---

Since childhood, Dr. Williams had a fascination with fear. The mere thought that simple stuff could trigger a certain anxiety peaked her interest, as well as science. The years went by as she scaled up to become one of the most famous yet best scientists in the world, in time too. When the war had struck the city she was living in, Jane had to move back to the last fragment of society. Her hometown, England.


The more she heard of the deaths, the battles, the destruction. The more she grew anxious. "I can't just stand here. This has to end, or else..." Jane then had an idea strike her, involving her childhood.





She couldnt work on her project, not yet. One person couldnt. So Jane had contacted and gathered up all her fellow scientists. Some didnt believe in her idea, but in the end joined in aswell.


And thus, Project: PHOBIA was born.

---

The selected test subject were to be escorted to the underground facility. First by the office building elevator, the entrance. And finally through the front desk and Misson Control. Then to the assigned rooms for testing.

Dpending on the type of fear that the subjects were to combine their DNA code with, it could have been quick and painless, or long and agonizing. Dr. Williams watched over them in case something went wrong.

To the doctor's doubt, the expirement was sucessful.

After that, the subjects were to wait in the main room so Jane could introduce herself.

They had returned every night since he had signed up for that bloody project. The screams of Marie-Ann, Abel, and little Rosie that he had never actually heard. Their desperate cries of help. His guilt, knowing he had caused it. He could feel the heat, and he too tried to scream. But he had lost his voice. And now he was falling, the walls of flames rising up around him.

Calixto woke up in a sweat that morning, like the others. But this time, it was different. Today he would be a guinea pig, a lab rat, a test subject. He had thought over this many times over the course of a week, it seemed like a dream to him. Something that would've happened in a movie or a show on the telly.

But here he was now, being escorted with others down and down and down and down into the facility where he would either gain strange powers or he would die. Here he was now, about to be experimented on.
Five, four, three, two, one....

Those damn flames had returned again. But they weren't all around him this time. They were within him. And this time, they were real. The searing pain of flames, coursing through his body. This time, he was allowed to yell and scream. But no one would help him. He had chosen to do this to himself. Was this what it had been like for the flames to surround his family? His voice grew scratchy and faded, but that's when he could scream the most. His body shook violently, uncontrollably against straps. He strained against them, unable to move, which only made him scream more.

This was it for him. Breath out, and breathe in because this is the end. This was where he would be relieved from that pain; from flames coursing throughout his body in this moment and from the memories he had created when he was so little. Cal was wrong though. He wouldn't be relieved from his life just yet. But after what felt like a long tormenting and hellish several hours, the pain flickered out.

Dazed, sweaty, a mess, and a little bit dizzy, Cal was escorted to the main room. There he fell against the wall and slid down to the floor, mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausted, to wait for what was to come next. Yes, walking in this laboratory had felt like a dream to him. But now he was unclear if it actually was reality, or if he had finally gone insane from his past haunting him.

He felt different. Warmer, like those flames were still there. Like they were just hiding for now. He gave out a huff of breath, letting his head hang as others were brought in.

Yes, those fucking flames had returned and now they were staying for better or for worse.

The green haired male frowned as he was separated from his much calmer twin and taken down the almost never ending elevator that would that would determine his fate. Scared wasn't enough to even describe how the boy felt. His bony hands were trembling, and his already pale face had gone paper white. If this experiment were to fail, if he wasn't good enough, that would be the end of him. He would leave Thalia in a world where she can't rely on anyone...

As these thoughts raced through the teen's mind, he failed to realize that he was being strapped onto the experiment table to be tested on. It was too late to turn back now, Eiko thought as he closed his eyes tightly and braced himself for the worse.

...
...
...
...Nothing happened. Eiko couldn't feel anything. Maybe he was already dead? Far too curious to think about it, the green haired boy opened his eyes only to scream in horror at the sight of the ghostly, disfigured spirits were staring directly at him. there were far too many to count, and all of them had something uncomfortable about them. One had a mostly decapitated head, with blood staining their semi-transparent clothes. Another had no arms or jaw, and only stared at the boy with sunken eyes. Eiko closed his eyes just as quickly as he opened them, but it was in vain as the ghosts' appearances bled into his eyelids; he couldn't escape them.

The sight of different, but equally grotesque, ghosts, clouded Eiko's vision, to the point that he hadn't even realized he was being escorted back to the main room with the other successful patients; how long had it been? Bright, now hollow and glossed over, green eyes slowly took a look at the surrounding area., the only thing to take note of, excluding the ghosts, would be the other boy who looked probably as tired and distraught as him. Eiko gave the other a short nod of acknowledgement before taking a seat a few feet away from him. He had originally wanted to sit next to him for comforting reasons, but one of many ghosts had been occupying the space, and Eiko didn't plan on asking them to move...

This may have been a mistake. It wasn't the needles or the treatments or anything like that. It had been pretty painless all things considered, although his legs were a little numb for some reason. But he wasn't so worried about that.

Ardin was in his comfort spot, on the floor in the corner of the room. It seemed that the other subjects that had gone through the experiment were gathered here too, and judging by their faces, their operations hadn't gone as smoothly as his did. Perhaps they shared his thoughts - signing up for a project to weaponize their worst fears was probably not the safest idea. At least, he hoped someone did.

Ardin tapped his fingers on his thighs impatiently. The numbness could've been a side effect from the treatment but it could've just been because he'd been sitting cross-legged for so long. Maybe he could've been on a chair, but he liked the floor. Being on the floor in an underground bunker made him feel better when he was nervous, and he was most certainly nervous right now. He wasn't sure what to think about the situation, but he didn't believe it would end well.

