Aaron looked up from his sitting position across from the black haired girl who began to speak to the group as they made their way towards the battlefield, raising an eyebrow as she spoke. Eventually, once she had finished speaking, the sixteen year old let out a light sigh, more so directed at the situation than the girl or anyone else. In fact, asking about powers and wanting to say something seemed the smart thing to do in his own book as well. At least it was a better idea then just running about without talking to anyone and trying to kill whatever monsters were out there for them to fight like a bunch of newbies who hadn't been given the tutorial for the game as of yet.

"Like Chris over here," Aaron said in a casual manner with some small hint of tiredness, his posture a seemingly relaxed thing despite what the sigh pehaps hinted at him feeling otherwise as he used his right hand to jut a thumb over at his rather edgy roommate, "I take some prep time before i can get going. Five minutes, actually. I summon clockwork crteatures, which i control at a distance via control panels. My creatures are customizeable little things, but the process of summoniing them tires me out a good bit. I can summon up to three, but with how i feel right now i might be limited to one or two at best unless people want me passed out on the ground."
After speaking, the boy stretched his arms over his head as best as he could in the truck space they were in, a light pop being able to be hard by those next to him before he lowered his arms once more. He had woken up for the most part, but a sense of groginess still lingered in the smallest of ways over himself as a whole, his body's desire to stretch being one part of that. If nothing else, however, it seemed as if they had an interesting group as a whole right now to work with, albeit probably from various backgrounds and with various powers.

"By the way, won't probably be easy for us since i'd wager we don't have some kind of healer in our group. Heck, we probably have most DPS here, or something along those lines." Aaron said to the group in general after a moment, following up with a few more words, "So it's probably a good idea if we all at least say what our powers are, eh? If we go in without a plan, well, we'll all probably die.'

The next person to speak was Zoe, who'd been sitting in place with a confident look in her eyes as though she were almost looking forward to reaching the battlefield. "Guess you've got a point. We have to make sure everyone can keep up with me, right?" She smirked, looking around at the rest of the passengers before continuing, not caring how they felt about the implications of that one.

"If we're talking powers, I guess I break things down. Living things. Whole body attack's pretty slow, but it gets faster if I focus on a smaller area. Have to touch whatever I'm attacking first, though." She leaned back, seemingly relaxed about the whole situation, though she was noticably avoiding actually looking directly at anyone, almost like she was trying to pretend they weren't even there at all. After a couple of seconds silence, a scowl of irritation crossed her face, and she spoke more sharply. "Well, any of you going to talk? We've not got all day."

Savannah hated to admit it- but she wasn't the most fit of people. She had spent most of her time over the last four years practing her violin or watching some soap operas- not exactly the most physically involved activities in the world. But nonetheless, she thought it a good idea to tell the 6 others about her power. Maybe they could find it useful. She opened about her mouth, about to speak, and then promptly closed it as the red-haired girl began to speak. She politely waited while the girl talked, secretly seething with anger. She clenched her fist, chanting in her head Don't punch anyone Don't punch anyone Don't punch anyone.

After what she assumed was quite a few seconds, she took a quick breath and launched into her speech. She wasn't sure if they could understand her through her thick accent, but oh well. "My ability is strange. It requires touch, but it's a counter ability. Basically, I put a magical charge into the target, creating a sigil on them. If they cast a spell, there's a blast. The blast relies on the strength of the spell that the target uses." the petite young girl finished. She didn't share her name- they didn't need to know it anyways.

The redheaded girl spoke next. "I'm Alexis," she nodded with a friendly wave of her hand, wondering again if anyone would recognize her. Hopefully not. They needed to focus on the upcoming fight. "I can summon shadow creatures, which can take on any shape as long as I'm familiar enough with it. I can either make one very strong shadow or three weaker ones. I can generally maintain them for up to ten minutes at a time, but I get a really bad headache when they're active. The more damage they take, the worse my headache gets, so it's a bit harder for me to focus the longer the fight goes on, but I'm sure we'll do alright!"

Angélique contemplated her team, her gaze crossing theirs as each of her teammates explained how their powers worked, or at the very least vaguely described them. Just like her, most of the teens on this ride barely knew about the powers within themselves. Perhaps had they also just recently obtained it? Or have they just not bothered experimenting with them for fear of being discovered? And yet here they were, apprehended by this so-called school for Subnaturals and thrown into a battlefield on the very same day they arrived at the institute.

The young metal singer took mental note of her teammates as they spoke. The first one to spoke after she asked about everyone's power was a blond-haired boy who seemed to be a bit too relaxed about this whole mess. Or perhaps it was because of his level-headed personality that allowed him to remain calm? Hearing him speak, he sounded like quite intelligent, if not a tad nerdy, from his gaming talk. Despite that, Angel thought that a clear mind like his could be of benefit for the team when it will come down to making plans and such.

One of the redheaded girls who was riding with them sounded quite bold, enthusiastic about going to battle. Angélique wasn't sure if it was bravery or foolishness, but with powers like what she spoke, she may be very handy when it comes to direct confrontation. Her smug attitude somewhat annoyed Angel, but she would be willing to cope with it, if it meant having a capable-looking woman by her side.

The youngest-looking girl of their team, a foreigner from her thick irish accent, also seemed to be someone useful on the battlefield. Her explanation of her power was vague at best, but Angel understood that she was meant to blow mages. Hopefully, she won't have to resort to that power on any of them. At the same time, it was good to know that if she ever happened to tag a sigil on one of them, Angel would just simply not use her powers.

Lastly was the other redhead called Alexis, for once someone introducing herself. She seemed quite a friendly figure, with the power to call forth shadow creatures. Yet another person with offensive abilities. No one seemed to be a user of defensive powers, and from the note given by Director Zhang earlier, the only two potential students who could alter wounds were on the other teams. So that meant that out of the three formed teams, Green Team had probably the most potential to wreck havoc on the field.

Angel's thoughts were interrupted as the truck suddenly stopped, the guard escorting them in the back of the truck ordering everyone to get out and meet with the Chief-in-command on the battlefied. Indeed, the place looked like a warzone, with other subnaturals and soldiers fighting off hordes of monsters. With a sigh, Angélique and her team got off the truck and were lead towards their briefing.

----------------------------------------------------------------------



Angélique listened intently to the golden-haired boy she had asked for opinions considering his apparent keen mind. He did not disappoint her as the boy launched himself into a detailed explanation of how they should approach this situation. Although Angel was annoyed by the fact she kept being called “screaming girl”, she realized the fault was mainly hers as she did not mention her name back on the truck ride, more focused on battle powers than personal introductions. Acknowledging this, the metal music enthusiast took mental note of this mistake and figured she might introduce herself properly to the team after this ordeal would be done with, if they survived the trial, that is.

"Hope you're right, Clockwork. Name's Angélique, by the way." Nodding to their suddenly appointed leader, Angélique turned to face one of the two redheads of her team, the girl who could apparently break stuff and team up with the screaming singer to protect the naked guy crawling on the soil, obviously pained by his transformation. She flashed a smug grin to her teammate and raised her fist for a bump.

“Alright! Let’s go protect Nature Boy over there.” Angel said, chuckling a bit. While the situation seemed quite laughable because of a naked guy, saucers of flying spaghetti and meatballs with limbs, the prospect of being killed by monsters on their first day was plaguing the metal lead singer. She was mortified by the thought, and her smug attitude was but a façade to hide all this anxiety and fear taking hold of her.

"You guys better stay alive! We'll get back to that shithole they call a school and share a meal and a bottle to our success!" The black-clothed young woman told to the rest of her team.

"SAME GOES YOU ALL OF YOU! GO KICK THEIR ASSES IN STYLE AND COME BACK ALIVE!" She shouted to the other teams, her fist raised high and proudly to the air.

Without any more time to lose, Angel dashed towards a transforming Christopher, still clutching the ground and groaning painfully as parts of his body began to transform hideously into something… reptilian? Despite lizard’s boy plea of not watching him while he was transforming, Angel didn’t really paid any attention to his request and watched, half disgusted and in awe at what was happening to his body. But she knew better than to keep looking at him, for she had meatballs and spaghetti to take care of. She turned to face the food monsters coming their way.

“We’ll keep you covered, Monster Boy, but you’ll have to do the same for us once you’re operational.” Angel said, vaguely relating to the message Aaron told her.

