Drei scowled as he walked the streets in the southern Industrial Ring, on the hunt for a certain Child of the Dark reported to be in the area. He knew it was completely possible that she was already on the opposite side of the city, though his gut told him she was still here somewhere. Asking the locals had gotten him nowhere so far, so he resorted to simply relying on his eyes. Infrared vision in his left eye highlighted everything living with shades of red, while his right viewed the normal visible spectrum, giving Drei an overlap of the two to make identification easier.

She has to be here. I can feel it... When I find that little bi- Drei's thoughts were cut short as off in the distance a blur of red appeared momentarily on a rooftop, only to vanish shortly after. Out of instinct Drei jumped into the air, thrusters on his feet, hips and hands activating with a burst of energy and heat, leaving a scorch on the ground where he had stood.

Drei rose above the buildings that surrounded him, looking down at their roofs. Once more he saw a signature appear, angling his body with another sudden burst from his thrusters to propel him towards his target. The thrusters on Drei's shoulders sparked to life as he cut off the ones on his palms, straightening his arms in front of him. He quickly closed the gap between himself and his unsuspecting prey, getting ready to send his pile-bunkers straight through her body.

---

Bunny hopped from rooftop to rooftop through the southern Industrial Ring. She had just visited one of her many stashes around the city, restocking on the tools she used to evade the Military Police. With the height difference between some of the buildings and how little fatigue shorts jumps brought on, this was her most efficient method of traversing this ring. She stayed on each roof only long enough to recuperate the stamina taken by the toll of her power, then hopped to the next roof with a shadow on it. Every now and then she gave a quick check to the streets, making sure there were no Children nearby being harassed by the MP.

As she stopped to rest on one of the rooftops Bunny took a seat and began inspecting her throwing knives. She pulled one from the pouch strapped to the belt holding her torn jeans up, feeling the balance of the weight. As she began to inspect the blade, Bunny began to hear a slight whine coming from a distance behind her. It wasn't until she noticed a flash move across her knife that she realised the sound had quickly moved towards her, and was still getting louder. She glanced behind herself just in time to notice a large familiar man not even a meter away.

---

"Bunny!" Drei shouted as the dust cleared. He pulled his pile-bunker from the rooftop with a yank of his arm, checking the tip. A small amount of blood could be seen on the tip. "Almost had her that time," Drei spoke as he stood and looked around.

"Still at it, huh Tiberius? When will you learn that it won't be so easy to do me in?" Bunny talked in a mocking voice, though she could feel the blood running down her leg from her right thigh. She stood on a nearby roof, looking down at the man who had nearly put her leg temporarily out of commision. "You know I can be anywhere in this city in less than a second, right?"

"Where you will be is a nice little cell in R&D!" He aimed his right arm at the woman, hand pulled back so the thruster on his palm was aimed forward. The circle in his palm glowed blue as it quickly charged itself, and with a boom launched a highly focused beam of energy at Bunny. The shot lit the roofs in the immediate area, eliminating shadows momentarily.

Bunny was forced to dive sideways to avoid the beam that would have put a hole through her chest. She landed with a thud, hitting her wound against the roof. "Tsch, you bastard... I will kill you one day." With those words she grabbed the pin attached to one of the smoke grenades on her belt, pulling it away with a jerk of her arm. The smoke began pouring from the cylinder, slowly darkening the area around her.

"You aren't getting away!" Drei shouted as he once more shot into the air, his thrusters at full strength. With a twist, and an adjustment of the thrusters on his body, Drei sent himself into a violent spin. The thrusters deactivated shortly, then fired off all at once in a low focus, high intensity burst. The smoke cleared from the force, another rooftop left scorched, though there was no sign of Bunny.

---

She had panicked. Reappearing close to the dome's ceiling, she began falling and was immediately bathed in the light of the hanging ceiling day lamps. She couldn't hop again now, and her speed only increased as she plummeted towards the buildings below. Her life had plenty of time to flash before her eyes, as it had many times before. The air rushing by tore at her clothes and hair, letting her know exactly how fast she was moving. Bunny noticed the buildings coming quickly, and knew she would need to hop as soon as she entered one of their shadows. The previous teleport had left her drained, her mind foggy. As she rushed past a large skyrise, Bunny closed her eyes, and vanished into the air, a small puff of blackness left in her wake. Bunny felt herself hit the ground hard before she lost consciousness, no idea where she had landed.

Chaz finished helping the last customer in the shop at the moment and saw them out the door, a smile on his face and in his voice, " Have a good day, and come back if there are any more problems, I would be more then happy to help fix them." Chaz waited until they were far enough away to not here him before the smile vanished. He had been dealing with one junk job after another, haveing to deal with people that didn't know what they wanted as well as people who didn't want to pay full price and tried to cheep him out, bargain it down, or just plain try to steal what they wanted. Luckily he maintained a full security system, with a door that wouldn't open if unpaid for merchandise tried to leave the store. For some reason thieves alwasy think they can get a multi thousand dollar upgrade for free. Worst of all were customers like his last one that thought they knew more then he did, and tried messing with his stuff, and then complaining to him and demanding he fix it, half the time trying to get it free of charge. "Stupid, stupid, stupid. Why do people have to mess with my merchandise and try to fix or 'upgrade' it themselves. If you don't know what you are doin..." Chaz mumbled, cutting off when he noticed someone getting ready to enter the store.

Chaz put his storekeeper face back on, and said, once again with a smile in his voice, "Hello, and how may I help you?" Hopefully it wasn't another 'repair' job.

