Chasers115

—(••[ 𝕎𝕀𝕊ℍ𝔼𝔸𝕋𝔼ℝ ]••)—

Evac Team

Lawrence | Marcus | Savanna | Sophia

---

𝕄: 𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥. 𝟙𝟜, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝕎𝕚𝕤𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕕, 𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕪𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 / / 𝕋𝕠𝕨𝕟 / / ~𝟙𝟟𝟜𝟘

---

_{Collab with @VampireOracle @Chasers115 @Baklava}

Marcus stopped in the doorway just in time to notice two things. The first was Savannah apparently blowing up Lawrence; something he would have been way more upset about were it not for the fact that Lawrence seemed minimally affected, and the second thing he had noticed.

A creature that Marcus could only assume was a Collector, stopped in the street. There was no doubt in his mind that they'd been noticed. Which meant they needed to leave immediately.

But they certainly couldn't leave without the people hiding in the basement. But that thing was far too close for them to be able to get everyone loaded and gone. But they couldn't just leave the group to die, or whatever the thing would do when it found them.

Too many 'but's and 'if's were floating around in his head right now. Indecision had lead to Lawrence's injury, and he wasn't going to let anybody else get hurt by standing in place processing the situation.

Without waiting for Lawrence's instructions, Marcus bounded back across the room to the door, hammering on it with his fist.

"Marcus here! It it time to go! NOW!"

Once again, things were happening too quickly. She watched from inside the truck as a rolling car, running man, and a giant clockwork creature came into view. She agreed with Savannah, the man needed help. But she also agreed with Lawrence. They needed to stay in the truck because they couldn't do anything against the Collector, no matter how much she too wished that something could be done. Their team hadn't even been able to deal with an already injured dog by themselves, how could they deal with this giant?

But Sav hadn't listened, and now Lawrence was on the pavement... and the Collector had stopped it's pursuit of the man. Maybe the man would be safe now, but only because now their team was in danger instead. Taking advantage of Sav's frozen state, she jumped out of the truck and took a hesitant step towards her while still remaining near the truck. "Sav, come on," she said in a loud whisper, gesturing back towards the truck and then towards the Collector as she spoke. "The man's already gone, see? Maybe we can find him later, but for now we need to get out of here!"

Savannah nodded stiffly as Lawrence got back to his feet. "I'm sorry," she said into her hands as she moved past Sophia, rushing into the truck. Lawrence said nothing as he motioned for Sophia, Dean, and Lauren to follow suit.

Too far away to hear anything else, the Collector resumed its pursuit of the man.

By the second knock, the basement door flew open. The man in the green cap nodded curtly, calling out to the others, "Come on! Hurry!"

The blonde woman and raven haired teen followed after him first, each carrying one of the children, while the two other men brought up the rear. As the last survivor climbed into the APC, the sound of wreckage and a desperate scream signalled that the chase had come to an end.

"Drive! Now!" said Lawrence sharply, closing the door as the group sped off towards the point marked on the map by the Halvost Team.

Bringing up the back of the group as they piled into the APC, Marcus was relieved to see that the Collector was not immediately barreling down on him. He was more than prepared to find that they were seconds away from driving without the full group, but was happy to find that not being the case.

He tried not to think about how happy he was someone else had been killed, and not any of their group.

"Everyone alright?" Marcus asked, looking around the vehicle, giving Lawrence a deliberate glance as he did so.

Sophia had heard that scream. That person was not alright because, well... so much for picking him up later. Her gaze wandered over to the children in the truck, and she couldn't help but wonder how many loved ones that man had left behind. Or perhaps those close to him had already died?

Marcus's voice brought her back to the present, and she nodded weakly. "Yeah," she whispered. Realizing that she could now use her power once more, she turned it back on. "I uh, power. On." Time to try and make herself useful again.

Lawrence merely glanced at Marcus before returning his attention to his communicator, checking the map for any changes. The others nodded, some staring out the window at the looming Collector in the distance as they sped away.

Everyone was fine, everything had turned out okay. Savannah seemed to be taking her earlier action with no small amount of regret, so he assumed that she was currently under control. Or at least, as under control as an apparently pissed off aberration could be.

He took a look at the live map feed, a thought crossing his mind. The collector was pretty far away by now, but it's not like a quick 'heads up' would hurt anybody. Pulling his radio from his belt, he switched it back over to Brandt Team.

"Brandt Team, this is Evac. Almost had a run in with a collector about..." he stopped suddenly, nervously looking around at everyone gathered on the vehicle. They weren't supposed to give away the healer's positions, no matter what the situation. And while he didn't think anybody here was a threat, there was no reason to risk it.

"...near-ish you. It shouldn't be a threat, but just keep your eyes on the map."

"Hey, speaking of eyes," the man in the turtleneck sweater grinned, motioning towards his bandages. He winced his one green eye. "Never got an answer to that question earlier. Any healers here?"

"Not in here with us, no." Marcus said, giving a glance over towards Sophia as her eyes lit up again. Back on the clock, no point wasting time circling back around to Brandt team now, they needed to use Sophia's ability to the best while they had it.

Marcus turned to Lawrence, plan already forming in his mind, but wanting to get another opinion on it. "What do you think, Lawrence? Head towards Halvost group, grab their subnatural and any people we find on the way, then have them heal us up while we're there?"

Of course, there was always the option he didn't want to voice out loud: They're not as important, don't waste your healer on normal civilians..

He shook his head slightly to clear the thought. It was probably the best course of action, but there was no way he was going to be the one to suggest it.

"Mm," Lawrence looked up from the map, "We definitely need to pick up the rogue first. If Halvost team is smart, they'll have tied him up and moved locations." He cast a doubtful look a the one eyed man, "But we'll see, I guess."

"That means you better get used to looking like a pirate," the man with the green cap gleefully chuckled under his breath.

Interaction Tags

Radio interaction with @Kyrisse @Piercing Light @VarionusNW

—(••[ 𝕎𝕀𝕊ℍ𝔼𝔸𝕋𝔼ℝ ]••)—

Evac Team

Lawrence | Marcus | Savanna | Sophia

---

𝕄: 𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥. 𝟙𝟜, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝕎𝕚𝕤𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕕, 𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕪𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 / / 𝕋𝕠𝕨𝕟 / / ~𝟙𝟟𝟛𝟝

---

_{Collab with @VampireOracle @Chasers115 @Baklava}

Marcus had also noticed the absence of Sophia's glow as they approached the prechool; a visual clue that he assumed meant her ability had run out for the time being. With no way to tell what was around them, Marcus didn't enjoy the thought of stopping that much, but he liked the idea of leaving people to die even less.

"If you notice anything, anything at all, you call for us. Even if you're not sure - say something." Marcus said to the people in the APC, adding onto Lawrence's statement. "It's better that we be paranoid and careful right now, so you keep your eyes peeled."

He made sure to look to both of the subnatural girls, before following Lawrence inside.

The interior of an abandoned preschool was as spooky as it was depressing; a harsh reminder of the little people caught up in the conflict. Marcus found himself worrying about all the attendees, hoping that they'd managed to get out at some point. The fact that he was probably hoping in vain wasn't a possibility he wanted to think about.

He nearly jumped as the radio crackled to life, pulling it off his belt and up to his ear.

"Evac? It's Zoe, Halvost team. We're gonna need you to pick up a rogue subnatural. The threat's been contained, but we can't afford to keep him with us. Over."

"Rogue subnatural?" Marcus asked, a slight hint of surprised confusion in his voice. That kind of pickup wasn't the best of ideas, especially with the knowlege that the rogue subnaturals around here were not exactly friendly. Still, Halvost Team was Ernie's, the same one who had told him to kill any subnaturals he saw, and now they were requesting one be shuttled out of the area.

Whatever the deal with this one that was so special, Marcus was at least confident that Ernie wasn't trying to doom the entirety of Evac team to death by giving them a subnatural threat to deal with. He sighed once, not exactly thrilled about the demand, but at least willing.

"Alright, drop him off somewhere away from you, mark his location, and we'll swing by and pick him up." Marcus clipped the radio back to his belt, giving a slight jog to catch back up to Lawrence and the other man. His eyes brushed over Lawrence's bloody sleeve as he walked with them. He wanted to apologize, but there was really nothing he could say to amend the situation. Later. There'd be time to own his mistakes later.

Though five minutes sometimes seemed like such a short time, it seemed like an eternity to spend without her power on. Without her power Sophia was useless to the group, like at this moment. Returning Marcus's gaze before watching him leave with Lawrence and the other man, she kept her eyes peeled for anything out of the usual. Not that she had much of a chance of seeing anything hostile before it would be almost upon them. Still, she had to try. It was only five minutes, only five minutes, only five minutes. Those three words repeated over and over in her mind as she sat there, tense.

Leading them through the play area and down a hallway past a couple of small offices, the young man motioned for Marcus and Lawrence to back up as he neared a heavy metal door. On the other side was a dark stairway leading down into the basement. The last few steps were lit by a dim flashlight for a split second before being shrouded in darkness again. One could just barely make out a few urgent whispers as the man stepped through the door cautiously.

"Guys? It's me! Dean! I found help!"

"Dean?" An electric lantern flickered to life, casting the room in a bright, bluish light. Among several boxes of spare paper towels, craft paper, and old play mats were several individuals huddled together. The man holding the lantern stepped forward, holstering his pistol as his weathered features softened with relief. He wore an old brown jacket and a thick red felt scarf. Despite his thinning gray hair, the man seemed physically sturdy and exuded a confident demeanor-- similar to Dean.

As Dean decended the stairs, however, waving for Lawrence and Marcus to follow him, the man to his right, donning a green baseball cap and shotgun, tensed.

"Subs?!" he grimaced, spotting the marks on their faces. Before he could raise his gun, a third man smacked him upside the head.

"They're white marks, stupid!" the man barked. As he turned to face them, the heavily applied and bloodstained gauze wrapped around his right eye came into view. He smiled apologetically, adjusting the collar of his black turtleneck sweater, "Sorry about him. He's an idiot. Still not sure why he gets to hold the shotgun, to be honest."

He muttered the last bit as he shot a one eyed glare at the man in the green hat.

"Like we're gonna give it to some weirdo with one eye," he muttered back, adjusting his hat.

"Hey now, buddy-- you don't know the first thing about me!"

"Will you two knock it off?!" an older woman with short blonde hair hissed. There was a familiar sharpness to her features as she stepped into the lantern light, a sleeping child drapped over her shoulders and chest while another clung to the hem of her jacket. "Dean, where's Lauren?" she asked curtly, bright blue eyes wide with apprehension.

"She's safe," he answered calmly.

"Are you sure we can trust them?" an older girl said, stepping out from behind the blonde haired woman. Her hair was straight and black with side swept bangs. She wore a black petticoat and thin purple scarf, timidly holding it up over the lower half of her face with both hands as her light brown eyes darted between Marcus, Lawrence, and Dean.

"If it affects your little discussion at all, I certainly think we're trustworthy!" Marcus piped up from behind Dean, giving the group around them a weak smile before clearing his throat and getting down to business.

"My name is Marcus, this here is Lawrence." he said, giving a quick nod to his teammate as he introduced him. "We're here with the express purpose of getting you people outta here as soon as we can, as safely as we can."

The girl blinked back at Marcus for a moment before lowering her scarf, returning his smile with a coy one of her own. Though she was short, she didn't seem to be much older than he was.

"Hey, well I'd rather take my chances with these guys than down here," the one eyed man nodded, stepping forward to join them, "You guys wouldn't happen to have any healing powers, would you?" He pointed to his bandaged eye with a cheeky grin, "Because this hurts like hell."

"LAWRENCE!" Before either of them could answer, Savannah's voice shouted through the older Arbiter's radio, "LAWRENCE!!"

Lawrence exchanged a quick look with Marcus as he pulled the radio from his belt.

"What is it?" he asked, quick but calm.

"I think you should come up here! NOW! We need help!"

"Alright, calm down. Stay in the truck. I'm on my way." The others watched in alarm as Lawrence returned the radio to his hip and moved back towards the stairs.

"Make sure everyone's ready to go. I'll radio you as soon as I know it's safe." With that, he darted up the stairs, closely followed by Dean, who seemed hellbent on ensuring Lauren was alright as he ignored protests from the older man and blonde haired mother.

Marcus turned to look at Lawrence as his radio ran out, tensing up at Savannah's apparent distress. With her cry of help, Marcus turned to go up the stairs, interrupted by Lawrence as he and Dean went running up. "Make sure...? You want me to wait down here!?" Marcus shouted after him, arms stretched out in disbelief.

He turned to look at the crowd of people gathered in the basement, the dilemma showing through his eyes. If the group up in the APC was having trouble, that left Savannah, Sophia, Lauren, and the two kids in trouble. If he left, that meant this little group was more vulnerable if anything tried to slip past them. But he couldn't just leave his team to whatever it was that had spooked the APC crew.

He spoke aloud to the group, eyes moving to meet each of them. "Alright, get what you need to grab, and be prepared to move out of here!" he said, trying to rally the survivors. He turned to speak directly to the man with the shotgun, keeping his voice a little bit lower. "I'm going up. You shut that door behind me, and do not open it unless it's one of us three; Marcus, Lawrence, or Dean. Got it?"

The man in the green hat nodded.

"You're leaving us?" the raven haired girl said, frowning helplessly as she approached. The others said nothing as they hastily gathered up their things.

"Just for a second." Marcus said, turning on the bottom step to look at the girl. "Gotta sure they don't scratch our ride!" he added this last part with another nervous grin, forced out through a face that undoubtably hinted at his unease. Without waiting for her response, Marcus climbed to the top of the stairs to join the rest of his team.

---

Savannah sat in the doorway of the APC, swinging her legs as she drummed her fingers against the metal door frame.

"Hey, kid. Can you knock it off?" Lauren muttered irritably, "How are you guys gonna hear anyone coming with all that noise?"

Savannah shot the woman an angry look over her shoulder, but ceased the nervous habit by tightly crossing her arms.

"Sophia, is your power back on yet?" Savannah asked.

One stiff shake of the head was Sophia's reply as she glanced over at Savannah, a worried expression on her face. "Still not." In a still quieter voice she added, "But I sure wish it were."

Savannah frowned, but said nothing else. Several uneventful seconds passed before a distant crash caused Savannah to gasp.

"Did you here that?" she asked loudly, slidding off her seat.

Another crash. It sounded like it was coming from a few blocks north.

The noise caused Sophia's heart rate to spike as she jumped, resuming her observation of their surroundings with more vigor. But still no power, and she could see nothing wrong. Did she hear it? Of course she heard it. It was what was not supposed to happen, especially not when Marcus and Lawrence weren't with them. It didn't have anything to do with those loud footsteps they had heard while driving earlier, did it?

"M-maybe we should call... radio, them? Or..." A pause as another crash sounded. "I really don't know what that is!"

Crash!