She had no idea how her powers worked, having only done it twice accidentally. And to top it off, she didn’t know if her voice could actually affect food or whatever these monsters were made of. But she knew one thing. There was no way in hell she was going to die pitifully and shamefully against these whacky monsters. USARLIN wanted to unleash a monster to fight monsters, well that’s exactly what they will get, and they’ll get the money’s worth out of her.

As if to accentuate her feelings, the whispers in her mind grew louder, as if pounding against the back of her mind, the barrier she tried so hard to keep up. But in the end, the frustration of the past week, the repressed anger, the sorrow and guilt she felt, and most of all her survival instinct, shattered this psychic wall. It was with all these emotions combined that she began screaming at a group of meatballs that had started to become too close to Angel’s taste. Her voice, unleashed and yet somewhat controlled, was projected only forward, a sonic wave made of high-pitched frequency blasting towards the balls seemingly made of meat and marinara.

Oh, that’s a good look in her eyes. A little too stiff, but at least she wasn’t flinching this time. Took her long enough, really, but Brent supposed that he should be applauding her efforts in the back of his mind for all that. Yup.

Clap clap clap clap.

Satisfied with that much, the amethyst-eyed youth moved Sophia Lemane out of ‘neutral’ and into ‘like’. Seeing someone try hard always made him want to try hard as well, and this time around, he didn’t even have to strain his ears to comprehend what she was trying to say. Maybe her voice was just hoarse, then, in combination with her timid nature. Brent nodded at that assumption. It made sense to himself, so it was probably fine to use that to visualize this young girl.

“No problem,” he replied, waving away her concerns, “I don’t really know where it is either, only that it’s a floor down, so hey, if we get lost, we can get lost together. That being said…”

He looked up and down her body once more. Doesn’t seem like she could do one-armed pushups or anything like that. Might even be detrimental for her, considering that arm in the sling. His own right shoulder was busted, sure, but she…

“…you’ve been to the gym before, right? Done your cardio and all that? Or yoga or whatever? Wait, unless you mean gym as in gymnasium, not where fitness freaks lift weights and pump iron?”

…she really didn’t look like the type to FEEL THE BURN and BURN THOSE CARBS.

But no, that was unfair.

"Of course, if you want to learn how to maximize your fitness routine, I'll be happy to teach you. Not a pro, but I've picked tips up from my bros."
@VampireOracle

Savannah Churchill

When Savannah awoke from a nightmarish sleep, she found herself tangled with her blankets on the floor. "Damnit." she muttered under her breath. Thus began the process of loosening herself from the creamy, soft blankets, which did a good job of sandwiching herself into them. As soon as she was unentangled, she jumped up onto the tall vanity, giving her a chance to see herself.

Her blonde hair was impossibly curly and untamed, just like usual. Her bright yellow eyes stared back at her through the mirror, an angry look to them. She had not yet gotten used to that gaze of her own, no matter how many times she stared at it. The skin on her face was pretty dirty, she'd have to take a shower some time. Her eyes wandered to her body, and Savannah adjusted her gaze back to her face. She refused to look at that today.

Without a second thought, Savannah leaped off of the vanity. She grabbed a loose fitting white sweater and a pair of black leggings from her duffel bag, and went out the door towards the bathrooms.

---

After a well-deserved 30 minute shower, Savannah was in the cafeteria eating some salad. The salad was not her first choice, but after seeing the display of unhealthy foods she had chosen to pick the one that was not going to make her overweight. There were several other students in the cafeteria, but Savannah chose to sit on her lonesome. She hadn't been feeling like being around other people lately, mostly because of her anger. As for now she was able to keep her Stigma under wraps, but if anyone even said something that was even remotely insulting, that anger would most likely manifest in a horrible version of itself.

On that note, the cuff on her anklet began blaring so loudly, in less than a second she couldn't hear her own thoughts anymore. She plugged her ears, grinded her teeth, and screamed what was probably an inaudible scream due to the siren. Once the sirens died down to a still fairly audible screech, Savannah took a couple deep breaths, calming herself.

Once she heard the announcements of Ms. Zhang, she fell silent yet again. Just as she had said, her cuff blinked green, and quite a few guards burst into the cafeteria. One rushed over to her and grabbed her arm rather forcefully, pulling her along. She wanted to do it, but she recognized that it was a bad idea to punch the woman.

---

*collab post, see above in Angel's*

---

Once the truck had stopped and Savannah was escorted out of the truck, she saw the full extent of the battlefield. She whistled, impressed yet frightened at the same time. It looked like the green team's monsters were the worst, what with spaghetti and meatballs charging directly at them. She took a small gulp, holding back the memories of her past that would be sure to assault her as soon as she stopped concentrating on the fight.

Haring her battle assignments, Savannah stepped towards Aaron. She didn't quite like her designation as 'you' but she supposed it would do. Hearing Angelique's invite to lunch and her war cry, she smiled a bit. Lunch sounded fun. She spread her legs, ready to touch anything that would come her way. She was ready for combat.

Allison Revel did not sleep well. Hours of tossing around, closed eyes watching a brutal mix of wet dreams and haunting nightmares. When she woke up, she felt empty, as if the events of last night were far away, and the events of a few weeks ago even farther. It felt as good as it did terrible, which was better than her usual mix of feelings. Eventually, that emptiness faded, and her mind turned from silent bliss to overload. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Allison laid there for another half hour before she allowed herself to move. She was freaking out over everything, which was to some extent warranted, but she was far beyond that extent by now. She needed to calm down. Just breath. All of it was in the past. She couldn't change it, only move forward. Freaking out only made her weak. She likely wouldn't have time to be weak anymore. Funny, he had used those exact same words once.

"Don't think about him, that only makes things worse, you idiot." She muttered as she sat up.

"Doesn't really change anything though. I need stop being so damn touchy about that fucker. Yea, he... did what he did, but that doesn't mean that not thinking about it will change the fact that he did it." She replied to herself. Allison picked herself off of the bed, angry, tired, and frustrated.

She stared at the pile of papers that sat before her. She was supposed to complete all of these exams. Well, at least it would get her mind off of everything else. She got to work, filling the silence with the sounds of pencil hitting paper.

Allison wasn't stupid, in fact she was pretty competent with most subjects. Having a good memory was a blessing in that regard, though it was certainly a curse in others. Even with that memory of hers, she hadn't studied most of these subjects for the better part of a year.

The cravings hit Allison several times, often related to last night's crying session. There was just something about the metalhead. No, no, those feelings aren't real, just a result of the stigma. Allison hadn't gotten too much of an impression of Angel aside from her screaming and crying. Sure, she was nice looking, but Allison barely knew her. Just the fucking stigma. It's just the fucking stigma. Allison ignored it as best as she could and kept going.

---

Sirens blared. Allison didn't know how long she had been sitting there. She had been working on those exams for hours, engrossing herself for hours. She hadn't moved to do anything except go to the bathroom.

Out from the campus speakers, as well as Allison's ankle cuff came a voice explaining the situation. Something bad was happening. Allison didn't want to fight. Hopefully she didn't have to.

Zhang's accursed voice rang out from the same speakers. Allison would have to fight, and she was scared. The only solace in the situation was that Angel was in Allison's group. One friendly face. One person she might be able to trust.

Soon, guards came to escort Allison to certain death. In her head, Allison was panicking.

---

'I'm going to die. We're going to die. We could fucking die here.' Allison repeated herself over and over in her head. She had no hope for the coming suicide mission. She had no idea what they were about to face, but it certainly wasn't going to be good. What was she doing? She was freaking out over something she had yet to even see. Overreacting? Maybe. She needed to calm down. If she kept panicking, she was going to die. She had a habit of doing this, didn't she? Freaking out over every little thing to the point of becoming a useless wreck. Allison blamed him. As Allison attempted to calm herself, she looked around at the other members of the green team. They had started introducing themselves.

Angel, the metalhead, had the fitting ability of "shouting people to death". Allison assumed that this was why her screams were so inhumanly loud. There was a guy who was able to create clockwork creatures, who's name Allison assumed to be Aaron, as he was one of only two guys in the group. The other guy was Chris, the uninteresting looking one who Allison hadn't payed much attention to during their... warm welcome. There were two girls who refrained from naming themselves, a freckled girl who could make things rot, and an angry-looking blonde child who could counter abilities. The last member of the group was Alexis, a redhead who could summon shadow creatures. This was an odd group.

