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

[Swolligator]

Jeremy Kyle - Birmingham, England

Leon soon joined Jeremy standing in the light, and Jeremy though of pulling a stunt on him, saying something like, "nah, just kidding, we are dead," or some similar idea which made him smile widely. Instead, he looked up into the light, "here he is," Jeremy called out, if anything it looked like he was talking to the light, until it winked out to be replaced by a slow click as rows of lights came on inside the warehouse. It was big enough to fit a football field, and completely empty except for Jeremy, Leon and a singular man flanked by two guards that approached from a closed door. The man stood on a couple of metres in front of both Jeremy and Leon, and with a small cough, signalled to Jeremy. He was short, around five and a half feet tall, his bodyguards closer to six feet. Balding and stocky, this man seemed to fit the stereotype of "rich drug dealer" or at least someone who dealt in dodgy dealings, with influential people.

"Oh right!" he said before he jumped out of the room, a small popping sound echoing throughout the building as he left, then another couple in succession as chairs appeared out of thin air behind the man and Leon. Jeremy jumped back into the room, sitting upside down on the chair, rotating his body around as a look of disapproval crept onto the man's face.

"Hello Mr. Leon," the man drawled sounding like Agent Smith from The Matrix, "I'm glad you could have joined us here," he waved his hand around the room they stood in. "Have a seat," he gestured towards the chairs Jeremy had brought and took a seat while his guards stood flanking him on either side. Clearing his throat, he began to speak again, "I represent the Syndicate, a group of people interested in your....gifts, Leon. Though I am not a part of them, I do dealings with them, such dealings as having to... babysit... you Atlanteans."

He pulled a cigar from his coat pocket, lighting it in his mouth and blowing the thick, acrid smoke out in front of him, Jeremy coughed as he inhaled a chunk of it. "You will be payed, quite generously too for someone like you," he emphasised the last, seeming to make Leon feel insignificant, he had done this countless times to Jeremy, "teaming up with Jeremy here to do what myself or those higher up," he briefly looked at the ceiling, "wish of you."

"So what do you say... Atlantean?" adding the last word a few seconds later, almost spitting it out.


Michael Cale - London, England

"Where are we going?" Oakley asked the lady with the clipboard.

She turned and looked out through the top of her glasses, "Into the next room," she cast her eyes down at her board, "Oakley." so follow me quickly.

Michael followed the lady through the room, the others following behind him, the door closing behind them and locking once they were all through. The room they were now in was fairly small, and its only occupants were three people sitting at a lone desk; piles of paper stacked around them as they scribbled furiously. One of the lady's called with Michael gasped and whispered something to the boy beside her, both seemed surprised to be here, which made Michael wonder what they were so surprised about. It wasn't long before he found out.

The lady in the middle stood up, her long black hair falling down past her shoulders, reaching just above her stomach. She wore quite dark mascara which did nothing else but emphasise her ice blue eyes against her pale skin. A silky blue robe trailed down her body, hiding most of her features; gold patterns weaving around the edges. "Good afternoon," her voice was fluid, like all her words linked together one after the other in a constant stream, "I am River Beleren, member of the Atlantean Royal family and sole Hydrokinetic. I am here to assess each of you as a group and as individuals." She looked at each of the six standing before her, and when she looked at Michael, he had to look down; looking into her eyes pulled him in, their mysterious depths dragging him from reality. "You have been brought together because you six complement each other in abilities. Because of this, you will be teamed up into groups of three, some of you will be welcomed to attend one of our camps where you will learn to work as a group and better control your powers, whereas others will be left to their own measures; being called upon when needed, or when we can help train you."

The lady who whispered to her friend before stood forward to speak, "it is an honour to be in your presence, but how come only some of us can go to the camp?" Michael agreed with the lady, it seemed unfair that some had to learn all by themselves, whilst others got help.

"That is because, Eliza," River replied, focussing intently on the lady, "our resources are few and spread thin, those we believe we can help the quickest we can get trained and ready so we can work on those that would require more effort." She turned her attention to the rest of them, "does anybody else have any questions before we continue?"

Michael shook his head, although questions plagued his mind, none were really relevant, nor on the topic at hand. More than anything he just wanted to get going and get out of there; hopefully able to spend time with Oakley; it has been a while since they last saw each other and Michael had a lot to catch up on.

 

[SV]

Leon Nef- ???

Leon stood next to the man now, who looked up at the single light, and spoke.

"Here he is." He said, towards the light. Leon looked up at it, as if expecting to happen, and soon, something did occur. The light seemed to wink, and the warehouse was suddenly lit up by a row of lights. Leon looked around, a bit surprised by the size of the warehouse, which seemed to extend quite far. It was empty, aside from the man and Leon, until he saw another set of men come in from another door. There were three of them, one in the middle who was short and bald. He had the air of the man in charge. He made a small cough, which signaled the other man to do something.

"Oh right!" He said, and a second later, he was gone. Leon eyed over the new person here. The man spoke.

"Hello Leon. I'm glad you could have joined us here," he waved his hand around the room they stood in. "Have a seat," Leon looked him over and slowly sat down, still cautious, though, in case the man tried to pull anything.

"I represent the Syndicate, a group of people interested in your....gifts, Leon. Though I am not a part of them, I do dealings with them, such dealings as having to babysit you Atlanteans."

Leon observed his words carefully. He knew about Leon, and Leon assumed he also knew about his real abilities as well. This meant one thing: This Syndicate, whatever it was, has been watching him. He also seemed to have a tone with Atlanteans. Leon assumed he wasn't one of them. In any case, Leon was silent as the man explained himself.

"You will be payed, quite generously too for someone like you teaming up with Jeremy here to do what myself or those higher up," he briefly looked at the ceiling, "wish of you."

