[center][h1]Semi of Slaughter[/h1]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/VW0bAVD.png?1[/img] 
[color lightcoral]Lily[/color]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/61vkwIl.jpg?1[/img] [img]http://i.imgur.com/8rT4pUQ.jpg?1[/img] [img]http://i.imgur.com/DSOdMDt.png?1[/img] 
[color 662d91]Kusari[/color] | [color 33ec06]Marcus[/color] | [color 8A3DFF]Emma[/color] 
[img]http://i.imgur.com/Qm6ALCQ.png?1[/img] [img]http://i.imgur.com/oKbtkKq.jpg?1[/img] [img]http://i.imgur.com/V2PDEDC.jpg?1[/img]
[color=9e0039]Angelique[/color] | [color 0095FF]Grant[/color] | [color BD892F]Sophia[/color]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/3R5vYYi.png?2[/img][hr][color=silver]𝕊𝕦𝕟: 𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥. 𝟚𝟘, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘   / /   𝕎𝕒𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕥𝕠𝕟, 𝔻.ℂ.   / /     ~𝟙𝟚𝟜𝟘[/color][hr]
[sub]Collab with [@Kyrisse] [@Piercing Light] [@Chasers115] [@Diggerton] [@Riffus Maximus] [@Deathmyster] [@VampireOracle][/sub][/center]

If there was any notion that the panic running rampant through the capital's streets had reached its peak, it would have been immediately shattered as Tumor's eclipsing form stained the sky. 

Angel's empowered declaration of the 'USARILN Special Evacuation Relief Unit' was met with mixed reactions, though 'mixed' seemed like the understatement of the century. It didn't take much mental effort for the evacuating citizens to identify the vehicle they had been suggested to use, a semi-truck escorted by a surreal parade of floating cars and a nightmarish, shadowy golem knocking obstacles aside with horrifying strength.

More monsters among the destruction already inflicted.

The voice mage's offers fell on deaf ears. Most of the crowd clambered over each other in an attempt to escape the subnaturals, running, screaming, trampling over the unfortunate who lacked the mobility needed to flee. But a strange energy took over some of the citizens in the vicinity, a rush of adrenaline and determination that only emerged in the worst of life-threatening situations. Hatred smothering fear. Among the screams, fragments of angered shouts of [color f7976a]"fucking subs"[/color], [color f7976a]"it's that Scar Guy"[/color] and [color f7976a]"in the truck"[/color] could be heard by those with keen hearing. Ernie's transmission blared through the cuffs like a poorly timed omen. Despite the panic in the street, there was almost an eerie standstill between the subnaturals and the bold regulars who were sick of living in fear and had nothing left to lose. Right as the Aberration's voice mentioned something about Hazel, half a brick flew through the windshield of the truck, shattering the glass and nailing Marcus in the shoulder.

A catalyst for the hell about to descend upon the USARILN teens.

Bricks and debris hailed down on the vehicle, shattering the remaining vehicles of the cab and lightly raining glass on its inhabitants. The two nearby soldiers barked orders to cease the attack to no avail. Miraculously, no one beside the scarred Arbiter was directly hit by the incoming projectiles yet. In the back, thunderous banging consumed the atmosphere as loosened concrete battered against the trailer's outer walls, thrown by frightened and outraged civilians. With the absence of any new audible orders, Determination continued its task despite the attacks, its armor holding well against the rain of construction materials. The stoning of the subnaturals' vehicle didn't look like it was going to end any time soon but the regulars at least kept their distance for the moment.

Piss poor timing, that was the only thing Angel could accurately think of as shit hit the fan for the evacuation effort. Not only the citizens did not trust them to accept their help, but the appearance of Cat's Cradle, Ernest's message and the unfolding panic, it was too much to bear on the young woman's stressed mind.

Angelique let out a sudden shout of fright as a brick came flying through the windshield and hit Marcus square in the shoulder. But fear soon was overcome by wrath. 

[color=9e0039]"Marc, are you alright?"[/color]

They dared to this to those who were trying to help them. Just how fucked up this society was? Is this what she was living with all those years before becoming a Subnatural? Was this really the humanity she was trying to cling onto, despite having been demonized as an X-marked?

[color=9e0039]"STOP! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING? WE'RE TRYING TO HELP YOU!"[/color]

Angel's voice boomed all over the area, noticeably growing louder and panicked. If she was on the edge, now she had one foot over the ravine. The voices inside her head began screaming in rage, egging her to let loose. The violence seemed unresponsive to her rage, the crowd's fear only ramping up with the unnatural voice shouting in their ears.

Angel's teeth were grinding on themselves as each thud against the truck's surface; each debris that flew past her head only fueled her hatred towards Regulars. She couldn't take it anymore. Her friends were in danger. SHE was in danger. 

[color=f7976a][i]"THEY DON'T DESERVE YOUR KINDNESS!"[/i][/color]

[color=f7976a][i]"THEY SHOULD JUST ALL DIE!"[/i][/color]

The Stigma was banging at the back of her mind, breaking through, invading her thoughts. There was nothing but sheer hate towards those who dared bring pain to her classmates, her friends, her kindred. Those people were unworthy of being saved. They should be left here to rot, to die in their filth like the human trash they were. At this point, Subnaturals felt even more human right now than the garbage that kept throwing debris out of unjustified spite.

[color=9e0039]"Everyone... get back inside. We're leaving, NOW!"[/color] Angel ordered, her magical voice reaching out only to her comrades, struggling for control. 

[color=f7976a][i]"They want to hate and fear you so much? Give them a reason to do so![/i][/color]

Returning the defiant and hateful look in her eyes back to the Regulars that kept pummeling the truck with all sorts of debris, Angel leaned towards the windshield instead of trying to protect herself behind the dash.

[color=f7976a][i]"PROVE THEM ANGELIQUE LACHANCE ISN'T ONE TO BE PUSHED AROUND![/i][/color]

[color=9e0039]"STOP!"[/color]

But this time around, Angel's voice did not come out as a warning ringing to everyone's ears. Her voice was unleashed by the full power of her destructive abilities, sending a forceful sonic wave of debilitating intensity towards the majority of the Regulars that kept pummeling their vehicle.

It all happened so fast. Off in the distance, reflected brightly in one of the truck's side mirrors, a large bloom of fire engulfed what looked like empty sky from this distance. Then the growing form of a sludge monster - not the slime that was currently engulfing the city. For a moment, Marcus was completely baffled; there wasn't anybody on their team that could do something like that.

When he noticed the disturbing face of Tumor writhing through the black mass, it all clicked. They had to leave [i]now[/i].

And it was just as he made this connection and turned to see if Angel had also caught on that the windshield exploded, raining small shards of glass down as something large impacted his shoulder. Marcus let out an involuntary yelp of pain as the brick caught him across the shoulder, bringing his other arm up to cradle it.

Nothing broken. Nothing dislocated. But not for a lack of trying.

"[color 33ec06]What the [b]hell[/b]!?[/color]" Marcus shouted to nobody in particular, bringing his hand back to the steering wheel. "[color 33ec06]Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Just caught me in my shoulder.[/color]"

The words came out through gritted teeth as the sudden shock of impact gave way to the rising bloom of pain. His pain transferred from soft disbelief to growing anger as he fully realized the situation: that hadn't been an accident - not a wayward piece of stone from one of the nearby collapsing buildings. That had been thrown. By a Regular. The same regulars they were trying to help.

