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

[Subject Zero]

Typical. Jake had gone to the trouble of dragging the psycho's fat carcass all the way here and when they get to the door, the human wakes up, seemingly none the worse for wear. As if that wasn't bad enough, the human was now carrying him. Jake hated being touched, let alone carried. This was humiliating. He was far too tired and weak to do much more than grumble about it though. He should have just stayed in the park.

The glass in his body was painful but it was also aggravating. He knew that the second it was removed he would start to heal but at the moment he was still losing blood from the open wounds. At least he was bleeding on Damien. A little inadvertent payback for being OK after Jake had dragged him here for help. The dogs tail wagged briefly at that though.

The way the other man looked at him quickly put a stop to that. It was as though Jake wasn't fit to be here. Just some common street dog. Trash. "I oughtta bite you" Jake thought to himself as the blonde looked him over. Normally he probably would but he was too tired to even try. The pretty boy decided to take Jake to the infirmary after inspecting him. Huh. Maybe biting wasn't the answer to all his problems after all.

@Raijinslayer
@GentlemanVaultBoy

[RoflsMazoy]

Family Flavour (Read the TL;DR if you're confused)

"Alto!" Sal cried as her tackle turned into a bear hug, "I thought you were dead!"

"C'mon now," Alto said, noting Theo and Con working on some forms in the background, "You know how strong we are."

"The building exploded!" She said, looking up at him.

"You know I could actually take a THOR hit," Alto said, "I could take like, three THOR hits."

She made a pouty face and returned to a sitting position.

"I know, but..."

Alto sighed. "Yeah, alright." He said, "Sefia's probably worried too, I should probably call her or something."

He pulled out his phone and started tapping out Sefia's number, pressing call as soon as he was done. The phone started ringing as Theo and Con continued sorting out some paperwork. No, actually, only Theo was doing paperwork at the moment, Con was staring wistfully at him and Sal for some reason. He started to feel somewhat self conscious, him sitting on the floor and all.

The call connected and Sefia was on the line.

"What?" She growled angrily.

"Um... hi?" He got no response, but he could imagine Sefia glaring at him. "How are you doing right now!"

"I missed two lectures!" She shouted, "Two! Lectures!

"Hey, I skipped half my lectures and I still made it out by the time I was 13." He said.

"You're you, and I'm me!" She said angrily, "We're different people! We're not even related blood related!"

"Yeah, I know that." He said, trailing off slightly. "Well, how are you doing with your assignments and stuff, anyway?"

"Um, good enough..." she said evasively.

"How many assignments have you gotten so far?" He asked, "You've been going for about 10 weeks or so, right?"

"...yes." She answered.

Alto paused for a second, but she didn't continue. "...Sefia?" She didn't answer him. He sighed. "You haven't handed any of them in, have you?" She still didn't say anything. "I could've helped you if you were having trouble you know."

"I wasn't having trouble!" She said quickly, "I've been busy!"

"You know well enough that I've given you less jobs since you started university," He said, "And I know well enough that you don't have any friends either."

Sefia started to raise her voice in protest but she conceded the point.

"This is like that time when you didn't tell me your arm was overheating." Alto said as he sighed, "And you almost lost your leg that time, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember." She said grudgingly.

"It sort of is my fault though," Alto said, "I never ask about this kind of stuff." He leaned back and let himself fall to the ground. "Mom and dad are coming over tonight," He said, "So you better come over today."

"Yeah..." She said, "Alright."

"Oh yeah," Alto said, "No coffee tonight."

"What?!" she said in surprise.

"You know mom doesn't like you drinking so much of it," He said, "You'll probably get like, one cup, maybe a bit more if you come over early."

"Damn it," She said, "And you still have the emergency sword, don't you?"

"Oh yeah," He said, tapping against it as it floated invisibly next to him, "I forgot about that."

"I'll come over in a sec," She said, "I have to get my stuff."

