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[Other FULL] Λtlantis Λwakening [IC] [M]

5,114
Posts
17
Years
  • Age 30
  • AU
  • Seen Feb 18, 2023

Atticus Forsberg, Frederick Salusbury, Imogen Green and Misha Vedernikov - Atlantean Unification Project Headquarters, Toulouse, France


8th November, 2012

The newest members of the AUP had spent the past week learning all kinds of interesting skills; training practice of their abilities, learning how to fight, how to hold a gun, how to defend themselves... heck, even Annie had taught them how to break through a weak firewall. It wasn't clear if any of them had remembered anything, but at least they knew the basics. It wasn't exactly a breeze to learn what they had learned, but the AUP made sure they knew the simple stuff if they wanted to go out in the field.

Of course, it had only been a week, so it wasn't like they were experts. Freddie had at least learned how to walk so he didn't fall over every step. Now it was more like every half-kilometer or so.

Today was a day like any other, members meeting up in the cafeteria for breakfast. It was lively and if you felt lonely, you only had to sit next to another member and listen in to hear someone's story, or maybe the details of a mission they just went on. Most of the juniors were here wih their 'senior' member, probably either idly chatting or getting briefed on what was going to happen with their training today. The only person missing from the table was Imogen, but it wasn't like anyone was complaining.

"So, we're meant to do a bit of weapon training, apparently," Atticus stared at a piece of paper he was holding, using his finger to underline the words as he read them. "Then you've got the rest of the day off. Easy peasy."

"Y-yeah..." Freddie stared at his fork, playing with his eggs.

"Right, you don't like guns. You didn't finish the training, did you?"

"No, not really," the fawn shook his head, his ears drooping.

"It's not hard, silly man," Misha grabbed him from behind, Frederick almost jumping three feet in the air. "Easy! Point, shoot!"

"Euuugghhhhh..."

The hall suddenly fell silent as Annie, the small, freckled red-head who was bound to her wheelchair wheeled herself into the hall, rolling up to Atticus, Frederick, Misha and their juniors. The crowd slowly fell back into chatter, but anyone who had been in the AUP for more than a month knew that when Annie left her room, it meant something bad was happening.

"Atticus," she said in a hushed tone. "Emil wants to see you guys."

* * *

"There's been an incident in Paris and as far as we believe, an Atlantean has gone rogue and is terrorising the city. I'm sorry that your first assignment will be so sudden, but we believe that you are ready for what is to come," Emil stood, leaning on his desk, with Cooper standing on one side, Annie by him and Devon standing in a corner. "We have to leave as soon as possible, so Cooper will take you to be suited up and take you to the plane."

* * *

Approaching Paris, the plane suddenly took a dive down, Cooper maneuvering his way around the falling meteorites. It wasn't hard to notice another plane dancing with the raining rocks as well.

"Royal Family..." Emil shook his head. "Team! We're exiting here. Get ready to jump."

"Outside the plane?!" Freddie grabbed the chair he was sitting in, his legs skittering against the ground as the plane dipped up and down, side to side. "Jumping?!"

"Oh, grow up," Imogen shook her head. "You know Emil is a gravity manipulator. He won't kill you."

"Are y-you sure?"

"Let's go. Cooper, take the plane somewhere safe. Devon, you stay with Cooper," Emil buttoned up his suit-coat, opening the hatch on the side of the plane and sliding it back, the wind whipping against their skin. Imogen went first as Emilio lifted his hands, jumping outside into his gravity field. Atticus was next, shoving the very reluctant Frederick outside and jumping after him. Misha merely walked off the plane, Emil cringing slightly at the massive weight entering the field. The juniors followed them out, Devon yelling from the inside.

"Let me come, dad! I can help!"

"No, you stay with Cooper. Let's go, everybody."

He swam forward in the air, closed the hatch then dropped the gravity field, everybody falling with it. There was a thump in his field; Devon had jumped just after they had fallen, dropping into his father's bubble. Emil was angry, but it would have to wait. The plane was already gone and they had a job to be done.

The drop felt like a thrill ride, the sudden stop at the bottom catching everybody's stomachs. Frederick dropped as soon as Emil's gravity field was released, falling to his knees and dry reaching on the ground.

"C'mon, little goat man," Misha pulled Frederick to his 'feet'.

"Alright, out main priority is to evacuate any civilians. Next is to find the threat and stop it. Capture, not kill. Misha, Delta, Atticus, Frederick and Agnes, you team up and head left. William, Imogen, Devon," he leaned on the word Devon, his face adding to the disappointed tone, "and myself will search right. Steer clear of the Royal Family; we're unsure of how friendly they'll be in these kinds of situation. Alright, let's go!"​



Oakley North, The Librarian, Adeline Russo - The Librarian's Home, Under the Vatican, Rome, Italy


8th November, 2012

"Wakey, wakey! Rise and shine!" The Librarian cheered loudly, walking into the breakfast hall. His three 'apprentices' (or padowans as he had called them time to time, even if they had rejected any of these names) had all gathered here together on request from the Librarian. At first, Oakley had pressumed it was a group training session, like they had done a few days ago. This time, however, the Libarian was wearing a thick coat, appropriately dressed for winter. Were they going outside today? "I received some exciting news not too long ago! It turns out that Paris is being terrorised by a meteor-controlling Atlantean!"

"Is that... good?" Oakley made a face. Meteors didn't sound good.

"Unfortunately, dear Oakley, for the people of Paris, this is a terrible misfortune," the Librarian hung his head, looking depressed for a few seconds. "For us though, this is a great oppourtunity for us to have a glimpse of our competition! The Royal Family, the Atlantean Unification Project and this secret 'Syndicate' that I've heard so little about are apparently all heading their themselves. We don't have to really interfere, I only want to go observe the situation. If you want to have some fun though, feel free to intervene. And if you feel confident, you may try and join an organisation. Only if you feel confident though. It's only been a week."

Adeline strolled in the room, dressed in a singlet top and a pair of skinny jeans. Was she coming too? Wouldn't she get cold in just that?

"I trust you'll need warmer clothing," with a snap of his fingers, coats appeared over the three's clothing (leather for the boys and a nice peacoat for Oakley), "and there is something I do want you to have." Oakley expected a click of his fingers, but instead he pulled out something from his coat pocket. Something that made a '*****' sound. Was that jewelery? "These are called 'Atlantean Crystals'. They help us control and focus our abilities. They're only small ones, but they will make a noticable different, definitely in a pinch."

He handed Oakley a heart pendant on a thin chain, a ring to Nathaniel and a thicker chain to James. Oakley took a moment to inspect the necklace; most of it was a silver pendant, but in the centre was a blue rock, about half the size of a dime and the about same shade of blue as the thing that formed on her arm when the armour grew up it. It was beautiful indeed.

"These are rare and very precious, so please do not lose them. And I do expect them back, as unfortunately they do not belong to me. I suspect you three will need them a lot more right now, though," he nodded and grabbed Nathaniel's and James' shoulders, like he did when he was about to teleport. Oakley nodded and placed a hand on James' arm. Otto used a single finger to touch her father's back.

"All set! Let's head off!"

* * *

Like most times they travelled, the landing was the worst part. Oakley always felt queasy but managed to keep it in her stomach this time.

"Behold, Paris!" The Librarian cheered, yelling over the sounds of falling meteorites, screaming people and other ambient disaster noises. "Oh no, look at that poor Eiffel Tower. Such a shame. You know, I was here when they built this wonder of the world. I was actually one of the key des--"

"Sir."

"Right, well," he sighed. "Try not to split up. And please don't die. That would be a shame. Alright, off you trot."​
 
1,176
Posts
15
Years
  • Seen Jul 18, 2016
Delta Mayor -
- France
In less than a week's time life had gone from simple living to a rather hectic arrangement. Longing for the simple days happened whenever Delta was coerced into training with others, something she detested. The AUP emphasized the "Unification" part of their name a little too much for her liking they also talked too much. Outbursts happened quite often, especially when individuals thought it was appropriate for them to address her as Delta. Sometimes she went as far as threatening their meaningless lives, she was beginning to see why it bugged Evo so much, though she wasn't fond of him either. A loner by nature Delta stayed away from all those she considered weaker than herself, William and Agnes. The former seemed to question everything and mixed with a sarcastic personality constantly made Delta throw daggers his way, one day she imagined they would be real daggers. With the other Delta didn't like her "bubbliness", it was almost as if she craved attention in the way she was nonstop moving and talking. Conversations, if any occurred at all, between Delta and the other two were short and sweet (or rather she swore at them in Polish) before she sent them on their way, far, far, far away. She needed someone who could bring the heat, a fiery personality that could only be rivaled by her own.

Highlighting all Delta's days were the training sessions, one might have even caught a grin on her face as one of the "higher ups" called for them. If it was Misha, Delta's grin took a turn toward a look of disapproval, as he had started the whole "Delta" phenomenal. It came off strange since she specifically remembered telling him in that shoddy restaurant that her name was "Del" and nothing more. Clearly these Atlanteans knew a lot more about their lives than they were letting on, this irked Delta, as that seemed overly invasive, not a quality she liked in the slightest.

Ability Training. Weapon Training. Computer Training. If one were care about computers it wasn't Delta Mayor, as she only put forth the minimal effort needed in order for Annie to be somewhat satisfied in her attempts. At least, that's what it looked like in appearance. It was a deliberate act to seem less than grateful for this entire experience. In all actuality she became instantly fascinated with what one could do by pressing a few keys. Delta's time here wasn't permanent, nor was she ready to get attached to any individual or "project", that just wasn't her style. As for the usage of guns Delta appreciated the lesson but she was more of a heads on type, but thought it might be useful for opponents that for some reason she couldn't get close to. Also, it would allow for her to test out another's ability and what the limitations for it just might be. All in all there was a preference for relying on her nature ability, and that's what Delta spent most of focus on. Late night/early morning training was a must; it also got her away from the instructors and peers, and let her do things the way she preferred.

The first few days Delta refused to do anything passed two body parts, as it caused her to get nauseated and faint, it was an embarrassment she wasn't quite ready to share with the world yet. Agility, speed, and rapid crystallization were all techniques she advanced in instead. Close combat began to shine as her most skilled attribute, so much that Delta eagerly challenged anyone and everyone but most turned her down. Easily her ego inflated, Delta didn't pay much attention to the others training sessions, even when they were right in front of her, so she hadn't the tiniest of clue how they were doing. Avoidance to the transformation of multiple body parts became an issue Delta was adamant to overcome. The first, second, third, and fourth attempts resulted in the same way, immediate sickness followed by a fainting spell. Delta refused the assistance of anyone that might try to intervene with her rigorous style of training, forcing herself to do it as soon as she recovered from fainting. The crystallization eventually spread, crept down her body in a slow fashion, almost as if it had all the time in the world, and eventually made its way across a third body part. The whole process took three days, leaving Delta physically exhausted.

Mealtime was one of her least favorite activities, listening to Misha go on about the newest romance book in his collection. All she did was nod her head until her neck hurt. She had little to add to the conversation except when they actually conversed about training and what was next on the table, not the actual table as Delta only picked at her food. As for the rest of the higher ups, Freddie was too bashful and the easiest to talk down to, Atticus was decent; Delta didn't mind him as much as she did Imogen. There wasn't any problem with Delta letting Imogen know exactly how she felt about it, annoying and needed to buy duct tape to cover that overused mouth of hers. Bickering almost began immediately when it opened, it was apparent that everyone disliked her to some degree. Annie was sweet, too sweet, but Delta didn't see much of her unless they were doing some sort of computer hacking session. It was usually pleasant to see her, or just a fresh face, but the results this time were even better. Royal Family. Rogue Atlanteans. That only meant two things, they got to leave HQ and there would be fighting, both of which got Delta in a better mood. Well, until they boarded the plane and were told they were to jump out of it without parachutes. To not appear scared in front of anyone was Delta's forte but when it came to this sort of thing it was a tough act to pull off. The ride down to the ground was a new experience to Delta's feelings; it was odd in a way she couldn't explain without looking up words in a dictionary.

"Alright, our main priority is to evacuate any civilians. Next is to find the threat and stop it. Capture, not kill. Misha, Delta, Atticus, Frederick and Agnes..." Delta couldn't help but tune out the rest, she had no intention on helping any civilians or "capturing" any threats, they had their plans, Delta had hers.

"I'll be off then," Delta shouted from over her shoulder as she took off into the frenzy before Misha could put his power to use, as he was prone to doing.

Unholstering the handgun she had safely hidden under her tank top and jacket, and tucked into her pants, Delta wondered if it counted as theft? The guns were for training, and what better training to use them out in the field? Paris had not been picture perfect place as she had seen in all the brochures, flaming rocks pelted down from the sky, as buildings and trees burn. Flames made their homes throughout the entire vicinity, there were scarce places where the flames hadn't yet enveloped it. A layer of smoke made it hard to see in certain places; there seemed to be a center location where the gigantic rocks were coming from, the Eiffel Tower. Screams of injured civilians, as well as ones that pushed passed it in a hurried fashion, were beginning to annoy Delta, the sooner she stopped the threat the sooner everything ended. Gun pointed in front of her Delta charged into the smoke filled area, swinging her gun from left, to straight head, to right, over, and over again to make sure there wasn't any Royal Family surprises waiting. A series of footsteps were heard before Delta saw silhouette of a man, who then immediately raised his hands above his head as the handgun's barrel pressed into his dust-covered forehead.

"Miss, Miss! My wife, my wife is trapped, can you help?!" The man exclaimed with French accent and tears welled up in his eyes.

Delta looked the man over before she checked his person for any weapons or clue to whom he was; a wallet was located in his back pocket. A Mr. René Grimaud Augustin, as Delta finished she spoke, "Lead the way, then."

Unsure if it was necessary Delta kept her gun leveled with the man's back incase he tried anything, but perhaps a shot to the leg would do better. After a series of twists and turns they arrived at a street corner where visibility was slightly better due to the flames that were devouring the building in front of them. A frail woman, who looked somewhere her in forties due to the various wrinkles that were almost hidden by the dust caked on her face and graying hair. Unfortunately that was the least of her worries... a concrete slab laid atop of her chest. Breathing troubles were clear by the way she sucked in oxygen as if she couldn't live without it, and, well, she couldn't. Crushing the slab wasn't an option, as that would only do the same to the woman below it, Delta stuck her weapon in same place it was previously.

"You take one side, I'll take the other. Don't strain yourself," The removal of her gloves was a must if she were to get a better grip than she would with them on. The transparent, green-tinted crystallization spread over her entire upper body (just not her head) as she took hold, "Let me do most of the work."

"You're one of those freaks! Atlantean!" Unexpectedly the man spat in Delta's face. "This is your faults, I know it!"

Anger boiled up in Delta, so much so that she almost let the hefty concrete slab slip from her now strengthen fingers and back on the lady who was squirming underneath. Luckily Misha had upset her plenty of times that now she was more tolerable of individual making her upset. An itch to pull the trigger of her gun wasn't going away, thankfully for this man she had already holstered it otherwise Delta had no problem adding one more casualty. Despite the disrespect that she was just given Delta still helped the man maneuvered the fallen piece of the building off his paramour.

A tap on the shoulder was delivered to the man after Delta commented, "I believe you forgot to say something!"

"Fuc-Th-Thank you, Miss!" The man whipped around, but his tone and wording changed as soon as he looked down the barrel of her gun, Delta's finger was held closely to the trigger.

A nod in response was all that Delta gave in return, though she wanted to add a bullet to that equation but more pressing matters needed attending. Once more she took off in the smoke and covered her mouth with the arm of her jacket and one hand on the gun as she headed toward the famous destination for many tourists, could she consider herself a tourist now? Regardless, after several other civilian freeings (did she have a sign on her forehead that said, "Atlantean! I will help!"?) Delta still made it to the base of the Eiffel Tower where she was greeted by the sound of music.

Odd.

Upon closer look there was an actual band sitting there playing amongst the rumble and destruction, as if they did this everyday. Delta emerged from the smoke and met the eyes of the guy on the drum set first, followed by the leader singer, then the bassist. Something was off about the trio; if they weren't scared of the falling rocks then somehow they were in on it.

"Gigs up," announced Delta from her position, hands behind her back while her eyes leapt from person to person. The music continued on except the lyrics now changed.

"It's okay, don't apologize,
You don't know what you're up against!
Matthias, it's your turn to try!"


The lead singer had actually sung his response into the song, oh how clever of him, Delta sarcastically thought. The dirty blonde man with facial hair stood up and was the biggest in length and width. Matthias gave Delta a large grin, one to rival the smirk she had on her face. Instantly her hand shot forward and her trigger finger pressed down in rapid succession four times. It was time to test this guy, if he was Atlantean like she thought he might reveal his ability, if not he would die. Unbeknownst to Delta the man's foot was touching concrete. It had already covered his legs and had caught up to where the bullets were aimed in time for them to be rendered useless. At least she had managed to bait him into using his ability, some sort of armor made from concrete. There wasn't any way she could penetrate it, armor wasn't perfect, there were always spots where one could aim a well-placed punch and deal damage. Delta rushed forward, gun tucked in, with arms fully crystallized she punched his armored chest. Then she ducked down, swung her left leg around and up to connect the end of her heel, crystallizing her foot before, to Matthias throat, more specifically where his Adam's apple should've been. The speediness of her attack and placement caused the drummer to stagger backwards.

His recovery was relatively quick, Delta edged closer, a bit too close as the large cement block punch came a lot sooner than she had expected. It knocked her back ten feet, a powerful punch indeed, had she not crystallized her torso she doubted that her ribs wouldn't have caved in.

Wasn't it, the bigger they are, the harder they fall, right? At least that was Delta's mentality as she ran toward the man, flipped off his chest by placing one of heels on his abdominal region and the other on his chest, which pushed him backwards. She switched the area of her crystallized to her arms and made rapid fire punches all across the cement armored drummer, seeking out all weak places. Joints! A moan escaped Matthias mouth, while a cheer flew from Delta's, but the two soon switched noises as Matthias wrapped his hands around Delta's right arm and swung her around, and around until he finally let her go. In a dizzy state Delta couldn't concrete on where to crystallized, an arm, her torso, and right leg is what she chose as she felt the touch of the concrete man let go of her. Twisted, Delta laid at the base of a nearby tree, which her body had snapped in half, as it had already suffered fire damage. Through blurry vision she arose, the members of the band still playing the same song, as the concrete man lumbered toward her. The flames to her left reflected off her crystallized hands, though her hair contained several leaves and twigs she was more excited than ever to continue this fight.
 

SV

See You Space Cowboy
3,393
Posts
12
Years
  • Seen Feb 7, 2022

Nathaniel Calaway and James Hazen- The Librarian's Home, Under the Vatican, Rome, Italy


James cursed under his breath. It was way too damn early in the morning for him to be listening to the constant, neverending jubilance of the Librarian, or Henry, or whatever the hell he was calling himself. For the past week as they trained with the man, he would rarely break through this personna he was in, as if he was trying to rub off on the others. James didn't want to bite. He wasn't looking for a friend, or someone to be amiable with in the man. He was there for training, and that was the extent of their relationship. Though, it didn't seem to go through the Librarian. He continued his smiling game, and James was slowly getting annoyed by it. When they were gathered in the breakfast hall, he assumed they would be doing another training exercise together, which basically meant relatively the same overall training process in the end. He found himself excited about the prospect maybe the first few days, but soon after the idea of training no longer inspired him as it did. He was beginning to see it more as a means to an end. Power was that end, though it was beyond that. He didn't want to just acquire that power, he wanted to use it for something. What exactly that was, he didn't know.

But the Librarian surprised him this time around. Just as he was beginning to start daydreaming as the man would prattle on about what they would do today, the words 'Paris is being terrorised by a meteor-controlling Atlantean' made him sit up and focus on Henry. "You're joking," James replied, a smile creeping on his face. He turned to Nate who sat beside him. "Heh...about time we'll be getting to use our powers on some live targets, eh Nate?"

"You should know I am not too fond of using my powers on 'live targets', James," Nathaniel began, sighing. "But this fight would be justified well enough. These terrorists are no better than the ones from the London center." Nathaniel tensed up, with the flood of emotions from earlier overcoming him. The anxiety, the anger, all of it. He would always look back at the day, wondering if what he did was right. It felt right at the time. And as much as Nathaniel ran through the situation in his head, it still did. But was there a better way? There had to be. Wasn't there always? It was all so confusing.

"Yeah, yeah. I hear you," He said, rolling his eyes as he stood up and accepted the leather jacket from the Librarian. He looked over it, determining if it was something he would wear, before grimacing and tossing it onto the couch he was just sitting on. "You know, some lives don't matter. These f*ckers probably had their chance. They'll get what's coming to them."

For Nathaniel, the leather jacket was completely redundant, as not only was Nathaniel practically immune to the cold at this point, but also he already had his. He gently removed the Librarian's offering and put on his own jacket (of which he was holding already). "It does not necessarily justify murder James. Murder doesn't solve anything. It only exasperates the problem further. 'An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.' You should try to remember that." James' world view was clearly warped by something, though Nathaniel could never quite figure out why. He had honestly tried, but soon quit. Uncharacteristic of him? Yes, but his efforts would be better spent on making James understand why laws were there. Why they were needed. Laws provided order. A standard to follow and something to strive towards. Educating James would probably be better than trying to understand him.

James sighed, turning to Nate and straigtening up and giving the larger man a salute. "Yes, Commandant Calaway!" James jokingly teased. He had observed during their time together that the two of them had a very different way of perceiving things. They had gotten along well enough besides not having many ideals in common because of the few things that they did share. He wasn't sure exactly what it was, but they both had it. Ambition? A desire to become stronger? Maybe both? He wasn't sure, but it was enough to tie them together into an unlikely friendship. He opened him palm as he accepted the chain with a blue rock at the end, what the Librarian referred to as an Atlantean crystal, which served to amplify their powers apparently. Much more useful than a leather jacket, James thought to himself.

Grabbing Nathaniel and James' shoulders, he prepared to teleport them off to combat. Oakley held onto James, and Otto touched her father's back. A moment later, the group was gone from the underground home of the Librarian, and right in the middle of a burning inferno that was once Paris. Paris looked like hell on earth. Or God was taking a sh*t on it. Paris was the toliet of God. A grand french toliet of unparalled design. It was no wonder that the French capital was a tourist spot, for its luxurious comforts have lured the divine being in the sky above to lay his holy crap upon the world. A holy crap that given the amount of burning chunks ravage the land, God was clearly suffering from indigestion. He took vegnence upon the poor French people for whatever reason, but then again he was God and needed no reason in the end.