If he was right in his assumptions then the experiment had been to create a weapon. The world was at war, after all, and he was sure that this experiment was to help the war effort. Most things were these days. Using fear as a weapon was nothing new, but using it like this was something else. And that was what made him worried. Ardin eyed the other occupants of the room, a grab bag of strange people he didn't know. Perhaps it would be too early to make assumptions, but the aim of the experiment had apparently been to turn a weakness into a strength. And if that was the case, it wasn't unlikely to assume that the strength would be used. And if that was the case, it spelt trouble for Ardin.

He stopped staring suddenly, and pinched his eyes. If he had to admit it, he didn't really want to be here. He didn't like trouble and usually went out of his way to avoid it. But this wasn't something he wanted to do, but something he should be doing.
Anything is better than that. He told himself.
He sighed quietly and sank back against the wall. Ardin was on the floor of the underground bunker, as low as he could be, but all the good that it did for him wasn't enough to keep down his anxiety.

The room had been bright. The uncomfortable kind of bright that casts a white glow on everything, and the whole building had an eerie sort of sense to it, like a hospital in the middle of the night when you wander the halls and it's only you and the night nurses who quietly murmur amongst themselves from the shelter of their glass-walled station. They had quickly ushered her through the entry and down a small elevator. Nothing of particular note caught her attention until they entered the laboratory.

It was late and the floor seemed mostly empty, save for a select few manning the machines which were humming along the walls. They directed her towards a small and sparsely furnished room and told her to wait. The staff she had met thus far seemed to all be the quiet type, but for the first time since she entered the facility she was alone.

---

Nausea and a sense of uneasiness swept over her when she finally awoke.

She couldn't recall the faces of anyone she had crossed paths with, and what's worse, she had very little memory of what happened after she entered the testing room. A side effect of the procedure, they told her. So was the sick feeling in her stomach. Her eyes burned. Her throat burned. Every part of her body ached, and she was oddly... wet? She traced her fingertips down her arm. Did I take a shower? The puzzled look on her face remained until she looked up and saw what looked to be a large glass cylinder filled with water in the center of the room.

The uneasy feeling she had when she first awoke heightened to a sense of sickening dread in a matter of moments as flickers of the previous hours flitted through her brain. Screaming. Darkness. Water. She couldn't breathe and yet she wasn't drowning. Like her worst nightmare except she couldn't wake up; couldn't escape it.

Blinking she stood on shaky feet and walked the few feet towards the white, windowless door. The icy handle turned easily and she stepped out into an empty hallway.

It was even brighter outside the lab room. Or maybe they dimmed the lights while they were testing? Heels clicked at the end of the hall and a frighteningly tall older woman with a stern face and dark eyes strode towards her.

"You shouldn't be alone out here yet," she huffs. The woman places a firm hand on Maddie's back and guides her to the main room to finish recovering with the other subjects.

“Stop taking your medication.”

It was as simple as that. The researchers had been concerned that any sleeping pills still in Dawn’s system when the tests began could lead to some...particularly nasty side effects. They hadn’t given anything overly specific, but the threat was sincere enough that Dawn had agreed. For the past two weeks, she hadn’t touched the pills.

And for the past two weeks, sleep had been hell.

There were deep, heavy shadows around her eyes as she followed the other applicants through the facility, her hands clasped tight around a cup of coffee. She took slow sips of the stuff throughout the elevator ride, the various winding halls, and had just polished off the last of it when they reached the labs. Smiling wanly at the researcher assigned to her, Dawn tossed the cup in the nearest bin, rolled her sleeves up, and laid down on the experiment table. As soon as she had gotten settled, the researcher deftly pulled the restraints up and clicked them into place, shrugging at Dawn’s questioning look.

“Just in case.” He dabbed a spot on Dawn’s arm with an alcohol swab, then drew a syringe from somewhere out of her sight, giving it a good tap. “Some patients haven’t reacted too well to the serum, and I’d prefer not to have my nose broken if you start thrashing.”

Despite how generally awful she felt, the comment still elicited a chuckle from Dawn as the researcher brought the needle to flesh. “Well, um. Thank you for your honesty. I’ll try not to throw any punches.”

“Appreciated.” And then the needle passed skin, serum injected, and it was over. Stepping back, the researcher replaced the syringe with a pen, and, gripping a clipboard in his other arm, watched Dawn with distant eyes.

Minutes passed, during which Dawn’s head began to hurt. Her blood pounded in her ears. Soon enough, it became a migraine harsh enough that it forced her to shut her eyes, although it was hardly anything that would warrant her being tied down like she was.

Eventually, the headache settled into a dull throbbing, and the researcher wordlessly loosened the restraints. He waited until Dawn got her bearings before ushering her to follow him, leading her down another string of corridors to some sort of waiting room.

Dawn hung in the doorway for a few moments after the man had left her, glancing over the other patients. All of them seemed to be in various states of discomfort- some more than others. As her eyes roamed, however, they caught on one figure in particular. A young man. A boy, really; he couldn’t have been older than seventeen. He was staring off into space, looking as white as a sheet. She had known that there was no real set age for the project, but…

Adjusting the brim of her hat, Dawn made her way over to the boy, settling down into the seat besides his. “Hey there,” she said. “Are you alright?” Her voice was soft, expression gentle. Hopefully, her speaking with the boy wouldn’t make things worse.

@Tenma Tendo

"...Definitely a liminal space."

There was no way the bunker could be anything but, in Esther's mind. It had that particular feeling that you only found in empty schools, deserts at night, and your bedroom at 4 A.M. A feeling of thinness, as though at any moment some sort of portal to another world could burst open and send you off to Wonderland. Esther found herself wishing nervously that something like that would happen. She and her escort had passed a couple of the other surgery rooms, and the sounds that had come from them were... not pleasant. She kept up that line of thought all the way until she arrived at her designated surgery room. Her soldier escort opened the door for her, and Esther stepped inside...

---

pain

pain pain pain

allah's tits that is a LOT of pain

holy shit

okay, esther, let's try opening one eye. s l o w l y...