She hung up the phone and Alto slid his back into his pocket. "Alright." He said as he got up and stretched, "Still got some stuff to do before going home." He picked up some paperwork and briefly skimmed over it. "Alright, I think I'll be able to do this myself, so Theo, go home and clean up the house a little bit." Theo disappeared in a flash of blue light as Alto turned towards Con. "You should probably help him, it's a little messy right now." Con nodded as her physical body deconstructed and she disappeared as well.

"And what about me?" Sal asked, looking up at him.

"When we get home, make sure to prepare some clothes for Con." Alto said, "Mom always says the dress is too 'airy' or something."

He walked around his desk and plonked himself into his chair with a sigh. Oh right, I should probably put the throne away, He thought to himself, She'll get mad at me for spending money so freely.

((TL;DR Alto arrives back at his office and finds out Sefia is bad at university. Turns out his parents are coming over for dinner as well. Also, this is called 'Family Flavour' becuase it's basically flavour text about Alto's family.))

[NarcissisticPotato]

Olivia briefly stopped blasting him with the fire extinguisher. He did save her life and although he had both stolen her iPod, which he was holding, and was only cooking for himself, she still valued the whole life-saving part. She wouldn't have cared to die for something she wholeheartedly believed in but living on was an option that she preferred. "I suppo-" And then, Elijah decided that the best idea, the greatest option, possibly even his only option, was to offend how she looked in that sarcastic tone of his. That was a step too far: Elijah had done what most would never have the balls to do - hurt her feelings. Taking a single step back, she suddenly realised that she probably looked like a mess but that fuelled her on.

Throwing the fire extinguisher aside, she stalked towards him. He was at least a foot taller than her and she was unarmed so it created the very misleading idea that Olivia had calmed a little and she wasn't even more dangerous. "Elijah, have you ever heard the phrase, don't kick a girl when she's down? Come to think of it, why are you kicking girls at all?" She questioned, her lips tilting up into a smile that was much too pleasant for the situation at hand. "You're the very definition of a dickhead - it doesn't matter who supports you or your cause, I don't want you here and that's final." Olivia scanned him for a moment, staring into his eyed with a frown before taking a step back. She was just going to resort to more violence if she let it go on.

"Get out, now. And take your pervert friend with you and if I ever see you snooping near my apartment again, I'll castrate the both of you." Her threat seemed very real as she crossed her arms, placing her weight on one leg as she nodded towards the door. Olivia would have loved nothing more than to show Elijah a new definition of pain but she was tired and couldn't be bothered dealing with them at the moment. "Oh and Elijah - if you ever use your powers on an ally again, I'll take great pleasure in having you put down like the dog you are."

[Subject Zero]

"Alright, this has clearly gone far enough" said Nate as he pushed himself off of the couch. "Some might even say too far." He started to casually walk towards Olivia, seemingly paying very little attention to the two dog things as he went. "Olivia...Ms Delacroix. I apologise if I offended you. I wanted to get to know you better. To understand you. And I went about that the wrong way. Instead of just talking to you I fell back on my training which involves a lot of sneaking around. And yes, in the process of my sneaking around I found some things that I probably shouldn't have but I've alway had a problem with this 'personal space' thing people are always going on about." He was sure to put air quotes around the 'personal space' part and visibly sighed as though he was annoyed by the concept. "Blame poor parenting or the voices in my head. Point is, I'm sorry. And unlike you and Opie over here, you and I actually have to work together. So how about we start afresh?...And if it makes you feel any better, I'll let you rummage through my drawers too" He smiled but then thought about what he had just said and added "Wait...I meant...in my bedroom...I mean...You know what I mean."

He was only half sincere in his apology. Yes, he felt bad about snooping and had accidentally found something embarrassing to Olivia. But he didn't know this woman well enough to really give a damn what she thought about him. He just knew that it would make his life a hell of a lot simpler if she didn't see him as some kind of pervert. Fortunately for him, he was a highly skilled liar. It was part of his training in the military and was something he often had to employ in his line of work. Unless Olivia had some kind of sixth sense for lies, she probably wouldn't realize he wasn't entirely sincere in his apology. He had charmed his way out of more than a few situations in the past.

"So what do you say?" he asked, flipping the knife around in his hand and offering it back to Olivia "Can we start again?"

