor creaked ever so slightly. There was no telling precisely what all of those present could do, but she could probably tear off most of their heads if they made a move, she reasoned. It was a rare thing that didn't die when she tried to remove its head. But who could tell, with magic and other strange things afoot?

The White Witch, though...

"How does it feel to not be in control of your self?" The golem's tone was rather quiet and curious, and she did not bother to clarify that she was not saying 'yourself'. Her gaze did not move once it had locked onto the magical human, as if staring a burning hole into her would reveal all the secrets of her mind and existence. It was indeed a burning curiosity, after all. What's it like to be incomplete? How does it feel to be a part of a sum that wants to be whole? Do you know that you're a fragment? Probably, if we're here. How does it feel? I want to understand you. Have we felt something similar? She had so many questions for the White Witch. She would pick her brain one day, and then open her body to see if magic kept any secrets there.

And still, the golem never ceased smiling. "Also, hi again." she added cheerfully after a pause, waving her hand in response to the White Witch waving her own in a gesture probably not meant to be a greeting. Magicians were funny like that.

What a fascinating assortment indeed. Thank you, Miss Ambassador.
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Hidden 6 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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Lyger stood out on the ledge of the Wright Building and looked out over the city as a torrential downpour washed over the city. There was something about the rain that he found soothing, almost therapeutic, in fact. It was almost as if the heavens had opened up and just washed away everything that was wrong in the city.

Almost.

Crown Ridge was a bad place. Nothing would ever be able to scrub all of that filth away. No amount of rain could cleanse it, and no amount of fighting would ever be able to set it right. He knew that, and it ate away at him. He found himself wondering if it was even worth it, the constant struggle, the fight for the city. Then he thought about all of the good people in Crown Ridge, the people who had no way out, the people who tried to live a good life for themselves and their families. Those people were the reason that he fought.

These were the people who were hurt by criminals and terrorists like the Hounds of Humanity. Although the Hounds claimed that their fight was with the meta humans and other non-normals, they had victimized anyone that got in their way, and summed it all up as collateral damage in not only a war of attrition, but a war for the very survival of the human race. However, it was all a farce. The Hounds of Humanity couldn’t care less about protecting the normal people of the world, they just needed an excuse for murder, and the rise in the meta human, as well as supernatural populations gave them just that. They hid behind bigotry in order to spread as much hate and fear as they could.

They were also well organized. They had laid the perfect trap for him, and he walked right into it. If it hadn’t have been for Icon’s interjection, he wouldn’t have walked away from that confrontation in one peace, and if he was to be completely honest with himself, he wouldn’t have walked away at all. Neither Icon nor he knew exactly what the Hounds’ endgame was, but both heroes knew that they needed to be there to make sure that it didn’t happen.

As Lyger contemplated everything that had happened, he suddenly realized that he wasn’t alone. He glanced around the rooftop, but didn’t see anyone. However, he knew that he wasn’t imagining it; he could hear someone slowly creeping up on him.

Then he saw it. Or rather, it was what he didn’t see. He looked on as he saw the puddles on the roof disturbed by invisible feet. He watched as the pounding rain battered against something, or someone who didn’t appear to be there.

“You might as well show yourself, I know you’re there.” Lyger said, his modulated voice sounding more intimidating than he had intended. After several beats, something began to take shape from nothingness. At first he didn’t know what he looked like, but soon the figure of a young woman who looked to be in her early to mid twenties began to appear before his eyes. She was a pretty girl, though with just a quick glance Lyger could tell that something was troubling her, and he had a pretty good idea of what that was.

“They came for you too, didn’t they?” Lyger said, more as a statement than a question.

“Yeah. They stormed the shop where I work. They just started shooting. They almost got me. They almost killed my customer. If I didn’t get us out of there, they would have.” She said with a mixture of fear and anger in her voice. “I saw you after I got her to safety. I recognized you from TV, I saw how you helped in the Pax Metahumana crisis.”

“So you followed me.” Lyger said, slightly embarrassed that he had slipped up and allowed himself to be tracked. “Who are you?”

“My name’s Chrissy, Chrissy Jones. I thought you could help.”

“I’m on it. You should lay low, don’t get yourself involved in this mess.” Lyger said.

“These monsters have to be stopped.”

“And they will be. It’s being worked on.” Lyger told her.

“I want to help, I have to do something.” She said.

“Stay out of it. Leave it to the people who handle these types of things.” Lyger insisted.

“I can’t promise that. Sometimes everyone has to take a stand.” She said with a touch of defiance in her tone.

“It’s your funeral.” Lyger said as he turned away from the young woman and fired a grapnel line into one of the nearby buildings before diving from the roof and vanishing into the night.
Hidden 6 yrs ago Post by KaiserElectric
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KaiserElectric Spaghetti Enthusiast

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Pacific Point
7:23 AM


Rabbit Motors, by all accounts, was thoroughly uninteresting. The shipping company delivered big industrial goods throughout Southern California and Nevada, and that was really the only thing that anyone ever thought about the place, if they thought about it at all. That was a shame too, seeing as the Waterfront warehouse was pretty good real estate. Secure perimeter, plenty of space for storage, and a nice tall office complex that overlooked most of the surrounding buildings. It was a good place for a warehouse, and after the owner's son was killed in the Chinatown incident thanks to people like War-Pulse, it turned out to be a really good base for the Hounds of Humanity. More importantly, it had a nice secure basement area that was good for holding prisoners. That was all that Jordan Fletcher could discern other than how long she had been here, and frankly she was beginning to lose track of that latter fact. It was easier to remember how many times she had been dragged out of the dark, cold room she was being held in; five times, including this one.

“Get up,” one of the black armored goons barked at her.

“Like I really have a choice?” Jordan replied as the soldiers all but dragged her out of the caged area. Her voice was still discernable at least, even if it was so hoarse and shaky. She wondered how long it would be before she didn’t even recognize herself. She winced as the familiar sensation of blinding light struck her.

“Straight to Ling with this one, right?”

“Nope, the old Gargoyle wants another crack at her.” Jordan tried to come up with a snarky comeback but gave up halfway through. Wasn’t worth what little energy she still had. She instead waited out the usual haze of sound and movement before a door slammed and Jordan felt herself being tossed into a chair, a pair of handcuffs clamping across her wrists behind her.

“Heh, again with the cuffs,” Jordan murmured. “You must be a real perv, Gargy.” She flicked her eyes upward to catch the familiar face staring over her, just as tall, stony, and imposing as ever. She heard him called Krauss before as well, but between the graying hair and his almost gothic features, he really did look like a gargoyle.

“I’m surprised you are so amiable,” the Gargoyle remarked acidly. “I should remind Ling to cut rations again.” Jordan said nothing as the Gargoyle started to pace around her, like a vulture circling a dying animal. “I do not want to do this anymore, Miss Fletcher. You’re a fine young woman. Strong, pure-blooded, passionate…”

“…man, you are a creep...”

“But sadly, you betrayed us,” the Gargoyle continued right over the top of Jordan’s snark. “Betrayed your entire race when you threw your lot in with the muties and the aliens. I wanted to offer you a position in our organization before we found out about your little ‘scheme’...”

“What a shame…if only I didn’t have so much of that pesky human decency.”

“Voyager is not human!” the Gargoyle snapped, forcing Jordan to recoil as his spit flecked across her face. “Neither is Icon or Lyger or any of those other so-called superheroes! They are genetic aberrations and a plague upon our society, suitable only for annihilation!”

“You know my Granddad got a medal for plugging idiots like you.”

The Gargoyle backhanded her for that comment, nearly knocking her out of the seat. “And if you don’t want to join the metahuman scum in the ground, I suggest you cooperate. Starting with telling me what I want to know.”

Of course they were still asking about Riley, Jordan thought bitterly as she remembered the breath catching in her throat when they dragged in the weird box that the half-alien had arrived in, still stamped with the black anvil of Darrow. She covered her tracks so thoroughly to keep Riley safe from the freaks at Darrow, even going so far as to beg Martel not to reveal her existence to anyone, and the Hounds managed to dig up every bit of information she tried to bury. They even had the receipt for the new suit she commissioned for her, and now they had the very woman that kept her sheltered for so long. Jordan tried to brace herself for what was to come, expecting them to torture her for Riley’s location, every detail about her powers and weaknesses, even the details of the facility where she had been hiding. She braced herself for everything they could have possibly wanted, except for…

“Your mutant smuggling ring cannot hide forever,” the Gargoyle snarled. “I want to know everything you know about your contacts, starting with this Zhanya character. How do you know her?”

“I don’t fucking know any Zhanyas,” Jordan said through gritted teeth, her bemusement at the sheer absurdity of the Gargoyle’s theory long gone at this point. “Voyager just showed up in the box. Ask Darrow who she is, not me.” Her captor, predictably, was not convinced by this statement, which he expressed by backhanding Jordan again, this time with enough force to knock her to the ground. Jordan grunted in pain as she landed on her already bruised shoulder, forcing her eyes to tear up.

“This will keep going so long as you keep hiding the evidence, Fletcher,” the Gargoyle stated plainly, cracking his knuckles as he circled around her. Jordan stared up into the dark pitiless eyes of the commander, took a deep breath, and spat on his impeccably shined boots as he paced close enough.

“Bite me.”

-----

This place gave Yavor the creeps. Why couldn’t he ever be assigned to deliver stuff to places that didn’t look like it belonged to the mob, he wondered. The dour-faced goons standing with their arms crossed and glaring daggers at him and the other students certainly didn’t help that image either.

“Why are we even delivering to Rabbit Motors,” one of the other students hauling crates complained, echoing his sentiments exactly. “Come to think of it, WHAT are we delivering?”

“Uh, good question,” Yavor said, pondering some of the barrels being lifted as he made his way to a fresh stack of crates. “Maybe the boss knows, has anyone asked her?”

“Good luck with that,” came a somewhat unfamiliar voice coming around the side of the truck. “Durante gets anal if you ask her what she had for lunch. Paranoid old wingnut.“ Yavor looked up and saw it belonged to one of the other girls in the institute. He recognized the strand of blue dyed hair.

“Oh hi, Megan,” Yavor said with a smile. “I didn’t know you worked today.”

“Well, no I -umf- don’t,” she said, grunting as she struggled to lift the crate with Yavor. “Maddy asked me to cover for her though, so here I am.”

Yavor frowned. “That’s the second time this week. I hope she’s okay.”

“Yeah, me too,” Megan empathized. “She seemed a little shaken since she got back from the hospital, maybe the shooting is still sticking with her a little…” Yavor yelped out in surprise as Megan suddenly stopped in her tracks, nearly forcing him to lose his grip on the heavy box. He opened his mouth to retort before he caught Megan’s expression of stunned realization. Following her gaze, Yavor craned his neck to get a look at whatever she spotted. Nothing much, apart from a few of the goons getting into an argument with a friend of theirs who just showed up.

“Someone you know?” Yavor said, a hint of resentment in his tone for her nearly making him drop the box.

“Huh?” Megan replied, still sounding distant. “Oh…yeah, sorta. Just someone I saw at…Logans’.”

“Logans’? That cheesy nightclub? I didn’t know you went there.”

“Hey, if you know the right people…?”

The rest of the delivery passed without incident after that, although Megan seemed to be a little quieter after the incident with the box. As some of the senior interns sorted out the final details with the goon squad outside, Yavor climbed into the cab of the truck where Megan was furiously texting something.

“Hey Yavor, the address of this place is 445, right?”

“Uh, yeah,” he replied, taken aback by the sudden questioning. “Is this about your friend from Logans’?” Megan simply smiled, a devious look in her eye as she thought of how Fangs would react when 'Reisen' recognized one of the Hounds of Humanity goons from the night they escaped the bar.

“Something like that.”
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Hidden 6 yrs ago Post by Dedonus
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Dedonus Kai su teknon;

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Kelly Brown | Samantha Kadowsky | Zac Wilson

Zac gazed at the television screen in Sammy’s apartment while he sat on her couch, still dressed in his superhero costume, although he had pulled back his mask. On one hand, it was a great relief that the Hounds had not targeted Sammy’s apartment. Zac and his friends had enough action with the Hounds to last a whole week, if not a lifetime. However, Zac had a bigger problem on his hands. How in the world did Sammy and Kelly’s powers change? Something like does not happen every day or by chance. Furthermore, he did not know where to start. But Sammy and Kelly would thing he was the crazy one. For a moment, the thought that he was the one who was changed crossed his mind, but he knew that could not be the case since both Sammy and Kelly was also confused about each other’s appearance. What was he going to do?

Before he could consider anything else on this matter, Zac heard Sammy’s bedroom door swing open and then shut again. When he turned his head, Zac saw that only Kelly had exited her friend’s bedroom. She had a frazzled look on her face, obviously from trying to deal with her best friend. Kelly plopped down on the couch next to Zac and exhaled a sigh of relief.

“That girl,” Kelly complained to Zac while she shook her head. “Sometimes she can be a handful.”

“She is the one who conned us into going to Crown Ridge so that she could see Lyger.” Right when these words left his mouth, Zac realized that, because of the strange occurrences of late, Kelly might not have any recollection of that “adventure,” to put it nicely.

“Don’t remind me.” Kelly’s response at least confirmed to Zac that some of her memories were still intact. “And we’re going to have to have talk with Lyger. What was he thinking sending her a ring? Look what happened! She thinks she’s engaged!”

“I have to drive all the way up there, again?” Zac sighed.

“We can just teleport there, silly.”

“I knew that,” Zac lied, as he tried to keep what was happening straight in his mind.

“But we better do it soon, before Sammy does something rash, like sexting Lyger.”

“Hey! They were tasteful!” Sammy barged into the conversation after she slithered out of her own room, now wearing a dress that normally would have reached down halfway past her thighs, but since she had a serpentine body below the waist, one could not quite make that estimation. “I wasn’t sending anything you haven’t seen on the cover of beauty magazines.”

“YOU DIDN’T SEND THEM, DID YOU!” Kelly told her best friend, glaring at her. Zac, meanwhile, was trying as best as he could not to smirk while thinking how Lyger would react to that happening to him. He hoped that Lyger would at least know something was wrong since Sammy was now a snake girl instead of a cat girl.

“Of course not,” Sammy told Kelly, although it seemed as if Kelly was not buying it. “I mean, you were in there with me the whole time. When would I have time to send them?”

At the same time as Kelly and Sammy were arguing with one another, the news suddenly switched to some breaking news. Some heroes located in the American South-west had announced that they were partnering with the United States government in order to combat the Hounds of Humanity. The announcement placed an emphasis on how this initiative would provide transportation for superpowered individuals who did not naturally have the ability to fly. Zac normally would have mentioned how that could be useful, since their regular powers did not have the capacity to take themselves outside of the state. However, since Kelly somehow had the Silver Sorceress’ powers, he knew that if he would have stated anything, Kelly would have reminded him again that she could port them to wherever they needed.

Then, the news broadcast turned to a new headline. At this very moment, although information was scarce, they reported that there was some sort of metahuman disturbance in Washington Park. Everyone was advised to stay away from the park until the Albany authorities have cleared the area of any threats. People should not pass by the park unless they have to. It was beyond Zac why any metahuman would want to cause trouble right now, especially since the Hounds of Humanity are out to get them.

“Sammy, you better suit up.” Kelly told her best friend. However, when she turned to look back at Sammy, she discovered that she had already used her power-nullifier wristband to switch into her superhero threads.

“Why ahead of you,” Sammy told her while cracking a smile.

Even though he did not want to mention it at the moment, Zac knew that after they resolved the disturbance at Washington Park, the three of them would have to figure out what was happening to Kelly and Sammy. While they have seen some weird things, including werewolves, magic swords, and men who can catch space stations, people waking up with new powers and not remembering that they had different powers does not happen every day.

“Ready?” Kelly asked her boyfriend, who immediately nodded. Then Kelly used her powers to teleport the three of them to Washington Park to investigate the Metahuman disturbance.
Hidden 6 yrs ago 6 yrs ago Post by Rtron
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Rtron

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The Dover Twins


Ben's Current Power set

-2x Human Strength
-2x Human speed
-Mandate's Durability

Time: Evening - Present Day
Location: Smithy's Grocery Store - Meat Aisle, Las Vegas


"We probably shouldn't be attempting to kill anyone." Freya hissed at the werewolf twins. "In case you didn't notice, we are heavily outnumbered and surrounded." She was beginning to doubt her choice in allies. None of them seemed level headed, or indeed, interested in self-preservation enough, to be calm in this situation. Which was what she and her brother really needed right now.

Freya looked at Ben as the teenager's voice began to strain and catch. "Easy there. We don't want to do anything-" Her words, urgently whispered, apparently fell on deaf ears as the boy not only began to transform, he did so violently. "-stupid." Freya finished with a sigh. As his body shifted and changed, Freya and Ben took a few steps away from him. If he was losing control of himself, which from all accounts it looked like he was, they didn't want to be the first thing he saw. Freya glanced at Ben suffering the 'I told you so' look he shot her, even as his eyes scanned the room for the expected attack. His eyes kept going back to the giant golem, calculating what he knew of her powers and her supposed speed.

He was nervous. Lightly shifting his way from foot to foot, clenching and releasing his hands. He didn't like the situation they were in, and she couldn't blame him. Their only hope for getting out of this without a violent fight was the witch and the vampire. She really hoped they would do better than the other three. Despite himself, Ben snickered as the golem made it's declaration in a mock whisper, earning an elbow jab to his ribs from Freya. "What? It was funny.

She watched with mild interest as Marie stood in front of their group. If the woman knew a way to prevent this from becoming a bloody brawl, she was all for it. She was only confused as Marie spoke to the Ambassador, and then the golem spoke to Marie, but she got the gist of it. The Witches can't hurt each other directly or indirectly. Fun times. She handed Ben the orb she had been preparing, taking and pocketing the one he gave in return. The Dover Twins didn't say anything or otherwise move. They were way out of their element, and more then content to let someone who knew what was going on to take the lead.

Ben's New Power Set

-2x human Speed
-Mandate's Strength
-Mandate's Durability.

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Hidden 6 yrs ago 6 yrs ago Post by DearTrickster
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DearTrickster

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[Part 2]
Herald the Strangers


Location: Lost Haven University, Lost Haven
Time: Present Day - Morning


On the east side of campus, Pantheon faced the last eight of his assailants. It was a blitzkrieg, his body a blur as shrieks and gurgles fizzled into a grotesque cacophony. Within less than a minute, he had disposed of all eight: bones stuck out of arms and legs, ankles twisted in ways unthinkable by occupational trainers, one had both kneecaps completely shattered. He had done his work here, he left them to suffer. But alas, Pantheon was still one person no matter how fast he moved--for every Hound Pantheon disposed of, they were still murdering two and three students. He could hear the crushing rattle of the assault rifles as they tore human flesh to mince.

