Lady Seraphina

Unlikely Heroes

Perry

Maxim "Max" Emillianov

Not only did his Russian fail to throw her off, but also it seemed that she was even more eager to keep yapping in his ear, and boy did she have a piercing voice. It reminded Max of some sort of speech which went on regardless of how uninterested the audience was. Now Max felt so unnerved, in addition to helpless, that he started swearing and swinging his free arm about while pretend-speaking with Viktor. He could only hope she was not built up with heavy muscles, or in the company of several others who were. After all the years of growing up together and then fleeing the homeland, Max did not need put much effort into improvising a call to Viktor, he could think about a thousand things, watch a movie, repair his old bike, and still pretend-call Viktor, letting no one on earth suspect the other end of the line.

It was first at the mention of Dr. Bher's name that he spoke slower, yet not much than anyone engaged in a real phone call would. “How the hell did she get that?”, he asked the imaginary Viktor in Russian, still refraining from turning his head her way or paying her any noticeable attention. “Some sort of a headache?!!”, Max now yelled at the imaginary Viktor – still in Russian, “Which retard hasn't heard of migraine nowadays? Every kid back home knows to shut up when parents have migraine.” But then she finally said something Max could no longer ignore, something he no longer wished to ignore.

So far Dr. Bher has been their last resort, one they hoped would lead to a real diagnosis and not just end up being another butthead unable to make any sense, or eager to shove medication down Max' throat, without being able to really tell what he had. But what if this Bher was not what Max had been looking for? Moreover, what if this Wilson so many people relied on had the real answers? He was not going to go childish on this, but that was a real possibility, worth considering. “Hold on a second,” he automatically said, as if in a real conversation, and stopped speaking Russian.

It felt weird, how was he supposed to talk back now that he had done his best to ignore the woman sitting next to him. Awkwardly he searched with his free hand for the card he had apparently dropped, until his hand touched the woman beside him. Max pulled back with haste, which lead to his fingers hitting his chest. At least now he felt a little less awkward. “Wil... Wilson?” His head turned halfway towards her. “Dr. Wilson, you said?” His accent was easily recognizable as Russian, though mild enough not to get in the way of people understanding his English. “Is he a specialist...”, and feeling rude all of a sudden he added, “ma'am?” which sounded weirder than any other chosen word. Did people ever say »ma'am« in a real conversation? She must have thought of him as a fucking retarded Russian from a far off place where English speaking people could never reach.

“You have a phone number of this Wilson?” was the best change of his speech Max could come up with. “My friend...” he said, lifting the phone in his hand a little, pointing out it was the friend – supposedly – on the line, “could take me, if I can get an appointment... or is he overbooked, with so many people relying on him and all?” Afraid, that he might actually miss on a real opportunity, Max then emphasized, “My friend's coming to pick me up in short. We'll call Wilson and see about the appointment if you can get me the number.”​

Running from the World

As long as Clovis's opponents use normal weapons or strength based powers, he will be fine.

@Invisible Man

Hate to break it to you but eighty percent of the characters have combat powers not based on strength.

Unlikely Heroes

of Dirt

Katsuro Nakamura

Katsuro looked down at the water a significant distance below him and jumped off the cliff. He could feel the wind rushing by, obscuring his hearing, but the voices in his head rang louder and with more persistence than anything the real world could conjure. Sometimes it wasn’t voices at all. Sometimes it was the memories of sounds that he couldn’t forget due to the pain they caused. He remembered the sound his ribs made the first time they broke, having been the victim of a vicious roundhouse kick. The sound carried more than the physical pain, but also the moment of realization that he had so utterly lost. He could hear laughter from students during his school years. He could hear the scolding tones and voices of every single girlfriend he’s had and the similar lectures that came just before his leaving them. And just before he would hit the water like hitting a brick wall at 60 mph, he’d hear each of his parents tell him something that they hate about him.

He woke up in his single bedroom apartment from the nightmare with an elevated heart rate and sweat. He grimaced and clenched his teeth in frustration, getting into an upright position as he buried his face in the palm of his hand. “Stupid shit,” he muttered under his breath. He kept his eyes closed. “Stupid, weak shit,” he said after clearing his throat loudly. His eyes opened slowly as he sighed, the end of his bed slowly coming into focus. Although his hand was right in front of his eyes, he could still see the blurry end of his bed. He furrowed his brow and slowly moved his hand away from his face, his eyes totally focused on it. He clenched his fist, moved his fingers around. It was all there. He could feel his hand there, but he couldn’t see it, and as he moved it further away from him he realized he couldn’t see his forearm either, or his bicep. As his confusion rose, adrenaline rushed through his body in panic.