It was Allison's turn to speak, clearly. Everyone else had fallen silent. Luckily, Allison's panic had reduced significantly. She let herself sit still for a moment, contemplating what the fuck she was going to do. She needed to be strong, she didn't have time to cry right now. She had to be Allison Revel, the strong woman, not Allison Revel, the emotionally weak crybaby. She let herself dwell on words she hadn't thought about in a long time.

"Listen, Alli, if you wanna make people listen to ya, ya gotta speak with purpose. You are in control. They will listen, what else would they do? If ya sound scared, they won't take ya seriously. Speak with poise, speak with confidence. You are in control. You are not weak, Alli. You are only weak if you believe that you are weak. Be strong, because you are."

Sometimes the worst people say good things. The words were painfully ironic, tinged with bad memories. She forced herself to dwell on the words, not on the person. She knew she would be near useless in combat, so she might as well lead. That gave her more reasons to be strong, to abandon the weak girl who was crying only hours earlier. No, she wouldn't be abandoning that girl, she would just be repairing the foundation, strengthening herself. She had to be strong. She needed to be strong. She wanted to be strong.

She took a deep breath.

"My name is Allison. Allison Revel." Her voice shook slightly, ever so slightly, though that was still too much. She clenched her hands around each other. Speak with poise. Speak with confidence. "My ability probably isn't as flashy as the rest of yours. I can summon a blade which can cut through anything, except for living things. Instead of cutting, it just passes through. It can also prevent anyone in contact with it from using their abilities. The blade only lasts for a minute at a time. Takes a whole three to recharge." Allison looked at everyone else. She felt good. She wanted to keep speaking. "So, Chris and Aaron will have to hang back? I'll likely stay back with them. We don't really know what we're facing, so we can't be sure if we'll be facing anything with some sort of casting ability. If we are, it still depends. I don't have any formal combat training." It wasn't really a lie. She had fought a few times, but it definitely wasn't formal training.

"I don't want to force myself as a leader onto you all, that would be stupid and cocky, but I think I'd work better with leadership and strategy than I would with fighting." She spoke just as she wanted to, projecting her voice loudly and with confidence. She looked between the two girls who had remained nameless. "Oh, and do you two mind giving your names? We have to work together, at least to some extent, and knowing everyone's names will definitely help." She spoke with a tender calmness, though she retained the same serious tone she had held the whole time. The two girls were obviously Zoe and Savannah, the only names that hadn't been given a face yet, Allison just didn't know who was who.

"Anyway," Allison kept her attention switching between every member of the group. "We are about to be thrown into some sort of danger, and we will have to do our best. Yea, this fight is an assessment of our abilities, but it is also us putting our lives in danger. We are going to fight for our fucking lives. And we will win. We don't have a choice. We have to keep cool heads and fight on, no matter what happens. I hope you all the best, sincerely." Allison felt wonderful. She felt confident. She felt Alive. She was ready for what was about to happen.

"We don't know what will be waiting for us. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best. Hopefully it's nothing ridiculous like a flying spaghetti monster, or something." Allison finished her speech just as they arrived at their destination.

---

"You've got to be fucking kidding me."

What was intended to be a joke turned out to be a third correct. The green team was supposed to take on three flying spaghetti monsters and a horde of man-eating meatballs. Ridiculous and horrifying all at once. Allison was happy that she had decided to make her speech before they arrived, as they had now had no time to waste. The meatballs were coming right at them.

"Alright, I'm definitely staying back with Aaron and Chris." Allison prepared herself a thousand times over. 'Do not be afraid. This is not a time to be afraid. Be strong. Be ready for anything, even walking meatballs.'

Chris had suddenly disrobed and gone onto the ground. Why did his transformation have to include getting naked? He had said not to look, but that just made Allison want to look more. Did the idiot have no concept of reverse psychology? Of course Allison looked at him, screaming at herself in her head that it was the stigma doing it. Allison was kind of disappointed at what she saw. She turned back to the evil Italian food.

The battle was beginning. Allison smiled at Angel as the metalhead rushed forward, screaming a sonic wave of death at the murderous meatballs.

---

---

Lawrence's shot slammed into the eye-leg's main body, distracting it from the attack it was charging. In retaliation, the creature squinted at the blonde boy, pupil dilating to a pinprick as four concentric circles of glowing red light snapped into existence in front of its iris, the perimeters of the circles bleeding outwards into jagged, uneven edges before each circle started spinning in alternating direction. Whatever it was charging was picking up speed in a matter of seconds when one of the dolls tap-danced away from Hazel's punch, which slammed instead into the crook of the eyeleg's knee, sending the creature toppling over again just as the circles hit what seemed to be optimal speed and fired off four slow bursts of pink-hued energy. The roughly basketball-sized missed shots arced up into the air before detonating in small, colorful explosions of rainbow glitter that rained down upon Lawrence, Christmas, Hazel, and Emma in bulk. The glitter stung to the touch and nicked small wounds on all of them--pricks like ant bites and shallow papercuts.

Where the glimmering particles touched Hazel's transparent arm, it left moderate gashes instead. Before the glitterbomb residue could waft on the breeze towards the eyeleg, the witch cackled and pulled a transparent orb from the folds of her cumbersome robe. Any glitter that strayed close to the eyeleg was sucked into the sphere.

The rest of the glitter wafted slowly towards Sander's and Kusari's general direction, while a small portion glimmered its way across the battlefield, towards the other groups. The vast majority of it, however, remained within the red team's area.

Rolling its one eye, the eyeleg squirmed on the floor and flipped onto its front, giant, manicured fingers sprouting from either side of its leg-body--four fingers on each side. The fingers propped the main body up while it bent the heel of its leg towards its head. Effectively looking more like a deranged scorpion now, the creature shuffled slightly forward, putting itself in front of the dolls. The large eye that was now effectively the freakish scorpion's head glowed again, the same pattern of four circles spinning in front of it. This time, however, the circles were blue and far slower to increase in speed. It didn't seem to be aiming anywhere in particular.

Clumsily, the witch climbed onto the fingerleg scorpion's back.

The three dolls teetered from side to side as chaos ensued, one of them spinning its head rapidly to stare at the source of the gunshot: Lawrence. This was the same doll that had uncannily noticed Hazel's initial attack. It pranced around the large flesh scorpion and eyed Lawrence once it had a clear view, its spinning eyes locking onto him.

One of its arms detached to reveal a chain connecting the limb to the main body before it spun around several times, whipping that arm at Lawrence with a loud chatter of its doll mouth.

The remaining dolls continued teetering and pirouetting slowly in place behind the scorpion, seemingly oblivious to the recent spate of attacks.

Meanwhile, Determination and Devotion had reached the group of five dogs gathered in a pack several meters to the left of the dolls, both shadow puppets following their master's command to simply attack. Determination slammed a fist into the torso of the nearest dog, crushing its upper body and sending it flying a few meters away while Devotion ineffectually slapped a different dog.

In response, the four remaining dogs pounced on the two puppets, their tongues piercing through the dolls easily and tearing them to shreds. Determination went down first, its body crumbling to the ground after repeated tongue shots from the dogs rendered it little more than a patchwork of holes. Devotion, still weakly slapping another dog, was torn to pieces next. Both puppets' shredded bodies remained on the ground for a while before dissipating into shadowy wisps and completely disappearing.

With a hissing flick of its tongue, one of the dogs led the other three in a charge at Emma.

---

---

---

The nurse--Margaret--who had attended to Brent's bed neighbor earlier found Brent in the hallway speaking with another subnatural. Flustered and overworked, she had held her tongue in the face of her rising panic at the alarm and the subsequent clarification of exactly who the enemy was. A Precursor turning against them? She could scarcely believe it and her panic finally spilled over into words as she passed by Brent and Sophia in the hallway: "All you freaks should just go to hell. All of you and Dreamcatcher."

As she walked away, haggard and weary, a soldier ran up to the two of them, double-checking coordinates on his phone before handing one sheet of paper each to Sophia and Brent. The sheets listed their names and their rooms (Brent Roless - Suite 330, Building A; Sophia Lemane - Suite 226, Building A) with a small, simple map directing them to the appropriate building.

