The scream that rang out through the dark was something visceral, the kind born from genuine fear and agony. Only lasted for a few seconds, just long enough to be unmistakable for anyone still awake. It would be simple enough to guess the noise's source - Zoe had immediately claimed a room to herself for reasons she felt no need to share with the class. Perhaps more worrying was the way that it ended, cutting off abruptly followed by a dull thump against the floor.
After that, everything went quiet.
Not too far from the room Zoe had taken residence in, Angel was up and still fully awake when the scream happened. She had been trying to kill her boring evening by trying to come up with more lyrics to a guitar rhythm that replayed in her head. Needless to say, to say, the scream made the raven-haired Aberration jump from her chair, her heartbeat increasing immensely as her mind grew more alert. That voice, it was…
Angélique rushed out of her chair, knocking it backwards in her hurry as she left her room, mentally preparing herself for the possibility of fighting rogue Mages that may have been following them to La Plata and using the cover of the night to ambush them.
Reaching Zoe’s room, Angel banged loudly at her door and calling her out from inside the room using her new ventriloquist power
“Zoe! Are you alright?” Her worry would only grow as no answer could be heard from the other side of the door. If something happened to Zoe, then time was of the essence and there was none of it to be wasted. The black-haired young woman tried to open the door, but it was locked.
No time to wait for the others. Angélique took a step back, breathed deeply and tried to focus her mind on the door. With precision, she let out a low-pitched booming shout. The concentrated sonic wave slammed against the door, swinging it open with such force the door barely held by its hinges.
She didn’t take long to enter inside the room, looking for any sign of her redheaded classmate
The room was surprisingly neat, for the most part. Not insanely so, but considering Zoe's usual appearance and behaviour less scruffy than might have been expected. There were a few signs of the girl's outbursts - A mark on the wall, a pillow tossed across the room in frustration - but otherwise, there would be nothing much to note about the room's usual state. That made the evidence of what had happened all the more striking.
The first thing to see coming in would be the chair - Streaks of fresh blood trickling down the back and into the seat itself. A few steps back and just out of view from the doorway was Zoe. The girl was lying in an awkward position half propped-up by the wall, unconscious but slowly beginning to stir.
While her position obscured some of the damage, her wounds were obvious once you looked at the right place. Her hands and wrists were... Bare. The skin on the surface almost completely destroyed, and some of the muscle the same way. There was bleeding, a lot of bleeding, though none of it quick enough to suggest a severed artery or anything similar. She didn't appear to be in immediate danger of death unless she was left to bleed out, but the wounds would be agonising when she woke.
Still, despite the extensive damage, there was no sign of any intruder. Or, for that matter, of any confrontation at all.
The first scream had roused Ernie from a session of nightly texting and music blasting, slightly irritated. The second, one that sounded like it had come from a different person for some reason, had prompted him to get out and figure out what the hell was going on down the hall. The boy scratched his head, not really sure what he was going to do. Politely ask Angelique to keep the volume down?
His brief investigation led him to a blown door. Forcibly opened, no doubt, considering the screamer mage standing in the doorway. The way she was standing made it clear that this wasn't the singer's room though. Ernie looked around warily.
"Angelique, why are you screaming? I know it's not late or anything but it's just sorta...interruptful."That wasn't a real word, was it? But hopefully the message had gotten across.
Was it strange that his first reaction upon hearing an agonized scream and a thud was to grab a weapon? No, it shouldn't be. What was strange was the fact that he didn't bother alerting everyone else about it yet. Was the secondary scream, no doubt from Angelic, enough to persuade him that he could take it easy, that others were already on the way?
No, he knew just how 'useful' Angelic was. Merely two days of early mornings wasn't enough to change someone.
Taking the stairs three steps at a time, Brent ran over, the third to arrive, surprisingly. Ernie was present as well, his own posture tense, but not nearly as concerned as he would have been if there was some sort of rogue subnatural assassinating Unit B members.
"Angelic," Brent said, eyes flickering from one place to another,
"Explain."Emma was slow to rise. Far slower than she should’ve been, given what was happening. She almost considered ignoring the scream… she certainly needed the sleep, but another quick shout forced her to rise, quickly finding a shirt and pants before heading out the door.
The scene, when she arrived, did not look promising. A group of people had begun crowding the room- particularly, she picked out Brent, Ernie, and Angel… not her favorite bunch at the current moment, but her curiosity overrode her animosity towards them.
She look past them, trying to get a good luck at what exactly was going. She saw the form of Zoe, along with her wounds…
”What’s happening? Are we being attacked? Do we have a healer?” she said wearily, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
The room wasn’t a complete mess as Angel had expected when she came rushing into to room. A bloodied seat, with a few thrown objects, what really just happened in here? As the Aberration girl spotted the lifeless body of her fellow Mage, she feared for the worse.
“No no no no no!” Angélique muttered as she approached Zoe.
“Zoe, are you-…” Just as she was about to verify if Zoe was alive, others started gathering on the scene. She first frowned at Ernest’s oblivious comment, then her gaze shifted to Brent.
“How the fuck should I know? I heard Zoe screaming. Came here as fast as I could. I banged at her door, but she wasn’t answering, so I blasted that damn thing open because it was locked and…” Her eyes wandered back to the red-haired Aberration she was kneeling beside of. And then she realized the horror of the situation. Angel softly lifted one of Zoe’s arms, revealing the bloodied rotten flesh that barely exposed the muscles on her hands and wrists.
Angel jerked back in horror at the sight, her stomach shifting at the disgusting gory sight. She slapped a hand in front of her mouth in shock.
““She… Why?” Despite her shock in front of such a situation, Angel was determined to not let her classmate to her fate. Her eyes returned to her other classmates.
““One of you know how to patch her up? We have to bring her to the hospital!”Ernie assessed the scene. No signs of a struggle or break-in, apart from Angelique's. And even in the motel room's dim light he could see the injuries inflicted.
They were just like the ones Zoe had given to David.
"This bitch really thought she could escape this way?"The implications of this information were clear but this wasn't the time to dwell on how fucking pissed he was feeling all of a sudden.
"I have a first aid kit in my room," he snapped briskly,
"Put pressure on the bleeding."A pause. His distrust for USARILN staff had only increased due to recent events.
"Guards might think we did this. They've probably heard the screaming and are heading over already, but keep this between us as long as you can."And he rushed out.
"Got it," Brent said, walking past Ernie as the aberration rushed off to his own room.
"Angelic, keep her arms up. Above her heart."With one pulse of silver blood, the machete's edge sharpened, enough that an unused, hopefully clean, bath towel was easily cut into two equal pieces. The stench of blood and rotten flesh was overpowering, but it wasn't the worst. He could work in such an environment, though the gas mask he didn't bring was looking more useful as he approached
Closer now, his amethyst eyes caught the white of Zoe's bones in the dim lighting, scraps of flesh clinging stubbornly on it. His mouth twisted into a grimace, before he covered the mutilation with one half of the cloth. Tossing the other half to Angelic, he said flatly,
"Focus on the wrist. The hands are lost."How terrible was it, that the worst moment of his life served as the only reason he could act so lucidly?
"Emma, find one of the healers. Preferrably Christmas."So flat. So neutral. So calm.
He didn't really care if she survived this, did he? That had to be why he was so dissociated.
Emma glanced over Brent… those wounds weren’t made by someone else, she realized. She’d seen Zoe’s power in action and there was no mistaking it.
Emma was glad Brent called on her, because she couldn’t get out of that room fast enough.
