[Other FULL] Fragmented (M) (IC)

Greiger · Jun 29, 2014

A Meeting of a Lifetime

Michael smirked as he walked along, slowly glancing about before he made his way over to the next block. He saw some police off to the side, but they were of no concern. He found the trick to be that you just had to act like you belonged. That was really it. As long as you didn't immediately freeze up, stammer, or run off like a maniac, then you could pass by, even say something along the lines of 'evening officer'. He found it humorous to do so. It was actually a bit like giving them an invisible middle finger. Hello, I'm a murder who has been killing politicians here and there, how are you? Good? Great! See you around later!

He made sure not to whistle since that would probably drag some attention and once more he looked down at his phone. He was almost at his meeting place, thankfully it was nowhere around Sparky's. In fact, as he walked along he passed by another man on the street, but as soon as he passed he heard some footsteps behind him. Aw great, someone trying to very badly trail him. Well... he could always find an alleyway and deal with him there if need be. He walked a bit further then quickly turned into an alley, making sure to head in a way while as he turned about and waited for his stalker to come in.

It was only a moment before the man appeared in the alley behind him. Before Michael could do anything, the man held up his hands in a sign of surrender. "Not here to get into a fight, man. Just here to deliver a message."

The man tossed a letter to Michael, turning to leave the moment it left his hand. "It's from a friend of mine. Take my advice: don't ignore her summons." With that, the man had disappeared as quickly as he had come.

Michael quickly picked up the letter and tore it open. He opened it up, only seeing three lines, but as he read them he could feel his body shaking with excitement. H-had he finally gotten through to Phoenix? Well, he didn't know HOW they contracted anyone who had potential, given that they were an underground operation and all. But... but maybe his last job had finally shown them that he was obviously someone they needed? Yes! This had to be them! But... it could also be a trap... what if that guy was an undercover cop and was only checking to see if he was who he thought he was?

Michael pocketed the letter as he made his way down the way he had been coming from. He could feel his heart beating as he got closer and closer to the meeting place. On the one hand, he was disguised... but there were so many cops. He had to act cool. Remain cool Michael.

He slowly opened the door as he glanced about before heading inside. It was nothing like the other clubs he had been to, but thankfully it WAS peaceful. No loud music banging in his sensitive ears. He made his way off to a empty table and sat down. No doubt if that guy had managed to discover who he was, then whoever this 'J' was would be able to spot him from a mile away.

And just like that, Agent Monroe was upon her prey. Kind of. She set down her cup of tea and walked up to Michael, being as inconspicuous as she possibly could.

"Mister Miller." she stated quietly, not making immediate eye contact with him. "Glad that you came. Now, would you like to know why you're here?"

As she came upon him Michael could see that she might have been a bit out of the element. He had talked about certain measures of business publicly before, he found it fun to tease the guards in a way they couldn't quite understand, as well as the rest of the public.

"Jessica!" He said as he got up and shook her hand. "Well it's been some time hasn't it?" He asked as he ushered her into her seat and he took his, "I have to ask, how has that television been? Any other problems or such? I hope not, you know how easy I'm able to solve problems. In any case, I got your message. Need me to fix something huh? Well, you know how busy I can be, but give me a idea of the job. Are we looking at fixing a toaster? Something bigger like a stove? Or is it something rather impossible?"

Michael was hoping that this 'J' person would play along and get his idea of asking for how hard the job was. As long as they talked and didn't whisper all the time or draw any attention such as NOT sharing eye contact despite them having a conversation... well it would make things easier.

Jenilee gave Batman a quizzical expression. He was certainly one for show, but she already knew that. She wasn't exactly new to having to blend in with the crowd, though, and his tactics weren't exactly her style. Not when it came to first contact, at least. This place may have been surrounded by cops, but that didn't mean they had to put on a play for their enjoyment.

Despite that she decided to play along, figuring any other way futile now that he had already set the mood. "Well, depending on how you go about it, it could either be quite easy or incredibly difficult to fix, Mikey. I have a few tools ready to get the job started. If you want to try those out, I'm sure it'll make your time a lot easier to manage."

He nodded, "Well, that'll be good. Are we going to talk business with some dinner or did you have something else in mind?" He asked. "Personally, I'm intrigued to see what the problem is. Your message didn't give that much information so I'm guessing the best thing to do would be to head over there and you can give me a step by step. Tell me what exactly isn't working and I can look inside and see if I can get it working for you. I'm a great mechanic you know, so I think I can get it working, even if it proves to be stubborn."

"Yeah, I wasn't exactly sure how to describe it in a short note. It might be best if you just come with me and check it out. We can take a shortcut through the park." Jenilee stood up and grabbed her laptop case, swinging the strap over her shoulder. She motioned for Michael to follow her as she exited the building.

Once they had gotten a fair distance away and were about to enter the park, she spoke again, a bit more tacitly. "It's not going to be an easy job, but I think you can handle it. Or at least, I certainly hope so, because I would hate for another supposedly Gifted talent to disappoint me again." She reached into her pocket and clicked a button on one of her many gadgets. This one specifically prevented any outside bugs or machines from listening in, and with no one else in the immediate area that gave them plenty of room to speak openly.

"Let me start off by introducing myself properly. The name's Jenilee Monroe. I'm the kind of person that likes to keep an eye on things, specifically the comings and goings of promising individuals, such as yourself." She pulled out her laptop and opened it to one of her many camera feeds. "And I'm very good at what I do. If I'm correct, you are as well."

Michael smirked, "You already know who I am, though I hope you weren't too offended that I went with Jessica. It was the first one that hit my head given the J." He chuckled a bit, "Well, before we truly truly begin I'll go down the list. First off, my rules. I never ask WHY specifically you are doing something. Second rule, I never ask for a real name so I'm hoping what you gave me was an alias. Third rule, if you have any other jobs lined up for me let me know once I do complete the current one and only if you like how I did. Fourth rule, given my status if you do want to check out my... other form you may. I've had many clients who were interested and want to see a sort of demonstration."

He brushed back his hair a bit, "Now, I'm not sure how you found me, but I'm assuming from your note that if you were able to find me... then the police will very well be on my trail next. If you really do have an eye on things, then I'm sure you can keep them off my back too. How about we do a question on question basis?" He asked, "I ask a question, and you can ask a question back, nothing about current living quarters or previous clients mind you."

He smirked, "Sound like a deal? If so I can ask the first question, how exactly can you keep me safe? I'm assuming you can provide just a speck of evidence that is untraceable but also shows that you intend to keep your promise."

Jenilee smirked. "Alias or not, you'll find that people only hear of me when I want them to hear of me. I can easily do the same for you, so long as you show that it's worth my time. No, I don't need to see your other face, as I've seen it in action more than once already. And that leads me into an answer for your question. Yes, I can keep you safe. Well, not really 'safe,' but I can give you a better chance at staying alive." At this, Jenilee turned her attention to her laptop, typing away at the keys.

"If you want a demonstration . . . this is the best one I can give in this setting." A moment later one of the street lamps illuminating the park flickered, briefly glowing almost as brightly as it would during the day, but not so much as to alert anyone in the vicinity. A second later it went off completely. "I can do that and more with the entire city. Most of my talents aren't really something that you can see, but I assure you that they're just as helpful as anything else in this city, if not more so."

Jenni grabbed something from within her bag. "If worse comes to worse, however, I have a few more . . . direct tools that can help you. A wide array of gadgets and gizmos that will leave anyone you use them on a bit, how should I put it? Shocked. Or worse, if the need arises."

He crossed his arms, "You can still ask a question you know. Of course the questions rules don't apply to the job itself, so I think I'll move over to the job myself. When you want to use your question, sure. In any case regarding the lights... that would work well. If you have already seen my form I'm assuming you've at least recorded me somewhere. You know I have a use for the dark so if say... some very specific people had to go missing and the lights turned off... you get the idea. Anyways as to the job itself, is it easily accessible? Most of the jobs I got in my early days were fly up to a roof or in a window, so is it that easy or more along I have to walk around a bit to get to where I need to go?"

"If only it were so easy as making a few people vanish. If that were the case, I might well be able to do it myself. No, it's a bit more complex than that. Likely one of the more difficult contracts that you'll have taken on, I'm sure." Jen paused for a moment, placing her laptop beside her. "I assume that you've at least heard of the Jakobs and Dahl families?"

He nodded, "That I have. I have to watch the news, especially if there are heavy police movements. At times I do watch for senators too. Yes... sometimes I get contracts to kill them, but it helps no one if those who want to say... raise a whole lot a trouble for gifted are elected. But last I heard, someone died and there is animosity all around."

"Yes, there was a rather unfortunate death in the Jakobs family very recently. They've put the blame on the Dahls, which is probably exactly where they should be putting it. Regardless of right or wrong, this has left the two families in what I'd like to call utter chaos. They're basically at each others' throats and, with a little provocation, they're primed to explode. What I'd like to do is take advantage of this chaos and blindside them. What I need you to do comes down to simple theft, but not of a person. I need you to acquire a certain program from the Jakobs family. Allen Jakobs, to be specific." Jenilee typed a few things into her laptop as it sat next to her. A moment later, a photo of Allen Jakobs was on the screen, as well as information regarding his establishment. "As I'm sure you're aware, Mister Jakobs runs a low-class casino. What you might not know is that it doubles as a storehouse. Inside is a program that the Jakobs very recently acquired from the Dahls. I need you to get into that casino and retrieve this program. If you can do this, I can get the authorities off your tail entirely, for the time being."

He smirked, "I see..." He thought for a moment, "Okay, so head in and get it. Got it. Any security measures in place? Also, any potential distractions or should I just make one up?" He chuckled, "I could always cause a bit of chaos. Now, for the program itself, is it where I open a crate, see hundred of disks and just grab them all or does it have certain markings?"

Jenilee turned her attention entirely to her laptop, surfing through numerous screens and files as she prepared to explain her plan to Batman. "As far as security measures go, I can handle all of the mechanical ones. There'll be guards, though, and it'll be up to you to avoid them. I can give you a hand with that, but I can only do so much without it being overly conspicuous. Hopefully they won't pose too much of a problem. Most of them are pretty stupid anyways. As far as distractions go . . . it might be best if you can just remain hidden the entire time. If you need to, well, it is a casino. Just use some wit and gambling motive to get a few of the patrons to make a scene for you." Jenni turned the laptop so that Michael could see the screen once more. "The program itself isn't just something that'll be lying around. The Jakobs stole it from the Dahls for a reason, and it's certainly not something that they want to let anyone else get their hands on. Allen Jakobs doesn't keep it on his person, as that'd be too risky. It is, however, locked away tightly in a vault deep in the casino. I can hack the vault so long as you can get this to it." She pulled out a small data chip and handed it to Batman. "That'll give me remote access. Place that on the safe and I can get it open for you in no time. Once that's done, be ready to grab it and get yourself out of there." Jen paused for a moment. "As far as that one question I have goes, the only thing I have to ask is can you do it?"

He took it and nodded, "Yeah, I can do this. I imagine once I get in the vault then alarms will start going off. I'll need to move quickly but no worries, I can get out if need be. Now, where will we rendezvous? I imagine you'll find a way to contact me after this."

"I'll try to avoid tripping any alarms, but I'm sure there'll be some that will go off without Allen Jakobs being the one to open the safe. As far as a rendezvous point, how does the West Library sound? I do quite enjoy books, and it's a quiet place with little security. Well, little security that I can't turn off in a moment's notice." Jen shut her laptop, placing it back into its case. "And don't worry, if it comes down to it, I can easily find you again."

He smirked, "Sounds like a date. I'll get ready then." He began to make his way along, "I'll make sure to impress!"

gimmepie · Jul 1, 2014

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Jace Caradoc – A Necessary Evil

[FONT="Calibri]Jace made his home in an abandoned room by the side of the large water canal that stopped by several purification stations around the city – one of the main sources of clean water for the city. Located in the shade of a bridge, the room was originally going to be a control room for a new purification station but due to the area the plans were altered and the station built elsewhere.

Jace looked around his shabby dwellings – a shelf of tattered books, a rusted old safe, a writing desk the bathroom and small kitchen area he had painstakingly built himself hijacking water from the nearby canal. It wasn't much, but it was home and waking up the day of a job always left him with the horrible feeling that he may not be able to return there. The previous night, after hearing the gossiping thugs, Jace had returned home and in the midst of fixing himself some instant noodles for dinner received a phone call on the old mobile he carried for business. It had of course been Russom Jakobs, reprimanding Jace for his error and ordering him to take out the sniper Kyle Dahl.

Russom, the leader of the Jakobs crime family, had been right as far as Jace was concerned. The death at Cassino's had indeed be due to his error, and as much as he disliked it he was now going to have to make amends for his mistake - which was why he was sitting in near silence in his home, stealing himself for the task before him.

Jace wasn't the type to mourn the death of a criminal like Kyle Dahl, nor even the man shot at Cassino's, but jobs like this bothered him. He was going to have to commit and evil act for free, he was about to commit a terrible crime and it wasn't going to benefit the orphanage – or anyone really – the death of Kyle Dahl would serve only to preserve the life of Jace, another killer. At least though, Jace justified to himself, him being alive meant he could continue to supply the orphanage with money. At least he had reason for his dirty deeds; he was doing terrible things to save good people. He was not innocent so it didn't matter if he continued to dirty his hands to benefit those who shouldn't have to.

Finally in the needed state of mind, Jace got to his feet and slipped on his jacket. He strode across to the rusty safe, opening it and retrieving several things, among them a fresh box of bullets and a matchbox full of sharp metal shavings. It was highly probable that Markus Dahl had hired good protection for his son, Jace couldn't afford to be taking chances. Grabbing a scrap of paper containing directions to the Midnight Grand Hotel off of his desk, Jace opened the door and stepped out of his haven into the dark city beyond.

Kyle Dahl was going to die that day, Jace would make sure of it.

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<Challenger> · Jul 1, 2014

Duke Mattern - Fall: Protection is the Speciality

"I hear you're dangerous. One of the best." The crime lord stood with his small entourage of bodyguards close behind him.

Duke simply smiled and nodded. "I suppose if that's what they're saying about me." He bowed respectfully. "I am quite skilled, but let us not dwell on the fact. I'd rather my name stay quite secret."

Markus gave him a look that screamed death. "Should Kyle fall, every assassin in Heliopolis will hunt you down and kill you violently and gorily."

Duke gave a nod of acknowledgement. Must this man question me so? "Mr. Dahl, I promise protecting is what I'm best at." In an attempt to make a joke, he increased his physical size by at least half a foot. "Besides," He grinned, "I'd like to see them try." Immediately the bodyguards raised their guns to protect their boss, causing Duke to laugh even more. "Have no fear, good gentleman. Once I accept a contract, I keep it. My word is a spiritual binding."

The boss still seemed unsure. "If you say so." He narrowed his eyes. "Remember, Kyle lives, you're part of the family."

I don't wish to be part of a dirty family such as your own.

"If he dies, you die." With that, he and his crew walked off.

---

Duke approached the location he was ordered to meet Kyle at. It was a dark alleyway, lit only by the street lamps on the outside of the alley. "Mister Dahl?" His voice was soft and quiet. "It's Fall. I'm here to escort you to the Midnight Grand."

A voice answered from the corners of the alley, "About damn time." A younger man stepped out of the shadows. "Let's get a move on. If I die, my dad's gonna kill me." A small smirk crossed his lips.

The pair left the alleyway almost immediately. They were a strange pair: A tall, green man with slicked back hair, and a short, bald man. "So, Stretch, you wanna tell me how you turned into a goblin?" A reference to Fall's skin tone.

Duke smiled and laughed quietly at the question. "Are you aware of my abilities?"

"Sure. You can manipulate your body." The mobster seemed unamused.