Light was traveling through the shopping ring of the city, popping in and out of holes she pulled from her dress to travel. There were spots full of people, or spots with no people, depending on the area, which she always thought odd considering it was the shopping area. As she popped out on top of a building, Light glanced at the city below. She was about to hop into another hole she had pulled out, when a thin lady popped out of a puff of black smoke in the empty side street below, hitting the ground from her fall. Curious, Light put her hole away and jumped down from the building, impacting the ground with a loud crash making an indent in the concrete of her silhouette.

Popping her head out of the hole a few moments later, Light gave the lady a smile. That smile would disappear shortly though when Light noticed that the women was unconscious. Pouting for a moment, Light picked herself out of her indent and moved over to her, making sure she was still alive. "You know, you'd think those police people would have better things to do. I bet I've stopped more crimes than most of those bullies." Light said to herself as she gave Bunny a lookover. Figuring that she wasn't dead, Light picked her up and took her out of the street to a nearby tech store and away from any prying eyes.

Dragging Bunny into Chaz's store, Chaz came out of the backroom to see who his next customer was. "This lady here needs some help. I found her a couple alleyways away. I'd do it, but I don't have any first aid stuff on me." Light said, putting Bunny down on a clean bit of floor, then standing to attention with a smile on her face as she looked at Chaz.

Leila

Leila waited patiently for her drink. It had been over 10 minutes now, and there was no sign of the waitress. It's not that she was in a hurry; she had the day off after all, but being in public for too long-especially with the way things had been lately-wasn't the smartest idea. Leila looked down at some of the blueprints she had brought with her to keep he mind occupied. If luck was on her side, she would avoid the police for the remainder of the day and would be able to safely return home tonight.

"Here you go," the waitress said with a lack of enthusiasm as she approached the booth. Leila quickly thought of an insult in her mind but she knew better than to say it out loud.

"Thank you," Leila replied as she smiled at the waitress to fake being pleased with the service. After taking a quick sip, she turned her focus once more to the blueprint in front of her. The workload that Dr. Chaddrick had imposed on Leila was a bit overwhelming, but protesting against it was useless. He didn't care for petty complaints, and there would always be someone ready to replace her within hours if it came down to it. Without paying much attention to her surroundings, Leila continued with the task at hand hoping to return to Dr. Chaddrick with a solution rather than with additional doubts.

Odin stepped out of a warm shower and wrapped a towel around his wet body drying off and did the usual steps taken after a good washing. His morning wasn't hasty or chaotic as you'd think someone with metal prosthetic limbs morning would be. It was a normal humanish morning in a not so normal day, yet another topic that often sent Odin into a deep almost bottomless pit of thought. Each day normal was supernatural events occurring every second when back then supernatural things were way out of the ordinary. Odin roamed his home with a towel wrapped around his waist covering everything from his waist down. On the living room couch his clothes laid awaiting his arrival.

A black short sleeved T-shirt that said "10 Men" which was probably a terrible pun to his self being since he was a cyborg. The often serious man had no choice but to wear the clothing since the person who placed them there was someone he owed dearly. He quickly dressed himself in a white beater, the black T-shirt, boxers, socks, and dark gray jogging pants. After he was finished he began to slip into his thoughts about the 'normal day' thing and stared blankly at the ceiling. "Oi! What are you doing!?" A feminine voice with a small hint of a English accent called out to him. Odin quickly snapped out of his trans and gave the loud woman his attention. She smiled her face full of happiness and pointed towards the kitchen soon walking in the direction of it.

"Katherine...." Odin spoke following the young woman to the kitchen. "...don't bother me when I'm thinking about something-." He added on as he entered the kitchen after her but was interrupted by Katherine. "Yeah yeah! Yah always deep in thought and I always bother yah that ain't ever gonna change now eat yah breakfast." As always Odin was defeated by her quick rebuttals and sat down eating his breakfast. This woman that spoke to the notorious Odin as if he was a teenager is named Katherine. She lives with Odin and repairs him now and then when he needs them. Odin usually doesn't even speak to people but Kat somehow out smarter him and managed to go as far as ending up living with him.

They're terms of relationship is that of a brother and sister with disputes that aren't always won by our robotic friend. While Odin ate his breakfast Kat paused eating her cereal and looked over in his direction wearing his causal smile. "I gave you those upgrades you asked for! Yah know! Installing that Fog detector thingy!!" Odin simply peeked up from his food and then looked back down at his plate. "The way you say it make it sound like a toy." He replied nibbling on a piece of a pancake. Kat smiled, she was a true tech nerd to the heart and loved tinkering so sometimes she couldn't help calling things she tinker with her toys. "Well.....whatever you say I installed it into your left arm! Its cool and everything! Like a computer compacted into your arm basically!" She quickly started to ramble on about how cool the detector was, how it spoke, and how it can navigate him towards the origin of the detected fog. She also mentioned how she snuck into his chambers at night to give him all these amazing upgrades. "Wait! You can't just ramble over sneaking into my room!" Odin shouted jumping to his feet and heading towards the door. Kat simply continued to smile an innocent smile as Odin exited their home pouting each step he takes. She knows he couldn't stay made at her and started to clean the kitchen humming as she did so. Odin sucked on his teeth and walked in the direction of the outer ring. Maybe hunting down some problem starters would get his mind off Kat sneaking into his room.

Gregor was half asleep at his desk, cup already drained of coffee, feet propped up on the desk while he snoozed. His coat was hung up on the coat rack next to his desk, burnt out cigar resting in the ash tray while its owner was clearly not overly invested in the days activities. It was an off day, he wasn't on any specific case and he didn't go out on beat patrols anymore, he wasn't sent usually and kept around just in case. More like to keep a close eye on him, he would tell most folks who asked, and his rifle and gear was in the armory right now, he usually didn't even bother having to go through grabbing the stuff since most days ended with him heading home, having done some paperwork, maybe some interrogations or footwork. Made him regret taking the detective billet some days, but hell, he had enough good times to put up with the slow bits.