Young and clearly still unmarred by the worst of the prejudices against subnaturals, the new soldier stood awkwardly in front of the two, figuring a few seconds was enough for them to read the gist of the sheets.

"Please head straight to the marked building on the map once you've finished any remaining business in Hospital Building C," he said, the pitch of his voice high and unintimidating. "Any extreme deviance from instructions will result in an electric shock from your ankle cuffs and potential death."

The formalities out of the way, he pursed his lips a bit in thought.

"But I'm sure you guys could head to the dining hall or relax on the grounds without too much issue. Curfew is at 2300 on weekdays, so there's plenty of time to eat. You guys are probably hungry, right?"

With a quick salute, he jogged back the way he had come, something about the general air of the emergency keeping most everyone on a faster pace, even for minor tasks.

In contrast, a figure was strolling slowly and calmly through the frantic movements of the hospital staff, tall body wrapped in a set of oversized, gray sweatshirt and sweatpants, the baggy folds of the pants almost obscuring a pair of gray tennis shoes. The large hood obscured most of the person's face, revealing only a bit of mouth and a pale chin below the sloping fabric. Tucked underneath the person's left arm was a sketchbook with the initials K. B. on the cover.

The person passed by the jogging soldier, who looked back curiously, but didn't stop, afraid to disobey any direct orders from Commander Kardos. Beyond that, everyone else was too busy and distracted preparing for potential new patients as a result of the emergency to look twice at the figure.

Humming a tune to itself, the gray heap of clothing passed by Brent and Sophia, turning its head to look at them. It flashed them a friendly grin, the thin, chapped lips parting to reveal a mouthful of sharp teeth, jagged and protruding in a manner resembling a crocodile.

"Pleasant evening to the both of you," it greeted them, the smooth, oily voice straddling the line between male and female as it raised an emaciated hand and pretended to tip an invisible top hat at the two students.

With that, the person continued past them, the slow, steady stride not changing.

---

She'd been stretching for almost thirty minutes now. Mentally prepping herself to start, but immediately burrowing back into her stretching routine like a terrified rabbit every time she saw someone enter her line of sight. She wasn't sure what she was so concerned about. Watching a girl run as fast as a car on the freeway here on this campus probably wasn't going to draw as much attention as she thought.

Her procrastination, disguised as patience, went unpunished, however, as she was finally given a long, people-less gap to begin. She exhaled, readjusting her headphones. It had taken her a good hour after breakfast to find the track listed under the amenities on the second map and then find it for real. No more stalling.

Cal exploded forward. She felt her foot sink as it cracked the track. She tripped in an effort to stop herself, rolling and sliding across the rough surface.

"Whoops!" she exhaled sharply as she stood up, looking between the new tripping hazard she'd just created and her bare knees-- not a single scrape. She couldn't decide whether or not it was a comfort. She'd never put much thought into what it must feel like to have super resistance, let alone super strength. Even now, she struggled to put the way it felt into words.

Another person entered her line of vision and she quickly shoved her hands into her pockets, casually stepping off the track. She didn't want to get busted for breaking it-- not on her first day here.... Maybe she'd come back a bit later?



Cal felt the hair on the back of her neck rise as she sat up on the track bleachers-- another unfinished Office episode in hand as her ankle cuff rattled off information and orders. What she felt... it was something akin to excitement, though she didn't feel like that word was appropriate. She tried to remind herself that she might die as she hurriedly locked her iPad and tucked it under her arm-- but that only excited her more.

With a carefully controlled pace, she ran back to her room, diving under her bed for the object she'd bought in town that day-- long and wrapped in an old, moth eaten sheet. Pawn shops never failed to deliver-- even in a town like this. There was a hard knock at the door just before Cal swung it open. Before the guard could say a word, she eagerly slipped into the hallway-- doing everything she could not to smile.

The soldier raised a bemused eyebrow at her as she turned to him and spoke.

"Lead the way, guy! Let's do this!"

And so, Marcus found himself wandering around the school proper. The first order of business was the registrar’s office, as the bottom of the sheet said, and he was keen to get there before doing any exploration. He’d joked about it to the girls, but there was a small part of his mind that was worried he’d lose the sheets by accident; he was slightly accident prone, and the last thing he needed was to go chasing a couple papers across the campus.

He looked down at his own paper, keeping Callan’s and Siena’s folded over (peeking would be rude, of course). He didn’t think that his was too unreasonable:



It was like writing a letter to Santa in a way: Sending a letter to someone he’d probably never see, hoping with all his heart he got everything he wanted, and inevitably being disappointed when the results finally came around. Nostalgic.

Fortunately, he had also taken one of the maps that the faculty had been kind enough to leave. Finding the registrar’s office wasn’t too difficult, and he only almost fell down the steps while reading the map once. The delivery of the forms was less than exciting, him passing them to the grumpy lady on the other side, and quickly skedaddling away from her scathing gaze. With no more responsibilities, and a free reign on the campus, Marcus set out, a gleam in his eye and a skip in his step.

---

---

It was a successful night of shopping for Marcus. He had managed to find a general store, and had bought the necessities he needed for the morning. While he appreciated Siena’s offer of a toothbrush, he had an image to upkeep! He wasn’t gonna use some girly pink toothbrush, his was going to be manly; blue, with Spiderman on it.

The rest of his shopping spree was spent on clothing, and that took about as long as regular toiletries did. He wasn’t very picky about his outfits, as long as they were functional. Plain jeans, plain long sleeved shirt. Some of the shirts had funny little blurbs on them, but they were otherwise unremarkable. His shoes got an upgrade; from plain sneakers to some work boots. The same comfort as sneakers, but with a steel toe in it. The way Marcus figured it, a little extra protection, no matter how small, was worth the price.

He was on his way back to his dorm when the alarm sounded.

Marcus stopped in is tracks, bags swaying uncertainly. A significant threat near campus, and he was just coming back from a shopping spree. It wasn’t the best position to be in, and he continued walking to his dorm, still listening to the broadcast and waiting for instructions.

Menagerie. As far as he was a aware, Menagerie was one of the good guys. It'd make sense for their combat assessment to be helped along by a guy that could make DC's beasts. Kill on sight seemed a little harsh for a test, so Marcus was forced to assume it was not, in fact, their scheduled assessment. They were going up against a Precursor, one of the originals, with nothing but a strike force and some new students. Perhaps he'd stay towards the back.

Blue team. His roommates, and three others, one of which happened to be a healer. His confidence was not elevated upon hearing about the limited healing situation, but he was put at ease a little bit when he heard his roommate's names. Two people he already knew, and that he was pretty sure wouldn't leave him to get killed. It occurred to him, however, that he didn't even know their powers; they'd have to figure that out on the ride over.

These were the things that stuck in his mind as he threw his stuff on his bed. They were going out to battle, and he didn’t even have a weapon. Hopefully one would be provided for him, or else there wouldn’t be much he’d be able to do. The only thing left was to wait for someone to ‘escort’ him to the trucks.

“Ah, right on time. Let’s get going!” he said, nearly running into a guard on the way back out his door.

Sophia Lemane

It turned out that Brent didn't know where he was going either. Get lost together, huh. She really hoped that they wouldn't get lost. This time she noticed as he gave her a look over, and couldn't help but look down at herself too.

“…you’ve been to the gym before, right? Done your cardio and all that? Or yoga or whatever? Wait, unless you mean gym as in gymnasium, not where fitness freaks lift weights and pump iron?”

Yes... she'd been to the gym before. The place where fitness freaks lifted weights and such.

"Yeah, a few times."

Though definitely no more than three times, and she'd never been there on her own either. It was true that she wasn't the most athletic looking person, but she wasn't exactly weak either. Her form of exercise had mostly been her dance classes that she had taken for over five years, and though some people didn't think of dance as a workout, it still had helped her build a decent amount of muscle. Good enough for her. She also tried to keep away from any workouts that were more on the vigorous side, since she tended to get dizzy too easily for her liking. For though she had never worked up the courage to ask her father about it, she suspected that her blood pressure was on the low side.

