Ash looked at the girl who was now his roommate, of course the one with the massive snake would be the one he gets, but the girl seems nice, excited and ready to have as much fun as she can, Ash was the opposite, he was already regretting having come and was afraid of everything around and hungry to boot.
"Umm.... Ok.... I suppose we could go explore..... Do... Do you think there is a kitchen?" Ash asked meekly, he figured if she was nice and he was nice in return she may not sick the giant snake on him. However as he spoke her little snake slithered up and threatened him. As a reflex to the tone Ash spawned his armor and shielded himself from what he assumed was the coming attack.
Both Carmen and Hakeem smiled to Sig. "Yeah, she's one of the good ones out there." Hakeem commented before Max approached them. The three agents were trying to get Max to back off, Carmen nearly threatening to use force before Grace spoke into their minds, using their real names! Liana (who's real name was Andrea) nearly flipped out, but she got her nerves together and was able to calm down, considering that Grace didn't seem to be hostile... yet. However, both Carmen and Hakeem were beyond scared.
Once Sigmund put his hand on her shoulder, Liana turned to him. "Excuse us for just a moment..." Liana said softly to Sig and Celestia before promptly taking her two scared comrades to a more secluded area.
Immediately, Liana took Carmen and Hakeem into a more secluded area in the Grand Hall (an alcove or second hall) where her comrades can panic alone, without the prying eyes of anyone else. Liana checked to make sure no one was around before speaking to them privately once Grace's mind dump was over, making sure no one was within earshot.
"Hey guys, calm down. I was going to inform you of all of this-"
"What are you fucking nuts!?" Carmen whispered, anger and fear in her voice. "Someone just spoke into our minds and already knows about who we are and what we're trying to do! She used our real names for christ's sake!" Carmen hyperventilated before turning to Hakeem. "You're right homie, we never should've come here..."
Hakeem was stunned, and shocked. He blankly stared ahead. "We're so fucking dead." Hakeem said, leaning against the wall before sliding down onto the ground into a sitting position.
"Guys, listen! We-" Liana was interrupted, seeing how she got a text from Eagle Eye, with the attached picture of the Masked Man that Grace described.
FLASH ADVISORY: Targets updated. Unknown masked figure that matches attached description. Updated target callsign Nomad. Buzzed Operation Torchsnuff and Peace Sentinel. Allied with Torch. Torch and Nomad have vocally expressed aggression towards the Academy and Peace Sentinel. Apprehend and question if possible, shoot to kill if necessary. Primary target remains unchanged. Be advised, Nomad has teleportation abilities, and is possibly hiding within the AO with Torch. Avenger 32 conducting SAD, contact for support. Good luck out there.
Liana gulped, looking at the picture that Eagle Eye sent to her. It was a picture of the Masked Man, who was looking straight at the UAV camera. Liana blinked. Jesus Christ... She gulped before looking to Carmen and Hakeem, who were trying to get over their panic attack.
"Liana, hon, we gotta pull out. It's only a matter of time before the whole damn school finds out... who knows what could happen? This whole thing is a bust-"
Liana stared sternly, and there was a soft hum that sounded. Her red irises glowed like fire, and Liana stared at both Hakeem and Carmen. "Calm down." Her voice sort of echoed, and it came with power. Within moments, both Carmen and Hakeem got their nerves together, and calmed down. "Listen to me, okay? We have a friendly party involved that plans to help us out on this. We clearly have a new target here that is both a threat to this academy and to Hendrix." Liana said, using their cover organization just in case if anyone was listening in. She then showed them a picture of the masked man, who's callsign is now Nomad. "And since too many people already know what's going on and that there's an AI that's listening in, we have to switch up our game. Does that sound cool?" Liana asked.
Both Carmen and Hakeem nodded slowly.
"Okay, this friendly party that has been talking into our minds is the small purple creature, and she seems that she's willing to help out. Even though a few know about TS, we still need to keep up the facade just in case if they know to keep their mouths shut. Since our comms are being monitored and decrypted by god-knows-who, we're gonna switch things up and use S-Code. All of our reports are going to be written through it, and we'll be contacting E-Eye through it. We're the only ones who know S-Code so we should be golden from now on." Liana said. "I'm going to keep an eye on things, and I'm going to try to find out where these two motherfuckers are at. In the meantime, I want you two to set up FOB in the room you guys were assigned to." Liana said quietly. "Got it?"
Both Carmen and Hakeem nodded. "Solid copy." Carmen said softly.
"Alright, now you two go set up FOB in your guy's room." She turned around as she heard Cyber in the distance ask if anyone wanted to go explore with her. "I'll go scout ahead for our guys." She patted them on the shoulders. "Keep your eyes sharp." As Carmen and Hakeem left the hall towards their duffel bags, Liana grabbed her MP5SD from her backpack and slung it to her side, grabbing ammo for it and leaving the backpack behind. Liana headed towards Leval, Shela and Sigmund. As she did, she sent a text to Eagle Eye.
