[IC] Breaking the Sun

[Dio]

---

"So read pages one-hundred and twenty-two through pages one hundred and forty-five in your anthology book for next week." The professor said, writing down the numbers on the whiteboard. His freshmen class was full of lazy yet malleable minds which was how Kennedy saw himself as his eyes panned the room. Their blank stares blinked back at him as they jotted down their assignment, ready for the weekend ahead of them.

"Alright, that's it for today. See you all on Monday, have a good weekend." Ken said as he waved his class goodbye.

As his students began piling out there was one left, sitting in the back corner of the room that stood and spoke when Kennedy was almost out of the room, halting him in his place under the door frame.

"Professor Glass?"

"Hmm?" Kennedy hummed. "What's up?"

"I... I... There's something I need you to know." They stuttered. "D-don't stay too late tonight."

Kennedy paused for a moment, squinting his eyes as he tried to connect the dots to what the student was attempting to say to him. "Oh, I won't. My office hours are only for two hours at most tonight. We professors got to have weekend too, right?" A chuckle escaped his lips as a nervous one slipped out of his students mouth.

"Ah... Yeah." She bowed to her teacher awkwardly and nervously as she tightened her grip on her backpack. "Well... Have... A good weekend."

"Thank you, you too."

The night went on as Kennedy shuffled papers around his desk, attempting to grade whatever essays he had left of his Books and Movies: Connection class which was an analysis of popular books which turned into movies and the impact it had on literature as a whole. It wasn't his choice to teach it, but the department wanted to give students a chance to dive into pop-culture and it was a popular class because they got to watch movies for half the time and for homework. As he went through the essays with his red marker in hand, his phone vibrated, his fiance sending him a cute text telling him of their plans for the night.

"I'll be at Romero's in about thirty minutes, I promise." Ken mumbled as he text her his reply. He was already late by an hour, having stayed longer than he expected, but Kennedy wanted to get as much grading done as possible so his weekend could be much more free without having to worry about grading them then.

That's when it hit him, what his student had told him before leaving his last class. "What did she mean?" His bit his lip as he tapped his red marker on his desk, questioning and replaying that moment in his head over and over. Shrugging it off once again, he began reading the essay before him, until there was a few shadows in the hallway before the lights shut off in the office.

It was a minute before anxiety and nervousness rose in his body as the lights did turn off by themselves when no one was in the room, but something about this moment and the thought of his student lingered in his head and made the situation different than usual. Standing from his desk he wandered to the hallway, peeking his head out into the dark halls.

"Hello, anyone there?" The professor said, as dead silence replied back.

Kennedy swore there were other professors no more than ten minutes ago, which they often stayed in their offices til half past midnight. Just as he was turning around back into his office he heard something roll over to his feet. Trying his best to examine the object from afar, he squinted his eyes staring at the small, circular metal ball. There was a red light and it began beeping, triggering something in Kennedy to kick it back down the hall. A bright flash boomed as it flew in the air down three doors, blinding Kennedy, causing the anxiety in his blood to become panic and adrenaline. Why the hell was there some sort of flash grenade in the hallway?

As his eyesight blurred he heard more and more footsteps coming around him, knowing what was happening. Kennedy thought he had things under control, he thought that he was safe. The professor told no one, not even his fiance, so how in the hell was he in this situation that he never expected?

Anger began mixing in with his adrenaline as Kennedy began clenching his fists. Lights began shining through the creases of his hands as his breath began getting quicker and heavier, until a wild roar was let out along with the unclenching of his fists which shot out some sort of wave of energy and burst of light around him, similar to the flash grenade that was rolled at him. The man heard grunts and bodies fall as the blurry and fuzziness of his dazed eyes began focusing in on what was really happening.

They were always rumors and nothing more. Kennedy thought he was safe from Paragon, but obviously he was dead wrong. It wasn't until a few sandbags hit him in the chest and a dart pierced his shoulder that he figured just how screwed he was.

---

"Has it really been two years to this day?" Kennedy said as he stood from his therapists chair. "Feels like I've been here for more than that."

"Well that concludes this session, Professor."

"Thanks, doc." Kennedy said, waving his therapist goodbye with a bow. "Until next time."

Kennedy was led out the room by two burly, rough and tough orderlies who could probably take him out in one flick of the wrist, smirking as he strutted through the halls. "You know, with it being my two year anniversary I think I should get a chance to take off this collar. I mean, it's pretty unfitting." He gave his orderlies a cheeky wink, knowing the effects of his charm weren't working one bit. "Thought I'd ask at least."

The both grunted as they returned the professor a common room where other patients waited their turn with the doctors of whatever hospital or psych ward they were in.

"Guess that's a no then?" Kennedy said, trying one last time. "How about a special dinner?"

"If you don't shut up, we're going to throw you into your room so you can have some alone time." The orderly with the dirty blonde hair said, finally breaking his silence. "How about that?"

"Oh." Ken muttered, "I think I'd rather stay here with the others then..."

"That's what I thought. Now sit down and shut up."

[Lemons]

Surly, angry, and—well, normal, Tori sat in a frustration-laden chair in the common room. Her bicep stung; she didn't know what she'd been injected with, she never did, and that made her even angrier than she usually was. Her hair was quite matted and unkempt; she'd spent the entirety of the night before clawing at bedsheets, restrained with leather straps as chemical-induced hallucinations ripped through her psyche. She had been just conscious enough when it ended to swear at the doctors before she passed out.

So, if anything, Tori was even angrier than usual.

She jabbed at the food in front of her, scowl briefly giving way to a look of concern and confusion: she had absolutely no idea what this was supposed to be. Usually the food was recognizable, if unpleasant looking, but this was some sort of (maybe) meat-based brown mush. Her lip curled up. God, this is disgusting. Guess I'm not eating. She shoved it away, slurping aggressively at a strawed cup. At least the water tasted like water.

From off to the side, she heard a woman's voice: "Now sit down and shut up."

Shifting her focus to the side, she saw a much older man—thirty? Forty? Something like that—being led in by another of the endless orderlies, muttering something she couldn't quite hear. She rolled her eyes. Sit down and shut up indeed. She closed her eyes. Might as well get some kind of sleep before she was called in for the next in the cavalcade of bullshit that they called Paragon.

---

Tori sighed as she fell back on her ratty junkyard couch, rubbing her aching hands slowly together. "Stupid fucking customers," she grunted, ill-tempered. Her voice jumped up into a ridiculous register, pretty much her approximation of a falsetto, and she pinched her fingers together in the mocking "stop talking" gesture. "Oh, hello, I'd like an iced cascara coconut milk latte with chocolate and caramel, but not too much chocolate and an extra pump of caramel, oh, and make sure it's decaf, but not too decaf, and..." Her voice trailed off, punctuated with a grunted "Fucking teenagers."

She popped a flask from out of her back pocket, near-yanking the top off and taking a long pull. And do it all again tomorrow, she thought, punching the couch irritably.

Thunk

Her ears perked up, and she hastily recapped the flask, getting herself into some semblance of decency and, moreover, getting herself ready to fight if she needed to. After all, her neighborhood, to put it lightly, was not the best. She fished into the pocket of her jeans, pulling out a folding knife. Moving carefully over to the door, she put her eye to the peephole, peering through cautiously.

There was a flash of brilliant light through it and she fell back, clutching at her face. The door blasted inwards, revealing four black-clad people who went straight for the disoriented Tori.

The grungy apartment was filled with the sound of a struggle, but it didn't last for long. "What the fuck are you doing?" she managed to choke out, feeling a collar clasping around her neck.

There was no response, and a hypodermic needle passed into her half-blinded line of sight. She desperately bucked, trying to escape, but she was firmly held, offering no real resistance to the syringe. A few seconds later, she blinked blearily, swore with a deeply slurred voice, then crumpled to the ground.

---

Choking with panic, Tori bolted upright, barely stopping herself from screaming. She was covered in cold sweat, and her back ached from the uncomfortable chair she'd been sleeping in. Dropping her head into one hand, she grit her teeth together.

