Lasrever

Shattered Fates - A Dark Fantasy, Boss Battling Epic

The wisp frowned, troubled by the goddess's answer. Bound to a place, unable to leave or have an effect beyond it. The thought brought a sense of pity, though it felt undeniably odd to pity a self-proclaimed goddess. A bird in a cage, no matter how powerful, would be unable to escape. Such fates were not unusual, but often restricted to a select few in society - the rich and powerful, royalty, which the wisp certainly did not feel it had been. So why, then, did the situation feel so familiar? Why was it not sympathy, but empathy that sparked?

As for the blackness that lay beyond, it seemed both great and terrible. Something about it called to the wisp, to change it and bring it back to light. Maybe it was naive to hope that it was not lost yet, but that was of no concern. Nera had called them chosen, given them a task, and it was their duty to carry it out whatever that may involve. Besides, to free the world, to end the people's suffering... It was the type of noble calling many could only dream of.

Even the wisp's borderline unquestioning obedience was tested, however, as Nera's nail tapped on its chest and the world seemed to explode. At once, it was everything and nothing, and their fates became undeniably linked, bound to each other. Images of a life it once knew flashed by almost too quickly to grasp their meaning.

First was the face of a man, stern yet kindly, the shake of a head on a cold winter's day. Hesitation as the girl before him continued in her pleas for who knew what, a sword in her hand a little too large for a child with far more growing to do. A twinkle of amusement in blue eyes as he handed over a practice weapon to the child's utmost delight.

Second was a hall, functional rather than gaudy. Vibrant carpets that were frayed at the edges, armoured men and women stood smiling as the same girl, older but not by much, knelt before the same man. There was a sense of comfort, of purpose, of meaning as the girl's face aged, undercut by indescribable loneliness. The swearing of a long-lost oath, though the words were not yet known to her. A squire, not yet a knight.

For a moment, it seemed there would be a third vision as the girl stood, having aged into a young woman, but the hall remained the same as it faded away. For a split second she thought there were sounds she didn't understand, clattering metal and a high-pitched scream from someone she couldn't see. But it all faded far too quickly.

She dismissed those few seconds as unimportant. A quirk in a dream, nothing more. The rest made sense, and brought her comfort. It was only right that she had had such a purpose, and dedication to such a noble cause could only be a good thing. Yes, such an order would last through the ages, she knew that now, and embraced her past with pride. Yes, that was her. A holy warrior, a protector of the natural order, what could be greater? Even in training, it would be a small matter for her to fight the darkness that supposedly blighted the world below.

The young woman that stood in place of the wisp had strength in her gaze as she inclined her head to the others in a friendly gesture of respect, silent until they had finished speaking. Almost appearing contemplative, as though feigning wisdom of some sort. There was something about the way she carried herself, however, that indicated she wasn't anywhere near as knowledgeable as she appeared to think. If anything, the squire, softly smiling, seemed far too idealistic for the blackness that lay before them.

Though it was difficult to fully see it, it seemed that her left arm was branded with runes that wrapped around it like vines, line upon line snaking over otherwise unmarked flesh. The marks glowed softly, the light seeming to shift in hue as though there were a thousand different colours trapped under her skin. The unnatural effect unnerved her and she quickly looked away, her discomfort obvious and brown eyes sparking with anger for the briefest second.

"You--" It seemed for a second that she was about to voice her irritation, but she held her tongue. It wasn't her place to question the brand she now bore. Petty rebellions and selfish desires only brought disorder. Such things could be put aside for the common good. "You honour me, my lady. My name is Dwyn."

Shattered Fates - A Dark Fantasy, Boss Battling Epic

There had been little to say since their arrival in the atrium. The change was overwhelming, and the words spoken by their guide difficult to absorb. Not to mention the pain so suddenly inflicted upon them as they tried to understand their situation. It turned its gaze towards the woman once more, eyes looking up to her towering height as she tried to make things clear to them.

Nera, she called herself. A creature of great power, it was apparent. The pain she had wrought on them had faded, and yet it was apparent she could tear them in two should the mood have taken her. A sense of uncertainty that hung over them all. It was all so very unknowable and something about that didn't sit well with the being-- If it could even be classed as such. Humming, quiet at the back of its mind. His? Her? Unclear, as was everything in this current state. So much it should have known, replaced with empty space.

Her intentions were just as unclear. She appeared to care for them, even when there was little of them to care for, but something was saddening her. The weight of a burden she did not wish to carry, the same sickness she so described perhaps. Or perhaps she was about to set such a weight on them? There was certainly something that the goddess wanted.

There was a feeling of discontent that accompanied the lack of clarity. Was it familiar, perhaps? No. Yes. The unknown, this. All unknown, and for some reason, the being found that distasteful. As though the unknown was something it despised, wished to erase. Wished? A strong word for one that felt so little, but appropriate. As though some hint of lost desire broke through the emptiness that had replaced most everything.

Foreign. Disorderly. Uncontrolled. Yes, there was something faint, a hint of emotion that riled against such a thing. But the creature before it offered guidance. Order. A thread to cling to. Faint and fading. Yes, purpose, that was important. Perhaps things would make sense, were they to sit in place. Be regulated, organised, correct. Organised according to logic, to law.

The disorder was perhaps intriguing to some, but it was difficult to understand. Curiosity, but there was no purpose to which it could be turned. Purpose. Again, a comforting word, the idea of meaning. Emptiness as it realised it had none. It was nothing. They were nothing. Nothing. How could they be hope, when they were nothing? Yes, the confusion could be felt now, muted though it was. There was so much that it didn't understand, that it couldn't even come close to understanding, and yet the emotion was still faint. Everything was faint, as though it barely existed at all.

But looking at Nera, her claim of divinity had been accepted without question. There was something timeless in her appearance, something that spoke of millennia lived and a thousand lives passed by. It seemed right that such a being would be divine, and for whatever reason that thought silenced the dissenting voice at the back of its mind. The proper order of things, that such a creature should be granted authority over them. Only right that they should obey.

Below the surface, fainter than faint, there was fear but not of her. Rather, it was the news she brought that so unnerved the wisp, as though something fundamental had been torn away from its being. So many beings as powerful or more than the woman before them. How could they be gone? The gods that supposedly governed their reality, reduced to one single reaper of dreams? That slight comfort from the idea of purpose swiftly disappeared.

Despite that, there was a spark of something after she spoke of the world's sickness. Reverence. The instinct to kneel. But at the same time, the feeling of confusion intensified. More questions, and even as the words escaped, the wisp felt a pang of regret. Not fear, despite her power, but rather a sense that to question at all was somehow arrogant. Better that they had an order to follow.

"You are more powerful than us, surely." A shake of the head, or what approximated such in its current form. Apologetic, almost, for its need to speak out of turn. "What would you have us do that you yourself cannot?"

Shattered Fates - A Dark Fantasy, Boss Battling Epic

Yeah, mentions didn't work there. I'm here now though!

Shattered Fates - A Dark Fantasy, Boss Battling Epic

Sounds like my kind of thing, anyway. I'd definitely be interested in joining this!

Shadowrun: Moldbylur

---

As the bar cleared out, Alex raised her head and looked towards the table. Yep, couldn't be more obvious that they were out of place, and it wasn't too much of a leap for anyone to guess that they were runners. Maybe they wouldn't be too suited to the subtle approach - she'd have to keep it in mind. On the plus side, there didn't seem to be anyone left in here that wasn't involved one way or another, so she decided it'd be okay to head over, approaching the others with a soft smile.

"So, this'll be our crew. I guess 'inconspicuous' is out of the window."

She didn't bother trying to look closed-off. If anything, she was careful to make herself look a little too friendly and unguarded; a calculated vulnerability. Better that they underestimated her, really, until she knew she could trust them. Not that she cared about their goals in the first place, but maybe it'd be interesting one way or another.

But then, so were a lot of things. Looking over the group, there was a hint of amusement in her expression, as though she was in on a joke that none of them knew about. After assessing them, she walked around the table and nodded to the orc. "I don't suppose you've got any background on his security detail? Names, families, history... anything that could be relevant. That, and I'd like to know when and how we're leaving."

It would be a bad idea to have their faces known to Feuersturm's people without some sort of leverage. Alex doubted that they would have done detailed research on his employees, but most people had a skeleton or two in their closet. And if somehow they didn't, she could always find some other way to twist things. There was a hint of excitement at the back of her mind, but it didn't show on her face. This part was interesting, watching the events unfold. Dangerous, certainly, but she was along for the ride.

Part of her was curious as to what was on the chip, but asking too many questions was an easy way to annoy a client. Not worth the confrontation, since she'd get no real information on it either way.

Waiting for an answer, she finally lowered her hood, revealing firstly exactly how young she looked and secondly at least her scars - only really notable in this group because the young woman had obviously never seen a battlefield. It wasn't as though she was the only one here with a mark, though, the woman with the eyepatch being one example. Unusual. Stood out. And the elf was more machine than flesh. The other two still stood out a little, but at least seemed a little more subtle. In comparison to her companions, Alex looked anything but battle-hardened. Which was good, really. She doubted she'd register as a threat to any enemies they faced.

Anything that meant bullets weren't coming here way was always a positive.

Still, she felt a little relieved to be done hiding her face. Even faking insecurity got on her nerves, not that the idea wasn't convenient. "As for the rest of you, if anyone needs a place to sleep I've got room free of charge." There was an ulterior motive there; Alex wanted a chance to try and assess the people she was working with. But a free room with guaranteed safety would be a good offer either way, considering she didn't exactly present a physical threat to anyone.

Besides, who knew? These people might actually be interesting.

—(••[ 𝕎𝕀𝕊ℍ𝔼𝔸𝕋𝔼ℝ ]••)—

Go Team Deathwish

Zoe | Allison

---

𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥. 𝟚𝟘, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝕎𝕒𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕥𝕠𝕟, 𝔻.ℂ. / / ℂ𝕚𝕥𝕪 / / ~𝟙𝟚𝟛𝟘

---

_{Collab with... @Lasrever @VarionusNW}

Zoe was single-minded at the best of times, and this situation was far from changing that. Right now, she was completely ignoring most things around her, barging the odd civilian out of the way and generally trying to run as quickly as she could without completely exhausting herself. Part of it was just the fact that she really wanted to fight this thing. A larger part of it was that she didn't want to pay too much attention to the classmate that had followed her.

All she could think about was how much she needed to hurt. Couldn't let it be one of them. Especially important to stay focused on that, seeing as Allison had decided it'd be a great idea to follow her right away.

Did Allison know how much of a threat Zoe was right now? She'd made the effort to try and stay ahead of the other girl for a reason, after all. Of course, there were problems with her approach. Problems such as the fact that her own powers were completely useless for dealing with the sudden tide of falling debris. Barely noticing the movement until it was too late, Zoe found herself unable to do much other than brace herself against the sudden assault as something struck her right leg and sent her sprawling over the ground.

The next thing she knew, she was half-buried under a layer of something or other. None of it seemed too heavy, and it was a fairly thin layer, but the moment she started to try and stand she knew something was wrong. Agony shooting through her right leg and leaving her unable to support her full weight, especially with the added pressure of the materials that had piled on top of her. Of course her stigma meant the pain itself didn't exactly feel bad - anything but, really - but as she tried to stand, it buckled underneath her. With a hiss of frustration, she glanced back in the direction of her teammate. Hopefully she'd have made it through unscathed, because Zoe wasn't going anywhere without help.

Thankfully, Allison had been smart enough to take cover from the falling debris, and it wasn't too difficult to find her classmate in the rubble. Luckily, most of what was burying the redhead was light enough that Allison could lift it off without too much difficulty, and it didn't take too long for Zoe to be able to drag herself free.

"Guess I should thank you for following me after all, huh?" Wincing in pain as Allison helped her to her feet, Zoe shot the other girl an appreciative smile and a nod of acknowledgement before her scowl returned and she turned her head away. Almost like she was deliberately trying to ignore her, despite the fact that she'd have been fairly screwed without the other girl's prescence.

