[IC] The Gifted: A Fast Paced Superpower RP (Relaunch)

[Lord Santa]

This would be tricky.

Isaac did suspect that Constantine would've done something behind the backs of everyone, and lo and behold, he was right. The black dragon had been an unexpected twist, and he had to deal with it quickly. He didn't want his Hydra to die.

Isaac rapidly pushed buttons on his console as his hunters blinked about his base, salvaging as much of his materials and test subjects as they could. He released the cages of all of his creations which were swiftly teleported to his evacuation tunnel, which he'd likely use very soon. But there were things that had to be done first. The hunters rapidly went about their task, evacuating all of Isaac's precious test subjects and information, transporting it to the tunnel. He let 3 of the hunters do that while the other two appeared behind him. Isaac stood up, as he didn't need to push any more buttons - the rest of it would take care of itself. He snapped his fingers and he and his 2 hunters disappeared.

Instantly, a hunter appeared at the Hydra's tail, touching the man-beast and disappearing, depositing apocalypse with a sudden lack of hydra flesh to consume. The hydra and the hunter reappeared a little out of sight in the hole in the ground, with Isaac simultaneously appearing with the other hunter. Wasting no time, he gestured at the bodies in the ruined labyrinth for the half-destroyed hydra.
"Eat." He commanded.

A multitude of heads burst out of the Hydra's ruined torso, lashing out at the many corpses lying in the hole and consuming them in seconds, swallowing them down ravenously. The Hydra's flesh bubbled and grew, replacing its missing flesh quickly. As it did, a portal opened at Isaac's side as one of his hunters returned with the remains of the other hunter that had been killed by Insomnium. Isaac snapped his fingers and the hunter threw the other hunter's remains, which were quickly snapped up by the Hydra and swallowed down. Soon, the Hydra returned to a relatively normal state, albeit with dozens more heads, and Isaac took off his glasses. Things were getting quite ridiculous, and he would have to end this fast.

He sent all of his other hunters away except for one, which teleported him and the hydra back onto the sqaure, straight onto Apocalypse. The Hydra's impressive bulk flattened the black dragon and it's multitude of heads tore through the sky, grabbing at any body within range, including reformists and underground mutants, dead or alive. Some soldiers backed up at the re-appearance and apparent viciousness of the threat, but they were kept in place by the stalwart presence of reinforcements. Isaac stood on one of its heads with the hunter who disappeared on his order. The hunter was needed elsewhere, and there were more heroes now. He was aware of them, and he swiftly ignored them. He needed to be utterly devoted to this task as time was of the essence.

As many of the hydra's heads began quickly consuming the soldiers, the remaining heads lashed out and bit into Apocalypse's thrashing limbs, pinning it down. As it thrashed, the heads were damaged, but the hydra regenerated it rapidly due to the consumption of nearby corpses. 3 of the Hydra's head lashed at Apocalypse's neck, grabbing it even as it bit them, somehow managing to pin the beast. As it did, Isaac walked down the head he was on to touch the black dragon's now exposed vital point. The only one he'd observed through the video feed. As he touched the point, he was aware that the human rocket was probably tearing through the Hydra's flank. He was aware that his Hydra was consuming his own soldiers, but it didn't matter. The hydra could regenerate as fast as the human rocket tore through it, and there was only one thing he needed to do if his hypothesis was correct.

As he touched the vital point under the dragon's chin, He realised that it was a nexus for its energy. It was a construct entirely made out of energy...
Interesting. Isaac thought.
He swiftly withdrew from the dragon and five heads rose to his side. Isaac pointed out the weak point and waited for a little. The timing had to be just right...
"Fire." Isaac said after a second.
5 lasers were realised from the heads of the eyes, straight into the black dragon's weak point. At exactly the same time, a huge lightning blast shattered the floor of the relatively undamaged parts of the labyrinth, right in front of the new batch of heroes. As the floor gave way, another lightning blast was released in their direction and out flew a massive Chimera, with a body rivalling the size of the hydra. Its bat-like wings propelled it to the top of the new sun building, where it shot another blast of lightning the size of a wrecking ball from its goat head in the direction of the heroes. Its lion head roared a challenge as its snake tail coiled around the new sun corporation roof. Meanwhile, on the ground, the black dragon wouldn't last. it would only be a matter of time before the reformists re-focused on the Hydra, and Isaac didn't want that to happen.

He snapped his fingers and the hunter who'd brought the Chimera appeared once again. The Hydra had pretty much gulped down every corpse in a 300 meter radius, but that wouldn't matter so much if push came to shove. He let the Hydra have a last, bestial, ear splitting roar before snapping his fingers. A few teleports later, Isaac, the Hydra and the hunter appeared in the evacuation tunnel, with his subjects neatly lined up along it. The Hydra head Isaac was on lowered to the ground and Isaac got off of it quickly, doing a rushed inspection of his subjects. His beasts all looked fine, but the hydra had quite a lot of major gashes. They were quickly fixed as the hydra ate a few of its own heads and reverted to a much more manageable 9 heads. Isaac put his glasses back on and calmed down. Everything had swiftly gone wrong, but things were at least salvageable.
Good. Isaac thought.
That was the hard part done. Unfortunately, his Chimera would likely be sacrificed, but there was a chance he could create something more impressive later. Right now, he had things to do.

A hunter teleported to Isabella's location, Isaac in tow, and Isaac walked towards her.
"Ms Lancaster, I would advise a strategic withdrawal." Isaac said, adjusting his glasses.

