Chasers115

—(••[ 𝕎𝕀𝕊ℍ𝔼𝔸𝕋𝔼ℝ ]••)—

Mistakes and Messes

Marcus | Emma | Kusari | Lilliana

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𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥. 𝟙𝟜, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝕎𝕚𝕤𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕕, 𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕪𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 / / 𝕋𝕠𝕨𝕟 / / ~𝟙𝟠𝟘𝟘

---

_{Collab with @Chasers115 @Diggerton [@PiercingLight] @Kyrisse}

The ground beneath them exploded, shooting deadly asphalt spikes haphazardly around. The angles jutted out of the ground at irregular angles, with no rhyme or reason to them. It might have actually been an interesting display had it not been trying to kill them at the time. He felt the tentacle pull him closer to Kusari, hugging him in a way that somewhat reminded him of Max.

Of course, this embrace was nothing more than protection, as the gravity field they were in tore them loose, bouncing them up and down on the concrete death traps like a basketball. He felt impacts, most of them muffled slightly by Kusari's body shield, but enough made it through for him to feel the impact against his armor. He didn't notice his armor shudder and shake as it took the hits, his eyes peering over the rest of the spiked area, scanning for teammates.

Lawrence had fallen, that much he knew without seeing him. His strength had returned to him, and he knew what that meant. Somewhere, the guy who seemed the most level headed of them all was bleeding to death again. Off to the side, there was a dragon, which sent a surge of fear through his chest as he struggled to remember the same dragon on the Capture the Flag match.

Siena and Lawrence had been snatched by the dragon. They were safe. Both covered in crimson, but safe. Safe for a few brief moments before they bleed to death - they needed help too. Callan was floating around where the gargoyle had bee-

Her arm was gone.

The absence of Callan's limb numbed his mind, the blood flowing around her floating form, while the pit in his stomach was growing. She was hurt bad - he couldn't even tell how she was looking at this distance. For all he knew she was dead. Like Savannah.

Siena was injured. Lawrence was dying. It was all because of his command. Because he hadn't been as careful as he should have been.

Nonono. Not something he was willing to acknowledge right now.

No sooner had they touched the ground than Marcus had turned to Lily, eyes wide and breath shaky. "Lily; can you heal Callan from here? Siena and Lawrence too? Just..." his eyes flicked to the fallen form of Kusari, where she was regaining her composure. "...you can just transfer the wounds to Kusari, right?"

Lily's looked at Marcus, automatically nodding her head. She was a healer. Of course, she can and will heal her classmates. There was no question about that. And even before Marcus could ask, she could already see... no... she could feel the injuries people had. She turned her head towards Kusari. While transferring injuries was how her power worked, she wasn't so keen on healing classmates just to transfer it to a team mate even though said team mate was practically immortal. She thought back to how she had transferred injuries to her earlier. It was why she now had a tentacle. She remembered the pained look on her face. Pain. Even immortals feel pain. For a moment, she regretted not doing a lot more for the battle. She could have tried better, maybe got there earlier... healed the wounded and transferred the injuries to those that dished them out in the first place.

But then again, this was no time to regret actions she didn't take. She could worry and regret about it all she want later but now, she had to heal people. She could feel one of her classmates growing weaker by the second, she could almost hear how weak his heart beat was already.

The black thread appeared on her wrist even before she could think of anything else, the other end of it flying towards her target. As soon as it wrapped around Lawence's wrist, his wounds transferred automatically to the small X-marked blonde. Maybe I can tolerate the wounds until someone can come to help. Christmas, maybe. I don't have to transfer any of them and Kusari won't have to-- her thoughts were interrupted as she received the chest injury. "Ugh," the pain in her chest was so excruciating that she couldn't even cry out. Blood pooled beneath the wishalloy that she wore around her body, staining her clothes crimson. Having the wishalloy there partly provided pressure to the wound to slow down her blood loss though. She staggered forward and fell to her knees, one hand pressed to her chest.

Fighting to stay focused despite the pain that was dulling her thoughts and making the voices in her head scream for death and destruction, she sent her thread back out, this time heading for Callan. She braced herself for another horrible injury. In a blink of an eye, the hand that she was pressing against her chest along with her whole arm was gone, the wishalloy she had wrapped around it still shaped like her arm. A claw mark appeared on her cheek and she began having a bit more problem with breathing. She whimpered in pain, her now foggy mind registering her mistake as she looked through tear filled eyes at the bloody stump visible through the transparent material of her strange armor.

She should have taken the less severe injuries first. She pressed her remaining hand to her chest.

And let the boy die. Why not? It's not as if he's family. The loudest voice of her stigma cackled cruelly in her head.

You're right. Lawrence would die if I take his injuries last, she thought, rendering the cruel voice silent. No. I can't complain. I can take this. For what I did to those people in Ground Zero, I should endure. She gritted her teeth as each breath brought pain shooting in her chest. And as if punishing herself, she immediately sent the black thread out again, this time taking Siena's injuries. She took everything, from the smallest to the largest injuries and she slowly laid down on the ground.

As new pain barraged her senses, the old ones dulled and she no longer registered how many bleeding wounds she took into herself. Her mind became chaotic, the voices taking over.

Hurt them all. Make them feel the pain they're making you feel.

Pain. Destruction. Death.

Remember what I said, I'm pretty sure I was placed on this team for a reason, Kusari's words echoes somewhere in the chaos of Lily's mind. Yes, she was immortal, she can heal any injury. There was really no sense trying to bear it all by herself. She struggled to sit up, using the pain to focus her mind. She just had to transfer what she took. Nothing more. Kusari wasn't a monster she wanted to hurt.

Is she not? came the taunting voice in her head. Look at her.

No. The small blonde trained her unfocused eyes towards Kusari. "I'm sorry," she apologized through gritted teeth in a small, weak voice and the thread that seemed to be the conduit of her power wrapped around her wrist and her team mate's, transferring the minor cuts and Siena's two bleeding wounds.

Transfer everything. Transfer more, came that ever present voice. And it took all of Lily's effort not to give in to it. Instead, she laid back down on the ground and closed her eyes, keeping her remaining hand pressed against her chest wound, the stump of her right arm continually bleeding. "Not all. Not all," she chanted softly to herself.

Emma's mind felt empty. Ever since Kusari had set her down she hadn't said a word, instead choosing to take the moment to rest. Watching everything... Callan's arm, god, her arm, Lawrence, Siena, all her friends dying out there while she stood useless... at least they had won the battle. At least they had done their job.

Did we really win, though?

It just didn't sit right. Especially now, watching Lily... she was glad that she was able to heal the others, but what an awful power it was. Emma knew she wouldn't be able to do it. Emma wanted to do something for her, comfort her, tell her it was going to be okay, but... well, Emma wasn't sure that's what she'd want to hear right now.

No, Emma just kept on watching.

Her wounds having fully healed, Kusari stood to her feet and looked back to Lily, she was the linchpin of this whole encounter. No one had to die if she could heal them in time. She watched Lily as she took the first injury from Lawrence. The wound hit her harder than Kusari thought it would, there was so much blood gushing out of her. "Lily, do it." She insisted, watching the girl suffer like this wasn't exactly pleasant. However, instead of transferring the wound, Lily took on more. An arm came off, and many cuts appeared over her body. "H-hey, what did I tell you?" Kusari held out her hand, moving it like a loan shark asking for their money.

A black thread moved to Kusari, and she braced herself for an onslaught of pain. But the most that appeared were minor cuts and gashes. Kusari blinked at Lily in confusion. She'd seen her power work before, there was no reason she couldn't transfer it all.

"What the hell are you doing?" Kusari asked, on the brink of yelling. "You have one damn job, what's so hard about this? What, you think I can't handle it?" Kusari brought her claws to her now exposed midriff. She scraped the claws across her skin, shredding it into a bloody mess. "Do you need proof? Here it is." She said, her voice raising. "This is why I'm here Lily, are you trying to say I'm not needed!?" Kusari was screaming at this point. She didn't understand why Lily was doing this, did she just not care about her life? It was idiotic, if she couldn't take on their pain then what purpose did she have?

Marcus gasped and knelt down to Lily as she hit the ground. Her shirt was oozing crimson at an alarming rate, and she hadn't even taken the other wounds yet. Then her arm disappeared, and then her body tore open with numerous gashes. It was too much, she was taking too much. He looked over at Kusari, mentally preparing to watch her arm come off as well.

The fact that it didn't was scarier than if it had.

She wasn't transferring all the wounds, just the smallest ones. His head whirled around to look at the transparent outline of where her arm used to to be; like some invisible glove, filling with red. He shouldn't have made her take all the wounds, just a few of them, keep everyone alive until Christmas could get to them.

"Oh shit." Marcus frantically patted down his belt, looking for something he could use to patch her up, his hand grasping around the hilt of the combat knife they'd all been given. Lily was losing blood fast - if she went into shock or passed out...

More mistakes. Another life for his consience.

He went to cut his left sleeve off, stymied by the slight shimmer that appeared as he brought the knife closer. Grunting in frustration, he brought it down to the bottom of his already damaged shirt, easily cutting through the fabric. Somewhere, Kusari was yelling, but he wasn't paying attention.

He tore the bottom strip off, letting the knife drop to the ground and grabbing what was left of Lily's arm. A firm knot, just above the wound; that was one of the things Max had told him about her first few days of training. They'd learned all sorts of survival skills, and she'd done her best to pass them along to him. He tied the makeshift torquinet around the stump, pulling on the knot as hard as it would go.

"Lily! he said, his voice growing ever more frantic. Her chest wound was still bleeding quickly. "Listen to me, Lily. You've gotta transfer those wounds over to Kusari, okay?"

Unfocused eyes turned towards Marcus. Amidst the chaos in her mind, she could hear her immortal team mate shouting. "I will. Don't worry. I can... endure it. I just...don't want Kusari to have to...bear so much when..." she paused, trying to ignore the pain that seemed to come from everywhere on her body. "When she's already taken so much injuries earlier." She closed her eyes for a minute. "I'm not saying you're not needed. Had to make sure... you've healed properly first," she said in a soft voice, barely above a whisper but clearly addressing Kusari.

She wants to be hurt. Hurt her. Transfer everything. Transfer MORE. Show her how much you NEED her, the voice in her head was gleeful. Pain. Destruction. Death, it chanted in a singsong manner.

For a moment, a malicious look came over Lily's golden eyes. She trained them on Kusari and the edges of her mouth twitched. Focus, Lily, came her own voice in her head. Focus. Marcus was right. She was getting dizzier the more blood she lost. It was impossible to try to hold on when she can feel herself slowly slowly drifting. The pain was no longer there and the desire to close her eyes and sleep was getting more and more overwhelming. Not more than what you took. Not more than what you took, she chanted firmly in her head. She was feeling a little cold.

Pain. Destruction. Death, the other voices chanted.

He placed his hands over the crimson spot, moving her hand out of the way for both of his. Was she getting cold, or was his panicked mind imagining the worst case scenario?

"Focus on me, Lily." he continued, his voice just above a whisper as he applied pressure. "You've got to transfer them right now."

Marcus' voice was helping keeping her awake. She focused on it and ignored the other voices that seemed to be shouting in her head now.

The black thread that signalled her power's activation appeared on her wrist and connected with Kusari's. As soon as it touched her team mate's wrist, Lily's chest wound instantly healed and her arm appeared as though it hadn't been severed in the first place. She was breathing normally again. The strand connecting them quivered, as if waiting for more, asking for more. For a moment, Lily hesitated and almost gave in to the stigma egging her to cause more pain to her target.

