Sayuri walked into the mess hall and narrowed her eyes at the newcomer. Then she got herself a bottle of water and leaned against the counter as she drank it all. She'd woken up from her nap very thirsty. Her headache was feeling much better, but she could still feel the echoes of it.

She brought out a Japanese manga from her book bag and sat down across from Delta, avoiding the wreckage of what had been a phone. She opened it and started to read.

"Hello," she said - to the room in general. This newcomer was probably a new recruit, but she didn't want to risk getting attached to someone only to have them yanked from her. She sighed inwardly, guess I still have some issues.

"If I were you, I'd take my chances with Phi," Sayuri commented, not lowering her book. "Living is kind of overrated if you ask me." This was one of her first attempts at making a joke. She wasn't entirely sure it actually came off that way. It was entirely possible that she sounded absolutely serious. She'd have to work on that.

The Delta guy was fairly quick to respond. His answers though were vey far from satisfactory. Every single response was some half-assed answer that didn't really clarify a single thing. First the guy just grabs him, and now he was giving him such crappy explanations it was kind of pissing him off. Busy debating whether or not to tell the guy who appeared to have some kind of teleporting power or something akin to fuck off, he didn't notice him turn around or the microwave go off until he heard Delta curse. His attention snapped back just in time to see him spit out a bite of hot pocket. Internally laughing at the guy's pain, he decided he would ask for better answers before possibly pissing off the powerful being I'm front of him, after all he didn't know the extent of his powers. Before he could ask though the guy sighed and started talking again.

As it became clear he was going to elaborate on his previous answers are Justin felt a his aggravation drop a bit, which was good as his head still hurt a bit from however he got to this place. Paying close attention to Delta as he spoke, Justin made sure to note anything that seemed extremely important. First off these powers came from one of two people, which one, how or why, didn't know, second according to this guy he would have died if it wasn't for him, and third he claimed to be a good guy. They only thing Justin was buying from all this was the origin of the powers, maybe. The rest for all he knew was a ploy to get him to trust this guy, who had literally just kidnapped him. Still debating what to think Justin barely registered something reach in his pockets, possibly, and then he saw the guy smashing his 128gb mp3 player. Immediately the aggravation was back tenfold at the very least, especially since the damn thing didn't even have internet capability and that was the guy's justification.

Barely hearing the guy ask about whether he'd stay or not Justin was about to explode, when a newcomer walked into the room. Momentarily distracted by the girl who appeared to be close to his age, he listened as she introduced herself and commented on the last question Delta had asked him. Justin wasn't quite sure if she meant what she said about life, but he figured she probably didn't mean it or she wouldn't be around to comment on it, either way though it wasn't particularly his business. Looking back at the remains of his music player he sighed. It'd be best to not to get angry over it, the guy was clearly more powerful than him, though now Justin was fairly sure he couldn't teleport, or at least also had super speed as well, only way he could justify the sudden theft, or maybe time control.

Sighing yet again Justin spoke in a rather irritated tone, "First off, that mp3 you just massacred cost quite a bit of money, had over 100 gigs of music on it, and lacked any internet capabilities." Breathing in deeply, he continued in a slightly calmer voice. "Second, how do I know anything you said is actually true. I really might be better off with this Phi fellow. Hell for all I know he isn't even real. All I know for certain at the moment is you suddenly snatched from the mall, and you claim to be the good guys. For all I know it could easily be a lie. Until I get proof staying here seems riskier than going back." It wasn't that he distrusted the guy but just buying into what he said seemed like a bad bet, and Justin hated making bad bets.

Soon after Delta pounded Justin's phone into the ground Sayuri entered the mess hall. Sayuri had been staying with Delta and Epsilon for a while now, arriving a few months after Delta. At first the girl's quiet reserved nature clashed with Delta's boisterous one. However after learning that they shared similar tastes in music the two quickly became friends. After some gentle prying Sayuri slowly began to come out of her shell around Delta, and Delta was respectful enough to tone it down a notch when she was around. Well, most of the time.

"Hello," she said - to the room in general.
"If I were you, I'd take my chances with Phi," Sayuri commented, not lowering her book. "Living is kind of overrated if you ask me."

Delta clasped both of his hands to his face, before slowly lowering them to reveal a smile. "Oh my God. Did Sayuri just make a joke? I've never been more proud in my entire life! I need to mark my calendar, this day just keeps getting better and better!" Before Delta could say much else it finally occurred to Justin what had had happened to his "phone".

"First off, that mp3 you just massacred cost quite a bit of money, had over 100 gigs of music on it, and lacked any internet capabilities." Breathing in deeply, he continued in a slightly calmer voice. "Second, how do I know anything you said is actually true. I really might be better off with this Phi fellow. Hell for all I know he isn't even real. All I know for certain at the moment is you suddenly snatched from the mall, and you claim to be the good guys. For all I know it could easily be a lie. Until I get proof staying here seems riskier than going back."

Delta's attention turned back to Justin. "Oh. Sorry about that, I thought for sure that it was a phone. Still, better safe than sorry! Between Sayuri and I you'll have more music than you'll know what to do with with, from K-Pop to Spongecore. As for your second concern you will just have to trust us. I mean if its really got you that bent and twisted I'll be more than happy to take you back. However I'm sure Sayuri here is more than happy to vouch for Epsilon and I's hospitality, and once the kids that Epsilon snagged join us I'm sure that they'll be willing to vouch for how efficient Phi is." He allowed his gaze to hover on Justin a little while more before returning his attention to his food.

"I don't suppose there's much to return to, huh?" The redheaded boy answered, a nervous tick running through him as he committed to the organisation. Epsilon almost smiled at the news. It was nice to have a recruit that wanted to work with him and it was always much better than the alternative. He despise the alternative. Even Delta could not know about what had to be done. Delta would have killed him if he knew. "Contrary to popular belief I don't want to go home and get wiped out. Surviving death once is fine by me." The boy went on, almost daring Epsilon to smile. He was going to be a good kid. At least he had hoped that to be the case. "You've got me. I don't know what good I'll be and I'll probably end up crying by the end of today but I'll join."

"Great, kid. Welcome to the team." Epsilon said, extending out his will and allowing the tendrils of shade to reach out to the redheaded boy and form a circle at his feet. "The others are in the messroom. Delta's probably microwaving something, so you can ask him to make you something if you're hungry. He'll get you up to speed." As Epsilon stopped speaking, he gave a quick wave of his had, the ground sucking up the read headed boy in a flash before the shade crawled out from the light leaving the blonde behind.

"You've been holding your tongue. I hope you haven't been too confused by today's events," Epsilon offered the now silent girl who seemed to be lost in thought. Epsilon bit the inside of his cheek tenderly, pain creeping out from the nerve endings numbed from years of abuse, and stepped into the light nearly wincing at the intensity of it. He had always been sensitive to the light since he was young. And Omega made sure that he would never have a proper relationship with the light when he was young and even now he could still smell salt in the air on the day the light was sullied for him. He bit down harder on his inner cheek, pain blossoming like a springtime rose, sending a sharp sensation through the base of his skull while rivulets of blood began to seep down his cheek and pool in his mouth.