Fumbling with the radio, Savannah clutched the device with both hands, "LAWRENCE!"

Crash! Whatever it was, it was clearly getting closer. A shard of glass left clinging to the doorframe of the preschool fell to the ground and shattered.

"What is it? came Lawrence's quick reply.

Crash!

"I think you should come up here! NOW! We need help!" Savannah's hands shook as she looked at Sophia.

"Alright, calm down. Stay in the truck. I'm on my way."

"O-okay..." Savannah said, forgetting to press the button as she spoke. She turned around to climb back inside, but paused as another crash sounded, accompanied by shattering glass and the sound of metal against metal. It sounded so close. Her lips flattened into a line. Balling up her fists, Savannah glanced at Sophia before making her way towards the east side of the APC, peering around it carefully.

Interaction Tags

Radio interaction with @Lasrever @January @banjoanjo

—(••[ 𝕎𝕀𝕊ℍ𝔼𝔸𝕋𝔼ℝ ]••)—

Evac Team & Healer Team: Brandt

Lawrence | Marcus | Savanna | Sophia

Kusari Bloodworth | Allison Revel | Lilliana Brandt

---

𝕄: 𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥. 𝟙𝟜, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝕎𝕚𝕤𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕕, 𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕪𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 / / 𝕋𝕠𝕨𝕟 / / ~𝟙𝟟��𝟘

---

_{Collab with @VampireOracle @Chasers115 @Baklava @Kyrisse @Piercing Light @VarionusNW}

Exactly as planned. As soon as the dog hit the door again, Marcus dove backwards. Mostly to get out of the way of the shotgun blast, but also to get away from the clockwork beast as he came out the door. A deafening concussion sounded, likely signaling Lawrence's shot, but followed by the sound of small lead pellets rebounding off metal. A few of the pellets rolled across the ground near him, and Marcus stared with wide eyes at the seemingly unaffected beast.

He stood up on shaky legs as the creature launched itself over the counter, pinning Lawrence to the floor with it's metallc paws. A scene that Marcus had dealt with not that long ago was playing out in front of him; where a dog was currently assaulting a defenseless boy. Only this time, he wasn't the one being attacked.

He couldn't shoot the dog, not while it was on top of one of his teammates; he certainly didn't trust his aim that much. Which meant he was left with one option, an option he nervously considered as his clammy hands pulled the crowbar off his belt loop. He'd have to get up close and personal, a position that his body would not allow him to take.

His brain wanted him to stammer out some sort of apology. Some reason for his hesitation, based off phobias and fears from the past. A pathetic reason to not save a teammate; one that he certainly wasn't going to be happy with. Still, as unhappy as he was with himself, his body did the one thing that should never happen in a situation like the one before him: he hesitated.

"MARCUS!" Lawrence shouted, the wishalloy vibrating even more violently while his fellow Arbiter failed to move. With an irritated huff, the man in the heavy coat moved first. Roughly shoving Marcus out of his path, he snatched the knife off of the floor and lunged at the mechanical monster. Driving the knife deep into the exposed 'brain' just as the wishalloy went slack and its teeth managed to sink deep into older mage's arm with an audible crack, the creature lurched backwards in a shower of sparks.

Lawrence rolled out of the way, cradling his broken arm as it collapsed onto the ground, spasming for a moment before the lights of its eyes went dim. Heart racing and breathing heavily, the man placed his foot against the now-still clockwork and pulled the knife out, approaching Lawrence with a grim expression as he surveyed the damage.

"That's an artery, I bet," he surmised, sucking his teeth, "Hope you guys have a medic or somethin' or else your guy's done for in ten." He helped the older mage to his feet, sliding the knife back into its rightful place at Lawrence's hip.

Applying pressure to his arm as the sticky red warmth of blood quickly soaked through his own coat, Lawrence looked to Marcus as they moved back towards the APC, opting not to mention his little freezing incident. At least not yet. As damnable as this situation was, chewing him out for inaction wasn't going to improve things.

"Can you check your phone for Lily's location?" he asked, a hint of steel in his tone. "Make sure they haven't moved. Let them know we need a heal. We're going to pass by, but not stop. Can't afford to give away their location in case we're being watched."

The whole situation was over before Marcus could act; thanks to his inability to move, Lawrence had been seriously injured. Worse, if it weren't for the healer team nearby. He didn't meet Lawrence's eyes, instead focusing on his feet as he slid his weapon back into place.

Later. There would be time to think about it later. Once again, he needed to push his own crisis back to deal with the problem at hand.

He plucked the radio from his belt, making sure to switch it to one of the members of the healer team; the first one to come up being Kusari. There was no reason to shout the message to everyone else on the battlefield, especially if some of the clockworks could actually hear it, like the mission reports had said they might be able to.

"Brandt team, ready yourselves. We've got a pretty serious injury on Evac team, and we're going to be coming by to get healed. Are you still in the original location?"

Kusari fumbled with her radio, nearly crushing it by mistake with her oversized hand. She'd hoped Lily wouldn't be needed so urgently, let alone so soon into the mission. "Yes, we're here at the diner." She peered out of the building, spotting the evacuation team's APC. Thankfully they were close. She shot a glance to Lily. "Remember what I said, I'm pretty sure I was placed on this team for a reason."

Diner. Lawrence cast a discreet glance at the building across the street. "They got a visual on us? Ask Lily what her range is."

In less than a minute, it was over and the clockwork seemed to be dead. Or entirely broken, if you didn't want to think of it as a living thing. But dealing with it hadn't come without a cost. Metal bullets on metal hide hadn't worked, so now in addition to the bite on the civilian's shoulder, Lawrence's arm was injured as well. Was there anything she could have done to prevent it, and prevent Lily from having to take on their injuries?

Following the group back to the APC, her gaze lingered on the male civilian. It had been that man who had helped Lawrence fight off the dog, not Marcus. And she was surprised at that, because he wasn't a mage. For some reason, she had assumed that only the mage teams were supposed to do the rescuing, and all the civilians would be doing was stand around. But it hadn't been like that, and now she felt bad for making such assumptions. Pursing her lips, she tuned into the discussion that was now going on between the the evacuation team and healer team.

Marcus shot a slightly less discreet look at the diner across the way, before catching himself and trying to nonchalantly seem like he was surveying the area. They weren't supposed to give away their healer teams at all, even with a casual glance around the area. Marcus sincerely doubted that any of the clockworks would be able to pick up on such a thing, but he still mentally kicked himself for his little fumble.

"Do you have any idea what Lily's range is? Would she be able to heal Lawrence from your position?"

Lily traipsed over to the broken window, trying to get a better look at the APC. Big wound, she had to look for a big wound. The blonde took a deep breath. A black string appeared around her wrist, extending and roaming towards the vehicle and inhabitants. Seeing wasn't necessary here, only feeling. Big wound. The boy with a broken arm, got it. Suddenly, her own arm became mottled and bloody and she gasped out in agony. Despite the obvious pain she hesitated as she looked at Kusari, as if she was trying to hold something back. As if she was holding herself back. But the injury was transferred as instantaneously as it was received and Lily flopped into a seat, looking tired and slightly apologetic towards her immortal teammate. After an extended pause, she transferred the rest of the APC's passenger's injuries to Kusari too, then slumped further into the booth seat, exhausted now.

Kusari watched as the bone in Lily's arm suddenly snapped, no doubt sending a shock of pain through her body. Her power wasn't exactly enviable, between her and Christmas she wondered just how many healers had to hurt themselves in some way to utilize their magic. Before she could pity her teammate too much Lily transferred the wound to her arm. She sucked air between her teeth, taking deep breaths as she got used to the pain. This wasn't nearly as bad as what she'd done to herself during the flag game. She held her arm away from her clothes, it was bleeding like a leaky faucet and she didn't feel like ruining her new custom uniform just yet. She let out a quiet chuckle, it was funny, life threatening wounds really were nothing to her now, weren't they?

Right as her arm began healing she noticed Lily take on even more injuries. Kusari raised a brow. "Hold up, didn't Marcus sa-" She cringed as the new wounds were transferred as well. The cuts on her face were barely felt, however her arm was a mangled mess now. She let out a grumble full of expletives, shoving down the urge to complain about not being warned. She held her arm up, waving it around like the limb of a doll stuffed with straw. "Screw it." She walked into the back of the diner, out of sight of her team. "Right then..." She raised her right arm and slashed her entire left arm off with her crimson claws. She'd been thinking a second altered arm would come in handy, she just wasn't sure which option to choose. A second claw could increase her lethality, however a tentacle had far more useful options, if only it was a bit longer though. The initial shock of pain nearly caused her to black out, but she ignored it as best she could. The tiled floor was also a red mess now, she almost felt guilty before remembering that the place was a wreck anyhow.

Her bleeding stump of an arm began to bubble as her flesh molded it's self. "Wha?..." She stood dumbfounded as a tentacle grew from her wound. That wasn't unusual, what was odd was that it didn't stop growing. She silently panicked as she contemplated running for help or cutting the thing off. After two minutes it finally stopped growing. "You've gotta be kidding me." She estimated the length of the tentacle, it had to be at least fifteen meters long. Well, she got what she asked for, but she wasn't quite sure how her team would react to seeing it.

For the time being she picked up the mangled arm and tossed it into the diner's freezer. Maybe she'd actually remember to get it later, unlike her right leg.

Allison had stayed planted firmly in her chair during the dealings with the evac team. The healing was Lily's thing, and Kusari would be taking the wounds, leaving making sure that giant mechanical monstrosities didn't sneak up on them during the process to Allison. As a bonus, it gave her a good reason to not look at the wounds appearing on the seemingly immortal girl.

Allison's gaze shifted from broken window to broken window, her eyes searching for any signs of their foes on the surrounding streets. The only thing of note that she could immediately see was the evac team's APC. Though there wasn't much else to be seen, Allison's eyes kept searching the streets until she heard Kusari walk off.

Allison turned back to see Lily slumped into a booth seat by one of the intact windows. Kusari had gone off to the back of the restaurant, judging by the sickening noise that came from that direction only seconds later. If Allison had to guess, Kusari just cut off a limb. Allison was thankful that the girl had chosen to do so away from view, at least.

Kusari had been in the back for a few minutes by the time Allison started to get concerned. She rose from her seat, and made her way to the back of the diner. She didn't actually enter that section of the restaurant, instead keeping just outside of it and calling to the nearly immortal girl.

"You okay back there, Kusari?" Allison heard what she assumed was the door to the diner's walk-in freezer closing as she spoke.

Kusari twitched as she heard Allison call out to her. She couldn't stay back here forever, she had a mission to complete after all. She let out a sigh and walked forward, only to stumble as the tentacle snagged on something. A few suction cups had stuck to the floor. She relaxed the grip, and continued. She had to have the tentacle writhe on the ground on it's own mostly, as lifting it caused her light body to go off balance. As she came within view of Allison she avoided eye contact, pretending everything was normal. "Y-yeah, I'm fine alright?"

Allison took a moment to process what she was looking at. She knew she was gawking at the massive limb, it had to be around 15 meters at least, but she couldn't help it. She had seen Kusari with a tentacle arm before, but that was through a screen, and it hadn't been nearly as long as this. There was a sudden rush of activity in the back of Allison's brain.

Her stigma took hold of her mind. How much could one do with a tentacle that long? What would it feel like? How much would fit in...

Allison rammed her fist into the wall in front of her. Glass fell somewhere behind her, likely shards from what remained in the frames of the broken windows. Her knuckles hurt now, and she focused on that. The action didn't exactly numb her stigma, but it gave her enough control to not force the other girl to the ground.

"Yea... Alright." Her voice had a clear tinge of agitation to it.

Narrowed eyes looked between Allison and the freshly broken pieces of glass that had fallen to the floor. Kusari didn't know what her problem was, she never seemed to be the type of aberration that had a desire to destroy things. It could be something personal, but either way she didn't feel the need to bring it up. "Right... I'm gonna have to stay inside the diner, for obvious reasons. If anything happens out there let me know."

---

Kusari's answer came in the form of a heal. As they neared the APC door, Lawrence felt the injury in his arm repair itself. He still felt a slight chill and lightheadedness at having lost so much blood, but it could've been much worse. No longer needing his support, the man in the black jacket ran towards the blonde woman, her cuts disappearing as she rushed to meet him. They embraced tightly before Lawrence spoke up again, standing by the door, "Alright, let's hurry up and keep moving. Don't want to draw any extra attention here."

As the man in the heavy coat moved to step on, Lawrence stretched his arm across the door frame, hand on his knife as he stared at him warily. There was a moment of tension as the man stared back, shooting confused daggers at the older Arbiter.

"Unzip your collar," Lawrence said stiffly, his meaning clear.

The man scoffed, shaking his head, "I'm not one of you clowns."

"Babe," the woman, Lauren, tightly gripped his arm, "Just do it."

He reluctantly unzipped the collar of his coat, revealing a bare neck. Lawrence nodded impenitently before moving his arm, standing by as the rest of his team filed in. Beyond an unreadable glance, Lawrence paid Marcus no mind. His eyes swept the area for anything unsavory.

—(••[ 𝕎𝕀𝕊ℍ𝔼𝔸𝕋𝔼ℝ ]••)—

Evac Team

Lawrence | Marcus | Savanna | Sophia

---

𝕄: 𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥. 𝟙𝟜, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝕎𝕚𝕤𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕕, 𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕪𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 / / 𝕋𝕠𝕨𝕟 / / ~𝟙𝟟𝟚𝟝

---

_{Collab with @VampireOracle @Chasers115 @Baklava}

A bright red glow from the skyline caused Marcus's attention to shift from the ruined streets ahead of them. It certainly looked like the Support team was in for a fight, if that was the kind of attack that the clockwork creatures were letting off. He nearly shook it off as another attack, but a few pieces of scrap fluttering through the air caught his attention.

Cold fear washed over him as he registered the finely sliced metal as the last pieces of the Strike Team's helicopter. Callan's helicopter. He groped his belt looking for the phone they'd been given, his eyes still focused on where the helicopter used to be. Before he could bring the radio up to his mouth, Angel's voice echoed the words he'd already prepared.

"Striker Team... are you there? I repeat... Callan, Sander, are you two alrig-... Ah shit!"

Whatever the Support team was dealing with, it had taken Angel's attention away from the radio. There was a moment of silence, a moment that seemed to last forever in Marcus's spinning mind, punctuated by a far off scream in the distance.

The radio crackled, before a welcome voice responded. "We're FINE! Stay focused!"

Marcus let out a sigh of relief. It didn't even sound like she'd been phased by being blown out of the sky. He doubted that the decidely not-superhuman pilot was as unfazed, but he wasn't as worried about that. A thought that he should have felt more guilty about, but which went right over his head in the moment.