"So what do you say... Atlantean?"

Leon, chuckled a little to himself, then spoke.

"Heh...no offense, my main bald man, but I don't make it a habit to go into business with organization that I really don't know sh*t about. So, you either explain your motives, and who the hell are you some more, or I'm outta here."

Leon put up a strong front. He had to seem the part, after all. If this was an organization that was important, he can't accept it's offer based on this small explanation of it. He needed details to be a good negotiator. That was one of the first rules of business. Leon was a good arguer after, all.

 

[Skymin]

Oakley North - London, England

"In here," wasn't much of an answer, but Oakley didn't have to ponder on the topic for too long to understand why; the lady in the next room answered her question purely with her presence. 

Oakley had no idea who this woman was, but she introduced herself as "River Beleren", and as a "Hydrokinetic". Of course, Oakley had no idea who River Beleren was, only that she was beautiful. Her gown (or was it a robe?) was a clear, ocean blue, lined with golden embroidery of the most detailed pattern. It complemented her facial features well, her dark hair and her icy blue eyes almost glowing. Oakley couldn't help but look into her eyes, trying to understand how eyes could ever get that colour. It was... Amazing. Oakley was no man in a woman's body, admiring this lady as if she was a work of art. 

Then, she mentioned something about teaming up and leaving to camps or by themselves. Oakley's eyes went to her shoes. Camps? Going off by themselves? Oakley didn't like the idea of either of those options. In a camp, she'd be surrounded by all kinds of people who could do all kinds of things. True, she'd be with 'her people', but she would never truly feel at home. Well, she didn't think she would. She only did so well at her French Academy because of its routine, its consistency. The only consistency this armour had was the consistency to continuously cause her pain and make her paranoid as hell. The camp would see her "training" herself? Where was the normalcy in that? And she wouldn't even start with all of the problems of doing it alone. 

"..ybody else have any questions before we continue?"

Oakley looked back up. Indeed, she had one. 

"Um, ex-excuse me?" Oakley slowly raised her hand, like she would in class. The beautiful lady smiled and nodded at her, a gesture to continue. "Uh, is there a way to get rid of this? Our... Ability?" She tread on the word 'ability' lightly. Abilities were like the gifts super heroes got. They saved the world with them. This was no gift. This was a painful curse. 

"Je... Je ne veux pas de cette. Elle provoque trop de chagrin et je veux juste rentrer à la maison... Home," she added under her breath.​

 

[Swolligator]

River Beleren - London, England

"Um, ex-excuse me?" Oakley raising her hand puzzled River, it was as if she was treating River like her teacher, and although she was flattered, River was nothing close to a teacher; that was something Thalia or Cobalt were good at, not herself. She turned her attention from Eliza towards Oakley.

"Uh, is there a way to get rid of this? Our... Ability?" Something stung River inside; it pained her to think that someone wished to get rid of something as extraordinary as what they possessed. Most people were ecstatic to have a power, even ones that were quite frankly useless, this girl wanted to get rid of it? River left her place at the table and swiftly walked over to Oakley, embracing her in a hug. "My child," she started as she pulled back. She turned and walked back to the table, this time standing in front and addressing the group entirely.

"Like the colour of your skin, your abilities are genetic, a rite, an inheritance of sorts; you cannot get rid of them nor change them. However, like your very own body, they grow and change, slowly becoming something that is amazing....an art." River demonstrated her own abilities; telekinetically controlling the water from the cups on the table and crafting them in mid-air. The became one singular body of water, then split apart into smaller droplets.

She turned her focus back to Oakley, "I'm sorry that you wish that, but perhaps we can turn that around?" River kept her shock buried deep beneath the tumultuous waves of the sea that was her emotions; expressing something closer to sorrow. "Any other questions?"

Jeremy Kyle - Birmingham, England

Jeremy watched as Leon laughed a little before he spoke, "Heh...no offense, my main bald man, but I don't make it a habit to go into business with organization that I really don't know sh*t about. So, you either explain your motives, and who the hell are you some more, or I'm outta here." Jeremy wasn't too shocked to hear Leon speak this way, he agreed with him for most if it, but Jeremy didn't really have a bone to pick with his employers.

"Come on Leon," Jeremy exclaimed, "you should join up so we can work together! It would be fu~n!"

Jeremy was stopped quickly by a sharp glare from his superior, "The Syndicate simply needs the assistance of your...expertise to help them achieve their motives. Like I said, you will be paid for the work you do, like any other job, except you have to accept the jobs they give you, no matter what conflicts of interest you have." His superior could not make it any clearer, and Jeremy knew that he knew as much as Jeremy knew, maybe a tiny bit more.

 

[Legend]

Christian Calaway- London, England

Lead through a few corridors, the group of Atlanteans was lead into a small room with a table in the middle. Three people were sitting at the table, acting if they were waiting for them. The women stood up in the middle and prepared to speak: "Good afternoon.I am River Beleren, member of the Atlantean Royal family and sole Hydrokinetic. I am here to assess each of you as a group and as individuals.You have been brought together because you six complement each other in abilities. Because of this, you will be teamed up into groups of three, some of you will be welcomed to attend one of our camps where you will learn to work as a group and better control your powers, whereas others will be left to their own measures; being called upon when needed, or when we can help train you."

This River Belern was a beautiful woman who spoke with eloquence. She spoke clearly with the words flowing like…well a river. Christian was sliently jealous, if only because his ability to speak paled in comparison with his voice having an almost abrasive quality at times. River asked questions from Michael and later Oakley. Michael focused on the idea of the elusive camp, which bothered Christian but not for the same reasons. Oakley was hoping for a cure, which Christian was curious as to why she wanted one. River explained that it was impossible to cure it as the abilities were genetic. Christian figured until genetic engineering advanced to the level of human experimentation, Miss Oakley will simply have to deal with the abilites. River brought her attention back to the group as a whole, open to more questions.