Rather than the stabbing beam of light Esther had expected, it would seem that the surgeons had turned the overhead lights off in the room, leaving the small window in the door as the only light source. "Oh thank goodness." Esther whispered, and opened her other seven eyes.

...Wait.

Esther slowly reached up a shaking hand to feel her forehead. Sure enough, she found six small eyes embedded there, which blinked reflexively at her touch.

Oh god. Oh my god, oh my god oh my god what the FUCK

Mirror. I need a mirror.

Esther tried to scoot herself off of the surgical bed (noting that the pain seemed to be subsiding pretty rapidly), only to catch sight of a jet black, blade-looking thing flicking towards her. She quickly flinched away, only for the... whatever it was to sway backwards and forwards gently from the residual motion. In fact, now that Esther looked at it more closely, it seemed more like... a leg.

oh FUCK no

She quickly looked down at her body, and it took all of her energy not to scream out loud.

Instead of a pair of nice, normal, human legs, Esther's lower body had been merged with that of a massive spider. Eight massive, pointed legs grew from a spider's torso that had apparently been seamlessly attached to her waist, replacing her legs. Or maybe they had mutated her legs into this somehow? Esther wasn't sure, and didn't really care that much, to be honest; she was focused on trying not to puke instead. She hated spiders. Not out of any particular trauma, really, she just was absolutely terrified of them. "And now I am a spider. Hahaha. Fuck. Allah in heaven, please forgive your humble follower for being so amazingly stupid as to sign up for this shit." And there was also, of course, the fact that her butt was now a massive spider abdomen. That was pretty gross as well, though it at least was not as bad as the legs.

Esther took a deep breath, then exhaled shakily. "Oookay. Let's try walking. And then finding that mirror." She scooted carefully off the bed, trying not to think about how gross her new set of legs looked. Fortunately, after a bit of wobbling, Esther found that she could stand and walk pretty well, though the clacking sound of her legs on tile was a little disconcerting.

Eventually, she was able to locate a hand mirror that had apparently been left for her, on top of the pair of jeans she had been wearing, which were folded neatly and left on a table near the door. All her other clothes had, fortunately, been left on her body, so she didn't have to worry about putting things back on. Esther picked up the mirror and angled it at her forehead, brushing aside some of the hair that had gotten in the way. Her new peepers were rather small and beady, compared to her original pair, and were entirely black. "I guess that's a good thing. It'd be pretty creepy to have six normal human eyes right in the middle of my forehead." Esther muttered. She still brushed some of her bangs over them, though. Even she wasn't very comfortable with them, to be quite honest.

Esther put the mirror down on the table and grabbed her jeans off the table, slinging them over her shoulder, before hesitantly reaching for the door handle and opening it. Outside was the same soldier who had escorted her to the surgery room. If he was surprised at her transformation, he didn't show it. In fact, he didn't say anything, only pointed down the hall at a door marked "Waiting Room", took her jeans, and left. Before Esther could complain, the man had strode down to another door, this one designated "Incinerator", and tossed her jeans inside, accompanied by the "FWOOSH" of hot air. "Oh, come on! Those were my favorite pair! ...Though I guess I don't need them now, what with the whole half-spider thing. You're lucky my wallet wasn't in there, though, or else you'd get a real earful!" The man said nothing. Esther looked at him for a bit before shrugging and walking back the way he had pointed.

Those in the waiting room would be able to hear a faint clicking sound from outside, which would steadily get louder until Esther arrived and opened the door. Said spider-lady had assumed that there wouldn't be anyone else in the waiting room yet, and thus was a bit embarrassed. She tried to maneuver herself around to sit on one of the chairs, and after a minute or so of floundering, decided to say "Fuck it" and sit on the floor, folding her legs underneath her. She smiled at everyone nervously, not knowing what else to do, and in so doing displayed her rather large new fangs. Not the greatest first impression.

“Y’know, I’m pretty sure it’s common courtesy to buy someone dinner before you start tying ‘em up like this.”

No answer, aside from a rather unimpressed look from the doctor as she tightened the restraints.

“Not much of a talker, eh?” Letting out a long breath, Percival turned to face the ceiling, the bind around his head digging into his skin with the movement. In all honesty, he would have been grateful for any sort of reaction. A chuckle, maybe, or even an offhanded “shut the hell up, I’m not paid enough to deal with patients being little shits”. Even though he had already set his mind on doing this, he was nervous. God, was he nervous. Whatever happened here would change his life forever, and the screams from the neighboring rooms hadn’t helped in the slightest. A distraction would have been great.

There was the bite of the needle into his flesh, and Percival shut his eyes, taking in slow, steady breaths. It would be alright. He needed to loosen up a little. He would be getting paid enough to swim in, and get to be a living, breathing superhero. Who knew- maybe he would get something really cool, like flight or ice powers or something. He wasn’t afraid of ice or birds, but it was a nice thought. Wholesome.

Minutes ticked away, marked by the steady click of the nearby clock. There was a steady sort of thrum in his veins, and he felt a bit...cold, but overall, it wasn’t so bad.

And then his teeth started to hurt.

That wasn’t too bad, either, at first. It felt sort of those growing pains he got back when he was a kid, deep in his bones. His jaw began to feel a little sore, too. However, instead of levelling out at an annoying, but still tolerable like your garden variety growing pains, it got worse. And worse. Percival gave a nervous chuckle, squirming a little against the restraints. After a few minutes, he began to scream.

When Percival was eventually released, rubbing at his chafed wrists, he had to admit to himself that the pain wasn’t the worst part. Maybe it was the fact that he could hear the bones in his face growing, quite comfortably, like a tree being split in half. Maybe it was the fact that, at some point, he had started to laugh- hysterical, hyena-like shrieks. Honestly, there were a lot of things that were pretty nightmarish about the whole thing, so Percival decided not to spend too much time settling on a favorite.