[NarcissisticPotato]

"I'm sorry sir but I really do not advise going in there if you wish to converse with Miss Delacrox." A young nurse stopped them outside Olivia's room, blocking the path into it. "The morphine we administered has yet to... wear off on her." With a slow smile, she nodded to Elijah. "I'm not going to stop you going in but you'll get no sense out of her and I imagine she would be particularly annoyed if you referenced it when she comes down from the drug." Biting her lip tentatively, she gave them a lasting hard look to not do anything before stepping out of their way.

Olivia was healthy, clearly - she was sitting up in bed regarding a plastic cup that had been used to hold some water. "Uh..." She mumbled, her eyes squinting down at the white, plastic cup. It took her about another minute before she noticed the presence of Elijah and Nate. "You!" She suddenly blasted, her eyes narrowing as she rolled out of bed, climbing to her feet in an instant before she ran up to Nate. "I knew we had a stinky, conniving thief around here!" Olivia seemed a little wobbly on her feet and her eyes were glazed over by a layer of confusion but she looked good. "You stole my cat!" She declared suddenly, jamming her pointed finger into his chest. "Nique ta mere!" Despite being as high as a kite, Olivia's French was perfect as she regarded him shakily. "Where's Mr Fluffykins? I demand his immediate return or I'll..." She seemed to pause for a second as she took note of Elijah. Something must have kicked in her memory as she forgot about Mr Fluffykins, Lord rest his soul.

"Casse-toi!" She shook her head as she darted over to in front of Elijah. "Fils de salope!" Shaking her head angrily, she gave him a measly punch in the chest before realising something amazing. "You're so hot!" She remarked, her blurred eyes sparkling as Olivia suddenly latched onto him, cackling at her remark. "You're like... a big dog. You're still a salope though." She stated tiredly, nestling her head down into his chest as she let out a deep sigh. "I hate you so much..." She yawned before falling asleep against him.

[Subject Zero]

Ever the soldier, Nate let the boss offer his explanation of why Eli wasn't as bad as he thought. He even adopted a pose that betrayed his military roots. Arms behind his back, legs apart, head high. It was how he always stood when being addressed by his superiors back in the day but he caught himself doing it and quickly crossed his arms over his chest instead. It was hard to break years of conditioning, even now.

Nate was well aware of the so called pardon Eli had been given for his actions at aperture but that didn't change the way people looked at him. The majority of people were still afraid of him. Raven was proof of that. And Eli seemed to revel in the killings. He bragged about them. That made Nate uncomfortable. A voice at the back of Nate's mind called him a hypocrite. 'How many people have we killed?' asked the voice. 'That's not the same thing' Nate told himself 'Those were bad people and our government ordered us to kill them.' Nate could almost hear an internal laugh as though some part of him found that funny. 'Right' said the voice in his head 'Because the American government is infallible.'

As Eli started detailing just how he had killed the police officers, Nate found that he no longer cared. He had annoyed himself and was now lost in his own thoughts. He had killed a bunch of people in his short years but had justified it by the fact that he was following orders. The sound seemed to fade around him as he ran through his list of kills in his head, mentally justifying each of them. Something still bothered him though. Some spot in the back of his mind that he couldn't quite see.

Nate's eyes had narrowed in thought but suddenly widened again as he heard a 'ding!' from the elevator, indicating that they had arrived at their destination. He quickly forced a smile in the hopes that neither Cedric nor Eli had noticed his internal conflict. He stepped to the side and swung an arm out, indicating for them to go first. He then followed after them into the infirmary.

What happened next forced all thoughts of self doubt from his mind. Olivia poking him in the chest and accusing him of stealing her cat was hilarious to him. Man he had to get his hands on whatever she was on. When she turned her attention to Eli, proclaiming that he was hot before seemingly falling asleep on his chest, Nate could only sigh and with a smile he said to Eli "Beer goggles".

@Letter Bee
@AcerRo
@NarcissisticPotato

[Savato]

Fun times

((Collab between Marx and Savato))

"These intruders... They get even more annoying par la seconde." she'd complain to herself before delivering a rough kick to Harper's coxis to get him up faster, if that made any sense. "Get up lazy bum. Greenfoot is probably long gone so we have to tell mama!" she'd boss her colleague with her little prideful smile. It was almost as if she barely even cared about the escapees, likely because they didn't actually cause her that many problems.

"Fuckin Christ," Harper jerked at the impact of her foot, swatting at her leg, "Piss the fuck off, won't cha." Harper swiveled and sat up, rubbing his heavy eyelids with a long sigh as the other hand explored his back for the barbs that were embedded under his skin. His nails slid under the metallic barbs, prying them from his skin, which filled in the empty space as they left his body. "So, what'd I miss," Harper looked from the bloodied tips on the barbs from the stun gun to the kid he rarely had to deal with. With a grunt he pushed himself up from the ground and took a quick sniff of the air around him, catching the scent of ink. Some cunt had drawn on his face, hadn't they? He licked the palm of his hand and thoroughly rubbed his face, the scent of the ink quickly fading.

Camille snickered as the once unconscious man finally awoke to her little improvised call. The swearing only made the brat even more hyperactive as of course, she reasoned as a child, making her particularly easy to impress on certain grounds. She'd pat him on the back to at least reassure him that not everything was bad, at least he had his buddy Camille around.

"So there were intruders an... Pffffff pahaha!"

She suddenly burst into laughter upon seeing the mess he had made by rubbing his wet hand all around his face, thus spreading the red marker all around and giving off an even sillier appearance.

"So pfffff I-I owned their bosssssss hah! and then I beat that famous met- Oh wow you suck so much, Harper! HAHhaaaa!"

She couldn't resist her childish urges to simply release all her inner imp and laugh at almost anything that sounded remotely out of place or was akin to potty words.

