Blizz

Delbrook Academy High School

might do molly

Delbrook Academy High School

You already know what the fuck ‘boutta happen.

The Tide Will Return - A Space Nation RP with Fantasy!

The Tide Will Return (Space, Nation, Fantasy)

TENEBRAE: The Rebellion of Shadows (Ladies Only)

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______________________________________	Carver _____________________________________________________________________________________ Tenebrae City Maximum Security Prison Cell Block 27-S ______________________________________________________________________________________

Another Day in the Hole

^{______________________________________________________________________________________}

Tenebrae Maximum Security Prison, 27 floors beneath ground level, stuck behind the walls of a remotely controlled icebox for 20 years.

It was about as pleasant as it sounded.

Nathan "Carver" Ridge. Former member of the Gray Dragons, diagnosed pyromaniac, felon. Charges include, but are not limited to: Multiple accounts of murder, arson, unlawful possesion of prohibited chemical substances, and unlawful possesion of firearms.

Normally, a man such as this would be sent to death row, but someone decided that his capture was an oppurtunity. A chance to explore scientific possibilities for containing other metas of his caliber. Their new captive would make for a perfect lab rat, they said, it's not everyday you capture an Alpha-class meta, after all.

And so, they threw him in a hole, never to see the light of day again, in a liquid-cooled room. A marvel of moder day prison engineering. Three layers of heat resistant glass diffused by coolant made sure he could never push the room past the average temperature of a cool summer day. Carver made no attempt after one year to threaten the security of the prison. He was cited for "good behavior" as most prisons do, except in the case of someone like him, "good behavior" only meant the guards were allowed to exchange words with him after 19 years. Nothing more, nothing less. Not that Carver truly cared about such a thing. Gone were the days when others had any sway over his existence in a way that amounted to anything. The guards who were on the payroll to guard him and only him were not his friends, or his enemies. They only kept their eyes on him in rotation throughout the day. Visitation was out of the question, it was unlikely his mother and sister were informed of his location when he was incarcerated. Once a week, only in the interest of pleasing the prison's non-humanist stockholders, Carver was permitted time in the yard above ground, same as the average prisoner. He was followed everywhere he went by no less than three specially equipped guards at a given time, and without his knowing, a sniper rifle loaded with tranquilizing munitions was aimed at him from a location he was not aware of, any time he stepped more than 3 feet past the door to his cell. In the past two decades, these measures only proved necessary once, in a fit of rage even Carver himself strains to remember. He hadn't seen natural light for another 2 years, as a result of that incident. There was no kind way to say it: He was kept alive for the sake of it.

They didn't have to, after all, the city never had much fuss to make over executing metas who stepped out of line. He always told himself that there was probably some angry god out there who refused to let him die his own way, or karma finally caught up with him. It didn't matter to him, one way or another. His life ended 20 years ago, when he and Grayson escaped a burning building with their lives, when Grayson escaped with his life and his freedom. The outside world had no need for him. His old friend had no need for him. He lacked a purpose in what was left of his life, all he could really do was wake up, stare at the walls, think about the old days, exercise, and go to sleep. That was exactly what he did, every day, and was exactly what he would continue to do until the next time he left the cell was in a body bag. He was just an animal these days. At least he had...Well, nothing. He had nothing.

What would the old man say to that, he wondered.

Carver had woken up that day knowing exactly what would happen: He'd hit the floor, do a hundred push-ups, then a hundred sit-ups. Then he'd stare at the ceiling for five minutes, then he'd do nothing for the rest of the day. He knew what he'd do, until he very well didn't.

His usual morning guard stepped away, and he knew the next guy would take a few minutes to get here. Three minutes and fourty-seven seconds, he figured. Except it wasn't one of his personal guards, it wasn't even a guard at all. It was like death herself had come and paid him a visit. A torn cloak, a skull mask. Carver only caught a glimpse of it through the window of his cell, but it was the most vivid thing he had seen in years. He almost wrote it off until someone spoke to him. That wasn't unusual, the guards usually spoke to him to give him a hard time and keep him feeling low. But this...It reminded him of how life felt for a moment.

"How long you wanna stay in there, taking the fragile peace Rhea enjoys for granted?"

Rhea. His sister.

The mention of that name was like a slap to the face, like cold water. His head snapped forward in confusion. He said nothing for an eternity.

Eventually he gave a response, a slightly gravely voice, slow and only somewhat hollow, without a hint of a grow or any aggression. "How do you know that name?"