[AcerRo]

Eli again smiled. "Shitdick, you done fucked up and got caught, try to be a man and own up to it, chickenshit. Eva Adam! Your phone please." She quickly turned a corner and tossed Eli her cell phone. Within second of catching the phone. Eli dailed two numbers pressed send and hung up. Almost like will times plan the phone rang. Knowing that it looked like he was showing off, Eli had a smart ass remark about that as well. "I also do birthday parties."

Placing the phone in speaker, Eli exchanged long winded pleasantries with these on the other end of the phone. Like two old friends reminiscing it seemed to go in for ever. Yet that was the customs of this man and his Arabic family. Few things in this world Eli understood, traditions were one of them.

Eli would go on to ask for every detail he got in thirty seconds on the family of Olivia Octavia Delacroix. Eli knew how much of a violation this was. More times than he ever would like to recall, he was standing in the girls place. He wasn't a fan of this, truth be told he didn't like doing nearly as much as he was letting on. Though he smiled his eyes betrayed him in every way possible. Thankfully the number of ways were but a handful.

With a thank you and a promise of swift and timely payment, Eli hung up the phone. "Now then, I won't go into details of what will happen to your family if you insult my mother again. Not now nor ever will I ever tolerate ill talk of Momma. Now that you've had both our fit of temper. Dinner is getting cold for us all. Four plates all fixed up and ready to go, just waitin on you and your man. Eva Adams please bring the first and third plates out to the coffee table with the whiskey." Eva Adams did as she was asked though she had some fear and trepidation to her. Eli wanted to reassure her of her safety but he had already pressing matter to worry about. Olivia.

"The first one is a Pittsburgh styled. A personal favorite, seared on the outside and rare in the middle. The other is med rare,nothing fancy. All with a baked pahtaytah and grilled corn on the cob. Even thought go bring a bottle of bourbon, gonna right perfect with the meat and pahtaytah." Eli didn't expect her to fully understand how he could threatin her family and turn around offer her dinner. That's just the way it was done where he was from. It was a double standard but he knew no other way.

[Raijinslayer]

Damien

"Fuck if I know, but I'd stay away from his mouth if I were you. If memery serves, this guy was earing Isabella's mutant flunkies to pieces, which leads me to think this mutt ain't normal. And I mean mutt in the nicest possibile way." Damien responded, aiming the last part to the dog, as he was kinda close to it's mouth and he really didn't want to get bit, especially since his healing was not going to be up until Saturday.

Damien followed Max to the infirmary, shot the people there a glare the moment they looked like they were about to say anything, before he set it down on a bed. Backing away to let the doctors take care of things.

"You know I'm not a vet, right?" One of them said, looking a little irritated at what this guy had brought him.

"Just patch him up a little, stop the bleeding and junk until we can get him to one, or do you want to let the dog die?"

"Fat chance of that," the doc said a little quieter than before, pulling out pieces of glass.

"What do you-HOLY SHIT!"

Damien had walked up to see what the matter was, only to see the dog's wounds healing as soon as the shards were pulled out. He looked over to Max, a slightly shell-shocked expression on his face as he pointed a thumb at the dog. "Told you he wasn't normal, man, I guess you guys don't have kennels around here. . . do you? Are Meta-animals a thing and nobody ever told me?"

@Subject Zero
@Gentlemanvaultboy

Kuro

Kuro flinched slightly when he heard that the sister possibly couldn't speak, feeling like a bit of an asshole for bothering her so much, but it wasn't entirely his fault, she should've signaled or something instead of just ignoring him. He flinched a second time, though much less noticeably, when she mentioned how they were made in a lab. A part of him thought really felt for this girl, having been through a similar kind of hell, while a darker part of him couldn't help but consider her lucky. She had never had parents to live, a life outside of that hell. He hadn't had much of one, but he remembered every second of it. Just thinking about it now caused his right hand to clench so hard it bled. He hardly noticed the bright lights that shone outside, or the loud boom of the ocean exploding, his mind lost in blood, slaughter, and madness.