Instead, he focused on the now. He had found a mirror on one of the counters and was now eyeing his reflection like it had teeth. Which it did. Giant, sharklike teeth, in place of his regular, normal, non-freaky teeth. He was also as pale as paper, which was fairly creepy in itself, but his focus was honestly more on his mouth. Explained the pain, at least.

Clicking his teeth-fangs together, Percival placed the mirror down, glancing back over his shoulder at the researcher. “Well. Hope you guys offer free dentistry.”

Just as before, silence. Running his tongue over his canines, he quietly followed the researcher out and through the corridors until both reached the entrance to a recovery room. Or a lobby, maybe. Surprisingly, the researcher spoke for the first time as they came to a stop, voice high and sweet despite her attitude throughout the whole thing.

“Wait with the others. Dr. Williams will see you all shortly.”

Others, then. Swell. Percival watched the researcher step out of sight before turning back to the door, hands in the pockets of his coat. Who knew, he thought. Maybe they’d also be stuck with a new makeover, too. Could start a therapy group. Or a club. Wear it on a t shirt or something. With a flutter of his jacket, Percival bounded inside, only to see that his little “makeover” prediction was very accurate.

Well. Only partially accurate, really. Most of the people inside looked fine, really, except for the lady with a giant spider rump. Despite himself, Percival started, giving a quick “Oh Christ” under his breath at the sight. Giant spider lady.

Gathering himself, Percival slunk forward, taking a seat and patting out the front of his shirt. “So,” he began, drawing out the “oh”, “gonna take a quick stab here and say...fear of lawsuits?”

It was an attempt to lighten the mood, albeit a bit of a “hit or miss” one.

@Tojin

Eiko's eyes continued to wander around the room, his skin practically blending into the wall behind him. It wasn't like he was trying to look at them, but more like they couldn't escape his vision. Were ghosts always so close to people without any of them realizing? Eiko immediately pushed the thought away, leaving it as a side effect he had from the serum just entering his body. Sooner or later, the eyeless ghost cats and amputated old people would disappear and fade out of existence...

Just as Eiko was about to blink and give himself a brief second of relief, an older woman with a defining hat and noticeable bags under her eyes took a seat next to him. He had originally been saving the spot for his sister, but he didn't have the heart nor the voice to tell the woman, who had probably been through similar pain as him, to move.

With his eyes now focused on the woman who sat next to him, Eiko waited patiently to see what she had to say, with her asking if he was alright. The question was to be expected, but why she chose to ask him out of everyone else...did he really look like bad?

As if taking a moment to process what he had been asked, Eiko gave the woman the best smile he could give at the moment, his pale lips barely tilting upward.
"...Just...tired, I-I guess." Eiko's voice unintentionally cracked, allowing the weakness in his speech to come out. In attempts to cover it up, Eiko slowly held out a pale hand in the direction of the kind woman. "I-I'm Eiko...I-It's nice to m-meet you..." He stuttered as his hollow eyes remained on the woman and not the transparent beings that were floating around and even through her.

@EchoicChamber

---

Thalia let out a confident huff as the men around her tightened the restraints to her arms, leg, waist, and even a few extra, like her neck. Clearly confused as to why she needed a neck restrain, the girl spoke up.
"Oi, why did I need this? Isn't it a little unnecessary?" She question. One of the men gave her a look, showing that he understood her confusion, but remained silent none the less.

The short girl continued to look at the equipment they were bringing in, her eyes stopping at the sight of a defibrillator, what doctors used to restart to heart. It was then that fear began to sink into her mind. She had told her brother that this would be a cakewalk and that they would both be okay, but the thought of one of them not making it always crept in her brain. She could only hope that if one of them had to go, it had to be her no matter what.

With very little precaution, one of the men practically shoved the needle with the serum into her arm, causing the girl to wince in pain. And so as the serum began to course through her veins, she started to feel the effects. Her whole body shook, a scream ripping through her throat. If felt as if millions of needles were being pushed into her body and being ripped out from the other side; and while it wasn't actually happening to her, the girl's skin began to show mottled needle pricked spots. Thalia continued to shake and thrash, her eyes rolling to the back of her head moments later.

After what seemed like forever, the girl stopped moving for the worse. Her mouth hung open, with blood trailing out the edges while her eyes never came back from behind her head, blood also emerging from the sides. The monitor that has been keeping track of her vital signs released a single note as the line on the screen had stopped moving.

And while she became unresponsive, Thalia could still hear and feel everything. She heard the men panicking and running around the room. She felt the defibrillator press against her chest in attempts to revive her. But after a few minutes, Thalia lost consciousness.

One of the men that entered the waiting room, carrying Thalia. He had quickly placed the girl on the floor before turning to leaving, leaving Thalia unconscious, but alive, on the ground.

Jane had spotted Maddie outside of a test room without a guide, so she had to walk her to the waiting room earlier than planed. A scientist, shooked up from Thalia's side of the expiriment, exited out of a room.

"Excuse us, Laurence."

The scientist yelped and quickly turned around to face the two. "Oh! H-h-hello boss! Haha! D-didnt see you t-there!" Dr. Williams pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed, "What did you do this time...?" she asked her coleague.

"W-well, ya-ya see...Its about s-subject- T-thalia.."

Jane crossed her arms and replied, "Im listening." The scientist coughed and blantly said, without drawbacks,

"She almost died."

"WHAT." Dr. Williams glared at Laurence as she uncrossed her arms in exchange for her hands curled into fists.

The scientist quickly backed up, shaking their arms to signal Jane to calm down, "I-I SAID ALMOST! Y-YEAH! W-WE WERE ABLE TO R-REVIVE HER! HEHEHEHEH.." Dr. Williams took a deep breath before patting Laurence on the shoulder.

"Must be lucky then. Next time, Im not hesitating to fire ya, K?" Laurence nodded before walking away, still abit tense.

"Sorry about that. Work tends to mess with my temper.. Jane apologized to Maddie, "Shall we move along, then?"