That or it was just a beserk Atlantean reeking hell on earth. Take your pick.

A smile crept onto James' face as he stepped forward and admired the burning French capital. He scretched his arms out to his sides, sweat pouring off of him from the heat the fire emitted. He had never been to Paris, but he had seen pictures of it. People called it a beautiful city. James saw another example of gothic to modern architectural style, another design intended to make an impression on people. All he would see from the pictures was exaggerations and wasted money. The present state of the city, the burning buildings, the fire that scorched the earth, people running for fear of their lives. To him, that felt more real than anything he had seen before. It was in such moments that people embrace their primal instincts of survival, abandoning all created and adopted norms for the purpose of self-preservation. At this brink of death, this scene of absolute chaos and destruction, people are at their most vulnerable. However, people are also at their most capable. Their true nature awakens, their true selves. It is at these moments that they are most alive. That is why James viewed the present scene before him as true beauty.

A smile crept onto his face as he turned back to Nate, motioning him forward while ignoring the Librarian's calls to stay together. He didn't particularly want to travel with any of the others, but he wanted Nate to understand. "I hear something coming from over there. Music maybe? Let's go check it out!" He exclaimed, his tone giving off his excitement. James didn't think there was anywhere else in the world he would rather want to be right now.

Nathaniel sighed, "Fine then. But you will follow my lead from then on. I can't have you lose focus on the mission on hand." He made his over to the sound of music that James was so entranced by before turning back to the others. "Excuse me, but perhaps it is better we spilt up. James and I can handle ourselves. Librarian, keep Oakley safe," Nathaniel said with a slight nod. "Come now, James. Lead the way...I guess." The sight of a burning city was less than appealing to Nathaniel, as it left little to the imagination. Or hope. Hope was literally burning alive in the city as meteors battered the buildings, the icons of artistic architecture that Paris had prided itself on for generations. All for what? The thought was sickening. If you wanted to make a message, there were far more tactful ways to do it. Nathaniel wanted to find the leader and take him out as soon as possible. But things were rarely that easy.

"Sure thing," James responded still with a grin on his face, as he led them on through the burning terrain. He tried to follow the sound of the music as best he could through the heavy noise the crashing meteors continued to make, while avoiding the rain of magma as best he could. The two stayed relatively close to each other as they maneuvered through the ruined city, James primed for a good fight, and he knew he would soon be getting one.

In a sudden mistep, a meteor came crashing not a few meters away from the pair, landing right into the ground and sending ember, rock, and dust into the air, and causing James to be pushed off away from Nate. Smoke and dust rose swiftly through the air, and James coughed a bit as he slowly rose to his feet. Luckily, he was unharmed. "Nate?" He called out, wondering if he was also unharmed.

"Yeah I'm here," Nathaniel coughed. "You alright?"

"Never better," He yelled back, examining the area of impact. Through the smoke, to the right of where he stood, a saw the silhouette of a figure approaching their direction. Or rather, he seemed to be running rather than walking. Still, what struck James as odd is he didn't exactly appear to be running from the meteors. He was running, but not necessarily away. Perhaps towards something. If James had to guess, he was certain the man was an Atlantean, or tied to one of them. Maybe he was one of the the terrorists. Maybe he was from one of the other groups the Librarian talked about. Whoever he was, he was now James' selected target. "Hey, I'm gonna check out this guy. He might be Atlantean. You go on ahead." James called to Nate through the dust. He coughed once, bringing his hand to his mouth to cover it from the smoke, then watched as the dust slowly settled to reveal the man that would be his first challenger.
 
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Lt. Col. Fantastic

The Arianator
698
Posts
11
Years

Austin Tseng - Atlantean Royal Mansion


"Hey, Austin, wanna play?" A tallish blond kid extended the handle end of a ping pong paddle towards Austin. His acquaintance George, a 16 year old Ukrainian, was borderline professional at the game, his ability only enhancing his prowess on the table. Austin smiled, and grunted in affirmation. He knew he would lose and he didn't like that, but maybe he could at least score a couple times. Besides, he could always take him to school on the ball court later.

Austin had many acquaintances like George, people he was nice to and friendly with, but nobody he could really say was a friend. Many of the students at the mansion had cool abilities, like insect controlling, blade arms, whatever. Just cool stuff. It made Austin feel a bit sad, as the only thing he could really do was make things brighter or darker. Nothing electricity didn't already accomplish. Some days it made him want to give up and go home, other days it made him strive to learn to master it. In all actuality hadn't made much progress, though he felt like he had spent much of his time learning it. Studying physics at the mansion gave him some ideas for his ability, reflection and refraction. He spent much time on the former, being able to effectively turn thin air into a perfect mirror, given he had enough time and concentration to do so. Refraction was a different story; he had made almost no progress on emulating its effects. He can kinda make things look like they are being seen through a lens of some sort, and even magnify things slightly. It took a lot of concentration, and Austin often found himself breaking into a cold sweat before finally gasping for air, realizing he had forgotten to breathe in his trance.

