Elise Reynolds, Wallace Williams, Louie Black, Samuel Williams, Blaire Daniels, Jess Daniels, Serena Carson, Micah Allen, Olivia Farris, Caleb Waterfront, and Gordon Baker
Present Day - The Pit
A gentle shaky breath slowly flowed out as her soft pink lips parted, her long dark brown wavy locks flowing down over her back and her shoulders as she turned her head, her dark brown orbs flicking back and forth over the other people who were gathered around on the rooftop, some of them still recovering from jumping the train and onto the roof of the building while it still moved. Lifting up her arm she slipped her fingers into her hair, pushing it back off her face until the sound of a voice hit her ears causing her to snap her attention over to the ones that were calling out to them all, "Oi, listen up... Today you guys decided that you wanted to be apart of us... Now you're going to show us that you belong here."
Tilting her head to the side slightly, she watched the man who was speaking motion towards the ledge behind him and some of the others who were there watching on, showing the new members exactly where they had to go to show that they belonged. The others who were there knew the routine, they had gone through it all before when they had first joined. Snapping her head around as she heard the guys voice directed at her, she hesitated before she moved forward, her body slipping in and out of the crowd before she came to a stop in front of the man, her arms coming up to cross tightly over her chest, "Tell me girl, what's your name?"
"Elise... What's it to you?" Narrowing her eyes slightly, Elise kept them locked onto his as though daring him to try anything with her, "Well, Elise, someone needs to go first. And you're going to be it." Clenching her jaw she watched as he moved to the side, giving her a clear path to the ledge he had been showing the group before, rolling her eyes she turned away moving back towards the group of new members, some of them shifting uncomfortably as they realized what it was the guy was asking them to do. Locking eyes with several of them for a few moments, Elise huffed out a sight before she turned, her feet carrying her quickly over the roof and towards the ledge.
Stepping up onto the ledge she threw her body forward into the air, her stomach turning slightly with the adrenaline causing her to feel motionless in the air before she began to fall down her body eventually disappearing into a large hole in the roof, the darkness seeming to swallow her whole. Turning back to where the rest of the group was standing looking nervous, the man crossed his arms over his chest a smirk playing on his lips, "Alright newbies... Which one of you is next..?"
Glowing bright orange and yellow, the flames on her fingertips danced and waved in the slight breeze. Blaire stood directly next to the edge of the building, watching the newbies across from her. She smirked as Elise was dragged forward first and jumped off the edge. Blaire's dark red eyes glanced over at her sister, Jessamine, who was standing only a few feet away from her. Jessamine shook slightly and she tucked her hands into her pockets to hide her nervousness. They stood among the newbies themselves. They grinned at each other as they look at all of the frightened faces and Blaire smirked, her plump pink lips curving up at the left side. She flipped her blonde ponytail over her shoulder and stalked forward, dragging her sister behind her.
"What the hell are you doing, Blaire?" Jessamine whispered to her sister.
"Come on, it'll be fun!" Blaire muttered back. She yanked her younger sister forward and shoved her out in front of her. "Jessamine would like to go next!" Blaire called and Jessamine stumbled forward from the force of Blaire's push. Jess stood up and whipped around, glaring at her sister. But it was too late to turn back now. She nodded to the man standing next to the edge and she walked up to the ledge, stepping up onto it.
The breeze blew her blonde strands away from her face and she waved her hands slightly, almost unnoticeably. The breeze died down and it was completely and utterly silent. She glanced back over her shoulder at Blaire, who was rolling her eyes and made shoving motions. Jess looked back over the edge and swallowed hard. She hated doing this. Her legs shook and she crossed her arms across her chest to hide her shaking hands.
Blaire, getting annoyed, rolled her eyes again and snapped, "Too long!" She stormed forward and shoved her sister, pushing her off the edge of the building. Letting out a high pitched scream as she tumbled forward, Jess whipped around fast, grabbing Blaire's outstretched hands before Blaire could pull them back. Blaire let out an identical scream as she was pulled over the edge and tumbled down into the darkness below.
With a hand holding onto his hat, Sam watched as Blaire brought Jess downward in a screaming fit that pierced his ears. The wind up here, though stilled by Breeze, was beginning to kick up again, and that threatened the safety of his hat.