While the APC continued to move, Sophia's main focus remained around the area she had last seen the person, thus missing the laser beam that her power had shaded an inconspicuous shade of gray. It was the words coming from the radio that alerted her that something not so good had happened. Her stomach clenched at the abrupt ending of the message, what was going on over there and with the Striker team? What if- another message came through, and she repeated it to herself. Stay focused. The Evacuation was probably the team that would face the least danger throughout the mission, but staying focused still seemed like a good idea, and she drew her attention back to their surroundings.

Marcus stepped out the APC behind Lawrence, listening intently to the frantic woman. One guy trapped in the store with one of those wierd clockwork monsters. Not exactly the sort of thing that they were equipped to deal with, but one injured monster shouldn't pose a huge threat to a group of four mages.

He followed Lawrence into the store, nervously checking his gun again as they entered, the soft crunching of glass underfoot. The building was dark, to be expected from a ruined town like this, and the flashlight from his phone gave the shadows an eerie look. A loud thumping from the back, punctuated by a metallic growl that made Marcus's hair stand on end attested to the lady's story.

Though she didn't step out of the APC just yet, Sophia listened to the woman while looking out of the door. She couldn't see her face, but it was still evident from the tone of voice how upset the woman was. The mood was catching, and Sophia found herself getting increasingly uneasy and frightened. Weren't they supposed avoid confrontation with the creatures? That would mean going in the opposite direction. But now a person in danger had entered the picture, and that changed the situation too much. This wasn't how things were supposed to go.

She followed her teammates closely as they approached the store, not wanting to lag behind even by a few steps. But when they reached the door she could go no further, one hand keeping the door open as she stood there staring transfixed with wide eyes at the clockwork only she could see. She couldn't bring herself to go any further in the store, not when it meant going closer to that dangerous thing. They needed to deal with that?

"Wait," Lawrence said, before they got too far. Pivoting to face Sophia, he quickly took note of expression on her face, keeping his voice low as he spoke, "You don't have to come inside. Just tell us what you see and stay here. We need a look out."

"What about me?" Savannah persisted from the open door of the of APC, "I want to help, too!"

"Stay, Savannah. And quiet down," he replied, "Help Sophia keep an eye out while we're inside."

Turning his attention back to Sophia, he continued, "How many are there? Just the one?"

It made her a coward, but she was relieved Lawrence didn't think she needed to go inside. Nodding to answer his question, she didn't bother to look at him. When taking a metal clockwork with sharp teeth ramming against a door to escape and comparing it to Lawrence, the clockwork won the prize for most attention grabbing. "It has sharp teeth, it's big, and I think it's going to break out soon," she whispered, more to herself than anyone else.

“Great…” Marcus muttered to himself. A big creature, with sharp teeth, an apparently canine-esque growl, and was about to come through the door? Sounded like their job couldn’t get much easier than that.

If the thing was really close to battering down the door, then that meant there wasn’t any time to waste in assisting the man barring the entrance, and of the four of them present, he was at least best equipped to get out of the way or back the hell up if the thing did come through. Marcus shoved his phone back into its holder, plunging the store into a slight darkness again, before moving to assist.

He jogged over to the pharmacy counter, taking the long way around it rather than leaping over it cool-guy style like he wanted. He immediately pressed himself up against the splintering door, making sure to keep all extremities away from the growing crack. He huffed slightly, giving the man who was currently holding it a weak smile.

“Hiya; don’t worry…here to-” he was cut off here as the creature slammed the door again. “- help.” Although his tone was calm, he could feel his heart beginning to race once more, having caught a better glimpse of the creature.

Of course it would be a dog. It wasn't a real dog (a thought that didn't really do much to help his nerves), but he was at least comforted slightly by the knowlege that he could beat it to death if needed, rather than turning tail and running away with just his bare fists. He certainly wasn't happy about the development, but as long as they sorted it out quickly, it wouldn't be a problem.

Upon closer inspection, the man had a decently sized bite missing from his shoulder. Teeth marks framed the missing fabric and flesh, blood pooling within the crater-like wound. "Where's Lauren?" he asked, his voice strained as the door took another heavy hit.

"Waiting outside," Lawrence answered as he neared the counter-- choosing to remain on the other side as he quickly assessed the situation. Just then, the canine-like clockwork crashed against the door again. This time it managed to drive one clawed paw almost completely through the door as the wood splintered further.

"That door's about to give," Lawrence said sharply, lifting his shotgun into position, but not aiming at the door just yet. "On the next hit, let it go and move out of the way! I'll try to shoot it down." It wasn't the most ideal plan. The better plan might've been not to try saving this one at all, but here they were. Options were limited-- as well as information. Sophia hadn't been very detailed in her description of the creature, but there hadn't been time to sit around and press for details.

Marcus shuttered with the door as the creature slammed against it once more, before giving Lawrence a quick nod of agreement. It certainly wasn't the best plan, but it was all they really had in this situation. He prepped himself for the maneuver, readying to launch himself off the door and out of the path of Lawrence's shotgun on the next hit.

—(••[ 𝕎𝕀𝕊ℍ𝔼𝔸𝕋𝔼ℝ ]••)—

Evac Team

Lawrence | Marcus | Savannah | Sophia

---

𝕄: 𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥. 𝟙𝟜, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝕎𝕚𝕤𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕕, 𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕪𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 / / 𝕋𝕠𝕨𝕟 / / ~𝟙𝟟𝟘𝟘

---

_{Collab with @VampireOracle @Chasers115 @Baklava @January and @RedDusk(Who's actually doing her job for once)}

In all honesty, the deafening silence of their ride over the first day (at least before the attack) was far preferable to the current situation. The thunderous footsteps of some far-off creature were in great contrast to the low humming of the APC. Every snap of timber they drove over, and the soft crunching of the debris underneath served to put Marcus in a slightly tenser state of mind.

He’d already finished applying the Wishalloy to his legs, acutely aware to not make the same error that Savannah had. The clear material caught the light every so often as he bounced his leg nervously, sitting silently on a bench under the assumption that Sophia was currently scanning the area.

The maps that were being uploaded to their phones was a welcome distraction in some ways, but another layer of his ever-growing nervousness in others. Most of the clockwork forces were right where they should have been, but the ones that weren’t were the most concerning. Designated as ‘Collector/Elephant’ types, Marcus could only assume that they were the source of the giant footsteps. Part of him wondered what gave them the ‘Collector’ designation, but the other part hoped he wouldn’t have to find out.

The crackling of the radio pierced the ambient silence of the APC as Marcus pulled it off his belt to listen to the monsters.

"Testing testing. One two three. Angelic here, you guys hear me? I wanted to tell you guys, even if we are all split-up in different groups, we are still a team. Communication is key here. So please, if you spot anything out of the ordinary: a stray Factory's minion, an unknown Mage or whatever, warn the other groups, even if you are not to engage them. Let's keep ourselves updated, so we can adapt if things go wrong."

"Y'all stay safe and be careful, alright? Support Team nearing objective. Angel out."

"Evac Team; we're reading you, Angel." Marcus replied, his tone much more business-like than it usually was. "Adding to that list: if anybody sees any groups of civvies, ping it on the map if you can; we'll see what we can do. Like the woman says, be careful out there, you guys. Evac team over and out." He put the phone back into safe-keeping, and spoke up, the message having spurred him into impatientness.

"See anything out there, Sophs?"

Sophia turned on her power once the APC began to move. For the second time, she watched as everything around her faded into shades of gray and as the people around her disappeared, leaving only the clothes and items they wore behind. To make things easier for herself she looked out of the windows around the sides of the truck, head turning side to side as she tried to see through the materials around her, most of them too thick for her to make out any clear shapes.

She tried to ignore the occasional ominous footsteps that showed there was something prowling around nearby, but couldn't help jumping almost every time one sounded. Though she also heard the message from one of the other teams through the radio, she didn't respond as Marcus was already doing so.

After a particularly loud footstep that made the driver turn down an even narrower road, she began to shake her head in response to Marcus's question when she saw what looked like two sets of clothing ahead, floating in midair. Changing her shake to a nod, she looked over at Marcus, or at least tried to. Her seemingly unfocused gaze rested at the place where Marcus's face should be for a second before she turned back to looking at the two people. "There're two people up ahead..."

"Well then I guess this is our stop! Marcus said, tapping the armored wall of the APC twice to signal the driver. "Got some up ahead!"

When the APC came to a stop, Marcus carefully stepped out the back, scanning the ruined town. He looked down for just a moment to check his pistol: safety off. He looked over the rest of the buildings, leaning towards Sophia without turning. He kept his voice low, nearly a whisper. It certainly wouldn't be very good if the two were hostile and he gave away their position by loudly shouting. Not that the armored vehicle driving through town was super stealthy.

"Just the two of 'em?" he asked. "Where are they at?"

As the APC came to a stop and Marcus stepped out, Sophia made herself follow a few seconds later. She would rather stay in the "safety" of the APC, but it would be easier to point out where the two people were if they were both standing on the same spot. Noting the soft voice that Marcus used to speak, her reply was soft as well, not that that was unusual for her. Raising an arm and hoping her finger was pointing in the right direction, she aimed her index finger towards the building where the two people were huddled.

"Around there... I think?"

Lawrence followed her gesture with his eyes, standing up and leaving the APC behind Marcus. "Whether we kill them or save them, better make it fast. We don't want to stay in place too long."

A glance at Marcus and a quick look at the approximate location Sophia had pointed out gave the Arbiter a few milliseconds of pause before he spoke up again.

"Marcus. The more dangerous move of opening that door is on you. I'll be ready to calm them down if whoever's behind that door is agitated." He shifted the loaded shotgun in his arms, the alternative clear as well.

"What about me?" Savannah called out loudly, not catching the quieter tones of conversation.

"Stay quiet. Stay inside," came Lawrence's curt answer.

While Lawrence's curt response of "kill them or save them" had seemed like daily business to him, Marcus was a little taken aback by the statement, truthfully. Still, he gave Lawrence a nod, taking a defensive position near the door.With his back to the wall, Marcus checked his gun one more time, taking a deep before he moved.

Four seconds. Whatever happened, he needed to make sure that he had four seconds of safety.

He grabbed the handle with his free hand, allowing himself one more breath. On the exhale, he flung the door open, immediately raising his pistol while taking a step inside, readying a rewind if needed.

Rustling movement to his right and down greeted the armed savior (of a sort) and the brown-haired boy had to hold back his sister from running off in fear, the girl's muffled screaming taking long seconds to finally quiet down as she stared up at the decidedly unimposing Marcus, fear slowly turning into a careful stare at his face. Both siblings' eyes were a cool shade of jade green, but that was all the similarity they shared having both taken very different sides of the genetic lottery. The older brother's features were sharper and more defined, while his little sister--who didn't look any older than 7 or 8--had inherited someone's softer cheeks and wide brow, looking far more innocent than even a child her age had a right to appear.

His quick scan wasn't exactly necessary, as the muffled scream of a small child immediately directed his attention to the two figures in the corner. Two of them, a young looking girl and a slightly older looking boy, neither of them marked with DC's lovingly rendered stamps. He immediately holstered his gun, raising his hands to show he meant no harm and giving a quick "Clear!" to the rest of Evac team.

"Don't worry; we're here to help." Marcus said, kneeling slightly, his tone as calm and cool as he could make it.

The older brother blinked at the scarred boy currently kneeling before them, shoulders relaxing just a touch when he heard the word ‘help’. However, tension bled back into his limbs once he spotted the white mark right below Marcus’ eye.

“N-No. You’re a sub.” -Wide eyes brimmed with fear, and he unconsciously pulled his sister closer to himself –“Stay away!”

"Hey, hey, hey." Marcus said, in what was probably a poor attempt to defuse the situation. "I'm one of the good guys, see?" he said, giving his cheekbone a quick tap. There was a part of him that was unconsciously ashamed of the divide between the abes and arbs he'd pointed out, but it was a necessary evil at this moment.

"What's your name, kid?" he punctuated this sentence by kneeling further, his right knee fully touching the ground now.

“J-Jake.” -Came the breathy answer, and wide eyes were still wary of Marcus’ every move.

"Alright Jake, I'm Marcus. We're going to get you and your sister to safety, and get your arm all patched up, okay?" he held out his hand slightly, extending it to the injured boy.

It took a few more moments of careful staring before the young boy finally relented. It was either this smouldering ruin or the extending hand at this point, and despite his fears, Jake knew what he had to do. For his sister’s sake and his own. He took the hand.

“Okay.”

"Alright, let's get you out of here then."

He took the young man's hand and stood up, helping the two kids to their feet. With a small gesture to the door, he led the both out, taking a moment to give one last scan to the room before leaving.

"That all for around here, Sophs?" he asked, keeping an eye on the kids as they approached the APC. He'd completely forgotten that Savannah was a Abe when he'd been trying to win their trust, and he hoped that it wouldn't come back to haunt them. Worst case scenario, he figured; Lawrence was there to calm them down if they started panicking. He gave Lawrence a quick glance at this thought, hoping he was ready.

Despite his injury, the young boy managed to help his sister climb into the truck. Entering after her, he froze as soon as he saw Savannah on the far seat, glancing back at Marcus before deciding it was alright. "Move, Isla," he muttered, positioning himself between the young girl and the Aberration-- just in case.

Savannah took notice, but merely pursed her lips and looked away-- the best thing she could've done considering her current mood and temper.

After what had seemed like ages, at last Marcus came out of the building with the two in tow. Now that the civilians were standing, she realized how short one of them was. A child, probably not much older or younger than her sister? It was hard to tell without seeing a face. Continuing to stand watch while the trio approached, she didn't answer Marcus's question immediately, taking the time the civilians took to climb in the APC to have one more look around. Scanning the nearby buildings once again, there seemed to be no one else around. Then paying attention to the objects farther away, she didn't see anything worthy of note eith- wait.

Had she been imagining it or had she seen the movement of a person appearing in the distance, before vanishing behind something she couldn't really see through? Maybe she had imagined it. Was it worth mentioning if she might be wrong? Buying herself time to think, she got into the APC while still trying to keep an eye on the place where that person had disappeared.

"I... don't know."

"I don't know" wasn't a good answer. "Maybe?"

Wasting time. Her voice took on a stressed tone as she tried to articulate herself. "No one... nearby."

A sigh. "But for farther away... I don't know. I might have... but I don't know." Hidden inside her pockets, her hands made fists. "I'll keep looking... but we don't have time."

Marcus clambered in as Sophia spoke, garnering a slightly raised eyebrow from him. It only took her a moment to articulate herself, and Marcus gave a quick look in the direction she was, peeking out the window. There certainly wasn't anything he could see, but he honestly wasn't even sure if he was looking the right way; she'd mentioned something about '360 vision'.

"Which way? We might as well head that direction..." he asked. " It's not like we've got any other leads."

He contemplated asking the kids if they knew were anybody might be, but it didn't seem like a great idea. They'd clearly been through a lot already, and the fact that there were only two of them didn't bode well for any sort of caretakers. Right now, they just needed to rest and try to not think about it.