He would take the fight to the heart of the attack. Pantheon blazed to the interior of the east wing of the building where bodies had been stacked up against one another. There appeared to be no Hounds in sight, however. In the eery silence, he glared at the mesh of lifeless flesh before him. There were at least fifteen scattered against the walls and slumped against lockers. One girl, a blonde with blue highlights running to the ends of her hair appeared to make it to the emergency exit before she was cut down. All of the blood hadn’t even coagulated yet, the Hounds must have just rampaged through here.

Littered alongside him were the bodies of lost souls; they found a way to accuse him even in death. He could hear their pleas from beyond, he could hear the whimpers and the spite spilling from those whose lives had been cut too short. The dead may not speak, but they see and they judge with eternally damning eyes. The aftermath of murder was unlike any other settling feeling; with death, the moments posteriori affirmed the permanency of death’s unnatural hold on mortal beings. These people were innocent, they committed no crime simply because they were born different--and if these Hounds saw it right to treat their fellow human beings as dogs, Pantheon would treat them the same; and he would put them all down without mercy.

Reaching the end of a hallway, he saw the map which detailed the layout of the Eastern wing where he saw the Dean’s office two floors above him. He would let it be known that any hounds who found themselves before him would meet a swift end. He shot up through the ceiling until he did reach the Dean’s office, to which he found some straggling Hounds rummaging around the desk of the now deceased Dean: the method of execution was a slit throat. Just as before, the Hounds immediately opened fire. Wading bullets, Pantheon approached both soldiers and after crushing the muzzles of their guns, he seized both by their throats and raised them above his head.

”What are your names?” Pantheon resounded,
“CAHK-Chuh! I’ll never tell you, scum!” Pantheon squeezed tighter around his measly throat.
”A shame. So stubborn as to choose death.” Pantheon assured the nameless Hound enjoyed his fall from the sixth story window. The splat of his body against the concrete even made Pantheon flinch. He turned to the other, still held firm in his grasp.
”And you?” This one was smart, he obeyed.
“M-Michael!” from what Pantheon gathered, he sounded young--perhaps no more than 25. Michael’s headgear covered his face, but Pantheon could feel him trembling, wary of how close he was between life and death. He would show this one mercy. Releasing Michael from his grasp, he spoke once more,

”Retire. Lead a better life, Michael.” Michael caught his breath, and with his hand wrapped around his throbbing throat, he scurried off, no longer the resilient paramilitary dog he had so fervently tried to portray but a few minutes before. He pushed the dead Dean out of his chair and assumed his place. Grasping the intercom which relayed messages to the entirety of the East Wing, Pantheon spoke.

”Attention, Hounds of Humanity! My name is Pantheon. You have committed an unforgivable atrocity here today, and you will pay for your crime. You have thirty minutes to evacuate this institution or I will kill you all. There will be no mercy shown to any who do not abide by these commands after these thirty minutes have passed. Have a fine day.”

And now, he would wait.

Lawrence replied promptly to Pantheon’s kind warnings, his tone hardly changing from his previous announcement. “Hey, congrats on defeating my men. I was hoping there’d be some tough sonuvabitch we could fight with today. Well, it really is your lucky day, you get to be our guinea pig.”

Meanwhile, as the main forces of the HoH made their way through the university, gunning down anyone they couldn’t readily contain, several other squads were making their way around the campus entirely. These separate squads split off to place several beacons, just a few feet big, around their targeted area of the university. Another squad followed directly after their first waves, to set up a larger tower device in the center of the main campus building.

As the towers came online the nearest squad to each surrounded their beacon to protect them, except for the central tower. Several more Hounds gathered around it, along with other squads coming back to this area as well with injured or unconscious civilians, all of whom they had identified at an earlier date as metahumans, and placed one or two of said civilians around the tower. One of the Hounds flipped a switch, and a high pitch shrill pierced the entire campus. The Hounds appeared to just get stiff, as if bracing themselves for something painful, the nearby civilians that had been brought in began to writhe and scream in pain.

But the metahumans who were near the central tower began to shake, scream, and all manner of struggle, until they vanished. It could have been described as an explosion, but it was too quiet, too clean, their bodies changed to an odd dust as soon as the shrill stopped.

“Their powers work differently, let’s continue testing.” A specially marked Hound said, while pointing at their next subjects.

“I haven’t heard back from the other squads yet sir.” A nearby Hound said, his hand still clutched around the radio on his chest.

“Break open some of our prototype ordinance and send out another squad. No more prisoners, let’s not risk it.”

Charlie watched on from the window in a lecturing hall, standing on the folding chairs. She peered at the back entrance of the west building, they wheeled in a tower of some sort. Looking like a heavily experimental piece of equipment. Wires, access boxes and instruments were strapped to it. They ran power cords to generators, squashing Charlie’s immediate hope of cutting the power to them. What she saw next however had changed her goal of escape. The tower powered up, the hostage they kneeled in front of it screeched his pain, activating his own set of powers trying to fight. The hostage fainted in their attempts, slumping forward. He was dragged away and another sat in front of it, visibly panicking.

The alchemist knew she could sabotage the tower, but as she was; horrifically unprepared and outgunned she moved away from the window. The best move would be to get through the campus, look for weak links in their perimeter then slip by. Wait until bigger superheroes came crashing the party, where the real chaos would unfold. She wanted to be as far away as she could possibly get from that insanity.

It seemed an impossible task, with who knew how many armed gunmen between her and the exit. She forced her feet to move, she moved out of the deserted lecture hall, going straight for the maintenance room, it controlled all the electronics for the halls. She bit her lip then loaded up on some tools like screwdrivers, cable cutters, and excess blue telephone cables. From below a ladder led up to the roof of the hall, probably to where the re-circulating air fans were. Charlie made her way up, rapidly oxidizing the lock on the hatch to a rusted heap. She busted through to the roof, the bright sunshine making her squint. Overhead she heard the LHPD’s helicopters arrive along with the blaring sound of sirens.

From his vantage, Pantheon could see the line of helpless humans/metas being dragged in front of the large tower contraptions across campus. His stomach writhed at the shrill that followed. He couldn’t quite see the aftermath itself, though. There was not anything he could do to save the deceased, and he had an entirely new set of problems rushing up the stairs behind him. Whatever Lawrence had presumed to make Pantheon a guinea pig of, he had no intentions of finding out. Doubly, below the east building, the Hounds had set up another of these small beacon contraptions where LHPD rescue vehicles and cop cars had begun to make their arrival.

For each car which entered the active beacon’s radius, its drivers met a terrible end. One veered right into a tree as its driver’s body seized up--both servicemen of 15 years lost their lives. Another spun out uncontrollably until it flipped over and rolled into the forest greenery beside the road. Meanwhile, the Hounds had invaded the entirety of the East wing from the bottom floor to the top. It was no use to try and repel an entire wave of them when there would undoubtedly be another wave in ten minutes or less. Above, he heard the whir of helicopter blades. If LHPD were here, it means they too would soon be arriving in greater force. LHU was about to be a war zone.

There was no use in trying to clear out the East wing, so Pantheon burst through the window and decided he would try to take out one of those beacons. Except in his divebomb, his entire body froze up and he plummeted into the concrete, a hole was left. The Hounds trained their weapons on him and fired, but just as before, nothing happened--the longer he stayed by these beacons, the weaker he felt himself becoming. He shot upward toward the western wing of the building through a window at the top floor. Perhaps there was something of interest here.

Outside, more Hounds and police squads arrived on the scene in triple time. The LHPD had called in their big guns, there were armored trucks and officers draped in thick body armor from head to toe. The Hounds were unphased, for each truck the LHPD had at its disposal, there were three vans with six or seven armed men a piece inside. A firefight soon broke out on the streets below, with members of both sides swiftly cutting one another down. Any innocents and presumed metas who had attempted to make their escape were unceremoniously caught in the crossfire. Warm blood hugged the streets and swam to the feet of the opposition from both sides. Carnage won the day.

Charlie watched the descent of the flying costumed meta crash through into a classroom, his attempt to attack one of the towers the Hound’s setup failed miserably. Clearly he was disorientated, more so was that she saw a possible ally and escape plan. She took off at a run across the roof, using the length of cable she tied her staff to her back then used the excess, creating an cement anchor. Winding some of it around her fist then slowly around her waist. She peered over the side where the broken window was, the Hounds were preoccupied with the arrival of the LHPD their eyes trained on the ground and not above them. Slowly she backed up against the ledge, balancing on the edge with her heels. “Good thing I’m not afraid of heights.

A quick inhale she jumped off the ledge, the cable pinching her waist taking the weight as she swung forward directly into the classroom. Careening with a desk she slid off the surface then clattered to the floor with a groan. Using a chair she pulled herself up, adjusting her goggles as she did noticing the downed meta and a few stray bodies. She paced over to him, having made a mess of desks upon his landing. She used the butt of her staff to poke his side.

Hey, you alright?

Pantheon rose from atop the crushed metal desks from which his body rested. He gleaned her up and down, from her sweater to her staff. She was small and breakable in many ways. For a moment, he envisioned the varying ways he could do as such. Although, she didn’t seem like she had any intentions of doing him any harm which, above all else, is all he cared about. It was always fun to test a person’s resolve, though.

He grabbed one of the spare metal legs of the desk and promptly threw it at her head. There was a small smile on his face.

She ducked catching the desk leg, shaking the sting away in her hand. Glaring she snapped, “The fuck, man! What the hell are you smiling about, asshole.

Her irritation turning the steel in the leg to liquid as it puddled to the ground. “Who’re you anyway?” When he was at his full height he towered over her. Rightly noting the large thunderbolt across his chest, the cape. Classic costumed hero look about him, she supposed if this grinning idiot was her ticket out there’d be no room for complaints.

He watched her turn metal into water. Though he would never admit it, such a feat caused him to squirm inside. Someone who could transform solid objects into liquid was not to be trifled with; Pantheon would not, of course, let her know this.

”What a strange creature you are.” He paced to the broken window, the spinning helicopter blades had gotten closer. It sounded like they were about to land on the roof.

”Well, human, you know these mortal institutions better than myself. How do you propose we get out?”

Great, another one these jokers. Mortal this, human that. She thought.

Okay cool, nice to meet you too. Name’s not creature, it’s Alchemyst.” She replied, then dryly added. “It’s customary in my culture to say who you are too. Unless you like being called an asshole, I don’t mind.

Memhmemhmemhnemhe!” Pantheon mimicked her drawl, “Sassy this, sassy that. Look at me, I’m ‘the Alchemyst. I’m better than you because there aren’t as many of me as there are of you.”

No matter how serious he appeared, he was still one part kid, one part magical bulldozer. He curled a grin across his face as she grew more flustered. Hassan, ever more the antagonist, still lived inside the far more serious hero who made up his exterior.

”If you’re done complaining about how hard your life is, can we figure out how we’re gonna get out of here?”

She threw up her hand and flipped him off before stalking over to the door, “What are you, fuckin’ twelve? I swear to christ, you-

”Technically, I’m 17, thanks very much.”

She huffed heading in the opposite direction going to the door and peeking through it. Lifting the blinds up tentatively with the crystal on her staff. It was like talking to her little sister, Harry had a penchant for acting like a brat when the mood struck her. “They’ve got the campus surrounded, exits are covered by those tower things they’ve set up. I can sabotage them but I had no hope of getting close. Seriously though, what do I call you?

Near as quick as Hassan’s juvenile demeanor emerged, it suppressed itself when he spoke up again.

I am Pantheon. I am not a ‘you’ per se, I am only real in the sense that this body has been manifested over the course of several centuries. I do not care for the name myself. It is, as I have learned over several existences, an homage to your various human religions. I am an amalgamation of spells, tomes, runes.

His eyes never once strayed from her frame as he spoke. His iris’ were a mixture of different colors, and he didn’t appear to belong to a single ethnic group though his skin in this recent iteration was brown. This Alchemyst seemed so worried about such a minor matter.

”I am not so sure you want to ‘get close’-- whatever these things are, they caused me great pain. I dare not imagine what they might do to you.”

She saw no one in the hallway, turning back to him, “Pantheon, weird magic, got it. I’ve got my share of family history behind me too, alchemy is as weird as it gets though.” She commented. “The tower on the westside here wasn’t that bad. It knocked their victims out, didn’t look like it killed them. The center one could be the strongest one. I won’t have any real ideas until I can get my hands on it.

She paced over to the main desk, pulling open the drawers fishing out office supplies mostly erasers, scotch tape and paper clips stuffing them into her backpack. “If I get rid of the tower then we can make a break for it yeah?

He set his eyes on the continuing firefight below. Neither side appeared to be giving ground.

The whirring of the LHPD helicopters were simply background noise, through the raining gunfire the launch of a rocket was drowned away until it hit its target. The helicopter exploded in bright fire, the sound deafening. The aircraft came spinning directly toward their classroom window, Charlie had time to duck underneath the desk while it gave Pantheon no real time to react.

All he could do was watch as the helicopter whipped into him. No matter how durable one was, getting hit still hurt; it didn’t help that one of the rotary blades had detached and lodged itself into his cape, effectively choking him while what was left of the helicopter from the explosion lay sprawled atop his body. Capes were indeed a bad idea. His arms were free, but he had begun to re-think this hero’ing business in general. Some groans escaped from his mouth in between the choking and coughing.

A blast of cool foam of the fire extinguisher hit the wreckage, from where he was Pantheon would see Charlie having broken up from the desk, debris pinned the furniture to the back wall with her beneath it. When enough of the fire was gone, she slammed both hands over the blade pinning him, it disappeared in a similar fashion of the desk leg, but this time reforming as a pole pushing the wreckage up a few feet removing the weight. Without a word she grasped under his armpit then with all her strength she pulled him free. He was heavy as it was, but she quickly had him free after dragging him a few feet away.

Letting go she picked up the fire extinguisher again, blasting more foam on the flames. “We need to move!

He rose, one hand rubbed his throat. The heat itself didn’t bother him, he knew this was not the case for the Alchemyst.

I hope you are not averse to flying. I doubt either of our acrobatic skills are sufficient for safe departure. You know where these towers are? What is the quickest route?” He did not care for safety at all.

She snapped, “Hell no, we are not flying. I am not making a target for another goddamn rocket.” She put the canister down, pulling her staff back into her hands. “We’re taking the stairs.

Very well.” He swooped her up in his arms in a streak of speed and encased her with an arm, both were airborne in a matter of seconds. “I am insulted that you believe I am as slow as your man made inventions. Also, they were coming up the stairs.” They weren’t, but he deigned he could pull off the lie well enough.

She shrieked at the sudden, blurring movement. Nearly motion sick at the rapid departure of the classroom, she clutched her staff then squeezed her eyes shut her ears popped painfully at the sudden ascent. Barely having heard what he had just said. Working her jaw. When her mind caught up she looked down at the campus, rhyming off where she left off on the periodic table panic nearly overtaking her once again.

”Now, where to?”

T-tungsten.” She said quietly then turned her worst glare onto Pantheon she pulled down the mask to yell at him. “You absolute shit! Fucking supes and their bullshit flying. Fuck you and your stupid ass cape! Fuck that thunderbolt! This-!” She ranted pointing at him, “Is all shit!

When she finished she pointed, “Over there.

Hahahahahahhahaahaahhaaahahahahahahahahahaahhahahahaha! If you want, I could just drop you right now. Just--” he released her from his grasp as they flew over the campus grounds while they were several hundred feet in the air.

Oops.” And now he waited. Four… three… two… it took no time for him to catch her as he ziplined down.

I believe there is a mortal saying that recounts something like, ‘if one has nothing nice to say, one should not say it at all lest they be felled by a force greater than themselves. Or something of that nature.” This Alchemyst had proverbial rough edges, ones Pantheon could appreciate. She was defiant even against odds she could not overcome alone; for him, one who could and would stand independent and defiant of all in her path was one who garnered his respect.

He flew them in the direction which she indicated, vague though it was.

The drop and subsequent catch earned him one more, “Fuck you.” Charlie stayed icily silent as they descended. When they found themselves on the other side of the west department building’s exit around the corner from the tower she knelt gratefully into the grass. “A flying wizard with the temperament of a teenager, what fuckin’ luck do I have today.” She stood back up fixing her hood back on her head with her mask, she pulled out the smoke grenade she had picked up earlier from her pack.

Alright, I’m going to make a distraction to draw them away from the tower. You,” She gestured with the disabled grenade. “Get rid of the Hounds, while I tear the tower apart.

They were in the midst of battle. Several more armored trucks had made their way onto the scene, and the Hounds who were hold up in the Eastern Wing had poured into the streets.

Suddenly some of the vans in the rear began to stop, or lose traction, and dirt began to build up in odd ways underneath them. The formations quickly began to form into fingers, then hands that slowly lifted the vans into the air, more thickened ‘fingers’ began to sprout off, to block windows and doors.

Clearly this was the fault of a metahuman, all of the Hounds that could began to scan their area, looking to stop whoever was at fault before all their reinforcements became trapped.

“Contact spotted, the roof!” A Hound shouted as he pointed, not a second later gunfire rained down around the figure on the room.

David raised his arms instinctively to block, it had taken a while for him to get used to the fact that he was bulletproof, since he spent most of his waking hours as a normal human, but at least he didn’t jump back. For this he needed to be at the front, everyone’s guns pointed at him, instead of someone else.

Terra Firma had spent his time so far saving people as he had become lost within the campus, drawing up earthen walls to shelter people, disarming and disabling Hound attackers, making them pay for their cowardly tactics. He began to wonder what they were really trying to accomplish right before he heard a loud explosion booming off in the distance, and then an obvious thought struck him, he brought his hand up and facepalmed himself. Get the high ground, find out what’s going on outside, because he was clearly missing something.

Several more of the vans from earlier began to arrive, with no one watching David took the opportunity to try to reach out to his earth powers, he wasn’t a master yet, in fact he wondered why he was able to control it so easily now. But he reached out and began to form those hands, imagined them reaching around, grasping the cars like simple toys. However, before he could get a handle on the rest he was spotted, and interrupted.

“I am pretty hard to ignore.” David mused to himself. The Hounds were clearly trying something with those towers, so he’d work his way up, take care of the men so they couldn’t stop him, then he’d deal with the towers. And with that plan in his head David jumped down, as he slammed into the ground, chunks of dirt and nearby cement flew into the air everywhere, the force of his landing sent several of the nearby Hounds flying back.