She looked at Marcus, golden eyes almost pleading for help. But what help could he give? He didn't know what the voices were saying. He didn't know what she wanted to do, what she was denying herself. He didn't know that trying to control that destructive impulse was harder than having to endure the pain flesh wounds gave her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. HURT HER.

One.

Make her see that she's not immortal.

Two.

KILL HER.

Three.

When she opened her eyes, the thread dissipated. And her mind was filled with wails of fury. She reached up, grabbed her head and squeezed her eyes closed. "Stop it. Stop it."

—(••[ 𝕎𝕀𝕊ℍ𝔼𝔸𝕋𝔼ℝ ]••)—

Marcus Upgrade! Because damn I love the bandwagon!

Marcus can make people completely stop for a minute, during which he cannot use his other powers. It's updated on his CS if people want specifics.

—(••[ 𝕎𝕀𝕊ℍ𝔼𝔸𝕋𝔼ℝ ]••)—

Mistakes and Messes

Marcus | Emma | Siena
Kusari | Allison

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𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥. 𝟙𝟜, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝕎𝕚𝕤𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕕, 𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕪𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 / / 𝕋𝕠𝕨𝕟 / / ~𝟙𝟟𝟝𝟝

---

_{Collab with @Chasers115 @Diggerton @PapiTan [@PiercingLight] @VarionusNW}

A solid hit. The soft shuddering of the man's head seemed to reasonate up Marcus's weapon and into his arm, giving him a disturbing sense of the impact. He was cold, and he could see the crystalline structures starting to form on him. His body was freezing, growing stiffer as he looked the man in the face, preparing for another swing.

A crack of thunder, and a bolt of lightning traveled through his arm. He could already feel the warm blood starting to collect, doing its best to stave off the frost, but unsuccessful. Static again, as he found himself a few steps back, the bullet wound having closed itself completely. A strange emptiness filled his mind - he was defenseless for now, no safeguards if something happened.

The welcome sound of the heavy vehicle lurching forward, and proceeding to speed off. They were safe - he'd done his job.

Everything after that happened so fast. The sound of bone crunching and flesh splitting again. By this point, he understood the implications. His head turned to find the source, immediately spotting the old man who'd come out with him.

He hadn't even learned his name

He felt weightless again, there was screaming, everything seemed to be moving in slow motion, as if they were underwater. The ice was beginning to crawl across his body, and he was ready for it. He spied another figure - Siena. This was wrong; she wasn't supposed to be here. Another one followed - Sander. He was supposed to be helping Callan take care of Factory.

Loud sounds, spikes, crunching, blood. Marcus floated helplessly as the frost disappeared. A monster had saved him...no...Sander had saved him. Another person he'd dragged into this. Someone else at danger because of his failures.

Almost on cue, Marcus caught a floating body out of the corner of his eye. Lawrence, who he'd failed twice. He was bleeding to death, and there was nothing Marcus could do as he floated. He had to help...there had to be something...

---

Weightlessness. Fear. A strange absence of pain again, despite his charred body. His bones were whole, his body burned, but not shredded. The world spun outside a cracked a windscreen. The horizon was different; none of the ruined mess he remembered. None of the destruction or devastation that so frequently plagued his nightmares. The only thing he saw were shadows, twisting, turning, always right-side up despite his tumbling.

Constantly changing shapes, which seemed all too familiar to him. People? A person? A well-known stranger, a face that he recognized but forgot. It was big, whoever it was. So big he could barely see it. He knew what it meant, but the meaning was lost. A promise – a solution to the problem before him.

The shapes shattered with the windshield, as if they’d been printed on the inside of it. It was all confusingly obvious, though the thoughts were lost as the ground rushed up to meet him.

---

...Maybe there was something he could do.

"Emma!" he shouted, suddenly filled with a burning strength. "Push him over to me!" he guestured to Lawrence as he shouted. Like a perverse balloon, he floated, but all Marcus had to do was get close enough...

Emma's world was spinning. She didn't want to move. She didn't want to fight. She just wanted this to be done with. She heard Marcus's words, perceived them, spinning around to face both him and the floating corpse of Lawrence... no, not quite a corpse, Emma realized. She'd thought he was dead but there was a faint sparkle of life in his eyes. It took her a moment, but she complied, pushing her dying roommate towards Marcus, in the same move floating away in the opposite direction. Maybe Marcus would be able to save him, but she didn't dare to hope.

Lawrence's body rotated slowly as it moved towards Marcus, the previously congealed and slowly freezing blood now streaming from the wound again and curling upwards in ribbons and rivulets.

Giving up on Siena at the moment, the blonde Aberration raised three spikes, one for each person within her focal point: Marcus, Emma, and Lawrence. The rising stakes of asphalt branched outwards into thinner, longer spikes as it grew, and even those branches extended further, the fine points becoming dangerously needle-thin as it approached their increasingly higher positions in the air.

There were a series of blessings that had managed to rescue Siena time and time again in a short period. The first of which was the mere presence of the Wishalloy when one of the unknowns had ended up trying to impale her with spikes. A few cuts, a few more stinging sensations that were dull compared to the pain she'd amplified in the ones already on her arm--far from it, really. They buzzed with an itch that was a step down from legitimate pain in comparison, far less than the pain of hitting the ground yet again.

She was getting tired of being pushed around.

But that thought was barely able to complete itself before she was acutely aware of the feeling of the earth trying to raise beneath her, only to suddenly cease as a series of events transpired in rapid succession. Movement, squealing tires, the burning from her own injuries cutting out to their original levels of pain as Vale's name faded from her. The expected spikes never came to pierce through her--another blessing (wasn't it...?).

The end result of it all was...floating. Weightless floating that bode badly for most people. With her phone still clutched in a vice grip--another sensation of discomfort a step below pain. She must have been gripping too hard--it was easy enough for the mage to work out her next plan of action...but with the hostile subnatural's ability, the risk of drawing a mark's name was too risky. Screaming into a megaphone would have been less obvious.

Again, the thought didn't get to fully clear before another few hidden blessings arrived. Sander first, giving Siena enough time to begin putting the wheels of her plan in motion. Enough time to pull up the source, enough time to begin drawing the name.

Fortunate for her, really, that there were evidently bigger threats than her.

All he needed was a spark, one sign that his teammate was still breathing. A short glimmer of hope as he came spiraling towards Marcus like a lazy football throw. Time was the enemy here, but the burning feeling inside him told him that he had a weapon against such an enemy.

He reached out, and barely tapped Lawrence as his body approached. It was a slight touch, but it was enough. The blood stopped flowing. As a matter of fact, Lawrence stopped completely, his body shimmering and artifacting like a badly damaged DVD. Marcus's strength had left him, but it might have been enough to help at this moment. He'd stolen Lawrence's time, but if those paused seconds kept him from bleeding out, it was worth it.

While Lawrence was still, Marcus took the opportunity to grab him, using him as a makeshift anchor in the reversed gravity. It wasn't perfect, and he didn't have the most cover from the approaching thorns, but he held on anyway.

The spreading spikes reached them just as Marcus took cover behind Lawrence, tips shattering against the immovable student frozen in time. Meanwhile, the main spike narrowly missed Emma in her slow backwards trajectory, but its thin branches caught up her clothes and hair, reaching out with sharp point to pierce the unprotected skin of her face and upper neck. The wishalloy prevented any further damage, but that only made the spikes protrude around her like a cage.

By the time Siena managed to pull her mark, things had begun to quickly go downhill. Eyes now golden with a familiar name behind them, her mind began to fire a thousand thoughts a second. What should she do? Obviously, she had to help Emma and Marcus and...Lawrence--was that his name?--but with so many spikes, so little space to be precise...and even if she got them out of harm's way, the subnatural was only going to have more opportunities to create the deadly spires.

'So kill her.'

That...that wasn't her.

But Victor Vale had left his mark. Left it just like he had the first time, the second time...the fifteenth, the sixteenth. Blotted out the feel-good bullshit with a black marker and left only the thoughts that mattered. No fear, no guilt, just a hollow sensation that craved to be filled with a goal, and it was easier to make that goal vengeance and frustration than anything else in the moment. Someone was going to do it in the end either way, right?

”Shit, shit, shit, shit…”

The words came out of her mouth in between strained breaths, panic setting in as the spikes suddenly forced her to turn her attention to the battle around her. Luckily the Wishalloy had prevented the brunt of the damage., although Emma was vaguely aware of the fact that Hazel’s armor wasn’t faring nearly as well, holes piercing through it and moving through to shred the clothing underneath. As she struggled to escape the grasp of the spike’s she realized that they’d formed a makeshift prison around her, digging slowly into her face. A series of screams escaped her mouth, franticaly hoping that one of the others would stop the enemy mage.

A scream--it was hard to identify voices when they were in that state--tore through the air, brutally calling Siena's attention like a foghorn. If she didn't do it, someone else would...or perhaps she was concerned about her peers? Well...no, that wasn't exactly accurate either, was it? Wishing that she still had Vale's powers at her disposal to root her determination, the girl could do little more than feel a flicker of gratitude for how efficiently his name had muted the things that would have made her falter.

She didn't want to hear the screaming again.

The smell of sulfur assaulted her senses, punctuating the churning in her stomach that made her wish she had eaten something more substantial before they were shipped off to battle. Reappearing with a telltale bamf behind the subnatural, Siena reached for anything she could grab hold of. Hair, clothing, skin, anything.

Her hand caught hold of a blonde ponytail and the Aberration spun around, ready to attack again as the spikes near Emma and Marcus receded slowly from the loss of concentration.

There was a part of her that was frightened. Not of the fact that she was engaging against a human being with intentions of physical harm, but of the fact that she was aware of the urge to crack a faint smile at succeeding in the first step. This...this wasn't her, right? With years of pulling on her own hair ruthlessly, Siena was more than aware of how to tighten her grip with a slight twist of her wrist and a brutal tug. It was harder to find satisfaction without feeling, hearing the singing pops of some strands snapping under the duress.

And knowing she had enough purchase, Siena dragged the blonde with her into her next jump, the brunette's focus bringing her toward the source of the earlier scream. No matter how the girl tried to explain it, that terrible noise had come from one of her teammates.

And she was going to make this bitch pay.

(Not her...)

In the time since she'd first awakened to her power, so to speak, Siena had effectively taken the names of at least seven different teleporters. The one she'd always felt most at home with was Nightcrawler, Kurt, whatever iteration she took. That was why she'd...practiced, she supposed. Never anything as major as a jump to another continent--too scary, far too scary--but when the location could be seen...

BAMF!

All she had to do was get close enough to get the hostile stuck in her own creations.

The spikes shattered against Lawrence, the sudden makeshift shield being a pleasant side effect of his new power. He was safe for now, but the screams of someone nearby informed him that someone else wasn't.

Emma

Another solution. Another idea that could go poorly if things went wrong. So many variables; so many outcomes that didn't look good to him. But he had to help. Emma meant more to him than he did, so he had to try.

He squirmed around Lawrence, like a spider, positioning himself on Lawrence's back and steadying himself against the 'anchor'. Lawrence was his platform now, his shield against plunging into the clouds.

He readied himself, aiming carefully. One shot. Aim a little lower on the spikes to account for pull.

He leaped, launching himself upside down towards Emma's spire. The ground above him seemed so far away, and missing this would mean a possibly infinite fall into the sky below.

One shot.