In response to Marcus's question, Sophia pointed with her left arm directly towards the spot the person had disappeared before remembering that the rest couldn't see the way she did. Dropping her arm quickly, she switched to explaining verbally. "Around a block ahead, I think it's the road that's on the left?" Lowering her voice, she muttered, "But don't take my word for it."

"Hmmm... Marcus pondered. A block ahead and to the left; he checked his map real quick to make sure his hunch was correct. That was pretty close to Lily's healer team - even if there wasn't anything actually there, it probably wouldn't hurt to go that direction. The alternative was getting dangerously close to whatever the 'collectors' were, which wasn't something he was looking to do.

"Welp. You heard the girl! Full speed ahead, Captain!" Marcus said, allowing himself a moment of reprive from his own seriousness.

—(••[ 𝕎𝕀𝕊ℍ𝔼𝔸𝕋𝔼ℝ ]••)—

Evacuation Preperation

Lawrence | Marcus | Savanna | Sophia

---

𝕄: 𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥. 𝟙𝟜, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝕎𝕚𝕚𝕤𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕕, 𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕪𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 / / 𝕋𝕠𝕨𝕟 / / ~𝟙𝟟𝟘𝟘

---

_{Collab with @VampireOracle, @Chasers115 and @Baklava I think? But maybe also @January and @banjoanjo?}

By the time the little group had separated and gone their seperate ways, it seemed that the rest of the teams had been doing the same thing. Everyone was starting to move towards their designated locations, which meant he needed to find the rest of his team and start heading for the APC. According to the map, it wasn't too far off - it shouldn't take too long to get to, but maybe they'd have enough time to talk powers and strategy.

Not that there was any strategy besides watch for people and carry them into the truck, but it'd be nice to have all the bases covered.

"Evac team!" he said, raising his voice just enough to carry over the few people that were still milling around. He was cautious to not shout, lest they immediately be swarmed by some hidden monsters the advance team had missed. He did wave his arm, hoping that the rest of the team would start heading his direction.

He was looking for three other people: Lawrence, Sophia, and Savannah, and he had no idea what any of them looked like. Hopefully they hadn't already started walking towards the APC, or he'd just be standing here waiting for people that were already gone.

Sophia hadn't moved far from the truck since they had arrived, pretty unsure about... everything. She still had no idea who Lawrence and Marcus were, but she lifted her gaze from the ground in front of her and scanned the area around her for them anyway. She regretted it doing so. Her surroundings were absolutely dismal and didn't help with the fear already gathered in a thick knot inside of her. After her initial glance around the area upon arriving, she was trying her best not to look around too much.

She was so scared.

The way she showed her fear didn't make it immediately apparent to someone who would just glance at her. Her arms were tightly crossed, and her back was straight as she kept herself drawn up to her full height. Her face, including her eyes, were blank, her face in her neutral position that resembled a slight frown as she concentrated her attention not on her outer appearance, but on controlling how she felt. But it still wasn't too hard to tell.

She knew she needed to get moving, and soon, though she was tempted to just stand in place and wait for someone to approach her instead. Since she didn't know who half of her team was, should she just head off alone and hope that they would all meet up at the assigned spot? Forcing herself to look up once more, she was about to begin looking around for Savannah when a call, along with a waving arm, caught her attention.

One of the students from the Evac team? Relieved, she headed over to the boy until she stood diagonally in front of him, arms still crossed as she gave him a small nod. Lawrence or Marcus? Did she trust herself to speak? But it would be weird if she didn't say anything, so she didn't really have a choice, did she?

"I'm Sophia." A whisper of a voice, but at least she had managed to speak. That was good, right? Hah. Had it even been audible?

A taller student came up to them soon after Marcus's shout, his gait disturbingly calm despite the ruin around them. "Lawrence," he replied, checking the map on his phone like he was simply out for a walk through town. His other hand was occupied with a shotgun and a pistol hung from his belt holster on one side while a knife was comfortably sheathed on the other. Invisible to the group, a flare gun sat nestled in his jacket's inner pocket, making the comfortable, broken-in leather bulge slightly around his ribs.

Behind him, a small blonde girl followed, face pulled into a scowl that didn't quell her shaking hands. "This is so stupid," she muttered, the attempt at anger giving way to fear. She had taken a bit of time in Ground Zero to sate her Stigma, because every other X seemed to be doing it, but now she regretted not having that veneer of fury to hide behind--to wash the world red so she couldn't see all the details of the reality in front of her. A glance at Sophia and a quick wave was the friendliest she could manage at the moment, caught between terror of the unknown and terror of a "kill on sight" order. "Let's just get going already. I hate this."

"Marcus." he greeted, nearly missing Sophia's name. She was probably just nervous, and he couldn't exactly blame her: two of the members on their team, Sophia included, looked to be no older than middle schoolers, and they'd been thrown into the middle of a warzone. At least the other one seemed a little more capable, especially with the shotgun he was toting around. Good to know that he wasn't the only one with a decent weapon.

"I hear you." Marcus said, responding to the blonde girl's comment. "Might as well talk while we walk. he added, turning and doing just that. He made sure to keep his pace so that he was in line with everyone, unwilling to walk first; or perhaps just not wanting to seem like the unofficial leader of the group. Heavens knew he wasn't qualified to lead anybody.

"So what're you guy's powers?" A strategic question as much as it was an attempt at small talk as they moved to their destination. "I'm mobility. I can instantly move forward, or jump back a little bit to where I was previously."

That was about the best explanation of it. He'd internally debated adressing it as a rewind, but that kind of nomenclature was more confusing than anything. Best to keep it simple.

"Mind influence," Lawrence answered, "More specifically, I can align the mental state of others with my own. Sometimes works on DC monsters. Generally used for calming subnaturals, though."

Savannah twisted the baton in her hands as she spoke, "My power only works on spell casters. I put a mark on them and they explode when they cast a spell and it takes a long ass time to recharge. And it's like five minutes."

At least Sophia had already thought about how she would tell what her power was, so it wasn't as difficult as it could have been. Still, she went last and used those extra seconds while the others were speaking to run over what she would say once more, barely catching what Lawrence and Savannah could do. "Mine's related to seeing... in different ways," she began when the rest were finished, raising her voice so that it was louder than before. "I can use... well, X-ray vision, but it's kind of weak? Then there's also night and 360 vision too. But it only lasts for around ten, then takes five until I can use it again."

Maybe she should write down the main points about her power and print out a few copies so she could hand those out instead of repeating herself everytime. Because she had a feeling that she would need to keep repeating herself more in the future. Remembering she had forgotten to say something one last thing, she hurried to add it on. "Also, I can't see living things when it's on. So like, any subtle hand motions or facial expressions... are lost on me." Or had that been too detailed? The rest had just described their powers in two sentences.

Interesting setup they'd been given here. Basically a perfect team for trying to rescue panicking civilians, and a little bit of backup if they were attacked by the subnatural group that was apparently hiding around. Whoever had put together the squads had certainly put a fair amount of thought into it, something he was relieved to notice.

"Well, between the four of us, we should be pretty good then." Marcus said. He minutely jerked as he remembered something, pulling out the long bolts of armor they'd been given. He wrapped two the smaller ones around his arm as he walked, his rolled up sleeve showcasing the burns down his arm as the material flowed across his skin.

"I'd suit up now if I were you guys, just in case." He squeezed his hands together, impressed with how well it blended, and how little he could actually tell it was there.

He hiked up his shirt just enough to shimmy the larger bolt underneath and make sure he didn't cut off his holster belt, before dropping it back over the exposed skin as that bolt melted across his chest. He'd apply the legs once they'd gotten comfortable in the APC. The added protection made him feel a little bit safer, but his eyes still darted around the ruins, watching for anything that might break out of a destroyed building and rush them. Ernie's advice about them being on the outskirts and therefore being easy prey had really only served to make him slightly jumpy.

"Way ahead of you," Lawrence remarked, holding up his hand to display the barely visible layer of wishalloy. The older boy looked past the map on his phone to observe the marks on Marcus's arm, but made no comment. Nothing new.

Savannah nodded at Marcus's suggestion and got to work applying the material to her own arms and legs as they walked-- over her clothes, because, despite everything, there were still boys present. Her movements were quick and angry, accompanied by several frustrated sighs before she finally watched the material settle over her dark red rain coat and denim jeans.

"God DAMN IT!" Savannah exclaimed after a moment, patting frantically at the pocket of her pants. A small canister-shaped bulge was enough to indicate she'd forgotten to remove the pepper spray from her pocket before putting on her wishalloy.

Oh right, she had almost forgotten to put on the remaining wishalloy. Curious to see how it worked, Sophia had already put it over her arms and torso while riding in the truck, and it now lay hidden under her black cardigan. Though she would soon loose access to her jean pockets, at least she would have those two pockets in addition to the belt. After pulling out the material that had been shoved in her pockets, she glanced up at Marcus and, seeing the marks there, her eyebrows drew together. Scars on his face, burn marks on his arms. I wonder what happened, she wondered before busying herself with putting on the wishalloy.

Falling back a few steps from the group as she stopped to cover one leg, she hurried to catch up once more before doing the same for the other leg. She was now finished, and it seemed Savannah was as well, but with a complication. It was too bad that Savannah had forgotten to take an item out, but at least she would get it out in a few hours, if what the Commander had said was true. She considered saying something to try and make the older girl feel better about the pepper spray, but decided against it.

Instead, she reached out and put a hand on Sav's shoulder. Shrugging her shoulders, she gave the girl a half smile by pulling up only one corner of her mouth and holding it for a second before finishing it into a somewhat forced, small, smile. The actions were intended to show the girl that it was okay and there was nothing she could do about the sealed in can, and the smile was supposed to be reassuring. But she didn't hold the smile for long, for a few seconds later she dropped the hand and looked away as she bit her lip hard and slid her hands into her pockets.

Marcus chuckled softly to himself, having surmised what it was that the blonde girl had sealed away in her pockets. "Locked your pepper spray off, huh?" he said, snapping his off of his belt. He didn't need the spray himself; if there was anything that could be sprayed, it could just as easily be beaten over with a large hunk of hardware. He doubted that a small girl swinging a baton would have quite the same impact, so it'd serve her better than it would serve him.

"Heads up!" he said, lightly tossing the canister over to her.

Sophia's attempt at comfort was met with only a slightly less irate stare. Savannah's shoulder flinched away from the girl's touch as she instantly took offense to Marcus's question, but she kept her mouth shut. Not even a 'thank you' as she clumsily caught the canister he offered her. She swallowed hard and ran her thumb along the metal, trying to look past the fear as they finally came to the APC.

"Alright," Lawrence said, unconcerned with Savannah's mistake as he stowed his communicater in the pocket of his jacket. "Once we get started, we'll have to move fast to best take advantage of Sophia's eyes. Most of the people we'll be evacuating will be indoors. I suggest we have Sophia scope the buildings from outside first. Then, Marcus, you can head inside and do a quick secondary check. If I'm understanding your ability correctly, you should be able to jump back out of the house if you see anything Sophia missed, right?"

"Once the coast is clear, I'll join you while Savannah waits with Sophia outside as lookout. From there, we'll help get people outside and into the truck."

Nice of Marcus to give Savannah his can of pepper spray. That was something Sophia should have thought of and done, it was better than just making a bunch of motions at Sav that hadn't seemed to have any effect. Shifting her attention from Sav to the APC up ahead, she listened closely as Lawrence began to make plans for what each of them would be doing. It sounded as if it might be able to work, but then she had pretty much no experience with strategy, so she wouldn't know. At least it was something to work from. Simply nodding to show she had heard and understood, she remained silent.

Oof, tough crowd Marcus thought to himself, noting the blonde girl's general irritation. He turned his attention to Lawrence as he spoke, nodding as he detailed the plan. Get in, make sure that there wasn't anything hiding inside one of the houses, and get back out if there was something hiding inside. He noted that Lawrence failed to mention what to do if there was something dangerous inside the building, but he assumed the answer to that question was easily found with the shotgun he was toting around.

"Sounds like a plan. Definitely be on the lookout for any landmarks or important looking buildings around here - those are the most likely places for people to have run to when everything went to hell." Of course, a greater chance of finding civilians meant a greater chance of encountering hostile forces too. Hopefully they'd all been pushed back, though.

A soldier, rifle in hand, waited by the open driver side door as the group approached the already running APC. His eyes only briefly flickered to the children as he carefully surveyed the surrounding area.

"Keep an eye out for other subnaturals, too," Lawrence warned as Savannah stepped in front of him, clambering in and taking her seat first. "They may blend in with the people we're meant to be retrieving, so don't let your guard down too easily. And let's try to make sure none of them end up on the truck."

Savannah stiffened in her seat at the mentioning of that possibility-- having hurried into the APC for the aura of safety it seemed to exude. But she said nothing, not even being given the chance as the solider urged them to hurry up and get in.

—(••[ 𝕎𝕀𝕊ℍ𝔼𝔸𝕋𝔼ℝ ]••)—

Marcus | Siena

---

𝕄: 𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥. 𝟙𝟜, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝕌𝕊𝔸ℝ𝕀𝕃ℕ 𝔼𝕒𝕤𝕥 / / ℂ𝕒𝕞𝕡𝕦𝕤 / / 𝟙𝟜𝟘𝟘

---

_{Collab with @Chasers115 and @PapiTan}

It wasn't too long after Marcus had changed into some dry clothing that he'd been marched back down to the briefing room. Forcefully sat once again, he'd learned exactly where to look, either at the screen, or the man himself. The correct answer in this case was the commander, as it seemed he had gathered a new toy for them. Some sort of film, or wrap, or...something. Something that wrapped itself around the man's arms by itself. A beautiful alternative to body armor, save for the one little sticking point.

It had never been tested, and they were the lab rats.

He wasn't sure how to feel about the situation. On one hand, state-of-the-art untested equipment. On the other, state-of-the-art untested equipment. They were being loaded up, but he wasn't sure if it was for their benefit, or for the data. He wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth, though - even the ability to shrug of a single hit was better than his current armor of a single hoodie. The three hour time limit meant they'd be suiting up when they got to the destination - as long as they didn't get ambushed on the way there like the very first day.

Then there was the other catch. A subnatural group, believed to at least be unfriendly. Another threat, that could come from absolutely anywhere and do absolutely anything with no warning. It was not an update that made him feel any better about the situation. This kind of thing meant that nobody was 100% safe - even the evac team could have nasty run-in with an angry subnatural.

Still, the big monster needed taken care of, and they had a plan that should work even with the added threats. He was just left a little more uneasy than before. At least he'd be riding around in a heavily armored truck while his friends were getting slaughtered.

Yeah, that didn't help.

Gear was the main concern for him, once the briefing had ended. First thing: a pistol; he didn't want to be caught unarmed like the first mission. Fortunately for him, the armory box was happy to oblige - even containing what appeared to be the same model he was accustomed to, not that he could name it. All things firearm was Max's area of expertise, but she'd at least taught him how to use one. A skill that he was exceedingly grateful for now.

