[IC] Adolescent Heroes (Teen Titans Inspired)

[LemonZest1337]

Kurt groaned upon getting confirmation on his fears. He looked over at Marcus to make sure he was alright, Marcus was hurting real bad that much was clear. Kurt wasn't pleased with the "the ends justify the means" comment but he hid this fact not wanting to start anything.

Kurt isn't sure how to react to the information he heard about the girl. Wait she wasn't even meant to be there? That would have probably gone much worse is she hadn't been there... Kurt can't help but feel irritated when Mr. Russo commends the girl for asking a question and the inside joke. He then takes a moment to look at the wound on his back, it's in a spot he can barely see so he can't tell how bad it is, but it sure hurts. He still feels remnants of the bee venom and this makes his limbs hang from his body like noodles. He's not pleased with how weak he feels but he know that he is probably the best off out of everyone. Except for Mr. Russo.

Kurt walks into the elevator then looks down at Ally and Marcus. He sighs then goes quiet waiting for any questions the metal girl might have, tho he's pretty sure Marcus would answer them better. A little bit of drool leaks from his mouth as his body fight against the poison, he wipes the saliva off his face before it has the chance to drop to the floor.

[1Hawkeyes]

Ally didn't appreciate the name-calling, nor did she appreciate being called out for being "non-violent", but it didn't matter. She was a lot more worried about not having her old life back. What was she going to do if she couldn't return home to her father and brother? What would they do? How would her father react to his first born being missing? The more Ally thought about it, the more she wished she could stop.

She tried to shift her mind to Russo's other words. He mentioned her not having supposed to be in the same area as Marcus and Kurt. Where was I supposed to be? she questioned in her mind. If she hadn't been in the same arena with the others, would she have lived? Would she get a duplicate situation like Percy and the convict? Her mind drifted on the convict who was killed, and she had to look away from the other two she stood with in the elevator. Although she knew there wasn't much of a choice, she wished the fat convict hadn't died. She didn't care as much for Percy, but was secretly relieved that he wasn't dead.

Ally stood quietly in the elevator with the others. Even though just a few minutes ago she had a million questions, her mind was now occupied with thoughts of home and wishes the convict hadn't died such a painful death.

"I guess my only question is how long you've been here," Ally asked the others, her voice cracking a bit from the emotion stemming from her thoughts. She doubted they knew how long she was there, so she was going to assume she was either brought around the same time or after they were brought in.

[Leaves]

Marcus Winters

Marcus leaned against the railing. He held onto his shoulder as the elevator jumped up. His knees buckled from the various vibrations. The closed space and the mirror behind him were a bit ominous. Closing his eyes, he couldn‘t believe his assumptions were wrong.

Marcus assumed he was kidnapped and placed inside an abandoned building. Nothing proved his theory when he observed the elevator. It almost looked like it belongs in a hotel. Yellow guard rails were placed on the walls. Under the participant's feet happened to be a red carpet. Everything looked too clean or pristine for an abandoned warehouse. Where exactly did this military muscle take them?

Marcus twisted his head slightly to see Ally. “I don't know. I might’ve been knocked out for several hours. This exercise was the first thing we did,” he complained. He then eyed the soldier in the elevator. God, the situation called for awkward. Marcus remained trapped in a tight space with the individuals that almost died with him along with his kidnapper. This elevator ride couldn’t go any slower.

Narrative

The elevator doors opened and revealed a beaming ray of sunshine. Once the doors retracted into the wall, the group became stunned by the new decor. Stepping into the room brought a new, fresh breath of life to their faces. The teens possibly reacted by indulging in the atmosphere or believing a set-up would occur later.

Who ever might have assumed the void room belonged to an abandoned warehouse or maybe a military outpost realized their assumptions were incorrect. Before them, the room stood as a lounging area. It was almost too good to be true. An impressive flat screen told on the farthest wall. In the center of the room, a large sofa stretched out on the gray carpet. The sofa’s leather material looked comfortable by appearance alone.

The television screen placed itself into a tv stand of sorts. A few cubbies below the tv presented several gaming systems and a DVD player. Next, to the center, a shelf included most of the newest games and new movie releases. Two gigantic windows were at the side of the television. Black curtains were pulled away revealing the outside.

The outside didn’t appear to be harmful. Whatever building they were standing in, they figured they were on a hilltop. A curved road stretched downhill to an iron gate. A freshly cut lawn was the entirety of the outside along with a few hedges trimmed.