"I swear to God, I'm going to fucking murder them all," she hissed. After a few moments to recover from her nightmare, she looked around, seeing the older man from before sitting a little ways away. The ubiquitous collar was clasped around his neck, and she fingered her own. If anything, she was even worse-tempered now that she'd woken up than she was before.

[Prosaic]

SAGE

---

Four Months Earlier.

Blood was trickling into his philtrum, making a steady path to his upper lip.
If visions were so trustworthy, then why hadn't he known the punch was coming? Of course, he had learned that his visions could be fickle, that they were often vague and disconcerting. It was still a pain in the ass to have the ability to see into the future but for it to never be worth a damn. He was like Cassadra in a way, except he completely believed his visions, they just were useless. If he had a vision of a car, it could mean a lot of things. It could mean a crash, it could mean a car was destined to hit him, it could mean that someone somewhere was driving a car from a crime scene.

His visions were completely subjective. Though, their accuracy didn't even really matter, it wasn't like he could talk about them. He'd tried talking about them to his mother, to his father, to a shrink. It was always the same disbelieving response or "Sage, don't make jokes like that!" He wasn't making a joke though, he was honestly seeing things and every moment was just another moment where he was waiting to see more. It was just another moment of waiting to understand even less.

He'd had a vision today, one that had assaulted him upon waking up but it hadn't involve a punch. It had involved the figure of a man moving silently and soundlessly along a rain splattered sidewalk. He hadn't seen for sure but he'd known the man was following someone, he'd smelled the distinctive smell of crispy, buttered croissants. He'd seen a flickering streetlight. He hadn't thought much of it, he wasn't a vigilante and if someone was getting stalked nearby then he couldn't do much about it. It wasn't until he'd passed a café that he'd passed a million times before that he'd realized.

The smell of crispy, buttered croissants.

He'd reacted immediately, he'd turned too quickly. A fist had met his nose and he had stumbled backwards. Though he was dazed and clutching at his bloody nose, he drew back his hand to throw one in return. He'd felt the jolt of the of a dart sinking into his shoulder right as his hit had made contact with flesh. He'd been confused at first, disoriented and shaky.

"What-?"

The utterance of that single word had sounded so soft in the night. It was the sound of a child, a very scared child. When he'd crumpled to the ground, he'd thought he was dying. The blackness that had closed over his vision had been comforting, like a blanket, like being tucked in. He had genuinely dared to hope that this was it, that some terrible person had killed him and it was over now. He was entirely peaceful.

It didn't last.

-

Present Day.

Paragon was hell.
He had thought that highschool was hell, that college was hell, that his parent's home was hell but he'd been wrong. Paragon was hell. It wasn't just because of the orderlies, or because of the people, or because of the tests, it was because of the collars. He had never liked his visions but they had been a very important part of him. The collar stopped them until he was in controlled environments for testing, it was a pain in the ass.

They were inhumane as it was, he'd asked the therapist about them before. They sent a constant pulse through the central nervous system that neutralized the abilities, some sort of electro-whatsit was constantly being sent through his nerves. He had argued the point before that there had to be some kind of detrimental health effects from that, he had been ignored for the most part. He mostly kept his opinion to himself nowadays, unless he was feeling argumentative.

Luckily for the fine orderlies of Paragon, he had decided to take his new "home" in stride. He cracked terrible jokes as frequently as possible, he laughed off things that they said that he found rude. He tried to be jovial, for the most part. He was still acting out, the way that he always had. They kept an extra eye on him because of his disorder and his instability but that just seemed to fuel his desire to grab their attention. At times he would do things that could easily be deemed as dangerous, though that usually ended in punishment.

Isolation was the standard procedure.
Sage Worcester was not the kind of guy who coped with isolation well. So, he tried to avoid going overboard if he could remember the consequences. He tried not to instigate too many fights. It was hard for him, it made him feel like a kid that was constantly sitting on his hands to keep from grabbing things. He was dealing with it though, he wasn't enjoying it but he was dealing with it.

When he finished his session and entered the common area, he could see the old teacher dude, Kennedy, and the ill-tempered blonde, Victoria. He made sure to stride in with his head held high, his shoulders straight and his steps even. It made him look as arrogant as a war horse, and just as ready for a fight.

His tone was a stark contrast, full of dramatic flair and transparent friendliness. "Hello, fellow suckers. How'sit?"

[BubblegumQueen]

IVORY

---

“Sir, is there anything else you need for the night or am I dismissed?” Polite, professional, and to the point with just the right amount deadpan that demonstrated just how dead she was inside. Something she'd mastered over the years, down to the complete absence of light in her eyes. Besides, she was British. She just naturally sounded polite.

Vince looked up at her from his tablet, looking her dead in the eye as he took a deep drink from his timber of bourbon. If he wasn't such a cunt, I'd be impressed with his drink of choice. She thought idly, face remaining impassive. Honestly, Ivory remained primarily in her thoughts throughout her work day, it served as a nice distraction... sometimes. Well, it kept her from jabbing her pen into her charge's eye and making off with his expensive bottle of bourbon.

So... definitely necessary.

It took a long minute before Vince responded, eyes briefly flickering over her office attire, lingering a bit too long on her exposed legs before his gaze dropped to his tablet. He simply waved his hand, grunting a little in his usual form of eloquence speech. Resisting the urge to jump up and down, Ivory gave a small bow of her head before quickly walking out of the room, uncomfortable but used to the feel of Vince's gaze on her ass as she walked.

Maybe he's stuck in primary school, then? The whole thing where the boy pulls on the girls pigtails and is an asshole to her yet it apparently means the boy likes her? Well, in this case, it means the boy wants to fuck the girl but it matches up all the same. Stepping into the elevator, she lightly pressed the button to the lobby, practically falling against the inside interior in her exhaustion.

Tablet held limply in her right hand, she used her left to rub at her eyes, most likely smudging her mascara but far too uncaring to really give a shit. She blinked up at the slow-moving lights that slowly blinked down, green eyes flickering to the camera in the corner of the elevator where a small black camera was installed.

She didn't linger.

Head leaning back against the wall, her eyes glazed over a bit before closing her eyes. She allowed herself to run through the events of the day quickly, focusing on every backhanded compliment, leer from businessmen during meetings, 'accidental' spill of coffee that made her white blouse a bit see-through until she could excuse herself to kneel in the female bathroom under a dryer. Every time Vince told her to get him coffee at some faraway, super-fancy coffee place that required her to waste gas, only to come back and have him not even drink it and have it go cold, meanwhile she's left watching from the corner of the room, contemplating throwing the coffee in his face and playing it off as a supernatural occurrence.

Her lips turned up a little at that thought.

But, through all of it, apart from some pangs of annoyance, anger, even smug amusement at some points, she didn't really feel much about her situation. She didn't whine to her friends over the weekend about it, she didn't complain on Twitter or Facebook, she didn't cry into a wine glass about her unfair job and shitty life, or really anything like that. There was always this kind of apathy that clung to her like a cape, never softening apart from small moments where something interesting happened. Even when shitty things happened, at least something happened. Something to lessen the mind-numbing boredom she'd been experiencing for years.

Well, she had a therapist for these sorts of things. No sense in getting too far into her oddities until Thursday.

Ding!

Finally, Ivory thought somewhat impatiently, stepping out of the elevator and walking as fast as her heels would allow her towards the doors that led to her freedom, of a sorts. Passing by the man at the front desk, she tossed a routine 'Night, John' to the man on her way out, managing to just hear the stuttered response of, 'Best of luck, yeah?'

If she was more focused like she usually was, she would have stopped and stalked over to the man, pressuring him for answers and asking about what he'd done. She knew enough about him and people to know a guilty man when she heard it. But, she was just too... tired. Vince had been even more grating this past week, constantly having her ripping and running around to get him everything from coffee to tea (Which he doesn't even like) to fancy sandwiches and expensive watches. Turned her into his glorified errand girl instead of utilizing her skills as a personal assistant. Grating but she figured he was on his man-period or something of the like and trudged through. Regardless, it led to a lot of late nights like this where she wouldn't leave the office until after 12 and wouldn't get home until about 1.

It was her exhaustion that pretty much sealed her fate. She still beats herself up about it to this day.

