Atlantis Arising [M] [Most Original 4Q '11] [Best Veteran 1Q '12]

Quest · Feb 20, 2012

Brian Sheppard - New York City, New York, United States

Content. Love. Hate. Compassion. Hope. Fear. Lust. Passion. All emotions, and all the things Brian was currently feeling at that moment. It was slightly amazing. To feel so many emotions at once was something that was unexplainable to him but it was a burden as well. He wasn't able to tell no one with out something bad happening and he wasn't able to use it like he could. It had only started a week before but it was unique and he knew why. He was an Atlantean...

Scrolling down the screen on his computer, Brian read a news report, slowly reading the whole thing.

"…a large explosion occurring in Berlin, Germany today, thought to be the work of Atlanteans has rushed a bill through the United Nations calling for all Atlanteans to register themselves and their abilities with the local Atlantean Centre in all capital cities. The Atlantean Royal Family, lacking to presence of leader Blayze Nalaar, has today agreed with the UN authorities to support their decision and were the first to register. Anybody now caught using Atlantean Abilities without being registered or carrying a registration card will face detainment," it read.

Oh great, he thought, I have to register? How am I supposed to do that without my family finding out?

It was frustrating, being able to tell them. He knew the loved him but what would they think of him? He knew he had to do it. Sighing, he grabbed his leather jacket and wallet to leave. He took the steps out of his room to the stairs and walked down quietly, hoping no one would see him leave, or at least not question him. Reaching the first floor, he walked onward to the door, well, that was until he was stopped.

"Brian, what's slope intercept form," his fifteen year-old sister asked, doing her homework with her twin Jake.

Not the question I thought it would be but okay, he thought happily. "Y equals mx plus b," he told her. "Working on Geometry?"

"Ya," Jake said. "It's pretty stupid being that Geometry is about shapes not slopes."

"But slopes are lines," he said. "See you guys later."

Opening the door, Brian progressed to his new car. It was a nice, black hybrid his parents had got him for his birthday, simple.

The ride was quick, being as the building was only by the JFK airport while he was in Brooklyn. After getting there, he walked in to find the whole place filled.

Emotions flooded his mind. Lust for power, hope for peace and justice. Just a couple things he felt. God, he thought. Wish I could turn this off sometimes. Pushing the emotions from his thoughts a little, Brian moved on. Seemingly there for nearly a half hour, he reached the front counter and got pulled to the back with a doctor ready to take down notes.

"Name and power?" He asked eagerly.

Brian told him, giving him the details of his power and the like. The doctor seemed interested and was given a piece of paper and directed to another room.

Swolligator · Feb 21, 2012

Jeremy Kyle - London, England

Jeremy turned to talk to Jason Weaver when he took a while to respond, but the person looking at him was not Jason, instead a rather large lady looked back at him intimidatingly. He was certain that Jason was somewhere in the room, but even as he scanned the crowd, no one even looking remotely like Jason. Cursing under his breath, he teleported away, appearing on top of the roof that looked across the busy London street at the Atlantean Centre. Jason could have easily slipped out and joined the crowd, so Jeremy had no way of finding him again; this had been his only chance to recruit. He was on the verge of giving up and teleporting back to the headquarters when his watched squawked to life; if the Syndicate needed to get hold of Jeremy while he was in the field, his watch acted as a communicator as well as a couple of other added features.

"Change of plan," came the Directive's voice from the tiny speaker located above the watch face, "we have a new target for you, in America." Jeremy was a bit taken aback, he had only been to America a handful of times and on neither of those occasions had he teleported there. He continued to listen as the Directive told Jeremy where he had to go, and the name of his target, but Jeremy was biting his lip the whole time since he hadn't been anywhere near Ohio before.

"We expect you to succeed on this one." The Directive finished menacingly.

Jeremy breathed in, holding it down before letting it out in a massive sigh and falling to the ground. This was going to be a lot tougher than teleporting around Europe; America seemed a lot more hostile than Europe even more so since he had hardly ever travelled there before. His high school had taken a trip to Washington DC several years back, and his memory was already getting fuzzy, but he did remember the plane trip from Toronto to Washington DC. Focussing now, he sat calmly on the ground, eyes closed and breathing steadily; in through his nose, out through his mouth. He pictured Toronto, the city he had grown up in, specifying it more to the school he attended, the halls he had walked, the classes he had sat in. The old smells crept into his nose; the stink of teenage sweat, the cleaning agents the cleaners used and within a minute the light from the morning sun over England was replaced by the darkness that followed the setting sun.

Opening his eyes, an eerie chill ran down his spine as he was now back in Toronto High, albeit the halls were dark and absent of human bodies and the air was chill. He walked past rows of lockers, the familiar ones from when he had attended all those years back now covered and taken over by a new occupant. He willed himself to keep moving on, to get out of the ghostly memories that haunted him in this place. Teleporting again, he appeared outside of a window he had looked through, breathing in the tainted Toronto air, however it felt fresher than the smog filled city of London.

Jeremy was lucky that the airport was the same as he had remembered it from those years ago where he went to Washington DC. The only problem was that the stall he appeared in already had an occupant, and after an awkward exchange, Jeremy quickly bolted out of the bathroom and into Toronto Airport. He was slightly disorientated as the airport had changed quite drastically, but a quick look at the airport terminal map hanging on the wall quickly told Jeremy where he was and where he needed to get to. Above the map sat two television screens, one showing the departures, the other showing arrivals. Lucky for Jeremy, there was a flight heading for Dayton, Ohio in ten minutes; if he was quick, he would be able to make it without having to purchase a ticket.

Ten minutes later and the plane was taking off from Toronto Airport, heading towards Dayton, Ohio which would take little over two hours. Safely reclining in one of the back seats, Jeremy gripped the armrests on either side of him as the guy flying next to him gave him a weird look.

"Scared of flying, huh?" the large man said with a laugh.

"Petrified," Jeremy managed to reply, teeth clenched shut as the airplane lifted off the ground, releasing his tight grip once they had levelled off and the seatbelt sign had switched off. With sweat beading down his forehead, he turned to the man, "Let me tell you something funny about flying, eh?" slipping slightly back into his old Canadian accent.

The large man moved around seemingly trying to get comfortable so he could listen to Jeremy, "a joke would help loosen you up," he again laughed a deep laugh, Jeremy however did not see how any of this was funny.

"You see the 'recommended' brace position? Well, the reason they have it is because in an air accident, you're ****ed anyway, by doing this it stretches your spine out, revealing the back of your neck so that it can snap easily." Horror began to creep onto the man's face, but Jeremy continued talking, "Following this, your jaw will snap shut tightly, preserving your dental records, same thing that the brace position does. As for the oxygen, pure oxygen is like a drug, it mellows you out, keeps you calm, what better way to die than on a high, right?"

Jeremy could actually swear the man was on the verge of tears, ready to jump out the door. Several times he caught the man looking rapidly at all the exit doors in case they started to go down, "Oh, a word of warning," Jeremy said, hoping to catch the man further off guard, "I wouldn't use the aisle's if I were you, everyone will do that so your survival rate drastically decreases. Try jumping over the seats," and after sizing the man up, "but I doubt a man of your stature and weight could handle that."

Two seconds later, and the man requested for a seat change. Jeremy was happy to be left by himself, there was no one to bother him on the flight, and he had plenty of space to freak out when they descended….as well as both hand rests.

