With a heavy sigh, Liam raised his hand to pinch the bridge of his nose as he sat back in his chair. This entire interaction did not go as he planned, but he took solace in the fact it wasn't the worst outcome either. It was then his eyes caught the crack in the dry wall across the room, 'But it came damn close.'

"Look, I'm not here to change your mind. I'm explaining our angle and our way forward from here. If you want no part of it, that's fine, but know we don't any conflict with you either." Liam's gaze returned to the group, focusing on Artemis for a moment as he bowed his head, "Just remember what I-" At this point, the male closer to the door seemed to be having a fit of some sort, causing Liam to stir as he attempted to stand. Before he could interact with the man, Artemis spoke out, reprimanding him for his sudden outburst as she continued her objective argument. It wasn't his place to stop her, nor his place to argue, but that didn't help him growling beneath his breath as he felt his canine's shifting in his mouth.

Before he could reply, the taller and elder man spoke, seeming to confront Artemis on her points of view and her agenda. Liam was impressed, he hadn't expected the 'Champion' of Hecarim to be as chivalrous as he was... In fact, it was a pleasant surprise. However, the realization that in an instant that could change slowly sunk in, causing the man's smile to fade slowly as Raze left the room. 'Damnit...' Liam's final thoughts as he looked back to the man cradling himself once more.

"Hey! There's some beer in the fridge. Might take the edge off... Just don't go crazy." It was clear it last remark was meant a playful tease, casting his signature grin before looking back to Artemis and Clarice (still doing his best to avoid looking at Sam and her exposed state), "Just remember what was said here. We'll always be here to help, but a hand would be appreciated. But beyond that, there's nothing else here... Just take it easy, and be safe out there." With that, he'd bow his head once more, standing from his seat as he made his way to the fridge (still avoiding looking at Sam), cracking it open as he withdrew a glass bottle, making his way over to offer it to Moritz

---

As he made his way back to his apartment from assisting the other occupants, Matt gave a heavy sigh of annoyance as he opened his phone and checked the time. It hadn't taken nearly as long as he expected- though the warping around helped a bit. Now he was on his way back to finish the meeting, though how many would remain there, he did not know. As he began closing the phone, he felt it vibrate in his hand. Curiously, he returned his gaze to his phone, eyeing over a new message from a familiar number. With his thumb, he'd open the message as it began to fill the screen.

Matt, we have a problem. Those two guys that were killed? According to one eye witness, it looked like a clown that did it. With what all that's happening, think it's Shaco?

With a mixture of grief and agitation, Matt cursed at the fact he was right.

Hard to say. Probably. Just keep an eye out and let me know. Was Matt's reply, moving to lock his phone before pausing a moment. With a slight smirk he typed out another message How is it being Caitlyn and a male at the same time?

Fuck you.

Chuckling to himself as the elevator reached the top floor, Matt pocketed his phone just in time to see the man who had dawned Hecarim's armor storming down the hallway. Quickly, his expression dulled, eyeing over the man as he stood to the side of the hallway. As Raze boarded the elevator, Matt called out to him, "Call me if it get's too bad." He knew the message would seem random to some, but hopefully it would hit home with the Hecarim Champion. As he stood there alone in the hallway, he made his way back to his apartment to see the events that had unfolded just in time to hear Liam dismissing everyone.

---

---

@twannyman
@Kiroue
@TheWinchester4
@Adalrod
@Eklispe
@rivaan
@Zelosse
@Cubix

The Garen woman, Clarice, offered her a smile as she entered. People didn't smile at Sam too much, so she cherished it. Sam felt a kind of pull to the smiling woman who was now giving her a tl;dr on the situation. She already felt like this person was someone to protect and defend; that they were allies. However, Sam didn't allow herself to think that she could make friends with any of these people, it would raise hopes. Friends never came easy for her, after all.

The information gained was that this Raze guy (who had almost cut her belly earlier) wanted to go out and be a superhero, while both of the people who she had a connection with insisted it was a bad idea. They thought it was best to be cautious. Sam shifted her weight from one hip to the other, not quite sure what stance to take. Sam was all up for being a superhero! That just sounded rad as hell. The adrenaline, the justice (probably a Demacian drive), and the super coolness of it sounded right up her ally. She would have jumped in, but there was just one detail that made this impulse one she was a bit careful to act on for once. Simply, Sam's power was fire. Not only that, but this fire that she had was far from controllable at the moment. The daredevil's heart screamed to be a superhero, but she acknowledged, with helplessness, that Sam could unexpectedly become a villain. She could create more collateral damage in one wrong move than the criminals she was trying to dispatch.

Sam was awoken from her thought from her being referenced by Liam. A smile grew across her face even though the woman knew that she probably shouldn't. Sure... Liam was saying all that she could do as a bad thing, but she just felt some kind of wildness fueled by the fact that she was regarded as someone who held so much power. She was fixing to interject with something along the lines of, 'Man, when you say it that way I sound pretty badass, not gonna lie.' However, it was just about now that he became a Danny Downer and started talking about dead people. Yeah... dead people really did put a damper on things, huh? Then he went on about people who could become dangerous, and she knew she should be scared, but she wasn't. She knew she could handle anyone from Elise to Vladimir, she could so easily burn the spider and Edward Cullen to a crisp. The only real formidable foe she had to worry about was herself.

The Malzahar guy spoke up at this point; probably the first time she had heard him speak. He sounded normal enough, but for some reason he struck her as shy. Maybe it was the way he talked, but that was simply her first impression. Perhaps he'd be the perfect person to pick on. However, something that he said did bring a look of curiosity. "How can we be sure that the people in this room are in their right mind?" It was a bit of a random question to her and Samantha wondered why he brought it up. Sam knew 100% that she was in her right mind. I mean, she might have voluntarily crawled into a live fireplace, but given the circumstances that didn't mean insanity.

Sam watched as the man went to observe his voidling which was oddly drawn into an abyss made into the floor. The man looked in and his expression was unlike any she had ever seen. It was... as if he was watching his own heart pumping at the bottom of a well, with blood staining the water and noise of the thing still pumping chilling bone. Curiously, Sam narrowed her eyebrows to look at the man, trying to figure out what he was doing. All of a sudden the man screamed, a noise that made her jump before he made a frantic flee to a wall. Sam was the first, and perhaps the only one come to his aid. She didn't rush and start hugging and patting his head or anything, but she came to kneel next to him and ask, "Hey, what was that?" With a moment of thought she continued, "Was it the void? It looked like you were staring at death or something."