She threw a phone through the wall. Was she a meta?

"Check the video on that thing. See what your friends have been up to after all this time."

He caught it in the air instinctually, and his heart damn near exploded when he saw the video. Grayson surrounded by guns pointed his direction, a shield of water in front of him, and a blonde girl with glowing hands.

Rainsinger, and Sunrider.

A look of shock and dismay spread across Carver's face. He was still around. After all this time, after what they went through, he was here. And Sunrider, she was still here too. It was like watching life pass him by, was everything either of them planned for themselves just given up on? Carver barely processed what he was seeing before the voice behind the door talked to him again.

"That device she grabbed is just one of the pieces that will mark the end of Tenebrae as we know it. Sure, she destroyed it. But these guys have a backup plan. Our spy network picked up on black boxes around the city set to go off as soon as tomorrow, turning the entire city into a heart generator, siphoning bioenergy to power their doomsday device. Normal humans will last a few days at most, metas, maybe a few weeks."

"Your family is up there, blissfully unaware, but you're not going to let them get hurt. And we know how to help you."

"We need to get into their facility. You're the only one who can break-in, and if you're successful, we'll give you the means to keep your family safe."

His family?

The end of Tenebrae?

This was all too much for him, almost.

Carver sat in silence for what felt like hours, did one of those two send someone for him? Did Fadeaway work her magic? A million questions swirled through his mind, but there remained a certainty in all this he allowed for himself: If those two were involved, this had to be happening for a reason. But still, this was a surprise to say the least. Rhea was at risk, it seemed. That used to be the one thing that let him wake up in the morning.

Carver gathered his thoughts for a moment, after everything was dropped on him like a brick.

"Who...the hell are you?"

TENEBRAE: The Rebellion of Shadows (Ladies Only)

Love Street (The Haven)
Time: Morning

After a few drinks, enough to make the atmosphere pleasantly swim, there was a creak of wood as the barstool beside him was filled. The lights dimmed, like a candle was blown out before sputtering back to life.

“Oshus, “ said a cool tone beside him.

An old friend stared at him over the rim of a double shot of the aged brandy they normally wouldn’t serve customers, her posture and attire as impeccable as ever.

“If you wanted to invite me for a drink, you simply had to ask.”

Linus sat at the front of the Haven for a while, he wasn’t in a hurry. Collecting his thoughts before Hel arrived, normally, a casual drink would’ve been all he was here for. But she had the city around her fingers. If anyone had answers, it would be her.

”Much as I can’t resist a few drinks with an old friend like you, this ain’t just that. Those guys I told you about? Those Shadow Knights? Looks like they weren’t foolin’ around…”

He finished off his glass before setting it off to the side.

”Sunny got a hold of me. Got me to help with some sort of big job of hers. A friend of hers heard about a machine that could steal a meta’s tricks. Problem was, it was in pieces and those pieces weren’t altogether. We nicked one, got snagged by their boss. Same goofy lookin’ clown that stopped me when I got here.”

Linus wheeled around in his seat, leaning against the counter. ”So, they got a piece of this magic machine of theirs. I came here thinkin’ you’d know something about them.”

Her black glossed nails tapped the wood. "Those Knights..."

A crick pulled at the edge of her glossed lips as she finished her glass, setting it to the side. "At one time, long ago, I took the venom out of their sting."

"Nothing but meta poachers, I thought. That was when they had their little fingers in my network. Nicked three of my best girls."

Her eyes grew distant, reminiscing. "Most cracking metas you'd ever laid eyes on."

"When I learned they had a Queen, well... What happened next..."

A dark look crossed her porcelain features. "I give no excuses. You know how I feel about family."

"You were living peacefully on the seas when the nights of chronic static choked the air. 'Normal' people waking up with crushed lungs, difficulty breathing, unsightly deaths in the hospital. All a side effect by our nightly fights. I wanted to get even with them, take back what they stole from me."

"We pushed them as far as to abandon one of their facilities. Searched that bloody place from top to bottom, but they wiped it clean except for one thing. A message."

The lights flickered, a chilling aura in the air. All jolly and thrill in Lovestreet slowly drained as patrons peeked over their mugs at the dark angel with an expression on her face that would stop the heart.

"My girls. Powerless. Unrecognizable." She closed her eyes, elbow leaned on the wood. "I had to tell their families they died."

Her eyes burned a hole in the wall behind the bartender, recounting the tale. "Our final battle marked an end to the Knights, I made damn sure of it."