David grabbed the feet of a nearby Hound before he could fly off, and threw him ‘properly’ into some of his still standing friends.

David held out his hands and brought up two stone ‘blades’ into his hands, it wasn’t that he needed help pushing around unpowered men, but it occurred to him that it might help with reach. The swords themselves were smoothed out, they looked almost real, but if one saw one up close or even felt one they could tell that they were actually dulled.

The new hero’s appearance grabbed both Pantheon and Charlie’s attention. She had nearly finished her own distraction, someone else was fighting and actually pushing back. The ground was shaking with each move Terra Firma made. He tore into the Hounds with vigor, when he approached one of the towers Charlie decided there was only one way to warn him and chase off the Hounds.

The repurposed smoke grenade in her hand had alchemical formulas scrawled over every inch of it, it took some picking about it’s insides, adding her own ingredients from her backpack. The smoke grenade had grown past it’s original size with a new trigger crudely shaped from within. She shouted at the top of her voice.

MOVE!
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Hidden 6 yrs ago Post by Indy Cooper
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Indy Cooper Deity-in-training

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Banner credit to Nitemare Shape. Thanks Boss!


Nicole watched out of the window of cab as she rode with Doctor Crawford. Apparently all the terrorist activity had people spooked, or maybe Lost Haven was just smaller than the two cities she had lived in, because there didn't seem to be many people out and about for the....morning. She grimaced and tried again. For...uhhh...eeiigghhtt? She felt a dull throbbing start up behind her eyes and nearly gasped. It was the first thing she had felt since what she was informed was called Pax Metahumana. She had almost forgotten what pain felt like, but she was only able to be fascinated by it for scant moments before it disappeared. She'd have to investigate that later, though she was annoyed that she would have to wait to figure out the whole time thing.

She did less sitting than she did leaning in the cab, with her right elbow resting on the bottom of the window and her chin on the meat of her shoulder, forearm and wrist folded up and over her face. Only her eye, nose, and the right side of her mouth weren't also covered by her ebon hair. She was irritated about having so cliched an 'angsty teenager' look, but aside from the unflattering and bland grey sweats the police had donated to her, she didn't have anything any more. The bike gear she had been planning to use for a uniform was lost in the bombing, what little she had had in her pockets was now scattered and lost in the bullet-scarred lawn of a wounded youth center, and everything else had been left behind or destroyed a month ago.

She was surprised to find herself okay with that, or at least not bothered by it. After all, she was basically the robot from that old movie her dad had loved, though she kept her skin (and she doubted some hydraulic press could do what a sniper round hadn't). Still, while she felt it would be nice to have clothes, there wouldn't be much of a point to nice ones the way her life was going, if that last fight was to be a trend-setting encounter. The lack of being able to do anything useful had bothered her more than the fact that her old life, and any reminder of it aside from her own memory, which struck her, as she thought of it, as rather rude to her family. But they were dead, and there was nothing she could do about it, even as powerful as her 'ability' was.

Shifting her head, she looked furtively through the screen of her hair at the man now in charge of her well-being. Doctor Crawford had at first seemed completely frazzled and ridiculous, a middle-aged man who didn't even know how to comb his hair, or was too much of a genius to care. But during the trip, while he had gone on at length about her powers and what they might mean (something Nicky had not bothered paying attention to for what seemed like the fifth or sixth time), he had actually managed to neaten himself up a bit. He must've woken up incredibly early from a phone call from the police and come down as fast as he could, and was now attempting to correct his look for the day. But he reminded her of someone she had known in school, geeking out hard about anything that was in his field.

She had to admit, she had heard some wild stories, but considering what her father had told her and her sisters about the media, she wasn't about to believe everything she heard. Most of it seemed way too fantastical to be true even now, knowing what she did about her exhaustive search for information about Icon and her own seeming indestructibility. But listening to Crawford speak, if anything she had missed some of the cooler stuff. He also seemed excited by the fact that magic was apparently a thing, but since Nicole had very nearly rolled her eyes out of her head when he mentioned something about fairies, he had dropped the subject. Still, he seemed to know his stuff, and her inner little girl fought for a while about riding unicorns before her mind would drop back to normal daydreams.

She looked back and noticed they were now in what seemed to be the worst part of town. She had thought it weird that the cab driver had looked at them with some sort of judgement when Crawford had requested a ride to Crown Ridge, wherever that was, but thought nothing of it. Now she understood. It reminded her a lot of the nastier places she had been warned away from as a kid in Manhattan, and picking up a disheveled older guy and a teenage girl with borrowed clothes from the police station and driving them here must have set off a lot of warning bells in the guy's head.

They pulled up to one of the less run down buildings and stopped. While they got out and Crawford paid the driver, Nicky examined the building. While it was faded, and had what seemed to be the ubiquitous graffiti on a lot of the surface, it looked fairly well maintained. That didn't cut down on the strikingly familiar look that the architecture had. Her face darkened as she realised this was one of the old asylums that had gotten closed down years ago, now relegated to ghost hunting shows. But this one had obviously been repaired and converted. The sign outside declared that it was the Oppenheimer-Lashley Institute of Science and Medicine, two names she didn't recognise at all, but whatever it called itself, it couldn't qite erase the foreboding and chilly look it had. The rest of the neighbourhood was similarly well-cared for despite the 'bad' feel the area had.

Crawford gestured her inside, and they walked across a slightly weedy lawn and through front doors that looked more appropriate to a prison than a science lab, made of high-carbon steel bars and reinforced glass and opened by way of a keycard. Inside, a sleepy security guard waved them through as soon as he saw Crawford's identification, and they made their way through a maze of identical, sterile white hallways. Periodically there would be a corkboard with announcements, notices, or messages, and Nicky would have to nearly walk into her escort before she stopped trying to read them. Occasional glimpes through a window would show people in labcoats and safety goggles doing what she had always imagined science labs did. Lasers, chemistry sets, and whiteboards full of equations seemed to be everywhere. Up two flights of stairs and they entered more of an office area, and Crawford steered her into his own office, which looked like any psychiatrists office, though the sheer amount of superhero literature seemed to throw the feel off.

“Apologies for the mess,” he said, sweeping a few comic books from his desk into a messy stack and setting them on a bookshelf that also held numerous books with dusty covers and indecipherable titles. “Have a seat! They're working on getting you a room set up and a security card so you're not locked in, but for now I'm afraid you'll be in here or at one of the labs. Don't have enough funding for a hotel room.”

“S'okay,” Nicky said, taking a seat on the offered chair. “Like I said, I don't sleep.”

“Hmmm. That may actually be more of a problem, then. I'm afraid we don't have much to occupy a teenager during off hours. We'll see about...well, why don't we start with that?”

The doctor pulled out the notebook he had had in the police station, and while he copied some of what he had onto a whiteboard on his wall, he continued speaking to her.

“Don't mind me, I'm just organising notes. Tell me, Nicole, what interests do you have? Hobbies? Sports? Do you like video games?”

“I played soccer and volleyball in middle school. I was okay, I guess. I liked playing. Video games are kinda dumb, though.”

“A sportster, eh?” He glanced back at her and held his gaze for a second too long. Nicky felt like she was being judged by her coach again. “We actually do have a gym here, but we'll be visiting that today anyway, and it might take up a good portion of your time.”

He stopped talking for a few moments, writing some sort of equation on the whiteboard and plugging in a few numbers from his notes. Nicky had no idea what he was trying to do. He stepped back from the board and crossed his arms, one hand stroking his chin, and stared at it for several minutes more, looking at her occasionally and shaking his head.

“I'm afraid I can't draw any good conclusions yet, though my hypothesis remains for now that you've been somehow destabilised.” There was that word again. Nicky didn't know if she liked it or not.

“I suppose we'll have to start with a baseline, though. Let's head down to the medical wing and see if we can't figure out what's going on physically.”

To Nicky, that sounded promising, almost as if he was looking for a cure, which she would take, if only to get rid of the fuzzy feeling in her head. She followed him out of his office and down to the second floor, and into what looked like a physical therapy room, something she recalled after a nasty ligament tear in her early sports years. Two people in scrubs and a woman in a lab coat were talking when they walked in, and the woman looked up at them, then gestured to the two others and they walked off to gather equipment. The woman met them halfway across the room and held her hand out for a shake, which Nicky begrudgingly obliged as she introduced herself.

“Hi! I'm Amber Grisham, head doctor here at the facility. You must be Nicole!” The lady's voice was squeaky with excitement, but she looked almost bored the way her eyes drooped. Nicky started as she realised the woman had what she knew as 'stroke face'. Her blonde hair was silvered in places, even though she looked like she might have made it to her thirties.

“Doctor Crawford called ahead and told me some of what was going on, so I've been looking forward to meeting you. Let's get started, eh?” Crawford nodded and leaned against the wall with his ever-present notebook, while the two nurses or techs or whatever they were rolled up an EKG machine and a couple of other bits to an exam bed. Nicky hopped up onto the bed at Grisham's prompting, and her face grew extremely warm as she realised one of them was a guy as he gently attached the blood pressure cuff to her arm with a well-tanned hand.

“All right, let's see,” Grisham muttered almost to herself as she watched various machines get attached to her young patient. Nicky started to feel her skin itch as no one did much but pay attention to her for a few...minutes? Hours?

“Huh.” Grisham glanced at the techs, who both shrugged.

”What's up, Doc?”

“Well, we're not getting many readings on you. Your blood pressure isn't reading, and the EKG is all over the place. Your heart rate is apparently one constant beat with no down stroke. Brain activity is negative or positive. Body temperature is reading as...am I reading that right, Steve?”

The tech nodded. “Somewhere between thirty-two and a hundred and seven degress Fahrenheit, it won't settle, though your skin temperature feels normal, if slightly cooler than I would expect. Let's try a blood sample?”

Nicky waited for the inevitable, and was not surprised that the needle bent before her skin so much as dimpled.

“Um.” The techs looked stumped, and Grisham had less spunk to her step and voice. Nicky figured it had been at least half an hour based on their faces.

“Well,” said Grisham, “I don't suppose you've got to pee or anything?”

”I haven't needed to do anything like that in months.”

“Menses?”

Nicky flushed again, glancing at Steve, who remained completely professional, if flustered by the lack of results. ”Uhhh. No. Nothing.”

“Alright, guess we're going to have to go with older methods.” The doctor picked up a scalpel. “Doctor Crawford tells me you're bullet proof, so I'm going to test that. Is that okay?”

”Feel free. A guy stabbed my eyeball this morning, so I think we're good.”

Grisham blanched, but shook her head and resumed. “Okay. I'm going to attempt to make an incision on the end of your finger. Tell me when you feel any damage.”

The woman tried every pattern of cutting she could think of, it looked like. Fast, grindingly slow, point first, light shaving. She moved up to Nicky's arm, then tried to cut a lock of hair. Absolutely nothing, though she had to suppress a laugh when they had to switch out scalpels when the first one went dull.

The doctor sat back, staring at Nicole, obviously thinking hard. Her brow didn't furrow, but Nicky imagined it might've if it could. Finally, she looked up at the techs.

“Okay, so I can believe she's undamageable. It's not any sort of reflexive ability that I can tell, Next we'll try fatigue. Carol, would you mind getting the weights? Steve, the air measure, please.”

Moments later, they had found out Nicky's maximum curling weight at forty pounds, and had her breathing into a little tube to lift a ball while at the same time doing the arm curls. She was supposed to let them know when she started feeling tired. She had no idea how long it had been before they signalled her to stop. At this point, Grisham was staring at her with some cross between admiration, fear, and wonder.

“Well, if were possible with our current technology, I would say you were the best robot facsimile of a human I'd ever seen, but even that would run out of juice eventually. Did you notice how long it had been? Doctor Crawford said you had problems with your sense of time.”

Nicky looked around and found that Steve and Crawford had both disappeared, and that it was getting late if the sunlight outside the windows was any way to judge. ”No, not really. If I try and figure out time, I get a headache.”

“Interesting, that's the first time you've actually acknowledged...well, we'll come back to that. You were straining to lift that weight, but it's been almost four hours of constant exercise and your breath hasn't even quickened.” The woman ran a spindly hand through her hair and stared out the window for a moment before turning back to her subject.

“Honestly? Medically, I am at a complete loss. There's some specialised tests I'd like your okay to do, things like laser spectrometry, an MRI and CAT scan, infrared and ultraviolet analyses. But that's going to have to be later, because I have other subjects I need to work with.”

”Is any of that going to help you figure out what's wrong with me?”

“Wrong?” Grisham's eyelids twitched, the most expression Nicky had seen in them. “You're the most healthy person I have ever met, I think. There's no telling what happened to you from a medical standpoint, if that's what you mean. Unless you think all of this is bad?”

”I can't...” Nicky realised midsentence why Grisham was sounding frustrated suddenly, and flushed deep red. “Sorry. I can't help but think I've been cursed, you know? Like, no sleep, no food, no anything. All I feel is pissed off, bored, or depressed.”

The older woman's face softened slightly at the corners. “Well, considering what Crawford said, that's not surprising, really. I would say you've probably got moderate to severe PTSD, and that can't be easy. But I wouldn't think of this as a curse, or a disease, or anything like that, Nicole. Applied correctly, I can see your accidental gift here being very useful, especially in cases like rescuing people from fires where the normal rescuers can't go.”

She stood up, holding out a hand for Nicky to help getting off the table. “Not really my field, though. You should talk about this with Crawford. He's helped quite a few figure out what to do with themselves after they developed powers. I'll help you figure out the limits, but he's the one to help you with direction, and with dealing with what you've already been through. He's waiting for you in his office, by the way, said he had some news.”

Nicky nodded, and began heading across the room. Behind her, Grisham called out, “I'll see you again tomorrow! Have a good afternoon!” And for once in a long while, she thought the person saying it might actually mean it, and was surprised to learn that she might actually do so.
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Hidden 6 yrs ago 6 yrs ago Post by DearTrickster
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DearTrickster

Member Seen 3 mos ago

banner credit to Hellis





Time: Evening - Present Day
Location: Smithy's Grocery Store, Las Vegas


Tsk, tsk, tsk.

The female Dover Twin, Freya as she had introduced herself in French, was much to The Ambassador’s surprise. Easily the most well mannered reply, but it was quite clear to her that the giantess twins were hatching some half baked plan of defense immediately. The Ambassador was very curious as to what exactly they could do, unnatural as they were in appearance. Try as Freya did to communicate with the other set of twins. It lent well to what she already assumed of the group around the White Witch. Disorganized, chaotic, and clearly there was nothing solid keeping them together. No glue. Every individual had their own goal, their own thoughts, they would surely act on their own as well. It was obvious to her it would take something minimal to break them apart, trip over themselves.

The sorceress still could not puzzle out why the twin werewolves were as angry as they were. Perhaps some bad blood with the Fey? Supernaturals were often uncomfortable around Fey but it was rare when there was outright hate. It was no fault of hers if they made a bad deal.

The wolf-boy’s transformation was fascinating, albeit rather visceral. Flesh, hair, blood slid off the boy’s body accompanied by a symphony of pain. When he emerged a werewolf, fear radiated off him. He was very new to it. It seemed his companions were not fazed. Was it exasperation?

Mandate’s comments earned her a nod of acknowledgement. The golem’s sly comment directed to White Witch did not go unnoticed, it was quite the barb. “Oui, Mandate. I’m rather curious as well, what does it feel like to have no real control over one’s self? The sheer ignorance would simply drive me mad.

She felt no threat was here.

The Ambassador watched their reactions with an unwavering smile. The Fey shifted about watching as well, even boldly stealing some discarded flesh from the boy’s transformation. They flinched when White Witch sent her familiar ahead of her. White Witch’s delightful confusion at her attack being rendered impotent sent a new wave of giggles through the group of Fey.

”What did you give him?” The White Witch snapped at her, venomous. ”How did you manage it, huh? What could possibly . . . it doesn’t matter. If what I think is true, then you can’t hurt me either, none of you can.” The witch gestured to her, Mandate and even Bach as well. It seemed she held some minimal Sight, much like Odette’s ability to see the vague shape of Holt.

”Not if she orders it.” She finished.

So the ignorance became very apparent. It was really far too easy.

You are correct, Puck did facilitate this deal.” She gestured vaguely at the witch, an easy roll of her shoulders. “I’m sure you can ask Puck yourself, White Witch. We both know how well that will go, you will be tugged around by your nose with the answers just out of reach. Fortunately for you, I am not Puck.” She said.

No, I have a far more interesting way to lead you around in circles. She thought.

She peered, flattening her palm as if to block bright light. “That must be Holt’s shadow hanging around you. What a delightful reunion, now we can let bygones be bygones properly.” She said rather smoothly. “To show that I am the bigger person, I do not hold a grudge against you and your predecessor, Holt. I’m sure you had some poor reasons to wedge yourselves into my business back then, but past is past. Joseph Mathers death closed that door.

Bach leaned into whisper in her ear, in French, “She really knows nothing, My Lady.” He said with a slight snicker then moved onto a cautionary tone, “Those two twin wolves seem familiar, I would be cautious of provoking them. They look ready to leap into action at a single word, they would interrupt then ultimately prove this meeting pointless by insinuating a fight.

The Ambassador carried on acknowledging Bach’s notes with a nod, Words of Power calling on the Arcane Stream, she unfurled her right hand energy gathering in her palm, collecting in a soft opaque blue orb. With a soft breath she blew it off her palm toward Benjamin, it faded into his chest providing some relief from the pain of transformation, a charm to calm the mind. “His moans of agony were beginning to grate. Wouldn’t you agree?

I’ll start simply, White Witch. Lift the veil of ignorance.

From her purse she pulled the small ornate trunk that held Gwyneth’s Sight. She lifted the trunk’s lid showing the discs with runes. “This belongs to you or, pardon me. Belongs to Gwyneth Owens as I have come to know her.” Her eyes twinkled with mischief, “I struck a deal with Gwyneth directly, Puck facilitated the contract’s writing and signed in her stead. You and I are bound, White Witch. If you are able to swallow your pride, apparent hatred for me, then perhaps we can work together. If not…

She gestured to Mandate with a wave of her hand, “Lift your foot, my dear.

She delicately placed the trunk directly beneath the golem’s foot. Adjusting it just... so.

Perhaps the most incredible feature Mandate has is her will over her weight and strength. She fought Herne’s Guardian of Stonehenge rendering it to dust.” She gestured again, to lower her foot - lightly brushing the lid.