He snapped out of it, though, when she asked her last question, though it took a couple minutes to sink in. He stared at her for a bit, an eye brow raised as he considered the seriousness of the question. Once he was sure she was completely, 100% serious, he did the only think he could think of in a situation like this.

He burst into laughter, actually falling over onto the floor as he did so, unable to say anything for about 3 minutes. Once he had gotten it out of his system, for the most part, he stood back up and sat down, taking a few calming breaths.

"I'm sorry about that, but the fact that you asked me that question seriously was just too funny to me. To answer it, No, I'm not dead, I can just slip into the realm of the dead to avoid confrontation with most people. You and your sister, however, are some of the few people who can see me without actually being dead."

@Pirouette

[Gentlemanvaultboy]

"Nooo. Uh, no, no." Max replied coming up, sort of speechless at what he was seeing. Of course, that couldn't last. "I, I mean, like in theory it would be possible because, like, you saw on the news. Hell, you were probably there, dragons and hydras and shit. Animals, obviously, but with powers. You saw this guy down there? Maybe he's something like that, something somebody made. Orrrr he could be a guy who turned into a dog. Check the Owlman's blog sometimes, people turn into all sorts of things, I'd totally believe someone's meta 'thing' turned them into a superpowered dog. I... wait, hold on, I think I can do this."

He looked down at the rapidly healing dog, and spoke very clearly to him. "Hey, buddy, I don't know if you can understand me but I have powers like you. If someone thinks at me I can hear that. Not about me. Not around me. I can't read your mind. You have to direct your thoughts directly at me like you would your voice. If you can understand me, try and send me something."

@Subject Zero
@Raijinslayer

[Subject Zero]

Mutt? The big lug tried to cover it by adding "in the nicest possible way" but Jake wasn't sure that could be taken any way other than an insult. When they arrived at the infirmary, even more people gave him an annoyed look. Jake was conflicted. He kind of liked annoying people but not with his mere presence. They passed by a bed in which lay a young woman fast asleep. He wondered what was wrong with her. Her arm looked like it had been pretty badly hurt.

He was placed on a bed nearby and after a little back and forth between the big lug and one of the doctors, the doc started to remove the glass shards from Jake. He instantly began to feel better as his wounds closed, his body knitting itself back together. The reactions from those around him were both loud and amusing. Jake liked shocking people, especially when that shock involved them realizing that he was more than just some mutt. The look on their faces was priceless. They tried to make sense of what they saw, as people were inclined to do. Jake had been trying to figure out the same thing for a long time now.

Then the pretty boy talked at him. "If you can understand me, try and send me something." he said.
Jake lifted his head up from the bed and gave Max an almost exasperated look before thinking at him "You want me to send you something? Sure, I'll send you something" and then he audibly farted.

[Gentlemanvaultboy]

Mutt? The big lug tried to cover it by adding "in the nicest possible way" but Jake wasn't sure that could be taken any way other than an insult. When they arrived at the infirmary, even more people gave him an annoyed look. Jake was conflicted. He kind of liked annoying people but not with his mere presence. They passed by a bed in which lay a young woman fast asleep. He wondered what was wrong with her. Her arm looked like it had been pretty badly hurt.

He was placed on a bed nearby and after a little back and forth between the big lug and one of the doctors, the doc started to remove the glass shards from Jake. He instantly began to feel better as his wounds closed, his body knitting itself back together. The reactions from those around him were both loud and amusing. Jake liked shocking people, especially when that shock involved them realizing that he was more than just some mutt. The look on their faces was priceless. They tried to make sense of what they saw, as people were inclined to do. Jake had been trying to figure out the same thing for a long time now.

Then the pretty boy talked at him. "If you can understand me, try and send me something." he said.
Jake lifted his head up from the bed and gave Max an almost exasperated look before thinking at him "You want me to send you something? Sure, I'll send you something" and then he audibly farted.

@Subject Zero

Max, for his part, kept a stone face as he took two steps back from that godawful stench before looking at Damien. "Well," he said, breathing through his mouth. "He's sentient." And a dickhead, he though, before turning his attention back to the dog. "Sooo, you got a name and tragic backstory to go with those superpowers of yours?"