"Don't refuse this, girl. You can't do this to yourself. If you go back, Phi will torture you for any information about the order. He'll torture your family infront of you and kill every last one of them. Everyone you love will be brought before you and will be subjected to every horror he has in store for you. If you refuse, it'd have been better to be like the two boys in the cafe. You can't truly want that." He spoke, his voice building faster and faster with every word. He hadn't realised he stopped breathing midway through the second sentence and took a sharp breath when he stopped speaking, only to dive back in. "You can't want that. For god's sake."

"I'm not staying. I want to leave. Now." She said, her voice a decibel above a whisper.

"You're kidding," Epsilon offered her, his voice trembling. He wanted to scream. ""Just tell me you're kidding and you can stay."

"Let me leave!" She yelled, her skin turning a few shades pink.

"I'm so sorry." Epsilon whispered, turning his back to her. "I'm so sorry."

The darkness swarmed her and build around her feet, never touching her, but growing around her like a tower meant to have no door. If she realised what was happening, Epsilon heard nothing from her. Though he doubted she did. They never did. And they never had the consciousness to protest after it happened. From within the walls of black a wet slicing spilled out, followed by a gurgled groan and then silence as the shadows closed around her. Epsilon never looked back. He couldn't bear to and simply stepped into a portal of his own make. The body would arrive a few blocks from the mall, easy enough for Phi to find. Easy enough to make it public. Phi would leave and her family would only have to suffer the torture of losing her.

Epsilon appeared in the messhall, shirtless and disheveled, wincing as he realised the stitching had come undone again. He had never been good with a needle and thread. "She wanted to go home," Epsilon said flatly, "Reach me on the terminals if you need me." He disappeared moments later, consumed by shadow and was moments later spilled out into his room. He stumbled to a bucket in hte corner and dropped to his knees, stomach bile and streaks of blood from his bleeding mouth filling the bucket, reminding him that he hadn't eaten since breakfast the previous day. The pain from his gut reminded him that there were much more pressing matters, though that might have been his stomach and not the gash speaking up at that moment.

Epsilon stood slowly and stumbled to the table by his emergency bucket that held a box of various medical supplies and sat down on it, holding his side. He stared blankly out into his room and did his best to get his breathing to a slow, even pace. His eyes adjusted to the intense darkness that was his room. The only light that graced his room came from the center of the base to which there was a window on the far side of his room. The center of the base was a tall cylindrical shaft that once housed ICBMS during the cold war before the silo was decommissioned and abandoned twenty years earlier. The muted glow of yellow hazard lights that ran along the walls of the silo cast a soft and mostly faded golden glow on his room. The room was cluttered with pin-boards, papers, files, tape recorders and cassette tapes, books, and bits and pieces of collected material that Epsilon believed would aid him on his search for the Omegas. His bed was a boxspring matress on the floor with a pillow and blanket, all of which were shoved into one corner. The former door was sealed shut by Epsilon when he learned that he hideout would be used at the recruiting center for metas and now the doors only used was to serve as a good place to put magnets. Before the window sat a control panel that gave Epsilon access to the entire facility, coupled with the only landline in the base and one of many terminals that ran on a closed circuit system. The control room of the soldiers that once manned the silo was now his control center for war against the Omegas, but even getting a long chance to take in the disaster that his room was in, the horrible living conditions he subjected himself to, the open wound on his torso, and the smell coming from the bucket, he was fixated on one thing and one thing alone.

The blonde girl, who only minutes ago was a just the wrong person at the wrong place at the wrong time. Epsilon muttered to himself and buried his face in the hand that wasn't holding on to his wound. Delta, Sayuri, and the new boys could never know what he did. What he had to do. They wouldn't and couldn't understand.

"I'm so sorry."

Though Carson couldn't have known the fate that had befallen his blonde acquaintance, he noticed her absence to his side very quickly. When she failed to appear in the mess hall along side him, he felt some sort of sadness grip him. There was no good life outside of here and he found himself becoming more and more aware of that as the moments pressed on. He knew that beyond wherever this was, the girl was as good as dead and he felt that very strange ache in his chest again, the same one that had gripped him at the sight of the twins lying lifeless on the floor of a cafe. He couldn't stop seeing it, he couldn't stop smelling the blood. He pushed the stunningly clear image out of his mind with as much force as he could muster.

He didn't want to think about anything that had to do with this anymore and he found himself rearranging focus to the table that harbored a man with a beard, a girl with dark hair and a boy that he vaguely recognized as a DJ that he'd never officially met. He wouldn't have even recognized the guy at all if he hadn't frequented so many parties and he wondered if he had just showed up too. He definitely looked confused enough--also a tad pissed off but Carson guessed it had something to do with the carnage of what looked to be a once-living electronic lying on the ground.

He studied the table silently for a moment before stepping forward, his steps felt weighted and it wasn't a kind sensation. He felt like there were rocks tied to his ankles and he ignored it as he made his way to the table, with some reluctance, he slid into a seat at the far end. He still felt kind of disgruntled and he couldn't seem to get a grip on himself long enough to work through this but he focused his attention to the man he assumed was Delta. He breathed in through his nose and exhaled through his mouth a few times. It was enough to keep him from hyperventilating and he took that as a good sign to start talking.

He had caught only an edge of their conversation, something about him being able to vouch for Phi's cruelty. He also-regretfully managed to catch Epsilon appearing soon after and the wound starting to gape on his lower abdomen again, it made him grimace slightly despite himself and he didn't have time to ask him if he needed any help. He didn't know why he cared so much, he guessed he just didn't want to see anyone else in pain. He also knew that if his father had seen that wound then he would have thrown a giant fit about how irresponsible it was to try to stitch that up on his own. He couldn't help but thinking about that. He really had to stop worrying about things that weren't his problem.

He tugged his mind away from the man with the pastel mohawk and the bad stitching skills and instead turned it back to the table.

"I'm Carson," he introduced himself through a thick swallow and a half-hearted smile, gathering together every tiny bit of social etiquette that he had. He straightened his spine and folded one leg over the other. It was easy to be social, it even managed to smooth his mood enough that he didn't break down sobbing and gasping with dread. He knew that his brain was probably saving that for another time, probably the wrong time, he decided not to think about it but he pitied whoever was around to see it happen. He hoped they had a lot of patience. "You must be Delta, it's nice to meet you and-"

He let his gaze find Justin, "Yeah, man. You really don't want to mess with Phi, like, I mean, unless you're feeling like death is a favorable outcome for your life thus far but-" a single eyebrow lowered, pale blue eyes flickering. "You seem pretty smart, I'd consider sticking around. They don't seem so bad here. Not that I really know them but I've seen worse environments."

The snort that escaped him was soft, his freckled nose wrinkling slightly with amusement as he turned his eyes back to Delta. The man was tattooed and bearded, he wondered what he was like and if he was anything like his shadow-bearing partner in crime. He wondered if he'd have to worry about this man badly stitching his wounds up and he qualmed the thought before he could start thinking of infections again. Today was really a roller coaster and not a very fun one at that. "Epsilon said you'd fill me in on everything. I don't have too many questions anymore- I guess I kind of just want to hear what this is all about."

Sayuri narrowed her eyes at Delta, but didn't say anything as Justin spoke.