"I attempted to turn my skin green for camouflage, but there was an error. Now it's permanently stained."

The mobster nodded. "You're an interesting guy, Fall. I read your dossier. Not that there was much to read." He laughed a bit himself.

Duke smiled humbly. "I try to keep information on me on the down low. Can't have the world knowing who I am." turned to his companion as they walked. "What exactly was on this...dossier?"

The mobster rubbed his chin in thought. "Your name, a history of contracts from the Dahls, your powers, and a bounty for several million dollars." He laughed at the last bit. "It seems like every major crime family has a gun pointed at your head, figuratively speaking of course."

Fall nodded, grinning. "I believe that I am the best at what I do, and that is protecting people, even if it means working for the people who wish to destroy the other, and then turning sides the next day." He flexed his arms and laughed. "Besides, I have to keep fit somehow."

Kyle smirked as they finally came across their hotel. "You sound like a good man, Fall. How'd you end up in a dark job like this one?"

Duke sighed. "Personal reasons you see." A group of guards allowed the pair to enter the elevator without question, and a detachment of three joined them inside. It was obvious they were alerted about the events that were to go down. "To the top floor," The assassin ordered, "No stops. We need to be ready."

Greiger · Jul 8, 2014

BATMAN & ORACLE VS THE GHOST, AND THE UNFORTUNATE FATE OF ALLEN JAKOBS

Michael walked along the sidewalk, whistling a small tune under his breath as he looked over at the casino. Getting in would be easy enough, just act like someone who wanted to gamble. He would have to play a few games no doubt, maybe just seem down on his luck, then he would have to raise a distraction. He would have to be quick in acting in case a distraction of some sort happened. He could always try picking someone's pocket and placing say, their wallet next to someone else and using that to slip into the back of the casino, but from there he would have to do his best to find the vault and get out with no one seeing him—or if they do, taking them out quickly.

He slipped on into the casino, doing his best to look like a patron as he went up to a slot machine and put a few coins in it. Just time to chill and relax for now.

"Where's my bodyguard?" a loud man called from a private room in the casino, looking around frantically behind a bulletproof window. Allen Jakobs was ostentatious and obnoxious, but he was the only man who was perfect for the job of sitting back and doing absolutely nothing while everyone else shipped things of varying legality in and out of the basement under the casino. Sasha had been told to "protect" him after the mess he'd caught himself up in not too long ago.

"I haven't moved," Sasha replied. He was standing right next to Allen's cushy seat. Honestly, he did move, but that was just to scratch his nose and check the black leather holster attached to his nice white suit. He hoped he didn't have to get it cleaned again any time soon.

"Good. God knows what the rest of my family would do to you if you let me die."

"I'm not here to save your ass."

"You're right; you're not. You're here to make it so I don't need saving, you emotionless piece of trash." Sasha never changed face. That lack of reaction made it sweeter, as well, when Allen couldn't get a rise out of someone. It made him give up much faster, too.

As Allen continued to count his ~~blessings~~ money, Sasha and two other bodyguards in the room kept an eye on the casino's guests, and ensured that no one had tried to open the vault directly behind them.

At the same time, Jenilee Monroe was back in her base of operations, watching the casino after having hacked into its many camera feeds. She had no way to directly contact Batman—she'd have to work on making communicators later—but for now she could at least keep some heat off of him.

"Okay, Bats, I hope you're ready for this." She glanced at the feed that displayed Allen Jakobs. He had a few guards around him. She was pretty sure one of them was a Gifted. Her scanners could tell normal humans from Gifted, but they weren't entirely perfect yet. "We'll have to get you down there, but we'll have to clear it out first."

She reached into her bag of goodies and pulled out one of her newer toys. "First thing to do is make a distraction." She placed the device on her laptop and homed in on one of the slot machines off to the side of Michael. Some unsuspecting patron was about to hit the jackpot—something not really seen in Jakobs' little playhouse, and it was certain to give Batman a small window of opportunity.

As Michael was about to put in a few more coins he suddenly heard a loud ringing noise that caused him to twitch a bit.

"Engrad! Look I won!" An elderly man began to dance in front of a machine that was spitting out coins.

Now was his chance. He didn't put his coin in as he walked off, making it look as if he was going to try a gambling table next, but instead he glanced back and saw the man was making a scene out of winning...

He slipped his way to a door and pushed inside. It said only employees... but he would act like he belonged. That always worked, at least he hoped it would work here.

"Good boy, Bats," Jenni murmured to herself as she began to make her way into the casino's security systems.

Michael was making his way along the hallways for employees only when, of course, he was eventually stopped. "Excuse me, where's your uniform?"

Michael turned around and smiled weakly, rubbing the back of his neck, "Hey there! Uh... yeah, I got here a bit late and I sort of... forgot it at home. Look, I'll just pick up another one! No big deal."

The actual employee however frowned, "Who are you, by the way? I haven't seen you around before."

"Oh... I'm new here." He said, "I was hired last week. Which of course explains why I don't have my uniform. I was half way here when I facepalmed and realized I left it at home. It's not wired into my rou-"

"We haven't hired anyone new yet. I know we've actually been cutting down on employees. Where's your badge?"

Michael looked as if he was to say something before his hand swung out and slammed into the man's throat. Of course any shouting was now much quieter as the employee instinctively gripped his throat to try and protect it. Of course, Michael couldn't resist following up with a kick to the knees, then another fist to the head. The man ended up collapsing in the hallway as Michael quickly glanced around before reaching down and starting to drag the body along, "Just how my bloody day starts." He muttered to himself as he made his way to a janitor's closet.

"Oh sweetie, you're day's not going to be getting much better if you continue down that path." Jenni tapped a few keys on her keyboard and a door to Batman's right swung open with a mechanical click!

Michael of course took the new door as he pulled the body in and settled it down on the floor. He grabbed the employee by the head and twisted the neck, hearing a loud cracking noise rather easily. Now he began to strip off the uniform he wore and searched his pockets, just in case he missed anything. It was just a bit uncomfortable in placing the uniform over his own clothes, but it was better than leaving more evidence around here. After hiding the body as well as he could he stepped out of the room and resumed his walk along the hallway. Now... to find this vault and get out of here. Obviously someone would recognize the badge after a while and realize he wasn't a real employee. He would have to get out BEFORE then.

It wouldn't be long before Michael was in the store room, which meant that he was also getting closer to Allen Jakobs and his bodyguards with every step.

"Get ready, Bats."

It was hard for Michael not to be at least a bit jumpy. Most of the time he would simply go in, kill someone, get out. This... was something different. He really had no schematics, so as he went along he made sure to take in every possible window and doorway he could use to fly out from if need be. He made sure to take in deep breaths to keep himself calm as he kept moving. He was almost there! He just had to find the vault and hope to God that no alarms went off, otherwise he would just have to grab whatever was there and quickly flee.

Allen Jakobs paced back and forth, thinking FURIOUSLY, and in all caps. Because his thoughts were so intense. He invited his new emotionless imaginary friend of a bodyguard to play chess with him, and out of four rounds, the Gifted of the two won them all. You're not supposed to beat your charge! Isn't that against the rules? So, he was doing his best to plan his moves very carefully, as loudly in his head as he could.

They were on their fifth game, and Allen had managed to take three of Sasha's pieces: two pawns and a rook. Of course, this was after losing both of his knights, his bishop, one of his own rooks and his queen, along with all but four pawn.

"Checkmate," the bodyguard stated, with both knights, bishops and his remaining rook in position for a mass assault on whatever was left of the Casino King's ragged army. Sasha hadn't even moved his queen except in the first round.

"F***!" Allen shouted, flipping the table off to the side. Sasha left his seat and took note of the area again, as well as the rest of the casino.

Someone was missing.

"There's supposed to be another box," Jakobs yelled. "There's specific boxes for use against specific members of the Dahl family, and someone is missing! And weren't there more guards here a moment ago?" He scratched his head, looking around once again. "Whatever."

Jenni sighed, taking in the glorious stupidity of Allen Jakobs through a hacked camera feed. And who was that guy Allen was playing with? He was too composed through the Jakobs' enraged rambling to be normal. Whatever, she could worry about him later.

"Somehow you're a decently large player in the Jakobs family, and here I was thinking you wouldn't be just another jacka—oh, I think I've got it!" Batman was getting close now, but he was still sorely outnumbered. Jenni decided a few alarms would actually be helpful about now. Small ones, though. She hacked into the fire detection system and set off a few sprinklers in the warehouse, causing the guards to be momentarily caught off guard before they scrambled to shut of the water. Sadly for her, it wasn't long before the strangely calm man in the dapper white suit had begun rotating his fellow bodyguards toward the vault.

Michael couldn't help but flinch as he heard the alarms going off. He had to discreetly move his ear plugs back into place as the various employees likewise glanced about. However, the noise was not too loud for them of course and he kept on moving. The alarms were where he had to go, which meant the warehouse was nearby. If that was the case then the vault was there too. He only had to get past a few doors and hopefully the alarm wouldn't make him too deaf.

He knew there were some eyes on him but that didn't stop him from still moving on, getting closer and closer. Just one door at a time. He went on up and pushed it open, flinching as the sirens dug into his very skull. Great, he would be deaf after this! He stayed near the wall as his suit quickly began to get pelted by the drops of water.

"Okay, the Bats is in the room. Good." Jenni shut of the alarms so that Michael wouldn't be left incapacitated by the sound. The sudden silence confused the guards just as much as when the alarms and sprinklers started, giving Bats another moment to get closer to the vault. "You can't get anything out of the vault while those guard are still there, though. Good thing this is an illegal storehouse."

Jenilee altered the frequency of one of her remote hacking devices, seeking out a new little gadget within the storehouse. "This should leave them a bit startled." She tuned the frequency a bit more and suddenly a whole shelf in the storehouse had exploded. "I love bombs!"

The explosion knocked other parts of the storehouse around, spreading more illegal products across the floor. A few of the guards had been incapacitated, possibly killed, and the rest were now taking cover. "Go my Bat, find that vault!"

As the siren died down Michael made his way forward, the explosion though caused him to grip his ears in pain as that, unfortunately, toned out his hearing for a while. He rubbed at his ears frantically but it seemed his hearing wouldn't be coming back for some time. F**king fantastic. Still, he could SEE the vault and quickly made his way over, using the distraction of the explosion to quickly get what he needed.

Okay... well the vault door was big and he had to search a bit before he could find an insertion port. He pulled out the chip he had been given and slipped it in. "Hurry up, hurry up." He muttered under his breath as he squirmed a bit anxiously.

"Okay, this should only take a second." Jenilee's hands moved over her keyboard with astounding agility. It only took about forty-five seconds for her to get past the major security measures on the safe. Once she did, however, an electronic pad emerged from the safe, requiring a fingerprint scan from none other than Allen Jakobs. This would be the annoying part. She could hack her way past this in no time, but not without setting off some major alarms.

But before she could do that, a guard had noticed Michael crowding himself around the safe.

Michael looked back at the guard and he quickly turned around, "So... fine weather huh?" He asked with a weak smile before he decided to play keep away in a way... which was quickly running to the inner half of the vault as soon as he heard the door open and the alarms fly. He was stuck here... but not for long. He took in a deep breath and then hunched over a bit as he let out a cry. His body slowly began to expand, the clothes along his upper body starting to shred as his wings grew along his arms. Fur quickly began to cover his body as his face pushed out, a muzzle forming as his teeth became far sharper. HIs ears shot up in length as even his feet began to burst through his shoes as his clawed feet came out.

He panted as the transformation finished and his eyes narrowed while a smirk formed along his muzzle. Oh yes... those guards had no idea what they were stepping into... if only he wasn't deaf right now! "Hey you! Come out from there!" Just as the approaching guard turned that corner a big black shape flew out, slamming into the guard. Michael wrapped his wings around the guard as he opened his jaws wide and bit down deep into the guard's throat. Naturally the guard's screams soon became nothing but gurgles as Michael twisted his head away, pulling off skin and muscle as the man bled out on the ground.

He suddenly twisted his head to view the other guards at the entrance to the vault, who seemed to be frozen in shock. His smirk widened as he spat out the flesh in his mouth and leapt at them next. A few bullets were shot out with one managing to hit him in the stomach, but that did nothing to sway his hunger as he bit into the next one while using his powerful wings to hit another guard into the wall. He twisted his catch to face toward the remaining guards as a majority of the bullets fired instead dug themselves into his new meals.

Then... that lovely motion of the trigger being pulled but no bullets coming out. A need to reload. It was delicious. He dropped the now dead body and slowly made his way forward, "Think you all can reload in enough time? Hehe.... I wonder... how you all taste." And with that, he leapt.

Almost immediately after diving, Michael found the odd sting of a bullet in his side, just to the right of his spine. The man he'd just bit through had been the last guard as well.

He looked to the vault's interior and found a particularly angry man inside; a man who was impatient and armed, and seemed to have no concern for his own safety, shouting expletives in force. Did he sneak in to protect the briefcase inside while Michael was dispatching the security? He was in a fancy black suit, so he wasn't a guard; Allen Jakobs, maybe? No matter. Michael had already been shot at... and he figured if he didn't take everyone out now then he would just get shot more and more. Besides, if he didn't want to get his throat ripped off then OBVIOUSLY he wouldn't have shot at the crazy giant bat, right?

Then he'd taken another bullet, in one of his forearms. Where was it coming from? He glanced about, but saw no one around. Not only that, but his hearing was still s**t. Was there a hidden gun somewhere? A small turret shooting out bullets?

"It's the Gifted," Jenni realized. Watching through the security cameras, she found the man in the white suit walking around the vault, firing bullets freely. How was Michael unable to react? He wasn't shooting too quickly; one every few seconds at best. Was he invisible? That wouldn't explain why the security camera could see him, though, or why Michael didn't hear any gunshots.

Michael had to hold up his wings as another shot flew into his wings. Thankfully it missed his body, but that didn't dim the pain that his wing now had. His eyes narrowed as he ground his teeth together. He spread his wings and let loose a powerful flap as he sought to try and knock over whatever, or whoever, was shooting at him, as he leapt forward. He reached out to the enraged casino owner and spread his wings wide, "Hehe, hey there." He wasted no time in batting him to the side with a wing as he grabbed the case, "Sorry, but I need this." He then quickly grabbed Allen Jakobs, and held him out like a meat shield as he began to back away, "Best drop your weapon," he shouted out, "lest you kill this g—gah!" Without hesitation, Michael had taken a third bullet, this time in the thigh.

He kept on backing away and then he smirked, "Want to play like that? Fine!" He reached up and gave the man's neck a sharp twist. Just as the body fell to the ground the bat was already flying out, and through a window as he soared into the night with the briefcase held in one hand as his wings flapped. He glanced back down as he huffed a bit. Blood leaked out, but he had to keep flying. Whatever invisible gun they had in there... well, it would kill him if he sat around. Besides, he got what he needed.

"It looks like it went well," Jenni said, a bit of sarcasm dripping from her tone. "I see you at least got the program?"

"I did," Michael snorted, tossing the briefcase to Jenilee. She caught it and set it down on her lap before opening it.

"Oh, it's gorgeous. I think this is it. Only one way to find out, though." She picked up a flash drive from inside and inserted it into her computer, allowing the code to appear on the screen for her to examine it. "Whoa. With this, I can . . . whoa." She turned back to Michael, a broad grin on her face. "You did well."

"Yeah I know." Michael said as he his arm hung against his side. It was a bit of pain, but back when he was more along an assassin he hadn't really been bothered by getting shot once or twice, so he was more along used to it now. "It wasn't easy, that's for sure."

"I didn't say it would be easy," Jenni stated flatly. "But trust me, this program is well worth the trouble needed to obtain it."