"The Queen, she was a psychic. In terms of raw power, super effective, but against me, her powers would tear themselves apart like an atomic bomb in her mind. She fell into a maddening rage, toppling the Knights herself before succumbing to a guilt-ridden coma."

"With the Queen out of commision, I forced the remaining Knights to hand power of the city back to me. No metas went missing for years after that."

A huff of air passed through her nose in short, sarcastic laughter. "Hell. Sunlight touched the streets, for once."

The bartender passed her another drink which she held up, crossing her legs as she mimicked Linus' posture. "But now, you've had the pleasure of meeting their new King who's mobilzed the Knights once again."

Her face crinkled in elegant disgust. "I should have finished them off when I had the chance, but alas..."

"If what you've said is true, the recent disappearances in this city can't be fully blamed on the Hunters, innit?"

She took a sip, eyes looking pointedly at Linus. "And if they're collecting pieces of this machine, it may be related to what happened to my girls all those years ago."

"And if I had to predict what they'll do next, these Knights will cause metas to fall off the map faster than, dare I say, one of your legendary waves.”

”What a time to be alive.” He commented, not a trace of concern or humor on his face. Despite his demeanor, Hel could no doubt see through that cool face better than anyone, and would know he actually did care about the subject. Throughout the years, he was well acquainted with the Valkyries, her people, her family, the people who made this city safer than it used to be. Hearing that they had been run through stuck with him. And the fact that she said she lost her most powerful…He could name a few who might fit the description. He and them went a long way back, to put it lightly.

”That bad, huh?” His voice just a fraction lower from hearing Hel’s story. ”Well, this king ain’t messin’ around. Sounds to me like whatever you did, he took it personally. You’re tellin’ me those girls were powerless when you found them? And I was gone. That don’t add up. What Sunny and her techy friend told me is that machine they’re scheming’ hasn’t been built yet. How’d they take someone’s powers years ago?”

She leaned back in her seat, eyes narrowed like flints of steel.

“Curious, innit? Bloody puzzle. But, my girls told me somethin’... interesting.”

“Phantasm,” she said, “Gets into trouble all the time. Too young for you to have met, but she’s got that fire I like. The kind that makes me think she might run the Valks when I’m gone.”

She took a sip, setting the glass down with a bit more force than necessary. “She saw somethin’. When I caught her doing deals outside, she told me.”

Her black taloned fingers traced on the wood, “Large containers shaped like tubes, and a room filled from top to bottom, more than the eye could see, of nothing other than, as she put it, ‘pickled powers’.”

“I’ll be damned to hell if they’ve had the ability to take a meta’s ability this whole time, but no way to use them ‘till now.”

Rainsinger took her words in. Years of harvesting people, cutting them up and collecting what made them tick, and they were just now getting around using them. How long has it been since he was involved in such schemes? It had been a lifetime ago since Linus stuck his nose into the business of Valkyries and their enemies. In another time, he gave that all up. He decided he was done with fighting over scraps.

Two decades of being a person that fit in with society, living with people who he called friends. He left everything behind for it, and he found what he was looking for. He had a life where he could live rather than survive. He didn’t need Tenebrae anymore.

And yet, there was more to that now. It wasn’t just his life on the line here, not anymore. He could walk away and never come back. But something inside him knew that leaving wasn’t going to happen. Were it not for Hel, or even the old man, Linus would’ve crawled into a hole somewhere and died there. Even before the rest of the old players were worth mentioning, Hel knew him. Linus couldn’t bring himself to leave without doing something about people causing problems for someone who was trying her damndest to give metas a place they never had. He was many things, a criminal, a survivor, a dead man, and more.

He was not a coward who turned his back on people. His people.

”Well, it looks like somethin’s gotta be done about this. I’ve been gone way too long. Listen, I know you’ve got about all the power you could need down here, and I know it’s been a while since I’ve been around. But I ain’t about t’let this slide. Almost wish I came back a little sooner…”

There was a note of genuine sympathy in Linus’ voice, one of sincerity towards an old friend.

”You need any help from an old timer across the sea. Just ask.” He told her, staring straight into those cold eyes of hers.

Hel watched the storm flick across Linus’ face. The seas soothed the man, but she knew nothing could calm the hurricane brewing deep under the surface. Her eyes flicked to the side, talons digging into her palms as they always did when she needed the pain to clarify her thoughts.