He'd been up here before, way long ago when he had to take that leap for himself. He remembered it clearly; the fear in his knees as he stared over the edge, the adrenaline that gripped him tight as he made the jump, and the relief that blanketed him when he fell into the net that he didn't know was at the bottom of the darkness. Now that he was on the back end of such jumpings, he was relieved, if for the fact that he knew what it was like. Poor young'uns though, they were scared stiff no doubt. He didn't want to make the jump either, he figured one heart-stopping fall was enough for him, and he was old enough as it was, another stunt like that and he might end up stiff halfway down.
Wearily he stood from the wall he was leaning against. These newbs were taking way too long. He had his gear with him, right? A quick hand to his waist confirmed the thought; his guns were here. He drew one silently and made his way to the back of the group. They weren't loaded of course, but the sound of a hammer striking metal struck fear in even the toughest of individuals. He did want to help, but he didn't know how else to. So, approaching one of the people at the back, he got up behind the young man and gently pressed the barrel of his gun against the small of his back. He felt him instantly freeze.
"Now, partner, I don't know about you, but I bet that jump's a lot less frightening that this."
He thumbed the hammer of his revolver back and felt a shiver travel through his gun and into his hand.
"Set an example, hmm? Make the leap. Otherwise ya'll might be spendin' the rest of yer lives out-"
No further prodding needed. The man bolted from his gun, tore his way through the group and dove screaming down into the chasm. Sam chuckled to himself and released the hammer. The rest were sure to follow.
Somewhere, inside him, he thought to himself that perhaps he shouldn't be so mean next time.
Nah.
Live stood staring at the gaping hole that the man has just dove headfirst into. Adrenaline flooded through her veins as she peered at the edge trying to see what may have happened once he reached the bottom. Did he crash into a rocky bottom full of stalactites? Maybe he landed on the bodies of Elise and the two twins that had just launched themselves off. Shaking her head as if to rid herself of the foolish thoughts she reasoned, they wouldn't kill off volunteers would they. Would they?
Inching forward to get a better view she felt the familiar drop in her stomach that came with her nervousness. Glancing at the hair hanging off the right side of her face she saw sparks flicking back and forth between the strands. She was loosing control of her power as her nerves rose. Glancing around her she looked into faces filled with similar emotions to her own.
Standing upright Live backed up from the edge muttering to herself, "Not going to kill you. They are not going to kill you dummy. Just some stupid initiation test. Not going to kill you." With the last words still coming out of her mouth, Live clenched her stomach and pushed off the coarse ground with her left foot. Quickly realizing that there was no stopping now she planted another foot forward, and then another right on the edge where pebbles crumbled off the side falling into the abyss.
Her third step pushed her out into the black opening, like a huge mouth of a monster ready to eat her up. Closing her eyes and clenching her jaw to stop any scream from flying out, she spread her arms straight out to the side, as if she were hanging on a cross and dove down into the blackness.
Jumping down the building isn't terrifying to him, of course not. It was easy for him to slow down his velocity before hitting the ground. He found himself more concerned for the others, who were jumping down blindly with no way to slow down. What kind of group threw their newcomers off a building without any way to control the fall? Did he actually want to be here, if this was their initiation?
The man rubbed at his messy hair as he watched yet another person step off the edge. A few short strands stuck to his grimy fingers and he brushes them off with more aggression than necessary.
”Such a stuh-stupid idea, what's the point? Someone's gonna fail and hit the roof or somethin',” he found himself grumbling to nobody in particular, but his words were loud enough for everyone in his vicinity to hear. A girl near him, mousy yet tall, let out a frightened keen backed away from the ledge. Micah does too. Jumping off buildings was much easier when you ran off the edge.
Micah's eyes stay on the hole below as he leaps off. He gasps for breath as soon as his feet leave the high roof top and his muscles tense as adrenaline coursed through his body. His half-open tracksuit jacket puffs out behind him like a worthless parachute. His fall lasts longer than the others, a conscious effort to avoid hitting whatever's below him with too much force, but soon he too disappears into the darkness below.