"I hope so." He said as leaned against a wall, "I do have a feeling I'll be seeing that one guy again. Well, not really 'seeing' but I have a feeling their invisible man will be tracking me down. Given I killed a family member right in front of his face I assume the family might be more than willing to place a lot of the blame on him."

"Invisible?" Jenni asked, a look of confusion on her face. "He wasn't invisible. I could see him clear as day on the camera feed."

That confused Michael more than his invisibility comment had confused Jenni. "... You could see him?" He asked slowly, "Look, after that explosion you pulled I couldn't hear ♥♥♥♥ at all. All I knew was that there was something firing at me. I first thought it was some hidden gun, but the way the shots were being fired only confirmed to me that it was someone."

Jenni shrugged. "Yes, he was a person. Clearly visible, easily heard, but perhaps not by you in the state you were in. I suspect that his ability had something to do with avoiding your senses. That would be why the cameras could pick him up: machines don't have senses."

Michael stared at her for a moment, before nodding. "That's interesting... well, I'll have to be careful then. Hopefully he doesn't have the resources to find me. In any case... you mentioned something about getting the police off of my trail right? Uh... will it be that easy?"

"Piece of cake!" Jenni said gleefully, a look of sheer childlike wonder in her eyes. "With this baby I can do so much more than that. But yes, I'll get the police to back off of you. Their presence in this area is troublesome for everyone." She turned back to her computer and began to navigate the networks once more. "It'll take me a few minutes to completely clear everything."

Michael stood in silence as Jenni worked, still hugging his arm. He glanced around her little "laboratory" once more, taking in all of the gadgets and tech she had amassed. "Done!" Michael turned back to Jenni, surprised that she was already finished.

"That's it? No more police?"

"No more police!" Jenni clapped once, resting her chin on her clasped hands. "Just be careful, though. It's not like I can go and delete peoples' memories—still working on that—so anyone particularly close to your case that has an idea of what you look like might still recognize you. Other than that, you're good to go!"

Michael smiled a bit at that. "Thanks. So... anything else I have to do? I mean... it was only one mission and I'm sure you'll have need of me sometime."

"I expect we'll meet again. I'll be keeping an eye on you."

Michael nodded and began to make his way to the exit. "Yeah, thanks again. So, I'll catch you later and if you could spread some word along the grapevine of how well I helped, I would appreciate it too." He gave one last wave as he stepped out and disappeared from sight.

machomuu · Jul 8, 2014

Emil "Nex" Nexis
Abandoned Apartment, Room 304

Nex let out a long yawn, opening his eyes. But much to his horror, the girl from before was sitting there, staring daggers at him. He looked away from her and rose from his pillow, stretching and opening and closing his right hand. It was still somewhat stiff from the previous night, having turned to iron after Emil swallowed the switchblade. He looked back over at the girl, who still had her eyes locked onto him. She seemed to be either annoyed or angry. Probably both. Of course, Nex didn't feel too much sympathy. After all, she did try to kill him the previous day. But at the same time, he saw no reason to make an enemy out of her. He needed to give her a reason not to run back to Cassino.

"So..." He discarded his shirt. "Did you sleep okay?" The girl remained silent. He looked at her, but looked away right after. She had quite the intimidating stare, so it was difficult for Emil to maintain any sort of dominance over the situation. He placed his shirt in a cracked bin and opened the dresser. This was something of a task, as the dresser's handles were gone. Nex always said that he would fix them or make it so it would be easier to open them from the underside, but never got around to it. He picked out another shirt and a pair of pants, hanging them over his left arm.

After getting his clothes ready, he opened his fridge (which was unplugged, considering the apartment didn't have power) and brought out the bread from the other day, heading over to the girl and handing her half of a larger piece. Again, she simply stared, but Nex wouldn't have it. "Don't act like you aren't hungry. You haven't eaten yet, so don't be stingy." The two seemed to be locked in a staring contest, a clash of wills. Still, Nex wasn't willing to relent, and he wasn't going to let the girl starve herself and die in the corner of his apartment.

The girl clicked her tongue and snatched the bread from Emil. "There we go," he said with a smile. He lounged back on his bed and bit into the bread. His eyes practically glimmered as he bit into the ciabatta. He'd never tried this specific type before, it was quite the wonderment. Even though it wasn't straight out of the oven, it was easily in his top 3 of the Diner's courses. The girl didn't seem as thrilled.

There was a pall of silence thereafter, with each party silently eating their food. Nex didn't particularly mind, though, as there was something that had been bothering him since he woke up. Why is the girl still here? He thought to himself. It didn't make any sense to him because, despite her being a hostage, he didn't have a lock for the door. He didn't even constrain his hostage. There was nothing keeping her from escaping his apartment. Of course, he did have a plan to prevent her and however many of Cassino's goons she brought with her from finding him. On his way there, he blindfolded the girl and took several wrong turns and repeat directions so that she would have no idea how to get there. It helped that the apartment wasn't exactly the center of attention. But despite all of this, she could have easily left the apartment. She had no reason to stay.

But keeping the question inside didn't do him any good. He decided to voice it, although he didn't expect to get any sort of answer. "So...why-"

"Lina." She interrupted. "My name's Lina."

This caught Nex off guard, but it seemed that the cork was loose. Somehow. Maybe his method of hospitality was actually paying off. "O-okay, Lina. Why did yo-"

"What, you're not going to introduce yourself?" She retorted in a rather snarky voice. "You think you're so high and mighty because you're a freak?"

That was the first time Nex had ever been called a freak. Not many people knew about his power, so he was pretty much treated like an average human most of the time. Being called a freak really did hit him, and he had to pause for a moment to process it. But given her situation and what happened to her the night before, it was no surprise that Lina would say such a thing. Nex did his best to write it off as an outburst of frustration than anything else.

"Call me Nex. Now, as I was saying, why are you here?" He asked.

"Oh, so I have special permission?" Lina said with a sarcastic smirk. "Well thank you, you're highness." This was becoming annoying, but Nex half-expected it. It only made sense that she would act that way, all things considered. Lina looked to the side and tightened her expression. "...The truth is, I did leave last night." Nex barely stopped himself from jumping from his seat and jetting towards cover. "I did leave, but...I didn't make it far. Other than not knowing where I was, I wasn't aware that this place was so dangerous. Makes the Metro seem like an amusement park."

Nex raised an eyebrow. "Are you serious? I mean, this place can be a little dicey at times, and sure it's a bit shady around here..." Nex looked out of his cracked window. "But I've never really considered it to be dangerous." He turned back to her. "Why, did something happen?"

Lina hugged her legs as she had been doing previously, looking at the floor. She paused before speaking, as if she were about to recount a particularly difficult story. "After I went outside, there was a guy. I don't know what was wrong with 'im, maybe he was crazy or high or something, but he straight up killed a guy and..." She stopped for a moment. "...I don't know what he was doing to 'im, but even after the guy he was attacking was out, he kept on cutting him. I tried to sneak past the guy, but...I dunno, they musta' been some kinda gang. I ran into one of 'em and..." She shook, unable to talk about the subject anymore than that.

Nex walked over the the fridge and brought out a bottle of warm water. He only had one, he didn't really expect to have any guests. "Here." He handed her the bottle and returned to his seat, crossing his arm. "Well at least you got away."

Lina took rather healthy gulps of the water, leaving no room for modesty, and set the bottle down next to her. "They musta' been on some crazy stuff, though. These guys were fast. Really fast. There were a lot of 'em, too. If it wasn't so dark when I left, I don't know if I coulda' made it out o' there."

Nex looked out the window again, this time trying to see if there were any of the gang members still out there. Interestingly, there wasn't a body out there, though he couldn't see if she "It's weird, though. There wasn't anyone outside when I got here, yesterday. And I definitely haven't seen anyone that dangerous around here before..." Nex shrugged. "Well, if you're sure about this then it still might not be safe out there. For now, you should just shower. This place still gets running water in some of its bathrooms. Just stay on this floor and don't go down to the ground floor. I have clothes that might fit you. As for towels...just take the one in the bottom right drawer." He pointed to his dresser.

Lina looked up at him and, without a word, did just that, grabbing some of his clothes and a towel and heading out into the hallway.

タイラー · Jul 8, 2014

Zander Hyrall: "The Unlikely Hypnotist

Zander woke up under his bookshelf with a headache. He scratched his head and wondered what he did yesterday. Then it came back to him.

He met with some white haired boy with super speed powers, chatted with him for a little bit, went down to the metro, partied a little bit, and went back to his hole more drunk than he had ever been. Crawling out of his hole, he looked around the library to see that it was mainly deserted. He sighed and decided to take a walk outside. He wondered around the city, seeing some shady individuals and families alike. Letting his mind wander, he walked toward a remote part of the city, and then noticed a quaint tavern called Sparky's.

He wandered in looking glum and sat at the bar, wishing his headache would go away. "Well, drinking again will only make it worse, so," Zander mumbled to himself. Deciding not to drink his sorrows away, Zander decided hydrating would be the best bet. "Hey, barman, gimmie a tall glass of water," Zander called. A short looking man walked out behind the bar and took out a, as requested, tall glass cup. Pouring some water from the tap, the barman put the cup next to Zander. Finally having a possible solution, Zander quickly downed his glass. Looking up at the price, he was pretty discouraged. "I need a job," Zander sighed to himself. "Need a job huh?" A strange man who was siting beside him said. "You know, that wasn't for you to hear," Z said in a rude tone. "Oh but it was! See, i'm planning an expedition to the lower caves, for I, have heard rumors of great treasures, but also great danger," The man explained. "And what makes you think I could help," Zander asked. While the man started explaining, Z noticed a strange shadow in the corner, looking unnaturally darker. Z dismissed it and listened to the mans flattery. "What ever, how will the "Treasure" split," he asked.

Man chuckled, and began to trap Z. "Well, if you came along, it would be split 12 ways," Z cringed at the number. "But! If the treasure is as good as people say, you will still end up rich!" The man said enthusiasm. "And if i don't go?" Z asked with a raised eyebrow. "Well," The man said disappointed,"Only ten ways, but we would lose a really good fighter." Z chuckling at the assumed flattery, pushed further. "Ten ways? And how do you know i'm a really good fighter?" The man frowned. "I wasn't implying you, i meant her," twitching his head to a small looking girl in a trench coat. "So, let me get this straight," Z surmised," If i don't come, she won't come either?" "Yeah, she told me to talk to you, and if you don't come shes out," The man explained.

"Why? I don't know her. Also she doesn't look very tough," Zander judged. "I don't know either kid, and she knows lots of martial arts. Also, she has two sub-machine guns," the man said. Z shook his head in approval, and then caved. "Fine, not that I had any plans. Whats your name anyway?" Z asked. "Hmm, i'm Slide. Not my real name, but you call me that. Whats your name?" Slide asked. "Hah, if your going to be mysterious, so will I. You can call me Z." Z answered curtly. He than placed down his tab and some tip, and walked over to the woman at the booth. "So, why did you ask for me, and how do you know i'm a decent fighter?" Z interrogated. The girl chuckled, and began to answer his questions. Well, sorta. "You just have that air about you, and I heard you say you needed a job, so I sent Raf- I mean Slide, to go talk to you." She responded. So they, Zander, Slide, and the woman, engaged in small talk, all the while being watched by a dark figure, known to some by camera malfunctions, and hallucinations. But to others, they are known as Wraiths.

Buh Buh Buuuuuh. If anyone else wants to join the expedition, just ask. (And as greiger said, get on da pad)

lozzop · Jul 11, 2014

Event 3 – The Raid
The previous day the body of a local gangster was discovered in an alley outside of the Metro, his neck crushed by an inhuman strength. Whilst the loss of a mobster is no great damage to society, the authorities have now got enough evidence of dangerous unregistered operating around the Metro to launch a large scale raid. The raid will be very sudden, and cover not only the Metro but a large area around the shady club as well. Unregistered discovered are to be captured for processing, those who resist are to be killed without further consideration.

Katie Bloom – Katie has unknowingly walked into the raid zone near the Metro going about her daily business. Now stuck in a dangerous situation, she too will need to escape undiscovered if she can -unharmed if she wishes to remain alive.

People brushed past her shoulders and occasionally made accidental eye contact, sometimes she would halt and wonder if they would say something, anything that would cause a conversation, she hadn't spoken anything to anybody but shop clerks and people she accidentally bumped into for weeks, and even then, all she say was 'thank you' and 'sorry', she wondered if she would soon forget how to talk to them altogether. The lack of conversation had also bought her a lack of work, she hadn't done any jobs since the pretty boy who didn't know her name, and even he didn't give her the right amount of money. She looked into her little pouch of coins, she only had three left, she cursed out loud and got a few displeased stares. At least she knew she wasn't invisible now. As she ambled about the town (and accidentally into the raid zone near the Metro) she imagined classical music playing, it would be a nice change from the huffing and puffing of people stomping past her, or the eerie silence of a sad city. Perhaps she should bring up the idea to whoever was in charge of the music aspect of this post-apocolypse dump, just casually slip it into conversation, subtly enough so they'd think it was their own idea and be more comfortable with the suggestion. She began to hum to the imaginary music, then stopped, and stared, at the excessive number of policemen around her, she remembered an article she had read about the killings and later raid in the metro, and looked around, realising she'd stumbled yet again into a spider's sticky web, cursed once more, but this time only in her head.

She was lucky they hadn't seen her yet, although thinking about it more, she realised they could never know she was gifted in the first place, unless they had some spy ♥♥♥♥ that could detect her powers, she just had to hope they weren't really that clever. Thinking she could pass off as the common confused pedestrian, she walked with a real purpose, straight towards the gates out of the raid zone, where hopefully she could escape unscathed, and undetected. She slid her hands into her pockets, and pretended to chew gum, in an attempt to look less-supicious, and maybe even a little cool, just because, she was a little bored, and when that got her stares, she decided she had pushed it too far, and returned to her normal, awkward, walking posture, which seemed to earn her a little less glances.

Just as she approached the exit, a mean looking man with hairy arms and real gum stopped her. He was a proper scary gentlemen, and she wouldn't be surprised if he was some sort of cruel army general who said things like '50 press ups!' or 'I hate you!' or just generally mean things. He looked at her out a stale eye, and sniffed real hard, like it was how he was sizing her up., then he said with an excessive amount of anger and loudness, 'Excuse me, miss, we'd like to ask you a few things!' ♥♥♥♥, she thought. 'There's been some suspicious behaviour round here recently, and some things even worse than that, as I'm sure you're aware, and I'd,' he coughed, and even the way he cleared his throat sounded threatening, Katie wondered if he could see the tears blotching up her eyes, or if he was just ignoring them. 'We'd, like to know if you've seen anything.'

'No, sir. Nothing. Nothing but what the papers said.' She replied, in a very honest-sounding and believable way.

'Thank you, continue.'

And Katie had the sudden urge to march furiously out the gates, like a soldier would. She began on her way, just walking though, when she felt an alarmingly warm hand on her shoulder, she didn't really want to know where it'd been.

'One last thing please miss.'

A very smart and important looking man behind a computer screen took a device that resembled a remote and beeped it in the direction of Katie, it made a funny sounding ting, and then the man looked back at the computer. He narrowed his eyebrows and waited a few minutes too long before he looked back at the scary man with his hand on Katie's shoulder, then he looked at Katie's big doleful eyes like she was a dear in headlights. He shook his head to the loud man, and suddenly it was like safety had been dangled in front of Katie's nose, and just as she was to reach for it, it was torn away from her.