“What the…?” he mumbled before quickly pulling the sheets away from him. All he wore to bed were athletic shorts and that was all he saw. The rest of him was gone. It was like he was a ghost. Am I still dreaming? He thought as he raced to the bathroom and turned the light on with his face an inch away from the mirror. “Ugh!” he yelled and jolted backward at the unexpected sight of his own reflection. I’m here, he thought reassuringly as his heavy breathing began to slow. His hand pressed against his chest to monitor his heart rate. He stared at his own reflection as his mind raced. What the hell was that? He took a deep breath and shook his head. “Great. I’m losing my mind or something, now,” he muttered as he returned to the living room and turned the lights on.

He grabbed a glass of water and sat down on the couch. It was still very early in the morning. The sun hadn’t shown itself yet. He kept checking his hand to see if it was still there. It always was. Did I really just imagine that? It was way too real, he thought as he walked back into his bedroom to retrieve his iPhone. He sat on the couch again and checked his messages. It wasn’t uncommon that he’d wake up in the morning to a text he didn’t get to respond to before falling asleep. There were two from Ariel, a new girl he’d been seeing for about a week now. One text was about drama at her workplace that he didn’t care about. The other was asking if he wanted to check out a new restaurant for dinner the following day. He was about to send a text to accept, but he stopped himself. It was too early in the morning. It’d be weird. He set the phone down on the table and lied down on the couch He closed his eyes and thought. At first he thought about Ariel, but then it went on to things he didn’t want to think about. The past. Mistakes. There were a lot of those. He could count them like sheep. Before long, he was passed out on the couch.

When Katsuro woke up a little before noon, he replied to Ariel and decided to take a walk in the park. He still felt a sinking feeling in his chest and couldn’t sit in his apartment all day. I need to walk this off, he thought as he put on some jeans and a long-sleeved, button up shirt. He rolled up the sleeves and styled his hair a bit before leaving. Even if he didn’t intend on meeting up with someone, how he looked always meant a great deal to him. Anything in his life that he could control he did. It’s the losing control that makes him angry, especially when he doesn’t know how to get it back. He checked his hand.

Unlikely Heroes

ArcanicNeon (ReganOs)

Ester Gardner

Ester watched Garrett skid off to find the man he was with before Ester pulled him away.

Ester's small smile soon faded into a sad frown of defeat, groaning in self-hatred as she covered her face with her hands.

"Oh god why rehab?" She moaned. "Zack's going to kill me, I"ll need to find a new job..."

Ester needed to collect her thoughts, think of a plan after the situation that she was dragged into ends.

...If it ever ends.

Roaming down the corridors, Ester felt like she was lost, continuously pushing back her long dark brown hair past away from her face in a fidgety manor. She stopped at hallway breaks, different paths leading to different directions, confused at the halls and different areas she'd walk past again and again. Ester soon familiarised herself, she was near the infirmary, where Wilson treated her.

"God this place is a maze..." She muttered to herself, brows furrowed in frustration.

Just as Ester remembered where her quarters was, a voice stopped her. A female one.

"They need me. I bet they are going 'Meow, meow. We are hungry!'"

Ester began to follow away, pushing her dark brown hair behind her ear. She was puzzled by what she just heard.

The voice spoke again.

"A way out. There must me a way out..."

Ester finally found the woman, looking down the hall, puzzled and confused. Clearly she didn't see Ester.

Ester stepped forward and spoke out.

"Is everything alright?" She asked her.

Unlikely Heroes

Nemaisare

Thea 'Teddy' Palmer - Near the Park, Two Hours Ago

The world had changed overnight. One bad headache and funny sort of flu (though she really hadn't felt like laughing at the time) and suddenly that strange bright lights and too clear vision that came along with headaches wouldn't leave her alone. Although now it was the other way around. It was her eyes bringing about the headaches. And Teddy was thoroughly pissed off that she couldn't make it stop. Advil was touch and go, keeping the room dark only worked until she had to leave it, cool cloths were nice, but impractical for moving around with. School had been the worst. The light wouldn't stop flickering and she'd had to run out of math class on Monday to find a garbage can to vomit into when it made her queasy trying to ignore it.

The only good thing about that was she'd gotten out of taking the test, and stayed home Tuesday. Her parents figured it was some lingering illness from the weekend, or maybe a concussion from the accident on the bus, but they couldn't find any other symptoms, so she'd managed to avoid a trip to the hospital. If it kept up though, she might just ask if they could book her an appointment with the family doctor, because she didn't like it, and she didn't want it to stay. It had been fading a little though, the rough effects, and just that afternoon she'd discovered something pretty awesome. So, she thought she might wait one, maybe two more days in case the problems kept diminishing and her head finally wrapped itself around what had happened.