”Right… right, I’ll see if I can find one.” her voice was shaking. She wasn’t sure where exactly Lily or Christmas were, but she ran off anyways. Any excuse to escape.
Shifting weakly, Zoe's eyes began to open, a pained groan escaping her as she tried to move. It hurt.
Fuck, it hurt. That was what she'd wanted. She glanced towards the figure nearest her, murmuring something as her consciousness returned.
"You--" No, not him, of course. Her stigma had been going insane last thing she could remember, images were still fresh in her mind, but that wasn't here.
These people were her classmates, she realised, recognition slowly coming to her as she looked between them. Angelique, Brent... Trying to help her, somehow? She couldn't be sure. Forcing her words out in between shuddering gasps, she spoke.
"What's happening? What are you--"Angélique nodded weakly to Brent’s command. She was awed to see him keeping his composure like that. She had tried to remain calm, but she was far from as focused as the brunette Arbiter looked. She did as he instructed, lifting Zoe’s arms just above her heart.
She cringed at the sight of the Aberration’s wounded hands. No matter how many battle or how many injuries she suffered, she could not help but feel uneasy around this much blood. As a matter of fact, she could feel her own hands growing limp as a side-effect of her unease.
Her hands wavered a bit, but she snapped back into a focused state when Brent handed her half of a towel and instructing her what to do with it. Hesitantly, she wrapped the tower around one of Zoe’s wrists, keeping pressure on it like Ernie suggested earlier. It was easier said than done, in her case, her limp hands had trouble forcing a pressuring grip on the wrist.
So pathetic. All that bravado of bearing the burden to pull the trigger, only to try off’ing herself like this. Shut up! Focus, Angie! Angélique’s grip started tightening around Zoe’s wrist, slowly applying the needed pressure to contain the blood loss.
It took great mental restrain for Angel to not outright scold Zoe’s ears off as the girl return to consciousness, letting herself known to be awake through weakened gasps. Instead, Angel kept the pressure, perhaps a bit too much now, and faked an unconvincing angry smile at her classmate.
“It’s okay, don’t panic. We’re here.” Angel said grimly, her eyes turning to Brent’s
“Right?”"Ernie's coming soon with actual medical aid and Emma's looking for a healer." The facts rolled off his tongue smoothly, as if that was a better salve than Angelic's kindness.
The stench of blood only became apparent to Ernie when he entered the room the second time, practically sliding to the group on his knees as he rushed with the first aid kit in hand. He noted Zoe's semi-lucid state. Good. He was running out of smelling salts and he would have woken her up for an interrogation one way or another. The boy's nose wrinkled at the smell and the gory state of her hands. Far from the worst he'd ever encountered, but still pretty damn gross.
Gloves were snapped on for formality. After a moment's hesitation, his rope was summoned too and Ernie got to work, swapping out Angelique's towel for thick and tightly wrapped gauze and dressing over the most essential parts of the limb. He did his best to cover her bleeding hands too, though they didn't receive nearly as much attention as the wrist.
"Brent, can you overclock bandages?" Ernie spoke as he finished the first wrist. They were dealing with a lot of blood here.
"Easily," the arbiter replied,
"But keep the bandages connected if you can. Makes it more stable."Connected? Like a pair of handcuffs? Ernie recalled his treatment towards David, how he completely wrapped the mage's arms. Considering the contact conditions of Zoe's power and what she had just attempted, Ernie had no problem with obliging Brent's request. By the time he was done, Zoe's arms were restrained to each other by the wrist and completely wrapped up from the tips of her fingers to her elbows. Bleeding out, escaping, trying it a second time? None of those things were going to happen while Ernie was here.
Once Ernie was finished, Brent placed a hand against the already-soaked bandages. Letting out a breath, he visualized just what they needed. Something to staunch the blood, to automatically put pressure without causing too much pain. A softer material then, with the ability, perhaps, to seal open wounds like plaster.
For a brief moment, as silver circuitry coursed through and unravelled the bandages, the full extent of Zoe's injuries was exposed in fluorescent light. Then, just as instantly, all the fibers that composed the bandages wrapped up once more, melting into each other to form an almost foam-like substance.
"Should be good for another ten minutes," he said, keeping his hand on the construction,
"Painkillers may be good too."The Aberration nodded, taking a small vial of painkillers out of the kit. He didn't particularly feel like wasting his pills on someone like Zoe though, so he placed the bottle beside her. If she wanted them then she could ask for herself.
"Probably shouldn't drug a girl without her permission," he shrugged.
Zoe looked at the painkillers for a long moment before shaking her head. No.
"Wanted it to hurt. Didn't realise how far it went." No further explanation came as she tried to find something else to look at. Anything to distract her from the confused feelings that were beginning to set in. Full sentences felt like an impossible task.
Her eyes focused on the bandages wrapped around her arms, trying for a second to escape them but getting nowhere. She was growing increasingly lucid, though the pain still left her thoughts clouded. Funny, though. It had reached a point where she couldn't really register it properly, so many different nerves screaming in pain. There was something frightened about her expression. They couldn't be here. It wasn't like before, they weren't safe just because she was tied.
"Shouldn't go near me. Dangerous."Ernie packed away the painkillers a bit too eagerly, scoffing derisively at the last statement but ignoring the warning,
"Yeah. I heard."Self-harm? Zoe didn't strike him as the type, considering how she actually did a hell lot during the Factory fight.
"You'll bleed out if we left," Brent replied matter-of-factly,
"And no one wants that to happen.""Wouldn't be so sure." The barest hint of a smile at the corners of her mouth. Could think of a few people that wouldn't mind getting rid of her, now that her thoughts were making some kind of sense again. Still, the blood loss meant everything was just a little foggy, leaving her with even less of a filter between her brain and her mouth. It didn't even occur to her to keep up the untouchable persona.
"You'd be safer without me. Ask Callan. Gregory. Aaron. Keeps going further." She frowned as she thought about the incidents, how close she'd come to killing her classmates. Once was an incident, three times was a pattern. A foregone conclusion if she didn't stop it.
"Can't risk killing one of you. I'm... Not important.""She wouldn't have bled out," Ernie replied coldly to Brent,
"Stigma wouldn't've let her die in such a stupid way. Just putting it out there if that's what you actually wanted, Zoe."Ernie had to admit that he was thrown off-guard by these injuries. It took a shitload of effort to bypass the safeguards that came with powers.
"She really wanted to hurt herself."The slightest sense of pity rung through Ernie but he hardened once more.
"We're not gonna let you die either. Guards would off all of us if they saw what's happening here."Angélique had let go of Zoe’s arm as she watched with interest her two classmates at work. She wasn’t aware Ernest was well-versed into first aid, a skill that was beyond doubt very useful for the kind of lives they were living. Maybe she could ask him to teach her about it on another day?
It pained Angel to see Zoe like that, to hear her still go on about that whole lone wolf act. But in a sense, she was right. She was volatile, and willing to hurt others. But was it because of her Stigma, or just an uncaring attitude? This whole Stigma and hurting others deal brought her mind back to the discussion she had with Emma yesterday. Her teeth grinded against each other at the thought of what happened that time.
Still with a frown, Angel got up from her knees and headed towards the room’s door. Ernest was right. If the guards would get here and see the mess, Ernest and Angel would probably be branded as unstable Aberrations while Brent could as easily be mistaken for an accomplice looking for revenge. She can’t let the others that have been drawn to this scene, herself included, be imprisoned or shot down for what happened.