Wofgxj, Suxikxkyy, ju eua xkgj? I corr hk nkgjotm uaz cozn Somsatj, Lkbgr gtj Snkrg zu mu yiuaz uaz znk oyrgtj. I corr rkz eua qtuc cnkt I xkzaxt.
As Hakeem used his telekinetic powers to lift up all of the dufflebags, including Liana's packing bags and headed to the staircase to make their way to their new home, Carmen replied.
Suroj iuve. Hkxk'y zu nuvotm tu utk corr igzin gte ul znoy.
Carmen put her phone away before moving with Hakeem, disappearing up the stairs with him with the rest of their bags so they can put their stuff away, and set up a base camp in peace.
Liana Washington
Grand Hall → Rainbow Field
Liana then grouped up with Leval, Sig and Shela, looking ready for action! With a submachine gun slung to her side, it was obvious that Liana didn't want to take any chances when exploring the island. She smiled to the both of them. "Sorry about that... I had to take care of important business." She said softly, looking around before sighing a little, trying to relax after that whole ordeal. If anyone asked why she had a military-grade submachine gun slung at her side, she simply smirked. "I work for Hendrix Tactical, they literally pay me to be prepared for anything. Old habits I guess." She lied, giving a smirk and a shrug, walking with the group calmly.
While heading to a place called The Rainbow Field did not sound like a place where Torch (Sekhemi) and Nomad (Masked Man) would hang out at, it didn't hurt to do some scouting with some of her friends. Just in case if they did show up, Liana did want to be prepared, hence why she brought her submachine gun, loaded with silver-jacketed bullets. Liana then saw the Rainbow Field in the distance, looking like a set for half of the US commercials for food and medication in existence. If anything, Torch and Nomad would not be hanging out in a place like that, unless they were villains that had a sense of irony. Maybe Nomad... but Torch is too much of a proud idiot for that. She walked with the group, looking around, taking in all of the sights and smells. While the sun did make her somewhat uncomfortable, she was glad that she was born with enough melanin to keep the sun from turning her into ash.
Liana walked alongside Sig, looking around. "I swear, if the Academy ran commercials, this place would be the first place that they would shoot them in." Liana chuckled, looking around. She saw the flowers, the birds were chirping... just add in a harp and some chipper strings and the scene would be complete.
She watched as Shela ran through the field happily. "Quite a lot of spunk for a girl who just got possessed, huh?" Liana asked Leval, giving him a little nudge. Once Drake mentioned that he had a bad feeling about this, she nodded. "Yeah, shouldn't there be a film crew here?" Liana joked before thinking about it. It is deceivingly peaceful and beautiful over here... She thought, looking around the place. It does feel like a facade, a saccharine place filled with hidden meaning... hidden danger. "Stay close." Liana told Sig as her right hand started to grip on a little tightly on the MP5's pistol grip.
And then a sunflower popped up in the field, causing Liana to turn towards it. She looked at it curiously. It was a sentient flower... one with a creepy ass smile, and one with a strangely friendly voice that had some... undertones to it, to say the least. She would freak out a little but at this point she was getting used to all of this odd shit happening around her.
She heard Sig's bewilderment. Liana nodded. "Yep. That's a fucking talking flower, Sauer." She sighed, unintentionally rhyming at the end.
She looked at it as it introduced itself as 'Flowey', and began singing a song. If Liana didn't know any better, it sounds like a song that would come straight from some fucked up Disney World ride. The flower was singing about how the soul needs love, and how love is not far, etc. Flowey soon finished its song, and Liana looked at it skeptically.
"What kind of love are we talking here?" Liana asked, squinting at Flowey. She knew that this flower was sketchy as hell, so she warned Shela. "Shela... I think you should step back from it." She said, her grip on her submachine gun slightly tightening.
Leval's group had swelled with the ranks of Sig and Liana, as well as Liana's machine gun which did make Leval feel quite a lot better. Given the myriad creatures that they had faced on the fields below it always helped to know there was someone in their "adventuring party," as Sig had put it, that was willing spray copious amounts of hot lead at the things. Sig had clapped him on the back as he decided to join and Leval was glad that he had come along. Sig seemed a very likable sort of guy with his own unique sense of being. He was definitely someone Leval wanted to learn more about.
'I wonder what kind of abilities he has? He was floating on a chair earlier. Maybe some type of wind manipulator? It would be rude to ask.'
They came across the field, a vivid landscape with colors well worthy of its name. Each hue of each color spread out before them as the sun shined down upon them. Leval was glad to see Shela running through the fields happily, apparently he had made a good decision to take her out instead of cooping her up somewhere. Liana nudged his arm and spoke on Shela's current mood. Leval nodded in agreement. "She seems to be doing okay from the ordeal. I'll keep an eye on her just in case. I am not exactly certain if she is in any danger at the moment."