Pistol? Check. Ammo? Check. Holster? Check. Knife, pepper spray, and baton? Check.

That would have been all for him, had a few other things in the boxes not caught his eye.

A trusty crowbar - apocolypse survivior's best friend. All the bludgeoning power of his collapsible baton, but with the added benefit of utility. Hopefully Daisy wouldn't be too mad if he snagged one before the requisition form could go through. He traded the spot where the baton sat for a makeshift crowbar-holster, leaving it hang clumsily at his side. It'd probably be less annoying in the long run if he just carried it, but that belt loop would serve as a makeshift holster for now.

And finally, the bright orange pistol. Flare gun. Neatly clipped to his side in the event of an emergency. A surefire way to get a million different enemies to come swarming over them, but a potential life-saver if there were already a million enemies swarming over them.

He fastened the belt around his waist, the crowbar bouncing lightly, but expectedly, off his leg. He untucked the hoodie and pulled it over the belt, double checking to make sure he could still reach everything just fine.

Geared up and ready to go, or that's what he hoped.

---

A swarm.

'You'll be okay.'

Siena remained silent through the briefing, her mind turning over a myriad of scenarios. She had been aware that they were going to be sent into combat situations, and had evena accepted that bleak reality early on. Every rational part of her body told her that she should be afraid, and yet the brunette felt an unnerving calm. It wasn't the same feeling as the training exercise from hell, it was...relieving? Plenty of excuses why, of course. No people as opponents, only monsters. Monsters that were cold, unfeeling machines in literal sense. There was lingering concern over the wellbeing of her teammates, but the girl had seen what they were capable of.

Her mind went back to the training exercise. Collateral damage. There were people still there, still trying to escape certain death. Still praying that they could run far and away from the clockwork fiends that felt nothing as they trampled them like grass underfoot.

'Far and away from the monster you are.'

Siena was quiet as she examined the equipment, as she traced a finger over the hilt of the knife--it was heftier than what she was used to--and considered her options. Firearms would likely be of little use against what they were up against, or...at least conventional ones. The knife would be equally useless without serious support from a name unless...

...well, that was a thought better left for the heat of battle.

With a soft sigh, Siena unbuttoned her coat. Losing access to her pockets was absolutely out of the question...perhaps it was time to look into getting her hands on something less cumbersome than an e-reader for her abilities. Really, she doubted the utility of the Wishalloy in the position that support would be in, but it was better safe than sorry. If it even worked at all...but that wasn't what she was after.

The knife, the baton, no pepperspray...her eyes drifted towards the firearms again. Not useful against the monsters, she told herself. Not useful against the monsters.

'Unless that monster is just like you.'

"Stop thinking."

If only it were that easy.

"How're you feeling?" Marcus said, giving Siena a little nudge with his elbow. Siena was one of the few people that he was legitimately worried about, and he didn't even know how she was taking the whole situation.

A voice made her jump, her fingers immediately gripping the hilt of the blade. Had her mind been slower in reminding the girl of her company, no doubt she would have drawn it. A breath, her fingers relaxed as she turned to the source, the blade staying safely tucked into its place. "O-Oh...Marcus..." Another breath and the tension dropped, grey eyes peering at her roommate.

'Careful...'

"I um...I guess I'm a little worried..." Nervous, but perhaps for the wrong reasons. "What about you? You're the one that has to worry about...well, other people..."

"It's...yeah." Marcus said, sighing a little bit. "Little tense, that's for sure." he was understating that fact - there were people out there that would be counting on them - and there were people that they weren't going to be able to help. That was the part that was drowning his thoughts out the most.

"Should be fine though; just keep my eyes open and pull people into the truck. Nothing to worry about!" He followed this statement with a hesitant smile, eyes darting to the rest of the people in the room. "Any idea who you're gonna use?" he said, referencing her power.

"Yeah, between you and the others, I'm sure you'll all do the best you can." A faint smile and a little distance between herself and the next question. "I'm hoping I can get away with someone that can soak up the hits, but in the worst case scenario..." Here, Siena hesitated, a faint light of discomfort breaking past the mental barriers for a fraction of a second before she replaced the mask. Her problem, not his. "Well, if it gets to that point, I'll have to fight fire with fire." Or...well, a monster with a monster.

"Just make sure we know which one is which: I don't want you running up on us and scaring the bejeezus out of me!" he said, giving one last look over the gear in the box. He had everything he needed; adding to his belt would just weigh him down. But what if there was some situation he wasn't prepared for?.

"Get in a couple shots for me, too!" This statement was met with another shaky grin, his optimism slowly starting to dwindle as he fretted about the mission.

Uncertainty, and it wasn't her own. Countless thoughts came to mind, but the faint echo of sympathy quicky doubled over the rest of the sea. Certainly, it wasn't as though Marcus was going to be running into battle facefirst, but responsibility over lives that weren't one's own was always taxing. The thought plucked a chord of guilt out over the girl, but she tucked the turmoil away. There would be time enough for that later, when there wouldn't be adverse effects.

Instead of returning the grin, she released a breath that had been coming too slowly and drew from experience. What was it that Maya did...? The memories were harder to conjure up properly.

"Marcus, you're going to do a good job out there." A reassuring smile, a gentle hand on the shoulder to associate with the emotion she wanted to elicit. It wasn't quite as easy without a target in mind, without Maya telling her exactly how to behave and feeding her lines as she went. Her mind went on. Pull hand away before changing tone. Good. Siena replaced the warmth with a--not too much--halfhearted grin. "But sure, if kicking a few monsters is what it takes to encourage you, I can do that too."

"That's all I ask!" Marcus said. Siena's enthusiasm had at least given him a little bit of a jump, which was all he really needed at this point. He couldn't shake the feeling that it was a little too 'motherly' for his taste, but he wasn't going to tell his roommate to stop being so supportive.

"You all geared up? Taking anything fun with you?" Not a great attempt at small-talk, but perhaps he could be excused in this one instance.

"U-Um...if a knife and baton are...fun...?" Giving a nervous laugh, the brunette found her fingers tangling themselves in her hair for a moment before she brushed the locks behind her shoulder. "I don't really want to shoot one and then have the bullet ricochet into someone else. Magic armor or not, I don't want to shoot my teammates..."

Marcus hummed to himself. He'd forgotten that he was one of the few people here who actually knew how to use a pistol - a skill that he figured should have been at the top of the training list, instead of push-ups and junk like that. It was a useful skill to have, and he imagined that the first fight could have gone way worse without it. Perhaps if the institution wasn't going to train them, he'd have to take up the mantle himself, if only so they could have another line of defense if things went wrong.

"Tell you what! When we're done with this, I'll take you out and show you how to fire a pistol! Then you won't have to worry about accidentally shooting your teammates!"

"That...actually might be a good idea," Siena replied with a smile to mask the surge of uncomfortably familiar memories that came at the offer. Calloused hands and gruff words. "Hm, guess we'll stick to knives 'ntil you get a little bigger." She continued smiling through it, putting a faint sense of cheekiness into her next statement. "I'll trade you lessons on not getting pushed into sewage for firearm training?"

"I think I learned the one lesson from that experience: 'Don't let the opposing team fall directly on top of you because who knows what's gonna happen after that?'" Marcus said, shrugging and rolling his eyes at Siena. "But if you've got any other tips you'd like to impart, then I would be happy to hear them."

"A good a lesson as any," Siena shot back. "But really, I can show you how to use a knife when we get back. In case you ever need it." Adjusting her coat, the brunette checked her pockets by patting them down briefly, making sure that all her usual sources were in their proper place. Another smile that wasn't entirely there. I guess we should head to the truck before we have to stand for three hours."

—(••[ 𝕎𝕀𝕊ℍ𝔼𝔸𝕋𝔼ℝ ]••)—

Callan | Emma | Marcus

---

𝕄: 𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥. 𝟙𝟜, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝕌𝕊𝔸ℝ𝕀𝕃ℕ 𝔼𝕒𝕤𝕥 / / 𝕌𝕊𝔸ℝ𝕀𝕃ℕ 𝕋𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕜 / / 𝟙𝟚𝟘𝟘

---

_{Collab with @Baklava@Chasers115@Diggerton}

Were it not for her peeking, Callan might've guessed it was Marcus that came through the door as the sound roused her awake. She hadn't been rooming with either of them long, but just by listening to their movements around the Suite, Cal felt like she could tell Siena and Marcus apart with decent accuracy. Though such acute attention to detail wasn't something she was very accustomed to. Just an alarm for when to hurriedly brush the possibility of crumbs off her chest and run her thumb along the corner of her mouth so as not to look like a barbarian as she snacked on her bed and watched her shows.

Alas. Silly, vainful efforts.

Guilt and regret. The two wicked things kept Callan rooted in place. Eyes closed as she laid there beneath her comfortor, breathing cleverly to hide the fact that she wasn't sleeping. She wrestled with the words in her mouth for far too long. If she pretended to wake up now, things might be super weird. Especially considering the genuine grogginess of her average mornings.

The door shut and Callan sat up with a sigh, staring at the door like it might reopen at any moment. She needed to apologize for her snippy comment at breakfast. She didn't want to leave things like that before they had to leave.

Heya Marcus where u at? :P

Something buzzed on her roommate's desk.

Of course.

It was getting really close to when they had to leave. Would she get a chance to talk to him if she waited? Callan looked through the window at the fierce weather outside, gears reluctantly turning towards a solution she'd rather not consider. Holding her breath, she flipped through the small list of contacts on her phone and found Emma's name.

Chill out, Cal. She's not gonna freak at you for wanting to talk to your roommate.

Hey, Emma. Do you know where Marcus is? He left his phone in the Suite.

He told me he was heading towards the track.

Ok thanks

By the way, stay safe out there.

The cursors blinked back at her as Callan hesitated to answer, though she had no idea why. What else was she going to say?

You too

Pulling on her maroon jacket, Callan grabbed her umbrella and left.

---

Marcus had found himself at the track, getting in some last minute training before they were sent out on their mission. It was mostly something for him to keep his mind off the many ways this whole thing could wrong, and partly because he wanted to test his limits. He found his mind wandering to the claw marks that marred their floor earlier in the week; clearly Callan, but a question he'd never gotten a full answer to. Was that just another example of her testing her own limits? Or was there something else afoot?

Flash

He dashed forward quickly, activating the 'jump' as he did. Then, as the vertigo had subsided for a split second, he did it again. Two consecutive rewinds followed, placing him back into a runner's position.

It was an odd feeling - he'd normally be panting heavily and wiping the sweat off his brow after an exertion like that, but the rewind left him feeling like he hadn't done anything at all. Besides the dull thudding of his left knee; but that was an old injury he'd grown accustomed to - no amount of rewinding would take that one away now.

He sighed heavily and let out a small shiver, slight drops of rain flecking from his face as he did so. The cooldown was his enemy here; a whole minute for his thoughts to run rampant. He dared not to sit down, even though his torn hoodie was mostly soaked through at this point. Fortunately, he'd been intelligent enough to purchase a new one with his free week, but the torn one was now his official training outfit. At least until it got warmer. He stretched once more, having already done so several times between using his ability. At this point, however, it was more out of nerves than anything else.

Do you think we're ready for this?

In the privacy of his own mind, he wasn't as sure as he'd made himself sound.

Rounding the corner of the gym building beside the track, Callan spotted Marcus through the chain link fence a good distance away. She watched and waited, just out of sight, as she collected her thoughts again. Since when was talking to Marcus a difficult thing to do? She was here for an apology, not a confession.

She took a deep breath, spinning the umbrella in her hand a few times before holding it steady and stepping forward. She stopped at the corner of the field, well out of his way while she waited for him to see her.

One more sequence of dashes and rewinds, and Marcus was once again taking another stretch. As he twisted his torso around, he caught a shape out of the corner of his eye. Despite the rain that was pouring down, he could see the strand of aquamarine that denoted his roommate, and he gave her a quick wave.

"'Sup Cal?" he shouted. "Come to break the bleachers again?"

He grinned as he said this, walking over to her position. It was about time he get out of the rain anyway, and get changed for the mission.

"Hey Marcus," she smiled back, "Nah, not today." The words came out easier than she thought they would. "I, uh. I actually wanted to talk to you."

"Well then, talk away." Marcus said, the tone in his voice noticably shifting to a more serious one. 'I actually wanted to talk' was one of those key phrases that even he could recognize as the beginning to a more serious conversation than his usual demeanor facillitated.

"I was just about to head back to the suite anyway. Don't want to catch pnuemonia right before we get sent out!" he added.

"Oh," she blinked back at him, noticing his obvious lack of umbrella, "Yeah. Okay. I'll just. Talk while we walk then." Torn between what she was saying and wanted to do, her umbrella, almost of its own volition, gravitated away from herself and towards Marcus. Not offering to share would be rude and yet sharing didn't feel quite right either. Especially with Ernie's jest during breakfast that morning still fresh in her mind. A fresh sheet of rain splashed across the side of her cheek as she held her umbrella over his head, seemingly unphased.

"Why thank you!" Marcus said, sidling closer to Callan to take advantage of her umbrella offer. His mind flicked to what Ernie had said at breakfast earlier that morning, but he contemplated the humorous parallel silently in his head. Then he thought of what Max had said during their conversation; she'd be having a field day with a situation like this.

"So what's on your mind?" he asked, turning his head to look over at Callan.

She followed Marcus with her umbrella as he moved closer, using every ounce of self control not to visibly tense up her shoulders while her mind reeled from the consequences of her indecision. She should've just handed it to him. Doing her best to brush it off, she turned her attention towards answering his question as they began walking.

"Uh. About this morning," she started, glancing at him without turning, "Sorry for calling you out like that. Ernie pretty much hit the nail on the head. You can think of it like a game if you want. If that helps."

She smiled ruefully, brushing her hair behind her ear, "I mean, I'm guilty of it, too. Uh. Not that it's anything to feel guilty about. Like Ernie said, we're all coping in our own way... and actually...." As they passed under the portico outside the gym's entrance, Callan stopped, shifting a step away.

"That's one of the things I really like about you. I wish I was half as good at keeping everyone's spirits up. But I'm not. And I'm worried. Like-- really worried. About you... and Siena." She almost forgot to tack on the name, feeling relieved and ashamed in equal measure. Not the most eloquent apology she'd ever given, but it would do.

Marcus inwardly cursed himself. This sort of thing certainly wasn't a game; his statement at breakfast had been a little joke, but had apparently turned him into the guy that can't take a job without making it into a little arcade objective. He was well aware that this wasn't going to be a stroll in the park, but maybe everyone considering him childish just came with the jokester persona.

"Nono, it's not a game; this is serious business." Marcus said, the slightly brewing frustration well hidden. "I was just making another one of my jokes; I'm not going to be taking this lightly, don't worry about that." He listened intently to the rest of what she had to say, before responding.