Beside the lounging area, an adjacent kitchen caught the eyes of the teenagers. It also deserved the same awes and oohs. The tile floors reflected the person standing on top of them. The sleek, black fridge included an ice machine as well as an espresso machine next to it. There happened to be a mini-toaster oven, microwave, and a regular oven prepared for cooking purposes. There were many cabinets that carried more appliances hopefully.

Mr. Russo stepped inside the lounge area. “Welcome. This is the reward for passing the test. As I have said before, your last life does not matter. You are being brought to something more; you are gifted with tremendous power and it will be put to good use.” He leaned over the back of the sofa and pulled out a few dog tags.

“Here are a few gifts for everyone,” he tossed the dog tags to the respective person. Marcus caught and inspected his personal necklace. “They are your code names from now on, this what you will be referring to each other in combat and during missions.” Marcus read him and found “Chef Object” to be inscribed. Ally would see her alias happened to be “Agent.”

“Kurt, I had the privilege of borrowing your old name. I don’t want you running around with the reputation beforehand,” he flicked his hand to demonstrate Kurt’s title had been changed to “City Dragon.” Russo then ushered the three teens to look at the couch. “Okay, kids. I also have your uniforms at the ready. They are cheap right now. I don’t have much creativity, but they will change in the meantime so be prepared for that. Except you Kurt, it’s hard finding something to fit a lizard man, but we’re working on that.”

Mr. Russo then massaged his chin. “I don’t have many rules. I guess the only rule I have is do not confront your family. There will be major consequences. I will be not be babysitting you, but I will be watching. I have other matters to attend. Any questions?”

[LemonZest1337]

Curtis looked over at Ally as she asked her question, he nodded after Marcus answered it. "Yeah, I woke up after him. Got no clue how long we've been here...". Kurt'g gaze shifted around the elevator. It was so clean and pristine looking, this was a good change from the massive empty room he was in before. But he still wasn't sure if her could trust that things would stay as they currently appeared. Then the doors opened and the light flooded in and he briefly shielded his eyes. What he was now seeing was mostly alien to him, a big fancy kitchen, a luxurious couch with a massive television in front of it. It was amazing.

Kurt had followed fairly close behind Russo still slowed by the bee's poison and stunned by what he was looking at. Kurt was looking around the room when Mr. Russo had called his name, his head quickly jerked to face him. He wasn't happy that Russo took it upon himself to change his title, but then again he had gotten that title from the filth he despised, so this was a small step in the right direction. He closed his hand over the dog tags and looked back at the muscular military man who had kidnapped him. He did the lizard man equivalent of frowning as uniforms were brought up and how they didn't have one for him "I think I'll get over it." he said with a hint of annoyance clear in his voice.

Kurt's frown deepened as family was then brought up. Even tho he had none he couldn't help but think of what the other two might be feeling. He decided to ask a question he didn't need the answer to, for the other two. "Why can't we contact our families? What have you said to them? Are we thought to be dead?..." He didn't sound as heart broken as you would expect someone asking this question to be, but that was only because he knew it didn't apply to him. He flicked his tongue then wiped more saliva from his mouth.

[1Hawkeyes]

Ally's jaw dropped when she saw the living room area. She had expected to be led straight into some sort of prison cell or possibly another test, but certainly not a luxury lobby like this. Although she was disappointed the other two didn't have any real answers for her, she was secretly glad she wasn't alone in not knowing anything.

Seeing the beautiful couches made her back ache even more. She could feel little droplets dripped down her back from the several times she was slammed into a building, but she knew the cuts weren't deadly deep. All she wanted was to fall on the couch and go to sleep, but she figured that wouldn't be possible, at least not until their injuries were treated.

Then Russo once again congratulated them and handed each a specialized dog tag. Ally took hers and murmured, "Agent..." under her breath. Although the dog tag was cool and matched Russo's military appearance, she wondered what they were for. Were they trackers, or simply rewards for joining Russo's quest? They really didn't know Russo's quest, but Ally certainly was curious.

Russo pointed at the suits on the couch, and for a split second Ally wondered which one was hers until she noticed one of the two outfits had a more feminine cut and fit. Everything was black with both outfits, so Ally figured they would be doing some sort of spying and stealth. She didn't know how to feel about this yet, considering she didn't know if the fight she would be fighting was good or bad yet.