Alongside his Atlantean training, Austin had been sparring with Antonia daily. She had the ability to mimic any muscle memories she saw, which made her a very formidable opponent. Training usually ended with Austin getting his ass handed to him, but he tried to not let it bother him. Not that losing to a woman bothered him, but losing in general made him very bitter. On top of that, things were kinda awkward with Antonia. Apparently she wasn't seriously flirting with him, and more or less just trying to get him to join the Royal Family. That alone didn't make Austin feel to great, but he was more upset with himself that he tried to go through with the ruse. He didn't speak to Antonia outside of training, and even when they trained talk was limited to "We're doing this today," or, "Try and do more of this." The training itself was good, and Austin had greatly improved his hand to hand fighting. He still had a long way to go, and had many more forms and techniques to learn from Antonia.

~~~​

After a few rounds of getting his ass kicked, Austin's game was cut short. Another student, a bit older and more involved than Austin, ran into the recreation room, nearly out of breath as he called Austin to come with him quickly. Austin, tossed his paddle to George and didn't hesitate to follow his summoner. The student, Kieran, also grabbed a girl named Charlie, Kim, and Minerva on the way to their destination: a helipad. There, Justin and River were waiting for them.

"I'm sorry your first mission will be like this, but this is important. You have all been seen by The Oracle as a part of the event that will take place soon if it hasn't already started. You've all been here a week, and have definitely got a better hold on your abilities, so now it's time to put that into practice."

Yeah, but turning into a human mirror isn't what I'd call usefull...

"Austin, Minerva and Kim, you will all work under River as the offensive team, you will be the ones to face the threat front on. Charlotte, Kieran and I will be the supplementary team, helping those who we can to safety. Another of our teams which has already been dispatched to France will meet us there." He quickly gave them a rundown of the situation. There were a number of renegade Atlanteans terrorizing Paris. Somehow they had manipulated meteors to fall to Earth, probably with the use of their powers. They were to disable the renegades and halt the aerial assault. After that, he hopped into the helicopter. The rest of the team followed suit, River taking the pilot's seat.

Once everyone was in, River brought the chopper to life and spoke over the headset, "Good luck guys, I have faith in all of you."

"Holy ****." The helicopter neared Paris, now a city of chaos. Meteors rained down from the skies, destroying anything within a ten mile radius of the Eiffel Tower. The projectiles shot past the helicopter, forcing River to bring the helicopter to quick dives and sharp turns.

Austin tried to stay in control of his body, but he couldn't help but bump into Minerva a few times.

"Sorry," he said, bringing himself back to a sitting position after a particularly rough tumble. River finally brought the machine to a stop, landing with the Eiffel Tower standing in the distance. The team re-assembled outside the helicopter, awaiting their orders.

"Team, with me!" called River. Austin, Kim, and Minerva followed River as they ran towards the Eiffel Tower, apparently the source of the chaos. Meteors landed left and right, filling the area with thick smoke and fire. Austin was nearly flattened by a large meteorite, landing between him and River. Stopping instinctively at the sight of the fire it caused, he quickly lost the rest of the team in the smoke. Coughing loudly, Austin followed the sound of heavy music at the base of the Tower. As he neared, the drumline stopped. Looking through the smoke, he saw a particularly large, cemented figure fighting a smaller person. Austin didn't know who was who, or what was going on. He assumed the band was the renegade squad, it wouldn't make sense for anyone else to hang around. Either the cement dude or the crystal figure he was fighting was obviously trying to stop them too. He hoped whichever one was not a terrorist would kill the other, as neither looked particularly fun to fight. Austin ran towards the remaining two band members, who continued to play while their bud was being attacked.

What the hell? Austin thought. It seemed like they didn't think helping their friend would make short work of their assailant. But hey, it wasn't his problem. A meteor landed between Austin and the band, but he didn't slow down. He dashed at them, stopping only when the music changed keys. The singer pointed at him. He yelled some bullsh*t over the mic that didn't even rhyme, but he still moved his voice up and down like he was singing. He dropped his mic and walked calmly towards Austin, then suddenly sprinted. Austin braced himself for a physical impact, not thinking that the man's abilities may be ranged. He was not-so-pleasantly surprised when a scream sent him tumbling backwards. Laughter emitted from the singer's powerful throat, a loud and unnatural boom. Austin shook his head and stood back up. The man continued to laugh, making Austin a bit nervous.

I need to get closer to him...

Austin grinned a bit, more of a distraction than a sign of good feeling. The man stopped laughing, noticing Austin's smug look. He snarled a bit, and let out another screech. This one had a higher pitch, making Austin's ears ring as he dove out of the way. He quickly stood back up and tackled the singer to the floor, doing his best to strangle him. Somehow the renegade let out another scream, which forced Austin off of him and into the dirt a few meters away.Austin again got up, slightly slower then the last time. He was beginning to get tired of being thrown around. It was time to see if his ability would be of any use here. As the singer loomed over Austin to deliver another -probably fatal- scream to him, Austin shot his hand up with a flare of light, then quickly rolled away. Blinded, the man screamed and cursed in aggravation more than anything. Random sound waves rippled through the air, turning over trees and cars that were caught in the wake of their power. Austin took advantage of the situation, delivering a heavy blow to the back of the singer's neck. A loud crunch was heard, and the singer fell to the ground. Before Austin could celebrate, the singer rolled back over onto his backside and shrieked, sending Austin flying yet again.

Dazed, Austin looked up to his opponent. The man rolled his neck a few times, loud pops being emitted from his bones.

"That was a nice blow, pal," he said, "but not nice enough." Austin stumbled to his feet, and assumed an attacking position.

"Heh, light versus sound. This outta be fun." The singer started laughing at his own comment. Austin didn't like the guy's stress on the word "fun". He did, however, come up with a great pun to use...

Austin charged straight at the guy while he was still chuckling, grabbing him by the waist and lifting him up as he continued to dash straight forward. Slamming the man into a tree, Austin muttered, "Don't you know? Light is nine hundred thousand times faster than sound." Oh yes, so bad*ss. In the cheesiest, comic book superhero kind of way possible. The screamy-dude struggled for air under Austin's hold, while simultaneously striking him uneffectively. The life was slowly being squeezed out of him, pleasing Austin greatly. A meteor interrupted the moment of victory, however. Austin looked, astonished, as the tree Mr. Shriek was held against exploded. Austin was separated from his foe, and knocked to the ground. As the dust settled, Austin managed to pick himself up yet again, this time with a new addition of cuts and bruises. The singer was just a few yards away, and he started to get up himself. He started to laugh again.

Ugh, Austin groaned, why wont this bastard stay down?


 

Legend

Kingslayer
1,308
Posts
15
Years

Nathaniel Calaway- Paris, France


Nathaniel took to the streets of Paris, practically abandoning James for the sake of the mission. Which was…? That was a good point. Nathaniel did not really understand his mission, which truly lies in fault with the Librarian and his endless eccentricities. As interesting, wise and helpful he has been, Nathaniel always looked back at his conversation with James as a reminder of why the Librarian could not be trusted. Why would an Atlantean as powerful as him need the assistance of a few unknown Atlanteans? Was he the collector that Nathaniel imagined? He wanted to be wrong. He wanted to believe that the Librarian was a good man; a leader with the best intentions for humans and Atlanteans alike, but there was a shred of suspicion that always loomed overhead. It worried that he left Oakley with him, but with the limitless power that the Librarian had on hand, she couldn't be anywhere safer. At least she wouldn't be hurt. The Librarian didn't seem the sort to explicitly hurt people. No, if anything, he would rather keep his valuable resources alive and use them to his full advantage. He needed them. Thinking of it, he was concerned for Oakley. Despite hardly bonding during the training, he did his best to help her out, watch over her and befriend her. Her ability has put her through a lot and Nathaniel understood that. Making friends and keeping the whole atmosphere calming was the least he could do. And probably it was the best he could do too.

Meanwhile, James…he was a whole another story. James and Nathaniel trained together intensely, constantly pushing the other to improve. They practiced and honed their abilities, teaching each other a few cool tricks that shockingly revealed some genuine ingenuity in both Atlanteans. That being said, the two bickered outside of training. While they had comparable goals, their means to a shared end were far different. Nathaniel did not bond to James easily, but he was a respectable man nonetheless. He brought new ideas to the table and was an intelligent man in his own way. Not the traditional intelligence that Nathaniel usually respected, but with everything that happened, a new perspective was welcome. Though, James' open mind to murder was disturbing. He wonder if James ever took a life. Nathaniel has. Something he wish he didn't. As much as Nathaniel tried to justify it, he cannot erase the past. And he feared he would have to do it again. Would it be easier? Would Nathaniel fall into the trap that James seemed to fall into it years ago? Nathaniel just hoped that his principles would prove stronger than the necessary deeds that would follow to make his visions for the future a reality. His vision for a better world. Just what the world would look like was going to be decided today.

Nathaniel walked throughout the streets of Paris, watching as the city crumbled before the meters as they crashed to the ground. The city was reduced to a winding maze of chaos, burning bright in flames. People were fleeing in all directions, forcing Nathaniel to wade through. He tried to make his way to the source of the problem. The Eiffel Tower was the only landmark of importance that he knew about, so Nathaniel tried his best to make it there. Perhaps that was the source of the problem. And Nathaniel could be the solution. That is what he was hoping.

Nathaniel bolted towards the Eiffel Tower. The sounds of battle to a not so enjoyable soundtrack welcomed him as Nathaniel crept ever closer. Nathaniel slowed his approach as to not endanger his vantage point. For now, he had the element of surprise. He could scout out the opposition and make the best attack possible. However, his nature could the best of him. As he peered through the smoke and debris of the battle, he saw what appeared to be a large, stone golem-like monster stand over a girl, maybe half his size, ready to crush the innocent girl. Nathaniel could not stand for that. He ran closer, remembering his training, froze the water molecules in the air creating a large pillar that drove into the golem's chest launching him back several meters from the girl. Given the nature of the beast, it barely would hurt him. It would maybe wind him at best, or cause enough of a shock to keep him preoccupied for a moment as Nathaniel created a strategy in his head. Nathaniel walked over to the girl, stomping out the flame to her left as he approached.

"Get to safety," Nathaniel said to her, trying to bridge the gap between an order and a request. "I will handle this."
 

MinnesotanGamer

Insert Something Interesting
34
Posts
11
Years
Minerva Sirmais - Atlantean Royal Mansion/ Paris France

Minerva stared intently at the blob of metal floating in front of her at about eye level, influencing it in different ways. Cube, sphere, ring, pyramid, back to cube again. Over the past week, she had developed her ability quite a bit, and while she wasn't great at it, she was able to use it. So that was a good thing. She also found that she could levitate metal, although that did take slightly more energy. The small blob in front of her wasn't that big, but still she could feel a slight drain from holding it in the air. She allowed the metal to descend and pool in her hand, morphing the substance into a thin glove, coating her hand, then solidified it.

Her attention was pulled away from her practice to a couple of other guys who were hanging out in the mansion's lounge. There were plenty of cool places in the enormous house to spend time, but the lounge was by far her favorite. The two guys were playing ping pong, although it was far from a fair game. She sort of knew both of them. The guy that was winning was George, and happened to be quite good at the game. It seemed like the Ukrainian boy was holding back a bit though, even though he had a healthy lead. The other guy was Austin. He was nice, although she was amazed that he had accepted the game, seeing as how losing seemed to be one of the things he hated most, she had learned.

The mansion held tons of people, and it seemed like she was meeting new people all the time, although it could have just been that she was forgetting everyone she met, which was a slight problem with her. Even so, new people were showing up at the mansion almost every day. She still had to get close to a lot of people, but relationships came with time, she knew.

Her thoughts were distracted once again when an older student rushed into the lounge, and called for Austin and Minerva to come with him. Whatever he wanted, it seemed urgent, and Minerva did not hesitate to follow him, morphing the metal into a small dense sphere and slipping it into her pocket as she went. The older boy, Minerva, and Austin rushed through the halls of the building, picking up a couple other people, Charlie and Kim, on the way. They burst through the door onto the rooftop, and found themselves right next to a helipad. This place had a helipad? What didn't it have!

River and Justin stood by the helicopter, and addressed the group.​
"I'm sorry your first mission will be like this, but this is important. You have all been seen by The Oracle as a part of the event that will take place soon if it hasn't already started. You've all been here a week, and have definitely got a better hold on your abilities, so now it's time to put that into practice."

Great, Minerva thought. A field day, just what I wanted.

"Austin, Minerva and Kim, you will all work under River as the offensive team, you will be the ones to face the threat front on. Charlotte, Kieran and I will be the supplementary team, helping those who we can to safety. Another of our teams which has already been dispatched to France will meet us there." He quickly briefed the group on the situation, about how a group of Atlanteans were, or were going to very soon, cause meteors to fall upon Paris. After the quick briefing, they all climbed into the helicopter, strapping themselves in as best they could.

Only hours later, they were flying into Paris, the once beautiful city now in chaos and destruction as rocks from the heavens rained down, lighting everything on fire and littering the streets with rubble and debris. Trees and buildings were on fire, people were like ants running away from where the chaos seemed to emanate from, the Eiffel Tower. After a quite bumpy ride, ducking, dodging, and weaving to avoid falling rocks, the helicopter landed in a somehow untouched area, which was relatively clear from rubble. Powering down the helicopter, River, Justin, and everyone else climbed out of the helicopter.

There wasn't much time to recover before River called out, "Team, with me!" Minerva, Austin, and Kim raced after River, weaving their way at an almost breakneck pace through the ruined streets, weaving through and jumping over piles of debris left behind by the meteors, racing towards the Tower in the distance. With a huge unexpected blast, a meteor landed right behind Minerva, throwing her forward a few feet, impacting heavily on the ground. Getting up, groaning, she looked around, seeing the rest of her group keep running in the distance. Noticing that Austin wasn't with them, she looked back, just barely seeing his figure disappear down a side street through the smoke and haze. "D*****t Austin", she spoke to nobody in particular, and raced around the crater, following the boy.

She had thought that she almost lost him when she came to the Eiffel Tower, seeing her friend racing towards the singer of a small band playing in the midst of the chaos. Why on earth was a band here? Then she saw Austin get blasted backwards by the lead singer's voice, and she decided that they must have been in on what was going on. So Austin was fighting some kind of sonic powered Atlantean, and some other person was fighting some sort of concrete golem.

Other than that, the only other band member was a female guitar player, still strumming out chords for some reason. Nervous, but running purely on adrenaline, Minerva leaned against a trashed car on the side of the road, using the metal from the car to form two spike gauntlets on her arms, then charged forward towards the drummer. The girl spotted her, then just smiled and laughed. "Ah good, finally, someone to play with! Lets rock!" She held her ground, the strummed a few power chords as Minerva got closer. Shortly afterward, Minerva was hit in the gut with three strong impacts, knocking her back a few steps and making her grimace in pain. How was she supposed to defeat this girl if she couldn't get close?

The guitarist taunted her, "What? Thinking of backing out already? I'm just getting warmed up!"

Minerva would not give up. She didn't like giving up. And definitely not to some rock and roll punk like the one in front of her. Noticing a bronze placard a few steps to her right. She grabbed it, and formed the metal into three large spikes, launching them towards the girl using her powers, noticing the drain on her energy as she threw them. She needed to watch that. Too much energy lost and it would be over. The girls strummed a few more notes and the metal spikes were deflected to pass around her, burrowing themselves in the ground around her. So obviously that wouldn't work.

After trying to charge a few more times, with poor results, Minerva found herself next to one of the support struts of the tower. Hopefully nobody will miss a little bit of metal from this..., she thought as she pulled some metal out of the structure, forming the metal, plus the metal from her gauntlets, into a sword and shield. Charging at her opponent once again, she hid behind her shield as the impacts struck. It was still bad, and it jarred her arm, but it was better than it had been before. When she eventually reached her, she tried to trade blows, swinging her makeshift sword whenever she saw an opening, usually to only be buffeted by another attack. Finally, desperately, she bashed the guitarist with her shield, knocking her back, then swung at her guitar. She was rewarded with a couple sharp pinging noises and the strings snapped. She could not, unfortunately, break all of them, and the girl recovered quickly. Playing seemingly random notes, then slamming the whammy bar, threw Minerva back, landing surprised and bruised for not the first time on the burnt grass. Getting up, she saw the girl inspecting her guitar, then glaring at her as if she planned murder, which she probably did.

Minerva only smiled at her small success. Then pulled some more metal from a nearby car towards her, forming a complete shell of armor around her. "How's this for heavy metal?" she yelled at the girl, charging back into battle.​
 

Swolligator

Butcher of the Sands
1,955
Posts
14
Years

Wyatt Cale – Champ de Mars, Paris, France


To say that Paris was literally 'Hell on Earth' was a bit of an understatement. All around him rocks fell from the sky, impacting into the ground strong enough to rock the ground beneath his feet as smoke drenched the air around them. Switching into Infra-Red vision, his smoky vision was replaced with the now familiar red glow of the warm air around them, not to mention the glowing body signatures of his so called 'teammates'. Looking to the sky, he could see a blazing figure glowing brightly enough to make him want to shield his eyes, standing on top of the Eiffel Tower. Near the base of the Tower, he could see an array of other figures fumbling around in the haze, some even fighting each other.

"Guys, I'm pretty sure the guy doing this is on top of the Tower, can you teleport up there Jeremy?"

The others turned around and looked at Wyatt as if he had sworn at each and every one of them, "uh, I don't fight, so this is all up to you guys," and with that, Jeremy teleported off, no doubt to somewhere safe outside of Paris.

"Wyatt, work your way to the Eiffel Tower, we've got company," Adrian spoke, flexing his four arms in preparation, "October and I have got it from here."

Wyatt turned around to see a group of three people approach them, before he took off into the smoke filled park. He could feel the smoke stinging at his eyes, trying to blind him, but part of his Atlantean ability strengthened his eyes, creating almost an invisible layer to protect the source of his ability. He was nearly at the base of the tower when an invisible force ripple through the air, sending him spiralling backwards and knocking his eyesight back into normal vision. In front of him, a shorter, European guy stood, microphone still in his hands and a smug look on his face. To Wyatt's right, a younger boy stood opposite the man, glowing slightly as the two seemed to be squaring off. Notching an arrow on his black, Fibreglass Compound Bow, he let it fly, knocking the man's microphone right out of his grip.

"Dude, your voice is crap, it's time you got off the stage," Wyatt again notched another bow, this time aiming it at the guys' chest, "the first one was a warning shot, this next one is the real deal-"

Wyatt had little time to deal as the guy threw his head back before launching what felt like a buffet of wind at Wyatt, sending him flying back yet again, his notched arrow flying off into the distance. From the ground, he drew an arrow, letting it fly between his legs, aimed at the stomach region of his assailant, only to watch it shatter in mid-flight as the singer screeched. Dusting himself off, he turned to the guy glowing, "how about we force him into an early retirement?"​


October Carter and Adrian Santoro – Champ de Mars, Paris France


"Well, well, well, who do we have here? A sl*t and her toyboy, just waiting for a beat down." The three figures emerged from the smoke, the lead figure a girl in her early twenties, while she was flanked by a male and female, both looking a little older. Adrian and October had been up against these three before, one of the stronger teams of the Atlantean Royal Family that could trample them easily into the ground.

"Shut up, Chrysta, we all know you're just sore from the last time I kicked your ass." October retorted, slowly getting riled up just by the presence of this girl. For some reason, October took extreme dislike towards the girl, and in any fight with them would do her best to take her head on while Adrian was left to take care of the other two.

"You only won cause someone thought it would be funny to blow up Berlin," Her face now sour, "so how about we settle this once and for all?"

"Three against two seems hardly fair," Adrian interjected, he was hoping that without one of them on their team, they would stand a fair fight, "keep the bird out of the fight and we'll agree." There was almost an underlying understanding between Atlanteans that a fight was fought on equal ground, and as much as Adrian disliked this apparent 'Atlantean Culture', he still adhered to it out of some strange emotion to.

"Okay then, Vulture, go check out the tower, we'll handle this." Chrysta, despite being younger, seemed almost like the leader of the group. Or at least, the others made her think that. Without further delay, she launched herself at October, spinning her body in a way that turned her into a human drill, powering through the air directly for October.

Adrian sidestepped Chrysta's attack, pelting forward at the girl that now enticed him to attack. Usually he was against hitting girls, but in this case, he would hold back, making sure he didn't hurt her too much, provided she didn't deal to him first. He barely managed to get a hit in before something wrapped around his leg, yanking him backwards with enough force to send him face planting into the ground. Lucky for him, having four arms gave him four chances to redeem himself, but not any to stop from being lifted up in the air. He continued to curse out loud as he now looked his opponent in the eye; her hair flying wildly around behind her as if it had a mind of its own.

"Is history doomed to repeat itself?" She asked him sarcastically, shaking Adrian around like a rag doll. Last time Adrian had faced off against the woman, she could not stop laughing at her ability to animate, lengthen and control her hair. She had done the same thing to him back then too.

"If only you want it to, Chico," he smiled his 'perfect' smile at her, grabbing a lighter from his pocket and singing the 'vines' of hair that had entangled themselves around his ankle.

With a scream of pain, Adrian fell to the ground with a large 'oof' as she recoiled her hair, running the now burnt split ends between her fingers. If anything, her amazing hair was her pride and joy, her ability to manipulate it made it more beautiful than any normal human could achieve, but it would still take her hair a while to recover from the burns Adrian had just bestowed on her. In a yell of anger, her hair flared out behind her like a vertical halo, encircling her body. If she could shoot laser beams out of her eyes as well, Adrian would have been fried instantly. Adrian was now in a fight for his life, his four arms fighting, yanking and twisting the tendrils of hair that lurched forward from her skull.

On the other front, October dodged to and fro as Chrysta continued to throw herself at October, rolling through the air or spinning along the ground like a spinning top. As much as she tried, she could not get a solid touch on the spinning Chrysta to send vibrations through the girl's body and so stayed on the defensive. Luring her beneath a tree, October stomped her foot, vibrations rolling through the ground, toppling the tree right on top of the spinning Chrysta. Laughing, she celebrated her victory, albeit was short lived.

"I'm sorry, it looks like it's time for you to leaf." She added as Chrysta emerged from the foliage, sticks and leaves entwined in her clothes and hair.

"Time for Round Two, B*tch!" Chrysta screamed, launching herself in another volley at October.​
 
5,114
Posts
17
Years
  • Age 30
  • AU
  • Seen Feb 18, 2023

Oakley North - Paris, France


8th November, 2012
"Excuse me, but perhaps it is better we spilt up. James and I can handle ourselves. Librarian, keep Oakley safe," Nathaniel said before slinking off with James into the battlefield. Oakley stood there for a moment, a little dis-heartened. What, they had been with her for a week now. They had seen what she could do. Surely they didn't think she was still the weak little girl who had pleaded for her life back at the Atlantean Centre? She could control it... a bit. She scoffed and turned to face the Librarian, who was only smiling wryly.

"Well, how are you going to take that, little lady?" he winked at her and gestured towards the boys. Oakley nodded and ran after them, screaming their names so hopefully they'd stop but unfortunately, they were bigger and faster than her and the roar of meteors drowned out her voice. They were probably too focused on the music anyhow to even concentrate on any other sounds in the background.

A meteor crashed right by them but the two were tough enough to brush it off. James said something to Nathaniel and took off in the other direction. Oakley frowned, unsure who to follow now. Didn't the Librarian say to stick together? In the end, she chose Nathaniel, since James seemed pretty keen to do things on his own.

Nathaniel headed into town and by now, Oakley was out of breath, coughing as she tried to breathe out Nathaniel's name. She was still too far away to get his attention but he'd have to stop sooner or later and then Oakley would catch up. But he didn't, he took off again, this time towards the Eiffel Tower. What was with this guy? Did he know she was following him and purposely avoiding her? At least she had a bit of time to catch her breath and go back into a brisk jog again.

She turned a corner, following Nathaniel, until the tower was full in view, as well as a scary, stone monster. Nathaniel pushed it away with... something, revealing a girl basically underneath it.

"Nathaniel!!" Oakley yelled out, though her voice again was caught in the wind. When would they stop??​
 
1,176
Posts
15
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  • Seen Jul 18, 2016
Delta Mayor & Nathaniel Calaway (featuring Oakley North) -
- Paris, France


"Move out of my way," Delta said rather confidentially considering how the man in front of her was almost a foot taller than her when she wasn't wearing heels and weighed twice as much as she did. "Or I'll kill you."

It didn't take long for her to swear in Polish, as she tried to move her left shoulder, it ached from the impact. She stood up and brushed off her all black clothing, then passed into the Atlantean man purposely slamming her now crystallized shoulder right into his stocky frame while she strolled passed him. The passing thought of fighting him to the death nagged at her, but there happened to be a bigger threat at hand, he would have to wait until after. There wasn't any way in the hell, which Paris had become; she would let anyone "save" her like some sort of desperate damsel. Delta suspected with a face like that any other girl would be quick to do as he suggested, too bad that wasn't in her plans. A quick check to her lip, nose, and eyebrow told Delta that all her piercings were secured. The different colored beads in her braided hair rattled with every step she took toward the cement creature that had staggered backwards as a result of the trick the man had done. He had frozen something in the air and used that as an attack, is this what they were taught to do in the Royal Family? Clearly his ability was that to manipulate ice, perhaps there was some sort of special name for ilt but at this point Delta couldn't care less. A vibration in the air caused Delta to look over to where the band was at, the lead singer was now engaged in combat with... a light? The Royal Family was here indeed, or so she thought.