Her eyebrow lifted at the mention of music. Sayuri eyed the young man up and down, wondering if she should let him anywhere near her music collection. She tried to guess what type of music he might like from what he was wearing. Sometimes she could do that, but it wasn't really foolproof. She had been working on a playlist for "Learning to Settle With Life." Currently she had about ten songs and was hoping to get at least 13 before showing it to Delta. It seemed as though the best communication between them occurred through playlists. It was one way she could connect with people, through their music. To Sayuri, music was one of the most important aspects of your very being.

Shadows dropped off another new arrival. He introduced himself and Sayuri could tell that he was a bit unsure of things. It was to be expected. She could hear the tension and uncertainty in his voice as he introduced himself as Carson. She wanted to reassure him that everything was ok, but she wasn't very good at things like that.

Her heart skipped a beat when Slate popped in. She saw the wound. Her eyes went to Delta, instinctively sharing her worry with him. Slate didn't stay and Sayuri looked away from Delta and let out a silent sigh. The image of the wound kept popping into her head and she put her book down. As she tried to fight the thoughts in her head, her hand absently opened the book and closed it again, opened and closed it and kept doing it repeatedly until she noticed and stopped it.

She wanted to go to Slate, but she wasn't sure if he wanted to deal with it on his own. She had seen pain on his face. It wasn't just the pain of the wound, but a deeper pain - something she was familiar with having a deep pain she couldn't heal herself. She wasn't sure what was causing that pain in Slate's case, but she wanted to comfort him. There was a muffled sound of thunder somewhere and Sayuri snapped back to the room.

Trying to pretend like the thunder hadn't happened she introduced herself officially. "Well, my name is Sayuri. You may speak to me if you would like. The strawberry soda in the small cans are mine and I will kill anyone who drinks them. Also, if you need to throw up or something," she eyed Carson, "do it in the appropriate place. Also, don't expect anyone to clean your messes. Clean up after yourselves," at this she eyed Delta to make sure he understood that she was including him and the food on his plate.

"Also," she tried her hand at another joke, "leave a will so that we know how to divide your stuff between the rest of us."

Afterwards, she thought: I really need to stop trying to make jokes.

The same group sat in silence for a few moments. Justin seemed to be internally fuming about the crushing of his mp3 player. Delta did feel terrible for doing it. Delta cared about quite a few things in this world and music was fairly high on that list. He finished off the first hot pocket and started eating the second one. He honestly wasn't sure what kind of meat this was, but it was pretty damn good in that "I am fully aware that consuming this is potentially taking years off my life" sort of way. Before he could muse any move over the contents of his microwave dinner a inky black mass began to spread across the floor and from it rose a red-headed boy around Justin's age.

The boy stood a few feet away from the table at which the group was sat and eyed them all curiously. He appeared to be very shaken up, most likely from a combination of Phi and whatever Epsilon had told him. Slowly, he made his way over and sat at the far edge of the table. Before Delta had a chance to greet the new arrival another form rose from the floor, this time it was Epsilon himself. He was shirtless, and a large wound was open on his lower abdomen. It appeared that he had tried to stitch the wound himself, but it had come undone.
"She wanted to go home," Epsilon said flatly, "Reach me on the terminals if you need me."
He was gone before Delta could ask anything about the wound or the meta that had been sent home. The group sat in shocked silence for a few moments before Carson mustered the courage to speak up.

"I'm Carson," he introduced himself through a thick swallow and a half-hearted smile, gathering together every tiny bit of social etiquette that he had. He straightened his spine and folded one leg over the other. "You must be Delta, it's nice to meet you and-"

Carson's gaze switched over to Justin, "Yeah, man. You really don't want to mess with Phi, like, I mean, unless you're feeling like death is a favorable outcome for your life thus far but-" a single eyebrow lowered, pale blue eyes flickering. "You seem pretty smart, I'd consider sticking around. They don't seem so bad here. Not that I really know them but I've seen worse environments."

The snort that escaped him was soft, his freckled nose wrinkling slightly with amusement as he turned his eyes back to Delta."Epsilon said you'd fill me in on everything. I don't have too many questions anymore- I guess I kind of just want to hear what this is all about."

Delta opened his mouth to respond to Carson, but way immediately cut off by Sayuri.
"Well, my name is Sayuri. You may speak to me if you would like. The strawberry soda in the small cans are mine and I will kill anyone who drinks them. Also, if you need to throw up or something," she eyed Carson, "do it in the appropriate place. Also, don't expect anyone to clean your messes. Clean up after yourselves," at this she eyed Delta to make sure he understood that she was including him and the food on his plate.
"Also," she tried her hand at another joke, "leave a will so that we know how to divide your stuff between the rest of us."

Delta couldn't help but laugh at what Sayuri's attempt at humor, and after regaining his composure he focused his attention at Carson. "You'll have to excuse Sayuri, she's pretty new at this whole "humor" thing. They're plenty of food and drink here without having to worry about dipping into her precious stock of strawberry soda, which tastes like fruity piss anyways. But yeah, I'm Delta I just wrapped up getting Justin here up to speed, but I'll give you a brief synopsis. All of us here can do shit, we have powers. Furthermore we're on the good side of things, while your new acquaintance Phi is on the bad. His job is to kill young metas before they can realize their true potential and make life harder for the baddies. Epsilon and I have been rescuing kids like you before Phi can get to them and helping them advance their powers. Admittedly we cut it a bit close with your group, sorry about that."

Allowing Carson to let that information sink in Delta switched his attention to Sayuri. "I want you to go make sure Epsilon is alright. That gash looked pretty bad and he seemed kinda shook up. He may say he doesn't want you there, but I think your presence would be very beneficial."
Delta didn't want to say it out loud but he'd never seen Epsilon that shaken up before. It worried Delta, but Sayuri would be a more welcoming sight than him. Furthermore Delta was just as shitty when it came to stitching wounds, so Sayuri would be the better choice in that regards as well. He went back to eating his second hot pocket, waiting for someone else to ask a question or spur on another conversation.

Justin listened as Delta assured that he would have more than enough music of a wide variety, even without his mp3. This did nothing to calm him. Admittedly, Justin knew it was a somewhat trivial thing to get so caught up on, but his music was something he relied on. Fuck he could accept all of this as long as he had his playlists. The playlists that was what he was probably most pissed about. His laptop had all the same music (plus the crap he hated and only had for parties), but his playlists were only on the device that lay shattered in front of him. Still stewing over all his loss, he almost failed to notice the kid his age essentially materialize from shadows.

Abandoning his internal griping he turned his focus to the newcomer. Justin could swear the guy looked familiar, though that didn't really amount to much coming from him, after he was at almost every single non-community sponsored party, as well as a few that were. In general though he couldn't really place the ginger haired kid, and he was fairly certain that he wasn't Epsilon either. More likely than not he was probably one of the "metas" that were picked up in the mall.

Interrupting his thoughts was yet another person rising from the shadows. This one was certainly different. Blue mohawk, tattoos, no shirt, and a partially sutured wound on his abdomen, along with an air of power unlike the other individual's air which had felt a tad more nervous, maybe. Quickly the new one informed that, "She had wanted to go home", whoever she was Justin assumed it was one of the new metas, and then after informing the others how to reach him, was swallowed by the shadows. It was obvious to Justin that this injured individual, who had just merged with the shadows, was obviously Epsilon, it would make sense with what little information he had already. Noting the man and his power Justin re-collected himself and focused his attention back on the other new one.