A moment later Artemis came to look at the man with a gaze she hadn't seen in her before. It was so.. cold and analytical. Sam's eyes narrowed, looking up, shocked that her ally would be so cold. Like, Sam could be a real ass sometimes to people, but not the callus way that Artemis had waved away what had just happened. She narrowed her eyes, "You know what, there has been a lot of 'reacting suddenly to stimulus', or whatever you said, today." She changed her tone. "I like you and I want to keep it that way. So how about you restrain yourself from saying cold shit like that. Okay? Okay." She really didn't want to have their happy acquaintance spoiled by this, but at the same time Sam wasn't going to hold her tongue heard stuff like that. For benefit of the doubt, maybe Artemis was in a pissy mood because of these call to actions, but still.

Raze then said some really important things. Sam admired him with his caution to the wind kind of attitude. It really spoke to her as something she supported and believed. However, she didn't appreciate being called a coward. She hadn't even gotten in on all that was going on and she just didn't want to end up burning the city to a crisp! Still, he went on to really call out Artemis. The way he did it really made her impressed and as he went on she was pretty won over. Artemis looked pretty bad while Raze looked pretty justified, even if it was going to probably get him killed. So, when he stomped out, it was Sam who began to applaud and called out after him, "Go you! Just don't die!" Her clapping subsided and silence made itself known. However, it seemed Liam knew just how to recover. With booze! Hooray! At the end of Liam's drink responsibly speech, Sam called out. "No promises!" Before she saw him coming over with a drink for Moritz. "Hey, can you grab me one too? It's okay, I won't get cooties on you." She snickered, the evasive glances having not gone unnoticed.

Alex rubbed his face ruefully and looked at his dirt caked muffin. This is what he got for trying to help people, a bruise and waste of food. Dang she'd hit him hard though, perks of the job probably. Alex regained his own feet somewhat gracefully considering the circumstances and sighed at the irate women's question. "No need to be rude." Alex admonished her, covering his ears is mock pain. "Its not really that complicated. For some reason a bunch of people got some powers the seem based off of champions from league. Guessing from your over-sized mechincal fists you got Vi, that guy in the suit back there got bard. As an unfortunate side effect he can't talk either, just make weird noises, well most of the time. That's the first time he's done that as far as I know. As for me, I'm just handy with a knife which leaves me split between Talon and Zed. Course with shadow slinker gone unless duplicates are fair game I'd say Talon is my draw. Anyway that just about sums up my knowledge of what's going on. Anything else?" Alex frowned at his muffin again. Ah well, it was only a little dirt, he brushed it off on his sleeve and took a bite of it, chewing thoughtfully. A little gritty but otherwise alright.



One corner of Artemis's mouth turned down in the only immediately visible outward reaction she gave to her rebuttals. Raze certainly hadn't held back. Perhaps he had a point. Though she didn't really spend on that much on her cosplays, the materials were usually quite cheap, more a matter of time than anything else. Of course Raze overestimated her. Even his analogy was poorly placed. Perhaps she did have the biggest water pail, but it was still useless against the a burning world. It wasn't like Artemis could upgrade the police force, create a charity to feed children in India, or do anything revolutionary. When Sam turned on her as well Artemis realized that she was angry.

Quite a bit angry in fact gauging by her clenched fists. Artemis flexed her hand experimentally. Couldn't they see she was only taking logical actions. The man's reaction had surprised her and she had no desire to see it happen again, yet was unable to define what he'd been afraid of so termed it as vaguely as possible. Raze himself had said that the government had weapons they made their abilities look like kiddie toys! How many times had civilians gotten in the way of police work by styling themselves as vigilanties? When had it ended well save for in comic books and cheesy movies? And going out on his own would only make things worse. But he seemed honestly convinced that not only could they make a difference, but that he could make a difference. How insufferably pigheaded of him. Artemis took a steadying breath and nocked her glass up with a single pointer finger.

_{"Interesting."} she muttered to herself before looking around again. "Your statements have been considered. I will attempt to-" Gah, her way of speaking was not cold. It was simply logical: was it that hard to see the truth? What an odd mental phrasing. She resumed speaking, slightly stronger now, "I will attempt to refrain from saying 'cold shit' in the future and consider your request Liam. I will leave now." That was enough interacting with people for one day. When was the last time she'd spent this long actually talking to people as herself? Talking and walking around at an event in a full cosplay was entirely different from what today had been like. Playing games with other people was different from this. Everything was different from this. Upon the completion of her statement Artemis turned on her heels and walked out of the room after Raze, not even acknowledging Liam's offer of beer. Artemis was going home. This had been a rather overwhelming experience and she needed time to process and, surprisingly enough, cool down. Perhaps. . . No, she would think on this later. Right now she just wanted to be home, play some relaxing music, drink some hot chocolate, and take a nap.

How long has he sat in front of the great oak tree? It could've been minutes, hours-- long enough for Leon to compose himself, and fully reflect on the path in front of him. His eyes roamed over the crimson-stained bark, fully knowing the deed he had done and the corpse he hid in the soil of the Orchard Road. A lot of things refused to add up, and like pieces to a puzzle, Leon tried his earnest to get the bigger picture. The visions as well as the omens were doubtful at best, and with the only person who saw it with him laying within the earth's loving embrace, Leon couldn't assure himself that what he had witnessed was the gospel truth. The Shadow Isles aimed to manipulate its avatars on Leon's plane of existence, and if nothing would be done, they-- he-- would be dancing like a puppet with strings. As he focused on his inner voice, angry whispers and shrills stabbed at his mind, the voice of the Isles ever so persistent in vanquishing the mission Leon stored in his memory. The Isles wanted an army for themselves; Leon intended to raise a fighting force against the Isles. Unfortunately, as in every fiction, the protagonist and the antagonist are both driven by goals which cancel each other out-- only one goal can win. And, by the gods, Leon vowed to win-- for Sarah, for Travis, and for every person in Darkwell. There's nothing left but to move forward now. But, before anything else, Leon sought to improve his own skills for him to be worthy to train and protect his future comrades. After all, the might of the Isles is one to be awed at.

Strangely, all of these resembled that of the Three-Act Structure which Leon learned in his Stage Arts course. Everything that has happened, everything that led to this moment were all mere expositions-- just the start of the entire theatre and drama. Now, in the next few forks of his path, the Conflict will begin. The Isles will do everything in their power to dissuade the gravedigger, and with the other vigilante group on the loose, Leon knew that his chances of gaining an easy victory never amounted much. In a play like this, Leon knew that only those who acted lived to see the apex and ending. Apathy and cowardice were what led Leon to the mistakes in his life, and he would be damned before retreating and cowering once more. This time, he would push onward. He would play a requiem for her, for him, and for the lives he would soon save. The crescendo is not too far in this concerto, and Leon intended to live long enough to hear the finale.