The area was quite beautiful really, peaceful even. However, rather than relaxing Liana seemed to growing more tense as the time passed. He glanced at her with a little bit of concern. He was about to ask her what was wrong when a sunflower poked out of the ground and began talking to them. And than it began to sing, because apparently everything here liked to do that. One of the many mysteries of the Academy that he was certain he would never fully understand. But it was disturbing really, nothing about the lyrics of the song were particularly disturbing in and of themselves, but combined with the intensity of its stare and the way it smiled spoke of some ...other intent that Leval did not like at all. When it stopped singing, Leval also responded to Sig's question, "I can confirm that, yes, a talking flower just emerged from the ground, you don't often see that around." He rhymed intentionally.
He wholeheartedly agreed when Liana called Shela back towards them. He cleared his throat and spoke out towards the flower. "Oh we are good thank you. I think we would just prefer to head back. Bye now." He tightened his grip on his staff and motioned the group to start backing away slowly.
Grace watched as Liana took Hakeem and Carmen to calm down. She closed her eyes and focused on them and quickly realised they were sending another message to PS, however this time it was different. It was highly encrypted and without the cipher she couldn't understand it. It would work very well to stop the Masked Man from getting any info, but something told her that they didn't trust her yet. Still, Hakeen and Carmen was going to set up base, while Liana was going to explore, Grace decided to follow Liana for now. When they got to the Rainbow Fields a sunflower popped up and began singing. The smile on it's face meant bad news. She looked to Liana slowly and spoke up.
"Get ready for a fight, I think you'll need more than that gun."
She looked back to the flower, watching it closely.
Shela
Shela listened to Liana and Leval and quickly ran towards them. She hid behind Leval and watched the flower closely. Something about it just cut through her nerves.
"I don't think we should be it's friend."
Drake stood forward and gave a small smile.
"I knew this was going to be bad, well don't worry. I've got a little something called fire!"
Drake's tail suddenly became covered in fire, he took a deep breath, and when he breathed out fire shot out of his mouth, torching the poor little flower.
????????
The flower watched as everyone began to back away, the little girl even ran away. Then, to make it worse, her pet tried to burn him alive. Flowey screamed and melted within the flames. When Drake stopped, there was nothing but ash. Drake turned around to walk away slowly when a voice echoed through the fields.
"YOU FOOLS! I GAVE YOU A CHANCE TO LIVE BUT NO. NOW YOU SHALL LEARN THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSON OF YOUR ENTIRE LIVES, KILL OR BE KILLED!!!!!"
Suddenly, out of nowhere, hundreds upon hundreds of monsterous plants shot up. Vines tangled around each other as they rose, making a huge wall of impenetrable vines all around the Rainbow Fields. In the very middle, the monsterous plant spoke up to everyone.
"DIE, DIE, DIE!!!!!"
The monsterous plants opened their mouths and let out thick purple gas that was quickly spreading throughout the Rainbow Fields while vines rose up all across the fields from the many deadly plants.
Akira continued to wonder the corridors on his search. He had no real way of deciding a heading for himself, for all he knew each step he took was leading him further away from what he seek. The section of the school he was in didn't seem to bear any remarkable designs, it just seemed like a normal school, for some reason he had expected more. "Come on where are you?..." Akira said to himself softly as he stopped to concentrate more on his ability to seek Arken's aura but to no avail.
As he begun walking again however he felt something. Someone was following him and their intents did not seem all that pure before he heard their voice call out to him. Feigning surprise Akira flinched as he stopped mid-step before turning around. His eye's checking over the one that had interrupted his search. "Ahh, Kitsune Lilith. Greetings, I am Akira Kage." He faked a perfect returning smile of sincerity to the creature stood before him. "I am simply seeking our... clearly illusive host, Head Master Arken. My late arrival was, as I believe to have been expected, though I don't believe he had expected me to arrive so close to his school introductions." Akira kept the conversation polite, in anything maybe he could bore his social partner he'd found himself with.
Akira thinks for a moment before speaking once more. "Though down here in these corridors there is not much to be found." Akira shrugs continuing. "Which does raise the question of why you might also be here? If I'm not mistaken I had passed you whilst making my way through the grand hall, so you clearly didn't miss the school hand-outs." Akira continued to offer his fake smile, as it was evident that he understood Lilith's intentions were not ones of niceties. "Anyway I must be off, need to find Arken and get my things after all. I'm sure I'll see you again soon." Akira finishes as he turns to leave before stopping himself. Showing a sincere smile for the first time. "Though a word of advice if I may... Always remember though your face can tell a beautiful lie, your aura will always betray your true intentions. Ciao." With that Akira turned once more and begun walking the corridors of the school once more, softly whistling to himself as he did so.
