[hr][center][img]https://txt.1001fonts.net/img/txt/dHRmLjcyLjRlNjM3NC5RMkZwYmcuMA/mostly-ghostly.regular.png[/img][img]https://i.imgur.com/MlxJYWz.png[/img][/center][right][code]Somewhere Else...[/code][/right][hr] The dreams came first. Strange dreams. Twisted and bleak. Half remembered scenes of sorrow and regret best left forgotten. Somewhere, there is the sound of liquid running gently through a pipe and cars gliding across the asphalt. From underneath there are the sounds of someone else. A man and a woman. But, how can the void have a voice? Their words are unclear, like the mumbled sounds of someone submerged in water. Their voices fade as flickers of memories will their way in and out of existence. Or perhaps they are nightmares. The shadow of a hulking man in armour, a lone soldier surrounded by comrades dressed like and as emotionless as he, the mourning love of a family gone forever. This is not real. This is not real. Hundreds upon hundreds of shadowy figures pointing a single finger directly at the accused. There is so much blood unspoken. Rivers of it. Enough to wash the oceans crimson. Adam Vrbata looks at himself in a mirror. Sees the skin crack and fall off his face, the side of his mouth contort into a hideous grimace, the whites of his eyes turn black and gray. And he screams in despair. [i][colour=LightSlateGray]'I am Cain.'[/colour][/i] [hr][right][code]Gold City - Alleyway[/code][/right][hr] Cain's eyes snap open as his hands reach up to his neck, wrapping around the handle of the blade jammed in the centre of his throat and slowly pulling the steel from out of his body. "Jesus christ!" The man exclaimed as he stumbled backwards. His partner, a woman dressed in the same ripped and strewn together clothing as he, merely stood with her mouth agape as the man who they had stabbed rose back up to his feet in under a minute. "I thought he wasn't a Nomad!?" The woman spat out, her fear giving way to anger. Things were going well until the Raggedy Man appeared. Her friends lay dead and thrown around the alleyway, their mark had long since fled their clutches. They had been surprised when they managed to get close enough to impale him through the neck. Initially they believed him to be a Nomad, but Gold City's boogeyman went down like an average human. At least momentarily. "To hell with this!" The man yelled as he sprinted away. His only weapon had just been pulled out by The Raggedy Man, he was in no position to try his luck again. For her part, the woman merely snarled. She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a rusty looking switchblade. The Raggedy Man was approaching with a calm walk, she met him with a charge. The man heard the scream of his partner as he reached the door to the building at the end of the alley. He collided into it with his shoulder, thanking whatever powers were watching him that it opened in a cloud of dust. He stumbled into the building and pushed the door shut once again with all his might. There would be no time to catch his breath as he began ascending the stairs, his eyes planted on the ground to keep his footing in the darkness of the apartment complex. As he ascended the upper lengths he heard the sound of glass shattering beneath him and let out a yelp. Quickening his pace only to trip on the edge of the flight of stairs and plunge himself into the darkness of the hall. He coughed as the dust flew up around him and sunk itself into his skin and clothing. He found himself temporarily dazed before coming to his senses and trying to force himself back to his feet only for another crash to send him off course and stumbling back on to the floor. "P-please..." He stammered out to the figure in the darkness, holding up one hand defensively as he crawled back deeper into the hallway. "W-we just wanted the money! Didn't... Didn't want to hurt anybody. I-I-I-..." Fear had overtaken him as he continued trying to bargain fruitlessly with the figure in the shadows. His body met the wall and with nowhere to move he merely lay, shaking with his hand still held against the figure. A hand reached out and covered his mouth, suppressing the man's yell. [colour=LightSlateGray]"Tell everyone what happened to your friends."[/colour] Cain spoke, leaning forward and revealing his scarred face to the terrified thug. [colour=LightSlateGray]"How they were ripped apart. How they [i]bled[/i]. Then leave this city."[/colour] The man whimpered as Cain held up his free hand, slowly shifting it from a regular appendage into a curved blade. [colour=LightSlateGray]"Can't let you go unscathed. No one will believe you otherwise."[/colour] The man's screams echoed throughout the building as Cain drew his blade closer to his face. [hr][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/4kQDpyB.png[/img][/center][right][code]Gold City - Breicen Apartment[/code][/right][hr] [quote][colour=DarkViolet]”And, uhhh, she let me drive again.”[/colour] Jasmine said sheepishly. [colour=Tomato]”Yeah, kid, I think he heard! Didn’t ya, bud?”[/colour] Beelzebub gave another cackle before he gave Lucas an expectant glance.[/quote] [colour=yellow]"The Tokyo drift outside?"[/colour] His concern about the closet's contents melted as he gave Beelzebub a slight smile. [colour=yellow]"Nah, must've missed it."[/colour] He folded his arms and continued to lean "casually" against the closet while his attention shifted to Jasmine. [colour=yellow]"Why're you learnin' to drive anyway?"[/colour] He asked, cocking his head to the side quizzically. [colour=yellow]"Can't you, like, fly around on a broom? Or skateboard?... Or walk?"[/colour] Normally Lucas was pretty devil may care about most things, especially since part of his training regime was to sprint to most places. But the last time he'd been in a car with Jasmine she'd nearly parked them up a tree. He loved a good challenge but Jas' driving skills was one he wasn't wholly confident he could beat. [colour=yellow]"Uhh, glad the PT went well though."[/colour] He added quickly, trying to spare his friend's feelings on her lack of vehicular ability. [colour=yellow]"Y'sure you're all good to use the gadgets and doodads again?"[/colour] He asked, a slight tinge of concern on his voice that was these days only really reserved for the Breicens and occasionally his father. Jill was stubborn and had insisted on the odd sparring session while she was recovering, the first few... Weren't pretty. But slowly but surely she got her mojo back, he still couldn't say if that meant she should be jumping off roofs on her bike shouting "Henshin!" anytime soon. [colour=yellow]"Like they got a buncha those Justice dumba- guys. Right? Shit, if I was gettin' paid time off I'd take all I could get."[/colour] The issue had shifted slightly as Lucas began daydreaming in his head about being able to get paid not to work at the fucking convenience store, instead being able to get caught up on all the pro wrestling he'd recorded on the TiVO. Pit Stop floated towards Lucas and hovered slightly. It took a moment to realise he was not looking at Lucas, but rather past him at the closet. A look of worry flashed over Lucas as he looked at the floating potential tattletail. [colour=yellow]"Stop, man."[/colour] he hissed.