"GREGOR!"

Gregor snorted, nearly falling out of his chair, feet landing with a heavy thud as he spun the chair around to face his boss, an easy smirk on the detective's face. The man wasn't the overall, powers that be boss, but he was above him and usually dispatched him just to get him to go away. Which worked just fine with him. "Mornin' boss, interrupted a rather nice dream. And she was getting to the good bit too..." The man looked like he was trying to not smack Gregor, or try to, they both knew he would never have laid a finger on him without the detective allowing it. The man tossed a dispatch report, seemed like Child activity was on the rise, and he was getting sent out to do a witch hunt, as the old saying went. "Finally have something for your lazy ass to go do today. Reinhardt is off on his personal crusade again, so that leaves you to show some new guy the ropes. Head out to see if Reinhardt needs a hand, yes he's still your superior, and try not to get the rook killed, please?"

Gregor mockingly groaned, rolling his eyes and leaning back in the chair, feet going back up onto his desk. "You're letting some young, impressionable rookie come out with me? Boss, you shouldn't have. I love making new friends, I'll teach him everything I know." The older man scowled angrily at the detective, grinding his teeth briefly before sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose. Gregor still had his amused expression, clearly having too much fun cranking up the man, who's temper was rather well known. "I swear to any god that is left, Gregor, if you do anything stupid, I will string you up by the short and curlies from the office flagpole, you hear me?!" Gregor, just to spite the man, just gave him a knowing grin before walking off, waving vaguely in the man's direction. "Let rookie know to meet me in the garage, I'll have the patrol car warmed up, if he feels like tagging along after whatever you decide to tell him."

Gregor was casual to walk into the armory, most of his gear wasn't terribly complicated. His ace came from his genetics, not his equipment, unlike ol' blowhard Reinhardt. That man was teched out to holy hell, Gregor kept to a rather more old school, yet no less reliable, system of genetic augmentation and external attachments to his gear. That, and his rifle was probably the finest tuned in the precinct, which gave him an edge at a couple paces out, relatively speaking. Grabbing said rifle, and a couple magazines to stuff into his vest, he walked back past his desk to grab a couple miscellaneous items, the old Fog Detector, thing, included. He preferred visual evidence to this glorified Geiger counter, but hell, if it worked, it worked. Heading back down to the garage, he hopped into his patrol vehicle, an older model of hover craft that could still swap over to wheels instead of being purely hover. Sure, the hover wasn't nearly as smooth a ride, but it was nice to have back ups. Cycling channels on the radio, he worked on finding ol' Reinhardt before giving him a call, if he could find him. "Hey Rein, its Greg, how are you holdin' up, boss? Listen, some rookie and I are about to be heading out on a spin of the Industrial Rim, need a hand with that lady friend of yours?"

@Invader Len

He had woken up late that morning, the alarm on his clock failing to go off. He knew he should have tested the damn thing after tinkering with it the night before, but he had been so tired after putting the last touches for his updated suit. Serenai had detected some unusual bugs in his suits thermal imaging software, and he had to make sure is was ready for tomorrow. Just in case he was called up for duty. It hadn't happened yet, so far most of his duties had been refilling the coffee maker, taking down lunch orders, and monitoring traffic from behind a computer screen. The closest he had gotten to field duty yet was taking a 911 call from a lady whose stove caught on fire. And while talking down a hyperventilating woman enough to direct her on how to use a fire extinguisher was interesting, it was a far shot from what he had signed up for.

He pushed in through the doors, walking down to his locker and putting on his badge and earpiece. His suit was in its passive state, the nanites forming his gloves, belt, and boots. They'd cover his body in his suit if he gave Serenai the command to, but he didn't wear it as a civilian or in the station. His superiors had already told him to only wear it if he was on duty, and that any injuries were on his insurance, not theirs. He relented, knowing deep down that they were right. Going into the field without the standard armor or cybernetics was risky, but his suit would revolutionize the department when it was done! He just had to get the chance to fully field test it, to prove it was useful in the line of duty! Then there'd be no more MPs being slowed down by armor, no more bullet wounds or burns or even missed shots. Serenai and her as-of-yet imaginary siblings would enhance their targeting abilities, and protect them from any danger! Protecting the protectors!

He was jolted from his daydreaming as a senior officer, Kim, strolled up to him, clapping him on the back. Startled, Jericho turned to face him, fixing his posture and saluting. Why was he saluting? He had done it on reflex, and quickly put his arm down, much to the amusement of his senior.
"Hey kid, you're on patrol today, alright? Ol' Reinhardt was supposed to take you along, but he ain't here right now. So, you're stuck with old Cross, the lazy prick. Boss says you're gonna meet him downstairs in the garage, and head out to the industrial ring. Got it, rookie?" he asked. Jericho nodded with an excited fervor, practically glowing with enthusiasm.
"Yes sir! I understand, sir! I'll go suit up right now-" he was stopped as the grip of Kim's hand tightened.
"Kid, do yourself a favor. Don't wear that freaky suit of yours, you'll stand out like a sore thumb. Just play it cool, and follow Cross's lead, alright?"
"Y-Yes sir..."

Disappointed, Jericho headed down to the armory, picking up the weapons he needed. Standard issue plasma pistol, stun grenades, electric baton, and standard issue combat knife. He hadn't started work on any weapons systems for his suit, he hadn't thought he'd need it. Well, hopefully he wouldn't need to. He wanted his nanites to protect people, not kill them.