The patter of other debris rang across the truck like the sound of large hail as something exploded next to him. There was a soft ringing in his ear as he turned to the source, his eyes falling on where Angel sat next to him.

[i]Too much.[/i]

Siena could practically feel the panic rising from the masses as she noticed the presence of something more dangerous than mere monsters--subhumans that knew how to use their power to spill blood...something in the back of her head tried to chime in at the situation. This was wrong. Dangerous. [i]Wrong.[/i] Her concentration wavered for a moment, the cars precariously slipping down for a moment when gravity tried to return to normal before quickly snapping back to where they were before with a grimace from the brunette. Careless--she couldn't afford to lost her train of thought and drop all the vehicles she'd been--

[i]SMASH.[/i]

Glass showered in a blanket of fine, jagged points that made Siena flinch. The Arbiter couldn't hold all the cars--half of them slammed back into the ground as her concentration snapped away, reducing the effective area of her ability. The disgustingly calm part of her mind told her that it wasn't such a big deal--nobody was [i]stupid[/i] enough to stand under a floating car if they didn't know why it was floating. The same part of her reminded the girl that she needed to react in an appropriate manner, lest she give away the horrifying sense of calm that threatened to pull her under. 

"[color=ff57ff][i]Shit[/i]...![/color]" But it wasn't enough to regain herself when the name threatened to slip through her fingers, the grains becoming finer the more desperately she scrabbled at the draining sands. Going, going...[i]did it even matter?[/i] A startling sense of clarity cut into Siena deeper than any glass would have managed, eyes shifting from a muddy brown to an awkward charcoal color as she felt the last of Dekka's power escape like a wispy breath, the sudden weight such a fierce burden that Siena had to bite back a yelp of surprise. Too much, her mind scolded as both names escaped. First Dekka, then Kennedy. 

The cars came crashing down all at once as Siena felt her legs obeying Angel's demand before her mind had caught up, the usual flutter of her fingers bringing the familiar thrum of [i]knowing[/i]. Things were going bad, fast.

A shout shattered the air despite the jagged shrieks that had pierced it over and over again, and another pair of voices mocked the brunette in her head. [i]So much for trying to help them.[/i] [color=f7976a][i]Now you're the monster they want to see.[/i][/color] It wasn't her fault. 

"[color=ff57ff]Angel, those were pe--[/color]" The protest cut itself off. They [i]were[/i] people. Fragile bodies that were afraid of them because they saw subnaturals as monstrous figures. Plenty of monsters played at being human. [i]Plenty of humans were monstrous.[/i] Another chilling calm trickled down her spine, one that froze her heart in place for a fraction of a second. She tried to shake it off. "[color=ff57ff]We shouldn't...[/color]"

...she didn't know how to finish that sentence. 

Hazel was rampaging again. Once again, Emma wasn’t sure what to do. The girl was clearly a danger to everyone around her. A danger to her friends. But wasn’t she also supposed to be [i]her[/i] friend? Emma gritted her teeth. She couldn’t worry about that now. Not when they had their own problems to worry about. Not when... Emma’s head craned around to make out the form of Tumor, the lights dancing in the sky, the sight of…

[color=8A3DFF][i]Cat’s Cradle is helping.[/i][/color]

It was a realization that hit her like a truck; Cat’s Cradle, Animi, terrorists, public enemy number one, was one of the few allies that they had right now. Of course, that’s not how the regulars saw it. The sound of the shattering windshield drew Emma’s attention back towards the truck. Emma took a second to ensure that Marcus was okay before turning back towards Determination, who was still carelessly going about his business despite the rain of debris being pelted on him. That was good, he just needed to keep doing wh-

A scream came from Angel, directed towards the crowd.

[color=8A3DFF][i]What the fuck?[/i][/color]

Suddenly, the cars suspended by Siena’s power were released, shrieks cutting through the air.

[color=8A3DFF][i]What the [b]fuck[/b]?[/i][/color]

Emma turned back towards the truck, hearing Angel’s demand that they come back. She was right, they were in danger, danger that was amplified tenfold by the Subnatural’s own hostilities. As she started moving for the relative safety of the semi’s trailer she spoke aloud, [color=8A3DFF]”Transmit, what the hell are you guys doing? Attacking the regulars is making things worse! We need to get out of here, not fight them!”[/color] Emma shouted.

Angel's scream had a devastating effect on the crowd, disabling dozens of evacuees and throwing them backwards. The ones that received a direct hit were curled up on the ground, clutching their ears. The civilians caught on the edge of the sonic cone stumbled around blindly. One of the soldiers was among the less severely affected. The other, however, was standing to the side with his rifle aimed at the voice mage. He would have taken the shot had it not been for the sudden cacophony of falling cars. A disjointed rhythm of shattered glass and distorted metal filled the air, easily masking the sounds of crushed bones and ruptured organs from the fallen vehicles. Angel's shout had inadvertently pushed numerous civilians into the drop zone. There was no one standing in front of the truck to block the horrific view of blood oozing out from beneath the twisted chassis. The screaming continued as those that weren't caught in the blast rushed to the dropped cars to lift them from their loved ones. They begged for help but none came. The others were now revenge-bent.

Everything was happening so fast. Lily had just agreed with Kusari to go out and help Allison and Zoe and then the next thing she knew, there was a sound of shattering glass and then Angelique was screaming. Her eyes widened as her senses were barraged by multitudes of injuries all around them, the initial plan of going out to help Allison and Zoe completely forgotten. Shattered ear drums, crushed bones, punctured wounds... She could perceive all of them and felt that overwhelming need to help. But couple with the need was an equally strong desire to destroy. The voices that she thought were gone began whispering in her head again just as the truck they were in was continuously pelted with whatever the Regulars outside could hurl at it.

Debris continued flying towards the truck, leaving sizable dents in the trailer now. But that was far from the worst of it. Infuriated by the sudden attack, a handful of civilians surged forward to board the truck, ripping the side-doors open to grab at the shouter and the scarred boy and wrest them out of the vehicle. The undazed soldier levelled his rifle at Angelique again but hesitated to open fire for fear of hitting the civilians. Ironically, the attackers were indirectly saving the voice mage from certain death for the moment.

Emma hadn't gone unnoticed in the chaos of it all, the X-mark on her throat acting like a homing beacon of hatred. With the appearance of the world-infamous Animi just then, fear of the violent X's was at an all-time peak. Most of the evacuees on that side of the shuffled backwards but others attacked with more vigor. One man in particular raced towards the girl in a rough tackle, pinning her on the ground. She was met with a brutal fist to the jaw, his other hand raised for another. He'd seen the goody two-shoes X-girl on television. Easy target. On the other side of the truck, Grant and Siena were experiencing their own swarm, about five people lunging at each of them. While all this was happening, the last of the emboldened civilians leapt onto the back, opening the unlocked trailer door to get the rest of the subnaturals.

Emma hit the ground hard, the wind suddenly knocked out of her. [color=8A3DFF]”Wait-“[/color] she didn’t have time to finish her sentence, a hard fist meeting her jaw.
 
[color=8A3DFF][i]Did you think that you could make these people love you?[/i][/color]i
 
The man cocked back his fist again, [color=8A3DFF]”Please, stop…”[/color] she choked out in between sobs, tears filling her eyes, pain welling up in her face. Another impact against her skull, completely ignoring her pleas.