"Cut the laughing, you brat." Harper ordered as he finished rubbing his face, jaunting quickly to the bathroom to splash warm water on his face before jaunting back, now cleaning it off with a towel. He nodded as she told him about fighting metas, taking her comment in stride that he sucked. It was what it was. No reason to argue, especially with a child.

"Let's just go see the boss-lady, alright kiddo? You can tell her your story." Harper said dully, ruffled her hair with his hand as he stepped past her, shoving his hands into his pockets. His interest in this cause was diminishing by the second, not that it could get much lower than 'disinterested'.

As the man had warped himself somewhere real quick, Camille picked up her cell phone and checked the current status of whatever infantry she had connected to her device. There were many updates, much like an old Skype version constantly harassing for installations. A few monsters there, a couple of metas up at the building, all being dealt with. All except Light and the individuals Camille had the luck to come across before being ditched relatively quickly. When Harper came back, she giggled as her ruffled her hair. She responded with a weak punch on his shoulder.

"We gotta hurry though! If Ruby is gone they have no reason to not destroy this place!"

She replied to the man's rhetorical question and as irony would have it, some of Light's many explosives had left a weak shockwave that could be felt in the cell block the duo was coming from. She would hope that it wouldn't last.

"Tch, more messes to clean~ Race you to the baby room!"

She wailed all of a sudden, jumping into a jog that would quickly escalate to a sprint within the endless hallways of the Underground base.

"Just hurry it up," Harper nearly groaned, following close behind her, keeping himself at a walking pace, jaunting to match her pace. He could feel some faint shock waves and in the distance he picked up mental signatures that were both familiar and unfamiliar, meaning that there was a good number of people trying to get in and give the organisation some trouble. Harper wasn't necessarily in a position to disagree with them, but as far as anyone was considered he was well onto the movement's side. Jaunting back to his hide out in Hong Kong was all too tempting, but he still had business here.

Once his work here was done, he'd be free to go. Until then, he was stuck with these dopes. He wasn't quite sure where the brat was heading either. She was the kind to wander around. Harper rarely left his broom closet and the immediate area around it. Never had a reason to explore or go see the boss lady. He never really wanted to. Never really would want to either.

They both knew the place quite well, or at least Camille knew it off by heart since during the times her colleagues would go out on missions she'd stay around in case of an attack. Thus they had made their way through the fastest trajectory to reach Isabella's current whereabouts, which were obviously the organization's guest room where Cindy rested. At the last second, Camille used her movement lag to propel herself at sound speed right at the spot where Isabella was cut off because of a cave in, and just recently Isaac were. Isaac had just suggested a retreat and Camille had arrived on time to acknowledge his words.

"Hey! Ruby's byebye so now they have no reason de nous bombarder! So I second Isaac~ Besides they're too weak to actually stop us~"

She remarked with a purposely snobby French accent. Her arrogance would only be on par with her impulsive and childish needs to be noticed as well as recognized as a force to be reckoned with. Meanwhile, Harper had caught up to Camille a few seconds after her arrival and paused to await further details.

[Raijinslayer]

Sebastian

Sebastian chuckled at her cries of pain, increasing the acidity of the blood with a wave of his finger. He was keeping a careful eye on what he did, making sure the damage he was inflicting wouldn't kill her. He made sure to keep the acid from reaching any vital organ's, and all the damage it caused was till very much healable, though that could change at any time. "I hate to be a stickler, Lynn, but that doesn't make much sense, as the Eden project is not something innately none to common employees, and the fact that you're here and not at the base or the new sun building, means that you are lying to me. Do you think I'm stupid enough to fall for such an obvious ploy. I should kill you right here, right now, but I'm going to give you another chance. I never give second chances, but you interest me, your knowledge of things you can't possible know."

Sebastian turned to the stairs making a beckoning motion. Soon, Cassandra came down from where she was hiding, her hair was black with a few strands dyed an electric blue, reaching slightly past her shoulders. She was wearing some skinny jean pants, a black tank top shirt with a light windbreaker jacket over it. She also had a large travel bag and backpack over her shoulders. She gave Aya a small wave, unable to take her eyes off how she seemed to writhe in pain on the ground. It was a look that was 3 parts disgusted, 5 parts intriqued.

"Hello Aya, I'm glad to see you again, and I really hope you'll be coming with us."

"Actually, there's away you can help convince her, Cassie. When I give you the signal, you'll give her a good shock and we'll continue this until she talks or until she croaks." Sebastian chuckled as Cassandra putted at her new nickname, only to get excited at the thought of getting to use her powers. She had kept quiet about them for so long, her mother had a deep-seated hatred of Meta's and would've flipped if she found out, but now she was free to use them as she pleased.

Turning back to Lynn, Sebastian sat down on the couch, the sphere floating to float above her. It spawned numerous tendrils, which traveled down to grasp her wrists and ankles in an iron grip. "Now listen here Lynn, all you have to do is tell me the truth and all of this pain will end. But if you keep trying to lie to me, it will continue on for a very long time, until you die. I'll give you one last chance before we up the stakes again, how do you know what you know?"

@c3p-0h

Damien

As the chimera went on it's rampage, Apocalypse gave a rattling death call, as its body slow began to deteriorate, the bottom jaw already falling off as it hobbled away from the field of battle. It was just able to make it to a dark alley before it gave up the ghost, collapsing in on it's self and seeming to sink into the shadows, leaving Damien behind. He was on the verge passing out, and the last thing he saw as he looked over at the battlefield again, was a dog tearing apart several of the mutant freaks that had crawled out of the U.G.M's base

That's new was his final thought before he drifted into unconsciousness.