Sitting in the tree in her backyard after breakfast, Teddy was regaling Dana with her stories. The short version, since she didn't want to accidentally drop the phone and that meant texting and texting lots meant sore thumbs.

-No srsly. I no reflexes = fast but this wsn't reflx. I WATCHED falling and I caught it. Easypeasy. Coaster flip is a breeze! No challenge. Honest!-

-U just think it wasn't. For srs, Teddy, catching things is instinct. That's probs what it was.-

Of course, that's what Dana thought. It's what she'd been thinking most of the week too, until she realised it was so consistent. But she'd saved the best for last. Coaster flipping was nothing, she was already relatively good at it, as Dana was so keen on pointing out. Oh no, she had something far better.

-I saw a hummingbird. Ok. This HAVE to no isn't normal you. I could see its wings. They move in figure eight.-

-Youtube has an awful lot of slowed down hummingbirds, Teddy...-

Sighing, she eyed her phone in annoyance, then stuck out her tongue and took a selfie, sending that in place of words. Dana loled, then allowed that maybe she'd seen a hummingbird, but seeing its wings flapping was a bit of a stretch.

-U sure this isn't from that bump u got on the bus?-

-I no it isn't.-

She had had concussions before, much as she didn't want to remember them, they had never left her imagining she could see hummingbird and bumblebee wings while they were flying or following a softball someone hit right at her and know just where to put her hand to catch it. She might have been athletic, but she wasn't that good at softball.

-But tis all due to what happened on the bus dearie~-

A message said appearing on Teddy's phone seconds later from a new number.

-I know you wanna know why <3-

She stared at it for a long, hard minute, longer than a minute really, as the messager told her Dana had replied. But convincing Dana of her abilities, new and improved eyes or whatever, had suddenly become second to figuring out who had just texted her. And how the hell they'd known what she was writing to her friend.

-Not a dearie............... Is this a prank text?-

Were those even a thing? She'd heard of prank calls...

-Depends on if hummingbird wings are a prank :P-

Great, now random strangers were disbelieving her PRIVATE conversations. Scowling, Teddy checked the number against her other contacts, maybe someone had changed simcards or whatever it was. No one she knew. No one she could think of in her parents' list of contacts either. Brat was more likely, but he wasn't even here to enjoy the joke. And he wouldn't know what she was typing.

-Hey Dana, nvm that, can you call 212647914? Ask for Brat, I think hes messing w/me-

....................

-No one there. It says it's not a #. There's a robot voice and everything.-

-Ok, thnx, I'll kick his ass later, gtg Mum wants me.-

She didn't, her mum was actually very busy not wanting her while out shopping for shoes, but she didn't want to carry on a conversation that someone was stalking. Especially not somene who didn't exist. If that wasn't a number, who was texting her? Frowning, Teddy pocketed her phone and swung out of the tree, ignoring the slight scrape of the bark and dropping the last few feet to hurry to her laptop to try looking up the number there. She left the phone on her desk where she could see it though, half hoping, half dreading another text.

-Now Dearie, why must you get other people involved? What fun is that? Let's not get Dana involved, okay. She would just make this thing we have between us a bit too messy <3-

She grabbed it as soon as it blinked, the internet was probably useless anyway, she wouldn't know where to go after google.

-U do creepy stalker well. Plz stop.-

-Aww fine :( I thought u wanted answers Dearie but I guess not. Good luck figuring things out. U need it :P-

-Answers to what?-

-The weird things that happened to u. Seeing hummingbird wings and last week's flu is because of the crash. I'm the same boat as u too.-

-U no about that?-

-Mhmm. Phones not safe.-

Seconds later an address started to be typed out in the web browser and the results pulled up a map to a local Starbucks about a mile away from Teddy's house.

-Let's meet up, okay. Come visit me in 2 hours and I'll tell u everything.-

The flicking on the screen alerted her, and Teddy stared at the map when it came up, terrifyingly thrilled. It probably wasn't a good thing that someone had just taken control of her computer, but it was rather exciting. Like she'd suddenly become involved in a movie. She bit her lip as she read the text, knowing it wasn't exactly the best idea to meet strangers with no knowledge of their intentions. But it wasn't like she'd be able to tell truth from lies with texting. And she knew that Starbucks pretty well... She'd just have to remember to tell someone where she was going, right?