Tucking his locket into his shirt, he hurried on down to the garage, not wanting to be left behind on his first patrol. He had never been to the industrial ring before, the farthest he had ever gone was a class field trip to one of the dairy farms in the agricultural ring when he was 10. And even that had been closer to the border of the corporate ring. So of course, he was still buzzing with excitement at the prospect of venturing into unknown territory. It was human spirit, the curiosity of the unknown. The soul of the explorer, the pioneer, the conqueror. It was imbued within his very nature to push past previous limits, to seek out understanding, a higher power, a new frame of mind! Even if it was frightening and daunting, he was determined to rise to the challenge!

He had never met nor seen Gregor Cross before, but he quickly found him. There was only one patrol car started, with one man inside. Hurrying up, he crossed in front of the car, before opening up the passenger's door, hopping in. He turned to Gregor with an expression that could be most easily likened to that of an eager puppy, and he was filled with all the joy that had come on his first day on the job, a mere week ago. He held out his right hand, unable to suppress a wide grin.
"H-Hi sir! Jericho Mason, reporting for duty! You are Detective Cross, I presume? Wow, it's so great to meet you sir, thanks for agreeing to take me along! I'm really thrilled about finally going out into the field, I've never been to the industrial ring before! I'll bet you've been there a bunch of times, right? Wow, that must be so amazing! I-I promise I won't slow you down, sir! Officer Kim told me to follow your lead, so that's just what I'll do!" he babbled, unable to shut his mouth. He knew he should have after the fourth sentence, but he couldn't stop talking when he got excited. He was an overflowing fountain of enthusiasm, so much so that he didn't even notice the radio was still on.

Great, just great. Two good looking women walk into his store, and what's going on? One is injured, but just needs to wake up, and they are both CotD, one of which so obviously so that he was surprised the MPs weren’t already here. He quickly looked at the street, knowing the area he was sure that the MPs would already be on their way, and said, "Get out of here. I'm going to have to call the MPs to keep this shop open. Oh, and If she is a friend don't worry, the med kit will heal enough of her wounds to allow her to wake up and move around again, and I have a system in place to block fog detectors. So a quick question and answer session with the MPs and she will be free to go." Grabbing an Automed Kit, and then picking her up, he turned around and asked "By the way, I wouldn't be lucky enough for you to have enough money to pay for this med kit would I?" He then turned around and headed for the Break-room without waiting for a response, hitting a switch to tell people that the store was closed at the moment. As he got there and set her down, he activated the med kit.

Chaz shook his head at the Child on the couch. He could of course put his hands on her and gather some more of her power then the minute or so he had already, but that would interfere with the med kit, and she could wake up. That would be awkward. He quickly got on the phone and called the incident in, as well as the arrival of a known CotD. He also made sure that the Fog Dampeners were in place and active. Knowing his luck, the one in the front of the store wouldn't leave. At least he would be able to turn off the dampeners if that happened.

Ayana

Ayana scurried along the side of the building in her hamster shape. Good thing he didn't catch me. I really shouldn't get my food from that seller. He doesn't seem very trustworthy. For all I know, he probably called the police. Even though it is hard to tell if Ayana was a CoTD or not when she was in her human form, she still felt the need to be cautious when she's in public. As soon as she was sure no one was looking, she changed back into her original form. She stretched out her limbs, feeling them pop. Being a hamster sure does hurt your elbows and knees! Is this what happens when you barely have any joints when you become a hamster?

She sat down on the side of the street, biting into the apple she had bought just before the MP showed up. Since she had the ability to shape shift into a bunny, she also had the senses of a bunny, therefore she was adapted to being a prey. Ayana had heard the MP as soon as she handed the apple to the seller, but, as always, they went as slowly as the world would allow them to. Although this really 'pissed off' Ayana, she couldn't do anything about it, for 1) people would definitely notice her and 2) she wasn't a bunny, so she couldn't express her anger as she would have liked to.

Living without her parents really did suck. They could have at least left her some money when they left, but no, they only left her a stupid piece of note that she couldn't read herself. She was lucky that she had been a social butterfly and already knew a lot of people around the ring. If Ayana had to pay back all of these people, she may as well be dead. It would take more than 50 years to earn pay back with money she earned herself, if she could even work. In Ayana's perspective, the MP weren't and still aren't thinking straight. If the CoTD were on their side, they would be struggling much less than they are now. Oh well. It's their fault. Although the MP should really stop chasing after CoTD, Ayana still wanted to do her best to save other fellow Children, even if it meant her turning into a carrot for an hour. Now THAT really hurt her body afterwards.

Ayana continued to chew on her apple, finishing by eating the seeds and the core so there wouldn't be any waste.

"Well, at least hes going to heal her up. But I'd better stick around to make sure some MP decides they wanna be violent. Some of those people are more screwed up than the criminals they're sworn to protect people from." Light said to herself as Chaz too the girl Light had rescued to the back room with a medkit. It was sort of a shame Light didn't have money herself, she really didn't need it due to her powers, but at least he was kind enough to not be too stingy about that.

Rummaging in her dress, Light pulled out a dapper looking suit, cane, monocle, and top hat with ACME logos on the inside. With a twirl and some smoke, Light put on the outfit. To the untrained or weak minded, Light would just look like some dapper lady with pale skin. With her disguise all set, Light walked around the tech store to see what the store owner had. Most of the stuff looked pretty interesting, although a good chunk of it was new, other bits seemed to look or have a 'second hand' feel to it, which would make sense due to the store not being located along a super busy street. Light wondered if Chaz himself was a child or not, considering his mentioning of fog dampiners. "Maybe he was a technopath? If so, man the MP would not like him!" Light said to herself with a laugh.

Field 9, travelling through districts 8 and 7. Foreign object entered the air space from the southern boundary. Damage to building 4-East, black scorch marks on the roof. Foreigner disappeared.