Emma’s lip was busted open now, blood running down her face. [color=8A3DFF]”Don’t…”[/color] she started but didn’t finish. [color=8A3DFF][i]It’s pointless, they hate you. What did you expect? They’ll never love you. Not like the Precursors. Not like Sparrow. They’ll never admire you, you’re…[/i][/color] [color=f7976a][i]you’re one of them. Subnaturals are nothing more than monsters.[/i][/color]
 
Emma didn’t try pleading again. She didn’t try fighting. Determination, mindlessly continuing his assigned task of pushing aside the cars, suddenly disappeared. 

Lily watched with confusion as her classmates were attacked. Weren't they supposed to be helping people out? What was happening? Why were they being attacked? As the Emma's assailant's fist connected with her face, the golden haired Aberration froze and lifted a hand to her lip as though she was punched. Golden eyes sought out Emma outside, pinned down and being attacked. It was a strangely familiar scene.

Suddenly Emma had long blonde hair and the man pinning her down had messy brown hair. Lily stared at them in horrified wonder. [i]"You... you're a menace, a plague, a rabid dog that should have been put down a long time ago."[/i] The male voice from her fragmented memories was full of malice and hatred. The same voice had been filled with love and tenderness when her neck didn't have that cursed X mark. The soft, warm hand on her cheek was now rough as it wrapped around blonde Emma's neck. The lips that pressed a kiss to her forehead were now pulled back into a sneer. [i]"You and Sebastian. You two should have never been born."[/i]

[color 33ec06][i]Oh god.[/i][/color]

The sickening crunch of bones told Marcus all he needed to know about the situation. The screaming, the begging. Everything had gone to hell, and they were right in the middle of it. DC hated them, and they'd given the civilians the proverbial match to light the powder keg, and boy if it wasn't one hell of an explosion.

Marcus's horrified glances were interrupted as his door swung open, a hand reaching up to grab at his shoulder, nearly tearing his shirt off his body. He panicked for a moment, turning to deliver the heel of his foot directly to the grasping face of the person beside him, before scooting across his seat a little more to give himself some distance.

To the side, a flurry of movement caught Marcus's eye. Emma was on the ground. He watched in slow motion as the fist connected with her jaw, before reeling back for another attack.

Fuck it. If they were going to be the bad guys, then so be it.

"[color 33ec06]Angel! Emma's under attack! Clear me a path![/color]" Marcus said, reaching over to the door and slamming it halfway in an attempt to hit a few of the frantic civilians with the metal barrier.

It was with horror that Angel witnessed the death she caused. This time, it wasn’t like Montréal’s massacre, where she was presumably innocent and framed by another Mage, as Brent suggested. This time, she actually CAUSED someone’s death by throwing them underneath floating cars that crashed onto them. The pang of guilt was immediate. Angel muted herself, tears started to well in her eyes as she realized she was responsible for murdering innocents. 
 
But the guilt would not last for long, as infuriated citizens redoubled their efforts to take down her classmates. Hell, she could spot a soldier taking aim at them, at her specifically. Self-preservation began kicking in. No, she couldn’t die here, not like this. Not after swearing to become better.
 
[color=f7976a]“Become better? You’re actually becoming worse. You’re a murderer now…”[/color]
 
Everything that Angélique feared of becoming, she was getting there right now. As the angry mob of escaping refugees tried to wrench her away from the truck, she would not move from her spot as her seating belt secured her into the seat. But with every single pull, Angel’s rage only intensified. It eventually grew worse as she saw Siena and Grant being grabbed.
 
She was past redemption now. It was fight or die, and she absolutely won’t allow any of her classmates to die for having made a grave mistake. She made this mess, it was up to her to clean it up. The same debilitating scream that caused deaths was repeated once more. She was aiming that shriek at the soldier in plain sight, taking him out of commission before turning her attention to the pulling assailants, whom she screamed down just as easily as the others before.

[color=9e0039]"Grant! Take out their weapons! They are going to shoot us dead!"[/color]
 
Hearing out Marcus’ plea, Angel felt a rush of mixed emotions. Emma was being assaulted? That was an entertaining thought, but Emma was Marcus’ girlfriend. She respected Time Scar far too much to have a good time over the misery of his loved one.
 
[color=9e0039]“A’right, let’s go get her! Shut your ears tight and give me a hand!”[/color] Angel shouted, unfastening her seatbelt and throwing herself onto Marcus’ lap. Her dizziness wouldn’t allow her to move that efficiently considering everything that was happening, but she could at least manage to place herself up in an angle she would scream down Marcus’ side Regulars without putting him into her effective range.

True havoc. That's the way to describe the very situation. One moment, Grant was just helping with the roadblock. The next, yells of hatred and anger broke out. Now there was just screaming upon screaming. The boy was shaken at the familiarity, but he quickly shook it off the moment the chaos had their sights locked on him.

Instincts kicked in as his chains shot out to the very clothing of the people closing in. [color=0095FF]"Stay the hell away from me!"[/color] He yelled in anger, making contact and knocking many of them together enough until they were all just crumpled on the ground. For good measure, he tossed the ones who he had chained away from him.

He took in the chaos going on around him. He was still, frozen, trying to figure out what to do. He had to move, he had to... Angel's familiar voice broke through. Weapons. Shoot dead. His eyes locked onto the guards around in the range of his chains.

Following Angel's order, he sent his three chains out to different guards, focusing in on their weapons. The immediate moment they touched, he focused on making them completely useless. Molding the matter quickly and tightly around the wrists of the guards before pulling them up, meeting their faces in impact.

[hr]

[hider=Kusari and Lily: Freighter of Fright]
Ever since she knew what a subnatural was, Kusari had held pity for them. The world had changed more in the past few years than it had in the past century, and society did not know how to cope. Subnaturals were a more than obvious target for people's fear and frustrations. So Kusari pitied them, but that pity changed into something else when she herself found a white mark on her face. She couldn't pity what she herself was, so for a time she hated what she had become.

But that wasn't fair was it? Why should she have to hate herself simply because the ignorant masses refused to accept subnaturals? That's right, she wasn't in the wrong, everyone else was.

So as Kusari found herself stuck in a metal box being pelted by the same people she was supposed to protect, all the while being unable to save her allies while giant monsters attacked the city, something snapped in her head. No, it would be more appropriate to say that something snapped into place, like a cog missing from a machine. 

She let them open the metal doors, the moment someone was even vaguely within view a severed arm was thrown into their face. Not a moment after a tentacle shot out towards them, fiercely wrapping around their neck. She pulled the person towards her, grabbing them by the head with her right hand and slamming it onto the floor. 

The first man slid back out, completely limp. But four more took his place, clambering over the downed civilian like starved animals to attack the tentacled freak.

Still trapped in the warped reality that her broken mind was showing her, Lily remained staring at the events outside, unable to move, unable to respond properly to the threat happening all around them. Even when the people outside ripped open the metal doors, she merely turned and stared at what was happening. Even when Kusari began attacking, it still didn't register. Part of her missing memory continued playing in her head, the girl in it was still a blonde Emma. A tall blonde boy grabbed the man pinning her down and punches were thrown.

[color=lightcoral][i]No. Sebastian...[/i][/color]

They were still coming, even after seeing what she'd done to the first man. She was simply defending herself at this point, she couldn't be blamed for what happened next, right?