"That's my job as the funny guy! Make sure all you people remember to smile once and while." Marcus said, cracking his own half-grin. That's really all it was to him: a job. More of an obligation than his actual personality. That personality was one that had died when everything fell apart though - and he was happy to fulfill this role instead.

"But..." he said, tone shifting back to serious. "If you think for one second that I'm not worried about you guys, you're wrong. You and Siena are both on the front lines today, while I'm in the back helping people get the hell out of dodge. Even Emma is out there with Siena! The three people I am the closest to at this place are all going to be fighting for their lives, and there is absolutely no way for me to help if something goes wrong. So yeah, I'm worried too, Cal." he said, exasperation in his voice. He mentally kicked himself: this certainly wasn't going to make Callan feel any better about the situation, but it was something he needed to get off his chest.

Callan smiled back sincerely. "No, I know. I know you're taking it seriously. I like your jokes." She stopped herself there. This was beginning to feel like less of an apology and she had to remind herself not to think about crossing any lines. (Not that she'd have the gall to do so anyway.)

"Save your worrying for Siena and Emma-- and especially yourself. I'll be fine. And I'll make sure they're fine. Both of them." She smiled confidently, cocking her head to the side. Of course Marcus was worried, too. But she hoped to put his mind at ease.

"Well, I'm glad you get a kick out of them. Usually people charge for that kind of entertainment." Marcus said. He was regaining a little bit of his funny side now that he'd unloaded his worries onto Callan, and he smirked when he turned to look at her again.

"I'll keep a little worry for you, too; just in case the monster decides to fling his pants at you or something." he said, giving her a slight jab with his elbow as he did.

Callan scrunched up her nose with a faux grimace before laughing. "Well, they can hear and understand us, remember? If all else fails, you can knock'em dead with some jokes." Just like that, they were on their way back to the dorms again.

"If I'm close enough to tell any jokes, it means something's gone horribly wrong. You done goofed if that's the case." Marcus said with a chuckle. "Unless you want to patch me through to a radio or something - I can give the front team some moral support during the whole thing!"

"Of course, it's never gonna happen, but that's probably for the best. If we broadcast your jokes, we might lose half our unit to friendly fire."

"Half? I think they'll just switch sides and come hunt me down!" Marcus said. He chuckled slightly, before falling silent again as a thought crossed his mind.

"Hey Cal..." he said, turning to face her with his hand extended. "A promise: I'll make it back if you do!" he said. Despite the slightly morbid agreement, he still forced a smile out as he said it.

Callan stared at the extended hand. Unlike Marcus, a flicker of melancholy overcame her smile. The remnants of worries that could never be completely laughed away as she quietly observed the way his scars moved when he smiled. "Heh," she grinned back, taking his hand before he had the chance to notice anything amiss, "Easiest promise of my life."

—(••[ 𝕎𝕀𝕊ℍ𝔼𝔸𝕋𝔼ℝ ]••)—

Sander | Marcus | Emma
Callan | Ernest | Siena | Chris

---

𝕄: 𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥. 𝟙𝟜, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝕌𝕊𝔸ℝ𝕀𝕃ℕ 𝔼𝕒𝕤𝕥 / / ℂ𝕒𝕞𝕡𝕦𝕤 / / 𝟘𝟟𝟛𝟘

---

_{Collab with @Baklava@Chasers115@PapiTan@banjoanjo@dragonmancer@Diggerton@RedDusk}

"Siena," Callan said the girl's name to catch her attention after dismissal, her expression grave. Umbrella in hand, she stared at her roommate with traces of fear quickening her heart beat and forcing deliberation into her breathing. Only it was less fear and more worry, mixed with that same rush of adrenaline from the first fight. She'd be fine. What else was super strength and resistance good for? But her roommates....

"Help me find Marcus. Let's get breakfast," she said after a short pause, as though she'd considered saying something else.

After a brief surveyal of the area beneath the portico outside the dining hall, Callan spotted Marcus. It came as no surprise that he was already chatting with Emma. A dull pang of jealousy that had become all too familiar the past few days gnawed away at the back of her head, but she had other things to be worried about now. More important than stupid crushes or barely present rivalries. She tried not to think about it, anyway.

"Hey," she said quickly, glancing warily between the two. "Breakfast?" She kept it simple. Few things ever managed to get in the way of Callan's appetite, but she was more eager to sit down and talk about what was going on than anything.

Emma responded to Marcus with a smile. Anxious, but a smile all the same. "I wish I had the same confidence..." she bit her lip, a sign of the nervousness mounting in her. "I can't help but think-" Emma cut herself off when she saw Callan approaching. She looked at Cal and than at Marcus, responding to both of their offers for breakfast, "Yeah. Let's." she replied. Wouldn't want to die on an empty stomach, after all. With that she gave the pair a slight nod and pointed towards the buffet before heading off in the direction.

"Oh there you two are! I was starting to wonder where you'd gone off to." Marcus said, with a slight chipperness that seemed to be in short supply currently. Everyone likely had the same worries and questions he did, with Emma having asked the really big one already. He tried to hide his own thoughts; focusing more on trying to put everyone else's fears (and his own, if it worked out that way) to rest.

"Read my mind, Cal: gotta make sure you get the most important meal of the- yadda yadda, blah blah, let's get some pancakes!" he said, interrupting himself with and eye roll and dismissive hand gesture, followed by an excited little bounce - one that probably mirrored Tater Tot's eccentric hopping more than he was willing to admit.

With a hollow smile, Callan nodded and led the way. Entering the cafeteria, she noticed Sander as her card was swiped through. He was sitting on one of the couches with a cup of what was probably coffee. Staring out the window as if lost in thought. "I'll meet you guys at the table," she said quickly as she slipped her I.D. back into her pocket.

---

Callan stopped just a few feet in front of Sander, looking across the cafeteria as if searching for someone as she walked. "Hey, Sander," she said simply, hands in her pockets, "You want to come sit with us? " Her nervous smiles and light hearted attitude were replaced by a serious calm. Every movement felt painstakingly deliberate as she tried to will herself to relax. She glanced past Sander again before her eyes finally fell on a tray of food that wasn't quite aligned right on the table. "Where's Christmas? He can come, too." she added.

Sander turned his head a little bit too soon, even before Callan came to stand in front of him. He looked mildly surprised, as if he didn’t expect her to be there at all –“Huh? Christmas is…busy.” -He cast a meaningful glance toward a direction, before turning back –“Just me.”

"Is he okay?" she asked. The last monster fight hadn't ended very well for Christmas. Of course, it could've been worse, but that wasn't super reassuring.

"He's fine." -Again, empty assurances that Sander had used for others and himself both over the course of the last few days. It wasn't the truth, not even half of it, but it was all he had.

"Are you okay?"

Another surprised look from Sander, but this time, it was soon followed by a soft smile -"I'm fine. You?"

Callan seemed just as surprised by Sander's smile. It was a small comfort. "All things considered, I'm doin' alright," she replied, hesitently smiling in return. The quicker she, Sander, and Chris eradicated whatever the hell that thing on the screen was, the less danger there would be for Siena and Marcus. And everyone else. "Glad to see you're not losing your nerve," she smiled a little wider, "I'm gonna need your help out there."

She lowered her gaze and the smile slightly faded, "Just coffee for breakfast?"

The prospect of fighting near someone he could say he knew, or liked even, still scared Sander somewhat, but he pushed the irrational fear to the back of his mind. Callan had seen him there, and she was alright with it. So maybe he shouldn't be too concerned himself.

"...yeah. Not really hungry. But you are, right?"

She shrugged, "I'm a little more tired than hungry. Not sure why they woke us up so damn early just to have us wait around for seven hours, but oh well. Pancakes sound pretty good right about now anyway." Visibly she seemed to relax, but there was still that slight edge to her voice. It was easier to talk to Sander in spite of everything that was on her mind. Maybe because she wasn't as worried about him? Not like her roommates.

"Just make sure you don't starve yourself all day, right?" she smiled apologetically. "You'll still sit with us, yeah?"

"Yeah, don't worry." -Sander moved to stand up, waiting for Callan to lead -"Let's go."

---

With their next so-called mission in mind, Siena had been quieter than the norm, her mind already racing through unpleasant memories of their first true combat experience. The image of Padma's demise was still fresh--why wouldn't it be? She still had vivid dreams that replaced the girl with other figures--and more than enough to drive a blanket of unease. The thoughts consumed her so efficiently that Siena barely noticed that she had probably been listlessly staring in the general direction of--nothing. Just the space ahead of her, which might have had people during their trek, but...well, nobody was waving a hand in front of her face, questioning her presence mentally. That was probably some indication that she hadn't been intently peering at someone without realizing.

Shaking her head to clear it, Siena realized soon enough that she had effectively lost Callan and...

...Marcus? That was the one they'd been looking for, right?

"Oh...oh no..." When had she gotten to the cafe--where had she put her wallet? A mixture of relief and anxiety twisted in her gut, both familiar and yet entirely confusing. Maybe she wasn't adapting to her new life as well as she wanted to. Sending her gaze around the cafeteria, the brunette caught sight of a familiar face not terribly far away. Faced with the option of dining alone or helplessly wandering around until she found the group, Siena decided to take the plunge, calling to the boy with a full-motion wave of the arm. "Chris!"

"Hey Siena." The white haired arbiter said as he had walked over to her. "Whats up?"

"Just getting breakfast with my roommates." A pause followed by a sheepish smile paired with a faint wince. "...or that was the plan before I lost them."

"Well that sucks. I am a bit hungry myself, why don't we go get breakfast instead?" Chris returned a warm smile. An expression he had become more accustomed with everytime he saw her. He had placed his pale hands in the pockets of his blue coats as he awaited a response.

"Yeah...I'm sure we'll be able to find them too." There weren't that many people around either way--it was more a matter of figuring out where her roommates decided to sit. Giving a smile, Siena sent her gaze over the tables briefly. "I keep hearing about this 'waffle' thing. I figured it might be good to try it."

"Y-you never had a waffle before?" Chris stuttered a bit, waffles were almost as common as pancakes for breakfast. At least thats the impression he had. Were waffles not that well known outside of his own town?

Quickly realizing her mistake, Siena formulated a quick excuse to cover her tracks--a grain of truth, even if it wasn't entirely. "Oh, well...I didn't get many options. Something balanced and healthy for energy." Flicking her bangs from her eyes, the brunette left a thoughtful pause linger in the air. "Though I guess I also never asked for them, so nobody brought it up."

Chris shrugged off the minor quirk, not bothering to think about how unlikely that was. "Well its sweet. You need to put butter and maple syrup on it though, maybe some cream too." He explained. "I think I'll get one too."

"Haha...maybe I should get one after you to get a few tips to follow." With a faint smile, Siena shifted her weight slightly, as if preparing to start walking. Maya's voice echoed in her head, scolding her for too much of a shift. Too much and it's pushy, just enough to suggest it. "It'll be an adventure for one of us, at least."

"Well I never thought I'd witness someone discovering a waffle." he teased lightly, and followed her shifted direction as he walked. Chris obtained two stacks of belgium waffles covered in butter and syrup, and a buttered toast on the side.

"Well, I guess there's a first for both of us then," Siena shot back with a sense of ease that she was surprised at. Another wave of familiarity and discomfort, but she pushed it away as she followed Chris's example, the thought that this might be the last meal she ate fluctuating from an alarm to a whisper in the din that frequented her mind.

---

At the sight of Marcus excitedly bounding towards the pancake section, Ernie grinned and gave a short wave. The Aberration's own tray was stacked with a multitude of pancakes, exotic looking fruits and yogurt tubs, uncharacteristically more than the usual meager pieces of toast he ate. His last meal had to be something special after all.

"Someone's an eager beaver," Ernie laughed and grabbed another piece of dragonfruit. He didn't even know how to eat that crap, "Getting ready for the big day?"

Marcus was interrupted in his food gathering by the familiar voice of Ernie. He turned aorund to face him, the one pancake he had on his plate sliding slightly across the tray. "Listen, I haven't been up early enough this week to get breakfast, and do you know when the last time I had pancakes was? I don't even remember!" The child-like mirth in his voice was evident, but spiced with a slight dash of the same apprehension that seemed to hang over everybody's heads.

"Not early enou-- Geez, what are you even doing up all night?" Ernie looked confused, "Hey, I don't wanna hear that kinda talk from a guy who gets to have a kitchen in his own dorm. Make yer own damn pancakes! Invite people over for a pancake party! Simple."

Marcus nonchalantly shrugged, looking over the assortment of fruits that were laid out. "I'll be honest: pancakes didn't exactly seem like a priority in the grand scheme of things; but you sir, have made an excellent argument! I hadn't even considered having breakfast at any point in the day! Truly, this is a magical place!" he said the words with as much sarcastic excitement as he could, grinning slightly and throwing an apple on his tray.

"Why stop at pancakes? Two minute noodles, stirfry, wedding cakes," Ernie looked as if he could ramble on for a while, but stopped himself, "You gotta let me borrow your kitchen sometime. Steak just ain't the same when you don't make it yourself. Or when you have to share a cooking space with a gazillion other Aberrations."

As Ernie rambled, Marcus's brain was thankfully thinking of something other than the mission they were about to go on. He'd learned quite a bit of cooking back before the incident - he was certainly home alone enough to pick it up out of necessesity. Max hadn't been much of a help when she was around either; she always preferred the quick and easy meals. Maybe it was something to look forward to in the coming week. Callan and Siena would probably enjoy a good meal - he sincerly doubted either of them had ever cooked for themselves if Siena's apparent wealth and Callan's plethora of discarded snack bags were evidence. Hell, Emma'd probably appreciate a meal too...a nice little gesture she'd undoubtably make fun of him for.

"Not a bad idea." Marcus pondered. "As long as you pinky promise not to accidentally burn the room down or steal my food and run off with it!" he joked, chuckling slightly to himself.

Roast potatoes, curly fries, pot stickers. Ernie's smile was almost wistful now as his brain reeled off a list of everything he wanted to try before...

"Please, dude. That only happened, like, once. And it was only the curtains that really got damaged!"

He liked this. Talking as if they weren't going to die in a few hours. Ah well, a guy could dream.

"How 'bout this? You set a date and we can plan a menu when we get back, yeah?"

"We'll have to see what days they give us off; I would absolutely not be surprised in the least if they give us classes on a Saturday because we missed them while fighting unimaginable horrors." he replied. He was kidding of course, but there was a small part of his mind worried that he's just jinxed it. They wouldn't be that mea- yes they would.

"Ew, don't even joke about that," Ernie grimaced but inside he felt pretty nice. Why couldn't they worry about these little things more often, instead of fearing for their lives? "Anyway, where we sitting?"

Emma was already seated at one of the larger tables so they made their way to her. Easy to spot, now that the cafeteria was empty. Marcus took a seat by the girl while Ernie sat across them. Soon afterwards, Siena approached with a white-haired boy beside her. Chris the Dragon, if Ernie recalled correctly. He welcomed the pair with a friendly wave, as Marcus greeted Chris with a small salute and knowing grin.