---

Once they arrived at the waiting room, Jane motioned Maddie to sit down with the others before picking up Thalia. "Ms. Tachibana?" She tried to wake the girl up, but nothing worked, so she decided to leave her with someone.

She spotted Eiko talking to Dawn, and aproached the boy. "Excuse me, are you this girl's sibling?" Jane asked Eiko. When he said yes, she gave Thalia to him.

"Treatment must have been more fatal than we thought..atleast she's still ok."

Dr. Williams went to the middle of the group and cleared her throat. "Greetings everyone, My name is Dr. Ja-" Jane's introduction got interupted by her nephew, James Hathaway, being thrown two inches away from her. He hit the wall in between Cal and Esther, sliding down to the floor and hitting his head "Ow...Haha..worth it.." he said as he scratched his forehead.

Then Jane's daughter, Miriam, walked in muttering something along the lines of 'Hecking Idiot..' and 'Why do I have to put up with you?' as she pulled her cousin up. "Sorry, mother. James 'Had' to try out the rocket launcher prototype.."

Dr. Williams lightly chuckled and ruffled the two's hair. "Its alright, you two can go sit down with the others."

James sat with dawn and Eiko, "Uh, hi! Im James!" he introduced himself to the two. While Miriam sat next to Cal, seeing as he looked like he was gonna pass out. "Are you alright...?" she asked.

And Jane counted the group, seing as some arent in the waiting room yet, she decided to go on ahead. Clearing her throat again, she introduced herself and the two.


"Greeting everyone, my name is Dr. Jane Williams. That's My nephew, James. And thats my daughter, Miriam. Nice to meet you all."

Cal couldn't believe that he had been the first one to be done with his experiment. Out of all the others, he'd thought that his had lasted the longest.
As the others arrived, slowly but surely, Cal made sure to examine them. He was sure that they'd all probably have to get used to each other. The next person who arrived after him was a boy, younger than him. (@Tenma Tendo) He looked pale and tired, like him. The boy gave him a nod, and Cal returned the gesture as the boy sat across the room.

The next to arrive was one he hadn't noticed before. Another male, probably about his age, who sat in the corner of the room to himself. (@Lord of Evil)

After him was a girl. She hung in the doorway for a moment before sitting down next to the younger male and asking if he was 'okay'. Cal scoffed. Of course the boy wasn't 'okay'. None of them would be 'okay' after what had happened to them. (@EchoicChamber)

He heard the clicking before he saw the girl...spider...spidergirl? She had an abdomen with six more legs than a human was supposed to have, and six more eyes on her face than a human was supposed to have. A shiver ran over Cal. Not because he was afraid of spiders (he wasn't), but because he hadn't thought that a physical change was something that could have occurred to him. He watched as she struggled to sit in a chair, before muttering a curse and finally sitting on the floor. (@Tojin)

The next boy to walk in had a pale face, more so than the first boy, which looked a little terrifying to Calixto. He sat down, throwing out a joke about how the spidergirl must've had a fear of 'lawsuits'. Cal smiled, only a little. How could someone find light in this twisted reality? (@EchoicChamber)

The last subject to arrive terrified Cal. She didn't walk in but rather was brought in by one of the men who had probably overseen her experiment. She wasn't moving, was just limp. Was she...dead? Another shiver ran over Cal. (@Tenma Tendo)

Finally, the one overseeing all of this walked in with another girl. She looked wet, and Cal wondered what had happened to her. Was she to be his opposite? Maybe she could help him. He overheard the doctor lady talking to the youngest boy about the girl, who was apparently his sister and was still alive. Finally, she began to speak to all of them. (@Ktyhrea@Majoras End)

"Greetings everyone, My name is Dr. Ja-" She didn't get a chance to speak before another male was thrown into the wall beside him. On 'fight or flight reflexes' from his experiment, Cal gave a yell, jumped up, and put his hands up with palms facing the ceiling. Small flames erupted from his palms, which caused him to yell in shock again. He patted his hands quickly against his sides, and the flames went out.
"What the fuck," he stated, looking down at both his hands and the boy who had hit the wall. He talked about something being 'worth it', and another female walked in. He didn't pay attention to the next few words as he calmed down again, and sat back down on the floor. He stared at his hands. What the hell had just happened?

"Are you alright...?" the female who had walked in asked Cal after she had just sat down next to him. Cal scoffed.
"Considering I just went through a hell of a lot of pain and now have the ability to conjure flames, something that has haunted me from a young age, I'm gonna go ahead and say that I'm not alright," he shot out. He wasn't really rude to the girl, he was just expressing what he had been feeling.

"Greeting everyone, my name is Dr. Jane Williams. That's My nephew, James. And that's my daughter, Miriam. Nice to meet you all."
Shit. He should probably be nice to the girl, considering her mother was in charge.
"Sorry," he muttered under his breath. He looked up at Dr. Williams. "So, what now?" he posed the question. He was sure most, if not all, of them were wondering it.

Ardin wasn't 100% sure how he'd expected the other subjects to end up, but he most certainly hadn't expected a spider person. He involuntarily twitched a little when she walked into the room, which made him feel guilty. But honestly, there was no way to be ready for something like that. The spider girl made Ardin a little apprehensive about the other subjects but besides the girl who looked like she got rained on, the rest of the subjects seemed relatively normal. Although that was no reason to believe that they were still normal.

Ardin quietly listened on as the others spoke. He had nothing to add and thus nothing to say. He also wanted to speed things along, but he wasn't in any hurry. Pleasantries were all well and good but he wanted to know what the procedure had done to them, and what exactly it was they would do. He adjusted his position to a more comfortable one, raising one of his knees to rest his head on. Nothing much for him to do know but listen, since it seemed that the scientists had more to say.