Christian took a step forward and prepared to speak: "I got a question…your highness. I did not come here to sign up to work for the Atlantean Royal Family and to work with these people, no offense to anyone. I am sure you are all fine people," Christian said with a sincere tone. "I did not come here for training or a career opportunity. I came here to register for a ID saying "Atalantean". So tell me, princess, why the ruse? Why not tell us what we are getting in now instead of acting like every other damn politician?"

 

[Silver Rogue]

Nickolai- Moscow, Russia

Natalia smiled as Nickolai took her hand. Nickolai returned the smile and was partly relieved to be done with this waiting. And he had some bad feelings about the identification process anyway, it was a bit of a relief to find a way out, even if it was probably illegal. Nickolai was about to ask how they were going to get out when the woman yanked on his arm and moved rather quickly towards the wall. Nickolai followed for a moment, not knowing what would happen next, when the woman disappeared into the wall.

Then Nickolai resisted. A thousand thoughts pulsed through is mind, wondering if he would travel through the wall like her, or if he did go through the wall, could he get stuck in the middle? He then realized that this had been well planned, and the woman probably knew the extent of her own abilities, so he allowed himself to be pulled towards and through the wall, the Natalia's grip like iron.

They came out on the other side on the street. It was still mid-morning, and nobody seemed to notice the pair stepping out of the wall. Natalia checked to make sure he had made it out of the wall, then gestured to a silver Volvo parked on the side of the road. "Hop in." Nickolai opened the car door and climbed in, then waited for Natalia to get in too. Then he asked, "So, who are you and what do you want, exactly?"

 

[Skymin]

Natalia Zaytsev - Moscow, Russia

Natalia let herself into the drivers side, put the keys in the ignition, started the car and drove off, away from the Atlantean Centre. If they hoped to get away undiscovered, Natalia had to get to the safehouse as quickly as she could. Quickly without speeding, or drawing attention to herself. She wasn't worried too much, they had plenty of time. Afron had accepted her proposal without too many questions and without too much hassle. This sped things up greatly.

Natalia liked it when things were going to plan.

"So, who are you and what do you want, exactly?" the boy said as she turned right at an intersection. Right, the questions he was talking about. Natalia didn't expect him to dilly dally and nor did she prefer it.

"As I said, my name is Natalia Zaytsev. I am part of an Atlantean organisation called the Atlantean Unification Project, or AUP. I cannot reveal much to you, only that as an organisation, we hope to unite Atlanteans as a singular race," she turned right again, now back on track towards her hotel, and stopped at a red light. Glancing over at Afron, she gave him a small nod. "Atlanteans have been disrespected for centuries, despite our gifts. We hope to change this and give Atlanteans the proper recognition we deserve."

The lights went green and Natalia moved forward, changing lanes to the left. She could see her hotel in view now, and pulled into the driveway when she was close enough. When she had parked in her allocated park, she turned off the car and turned to Afron.

"This is my temporary safehouse. We can discuss more up there, safe from enemy ears," she opened her door and stepped out, gesturing at Afron to follow.​

Oakley North - London, England

Oakley was a little taken aback by the next gesture, Miss Beleren pulling her forward into a hug. Oakley didn't know what else to do, her arm trapped by her side and her other in a cast, so she could not return it though she was a little to shocked to consider it. All she did was mutter a small "oh". She had not been hugged like this, not for a long time, not since her mother died. Oakley stood there for a second, her eyes wide, until Miss Beleren pulled back and returned to her place behind the table.

"My child, like the colour of your skin, your abilities are genetic, a rite, an inheritance of sorts; you cannot get rid of them nor change them. However, like your very own body, they grow and change, slowly becoming something that is amazing... an art," the lady pulled the water from the cups on the table, demonstrating the beauty of her own ability. "I'm sorry that you wish that, but perhaps we can turn that around?"

Oakley gave a sad nod. She expected as much, but she felt no need to control her power. Well, not no need, she probably needed to, but she didn't want to. Oakley's eyes returned to her feet as Miss Beleren asked about other questions. The other boy, Christian, responded quite quickly to her.

I got a question… your highness. I did not come here to sign up to work for the Atlantean Royal Family and to work with these people, no offense to anyone. I am sure you are all fine people. I did not come here for training or a career opportunity. I came here to register for a ID saying "Atalantean". So tell me, princess, why the ruse? Why not tell us what we are getting in now instead of acting like every other damn politician?"

Oakley looked up and blinked at the boy. Oakley hadn't even thought of that, but that was probably because she had not had any intent of returning home. This boy probably had a life, he probably had no trouble with his own power. Her eyes went back to her feet again. She hated to feel so self pitiful and sad like this, especially around people she didn't even know.​

 

[SV]

Leon Nef- ????

"Come on Leon," the first man exclaimed, "you should join up so we can work together! It would be fun!"

Instantly, the short man gave the Jeremy a disapproving glance, and he quieted down. Just then, he began speaking again. He had an air of command about him, yet from what it sounded like, there appeared to be someone above him.

"The Syndicate simply needs the assistance of your...expertise to help them achieve their motives. Like I said, you will be paid for the work you do, like any other job, except you have to accept the jobs they give you, no matter what conflicts of interest you have."

It was less information than Leon wanted, but if the pay was as good as the man claimed, it might have been something Leon should check into. Leon eyed over the two men standing on either side of the shorter man, acting as his intimidation agents. In honesty, they were doing their job quite well. Although Leon wasn't scared, he was a bit nervous. He had no idea where he was, taken by an unknown organization, and offered a job. Any normal sane, reasonable person would walk away. But Leon really had no idea what to expect. What if they tried to kill him if he left? He had no knowledge of their reputation, and at this point, he knew absolutely nothing about them.