“You’ve given me the last puzzle piece I needed, Oshus. I was painfully unaware of the Knights and their damned king working on something this big. The terrorist attacks, the disappearances, higher amounts of black market traffic: it all makes sense now.” she said, eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

“Your girl is still in town, yes? Take her and get out of here. If Astra’s seen you, you’ve been marked. I wouldn’t doubt they have men on their way now to collect what they can before they push their endgame.” Her eyes twisted closed, anger flashing across her face.

Her fingers plucked notes out of the air, pressing $200 on the counter, eyes sizing up the bartender. Today it was the young boy from the night Phantasm had her little ‘off-the-books’ scuffle. “My dear, pocket the extra, and keep hush-hush ‘bout this.”

“Yes ma–” the boy said, hand touching the money before violently recoiling, mouth letting out a strangled yelp as he stared in horror. On appearance, nothing had changed in Lady Hel’s visual except the wilting look in her eyes, her selective phobia at play.

Her eyes closed, shaking her head softly as she turned away from the counter.

“Oshus,” A vampirish look in her eye, feet toward the door. “There’s no time.”

A rare smile crossed her lips. “Be safe, old friend.”

“If we’re gonna have a chance to subvert this and save Tenebrae from her fate, I will need to track down my ace.”

”Haven’t even been here one week and it’s time to get packing. Well, you ain’t wrong…I know a place.” His eyes narrowed at the floor in thought. ”Real far north out of here, edge of Alaska. Been there hundreds of times after I left here. People like us fit in there, a lot.

Linus stood up and followed Hel to the door. ”I’m gonna grab those two and we’re gonna head up there. We’ll lay low. I know the place like the back of my hand- Astra comes up there? He’s dead meat. Everybody and their mother’ll be aiming for his head. We’ll be fine up there, but don’t let me miss the action if you need a hand here.”

”Bastard won’t be able to lay a finger on us if he tries.”

TENEBRAE: The Rebellion of Shadows (Ladies Only)

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______________________________________	Ellie _____________________________________________________________________________________ Tenebrae City The lab ______________________________________________________________________________________

What in the Goddamn?

^{______________________________________________________________________________________}

Everything was fine, they battered everything that stepped to them, and landed in an elevator with a clump of scared-witless scientists. Ellie pressed against the wall with the heart in her hands. She took the time to catch her breath while the Elevator went up. They did it. They got the heart, and they made it to an elevator. That should be the worst of their troubles, right? Right?

Wrong.

Suddenly, everything started shaking, and the elevator stopped moving. Ellie all but lost her footing at the sudden falling sensation they all were no doubt feeling. It was like some angry god had been playing tricks on them, because the next floor was right there. If it were safe, someone could just crawl up through. Hell, the though crossed Ellie’s mind to charge up and just strong-arm the whole damn box long enough that everyone could get out in time. That notion was dashed the second the elevators start moving again, but not before everything went black.

All around her, everything stood still. Like cold, dead air when a wolf is staring at you from behind. Black smoke covered up everything beyond the door of the elevator, and what wasn’t being covered was occupied by someone. No doubt a meta. He wore black, and had a covered face. Was it someone Dream knew? Ellie didn’t have the time to react when her vision blackened as well. A feeling of cold hollowness washed over her. There was no pain, no harm, just quiet absence. It filled the elevator until nothing could be seen. But the light of the floor they plummeted away from.

They fell.

And fell.

And fell.

And then they were free again.

The elevator crashed, yet Ellie only felt like she tripped and hit the sidewalk. The doors were swung wide open, damaged and battered from some sort of impact. She stood up wearily, looking through the doors to see…the sky. Ellie stepped out and saw she was on a rooftop of all places. The sunrise peered in ever so slightly over the horizon. Day was breaking, and they were out of the lab, in the middle of the city, in a busted up elevator. They made it after all, but Ellie was confused.

”What in the…”

”Ellie, where’s the heart?”

Fuck.

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______________________________________	Rainsinger _____________________________________________________________________________________ Tenebrae City The lab ______________________________________________________________________________________

Kader.

^{______________________________________________________________________________________}

Everything was all fine and dandy up until the very moment Rainsinger laid eyes on a silver mask and a black cloak.

As they stood on the rooftop, he searched around for the heart Ellie lost. When that didn’t work, he stood there, staring out at the ocean he came from to think. That mask, the smoke. That wasn’t the first time he saw it, or the second time it ran through his mind…

"I'll admit, I'm nervous that you're here. So, I wanted to approach you directly, and ask you to not get involved in anything that'll 'sink the city', so to speak. Or I'm going to have to deal with it, and I won't want to."