The descent was just as bad as the take-off, but once they had landed safely on the ground, Jeremy relaxed again, knowing that he hadn't died on the flight. Looking out the window, he picked a spot outside the perimeter fence of the Airport in the gloomy twilight and within seconds felt the cool evening air brush over him, replacing the stale air inside of the aircraft. A quick taxi ride after and he arrived safely at Wright-Patterson Air force Base, teleporting out before he had to pay a fee. Once inside, he wound his way through the civilian homes until he came to one in specific: Heiko Residence. He took a quick knock at the door, stepping back and hoping that Jericho would answer.

Silver Rogue · Feb 21, 2012

Nikolai Afon - Stockholm, Sweden

Nikolai looked over as Natalia exited the plane as well. He smiled, it was good to have some company. He stood there, breathing in the cool Sweedish morning air. He felt slightly awkward though, he had never been great at conversations, or at starting them. Fortunately for him, Natalia spoke up first, "So, Afon. Do you have any family?"

Nikolai felt some sadness in him, remembering his parents. "No. Not anymore. I never knew my mother, I assume she died. I'm not really sure, I didn't ask my father about it. My father...died a few years ago in a car crash. We weren't particularly close, but...I still loved him. I was in America at the time, I didn't know what to do. So I got exported back to Russia, in the care of another family until I was eighteen. So, thats my story. I dont know if my mother is even alive, I dont know if I have any siblings. Its a bit frustrating at times..."

He was about to ask Natalia about her family when he heard a voice from behind them, coming from what seemed to be just empty space. "Natalia. Don't be scared. I'm Helena, the girl Atticus picked up, and I'm invisible. Atticus needs help to get past the gate guards."

Nikolai, after getting over his intial shock of someone standing next to him being invisible, looked over at Natalia. "This could be a bit of a problem. Is there anything you think I could do? Or maybe you could just drag Atticus through a wall or something to get past?"

Dawn · Feb 21, 2012

Erika Onzanem -- Washington D.C., Virginia

Erika sat down on a bench with a cup of coffee in her hand she'd purchased from a nearby coffee shop. In her other hand she held a humble looking but surprisingly delicious pastry. They had been too expensive to buy many of, according to her sense of expensive. However, she hadn't been able to resist a light snack. On her shoulder rested the strap of a purse containing a romance novel and a book on roman culture and daily life she had been reading, as well as several other personal belongings such as money, ID and whatnot. She was currently in Washington D.C., near JFK Airport specifically. She had been drawn by the presence of Atlantean groups in the area via a broadcast. Yet... now that she had reached D.C. she realized she did not know where to go from here. She'd come all this way and gotten lost.

Erika got several strange looks from bypassers, mainly because of her comically oversized pants, which literally often required her to hold them up or use a belt. She tended to prefer the latter for anything involving much walking. She wasn't currently wearing one however, as there was a reason for having such loose pants. Quite simply, it was better than having reasonably sized pants that promptly ripped apart when she activated her powers. She was here to attempt to embrace and learn about her apparent heritage as an Atlantean. That meant she had to stop hiding her powers. It was all so exciting! She kind of wondered how much history must've been lost with the atlantean society. And yet she was too anxious to use her powers right then and there. She was borderline ready, but the thoughts of drawing unnecessary negative attention held her back. Thus, she was distracting herself with food as she tried to think of how to handle the situation at hand best.

...Perhaps she could ask around? But who would she ask? Perhaps she could try a shop owner of some sort and go from there. For now though, she had snacking to do. Thus, Erika allowed herself to relax on the bench, sipping away at her drink and allowing her mind to drift from more important matters, at least for a moment.

Kikpanther · Feb 21, 2012

Jericho Heiko: Wright-Patterson Airforce Base, Ohio (United States of America)

"Okay, okay! Enough of the writing! Are we ready to go or what? It's almost five!" Jericho shouted at Peter, whom was still sitting on the wood floor, scribbling in his stupid notebook. He stopped and looked at Jeri above his glasses and then sighed in defeat.

"Yeah, yeah." Peter began to pick up his items. They had an appointment to be at 5:30, a very important appointment. The two of them were going to do a round of paintballing at that exact time and Jeri wasn't interested in being late. It already took almost half an hour just to get to the place! And that was on an easy day. Dayton wasn't traffic central, but you never know. That and it was sunny. Sunny and warm and right smack dab in the winter. This wasn't something abnormal in the state, since it didn't seem to be able to make up its mind about the weather, but the thing was... Who knew how long it'd last? Again, Ohio was one indecisive mother. They probably only had two or three hours before it started raining or something else inconvenient.

Hopefully they'd be able to make the time getting in. They had their own guns and their own paintballs so they wouldn't have to wait in lines or take the time to rent anything. A game was already reserved as well. All they had to do was get there on time. Jeri had a thing about punctuality; a trait he'd inherited from his father and his teachings. Peter didn't seem to have those ideals instilled in him and that, right now, was getting on Jeri's nerves.

Jeri already had his things ready. The guns and the gear were already loaded into the truck, it was just a matter of Peter. Jeri glared down at Peter who slowly collected his things. And not just regular slow, an almost purposeful slow.

"Peter, man. Come on!"

Peter smiled. "Okay, okay!" He got his stuff at a faster pace this time. "Just get the car started, I'll meet you down there." Jeri sighed but did so. He got himself both flights upstairs and made a bee-line for the garage. He opened the door and turned on the light. There, right smack dab in the middle of the one-car garage was his own special ride. Well... Okay, it wasn't his, it was his mom's, but since she and his dad basically carpooled themselves to work and she never really used it, the baby was all his. It was a nice, shiny, black Cadillac CTS. It shined from even the dim light of the bulb, looking new from its polish. It wasn't new. Actually, it was a couple years old. It was an '08, not one of the newfangled versions. But... He had to say, he preferred this one the most. There was a prestige about it that he didn't think the newer models quite captured. Even in the new age father in the future, this thing would still look like luxury.

The car automatically unlocked when he approached and the light on the roof came to life when he opened the door. Jericho took his seat and turned on the false key to start the car. It came to life with a good purr. Not the roar of a Corvette, but still satisfying to him. He pulled down the flap on the roof and pressed the button of the garage door opener; it rose from the command. As he backed up when the garage door was fully out of the way, he remembered his negligence with the garage light (not for the first time) and made a note to himself to get Peter to turn it off when and if he came down the stairs before he got tired and drove off.

Jeri sat stationary in the drive way, waiting for his laggigng friend. It wasn't untik he looked to his left that he noticed some kid at the door. He wasn't sure by his looks, hut Jeri could guess he was at least a teen. He tried to estimate a reason for his presence. It couldn't have been for him, he didn't even know who this kid was! And even more impossible was to think it was for Pete since Peter didn't even live on base or have parents in the military. Twice as outrageous was the thought it was for his sister, who was only nine. If he were here for Abby, then they would be having some serious problems. Jeri could only think that he could be here for one of his parents which also seemed unlikely. However, there were plenty of enlisted teens.

Jericho rolled down the window and opened his mouth to speak, but he was cut off by the start of the Star Spangled Banner. The instrumental resonated throughout the base, loud and yet pleasent enough to breach through walls and building for all to hear. Even civilians off base five miles out, and maybe more, could hear the band play clearly through the day. It started nicely, just as it always did. A smooth rendition that sounded as if it were played by the perfect band. Even from old speakers (wherever they were) the sound was crystal clear. The music, as it always did, prompted base dwellers to stop walked or talking or driving for the duration of the song; a group silence and stillness to appreciate the country. The base seemed to go into a freeze, everything still and quiet just for this. Once it ended, just a smoothly and naturally as it started, time seemed to resume and people were busy once again. However, the piece, designed to bring about pride and joy, did no such thing to Jericho. The banner played at the same time every day, right on the dot. Which meant only one thing. It was five o'clock.