She now found herself looking him over quickly, noting that he did have a more muscular build. Then he was offering to help her maximize her fitness routine. Said he wasn't a pro, but had picked up tips from his bros. She caught at that information and stored it in her memory, but just the part about him having brothers. It was that kind of information that she always found interesting. The parts about other people's personal lives that were revealed bit by bit, though she was always hesitant when it came to revealing things about herself. Not quite sure whether to accept or decline his offer, she hesitated before settling with a vague reply.

"...Maybe."

The words were just out of her mouth when the steps of an approaching person sounded, and soon a nurse came into view. Sophia's attention moving from Brent to the nurse, she followed the woman's path with her eyes as she approached them... and spoke something not so nice before already moving away.

Sophia's response was to press her lips together as she watched the nurse round a corner and disappear. Then she let out a sigh. It hadn't surprised her much to see the nurse taking that attitude towards her, or rather, towards them, for the attitude of the guards had already somewhat prepared her as to what she should expect. But still, it wasn't exactly pleasant.

They weren't left alone for long before another person appeared in the hall, this time rushing towards them with an actual order to deliver. Automatically reaching out a hand to take the sheet, she glanced down it to see her name and a location, plus a small map. Glancing up once she had scanned it over, she listened to the soldier's words. He did seem to be less, how would she say it, less passive aggressive than the rest of the soldiers she had met. Especially with his last words sounding less formal.

But she actually wished that he would have just kept to telling them the order. The first part of the soldier's words had seemed a command, easy to follow and with no room for questions. The next part though, created conflicting thoughts. Head directly to the room, or linger around? She was feeling hungry now that he mentioned it, but would finding the cafeteria count as a violation to the order? It wasn't really extreme deviance, was it?

Staring down at the sheet in her hand, she didn't notice the next person approaching until they were almost upon her. Looking up as the sound of humming reached her ears, she blinked a few times at the figure dressed all in baggy gray clothes. They looked unusual, and became even more so to her as the figure smiled to show sharp and jagged teeth, wished Brent and her a pleasant evening... and proceeded to... tip an invisible hat? Or was he just swatting a fly or something?

However, the stranger didn't stop and just continued to stroll past, leaving Sophia staring after him with apparent confusion.

---

@ERode

The moment Kusari stepped off the truck a chill went down her back. She had seen Dreamcatcher's creatures before but this was the first time she had been so close, and she would now be fighting against them. Her chest heaved up and down as she took a deep breath, at least these weren't made by DC himself, they were just imitations. Her eyes narrowed, and her breathing eased. As long as she stayed calm, she could think. She listened to Eric, and watched as a girl from his team marked groups of the monsters for them to handle. It was an interesting ability, but this was hardly the time to be curious about it.

Lawrence tossed a knife to Kusari, reminding her of what she'd said in the truck. Catching the knife, she walked over to Sander as the others moved away from the truck. "Let's not make this long." She said, flipping the blade out and pressing it to her left wrist. The cut had to be deep, otherwise it could heal too quickly. She clenched her teeth, and quickly slashed her wrist open. A gasp that couldn't be helped left her mouth, the sudden pain was more intense than she thought it would be. Blood was flowing from the wound, trickling down her hand and dripping to the ground. "Here." She grunted, trying not to scream as she held her arm out to Sander.

Color drained from Sander’s face, but he moved forward nevertheless. The hesitation from earlier had evaporated, replaced by an eerie calmness as he reached out to grasp Kusari’s bleeding arm and brought it to his mouth. He drank deeply, not letting even one drop go to waste.

Kusari winced as Sander grabbed her arm without a word and began to drink her blood. Needless to say this was awkward, so she busied her eyes looking at the battlefield. The oversized eyeball was interrupted from launching an attack, instead firing upwards. What looked like glitter fell on the others in her group, it didn't appear to do much damage to anyone put Hazel. It seemed her arms were vulnerable while using her power. A bit of the glitter blew towards her and Sander, it stung as it touched her skin, but it was nothing her body wouldn't heal within a moment.

"Hey, that's enough, isn't it?" She said, looking back to the boy. She was beginning to feel light headed.

Sander didn’t give any indication that he heard what she said and kept his mouth glued to her bleeding wrist. If anything, his grip on her strengthened. As moments passed and the bleeding slowed, he grunted, then bit down on her wrist hard. His free hand clamped over her throat and pushed, shoving her back against the truck.

As her wrist began to heal and her bleeding slowed, Sander bit into her. "Ow! What the fuck!? Listen to me dammit, let go!" She screamed, trying to yank her arm away, but his grip only tightened. His other hand went to her throat, and she suddenly felt the truck slam against her back. This is what she got for being so charitable...

"When I said all that you need..." She gripped the knife, and jammed it into the arm he was using to hold her bleeding wrist. "I meant it, you dipshit!"

The sudden pain seemed to bring some semblance of sense back into Sander’s mind. He cried out, his iron grip loosened as he staggered back. His eyes widened momentarily as he looked at his roommate, breaths labored. He would have pulled off the ‘deer in the headlight’ look quite well, had it not been for the crimson hues that enveloped his pupils and the blood stains on his lips. Realizing what he had done, he hastily let go of Kusari, mumbling jumbled apologies and cradling his wounded arm. Before she could say anything else, he turned and dashed, heading to the battlefield like a cornered beast toward its escape.

The knife dropped to the ground as her hold on it faltered, stabbing Sander seemed to use up much of her stamina. He let go of her arm, but still held her by the neck. She didn't say anything as he stared at her, his eyes wide and now crimson red. The loss of blood surely was effecting her, because in this situation all she could think was "He's one step away from being nothing but a monster, yet those eyes aren't nearly as scarlet as mine... How annoying."

Sander's apologies were barely heard before he ran away to the battlefield. Kusari's vision went black for a second, and her body slumped down the side of the truck once she was released. The sounds around her faded as if she were under water, she tried to get to her feet but ended up flat on her back instead. Her wrist had only just stopped bleeding, it would take a few more moments for her blood to regenerate. In the meantime, she was gazing at the sky. "There's a point to all of this, right?" She said, her voice low and hardly audible. "If there is, please get to it already."

Hazel Baker

Even if it was a random swing she decided to throw out at the dolls, the dexterity and speed the one used to dodge her swing was astounding, certainly not a quality she would have attributed to such large monsters. But then again, this was the first time she had ever tried to fight outside the facility. However, her swing did hit the monster behind it, which was too preoccupied with doing whatever it was doing to actually dodge her. It shot a few balls up into the air above them, which exploded into glittery particles. Particles that opens up tiny pricks and cuts in contact with anything. Though in her case, long gashes appeared on her transparent arm. Her right sleeve quickly turned red from her shallow wounds.

It didn't feel right.

Her ability was one she focused by using images of her own limbs enlarged to visualize her attacks, but for all intents and purposes, no one should be able to see her attacks nor understand how it works without receiving it or seeing it in action at least once. To observers without knowledge of her ability, all they would see was one girl with transparent limbs punching at something not even within her arms reach. For one of the monsters to dodge it completely without knowing what she could do was strange to even her, deep within the haze as she was. There was a secret to one of them, but she knew not which nor what the secret was.

In retaliation to their attacks, one of the dolls went after Lawrence, and a few of those dog creatures started bounding towards Emma. There wasn't time for her to think, for priority one was about to be attacked. Both her arms turned transparent, and with a side step towards Lawrence, she intercepted the attack with her left arm, then executed a wide ranged horizontal attack using her right. Blood spattered on the ground, her wounded right arm still bleeding as she made that move most people would call a karate chop. While she was only intending to attack and force the one doll attacking Lawrence back, she had enough range to reach all of the monsters with that one sweeping attack.

A passing remark from the ‘young’ nurse earned a smile from Brent. Was she like this because they both had white smears, and thus, were less likely to go ballistic at such a comment? Or was she like this because she was super stressed over all the people who were about to require medical attention? Indeed, the contradiction between wishing they all died and trying to prevent their death probably fucked up her psyche quite a bit.

“Thanks for not sending me there!” he called out as she rushed away, before turning to Sophie and shrugging helplessly.

Well, there were people like that. That’s why it’s good to smile in such scenarios. Maybe next time, he should get the nurse a box of chocolates, as thanks for not poisoning him in his sleep. Any of the hospital staff could certainly do that, after all, so undoubtedly, for all her thorns, Margaret wasn’t THAT stupid.