@Raijinslayer

[Pirouette]

The boy looked a bit tense as Ann had answered his questions. She wasn't sure what was causing that but she had hoped the boy had a related incident or knows someone that Ann and Ariadne went through.

Just as Ann was beginning to warm up, the conversation took an turn for the worst. The boy just laughed at Ann's question as if it she just asked something stupid. Ann frowned as she watched the boy laugh hysterical and eventually collapse from his heaps of laughter. Ann felt really bad now as her face felt as if was burning bright red, but being a ghost, her face appeared unchanged. But as the boy continued his frantic laugh, Ann's eyes began to water as she began to feel really insulted.

Was it really that funny?

Ann just wanted to leave now. The boy was finally catching his breath and he told Ann in a very matter-of-factly way that he wasn't dead. "Oh..." Ann managed to whimper her response before she spun around and floated away from the boy and Ariadne. She felt hurt by not only his laughter, but also a feeling of being betrayed after just barely opening up. She didn't want Kuro to follow as her ghostly form phased through the break room wall, breaking down in a sniveling cry that could just be heard in the mortal plane. She continued her course through the Reformist HQ, phasing through walls and startling some of the quieter rooms as she passed through them.

...

Meanwhile Ariadne had not be okay with where that conversation had been going. She couldn't hear or see who Kuro was talking to but she could see and hear Ann having a one-sided conversation. After hearing her sister whimper, she snapped. She quickly rose out of her chair and then grabbed it, tossing it across the room. It soared at an amazing speed and the plastic chair shattered as soon as it impacted the wall. Then she stormed out of the room, flipping aside any tables or chairs that stood in her way. She reached the door and very roughly tossed it open with a bang and marched out into the hallway. She was huffing with anger as she attempt to track her sister down.

[Subject Zero]

"Name's Jake" he thought at the prettyboy. "Got a story too but it ain't no more tragic than anyone elses. Just depressing". Yeah, he had a story, but he didn't know this guy. He wasn't going to give him his life story, Hell, he probably wouldn't do that even if he did know him. Instead, he turned his attention to the young girl in the next bed. "What's her story?" he asked prettyboy.

Truth be told, Jake had something of a soft spot in his heart for kids. This girl didn't quite look like she was a kid anymore but lying there in that bed, clearly been through the wringer...She looked pretty small. Jake tilted his head to the side, half in curiosity, half in sympathy for her.

@GentlemanVaultBoy

[Gentlemanvaultboy]

"Name's Jake" he thought at the prettyboy. "Got a story too but it ain't no more tragic than anyone elses. Just depressing". Yeah, he had a story, but he didn't know this guy. He wasn't going to give him his life story, Hell, he probably wouldn't do that even if he did know him. Instead, he turned his attention to the young girl in the next bed. "What's her story?" he asked prettyboy.

Truth be told, Jake had something of a soft spot in his heart for kids. This girl didn't quite look like she was a kid anymore but lying there in that bed, clearly been through the wringer...She looked pretty small. Jake tilted his head to the side, half in curiosity, half in sympathy for her.

@GentlemanVaultBoy

@Subject Zero

"Honestly not sure. S'far as she told me she had a close encounter with one of those sick headed underground bastards." He says, raising his voice just load enough for the defectors huddled over in their own space to hear him. He got more than a few dirty looks, but like he cared what they thought of him. He'd put more stock in Jake's opinion even if he were a regular stray. "She said he could boil your blood, and from the look of her hands I'm inclined to believe that. She just wandered in off the street, plopped down there. Figured she could use some rest before we start asking any questions."

"So, what's your beef with the underground?" Max asks, changing tracks. "According to my friend here you were tearing them up before you had to pull him out of the fire. Mine's that they hunt people for sport."

[Subject Zero]

As Max explained the girls situation, the doc pulled the last shard of glass from Jake and the dog sat up, still on top of the bed. He did his best to show his appreciation with a nod of his head but such things were hard when you're a dog. He wasn't sure if the doc got the message but he wasn't going to go so far as to wag his tail. For a moment he considered trying to "smile" at the man but he knew his smiles had a tendency to look menacing. He did have a lot of sharp teeth after all.