The new one introduced himself and seemed to perk up a tad in the process, not a lot per se but some. Carson, as he had introduced himself, echoed similar sentiments of those from Sayuri and Delta when it came to the unknown Phi. Watching as the other three interacted Justin paid close attention. As of the moment staying seemed safest, either way though he was going to remain wary, just in case. He chuckled lightly at Sayuri's dark humour, perhaps the others might find it crude, but as far as Justin was concerned not only was it worth the small laugh, but was also a mite of good advice, especially if he were to be involved with this lot. No matter what, it appeared as if he could not be a passive bystander, no matter his wants.

Leaning back in his chair and relaxing Justin once again began to speak, his words aimed towards Delta, "Well if this Phi fellow is indeed so dangerous, I guess its in my best interest to stay. Although I would most assuredly prefer if I could possibly return to grab some cds at some point in the future, crap ton of them are signed. Also I have some questions about room and board. You know the general ones."

"Oh?" a slight laugh, nervous and offbeat. "I don't think I have anything for you to divvy up right this moment but- I-I'm probably not going to puke. There's a higher chance of me having an anxiety attack and then possibly, a mental breakdown, I might have fainted if I'd been given some time but none of that is happening right this second so that's splendid."

This was said all very cheerfully, he even seemed like he could have laughed about it again. His smile was far too tight, it made the corners of his eyes wrinkle a bit.

He found Sayuri to be undeniably kind of interesting from just a few words in but there was an edge to her personality. He was kind of intimidated by her and her jokes fell flat when they left her mouth--at least he hoped that was a joke. He really hoped his death wasn't so imminent that they needed to worry about the fair distribution of his stuff. Also he was more than positive that he'd heard thunder in the distance at the slightest twinge in her expression when she had seen Epsilon, he didn't know if she was connected to the thunder but he wasn't about to disregard it. Too many things made it impossible to disregard. If she could control the weather then he was already sure that she was much more powerful than him.

He made a mental note not to drink any of her strawberry soda.

Turning his brain away from Storm the second, he ran another nervous hand through his red hair and watched Delta as he spoke. He didn't feel sick but he felt sick, nothing felt right and he couldn't seem to calm himself in the passing moments but he supposed that was logical given what the day had brought him. He wasn't used to sudden changes, everything he did was meticulous and this hadn't been meticulous at all. He hadn't planned on a scary man in a suit of metal to come charging into the cafe with a gun latched in his hand and he hadn't planned on narrowly avoiding death. He hadn't planned on this place- wherever it was and he hadn't planned on the people- whoever they actually were. He didn't like the suddenness of everything and how quickly it had come to be his situation.

Delta gave a clear rundown of the situation and he found himself listening very closely, his pale blue eyes intent on the man's face. Discomfort flooded Carson's expression for a moment but it was quickly replaced by something much more neutral, some half-hearted bravado that he couldn't have mustered earlier. At the very best it just made him look a little more impassive but there was a wild light trapped in his pale eyes.
When Justin spoke again, he felt relief at hearing he was going to stay, he may not have really known the guy but he didn't want him to be brutally murdered. He wasn't sure he wanted to think about anyone being brutally murdered anymore and he mentally scolded himself for bringing it up again. He squashed the thought process and refocused his attention to Delta, offering a crooked smile before shrugging very lightly.

"Yeah, I wish you'd guys had popped up sooner too." he said honestly, rubbing a hand along his eyes as if to rouse himself. He wasn't going to lie, he really would have rather he'd never seen Phi before. He didn't blame them though, sometimes stuff just happened and it couldn't be stopped. Though when Justin spoke of getting his CD collection, Carson found himself giving a nod of agreement.

"I've got a crapload of books and CDs back at my place and journals and art stuff. Honestly, my room is a trash heap but it's a creative trash heap and I love all of that garbage." he said fondly, thinking of his many sketchbooks more than anything. He hadn't drawn anything good in two weeks but wasn't this tragedy the kind of inspiration that he needed?

"What about our parents? I didn't think about it before but-" he grimaced slightly, "My dad probably doesn't really know I'm gone, he works long shifts at the hospital so I'm not really worried about him but my mom is a different story. I've been kind of M.I.A for the last two days but I've kept her up to date in texts and she's going to notice if I just stop. I mean, I am definitely not the best son in the world but it would break her heart if I just stopped showing up all together. She's probably already kind of worried about me, y'know? She's prone to thinking the worse and if she's scared then she'll call my dad and he won't be happy at all."

A bitter taste entered his mouth at the thought of his father. If his mom did happen to call him then he'd come home and he'd be angry that he couldn't finish his shift and he'd be angry that they were losing money and he'd be angry that Carson wasn't there. He'd start yelling about how ungrateful Carson was and he'd start throwing things after some time. His broken phone would get a bunch of screaming voicemails and his mother would have to listen to if all while they waited to hear back. He didn't want to think of the disaster that would follow when they realized that he wasn't going to call back. He could already hear the slamming.

"So do we like give them some kind of four-one-one?" he asked tentatively, a frown finding it's way to his mouth. "My mom doesn't deserve to worry like that. She does a lot for me. They put up with a lot from me."

It had started with a headache and a sky full of stars, it had drove into his head like a hammer and it had left that memory clean. A night sky and a bundle of dandelions sprouting beneath his palms. It was normal for these guys or that's sort of what he'd been told, this place was a haven, it was safe here, it wasn't home. Home was Manhattan, home was the air that reeked of car exhaust and the sound of alarms blaring through his window each night. Home was very far away, home was nothing but a color-drained, stonewashed, smoky framed memory. Home hadn't even been that great, though he'd never felt so isolated in a place as he had felt in Pavar. It was easy to become lost in Manhattan, it was easy enough to find a place to hide away but Pavar had been small and he had felt trapped.

Trapped was a good word for how he constantly felt, he didn't know where he wanted to be but he knew it wasn't here. There was something that made his skin crawl about the powers in general, it confused him first off, he still didn't get why flowers rose to meet him and he still didn't get why he could make trees bend towards his will. He didn't get why he'd been chosen for whatever this was and it made him miss New York. If he had been in that apartment in Manhattan then he never would have wandered into the darkness with his headache and he never would have rolled around in the grass like an idiot and he never would have uncovered the power at all. At least that's what he figured. It wasn't sound logic. Any excuse to defend Manhattan was a good excuse.

He wasn't ever going to get over anything, that much was blatantly clear.

The day started with another type of headache, but the sky wasn't full of stars and he wasn't driven by some imaginary force to go outside. There weren't any dandelions and there wasn't crippling fear of the unknown. Just another day at the weird academy for messed up super kids. He had been up most of the night, caught up in the aimless task of plotting natal charts until around four a.m. He was tired, he always woke up tired, it was as if he never really slept at all. It was kind of his own fault though he wouldn't admit it if you begged him to. Drained, he would often snap at people upon waking up but there didn't seem to be anybody to snap at right this moment.

He'd slept in, he was always trying to sleep in and he'd finally managed to knock out a few daylight hours. Normally he would have woken around nine and he would have thrown a minor fit about how exhausted he was but he'd managed a good lot of sleeping today. It looked like he had almost lost the entire day. Groggily, the boy had risen and dressed for the day though he'd done it all in a tired haze. His hair was a rumpled mess and he was pretty sure that he smelled a little sweaty but he wasn't in the mood for a late shower and he lumbered out of his room with a pen still tucked behind his ear.