Then Russo mentioned their families. A lump caught in Ally's throat. For how long would they have to stay away from their families? Weeks? Years? Forever? "Yeah, I want to know my family is okay," Ally said, somehow managing to speak up despite her anxiety. "Can we at least keep tabs on them or something?"

[Leaves]

Marcus Winters

Marcus glanced at the titanium girl and the lizard man. He blinked when he heard them speak of their families. The mention made him think back to his own. Marcus held his heart and wondered if they were better off. Chef Object might have provided unnecessary danger to his family.

An immediate pain woke him up from his though. “Is there a medical room or an office I can visit to recover?” Marcus spoke out. The family issue would have to come at a better time. More than likely, Mr. Russo kept tabs about him. This meant if Marcus did do something irrational, Mr. Russo could probably find him. The military man’s power exceeded Marcus. The teen acknowledged he needed to find more information regarding this mansion, the project, and Mr. Russo himself.

Narrative

Mr. Russo picked his ear with his ring finger. After collecting the wax, he flicked it onto the floor. The man did not expect so many questions and concerns. Video games, a fridge full of food, and a swimming pool in the backyard should be enough to keep these kids happy. Russo believed them to be just spoiled or maybe even just plain brats.

Rubbing his forehead, he answered the questions one by one. By directing his attention to Kurt, he simply waved him off. “I don’t want to come off as a pompous ass, but don’t ask questions on behalf of them.” Mr. Russo knew the lizard man did not come from a household family. “I know nobody else was inside “there”.” Russo referred to the abandoned orphanage Kurt spent most of his time at.

“No,” Mr. Russo glanced over to Ally. His answer was cold and stern. He didn’t explain himself but went straight to his answer. “I will provide information regarding death or injury. Anything else does not need to be known.” Mr. Russo set his foot down by gathering everyone’s attention. “That applies to everyone.”

The final question, he answered with a few directions. “Go out this hallway and make two lefts into the first door,” he responded to Marcus. “There will be someone there to attend to your injuries and cuts. I think you guys should get yourself cleaned up.”

[LemonZest1337]

Kurt looked away from Mr. Russo as he referred to the orphanage. He hissed under his breath and gnashed his teeth, he wanted to be mad at Mr. Russo. But this man had given him a second chance at life, one where he could actually help people and live in comfort. He was conflicted on how to think of this strange individual.

His mind was all over the place and his gut had nothing useful to tell him. He guessed he would just have to trust Mr. Russo. And perhaps some day the other two who were currently with him might actually get to visit there families. It was probably a wasted hope but he still felt that it could happen. Mr. Russo was a strange man who could possibly change his mind. Kurt groaned as his shoulder stung from the hole that was still in it. He watched Marcus start off towards the medical room then looked over at Ally not sure of what she must be thinking.
He spoke softly "Hey. C-come one, we should probably get all that looked at." He gestured to Ally's wounds. He tried to force on a smile,
it worked momentarily but he then had to wipe drool from his mouth again, and with it his smile.

(Ready for the next episode.)

[1Hawkeyes]

Ally looked at the floor when Russo informed them about the family situation. She was upset, sure, but would their families be safer this way? At the same time, Ally was angry. She remembered seeing her father the last time before she woke up in the simulation. She thought about hugging him and saying "I love you" before he left to work, but she held a grudge to herself. Something had told her to give him an extra hug before he left, but she never did. Her fist clentched and tears welled up in her eyes as frustration, fatigue, and anger mixed throughout her mind.

"You're right," Ally agreed, quickly wiping the welled up tears away, "Let's go get patched up." Glad to have support, Ally followed Kurt into the medical bay.

(I'm ready for the next episode.)

[Leaves]

Marcus Winters

Marcus groaned and decided to wait before heading to the infirmary. He placed himself on the couch and laid back. The softness of the sofa did provide support to his aching pain. He witnessed the other two head over there and Marcus felt like being alone for a while. Everything happened to go by quickly. Leaning his head back, he closed his eyes and tried taking a few minutes of shut eye.

Narrative

Mr. Russo cleared the phlegm from his throat. The kids handled his explanation better than he thought. He noticed the titanium girl did begin to cry. Thankfully, she did not decide to fight him like the boys had done earlier. Maybe he could get used to tears. Or maybe not. Russo sighed and scratched his head. It might have been the best time than ever to leave the premises. With a grunt, he stepped out of the room and allowed the kids to explore before their next mission.