Emma gave Chris her usual smile. "I'm Emma." she said with a small wave.

Approaching the table everyone had flocked to, Callan knew it probably wasn't necessary, but she felt obligated to introduce Sander. She hadn't seen him chat with very many people and it would probably be rude to dump him here without any explaination. "Hey guys, this is Sander. He's sitting with us." she said simply before lightly knocking the back of her hand against Sander's arm to catch his attention. "Gonna grab some food. I'll be right back."

“Hi.” -Sander nodded, eyes flickered across the faces that had gathered. Pointless, since he knew most of everyone here by scent already, but still, it was only the polite thing to do. There was Callan, of course, then Marcus and Emma, who he still remembered vaguely from that first fight. Siena was there as well, along with…the white-haired boy. Sander remembered those two as well, though his memories of them were far less pleasant. And speaking of unpleasant, Ernie was seated just right across from him. That brought a frown to Sander’s expression, but he willed it away fast enough as he settled down into his seat.

But he no longer had any business with Ernie. The other Aberration had promise to stay away from Christmas, and that was all he never needed from Ernie. Yet, the school wanted Ernie to protect the blond boy. And Sander couldn’t really trust him to that. He just stared at the Aberration, and wondered, fingers tapping slightly on his cup of coffee. There was no anger in his eyes. No hatred. Just a simple, curious look. But it was rude to just stare, so he forced out a few words for the rope mage –“Good morning, Ernie.”

Ernie stiffened as Sander approached. So he was friends with Cal too. Did she... No. If she knew she would have said something about it. Probably. It's not like Ernie knew her outside of idle cafeteria conversations. Still, he didn't want on the bad side of the class' two biggest powerhouses. The dark-haired boy turned his gaze down to his plate, knowing that dangerous blue eyes were watching him. Urgh, he didn't need the rest of the table seeing him act weird. Just be natural.

Ernie swallowed his mouthful of pancake and gave Sander a nod of acknowledgement. "Morning."

Too stiff? Too brusque? He tried to add more.

"Not hungry?" he asked, indicating at Sander's noticable lack of breakfast.

"No." -Came the curt answer, and Sander's gaze didn't falter.

"Yeah, well, shout if you want anything. Got plenty here, as you can see," Ernie gestured to his overloaded plate. By now, Ernie's tone was noticeably more muted than usual. God, that stare was unsettling. He looked down at his plate again in a vain attempt to ignore it.

Sander merely held his stare after nodding once to acknowledge Ernie’s offer.

Marcus gave Sander a short wave when he showed up and sat down in the seat directly beside him. Although he was trying to bury his prejudice, He was still a little bit unsure of Sander despite the talk they'd had, similar to how he was still a little unsure about...oh no..

The realization caused him to stop mid-chew and also stiffen, albeit a little less than Ernie himself did. Having these two at the table was probably not a good idea - especially considering that he'd told Ernie to give it a week or so before he got within range of Sander, not two days. And there did seem to be quite a bit of palpable irritation between the two, something Marcus noted as his wide eyes worriedly flicked back and forth between them. He very slowly shifted slightly towards Emma and away from Sander, in preparation for the brewing shitstorm.

Emma wasn't ignorant to the awkward tone that was settling over the table. She gave Marcus a slight look of curiousty, but didn't hold it very long, instead looking towards Sander with a wide smile. "I, uh, don't think we've really met. I'm Emma, but you might already know that... just 'Em' is fine, also."

“Emma.” -Sander nodded, tearing his eyes away from Ernie for a moment. He forced a stiff smile in return for Emma's much brighter one –“Yeah. I haven’t seen you around since…the first day. How have you been?”

Emma responded with a small shrug. "All things considered not too bad," she lied, glancing across the table, "Friends make it easier, right?" she said, trailed by a small laugh.

“Yeah. Your friends.” -Once again, Sander nodded in agreement, his gaze drifted across the table to follow Emma’s and stopped at Ernie. Fingers dug into the wall of his paper cup, its shape deforming a bit before Sander could will himself to relax –“Good for you.”

Emma gave Sander a confused look. Was he mad at her? "Uhhh... y-yeah."

'Friends'? Was that some kind of subtle dig about Christmas? About Ernie? The black-haired mage covered his scowl with another mouthful of pancake, watching as Sander slightly crushed his cup. He was mocking him, wasn't he. Some kind of 'I'm always watching' message. He could kill Ernie with the squeeze of his hand. It was bad enough that he came to sit with them, but staring too? He wanted to watch Ernie squirm. And on such a day like this. Fuck Sander. Fuck him. That bastard wanted to ruin his last meal? Wanted to play around with Ernie in front of everyone? Well Ernie was rarely one to turn down such a challenge.

"I got something on my face, Sander?" Ernie stared pointedly back at the boy. Bring it, asshat.

Callan's tray hit the table as she took a seat beside Ernie, oblivious to the influx of tension from Ernie's question as well as the question itself. The anticipation of a good meal was yet another small comfort she was grateful for as she tried not to let what if's and maybe's permeate her thoughts. Looking across the table, however, it was clear to see something was amiss.

"Huh?" -Sander blinked, slightly taken aback -"No."

"In my teeth, then?"

"No."

"On my shirt?"

"No." -Sander quirked an eyebrow -"You are clean. Don't worry."

"Then what's with all the staring?" Ernie leaned back and crossed his arms. His tone was joking but his expression was unamused, "You think I have a pretty face or something?"

"No." -Sander frowned, unsure of what to make of that latest question.

"Quit staring then. I wanna eat breakfast."

"Alright. Go ahead." -Sander agreed easily, looking back down at the coffee cup clasped in his hands. Ernie merely clicked his tongue in response and continued eating.

"Man..." Marcus interrupted, halfway through his pancake, and looking for any reason to break the rising tension. "What do you think the deal is with that thing we're up against, anyway? The guy said it's human - but it certainly didn't look like it. You think that's part of the power?" he said, looking to everyone at the table.

Engrossed in the bizarrely tense conversation that was happening between Ernie and Sander, it took some effort for Callan to steer her thoughts back towards the matter at hand. The whole reason she'd invited Sander to sit with her in the first place. "Maybe it's a transformation thing," Callan mused, shooting Sander one last wary look before fully commiting to the change in topic, "Like what Chris does?"

Emma stared at the pair as they went back and forth. There was obviously... something going on here, but Emma didn't care to involve herself in it. "I... don't know, but I don't think Kardos would say he's human if he wasn't sure..." Emma said, shrugging.

Sander pondered the question, but he decided to keep his answer to himself. The power changed them, and that change went deeper than the mark. Some more than others. Human or no, the outcome of the battle wouldn’t change, as far as he was concerned. Someone must die so the rest could live. The pressing question, for him, was who would die. His gaze flickered back to Ernie again, despite his words.

"Well, whatever it is... you guys shouldn't worry about it," Callan said firmly, "Sander and I will take care of it. Chris, too. That thing's as good as dead." For all her confidence when it came to her strength, even Callan wasn't this dumb. Apparently they'd been throwing subnaturals at that thing all night and a category three didn't sound like anything she should be taking lightly. Even so, she didn't want the others worrying about her when they should be worrying about themselves. An army of mechanized monsters didn't seem any less harmless than attacking the source-- especially when all it takes is a single well-aimed blow to the head.

"Those bots seem like they could be a problem though. Strength in numbers and all that, right?"

"Nothing our support team can't handle," Ernie mused. It seemed that he hadn't noticed Sander's eyes on him yet, "Emma's pull-guy can sweep them in while Hazel and stuff wreck the lot, right?"

Emma smiled at Callan's confidence. That was something she could admire, even if she wasn't sure if it was true. ”Yeah. I'm sure you guys will kick their butts!” she said with no small amount of enthusiasm. False enthusiasm, but she was making an effort. As for Ernie's apparent certainty that they would have the small fry handled, well...

Emma's power was still inconsistent, as it had been since their 'game'. Things had gotten better since her date with Marcus, but there was still a degree of trepidation within her. She'd actually had sporadic periods of her entire arsenal available to her... except Determination. She'd only succeeded in bringing him out a single time since Hazel publicly shamed her. She found it quite discouraging that her most valuable summon might not be there for the battle.

She was, however, able to consistently summon Love, something that she found incredibly embarrassing and caused her no small amount of guilt. Foolish, stupid girl. one of the voices inside her echoed. She, of course, wasn't about to share any of that information with the group. Instead she nodded at Ernie, ”If we don't keep them down they'll cause you guys trouble... I... we've all got to do our part so we can all come back.” she said, her smile growing. Her forced smile.

"Yeah, and as long as you guys keep them from spilling out, my job will completely consist of a fun little game of Hide-and-Go-Seek!" Marcus grinned widely, pleased with the sudden boost of confidence everybody seemed to be having.

"Heh," the corner of Callan's mouth quirked into a half successful attempt at a smile, "Try not to have too much fun, Marcus. It's a not a game this time." That was bit unfair of her. Everyone was trying to stay positive and confident, but as they all trivialized the task at hand, she couldn't help worrying that they might not be careful enough. Immensely hypocritical, but she couldn't help it. Not when Marcus was the one saying it.

"A game's just a situation with win-lose scenarios though," Ernie scratched his face, "You could call anything a game, really, especially the mission. With me it's just another round of Protect the Healer, only with bigger stakes this time."

He looked at Cal. He wasn't joking this time. Did she really think that being such a buzzkill was going to help anyone? Ernie didn't need bummed out teammates getting their asses kicked and exposing his own group just because their morale was down.

"If thinking of it as a game makes it easier to know what to do, then I don't see a problem with it. Mission objectives and all that, yeah? If Marc could find a way to get some fun out of these win-lose scenarios, then maybe we could all do a little better."

"We" referring to Cal, of course.

"But hey, whatever gets you in the zone, man."

"I'm just saying," Callan answered quickly, glancing at Marcus again before looking down at her tray, "You guys should be careful."

Marcus seemed slightly taken aback by Callan's response, preparing to stammer out a response interrupted by Ernie. He sat silently while the two talked quickly between each other, before speaking up himself. "N-no, I just meant..." he trailed off. Of course he knew that this wasn't a game - this was an actual mission; and it wasn't like he was actively trying to make a scenario where people could get killed into his own fun playtime.

He found no words to continue his defense, instead choosing to avert his eyes back down to his breakfast, taking a small bite.

Emma gave Ernie a glance filled with venom, and then Callan one with significantly less venom. She cleared her throat, ”We’re all just trying to cope in our own ways, right? I’m sure we all know well enough that it’s going to be dangerous out there.” she said as cheerfully as she could.

Ernie met Emma's glare with an amused look. Damn, it was fun annoying her. He'd have to do it more often.

"Yeah, as long as you know what the stakes are, do whatever the hell..." Ernie was caught off-guard when he looked over the table and saw Sander's eyes on him again. Did this fucker really... No. Not right now. He coughed and continued more meekly, "...yeah, whatever works. We'll all be giving it our all out there anyway. Just different approaches, that's all it is."

"Will you be giving your all? - Sander spoke suddenly, breaking out of whatever train of thoughts he was chasing at the moment. The question was obviously directed at Ernie.

There was a moment of silence as Ernie glared back, obviously irritated by Sander's interjection.

"Even I'm not stupid enough to let anything happen to our 'precious healer'," the Aberration practically spat the last part out. It seemed that he was avoiding uttering Christmas' name out loud, "So yeah, I'll be doing that. I'll do my job and you make sure you keep that berserking pointed at the robot, yeah?"

"I...don't want to hurt you, Ernie." -Despite the other party's aggression, Sander remained oddly calm. Melancholic, even -"But I can always find you. And I will." - Once again, threats that sounded more like warnings.

Emma gave Sander a look of incredulity. Sure, she didn’t like Ernie but that was a straight up threat. She couldn’t just let that slide, could she? She cleared her throat, trying to get their attention off of each other and onto her. ”Okay, that’s it. This is super awkward. What’s going on here? I don’t care if you guys have some kind of beef, but I’d like my last breakfast to be pleasant.” she said flatly.

From bad to worse. Callan looked up from her tray as Sander addressed Ernie. What had gotten into him? Had she missed something? Thankfully Emma managed to intervene before she worked up the courage to say something in spite of her previous embarrassment. "Emma's right. Sander, do you have to do this right now?" Callan looked to Sander with frustrated betrayal. Even without knowing why the two were on bad terms, she'd expected him to be better than this.

They were seriously taking his side? Well, it was a pretty idiotic move for Sander to do it in front of everyone.

"Emma's totally right. This is my last breakfast. So instead of fucking around and threatening to do shit to me, why don't you just wait a few hours and let the robots do it for you? Would save you a lotta blood on those designer jeans," Ernie crossed his arms, seething, "If not, then shut up, fuck off, and let me eat in peace."

If he were talking to any other person, Ernie probably would have goaded them on to hit him then and there. But this was Sander. Not even this nihilistic bravado gave him the guts to challenge the boy straight on.

Sander blinked, mildly surprised as he looked at Emma first, then Callan. Of course, they didn't approve. He couldn't say he did, either -"I'm sorry. -He said quickly, eyes retreated back to the cup of coffee in his hands.

"Man." Marcus said quietly, eager to change the conversation for the second time so far. "You think we'll still have that physical training thing today?" He joked, his grin still recovering from Callan's scolding. "That thing's taken up enough of my well-earned free time!"

Content with Sander's apology, Callan decided to forget about it for now, firing off one final warning look before Marcus stepped in to change the subject. His lack of response concerning Callan's earlier statement hadn't gone unnoticed. She could've been a bit more tactful with voicing her concern, but she didn't mean to make him feel bad. Even if it had caused some momentary friction, she hoped he wouldn't forget what she said. Joking around was kind of his thing, but she wanted to make sure Marcus would take this seriously-- for his sake.

Emma gave a slight nod at Sander's apology. Hopefully that would be the last she heard of their rivalry, at least until they were past the life-threatening situations. Well, she doubted they would ever be entirely safe, but at least past the immediate danger. Emma gave a sharp sigh at Marcus's mention of their training. She had never exactly been athletic and the aches she felt over her body told her that mandatory excercise certainly wasn't doing her any favors. "I sure hope not. Things keep going at this rate and I might start to lose some of this flabbiness." she joked, pinching some of the flesh on her arms to accentuate her point.

Ernie looked up from his food, desperate to get back into the usual swing of conversation after embarrassing himself and blowing up like that. Thank god Marcus was here to make a distraction. Ernie raised an eyebrow at Emma's self-deprecating comment. High school people did that a lot, right? Say bad things about themselves so people would laugh or reassure them? Ernie gave it a spin.

"Aw, no need to put yourself down like that, Emma," he smirked and flexed a rather pathetic, skinny arm, "Keep up the hard work and soon you'll get to be as scrawny as me and Marcus!"