"To put this in a better way, you've come at a critical time. I am days away from completing a certain project that will change the face of the world. There will be a struggle to get there. At present, I can contain it, knowing which metas will be in play."

"You though, are what is known as an alpha-class meta. Something I was not expecting, which is half the reason for our unexpected encounter."

So, it seems that guy wasn’t saving face after all.

”Kader.” He said out loud, in earshot of the other two.

”What?

”You get a good look at that guy before we got murked?”

”Yeah…Black cape, white mask-“

”Smokey scar, curls, and a bootlicking grin underneath.”

”Do you know him?”

”Not quiet, few days ago when I got here, he found me at the boardwalk. Started badgering me about what I was doing here, told me not to get involved in whatever the hell he was planning. Said he’d “deal with it” and such. I laughed him off. Guess he wasn’t fooling around.” Linus stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked over the ledge of the building they were on.

”Said his name was Soliman Kader. He runs some gang called the Shadow Knights.”

Ellie paused for a moment to think. Shadow Knights. Knights… Why did that sound familiar?

”I feel like I should know that one.”

”Yeah- me too. Ain’t the first time I’ve heard that name. Maybe Sparky said somethin’ about it once…”

At the mention of the term Sparky, Ellie’s eyes locked onto him.

”Nah, that’s not it. Damn, where do I know that from?” He started muttering to himself, that was gonna drive him nuts later.

”Well, we’re not gonna figure it out standing here all morning.” Ellie’s boots started to glow faintly as she approached the ledge of the building, not far from Dream. ”Plus, it isn’t like him to not catch up with us. Unless he just couldn’t under there.”

”I’m gonna drop by Hel’s place and see if she knows anything, I sure as hell hope you fried that thing before you lost it.”

”As much light as I shoved in it, if that didn’t work, nothing will.”

They needed to do something about all this. While the confused scientists scrabbled about behind them, they planned ahead.

And to make matters worse, Dream said Takeda wasn’t responding. That didn’t feel good, he had a habit of checking in on them, especially with Dream.”Okay, Dream, follow me, and when we find him we can take it easy at my place later. Linus, you said you’re going to the Valkyries? I’m up in the north side apartments. Ask at the desk.”

”Sure.”

”We might want to lay low once we find out where Takeda went. His phone better just be dead or someone’s getting their ass beat.”

A haze of light was left behind by Ellie, as she dropped from the rooftop with a solid thud. Anyone who looked down would see she landed on her feet, and was making her way up the streets. ”Let’s find him.” She said to Dream as she would’ve made her way down with her. ”Where would he be right now?”

Rainsinger, on the other hand, just vanished.

Later…

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sometime later into the day, maybe half an hour later at least, a certain dead man slipped through the front doors to the Love Street Haven, where Hel caught up with him days ago. Being that Hel came around her in broad daylight, this had to be her territory, she always was fond of that type of mindset. Watching turf like a black widow watches corners of a house. The bar probably hadn’t even been open a whole hour when he arrived.

He went up to the counter and asked the person working behind it. He recognized the girl there, she must’ve worked often. You know where I can find Hel around here? Gotta get ahold of her for somethin’.” A woman of Hel’s status no doubt had little time for this sort of thing, but Rainsinger and Lady Hel went back decades. Something the bartender no doubt noticed the night he talked to her with his tone. To that end, he took a seat and looked around.

”I can wait.”

---

Meanwhile, someone living somewhere half a mile or so from the heart of Valkyrie territory woke up. An old fashioned iPhone alarm shook him from his sleep. Minutes pass, and the shadows of the early morning started dancing around him as he prepared for the days head of him. A pair of shoes floated through the air in the hands of what could only be described as pitch black, three dimensional darkness. The young man’s phone floated over his head in another shadowy hand, as a wall charger was being folded around it. These black, ethereal arms of seemingly nothingness originated from the natural shadow of Jack, who was rummaging through a closet for something to wear. When he pulled a shirt out of there, all of the shadows around him bent inwards to hand him everything they held. Meanwhile, the shadow beneath a desk chair lifted up a darkly colored jacket across the room, which rested itself around him once it made its way over.

Shadows swirled around the room in methodical ways like this for several minutes, grabbing this, that, and anything else relevant. To anyone who might’ve been watching, this light look like a dramatic way for a superhero to suit up with armor, ready to fight a bad guy.