He was hungry, exceptionally ravenous and he could have eaten just about anything that was offered to him at this moment. He knew he could grab something in the mess hall and that's where everything seemed to be right now. He could hear the low murmur of voices before he entered and he barely took notice of them in his sleepy stupor, should anyone have approached him then he might have snapped at them as his ritual demanded. He grabbed an apple before finally scanning the room. The first sight was very glaringly obvious and he couldn't have overlooked it even if he wasn't half asleep.

New people. Wonder where they dug those poor scraps up?

He realized very quickly that he was standing there clutching an apple and staring at them blankly. He exhaled in a long yawn and arched his spine, rocking onto his tiptoes for a moment and dropping back down. The whole process took a lot longer than it should have but he was feeling a little more awake after it. Biting into the apple slowly, he chewed as he approached the table and sunk into a seat near Delta. He could hear the redhead seemingly talking a mile a minute about his parents and he felt a slight pang in his chest at the thought of his own father. He sometimes missed waking up to the smell of buttermilk pancakes and cinnamon, the smell of coffee and the sound of an old country station crooning on the stereo.

For his credit, he managed to keep his mouth shut for most of the time the redhead seemed to spitting out words. For his credit, he just drew in a breath and glanced to Delta. He didn't feel too temperamental today, there wasn't a reason to get snippy with anyone so he kept his tone relatively friendly. It didn't quite match up to the constant look of petulance about him.

"Hello, Delta. Hello, you and you, whoever you are." he said, "I'm Theodore. I apologize for the interruption."

Delta sat and listened to Justin and Carson talk of their rooms. He felt kind of bad for the kids because there was no way they could go back. Phi was most likely monitoring their houses. Then Carson started speaking about his parents.
"What about our parents? I didn't think about it before but-" he grimaced slightly, "My dad probably doesn't really know I'm gone, he works long shifts at the hospital so I'm not really worried about him but my mom is a different story. I've been kind of M.I.A for the last two days but I've kept her up to date in texts and she's going to notice if I just stop. I mean, I am definitely not the best son in the world but it would break her heart if I just stopped showing up all together. She's probably already kind of worried about me, y'know? She's prone to thinking the worse and if she's scared then she'll call my dad and he won't be happy at all."
Carson paused for a moment after he mentioned his father, but after a second to himself he continued.
"So do we like give them some kind of four-one-one?" he asked tentatively, a frown finding it's way to his mouth. "My mom doesn't deserve to worry like that. She does a lot for me. They put up with a lot from me."

Delta almost choked on the last of his hot pocket. He hadn't expected the conversation to turn so dark so quickly. It didn't really matter, the kids deserved to know. "Well Carson you seem like a nice enough kid, so I'm not gonna sugar coat anything. When it comes to your parents there are two possibilities. The first one is that Phi had been watching you guys for longer than Epsilon and I thought. That he had tabs on you guys for a while. In this scenario as soon as Epsilon nabbed you Phi went and found your parents, and started to interrogate them. Once he realized that they really had no clue where you were he simply killed them and moved on. The second scenario is that he just sensed that you were metas and hunted you guys down. In this case your parents may be upset over the fact that you're missing but they are ALIVE in this scenario. That's the important thing, that they're alive. You reaching out to them now would just get them killed." Delta looked hard at Justin and Carson, hoping to gauge their reactions to this news. However he couldn't study them too long before another person entered the mess hall. Theodore ambled into the mess hall, sleep heavy in his eyes. He walked past the seated group and grabbed an apple before turning to face the group, it was still a few seconds before he actually chose to speak.
"Hello, Delta. Hello, you and you, whoever you are." he said, "I'm Theodore. I apologize for the interruption."

Delta smiled at the boy before speaking. "Good evening Theodore! I see a restful night's sleep has eluded your grasp yet again. This here's Justin and Carson. Epsilon nabbed Carson from Phi and I carried Justin off before he made the mistake of brushing shoulders with him." Before Delta could continue a conversation with Theo he heard a familiar snapping echoing down the hall. He turned to face the door shortly before Kana burst into room.
"Greetings, fellow rejects!" she called out, "Who's ready to pummel this Phi-guy into submission?! I sure as hell am!"
Kana met Delta's gaze before continuing. "How about you, Mr. D? Wanna go track this guy down and give him the good ol' one-two?" she made fists and punched the air with the classic boxing combo, complete with fire for added effect.

Delta pinched the bridge of his nose as the smile drained from his face. "As always I appreciate the enthusiasm, but as I've said before you simply--" Delta darted up from the table as a humming filled the room. Within a fraction of a second he was standing behind Kana, his hand mimicking a gun to the back of her head. "--aren't far enough along in your training yet." He slowly lowered his hand to his side and returned to his seat. Delta's eyed scanned the young adults before him. They all had amazing potential, that much was for sure, but they needed guidance while their powers developed. "I can assure all of you that a time will come for us to take the fight to Phi and his brethren, but today isn't it. Epsilon was cut fairly deeply today, and he wasn't even actually trying to FIGHT the maniac. For now we need to get stronger, take it one day at a time. And besides-- Delta pulled down the collar of shirt above his left breast. A tattoo of the Greek character Delta adorned his left pectoral, above his heart. A wide scar ran from his left shoulder down over his tattoo before continuing downward. "--I'm not too eager to look death in the face a second time. Phi isn't just another super-villain wannabe, he's the real deal. We're going to have to be on the top of our game before we even think about taking him on."

If there was one feeling that Sunny prized over any other, it was the feeling of breathing life into inanimate objects. To others, the young girl's powers probably seemed like it fed her god complex. In reality, the simple notion of having companions at all times was a blessing from god. Once upon a time, she was terribly alone. But that was a different person altogether. She was far away from the people who caused her pain and heartbreak. She was okay now.

After the bird accident in the basement two years ago, Sunny may have gone a tad bit overboard. Just a little. Once she had stuffed the very alive clay bird in a shoe box and in her closet, she had blankly fingered her other clay animals. ‘I’m not crazy,’ she had whispered to herself over and over again, trying to think of some logical reason for clay coming to life. Then the little bud of curiosity bloomed and soon enough a miniature army of fierce animals were prowling about the table. Sunny’s little adventure ended with a sharp migraine, however, and once she keeled over in pain the noises stopped.

Now, Sunny Yeom is a bright girl. Within a few months, she came to the conclusion that yes, she wasn’t crazy and that she could bring things to life. The next thing she figured out was that larger objects or keeping an object alive long enough would harm her. And Sunny was not an advocate for pain. So she rarely used her powers, saving it for those frigid nights when Sunny cried icy tears. A tiny kitten would lick them off and nestle itself in the crook of her neck. When the sobs subsided as she slowly drifted into merciful sleep, the purring would turn to plastic. Winter, for her at the time, was everlasting.

Once she was uprooted from the comfortable suburban homes of Northern Virginia to Pavar, Sunny’s life flip-flopped, literally. According to the people who saved her, metahumans like her were in danger. She couldn’t go back to Ms. Tiller anymore or lead a normal high school life. In some ways, that was alright with her. She didn’t fight it. The idea of becoming something more was somewhat enticing.