Kusari used her tentacle to swipe at their midsections. With little room in here they didn't have much way to avoid it. She swung again, and again, pummeling them like a tough steak.

The thought of her forgotten brother being in danger made Lily move. Forgetting everyone else in the truck, she watched as Kusari continued fighting, waiting for the opportunity to be able to slip away. Being small had its advantages and the teenager soon found herself able to squeeze out of the truck in between blows to the Regulars from Kusari's tentacles. The pale Arbiter was too preoccupied to notice the healer slip away, determination to help the brother that wasn't really present where they were on her face.

The stench of freshly-spilled blood filled the cabin and any remaining regulars with the intent to hurt backed away at the visceral killings they just witnessed. The sudden gunshot from the side of the truck didn't encourage them either. She wasn't like the ones out front. Despite common sense telling everyone else to just drop the matter, an undiscernible hand in the crowd couldn't help but throw one last jab, launching a brick directly at Kusari's mouth.

The smell of blood was far too familiar to Kusari at this point for it to disturb her, if anything she simply associated it with battle and little else. However, the fact that she had just killed human beings for the first time registered in her mind, and she stopped for a moment. Before the weight of her actions could even settle however, a brick collided with her mouth knocking out one of her teeth. She stumbled, nearly falling over, but it would take more than that to hurt her. She spat out a mouth full of blood and glared at the crowd. 

She picked up one of the bodies with her tentacle and launched it into the crowd, she did the same for all the others as well.

The crowd screamed as blood-soaked body parts and unidentifiable viscera descended upon them. Some kind of ironic retort to the truck's stoning earlier. The back of swarm dispersed and the trailer was secured.
[/hider]

[hr]

[hider=Marcus, Lily and Emma: Murderous Loyalty]
With the regulars on his side knocked to the ground, Marcus slid forward and out of the truck, dropping to the ground below. He turned once to help Angel down from the cab, only enough to make sure she didn't stumble out and fall onto her face before turning back around to his target.

The man's fist met her face again.

Ernie's words echoed in his head. Advice from what seemed like ages ago. What to do if he encountered an enemy while on Evac team.

His own anger backed up the advice. He'd been rash before when in situations like this: punching Kusari during CTF when he could have run, the burning satisfaction he'd felt when the gravity manipulator had been caught by his flare shot. And now this. A man punching an innocent girl in the face, when all she had been trying to do was help.

"[color 33ec06]HEY![/color]" Marcus shouted, moving towards the two on the ground. "[color 33ec06]Get your hands off her![/color]"

His statement was punctuated by a sharp kick to the man's head, as hard as he could bring his foot to meet the skull. The man reeled a bit, clutching where his foot had met skin. Marcus grabbed the man by the shirt, attempting to shift his weight and almost roll the guy off Emma, to no avail. The man was far too heavy for a skinny teenager to move. His attention flicked away from Emma and he focused on grabbing the hand on his collar, throwing a heavy punch at the scarred boy.

The hit connected, and the sudden blurriness that clouded his mind was cut by the heat trying to win over. The same statement that had already played in his mind played again, only with renewed vigor as the pain across his face started to burn.

[i][color 33ec06]Fuck it[/color][/i]

"[color 33ec06]I said GET OFF HER![/color]" Marcus shouted, bringing his free hand around. The pistol he held cracked with thunder once, as the smell of gunpowder flooded his nostrils.

The deafening crack took its hold on the crowd. People closest to the subnaturals dropped their projectiles and started to back even further away. Funny how a subnatural's screams made less of an impact than the unmistakable sound of a firearm. The man went limp as blood spurted out of the new hole in his head. He fell to the side, his legs still barely straddled around Emma.

Somehow, Lily made it to the other side of the truck unscathed, mostly thanks to Kusari taking most of the attention. As soon as she got there, panicked eyes sought the tall blonde boy and her eyes fell on Marcus. She jumped when the gun in his hand fired and her distorted view of the events shifted. The gunshot turned into a sickening, cracking sound of something hitting bone. Her eyes widened as the events unfolded in her mind, projecting it onto the scene in front of her. The blonde Emma no longer looked like Emma. The girl now had her face, her long blonde hair matted and soaked with blood running from a deep gash on the top of her head. The girl was being cradled by a sobbing blonde boy. [color=f7976a][i]"Hold on, please hold on. Don't die...don't die. I'll get you out of here."[/i][/color]

Unconsciously, a single tear slid down Lily's cheek.

Emma was preparing for another punch, resigned to whatever beating the Regular decided she deserved, but it never came. Instead she heard Marcus, and from there everything was a blur. She felt a struggle on top of her as Marcus tried to push the man of her, and then…
 
A loud bang.
 
It wasn’t a sound she was used to, but she knew what it was all the same. The man’s blood mixed with her own, the unmistakable stains already setting in her clothing. She would’ve preferred getting knocked out to having to move now. Only one thought ran through Emma’s mind.
 
[color=8A3DFF][i]Why?[/i][/color]
 
Why did they all hate her so much? Why was this happening? The stigma played against the question, demanded violence, retribution, blood, but no Tulpa answered the call to satiate it. How did everything go so wrong?
 
Emma told the others to stop, but it was too late now. Instead she pushed herself up off the ground, turning towards Marcus. Marcus and the gun. Her mouth opened, but closed again. Instead she looked past him, pointing towards the semi's cab, [color=8A3DFF]"We have to get out of here!"[/color] she said, starting to run towards it.

Emma's sprint for the cab wasn't going to be unhindered. Some civilians in the back seemed to reclaim their nerve and fist-sized debris began flying towards the truck again, albeit not as severely as the initial hail as Angel shouted most of them down. Yet, Emma was smacked in the shoulder by concrete while Marcus was hit in the chest by two separate projectiles.

Two sharp thuds across his midsection took the breath out of Marcus as he followed Emma to the cab, the scarred boy finally giving in and using up one of his precious rewinds. He found himself back standing in front of the man who had been on top of Emma, staring down at the oozing hole in his head. The emotions were threatening to overtake him now, as his stomach tossed slightly.

He [i]killed[/i] someone.

[i][color 33ec06]Not now.[/color][/i]

The mantra echoed in his head as he turned to run back towards the truck again. The man deserved it, surely. He was in the right. He was justified.

He certainly didn't feel justified as he pointed his gun into the crowd of frightened civilians, watching for any of them to break from the mass. The threat was clear. He was the bad guy here.

Because somebody had to be.

The flashing of the gun did most of its job. Another hush went over the crowd, majority of the assailants deciding that it was a futile exercise to continue trying to throw things through the sonic scream and the presence of a firearm. Emma successfully reached the cab despite her injury but Marcus was still in the middle of the impasse. When it finally seemed like things could end quietly (as quietly as circumstances would allow), a voice cried from over the others, yelling [color=f7976a]"fuck you, subbie!"[/color] and sending one last attacker towards Marcus.

The voice that yelled jarred Lily out of distorted reality. As the haze lifted from her golden eyes, she blinked and finally began processing what was really happening around them. Her mind scrambled to make sense of the events. They were being attacked. Her friends were being attacked. Just as she was attacked before. The only family she had now was being attacked. Regulars hated them even when they made an effort to help. She had to protect them. 

Marcus's gun immediately pointed towards the offender, his aim steadying as the man came barreling out of the crowd. It would be easy. Another shot, right in the head, and he'd be dead before his body came to a skidding stop. He was a murderer now. There was no way to get rid of that. He'd spent all that time trying to build himself up and convince himself that he would be able to help, only to come crashing down.