When Max mentioned the "underground bastards" with a raised voice, Jake turned his attention to the group of whatever-the-hell-they-were's lurking in the corner. Hell, he hadn't spotted them until now. What were they doing here? Weren't they the enemy? Jake was so confused. He couldn't help but growl at the huddled weirdos for a second.

What prettyboy said next made Jake raise an ear in surprise. Boil your blood? That sounded horrible. He hated thinking that there was someone out there that could do that to people. And to little girls no less. "World's full of creeps" Jake thought to himself. Then he heard the word 'beef' and his eyes started to glaze over. Unfortunately it wasn't the beef Jake wanted, as Max asked why he was fighting the underground clowns.
"I don't like bullies" Jake stated plainly into the brain of blondy "And those guys seemed like pretty big bullies.....Plus I like to chase things. Usually it's squirrels but dragons is just as good" He then turned to look at Damien, standing around listening to one side of the conversation. "What about the psycho over here?" he asked Max "He doin' ok? I didn't drag his fat ass all the way out here for nothing did I? Tell me he's got a concussion or broken face or something"

@GentlemanVaultBoy
@Raijinslayer

[c3p-0h]

Something smells awful…

That was the only thought swimming around Aya's brain. Apparently whatever it was had been exceptionally disgusting, because she was pretty sure she should still be asleep. God, she felt terrible. Then there was someone shouting and her mind snapped to attention at the noise. She wasn't home. She was in pain. She didn't recognize that voice… did she? Behind her closed eyelids, Aya could tell there was some sort of florescent lighting shining down on her, and behind that god awful smell, antiseptic was thick in the air. A hospital, then?

She tried to peal open her eyelids, only to snap them shut when the lights stung them. After a while she tried again, little by little, until she could squint them open in (relative) comfort. Her eyes darted around the ceiling, but couldn't see anything of note. That same voice rang throughout the hall again, and this time Aya was certain she recognized it. Sliding her hands so they lay beside her on the bed, she pushed in an attempt to sit up – and immediately regretted it.

"Ah-!" she gave a muffled shout at the pain shooting through her wrists and the entirety of her right arm. It was then that the day's events came rushing back to her. Sebastian, Cassandra, the Reformists… that was how she knew that voice, she realized. It was the man who'd helped her when she arrived. What was his name again?

She forced her head to turn towards his voice and tried to look at him. There he was, standing with another man and a… dog?

"Hello?" she tried in a soft voice.

@Gentlemanvaultboy
@Subject Zero
@Raijinslayer

[Gentlemanvaultboy]

He smiled when Jack gave his reasoning for diving headfirst into a fight he had nothing to do with. "Amen to that." He'd fistbump this dog it it were possible, and from the things that he was saying this was either a legit dog or a guy who really embraced being a dog. "Sorry, this is gonna sound like a stupid question but its one I have to ask, you are a dog right? Like, you're not a dude that turns into a dog, or had his brain implanted into a dog, or was turned into a dog? Because if you're a dog that went meta, that's Earth shattering. We would have to rewrite the book, man."

To the questions about Damien, he shrugged and looked at him. "Yooo Damien, he wants to know if you're alright. Tell me you at least have an concussion or something."

He looked up when he heard the yelp from Aya's bed. "Hey, welcome back. You feeling any better? Need anything? Sorry we haven't had that hand totally squared away yet, normally there's someone here that would have that cleared up quick but he's up at New Sun stabilizing people."

[c3p-0h]

"Better now," she lied. Taking a deep breath to steel herself, she tried once again to push herself up, gritting her teeth against the pain. After what felt like an eternity, she was finally sitting, leaning against the wall. She looked down at her hands in her lap – both had deep purple bruises circling her wrists, but she saw now how angry and red her right hand looked, the color gradually fading higher up on her arm. After effects of Sebastian's poison, she supposed.