Juniper had been mentally preparing for this day for quite some time but as she stood in front of the facility she felt as if she was being caught completely off guard. As she walked in some of the staff greeted her with that same curious and eager look. A look she had been receiving since the second meeting in the application process when she had told them about her phobia of Magic. It made more sense after she had signed the NDA and they told her of the opportunity to turn her phobia into a power. Their only caveat was that they could really not say how her powers would manifest. Magical powers, having many forms in folk lore, could mean anything. These scientists also saw an opportunity to possibly break the law of conservation of energy, if magical energy could create something from nothing then there would suddenly be an exception to many of the laws of physics.

Lost in her thoughts, Juniper was already on the operating table. She consciously chose not to take in her surroundings, her eyes staring off into the distance, glazed and despondent. Before she knew it a nurse was prepping her arm for the serum. "So there's no anesthetic?" Her voice wavered nervously.

The nurse shook her head lightly, "Only if we think you really need it, we find it can disrupt the treatment."

"Ahhh I see, best if we avoid that." Juniper murmured to herself mostly. She felt the prick of the needle in her arm, at first it was like just a needle prick, nothing more. As the seconds ticked on she began to feel warm, similar to what one feels when drunk. This warm feeling became accompanied by a strange energy. It didn't hurt physically but Juniper was very uncomfortable. The staff just continued watching her carefully. The energy began to surge and everything faded to black

---

Juniper's eyes shot open and she woke with a start, sitting up very quickly. She was not tired, she did not feel foggy. In fact, everything seemed crystal clear, more in focus than ever before. The energy she felt before was still there but now it was quiet, waiting for her to call upon it. The nurses around her looked very frazzled as if they had seen a ghost or, more likely, something much stranger. "Well you have stabilized Miss Baroclette, I think we're all glad to see it too." said a nurse with a once pristine bun that was now quite messy.

"How long was I out, did something happen?" Juniper asked as she slid off the table, causing the nurse to flinch and step back. This shocked Juniper, no one had ever been afraid of her before.

"Miss Baroclette, while you do seem to be in perfect health, the treatment caused quite the ruckus. You were convulsing, we had luckily put you in restraints by that point and you were babbling in a strangely deliberate way. Something more, you whipped up quite a storm, wind and what not. I swear we thought we gave you the Lilapsophobia serum on accident." The nurse rambled, clearly she was unable to regain her cool. The others glared at her, as if to tell her to shut her mouth.

Juniper was feeling uneasy by this point, that eager look from before was different now, it was fearful. She could take being ignored, disproved of but this was new and she wasn't sure she liked it. "Oh, should I go join the others?" Juniper was unsure of how else she could have responded. The nurse nodded at her and directed her down the correct end of the hall way. With the speed walk of a 80's mom Juniper left.

Upon entering the room with the others Juniper realized she was late, perhaps her whole magical possession show had taken longer than the processes the others went through. As she took in the others, she realized that she had been given the long end of the stick. Of course it was obvious that the people with physical anomalies had probably suffered but she could see in the eyes of those who otherwise looked normal that their internal transformation had been harrowing. Juniper felt like she had missed something but remained silent, she didn't want to interrupt.

As the green haired boy was waiting for the kind woman to respond, a eerily family, but uncomfortably foreign, voice rocked the very core of his body. Although the voice wasn't anything special, Eiko responded with a heavy shudder before bringing his attention to...something he wasn't quite expecting.

O...O-One of the doctors were stand right in front him! His extremely pale skin began to turn translucent, until he realized who the doctor was holding in her arms.
"...T-Thalia..." Eiko blinked, his expression still and hardened. He could see the bloodstains on her face and how mottled her skin appeared. If he wasn't already emotionally drained, he would have cried...

When asked if they were related, Eiko took a moment to respond, only giving a faint nod. Shaky arms reached out and brought the girl to his arms, having her sit on his lap, arms wrapped protectively around her. Hearing that Thalia would be okay, Eiko nodded slowly once again, his eyes never leaving the doctor's figure.

Just as the doctor was about to introduce herself, the boy that had come in with the woman launched himself in the direction of the first person that entered the room. Of course, and especially after going through that experiment, he freaked out, even creating small puffs of flames from his opens palms. It was obvious that it wasn't intentional, but he couldn't help but feel bad that he was frightened in such a manner, even if it was accidental. It was then that another girl entered, calling the doctor her mother. Eiko wasn't too surprised, more like he couldn't show much expression on his face anymore, and simply ignored them, or at least planned to, before the boy from before took a seat beside both him and the kind woman. The green haired boy unintentionally tightened his grip on his sister, as he couldn't help but be nervous with the hyper boy around him.

"U-Um...hello there, J-James. It's...I-It's a pleasure to m-meet you...I-I'm Eiko and this is my sister...Thalia." Eiko stumbled over his words terribly, but he didn't bother trying to repeat what he said as the doctor began to speak once again, introducing herself as Dr. Jane. Eiko nodded slowly to let the doctor know he was listening.

As soon as she had introduced herself and the other two with them, Dr. Jane was hit with a few questions, some understandable, and other a bit rude if you asked him, but Eiko remained quiet, his body holding a bit of translucence to it.

Dawn’s smile widened a bit further, and she reached out to clasp the offered hand and give it a gentle pump. “I don’t blame you. It seems like the project’s taken a lot out of everyone as it is.” She released her grip and pulled back, her other hand moving to lift the brim of her hat up. “My name is Dawn. It’s nice to meet you, too, Eiko.”

She ignored the scoffing that came from the other side of the room. Perhaps it had been a bit of a redundant question, when most of the gathered subjects were clearly rattled, but Eiko was young. It was somewhat disturbing that they would allow a minor to participate in an experiment like this, so the least she could do was make sure that he hadn’t been too badly affected by it all.

The situation became only more unsettling when the next group walked in- in particular, a woman. One with the lower body of a spider. Admittedly, Dawn started a little upon her walking in, shock written across her face before she wrestled it out of sight and glanced at her lap, guilty.

