• Our software update is now concluded. You will need to reset your password to log in. In order to do this, you will have to click "Log in" in the top right corner and then "Forgot your password?".
  • Forum moderator applications are now open! Click here for details.
  • Welcome to PokéCommunity! Register now and join one of the best places on the 'net to talk Pokémon and more! Community members will not see the bottom screen advertisements.

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

1,176
Posts
15
Years
  • Seen Jul 18, 2016
Delta Mayor -
- AUP HQ


Sleep never came easy to Delta it was a constantly struggle since childhood. The only remedy she knew to trust was a bath and most of the time it worked wonders. So wonderful in fact that she almost always fell asleep in the bath. Delta had returned from Paris unscathed, well, physically unscathed. No one had caught wind of her "incident" or if they had the highers up were much too busy to notice. In fact the higher ups told them tomorow was a "free day" while they handled and combed through everything that had happened in Paris. She observed how quickly Oakley was accepted in the AUP especially by Agnes. Agnes had thankfully been keeping her distance that meant Oakley was a second blessing. Despite any attempts Oakley would make Delta could never be her friend, any conversations they were ever going to have was going to be brief and on Delta's terms.

From time to time Delta stopped in and visited the unconscious Atlantean after they returned from Paris. He was kept under strict watch seeing as one only knew how he would react to being brought to a unknown location full of strangers. That night she slouched in the chair beside his bed for hours just watching over him. To amuse herself she came up with a fabricated backstory for him, he was an Italian bank teller named Tanner who accidentally discovered his Atlantean powers when he burned a large stack of money. His fiancee was a snobby brat named Noemi, whose French family hated him. Often times Delta found herself laughing at the adventures Tanner and Noemi stubbled upon. It would be farfetched to say that she cared for him, she didn't, Delta didn't know the man. Only that he was here away from all his family, friends, and anyone that he possibly cared about thanks to her. When it came down to it Delta didn't trust a single soul here and she wasn't about to start anytime soon. All the knowledge she had acquired in Paris was intriguing, much more than she thought it would be. There were several forces at play... Like whoever had taken out the Atlantean who had done all that destruction to Paris with his meteorites. The scummy Atlantean Royal Family, this new Librarian character, and whoever else had been roaming around Paris.

Delta slipped out of her soft, deep green bathrobe and slid into the bathtub, the temperature was exactly how she liked it. Submerging everything except for her head underwater (her hair was tightly secured in a towel) in order to relax. The entire set up looked like a romantic gesture, nice warm bath, candlelight being the only source of light, oils and bathsalts, but Delta wasn't fond of the romantic side of things. This only had one purpose and that was to help her get to sleep and it did.

A groan rumbled in Delta's throat and pushed through her lips when she felt herself turn and the water move along with her signaling she had fallen asleep. Cautious steps removed her from the tub where she rewrapped the robe around her and then proceeded to itch the back of her neck. Looking out the nearest window she saw it was nearly the crack of dawn, a perfect time to start training. Throwing on her usual outfit, the AUP had provided several pairs of that oufit, and took the elevator down three floors to training room 1D. Removing her jacket and accessories was a must, Delta pulled out a mannequin after she locked the door, which would help her practice her kicking range and the power of her punch. They, the higher ups, had mentioned the lack of teamwork and Delta was quick to pick up on the glances thrown her way. Working together with Agnes is one thing she hoped to avoid the entirety of her stay because that was a death sentence not teamwork. As Delta swung her leg up to connect with the head of the mannequin she thought of the new Atlanteans she had encountered. Stoic Ice Boy, handsomely distracting James Hazan, Royal scum Oliver, the blonde girl that had begun unravelling something inside her, the living Light Switch, crossbow guy, and those three random band players.

Crystallizing both clunched fists she jabbed the chest of the mannequin twice before she threw a left hook into its face. The drummer's death wasn't her fault, it just wasn't. Delta had to kill him, Matthias, because he had chosen his path, which was the path that led towards the death of thousands of innocent people. He had to die, for retribution, for payment to those families that perished, Delta pounded the back of the skull alternating between punches and kicks. She had always heard how daunting it was to kill someone that the memory haunts and gnaws at them forever, how you wake up in a cold sweat unable to think or dream about anything else. Evidence of this was in the way Ice Boy spoke about it Delta saw how it disturbed him simply by looking in his eyes. None of that happened to Delta last night, no, she was worried about other things. Like, how killing Matthias had come easy to her, like it was second nature there hadn't been a moments hestiation when she crushed his body into pieces. It felt good, and that scared her. Or the feelings that had erupted inside of her when she laid eyes on that girl. Delta released the air she didn't realize she had been holding in and staggered backwards breathing heavily before she dropped to her hands and knees. Tears blurred the edges of her vision as she sucked in the air around her like it was running out.

"He. Had. To. Die." Delta whispered, trying to reinforce and commit the fact. She pounded on the ground with both her crystallized fists.

Minutes passed and kept passing before Delta regained her composure and wiped her eyes with a single finger. Without another word, kick, or punch she left the training room and by that time it was time for breakfast. Except for today she grabbed and ate it in her room, alone, away from any prying minds or curious individuals. She had taken two of the newspaper that had been left on one of the tables, the New York Times and The Daily Telegraph. Bits of eggs and bagels flew out of Delta's mouth when she read how they dubbed her Krystal! It was bland, generic, and down right degrading in every sense. Not even "Killer Krystal" just "Krystal", Delta grumbled as she thought about how unoriginal and demeaning it was. Her appetite had subsided almost immediately, Pyromaniac, Shocker/Sir Shock (seems like the media couldn't keep up what they wanted to call him except that he was a criminal), Coldsnap, Nurse, Light Lad, and... Metal Maiden. These names must have been taken from an grade school because that's how basic they truly were.

Paris had become a media frenzy, some people wanted them quarantined something that was barbaric. Others thought they shouldn't, but despite those opinions now there were stricter laws in place about registration, which Delta had refused to do. The registration was only a way to let the Royal Family track them, anyone who registered was a fool and deserved to be used by the Royal Family. The reaction to this would be interesting to hear from the higher ups it was a complete mess. According to the article, if they were to be trusted, James Hazan had indeed joined the Royal Family, a pity, Delta looked forward to killing him now more than ever. Him, and every other Royal Family member she came across except for one...

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

Imogen Green - Atlantean Unification Project HQ, Toulouse, France


9th November, 2012

So, yesterday had been a disaster, basically. Imogen and Will had been teamed up with the 'fun team' or Mr. Emilio 'Let's save the people!' Bernot, his dull son and William, probably the worst recruit who Imogen had the displeasure of inducting. William's training had been so far hopeless, and the boy couldn't even fly yet. It frustrated her, but she put on her game face and smiled, telling him what a great job he had done and how far he had gotten.

Honestly, she just wanted to punch him in the face and tell him to grow up. Why wasn't that an option? Why was he her responsibility now?

Today though, was probably worse.

Imogen had not bothered herself with worrying about Paris, she let the more 'responsible' higher-ups figure that out. She had gone straight to bed last night instead of helping Annie figure out what exactly had gone on, like everybody else had.

This morning delivered to her an onslaught of bad news and flustered members. Though people asked for her help, Imogen did what any good leader did; told them to calm down, it wasn't their fault and that it would all be ok (and then proceeded to do nothing to help with the matter herself). She was far too busy to try and sort out the world and its 'panic' problems. She had far better things to do like...

Oh, what was this?

Imogen pushed the door open to training room 1D. It looked used, yes, but the nice indents in the floors told her who had probably been down here. Ms. Attitude, probably, venting or something. If there was one thing that Imogen was interested in, it was the band members and the guy shooting the meteorites. The rest of Paris could go get stuffed. But, thanks to Annie's 'eye in the sky', every higher-up and their dog knew who killed the drummer.

Ms. Mayor, huh? She was strong, independent, head-strong. A bit of a stiff and probably reckless, but she might be... useful, perhaps. If the girl liked to bend Emil's rules, how close could she bend them until they snapped in half?

"Hey, Del, what's shaking?" Imogen appeared at Delta's door, using the girl's preferred name. It wasn't hard to find her room. At least she wasn't eating in the cafeteria. It would have taken at least 5 minutes to find the poor girl. Imogen quickly glanced at the articles on the bed. So, Delta had been researching too? "Yesterday was pretty crazy, right?"​
 

Swolligator

Butcher of the Sands
1,955
Posts
14
Years

Daniel "The Directive" Cain – Syndicate HQ, Birmingham, England

November 9th, 2012

Dietger wrestle with the coarse ropes that bound his hands and feet to the chair bolted to the floor. Blood dripped from cuts on his face and from the side of his mouth as his face contorted in frustration. Around his neck sat a dog collar, and the moment he tried to utilise his ability, his voice descended into a gargle as electricity surged into his throat. In front of him, his sister lay strapped into a surgery looking table, a variety of torture tools waiting on a trolley next to her. He wanted to yell out at her, to save her, but he could barely move an inch.

"You'll kill yourself before you even get anywhere," Daniel reminded the boy, moving into his field of vision and staring him directly in the eye, "so tell me, where is she?"

Dietger spat in Daniel's face, "Screw you!"

"Fine then," he wiped the spit from his face, turning on his heels to the distraught Maria on the table behind. Reaching for a tool, he bent over her hand, twisting and pulling his hand until she screamed through the gag. He dropped the set of pliers back on the tool bench, a fingernail stuck between its teeth before turning back to Dietger.

"Now tell me, where is she?"

Looking past the Directive, he could barely make eye contact with his sister across the room, seeing the pain and distraught in her eyes. He knew full well that this man had no qualms hurting the both of them to get the answers he seeks, and every time he rebelled or held back information, Maria would be the one who was punished.

"She's gone to see an old friend." It was cryptic, but it was as much information as she had told them before they departed for France.

"Come again?" Daniel couldn't believe it, this kid was crying out already.

Maria strained her voice against the gag, almost as if she was trying to yell at Dietger to stop. "She said, she left to see an old friend."

"Who is it? Where are they?"

"She didn't say, she didn't say!" he screamed as the Directive moved towards Maria.

"Are you sure?" Daniel took a knife, holding it over Maria's exposed chest, watching as Dietger scrunched his eyes as the blade was lowered and pressed against the skin of the squirming Maria. A scream made its way through the gag, prompting Dietger to spill the remainder of the information he had.

"STOP, STOP, STOP!" he screamed at the Directive, his voice faltering near the end as the shock collar sent pulses of electricity into his throat. "She said she had to stop in Australia to pick something up before she continued…" he croaked.

"Go on then, what is it?" Daniel was now intrigued, if she was heading to Australia, then it meant there was only one thing, one person she was after. Darren would be glad to hear of this development, provided that she could actually be the one to do their work for them.

"A girl has the artefact, Demeter's symbol or something," he could see the sense of betrayal in his sister's eyes as he leaked every last drop of information he had, but behind that betrayal he could see the tears begin to form. He was giving up everything for the love of his sister, "that's all I know," he dropped his head in despair. She would not forgive him, but his sister was finally safe.

"That wasn't so hard now, was it," Daniel smiled, waving his hand and releasing the both of them from the illusion he had cast. They were sitting opposite each other, tied to what looked like leather office chairs with minimal rope. The collar around his neck disappeared, replaced with what looked like a blinking LED. Maria's fingernails were all intact, blood slowly dripping from under the one that had seemingly been pulled. "It's amazing what tricks the human mind can play… given the right push, that is."

They were still locked in some sort of prison cell; Dietger's scream only proving that the place was not only well soundproofed, but also reverberated any sound they made, bouncing his ability back at him. Even the resin plated, thick glass that allowed the Directive to see into their cell would not bend to his piercing scream. Daniel smirked from the other side of the glass, leaving his prisoners behind.​
 
1,176
Posts
15
Years
  • Seen Jul 18, 2016
Delta Mayor -
- AUP HQ


Delta glanced at her surroundings, a sparse two-bed room, it was clean, Delta had always been insistent on keeping this place spotless. There wasn't any personal items, Delta didn't have any besides the lanyard on her neck and that rarely came off. This wasn't her home, and it never would be. They would never determine if Delta decided to leave by the state of this place because it always stayed the same. That's exactly what she wanted... she couldn't get attached to this place or these people. She shoved the newspaper off to the side and began to ponder what she wanted to do with the rest of the day, free day.

An answer came shortly, at the door was Imogen, which was a sight that Delta rather not see if it was possible. Why she had decided to visit was unknown to Delta, but she was going to find out. If this had to do with Paris... it wasn't good. They would've sent Misha to scold her, Delta was sure of that. He was the only one that Delta had any connection to or perhaps that was the problem. An objective party that could actually be harsh to her.

"You and I, we don't do this," Delta waved a finger that pointed at Imogen then herself multiple times to further reference what she was talking about.

It was true, they didn't and Delta wasn't about to start now even if Imogen had said Del. Oakley and the new Atlantean were supposed to soften the whole incident in Paris, how had they found out? Delta didn't take her eyes off Imogen even though her thoughts wandered from the current situation. No, this meeting wasn't about what happened in Paris. There was no way in hell that anyone besides Ice Boy had seen what she had done and that was the story she was sticking to. That, and the one she had told Agnes, Delta knew she was a talented enough liar/manipulator to pull it off because she had been doing it her whole life.