The logical choice was this: stay around, if only for now, and if it doesn't prove worthwhile, run.

He was good at running after all.

"Alright, bald man. I'm in. I still wanna know some more, but I'll play along for now. But..." He turned to look at Jeremey, and pointed at him, "...do I have to go with him?"

 

[Swolligator]

River Beleren - London, England.

I got a question… your highness. I did not come here to sign up to work for the Atlantean Royal Family and to work with these people, no offense to anyone. I am sure you are all fine people. I did not come here for training or a career opportunity. I came here to register for a ID saying "Atlantean". So tell me, princess, why the ruse? Why not tell us what we are getting in now instead of acting like every other damn politician?" Asked the large man standing beside Oakley. When River had hugged Oakley, she could smell the man, his noxious body odour reminded her of cigars, bring her back to her days working in the bar in northern Beijing....memories of a past she wished she had never had.

"Christian, if I am not mistaken," River now talking to the man who towered over her, "of course this is all entirely optional, but it would be within both of our best interests that you teamed up with us to better control your ability, and to help the world to become a better place." River was not one for dramatic pausing and effects in her speech, but this boy, this man tried to group her in with Politicians, River herself was no politician, Blayze was the more political one of the group.

It didn't take River long till she figured out what she wished to say, "Mr. Calaway, we have no ulterior motives, our only motive is to help our fellow Atlanteans gain better control over their respective abilities." She tried to stress the last part, most, if not all Atlanteans had very little control over their powers, the stronger ones needed to be trained before they destroyed something and spun the world into a rage filled genocidal war....River shook her head, the Oracle's words still ringing in her mind.

Composing herself, River returned to the group of Atlantean's, "We would much appreciate your cooperation with us, any of you, but if you feel the need to do so, the door is that way," she pointed off to her right, "once through you will be given your Atlantean Identity and let free into a world; a world where technically, you have no rights." She looked at Christian when she said this, they needed as many people on board as possible, "Your choice."


Michael Cale - London, England.

Michael watched River plead her case, although there was not much pleading involved, merely her trying to convince them they were safer in here, as she added the idea of them having no rights being Atlantean, Michael's legs began to shake as one of his fears came true; by signing up he was no longer a British Citizen, he had given that up and now he inwardly cursed his abilities for making him an outcast of society. The all too familiar burning sensation in the back of his eyeballs flared up, and as Michael lifted his hands up to his eyes, pushing inwards with his palms as if he was trying to push the pain out, she saw the walls of the building turn into vapour. Even with his hands against his eyes, eyelids squeezed shut, the world was still visible to him. Pulling his hands down from his eyes, now a steely grey, he looked around the room, tears creeping down his cheeks as the world uncovered before him. He could see through River's coat, her naked body covered in a black jumpsuit under the cloak before his eyes saw through the jumpsuit to her naked body. The floor disappeared showing concrete, then dirt further down while the walls revealed the ever present busy London streets.

He closed his eyes, trying to shut it out, but they compensated for it and the world opened up before him again. This time he downcast his eyes, catching Oakley's cast out of the corner of his eye, an noticed a greyish metal that covered her arm. This could not have been her cast, and no matter how hard he tried, Michael could not see through this mysterious armour, not that he had much control over his powers anyway.

"Oakley..." he croaked, the words lost in his mouth, "what the hell is on your arm?!? Is it your ability?" he asked her, he must have seemed stupid asking her with his eyes closed, weird in that fact as well, but it took him by surprised, the way her power had manifested. Yeah, his vision was a crappy superpower, it could do next to nothing, yet his younger sister got some metallic armour? It all seemed unfair to Michael.

He turned to River Beleren, looking at her through his closed eyes, her clothes slowly giving way to his vision, "Please, I will stay, but please teach me how to control this curse!" Michael was beyond upset and he did not have to look into a mirror to know that he had tears streaming down his face, he was pathetic, and weak, just like his superpower, and it was killing him from the inside.

 

[Skymin]

Oakley North - London, England

"We would much appreciate your cooperation with us, any of you, but if you feel the need to do so, the door is that way. Once through you will be given your Atlantean Identity and let free into a world; a world where technically, you have no rights. Your choice."

Oakley nodded, slowly accepting what she had done by coming here. Though she had no intention of returning to her father, she realised now that she could not. If she did, though her father would accept her for whatever she was, the world she would return to would not. She could never go back to her academy in southern France, she could not return to her scheduled life, the one that had been planned out for her because of her 'condition'. She took a deep breath and sighed, feeling her armour slightly recede and pressure lifting off the cast. Nothing bad had happened yet. She would go to this camp (hopefully) and she would fall into another routine and then be at peace until something else came up. That is what she would do.

She saw the boy, no, man? The guy beside her, Michael, pulled his hands up to his face out of the corner of her eyes. Huh? What was wrong with him? Was this his power? Oakley wasn't sure what he was doing, maybe he was shooting lasers from his eyes. But no, he pulled his hands away and finally revealed them, his once darker looking eyes now a steely-gray from behind his glasses. They were kind of pretty.

"Hey, are you okay?" Oakley arched her head to try and catch his eye, expressing some general concern. She may of not known the guy and found him to be a little weird and nosy, but she wished him no harm. He had tears falling from his eyes as he closed them again. It was like... he had rubbed them too much and they were crying themselves from his pain. She made an empathetic face at him; she knew how it felt to have her Atlantean ability cause so much physical pain.

"Oakley..." he managed to say, "what the hell is on your arm?!? Is it your ability?"

