@rivaan@Eklispe

Arthur sank further into his seat as he noticed the Meep taunting the waitress, and realized a little too late WHY the creature would do that. Meeps were drawn to people who had powers, this had been proven in the cafe the day earlier when the little bouncing chimes had floated around everyone who had been given a card. The stomp and the crack of tile snapped him back to reality as he caught full sight of the glowing golden armor, the tasteful sweep of it over her body was majestic but such thoughts found no purchase at the reality that this woman possessed the incredible strength and weight of a league character who wore golden shining armor... Garen?
Alex stood to direct her attention to the chime creature. Arthur paid close attention to the speed and precision of his grab, snatching the agile meep out of the air like childs play. Good skills to have, precision. That particular information was stored for a later time when it may be relevant and turned his own focus to the meep. Meeps.. The one in his coat heard the tiny angry chiming of its compatriot and poofed next to it, its angry little noises made it feel like a potential chew toy to Arthur but others might not be so happy about it. Hands in mouth he blew a short but sharp whistle and glared at the Meeps. Liek disciplined children they floated to him and poofed into motes of glittering light before disappearing entirely.
Arthus eyes locked ever so briefly with the waitress and felt his will break ever so slightly. A sigh escaped as his head hit the table, both arms extending over it in defeat.

Claire

"Of course! My name is Claire and I'll make sure your well taken care of this wonderful morning~" She gestured to her nametag and with a nod and a smile, annotated her customer's order on her notepad. Then she frowned, "It doesn't look like you remember me from yesterday. I wanted to talk to you after the chaos that had happened at the cafe." She glanced around before leaning in towards him, her tone hushed. "I saw you pop your shield for a brief instant. There are others like you and I...There's a gathering for all of us going on later, I'll let you know more later if you're interested."

Claire heard chimes, which made her think of the dancing meep she currently kept in her bag in the lounge.

"Okay~! I'll be back with your food after a few moments!" Claire chirped and as she spun around, Clarice yelled into the air and a second later, the ground shook and the floor split where Clarice had stomped. Claire lost her balance from the small earthquake and reached out, grabbing John's table to catch herself. Coincidentally, her hand grabbed John's hand by accident. 'His hands feel strong...Wait, no! What am I doing!?' Claire flushed as she stabilized herself and withdrew her hand. She quickly stammered out an apology. "Oh gosh, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to grab your hand like that."

"I'll be right back with your food!" Claire briskly walked away from John, still a little red, and immediately rushed to Clarice's side. "Clairice what happened, are you okay!? Oh..." She paused and stared at Clarice's foot. Then she looked at the customer's she was serving, and then back down to her armor encased foot and the cracked floor, and finally at Clarice's armor encased body.

"C-can you yell Demacia for me?" Claire asked her, giggling to herself. Her coworker looked so terrifying yet so silly in the armor! "And then do the boogie woogie?

@rivaan @Eklispe @Zelosse @Card Captor @GingerBoi123

The shadows of his room was all the curtain he needed for a moment of clarity. Blank, lavender eyes stared at the three ghouls as if the rasping and incomprehensible growling was something that made sense. The jade-coloured ghoul lurched forward, almost as if scolding the young barista for his incompetence, but the silver and peach coloured minions quickly came to Leon's aid. As it turned out, it was one ghoul against another. Whilst the spectres wrestled it out on the dusty floor, the lad turned his eyes to the window and the skies-- the greying clouds served more as an accompaniment to the turmoil within him. He knew; oh, he knew damn well that the answers he could have been looking for would be answered if he joined his kindred. But, he didn't want any more trouble than there already was. Leon stood up, stretching his arms as he parted the curtains which allowed a burst of radiant, and warm light to invade the room. No, the answer was certainly clear. He had sworn upon her eyes that he would never endanger anyone, and to sever connections was the most optimal way to do it. His fingers pressed softly upon the glass, imagining--wishing-- that the reflection in front of him was not him, but her; and that the hand that pressed against his was the hand he had came to treasure. "Never again." Leon mumbled before looking at the clock. He had missed his class already, but, at least, he could still catch-up with the lessons if he wanted to. On another note, he had no classes tomorrow. So, he could laze in bed all day, and become the potato that he had always wanted to be.

Joining with those mutants was far too risky of an idea, and Leon knew that he had made the right choice in avoiding them. The night was dawning upon him, and what better way to end the day than to indulge a toxicfest within the League of Legends community? Thus, Leon turned on his laptop, logged in, and played the shadows away. As the gravedigger was summoned upon the battlefield, and the loading screen shot away, his eyes went over to his team. If he had joined that cult, would he also the manifestations of these champions? Strangely enough, he couldn't take his eyes off from that Blackfrost Anivia, though. Well, it was a legendary skin, and Leon knew that he was not rich enough to afford even the Undertaker skin. Still, as the champions were blasted upon the summoning platform, Leon cracked his knuckles and prepared to bring the Shadow Isles into the Rift.

