canaryrose

Men vs. Women Race to 1000: Version 2.0

-221

Men vs. Women Race to 1000: Version 2.0

-218

Men vs. Women Race to 1000: Version 2.0

-217

《 H. E. R. O. 》

As Division X soldiers filled the mansion, Patricia stepped out of the way, leaning against the outside wall of the villa. She half-watched, mostly lost in her thoughts and distress. She continued to chew on her nails. When Christina arrived, she glanced at her and then to the ceiling, seeming to be at a loss for words. She'd tell Christina what had happened when she could get her alone, she reasoned. There was no reason for anyone else to overhear. So, hopefully, she'd tell her later. Yes, later. Before she knew it, Christina was there, and Patricia was wrapped in a tight hug. She offered a tight smile in response to Christina's praise, but it didn't quite reach her eyes.

Not leaving her any time to protest, Christina took her hand and dragged her off to the spot by the shed. She stared at her feet for most of the time Christina spoke, preparing herself to give her the letter and 'spill the beans', but her head snapped up when she mentioned coming out. That seemed to snap her out of it because she turned red as a tomato. She shook her head violently. "That's- no, that's not- not why- what? Why would you- no!" She stuttered her way through denials. Then, realizing that she pretty much had to tell her now, she shook her head and crossed her arms, squeezing her hands under her elbows. "Something happened. Do you... do you know who Malady is?"

Not waiting for an answer, Patricia shot into a very lengthy, stuttering description of what had just happened. Getting dragged out of the room, being told about her father's apparent connection to these Zero people, Kat's insistence that they were friends of some sort, the "Ultra Death Machine", Kat's tearful confession, the Spectator- all of it up until the encounter in the courtyard. At some point, tears started to fall from her eyes. She gestured erratically with her hands, electing not to make eye contact with Christina for most of it. Once she was done, she glanced back into Christina's eyes, wiping tears from her own hazel eyes.

She reached into her jacket, pulling out the envelope and handing it to Christina. "On the back," she said in explanation, gesturing for Christina to read the message on the back. She waited for her to read it until she spoke again, taking a deep, shuddering breath. "I- yeah. That's everything. I don't know what to think or, like, to do. I feel like I am in some deep, deep shit." Patricia laughed humorlessly, still crying a bit. "The stuff that girl said... Jesus. I'm... I'm scared. Should I be scared?"

@Hitman

《 H. E. R. O. 》

For a single moment, Patricia thought it might have worked. Vinnie lifted his foot off of Blake's ribcage; his face relaxed, going blank. His mind was malleable, then. She could save them all, be useful- CRACK. Her head was snapped back by a backhand. She reeled for a moment, simply staring up in confusion. Hadn't she told him not to attack?! It hadn't worked then. Her stomach plummeted, and she raised her hands up in front of herself to protect herself from the next hit, rooting her feet in place. She eyed the machete she had left by Angelica. She could go for that and grab it... But before Vinnie could land another hit on Patricia, Blake jumped on top of him, pulling him to the ground. Relieved but not confident in Blake's wrestling abilities, Patricia lunged for the machete and held it in front of her defensively. She wasn't usually a sword person, but it would have to do until more backup got here.

She was about to take a swing at Vinnie when the strange red fog materialized around him. Her brows furrowed for a moment- she, unlike Blake, was not an idiot, and she knew that this was not a part of the legendary mobster's powerset. As Vinnie began to choke and cough, his hands going to his throat, Patricia's memory flashed back to when Martino had suddenly got sick earlier. Oh. This was the girl- Katharine. Fuck. She had been seriously hoping to avoid her and had secretly wanted to pretend their interaction had never happened. She took several steps away from the mobster and into the garden, hoping to avoid the smoke. But then she locked eyes with Katharine, and she suddenly felt nauseous- but not because of the smoke. Chills went down her spine.