His will imbued ignited with new-found ambition and strength. Finally, Leon gripped his shovel and plunged it into the ground, aiding him in standing up. As the petals and leaves waltzed around him, the gravedigger's lips parted in a gentle smile. The snares of the Isles loosened on his psyche as the voices vanished completely. "To us, my comrades." Leon raised his shovel before it vanished into thin air. Then, three pairs of claws burst from the ground as a trio of ghouls rose from the Isles and stood by his side. "I sense him too." Leon took a deep breathe before his eyes glowed yellow. The ghouls snickered and twitched in rabid anticipation. "We must make our presence known to him. Go."

The ghouls bolted out of the orchard, scampering and crawling through the lonely streets, invisible to the eyes of the normal folk. "It seems a lot transpired in the few hours I was in the Isles." Leon shrugged as he paced behind the spectres. "Well, it felt longer. I wonder whether my predictions were right all along."

Soon, Leon passed by the Wi-Hi cafe, taking a moment to pause and reminisce as he remembered the place where all things turned into a clusterfuck. The Muffin Witch, the Shield Guy, the Meeps, and even the blue-eyed maiden. Leon wondered where she was now. Would he still see her around Darkwell? Was she also like him? The image of her eyes never left him even for a moment, and even if Leon closed his eyes, he still noticed how he saw his reflection in those tundra-shaded orbs of hers. The eyes were the windows of the soul, after all. And, weirdly enough, he glimpsed into his when lavender met azure. A relaxed sigh escaped his smiling lips, forgotten memories of Sarah and him playing in the recesses of his heart. "I wish I can explore that more, but," his eyes swept over to the bounding ghouls. "I guess there are more important things to be done." Then, he gazed up at the heavens, praying to whatever god that would deign to cast him a look of mercy. "Just a wait a little more, Sarah. I'll get there soon enough. Just... a little more." As if an answer, Leon noticed a faint trail of a shooting star speeding through the lazy skies. "Thanks."

He clutched his chest, feeling it tighten for an instant.

---

Soon, he reached an apartment somewhere in the city. Honestly, he just followed the ghouls, and began to doubt their sense of direction. Still, this proximity to the location was sending weird chills down his spine. One of the ghouls went over to a random dumpster and began to bang its head against the metal surface. In response, Leon stepped to the dumpster, and with a firm hand, lifted the lid open. If Leon wasn't accustomed to the sight of death, he would have flipped away and cried. Instead, as his eyes took in the pale corpse inside the bin with ghastly energy faintly seeping from it, the gravedigger's doubts were made certain.

Leon smirked as he pointed at the apartment, the ghouls' mouths snapping open in glee. "Find this manifestation of the Shadow Isles. Lead him or her to me. Drag them if you have to." At once, the spectres bolted towards the apartment, still invisible to the regular people. They had one goal in mind: find the source of this disturbance and bring him, her, or it back to Leon.

If this person was as bloodthirsty and murderous as he seemed due to the corpse, then, at least, Leon could give him a proper burial under the oak tree as well-- safe from the corruptions of the Shadow Isles.

Vicki Victory

"It’s not really that complicated. For some reason a bunch of people got some powers the seem based off of champions from league. Guessing from your over-sized mechincal fists you got Vi, that guy in the suit back there got bard. As an unfortunate side effect he can't talk either, just make weird noises, well most of the time. That's the first time he's done that as far as I know. As for me, I'm just handy with a knife which leaves me split between Talon and Zed. Course with shadow slinker gone unless duplicates are fair game I'd say Talon is my draw. Anyway that just about sums up my knowledge of what's going on. Anything else?"

Vicki processed this news in her mind for a few seconds. His response just gave Vicki a million more questions she wanted to ask this guy, but first thing was first…

”What’s your name? Why’d you just...jump after me like that, isn’t that guy your friend or something?”

@Eklispe

Raze Colter

Useless. Absolutely useless

The elevator pinged as the doors finally opened up to the first floor, revealing the old man behind the desk still beaming stupidly. ”Sounds like you guys are having a lot of fun up there! Just try not to bother the neighbors too much.”

”You won’t have to worry about me making any more trouble around here,” Raze stated bitterly as he hurriedly walked past the front desk.

He pushed through the heavy front doors of the building and into warm sunlight, the heat pleasantly blanketing him compared to the roiling inferno he was washed in less than an hour ago. The sun was just starting to sink down from its zenith, just barely peeking over the tall buildings on the opposite side of the road. Raze reached into his pocket and checked his smartphone. 4:03pm

Maybe I should’ve thought about what my next move is before storming out like that…

As Raze was mindlessly gazing about, his eyes slowly settled onto the alleyway from last night. The scene of the mugging he forcibly stopped. Peering into a dumpster was a younger man, scrawny and spectacled. This was the same dumpster that Raze hid the corpse of the mugger in.

Raze’s heart plummeted and panic rushed into his head like water, his eyes widening in equal proportion. Crossing the street towards him were three disgusting...things, just barely hovering above the ground. Each one was a distinct color: pale white, sickly green, and brownish-orange. They looked like some twisted version of a typical sheet-ghost costume, with long skinny arms ending with long, bony claws extended out towards Raze.

What the hell… In an instant, Raze chose self-preservation over dealing with the kid, and ran off down the street as quickly as he could.

@Cubix



Garrett staggered down a hallway covered in dark-red carpeting, dirt and dust caked in so thick to the fibers that it almost formed a complete second layer. He leaned against a door and, using his right arm, struggled to grab a set of keys out of the opposite side of his pants. His left arm, broken and casted, hung from a white and blue sling, typical of what you’d receive from the hospital.

After a few tries and a muttered curse, Garrett finally opened the door to his two-room apartment. Before him was a small kitchen joined with a combination dining and living room. A forest-green couch was pushed up against the wall, sandwiched by a simple wooden dining table that dominated most of the room. On the opposite side of the table were two plastic chairs. In the corner was a little TV stand with a small flatscreen pedestaled atop. The opposite wall from the entrance was one giant screen door, covered by floor-to-ceiling blinds.

The room was a bit messy, some dishes went uncleaned in the sink and a few old dinner plates littered, but it was nothing compared to the disgusting hallway. This was home-sweet-home for Garrett.

Garrett threw his keys onto a kitchen counter and shuffled into the next room over. On the floor lay a tan mattress adorned with a single blanket. Gingerly, Garrett lowered himself onto the bed, then positioned himself laying face up on it. At long last, he finally closed his eyes, ready for the sweet sleep that he had been waiting for.

Less than a few seconds later, Garrett’s nap was disturbed by a vibrating coming from his right pocket. His eyebrows furrowed in anger, and he growled as he reached down to answer the call.

”What.”

An unfamiliar voice spoke, pompous and proper, ”Am I speaking with Garrett Fishman?”

Garrett hesitated before responding, racking his mind for ideas of who he was speaking to. He steeled himself, ready to hang up and leave the apartment if it was the authorities.