-Ok. 2 hours. How will I know u?-

-No worries Dearie, I know u <3 Take the table at the back, okay-

-Ok...-

Unlikely Heroes

dpickle

Patrick "Pat" Anderson

After what seemed like an eternity the man stopped running. Pat wasn't sure why, but at that moment he really didn't care. They could finally talk with this guy and get this whole ordeal over with. Despite protests from his back, Pat picked up his pace a bit. He expect there to be any trouble at this point, but if there was he would have to provide back up. Pat couldn't help but smirk at the insanity of the situation. Here he was, a sixty-two year old man with a sore back and a pounding migraine and he was the back up. The Reformers really needed to get their act together.

Pat came to a stop a fair ways behind Jenna, just close enough that he could speak to them without having to raise his voice. His mere presence was enough to spook the guy before and he didn't want to risk sending the guy off running again. It seemed Jenna was going to do some kind of coin trick with her power to try and convince the guy they were telling the truth. Hopefully the guy would buy it, or at least be intrigued enough to want to know more. Still, there was the possibility that Pat would have to do a demonstration in order to convince this guy, and Pat would be lying if he said he wouldn't savor the opportunity to zap this guy for all the trouble he put them through.

"Yes, believe it or not we're actually trying to help you. Damned if I know why. "

Unlikely Heroes

Kirra

Jenna Baxter

A smile started to creep onto Jenna’s face as she saw the man start to stop. At least there was some progress. Closing the gap between the two as the man spoke, the realization of what step two entailed started to sink in. How was she supposed to convince a complete stranger about weird powers that she barely understood and wanted to do nothing more than get rid of them as well as the fact that there was two warring groups in which she had to blindly put her trust into one of them so that she wouldn’t be confined as a prisoner, or worse. Looking back with a pleading look for the older man to hurry up, Jenna knew she would have to start up the conversation before Pat would have the chance to arrive. Why couldn’t convincing someone to join a group she knew for only a day with tendencies to kidnap people for the sake of convenience be just as easy as convincing a class full of preschoolers that biting your classmate is a big no-no.

“Well, Daniel seems like he knows what he’s doing so I trust him when he says you were effected by the serum too.” Jenna started to say as worked on pushing her nervousness aside. “Think of this as a safety precaution if you don't anything weird has been happening to you. If you're clear, good. You can walk away and think that I'm some sort of lunatic but if you were effected, wouldn't it be good to know what is going on?”

“Do you have a quarter? You must have one seeing that you are out here busking out on the streets. Would you believe me if I could prove to you that I'm not crazy because maybe you haven't seen these weird things happen to you yet?”

Daniel

Maybe giving the Charlies the job of recruiting the newest Charlies they came across was the best idea. Taking a few paces away from Ms. Priss and the Foreigner, Daniel looked in the direction of the Runaway, Grampa and the Coward. He wasn't very keen on letting another incident occur and the distance the Runaway created wasn't something Daniel was very happy about but at least the trio stopped. As long as the Foreigner didn't have any nosy friends nearby to get in the way, the biggest concern was making sure the Runaway could be convinced instead of taking off again. At least if push came to shove hopefully Grampa could stop the man in his tracks because pulling a tranq gun out in the middle of the park wasn't the best approach while trying to be discrete, although the Coward might have already screwed that up with her yelling.

Glancing down at his watch as he made his way back towards the bench, he knew that they needed to hurry. Who knew when Cameron would be back but things needed to be resolved before then, or at least the best they could, or else a huge argument was in store for them in the near future.

Garret and Masaru

“Well,” Garret started to say as he worked on fishing his keycard from his pant pocket. “Christian seems like a pretty good guy. He seemed pretty quiet when I saw him but between being stuck in a van and during breakfast, I doubt everyone was as chatty as they could be.” Garret before leaving a slight pause as he tried to come up with specifics that Masaru would deem usable. The lack of time was really an issue and being stuck in the infirmary away from the group wasn’t very helpful either. Besides Cameron, he had the least exposure of those two from the rest of the Reformers and at this point in time hated that fact. Swiping the card and opening the door for Masaru, Garret looked at all the equipment they had. If push came to shove, there was enough to arm both the Reformers and the Charlies if fighting was deemed necessary against this foreign group or even the TSP. Garret only hoped that if they ever reached that point the Charlies would have enough time to train so that they wouldn't be defenseless. Things would quickly become messy and he wasn't very keen on seeing that happen. Another round of bloodshed due to the serum was one thing he hoped to avoid.

“It was kind of interesting though, for a blind guy he didn't have a cane with him.” Garret resumed as he tried to shove his previous, more somber thoughts aside to focus on the present. Added negativity would do nothing to help the situation. “Hmm, but I wonder if that's only because he was taken by the TSP without one. Either way, he does pretty good job as a blind guy. I don’t know what his powers are but if he was able to keep up with the Charlies when they were chasing after the gang, I wouldn't doubt he would have some sort of sixth sense as his power.”