---

His dreamless slumber was roughly awakened by a pair of claws gripping his shirt, almost as if slamming him back and forth against his pillow. Immediately, Leon bolted up as the silver spectre was sent rolling back. "What the hell do you want?!" Leon growled, massaging the back of his head. Not really appreciating the morning interruption when he had just had an all-nighter with League of Legends. Seriously, that last game was not only annoying, but also made him lose his faith in humanity. As Leon rubbed his tired eyes, and ruffled his messy hair, the ghoul screeched out something that made his spine shiver.

"Another manifestation from the Shadow Isles?" Leon repeated the information, and, indeed, he felt a disturbance upon standing up. His ears began to echo disturbing rattles of chains, but after a while, the hallucinations ended. There was this strange feeling within Leon, and he knew that it wasn't because he hadn't had breakfast yet. It was something more... sinister. He hadn't felt this kind of disturbance when he had met the other manifestations, but with this... denizen of the Isles... there was something to be said about it bearing an omen... of war. "Elise... Mordekaiser... Karthus... Thresh... Hecarim..." he enumerated the names of the known denizens, and each name brought him much worry. "N-no," Leon shook his head before sighing loudly. "I should not get involved in this." So what if there was another from the Shadow Isles? It wasn't his problem, no siree. It wasn't, it shouldn't, and it wouldn't be his problem.

And, he kept repeating that statement to himself for the next few hours.

---

His ghouls were not making it easy for him. They kept spawning out of nowhere, and attempted to lead him towards one of the diners in the town, but he would be damned before getting involved! Normally, the ghouls were only visible to him unless he had summoned his shovel (not to mention, that the ghouls could only do real harm if he had his shovel). However, it seemed that Leon theorized that, perhaps, his fellow Shadow Isle kindred would be able to see them. As he ran after the spectres, Leon now stood before the diner, and immediately felt a conclave of familiar presences that he had encountered yesterday! No, he did not want to meet them now! Or, he never wanted to meet them again in the first place.

"Fine, you dumb ghoul," Leon hissed at the orange spectre. "You draw out that bastard, and you lead him here! Gods! You just want to get what you want..." the lad roared as the ghoul sped off. "This is just... for... making sure. Just gonna make sure that he's not gonna wreck anything, and I'm gone. I'm never going back."

The orange ghoul sped forth, and being invisible to others, it tapped upon the glass window that was near the shadow isle manifestation. Should the boy's attention be caught, the ghoul would lead him back to Leon who had hid at the side of the road. It was a risky gamble, but it was supposed to be worth it in the end.

Or, so Leon hoped.

@GingerBoi123

@Cubix



Travis stared down at the table, trying to silence the voices in his head. Why... why did he crave to kill someone. Vivid images of him butchering a man or swallowing the soul of someone he impaled with the blade of his chain flashed in his mind with each and every time the ghostly voices mentioned the word "Souls". Everything was so intense, and if that waitress came back, he didn't know if he could hold himself back from lunging at her with the hand scythe at her throat.

It was just then that something had pissed her off, and spectral armour appeared on her! He wasn't the only one! However, the event put him closer to the narrow edge he was already near to, and the voices intensified yet again! Everything was so unclear... that was Garen's armour!? Right? Travis stared intensely at everyone's reactions, but the hauntings in his head was making it a lot more difficult than it needed to be. Travis couldn't focus any longer, and slammed his hands onto the table. His breathing became rapid, and his eyes dashed around like they did before too. He was panicking, and badly. If everyone's attention was on the Garen Lady, then Travis should be undetec-

THUD!

THUD!

An... orange... ghost? It put it's hand on the glass twice at the window where Travis was. The... voices were gone! Travis scolded himself. Of course they're not gone, they'll be back. But for now they're quiet. Travis weakly got out of his seat and stumbled out of the door. The ghost sped off, and Travis did follow, taking his hands out of his pocket and gripping the chain handle. He was eventually led to another guy, who seemed impatient as anything. Travis was very... VERY... cautious. "Who... who are you? He asked, gripping the handle a bit tighter.

"You're... the one?" Leon tilted his head in annoyance. He was expecting a hulking figure that reflected the visage of that of the Shadow Isles, not some lanky teenager. But, oh well, who was Leon to speak about appearances? "Although, it seems that my theory was true. Only fellow Shadow Isles can see my ghouls normally." the lad mumbled before ruffling his hair in thought. The triad of ghouls stepped out from behind Leon, and growled at the gravekeeper's kindred. To any non-shadow isle avatar, it would seem that two lads were just talking normally, but Leon knew that this person could see his ghouls as much as he could see his chains. "Thresh." the name escaped his lips as he scrutinized the very existence of this person. He didn't look too threatening, but Leon couldn't help stifle the feeling that this lad had a darker potential. And, Leon knew so well about the temptations of power. "Stand down, lad." Leon waved his hand to show that he meant no harm to his kid who was gripping the chains as if he was about to attack him. Besides, if he did attack him, Leon would pummel his face into the pavement with the shovel. "If I had wanted to kill you, I would have sent these boys to mangle you from afar."