”...Yes.”

”Splendid! My name is Jericho, and I’d like to propose a deal to you…”

@Leolycan

@Kiroue@Leolycan@Eklispe (and others :P)

As Raze stormed out of the place ranting about how if they weren’t going to help people, he would, Clarice clenched her fist causing the metal gauntlet to appear as it began creaking menacingly from the pressure she was putting it through.” That damned brat… rushing off before he hears all that others have to say. When I see him again, I will teach him some manners.” She said and took a breath as she dismissed the gauntlet.

“You too listen well…” She turned to Liam.” I’m not completely against helping people, but don’t go playing superhero. Cause the moment people realize you want to be that, they will use it against you. If you can safe people without anyone knowing you did fine, but if you are found out… you put a lot of people in danger just cause there will be those who use innocent to lure you out. It’s not anything new and it happens all the time even without powers like these. It's a standart ambush tactic...” She warned Liam and all present.” Also I warned you about the military and secret agencies… the Hecarim brat ignored me, dismissing my warnings, but if you are not careful you can end up puppet to those people. Once again I say secrecy is our best weapon right now. Don’t go engaging people or even other people with powers openly.”

Then she turned to Sam who was obviously approving of the Raze brat. Just thinking of him made Clarice want to punch him and have him go through some nice training. Sam seemed not really phased by the fact she was basically naked. It made Clarice smile as she herself didn’t really care about nudity. One of the needed things if you worked in deserts and places where clothing is hard to come by or is extremely hot… ahhh good times.

“Well if that’s all then I that’s all for now, I suppose we all exchange phone numbers so we can keep in contact without having to find each other all the time.” Clarice proposed, pulling her mobile.” Also next time you want to do something like this, do not do it in an housing complex where there are people that can get hurt and to see us. Do you know how many eyes we attracted just by gathering? Do it somewhere more secluded, preferably an abandoned warehouse or a maze or something. Where the destruction and chaos will go unnoticed a lot longer.”

"H-hey... w-wait!" the boy called out as the ghouls darted after the escaping criminal. "So, you are guilty of this." he gritted his teeth before sprinting towards the street. Suddenly, what seemed like a time for talking turned into a high-speed pursuit as they raced down the lonely slums of Darkwell. As the pitter-patters of water resounded between the walls, Leon increased his pace whilst the ghouls scampered and crawled on the walls, their eyes fixated upon the running convict-- their mouths opened in choked sneers and jeers. "If you weren't guilty of that murder, you wouldn't be running away, scum!" Leon shouted after the man, hopping over a pair of crates that were lying about. His shoes splashed on a puddle, causing liquid beads to fly into the air before being sliced apart by the pursuing specters. "I'll make sure the Shadow Isles won't corrupt you by burying you in the ground!" his voice echoed once more as he felt the familiar grip of fatigue on his limbs, and the ominous tightening of his chest.

"Leon Kohlberg?"

"Yeah?"

"You have a condition..."

"And, I assume that it's gonna spell the end of me?"

"Yes. That is, if you don't follow a prescribed lifestyle."

A deep sigh escaped his nostrils before he focused his lavender eyes on the medicine man. "A'right, doc. Lay it on me."

The doctor twirled his goatee before sitting down on the stool opposite of Leon, his dark eyes burdened with a revelation he would have wished he could not announce. "You see..."

"No, I cannot think about that right now!" Leon bellowed before jumping into the air and landing on one of the ghouls, causing the specter to propel him forward, and give him a few meters of distance from this runner. "If you won't stop, I'll make you stop!" the boy lunged, leaping over a metal bin before recalling his ghouls to his side. The specters vanished in jets of light, merging with Leon in a flashy spark. Empowered, Leon jumped off the bin towards the man. His hand scratched the air as the shovel faded into his grip with a blue flash of light. Like an angel of justice, Leon delivered his final verdict with his shovel smashing against the earth, causing a fissure to erupt and curve a few inches in front of the runner in an attempt to trip him. As the miniature gorge came into existence, an orange ghoul burst forth from the rubble and tried to claw out at the criminal.

"Is this the part where I ask how long I have to live?" Leon chuckled airily, his eyes more interested in observing his trembling hands. At this moment, everything seemed more interesting than the x-ray charts the good doctor had plastered all over the white screen. A few cracks here and there were seen near his chest cavity.

"You only live as long as you want to." the doctor replied, taking off his stethoscope and sauntering over to his desk.

Leon stood up with a sigh as he took his jacket and tied it around his waist. "Bullshit." he growled. "Try telling that to Sarah."

His breath escaped him as his chest tightened to extreme measures. In an instant, Leon fell forward to the ground as his mouth opened in a desperate attempt to keep his lungs occupied with air. It seems as though, his lungs were too small, and there was too little air.

@TheWinchester4

Sheesh she asked a lot of questions. He'd have thought she was a punch first and ask questions never kind of girl. Especially in light of her recent actions. He shrugged, "I go by Alex, as for jumping... Well I thought the portal might go somewhere hellish or something, it didn't look like it normally does. So I just had to make sure you was alright is all. Bossman out there is just my boss, I only met him, dang was it today? Nah yesterday, so we're more of acquaintances than friends. If that's all guess I'll see you later." Alex said casually and began strolling back up the stairs, one hand in his pocket, the other holding the muffin he was periodically munching on. Sheesh life had gotten a lot weirder.



Artemis stepped outside of the building, issuing a polite farewell to the old man as she left. Her mind was still turning in circles working out the past events. So much to think about, who was really right? Anyway, her exit placed her there in time to see Raze running for his life seemingly from a group of ghouls and a man leading them. The ghoul man lunged for Raze ripping up the ground in a last ditch attempt to catch him. Artemis was very curious as to what exactly was going on at this point and carefully walked towards the ghoul man, moonlight gathering in a ball behind her. Just in case, he seemed rather unstable after all.

At first Moritz didn't respond to the actions of Liam and Sam. He just sat there, trying to clear his mind of the atrocity that he had seen. Moritz still trembled slightly, but seemed to get a little better as each moment passed until he finally spoke. "... I'm fine. Thanks." His voice carried even less strength than it did when he had the floor a few moments prior, only audible to Sam and Liam, as well as anyone who had keen hearing. At hearing Artemis' exiting remark, a bit of light returns to Moritz's eyes in the form of a glare, but his lips remain shut. After taking a deep breath while Claire speaks he pulls a piece of paper out of his pocket and writes his name and number on it and handing it to Liam.
"Just in case anyone needs it... I'm heading out. I need to go lie down. Tell me if anything happens." The man's resigned voice came across as final as he made a weak nod towards the room and then exiting into the elevator.