Stepping out into the crisp and biting city air, she cursed herself under her breath for leaving her coat at home, grumbling under her breath as she stalked across the barren employee parking lot to her jeep, already having plans to crank up the heat on her drive home.

And it was when she was almost at her car to the point that she could touch it that she felt an uncomfortable chill go down her spine. Straightening minutely, she didn't pause in her automatic actions, unlocking her door and slipping inside, tablet and purse going to the passenger seat. As she put on her seat belt, she took that time to have her eyes dart around, looking for anything out of the ordinary. And it was through her stares, that she noticed the figure in dark clothing watching her from inside the building near the front desk that she could see through the glass of the building.

Starting up her jeep, she saw out the corner of her eye, the figure say something to the front desk, receiving a shaky nod in return before the figure pulled out a phone, pressing it to his ear, speaking quickly.

The beginning stages of adrenaline began pumping through her, her heart beating quicker than it has in... a while. Smirking a little, Ivory quickly pulled out of the parking lot, gunning it down the streets, paying no mind to stop lights or stop signs, breezing through them, having to make a quick turn to prevent a collision with an SUV which was close but she barely reacted to it, thoughts running amuck as she thought of a plan.

They found me. Of course they found me. Her lips curled up into a somewhat cruel smirk. Took them long enough, yeah? What took them so long? Jaw ticking with how tightly it was clenched beneath her plastered on smirk, she pressed harder on the gas, the rising number bring her an odd sense of comfort.

I wonder if they'll kill me? Before she could even finish that thought, her head twitched a bit, the thought dissipating. No, no. That would be a kindness. No, they will capture me and take me away. My dad told me this would happen. He never wanted it to but he knew it would. Come on, Ivory. You know how this is going to go. You have an advantage, you got lucky. You know they are attacking you tonight. It has to be tonight.

Her hands were so tight on the wheel, her knuckles were white, especially as she saw the familiar paleness of her building. A nice apartment she was able to afford with her sizable paycheck every week. Guess the powers finally caught up and fucked me over, hmm? She thought idly, pulling into the attached garage.

To be transparent, she had been practicing with them when she was at home, moving stuff around her apartment in her bored state until her entire apartment was alive with movement as things floated around, going about their business all controlled by her while she sat and drank wine and did Vince's paperwork.

Guess I was prepping myself, hmm? She continued mentally, stepping into the elevator in the half-empty parking lot, pressing the number '8' for her floor. 2 large apartments for each floor, she was glad for her space, after all. As the numbers quickly ticked by, her adrenaline increased tenfold. I wonder if they're waiting to ambush me and I get no chance to fight back? She thought morbidly, thought ablaze with outcomes, right as she reached her floor.

Stepping out of the elevator, she was met with stillness that felt rather disconcerting now that she was so on edge. But, she didn't falter, walking down the long hall to the end where her apartment was. Running her keycard over the sensor, the green light and beep allowed her to take a breath before throwing open the door, ready to try and push herself and toss some people... and she was met by an empty apartment.

This only bothered her more.

Closing her door behind her and locking it in some small attempt at protection, she threw her tablet and bag onto the kitchen counter, kicking her heels off and pulling off her thin blazer, tossing it onto the couch as she entered the wide open space of her apartment. She knew she didn't have much time, because as she peered out of the large wall of mirrors that made up half her apartment and gave her such a nice view of the city, she saw a multitude of dark jeeps that looked eerily similar to her own cherry red once.

Suckling on her bottom lip, ruining her nude lipstick she was sure, she turned from the window, eyes flickering all over her apartment. Hands going to her hair, she pulled out the chopsticks and safety pins, her hair falling to her shoulder in their usual light waves. Letting out a shaky breath as her heartrate increased, pounding so hard in her chest she felt pangs of pain, she let her eyes settle on the two ornate chopsticks in her hands, eyeing the sharp point at the end she remembered sharpening with a file whilst waiting in line at some deli.

Eyes remaining on them, she slowly moved her hand away, the chopsticks twirling in the air at her command. Her eyes then flickered around her, looking for anything odd that could be used as a weapon. Seeing nothing immediately, having just cleaned her apartment, she instead turned her gaze to the kitchen, eyes settling on the assortment of cooking and butcher knives she had on display. Hearing the sound of thundering footsteps, Ivory gave a jerk of her head, and the knives came towards her quickly, pausing and turning around to face the door. It was a bit of a strain to have them all as she hadn't been exercising her powers like she should've been these past 2 weeks. But, she gritted her teeth and bared it, especially as the sounds came to a stop outside her door. And she watched with anger as the door became unlocked. Who else was in on it? She thought darkly, but didn't have time to linger as the door burst open, black filling her pale apartment.

And before she lost her control or wits, she attacked first.

1 year and 4 months later

Knock! Knock! Hiss!

Ivory's blank eyes moved over the 3 men standing outside her room. She didn't say anything and they didn't say anything, she already knew how this went. Standing from her criss-cross position on the floor, she felt a small pang of annoyance for being interrupted from her meditation but didn't let it show on her face in any way, stepping out of her room, the 3 men forming a triangle shape around her, before they all walked towards the common room.

Ivory knew she was a bit of an... oddity, even among the odd. She possibly had one of the highest body counts of those imprisoned in this... place. Having killed 13 of her assailants and injured a couple of more before taking a couple of darts to her legs and stomach, she... was treated rather harshly admittedly. Or maybe they all were treated like her and she just used logic to explain it. Well, it didn't matter much. It had been 1 year and some even months later and she was as... used to this, as she could be. As soon as her 21st birthday came, she knew that there was no way she was getting out of this... alive, at least. She considered going wild, a few times. Just using her powers and killing as many people as she could and trying to escape to die in the process.

Then again, this is the most interesting series of events to ever befall upon me. She thought idly as they reached the common room, the 3 guard's eyes falling to her. Ever since she was captured, she'd been rather placid and calm, whether because of the pills or her own apathy, it was up to anyone's guess. She thought it was both, honestly. The only real argument for it being all her own apathy was her ability to still have witty thoughts and dialogue whenever she met with the doctor.

Nodding, Ivory allowed the men to open the door, stepping in without them following after her. Guess being placid had a couple of advantages, She thought idly, immediately seeing what was happening. She recognized all these people, having seen them before in the very rare instances of her going to the common room, even if they hadn't seen her.

Let's see, uh, edgy teen making some ripples. Guy who looks thirty who reminded her of those jock assholes she saw in highschool, far too much for her liking. Aaannnd, the chick who likes like she would like to stab everyone in the room. Can't really judge so I'll leave that at that. Having taking a few seconds to eye everyone in the room, she simply internally shrugged, silently moving over towards one of the bookshelves, over to her usual chair where she would read. She usually stayed in her room, able to keep herself entertained without having to be around people. But, she would come to the common room if given the chance every once in a while to read and give herself some new material to chew on, even if she'd already read most of these. And who knows? Maybe a fight will break out. Those are always fun. She'd betting on edgy teen to cause some shit. Appearances aren't always deceiving and she's curious.

[Rabidporcupine]

"Well hey there, gang!" Alex said, sliding into a seat which he decided was the closest to the middle of all of them. He'd jut been brought in from his own procedure, which mostly consisted of him trying to bully the doctors while to stop himself from going insane as they injected him with some kind of excessively painful shit.

He was pretty sure he hadn't broken any of them yet, probably because they were able to get him writhing in pain as he spoke, but hey, that just meant it was mutually beneficial! Codependency! Sometimes it works!

"Now, I'm a little tired thanks to the procedure, so my insults probably won't be quite as top quality as usual. Thankfully though, you're all top quality targets, so you make them better just by being the subject! And the first victim for today is you!"

And at this, he pointed straight at Sage, an amused expression on his face.

"What's with the cocky expression kiddo? You're probably the only person in this goddamned facility I can take in a fight without getting my nose broken, but your strutting around like you own the place! It's not your highschool bud, you can't sneak your dads gun in to punish all the kids who bullied you!"

Wow, he was feeling better already! And he never felt good, so this was nice, all in all.