@Subject Zero

[NarcissisticPotato]

((This is pretty important, I advise reading it!))

Eventually, they found the small bathroom that Alto's makeshift entrance had been placed. Ruby delicately wrinkled her nose at the choice of the sewers but it was a better escape than most. Turning, she gave Alto the ghost of a grin before stepping a foot closer to him. Leaning up on her tippy toes, she extended her hand around the back of his head and pushed his lips down to her own. While they kissed, her hand snaked down to the back of his neck. All it would take would be a small pulse from her arm-mounted hardware and Alto's nerves would go haywire for a few hours. It would be the end of the meta. Fortunately (or unfortunately) Ruby was kinda into him, what with his AI arms and all so Alto would live for now. Stepping back, she smirked at him knowingly before quirking an eyebrow. "You're a pretty good kisser. I'll be seeing you around, Alto." Ruby then disappeared into his makeshift entrance, leaving behind the wisp of a smirk from the technopath.

The outside was complete chaos with ninjas, heroes, hydras and bloody well everything in between. Ruby darted out of the sewers, making her way through the chaos and across the street to an abandoned carpark. Casting her vision around the carpark, she finally noticed a parked SUV with black-tinted windows. As she approached it, the car roared to life and two doors opened in the back. As Ruby climbed in, the doors hesitated for a few more seconds before closing shut.

"Mother, let's get out of here, please." She requested to the car that was apparently empty. The car flared to life as a robotic voice suddenly answered her. "Right away, Ruby. Latest news outlets and CCTV footage have revealed that Cedric Wessex left the assault a number of hours ago." Ruby nodded quickly, almost as if she had been expecting it. Leaning forward, she pulled a trusty laptop from the back of the seat in front of her before flicking it on. "Mother, begin Operation Valhalla with the brick wall tactic, please." The AI acknowledged, beginning to compile all the necessary code within a few seconds.

Ruby was furiously typing away at the Laptop, accelerating the job with her powers. The car pulled out onto the road leading away from the New Sun building as Ruby brought up CCTV footage from the building. Light was systematically trying to destroy the supports with some measly explosives. Isabella, Harper, Brat and Isaac were standing outside Cindy's room. Fools, the lot of them. Reaching to her arm, she turned the arm-mounted device on before entering a quick security code. Her powers flared, getting past the next security feature which brought her to the proper task. "Activate?" The screen queried which she followed up with a tap to the screen. "Ruby?" A voice questioned, small and afraid.

"It's ok, we'll be out of here soon." Ruby smiled as Cindy, previously invisible within her cloaking system, appeared. "Mother, can you do a quick diagnostic on Cindy's system and take us to the nursery." The car pulled a gentle turn as a light began to follow down Cindy's form, shining green to show she was fine. "Thank you, Mother. You can sleep now, Cindy, I'm just going to send a message to a few friends." At that, they turned a corner and the New Sun faded from vision just as soon as perfectly-timed explosives caused fire to spew out from every few floors, almost like a great dragon was suddenly waking to discover the chaos around it. Chaos was the best word for it as the power and heat of the explosives vaporised the supports, causing an almost controlled destabilising of the building as floor after floor collapsed down on top of one another.

"Ruby, Project Valhalla is ready." Mother informed her as Ruby nodded, bringing up a new task on her laptop. "Good. Mother, send a message to the Prophets. Tell them... not to eat from the tree of knowledge." Smiling, Ruby watched Cindy drift off to sleep and for once in a very long time, she felt like things were finally right in the world, now that the balance of power just received a massive kick in the ass.

The Reformist HQ - The War Room

"Sir?" A small voice requested, looking up from his station to the acting chief of military affairs. The man in question, a one George A. Lucius, approached the young operator, looking down at the operator in confusion. Almost as if in response, the younger man turned back to his station and brought up a system status of the THOR weapon system that had been entrusted to the International Heroes to operate. "Something's wrong sir, we've lost connection with the THOR system but we've had no scheduled downtime for today." Nodding, Lucius rose up to a standing position and quickly strode to the hologram table that was populated with a 3D map of LA.

"Station 1 and station 2, give me a full report on the THOR system. Everyone else, keep focusing on your tasks." Almost a minute later, things seemed to smooth back down in the war room. "Connection has been established to the weapon bay, Sir, we're all good." Another operator shouted up. She was then contradicted by another operator as the war room descended down into chaos. "Sir... I've lost control of the system."

After that, things went from bad to worse as others divulged that something or someone else had gained access to the system. Eventually, Lucius called up to Cedric. "Mr Wessex, we have a large problem here. We need your presence immediately." Once Cedric had arrived down at the War Room, most of the operators were watching in mild shock as the satellite began drawing up new target locations. It took a few seconds but as it focused, it seemed to target the Reformist HQ. "Sir... there's only one person on this planet who could do this but she disappea- Jesus Christ." He finally breathed in recognition of the situation as the THOR system began to add other, more populated targets.

Eventually, the screen flashed to black before returning to white as text began to appear on the screen. "You underestimated the extent of my vengeance. I do not forgive. I do not forget. You planned to kill me, Cedric Wessex and you killed my friends. For this, I will kill your friends. Try to stop me and I'll blow this place off the face of the planet. Don't let me see your face again." It stopped suddenly and everything went back to normal as the THOR system fell back under their control again.

[c3p-0h]

Aya flinched when Cassandra said her real name and braced herself for the onslaught of pain that the lie was sure to bring her, but the man hadn't even reacted. He'd even continued calling her Lynn. Had he not noticed? Was he too absorbed in her pain to pay the girl any real attention?