Sunny was currently under her covers, peeking out once in a while to gaze at Kana’s graffiti. Luckily, Sunny was a certified lurker and thoroughly intimidated by Certified Badass. They were acquaintances at best. Once Kana left the room, Sunny flipped the covers and sat up. ”Today is going to be the day, Sunny. Today is the day where you are going to go up to Kana and say ‘Hey, I really want to be friends’.” Her expression twisted up. A part of her told her to continue training but… She hopped off her bed and slowly followed Kana to the mess hall. She stood by the door, holding it slightly open so she could fiercely stare at Kana. Except her gaze slid to the two newcomers. Intently listening to the conversation, she slipped in the room when Delta was doing his mojo thing.

”I’m sure we’ll be able to beat Phi with patience and hard-work,” Sunny optimistically added, her lips pulled into a light smile as she took a seat next to Theodore. ”It’s nice to meet you guys. I’m Sunny. ”

Sayurilamented the loss of Justin's CD collection. It would have been interesting to see what music he could bring to the table. She knew that the CD collection would never be seen again. Thinking inwardly, she was very glad that her own music was here with her, including her silver Walkman. She'd never moved her music into the digital era and never bothered with an iPod, though many people thought she was crazy because of it. They thought she was just trying to be a hipster. She thought it was ironic that it used to be the other way around, those with iPods were the hipsters.

At Carson's response to her joke about making a Will, she felt a little guilty. Even from the few minutes of him being here, she thought he seemed nice. She liked that he seemed lighthearted and straightforward. She hoped that she hadn't scared him or intimidated him. She put up a wall to keep others from getting too close, but she didn't want to outright push them away. But at the same time, another part of her didn't care. It was like a coldness that could sometimes spread through her entire body. A coldness that kept her from caring about the other people in the base. She didn't like that about herself, but it wasn't something she could control. She always displayed an air of coldness towards everyone, but only rarely did that coldness actually reflect how she was inside in the truest sense of the word.

At Carson's mention of his family and his mother, Sayuri almost began to cry. His story about texting her so she wouldn't worry made her remember her own mother. She used to text her too. Especially after her father died. She hadn't wanted her mom to worry about her. At first, it seemed to help her mom. But then her mother began to slip into a coldness of her own and Sayuri's texts ceased to matter.

Her eyes slipped to Theodore and the apple he was holding. She raised an eyebrow at him as he just stood there. She made a note of his mood. It sometimes irked her how his mood could be, but she really wasn't one to talk. She wasn't much of a ray of sunshine herself and she hadn't done any better at her own introduction than Theodore did with his own after he had sat down next to Delta. She could feel that cold inside her spread and she felt irritated with herself. She wanted to do as Delta said, and go see Slate to make sure he was okay, but she still wasn't sure if she should go. If she were more retrospective, she might note that she was too scared to go and try to see him. Scared that he would reject her outright.

Delta's talk about the two scenarios that could involve Phi brought her back into the room. It made her think of her mom again and the fledgling Omega that attacked them. A sharp pain pierced her heart when she thought about what was probably happening to their families right now. Even though she had never personally run into Phi, she knew of him very well from people who had run into him. If it had been Phi who had attacked her and her mother, there would have been one more dead body that night.

In a dazzling show of energy and spontaneity, Kana burst into the mess hall and such a think immediately demanded the attention of everyone in the room, or at least it demanded Sayuri's attention. She was envious of the way Kana seemed to be free and willing to put herself out there. Sayuri couldn't see herself doing the same. She wasn't a coward, but she also wasn't someone who possessed the initiative to face danger head-on.

Delta spoke and as he did so, a humming filled her ears as he suddenly appeared behind Kana. The sight was sobering. If this had been a real battle the girl would be dead - and probably everyone else in the room, especially if it had been Phi. Sayuri sighed when Delta mentioned that they weren't ready. She knew it was true. She'd been practicing for months and the only consistent evidence of her power were the clouds that covered their base and kept them hidden from satellites. Delta affirmed her thoughts when he showed them his scar. Her own hand rose to her jaw to feel how it wasn't aligned correctly. The newbie Omega had gotten her good and her jaw would always remind her of that with it's clicking when she ate. Sometimes it would even lock into place if she wasn't careful.

She noticed Sunny slip in and let out a sigh when Sunny spoke and revealed her optimism.

Sayuri looked down and noticed that she no longer had coffee in her mug. She didn't really want a refill so she went to wash it and brought out one of her strawberry sodas instead.

She wasn't very sure about what she should say to the others. She wasn't very good at conversation.

"I for one," she finally said, "would not underestimate Kana." Sayuri gave Kana a nod of solidarity.

Delta's reply had been unsettling and had left an edge of fear in his bones that he couldn't seem to shake. He didn't think his power had anything to do with his parents, he didn't think his power would get them hurt, he didn't think his power was anybody's problem but his own. He felt mentally sick at the words and he was left staring at Delta with an overwhelming dread. The dread washed in his chest and made his heart ache, it was just too awful for him to think about. If his parents had been killed then it was his fault, if his parents had been killed then it was on him because he was the freak. His parents weren't freaks, he was the freak who could clone himself. It wasn't their fault that he'd had this happen to him and he wished he could give it back.

He didn't want to learn to control it, he wanted it gone and he wished he'd never had it to begin with. There was no way to get rid of it now, he knew there was no way to get rid of it. It was a part of him now and he realized he'd have to accept it at some point. He just didn't think he could accept it right now, not with his thoughts so torn up and his parents possibly being dead and him having no way of knowing if they were or not. He wished he could shove past this and calm down but every breath felt one step closer to him breaking into pitiful sobbing. His nails were digging into his palms and his breathing was a filtered thing through his nose and out his mouth, just like the guidance counselor had taught him to do when he was anxious.

He didn't have long to focus on the inevitable breakdown that was steadily approaching because a young man joined them. There was something regal about the blond boy even though he seemed exhausted beyond repair. He could tell this in his drowsy mannerisms and the constant yawning, he introduced himself simply as Theodore. It seemed to be a fitting enough name somehow but he didn't have time to think about that either when a girl bust through the door. She practically seemed to glow with her confidence and she was excitedly talking about giving Phi a good old what for and Carson couldn't help but stare at the fire sparking around her.

Delta reacted far quicker than he could have processed and he soon had his fingers pressed like a mock gun to her skull. It was a warning kind of gesture and the quickness of it startled Carson enough that he jumped a bit in his seat. He watched the man return to his seat with barely contained nervousness. His impassive expression had fallen at the mention of his parents possibly being dead and now he just looked pale, fearful and sort of miserable. Delta revealed a scar that blazed through his skin and disappeared farther down, he could only imagine the kind of wound that had once been. He glanced away from it quickly and tried to regain control of his emotions.

Everything was a whirlwind and he felt like a nervous wreck but he consoled himself by telling himself that his parents were probably fine. They had to be fine, he couldn't think about them being anything other than fine. He needed to stop thinking about death and he needed to stop thinking about Phi, he needed to calm down. He focused every ounce of will on calming down and almost managed it before another girl entered and settled beside Theodore. She seemed kind somehow and she had a good air about her, as warm as a summer breeze and just as fluent. She introduced herself as Sunny and he had to keep himself from smiling a little bit at the irony.