Up until now the voices being transmitted to her had gone mostly unnoticed by Kusari. It seemed like someone's channel was constantly open, causing ambient sounds of conflict to reach her ears. While she couldn't make out what people were saying, there was one thing she understood, the screaming. Her pace quickened, she would reach the scene before Lily and Allison but that was probably for the best. Whatever was happening there must be dangerous, Lily could come in once things calmed down.

She rounded a corner, and her senses were overloaded. Spikes jutting out of the ground, people and everything else not attached to the ground floating in the air. As she was still moving forward she entered the anti-gravity field, before she floated away she slammed her right foot to the ground, anchoring herself in place. Okay, okay, okay, what's happening? FOCUS. She looked around frantically, trying to piece together the scene as quickly as she could.

She recognized everyone here but three people, one was somehow not floating like the others. So she's making everything float. Zoe had managed to grab a hold of the girl, if she remembered Zoe's magic correctly that was basically checkmate. She couldn't hear what she was saying, but considering the girl wasn't melting like the wicked witch she had to assume Zoe was trying to get her to lower the others. There wasn't much she could do over there. Her eyes moved to a winged monster. For a moment she thought it was one of Dreamcatcher's creations, but looking closer it appeared to be a mage, and dead. Nothing to do there. Looking up at one of the spires she saw Emma trapped in a cage of thin spikes. Marcus was floating towards her, but could he do anything about the cage?

Kusari decided on her action. Wrapping her tentacle around the spire holding Emma she pulled herself closer to it. The surface felt like a cactus, but considering the pain she'd felt before, the pricks to her tentacle weren't too bothersome. Her right foot landed on it's surface, and her claws cut into it. Using her right hand as well she quickly climbed upwards until the cage around Emma was right in front of her. She carefully cut the thin spikes apart, and grabbed Emma by the arm. "Hold onto me." Kusari said, placing Emma's arm around her shoulders.

She then looked to Marcus, who was getting nearer. It was simple enough to just grab him out of the air using her tentacle. As she started to climb back down she suddenly noticed the exact state the others were in. Sander seemed fine, but Lawrence was frozen in the air as if he were in some sort of stasis? Savannah was up in the air not moving, but she didn't see any blood so Kusari assumed she was simply unconscious Callan was missing her damn arm. "I would really like an explanation for all of this later." She said, as her feet touched the ground. She dug her right foot's sharp edges into the ground to keep from floating up again.

Another monster on the field. Marcus's heart nearly stopped in his chest as he saw it climbing towards Emma. Although, after a shameful amount of time, his heart slowed back to normal as he recognized the figure. Kusari, in all her tentacled, raptor-leg glory.

Salvation, in the form of a giant tentacle snatching him out of the air. Perhaps he'd been wrong about only having one shot - a thought process that was redundant now that they were safely on the ground.

Emma winced as she was pulled from the cage. She had seen Marcus flying towards her, but it was Kusari that had freed her. Emma remained wordless as they floated down to the ground. She heard Brent’s words, but frowned in response. She was useless, again and the fact that Brent apparently believed in her despite everything stung.

Her hand found her phone. ”Sorry, but…”

Make up a lie, say something, don’t let them know Emma hesitated for a moment, ”I’m out of power. I can’t do anything.” the lie came out easy. Not exactly a lie, just an omission of a truth she didn’t want others to know.

Now she turned to Kusari. ”Thanks, Kusari.” another uncomfortable moment of silence. ”Like I told Brent, I can’t do anything anymore… I’m… I’m sorry I can’t help.”

Kusari almost wanted to ignore Emma, she really was not fond of humoring self pity. "If you have a working pair of arms and legs, then you aren't useless. Get your act together." She said.

Welcome to hell, Allison Revel.

Allison Revel ran after Kusari as fast as she could, Lilliana close behind, the sounds of the battle becoming more clear as they aproached. Allison came to a halt at the edge of a glowing pillar of yellow light. Everything inside of it was floating, including a large number of her fellow students.

Kusari was bringing Marcus and Emma to the ground, Lawrence was seemingly frozen in time, Zoe was grabbing onto a girl who seemed to be the source of the yellow pillar, and Callan was missing an arm. Everything had gone to shit, as per usual.

"Lily," Allison's voice came out cold and sharp, just loud enough to be heard over nearby screaming, "Transfer Callan's wounds to the girl Zoe is with." The brunette didn't wait for Lilliana to respond, and instead dived into the anti-gravity field, floating towards Kusari. "Kusari, we need to get everyone to the ground, they're going to fall any minute now!" Though still cold, there was more urgency in her voice now as she shouted at the tentacle-armed girl.

"Hold on, we don't want her going into shock or bleeding out while they're still up there." Kusari said to Allison, who had jumped into the anti-gravity field without a thought. "Lily, you can transfer the wound to me, we need to help Lawrence too, what's with his body anyway?" She asked, looking back at the boy's flickering form.

"He's frozen. I didn't know how else to help him..." Marcus softly stammered, clearing his throat and continuing with a little more confidence. "He's bleeding out pretty quickly, so as soon as that wears off, you're going to need to heal him too." he said, turning to Lily and the girl he'd never seen before. A familiar face, one he'd try to remember a little harder after all was said and done.

—(••[ 𝕎𝕀𝕊ℍ𝔼𝔸𝕋𝔼ℝ ]••)—

Evac Team

Lawrence | Marcus | Savanna | Sophia

---

𝕄: 𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥. 𝟙𝟜, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝕎𝕚𝕤𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕕, 𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕪𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 / / 𝕋𝕠𝕨𝕟 / / ~𝟙𝟟𝟜𝟝

---

_{Collab with @VampireOracle @Chasers115 @Baklava}

Marcus stood by the APC's back door as Lawrence loaded up their current cargo. He was one of the people who gasped in surprise; Halvost Team had done quite a number on the poor guy. His mind flicked to Ernie - the source of Xmas's beaten and bruised face. He wouldn't do this sort of thing without a reason...would he?

For now, he was forced to assume that there was a method to the apparent brutality. Whatever had gone down to leave the captive in this state, Marcus had to think that Ernie was in the right. Still, he couldn't shake the slight sliver of doubt from his mind. Perhaps there'd be questions later.

The ground shuddered underneath them, throwing Marcus slightly off balance as he righted himself. As he held up his hand to protect his eyes from the cloud of dust that billowed over them, he found himself hoping that the tremor signaled something good for their little group.

The next series of actions happened so quickly. The new survivors, the 'nothing' behind Lawrence, and the immediate ambush. He stared wide-eyed at Lawrence as he rose into the air, his brain beginning to piece together the situation.

As suddenly as the realization hit him, a spike of asphalt jutted into Lawrence's body. His own mind recoiled, ears becoming deaf to the sounds of the passengers screaming. From his position behind Lawrence, he could see that the damage was bad. If he wasn't dead yet, Lawrence probably would be soon, unless he helped.

But he couldn't help. There were three subnaturals facing them - no way they could stand up to that kind of enemy by themselves. Trying to help their fallen teammate was basically suicide at this point. Not only suicide for themselves, but the death of all the passengers in the APC. They had to leave him behind.

He couldn't help Lawrence when the dog jumped him, and he couldn't help him now either.

Whipping the pistol from his belt, Marcus took only a brief moment to try and steady his aim, letting off a shot at the closest mage, before diving into the APC, slamming the doors behind him. The black haired girl tried to duck the shot, but swore loudly as the bullet grazed her shoulder.

"GO!" Marcus shouted, the panic in his voice clearly evident. Yet, even as he shouted the order, he could see the driver rushing around the side of the vehicle.

No, no, no no. This was bad. They were stuck. What he had thought was protection was actually just them locking themselves in a trap. Their only way out of this was if the driver heard him after he launched over the bench and began pounding on the window.

But it was too late. The soldier leveled his rifle at the trio as he came around the corner and spotted Lawrence's prone position. He immediately bent his knees and took a step back-- prepared to use the truck as cover. Through the window, Marcus could only watch as a metal spike shot out from the side of the APC, piercing straight through his Kevlar vest. Pinned in place, he lifted his head in agony and gave a wet shout just before the young Middle Eastern man fired a round into soldier's face.

"Jesus," Dean growled through his teeth. Lauren gripped his arm tightly, her complexion pale like most of the others in the trucks.

"What are we gonna do?" the brown eyed girl looked to Marcus with exasperation, "We're sitting ducks in here!"

Throughout the arrival of the trio and their attack on Lawrence and the driver, Sophia remained motionless in her seat. Only a gasp escaped her when Lawrence was lifted up into the air, the rest of the time she remained tense with eyes wide, gaze darting from place to place as she realized they had no where to go. She didn't need to see the faces of the people around her or the blood to understand what was happening, and her imagination filled in the parts she could not see.

It filled in what she could not see too well, in too much detail. A faint ringing had begun in her ears when Lawrence went down, getting louder as her heartbeat quickened when the soldier was killed. Killed. Who could have survived that?

She didn't want to see the motionless bodies of the two men for any longer. Bending over and resting her forearms on her legs, she put her head between her shaking hands. Attempts at taking deep breaths soon followed as she tried unsuccessfully to stop her heart and mind from racing.

His blood ran cold as the metal from the APC shot through the driver like he was made of butter. When his head exploded, Marcus looked sharply to the ground, his body growing shakey. His mind raced, trying to come up with some sort of plan. But there was none; at least, none that ended well for him or the occupants of the vehicle.

There was one thing he could do...but...

A soft sigh. Preparation for the inevitable.

He turned to the man with the shotgun, holding his hand out expectantly. "I've got a plan, but I need your gun." he said, his fearful words becoming forceful.

"As soon as that door opens, I'll take out whoever's there and try to get the other two. I might be able to keep their attention on me for a little bit. Someone needs to hop out and get into the driver's seat to get you guys out of here."

"That's it?" the one eyed man queried as the man in the green hat handed over his shotgun with a curt nod.

"Don't you have a superpower or something?" the girl pressed.

"Don't pressure the boy," the older man cut in, getting up from his seat as he drew his pistol. "I'll help. I may look old, but I'm a good shot," he insisted, "Dean-- you're probably the quickest one here."

The man didn't seem too happy with the plan, but nodded nonetheless. He quickly moved towards the doors, waiting behind Marcus and the old man.

The voices of Marcus and the people around her seemed distant, but nevertheless Sophia caught the plan. What was supposed to be a good and working plan but probably was not. Listening to the people get in position, she couldn't help but lift her head up and shift so she could see where they were waiting. As much as she didn't want to see... at the same time she needed to see what was going to happen. It was scary not to know what was happening.

Be careful. Useless wishes. How could one be careful and stay safe in this situation? She wasn't doing anything to help either.

Marcus sighed. It wasn't a perfect plan. It wasn't even a good plan. But it was all they had left. He'd messed up time and time again, and had backed themselves into a corner. Maybe if he'd done something about the dog, Lawrence would have had enough alloy to not get speared. Maybe if he'd done anything other than jump back in the APC, they'd already be gone.

He had a superpower, the only reason he might get to see tomorrow if this all played out well. The only one he could protect was himself. He gave the old man a thankful nod, checking the shotgun and readying himself. A mournful glance to Savanna and Sophia that said more than he could.

His finger nervously shook as he held it near the trigger, aiming at the doors.

One thing he could do...but...he'd felt this feeling before. A sinking feeling of despair in his gut.

He wasn't ready.

Interaction Tags

I'm too lazy to go through and tag everyone: Lawrence's cuff is transmitting right now, so give it a read, figure out which bits you want to hear. Add to post. Bake at 450 degrees for 7.3 minutes.