Aya looked over at Cassandra with tear filled eyes and her heart broke. This girl… Aya knew her. She'd been her tutor, even. Cassandra was about as angst-ridden as any other teenager, but Aya had never known her to be like this – to look at someone in agony and speak to them in an empty, apathetic voice. Cassandra had never been a murderer… a monster. This was what Sebastian had turned her into.

Not reacting when the tendrils curled around her in a vice-like grip, Aya looked back up at him. She could just jump to the astral plane now – she'd feel nothing. Not the acid in her blood or the cracking of her throat. She wouldn't feel it when Cassandra helped kill her. But what was the point of that? Why did she have to die? Why did Cassandra have to become a monster? She didn't. Aya was quiet for a long time before she finally opened her mouth and spoke in a broken voice.

"I'm a Meta," she croaked out. It was the first time in her life she'd ever said that sentence out loud. If she'd been less consumed by pain, she would've lamented the fact that this monster was the first one to hear her say it. "I can go anywhere… hear things… see things I shouldn't, and no one will know I was ever there. That's how I knew you. That's how I know about Eden." She was still shaking, trying to hold back cries against the poison in her blood.

@Raijinslayer

[Pirouette]

While the televised cartoon wonders entranced Ann, an encounter of the supernatural kind was happening just to her right and she was never the wiser.

"..... Why me?" Ariadne was a complete enigma at this point. Any evidence of her history was nonexistent. Any hope of communication was seemingly impossible, not even her sister could hear her. It was just Ariadne but being half dead wasn't all bad. There was a sort of bliss that came from being unnoticeable and the unparalleled strength and speed was certainly a bonus. Ariadne had obtained immortality, the goal of many humans before her, but it was so lonely she'd trade it all just for the chance to hold her sister close and tell her it'll be alright.

She was always innocent. Weak. Ariadne was always strong. Protector. In this life and the last...

Amid all of Ariadne's brooding and gazing out the window and into the park, another person approached. Ariadne did not turn to look at him, she only stared out through the window. She did not answer when he spoke. She did not even bother to pay any mind to him, past knowing he was there. She did not care for his name, his status, his abilities to see the dead, and especially his questions. She did not care for most. She only cared for Ann because she was the only one who remained innocent. So Ariadne continued her gaze out the window, her everlasting fury still present and profound.

[Letter Bee]

((Deleted))

[Archmage MC]

After a little while of running from the ghost like creature, blowing up walls in annoyance, Light had finally found something of interest. It was some odd looking stairs that seemed to go into the main building. "Well... Its either this or walking down endless hallways again. Maybe this'll lead somewhere interesting." Light said to herself, ascending to the building above.

The building itself was a bit unstable as Light's little escapades below had knocked out a few of hits structural supports, however the building still stood. Light wasn't sure exactly how long she had been underground, but it seemed the info team wasn't doing so well either. Looking through a one way mirror, Light saw that Owlman had burst into an adjacent room attacking some guy with bone fixtures attached to him. She wasn't sure where the other people were, but hopefully they were gathering intel. Bored at the lack of things to do, Light burst out of the one way mirror and began to aid Owlman in his fight with basic attacks.

@Gentlemanvaultboy

[Raijinslayer]

Kuro

"Hey, I'm talking to you," Kuro walked up to the ghost, waving his hand infront of her face, then snapping his fingers. When neither of those provided him with a reaction, he then pulled over a seat, sat next to her, a dead-pn expression on his face as he began to poke her face repeatedly. "Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. You're being very rude. Answer the question. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Jey. Hey. Hey. Fey. Bae. Crae. I. Can. Keep. This. Up. All. Day. Vey. Sey. Cey. Key. Ney. Mey. Gei. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. . ."

Kuro would continuing doing this until the ghost-girl somekind of response, half out of spite, half out of boredom. He might've played videogames or something, but he's spent most of his life already inside of one room for hours on end, he wasn't about to do it by choice. And so he sat, trying his hardest to bug the crap outta the spectre in front of him.

@Pirouette

Sebastian

As soon as she admitted her abilities, the pain stopped, and the sphere set her down gently on a cushioned chair across from Sebastian, a pleased smile on his face. "See, was that so hard to do? I had already guessed as much, but it's best to know exactly what a Meta can do before you employ one. So, unless you want to continue from where we left off, speak straight and give me every detail. And don't worry about you lying about the name, I like Lynn better anyway. I wasn't lying whenmI said it was a beautiful name for a beautiful girl." Sebastian gave a warm smile before he turned to face Cassandra. "And Cassie, did you do what I asked?"

The girl nodded, the violet contacts in her eyes seeming to sparkle as she rummaged through her backpack, until she brought up a fancy wooden box inlaid with mother of pearls in a wave-like formation.

Sebastian took the case and opened it to see a variety of jewelry that was way too expensive for the wife of a apartment owner to afford. "My, my, Cassie, your mother had a thing for men with deep pockets, I see. I wonder, did she ask for compensation when any of those men went after you." Cassandra stayed quiet, her silence speaking volumes. "I see, no wonder those bodies have so many stab wounds in them." Sebastian looked over at the bodies, where many holes could be seen as well as electrical burns that covered the exppsed skin.

"I understand your situation so much more than you realize," Sebastian muttered quietly to himself, only audible to people who were really listening, his eyes semingly glazed over. This moment didn't last long, however, as Sebastian quickly got himself up, his normal look of calm present on his face. "It seems like we're ready to-" Before he could finish, a series of explosions could be heard coming from the direction of New Sun Plaza, nixing Sebastian's current plans. "Scratch that, we'll be heading elsewhere tonight, most likely in the streets. Don't worty about rats and bugs, I seem to repel them worse than a wildfire. Ig you need to get somethings from your room, I'd be happy to guide you up there. And if anyone asks, I'm your . . .boyfriend. . cousin. . . 2nd cousin. . . someething like that." With that said, Sebastian made a motion to the door, indicating departure time.