"I'm um… sorry about what happened at New Sun," she tried awkwardly. She'd heard the news about the New Sun building and the battle on her way here. It was the biggest news in the city, and impossible to miss. "If you… knew anyone there or…" She trailed off, uncertain. Glancing around at the floor around her bed, she continued, "Thank you for, y'know… helping me. I'll be ok."

Aya'd originally come here in a fit of desperation, traumatized from the torture, but now thinking about it with a clearer head… what had she been thinking? She had to make sure she never ran into Sebastian again, but to go to the Reformists? Aya'd managed to stay out of Meta politics for this long, and it looked like they were gearing up for an all-out war now. She'd told them what she'd needed to, and now it was time to escape this madness while she had the chance.

"…Where did my bag go?"

@Gentlemanvaultboy

[Subject Zero]

So many questions. Questions Jake wasn't even sure he could answer. He dipped his head as he thought for a moment about what he used to be. He remembered being a man. He remembered...family. But that was all gone. He couldn't remember how to ended up being the way he was now. Every time he tried to remember, all he could see and hear were bright lights and loud noises. There was screaming....Why was there screaming?

But that was all in the past. He wasn't that man anymore. And Jake was fine with that. As a man, he was a screw-up. So many problems. So much stress. But as a dog, there was none of that. There was a sense of freedom to being a dog. He didn't have to pretend to give a crap about other people anymore. He didn't have to deal with his crappy life anymore. Now he only had to think about where his next meal was coming from. Truth be told, he enjoyed being a dog far more than he enjoyed being a human.

Of course he had no intention of sharing any of this info with prettyboy here. What business was it of his anyway? He was saved by the yelp of the girl in the other bed as she tried to sit up. Prettyboy shifted his attention to her and rightfully so. She looked scared. Then and there, Jake made a decision. This girl needed a do far more than she needed another human fawning over her, asking her questions and getting in her way. He jumped down from the bed he was sitting on and made his way over to hers, jumping up so his two front legs were on top of the bed. He knew this would probably frighten her more than she already was so he was quick to plop his head onto the bed too in a submissive manner. He looked up at her with big brown eyes and made a small sound as though telling her it was alright.

He wasn't keen on being petted but he would make an exception here. She looked like she needed something comforting and people liked to pet dogs.

He may have once been a man but now he was a dog...

@C3P-0H
@GentlemanVaultBoy
@Raijinslayer

[Gentlemanvaultboy]

"Better now," she lied. Taking a deep breath to steel herself, she tried once again to push herself up, gritting her teeth against the pain. After what felt like an eternity, she was finally sitting, leaning against the wall. She looked down at her hands in her lap – both had deep purple bruises circling her wrists, but she saw now how angry and red her right hand looked, the color gradually fading higher up on her arm. After effects of Sebastian's poison, she supposed.

"I'm um… sorry about what happened at New Sun," she tried awkwardly. She'd heard the news about the New Sun building and the battle on her way here. It was the biggest news in the city, and impossible to miss. "If you… knew anyone there or…" She trailed off, uncertain. Glancing around at the floor around her bed, she continued, "Thank you for, y'know… helping me. I'll be ok."

Aya'd originally come here in a fit of desperation, traumatized from the torture, but now thinking about it with a clearer head… what had she been thinking? She had to make sure she never ran into Sebastian again, but to go to the Reformists? Aya'd managed to stay out of Meta politics for this long, and it looked like they were gearing up for an all-out war now. She'd told them what she'd needed to, and now it was time to escape this madness while she had the chance.

"…Where did my bag go?"

@Gentlemanvaultboy

@c3p-0h

Max looked down when she mentioned New Sun, but shook his head and started smiling again. "No, no, it's okay. He, uh, he can take care of himself. As for your bag, I had it brought to a room. I figured, since you brought it, you might be staying with us a few days. I don't care if you're meta or not, personally, but we want to at least make sure that Sebastien guy isn't going to be coming after you. Set you up with witness protection, if you want it. The boss has contacts in the FBI. That, and we were hoping you could give us a detailed description of exactly what happened between you and that blood freak."