Keith was sat in a gaping empty window pane of a building, whose construction was long abandoned. Places like this were part of the only place in the industrial rim that weren’t populated – looming constructions, asymmetrical in proportion, melted and bend over double by the blazing sun threatened to collapse or break at with the right kind of encouragement. Each one was part of a delicate artificial ecosystem; whether the building leaned on another diagonally for support, or whether it’s recently fallen remains gave shade to a gravelled spot where tough weeds could thrive. In short, it was a mess. But it was places like these that Keith found beautiful.

There wasn’t much left to do to pass the time these days, except document every single activity that happened within his “territory” from the lookout. Each day was waiting for the next to arrive, then to end again, while somehow trying to stay out of the way of the police and alive. Keith only really left his concrete garden for food every few days. Days like today, but he was worried about the new arrivals and upgrades that the military force were sending into the area. Monsters like Drei, who he has unwittingly assumed was an armoured attack drone at this distance.

“Nowhere is safe anymore…” he sighed, then lowered himself down to the ground by a tendril of steel beam wrapped around his waist. His joints were getting too old for stairs. “We’ll be forced out of Domino City altogether soon. Then we’ll live the rest of our short lives wonderfully mutated and disfigured. Maybe they’d prefer that. Maybe we’d prefer that.”

He lumbered over to his car, and slid inside. Rusted to the core and missing all the back windows, it looked like it was too old and beat up to function. Truth be told, it was, but to Keith it didn’t quite matter. As long as it was equipped with four good spoked metal wheels, it would do the job.

Leila

It had been roughly 45 minutes since her arrival at the diner, yet Leila had been lucky enough to avoid any MPs up to this point. She was well aware of the fact that her luck would eventually run out though, and with that thought in mind, she paid for her drink before sliding out of the booth. She was out of the door in a matter of seconds, not even bothering to wave her goodbyes to the waitress passing by. The exit was adjacent to her booth, something Leila always planned in advance in order to make for a quicker escape if the situation just happened to turn sour.

Once outside, Leila relaxed a little as she enjoyed the subtle gust of wind that welcomed her out into the street. It had been a relatively quiet day, at least on her side of the neighborhood, so Leila let down her hair and turned on her playlist to drown out the everyday city noises. Without giving much thought to who-or what-might intercept her, she let her thoughts drift to the upcoming dinner plans she had with a guy she had just met not too long ago.

Meet Nathan, 21 years old fed up with the way his life and the way things had been going, he decided to move on with his life. As his latest research project flew through the air and hit the ever-growing pile of failed projects in the corner of his room with a metallic clunk, he slowly rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger as he let out a deep and heartfelt sigh. Recently it seemed as if none of his brilliant ideas would even become reality with the resources he had available.

If only you had stayed with your family, they could have supplied you with the best scientific materials Domino City has to offer... he thought sourly to himself as he let his body collapse into the only real chair in his room and took a sip of the now lukewarm coffee he had poured roughly an hour ago - before he had become obsessed with his current failure.

“Yea, well…” he retorted out loud to only himself and the few birds that had taken a living in the tree outside of his open window. “It’s not like I had a choice, remember?” he finished sourly as the strong taste of coffee disappeared from his mouth. “Urgh” he shuddered in disgust as the horrid taste of lukewarm coffee left his body in shivers, “nothing worse than a cup of bad coffee…”

As the echo of his last word disappeared into the ether his gaze fell on the now annoying big pile of failed projects that filled the larger part of the room’s eastern corner - and ‘room’ would be the best word for what had been his living quarters for the last few years of his life: it wasn’t as much a space for a human to live, rather it was more a impromptu research laboratory where all the equipment had been stitched together by himself from whatever he could find in this god-forsaken city. The once white walls had become a mismatch of all the colours you could imagine from failed experiments and other ‘accidents’ that seemed to be the only constant in his life. In one corner of this laboratory was a small military bed stacked up against the kitchen on one side and his bathroom on the other. All of the other space of his, albeit rather small room, had been filled to the brink with science-materials known to man. This was what the entity known to the general public as ‘Zero’ lived in.

Another sigh escaped his lips as his fingers once again found themselves rubbing the bridge of his nose. This really isn’t a place to live, is it? he thought to himself before he tossed his favourite coffee mug towards the kitchenette - instantly regretting his decision as the mug fell to its inevitable death in slow motion before it shortly after smashed into exactly 24 individual pieces - a detail Nathan’s mind had already worked out before his mind catched up. A cry of pure animalistic pain erupted from his throat and scared the birds in the tree outside of his window enough for them to flee - it was such a pure outcry that it could probably have been heard all over the city, though most people wouldn’t dream of hearing such a sound from a human being.

“My favourite cup!” he screamed in pain, “damn you!”

The consecutive swearing that escaped Nathan’s lips from this devastating situation is best not described in detail, but it has since then gone down in the history books as a perfect example of how not to act when you lose something as valuable as a coffee mug.

As the remnants of his sorrow drained from his body Nathan felt the need to get out of this place: it had only led him to misery and pain ever since he had gotten out of bed 2 days ago. Perhaps he should get a cup of coffee or take a visit to his favourite tech-store in the industry ring - a risky, but always enjoyable trip: he loved to browse the new items in the store and talk to the employee there, a certain Chaz that knew surprisingly a lot for someone with his intelligence.

Feeling a bit better with himself Nathan gathered his regular bag, his jacket and his black skate board and headed out. For some it might seem like pure magic that a young guy with astonishingly blond hair and heterochromia iridum, but because of the technological advances that had happened it was far from the weirdest thing to see in this city that a young boy riding a hoverboard through the streets, let alone cause alarm because of it.
Nathan himself enjoyed the feeling of gliding through the streets and through his endless hours of training he had gotten so used to it that he had become quite the skilled skater, without the reliance on his powers draining him of energy.