The boy looked around as if trying to watch for any unwelcome entities. There was a thin threshold between one's path towards controlling their powers, and being drunk with it. A part of Leon wanted to oversee this boy's progress with his powers, and, hopefully, steer him to the better path. But, a part of him wanted to just separate himself from all this mess, and live his life normally. However, he had already seen the fruits of his apathy and lukewarmness: his acquaintances joined a cult for all he knows. Should he ignore this child, this could be another member for that disgusting cult; if this child went down that dark road, he might be the one to end Leon's life. He was torn. Torn between his sense of righteousness, and his sense of normalcy. He was not morally obligated to do anything for this town, but to leave it in the hands of uncertainty was far too stressful to swallow. This kid could end someone's life in the future, and if Leon was able to help this lad, then, it would be saving a future life. It was really complex, it really was. As what Nasus said, every fork in his path led to fire. It was just a matter choosing of which road held the least searing of flames.

"You're not alone." Leon spoke as he came to a decision. "I believe you might have seen certain... disturbing characteristics as well. I could view it as a sort of mutation between game and gamer. My ghouls told me that they sensed someone from the Shadow Isles manifesting here, and they led me to you; or, rather, they led you to me. The same condition you have, I also have. But, there are others that seek to use you for their own gains." he offered a faint smile before gesturing for the lad to follow him. "They are recruiting people like yourself into their ranks for god knows what and why. I've stayed out of their radar since yesterday, and I intend to stay hidden. I suggest you do the same." Leon spun around as he began walking towards Orchid street, a quiet part of the town with more flora than sapiens. "Let's walk for a while. I know the quietest of roads here in Darkwell. What I'm about to tell you will be something that will change your life... forever. However, after I tell you my story, you're free to accept or decline. It's your choice. The voices in your head... I've heard their whispers too."

The ghouls dissolved into hazy mists as they merged with their master. Leon turned back to the boy, observing him through half-lidded eyes that sparked under the sun, allowing Leon to have a moment of enlightenment. These mutations have just happened recently, but if there was something that Leon was proud of, it was the fact that he had managed to control much, if not all of his capabilities. He was not the best, but he certainly knew more than the average mutant. "The name's Leon, by the way."

I'm sorry, Sarah. I might have to betray once more.

@GingerBoi123

This was startling news. John never expected to run into someone like him at this diner, let alone for them to recognize him "...you were that ill girl..." he suddenly remembered just where and when he had seen her before. Before he could say anything else to her, the ground suddenly shook. As he was already sitting down, John wasn't really affected by it. However, Claire, as he now knew her name to be, was. She fell over, and caught herself on the table before she hit the ground, with her hand also grabbing his.

Before he could ask if she was okay, as he was a little shaken up himself, she quickly excused herself and left, apologizing as she did. Her exit left John baffled 'why would she apologize for that? Anyone could see it was an accident, just a blind grab to keep herself from falling. Not only that, but it was only my hand. It's not like she grabbed me somewhere improper.' John let that train of thought come to an end 'best not to dwell on the inner workings of the female mind for too long; that way lies madness. Although...what she said about a meeting interests me. I wonder if a community of people like us already exists in secret' that's when John remembered something else '...the card. I had forgotten all about it! Could it have been given to me by someone who also saw my slip up yesterday. It seems that it didn't go as unnoticed as I thought...although it's rather good news in this case.'

@DFA

@Eklispe@DFA@Zelosse@Card Captor

“Hmmmmmmm?” Clarice made a questioning sound as the companion of her favorite customer stated she seemed troubled. In a way this was true, for she wasn’t sure what it was that was pestering her and when he showed it to her by catching a something that was behind him, her eyebrow rose.

As Arthur called the meets back, Clarice shot him with a look of both wonder and amusement.” What’s this, so they were yours?” She asked with a smirk and now studied both Alex and Athur.” Seeing how both you aren’t that surprised be this…” She said, pointing at her armor.” I assume that you probably either know something about why that happened or are in the same boat as me… considering he cannot talk with anything but musical instrument sounds and you are pretty… fast and coordinated beyond what normal people usually can do.” She said with questioning voice.

“Alright then, so it’s 2 eggs benedict and two glasses of water? Alright… By the way, I never asked for your name...” She mumbled, pulling her notepad and quickly writing the order down then asked for Arthur's companion's name, but just then Claire appeared.

“I can…” She replied with a smirk to her coworker.” But if I’m doing the boogie woogie, you will be doing it with me in that case right? It's not a proper boogie woogie if I'm doing it alone!” She asked with a smile and ran a hand across the armor on her chest…” This won’t do…” She whispered to herself and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.

Clarice concentrated on her image… on the armor she wore. Forcing her will upon it and it finally vanished as it had appeared.” This is better~” She whistled turning to Claire.” It seems you too know something about this… Am I the only one here who seems to be out of the loop on these strange transformations going on?” She asked with a pout.