@c3p-0h

[Letter Bee]

Cedric, for once, was cool in a crisis as he put the pieces of Ruby's betrayal together. Of course, imprisoned for five years by the Underground Movement, after being nearly killed by the Reformists, that would cause hate to fester in a being like her; kick a dog enough and they'll tear your throat out. Well, then, she would have to be put down like a dog, thought Cedric. There were regrets, but those could be let go of.

[RoflsMazoy]

"Emperor." Theo said in his mind.

Alto opened his eyes, still on the ground after Ruby had tased him. Theo had probably come back to his arm when he'd detected the threat.

"The nerve shock has been redirected." He said.

"Yeah," Alto said getting up to a sitting position, "I can feel that."

He could hear several explosions in the background as the ground rumbled, probably Ruby's doing. The surviving members of the Underground movement were probably moving out now. If you pack a ship full of gunpowder, you'd always have extra lifeboats after all.

"Ruby..." He sighed to himself, "You're six different kinds of different."

"Master." Con said, "The tunnel will collapse soon."

"Yeah, I got it." Alto said, getting up, "Let's go."

A few minutes later...

Alto was in a taxi now, going back towards his company. The New Sun building was in ruins now, hardly anything left to salvage either.

"Emperor, someone has taken control of THOR." Theo said, still in his mind.

"They have set several targets, civilian targets." Con said, "The reformists' council has also been targeted."

"It's probably Ruby again." Alto said, "She's probably the only one other than me that would be able to hack it." He sighed a little as the scenery sped by. "Actually it's more like I'm the only one other than her that would be able to hack THOR, but whatever. Glad I left that backdoor last time I hacked it."

Today, the Reformists and the Underground movement had both lost a lot. The Reformists probably hadn't been able to secure Tree Baby Jesus, and the Underground movement was sure to move. The only one that had really one that day was probably Ruby, she was the only one who had managed to get everything she wanted.

Actually, I guess I could count it as a win for me, He thought, I kinda did get what I wanted.

What he'd wanted was something interesting to do, and sure enough the day had been pretty fun. Although, he would have to do some office work for the next few hours. He pulled out his phone and sent a text to Damien and Sefia.

I'll pay you soon, $10,000 each. And before you say that's too little, all we did was sneak around a mostly empty base.
-Alto

He put his phone in his lap and thought for a second.

Cedric's probably cheesed right now. He thought, May as well send him a text.

He typed out a lengthy message, but he quickly erased it when he realised how pointless most of it was. He typed out a much shorter one and pressed send.

Don't do anything stupid, Cedric.
-Alto

With that, he put his phone away and spent the rest of the trip mildly doszing off.
@Letter Bee @Raijinslayer

[AcerRo]

"NURSE!" Eli screamed without a moments thought. As the nurse ran a look of fear came across his face. Fear was something he seldom felt, too many people, places, and things have tried to kill him without success. As the nurse came running with a calm business like look to her. Eli used that moment to launch his inquiry. "What the fuck did she just say to me and for the love of all that is holy tell me what the shit is going on here!?" Eli asked somewhat panicked. He was smart enough to know she was speaking French that much was clear to him. It was what she was saying that worried him. Plus the fact that she sleeping... Against him was more than a little worrisome

He was reminded of times he spent in New Orleans and the Jamaican and Haitian voodoo. He was cursed one to be doomed forever with bad luck and ill intent. He could see the headlines now. "Mass murder, starter of wars and rapist? Elijah Craig is back in LA!" Headlines or no this is a good man's reputation gets ruined.

When the nurse had told him after some great incuragement that this had told one of them to go fuck their mother and the other was a son of a bitch. That was a bit more rudeness than he was willing to abide. With a simple and kind thank you Eli sent the nurse on her way. An assault on his and Shitdicks character didn't matter to him. What did matter was the fact that she had gall to his mother into this. This meant war, war on a scale that wasn't violent but Eli was going to mess with her at every chance and turn he could take. You don't mess with a bad man's momma. He was still dumbfounded as to what he was supposed to do, so resorted to the one the thing he knew best, violence.

"Well Shitdick, that's all the cleverness I'm inclined to hear outta her mouth. Insulting me is fair game, but my mommy is off limits." With those last few words Eli snapped his fingers sent a nice little flame on to Olivia. It wasn't gonna hurt her. He wouldn't let that happen while she was sleeping. Yet it would attack an more... Sinister target. Her hair.

[c3p-0h]

Aya's body fell limp the moment the acid left her system, and nearly passed out from relief. She barely noticed as she was carefully let down onto the sofa. Her body ached and she was so tired… Sebastian's voice drifted through her muddled thoughts as he gave his next orders. So this man was intending to keep her at his side. What was it he'd said he'd done? Employed her? Dread filled the hollow pit in her stomach at the thought of being near him any more.

Sebastian offered to take her up to her room and all Aya could think was how terribly she didn't want him in her home. Mustering up whatever strength she had left, she pushed herself up to her feet with sluggish, heavy movements. She almost collapsed immediately, but somehow managed to stay up. Eyes downcast, she walked towards the door as he had directed, drawing nearer to Sebastian and Cassandra.

As soon as she was close enough, her hands darted out, grabbing the bare skin on his wrist and her neck, snapping the three of them into the astral plane. She only paused long enough to lock eyes with Sebastian and glare at him. Then she released them both and snapped back into her body, leaving them trapped there.