"Wha-" Oakley's heart stopped. Her bandage was covered, how could he see? How could he know? She hadn't shown him, she hadn't shown anyone. Maybe he could read minds, that was it. He could read minds, that was it. He had read her saying it and he had heard all of the miserable things she was thinking.

There was a crack then the cast covering her arm practically exploded, revealing the armour behind it. She gave a yell, her arm was on fire and her fretting was not making it worse, not in the least. Now everyone knew that she was a freak and that she had been hiding such an unnatural thing. She gave another yell as she felt the armour move again, growing past her elbow. She stepped back from the group, sliding against the wall. Her arm had now expanded to maybe three or four times its size, her palm (now about three quarters of a foot wide) resting against the floor. She gripped her bicep with her other hand, hoping to slow down the process but it made no difference. It hurt like hell.

"P-please, don't come any c-closer!" Oakley turned away from her peers, hardly wanting to be the centre of attention.​

 

[Silver Rogue]

Nickolai Afon- Moscow


"As I said, my name is Natalia Zaytsev. I am part of an Atlantean organisation called the Atlantean Unification Project, or AUP. I cannot reveal much to you, only that as an organisation, we hope to unite Atlanteans as a singular race. Atlanteans have been disrespected for centuries, despite our gifts. We hope to change this and give Atlanteans the proper recognition we deserve."

Nikolai just nodded. That made sense, an organization. It made him apprehensive though, organizations often had other hidden motives that they did not tell people. He made a vow to himself that he would try to find out more about the AUP when he had the time, but he doubted he would find much, or even anything at all. It seemed like a very cloak and dagger thing.

Nikolai remained silent for the rest of the short trip. Natalia pulled the car into a hotel parking lot, then shut off the car and got out. Nikolai followed her, and entered the door as she opened it. "This is my temporary safehouse. We can discuss more up there, safe from enemy ears", she said. Good, somewhere private.

He lowered himself into a small chair in the hotel room, and allowed Natalia to put her things away before asking, "So. Unite the Atlanteans as a singular race. Almost as if were a completely different race altogether, apart from humans. Then again, I suppose we are in a way." He paused for a moment. "So, now I suppose you make a phone call to your boss, right? Or do we go and you report in person?"

OOC: Gah! Brain fart! Don't know what to write!

 

[Conjurer]

Ludmilla Caruso - Seville, Spain

Ludmilla was standing in the middle of nothing, quite literally. Her entire surroundings are pitch-black, and there was an eerie silence hanging in the air. Ludmilla looked around carefully and, understandably scared, managed to say, "Hello...?"

No response.

"Is anybody here?" she asked again, this time a bit louder. And this time, a response came.

...milla...

"Huh?"

...Ludmilla...

"Wh-who's there?"

"Ludmilla! Dulce nina, wake up!"

"Huh?!"

Ludmilla bolted upright. The darkness was gone, and was replaced by the filtering light of the sun she knew well--the ray that passes through the checkered curtain that decorated the window of Auntie Isabel's living room.

"There now, dulce nina. Could you pleas--oh my. Look at that there news!" Auntie Isabel said, pointing towards the TV screen.

"And of course, the Prime Minister has reacted towards the outrageous broadcast, and..." the news anchor said.

"What...what's happening, tia?" asked Ludmilla.

"I'm afraid I don't know much about it myself, Milla dear. But it seems that there are a bunch of people claiming themselves to be some sort of superheroes and declaring war on the world. Los locos, if you ask me. You should pay them no mind, but they are entertaining to keep track of,"

Still in a hazy state from her long nap, Ludmilla did not quite understand what she's just been told, but she nodded unwittingly anyway. "Why did you wake me up, tia?"

"Oh, that's right. It's past high noon. Can you get the laundry for me, dear? I haven't so much as sat down the entire day, and I want me some peace and quiet," said Auntie Isabel.

"Okay," Ludmilla briefly said, before getting up and out to pick up the dry laundries.

It was a particularly breezy day that afternoon, and the faint sun gave off just the right amount of heat. The air was warm and pleasant, and clouds drifted lazily in the bright blue sky. She picked up the dry laundries, left the wet ones alone and dropped them off inside. She wondered what she would do next, and decided to go to the park, since it was such a nice day.

"Tia, can I go to the park? Pretty please?" she said, slightly shouting so that Auntie Isabel can hear her.

"Alright Milla dear, but remember, you have to be home before your papa does. That brother of mine will have my head if he knows I'm letting you play outside," the plump woman shouted back.

"Okay, tia. I'll be back before four!"

And with that, Ludmilla stepped outside of her aunt's home and into the warm noon air, and skipped cheerfully on the way to the park. She made her way to a swing, sat and stared at the other people at the park. Apparently, everybody had thought it was nice day to be outdoors as well, and the park was almost full. There were toddlers playing in sandboxes, children sliding down slides and playing the see-saw and adults sitting at a coffee table discussing something. Ludmilla only managed to hear one word over the commotion, but that one word alone confirmed to her what they were talking about--that one word is Atlanteans.

For a while she listened in to their talking, but then gave up as the talking faded into quiet whispers. She just mindlessly stared into the blue skies, and for what felt like twenty minutes her mind drew a blank.

