Ghost Rider

The kickstand dropped to the pavement followed by a heavy boot outside Nocturne. As the flames churned off the tires, the exhaust glowed a hot orange-red spitting its erratic beat as its Rider dismounted. A heavy chain fell behind, its links clamoring to the ground searing a path as it melted through the asphalt filling the air with dirty smoke and a chemical stench. With each step closer, Cole could feel his soul exploding outward like a star going nova. He was himself, but he was not himself- all at the same time, like his whole purpose, his existence, for that moment was completely singular, insatiable. His senses absorbed multiple planes of reality all at once: colors, auras, feelings past and present imprinted on time and space.

Nocturne was dark to human eyes, but the entire building clamored with spiritual activity at his approach. Entities escaping, others hauntingly gathered like vultures perched to collect whatever was soon to be left behind. He could hear their disembodied calls and whispers growing louder with anticipation as the ground quickly became molten beneath him. Glowing red hydras cracked the surface and hissed flames that spat up from underneath. Painful, inhuman howls from the tormented intensified as he neared the entrance to the club. Twisted visages reached up through the flames for his charred pant leg falling away hopelessly at each mechanical step forward. He could see inside, feeling the presence of the one he came to take and the one to take away.

The victims were often the same: Murderers, pedophiles, con-artists, human traffickers. The worst of the worst. He would find them in places like Nocturne or on dark stretches of the freeway between LA and Las Vegas. When it was time, it was time. Some begged for mercy, others fought, some seemed to even expect it. Without exception though, the hired help always ran away leaving their employer’s soul to be torn apart alone. Nocturne was no exception. As he stepped through the front entrance the spirits gathered were in a full riot. The doors that had apparently been removed shot back up on their hinges then fell back again like a tape being replayed again and again. As the floor ignited beneath him, the power in the building fell away completely while Layne Staley’s voice still lamented The Rooster.

The chain drug the floor behind him groaning across polished marble as the flames spread cackling over the ground level and crawling up the walls. The sprinkler system erupted into action as the entire building seemed to twist and groan in agony. Hollow vision lifted slowly to an upstairs office that overlooked the lower floor where the three were gathered. For a moment he stood, unmoving like a statue, staring up at them while the water beat pitifully against the fire spreading through the downstairs and across his scorched leather jacket. The song dropped with a sharp heterodyne and the speakers went dead as he moved for the stairway.

@Dezuel@RedVII@Almalthia@Silver Carrot

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Once Heidi reached the top, she saw the carnage that Ayel had wreacked. There was solace in the fact that he hadn't killed all of them, and this was better than Heidi could have expected, but it still hurt to see people dead as an indirect result of her actions. She swallowed. She was going to have to get used to that feeling. This wouldn't be the first time she'd feel it.

She saw a shadow emerge from a room at the other side of the hallway and dived into an empty room before the figure emerged. Luckily, it was at that moment that the power went out, and the sprinklers went off, so Heidi then stole a glance out of the doorway. It was Ayel. And he didn't have Una. Heidi found this very suspicious, and already didn't trust Ayel to start with, so she let him pass. She'd deal with him later. She had to find out Una's fate first and foremost. Once Ayel disappeared down the stairwell, Heidi emerged and started heading to the room that Ayel had emerged from. As she did, she thought about the power going out. Coupled with the disruption before, this was clearly sabotage. The cavalry was already here. Good. They'd bump into Ayel. She didn't want him running off into the night.

Heidi entered the now dark room, but from the lights outside shining through the windows, she could see Una, and the man from the club. Una didn't look like a prisoner at all, and her 'captor' wasn't threatening either Heidi nor Una. Something more complicated was going on here. Heidi squinted. The lighting wasn't good enough to see either of their mouths. They could be talking to her right now and she wouldn't know! She coughed awkardly.

"Sorry, do either of you have a waterproof flashlight?" asked this small soaking fifteen year old girl, still dressed for a night in a club. "I'm deaf, and it's too dark to read your lips."