"Aw yeah, aren't you jealous of our rockin' physique?" Marcus said, his mood immediately lightening up a bit at Ernie's remark. He rolled down his right sleeve to flex his non-existent muscle, giving everyone at the table a cocky look. "Don't you just wish you could be this beefy?"

Sander looked up briefly, brows scrunched up in confusion. Despite herself, Callan chuckled sheepishly.

Emma joined the laughter with a small giggle of her own, "Oh yeah, beefcake, you betchya. With chicken arms like those you're lucky I give you the time of day." in response Emma flexed her own arm, displaying her distinct lack of muscle, "I think I might be more built than you, and that's saying something" she teased.

"Well there we go: next date idea." Marcus said with a grin, rolling his sleeve back down. "Gym date. Nothing like a gross, sweaty, workout session!"

SNAP. Callan's plastic fork broke in half. She blinked up at Emma and Marcus in surprise. "Whoops," she muttered after a moment's hesitation, heat rushing to her face. "Good thing I grabbed a spare!" she forced herself to laugh. Uncomfortably shifting in her seat. She wrapped her hand around her glass of orange juice and quickly brought it to her lips. "You guys are dating?" she chuckled into her cup, poorly feigning disinterest as she took a sip.

When Callan broke her own fork in two Emma regarded her with an awkward smile, shooting back at Marcus, "Not sure if the gym is a great idea, I'd probably make you look bad." she said, her smile shifting back into a more natural one. When Callan asked them if they were dating her expression went flat. She looked towards Marcus, shrugging "Well... uhhhh..." he didn't seem to have a problem with proposing a date right in front of them, so she supposed that he didn't have an issue with labeling their relationship, "Y-yeah. We are." she said, smiling again.

Uhhhhh.

Ernie's gaze shifted rapidly between Cal, Emma and Marcus. Did Cal... really not know? Did Emma really not know that Cal didn't know? Did Marcus know anything? Ernie flinched at the sound of snapped plastic and quickly bundled the fragments into a spare napkin. Messes were bad. This situation seemed bad too, for Cal anyway. She seemed particularly shaken, with that terrible fake laugh and orange juice. Emma... looked strange for a second too but seemed to brush off Cal's reaction. Ernie would have to follow up on both later but right now the conversation came first.

"Eyy! Nice to get some good news in this place for once!" Ernie tossed the bundle into an empty corner of his tray for later disposal. Eyebrows were suggestively raised at Marcus, "If you need me to steal an umbrella so the two of you are 'forced' to share one, just hit me up, yeah?"

Marcus's head jerked upright as Callan broke her utensil, settling down when he realized. His eyes flicked to Emma after Callan's question: they'd been on one date, and he thought they had been dating, but he'd learned in the past not to be so presumptuous. Of course, if he was avoiding that, he probably shouldn't have mentioned a date right in front of everyone. Fortunately, it seemed that Emma had the same notion, and he grinned as he took another bite of of breakfast.

"Thanks, pal." Marcus said to Ernie with a roll of his eyes. "I can always count on you to have my back."

Callan forced another grin as Ernie congratulated Emma and Marcus for the good news, hoping that was enough to comminucate the lie that she felt the same. Her glass hovered in front of her mouth as Callan silently watched Ernie collect the fragments of her old fork into a neat little bundle. Had she been present, she might've thought that was odd but thanked him anyway. As it were, her mind was far away and barely processing much of anything aside from the smiles of the 'couple' sitting across from her, which she caught in small half-second bursts as her amethyst eyes flickered between Marcus, Emma, and the glass in her hand.

Callan remained quiet as the conversation went on, eventually setting down her glass and poking at what was left of her pancakes with her spare fork. Why are you surprised? She inwardly berated herself. All week, Emma and Marcus had exchanged their fair share of silly banter, but it had been different than when she joked around him. She wasn't entirely clueless when it came to this sort of thing. Though she had to admit how foolish she'd been for trying to hope she was closer than she was.

Ernie cackled at Marcus' eye roll. "Just trying to help a buddy out. Listen, if you need a bucket of rose petals for whatever reason, I can hook you up. Got transferred with a guy who can help you. Just ask for 'Hurk from West'. And don't ask where he got the petals from."

The way Ernie pronounced 'Hurk' like a vomiting noise was suspicious but he seemed unperturbed.

"So how long has this been happening? Couldn't be all the way from Monday, could it?" Ernie's eyes flickered to Emma at the mention of Monday.

Emma forced a smile at Ernie’s joke. She still didn't know why everyone liked the guy (Except Sander, apparently), but it wasn't her place to try to excommunicate him from their motley crew. In response to his question she rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. If Emma was bothered by the mention of Monday’s lunch she didn’t let it show, ”I guess since Tuesday? It hasn’t really… it hasn’t been a ‘thing’ for very long.” she said, shrugging slightly.

Marcus sat quietly, nodding along to everything that Emma was saying. He never really was one for conversations on relationships; all too often his humourous nature would swing back around to bite him in the ass. Plus, it appeared that Emma was quick to respond anyway, negating the need for his input. Which he was all to happy to comply with.

"Dang, you guys kept us in the dark for almost a whole week?" Ernie scratched his head, "Huh, now that you've told us, I guess it was kinda there. I'm glad you trusted us with this. You two make a good pair! We're all in your corner here."

Ernie paused. Should he? Yeah, he should. It'd be good to get some Stigma clearing done before the mission. And... it wasn't like Christmas. She would be able to bounce back. It was just a silly crush. She barely even knew the guy, it had only been a week! It shouldn't affect the mission too much if he was there to fix what he broke.

Ernie turned to face her.

"Right... Cal?"

Roused from her thoughts, Callan looked up with a culpable frown. Realizing Ernie was asking her to agree with his previous statement, she laughed through her nose and smiled. "Yeah," she said simply, quickly filling her mouth with pancakes. Disappointment felt heavy in her chest as she tried not to think about it. About how happy she'd felt when Marcus waited up for her that night. Of course, she'd just been seeing things that weren't there all along.

Emma wasn't sure how to respond to that. She'd prefer if this wasn't some kind of big deal, for her sake and Marcus's. "Uhhh... thanks." she said, her embarrassment towards the topic evident.

While Marcus was bad with social cues, he did notice that the conversation seemed to be a little embarassing for Emma. He wasn't as concerned about it as she apparently was; a fact that gave him slight pause. Did she want this whole thing to have stayed a secret? Was she embarrassed to have gone on a date with him?

He shoved these thoughts to the back, convincing himself it was just because she was shy. That was a good reason for it, and one that didn't send him into a spiral of self-conciousness. There was the awkward silence to deal with, though...

"So does anybody remember who Lawrence is?" Marcus asked suddenly. "It'd be nice to get to know my team before we head out, but it's hard to do when you don't know the people."

Emma looked towards Marcus, face lighting up, glad for a change in topic. "Oh, Lawrence? I guess you haven't really been around my roomates as much as I've been around yours. Or at all, really. He's one of them... he'd probably be out walking Lizzy right now, at least I think he is. Uh, Lizzy is his dog." Emma said, vaguely remembering that Marcus didn't like dogs. Hopefully that wouldn't be a problem.

Well that was a problem.

"O-oh." Marcus stammered. His plan to meet his team had basically hinged on him finding the one name he actually recognized. Now, though...he certainly wasn't going to hunt down a guy and his dog - especially after what had happened Saturday.

"I guess first impressions can wait!" he said with a nervous chuckle, trying to bury his increasingly red face in his breakfast. Here he was, about to go after a Cat 3 with the rest of his classmates on a life-threatening mission, and he was being stonewalled by a dog. Some part of him was ashamed, but certainly not enough to overcome the phobia.

"C'mon man, what happened to the exotic dessert we all know and love?" Ernie teased, "I bought some vinegar the other day if you need some."

A pause.

"Actually, I should be trying to find my teammate too," Ernie muttered and quickly began typing on his phone.

The conversation moved on without her. Callan couldn't keep up. Couldn't focus. As Ernie pulled out his phone, she pretended to check her own. "Oh shoot," Callan grinned, sliding out of her seat, "I have to go do a thing." Avoiding all eye contact with the right side of the table, Callan shot Sander an apologetic glance as she gathered up her tray. She'd invited him to sit with them so they could potentially discuss strategies for the upcoming fight, but... well, there was still time. They could make plans later. With a curt wave, she carried her tray over to the trash and-- perhaps for the first time since her arrival at USARILN East-- scraped what was left of her food into the repository.

Emma's eyes followed Callan as she left. "Bye?" she said, trying to sound as polite as possible. But sounding polite was hard, given how blatant Callan's eagerness to leave was. 'I have to go do a thing' wasn't exactly a great excuse. Emma also took note of the fact that she didn't look at them as she left. She wasn't sure why Callan had made an escape, but it certainly did make her slightly suspicious. "Well, it looks like we all have people to find... I should probably talk to Hazel before we leave." Emma made no effort to hide her grimace, she wasn't exactly looking forward to talk to Hazel after capture the flag.

Ernie didn't need to look up to know that Cal was upset. As his phone pinged with a response from Angel, he grinned.

"Got a hot tip, courtesy of Angelique. Guess I'll see you guys on the bus later! Good luck with Hazel and the... dog."

He departed with a wave and a neatly arranged collection of food scraps on his tray.

As the conversations around him ebbed, Sander tore his gaze from the paper cup and looked up, having half a heart to just leave. But Callan had asked, and he was sticking around for her sake. However, the aquamarine-haired girl left quite suddenly afterward, barely an explanation as she did. Seeing as how he didn’t have any reason to stay, Sander finished his cold coffee in one gulp and rose to his feet –“I should get going too. See you later.” -With a nod and a half smile, he walked off, stopping only once to toss the empty cup in the trash.

Marcus gave Callan a cocked eyebrow and confused look as she walked off. She didn't usually seem that curt - his only other point of reference being back when she'd punched a hole through Kusari, and he'd upset her with a joke. Now, he watched her go away, and had to think about what had been done, and if it was his fault that she didn't seem happy. He eyed Emma once, confirming that he wasn't the only one who had noticed the odd behavior.

"I guess I'll...do something to kill the time then." He said, still sitting at the table as everyone walked off.

Emma turned to Marcus. ”Well, that was… weird.” she said, a slight frown on her face. ”Sorry to ditch you here, but I feel like if I don’t talk to Hazel things are gonna be kind of… weird. Y’know, after the whole capture the flag thing.” her smile was returning to her face, ”But I’m sure I’ll see you again before the battle, right?”

"Definitely, if I've got any say in the matter." Marcus said. The unfortunate part of his statement was that he might not have any say in the matter. The thought that this little breakfast of theirs could be the last time he saw some of these people hung slightly in his mind. It certainly wasn't how he wanted things to pan out, especially with that possibility.

"Alright, get out of here, you. Go make your friends, or slap her right across the head. Whatever makes you feel better." he added with a grin.

”Right…” she said wearily. She started to get up, but before leaving turned back to Marcus. ”Oh, yeah… if you’re still trying to decide if you want to track down Lawrence, Lizzy’s a good dog. If that makes any difference.” Emma gave him a sideways smile, ”And listen, if I don’t see you, just… don’t die. I’ll be mad at you if you do.” with that, she turned towards the exit.

It doesn't

"Thanks. That goes double for you - got it?" Marcus said, sighing softly to himself. They'd be fine. They had to be. With the setup they had - everything would be okay.

—(••[ 𝕎𝕀𝕊ℍ𝔼𝔸𝕋𝔼ℝ ]••)—

Not My Usual Alarm Clock

An Autobiography by Marcus Howell

---

For the first time in many nights, Marcus was actually sound asleep. Perhaps it was the training regime they’d been put through shaving off the excess energy he always seemed to have, or just an overall good week having helped to settle his constantly whirring mind; a few lunch dates with Emma, a class free week, and the relative peacefulness of his strolls around campus (barring a single occasion). Whatever the case, he was completely passed out by the time the guards arrived.

The sound of knocking woke him up from his slumber – while he had been sleeping well, he certainly wasn’t a heavy sleeper anymore. His groggy mind had mostly collected itself by the time they were traipsed down the hall; a splash of cold water having given him a little bit of a boost. He unconsciously smoothed down the jeans and t-shirt he’d accidentally fallen asleep in again, along with a fruitless attempt to calm his hair and a quick sigh to calm his nerves.

The walk there passed with uncharacteristic silence from Marcus, who still sleepy mind was preoccupied trying to figure out what was going on. It looked like everyone had been called out, and he caught Emma’s eyes in the crowd, her worried expression mirroring his own slight anxiety. Last time they’d been marched out like this had been the first day, a day that hadn’t gone over so well.

When they sat down and were being fed information, Marcus’s mind hurriedly went about its frantic mile-a-minute thinking. He was already sorting through the briefing, the relevant sections standing out in his head.

A significant threat. Had they been told what category the first day’s creatures had been? Not that he could remember. Still - an entire platoon of students for a single subnatural seemed like it was a bit overkill, but the target’s ability presented a unique situation. Teams. Callan was a Striker; a position that suited her, but didn’t help to ease his worries. Sander would also be there. Better at control? Siena and Emma, Support: actively putting themselves in danger trying to get the clockwork creatures to attack them. Christmas and Ernie were on the same team. Bad pairing. Hopefully Ernie had taken his advice. Not his problem, as long as the healer was protected.

A team for him: two names he didn’t recognize, and one that he did, but which lacked a face. Lawrence? He’d heard that name somewhere. Civilian help. A pseudo Evac Team, as he simplified in his head. A position where he’d hopefully not have to deal with combat at all. Back away from the actual fight, where he’d likely be the last to know if his friends were getting slaughtered.

It all made strategic sense, but that didn’t stop his fluttering heart.

They were given seven hours before deployment. He needed to find his roommates and Emma, make sure they were going to be okay. Find his team – see if anybody recognized Lawrence’s name. The group was starting to disperse. An umbrella for him. A quick gaze over the crowd to see if he could find the people he was looking for. Emma was walking towards him.

He thumbed over the tags beneath the fabric of his shirt. Breathing slowed. Frantic analyzation stopped.

Mask up.

“We’ve dealt with worse than a single huffy subnatural!” Marcus said. The words helped to calm his own heart – the rationalization finding root in his convictions. If he could say it so easily, then actually making himself believe it wasn’t much harder. “And that was when were split up against four different groups of DC’s boys, and we didn't have a strategy, AND we'd been here less than twelve hours. We’re all focusing on the one target, and they’ve got a pretty well thought out plan for us – so I think we’re going to be fine.

Hopefully

“You wanna grab breakfast?” The words came out casually, as if they weren’t about to go out on another life-threatening mission. “No use sitting around for seven hours psyching ourselves out – and you certainly don’t want to be out there on an empty stomach!” he said, forcing the hints of worry back behind his usual grin.