 

[Swolligator]

Camilla Romanos - Seville, Spain

It had been several years since Camilla had been in a Spanish speaking country, yet her knowledge of Spanish had not waned from her mind. Anyone she talked to spoke mainland Spanish, slightly different to the Mexican Spanish she had grown up around. Her life in Tijuana, Mexico was now little more than a vague memory in the back of her mind, yet little bits of Seville reminded her and took her back to her past; something she wished she could forget. But despite all this, she continued to forge on, she had been given a directive by one of her colleagues, there was a fellow Atlantean living here, and being the only one who spoke decent Spanish, she was the one sent to gather the child. Camillia had joined the Atlantean Unification Project earlier in its creation, a day or two after the Atlanteans revealed themselves to the world. She had been enticed by an email she had received once the tattoo behind her ear appeared, that explained to her a lot of things, but most importantly; that Atlanteans needed to gather together as one race and stand in unification before they were killed in a mass genocide. The email spoke of how governments were already planning a mass genocide, and it would be legal too since Atlanteans had no rights what so ever.

So Camilla signed up right away.

Now she began to question if it was really worth joining up, if it meant she was travelling through the slums of Spanish speaking countries trying to find a little girl with a power. Everyone is valuable, is what the AUP had taught her, one of their ideals that she found hard to grasp, but she went with it, it made her finally for once believe she belonged. So Camilla carried on, until she arrived at her destination; a small house in one of the poorer areas of Seville. She watched from across the road as a girl in her mid-teens left the house, and being careful, Camilla followed her until the girl took a turn into a fairly busy park.

"Dios Mio" she exclaimed as she lost sight of the girl in the mass of humanity, until she picked her up again over by the swings.

Camilla gathered herself, preparing what she was going to say to the girl, she had little to no experience of talking to teenagers, let alone recruiting them into a group, but she might as well try her best. She made her way over to the Spanish girl, sitting on the swing beside her. After a few minutes, she spoke to the girl in Spanish.

"Hola, Ludmilla, I understand that you have an ability. Don't be scared," she covered herself, "I'm here to offer you the opportunity to come away with me; to join the rest of our kind before it is too late." Once she started talking, she couldn't really stop, the words seeming to come forth like vomit. "I am a part of the Atlantean Unification Project, and we would like to extent to you, a safe place where you can grow and we can help you control your abilities." Camilla pulled her ear forward, revealing the small flower Atlantean Tattoo on the back of her ear, "You can trust me, I am Atlantean as well." She smile at the girl, hopefully she had convinced her enough.


Jeremy Kyle - Birmingham, England

 

[Skymin]

Natalia Zaytsev - Moscow, Russia

Natalia had not brought much with her to the Atlantean Centre, only a laptop (which had remained in the car) and a bit of weaponry, a handgun (which had remained at her belt). She motioned to Afon to take a seat as she put her laptop back where it belonged, though she kept the gun hidden at her side. You never know when something could go wrong. 

"So. Unite the Atlanteans as a singular race. Almost as if were a completely different race altogether, apart from humans. Then again, I suppose we are in a way."

"Atlanteans are a different race, yes. The average Atlantean is one and a half times a mort-- a normal human being," she corrected herself and continued on as if nothing had happened. "Not necessarily in height or weight, but in strength, mind, age, endurance, etcetera. Though not all Atlanteans utilise their full potential, they are all capable of it," Natalia almost laughed at Afon's next question. "Indeed. No, in fact, my superior will contact me. In the mean time, you are free to ask me any questions in which I will answer as best as I can."

Natalia took a seat opposite of Afon and crossed her legs. A subordinate had already sent word of her success in Afon's co-operation and their exit of the Atlantean Centre, so there wasn't going to be a lot of time until somebody contacted her.​

 

[Legend]

Christian Calaway- London, England

Christian was at a crossroads. River, who he practically interrogated, had come clean being as earnest as she could. Peace and harmony were her primary concerns without a shred of doubt telling him otherwise, however lying was unforgivable. Lying plants seed of distrust which in time will blossom into the tree of deception bearing the fruit of betrayal. This vicious process has happened only a few times before, but it always ended the same way. River was a woman Christian wanted to trust.

Sighing lightly, Christian planted himself on a wall to muse this predicament over. After all, there was not much else to do. Following his line of questioning, a dead silence fell upon the room. It was gloomy and disturbing. The wall, at the least, gave him a vantage point of the room his blue eyes surveying the room. Michael was rubbing his eyes rather violently (headache, maybe?) while Oakley seemed to becoming to terms with her ability following River's consolation. For a moment, Christian felt the only one in the room not completely buying River's story. A tinge of guilt reared its ugly head, preaching him to give in to his consideration of leaping to the conclusion that River was to be trusted and this group was to be befriended. Logic was beginning to agree. Christian had a relatively good grip on his powers (reaching the conclusion that it was primarily based on his emotional state), but he had plenty of room for improvement. All too often, his tangibility slipped or smoke was pouring out. In the past week, he had set off at least 41 smoke alarms, most of them in the residence halls. Though about 5 of them were experiments and pranks to see the girls rush out of the communal showers. Good times. He chuckled lightly to himself, a novelty if there was ever one. Christian looked up, done reminiscing, and was about to speak before the calm silence was broken by the croaking of a frog.

"Oakley... what the hell is on your arm?!? Is it your ability?" It was Michael, gawking at Oakley's cast with his eyes..closed? Christian was more dumfounded, but then remembered that most of the people in the room had "superpowers". Michael's was probably related to telepathy and accessed her mind. Maybe it was related to x-ray vision. That would explain the eyes being closed. Christian shook his head. He had to stop speculating since that wouldn't solve the evident problem: Oakley.

Clearly her ability was triggered by emotions and he could only deduce she was not a fan of being a member of the club. Michael's outburst pressed the right buttons to make her emotional state explode. The cast shattered into pieces, revealing some sort of plated armor. The armor swallowed her arm whole as it expanded to a tremendous size. The process appeared to be painful and Oakley seemed to be pleading with herself to make the process stop, gripping the armored limb in a vain attempt to heed the process. Pointless.