Patricia listened to Katharine speak, electing not to respond. Instead, her mouth parted in confusion, and her grip tightened on the machete as she stared up at Katharine. When the envelope dropped she stepped forward and caught it with her shuddering left hand. She watched mutely as Katharine hopped away, only offering a raised hand and a half-wave as a goodbye.

"I wouldn't say that," muttered Patricia in response to Blake, standing in a patch of grass and staring at her name on the envelope blankly. I am in such deep shit. When she was sure no one was looking over her shoulder, she ripped it open and read its contents, tracing the inked letters with her index finger. It was... huh. She had half-expected an address, an invitation, but this was none of those. It was a cry for help. She gasped, raising her hand to her mouth and glancing at the now-empty rooftop. Sympathy tugged at her heart, but she folded it back up and tucked it and the envelope into her jacket. That sympathy was overridden by a shitton of fear. This villain seemed to be seriously insane- whether it was her fault or not. And maybe a little obsessed with Patricia.

This was not a situation she wanted to be in. She buried her face in her hands, shaking her head for a few seconds. "No no no no no..." she moaned, taking a brief moment to compose her racing, scared thoughts. But then she raised her head again and glanced around. After the battle, was there anything she could do? It didn't look like it. Grace was standing over the passed-out Angie, Blake seemed to be looking at Vinnie Gugliano's dead body, and Joseph was doing some vaguely healer-y things. She half-joined Blake, standing by Vinnie's body and staring at a random spot in the garden. She chewed her nails nervously, the adrenaline from the fight disappearing and leaving her only with a feeling of dread.

@Hitman@KaijuBaragon@Rabidporcupine

Men vs. Women Race to 1000: Version 2.0

-215

The Sisters of the Dying Branch

When they got to the table full of drink and food, Calypso grabbed a red solo cup and a Sharpie, writing her name on it in big, loopy letters. She snorted at Dakota's comment. "Right? She's just... so passive-aggressive all the time," she told Dakota. She took a pitcher of sweet tea and poured a healthy amount into her cup and moved down the line to the food. Glancing over her shoulder again, she took note of several others that she hadn't noticed before. Rebecca was off in the corner talking to herself, as always. Or, rather, to a dead person. If she put a little bit of effort into it, Calypso could see the faint outline of another, ghostly person next to her. Her deep brown eyes tracked Arken coming to the party late. She was familiar with him but didn't quite know to call him a friend or not. Iris was being spacey at the table- something that Cal knew was a habit of the girl. And now Charles was talking to Arken... she laughed. That might not go so well- as far as she knew, their personalities didn't quite mesh. She might need to mediate a bit later, lest they get in a bit of trouble.

Calypso returned Dakota's earnest, warm smile with one of her own. Oh, me?" She picked up a ladleful of fried okra and plopped it onto a paper table, but not before popping one into her mouth. "Well, I actually just graduated high school! Just been thinking of what college to attend... it's kinda hard." She paused, chewing her lip. "I've been thinking about taking a gap year and studying here at the house and doing some work for the coven. Sister Deborah said she'd love if I did that, but I'm not really sure, you know? Kind of a hard choice." They reached the end of the line, Calypso's plate now loaded with food. Now finished, she stepped back to lean against a tree, silverware, plate, and cup in hand.

"What about you? I haven't seen you since, like, what, winter solstice? Crazy long time. What have you been up to?"

@Hitman

Men vs. Women Race to 1000: Version 2.0

-216

《 H. E. R. O. 》

"Oh, Rumi! You came, great! Don't worry about me, I'm fine," said Jamie upon Rumi's entrance. She waved off his worry, laughing a little. "Come on, Brie, let's get out of here- oh, it is?" She wiped at her nose with her hand. It came away streaked in deep scarlet- blood. A familiar sight. Jamie had not realized that blood was spurting out of her nose, but seemed to brush it off. She shrugged. "Oh. Well, not much of a big deal. Of course, I'm fine. You're the one who just got kidnapped, silly! I should be asking if you're okay. Are you guys okay?"