She got up from her bed and stood off to the side of it. Imogen had been at this longer, Atlantean life, the training, the use of her powers, who knew how many guns she had strapped on her. However, it still wasn't enough to intimidate Delta into being off-guard and not on her feet.

A knife appeared in her hands it was one of the ones she kept hidden, but soon it started twirling on one of her fingers. Nonchalantly she spoke, "Get on with it, Imogen."
 
5,114
Posts
17
Years
  • Age 30
  • AU
  • Seen Feb 18, 2023

Imogen Green - Atlantean Unification Project HQ, Toulouse, France


9th November, 2012

"What, speak? Communicate?" Imogen raised an eyebrow at Delta's immediate hostility. She was a little taken aback, but unsurprised. Her next move was probably funnier though.

A knife? Really? What was Delta trying to say here? Imogen really wasn't sure what impression the girl was trying to give off, but it certainly was a mixed one.

"Aw, sweetie, are you really trying to threaten me with that toothpick?" Imogen cocked her head, the sweetness of her tone almost sickening. "I don't know what those numbskulls taught you in training, but you should never reveal your weapon until its necessary. You're not a man, you don't need to act tough. You need to bring them close," she held the air, like it was a mannequin made of nothing, her hand clenched where its head would be. She leaned in for a kiss and pulled out an imaginary knife, striking the air in the neck, "and then you stab them in the throat. Works every time." She added a wink to the end.

She took a moment to glance at Delta's room. Of course, they had all been here for just over a week now but Delta looked like she had just moved in. It was like a hotel room, not a bedroom. Imogen didn't complain about it; it either meant she was organised or just ready to pack her bags (if they weren't already) and go. The only thing a little messy about it was the plate of breakfast and the newspaper clippings. If the girl wanted to 'get on with it', maybe Imogen should just give it to her straight.

"Delta, honey, I honest to god don't give a sh*t that you killed the drummer. Actually, I preferred it. If someone tries to kill you, you don't lock them up in a cell and tell them to be nice until they 'promise' to do it. You stab them in the throat. Or chop off their head, whatever suits you best," Imogen added a shrug, as if the whole incident was something that happened everyday. "I came up here to talk to you. Everyone else is boring. Agnes is an airhead, William should never have been given what he was given, my co-workers are all 'busy' with bullsh*t that I won't waste my time with and then...then there's you. You're not like them, are you? You're different. I can see it," Imogen took a few steps into the room, leaning on the next piece of furniture she could find (which was a bookcase).

"You don't want what those other kids want, do you?"​
 
1,176
Posts
15
Years
  • Seen Jul 18, 2016
Delta Mayor -
- AUP HQ

Unsure of what exactly was going on here Delta just shrugged her shoulders at Imogen's first comment. It wasn't as if they had conversed in the past, well, not anything that was worth remembering. No, Imogen was one of the higher ups she had avoided after hearing how much the other higher ups disliked her. She sighed, what had she done to deserve this "cheerful" interaction? If Imogen wanted to keep her attention she would have to stop this yammering. Blah, I think I'm better than you, blah, here's how you do it, and more blah. None of it caught Delta's interest, but she did have a point, which Delta was reluctant to admit. Though this point that she was eager to carry out held a lot of attitude something Delta could match.

The knife dropped from Delta's hand in a showy slow motion fashion and moved a few inches towards Imogen. "My weapon? Oh, Imogen if you think this is my weapon just wait until you see my fists." Delta replied with a cocky tone and a toothy grin.

At the next statement Imogen made Delta became wide-eyed with shock and froze in place. She knew. She knew, which meant that they all knew, everyone knew. Emil. Misha. Atticus. How had that happened? The question was on the tip of Delta's tongue it just wouldn't speak the words. It felt heavier and it was now numb. She wanted answers... or Imogen was just testing her. And she had just failed.

Nevermind that, but Imogen was actually agreeing with her decision, and Delta found herself rethinking her thought to write Imogen off. In fact, Imogen was quickly becoming her favorite higher up if this wasn't some sort of trickery. Some of the guilt Delta had buried deep inside had eased and now it would be a little bit easier to hold her stance on what had occurred in Paris. Here she was getting recognized for being more than the others, not like annoying Agnes or bird for brains Will. It was about time someone realized that she was above any other recently recruited members. Whatever Imogen was getting at she sure was taking a long time to get to it and Delta wanted to know.

Soon Delta recovered and asked with mild curiosity, "What if I don't, what does it matter to you?"
 
37,467
Posts
16
Years
  • Age 34
  • Seen Jan 2, 2024

Agnes Johansson - Atlantean Unification Project HQ, Toulouse, France


9th November, 2012
The night after the Paris disaster, Agnes had trouble falling asleep. She kept seeing the golden glowing man disappearing over and over again, and at one point in her dreams, the girl who had walked up to him stood right in front of her. Looking at her. Looking into her. She woke up, sweating.

The ground floor was big and quiet at night. Agnes suspected that only Annie was really awake after this tiring day. At least she hoped that no one else struggled like she did with dreams. She couldn't shake that strange man out from her mind. For many minutes, she just silently walked back and forth in the large hall next to the cafeteria, a glass of water in hand, not knowing or thinking of if anyone was watching her.

After that, the good kind of sleep that follows physical exhaustion finally came. Agnes hadn't been fighting in Paris, but somehow flying took its toll in both a physical and mental way. She slept in on the morning, and when she woke up she first started, believing she was late for meeting up for training... But then remembered that it was a free day today.

So instead of hurrying downstairs to do something fruitful, she got comfortably dressed - without even taking a shower first - and walked up the stairs to the roof. She met no one on the way anyways.

The roof was Agnes favorite place in the HQ. It was large and empty. And the sky was above her. It was a much better place to practice her flying in, than the limited space indoors. Of course she had to be careful and not fly too high; else people on the streets would see. But normally people didn't look up at roofs very often, so this far she had been fine.

She just stood there, leaning towards the wall lining the rooftop for a while, and tried to sort out her thoughts and dreams from last night. But only vaguely. She didn't feel like diving too deep into why they had affected her so. If anything, she had thought seeing Delta decapitate a man would make a bigger imprint in her mind. But it hadn't. Even though she sure hadn't forgotten that - nor how Delta had lied to her later, when confronted. She pouted at the sheer thought of it, and how she just couldn't understand the other dark skinned girl.

Oakley was another deal. She seemed nice. Likely a bit confused at the moment, being new here and all. Aww. Agnes took a deep breath and closed her eyes in the morning sunlight for a little while. Wishing that everyone could just cool off a bit. For once, she didn't feel like setting off and taking action. She wanted some calm. Gosh, those events yesterday must really have done something to her.

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

Imogen Green - Atlantean Unification Project HQ, Toulouse, France

"Well," Imogen mimicked Delta, moving a few steps closer, her smile growing seemingly more 'evil', "it means you're not as shallow as those mindless twits. It's such a shame that I wasn't tasked with recruiting you, instead of bird brain. I think I can do so much more for you than Misha can. So much more. Of course, I still can for you."

Imogen bent over and skimmed over one of the articles that Delta had swept onto the floor. She had already been on the Internet and read everything there was to know (she wasn't going to find out anymore by helping her co-workers anyway) but it was good to see Delta was trying to keep ahead too. Too bad her scope was so limited right now. Didn't the girl know there was an entire floor devoted to computers and the Internet? At least she had started. She'd already passed Will this morning. He was still asleep. What a joke.

"See, Del, sweetie, there might be something we can help each other with..."

"Imogen!" Atticus came rushing down the hall, skittering at Delta's door. Ugh, what horrible timing. What was he doing here? "What are you doing?!"

"Having a chat with Del here. What's it to you?" Imogen sneered back at him.

"Y-you should be in IIC! Do you know how much we have been working?! Mr. Bernot is looking for you!" It was obvious by the shadows under his eyes that he had been up probably all night with Annie (ugh, their relationship was so sickly sweet) but Imogen didn't care. Not even a little bit.

"Fine," Imogen raised her hands and swept him out of the room. "I'll go. I'll talk to you later honey. Come find me later, kay?" With a wink to Delta and a scowl at Atticus, she left. Atticus exchanged a few looks between her and Delta before narrowing an eye.

"Hey, uh, whatever she told you, don't... Don't listen to her, okay? She's evil," Atticus stood at the door for a moment before following Imogen and disappearing behind the door frame.​


Oakley North - Atlantean Unification Project HQ, Toulouse, France

Oakley sat in the cafeteria, playing with the food on her plate. It was hardly as nice as the food the Librarian had given then, but not much different than the food she had at her fancy French school. It was rather odd that she was back in France, she didn't think she'd be coming back for a rather long time since the "Atlantean Crisis". What would it be like to return to a normal life? Would she still be in London with her father, cowering after the attacks? Or perhaps back to school? It was like the attacks were following her. First in London, where she used to live. Then France, where her school was. And now...

Oakley glanced at the New York Times newspaper in front of her. Riots, in Madrid. The thought of that place, especially of riots in that place, brought back awful memories. She had not seen her mother in a long time, and missed her dearly. Like her brother. It seemed Madrid had really started a series of unfortunate events for her. She hoped that nobody else had a mother visiting there right now. For another person to feel the same as she did, then and now, she wouldn't wish it upon her worst enemy.

Thoughts returned to her brother. Where... Where was he? Where was Wyatt?

"Où êtes-vous, mon frère? Mère? Tu me manques..."

"Hey," a voice in front of her almost made her jump. A boy sat in front of her, with dark hair and dark eyes. He looked naturally sad. Like something was really bothering him. Or maybe it was Oakley's depression that was contagious. She forced a smile back at the boy, hoping that might cheer him up.

"Hello," it didn't.

"Are you okay?" Wow, he didn't sugar coat anything. Oakley blinked at him, a little taken aback.

"Yeah, I'm okay," she forced another smile. "Why do you ask?"

"Well you said you missed your mum and brother," when Oakley stared at him a little wide-eyed, he added, "My dad's half-French so he always spoke it when I was a kid."

"Oh. Yeah, I'm okay. I just miss them a lot."

"Me too. I mean my mum. She died when I was little. I don't have a brother. What's your name?" The boy, yeah, he was really straight forward. Was he intentionally trying to be kind of anti-social or... Was this just how he acted?

"Oakley. What's yours?"

"Evo," he said rather hastily with a hint of a scowl on his face, "my name is Evo."

"That's a cool name."

"Thanks."​


Frederick Salusbury - Atlantean Unification Project HQ, Toulouse, France

Despite his age, being a few years older than his some of his, well, co-workers he guessed he could call them, Frederick was not yet considered a "Senior" member. Therefore, he had not been tasked like the others with trying to help to sort out the 'Paris Incident', and like the other new recruits, had been given a "free day". He wasn't sure what to do with his time. At home, he would feed his cat, make dinner, mark papers and read a book. It all seemed so insignificant now. Would he ever go back to being a college professor again? He was an overgrown goat for crying out loud. He would be laughed at by his peers for how he looked, no matter what kind of discoveries he made or books he wrote.

"What should I do?" he asked Julian Morales, his room neighbour. Julian was around the same age as Freddie, but had been with the AUP for maybe a year now, a little more. Julian's ability was something peculiar: he, similarly to the young William, had wings, though these ones were webbed, more like a bat. He was more like Freddie in the sense that he was more like the animal though, with thick framed glasses hiding his weak (but not entirely blind) eyes, using other sensors like his sense of hearing and smell in more sensitive situations. Frederick wasn't sure how he'd help everyone, but Julian seemed positive he was capable of some kind of assistance.

"Just... relax, Freddie. You spend a lot of time worrying. I can see those wrinkles and grey hairs already!"

"Wh-what?! Where!?"

"Relax. I was joking. Go read a book or play a video game or something."

But what was there to read that would help him relax? He couldn't read for the fun of it anymore, it just seemed pointless to dream of magical worlds with fire breathing dragons when it already seemed like it was happening! Never the less, he found some form of fiction in the library but instead of choosing a comfy chair in the library, he took the elevator all the way up to the top. The area was already vacated, however, with a familiar soul.

"Agnes!" He seems to gasp as soon as he noticed her, interrupting her peace that he was finding himself. "Sorry, sorry, I didn't realise you we're up here. Many a-apologies. Would you like me to leave?"​
 
37,467
Posts
16
Years
  • Age 34
  • Seen Jan 2, 2024

Agnes Johansson - Atlantean Unification Project HQ, Toulouse, France


9th November, 2012
Agnes jumped up when Freddie's voice came. She ended up hovering a few decimeters above the floor. Typical; sometimes it was as if her power was to get rid of gravity.

Floating down again, she threw a calm smile at Mr Goat and walked closer to him along the fence. He was definitely one of the more pleasant people that could have interrupted her little morning thinking time. "Why would I want you to leave, silly? I'm not Del, I actually enjoy having other people around." She winked at him and laughed a little.

Then she turned back to face the city below for a moment. "I was just thinking about, um, stuff. Kind of a lot going through my head now, you know what I mean? With the terrorists, Oakley and the unconscious guy..." A wrinkle appeared in her otherwise smooth forehead. "Freddie? Do you know who that man sending down meteors was yesterday? I saw him. At the top of the Eiffel Tower, I flew up there. He was glowing like a star. Why would..." - she flung her arms out, helplessly - "Why would anyone do what he did? Just because he could?"