'Sorry, looks like you're going to have to go with us.' But he didn't sound very sorry, at all. He handcuffed Katie's wrists together, and she wondered how he just conveniently had a pair of handcuffs at the ready. Then, she was told to wait with the computer man, and not talk, resist, or attempt to bargain or escape of her own accord in any way. Katie, being the meek little dear in headlights she was, did not see much other option, so obliged, and sat with the man, remaining very quiet and still, a part from when she had to scratch her head. Around 30 minutes later she began to grow tired, and asked with her eyes why she was here. The loud man, having some sympathy for her, as most people did, said that tomorrow she was to be taken for questioning, and Katie still didn't move.

She wasn't really that scared though, she had been more scared before, and they seemed nice enough, the loud man and computer man, she was just a bit disheartened to the fact that she still was unable to have a conversation, or talk at all. Should she have been able to speak, she probably would have been perfectly pleased with the whole situation. And she had room for being scared later.

She looked at the remote-scanner device and the computer screen, and then the computer man, and then the remote again, she realised it was a power detector, some spy ♥♥♥♥ that could detect her powers. They were much cleverer than she'd hoped.

DeathofShadows · Jul 11, 2014

Aleksandr Silayev
Chapter Two:
Living Shadows

Oak Park

Alex sighed as he sat back against a tree. It had been an average day, as far as his usual schedule went. Stay indoors during the day, hide from any passing officials, and most of all, never use his Gift.

But it was dark now. The time to get out of the small, musty, one-room apartment he called home. He had big plans for tonight; it wasn't every day that you turned 15. Sure he may be the small kid, the runt of the litter, but he had the brains to outsmart any average street thug. No, he wasn't afraid of much at all.

His hand slowly drifted down to the drawstring pouch at his side, and pulled out his screwdriver and several bits he had salvaged from a broken comm set he had found. He automatically began assembling them in a complex pattern that most people would need blueprints for. But not Aleksandr Silayev. No, he had a way with machines that no one else did. That was his Gift, after all, whether he told anyone or not.

His concentration was soon broken by someone tapping on his shoulder. He looked up to find another boy around his age, an Asian, with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. His clothing was rather nondescript, some obscure band tee and work jeans, but the thing that stood out most was his broad smile.

"Happy birthday, Alex," the boy half-shouted, grinning broadly. Alex grinned, and stood up next to him. He was barely up to the other boy's shoulder, but he was used to that.

"Hey, Li! Thanks for stopping by," Alex replied, clasping Li's hand, smiling. Li was the closest that he had to an actual "friend" down here, even if they didn't know each other too well. Li lived with his parents and five siblings in the next level up, but Li often came down to hang out. Without saying anything, they both automatically began heading for Sparky's, their usual hangout spot. Afterwards, they could do anything they wanted, whether that was just to walk around, or to even try out The Metro. They'd never been, as Li's parents were quite strict on the subject, but Alex might just be able to goad his friend into joining him.

CSS by DeathofShadows

machomuu · Jul 16, 2014

Emil "Nex" Nexis
Abandoned Apartment, Room 304

Nex placed he head against his pillow and cradled the back of his head with his hands. A gang? Here? He thought to himself. That doesn't make sense. Some shady things happen around here, but gang activity and murder isn't one of them. He raised himself and looked out the window again. This incident bothered Emil as much as it did because he'd lived a moderately safe life for the years that he'd been in the apartment. Save for the odd curious wanderer in and the occasional scavenger, there was hardly any activity around the apartment. There were other "tenants", though. Not too many, though, and they were all aware that there were others that lived there, but they all had a common desire to be left alone, so the apartment kept itself from becoming a hotspot for any sort of activity.

Nex left the room and went down to the first floor. He looked around. There was no one in the would-be lobby or even the lounge area (if it could even be called that), and that was to be expected. He was just being cautious. He walked up to one of the windows next to the front door and peeked out. It wasn't much of a window, really; it didn't have any glass and the frame was slightly cracked. During the colder parts of the year, the window was boarded up, for the sake of preserving heat, but at the time it was just a hole in the wall.

Save for rare passerbys, there didn't seem to be anyone out there. Nex began to wonder whether they were after the guy Lina mentioned specifically. But as long as they weren't stationed in the area, he was fine with it. He let out a sigh of relief and returned upstairs. He returned to his room to find Lina, who was clad in his clothing and wore his towel draped over her head, sitting on his bed. "So, how was it?" He asked.

She glared at him from the side. "'How was it?' I'll tell ya how it was, you ass. First, the water was colda' than ice. It was so cold that I screamed and some guy ran into the bathroom, saying that I surprised him!" She stood up and started walking towards Nex, who found it difficult not so smile. "Plus, this place has a lotta rooms, so it took me a while to find a bathroom that worked." She was now upon him, with her accusing finger practically stabbing into his chest. "And all the while, you was just sittin' downstairs, laughin' your ass off." Nex, unfortunately, didn't hear any of what she mentioned, which was unfortunate, because it sounded absolutely hilarious.

"I..." he bit his lip to stop himself from laughing. "I didn't mean for you to go through that, honest." He waved his hands about as he pleaded innocence.

"Oh yeah?" She gritted her teeth. "I tried to kill ya' yesterday and you just forget that there are otha' people in the apartment? AND that the water is cold as sin?"

"Y-yeah." He said, somewhat siding with her considering she was right. "I've been living here for years and haven't had any guests. I don't really have he opportunity to tell people that the water's cold or that there might be others in here. I didn't think about it." Nex was surprisingly calm, considering that she was about to give him what for, but it was the truth; he didn't really have much of an excuse other than that.

Lina took a step back and sighed. "Whateva." She continued drying her hair and returned to his bed. "So, what's the agenda for today?"

Nex scratched his head in thought. "Well...uh..." He knew what he was planning to do, but he hadn't even considered the fact that he had a hostage to take care of. "I was planning on going to the library. I have some...some business to take care of there."

"And what about me?" She responded, continuing to dry her hair. "You're not gonna leave me alone here, are ya? I don't really feel safe here when you ain't here."

Nex raised an eyebrow. "Is that why you came back here last night? I mean, you could have just run back to the restaurant."

Lina turned to him. "It wasn't like that. I know I didn't paint the best picture for ya, but these guys were really fast. This was the only place I could get to, everywhere else was too far. And seeing as you're a freak and all, I thought you might be able to take 'em." She removed the towel from her head and looked down. "After all, you seem pretty brave. You took my knife ate it, which was pretty damn ballsy. Stupid, too. So I trust you fo' that much."

Nex was surprised how much Lina seemed to trust him, and she didn't beat around the bush, either. As such, it probably meant that she was lying in some regard, and him being hospitable was probably a sign of his trust to her. In other words, he knew that she was untrustworthy. And she was a good actor, he knew that from experience. But he knew he could trust her because she allowed herself around someone who threatened to kill in a vulnerable state. She could have gone into another room and gotten a knife or used any number of weapons, but she didn't. It was that vulnerability that gave him any token of trust in her.

"Alright," Nex started, "we're going out." Lina remained silent, almost defiantly so. "Look, I know you don't want to stay here in this apartment filled with unknowns, and you're not even armed. And I understand that you're afraid to go outside because of your attack earlier, but aren't you Cassino's sentry? I would think that his goons would be stronger than that, especially after getting away without a scratch."

This seemed to wake something up in Lina, as she lit up with some sort of determination. Then, all at once, she deflated again. "Actually, I'm..." She started to speak, and but she stopped herself, seemingly contemplating whether she should say what was on her mind. "...Nevermind. You're right." She stood up with the same sort of determination as before. "Let's go." Nex nodded, and the two left the apartment and headed towards the library.

Nathan · Jul 21, 2014

Xero - Good ears are welcome

It had been an okay experience, not particularly overwhelming but he wasn't really a demanding person. He had already left the girl, his experience had allowed him to sneak out of her small apartment without making too much noise. It was still dark outside and he wasn't feeling tired enough to call it a night. He dug his hands into his pockets, remembering that he was starting to run low on money. Since he would need to start doing his "job" anytime soon, he decided that he could as well start right now. Nothing was stopping him anyway. With that in mind, he headed to Sparky's. The place was populated enough for him to go unnoticed to a certain extent. He sat down near to a bunch of people discussing between themselves while scanning the area for a potential target. And by potential target, he meant any person who would be drinking their brains out. And after they'd decide to leave the bar, he would follow them quietly, knock them out in an alley or someplace where no one would see him and proceed to "take" all their valued objects. That was his "job". Well that was until he overheard the group next to him talking about some treasure. That perked his interest and he managed to also hear the words "danger", "rich". He smirked, that was the perfect opportunity. Leaving his seat, he approached them. "Hello you lovely people"

DeathofShadows · Jul 21, 2014

Aleksandr Silayev
Chapter Two:
Living Shadows

Sparky's

There it was. The hallmark of an age long past. Sparky's Diner and Bar. The place where you were sure to find at least one drunkard, several members of a local biker gang, and most important of all, information. Sparky's was a hive abuzz with news of recent happenings, and for someone disconnected from the world such as Alex, this news was almost as important as not being caught by city officials. There were people to avoid down here, whether the galavanting boy next to him knew it or not.

Yet they had come today for a different reason. Not that it would stop Alex from keeping his ears open, it was deadly not to, but he would just remain a face in the crowd tonight.

Or so he planned.

The duo took a seat in an empty booth, barely drawing anything more than a passing glance from several people, and began discussing recent events of their lives. Thank god that Li didn't know what he really was, because the overexcited teen couldn't keep his mouth shut about anything.

It was in the middle of one of his almost poetic monologues of his day, complete with dramatic flourishes of his hands and arms, when he caught a strand of conversation from a nearby group of individuals.

"-have heard rumors of great treasures, but also great danger."

"-if the treasure is as good as people say, you will still end up rich!"

Alex frowned slightly. Quite interesting... It almost seemed too good to be true. At least Li was too involved in a vivid description of a man that he had met on his way down here to notice Alex's momentary distraction.

Alex knew what he had to do. But in order to do it, he had to get rid of Li. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate his friend, he just didn't want to get him involved. He had a family, people that would miss him if he got injured.

And so, it was with a flick of Alex's thoughts that Li's phone went off. As expected, Li looked at the phone, and whitened by several shades.

"Crap, man. It's my pa. I need to get back home NOW." Without even stopping to say goodbye, in his usual fashion, Li sprang out of the seat and raced out the door. Were one paying close attention to the door, they may catch the end of a string of curses as he sprinted away.

Now that the deed was done, he just had to-. He stopped as he heard another speak up. Someone had beaten him to the chase. The best he could hope for was to listen, and follow whoever it was that was inquiring.

And at that moment, Alex realized what his mindless tinkering earlier that night had produced. He pulled out the two small bits of technology, and slightly grinned. A bug was exactly what he needed right now. He pocketed them, and began walking to the bathroom.

Now for the trickier part. Alex feigned a stumble as he passed the treasure hunters, grabbing the table of the alleged treasure hunters to stabilize himself. Mumbling a quick apology, he quickly stood back up and walked into the restroom, closing himself in a stall. The small microphone wirelessly connected to the earpiece he now inserted lay hidden under a used napkin on the table, unlikely to be disturbed quite yet.

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gimmepie · Jul 22, 2014

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Jace Caradoc & Duke Mattern - Murder at the Midnight Grand

[FONT="Calibri]Jace pushed open the door, stepping out on the hard concrete of the buildings roof. There were no true skyscrapers in Heliopolis on account of the city being underground in a cave but he was still several stories up. Jace strode across the top of the building until he stood facing a window, inside of which he could make out the figures of a group of five men.

Lifting an old pair of binoculars to his eyes, Jace scoped out the situation. Inside there were three men in black suits, a short young man with a shaved head and a taller looking guy with an unusual green complexion.
At least one gifted, plus three other guards. Well I guess I should have expected as much. He's the son of the leader of the Dahl family and one of their most prized assassins. In theory I should be able to do this pretty quick.

Standing on the very edge of the building Jace let the familiar sensation that came with the use of his gift build up inside him before unleashing his ability as a blast of telekinetic energy. In an instant the glass - glass Jace had assumed was bulletproof - shattered. Not done there, the telekinetic quickly launched several bullets into the sudden chaos - one for each target.

Duke and Kyle sat together in the corner of the room, conversing as though nothing strange was happening. The pair had become pretty good friends, despite the impending assassination. The three guards around them had been chosen carefully, and could spot an assassin well enough. "So, Fall, how are you going to deal with this guy, should he manage to bre-"

"EVERYBODY DOWN!" One of the guards screamed as glass shattered. Duke immediately grabbed Kyle and tossed himself to the ground, taking the weaselly heir with him. The pair hit the ground hard as Duke heard bullets fly over his head. Small caliber...nine millimeter, odds are.

Making sure to be careful, Duke moved to a crouching position, noticing that the other three guards were dead. "Damn...We're on our own, Mr. Dahl." He stood up and made a dash for one of their bodies, scooping up a pistol from one of them. Cheap quality gun...A shame. He returned to his position behind the couch. He scanned the window, looking for the most obvious path of attack. "The roof," He mumbled to himself. He looked to the top and found a man with flamboyant pink hair. "There's our assassin." He raised the pistol and fired several quick shots, emptying the clip.

Jace didn't flinch as the bullet flew towards him, rather the moment he heard the sound of shots he once again put his ability into play deflecting them and seeing them fall harmlessly to the ground far below.
"Looks like I didn't get the Gifted or Dahl... I guess this could be a bit troublesome. Especially as he almost certainly knows my ability now whilst I don't know his just yet."

Jace took three more bullets into his hand, he didn't want to use too many up at a time since on the roof he didn't have much to use in the way of projectiles and he didn't want to get too close to his green opponent just yet either.
"Let's see you dodge a second time" with that Jace launched the bullets straight at the opposing Gifted.

Duke watched as the assassin deflected his bullets by simply waving them away with a hand. "Telekinesis..." He thought out loud. "No possibly way to inflict damage with a gun." He dropped the gun in his hand and stood up. His sharp eyes noticed a projectile flying towards him at killing velocity. He immediately hardened his skin, increasing the density by several inches, but not enough to give away the element of surprise. The bullet bounced off of his chest with enough force to cause a bit of pain.

Instead of acknowledging the pain, Duke took the initiative. He ran forward, the muscles in his legs increasing with his speed. He heard Kyle call out from behind, "What the hell are you doing?" Refusing to acknowledge the cry, he took a mighty leap the second he reached the edge of the window. Fall went sailing through the air, closing the gap between buildings quickly. He landed mere feet away from his assailant with a thud. He stood up and turned to him, positioning himself in a combat stance. "I'm assuming you're from the Jakobs family... Leave if you wish to live."

What the hell is this guy? Jace had seen some pretty amazing gifts in his short time working for the Jakobs family, but this was the first time he had seen bullets merely bounce off of a green guy, who then leaped across a street-length gap as if it was nothing and he'd never been shot.
"If you think leaving will result in me keeping my life, you clearly haven't met Russom Jakobs" Jace lashed out telekinetically, intending to launch his opponent from the roof. It was pretty clear by the strength and resiliency his opponent displayed that it would not be a good idea to let him get close.

Duke saw the telekinetic wave coming from a mile away. In an attempt to anchor himself to the roof, he multiplied his muscle and bone density by three. Instead of being straight-up blown off of the roof, like most people, he was pushed back until he was at the very edge. This man is not the run-of-the-mill assassin, a Gifted.

Quickly returning his mass to normal, he rushed forward yet again. "A fair point." He grinned at the thought of taking down a crime lord. "But he is only human...We are more!" He leaped forward and focused density into his fist. He threw a jab at the man's chest, hoping for a quick end. "My life will be in danger as well, if I fail."