—(••[ 𝕎𝕀𝕊ℍ𝔼𝔸𝕋𝔼ℝ ]••)—

Evac Team

Lawrence | Marcus | Savanna | Sophia

---

𝕄: 𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥. 𝟙𝟜, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝕎𝕚𝕤𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕕, 𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕪𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 / / 𝕋𝕠𝕨𝕟 / / ~𝟙𝟟𝟜𝟘

---

_{Collab with @VampireOracle @Chasers115 @Baklava}

Marcus stopped in the doorway just in time to notice two things. The first was Savannah apparently blowing up Lawrence; something he would have been way more upset about were it not for the fact that Lawrence seemed minimally affected, and the second thing he had noticed.

A creature that Marcus could only assume was a Collector, stopped in the street. There was no doubt in his mind that they'd been noticed. Which meant they needed to leave immediately.

But they certainly couldn't leave without the people hiding in the basement. But that thing was far too close for them to be able to get everyone loaded and gone. But they couldn't just leave the group to die, or whatever the thing would do when it found them.

Too many 'but's and 'if's were floating around in his head right now. Indecision had lead to Lawrence's injury, and he wasn't going to let anybody else get hurt by standing in place processing the situation.

Without waiting for Lawrence's instructions, Marcus bounded back across the room to the door, hammering on it with his fist.

"Marcus here! It it time to go! NOW!"

Once again, things were happening too quickly. She watched from inside the truck as a rolling car, running man, and a giant clockwork creature came into view. She agreed with Savannah, the man needed help. But she also agreed with Lawrence. They needed to stay in the truck because they couldn't do anything against the Collector, no matter how much she too wished that something could be done. Their team hadn't even been able to deal with an already injured dog by themselves, how could they deal with this giant?

But Sav hadn't listened, and now Lawrence was on the pavement... and the Collector had stopped it's pursuit of the man. Maybe the man would be safe now, but only because now their team was in danger instead. Taking advantage of Sav's frozen state, she jumped out of the truck and took a hesitant step towards her while still remaining near the truck. "Sav, come on," she said in a loud whisper, gesturing back towards the truck and then towards the Collector as she spoke. "The man's already gone, see? Maybe we can find him later, but for now we need to get out of here!"

Savannah nodded stiffly as Lawrence got back to his feet. "I'm sorry," she said into her hands as she moved past Sophia, rushing into the truck. Lawrence said nothing as he motioned for Sophia, Dean, and Lauren to follow suit.

Too far away to hear anything else, the Collector resumed its pursuit of the man.

By the second knock, the basement door flew open. The man in the green cap nodded curtly, calling out to the others, "Come on! Hurry!"

The blonde woman and raven haired teen followed after him first, each carrying one of the children, while the two other men brought up the rear. As the last survivor climbed into the APC, the sound of wreckage and a desperate scream signalled that the chase had come to an end.

"Drive! Now!" said Lawrence sharply, closing the door as the group sped off towards the point marked on the map by the Halvost Team.

Bringing up the back of the group as they piled into the APC, Marcus was relieved to see that the Collector was not immediately barreling down on him. He was more than prepared to find that they were seconds away from driving without the full group, but was happy to find that not being the case.

He tried not to think about how happy he was someone else had been killed, and not any of their group.

"Everyone alright?" Marcus asked, looking around the vehicle, giving Lawrence a deliberate glance as he did so.

Sophia had heard that scream. That person was not alright because, well... so much for picking him up later. Her gaze wandered over to the children in the truck, and she couldn't help but wonder how many loved ones that man had left behind. Or perhaps those close to him had already died?

Marcus's voice brought her back to the present, and she nodded weakly. "Yeah," she whispered. Realizing that she could now use her power once more, she turned it back on. "I uh, power. On." Time to try and make herself useful again.

Lawrence merely glanced at Marcus before returning his attention to his communicator, checking the map for any changes. The others nodded, some staring out the window at the looming Collector in the distance as they sped away.

Everyone was fine, everything had turned out okay. Savannah seemed to be taking her earlier action with no small amount of regret, so he assumed that she was currently under control. Or at least, as under control as an apparently pissed off aberration could be.

He took a look at the live map feed, a thought crossing his mind. The collector was pretty far away by now, but it's not like a quick 'heads up' would hurt anybody. Pulling his radio from his belt, he switched it back over to Brandt Team.

"Brandt Team, this is Evac. Almost had a run in with a collector about..." he stopped suddenly, nervously looking around at everyone gathered on the vehicle. They weren't supposed to give away the healer's positions, no matter what the situation. And while he didn't think anybody here was a threat, there was no reason to risk it.

"...near-ish you. It shouldn't be a threat, but just keep your eyes on the map."

"Hey, speaking of eyes," the man in the turtleneck sweater grinned, motioning towards his bandages. He winced his one green eye. "Never got an answer to that question earlier. Any healers here?"

"Not in here with us, no." Marcus said, giving a glance over towards Sophia as her eyes lit up again. Back on the clock, no point wasting time circling back around to Brandt team now, they needed to use Sophia's ability to the best while they had it.

Marcus turned to Lawrence, plan already forming in his mind, but wanting to get another opinion on it. "What do you think, Lawrence? Head towards Halvost group, grab their subnatural and any people we find on the way, then have them heal us up while we're there?"

Of course, there was always the option he didn't want to voice out loud: They're not as important, don't waste your healer on normal civilians..

He shook his head slightly to clear the thought. It was probably the best course of action, but there was no way he was going to be the one to suggest it.

"Mm," Lawrence looked up from the map, "We definitely need to pick up the rogue first. If Halvost team is smart, they'll have tied him up and moved locations." He cast a doubtful look a the one eyed man, "But we'll see, I guess."

"That means you better get used to looking like a pirate," the man with the green cap gleefully chuckled under his breath.

Interaction Tags

Radio interaction with @Kyrisse @Piercing Light @VarionusNW

—(••[ 𝕎𝕀𝕊ℍ𝔼𝔸𝕋𝔼ℝ ]••)—

Evac Team

Lawrence | Marcus | Savanna | Sophia

---

𝕄: 𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥. 𝟙𝟜, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝕎𝕚𝕤𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕕, 𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕪𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 / / 𝕋𝕠𝕨𝕟 / / ~𝟙𝟟𝟛𝟝

---

_{Collab with @VampireOracle @Chasers115 @Baklava}

Marcus had also noticed the absence of Sophia's glow as they approached the prechool; a visual clue that he assumed meant her ability had run out for the time being. With no way to tell what was around them, Marcus didn't enjoy the thought of stopping that much, but he liked the idea of leaving people to die even less.

"If you notice anything, anything at all, you call for us. Even if you're not sure - say something." Marcus said to the people in the APC, adding onto Lawrence's statement. "It's better that we be paranoid and careful right now, so you keep your eyes peeled."

He made sure to look to both of the subnatural girls, before following Lawrence inside.

The interior of an abandoned preschool was as spooky as it was depressing; a harsh reminder of the little people caught up in the conflict. Marcus found himself worrying about all the attendees, hoping that they'd managed to get out at some point. The fact that he was probably hoping in vain wasn't a possibility he wanted to think about.

He nearly jumped as the radio crackled to life, pulling it off his belt and up to his ear.

"Evac? It's Zoe, Halvost team. We're gonna need you to pick up a rogue subnatural. The threat's been contained, but we can't afford to keep him with us. Over."

"Rogue subnatural?" Marcus asked, a slight hint of surprised confusion in his voice. That kind of pickup wasn't the best of ideas, especially with the knowlege that the rogue subnaturals around here were not exactly friendly. Still, Halvost Team was Ernie's, the same one who had told him to kill any subnaturals he saw, and now they were requesting one be shuttled out of the area.

Whatever the deal with this one that was so special, Marcus was at least confident that Ernie wasn't trying to doom the entirety of Evac team to death by giving them a subnatural threat to deal with. He sighed once, not exactly thrilled about the demand, but at least willing.

"Alright, drop him off somewhere away from you, mark his location, and we'll swing by and pick him up." Marcus clipped the radio back to his belt, giving a slight jog to catch back up to Lawrence and the other man. His eyes brushed over Lawrence's bloody sleeve as he walked with them. He wanted to apologize, but there was really nothing he could say to amend the situation. Later. There'd be time to own his mistakes later.

Though five minutes sometimes seemed like such a short time, it seemed like an eternity to spend without her power on. Without her power Sophia was useless to the group, like at this moment. Returning Marcus's gaze before watching him leave with Lawrence and the other man, she kept her eyes peeled for anything out of the usual. Not that she had much of a chance of seeing anything hostile before it would be almost upon them. Still, she had to try. It was only five minutes, only five minutes, only five minutes. Those three words repeated over and over in her mind as she sat there, tense.

Leading them through the play area and down a hallway past a couple of small offices, the young man motioned for Marcus and Lawrence to back up as he neared a heavy metal door. On the other side was a dark stairway leading down into the basement. The last few steps were lit by a dim flashlight for a split second before being shrouded in darkness again. One could just barely make out a few urgent whispers as the man stepped through the door cautiously.

"Guys? It's me! Dean! I found help!"

"Dean?" An electric lantern flickered to life, casting the room in a bright, bluish light. Among several boxes of spare paper towels, craft paper, and old play mats were several individuals huddled together. The man holding the lantern stepped forward, holstering his pistol as his weathered features softened with relief. He wore an old brown jacket and a thick red felt scarf. Despite his thinning gray hair, the man seemed physically sturdy and exuded a confident demeanor-- similar to Dean.

As Dean decended the stairs, however, waving for Lawrence and Marcus to follow him, the man to his right, donning a green baseball cap and shotgun, tensed.

"Subs?!" he grimaced, spotting the marks on their faces. Before he could raise his gun, a third man smacked him upside the head.

"They're white marks, stupid!" the man barked. As he turned to face them, the heavily applied and bloodstained gauze wrapped around his right eye came into view. He smiled apologetically, adjusting the collar of his black turtleneck sweater, "Sorry about him. He's an idiot. Still not sure why he gets to hold the shotgun, to be honest."

He muttered the last bit as he shot a one eyed glare at the man in the green hat.

"Like we're gonna give it to some weirdo with one eye," he muttered back, adjusting his hat.

"Hey now, buddy-- you don't know the first thing about me!"

"Will you two knock it off?!" an older woman with short blonde hair hissed. There was a familiar sharpness to her features as she stepped into the lantern light, a sleeping child drapped over her shoulders and chest while another clung to the hem of her jacket. "Dean, where's Lauren?" she asked curtly, bright blue eyes wide with apprehension.

"She's safe," he answered calmly.

"Are you sure we can trust them?" an older girl said, stepping out from behind the blonde haired woman. Her hair was straight and black with side swept bangs. She wore a black petticoat and thin purple scarf, timidly holding it up over the lower half of her face with both hands as her light brown eyes darted between Marcus, Lawrence, and Dean.

"If it affects your little discussion at all, I certainly think we're trustworthy!" Marcus piped up from behind Dean, giving the group around them a weak smile before clearing his throat and getting down to business.

"My name is Marcus, this here is Lawrence." he said, giving a quick nod to his teammate as he introduced him. "We're here with the express purpose of getting you people outta here as soon as we can, as safely as we can."

The girl blinked back at Marcus for a moment before lowering her scarf, returning his smile with a coy one of her own. Though she was short, she didn't seem to be much older than he was.

"Hey, well I'd rather take my chances with these guys than down here," the one eyed man nodded, stepping forward to join them, "You guys wouldn't happen to have any healing powers, would you?" He pointed to his bandaged eye with a cheeky grin, "Because this hurts like hell."