Dawn had read the warnings. She had signed the forms. She knew very well that this project would put the applicants’ lives at risk, but...nothing on this level.

Eventually, two of the doctors came in. One was a dark-eyed, stern woman, and another, completely silent man, carrying a young woman in his arms. He laid her on the floor for a minute before Williams plucked her up and brought her over- without comment, Dawn stood and moved to another seat, allowing for Eiko to sit next to his sister. The girl’s skin was terribly damaged, and there were splotches of blood drying in various spots across her body.

Brow furrowing, Dawn reached into her purse, pulled out a roll of gauze, and handed it over to Eiko.

“Here,” she said. “It’s not much, but it should keep her wounds from getting infected.”

She went silent for a moment, listening to Ms. Williams introduce herself, fists burrowed in the folds of her skirt. It was only after the good doctor had finished that Dawn turned to their new company, smiling faintly. “Oh, um. Hello. It’s nice to meet you, James. I’m Dawn.” She extended her hand out to the man, the other still dug into her lap.

At the very least, it seemed that Doctor Williams had been confident that nothing particularly worrisome would happen during the experiments.

@Tenma Tendo@Majoras End

Fear.

That's all the small boy could feel as the consciousness gradually returned to the muscles in his body. His heart was pounding in his fragile chest, trembles coursing through his hands and fingers. Am I alive? Did I survive? Did I die? Even though his thoughts were frantic, his expression remained neutral as always. Even the thought of death wasn't enough to change that.

Slowly, the deep black eyes blinked once, twice, until the blur cleared and he could see he was on a hospital bed. Oh... right. This place. I came here... to be stronger. The dark eyes lowered to his hand, as he clenched it in and out of a fist. He didn't feel any different, besides a distinct throb of a headache in his temples. The boy touched them lightly, screwing up his eyes from the pain. Was this... all a scam? A coldness encased his heart, but it was quickly broken as footsteps were heard entering the room.

A female researcher gave a relaxed smile of relief at the sight of the boy up on his feet, she coming over to speak with him.

"Ah, thank goodness! We were so worried when you fainted. Are you feeling alright now?" He hesitated to meet her eye to eye, but nodded anyways. "Oh, good! We thought your body had rejected the serum. Let's take a look at y— huh?" The researcher paused as she gazed at him head on, a puzzled look crossing her face.

"I-...Is something wrong?" The quiet thing stuttered out in his gentle, raspy voice.
"No, it's just... well, here." The researcher dug into her coat pocket to fish out a small mirror, handing it to the dark haired boy who was careful not to touch her as he accepted it. With a flip of the top, he gazed into the mirror curiously. Same blank face. Same girlish cat eyes. Same full lips. Wait, what was that? Under his left eye, there was a fairly large marking. It almost appeared to be a tattoo, the Roman numerals "XIII"... the number 13.

To the boy's surprise, he didn't shudder just from seeing the number. So, he was cured? The researcher seemed comforted that he wasn't put off by the strange mark, and delicately retrieved her mirror. "Well, its good to see the serum worked, at least your body accepted it. Your head might hurt for a while, considering we had to inject it in the vein there. Can you stand?"

The boy pushed himself onto his feet, fumbling for the scarf around his neck as he stroked it to calm himself. "Since you didn't have a name, we are going to refer to you as "Thirteen" now, is that alright?" A nod. "Good! Well, let's bring you to the waiting room to meet the others."
"O-Others?"
"Of course... you're not the only one participating in PHOBIA. This way."

Thirteen, as he was now called, trudged along behind her so that the researcher wouldn't try and put her arm on his shoulders as some would do in an attempt to comfort him. That only made him more anxious.

They entered the room, and with a quiet discussion the researcher left. He was alone. Thirteen's dark eyes trailed over the others here. Some were quite frightening in appearance, monstrous even. Was that from their experiments? Thirteen touched the mark under his eye lightly. He got off easy...

The small boy put himself in the corner, quietly praying no one noticed him enter late. He didn't like talking with people. Thirteen entered just in time to hear the doctor's introduction. He curled himself up tighter, suddenly wondering just what kind of mess he had gotten himself into.

James shook Dawn's hand, a dopey grin on his face. "Nice to meet you Dawn! You too Eiko." he said, leaning over to look at the boy. His eyes wandered to Thalia, who was sitting on the other boy's lap. 'Must be sleepy.' he thought.

His smile disappeared as Laura had approached his aunt with the same question as Calixto, but more blunt. "Tsk, arent you a ray of sunshine.." he said silently, trying not to make it to where the girl would beat him to a pulp.

James looked at the door as Juniper came in late and sat down with the others. He could have sworn he saw two shadows, but decided to pay no mind to that.

---

Miriam tensed up as Cal had answered her question rather annoyed at her, but apologized under his breath after her mother's introduction. Calming herself down, she patted his back softly, trying not to hurt him. "I-It's alright.." she reasured Cal, "Besides, it's normal to have aches and pains after...that."

She turned her atention over at the newcomer aswell, waving lightly at Juniper. Miriam double-taked as she spoted Thirteen in the corner of the room. She wanted to ask if he was alright aswell, as a part due to her caring nature, she would even tend to everyone if she could, but one at a time, one at a time...

---

Jane looked at the woman that aproached her, "Please take your seat, Laura. Im getting to that soon." she said, her smile turned into a serious yet intimidating expression.

She adjusted her posture before starting to speak,



Jane sighed as she marched back and forth across group before continuing,



Jane checked a near-by computer as she ended her explanation,



She went back to her calm demeanor as she lightly smiled,"Anyways, if anyone needs me or has questions, I will be in the break room." Jane said as she walked away.