“Brent, take Zoe over there by the bed and make sure you both are hidden from sight should anyone come looking by the door. Ernest, clean up as much blood as you can. Cover it up with blankets if you can’t clean it quickly. I’ll stay over there and make sure no one comes peeking in the room until Emma arrives with a Healer.” Considering how bad the situation looked, Angel acted with utmost seriousness, going as far as ordering her classmates around. She didn’t care for the moment how snappy she sounded. The stupid act Zoe just made was probably endangering everyone present here, and she would not let anyone get hurt because of that.
“And keep quiet.” she added sharply, aimed at everyone for a bit more than the sake of keeping hidden. Brent’s blunt manner of speech, Ernest’s bitchy attitude and Zoe’s self-lamenting was getting on the sonic Mage's nerves the more she was hearing them talk.
Inside her mind, whispers had started to intensify. Telling her how foolish she had been to get herself into this mess; how stupid this whole situation is; how worthless of her caring all the others were.
"If the guards offed the rest of us," Brent reasoned in return,
"That's just four subs dead from Zhang's special little group. Sounds like a hell of a waste."He knew little to nothing about what Ernie was even referring to, and he cared little for how there was an undercurrent of irritation in everyone's tones. From Ernie, who seemed more pissed that he got woken up for this shit, to Angelic, who suddenly decided to take action in the most passive-aggressive way possible.
Nevertheless, he did as the screamer commanded, opting to sling Zoe over his back and bring her over to the bed. Laying her down carefully, if not gently, the brunette wondered how much easier hiding this would have been if Angelic hadn't smashed open the door to begin with, before turning his attention back to the rotten suicidal bitch.
"I have no idea what you did to Aaron, and I can't say shit about Grego considering what I pulled off on Hazel," Brent said, his voice low,
"But yeah, you fucked up real hard with Callan. So much for protecting everyone with your power, eh? Nice to see that you have a conscience after all though, if you can feel bad about it, but really..."He turned his face away, ensuring that Angelic and Ernie couldn't see it.
"...you still killed three of those rogue subs that made everyone else go through hell. We aren't better off without you. We're worse off. You're dangerous, but so is every other fucker with access to a weapon."There was a part of him that did want Zoe to die, but it was all too easy for Brent to recall the mixture of fear and admiration he held for Hazel, a similarly destructive x-mark. Equally dangerous and useful. Another person with too many qualities that he did not have.
"Learn to use that weapon properly, you sad sack of shit."Ernie nodded at Angelique’s command, sliding off his bloodied gloves and tossing them into the room’s bin. He’d have to dispose of them properly later. No trace of this incident was to be left behind. He looked to where Zoe had been found.
So much…
A harsh blink to shake him out of his thoughts. He wasn’t going to fail.
The site was scanned with a practiced and professional gaze. Location was out of sight from the entrance. He’d have to keep an eye out for stray drops. Furniture needed to be checked. He doubted that he’d be able to do much for the hole in the wall. Weapons, unlikely as they were, needed to be considered too. The blood looked fresh, easy enough to clean. But not with the meagre soaps the motel provided for the bathrooms. If he was going to erase this incident properly then he needed supplies. And he knew where to find them. He hadn’t spent all that time lounging around the motel for nothing.
A soaked bathmat was thrown over the area Zoe was found, with the stained chair pushed to rest on top of it. Ernie covered the chair with similarly drenched towel, then gave the area an extended burst of the bathroom spray he’d found by the toilet to mask the stench of blood. Lemon-scented, urgh.
That would have to do for now. Ernie quickly strode to the doorway.
“Best I can do right now. I need equipment for the rest.” He left without further explanation.
Of course. The others were in danger, weren't they? Her fault again, she reflected, as they began to move around the room. There'd be fallout, inevitably. There always was. At least Brent initially seemed a little less pissed than the other two, although she wasn't sure it was that high a benchmark as he lay her down. Not that it mattered, because she grew increasingly less sure as he spoke to her.
It felt like he was trying to be helpful, in his own way. It was certainly true that she was effective on the battlefield, she'd already known that for herself. And that her ability was powerful - If she hadn't been there, maybe more people would have been hurt. More of their people, the ones that mattered. No-one else at that scene had been in her position to help. Not with her power, her mentality. Out of all of them, Zoe knew she was maybe the most lethal.
But then, he wasn't exactly right. About her conscience. Because the memories were twisted, weren't they? Always forcing that horrifying joy on her when she thought about it. That rush surrounding every memory, every dream that forced her to grin and laugh instead of crying. In her right mind, she wouldn't have said anything. But she couldn't think things through, speaking more to herself than to either of the people in the room.
"Can't feel bad about it properly. Pain's good... It makes me want it. Especially people." It took a couple of seconds for her eyes to widen in realisation as she tried to take the words back. Might've worked for someone else, but there was a problem with her fixation on honesty: It made for a terrible liar.
"I mean. Today. Just a bad mood. Everything was getting to me or something." A shuddering breath.
That was close.
Almost the same.
His eyes turned to the side. Ernie was gone. Angelic was guarding the door. Good.
"Same," Brent said, his eyes locking onto Zoe's,
"In the heat of the moment, it's wonderful. Splitting Hazel's head was exhilirating, I kept forgetting to apologize. Blasting a hole through that gargoyle's eye felt like validation, even though it did nothing."A pause. This was getting dangerous. These scenarios were making him weird. He needed to stop.
"It doesn't matter if you're screwed up in the head. All that matters is that you know which people to turn your power on and which not to. As I said, everyone's dangerous. Learn to aim." He almost felt like throwing up from the sheer audacity of what he was saying.
"Learn to control yourself. These passions will ruin you if left unchecked."But haven't they already?
Of all Zoe had expected from that slip of the tongue, she wasn't expecting
empathy.
"You're a white mark. It's not the same." How could she make it clear? There was something deeper about it. It wasn't just a want, almost a need, to hurt and kill and tear. Besides - Restraint, calm, mercy? Those things weren't in her nature.
"I don't know how to fight it. Because it's good. I can endure bad, but I don't know how to fight good. And fighting's the only thing I know how to do." Or at least, the only thing she didn't monumentally fuck up.
"Besides, aiming at the right place isn't..." The same. But she couldn't say that. That was too much to admit.
Temptation. It would be so easy to kill him right now. She was vulnerable if he knew this part of her. The part that was
weak.
Sudden urgency as she realised.
"Brent, back off. Now."His eyes narrowed, noticing the change.
"Zoe. Your range. What is it?""Two metres. Forty-five after that." There'd been a moment of hesitation before she spoke. Looking around the room, she realised it wasn't that simple. At least not right now.
"Can spread it through other things, one to another. Don't touch the blood."It had become an airborne contagion. Somewhere along the way, Zoe's power had gone from a minimally effective close-range weapon to something that was absolutely monstrous. Almost reflexively, Brent grinned.
"Hella impressive, Zoe. Definitely more flexible than before."Nevertheless, the bandages wrapped around her wrists filled with his power once more, creaking in spite of the fact that there should have been nothing within it that'd make such a sound, before the material changed once more, the hot winds settling.
It now stretched, and, pulling at the foam-like material, Brent took five large steps, keeping his distance from the blood.
"You pig out on junk food and play video games all day as well?" he asked, raising his voice to be heard.
Despite herself, Zoe smiled a little. She was powerful, that was true. Grown a hell of a lot, and the reaction helped her remember that. Yeah, if nothing else, she was strong. Still, the change in subject was surprising, to say the least.
"Not where I thought that was going." But maybe this was better, a distraction from the horror that was everything else.