“Sam was an interesting kid from what I saw. It's kind of sad to see someone as young as her get involved in all of this though but since we haven't heard her speak about her parents or had to find a way to avoid an Amber Alert or some other child abduction alert, I don't think she has a very good relationship with them or maybe wasn't with them at all before all of this.” Garret said as he picked up one of the nearest handguns and curiously examined it. He was far from being the weapons expert within the Reformers but knew enough to notice that even during the hiatus, someone was taking good care of the weapons, if not a tad bit too much seeing how clean everything was. “She did have some sort of medical emergency earlier today though. I don't know what all it was about and I doubt Wilson figured it all out yet but it must have been because of her powers so keep an eye out for that if you see her.”

Unlikely Heroes

Ryver et Rhine (Dear Karma)

Callie Wright

"How rude! It’s almost like you... Argh, never mind! I doubt you’d understand.” Callie puffed up her cheeks then let off a huge sigh, as she fell into the empty space on the bench beside Max. She twiddled her thumbs, eyeing the man suspiciously. Somehow she had the oddest feeling that he deliberately switched to that strange “gibber-jabber” Russian passengers used. Often, if they spoke any English at all, it would be so heavily accented that she’d be struggling to understand them. A huge turn-off, really. “You know, it’ll be hilarious, if you were actually talking to an automated voice recording system at the moment.” She shrugged. “Buuut foreign languages sound so fast anyway, so I can’t judge.”

Cal ran her fingers through her thick, tangled hair that desperately needed some Daddy-O conditioner. Think Cal, think, she coaxed herself mentally. There had to be better alternatives then looking up and calling out to Daniel, who was hovering nearby. Doing that might aggravate the situation, since the guy appeared rather jittery as it was. Frustrated, she kicked dumbly, dragging her shoes against the warm, paved ground. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw her assigned target dropping something. Cal held her breath waiting for him to notice, but he continued talking absentmindedly. She waited a few more seconds then leaned forward and picked it up.

“Dr. Larry Bher – Migraine Specialist,” Callie read loudly and dramatically, stretching every second syllable in an exaggerated manner, as some tended to do when faced with a non-English speaker. Again the man beside her seemed remarkably good at pretending not to hear or notice her. By now, it was obvious that he was avoiding her at all costs, which sucked. She rolled her eyes and leaned back. The woman stared at a passing cloud, when something about that card came to mind. She ran a finger down the edge, as her eyes focused on the name then the supposed specialization. “Migraine? Isn’t that like some sort of headache?” She mused. “I know people say it is god awful, but I think Dr. Wilson is very capable. He has to be with so many people relying on him.”

It never once occurred to the bubbly blonde that perhaps Dr. Wilson might not even be a medical doctor. A doctor, in her opinion, was always a man or woman in a white coat, who loved diagnosing you with some unpronounceable disease that inflates the medical bill. Most of which (ironically) were curable with aspirin or antibiotics. Dr. Wilson seemed to be much more decent than that. At least, based on the little she heard while gossiping with the kitchen crew in the morning. Hence, it was only through utter blind faith (and the absence of contradicting evidence), that Cal was able to say this next bit with a very straight face. “I’d definitely recommend him for anyone in need to get their head fixed.”

Unlikely Heroes

Cerulean

Adam Cooper

Oh god, another pursuer. Why is everyone after me today? As the second chaser turned out to be much younger, and significantly more attractive, Adam grew more worried that danger was in their wake. As she seemed to try and explain herself, the musician slowed and the subject of the crash came up. Squeezes his eyes shut, and somewhat hoping this doesn't come back to haunt him, the running had stopped. Turning around to Jenna, he sighed but didn't walk towards her.

"Fine. I was at the crash. IN the crash, I should say. But I don't have a clue about these weird things you seem to be seeing. If I remember correctly, that might be a sign of brain damage. Which means you should be at the hospital and not out here looking like a bunch of kidnappers. Nothing out of the ordinary has been happening other than right now, so I don't understand what you want from me. It's not like I had anything to do with it either. I wouldn't be dumb enough to crash a bus I was already riding on, just to be poked and prodded by you people either."

He shrugged, watching her pant.

"I have nothing to offer and nothing to take. So where do we go from there?"

Running from the World

If Elizaveta can't touch Gloria, then Gloria can't touch Elizaveta c:<

@Apokalipse

Yeah she can, she just has to make herself tangible for a couple of seconds and not punch exposed skin c:< You goin' down bitch.