“Wait… Claire don’t tell me you too can transform? What are you turning into then? Is it a coincidence I’m turning into Garen who’s my main or are you in the same boat?”

Having said that she sighed, as her eyes focused once again on the cracked tiles on the floor.” There goes my paycheck…”

In response to her threat, the blonde only pinched his nose in annoyance. He was reacting in the same way he would to a bothersome, berating customer at a clothing store. How disrespectful, she thought. He clearly thought he was so superior to her that he thought he didn't need to even treat her command for answers with any bit of respect. He's such a douche, she thought, though dreaded having such a modern pop term to taint her thoughts. Her tongue was already being brought back to launch out a complaint about how offended she was, but before she could, the man suddenly burst into sudden movement. He waved his arms at the old man and Sam was brought to draw her attention to the elderly man with his hand inching to something under the counter. Liam plead for him not to call the cops. Hm... that's odd. Usually those employed under super villains didn't try to call the police under any circumstances... She wasn't about to say that she was wrong about her suspicions (because of her stubbornness) but she did take note of it.

Liam then went on to explain where he had 'met' the two of them and then went about complaining about the heat in the room, drawing the old individual to leave the room. Oh. Yeah... that was probably her causing the heat. She had been told that that was somewhat of an effect on people that way. Oh well, she didn't know how to control it, nor was she about to bother; this rude man could suffer for all she cared.

Said rude individual then pivoted back to them with obvious rage on his face. Hmm... looks like someone has anger management problems... most villains do act in rage... she thought, not realizing the irony in what she had thought. With his sharp gaze she did not back down but only faded her expression into a 'resting bitch face'. As he lectured them it was like she was barely masking her brewing anger with a face of indifference and annoyance. Even though she was getting good information, the way he was doing it was like she was being talked down to like a kid getting a lesson. He ended the first part of his lecture and at this point she was already blocking him out. All the words that he was saying were not going into her head, she was only picking out some that she could argue against and disposing of the rest as she formulated a retaliation. After he was done mumbling like an idiot, Sam chose this time to strike. "Hey! I was not flying off the handle, I just wanted to get this BS-- oh, excuse me 'subtlety'" Sam created little quote marks with her fingers as she said this word and continued on with the sentence, "out of the way." Her face and voice twisted into mock apology, "Sorry for us not wanting to get caught and dissected by FBI or used as weapons by some criminals." The dragon woman then coated her face with pure malice, "And fine, you might not be a villain, but you are a grade A jerk." As she was invited into the elevator she was determined to have the last word, so as she passed him to go into the elevator she turned directly to him and attacked with her final jab. "I deserve to be respected when I am spoken to just like anyone else. Don't you ever talk to me like that again." And with that she strutted into the elevator where she took residence in one of the corners, crossing her arms over herself.

Artemis made her entrance with much more neutrality, but Sam did appreciate her pointing out a flaw. They all entered the elevator and Artemis voiced an inquiry as the space quickly began to fill with the sweltering heat of Sam fuming. It was as if a fireplace with a roaring fire had been placed in the corner of the tiny elevator. Sam was unaware of the rising heat, unable to feel it and mainly focused on her own thoughts of still lashing out words to the man just a few feet from her in the elevator. The punk woman was also not cognizant of how her clothes were suffering from the situation. They weren't catching fire yet, but they were clearly suffering. Her leather combat boots and leather jacket looked shinier as if they were sweating and melting until the some places began to saw the materials forming cracks. At her boots, the bend where her leg met her foot began to dry out, discolor, and crack. The same began to occur with her jacket at the elbows, shoulders, and back where the cracks began to alarmingly etch themselves across the wing design. Her skirt, which had a few moments ago billowed out from her like a soft tissue was now growing limp and the tulle of the skirt began to melt onto the skirt's silky fabric backing.

@Cubix

Travis's mouth slightly opened at the explanation given by Leon. This was crazy! Travis looked down at his hook in embarrassment when he was told to stand down, and loosened up a tiny bit. Leon gave a brilliant speech, that much was true, but in all honesty, Travis had no clue what to do. Travis stared at the ground, considering his options. Leon definitely manifested Yorick, there's no doubt about it. It was a gamble, because Travis couldn't tell if Leon did have full control of his powers or if he had succumbed to the whim of the Shadow Isles, and if so... he could be secretly enticing Travis with a sly, darker intention. Travis finally looked back up at Leon. "Tr... Travis..." The boy mumbled at first. He then gripped his free hand underneath his hoodie, bracing himself for his decision. "I don't know what you can do to help me, but please... continue."

Aelia Stark

One of her tails twitched slightly, and she raised a brow at Erick. So... she should think about not having the tails and ears? Aelia closed her eyes, imaging herself without the extra appendages spurting forth from her body. But the harder she struggled to envision herself in such a state, the more she realized that she did have ears and tails. It stressed her out, and she found herself looking at Erick with a frustrated expression. Did she really have to go out like this? Her furry tails weren't going anywhere anytime soon.