"Get," Delta announced aloud as she crystallized both her hands and slammed them into the creatures chest, it had little to no effort on the drummer. Instinctively the block of cement raised both his rather large arms and slammed them down where Delta was located. Fast as she could Delta had sped behind the Atlantean and gave a high angled kick to the back of his heavily covered neck before his oversized hands touched the ground. The heel dug into a weak spot, though it was unknown to Delta why the spot was particularly damaging. The thick layers of his cement overlapped in a way that dealt pain to Matthias when hit in the right spots. As a result the drummer bellowed out in pain, without hesitation she dropped down to deliver two simultaneous punches to the back of each of his knees, "To." The man before her twirled around faster than she imagined was possible for something his size. By the time his fists shattered into the earth below them Delta had launched herself backwards into a string of backflips. A burning meteor crashed mere centimeters behind her. Both Atlanteans charged at each other, the strange man that was watching probably thought she was crazy for doing such a bold and reckless action. Matthias brought back one of his hands and swung it at Delta who simply jumped over it, and landed higher up on his armored arm. Before the realization sunk in to simply shake her off she had already made her to his shoulder where Delta locked her crystallized hands and brought the fists down on the Atlantean's head and then the same spot where she did it before. This caused the same deep yell as before, as well as increasing the rage of the armored Atlantean. "Safety!" The absurdity that this man must have to possess to tell her such a thing was enormous, Delta couldn't help but say the same thing back to the man while displaying her impressive training and ability almost flawlessly. Before she could utter another word the hands of Matthias had tighten around her and easily flung Delta into another tree nearer to the newcomer. This time Delta had caught on rather quickly as she flew threw the air, but she still slammed into the trunk of the tree though this time she grabbed a branch and hoisted herself up in the tree. While she still suffered damage it was lessen by quick thinking. Delta landed next to the serious looking Atlantean.

"Or are you just going to stand there?" mocked Delta as she regained her footing. The music itself had stopped altogether now, which meant the final member of the band was engaged in a fight.

"I was putting together a plan. And now seeing that you are an Atlantean, the plan has changed a bit," Nathaniel said, stretching out a bit. "Stay here and rest a bit. I'll probably need you later. I need to try something first."

"Did you lose your hearing, Ice Boy?" Delta huffed as she slowly curled both her crystallized hands into a fist and back to a hand again, she enjoyed making a show of it. Hell, the stranger hadn't even bother to introduce himself. "You. Don't. Command. Me." With every word she paused for a dramatic effect then jabbed a harden finger into his chest and it looked like it felt, musclar.

"Given your injuries you are in no place to argue," Nathaniel said sternly. "Now, sit down and shut up."

Minor injuries, Delta wanted to exclaim but she held herself back for some odd reason. Whatever he requested of her woudn't happen, it was sheer stubbornness inside of her that resented to the idea of submitting to anyone. The opportunity that this man was about to deliver to her was one Delta couldn't pass up, not if she planned on playing the proper cards. If she got to glimpse his powers in all its glory then perhaps she would learn how to counteract them, after all Delta still planned on killing him later. From what she heard the Atlantean Royal Family was absolute scum, plus the world had no use for a lesser Atlantean. "You know what, hot stuff? Go right ahead, I can't wait to be cheering on the sidelines." Delta said a little too cheerfully with a smile that became rather smirky in seconds.

"Thank you," Nathaniel said returning her smile before twisting it into a grimace. Good, now I don't have to worry about anyone getting in my way, Nathaniel thought to himself. Given how his abilities worked, it was easy to cause...friendly fire. Freezing parts of areas, launching ice minor weapons, and successfully entrapping people (well, most of the time) in any sort of trap he could conceive in his head were the basic tricks he had picked up in his intense week of training. Given all this information, his ability had a glaring weakness when it came to "teamwork": his ability had a wide area of effect and it affected enemies as well as allies. Only he was immune to his ability, which is a thankful benefit. Though he found himself ditching his jacket more often due to overheating. A first world Atlantean problem no doubt. Nathaniel walked away from the other Atlantean, who rudely did not introduce herself and approached the Cement Atlantean. He needed to stop the man and that would probably involve killing the man, but Nathaniel had already did that once before. Just remember that is for all the right reasons. He had to keep telling himself that. That's all he had to do.

As Nathaniel stepped closer to the man and when he was within earshot Nathaniel dared to speak: "What is your name, Atlantean?"

"Matthias," he answered, easily enough. "What's it to you?" Matthias seemed to put on a new layer of armor, filling the cracks left in by the crystals of Nathaniel's new "friend."

"I will give you a chance to surrender, Matthias. Stand down and let me stop whatever your leader is doing."

"Or what? You are going to kill me?"

"I have killed an Atlantean before with barely any training. What do you think I can do with it?" Nathaniel said as his eyes narrowed.

"Oh lord," Delta let out an exasperated sigh, he was bargaining with the enemy? How had this one killed someone? One doesn't tell the other that they're planning on killing them, just do it. The serious thoughts of killing someone had entered Delta's mind on multiple occasions since she became an Atlantean, one day she'd kill that Tomasz character. The feelings afterward were always told as if was an unbearable thing for someone to go through, was it? Taking away someone's life was victorious; it showed you had the strength that the other didn't possess. Through the smoke and fire, passed Ice Boy and Matthias was a distinct blonde haired girl who had charged into battle with the bassist. A few meters passed her was another strange boy with... a crossbow, he seemed to be aiding the other Atlantean who shot light from his hands.

Without uttering a word, Matthias lunged forward with a herculean cement fist crushing the ground that Nathaniel once stood at, sidestepping the attack and unleashing a small trap. He's predictable. The ground Nathaniel stood on was frozen solid, giving him enough ice to launch a minor trap, ensnaring Matthias' fist in ice and locking his legs to the ground. Unable to move, Nathaniel fashioned himself a bladed ice gauntlet and went to stab Matthias in the side, hoping to simply cripple the man and end the fight easily enough. However, as Nathaniel stepped forward and stabbed the armor in the side, his blade shattered. Matthias broke free from Nathaniel's clever ruse and backhanded Nathaniel, forcing Nathaniel slide across the ground in a seemingly gruesome display.

"Gooo Ice Boy!" Delta yelled and then followed it up with heartily laughter as she watched the armored Atlantean swat him away like he was a fly. It was hard to imagine that he really had taken the life of another Atlantean Delta bet he was buffing to make himself seem more powerful than he was. Frighten the opponent before you fight them, it was a good tactic that might've worked on someone who was a complete moron, but Delta wasn't falling for it one bit. Focus was lost as Delta spotted the same girl again, as she fearlessly went into battle covered in metal. There would've been applause had Delta not have the obligation to kill her or in the very least fight her. When it came to this Atlantean world so far there were two warring factions (that Delta knew), the Atlantean Royal Family and the Atlantean Unification Project. If an Atlantean was with one they were against the other, which meant they were enemies. In her short week spent in the headquarters Delta learned that ARF and AUP were different in the ways they saw things and how they acted upon situations. It was made apparent that they weren't on friendly terms. That meant any elimination of the enemies was beneficial for the AUP, the justification for killing them was valid. The very least Delta would do was gather information, but the itch to fight to test her skill in battle was overwhelming. There wasn't any other way she could prove her worth, not to the AUP but to herself. Lifting up the back of her leather jacket her fingers wrapped around the gun Delta kept holstered there. The lingering of her fingers subsided as the battle was starting to get interesting again so the handgun stayed tucked in, for now.

With a shuffle on the ground, Nathaniel rose from the ground, with only minor scrapes and a bloody face as a testament to the attack he just took. Pieces of ice were cracking off different parts of his body, as Nathaniel stole Matthias' idea and covered his body in thin layer of ice. It didn't absorb all the contact, but enough to soften the blow. "Well, that was cold." Nathaniel groaned, cracking his neck back into place.

"Man, this fight has really cooled down, can we turn up the heat?" Delta complained, there wasn't anything worse she could think of then being sidelined.

Nathaniel ran up to Matthias, formulating in his mind a better plan than before. Something more direct. Matthias geared up another punch, but Nathaniel slid under Matthias launching up a number ice lances into his joints, causing Matthias to groan in agony. Matthias nearly stomped Nathaniel, but he nimbly rolled out of the way. Matthias shattered most of the ice lances that Nathaniel impaled into him, reminding Nathaniel that his ice attacks were not very effective on his stone faced opponent. Matthias swung wildly, but his great size and with the cement weighing him down it slowed his strength. Nathaniel sidestepped one strike after the other leaving Matthias was out of breath and he was clearly hampered by something. He could see his own breath and his own breathing became shallow. "Not a fan of the cold air, are you Matthias?" As the fighting went on, Nathaniel did his best to chill the air around him. Few people are used to cold weather, and only where they stood turned into something of a winter wonderland, as ice littered the area and a cool mist seemed to consume each corner of stage. It was a perplexing sight, blending the few romantic elements of winter with the terrifying sight of war. Matthias' breathing continued to weaken, as Nathaniel closed to the distance between them. Matthias lifted up a large cement hand down to the ground, crumbling it beneath Nathaniel's feet, putting him off balance and attempted to deliver a thunderous kick to Nathaniel's chest, but the lack of good air entering his lungs made the attempt feeble. Nathaniel seized the opportunity and avoided the attack, charging into Matthias after cloaking himself in another set of ice armor. The direct shoulder first charge did little to Matthias but knock him over, cracking his stone-like armor enough to create a weak point. But nothing more.

Nathaniel, himself, was growing tired of these games both literally and figuratively. It was too difficult, even with the ring strengthening his abilities, to only use the water molecules in the air as his ammunition for his ice attacks, and Matthias was too hard of a nut to crack. His armor was a perfect counter to Nathaniel's ability. But an idea was growing in his head. He turned to the other Atlantean. "Hey, you rested enough? Willing to hear me out? I got an idea."

The tides of battle were constantly shifting, if anything Matthias was becoming more of a nuisance. The newer Atlantean, Delta saw, was doing all he could to slow and damage the giant boulder of a man, but even Delta herself found it difficult to do. A sudden chill in the air caused Delta to grip the zipped edges of her jacket and bring them closer together. Considering there were flaming meteors raining down it didn't take long for the warmness to get back Delta. These varied temperatures didn't affect the parts of her body that were crystallized, which would be a perk if she chose to fight him. "About time I was invited to the party, I thought I got left out in the cold." An impatient Delta hurried over to join him with a twisted smile and stood at his side.

"Cut the attitude."

"Cut the orders," Delta seethed with anger and whipped her body in such a fashion so that the end result was her standing directly in front of him. His stoic face wasn't inviting, Delta's blatantly flaunted her rage, she was having trouble holding in. Her green eyes did not leave his for a moment, "I am not, nor will I ever be your underling. You have my ear for five more seconds before I kill him myself."

"Okay, I'll make this simple: We fight together, we can walk out of this fight in one piece and take out the guy who is responsible for the city going to sh*t. We don't, we probably won't be any condition to save anyone," Nathaniel said, looking at Matthias and back to her. The woman had an attitude problem but Nathaniel was in no position to be looking around for new allies.

"That's your brilliant idea? Fighting together?" Delta scoffed, but took a moment to think about it. Surely there was some sort of strategic plan that could be made with both of their powers on this cement armored Atlantean. "Do you have any specifics? Or am I free to go, Dowódca?" Mockingly she saluted him, the last word spoken in Polish meaning "commander".

"Look, given your personality, I am not sure you were going to even like the idea in the first place. If you are willing to take it from there, then I can actually put two and two together!"

"MY personality?" said Delta taken back with absolute shock, had she heard what he spoken properly? If anything he was lucky that Delta didn't kill on him the spot when she met him, he had nerve, and a lot of it, to talk to her in such a disrespectful manner. Breathing deeply, she continued, "Excuse me, I'm not the frigid one here. Spit out your plan already it's been five seconds."

"Well, clearly getting rid of the armor is the only way of actually hurting him. My ice can't pierce it effectively enough, but I could rip it apart if I could get on the inside. That's where you come in. Your crystal attacks cracked the armor pretty well. Crack his armor, fill some water in the cracks and I can rapidly expand the water by freezing it. Armor will be torn apart and he will be left exposed," Nathaniel sounded pretty confident in his plan, even if it was put together at the last second.

"And then we kill him." Delta finished with a firm voice, as if there wasn't any other option in her mind.

"I'd rather not, but if we have to, yes," Nathaniel did his best to rebuke the statement, but it was likely she was right.

"Are you sure you've actually killed someone? You don't seem like you could handle the "burden" that comes with it. In fact, you don't seem like you can handle this life," She stared longingly at his face in hopes that it would reveal some sort of tell or emotion that would confirm her hunch.

Nearby rambunctious stomps were coming their way and from none other than Matthias who wasn't interested in letting them continue their speedy conversation. Mere seconds before Delta ran out into the smoked and fire infested field and twisted her body into a front flip she saluted the taller Atlantean. Thankfully the behemoth of an Atlantean followed her actions with a keen eye, which lead him away from Ice Boy and toward a more suitable opponent. A feeling of satisfaction rippled across her face, in the midst of fighting is where she truly felt at home, falling meteors, flaming trees included. It wasn't her ideal battlefield, but it kept Delta on her heels. Matthias' movements were unsurprisingly faster, and Delta could've sworn she noticed some sort of twisted smile form. Plenty of water made its home near the Eiffel Tower, a fact that wasn't in favor of her victory if she were to pursue a second duel. All Delta must do was draw the armored man diagonally passed the Eiffel Tower and a small pond of water that was halfway surrounded by trees was there or the very distanced river that was behind the Eiffel Tower. As it stood there hardly be a need to travel to either distance, as there was a shallow fountain that stood a few meters from where they currently stood. It'd be for the best if Delta took him over to the further pond for coverage from the trees would provide for a healthy escape route, if needed. Only if the challenge of fighting this newer Atlantean arise, Delta knew it in her heart that she must fight him until both had been bloodied beyond saving. Matthias interrupted her thoughts by rushing forward and swinging both his arms like wrecking balls, Delta had no doubt she would've wound up halfway out of Paris by now if she had not taken a step to the left in the knick of time. Fortunate for her Matthias' brute strength was far greater than either his speed or his wits. The crystallization of only her body was what really held this fight back; relying on her heels to do damage without breaking was horrid on the tactical side of things. Only utilizing ones hands was a tough thing indeed, Delta swore in Polish as the barrage of attacks Matthias threw her way were too slow. When an opening occurred Delta took a play out of Ice Boy's playbook and slid underneath Matthias, through his legs, and in a fury released a set of well-aimed punches.

The obnoxious yowl of the Atlantean normally would've grated Delta's eardrums, but for now she found them quite pleasing. Taking this as a prime opportunity she sprinted across the way passed the falling meteors and other Atlantean that fought Matthias' bandmates, the blonde in particular. There was little time to dwell on them; the threat was ensnared in her trap. Full of nothing but rage he bull rushed his way towards Delta smashing and swinging his gigantic armored arms, wasn't that the least bit tedious? Then there she stood a bit further ahead of the pond because this plan wouldn't succeed if Matthias even got wind of this bit of it. Now, Delta must create as many cracks and fissure across the armor as possible before she promptly lured him into the water. By repeatedly attacking the joints and other such weak spots they begin to give way. First, Delta waited until he drew closer then she ran toward and around him dodging his numerous swats, then she hit him hard in the armpit before his arms lowered. The renegade drummer caught on to the strategy to ruin his heavily protective armor and started to back away toward more cement. Grass lay beneath their feet leaving nearly it possible for Matthias to successfully regenerate his armor as he did before. The twists and turns that Delta had weaved around Matthias left him confused, the moment he began to walk backwards was the exact moment when victory had turned in their favor. Unfortunately for Matthias his feet weren't taking him back to where they came from, no, he was heading for the pond of water. When he was at the water's edge Delta launched herself at him, feet first (or rather toes first, to avoid snapping her heels), to send him spiraling back into the water. From there she took advantage of Matthias' shock and knocked his legs out from underneath him. Finally, Delta pounced on top and rapidly slammed her fists into the armor one last time before she slid off toward his head. The water was no longer calm, waves raged as the Atlantean squirmed for his life.

"Do it now, Dowódca!" Delta yelled trying to keep the cement man's head under, his arms flailed wildly trying to grip her body.

Nathaniel followed the fight to the pool of water and with a huge smile dipped his hands into the pool. "Get out of the water now!" Delta fled the water before she too froze along side with him, she had done her part. It was time for this Atlantean to do his. Matthias was free of Delta, but his armor was cracked and full of holes, reminders of the onslaught he faced. But Matthias was hardly a fool and stood up to charge at Nathaniel, as he remembered what Nathaniel's ability was all about. He lunged forward at Nathaniel, but Nathaniel unleashed the full range of his ability, freezing the pool of water and Matthias in a single moment, leaving only Matthias' head untouched. Matthias' skin turned into a distinct shade of blue, his body clearly chilled to the bone. His breathing and speaking became a weak stutter at best. Nathaniel had assumed control, and walked on the ice towards Matthias, confident in this moment. "Will you surrender now?"

A grin was plastered on Delta's face; finally she had brought down the cement beast. Well, the assistance that she hadn't asked for chimed in, but it was a delightful victory indeed. Granted, Delta had not stopped the monster that was destroying this poor city by making it hell. Calmly Delta moved forward as her ally in combat froze the man. No, there wasn't any surrendering now, death was eminent whether he wanted to accept that or not. In order so that the strange man wouldn't Delta stop her she acted in a swift manner, she swiftly brought herself onto one leg the other darted away from her and smashed into the living human sculpture. In the next instant Delta smashed through the remaining body with a left hook from her crystallized fist, leaving nothing but the head on the ground. In her crystallized hands she lobbed the dead Atlantean's head at Ice Boy, "Now, he surrendered." Though, that wasn't enough for Delta, nothing ever was.

Nathaniel could only sigh at the sight. Whoever she was, her attitude towards killing was all too familiar to James' as they looked at life as if it meant to nothing. It seemed that these abilities were more than newfound powers; it became a way to dominate others. Dominate others at whatever cost. Killing. Killing became the quickest way to prove you were better than something else. Nathaniel kept his cool, and did not pick another fight. No, he had more important things to take care of. But this moment...he wouldn't forget it. "A bit unnecessary, but I suppose the deed is done. Good work," Nathaniel said. "I will tend to their leader now and end this...thing before anyone else gets hurt." Nathaniel turned away from the other Atlantean and made his way back to the tower, hoping to find an easy way to the where the leader kept himself.

It took a lot of nerve to turn one's back on another individual, some took for granted that another wouldn't stab them there. So, that's when Delta made her move toward the only other living Atlantean. Fingers fastened around the handle of the gun, as she removed it from her jeans. A miracle that it had survived, but at this point there wasn't time to think of such things. As of right now, there wasn't a chance in hell that she could fully defeat the man. "At the moment the outcome of my victory isn't likely with the unfortunate location of water here, but don't ever underestimate me. You'd eventually succumb to the vast number of lacerations and wounds I gave you leaving no true victor, got that?" The last part may have been a slight overestimation, Delta wasn't one to openly admitting weakness. The gun never moved an inch, it's cold presence was pressed firmly into the back of the ice manipulator's neck. Her body tensed, ready for a second plan of action if need be, which Delta secretly hoped would happen. It was a shame, Delta saw potential in this man, he wasn't as weak as the other Atlanteans she was forced to partner beside, "I don't find you Royal Family scum appealing in the slightest, at least the Atlantean Unification Project has a mantra I can tolerate for the moment."

Nathaniel raised his hands in the air, as to show his backing down. Though, in reality, seizing control of the situation would be easy but tiresome. Nathaniel could freeze the gun and with part of the arm of his aggressor. Then he could turn around, freeze her in place and walk away. Simple, easy and efficient. He could try talking his way out of it too, but she didn't seem the type to be open to conversation.

"Heeey!" a familiar voice shouted from the end of the street, the blonde haired girl with the armour covering one full arm. She was running, albeit not very fast, towards her 'friend' and his... companion/enemy (she wasn't too sure. The battle had been hard to determine from where she had been). The Librarian said to stick together, why had he told her to stay behind? She wasn't the same little girl she was a week ago!

The two turned to face Oakley, and by this time Oakley was in touching distance, thrusting her arm out. Instead of pushing this girl out of the way, she grabbed Nathaniel with her massive hand, expanding in size until her entire hand could reach around him. The armour moved further down her body, but she didn't care for it right now, holding him into the air, like a bully forcing lunch money out of a poor, ice-manipulating kid. She looked at him like she was about to crush him to death, but added a coy smile when Nathaniel began to legitimately look worried.

"Let me go, b*tch! Or I will put both of you on ice!" Nathaniel growled, lightly icing Oakley's arm just to demonstrate his point. Acting "mean" was hardly a specialty of his, but channeling his inner James was decent enough inspiration to get the point across.

"Fine, I'll let you go!" she said, lobbing him down the street. While together with the Librarian, they had never really had the chance to spar. No, Nathaniel and James had become best friends and had always left Oakley behind. She felt a little mad, perhaps was that frustration burning under the surface? The heat of anger felt a little out of place, but it really did help her fuel her ability. Was that a good thing? "How was that, jerk!?"

Nathaniel groaned as he picked himself off the ground. Oakley's throw packed a bit more punch than he expected, but then again, she was probably trying to prove to him that she was just as capable as he or James was. Well, if she was going to try that hard, then Nathaniel was obliged to return the favor. "The other armored guy was a bit more frightening, little girl." Nathaniel was originally simply going to launch some ice spears at them like he generally did, but Nathaniel wanted to make Oakley look somewhat impressive. Creating several ice spears Nathaniel readied to launch them at Oakley from all sides. "Hope you can dodge," Nathaniel launched one spear, narrowly missing Oakley's head. It was meant to hit around her. Note to self: work on aim. He decided to try again and launched another one, trying to aim more at her armored hand.

"I don't need dodge," she took the gift that had been given and threw a punch at ice spear, shattering it. Wait, why did he say that? Was he trying to be... dramatic? She could do that! She let her armour spread to her other arm and destroyed the other ice spears with ease like a shiny Wreck-it-Ralph, carefully trying to avoid knocking out her enemy friend person. Was Nathaniel intentionally making these spears out of crappy ice or was it just because it was... well, ice? Like glass? Small shards blasted past her face, some slightly cutting her face with the cold. She threw another line out there, trying to be funny. "I'll kill you like you killed my mother!"

What...? Nathaniel thought to himself. The comment was so off putting that the loss of concentration crumbled the rest of Nathaniel's weak ice structures (there was hardly enough water to make a large structure though he had enough spears to attack). Without much energy left in his tank, Nathaniel hoped to find something to finish the brief skirmish and have an excuse to retreat.

While he hesitated, Oakley took this as her turn again, pushing out herself forward and throwing a punch at her 'enemy'. Of course, Oakley pulled the punch to his gut (if she actually punched him, she probably would have forced his lungs out of him or something) but made contact, enough to throw him away from her and the girl and into a pile of Paris-rubble. Hopefully it was soft.

Everything happened in a blur, a mysterious girl coming forth and the Atlantean she was familiar with being snatched and thrown away from her. This new girl was bold and reckless; these were both qualities that Delta took a keen interest to. It was a bit strange, as she hadn't taken Ice Boy as one who uses such swears and made such threats... but she supposed under that about of pressure anyone was bound to crack. She slid her gun out of sight, it wouldn't do her any good now. There wouldn't be any more time to get any information out of him about the Atlantean Royal Family. Dying by the hands of this girl would be most appeasing if it were to come true. A small part of Delta whined that she really didn't want him dead, at least not by this random Atlantean. One day they might meet each other again, when Paris wasn't burning, and she wasn't by a body of water then Delta wouldn't hesitate to challenge him to a fight. The unsettling urge to flee was present but so was the urge to stay, who knows what other Atlantean lurked out there?​
 
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Agnes Johansson, Atticus Forsberg, Frederick Salusbury - Paris, France


8th November, 2012
Okay. She thought she was beginning to get used to living as an Atlantean, but there always seemed to be something new that could surprise her. This was... Surprising, to say the least. Agnes' jaw remained dropped from the moment they spotted Paris from above, and she was uncharacteristically quiet.

"Royal Family..." Emil said, looking out through another window and shaking his head. "Team! We're exiting here. Get ready to jump."

"Outside the plane?!" Freddie grabbed the chair he was sitting in, his legs skittering against the ground as the plane dipped up and down, side to side. "Jumping?!"

Agnes' mouth flew shut. She was sitting in the chair right next to Freddie and moved her feet to not get stamped on by a goat's hoof.

"Oh, grow up," Imogen shook her head from where she was standing up. "You know Emil is a gravity manipulator. He won't kill you."

"Are y-you sure?"

Agnes put a hand on Freddie's knee with a nervous smile. "Don't worry, Fred! If you fall, I'll catch you!"

He turned to see her attempt at being reassuring, but he still didn't smile back and he kept clutching his seat. Yeah, Agnes wasn't sure that she could carry someone else in flight; she had managed to reach greater heights under the AUP training, but the only time she had tried to carry someone was when she had swooped down to pick up Delta as a joke to make the sourly girl lighten up. That had ended in them both crashing into a bookshelf and getting buried in dusty pages. Needless to say, Agnes didn't seem to be Delta's favorite person after that. Then again, it hadn't really been different before that either.

The past week had been amazing to Agnes. In Stockholm, she had been constantly missing her old life in the quiet town where she grew up with her father. But here, she felt alive. She still didn't really understand or trust her own Atlantean ability - the way she could soar up and down as if she was diving through the air or walking on invisible platforms, and the way she had somehow managed to push William back when his wings had been in her way two days ago... She was sure that she had done it, pushed him back with his mind, or with a gust of wind somehow.

"Let's go. Cooper, take the plane somewhere safe. Devon, you stay with Cooper."

Emil was handing out orders and directing people to jump out from the plane. Agnes was nervous at first but then saw Imogen jump down and land in midair without a worry in the world. The nervousness changed into fascination. The diverse powers these guys had... Even Atticus' tail was pretty cool! In a way.