"Oh yeah, totally. You're smart, Rumi, I'll come with!" Jamie followed Rumi out the door behind Brie and Will, keeping up the rear of the group. She swayed a little as she walked, feeling a bit suddenly dizzy. But she righted herself in the end. She glanced at Brie and Will, worry shading her partially bloody face. They mostly looked okay, thankfully- but there was so much more going on here. There was a niggling feeling in the back of her mind that told her that something was not right.

Jamie went after Brie when she split off from the group, peeking over her shoulder to see Zee and... who was that? She wanted to say that it was something with a 'D'. Darren? Dominic? She approached with Brie, waving and smiling, but stopped smiling when she saw Zee's face. His eyes were red, and there were... clothes, strewn all about the room. Was he okay? He looked so sad.

"Hey, you guys!" Jamie greeted them cheerily, kneeling down next to Brie and Zee. "I think we're all okay. Just have to go save everyone else. Are you okay, Zee? You look sad. You know, whatever happened..." She glanced around at the clothes, taking a pretty good guess, "it'll be alright."

@Danvers@Scarifar@Shard@Infinite Cosmos

---

Patricia nodded weakly at Grace, running alongside her. Or half-running, actually- they weren't running as much as walking as fast as they could while dragging an injured person. She still didn't know what uri gangaji meant (Google Translate hates romanized Korean), but now was so not the time to ask. "Of course. Sorry, just worried. Let's go." She flashed a weak smile at Grace in return. She followed her gaze to the ceiling, eyes widening once she caught Grace's line of thinking. FUCK-

Vinnie crashed through the ceiling loudly and immediately grabbed Tom, Angelica (who had been being supported by him) falling back. Patricia, watching with dread and horror, caught her at the last moment, putting her arm around her shoulder. Watching Vinnie break out of the ceiling and grab Tom, she gulped. This could not end well. And no one was coming for them. At this rate... they were going to die here. In a mafia stronghold, with no one left the wiser.

When Tom screamed at them to run, she swiveled around (thank God she ditched those heels) and started dashing as fast she could down the hall. As fast as she could with a woman slung across her shoulder, that was- which was not too fast. Her heart was torn between going back to help Tom and getting away as quickly as possible. She was so... useless! Without her power, that was. Why hadn't she brought a gun? She would do that next time. If there was a next time.

Suddenly, heat filled the room. Grace stopped running and turned, so Patricia did too. What she saw shocked her. A certain red-haired guy. Blake! He had come! How had he known? She smiled, still holding up Angelica. If he knew they were here... well, everyone else had to know, too. Most of the gang never went anywhere without each other. They were going to be saved. Despite herself, a smile bloomed on her face as Blake blasted Vinnie with fire. That would definitely kill him. Right?

Patricia nodded along with Grace, staying silent. She was about to say something when-

That hadn't fucking killed him? Patricia's mouth dropped, stepping back with Angelica and Grace. He was... oh God. Blake was outmatched. Vinnie was squeezing his throat like a stress ball and then stepping on his ribs, crushing him. She glanced at Grace at her comment, looking down at her hand. Of course. Grace was out of power. Her heart hammered in her chest. And Tom was hurt. His power didn't have much of an effect on Vinnie. Which left only her. But... her power was gone! She couldn't do anything.

But, opening her mouth, Patricia found a spark of it still her. Small, tiny, not nearly at its full power, but... enough, maybe. If Vinnie's body wasn't weak, then maybe his mind would be. Against her better judgment, she stepped forward and sang loudly at Vinnie, putting the full force of what she had left in the song. This had to work.

She put her hand palm out towards Vinnie and Blake, shuddering with fear. "Vinnie, take your foot off of him and don't move. Stay there. Don't attack us. STAY," commanded Patricia, with extreme force in her words. She couldn't tell him to sleep, but maybe she could get him to stop.

@Hitman@Rabidporcupine@Amethyst@KaijuBaragon

Men vs. Women Race to 1000: Version 2.0

-212