As he skated to the loud thumping of his latest favourite band, weaving in and out of the endless faceless sea of people in the streets of Domino City he spotted a silhouette he recognized in the sea. Quickly unplugging his ears from his earphones he let the noise of the city into his ears as he sped up to catch up to Leila Rose - one of the few individuals that he had gotten to know over the past couple of years, mostly because of her connections to a certain scientist - but also because he liked to keep a tap on any of The Children of the Dark that possessed interesting traits, and she most certainly fit this category.

Feeling a spur of cheekiness he catched up her, still on his board and almost completely silent. Leaning in closer to her ear he gently blew on her earlobe before opening his mouth in a crooked smile.

“Now what do we have here” he said in a light tone, as his smile turned into a grin. “Someone looking for her dreams, or perhaps a young girl lost in the wrong part of the city?”

Leila

Tina's Cafe, their pork is de-li-cious. Not fancy enough though. The Luxembourg? Nice atmosphere, a bit pricey, but Lukas could afford it. Yeah, he seemed like the type...

In her mind, Leila pictured herself alongside Lukas as he held her close to him while shooting down the surrounding group of MPs that were slowly closing in on the couple. It was like a movie scene, but that wasn't at all surprising given it was all in her head. Leila couldn't help but smile a little, her cheeks turning a soft shade of pink as she envisioned what would happen after the rescue mission she had randomly made up. Much too soon though, her fantasies were interrupted by an all-too familiar voice.

"Goddammit, Nathan!" She shut off the music, her heart beating faster than before from the sudden fright he had given her. "You know I hate it when people sneak up behind me."

She stared at his smile for a moment as she calmed down. At least she hadn't come across someone who wanted to hurt her, although at certain times he was like the plague.

"Are you here to ask me about Dr. Chaddrick's project again? Because you're going to get the same answer as before," she continued walking in the general direction of her home, not caring if he struggled to keep up with her accelerated pace, "besides, I'm off today and that means absolutely no chit-chat about work."

Leila bit her lip with disappointment, primarily aimed at herself, as she realized she was carrying the blueprints in her bag. Oh well, it's not like he would see them anyway.

OOC: for those that may have not read the Character Bio, (especially the second half) please do so as it is the prelude to this post and will make more sense :)



Chrono 0021:36
R&D Maximum Security Ward
Room #12 | Psyche Assessment
Subject ID#: 52-0A-351
Subject Name:"Ink"

The woman’s thoughts began to drift, her speech slurred, and all of the previous fervor and rage dissipated as the tranquilizing agents entered her bloodstream at a rapid pace, until all muscle control ceased. The laboratory gurney she was strapped to had been positioned almost perfectly vertical, with wires and tubes running along her body and sensors placed in various areas that could measure her vitals. The tattered clothing she wore previously had been cut from her body by a robotic surgical arm that hung from the ceiling, and replaced by a flexible gray mesh-like material that covered her chest and waist.

Laying face down on the floor near the gurney, bloodied and bruised, was the body of a young lab tech intern, accompanied by a cybernetic medical unit attempting to resuscitate their fallen colleague. Only minutes before, the unfortunate intern had the displeasure of hooking the patient up to be monitored, when she jolted from a previously sedated state, and her body’s defenses kicked in...

“Fuck off!” She screamed as best she could in her hazy state of mind.

The black inky abstract creatures along her tattooed body slithered and pulled away from the skin, striking out at the unsuspecting tech, and exploding into a cloud of black dust on impact. The boy recoiled, trying to fan away the particles, only to see the scaly dragon-like creature curl it’s way up and around the boy’s extended arm, causing him to lose balance and fall to the floor. Screaming for the other two lab tech’s assistance, their attempts to remove the creature were futile as it wrapped it’s long body around his neck and squeezed, cutting off any further sound from the boy.

The injection of tranquilizers came swiftly thereafter, and the patient’s writhing quickly slowed.

“Damn...I hate...all you shi-...”

“Okay she's out, begin the scan.” The lead scientist instructed from behind his steel and glass console. “And can someone get Anders out of here and into recovery. He’ll live. I also need the blood and whatever the hell that black stuff is cleaned up immediately. Smells like sulfur in here for cryin’ out loud!”

The robotic medical unit, complying with the instructions, lifted the body from the floor, and wheeled him out of the room. The two remaining techs, stunned by the events that occurred, shot each other a questionable look as though they had no idea what they were getting themselves into.

“Begin the scan, please!” The lead scientist barked out once again into the comm system from behind the glass.. “Or do you two have other pressing business? I’m sure Subject Ink will gladly wait...”

The scientist shook his head, removed his glasses, and rubbed the bridge of his nose, mumbling to himself. “ ‘Subject Ink’...” He scoffed. “Who the hell came up with that name anyway?”

The man appeared to be in his mid-fifties, average height, shaggy salt and pepper hair with matching stubble along his face. Bags hung under his eyes, an indicator that sleep didn’t come too easily for him. He turned, for a moment, with his back to the glass and pulled out a small steel flask from the side pocket of his lab coat.

“Just a few good hits is all I need, this is going to be a long night…” He whispered to himself, as he tipped the small bottle back and let the spicy-sweet alcoholic liquid run down his throat.

He returned his attention to the console, which showed a variety of profile screens, EKG readouts, history, and recent events. The scientist quickly noted the previous outburst in the log, taking special care to highlight the correlation between the woman’s hormonal and chemical imbalances and the effects of the tattoos.