Flying was not the only thing she had been practicing over this past week. They had learned how to act smart with a computer, how to pack a punch and even how to hold and fire a real gun. Agnes had been terrified of the gun at first. Why would they even need those? Couldn't they just try to weaponize their Atlantean powers and fight with those? But she had quickly realized that not all powers were offensive enough; like Freddies or her own for example. Not everyone could turn into a crystallized monster and shatter anything in their vicinity (Agnes had a hard time reading Delta) or flap their wings to move opponents out of the way (why had Will gotten wings but not Agnes?). So she had tried to learn how to handle a gun.

And she had done well. Holding the metal piece in her hand gave her a strange sense of comfort, and after a few days of initial impatience and failure, she found some kind of deep resolve to hit her targets on the training lane. If she was feeling very happy or very angry, both of which had happened during this week, she seemed to be even more accurate than when she was feeling calm. Strange, because for most people it was the other way around. Freddie had even theorized that her air powers might not be all about flying, and that Agnes might somehow be able to bend the air in the path of the bullet enough to make it hit its target.

That theory had made her assume that she had actually used some kind of power to push Will out of the way the other day. But still, she hadn't told Freddie about it. Maybe she should though, because she hadn't made any more progress in figuring out on her own how to do other air stuff than flying, and she was getting impatient. Freddie was smart and Agnes enjoyed talking with him, even though he was anxious about everything and anything.

The ride through the flaming air in the gravity field was a thrilling one. Agnes couldn't believe what she saw. They were all sailing down towards a city that was ravaged by falling meteorites. The sky was burning and so were the streets below.

((Soundtrack, click here!))

When they reached the ground in the middle of a park near the center of the commotion, Frederick immediately fell over. Misha pulled him up quickly though. Agnes looked up ahead. The Eiffel Tower! She had never seen it with her own eyes before. Of course not, she had actually never been outside of Sweden before. Never felt the need to.

But here she was, and the Eiffel Tower was burning. Agnes readied the pistol she had been given. Most of the Atlanteans here would rather rely on their own powers than on the gun to save them in a pinch. She suspected that her being handed a gun had more to do with her lousy ability to defend herself by fighting physically than with her actually being good enough with handling the gun.

Delta took off immediately, before Misha could even notice it. If it was one thing that lady had made clear, it was that she didn't want him around if she could avoid it. Agnes glanced over at Atticus, who turned his head away just then. He had been glancing at her too. She sighed. He was probably fast determined not to let her out of his sight. If she ran into some rouge evil Atlantean or someone from the Royal Family who wanted to abduct her, she wouldn't stand a chance if the other Atlantean had more offensive powers than flying.

"Let's go, guys!" she said and started walking off the fuming grass lawn in one direction, while Emil, Imogen, Will and Devon went the other way.

"W-wait!" Freddie yelped behind them. This scenario clearly wasn't one to make him calm and able. At least he was able to walk properly enough these days.

They moved onto a street where no meteorite had landed yet. Agnes held her gun before her as she moved. She knew it was a bit silly; it wasn't sure that there really was anyone here who wanted to harm them with other stuff than meteors. But she felt more secure and focused by just holding the gun in her hands at ready.

There weren't many people running in this street. Most had probably already evacuated before the AUP got here. But there were some faces in the windows of the tall buildings. Did they really think that they would be safe if they stayed? A meteorite could crush down a building at any time.

Atticus seemed to have been thinking the same.

"Okay, priority was to rescue civilians. But why are they staying inside their homes?" he said.

"We have to get them out! Make them leave!" Agnes said eagerly. "I'll take this building and you'll take-"

"You don't even know how many are in there. You'd have to knock on every apartment and that would take ages. What if a meteor hit the building while we were inside?"

She looked up at the slightly older guy with annoyance. "But we have to help them somehow! Rescue civilians! What else can we do?"

Just then, a horribly loud sound made them look up. A meteor was heading towards their street! It was the size of a bicycle and it wasn't falling straight from above, rather sideways down like an airplan preparing to land. There was no time to think, only run. Atticus instincts made him run almost towards the flaming rock, to try and dodge it.

Freddie screamed his lungs out. Agnes flew up, her instincts activating her Atlantean powers like always. But something made her stop only three meters up into the air. Freddie was running away from the incoming meteor like a deer in headlights. Agnes didn't think, she just did.

Moments before the meteorite struck the ground and ripped up the asphalt like a knife through rough paper, Agnes swooped down and picked Freddie up into her arms. She felt the hot air from the meteor brush by her legs as she rised up again, but it didn't hurt her. She wanted it to not hurt her, and somehow it also didn't. Her heart pumped faster in her chest than ever before as she flied up to land on the roof of the nearest apartment building, tumbling down into a pile of hoofs and hair with the goat man.

"You- We- I-" Frederick tried to say as she struggled to untangle himself from the girl and stand up, having a hard time believing that he was actually alive and well.

Agnes just lay with her stomach down on the roof and breathed.

"This is dangerous!" Freddie finally managed to say.

"Really?" Agnes panted. "I agree! Where's Atticus?"

Freddie moved towards the edge of the roof to look down on the street. The meteorite had come to a stop, only after ripping up the whole length of the street and setting a car and some sidewalk bushes on fire.

Suddenly, a door was kicked open. It was the door leading up to the roof from the apartment building's stairwell, and Atticus was coming out from it, looking like he had just run up all the stairs five steps at at time.

"You okay?" he said.

"Yes," Agnes replied and stood up, smiling a bit. "Both of us. Hey, luckily it didn't hit the buildings?"

"Heh."

"Look!" Freddie said. The others followed his pointing finger and saw the Eiffel Tower.

It was pretty close by, only a street or two away. Just like when they looked at the city from above before, from the airplane, it sure seemed like the meteor shower was centered around that tower. Agnes furrowed her brow.

"Okay so whoever is doing this is clearly near the tower. If getting all civilians out from their homes is too time consuming, we'd better move to the center and attack the source instead. Right?" She shuddered as she said it, as it would probably mean confronting some evil Atlantean. Who could rain meteors down on your head.

"You mean someone is actually doing this?" Freddie asked.

"Haven't you seen enough strange things this last week? I can fly, you've turned into a fairytale, Delta can become a glass vase. Maybe someone can create meteors?"

"Summon them, more likely," Atticus commented. "And yeah, we should move towards the tower. The others maybe already have. You've got your gun still?"

"Oh... Be right back!"

Agnes suddenly threw herself back over the other edge of the roof, making Freddie gasp. He still hadn't gotten used to her not being as afraid of heights as a normal person should be. After half a minute, she turned up again, almost stumbling on the edge of the roof as she landed, but at least holding up a gun in her hand with a smile.

"Kind of dropped it in the heat of things!"

"Heat. Funny," Freddie said weakly.
 
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Lt. Col. Fantastic

The Arianator
698
Posts
11
Years

Austin Tseng ft. Wyatt Cale - Champ de Mars, Paris, France


The singer picked up his fallen microphone from the ground, and then swiveled his neck around to pop his joints. Austin braced himself to dodge another sonic blast. Another man, a few years older than Austin walked up. He had a composite bow, and a quiver of arrows, with him as weaponry. Austin assumed he was an Atlantean too, judging by the fact he hadn't left the scene yet. Not sure whose side the Green Arrow was on, Austin kept his defenses up. He soon saw the newcomer's intentions as he fired an arrow at the singer's microphone. As it tumbled to the ground, rendered useless by the shaft through its handle, the archer spoke.

"Dude, your voice is crap, it's time you got off the stage," he strung up another arrow and continued, "the first one was a warning shot, this next one is the real deal-"

Austin flinched as the archer was launched off his feet. He knew the feeling of losing control of your body, and it wasn't exactly fun. The archer dude was pretty tough, however. From the ground, he launched an arrow between his legs towards the singer. Unfortunately the arrow missed its target as it shattered under the force of Mr. Scream's voice.

The Archer stood up and dusted himself of before giving Austin a comrade-like nod, "How about we force him into an early retirement?" Austin flashed a smile.

"Suits me. I'm not a big fan of his, you see." Austin cracked his knuckles, "I'll get in close and try to hold him there," he looked at his partner, "please don't shoot me."

Wyatt's smile soon turned to a frown, "It's not about holding him there, and it's his voice we need to get rid of..." He looked down at the young Asian kid, even he was puzzled as to why a kid so young was fighting in a battle like this. Regardless, he didn't have the time or ability to pick whom he would fight beside. "I don't mean like kill the guy, rather incapacitate him. There's too much distance between us to really get close enough to him....say, what is your ability?"

Austin frowned as well once he realized his plan of attack was flawed. But he took the opportunity to say his power like a child given the opportunity to eat an ice cream cone.

"I control light," he said as he illuminated his hands, as proof. "And you?"

"Wow, uh..." Wyatt trailed off, not knowing what to say. This kid was a walking, talking lightbulb, an ability Wyatt could see far surpassing his own, and also trumping him at the same time. If this kid decided to go Supernova while he was gazing in infra-red or night vision, Wyatt was sure he would be blinded within seconds. "I can shoot lazers out of my eyeballs," he recovered, snickering a bit, "just kidding, Mult-Sight. Pretty useless though..."

In front of them, the singer got to his feet, blood, sweat and mud caked in his clothing and skin. He looked almost zombie-ish in the red glow of burning Paris. Wyatt notched another arrow, letting it fly at the guy again as he opened his mouth; again using his ability to deflect the arrow. They were a little buffeted by the remnants of his ability, prompting Wyatt to ask again, "so uh, we really need a plan before this guy sends us flying. Can you do anything other than glow?"


"Yeah, though I'm afraid it's not very lethal. I can reflect light and make a mirror. Got any ideas with that? Austin replied. This wasn't looking good, the arrows were almost useless and getting close to the singer would be very hard to capitalize on before sonic waves or meteors interrupted them.

Wyatt thought to himself, slowly formulating a plan, "How bright can you glow?"

Austin chuckled, "Pretty damn bright. Why?"

"So this is going to sound weird, but if you stand in front of me and glow bright, trying to direct the light towards him so you don't blind me, we can mask our general location and I can fire arrows from behind you, he won't see them till it's too late." Wyatt quickly pushed Austin to the side before jumping the opposite, rolling out of the way from an oncoming vocal blast, "what do you think?" he yelled over the roar surpassing them.

"Sounds fantastic," Austin yelled back. He quickly reunited with his new comrade, and positioned himself in front. He started to draw light from nearby sources to make his 'flashlight'.

"By the way, I'm Austin," he said over his shoulder.

"Wyatt," he responded, drawing his bow back.

"Alright Wyatt," Austin started, "let's do this." He put his hands in front of his face, palms towards the singer. He then concentrated the photons into a beam, illuminating the area in front of them tenfold. The singer grunted and shielded his eyes from the brightness. Wyatt let the arrow fly as they began moving around the singer, notching arrows as rapidly as he sent them flying. This left the singer constantly on the defense, as all he could do was deflect as many arrows as he could, not being able to clearly see where they were coming from or where they were heading to. A couple of times he managed to let loose a roar in their direction, prompting the two to move faster. Within a matter of minutes the singer was left kneeling on the ground, breathing heavily with his knees and thighs riddled with arrows leaving Wyatt's quiver rather empty.

Approaching the singer, he wrapped his arm around the guy's throat, cutting off any air he could summon to shout at them. He struggled for a bit, but Wyatt's hold soon took the man out as his body slumped to the ground. "Don't worry," Wyatt let Austin know, "he's only unconscious, not dead. Say, who do you fight for, anyway?"

Austin wiped the sweat off his forehead, slightly drained from using his power for an extended period of time. "Eh, I've been hanging with the Royal Family. You know, they're like the Atlantean Authority and whatnot. Why? Are you rolling solo or what?"

Wyatt simply nodded, he had heard of the Atlantean Royal Family from October and Adrian before, and neither had much nice to say about them. Even the Directive believed that they had some secret agenda that they were up to (which did sound a little hypocritical to Wyatt) that they weren't willing to share with any of their members. Needless to say, Austin didn't seem at all similar to how the others portrayed other Atlantean members. "I work with the Syndicate, you should join us."

"Uh..." Austin said, unsure how to react, "well...you see the Family hasn't been particularly bad to me...and they kinda know where my folks are so I wouldn't want to cross them..." well this was awkward.

"So yeah, sorry but I'd have to decline. Nothing against you guys, I've actually not heard much about the Syndicate, besides rumors. Is it true that you control the United Nations?"

Wyatt just smiled and grabbed the singer by the back of his shirt collar, "I'll see you around then," leaving Austin to the desolation around him as he dragged the singer back to the spot Jeremy had dropped them off. He wasn't angry at the kid, after all, he had his family to worry about, but Wyatt knew that sooner or later, the kid would join them. Power was everything.


Austin stared as Wyatt dragged the singer away, a little surprised as the man's abrupt farewell. He shrugged it off as distrust, something not uncommon in these times. He turned around and saw three figures off in the distance. As he began to approach them, he saw two of them get into a tussle. He pressed his body against the body of an abandoned red truck as he watched them from afar. They seemed to argue about something, and they started to fight. He snuck closer and overheard a girl say, "I'll kill you like you killed my mother!"

The speaker punched the man she was fighting, sending him flying towards Austin. Using smoke and fire as cover, he crept towards the injured man. He lay face down in the rubble, blood and ashes covering his body. Austin rolled him over, and tried to get him to come to.

"Hey! Hey, dude!" But the dude was out cold, or if he was conscious he wasn't responding. Austin grabbed him under the arms and dragged him back to the truck. He lifted him into the passenger seat (with a lot of effort; he was pretty heavy.) He walked back to the driver's side and got in, looking toward the other two figures. He decided it was best to leave them be, clearly they didn't like whoever this guy was. Did he really kill that girl's mother? Austin was prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt. He closed the door and checked the ignition; the keys were still in. Whoever left it here checked out in a hurry.

"Ugh, a manual." Austin barely knew how to drive any car, much less a stick.

He started it and (very roughly) drove off back to where River left the helicopter.



 

Swolligator

Butcher of the Sands
1,955
Posts
14
Years

Eris – Champ de Mars, Paris, France


Eris' father had talked a lot about France, and his words just didn't do justice to the beautiful architecture that now surrounded the Champ de Mars at the centre of Paris. The last time he had been here, he hadn't had such a good time, but he had met some of his most trusted acquaintances here for the first time. So seeing the city he spoke of begin to be ruined by the giant rocks ripping through the sky almost made her want to cry. Regardless, she was stuck here until this point of crisis in time came to an end; an end signifying the start to another crisis. From beneath the shade of the trees she could hear the band playing their prelude to chaos, the song almost ironic amongst the confusion of the rest of the Parisian population. Far up in the sky she could make out the glowing golden figure of the man who was creating this chaos.

Within moments, she saw the infamous Syndicate, Atlantean Royal Family and the Atlantean Unification Project touch down amidst the chaos. They had all come to save the day, making Eris relax at the thought that this would be all over soon, yet tense at the fact that she would soon be teleported away to another point in time, perhaps something more frightening. However many of the factioned Atlanteans began fighting with one another, and she just wanted to scream out to them, stop them from their petty squabbles and direct them to the real problem standing far above them. But she wasn't meant to interfere, last time she had made that mistake a ship had sunken in the ocean, killing many people on board.

Looking around, she couldn't see any indication that her friend, the Librarian, had decided to join the fray, feeling ever so slightly dejected. Any crisis she had teleported into so far, he had always been there to offer her a moment of solace before she was whisked away by the burden she carried. She continued to hide beneath the shade of the tree, out of sight and out of mind until it was her time to go. From her hiding spot, she watched the differing battles going on, watching the fight between the girl with the massive metal arm and what seemed like her comrade with the ice powers. Even the crystal girl displayed amazing feats of strength against the concrete dude; how she wished she had such an offensive power. But time continued to drag down, and she became more and more anxious for the end to come, not knowing if she was dreading more the coming of the next crisis, or the continued destruction of the city.

One of the Atlantean Royal Family members, a burly guy in his twenties suddenly shot up into the air, heading straight towards the man summoning the meteorites, only to be struck on his side my a meteorite that almost looked as if it had changed course to take him out. No matter how high he tried to soar up, he couldn't get more than halfway up the structure before meteorites cut him off, whether they struck him or simply pushed him off course, he was slowing losing the battle and she gasped as he was pummelled once more by a meteorite, slamming into the ground next to it. This needed to finish soon before more people were hurt, but it seemed like no one could get anywhere near the top of the tower to take him out.

Eris teleported herself up to one of the observation decks, only a few meters down from where the guy stood. She couldn't believe what she saw, the man wasn't just glowing with light; he was glowing gold. His eyes continued to stare at the heavens, not blinking and completely golden while his skin practically radiated an etheric golden glow. More shocking, his tattoo was glowing gold as well, obscuring nearly both his arms as he held them out wide. It had grown immensely since she had sneaked a peak earlier in the day, almost as if it were some sort of black, parasitic skin disease. He had gone completely God Mode, and she cursed herself for not realising that no one below, at least at this point in time, would be able to deal with him in this state. All except the Librarian, but she had failed to see him arrive, and thought that he probably had no intent of showing.

"You're coming with me," she whispered in his ear, although she knew well enough that he was too far gone to hear her voice now.

It would still be a little while before the last of the meteorites would streak over the skies of France, but her actions now would save a lot more. As much as she knew she couldn't interfere, Eris had come to the realisation that, at this point in time, it was her actions that would stop this man from further destruction and also bring on the next leg of her journey. The idea of the paradox made her smile as a single teardrop fell from her face before she took the man with her to another point in time.​
 
37,467
Posts
16
Years
  • Age 34
  • Seen Jan 2, 2024
((OOC: okay I started writing this post before Ichiro posted his xD So I'll have to tweak it... Instead of Agnes taking on the meteor man, she'll just see what happens with Eris, I guess?))



Agnes Johansson - Paris, France


8th November, 2012
The air was singed. The blazing meteors teared through the sky and hurt the air with their heat. That was the feeling Agnes god as she soared over the last streets up to the Eiffel Tower, just above the roofs.

Atticus and Frederick had continued to move on the ground and she volunteered to fly ahead and scout. To try and see what was really going on near the base of the tower, as they had seen flashes of light and strange sounds from their roof earlier. The dark skinned, blue eyed girl had the frizzy hair waving behind her in the warm wind, free from the usual confines of a thick braid and instead flowing behind her like the mane of a shadowy lion.

She dove down when she reached the Eiffel Tower. Commotion took place beneath and around it, but not from people fleeing. There were Atlanteans!

Agnes saw one guy seemingly shooting bright light into the face of an opponent, while a third was standing behind the first spraying arrows at the oncoming opponent.

A girl with metal on her arms was battling another girl with a guitar in her grip as if the instrument meant her life.

Another group of Atlanteans were battling each other in a manner that told Agnes that they had little but relentless hate for one another.

And there was...

"Delta!!" Agnes froze in the sky, losing some altitude from the shock of the scene beneath her. The grim girl hadn't heard her. Before Agnes could fly down or do anything more, she saw Delta's crystallized fist slam down onto a man who stood trapped in the ice of a fountain that was somehow frozen over.

The man shattered. Shattered. His head tumbled down onto the ground with a gurgling noise before... Nothing. Agnes ears were ringing. She didn't see the meteors falling around her, nor the many Atlanteans who were fighting below her. She didn't take notice of the guy standing beside Delta, talking to her as she got up from her ill deed. Her eyes were fixed at the head on the icy floor, and it became smaller and smaller...

paris_zps1392e94c.png
Without her noticing, Agnes' ability had made her fly higher and higher, taking her away from the dreadful scene as she lost control. Delta just killed a man in front of her. Delta would kill. Agnes knew she was different from her, and she knew that she held a real pistol in her own hand, but she didn't want to kill anyone. She had never even thought about killing anyone. She...

A meteor almost grazed her in the air, the hot air whirling her around and sending her into a spin. It made her let out a quick scream as she tumbled towards the structure of the great tower. Before she made contact, she regained control though. She looked up. Clouds of hot smoke had begun to form around the top of the tower. She wondered if the sun was shining above. Someone had said that above the clouds, the sky is always bright.

Oh, yeah. It was her father. One of his many sayings.

A rebellious feeling came to her and started to grow. She wanted to fly up there. Never before had her powers managed to carry her that high... She hadn't even tried, actually. Rooftops was as high up as she had dared to go, but she was already higher up than that. And stable. She was stable. How could she be stable? She had just witnessed something... Ugh.

She shook her head to get rid of the mental image of the rolling head. And then she raised her fist up - like Superman! - and took off.

The metal of the Eiffel Tower raced by her as she got closer and closer to the clouds above. If she could only see the clear sky, then maybe she would feel better. Agnes often did irrational things, sometimes brave and sometimes just foolish. She wasn't the one to sit still and calm down if she could take action.

As she reached the highest observation deck, around the top of the tower, she saw something gleam in the corner of her eye. She turned her head around.

It was a man. And yet, it wasn't really. His whole body was glowing with a golden light and he was intently staring upwards, holding out his hand. Another meteor came roaring down on the other side of the tower just then, about to strike some more distant part of the city. Agnes gasped. It was him. He was doing this!

The realization made her lose control of her flying again; instead of slowly coming to a halt, she tried to change course at the speed she was at. But she didn't have the strength to turn that quickly. Instead, she began tumbling again, losing height. She reached out with her hands in an effort to stabilize herself and they suddenly slammed into warm metal. Even though the impact had hurt, she grabbed whatever she could grab as hard as she could.

She was hanging from the fence of the observation deck. Quickly, she took a few deep breaths, feeling her arms and hands grow sore. No time to panic, no time to panic! With a push of her air powers, she jumped over the fence and found herself sitting on safe floor again. After a moment, she looked up. Where was the golden man? The meteor Atlantean.

She stood up and tried to breathe as quietly as she could as she started walking around the deck. Not that it really mattered, because the sounds and shrieks and flames from the city below and the space rocks around them covered any breathing or footsteps.

There he was, sitting on the very fence of the observation deck, balancing somehow without trouble. He had some kind of black figure on his body, dark and sharp. His tattoo? He looked absolutely catastrophic. Like a demon. A fleeting thought came to Agnes as she stood there just watching him for a moment, unsure of what she could really do against someone this powerful.

"Atlanteans will be the ruin of Earth."

Something had to be done. Maybe she could do what she had done with Freddie, just pick him up and fly him away to somewhere, dump him into the ocean, ANYWHERE but near a big city. But would that help? Wouldn't he come back somehow? Would his glowing body hurt her? Would she...

Just then, another girl appeared beside the meteor man. She looked... Oddly out of place somehow. Where had she come from? Agnes unknowingly held her breath as the girl walked close to the demon, as if she was saying something to him. And then, they were gone.

The bright light that the demon man had emanated disappeared. Meteors were still falling from the sky, but perhaps they would stop soon. Paris was still burning, but the source of the terror was gone. And Agnes Johansson stood atop the Eiffel Tower and felt more confused than she had ever done before in her life. Was it over?
 

Lokiepie

ooh...Cake!
316
Posts
11
Years
Charlotte Hunter - Paris, France

8th November, 2012​


Pulling open one of her desk drawers Charlie delved a hand into the gloom and began to feel around, her fingers blindly fumbling over an array of objects. The moans of pain from behind her, only made her fumble more madly until with a triumphant sigh, Charlie withdrew her hand, her fingers encasing a small roll of bandages. She turned on her heel and observed her patient, one of the more accident prone students in the ARF known as Nick, with an eager grin.

"Knew I would find it somewhere!" The petite girl beamed, as using her hip she pushed the drawer closed. Moving back to the boy's side, she knelt down and inspected the area of need with a quiet focus. This time around, Nick had appeared at the nurse's door limping at 8:30 that morning, which in Charlie's opinion was far better than their first meeting's circumstances, despite the early time.
Nick, whom had been for the most part silent, whimpered slightly as Charlie rotated the injured joint tenderly before sitting back and allowing a satisfied grin.

"How's it looking then Charl?" Nick asked, as he anxiously rubbed his forehead and stared at Charlie's warm smile. "Think I'll make it?"

With this Nick then flopped back on the bed where he sat, dramatically reaching up towards the ceiling with one hand. "As you know, I think I can hear them. The angels I mean. They are calling for me to join them."

"Ahuh" Charlie replied, barely evening raising an eyebrow at her friend's dramatics.

Annoyed at this though, Nick continued on, flashing a glance at Charlotte through one slightly opened eye before suddenly gripping his chest and almost gasping.
"Tell my brother I will see him in hell OK?"

"I thought you were going to heaven." Charlie shot back, as without looking at her friend, she reached for her first aid book and consulted the instructions once more for good measure.

Part laughing and part huffing, Nick flopped back into his bed and shook his head, acknowledging his defeat and waiting for the diagnosis from his friend which came shortly afterwards.

"Well it's not broken, so I think we are just looking at a sprain." Charlie offered this conclusion with a sudden change in facial expression, as the skin between her brows puckered in a frown. "Though I could have sworn I told you to watch yourself earlier this week."

To this Nick turned feverishly quiet and shuffled somewhat uncomfortably on the spot, focusing his gaze onto the back of his hand before muttering a reply which was inaudible to any human ear. Sighing at this Charlie shrugged and began work on the injury, wrapping it up firmly in the soft elasticated trips and deciding not to question her company too much. As she worked though, the pair began to chat again the subject only turning serious when Nick questioned Charlie's use of the bandage.

"So how come you aren't just…erm…doing your thing?" Nick gestured wildly in the air before signalling down to his ankle with a raised eye brow. Charlie at this, sat back and met the boy's gaze with her own quizzical look, puzzled at first by what Nick was referring to by 'Doing your thing'. But at the switch flicked on in her head, Charlie almost chuckled. Her plump lips once again form a perfect 'o' as realisation came in floods.