Let me make it crystal clear.” She resumed her full height, tucking some stray hair behind her ear. She held up three fingers on her left hand, folding her ring finger down. “Gwyneth gifted me senses to feel the pieces of her soul, same as you.” She bent down her middle finger. “There is little to stop me from hunting each piece down to destroy it.” Finally bending her forefinger, “I can open portals to virtually anywhere on Earth or other dimensions.

It is apparent to me that you are in dire need of my assistance. What hope do you have as you are? Incomplete, fumbling around hoping to stumble upon the next piece. With ‘friends’ such as these, your chances have diminished greatly.” She said with a sneer. “Really, what were you thinking?
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Hidden 6 yrs ago Post by Fallenreaper
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Fallenreaper ღ~Lil' Emotional Cocktail~ღ

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Location: Smithy's drug and grocery store, Las Vegas

Time: Evening





As the last of the flesh and hair fell away, Benjamin’s blonde werewolf emerged. Renewed energy tingled underneath the fur and needled at his awareness. His muscles twitched and tensed, the endorphins numbed the last of the pain. A low rumble escaped through his gritted teeth as his eyes bright, blue eyes rose upright. They observed Odette, Mandate, and Bach in an animalistic fashion. Sharpened by fear, hostility wafted off his outline.

He didn’t move.

He stood absolutely still on all fours. Patches of gore dripped off his wet fur, causing several areas become matted. The usually light color was stained slightly pink. The fur puffed out when his vision caught the bluish transparent orb form on Odette’s palm. She blew it into his direction, like a demented kiss, as she criticized his agony. He tensed at the mention of it being inconvenient for their conversation. The werewolf's eyes continued to glare in silence. Instinctively his nostrils flared to catch the scent. A flowery, sweet one immediately assigned itself to his mind. Something crossed with blueberries and bluebells. A sense of nonlethal intention popped into his head. His attention never wavered from the orb's amble toward him, pushed by invisible winds. When it vanished into his broad chest, Ben shuddered.

At first, it burned. His body resisted the effects until the spell faded into a lukewarm sensation. New energy mingled with the old causing the tingling and sensitive to intensify. It spread throughout his very veins before it settled into his core. Ben inhaled deeply, but he didn’t flinch or react to the spell’s influence. Tendons and nerves crackling in his keen ears. He was ready for action as his head narrowed onto the scene. An item, presented to the group earlier, had been placed underneath Mandate’s foot.

Again, his nose flickered and twitched again.

A sweet, musty scent floated to him this time. It was familiar yet… older. His head cocked in confusion for a moment, trying to place it. Something clicked in his memory causing his eyes to widen in fear and anger. His fur bristled abruptly as he narrowed on the memory. Benjamin's muzzle jerked to each individual.

First Mandate, then Odette and finally the unseen individual to her right. His growl deepened in warning ending in a snarling snap. Benjamin didn’t like hidden things or someone threatening his pack. Slowly his right paw stepped forward as he bolted at the trio.

Several things happened at once. Benjamin rushed past the male Dover twin, eluding his attempt to reach out and stop him. Ji and Yeong had already erupted from their human skins into their wolf forms. Instead of the mess, the twin's skin crumbled like dry and aged flakes off their fur. Their paws slammed the tile to rush into his wake. As Benjamin drew closer, his nostrils inhaled and caught a whiff of something magical. Red flashed in his head causing his reflexes to slow.

Yoeng had caught up and his vision spotted her move to stop him.
Hidden 6 yrs ago Post by Indy Cooper
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Indy Cooper Deity-in-training

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Banner credit to Nitemare Shape. Thanks Boss!


Darya found herself floating in the ocean. She wasn't panicked. She felt quit calm. The salty waves buoyed her, jostling slightly this way or that, but never threatening to tip her over from her position on her back. The lines on her skin where the water stopped were oddly electrified, tingling with hyper-sensitive attention. For a while she just floated, allowing herself to be carried wherever the currents decided to go, feeling with her powers the endless depths below and around her. Her perception stretched seemingly forever, and she could “feel” the countless myriad forms of marine life swimming around, pushing the water around them and giving her a sense of pressure that let her know where they were. She knew, as her perception spread, that the awareness of her own body was disappearing, and she felt oddly okay with that. And then her water sense touched upon something massive, deep below her, moving fast towards the surface. Her awareness recoiled back into her body suddenly, and she let out a sharp gasp, taking the first breath she had in more than a few minutes, it felt like.

Rising from the water next to her, so smoothly as to not cause a ripple, was a gigantic serpent, easily the size of a skyscraper. A second followed the first, and then more, until she was surrounded. She though of the hydra from Greek mythology, but that felt wrong. And then it spoke, using all nine mouths at once. The voice was gentle, feminine, but echoed with power.

“At last,” the great beast spoke, and Darya knew it was Tiamat. “Even if it is in dreaming, you finally see me.”

“Is this real?” Darya asked. The goddess laughed.

“No more so than you make it. I am you, and you are me. I am that which you hold back. You released me but for a fraction of a moment in the bank, but now that you have, here in your subconscious dreaming we can speak, which may prove useful, even if you don't remember most of it.”

Darya floated, and thought. She knew this sort of thing happened, the mind creating shapes and figures to more easily relate thoughts and images, though she never imagined it would be so vivid and realistic. The form and setting all made sense now, though.

“So, if we're speaking, that means you, or my power I suppose, 'wants' something.”

“Indeed! I enjoy being used! Much like a muscle, it feels good to be used, to exercise. But now that you've had a taste, you must realise that your current setting is very limiting. The planet is covered by seventy percent of what you can control, and you sit in a dry and landlocked area. If you are to learn to use me effectively, you must move away from the family that is scared of consequences, the friends you worry could discover you. You must fight against evil, since that is the direction you wished me to form in. You must find more water.”

“It is weird, hearing you speak.”

The great creature's many heads laughed in unison, and the dream faded from Darya's mind, though the laughter remained. She gained true consciousness to find herself in a hospital bed, her arm bandaged and in a sling. The pleasantly warm feel of a cotton hospital gown and the comforting weight of the blanket made her realise that she had been de-masked, and she sat up straight, only to find herself extremely dizzy, and also that her face was covered by her rousari, wrapped so that her face was concealed. The laughter stopped, nad several people leaned over her. She recognised her uncle Yousef, and one of the police officers that she had seen at the bank, a Latino man with broad features. The third face she didn't recognise at all for a moment before her mind swapped out some missing parts and realised that Rocky was there.

“Ahhhh,” said Yousef. “You must not move to quickly, Tiamat. You have lost a lot of blood, although they tell me that the bullet went through cleanly and you will be fine in a few weeks.”

“Urgh” was all the reply she could muster.

“Ha!” said Rocky. She still couldn't tell why he looked so odd. “I remember my first good solid wound. It's a doozy, going from untouchable badass with super powers to realizin' you're still human.”

It seemed that Rocky and the officer were again consumed in some swapping of war stories. Yousef took this opportunity to lean down and whisper to his niece, “No one except I knows your identity here, though if this Rock Man is honest, he does for different reasons. The officer has stayed with you the entire time to make sure your identity stayed secret, and has been anxiously awaiting your awakening. He has only left when I came to remove your mask and put your rousari on.”

“Thank you, Yousef,” she replied, sitting up again, although this time slowly. “How are you explaining why you are here, then?”

“Easily enough. I am your manager, obviously. A sort of talent agent.”

Darya laughed, but cut it short and winced as her arm throbbed painfully. A nurse chose that time to come in and noticed she was awake. “Just one second, hon, I'll get the doctor!”

Rocky shrugged. “well, kid, now that you're up and about...Well, as well as you can be, I gotta head out. Broadway needs me back at base to deal with somethin'.”

Darya was about to ask if he was okay, but only managed to wave with her good arm before he stepped out of the door, narrowly avoiding crushing the doctor as she came in.

“Hi, I'm Doctor Ramirez, I am your attending surgeon.” She glanced over a clipboard while walking over to the side of the bed no currently occupied by Yousef. “Looks like we'll be able to get you out of here in just a few more hours, actually. Bullet barely did any damage, a clean through-shot just inside the silhouette. Stitching looks fine according to the last nurse visit, and you're very healthy, so everything should be fine within a week, and tip-top in another two, probably.”

The doctor looked over her glasses sternly. “That does not, however, mean go gallivanting around heroing everywhere, okay? Take it easy. You lost a good bit of blood, and tearing open the stitching could make it much worse than it has to be. While as a physician I can't say preventing the harm of others is bad, don't get yourself killed doing so, okay?”

Darya nodded sheepishly under her rousari, glad that it hid her blushing.

“Alright. I'll go get you discharge papers.” Her eyes shifted over to Yousef. “Are you driving her home?”

With Yousef's nod, Doctor Ramirez left without another word. The policeman stepped up to where she had been standing and smiled at Darya.

“Well,” he said, “I've got my own professional opinion about what a good job you did in the bank, but the official line is...” He checked a notepad he pulled halfway out of his breast pocket. “Let's see. 'While APD commends the valor and tenacity of the hero, we strongly encourage any other heroes to wait for the profesionals to arrive and do their jobs before attempting potentially dangerous vigilante actions. Today we were lucky that the incident ended before anyone was seriously injured. Next time we might not be.'” He rolled his eyes. “What a load of shit. They're just pissed you made us look bad.”

He handed her a business card that named him Sergeant Roberto Garcia. “I'm personally okay with not standing around as long as a hostage situation takes, and you managed to do it with only one shot fired on either side. Also less paperwork when you guys do it. Call me if you ever need a hand, okay? Everyone at the station thinks you're pretty much the greatest right now.”




Several hours later, Darya was home, arm still slung. They had taken a winding course back, and Yousef had actually dropped her off to be picked up by one of the aunts a few moments later. Apparently the entire family was very paranoid right now, both for exposure of Darya's civilian identity and in case the bank robbers had friends. At this point, she couldn't even muster the will to protest. She was still woozy from the injury and the painkillers they had given her, but she was also wide awake, lying in her bed.

The fear of discovery, the working with the FBI (who had been strangely absent in this case, considering she was fairly certain bank robberies were in their jurisdiction), and hero work in general, had all wound her a little tight, and she recalled some of her conversation in her dream. Her dream-self was right, really. If she was to be a hero, and if her family was to remain safe, she would have to leave Albuquerque, and working on the strike force to eliminate the terrorist group in some other location would be a perfect opportunity.

These thoughts continued to roll around, along with half-baked plans and dreams about what the ocean might be like, until at last sleep came and took her back into the dreamscapes, this time far more relaxed and silly, and she was soundly out until morning.
Hidden 6 yrs ago Post by Luna
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Luna Markiplier Fan

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Location-Location: Smithy's drug and grocery store, Las Vegas (lobby)
Time: About 9-10 pm in the Evening

Arriving at the grocery store, Ji clung to the cup of coffee she had in her hands. It wasn't the best, but with little sleep last night, she needed it. Last night was a huge struggle with the car breaking down, luckily they had help from a couple of people that were on their way to the same location to help them out. As she got closer to the store, her form tensed.

Her sensitive nose was picking up not only the witch she had met at the Museum, but the one person that was the number one cause of why her and her sister were packless. Odette and some fae. Ji about crushed her cup but she composed herself as best she could and she continued to walk. She was here for Ben. She kicked her sister slightly hearing her angry words as she continued to walk, avoiding the other people who were going around, doing their shopping. Soon she was standing next to Freya and her sister, looking anywhere but the one she hated most.

She wanted to snort as she heard them talk, but tensed when she felt something very wrong. She paled as she saw the humans slowly stopped moving and fell to the ground. Ji stiffened when she heard Ben’s warning growl and she took a second to glance at him. Seeing that he was gripping the cart’s handle bar until his knuckles turned white, she knew she had to do something before he transformed again. I he continued to transform like this, he had no chance of getting through it.

Slowly making her way to him, she was too late to react when, to her worse nightmare, as he transformed once again. Cursing under her breath, which could be heard by anyone with sensitive hearing could hear. She gave her sister a look that meant to watch her back as she transformed into her form with easy. Before Ben could do anything, she barked at him.

”You must control yourself Ben. You cannot let the wolf control you”
Hidden 6 yrs ago Post by Dedonus
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Dedonus Kai su teknon;

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This is an elsewhere story and does not affect canon...yet

“90’s” Aubrey Adkins
A suburb of Columbus, OH, Earth-99
late April 2010

Butterflies fluttered in my chest as the hottest songs of the past four years blared through the building. I draped my arms around my prom date’s shoulders while he had his hands resting on my waist. If you would have told me four years ago who my prom date would be, I probably have rolled my eyes at you. During our sophomore year, Will asked me to the homecoming dance and I could have easily brushed him off by making an excuse that I was not going to the dance. However, even though we traveled in different circles, I rolled the dice and it resulted in a 3-year long relationship that was still going strong. Sure, everyone has their ups and downs, but no one said relationships were a cakewalk.

For the senior class, this was one final hurrah before we would forever part ways for new adventures, whether at the university level or in the workforce. For the juniors, it was the milestone that marked the time when it was their turn to start counting the days down until they too could graduate. However, before this could happen, the Juniors had to organize this dance. This year, they picked a superhero theme, not only because of the handful of movies from the genre released during our time in high school, but also because of the real ‘caped crusaders’ of our world, the likes of Icon and Iron Knight. Since this is a formal dance, no one could dress for the theme except for guys wearing undershirts with superhero logos on them, but the juniors tried to pull it off in any way possible.

The stars sparkled in the night sky, or at least as many as there could be with the lights of Columbus shining in the distance, while the hundreds of juniors and seniors (and the few sophomores and even freshmen who somehow got invited) enjoyed the temperate night of dancing and music. As it was long past midnight, some of the attendees had already decided to take off and enjoy their post-prom parties.

However, as the remaining lingerers continued the party, over the horizon, what looked like green aurora borealis were sweeping across the sky. We watched in awe as the lights billowed past us above our heads. The lights gave off an eerie atmosphere while they were still within our view. However, since nothing immediately happened as these nighttime lights appeared, we, as the teenagers that we were, placed it out of our mind, especially since the next song began to play.

I’ve had a little too much
All the people start to rush

“One more song before we go?” I asked Will. Although he nodded in agreement, I had already grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him to the dance floor long before he could give answer.
How does he twist and dance?
Can't find my drink or man.
Where are my keys?
I lost my phone.

We weaved through the mass of stragglers who had not yet called it a night until we finally found some space for us. As the lyrics blared through the air and as I moved with the beat of the music, I felt my vision become blurred. At first, I just thought that I was just drowsy from the fatigue of the past day’s festivities. I would have continued on like this. However, Will intervened.

“Are you alright?” He asked me, concerned from seeing me stumble since I was having a difficult time with my vision.

“Maybe we should go.” I admitted to my date. At that moment, we heard a sudden commotion erupt from our surrounding.

What’s goin' on the floor?
I love this record baby but I can't see straight anymore.
Keep it cool. What's the name of this club?
I can't remember but it’s alright, I'm alright.

All around us, a portion of the prom crowd began to exhibit metahuman powers. Some were lucky enough that to have developed only innate abilities while leaving their physical appearance more or less unchanged. Others, however, were not so lucky. While no one had the misfortune of being transformed into literal abominations, some now had appearances less human than others.

I then felt an intense pain in my legs. Even before I turned my eyes down towards my legs, fear already struck my heart, filling my head with what was about to happen to me. Before my eyes, what I used to be able to call my legs began to grow thin until they resembled the forelimbs of a spider. My heels slipped off the claws where my toes had a few seconds ago had been located. But this was not the end, as six more legs, near identical to the two that protruded in front of me, grew from underneath my prom dress, tearing the bottom of the fabric as they stretched out on both sides of me.

Tears began to pour down my cheeks once I had realized that my entire lower body had been replaced in a single instance by a giant spider, minus its face. How could something like this happen? This sort of tragedy only happened in fiction, right? Yet now I probably am almost more arachnid than human, even though the rest of seems to have been unchanged. What have I done to deserve this? Sure, I was a cheerleader since middle school and I was crowned Homecoming queen this year, but I was by no means like any of the antagonists from Mean Girls. Why was this happening to me?

However, while I was attending my own pity party, I felt a warm embrace wrapped around my body, or at least what remained of my human half. Once I wiped the tears from my eyes, I saw Will there, trying to comfort me. Part of me was infuriated that he somehow was unaffected by what had caused my transformation, even though there were many others who seemed to have remained normal. However, at the same time, I also was relieved that he had not ditched me once he had seen his girlfriend become a human spider. I don’t know what I was going to do now. None of us did.

Just dance! It’s
Gonna be okay
Just dance!
Spin that record babe.
Just dance! It’s
Gonna be okay
D-d-d dance, dance, dance, just
J-J-Just dance!



Lady Gaga: Just Dance 2008
Hidden 6 yrs ago Post by Demonic Angel
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Demonic Angel I'm 1% Angel and 99% Devil. Woohoo!

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Location: Las Vegas, Smitty's
Time: Present Day, Evening

When the boy’s turned figure appear from the gorey process the woman smirked. She had to give the pup credit for dealing with the pain like a pro. At least that was what she thought until a what looked to be a pure blue ball was tossed towards the teenager. Even though they weren’t fae Yeong had a feeling she knew exactly what the spell was. This Ambassador was playing the gain their trust card with them. Meaning the spell would be something to help ease the pain during transformation...or more of the after effect. When Ben reacted towards the object she raised her eyebrow in confusion. Than again it could have been her imagination. Seemed to have been some sort of healing spell. Awesome.

The growl and snare was rather unusual. At least in the young woman’s mind. In reality the pull towards a pack was beginning to be an annoyance. Yes, a new pack would be great and increase their chances of survival but in another way the girl didn’t want to relive that lingering pain. Normally it would feel like a scab, one that was attempting to become a scar, due to being opened so many times at once. The pain always lingered as if a creature with it’s own mind. Every time the urge peered its head upwards from the everlasting darkness. Perhaps this was the restart upon their lives? A blank slate to make a brand new start.

The instant the Ji gave her look of watch my back the girl nodded. Her eyes scanned each enemy's motions as the sound of fabric tore clean off her twin’s body. The scent of skin shedding away with perfect ease mixed with the scent of fresh blood. Thank god the girl was able to hand these scents fairly well or else this could have been rather ugly. Once again the girl’s eyes scanned the area, as if trying to figure out what in the world Ben was after. Was it because they had something underneath that thing’s foot? Was Reeves actually forming a pack with these people? Whatever. Hopefully Ji can help stop him. If not i’ll have to do something rather stupid. She waited patiently as the unsettling feeling sunk into her stomach. He had passed by the male twin in one go making her more uncomfortable.