Jericho scowled and blew the car horn twice, hard. "Get your *ss out here, Peter!" He yelled at the second floor window. Five more minutes and he was seriously going to leave that kid. What was he doing? Oh yeah, the kid. Jeri looked back out at this mystery fellow and rested his arm on the window frame and put one hand on the steering wheel. "If you're looking for my dad, he's still at work." Jeri raised a brow and then added, "Need directions?"

Swolligator · Feb 21, 2012

Joshua Meier – Syndicate Headquarters, Birmingham, England

Joshua watched intently as Leon concentrated; with legs splayed and eyes closed, the boy was gathering the electricity inside him, breaking it apart and forming it back into to new forms. He watched as Leon thrust his hands forward, the electricity travelling down his arms and forming in his palms, but as Leon's brow furrowed, Joshua guessed something was going wrong. He did not expect the electrical charge to escape through the skin on Leon's arms, dissipating outwardly. Taken completely unaware, Joshua was struck and thrown back a meter as Leon cursed in Italian, holding onto his arms which showed minor electrical burns from the outburst. Walking around for a bit helped Leon to cool off, and soon he returned to his previous position.

As Joshua pushed himself up off the ground, he heard Leon mumble, "Hang on, let me try it a different way..." This time Leon positioned himself in the same way as before, but instead his hands were facing each other, electricity crackling between them forming into one ball of electricity. Joshua was about to interrupt when Leon began to pull his hands apart from each other, splitting the ball of electricity in the process; much more organised than on the first attempt.

"Looks like I was wrong…" he thought to himself as, for a moment, the electricity cackled chaotically before Leon subdued it back into shape. Gathering the electricity at the tips of his fingers, Leon then fired them off at the targets, producing black scorch marks on the centre bulls eye on the targets.

"There's your ****ing two forms," Leon said sounding both displeased and arrogant.

"Well done, but it still took long for you to form them. Only through practice will you be able to do it more quickly. Now before we move on, I need you to do several more." Joshua was not afraid of pushing Leon beyond his limits, if he never reached his limits, then he would not learn to extend those boundaries and become powerful. Power was something Joshua was sure fuelled Leon; drove him in a sense. At this point in time, he was crawling, getting nowhere fast, but once he stood up, and then Leon would realise how rapidly he could come to grow, how powerful he could become.

After several failed attempts and many more successful attempts, Leon was beginning to look a little exhausted from the training, yet from the quality of his latest attempts, Joshua was sure that Leon was ready for what they had planned for him.

"Training for now is finished…" Joshua didn't get time to continue before one of his assistants came running down to meet them.

Between breaths, the man managed to splutter, "We've done it sir, it's complete."

Giving a nod of approval, Joshua thanked the assistant and turned to Leon, "if you would kindly like to follow me, I have a present for you, for all your hard work training. Joshua was finally relieved that they had finished the project he had set them; despite it taking longer than needed. Coming into the room, Joshua noticed they had cleared some desks, placing a table in the middle of the room, the item on that table; the thing they had been working on for so long, lay under a velvet red cloth.

With a single nod from Joshua, one of the assistants pulled the cloth off, revealing their work, "say hello, to your new friend… The Corona." Joshua announced.

Lying on the table was a two pronged fork about the length of an arm, around sixty centimetres in length. The two prongs were attached to the central handle on either side, with a small spark plug looking attachment between them. The handle itself, wrapped in leather, had copper wiring imbedded in leading up under the spark plug. Four large coils wrapped around each prong, starting at the centre and working their way up. At the tip, a small three pointed star was preceded by two smaller coils. The Corona was ready to use.

Skymin · Feb 21, 2012

Natalia Zaytsev - Stockholm, Sweden

"Well, with your power, it'll be a lot easier to find your mother as opposed to searching every phone book in the world. It might take some time but we will always help you," Natalia gave Afon a small smile. She too had lost her parents when she was young, though she didn't lose her parents to an accident. Their deaths could have been avoided. "You will never be alone when you are with us, alright?"

"Natalia. Don't be scared. I'm Helena, the girl Atticus picked up, and I'm invisible. Atticus needs help to get past the gate guards," Natalia turned her head to the empty space where the voice was coming from. This must be Atticus' recruit, Helena Andersson, as she had introduced herself as. Natalia nodded slowly.

"This could be a bit of a problem. Is there anything you think I could do? Or maybe you could just drag Atticus through a wall or something to get past?"

"You can be visible and relax if want. Thank you for telling me, Helena." she said in English. She wasn't fluent in Swedish but she was sure most people who lived in No, it's okay, stay here with Helena, please. I'll be right back."

Natalia left the two, exiting through a wall towards the airport. Her entrance didn't attract any attention; people were far too busy to notice her. It didn't take long to find Atticus, standing awkwardly a comfortable distance away from the gate. He was staring at his fingernails. Natalia didn't waste any time walking over to him and grabbing his arm.

"Natalia, good to see you too," he said, letting himself be dragged along, a sheepish look on his face.

"You're incapable!" she had no tolerance for his insufferable need to not plan anything. No wonder he had failed his last recruit. Natalia's three recruits had all succeeded in orientation and were now working towards the greater goal. She hurried towards the door, hearing a "hey! You!" before she phased through it. Oh no... now they would have to move.

"Everyone, let's go!" Natalia said to Andersson and Afon, pulling Atticus up the stairs into the plane. "Now!"

moon · Feb 22, 2012

Helena Andersson - Bromma Airport, Sweden

Natalia didn't seem startled by her voice. Instead she nodded slowly. Apparently, the young man beside her had also heard Helena's whisper.

"This could be a bit of a problem. Is there anything you think I could do? Or maybe you could just drag Atticus through a wall or something to get past?" he said to Natalia. Helena thought that he must be one of them as well.

"You can be visible and relax if want. Thank you for telling me, Helena," Natalia said, in English of course, to Helena. Then she turned to the man beside her. "No, it's okay, stay here with Helena, please. I'll be right back."

Helena shook her head, not that anybody saw that of course. She didn't dare to turn visible now. She was pretty calm, for the circumstances, and able to stay cool and invisible. But when Natalia left them to go find Atticus, it felt a bit awkward standing there without Natalia's friend able to see her. So she turned visible again, after having thrown some glances around to make sure that they weren't being looked at much. Then she looked up at the man.

"Hi," she said in English. She had a feeling it would become her main language for a while now. "Are you too in this... organization, whatsitsname?"

"Everyone, let's go!" Natalia's shout suddenly came. She darted past them and pulled Atticus up the stairs into the plane. "Now!"

Helena's head turned back to where they came from, and she saw people running after them. Something had gone wrong. "Chased again...!" she thought out loud before running after the others, completely visible, into the plane.

Silver Rogue · Feb 22, 2012

Nikolai Afon - Stockholm, Sweden

"No, it's okay, stay here with Helena, please. I'll be right back." Natalia seemed a bit annoyed at the change of circumstances, but she walked away, towards the airport. Nikolai watched as she ran towards a wall, then simply walked through it. He was still having trouble getting used to the whole super powers thing, so much of it seemed so unrealistic. It was like he was seeing things, but his brain was telling him that these things were impossible, that his eyes were lying. No doubt he would get used to it soon, especially once he got to the AUP headquaters, where he might be able to learn more about the Atlanteans and his ability.