Maybe he was a murderer, but he didn't want to be.

He pointed the gun lower, at the man's leg, and pulled the trigger again. If it had to be force that made people listen, he'd show force. But he wasn't a complete psychopath.

The assailant fell flat on his face, hissing in pain. By this point the crowd had been either incapacitated by Angel's support screams or scared off by Marcus. There was nothing stopping him from getting in the cab with Emma now.

[color=lightcoral][i]ATTACK.[/i][/color] For the first time, Lily agreed with the voices in her head. She didn't struggle against it; she didn't even try to hold back. As Marcus pulled the trigger and the bullet tore through the man's leg, an eerie smile spread across the small blonde Aberration's face. If her scarred classmate was satisfied in leaving the man with only that, she wasn't. She wanted retribution. The black thread appeared on her wrist, connecting her to Marcus' assailant. She didn't cry out or even flinch when the leg wound transferred itself to her. As soon as it did, the man that had fallen forward, looked up towards her with the disappearance of his pain. But before he could say or do anything, Lily transferred back the wound to him, amplifying it and completely severing the limb where the bullet had made its track.

The sudden destruction of the man's leg caused Marcus to jump back in surprise, quickly looking to the rest of the crowd to make sure nobody else was going to jump him for that. It had only been a gunshot...why did...?

There was no time to contemplate that. He turned from the screaming man, making his way for the cab before things could get any worse.

His howl of pain made her heart sing.

[color=lightcoral][i]MORE.[/i][/color] The voice in the amnesiac teenager's head commanded. 

Lily complied, gleefully finding the smallest of wounds and amplifying them. She took and transferred as far as her range could reach and to anyone she could reach, depleting her energy with each transfer she made.
[/hider]

[hr]

[hider=Siena and Grant: Humans]
Screams, the sound of the cars crashing into the ground with the full force of their weight, blood, panic. [i]Too much.[/i] What was left behind by her previous marks started burning like the sea had been brought to a boil. A swirling, vicious storm waged war on both fronts--the ones that she'd taken too many times before. [i]Twenty-three times now, wasn't it?[/i] And the ones that she only carried because they were what she wanted to be. Good. Fighters in their own right. Far and away from what she'd made herself out to be. 

The wreckage almost broke what those people left behind. Fed into the monstrosity that she held in check with every word, every glance, every. Single. Day. 

[i]'[color=ff57ff]Stop it.[/color]'[/i] 

Hands reached for her, an angry, writhing mass of limbs that reached for anything they could grab. Her hair, her clothes, her arms--an emotion that rose like bile, hot, cold, and [i]rancid[/i]. [i]Don't touch. Don't touch. Don't. TOUCH.[/i] No knife. No powers. [i]Don't touch![/i] She twisted her arm, a practiced motion. Gerwulf's drills echoed louder, [i]louder[/i] than the rest of the thoughts. Jerking back didn't work in creating any real distance, only freeing the arm when the position no longer provided a firm grip. Only making her yelp when she felt hair tear from her scalp, felt her clothes press harder against her skin until she felt some stitches try to give. Not combat clothes, the modest items she'd worn to church. 

She felt a few stitches pop in the strain, felt the sleeve of her blouse tear from its place when the buttons couldn't stand up against the resistance and were scattered haphazardly on the street. Something much deeper, much more primal than her cold level of calm, than her desperation to be [i]good[/i] sparked to life, catching and creating an inferno that consumed all rational thought. 

[i]Don't touch me, don't touch me, don't touch me.[/i]

"[color=ff57ff]Let go![/color]" Her voice rose a few pitches, bordering on a scream as she reeled, her free hand, her legs, her [i]body[/i] moving to fight back. 

[i]'[color=f7976a]FIGHT BACK, GODDAMN IT.[/color]'[/i]

A gunshot puncuated the demand, a sickening part of Siena finding it familiar comfort. Gunfire. Combat drills. Having to force herself to tear down the hesitation because she didn't want to be the one that was being thrown into the hard ground and aching. [i]'[color=f7976a]You never know when you'll have to survive.[/color]'[/i] Apparently most people didn't receive the same type of treatment, the oddly rational part of her brain chimed. 

[i]'[color=f7976a]It's all about the basics when you're up against your average gang up.[/color]'[/i]

Nothing complicated, nothing fancy. Siena threw a first, vicious jab at the most offending of her attackers. Most people, as she'd noticed, were prone to trying to avoid getting hit in the face on instinct--that was not true of other vulnerable spots that could make people many sizes larger than the brunette go down without a fight. She felt the grip release, and she peeled back, gaining as much distance as she could. She didn't need to hurt them more. She could [i]scare[/i] them.

Blindly, [i]desperately[/i], she glanced down at her phone, the purple light blinking to life immediately. Not a good name, she acknowledged. Too lethal for their purposes. No control if she finished pulling it. [i]A comfortable fit that she'd pulled far too many times before.[/i]

"[color=ff57ff]Please, stay back![/color]"

They didn't stop. Seeing the chain-sub preoccupied with his own assailants and this white marked girl whose only ability seemed to be plain old hand-to-hand combat, they had no reason to stop. More pieces of debris were thrown and four more people rushed at her.

Again, the demand to fight back roared to life as the rain of debris fell, as Siena caught motions rushing for her. 

...she could probably finish pulling the name before they tore the phone from her vision. She'd done it so many times before, she'd already started. The demand to fight back roared again. Didn't she want to survive? Didn't she [i]hate[/i] when they had grabbed at her? The letters drifted, it would only take--

[i]'[color=ff57ff]Isn't this what you were afraid of?[/color]'[/i]

And the panic lifted, replaced with more of Dekka and Kennedy. Guilt, remorse, emotions that had been dampened by the EO names she'd pulled too many times before. [i]Dead bodies under cars. [b]Her fault.[/b][/i] The sooty black that had started to creep like dye faded out as quickly as the light did, the will to defend herself wavering. 

Grant had taken a moment to catch his breath after dealing with the Regulars rushing him, as well as the weapons of the armed guards. Another familiar voice nearby caught his attention, and he looked on over. He couldn't clearly remember her name. But the look of the girl was familiar. He had placed a power to the face, yet the girl... she was in trouble.

He acted, moving over closer to the girl's attackers, his chains shooting quickly onto the clothes of three of the Regulars. With relative ease, he smashed their bodies against each other, almost repeatedly until the rushers were all just beat onto the ground.

She braced herself for the worst, braced herself to be plunged back into a realm where panic was the lord...but it never came. Instead, Siena saw her would-be assailants slamming into each other. Brutal impacts that made her nerves tremble in sympathy until they were left on the ground. A sense of numbness washed over her. [i]Bad. This was bad.[/i] This was exactly what she didn't want, wasn't it? 

Her eyes trailed to the boy--his name...G...Grant? She remembered from the first battle they'd faced. From their brief stint as opponents in the training exercise--and for a moment she couldn't find the words. They clogged her throat, choking out the air from her lungs. A brief nod as thanks, small and shaky. Not entirely there...and then the words she didn't want to say.

"[color=ff57ff]I c-can't.[/color]" Couldn't fight the Regulars like she should have to survive. Couldn't kill them with the intention of doing so. They were humans.