Jace leapt to the side, launching another bullet - not at Duke though but at the foolish Kyle Dahl who was watching out in the open. The projectile narrowly missed the head of the sniper however, its trajectory skewed by Jace's sidewards motion. Rolling quickly to his feet Jace shifted another bullet to his hand.
"You're at a disadvantage" Jace was beginning to understand the green bodyguards gift now, it seemed he was able to alter his body in various ways, although Jace was still unsure of the extent "You not only have to protect yourself and take me out, you also have to stop me from killing that idiot over there. Furthermore your gift seems to be that you can alter your body's form. That seems to mean you can become faster, stronger or more durable but not a combination. It also means that you rely on close combat. I can keep blasting you away whilst I take Dahl out and then run for it."

Demonstrating his point, Jace released a stronger telekinetic strike, this time near certain he could send his enemy plummeting off of the roof. Almost the instant after he did so, Jace also launched the bullet he held flying towards Kyle Dahl. He needed to get the job over and done with, overusing his gift would leave him vulnerable.

The fear in Duke's heart was real as he saw the bullet fly towards Kyle. "NO!" He cried out. It was obvious that Kyle would be hit, and he would die. There was no stopping it. Duke sighed internally, the pain of losing a friend in his heart. He had to continue though. If a single death prohibited his life, then he would've died a long time ago. He multiplied his weight by as much as he could, a total of ten times its normal weight. The strain on his muscles was real, but he could bare it.

Kyle proved to be more resourceful than Duke had thought. He had picked up one of the guard's bodies and used it as a shield. The bullet buried itself in the corpse, and no harm had fallen to Kyle. "BE CAREFUL!" He heard the cry.

Fall grinned as he turned to his comrade. "I see you've caught on to my powers..." He rushed forward, the strength in his arms increasing and those in his legs decreasing. He leaped forward and did a hand spring, launching him high in the air. He quickly strengthened his leg muscles and swung a quick, powerful kick at his combatant's face.

Jace let loose another telekinetic blast, of a different variety this time though. Rather than try to blast away his attacker he shot himself back, sending him skidding along the roof. Landing in a crouched position Jace immediately counterattacked, opening the matchbox he had grabbed from his home earlier and launching the metal shavings directly at the Dahl Gifted's face.

Kyle having scampered behind the body of one of his fallen guards it seemed apparent to Jace that he'd have to deal with the form shifting Unregistered before him before he could handle the sniper. Yet that would prove a lengthy task if he couldn't gain the advantage, especially because it wouldn't be too long before the authorities noticed their battle. Jace needed to get an edge, so he launched the sharp metal shavings at the face of Duke Mattern intending to cut his eyes and blind him.

Duke was able to successfully dodge the cloud of shavings, but that brief moment allowed for Jace to strike inspiration. He'd been going about it all wrong, he'd made a big mistake. He didn't need to defeat his foe just yet, he just needed to use his brain. As his opponent ran for him Jace leapt from the side of the building and launched himself across the gap with a blast of his telekinetic gift.
"Nice to meet you Kyle"

Duke turned, preparing to leap after Jace but was forced to move away as Jace propelled glass shards from the broken window across to the other building. Jace turned back to Kyle, to find the young man pointing a rifle at his face, his entire body quivering. Jace looked right into the eyes of the petrified sniper and, without even blinking or hesitating at the man's fear, propelled his own gun through his chest.

Duke watched from the other roof as the man he had come to consider a friend fell at the hands of the Jakobs' assassin. Sickness and fury welled up in him as he launched himself over the edge of the roof towards Jace.
"NO!" he howled, praying to whomever was listening that Kyle Dahl wasn't dead in his head.

Jace turned to see his opponent land on the edge of the room, but it was over because he had just given Jace the opportunity he needed. The final shards of glass flew to Duke's face at Jace's command forcing the green-tinged man to cover his face. It was at that moment that Jace telikinetically pulled forth Kyle's gun, caught it and pulled the trigger - firing several bullet's into Duke Matterns chest and watching the sudden shock send him tubling to the street below.

A cold, numb feeling running through his veins Jace fled the scene of the crime as sirens sounded in the distance.

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タイラー · Aug 3, 2014

Zander Hyrall: "The Unlikely Hypnotist, Aleksandr Silayev, & Xero

Part One

As Zander interrogated his new "Bosses", he learned that the female's codename was "Luna". Noting the codename, he went to ask some more questions. Before he could ask where they got their information, a short kid walked by, then tripped onto their table, mumbling his apology, and walking away. Getting frustrated, Zander went to continue, when another distraction made it's appearance.

"Hello you lovely people." a somewhat well toned man said, approaching the table. Zander near his breaking point, answered first, in a purposely rude tone. "Yeah, what do you want?"

Xero looked down at the person who answered him. He hated when people would talk to him like that. Most of the time, it made him wanna punch them in the face so they could learn some manners. Glaring down at the man, he answered him. "I overheard your conversation about some treasure hunt and I wanted to join. The more the merrier, right?" Slide chuckled at the man, while Luna looked at Zander for his opinion. Zander getting the hint, looked the man up and down. "Hmm, well, do you use any weapons?" Slide asked. He smirked, convincing them to let him in was easy enough. "My body is my weapon"

Slide smirked at the answer, and was convinced. Scratching his head, Z was concluding his look over, and gave Luna a defeated glance. "Alright, your in!" Luna said enthusiastically. While fiddling under the table, Zander found something. Pulling it out, it turned out to be a bug. Showing it to the rest of the crew, he asked for their opinion.

It seemed he had lost nothing of his convincing skills. Getting in was easy, now he'd just wait for an opening to sneak out, kill them and grab the money. Now that boy who answered him rudely earlier pulled a bug under the table. "Tch, I say we crush it." Grinning wildly, Zander put the bug to his mouth. And yelled. "Come out!" Then promptly crushed it.

Quite interesting... It was as he had feared. The other boy had wanted to join their expedition. Great.

The only problem Aleksandr was having as he was listening was that this group sure seemed to be rather visual. He was only getting half of what must be going on. But wait, one of them was talking... His body, a weapon? Was it possible that he was another Gifted..? Perhaps. He would have to wait and see. Perhaps he could-

"COME OUT!!!!" The yell left Alex's ear ringing for several seconds as he sat there, stunned. They had... Found it..? Well... It was not the smallest thing he had made... Not to mention that it had LITERALLY been a slap job. He needed to learn when to give up. Especially since all he was getting was static now.

Dropping the earpiece into the toilet and flushing it to whatever watery grave awaited it, Alex approached the door. But he hesitated for a second. Would he be able to reach the door before being spotted? The HAD seen his face after all. And now they'd be looking for him. With a sigh, he slowly pushed open the door, and once again entered the diner proper.

As a boy walked out into the room, towards the table, Zander recognized him as the boy who stumbled on their table earlier. "So your the idiot who bugged our table," Zander proclaimed. "Hmm, bold move kid, whats your motives here?" Slide asked.

That face was kinda familiar. Then Xero noticed the boy coming at them. So he was the one who placed the bug under their table. Now that he thought of it, how could he do that? He gritted his teeth, another Gifted? That was just complicating things for him. As Z gave the kid a once over, he realized something was off. The kind had the same air to him as Timothy did. Then Z realized Xero had the same thing. A sort of perpetual nervousness, like they were hiding something. Z knew they might not be gifted like Timothy, but they where hiding something. Z then wondered if he had that same air. Then, the boy arrived at the table.

Alex shifted nervously, his eyes flicking from one member of the group to the next. What would he tell them? It was rather nerve wracking to be put on the spot like this... But he had assumed such a risk when he initially came up with he plan.

"I was... You see... Attempting to listen for more information..." Alex's words were falling over themselves. That wouldn't do. Taking a deep breath and setting his jaw, Alex stood straighter and said, "I wish to join your expedition. I can be a good asset to you, as I am good at hiding, and machines are my specialty. I apologize for bugging your table, I was merely attempting to gather more information before making up my mind as to joining you of not."

He slowly released the breath he hadn't realized he had been holding, and looked around the group. The female looked the scariest. He didn't want to get on her bad side. The others... Generally, he didn't want to cross any of them. Not if he had to hide his Gift while doing so.

Lokiepie · Aug 14, 2014

Harry - Metro Raid, Chapter 2

Harry leaned back, cradling a cup of alcohol against her lips, as she watched the entrance to the Metro with dull eyes. All about her the writhing bodies of dancers, bumped and swayed, shielding from direct sight as the music continued to pulse on. From her spot, draped in shadows, the girl observed the scene unfold about her. Of course, she knew what was going to happen. Thirty seconds from this exact moment the front doors to the underground club would burst open, the men behind their destruction almost ripping the things off their hinges, before storming in, the thunder of military boots crushing broken needles and plastic cups beneath their feet.

The music would pulse on but the shrill concerto of people's screams would begin to rise. Panic would spread like wild fire as The Raid began but Harry would stay. Panic wasn't her style. In the next few minutes she would see her escape before anyone knew what was going to happen. So for now, she would continue to enjoy her drink.

Tick Tock.

There it was. The distant sound of the outer most doors the club being burst open.

Another second ticked by and the distant sound of the small sweep squad was closer now. Carefully, Harry tipped her glass over her bottom lip, lapping up the last bit of alcohol infused water. The real stuff was for the upper circles only. Tasted like ****, but the buzz which she got from even just a tiny sip was worth every sour note this foul liquid trigger on her tongue.

Running a gentle finger along the rim of her glass, Harry, licked the residue off her digit before pulling back her arm and throwing the glistering, transparent thing towards the door.

As the glass sailed, her aim proving true, the door to the club was slammed open, just as the glass connected with the wall next to the entrance. The thing shattered, falling into a thousand glittering pieces in the dim light of the club, as suddenly, from the door and soft 'pop' of broken tumbler, the dancing stopped.

Everyone, even those too far gone to stand by themselves, turned sweat covered faces towards the entrance and right on cue, the first scream sounded.

Chaos erupted, squad flooding forward with small fire arms raised as the leading few bellowed for the music to be stopped and for everyone to 'remain calm'.

Harry snorted, the sound odd to such a situation, before the girl stood, pausing for a brief second as her eyes glazed over. Here, her lids fluttered uncontrollably, while beneath their protective layer, her eyes rolled back, disappearing into the back of her skull. Harry's lips parted, her tongue nervously flashing out to slip across alcohol burning lips, before as quickly as the vision had arrived, it went.
Harry refocused onto the present and began to walk. Mouthing as she went, her movements.

"Two steps forward. Stop."

She halted just in time, as a man jumped from the upper balcony and landed in the direct spot where Harry would have stood. He bolted to the left. Harry nodded, then continued on. Counting each step, every now and then skipping one way, or stopping to let a hurrying pair of frightened unregistered flee by.

Each move was timed perfectly, until at last the girl arrived at the door. Here, stationed next to enterance and exit, stood two tall men. On her arrival, they both swirled their heads to look at her, Harry knowing that behind mask covered faces there was a look of confusion.

"Hi!" Harry waved, smiling.

One of them stepped forward.

"One." Harry whispered.

"Miss. Remain calm and line against the opposite wall please."

"Pardon?" Harry replied, cupping a hand to her ear. The guard grunted in annoyance then stepped forward.

"Two."

"Please proceed to the opposite wall." The man repeated, his voice straining to keep its volume.

"Line up where?" Harry queried, arching a fine eyebrow before taking a step forward towards the guard. The man in question did the same and as he shifted into position, the girl grinned. Time to play.

She lunged forward as two young men emerge from the scream throng behind her. In absolute terror, they ran head long towards the door and pretending as if she had been shoved as the pair brushed by, Harry lunged.

The two guards had momentarily lost focus on her, and using this perfectly timed event to her advantage, Harry set into motion the club's escape.

Her fist connected with the guard's neck with a soft 'thunk' before a gasping, gurgling noise bubbled up from beneath the mask.

The guard lifted his arms to clutch at his own throat, swinging his head back to stare at Harry with a look of sheer betray and realisation, as Harry lifted one hand, almost lazily and pushed. The man stumbled, still gasping for air before tripping. His feet crossing over one another and making him fall, his greater body mass rushing back and slamming into the other guard and catching him off guard, preoccupied with the two young men he now held at gun point.

On connection, the first guard's head knocked the second and slammed it back against the wall and knocking him out cold, while the first still struggled for breath as he slid down the wall, eyes still glued to Harry's poorly light face.

The two young man gawked, eyes darting between Harry and the guards. Behind her, the rest of the squad was too busy trying to preform crowd control to pay much attention.

"After you." Harry gestured, before raising her arms and throwing back her head to call, "Entrance clear!" Before strolling by the two guards, now sprawled across the floor and quickly retrieving something from one of the guard's vests. After this, the girl then smiled at the still gawking men, before setting aside and waiting for the inevitable rush of terrified teens and adults to swarm, using them to shield her own escape into the outside world.

タイラー · Sep 6, 2014

The Expedition

Part Two

As Luna looked the kid over, she signaled to Slide for his opinion. Slide looked critically at the kids every feature, noting the glasses, shortness, hair, and lankyness. Zander being annoyed at this entire ordeal, just sat back and attempted to take a nap. "The rest of the group might not accept him... what do you do, weapon-wise?" Luna asked. Slide was unimpressed, but waited for the answer.

Alex looked to the female of the group, the one who had spoken. Was she the leader? No... It didn't seem so. In any case, he had a question to answer. But.. Weapons? He usually didn't carry more than his small pistol... Well, he might as well show them.

He slowly pulled out the homemade gun, displaying it. "I am a reasonably good shot... And I'm handy enough to use stuff around me. But I'm no weapons master." He shuffled in place a bit as he returned his pistol to its hip holster, hidden by his slightly long shirt. By the looks of things, it was a rather bleak situation. He was at least five the younger of everyone there... How could he tell them what he really could do without endangering himself..?

Xero was carefully examining how things were happening. This little man was potentially a threat and he didn't certainly feel like dealing with other people. Also not everyone could spy people with bugs. At least, he could take him out easily if the need arose. A small pistol wouldn't be enough to stop him. But still, he had to be sure. "Just that pistol? Nothing else on you?" The way that this boy was acting didn't particularly put him at ease.

Alex nodded. It was as simple as that. There was no need to endanger himself by revealing everything now. Besides the fact that one of them didn't seem all too ready to be nice to him. It was time to leave, and soon. He was putting himself at enough risk even being here so late.

"Listen," he began, looking towards the door, "I have some other places I need to be... Where should I meet you once you are ready? Well, if you will have me, that is."

He had already had to duck his head to avoid meeting the gaze of the burly biker in the far cornerof the cafe. He definitely knew the man. He was one of the people that had been a co-worker with his father, and it was no secret who had turned in the late drug lord. If he discovered that he was here... It would be quite the gristly end for the small Russian kid.

Luna thought for a minute. She realized he was weak, but the more support the better. She sighed, and gave Slide a subtle thumbs up. "Alright kid, meet tomarrow, 3:00 pm, behind Steins Pub." Slide explained. "You might want to tell him where that is, not even I remember where that shack is," Zander said, suddenly waking up. Slide sighed, "It's a bleach colored bar near the edge of the city, if you go to the Metro and then go south you'll get there eventually. But don't go inside, Steins' a shifty man, and less than undesirable things go on in that place, thanks to lack of police patrol." Nodding, Alex hurridly walked off.

As Zander drifted back off. Slide looked to Xero. "So, I'd imagine you have plans?"

Yet another nuisance, where did all of those guys come from? Well, it just makes more people to take care of. More people that would have to shut up. Or maybe if the other kid was a Gifted, the could probably split up the treasure money. Not hat he wanted to be generous but this was better than a ruckus anyway. He looked at the other guy who spoke to him. "Yes I do. Do you still have something you need of me?"