 

Kikpanther

Not a beginner that's for sure
663
Posts
14
Years

Dominique Bisset and Delta Mayor-- Toulouse, France, AUP HQ


Yesterday didn't happen. It couldn't have happened. But, God. How could it have not?

Dominique read the newspaper article over and over. He wasn't sure what he was doing. He would deny yesterday, then read the article, accept it, and then deny it again. Over and over again. How could this happen? It couldn't be true.

But it was. D*mmit!

Dominique looked around the cafeteria, though his eyeing may not have been seen as pleasant by everyone. It looked more like glaring than anything else. He looked back down at the newspaper then back out. He hoped he looked mean, he didn't want to be there. It wasn't very pleasant to wake up somewhere completely different from where you supposedly fell asleep. He had already started to hate this place. There was too much optimism where there none of it was needed. Just walking through this cafeteria was like a game to see how far he could go before someone (somehow) recognized him and asked if he'd really been in Paris, as if he'd knocked himself out after sneaking in. And what was so great about being in Paris? He wished he hadn't been there. He wished no one had. If the city weren't so popular maybe they wouldn't have... His parents wouldn't have...

Dom forced himself to think about something else, like how much he hated the cereal he was eating. It was his own fault, he felt too angry and too unsocial to order a full breakfast from the cooks. That's why he chose to sit by himself this morning. Some did make attempts to sit next to him, all of which he scared off one way or another. There must have been something wrong with them for them not to see that he wasn't interested in making friends or telling his story or discussing how lucky he was. He wasn't d*mn lucky. The game had changed. Now he had to see how long it would take for the next person to try and sit next to him.

The day was still early and Delta was still hungry, although reading what she had read put her on edge. As well as how Imogen had approached her and how Atticus urgently advised against. She couldn't stop muttering the word, "Krystal" like it was poison while she walked down the hallway towards the elevator. Firmly Delta pressed the ground level button and ascended three floors before she stepped off the machine. Unfortunately there was a bit more chatter than there had been when she first arrived in the cafeteria. It didn't take long before Delta dismissed their presence without a second thought about interacting with any of them, as association with them would put her on their level, pathetic. Annoyed, and that was putting it mildly, was how she typically felt walking around the headquarters.

That was, of course, before she saw him, Tanner, well, that wasn't his real name but Delta would just stick with that for now. The watch was how Delta was sure other than that she noticed that he was wearing some tacky garments that the higher ups must have laid out from him. Swallowing hard she strolled over to his table and sat down without an invitation, forgetting to get a plate of food in her nervousness. She had consciously made the decision to bring him here and the least she could do was keep him company that he would remember.

"Pyromaniac," Delta announced, she kept her face neutral as she took the newspaper from the newcomer, read over it once more and did not meet his eyes the entire time. "Take pleasure in almost burning families alive?"

Dominique automatically looked down at his watch when yet another person decided to come near the table. Twelve minutes. Here we go. Whoever this was was a bit bolder than the others, or maybe just rude, since she said nothing to him as she took his newspaper and read it over silently. It took another interesting turn when she suddenly asked him if... There was no reason to repeat it, hearing it was already outrageous enough. He could feel the heat rise in his chest and he wondered if he'd shoot fire if he opened his mouth. It could be by "accident" though it wasn't as if he was making an effort to hide his emotions.

"Why tell when I can show?" Dom raised a brow. "Where's yours?"

Delta stared intensely at him like he was going to burst into flames, her neutrality gave way to a smirk, "You mean, if you could control your power, which you clearly don't know how to do."

"It doesn't take much effort to make things burn." Dominique shrugged. "It wasn't too hard the last time." He looked down at his warming cereal and pushed it away, deciding he didn't want to eat with such bad company. "So are you here to impress me or talk? If it's the second I'd love it if you left immediately."

"Burn out is what you meant, which is exactly like you did in that fight." Delta sneered, crossing her arms beneath her chest. His attitude was much more abrasive than any of the others she had encountered and weirdly enough Delta enjoyed it. "You're not going to get better company than me and that's a fact." She toyed with the lanyard around her neck that held two keys before she continued on, "And you want company, take mine as a gift."

Dominique frowned. In truth he didn't remember the fight all that well. He remembered the meteors, the fire, the electricity, a handsome face, and clothes he hoped he destroyed before blacking out. Still, what did she know about him burning out? Was she there? Dom stopped himself from asking.

"Oh, really?" He pointed to the chairs next to him with a thumb. "I thought these empty chairs were doing a pretty good job."

This was all going downhill. Delta wasn't sure the last time she had been pleased to socialized with someone and actually wanted to interact with them. She hadn't a clue if he had any knowledge that she was the one who brought him here, Delta hadn't revealed her name so why would he? Responsibility wasn't something she felt often but in this situation she did.

"Look, I don't know you, but you can talk either to me or the cheer squad." Delta turned her head slightly to carry her voice so if Agnes or Oakley were around they would easily hear themselves being referenced. "Or you could be alone in a big headquarters twiddling your thumbs mulling over some dumb vendetta or tragic backstory. A lone Atlantean who can barely control his power. An amateur. You." At the last word Delta pointed her index finger at him.

"One more thing," Delta pushed her chair back and leaned over the table. The angrier she got the more present her Polish accent was. "If you think for a moment I'm someone you can just walk all over I have zero problems doing more damage to you than that other Atlantean did. Except I won't stop."

To emphasize her point Delta's right arm and hand were crystallized, a triggered response to her heighten emotions, like her mind had communicated to her body what she was about to do. Due to her outfit only her fingertips were seen. Then Delta delivered a crushing blow to the table that not only dented it and upset anything on it, but also made its surface start to crack. She kept her green eyes solely on the male Atlantean that sat before her not once did they waver.

Dominique kept his frown and his eyes locked. His heart beat a little faster, but he wouldn't let that turn his eyes away. He would be lying if he said he wasn't phased by someone who could punch dents into tables and spill his cereal, crystals or not. Still, he wasn't the type to back down from threats. He didn't know who this woman was but she was the boldest person he'd come across today. She may have had a point about the "cheer squad". It wasn't that he didn't like optimism, but there was such thing as too much optimism, which, by the looks of the people he'd met so far, was a trend here at the headquarters. He could walk off now and meet them. He wasn't obligated to stick around, but if she was right and he couldn't take it, then what? He couldn't leave, he'd already tried and was already stopped. He would either end up doing exactly what she'd said or come back and admit his faults and that looked bad. Both of them did. Dom didn't like looking bad, it was another reason why he kept his eyes on her.

Dom stood up slowly, his eyes not once leaving their mark. He wasn't sure if she liked this particular Atlantean, or hated her, but as much as he wanted the anger to come--especially after that first comment--he couldn't generate enough heat. At least, not enough to showcase how pissed off he wanted to be.

"If we're going to talk," he started, "then let's do it somewhere else." He looked away from her to survey the cafeteria. "I'm getting tired of this place."

"Lets," Delta nodded, the last thing she wanted was to stay here long enough for others to join them. "Third floor, common room is usually empty, if not they'll leave when I enter."

Things had taken a turn and were now looking up. Delta was unsure of how well they were going to get on and she was fine with that. Fine with having an acquaintance (or not), fine with keeping everyone at an arm's length away, and for once fine with being in the AUP HQ. However, it was still weird, and it still made her wary about this entire thing, whatever one would call it. If she avoided her name, could she avoid telling him that she brought him here? She wasn't going to leave him for the Royal Family scum they were outright vultures. Delta stayed silent as they walked to the elevator, which she justified by thinking that if they talked now what would they talk about once they got there? It was enough for her to remain silent, but for once she didn't look guarded nor did she scowl, no, she appeared almost content. The ride was quick and with Delta leading the way the walk to the common room was as well.

A fairly large room greeted them, it had several entertainment objects and sitting areas, as if they had that many people to occupy them. Some furniture matched a color scheme along with the painted walls. Other parts of the room looked like someone had thrown darts in a catalogue and picked the most horrendous patterns and clashing colors possible. Delta sat in one of the smaller areas that had a small table next to the couches and two plants by it also well. She did not take the large couch, she figured he needed more room than she did and sat in the smaller one.

"Where do they have you? In one of the rooms or the hospital?" Delta asked, the rooms were located on the third and fourth floors while the hospital was on the second. Of course Delta had already known where seeing as she had visited while he was passed out or at least she hoped he had been.

As Dom sat down he noted that the walk was more pleasant than this room's decorum. He wished they had kept walking rather than come in here. True, the journey had been quiet and his mind was more occupied with the spilled cereal that they left on the table--it bugged him that he didn't clean it up--but honestly. This place was atrocious. He imaged the same person who attempted to pick clothes out for him was the same person who decorated this rooom. He wondered why that person wasn't replaced.

"I have a room." Somewhere, he added in his mind. Honestly he couldn't remember where it was and he wasn't sure he cared. He woke up in the hospital more than a little shocked and after some reminders of the hell that came down on Paris and a failed attempt to leave he was escorted to his new room. It took one look out the window to figure out he was in Toulouse and his second attempt to leave was stopped on the explanation that "it might not be a good idea right now".

It was all very frustrating, just thinking about it made the heat come off of his body, but he did his best not to worry about it right now. As he took his mind off of the morning, he started to notice that he'd been talking to the same person and hadn't thought about who she might have been until now.

"Do you mind if I ask you your name?"

Delta shook her head, she didn't mind him asking but she didn't give him an answer, which is what he truly wanted. The whole name predicament was awfully confusing. It could not only opened up a can of worms about his placement here, but could deal damage in the future. If they were to treat this like they were superheroes giving a name away meant giving away something personal, an identity that connected to family. Something anyone smart wanted hidden. One day the friend that knows her name becomes her enemy, and enemies always targeted families. This might of worried Delta more if she had a family... she shifted uncomfortably in her seat while she dismissed those certain thoughts.

Clearly, the Unification Project had her name, they knew more about her life than she had let them know and it was unnerving. The Royal Family could find out probably just as easily... So, what did she have to lose here?

"Del..." She spoke up, looking off into the distance. This is where she wanted to return the question, but Delta felt that would show she cared and she didn't, couldn't.

"I have an extra bed," it had slipped out, which caused Delta frowned. At some point she developed a bad habit at saying what she thought out loud. It was true, the AUP had given her a two-bed room, though that was before she made it obvious she would gut the next person that stepped foot in her room. Delta recovered and immediately followed up with, "Do you have anyone... looking for you?" A topic she had been eager to speak about, the only one she felt guilty about and tried her best to not let it show that she was even remotely interested.

"Dominique," he looked away and then corrected, "Dom." He wondered if Del was a nickname or an actual name. It had to be a nickname, Del seemed... incomplete. He mentally went through a list of names that started with "Del" but couldn't think up anything that sounded like it fit her. Her accent... Polish, right? Was her name Polish? It took him about five seconds to realize he wouldn't be able to think up any Polish names and decided to drop the effort altogether.

Dom raised a brow when Del told him about her extra bed, wondering exactly why she had one. Before he had a good chance to think about it, though, she came up with a follow up question. He wanted to answer with yes, he knew that was the answer, but something in his gut held him up. His eyes went to the floor and his mind back to the flames and the screams of Paris. He wished he could deny what happened yesterday, but the weight of reality held him down. It was hard to deny the thousands of lives lost. Children and adults either dead or traumatized. He wondered if the dream he had last night was a memory or a side effect.

He nodded. "Yeah..." Dominique lifted his eyes. "One of them," he started on a more cheerful note, "is here." At least, he hoped so. "Not in the building, the city I mean." He looked out the nearby window and wondered if Lucien acted as calmly as Toulouse looked despite the recent chaos. "I would have gotten out of here, but..." Domonique shrugged, even through in truth he was not so passive.

He wasn't Italian, Delta had already figured that much out given the accent but the name further indicated he was indeed French or his parents really liked French names. Everything she had dreamed up was simply that, not that she expected any other outcome. Delta wasn't the best guesser. Dom, Dom was a nice name. Delta preferred nicknames, if someone didn't have one she would give them one but hers wouldn't be as pleasant. She watched him as he answered her question and noticed there was a look in his eyes before he positioned them elsewhere. A look of uncertainty that gave way to a thought Delta had that perhaps he wasn't as well informed as she thought he had been. The higher ups had been busy, or they said they were busy. Imogen apparently had enough time to bug her. Then something tugged at Delta, she had to do something for him. It wasn't right that he was stuck in here when someone was out there, out there possibly looking for him. She was sure the others had gotten to say words to their loved ones before being recruited. Misha never offered her the chance but it wasn't as if she would've taken it.

Quietly Delta suggested, "We could... leave." The thought of this whole area being under surveillance prompted Delta to lean in closer. In case they were being visually monitored Delta pretended to fiddle with her shoe straps, and brushed dirt off the heels. She then made her voice barely a whisper, which hopefully led to less chance of being picked up by any equipment. "Find her, find your friend. If you want to." Delta looked up for a second and wasn't quite sure if he'd go for it.

There were plenty of ways to leave HQ if they couldn't use the front door such as a busted window on the ground floor. With their powers combined there wasn't anyone would could stop them, except possibly Misha and Emil, but the higher ups were all squared away. It was the beginning of a plan, it was reckless and completely Delta's style. Free days were snooze days and Delta had enough of a solo training session to leave her satisfied. As long as they didn't use their powers publicly it wasn't as if they were at risk of being detected by the French government.