"Now on to you, Vic, and yes I actually remember your name. Sure, it was only because I called you Vicky once and you said something along the lines of "I will be the one to end you. You may run, but you will never escape that destiny.", but hey, it was pretty memorable. Now if only there weren't a bunch of useless government drones hanging around us at every given moment, maybe your threats wouldn't be as empty as the husk I call a soul, and I would be somewhat intimidated."

However, when he opened his mouth to continue, he quickly snapped it shut again, shaking his head as if in pain.

"Ah, ah shit..." He said slowly, blinking as he looked back to the others. "Sorry guys, ignore me. Usually I'd wait until someone says something retarded before I go off at them, but I think whatever they injected me with is fucking with my brain. I mean, I'm already pretty fuckin brain dead, but still... I'm just glad I didn't waste anymore of my material on the other two of you, especially with that edgetardy delivery... Gotta save that for a rainy day."

As he spoke, he looked down to the food he'd gotten, almost as if he was seeing it for the first time.

"Is this literal shit? Because this looks like actual, human faeces."

And then he lookeds slightly upwards, staring off into space.

"Actually, that reminds me of a story..."

---

Like, one and a half, maybe two years ago? I don't fuckin remember.

"It all started when I was out the front of gramps' flower shop, where I was working at the time. I was making all the display flowers look nice, when some absolute cuntstick walked past with his dog. Now normally, this would all be fine, I love dogs, but this was one of those unique failures of genetic engineering. This assnugget, with his topknot and lensless glasses, was walking past me, and his dog decides it needs to shit. Again, normally fine, accept the dumbass stops, looks at the shit, and then keeps going.

Now let me tell you, I was pissed. So I call out to the guy, and I say "Hey guy, what the fuck? Why wouldn't you pick up your dogs shit?" And then he walks up to me, pokes me in the center of my chest like he's a highschool jock instead of a skinny, intellectually defective hipster shit, and says "What are you complaining about, it's free manure!" So, I did what I think any of us would've done in that situation, and used my powers to make him trip and fall in the shit when he tried to walk away. Two hours later, I was lying in the ground with a tranq dart in my ass, a hipster douchebag gloating about how he was the one to turn me on to his stupid hipster friends, and a burning rage in my heart. And so, assuming someone with taste in clothes hasn't lynched him in a back alley already, I'm gonna find that microcephalic tweed-tosser and making him fall in shit again. Because I guess at the end of the day, I'm kind of a petty asshole."

---

"And that's my sad backstory..." Alex said, staring wistfully into the distance. "Tragic, isn't it? But despite all the tears that you're no doubt struggling to contain, it needed to be said, if for no other reason than to distract me enough to eat this shit."

And then he pushed the empty tray away, surprised that it didn't actually taste all that bad.

[Days]

Fay

---

“You could’ve killed someone.” The husky voiced doctor said. The words repeated in Fay’s mind as she sat on the sofa with one leg over the other, her hands resting on top of her lap. Her breathing was slow and controlled. She stared down at her hands. The same hands that reached out to wave away the scaffolding. The same hands that held Billy as he cried. The same hands Billy was pulled from as his mother was schocked by what Fay had displayed. With the thumb of her left hand, she rubbed over Lee’s name on her wrist. She didn’t know what this doctor was after, but he was not getting to her. She knew she saved him. She knew she didn’t do anything wrong.

For about a year now, they had been trying to break her here at Paragon. She didn’t know why, she didn’t know how and she didn’t know when she would crack. It got harder and harder every day.

“The scaffolding could’ve hit other people as you carelessly threw it out.”

No. She saved him. She did. She looked before she moved the metal pieces out of the way with her powers. She checked. It was the right thing. She looked! She looked.. right?

Fay blinked two times, the tears that were forming quickly went away. No. She didn’t do anything wrong. The young teacher brought her hand up to her collar and touched it, wrapping her fingers around it. She had become used to the cold metal, but she couldn’t become used to the constant badgering.

“You’re wrong.” Fay looked up with a smile and dropped down her hand to her lap again. “I saved that boy. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m pretty sure we’ve passed our time.” She stood up and straightened her white t-shirt before putting her hands in the pockets of her grey sweatpants. The doctor sighed. Fay sometimes thought that he knew he wasn’t getting anywhere with her.

After saying goodbye, Fay was escorted back to the common room. With her right hand, she ruffled through her curly hair. Her eyes scanned the room for familiar people. She knew most people, and most knew her. Some people greeted her, some smiled at her. Fay was always known to be polite and kind. Even within the walls of Paragon, even towards the employees of Paragon. She walked passed Ivory and waved at her. They’d bonded over books before.

Fay aat down across from her friend, who’d been her even longer than her. They’re both teachers, and they somehow connected. “Hey Kennedy.” She said with a warm tone and a soft smile on her features as she crossed one leg over the other. “Sage.” He too received a smile and a nod from the her.

She heard the chair beside her skid over the floor. Someone sat down beside her and started talking up a storm. She had seen him before. He was a welcome distraction though, as he talked to Victoria and called her Vicky. Fay chuckled, this guy was amusing, although she did feel he could be a tad less mean. Her chin leaned on her palm while her elbow rested on the table. She eyed Kennedy from under her lashes with an amused expression.

[Elevation]

Conrad stood looking intently at the group gathered around the common area table through the 6 inch think ballistic window in the observation area. He had been on the recovery teams that had capture all of them except the professor named Kennedy who was caught only a mere month before he was recruited. He personally didn't enjoy ripping them from society as some of them were quite influential such as the teachers, but duty was duty and there wasn't much he could about that. However, what little battles he could win for them he would take such as pushing for better living accommodations, food and pastime activities. While these improvements were always far spread it helped settle his very troubled conscious.

"Hey doc", He asked to one of the lead scientists, "What do you think we could do about this pig shit our guests are having to eat?" He looked over his shoulder at the scientist who was clearly a little shocked at the question."W-w-well we can put in a request to the director of this facility I suppose." He said with a little stutter. "How about you get on that then?" Conrad said before turning back to the group. It was a mystery to him how the scientists and doctors seamed to not feel anything for the unlucky few that were held here. Oh well people will be people He thought before turning to head back to his office.

[Dio]

---

Kennedy expected as much as he took a seat in the common room that he would soon be joined by the bright youth that Paragon had captured. Tori was the bitter, grim youth that Kennedy had just made the mistake to sit nearby as she made an even grimmer comment about murdering everyone. But knowing better to keep to himself Ken ignored her and her comment up until Sage, the overly confident one arrived, breaking the silence that filled the room. Kennedy didn't mind Sage as he saw a lot of himself in the young man who was about a decade younger. They have had a few conversations before, but it wasn't ever anything too serious as the kid had a strange sense of humor that matched Tori more than Kennedy.

"It's going great," Kennedy said sarcastically. "Today's my anniversary, but of course they forgot, so no flowers." A chuckle escaped his lips as they were soon joined in by Alex, the mouth that never stopped talking.

Whenever Alex entered the common room, people shifted away. It wasn't that he was a bad guy, well in Kennedy's mind he was pretty bad, but it was more so that he just talked and rambled on and on. Kennedy sat quietly and respectfully as he tapped away at the table listening, but really counting in his head, to Alex's story yet again. Most of the things that the ass of a nerd said went in one ear of Ken's and out the other as he quickly learned. It was to Kennedy's surprise though that the whole time he was blabbering away Alex had managed to eat all of the mashed up food that Paragon provided for them, upsetting his own stomach with the thought of him digesting that day's lunch.

The last one to join the conversation that Kennedy didn't really want any part of was the fellow bright, youthful educator, Fay. For some reason the woman never lost her humanity and genuine kindness, something that confused Kennedy. They were all captured and being poked and prodded with needles, being used for endless tests, but she still smiled warmly to everyone, even the doctors and orderlies. The professor nodded, half-smiling back at the woman returning her welcome to him.

"Looking lively as ever, Fay." Kennedy said. His eyes then moved to scan the rest of the room as it was filled with other patients. Of course he knew most, having talked to them at least once, but that didn't always mean he himself was on good terms with them all.