As Artemis and Mortiz left Liam stood there holding the unopened bottle with a distinct frown upon his face. None of this happened the way he intended, and he partially blamed himself for the episode. Still, he shrugged his shoulder, retreating back to the fridge as he leaned in and grabbed a second bottle, turning to Sam with a chilled vessel in both hands. After her remark about cooties, his blush faded slightly (only slightly) as he reached her and offered the beer.

"Yeah, just worried about waking up with another full body bruise. Might be one of those angry drunks that can't hold their drink," With a smirk, he'd turn to face Clarice as she finished her remark, "Learned that the hard way, but we have a good idea of what to expect now. Also, nothing permanent was damaged."

"No people anyways. Have to replace Lawerence's TV." Matt remarked, stepping into his own abode as he turned towards the fridge himself, "Margret lost a vase and Mark is gripping about his shirt. Spilled a glass of brandy on his shirt."

"Mark's a dick anyways. You can order him one of those lousy sweaters that old lady keeps sending you." Liam smirked, leaning back in his seat as he twisted the bottle top free.

"Mrs. Langley knits those. Too good for Mark," Matt replied, turning around with a bottle of his own. His vision slowly settled on Clarice, "I chose this location because I knew it's layout. Every exit and every entrance I'd passed by while working in this place. Granted I risked too much collateral, but I was confident in our ability to at least stall any issues." With that, he'd open his vessel, taking a long swig of the contents with a relieved sigh afterwards, "Still, your suggestion will be considered." With that, he'd open his own phone and began tapping on the screen with his thumb rather rapidly as he fell silent. Moment's later, every celphone in the room (aside from Liam's) would populate a message with a phone number typed across and a small line of text that read 'Matt' beneath it.

"One thing I need to be clear on, we are no superheroes," Matt took another swig as Liam raised a brow curiously, placing both hands around his bottle as he eyed over Matt, "Part of my reasoning for this is selfish. I don't want to have to fight against every empowered person, and if I can partner or at least establish a peace treaty with them, it'd be better for me. Leave the petty crime to the cops, but if someone wants to flex their muscles, we flex ours." With that, he'd step forward before his form flickered and waned. In a blink of an eye, he was across the room at the head of the table, sitting with beer in hand.

---

Now I won't take much of your time, Garret, so I'll make this brief. You will be working for me and my accomplices from now on, or at least if you want to ensure your own security. I'm a busy man- as I'm sure you are as well- so time fooling around with loose ends are troublesome. So how about we agree to help each other?

A brief moment passed, giving Garret a moment to speak, but only a moment. Shortly afterwards,

Now you may be asking yourself, 'Why would I work for you? How did you get this number? How on earth do you know I have the powers of Zed?'

At this point, a sinister chuckling could be heard, harrowing and unsettling as if the man took some sort of sick twisted pleasure from this whole scenario. However, a knock would resound at Garret's door, interrupting the laughter for only a moment.

Trust me... You don't want to find out these facts. Now be a good little ninja. We'll be in touch soon. The connection was terminated the moment the remark was finished, leaving Garrett with nothing but a dial tone to personify his ordeal.

---

---

@twannyman
@Kiroue
@TheWinchester4
@Adalrod
@Eklispe
@rivaan
@Zelosse
@Cubix

Vicki Victory

“Wait, where’re you going?” Vicki took off after Alex, catching up to his side at the stairs, keeping pace with him.

”You said there’s more people with powers? How many of u-...how many of them are there? Can you take me to them?”

Before they could reach the top of the stairs, Vicki bolted in front of Alex, blocking his path. The light from the diner shown in through the staircase, casting Vicki’s silhouette into the damp, blue darkness of the basement. The illumination caught beautifully in her albino hair.

Vicki looked at him wide-eyed, with her lips tensed up. The confusion on her face was apparent. ”Look, I know you just met me and everything, but...I just don’t know what to do. This is all really sudden and just...weird. If there’s more people with powers, I’d like to know what they’re planning to do.” Vicki paused momentarily, before pleading, “Please.”

@Eklispe

Raze Colter

Raze sprinted down a wide alley, splashing up water from a murky stream running down a gutter in the center. Just as he approached an intersection, a loud crash resounded from behind Raze, followed seconds later by rocks gouging out of the earth and rising to block off his path. Raze skidded to a halt, bracing himself against the rock wall to prevent himself from crashing full force into it.

Almost as soon as he touched the rock wall, it exploded out towards him, pushing Raze to the ground. An orange revenant burst from the rubble, leaping towards Raze, now on the ground. He rolled to the side just as its malicious claws stabbed into the ground, and pushed himself up to a standing position.

The ghoul shot its gaze at him, howling like nails on a chalkboard. Raze screamed back at it, summoning his spear in its signature flurry of balefire. The ghoul lunged at Raze, its needle-like talons extended out to grab him. Raze thwacked it off to the side in mid-leap, the ghoul crumpling into a pile on the ground just in front of his glasses-bearing pursuer.

Raze lost focus of the young man after the rock wall came up, and he could now see that the boy chasing him was huffing and puffing on the ground. Despite being at least 20 feet away, Raze could clearly hear him wheezing loudly. This wasn’t just exhaustion from running at full speed.

Raze stood there for a few seconds, contemplating what to do. The boy sounded like he needed immediate attention...but on the other hand, he just sent a pack of monsters after Raze.

His choice was made for him as an elongated shadow began to stretch across the sidewalk at the end of the alley, accompanied by dainty footsteps. Raze sent away his spear and took off down the opposite end of the alley, clambering over the wall rubble wall and disappearing.

@Cubix @Eklispe



Now I won't take much of your time, Garret, so I'll make this brief. You will be working for me and my accomplices from now on, or at least if you want to ensure your own security. I'm a busy man- as I'm sure you are as well- so time fooling around with loose ends are troublesome. So how about we agree to help each other?

Garrett didn’t trust this man at all. He had given him no reason to trust him, let alone to help him, and Garrett had no idea what sort of help this man could possibly provide him. Rather than giving any sort of response, Garrett decided to remain silent and wait.

Now you may be asking yourself, 'Why would I work for you? How did you get this number? How on earth do you know I have the powers of Zed?'

Garrett’s heartbeat fluttered for an instant, his body immediately going into alert mode. No really, how on earth DO you know? he thought. Immediately, a knock sounded at the door. Garrett walked out to the living room, even more on edge. His lips were now pursed and beads of sweat beginning to form on his forehead as he approached the front door cautiously. His broken arm began throbbing.

Trust me... You don't want to find out these facts. Now be a good little ninja. We'll be in touch soon. Before Garrett could even respond, the other line was cut out, and a whining dial tone filled his ears. Keeping his eyes on the door, Garrett gingerly placed the phone in his pocket, as if it were an unstable bomb.