A short laugh came from the direction of the onlookers as the Daniel sisters toppled off the ledge and down into the darkness below. Warwick to say the least was having the time of his life watching the new recruits join their merry little gang. When he wasn't laughing or shouting the occasional comment over the sound of the group as someone readied to jump, most of which were encouraging the recruits to perform flips and tricks during their decent, the redhead was drinking from a bottle he had brought up from the bar. For a time, he too used to merge with the crowd of "newbies" as they went through the initiation, only for him to simply teleport back up after his landing in order to confused the group and do it again! He had nearly done the same during his first ever jump, although in the end he had decided that it might be for the best if he didn't piss off the guys in charge during his first day. Now, he took to drinking on the sidelines instead. It always provided great entertainment!
Warwick groaned as one such newbie slowed in the air after jumping, before seemingly glided downwards into the abyss. Some people just had to take the fun from things! His mood regained its previous happiness however as the rooftop began to empty once more, although some may argue it was because he had finished his beer. Deciding to be a good samaritan for once, he eyed a young looking guy who was slowly moving towards the edge.
In an instance the redhead had disappeared from where he had been perched, appearing with a sharp snapping sound in front of the kid. As the kid jolted backwards in surprise and giving Warwick an expression that gave the impression that an accident had just occurred in his pants, the teleporter pressed the bottle into his outstretched hand.
"Y' couldn't be a darling mate and take this with you, could y'?" Warwick smiled as he spoke and patted the boy as he feebly nodded.
Stepping to the side, he gestured for the young teenager to continue, who proceeded forwardly nervously, gripping hold of the bottle as his life depended on it.
Crash gently ran his fingers along his jawline, he was stood among the group of people pretty obvious among them because of his height. His soft amber eyes swept over those closest to him before focusing on the man stood in front of them, his voice carried a sense of authority and his words carried a silent threat. What if they didn't show him they belonged here? Would that be it, thrown back to the wolves? It was a troubling thought though Crash wasn't concerned for himself, he could survive in either place as long as he had Katherine and Tess. He felt anxiety flicker through his chest as he remembered he currently had neither with him, despite his discomfort he kept a relaxed smile on his face. Shifting to the edge of the group so he could see the hole they had to jump into, he felt moisture coat his palms as his eyes focused on the darkness below. He wasn't a coward but he wasn't exactly fond of the idea of jumping off of tall buildings neither was he fond of not knowing where he was going to land.
He was silently wishing he had sought out more information on the pit, as it was he only knew two things for certain, firstly it was the main base of operations for the mutant resistance and secondly, Elise was here. Crash begun to drum his fingers against his side, wondering who the supervisor was going to pick on first, he turned his head as someone was called forward. His eyebrows hitched up in surprise as he instantly recognized her from a time before...it had been quite a while since he'd seen her, she'd changed. He ran his index finger across his lower lip thoughtfully as he watched her converse with the supervisor, before preparing herself to jump. Watching a friend throw themselves off of a building wasn't as calming as he'd have hoped, fearless as she was, Crash's heart skipped a beat or two when she flew over the edge and down into the darkness out of sight.
Having watched Elise jump without hesitation Crash felt his unease lessen, he folded his free arm across his chest, gripping his chin with his other hand. He felt like he should have offered some assurance to the other mutants stood around him, he'd been able to do so in hairier situations than this in the past. But he felt as if his words would run hollow and that it would ruin whatever test this appeared to be. The breeze that swept across the rooftop threaded through his short dark blonde hair and tickled the back of his neck as he watched what he assumed to be two sisters step forward next. The smile slid from his face as he noticed how nervous one of them seemed to be, he shifted his weight from one foot to the other resisting the urge to intervene.
However he physically jolted as the confident one stormed forward to shove her twin off of the edge, which resulted in the pair of them tumbling over the edge together, each releasing an ear splitting scream as they did. He hastily leant to the side peering around the supervisor to watch the two girls tumble into the darkness below. Crash's smile had officially faltered for now, he stood back and put a hand to his head trying to still the nervous energy that rose up within him. He needed to keep moving, staying still too long wasn't good for him, to counteract this he begun to drum a beat against his thigh with his fingers, tapping the toe of his boot along to it.