"No, not at all. I will be taking my leave shortly as well to check the status of the rest of the crew. Just be there at Steins Pub, and we will continue there," Slide explained, standing up, and walking towards the door. Zander remained sleeping, and Luna showed no sign of moving.

gimmepie · Sep 23, 2014

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Jace, Michael and Harry - Rooftop Revelations

[FONT="Calibri]Jace ran through the maze of alleyways that made up the impoverished and decrepit west of Heliopolis the sounds of sirens and footsteps behind him. Jace was no coward, but he was gripped with fear and guilt. He kept seeing the shocked face of Duke Mattern as he fell backwards through the shattered window.

Two men appeared around the corner in front of Jace, one wearing a navy blue uniform the other green camouflage, both wore the same midnight black body armour. They raised their guns and fired, only to have their bullets fly straight back at them. They dropped to the floor and Jace ran past the bodies.
How the hell did they manage to get in front of me like that? They should have no idea where I am exactly. Jace had been planning on entering the Metro and blending in with the crowd, but now he suddenly felt unsure of his plan's validity but before he had time to reconsider, he ran head long into a petite girl.

Michael had been more than happy that day. Sure, his arm was still feeling the pain, but at the very least he didn't have to worry about anymore police. No need to carry disguises or anything. On the one hand, that was good. On the other, it meant if he had a clean slate he would have to be extra cautious on who saw him. It was why when he started passing some alleys that he stopped as he heard gunfire. He quickly put his own back against the wall as he closed his eyes, "Just walk away... just walk away..." He muttered to himself as he began to slowly ease himself back.

He just had to keep quiet and that was all really. No more rap sheet for him. He had to use his freedom now to get away with bigger things. What use would being essentially invisible to the police be if he wasted it with a simple fight in the alleys?

The young woman had dark brunette hair, matching eyes and was fairly well muscled; but being of a smaller body size than Jace, she couldn't withstand the collision. Jace got to his feet and was about to continue running when it occurred to him she'd been following the men he'd just downed. The soldiers gun flew into Jace's hands and was immediately pointed at the woman, who was still on the ground with a blank look on her face.
"Mind telling me why you and our two Gifted-hating friends on the ground there were coming up this alley?"

"Mind getting that gun out of my face." the girl replied curtly as she looked up from her sprawled position, lips thin and eyes narrowed in annoyance. Her irritation wasn't wholly due to the fact that she was now on the floor, or, that she had a gun trained on her position by some dyed hair freak. Instead it was focused on herself.Harry. How was she meant to have avoided this outcome if she hadn't been warned? Usually her flicks into the future would have warned her of such danger and up until this point, they had served her well. In fact it was because of them that she now had a gun pointed to her head.

"Listen. If you were gonna shoot, I would have seen you do it by now." Harry grumbled, as rather ungracefully, the girl clambered to her feet. "And despite your paranoia, I don't have time for this." Here she gestured to the stand off with pursed lips. "Why were you running in this direction? What's back the other waa..." Harry flicked, her eyes becoming slightly unfocused for the briefest of seconds, whilst Jace watched, eye brows slightly raised.

When the girl returned, her eyes fixed to him with a chilling look of fear.

"****. No wonder you were running." She hissed this, dropping her voice low. "Listen. There's a raid, back at Metro. Go there if you really want, but if you want freedom, stick close." Then without another word, Harry grabbed Jace's wrist and pulled an action which Jace didn't need to baited into. Soon he running behind the woman of his own free will having registered in his mind exactly what she had said. If there was indeed a raid on the metro staying in that alleyway a second longer would likely have left them both trapped with police and soldiers coming at them from both ends.
Interesting... she has foresight. Well at least I can be pretty confident that she's an ally then.

Jace followed on behind, easily keeping pace with his inadvertent rescuer's short legs. He didn't entirely trust her, but he was certain she was telling the truth. It was harder to lie under pressure and she didn't seem to have as much underground experience as he did. He could hear footsteps coming from both directions now - the gunshots had been heard both by Jace's pursuers and raiders.

The two of them turned down another couple of side streets. Where were they heading? A thought which the girl in front him clearly didn't need to think about.

Counting her steps, the pair turned around the final corner with a flourish, skidding to a halt in front of man who had pressed himself against the wall as he tried to slink back the way he had come. His face however, displayed his displeasure on being discovered by the small panting woman and her companion, his smooth getaway being interrupted.

Before he had time to even open his mouth or run however, Harry fixed him with a cold stare and between heavy breaths, panted. "Michael. We need your help."

Michael's smooth getaway had now been interrupted as he turned about and nervously rubbed the back of his neck, "Huh? Do I know you? I don't think so." He said as he kept on backing away, "Isn't like I got a clean slate now so really, I think I'm just an innocent person here and I really reeeeally don't want to ruin my good fortune right now. So I'm just going to head this way and, uh, you two head that way. Good? I think it's a good idea. Besides, sounds like you two pissed off a looot of people. I wouldn't want to get between you and them, you see?" He asked with a weak smile.

Harry glared, now more than ever annoyed at her own mistake. She had sworn her powers had led her to this guy, heard his name in her flick and hoped that he was their way out, but the reality of it all was less thrilling.

The man seemed nothing more than a sniveling coward. So worried about getting his 'clean slate' dirty than anything else. Though, admittedly Harry found it difficult to believe anyone in this level of the city had a 'clean' anything . Life is dirty down here and anyone saying differently, is selling something.

"Fine." Harry growled as she moved to push past Michael not bothering to try and edge around him. "Be a good boy and be the distraction. Buy us a few minutes." She snorted this last remark before pausing in her exit. "Though, be careful of the guy with glasses. He's from the raid. He's a real good sniffer."

Harry shivered at the truth in her own words. On several turns, Harry had been presented with this man's face. Clean shaven and young with cropped brown hair and red jacket. He would almost be cute if it weren't for the fact that every time Harry saw him in her future, he was putting cuffs around her wrists or putting a bullet in her head.

In one particular flick, a few cross roads back, Harry recalled the man stating he could smell her gift, leaning in to breath in the sweat which coated her neck. That guy was a human unregistered detector and if they were caught there would be no fooling him with the innocent act.

"Nothing but a government do gooder, huh Michael?" Harry hissed as she then turned and began to hurry down the passage. "Thanks for the help."

"Woah woah!" MIchael said as the two pushed past, "Hey if he's a sniffer I ain't staying around!" He snapped. Like the 'good boy' he was he instead wheeled around and ran after Harry, in fact he was running so fast that he was actually able to catch up, this time turning down a side alley, "Good luck with the coppers!" He shouted back with a chuckle of laughter, "Cause I have one thing you don't!"

As he ran along the alley he quickly pulled his shirt off and gritted his teeth as he felt his fur starting to sprout. His muscles shifted as his wings began to form and soon he let out a loud screech as he once more embodied his second form. He quickly flapped into the air, firstly deciding to just ditch those two in the alley... and yet that girl knew his name. Obviously she recognized him, was she someone who knew his case history? She knew about one of the cops... so how could she know that UNLESS she was a cop herself? If they got caught then there went his clean record! He would be put back on the books for sure! He just got off and he couldn't even do a big crime without already being on everyone's target list!

He hissed quietly to himself as he swung about in mid air and began to flap back to that passage the two had gone. He let out a screech as his ears flicked. Yeah... there were there alright. He just had to catch them at the right time... AND NOW! Michael pulled his wings tightly against his body as he sped down like a black bullet. He held out both hands and grabbed the runners as he quickly began to flap his wings to get up. Already their combined weight was starting to slow him down, but he managed to get one last flap and get up and over a roof. He pushed both of the humans to the ground as he spread his wings and hissed softly, "And how do you know me?" He asked the female, his eyes narrowing to slits, "Either you tell me everything you know right now or I'll rip that throat of yours open."

Jace wasn't totally sure what had just happened, only that he was now on a roof with a large bat-like creature pinning him down and issuing threats. It was pretty clear that this was the same guy that they'd just seen by what he'd said.
A shapeshifter?
"Some friend" Jace said snidely to the woman next to him, he still didn't know her name. One thing he was fairly certain of though, was that if she got her throat torn into he'd probably next.

Jace let loose with his gift, throwing both the bat and the woman away from him. It was a move that cost him a fair bit of strength, but nothing he couldn't handle.
"What the hell is going on here!" he yelled, just quiet enough to ensure it was doubtful the authorities would source it.

This was not Jace's day. First he'd been forced to kill Kyle Dahl and his Gifted bodyguard, then the authorities had started hunting him down, to add to that he'd then nearly ran smack bang into a raiding party, he had ran straight into the seer woman and now a crazy manbat was trying to interrogate them on top of a roof. It was time for answers.

"Jeez and men complain about woman being needy and emotional…" Harry groaned, as slowly, she lifted herself from floor, her hands massaging a rather large lump which now protruded out the back of her head.

As a result from the blast, Harry now sat under a small wall which surrounded the worn roof. The force had sent her back with enough power to knock the wind out of her chest as well as bruise a couple ribs resulting, much to Harry's distaste, in pain prickling down her nervous system. Not to mention the nausea which ensued her short flying trip.

Letting out a low moan, Harry tried focus on the two men, who had now been the main source of everything wrong in her little world... if you ignored the government, police, registered and the high price of chocolate.

"You know… You guys have a funny way of showing gratitude…. You," Harry said, jabbing a defiant finger in the direction of Batboy, presumably Michael, "Do you make it a point to pick up random girls and threaten them?! And You, " Harry's finger now wheeled about to face Jace. "Blasted me across a roof! For. Might I just add.Saving both of your skins!"

"Yes getting me carted up to a roof by a murderous bat. Excellent job." Jace said, practically dripping sarcasm "You have foresight, why exactly did you choose to go and talk to someone who now wants us dead?"

The sounds of footsteps and sirens were still in the distance. No vehicle could fit through the side streets and in a cave they had no need to fear aerial surveillance but the fact that armed men and women were out in force and in every direction by the sounds of things was not encouraging.
"We need to find somewhere safe. All of us. Now. If you fly you're going to get a bunch of holes shot through you, so you're better of sticking with us. I don't have to be able to see the future to know that we're going to be surrounded soon and I for one would rather avoid getting captured or killed. We can sort out the rest of this mess when we're safe. Okay?"

"Agreed." Harry sniffed, before adding defensively "But I didn't know he was gonna turn into that." Harry growled nodding at Michael before crossing her arms and turning up her nose like an offended child. "My trick doesn't hold all the answers you know? But hey! Next time I see you running towards a Raid, remind me to just let you run on by."

At this moment Harry desperately wrestled the urge to stick out her tongue. Yes, bad dyed hair boy was technically correct. She had got them captured by a delinquent bat, but at least they weren't getting processed. Being stuck on the roof with Michael beasting out was infinitely better than that. In fact there were a lot of bad situations that Harry could think of, all of which she would love to face if being processed was the other option.

"We are fine for the current time. No one is close enough to trigger my trick."

"Well I STILL want answers!" MIchael snapped, "I have NO idea how you know about me, but you STILL haven't answered my question!" He snarled angrily. "Either you get the answers out right now or I rip your throat. Then," He looked over at the man, his eyes narrowing, "I'll rip yours out. Already you have attacked me so I just see it as returning the favor." He hissed angrily. "No one saved my skin! Simply by walking my way you just made things worse! One free ticket to do WHATEVER I wanted, and for all I know it could be flushed down the drain. Now, if my chance did indeed get flushed I'm making sure something joins it in the sewers." He hissed out angrily as he stared right at Harry, "So then, get to the talking, my patience is slipping."

"Wow…does your brain shrink to size of a bat too? Or is that just your, you-know-what? "Harry glanced down before flicking her eyes back up. "As this rage has gotta be over compensating for something."

However, when the bat's fur bristled, Harry sighed and held up her hands in a sign of peace.

"Just cool it okay. No throat ripping. There's no need." Here Harry pushed away from her wall, and looked at her company with a grin. "You wanted an answer, here it is. I'm a seer. The only reason I knew your name, was because I heard it.. from the future. It's how I knew which way to go to escape the cops and it's also how I knew where to find you." Here Harry paused before adding with a shrug. "But if I makes you feel any better, I know nothing more about you or your clean slate. Alright?"

Michael hissed a bit lower as his ears twitched, "That's all fine and dandy... but that little comment of yours has to enact a price." He sneered as he dashed forward, grabbing the woman with his hands as he brought his slobbering muzzle up close, "I say I just toss you overboard. You can't fly, can you seer?"

His hands furled tighter around Harry's wrists as the girl stared, unflinchingly back. Not even a single spark of fear flickered across her expression, as she parted her lips to speak.

"No."

The reply was short and clipped with annoyance which bordered on boredom, as Harry leaned back a little to avoid a particularly large globule of drool.

"But only reason you are even able to touch me, is because I let you. Bear that in mind. Plus you aren't proving my 'Little' comment wrong." Again her eyes flicked down and a smirk crossed her lips. "Even from this distance, I'm still undecided."

Surprisingly a sort of blush formed over Michael's face as he quickly shook his head and glared harder at her, "You little... You know, I will. I'll grab you in my arms right now and let your skull break open once it hits the ground!" He snarled at her, "Or...." He chuckled softly, "I can easily just rip that neck of yours open. I could use a drink." He murmured as he licked his rather sharp fangs. "By the way..." He leaned in with a whisper, "It grows in this form, so how about you shut that trap before I bite into that neck?"

Sucking in a large breath, Harry glared back, her stubborn streak winning over her usually calm and agreeable nature.

"Bite me, why should I be afraid of you!"

He snarled even louder and at this point pushed her back so that she was slammed against the roof as he opened his mouth wide and let his spittle fly onto her face, "YOUR NECK WILL BE RIPPED OPEN! THAT IS WHY YOU SHOULD BE AFRAID!" He hissed angrily.

Harry let out her own hiss as the air was knocked out of her, already bruised ribs shifting under the immense weight of Michael. Coughing from a mixture of bat breath and being winded, Harry tried to wiggle free. She needed air, but when Michael's claws held fast, she stilled, looking up at the creature for the first time in fear.

Up until this point, she hadn't seen anything. No warning. No nothing, but now, she could sense a flick beginning to build. It was clear to Jace, Michael and now even herself, that she had pushed her jibes too far.

"I'm sorry." Harry gulped, recognising her situation. If she had been warned before she was pinned, she would have perhaps been able to fight but it was too late now. Pride had to be swallowed and Michael's ego massaged.

"I'm just scared okay! We are being surrounded and I saw you help us! YOU! Can you believe that? But we are still stuck in the middle of all this crap."

Her heart rate pitched as she admitted her fear, but held her gaze steady. Even if she was afraid, she was no coward.

Michael leaned in closer, chuckling now as his long tongue slipped out and dragged along her neck, "But... you taste so good..." He said softly to her, "I imagine that it would be quite a shame if you just... left on me without tasting that sweet blood of yours." His eyes narrowed, "I'm sure you feel the same way. So how about this? If I help you two out of this... you owe me favors. And trust me on this, I have ways of tracking you down. Hide in a cellar? I'll find you. Hide in the deepest moat? I'll find you." He leaned in very close so he could stare right into Harry's eyes, "Got it?"

The girl nodded, her skin still crawling from the sensation of cooling saliva on her neck. "Got it." Yet the remaining slither of rebellion in the girl smirked. Let him try she thought, I'll be out the window before he's even at the door.

Jace watched the slightly disturbing way events unfolded before chiming in with a clear tone of annoyance
"Well if you two love birds are done being creepy and violent can we please get a move on. Batboy, Michael I think she said your name is, get to helping us already and don't try any more stunts like that or we'll see how well you fly with a bunch of holes in you. Seer-girl, stop provoking him or I might just let him do whatever the hell he wants to you. Now let's go I can see torch lights not far from here!"

At this point Jace was pretty eager to be shot of his present company, but if they could keep him from being riddled with bullets he was prepared to endure whatever behavior they sprung on him.