Grant had taken out the majority of the attackers on their side of the truck. The rest had fled moments ago. Safe, for now.
[/hider]

[hr]

Resting her back onto the semi’s cabin, Angel struggled to keep herself onto her feet, leaning heavily onto the metal structure off the vehicle for support. She couldn’t leave Marcus alone to save Emma with this many people still throwing them debris and gazing upon them malevolently. Seeing chunks of bricks, rocks and concrete flying so closely to them, Angélique decided that it was enough. It was time to teach these assholes who she was and to not mess around with her.
 
Unleashing a barrage of sonic waves upon the attacking crowd, the raven-haired Aberration made sure that none of them would be able to stand for themselves for a while, leaving them to die here if need be. She didn’t care at this point. Right now, her mind was addled by the taunting and sadistic screams inside her mind. Who knew screaming at people felt so damn good? Actually, it felt more relieving than using her powers against the denizens of Ground Zero. Deep inside, it was because this time, those people were not semi-realistic. Those citizens were the real deal, living and sentient, with emotions and fear.
 
Angel took a step back, startled as she heard the sound of gunshot near her; the young woman saw the sight of Marcus killing in cold-blood the man that had been assaulting Emma with a handgun. No fucking way. Marcus really killed someone just like that? What been this world was doing to them?
 
But as guilty and remorseful as she could be, there was no time to feel down. Their lives were at stake here. It was her classmates or the Regulars, and after what transpired here, Angel could give no fuck about it all anymore. Instead, she’d capitalize on the fear Marcus instigated into the Regulars’ minds. Strange, for people to actually be more fearful of a firearm than actual super powers. Maybe the reason was because those people did not believe Angel could actually kill with her voice?
 
Suddenly, memories of what happened a month ago came back flooding into her mind, filling her more with grief, despair and wrath. If fear was what would drive the common folk away from them, then by God will she fucking harness the legacy that she destroyed and build a new one with the smoldering embers that the media stirred after Montréal’s massacre. Some of the social media online gave her a nickname, some tried to drag her name into the mud. Let those fuckers know the monster they created.
 
[color=f7976a][i]“Those people are underestimating you… Maybe it’s time to remind them with who they are dealing with?”[/i][/color]
 
[color=9e0039]“I’M ANGÉLIQUE LACHANCE, THE BANSHEE OF MONTRÉAL’S MASSACRE! LEAVE IF YOU DON’T WANT TO FUCKING DIE RIGHT HERE!”[/color]

Angel's threat echoed in a loud boom in the area, her loud voice intensified only by the fact that she was screaming full of spite at the top of her lungs while using her area-wide magic. It was a lie of course. She wasn't able to kill with her voice, or so it was what she believed after constantly training and using them. But it didn't hurt to use her infamous reputation she got ever since her homecoming concert's tragedy to back up her claim.

Anyone brazen or idiotic enough to linger by the 'Special Evacuation Relief Unit' fled at this final warning from the famed former rockstar. The flying debris ceased; the injured and trapped abandoned to Lily's whims.

Marcus sighed softly, pulling himself into the cab of the truck and sitting down. His hands were on the wheel, his eyes were straight ahead, but he made no motion to move. He was weary. Beaten and broken from everything that had just occurred, and he just wanted to leave.

"[color 33ec06]Anybody got any plans for this?[/color]" he said softly, making it a point to avoid eye contact, and staring straight ahead.

Finally it was over. One of the worst moments of her life was actually fucking over. Who knew that Angélique would start of as a benevolent member of an evacuation team and end up like a psychotic screamer? She just revealed to everyone the kind of monster she was, both deep inside and outside from reputation. 
 
Truly, this afternoon was one gigantic fucking mess. At the very least, the voices inside her head quieted down to basically a faint usher. Peace returned to her mind, but with this serenity came the realization of everything she did, and what everyone did to ensure their survival.
 
Angélique was unsure what to think about all of it. She killed people for sure, but she did it to make sure her classmates and herself were coming out from this alive, didn’t she? Even Marcus got the idea and used his firearm to save a life. But still, the raven-haired Aberration felt some part of her humanity leaving her after all that happened. Regulars really didn’t see Subnaturals as Humans anymore, and Angel kind of proved them right now. No, she wasn’t the same anymore. Ernest was right.
 
But for now, the Voice Mage couldn’t let this weakness show. She swallowed her shame and guilt. The others didn’t need to see this part of herself. She already showed it enough already. They needed resolve to get through this mess. If she had to brand herself as a villain and a cold-hearted bitch for the sake of others, then so be it. She could cry about it later when she’d be by her lonesome self.
 
[color=9e0039]“We’ve got no time for this shit anymore. Let’s get the hell out of here and find a safe and quiet spot for the disabled. We need a quick way to get rid of the cars on the road without exposing ourselves to danger like now."[/color] Angel’s voice reached out as a calm whisper to everyone. She was tired, dizzy and ever-more stressed out than before. She didn’t feel like raising her voice more than needed, not when she had the power to help her communicate with ease.
 
Then, a sudden realization. They just knocked out some army men right now, some of which fled after being disarmed and faced with the overwhelming forces of the Subnaturals. By now, the whole army was probably looking for murderous Mages driving a Semi. What if they would be waiting for them at the evacuation point? There’s no doubt they would be shot on sight and killed if that was the case. 
 
[color=9e0039]“It’s probably best if we don’t go to the evacuation point. Soldiers will be waiting for us there and shoot us on sight considering what happened earlier with them. Let’s take the bus over there too. They’ll probably be looking for a semi by now.”[/color]

Just as she finished speaking, Angel's gaze wandered about, settling upon a familiar blonde figure kneeling in the dirty concrete. Black threads connected herself to the fallen silhouettes of the dazed citizens. Half-blind from the ambient light, Angélique could not discern that Lilianna wasn't actually healing those people, but instead finishing the job Angel couldn't achieve with her current level of power. 

Fearing her musician friend might overexert herself from trying to take wounds, Angel tried to rush towards Lily, pushing herself off the semi's trailer. After a few steps, dizziness would remind the young singer why she needed a human-crutch earlier. Her legs gave out, but no one was around to catch her. Angel fell to the ground, a few feet away from Lilianna. Mentally cursing her inability to walk alone, Angel reached out to the blonde Aberration with her magic. 

[color=9e0039]"Lily, please, stop. It's over. These people aren't worth getting yourself hurt for."[/color] the faint, tired whispers of Angel's voice came next to Lily's head, as if the girl was standing next to her.

One by one she targeted them, the ground was turning red so fast. The half crazed Aberration didn't show any signs of stopping until her black thread reached out for a man with messy blonde hair who was desperately trying to get away from all the gore and destruction. Lily's eyes widened and the black strand that signaled her power stopped just before it touched the man's wrist. It was at that exact moment when Angel's voice reached her ears. [color=lightcoral][i]It's...over? What's over?[/i][/color] her thoughts were confused, disjointed. The black thread quivered before it dissipated into thin air, horrified golden eyes watched as the blonde man glanced back at her with terror and hatred. [color=lightcoral][i] Sebastian?[/i][/color]

And then it finally dawned on her. The memories, the battle... Regulars scared to the point of attacking them... The need to protect... The moment she saw her friends getting hurt, she no longer thought the regulars were real humans. But the people that laid bleeding and dying on the ground were real people and not something imaginary or a product of another Subnatural's mind. She wasn't in Ground Zero. 

There was no turning back. [color=lightcoral][i]What did I...?[/i][/color] She was a monster now. 