When he looked back, the girl who had been invisible had appeared. Just another strange thing that he had seen in the past week. Nikolai ignored the wierdness and looked at her. She was short, but seemed to be full of energy. She looked a bit nervous, as if someone was going to see her and lock her away. Then again, that might happen. To himself too, and Natalia, and Annie, and every Atlantean. Nikolia shook the dark thoughts out of his head. Thats what he was trying to do, not get locked up and studied like a lab rat. And the AUP would help.

After an awkward moment of silence, the girl, Helena, spoke up. "Hi," she said in English. "Are you too in this... organization, whatsitsname?"

Nikolai grinned, and was about to respond when Natalia ran through the wall about fifty meters away dragging a man behind her, presumably the Atticus fellow that the invisible girl had mentioned, Helena, that was her name. Nikolai kept forgetting. All seemed to be well, until Natalia booked it towards them yelling, "Everyone, lets go!"

Obviously something was wrong. Nikolai was about to quesiton it when a few security guards burst through a door and shouted for them to stop. None of them seemed to be armed, but they probably knew someone who was. It was obviously time to get the hell out of here. Nikolai foloowed Natalia and the man up the stairs towards the plane, taking them two at a time. Behind him, Helena muttered somthing under her breath.

Nikolai got in, then shut the door behind Helena and quickly got in his seat once again, preparing for takeoff, again. He yelled up to the cockpit, "Hey Cooper! How fast can this bird get in the air?"

Swolligator · Feb 23, 2012

((OOC: I will have a map up soon.))

River Beleren – Royal Family Mansion, Boston, England

River flicked her gaze over to Christian as he began to speak, "When do we start training?" he asked after making sure he wasn't speaking in front of anyone or cutting them off. A smile crept onto her face, he was eager, yes, but he was also the only one who would speak out about what was on their minds.

"If you follow me, then hopefully soon," she said getting up out of her chair and pushing it back into the table. Her cutlery and plate had been neatly arranged back in place, despite her not having used any of it. Walking over to the door, she turned around to make sure everyone was following her, and once they were she led them like sheep down the hallway. Kieran had tagged along with their group, conversing with Oakley, so River assumed that he had not yet been given the tour. From the dining room, River took them right down the hall, and into the Atrium.

"This is the Atrium; to our left is the front entrance and administration office. Straight ahead of us are the quarters for the leaders of the Royal Family, each you will meet in due time." River pointed in each direction. She took them right again through a pair of double students and outside. "Up there are your dorms and classrooms, as well as an indoor recreation area. Males are to my left, Females to my right," she had turned to face the new recruits and again, pointed to each place in succession. "Here," she motioned around her, "is the outside recreation where you can relax with friends in the peaceful surroundings. The garden to my left is one maintained by Justin, Leader of the House of Flora. Behind me past the water fountain is the training field. Different areas can support different fields of gameplay. Hidden in the dense forest that borders the western end of the field, are our outdoor training areas, you will only go here to train with your class."

"Oh, and before I forget," she added, "the workshop and laboratory are below the boys' dorms, you will only go in here if you are told to, or have a class in there, otherwise please refrain from being inside." It took River a moment to think if there was anything else to add, before she decided to continue on.

"Now if you follow me, there is someone you need to meet." River took the group around the garden towards where the leaders of the Royal Family lived. Opposite the last bedroom that had "River" clearly written on a plaque was a door etched with characters older than most languages; Atlantean. Giving a small knock, she waited for a quiet reply before entering, shutting the door behind the new recruits once they were all in.

Perched on a pillow in the middle of the room was a frail, old lady, her legs crossed beneath her in a 'seizan' pose, hands hidden in long sleeves that rested on her lap. At the sign of visitors she opened her eyes, gazing at them all through cloudy eyes.

"Welcome young Halflings, I am the Oracle, one of the original Atlanteans that walked the massive continent…." She trailed off, lost in thought as memories of Atlantis dredged up in her mind. Coming back she continued, "I survived the destruction of Atlantis and watched the world evolve and die before my very eyes, but an even bigger disaster looms, and you are all a part of it." Despite her old, croaky voice, the Oracle still managed to make her words seem ominous. "As my gift to you, I will tell you a single prophecy; my eyes have seen all that has happened, will happen and could ever happen."

She drew in a sharp breath, gazing at Michael first, "You boy, you will lose that which you hold dear."

Pointing to Antonia, "You will hurt those around you," she said.

"You shall betray the people you are close to," she croaked at Oakley, "you too," she pointed at Kieran standing next to Oakley.

"Before this war is over, you need to make up your mind," she said to Chrysta.

"Your word will change the fate of the world," she spoke her final words to Christian, before closing her eyes.

River ushered the recruits out and into the hallway. "The Oracle barely speaks words other than that of destruction or chaos these days. I will take you to your rooms now, rest up and refresh and I will come and collect you when training starts." River took everyone upstairs showing them their dorm rooms; most of them were now full with other occupants, most of them around mid to late teens.

Michael Cale – Royal Family Mansion, Boston, England

Michael watched the exchanging of words between River and Christian, eying Christian with disdain. Ever since the guy had attempted to hurt his sister, Michael had begun to dislike him, even his demeanour of eager student annoyed Michael. If he ever got a chance, Michael would like to fight him, release his pent up anger out on Christian; but for now, he had to be content with waiting. He pushed his chair into the table, his plate all but clear from breakfast before following River out and around for orientation. It didn't seem to take long at all River merely took them to central locations, pointing out where everything was rather than going into rooms and showing them like he had done so at university.

It wasn't until they came to a door inscribed with old letters, which Michael deducted to be Atlantean or somewhat related did he begin to feel weird. It was as if up to this point in time he had been living in some sort of dream, his body and the thing he figured would be his 'soul' were apart. But once the door opened it was like he fell back to earth and everything that was about to happen would change him.

As if running on automatic, he followed River into the room, standing still in front of the old lady sitting on the floor. For some reason Michael felt insignificant compared to her, like she somehow loomed over him; which frightened him. Still necked, he waited for her to speak. Then he realised how scared he was.

"You boy, you will lose that which you hold dear." Her words echoed in in his head, bouncing around and taking over. His world seemed to spin and he was sure his body swayed for a moment. He didn't hear any of the other prophecies, only the one that had been directed at him and is stunned him.

For the first time since the helicopter, he was genuinely scared. He did not have anything dear to him, nothing to lose, but it frightened him to know that anything he could possibly come to hold dear in the future would be taken away from him.

And just like that, as if it had been mere seconds, Michael was back on automatic mode, following River up the stairs where she directed him to a bedroom. It was simple, a single window, bed and desk. Above the desk were two shelves, and the wardrobe had several inside as well. A small bedside table rested beside his bed, a lamp and alarm clock the sole inhabitants. Michael lay down on his bed, trying to process what the Oracle had said to him.

Skymin · Feb 23, 2012

"Otto" - Florence, Italy

"Not really," she frowned, cocking her head to the side again. She knew for a fact he wasn't a pyrokinetic; only one Atlantean has one power at one time, and she knew for a fact that that specific ability belonged to one of the head of the royal family houses. His power most likely didn't have to do with fire, but what made fire. Vibrating of atoms? Adjustment of oxygen? Creating gas? Sparks? Never the less, he had shown what he had done and it was now her turn.