Harry shoved Michael away from her, repulsed by the bat's behaviour and once more seething at her own. "Love birds...I'd hate to see your version Romeo and Juliet." Harry said, "The name is Harry by the way. Not seer girl, and you can relax. The search lights are close but there's no threat... yet. But I will keep an eye out for any changes."

Michael hissed back at Harry, "You best hope not! Cause if they do I WILL get them a show to watch." He sneered as he angrily snapped his jaws. "I got you two off of the ground, so if this pulls through then I'll be the sole reason why you two aren't in custody. Be thankful for that at least."

"Didn't I say not to go making more threats?" Jace sighed "Whatever, since we're making introductions I'm Jace." The telekinetic looked on and wondered what to do next. It was pretty clear he was stuck with the two other Gifted, he might as well try to cooperate with them.
"Well, what do you think we should do?"

"We stay here." Michael stated, "They won't look up here for us. We're safe and I intend for it to stay that way."

Jace shrugged and sat back against a wall
"Fair enough. It does seem unlikely that they'll find us up here so long as nobody starts flying around or attacking them. They group after me will leave the area in a few hours and the raid will definitely be over by the time the lights come back on. So I guess we wait here until then and try not to kill each other."

"Deal..." Harry chimed, ignoring Michael completely now. Such an ass. "So who were the people chasing you?" The question was directed towards Jace, who gave her a sharp look before Harry shrugged. "I was running from a raid avoiding cops, but the people chasing you. Whole other deal. Body armor and everything and nothing I have ever seen from a raid party... they were the real thing." Harry raised her hands and held them together, her fingers forming the barrel of a gun which pointed towards Jace. "You know, the kind who act first and ask questions later."

Jace wasn't totally sure that he should reveal information to Harry, but then again she was no real threat to him and it seemed that Michael was more interested in avoiding trouble than anything... despite his rather aggressive temperament.
"Putting it bluntly, the authorities don't seem to like it if you put a sniper's gun through him and send a green guy plummeting out a window." Even as he said it he felt the guilt weighing in on him. There'd been no benefit to anyone but criminals in the murders he had committed that night. Normally he felt no guilt for his crimes, because they helped good people, but that night had been far from the case.

If anything, this was an interesting chance to see how the others reacted to this news. Besides, he was kind of curious about this clean slate that Michael kept going on about.

Michael chuckled and sat down, "Heh, too bad you don't have someone watching your back." He said with a smirk, "I have someone watching mine, so too bad that you don't have that same privilege eh?" He wrapped his wings tightly around his body as he smiled wider, "I killed many men too but you don't see my name on the list. Hehehe."

"Oh you just get creepier and creepier." Harry muttered to herself, as she shuffled herself back against the wall, shooting a disgusted glance at Michael, before looking back at Jace with a quizzical expression.

"Why'd you do it?"

The question was quiet and laced with fear. Sure her hands weren't the cleanest, but two of the three people on the roof she now found herself stranded on, had committed murder. Good or bad, it didn't really matter about their victims...at least her hands weren't stained with blood.

"Explains the wide area search...Normal raid would have given up by now."

Michael growled, "Don't you get it girl? He did it for the same reason we all do." He sucked in a deep breath, "Ooooohhhh... there ain't no rest for the wicked~ Money don't grow on trees~" He narrowed his eyes, "Same reason, all the time. It's never going to change really. Grow up and realize that the bad guys are always around. We ain't stopping anytime soon."

Jace definitely wasn't a fan of this guy... but he wasn't totally wrong. Still, even though he wasn't the most talkative of people he had to do something about being lumped in with Michael... even if he felt like he should be.
"I didn't really have a choice. Usually it's for the money, but the majority of the money goes to helping good people. I'm a criminal so it doesn't matter if my hands get bloodier and bloodier if it keeps others from having to get theirs dirty. This time though, it was me or them. If they didn't die my employers were going to come after me, and I'm not much good to anyone dead. It's not like they were innocent victims either, one was a sniper assassin and the other a criminal Gifted just like me or Michael."

It was strange for Jace to open up to anyone, let alone strangers. But the guilt was weighing down like a tonne of bricks and he felt compelled to justify himself so as not be the same as the bat who killed for personal gain.

Michael chuckled darkly, "That's how it starts." He closed his eyes, "You know... I was like you once. It's funny, you just... are so naive. Like I was. We're gifted... we're forced to go against the law. At first you try to rationalize it. You say, 'oh well I need the money to buy medicine, my mom is so sick' so the first death makes you throw up afterwards, but hey you got the cash you needed. Your mom is so much better now! Then it's using the excuse of friends and family. 'Hey, those guys would have killed them, but I saved them! Didn't like it or anything, but I had to do what I had to do'. Then it gets far worse. You keep doing it cause guess what? You're already in so deep. You find your mind... twisting. You can't make up anymore excuses. You try as hard as you can, but you just can't."

The bat chuckled darkly, "Then comes that day, when no more excuses come. You suddenly rip a man's throat out... and no excuse comes. No witty analyzation of why he had to die. You just... do it. Cause you start to find it fun. You start to enjoy it, cause if you don't start enjoying it you get depressed and eventually off yourself. Me, I have no plans of dying too soon, and by this point I've already solidified habits. Habits on NEEDING to kill others. Cause it's what I am now. You spend five years killing for necessity only to spend the remaining years out of that killing cause you just. Can't. Stop." He rustled his wings a bit, "I say... give it a few more months. Either you off yourself due to depression... or you start chuckling about every single death."

Harry's mouth dropped. Her voice lost to the void of silence which followed Michael's speach before glancing a Jace wide eyed. This was her fault. She had seen Michael in her flick but had presumed it was because she was meant to go to him, not avoid him.
Getting up, she ran a hand through her long hair, pulling back the strands nervously.
"Well...That's enough of that." She shuddered, as walking over to the small wall which surrounded the roof, Harry craned over to view the dark streets below.
"I think I am gonna take my chances with the coppers."

Michael quickly got up, "And do what?" He asked, "You go there they will do bad things to you. Trust me on that!" He snorted, "Staying with the coppers is bad news, they will eat you up and then spit out your bones. As I said, I kill yes, but I don't kill everyone." He snorted, "Look here girl, I kill others cause in the past they wronged me. They have wronged all of us, yes, you might look at me with disgust, but it's because of people like me," He pointed a wing tip at Jace, "Or him even that you aren't taken by them. That they are focused on US so that they don't find others like you." He shook his head, "You have a gift, and if you go to them then you can kiss it good bye. You can kiss your freedom, everything good bye. Everything isn't peaches and cream... I wish it were. I wish I didn't feel a surge every time I kill, but guess what? I do."

He paced a bit, "Because of the stupid normals and their fear. You know, there was this one girl a while back, politician, who was trying to pass a law to start something akin to concentration camps for our kind. But I stopped her. I wasn't going to let anyone, not you and not him, to be put in a f**king place like that!" He shook his head, "We all have our stories. Do you really want yours to end here?"

Jace couldn't help but feel his opinion of Michael shift slightly. Yes, he was a bloodthirsty psychopath but he was really not acting to differently to Jace in one sense. He was doing horrible things to serve the greater good.

Jace looked at Harry, he felt a mix of emotions. He felt pity, she was such a nice woman and was going to have to struggle to keep her hands clean so long as Gifted were persecuted. He felt envy too, because she had somehow managed to keep herself away from serious crimes for the time being. Jace sincerely hoped that she would be able to continue to live such a good life.
"Harry, sit down" he spoke before realising it "you don't have to like it, but you don't stand a chance down there. It's painfully obvious that your gift isn't as reliable as you'd like us to believe and if you run into a Sniffer you're screwed."

"My power works just fine. Got me this far without any hitches." Harry growled as she twisted on the spot and crossed her arms. In truth she wanted to run away, not because both men she was stranded with had killed. No, it was more for the fact that they were making her face herself. She hated Michael but at least he had reason for killing. Both of them did.

Harry got people killed through inaction. Sure she had saved one or two, but the masses usually went into giving her time to escape. Did it count as killing someone if she saw them running to their own end and not stop it? Like back at the metro. She had been the one to make the people riot... how many had fallen because she needed cover?

A heavy lump of guilt formed in her chest, restricting her breathing as she pictured the number of people she had seen run towards their own demise. With each face which flickered in front of her face, the girl felt weaker, guiltier.

Glaring at Jace, she simply shook her head and slowly sat back down without another word as she realised that she was probably the worst one there.

"I know that look..." Michael said as he went back to his own corner, "You did something, didn't you? We all have at one point or another. We're freaks. You have to do crazy stuff when you're hunted after all." He snorted, "Look, don't make me feel even worse okay? I simply let the truth out. It hurts but we're all guilty of doing something in our lives, else we wouldn't be alive today."

"If you've got blood on your hands, you can do things for good people that they can't do for themselves without going bad, and you can survive in a world that wants to be rid of you. Whatever you did was probably a terrible thing, but if you hadn't done it you'd be dead." Jace shrugged "Whatever you do is up to you, but if I were you I'd do something worthwhile with the lives that were lost to keep you alive." Jace had something of an idea about what Harry was thinking, but he wasn't going to specifically go there without her leading the way, that just wasn't really how he operated.

The fact was more felt in Jace's head than ever now; they lived in a world that forced the innocent to do horrible things, but that made opportunities. The lives you had taken didn't have to be in vain if you did something with the person's (usually unwilling) sacrifice. He killed people for a crime family. It was a horrible thing, but the people he killed were criminals too and society was usually better off without them. Besides, the money he made killing was helping keep the children at the orphanage alive and well... and innocent.
What about the bodyguard then? He was protecting someone... no. He came after me after Kyle Dahl died. He came after me for vengeance, not as an assassin or bodyguard but as a murderer. He wasn't going to kill me out of necessity, he was going to kill me for his own satisfaction - because he wanted to. It was me or him, he had to die so that I can survive and keep helping the people I care about. As long as his death wasn't meaningless, I shouldn't feel guilt.

It was strange but even as Harry's guilt was building up, Jace felt his alleviate.

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DeathofShadows · Oct 7, 2014

Aleksandr Silayev
Chapter Two:
Living Shadows

Streets of Heliopolis Underground

Alex took a deep breath as he stepped outside the diner, having successfully escaped the detection by the man that had been hunting for him. Finally alone, he thought as he began walking down the dimly lit street, heading towards The Metro, as he had previously planned. It was his birthday, and he had the entire city in front of him.

However, despite his thoughts, the young technopath was far from as alone as he assumed. The fleeting Shadow would have giggled maliciously if it had the vocal apparatus to do so.

In hindsight, Alex would most likely explain that taking that shortcut down that dark alley was quite the folly on his part. Little did he know that his stalker would choose that place for its attack, nor that he was being followed in the first place. Nonetheless, he had gone down the dark path, and events had unfolded in a way that would change his life forever.

It started with a slight feeling of dread, easily dismissed as overreaction. Alas, the Shadow that was now utterly hidden in the darkness was not so easily dissuaded. This feeling grew until it was nearly unbearable, causing the young boy to look around frantically as he walked, fully prepared to sprint at the first sign of danger.

It was when he was casting one of these glances behind that the Shadow attacked. It came from the front, rending Alex's shirt with its long, talonlike fingers. Alex was thrown to the ground by the blow, turning to face his attacker as he hit.

The shape was humanoid, in that it was bipedal and had two arms, but that was where the resemblance ended. It was evil incarnate, ready to devour anything that dared cross it. Alex could feel its hatred to anything living rolling off of it in waves; it had been, he determined, the source of his earlier discomfort. Now all he felt was pure, undiluted fear.

It was pure instinct that allowed him to survive the encounter. In an attempt to cast away the darkness that stalked him, he unconsciously turned on every light in the alleyway, momentarily blinding the creature. In an instant, his gun was in his hand, the needle-sharp head piercing the Shadow right between where a human's eyes would have been on such a creature. With a completely INHUMAN scream, it burst into a substance much akin to darkness, which almost instantly vanished.

It was not for another several minutes that Alex managed to fully grasp what had just happened, and when he did, it only managed to mystify him more. He needed to know about this enemy that had assailed him. He needed to find out why he had been targeted.

And the only place that he would find answers like that was at The Metro.

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gimmepie · Oct 25, 2014

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Jace, Michael and Harry - Interrupted

[FONT="Calibri]Harry shifted slightly as the silence which followed Jace's statement began to settle around her. She was too much of a coward to openly admit to the two men she had marooned herself with, that they were right, so instead she simply chewed her lip and hid from her troubles.

"It's getting late." The girl began, lifting her head to look at the purple haired boy and the large bat with weary eyes."I'm gonna try get some shut eye, will wake up if I get a flick." She shrugged this last part, knowing full well Jace doubted her powers, though she was in no position to blame him. She had not seen Michael shifting form and capturing them, though in the long run there was no danger in his actions.

Shaking her head, she pushed aside these feeling of self doubt and blame, and slowly sank to the floor, tugging at her hood to block out what little pale light there was in the underground world.

"Night. Don't let the roof bugs bite."

Jace didn't bother following up on his statement and didn't press Harry any further, it wasn't any of his business what she'd done in the past and he felt he'd already gotten too involved just by handing out advice - although he'd felt compelled to do so. Jace looked over at Michael, he didn't consider him an enemy at this stage but he felt it would be unwise to go to sleep and let the unpredictable shapeshifter have easy access to himself or Harry.
"You can sleep too if you want" he said to the bat "I don't mind keeping watch until we can get out of here."

Michael shot Jace a wide smile, his sharp teeth gleaming in the low light, "Oh, but I insist you sleep." He said, "I'm a big boy, I can go without sleep for a few hours. I'm sure nothing bad will happen while you two rest." He slowly nodded, "Nothing bad at all. You DO trust me... don't you?" He said as he widened his eyes and tried to look at innocent as possible. Being a bat however, it really didn't counteract his sharp teeth or claws.

"Not one iota." Harry growled, not bothering to look up from her curled position as she shuffled to find a comfy spot.

"You've hardly given me much of a reason to trust you either, other than stopping with the death threats" Jace added, shifting himself to make himself more comfortable considering he was in for a long haul "why don't you tell me more about this clean slate of yours?"

"Oh? ... Nah." He shook his head as he settled into a corner, "It's a special deal. I'm not sure if I can trust you all with that information, and my dealer might not like If I give away the details. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity that I won't jeopardize."

"Clearly there's a lot of trust on this roof" Jace said sarcastically. He was curious, Michael was acting extremely mysterious and if you bothered hiding something that usually meant it was important
"But that's to be expected"

"There's no such thing as a clean anything down here anyway." Harry responded with a sleepy shrug. Below them, the sound of another search party went by though Harry didn't bother to hold her breath. If they were in an obvious spot they would have already been found and eventually the cops will grow bored and slope off home to their families. Bar perhaps the terrifyingly cute, sniffer.

Michael's voice lowered, "Oh... but there is." He said as a grin stretched along his face, "If you work hard enough and meet the right people, you can get some things clean. It's skill and luck, and my luck was rather great today." He let out a yawn and shuffled his wings, "Well if you two are confident you can keep watch then I'll head to the sack."

It was here, just as Michael spoke, that a chill moved down the spine of Harry. The cold sensation filled her heart with adrenaline and before anyone could react, Harry was on her feet. Yanking her hood back to reveal her face, she turned her head to face the firedoor which lead to the roof, looking like a deer caught in the headlights.

"We need to get out of here." The girl hissed, not moving her eyes from the handle, which was currently motionless. Beneath her breath came her quiet voice counting the seconds.
"That ****ing sniffer. We have three minutes."