In reality, it was just someone getting ready for school.

TENEBRAE: The Rebellion of Shadows (Ladies Only)

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______________________________________	Ellie _____________________________________________________________________________________ Tenebrae City The lab ______________________________________________________________________________________

3…2…

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That didn’t work.

And to make matters worse, now their plan was derailed, and one of the intruders was dangling Dream over the lava. Ellie’s heart was racing, stress was being put on them to give the heart up. They had to do something, fast. Ellie’s mind was running through through ideas. The heart wasn’t worth Dream’s life. Ellie definitely wasn’t about to sacrifice her to secure this objective. The man was pretty large, a head taller than her, and had to have a lot of strength if he could hold an adult woman over the ledge like that. Linus was behind her, face checking the man with a detonator and obviously failing. Whatever he was saying was being tuned out by Ellie, who was hyper-fixated on getting Dream out of that situation.

”Do it.” Linus said.

Ellie’s head swung back to him in surprise.

”Trust me, just give it to him.”

The tone in his voice was all she needed to hear, for all the animosity Ellie had been harboring over Linus’s return, she couldn’t deny the way they fit together in these kind of scenarios. She held the heart up to her chest in her arms, which were glowing a brilliant gold. Not enough to blind someone, but enough to warrant keeping your distance. Like glowing steel pulled from a forge. She steadily walked up to the man holding Dream from death. The casing of the heart was starting to feel a little warm to the touch.

”Pull her up.” Ellie said in a low energy, demanding voice. ”Pull her up and let her go, and I’ll give it to you.” She glared at him dead in the face, trying to conceal the stinging pain she started feeling in her arms. She was channeling sunlight, ready to flood either him or the heart with it, and it felt like she was about to start burning. That wouldn’t be good, especially underground with seemingly no easy way out. She didn’t have to tell Linus what might happen if she burned up, or even burned out in a time like this. So, she maintained a tense facade, ready for a blast-off like the days of old.

Whenever the man would pull Dream onto her feet, and, god willing, let her walk away, Ellie would slowly hold the heart out, keeping her gaze on the man in case he pulled a gun on either of them. Surely he wouldn’t expect one last trick up here sleeves in a spot like this. Once Dream was out of the way, Ellie made her move. It was as if the sun had fallen into her hands, and threw the three of them a lifeline. Everything came down to this very moment.

As the man reached for the heart, the brilliant glow encasing Ellie’s arms was slammed into the heart as violently and roughly as Ellie could handle, and the resulting strain sent out a very brief flash of light. Like a solar flare, or a bolt of lightning. In that instant, the heart had become engulfed in the glow, all of the energy built up in Ellie’s body over the last several minutes was being compressed and bottled up in the device. Ellie’s intentions were to overload it beyond it’s capacity, hoping with all her being that it would burn up. If there were ever a time for her understanding of meta sunlight to fail, this would be the worst.

And then, she did exactly what they wanted, she gave the man the heart, very profoundly. Raised it over her head and hurled it at him, with all her might, square in his chest with a bright burst of light. Her arms were starting to feel fuzzy, like a hot flash. Most, if not all of the sunlight compressed in the heart would shoot on contact, similar to thermal energy being transferred when you touch cold metal, and into the man’s body. A very, very unpleasant feeling, to be sure. She turned around and shouted directly at Rainsinger, who was about to pull off the best damn clutch of his life.

”NOW!”

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______________________________________	Rainsinger _____________________________________________________________________________________ Tenebrae City The lab ______________________________________________________________________________________

…1, Hail Mary.

^{______________________________________________________________________________________}

”NOW!”

”Tough break, fella.”

The spiraling shield that he’d put up had changed. It was no longer a shield, but a barricade. Linus stretched it out so that it was no more than two and a half feet tall, touching end-to-end with the wall. He then sent it forward, the water barricade slammed forward into the legs and bodies of every Triad member in front of them with the force of a ram. Including the man with the detonator. Anyone standing upright would have their legs swung out from under them and blistered from the sheer impact. Anyone possibly knelt down would have the impact directed more at their bodies, and the feeling would be like being body-slammed by a car. This would not be enough to kill anyone, none of them would break a rib badly enough to puncture a lung for example.