When Ji called towards Benjamin attempt to help get the teenger’s attention didn’t work Yeong knew it was time to react. As soon as her sibling was done changing the younger sister changed. As soon as this quick process was don off she want, catching up with the kid fairly quickly. The young woman woman rushed to his side, attempting to grasp the child’s neck like they’re pack used to, though when his neck began turning. Instantly she released the pup from sheer surprise and jumping to her right on instinct. His snaring and snapping was uncalled for though in a way the girl understood why he did it.

The wolf ran forwards to about halfway into the small store, waiting for the right moment to use a wall of wind which would be formed into a cup like burst, this would help stop the wolf in his tracks granted what happened in reality was far from what she wanted. You could tell the golden wolf was trying to stop from hitting her but the impact was inevitable. Just as the boy hit the older wolf two things happened almost simultaneously. First thing was the pup slamming into the girl making her smaller form ski towards Odette and Mandate. Second was the when the spell was casted Ben was trying to dodge it. As if he could sense what it’s actual shape was. This left one final option. Get the object before the young man which would was honestly the last thing she wanted to do. At least she might be able to chomp into the murder’s leg. Yeong twisted her body frame quickly running forwards, as if lunging at Odette though last second the wolf twisted her form towards Mandate’s foot, only to be swiftly grasped and held in between the creature’s arms and chest area. A few growls would show how much the woman enjoyed its company.
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Hidden 6 yrs ago 6 yrs ago Post by Fallenreaper
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Fallenreaper ღ~Lil' Emotional Cocktail~ღ

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Blood Stain Memories


Location: Lost Haven, Maine (Outskirts of city)

Time: Day 1 of Arrival, After sunset (2-3 days after the Soul Stone Creation)





A great horned owl fluttered silently across the night sky. Its wings outstretched and caught whatever warm draft available, lazily set adrift. With surprising grace, the creature swooped onto the nearest perch. A rooftop of a dock building. Wings folded and claws stretched out to cling to the stone edge. An impressive bird of prey, it rested its weight comfortably into place. The round, black eyes dilated with its rotating head to survey its surroundings. Satisfied, feathers ruffled lightly in the eerily silent night.

Crack. Snap… pop.

Harsh sounds of bone shifted unnatural fashion. The owl shuddered while pain flared along its outline, its head cocked at an odd angle. Its wing began to shrink and tips separated into individual fingers. Feathers molted off to reveal pale skin underneath while its legs lengthened. As the crackling wrapped up, a man sat where an owl once stood.

Completely naked. Not bothered by his exposure, Michael tested his movement with a few stretches and idle twists. When everything checked out, he moved upright. His eyes glanced down to notice his au naturel state. A simple inhale caused his flesh to materialize clothing. A basic tee shirt and jeans did wonders for the casual walk. His hand reached for his back pocket and pulled a crumbling picture from it. Admiring eyes lingered on the image of Rach’s most recent image, drawing a dark smirk.

The similarities were remarkable with hints of her darling mother to break them. His right index finger casually brushed the side of her cheek down to her chin, almost lovingly. Michael relished the upcoming fun as he replaced the picture into his pocket. It was time to get to work. The first priority was to gain his beloved daughter’s attention. A simple task, he was certain of that.

All he had to do was leave a bread to crumble trail to follow. One that led up to an unavoidable meeting, but he would likely need to restrain her. Especially since she would be hard pressed to control those natural urges.

Chuckling silently to himself, he began to make his way down to the ground floor.

***|Few Hours later- Evening|***


Shawn Harper, a lucrative business man, strolled into the underground parking lot. His hand waved to go bye to the last living soul he would see for some time. George, the security guard, settled back into his booth with a newspaper. Shawn rolled his eyes. There was nothing in it, but recent vigilante shenanigans and destruction trash. Gossip and speculation over who wore a mask.

Those hero wannabes had created quite a stir, he thought bitterly.

Farther into the darkness and isolation, his fingers tightened about his suitcase. His eyes suspiciously inspected each shadow. Each one he scrutinized it for any unsavory surprises or secrets it might hide, the worst expected from it. Paranoia filled his attention causing his eyes to dart from one recess to another.

Nothing.

Pillars stood over him like dead man made corpses, supporting the smooth roof. Their presence drew on his instinctive fear and goaded him faster toward the car. His feet picked up their pace the moment he found his car among the others. He raised a hand, with key extended, then pressed into the lock.

It clicked open. His hand switched over, keys in a palm, to pull the door. It glided open as the sense of being watched crawled along his skin. Goosebumps appeared and pricked, jolted by fear. Cautiously, his vision looked over his shoulder for signs of life. Security his paranoia wasn’t tugging at his mind’s senses. Nothing. The sight didn’t nullify the heighten panic collecting in his soul. Hastily, his hand widened the door and ducked into the driver’s seat.

As he ducked into the car, a human shape-shifted from the nearby shadows and gave a wide grin. The hand raised upright. Fingers extended and shaped into five, six-inch blades. Micheal stepped forward.
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Hidden 6 yrs ago Post by Alternax
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Alternax

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[Part 3]
Herald the Strangers


Location: Lost Haven University, Lost Haven
Time: Present Day - Morning


The graceful arc of a smoke grenade soared through the air, popping and snapping with light.

Grenade!

In brilliant light the alchemically charged smoke grenade set off the most impressive show of fireworks Charlie had made to date. The Hounds shouted diving out of the way, sparklers spattered and within a few feet all hues came forth. Reds, blues, yellows, greens shot out in every direction. Screamers whistled in a fountain of sparks. An absolutely brilliant light show had it only been at night.

A bright light shot across David’s vision, like someone shining a disco ball by his face.

”What the hell, firecrackers?” David mumbled out as he threw up his arms to help block out the excess light. Glancing over he saw someone else, presumably the one who just tossed that ‘grenade’.

What the hell is someone like her doing out here, is she crazy? But it seemed like she was shouting at me, maybe there’s something more to these towers than I thought.

Charlie pointed to the distracted Hounds then shouted at Pantheon, “Go!

”Did you presume I was just going to stand here?”

He jolted into battle! One could hear the impact of his punches grating and cracking against the armor of the Hounds’ gear. He made quick work of one by pulling his arm out of its joint and snapping his fibula in two. He stripped his rifle from his good arm and gave it an inquisitive glare. With the first Hound felled, he made use of the present smoke from the Alchemyst’s lightshow and turned the assault rifle on the other Hounds. He figured he would try his luck with one of these guns these humans were so adamant on using.

He had seen the way they operated these weapons beforehand, and so when he pressed the trigger and shot one of the Hounds in his body armor but saw no blood, he turned the muzzle toward his own face.

”Is there something wrong with this one?” His finger slipped, and he ejected a round at his own head. The dense impact at close range gave him a minor headache.

”I suppose this one is working after all.” He turned the rifle back on the rest of the Hounds and just let loose with reckless abandon. Some shots were on target, bullets lodged in the helmets and legs and necks of the other seven hounds present. A few were dangerously close to hitting the Alchemyst as well.

He had not known the rifle was out of bullets until it ceased to fire. He kept pressing the trigger and nothing happened! He snapped the machinery in half with both hands and discarded the remnants.

”I do not understand your mortal infatuation with these unreliable machines.”

David had turned around to face the Hounds along with the other meta, he swung and swiped a them, throwing them down and around him. Although David was fighting on his own end, he was able to spare a glance at the other meta and his brand of brutality. Personally, he felt as if he shouldn’t stop this other man from ripping apart the Hounds, even as gruesome as it was. These men were cowards, attacking a place of learning, gunning down defenseless people, it was sickening. David didn’t plan on killing, and he certainly wasn’t going to save them, but he still felt as if he had to say something.

”You really think they’re worth that much trouble?” David said as he swung at another group. As the battle went on David took instant notice of the other man picking up a gun, and, play with it?

”What the hell are you doing? David asked, unable to keep the confusion out of his voice, especially after he just saw the man shoot himself. At least he knew this man was bulletproof for sure now.

Charlie shook her head at Pantheon’s terrible gun safety, when the new meta crashed into help Pantheon she made a run for the tower. Shouting above the fight, “He’s a bit of an idiot, don’t mind him!

She cleared some of the dust away from the monitor screen for the tower, it was emitting some weird readings, figures she had no context for. The majority of the rig was made of steel, wires crisscrossing the ways up it. A satellite dish was nestled at the top, welded to the frame. While control boards sat at it’s base for use of its operators, Charlie pulled a flat headed screwdriver free from her backpack wedging it under the control panel’s seal.

Give me a few, and I’ll dismantle it. Cover my back, I ain’t bulletproof!” Charlie shouted at Terra Firma.

Sure thing, but, you’re not just some girl in a costume are you? And on that note, call me Terra Firma, you two? David asked as he quickly floated to her side, raising a rounded rock wall around her, it’d help protect her from the occasional bullet, but anything else and he’d have to handle it.

She jostled the panel open, staring down at its inner workings, “You can call me Alchemyst, gun-dope flying brick over there is Pantheon. I just met him. These towers disrupt metas with sound. These ones aren’t as strong as the big one they’re using in the center of the campus.” Charlie said quickly storing the screwdriver in her back pocket then pulling free the wire cutters. “I’m not some costumed hero, christ who would pick a bloodied university sweater for their disguise?

She cut through two wires, pulling free a circuit board revealing more beneath it hard drives, compressor fans and power routers.

Fair enough, it’s an ugly sweater anyways.” David said as he whisked around to quickly toss back a grenade someone tried to sneak in. He continued to strike at Hound after Hound, making sure not to stray too far from Alchemyst. The Hounds began to push harder at the tower, so David responded with something he’d been itching to try. He extended his weapons by turning them into ‘arms’ that whipped around him, grabbing those at the other end and swung them around the field, hitting other Hounds along the way.

Pantheon let out a yawn as droves of Hounds continued to press their assault with all futility. He had resorted to swatting them aside with backhands. He grabbed one by his helmet with a hand before he turned to Terra Firma and issued a reply.

”Trouble? This is no trouble. They wish to treat other humans like trinkets, they will be given the same treatment. It is only fair.

The streets had become littered with vehicles of varying size. He streamed toward one of the LHPD’s armored cars and clasped its front grill. He lifted it up with some minor effort, twisted, and pushed it to the rear of another of the Hounds armored vehicles to create some extra protection against the hail of gunfire. The more Hounds Firma and Pantheon took down, there were four to replace them. There had to be more encompassing means of dealing with the growing number of Hounds present.

And there was his idea. He zoomed toward one of the LHPD vehicles and with both hands he lifted it above his head. Then he elevated skyward well above the streets where the Hounds had began to set up a flank on either sides of Alchemyst and Firma. He whirred in a circle to gain some momentum before hurling the entire cop car down on the crowd of Hounds and their reinforcements who began to arrive on the scene.

The alchemist flinched away from the console a bullet ricocheting off the tower. The hail of gunfire all around them. Sweat plastering her hair around her face while she worked, gaining what she needed to know quickly from examining it’s set up. They depended on emitting a unique frequency generated by a prerecorded sound, the towers were remotely controlled but linked to the one in the center. What they were fighting to defend now was simply a projector and not the originating sound. Once she realized there was nothing to dig out, she poured her bottle of whisky over it bending down beneath it to write with a sharpie the next formulas. The wires jumped to life the plastic casing around them melding to the electronics around it. The gold in the circuit boards seemingly crawling away, the copper in the wires formed into smoothed spheres in her hand. Only enough material for beads but she stowed them away, then with her flint and steel lit the console on fire. She touched the tower, in real time rust overtook the steel spider webbing up to the satellite dish aging before their very eyes. Ruining it with no chance of scavenging remains.

As she stepped away back against the wall, holding her staff close to her, she peeked around one spying a Hound with his back to her focusing his fire on Pantheon. Anger, fear, and adrenaline gave her a shot of unadulterated energy. “Hey! Shithead!” He turned at her shout retraining his sights on her, redirecting the weight of tin, copper and gold in her staff to the end, forming a long smoothed hook of various metal taking the rough shape of a crowbar. She hooked his vest tugging him off balance then into the ground.

Murderers!” She stomped her heel against his elbow, he screeched as his bones broke. “Motherfuckers!” She brought the hook down over the visor of the helmet, shattering it. With a final satisfying kick into his gut. She unloaded his gun removing the clip storing it in her back pocket. She snapped the gun over her knee using alchemy to collapse steel, iron and titanium into a ball, the way she worked with it made it seem as if it were playdoh. She left a small port hole at the top of it. No bigger than a baseball. He began to move groaning where he lay.

She poured gasoline and bits of styrofoam into the small hole. With a few seconds she lit it on fire then tossed it into a line of Hounds the crude napalm splashing at their feet. Their shrieks of pain and terror.

Watching Alchemyst vent on that man made David worry, not for him, but for her. He’d probably have some nightmares himself, seeing so many men and women lying dead all over campus, and from Pantheon’s demonstration of force. But he was bullet proof, at least like this, and she wasn’t.

Are you going to be alright, Alchemyst?” David asked, he was worried, but seeing her like this caused him to think of his own daughter. Adding the fact that this Alchemyst had some kind of power, meant that her life would be going through so much more than anybody else's.

She dragged the Hound behind the wall, propping him up glaring at the broken jaw and plastic shards of the visor embedded in his face. His head lolled to the side, she moved her mask to spit. This wasn’t the time nor place, they were surrounded and she began yelling at his unconscious heap. Emotions spiraling out of control, “Bastards! You think we’re just animals to be put to slaughter! Innocent people! High school kids!” She brought her fist down over his face jolting him back awake. He sputtered she flinched away, shaking her hand out his blood speckled across her knuckles.

He coughed, choking on air and resounding pain she had dealt him. Charlie’s fists clenched and with a roar she brought her staff up under his chin launching the helmet clear. He was out again. She backed away, stumbling a little. He was only a man.

She finally mumbled a reply to Terra Firma, hoarse, “Probably not.

There isn’t much justice in this world, so maybe that’s why people like us exist, to balance the scales. We’ll make them pay for every drop, a different way, you don’t have to do this again, ever.” David said, he brought his hand softly down onto the Alchemyst’s shoulders to reassure her that she was fine.

Did you learn something about those towers, with your powers?” David asked, in an attempt to help Alchemyst down, to focus her mind.

She let Terra Firma’s words sink in, she squeezed her eyes shut trying to rein herself in. The weight of his hands, helping to anchor her thoughts in the present. “Thanks for saying that.” She dug under her eye focusing on what was happening right in front of her was easier, “The tower, is just a projector. It’s emitting a weird sound but doesn’t house the actual piece where the frequency is being emitted. It’s essentially a fancy speaker. Remote controlled.

She stepped out of his hands and patted him appreciatively. While Charlie had stepped back down into reality again Pantheon’s violence was sobering.

To rip a man apart only satiated Pantheon’s frenzy periodically. Eventually, he stopped fighting altogether. None of these men were true threats to him in their present state, and he knew well that in war, even the mightiest beast could become the dog if the collar was tightened enough. He knew not of true mercy, only sparing those he deemed worthy. None of these men were worthy necessarily, but there was no true use in toying with them any longer.

”I am not one who breaks promises, and these men are beginning to annoy me. I suggest we get on with destroying these devices.” He stood, arms folded, and continued to be pelted with bullets. Though short, he had spent enough time around the Alchemyst to gather that she had far more attachment to these men than he did. Even this ‘Terra Firma’ character maintained a certain level of compassion foreign to Pantheon. Pantheon knew of these essential human traits: love, humility, compassion, mercy. He felt none of them.

He twisted around while slightly elevated off the ground.

Are you saying that we have done all of this for naught? This was all in vain?” If there was one thing he did understand and loathe in equal parts, it was absurdity. In his view, people lived and died all the time--the cycle was endless and warranted. But at least people lived and died for a purpose, their own purpose and not at the whim of another. His entire mood switched, the indifference turned cold.

Tell me, Alchemyst,” his eyes fell upon the Hounds, some of whom had realized the futility of their efforts toward defeating the trio, “was this all some fanciful ruse these men have constructed?

He fell ominously silent in waiting for her answer.

She took a few seconds to think, Pantheon’s icy comments crept over Charlie. He was restraining himself. Like the scientist she was the conclusion came easy, give this man a focal point, ground him. “Experimenting. They’re testing their weapons out on normal people and metas alike. They’re going to push this as long as they can, gather their data and then fuck off. They’re throwing resources at this because whatever they’re testing needs real figures.” Charlie spoke evenly gesturing at Pantheon to emphasize her point, “We need to shut it down, destroy these prototypes and whatever data they’ve collected. Force them to start from scratch. Something to slow them down, give the authorities someone to arrest.

Injecting some humour, eliciting a silly accent to parrot his words, “All is knot for naught.

My patience thins. Where do we need to go?

She licked her lips, walking on eggshells. They were allies, for now. “Then dig deep and find some patience, grasshopper. I’m assuming they have a couple more towers set up on the east and south ends of the campus. Maybe the north too, if I wanted to get some decent coverage I’d cover the compass points yeah? Get me to those towers and I’ll do the same to what I did to this one.” She kicked its support legs, toppling it over crumpling with a screech of steel wrenching.

Sound like a plan?

Well, do you suggest we take the stairs?” Hassan was always there in the background, no matter how minimal.

He went to swoop her up again, and sought to bring Firma along as well, though Firma was several inches taller than himself. He deigned to respect his more economical judgement and take Charlie only.

She was prepared this time, offering her crooked elbow. Relieved she was able to convince him to go along with a plan. “Don’t drop me again, dick.

Won’t you carry me too?” David jokingly said, letting out a small chuckle at the end as he lifted off as well.
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Hidden 6 yrs ago Post by Indy Cooper
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Indy Cooper Deity-in-training

Member Seen 1 yr ago


and


in
The Magic Terror Bus


Night had fallen on the bare precipice that was the foundation of the siren’s nest. Salamander had, correctly assuming their guest might need a bit more shelter, produced a small lean-to for Eva and shown her how to rig it against the ruined stone walls. Since the lessons were not supposed to start until tomorrow morning anyway, he had left the unlikely pair to their own devices afterwards, and wandered off into the woods in pursuit of his own inscrutable business. Berenice had, upon insistence, gone to bathe herself for the third time today, then settled down in her nest in the corner, pulling on the dangling lines of her bits and baubles and making them jingle until she fell asleep, wings tucked over her shoulders. If it weren’t for her human head, poking out from them, she would look more like a hawk than a person.