Zoe was almost certain that she'd sprained something. Walking was possible, but she was obviously limping and couldn't go anywhere near as fast as she'd have liked. Which meant she quite possibly wouldn't be able to outrun the slime anymore, and the sensible thing would be to retreat. After all, there was every chance she'd die here. But so could the others if she left, so Zoe couldn't bring herself to care.

The pair continued on their way towards the slime with little incident, but once they got close enough to see more detail, Zoe's scowl deepened. It was breaking things down as it caught them, she could see that now. Shit. That meant there wasn't any safe way to get to the veins herself, at least not when she couldn't run. Range, she needed range. With the size of this thing, she wouldn't be able to affect it if she stayed too far away, but she needed range somehow. Allison wasn't offering up any ideas, but Zoe figured the girl was smart enough to have realised the same thing.

If they went back without killing it, she'd hurt someone, she knew it. She couldn't afford to flee, not now. But with her and Allison, they just weren't going to get any range. They were still a while away from the slime, but it wouldn't be too long until they had to start dealing with it properly. Still, she couldn't think of anyone else that'd be able to kill this thing, considering you couldn't exactly punch it to death. If she asked for help, maybe a healer could fix up her leg and she'd be able to just outrun the monster.

She had no intention of letting the healers endanger themselves for her sake. So this was it, right? There wasn't any--

No. No, it wasn't. Because she wasn't like them, she wouldn't turn away. The whole reason she could push things so far, give in to the monster at the heart of her nature, it was that she could deal with this shit. For some reason, her gaze rested on a nearby bus. Words sprang to mind, a conversation from a few days before. The only difference between them was--

How far you're willing to go.

"Allison, help me up. I've got a plan." Allison looked like she was about to ask for an explanation, but after a couple of seconds pause, she headed over to the bus and boosted Zoe onto the roof. Reaching down to pull her teammate up behind her, Zoe didn't care if she looked like she was losing it. Sacrifice, pain, that was the key, it had always been the key. If they didn't fight, then they deserved to fall. All or nothing. Standing up with Allison's help, she looked down towards the cuff on her ankle. "Transmit."

"Brent, I'm gonna need you to come down here. Bring a gun, and tell me when you see me. Over." Urgency in her tone before she glanced towards Allison. "If this works, I'll need you to shield us from any slime or debris that's coming our way." As Allison nodded, Zoe's attention turned back towards the creature, the smile on her face more than a little out of place. Maybe it was because she realised how many things were wrong with this idea, and felt like laughing was better than freaking out.

It felt better to fight than to turn away.

"Zoe, what's your plan here?"

She'd been hoping they wouldn't actually ask, but there you go. "Transmit. Long story short, I need you to shoot through me and into its heart." A pause. "I'd rather just put some blood on a bullet then fire it, but you won't get here in time and I can't outrun this thing anymore. I'd rather you don't come too close anyway. Personal reasons." It was bad enough with Allison here and the pain in her leg to distract her. If anything, getting shot would help on that front. She probably should have minded the idea, but her smile didn't disappear as she waited for a reply.

Allison stepped away from Zoe as she transmitted her plan. This was ridiculous. How hard was Zoe's stigma hitting her? Hard enough for her to want to get herself shot, it seemed. This was ridiculous. Well, running away wasn't exactly an option, and running at the monster would probably get them both killed. She could try to convince Zoe to wait for Brent to reach them, but that would probably also result in death. So, Zoe's only reasonable solution was basically suicide. Was there anything for Allison to do? Anything to keep Zoe alive?

You're going to get one or both of you killed. Why did she follow Zoe? To stab a giant monster blob. It was stupid, suicidal, and crazy, but it had a chance of working. It was a worse option then Zoe getting herself shot, though. Zoe could probably be taken to a healer in time. If Allison attacked the thing and it didn't work... You're about to let your friend get shot. Allison turned back to Zoe, keeping her distance.

"Make sure they can get a healer over here at least, after you do your thing of course." Her voice was cold and meek. She had followed Zoe to her own death. "You can get yourself shot, just don't get yourself killed, alright?" Allison sat herself on the edge of the bus' roof, staring off at the slime's approach. This was suicide.

"I don't plan on dying. You can call a healer if you want, just make sure they're not in danger. I'll need you to make sure I stay conscious until I can kill that thing, too." Zoe shrugged, seeming relatively at ease with the situation. What she said was true, but the prospect of dying here didn't bother her much either - wouldn't at all if she didn't suspect Allison would blame herself. Suddenly exhausted, Zoe felt her smile fading as she glanced down at her classmate. "If this doesn't work, leave me behind and run."

"I respectfully decline." Allison continued to stare at the slime. "Transmit." She sighed before delivering her message. "We're going to need a healer down here by the slime in a few minutes if everything goes well. If Zoe's plan doesn't work, presume both of us dead and stay clear. Over."

"I take it we're ignoring my advice on reckless bullshit, then. Good to know." Despite sounding annoyed at Allison's refusal, there was a note of something approaching respect in Zoe's tone and she didn't push the point. "Guess I'd be screwed if you weren't here, though." The muttered addition was as close to a 'thank you' as her pride would allow.

"Transmit cuff, Zoe, Allison, we're going down the main road right now. Meet up with us, please."

Of course, there was still that to sort out. Barely sparing a glance at her cuff, Zoe grimaced. It was never just that simple, was it?

"Transmit. No."

Shadowrun: Moldbylur

---

Alex had always been an early riser, but being awake was very different from being ready. While she'd packed her equipment the night before, there was still the important matter of getting dressed. And deciding how to get dressed.

This one? No, too scruffy. That one? No, too official. Alex sighed. It wouldn't make much difference how she turned up - In her experiences with Shadowrunners, they tended not to appreciate the subtleties of the job. 'Shoot first, ask questions later' had to be the most irritating, off-mark idea she'd ever encountered, but it was everywhere. At least the reputation meant people were more willing to concede without anyone dying. After a few more seconds deliberation, she decided to just throw on a hoodie and jeans. Her clothes were durable enough, and there was always magic if she needed something to look smarter for whatever reason.

Probably better not to waste her energy for now. And it would be easier to decide what angle to take once she'd arrived and had an idea who she was working with, instead of over-committing to an idea. Chances were, it'd be a mixed bag anyway, but she could only hope they'd be reasonable. Constant cynicism really took the spice out of life, and at the very least she could be hopeful until she got there.

Shouldering her backpack, she sighed, heading down the stairs. After arriving in New Reykjavik, she'd managed to work out a deal with the owner of a particularly sketchy bar. The state of her face had stopped shocking her a while ago, but it never failed to get a look from the odd patron. At least, the ones that weren't regulars - Some of the regulars gave her entirely different looks, which she generally ignored. It wasn't worth causing a scene over, and dealing with a few people leering at her was a small price to pay for a roof over her head without questions being asked.

Dealing with them wasn't difficult anyway and besides, at least she knew they'd be easy to wrap around her finger when it became necessary. As for the owner herself, well... Ada was accommodating enough.

"Isn't it a little early to be drinking?" Alex laughed lightly. Motherly was the word that best described the older woman, a fact which Alex had been quick to pick up on. Sensitive, caring, and perfectly willing to give room to a poor broken youngster with nowhere else to go. Provided she could pay the rent, of course - And Alex even added a little extra to each payment, in return for a tip on any interesting gossip. "I'm out on a job, so if you need anything just tell me and I'll deal with it later. "

Alex appreciated it when the bar was closed like this. It was good not to need the ditzy act for a while, but she'd have the mask back once she reached the meeting point. After all, there was a lot of value in being underestimated. Besides, she'd worked out a little bit of an understanding with her local friend. Anyone that would see through that mask, that came by asking about her, would get the same reply. Alex, Katherine, or Icarus, whatever name they chose: Ada would swear she'd never seen the girl in her life.

---

Well, it could have been worse, Alex supposed. The place was nice enough, and she recognised it from a couple of night visits. She tended to avoid most of the students around here - Too much corporate association, and the risk of recognition, while not huge, was still there. With such lovely consequences as being split open by white-hot metal still a little too fresh in her mind, it didn't seem worth it for a few cheap drinks. Plus, being picked up without an SIN wasn't a good plan in any situation.

There were some downsides of being legally dead, she supposed.

It was a little annoying to do so, but in the spirit of caution she'd kept her hood up on the way over just to avoid drawing too much attention. Frankly, she hated doing that. Her scars weren't something to hide, and they never had been, but they certainly drew some attention. Mostly because she refused to do anything about them even with all the resources available in this day and age, but that was her business. Hiding them at least made it easy enough for her to blend in with the student population and look like she belonged. Pretty natural to carry herself like a corporate hopeful, after all; Not too long ago she'd held their same ambitions.

As she entered the bar, she glanced around with a yawn, before taking a seat at one of the tables. Too early for seafood, really, but she hadn't had breakfast before leaving, and lining up one-by-one at the bar was always going to look a little suspect. After ordering the cheapest thing on the menu, she lay her head down on the table, pretending to be half-asleep. The picture of your average student with too many deadlines to deal with and not enough rest to deal with them.

Her hood still obscured most of her face, which suited her fine for now. It made it much easier to keep one eye on the people around her without drawing attention. Better that she get an idea of the whole situation before making any kind of move.

—(••[ 𝕎𝕀𝕊ℍ𝔼𝔸𝕋𝔼ℝ ]••)—

---

Burning was the first thing that Zoe registered. It hurt, agonisingly, like someone was branding her across the mark. Searing, sudden pain. A cry before she gritted her teeth, air hissing through in sharp breaths as her breathing got under control and the pain started to subside. Oh, that hurt. That really, really hurt. Perhaps it would have felt worse to someone else, but then, she never minded pain so much. But what was that?

Her throat, her mark, it had been her mark. What the hell did that mean? Didn't make sense. Something was wrong, something was really really wrong.

Zoe didn't know what was about to happen as the feeling subsided, but she knew it wasn't going to be good. The siren was loud as it started, too loud for her to want to deal with, hammers pounding in her head. Monsters. An attack of some kind. The ice giant wasn't something she could fight, that was for sure. And it was huge. A blob... thing, that was equally gigantic, but seemed more natural. At least it had veins and a heart. As for the other, it was--

They were falling. A complete loss of control, and somehow this was a whole lot less relaxing than in the dreams. Maybe because it was only a matter of time before they stopped, and wires tangled tight around her limbs. Painfully, certainly tight enough to bruise, but nothing was about to be amputated.

She groaned, dazed and confused, trying to figure out what was going on. They were being attacked, she knew that much. Normal monsters were bad enough, but now it was giant monsters. Of course it was giant monsters. And she was stuck on a fancy light instead of doing something about it. Well, she'd made plenty of bad decisions, but at least she was right about one thing yesterday. Fuck chandeliers.

Still, she doubted her classmates were going to up and leave without fighting the damn things, despite the fact that everyone in this city could charitably be described as a collection of gaping assholes where Unit B were concerned. Nope, it would be all about the 'greater good' or some other crap. Stupid virtuous morons. But they wouldn't listen to her, and they'd think she was a coward for saying anything, instead of just someone that realised this was a thankless task.

Zoe didn't want anyone else to die. So that meant she had lead the charge, take the most dangerous job she could do. And also that she couldn't be lying stuck under a goddamn chandelier while they ran off and got themselves killed. She glanced at the others, trapped in the same situation. Gregory was no use, but--

"Allison, cut this thing!"

Of course, it had probably already occurred to her classmate, but it made Zoe feel like she had some control here to be yelling. Even if she sounded like she was being a bit of a bitch, arguably that wasn't an inaccurate assessment.

Either way, the girl cut them free, and Zoe stood, slightly shaky and hurting in more than a few places as she pulled the cut wires off of her arms and legs, tossing them aside. As for her powers... Zoe wasn't placed to be rescuing anyone here, even if she wanted to. And being surrounded by so many classmates in various states of injury was putting ideas into her head that she preferred not to have. So long without properly sating anything. Really, some of them were a mess anyway, so why not--

This wasn't good, and Zoe looked suddenly half-rabid, especially with the hungry, desperate bloodlust that left her eyes shining as she looked at the carnage. She had to leave, and quickly. Raising her voice a little, but still speaking quieter than she would have liked, couldn't be sure how many would hear.