This time she really did collapse to the floor.

She sat there, next to the two empty bodies. They were still on their feet, but they'd be easy enough to move around in this state. Finally given a chance to compose herself, Aya wiped at the tear tracks on her face and tried to breathe deeply, calming herself. She was safe now. She could deal with this.

Eventually Aya climbed back to her feet and walked into the kitchen to grab the duct tape. Walking back into the living room, she went through the process of taping together Cassandra's hands. Carrying the girl was an… experience. She was light and Aya would usually be strong enough for this, but given the circumstances… it was a struggle to say the least. But then finally the girl was locked in a closet with her feet bound as well. Aya had spared a moment to look down at the once-innocent girl sadly. But eventually, she had to close the door, placing a chair in front of it.

Then she turned to Sebastian. To be perfectly honest, Aya didn't want to do anything with him. She never wanted to touch him again. When he woke up – if Aya ever let him wake up - then nothing she did to slow him down would have any affect. He'd just get pissed and murder more innocents, no doubt. What had she been thinking, calling the police? They wouldn't be able to contain him. The only people who had been were working for the Underground Movement. From what Aya had learned about them, she didn't want anything to do with them either.

So… what? She'd leave him like this? Let him wander around the astral plane until his body gave out? The enraged face of the last person she'd done that to flashed in her mind and Aya gave a shudder. She had to decide what to do about him, but… she'd do it later. When she was at a safe distance away from him.

And thus, she did nothing to his body. Well, almost nothing. Looking up at his relaxed, sleep-like face, she scrunched her eyebrows. He was a handsome thing, to be sure. Almost dream-like, when he wanted to be. But then she thought of the carnage he'd reveled in, and how happily he'd tortured her. Raising a finger, Aya gave a light push on his shoulder and he toppled to the ground.

This petty act of revenge behind her, she walked out the door and made her way up to her room. She packed a single suitcase, grabbing her money, clothes, and other personal belongings, leaving whatever she didn't need.

Twenty minutes later and a mile away, she sat down on a bench in the metro station. Aya took a deep breath to steady herself. She still wasn't sure exactly what she was going to do, but… well, it was now or never, she supposed. Closing her eyes, she jumped back to the astral plane.

Finding Cassandra, Aya grabbed her before she could react and brought her back to her body, immediately jumping back after to face Sebastian alone. She didn't know what Cassandra would do now… whether or not she'd seek down Aya or go her own way. Lord knew the girl's life was changed forever now. No matter what though, it'd take some work to get out of that closet Aya'd left her in, so at least that bought her some time.

No blood here, she thought to herself as she stared at Sebastian. No pain, either. Nothing he can do to me.

And yet she was still terrified.

@Raijinslayer

[Pirouette]

Anger. Rage. Resentment. Fury. Ariadne felt all these things as flurry of pokes and verbal cues began sprouting from that child. Ariadne's lip curled, her jaw twitched, and her brows furrowed in the most grandest expression of rage ever. ......Doesn't this IDIOT understand! I can't!..... She wanted so desperately for this to be over. This was torture worse than the experiments that she, herself, was subjugated through in order to achieve this state. ....Shut up! Shut up! Shut the fuck up!.... Started pounding through her head, she even barred her teeth as if she was holding it all in. Then she had enough.

Ariadne reached out to her left and grabbed her sister's wrist in one swift motion.

-

Ann, disliking the particular cartoon of "Copy-Cat and the Mice", decided to flip through the channels for something else. During her search, she stumbled upon a news channel which should a very familiar image. A large building, one that Ann couldn't name but knew just by memory, was being shown with large monsters attacking it... Without warning the building began to collapse and Ann audible gasped with a tinge of fright. "Ooooh. I hope no one got hurt." She said to nobody in particular, except for maybe Ariadne who probably heard that.

That's when Ann felt the cold grasp of a hand around her wrist. She jumped in her chair from the shock but she knew what it meant. A very dull flash signaled the start of a rather fast change. Any mortal watching from behind would notice Ann fading very rapidly. In the chair next to her, a very similar figure began forming in view. It all happened in a matter of seconds, the colors from Ann's vision began to fade to some very lonely grays. All sensation began to dull and eventually leave until Ann could only feel her sister's hand, now warming up. After roughly five seconds, Ariadne released Ann's wrist and audibly exhaled a sigh of relief.

Ann was at first dumbfounded but after looking at her sister, she knew why this happened here and now. "Um... Hello." She shyly spoke to the spirit boy who was on the other side of Ariadne and of which Ann had not noticed before. Ann "scratched" her ghostly head and slowly rose to her feet, which then lead to her gently rising in a ghostly hover. "I... uh. Hi." She repeated to this stranger.

@Raijinslayer

[Raijinslayer]

Sebastian

As Aya entered snapped into the astral plane she'd see Sebastian. . . flying around the place like a humming bird on speed, giving whoops of joy and performing a bunch of loops as he phased through buildings and such. He noticed Aya and made a steep dive for her, put went in too fast and phased through the street. After a while, he floated back up from the street. . . upside-down. The master manipulator, who could kill without blinking an eye and torture anything that lived, yet he couldn't have looked more innocent.

"This is truly amazing Lynn, it's a wonderful power you've been given. I would kiss you right now, but that would probably be unwanted at the moment, am I right?" Sebastian chuckled, a warm light-hearted one filled with genuine mirth, as he righted himself. "Thank very much for this wonderful demonstration of your abilities, words would not have done it justice. Though I must wonder, why have you come back, hmm. If left here long enough, I know I'll eventually die, that much is obvious, yet you've come back."