The night was clear, and the rumble of waves was soothing to Sunheart, nestled deep in Berenice’s plumage, and the gentle breeze brought with it the salty scent of the ocean. She too, was asleep, comfortable in the heat the bird-woman’s body put out, and full of the fish they had caught earlier. As for the rest of her tribe, they peeked out occasionally at Eva’s shelter, and made sure that they exited and traversed the area out of view of the intruder. The wisewoman had said that change was coming, so they were packing emergency supplies and gathering foodstuffs in the event of disaster. But after midnight, even their frantic preparations had died down, and all seemed peaceful.

Even with the lean-to the bed Eva had was far from luxurious even a soft mat would be nice camping was quite unfamiliar to her even as rebellious as she was she never ran away unless she had a place to run too like her Grandfather’s. Essentially by herself with only Excalibur at her side since Merlin’s idea of mentorship is spartan training expecting help or even pity from her was laughable. Squeezing into her hoodie to maintain some body heat not knowing heat will be coming soon enough; stepping gently through the forest the men known only as Bloodhounds knew there was something unnatural in the forests, weeks back a hiker had stumbled upon something that truly terrified him to the bone. A genuine monster as he regaled it talking up his bravery as the beast swooped and attacked him with naught but a stick to defend himself stories like that and more greatly interested the Hounds leading them to form a band of experienced hunters longing after the most dangerous game.

Checking the map the man with the lumberjack beard pointed ahead. “Should be a good open spot ahead, right smack in the middle of all this. Ocean to our backs will prevent anything from sneaking up on us too. What say you boys.”

“Looks good, I’ll get some guys and set up the tents get our command station going.”

As another nodded and sat down his hard black case sitting on it as the other three moved forward into the open promontory

Berenice stirred. The rhythm of booted feet had caught her attention, as well as the intruders presence tugging at her subconscious mind’s magical defenses. Her head snapped up and her wings spread. As quietly as she could, she stepped lightly out of her nest and made her painstaking way to the edge of the wall shielding her from view. Sunheart awoke as soon as she began moving, and noting the caution, stayed quiet. The siren tapped twice on the wall to signal the little people, but winced as the sound carried more than she expected on the cool night air.

The little ‘tap tap’ echoed across the clearing. The three men stopped, rifle muzzles raising to point at the ruins. “The hell was that?”

Berenice’s eyes went wide. Swiftly, she thought through her little catalogue of sounds, and mimicked the sound of a rock warbler. A day bird, but these were big humans, and didn’t usually know the difference. A couple more random taps with the claw at the end of her finger and another call.

“Ah, it’s just some dumbshit bird.” The men relaxed, and continued up the glade.

Eva had barely gotten to sleep against the uncomfortable ground but kept hearing some tapping as she assumed it was Bernice trying to wake her; grabbing her sword she casually stepped out of her makeshift tent only to spot men moving into the clearing, stopping they both stared each other down and at first it seemed they might be friendly. Uhh, evening? Bit late out for a hunt yeah?”

“Suppose, never a bad time for bagging big game.”

Affixing her hood squarely over her bangs she inched out.”Anything I should be concerned about, bears or anything? Just uh, wanted a place to get away from things not be mauled in my sleep.”

“Only the biggest, staying out here would be dangerous indeed.”

One of the other men, having moved closer, to perhaps fifty feet away, motioned behind him and said, “You ladies don’t happen to have seen anything unusual out here tonight, have you?”

Berenice utterly forgot that her gift from Carrie, the tiara for making her look human, was currently looped into the belt of her bits of clothing, and not on. Boldly, she stepped out into full view, muttering slightly before saying, ”Nooo, nothing unusual. Just the ruins!”

The men immediately shouted to each other, two going for the cover of the gangling shrubs and one chambering a high velocity round into his Winchester rifle. Berenice balked for just a second, then, realising her mistake, did the only thing she could think of. She opened her mouth wide, and as the man’s rifle went up to crack a shot off at Eva, she began screaming. Eva, to the side of her, was outside of the blast radius, though the noise was still incredible. The hapless assailant, however, was flung backwards by the wind, and his screams were lost in the force of magic pouring out of the siren’s mouth. His rifle fired once as he tumbled backwards.

Plugging her ears she could still feel the intense force and ringing as she drew Excalibur.”Bloody hell in a handbasket, thought they were friendly. Who the hell are these guys shooting like mad men.”

“We’re the Hounds of Humanity! And your demise monsters!”

”Right, these nutters. Why can’t you all just bugger off?” With a clear disadvantage Eva knew that the only way to win was to bridge the gap, if she had thought ahead and brought Dickens, or even that crossbow she got from Guinevere she might have a better chance at dealing with these kooks, but she wasn’t exactly practiced with it. ”How good are you at directing that sound blast? Thinking I go in under it, you do that?” Eva said asking Bernice.

Berenice, for her part, had ducked down and was arguing with her waist. Probably not a sane thing to do in normal circumstances, but in combat it was even odder. Without a word, she pointed Eva’s attention at the dirt in front of her, which was torn apart in a widening arc for more than two hundred feet. While Eva glanced at that, she took several awkward steps and one great beat of her fully spread wings and launched over the girl and up into the night sky, banking around and over the treetops before circling back and aiming a dive, with reaching talons and another scream, at the man who had ducked left.

In the meantime, as she had passed over, Sunheart had taken a brave leap from her companion, and with some effort, landed on Eva’s shoulder, then immediately swiped at the girl’s ear to get her attention.

With a weird automatic reaction Eva reeled back and yelled.”Anything but the eyes!” Eva said as he mind flashed back to the painful memories of tiny playing cards with toothpick sized swords stabbing over and over into her flesh.

Desperate to stay on her new charge, Sunheart reached out and threw her tiny arm around the length of chain hanging from the girl’s ear lobe, yelling as she did, ”Calm down stupid! Eyes forward and get out and away! I could not stay on the raptor, and she does not need my help!”

Shifting her grip down to the collar of Eva’s clothes, she brandished her fishbone spear towards the flanking man the Siren had not assaulted, and was about to yell something inspirational when the ground shook like a bomb had just detonated.

Sounds of crunching stone were followed by the wind whipping the horrific smell of necromancy and rotting corpses across the promontory. Huge talons, those of a bear but far larger, slammed up onto the cliff’s edge. The flesh had peeled away from the claw roots, leaving exposed and greying sinew. And as the monstrosity rose further, all sounds of combat ceased. Even Berenice sat, slack jawed in amazement with her talons buried in a man’s throat.

Over the edge of the cliff came an amalgamation of animal parts. Some were sized much larger than they should be, but all were in various stages of decomposition. The thing seemed to mostly lead with the massive head of a great white shark, using half of the beast’s body as a neck. Studded along the top near the dorsal fin of the shark was the massive section of carapace from a spider, eyes facing outwards. Behind the neck was a bear’s body, nearly skeletal, pulling itself along on the eight legs of what was probably the same spider. But beyond the bear’s torso came more. Sticking out of the flanks were two snapping wolf’s heads, dripping rotting gore from their jaws. And after them came greatly outsized cricket’s hindlegs and a triple set of swinging crocodile’s tails. The whole of the creature was the size of a city bus. The thing paused on the top of the cliff, shark body swinging back and forth, before making a horrible grinding scream, revealing that every single tooth had been replaced with a human arm.

”Can I say.” Eva said ignoring the little creature on her shoulder. ”That is the most terrifying thing I’ve seen yet, and I have a alien for a pet. New plan. Um uh, let’s introduce this guy to our new friends. Don’t got time for introductions just tell me what you’re good for, Mrs I really hope you’re good with magic.”

”I am afraid not, Big One! I am a hunter and a sneak! I advise running very quickly from that! Maybe through the other Big Ones?” Berenice had already taken off, winging hard and low towards the edge of the woods.

”I hope I can outrun it, though I might need to grab its attention first. Hold tight.” Taking a wide step backwards Eva pulled back her right arm and slung Excalibur as hard as she could muster towards the beast even if it didn’t penetrate it would likely gain its attention.

”Try not to get us both killed in the process, woman!”

As the sword struck the beast it did little to anger it, it simply dragged onwards to Bernice inching forward as Eva stopped and acknowledged she needed to come up with a new plan. ”Bloody hell, it took that and completely ignored it. If striking it did nothing what do I do?” Eva said as she looked at Sunheart. ”Any brilliant ideas?” While Excalibur returned to her open palm and she got ready to duck for whatever cover she could find.

”Well, the dumbest thing you could do is grab its attention. After that, I dunno. My people need to- Who is that?”

Salamander had appeared on the field, drawing his sturdy if plain blade and pointing directly at Eva. “Get your silly arse out of here!” he yelled as bullets winged past him into the creature, which noticed them as much as it had the sword. Berenice glanced up, and, realising the danger she was in, winged up into the air and took off towards what was left of the hunters that had came after the ‘monster’ she was. The beast’s shark head, which seemed to be it’s sensory organ, tracked her as it hauled its multiple carcasses along the turf.

While no one was paying attention to them, a multitude of three inch tall people poured out of the ruined wall of the cottage and into the grass, making their way towards the woods. Sunheart tugged on Eva’s ear as hard as she could, pointing towards the direction her people were vanishing. ”I need you to do something heroic, lady, if you’re the type to do it!”

Eva lowered her head on reflex as her ear was tugged.”Hells bells, just ask next time. Fine what do you need doing?”

”I need you to save my people. Get to the edge of the woods and try not to be too delicious looking!”

”No promises, I have a habit of things wanting to eat me. Happened twice already.” Digging her feet into the earth Eva ran kicking up clumps of dirt as she reached the woods.

An explosive whump sounded across the clearing, and smoke poured from a gaping wound in the creature’s shoulder as a forty millimetre round impacted it. The leader of the Bloodhounds set down the grenade rifle and motioned to one of his other surviving men, who obligingly passed him an odd looking assault rifle as the creature finally seemed to notice that there were things other than the Siren in the area. It opened its unholy mouth and roared at them, switching directions and flexing its shoulder experimentally. A massive crater had opened at the grenade wound, exposing rotting flesh and bone, but not nearly as much as they had hoped. It seemed that underneath the surface, the thing was reinforced with some sort of plating, which glowed from the fires currently consuming patches of skin, though even those were quickly extinguishing themselves.

The rifle barked, spitting glowing rounds that left strange lines through the air and carving out chunks of flesh and plate. The assembly attached to the bottom of it hissed and steamed as it fired. The thing shook its head, then angled directly at them and the giant cricket legs flexed. The leap produced carried it soaring over the clearing nearly fifteen feet overhead, and it impacted the ground with a terrible crunch, then skidded and rolled twice over its side. It had obviously not been balanced for such maneuvers, even though it had the ability. The hunters scattered before it hit their location, though one of them was too hesitant and his leg was caught by one of the outsized wolf heads. The bile and gore that it spewed seemed to be extremely caustic, and the man died screaming.

As Eva looked back towards the creature being shot at by the quite rude hunters she was further disgusted by how the flesh hung off it, something wholly unnatural. God save the fucking Queen, that’s. I’m swearing off meat for the next week.” Drawing her hand across her face she swept aside the horror movie shenanigans and spoke to the little thing on her shoulder. ”Right, you needed help. We need to get Bernice and go, I’d rather not be in this mess against something I can’t hack and slash; I mean I could but that thing has arms for teeth.”

Sunheart shook her head. ”That would be very brave and very foolish. Hold still, warrior.” She held a hand to her tiny face and blew a surprisingly loud whistle. Dozens of other tiny people suddenly sprang into view, and at the same time, Berenice landed quite close to Eva and immediately looked hard at the swordswoman.

Flinching at the sight of them popping out Eva stopped and composed herself. ”Not a fan of little things surprising me, no offense. Ran afoul of living playing cards with swords. Round your size so I’m a bit on edge, that and well. That.” She motioned back towards the monster beast.

”Well, we’re not really fans of people your size, either, but we’ll just have to make do,” Sunheart said as she clambered down from Eva and moved back to Berenice.

”You keep the secret?” Berry asked, not bothering to clarify. Behind them, the roars of the creature and gunfire still sounded too close for comfort.

”Um. I don’t wanna even know right now, there’s a beast to our backs, future tech guns to our right and tiny people at my feet. I just want a bath, with bubbles. If I had Dickens or a crossbow this would be a different fight. But I do not do well against guns. Better we back out now then defend a lost cause, sorry bout your home but unless you have a better idea to counter attack we should run.”

”Which is why we need your help, warrior. Berenice cannot fly with all of us, and we need to get to the Big Folk houses rising-ward from here. Rather swiftly.” Berenice was already adjusting her scant clothing to allow for almost two dozen of the miniscule people to cling to her. ”We ask only that you not tell of us to the rest of your kind.”

Eva sat down a cloth bag and emptied her hoodie pockets of any trash.”I’m supposed to be a Champion for things like you, a protector of sorts. Not quite there yet but I’ve seen enough weird shit to know when to keep my mouth shut. That and I like living through life without a straight jacket. Which is a bad thing. Anyways I got a place no one goes to anymore. It does mean a lot to me but if you need a place you can stay there, a bit of magicy bull to get there but it’s a short distance. Just don’t tear it up or anything.”

One of the men was already organising, and looked up at Eva. He had to shout to be heard over the din of combat. “We are entrusting our old and young with you. They are not strong enough to fly. Three of my best warriors will go with you to protect them.” He pointed at Berenice next. ”Those without a spoken name go with you. They are young and can ride safely.” Turning to the rest of his tribe, he gestured widely. “Hunters and warriors, you brave souls will make the journey yourselves to the Big Folks homes. Three days hence, we will organise a watch group to find you and bring you back to the new clanhome. Now, scatter!”

Berenice watched for a moment as those who would make the journey without assistance disappeared into the grass like wraiths, then turned to look at Eva. ”I don’t know how you travel. I fly. We are going to my friends house in the city. You would be welcome to stay.” An muffled explosion sounded behind them. ”But whatever happens, be careful, and bring them through safely.”

”I run, well. Clearly nowhere near fast as you, but I’ll do all I can. We should go while they’re distracted with their new pet. I’ll meet up somehow.”

Berenice nodded, and without another word, launched herself into the air as carefully as she could and winged off over the treetops. Those of the clan who were riding with Eva were being shepherded into her hoodie pockets by their three warders, a pair of older blackhaired men and a stony eyed woman with a shock of bright orange hair. They all looked capable, if they were normal sized, of extreme violence, though for the moment they were only trying to get the children and elders sorted out as quickly as possible. One of the elders, with white-streaked black hair, glanced up at Eva as she ‘boarded’, and said, “The others may not trust ye, but I see your heart is good, child. I thank ye, on behalf of everyone.”
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Hidden 6 yrs ago Post by ShyDot
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ShyDot

Member Seen 5 yrs ago



Time: Evening - Present Day
Location: Smithy's Grocery Store - Meat Aisle, Las Vegas


Werewolves were such difficult and confusing creatures. It was like a man-sized dog, with strength beyond several men, and a streak of rabidness. At least, that's how Mandate understood them. They struck her as the old wolves that preyed upon the lambs, where the lambs were men. But neither she nor the Ambassador were lambs, as the seemingly rabid wolf in front of her would have to learn.

The golem hunched above the box for which she was currently the sentinel, her stance low and her arms spread wide. Memories tickled at her brain, of wrestlers and bare-knuckled fighters who brought their opponents to the ground. They were just distant figments without any real skill, but it was a nice idea that appealed to her need to drag people down and tear them apart in physical combat. Hunched and bathed in the strange light of the grocery store and her own crimson eye, her figure barely shifted as she focused upon the boy werewolf.

Here he comes. If Mandate was honest, the speed of his dash was startling and intriguing, and her hands stretched wider as she prepared to intercept the wolf. Others seemed to be earnestly trying to intercept him as well, which was understandable. Who would let their dog break its teeth trying to gnaw on a rock? It was at least enough time for the Ambassador to retrieve her box, allowing Mandate to plant both feet firmly into the floor.

Only, it wasn't the boy werewolf that reached Mandate first. Well, don't look a gift horse in the mouth! The golem's arms snapped forward without delay when the other wolf lunged towards her, seemingly in an attempt to get at her or past her. "Come here, you!" she shouted cheerfully, for lack of memory of the wolf's name. Her arms locked around the wolf like a steel trap, a tight and implacable squeeze that pinned her against the mercurial surface of the construct.

Holding someone without killing them in a fight was difficult. The way she squirmed and fought the embrace made it so hard to be gentle, but Mandate was certain she managed an admirable job; her arms were tight around the midsection of the wolf, the tips of her fingers curled into firm grips in the hair of the wolf. Maybe it would have been more effective to lock her hands together, but...

"Wow, your fur is really nice! Do you just become clean every time you turn into this?" she asked excitedly, straightening up until she stood at her full height, with the wolf still trapped against her as her fingers scratched inquisitively. Her head tilted downwards, her V of a smile bright and focused upon the wolf.

She just couldn't help it. Magical creatures were so interesting. Besides, she could always just slam the girl into the floor if she misbehaved too badly. Pacification was hard, especially with targets so frail, but she was sure she could manage it.
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Hidden 6 yrs ago Post by VATROU
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VATROU The Barron

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New York is a Flower in Boom!


With the Hounds out in force New York was in a tizzy gangs had been smashed and law enforcement had quite the upper hand while dealing with the small bands that popped up the issue however was they were reactionary. Every time Hounds busted over a deli or crashed a school it had little warning few within the Police had seen anything like this, no gloating no obvious signs of armed groups congregating within the city just drive bys and spontaneous murder. It didn’t help the NYPD keep records on local heroes that Hounds had somehow gotten access to but these were the same people who took on S.T.R.I.K.E and won. Chief Ferill directed SWAT teams and rescue units with their brothers over at the Fire Stations as engines rolled out over the city squelching blazes and combing debris. Supervillains typically had goals in mind, or haphazardly tore through the city an evil plan which was often foiled by heroes but the Hounds cared not for plans at least not those who simply carried their banner; civilians garbed in masks and makeshift weapons spreading the philosophy of hate with no real oversight from the leaders within this organization.

Chief Ferill knew that the public had mixed opinions on the supers while many favored their aid and loved their grandiose approach and flair, there were a minority who called for anti metahuman laws among them was Sampson the current mayor of New York. While he has denounced the actions rather swiftly that these hounds had perpetrated some believed he had connections with these radicals given his history of anti metahuman speeches, It was something he had to look into however for now securing the safety of the public was paramount. Reports of mass violence and gunfire ripping through the streets as suppressed gangs took to the streets among the confusion. Advanced Mechs roamed the streets alongside S.W.A.T teams bringing a swift end to lawlessness in parts of town but resources were strained even the heroes began to be stretched thin with reports of several killings and an assassin showing up.