"I'm sorry. Can't stay here, not safe."

No, it was getting very difficult to hold it back. Because they were so weak, and she'd let herself start to get closer, and... Oh god, she wanted to so badly. It probably looked bad when mixed with her expression. But then, it was better than the alternative. Because making it go away meant, well...

Not me.

Monsters. There were monsters. She could kill them. The blob, the creature, she could kill that. It had a heart. If it had a heart, she could kill it. And it wasn't someone else. That was good. Better. Better, yeah. She wasn't out of control, not yet, but she would need to hurt soon if she stayed. So weak, so vulnerable.

"Transmit." Smiling so wide, even as her words faltered. A laugh, borderline manic as something dark twisted her expression. It'd be so easy to make them all scream. Stop that. "I'm going after the blob, you guys can catch up. Over."

At least they'd know she was alive, too.

And with that, she ran, ignoring the pain in her legs and the scrapes left on her body, the aching lines of bruising where the wires had wrapped around her. Ignoring the injured classmates behind her. It always came back around to that now. Pain. She didn't want to let it be theirs. Past the blood, past the carnage. Past everything and out onto the streets alone. It was safer this way.

—(••[ 𝕎𝕀𝕊ℍ𝔼𝔸𝕋𝔼ℝ ]••)—

---

September 17th

---

Rotten to the Core - Solo

---

𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕞𝕓𝕖𝕣 𝟙𝟟 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝕎𝕒𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕥𝕠𝕟, 𝔻.ℂ. / / ℍ𝕪𝕒𝕥𝕥 ℝ𝕖𝕘𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕪 ℍ𝕠𝕥𝕖𝕝 / / ~𝟙𝟛𝟘𝟘

---

Lying on a bed in the sickeningly luxurious hotel, there wasn't much Zoe felt like doing. It seemed like an impossible task to go out and face the light, to face the others who knew her weakness. Knew what she'd done, that she'd tried to run away. And perhaps worse, to face the ones that still thought she was strong - The ones that feared her like a kid feared the monster under their bed. In their own way, both camps were right, and that left her wondering at the truth of it all.

She'd been doing it all day, perhaps to her own benefit - the limo ride would no doubt have been incredibly uncomfortable for Zoe if her mind hadn't been somewhere else completely. She knew, on some level, that succeeding would have been impossible - No, all she would've done was cripple herself, and that was hardly going to fix anything. Which left her here, trying to figure out how the pieces were meant to fit back together. But was that it? Was it a puzzle, something she could just fit back together--

Or something else, shattered beyond repair?

That was what she was starting to think - That her situation, her power, had left something inside her that was broken to the core. That she was slowly tearing herself into two, and even as she knew escape was impossible she couldn't help but search for a way out. In a way, it was the cruellest part of their torment, that they were forced to fight for it to continue.

And still, she felt a longing. Mellowed, from what she'd done, from the room painted in her own blood, but there. Something missing a want that would soon enough transform itself into a biting, clawing, need. The devil on her shoulder, the monster on her back. Zoe despised it, to tell the truth, that she'd been given this kind of power. Almost as much as she despised the visceral pleasure of satisfying the damned thing, and how she gave herself over to it every time they had a foe to face.

Impossible, to ignore the sparks the idea brought with it. Sweet, electric, anticipation. Although when Zoe realised the look of hunger in her eyes, she at least had the presence of mind to hide that particular expression for fear that her classmates would evacuate the limo. She could fight it, be stronger than it. Rein the damn thing in.

How many was it now?

She didn't want to count, really. But there was nothing left to say to herself. Or anyone else. If she couldn't destroy herself, destroy this power, lose it all in pain... Then she'd have to master it. Make it her own. No time for fear, no opportunity for self-destruction, she'd find another way to lose herself. If she couldn't fight her power, then maybe it would be better to embrace it.

But she couldn't be certain, and that was frightening. Everything was raw, and emotional, and it scared her so so much.

How many things had she ruined already?

One.

A family, happy and safe. Normality, kindness, love - Twisted and torn and broken away because she should have been the one to die. The sour smell of alcohol, nights spent almost anywhere else. Blood on her knuckles.

Gasoline.

Two.

An education cast aside, and for what? Because it hadn't made her stronger, because she'd learned viciousness and cruelty and stopped caring long ago. It hadn't bothered her then, just one more thing to run from.

Three.

Empathy, lost in favour of security and knowing she'd get her next meal. More blood, a numbness that reached far past the physical. But it was okay, because it was her or them, her family or someone she'd never have to know. Never learn to love.

There weren't many people she could afford to care about.

Four.

A livelihood, because her mark had left her weak. Because she suddenly had to understand what these freaks were going through, the things she'd had to hold back - And because she couldn't stand by and watch anymore. A month in hiding, keeping her head down. None of them had seen her mark.

But they'd heard the shots well enough.

Five.

The only ones left. She'd tried to run, tried to leave as the need overwhelmed her. But he'd come after her, like he always did. And she'd made him pay for it. Because she gave herself to the power, like she kept on having to do.

It was funny, really, how appropriate her power was.

Just gotta face facts - I'm rotten too. Tainted. Broken, and kept breaking everything around her. Perhaps nothing much had changed, only now there was something solid to blame for everything she'd lost. Something foreign, freakish, something that she kept having to fight, a power from somewhere beyond her comprehension.

A wish for the ability to protect the ones she loved no matter the cost to the rest. And it was funny, because that was exactly what she'd gotten. It was easy for her to eliminate threats, but not the thing that was the biggest threat she could see. The power that haunted her thoughts, her actions, her mind.

So goddamn appropriate, the form it had taken. After all...

I've always killed everything I touch.

---

September 18th

---

Blowing off Steam - Zoe & Angelique

Link! (Chapter IV: Blowing off Steam)

Madness, Mistakes, and Meatballs - Zoe & Brent

Madness, Mistakes, and Meatballs

Zoe | Brent

𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕞𝕓𝕖𝕣 𝟙𝟠𝕥𝕙 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝕎𝕒𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕥𝕠𝕟, 𝔻.ℂ. / / ℝ𝕠𝕪𝕒𝕝 ℙ𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕤𝕖 𝕊𝕦𝕚𝕥𝕖 / / 𝟚𝟚:𝟘𝟘

_{Collab with... @Lasrever @ERode}

It had taken Zoe a while to think things over. After her... Her suicide attempt, an event which she still found hard to really absorb, it might have been easier to just ignore everything else. She couldn't change her nature, any more than she could guarantee anyone's safety by taking herself out of the picture. So it was probably best to just move on from those questions, but she just couldn't. If experience was anything to go by, her situation could get worse as she became stronger. Looking back may not have been easy, and her hesitance was understandable, but she'd finally made up her mind.

Better to ask now than to leave it far too late. So she'd made an effort to track down a very specific classmate, the brown-haired arbiter who'd seemed to understand something. "Brent?" A pause as she glanced around apprehensively. "I was hoping I could talk with you. Alone." The last part said a little louder to warn off anyone who might've been curious or stupid enough to pry.

So many lights that it drowned out the stars. Standing at the balcony and looking out at the city, Brent was uncharacteristically lost in thought. Everything that he needed to do, everything that he could do was more or less done for the day, from that unexpected chat with Chris to his planned conversation with Sophia. Exercising was finished as well, and his stomach was pleasantly full even after three hours had passed since dinner. A part of him wanted to visit a shooting range, to reexamine the power that he held within him, but with the atmosphere as it was, even Proteus didn't really feel like heading out in the public to be executed.

It took the arbiter a moment or two to realize that someone had called out for him, and, turning around, a flash of surprise emerged. Zoe, the mage of rot. Instinctively, his mind went over the weapons he could use in his vicinity, but it was a pointless thought experiment. It didn't sound like she was particularly murderous, after all, and instead, he opted to reflexively smile.

"Good evening, Zoe. I'm free, so what's up?"

"It's about Wednesday. Not about what I did, exactly. I just wanted to talk about what I said to you." She paused, trying to find the best way to put it. There had been way too much crap to deal with lately, but this conversation had to be worth it somehow, right? Some way to cope, something to cling on to. There was something hopeful in her tone as she forced herself to meet his eyes. Searching for some sort of recognition. Something familiar.

"Or you can think of it as what you said to me, I guess. About the whole... Hurting. Thing. I know I said it's not the same for you," she raised a hand and gestured to his mark, "And I'm sticking to that. But it's the closest I can think of."

Ah, about that, huh? He should have kept it quiet after all. He didn't know for certain if he wanted to build a connection through this weak and petty part of himself. But as Brent met Zoe's eyes, as he repeated her words in his mind, he decided to press on with this. A line joined with another, twining together.

"That's fair," he said, nodding, "I don't have voices in my head, after all." Lying. "But yes, senseless destructive impulses are what I do have." Even though they were so senseful when they first invaded his mind.

"Something nasty that you want to feel bad about, but can't, because it was just so right?"

"That's the one. Like... A rush. Even remembering it, it's twisted. Should be sickened, but thinking about it feels good." Zoe smiled sadly, contemplating the situation. "You've read the forums, right?" She chuckled, realising it was a pointless question. From what little she'd spoken to Brent, she'd be shocked if he hadn't. "I think that's it for me. My--"

Funny, to finally say it out loud. "My stigma. There's other things that mess with me, but that's the general idea." She shrugged, seeming relieved to get the words out. "I thought it could help us both having someone to talk to about it."

"Weird, isn't it?" Brent cracked a smile, leaning against the railing, "That an arbiter and an aberration would have the same issues."

He turned to the night sky, stars so weak against the lights below. An unpleasant sight.

"I'd be happy to." A pause. A joke here? No. "Think it would help me a bunch. I'm actually a fairly terrible person, you know?"

"That makes two of us. I'm in no place to judge you for it. Or at least I'm in a better place to understand than most." She joined him by the railing, looking out at the city. It was strange to look out and feel so separate from everything, but that was life after becoming a subnatural. The world wasn't meant for them anymore, maybe it never had been. The only support they had was what they could offer each other.

Zoe couldn't remember the last time she'd spoken like this, understandingly. Caring, almost, in a way that would surprise almost anyone that hadn't encountered it. "Go ahead. Shoot. Let's just try and help each other."

"Man," he scratched the back of his head, Where do I even..."

No, he knew exactly what the biggest issue of all was.

"I'll keep it simple," Brent said, "I took a shot that was pointless, because someone else was already close enough to deal with it. Not only that, but if I had taken that shot earlier, I could have saved someone, and if I took the shot later, I could have ended the fight much faster."

His smile didn't change.

"Revenge tasted better than actually being useful, you know? And after all that ended, I realized that I probably didn't even care that much for the person I avenged."

"It's emotional, revenge. Not much reason to it. Maybe it was for the person that died - Maybe it was for being a pain in the ass." Zoe reasoned, looking at Brent. Revenge. Memories. Losing control. Familiar, all too familiar. "Being useful is probably more help in the long run, but... Nobody feels anything about 'useful'. It's just there."

"Don't pretend to know what would've happened, no matter how much you wish you did. If you'd taken that shot earlier, maybe you save someone. Or you don't. Either way, you'll find something to blame yourself for. After all..." She gestured towards him with a bitter smile. "You're not a robot, no matter how much easier it'd be."

"What I did to Callan, that was fucked. But if I hadn't done it - Would the fight have finished later? Would Lawrence have bled out before he could get help? Would one of the others be spiked through the head? Or would it all work out smoothly?" She levelled her gaze towards him. "You see my point? I can't know, and neither can you. We just have to remember, and do better next time. Make sure it doesn't have reason to happen again."

It was true. It was so true. It was annoyingly true, how close those words mirrored his own. No one knew the future, nor did they know how that future branched off. Regrets were meaningless, and no matter what, humans gained their abilities through the emotions they carried, even if it was painful.

Damn.

A boy who improved inorganics and a girl who destroyed organics.