It would, however, knock the wind out of everyone in the hallway that stood in the way of it, as well as knocking them on their faces. Once everyone was flattened, he dove onto the Triad with the detonator, he wanted to tear it out of his hands and hit the deactivation switch. After all, surely these guys at least preferred walking away alive as opposed to nuclear detonation. He never worked on a nuclear sub, but Linus knew water, and it sucked up radiation better than anything on earth. Tenebrae would die of dehydration, radiation sickness, or both. Come to think of it, whoever they were working for would be likely be affected by that as well

Unfortunately, it just disappeared. None of them saw the blinding streak that whipped past them. Whatever it was, it was faster than a shadow, and too blurred for the naked eye to catch.

Did he call the bluff after all? It didn’t matter, it was time to make like a sack of bricks and get the fuck out of here.”Grab that thing and let’s move!” He called to Dream and Ellie, and once one of them picked the heart back up, they stormed their way out, after Ellie stole a handgun off of one of the winded men before they started moving around. The three of them rushed through the halls and corridors of the lab as fast as they could. Water swirled around Rainsinger’s shoulders as it occasionally shot out to bludgeon someone who stood in their path, lab security, Triad gunmen, and so on. If someone got to close, Ellie leapt forward and slugged them across the chin with constant ebbs and flows of golden light through her hands and feet.

”If we can get to that elevator we can get out the way we came in.”

”I’d bet they got the place locked down tighter than that.”

”Everyone down here’s evacuating, they’ve gotta be going somewhere.”

”Sure as hell hope you’re right, kid!”

Just like old times.

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

What Dream witnessed with these two in front of her as they made their escape was unlike anything her impression of Rainsinger could have been when Ellie rushed out of her apartment earlier that day. Ellie made him out to be a menace to Tenebrae in the way she described him, and yet, here the two were, working in tandem in ways most people struggle to. They flowed back and forth around each other like the sun’s rays along the waves of the ocean. Rainsinger and Ellie spoke no words to each other in their mad dash to the exit. No matter how many continued to plague their advance, they simply weaved and danced around their adversaries with skill that commanded respect. Whenever someone would make an advance on Dream, one of them covered her backside so she could make a move safely.

Either Ellie sideswiped a baton-shaking guard, or a barrier of water would emerge in a snap to divide Dream from bullets. It was as if all fear, all tension and anxiousness had been detached from the two. They did not hesitate, they did not flinch. They simply raged against everything that dared to slow them down in their attempt to carry the heart to safety. Linus was not the type for big introductions, and they hadn’t had time to get properly acquainted before now, but Dream had ample evidence in front of her stating these two went back a long, long way.

In another time, circumstances such as these would be met not only with water and light, but with fire and gravity as well. This was not entirely out of Ellie’s comfort zone, she remembers a time when this was commonplace for her, when this teamwork got her companions through another day. Linus, too, never bat an eye at the forces that came to slow them down. In the old days, he and a good friend made places like this look easy. There were few things that stood in the way of people like them, back when Tenebrae knew the names Rainsinger and Sunrider. The old man would’ve been proud.

And so they ran.

And ran.

And ran.

Eventually they finally found a place where they could escape…an elevator, where everyone was evacuating by the dozens.

They caught the door and kept their heads down.

Home free.

TENEBRAE: The Rebellion of Shadows (Ladies Only)

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______________________________________	Ellie _____________________________________________________________________________________ Tenebrae City The lab ______________________________________________________________________________________

Not good…

^{______________________________________________________________________________________}

This was bad to say the least.

Everything fell on them all at once, the ceiling caved in, as armed attackers flooded the area. The hallway was filled with the same men, and to make matters worse, red lasers flicked on them. They were pinned. Ellie’s nerves were on edge, her eyes darted around them, trying to process everything at once. Whoever launched the smoke bombs was either hiding or in the crowd. Out of instinct, her hands lit up enough to throw a few punches, but she stayed crouch down to keep a semblance of cover being Linus’ shield. The attackers outnumbered them at least 20 to 3, there was no observable way they could get out.

"Friends, not sure where you're trying to go, but I think we might be able to help each other."

Thanks, Captain Obvious.

"Hand over the heart, and I can grant you safe passage."

That confirmed what had to be on everyone’s mind, these men weren’t high level security, they had the same goal.

Ellie’s voice dropped to a near whisper as she concealed herself somewhat behind Linus. ”Distract him.”

Linus set to work on striking a conversation with the man who emerged from all the smoke in front of the gunners behind him. He held a remote in his hand, and that needed no thought.

Meanwhile, Ellie turned her attention elsewhere.