-- Meanwhile in the Hero Diner --

Heroes had been sent out, The World was covering the Bronx and Sewer Gator had gone to meet the Blue Beagle. American Rocket was stopping a bank robbery against the Bucking Bronco as his shockwaves tore apart the floors Rocket was pushed back through desks and through shatter proof glass as the ripple tore everything down. Struggling to stand the stripped hero checked his jetpack and inspected his tranquilizer pistol. “Darn it, this guy isn’t going down what is this guy. How much tranq can he take?”

As Bronco shook his head and tensed his arms he slapped his leg shaking off the drowsiness for a while longer and bruising the left thigh his voice deep and cruel like an old time crook bellowed out. “That all you got gnat!? I can do this all day.”

Rocket had quite a bit of tranq left even if his gun had a few dings it still seemed to work well enough but inside the bank Bronco had the advantage and his jetpack offered little defense from the shockwaves. Taking flight he swooped to the right side ducking under a beam and appearing behind the wall facing the employees offices firing a few shots into Bronco’s shoulder as a desk hurdled through the air. Before he could dodge the oaken antique a door came flying and knocked it off course. Spinning his head around a pretty girl in a floral dress standing in the entrance brushed aside her pink bangs and said as sweet as it was disturbing. “Time for a beatdown old codger, would you kindly bend your arse over and get fucked.”

With a defiant grin and a heavy stop Bronco sent a new wave emanating from his step. “Come if you think you have the power.” Glass and debris were thrown around as Flower charge head long into them not preparing any defenses or throwing up her arms to protect her face.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING, TRYING TO TICKLE ME!? Put a little more force behind your fissures cause this pain train ain’t stopping.” Throwing a punch as she swung her arm lifting off the cracked wood floor with her right foot and shoving Bucking Bronco into the wall.

“Little Lady, you pack a punch. I’ve already given him enough tranq to put down a rino. A few more hits like that and he should go down.” Spoke American Rocket as he floated loading his gun.

Giving a pleasant smile Flower respond.”Good I’m not into the muscle bound brute type.” Picking up a shard of glass she slashed into her wrist and jabbed it deep.

“My god.” Rocket yelled in shock. “What, what are you doing?”

“Getting powered up, and now I’m pumped.” Her wrist began to heal within seconds as Flower pushed off the floor and came in with a brutish smash with both fists clenched together. “How about you take your nap gramps, let me tuck you in!” Bronco tried to slug her as she came crashing down his left arm trembled and broke as it connected with her overhand smash with his unconscious frame embedded into the destroyed wall.

“Looks like he’s out cold. So, thanks for the help but what do you want Merc?” Said Rocket as he stepped to the floor.

“Heard someone I know had problems with a hired gun on her ass, if it was anyone else I wouldn’t have cared but she owes me an apology and I don’t want her dead. Not that I expect a simple merc would stand a chance. Maybe you guys met her?”
Hidden 6 yrs ago Post by Afro Samurai
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Afro Samurai Like a Raisin in the Sun

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[Part 4]
Herald the Strangers


Location: Lost Haven University, Lost Haven
Time: Present Day - Morning


Before they knew it, morning turned to noon. Terra Firma, Alchemyst, and Pantheon spent the better part of an hour attacking the other two towers. They fought as the Hounds struggled to hold each position, but together they succeeded just as easily as their first tower takedown, and with most of the trio not much worse for wear.

With all of the outer relay towers disabled and destroyed, they decided that it was time to take the fight to the main forces, to take down the main tower. No doubt the remaining Hounds knew about the loss of their towers, but the lack of a retreat or response was worrying. So far the Hound’s weapons had been ineffective against the three of them, logically one would run or at least abandon their current plans in the face of such overwhelming power, but so far nothing had happened.

The final beacon was set up outside along with the others, it wasn’t hard to miss considering the odd structure stuck out like a sore thumb, and the fact that the Hound’s were consolidating the rest of their forces there. The time to attack was now, Terra Firma, Alchemyst, and Pantheon wouldn’t waste anymore time flying around the campus.

Same strategy as the other three then, it’s been working out just fine so far?” David asked, he worried that things were a little too easy, but that’s probably because he was bullet proof.

The same strategy it is, then.

With all the Hounds present in one place, he figured he would have no harder a time than before. He began right where he left off, two Hounds had their arms broken in a matter of seconds but then there was a smoke bomb and a rattling sense of pain that froze him on the spot.

Charlie came up behind Terra Firma and Pantheon wrestling with all the ire and passion she had previously. Focused, their final goal in sights. Breaking the visor on the Hound she had in front of her, he brandished his assault rifle haphazardly. With a scribbled formula across her palm she slapped her hand on his armour vest deconstructing the carbon, unweaving the kevlar. It took some experimenting previously at the other beacons to figure out how to remove their armour, when it finally fell apart in her hands she scribbled the deconstruction alchemical formula across her hand.

With her enemy vulnerable Charlie dealt rib breaking blows, battering her opponent ruthlessly. When one fell, another stepped up taking his place.

A smoke screen dropped visibility, Charlie reached out attempting to dissipate it. One loud gunshot, Pantheon’s stillness through the smoke, and the sound had frozen the Alchemyst’s hand.

A loud booming voice through a megaphone began to speak. Behind it was average looking man, in spite of the armour and strange looking rifle hanging off his shoulder. He wore reflective aviators, sported some sideburns and a dark five o’clock shadow over his jaw.

“Woah now! Woah! Shit, you guys have been hitting us at full tilt. Why don’t we take a break?” Lawrence's voice, now familiar. Unfazed by their accomplishments. “Feeling it yet, freaks?”

The final beacon’s power was unleashed it hit Terra Firma and Pantheon first then it finally hit the Alchemyst, the beacon’s high pitched shrill filled the air. She clasped her hands over her ears falling to her knees, the pain excruciating, tears squeezed out. It was unlike anything she had felt before.

Lawrence kept the beacon on, then relented on the power. He cackled across the megaphone pleased to see even the powerful metas meet a terrible pause. “Now, ya’see I feel like you see this as the final boss. Like a game. As if I wouldn’t hesitate to blow each of your brains out across the grass with this fancy bit of tech. You three represent everything that is wrong with you magic and meta freaks. We’re paving the way for regaining power for humanity, to stand on our own again without the crutch you freaks and monsters provide.” He grew angrier with every word, shouting into the megaphone. “Fuck your idealistic morals, we will defend ourselves. Firstly removing the infestation of you and yours.” Lawrence certainly didn’t feel the need to pass up the opportunity to brag.

David collapsed onto his knees, sound had been his biggest enemy ever since he arrived in Lost Haven, in every single one of his biggest fights so far sound was a powerful weapon, and now that sentiment seemed to ring true even here. Struggling and groaning against the pain David tried to block the sound by covering the sides of his head, if it helped he didn’t notice, he still felt as if he’d be ripped to shreds by the pain alone.

Whatever this contraption was, Pantheon had felt no pain near the intensity it was causing within him; much like his peers, he was soon on both knees, hands clutching the sides of his ears! It felt like his atoms themselves were being torn asunder, and this Lawrence fellow gloated as if he had already won the day. These Hounds were so arrogant to presume he had ideals, to presume he cared for their insensible desires of ridding the world of metas and magic; if anything, the former and latter were the future, humanity was the past. It was humans who required the metas and the magic folk to save them from their own stupidity, anyway! When he was free of this pestilence, he would make them pay.

David struggled to keep himself from collapsing, his powered body could probably withstand this for a little longer, but his mind was still that of his normal human self, and he was finding it harder and harder to not give in to the pain. He was a scholar long before he was a hero, and his mind was not accustomed to dealing with anything like this. But before he was a scholar, he was a proud father, his mind wandered onto his family, his wife, and his daughter.

I can’t die here, I’ll be damned if I let some asshole kill me, stop me from seeing my family again.

David angrily thought to himself, pain from the device pounded on his body and his mind, but anger presented itself as a barrier. David raised himself up with the help of his sword, he tried to imagine what he was going to do, but he had nothing. Nothing except for his anger at Lawrence, and his blatant ignorance.

You idiot we’re not anyone’s crutch, we’re a chance to break the mold! A chance for humanity to rise above itself, show that it’s changed!” David painfully and angrily said as if talking through the grit of his teeth.

You don’t speak for humanity, but I speak for the Earth! And the Earth says fuck off!” David shouted, and threw one of the stone swords he had been holding ever since the first tower fight. The tower was still on, and it’s effects were constantly building on top of each other. David collapsed back onto his knee, if this doesn’t work, he wasn’t sure what he was going to do.

The sword came dangerously close to the tower, it skimmed the edge of the satellite dish knocking it off its course, the tower itself paused its operations warning errors popping up red on the screen. The dish needed readjusting.

The sound came to an abrupt stop, the tower operators panicking as they desperately tried to orientate it. Bypassing the errors, software lagging at the unexpected disturbance.

Charlie gasped, her vision was blurred, ears ringing, but the relief from the pain was immediate. Using her staff to drag herself back up to stand. Shakey, straining herself to move. She blinked hard, sweaty skin tugging at the edge of her goggles.

The more she breathed, the clearer her eyes became, she moved slowly toward the two pained forms of her temporary allies. She dug the butt of her staff into Pantheon’s side, trying to prod him into moving, finding it was the equivalent to leaning into a brick. There was no give. “Come on! Move! Before they get that tower fixed!

Desperately she shouted, prodding him more, “I said move!

The pain had stopped briefly; it was enough for him to gather his wit--it took a push from another to spring him into action. Without their toy, the Hounds were just men in fancy black dress; an ironic color, because black was the choice of these humans at their funerals. It took but a few seconds for him to close the gap between himself and the pack of Hounds who circled around the tower; he pummeled his fist into the center of the nearest Hound’s chestplate; the loud crack which ensued was not only indicative of sundering his armor but also the concaving of his solar plexus. Once the first Hound fell to his knees, Pantheon punted his head backwards and sent him careening into a brick wall, he turned to face his next victim.

There were two who stepped up to take the dead one’s place, Pantheon grabbed them both by their legs and promptly crushed their steel toe boots into the metatarsals of both of the Hounds feet. The subsequent crunch akin to that of metal into a grindstone. He ragdolled both men head first into the ground with enough brute force to crack their skulls against their helmets; blood filled the plastic black visors of both men as Pantheon released his hold on the two lifeless bodies.

There was a third who apparently had not learned from the fates of his other comrades; Pantheon dealt with him swiftly as well. He grabbed the third Hound by the shoulder and applied pressure. First, one could hear the muscles and the tendons cave against the bone, before the flesh compressed against the snapping of his shoulder joint in total. His body armor did nothing to stave grotesque popping and cracking that resulted from the literal shattering of his shoulder. With a boot to the chest, Pantheon sent the third Hound flying into those who stood behind him.

I told you I was a man who kept my word, Lawerence,” Pantheon said as he strode forward, “and to think, you could have spared yourself by simply adhering to my demands. Hah! In my many existences, one constant has not seemed to change with you humans: you all believe you are Gods--until you meet a real one and find that you are indeed insignificant.

Pantheon meandered onward. There was no more mercy to be had.

David nodded in approval, it wasn’t his best work, but it still worked. He had hoped his throw would have hit the tower straight on, but he was lucky he was able to hit it at all, especially considering his arm was never that good. He had dropped onto all fours, supporting himself with his fists planted firmly into the ground, his chest rose up and down as he caught his ‘breath’. He wasn’t done yet, he couldn’t forgive these Hounds for attacking a school, and for their own incredibly arrogant ideals. He promptly stood up, and rushed straight at the nearest Hound.

I think this party’s gone on long enough, wouldn’t you agree?” David asked as he grabbed the man by his vest and swung him into a group of his friends. David dashed around, moving far too quickly for the Hounds to handle, the energy from his body left a momentary trail behind him as the tossed around his enemies.

As he jumped back and forth he remembered a move he tried, back underground against the Moloids, a people have to investigate more at a later time. David motioned his arms forward and yanked them both back quickly, the ground underneath a group Hounds swiftly flew to the side, like yanking a tablecloth. Except instead of the plates staying still, they all fell over, David swiftly brought back the layer of earth he had moved, and changed it into dozens of thin tentacle like appendages wrapping up Hound members attempting to get back up.

David slowed down a little as the sound of more vans caught his attention. The Hounds not currently in a fight were running, sprinting off into vans, seemingly desperate to run.

No, no, no, you guys can’t run away. You started this, so stick around to see how it ends!” David shouted to them as he extended his arms out with his palms and fingers upwards, suddenly brown and grey spikes burst from the ground, depending on whether a van was parked over cement or dirt, he then quickly brought his hands back, and closed his fists tightly.

Each spike shifted, then wrapped themselves around a vehicle, crushing them, leaving the metal boxes as nothing more than crumpled pieces of paper, and preventing the Hounds from escaping.

“I meant what I said about spreading your brains across the grass, I don’t care who you freaks are, but I keep my promises too!” Lawrence shouted as he waved a small group of Hounds from inside the building.

“You guys wanna keep playing, huh? Fine, say hello to my little friend!” The man shouted and opened fire with his gun, the weapon made a low thudding sound, followed by a low humming as the barrel flashed.

David got a little suspicious when the man walked out with more guns, they had proven to be beyond useless against him and Pantheon, while the Alchemyst took cover behind David’s stone walls. As such, David was a little less than nervous to see them, he had mostly overcome his human born instinct of ducking bullets, and so he only flinched enough to move his head in response to the gunfire. But he would pay for his arrogance a moment later, as he would find out that these were not bullets.

The blasts struck across his chest and hit his shoulder, as each shot collided spurts of white energy particles jumped from his body, drawing a pained shout from him, causing him to dive out of the way, erecting a thick stone wall as temporary cover for himself. For a few moments longer white embers continued to slowly fly out, disappearing only seconds after leaving his body, until finally they stopped and his body sealed itself up.

“You like?” Lawrence taunted, without any vocal order his men split up to attack Pantheon and Alchemyst, while only a few stayed with him, spouting off gunfire every now and then at David’s wall to keep him back.

“It’s a prototype version of these towers we’ve been setting up. It’s a shame you shut them all down before we could finish our testing, so you’ll just have to settle for these!”

Charlie had recovered enough to move quickly with the new onslaught, her head still swimming with disorientation. Running to the new wall forming up out of the ground she touched her hand to the wall, taking the extra second to block away the noise of gunfire, pressing her forehead to the cement. It was going to take one last push, some adrenaline. She changed the otherside into spikes forcing the rushing Hounds to a quick stop. In another blink she turned those very same spikes into dust clouds crumbling with unnatural speed. She climbed with footholds into the wall, then dropping from above using her weight against one of the men, swinging the heavy butt of her staff against his head.

The second Hound was prepared he whipped his baton free then rushed her through the cloud. Charlie turned to block the attack both hands holding her staff across her body, deflecting the attacks. Stepping back out of his reach only for him to cover that ground easily, he swung wildly. Charlie waited for her opening, balancing the weight in her staff again. He brought his baton above his head with full strength cracked it over her collarbone on the right side missing her head. He followed up with a vicious kick square on her chest, a heavy boot knocking her to the ground. Charlie coughed violently - sharp gasps. She brought her staff up in time to stop him from stomping on her neck, arms straining under his full weight. Her shoulder failing, her left arm holding him up at an angle. Had it not been reinforced with metal, it would have surely snapped.

Quickly grabbing his pistol off his hip, the click of a safety being released, the barrel aimed directly at her brow. “You’ve caused enough shit for a lifetime, now die.”

Pain only infuriated him more, he was hit with several of the prototype beams the Hounds had prepared. For what it was worth, Pantheon could admire these Hounds mettle. In the face of overwhelming odds, they began again--regardless of the futility of their actions. Anger continued to build with each bullet which hit him. As he twisted his body in order to fling another of the Hounds through a building, he saw the Alchemyst in a rather compromised position. It took but a second for him to collapse the distance between himself and Alchemyst’s aggressor. There was an odd tearing sound and a scream, and the Hound was next seen implanted into a parked car across the street. Pantheon offered his hand.

”You do know you are just a human. Be more careful, hm?”

Charlie reached for his hand with her left, quickly painfully hauled to her feet. A new wall of stone appeared cutting her view off of what Pantheon zoomed off to do next. She tried to catch her breath leaning into the wall, the heavy throb throughout her shoulder and the surely broken ribs. She felt better on her feet but didn’t dare to move.

Fuh-fuck.

The effects of these energy beams took hold with pristine intensity. Pantheon was sent to a knee with a single arm for support. His multi-colored iris’ swirled as the mystical energies which held him together were tampered with in ways unbeknownst to him. Any lacerations present in his frame healed within mere seconds, but he had been hit enough that he was once more immobilized. A frontal assault would not be out of the question necessarily, but it had become foolhardy with this new technology the Hounds as just unveiled. He had to improvise; and there were more than enough weapons at his disposal to help him do so--strange humans, placing steel weapons in the same places upon which they walk to and fro their destinations.

With another burst of speed, he made his way to a light pole. Once he got both hands around it, Pantheon tore it from the concrete and hoisted it up.

“OH, I LOVE BASEBALL!” Hassan reared himself again,

Pantheon wound up, light pole in hand. . .

THWACK
THWACK
THWACK

Back and forth he smacked the large crowd of Hounds, clearing their already dwindling numbers as they attempted to replenish them.

David zoomed by, moving behind his own walls, and providing new ones for Alchemyst as he flew closer. But before he could jump back into the fight a voice stopped David right in his tracks, and he watched in an unfamiliar mix of disgust and surprise. Earlier he allowed it, even agreed with it, but now he felt himself becoming increasingly bothered by it.

“[color=red]To shout something like that out loud, this man isn’t right in the head.[/red]” David mumbled under his breath, he flew up behind Pantheon, and grabbed his pole before he could swing it into another group.

I agreed with you before when you said fair is fair, but this is obsessive, and in fact, with that little outburst just now, I’m not sure you’ve got all your marbles.

Tentatively the Alchemyst peeked out from the wall, the Hounds were distracted trying to defend themselves and the tower. Charlie saw openings, a mad dash would be all it took to get there. Trying to control her breathing but felt every broken rib as she did. Slowly she felt around her torso, noting two were broken while there was going to be some heavy bruising. To say nothing of her collarbone, while it was swollen and incredibly painful she wasn’t sure if it was broken.

Charlie knew as soon as her hands were on that tower it’d be over. The Hounds wouldn’t have much left to fight for beyond their escape. “I’m not staying here.” She muttered to herself for a second time today.