His sights stopped at Ivory. She was a young and pretty, but like most she was dangerous with her powers. It was rumored that she had killed a lot of Paragon's men when they tried to capture her, something that each person had a tale of their own about. She kept her distance, but Kennedy felt the need to reach out. Maybe it was his teacherly or fatherly instincts, but of course it wasn't the time or place for that anymore.

As his eyes moved on it came across another man. He stood hunched away from the rest of the group near a corner of the room. His name was Roger and he had been captured for about a month or so longer than Kennedy. He was an Apostle, who was rumored to have visions from time to time even though he had his collar like the rest of them. It was whispered that there were maybe about two or three people who could still somehow use their abilities even though they had their collars on which inhibited most others from using theirs. Roger continued to walk back and forth muttering inaudible words but soon his mutters became shouts.

"We have to go soon." Roger murmured as he waved his hands frantically in the air. "We will run and hide, but we must wait until the time is right! We will be freed soon!"

Kennedy slowly stood up from his seat, trying to catch the words coming from Roger's mouth, but the man was quickly silenced as the orderlies reacted the instant Roger's hands rose up and began waving in the air. Two large orderlies grabbed a hold of the older apostle and forced him out of the common room as he was beginning to cause a scene. There were a few others who had reacted to Roger's words too other than Kennedy, but they all quickly sat back down and returned to their normal spots and demeanor in the room not wanting to cause any attention to themselves either.

Kennedy's eyes were glued onto the door that the orderlies had taken Roger out to. Maybe his murmurs were some kind of sign from a vision he had? Kennedy wanted to believe that there was more to them than just sitting with Paragon for the rest of their lives, but there wasn't any way to prove otherwise.

"Sit down, Mr. Glass." One of the orderlies who was left in the room stated.

Ken knew what he needed to do. He needed to find a way to talk to Roger and find out what kind of vision he had. Turning to face the voice with a fake smile, the professor nodded in obedience as he took his seat at the table with his friends.

[Lemons]

Tori really, really, vehemently hated Alex. It wasn't just that he had a perfect gift for getting under her skin, though that was most definitely a problem. It wasn't just the immensely flippant way he talked, or the fact that his sense of humor couldn't squeeze a laugh from the fucking Joker despite what everybody else ever seemed to think. If anything, it was the fact that despite both of those factors, he was annoyingly competent at skirting just on the line of what she could take, so she never felt quite angry enough to try actually hurting him. Not to mention he looked older than she was, and could probably take her in a fight as long as she couldn't use either her Paladin abilities or a knife.

There was Fay, of course. Tori had...mixed feelings about Fay. On one hand, she felt just a hair bad every time she snapped at the slightly older woman; she was just so...so...infuriatingly nice to everybody. On the OTHER hand, though, that niceness, that selfless kindness (and especially the kindness directed at Paragon) drove her up the goddamned wall. And so, she reacted to Fay the way she always had, and as far as she was concerned, always would: ignoring her completely and trying to pretend that nice people didn't exist so she didn't feel bad when she yelled at them.

Sage barely even registered on her radar. As far as she was concerned, he was an asshole like the rest, and she would just as rather he never speak in her presence ever again.

Ivory and Kennedy were the only even slightly tolerable people out of the whole bunch. Kennedy was mostly there by virtue of seniority; she'd learned a bit of his life by eavesdropping on conversations, and he'd been pretty much exactly what she'd wanted to be: a college teacher. He also wasn't nearly as much of an asshole as Alex, or as snide as Sage. And Ivory? She was pretty much the closest thing Tori could come to actually liking a person. Someone who didn't beat around the bush like it was a dead horse, who got right to the heart of the matter, but wasn't a condescending jackass when she did. While she didn't go out of her way to socialize with her—in fact, as far as she knew, they'd never actually spoken—she was one of the few people that she didn't go out of her way to avoid.

Tori's ears were caught by some old guy's outburst, and she groaned as he ranted. Can't they just shut up and leave me in peace?

Then, a beat later: Wait...that was Roger, wasn't it?

She only caught the last part, and the "we will be freed soon!" certainly got her attention. Her breath caught, and she could feel her hands clenching the arms of the chair. Free. It was a nice word, wasn't it?

After Kennedy was silenced by an orderly and returned to the chair, she turned around and spoke to the group at large. Most of them had probably never heard her voice. With one exception, she thought acidly as she glared at Alex again. She still didn't regret that threat.

"So, are we going to talk about what just happened?"

Then, lowering her voice, she turned to Alex in particular.

"Ordinarily, I would go off on you, Alex," she bit out, "But there's nothing I can say to you that would be as cruel as just being you."

[Prosaic]

SAGE

---

"It's going great," Kennedy said sarcastically, almost daring Sage to grin. "Today's my anniversary, but of course they forgot, so no flowers."

"Happy anniversary, teach! I bet you're excited to have wasted two years of your degree in actual hell."

The kid was joking, of course, even if his jokes could seem a bit biting. There was a strangeness in being on a first name basis with a college professor, if Kennedy had worked at his old school then he probably wouldn't have thought twice about him. He might have even resented him to some degree, but here, they were all in hell. They couldn't forget that they were all destined to the same terrible fate here. They couldn't forget that when Paragon ran out of tests, they were all going down with it.

At least, that's how he assumed that this all would end. He may have only been here for four months, but he didn't picture a happy ending to it all. This place was destined to go up in flames, and those flames were destined to take everyone out with them. He was just waiting for the day that their reckoning came. It was only a matter of time before everything fell apart, wasn't it?

Ivory had entered the room and though he knew very little about her, he did know that she was a force to be reckoned with. He considered nodding at her but he thought better of it, his greeting had been for the whole room. If she wanted to answer then she would have. He pushed at the slop on his tray boredly, he wasn't excited about eating it and he was unlikely to enjoy it when he did.

Maybe he'd zoned out a little but he tuned back in to hear, "...Kiddo? You're probably the only person in this goddamned facility I can take in a fight without getting my nose broken, but your strutting around like you own the place! It's not your highschool bud, you can't sneak your dads gun in to punish all the kids who bullied you!"

"Fuck off." there was undisguised venom in his voice. "I might not have my dad's gun but I can make do with any number of items in this room, you pretentious piece-"

He caught himself before he got too far, realizing that it was probably best not to start arguing with Alexander. If he did get into a fight with the older man, he would probably get his ass handed to him but it would be worth it if it could staunch his annoying anti-hipster rhetoric, if only for a moment. It was easy to hate Alexander, he didn't have many qualities that rubbed Sage right. It was a wonder of why he hadn't gotten into a fight with him earlier.

Sage was known for getting into trouble, though it was usually just for the attention value. If he didn't think that he'd get attention from an action then it wasn't really worth going through with it. Though he was sure that he'd get some kind of attention for getting beat up by Alexander, he couldn't help but feel like it wasn't quite worth it. Not only would it probably get them both punished but he wasn't a fan of beatings and he wasn't about to start becoming one. Though, it did sound fun to deviate from the norm.

He'd save this for another day. Alexander had already gotten distracted in shamelessly telling them his life story. He wouldn't be the one to interrupt him in persuit of a fight that would probably end with him losing. He was ballsy and he was bored but his irritation had faded as quickly as it had presented itself. Maybe next time. Maybe next time.

"Sage."

There weren't many people in this place that he genuinely liked but Fay was one of those people. There was just something about her that made him feel at home. She reminded him of his mother to some degree, he was never really able to be mean to her without feeling like he was kicking a puppy. "Hey, Fay."

He was soon caught off guard by the other prophet of this place, a man who's visions had a habit of infiltrating despite his collar. It was something that Sage envied, his visions were very controlled nowadays and he missed the spontaneity of an unplanned viewing. The older man was rambling about them getting out, which might have been easy for anyone else to shrug off. It was not easy for him to shrug off.

He watched as the older man was dragged off, his brown eyes flickering to Victoria as she spoke. "So, are we going to talk about what just happened?"

"I think it's important to address that," Sage agreed quietly, "There's got to be some way we can talk to him. I need to know what he saw."

[BubblegumQueen]

We will be freed soon.

We will be freed soon.

Freedom.