His withdrawal had not been met with a firefight as he had expected, had Heidi taken out all those on the floor below or were the sound of that... motorbike drawing attention away from what had happened upstairs? Suffice to say he was surprised on seeing the water sprinklers beginning to spray water and the lights remaining being taken out. The waterdrops fell down against his raised shield, while it wasn't strainful to ward off unlike the more unrelenting speed and impact of bullets, it was slightly distracting.

"Tch.. " The blonde grit his teeth together and gave the sprinklers a look which told he was not amused. His appreciation of it was very much the same of how most cats would react on having a bucket of water poured over them. His thought process was cut short by the scent and noise coming from downstairs, aswell as fire starting to decorate the walls leading up to the stairwell.

Someone was coming, and blazing fire it's companion. An ally of Heidi or a collaborator with that Frost individual? Could it be that Demo person perhaps? Ayel decided to not ponder upon it further and go about with his plan, which meant backing out of the place. His attention turned to the window which he had previously propelled one of the guards through some time earlier, the artificial lights outside was illuminating it well enough, or was it the moon? It would have to do for an exit as the stairwell window would not longer do, it would be less troublesome than going by the stairs and encountering whomever was coming.

He didn't know all of Heidi's friends, and they did not know about him unless she would have told them. Such a thing could not be relied upon, and thus he floated back and over towards the window. Moving out of it and giving a glance down the corridor to catch a glimse of whomever it was that was coming. If it were an ally of Frost, perhaps he could lure him or her outdoors where he felt more at ease, where Ayel was confident he had more of an advantage.

Ayel quickly flew out of the window with a slight upturn at the corner of his mouth, waiting just to catch a glimse of whomever was moving up the stairwell, though with the lights out it might be tricky to see from where he found himself. Unless the person were on fire or something like that.

Nay matter what happens now, I've won… He assured himself, whilst things had not gone exactly to plan, you had to be able to adapt in order to thrive. Evolution demanded it. As weaker species became extinct. So having secondary and even tertiary plans would help to avoid that fate.

"...we shall likely not meet again, Frost." Lex looked on at the strange man made his exit. He then turned back to Una with an expression that begged the question 'What just happened'? He then turned back toward the blown apart entrance to his office just as water rained down from the ceiling. The sprinkler system had been triggered. Either someone pulled the alarm of there was a fire. Lex moved toward the overlooking wall of windows down at the club floor. His eyes widened a bit as he took in the vision of a flaming skull staring back at him. The fire seemed to spread around the man... the... whatever it was. It was as though the being's very presence was giving birth to it.

"Well if the party hadn't started before," Lex uttered, not moving his eyes off the creature. "It's definitely started now." He ran a hand through his soaked hair as the water continued to fall upon him. "Where are you in this, Red?" He demanded to know. Would she fight at his side, run and hide, or aid in his demise? As he waited for an answer, he starred daggers at the fiery entity below. As he did, he violently took off his soiled jacked and threw the wet clump of fine cloth to the corner of the room, leaving his top half adorned in a long sleeve dress shirt, a vest and his gun holsters. He rolled up the sleeves one by one to just above his elbows and then began cracking his knuckles methodically. This guy wasn't going to run away. Of that much, he was certain. This fight would actually happen. He rolled his neck in view of the Thing below before moving to his desk.

Suddenly there was a cough in the wet darkness of the room. Lex looked up to behold a young brunette whom he didn't recognize.

"Sorry, do either of you have a waterproof flashlight? I'm deaf, and it's too dark to read your lips." Lex didn't look amused. He turned to Una again.

"One of yours?" The answer really didn't matter. If the girl was hostile, she would have acted by now. He turned back to the newcomer as he grabbed the bottle of scotch that he had been serving from and put it to his lips. Who knew how this would end? Hope for the best, prepare for the worst and if the worst was here, he wasn't going to go down without one last sample of liquid ambrosia. He let the bottom of the bottle reach toward the ceiling as he cleared it of its contents. Haphazardly, he tossed the thing against one of the walls. There wasn't enough force shatter the glass. Just enough to make a loud thud before falling to the wet carpet below. He retrieved a gold, engraved zippo lighter from his pocket and lit it under the shelter of his hand before raising it to his chin. "Are you here to issue threats, shed blood or both?"