A murderer. 

Drained from expending too much power amplifying injuries and from giving in to the rage and the hate, the small blonde haired stared down at her hands.

[color=lightcoral][i]They deserved it.[/i][/color] The voice in her head was calm, the words unhesitating. Was it her thoughts or was it her stigma? She can no longer tell. But the horror of what she had done was too heavy and rooted her on the spot. It didn't matter how much she tried to control her stigma. At the end of the day, there really was no denying that she'll eventually give in. Exactly like what she just did.

"[color 33ec06]Angel![/color]" Marcus shouted, looking out the window at the fallen girl. They could argue about destinations and healing and planning later, right now they just needed to [i]leave[/i]. Before more people arrived. Before more people could get hurt.

By them.

"[color 33ec06]Grant. We have to get going. Can you make anything that'll help us get through these cars any easier?[/color]" There was a pause as Marcus heard his own voice come through the cuff around his ankle, barking out a sharp "[color 33ec06][b]Shut that thin-[/b]. Over.[/color]" before returning to his train of thought. The consequences of the transmission didn't occur to him, with so many other things to be worrying about.

"[color 33ec06]Right now, we need to get to the Evac point and at least retrieve Christmas. If Sander just dropped him in the middle of a group of regulars, then one of our healers might be at risk. The semi has less points of weakness than the bus, and more overall power - which if we're going to get through this street, we need.[/color]"

Calm and calculated; a very drastic difference than his usual tone. Although Angel probably couldn't hear him from the cab, he didn't raise his voice. The plan was more for his own benefit; something to keep himself focused on - a line of reasoning that he could follow.

Grant had taken a few steps toward the fallen Angel, worry quickly crossing his mind before the scarred boy's voice caught his attention by calling his name. At the mention of the roadblock, he assessed his surroundings. Moving the cars one by one with more injured around seemingly wasn't an option. Instead, Grant looked back to the semi, more importantly, the front.

[color=0095FF]"I could possibly make the front of the truck into a plow."[/color] He suggested.

Concern. Numb. Guilt. Numb. 

[i]What had she done?[/i]

The weight of the situation hadn't had a chance to press on Siena until she was herded into the vehicle. When she'd lost her grip on Dekka's powers, she'd known. Felt that same gnawing sense of horror try to break through the front lines of her thoughts, only to be pushed down by panic when she couldn't confront it immediately. It wasn't the same as hurting, trying to [i]kill[/i] a subnatural. She'd attacked people. Human beings. 

[i]She didn't mean to...[/i] Did it matter? Another tepid wave of something that washed away her ability to feel properly came over her, trying its best to distance her from the situation at hand. [i][color=f7976a]You've become the monster. Aren't you proud?[/color][/i] Not just her, she tried to acknowledge. Almost everyone had done their part. 

The distance she felt seemed to grow as she quietly voiced something. 

"[color=ff57ff]If we don't go to the point, they'll probably hunt us down anyways.[/color]" 

Well...they were probably as good as dead in either case. At least if they showed up to their execution, they might be done in painlessly.

[hr]

[hider=Angélique, Lilianna and Kusari: Xs and Monsters]
Shaking, Angel willed herself to get up and reach Lilianna. But it was in vain, the strength in her legs would not return, no matter how hard she tried to force herself. At best, the only thing she could do was to crawl slowly in her direction. It was tough, but she made it eventually to Lily's side. The girl looked like a confused mess. What exactly was going on through her mind? Then, as Angel glanced around, she realized with horror the sight in front of Lilianna. 

Bleeding ears. Blood that had pooled on the ground from the dozens of individuals bleeding out from their ears. 

No, that was impossible. Angélique wasn't powerful enough to do that. She knew the maximum output of her powers. She tested in Ground Zero the limit days after days of training. No way did she got suddenly so powerful with her voice. She didn't experience any empowering vision just now. She felt no change today. No way was she able to kill people with her voice...

[color=797e6a][i]"Again..."[/i][/color]

Then it hit her. The burning sensation she felt back at the hotel. The feeling of being on the receiving end of being poked by a searing hot white X-shaped brand. 

Oh fuck. What had she done?

Angel felt silent. A lump in her throat. Gods above, what will her classmates think of her now? It was Montréal all over again. She truly was a psychopathic murderer. 

[color=9e0039]"I... I..."[/color] the words were difficult to pronounce, basically choked by the guilt. [color=9e0039]"I... didn't mean to... to kill..."[/color] Angel couldn't finish the rest of her sentence, overwhelmed by the realization of how badly she fucked up. Again.

Lily lifted her head and stared at the bloody scene in front of her. Even when she heard Angelique's voice again and actually felt her presence beside her, she still didn't move. She was too horrified and too exhausted to move from where she had fallen. There really was no sense hiding what she could do the way she had promised Ernie. She did it for everyone to see. It was in plain sight now. If they somehow couldn't figure it out, they would eventually be able to piece things together and there was no way she could deny it. Or maybe she didn't really want to deny it anymore. Not when one of the people she actually liked and thought of as a friend was blaming herself for something that was not her doing. [color=lightcoral]"No, it wasn't you. I did this,"[/color] she admitted in a flat voice.

After painstakingly removing the tentacle from her body and reattaching her arm, Kusari hopped out of the truck. She nearly let out a gasp as she saw the motionless bodies covering the ground. She'd expected her allies to properly defend themselves, but something seemed wrong here. She walked over to Angel and Lily, the two girls were clearly distraught. 

[color=662d91]"What do you mean you did this, Lily?[/color] She asked, just barely hearing her conversation with Angel. She looked more closely at one of the bodies around her and saw that it was bleeding from its ears. Lily could only transfer wounds as far as she knew, how did she do this? This bodycount wasn't something they were going to get away with, even if they were just defending themselves. The lives of a few subs was nothing compared to some 'innocent' humans.

There it was...that question. She had it coming with her admission. But while she expected the question from Angelique, the voice mage was quiet. She didn't expect that Kusari would pop up and ask. Was she really ready to divulge her secrets to potential friends? Was she ready to lose their friendship? She had been safe with only Ernie knowing about the horrible nature of her power. Even though he wasn't exactly a close friend, he hadn't seemed scared or disgusted of her. He even gave her advice and had emphasized how important it was to keep it between them. She just had to lose control in front of these people. She turned inwardly and waited for that spiteful voice in her head.

Her mind, however, was silent. There were no voices telling her that the people she hurt deserved it, that the people who were beside her now didn't deserve her friendship and that she shouldn't care if they all leave her behind for being such a monster trying to hide behind the pretense of being good. And for the first time ever since she woke up in USARILN hospital, she actually wished that the voices would come back.

Time was of the essence. And Grant had just been standing by the two girls that were right now unmoving, uttering blames to themselves. He let out a sigh and stepped toward them as another joined. [color=0095FF]"No time. You can talk about this inside."[/color] He said simply before sending his chains out to the two, connecting with their clothes before lifting them both into the air.

With the two up, Grant made his way around the truck to the back, making sure to be careful. At his destination, he opened up the back with his remaining chain and set them down slowly inside.

Angel mentally reeled back in surprise from Lilianna’s claim. How? Wasn’t she only able to transfer wounds? But she clearly saw the black thread before, so she surely did transfer the wounds. What really was Lily’s power? A feeling of dread surged in Angélique’s mind. It was entirely possible for the blonde Aberration to have developed a more sinister power, considering Angel herself had multiple facets to her powers already. Ernest said it before too. Their classmates were an exception to the rule. They were the only ones to develop entirely new abilities based on what they already had.
 