She pulled her hands out, palms up, then clapped them together. When she pulled them apart, her fingertips had spewed a spider web and had connected together with the opposite fingertip on the opposite hand. The web was extremely sticky but if she willed it, she could pull it off with her hands with ease. She did not know the extensitivity of her ability, if it was limited to just web or it took on other forms of an arachnid. All she knew at the moment was that she could climb walls and shoot web.

"I know a man who lives in the Vatican, who would like to meet you," she looked at their faces briefly as they flashed signs of worry and added, "He's not going to kill you. Do you know much about your ancestry?"

TornZero · Feb 23, 2012

"Not really," she answered. At least it made her confused. Then she clapped her hands together; when she split them, she had some weird string in her hand. Webbing? Maybe she could climb walls or something, too, like Spider-Man. While she was playing with the string, she actually got to business.

"I know a man who lives in the Vatican, who would like to meet you." It annoyed Cira a little, knowing that some information about them was fairly accessible. "He's not going to kill you," she continued, as if that was any more reassuring. Meanwhile, Alex was wondering about the many possibilities besides getting killed, like getting injected with weird stuff. He didn't know what it would do or what it was, it was just stuff and it was bad. "Do you know much about your ancestry?" That got him back on track.

Alex looked at his son, then at Otto with his answer. "I know my grandmother was Swedish, and my granddad was German. Their families immigrated to the U.S. in the early 1900s."

"I think she means the Atlantean side, Dad."

"Oh, that? I'm stumped. Maybe she knows something? She's got us pointed out, right?" With that, both Gailes looked at the girl, one expecting a straight answer like everything else, and the other just looking while he thought of worse vague things that man in the Vatican could do to them.

SV · Feb 24, 2012

Leon Nef-Syndicate Headquarters-Birmingham England

"Well done, but it still took long for you to form them. Only through practice will you be able to do it more quickly. Now before we move on, I need you to do several more."

Leon nodded and continued to practice without hesitation. He liked the more direct route of telling him about his faults. In fact, he preferred it to secrecy and false deception. By now, Leon had slightly accepted his position in the Syndicate as a lasting one, and he knew he would have to get used to producing these sort of abilities at a much faster rate if he will be facing the kind of enemies he thinks he'll be facing. When he meets them, he has to be just like his ability entails: fast as lightning.

Leon began to perform the required training task again. For now, he decided to stick with forming it with both hands pointed towards each other and separating rather than starting in two hands. It was easier. But Leon eventually decided to move to the second way. It was tougher, and Leon failed multiple times, resulting in premature detonations and explosions, as well as countless times of Leon cursing in Italian. However, Leon was slowly getting the hang of it. He was succeeding a lot more, and mistakes were happening less often. By the end, he was quite please with his progress. He was tired, however, and his hands were tingling in certain places. Leon sat on the ground, panting as he attempted to touch his index finger with his thumb. When he touched them, he found it odd that he felt no contact, as if nothing was there. They were numb. He wondered if this was the result of prolonged use of his ability, and also wondered if he continued using it extensively, and with much more force, would the effects be worse?

"Training for now is finished…" He heard Joshua say. A second later, a man appeared, panting. "We've done it sir, it's complete." He said. Leon wondered what he was talking about, but Joshua seemed to know, and guided Leon out of the room. He was going to give him a present. Leon wondered what it could be, or more importantly, if he would like it. In the previous room, a table now sat in the middle with a red cloth covering the item Leon believed was his 'present'. He couldn't help but get a bit excited. After all, a secret organization tied to the Atlanteans was bound to give pretty spectacular gifts, right?

Joshua nodded, and the cloth was taken off, revealing the object underneath. "say hello, to your new friend… The Corona." Joshua announced. Leon gave out a low whistle as the object was shown. Leon walked over to it and picked it up. It was a bit heavier than he thought it would be. Leon felt he had a good idea how it would work, judging by its size and appearance, but he wanted to be sure.

"How does this work, then?" He asked, admiring the weapon in his hand. "And how soon will I be able to use it?"

Skymin · Feb 24, 2012

Atticus Forsberg - Stockholm, Sweden

Being dragged around by Natalia was not his idea of fun, but Atticus didn't complain. If he did, he was sure she was going to slap him across the face or something. She seemed pretty angry about him not being completely organised. How could he help it? He was being shot at by pretty scary looking guys today! Wasn't that enough of an excuse? Apparently not.

"Everyone, let's go! Now!" Natalia yelled as she almost threw Atticus into the cockpit, Helena and what looked like Natalia's Russian recruit... uh, Nick? following her up. After Nick had closed the door, he yelled out to the guy in the cockpit, which was thankfully Cooper. At least he would cut Atticus some slack. He was a good guy, Cooper was.

"Hey Cooper! How fast can this bird get in the air?"

"Faster than you think. Buckle up, everyone!" Atticus immediately found a seat and clung on for dear life as the plane seemed to start moving immediately after. Annie herself who Atticus recognised (she looked far more tired than when he had seen her last time though) grabbed an armchair with one hand and her computers with her other. The plane lunged forward as it finished rotating towards the runway, quickly building up an insane amount of speed. Atticus managed to pull his head to the side, looking out the window and behind them. Sure enough, guards, armoured ones too, started to gather outside the gate, yelling at their moving plane and raising their weapons.

"Cooper? They have guns," Atticus pointed out.

"I am aware. Don't worry, they can't catch The Falcon!"

As their speed grew faster and faster, Atticus clinged to his seat tighter and tighter. He did not have a fear of flying, no, but he definitely had a fear of crashing into something and dying. He glanced over at Helena, giving her a quick thumbs up before slapping his hand back down on the seat to hang on. She probably didn't think she was going to be doing something like this when she woke up this morning.

"Cooper!" Natalia cried as she peered out the window. Atticus followed on his own side, catching with his eyes a commercial airline pulling out right in front of them at the end of the runway. At the speed they were going, they weren't going to clear it. But that didn't stop Cooper at all. He pulled the the throttle all the way back and pulled his control wheel back hard, in turn pulling the plane up into the air. He flicked a few switches as the plane rose upwards, pulling up the landing gear. But the plane in front of them was too close, they wouldn't make it, they wouldn't make it.

"We're not gonna make it!" Atticus yelled out, extinguishing his own hope in the process. He felt a sharp swipe on his ear, opening his eyes to see Annie pulling back her hand.

"Shut up! We're gonna be fine!"

The plane pulled up as Atticus pulled his eyes shut, feeling the entire plane vibrating beneath him and then a violent shrieking noise of metal on metal. That was it, they were going to die. He closed his eyes tighter, waiting for death but felt nothing, only the smack on the arm and a cheer beside him.

"Cooper! You did it!" Annie squealed in her chair, dancing as best as she could without the use of her legs.

"Landing gear hit the plane, but we're gonna be alright," Cooper sighed, his British accent soothing Atticus' adrenaline rush. "Next stop, AUP home base in France!" And the speaker clicked off. Atticus fell back into his chair, breathing heavily. No more for today, please.

"What a relief."

"Yes, a relief. Atticus, can I please have a word with you in the back compartment?" Natalia was already on her feet. What a hard woman she was. She didn't even look like she had just been through a near death experience. Never the less, the had that sweet and sour face about her and saying no would have earned Atticus a trip off the plane. Skydiving. Without a parachute. So, he followed her to the back, closing the door behind him. What he was met with when he turned back around was a completely transformed angry, Russian woman who looked like she could fire missiles from her ears. Oh geez.