"It really is funny," Brent replied, fingers running through his hair, "I've said that sort of stuff to others so often, but I guess words alone do not dissuade these pessimistic thoughts. Harder to walk than to speak, huh? But yeah, there really is only one way of doing it, huh? Just gotta redouble your efforts, reconsider the breadth of your ability, and..."

He smiled, half serious, half not.

"Bring a slingshot and a bunch of meatballs to your next mission."

Yeah, that made sense. Keep pushing, keep fighting and eventually they'd get there. They had to, right? That was what she'd always wanted from this: That the people better than her had a chance to make it out. She was nodding along to what Brent was saying, right until he mentioned the meatballs.

"Wait, what?" Zoe let out a light, genuine laugh before she gave Brent a look, torn between continuing her laughter and glaring. "I can't tell if you're serious, and that's worrying me."

On the off chance that he was serious, she spoke, unable to stop herself smirking. "Listen, normally I'd see your point, but we're under media scrutiny. It's all right for you, Mr. Badass-sounding Greek Name, but some of us haven't got anything yet. And I'll be honest with you here."

"I straight-up refuse to run the risk of being known as 'Ballslinger' for the rest of my life. I'm already screwed enough, thank you very much." She grinned, hoping that got the point across. There were some things even her ego couldn't take.

"Hey now, the media can't be THAT incompetent, right?" Brent replied, laughing along, "They'll probably just call you something like 'Reaper' or 'Death' or 'Desecrator' instead, and you can deal with being invited into ever heavy metal convention ever."

"Hey, it's tough living life on the edge, right? All that free partying would really take it out of me eventually." She glanced at him with a smile. "Besides, I don't feel like changing my hair, can barely play the triangle, and none of my jeans have holes in them last I checked. Think that one's a no-go."

After a second's thought, she looked back over at him. "Oh, and just for the record, I'm vetoing sausage throwing as well."

"Curses," he said, as if his masterful plans had been foiled by a bunch of meddlesome brats, "What about bananas or mushrooms? They could call you Hell's Chef or something."

"Bananas? Okay, now you're not even trying. Besides, I'll have you know I'm..." She paused, appearing to rethink what she had to say. "Actually, I'm not that good a chef, but my cooking's not lethal. Besides, I feel like that's the kind of name that needs one-liners, and I'd run out eventually. There are only so many food puns you can make."

"Very true," Brent nodded sagely, "Running out of one-liners in the line of heroism is truly a terrible, career-ending thing. Thankfully, I can probably just spew out some random sounds and say that it's Ancient Greek. But hey, do you have some sort of hero name in mind, Zoe? Maybe if you say it enough times on screen, people will pick it up!"

Not that Gearhead worked. Thankfully.

"Uh, now that you mention it I'm not sure. Every time I try, I just end up drawing a blank. My power means it's not really likely to be flattering anyway, right?" She smiled as she reflected on the idea, running her hand through her hair. "As long as it's not a ginger joke or something completely dumb though, I think I'll be happy."

...wow, she actually had tried thinking up hero names for herself? When did...huh. He hadn't even thought Zoe would have been the type to care for such things, but ultimately, Brent simply nodded and continued on. "Well, considering how they made Marcus into Time Scar, something completely dumb might be fairly possible. So hey, just gotta hope that people find a random mythological deity to ascribe to you as well, Zoe!"

He settled down into silence for a bit. The mage of rot was surprisingly personable, huh? Or had he attached her power too closely to her personality?

"If you don't mind me asking, when did you become a mage anyways?"

"Let's see... How long have we been here? Since the third, I think." She counted back in her head. "Man, that's only two weeks. Feels like so much longer. So let's see, that makes it--"

"Three months ago? Give or take, I wasn't keeping track of dates. I didn't understand how any of it worked, but I knew enough to cover my mark, and... Uh, let's just say there was enough going on to keep my stigma sated for a while. No-one noticed a change in my behaviour, or if they did, they didn't say anything." She shrugged. "Shit happened, and about a month before coming here I wasn't really safe to go anywhere. Couldn't sate my stigma, and after a while--"

Her expression darkened. "Things went south. I won't go into detail. You?"

"Yeah, I know right?" he replied, sorta amazed now that he actually thought about how many things had happened in just the span of half a month. He didn't even know how to USE a gun back then, and in a way...that felt good. In just two weeks, he gathered so many more skills, and met so many more people. "Just two weeks..."

Brent trailed off as Zoe continued, detailing how she had kept her subnatural status hidden for almost an entire season. At the very least, it didn't sound like whatever went 'south' was THAT bad. Not as bad as Angelic's incident. Or maybe it was, and Zoe just wasn't 'known' enough to be identified.

"26 days total for me," the arbiter replied without a pause, "Almost reaching a one month anniversary, at this point. Didn't exactly have a power that would counter snipers and institutions weren't something I was too opposed to, so the plan was to just head over to a police station and hand myself over."

They weren't that close yet. He'd leave it at that.

"Still, why did you hide your mark? Couldn't have been easy, with how everyone's super cautious of scarves now."

"Uh, let's just say most people I was around didn't question me much on that kind of thing. I was basically in charge of my group at home, and at work..." Work made it sound official, like she was a respectable member of society. Couldn't have been further from the truth, but she'd stick with it. "Let's just say I had a bit of a reputation. Leave it at that."

An order, not a request. Touchy subject.

"Top dog, eh?" Brent mused. They both had things they wanted to keep quiet about, even if they were both speaking with each other solely because of a connecting born out of a secret? That was fine either way. "Miss it much? Your old life."

"Something like that. I don't really miss the way things were, but I regret leaving them behind the way I did. Could've done with a goodbye, at least." She shrugged. "I try not to think about it too much." Thinking just made her worry about how they'd make it without her - The fact of the matter was, there was very little she could do about it if they weren't alright.

She'd been too scared to try and find out, anyway.

"Not too late," Brent replied, "You're in Washington, not USARILN. If you can't call, you can at least write."

If those connections mattered, why was she trying to bury them? The corner of his mouth curved downwards slightly. Sorta like Chris. So willing to bury painful things. So unwilling to give chase. But then again, who was he to say anything, when he didn't have such things to feel anything about?

"No, it is. I screwed up, badly. If I know them - And I do - having anything to do with me might just make things worse. If our calls are being monitored, well... I get that the cops have better things to do, but there's a risk it'd be tracked." She shrugged, glaring at Brent as she continued. Where did he get off making these assumptions anyway? "Besides, I can't write. Not won't, can't. There's no fixed address, and they'll have moved on; Always do after things go wrong, otherwise you're just running a risk that's not worth taking."

It was becoming clearer now. Even as Zoe fixed a glare at him, Brent nodded, her own difficulties becoming clearer. A part of him wanted to say that she was being pessimistic, but, no, he could understand it perfectly, in much more clarity than Chris's bullshit. Can't make amends, and even if she could, it was just going to worsen the situation.

Regular crime groups existed too, huh? Even when it's the subnaturals that got all the attention and hatred these days.

"Sorry," he said simply, "Shouldn't have said that without knowing any details."

He could point out that his magical power could help Zoe, at least in terms of making a call, but...it was her cross. Just like her stigma. They were here to hear each other out, not to solve each other's problems.

"It's fine. You couldn't know." It wasn't fine, not entirely. She shrugged, but a hint of annoyance remained. "Fact is, with all the subnaturals running around, people don't seem as bothered by normal criminals. There's more important things to worry about as far as the people in charge are concerned." Leaving out some information, not telling him too much about their activities. Wasn't a large group, so they probably would be more limited now that she wasn't around. She had to wonder if any of them were willing to take her place - But that was getting into some shit she'd rather not recall.

"So, how about you? Anything you miss?"

Turnabout was fairplay, huh?

"Well, not being thought of as some baby-eating monster whenever I go outside is definitely pretty nice," Brent remarked lightly, before shaking his head, "No, there's nothing I miss. Probably fairly weird considering how my first day consisted of getting shot and then seeing someone else tazed to death, but I..."

There wasn't anything for him there anyways.

"I'd probably prefer USARILN." A short laugh. "Like, damn, a buffet every day? An allowance of $500? So many amenities free of charge? Dunno if this is Stockholm Syndrome, but outside of monster-hunting, it's pretty good."

Well, that was a surprise. It had occurred to her that some people would prefer this, but Brent had never struck her as the type for it. He had a point about the facilities, but... Well, she didn't like losing her freedom, even if that freedom had been limited elsewhere. That, and the whole being viewed as subhuman thing. That sucked too. But another part of his statement grabbed her attention.

"Didn't realise you got caught up in that to begin with. Explains why you weren't at the fight." She shrugged, thinking back. "If it makes you feel any better, I got eaten by a spaghetti monster. That sounds like it should be a joke, but it's not - I still can't stand marinara." She chuckled. Hard to, when it was forever associated with clawing out of a monster's gut.

Looking out at the city, she continued. "I'm not about to start liking this place any time soon, but you're right about the resources. There's just more to life than that, far as I'm concerned. Dress it up all you like, we're still stuck in a cage. Just happens that it's a pretty damn fancy one."

"Spaghetti monster?" He recalled how tense Aaron and Angelic had been about that as well. "Well, at least the media will never hear about that incident, or you'll be forever known as Tomato Sauce Girl, eh?"

He followed her gaze, towards a city with too many lights. Washington, DC, where all the regulars had no intention at all of being friendly with subnaturals. So much wealth, but such a paper-thin defense.

"Yeah, that's fair, but if nothing else..." Brent smiled, grip tightening on the railing. "When all this goes to shit, we're still gonna have a better chance at weathering the storm with our fellow cagemates than these fuckers down there."

"You're right. Guess that's all we can hope for - That we help each other make it to the end of this mess alive." Suddenly, something dark crept into her tone, and she was speaking to herself as much as Brent as she stared down at the lights of the city. The kind of place that would never be theirs, that she would never be part of again no matter how the world shifted.

"Whatever that might take."

"Gotta do whatever you have to to protect people," Brent echoed, remembering a conversation from what may have been ages ago, "That's what's important, eh?"

"Something like that." Zoe looked at Brent as though she'd just remembered he was there. "Someone has to, after all."

"No one has to" All those missed oppurtunities, all the losses incurred due to inadequacy, everything that had been given up for no real purpose, a dozen images flashed through the back of his mind, before he released his grip on the railing. "But everyone should."

"It's all the same in the end, Brent." She smiled, stepping away from the balcony to head back inside. "The only difference between 'should' and 'have to' is how willing you are to turn away."

"Mhmm."

He watched her turn away, walking off, before his own gaze was directed at the lights below once more.

So much light, so much power, enough to drown out the stars.

But still, the night persisted, swallowing it all.

---

September 19th

---

Straightforward Surprises - Zoe & Siena

Straightforward Surprises

Zoe | Siena

𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕞𝕓𝕖𝕣 𝟙𝟡𝕥𝕙 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝕎𝕒𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕥𝕠𝕟, 𝔻.ℂ. / / ℂ𝕠𝕗𝕗𝕖𝕖 𝕊𝕙𝕠𝕡 / / 𝟠:𝟘𝟘

_{Collab with... @Lasrever @PapiTan}

Zoe had been early to rise today, deciding she'd had enough of being cooped up. It wasn't like the place wasn't nice, hell, it was fancier than anywhere she could remember staying, but that was part of why she wanted to get out. With that and the tension that came from not knowing which of her classmates would want to punch her face in, there was something about the atmosphere that threw her off. So a day wandering the town didn't seem so bad - At least she knew where she stood with these people.

So she'd told the guards she was heading out for the day, and that was what she did. There was a surprising amount of stuff around the town, and there were a few things she'd hoped to pick up while she wandered around. Tried not to pay too much attention to the people that stared and glared at her, but avoiding drawing attention to herself had always been a lost cause. The 'X' just compounded the problem it presented, but she'd accepted that a while back.

Right now, she'd decided to just grab some cheap coffee, sitting by the window of the shop and watching the world go by - Much to the irritation of the owners, as potential customers turned away in fear as soon as they noticed her. There was something entertaining about seeing how people reacted to seeing her, so her more sadistic side was just as content as she was, for once. The lack of distractions made it difficult to keep her thoughts from wandering to places she'd rather have ignored, but despite that she figured relaxing like this was probably good for her somehow.