"No. Can't sit around for that long. I'd rather be outside. Junk food sometimes, I try not to." She gave him an odd look.
"Not sure this is the time to discuss my daily routine.""Well, what else are we gonna do? Moan and groan about how Dreamcatcher's a giant dick?" Yeah, this was better. He could recover like this.
"You play any sports? Or do you just like getting into scraps a bunch?""Fair enough. Wouldn't want to be depressing." She laughed at that, considering the situation. Angelique would be able to overhear them now, wouldn't she? One person knowing was enough - lucky that Brent had been the one to find out, apparently.
"Second option. Usually won, to be fair. Think 'delinquent' got tossed around a lot." Zoe looked faintly embarrassed at the admission.
"Not really the organised sport type. My old school tried to get me to play basketball for obvious reasons, but I'd rather just work out. You?" Strange, to be having a normal conversation in these circumstances.
"Nice," he whistled, raising his spare hand in an air fist bump,
"Got my ass beat in most fights myself. Apparently learning martial arts at five years old was normal for the kids in my school, yah know?"
"Surprised they didn't try to get you into boxing or something though. Feels like that'd make more sense than shooting hoops." A shrug.
"Guess administration is retarded no matter where you go.""Can say that again." Zoe almost attempted the fist bump, but then remembered she probably didn't have fists to speak of. Her breath hitched as the reminder brought the pain back to the forefront of her mind. No reason to hide the ghost of a smile this time.
"Any sign of them yet?""Finally realized you're not cut out for masochism?" Brent grinned in response, before turning towards Angelic.
"Yo, any sign of Ernie or Emma?"While Brent and Zoe were having small talk, Angel had been standing guard over the door frame. Realizing the blown door was making it more difficult to conceal what was in the room, the raven-haired Aberration grabbed the near-unhinged door and began fiddling with it onto its frame, forcing it to open towards the outside rather than inside the room. If a guard was coming over, she could just lie about having blown it from inside for reasons she had yet to figure out.
Despite having told the two to remain silent, they were talking as if nothing had happened. Angélique did not say a word about it though. They weren't loud enough to signal their presences from afar, and by the tone of their voices, they seemed to be discussing rather than cussing each other out. At least their discussion was a bit better to hear than what they were saying a bit earlier.
While fiddling on the door to straighten it onto its frame and hinges, she listened once in a while, without paying too much attention to the details of their exchange though. Her mind was addled by taunting whispers and scenarios of how an encounter with some guards would unfold. She tried coming up with convincing lies, but she was someone bad at doing so, having always been a straightforward and honest person.
Why lie and get yourself into trouble for these idiots?
Better save yourself from the pain and stick to the truth. Ditch these fuckers!Hearing Brent's 'yo' and the question following it, Angel took another peek on both sides of the corridor, spotting no one. As soon as she began formulating an answer to Brent, the familiar warmth of her magic invaded her throat. She focused her voice to be projected elsewhere.
"Nothing yet so f-... wait... Ernie is returning with some stuff." the sound Mage whispered, her lips moving but her voice reaching quietly to Zoe and Brent as if she had been standing right next to them.
The Aberration boy strode down the hall, protective glove-covered hands pushing the janitor's cart laden with chemicals, scrubbers and a vacuum. Though the respirator mask covered most of his face, narrowed, hazel eyes made it clear that whatever expression lay beneath the mask was likely that of irritation. Ernie paused at the door, glaring with dismay at the Angelique and the hinges before letting out a
"Jesus, fuck," under his breath. Another job for the self-made janitor. There went his sleep for the night.
He didn't bother greeting the others in the room, instead pouring his needed liquids and chemicals into a series of paper cups he'd snagged somewhere. Then, after removing the chairs and towels from the stained area, he knelt down to begin scrubbing.
"There's a line between masochism and melted hands. Maybe--" Zoe stopped. Wait, what? Okay, no. Not finishing that sentence. Could leave that train of thought for when she wasn't in a room full of people. At this point she was starting to half-wonder if she'd somehow given herself brain damage.
She was thankful for Angelique's interruption, although slightly irritated. Oh, great. Ernie. At least she'd be suffering in a cleaner room. Thinking about it, though, leaving him to scrub it all would be kind of a dick move. Reaching out to whatever blood was in her range, she tried to start melting it away.
It wasn't working. Safeguards. Always safeguards. Gritting her teeth, she kept pushing but it was harder to do this time. Maybe it was because she wasn't as invested in getting past it. It would be obvious that she was struggling to do something, and finally, slowly, she thought she could feel it start to work. It didn't occur to her that she probably should've given them some warning.
The Aberration boy shuffled back as the stain on the chair started changing. Was it seeping
in or something?! God, this room was becoming more irritating with every passing second. Ernie's gaze shifted to Zoe, who was obviously straining herself. The stain continued shrinking, changing at a painfully slow rate but shrinking nonetheless. His mind put the puzzle together. The girl had some kind of range. Had she always had that or was it from one of those visions he had been discussing earlier?
And geez, what was the point of him even being here if someone else was gonna mop up?
"Please. You leave a mess behind and it's gonna bite you in the ass later. Don't think about it too hard."Right. He was always the one cleaning after others. Always. But a helping hand didn't sound too bad for this situation.
"If you're gonna help with this, can you focus on the carpet first? Don't want any gunk growing underneath. I'll just...fix the door while you clean up or...?"Even if she could clean it herself, she was taking an awful lot of time doing it. He wondered if she could even take care of it all.
Zoe tried to reply, but couldn't get the words out. All her energy was focused on just getting her ability to work. She was suddenly exhausted - If she was honest, she probably shouldn't have been exerting herself like this at all. Even sitting on the bed, she felt unsteady. Still, she nodded. He could fix the damn door.
"Alrighty. Angelique, hold that door up for me."A pause.
"Geez, I need more tools."The Aberration sped out the door yet another time. Zoe would be fine, right? It was a sorta poetic thing, having her clean up her own mess. He couldn't help but frown as he recalled the exhausted look on the girl's face. Hadn't this been the mentality that made Christmas bleed out from shoddily self-wrapped bandages? Maybe having someone who had just attempted suicide with their own powers perform a menial chore with the aforementioned powers was a bad idea...
Ernie's steps quickened heavily.
After a few minutes, the boy returned, completely out of breath and hauling a hefty toolkit. The power drill was pulled out, but Ernie hesitated.
"Uh," he turned to the others, hoping that they would have some advice,
"This is gonna be loud. Should I?"Angel watched with widened eyes Ernest bringing out the power drill. She crossed her arms, whispering.
"Yeah, no. Put that away. Don't you have a screwdriver in that kit?"The handyman visibly deflated and mumbled a quiet
"yes". Urgh, so much unnecessary labor. Pulling a bottle of wood glue and a Phillips screwdriver out of the toolkit, Ernie got to work removing the loose screws.
"Uh...Angelic, I could just overclock that power drill and have it become super quiet..." Brent said, before confusion emerged on his features. What even was the point of this?
"But now that I thought about it, is there a particular reason why we're being all quiet? Pretty sure everyone would be awake after your scream."Angel's frown deepened as she heard Brent commenting about no longer needing to be quiet.
"Exactly. And that probably includes the guards surrounding the motel. Excuse me if I don't want one of them to drop in on us and mistake this whole event for a bunch of subs trying to kill one another.""Stop bitching at each other or fuck off." Zoe paused her cleaning attempts, panting, only to raise her head and practically growl at her classmates. She was a
tiny bit on edge.