"LAWRENCE!" Before either of them could answer, Savannah's voice shouted through the older Arbiter's radio, "LAWRENCE!!"

Lawrence exchanged a quick look with Marcus as he pulled the radio from his belt.

"What is it?" he asked, quick but calm.

"I think you should come up here! NOW! We need help!"

"Alright, calm down. Stay in the truck. I'm on my way." The others watched in alarm as Lawrence returned the radio to his hip and moved back towards the stairs.

"Make sure everyone's ready to go. I'll radio you as soon as I know it's safe." With that, he darted up the stairs, closely followed by Dean, who seemed hellbent on ensuring Lauren was alright as he ignored protests from the older man and blonde haired mother.

Marcus turned to look at Lawrence as his radio ran out, tensing up at Savannah's apparent distress. With her cry of help, Marcus turned to go up the stairs, interrupted by Lawrence as he and Dean went running up. "Make sure...? You want me to wait down here!?" Marcus shouted after him, arms stretched out in disbelief.

He turned to look at the crowd of people gathered in the basement, the dilemma showing through his eyes. If the group up in the APC was having trouble, that left Savannah, Sophia, Lauren, and the two kids in trouble. If he left, that meant this little group was more vulnerable if anything tried to slip past them. But he couldn't just leave his team to whatever it was that had spooked the APC crew.

He spoke aloud to the group, eyes moving to meet each of them. "Alright, get what you need to grab, and be prepared to move out of here!" he said, trying to rally the survivors. He turned to speak directly to the man with the shotgun, keeping his voice a little bit lower. "I'm going up. You shut that door behind me, and do not open it unless it's one of us three; Marcus, Lawrence, or Dean. Got it?"

The man in the green hat nodded.

"You're leaving us?" the raven haired girl said, frowning helplessly as she approached. The others said nothing as they hastily gathered up their things.

"Just for a second." Marcus said, turning on the bottom step to look at the girl. "Gotta sure they don't scratch our ride!" he added this last part with another nervous grin, forced out through a face that undoubtably hinted at his unease. Without waiting for her response, Marcus climbed to the top of the stairs to join the rest of his team.

---

Savannah sat in the doorway of the APC, swinging her legs as she drummed her fingers against the metal door frame.

"Hey, kid. Can you knock it off?" Lauren muttered irritably, "How are you guys gonna hear anyone coming with all that noise?"

Savannah shot the woman an angry look over her shoulder, but ceased the nervous habit by tightly crossing her arms.

"Sophia, is your power back on yet?" Savannah asked.

One stiff shake of the head was Sophia's reply as she glanced over at Savannah, a worried expression on her face. "Still not." In a still quieter voice she added, "But I sure wish it were."

Savannah frowned, but said nothing else. Several uneventful seconds passed before a distant crash caused Savannah to gasp.

"Did you here that?" she asked loudly, slidding off her seat.

Another crash. It sounded like it was coming from a few blocks north.

The noise caused Sophia's heart rate to spike as she jumped, resuming her observation of their surroundings with more vigor. But still no power, and she could see nothing wrong. Did she hear it? Of course she heard it. It was what was not supposed to happen, especially not when Marcus and Lawrence weren't with them. It didn't have anything to do with those loud footsteps they had heard while driving earlier, did it?

"M-maybe we should call... radio, them? Or..." A pause as another crash sounded. "I really don't know what that is!"

Crash!

Fumbling with the radio, Savannah clutched the device with both hands, "LAWRENCE!"

Crash! Whatever it was, it was clearly getting closer. A shard of glass left clinging to the doorframe of the preschool fell to the ground and shattered.

"What is it? came Lawrence's quick reply.

Crash!

"I think you should come up here! NOW! We need help!" Savannah's hands shook as she looked at Sophia.

"Alright, calm down. Stay in the truck. I'm on my way."

"O-okay..." Savannah said, forgetting to press the button as she spoke. She turned around to climb back inside, but paused as another crash sounded, accompanied by shattering glass and the sound of metal against metal. It sounded so close. Her lips flattened into a line. Balling up her fists, Savannah glanced at Sophia before making her way towards the east side of the APC, peering around it carefully.

Interaction Tags

Radio interaction with @Lasrever @January @banjoanjo

—(••[ 𝕎𝕀𝕊ℍ𝔼𝔸𝕋𝔼ℝ ]••)—

Evac Team & Healer Team: Brandt

Lawrence | Marcus | Savanna | Sophia

Kusari Bloodworth | Allison Revel | Lilliana Brandt

---

𝕄: 𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥. 𝟙𝟜, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝕎𝕚𝕤𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕕, 𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕪𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 / / 𝕋𝕠𝕨𝕟 / / ~𝟙𝟟��𝟘

---

_{Collab with @VampireOracle @Chasers115 @Baklava @Kyrisse @Piercing Light @VarionusNW}

Exactly as planned. As soon as the dog hit the door again, Marcus dove backwards. Mostly to get out of the way of the shotgun blast, but also to get away from the clockwork beast as he came out the door. A deafening concussion sounded, likely signaling Lawrence's shot, but followed by the sound of small lead pellets rebounding off metal. A few of the pellets rolled across the ground near him, and Marcus stared with wide eyes at the seemingly unaffected beast.

He stood up on shaky legs as the creature launched itself over the counter, pinning Lawrence to the floor with it's metallc paws. A scene that Marcus had dealt with not that long ago was playing out in front of him; where a dog was currently assaulting a defenseless boy. Only this time, he wasn't the one being attacked.

He couldn't shoot the dog, not while it was on top of one of his teammates; he certainly didn't trust his aim that much. Which meant he was left with one option, an option he nervously considered as his clammy hands pulled the crowbar off his belt loop. He'd have to get up close and personal, a position that his body would not allow him to take.

His brain wanted him to stammer out some sort of apology. Some reason for his hesitation, based off phobias and fears from the past. A pathetic reason to not save a teammate; one that he certainly wasn't going to be happy with. Still, as unhappy as he was with himself, his body did the one thing that should never happen in a situation like the one before him: he hesitated.

"MARCUS!" Lawrence shouted, the wishalloy vibrating even more violently while his fellow Arbiter failed to move. With an irritated huff, the man in the heavy coat moved first. Roughly shoving Marcus out of his path, he snatched the knife off of the floor and lunged at the mechanical monster. Driving the knife deep into the exposed 'brain' just as the wishalloy went slack and its teeth managed to sink deep into older mage's arm with an audible crack, the creature lurched backwards in a shower of sparks.

Lawrence rolled out of the way, cradling his broken arm as it collapsed onto the ground, spasming for a moment before the lights of its eyes went dim. Heart racing and breathing heavily, the man placed his foot against the now-still clockwork and pulled the knife out, approaching Lawrence with a grim expression as he surveyed the damage.

"That's an artery, I bet," he surmised, sucking his teeth, "Hope you guys have a medic or somethin' or else your guy's done for in ten." He helped the older mage to his feet, sliding the knife back into its rightful place at Lawrence's hip.

Applying pressure to his arm as the sticky red warmth of blood quickly soaked through his own coat, Lawrence looked to Marcus as they moved back towards the APC, opting not to mention his little freezing incident. At least not yet. As damnable as this situation was, chewing him out for inaction wasn't going to improve things.

"Can you check your phone for Lily's location?" he asked, a hint of steel in his tone. "Make sure they haven't moved. Let them know we need a heal. We're going to pass by, but not stop. Can't afford to give away their location in case we're being watched."

The whole situation was over before Marcus could act; thanks to his inability to move, Lawrence had been seriously injured. Worse, if it weren't for the healer team nearby. He didn't meet Lawrence's eyes, instead focusing on his feet as he slid his weapon back into place.

Later. There would be time to think about it later. Once again, he needed to push his own crisis back to deal with the problem at hand.

He plucked the radio from his belt, making sure to switch it to one of the members of the healer team; the first one to come up being Kusari. There was no reason to shout the message to everyone else on the battlefield, especially if some of the clockworks could actually hear it, like the mission reports had said they might be able to.

"Brandt team, ready yourselves. We've got a pretty serious injury on Evac team, and we're going to be coming by to get healed. Are you still in the original location?"

Kusari fumbled with her radio, nearly crushing it by mistake with her oversized hand. She'd hoped Lily wouldn't be needed so urgently, let alone so soon into the mission. "Yes, we're here at the diner." She peered out of the building, spotting the evacuation team's APC. Thankfully they were close. She shot a glance to Lily. "Remember what I said, I'm pretty sure I was placed on this team for a reason."

Diner. Lawrence cast a discreet glance at the building across the street. "They got a visual on us? Ask Lily what her range is."

In less than a minute, it was over and the clockwork seemed to be dead. Or entirely broken, if you didn't want to think of it as a living thing. But dealing with it hadn't come without a cost. Metal bullets on metal hide hadn't worked, so now in addition to the bite on the civilian's shoulder, Lawrence's arm was injured as well. Was there anything she could have done to prevent it, and prevent Lily from having to take on their injuries?

Following the group back to the APC, her gaze lingered on the male civilian. It had been that man who had helped Lawrence fight off the dog, not Marcus. And she was surprised at that, because he wasn't a mage. For some reason, she had assumed that only the mage teams were supposed to do the rescuing, and all the civilians would be doing was stand around. But it hadn't been like that, and now she felt bad for making such assumptions. Pursing her lips, she tuned into the discussion that was now going on between the the evacuation team and healer team.

Marcus shot a slightly less discreet look at the diner across the way, before catching himself and trying to nonchalantly seem like he was surveying the area. They weren't supposed to give away their healer teams at all, even with a casual glance around the area. Marcus sincerely doubted that any of the clockworks would be able to pick up on such a thing, but he still mentally kicked himself for his little fumble.

"Do you have any idea what Lily's range is? Would she be able to heal Lawrence from your position?"

Lily traipsed over to the broken window, trying to get a better look at the APC. Big wound, she had to look for a big wound. The blonde took a deep breath. A black string appeared around her wrist, extending and roaming towards the vehicle and inhabitants. Seeing wasn't necessary here, only feeling. Big wound. The boy with a broken arm, got it. Suddenly, her own arm became mottled and bloody and she gasped out in agony. Despite the obvious pain she hesitated as she looked at Kusari, as if she was trying to hold something back. As if she was holding herself back. But the injury was transferred as instantaneously as it was received and Lily flopped into a seat, looking tired and slightly apologetic towards her immortal teammate. After an extended pause, she transferred the rest of the APC's passenger's injuries to Kusari too, then slumped further into the booth seat, exhausted now.

Kusari watched as the bone in Lily's arm suddenly snapped, no doubt sending a shock of pain through her body. Her power wasn't exactly enviable, between her and Christmas she wondered just how many healers had to hurt themselves in some way to utilize their magic. Before she could pity her teammate too much Lily transferred the wound to her arm. She sucked air between her teeth, taking deep breaths as she got used to the pain. This wasn't nearly as bad as what she'd done to herself during the flag game. She held her arm away from her clothes, it was bleeding like a leaky faucet and she didn't feel like ruining her new custom uniform just yet. She let out a quiet chuckle, it was funny, life threatening wounds really were nothing to her now, weren't they?