Day...

...god, she didn't even know how many days she'd gone without a decent night's sleep. Siena stifled a yawn as she carefully moved her way through the streets, grey eyes lacking in their usual focus. After an early dip in the pool and a quick rinse to get rid of the chlorine smell, the brunette had decided that it was high time that she try wandering the city alone. To see if she could more than anything else, and before the courage that exhaustion created could fade away. After the customary song and dance with the appropriate authorities, she'd found herself drained. Too tired, even, to fully place the mask she normally wore among others. The smile was just a little faded, her expression starting to show the weariness she was feeling.

And each unabashed glare and unfettered insult simply wore her down a little more.

Finding herself in need of respite, Siena bit back another yawn and decided that coffee was a good choice--somewhere she could hope that greed or business meant a little bit more than the white mark on her face. No sooner had she turned for the entrance than did she see a familiar figure and visage--what was her name...? Something with a Z...damn, she wasn't thinking straight. She knew the name, it was on the tip of her tongue...

'You're staring.'

Blinking in surprise at the clarity of the thought, Siena realized that she had been staring while trying to fish the redhead's name from the depths of her memory. Instinctively, she brought her hand up in a small wave of recognition to cover her blunder, the part of her that fueled the neverending desire to cement her mask in place pushing her to move for the door of the coffee shop. She was already at the door, trying to leave would have made the entire situation worse...after all, there were plenty of other people staring and subsequently leaving.

...Is there something on my face?

Zoe was observant enough to realise when she was being stared at, although it didn't exactly annoy her - No more than the normal people already were, anyway. Even if there was some entertainment value to be had from freaking them out, she was still starting to feel like a zoo animal or something. The only reason she'd noticed Siena's reaction at all was the fact that she at least vaguely recognised the girl.

So she returned the wave, and watched as her classmate entered the shop. Wondered whether it'd be appropriate to warn her that the coffee sucked, but it was drinkable, and that'd probably seem like she was trying to get her to leave. Hostile almost, and she was trying to get herself past doing that. Gesturing towards the empty seat across from her, she called out to her classmate.

"They'll serve you like normal, so grab a drink, I guess. Seat's free over here." And every other one in the cafe, considering she'd been sat there for a while, but that wasn't the point of the offer. Zoe figured she could use a conversation with someone that hopefully wasn't completely terrified of the mark on her throat.

Giving a nod of acknowledgement to the redhead, Siena was quick to order a simple cup of coffee--'I'll get my own cream, thanks.'--before making her way back to her classmate. The entire way there, the brunette felt acutely aware of the fact that there were few in the store, the distaste made even more obvious by the wide berth everyone made sure to give the cuffed subnaturals. Not at all surprising, but...

"I'm not sure if I prefer this or the story-starved reporters." Siena admitted while turning her attention to the redhead. What was her name...? Tracing the rim of her coffee cup, she replayed what few memories she had of the redhead--most of them were...not entirely pleasant. Then again, there were few and far in between at USARILN East that Siena had entirely good memories of. "But it's a step up from the hospital, I guess."

"Wasn't there much, but I'm guessing most things are." Zoe looked at the girl curiously as she took a sip of her coffee. It was hard to remember everyone that had ended up in the other truck from Wisford, but Zoe could only assume she'd been in bad shape after the fight. Seemed like a lot of them were. It was kind of surprising to remember there'd been almost no damage to Zoe herself. She'd only visited the hospital at all because of Callan.

Best not to bring that up. She glanced away uncomfortably.

"At least you must've made it out in one piece, though." She met the eyes of an onlooker that seemed particularly hostile, staring the woman down until she looked away. God, they were getting annoying, and she didn't even have anything against regular people, except maybe jealousy. But her irritation was clear, if at least not directed at Siena, as another one appeared. It wasn't worth picking a fight over, even if she quite clearly wanted to.

"Man, it's like we're stuck in some old-timey circus. 'Roll up, roll up, come see the freaks', that kinda shit."

That was right...she had made it through in one piece. That was better than she could say for...

An uncomfortable feeling of dread and guilt. Something heavy in the pit of her stomach that refused to be lifted.

Savannah.

"Surprisingly, not that old-fashioned if you hang around the right people," Siena said with a faint bitter tone that she hadn't meant to let slip. Damn it...she must have been more exhausted than she thought. "Or wrong people, if you ask the ones doing the staring." Taking a sip of her coffee, the brunette sent her gaze out the window for a moment, grey eyes peering at the passerby, something prickling at the back of her mind.

"She's the daughter, right? Of course she'd be keeping vulgar company like that."

"...screw them."

Okay, apparently her statement had brought up something for the arbiter. Whatever Siena was talking about, it didn't sound like she was remembering it fondly.

Good job, Zoe. This whole 'try and be friendlier' thing's really working out for you.

But there was something strange about the girl's words. Far as Zoe was concerned, most people never cared to care who you were with or what you were doing. Why would someone give a damn so long as they got their next meal? Or their next fix, whatever worked.

"Almost sounds like you're finding this familiar." Zoe looked at Siena curiously. Did this count as sticking her nose where it didn't belong? Either way, she couldn't help but be surprised at the implications. "Didn't think people had time to care this much about what anyone else is doing - Until subnaturals come in, anyway. But we're a special case."

Ah...this was why Siena hated when the mask slipped. When she slipped. Finding her fingers instinctively tracing the rim of her coffee cup just to move, the brunette retuned her attention to the redhead. 'Z...well, I don't think it's Zavida, so...Zo...e? That sounds right.' "Most usually don't, but..." A moment where Siena wasn't sure whether to continue. Passing off the moment she needed to think as a restrained yawn, the brunette decided to at least go halfway. "...well, when your parents are rich, you come under a lot of scrutiny. Lots of staring and trying to find something wrong with you to get a leg up."

'Sort of.'

"Bet half of them don't even remember my name though."

"Sounds like it must've been a struggle for you." Try as she might, Zoe wasn't able to make that sound sincere - Or anything other than seriously passive-aggressive. Not that she was trying to be bitchy, but it seemed rich - no pun intended - to complain about the struggles of being wealthy when you could've been doing whatever the hell it took just to make your next meal and trying to feed a bunch of scared kids on top of that. With no-one paying attention because that would require them to care about the people they'd rather brush under the rug. Just to pick a random example.

Okay, so maybe she was a little bitter, even if taking it out on Siena wasn't exactly fair. After all, her situation had very little to do with her parents as far as Zoe was concerned, and it definitely wasn't this girl's fault. Holding back another acidic remark with those concerns in mind, Zoe looked at the other girl with a now slightly forced smile. What had she said... Something about names. That was a less irritating topic.

"It is Siena, right?"

It was...disconcerting, to say the least, for Siena to be near people that weren't masters of their outer and inner faces--or perhaps it was her own exhaustion making it harder to adjust. The brunette didn't know, and didn't entirely think it mattered while speaking to Zoe. Part of her wanted to say something more. No, not a struggle. Not until she started developing memories that felt so real she couldn't deny them until her caretakers reminded her that they weren't real. Not until it had become hard to figure out whether she was the prim and proper girl that she tried hard to present to everyone else...and even then, hadn't it been just as easy to cement her costume into place?

But she didn't want to acknowledge those thoughts or memories. It was easy, even for her less-than-optimal condition, to decide that she didn't want to share more than she had.

"Mm-hmm." Nodding briefly with her confirmation, Siena gave a tired attempt at a smile. It came half-hearted at best. "And...Zoe? I hope I'm not remembering a wrong name." Something felt off, just vaguely out of place in the back of her head. An urge that was familiar, but didn't feel quite right--as if she was around someone she knew, but not quite.

"Got it in one. I'd like to think I'm pretty memorable." Zoe chuckled and tried to ignore the other girl's lack of enthusiasm, smiling until another sip of her coffee turned it into a grimace. "You know, I don't even like coffee - Just needed caffeine before dealing with this place all day. Plus it's always fun getting on these people's nerves." Probably a stupid decision too, but that didn't reduce the entertainment value. As if to illustrate her point, Zoe glanced out of the window, shooting a grin at a passerby and watching them recoil in borderline horror.

Sometimes it occurred to Zoe that she might be a bit of an asshole. "Kinda insulting, but they're not gonna like us anyway, so we may as well have fun with it."

Another wave of something akin to nostalgia tried to batter Siena as she listened to Zoe, a smile on her lips. "Heh...that makes two of us. I have no idea how to drink coffee like an adult." Giving a soft laugh, the brunette followed the redhead's glance. She didn't know how she felt about the human's reaction to something like a grin, but she did know how she felt about Zoe's thoughts on the matter.

"That sounds more enjoyable than trying to get them to like us." Because no matter how hard she tried, Siena didn't think she could imagine a world where people didn't look at her like she was a cockroach that somehow got gold on its shell. Taking another sip of coffee, the brunette found herself letting her guard down--odd. She barely knew anything about Zoe, why would that carefully crafted shield start to lower itself so easily? Something dangerously close to a genuine feeling of comfort seeped into Siena's expression. "I bet they would take waving as a sign of aggression and run for the hills. I should try it before we leave."

"Please do, it'd be hilarious." Zoe laughed, glad to have some of the awkwardness disappear. Surprisingly enough, she didn't think she minded this girl - Despite her initial prejudices about the whole 'rich' thing. At least someone appreciated her philosophy around here. "I swear, they make me think I should practice an evil laugh or something. Really go for the 'pantomime villain' look."

Part of Zoe understood hating subnaturals, but the cowering was just pathetic. And at least in her mind, dishonest somehow. As another one turned away, she shook her head, smirking. "I think I'd appreciate it more if they'd say it to my face. At least that way they've got some steel in them. Life's too short to deal with people whispering behind your back. I'd rather be honestly hated than this whole passive-aggressive deal, but I get that's probably kinda weird."

A laugh managed to escape from Siena at the thought of trying to practice an evil laugh--most likely because her imagination of any of her classmates performing an evil laugh was nothing short of horribly exaggerated. "Sorry, I imagine most of our evil laughs being about as threatening as 'Mua-ha-ha, I have come to destroy your televisions and kick your puppies!'" Which was a gross underestimation of their abilities as subnaturals, but from her interactions, Siena had a hard time believing anyone had perfected a supervillain's laugh--perhaps it was because she doubted they could match up to the monsters that she held back. She didn't really want to know. Finding herself less than willing to take another sip of coffee so soon, the brunette instead wrapped her fingers around the cup, savoring the warmth on her fingertips.

"I...I think I know what you mean. To some extent, at least." Again, her guard fell. She didn't know why she couldn't keep her head straight as usual, and she couldn't figure out why she didn't feel the immediate urge to lie and cover up as much as possible. This was wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Nobody was supposed to elicit that kind of response. "I guess they think by covering it up, they can still pretend to be good people." Was she still talking about the regulars...? "I think I've only known one person that shares that sentiment though. It'd be easier if everyone were honest about that much." Because then she didn't have to pretend back.

...wait. Was that why she kept slipping up? Before she knew it, something else slipped past her guard.

"Well, I guess I'm not much better. I'm not great at being honest with myself either."

"Well, they sound like a pretty stand-up guy. Or girl. Or whatever." But there was another part of Siena's statements that had caught her attention, particularly since the girl seemed to be getting very involved in the discussion. As though it struck on something or other. "It's not easy, though. I mean, a lot of the time there isn't a right answer to find, and it's all a mess up here." She tapped a finger on her forehead, before meeting Siena's eyes with her own.

"For me, the trick is not to worry too much about being a 'good' person. Although I'd say what's good and bad is relative anyway. I used to lie to myself too, a lot, pretend that I was good, but honestly? In almost every definition of it, I'm a pretty fundamentally bad person. But by accepting that, I can channel it into doing something worthwhile. If I accept where I'm strong, and where I'm weak..." She was going on a tangent, wasn't she? Siena was probably bored out of her skull by this point, so Zoe decided to cut it short. "I can use all of it to the best of my ability. If that makes sense."