Michael was useless at the moment, focusing his attention on River. Those two bonded over the course of the day. His ability to speak with her would of calmed her down. Christian recognized his own inability to console people, open up and motivate. Emotions were a distant theory to him. Explaining them to him would like explaining rocket science to a caveman. Not willingly to let the princess get her hands dirty, Christian responded the only way he could at the time.

Trying to remain calm as a young girl pleading the others to not look at her, Christian decided to use his powers. Hopefully the week he spent experimenting would prove useful. He glared in Oakley's direction and lifted his hands to her level. His body tightened and a stream of smoke blasted in her direction. Not going for subtle measures, Christian increased the destiny of the smoke, making it a strong solid. The blast sounded like a small cannon was fired and the sound of rubble filled the room. The smoke cleared slowly, revealing a sight for sore eyes. Luckily for Oakley's sake, Christian misjudged his aim missing her by a hair. The wall beside her was destroyed, leaving only crumbs of the once solid foundation. "Oops," he muttered. "Too strong. Probably could of killed her."

Christian took aim again, but then resisted. At this point, he half expected Michael to attack him or River to push him out of the way. After all, he did renovate the room a bit. Calming down, his arms remained in their smoke-like state. His shoulders emitted clouds of smoke and his whole body had an intangible structure to them.

"See Oakley. We are so different you and I. Both of us are freaks with strange powers we have trouble controlling. Hiding our problems underneath a cast or tricking ourselves into thinking we can control them won't solve it," Christian sighed, admitting that River was right. With the sigh, some resemblance of control was gained. The adrenaline left his system. Christian's arms returned and his body regained some form, but the transformation to a solid was not complete. Regardless, he walked over to Oakley and offered her a hand: "No matter what your ability, curse, or gift is, you are amongst friends. Now, let's get a grip on our 'problems'," Christian tried to smile, being sincere.

 

[Silver Rogue]

Nikolai Afon - Moscow


"Atlanteans are a different race, yes. The average Atlantean is one and a half times a mort-- a normal human being. Not necessarily in height or weight, but in strength, mind, age, endurance, etcetera. Though not all Atlanteans utilise their full potential, they are all capable of it." Natalia laughed at Nikolai's next question. "Indeed. No, in fact, my superior will contact me. In the mean time, you are free to ask me any questions in which I will answer as best as I can."

Nikolai thought for a moment before asking his next question. "So if your organization wants to unite Atlanteans, what does the government want to do with them back in the Atlantean Centre? I mean, obviously they want to know who is and who is not, but that's not all is it?"

 

[Swolligator]

Jeremy Kyle - Birmingham, England

Jeremy didn't take it too personally, rather shrugged it off as a joke, as Leon pointed in his direction and made a statement about not wanting to work with him. It was okay though, because Jeremy knew that eventually he would either win Leon over as a friend, or die by his hands, so it didn't bother him that much, at least he would have been killed by a fairly powerful guy. However all that mattered to Jeremy, and to his superior, was that Leon had accepted their request to join The Syndicate, which meant that Jeremy would get to work with Leon. He stifled a cry of excitement as his superior began to speak again.

"Thank you for accepting our....request, Leon," drawled their Superior as he drew a phone out from his pocket. The screen lit up for a second before going dark again and a few seconds later a masked voice erupted from the speaker, giving Jeremy a fright. His superior held it out in front.

"Welcome to The Syndicate, Leon Nef." the voice itself seeming more ominous by the second, "All I can say is that I am a big fan of yours. As a preliminary job before it becomes more....permanent, go with the teleporter next to you, he has the coordinates, and....eradicate any person you find there. Return when finished." Without another word, the voice cut off and the screen lit up for a second before dulling down again. Jeremy had only had a few instances where the Directive had talked to him personally, usually it was his Superior that did most of the…ambassadorial work between Jeremy and The Syndicate. Knowing that the Directive was talking to Leon through the call meant that whomever they wanted Leon to kill was of some importance to their goals.

"You heard the Directive," the Superior spoke, "if you have any questions, consult with Jeremy, otherwise your job needs to be done." Jeremy was happy that the two of them were going on a mission together, for a while now Jeremy had been on his own so it was good to have someone with him. However there was this feeling in his gut, one Jeremy chose to ignore that he knew he shouldn't, that with the inclusion of a new person, maybe he was becoming redundant. For now he didn't need to worry, unless another person with teleportation skills showed up, he was pretty safe.

"Shall we get on the road then?" Jeremy said to Leon before grabbing him round the collar, it only took a little more effort to bring someone along for the teleportation ride than it was to take himself. Whenever he teleported, he always felt a sort of wrenching in the pit of his stomach as he began to use his ability. Right before he teleported to where he needed to, he always envisioned where he wanted to go, and somehow he would smell the smells, hear the sounds and feel the place around him. In the fraction of a second it took for him to blink, the scenes changed from where he was, to his destination.

This time around, Jeremy was taking Leon to the outskirts of Moscow, where he had come from before he went to pick up Leon. It was getting later in the day and Jeremy was still not dressed for the occasion as a cold wind blew in from the east, making the trees creak and sway as if they had a life of their own. Up ahead Jeremy knew that a group of people were waiting, from the noise they gave off it sounded like three perhaps four people, maybe more keeping quiet. The group stood in a clearing a couple of metres to Jeremy's right, but with the wind in the direction it was, the two of them could talk just above a whisper and not be heard.

"Okay, so the people in the clearing to my right, they are the targets you have to eliminate." He whispered to Leon, pointing to where the clearing was, "if you get in trouble, just yell my name and I can teleport you out of there quickly, otherwise once you've finished fighting I will come out to join you." Jeremy barely knew this Leon guy, only what he had been told about him and what he had learnt from the few minutes they had been together, but he felt like he could trust Leon, that despite what little he knew about him, he had faith in him.