"You single minded, idiotic, buffoon!" she hissed, her Russian accent crazily off the charts. It was hard to understand anything and Atticus probably wouldn't if she wasn't as pissed as she was. It was actually a little sexy, but Atticus didn't dare say it aloud. "Do you understand what exactly the weight of what you have done today? What you could have done today? What you should have done today?"

"Eh?" Atticus blinked as she pointed her finger at him quite ferociously. He thought today had gone well, hadn't it? Aside from being shot at, but that wasn't his fault! "I thought today was good!"

"Today was not good, it was not good at all! You risked the life of a recruit today! You should have planned this more! You should have known that there were others that are against us! After what happened to Camilla, we should all be excessively careful, planning each step. But you? You walked into today having no idea on what you would do coming out!" Natalia continued to use her finger to throw accusations. Well, not accusations. They were kind of true.

"Hey, I can't plan things like you do Natalia, we aren't all programmed to do everything on a strict set path!" Atticus threw his arms up. Natalia looked back at him, her eyes growing wider and her brow frowning deeper. Perhaps they were not the best words.

"Programmed? Atticus, I am asking you to plan ahead, not become a robot. How rude of you to say that is what I am!"

"Hey, no, okay, but seriously, don't get so mad! Helena is fine! I mean, she got scraped but I took care of it, okay? Everyone's alive now so we should all be thankful!"

"Scraped? By a bullet? See Atticus, this is the kind of responsibility that you don't take so seriously! She was hurt! None of this should of happened! What would have happened if Afon had not stepped in and saved you like he did? Where would you be now? In a basement? Dead?" she shook her head. "No, you should not act so childish about these things."

"I could have gotten away! We had a gun, and Helena got a hit in before the Russian kid did his techno thing. We were fine! We could have out run them!"

"Could you, Atticus? Could you? You do not understand, these members matter more than you think they do! When it comes to recruits, their lives come first! We must dive in front of bullets, we must sacrifice ourselves if it comes to that for these children. They are the future of the AUP and the future of the world, Atticus, and I will not have you destroying any of their lives!"

Anabel Falkner - Somewhere over Europe

Annie smiled as best she could as the muffled voices of Atticus and Natalia could be heard behind the closed door. You could hear bits and pieces of words, maybe chunks of sentences, but Annie was already aware of what they were yelling about. She had heard the argument before, many times, though full grunt of it in AUP HQ. Natalia just needed some time to fizzle out and then everything would be alright again. She turned to the two, directing her attention at the newest recruit first.

"Hi! I'm Annie! You are Helena, right?" she said in Swedish first to help Helena relax, then switched back to English. "This is Nikolai! He's also a new Atlantean recruit like yourself! And flying the plane is Cooper, he looks after us all at headquarters. In there is, Atticus, I'm sure you already know that, and Natalia, who brought Nikolai here." Annie stopped at an awkward time, only to hear an excessively angry "scraped?!' by Natalia. Annie's eyes darted to the bandage on Helena's arm, she must have gotten hurt. But she looked okay, so basic bodily functions came first.

"Are you hungry? Thirsty? I would help you myself but I can't really move, haha," she glanced at her useless legs briefly, hearing another angry word from Natalia, this one a little more ominous. Dead. Oh boy. "Sorry about those two, they argue a little. Atticus was Natalia's first recruit, see, and Atticus isn't really... well, they clash a little."

Swolligator · Feb 24, 2012

Adrian Santoro – Washington D.C., Virginia

The bustling streets of Washington D.C. were nothing compared to the vendor and beggar filled streets of Rio De Janiero. Jake wandered aimlessly through the crowds of people, writhing uncomfortably in his clothing; he hated being restricted like this, but they had told him he had to dress like that as to not bring unwanted attention to himself. Given little more than tickets and directions to Birmingham, England, when Adrian had first been recruited he had to make his own way around the globe until he reached his destination, only to find out that was the way they worked; each new recruit had to prove themselves. But now Jeremy was moving through the crowds aimlessly searching for a recruit they had asked him to fetch for them, one the Blind Prophet had been sure to push that she would be around here. Taking a quick glance at his watch, he confirmed the time; it was already a minute past and Adrian hadn't seen hide nor hair from this girl.

Grabbing a coffee from a nearby shop, he took a seat on a bench outside, leaning his head back and looking up into the sky painted with clouds. A heavy sigh left his lips, not only had he failed, but it was also going to rain today. He looked down at his stomach and how it stretched against the fabric, or appeared to anyway, again moving around uncomfortably.

Adrian stopped suddenly when a girl came to sit down beside him, a girl with fat pants, a girl with long legs, a girl dressed to suit her Atlantean ability. His became uncomfortable, wanting to take the shirt off, but knew that would only create havoc, and a fine for indecent exposure. He hated looking fat when his body was actually quite muscular, and his capoeira training meant that he could easily defend himself in a fight if it ever came to that, but if anything were to happen to his face; his tousled chocolate brown hair and amazingly green eyes, he would be outraged.

"Olá," he said, head stretched back, as he enjoyed the sun on his face, "you seem a little lost, could I help you?" Adrian knew that starting off with small talk would be much better than going into a full on rant; she probably would have thought he was crazy then. His listened to the thumping of his own heart, this was his first recruiting since he joined, so he was only a little bit nervous.

Legend · Feb 25, 2012

Christian Calaway- Royal Family mansion, Boston, England

River was quick to respond, something that put Christian at ease. He was surprised, at least for a moment, that no one else had bothered to ask the question in the group that was brought over from London. River had made it fairly clear that her goal, along with the Royal Family's goal, was to train Atlanteans. Being their central purpose, Christian wanted to start. Now. Arising from her chair, River lead everyone out of the cafeteria. With full stomachs, her train of followers walked without much concern, more satisfied to be both safe and fed.

They were herded off to what River referred to as the Atrium, of which followed River pointing in random directions signifying the different locations in the mansion. Losing track halfway, Christian simply shook his head. I will have to figure out where everything is later, he thought. Not too good with directions unless he had a map available, Christian shrugged and move on following River closely after she motioned everyone to follow claiming there was "someone they needed to meet". From what he could gather, River was leading the group down to the living quarters of the various members of the Royal Family, if only because he saw River's name on a plaque at the end of the hall.

And then a wave hit. Something Christian had neglected to even ponder about for a moment. Something that had slipped his mind completely this past week.

The characters etched into the plaque on the door that River lightly tapped on were in an ancient language. Not skilled with languages by any stretch of the imagination, Christian did not recognize them at the least, but that is the lightbulb went off. That is when he had finally realized that one small detail: Atlantis. Having been too preoccupied with the fact that he has to keep himself from being Smokey the Bear's second worst enemy, the realization that these so called "Atlanteans" may actually trace their origins to the lost city of Atlantis leapt from the realm of possibility to the solid fact. Previously, he had entertained the idea that it was nothing more than name chosen because of the fact it rolled off the tongue well and that everyone was the product of some scientific experiment or something. Sure, it sounded crazy but so does having superpowers. But now….now it made more sense. The Royal Family's obvious social structure and hierarchy. Their resources. Their enemies.

But of course, this just made everything a little more frightening. What was the Royal Family planning? What was the AUP planning? And what was the Syndicate planning? If Atlantis was indeed real…..the possibilities just doubled in amount and magnitude.