[c3p-0h]

Aya gave a little jump when the dog popped up onto her bed, but then he looked at her with those eyes and she couldn't help but smile.

"Hi handsome," she murmured as she scratched behind his ear with her left hand. She was a sucker for dogs. Aya looked back up at Max as he continued talking. "Thanks, but I really don't think the FBI will be necessary," she replied. The idea of starting a whole new life didn't appeal to her. All she really needed to do was get away from this Meta war craziness. Moving in with her mom in Japan was absolutely out of the question, and there was nothing left for her in Hawaii, but she'd figure something out. And then there were the issues of her schooling and work…

She supposed staying here for a few days to get things sorted out really was the best option.

"As for Sebastian…" Her fingers stilled in the dog's fur as she replayed the events in her head. "I watched him murder two people, and turn their daughter into a killer just like him… her name's Cassandra. She can generate electricity and shock you with it, and now I guess she's with him. Her stepdad was my landlord. I followed Sebastian to the New Sun building and watched him make that deal with that woman, Isabella, and the doctor controlling the dragons, and I called the police… but Sebastian came back and saw me." Closing her eyes, Aya leaned her head back against the wall and sighed. "Then this happened," she said, holding up her right hand.

"But then I had him and I let him go. And now he's going to kill who knows how many." It wasn't even like she'd done it on accident, or Sebastian had gotten the upper hand. "I was the one in control and I made the decision and now…" Now whenever Sebastian killed or tortured or manipulated, it'd be her fault. "Sorry," she finished lamely.

@Gentlemanvaultboy
@Subject Zero

[Raijinslayer]

Damien

"I'm good for the most part, but using Apocalypse like I did will leave me pretty much useless for a while. My powers are allways shot after I use my signatures like that, and I won't be able to manage a spark until Saturday. Tell our new furry friend he probably saved my ass, who knows what would've happened if one of those underground guys got a hold of me." The thought of being held in another cell, gave him an intense bout of the shivers.

When the girl woke up Damien gave her a once over, noting the mark on her hand. She seemed to be very traumatized by the experience, but one thing didn't stick in her story to him, a minor detail, but one he felt should be noted, lest she foolishly risks her life to save one who's already lost.

"I'm sorry to be the devil's advocate here, but people can't just turn people into killers on the spot unless they've got a power like that, and from what your telling me, he doesn't. I could be wrong, but I think that cassandra girl might've been fucked up before she ever met this freak, he just gave her an outlet. Could you think of anything that might've negatively effected her such away to turn her into what you saw, any family issues, maybe even some abuse."

When the girl apologized for not killing Sebastian, or maybe for letting him go, Damien felt slightly conflicted. On one hand, he felt sure that killing that guy would've fucked this girl up in quite a few ways, but on the other, he felt like he should berate the girl to think clearly next time. Seeing no reason to say either, he simply just nodded at the girl, accepting what she said without supporting or challenging her decision. What was done was done, and there was no point worrying about it now.

@Subject Zero
@Gentlemanvaultboy
@c3p-0h

Kuro

Kuro had expected the girl to get mad at him for laughing, maybe even hit him. He didn't expect for her to run off like she did, leaving him to feel like quite the asshole for what he did. Crap, I didn't meant to hurt her feelings. Just thought it was funny."

I think Jackson began in a disapproving tone It has less to do with you laughing at her question, and more to do with the timing of it. She has been through quite a bit of hell, that much is for sure, and she seemed to be opening up for the first time to someone about anything, and then you laugh in her face. It was a very asshole-ish thing to do.

Fuuuuuuuuck, can you apologize to her?

No, if we ever see her again, we're going to switch out and you are going to apologize, got it? If you don't promise to do that, I'm going to try to hit you every time you try to pull a prank, thus revealing you to the victims.

Kuro recognized this ultimatum set-up very well, and it left him with a bitter-sweet taste in his mouth as he began roam the halls looking for the girl. He had made sure to keep away from the pissed off mute twin when she went ape on the chair, and the door, and began to walk around the HQ's, trying to see if he could pick up on her trail, feeling more like shit with every step. Why did she have to take it so damn seriously.

@Pirouette