Any chance of further conversation, though, was cut off by the next person, a young soldier that handed them their room assignments. It didn’t include his prospective roommates, of course, which ultimately made Brent ambivalent to it all. Suite 330? Third floor then. Maybe a good view of…what, the rest of the facility? At least there was a map. Tucking it away in his pocket, Brent turned back to the soldier, acknowledging the instructions with a nod. “Aight boss,” he replied, “We’ll keep that in mind. You seem like a cool dude. See you around, yeah?”

With Menagerie dropping monster bombs and shit, hopefully it was a good sign that this particular soldier wasn’t on the frontlines yet. A rookie, hm? Would be nice to learn to shoot shit from him. Committing that babyface to memory, Brent turned back to Sophie, ready to finally guide her to the lower floors and the gym, when the third strange encounter occurred.

A whistling individual, wrapped up in gray cloth. Almost like a mummy, if Brent had to guess. Definitely someone with a memorable appearance. Made the amethyst-eyed youth jealous in a certain way. If circumstances were less frantic, no doubt, many people would be giving this person looks. And…that smile. That was certainly a smile that would remain in his memory. A chill ran up his spine as that individual passed, his first taste of a truly irregular existence within USARILN East.

It was…exhilarating. Another individual to ask about, huh?

“To you as well,” Brent said, mimicking its gesture, flashing his own white, straight teeth. Definitely made him curious. Super duper curious. Might even have made him want to go after that person, ask them what their deal was, if he didn’t have prior engagements.

Ah, so much to learn, so much to do, so much to s-

It was slightly, but, despite the general buzz of activity all around them, his ears caught it. The gurgling of an empty stomach. Instinctively, his eyes flickered back to Sophie and forcefully, his eyes turned back to that strange individual. No point in making things even more awkward by making it clear that he noticed the rumbling of her stomach, after all.

“Hm…actually, change of plans. Wanna go eat something first, Sophie? Feel sorta hungry on my end, actually, and exercising on an empty stomach is pretty terrible, all things considered. Not like there were any in-transit meals during the truck ride and all…”

He considered how long it had been since he had even eaten anything, before nodding vigorously.

“Yeah, shit, I haven’t eaten since yesterday. Whatcha say?”

---

---

The Blue Team’s truck came to a stop a safe eighty metres from the bulk of the blue-marked monsters. As the students piled out under the harsh barking of their supervising soldier, they were able to observe their enemies as they prepared for battle. Even with the distance between the two groups, the monsters’ behaviours could be somewhat deduced.

The most notable of the enemy monsters was a large quadruped about the size of an African bush elephant, 3.3 metres tall. Its hefty, leathery torso stood upon four legs resembling those of a cassowary. With their thickness and texture, the legs seemed to look like tree trunks. The oddest feature of the monster had to be its two heads, one of a hippo and the other of an emu. It was quite clear that the bird head was the most authoritative of the pair. It clucked and bobbed its head around wildly while the hippo head remained stationary, most likely due to its lack of a neck. The creature seemed to be kicking at something in the dirt, shaking its legs every so often while the bird head pecked at its front feet. The hippo head merely yawned as this happened.

The second most formidable looking opponent was a beetle-like humanoid. It stood a confident two metres tall. For the most part, it looked like a heavily-built man in black beetle plate armour. It might have been able to pass for a human man if it weren’t for the horrid ‘mouth’ covering its entire face, including its eyes and chin. It resembled a carnivorous plant but a few of its mouth flaps were askew, making its face’s silhouette look like a morbid model ship. It stood by the largest monster with its arms crossed and head cocked to the side, as if awaiting orders.

Accompanying the two largest creatures were three fishmen. They were had the torsos of large orange fish but the limbs of normal human men. They stood on all four appendages but moved quite clumsily, as if they hadn’t learned how to walk properly yet. They seemed a bit disconnected from the rest of the group, left to their own devices as they stumbled over each other.

The majority of the blue group consisted of five squirrel-rat hybrid humanoids. They were around the size of infants, only slightly taller than knee length. At present, they were play-fighting amongst themselves, which made it clear that they were extremely nimble fighters. They ran at the speed of greyhounds and primarily used their claws and fangs in their play fights. It was this pack of squirrel creatures that spotted the students in their preparation period, alerting the rest of the blue marks with their collective squealing.

The whole group started towards the mages, with the pack of squirrels easily taking the lead with their speed. The beetle-man was the second fastest of the blues followed by the large bird-hippo. Due to the sheer speed of the squirrel creatures, the distance between them rapidly increased. The pack of rodents would reach the students first by a large margin. The fishmen were still lumbering at the back. It would be a fair while before they reached their opponents.

All five of the squirrel-rat pack scurried in a crude V formation, no member splitting off or getting left behind. As they neared the USARILN backup, a gust of rainbow glitter from the direction of the red team hit both groups, inflicting miniscule cuts and injuries on all of them. The squirrel pack squealed in pain, but it didn’t seem to affect their speed as they bounded towards their human enemies. The beetle-man redirected his running path in response to the squealing, now heading in the general direction of the pack rather than the side. The pack would be the first to engage in battle.

Sander let himself immerse in thoughts the entire ride. The conversation went on around him, his teammates exchanging information and strategies. He didn’t chime in though, and only spoke unless spoken to. The importance of sharing information was clear to him, but he still couldn’t bring himself to speak frankly about his particular power. He was still ready to answer if asked, but thankfully, no one in the small group did. Maybe it was because they didn’t care to know. Or maybe they believed the Director’s explanation was sufficient. Either way, he felt somewhat relieved. They would find out, eventually, but at least let them do that in the heat of battle, when the blood blurred his shame and fear.

The prospect of battle unnerved him quite a bit, despite the fact that unlike many, he did have the opportunity to explore various applications of his power in practical fights before. Sander was no stranger to violence and combat; he was not allowed to be. But battles with clear objectives were new to him. He had never fought officially before, the line between enemies and allies had never been so clear. One slip up, and he could end up killing the wrong person. Or he could snap. They would no doubt put him out of his misery like the rabid dog he became. The gloomy scenes played on repeat in his head, and he fought to rein in the urge to slam his fists against the closest surface. He knew enough not to break his hands before a fight. Or during said fight, for that matter.

By the time their ride skidded to a stop, the sounds of combat were no longer just a distant hum. His throat felt dry as he shallowed, but he knew it was not fear that picked up the pace of his heart. The addict in him stirred at the promise of upcoming conflict. Violence was his freedom; only in the midst of it did he feel truly liberated. It disgusted him, to be reduced to just a weapon in the arsenal, but what could he really do? He had never been brave or strong enough. He probably never will.

As soon as his feet touched the ground, he heard screaming. His brows furrowed, but he chose to instead look straight forward, eyes locked on their assigned targets. Someone could be hurt in that direction, and he didn’t want to risk a glimpse. He had already seen enough gore to last a life time. Or maybe several. However, he couldn’t really say he was prepared for the monstrosities that lumbered across the field. They were nightmarish things, either body parts crudely cobbled together or twisted creatures borrowed from fairy tales. He had seen similar things on the TV in his younger years, but that couldn’t even compare to the live experience. The first thing he did was turn to his teammates. Unlike him, it seemed most of them didn’t need peculiar requirements to active their powers. They sprung into actions, while he stayed behind with Kusari, both of them situated near the truck.

Sander pondered his words. Asking for blood was not something he was terribly comfortable with, even with the threats of violent deaths looming. Fortunately, Kusari made it easy. He barely saw the flash of metal before the alluring scent filled his nostrils and her arm was dripping red. Instinctively, he held back, just for a fraction of a second. Just because he could. Just because he always had. Then he nudged himself forward, plunging willingly into the depth. No return now.

Contrary to popular beliefs, he didn’t like the taste of blood. It was not too different from what most people would expect: wet, tangy and metallic. It was far from appetizing. What he found irresistible though, was the aftereffect. First, there were the thuds of his heart. Warmth spread outward; the sensation akin to taking a dip in hot water. His mind cleared, his thoughts crisp and his senses sharpened. It was as if he had been sleeping all his life. The sensation only strengthened over time, and he found it difficult to let go. He didn’t have to, really. Kusari couldn’t die. She told him. So it was fine if he pushed the limit, just a little bit. It was alright. Somewhere, a gun went off. Minutes later, something nicked his arms and back. It ached, but he didn’t care. He was sinking.