"Not like I'm dying." Just permanently crippled without a healer, she reflected. Speaking of which, where were they?
Lily was wandering around the rooms, feeling a little bit better than she did the previous days. In her right hand was the cellphone she told Emma wasn't hers. It had rung thrice the past hour, all three calls from the same person, Sebastian. Ever since he called the day before, she never really bothered receiving the call again. Why would she? She wasn't who he was trying to talk to.
"Funny that they would give me someone else's phone. Maybe to save money, they gave me a used phone?" she spoke out loud.
You're not important. They don't need to bother with giving you stuff."Oh, I know that. It doesn't matter. I just want donuts right about now," the blonde teenager conversed lightheartedly with the voices in her head.
"But you think I can find any at this time?"There was no answer.
"I guess that's the way to shut you up," Lily laughed, not really caring how crazy she must look talking to herself.
Crazy girl. No one would want to be near you. No one needs you."Mmhmmm..."Emma came rushing out of Zoe's room, clearly in a hurry. She didn't have time to run around the motel right now, as far as she knew both Christmas and Lily were still in the hospital. It was just down the street, but she still wasn't sure how severe Zoe's injuries were... if she wasn't fast enough, there was no telling what could happen to her. She didn't exactly like Zoe after the incident with Callan, but she wasn't going to let her die.
Which is why Emma breathed a sigh of relief when she caught sight of Lily. She didn't waste any time,
"Lily! Lily" she called out, rushing towards the girl. Emma had no time to worry about the fact that Lily seemed to be talking to herself,
"Thank God I found you. Zoe's been injured, I don't know how severe it is, but we could use a healer. Can you come with me, quick?"At the sound of someone calling out her name, she looked up and found Emma heading towards her.
"You lose. See? Someone needs me, " she said and then flashed the taller girl a loopy grin.
"Okay," she said with a nod.
So, she is talking to herself...Emma didn't have time to worry about that.
"Alright than. Let's hurry, she didn't look very good." Emma said. She didn't wait for confirmation to start running back to Zoe's room.
Didn't look too good... was she attacked? Lily wondered to herself as she started running after Emma, tucking the phone into her pocket and quickening her pace a bit to avoid being left behind by the taller girl. As soon as they were both near Zoe's room, the blonde X-marked stopped short in her tracks, her eyes widening.
She didn't need to see the injury to know what it was. She could feel it. While the injury wasn't as bad as Callan's severed arm, it was still bad. Her eyes were wide as saucers as her mind processed the anticipated pain that would follow after she took the injury onto herself.
"W-what happened? Why are her hands...?" she stammered as she resumed heading towards the room, her footsteps slowing down from a run.
A few more minutes and she was standing at the doorway. Her eyes immediately fell on Zoe and her hands. They were bandaged in some sort of foamy material and although the injury was hidden from plain sight, she knew what was underneath. And she knew that no matter how much she cringed from the pain that would obviously come with it, she wouldn't refuse healing her classmate...someone she didn't even know the name of. She ignored everyone else and calmly walked in.
All the voices in her hand erupted into chaos as she settled down on the floor, her back to the wall.
Take it and give it back. Make it worse.Make them hurt. Make them beg.Make them wish they died instead.The uproar in her head made it impossible for her to think her actions through. She didn't consider what would happen to her after taking the injuries or who would heal her. She just focused on what was asked of her and tried to ignore the voices that permeated every corner of her mind.
She closed her eyes and as soon as she did, the black thread that signalled the activation of her power appeared on her wrist, the other end automatically wrapping around the injured's wrist. As soon as the connection was complete, the flesh on Lily's hands and wrists became a bloody, rotten mess.
And the pain. It was so intense, so horrible, that the small teenager bit down so hard on her lip that she made it bleed. She whimpered as she kept her eyes closed tightly, her bloody hands on her lap.
GIVE IT BACK TO THEM, the voice in her head roared.
Angélique watched in sheer bewilderment Emma running towards the room, accompagnied by Lilianna. No fucking way. Did she really asked
her to come here and take up Zoe's injuries without even bringing someone else to regenerate the injuries? Was she a fucking idiot?
Just as se was giving a scowl in Emma's way, her attention was quickly brought back to the calm-looking Lilianna who walked up in the room and activated her power without thinking.
"Lily! Wai-"Too late. The golden-haired Aberration's skin peeled off from her hands and wrists, leaving them into a dripping bloody mess in the middle of a room that had been freshly cleaned by Zoe, clearing out her own mess.
They were back at square one, as if they had just entered Zoe's room to find Lily injured by Zoe. Before, it was plausible to come up with an excuse that Zoe trying to kill herself, seeing how her powers seemingly affected her own skin. But now? Now it seemed as if Zoe had attacked Lily and had been put down by her fellow classmates.
Things just took a strange turn, perhaps not for the best.
At least you won't risk being blamed by the higher-ups for what happened here.They should have tried to get Christmas to heal Zoe instead of Lilianna. Or at least have Kusari to take the injuries and regenerate them. Even better, they should have bandaged Lilianna's hands beforehand to prevent blood spilling on the ground again.
"God fucking damnit..." Angel muttered under her breath.
"I'm calling Kusari over here right away.""No," Ernie snapped harshly,
"We can't have more witnesses here."Realisation quickly overshadowed the mild disgust as Zoe's injuries appeared on Lily's hands. The injury transfer girl. Her power made her a strong healer at the cost of her own health. Ernie's mind replayed past conversations numbly. Lily was the one who healed Cal's severed arm. But if her power was injury swapping... Oh god.
This girl was either an insane masochist or the bravest, most selfless person in the class.
"Yet another stronger classmate."She hadn't even hesitated when she saw Zoe's state. Didn't even blink at the possibility of suffering for others' sake. Plus...
Small girl. Blonde hair. Golden eyes. This was a fucking joke, right? The world was getting back at him for not giving enough shits about a dead child? This girl didn't look much older than Savannah. And to top it all off, she was an Aberration too. An X-mark taking away pain instead of inflicting it. Truly incredible.
All at once, Ernie felt his inadequacies plumet onto him like a collapsed building.
What the fuck was he even doing here? What the fuck was his excuse for not helping with these injuries? The only 'right' he was doing here was sorting out the cleaning of the room, and he wasn't even fucking doing that without Zoe's help. This little girl was bearing the nightmarish injuries of a monster and he was just there fiddling with screws. What the fuck was he doing? What could he do?
He...his rope! He still had his durability. Yes...yes, he needed this to work. Anything to feel like he was doing something right for a change.
The screws and tools were dropped immediately while his rope was summoned. Ernie knelt by the pained girl, holding out his right hand. The words were shoved out before he could think them over.
"Lily, there's no reason for you to take it all yourself. Give me half."Half? Half of it? There's no half. Give it all. Give him everything and more, the voice reacted savagely to Ernie's request.
Amidst the pain and the noise in her head, Lily managed to shake her head.
"No, no, no..." She didn't even know who was asking for the injuries. She kept her eyes closed tight. She was barely able to keep the impulse to hurt someone at bay and the voices roaring in her head was not helping at all. She tried to focus on how she felt when she hurt and killed those people in Ground Zero. But all it did was make that desire to hurt flare up more.
With the realization that she might lose control and end up hurting people around her, she opened her eyes and found herself staring into the hazel brown eyes of a boy with a buzzcut.
"Need to... get out of here," she whispered urgently, struggling to get up.