As he awaited a response, his eyes became fixated on the entrance to his office. He stood there just waiting to see the flicker of light approaching. To hear the rattling of the chain up the steps. He'd cracked skulls before. Looks like it was time for him to do it again.

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Confusion took over. Things snapped in and out of reality. Screams of the dying. Strains of Requiem by Mozart. All coming to a cacophony of sound.

Uná swayed as the sprinklers kicked in. She saw Heidi talking but heard nothing but the din of noise already within her. Heidi was trailed by little floating orbs that pulsed in time to the music. Uná blinked and they were morphing into imps. She swallowed nervously and started looking for a way out. She looked over at the window that looked out over the main room and squinted. Was that fire? Maybe that's why the sprinklers are going off.

Looking back she braced her hands over her ears as The Rooster blared in her head and she looked at Frost, aka Lex, as he lit the zippo under his chin to talk to Heidi. As he did so he appeared to Uná as a macabre version of himself. The imps made of light laughed maniacally and headed for him. As they reached him they disappeared into Frost.

There was movement in the dark corner and as Uná strained to see into it the darkness seemed to take on a life of its own. It rose with a chattering noise to the ceiling. Red eyes turned on her and a dry chatter clacked from it, like a laugh.

Uná's heart pounded like it would burst from her chest. Her breathing turned panicked and she hyperventilated as she passed out the room changed subtly. She could no longer be seen. She'd wrapped illusions around herself.

@Silver Carrot@RedVII@Pilatus

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Heidi didn't see what was said between Lex and Una, but watched as he turned to her, said a short sentence, took a hefty slug of whiskey, draining the bottle, then threw it at the wall. This wasn't a overtly hostile act, but the violent gesture coupled with the heavy drinking suggested he was anxious and on edge. Possibly even scared. But not at her specifically. Maybe he was scared because her friends were coming. Maybe Ayel had scared him. Or maybe there was another reason entirely.

He used a lighter to illuminate his mouth, and Heidi squinted to read his lips as he spoke, which was a welcome courtesy. Heidi read the words he was saying, and was only further convinced that he was on edge judging by his word choice. She didn't have the leverage or security to exploit this without the danger of her bluff being called, so instead she decided that she should use this opportunity to acquire information.

"Neither, I hope. I'm here to talk, though the lighting might make that difficult. I came here out of concern for Uná. She's my classmate. I thought she'd been kidnapped. I suppose that's still what happened even if she doesn't exactly look like a hostage right now. What is happening? Why did you leave with Uná? Why bring here here? Why is there so much armed security? And why...are you so scared right now? Is there something I'm missing? A sound, perhaps?"

It was at that moment that Uná disappeared from view. Heidi moved forward to check what happened, and if she was okay, but as she got further into the room, she could now see out of the room's window, down onto the dance floor below. She froze in fright. Who....or what...was that?!!

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Veronica's roar echoed in the dark streets as he made his way through the city. Despite the night air blowing through his hair, it did very little to cool him down. His skin emanated heat, so much so that he gave off a aura that distorted the view of everything around him to a certain extent. Like a mirage growing out from his being.

Drake's hands were beginning to distort the rubber handles. They were molding themselves into place, the hotness of his hands demanding malleability from the bike's grips. It wasn't long until he finally saw it. The Castle de Stagnum. Nocturne.

There was no one outside the building. A few vehicles, but no actual people. He couldn't hear any music blaring, either. Not like one would expect from a prosperous night club. Drake got off his bike, killing the engine, and began walking across the parking lot toward the entrance, each step adding to his anger as the club grew bigger and bigger the closer he got. He curled his fists tight as he took his strides. They soon erupted in flames, making his nearly completely red eyes glimmer in the night. He looked like a demon with a thirst for violence marching through the darkness. Perhaps he was.