Christian had no time to theorize for the door that River knocked on had opened. River shuffled the recruits in and closed the door gently. The focal point of the room was a frail woman, who looked about as ancient as the writing on the plaque. She appeared to be mediating on a pillow, though immediately welcomed her visitors. Perhaps she was not in deep thought after all.

"Welcome young Halflings, I am the Oracle, one of the original Atlanteans that walked the massive continent…." She appeared to have paused, as she was gathering her thoughts in order to complete her introduction. Or perhaps her senile mind was running out of control. "I survived the destruction of Atlantis and watched the world evolve and die before my very eyes, but an even bigger disaster looms, and you are all a part of it. As my gift to you, I will tell you a single prophecy; my eyes have seen all that has happened, will happen and could ever happen."

Christian's eyes widened, for he could not help being uneasy from her words. If what she was saying was true, then Atlantis was real. It was more than some myth he would read about on Wikipedia. It was more than the subject of some crappy Disney film. If her story rung true, Christian would want to know more about it. He could learn something from her. But prophecies? Christian couldn't decide how to stomach those.

She approached everyone one by one. Each prophecy being worse than the last, more ominous and frightening. She stood before the tall, graying biker and uttered these words: "Your word will change the fate of the world."

Shaking slightly, the only word he could muster was, "…what?"

It was too late. River had already lead them out of the room. His mind was empty, unable to hear any commotion from the others. Those words continued to ring in his ear. He was unsure why they left such a lingering impact. River lead everyone to their rooms, of which Christian immediately step in as he was hypnotized to do so. It was quaint with a bed, a single window, a closet, shelves, and few decorations to add some character to an otherwise plain room. It was fine. Christian sat on the bed and stared at the blank wall.

"My word will change the fate of the world….."

His whole life he had imagined himself being able to change the world. Build it in his image. Make it a better place. But now? He suddenly doubted himself. This was a burden he did not want to bear. At least not now. Maybe not ever.

Swolligator · Feb 25, 2012

((OOC: Cobalt is Japanese by the way.))

Cobalt Chimura – New York City, New York, United States

Cobalt moved around in the suit uncomfortably, not only did it itch but altogether it felt uncomfortable to wear. "That damn Thalia, convincing me to get into this death suit…" he thought to himself, but he was happy, his flight for England was due to leave later today which mean he would be home where he could wear clothes he liked, clothes that actually allowed him to move around and breathe. But first though, the registrations had picked up one of the Atlanteans the Oracle had predicted would be a major player in the upcoming battle, and lucky enough that Cobalt had been in the area to pick him up. He flicked through the profile of the kid on his phone; the information that they had been able to dredge up from different sources. Unlike the AUP, the Royal Family didn't have the resources such as Annabel Falkner to help out, so getting information and coordination was tough. Cobalt shivered as he remembered the battle for Anna when she was younger, all three organisations had vied for her, and only one was able to recruit her.

"Better the AUP than the Syndicate…" He thought as he wove his way down the streets to the Atlantean Centre. Brian Sheppard had just been flagged registering about five minutes ago so Cobalt made a beeline for the Atlantean Centre after heading for his house, and was lucky he didn't live over the other side of the city.

Walking into the air conditioned Atlantean Centre was nice, a lot warmer than the weather outside, and a nice break from walking, despite his preference to walk along the earth rather than in a metal death trap. Entering, he noticed the line of people that cued up, so he flashed the guard his Atlantean Registration Card, and laughed as the guard was caught off guard with someone so special.

"Right this way, sir." He showed Cobalt through into the screening room and on to the waiting room where a fair few people occupied the seats and floor. Cobalt had to admit, he was taken a little off guard with the amount of people whom had registered so far, he didn't quite think there had been that many to begin with.

"Could Brian Sheppard please come with us," the guard announced, and Cobalt watched as the boy got up and made his way over to them.

It was now Cobalt's turn to talk, "follow me, please." He told Brian before turning around and walking out through a back door, Brian following behind. Now out in the world outside, earth beneath his feet and sky above his head, he removed his sunglasses, "Nice to meet you Brian Sheppard, I am Cobalt Chimura, one of the leaders of the Atlantean Royal family." Cobalt started walking down the street, starting up conversation with Brian, "So Brian, tell me about your ability, then I will be happy to answer any questions you have," finishing with a big smile.

moon · Feb 27, 2012

Helena Andersson - Somewhere over Europe

Everyone darted into the airplane and apparently it began moving almost instantly. Helena felt a bit lost, but found a seat near Nikolai and tried not to get in the way as the airplane gathered speed on the ground and everybody seemed tensed.

"We're not gonna make it!" Atticus yelled out. Helena couldn't see why, but heard how the others were worried.

"Shut up! We're gonna be fine!" someone said. Helena wasn't calmed by that. Atticus was the only person here that she somewhat trusted, yet, and if he was acting like this she was worried too. But there was nothing she could do but to close her eyes.

"Cooper! You did it!" a woman in a chair some ways from Helena squealed after a few moments. Helena opened her eyes again. They hade made it, from whatever had been the problem. Nice.

"Landing gear hit the plane, but we're gonna be alright," Cooper, which was apparently the pilot's name, sighed. "Next stop, AUP home base in France!"

"France..." Helena said quietly. They were flying to France all of a sudden, and Helena only had a small backpack with her. So confusing. But she was with... AUP. That was the name of her organization. Atlantean Unification Project, right? She was good with doing her part when it came to work; she was never a lazy worker. But this wasn't work. This was something different, apparently something she had to do, both for her best and for the best of others. Others like her...

She silently watched her hand as she made her index finger go invisible. She couldn't control it completely though, and after a few seconds, her whole hand was starting to disappear, until it suddenly came back. Helena sighed. Maybe she should try to train her control over that ability of hers.

"Hi! I'm Annie! You are Helena, right?" the woman that had shouted Cooper's name before suddenly said to her. Helena looked up and snapped out of her thoughts.

"Yes. Helena," she said and nodded.

Annie seemed content with that simple reply. "This is Nikolai!" she said and turned to the young man beside Helena. The swede nodded at him as a hello. Normally, she'd put out her hand and greeted him friendly, but this wasn't really a normal situation and Helena was still a little bit shaken.

"He's also a new Atlantean recruit like yourself!" Annie went on. "And flying the plane is Cooper, he looks after us all at headquarters. In there is, Atticus, I'm sure you already know that, and Natalia, who brought Nikolai here." Annie stopped at an awkward time, only to hear an excessively angry "scraped?!' shouted by Natalia. Annie's eyes darted to the bandage on Helena's arm and Helena saw that and reflexively pulled her other hand up to cover the wound or something. She wasn't sure why she did that. Atticus' make shift bandaging held up fine though.

"Are you hungry? Thirsty? I would help you myself but I can't really move, haha," Annie said and glanced at her useless legs briefly. Helena did too. Oh, so she wasn't just sitting down? Helena wondered if something had happened or if that was just how she was... but thought she'd better not ask. Then she remembered that Annie just asked her something and was just about to reply when another angry word was heard from the other area.

"Sorry about those two, they argue a little," Annie said, rather needlessly. "Atticus was Natalia's first recruit, see, and Atticus isn't really... well, they clash a little."

"I see," Helena said, finally saying something. That was a bit interesting though. Natalia seemed like a strong and wise woman and Atticus was more of the careless type. No wonder they could clash. "And, um, I'm not hungry actually. Atticus already bought me some food." She smiled a little. "But something to drink would be nice."