It happened too fast. He thought they would have figured out what to do after Lily transfered the injuries onto herself, but the young, blonde-haired x-mark acted too fast. As if she had no sense of self-preservation. Her wrists seemed to almost blossom outwards, before more blood splattered everywhere. Fresh. Too fresh.
And, just like that, they had an even bigger crisis on their hands. One of their
healers were suffering now, and...she was trying to leave instead?
Leave, with such injuries?
Overclocking the bandages on Zoe was pointless now, and Brent released his grasp immediately. Ernie was willing to take the pain, but they still had no way of getting rid of it. What was the logic behind injury transferrance? Was Kusari their only option? Was there a better way?
Could Emma's monsters take it?"Emma, summon one of your monsters now. As humanoid as possible. Lily, if you can, transfer the wounds on that," Brent said,
"Angelic, get moving! This..."Hazel's hands destroyed those monsters easily. Does it not work if they aren't living beings?"...might not work."Emma cringed back. This was a mistake. A big mistake. They didn’t need Lily, they needed Christmas… she’d been told to get a healer. Brent told her to get a healer. She thought that Zoe’s injuries were worse, that she needed help right away, she couldn’t see how hurt she was, Lily was the first person she saw and she had no idea where Christmas was… she was just going as she was told, right? It wasn’t her fault, it was the other’s, but…
But now Lily, her friend, was the one injured and it
was her fault.
She saw Angel‘s scowl,
”This… this… I was told to get a healer, I didn’t know…” she muttered, but she wasn’t sure if they could hear her. She looked down for a moment before Brent snapped her out of it,
”R-right.” immediately after the affirmation the form of Charity appeared beside her.
Seeing this recent development, Angel sighed, annoyed. Looks like they will have to bring Kusari into this mess as well.
Backing off from the room, the raven-haired Aberration closed her eyes, focusing. She never tried this before, but she had a bit of insight about how her newly acquired power worked.
Letting the warmth of her magic flow into her, Angel's lips moved, but no voice came out from her mouth, once more.
However, somewhere in the motel, her voice reached out to the girl Angel had focused her power on to reach: Kusari. She had no time looking out for where she was. If she was somewhere in the motel though, she'd hear Angel's voice.
"Kusari! We need you inside Zoe's room as quickly as possible. Don't question the voice, just get moving!" the disembodied voice ordered, tinged with panic.
Kusari didn't know why she thought taking a walk outside was a good idea. Even at night this town was crawling with regulars, and they were defeating the purpose of her
relaxing stroll. She should have known better, she did her brooding best alone in a dark room, like any respectable suffering artist.
As she was nearing the motel she nearly jumped out of her skin as she heard Angel call her name. She frantically looked around for the girl, but stopped as she heard the rest.
"R-right!" She said, though Angel likely didn't hear her. She didn't know what was happening, but she had no intention of standing around and questioning why a fellow mage needed help.
She nearly broke the motel's front door as she rushed through the building, scrambling up stairs and down a hall until she reached Zoe's room.
"W-what the hell?" It seemed like the majority of Unit B was here, all crowded around Zoe's room. Kusari's focused was drawn instantly to Lily, however. Her hands looked as if she'd bathed them in acid. She didn't care to find out how it happened, she needed Lily to be healed first. Running over to the girl Kusari placed her left hand on her shoulder.
"Lily calm down, look at me. Use it on me, give me your wounds."There were roars of laughter in Lily's head, her stigma going wild as her physical body felt the pain and that horrible need to hurt someone.
They're all wishing it wasn't you that came. You're no healer. You're a monster. And at one point you'll have to give in to what you really are.HURT HURT HURT.DESTROY DESTROY DESTROY.KILL KILL KILL.The voices were loud as they chanted over and over in the small teenager's fractured mind. She looked around, looking for those hazel eyes she had been looking at when she had opened her eyes. Maybe if she focused on those eyes, she could bring the raging stigma under control. But in front of her was the porcelain skinned Arbiter.
For some reason, her mind brought back the recent battle, that moment when Kusari yelled at her for not transferring the injuries to her.
HURT HER, came a single clear voice in her head. It rose above the noise. And it was familiar. It was her voice.
There pull was irresitible, the need horrible. Lily bit down more on her lip, drawing out more blood, trying to remind herself that the person in front of her, no matter if she was immortal, was an ally. And allies are kept safe, not hurt.
But it was a losing battle. The pain, the voices, the need. She'd have to transfer the injuries. It was just a matter of how much she would give out. The black thread immediately connected Lily to Kusari. Her control was slipping.
"No. Just..." She gave out more than what she needed to. A red claw fell to the floor, severed from the wrist. Lily's manic eyes stared at it as it fell, a gleeful feeling spreading through her.
MORE MORE MORE the voices egged on.
No... a small voice inside her head. Her voice.
The single word was enough for Lily to reign in her destructive power that Kusari's left hand and wrist merely took on the original injury that she took from Zoe.
Kusari watched as a black string floated towards her and connected to her body. Lily seemed to be in excruciating pain, so much so that she'd bitten through her lip from the agony. The sooner she transferred the wounds, the better.
"Huh? Just wha-." Kusari let out en empty gasp as she lost all feeling in her right hand, a painfully familiar feeling. She clenched her teeth and tried to ignore the pain, at some point she needed to get used to this. But this seemed odd, Neither of Lily's hands had completely fallen off. She looked at the bulky bleeding hand in confusion, not quite understanding what had happened.
While she was dumbstruck, Lily transferred the other wound. Kusari winced as she watched the flesh on her left hand rot away, her healing factor activated at the same time, but was much too slow to even come close to nullifying it until it was done. She noticed that it didn't fall off like her other hand. That was strange, if anything she figured the clawed hand would be more durable. Maybe it wasn't as dense? No, that didn't make sense. She reached out with her numb and twitching left hand to pick up the claw. After a few moments holding it in place it reattached to her arm.
Now that it seemed no one was in mortal danger, her mind decided to focus on the next glaring problem.
"Would anyone mind telling me why Zoe attacked Lily?" She suddenly asked, her voice teetering on the edge of fury. It wasn't as if she didn't recognize the wounds, she'd seen it enough by now, and there didn't appear to be any unknown mages around.
As soon as Lily was injury free again, she slumped back onto the floor, exhausted from both the pain and the stress of trying to fight off that need to hurt people. She had originally wanted to get out of the room and get away from her classmates. But in the end, she gave in to her stigma, which was now slightly quieter having been half sated. She turned her horrified eyes on what she had done to Kusari. Instead of just transferring what she took, she had managed to cut off an entire hand... or in her case, claw. She licked her bleeding lip, tasting the blood.
"I'm sorry..." she said in a small voice.
Still keeping guard outside of the room, Angel could not help but take a few glances inside the room as Lilianna transferred her wounds to Kusari. It had become even messier than before. As a matter of fact, Angelique could barely watch and not be sick as she saw the pale Arbiter's clawed hand severed from the forearm. Her gaze shifted elsewhere, trying to avoid the sight of all the gore.
It was only when Kusari was furiously asking why Zoe had attacked Lilianna that Angel-s focus was brought back to the room. This was the exact reason why she tried to be as discreet as possible. If Kusari though like that, then the guards surely would have too. And Angel couldn't allow anyone to get hurt because of Zoe's blunder.
"Kusari, come with me. I will explain." A calm but pissed whisper came from next to the girl's ear, only meant for her alone to hear.
"I'll make sure no one is coming while you guys clean that up. That's... a disturbing amount of blood." Angel announced to the others, slowly leaving the door's frame and walking back into the corridor.