Lex looked like his patience was already wearing thin. He moved as he spoke.

"Uná was pulled out of harm's way and may leave of her own free will," he explained as walked toward this new visitor, cracking his neck as he did so. "The guards were here as a matter of security. Their use should be apparent at this point as I can't seem to rid myself of intrusions. Their effectiveness, however, is quite disappointing." He pulled out both guns and gripped them tight as he turned toward the overlooking window. "Scared?" Lex huffed as he looked down below at the fiery being before him. "Fear is for those who are unwilling to look Death in the face. It seems like I'm about to get my chance."

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The Sluagh was pulled into the Astral Plane. No trace was left in the Material Plane as Aya activated her power. Looking around the sluagh laughed. It was as if things from all around had laughed with it. A multitude of laughter from hisses to brays to laughter that seemed to imitate the tinkling of chimes or bells. “Child you have no idea what you have just done.”

The Sluagh gripped Aya by the upper arms and shook her roughly in frustration. “Killing you would be a mercy so I won’t. I will however take you with me. Well you in this form. Let’s see how far you can travel.” It released her left arm and looking around and pointed at a far off bright glowing pulsing light. It smirked. “Perfect it has begun. That is where we’re going come on.” It started to drag Aya by the arm in the rough direction of Nocturne.

The act of pulling the monster with her was… different, somehow. Like it took more effort, like its soul was somehow heavier, somehow harder to manipulate. Aya gasped in the Astral Plane, feeling lighter, more steady, the moment they materialized. Gone was the pain and weariness of the Material Plane. But then the reality of her situation came crashing down on her. The Sluagh was here. With her. It was completely gone from the Material Plane.

It worked. Then, a more terrifying thought: It’s real.

It dragged her, holding her arm in a monstrous grip, away from her body. The echoes of hissing and laughter sounded around her. There were lights in the distance. This world wasn’t only hers anymore. Fear shot through her, icy and numbing.

Her right hand shot up to the Sluagh’s ineffectively fumbling and pulling, trying to get it to let go of her. She had to get free. She couldn’t go back to her body if it was still touching her, or it would just rematerialize with her. Aya tried to pull with her arm, but even here she was small and weak.

“Let me go!” she said in a scared voice.

It shook her roughly laughing. “Yes so you can run off and warn the other fools. Let you go.” It mocked her and giggled evilly that sound enough to raise the instinctual awareness of flight in small animals. “As if you can persuade me to actually let you go. Pathetic. Come along we have a long way to go ahead of us before we reach our destination.”

Aya didn’t stop her useless pulling or twisting.

“Wh -- why are you here? What are you?”

The Sluagh stopped and regarded the girl as if she were stupid. “Part of the Wild Hunt. A scout. Are you seriously that ignorant? You use a word like Sluagh and you don’t know what it really means.” It shook its head and snarled. “I am the one that stands in the shadows of this plane with my brethren and snatch wayward souls for the joy of it. Sometimes we are called to find someone. Uná is to be found. So we pursue. Careful you don’t ask too many questions. You may not like the answers.”

Aya stopped trying to break free as the Sluagh rounded on her, snarling and mocking.

Wild Hunt. That phrase struck a chord somewhere in her memory, either a TV show or a fairy tale… It was some European story. But Aya couldn’t remember much more than that. But what had that other Uná said? The Tuatha da…

“This is about her parents,” Aya managed to say.

The Sluagh looked at Aya with a little bit of respect, small as it was. “Might be some hope for you yet girl.” The Sluagh looked back over at the light that they were following. Pulling Aya along but not as roughly as it had been.

‘Gentle’ for an enormous monster was still hard and demanding for something Aya’s size. She jolted forward, pulled along by the Sluagh. She… she was stuck. She couldn’t overpower it. She couldn’t stop it. She couldn’t escape. Her mind spun. She had to do… something. But what could she do?