"It's been suggested that I don't use my powers for every injury." Charlie started, as she recommenced her work. "Rather than leaping in and taking on small injuries which are rather bothersome, I have to deal with them practically, hence all of them." With this, Charlie jutted her head in the direction of a small desk in the far corner of the nurse's office where a large, leaning tower of thick textbooks loomed over the other paper work in an ominous manor.

Nick studied this spectacle for a few seconds then mockingly shivered. "I'm glad most of my training just means I get to the beat the heck out of things." He laughed, his strained face lighting a little with his smile as he returned his gaze to the dark haired girl, whom now stood in front of him, her small hands on her hips.

"Are you sure it's that way round?" Charlotte giggled "As the amount of times I get you and your mates in here, I am starting to think the 'things' are beating the heck out of you."
Nick shrugged at this, leaning forward and rolling down his jogger's leg before gingerly standing and testing his ankle.

"It's usually 'you should have seen the other guy' visits with me. I swear!" Nick offered with a wink, before letting out a sigh. "This new approach to fixing us up though a little bit of a bummer. How long is it gonna take till it heals Doc?"

Charlie nodded at this and pursed her lips once more as she thought. "Well it's not a bad sprain, so about a week or two. Just go easy on it ok? No kicking planks, or whatever it is you guys do."
Nick at this gave a mini salute then placed a large hand on Charlie's shoulder, as with his free hand he put on his glasses. "I can make no promises that I will not see you again by the end of today." He smirked. "Thanks Charl. See ya later."

Charlie nodded then waved off her patient, returning to her desk in a sluggish manor, almost sad that her reason for avoiding her study had limped off down the corridor. In some ways she was almost jealous of the other students' combat training, though it involved some rather nasty injuries from time to time, it was for now, a lot more fun than sitting in an office or if she was lucky watching one of the combat training session with a few fellow students. Though on those occasions, of which there had only been two so far, she had only been there in case immediate attention was needed.
Sighing, Charlie flicked open a one of the text books and thumbed through the pages absentmindedly stopping every once in a while to allow her eyes to soak in a step by step procedure of various different wounds. In some ways this new way of handling injuries sucked, just like Nick had pointed out, but Charlie was beginning to see the upside to it. Time consuming,yes, but it also meant that when the day came to an end, Charlie was able to walk to her own room and lie down without the now familiar twinge of freshly absorbed wounds.

It was just as this thought drifted across her mind that Kieran came stumbling into the room, his familiar kind features flushing to a brilliant scarlet as he panted for air, Austin and Minerva shortly following in his wake. In the short time frame which followed, Charlie had not bothered to ask any questions as to why she had been summoned. The reddened face of Kieran was enough for her and so within 3 minutes of Kieran appearing in the door way to her own 'classroom', Charlotte found herself running along with the others towards the helipad, Kim being the last to be picked up along the way.

On arrival at their destination, Charlie, at this point finding it slightly difficult to breath, was greeted by Justin and River. All was then explained in a brief manor, as Justin filled them in on the plan before they were ushered onto the helicopter and whipped away from their new home. As they travelled, the buzzing familiar voice of River sounding over the headsets offered little comfort to Charlie's nerves as she watched the mansion disappear.

****

Charlotte had zoned out for the entirety of the journey, her eyes tracked to the back of her hands as she visualised medical procedures, dimly aware of the helicopter as it hummed through the blue expanse of sky. It was only when a tremor shuddered through the metal framework of the vehicle and first violent evasive swerve from River that cracked through Charlotte's subconscious state of mind. Grabbing the edge of her seat, Charlotte swore loudly into the headset not realising the cause of the disruption until she violently turned her head to the left and looked out over a scene which she had come to know through numerous post cards. Only this time, rather than being meet with blue skies and bustling streets, Paris lay in smouldering ruins. Like razor rain, the meteors tore down through the sky, ripping through buildings, cars and trees, all the while gushing forth hot ash.

Screams could be heard over the loud resounding thunder claps of collision, as more meteors fell from the reddened, swollen bellied heavens. Their helicopter dodged a few close calls as River's skills came into play, saving them all more than once. On landing however, all horror of first impression was bitten back as everyone washed out of the helicopter and formed into teams. The first team peeled off at River's command and the second at Justin's.

"Keep an eye out for the others, in case they get hurt," Justin ordered, "send as many people as you can to the metro below ground, but don't get killed!"

Charlotte had nodded and then glanced at Kieran before heading out into the chaos which was now Paris. Everywhere the small girl looked was burning red or smeared with black ash as the screams of the public almost seemed muted over the sheer roaring power of tremors and flaming boulders which tumbling through the sky. She had been told to help those in need and that was exactly what she planned to do.

*******

Charlie helped numerous people get to the metro system, leading them with wild gestures towards the sunken stair cases which lead down to the underground network. She also absorbed a few injuries along the way, helping to animate people and get them safety. Burns, cuts and bruises marred her body under her long sleeved top, but she tried her best to ignore the pain which buzzed over her skin.

Checking each window she passed, Charlie desperately sought out the distressed and the injured, and helped with healing and first aid. She followed the screams which sounded over the on- going percussion of meteorites. When her search began to reveal a distant lack of people however, Charlie began to feel a small glimmer of hope. Perhaps most people had already sought refuge somewhere safe. Yet just as quickly as this glimmer of hope illuminated itself, it was extinguished when Charlie's foot caught something soft, sending her sprawling to the floor.

Charlie rolled onto her back narrowly avoiding a pile of shattered glass, as she examined the offending object which had caused her to trip and what met her eyes made her stomach twist.
It was a leg, small, bloody and broken. The rest of the body was hidden by rubble but the leg was enough to know what lay beneath the debris.

"Oh god.." Charlie breathed as she wiped ash away from her skin. She could feel tears beginning to brim. The size of that leg… it had to be a child. Charlie's head began to sway, the world around her oozing in confusion, dismay and horror as slowly, Charlie stood and began to back away. She could feel her stomach turn cold as her eyes remain glued to the small limb which sat motionless on the floor.

*****

The screams and gutters of a crying woman were what pulled Charlie out of her stupefied slump. She had been standing there frozen and horrified, in amongst the rubble and dancing ash in complete silence as her eyes had remained trained to small motionless form which lay on the floor. Beginning to feel bile build up in her throat, Charlie forced herself to swallow, supressing the urge to vomit, as her stomach continued to do summersaults. Her tongue lay thick and heavy in her mouth and her eyes watered. She had known that she would find something like this, after all it was to be expected, yet that had never prepared her for actually seeing it.

Yet as she began to feel utterly depressed over the small body's lost life, a cry of something living pulsed through her ear drums. The sound was both awful and gut retching, but at the same time, hopeful to Charlie. If there was a cry, there was life. Shaking the dark cobwebs of thought which had swaddled the girl, Charlie turned her head to track the sound.

Further up the street, behind a fractured window, billowing large plumes of smoke were evident. The Café had once been a small quaint looking thing, with polished dark wood window frames and cream coloured walls, completed rows of tables and table cloths. It had been something which belonged in a picture. Yet now the tables lay in splinters, the varnished frames curled up from heat with the flowers trampled, and from within, no dark cool retreat was promised. Instead, red flickers of flames and black smearing clouds of smoke came out in pillars. Regardless of this however, standing in front of the door was one woman. Her clothes would probably be considered fine not too long ago, but now they were torn and dirty. Her hair covered in dust and debris and on each leg clutched a child, no more than the age of 4. Yet despite this woman's young charges, she continued to shriek and wail at the dark clouds of smoke which emitted from the open door.

Braking into a run and narrowly dodging a falling lamppost, Charlie bolted towards the woman. She knew little of the situation bar that there was something deeply wrong. Drawing nearer, and talking in broken French Charlie called to the woman as she fell to knees and began to cry. The children simply huddled together, their voices coarse from screams. The repeated lines of 'run to safety' did little to nothing and on finally arriving beside to the small group, Charlie realised quickly that the woman was not going to be moved.

Kneeling down, Charlie had tugged at the woman to stand, pleading with her to move and save her children. But the more she tried, the more frantic the woman became, slapping off Charlie's grasp and pointing towards the smoke.

"Mon fils!"

Charlie froze at this then turned to match the woman's gaze and it was only then, focusing on the open door way, that Charlie heard it. A small yelp came from within, the words were inaudible, however, it was an unmistakable call for help. Suddenly, Charlie knew why the woman would not move. She could not enter the flames without abandoning her two children but neither could she run and abandon her other child to the flames.

Watery streaks of mascara stained the woman's cheeks as this time, Charlie felt the perfectly manicured nails grasp her arm.

"Au secours" The sentence came staggered and rough, through crimson lips which were now bloody and swollen.

Help. Charlie nodded and slowly pulled the woman's hand away from her arm. Patting it, she tried to offer a little reassurance, before putting her arm to her mouth and darting forward into the smoke.

****

Inside, the flicking light and falling plaster created enough obstacles as the girl picked her way through the rubble all the while staying as close as she could to the floor , her arm shielding her nose and mouth. The heat in the small shop was almost intolerable as Charlie began to feel sweat break out over her forehead and her eyes begin to sting. Regardless however, she pushed on, training her ears on the small yelp which sounded near the back of the café.

Beginning to cough now, her lungs burning from a mixture of dry, hot hair and smoke, Charlie began to feel dizzy but once more ignored her body's pleads for retreat. One child's remains already lay on the street outside and she was not going to allow another to add to the count.

Weaving cautiously through a few still standing tables Charlie at last found her target huddled under a table and face buried into his knees. From within this small ball of clothes was the source of the yelp. Moving forward again Charlie stepped over more fallen plaster and crouched down at the table, the distinct smell of urine meeting her nostrils as the girl leaned forward and grasped the kid's arm.
The boy had jumped at first, swinging his head up and staring through the protective slits of eye lashes at Charlie in sheer amazement, however, this startled surprised lasted one fleeting second before the boy scrambled into Charlie's arms with wild sobs. Charlie, almost pushed over by the child's speed, allowed the boy to entangle his arms around her neck before she stood and wheeled back towards the entrance, staggering with the added weight of the kid now.

The exit was easy and on stepping out into the open street, Charlie felt the child being instantly peeled away from her by his mother, then, with little more than a hurried thank you, the mother and her children ran off without a backward glance. Charlie simply wheezed as she bent over, grabbing her knees for support as she felt the world around her begin to spin. Her lungs felt burnt and no matter how much she gasped for air, she felt starved of oxygen.

Slowly the world around her began to black out. Her body tingled from various different wounds she had acquired from helping people escape. Cuts marred her arms and legs, a gash on her forehead oozed blood and stung and she could feel a new burn sear into the back of her neck, where the boy had touched her. The child must have been burned in the store, and on contact, her body had instantly transferred the wound to herself. Groaning in pain and a mixture of confusion, Charlie then collapsed. Rib cage heaving as panic set in before everything blacked out.​
 
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Kikpanther

Not a beginner that's for sure
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14
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Dominique Bisset -- Paris, France

Dominique sighed as he searched the shelves of books. His eyes went from title to title, none looking interesting enough for him to even consider reading the synopsis. It didn't help that the cover art was almost as ridiculous and poorly thought out as the titles. Most just showed a man passionately kissing whom he presumed was his love interest, while others just showed images of items that related to the title--a starfish for Sea Glass Island or a meadow for Before the Lakspur Blooms. The flowers looked like delphiniums, but he guessed they were supposed to be "lakspurs". I'm sure Mom will know. Dom picked up the book and turned it on its back to quickly scan its summary. His parents anniversary was today and she was an avid fan of romance. Don't get him wrong. He'd bought his present a week ago. This was for his father who, nervous as he always was, just couldn't quite make up his mind in time to get a present. Now the two of them were a the Eiffel Tower (first date and all that) and he had present duty. Luckily he knew exactly what to get, even though he didn't get the appeal of romance. However, it wasn't his job to know. He was just here to buy one and get out.

As he neared the end of the summary, he caught from the corner of his eye another book. It had a very intense cover, a title and background of fiery reds and oranges. In the center of the picture was the image of very fine, very well maintained torso and abdomen. His face was cut off at the nose, so he only had a chin to work with, but he could tell that wasn't exactly the focus. The title LET THEM SPEAK screamed across his waistline, but Dom didn't quite mind. Mom, I think I found the perfect book, he thought, but the idea was instantly crushed when he read further into the title. Vampire. Dammit. That wasn't really her steam. Settling for the "lakspurs" Dominique put the second book back on the shelf and left for the counter where an unenthused and clearly obligated cashier waited.

He was ok, except for the fact that he didn't know how to dress. The cashier wore a dark green shirt with spotty flecks of several faded black stripes with old brown pants Dom could only just see. He looked like Steve Burns shortly after he left Blue to go to college. Now he was in desperate need of money and a good shave, but has since lost his bubbly attitude. Dom was a little disappointed that his name wasn't Steve, but Jean. Jean didn't give him much of a hello--more like a grunt--when Dom handed him the book, which was more than a little irking. His attitude didn't have to be as lifeless as the tree he was imitating, but Dom said nothing as he paid his bill and made his departure.

It broke his heart knowing that there were so many people, namely men, who were completely lost when it came to clothing. But alas, he was only one man, and while he would gladly help out more than a few of the men he knew, it just wouldn't work out. Dom placed the book into the passenger's seat of his car and drove out into the street, hoping to get back before his parents tried to exchange any gifts. Luckily for him, the bookstore wasn't that far away--of should he say, luckily for his dad? He definitely owed him one, but they would get down to the logistics of that later. Right now he had to focus.

Lately he hadn't enjoyed driving. Usually it was fine, but since he got these... Powers, he was unable to have even a sliver of fun. Apparently (he was still positive this was untrue) he had "road rage" according to his roommate in Toulouse. Personally, Dom didn't have an idea where that came from since he was a pretty calm person when it came to the road, but whatever. Anyways, he had to "keep his emotions in check" since he could possibly destroy the entire car and his mother's present. Honestly it was a little ridiculous since there was nothing to check, but okay. He'd keep an eye out.

---

Dominique's cellphone vibrated as loudly as it possibly could, making him jump after being so long in the silence of monotony. He took the phone out of his pocket and read the text message from his father. Dom could feel the anxiety in his father's "where are you"; it'd been a while and by now his mother was either mad or wondering what sort of extravagant surprise he must have thought up for all this waiting. "Traffic," he replied back, looking ahead at the line of cars doing absolutely nothing. They moved forward like snails, crawling forward only inches at a time. It felt like he'd been there for twenty minutes, but a quick check of his watch told him it had only been about ten. Funny how time slows down when there's nothing of interest going on.

Maybe traffic wouldn't be so bad if it had some sort of on board entertainment, like TV screens that opened up on the head unit when they detected idleness, or maybe roadside street performers. A highway circus wouldn't be too bad either, or maybe an air show. Dominque leaned a little forward in his seat, searching through the sunroof for any planes that just happen to be doing some sort of loopty-loop or a dangerous aerial maneuver. No such luck. Dom leaned back in his seat and let out a bored sigh. Yeah, not much was going to happen in this line. Not even a bird to watch.

Yep. Just scenery.

Dominique frowned and looked back up through the sunroof. His eyes scanned the clouds for a moment, trying to find one that would be most likely to hold up a giant golden gate and thousands of angels. You know, life would be so much more fun if you decided to be a little spontaneous once in a while. Dom didn't get much of a moment to look down before a flash of blinding light broke through the heavens, bringing a loud explosion with it.

"F*ck!" Dom exclaimed as he jumped from the sudden explosion. The flash quickly morphed into a streak that zoomed passed the feet of the tower and behind trees into the land right next to it. Was that a f*cking meteor!? Holy christ, Christ! When he said spontaneity he didn't mean meteors! And even if he did, he didn't mean where there are tourists! You were a lot nicer to Russia. Like many others, Dominique stepped out of his car and looked in the direction the meteor landed. It's crash not only brought on what sounded like a second explosion, but the screams of the many people affected by it. The sound of them made some run to the scene or take out their cellphones or calm their children. Dominique was one of the runners, racing passed the cars in an effort to see exactly what happened. He hardly had a chance to get passed the third car before there was another boom in the sky. He stopped in his tracks and looked up, eyes widening as a second meteor sped through the atmosphere and towards his body. Dominique ran forward again as fast as he could. The second meteor's impact shook the ground and knocked him off his balance. He grabbed onto the side of a car to steady himself, looking back at the damage the huge rock had made. It had definitely crushed the car, making a hit that had torn through its metal and knocked it off of its wheels and off the streets. Dom may have been more concerned for the car and the people who were possibly in it if it weren't for the size of the meteor. It was almost as big as the car used to be.

Dominique looked away from the sight, stunned. What in the world was happening? It was rare enough to see a meteor fall, let alone two? Dom looked in the sky as a way to find an answer, but what he saw gave him nothing. Above more and more meteors burst through the clouds, each and every one of them falling with the light of the sun behind them. Their breach into the atmosphere sounded like booms of thunder one after another. The sun was up, the sky was clear. If it weren't for the rocks that fell from space it would be an ordinary day. It was another meteor that landed amongst the cars that snapped him back to reality. The screams of the people around him were louder now. Countless people were dying, that was obvious. Young, old, native or not, each and every one of them had picked the perfect day to perish with strangers. Some of them were ordinary tourists and others may have been here to celebrate a special occasion. At least they would be able to be crushed with someone they cared about. People like... Like... Sh*t!

Dominique ran towards the chaos, so suddenly remembering his parents. They were here too, but where!? D*mmit, d*mmit! They wouldn't be like the people who'd already died today, couldn't be! He'd have to find them, get everyone to safety. Dominique looked into the sky again, witnessing the meteors in the distance fall into the streets in Paris, destroying stores and homes in their wake. He'd find somewhere.

Dom called out as he ran, mostly drowned out by the sound of the meteors. Already he could see the suffering that would result in the event. If the Paris survived this assault, it would never be the same again.

---

Dominique had run for what seemed like years with little success. As time went on, it was hard to tell if he were making progress or just running aimlessly among meteors. It was getting hotter with every impact and everywhere he looked people needed help. The area was progressively looking more the same and less like his parents. He wasn't sure how he was able to survive this long and he didn't take the time to question it either. At times he helped others who were in need, which certainly slowed him down, but he never lost his true focus. At one point he heard music (which he just assumed was a surviving music player of some sort) and saw helicopters, but everywhere he didn't see his parents only frustrated him. Why did this have to happen now? Why did this even have to happen here!? He would have gladly moved the meteors to any other city other than Paris and a portion of Toulouse.

The question he was asking shouldn't have been why this was happening, but how. There was no possible way this could happen naturally, could it? A team of astronomers would have f*cking caught this! No, no, no, this couldn't possibly be real, not for a million years. Then what? It... It couldn't be? Could it?

Ahead of him, two men running together were suddenly separated by the impact of a meteor into the ground. Debris flew into the air and for a moment, Dom thought he could have been seriously injured. He may have maintained that thought if he didn't stand up right after as if nothing had happened at all. He called something back to whom he presumed was the other person and continued to stand there. That didn't seem right. He'd been in this chaos for a while now and most people weren't inclined to stand idly by in the same spot, as if the stars weren't crashing towards them. No this guy was weird, or better said, he was up to something. Dominique stopped in his tracks. It was hard to see him clearly through the dust and debris, but whether he had a knowing smirk on his face or not, Dominqiue had a good feeling that this guy had something to do with it. If he had something to do with it, then that only meant one thing: He was Atlantean.

Dominique clenched his fists, immediately angry at this mystery person. What the f*ck was wrong with this people? It felt like he couldn't go a day without some Atlantean sh*t popping up and now this!? Not only was it over-the-top, but it was the most senseless thing he could imagine any Atlantean ever doing. What was the purpose of it? Hundreds--thousands--of people were dead and dying. His parents could have been the same, and for what!? For what? A f*cking demonstration!? After this it'd be a miracle or an act of complete stupidity if an Atlantean could step out of their door without the threat of being executed on the spot. Just like the last two incidents, this was obviously no accident. This was the last straw, a big last straw and if anyone couldn't see that they must have been more cutoff than Helen Keller.

Yeah. Dom was pissed, really pissed. He could already feel the temperatures rising. He wouldn't make a move to stop it, not right now. He'd let the fires come as they please and when they did, this silhouette *sshole was going to get the full brunt of it.
 
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  • Seen Jul 18, 2016
Delta Mayor, Oakley North, and Agnes Johansson-
- Paris, France


A quick assessment of the situation assured Delta that if they fought she would most likely be crushed in the palm of the new Atlantean. This girl's armor wasn't like the cement guy's whose head laid on the ground near them, it was almost superior to his in every way it seemed. Delta eyed the area thinking of different ways to run from this encounter, though she normally wasn't one to run from a fight until someone took their last breath. What tugged at her thoughts was how the girl automatically attacked the other Atlantean even though Delta was the one who held a gun at his head. She had made the assumption that he was Royal Family, as he very well could be, but what was she? A rogue Atlantean hunting the killer of her mother? That part was a bit odd, Delta knew if the person that killed her mother stood before her she would make sure they were dead by slitting their throat.

"I could've handled him y'know," remarked Delta, she wasn't one for trying to be saved, again. With her pistol at her side Delta waited wearily for the girl's response, maybe she would explain herself without any problems.

"Oh," Oakley blinked out of her phase. Those past few moments... she really hadn't been thinking at all. "Sorry."

"Did he really kill your mother? I'm not one to stand in the path of vengeance," Delta stated clearly, as she carefully looked over the blonde haired girl. She then checked the magazine of the handgun she held in her hand and saw that she had only fired four rounds, "I'm not fond of Royal Family members, and I have more than enough bullets left. If you're not up to it I'll gladly do it."

"Oh... um," she didn't really want to lie, glancing at the gun that Delta pulled out. She shouldn't be afraid of it, half her body covered in armour (both of her full arms and slightly down her body. There was a bit of armour poking up from her neck), but it was just a human response to guns, "well, no. I just thought maybe it would confuse him. He's just a big jerk."

Delta was now curious, "So, he's not a mother-killing psychopath Atlantean? That's good, I have plans to kill him later." If that happened to the case that meant they were on semi familiar terms... Was she Royal Family as well then? Apparently luck wasn't on Delta's side today, what was she to do now? The girl wore a very large black coat as if she was trying to cover up something with jeans and boots. Delta supposed since it wasn't normally raining meteors from the sky it would be rather chilly this time of year. It was all very inconspicuous or at least trying to be except for the big splits in the sleeves from her armored arms ripping through. "You're Royal Family then? Why are you still here? Do we have a score to settle?" Delta questioned trying to pinpoint what was going on and if it was worth her time.

"N-no!" Oakley took a step back as she felt the hostility suddenly rise, waving her large armour-coated hands, as if this girl was a bank robber and Oakley needed to reason or bargain with her. "I-I'm not with them. Yeah. Them. I'm here because I followed him here. Yeah. Th-that's all."

"You followed him...? So, you're just following a random Atlantean but yet you're not with them?" Delta's eagerness to know more about this terribly confusing situation was the only thing that kept her planted for the moment. This is why Delta kept to herself she always-made sense unlike whatever was happening here. Delta sighed then added, "You're offly confusing and I can see why he left you, because I'm ready to do the same."

"No! It's not like that! It's like..." Oakley had no idea what to say that would make sense that wouldn't make this girl shoot her in the skull. The truth was the first thing that came to her mind. "Okay, um, my name is Oakley North. I know... him. Nathaniel. I know him, and w-we came here together. But him and J-James left me alone so I followed him, and then they split up and so I f-followed Nathaniel but then I got lost and then I found him and you and... I s'pose I p-punched him for leaving me b-behind and thinking I was weak." She shrugged at the end, chattering her teeth (she couldn't rub her arms to keep warm like she usually would). "D-did that make sense?"

"You have quite the tale, so, you and your friends are all together? Yet none of you belong to the Atlantean Royal Family and I know that you aren't in the Atlantean Unification Project, so where does that put you?" Delta looked over the girl and despite her armored covered arms she didn't look that dangerous, just alone. Perhaps they were just three Atlanteans that had happened to find each other, but knowing the facts would help a great deal more than assumptions. This girl, Oakley, was now on her own and Delta knew the reality of being abandoned. She had supplied Delta with Ice Boy's name, Nathaniel, it fit him very well but there was another one out there, James, would she meet him soon as well?

"Well, I g-guess we were together," she glanced at the Paris rubble she had punched Nathaniel into, noticing he was no longer there. So, he had left her again? Which way did he go? Did she bother following him? Her ears perked up when she heard the words Royal Family and Unification Project. She had only heard those names when the Librarian had told them what he wanted from them. Was she... a part of something? "I... I don't know wh-what I belong in. I only wanted h-help with my arm. Um, my ability."

She lifted her enormous hands into face view, trying to use the power of her crystal to subdue the armour. She could feel it suppressing on her shoulders, but not at an impressive rate. She dropped them to the floor, the hands making a loud 'clunk' on the cement and 'sploosh' in the small puddle underneath them. The Librarian had made so much time for the boys, because they had asked for it. Maybe she should have... done something as well.