End of Episode One

[Leaves]

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It’s been about eighteen hours since Mr. Russo last spoke to the teens. The last encounter left the team injured and morally defeated. A new life of fighting did not settle well. “Unreal” is the best word to describe their current situation. No available options remained, it appeared Mr. Russo had a tight grip on everyone.

The last fight against the two convicts did leave bruises and scratches on the three kids. No major injuries were found, but the team still suffered from soreness. Neither Ally, Kurt, or Marcus experienced a battle similar to what occurred in the basement floor. Their bodies certainly could not sustain such new and heavy punishment.

Not much time was spent looking around the mansion nor finding a way to ditch the place. They needed rest and their beds called out to them. The three teenagers examined their rooms and found themselves attached to them. The rooms appeared creepy yet flattering. For each personal room, decorations and different furniture were applied. Whoever was in charge of room decor, they knew the teen’s individual preferences.

The team laid to bed to recover from their last battle. The clinic did help bandage and clean most of their cuts. Strangely, the state of the sick bay suggested someone visited before. On the hospital beds, medical supplies lined out on the spread. The supplies seemed they were taken from the shelves. The materials were exactly what the team deemed essential. Whether Mr. Russo predicted the team’s injuries or there’s another person in the building. Both theories were creepy nevertheless.

The three teenages found the mansion to be unviting sometimes. The Victorian building is too ginormous for three kids; most of the time, the place felt empty and void. The light fixtures and sound of television did help the cause. What didn’t help the atmosphere of loneliness was the weather outside.
Heavy rain poured out onto the windows. The crack of thunder shook the windows with every passing minute or so. Could this be the definition of coincidence? A rainstorm appeared during the day of their supposed new life. Thunder cracks caused tension, and so did the alarm that came out next.

Flashing lights turned on in the lounge area. A deafening alarm emanated throughout the rooms of the mansion. The HD television immediately shifted to static before presenting a video feed of Mr. Russo. His overall demeanor suggested sternness. “It’s time. Kiddos. You will be going on your first mission as of now.”

---

@LeamonZest89@1Hawkeyes
(Go ahead and post details about your room. I will wait for Marcus' overall feelings and such later. I have a birthday to attend tonight.)

[1Hawkeyes]

After being treated for her relatively minor wounds, Ally made her way to her own room through the large, lonely, yet gorgeous mansion. She admired the place. It certainly was an amazing improvement from her old one-bedroom she shared with her father and brother and she wished they could be here to see it. She wished they could cheer her on for helping Kurt and Marcus and for pushing her limits, but they couldn't. Air pushed itself out of her lungs in a long sigh as she tried to come to terms with the loss of her family. At least they were still alive right?

Ally finally found her room and entered. The walls were a deep beige with a couple paintings and pictures of her favorite heroes pinned up on the wall. She looked over to the bed that had a puffy red comforter, her favorite color. Overall the room's color scheme was composed of beiges, browns, and reds, making her mind feel relaxed and at ease. Ally stepped up to one of the pictures of her favorite heroes and plucked it from the wall. They stood noble and brave. Her hand grazed the picture as she yearned to be like them. How could she gain their courage? How could she be so unyielding like them? After a few moments of thinking, Ally put the photo back and left the room.

Although it was strange they knew her exact preferences, she wasn't entirely uncomfortable with it. In a way it was creepy, but in another sense she was glad they had put so much thought into making them comfortable. They didn't throw them into blank rooms, they gave them rooms they would like. They didn't throw them into an abandoned building, they were in a mansion. Although Russo could be a jerk, he wasn't completely uncaring about them.

As Ally made her way back to the lobby, alarms went off. She didn't know what they meant, so she made a half-sprint, half tired limp to the lobby where the TV turned on to Russo's face. "Already?" Ally asked aloud, although she didn't mean to.

[LemonZest1337]

Kurt tried to look at the wound on his shoulder to see how it cleaned up. To his surprise it was basically gone, at lest visually. He could still feel it there. Krut had followed Ally towards the rooms and eventually found his own, what he found made his stomach turn over, In a relatively good way. Holy crap... baffled by how they knew exactly what he was looking at Kurt slowly walked into his room and looked around.