The amber eyed mutant was about to offer to take the jump himself when he was cut off by another man who bolted through the crowd and near enough threw himself from the building. The unexpected scream caused him to jump and he lifted his hands in preparation, however nothing else seemed to happen. With a puzzled look on his face Crash cast his gaze back over the group catching sight of a man wearing a cowboy hat, which was odd enough to pull his attention though as it turned out this particular man looked rather pleased with himself.
The scene had succeeded in making him a little more nervous than before but he didn't quite feel the need to throw himself off of the building the same way the man before had. Crash shifted closer to the front of the group, making his way for the edge he'd watched enough people jump, tumble and fall into the darkness below he figured it was his turn by now. He should have been one of the first to jump, his personal philosophy depicted he should have been. He ground to a halt a few paces in front of the guy supervising the jumping, his eyes focusing on the next 'jumper' as she inched forward to look over the edge.
Crash felt his mouth curve up into a small smile as she begun muttering to herself, words meant to reassure her he supposed, though he definitely heard 'not going to kill you' at least three times. He wasn't sure that would be a good slogan for a motivational poster, his mind took the bait and swam off with it pulling forth motivational quips and quotes. He was so lost in his own thoughts he nearly missed the girl making her jump, shaking his head to dislodge his thoughts moving forward to watch her dive into the darkness. The action brought him to the front of the crowd "Well you can definitely have points for imagination..." He grinned at the man he had named the supervisor for lack of a better name. "But you may want to work on how you sell it" He added, watching as yet another of the group took the plunge, he'd barely made it halfway down before Crash was eagerly hopping up onto the edge ready to take the plunge himself.
Crash felt adrenaline course through his veins as he did so, he rolled his shoulders as if limbering up his muscles waiting patiently for the slow man to drop down into the darkness before he took a deep breath. "You've got 20 seconds of insane courage...something good better come out of this" He announced humor present in his voice, he directed his speech at the supervisor but spoke loud enough that others could hear him as well. With his speech out of the way he bent his knees and propelled himself forward. His stomach felt like it shot up behind his rib-cage as he sunk like a stone towards the darkness below, despite the fear of falling he was overcome with a sense of elation which escaped his lips in the sound of a cheering shout 'Wooohooo" that echoed around the walls before he disappeared into the darkness below.
With a level of calmness many around her lacked, she watched the events unfold before her with a certain amount of disdain and a healthy amount of curiosity. Narrowing her eyes Xena studied the man that spoke to them, though she couldn't help but inwardly scoff at his words...she wasn't convinced herself that she belonged here. She watched him single out one of the group, Elise, the girl almost seemed indifferent to what was going on though Xena picked up on the subtle signs of nervousness. Still she impressed the purple eyed mutant by stepping up to the challenge and taking the plunge without so much as a flicker of hesitation.
Xena made no motion to move forward, though she was feeling nervous about the entire ordeal she wasn't scared of jumping off of a building. Hell she'd done it several times before, sometimes knowing where she was going and other times having no clue. The not knowing was half the thrill, the buzz that kept her going. She shifted around to the far side of the group so she could get a better look at what was going on, running her fingers through her colored hair pushing the silky waves out of her eyes. One of her eyebrows arched as she watched two girls step forward or rather one dragged the other along with them. She folded her arms loosely across her chest feeling the left side of her mouth twitch up into a smirk as one of them stood on the edge. She wasn't there long as the other decided to give her an encouraging shove which resulted in a rather comedic reaction as she was hauled off of her feet and pulled over the edge as well. "Oh, there goes the Olsen twins..." She murmured to herself amusement present in her tone. Her eyes drifted back to the others still left on the roof wondering who was going to make the jump next, she could do it but she wasn't entirely comfortable with leaving all of these people at her back.
Besides she was rather enjoying the show on the rooftop, being up high was always a good thing. She was rewarded for her patience a few moments later as a man suddenly bolted free of the group like a spooked horse and near enough threw himself over the edge with a wailing scream. Xena lifted a hand to her mouth to conceal the smile that had crept across her lips, trying to contain her amusement as it no doubt sent shock-waves of surprise and angst through the crowd. She remained where she was watching another two jump over the edge.