“Why?” she said before her mind could catch up with her words. “What’s so important about them?” At the very least she could keep it talking… get as much information as she could. To do what with, she didn’t know. But if she managed to survive this then it would… come in handy?

The Sluagh laughed and stopped turning to fully face her. “She is to be brought back to take her rightful place in court.”

Aya was jolted to a stop by the Sluagh.

...Excuse me?

“The… court,” she repeated. Her mind stretched back to that conversation with Uná. “The fairy court.” She pressed her lips together, looking up at the monster. “What if she doesn’t want to go?”

The Sluagh laughed. “She has no choice. You really have no idea who she is or what she is. It would be good for you if you let her go. Better if you convinced her it was her own idea. You ask too many questions girl.” It shook Aya and pulled her toward the beacon. Getting closer, the Sluagh’s grip loosened fractionaly. There wasn’t anything that the girl had done that was threatening and leverage was always good. She seemed to know Uná.



Kaylee looked at all the kids. “Fine. No one tell me. But I know Aya is using her power and if any of you move before I get her back here I will have all of you doing an essay on the drinking age. Also it will be twice as long as the one you will be writing for me currently.”

Kaylee sat down and closed her eyes and stepped into the Astral Plane.



Kaylee opened her eyes and looked around. Is that a gateway? In the club? Oh God it is...What happened here? Where is Aya? What is that? A Beacon?

She didn’t see Aya. Concentrating she felt Aya quite some distance from the club. “Great...what is going on?” Kaylee stood and large white wings burst from her back. They began to flap and she took off toward where she felt Aya’s pull. Strangely it was in the same direction as the beacon.

Kaylee's control was such that she could drive and use her power at the same time. Honed over years of manipulation the only thing that gave her away was the fact that her pupils swallowed up her eyes. White knuckling the car steering wheel she and shuffling kids into the back and front.

Aya gave a small intake of breath the moment she felt Professor Everose’s presence on the Astral Plane. She bit her lip. The professor… she’d know what to do, right? If Aya could just keep the Sluagh from reaching Uná in time for the professor to reach them...

“She won't go with you,” Aya said before she could think twice.

The Sluagh gave a dismissive snort. “The choice is not hers.” It didn't even look at Aya, just continued its lumbering march forward.

Aya pressed her lips together and soldiered on. “It is,” she said. Aya pulled back on her arm, trying to get its attention. “If she doesn't want to go, then we... we'll stop you.” Her voice was less confident than she'd hoped.

The Sluagh looked back down at her, though it didn't slow. “You?”

It said the word with such derision, such disbelief, that Aya couldn't help but agree with it. She clenched her fist.

“Us.”

The Sluagh raised its gruesome face to the sky and barked out a laugh. Finally it stopped walking. Tightening its grip, it pulled her arm up, lifting her in the air like a doll until her face was even with its pink eyes. Its tongue flicked over its yellow teeth, each one as long as Aya's fingers. “You are nothing.” Its voice rasped and rattled like the growl of a predator.

“Then what are you?” Her voice was soft but she saw the Sluagh's crimson pupils shrink and grow at her words. The clawed grip around her wrist began to tighten even more.

Distract it, give the professor time...

“You're here,” Aya said, forcing strength into her voice, “because of me. Because I put you here.” The edges of its mouth drew back, baring more and more of its teeth. “Why are you still here?... Why haven't you gone back yet?”

In a flash there was a hand at her throat in an iron grip as the other released her arm. Aya gasped, hands moving to clutch uselessly at the Sluagh. She didn't need to breathe, not on the Astral Plane, but she couldn't help the feeling of her own fragile mortality as she felt claws prick at her pulse point.

The Sluagh raised her even higher, straightening to its full height. There was a dangerous growl in the back of its throat. “Tell me, girl,” it said, peering up at her as she struggled in its grasp. “Where are we? Do you understand this realm?” It raised its free hand, all sickly skin and wicked claws. “Have you felt pain here?” It smiled at her as her eyes widened. Then it plunged its hand into her stomach.

Aya screamed.