Sharp pain flared up on his right arm. Sander staggered backward, his jaws went slack to let a cry of pain escaped. Kusari stabbed him. It hurt. But she didn’t plug the blade anywhere important. He didn’t need to worry. She was weakened, if he just pressed his fingers into that spot, right there, on her neck, she shouldn’t resist much longer. But…he couldn’t. No. Sander blinked dumbly, stepping away from the girl immediately. Wrong target. Wrong. Move.

Sander turned and dashed. It didn’t take long for him to reach the front line. He didn’t have long anyway. Moments ago, the blood was warming him up. Now it burnt star bright and white hot, and he needed to move, to tear into something before the fire turned him into ashes. Allies stood before him, their backs turned, their scent wafted toward him. He would have little problem.

Sander turned his gaze toward the large targets. He focused on them and waited. The fire was building and so was his strength. It wouldn’t be long. He saw the girl with transparent arms move first. Blood splattered. None of it his. He held on just for a few moments afterward, then launched himself at the biggest thing. It wasn’t hard, with the new strength in his limbs. As he approached his target, he leapt and pulled his right arm back, ready to deliver a crushing blow. There was no finesse in his movements, just violence propelled by brute strength. One monster against another.

---

---

"And if one of the two groups is getting overwhelmed and needs help, then say something to us so ya' don't die before we can send anyone in to--"

Woefully, Aaron was unable to complete the final word of his explanation. An approaching meatball hopped up into the air and tucked it's little legs in, effectively diving into a spin. This allowed the delicious creature to cover the ground between itself and Aaron, mid-sentence between "overwhelmed" and his unspoken "help". At such speed, Aaron was unable to notice and dodge it. The positioning of his folded arms robbed him of the ability to catch his fall. He hit the ground hard as the surprisingly heavy meatball rolled over him. A loud snap signaled the breaking of a bone. Alexis, who had been facing Aaron as he explained his plan, was also bowled over. Unable to catch herself, her head hit the ground with a smack. Unlike Aaron, however, she was unable move-- completely unconscious.

The hell-raising meatball continued onward towards Chris, joining a second meatball as it tuck-and-rolled towards the vulnerable arbiter-- just as Angel began her harrowing scream. The meatballs unfurled their tiny legs and opened their gaping mouths in distress. They rolled around in a directionless panic for as long as Angel screamed, ultimately left stranded on their backs, kicking their tiny legs furiously in a futile attempt to right themselves. As the sound of her voice faded, a high pitched screeching noise coming from the fallen meatballs became audible.

The so far docile noodle appendages quickly raced towards the rest of the group, though they still seemed to have some trouble finding their targets as they excitedly patted the ground around green team. One noodle found Aaron, instantly wrapping itself around his torso with all the hungry aggression of a starved snake. As this happened, tiny bits of glitter, originating from red team's direction, descended upon them.

---

---

Where was his panic?

Living with the constant stress of his own fears twisting and stabbing in his gut had become second nature to Christmas. This calm was breaking the comfort of routine, even if that routine constantly wreaked havoc on his health. Breathing without worrying about being loud was too easy. Moving without second-guessing his motions was too easy. Looking directly at the world for what it was--too easy.

He noted four pink shots of energy curving through the air as the eyeball fell over, the subsequent explosion of glitter catching his eyes before the same shimmering specks rained down slowly around him and the nearby students. The first sting against his cheek drew a spot of blood and he reflexively covered his head with his arms, though not quickly enough to prevent a few smaller nicks from appearing across his face. Several flecks touched his right eye, the light cuts searing against the sensitive cornea before he squeezed both eyes shut, waiting for the worst of the glitter to pass, wincing as thin papercuts appeared all over the backs of his hands and neck. Several thicker clouds of the glitter cut through parts of his clothing, tearing small wounds into the underlying flesh. Whatever didn't cut into his upper body drifted down to his legs, nicking away at the skin there, too.

Wearing a light jacket and shorts in September was not his brightest decision. Especially now.

The pain from the corneal abrasions in particular made him gasp, but even the temporary loss of vision in one eye and tiny stings and papercuts all over his body wasn't enough to deter that smothering calm. Christmas lowered his arms when the worst of the glitter had passed, though his right hand remained clapped over his ribbon as he turned to look at Lawrence. Just in time to see one of the dolls pirouette, its chain arm dragging behind it.

He barely had time to notice the eye's new form when his heart skipped a beat in time with a sudden pulse through the flatline of calm. Christmas sucked in a breath to compensate, good eye darting rapidly across the ground as the spike of anxiety passed through him. A rattling sound like wood or ceramic clacking together repeatedly made him look up to see the doll's arm whipping towards him and Lawrence.

As Chris laid there, his now red, crocodilian eyes stared towards the meatball rolling towards him, before it was blasted by the voice of another subnatural. "Da-mn...eet." He was now struggling to make words not only from the intense pain and pressure but it felt as though his vocal cords were being tangled. "I-I-I-I Tcholk Yo nod to lo-o" His eyes widened as he suddenly jerked his head up, being cut off from his own body's reaction as his tongue rapidly morphed, growing into an elongated, serpentine tongue with two separated tips, forked like a lizard, which was sticking out of his mouth and flicking in the air. His hands struggled to hold onto the ground.

His skin began to transmute into scales, in a crystalline process similar to water becoming ice. As it spread from the nape of his neck as its source. The green leathery scales that became of the skin continued to morph, widening and becoming plated like metal sheets. The scales continued to slowly spread up and down his body. Meanwhile the features of his waist began to contort. His two masculine gems, once hanging placid, now rapidly began to shrink and seemingly dissolve along what was still somewhat pale human skin. Chris would then scream out, his head tilting up further and his eyes strained and wide. A tail began to grow from the crevice of his lower torso, while what was once an anus began to close up and flatten along with the body, dissolving in a similar process. By the time both features were gone, the skin there were already growing into scales. His hair began to fall from his head, and his nose started to elongate. His head then lowered as he would vomit blood from his mouth onto the floor. Slowly forming a puddle on the floor.

Another scream was released from his mouth, jerking up a again as if his own human body was in desperate protest. His hands would clench the dirt so tight that they now made small holes. No longer able to keep his hands occupied he'd jerk back up on his hind legs as his tail continued to grow in a slithering motion beneath him. As the scales spread to his wrists his nails slowly converted into claws. His once human face now started to elongate, whatever hair was left was falling off like feathers.

Emma's skin was now pockmarked by stinging shallow cuts- the rainbow glitter which might have at first appeared festive was in reality dangerous, it appeared. The battle around Emma raged on: Lawrence and Christmas formed a duo in which the former appeared to be doing most of the work with his shotgun, with an injured Hazel flying to their defense. The glitter appeared to have had a greater effect on Hazel than on the others.

She didn't want to think about what Kusari and Sander were doing. She had been warned about the nature of his power but it was unsettling all the same.

Emma considered joining her roommates (and Christmas), but before she could do so she needed to worry about the enemy in front of her. She had learned two lessons in the last sortie (Despite her inexperience Emma was in fact able to analyze the last engagement and evaluate her effectiveness): If she wished for her Tulpas to undergo more complex action she would have to command them herself, for example they will not use their powers independently. The other piece of information she had picked up was their fragility- of course they were entirely expendable but it would still be preferable if they did not die faster than she could muster up the emotion to summon them.

With this now under Emma's consideration Determination and Devotion once again appeared in front of her, the charging dogs closing in. She had a solid plan of attack, or at least one she had perceived as solid:

"Devotion, turn the ground into sludge in front of us! A-and determination, when the wolves reach it try to take them all out!" Emma's voice was unsurprisingly still shaky and unsuited for command, but her Tulpas complied all the same.

---

---

As they arrived at the battlefield, it took a second for her to take in what was going on. The display from the other Subnaturals had been impressive, but that didn't change the fact that her group had their own targets to take on. When she looked at their targets, Zoe did a double take. What the fuck? After a second look confirmed that they were being attacked by aggressive Italian food, she decided not to think too hard about it.