Ruthlessness, cruelty and sadism. All negative qualities, but they could be channelled into the fight. Into letting go of control and letting her power tear her foes apart. She'd become too focused on being good, on knowing the right way and almost killed herself for it. A mistake she couldn't afford to repeat.

A faint nod to agree with the first statement, and then something that surprised her...then promptly thereafter caused something to worm into Siena's feeble little heart. She knew exactly why she was letting her guard down then, and Siena couldn't deny it...and worse yet, she didn't know whether she was afraid of becoming comfortable with other people, or if she was simply feeling a twinge of anxiety at being reminded.

And worse yet, almost everything Zoe said made sense. Siena knew it made sense because while Zoe was more eloquent about it, everything was starting to fall into place. A memory that wasn't entirely hazy. Words that she had listened to shortly after her powers surfaced.

"It does make sense. Almost all of it." And here, the brunette gave a weak, but honest smile. Hesitating for a moment in her uncertainty, Siena took a moment to gather her words. "I'd like to be able to reach that stage. It's...been a long time since I've been able to say I've really been entirely myself. The best I can do is use what I have until I can figure that out." She held her tongue on detailing that further. No. It was probably best that she kept those who knew about the side effects of her abilities to a minimum for the time being--at least until she was better at managing the things left behind. "Though I think I have to disagree on your being a bad person."

It took a moment for Siena to realize that she'd been maintaining eye contact--that was...surprising. The brunette was well aware that she was typically uncomfortable with the act. Instead of tearing her eyes away like every fiber of her being told her to, she let the smile grow.

"Well, to steal a few words, having fundamentally bad qualities doesn't make you a bad person. At least, not from what I've seen."

"No, it's my actions that do that. Thinking they're necessary doesn't make some things morally okay. I'm fine being a bad person. But I guess it's sweet of you to say I'm not, so thanks. I do... Appreciate hearing that." Zoe was surprised by the comment, responding to the girl's smile with one far more genuine than the mocking grin she'd worn before. It surprised her how at-ease she felt, considering the subject matter.

And on this subject, she doubted it was the same for Siena, seeing as the girl was lucky enough to be a white mark, but while they were voicing concerns - Maybe she could understand what the girl said, about knowing herself. At least a little. "I know it won't be the same as what you're dealing with, whatever that might be. But it's hard to know myself too, know how much of my thoughts are..." She raised her head, making clear the X on her throat. "You know. For some people, it's impossible." Seriousness crept in to her voice. Hypotheticals now, nothing concrete. Risky maybe to even go here knowing little about the girl across from her, but screw it.

There was something almost gentle in Zoe's expression. Perhaps because she sympathised with the idea of struggling to understand so much, or perhaps also because she was hoping her words wouldn't anger the grey-eyed girl. "So don't. Don't wait until you know yourself completely, because you never will. Just do the best you can with what you have, because that's all you can ever really do."

Don't wait until you know yourself completely.

If Siena hadn't been trained for so long in controlling what she let show, the reaction might have been stronger. As it was, it was little more than an instant where the smile had shifted slightly, a sharp pain that etched itself deep into the expression only to be washed away as quickly as it came. That wasn't the type that grounded her, and she knew it. Even as it gnawed at her more viciously than usual.

"You're right." About so much more than she could have known. "I can hardly say I'm improving if I can't do that much."

Because you never will.

It cut deeper than Siena wanted, having someone say the words out loud. Harder still to listen to them and acknowledge how true they were. The fact that the brunette could imagine one of the few people she could be completely honest with saying the same words only turned the pain into a numbing feeling. Shock, maybe. It was like having a lifeline severed as she was thrown to a stormy sea.

But she smiled through it anyways because she didn't know how else to respond to that fact. "Thank you, Zoe. For talking to me and listening, and...and for the advice." Another thought went unvoiced, this one quiet enough that it didn't make it past her mental filters. 'And for letting me be a little honest.'

Pinball Wizard - Zoe & Marcus

Pinball Wizard

Zoe | Marcus

𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕞𝕓𝕖𝕣 𝟙𝟠𝕥𝕙 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝕎𝕒𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕥𝕠𝕟, 𝔻.ℂ. / / 𝔸𝕣𝕔𝕒𝕕𝕖 / / 𝟙𝟛:𝟘𝟘

_{Collab with... @Lasrever @Chasers115}

Almost there. Almoooooost there. One last shot. One last attempt to redeem himself, or be utterly shamed forever. This was it. He could feel the slight bead of sweat across his forehead as he prepared himself for the impact. He had to time it just right...

And then he missed, and it was all over.

Man, he really sucked at pinball.

He sat there, watching as the LED screen read out his pitifully low score, and he could basically hear the machine laughing at him. Welp. That was the end of the dollar he'd found on the ground (which had been basically the most exciting thing to happen to him all day).

Zoe had been hanging around the arcade for a while, but she couldn't help but notice when one of her classmates approached the pinball machine. The boy with the scars who she'd met briefly after her visit to the hospital. Man, he wasn't exactly a pinball prodigy, was he?

Still, she'd been wanting to use the machine anyway. If she'd been a little more considerate, she might've warned him before she approached, but this seemed like it'd be fun. Not like she was doing any harm, and she genuinely did want a game, startling him was just some bonus entertainment. With a smirk, she tapped him on the shoulder.

"Mind if I have a shot?"

Marcus moved over to allow the new person room, staring at the machine for a little longer before his gaze snapped to the speaker. The redhead; the one he'd seen leaving Callan's room. The one who had melted the toilet-kid's face way back in the capture the flag game.

The dangerous one.

He let out an involuntary "Yeep!" upon noticing her identity, quickly trying to subvert the noise with a cough and a clearing of the throat.

"Oh! Yeah! G-go ahead!" he said, moving more out the way of the pinball machine.

Zoe chuckled, making it obvious that she'd done that on purpose. "I don't bite, you know." Well, okay, his reaction was justified, but that didn't mean she couldn't find it at least a little funny, right?

Man, she'd missed the arcade. With a grin, she started her game, smiling as her score started to rack up. And kept going. And kept going some more. For all her workouts and important things to do, she'd had time to herself occasionally before coming to this place, and that time had almost invariably been spent at the arcade.

Zoe was very, very good at pinball.

And she'd be lying if she said she wasn't a little smug as she went about obliterating Marcus' score. Her eyes remained fixed on the board as she continued to play, but she could multitask. Felt slightly rude to keep ignoring the guy. Besides, they'd never really been introduced. "So, is it Time Scar, or do you prefer Zi--"

"Don't say 'Zip Zip Boi', I swear to god." Marcus said, giving the redhead a good-natured glare. "Marcus. Just Marcus." he finally added, shaking his head and crossing his arms, before turning to lean on the opposite machine and look at the scoreboard.

Wow. Either he was monumentally bad at pinball, or this girl was a literally pinball-wizard.

He let out a low whistle as the score continued to climb, speaking up admist the buzzers and bells of the girl's preformance. "Well now you're just making me feel bad about my score. No need to show me up that hard."

He grinned slightly, finding a moment to joke dispite the fact that he knew this girl was a threat. Perhaps that was just his personality; always willing to play the comic, even when he was at danger of getting melted. Or maybe he just overestimated the slight sense of security the threat of cuff-tazings awarded him. Or maybe he was just oblivously stupid, and not even thinking of the risk.

"Hey, you're the TV star, let me have the pinball at least. But sure: Marcus it is. No Zip Zip here." She grinned, actually managing to relax as she got into her game. "It's Zoe, by the way. No special internet names yet. No idea what they'd-- Dammit." Finally, she'd lost a ball. Instead of seeming bothered by it, she just turned to look at Marcus, deciding to take a breather.

"Honestly, I used to like spending time at the arcade. Pinball especially. Also used to be a pool shark, in case you ever feel like losing some money. That one annoys people more, but it's also kinda useful." Satisfied with her break, she turned back to the machine for her second ball. She was getting this high score one way or another.

Marcus let out a little snort of derision. Him, a TV star; it was still something he was trying to wrap his head around. He didn't think he deserved it, but it wasn't like there was much he could do to change it now. His face was plastered all over the news and internet now, whether he liked it or not.

"Give it a little bit, and I'm sure I can talk with some people about finding you a name." he jumped a little as the machine behind him played a single sound byte, before relaxing and leaning back against it.

"Pool shark, huh? Probably an easier way of making money than mowing lawns, I imagine."

"Just one of many, you know? I tried to limit it to people that're being dicks in the first place. Anyone else had to ask me first, at least unless I seriously needed cash." She glanced at him, "But hey, it's a quick earner, depending on how much you can get people to bet."

As the noise from the machine started up again, she turned back to it. Part of her was doing this just 'cause she genuinely enjoyed pinball, but the other part really wanted the high score. Not out of competitiveness, really, but just because the townspeople were really hostile. Zoe lived for petty victories in this kind of scenario.

"So, you go to arcades a lot, or were you just sick of being stuck in the penthouse? Even somewhere that fancy gets kinda tiring after a while."

"Ah, so some sort of bar game vigilante, huh?" Marcus said, raising his eyebrows at her as she turned to look at him. "Take the money from the assholes, hopefully save some poor soul from assholery in the future?"

He stretched a bit, looking around the room at some of the other machines, trying to discreetly peek at the high scores so he had some frame of reference for how this girl was killing it.

"I was just trying to find somewhere away from the glares and the TVs; arcade seemed like it would be able to occupy me enough to distract me from both, so here I am! Plus I found a dollar that some tycoon probably wiped his brow with, and needed to blow through it as fast as humanly possible."

"Which, in case you weren't watching, I did pretty effectively." he said, giving a light chuckle.

"'Vigilante' implies I'm not just in it for their money though. As for the score... Well, in your defence I'm pretty good at pinball, but I'll admit you weren't great." She smiled lightheartedly. This was actually going pretty well considering she hadn't played in a while; Honestly, she'd expected to be rusty, but things seemed to be working just fine. If anything, taking a break might've helped renew her enthusiasm.

"We're here for pretty similar reasons, though. I've been in the city most of the day, but it's good to get a break. No-one's been brave enough to challenge me to a pool game, which sucks, because right now these people are definitely getting classed as 'assholes'." She glanced at him, showing a hint of concern.

"I know I was laughing about the name, but it must suck to be you right now with the interview getting so much airtime. This place is bad enough to deal with without anyone recognising me."

"I used to be pretty good at pool myself." Marcus said, looking aound the arcade for a pool table. "But by 'pretty good' I mean 'I can hit the ball without scratching the table to launching it across the room'. Air hockey was my game back home!"

He looked off to the side, eyeing up one of the other atendees he'd caught looking their way, turning back to Zoe when he was content that he'd reataliation glared enough.

"Yeah, I didn't exepct that to blow up as big as it did. Kind of figured it'd stay in the town and die slowly, not become the media shit-show it has." he said, shaking his head. "But, I guess it's my fault for indulging the lady."

He smirked again, "You don't want to hop into the public eye and get a sweet nickname? I'm sure we can come up with something for you!"

"Oh no you don't. I'm a six-foot-tall redhead, and an 'X-mark', there doesn't seem to be much chance that it wouldn't be annoying as hell or just plain insulting. At least online." She shrugged. It wouldn't bother her that much, but she could do without another thing to annoy her, especially around here."Unless my power got brought up anyway, but 'I rot things to death' is a sentence that'd wipe out a lot of goodwill even if it did stop them from bugging me. You come off a lot more sympathetic than I do."

"I'll go along with it if I get approached, but otherwise I'm dodging that situation if I can." She looked back at the machine - on her last ball at this point, but it was looking pretty good. After another minute of concentration, she let out a whoop which drew mixed irritation and terror from the rest of the arcade's patrons. "Still got it. Not actually that high a score to beat in here. Guess these people don't play that much pinball."

Pausing for a moment to enter a name, she grinned, purposefully hiding her entry from Marcus. Had time for a couple more games, and looking at the leaderboard she'd just had an idea. An idea which seemed slightly cruel, but at the same time hilarious - And with the potential to annoy the townspeople for a long, long time. Deciding not to explain her motivation, she glanced at him. "Mind sticking around for me to get a couple more games in? I promise there'll be a payoff."