Another sigh escaped Delta's mouth because as much as she wanted to leave the girl standing before her to die, she couldn't. Something deep, deep inside Delta reminded her of her own abandonment issues and how she wished someone came along. In order to not appear as if she really cared Delta need another justification for the offer she was going to make. In the corner of her eye she spotted the perfect reason, "You know I'm probably going to get into trouble for killing him." Waving a hand toward the only thing that remained of the Atlantean she had fought with Ice B-Nathaniel, his head. "The Atlantean Unification Project or the AUP, the group I belong to, well, they helped me with my ability which is quite similar to yours... What I'm trying to say is, I need you, to... um… join so that I can be overlooked." Delta sounded kind of harsh at the end that was a must if she wasn't going to look like she had gone with the emotional route. It was the first time since they had talk that Delta actually avoided the other girl's gaze and instead looked at the meteor filled sky.

"Oh, um," so she was part of a group, Oakley thought. Did that mean... had she just accidently joined the Atlantean Unification Project? That's what the Librarian wanted her to do. She mulled over her options for a moment; was she... a spy? Or could she be a member? Like the girl had said, this Unification Project had helped her with her ability, and there was no denying that the two's abilities were very similar. Of course, knowing what she had seen from the Librarian, she didn't think she could just walk away from their 'agreement'. She decided to join, but she would decide whom she had to betray later. As awful as that sounded, "okay. What's your name, by the way?" Oakley added with a gentle smile.

"Del, just Del." Delta replied sharply, knowing how everyone back at headquarters had taken a liking to referring to her as Delta when she deliberately told them not. The occasional threat was becoming more of an everyday occurrence, something she hoped would be settled once they got back.

Some distance above the two girls, a third approached, sailing down through the air more or less clumsily. Agnes was not sure where to go now. She tried sorting it out on her way down from the Eiffel Tower. She wanted to make sure that what she had witnessed moments earlier was really the end of the catastrophe. And she wanted to find Atticus, and Fred. Last time she saw them, they had been headed towards the base of the tower, on foot, to try and find Emil and Delta and the others...

Delta. A shudder went through Agnes body and she tumbled a little in the air. At least she knew where she might be, unless she had gone already.

She closed in on the place where she had last seen the crystal woman and it turned out she was still there. And another girl too? Who was also an Atlantean! She had strange growth on her body, which gave it away. She seemed to be talking with Delta. They weren't fighting.

Still wary though, Agnes soared lower until she was just above them and a couple of meters aside.

"Delta!" she called out, as usual disregarding that the other girl preferred to be called something else. She took a breath to steel herself and force away the image of the head on the ground. Yet, her usually bright and cheerful face was uncharacteristically serious. "What happened?"

Before the conversation between Oakley and herself could go any further a voice called from above. Relieved when it was only Agnes but peeved that she had shouted the forbidden name. Delta hissed a single word to the flying Atlantean girl, "Del." She thought about putting that gun to good use after all that would certainly get the message through. "There was a fight and… and… this guy kept tr-trying to k-k-kill us. I didn't want to hurt him, I swear it!" Delta put on a feigned face of sadness as she stumbled through her words as if she didn't have the whole conversation planned out in her head. "He was rambling about how he was going to rip my head from my shoulders and... and... this other Atlantean did that to him! He had ice powers... he was so strong! I tried, really tried, to get him to just capture the guy y'know like Emilio wanted but he was reckless..." Trailing off Delta focused her attention away from the head to make it seem as if she couldn't bear to look it. She continued her twisted work of fiction, "He froze my feet, then froze him, shattered his body, and made me watch! Next he came for my-my head then Oakley here saved me by tossing him away."

Agnes was certainly the one to quickly trust others, and she floated down to the ground to stand in a triangle with Oakley and her AUP ally. But at the same time, she knew Delta wasn't really telling the truth here. Because Agnes had seen her decapitate the man. She chose to simply believe Delta now though, putting away her conflicting memories, mostly because she felt more comfortable with that.

Oakley glanced at Del, a little surprised at the story she had given this new flying girl. Oakley didn't correct her or ask why, just gave the new girl a small wave with her enormous hand and a smile.

"I'm Oakley," she said, unsure what else there was to add.

Agnes felt enormously relieved when she saw that the new girl smiled, and in a way that showed no hostility.

"I'm Agnes!" she said and smiled back, feeling warmth and sanity returning to her. Now that she was standing with her two feet back on the ground and the meteors were letting up, she was almost beginning to feel excited about this adventure again. "That is some power you've seem to got there! How come you came to Delta's rescue by the way? Are you French?"

Agnes suddenly looked around for a moment and turned to. "And also, where's that other guy who was with you?"

"I'm... French-Canadian?" Oakley said, answering the question that seemed the easiest.

Close a loud noise roared to life, an explosion of sorts flared to life. A copious amount of flames had been seen shooting up in the air from their position. Delta could tell that was going to leave a lot of destruction in its wake. It had caught the attention of Agnes and Oakley too, but Delta was the first to move on and it took off. Thankfully it had cut short their conversation. She saw the hesitation they had and ignored her own, something major was going on and she wanted to be apart of it. Perhaps Ice Boy had met his maker, one could only hope.​
 

SV

See You Space Cowboy
3,393
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  • Seen Feb 7, 2022

James Hazen and Dominique Bisset - Champ de Mars, Paris, France

November 8th, 2012

The dust and debris that had covered the air from the meteor had slowly begun to settle. For the first time, James could clearly see the appearance of his presumable first opponent. The brightness of a reflective gold Rolex was the first thing to catch his eye, followed by how finely dressed he was. James was certain the man came from some sort of money. He walked closer to the man, judging that he was about the same height as James, or perhaps a bit taller. He had relatively the same build too. Though at this point that was pretty irrelevant to him. There was only one thing James wanted to know from the man.

"You Atlantean?" He asked, scanning around his body to locate his tattoo that would prove that he was. He found nothing, but he had heard from the Librarian that tattoo appeared in a variety of areas across the body. James clenched his right fist, his pace coming to a halt as he awaited an answer.

James' over-casual question didn't remedy the situation. It only made Dom angrier. Flaming balls falling from the sky and the first thing said to him was: "You Atlantean?" That didn't exactly sit well with him. That little comment was enough to make his anger spike. In less than a second he was ablaze. His anger-fueled flames rose on his body before spreading quickly to his clothing and engulfing his entirety in fire.

"What the hell do you think?" Dominique asked irritably, switching to English automatically.

Perhaps it was the casual way in which he asked, or perhaps it was the general nature of the man before him, but he instantly reacted to James' question with a show of his powers. The Librarian had mentioned to him before that each power was unique, and that only one person would have a certain power at a time. That meant, as luck would have it, that James had hit a major player. Fire manipuation.

"I think..." James brought his hand above his head, inside gathering any nearby electricity that still existed despite the meteors. Either way, he had gathered enough juice before he had arrived, but he had to match his opponent's display of power with an equal showing of his own. Lightning surged across the flame-striken city. It bounced off areas, and gathered at the palm of his hand. The lightning moved around chaotically in his hand, but he could feel its energy slow poor inside of him. Within the palm of his hand, he literally held power. Pure power, at its most anarchic and unstable form. It was quite an exhilerating feeling for James.

Slowly, he brought his hand down, and allowed the lightning to bounce around nearby object, as a bit of a show, before it entered inside of him. His fingers tingled, his heart beat faster. "...I just hit the jackpot." He concluded, a smirk forming at his face. He didn't delay anymore as he brought a hand forward and pointed it at his opponent, and shot a bolt of lightning out of his hand, James feeling the transfer of power from inside of himself toward the outside world, and towards his opponent.

Dominique was unimpressed by the little circus display James decided to show him. He was more eager to send flames than watch the spectacle, but lightening (which really only occured to him in hindsight) was a lot faster than he was. The blast struck him a little off from his chest, knocking Dom back as the surge momentarily arrested his body. As the feeling died, Dom's anger only rose. Almost as if an explosion had gone off in his body the fires flared; growing bigger, getting hotter. He rose from the ground, so engulfed that he no longer looked human, but like a entity made from flames. Dom thrusted out his hand, shooting a barrel of powerful fire straight towards his enemy as if his own arm was a cannon itself.

James grinned, satisfied that his first attack managed to land on his opponent. Though, he would have found himself disappointed if that had managed to take him down already. Luckily, he was getting up again. However, James' grin disappeared as he saw the 'man' before him, though he didn't really appear like much of a man. With his entire body covered in flames, the man suddenly brought his own hand up to launch an attack at James. Distracted by the appearance of his opponent, James didn't get an opporunity to dodge. "F*ck," He cursed to himself, as he gathered energy as fast as he could in his palms. Static sizzled in his arms, electricity forming from the appearance of small, smooth balls in his hands to electric, chaotic wave of energy. He brought his arms up, hoping the electricity would derail some of the combustion heading before him, though it did little to stop the overwhelming attack sent at him. After clashing with the flames for a few seconds, James was swept off his feet, and sent through the air, crashing into a nearby pile of debris.

His lay there for a moment, pain clinging to his back and his arms, the back from the fall and the arms from the attack. Looking at his arms, he noticed a few burn marks appear on them. Luckily, they didn't seem too severe, as the lightning he had gathered before probably blocked any burns from becoming permanently embedded on his skin. Standing up with a groan, James took a moment to collect himself before facing his opponent once more. The attacks he was releasing were probably far too powerful to directly conflict with without exhausting all of his energy. If he wanted to beat this guy, he was going to have to find a way to do it in a more indirect manner.

At least, those were the thoughts that briefly made their way to James' mind. "F*ck it," He cursed out loud, instead of listening to them, he decided to test the limits of his own abilities. He began to gather electricity from inside of his body onto the surface of his palms once more. This time, he took out more energy. Electricity crackled in his hands, and grew louder, the sign that even more energy was applied to them. Then, he placed both of these balls of electricity together, and shot them as one wave of lightning at his opponent.

Dom had a grin, but it disappeared when his foe rose a little too soon for his liking. He didn't want a back and forth skirmish, he wanted this Atlantean gone and the rest would surely come after if he got this way. This *sshole was just wasting his time. James charged his electricity again, but Dominique had no intention of being hit by another blast. By the way the electricity crackled it sounded like a big one. Dom brought up his hand, charging for his own similar blast. The first one wasn't strong enough so adding a little heat would do wonders. As James placed his balls of electricity together, Dominique took that as his que and fired instantly. He sent his blast first, but as before, the electricity was faster and it soared over his flames in a jagged path straight towards him. It hit just like it had before, knocking him back, farther this time, and sending numbing jolts through his body. The blast sent back towards a nearby tree, but he didn't hit it hard enough to break it, just add to the fires that already possessed it.

A smirk appeared across James' face as he saw his lightning sneak past Dom's attack and strike directly on the opposing Atlantean. Yet James' reverence in his own attack made him unprepared for Dom's flame blast which snuck underneath his lightning, and rapidly surged towards him. Unprepared, James held his hands up to protect his face, once again releasing electricity from his palms to try and lessen the damage the blaze would cause. The fire burst at James with the force of a molten boulder, knocking him off of his feet without much trouble, and causing him to dive through the air before landing roughly and abruptly on his back. He groaned from his position on the floor, whatever remnants of the grass below long being burnt away by the fires around. His arms tingled both with the numbing sensation of having used his lightning, and the burning feeling of the intense heat the other Atlantean discharged. In a way, they sort of canceled each other out, causing James not to have as much pain around that area. Combined with the adrenaline of being in combat, James was able to begin picking himself up off the ground relatively soon after he dropped. He grinned at the area where he dropped his opponent. His heart beat rapidly, not from nervousness or fear, but from the excitement he was getting from being in such a fight, one on a degree he had never been before. He was enjoying this new experience.

James caught his breath before he decided to go in for another attack. However, before he could begin powering up for another set of charges, James became abruptly aware of the treacherous climate the two in which the two fought. The meteors that rained down across Paris once again reminded them of their presence by deciding to launch a few in their area. One meteor aimed directly to the right of where James now stood, with James quickly trying to roll away to the left to avoid the meteor. As he noticed by a quick scan of where Dom lingered, another one was heading right for him.

Dom glared from against the tree. He'd managed to hit his opponent, but the blast didn't stop him from getting back up. He guessed that meant Atlanteans were more resilient than normal people since a person didn't just stand up after being hit by a blast of fire. Then again he'd been blasted by two bolts of electricity without a day for rest. That wasn't quite so normal either. Dominique used the rapidly burning tree to help him stand, more than ready to knock James down one last time. As he did, he noticed an object at the top of his vision and instantly remembered the chaos rainging down on Paris. The booms of the meteors entering the Earth's atomosphere, the screams of Parisians still yet to flee, and the roar of fire returned to his ears. Dominique looked into the sky and his eyes widened as a truck-sized meteor fell towards him, screaming as it cut through the sky. Dom thrust his hand out, shooting fire from his palm towards the meteor. Flames sprayed out from the giant space rock, but it continued on its path toward him. More power may have helped him out, but Dom wasn't going to stick around to see. As quickly as he could, Dominique ran and jumped out of the way of the meteors impact. The force of the meteor's strike knocked him off his feet, sending fire and debris through the air. When he looked back, the tree he'd just been leaning on had vanished into nothing. Dominique stood up, shaken. The meteor had landed a little too close for comfort.

James managed to roll directly to the left of where the meteor landed, but the shockwave of the impact carried him forward and knocked him to the ground. Ash, dust, and smoke instantly lifted from the earth and into the atmosphere, and James coughed, inhaling the black air into his lungs. Despite his realization that he would likely have injuries, some which might be fairly severe after the fight, he began once again moving to his feet, though at a slower pace this time. Then, once again, he found a grin form on his face. He wasn't sure how to explain it. He had almost been crushed by a giant meteor, burned by forceful flames from the other Atlantean. Any ordinary, reasonable, sane person would be freaking out, or breaking down. James wasn't. His heart pumped adrenaline through his system. He bore scratched and burn marks as attesters of his battles. But his hand, which he held up to observe closely, was steady. It didn't shake at all, because it wasn't fear that drove him. In fact, James couldn't recall a time when he felt more invigorated, and he was beginning to understand why. Perhaps he wasn't ordinary. Perhaps he wasn't reasonable. Perhaps he wasn't sane.

Turning to Dom, James witnessed as his Atlantean opponent had just utilized his own strength to decelerate a meteor a few meters in length, before narrowly escaping the hit. "F*cking hell," James cursed to himself, wondering if he would have been able to do the same. He was beginning to acknowledge the strength his opponent possessed, and briefly considered if he should have chosen a more delicate first opponent. He dismissed those thought almost immediately, though, reminding himself that he was having the time of his life. As Dom stood back up, James spoke over to him, wondering if he understood anything he was saying, but also not too concerned if he didn't. "You're a tough son of a b*tch, you know that?" He hollered to him from the sounds of impacting meteors across the landscape. He breathed in heavily, gathering energy from inside of his body, as the Librarian had taught him, and transferring it through his nervous system to his arms, particularly for more powerful measures, at the times of his fingers and his palms. He could begin to hear the discharging of electricity pass from inside his arms to the outside, forming into the chaotic, impermanent, tumultuous attack. As he breathed out, he launched the lightning from the palm of his hand in a more accumulated bolt.

Dom turned his head when he heard James' shout. He grinned. "You seem like you've gotten a little passed mediocre yourself!" Dominique shouted back. When James raised his palms Dominique knew he had to attack now. If he didn't, he'd be struck by another bolt before he even had the chance to consider raising his arm. Before James could release his shot, Dom let loose his own and, just as before, once it was finally released the lightning bolt streamed through the air, traveling at a speed much faster than Dom's fires could manage. He braced himself for another impact from James' attack, but the lightning was stopped short when it collided with his own flames. The bolt was strong enough to push back Dom's attack, closing in on him slowly as it pushed through. He raised his other arm quickly, shooting a second blast from his palm to aid the first. With the extra boost he was able to push the lightning back from him, but it only went so far before both attacks hung in the air, both determined to push forward and neither willing to ease up.

The intensity of James' attack was matched with one of equal ferocity by his opponent. The two waves of Atlantean energy collided, with his own appearing to have the upper hand, until Dom released a second wave of flames, which began to push back his lightning. Sweat poured down his back, a combination of the intense focus and extertion of his stamina he was put under by releasing that much of his energy in such a successive manner, and also due to the extreme torridity the two energies continuously emitted. He breathed in again, tapping deep into whatever reserve energy he had swimming around his body, and concentrated it all to his arms. In the process, he could feel his arms begin to tingle, and in some cases, lose all feeling. He then remembered the Atlantean crystal which hung around his neck in a chain the Librarian gave him, and decided now was a good a time as any to utilize it. "F*ck if I know how..." He muttered under his breath, as the two attacks continuously collided.

Dom could feel sweat begin to bead up on his body, but it would all evaporate before it got a chance to fully form. For the first time during this battle he felt... Hot. It was like the sun was beating down hard and he was wearing three layers of sweaters. In other words, he felt like sh*t. Dominique panted hard as he tried to keep his focus. If he let his concentration down now he'd probably be hit and if he was starting to feel like this then that might not get back up. James must have been thinking the same thing. The electricity that fought his fires grew, screeching louder as the ends of it shot out and popped in the air, as if it were desperate for a target. Once again his flames shrunk as James' attack advanced towards him. Sh*t...! Dominique took a deep breath and conjured up whatever extra power he could. With one last heave of extra strength, he pushed strong fire from his palms, turning up the heat in his own attack and his own body. The extra power in his attack only seemed to aggravate the lightning more. The branches of electricity that popped off of the attack only accelerated and its screeching turned into a scream which quieted the lungs of every dying citizen in Paris. The air itself even felt super charged. Dom couldn't tell if it was the power of the attack or their proximity that made his hairs reach in the direction of the energy. He didn't have time to take a guess before all at once the lightning reacted. In a flash the lightning branched out from its source, snaking like a spiderweb into the ground and exploding in the air. Thunder erupted as Dom was pushed off of his feet, dust, debris, and fire flying without direction into the air.

Dominique groaned on the ground. His skin ached from the results of the blast and the world spun above him. Bits of fire rained down from the dust covered air and small zaps of electricity appeared on and off in its mist. Dom groaned again, wanting nothing more to stay on the ground, but needing to stand once more. He couldn't fall here, he still had to find his parents, and anyways he had to see if his opponent had finally fallen. He forced himself onto his feet, stomach churning, legs weak and shaking. The sounds around him formed together into one dull roar and a distinct ringing chimed above it all. His flames were gone. He felt cold. The world kept spinning. Dom walked slowly into the dust, each step taken with enourmous effort. He swayed as he walked, but he was too tired to notice. Time seemed to go slowly and every extra second was draining. Dizziness made it hell, but he forced himself to keep going. He ignored the double images. He ignored the way the world blurred in and out. He wouldn't quit. Not until...

Dom squinted his eyes when he saw a silhouette in the dust. Is that...? He tried to go closer--maybe he would see--but his eyes kept blurring and slowly the sky turned blacker. No, d*mmit, no! His plead meant nothing. The world still rushed into the sky and all at once turned black before he saw the ground.
 
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  • Seen Jul 18, 2016
Delta Mayor, Agnes Johansson, Oakley North, Oliver "Vulture" Hansen, and James Hazen
- Paris, France


It was a gruesome scene the trio appeared on, as it was full of debris, more so than a couple of meteors would cause. The air was thick with black smoke, flames flickered all around, and the curiosity of what had unraveled here was a pressing matter to Delta. By what she imagined was a trick of the eye she saw small sparks leap from places, not knowing how that was possible. Pressing forward over uneven ground Delta got the feeling that is was the result of some sort of Atlantean brawl, but where were they now? Out of one fight and into another, was this the life she was destined to live? If so, it was much more exciting than anything she had done previously. An odd pair they were, Delta and Oakley, almost complete opposites in appearance as well as personality. However they were both intrigued by the disaster that had unfolded at this location.

Agnes was floating quietly above them. She had recovered from the shock of seeing the golden man being teleported away, and was mostly eager now. But at the same time, she was really worried about where Atticus and Freddie had gone away to. She kept looking for them through the smoke and didn't notice that Oakley and Delta went on ahead faster than she did.

A cough, or was it a wheeze, caught their attention and instantly they swiveled their heads toward the noises. It was almost instinctive that Delta crystallized her hands whenever stumbling upon something and it wasn't any different now. Tugging on Oakley's shoulder she moved forward, wading through the smoke with relative ease except for the occasional misplaced footing or blunder.

In an instant it felt as if flames had consumed Delta, the heat licked at her skin as if it was trying to make it sizzle and burn, which she didn't doubt that it was. Sweat was accumulating, it was almost the exact opposite of the coldness she had felt from the ice Atlantean earlier. No doubt they were only getting closer to the primary source of the heat, as with every step they took the temperature went up a degree. A thud focused Delta's attention on the space in front of her, a male laid flat on his stomach. Most of his clothes charred and burned away, the rest of his appearance was filthy no doubt from the smoke and dust that wafted around them. It was evident when never ending waves of heat lapped at their clothing that this individual must be the source of the temperature soaring.

"He's the source of this heat," Delta noted as she touched him with a single finger and even felt a slight tingle. It was too much for the rest of her body to handle being near him for long, "You two stay here and watch over him. He's Atlantean, but I don't think he was here alone."

Agnes didn't hear her; she was too high up above the smoke at the moment with her worries. Oakley was sweating from the heat, but was unable to pull off her coat thanks to her enormous arms in the way. Instead, she wiped her brow with a metallic hand, turning to Del.

"Where are you going?"

"He didn't get this way twiddling his thumbs, now did he?" Delta replied before she checked out the surrounding areas, though through the smoke there wasn't much to see.

"I suppose..." Oakley leant down, gently pushing the boy over. His face was rather plain, aside from the black charring that was painted on his face. What Oakley did notice was not his hair or his clothes, but the watch on his wrist. It looked... expensive.

Oliver could only see the silhouettes heading towards the conflagration, running to catch up with them. It seemed ridiculous that the trio would move towards the fray, but then he realised that the fight was over, and that they were aiding a figure lying on the ground, "What's going on here?" he asked.

"Your death if you don't step away," Delta responded in an aggressive manner, she didn't take kindly to strangers especially those of the Atlantean variety. It wasn't clearly stated if he was Atlantean, but there seemed to be a lot of them running around Paris and she wasn't ready to take chances.

"Geez, no need to get snappy," he was taken aback at the aggressiveness of this girl, all in all, he was just trying to help out, and yet he was attacked for it. "Did you see where his opposition went?"

With several steps Delta made her way into the personal space of the burly individual that had run up to them, "Why do you care? You seem awfully interested in a fight that had nothing to do with you."

"Pot calling the kettle black, much? I'm just trying to help." Oliver was starting to get annoyed at the way this girl seemed to be taking over the scene, as if she had called dibs on saving this boy's life. "Why don't you step off?"

"What's going on?" Oakley stood up, clenching her armoured fists. Was this person a threat? Maybe the one who had charred this boy in the first place?

Agnes heard Oakley's raised voice and stopped her lookout for a while, instead coming down into the smoke from the hot ground for a while. She spotted the boy laying beside Oakley and gasped. "Who's that! Did a meteor do that or-"

"Oakley and Agnes, a quick suggestion... if you don't want to get blood on yourself I would back up now," The response came through Delta's clenched teeth, as she seethed with anger. She crystallized her entire right arm, but only her fist was visible as her jacket covered the rest. In order to make a show of it Delta then opened and closed her fist several times before she did the same process to the left side.

Oliver was taken aback at the sudden crystallization of this girl's fist, an act of aggression which he hastily tried to subdue by bringing his hands up in a 'stop' motion, "Chill, I'm not up for a fight, then again, it would be unfair of me to hit a woman..."

"That's nice, but I'm unlike any woman you've met," With a twisted smile at the end of her statement Delta spat out the words. To prove her point she punch the man in the gut with a single fist and followed that up by doing it again, but delivered this one with much more strength. It was incredible the amount of force that she could put behind one punch, one day she reckoned that if she were to try she could punch straight through the human body. In fact Delta knew that she could do it now if she wanted to. Unfortunately since this man hadn't identified himself as Atlantean she couldn't justify his killing to Emilio or Misha. That meant if there ever was a lucky day in this man's life then this was it. Delta wasn't satisfied with herself if there wasn't injury so she would leave him with a few bruises or broken bones to remember her by. The man was knocked backwards but eventually fell to the ground, unmoving.

"Delta!" Agnes shouted out, losing her balance in the air for a second and tumbling down onto the ground to land on her knees. She raised her head quickly though. "That's so unnecessary, you don't even know if he's an Atlantean or a human and got really hurt!"

"If he cools down you'll need to cover him up," as Delta spoke she shrugged off her leather jacket and shoved it at Oakley purposedly ignoring Agnes. Also, acting oblivious to the incident that had just occured. Why was she bothering to care about some poor sap who had fallen in battle, an Atlantean no less, who could very well be the enemy?

"S-sure," Oakley took the jacket. It felt impossible that the boy could cool off at all, the amount of heat he was emitting and the amount of sweat that was coming off the poor girl.

Agnes gave her a worried look and moved closer to the heat radiating boy and the armored girl, but then fixed a gaze of disapproval at Delta again. If there was ever a person she couldn't not understand, could not feel, it sure was Delta.