"It isn't working," Aelia muttered, running a hand through her hair as she stared at him apprehensively. "Maybe it'll... just go away on its own. Like... I can't have tails and ears forever, right? I can't go to school like this..."

The brunette looked away, her face distraught. This was so stressful... it was even making her tails quiver in fright. Perhaps she would stay like that forever. Maybe she would be like one of those man-animal hybrids she read about in those fantasy books... She shuddered, shaking her head as she slunk back onto the couch, wincing momentarily as she sat on one of her tails. Yet, Aelia's eyes remained on Erick. "What now?"

@Universorum



Two women approached him, both thinking that they were amusing and speaking to him individually. Garrett simply shot amber-colored glares at both of them, huffing loudly. They really thought that they were smart and funny, right? He rolled his eyes, glancing down at the newspaper again. He pretended to read until they left, and that was when he let out a groan and rested his head on the table in front of him. This had been a bad idea... he had just come in to work and already people were annoying the crap out of him. The black-haired male attempted to regain his bearings and calm down before putting on his apron and making his way out into the diner once more.

Garrett glanced around, his eyes clouded and weary, as he struggled to figure out what was going on. "What is going on here?" he asked, growling a little as he made his way to Clarice, crossing his arms angrily. "You're supposed to be working, not chatting like some sort of parrot."

@rivaan @Zelosse @Eklispe

"Yeah just about. I dealt with all this bul- oney, yesterday, oh and my name is Alex." He would've said more but tall, dark, and handsome decided to walk over. Alex was eerily reminded of himself yesterday. Even more so he felt a power similar to his own from the waiter. Odd. The same sort of thing that resonated with the dark-haired person's power recoiled from his waiter's. Well if he was Talon that would make sense. It would also make sense if he was Katarina, but that would be freaking weird and he didn't want to think about that. Whatever these league nonsense was, it wasn't exactly a secret anymore and if it was Alex didn't care about keeping it, life was sooo much easier when you didn't have to worry about that extra baggage. "Just talking about our league transformations, which one's yours? Oh and-" Dang it he didn't know her name. Awk. He'd just have to talk at her since he didn't feel like asking. "If you want me to talk about it more we can chat after we get our food k?" Alex was tempted to shoot a jibe at the dark-haired man about how their waiter was working harder than he was but figured it was un-needed. He had enough trouble in his life as it was.

Liam blinked. He could only blink. The pig headed and stubborn nature of the punk was expected, but not to his magnitude. He was tempted to withdraw his invitation and leave the... 'Woman' to her own devices, but he shook his head as he fell silent. 'Damn you, Matt' the only thought resounding in his mind. For a moment, he kept silent, watching as the doors to the elevator's closed before turning his head to face the girl dressed in the grey sweater.

"Firstly, it's chaotic enough that we have these power, not to mention if we go flourishing them about. Can you imagine how someone would react to people shooting lasers around, or sudden explosions? Imagine if someone was given the powers of Cho'gath." Liam could only shudder at his own mention, his mind drifting to his hatred of the aforementioned champion, "Secondly, what if we were given the mentality of our champions? Imagine someone like Jinx, Thresh, or any of the Noxians? They're probably looking for others to cull or exterminate, or simply to face their rivals." At this he fell silent, obviously troubled by a passing thought before dismissing it. It was then that his attention was turned to the other woman. The temperature continued to climb inside of the elevator, causing the steady rise to the top to be almost intolerable. Liam opened his mouth to say something in protest, quickly shaking his head as his gaze returned forward.

The tenth floor was their destination, the very top of the building. It didn't take long, but the hot-boxing certainly made it seem that way. Once the doors to the elevator open, Liam made his way forward at a brisk pace, turning to the first door on his right as he gripped the handle and opened the door inwards, disappearing into the room.

"Two so far. Haven't seen any others." Liam's voice could be heard from inside, echoing into the hallway.

"Just two?" An unfamiliar voice called from within, "Guess it's better then none... Show them in."

Those who followed would see the interior of the room, a largely expansive studio apartment, seeming to stretch across the full right corner of the building's apex. The apartment was well kept, though sparsely furnished. The one outstanding feature to this was a long collapsible table, flanked on all sides by a mixture of couches, recliners, and bar stools; atop it sat a small variety of pizzas, sandwiches, and sodas. At the head opposite the door, a dark haired male sat reclining in what seemed to be a computer chair that swiveled slightly as he stood.

"Welcome. Sit and help yourself," With that, he bowed his head respectfully before continuing, "My name is Matthew, I see you've already met Nasus." At first, Liam opened his mouth to protest, but fell silent as Matt cast him a knowing glance, "For the sake of this discussion, you can call me Matt or Ekko." He shot a knowing glance to both of the women before returning to his seat, looking to the two of them almost expectantly.