The walls were a shade of brown that was very easy on the eyes, this pleased Kurt because after living so long in a abandoned orphanage his eyes were not really used to all these bright colours that the mansion was filled with. In one corner there was a large day bed looking structure perfect for Curtis to lay down on, it looked sturdy enough to take a grenade. In the other corner there were lines of empty shelves for him to put trophies and other such things, he wouldn't admit it to most but he loves collecting things. Besides that hes room was fairly baron there was a cabinet for his to store clothes in, not that he had clothes. And there was a sturdy looking box for him to store things he wouldn't want prying eyes to look at.

The people who were behind this were extremely familiar with how Kurt liked things. This room was almost exactly the same as what he had arranged in the orphanage albeit a lot cleaner. All it was missing was a pool, but Kurt figured that they left it out because there was already a massive one outside.

He only briefly got to absorb what was to be his new home before the alarms sounded. He made his way back to the main room with the television in it. He paced himself not really wanting to damage the nice clean floors with his heavy footsteps. Every crack of thunder made Kurt flinch, he wasn't the biggest fan of thunder and even less so of lightning. He listened to Mr. Russo with a less then pleased look on his face. Before he could voice his displeasure Ally had already said what he himself was thinking. "I thought it was, no rest for the wicked. Aren't we meant to be the good guys?" Kurt's tone was a mix of annoyance and concern.

[Leaves]

Marcus Winters

Marcus enjoyed his own personal room. With all the madness of kidnapping and fighting criminals in a secret basement, a room to his liking was a breath of positivity. Starting from waking up in the basement, Marcus truly did not know when his life would get better. Minute by minute passed and his situation became worse. Good to know that his forced kidnapping came with living in a mansion.

Marcus acknowledged there had to be bigger forces in charge of this entire project. The teenager scanned the room and became bewildered by the attention to detail. The windows let a ray of sun shine in therefore lighting the room. Black curtains stood at the ends in case of needing to block the sun exposure. Marcus glanced over to the wall and noticed a television stand. Not as big as the one in the lounge, but appropriate for personal viewing pleasure.

"Black curtains? Because I don't like the glare of the sun..." Marcus hated watching tv or playing video games when the sun cast a glare on his screen. This happened to be a pet peeve of his. How could the people responsible for this room know this of Marcus? The teenager kept to examining the room. More and more, Marcus realized how more Mr. Russo (and whatever third party) knew who he was.

A desk sitting in the corner of the room immediately caught his attention. Marcus noticed a few journals and pads for creative sketching and writing. A tin full of various pens and pencils were available for use. The desk came with a shelve storing numerous spray cans. Spray painting on walls did keep Marcus in trouble yet busy most of the high school. Opening the desk drawers, he found more utensils for art. Chalk, markers, erasers, and other supplies were present.

On the walls of the room, different dark and bright paintings made the room look more lively. The bed's sheets were black with blue pillow casings. The room did appear to be a bit gothic and punk. A black rug placed itself adjacently to the bed. Marcus' personal room did drop in temperature; cold rooms was something he preferred.

Marcus laid on his bed. He did not want to examine his room fully; the injuries from the basement fight did bother him. Marcus drifted off to sleep easily but did have trouble staying asleep. He kept waking up and tossing on his new bed. The thought of not knowing if he truly was safe left him uneasy. Sleeping in a new environment? His mind raced negative scenarios.

Even more, nightmares spawned due to the demonic entities that he faced before. Sleep was not going to come easily. Marcus groaned when he noticed an alarm ring throughout his room. He anticipated the alarm meant it was time to save the city or something related. He grudgingly put on his uniform and headed to the lounge area.

Calmly, he laid his back to the floor and nodded to everyone.

Narrative

Mr. Russo blinked his eyes a couple of times. Through the other side of the screen, he watched the three children approach the area. It was difficult to see and hear, but the quality of the communication did get better within time. Mr. Russo sucked air through his teeth.
"I'm going to push you guys," Mr. Russo frankly spoken. "Things will only get harder from here on out. But since I'm a "nice guy," I'm letting you guys off easy. You will be visiting a residential neighborhood. The tv screen blinked and presented a city map.