Before her mind could get the best of her or Oakley and Agnes asked too many questions, Delta took off hoping to find the sparing partner of the first unconscious Atlantean they had just found. What would she do once she found him, she hadn't killed the first Atlantean, what should she do with the other? Delta disappeared into the smoke, but wasn't quite sure what direction she would take. Moving onward until she heard the distinct sound of someone heavily breathing and went towards that. Not one to move subtly Delta arrived in front of another man, he was a lot more lively than the other. In a hurry she stopped the crystallization of her hands and slipped back on her fingerless gloves, it was best not to give away ones true nature until there was a reason for it. One might need to bluff and Delta couldn't do that with her cards in plain sight. That, and she was quite sure he was Atlantean or a deranged civilian. With force Delta shoved her boot into the man, as if to give him a much needed jolt.

"Lying on the floor is a good way to die," Delta chimed, hoping to spark some sort of conversation if anything she should just get to the point. A dark mark on his neck caught her eye, and in a lightning quick movement she turned his head to the side, an Atlantean tattoo. "Especially if one happens to be Atlantean."

"Really?" James inquired, his eyes still fixated on the dark skies above, where meteors still descended upon Paris. "I always wanted to go out standing. Seems better that way. Like one final 'f*ck you' to Death." He took in a deep breath, and let it out, as he struggled to move himself off the ground, and instantly felt the pain that came with it. It didn't seem like a single part of his body wasn't sore, bruised, cut, or burnt. He lifted his head a bit to try to get a look at the man he had been fighting, but was unable to see his condition, though he did manage to see Oakley and another girl he couldn't recognize standing close by. "Is he dead?" James asked the girl above him, gazing at her for the first time. She was quite attractive, unique, even. Maybe it was that which caught his eye. He'd always found individuality attractive, and he was definitely feeling the pull.

"How dreadfully morbid of you," Delta commented and took notice of how the man spoke with an American accent. It only reminded her of how she missed the normal, Polish accents that she was accustomed to be surrounded with. His blatant lack of style was most bothersome and unimpressive, a plain light blue shirt with regular jeans. Dust and dirt caked on his tanned skin, even with that he was still rather handsome. "He's not, but he could be as could you if you're not careful." She warned, information was hard to come by with everyone so tight lipped and since she currently had the upper hand why not use that to her advantage? "Tell me, what was your brawl about? A bruised male ego I imagine..."

"Heh...hit a guy when he's down..." James mumbled, again struggling to rise himself off the ground. He was fairly certain that since the girl appeared to be with Oakley, she probably wasn't going to kill him. Otherwise, she would have done so already. However, he was in no position to test that hypothesis. He managed to sit himself up, bringing his hand to his neck and clutching it as a stinging pain came from it. He noticed something interesting as he grabbed his neck, that he almost didn't feel any contact from his arm. He looked down at his hands, trying to move them a bit, and realizing that they had gone partially numb in certain areas, the consequence of using so much lightning at once. James looked back up to answer her question.

"What was the fight about...?" He repeated her question, continuing to look down at his hands and examine the extent of the damage done to them, not just from the numbing but the burns the Atlantean created. "I dunno." He responded, looking up at the girl, as a grin formed on his face. "I don't think there always has to be purpose behind things. Sometimes, a fight is just a fight, because it is. You know?"

"I do, I was involved in one earlier. There's a difference between ours though," Stopping for a brief pause to look back at Oakley, Agnes, and the unconscious Atlantean they hovered over. Delta didn't know why she cared so much, they were both just strangers to her and would eventually just get in her way. Undistracted Delta continued, "Mine's dead." She let that sink in a moment before she reached around and brought her black pistol out in front. "I'll give you two options, that's all. Answer my questions truthfully or I kill you, simple enough." To emphasize her point Delta didn't hesitate to pull the barrel of the gun backwards and then pressed it into his forehead as she got leveled with him by squatting. The man's eyes were a deep shade of green, Delta's were a much lighter and prettier shade. "Hate to see a such pretty face go to waste, but I also hate when people don't do as I say."

James slowly lifted his hands up in the air as the woman brought her gun to his head, and a sharp pain followed to his ribs as he did so, though he did his best to ignore it. "Alright, alright." He responded. Despite having a gun to his head, however, James found himself oddly smiling again. He couldn't explain why either. Some people did it out of anxiety, though James was fairly certain he wasn't nervous. He was just happy. He had been happier ever since they had arrived in Paris, ever since he had found out about his Atlantean roots. Something about this environment, turbulent and destructive as it was, seemed to agree with him. Even the gun seemed an oddly comforting sight. He looked her straight in her eyes, calmly speaking. "What do you wanna know?"

It worked, but now Delta had to think of what to actually ask the injured Atlantean. She wasn't sure, but there had to be more than the Atlantean Royal Family and Atlantean Unification Project at play here, something she hadn't been told. "Your ability, what is it?" She questioned, it was best Delta knew what situation she was getting herself into. "These days all the Atlanteans I've come across have an affiliation, I'm expecting you're not any different. I'd like to know who you came here with." Her voice was monotone and lacked emotion, almost as if his presence bored her. Delta didn't mind looking at him, but she didn't like the smile he had formed because somehow it only added positively to his features.

"I came with her," He said pointing back to Oakley with a motion of his wrist, while keeping his arms up. "My buddy Nate, and a librarian." He said plainly. "And as for my ability, I'll show you mine if you show me yours." He added, not breaking his gaze from her. He kept his smile on his face, taking notice of her distinct accent, something he also became drawn to for its singularity, at least to an American like him. "What's your name?"

A nod was all Delta gave his answer, so as she thought there were more groups but it wasn't surprising in the least. Oakley had failed to mention whoever this Librarian character was, something Delta would most certainly interrogate her about later in private. "You're either brave or really stupid, I have no doubt it's a combination." Delta commented and appeared intrigued by the individual in front of her. It was foolish to believe that a man who she had a gun pointed at was trying to give suggestions. Delta had no doubt that she would do the same under the exact circumstances, one must never give their captor the opportunity to see their pain no matter how much it hurt. Admiral really, had he got her in a worse off mood or he mouthed off to her she wouldn't have thought twice about lodging a bullet in his brain. "Well, only on the premise that you go first as I have no doubt you haven't forgotten who wields the weapon in our relationship." She spoke as she waved the gun in the air ahead of him as she did. Returning his alluring smile was hardly in the cards even if a part of her wanted to, she must remember to further oppress that side of her. "Do all Americans introduce themselves to a woman without first introducing themself? Does that not seem in the least bit rude to you?" Delta prodded out of fun, American culture was new to her and all she had heard were her grandparents voicing their views against their ways many, many times. She however already knew his name, it was James, Oakley had spoken it earlier and this guy had to be him. At last she had completed the trio of friends, but where was their ring leader... this Librarian individual?

"James Hazen," He replied quickly. He had no intention of dancing around questions for the better half of the day. Even in his weakened state, he felt that he wanted to do more. Now that he had gotten a taste for it he didn't want to stop. So a demonstration was something he was more than willing to do. In any other case, James would have considered using the demonstration on whoever would have asked, but something about this girl made him decide against it. That, and she still had that gun pointed to his head. "I'm gonna need to stand up to show you," He stated, but didn't wait for her consent before he began to slowly rise himself from the ground. He positioned one foot on the ground, balancing his weight between that foot and a knee, before pushing off and rising himself, groaning from the soreness and pain as he did. When he was straight up, he took a look around the area, where the damage he and his opponent caused was still present. His sights turned from the immediate area of his own damage to the entirety of Paris, still burning from the meteors, which continued to rain down.

"Couldn't ask for a better view..." He said silently to himself, as he lifted his hand up and examined it. There was still parts of it that were numb, and as he closed his eyes to survey what energy he had left inside of him, he realized how little he really had. In fact, if he didn't have the Atlantean Crystal with him, he wondered if he would have been able to use anymore-significant energy at all.

"I wonder how we're assigned our powers," He stated, as he examined his hand in front of him and began to concentrate, tapping into his energy that circulated in his body. "I haven't thought of it much before, but I wonder now if it's randomly 'assigned', or if each power is chosen to each person based on who we are." James closed his eyes, concentrating the power from his body to his right arm. He could feel the power circulating toward his palm, where he concentrated it to go. Along the way, though, he noticed that each place the energy inside flowed that encountered parts of his arm that was numb resulted in an unpleasant stinging sensation. However, due to his hesitance to show weakness in front of the girl, he hid it as best as he could. A single spark passed out of his body and flickered around. This was followed by another, and then a few more. They began randomly forming out in each direction, until James focused further, and combined each of these shocks into the center of his palm, and all at once they screeched from this disorganized combination. Finally, the culmination of his effort paid off in a single, ball of chaotic static, with strand of lightning pulsating off of the source on occasion, trying to zap something that it could reach. "If that's the case, then I know this power was meant for me. It's exactly what I want, what I need. It's anarchic, unrestrained, ever changing, uncontrollable at times too. It's chaos at its most basic form, if it really has one." He looked from the ball of lightning to the girl in front of him. "It's... pretty much perfect." He placed his arm down and let the lightning dissipate from his hand, the familiar tingling settling in. "So...your turn, whatsyourname."

Rising with the man Delta finally got a true sense of his height and build, the five-inch heel boots she wore brought her up to be nearly as tall as him but not quite. With careful eyes Delta watched James, she hadn't met a James before, survey the battlefield that resulted in his position on the floor. Paris was still burning, meteors still crashed into the earth, and Atlanteans fought for their lives. Again, was this what life had become? Turning the world into absolute mess and causing mass destruction wherever their kind went. It was a helpless effort to try to gather all Atlanteans into these fractions but letting them go wild wasn't doing anyone any good. These Atlanteans had chose their path and they had chose it with their life so Delta didn't feel the least bit guilty about killing that earlier Atlantean. Life had shifted rather dramatically, but so had Delta and it was always best to get ahead of the turn. She had no doubt after this incident they would be treated as the enemy, a threat to national security on all continents.

"That is a good question, I hadn't thought about it much to be honest." The sparks of electricity bounced off his hand, as if it were seeking out prey. It was new, he could control electricity and pool it into different body parts Delta assumed. Another elemental power, ice, electricity, and fire all in one day, not to mention Agnes manipulation of air, they were sure to become a powerful bunch. If her power didn't evolve into something stronger Delta was afraid of what would happen when she encountered these individuals and they were truly enemies. "It is nice to know that our abilities are our own, no two Atlanteans having the exact same one." Delta spoke aloud her passing thought.

The crystallization began at her fingertips and trickled downwards, the green tinted opaque rock solid material covered her entire arms in a matter of seconds. Before she had begun her intensive training sessions at AUP the shift would cause pain, but now it felt nothing but natural. It spread across her entire upper body in haste, since she only wore a tank top beneath her jacket that she had given away to Oakley some parts of it was visible. The harden material dare not touch her neck, one day it would but today was not that day. A set of keys swung from the black lanyard as she moved about, while two knives were strapped on each side of her hips. Reflections of flames showed on the diamond-like material.

"I'd rather be tough, durable, reliable, and a defensive strength at its finest." Delta said as she moved her free hand and each individual finger into a fist. Would his ability work on hers, she carried on with her thoughts out loud, "I wonder how a fight between us would turn out... I have no intentions of killing you now as I'd like to kill you in the future when we're both healthy and at our full strength." The handgun was slipped back into its place, and reverted her skin back to its normal brown color.

"My name is Del." She finally answered and waved and shouted for Oakley and Agnes to come over. Delta had learned what she needed to know, it was only fair of her to let Oakley speak to James while she stood watch over the Atlantean she hadn't punched.

James admired the ability as it grew along her arm. He was tempted to touch it to get a feel on what kind of ability it was exactly, but he had a feeling she would disapprove. "Alright Del. You name a time and place, and I'll see you there. Count on it."

Once Oliver had managed to recover from the crystalline blow, he carefully nursed his new wound, assuming that he would have an large bruise or two in the morning. Getting to his feet, he noticed the crystal girl talking to a man not far from where he stood, the man's fingertips brimming with electricity. For a moment, he was enthralled with the sparkling power, wanting to run over there and rip it from his hands, but rather limped over to the duo. "You have one wicked punch, woman, who side do you fight for?"

"Listen, if you didn't learn your lesson the first the first time," Delta seized the gun from her pants as she watched the man approach and shoved the barrel into the man's chest. "I'll happily show you." Him standing there was a testament to his strength, but Delta knew a bullet hole to the chest would put him down. It was clear he was Atlantean by the way he poised the question, "Side? I'll give you one chance to explain yourself. Or I'll shoot you into the heavens."

"Didn't they ever tell you not to bring a gun to an Atlantean fight," Oliver was still fearful of the gun she hovered at his chest, his ability wouldn't save him from a point blank shot, but he could see from the barrel casing that it was one of the AUPs. "Side, as in do you fight for the Royal Family like me, or for the Unification Project?" He nodded his head downwards at the gun, "Either you're with the AUP, or you took one of them down. Friend? or Foe?" he questioned.

To go about this Delta would have to be careful and tiptoe around the truth for the time being. It was always best to lie in situation like these or in the least manipulate the truth. If Agnes or Oakley ruined this... Well, Delta just hoped they wouldn't. "I was also advised not to kill anyone, but as you can tell that changed," Delta threw a glance at the gun she held firmly in her hand and then shrugged. "I don't have friends, a waste of time in my opinion, which only matches opinion of you. I work for myself, a single party."

Agnes raised her eyebrows for a split second, but then adapted an angry look. How dared she! Okay, if that was how she wanted to do things, Agnes wouldn't waste any more time trying to cooperate with her. She was the only person she didn't like in the AUP anyways. The flying girl crossed her arms and glanced at Oakley. "She's mad, I hope you know by now," she said so that only Oakley could hear.

Taking a look at Oakley and Agnes, Delta continued on, "Now, step aside my acquaintance needs to speak to her former acquaintance, which is this man."

"So you two know each other then?" he now ignored Crystal Girl and addressed the man standing next to her and the girl who had just approached them, "are you two "single party"'s as well?"

Oakley looked at James with worried eyes then back at this new person who Del had punched before. Did he say that he was part of the Royal Family? Did that make them enemies, or perhaps allies for now of a single cause? She took note of what Delta had said, keeping in mind that the truth may need to be kept hidden for now. Agnes just didn't think that far.

"Yes," Oakley said plainly, though she was speaking honestly if you counted the Librarian as a 'single party'.

James gazed at the newcomers to the area, Oakley among them. He remained silent while they bickered among themselves, but he looked at Oakley for a moment longer after she gazed upon him with an expression of...what was it? Perhaps concern? He wondered why that was. They had gotten along relatively well over the course of their time with the Librarian, but he wouldn't consider them friends really. He knew if the positions were reversed, he wouldn't have cared as much for her. Though he probably wouldn't have said so to try to maintain some niceties. Maybe some false words of concern, but James hated doing that to begin with. While thinking on this, he began to slowly lose touch with the current conversation and stared off into the sky. He watched meteors fall from above, reacting to them in a way that made it appear that it was now normal. "...like rain..." James said softly to himself.

Everything was focused on James and to hear him mutter something about the rain sent Delta into a fury, it was wasting her time. Flipping her gun, a trick she had learned from Imogen of all people, she held it by the barrel, turned around for a moment, and smashed the butt of the handgun into James' shoulder. "You know how I said I wouldn't kill you? I lied, speak to Oakley because frankly I'd rather not be wasting my time with you or you," Delta shouted before she put her undivided attention back on the large man who had a lot of questions. The first 'you' was directed at James while the second was at the man who she was facing.

This whole thing was a jumbled mess, this Royal Family member had purposely sought out James with a different motive than she. Delta had only done it to get a glimpse at who or what had caused the damaged to the first Atlantean they came across. It wouldn't be unlike a Royal Family member to use this moment to do some recruiting. Oakley deserved this moment to speak to James about their situation, whatever that might be, for a bit of closure or a goodbye depending on the person. The Atlantean Royal Family wasn't going to ruin that. To escort Oakley back to the AUP was her next mission, after all Oakley could be the winning ticket out of any trouble she may be in. Delta stood between James and the Royal Family member, facing the latter and never letting her eyes or her gun off the man. To Agnes she had lied earlier, but if it came to it she would kill this man in front of her without caring what Emilio had said.​
 
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SV

See You Space Cowboy
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James Hazen, Oakley North, Agnes Johansson and Oliver "Vulture" Hansen - Paris France


James was snapped back to reality by the pain caused by Delta when she smashed the butt of the gun on his shoulder. He made a quick yelp of pain, and clutched his shoulder as he stared at Delta in irritation, displeased that she dragged him away from his thoughts. And for what exactly? Oakley stood before him along with Delta, another man and another woman with bright blue eyes. He missed a good portion of the previous conversation, so he didn't know the circumstance behind their gathering. All he knew was, he wasn't really that interested. The people drew his curiosity. The topic of discussion most likely wouldn't, though he'd have to see.

"What, what?" James asked with a hint of annoyance in his voice, still rubbing his shoulder from the gun hit. It seemed to reawaken partially James' mind to his body, and to the great amount of stress and pain he was under. Slowly, he was beginning to get an idea of the extent of his injuries, which under normal circumstances before his Atlantean powers might have killed him.

"Okay!" Agnes suddenly spoke up with a slightly flustered smile and stepped forward from the background where she had previously lingered. She had had enough of Delta's paranoia. "Let's not kill each other to the right and left, okay? I mean, we just averted a terrorist attack where a... a golden glowing guy rained meteors down on a city. Unless any of you guys," she pointed at Oliver and James, "are pals with that guy, we don't need to go exchanging blows just yet, right?"

She held out her hands as if to manifest her friendly intentions and glanced at Oakley to try and get her or someone to agree. No point in trying to get the crystal witch to understand anymore.

"Y-yeah," Oakley said, unsure exactly what was going on, "let's not get hasty. We all have a... common enemy, don't we? Or we did... but he could still be here somewhere! Or those other Atlanteans who wanted to hurt people too!"

James looked first at the girl who stepped forward, then at Oakley as she spoke after. He shrugged, looking around to see their supposed enemies. Though the city was still messed up, it had significantly quieted down since they first arrived. James was pretty certain there wasn't much more action going around the city, which is why he was beginning to take to his habit of letting his mind wander. Though much as he'd like to go another round with anyone of these Atlanteans, he knew after the intense battle he had just had, his body probably wouldn't have been able to handle it. Yet even with that logical notion passing through his brain, he still had the urge in the pit of his stomach to do more, like a hunger he couldn't quite satisfy. He hated it, because he wanted to do more, and witness more, even though he knew his body probably could not. He made another passing glance around all the people around, from Delta to Oakley and to the other dude, then at the girl with the unique blue eyes. His own eyes lingered on hers for a moment longer than the others, finding them captivating.

He broke gaze, and gave a deep sigh, finally accepting that this was probably the end of the fun he would have for the day, though he couldn't complain while it lasted. The only problem was, now that he had a taste for this kind of action, he couldn't wait to try it again. Half to himself, and half to the others, he declared out loud, "So...what now?"

Agnes let out a breath of relief that Delta hadn't butted in yet. "Now, I want to go and see if my buddies in the AUP are still alive and well." She glanced at Oliver and James again. "You could come with us, you know. The AUP isn't looking for rivalry with other factions. We're about unification, see." She still didn't know if these guys were with the ARF or something else though. They might be too far into the Royal Family's claws already so see the light.

"Oakley, you will come, right?" She smiled in a genuinely friendly way towards the girl and motioned for her and Delta to come.

"Y-yes, of course," Oakley nodded, glancing back at James before taking a few steps towards Delta.

James recalled hearing about the AUP from the Librarian. It was one of the factions that was recruiting Atlanteans, and it appeared Oakley would be joining them. In fact, he assumed everyone there, besides the man, was going to be apart of them. The familiar face of Oakley, plus the intriguing Delta and this strange, blue-eyed girl tempted him to join as well. But there was another he didn't see among them, so he knew what his answer would be.

"Hmm...tempting," James began, as he eyed the group, setting his eyes on Agnes and then Oakley. "But...I'll have to pass. I don't think this'll be the right place for me."

"B-but James," Oakley turned back around, frowning. "He said we had to stick together, didn't he?"

"No offense, but I don't give two ****s what he said. We all have our own ways to go in the end." He glared intensely at Oakley, but, realizing she was a bit upset, he sighed, "Listen," He began, walking up to her, placing an arm on her shoulder and talking quietly, "If we don't end up seeing each other again, just remember: You don't have to follow anyone you don't want to. Go your own way. If it's with these people, then fine. But you should never had to do anything you don't want to do. Go your own way, and don't worry about anyone else. Just yourself." He looked back at the others, making sure they weren't eavesdropping, then looked back at Oakley.

"Don't ever let them control you, because in the end, they really can't. You're stronger than them. They might not know it," He said, pointing to the others. "I don't think Nate ever got it either. But I know it. Now you just have to know it."

"... Alright. Thanks James."

"Sure, kid," James replied. He playfully slapped her on the shoulder once more, then backed away. "Nice knowing you. Good luck. Don't die."

With that Oakley turned her back on her former companion... could he be considered her former officially now? Delta trailed behind Oakley and Agnes but not risking their safety by turning her back on Oliver and James, as they were officially the enemy. Untrusting per usual Delta kept her gun raised until they were a safe enough distance away. The trio of girls slowly disappeared into the smoke; Oakley and Delta carried the man, who had thankfully cooled down significantly since they found him on the ground, while Agnes led the way.

"Are you sure you don't want to join them?" Oliver asked.

"Hell if I know," James replied, his eyes observing the departing party. "Probably not. They don't seem to be my kinda crowd. Not entirely at least." He turned back to Oliver, and sighed. "Then again, I don't know if you're my type of crowd either."

"We're Atlantean," Oliver shrugged, "technically we're everyone's kinda crowd, people with abilities that is. But, y'know, you look like a man who craves power, and if it's anything the ARF are good at, it's training you to become powerful." Oliver reminisced on the first time he approached the mansion, knowing very little about his ability, much less controlling it. Fast forward a couple of years, and he was probably at the height of his ability. "You can't bunk it till you've tried it, right? Might as well come along for the ride, I'm sure you can leave at anytime you want."

James listened to the man as he spoke, in the same way he listened to the Librarian when he first made the proposition in the taxi cab in Hawaii. The difference between then and now was that he knew a lot more about the information regarding each Atlantean faction. He joined Henry in an impulse because of the predicament he got himself in, plus a bit of passive coercion from the man himself. Now, he knew the multiple factions as described by the Librarian. If he was to join any one of them, it would be for the right reasons, his reasons. This guy didn't give the worst offer, however. Besides, as he said, he technically could leave at any point. But before he would accept, he wanted to make sure of something.

"I have a friend, Nate," He began, crossing his arms. "He came with me here. If he joins, I'll join." He said plainly, giving Oliver his ultimatum. The rest, he'd figure out later. That would be enough.

"Then do you want to follow me? We have helicopters waiting over there," nodding his head in the direction from where the others had landed, "if he shows up, then I guess you guys join us, if he doesn't then feel free to leave."

James thought on this for a moment longer, taking one look back at the departing group through the smoke of Paris. He looked back at Oliver, and nodded in agreement. As unexpected as it all turned out, James appeared to be leaving the Librarian, and joining the Atlantean Royal Family.
 
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The Librarian - Champ de Mars, Paris, France


8th November, 2012

"Well," the Librarian exhaled, seemingly exhausted from his 'busy day'. "That sure was some party, wasn't it Adeline. Who knew that Eris was the one who would save the day? What a twist! I wonder where she's taken him, hm? You never know! It's like the plot on one of those teen drama shows!"

He gazed over what remained of Paris; in pieces, and in most cases, on fire. Of course, he expected the fight to go on for a lot longer, days maybe, but it was all over so quickly! Such a shame.

"Oh well," he sighed to his 'apprentice'. "At least our friends found some new homes for themselves. Didn't they, Adeline?"

"Yes, sir."

"Eager little chaps. Well, we best be heading back now. We've got some planning to do. Fancy a change of view, Adeline? How about somewhere a little warmer?"

"Yes, sir."

He gave her a warm smile, took her hand and with a pop, disappeared off to wherever.​


* * *​


DAY 10
THE NEXT DAY

November 9th, 2012
After the mishappenings of yesterday, new recruits were brought back to their respective organisations and hastily introduced to whoever seemed necessary to meet, but with the destruction of Paris, leaders and important members of these groups seemed awfully busy either planning on what to do next, dealing with public relations, governments, journalists or just doing what they could to try and calm the world down.

(The Daily Telegraph & The New York Times's stories can give you some idea of what's going on right now.)

Newspapers greet you the following morning at breakfast time with news of the disaster and though you may seem worried and stressed (or perhaps calm and collected), your superiors advise you to 'leave it to them' and get to know your peers more, perhaps spend the day training or talking or something since teamwork wasn't anyone's real forte yesterday.

Today is your 'free day'. Develop your friendships, powers and personalities, because who knows when the next crazed Atlantean is gonna start blowing up some other wonder of the world.​
 
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