Ivory gave a slow blink, eyes following Roger as he was forcefully dragged from the common room. She let her eyes flicker around the room at the faces around her, looking for reactions, and she was not surprised to see most go back to their prior activities, not wanting to risk facing the same fate as Robert. Ivory felt a swell of... something in her stomach, and she wasn't sure whether it was pleasant or unpleasant.

But, she did what she did best and forced her feelings to the side and instead focused on those who actually had a reaction to Roger's words.

Edgy teen, Jock Teach, Stabby Chick, Sugar Cookie, and... She frowned a little, already aware of the small number and not really needing to go any further. She was hoping that more people would have shown some kind of visual interest in the rather foreboding words spouted out by the older Apostle but apparently not. They were too scared of seeming curious, too worried about the potential consequences.

Her lips curled a little, even as her eyes stayed locked on the tiny script she was reading. Don't have much use for those too broken or weak-minded to be of any help. And it was as she thought this that a small voice in her head popped up, condescending tone and all.

Help? Help with what, exactly? Sure, Roger said something about being freed but... do you really want to put all your eggs in that basket? You've done well so far. Have kept your head done and your mouth shut... have observed inconspicuously and have kept your distance. You're surviving. So... what are you going to do with this information? With the people you've chosen to be more interesting or just more... what? Curious? What do you think is going to happen? You're gonna form a little band of misfits and try to burst your way out of here? Come on, you're not an idiot. Just push that man's words out of your head and go back to your routine.

It's for the best.

Absently licking her thumb, whilst managing to keep her usual blank expression in place, she turned the page of the novel, Amped. Yet, the faint sound of whispering made her eyes flicker over to the table where the... curious people sat. Her head twitched a little as she naturally fought the urge to tilt her head and blatantly stare in curiosity like she wanted. But, she knew that guards would be watching a lot more closely after the outburst from Roger.

Too risky.

Making a small hum under her breath, she crossed her legs in the armchair she'd silently chosen as her own, forcing herself to focus on the story of oppression that she had in her lap.

[Days]

Fay

---

Fay placed an elbow on the table and let her chin rest on her palm as she eyed the group, a smile on her face at Kennedy’s mention of flowers. She loved flowers. At home, she would always have flowers and plants on multiple surfaces and in the windowsill. Gerberas were her favorites. She loved the way they came in all shapes and colors. Some of the plants in her house were rescued from Lee’s apartment, who unlike Fay, didn’t have a clue on how to keep a plant alive. Fay blinked and told herself mentally not to think about Lee.

The young woman nodded at Kennedy as he spoke. Outside of Paragon, Fay already knew of Kennedy. He was an amazing professor, and she even followed some of his English lectures before starting as a teacher herself. In a way, he inspired her. She was shocked to find him in the common room, after they’d had just taken her in. He was already here for a year, and they quickly formed a bond over mutual interests. Now, a year later, they were still at this same old table. She doesn’t see him as the amazing lecturer to look up at anymore, but more like a friend.

“Looking lively as ever, Fay.”

“And you look as vibrant as ever, congratulations on your anniversary here at Paragon. I take it we’ll have a celebration tonight? I’ll have to iron my cocktail dress.” Fay chuckled softly, pretending as if sitting here was normal, as if it was just a normal meeting outside of the stone cold walls of Paragon. Maybe that was one of the ways Fay was able to cope so well.

Fay’s head turned towards Victoria, who’d liked to be called Tori, to which Fay happily obliged, and smiled at her, lifting her free hand for a small wave. Tori intrigued her, she reminded her of one of her students. Even though there’s a big age difference in her students and Tori, she could sense some sort of inner battle in Tori. She’d prefer Tori to warm up to her though.

“Hey, Fay.”

Fay tore her eyes of Tori when Sage and Alex’s conversation turned south. She sighed softly and raised her eyebrow at Alex. During the conversation, she remembered his name. “Alex, would it hurt if you tried to be nice at least once a day?” She said, and added a soft smile. She send a small wink Sage’s way. He sometimes amazed her. Such a young and kind boy, but he tended to get into trouble. Something in Fay made her want to take care of him, even though she knew he was perfectly capable of doing that himself. She reached forward and plucked a piece of lint from Sage’s shoulder.

As the group spoke and ate, she saw Conrad walking by, going towards the offices. She was supposed to call him officer Yates, but she always refused and called most guards and orderlies by their first name. Eventually, after half a year or so, they stopped trying to make her do otherwise. She had asked Conrad a little while ago if he could find out if her brother was here too. She didn’t really get a reaction, but she was hoping that he was at least keeping an eye out for Lee. He did not look at her as he passed and thus her eyes lingered on his back. Her eyes were torn away by Roger, whom was talking before while Fay didn’t quite register. Now he was screaming. As Kennedy stood up, Fay held his lower arm in a faint attempt to stop him from walking up to Roger further, not wanting her friend to get into trouble.

After Roger was taken away, she pulled Kennedy’s arm softly as he was told to sit down. He did so and Fay furrowed her brows at the group, seeing Tori turn towards them.

"So, are we going to talk about what just happened?"

Fay’s hand covered her mouth, still in shock about what just happened. They’d taken the man away roughly. Roger was a kind and peaceful man. “Oh God, I hope he’s alright. I hope they don’t hurt him. Did he have a vision?”

She eyed Sage who had a determined look on his face and nodded as he spoke.

[Elevation]

As Conrad sat in his office going over possible leads he heard a commotion outside and before he could get up to open the door one of the guards came in. "Agent Yates we have a little situation here with Roger, apparently hes had a vision through his collar." This sparked Conrad's interest and he put down the lead reports and followed the guard to the interrogation room where they had Roger strapped down. Roger was known as the nut job around here and had a history of acting out at random times without any explanation. Although most of the staff here at Paragon dismissed his claims that he was still receiving visions through his collar due to his mental state Conrad wasn't so convinced. There was still so much that was unknown to them about the abilities the collars could very well be ineffective.

As he entered the room he sat directly in front of Roger, "So Roger what seams to be the problem?" he asked in a calm and understanding voice. Roger who was slumped over and mumbling nonsense pause a moment before looking Conrad strait in the face, "You can't keep us here forever. I've seen it with my own two eyes you can't hold us.". Roger looked around the room before slumping back down. Conrad's gut told him Roger had definitely seen something and this was far more than his craziness. He motioned for the two guards to come get Roger, "Take him to solitary confinement and remove his collar and monitor him I want to know is he has any more visions."

As Conrad headed back to his office he made a quick stop to the common area where most captives were gather and swiped his key card opening the door. He took a step in and noticed everyone was looking at him with suspicion. "Sorry about Rogers little scene everyone he's been moved to solitary confinement so he shouldn't be bothering you all anymore."

[Rabidporcupine]

"Woah woah, let's slow down a little, Negasonic Teenage Dickhead!" Alex said, raising his hands in a placating manner. "I'm pretty sure I apologised just then, and I was even so kind as to explain that it was the drugs screwing with my filter, not your insanely bullyable personality."

He quickly turned to Fay, who he knew wouldn't hate him enough to lie about it.

"I did actually do that, right Fay? Because I know I sometimes get my thoughts and words mixed up and just assume I said something when I didn't, but I'm pretty sure I did this time.

And then he turned back to Sage, a kindly, almost parental expression that was only... Oh, maybe ninety percent fake and mocking.

"I mean, listen. We've all been in your position. Puberty can be tough, especially when you have a complete and utter lack of social skills like you and I, but that's no reason to let it make things worse. Don't let your first period make you a monster, because as soon as you let that happen, then you give me the strongest weapon of them all... You make my jokes accurate."

And then he turned to Fay again, an apologetic expression that... might have been a few more percent serious than the one he'd used with Sage.

"And I'm dreadfully sorry Fay, I ignored your question before. But to give you a short answer, it very well may. Apart from going into anaphylactic shock if I don't get at least one death threat a day, the constant insults help keep my mind sharp, stop it from fading into mush like good old... I wanna say Robert? Which by the way, that was pretty fucked up. I'm sure that won't become a major plot point later on. But besides that, yeah, I don't have the character development to be nicer yet, or at least not without disguising it under numerous, meticulously personalised insults."