@Eklispe@Kiroue

Leon took to the Orchid road as he hummed quietly before him and his fellow Shadow Isle denizen vanished through the trees, shrubs, and other flora that teemed throughout the road less travelled. "I think this mutation started a few weeks ago." Leon began, scratching his chin in thought. "I can only assume that with all the things I saw so far, only those who has played this video were affected. You may already have that game in mind, but I'll say it just for formality: League of Legends. Of course, it's just a theory, but those I've met expressed knowledge in the game." Like that muffin-witch, and perhaps, that blue-eyed maiden. The lad stopped in front of a great tree before he turned to Travis. "In short, there are others like us, and they are people who have played the game at least once in their entire lives."

He paused, trying to let the message sink in. "However, some are confused and are in need of belongingness. It's only expected, after all. They've been thrust into the realm of the unknown, and they need someone to cling to. But, that leaves them open to evil manipulations. They appeal to emotions, and they strike while the mutant is still emotionally vulnerable. Then, they might use them for their own gain." Leon gritted his teeth as if he was speaking from experience. "There's also the issue of our minds being warped to think like the champion we manifested as. You have heard the whispers, haven't you, Travis? Like me, I also heard the whispers that told me to raise an army of ghouls. But, I managed to overcome those mumblings." I hope.

Leon spun around as he continued walking through the garden, encasing the two lads in a serene environment that allowed much thinking. Leon observed the leaves of a myriad shades that fell all around them. It seemed as if it was preparing for a great change; almost as if it was an omen of a renaissance. His ears began to ring as a soft strumming of some sort of stringed instrument reverberated gently within his mind. There were faint laughters, hushed voices that spoke in incomprehensible array of messages. As his eyes flashed, Leon saw another vision. Instead of the lush, green, and serene sanctuary of a garden around them, he saw wilting and decaying trees that stood upon desolated and desecrated lands. The ground glowed a deathly green as the sun was blotched by the jet-black clouds that eclipsed the sky. The faint whispers became much more agitated as he began to pick out words like 'bury' and 'raise'. Leon pinched the bridge of his nose before turning to the lad behind him, only to witness the Chain Warden following him intently. The clanging of the metallic shackles scraped against the dead earth; a twisted smile permeating the spectral visage of the flayer of souls.

Immediately, Leon shook his head vigorously as he finally escaped the trance that he was in. It seemed that they were still walking, and had almost reached the end of the road. If they kept walking, they would soon arrive back at the diner since the Orchid road just twisted back to its entrance. Thus, the lad turned to his companion. "I know more than you in terms of controlling my powers and impulses, and I can help you. I believe that this might be beneficial to us since we're both manifestations from the Shadow Isles. If you do not control those whispers, you might get lost in them." Leon spoke grimly, eyeing Travis with much focus and determination. "You are free to decline, and we'll rarely meet again in the future. However," he paused. "If we do meet again, then, pray that we won't be enemies."

@GingerBoi123

@Zelosse@Eklispe@Ambra

“What was that, Garrett?” Clarice asked, raising an eyebrow.” Seems like you decided to talk this time… and I don’t want to hear that from you.” She replied, not really loosing her cheerfulness.” You and your constantly gloomy and dark self is quite uncomfortable for some customers… ahh… also call the owner later and inform him that I will pay for the damages tomorrow.” She added in the end, pointing at the cracked tiles on the floor.

“Clarice, that’s my name.” She said to Alex with a smile making a spin and heading towards the kitchen counter to deliver the order.” I’m going to return with your order in a little~” She whistled and with a fast confident pace walked away from the table.

While giving the order to the chef, Clarice kind of wanted to put this new power through the paces… As a former mercenary she used to love fighting and she did spars with her war buddies all the time~ Maybe she should ask that Alex guy to spar with her later. His body reflexes seemed pretty good, probably a speed type character from LoL… maybe someone from the ninjas? Having thought that, she suddenly felt the urge to fight Katarina…

“Here are your orders~” She whistled happily as she returned to the table with Alex’s and Arthur’s food and drinks. She nimbly placed the plates on the table.” Say… you two, do you have plans for later?” She asked Arthur and Alex. One opponent is great… having two is even better!