Right as her arm began healing she noticed Lily take on even more injuries. Kusari raised a brow. "Hold up, didn't Marcus sa-" She cringed as the new wounds were transferred as well. The cuts on her face were barely felt, however her arm was a mangled mess now. She let out a grumble full of expletives, shoving down the urge to complain about not being warned. She held her arm up, waving it around like the limb of a doll stuffed with straw. "Screw it." She walked into the back of the diner, out of sight of her team. "Right then..." She raised her right arm and slashed her entire left arm off with her crimson claws. She'd been thinking a second altered arm would come in handy, she just wasn't sure which option to choose. A second claw could increase her lethality, however a tentacle had far more useful options, if only it was a bit longer though. The initial shock of pain nearly caused her to black out, but she ignored it as best she could. The tiled floor was also a red mess now, she almost felt guilty before remembering that the place was a wreck anyhow.

Her bleeding stump of an arm began to bubble as her flesh molded it's self. "Wha?..." She stood dumbfounded as a tentacle grew from her wound. That wasn't unusual, what was odd was that it didn't stop growing. She silently panicked as she contemplated running for help or cutting the thing off. After two minutes it finally stopped growing. "You've gotta be kidding me." She estimated the length of the tentacle, it had to be at least fifteen meters long. Well, she got what she asked for, but she wasn't quite sure how her team would react to seeing it.

For the time being she picked up the mangled arm and tossed it into the diner's freezer. Maybe she'd actually remember to get it later, unlike her right leg.

Allison had stayed planted firmly in her chair during the dealings with the evac team. The healing was Lily's thing, and Kusari would be taking the wounds, leaving making sure that giant mechanical monstrosities didn't sneak up on them during the process to Allison. As a bonus, it gave her a good reason to not look at the wounds appearing on the seemingly immortal girl.

Allison's gaze shifted from broken window to broken window, her eyes searching for any signs of their foes on the surrounding streets. The only thing of note that she could immediately see was the evac team's APC. Though there wasn't much else to be seen, Allison's eyes kept searching the streets until she heard Kusari walk off.

Allison turned back to see Lily slumped into a booth seat by one of the intact windows. Kusari had gone off to the back of the restaurant, judging by the sickening noise that came from that direction only seconds later. If Allison had to guess, Kusari just cut off a limb. Allison was thankful that the girl had chosen to do so away from view, at least.

Kusari had been in the back for a few minutes by the time Allison started to get concerned. She rose from her seat, and made her way to the back of the diner. She didn't actually enter that section of the restaurant, instead keeping just outside of it and calling to the nearly immortal girl.

"You okay back there, Kusari?" Allison heard what she assumed was the door to the diner's walk-in freezer closing as she spoke.

Kusari twitched as she heard Allison call out to her. She couldn't stay back here forever, she had a mission to complete after all. She let out a sigh and walked forward, only to stumble as the tentacle snagged on something. A few suction cups had stuck to the floor. She relaxed the grip, and continued. She had to have the tentacle writhe on the ground on it's own mostly, as lifting it caused her light body to go off balance. As she came within view of Allison she avoided eye contact, pretending everything was normal. "Y-yeah, I'm fine alright?"

Allison took a moment to process what she was looking at. She knew she was gawking at the massive limb, it had to be around 15 meters at least, but she couldn't help it. She had seen Kusari with a tentacle arm before, but that was through a screen, and it hadn't been nearly as long as this. There was a sudden rush of activity in the back of Allison's brain.

Her stigma took hold of her mind. How much could one do with a tentacle that long? What would it feel like? How much would fit in...

Allison rammed her fist into the wall in front of her. Glass fell somewhere behind her, likely shards from what remained in the frames of the broken windows. Her knuckles hurt now, and she focused on that. The action didn't exactly numb her stigma, but it gave her enough control to not force the other girl to the ground.

"Yea... Alright." Her voice had a clear tinge of agitation to it.

Narrowed eyes looked between Allison and the freshly broken pieces of glass that had fallen to the floor. Kusari didn't know what her problem was, she never seemed to be the type of aberration that had a desire to destroy things. It could be something personal, but either way she didn't feel the need to bring it up. "Right... I'm gonna have to stay inside the diner, for obvious reasons. If anything happens out there let me know."

---

Kusari's answer came in the form of a heal. As they neared the APC door, Lawrence felt the injury in his arm repair itself. He still felt a slight chill and lightheadedness at having lost so much blood, but it could've been much worse. No longer needing his support, the man in the black jacket ran towards the blonde woman, her cuts disappearing as she rushed to meet him. They embraced tightly before Lawrence spoke up again, standing by the door, "Alright, let's hurry up and keep moving. Don't want to draw any extra attention here."

As the man in the heavy coat moved to step on, Lawrence stretched his arm across the door frame, hand on his knife as he stared at him warily. There was a moment of tension as the man stared back, shooting confused daggers at the older Arbiter.

"Unzip your collar," Lawrence said stiffly, his meaning clear.

The man scoffed, shaking his head, "I'm not one of you clowns."

"Babe," the woman, Lauren, tightly gripped his arm, "Just do it."

He reluctantly unzipped the collar of his coat, revealing a bare neck. Lawrence nodded impenitently before moving his arm, standing by as the rest of his team filed in. Beyond an unreadable glance, Lawrence paid Marcus no mind. His eyes swept the area for anything unsavory.

—(••[ 𝕎𝕀𝕊ℍ𝔼𝔸𝕋𝔼ℝ ]••)—

Evac Team

Lawrence | Marcus | Savanna | Sophia

---

𝕄: 𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥. 𝟙𝟜, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝕎𝕚𝕤𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕕, 𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕪𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 / / 𝕋𝕠𝕨𝕟 / / ~𝟙𝟟𝟚𝟝

---

_{Collab with @VampireOracle @Chasers115 @Baklava}

A bright red glow from the skyline caused Marcus's attention to shift from the ruined streets ahead of them. It certainly looked like the Support team was in for a fight, if that was the kind of attack that the clockwork creatures were letting off. He nearly shook it off as another attack, but a few pieces of scrap fluttering through the air caught his attention.

Cold fear washed over him as he registered the finely sliced metal as the last pieces of the Strike Team's helicopter. Callan's helicopter. He groped his belt looking for the phone they'd been given, his eyes still focused on where the helicopter used to be. Before he could bring the radio up to his mouth, Angel's voice echoed the words he'd already prepared.

"Striker Team... are you there? I repeat... Callan, Sander, are you two alrig-... Ah shit!"

Whatever the Support team was dealing with, it had taken Angel's attention away from the radio. There was a moment of silence, a moment that seemed to last forever in Marcus's spinning mind, punctuated by a far off scream in the distance.

The radio crackled, before a welcome voice responded. "We're FINE! Stay focused!"

Marcus let out a sigh of relief. It didn't even sound like she'd been phased by being blown out of the sky. He doubted that the decidely not-superhuman pilot was as unfazed, but he wasn't as worried about that. A thought that he should have felt more guilty about, but which went right over his head in the moment.

While the APC continued to move, Sophia's main focus remained around the area she had last seen the person, thus missing the laser beam that her power had shaded an inconspicuous shade of gray. It was the words coming from the radio that alerted her that something not so good had happened. Her stomach clenched at the abrupt ending of the message, what was going on over there and with the Striker team? What if- another message came through, and she repeated it to herself. Stay focused. The Evacuation was probably the team that would face the least danger throughout the mission, but staying focused still seemed like a good idea, and she drew her attention back to their surroundings.

Marcus stepped out the APC behind Lawrence, listening intently to the frantic woman. One guy trapped in the store with one of those wierd clockwork monsters. Not exactly the sort of thing that they were equipped to deal with, but one injured monster shouldn't pose a huge threat to a group of four mages.

He followed Lawrence into the store, nervously checking his gun again as they entered, the soft crunching of glass underfoot. The building was dark, to be expected from a ruined town like this, and the flashlight from his phone gave the shadows an eerie look. A loud thumping from the back, punctuated by a metallic growl that made Marcus's hair stand on end attested to the lady's story.

Though she didn't step out of the APC just yet, Sophia listened to the woman while looking out of the door. She couldn't see her face, but it was still evident from the tone of voice how upset the woman was. The mood was catching, and Sophia found herself getting increasingly uneasy and frightened. Weren't they supposed avoid confrontation with the creatures? That would mean going in the opposite direction. But now a person in danger had entered the picture, and that changed the situation too much. This wasn't how things were supposed to go.

She followed her teammates closely as they approached the store, not wanting to lag behind even by a few steps. But when they reached the door she could go no further, one hand keeping the door open as she stood there staring transfixed with wide eyes at the clockwork only she could see. She couldn't bring herself to go any further in the store, not when it meant going closer to that dangerous thing. They needed to deal with that?

"Wait," Lawrence said, before they got too far. Pivoting to face Sophia, he quickly took note of expression on her face, keeping his voice low as he spoke, "You don't have to come inside. Just tell us what you see and stay here. We need a look out."

"What about me?" Savannah persisted from the open door of the of APC, "I want to help, too!"

"Stay, Savannah. And quiet down," he replied, "Help Sophia keep an eye out while we're inside."

Turning his attention back to Sophia, he continued, "How many are there? Just the one?"

It made her a coward, but she was relieved Lawrence didn't think she needed to go inside. Nodding to answer his question, she didn't bother to look at him. When taking a metal clockwork with sharp teeth ramming against a door to escape and comparing it to Lawrence, the clockwork won the prize for most attention grabbing. "It has sharp teeth, it's big, and I think it's going to break out soon," she whispered, more to herself than anyone else.

“Great…” Marcus muttered to himself. A big creature, with sharp teeth, an apparently canine-esque growl, and was about to come through the door? Sounded like their job couldn’t get much easier than that.

If the thing was really close to battering down the door, then that meant there wasn’t any time to waste in assisting the man barring the entrance, and of the four of them present, he was at least best equipped to get out of the way or back the hell up if the thing did come through. Marcus shoved his phone back into its holder, plunging the store into a slight darkness again, before moving to assist.

He jogged over to the pharmacy counter, taking the long way around it rather than leaping over it cool-guy style like he wanted. He immediately pressed himself up against the splintering door, making sure to keep all extremities away from the growing crack. He huffed slightly, giving the man who was currently holding it a weak smile.

“Hiya; don’t worry…here to-” he was cut off here as the creature slammed the door again. “- help.” Although his tone was calm, he could feel his heart beginning to race once more, having caught a better glimpse of the creature.

Of course it would be a dog. It wasn't a real dog (a thought that didn't really do much to help his nerves), but he was at least comforted slightly by the knowlege that he could beat it to death if needed, rather than turning tail and running away with just his bare fists. He certainly wasn't happy about the development, but as long as they sorted it out quickly, it wouldn't be a problem.

Upon closer inspection, the man had a decently sized bite missing from his shoulder. Teeth marks framed the missing fabric and flesh, blood pooling within the crater-like wound. "Where's Lauren?" he asked, his voice strained as the door took another heavy hit.

"Waiting outside," Lawrence answered as he neared the counter-- choosing to remain on the other side as he quickly assessed the situation. Just then, the canine-like clockwork crashed against the door again. This time it managed to drive one clawed paw almost completely through the door as the wood splintered further.

"That door's about to give," Lawrence said sharply, lifting his shotgun into position, but not aiming at the door just yet. "On the next hit, let it go and move out of the way! I'll try to shoot it down." It wasn't the most ideal plan. The better plan might've been not to try saving this one at all, but here they were. Options were limited-- as well as information. Sophia hadn't been very detailed in her description of the creature, but there hadn't been time to sit around and press for details.

Marcus shuttered with the door as the creature slammed against it once more, before giving Lawrence a quick nod of agreement. It certainly wasn't the best plan, but it was all they really had in this situation. He prepped himself for the maneuver, readying to launch himself off the door and out of the path of Lawrence's shotgun on the next hit.