Dom took a quick look around the room when Del's voice dropped to a whisper, and he leaned forward with her. He wondered what they were whispering for, but he did remember being stopped when he already tried to leave. Maybe she tried the same? Or no one was allowed to leave? He thought maybe he had to sneak out at some point and though it seemed like they would have to be stealthier than he originally had thought, the time seemed to be now.

"I do," he whispered with a grin. "So how do we do it?"

"The higher ups are busy, which means we walk out the front door. They'll have to assign us some dingbat mentor, we'll give them the slip." Delta had just thought of this on the spot, but it seemed reasonable. The Atlantean Unification Project couldn't keep them prisoners, especially if they wanted to keep them as members. They also wouldn't let them go unattended because of incidents in Paris. Delta had learned enough in training, like, how to throw someone off your trail, she disregarded the fact that they also would've received that training and at a higher level. Delta then smiled rather mischievously, "If that doesn't work, we bust out. Just... follow my lead, yeah?"

The journey taken to the front doors was just the same as the one from the cafeteria to the common room, quick and quiet. Delta didn't want anyone stopping them that "just wanted to chat" nor did she really want to run into Imogen, she still needed to decide what to do about that situation. She didn't risk saying anything in case anyone was listening, somehow the AUP had found out that Delta killed that drummer and she bet it had something to do with technology. All she gave was a quick nod to Dom when they reached the front door, there were junior AUP members located at the entrance.

Delta cleared her throat to get their attention, as if their attention wasn't already focused on her. "We're leaving, if you try to stop me I'll bash your skulls in, okay? Tell our babysitter that we'll be outside waiting." Intimidation was always best in situations like these and so that's what Delta delivered. It seemed to work as they were quickly let through the doors after some hesitation and chatter into a communication device.

"Your turn, Dom."
 
  • Like
Reactions: SV

SV

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

James Hazen- Atlantean Royal Family Mansion – Boston, Lincolnshire, England


James stayed attentive long enough to confirm that Nate too would be joining him in the Atlantean Royal Family. After that, it was as if a switch was turned off. All of his pain and exhaustion seemed to hit him all at once, and before he knew it, he was knocked out cold on the helicopter. After that, he wasn't sure exactly what happened, or where he went. Sleep took hold of him, and didn't let go until the following day. The next thing he knew, he awoke in a bed he didn't recognize in a room that wasn't familiar to him. The only thing he did know was that he had one of the most comfortable sleeps in his life. James peered around the room, which had the look of a dorm room in college, similar to the one he attended in Hawaii. There was another bed on the other side of the room, but the sheets were folded nicely and the area around the bed seemed to be clean enough for James to not be sure if this was a room he was sharing, or if someone else occupied it.

He observed the rest of the room, finding the usual items one would see in such a room. There was nothing remarkable about it, and nothing that particularly stood out. On 'his' side of the room, he found nothing that belonged to him, which didn't come as such a big surprise. As he sat up in the bed, he felt a small tweak on his bad, not so much pain anymore as soreness, probably a result of the battle he had with the intense fire Atlantean in Paris. He recalled the intensity that battle provided, which brought a smile to his lips. He remembered that the Atlantean never did die, as he hadn't gotten a chance to kill him, which meant if Delta, Oakley and the others did take him with them, he may still be alive. A chance to fight the man again was something he wouldn't be against. James turned around towards the window behind his bed, and observed the sky. If they were still around England (as he hoped, but had no way of knowing), then judging by the position of the sky in the air, he had likely slept a good portion of the morning away, which meant James had been out for well over twelve hours. As he looked across his body, he saw that many of his wounds he receive were either healed or healing, with bandages in places where the wounds still existed.

Eager to find out where exactly he was, James decided to rise himself and take a tour of his new home, for however long it would be. He stood up, and looked around in the closet closest to his bed, and to his surprise, found shirts that, if they weren't his, closely mirrored that which he would be accustomed to wearing. He quickly put on a sky-blue shirt and darker blue jeans, put on his shoes which were by the bed, and proceeded out the door. There were quite a bit of younger people around, which confirmed James' suspicions of this being something along the lines of a school. As he toured around, he understood the gist of where he stayed, from the dining hall and kitchen to the gymnasium and 'Relaxation' room. There was even a swimming pool, and an expansive backyard. In essence, it had everything. But to James, it had nothing. At least, that was how he felt the longer he roamed around. Sure, the degree of everything that this place offered was impressive, but it held no interest to him. This environment reminded him too much of home, of his own dorm back in university. Sure the rooms were bigger, the food was probably tastier, and the place was better furnished, but doubling nothing still made it just that: nothing.

What was worse was the one friend he thought he had around here seemed to be nowhere in sight, as he couldn't find Nate wherever he looked. Granted, he had given up looking for him quite early on after he had begun to be bored, but now he wondered if he was even around anymore. If it turned out that he no longer was, James might decide to leave the place which would offer him little else of what he truly wanted.

Which was...? he thought to himself. Perhaps he didn't even know. He did come with the promise from Oliver of being able to achieve more power, which was probably something James wanted. But he thought of it more as a means to an end. To what end? He wasn't sure. Not yet. But it was something he was beginning to think more about. This was but one of the thoughts that occupied his mind as he sat down in the backyard of the Atlantean Mansion, feeling the grass beneath his hands, staring up into the sky, completely bored out of his mind. It was perhaps the most prominent idea that he thought about now. What he said to Nate back in the bar when they had first met was the truth. He knew deep down that he was destined for big things, for great things. He knew he was meant for...more. Now, he just had to figure out exactly what that was.
 
Last edited:

Swolligator

Butcher of the Sands
1,955
Posts
14
Years

James Hazen and Oliver "Vulture" Hansen - Atlantean Royal Mansion, Boston, England


Oliver's Theme Song: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsjzB-TKSG4)

Beau was one of the younger members of the Atlantean Royal Family, standing at a little over five foot, he was also one of the shorter Atlanteans around. Many didn't know Beau's name, not that he actively told them, but rather that he preferred the alias given to him: Blurr. So as he ran outside, a newspaper folded in his hand, his dark skin rippled and blurred, often going to the point of camoflaging him with his surroundings. It was always when he ran, that his ability became most active, thus giving rise to his alias. He only stopped when he reached his destination, looking down at the stoner-like James lying in the grass.

"You're 'im, aren't choo?" Beau said in his Cockney accent to the relaxing man.

As James sulked on the grass, feeling as if his day couldn't get any worse, some kid with the strangest, most stereotypically dirty English accent approached him. He glared at the kid from his spot on the grass, and motioned with his arm to go away. "Go away," He said bluntly, returning to watching the clouds. "You're looking for someone else."

"You're 'im! I know you ah! James Hazen, yeah? You're dat Americun, the killa." Beau handed James the latest edition of the Daily Telegraph folded up in his hand, the paragraph about him circled in red.

"...Other Atlanteans reported to be at the scene was an individual identified as 'Coldsnap', having impaled a fellow Atlantean during a hostile AUP attack on the Atlantean Registration Office in London, England and wanted American, James Hazen known as 'Shocker'. ..."

"Wha-?" James questioned, looking back up at the teen from his spot, taking the newspaper that was handed to him. He scrolled through it, looking to find what exactly he was referring to. The article detailed the Atlantean incident yesterday, but it also saw fit to give James a nickname, an alias. "Shocker?" James said aloud to himself in disbelief and disdain. "What the f*ck?" He didn't know exactly how he felt about the nickname. He supposed it was interesting to get the recognition, but the name was just...horrid.

The article did however reveal one thing that he didn't know before. If James was now wanted, it meant that he had committed a crime. If he had to guess, this confirmed that he did in fact kill his manager at his job back in Hawaii. It was a strange feeling. People often said that taking one's first life would have the biggest impact on that person, but in his case, he didn't even know he did it until he found out about it in this article. It was strange, but finding out about it now had almost zero effect on him. In fact, he had hardly payed it any mind. After reviewing everything in the article, he looked back up at the kid, who was still standing next to him. "Whatever. Just...go away."

Feeling slightly dejected, Beau decided to stay, "Are you gonna go to prison? My bruva is in prison, he said its pre'y cool, y'know? You guys could meet up and like break out, yeah?" He didn't like being so far away from his brother, and if he were to escape, then Beau would be able to leave the mansion with him. "Can I get an autograff?" he asked James.

James sighed, realizing that he wouldn't be leaving without a bit of extra motivation. He stuck out two fingers, and delivered a slight but no doubt painful shock to him. "F*ck off," James said in a slightly raised voice as he released the shock from between his fingertips.

Oliver heared Beau yelp in pain, catching a glance of the boy nursing his wound, obviously dealt to him by no other than James. While he had been the one to offer James sanctuary within the Atlantean Royal Family, he did not know at the time that the man was a murderer. He seemed to strut around the place like he was bored of it, sick of being here and that he had somewhere better to be. This just made Oliver even more angrier at the guy, this was his home, and Oliver wouldn't let such a guy be mean to his friends.

"Oi!" He called out, walking swiftly over to James, "Stop hurting him, Hazen," he ordered as he drew nearer to the man lying on the ground. He seemed to shurg off Oliver's comment, making him even more furious. Who did this guy think he was? "What did you do that for, Hazen?"

Just as James was beginning to relax and settle back into the nice patch of grass he occupied, Oliver, the man who recruited him, approached him. James sighed even deeper, clearing getting irritated by all of the people that saw fit to make it their mission to bug him when he didn't want to be bugged. "I told the pr*ck to leave me alone, and he wouldn't go," He explained, turning away from the man and leaning back onto the grass now, gazing at the sky, while motioning with his hand for Oliver to leave him alone. "Just get away from me."

This was it. Oliver really disliked the man now, the way he cast him off like he was some fly, the way he treated everyone and everything like it was all a big annoyance, just his general arrogance frustrated him so. "No, I won't go away, Hazen, look, you acted like a d*ck, so apologise to Beau, he's only thirteen for christ sake!" Olivever glared at James menacingly.

James rolled his eyes, realizing again that another person in front of him wouldn't just leave him alone with his thoughts. Getting up off the grass in a hurry, he faced down Oliver, getting within a few feet from the man. "Go away, or I'll make you go." He declared threateningly. He glared at him intensely, waiting for his response. In the back of his mind, James was starting to think he might be having fun again.

"No I won't, Hazen," he almost spat out James' surname, "this is my home, these are my friends, you go away," he pushed James in the chest, "go back to whatever crevace you crawled out of. We don't want people like you here!" His heart began to run faster, if James was as much danger as Justin and the rest feared, then he would have to use his ability. His presence here had caused them all a big hassle, that their home might even be taken away from them.

"Heh..." James smirked, letting his body be forced back at Oliver's push. That was all of the motivation he needed to get going. It seemed like he was now making an excuse for something to happen, but now Oliver presented him with that opportunity. He closed his eyes and breathed in, trying to see if he could determine how much energy he had left inside his system to use against him. Tapping into his stored energy in his body, James determined that he was fairly low on energy, but he figured it would still probably be enough to take on this guy. "You just made my day," James said, powering up electricity into his right hand. The energy spurted out from his hands, the cackling of lightning came soon after, until his hand was filled with electricity. All at once, he sent the pure energy straight at Oliver.

The energy, that pure energy that arced from James' hand, surged into Oliver's chest, burning the cloth and skin where it entered. He felt it spread to every little corner, every extremity of his body. Of course, this didn't kill Oliver. He inhaled, sucking every little spark of electricity James sent at him, storing it interally within him. He could now feel his ability activating, supporting his body in it's consumption of the energy and converting it. Cracking his neck, he smiked at James, "Was that supposed to hurt? Come on, is that all you can put out?"

He turned his back on James, "Pathetic, Hazen, to think I had a higher idea of how powerful you were. You're just a weak, pathetic, arrogant little man." Inwardly, he kicked himself, he let himself get all riled up over this guy, and it turned out the guy was just a phoney.

Ah, ****, James thought inwardly to himself. He should have figured that in a place like the headquarters of an prominent Atlantean organization, there was bound to be fairly strong individuals who he shouldn't try to entangle with unless he had more power in him. What was worse was that they were outside with very little power sources which he could draw upon. Still, James didn't dare give up yet. He grinned, powering up both hands with more electricity than the first attack. He took note that his reserves were slipping fast, so if he wanted to beat this guy, it would have to be hard and fast. "I'm just getting warmed up," James replied, taking a few steps back, and now releasing the dual electrical balls at Oliver. As the energy departed his hands, he felt weakened from the lack of additional energy inside of his system. He wouldn't be able to keep up powerful attacks for much longer without the sufficient energy.

Oliver turned around, only to feel the balls of electricity power into him. He had just enough power drained from James' last attack to help him survive, but little to no to consume and convert the energy. Around him, sparks flew as the electricity disappated into the air. "You *sshole," he cussed, as they attack sent him backwards. Recovering, he faced James, the anger consumed him so that he could not stop holding back, letting his ability flow free. Bright wings, composed of energy burst forth from his shoulder blades, flaring in the sun, a glowing, ethereal beak covered his mouth and nose. Grabbing his ipod from his pants, Oliver broken it apart, consuming the last remnants of energy it held before turning back to James. "Do you really want to mess with me?" he screamed, his voice piercing the air around them. At windows and in doorways, students gathered, watching everything heat up.