Sebastian gave Lynn an analyzing look, as if she was a puzzle he couldn't quite figure out. "Have you come to save me, or do you wish to taunt and mock me. If it's the latter than I say, you would've made a great addition to the team, but I have reason to believe it's the former, which brings me back to my question. Why have you come to save me, knowing without a doubt that you'll be dooming many people to death?"

@c3p-0h

Kuro

Kuro blinked as the twin's seem to switch places or something, he hadn't been expecting that. "Most people just walk away." He said absentmindly, before turning to face Ann. "Hey, my name's Kuro and I was going to ask your mute tag-along over there why she was following you. Now after watching you pull that plane switch thing, I have my answer. Though I do have another few questions. 1) Why is your sister so silent and angry all the time, 2) What's your guy's story, and 3) What are your 3-gggghh."

His arm raised up and elbowed him in the gut, making him visible for a second before he changed back. "Nevermind that last one, just answer the other 2."

@Pirouette

[c3p-0h]

Aya's fists clenched at her sides as Sebastian spoke. After he finished asking his questions, she was quiet for a long while, just staring at him.

Then she threw a punch, aimed at his face.

Her judo training meant she was more comfortable with grappling and throws, but she'd had enough practice at strikes to know how to hit hard, and hit fast. Not that it would actually do much in this realm, though. If it landed, Sebastian would feel the force of the blow, but there'd be no pain to accompany it, which made it slightly less satisfying.

"You do not know me," she hissed, voice shaking. Her fear was quickly hidden by anger and frustration. "You wouldn't be the first bastard I left here to rot." But even as she spoke, Aya knew he was right. From the moment she'd come back to see him, she knew what her choice would be. But… how many would die if she let him live? She'd be responsible for the deaths of countless people if she couldn't just kill this one.

Aya knew herself though, and as much as she wanted to, as frustrated as it made her, as horrible as he was… she couldn't bring herself to do it. She thought of the man she'd stranded here before, left for dead. She thought of Sebastian's laughter as he slaughtered for the pure joy of it. She thought of Cassandra, corrupted until he'd made her into his own little toy.

I'm not like you, she told herself. As just and righteous as it would be… Aya didn't want to be a killer. She had no doubt she'd come to regret this decision, but in this moment she wasn't strong enough to do what needed to be done.

"And for the record," she said, "I would never be a part of your team." Without another word, Aya grabbed the front of his shirt and snapped them both back to their bodies.

Sensations rushed back to her as she blinked open her eyes. Aya sat still for a moment before lowering her face into her hands. Honestly, what was she doing? How had all this happened? She cursed her own stupidity. Already she was second guessing her decision to let him live, and she'd been an idiot for not doing something to contain Sebastian back at the house when she had the chance. Heck, she could've even just kept his spirit stored away and returned him to his body later, after deciding on a more rational plan. And she'd left him with access to Cassandra to top it all off! Aya had tied the poor girl up and locked her away like she was some sort of animal…

Overwhelmed by her own mistakes, Aya felt a lump forming in her throat. She just wanted out of this… to go back to her life before all this pain and horror, and the only consequences she'd face for mistakes were a bad grade or an upset customer. But no, she couldn't just sit here feeling sorry for herself. Now that Sebastian was awake again, she was on the clock. She had to move, do something before he started up again, or came to find her. Allowing herself one last breath to try and steady herself, Aya pushed herself aching body up and boarded the next train going towards the Reformists' headquarters.

She was officially involved now, and she had a few things they needed to hear.

@Raijinslayer

[Weird Tales]

Spectrum was about go further down the hall after entering the door when several tendrils grabbed from behind and pulled wrenched him back towards where Owlman and Jaden were locked in combat. These tendrils were barbed and cut into Charles' torso causing him a good deal of pain. Thinking quickly he made his right hand glow red with his main offensive capability and fired off a crimson beam of hot plasma, hoping that it would burn away the disgusting things that had ensnared and cut himself loose.

With his left he surrounded it in bright blue energy and then shoved his palm in the man's direction. Spectrum released a powerful repulsion beam and when it hit it would send Jaden flying as he was knocked away by some incredible force. Charles hoped that the attack wouldn't hit Owlman as well since the two of them were in close combat.

@Raijinslayer
@Gentlemanvaultboy

[Letter Bee]

"Of course we're going to evacuate," said Isabella a little snippily. "And I just have a place in mind," she then smirked. "After we check in on Cindy, of course."

((Snip Isabella throwing a fit because Ruby made off with Cindy.))

------

Once the group had arrived in the escape tunnel, along with the remnants of Isabella's army, the War-Queen herself spoke:

"A long, long time ago, there was a corporation called Aperture, who ran a Metahuman Prison called Avalon, a Metahuman Prison meant to be an impregnable fortress. It was supposed to figure into Aperture's plans for world domination, but its very impregnability made it undersirable, to the point of being forgettable, to both Aperture and the Reformists. The reasons why? For Aperture, it was too far from the centre of action, and for the Reformists, there were easier targets to crack open, like Aperture Tower itself. Not merely that, but once Aperture Fell, Avalon fell under Federal Control, at a time when the Government was running high military expenditures already."

"StuCorp, Aperture's rival and enemy, offered to build a new Metahuman Prison for the Government, a Metahuman Prison that would be less expensive than Avalon, because the prisoners would be shrunk, with, yes, the cliche shrink ray, meaning that the prison itself can be as small as a diorama. Blame Alto; he invented that sort of stuff," Isabella said.

"My point is," Isabella said, "we're going to Avalon; the Gov't had taken away most of the technology, but the fortifications themselves are intact; they were meant to last."

"Oh," she said as an afterthought, "can someone fetch Sebastian? We may need him."