Seemed like Aaron had decided to take charge from the way he was ordering them around. While she wasn't the biggest fan of being told what to do, someone had to do it, and there wasn't enough time for everyone to sit around arguing over the role. Part of her was thankful someone had stepped up, so she just nodded as he sorted them into smaller teams, making sure to note who she was with. Shouting girl, and Chris, who was currently writhing around on the floor. Not a sight that filled her with confidence, but she just rolled her eyes.

While there hadn't really been any proof of his leadership skills, Aaron's strategy made sense to her from the powers she'd heard. From the sounds of it, the three in her group were probably the most straight-up offensive types, at least while they weren't sure if the enemy could cast anything, so putting them on plate duty was fair enough. Although she couldn't help but think that the guy was talking a lot. Still hadn't stopped, but her attention went elsewhere as he continued.

Saying that, she could probably only injure the meatball things right now as long as they were running around. Her abilities were too slow to be that useful unless she focused them, which worked fine when she knew where the vital organs were, but where the hell did meatballs keep their important bits? Did these things even have brains? Well, even if they did she didn't have a clue where to find them, so not exactly the ideal enemy. Even if they'd had a clear head or something, it'd be easier to target than this.

Nothing she could do about that, though, so she turned to her team-mate who wasn't currently flailing around on the floor. She smirked, considering Angélique's offered fist for a moment before nodding and meeting it with her own. "You got it. Name's Zoe, though. 'Breaks-stuff-down' girl's not got much of a ring to it."

After Angel offered some encouragement to the rest of the groups, Zoe just gave them a joking salute before turning to look at Chris's location. Hey, maybe it'd put them at ease a bit if not everyone was looking so worried. Knowing somebody else was confident normally helped other people feel the same or something like that, right? She was about to head off to her position when Aaron's speech was cut off with a thump and a snap.

And then everything went to hell.

---

Aaron's speech had been cut off just as he seemed to be finishing up, as one of the creatures knocked him down and basically ran him over, along with Alexis who was out for the count... Which meant there was no-one in that group who could actually fight these things unless they started using magic. And if the things didn't? Two average humans, a blacked-out redhead and a cripple. Sounds like the start of a bad joke.

Then again, the plan said she was meant to stick with the singer girl, but as she glanced over and saw the two meatballs flailing around on their backs, it seemed to her like Angel was handling herself just fine even if she hadn't finished them off. Chris definitely wasn't in a state to fight yet, though. Seemed like whatever Zoe did, someone was getting screwed over.

While she would have spent longer thinking it through, her decision was made for her when one of the noodles wrapped around Aaron's torso. She wasn't about to sit by and let anyone get killed, even if he was only in this position 'cause he liked the sound of his own voice too much. Letting someone on her side get injured when she had a chance to protect them wasn't really her thing.

Who needs plans anyway?

She sprinted towards the creature that had a hold of Aaron, getting as firm a grip on it as she could and activating her powers. There wasn't time to try and destroy the whole thing, but she focused her ability into a small area just above where she'd grabbed, wisps of dust rising from it as black, vein-like lines started to appear on her arms. As she did, she felt a rush of adrenaline - her Stigma, of course, but that didn't change how exhilarating it was. For a few seconds everything else faded away, only the sudden realisation of what was happening bringing her to her senses.

Hissing through her teeth, she shook her head to try and clear her thoughts and then yelled to the two people still standing nearby. "Savannah, Allison, one of you go back up Angel! Hold these things off 'til Chris gets his shit together, alright?"

With that out of the way, she focused her attention on the creature again. Her ability wouldn't cut through it right away, but it wouldn't take long to weaken the thing's structure enough that she could rip off the part with a hold on Aaron. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of something that looked a bit like glitter... She doubted it was anything good, but wasn't about to let go, instead just shifting her position slightly to shield her eyes. Hopefully it wouldn't do too much damage - her clothes could probably stop some of it from hitting her anyway.

Sophia Lemane

Even when the strange gray-clad figure had strolled out of sight, her gaze still remained on the point where they had been seen last. She wondered if they were another student in this place, or if they were part of the staff. Or here for some other reason. Probably not part of the staff, though how would she know? It reminded her about how little she knew about how USARILN East, even though she was now enrolled in the school. She knew somewhat what was expected: obedience and immediate compliance. But when it came to who exactly the people themselves were who worked and lived here, she knew basically nothing.

I'm probably going to be seeing a whole lot more people here than I'm used to.

The realization actually made her cringe inside, and her thoughts began to wander off as she thought about all the different kinds of people she might meet, and the different possible scenarios that she might find herself in. So when Brent began to talk to her she listened, but absentmindedly and not with her full attention until he mentioned the word "food". Hearing that important word, her eyes flicked over to him. It seemed ages since she had last eaten, so she was all for abandoning the gym idea (at least for now) and going off to find the dining hall instead.

Realizing that she still had the sheet from the soldier still held in her hand, she began to fold it over and over, sharply creasing the edges perhaps with more force than she needed to. She couldn't help it, she was feeling nervous and her only current vent was the paper in her hand. The paper was no more than one and a half inches by the time she was done with it. It hadn't taken her more than ten, fifteen seconds to deal with the paper, so when she was done she replied.

If you could even call it a reply. She could have talked about how hungry she was, voiced her curiosity about the stranger, or speculated about how her room might look like. But though these thoughts went through her mind, she didn't see the point of using any of those conversation starters. They were most likely going to go and eat soon, so there was no point in complaining about her hunger. Bringing up the stranger might make her look like she was nosy or a busybody, and it wouldn't get her any closer to knowing the real answer. As for wondering about how her room might look, she would be going there soon enough.

So all she did was nod her head once and accompany that with a "Mhmm" that was supposed to show that she agreed to the idea of going to eat. She made no move to start walking yet, but if Brent were to start she would gladly follow.

---

@ERode

Angélique’s scream came to an abrupt stop as she witnessed from the corner of her eye something happening to her team. In just a matter of minute, while she was shouting at the meatballs coming at Christopher, one of the cow-sized balls of meat charged with amazing speed towards the group, more specifically at their newly-appointed leader. It came with such force that it rammed the golden-haired boy with tremendous power and knocked Alexis out at the same time. Then the spaghetti monsters began to approach the team, and even one of them have taken hold of the blond gamer boy with its noodle appendages.

As much as she wanted to try and be of assistance to the rest of her team, Angel couldn’t let dragon guy behind her alone and defenseless while his transformation still occurred. Goddamn, it was taking him forever. Couldn’t he just try and make it quicker? They were wasting time and resources just focusing on defending instead of blowing the crap out of these monsters. Even if she was frustrated by the outcome of this situation and the battle starting to go downhill, she couldn’t shy away from her assigned duties, and so remained by Christopher’s side.

“Less talking and more transforming man! We could really use your help right now!” The black haired young woman replied to whatever words Chris was trying to say with his morphing mouth.

“And you, soldier guys! Don’t just stand there and jerk yourselves off! Shoot the stunned fuckers, or blow them up for all I care!” She added crudely to the USARILN guards that have been assigned to escort her group into this stupid battlefield.

“Why you little-“ One of the guards started speaking before the other interrupted him with a raised. “Alright, just stay clear from our line of sight. Don’t want another incident and get reprimanded by Ms. Zhang, now would we?” The second guard calmly answered. Having a line of sight on the dazed meatballs without compromising the safety of the students they were to backup, the two soldiers raised their rifles’ sight to their eyes and aimed briefly before disengaging the guns’ security and firing a barrage of bullets at the creatures.

By the time Angélique barely heard through the racket of gunfire her red-haired teammate shouting to the two remaining standing girls, the ex-singing sensation swore she just saw small sparkling flakes falling out from the sky. Upon removing her shades, she noticed that those were in fact some sort of glitters raining down from everywhere, but mostly concentrated from red team. She didn’t know if one of her fellow “students” had a power related to those glittery flakes, but she didn’t want to take any chances.

Taking another deep breath, Angel then exhaled the accumulated air in her lungs into another ear-ravaging shriek. This time, she was aiming vaguely at the glitters falling from above her team and towards where the group of monsters she was taking care of. It couldn’t hurt trying to see if her scream had any effect on matter, as well as estimating how far it reached and the area it covered. If she could actually kill the meaty creatures with repeated exposure to high-pitched sounds, seeing how it already affected them greatly much to her surprise, then she would be a happy lass.