Sprinting forward, Oliver launched himself at James, his wings propelling him harder into the man. "Caw Caw M*ther F*cker!" he screamed as he rammed his entire body into James'. Oliver was going to give the spectators a fight they were looking forward to.​
 
5,114
Posts
17
Years
  • Age 30
  • AU
  • Seen Feb 18, 2023

Julian Morales - Atlantean Unification Project HQ, Toulouse, France

Julian had been having a nice day today.

Despite the anguish that had been going on, the trouble that had been brewing, the work that had to be done because of Paris, he felt good. Content. Like his day was going to be easy and rather simple. Annie had tasked him with something that he had no problem with; taking care of those in the wards. Julian was a doctor before he was an Atlantean and found healing the sick to be something he was rather comfortable with. Hacking government files and such seemed very much out of his reach. Physical contact he was good with.

So far, everyone within the ward was doing well. Though his eyes were awful, using his other senses, he could somehow pinpoint pain (he wasn't sure how himself) and do everything he could to remove that pain. Some patients had been rather hesitant about an almost blind doctor treating them, but a few kind words of encouragement from his current companion, the great Jonathan Cooper, and patients would trust Julian with their lives (which they were anyways).

"Are you sure your ability isn't perhaps some kind of emotion calming?" Julian asked the old man, slowly stitching a new patient's wound. Cooper chucked and shook his head.

"No, Dr. Morales, there are some instances where I cannot calm Mr. Bernot down when he is in hysterics. Such as this morning..." Cooper sighed, his gaze dropping to his hands. "I feel sorry for poor Emilio. So much on his plate."

"I understand what you mean. So much has happened in such little time."

"Indeed."

"Well, it's not like it's a bad thing," a new voice came from the entryway, though Julian didn't have to raise his head to know who it was. "This place was growing boring. Nothing like a good unnatural disaster to shake things up."

"I hope you're not being serious, Ms. Green," Julian exhaled at her sarcasm, or whatever it was. It was rather rude and insensitive of Imogen to be like this towards the patients.

"Of course I'm not. Or am I? You'll never know," her heartbeat said otherwise. Julian sowed the last stitch, wrapped the wound and finally raised his head to look at Imogen. She certainly look less tired than anyone else in the facility.

"Are you here for a reason, Ms. Green?"

"Owch Julian, that hurt," she teased, pouting at the doctor. "Well, Annie said she spotted the fire kid and Little Miss Mayor being all secretive and such. She told me to deal with it but," she leant against the doorframe, studying her fingernails, "I have far better things to do than babysit."

Julian sighed heavily, removing his extra magnified glasses and replacing them with his usual ones. Imogen had always been unpleasant, but Julian had done his best to tolerate her behaviour. She was much like a child, always getting her way. She was too old to be taught otherwise now, so there was no point trying to argue.

"Are you to take my place and help the patients?" he gestured to the filled beds of the sleeping wounded. Though they were at peace now, Julian could only imagine their hysteria when they awoke.

"I told you, I have better things to do than babysit."

"Imogen, really! Don't be so oblivious to what is going on! People are dying!"

"Stop it," Julian felt a hand clasp on his shoulder and the stern voice of Cooper. "Don't worry, I'll take care of the hurt."

Julian breathed, almost smelling the sly smile coming from the young woman in front of him. Like he said, like a child. Always getting her way.

"Alright."

"Excellent. I'll go do those better things then. I'll talk to you later, sweeties," she then left, her high heeled boots making irritatingly loud snaps as they hit the ground. Julian did dislike her, like most people. He hoped that one day, she would understand how much she could hurt people with her words.

Julian thanked Cooper and took his leave, pulling coat tighter on his shoulders and making his way to the elevators. It was a quick trip to the bottom floor and like Imogen had told him, two recruits stood at the doors with Junior members looking rather confused. They had probably just called into Annie.

"Hello there," Julian greeted the recruits with a friendly smile and a bow of his head. "My name is Julian Morales. Is there something that I can help you two with?"​



Frederick Salusbury - Atlantean Unification Project HQ, Toulouse, France

"Ah... haha," Freddie laughed at Agnes' jab at Delta. Of course, he hadn't spent a lot of time with Delta, but the feeling he got off her was "please go away". He had students like that, but he didn't have to work with students, he just had to teach them and most of the time, they pretended to learn. Agnes reminded him of his better students. The ones who listened, took notes, asked questions at the end of lectures.

"I was just thinking about, um, stuff. Kind of a lot going through my head now, you know what I mean? With the terrorists, Oakley and the unconscious guy..." Agnes began, frowning a little at the end of the sentence. Yes, it had all happened so fast. Freddie had just figured out how to walk and already people were using their powers to what seemed like their absolute limits.

"Freddie? Do you know who that man sending down meteors was yesterday? I saw him. At the top of the Eiffel Tower, I flew up there. He was glowing like a star. Why would... Why would anyone do what he did? Just because he could?"

She was certainly distressed, poor Agnes was. Freddie wobbled on his legs a little, taking this as a que to sit back against a bit of piping. Again, Agnes asking Freddie a question like this... it felt exactly like one of his History majors asking why King Henry did this or what made Saint Luke do that. Though he had no facts to go by, he had experience and it was all he could offer Agnes.

"W-Well," he started, rubbing his shaking fingers together, "I'm sure you can understand n-not all people are typically... u-uh, good. Yes, s-some people can do things just because... because they can. O-other times..." his hands moved to his chin, stroking the wispy beard he had grown since becoming a goat-man, "other times people do things... for a cause. B-because they b-believe it's right. Even though you and e-everyone else see it as wrong, others s-see it as a... necessary evil to achieve a g-g-greater goal."

It was an awful thing to think, and sometimes awful sacrifices achieved milestones in human history. Wars which ravaged thousands of families made the world see its mistakes and change its ways. Freddie could neither say these things were good or bad, he only documented them. Did that make him a awful human being?

"Do y-you understand?"​
 

Legend

Kingslayer
1,308
Posts
15
Years

Austin Tseng and Nathaniel Calaway - Atlantean Royal Mansion


Austin sat in his usual corner of the Rec Room, messing around on his iPad. He was looking up some of the news articles from yesterday, the Paris Incident. The New York Times article was naturally Austin's first source.


"...Light Lad," Oh hell no. Austin kept reading. These names were terrible! Metal Maiden, Magician Girl, Sir Shock?! That had to be Minerva, Kim, and the new guy. Austin remembered James from the helicopter, kept saying something about a Nate, who turned out to be the dude Austin saved from those women...

Austin read on, learning about the public responses to Paris. It seemed a lot of people were afraid of the Atlanteans even more now, and probably for a good reason. There's no telling how many whackjobs with crazy Magic powers there are out there. Austin just hoped that he wouldn't be automatically labeled as a terrorist beause of his blood. It wouldn't be the dumbest aspect Americans have identified terrorists with.

All of this talk about America and New York had Austin a little homesick. He missed his apartment, Dad's shop, his parents and friends. Hell, even his old school would be nice to see. It hadn't even been a month yet, and it felt like a year. He had grown a lot since he came to the Family. He was stronger than he had ever been taking karate lessons only after a week of training with Antonia, and he discovered his power could be used in more ways than just changing the brightness. Studying physics at the mansion had brought light (excuse the pun) to some of the more complicated aspects that Austin could perform with his ability. Bending, reflecting, amplifying, and starting to control the light spectrum...there was a whole world of possibilities he hadn't thought of. Photons, he discovered that it was photons that rooted his power. He had looked up some of the ways photons were manipulated without super powers. Shoot a beam at a 45 degree angle that was semi-reflective, which halves the photons. Then continue with smaller mirrors and different angles to isolate a single photon, which can then be accelerated into its own beam, only scaled down to the size of an electron...particle acceleration. Photon beams, like the ones Dad used to cut diamonds at the shop. It was exhilerating to think about, but seemingly impossible to accomplish. Austin didn't know how to make a semi-mirror, much less angle a handful of them perfectly to separate photons. And even if he got that far, how would he accelerate a photon that small whout losing his grip on it? And even THEN, it would just be a single photon, not a consistant beam to cut through anything. A single photon could just slip between particles. He would need to have a constant ray to do anything with it.

In theory, it was a really cool trick. In reality, he would probably need years and years of training. At least, for now, Austin decided to just stick to learning refraction. Now finished with his article, he closed his iPad case and slid it in his backpack.

"Hands off of me!" A voice called out from the entrance of the Rec Room.

"B-but your wounds haven't healed yet..."

"If I have to spend another minute in that white room, I will have a meltdown. I, ah!, will be fine..." It didn't take a genius to figure out it was Nathaniel, arguing with one of the nurses of the Atlantean Royal Family as he groaned, grasping his bandaged torso with his free arm as the other was held in place in a sling. Injured in his fights at Paris, Nathaniel had been diagnosed with several broken ribs, a slightly dislocated shoulder and a number of other nagging injuries. The worst damage was to his mind. He felt weak and helpless, once fashioning himself much stronger. But perhaps the worst part was the inner agony of some of the decisions he had made. Getting involved in the whole Atlantean conflict, a war even, and then having to make the decisions the soliders in all wars must make: to kill or be killed. Nathaniel has killed, twice as far he was concerned, and had yet to learn how to deal with the consequences of that. Sitting in that room with nothing but his thoughts would be the most vile form of torture he could come up with. He needed to leave that white room of madness. The Rec Room just happened to be the easiest place to go. As he entered the room, he collasped on a couch and sighed. "Leave me nurse. I'll come back...eventually," Nathaniel said, before his eyes caught Austin. "Hey, you are Austin right?" From Nathaniel remembered, a member of the Atlantean Royal Family named Austin picked up the wounded Nathaniel and brought him to safety. Nathaniel was slipping in and out of consciousness, but when he finally came to, he naturally asked how he got there. Supposedly James was here too. Nathaniel wondered how he was doing. Probably getting himself in trouble. He always was. "If you are, I want to thank you for helping me back there. In Paris."

Austin's train of thought was broken by Nate's entry, but he didn't mind. He was interested in meeting the person whose life he had saved not 24 hours ago.

"Yeah, I'm Austin, aka 'Light Lad'," Austin smirked at his superhero identity, "And no problem, I'd hate to see anybody get left behind in that firestorm." He stuck his hand towards Nate for a shake, "Welcome to the Family?"

With a wince, Nathaniel reached out for a handshake with his good hand and shook it gingerly. The whole gesture hurt, but he would never deny a handshake. "Thank you. Happy to be here." Nathaniel leaned back. "What do you know about the family? I don't know much myself to be honest." Nathaniel's mission for the Librarian was to get information, so he thought he would get straight to business, while maintaining some level of innocence.

Austin wasn't exactly sure how to respond to Nathaniel's question. What did he know about the Family? They were Atlantean nobility, and...they trained people? They seemed to like handling Atlantean business, like the Paris incident and contacting the UN.

"Well...they train young Atlanteans, like me, to become stronger with their powers. Also, this place serves as kind of a sanctuary, I'm sure I'd be a pariah back in New York City if anyone found out about me...but at the same time, they do a lot of political things involving humans. I guess you could say they're the voice of the Atlanteans in the world congress. The representitives. Anyway, I'm mainly here so I can lay low while this whole tension passes...and learning how to do cool stuff with my power is fun too. Other than that, not much I can tell ya. Some rumours say they've got a shady agenda, but I think it's just teenager bullsh*t."

A shady agenda. That piqued Nathaniel's interest more than anything. He expected the rest of Austin's story and for the most part that lined up with his expectations. As opposed to the AUP, which seemed to be an organization rather than a political body, the Royal Family had to have some organization and political sway. That much made Nathaniel more comfortable with them. The Librarian was difficult to trust. But he expected the Royal Family to be that much harder to trust. He would bring up his concerns to James later. "I see. Well, I hope I fit in then," Nathaniel forced a chuckle because laughing would hurt too much. "Light Lad is your codename. Can you control light then?"

"Codename? More like codelame," Austin joked, "And yeah, I make things dark or bright, mirrors, etcetera. It's pretty useless, but in-depth." He thought back to his earlier muse. "Well, maybe someday it'll turn out to be really kickass. They say you have ice powers. Pretty rad I bet?" Maybe Nate could turn out to be a really great friend, he seemed nice enough.

Nathaniel smiled and closed his good hand. He opened it up and in his palm revealed a small statue of a human. This moment reminded him of the time meeting Oakley in the center. "It has its moments. I wasn't particularly useful in Paris, but maybe the Royal Family can help me in that respect."

"Yeah, they're good for training. I've even been picking up some martial arts while I'm here. Antonia knows a lot of fighting styles, you should talk to her to learn some hand to hand maybe? It can help a lot if your power doesn't seem useful, like mine often does. I've been trying to learn some kung fu from her, but I just don't have the discipline needed to be as good as she is. But it's good to at least know the basics, most don't. Other than that, I'm sure they have trainers here for other field skills, probably a shooting class you could take. Defensive stuff, as well as offense. Some guys here are like agents I hear, training to do some sort of secret assassin stuff." Austin laughed, "Yeah right, more like secret asinine stuff."

Nathaniel's interest was once again piqued. The possiblity of learning martial arts was pretty enticing. Nathaniel's "fighting style" was based purely on wrestling and street fighting. He lacked any form of style. Discipline, he liked to think he had that, but only a training session would help figure that. Maybe he would look up this Antonia. She was probably butch if she did martial arts. "I doubt I would fit their secret assassin stuff model," Nathaniel joked. "I hardly seem the sneaky type. You, on the other hand, have potential for that."