The tv screen zoomed on a layout of a block with a heavy shade of green surrounding it. Mr. Russo spoke as the area began blinking to demonstrate importance. "This residential neighborhood has taken a mysterious phenomenon. The kids living in the block have been disappearing without a trace. Police have no clue of their whereabouts. The only lead is that the kids are disappearing one by one. It's sure to happen again. Find out the problem and execute the solution. Hoping that one of you have a driver's license or experience handling a vehicle, you may borrow a means of transportation in the garage. Any questions?"

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The residential neighborhood is located in a cul-de-sac. A luscious forest surrounds the houses. Most of the civilians living in the block share a backyard because of the giant forest. The neighborhood has already experienced five missing kid cases that are not shown in the photo. The fourteen houses shown are suspected to be possible targets. All fourteen houses have children living under the roof.

[Old Amsterdam]

Marksman - Home Alone

@Leaves

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Liz paced her room in a anxious state. Looking out the window, she could see down the street leading out of the cul-de-sac. Being in the dead center was handy in some ways, but she'd yet to notice anything out of the ordinary to help with all the missing kids.

And at any point her sister could be next.

She rubbed her arm, where the runes for her bow and arrows were inked into her arm thanks to a backstreet tattoo artist while she glanced at the clock.

Shouldn't she be home by now? Liz thought nervously. It was that day when her parents wouldn't be home until late, and her sister should've been home ten minutes ago from school.

Maybe there was a holdup. There was no way she could be among the missing.

Twenty more minutes passed.

Closing her eyes, Liz calmed her breathing.

Pulling out her outfit, she quickly changed.

"Fuck this. I'm going looking..." She muttered, materializing her bow and activating several runes as she dropped out of her second story window. Landing like a leaf, Liz took off into the forest to avoid the houses as she began her search for her sister.

Please just be really late... Please. Please please please...

[LemonZest1337]

Kurt watches Marcus make his way into the room then looks back at the monitor. He frowns at the screen, it's only going to get harder?... Great... he thought to himself. He would have said that out loud but he didn't want to interrupt Mr. Russo. Kurt blinked as the map flicked on, he was slightly shocked by the flicker still slightly on edge because of the storm. He listened patiently as Mr.
Russo explained the situation.

Curtis was visually displeased by what her heard. Kids vanishing was all to familiar to him. He clenched his fists with an audible cracking sound. "So were going to investigate a missing children's case? I hope that whoever's responsible doesn't get caught by us. I know they won't enjoy that." Kurt hisses as a slight demonstration of his anger. He knows being mad won't really get him anywhere. He then takes a deep breath and looks between the other two teens. "Can either of you two drive? Because I can't. Never learned how, and even if I could. I don't know if the car accommodates for my... My feet." Kurt wiggles his three toed feet slightly. He wasn't sure of this, but he was fairly curtain.

[1Hawkeyes]

Ally observed the map presented on the screen and wondered who would kidnap children. She always considered anything done to kids especially terrible. Though hearing about the disappearance did bring a slight weight off her shoulders. Now that they were going to be finding missing children- or at least the person who was doing this- it showed that they weren't the bad guys.

After Russo finished his instructions, Ally shook her head a bit, "A couple of missing kids trying to find other missing kids?" Although she knew the other kids must be in a much worse situation than them, she couldn't help but feel the irony.

Kurt asked about anyone knowing how to drive. "I don't have my license but I can kind of drive," she explained, hoping Marcus had more driving experience than her. Ally wanted to be on the scene as soon as possible. With so many children missing, the next target could get snatched any second. They had no time to waste.

[twave]

Spark - Enjoying the Rain

When the rain falls the people seek cover. When the thunder rolls they hide from its source. This is the general rule of thumb for people. Not everyone follows this, least of all a asian teen by the name of Lydia. She was the oddball of the neighborhood, always acting weird and looking at things that weren't there. When a good thunderstorm rolled into town it wasn't unusual to see her outside.

The rain gave her a good opportunity to discharge or if she wanted a supercharge she could act as a human lightning rod. Ordinarily there was no need for a supercharge. Right now either would be useful though. Kids were going missing and if she ran into the one responsible they would regret it. It was more likely it would just be another quiet walk. Sometimes being alone was nice.

There were not that many places to hide in the area other than the forest. The kids used the area as a play area during the day. Tag, hide and seek, red rover, etc... Teens used it as a place to get out of sight for various reasons. While Lydia didn't often join in either of those things she liked exploring and knew a lot of the wooded area pretty well.