It was like fire -- like poison consuming her from the inside out, ripping her apart, and stitching her together. She couldn't see. She couldn't think. She hadn't even known it was possible to feel pain in the Astral Realm. Her very marrow was magma, splintering her bones apart and flash boiling her blood. It all came from the monster's claws in her body, the intrusion --

The Sluagh ripped its hand away and Aya let out a choked sob, though no tears ran down her face. Her vision was foggy, spots of white taking it all up and making it hard to focus. But through it all, the red gaze of the Sluagh was unmistakable. It laughed and the whole realm seemed to laugh with it. Its grip at her throat tightened and it said something. Aya couldn't hear it though, around the ringing in her ears. The white spots slowly started to fade. The Sluagh spoke again, raising its hand. It was going to strike again.

Aya squeezed her eyes shut, letting out a desperate sound as she struggled in its grip. She couldn't go through that again, that terrible searing pain. Half delirious, she opened her eyes again to look at it through the fog, fighting with all the strength she had left. But it wasn't enough. It was nothing.

Aya wanted to die -- to never feel pain again. She wanted her father, she wanted to be strong enough to fight back, to not be helpless, to be normal again. She wanted this monster to let her go, to stop hurting her and leave her friends alone, to go away go away goawaygoawaygoaway --

Kaylee flew through the Astral Plane, pushing herself faster when she heard Aya's scream. Their figures in the distance grew larger and more distinct and Kaylee pushed herself, white wings flapping in the windless air. She saw the Sluagh raise its arm again. Her eyes widened.

“No!--”

The Sluagh's hand drove forward. But the moment before its claws pierced Aya's body, something happened. The pinpricks of light that made up the Astral Plane's starry lanscape all suddenly swelled, growing in size and brightness until they were blinding.

Kaylee, the Sluagh, and Aya were all thrown from the plane, forced back to wherever they'd come from. The stars dimmed again. The Astral Plane was empty.

Traffic is brutal since the incident at Avalon and you find yourselves fighting the stop and go of LA. Hurry up and wait seems to be the consensus. The Tesla is currently stuck surrounded by cars on all sides and Elijah’s car driven by Ms. Everose is a ways away stuck in traffic just as you are. With Nik, Jasper, and Aya in the Tesla the air is tense. The atmosphere in Elijah's car isn't much better. Cleo, Nathan, Elijah, Khloe and Professor Everose are all tense. With the monster, sluagh, disappeared the club could be vacated and move on to chasing down the lead they had on Uná.

Kaylee looked in the rearview mirror and gnashed her teeth. Waiting sucked. She needed to get to the other car. Aya was still using her power for some reason. She had to find out why. Maybe moving her shook her up and now she's lost and if so she needed to bring her back.

Nik’s teeth were grinding together as they continued sitting in standstill traffic. His hands began clenching into glowing fists of energy, with small streams arcing off into the air. He sighed as he turned his gaze towards his driver. ”We need to find a way around this, or we need to clear a path.” He looked expectantly at the stranger, still not entirely trusting her motives at this point but far too angry to care about his safety or Aya’s.

Jasper, who had been sitting in the driver's seat concentrating on their situation, let go of Aya and turned in her seat. Usually blue-grey eyes glowed emerald, illuminating the car where street lights and headlights failed. “What do you think I'm doing.” The look she gave him was deadpan but annoyed. Sweat beaded on her temples and neck from the force she was putting behind finding a way through. With a huff, she turned back up front, but shoved her jacket off before closing her eyes again. “I can't move traffic if there's nowhere for it to go. Even if I made every light green down the street, it wouldn't make it much better.”

Kaylee cleared her throat. “So anyone want to help me understand what is going on? I can just ask Aya when I get to her in the Astral Plane but I wanted to let everyone have a chance to say something…”

Nathan and Elijah looked at each other and Nathan’s jaw tightened and he looked out the window. Pushing down the feelings of uselessness down he grunted and kept his face turned away.