The raven-haired girl’s speechless hesitation allowed Kusari to be the one to ask exactly what happened. But before the golden-haired Aberration had time to answer, Grant had arrived picking the two defeated-looking X-marked girls with his chains and brought them back to the semi’s freighter.
 
Angélique only muttered a [color=9e0039]”…thanks…”[/color] to the Arbiter without looking directly at him, slightly sour of simply being picked up this way and hanging helplessly in the air to Grant’s whim. It felt shameful, weak, dishonoring.
 
Setting her back against the walls of the van, Angel sat and curled up her legs against her chest, hugging them tightly, her head resting against her knees.

Even before Lily could even consider answering the question posed to her or glance at Angelique, she felt herself being lifted up. She didn't struggle; she didn't fight but merely hung on Grant's chain like a lifeless doll. Once she was released, she stayed where she was deposited, having no desire to move or interact with the people who were probably waiting for her to explain her actions. There were several questions echoing in a loop in her mind. [color=lightcoral][i]What horrible stuff had I done to make that man hit me so hard in the head that I'd almost died? Had I killed people the way I did today? Should I have died then so that things wouldn't have gotten this bad?[/i][/color]

[color=662d91]"So, Lilliana."[/color] Kusari spoke to Lily once they were back in the truck. Lily seemed to be in shock, that or she was actively ignoring them. [color=662d91]"Are you going to explain how you killed those people? I can't say I care all that much about them, but what are you keeping from us?"[/color]

Dulled golden eyes turned towards Kusari. For a long moment, Lily just stared at her. [color=lightcoral][i]How I killed those people...[/i][/color] she repeated in her head, her mind derailing for a second to the flash of memories she got earlier. [color=lightcoral][i]Did I kill people before I came to USARILN? Is that why that man hurt me?[/i][/color] Too many questions that had no answers. But there was one that could be answered now. With a sigh, she turned away from Kusari and trained her eyes down onto her hands. [color=lightcoral]"Just like the way I cut off your hand. Amplification,"[/color] she finally answered in a quiet voice.

Kusari squinted her eyes at Lily for a moment, not quite sure what she meant. She looked at her right hand, the same one that had been completely severed when Lily transferred Zoe's wounds to her. She did find it strange then, but simply brushed it off as a quirk of her altered arm. But if "Amplification" meant what she thought it did, then that meant that Lily purposely inflicted greater harm to her than she needed to. Kusari felt a chill run down her spine, and glanced towards Angel. 

[color=662d91]"So those people had already been taken care of by Angel, and you decided to... Finish them off?"[/color] She asked, trying to keep her tone calm. [color=662d91]"There's a difference between keeping yourself safe and outright murder, Liliana. What made you want to hurt me more than necessary, to kill those people? This whole time you've been acting as if you didn't want to hurt people, I had to pull you away from those people in Wisford for crying out loud."[/color] Kusari paused for a moment, looking at the black x on Lily's neck. 

[color=662d91]"You're not gonna sit there and blame it on your stigma, are you?"[/color]

Ernie was right. They were all gonna hate and doubt her now. What will she say? That she wanted to protect everyone? That she wanted to hurt people because that was what the voices in her head demanded? That in the midst of the chaos, she hallucinated and thought that she was protecting herself and who she thought to be her brother? That when she broke out of her hallucination, all she just wanted to do was make sure that the people who had been attacking can no longer hurt the only real family she had now? They'd think that she was a nut job. No matter how good her intentions had been, there was no excusing that she killed people. It was dumb to think that it'd be okay. Kusari wasn't even letting her blame her stigma. But what did she know about stigmas? She was an Arbiter. None of the Arbiters will ever know what it's like to struggle every single day with the voices that incessantly urged her to kill and hurt.

She thought back to that time she spent in Ground Zero. She had felt horrible for hurting imaginary people. Now... she felt beyond horrible.

No one can and will ever understand her. She can't even understand herself.

[color=lightcoral][i]The whole time you've been acting as if you didn't want to hurt people...[/i][/color] she repeated the words to herself. She deserved the words. She probably deserved to be chucked back into the angry crowd to die even though she had never pretended. She really didn't want to hurt anyone. But the more she healed, the more her stigma cried out and demanded for blood and destruction. Her mind could only take so much before it broke under the pressure of it all. 

She was a monster. A pretentious one that would only bring death and destruction.

The blonde Aberration kept quiet. Better let everyone think she was a monster than try to defend herself and have no one listening anyway. She didn't really want to defend herself anyway. What was there to defend?

[color=662d91]"Nothing to say for yourself?"[/color] Kusari glared at Lily, irritated by her silence. [color=662d91]"Can you really not control it? There must be something we can do. We can't keep having things like this happen."[/color] Kusari let out a sigh, she could complain all she wanted but she had no answers. 

Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Lily doubted that the pale Arbiter would still think badly about her no matter what she says or not say. Had she been in a more hyper mood, she would have glared back and told her off. But she was far from that kind of mood and so she remained silent, letting Kusari hate her and think awful thoughts about her.

While Kusari interrogated Lilianna, Angélique simply sat still, curled up on herself. She had been hearing what was being said, but made no move to prevent Kusari's harsh questions from reaching Lily, nor did she tried to defend the blonde Aberration for what she had done. The girl's silence answered it all, and Angel was probably the only one in the back of this miserable van that could understand how the girl felt back there. The loss of control. That's what got them into this mess in the first place, after all. A simple shout, turned devastating, escalated this Subnatural stoning into a bloodbath.  

And yet, the illusions Angel had of Lilianna being such a gentle and innocent girl was shattered by her cold-blooded murders. She did not know how to feel about it, even though the whole deal could have been cause by the Stigma. It could have been justified, if people were actively aiming to kill her classmates. But the deaths she caused was done towards helpless people already put out of commission by repeated screams of sonic energy. It surely didn't help Angélique feel any better about herself. Those 'amplified' injuries were initially caused by Angel, after all.
[/hider]

[hr]

With the two girls secure in the back, Grant made his way back to the front cab of the semi, attaching all three of his chains onto the front of it. He climbed up into the passenger seat, and once sat, he focused, the weight of the action pushing down on his shoulders. Morphing and changing the front bumper until it somewhat resembled a plow, for the intention of getting through the cars clumped and strewn across the street. Once the act was done, Grant slumped back in his seat, visually tired. Or wait, that's just how he always looked. His chains still phased to the front, attached to the makeshift plow, but either way, he signified his completion with,

[color=0095FF]"Done."[/color]

Satisfied with the makeshift plow, Marcus gave Grant a solemn nod. It seemed like he was one of the only people who was still keeping his head in all of this - it was nice to see someone retain their calm, if only because it helped Marcus imitate it better. There were a thousand thoughts all piling up in his head, none of which were currently helpful at this moment.

[i]Later[/i].

Again. Always later. Yet, there was a part of him that realized it wouldn't be [i]as[/i] 'later' as he would have liked. Not like last time, where he could just maintain the facade until he was alone. There were cracks, and not enough time to fill them.

"[color 33ec06]Last chance to climb in the back. It might get a little bit rough up here.[/color]" Marcus spoke aloud, turning the key in the ignition to restart the truck with a sudden roar.