[Leaves]

Marcus pushed himself off the wall. He listened closely to the mission briefing. Sucking air through his teeth, he wondered what he wanted to do. Did he really wish to pull through and save these abducted kids? Or would he pull a fast one and leave the mansion to his home? Marcus examined his body and pulled his shirt collar from his neck.

The clothes didn't make him Marcus. Now he had become something else entirely. His name turned to Chef Object. Marcus wondered if he would enjoy these alarms, briefings, and mission objectives later throughout his stay at the mansion. The teen breathed and decided to go through this mission. No matter the situation, Marcus knew he needed to go through with this. He needed to build up the trust between himself and Mr. Russso.

"I can drive," Marcus muttered. His confidence wasn't there, but he knew the mechanics of working a car was simple. How difficult could it be? Marcus nodded to his new teammates and started walking to the garage.

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The three teens walked into the garage to find themselves surrounded by many different modes of transportation. It dawned on them how this project became funded. The mansion alone might have cost a pretty penny; however, the vehicles showed a person of money must be involved. Inside the garage, there must have twelve vehicles in total.

All the vehicles lined up on both sides of the wall. Their rears pointed to the walls so the driver can easily pull out in the middle and out the garage. A jet limousine occupied the far corner. On the same side, three normal looking cars and a white Hummer were parked. The Hummer's windows did not have transparent windows. The last vehicle on the side was a motorcycle with a side car.

The other side had more impressive cars. Three looked specifically fast and resembled more like sports cars. Marcus could spot one of them as a Ferrari. Adjacent to the sports cars was a family SUV or an Escalade. Finally two surveillance, black vans were located in the far corner. Marcus proposed one of the surveillance vans given Kurt could fit in the back.

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Liz' search for her sister did not start easy. The rain storm hindered her hearing and eye sight. Hopefully, the woman packed some clothes as the rain did have a chilling touch. Down and down the water sprayed. It was almost hard to make out anything under the cracking of thunder and the constant bombardment of water.

With thorough searching, Liz's ears did catch a faint sound. She could familiarize the sound of her sister giggling. It might have been something she imagined or wanted to hear. If she wanted to follow the noise, she would have to head into the forest. There was no telling if she could trust her ears. Would she look for the noise?

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Near Lydia, a child observed her enjoy the rain. The kid might have been five years younger than the girl. He watched her fully walked with no hinderance from the rain. The child watched from behind a tree; he giggled which might have given away his location depending on if Lydia was paying attention. The kid saw the fascination within the woman.

No worries under the stormy weather? It was certainly interesting.

[LemonZest1337]

Kurt nodded to Marcus and followed him. He was surprised by the sheer amount of vehicles in the garage, and the concept of a garage. Who needed more than one car? To be fair Kurt had know only a few people who had cars. None of the cars caught eye because he knew he couldn't fit, he then looked over at Marcus as he suggested the van. "I think that would be best... Sorry I'm a hindrance." He normally would have thought twice about saying something like that, but these people were prisoners just like him albeit pampered ones.
But they were caged never the less.

Kurt felt like he needed no barriers for his words. Because regardless if they liked it or not, they were going to be spending a very long time together. They might as well know his proper feelings. Tho he wasn't going to reveal anything unless they asked, and he felt comfortable enough talking about the subject. "Hopefully we can catch this person before they get anyone else. I mean who picks on kids!?" Kurt growled as they headed towards the van, still struggling with the idea of what he would do to the person once they found them. To Kurt it wasn't really a question of if they would find the culprit, more of a when.

[Old Amsterdam]

Marksman - Down the Rabbit Hole

---

Liz shook her head, growing ever irritated at the rain. Even with runes to help, she could barely hear her own footsteps.

And she was soaked.

"Bloody weather.." she murmured.

It was then that she heard it. The giggle.

That was definitely her sister! But... Her sister didn't giggle. Her laughs were always unique, and she could never just have a simple sound like a giggle.

She was met with a conundrum. Did she travel deeper into the forest in hopes that she'd find her sister, or continue onward in her search?

She shook her head. There wasn't a choice. This was the best lead she had, there were no other choices.

Activating a rune to make her quieter and harder to notice, not that it really mattered in this rain, Liz set of carefully.

If she found a good spot to climb a tree and move from tree to tree, she would. Otherwise she was stuck walking through the ever muddier ground, keeping her eyes peeled either way for a sign of her sister.