Claire nodded, "Yeah!" She knew he had to get back to work and serve her customer soon, so Claire quickly told Clairice of her being able to acquire icy bue wings like Anivia and influence the local temperature in a room and construct a small winter wonderland of her own. So far, she had been actively attempting to control that aspect of her recently acquired powers as she noted that people had the tendency to shiver around her, and as far as she could tell, it was working! Although, there was the condition that she had to keep her mind actively focused and fair amounts of mental disruption or distraction would cause her to lose control over the climate around her. She had yet to test this in true form...
"I'd have to show you my transformation...uh...later. There's just a small inconvenience that I have to work around..." Claire finished, "I'll be at that meeting later too! I told him over there about it as well, I think he's Braum? He had a big blue shield on his forearm yesterday..." She pointed out John at his table, of whom she had yet to serve his order.
"We can talk more later too, I gotta get back to work." she said hurredly before getting back to work and attending to John's order. Just in time too, as Garrett walked up to Clarice sporting a scowl on his face. Claire wanted no part of that right now and bustled away to the kitchen.
~~~
"Orange juice, sausage, and a cheese omelet..." Claire said to herself as she retrieved the order from the kitchen. She yawned again for what seemed the millionth time that day. Wow she was tired! She could feel herself proceeding along in a daze, it wasn't very likely that she could keep her mind focused on suppressing her passive for too long without a strong dose of coffee soon. Claire shook her head before picking up the platter.

She walked over to John and served his order, "Thank you for waiting! Here is your order and your receipt as well. Take your time and let me know when you're ready to pay for your meal. I'll be back in a few minutes to check up on you!" Claire carefully placed the plate in front of him and then the tall glass of orange juice followed. After she was done, she placed the receipt on the table and flashed him a small smile and a nod before walking away and retreating into the break room for another coffee break.

She closed the door behind her and let go of the mental leash she held on her powers. She felt a tension release from within her and cold air emanated from her being. The air gradually turned chilly around her, although it wasn't as extreme as it was at the cafe but it was noticeable. At least nothing was freezing over this time, thank goodness. It was very awkward having to make up excuses to the police for the tundra she created from yesterday. Somehow they believed her lie that the place was undergoing repairs in its air conditioning and it caused the air to superfreeze somehow.

"I wonder if I'll learn anything about myself at this meeting later...?" She murmured to herself, a cup of freshly brewed coffee in her hand as she sat back in one of the chairs around the table. Claire leaned back and closed her eyes, relaxing in the cool air surrounding her.

@rivaan @Card Captor

"I just follow boss man around, if you give him your number he can text you so its easier to communicate." Alex explained and took a long drink of his water. Clairce moved surprisingly fast and nimbly for being so large. "Long as he doesn't have any orders for me I'm up for whatever." Alex then returned to the more important thing, his meal. Also surprisingly tasty, he could see why Arthur liked this place. He wondered what Clairce had in mind, some sort of meeting like the one he'd been offered earlier?



Again with the villain thing. How could they not be doing this on purpose? How oblivious could you be? Whatever. They had introduced themselves so it was appropriate to do the same. "I'm Artemis, avatar of Diana." Was that the right word? Avatar? Well it seemed to work fine. She was sticking to it. Speaking of sticking to things there was food. Mhmm. Artemis eagerly took a seat and began devouring the pizza, taking small sips of soda in-between. This was gooood. She daintly wiped her mouth with a napkin and asked, "Where's the pizza from?" Artemis had to get some more of this.

Claire returned with his order, without any of the nervousness she had previously 'that's certainly good to see. I would hate it if I ruined her whole day.' John thought to himself. "Thank you very much" he made sure to say before she left. Now alone with his meal, John finally started to eat. 'Now that I think about it; I suppose that Claire is proof that I'm not crazy. After all, she saw my shield as well, and is apparently suffering from the same thing that I am. Sure, Danny reacted to it, but he's a silly little fellow. There was a chance that he wasn't really reacting to it at all, and merely being weird.' There was no question about it; John had to go to this meeting. He needed to know just what he had stumbled into.

@DFA

Arthur sat quietly throughout the ordeal trying not to make anything worse. As an employer he certainly agreed with Garetts observation, but the keep tailing him spoke of different more critical issues. Nobody else seemed to be taking this.. Seriously. There were implications here that could not be ignored but were being disregarded anyways.
Arthurs flute solo sigh only heightened the embarrassment as Alex offered the Amazonian woman Arthurs number. What they were doing later did not involve a golden armored warrior woman, but... Maybe they could make an exception.
He rattled off a quick text to Alex as their food arrived.

(text reads: After this we can go open the shop. I'll give you a rundown of the till, but its labeled and nearly self explanatory. Before we leave, ask our server to stop by after her shift.)

Arthur dug into his eggs with fervor, practically inhaling the poached egg and the hollandaise sauce, the English muffin was toasted to perfection and had somehow avoided becoming a soggy mess which only made the meal more special. As a bad cook, you appreciated good food.
Finished with his meal, he stood up from the booth and left a 50 on the table before waiting on Alex outside.

======================

Arthur and Alex strolled through the town gingerly, though anyone following would notice they took an awful lot of side streets or even doubled back, but only Arthur knew why. Much like the day before he felt the incessant but almost inaudible ringing of the chimes drawing him to find them. Each one disappeared in a poof of smoke and sent a jolt of ecstacy through him for a fraction of a second.
Each one left him with a smile and a spring to his step, the spring turning to a full blown float by the time the surplus stores single wooden door came into view.