"Yeah, I don't see you hiding in a cardboard box anytime soon," Austin laughed, "But it seems like you'd make one hell of a brawler. I don't know about me, I'm about the right size and I've been learning some optical illusion stuff with my powers...But sneaky around and slitting people's throats? I don't know if I could bring myself to do that in cold blood. It just doesn't seem right, killing them without a fight."

"Killing isn't right."

"Yes, you're right...but sometimes it is necessary. Greater good and all that yadda yadda."

Nathaniel bit his tongue and clenched his good hand. He wanted to do nothing more than chatise Austin for his statements. To tell him that killing was never an answer. That there was a better way and that killing someone could never lead to a "greater good". Austin was unaware of the hard truth about killing. He didn't know what it meant to end someone's life. The pain, the suffering, the hate that it brings out. He didn't know the burden that weighed down on Nathaniel's heart. The sinking feeling in his chest from the guilt constantly eating away at Nathaniel was difficult to bear. He knew nothing. Perhaps what it made worse was that Nathaniel knew he had to deal with this hard truth himself. Any resolve Nathaniel was to make following the wake of this ardous few weeks would be his alone. Nathaniel sighed without realizing it before rising from his comfortable seat. "I'm going for a walk," he said.

Austin was put off by Nate's tension at the lad's comment. Sometimes sacrifices had to be made for a cause, right? It was true Austin hadn't ever thought of those sacrifices much, and after all, it was not like he had ever had to do anything as drastic. But the man in Paris...Austin hadn't even given a second thought about ending his life. True, he didn't in the end, but it wasn't a major concern of his to let him live. Then again, he hadn't been necessarily trying to kill him either. Austin just nodded when Nate got up to go for a walk. He let the hulk of a man pass. But Austin was suddenly curious as the where Nate was going. He watched the new comer leave out the door, and started to follow him, keeping his distance of course.

Assassin... he kept thinking in his head. He couldn't quite decide whether it had a negative or positive connotation to it...

Nathaniel paid no real attention if Austin followed him or not, still consumed by his own thoughts. Voices popped in his head and memories swarmed him. He found himself questioning what he did, was doing and will do. The vile actions he committed ate away at him, despite easy justifications for them. The motives behind each of these "factions" were at odds and any degree of trust Nathaniel vested in them could easily break with a simple question. It made making his next choice so difficult. Will he continue to trust the Librarian, a gentleman who seemed geninue enough? Will he take a leap of faith on the Altantean Royal Family, a group who seems to have good intentions despite Austin's warnings? What of the Atlantean Unification Project who may have their hearts in the right place? No matter what Nathaniel found a hard time believing any of them. Making the big decisions were never easy and Nathaniel knew he was making it hard for himself, but he knew whatever choice he was going to make would change everything.

The absent minded wandering somehow put Nathaniel outside, where he could see a crowd gathering. Curiousity got the better of him, and Nathaniel took this distraction as a blessing in disguise. Really, he needed anything to get his mind off of everything.

Caw Caw M*ther F*cker!" Hearing that just made everything more interesting. Nathaniel quickened his pace by half a step and loomed closer, using his large frame to plow through the audience. He arrived in time to see a familiar face be rammed by someone.

Austin suddenly quickened his pace as he heard the sounds of a fight ahead. It didn't sound like anyone's voice he really knew that was yelling. Glancing out a window, he saw sparks flying. James... Was he attacking the family?

Once outside, he saw a group of onlookers (of which Nate had joined) watching James fight...Oliver? Austin had definitely heard of him, but never had never spoken to him in person...what is going on?

"James...?" He got himself in another fight. Hopefully, Nathaniel wouldn't need to bail him out.
 

Kikpanther

Not a beginner that's for sure
663
Posts
14
Years
Dominique Bisset and Delta Mayor--- Toulouse, France

"Your turn, Dom."

Dominique read the signs and eyed the street corners, trying to pinpoint exactly where they were. He had to be honest, looking back at it, he'd never seen this building before. Maybe that was its charm, being hidden in plain sight. That would explain why there weren't protesters and police officers storming the building. He'd say there was a glamor over the building, but there wasn't enough litter.

"I think I know this place..." He muttered to himself, scanning over the buildings that had that annoying sort of familiarity. Yeah... He knew this place. He never shopped here, but he'd driven passed a few times here and there. Amazing how he could drive passed a building over and over and not once look at it. He wondered if he would have noticed something was odd about this place, so odd in fact that he would step out of his car and walk inside at the same time a kid with fire powers and a girl with crystal arms decided to leave. He looked up and down the sidewalk and out at the street. No one coming their way, no one stepping out of their car doors. No one saw this place, no one would ever see it, not unless something terrible happened at least. Astounding how ignorant people suddenly were when you knew a secret. Astounding how he only needed to scream out their whereabouts and suddenly everyone would know. He had the power to do so, had the urge to, and yet--

"Hello there." Dominique frowned. "My name is Julian Morales. Is there anything I can help you two with?" Right when he was getting to the good part someone--apparently Julian--interrupted him mid-thought. That must have been that babysitter Del mentioned earlier.

"No, not at all. Just looking for the shopping center," he answered without looking back. He pointed down the street to their left. "We go this way."

A grin planted itself on Delta's face, the AUP worked quickly. A babysitter was better than busting a window, but not by much. She gave Julian Morales a look over before she turned to face the outside world. It wasn't as if she was going to recognize anything, hell, Delta doubted she would've knew what city they where in if it hadn't been told to her. This was her first time in France, she'd hardly left Poland except for a couple vacations and personal field trips. Delta too had noticed the lack of public presence. There wasn't people demanding their deaths or wanting justice to be done, no, it was quiet. An eerie quiet that brought on those moments where one is left alone to think, replay memories, and dwell on the past. If Delta had to guess she would say that not even the Royal Family knew where they were, maybe.

There were strange politics that came along with this 'new' world full of Atlanteans and Delta didn't like it one bit. Everyone was playing a different angle and there was another layer of truth or deception behind the words they had carefully chosen. Sometimes it was both. It was a chess game and Delta had yet to see the whole board. Instead the focus she had was centered on the smaller details, as she was constantly forgetting to take that crucial step back. She was putting one foot in front of the other to follow Dom's lead.

"Did you grow up here?" Delta called out, as she observed the scenery. At any moment now she expected the Royal Family to fall from the sky.

Dom shook his head. "Paris. I just go to school here." Toulouse was a great city, but it was nothing like its neighbor Paris. Even a short memory of his childhood brought pain to his heart. He wondered if he could still find his old favorite places in the rubble. Probably not.

Honestly he didn't really want to talk about Paris or his suddenly tragic history. Not right now anyways, and not with her. Dom glanced over his shoulder, seeing Julian for the first time. He followed behind them just as told, Dom was sure. He maybe... Possibly... Probably wasn't as bad some of the members and Del had him believe was the entirety of the AUP, but...

"We're not going to keep Spectacles around, are we?" He asked in a lowered voice.

"It's best not," replied Delta in the same lowered tone.

Paris... That meant... him... his family... Delta couldn't hide the shock registered on her face fast enough for it to go unnoticed. The last thing he wanted was pity, so Delta politely looked away. She knew what it was like, but she couldn't express the emotions she wanted to because Delta didn't know how to. For now it was a topic she wouldn't dare to breach unless she felt it was necessary. Or, his family had moved from Paris and nothing happened to them. Something told her that wasn't true, Delta bit her lip as she wondered how they would lose their sitter.

There was something off about how he moved, like, he wasn't relying on purely on sight. An idea pieced itself together, "He seems like he's legally blind or something. A few twist and turns ought to lose him. If we do it quietly."

Quietly, huh? Dom had seen the look on Del's face, but pretended he hadn't by planning an escape route. He just had to find those twists and turns. "Let me think..." He wished he had shopped here, then he would have had a much better map of the area. Giving someone the slip wasn't easy when you had to remember where all of the streets went. Luckily the Lord was on their side.

On another block a crowd of people were gathered. It wasn't an exceptionally large group, he would estimate around fifty people. None of them had signs or anything that looked particularly special. The biggest thing they had in common was that they all looked to one man standing on a wooden box. Judging by his fervent gesticulations he was talking about something important. The man had a megaphone, but from where they walked it sounded like blaring in the distance.

Dom gestured to the crowd. "How's something like that?"

A crowd was a great plan, the possibility of Julian being able to keep track of them in it was slim. Even slimmer if they were stealthy about it. What the crowd had gathered for Delta couldn't tell from here. Not that she'd be able to understand them as they'd most likely be speaking and chanting in French. Why the Unification Project felt that they needed a babysitter was beyond her. Okay, she killed someone, but she wasn't going to kill innocent people and give away the top-secret headquarters. Julian wasn't someone she knew or really ever heard about, which was unfortunate for him. Maybe he wouldn't get in too much trouble for losing them, not that Delta cared either way.

"It's perfect," Delta responded with a grin that hinted at mischief.

Not long after the three of them had made it across both streets and were approaching the crowd. Since they started it had gotten a tad bigger, a few interested people latching on like the outside rim was made of velcro. By now they could hear the speakers words loud and clear. The man was speaking out against Atlanteans.

"We must drive this deadly force out of France!" The man spoke powerfully in French to the crowd. They responded with shouts of agreement, clapping, or just nods of the head. On the outside of the crowd a woman, probably a friend of the man, handed them both t-shirts with a short line about ending the Atlantean assault before going on to the next passerby. He may have read it then, but they still had a goal in mind. As politely as possible, Dominique pushed through the crowd of protesters, making sure they didn't go only straight to make it harder for Julian to follow. "The children of Paris won't ever see this tyranny end, but yours can!" Being so close to Paris, he wondered how many of these they would run into.

Breaking out of the crowd, a quick look back gave no sign of Julian. "Alright, let's go."

Unable to read a vast majority of the shirt except a word she assumed translated to Atlantean Delta tossed it on the ground once she entered the crowd. As Delta further immersed herself in the crowd, she strayed from Dom for a moment to make it that much harder for Julian by giving him two separate targets. There were women, men, and children all soaking up what the man had to say like little sponges. To ignore what the man was saying was easy given he was saying it in a language Delta hadn't any knowledge in. A shoulder slammed into hers, Delta glared at the man who turned and gave a wink. A knee to the groin changed the man's facial expression into something Delta felt was more suitable. Afraid of losing Dom and worried about blowing their cover Delta trudged on, but not before yelling a few more explicit words.

After ducking, dodging, and weaving Delta appeared on the outside of the crowd once more. Dom was right in front of her, thank the lucky stars. Twisting her head backwards confirmed Julian wasn't in sight, though to underestimate someone who had been at this longer wasn't necessary the smartest idea.

"What was that all about?" Delta resisted the urge to look back.

"Paris. They hate us," Dom answered maybe a little too casually. He wasn't sure how much he agreed with those protesters. It was true, so much had happened with the Atlanteans and thinking about it made him feel angry, if not hateful, as well. He hadn't decided whether he was mad at the Atlanteans as a whole, the Atlanteans that killed, or the Royal Family. He couldn't decide completely yet, but he knew the Royal Family was not on his list of favorites. Still, whatever he thought, he didn't think he would ever fully agree with the protesters, or at least the man speaking. As they weaved through the crowd and walked away now, he had heard more than one call for violence, military action, death penalties for Atlanteans labeled as "too strong", too much. It made him wonder what that meant for him. He had been in Paris, but he hadn't done anything wrong, had he?

Dom opened up the t-shirt he still kept in his hands and read the large, red text out loud. "Cure the Atlantean disease!" He turned to its back. "Want to know how? Visit Atlantidote.com!" Dom grinned with amusement. "I think I'll keep it. What do you say?"

A bunch of vile creatures wanted to revolt against them, as if they were a virus that could be cured. Another stage of this would be countries trying to force Atlantean to be used as wartime weapons, beings that they can control to do their bidding for them. Paris wasn't their fault as a whole, their kind was separated all across the globe without a proper home to return to and a lack of guidance. Chaos, it was, a foolish plan by the Atlantean Royal Family had caused it. Hadn't they thought of the endless consequences before they just abruptly decided to reveal Atlanteans to the world? There was bound to be rogue Atlanteans who thought that they could do what they pleased whenever they wanted with god knows what powers. It was true, Paris, Berlin, and whatever happened in Egypt were the only representation the public had of them. Delta figured that Atlanteans needed to present a unified front to prove they weren't a threat.

Delta couldn't hide the disgust on her face, now that she knew what the shirt had said. "I think they wasted good money on such tacky shirts." She relaxed her posture. "...If there was a cure, would you take it?"

Dominique shook his head. "Nah, I've got stuff to do with it first." Personal stuff. "But afterwards?" Dom shrugged. "Yeah, I'd take it. It's more trouble than it's worth." A lot more trouble. Honestly, what genuine good had come out of the Atlanteans since the Royal Family's big reveal? Not any he knew about. He wished instead of terrorist attacks and calls for the end of Atlanteans he could open up a newspaper and see something about a miracle healer or a man who could bring good fortune. The way things are going, it seemed more likely that those people were using their powers to hurt or steal than anything good. He wanted to say it would, but he didn't think the next big disaster to come would shock him. It seemed inevitable no matter how much he wished it wasn't. Looking at the shirt again, he no longer got amusement from it. It was like holding an omen in his hands.