Nik gave a slight sigh as he stepped out of the car, cracking his knuckles as his hands still radiated raw energy. He rubbed his hands together as he stood between the two cars. He noticed a motorcycle coming in his direction and smiled. It slowed down upon approach, and the man on the motorcycle seemed frustrated to find something in his way. Nik just slowly walked towards him as the rider got off the motorcycle to confront him. Nik’s hand slipped into his pocket to grab a single small marble, and pulled it out just as the guy on the motorcycle raised his hands for a shove. The mutant slammed the small marble into the guy’s chest, and the detonation threw the rider back diagonally and into the side of a car.

Nik rode the motorcycle ahead a little to get next to the driver’s side door of Jasper’s ride. ”Keep her safe. I’m going to find Una.” And with that, Nik rode off in Nocturne’s direction.

Suddenly Aya was awake. Her eyes snapped open, once again black instead of glittering silver. Her spine arched in the seat, straining against the seatbelt across her chest. She inhaled in a loud, strained gasp. Tears immediately started trickling down her face, her expression one of shock and pain, the events of the Astral Plane finally catching up with her body. Then her muscles seemed to release and she relaxed back into the chair. Her eyes fluttered closed, her head rolling to the side and then all Aya knew was blackness.

Whatever the being were, spreading fire all across the building, it would most surely lighten up the mood. Whilst Ayel would not be able to watch it happen from front seat, he was content with a seat further away, where there were less risk of getting burnt. He landed on top of a lamppost with both his feet.

The sound of car horns and commotion in the distance drew his attention for a moment. My my, nay need to be so loud... He pondered on what could be causing such a commotion, it could perhaps be connected to Heidi's friends. Ayel considered his options. If his kind needed aid, how could he not answer their call. What saviour would he be, if he simply ignored their cries. No. He had to go. But there was also a motorbike driving towards him, or rather towards Nocturne, reinforcements to 'Frost' or one of Heidi's friends? He decided to wait just a few moments longer to watch.

Come forth, unknown rider...

Kaylee pulled up to the place and got out of the car. She put the keys in her jacket pocket. “You all better be sober enough to deal with this.” She turned and looked over at Elijah rolling her eyes as he opened the back driver side door swaying to his feet. “Last time you get shore leave.”

Elijah grinned and almost fell only to stand back up with a flourish. “Worth it.”

Nathan shook his head and helped Elijah back into the car. “Yeah you’re useless in this state. Just lay down across the backseat alky.”

Elijah turned drunkenly as Nathan attempted to stuff him back into the car. “Fine. Fine. Go save the damsel. But he most likely has the goons from the cars guarding him. Humans most likely. Looks like you might be needing what is in the trunk.”

Nathan turned to Kaylee with a questioning look. Kaylee popped the trunk remotely as Nathan walked around to the back of the car. “Son of a bitch had suits made for all of us.”

Momentarily checking her flesh wound on her right upper arm, she looked at the door. *You can do this* Cleo thought to herself as she tried to pluck up the courage to go into the club after her friends, to be honest she really didn’t know what she was doing. Nope, Nope… Totally can’t do it.* and just as quickly had she made it to the door, beat a guard up, she was running back towards the car.

“Miss! Miss! I totally didn’t just kick a guy in the family jewels.” Cleo made her way over to the trunk where the professor was just opening it. “I may be an incy bit drunk, but…” Glancing at the content of the trunk. “Wait ...What the hell are those?”.

Heidi had decided against leaving by means of the fire escape, barely having the strength to maneuver Uná through the open window. She carried on down the stairwell, onto the club’s dance floor, and towards the entrance. When she got to the front doors, she put Uná down at a place she’d remember, and opened the doors before taking another few seconds to rest. Her body was screaming, and adrenaline was the only thing keeping her upright.

Nik sighed as he pulled up, energy arcing off his body as he cut the engine and got off the bike. He kicked the bike to the side as he began walking up towards the others, shaking his head as his gaze turned towards the trunk, then to the open doorway where Heidi was waiting. He hesitated as his gaze rested on the suits. Damn it. Next time. More important things to focus on now. Nik brisked his pace as he made his way towards Heidi, making sure her eyes were trained on him as he spoke. ”Heidi, where’s Uná ? Is she ok?”