He looked to Tori, who had said something particularly inaccurate, and decided he was probably legally required to correct her.

"Ah, Vic, while on many layers, you may be right, there are so many others where you couldn't be more wrong. However, instead of gracing everyone here with one of my trademark lectures, I'll keep this one brief. True, I may be a miserable sack of shit with little to no reason to continue my life, but everyone else's life in this place is more miserably than mine, because I don't have to listen to myself talk. You're locked in here with me and all that shit..."

He turned back to Sage when he spoke again, a twinge of actual responsibility daring to try and poke it's head up.

"Now just hang on a moment there Elliot Rodger, I know you're the closest we have to the plucky teenager of the group, but if you think you'll be able to talk to the guy after he's been taken away by the guards, then I've somehow been giving you too much credit this whole time. At best, they call you a retard and turn you away without beating the shit out of you. At best. Besides, we probably won't even have to do anything. In comics, this kinda shit usually works itself out."

Immediately after finishing that last sentence, he turned to look at Kennedy.

"And before you say something like "This isn't a comic book, this is real life", I want you to A; think about how many shows, movies and comics say that exact line, word for word, and B; notice the fact that we're in a government facility designed to experiment on innocent prisoners with superhuman powers, so, you know, it's not even a very original one! It's basically X-men!"

However, before he could continue, he paused.

"Oh, but I interrupted your anniversary speech! Sorry about that, let's hear it before someone else starts saying something retarded instead of me and Angst Hiroshima hogging it all."

[Dio]

_{Cameo by Conrad & @Elevation}

---

It felt as if time froze for an eternity as Kennedy sat back down. Those around him had become just as curious as he was about Roger's warnings and he knew that he wanted to know more too. The professor looked at each person's face, thinking about what course of action to take next. Should he wait until Roger got out of isolation, but could he wait that long was the better question? Isolation meant that it could range from days or even weeks depending on how cooperative the old Acolyte was. And Kennedy wasn't sure he would be able to wait that long to find out just what Roger meant with his callings of freedom, especially if that freedom meant another chance out of Paragon.

His mind was brought back into what was in front of him as Alex went on another nonstop tirade to the group, dwindling down the already thick tension with even more bravado than what was needed. Maybe his meds were taking too much out of him, but Kennedy of course didn't know what he was on to even have the slightest of clue if it really was the medication or not.

Choosing not to confront the medicated man Kennedy turned to Fay, giving her a faint smile as before she had instinctively grabbed his hand to pull him down in attempt to stop him from causing a scene. Kennedy nodded, before eyeing the others around him again. From Sage, to Alex, followed by Tori, and ending on one of the men who had helped unite most of the people before him, Conrad.

The Paragon office had come into the room, updating them on Roger's status. That's when it hit the usually calm and kept man, he knew what he had to do. "I'll find out what I can," Ken whispered to the group around him. "Just wait until then and don't make any waves, got it?" His eyes turned more to the two boys around the table, knowing their attitude and their mouths, something was bound to happen while he was gone.

With a deep inhale Kennedy stood up clenching his fists, eyes closed to soak in the moment, before heavily exhaling and slamming his closed fists to the table. His pupils narrowed and brows furrowed as he felt the pain of the impact the metal table forced back into his fists, "I'm sick of this!"

Grabbing one of the empty trays Ken flung it across the room, making sure to throw it in a direction no one was in, carrying on and continuing with his angry tirade. "We shouldn't be caged here like animals. I've been here for two years, two years to this day, and nothing has changed! Your doctors and scientists haven't figured out what's wrong with us or why we have powers and you don't, but we are humans just like you."

As he took steps closer and closer to Agent Yates, who was the only real authority figure in the room now other than the orderlies, he took notice of Ivory who had taken a seat now with a book in hand. He could see she was just as interested in Roger's words too as their eyes met, but it wasn't time to think about that as Kennedy snapped back into his facade forcing all his passionate anger at the Paragon officer again.

"You help hunt people down and bring them in here to get experimented on. You act as if we're animals, feeding us garbage, giving us these meds to poison and make us weaker." Biting his lips Ken lifted his hand to his neck, clenching the collar that he had around it. "You even make us wear these collars to control us."

What really triggered the professor though was that as he was going on with his own tirade Conrad didn't say a word as if he knew all these things already and that's what made him more upset. The Paragon employee knew these things and how bad it was but continued on like it was nothing. The mistreatment of people, the experiments, all of it.

"Kennedy I'd go back to your seat if I were you." Agent Yates responded, "You know you'll go to confinement."

Ken knew that with his collar on there really wasn't much he could do and he could tell Agent Yates was also aware. Before Kennedy could say another word or move an inch more, three large, bulky orderlies surrounded him. Each one with their arms the size of Ken's head, grabbed the professor at whatever limb they could and lifted him out of the room. His plan was in motion, he knew he was going to be put into solitary confinement, but that's what the goal was.

Kennedy needed this vacation away anyways.

[Prosaic]

SAGE

---

"Now just hang on a moment there Elliot Rodger, I know you're the closest we have to the plucky teenager of the group, but if you think you'll be able to talk to the guy after he's been taken away by the guards, then I've somehow been giving you too much credit this whole time. At best, they call you a retard and turn you away without beating the shit out of you. At best. Besides, we probably won't even have to do anything. In comics, this kinda shit usually works itself out."

Though, Alexander said it in the most wordy way possible, he had a point. There was absolutely no way that Sage was going to get close enough to Roger that he'd be able to speak to him about his visions and no amount of conspiring with these assholes was going to change that. Though, he couldn't help how glum that made him feel. It was hard to hear about someone having visions and know that his own visions were unreachable at the moment.

He couldn't help but find himself hyper fixating on this isshe like an ache in his tooth. He had once had visions constantly and taken them for granted, they'd sort of fucked him up in a way but they were still his visions. No matter how gritty and bloody that those visions got, they were his to bear and he liked having them. They made him special, they set him aside, it may have not been an overt power or a dangerous power but it was his.

Without those powers, he felt sort of useless.
He drove his fist into the table, glaring up at Alexander, because if all else fails, take it out on Alexander. "Oh, would you shut up? I'm an adult, Goddamn you! I'm a full fledged fucking adult!" and his voice was starting to rise, "I know it makes it easier for you to cope or some shit by pretending I'm your teenager little brother that you can just bully whenever you get bored but-"

His outburst was cut short by the sound of Kennedy raising his voice to confront the staff at the Paragon. He was initially taken aback by the sound of the man yelling, his voice cut through the tense air immediately. It was hard not to be startled, the old professor was usually so mild-mannered and yet... yet something seemed very staged about all of this. Sure, Kennedy seemed passionate enough, sure, he was being loud and assertive, sure but there was a gleam in his eye.

Suddenly, Sage understood and all was right in the world. Kennedy was being dragged off but Sage was just starting to get comfortable again, he had not eaten his slop just yet but he was feeling satisfied. Kennedy was goimg to get the information that they all wanted, he had done it in the only way possible. He'd thrown himself into isolation, it was a move that Sage was going to congratulate him on later.

A new tone was taken with Alexander, this one amused and placated like a child that had inevitably got his way. Even if it was at the cost of a friend. "Nevermind my outburst, feel free to continue being an absolute douchenozzle."

He focused his attention back on the rest of the surrounding attendees, his mouth daring on a smile, his voice is kept very quiet. "Does anyone want my tray? I'm not very hungry and I'm thinking that we should mull over what just happened while we still have some time."

[BubblegumQueen]

No, no, no, it's too messy. The pieces don't fit properly. Ivory thought irately, staring off blankly into the direction that Jock Teach was dragged. Although she seemed passive as usual, her mind was racing at the glitch she was seeing before her.

Why would Jock do that? Why would he purposely try and get thrown into solitary? Because despite my own distaste towards his type, he is not a complete idiot so...

And just then, it occurred to her.

Her hands clenched her book tightly before she finally closed it a bit more softer than even she expected. Ivory's eyes moved away from the door to the table, more specifically to the only person she actually somewhat enjoyed that could give her answers in a manner she could stand. Although, judging by some of their faces, she'd perhaps be right in assuming that this plan of Teach's wasn't shared to the rest of the Scooby Gang.