That was quite a bit less informative than Ardin thought it would be. Doctor Williams did answer some of the questions he had, but not all of them. He wanted to know the nature of their powers and what precisely they would be doing on the missions they would be given, but he didn't really want to ask. He wasn't sure he wanted to know about the powers they'd all received because, judging by the spider girl, there could be some serious side effects. He certainly wanted to know what they would be expected to do on mission but in all likelihood they would be told before they got too far into it.

Ardin quietly rose to his feet and tried to make a quiet exit. The idea of exploring the complex he would in all likelihood spend a good chunk of his future days in sounded appealing to him. If Ardin was perfectly honest, he did want to know more about their current situation, but he just didn't want to ask about it. A lot of things had happened today, after all, and he wanted to get used to the situation. And he was a bit tired, and a little hungry, and more than a little creeped out by the spider girl, but what he really wanted was some alone time.

He began a slow walk down the halls of the underground complex, wary of exploring past his limits as the feeling slowly returned to his legs. He should probably have just tried talking to someone, maybe share some goodwill around to people he would likely have to work with later on down the line. He should probably have stayed in the waiting room, start a conversation with someone next to him, but his legs carried on in the opposite direction. He took a deep breath, letting it back out in a weary sigh. He could socialize later. He didn't really care where exactly he went, but right now, Ardin just wanted to be alone with his thoughts.

As Dawn handed the green haired boy the roll of gauze, he couldn't help but let out a noise of gratitude. There was no way in hell that he would be brave enough to ask for help from some of the other doctors, so Dawn's offer was everything he could have asked for.
"Th-Thank you, Dawn!" He chimed, as he already started to unwrap the gauze and tend to his sister's wounds; he did so while Dawn and James were introducing themselves to each other. He had finished in but a matter of minutes, as Eiko covered parts of her limbs and various sections of her neck and face. She would be okay now, she had to be...

Eiko couldn't help but unconsciously lean back as the other boy leaned over, his form trembling in anticipation of what the other was thinking, only to hear him mumble something that hopefully wasn't directed towards him. The boy smiled faintly ad stifled a chuckle, before falling silent and listening to the questions that the other people had for the doctor. While he did notice others arriving a bit late, he chose not to look at them; he probably wouldn't even be able to see them with all the spirits floating around.

So...basically, it was their job to be superheros and protect what was left of the world. Easy, huh? Eiko let out a shaky sigh once the doctor made her exit, a good portion of the tension that was in the room leaving with her. While it would have been nice to spend time with the other subjects, gettng Thalia a place to rest would be more impor--

Just as he was thinking of places that would be suitable and not particularly scary, Eiko heard a soft groan escape his sister's lips, her brows furrowing in the process. She suddenly sucked in an enormous breath of air before going into a coughing fit.
"S-Sister? Are you awake?" Eiko asked as he placed his hands on her shoulders to steady her. The small girl didn't answer right away, but the words that did come out of her mouth were alarming.
"I...d-died..." She whispered, her expression uneven and a little scared. Thalia looked all around the room, her blue eyes wide with surprise. Mostly everyone looked normal, but there was one spider girl and a clown boy that were especially freaky, not that Thalia could really think about it with the events that happened to her not too long ago.

Unsure of what to do, Eiko placed a hand on her head and rubbed the green locks that they both shared.
"I-It's alright, what matters is that you're here and safe, right?" Eiko knew that what he was saying wasn't exactly true. Heck, they killed her! But harboring negative feelings for too long would be bad for everyone here. It was best to just let it go and remember that she's still alive in the end. Thalia furrowed her brows at the statement, but ultimately nodded in agreement, which of course made Eiko smile as well. "G-Good. Now, Sister, this is D-Dawn and James...they've been really nice to me." He started, wanting Thalia to finish. Said girl looked between the two for a moment before pointing at Dawn. "Bags." She then pointed to James. "Odd Eyes." She then said as she hopped off of Eiko's lap and stood straight. "I need to give nicknames to the other people. Be right back." And with that she was off, as she wasn't even unconscious a second ago. Eiko facepalmed before looking back at Dawn and James. "Sorry about that. Thalia can be...yeah...but she'll be okay, f-for the most p-part..." He said with a sheepish smile. "Did you guys have anything that you wanted to do s-since we're f-free?" He knew he would probably end up following one of them where they went regardless, but he was still curious.
@EchoicChamber@Majoras End

---

Although it appeared that Thalia was perfectly fine, minus how she looked at the time being, it was probably because of her new power that she was able to move around so quickly after waking up. The pain that she felt in the examination room had dulled out significantly, and while the wounds were still there, she couldn't feel them as much. It was honestly pretty cool...minus the whole dying part. Eiko told her not to worry about it since she was still alive, but she knew that that was a load of bull. She could vaguely remember the people that were in there with her, and it was only amatter of time before she could track them down and confront them.

Thalia let out a confident huff as she looked at the new faced around the room. Might as well get started. For each person, she made sure to walk in front of them and point, much like how she did with Bags and Odd-Eyes.

"...Kitty." Thalia pointed to the girl that had cat ears. It only seemed logical, right? @Majoras End

"...Normie." Probably the most normal looking one at the moment. He should be grateful. @GoodLuckTuck

"...Spider Woman." Well, she literally looked like a spider woman, so... @Tojin

"...Pedo-Clown." Okay, Thalia just had something against clowns. @EchoicChamber

"Hm...Badass A and Badass B...I'll think of something else later." She mumbled. Nothing really popped out with those two girls, so she'd just have to wait and see. @FiroIV

"...Blondie." Once again, there was no outward appearance that would give an idea of a creative name, so Blondie for now! @Sapphire

@Cherrywitch And lastly...Thalia stopped in front of a boy curling in on himself. He looked basically like her brother, a ghost. A little confused, but also curious, Thalia crouched down in front of him and tilted her head. She could feel the blood seeping slowly out of her wounds, but she was too distracted to notice.
"Hey, are you okay? Um...Thirteen?" She asked, the tattoo on his face giving her the nickname idea.