Like everyday routine, Arthur took out his keys and unlocked the door, Alex came in and the door was close dand re-locked behind them. Lights flared to life revealing a large area covered in row after row of various items. Some things were edible, some were socks, anything under the sun could likely be found on the shelves. Across the way, behind the till in another large open room, was the hiking and sports area. Equipment rested on hooks on the walls tidily, while various signs pointed out deals and discounts. At the very end of that room behind a small locked metal door was the office.
Arthur took out his phone and sent another text while his newest employee waited patiently.

(text reads: Take a bit to cruise around the store. Get familiar, grab a drink, learn the till. We'll deal with the paperwork of hiring tonight when we close. Keep a close eye on the front. The shops layout wasn't my choice, so someone trying to steal something could easily make a run for it. If they do, button under the till hits the automatic lock on the door and notifies local police. Is there anything you want to ask me before I go to the back office?)

Sam was listening to the conversation as one might listen to a train roar by as you rage at someone on the road. She was so focused on the own vicious monologuing in her head to care one bit about what that disrespectful ass-hat had to say. The man would glance at her now and again with a sense of discomfort and fuming and Sam would flick her eyes upward to meet it with full warning.

The elevator door opened, thrusting the heat (which Sam wasn't registering) into the space. Sam grudgingly detached herself from her spot on the wall and headed her way onto the new floor. The change in atmosphere somewhat offered a shift in her attitude, now just making her flaming rage into something more of just a really bad mood. The pair were swiftly abandoned by their host to go greet their new, more superior host. She could hear what they were saying about how they were the first to the arrive, and thus alone.

They were ushered into the lavish space, which again looked like a wealthy, evil businessman's penthouse, but altered in that it looked very prepped for a party. The woman's eyes locked onto the pizza and made no care for pleasantries like greeting her host first, but went straight to the food. She snatched three of the burning hot pieces of newly delivered pepperoni pizzas onto a plate and on her way to take a seat she stole herself a two sodas, one she placed in her purse for later and the other she had to have now. She fell down into a cushy recliner and swung her legs over the arm of it and started to devour her burning hot food. Naturally, she did not feel the usual, sharp burn of an impatient bite of pizza, but instead tasted heavenly deliciousness.

However, the one thing that soured the wonderful (though still fuming) experience were the introductions. The new man, Matt, introduced his friend/minion as his champion and himself as his own. This made Sam's eyebrows furrow. How odd... how... labeling? She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but something in the way this introduction went was informative, yes, but very demeaning. Was this how it would be suddenly, that she would no longer be looked at as who she is, but of the power she held? Sam's feminist senses were well attuned to these injustices and was quick to combat it even though Artemis was just going along with it. "I get that you are trying to be straight to the point and all that, but you just call me Sam, okay? I am a human being with my own name and my worth and my identity will not be narrowed down to what crazy powers I have now." She said this with a great sense of pride and this injustice that had been suggested. She popped her soda with a hiss, took a swig and continued with a sigh. "Now, as far the champion who's powers I have, I don't really know, man. I know two things though. I made a cold cup of coffee boil with just my hands and I can't be burned." She offered this both as information and somewhat as a warning. Even though she didn't know how to really recreate or work with these new abilities she knew that being inflammable was pretty powerful.

Matt's brow raised curious as he watched the reactions of the two women who just stepped into his home. At first he was surprised at how different their reactions were, but soon, the surprise faded to curiosity. He leaned forward against the table, nodding his head to show his attentiveness as his eyes remained focused forward and his voice silent. Once the one called Sam had spoken out about not knowing about her own powers, Matt's gaze became locked upon her. To those paying attention, it would seem he was mumbling something under his breath. It was almost as if he was preforming some sort of appraisal or calculating something about her in his head.

"A local pizzeria down the road. A family friend just recently opened up their first locale a few weeks ago. It's small, but you won't find any better." Matt's gaze moved over to the elder female as he spoke, bowing his head respectfully to Artemis as he finished his address to her. As Sam made her own announcement, Matt couldn't help but chuckle as his gaze returned to her, "Noted, but Nasus and I have agreed to keep our names hidden in the presence of others. The business cards an obvious exception, but we had no better way of trying to lead multiple people to our location."

As Matt's speech came to a close, his slight smile faded to a more business like visage, "I guess now would be a good time to discuss why I invited you both here-" Matt began, though quickly interrupted as the blonde haired Liam cleared his throat. Matt turned his gaze to Liam, raising a brow in a slight curiosity; to which Liam's response was a simple nod. Matt chuckled slightly as he shook his head once more, "Cat's out of the bag already... Great. Still, I want to make it clear that we will not pose a threat to you, unless you choose to flex your new found muscles against the people of this city." At this, Matt's humored tone fell sharply into a stern and meaningful announcement. A moment of silence passed by before Liam cleared his throat once again.

"Now we know this whole venture is a little odd, and we're not looking for instant cooperation. We just want you to be aware of our presence and our assistance, but only if you offer your own to us. Matt here has a couple of open rooms. I've talked him into offering them as housing for those who don't want to be alone, or shelter for those who need it." Liam's vision flickered momentarily to his raven haired friend as he finished, seeing Matt sigh heavily but nod in agreement, "Now, we don't want to start any trouble with anyone, but we won't stand by and let someone just strong-arm the populace. Just because we have these powers doesn't mean we have to be warmongering dicks like some of the champions."

At this mention, Matt leaned forward, "Which is why I'm curious. Did anyone in that café show any powers of some of those from the Shadow Isles or Noxious?"

@Kiroue@Eklispe