”Dream, slowly- slowly move your hands out forward like you’re gonna surrender. When I broke those cuffs, we’re making a beeline for the nearest door we can find.”

"If the heart falls, it'll be destroyed. If you push that, they might back off and we can figure a way out of here."

”There’s no chance they’ll let us out. Look at the guns they brought. You draw, you shoot. Just get ready, when it happens, we aren’t slowing down.”

The entire time, light passively was collecting in her hands.

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______________________________________	Rainsinger _____________________________________________________________________________________ Tenebrae City The lab ______________________________________________________________________________________

Make the play.

^{______________________________________________________________________________________}

”Distract him.”

When the kid had a plan, trust her, he thought.

The man with the ink, who stood tall like he ran the place was in the middle of explaining how the reactor could be blown up when Rainsinger stopped him mid-sentence. ”Nice speech, did you write that down?” You blow that thing, you’re dead, you didn’t swoop in to steal dust. If I knew goons like you were packing, I’d have retired already. Look, you want this little toy we picked up, and we wanna get home.

But the way you’re carrying those guns, big as they are, It don’t look like you want witnesses. It’s smart, really. But you know how you get witnesses taken care of? Risk. Let me ask you something, whoever you are, what’re you getting paid for the box?” He stared the man dead in the face, no less apathetic and collected than the say the King tried to put a leash on him. His voice was raised, and carried a tone that commanded respect and demanded to be listened to.

He was well aware of the gas creeping in them, his shield wouldn’t brush it away, it would just collect it.

”I dunno if you and all these guys are big in Tenebrae, I’ve been out in the world. What’s this heart mean to you? What’s a No-Witness card gonna run you, and what’re you gonna risk for it? Then again, I don’t think you’d have all those toys if your boys weren’t disciplined.”

They raided this lab easier than him and his companions, they meant business. Anyone could see that. His words were unlikely to do anything, but it had to just be enough so Ellie could spin up. ”Do you want to make this ugly? In a lab full of security? The longer we stand here, the longer those guards’ll have to wake back up.”

And so came forth the Hail Mary.

”You went all in when you don’t know your opponent’s hand, and you want to blow up a reactor you’re standing in.

I think you’re scared this ain’t gonna work.”

If this bluff works out, the drinks are on him.

Delbrook Academy High School

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______________________________________	Nora Gales ______________________________________________________________________________________ Location: Lacrosse Field. Interacting With: Eretia Simmons (@Vicier) and Anastasia Hopkins(@MarshiestMallow). ______________________________________________________________________________________

There she is

^{______________________________________________________________________________________}

Nora found herself standing beneath a tree for a considerable amount of time, rather than socializing with people, and running around the lacrosse field during the Welcome Back stuff they had arranged for. She just didn’t feel like it. All the running around and possibly getting sweaty before noon didn’t sound terribly fun. It was the same stuff every year. She was waiting on Tria to come around, they were old friends that go back to their first days of high school, bonding over occult subjects and “satanic” practices, depending on who you asked. No doubt they both had a number of memories of being looked at like a pair of unicorns from time to time.

Nora stayed put, leaning on the tree beneath the shade like that until she spotted someone in the corner of her eye- her other eye- who happened to wave at her. There she was. Tria and Ana! Nora and Ana were somewhat decent friends as well. They bonded over Tria being a mutual friend, who introduced them to each other a couple years ago. They got along well enough, and any friend of Tria was a friend of Nora. Tria was in her cheerleading uniform, so she assumed that’s what she was doing with Ana, they were going over somewhere else, Nora would be right behind them. It had been a while since they saw each other. She could brood under shady trees later.

Nora made her way across the field behind them, slowly catching up by the time they were at the place they were going. Nora looked around at people she had met and no longer talked to, people she’d never seen before getting to know Delbrook for the first time, and more. It felt strange, being back for the last time, she didn’t know which was up around here once, now she’s seeing students who were just like her step onto the grass for the first time. By this time next year, there’d be four grades of students who didn’t know the names of the people her age. She didn’t know how she felt about that, but it was going to happen eventually.

She caught up with them.

”I was wondering when I’d find you.” Nora spoke up, with a rare, warm smile on her face. This girl didn’t smile very often. ”It’s nice to see you two again. Have you seen the others yet?” Contrary to expected belief, Nora had friends. She wasn’t as closed off as one might expect, she was just a bit hard to see through at times, but she enjoyed Tria and Ana’s company.