“Ok Miss Salahori, let’s see what makes you tick…”

---

Chaz made sure the medical readout showed no need to visit the hospital for the injured girl's wounds, and then went to double check that the other girl had left. What he saw instead was the same girl in a moderately good disguise looking around his shop. Quickly checking his Fog dampeners to make sure they could handle this much, he was surprised to see them not even close to the maximum amount they could suppress. Now if only he could make portable units... Chaz shook his head before he could get too distracted. Looking back at the now dapperly dressed women in his store, he said, "I thought I asked you to leave?" A simple question. but before it needed to be answered Chaz reopened his store, and got back to the front counter. "When the MPs get here, just stay out of the way please, I have dealt with them before." Chaz said hoping she would listen. Then he pointed to the hidden tech section of his store, "If you want to hang around though, just act like your looking for something over there."
He was curious as to how they had stumbled upon his store of course, and he hoped neither of them had open tracking orders out that could actually be tracked to them. He couldn't have that kind of trouble. But dang it; it wasn't every day that he got to meet other Cotd. Not that he tried too much mind you, many of the Children were in hiding much as he was. He wondered if the government knew how much of its population was "infected" with the Fog. He also wondered what it would take for the Children to be accepted and normal members of society, or at the very least free members.

The crooked smile stayed intact on Nathan’s face, but inside he felt a whirlwind erupting as Leila opened her mouth and spoke his name. It wasn’t for any childish reason like the bloom of a young love where everything tingles and sparkles as you come near or think of the person at the other end of your new love, no, for Nathan it was something much more simple and rudimentary: secrecy.
He was a person that lived off of the secrecy regarding his personal life - one of the many reasons as to why he didn’t open up to that many, and Leila had been one of the few he had actually loosened up and told her his real name - mind you, only his first name, he would never let anyone know of the blood that ran in his veins and what family it came from.

Now wouldn’t that be something to revel in experiencing? he thought sarcastically to himself, me, a Child of the Darkness that had family relations to the upper echelons of the political and scientific realms of Domino City? At least to Nathan it was something that almost made him laugh. Almost.
But of course he didn’t let any of this shine through the cracks of his perfect exterior, instead he kept his cheeky smile painted on his face as he listened to Leila’s voice.

“But you know, that is part of the fun to see your incredible reactions every time” he grinned, easily keeping up with her added pace on his board. At least she didn’t call me ‘Zero’ I suppose… he pondered, that name might have caused a bit more trouble than his first name had - after all ‘Zero’ had started to develop quite a rumor since he was birthed a couple of years ago…

“How is the kind Dr. anyway?” Nathan asked, avoiding the question somewhat, “you know I could probably help him quite a lot, right? Plus he didn’t seem to object last time I helped him, if you remember…”

Nathan let the sound of his voice echo off as the realization hit him: She was off work today, but knowing Leila this could only mean that she had already a few plans set in motion for what she could do. His grin widened.

“So, you’re off today?” he voice trailed off his lip with an almost silky smoothness - an obvious warning sign to anyone that knew him. “Got any plans for the rest of the day then?”

Drei stood in the center of the burn he had left on the rooftop, his frustration seething. Over the radio in his prosthetic ear came the voice of one of his subordinates, a man by the name of Cross is he remembered correctly. He activated his transmitter before replying. "I'm pissed, that's how I'm holding up. Hurry up with that new recruit, we're going on a hunt. The girl mana-" Drei was cut off as who he suspected was the rookie in question began going off on a tangent talking to Cross. "Ahem..." He cleared his throat in an attempt to announce his presence before continuing to talk through the radio. "As I was saying, the girl got away. Get your asses out here, I'll meet you." Without waiting for a response Drei deactivated his transmitter, jumping into the air again and taking off in flight.

---

Bunny woke with a start in some room she didn't recognize, without a clue how she had ended up there. The wound on her leg had been healed, though she was still on the defensive. A quick look around revealed she was alone in a room on some couch, with a robotic healing kit next to her previously wounded leg. She pushed herself off the couch and made her way toward the door, poking her head out just enough to see two other people in the shop with her. Without hesitation Bunny pulled four of her throwing knives out of the pouch on her hip, ready to kill at a moment's notice.

"I don't know who you both are, but I am not going to be captured here. Both of you against the wall or so help me I'll take this whole place down." Waking up after being drained by her power always caused her to react this way, as there was no way to tell what had happened while she was out. "Both of you are going to tell me everything you know, now. And I swear if I so much as smell any MP, this place will be an even bigger mess. I'm not getting captured, not today or ever!"

Chrono 002:10
R&D Maximum Security Ward
Room #12 | Extensive Testing
Subject ID:# 52-0A-351
Subject Name: Ink

The onset of the toxins rushed in quickly, once again sending the patient into a deep & terrible sleep...

The echoes pulsated throughout her mind. She had never heard the pathetic pleads for his own life until a real threat hung over his head. It had always been a string of insults and disappointing tones that escaped the man’s mouth as though he could never find an encouraging word to simply plunk from the air. No, this man was vile, a man others respected and revered as a leader and support system, and yet they were all blind to the monster he really was. How could a beast such as that become a Captain, oversee a police force, and yet allow his own flesh and blood family to collapse around him?

Panic ensued. The devil she once called “father” stood over her, his leather belt swinging back and forth as a taunt, stained with her blood from beatings only moments before. A stained sheet wrapped around her to cover her shame. A shame he brought unto her each time he decided to steal and taint another piece of her existence. He only added yet another nail into his own coffin, but she held the hammer to seal him away forever. Surprisingly it seemed, the tattoos which covered her body hadn’t truly manifested their abilities until later in her life, when it seemed desperation, anger, and fear were at their pinnacle. When her older brother, her once protector, had gone away for his own reasons, never to return, leaving Czigani to face her own horrors alone.