Heidi nodded, out of breath and panting. Se turned back to gesture to the spot where she had left Uná , but stopped before she could say anything once she saw who was behind her.

GM POST

The suits in Elijah’s trunk are quite apparently expensive. They have names pinned to each one with a safety pin and a small piece of paper. Each person has a suit. They are mostly black with an X in a specific color on them. Charcoal belts with the same color reflected in the background of the buckle that is in the shape of a circle with a black X in the center. There are domino masks available with each one. If you chose to suit up you can.

Just as you get suited up the front doors open and spill light into the parking lot. You see two silhouettes one much taller than the other. As you try to see who it is that is there the click of a gun is heard. The taller of the figures bends down and picks someone else up with flickers into reality.


It is the man that had taken off with Uná . This close up you can see that he is a rather dashing figure and is obviously albino.

Meanwhile back at the car...

Kaylee looks at Cleo as the girl speaks. “Incy bit? Well Cleo those look like Elijah designed X-Men suits.” She looked at Nathan who was already pulling his out of the trunk.

Nathan was totally putting the suit on. Save the girl with kick ass suit on check. Beat that Nik.

Nik’s eyes locked on to the taller form, his fists clenching hard enough that his fingernails began to draw blood in his palms. His eyes flicked to Uná , held in that man’s arms. He then turned his eyes back towards Lex, anger practically oozing from his squinted eyes and grit teeth. Energy arced more furiously around him as Nik practically spit out the words in a commanding tone. ”Put. Her. Down.”

“Who the hell are you?” Lex didn’t put Uná down. He had the advantage here, why lose it.“And I’m the one with the gun. I says she stays with me.

Uná ’s head turned and she whimpered her face contorted in what was clearly fright.

Eventually they made it, though along with the professor who'd failed to get them to stay. Jasper, winded, stepped out of the tesla. She stretched her arms up, glancing around at everyone else there. There was urgency in two boys faces, and a drunken grin on the other conscious girl. Cleo, right? Jasper compared their faces to those she'd seen in security feeds. Cleo, Nick, Professor Kaylee, Elijah?

Jasper hadn't expected an actual suit, not out of the blue anyhow. She leaned over the trunk, having walked over to see what Cleo had been fawning over and ran away with. She grabbed the one with her name on it, and fucked back into the back seat of the tesla. Suiting up inside, she left her clothes on the floor of the vehicle and leaned over towards the center console. Holding a hand to it, she licked her lips and a white-blue crack of static danced along her fingers before being absorbed.

Not long later, she stepped out of the car again to find the others staring at something. Or someone apparently. Electricity danced along her fingers, making her practically glow with the fresh influx of power. She shrugged, settling on hand on her hip while playing with the static on her fingers.

“I wonder what happens when you magnetize bullets…”

Lex smirked. “Are you really going to risk Red here on a whim? I don’t think so. I think the boy, and the rest of you want her alive. Which means that I hold on to Red and I stay, well from the look on his face, alive. What do you care about her anyway?” Lex maneuvered Uná in his arms and smirked at Nik waiting for his reaction.

Uná ’s eyes fluttered and opened. She blinked a few times and saw Nik realization kicking in. “Demo, what’s going on?” She looked up at Lex and paled. “You have to let me go.”

Lex looked at Uná . “Sorry Red not gonna happen. Your little ‘friend’ has evil intentions with my person if I don’t keep a hold of you. Besides you’re quick to change your tune. Didn’t say that while in my arms at the club.”

Nik reached into his pockets, pulling out a few strips of cloth and wrapping them around his fists. The cloth began to glow, and his jaw remained clenched as he knew there was nothing he could do quite yet. They would have to get Uná out of her grasp. But as Nik’s eyes trained on his target, he reached into his pocket to fetch something small he grabbed from the club: a chunk of splintered wood.