Pulling her backpack off, she dug out her water bottle full of gasoline. She had used the majority of her supplies on the other towers, what little she had left limited her options. She had used a little bit earlier to make crude napalm, now though she dug in her sweater pocket for her sharpie. Breaking down the gasoline, changing the oily substance to something a bit slicker the colour of it darkened quite heavily to something dark brown, completely opaque when held up to the sunlight. She unscrewed the bottle, dumping it in a gross line a few feet long. She hoped it’d be enough to carry her to the tower.

She hobbled several feet away from the oily patch, thinking how painful this attempt would be. She pushed herself into an uncoordinated dash, hopped then with the momentum of her run slid right into the oil carrying her past the feet of some Hounds, and zipping by Terra Firma and Pantheon she screeched “SHIT!” The oil ran dry, she rolled right into the base of the tower’s wheels with a thud.

Using her staff to lift herself, grunting, cursing her way back up to stand.

Leaning heavily onto the console, the tower itself was more advanced controls than the others. She used her screwdriver once again, bending down to the panelled board beneath the console’s screens. It was dented in several areas, she attempted to straighten it out but the steel in the panel door reacted strangely crumpling into an accordion shape instead of flattening out like she wanted. She stared, was she really at her limit? She reached into the jungle of wires.

Charlie spent a few minutes pulling loose wires knitting them into bows, in a similar style to the other towers, stranger reactions as her alchemy failed in more bizarre ways. Precious metal beads turning into spikes, plastic imploding into gaseous fumes. Her hand visibly shook with strain.

Lawrence watched from the safety of his men, shouting orders to change tactics. Moving to keep the likes of Pantheon and Terra Firma away from himself. He landed some satisfactory hits upon the metahumans directly but it seemed to only anger them and force them into defensive positions. He watched the woman in the sweater clear her way to the tower, he roared for all their forces to train their sights back on the tower.

“I don’t give a shit, you lazy fucks defend that tower! The girl is there now!” Lawrence shouted his order.

Lawrence himself sprung into action, ordering the line of men around him to move forward laying down a wave of gunfire, followed by himself with their sonic rifles coming up behind the bullets. They aimed directly at the tower-base. Others tossed some grenades landing shy of a new wall brought up by Terra Firma. The explosion decimated the wall, causing the likes of the Alchemyst to flinch away from her work.

Charlie pushed herself to concentrate, moving up to the visual boards tearing them open searching for her golden chip.

”Obsessive? Do not be a hypocrite--look around. What we have done to them is not obsessive, what has happened to them is justice. You cannot see? They have murdered innocent people for the sake of an experiment, and yet you have the nerve to call this retribution obsessive. Maybe this is the problem with you humans, you treat every life as equal when your fellow man does not even believe your own life is worth preserving. Some men do deserve death, Terra Firma; the hands by which it happens do not matter in the slightest.”

It does matter, the people wronged here will need enact justice the right way, these men need to be alive so that the people who died here can get that justice. How would you feel if some overbearing stranger snatched retribution right up from you? These men might die anyways at a later time, and that’s fine, but that part shouldn’t be up to us.

”Passivity is the reason you humans have wallowed as your oppressors do as they wish with your lives. Do not act as though the kin of the people who died here today have the means to enact justice. They do not. If they did, their idiotic morals would hamper them from taking vengeance into their own hands. For all your optimism in your justice system, your policemen were not the ones who stopped these dogs--we were, and it makes no difference if your institutions of law are given some arbitrary authority to enforce peace when they are ineffectual at doing the lone thing they were put in place to do.”

Pantheon had no real reason to turn his ire on Firma, he had expended enough valuable energy on human affairs for one day and cared not to anger another who rivaled him in might--though not in ferocity. Amidst his diatribe, Pantheon had turned his sights on Lawrence and his advancing garrison. Much as he wanted to string Lawrence’s spine through his kidneys, their anti-magic weaponry were pestilences great enough for him to re-think his next plan of action. All it would take was Charlie shutting off those towers before he could make his move.

Charlie’s hands paused Pantheon and Terra Firma’s words sunk in, quite vividly the bodies of all the dead students and staff came to mind. Her own violent actions today, using napalm against normal people… Something she promised herself to never use. Was it really only a couple hours ago she thought of the Hounds as humans and not monsters? Pain flaring across her chest, mind swimming with exhaustion. It all just fanned the flames of discontent and anger. “This isn’t about justice or brutality. It’s about survival!” She shouted in response, returning to the work. “If these assholes had their way, we’d have been dead if we weren’t as lucky as we were today! Fuck ‘em!

We’d be dead if we didn’t have our powers, and our powers are what made these people, they’re scared as hell and acting out in anger. That’s why it’s up to us to stop them here.

Charlie snarled, “We didn’t do anything to them! This is a university! I don’t give a single rats ass about how angry they are, or who they lost to some superhero, I lost my dad when some stupid supe knocked over a building, you don’t see me shooting up a fucking school!

Good, you’re not using your powers to hold up a school, or shake down some joint. That’s the difference between us and them. We’ve been given gifts, and it’s our responsibility to use them right.” David replied back, not anywhere near as passionately as her, but he too, was talking from his heart.

Charlie gritted her teeth, tearing a wire free. “The difference is that I’m trying to live my life and survive the day! If it means my life or theirs, then - I’m choosing my life every time!” Charlie had finally drawn a line for herself, there was no grey area.

Before Pantheon could act again, the Hounds had turned their weapons on him. It was as if they too had grown tired of being treated as playthings and at once released a barrage of their energy disrupting beams his way. From head to toe his body was torched; not only was his body immobilized as before, but one could see the magic tethers seeping from his being. Blood slid down his ears, nose, and mouth. His multi-colored iris’ swirled and changed colors at a rapid rate; the howl which pierced the air could nigh-shatter windows. This was not distress, this was not annoyance, irritation, or peeve--this was agony.

For Pantheon, the effect of the weapons was dual--not only did it shred his insides, it momentarily severed his connection with Hassan.

David raised an arm into the air and a thick earthen wall rose up at the same time, giving Pantheon and himself some cover. However, the hounds on the other side did not relent on their weaponry and continued to blast in Pantheon’s direction, the blasts peppered the stone wall, turning portions of it into nothing more than dust, and leaving indents marking their damage. David motioned his arm forward and the wall began to quickly slide forward, then slammed into the hounds, blowing them back, and clearing a path to Lawrence.

David waved his arms up again, chunks of stone, and cement flew up into the air. As they rose up around David they began to flatten and smooth out, then the pieces flew right onto his body, coating him in a makeshift armor. With the most of the other Hounds out of the way or incapacitated David took this chance to dash at Lawrence, so he raised his arms up defensively and charged.

Lawrence obviously saw this and opened fire, determined not to let him close in, the blasts slammed against David’s armored form, turning the affected parts into dust. Although he was granted some reprieve, parts of his armor were already lost, allowing Lawrence a chance at his target. Jets of white particles shot out from David’s arms, and his chest. It was every bit as painful as last time, but he was only giving Lawrence a short window, so he did his best to soldier through.

David shouted from the pit of his stomach, pushing aside his pain and anger for only a moment as he closed the distance. The whole scene lasted mere moments as David’s body slammed into Lawrence, knocking away his weapon in the process.

Lawrence rolled, the majority of his armour taking the brunt of the blow. The full force of Terra Firma knocked the wind right out of him leaving him defenseless. He sprung up to his feet, stumbling a little from imbalance.

“So- two against one? Hardly fair. We spent the day here getting to know you lot. I thought you types had some sort of honour code as disgusting as your existence is. Really, I’m hurt.” Lawrence’s tone hardly wavered from the cool confidence from before.

David grabbed Lawrence and slammed him into the ground, not enough to squish him, but definitely enough to bruise him. “Because of you and your men, the young men and women here had to see something nobody ever should. You brought slaughter, and murder to a place of learning. I could let my friends tear you apart, like they did earlier.” David said in an angry low voice. The ground underneath Lawrence began to lose solidity, turning into mud, and then David began to slowly push him downwards.

Or I could put you six feet under, literally, and let you slowly rot.

Lawrence struggled, his expression no longer cool but collapsing into full blown panic his arms pulled then stuck again through the encroaching mud. By Terra Firma’s will he sunk deeper, chest disappearing into the ground. A screech of terror ripped out of him, he begged for his life right up until the mud began filling his mouth then nose.

David heard his pleas, his pitiful begging as he continued to dip him further in. He remembered the faces of those he couldn’t save, Alchemyst’s own angry words, and he knew there was merit in letting him die. But he couldn’t betray his own feelings anymore, he couldn’t betray the smiles of his family, and he felt that the day had seen enough death.

He slowly pulled up Lawrence, just enough to free his nose and mouth, then solidified the ground again, careful not to leave mud chunks in the man’s body. “You might be right, some of us may be monsters.” David said, looking at the fallen Hounds scattered about, and then to Pantheon.

Pantheon’s frame began to knit itself back together as the energies faded from his body and the magic which tethered his being congealed once more. His iris’ steadied to their normal multi-colored palettes. Once he had retained himself, he rolled his neck around--a mild stretch needed after the intensity of several battles over this several hour escapade. A detached gaze flared Firma’s direction.

But that’s not all of us, when you look yourself in the mirror later, I want you to remember this. I want you to remember what could have happened, and what did.

Lawrence spat a wad of mud from his mouth, “So fucking arrogant.”

You looked better crying.” David said as he flicked his finger at Lawrence, in an instant a large chunk of mud came straight back at Lawrence’s mouth, and attached itself around his head, preventing him from speaking.

As Lawrence was dealt with the Alchemyst finished her work, rooting through what was effectively the tower’s guts she pulled free the chip - memory chip housing the audio file they were projecting as a weapon. She stared hard at it, slipping it into her pocket. There was no telling who would use this, she decided it was safer with her before it was safe in the hands of the police. A final touch on the tower, much like its counterparts it too soon fell to rapid age crumpling under it’s own weight.

The Hounds around them scrambled into a hasty retreat, the LHPD making a break through the retreating lines. The police were successful in capturing some, while a few Hounds escaped through on the heels of their last heavy weaponry. A few vans fled chased by the police. Emergency crews flooded the area rushing into the University hoping to reach survivors. In one final dust cloud created by the Alchemyst, they slipped away.

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---

Time: 1 PM - Day of LHU’s School Shooting
Location: Croll Corner, Lost Haven


The trio disappeared into cloud cover high above the city, escaping the horrible scene before being pulled aside by the authorities. Pantheon flew Charlie a block away from Croll Corner, landing in the back alleys. Bloody, oily and exhausted she insisted on keeping some privacy. Charlie spoke, voice hoarse, “Thanks. I would be dead if it wasn’t for you two, so thanks. I-...” She paused, the right words eluded her. “I’ll be around the city, if you guys need this alchemyst’s help I keep a pretty low profile as it is. You can usually find me rooting around any one of the junkyards here in town. See ya ‘round.

She turned leaning on her staff heavily, hobbling away. It felt like an eternity by the time she hobbled up to the back door she turned the doorknob, deep circles under her bloodshot green eyes, sticky with sweat. Blonde hair encrusted with blood, dirt, and splotches of oil frayed out of it’s original braids. She pulled down her hood with her free hand, shuffled the goggles off then pulled the mask down. Visible still was the scabbed over scratches she had from the other day.

She heard her mom call out, “Charlie? That you!?”

At the sound of her mom’s voice Charlie collapsed to her knees in the hallway. Her staff clattering down beside her. Multiple feet came scampering from each corner of the house converging down stairs and across the store. Nathaniel, Harry and Jules rushed to Charlie’s side in a torrent of relief and emotion. Jules swept her daughter up in her arms tears unbidden as she rocked her. Charlie began to sob heavily, heaving gasps in between each wave, crying into her mother’s shoulder. Nathaniel and Harry hugged around their sides, tears rolling down their cheeks as well.

The family stayed like that for several minutes, none quite able to to recompose themselves.

Finally Jules’ tears slowed allowing Charlie to continue, petting back her hair. Nathaniel first to move he dragged a thumb under his eyes, and Harry followed suit rubbing her eyes into her shoulder. He gently suggested, “Let’s get you outta those filthy clothes, rinse out the trouble kiddo. You did good.”

Charlie sniffled loudly lifting her head, nodding. Jules helped her stand echoing that sentiment, soothingly followed with, “You’re home, you’re okay.”

Harry helped Charlie out of the worst of her clothes, running the shower first. Harry shuffled out of the bathroom giving her privacy. Charlie stepped gratefully into the water, washing away the grime of the terrible day. She scrubbed her hair twice over with shampoo, freeing knots with conditioner. Then took a homemade bar of soap to the blood stains, dirt and oil. After 30 mins she felt clean enough to find a fresh towel and set of clothes laid out. Slowly, gently patting herself dry. Pulling her clothes on, cotton shorts and tank top. The ugly black and blue bruising along her collarbone visible in the mirror, the scabs from the scratches also visible along her forearms. Her lip was fat from an armoured elbow, a black eye from the butt of a stock.

Roughed up, but… Alive. The thought brought a fresh wave of tears. Somehow… she managed to win with a knife in a gunfight.

She exited the bathroom seeing Harry, who smiled. “Hey Char.”

Hey Harry…

“Come on, Gramps has some tea and wanted to see to setting your broken bones.”

Charlie nodded following her down. Nathaniel had set out all the balms he would need in the kitchen, including his first aid kit. He patted the wooden chair. A steaming cup of tea waiting in her spot at the table with ice packs. “Take a seat, let’s have a look.”

Harry disappeared from the kitchen and shortly returned with Charlie’s staff taking some old rags to clean the wood. Lifting the dirt away with her own alchemy, Charlie leaned across and stopped her hand. Harry looked up, clearly confused. “Appreciate the thought, but… I want to keep some of it on there, work it into the grain.

Harry hesitated then leaned the staff up against the table, nodding understandably. “Sure, Char.”

Jules came into the kitchen as well, leaning in the doorframe.

She sat wincing, “I think I broke my ribs, had taken a nasty hit with a baton on my shoulder.

“Yeah I see that,” He replied gently prodding around her collarbone and then her ribs, she gasped painfully. “Feels like… a couple are fractured but not completely broken.”

She weakly pushed away his hand. “What a relief…

“We were glued to the tv, trying to see if we could catch glimpses of you.” He turned away reading the labels on some balms, small little brown jars. “We knew you would be fighting to get out of there. When the news reported those towers were being taken down, rusted away. We knew that was you.”

Charlie nodded. “Yeah that was me. The university… it’s- it’s fucked, I can’t go back.” Wincing at every breath, she hated getting broken or fractured ribs. It hurt to breathe.

Jules added, “There’s small clips here and there of the ‘heroes’ of LHU, nothing really damning right now. The authorities chased the remaining Hounds of Humanity off the campus, rescuing the survivors. Looking for the three, - they’re assuming - metahumans who fought today.”

Charlie reached for the ice pack wrapped in a dishcloth. Pressing it gingerly to her shoulder. “I tried to keep the mask up, I can’t really think straight right now…

Jules quickly apologized, “Oh no sweetie, it’s okay. Not quizzing you. You’ve been through so much today.”

Nathaniel rolled up her shirt applying some balm to the swelling, Charlie swallowed some homemade pain relievers, chasing it with tea. Nathaniel fixed her arm into a sleeve relieving stress on her collarbone. He kissed her head, repeating again, “You did good, kid.”

A dull throb pushed behind her eyes, all the adrenaline and stress melted out of her surrounded by family. Safe, home at last.

Harry helped Charlie up to their room and into bed to lay down, she tilted their tiny tv for her to see, playing an old movie on their refurbished VCR. One that Harry slaved over to get working, stubbornly refusing help from anyone. Harry placed Charlie’s staff beside her in the bed, within reach. The small desk fan blowing away the afternoon heat, the window open. She hadn’t paid any attention to the movie, counting the water spot stains in the ceiling feeling the medicine kick in. Her eyes grew heavy and she sunk into a medicated sleep a hand resting over the staff.

---

Later that Day - Dinner Time

The three Croll’s sat their respective spots at the table eating mechanically, thoughts all on Charlie. Jules had closed the shop for the next couple of days, apologizing to clients in light of the attack at the University. Nathaniel looked to Jules, “You did good too, Jules.”

“Hmm? What’s that, Dad?”

“You did good, raising these two.”

Jules paused, “You’ve helped.”

Harry looked between them, confused.

“Sure, but you’ve made them strong. No ordinary alchemist could have survived the way Charlie did today, you taught her well. You too, Harry. I’m so proud of you.” Nathaniel said solemnly, smiling at Jules then Harry holding both of their hands.

Jules smiled squeezing her father’s hand, “Thanks Dad.”

“Yeah, thanks Grampa.”

Nathaniel turned to Harry, “Now, Harry. Want you to understand something about your sister here.”

“Sure, Gramps.”

“Do you know what PTSD is?” He asked chewing through some lemon chicken.

Harry tapped her chin then said, “Yeah, talked about it at school. Happens to veterans- oohhhh. I get you, Gramps. You think Charlie’s gonna have PTSD?”

“Mm, so I’ll remind you to have patience with your sister. We don’t know how this will affect her. She might have nightmares or lash out, or have a bout with depression. Charlie might not feel like herself for a while. So, it’ll be a family effort to support her but we have to trust her to let us know what she needs and when she needs it. If that’s a talk or some space. Play it by ear.” Nathaniel spoke evenly, much like how he speaks when teaching a lesson or giving a lecture. “Make sense?”

Harry nodded, “I think so, so don’t treat her like she’s made of glass right?”

Nathaniel smiled and ruffled her hair, “That’s exactly right.” Harry tried to duck away then groaned at his affection, trying to fix her ponytail.

“We’ll be there no matter what.” Jules agreed, smiling herself. “That’s what family is.”

They all nodded and continued to eat, switching comfortably to another subject. Charlie slept through the night, waking only once to take more painkillers and sleep more. The horrible day came to a quiet close. Arrests were made, eye witnesses, cellphone videos, and survivors spoke of the three heroes who bravely fought the Hounds of Humanity risking life and limb for those who could not. Many speculated who they were, many participated in interviews verbally thanking the trio wishing them well. The dead were gathered and identified. For the coming weeks the University would remain closed until every drop of blood was cleared away, until all the damage done was repaired. Memorials, flowers and bouquets would cover plaques, areas of the campus would be commemorated to their lives lost. Solemn reminder that here there was a push back against the terrorist group known as Hounds of Humanity. Giving hope to others targeted by them.

Ultimately, another scar for Lost Haven to heal.
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