Now standing barely a foot away from the door, Garrett contemplated what to do. I could just leave...I’ll make a shadow clone at the bottom of the alley and teleport down.

Every cell in his body screamed for him to escape and leave Darkwell. Some small voice deep inside of him though wanted to know…needed to know what this was.

In a flash, Garrett summoned his wrist blade on his free arm, opened the door, summoned a shadow clone behind his visitor, and then pointed his wrist blade directly at them. Garrett’s head was tilted down slightly, glowering at the stranger. ”Talk fast.”

@Leolycan

@Kiroue@Leolycan + all others who are in the room.

Clarice nodded in approval as she recieved a the numbers she requested. This was going to make things like reaching each other a lot easier indeed... and also help with keeping tracks of people. She stretched her arms around for a moment as she felt a little bit sleepy for some reason and smiled." So with that done, I think that it's time for me to also get going." She said with a smile and started dialing a cab number, but stopped midway.

It was such a fine weather outside... it would have been a shame to waste it by taking a cab. A good walk was always better. She took a look around the place, wondering if someone also felt like going for a nice relaxing walk, but then she remembered she had an appointment from earlier... Well there was still time for that later.

"Anyone up for a nice relaxing stroll through the park?" She asked, looking around the place.

Alex took a step back, startled by the girl's sudden rush of movement. Normally he would've thought this girl was annoying at this point but for some reason he felt the need to help her. After all she was dealing with this as much as he was and he had a feeling this girl didn't ask for help often. Still it was a hassle. "Eh, sure I guess. Some folks are meeting up at some building or another so I guess I could take you there." He shrugged. Wasn't her hair pink earlier? And longer? Whatever. Alex started forward again hoping she would move out of the way, "Its only a few minutes from here, maybe they're still there. Oh and I never did get your name." Alex said casually as he walked past her as finished off the muffin. It was pretty good all things considered and he hadn't even paid for it. The building wasn't very far away so he would just lead her there given nothing else happened. Unbeknownst to him he'd probably run into either Raze or Artemis and Leon.

The man Sam had gone over to give some semblance of pity now only responded with a quivering 'I'm fine.' That would have been good and well, but Moritz soon rose to his feet, gave his number out, and promptly left just to 'lay down'. He didn't thank her for standing up for him. He didn't answer her question regarding the void. He hardly even acknowledged her existence at all. Well... she thought, that's the last time I come to help you again, mister.

It's a shame because she had stood up to Artemis for him, risking any kind feelings they had toward one another. Artemis was clearly not pleased by it either, snippily repeating Sam's own vernacular as if it made her sound less than or something. Still, at least that was better than her getting into full retaliation mode. She instead had chosen to leave without even dropping a phone number. This drew the question on whether Sam would ever see Artemis again. Sam decided to tell herself that she didn't care about that and she watched the steely eyed woman walk out of the door.

After a moment of silence, Clarice broke it by enthusiastically encouraging everyone to exchange phone numbers. Sam nodded, eager to erase the awkwardness of Artemis storming out. The dragon-lady whipped out her cracked iPhone and exchanged the information. In addition she also added Moritz' number which Clarice had as well. Of course, with how the man had ungratefully left earlier, she doubted she would contact the void man at all. Clarice spoke about how unwise it had been to host their power party here and Sam had to admit that she was right. After all, she herself had almost burned the apartment complex to the ground. Perhaps something like an abandoned parking garage, a drainage ditch, or a construction site would be more suitable. Liam responded, taking the criticism well and genuinely saying that they have learned and would probably find a better spot in the future.

Liam, she noticed, reacted to her sly little cooties comment by a reduced blush, but only reduced by slightly. This guy obviously wasn't comfortable around people in sheets, that was for sure. Honestly, Sam didn't see what the big deal was. The sheet she was in wasn't too thin and thus wasn't see-through. Also, she had it wrapped around her from clavicle to the floor. Honestly, she had shown more when she had come in here with her normal clothes than what she was adorning now. Still, she supposed it was the connotations that went along with a woman wrapped in a sheet that bothered him most. However, despite the fact that Sam knew exactly what she needed to do to spare Liam from being uncomfortable, she had no desire to pursue it. She was oh so very content to mess with the man that she hated just a few hours before. It was fun! Also, despite first impressions, Liam was somewhat fun too. He jabbed that he pinned her as an angry drunk and Sam gave a snorting laugh. "Nah, I'm not an angry drunk unless you do something to make me angry." The side of her mouth slipped up to form a crooked smile. "Normally I'm one of those makeout-with-everyone-and-take-my-clothes-off kind of drunks." She looked down at herself to confirm this. "Lucky for me I'm halfway there." Sam gave Liam a no BS expression, waiting to get the amusing reaction she was hoping for. Perhaps he'd go red as a tomato or have his nosebleed like in anime (she still didn't understand exactly why that happened) or, hey, have his eyes roll into the back of his head. Whatever show Sam was given, she reacted to it by breaking her expression and giving a cackle of pure joy, her legs kicking at the floor.

As Sam took her first swig of her drink, the big boss, Matt, came in. Matt and Liam went about with their brother-like banter thing that made no sense to her. It was something about having to replace people's stuff. The woman was just happy to lap up her alcohol and let the stuff warm up her system. She also drank another bottle through Matt's boring 'we have to be careful' speech. Whatever. Still, as the minutes ticked by she wasn't getting the reaction that she normally had from alcohol. No warmth came to tickle at her and she just felt the same... Must just be really shitty beer.

Clarice then decided that she too wanted to leave. This made Sam frown, unhappy that everyone had left in such a hurry. They all could have had a rad party with flashy powers and all of that cool stuff. Still, at the very least Clarice asked if anyone wanted to join her on a walk through the park. Sam was thankful for this offer because that meant that she didn't have to walk home alone, not that she was scared. Any mugger or rapist would have their guilty member burned off for sure. "That sounds fun to me!" She looked down at herself. "We have to do something about this though." She waved at her attire. "I mean, normally I wouldn't give a shit, but I just don't want to be hassled by some pigs for exposure or whatever." Samantha shrugged, hoping the people of the room could find a solution.

Vicki Victory

Vicki breathed a heavy sigh of relief, slumping slightly before regaining her composure. Finally, maybe she could sort out all of this madness. Going through this experience with others would be much easier than lone wolfing through it. ”Thank you. I’m Vicki. Vicki Victory.”

The pair walked out of the bar, Vicki trailing just a few inches behind Alex as he lead her to the rest of the power pack. With his muffin now finished, Vicki decided now would be a good time to get to know Alex. If he was indeed gifted with powers as well, she needed to know who her fellows were and what they were like. ”So...how’re you dealing with this whole situation?,” she asked genuinely.