"This better be good, Angélique." Kusari mumbled, glaring at Zoe before she walked out of the room with Angel. Once they were in the corridor Kusari crossed her arms and looked Angel in the eyes.
"So? What the hell happened?""I can't tell you for sure what exactly happened concerning Zoe, but Emma had brought Lily here to heal Zoe's hands. When she screamed earlier, I was the first to arrive here and saw Zoe lying down with her own hands rotting down barely to the muscle tissues." Angelique explained to Kusari, maintaining a dead serious eye contact with the Arbiter.
She paused, giving herself time to recollect what had happened tonight.
"Ernest thinks Zoe might have tried to suicide herself, but the Stigma stopped her from injuring herself too badly, as it does to all of us Aberrations." The raven-haired girl sighed in annoyance. Truly, what kind of bullshit did they step on tonight.
"We thought the guards would have arrived on the scene after hearing the scream, so we tried to keep quiet about it for the most part. Didn't want everyone who came to check up on her to be gunned down for a misunderstanding. You know how trigger-happy those assholes are."Kusari didn't know what to say. Her intense glare softened, and she lowered her gaze to the floor.
"She tried to kill herself?" She whispered to herself. She knew Stigmas tormented Aberrations, that they were hard to live with. Yet the thought never occurred to her that it could drive one of her classmates to suicide. This was messed up, this was all just too messed up.
"Why- why would she..." She knew why.
Her face hardened again, turning to anger instead of wallowing in pity.
"She didn't have to do that, no, she shouldn't feel the need to do that, she should just... just..." Kusari took deep breaths, she wanted to take her frustration out on something, but there was nothing she could do. She didn't know what to say to someone like Zoe, not when she'd contemplated ending her life the moment she was lined up with the rest of them. There was no promise that things would get better, she and everyone else knew that things were only going to get worse. Death just might look like heaven compared to hell on Earth.
"What can we even do?" All the steam inside of her burnt away.
"She's not going to try it again, is she?""Don't know. Like I said, I really don't know what's up with her. If it wasn't for the fact she was bleeding over when I came in, I would have slapped the bitch and yelled at her." Angel explained, her hardened features tracing themselves up to her tired-looking angry eyes.
"We'll just have to deal with it until we reach the institute, and pray she doesn't get the bright idea of using her powers on one of us... again.""Yeah..." Kusari sighed and turned around, she didn't want to deal with any of this, she wouldn't know how to anyway. She took a step when something hit her, something Angel said.
"Again?" She turned her head back to Angel.
"You're talking about the flag game, right?"Did Kusari really don't know what happened to Callan? Strange, Angel thought Kusari had been there to see what happened over at Evac, considering Lily - and thus the others from Healer Team Brandt - had to rush in there to help.
"Weren’t you with Evac Team at some point? I've been told Zoe melted Callan's... arm off... in... hey, are you alright?" Angel interrupted herself as she saw Kusari's face changing.
For once, she was the one who stepped on a landmine without knowing.
Kusari was certainly not 'alright.' She had assumed it was one of the enemy subnaturals that had injured Callan, for what reason did she have to assume it was one of their allies? Was this why Zoe had tried to kill herself? Had her stigma driven her to do it and she couldn't take the guilt?
"Answer this carefully." She said, her crimson eyes boring into Angel.
"Was this an accident, or did she do it on purpose?"Angélique only shrugged to the girl's question. Hearing that threat however, the raven-haired Aberration's brows furrowed. Memories brought back the last time Kusari had tried to manhandle Angel around during the Flags and Seek game, only to be felled by a debilitating scream.
"Hell if I know. I was too busy trying to prevent Hazel from making a mess out of Ernie and Christmas to be there myself. I'm just telling you what others told me." Angel answered, her vivid green eyes returning a defiant stare.
"Don't even think of making anything stupid now. We've had enough shit that had happened this week for all of us. If you want to trashtalk the bitch, then by all means do it. Hell, even I plan on having a word with her. But wait until we get to school. Right now's not the time for that.""Hazel too?" Kusari didn't understand what was wrong with them, the Aberrations, and the fact that no one had told her about any of this. They were supposed to be a team, weren't they? At some point someone was going to die because a mage just "couldn't help themselves." Even still she couldn't make a big scene right now, she would just make things worse for everyone. What a hopeless situation.
"Fine." She said, visibly calming down.
"Once we get back to the school, we're going to have a nice. Long. Talk." Kusari turned once more and headed for her room. She needed to go to sleep before she did something she regretted.
Angel only nodded, letting out an apprehensive hum as she watched Kusari leaving with the promise of a talk. Whether it was directed at her or at Zoe, she couldn't tell. What mattered the most is that this situation had gotten under control, and no guard had come knocking down at the door with guns blazing.
Perhaps they didn't care if they would be at each others' throats. Maybe she dramaticized the situation. Still, Zoe made a mess of herself and required medical attention. In the end, they were able to provide.
It was just a fucking shame more tension had to be created tonight. Already, she could feel the bridge between herself and Kusari burning because of what just happened. Probably Zoe too, depending of what was going to happen the next time they speak to each other.
Mind addled with more whispers, Angélique left the corridor without so much bidding farewell to the two boys that were just leaving, nor to the red-haired Aberration that was the source of this commotion. Angel was already on edge enough tonight. There was no need to bother anyone anymore with her foul mood. She needed to sleep, and hope they would return to USARILN as quickly as possible. She much needed a visit to Ground Zero.
Ernie scrambled back as Lily's powers took their hold on Kusari.
More blood. So much.
No, stop it. Ernie blinked himself out of that obsessive fixation on the state of the ground. There were more urgent things to address.
The rope was dissipated, its wielder suddenly very glad that the healer hadn't chosen him to transfer the injuries to, considering what the immortal just went through. But now there was so much more to take care of. Angelique left him alone with the door. There was so much more carpet to clean. Lily's clothes would have to be binned or cleaned, there was to be no evidence of an incident. One more witness to this mess, thanks to Angel. Zoe was still bround, and frankly, Ernie had no interest in cutting her free. And he still wasn't allowed to use the fucking power drill.
The boy took a deep breath. Getting worked up would solve nothing. He needed to split this nonsense into manageable blocks. There were still people here who could pull their own weight, he just needed to make sure they were pulling it in the right direction.
"Zoe, can you clean Lily's clothes as well? I'll just..." the boy gestured absently to the door frame,
"Brent, help me with the drill. I'll have it fixed in five minutes tops if I can use it."The Aberration looked to the blonde with a grim expression, looking at the bloodstains surrounding her too. He didn't want to be afraid of another one.
"Emma, you make sure she's okay."Emma had been quiet, perhaps because of guilt or maybe revulsion, trying to avert her eyes from the scene before her, but when Ernie called on her she responded with a nod. This was her fault… she wanted to leave, it was clearly a mistake to come investigate the screaming but she couldn’t just bail on the others, on Lily. Lily… why exactly did Emma bring her here? She should’ve known better than that, it was a stress of everyone, especially Lily and Kusari.
But Emma could focus on her mistakes later. For now she took a slow step towards Lily, reaching out to the girl with a cautious hand that found it’s place on her back.
”Lily… are you… are you okay?” Emma asked, concern filling her voice.
Lily looked towards Ernie.
Oh. He's the guy asking for half of the injuries, she thought, clearly remembering that desperate search for his eyes, his face and the thought that maybe by looking at him, she'd be able to bring her stigma under control. Why she thought that it would, she didn't know. When she heard Emma address her, she turned her golden eyes to the taller girl and her thoughts made a U-turn from Ernie to what had just happened.