Dom tossed the shirt into the first trashcan they passed. "So, what about you? You don't seem like you mind it all too much."

She nodded in agreement as they kept walking. "No, I don't think I would ever willing give them up." Then sighed. "I would take a cure for... others things."

Being an Atlantean had to be one of the best developments in her life thus far. Her life before this seemed unreal and pathetic, almost if it had happened years ago or to someone else entirely. It was as if Delta had fully awakened from a deep slumber when her long since forgotten heritage was unveiled. A brand new life was gifted to her and had brought her joy and excitement, emotions that she hadn't felt in a long time. To go back to standard living was impossible and irresponsible, there were certain things could, no, should accomplish now. Power was a great motivator, the harder she pushed the more adept she got in her abilities. All of this had changed her Delta had taken a life. Crushed a man, another Atlantean no less, into pieces with a simple kick leaving nothing but his head behind. The regret and guiltiness of it was all vastly receding, there was nothing she could do to change that fact. Nothing could change the fact that she wanted to do it again, again, and again. Like constant hunger it gnawed at her, always on the edges of her thoughts asking, pleading, begging to be acted on. There was only so much strength that could go towards actively fight against it.

Not to mention the sudden tirade of other more personal feelings. Another identity to figure out, another irremovable label to slap on. It hurt. It all hurt. She wanted it gone, she hadn't asked for it, she hadn't wanted it, and it wasn't fair that she had gotten it. All these feelings made her question who she was as a person, who was Delta at the core? Numb. She. Was. Numb. And for now that was enough.

"Hey, hey you." The rugged voice brought Delta back from her trance and stopped her in her tracks.

A scraggly man, about Dom's height and Delta's weight, who clearly hadn't shaven in a good month or bathed for that matter, eagerly approached the duo. He wore a smug grin and a terrible choice in clothing (he must have had the same stylist the AUP had gotten for their interior.) His French was fast, but his eyes were even faster as they shifted from Delta to Dom, back to Delta and then to Dom before he settled firmly on Delta. His grimy fingers fingered the inside of his buttoned coat, as if he was anxious about opening it in front of them.

Oh God. Dom cringed before he could stop himself. He wasn't sure who or what was standing before him, but he was sure he wanted it gone completely. If the good Lord didn't bless him with blindness he was sure the clothing would do the job or maybe the smell would burn away his corneas after it finished with his nose. The way he looked at them both was equally unsettling and he wished they could walk by, but unfortunately his reaction confirmed that the man had been noticed.

"Excuse me, we're trying to get somewhere."

The man instinctively stuck his hand out in front of him and made the gesture that signaled for them to 'wait a minute' to make sure that they didn't go anywhere. He rummaged through his large coat with his other hand, why he didn't just open it all the way up was a mystery. When his hand returned it had secured three watches that were held tightly between his fingers. They looked nice and clean, a complete contrast to the hand that held them. Two of which were gold and the last silver, each of them were clunker than the next.

"Now, what I have here are special watches. One of a kind. Atlantean watches." Switching his primary gaze to Dom. "Get one for your girlfriend. A gift. She'll love you for it and even repay you in... other ways." He winked for emphasis.

Delta began to pick up the context clues to follow the conversation, seeing watches and the state of this man it was clear was trying to sell them. His gaze unnerved her there was just something creepy about it. At least they weren't being robbed.

Dominique raised his brow. "Really now?" He preferred to ignore the girlfriend comment and did so without a second thought towards it. "He wants to sell us watches," he told Delta in English. "Atlantean watches." He hadn't hear anything about watches being born with the Atlantean gene, so whatever this was must have been a scam, but then again the man's hook was too ridiculous to believe anyways.

Dom put on a smile, as if he were really interested in the product. "So what kind of Atlantean watches? They've got powers or somethin'?"

"Yeah, yeah. Powers. Cool powers. Y'know?" He fiddled with one of the watches before he gave another quick smile. "You won't know which until you put it on."

Delta let out a light chuckle. She had only ran into a street scammer once and that had ended terribly for him. He got too handsy, Delta did the same except for with her fists. For someone to capitalize on the Atlantean revelation wasn't surprising. Why watches? It was an unusual choice. Watching how fidgety the man, who occasionally threw a look over both shoulders, was made Delta think of how they were trying to avoid dealing with their official babysitter.

"Spectacles might catch up..." Delta warned, leaning in closer.

Oh yeah. The near mob mentality of the protesters and this more recent conman took Dom's mind away from their initial goal. "Uh, yeah," Dom said as he began to walk passed the stranger, "I just remembered we were doing something important. I'll find you later, okay?"

"Wait!" The man gripped Dom's left wrist tightly. "If... the Atlantean watches are gone. It's not my fault." Nodding to Dom and Delta the man walked off fast making a sharp turn down the nearest alley.

A shudder shot up Dom's spine as soon as the man touched his wrist. The strange, dirty man's sudden invasion of his personal space and the fact that he was--without a doubt--completely disgusting almost left him paralyzed. Almost. Luckily for his life, Dom had just enough strength to snatch his hand back, but before the sound of revulsion could escape his lips the man had already disappeared down an alleyway. For the second time Dom cringed, feeling as if maggots were crawling up his arm at this very moment. He had the sudden urge to drop everything and find the nearest shower, as if not doing so within the next second would be enough time to leave this stain permanently stuck to his body. He wiped the remnants of the stranger's hand, solidifying his outfit's need to be burned at the first chance. However, it was that same motion that took his mind off of it completely.

Dom eyes widened and he pulled his wrist up quickly in front of him. Without a moment's hesitation a wave of heat burst from his body in all directions, powerful and intense like his anger.

"That f*cker!" Without a warning Dom burst out running, following the conman's path.

Delta flinched as she felt the sudden temperature increase. A confused look sat upon her face. "Dom...?"
 
37,467
Posts
16
Years
  • Age 34
  • Seen Jan 2, 2024

Agnes Johansson - Atlantean Unification Project HQ, Toulouse, France

"W-Well," he started, rubbing his shaking fingers together, "I'm sure you can understand n-not all people are typically... u-uh, good. Yes, s-some people can do things just because... because they can. O-other times..." his hands moved to his chin, stroking the wispy beard he had grown since becoming a goat-man, "other times people do things... for a cause. B-because they b-believe it's right. Even though you and e-everyone else see it as wrong, others s-see it as a... necessary evil to achieve a g-g-greater goal."

Agnes frowned a little again, listening to the ex-teacher's explanations. She looked out over the city of Toulouse for a quiet moment.

"Do y-you understand?"

"Yeah... I guess I can understand that. Not sure I believe any kind of evil is okay if it hurts someone though. But in any case, I guess the higher-ups don't want us to worry about Paris, do they? Uugh. I just lost some sleep over it, is all." Agnes sighed and ran a hand through her hair, suddenly remembering that she was fresh out of bed, without a shower and without even being properly dressed. She hadn't thought about that, but now she became embarrassingly self-aware.

"Haha, actually I haven't fetched breakfast yet, what time is it?"

The time was a bit too much, they both established with a quick check. Agnes sure had slept in. "I think I'll go and freshen up quickly and then try to see if there's still someone willing to give me a morning snack in the cafeteria. Or pour some coffee into me, at least! See you in the cafeteria, perhaps?" she said with a wink and a pat on Frederick's arm.

Before Agnes went inside again, she threw a glance down on the streets again. And what she saw made her a bit confused. Was that Delta? And some other guy. Leaving the HQ. Oh well, maybe they were granted a leave on this day off. What Delta did was not her business, thankfully. She shuddered as the memory of the crystal girl decapitating a frozen man played in her mind once more.​
 

Lokiepie

ooh...Cake!
316
Posts
11
Years

Charlotte Hunter and Kieran Davis - Atlantean Royal Mansion, Boston, England


It was the gentle clink of a plate setting down next to her that caused Charlotte to withdraw from her thoughts. Glancing to her side, Charlotte watched as Nick settled next to her, plate piled with food and his limp seemly better from the pervious day.

"How you doing? Nurse." His voice was light and there was a smirk smeared across his lips which pushed them into a lopsided grin as he met her gaze.

Charlie grimaced at this, almost flinching at the nickname before slowly closing the screen of the laptop. It had only been a day, but already the internet had been filled with news articles. The slanderous litter being strewn across almost every website Charlotte lazily regarded over her morning cup of coffee.

'Nurse' was apparently one of the nicknames given to her which she had not completely agreed with, but on looking at the other nicknames bestowed onto her peers she considered herself lucky. 'Metal maiden' and 'light lad' were pretty dire by comparison. This did not mean that she revelled in being called the new nickname however.

Sighing, Charlie placed down her cup and shifted slightly in her seat to set her company with an unpleasant gaze, making the boy next to her squirm uncomfortably.
"If you ever call me that again. Nick." Charlie said, her voice dangerously cool "Next time you come to me with a bad injury, I may, just may accidently twist your injured ankle the wrong way"

Nick as this paled a little, leaning away from his friend as if she had suddenly turned into some poisonous snake. "Jeez Charl. I was just making a joke, ya know? You just seemed a little up tight and with you being rushed off to the med bay yesterday, I just wanted to cheer you up."
Watching her company's shoulders slump, Charlie felt the a tiny flicker of guilt began to niggle at her from somewhere near the back of her skull. She remembered very little of the day before after she had crawled out the fire. Snippets of memory snatched through the darkness, but nothing was clear. All she truly knew was that she fell in the street and then awoke at 5am this morning in the nurses' room, the cotton bed sheets tucked in around her like a cocoon.

"I'm sorry." Charlie sighed, letting her shoulders slump this time. "I guess I am a little up tight." This sentence came with a heavy sigh as the girl pressed the heel of her hand to her forehead, leaning forward to allow her hand to take the weight of her head as if her neck could no long hold it. With her other hand she stroked the back of her neck, where beneath a white bandage, lay an angry burn. Tracing the folds of the fabric with her finger tips, Charlie mused over the pervious day. She had not faired well and that was putting it kindly. Cuts, bruises as well as a number of particularly painful burns coloured her pale flesh in pinks and purples. A broken ankle and a few snapped ribs were the worst of it however, which was considerably lucky. Yet regardless of these injuries, Charlie knew her time off was limited.
People in the academy still needed tending too and she tried not to think about the amount of reading she would have to complete before her next test.

Nick remained silent for the best bit of a minute or so as he regarded his friend, his expression softening, before he reached over and very carefully put a hand on the girl's back.

"You did well."

"You don't even know what I did out there."

"Don't need to, to know you've done good. Just try to relax, ok?"

Charlie huffed, puffing out her cheeks a little before pulling back her hair, exposing her face. Relaxing was the last thing she could do at a time like this, the continuous urge to check up on the other who had been out on the field kept cropping up, but so far Charlie had seen none of them.

"You know, you looked kinda sweet curled up in that guy's arms." Nick commented, twigging that his highly strung friend wasn;t just gonna relax on the command.

Charlotte froze at this comment, swinging her head round to stare at Nick as her mouth dropped open.
"What guy?"

"You know, the one with the bone arms? Dark hair, tall, suave looking shirt."

Charlie felt her heart stop momentarily. " You mean Kieran?"

"Yeah that's his name!" Nick beamed, as he picked up his fork and began to shovel food into his mouth. "Had you all wrapped up and cosy in his arms as they got you out of the chopper and down to the med wing."

Charlie at this, felt her insides cringe. She had been carried to the med wing by Kieran? She was of course curious how she had been transported from her spot in Paris to back home but now larger more embarrassing questions began to pop up. Her mind playing a twisted various of whack a mole, only with bitter and embarrassing thoughts.

The most worrying of all being centred around how she had changed her clothes when unconscious.

"Please tell me Kieran's involvement with passed out Me ceased when he got me to the med bay."

Nick narrowed his eyes, a wicked grin holding back poorly disguised chuckles. His eyebrows disspearing into his fringe. "Why? What's wrong Charl? We embarrassed?"

"Oh shut up!" The sentence was hissed through clenched teeth as, with a furious swipe, Charl grabbed her coffee and took a large swig. She had never been much of a damsel in distress type of girl, so this was a new thing for her and one which she was not entirely sure how to deal with.

Nick on the otherhand, clearly delighted with Charlie's discomfort, rose to the occasion with chuckled chorus 'Charlotte and Kieran, sitting in a tree'

Kieran walked past the room just as Nick finished his singing, raising his eyebrow as Charlotte blush and Nick held his hand to his mouth like he had said something he wasn't suppose to. "Nice to see you up and running, Charlie," he commented, leaning against the doorway, "what's the occasion for singing?" he smirked.

"Kieran!" Nick beamed, slowly sliding his hand down from his mouth and grinning, trying his best not to laugh. "Sorry about that, I was just filling Charlie in on yesterday's details. Right?" Nick smiled, meeting Charlotte's furious gaze with raised eye brows.

"She doesn't remember much." Nick continued after a minute where Charlotte failed to reply, her face set into permanent deep furrowed frown, before Nick stood and picked up his plate. "On that awkward note however, I have to go. Places to be and people to see." He waved to Charlotte, whom did not return the gesture, as he pushed in his chair and walked past Kieran with a small smile, eyes set firmly to the ground in fear of bursting into laughter once more.

Dick Charlie thought bitterly, as she watched Nick's retreating back before quickly returning her focus back to Kieran with an apologetic nod.