Sayuri, Theodore, Kana and Sunny. They were an interesting group so far, even though he was wracked with nerves and he felt like he was about to start crying, he appreciated them. When Sayuri spoke again, he glanced to her and furrowed his eyebrows slightly, she didn't seem all bad. She seemed like she was trying and he could respect that, he was definitely trying himself and he hoped they could get along in some time. Maybe when he wasn't on the brink of sobbing. It was a nice thought. Maybe he'd make friends, maybe these people would want to be his friends after some time. The Lord knew he couldn't survive without frequent conversation and maybe that would help him calm down. He was just living on hope.

"It's nice to meet you all, you seem to be an interesting bunch." he stuck to honesty, they were interesting and he didn't know a single thing about any of them. They could be interesting and absolutely mad and he wouldn't know the wiser. He just hoped he would get along with them. "I'm a little wigged out right now so I'm going to apologize beforehand if I come off as kind of sullen-" a nervous chuckle. "I adjust to things slowly and I cry a lot, so I'm sure my shining personal attributes will leave you dying to know more."

Routine was just as much a part of his life as baseball was. He hadn’t realized it yet and perhaps it stemmed from his father being in the service at one time but he had a strict routine that he followed every day. He got up early, made his bed, had a light breakfast, did his exercises and training then the rest of the day was left up to Chance. He was currently at the end of his exercise routine and was doing pull ups on a bar he managed to put together using scraps of metal found around the abandoned silo. His feet were bare and so was his defined chest and torso. The only article of clothing he wore was a pair of gray sweatpants. He was vaguely aware of what was happening in the mess hall but didn’t feel the need to make an appearance right away, he needed to finish his set first. His muscles tensed and tightened as he pulled his swollen frame upwards several more times before letting himself drop to the floor with a light sound of flesh against stone. He had reached the point where his arms had failed him and he couldn’t use them to do anything strenuous if he tried. It’d take a little while before the strength returned to them again. Breathing heavily and wiping the sweat from his face with a hand towel, he ran his hand through his hair a few times to give it some type of semblance other than sticky and unkempt.

Moving from his room to the mess hall where almost all of his entire ‘meta family’ seemed to be gathered, he silently took in his surroundings. Most of the people there he recognized but that wasn’t true for everyone. It looked like his new family was growing and he wasn’t quite sure how he felt about that. On the one hand, it was good to have people around he could semi-relate to, people who were in the same situation as him but on the other hand, more people meant more personalities to deal with which usually rolled into a pain in the ass. He moved to lean against the wall behind him, folding his arms across his clammy chest and crossing his legs at the ankles. He simply stood and observed for a while, watching as the others welcomed the newcomer. He thought back to when he first arrived himself. He probably felt the same way this other kid did but didn’t remember handling it so well. If he had it all to do over again, he probably could have saved himself some grief before coming to terms with his situation but hindsight was 20/20 and the only thing he could do now was move forward and offer the newbie some advice.

Everyone was getting acquainted with one another, but Danny wasn’t sure yet how to introduce himself to the fresh meat, so he just kept quiet and waited for the right time to interject. 'It's nice to meet you all, you seem to be an interesting bunch. I adjust to things slowly and I cry a lot, so I'm sure my shining personal attributes will leave you dying to know more.' There it was, his chance to respond and so without putting too much thought into it, he offered his two cents even though no one asked for it. “You’re scared as hell. I can see it in your face.” He said a little brusquely. His candid way of speaking to people had been pointed out to him before but when speaking his mind, it wasn’t often that he thought about his words and tone prior to opening his mouth. “But thinking about it too much isn’t going to change a damn thing and crying about it sure as hell won’t help either…getting stronger might. If we can take out that damn Phi guy, maybe we’ll get our lives back…or what’s left of them.” He said with a twinge of suffering in his voice, his hazel like eyes drifting off into dead space as he entered his own thoughts. It was rather hypocritical of him really, loosing himself in his thoughts after telling someone else not to…but he couldn’t deny the fact that the arrival of the newcomer stirred up old feelings that he wasn’t in the mood to deal with.

Slate was laid out on his bed, a leg handing off of the sad boxspring that should have been thrown out months ago. His eyes were closed and his hands rested on his gut, cradling the now stitched, bandaged, and mostly cleaned wound from Phi. Physically Slate was alone in the dark corner of a dark room, though the conscious existence of Slate spread far beyond the confines of his sealed off room. He had reached out to the entirety of the base, fragments of his being in every dark corner and every shadow cast. If someone were to look through his minds eye, it would appear along the realms of a insect's compound eyes. Hundreds of images flashing past, coupled with disjointed sounds, touch, smells, a sensory overload that nearly made Slate lose his mind when he first reached out like this years ago. It took patience and calm to take in the waterfall of information and sensation and be able to extrapolate anything with meaning. But even the hundreds of wildly fluctuating bits of information was not enough to distract him from the spring that was currently digging into his back. Not even the conversations between the metas that Delta and Epsilon had taken under their wing.

Of course, the mentioning of Phi did make him want to step in. Slate groggily opened his eyes, rubbing them and letting out a heavy sigh before rolling off of his bed onto the cool concrete floor. Something... wet was beneath him, soaking his chest and shoulders. "Shit," he hissed remembering that he spilled a cup of water when he dropped down onto the mattress. It was supposed to be a problem for later. Well, later or until it evaporated. "Stupid kids."

Slate stumbled to the nearest table, a zip-up sweatjacket hanging on the back of the chair. It'd have to do. He slipped it on and put off zipping it up until the water evaporated off of him and paused only for a moment to fully tune back into the conversation in the mess hall, catching another meta chiming in about Phi. "Stupid, stupid kids."

He fell into a black mass that formed at his feet, swallowing him whole and pulling him through space that would make theoretical physicists contemplate suicide. He materialized at the entryway for the mess-hall, drenched in the inky substance that was the very core of his power, looking like a living silhouette. A black mass pulsated at his feet, hiding his feet as he walked. From the mass reached out probing tendrils that immediately homed in on the girl encouraging a fight with Phi. They wrapped around her ankles, locking her to the ground like concrete shoes. "Delta," The shade known as Epsilon to the room as a whole, bar one individual, said with a dragging sigh, acknowledging his equal. He glided into the room, his arms hanging limply at the sides, his form continually quivering as the shadows the drenched him flowed across him like waves, rising and falling, like a living entity. "I'm glad you're all getting acquainted," Epsilon said, twisting to look across the room at everyone in the room, "Though it appears we're missing one. Nevertheless, it appears that something needs to be made abundantly clear."

"Matell. Cruz. If you feel so strongly about fighting Phi right now, then I'll allow you two to take as many people as you want to fight him, right now. No doubt he's still haunting Pavar. Probably finishing off any loose ends as quickly as possible, so time's off the essence." Epsilon moved toward Kana, looking from her to Delta and offering him a small wave to back off for the moment. "If a fight is what you two want so badly, then fight Delta or I. Kill one of us and you'll have our permission to go fight Phi." Epsilon twisted once more, looking toward Danny. "Even with blood I've lost today, I doubt the whole lot of you could even do me in, but by all means if fighting with your fledgling powers is so exciting be my guest and make your move."

As if turning from solid to liquid, Epsilon collapsed and pooled at the ground only to already be rising across the room at the fridge hardly a second later. He swung it open and pulled out one of Sayuri's beloved strawberry sodas, popping it up and craning his neck back to begin downing the whole thing in one uncomfortably long swig, dropping the container the moment he finished. He wiped his lips on his wrist and returned to looking at the crowd of metas. He hoped this would be over soon. His wound felt like it was about to rip open again and beneath his shadowy cloak he was drenched in sweat.