"I... I'm okay. But... but..." she couldn't say it out loud. What would she say? That she amplified the injuries? That she enjoyed it? That it calmed down the voices in her head?
She had been okay earlier, talking to what she always believed were voices that belonged to somebody else. But it was a stupid thought. How would anyone's voice be inside her head? In the end, it was all her. The voices had always been hers. She wanted to hurt people. She knew what she was and was merely hiding behind the facade of a nice girl. USARILN was right all along. She should be kept in isolation.
"I'm just gonna... I... I'll just go. I can clean myself up," she said, turning away and hurriedly walking towards the door.
Ernie frowned as the girl moved to leave. Her shirt was completely ruined, why wouldn't she take the chance to have it cleaned? He supposed that the sensible thing to do would have been to mind his own business and let her go as she wished. But that compulsion of his kept his attention on the dark stains like a ball and chain. He needed to rid himself of that unpleasantness.
He couldn't offer to wash her clothes right now or buy a new set like he'd done for Cal. But there was another solution in his room.
"Lily, go three doors to the left and you'll find a change of clothes on one of the dressers. Just don't touch anything else if you go in and take it."And don't get blood on the carpet either, please.
Lily paused and blinked. Didn't they see what she did? Why were they being nice to her? Were they pitying her because although she was labeled as a healer she wasn't really useful? She glanced towards Ernie, gave him a curt nod and disappeared out the door, muttering thanks under her breath. Might as well take the offer. She didn't even know if she had any change of clothes in the room she was staying in.
As was told, she opened the dresser and grabbed the first article of clothing she saw, a plain blue shirt. She made sure that she didn't get any blood onto the dresser or anywhere else. It wasn't a big problem since the blood on her hands and on everywhere else on her body were already caked dry. Without wasting any time, she swapped the blue shirt with the bloodied shirt she had on after which, she balled her soiled shirt in her hands and exited the room, making sure that she didn't touch anything else. Outside, she contemplated on going back and helping the others but after a few seconds, she decided not too. She silently made her way back to her room at the end of the hallway.
Emma was going to call Lily back, but she couldn't work up the nerve. Something was wrong, she knew that much. This situation was her fault- she knew that too. People were starting to leave- maybe that was here cue to get out of her too. What she'd seen brought back bad memories. She gave a glance towards Ernie, Brent, and Zoe, the form of Charity disappearing,
"Looks like things are handled here... I'm... I'm going to go back to my room now." she left quickly, without another word.
"You guys can go too, you know." Zoe turned her head to the pair by the door after watching as Emma left.
"I can fix the rest, if you undo this." She raised her bandaged hands with a slight scowl. As much as she'd like to have made a decent argument, she just didn't have the energy to make much of a case. Glancing at what remained of the blood, she sighed.
"I don't think I'm gonna get much sleep anyway."It was...more or less resolved. With Zoe stable, Kusari taking on the wounds that plagued Lily, and Ernie revealing his high-level handyman skills once more, Brent sighed. Maybe the guards really didn't care, if even Kusari could run past before a guard came to check up. Or maybe they were just eavesdropping on the lot of them through the cuffs, to ensure that everything sounded about right. Nevertheless, even with Zoe cleaning up the bloodstains with her own power, the door was still busted, something that no amount of biological disintegration could solve.
He felt the silver blood within him. It was still going strong, nothing to worry about in particular.
"Alright," Brent said, walking over to Ernie,
"It'll be a bit awkward with two people holding it, but let's get this done. Don't suppose you got a steam mop or something too?"One hand gingerly placed itself on the bottom of the power drill, a jolt of magic disassembling it before it reformed, roughly five times cooler and half as heavy as it was before. White with black lines, the brand of Overclock was printed on the side, guaranteeing a quality that came with the cost of stability.
"Gotta scrub first, then mop. Then vacuum. Everything's on the cart," Ernie murmured.
As promised, the door was properly repaired within minutes thanks to Brent's upgrade. He looked to Zoe as they were done, frowning. He still didn't want to free her and he had no doubt in his own cleaning abilities, even if he'd be slower than magic. He looked to Brent, wanting to see if he'd help with the stains. An upgraded steam mop did sound pretty cool.
"Could just as easily do it all at once," Brent said, finding it in himself to smile despite how gruesome their work was.
"A scrubbing steam mop that simultaneously vaccuums. How does that sound?"Ernie's eyes lit up despite the situation.
"Sounds awesome. Let's do it!"There was, of course, the question of where all the vaccuumed stuff was going to go after the overclock faded, but Brent doubted that these were Ernie's personal cleaning tools, so the arbiter didn't pay much heed to the problems that his own power could bring up. Releasing the power drill, he moved over to the steam mop next, his hands tingling with sparks of silver.
Ernie looked like he'd have the most fun with these types of toys, and with that in mind, the brunette grasped a random part of it. For two functions, two overclocks were required, this time converting the appliance into what almost looked like a metal detector. The white disc had a blue-and-white mophead that spun at the press of a trigger, almost like that of an automated tootbrush, while another trigger activated the vacuum function instead, allowing one to seamlessly transition from one task to the other.
Brent had no idea where the steam part actually came in, but once he showed all the features of this pulsating device to Ernie, the arbiter let his buddy have the fun, hovering by to hold onto the elongated handle.
The cleaning tool was grasped with eager hands. Aw man, this was just too cool. Ernie marvelled at the ease of use, the way the stains were scrubbed and steamed out within seconds by the swivelling brush head. Though the Aberration was excited to try it out a bit longer, he made sure to stay focused on the task here, cleaning the floor, wall and towels used to initially cover the stains with a highly practiced efficiency. The job was done completely after a few minutes.
"Man, that's incredible," Ernie breathed a sigh of relief when there were no more stains to be found. Freedom at last,
"Thanks, Brent. This whole thing would've been a lot worse without you."He wasn't just talking about the cleaning. The door, the bandages. His calm under pressure. Ernie wouldn't have been able to do this much alone.
"Enjoyed yourself?" he asked once the task was complete. Brent felt like he could understand a bit of why Ernie was obssessed with being a janitor for free now. There was something satisfying about turning a bloodbath into just a bath, after all, especially when Ernie's skill with handling the mop felt almost meditative.
Waving off his thanks, Brent said, hands resting against the back of his neck,
"No problem, dude. The future's now with Roless Industries. We thank you for your patronage."He paused, before helping out with putting everything back where it belonged.
"Seriously though, anyone would have helped out in a situation like this. I just got here early.""Yeah, it was great. Swing by the Abe dorms sometime and do that with my vacuum," Ernie laughed but the seriousness of that last request was questionable,
"Don't sell yourself short, buddy. This team could use more people like you."People that Ernie could actually trust on the battlefield, who had their wits about them. People that weren't like Ernie or Emma or Zoe. Speaking of which...
The Aberration strode over to the bound girl, severing the length of bandage between her hands. No move was made to unwrap the rest or make a snarky comment. He wasn't interested in spending any more time with this psycho than needed. With everything back in its place, Ernie moved to push the cart back to where he'd found it.
"I should probably return this. Then go get some sleep. I'll see you later then?""Well, we definitely could go for more snipers," he replied airily, deflecting Ernie's compliments,
"But thanks anyways. Call me whenever your baby girl needs to go super saiyan, eh? Just work as my food tester in exchange."With that, the two went their separate ways, Brent waving at Zoe one last time before closing the door behind him. Ernie parted with a reminder to dispose of the bloodied bandages where no one would find them.
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