"Good Luck."

 

[Skymin]

Natalia Zaytsev - Moscow, Russia

There was a short pause, before Afon asked his next question. 

"If your organization wants to unite Atlanteans, what does the government want to do with them back in the Atlantean Centre? I mean, obviously they want to know who is and who is not, but that's not all is it?"

"The government," she said rather sourly, "have not much to do with the Atlantean Centres, only with their hasty placement all over the world. The Atlantean Royal Family is a proud family, they would not approve of such... Well, vulgar methods, especially those conducted by morta-- normal humans. Although we're not too sure and cannot make too many assumptions, we can only speculate that the Royal Family is planning to either create an army to counter an inevitable civil war or raise Atlantis."

She paused for a moment, adjusting her position so her legs were crossed and arms folded. The idea of raising Atlantis slightly annoyed Natalia. Nobody knew where it was and the power it would take could... Unless they... No, it was too soon to suggest such things. The AUP needed to take more time to research and this boy, Afon, would help their cause greatly. 

"I say these things with a grain of salt. The Royal Family are a mysterious bunch but I'm sure their motives behind their involvement with mort-- the world's politics will arise soon enough."​

Oakley North - London, England

Oakley's eyes widened, unsure of what Christian was going to do to her with his hands up like that. Was he going to use his power to... kill her? Silence her? She yelped a little, out of pain from her arm and surprise as smoke billowed around her. She coughed rather violently, bringing her non-armoured hand to her mouth. Was he sending her to the Netherworld? To Oblivion? She embraced herself but in the end, no pain came. As the smoke cleared, she understood now why this guy smelt like burning when she first saw him; he could make smoke. She looked back at Christian, who was staring next to her at a hole in the wall. He had done that? So he had tried to hurt her! She wailed again as he put his arms up, closing her eyes tight but again, she felt no pain. She looked at him again, seeing his wavering arms and shoulders, his body kind of ghostly. 

"See Oakley. We are so different you and I. Both of us are freaks with strange powers we have trouble controlling. Hiding our problems underneath a cast or tricking ourselves into thinking we can control them won't solve it," he sighed, then stepped over to her and offered her a wispy hand. "No matter what your ability, curse, or gift is, you are amongst friends. Now, let's get a grip on our 'problems'."

She stared at his hand, not knowing what to feel. She didn't take the hand, instead staring at him in the eyes. She almost felt like crying. 

"But... It hurts so much. I don't want it to hurt anymore. I just want it to go away. Je veux que cela aille!" she said rather loudly, then bit her lip, letting out a small sob. "I want to go home!"​

 

[Silver Rogue]

Nikolai Afon - Moscow, Russia

"The government," she said rather sourly, "have not much to do with the Atlantean Centres, only with their hasty placement all over the world. The Atlantean Royal Family is a proud family, they would not approve of such... Well, vulgar methods, especially those conducted by morta-- normal humans. Although we're not too sure and cannot make too many assumptions, we can only speculate that the Royal Family is planning to either create an army to counter an inevitable civil war or raise Atlantis. I say these things with a grain of salt. The Royal Family are a mysterious bunch but I'm sure their motives behind their involvement with mort-- the world's politics will arise soon enough."

Hmm, Nikolai thought, thats the third time she almost said mortals, then stopped herself. Strange.... maybe I'll ask her about that later, or maybe right now... "Alright. Now I have two questions. The first is how did you get involved with the AUP? The Atlanteans have not made themselves known until very recently, so how did you end up with the organization? I'm sorry if this is more personal, but I was just wondering." He paused for a quick moment, then continued. "My second question is why do you keep calling others mortals? You've already stated that we are not entirely human, does that mean we are not entirely mortal either? As in the "not dying" immortal part?"

Nikolai waited for her to answer, listening to the clock tick in the background. He suddenly had a bad feeling, and no reason for having it. maybe he felt bad about asking her personal questions, or maybe it was just having second thoughts about getting involved with the AUP. He mulled over what the ominous feeling might mean, then just pushed it aside as nervousness when Natalia spoke again.

 

[Skymin]

Natalia Zaytsev - Moscow, Russia

Natalia nodded along as Afon continued to ask questions. He made a fair point. No organisation could be created within a week, that was true. And as he pressed on, asking her about her continuous correcting of herself, she gave a small smile. Though she hadn't thought the term mortals were offensive (as that's what they were), she had used human being or normal person as a filler as it was easier to understand.

"I knew of my Atlantean heritage before the Royal Family decided to go public, and therefore I had access to my abilities before then. If one knew for certain that they were not of mortal decent, their abilities would no longer lie dormant, the tattoos would reveal on their body and then altogether evolve to their one-and-a-half times state," she slid a finger down her left forearm, drawing over the circle pattern that was her tattoo. "Not physically evolve. But I won't say now how I joined the AUP. It would take far too long to explain properly and you haven't properly been inducted yet."

She tapped her lip, trying to find a way to explain properly about Atlanteans. This boy was now technically her cousin, her brother and they both shared similar blood. It was his right to know the history of their people, though she didn't want to say too much; she barely knew the boy and what else he was involved with (his investigation showed nothing, but you could never be too sure).

"No, we are not immortal but the true Atlanteans once were. When Atlantis sank thousands of years ago, survivors were washed to mortal shores. There, as they mingled with the folk and had children together, the Atlantean blood thinned until it was eventually thought to be extinct. Like I said, modern Atlanteans can live one and a half times a mortal. They are referred to as mortals because we are descendants of immortals," she checked her phone again. No messages yet. "It's not an uncommon term, you will hear a lot of Atlanteans who knew of their heritage before a week ago refer to normal humans that way."​