Marcus had a hard time not displaying some amount of being unsettled at the statement 'I rot things to death'. He could certainly see her point about that line of questioning ruining any sort of sympathy for her. It was kind of nightmarish, if you stopped to think about it.

The kind of power suited for an abberation.

He shook the thought from his head, mentally berating himself up one side and down the other. How was anything supposed to get any better if there was such a divide between themselves?

He craned his neck to try and peek over Zoe's shoulder, to no avail. The sneaky grin and wandering eyes piqued his curiosity, meaning he was obligated to stick around.

"Alright. I know a devious plan when I see one. I can't leave before I see how this plays out." he said, uncrossing his arms and standing up from his leaning position.

"Cool! Just give me a little while, then."

It took a little while for her to get it down, but sure enough, Zoe was able to achieve her goal without a problem. Specifically, taking the top three spots on the leaderboard, with high enough scores that it'd be difficult for any of them to get moved out of position. Which was perfect.

See, she'd wanted to put a reminder of their presence somewhere, but her name wasn't exactly recognisable - and 'Zoe' wouldn't make anyone's mind jump to subnaturals. Plus, she only had three characters for each one, so most of the good names were out regardless. Luckily, the nickname chat had reminded her of the perfect idea, and she stepped back from the machine after entering the last one with what could only be called a shit-eating grin as she waited for Marcus to look at the leaderboard.

A leaderboard on which the top three spots were held by 'ZIP', 'ZIP', and 'BOI' respectively.

The immediate change from piqued curiosity to faux anger was immediate - Marcus slowly sinking into himself, crossing his arms, and giving Zoe a glare while trying not to laugh. He looked to the boards, and then back to Zoe, then back to the boards, and then back to Zoe.

"Oh yeah. We're definitely talking to someone about getting you a nickname. How do you feel about 'Gingersnap'?" he said, immediately putting his finger to his chin in a thoughtful position.

"Oh oh! What about 'Ginger Ale-ment'? That's a pretty good one!"

Zoe groaned, looking horrified. "Okay, that's awful. How do you even come up with that? At least the first one lets me pretend I'm sweet or something." Pretend being the key word, because she was anything but.

"Besides, the ginger jokes are a low blow." She smirked, a little of her general cockiness beginning to show. "But then again, I guess most things are a low blow from you to me, right?" She stood up to her full height, patting Marcus on the head like he was a little kid.

"Natural talent. It's easy whe-" he started, interrupted as the towering red head walked over and gently patted the top of his head.

"Alright, well that's just mean, you godzilla of a person, you." Marcus said, looking up to her. "Ginger Ale-ment it is, just as soon as I can find a reporter willing to listen to me ramble." he continued, trying to look as threatening as his stature would allow, much in the same way a child would.

"So, never, then? But hey, as long as I can tell them you prefer Zip Zip Boi." She laughed, moving her hand away from his head. She'd been joking earlier, but he really did look like a little kid now. "Want me to give you a piggyback so you can keep an eye out? Wouldn't want you to have your view blocked by a footstool or a tall mouse or something."

As fun as the conversation was, she couldn't help but notice that they were attracting some attention from the other patrons. Good or bad, she wasn't sure, considering they were just talking like normal kids. They were still kids on some level despite everything, even her, but she wasn't sure if that'd make the locals feel better or worse.

"Puh-lease. You give me a piggy back and I'm gonna end up going through the cieling. Hit by a 747 or something." Marcus said, retailiating at her height joke with his own.

He glanced around at the other people that seemed to be looking their way, giving a few irritated glances of his own.

"Guess we should probably disperse before we draw too much attention, huh?" he muttered, hopefully low enough that the slightly increasing crowd wouldn't hear.

"Guess so. Wonder how annoyed they'll get when they realise I put your name on that thing." Zoe chuckled, amused at forcing even the slightest association with a subnatural onto this place. "Think I'll head back out for a walk before there's a problem, though. Enjoy the rest of your day I guess - Nice finally talking to you."

"Probably not more annoyed than I am right now." Marcus muttered, grinning slightly. "It was good actually chatting with you, too. Try not to get mobbed out there!"

He contemplated sticking his hand out to offer a handshake, but there was a strange sense of hesitation in his stomach. It was her fault that Callan's arm had been taken off, right? And here he was talking to her like she was an average friend. It was like Ernie all over again; he'd admitted to pummeling Christmas, and yet they'd still ended up being pretty good pals.

Maybe it was just him, maybe he was more forgiving, or just brought out the best in people. Or possibly, he was horribly naive, hoping there was a good part in everybody.

Bad Publicity - Zoe & a Not-so-Friendly Reporter

Link!

Thanks for Lending a Hand - Zoe & Lily

Thanks for Lending a Hand

Zoe | Liliana

𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕞𝕓𝕖𝕣 𝟙𝟡𝕥𝕙 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝕎𝕒𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕥𝕠𝕟, 𝔻.ℂ. / / ℝ𝕠𝕪𝕒𝕝 ℙ𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕤𝕖 𝕊𝕦𝕚𝕥𝕖 / / 𝟙𝟠:𝟛𝟘

_{Collab with... @Lasrever @Kyrisse}

Zoe had come to a decision when returning from her day in the city - And the confrontation that had accompanied its ending.

The contrast between her classmates and the behaviour of the regulars was clear as night and day. That, combined with her earlier actions, had just helped to cause the shift in her mindset. No more time for regulars and their hostile crap, or pushing away her classmates. She was done running from the only people with a chance to care - Because there was nothing left to gain from it. Her stigma was still... A problem, but she wasn't the only one. And in a way, it helped, being able to lose herself in the power. The fact was, she'd cared too much about questions of morality and humanity, and not enough about the only people she had.

It wouldn't happen again.

Which was why she'd been happy to catch sight of Lily after returning, she supposed. The opportunity to make amends for her weakness - And perhaps to let go of it just a little more. "Hey! You're Lily, right? The healer?"

Lily has been mostly in a good mood ever since they arrived in the lavish hotel. Sophia had asked to be her room mate and Ernie had taken the time to talk to her and give her advice. She felt like she already had more friends even though she has yet to interact with everyone in her class. She was humming a cheerful tune when she heard her name being called.

She turned towards the voice, nodding slightly. "I'm Lily," she confirmed. It was still so strange being called a healer with how her powers worked.

Hey, she responded to the name so that was good. It wouldn't have been a great start if Zoe had gotten the wrong name. Seemed cheerful on top of that as well. "Well, I'm Zoe. I was hoping we could talk, or at least, you know, have a proper introduction." Her smile faded slightly at the last part. Technically they'd met earlier, but they hadn't really exchanged words. Wounds, maybe, but not words. "If that's okay with you, anyway."

And here was another classmate who wanted to talk. Of course Lily wouldn't say no to another chance to make a friend. Sophia, Ernie, Callan, Angelique, Marcus, Emma, Christmas, Kusari... she ran the names through her head, making an effort to remember the people she interacted with the most. And now Zoe.

"Zoe," she repeated as she walked closer. "It's nice to meet you," she said with a smile.

As the other girl got closer, Zoe had the usual realisations about her height. Of course, she'd had more than enough time to get used to her own imposing figure, but this time was a little different. From what she could tell, Lily was kind of smaller than she'd realised. She smiled down at the girl as she approached, trying to look friendly despite - or perhaps because of - her turbulent evening so far. "Same here, Lily."

After a couple of seconds, she smirked and glanced towards the sofas in the living area. "You know, I think this might be easier if we both sat down. No offence, but I kind of feel like a giant right now."

Talking to a person taller than she was was nothing new to Lily. Especially since most people were taller than her. She chuckled. "Yeah, that would be better. I don't want to have to keep looking up." She started heading for the sofas in the living area, peering at the tall girl as she did. Her golden eyes zoomed in on the girl's wrist, making sure that they were okay. While she had no doubts about how her power worked, once in a while, she checked.

"Cool." She followed Lily over, sinking into a seat on the sofa across from the TV. Her eyes lingered on it for a second, well aware of how many stations were repeating the interview over and over. The broadcast had been live, and it could only get worse from there - The footage was probably in the editing room right now, being set up to make her look as unsympathetic as possible. After a few seconds of thought, she sighed, glancing over at Lily. Just had to get through this, and then she didn't have to keep dealing with that.

"You don't seem cut up about it, but..." Cut up? Really, she was a master of choosing her words today. "Well, I'm sorry about the hands anyway. You shouldn't have had to deal with that."

Lily shrugged. "What's important is you're okay now. There's really no need to say sorry."

You can't die. You can't let yourself get too injured to heal others. She replayed what Ernie told her during breakfast Friday morning. Healing injured hands weren't counted as getting herself too injured right? Injured hands can't kill her, right? Besides, she really can't think only of herself in these situations. She was branded a healer despite her powers working a lot differently than Christmas'. She tried not to think about what had happened with Kusari after. She'll have to have a little chat with her at a later time.

But you can't hurt someone who can't take it either. If a time comes when you can't control your Stigma, when there are no monsters or enemy mages nearby, you need to use Kusari. Ernie's words again. Surely even an immortal like Kusari didn't want to have to always take on injuries.

She refocused on Zoe, curiosity shining from her golden eyes. No one really told her what happened and she never really bothered to ask. But here was her opportunity. "What happened? Who hurt you that night?" she asked.

Zoe glanced at Lily. Okay, so it was in the past, but still a little too close to make jokes a--

Wait. She wasn't kidding. She didn't know. How didn't she know? How hadn't one of the others told her? Maybe to them it had been kind of self-explanatory, but not everyone was observant, and it was understandable that Lily of all people wouldn't have taken the time to think things through. And with that in mind, they'd sent her away without an explanation, maybe left her wondering if there was some mysterious attacker plaguing them...

"None of them even told you. You didn't-- What the hell?"

That was cruel. Ignorant maybe, not malicious - But still cruel.

"It was me, Lily. That's why I'm apologising. I..." Irritating, how her voice still shook and faltered. Fear still creeping in when she just wanted to let go. Even after talking it through, it was still there, that nagging voice that she kept trying to ignore. "I hurt myself."

It wasn't the answer Lily expected. For someone who took injuries from others, she couldn't quite imagine why anyone would want to hurt themselves. Not that she has never hurt herself before. But that's how I fight battles... came that quick explanation in her head. "Oh," she said.

It wasn't her place to judge. Her classmate must have had a reason why she wanted to hurt herself. Just like why she did the same that day in Ground Zero. "I guess what's important now is that you're all better and not hurt," she added.

"Guess so. I'd rather not think about it too much, if it's all the same to you." Zoe's scowl deepened. "I just can't believe they didn't tell you. I get that Angel and Kusari went off somewhere, but..." Suddenly, she wasn't exactly happy with the three that had remained - Brent, Emma, and Ernie.

Brent, who'd been too busy playing with powertools to even give a damn, although her anger was muted having spoken to him since. Emma, who'd been told to check the girl was okay but seemed more interested in getting out of the room than doing so. And Ernie, who had found the time to tell Lily to clean her clothes, but not to reassure the poor girl that 'hey, we're not under attack by flesh-melting monsters'. What had been mild irritation at the guy for being a bit of a dick turned to outright anger. They were gonna have to discuss that one.

She smiled for now, and meant it as far as Lily was concerned, but some of the cold she'd shown in the interview had crept back in to her expression without her realising. Perhaps it was worrying that she found it so easy to have murder in her eyes. "Well, I'm sure I can figure it out later. As long as you're not worrying about what happened, it can wait." After a pause to get her thoughts in order, Zoe sighed. She wasn't in the best mindset for dealing with emotional discussions right now, so clumsily tried to change the subject. "How's this place been treating you anyway?"

Lily shook her head. "Oh, don't worry about it. I suppose it was my fault not asking what happened. With the commotion and chaos, I doubt anyone would have wanted to discuss it," she explained. Despite the smile Zoe gave her, the small blonde picked up on the change in her and she misunderstood it as irritation at her prying. "I didn't mean to pry. I just thought I'd ask and...I'm sorry," she immediately apologized and then looked relieved at the change of subject.