Xena was distracted by the next person who hopped up onto the wall rather eagerly and with a smile on his face, be it a nervous one. She rolled her eyes as he attempted to be humorous as well, before making a scene as he prepared himself. If she had been closer to the front she would have shoved him off as soon as he opened his mouth...when he finally took the plunge she leant over the edge to watch. "Ugh" She muttered in disgust as he vocalized obvious enjoyment "I hope he turns into a pretty stain on the floor" She decided rather judgmentally as she shifted forward, now that the crowd had thinned out she figured she should really think about taking the plunge herself. She weaved through the crowd or rather what was left of it, coming to a stand still at the front of the group before she shot towards the edge of the building, two paces in she had leapt up onto the edge of the building. From there she pushed off into the air, though unlike the others she launched herself higher into the air, so she could throw in a double tucked 360 flip, twisting herself round so she was facing the sky she sent the unfortunate souls left on the roof a salute before tilting forward enough that she disappeared into the darkness feet first.
It was a good couple minutes before anyone else offered to go up next. A lone young man stood in the very back, the very last to jump off of the train. He hung back at the back of the crowd, not wanting to draw a lot of attention to himself. Gordon looked around, waiting to see if someone else would go after the girl that just flipped down into the abyss below. He couldn't help but think through most of that that he could do so much better than what that girl did, though he couldn't have done it as gracefully. He probably would have hit his head against the ledge.
He sucked in his cheeks and smiled carefully, walking forward from the very back. He brushed passed arms and people parted for him as he walked forward. He ran a hand through his black hair and his dark blue eyes flitted around, looking at all the new people. All the people like him. He blinked slowly, nodding to the superior, but not saying a word as he walked up to the edge. He made eye contact with the superior and Gordon grinned at him, changing his eye color from blue to green to red and then back to his normal color. He peered down over the ledge into the darkness. There seemed to be nothing below but a hole in the ground and something beyond that that he could not see. He sucked in his cheeks and looked back behind him at the other recruits. He nodded to them and stood up on the edge of the building, looking down below.
Taking another deep breath, he felt that familiar rush of adrenaline and he gave a wide smile. His exciting side immediately took over and, just to be a show off, he hopped back off the ledge and placed his hands on the edge of the ledge. He slowly lifted himself up into the air, going into a handstand on the ledge. He knew his face was turning red from all of the blood rushing to it, but he didn't care. He grinned at the other recruits and the superiors and laughed. He let out a whoop and pushed himself off the edge of the ledge, twisting as he flew through the air, disappearing into the darkness below.
Horrified at the thought of having to jump, Louie moved forward, hardly even shuffling ahead. He was of average size, and had a round face. His eyes were an odd sort of brownish color, which complimented his close. He wore a brown leathery jacket, with a red and purple shirt beneath it. A backpack was slung over his shoulder. A brown fedora sat atop his spiky brown hair.
If somebody were to... miss what they were going for on the way down, what would happen? Would they die? He assumed that was the case, and tried to shrug it away. Who was to say that it would be any different than the train? That was easy enough, and besides, he was here for a reason. And that reason was anything but being afraid. Death was not to be afraid of, but to be thankful for. If death was coming, so be it.
Louie Black stepped to the edge, sucking in a breath as if an icey wind had just slammed into him. He could not see the bottom, it was just darkness. Darkness... darkness... That was who he was. He was a bad omen, a nightmare. He embraced the darkness, as did it to him. No obstacle would change that. This was just one more task to complete in order to become who he wanted to be.
He heard a few voices behind him, muttering to themselves and a few looking actually quite bored. Somebody yelled "Get a move on!" and a few others nodded in agreement. With that, Louie flew him the bird, and closed his eyes. 'Either now or never, get a move on. Embrace it.' he thought to himself, mentally running through scenarios to jump in his head, and opened his eyes.
"I suppose I'll see you guys at the bottom, then." he said, his words lingering in the air before he finally made another movement.
He turned around, facing the small crowd before him, raising a hand and waving silently. His weight shifted to his heels as he plunged into the shadows inside of the gaping hole. He felt his hat lift from his head, and he made a quick grab, clutching it in his grasp.