Jace had never seen him, but he was pretty sure "That ****ing Sniffer" was probably the man who Harry had mentioned before and considering that whoever he was scared her more than both he and Michael had, he wasn't particularly inclined to meet him. Jace looked at Michael
"Run" he said, the word forceful "If you want to keep that clean slate get the hell out of here"

Without checking to see if Michael obeyed, or stopping to ask permission, Jace grabbed Harry and leaped from the roof using his telekinesis to cushion their landing.
"Lead the way". Torchlight was visible not too far away.

Harry, not needing to be told twice, began down a narrow passage leading away from the building. Her legs, now beginning to protest about the sheer amount of hardship they had been put through, carried her quickly down one street to the next. Every now and then, Harry would stop and wait, counting down seconds before moving again, avoiding crossing paths with unsuspecting soldiers.

Yet, as she took another turn, the girl skidded to a halt and hissed a profanity, her hands suddenly coming to her head in frustration.
"He knew." Harry began, "The sniffer. He has us trapped like rats. Everywhere we go, there's a barricade, just waiting… He was just buying himself time, making us think we were safe!"

She cursed again then swung her head around to look at Jace.
"How many people can you manage? Our only way out is fighting, unless Michael want's some new holes in his wings."

Trying to force the thought of Michael's whereabouts from his mind, Jace considered their predicament.
"I can handle a fair few, but I can't do anything too complex. Take us through the smallest barricade and we should make it. I can only do one thing at a time with my Gift though, so be careful. I can't deflect bullets and move objects at the same time, so we'll have to run through them."

Meanwhile the two would see a big dark shape flying up high overhead, barely noticeable against the darkness of the cave as he flapped his wings. He was just content with flapping up here, keeping his height and watching with amusement what the two little ones did down there. Eventually he knew that they would get caught, but he wondered if they would call out for help or simply try and brace the path on their own. From what he saw, they had quite a long ways to go before they got out of any danger. It was such a shame everyone couldn't fly like he could. Perhaps if they worked at it then maybe, just maybe, they could grow a good set of wings.

"Shouldn't be a problem," Harry replied, as glancing over her shoulder, she eyed the end of the passage. "Timing is everything though, so just wait for me to move then follow as close as you can."

Jace gave a gentlemanly wave of his hand
"After you then"

[/div]

[/FONT]

gimmepie · Nov 4, 2014

Chapter Three: Enemies

This chapter is split into five events, each focusing on a serious conflict (either directly or by relation to happenings elsewhere). This chapter will introduce a large amount of NPCs and, following the same vein as Triggers, continue to see tensions in Heliopolis growing as we gradually move towards our climactic conclusion.

Prologue One

Spoiler:

"Yesterday marked another series of dramatic and tragic events in Western Heliopolis. In response to the discovery of a body, deemed to have been attacked by a Gifted, a raid was conducted on the Metro – a popular club in the area. Several Unregistered were captured during the raid. The Heliopolis military police who conducted the raid did not identify any of the captured gifted as the killer and advise the public to be on the lookout. The bodies of two officers were found not far from the raid seemingly shot by their own guns. At this stage it has not been determined if this incident was related to the raid.

A small time casino was the target of a vicious attack in which several men, including owner Allen Jakobs, were killed. All footage of the incident has been severely damaged by an unknown source however evidence found at the scene suggest that the casino building was also used as a storing place for illegally obtained goods.

Middle class hotel the Midnight Grand was also the site of a brutal, but most likely unrelated attack. Six men were found dead at the scene including a green-skinned unregistered who had been shot and fallen from a shattered window. A young male with dyed pink or purple hair and a grey outfit was seen fleeing the scene. If you see a man matching this description acting suspiciously please notify the authorities immediately but do not approach him under any circumstances.

In other news the governor of Heliopolis is set to meet with representatives from nearby Sagittarius and Kuiper City to discuss the continuing threat posed by terrorist faction Phoenix…" the news presenter's voice continued on in the background of the mess hall as soldiers bustled around the room, two men in green military uniforms watching the television screen intently as they ate.

"Well they'll be a lot less of a threat soon now that our project is entering its final stages. Then we won't have to work with these damn Sniffers anymore, the only good gifted is one that's locked up or dead." The grizzly man with a shaved head and greying brown beard commented, eyeing a young bespectacled man talking to the chief of the military police "It's disgusting that we resorted to employing gifted, it's like admitting we can't win without having some on our side." The man across from him nodded his head, speaking between mouthfuls without taking his eyes off of the TV screen
"I don't like it either, but until we have a more reliable method of countering gifts it makes sense to keep some good guard dogs around. I don't trust them, but I suppose they like the privileges that come with being a traitor to their pathetic kind. Not that I care about that so long as they aren't traitors to us."

"I just can't believe the public thinks we lock up all of these gifted. How the hell are we meant to keep them locked up if they can blast through prison bars or just teleport to a building three miles away? They get put down like the dangerous animals they are and I'm glad that once Dark Sonar is perfected we'll be able to cull them more efficiently."

Prologue Two

Spoiler:

Event 1 – The Infiltration: Shortly after her meeting with Raine, Jenillee sets about contacting four unregistered whom she wants to comprise her team of. The mission she assigns them is to break into the large Heliopolis military base and steal the hard copy file entitled "Project Shadow". Many of the base's personnel are currently involved in the hunt for those involved in recent major crimes – an attack on The Shining Penny casino leaving several men including the owner, Allen Jakobs, dead and another attack at the Midnight Grand Hotel or chasing a Gifted in the north, however it is still not going to be an easy feat to infiltrate the facility. High tech surveillance equipment, armed patrolmen and possibly Employed are awaiting those who try to break in.

Dean Andrews and Michael Miller – Dean and Michael are to act as a diversion, attacking the outer rim of the base in an attempt to pull attention away from possible intruders as long as possible whilst simultaneously damaging the base.

Aleksander Silayev and Alex Knight – Aleksander and Alex are the actual infiltration team. Despite her new hacking program, Jenillee lacks the resources to fully access the highly encrypted network of the base and retrieve the computer copy of the file. Jenillee will shut down as much of the surveillance and security technology as she can; meanwhile with security minimalized Alex is to transport Aleksander through the base so that he can use his ability to breach the security systems guarding the archives allowing the pair to make off with the file.

Event 2 – The Gathering: In light of the growing power struggle between the Jakobs and Dahl families, the higher-ups of the Jakobs family have called for an emergency meeting to discuss their plan of action. The Dahls are prepared for this however, and have arranged a large scale attack on the meeting having hired powerful gifted and skilled assassins for the job… and yet the Dahl strike force might be far from the worst thing lurking in that area.

Jace Caradoc – Still working under the Jakobs family, Jace has been called to the meeting as protection and to report on his conflicts with the opposing family.

Emil Nexis (with Lina) – As she is a member (albeit a low-ranking one) of the Jakobs family Lina has also been called to the meeting. She brings Emil with her intending to get him work in order to repay him for his treatment of her. This will lead to Emil being caught up in the Dahl attack.

Event 3 – Scents: Samuel Ilic is an Employed in the service of the military police. Belonging to a category of Gifted called Sniffers, Samuel has the ability to identify people by scent and can differentiate between Gifted and non-Gifted through smell. During the raid on the Metro an Unregistered managed to garner his attention, a woman who was somehow evading him at every turn despite his tracking talents.

Harriet Smith – Harry is the unfortunate Gifted that has attracted Samuel's attention having been able to avoid him at every turn using her ability of foresight to predict his movements. In this chapter Samuel has picked up Harry's trail and intend to capture her.

Tyler Wolfenden – Tyler will find himself in a "wrong place, wrong time" situation, running into Harry not long before her encounter with Samuel. Despite Tyler not knowing of his Gift, Samuel will immediately recognise him as a Gifted through his scent and include him in his pursuit.

Event Four – Turf: Small street gangs are even more common than crime families in the west of Heliopolis. This means that feuds between these groups and turf wars are also extremely common, often resulting in bloodshed and even fatalities – especially if unregistered happen to be involved.

Jan Tarkov – Jan is going to find himself in an unpleasant situation. Whilst out and about in the slums of Heliopolis he will find himself caught in the middle of two highly feared street gangs known as the West Demons and the Street Kings.

Zander Hyral – The Street Kings are known for their weird tendency to carry out-dated melee weapons like spears, swords and the like (although they also use guns… frequently). Unfortunately for Zander, he also has the strange tendency to carry a sword despite the era. Being caught in the large-scale turf war between the Demons and Street Kings, it stands to reason he'd easily be mistaken as a Street King and attacked.

Event Five – The Marathon: Unlike the poverty stricken west of Heliopolis, the north of the city is high class and heavily policed. That makes it both risky and stupid for a Gifted to go running through there at top speed, and yet…

Timothy Vernaro – Approached by a shady looking man wearing sunglasses and a black hoodie Timothy was given an offer he just couldn't refuse - $1000 dollars, half straight up and then half later, to lead the authorities on a wild goose chase through the north of Heliopolis. Timothy needs to keep his pursuers after him for three hours before losing them and collecting the other half of his fee at a safe house back in the west.

Things to know
• The lamp is gradually brightened to full illumination between the hours of 9:00 am and 12:00 pm. It is then gradually dimmed between 12:00 pm and 3:00 pm. This chapter begins at 7:00 pm and ends at approximately 3:00 am. This means that most businesses will be closing at the beginning of the chapter and all but a select minority will be closed by the end. Despite the chapter beginning relatively early, it will seem as though it is late at night.
• Generally only those with a lot of money will own vehicles.
• You can interact with NPCs and each other at will, please only do so if it will make sense though.
• Significant NPCs (such as Samuel or Jenilee) will generally be played by GMs
• With GM permission, all bar those in Event One are able to come into contact with Wraiths.
• Refer to the OP or contact the GMs with any queries about Wraiths.
• This chapter takes place approximately two days after chapter two. Prologue two occurs the day after chapter two.

Notable Locations
Below is a list of notable landmarks you will have access to. You are welcome to come up with any other locations you wish, but these are places you may want to use or mention.

• The Metro - The Metro is a popular haunt for criminals and Unregistered. It's a large, seedy club that is usually packed to the brim with loud music blasting throughout the room. Blue and green neon light-ropes adorn the walls and faint light fittings illuminate as much as they can leaving some areas pocketed in darkness. At The Metro it is easy to blend in with the masses in the dark and the haze of cigarette smoke and the noise of shouting individuals an incessant music make it easy to have conversations you don't want the authorities hearing. The club is heavily watched from outside.
• West Library - An old, two-story concrete building that has been vandalised beyond help outside. It is relatively clean within and is home to a decent selection of books (instructional or otherwise) as well a free internet access if you can find a working computer.
• Oak Park - A small area where grass and tree seeds were planted several years ago. Now the haunt of teenage gangs and drunks primarily it is still an integral part in maintaining clean air in the city and serves as a temporary guard should the filtering system break down.
• Sparky's - A small wooden tavern located not far from Oak Park. It's more off the map than the Metro. Lately there has been a greater police presence in this area.
• Cassino's Diner – A diner owned by an offshoot of the Jakobs family. Often burglarised by Emil Nexus it was also the location of the shooting conducted by Kyle Dahl and is currently closed temporarily as a result. It is a useful cover for illegal operations.
• The Midnight Grand – A classy hotel that serves as something of a bridge between the seedy West of Heliopolis and the Northern, middle and upper-class suburbs. It is owned by the Dahl family and often used as a safehouse for Dahl assassins.
• The Shining Penny – A low class casino operated by Allen Jakobs. It serves both as an effective business venture for building funds as well as a temporary safehouse for illegal goods. Closed due to the discovery of large amounts of illegal goods during a murder investigation.
• Warmsun Bakery (West) – Located a ways from the small stall they own by Oak Park is the larger bakery franchise which sits close to the Metro. The west Warmsun bakery looks nothing like a business that should be claiming its food is as pleasant as real sunlight being damaged and vandalised. The staff inside are surprisingly good-natured and they produce some of the only decent baked goods in the western suburbs of Heliopolis. They are well known for their pies, tarts and brownies.
•Heliopolis Military Base - A large military complex located in a smaller cave not far from Heliopolis. It is connected to the south-west of the city by a major tunnel although smaller passages to other locations are also present.

New Glossary Terms
Sniffer - A category of Gifted who possess the ability to detect others with a Gift. Although this ability can be scent-based, this is frequently not the case. Many Employed are sniffers.
Dark Sonar - A military technology that is still in development. It is used to detect those who possess a Gift. It is probable that the device used to detect Katie Bloom in Triggers was a test model.

machomuu · Nov 28, 2014

Emil "Nex" Nexis
Outside

"Jesus!" Nex exclaimed, "Stop squeezing my hand so hard, feels like it's being crushed!"

"Oh! Sorry about that," Lina apologized, somewhat letting up on the vice grip she had on his hand. "I'm just...still a little shaky, y'know?"

Nex sighed. He knew all too well how frightened she was, barely able to move without the comfort of knowing that she wasn't alone at all times. He thought it a bit ridiculous, a paralyzing phobia existing on this level despite the fact that she the little that she saw. But he came to realize that if she truly was so scared that she was practically turned to stone once the sunlight touched her, what she'd seen must have been truly horrifying, especially for someone as courageous as she seemed to be prior to the incident. As a result, Nex decided that he would her hand as a means to give her some sense of comfort. It was platonic, of course, and Nex didn't really have any ulterior motives. She was simply his hostage and he didn't really have any interest in her as a girl. He did, however, enjoy her presence; he wasn't much of a talker, usually, and the other residents of his apartment didn't really speak too often, so having someone he could not only talk to, but also relate to to some extent, was refreshing.

"Yeah, I get it," He responded. "...I think. Was what you saw really that scary?"

"Well..." She paused for time before speaking again. "Workin' with Cassino, I seen a lotta guys kick the bucket. I don't go with the guys to do the killin' or anythin', but dead bodies don't exactly hit me like a right hook anymore." She paused again. "...But y'know, it wasn't how they killed the guy that got me. It freaked me out, but it was nothing compared to when they chased me. It was like...like I was bein' chased by the shadows themselves. Like there was no way I was gonna make it outta there. If this place wasn't so close, I'd o' just like that guy." She paused again, biting her lip this time as if to restrain some type of inner pain. "But what really sealed it for me was when I looked out the window about an hour later. The guys were gone and...so was the guy they were mackin' on. It didn't even look like there was a fight, almost like-"

Nex looked at Lina for a moment before interrupting, "Are you about to say that they ate that guy?" Lina simply looked back at Nex, and that was all the affirmation he needed. "And you thought this was a gang? What type of gang eats people?"

Lina angrily barked back, "What typa' thief eats knives!? Look, I dunno, I was scared. Maybe they was a gang o' freaks? You don't think one o' them couldn't be a cannibal? Maybe it makes 'em stronger or something." She clenched her free fist and rambled on about what the gang might have been, with Nex, the captive audience, thinking, Man, those picture boxes with the monster shows must be pretty interesting, because this girl thinks up some pretty crazy stories.

[Other FULL] Fragmented (M) (IC)

A mad mind... hehe

Goodbye PC...for now.

A mad mind... hehe

Stuck in Hot Girl Summer

Emil "Nex" Nexis​Abandoned Apartment, Room 304​

Stress

Monkey slut!

The Brightest Darkness

Stuck in Hot Girl Summer

Emil "Nex" Nexis​Abandoned Apartment, Room 304​

Blade of Justice

Xero - Good ears are welcome

The Brightest Darkness

Stress

ooh...Cake!

Stress

The Brightest Darkness

Chapter Three: Enemies

Stuck in Hot Girl Summer

Emil "Nex" Nexis​Outside​

Emil "Nex" Nexis
Abandoned Apartment, Room 304

Emil "Nex" Nexis
Abandoned Apartment, Room 304

Emil "Nex" Nexis
Outside