—(••[ 𝕎𝕀𝕊ℍ𝔼𝔸𝕋𝔼ℝ ]••)—

Evac Team

Lawrence | Marcus | Savannah | Sophia

---

𝕄: 𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥. 𝟙𝟜, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝕎𝕚𝕤𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕕, 𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕪𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 / / 𝕋𝕠𝕨𝕟 / / ~𝟙𝟟𝟘𝟘

---

_{Collab with @VampireOracle @Chasers115 @Baklava @January and @RedDusk(Who's actually doing her job for once)}

In all honesty, the deafening silence of their ride over the first day (at least before the attack) was far preferable to the current situation. The thunderous footsteps of some far-off creature were in great contrast to the low humming of the APC. Every snap of timber they drove over, and the soft crunching of the debris underneath served to put Marcus in a slightly tenser state of mind.

He’d already finished applying the Wishalloy to his legs, acutely aware to not make the same error that Savannah had. The clear material caught the light every so often as he bounced his leg nervously, sitting silently on a bench under the assumption that Sophia was currently scanning the area.

The maps that were being uploaded to their phones was a welcome distraction in some ways, but another layer of his ever-growing nervousness in others. Most of the clockwork forces were right where they should have been, but the ones that weren’t were the most concerning. Designated as ‘Collector/Elephant’ types, Marcus could only assume that they were the source of the giant footsteps. Part of him wondered what gave them the ‘Collector’ designation, but the other part hoped he wouldn’t have to find out.

The crackling of the radio pierced the ambient silence of the APC as Marcus pulled it off his belt to listen to the monsters.

"Testing testing. One two three. Angelic here, you guys hear me? I wanted to tell you guys, even if we are all split-up in different groups, we are still a team. Communication is key here. So please, if you spot anything out of the ordinary: a stray Factory's minion, an unknown Mage or whatever, warn the other groups, even if you are not to engage them. Let's keep ourselves updated, so we can adapt if things go wrong."

"Y'all stay safe and be careful, alright? Support Team nearing objective. Angel out."

"Evac Team; we're reading you, Angel." Marcus replied, his tone much more business-like than it usually was. "Adding to that list: if anybody sees any groups of civvies, ping it on the map if you can; we'll see what we can do. Like the woman says, be careful out there, you guys. Evac team over and out." He put the phone back into safe-keeping, and spoke up, the message having spurred him into impatientness.

"See anything out there, Sophs?"

Sophia turned on her power once the APC began to move. For the second time, she watched as everything around her faded into shades of gray and as the people around her disappeared, leaving only the clothes and items they wore behind. To make things easier for herself she looked out of the windows around the sides of the truck, head turning side to side as she tried to see through the materials around her, most of them too thick for her to make out any clear shapes.

She tried to ignore the occasional ominous footsteps that showed there was something prowling around nearby, but couldn't help jumping almost every time one sounded. Though she also heard the message from one of the other teams through the radio, she didn't respond as Marcus was already doing so.

After a particularly loud footstep that made the driver turn down an even narrower road, she began to shake her head in response to Marcus's question when she saw what looked like two sets of clothing ahead, floating in midair. Changing her shake to a nod, she looked over at Marcus, or at least tried to. Her seemingly unfocused gaze rested at the place where Marcus's face should be for a second before she turned back to looking at the two people. "There're two people up ahead..."

"Well then I guess this is our stop! Marcus said, tapping the armored wall of the APC twice to signal the driver. "Got some up ahead!"

When the APC came to a stop, Marcus carefully stepped out the back, scanning the ruined town. He looked down for just a moment to check his pistol: safety off. He looked over the rest of the buildings, leaning towards Sophia without turning. He kept his voice low, nearly a whisper. It certainly wouldn't be very good if the two were hostile and he gave away their position by loudly shouting. Not that the armored vehicle driving through town was super stealthy.

"Just the two of 'em?" he asked. "Where are they at?"

As the APC came to a stop and Marcus stepped out, Sophia made herself follow a few seconds later. She would rather stay in the "safety" of the APC, but it would be easier to point out where the two people were if they were both standing on the same spot. Noting the soft voice that Marcus used to speak, her reply was soft as well, not that that was unusual for her. Raising an arm and hoping her finger was pointing in the right direction, she aimed her index finger towards the building where the two people were huddled.

"Around there... I think?"

Lawrence followed her gesture with his eyes, standing up and leaving the APC behind Marcus. "Whether we kill them or save them, better make it fast. We don't want to stay in place too long."

A glance at Marcus and a quick look at the approximate location Sophia had pointed out gave the Arbiter a few milliseconds of pause before he spoke up again.

"Marcus. The more dangerous move of opening that door is on you. I'll be ready to calm them down if whoever's behind that door is agitated." He shifted the loaded shotgun in his arms, the alternative clear as well.

"What about me?" Savannah called out loudly, not catching the quieter tones of conversation.

"Stay quiet. Stay inside," came Lawrence's curt answer.

While Lawrence's curt response of "kill them or save them" had seemed like daily business to him, Marcus was a little taken aback by the statement, truthfully. Still, he gave Lawrence a nod, taking a defensive position near the door.With his back to the wall, Marcus checked his gun one more time, taking a deep before he moved.

Four seconds. Whatever happened, he needed to make sure that he had four seconds of safety.

He grabbed the handle with his free hand, allowing himself one more breath. On the exhale, he flung the door open, immediately raising his pistol while taking a step inside, readying a rewind if needed.

Rustling movement to his right and down greeted the armed savior (of a sort) and the brown-haired boy had to hold back his sister from running off in fear, the girl's muffled screaming taking long seconds to finally quiet down as she stared up at the decidedly unimposing Marcus, fear slowly turning into a careful stare at his face. Both siblings' eyes were a cool shade of jade green, but that was all the similarity they shared having both taken very different sides of the genetic lottery. The older brother's features were sharper and more defined, while his little sister--who didn't look any older than 7 or 8--had inherited someone's softer cheeks and wide brow, looking far more innocent than even a child her age had a right to appear.

His quick scan wasn't exactly necessary, as the muffled scream of a small child immediately directed his attention to the two figures in the corner. Two of them, a young looking girl and a slightly older looking boy, neither of them marked with DC's lovingly rendered stamps. He immediately holstered his gun, raising his hands to show he meant no harm and giving a quick "Clear!" to the rest of Evac team.

"Don't worry; we're here to help." Marcus said, kneeling slightly, his tone as calm and cool as he could make it.

The older brother blinked at the scarred boy currently kneeling before them, shoulders relaxing just a touch when he heard the word ‘help’. However, tension bled back into his limbs once he spotted the white mark right below Marcus’ eye.

“N-No. You’re a sub.” -Wide eyes brimmed with fear, and he unconsciously pulled his sister closer to himself –“Stay away!”

"Hey, hey, hey." Marcus said, in what was probably a poor attempt to defuse the situation. "I'm one of the good guys, see?" he said, giving his cheekbone a quick tap. There was a part of him that was unconsciously ashamed of the divide between the abes and arbs he'd pointed out, but it was a necessary evil at this moment.

"What's your name, kid?" he punctuated this sentence by kneeling further, his right knee fully touching the ground now.

“J-Jake.” -Came the breathy answer, and wide eyes were still wary of Marcus’ every move.

"Alright Jake, I'm Marcus. We're going to get you and your sister to safety, and get your arm all patched up, okay?" he held out his hand slightly, extending it to the injured boy.

It took a few more moments of careful staring before the young boy finally relented. It was either this smouldering ruin or the extending hand at this point, and despite his fears, Jake knew what he had to do. For his sister’s sake and his own. He took the hand.

“Okay.”

"Alright, let's get you out of here then."

He took the young man's hand and stood up, helping the two kids to their feet. With a small gesture to the door, he led the both out, taking a moment to give one last scan to the room before leaving.

"That all for around here, Sophs?" he asked, keeping an eye on the kids as they approached the APC. He'd completely forgotten that Savannah was a Abe when he'd been trying to win their trust, and he hoped that it wouldn't come back to haunt them. Worst case scenario, he figured; Lawrence was there to calm them down if they started panicking. He gave Lawrence a quick glance at this thought, hoping he was ready.

Despite his injury, the young boy managed to help his sister climb into the truck. Entering after her, he froze as soon as he saw Savannah on the far seat, glancing back at Marcus before deciding it was alright. "Move, Isla," he muttered, positioning himself between the young girl and the Aberration-- just in case.

Savannah took notice, but merely pursed her lips and looked away-- the best thing she could've done considering her current mood and temper.

After what had seemed like ages, at last Marcus came out of the building with the two in tow. Now that the civilians were standing, she realized how short one of them was. A child, probably not much older or younger than her sister? It was hard to tell without seeing a face. Continuing to stand watch while the trio approached, she didn't answer Marcus's question immediately, taking the time the civilians took to climb in the APC to have one more look around. Scanning the nearby buildings once again, there seemed to be no one else around. Then paying attention to the objects farther away, she didn't see anything worthy of note eith- wait.

Had she been imagining it or had she seen the movement of a person appearing in the distance, before vanishing behind something she couldn't really see through? Maybe she had imagined it. Was it worth mentioning if she might be wrong? Buying herself time to think, she got into the APC while still trying to keep an eye on the place where that person had disappeared.

"I... don't know."

"I don't know" wasn't a good answer. "Maybe?"

Wasting time. Her voice took on a stressed tone as she tried to articulate herself. "No one... nearby."

A sigh. "But for farther away... I don't know. I might have... but I don't know." Hidden inside her pockets, her hands made fists. "I'll keep looking... but we don't have time."

Marcus clambered in as Sophia spoke, garnering a slightly raised eyebrow from him. It only took her a moment to articulate herself, and Marcus gave a quick look in the direction she was, peeking out the window. There certainly wasn't anything he could see, but he honestly wasn't even sure if he was looking the right way; she'd mentioned something about '360 vision'.

"Which way? We might as well head that direction..." he asked. " It's not like we've got any other leads."

He contemplated asking the kids if they knew were anybody might be, but it didn't seem like a great idea. They'd clearly been through a lot already, and the fact that there were only two of them didn't bode well for any sort of caretakers. Right now, they just needed to rest and try to not think about it.

In response to Marcus's question, Sophia pointed with her left arm directly towards the spot the person had disappeared before remembering that the rest couldn't see the way she did. Dropping her arm quickly, she switched to explaining verbally. "Around a block ahead, I think it's the road that's on the left?" Lowering her voice, she muttered, "But don't take my word for it."

"Hmmm... Marcus pondered. A block ahead and to the left; he checked his map real quick to make sure his hunch was correct. That was pretty close to Lily's healer team - even if there wasn't anything actually there, it probably wouldn't hurt to go that direction. The alternative was getting dangerously close to whatever the 'collectors' were, which wasn't something he was looking to do.

"Welp. You heard the girl! Full speed ahead, Captain!" Marcus said, allowing himself a moment of reprive from his own seriousness.

—(••[ 𝕎𝕀𝕊ℍ𝔼𝔸𝕋𝔼ℝ ]••)—

Evacuation Preperation

Lawrence | Marcus | Savanna | Sophia

---

𝕄: 𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥. 𝟙𝟜, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝕎𝕚𝕚𝕤𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕕, 𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕪𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 / / 𝕋𝕠𝕨𝕟 / / ~𝟙𝟟𝟘𝟘

---

_{Collab with @VampireOracle, @Chasers115 and @Baklava I think? But maybe also @January and @banjoanjo?}

By the time the little group had separated and gone their seperate ways, it seemed that the rest of the teams had been doing the same thing. Everyone was starting to move towards their designated locations, which meant he needed to find the rest of his team and start heading for the APC. According to the map, it wasn't too far off - it shouldn't take too long to get to, but maybe they'd have enough time to talk powers and strategy.