@Eklispe

Leon propped himself against the alley wall as the harbinger of doom escaped his grasp. If he didn't pursue the murderer, who knows what that horseman could do?! Silently, the gravedigger cursed himself amidst pained breaths and heaving chests; he never expected his condition to catch up to him at this single moment. Of all the times he could be debilitated, it just so happened to be now. Leon clutched his chest, bowing his head whilst he took in heavy, much-needed inhales with an accompanying exhale. His left hand still gripped the shovel tightly in his rage. He could have caught the man, saved a lot of lives if he just was stronger than this! He was never strong enough, and it led to the deaths he had sustained, and would sustain. Leon viewed his condition as a dog chasing its tail, as a child chasing its shadow. It was like... waiting for a rain in a drought-- pointless and disappointing. Lavender eyes opened gently before peering at the solemn heavens, cursing his fate and his weaknesses.

Was the gravedigger doomed to keep on chasing shadows and winds? Everything he ever wanted to accomplish and treasure slipped through his fingers like soil and sand. Leon looked down on the puddle in front of him, noticing his pale reflection as well as his fatigued eyes. He never really got enough sleep for the past days, and that must have what triggered the attack. However, as he looked at the waving water-mirror, Leon remembered the deaths that led him to this moment, that led him to this quest. A shrewd smile formed on his lips as he plunged the shovel into the ground, aiding him in standing up. As soon as he felt his chest loosen, and his breathing normalize, Leon combed back his locks with his fingers. "It's not over yet. The next time I see him, he's going down." he cheered himself up before toting the shovel on his left shoulder. As he walked through the alley, his shoes splashed against some puddles as he kept kicking at a certain tin can which he pursued over and over again, sending it farther and farther away. Leon whistled calmly, relaxing his entire body from the failed endeavour. Perhaps, he would get a drink or something. After all, there was no way in hell he was going back to school at this rate. However, as he kept kicking the can, he failed to see the ominous shadow standing directly in front of him, partly, because he had lost his glasses in the pursuit. After all, his 5.0 eyeglass grade really made a difference between people and pixels.

However, soon, he spotted the dark mirage. Immediately, Leon looked up as he began to see a woman whose face he swore he had seen before. But, really, she didn't matter. No, what mattered most was what she saw, and whether she would do anything about it. Immediately, Leon gripped the shovel and propped it on the ground. Then, he looked at the pixelated woman with half-lidded eyes. "How," Leon began, swallowing a breath down his throat. "How much did you see?"

And, what are you going to do about it?

The second Moritz exited the room he released the breath that he had been holding, relaxing slightly as the new Voidling scurried after him, needle-appendages clicking on the ground. Moritz didn't mean to be rude by leaving so suddenly, even though he realized that was how he came across. He couldn't help it. The only objective that filled Moritz' being was that he needed to leave. All at once the room and all of the people within it was suffocating, and the only thing he craved was his own apartment. While he felt bad shutting down the Shyvana-girl, the last thing he wanted was to be asked about what lay within, whatever the Void turned out to bring into this world.

Skipping the elevator Moritz went for the stairs instead. Unlike several of the people in the town, Moritz' parents were exceedingly wealthy and were not afraid to share that money with their only child. So the instant that Moritz Valiero finished high school and declined that he wanted his own place his parents were more than willing to provide him with a safe, and comfortable, place to live through his college years and beyond. Moritz, in fact, lived in this very building, just a few floors below the room where Liam lived. Upon reaching the door, Moritz dug into his pocket and withdrew his key, bringing the keycard up to the scanner until the click was heard and he was able to push into the residence.

The apartment had the same general room structure as Liam's building, but with it's own personal touch to it. On the far side of the wall was a large window that displayed a luxurious view of the city which was still energetic and busy under the afternoon sun. A wide, rectangular living room spanned to the right and was adorned with a long, black leather couch facing out the window. In front of the couch was a coffee table where his Alienware laptop sat next to a mouse with five extra buttons on the side specially bound to specific League of Legends actions which were, in order, Flash, Ignite, attack-move, ping, and laugh. Past the living room was an exquisite kitchen with marble countertops that glinted subtly purple against the black, with a large fridge and microwave over an equally large stove. And past that was his bedroom, which was still torn to shreds from the unexpected Voidling rampage that morning. Moritz smiled slightly as he remembered how chaotic the ensuing chase had been, with his lips slowly turning into a somber frown at the memory of the sacrifice of that same Voidling.

Looking back, Moritz saw the new Voidling as it made itself comfortable on his Hermes-brand designer jacket that lay on the couch. He opened his mouth to protest, but then sighed with resignation as he moved to sit next to it at his laptop. Moritz opened it slowly and then froze at the log-in screen with the custom designed picture of Malzahar filling the wallpaper. He froze for a moment, fingers tapping on the coffee table absently. Snapping out of his reverie by his phone vibrating in his pocket, Moritz took out his phone and saw the name Matt. After a second he set down his phone, shut the laptop silently and lifted up a remote to pressed a button, the curtains at the windows shutting with a low hum.

Moritz would lay and sleep until the next morning, his dreams filled with unimaginable terrors inspired by the vision he had seen through the portal.

Vicki Victory? Huh, he could've sworn he knew the name from somewhere. Ah well, no biggie. "Me?" He asked mildly surprised by the question. "I mean its pretty cool. I can throw knives and stuff so if I just ignore any implications and accept that I basically just took a level in badass, its pretty cool." he said grinning confidently as they walked. In another few moments they were inside the hotel and in the elevator, a brief wave to the old man and the explanation that they were here for the party thing and all was well. Pressing the button for the floor the old man had told them Alex causally leaned back against the wall of the elevator and let out a small yawn. "So what's your plan? You going to try to bring a comic book to life? Be a boxer and kickass? Ignore it?" Alex asked with genuine curiosity. What were the other people doing? Arthur was trying to get on with life rather ineffectively, he himself was ignoring it. Victory here had already managed to find another champion and get into a fight with them, which was just downright impressive. Though it was keeping in line with the rest of her assets, Alex thought to himself idly. If life was less chaotic right now he might've asked her out. Hell's he was considering it anyway.



Artemis stared at the panting man with calm, inquisitive eyes. "Enough? No that sounds too cryptic. I saw you chasing someone named Raze with the aid of your ghouls, though it seems your physical condition was not up to the task. Rather odd in fact, I thought Yorick was stronger with more ghouls out. Regardless I must ask, for what reason were you chasing him?" Quite an odd situation. What had Raze managed to do in such a short period of time to aggravate this one? She had a momentary recollection of his parting words. "Powered villains or not, there are people out there that I can help, and so help me God, none of you will stop me from doing what I can.” Perhaps he was already a vigilante and had merely been seeking others to join him. Not everyone approved of Batman's method of dealing justice. This man looked much like Artemis imagined Yorick himself, hagered, seemingly exhausted yet filled with some dread purpose. What was it that drove this man she wondered. So many people with such strong emotions and odd reason's for their behavior. She was no different in a way, but then again it was easier to project then reflect.