She then leaned back in her seat and glanced through a window. Clouds outside. She wondered where they could be. She rarely flew somewhere and had no idea of how fast planes usually went.

"Annie..." she began, hoping the woman was as kind as she seemed. "When we get to France... what will happen with me and Nikolai?"

Swolligator · Feb 27, 2012

Jeremy Kyle – Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, America

Jeremy turned as a car emerged from the garage, a figure in the driver's seat yelling back into the house for a guy named 'Peter'. Jeremy assumed that this was Jericho, the kid Jeremy had been sent to recruit since he fit the profile he had been given. Jeremy smiled back when Jericho asked him if he needed directions in order to look for his father, but Jeremy wasn't here to see Jericho's father, rather Jericho himself. For a moment, Jeremy teleported from the doorstep into the back of the car, sitting directly behind Jericho and leaning between the two front seats to talk to him.

"I'm Jeremy," he gave a wide smile, "sadly no, I'm not here to look for your father, but" elongating the 'but', "I am here to see you! Where are you heading off to?" Jeremy was in no hurry to take Jericho back to England, he had been given nearly the whole day to recruit Jericho, so he would take that opportunity as much as he could.

Due to the nature of his job, Jeremy never really got to hang out or play with people his own age, and seeing as Jericho and his friend Peter were obviously heading out somewhere, Jeremy would take the opportunity to hang out with them, hopefully finding a crack in Jericho which he could exploit as a recruitment purpose. If he was successful, he would have more than just Leon and the others at the Syndicate, more people to be with; this idea raising Jeremy's mood.

Joshua Meier – Syndicate HQ, Birmingham, England

"How does this work, then?" Leon asked, admiring the weapon in his hands.

"The copper wiring embedded in the leather handle will conduct the electricity from your palms through into the central hub, the spark plug here," he said pointing to the middle where what looked like a spark plug sat, "inside is an Atlantean Crystal, which will help you to control your abilities and an early stage, but also to amplify and control the amount of wattage that goes through the Corona at a later stage. From the spark plug, the electricity 'sparks' into the two poles on either side, creating a chain of electricity between the two poles, right to the end. The positively charged ionized metal at the end is where the electricity is struck out. If you push the electricity into the Corona, and further out, then it will arc out, but you will need to use your ability to control how much goes out, where it goes to, and in how many arcs, just like our training before." Joshua took a step backwards towards a console, bringing up a three dimensional image of the Corona on the table it had just resided on. "The nodes on the end also allow you to pull electricity from most sources into the Corona and store it in the electrically charged Atlantean Crystal as well as in yourself. When you are not using it, we have a carry bag that goes over one shoulder and under the other, the poles also retract into one another up to the coils, just push the button on the side of each pole and they will fall back, wave the Corona if a downward sweeping motion and they will come out and click into place." Joshua clicked the button again and the three dimensional image disappeared back into the table.

"And how soon will I be able to use it?"

A smirk crept across Joshua's face, "I knew you would ask that," he waved his hand at the glass panes that looked down upon the training room, "feel free to come in here and train anytime you wish, you could even train now." Joshua also pointed to a console, "ask any of the scientists here and they will also be able to put you through a preprogramed training scenario for you."

Kikpanther · Feb 28, 2012

Jericho Heiko: Wright-Patterson Airforce Base, Ohio (United States of America)

Jericho raised a brow when this mystery messenger kid just smiled at him. Then, suddenly, like a blink he never took, the kid was gone. Jeri blinked once, then twice, then a third time. What the...? It was like the kid wasn't even there! Like some kind of gh-- "I'm Jeremy."

"Holy sh*t!" Jeri nearly jumped out of the window when he suddenly heard a voice right next to him. Right inside the car he knew full well he got in by himself. His head immediately snapped in the direction of the noise, eyes wide and mouth hung open in shock. The kid, who was just standing on his front porch, was now in the back seat, leaning forward and talking to him with this smile. He treated it like it was no big deal he just broke into his car without touching anything. Jeri didn't hear much of what this kid said. Just saw his mouth moving while his brain tried to piece together what just happened. What did he...? That... It... What? He couldn't quite think straight. Couldn't quite think at all. In an instant, Jeri's brain suddenly kicked into gear. He threw open his car door and made the lung for escape. Well... He would have if he hadn't forgotten he was wearing a seatbelt. Oh great! The one time--the one time!--he uses one of these stupid belts he's stuck next to some... Some... Ghost out of Hell!

"Holy sh*t!" Jeri stopped moving and his eyes went ahead of him, hearing the loud exclamation of his partner in crime, Peter. "Did that kid just teleport into your f**king car!?" He continued, eyes wide with excitement and this smile born from amazement and fascination. Jericho could have called him crazy right now, thinking something as terrifying as this was cool somehow. He'd like to see how Peter would react when some unknown person just poofed into his backseat like some kind of serial killer off an old movie. Peter ran to the car, Jeri following him with his head, carrying an expression that asked the question, "Are you out of your mind!?"

"Jeri! Jeri!" Peter called as if he wasn't right there. "Do you see this?" Peter peered into the car, grin still huge. He was like a kid looking at a one pound piece of candy. "This kid's a f**king Atlantean!" Then it hit him. Random kid, teleporting... Yeah, Atlantean. Man, the world must be messed up when teleporting was a good way to find out someone's ethnic background. Or... Species background? Atleantean was its own species right? He was pretty sure they were some kind of alien-fish. He'd have to figure this one out. Time to scope out the Discovery Channel... Or Animal Planet. Woo! Just imagine! Atlanteans on The Most Extreme! Entertained on the thought of Atlanteans being number one in every category of that show ever, Jericho forgot to be embarrassed about the fact that he thought this kid was a ghost.

"Yeah, Peter... I'm fine." Jericho said without humor. Yep... Someone just teleported into his car. Let's all talk about how cool that is, not how he could have possibly just died. Come on. He didn't even know this kid! He could be some kind of deranged mugger who took his wallet, stabbed him to death, and the poof! gone! Now that he thought about it, this kid could teleport. Was he even in the military? Great. Surprise attacked by a kid eligible for federal prison. Jeri looked at this teleporter kid that Peter was having a heart attack over. You know, he didn't get this excited when he told him he had a power. He was just all, "You're lying!" Jericho frowned at this kid automatically. "Who the f**k are you?" His head was slowly putting together the memories of the past... Oh say five minutes of hysteria and such. The kid told him his name, but he didn't even remember. It was like... Jacob or something. Who cared? This kid needed to get out of his car. Now.

Peter sighed audibly. "Jeremy." Jericho frowned more. Peter had said it in that naggy, stop-being-a-douchebag kind of way. Did Peter not realize that he was totally justified? Jeri had a feeling Peter didn't witness someone invading his property and personal space without rhyme or reason. Certainly not care. "And we're going paintballing," Peter replied helpfully to the mysterious criminal Jeremy.

"Peter, shut up." Jericho didn't wait for his answer before continuing to Jeremy. "Whatever you want, the answer is no." He couldn't even believe he was still even sitting next to this obviously deranged teen. "Now please get out of my car."

Atlantis Arising [M] [Most Original 4Q '11] [Best Veteran 1Q '12]

Veteran Roleplayer

Butcher of the Sands

Jeremy Kyle - London, England

RolePlayer

[span="font-size:180%;font-weight:900;color:#a568f

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Not a beginner that's for sure

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Butcher of the Sands

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Not a beginner that's for sure