"This place in unbelievable but I think I'd rather be back home... uhm... I mean in USARILN," she answered.

Zoe looked surprised at the girl's apology. Had she seemed that angry about it? Hopefully Lily wasn't too worried about her reaction - All Zoe was learning today was that her communication skills needed a whole lot of work. "Don't get me wrong, this place is fancy as it gets, but the people could use some talking to. I get why they'd have a problem with subnaturals, but still..." She said, looking at Lily and trying to keep the earlier irritation out of her voice. "Right now, I think either would be an improvement. Home or USARILN." They weren't the same thing to her yet.

"Home..." Lily repeated. "Can you tell me about your home?" she asked.

Now that was a question and a half. "Home... Moves a lot. Normally ends up being some back-alley or abandoned building." Zoe racked her brain to think of things to say that didn't give away too much. "And some of the people aren't the nicest - Almost none of 'em are what you'd call law-abiding citizens. Don't really like subnaturals much either, but then in our kind of situation, who would?" Maybe it was wrong, maybe it was right, but the fact was a lot of blame had been pushed on the 'freaks' for how far they had to go. There'd been a strange sense of accomplishment in tracking one down and, well... Zoe preferred to think like it was perfectly reasonable - she'd taken part in it herself. "They're tough competition for a regular."

"Man, I'm not making this sound like a reccommendation, but I swear there were good things about it too." But they somehow felt harder to dwell on. Not that she wouldn't, but it was all... Family. Or at least the patchwork she'd built in place of the one she'd left behind. Easier to think of the negatives than the things she wanted and would never get back.

The golden haired Aberration listened attentively. It sounded like Zoe had a rough past. But she liked listening to stories of people's past no matter what they were. It was something she didn't have. "Do you miss your old life?" she asked.

"Yeah. I think I do." Strange, considering it had been just as violent as this place, if not more, but she'd known where she stood and so had everyone else. "It's the little things that make me miss it, you know? Like--" There were so many that it was hard to think of just one, hard to focus on a specific thing.

"Soccer. I never joined a team, but Al, one of the kids, would always ask me to kick a ball around when we were staying in some building or another. He got real heated up about it, even if we were just kicking a ball off a wall or something. Kept knocking over the portable cooker too." She smiled, almost sadly, as she recalled. "I always used to let him win too, and he'd act like he was on top of the world. So whenever I see some kid hitting a ball around, it reminds me of that, and I miss it. Little things like that."

She looked at Lily curiously. "Sorry, I've been talking about myself for ages. I mean, I'm great and all, but how about you? Anything you miss?"

A look of wonder settled over Lily's face as she listened to Zoe reminisce the past. She wondered what kind of building she had stayed in, what sort of person Al was, if someone got angry when they knocked over the portable cooker... Hearing her classmate say that she missed it made her want to invite her to kick around a ball when they got back. Just so that she wouldn't look so lonely. She was contemplating if she should ask when the taller girl turned the question on her.

"I'm sure I'd miss something or maybe everything if I could only remember," She pressed her index finger to her temple. "No memories," she added.

"Oh. Sorry, I didn't realise..." After a long moment of awkward silence, Zoe looked at her with curiosity. Someone more polite might have just changed the subject, but hell, she was curious, and there wasn't much else coming to mind. Besides, they'd brought up at least a couple of touchy subjects already, so may as well stick with the trend.

"I get if this is personal or whatever, but is that new? Like, is there a point where it cuts off, or..." She glanced at the X on the smaller girl's throat. "Is it more of a constant issue, if you get what I mean?"

"Oh, well, all my memories start from waking up in USARILN East about one week before you guys arrived. Nothing before that," Lily started. "Big, big head wound and barely hanging on to life when they found me. Brought me in, thought I'd die but I didn't. I couldn't tell them what happened and how I got there though cause it was all a big blank," she had recounted the story several times already but it didn't look like she minded. "Sometimes I have good memory, most times I'm forgetful. I'd like to think that it was all caused by that head trauma but who knows? I might have been forgetful before the whole thing anyway."

"Man... Guess there's no way of knowing, huh? I don't know if anyone's figured out how all this works yet." She wondered if it might be to do with Lily's stigma, but that was a subject she'd prefer to avoid. After all, she wasn't really planning on talking about her own issues... Especially after she'd come way too close to getting herself shot earlier.

"At least you'll have a chance to make new ones here." Unless she died like the rest, a thought which Zoe thankfully had enough awareness not to voice - And the smile that appeared on her face could easily be put down to friendliness, if you ignored the momentary flash of hunger in her eyes."Even if you are forgetful, make enough good memories now and hopefully you'll always have one to remember, right? Might be a pipe dream, but it's better than nothing."

Lily smiled and nodded. "Yeah, new memories," she agreed. "It'll be like starting a clean slate. This time with friends," she added. "Someday I still hope to remember. But at the same time, I'm scared. Would my past be something I'd want to remember or rather forget." Everyone she had encountered she considered as friends and she had no problems opening up to them, Zoe included. "It's good to be with people who are nice though. I don't think I'll ever be lonely."

She thought of Emma, Angelique, Sophia, Callan, Siena, Marcus, Christmas, Ernie...

The ball.

"Would you like to maybe kick around a ball when we get back to the school? That way you won't miss your friend so much," she offered.

People who were nice? Zoe wasn't sure she counted for that description, even if Lily was including her. She'd been getting that more than usual lately, told she wasn't a bad person. Easier to ignore the questions it raised.

"I wasn't really a friend, more... Caretaker seems like a better word. But sure," Zoe smiled, her thoughts brought back to here and now. "That sounds cool. As for your memories--"

The easy thing to say would be 'I'm sure it'll be fine', but that wasn't true. So instead, she went with what felt right. "You can't change it even if it is bad." Zoe shrugged. "I've done a lot of things that I should feel bad about, and... I do, kind of." Perhaps not as much as she should. The numbness, ruthlessness that came with her power wasn't much for guilt, and neither was she: Guilt was a sign of weakness. She had to channel it. Had to channel everything, because then it didn't have to be a part of her instead.

"Point is, use it. How you do that depends on what it is, but..." But what? Use it the right way, like Zoe used hers to kill and maim? No, not that. "If you embrace it, then you'll find a way."

She sat back for a second, grabbing the T.V. remote and flipping through the channels, until a familiar voice came over the speakers. "I think they've seen everything they needed." And her own image staring back with murder in her eyes. Of course, she'd forgotten for a second. Scowling, she switched the damn thing off, a look of mixed apology, embarrassment and frustration.

"...I'm gonna go sit for a while. Nice talk." And with that, she left the room abruptly before her frown deepened into a scowl. With the reminder of her screwup fresh on her mind, Zoe really needed a drink.

Girls Night In

Link!

Shadowrun: Moldbylur

_{Alexandra Douglas | 22 | Species: Human
"There's two sides to everything, if you're willing to look."}

Alias:

Icarus

Appearance:

At 5'5" and 112 pounds, there's not that much of Alex - She obviously isn't much for throwing punches or lifting heavy objects, anyway. Delicate features and a slight build contribute to the kind of person that perhaps would have been seen as pretty, though not refined enough to be classically beautiful - If it wasn't for the long, pinkish-white scars that mar her face and neck, stretching right down to her shoulder. As it is, she tries to embrace the situation, her asymmetrical hairstyle another reflection of the fact that her two sides don't quite match up. If she can't blend in, then she might as well try standing out.

She carries herself with the the confidence of someone that knows you might be looking at her, and just doesn't quite care. Not actively looking to draw attention, but not too bothered if you'd rather just stare at her than look her in the eye. If anything, she seems to appreciate it - There are advantages to be had in knowing exactly where you stand.

Background:

Born by the name of 'Katherine Peters' to a fairly low-ranking executive at Horizon, Alex's initial upbringing left her fairly well taken care of. An average school, average friends, and boring, average life - At least if you ignored the shamanic traditions her family practised, anyway. The girl had a gift for talk, perhaps thanks to both her media-saturated environment and the shamanic tradition's focus on charisma.

Her mentor spirit, Monkey, only encouraged her in embracing the joy to be found in spinning things around on others.

Once her father figured out her ability to put a spin on things, he'd often come home looking for her take on a report, how to spin things for the best story. Searching for flaws in the narrative, unnecessary additions and possible improvements - While progress was slow at first, the two of them together became a more and more efficient pair, almost every hour of spare time spent in the makeshift media workshop that was the apartment's spare room.

This analytical prowess shone through in her educational skills too - But instead of going for a degree or anything similar, she decided to stick with Horizon and shoot for a job. After all, having a secure job at one of the world's biggest Megacorporations wasn't something to sneeze at, and when evidence of all the help she'd provided so far was presented to the interviewer, she was able to get just that.

Life was pretty good from then on, sitting with a relatively prestigious job and big-city apartment of her own at 20 years of age. Her advancement within the company had been fairly quick, and it only seemed to be getting better as time went on as far as she was concerned. But she was naive, and her aptitude for the camera left her forgetting about corporate politics. In her elation at her progress, she'd forgotten one key thing; There were reasons not to climb too fast.

Reasons that were apparent when, on a road trip out of L.A, a bomb went off in her car. Whatever you might say about shadowrunners, they got the job done. She woke from her coma four months later, with no message or visitors, just a hospital bill and an eviction notice. It was a miracle that she survived, but the wounds from the shrapnel and the crash left the scars that haunt her to this day.

But the lack of reaction from anyone made it clear - Whoever had felt threatened by her, they were either far richer, or far more powerful, enough that she had no chance of getting retribution. And no doubt once they learned of her survival, they'd try again. Luckily, Alex's skills let her convince the poor unsuspecting guy at the reception to change the records. Just one simple change that gave her a chance at a new life.

As far as the world was concerned, that day, Katherine Peterson died.

And a few months later Alex Douglas, illegal Shaman and shadowrunner extraordinaire, was born in the shadows of New Reykjavik.

Over her time as a Shadowrunner, her jobs haven't tended towards the particularly high-profile or prestigious, but she's learned a few good ways to fire a gun - And a hundred better ways not to. After all, every low-level street thug can shoot someone, and life's so much easier when someone else does the dirty work.

Skills:

An expert in everything people, Alex's primary skill set is that of what you'd call a Face. Private personal affairs and secure information are her bread and butter, whether she's protecting them for a price or blackmailing someone with the details of a few sordid affairs - If it's people you're dealing with, she's the type you want on your side.

As a result, most of her talents are directed towards trying to avoid confrontation in the first place, so she's a bit of a talker when she needs to be. Before the whole 'scarring' thing, she'd happily flirt her way to a deal, but even still she can analyse and negotiate with the best of them. Failing that, coercion, blackmail, and lying her way out of a bad situation are just as ideal as far as she's concerned. All it takes is a little persuasion. Failing that, she can always just use illusion magic to help get her way.

That's not to say she's completely useless in a fight, considering her shamanic magic. She isn't the most suited to front-line combat, however, so she'd really rather not shoot at all their problems. Still, when they inevitably get in a fight she specialises in illusion and manipulation. She can heal to an extent, but she sucks at it and nine times out of ten won't waste the energy in a fight. Afterwards, maybe.

Equipment:

• Defiance EX Shocker x1
• Colt America D36 light pistol x1
• Aqua Fictus x1
• Spellcasting Focus Ring (Illusion) x1
• Rapid Transit Elite Clothing - Built for those on the move, this stuff is great for comfort and protection while going about all your regular day-to-day activities.
• Standard Creditstick x1
• Horizon I.D for 'Katherine Peters', kept hidden for safety reasons.

General Nonsense:

Visited her own grave out of a sense of morbid curiosity once, just for the novelty. Hopefully no-one thought it was too strange that she took one of the flowers that had left there as a souvenir, but she definitely got some mildly disturbed looks from the odd visiting relative.

Her scars tend to itch a lot, but for whatever reason she doesn't seem to look for a way to lessen it. Anyone that asks about it doesn't seem to get a straight answer if they don't know her - But then, at least in New Reykjavik, nobody seems to know her at all.