Not that there was any strategy besides watch for people and carry them into the truck, but it'd be nice to have all the bases covered.

"Evac team!" he said, raising his voice just enough to carry over the few people that were still milling around. He was cautious to not shout, lest they immediately be swarmed by some hidden monsters the advance team had missed. He did wave his arm, hoping that the rest of the team would start heading his direction.

He was looking for three other people: Lawrence, Sophia, and Savannah, and he had no idea what any of them looked like. Hopefully they hadn't already started walking towards the APC, or he'd just be standing here waiting for people that were already gone.

Sophia hadn't moved far from the truck since they had arrived, pretty unsure about... everything. She still had no idea who Lawrence and Marcus were, but she lifted her gaze from the ground in front of her and scanned the area around her for them anyway. She regretted it doing so. Her surroundings were absolutely dismal and didn't help with the fear already gathered in a thick knot inside of her. After her initial glance around the area upon arriving, she was trying her best not to look around too much.

She was so scared.

The way she showed her fear didn't make it immediately apparent to someone who would just glance at her. Her arms were tightly crossed, and her back was straight as she kept herself drawn up to her full height. Her face, including her eyes, were blank, her face in her neutral position that resembled a slight frown as she concentrated her attention not on her outer appearance, but on controlling how she felt. But it still wasn't too hard to tell.

She knew she needed to get moving, and soon, though she was tempted to just stand in place and wait for someone to approach her instead. Since she didn't know who half of her team was, should she just head off alone and hope that they would all meet up at the assigned spot? Forcing herself to look up once more, she was about to begin looking around for Savannah when a call, along with a waving arm, caught her attention.

One of the students from the Evac team? Relieved, she headed over to the boy until she stood diagonally in front of him, arms still crossed as she gave him a small nod. Lawrence or Marcus? Did she trust herself to speak? But it would be weird if she didn't say anything, so she didn't really have a choice, did she?

"I'm Sophia." A whisper of a voice, but at least she had managed to speak. That was good, right? Hah. Had it even been audible?

A taller student came up to them soon after Marcus's shout, his gait disturbingly calm despite the ruin around them. "Lawrence," he replied, checking the map on his phone like he was simply out for a walk through town. His other hand was occupied with a shotgun and a pistol hung from his belt holster on one side while a knife was comfortably sheathed on the other. Invisible to the group, a flare gun sat nestled in his jacket's inner pocket, making the comfortable, broken-in leather bulge slightly around his ribs.

Behind him, a small blonde girl followed, face pulled into a scowl that didn't quell her shaking hands. "This is so stupid," she muttered, the attempt at anger giving way to fear. She had taken a bit of time in Ground Zero to sate her Stigma, because every other X seemed to be doing it, but now she regretted not having that veneer of fury to hide behind--to wash the world red so she couldn't see all the details of the reality in front of her. A glance at Sophia and a quick wave was the friendliest she could manage at the moment, caught between terror of the unknown and terror of a "kill on sight" order. "Let's just get going already. I hate this."

"Marcus." he greeted, nearly missing Sophia's name. She was probably just nervous, and he couldn't exactly blame her: two of the members on their team, Sophia included, looked to be no older than middle schoolers, and they'd been thrown into the middle of a warzone. At least the other one seemed a little more capable, especially with the shotgun he was toting around. Good to know that he wasn't the only one with a decent weapon.

"I hear you." Marcus said, responding to the blonde girl's comment. "Might as well talk while we walk. he added, turning and doing just that. He made sure to keep his pace so that he was in line with everyone, unwilling to walk first; or perhaps just not wanting to seem like the unofficial leader of the group. Heavens knew he wasn't qualified to lead anybody.

"So what're you guy's powers?" A strategic question as much as it was an attempt at small talk as they moved to their destination. "I'm mobility. I can instantly move forward, or jump back a little bit to where I was previously."

That was about the best explanation of it. He'd internally debated adressing it as a rewind, but that kind of nomenclature was more confusing than anything. Best to keep it simple.

"Mind influence," Lawrence answered, "More specifically, I can align the mental state of others with my own. Sometimes works on DC monsters. Generally used for calming subnaturals, though."

Savannah twisted the baton in her hands as she spoke, "My power only works on spell casters. I put a mark on them and they explode when they cast a spell and it takes a long ass time to recharge. And it's like five minutes."

At least Sophia had already thought about how she would tell what her power was, so it wasn't as difficult as it could have been. Still, she went last and used those extra seconds while the others were speaking to run over what she would say once more, barely catching what Lawrence and Savannah could do. "Mine's related to seeing... in different ways," she began when the rest were finished, raising her voice so that it was louder than before. "I can use... well, X-ray vision, but it's kind of weak? Then there's also night and 360 vision too. But it only lasts for around ten, then takes five until I can use it again."

Maybe she should write down the main points about her power and print out a few copies so she could hand those out instead of repeating herself everytime. Because she had a feeling that she would need to keep repeating herself more in the future. Remembering she had forgotten to say something one last thing, she hurried to add it on. "Also, I can't see living things when it's on. So like, any subtle hand motions or facial expressions... are lost on me." Or had that been too detailed? The rest had just described their powers in two sentences.

Interesting setup they'd been given here. Basically a perfect team for trying to rescue panicking civilians, and a little bit of backup if they were attacked by the subnatural group that was apparently hiding around. Whoever had put together the squads had certainly put a fair amount of thought into it, something he was relieved to notice.

"Well, between the four of us, we should be pretty good then." Marcus said. He minutely jerked as he remembered something, pulling out the long bolts of armor they'd been given. He wrapped two the smaller ones around his arm as he walked, his rolled up sleeve showcasing the burns down his arm as the material flowed across his skin.

"I'd suit up now if I were you guys, just in case." He squeezed his hands together, impressed with how well it blended, and how little he could actually tell it was there.

He hiked up his shirt just enough to shimmy the larger bolt underneath and make sure he didn't cut off his holster belt, before dropping it back over the exposed skin as that bolt melted across his chest. He'd apply the legs once they'd gotten comfortable in the APC. The added protection made him feel a little bit safer, but his eyes still darted around the ruins, watching for anything that might break out of a destroyed building and rush them. Ernie's advice about them being on the outskirts and therefore being easy prey had really only served to make him slightly jumpy.

"Way ahead of you," Lawrence remarked, holding up his hand to display the barely visible layer of wishalloy. The older boy looked past the map on his phone to observe the marks on Marcus's arm, but made no comment. Nothing new.

Savannah nodded at Marcus's suggestion and got to work applying the material to her own arms and legs as they walked-- over her clothes, because, despite everything, there were still boys present. Her movements were quick and angry, accompanied by several frustrated sighs before she finally watched the material settle over her dark red rain coat and denim jeans.

"God DAMN IT!" Savannah exclaimed after a moment, patting frantically at the pocket of her pants. A small canister-shaped bulge was enough to indicate she'd forgotten to remove the pepper spray from her pocket before putting on her wishalloy.

Oh right, she had almost forgotten to put on the remaining wishalloy. Curious to see how it worked, Sophia had already put it over her arms and torso while riding in the truck, and it now lay hidden under her black cardigan. Though she would soon loose access to her jean pockets, at least she would have those two pockets in addition to the belt. After pulling out the material that had been shoved in her pockets, she glanced up at Marcus and, seeing the marks there, her eyebrows drew together. Scars on his face, burn marks on his arms. I wonder what happened, she wondered before busying herself with putting on the wishalloy.

Falling back a few steps from the group as she stopped to cover one leg, she hurried to catch up once more before doing the same for the other leg. She was now finished, and it seemed Savannah was as well, but with a complication. It was too bad that Savannah had forgotten to take an item out, but at least she would get it out in a few hours, if what the Commander had said was true. She considered saying something to try and make the older girl feel better about the pepper spray, but decided against it.

Instead, she reached out and put a hand on Sav's shoulder. Shrugging her shoulders, she gave the girl a half smile by pulling up only one corner of her mouth and holding it for a second before finishing it into a somewhat forced, small, smile. The actions were intended to show the girl that it was okay and there was nothing she could do about the sealed in can, and the smile was supposed to be reassuring. But she didn't hold the smile for long, for a few seconds later she dropped the hand and looked away as she bit her lip hard and slid her hands into her pockets.

Marcus chuckled softly to himself, having surmised what it was that the blonde girl had sealed away in her pockets. "Locked your pepper spray off, huh?" he said, snapping his off of his belt. He didn't need the spray himself; if there was anything that could be sprayed, it could just as easily be beaten over with a large hunk of hardware. He doubted that a small girl swinging a baton would have quite the same impact, so it'd serve her better than it would serve him.

"Heads up!" he said, lightly tossing the canister over to her.

Sophia's attempt at comfort was met with only a slightly less irate stare. Savannah's shoulder flinched away from the girl's touch as she instantly took offense to Marcus's question, but she kept her mouth shut. Not even a 'thank you' as she clumsily caught the canister he offered her. She swallowed hard and ran her thumb along the metal, trying to look past the fear as they finally came to the APC.

"Alright," Lawrence said, unconcerned with Savannah's mistake as he stowed his communicater in the pocket of his jacket. "Once we get started, we'll have to move fast to best take advantage of Sophia's eyes. Most of the people we'll be evacuating will be indoors. I suggest we have Sophia scope the buildings from outside first. Then, Marcus, you can head inside and do a quick secondary check. If I'm understanding your ability correctly, you should be able to jump back out of the house if you see anything Sophia missed, right?"

"Once the coast is clear, I'll join you while Savannah waits with Sophia outside as lookout. From there, we'll help get people outside and into the truck."

Nice of Marcus to give Savannah his can of pepper spray. That was something Sophia should have thought of and done, it was better than just making a bunch of motions at Sav that hadn't seemed to have any effect. Shifting her attention from Sav to the APC up ahead, she listened closely as Lawrence began to make plans for what each of them would be doing. It sounded as if it might be able to work, but then she had pretty much no experience with strategy, so she wouldn't know. At least it was something to work from. Simply nodding to show she had heard and understood, she remained silent.

Oof, tough crowd Marcus thought to himself, noting the blonde girl's general irritation. He turned his attention to Lawrence as he spoke, nodding as he detailed the plan. Get in, make sure that there wasn't anything hiding inside one of the houses, and get back out if there was something hiding inside. He noted that Lawrence failed to mention what to do if there was something dangerous inside the building, but he assumed the answer to that question was easily found with the shotgun he was toting around.

"Sounds like a plan. Definitely be on the lookout for any landmarks or important looking buildings around here - those are the most likely places for people to have run to when everything went to hell." Of course, a greater chance of finding civilians meant a greater chance of encountering hostile forces too. Hopefully they'd all been pushed back, though.

A soldier, rifle in hand, waited by the open driver side door as the group approached the already running APC. His eyes only briefly flickered to the children as he carefully surveyed the surrounding area.

"Keep an eye out for other subnaturals, too," Lawrence warned as Savannah stepped in front of him, clambering in and taking her seat first. "They may blend in with the people we're meant to be retrieving, so don't let your guard down too easily. And let's try to make sure none of them end up on the truck."

Savannah stiffened in her seat at the mentioning of that possibility-- having hurried into the APC for the aura of safety it seemed to exude. But she said nothing, not even being given the chance as the solider urged them to hurry up and get in.