"It's good to see you got out of the chaos unscathed." Charlie tried in greeting, fiddling with a lock of hair nervously. It was a poor attempt to cover Nick's tracks but then again these situations had never been her forte. Yet despite the poor timing of Nick's singing and Kieran's arrival, a small bit of Charlie was glad Kieran had turned up. She had a lot of questions. "So, what exactly did happen yesterday? Nick didn't exactly know much and the news articles aren't exactly helpful either." Charlie pushed, happy to get off the opening topic. "Did everyone get back ok?"

"Yeah, everyone was fine thankfully," Kieran thought back to the destruction they had been amidst, he had wanted to stay and help with the clean up, but Justin and River had told them it was better they not be seen at the site. They had their own injured to worry about, "and we got two new guys, but one of them is apparently causing quite a hassle for Justin and that, hence the free day today." He was kinda glad to get away from the mundane day to day classes and relax with the other students, but after the event everyone was still on edge.

"You should be careful though, you nearly could have died back there. I didn't notice you go down until some man came to get me, he was yelling in French at me pointing to you," he remembered quite vivdly seeing Charlie collapsed in the rubble strewn street, "but you were a true soldier back there, you did well for your first mission." Kieran beamed at Charlie as she seemed a little on edge.

Charlotte, not knowing whether to feel patronised or proud decided to go with indifference and replied with a polite smile. In all honesty she hadn't really done anything the day before bar perhaps help a couple of people get to the subway. If anything the anxiety she was feeling right now was more down to the fact that she hadn't been able to join everyone else in dealing some damage. Even if it was only a little, she would have liked the opportunity to do so. Regardless of that however, so far her ability had set her permanently in the side lines of action.

Sighing inwardly, she let her shoulders slump but kept the smile set on her lips. "So we have two new guys?" It was of course an obvious next question but it gave her an easy way off the subject of her and kept her brain off how weird it was to be left in the same room with Kieran after what he had done for her. Should she say thank you? Or would that just make things more awkward?

"So you met them yet?"

"Not yet, they've mostly been asleep or in the hospital being healed, but I'm sure we'll get to meet them in due time." Kieran looked her over, seeing the rapidly fading bruises and scars disappear from her porcelain like skin. "You feeling better though? You were pretty beaten up back there."

Shrugging Charlotte finally allowed a real grin. "Yeah, I'm fine. None of them are really mine. Plus they don't hurt all that much." She chuckled before standing awkwardly to perch on the desk. "The broken ankle isn't healing fast enough for me though." Adding this last bit with a begrudging tone, she regarded her leg with contempt. It was because of the injury that she hadn't been able to swim this morning, for in fact for the rest of the week. "How about you? Got any battle scars your own to show off?"

The brief image of Kieran agreeing then taking off his shirt to show some scars, flickered briefly through her mind only to be quickly squashed, as Charlotte blushed a little at her own foolishness.

"Only a couple of bruises here and there, nothing as bad as what you had..." He slowly trailed off, seeing sparks of electricity fly outside of the window, moving closer, he could see a crowd forming around two people clashing in a battle of abilities. Offering his hand to Charlotte, "did you want to watch? See some Atlanteans in action?"

Taking his hand, Charlotte nodded, eyes now pinned to the window. She could hear infuriated screams from beyond the glass as well hurried calls echoing through the halls as students rushed to the scene. Joining the steady trickle of the others, they followed them down to the courtyard where a large group of students pooled together in a semi-circle, all eyes glued onto the scene which unfurled in front of them.​
 
Last edited:

Swolligator

Butcher of the Sands
1,955
Posts
14
Years

James Hazen and Oliver Hansen - Atlantean Royal Mansion, Boston, England



The surprised James was suddenly hit full force by Oliver and his powers, propelling him through the air and knocking him down to the grass of the courtyard. He felt like a toy that little kids would play with and send through the air when the appropriate damage was done to them. But this was real, and the impact hurt like hell, especially to a recovering James. He groaned on the ground, slowly rising to his feet, trying to ignore the pain thrust on him. He was nearly out of juice, but the slowly-gathering crowd certainly helped fuel him. That, and he seemed to love getting into fights. It certainly was a step above doing absolutely nothing only minutes before.

As he rose up, a familiar voice caught his attention from the crowd. Turning to confirm, he saw his friend Nate standing among the spectators. This instantly brought an even larger smile across James' face. "Nate!" He cried out, happy to see that the man was still apart of the Royal Family, as he hoped for. However, perhaps realizing that he may have screamed a bit too loud for the occasion, he composed himself, and spoke again. "You look damn terrible," James said to him with a grin. That was his way of saying that it was nice to see him. He turned his head back to Oliver. "Stay right there," He continued to Nate, assuring him that he could handle himself. "I'm having too much fun now to stop."

With his focus back to Oliver, James took in a deep breath. As he did so, he felt a stinging pain in his ribs, probably being broken, but tried his best to ignore it. The adrenaline certainly helped. He began to concentrate, gathering pools of his contained energy into his arms, and slowly the sparks of electricity began to form at his palms, scattering around as if to find a source to shock. With both of his hands covered in the lightning, James stepped forward, put both of his arms together, thus combining the intensity of the shockwave, and then shot it at his opponent.

Recovering himself from hitting James, Oliver growled as his opponent got up from the ground, seeminly brushing Oliver off to talk to someone in the crowd before turning his attention back to the now increasingly aggrivated Oliver. He felt the shockwave slam into him, throwing him backwards despite poaching as much energy as he could from the shot.

"Geez, you can really pack a punch," Oliver cackled, enjoying not just the fame he was getting from the rapidly growning crowd, but also for finally having an opponent that could match him on the field. Focussing on the little energy he had managed to suck up, pushing it into his ability as his bird-like aura grew brighter, his wings and beak growing more solid and the formation of talons on his fingers.

"Come at me, bro!" He screamed at James as what seemed like the entirety of the Atlantean Royal Family watching them now.

Not needed to be asked twice, James grinned at Oliver and charged forward. Being low on energy, and now seeing how many people were watching, James decided now to enact his plan. Extending his arms, he focused on the electrical sources around that people were carrying. Cell phones, cameras, anything at all that was powered by electricity within the area came into focus. And almost all at once, James visibly stole the electrical energy from these devices, the stream visibly leaving people's things and going into James' body, particularly into his arms. In an instant, the amount of force that went into James' arms looked double what he sent before. In fact, this was the most amount of energy James had contained and released in his arms since he acquired his powers.

The resulting detonation of energy that he released was so potent it not only sent his lightning attack in force, but it also pushed James back at few feet. As the energy left his body, he could feel his arms tingle, burn, and numb all at once in different areas, which was an affect he learned that happens whenever he uses too much electricity at once. Nevertheless, the 'lightning bomb' successfully released from his hands and traveled towards Oliver.

This time, Oliver was more than ready, taking the brunt of the blast as it threw him back even father than James. Using his ability as best he could, he let the energy flow though him, amping up his ability even more. Getting to his feet, he launched himself at the fallen James again, this time going in for the kill.


Before he could make it halfway, Oliver was sent flying back, what looked like a miniature tornado coming between him and his adversary. The tornado slowed spinning until it came to a stop, the elegant form of Chrysta stading ready to stop Oliver's advancement.

"What are you doing Chrysta!" He yelled at her.

"Nothing to see here folks," she turned to the bewildered crowd, waving her hands as if to disperse them before walking over to James. "Nice going, hot stuff," she smirked as she held out a hand to help him to his feet.

Oliver was about to charge again until he realised his hands, feet and abdomen were ensnared with thick, stands of hair. From behind him, Rebecca had her ability activated, her hair encircling her head like a verticle halo of crimson waves. She dragged him with her hair to the pool, tossing him in like a rag doll and watching his ability dissipate. As he came up for air, she returned her hair to it's usual shoulder length before adding, "Oliver, you seriously need to cool off."​
 

SV

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

James Hazen - Atlantean Royal Mansion, Boston, England


The match had come to an abrupt halt after a girl with dark hair, full lips and dark eyes managed to stop Oliver in his tracks from delivering what would have likely been the finishing blow. Quickly, she began dispersing the crowd while another girl grabbed Oliver with her hair and tossed him into the nearby water, thus officially ending the fight, and once again ending James' excitement. Perhaps he didn't realize how close he might have come to death or serious injury, but the only concern James had lying on the floor was why the fight didn't last longer. He found himself becoming a bit frustrated now by the sudden unwanted intrusion by the other two Atlanteans. So naturally, when she came over to try to help him up, he wasn't eager in accepting her help.

Pridefully, James declined the hand, and tried to lift himself up from the ground, faltering and stumbling for a brief moment, and only barely catching himself with his hand, before he finally stood straight up. He stood right in front of the woman, gazing at her and examining her form. She was cute, he supposed, though not exactly his type, and he wasn't much interesting in chatting with her, especially after intruding in on his fun, even if he was getting his a$$ kicked. He kept a sour look the entire time on his face while he gazed at the Atlantean woman, but his countenance abruptly switched when he turned his attention to Nathaniel, who stood a few paces behind her. Completely ignoring her now, James brushed past Chrysta and walked over to Nate, sporting a near-childish grin on his face.

"Where have you been? I was looking for you all morning!" He said to his friend. "I was starting to think you weren't here anymore." He turned his gaze to the right at the sound of splashing water as Oliver began his climb out of the pool. His grin seemed to widen a bit as he saw the fate of his challenger. James was in a remarkably better mood than one would expect especially after losing a fight. Perhaps Nate's presence had something to do with it. Yet even then, the reasoning behind his positive disposition was that James didn't fight to win. He fought to fight.
 

Legend

Kingslayer
1,308
Posts
15
Years

Nathaniel Calaway and James Hazen - Atlantean Royal Mansion, Boston, England


"I've been in the infirmary, James. No thanks to Oakley," Nathaniel said, whispering the last part so no one except James could hear, moving his one arm as much as he could. Nathaniel would admit that despite his injuries, the pain was minimal and moving wasn't has hard as he expected. Perhaps being an Atlantean made healing a far less painful process. At this rate, he could probably train at 100% in a matter of days. That was being optimistic. "I see you have been making friends already." Nathaniel was teasing James, seeing that despite everything that happened that James kept his belligrent charm in tact. "Mind telling me why you were fighting?"

"Oakley did that to you?" James asked incredulously. He shouldn't have been surprised. He knew she was capable of doing it, he was just surprised that she had done it. James, after all, had been knocked out the moment since they got to the helicopter. "No kidding," He murmured, examining the injury. The sheepish grin returned to James' face when the topic switched back to him. "Why?" James questioned, almost as if asking himself. He gave his next response a bit of thought. "I'm not sure," He began. "I guess because he was bothering me too much. But then again, something tells me I would have ended up fighting someone even if he didn't."

Nathaniel could only nod and sigh at James. He nodded just to confirm that Oakley had in fact nearly shattered most of Nathaniel's body. He simply chose to ignore she did it in one shot. That much would almost be embarassing. Then again, Oakley was more powerful than James and Nathaniel would probably care to admit. He sighed at how James continued to act far more...aggressive than would be beneficial to their mission at hand. The Librarian wanted them to basically "spy" on the other factions. Not tear them apart from the inside. But then Nathaniel remembered the night at the bar and neither one of them neccessarily enjoyed the Librarian. Perhaps this was James metaphorically ingoring the wishes of the man who collected them. "Do try to remember why we are here, James," Nathaniel only said in response.

"Heh..." James chuckled. "Why are we here? I'm here to get a better handle on my ability. I was getting some practice in. It didn't seem like they were interested in teaching us anytime anyway." He looked around, examining the other 'students', most of which had dispersed and gone about their day, while some gave glances to James. He then turned back to Nate. "I mean, that's why I'm here. Aren't you? You're not seriously doing what he told you to, are you?" He questioned, not needing to have to mention his name without both of them knowing what he was talking about.

"For the time being, yes," Nathaniel said without much hesitation. He had a duty, no, an obligation to help the Librarian. At least for now. He trained them. Helped them. And he did so without any second guesses. James had a point though. Nathaniel would stay and recieve more training as he knew he was in this...whatever this was...for the long haul. "Can you really trust these people so easily?" Nathaniel said, once again lowering his voice. "What makes them any different from him? We shouldn't stay here longer than we need to."

James lowered in with Nate and responded back immediately. "No, I agree. We can't." He replied, looking directly into his eyes, his own flared with the seriousness of the situation. "I'm not trusting any of these Atlantean groups. You can never know what they're really about." He looked around again, observing the atmosphere they inhabited: the mansion, the students, the scenery. "And even if they're on the level, that just confirms that this place isn't for me. Not in the long run." He turned back to Nate. "As I said before about Henry, I'm getting what I can out of them, and then bailing. Not sure when. A week, a month, who knows? But I'm not getting comfortable."

On the level... If they really were legitimate, Nathaniel would love to stay here. In what Nathaniel understood, their hearts and ideals were in the right place. Nathaniel firmly believed that if whatever "shady agendas" they were up to was nothing more than smoke and mirrors and empty theories, that he would be inclined to stay. But were they a group that he could trust? Nathaniel had a hard enough time trusting a handful of Atlanteans. Could he trust an entire family? With tradition, legacy and a possibly a chip on its shoulder? "Agreed," Nathaniel said half heartedly.
 
Back
Top