Czigani watched her father, wrapped in a thick coil of black ethereal ink, writhe and scream on the floor as the dark ooze slowly squeezed the breath from his lungs, cracking cartilage and bone along the way. She was now the one standing over him, and yet wasn’t smiling as he had always done when in that position. There was no emotion that moment. It was as though all feeling had momentarily vanished and yet her only thought was to thank him in her own way. To thank him for unlocking a survivalist instinct she never thought she had. To put him out of his own misery and to incinerate a past that she hoped would never catch her again. She reached for her father’s favorite stainless steel lighter laying on the floor, a gift that had been given to him when he was promoted to Captain, and flicked the flame to life.

“Fitting...” She bluntly stated as though she were speaking to herself, but knew the man suffocating on the floor could hear every word. “It’s quite ironic, Dad that this very lighter you threatened me with time and time again as a child, will be the tool to end you.” She tossed the flame onto the living room area rug, which ignited and quickly began its path of destruction, and headed toward the front door.

“Welcome to my version of hell, bitch”

---

Czigani’s mind came around, the nightmarish memories fading away along with the impairment of the tranquilizing effects. Two male voices could be heard in the background, probably in the same room, but she kept her eyes closed making sure this was not just another false reality.

“Yo man, don’t hog all the pizza bro, we need this to last us for the next...what, like five hours?”

“Yeah yeah, shut it and throw me another tall boy, this chick ain’t going anywhere and I’m starved bro” The other said, his speech slurred a bit.

The familiar smells and sounds of the testing laboratory and it’s myriad of equipment assaulted her senses. She cracked an eye open just enough to confirm what she already knew.

Fuck...still in the same place...I swear if I... Her hazy train of thought was suddenly cut off by the incessant chattering of two young techs.

“Yo, yo, Jake...c’mere bro” One of them blurted out as he stepped closer to their patient still shackled to the upright lab table. “Damn she’s hot” He mumbled to himself.

“Yo, check out this sweet tatt on her leg, looks like some kind of-”

“Mike!, shit man stay away from that freakshow, you remember what happened to that dumbass Anders, right?”

“Yeah but she’s out bro. That shit Doc Kordano gave her would put a mutated elephant out for like half a day, and you know how big those things are supposed to get!” Mike snorted, as he turned back to get a closer look at the women’s ornate tribal tattoo, criss-crossing from her lower leg and moving up to wrap around the back of her thigh and beyond what could be seen.

“It’s like some kind of spider...no a tarantula. Damn, I can’t see the rest of it with her leg secured.” While the kid was examining it, his hand slid up toward the manual release lever.

“Alright bro…” The other warned “But this’ll be your ass if something happens!”

The overly curious lab tech pulled the release and the shackles securing the woman’s left leg opened, which caused him to momentarily flinch. He turned back to his co-worker, a wry grin plastered on his face.

“See Jake, nothing to worry about, bro”

As he turned his head back to the patient, Czigani’s unsecured left knee jolted out and cracked the unsuspecting tech square in the nose, knocking him backwards and sending fresh blood splattering against the white floor.

“BOO MOTHER FUCKER!” She screamed, as the injured tech writhed on the floor holding his bloodied nose and sending out a barrage of profanities.

Czigani shot the other tech a piercing stare that could bore a hole into a metal wall. “GET. ME. the fuck out of this place you shithead!”

The technician, his expression full of fear and uncertainty, bolted for the door yelling for security.

“Great.” She took that as a cue to expedite her own release, but was having a tough time focusing due to the remaining toxins in her bloodstream. The same toxins that seemed to repress her defense mechanisms.

“You know, fucker?” She looked down at the poor kid still wriggling on the floor. “You would have been dead earlier under different circumstances, so why don’t be a good tool, and get me the hell off this torture rack?”

“Hell no...bitch” He said, his voice taking on a nasally overtone.

“NOW ASSHOLE!” She screamed at the top of her lungs, and a rage she hadn’t felt in a long time emerged as a ripple went through her body to awaken the mystical tattoos. She could feel a twinge of their essence rising up.

“Well, now look at what you’ve done genius. You’ve awoken the hounds…”

The tech, uncovering his face, looked up to see the black tendrils of several creatures beginning to pull from her skin. His eyes widened in fear.

“Okay!...geez, ok…” He pushed himself up from the floor, and began pulling the remaining levers until each shackle was opened.

Czigani, crumpled to the floor, the wires pulling out of sensors stuck to her body, her legs feeling like gelatin. She looked over at the lab technician who backed away from her.

“J-Just go…” He said, pointing to the door. “Take the left hallway...you’ll bypass the security guards headed here”

Czigani rose to her feet as quickly as she could, grunting from pain in her spine.

“I don’t know what kind of perverse shit you have going on here, but if I see you again, I swear I will stick my fist down your throat, pull out your intestines, and feed them to your other pansy co-workers!”

She quickly ran for the double doors leading out of the lab, unsure of just what mess she was in for next.

---

Just as Chaz finished asking the lady who had brought the injured girl in, said girl entered the room, pulled out some knives, and said, "I don't know who you both are, but I am not going to be captured here. Both of you against the wall or so help me I'll take this whole place down. Both of you are going to tell me everything you know, now. And I swear if I so much as smell any MP, this place will be an even bigger mess. I'm not getting captured, not today or ever!"
Chaz flinched a bit as the outer door locked, the open sign he had just lit shut off again, and his built in security turrets popped down out of the ceiling and turned on the ex-patient. Chaz then eyed the girl calmly and said, "One, put the knives away. Two, the MP are already on their way, but not to arrest you. Three, I have fog dampeners in the building, so they wont be able to tell that your a Child unless you continue to act like and idiot. Four, she" pointing to Light, "brought you in here and I used one of my med kits to fix your injuries. If you stay calm and do as I say for the next half hour or so, you'll be able to go on your way."