It didn’t take long for Epsilon to slink his way into the mess hall and Danny gave the powerful meta his full attention as he did so. Delta and Epsilon were like their role models now, which proved to be somewhat tricky, considering how different they both were. Delta was the easier one to get along with of the two, where as you had to watch your step around Epsilon. Needless to say, the two hotheads in the group were reprimanded more so than the others. Deep down, he knew that Delta and Epsilon only wanted to keep their protégé’s safe, so he couldn’t bring himself to truly disobey or refute their advice but the more time he spent there the more difficult it was to keep the negative emotions at bay. Frustration, anger, resentment, restlessness, just dealing with one of those feelings could prove difficult but when they were all rolled into one and with each passing day being filled with air like a balloon in your chest, it was hard to keep it from bursting. Kana wanted some action and he couldn’t blame her, however Delta quickly shut her down with an impressive display of his own abilities. If he were Phi, she would have been dead already. Kana was headstrong, he knew Delta’s reaction probably wouldn’t be enough to change her mind and that’s probably why Epsilon decided to show his face.

Remembering the scar Delta showed them from Phi and seeing just how bad Epsilon’s wound was up close, even he had second thoughts about facing the super villain. Almost before he could blink, Epsilon grabbed Kana with his shadows, causing her to react with an instinctive use of her powers. When Kana reacted, Danny tensed and pushed himself from leaning against the wall. He slowly walked towards Kana, so that he was only a few feet behind her. The young meta exhaled a shaky breath as Epsilon expressed his disapproval and not only that, he issued a challenge. Danny wasn’t one to back down from a fight but even he wasn’t as much of an ass to try to kill someone who was keeping him safe. Danny was almost sure Epsilon was baiting him into a fight, a fight Danny couldn’t win. At least not yet. He recognized that Delta and Epsilon were crazy powerful and if the two of them had their hands full dealing with Phi, the rest of them didn’t stand much of a chance. He listened to Kana’s response and he understood her point but he couldn’t say he agreed completely. They weren’t ready, he knew that but what he wanted to know was…when? When would they be able to hold their own or at least work as a team?

“We’re not ready, I get it, but I understand how Kana feels too.” Danny blurted out. He exhaled again, and swallowed hard, shaking his head slightly and fighting back his own frustrations. “I mean…don’t get me wrong, I’m not in any rush to die or anything but we’ve been here for months, when are we gonna be ready? Huh? In a year? Three? Twenty? If we’re not strong enough, show us what we need to do.” He said almost pleadingly. After letting a moment pass, he sighed again and his voice returned to a calmer tone, if not somber. “I wanna get my life back, ya know? I…I wanna see if my family’s ok while they still recognize me… And you know the part that really sucks about this whole thing? While we’re hiding in this silo, that damn Phi jerk is out there just doing whatever the hell he wants, no way man…he’s gotta pay!” He said with his temper flaring up again. He slammed his fist into his open palm and inadvertently triggered his powers. His skin almost instantly became so dense it turned dark blue and the pupils of his eyes disappeared all together, leaving only the eerie white.

Carson's head almost seemed to snap up when Danny had spoke to him, it was something defensive and he couldn't help it. A shot of anger went through him and he could barely contain the urge to tell him off. He couldn't help that he was upset or scared. He wasn't good at bottling his emotions and he didn't expect that to change any time soon. He'd cry all he damn well pleased! He'd cry right now if he wanted! Right now! He didn't care! He was scared! He wasn't going to pretend that he wasn't because of some asshole in a metal suit. He knew he couldn't fight Phi, he had no delusions and he wasn't about to start now. A flare had entered his eyes for seemingly the first time since this whole incident had arisen. His voice even left him a few octaves stronger when he spoke.

"Well, I'm sorry-" he managed to snap out right before he noticed the creeping mass of shadow that had entered the room. He clamped his mouth shut, that was definitely Epsilon and he didn't know what had brought him back in the room. He immediately thought of the wound again and the worry returned like a long lost friend. It wasn't good to walk around too much with wounds like that, it was a one way ticket to bleeding out all over the floor if those stitches didn't hold against strain. He wanted to tell him but Epsilon seemed to be challenging the girl that had entered the room in a flurry of fire and confidence and the boy with the brown hair that Carson had been about to challenge himself. It was a daunting thought, to consider oneself so confident that they'd try to take on the shadow-weaver but he kept his mouth shut from saying so. If they wanted to be stupid then it was their own choice.

Though Kana seemed to keep her wits about her and she didn't rise to the challenge as it was issued. She came up with a completely new challenge that made Carson's stomach turn for a moment. He didn't want to fight an Omega--whatever an Omega was--he guessed it must be the opposite of whatever they were. Metas. God, there was just so much lingo to remember. He wondered if he'd get used to this and he guessed that he probably wouldn't, he'd never been so good at adjusting. He didn't expect that to change anytime soon and he rubbed a hand along his forehead as he glanced from Kana to Epsilon. He hoped that it was agreed that this wasn't a good idea and he hoped that it passed quickly. He didn't even really want to be pitted against one of these kids, let alone an omega, he was pretty sure he'd get his ass handed to him and he wasn't in the mood.

Kana's confidence was truly an admirable quality but it was an admirable quality that could very easily get her killed. Danny spoke again very soon after her, his words tumbling out in his frustration and his fist slamming into his hand. Something peculiar happened, Danny's skin almost seemed to turn blue and Carson felt his own eyes widen before he looked away.

"I'm sorry to butt in, I don't know the struggle of being cooped up in a big metal bunker and I'm new so this could come off as unbelievably idiotic." settling his voice into a practiced, brisk tone. The tone of a slightly disappointed, scolding mother rather than anyone threatening but it would have to do. "First off. Epsilon, can I please request that you sit down? You recently sewed up a pretty severe wound and if that busts open then you might have more blood on the floor than what you started with. Even if it doesn't bust open, you suffered blood loss and you are going to end up in a very bad way if you don't rest at all. I know a little about wounds and stuff but I'm not exactly the E.R. doctor that my father was. I just- I've got anxiety and it won't leave my mind so please, sit down. You don't have to but I'd like it if you did."

Turning to Kana and Danny, the boy furrowed his eyebrows worriedly. "Second off. I watched Phi kill two boys today, right in front of me. I didn't even really know them and I wish I hadn't even gone to that coffee house. It was a sight that my panic riddled mind will never manage to get over, I'm never going to forget that and I'm a coward to boot so I'm never going to stop freaking out about it either." he clenched his teeth slightly but hurried on with some strain. "It's not an easy thing- I can only imagine what kind of training it would take to take this guy down. I do however understand that it's got to be grueling because if you mess up, even a little, then you're as good as dead. I don't know about you but I don't want to die."

His voice softened a bit, his pale blue eyes looking sympathetic. "I don't know the two of you either but I don't want you to end up dead. You both seem alright, your battles will come to you in time, I'm sure. I'm sure that you'll get to throw down with Phi some time and I'm sure you'll get to move things back on track. I don't know when, but just- Don't be so rash, eh? Sometimes taking a coward's point of view is good. Caution is key with me, just don't try to fight a battle before you've judged it."