As Sam made her remark about her drunken state, Liam choked momentarily on his beer. As he did his best to clear his throat and sinuses of the bitter liquid, he did his best to seem calm (though his obvious blush continued to give him away) as he sat back in his chair. Matt on the other hand, seemed to pay no attention to the actions or words of those around him. Instead, his mind drifted onwards and outwards, trying to calculate and comprehend everything that had happened over the last couple of days. In truth, despite his calm exterior, Matt was still overwhelmed by all this.

"Yeah? That's not a bad idea." Liam chimed in, sitting up straight as his eyes focused on Clarice. A moment later, his eyes drifted to Sam, though he'd do his best to keep it subtle enough to remain undetected. He began reminiscing on his past, and what he had divulged to Sam shortly before her... 'Eruption'. Despite his best intentions, he couldn't help but feel he had deceived her with that half truth. If nothing else, he could make it up to her, but how... "I'm sure Matt has some spares floating around. Don't you Matt?" A moment of silence passed, "Matt?"

"Hmm?" In an instant, the dark haired male's vision returned, glancing about the room. Despite his trance, he was able to grasp at least part of the conversation, "... Sure. Help yourself." Matt's gaze fell upon Sam as he spoke, quickly returning to Liam, "We should patrol tonight."

"Man, you really are in your own world?" Liam remarked, wearing a teasing grin, though a subtle hint of concern emerged, "Clarice asked if we'd like to accompany her to the park. Coming?"

Matt paused a moment, shaking his head as he settled back in his chair, "No, I'm fine. I should stay in case any others show. But do as you wish, after today, it'd be good for you to unwind."

'Yeah, you too...' Liam thought, his gaze focused on Matt's now distant eyes for a moment before the blonde male sighed heavily. "Yeah, yeah. Give me a shout if something comes up." With that, he'd place his bottle on the floor and stand from his chair. In a short time, he stood by the door, turning to face the interior with his usual smile, "Well, better be going. Stay safe, Matt."

"Yeah. You too."

---

As Garret's door flew open, he'd be greeted with the sight of timid young girl. Clothed in an off white hoodie and leggings, she shrieked softly as he made his appearance, clutching one hand in another as she fell back into his clone. With an equally frightened gasp, she attempted to stand her ground, pushing herself from the clone and resorting to fidgeting with the collar of her heavy attire. Shortly after, her gaze would return to the man, seeming to be shaking in fear.

"G-Garret? I have the right apartment? Or-" She said, glancing behind her to the clone, "Y-Yeah. I think so." Shortly she'd turn to him, extending on hand out that seemed to be clasping something. As she turned the hand over and released her fingers, a cellphone could be seen sitting in her palm, "Our boss wanted you to have this. Said to do away with your old one." At the mention of her boss, he quivering voice faded, carrying now an even tone as her eyes remained locked to Garrett's in a fashion that betrayed her earlier character.

---

---

@twannyman
@Kiroue
@TheWinchester4
@Adalrod
@Eklispe
@rivaan
@Zelosse
@Cubix

Raze Colter

Raze ran. He just ran and ran down the streets of Darkwell. Raze wasn’t just running away from a guy with a gang of ghouls. He was fleeing the potential of being labeled as a murderer, as if he could outrun such judgements. Raze weaved and shoved through crowds of angry, annoyed faces towards the only place he felt would be safe: his own home.

He bounded up the stairwell of his apartment building rather than waiting for the elevator, afraid that his hopes and dreams would fall away if he stopped moving. Raze hardly even stopped to whip out his keys to unlock the door, slamming his body shoulder-first into the faded, brown entry. Once unlocked, he slammed the door behind him and slumped to the ground, leaning his back against it to keep out any accusers. It didn’t help though. His accusers were already inside his apartment; in his mind.

Murderer. You’re no savior, you’re a killer! Filth like you are unworthy of being a hero!, cackled the voice of Hecarim. Raze pressed his palms against his forehead and gritted his teeth in frustration. Hecarim’s malicious laughter echoed around his skull, growing louder and louder by the second.

Raze yelled out loud, then thought to himself, I DID THE RIGHT THING, YOU SHUT THE HELL UP!! IT WAS EITHER THAT WOMAN, OR THAT MAN!!! I protected the innocent!

Hecarim just let out a bellowing laugh, You slaughtered that man’s life without any hesitation. You are a blight on Darkwell, just as so many others are. You are no beacon of hope, you are a symbol to be feared, a story told to scare children. You are one of us now.

Still sitting on the ground against the floor, Raze lowered his clenched fists to the carpet, allowing them to gently rest on its bouncy surface. No, I’m not. I am nothing to be afraid of. Not yet. He opened his eyes and looked across the apartment to a window. All of Darkwell stood before him, skyscrapers silhouetted against a slowly setting sun. There is much work to be done before the scum of this city truly fear me.



Before Garrett stood not a dangerous stranger, nor a mysterious courier. Instead, it was simply a little girl, much shorter than Garrett. She was small and shaking, reminding him of a mouse. Garrett swiped the phone from her and stood off to the side of the doorframe, giving his clone room to usher the girl in with a shove.

Garrett scrutinized the phone in his free arm, turning it over, then back around. Pressing the home button simply brought up the main menu, no lock screen or security of some other kind. Yet.

Garrett held out the phone with the screen facing straight at the girl. ”What do I do with this, call or wait to be called?”

@Leolycan

Vicki Victory

"So what's your plan? You going to try to bring a comic book to life? Be a boxer and kick ass? Ignore it?"

Vicki brought up a clenched fist in front of her face, examining it to find any indication at the source of her strength. She herself was still trying to figure out the answer to that question. ”The plan is to learn to live with this. I don’t know what that looks like yet, though.”

The elevator dinged, and Vicki glanced quickly at the floor indicator. They were at the top of the complex. Fancy.

Alex lead Vicki down a hallway. On the way, they passed a blonde man with moderately long hair. Vicki nodded at him with a slight grin, then continued on her way behind Alex. Down the hallway, one of the doors seemed to have...exploded or something. A few splinters were embedded in the opposite wall, but a majority of the door and some of its lock mechanism littered the ground. It was to this door that Alex steered Vicki. Cautiously, she poked her head around the doorframe first, followed closely by the rest of her body. She carefully stepped over and around pieces of the door, then spoke,”Ah, hi. I think I’m the same as you guys?”

@Leolycan @Eklispe @Kiroue (And anyone left in the apartment.)