Didn't we just agree not to get involved in this? They are either going to get caught and given extra 'treatments' for their insolence or, and this is very possible, they'll be killed for conspiracy to escape. We do not want to deal with that right now.

Ivory chewed roughly on her lip, just barely not ripping the delicate skin. She, of course, knew that if she got involved with them, she could be getting herself the kind of attention she really does not need but...

I doesn't have to work with them, really. I just want answers. I'll talk to Sugar Cookie and see if they are in on the plan. If they aren't, I'll leave them be and wait to talk to Teach myself to see what he found out from Roger. I mean, come on. That is obviously what he's doing and considering the guards just escorted him off, it only serves to prove the idiocy of those that are 'above her'. Ahem, that aside: If they are in on it, I'll at least work on extending an olive branch to Sugar Cookie now rather than later. I only hesitate to do it regardless due to the fact that, if Teach is killed or ends up permanently locked in Solitary Confinement or, worse, ends up being interrogated before being subject to one or the other, I don't want any ties to the group. Just thinking logically here.

This all took about 30 seconds to roughly come together into some semblance of a plan and, before she realized it, she was on her feet. She got a few looks before they all eventually looked away, Ivory once again glad for her ability to remain under the radar. Leaving her book in her seat, she quickly and rather silently made her way to the Mystery Gang's, casually snatching a chair from a nearby empty table on her path.

Setting it down behind and a little to the right of Sugar Cookie's – ah, well, Fey's – chair, she pointedly cleared her throat, face decidedly blank to not gain much attention from anyone looking in. After all, this isn't the first time she's talked to someone else (Fey being the only one, actually.) so her behavior should be seen as rare but not out of character. Of course, this is the first time she'd been around other people while with Fey but hopefully they'll see her exceptionally stiff posture and understand that she is not there for them and is uncomfortable with even being around others.

“What's the deal with Teach?” She quietly asked once she'd gained Fey's attention, not in the mood to beat around the bush. All she wants is the truth so that she could decide her next course of action.

[Days]

Fay

---

Fay had managed to smile back at Kennedy when had sat back down. She was gratefull he stayed with her, and with his behind placed firmly on his chair, Fay's anxiety she didn't notice was there faded away. The last thing they needed, was for their group to split apart. She tuned out Alex as he talked and talked but instead kept her eyes on Kennedy as he was visibly thinking about something, hard.

"Sorry about Rogers little scene everyone he's been moved to solitary confinement so he shouldn't be bothering you all anymore."

Fay did not hear Conrad come back into the room to explain the situation. It wasn't an explanation in any case. It was sweettalking the situation. The young woman took her eyes off Kennedy and looked up at Conrad. She bit her lip. He confused her. There was something about him, something that seemed off. Nobody can work here without atleast some disagreement with what was going on, what was being done to them. Fay had seen it in him. She saw pity in his eyes sometimes. She didn't need it, but he had it. She saw it especially when she asked him to find out where her brother is. He said he couldn't, but his eyes said something else.

But now, as he stood here before them, almost without emotion when talking about solitary confinement, Fay started to dislike him. Which for Fay, is a lot. She was so caught up in her thoughts, she barely registered Kennedy whispering.

"I'll find out what I can, just wait until then and don't make any waves, got it?"

The young teacher visibly jumped in her chair and let out a small yell as Kennedy slammed his fists to the table. Her eyes opened wide and she looked up at her friend. Her breath got caught in her troath as he grabbed a tray and threw it across the room. Kennedy, much like herself, never really got mad. Yet he was saying the things he must've bottled up, he was saying what they all were thinking. Heck, Fay bet even most employees tought the same.

The short woman couldn't grab onto Kennedy's arm this time, as he took steps towards Conrad, who looked at him without much emotion in his eyes. He was gonna get in trouble. Fay's mind started to put the pieces together about Kennedy's plan, but she hated it. Hey eyes frantically searched for someone who can help him. They started to drag out Kennedy, and Fay pushed forward, tugging on the arm of the guard, who casually pushed the small woman away. She didn't care what Kennedy is planning, she didn't care that it was an act, she did not want him to go.

Fay was always postive, kind and liked to look at life with hope and a bright outlook. But certain things made that possible. She feared losing her friend Kennedy would make her give up. Somewhere inside, she knew she couldn't stop this. Kennedy had to do this, this was their best shot. But sitting at the table doing nothing would not be her natural reaction. It had to seem, natural. She noticed she was playing along. She grabbed onto a strong arm of an orderly, only to be promptly pulled off by Conrad. She was no match for any of them, and they did not see her as a treat in any case. Usually this was annoying, now it was a good thing.

Frantically, Fay turned around and looked up at Conrad, her hair wild and in front of her face. Her usual soft, bright and slightly angled eyes were wide open and a fluid build on her waterlines. "Conrad, you can't do this. You can't!" She beat on his chest but it had little to no effect. He just spun her around and gave a push in her back, making her go back to her table. As she walked back, she eyed Sage with a knowing look and sat back down as the doors to the common room closed.

The tears were still resting on her waterline as she sat down and listened to Sage speak, she nodded at him and noticed Ivory taking a chair and sitting down next to her. She smiled, happy that Ivory chose to walk up to them. She looked over her right shoulder towards the blonde woman. She grabbed a piece of bread from Sage's tray and pretended to be casual, while eyeing Ivory, who had quite a stiff composure at the moment. "He.. he told us to keep low. He was gonna.. find things out." She whispered and took a bite of the piece of bread.

[Rabidporcupine]

"Wow, rude..." Alex said, leaning back in his chair as Sage called him a douchenozzle. "And here I was trying to help you... Of course, Kenny got there first, which was probably a better outcome for everyone, but I figured I could goad you into trying to fight me and ending up in the same situation... Seriously though, kids these days are so ungrateful..."

Before he could do much else though, he noticed that the girl who never seemed to talk to them had arrived at the tables, talking to Fey and asking about Kennedy. He listened in, before sighing when he realised how genuinely worried Fey sounded.

"Alright Fey, listen. I know you're worried about Ken, but he's a big boy. He knows what he's doing, and I'm sure things'll be just fine. So let's all just calm down, don't worry too much, and see how things play out, hmm?"

[Dio]

---

One Week Later

"Let's head back to the lunch room, Kennedy." An orderly commanded, tailing behind the professor. Kennedy had been locked up for a whole week in solitary confinement, which in hindsight was extremely idiotic choice by the professor, but he couldn't wait to find out what Roger had meant by his crazed shouts. The strange thing about solitary confinement in Paragon though was that those who were there had more test run on them instead of really being confined and alone. Needles and probes poked left and right at Ken as he laid still on a table, but he was able to have some time with Roger alone, a few minutes each day.

Kennedy did what he could to extract all the information from the older Apostle and as sneaky as he could too. He needed to go under the radar so Paragon couldn't find out what was going to happen. Sure they ran tests on the crazed man, trying to figure out why he was still able to have visions even as he wore the collar, but to no avail were they able to find it out. Which was why Roger was still in confinement.

As he sulked his way into the common area the professor found a seat at an open table, plopping himself down, with a grim look on his face and dark, large bags under his eyes. A deep, low, and exasperated breath escaped his lips as he felt rejoice to be out but a bit of regret that Roger was still there being tested on.

"You be a good boy and don't get into any more trouble, yah hear?" The orderly said as he patted Kennedy on the shoulder.

"No promises," he replied, "but I'll try my best." With a smirk and a nod, he began tapping the table, remembering all the things Roger had shared with him about his visions. Something was going to happen, and it was going to be big. Ken wanted to tell the others all about it, but figured that it was best to hold off until he actually knew if it was true or not. There were a lot of things Roger had told him in the few minutes they had with each other every day, but a lot of it seemed just like ramblings, so it was hard to put two and two together at times.

"Roger, if you're right, our world is going to be flipped upside down." Kennedy whispered under his breath as he let out another sigh. He closed his eyes and rested his head in his arms as he placed them on the table before him. It was nice to actually be around others, as he actually missed them all, even if some were more annoying than others.