Zoe Fletcher
𝕎𝕖𝕕: 𝕆𝕔𝕥. 𝟟, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝔹𝕒𝕝𝕕 ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕀𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 / / 𝕋𝕠𝕨𝕟 / / ~𝟘𝟞𝟘𝟘
Upon catching sight of the motel lights, Zoe had quickened her pace slightly - glancing warily back at her teammates to check that they weren't taking the action as hostile. Figuring they
probably had better things to do than worry about her deciding to speedwalk, she pressed on. Whoever was in there, they had a chance of being hostile, and like hell was she taking a chance on that. If opening the door meant some kind of energy blast to the face, she'd more than earned it by now.
Of course, there was some practical merit to the decision beyond her guilty conscience. Buildings meant close quarters, and she was more capable of handling herself in that situation than most, so having her take the lead made sense. Best case scenario, it wouldn't matter, and the building would provide some much needed shelter for the exhausted, injured, and outright traumatised. Whatever her reasoning, she'd managed to pull ahead of the others slightly, knocking firmly on the door.
"You from the town?" She was tense as she called out, as prepared to defend herself as she was to make conversation.
"We're friendly.""That's debatable."Murmurs and shuffling could be heard behind the door before it swung open. Andrew raised an eyebrow at the soggy state of the student's clothes. Behind him, a small crowd of Arbiters stared out, suspicion and fear clear in their expressions. They looked disheveled, clearly just hurried out of bed by the news of invaders on the island. A quick glance back from the cafe owner hushed them.
Zoe didn't even have a snappy comeback for that one, considering her recent actions. Instead, she sighed, resignation clear on her face.
"...the others are better. Just need some shelter to figure stuff out - it's been one hell of a rough morning." It had surprised her slightly to see Andrew, even if it made sense for him to be taking shelter with everyone else; she'd almost completely forgotten about the guy. So she paused, glancing back towards her classmates, the gears turning in her head for a few moments. Information. He gathered information, saw things that were miles away. And considering the situation... appearing to come to some sort of decision, she nodded to herself.
"And I need to talk to you, alone." Realising she wasn't exactly trustworthy, she continued.
"Without my classmates, at least. If you want someone to point a gun at me, I get it."Andrew shared a puzzled look with the pony-tailed woman.
She shrugged, her fingers tapping restlessly on the pistol on her belt.
"Stranger's out of my range. Should be somewhat safe now. Joey, stay put with the others."The blue-eyed man nodded, watching with a grim frown as the town's co-leaders headed out. The location of choice was a half-floored hallway, drenched carpets leading to what was planned to be the kitchen area. Mary and Andrew kept their distance from Zoe.
"So," Andrew said,
"What do you need?"Looking at the pair, Zoe spoke casually.
"Couple of questions, that's all. Don't know how your power works, exactly, so you might not be able to answer them." She shrugged, fairly relaxed in the absence of any murderous urge - her Stigma more than sated after recent events. The need for privacy was less out of a desire to be vague or mysterious, and more that she'd rather think up a plan without fifteen people whining in her ear. Better to control the situation and make choices from there.
"First, I wanna know if there are any Amigos left on the island, and what they're doing. A bunch of 'em escaped, but I know there were some further inland. Killed one of us, and I don't know what happened after that." Her expression brightened ever-so-slightly at that, before she grimaced.
"Don't think anyone else is coming for us, but I'm not happy leaving any of them wandering around town either."A sideways glance at Mary and Andrew shook his head, though the motion didn't seem in response to Zoe's questions.
"Here's how my power works, since you seem to be under some impression that I'm an all-knowing seer. I see and hear snippets, fragments--maybe entire little episodes if I'm lucky. And only of information that I'm not currently seeking. So the moment you ask me anything? It's off the table. If I were that useful you think Zhang would leave me here?""There was a stranger some moments before you arrived. Moved huge distances instantly. Out of my detection range now, but there's one you might want to keep an eye out for," Mary cut in, watching Zoe carefully. She was sure any mage under Zhang's careful eye was capable of immense powers. The woman rarely let the useless fester under her.
"Great." Zoe sighed. It made sense that he
wasn't that powerful, but she'd hoped.
"It was worth a try, at least, but scrap the next couple questions. Thanks anyway." She'd been ready to turn and leave, but Mary's addition gave her pause. She turned to the woman with a vicious-looking grin as a new idea sprung into her head. Looked like she might get some of her answers after all, one way or another.
"This stranger... were they alone?"The prim woman narrowed her eyes at Zoe's look. She considered shooing the girl out, but decided it was better to let Zhang's rabid animals run wild at someone else, especially if they happened to be the Amigos.
"As alone as I could tell. My limit's roughly the town's edge."Zoe nodded to herself.
Perfect.
"Town's edge. Got it." It'd be a pain to try and catch a teleporter, but all she needed to do was get close enough to start the effect and killing them would be simple. That wasn't what she cared about, though - that her opponent was alone, without backup, meant there would be one more possibility. One that brought a smile to her face and a spring to her step.
Because if they were alone, she could take them alive. Make them tell her what all this was about. And that brought with it
so many possibilities. Trying, and failing, to ignore the slight anticipation that came with the idea, she gave the pair an appreciative look. Despite her behaviour being a little off, the relative lack of bloodlust meant she could be calm about this. The idea ultimately being a logical decision, if ruthless.
"Thanks for the help." With that, she took her cue to leave, beginning to make her way back outside before a thought struck her and she called out over her shoulder.
"And do me a favour; don't tell the others any of that. I'd rather most of them stay out of my way."A rough grunt answered her as Andrew blinked, eyes fading into that silhouette of his power again.
” ‘It’s not physical. Something more,’ “ he repeated the words as if reciting lines. Another blink and he clicked his tongue.
“I get curious and there it goes. Now I’m watching a frog hop towards—“He closed his eyes, opening them back to normal.
”Kid you’re looking for is hiding somewhere on the north end of town. Couldn’t catch the location details, but I know the general look of the place. And they got one of yours. She’s in pieces but she’s alive.”At Andrew's final statement, Zoe froze for a brief second. One of theirs, a she, and missing - there was only one person that description could possibly fit. In pieces, taken by the Amigos, but alive.
Angel was alive.
And suddenly, things seemed to make a little more sense. They'd killed Gregory - tried to kill everyone else, too, but taken her alive. So they'd come here for her, and they'd succeeded. A kidnapping. Suddenly, their failure to stop the Amigos' escape stung a whole lot worse. If she'd made another move, been a little smarter or faster, a little more in control...
"Guess that's my other question answered. I'll figure out the rest." A small nod, mostly to herself. On some level, she knew she couldn't tell the others any of this. At least not until there was something to do about it. Until she had some idea where the Amigos were going, what they wanted, it would only leave the others chasing a hopeless dream. Better to let them believe the singer was dead for now. Maybe that choice made her a cruel person, but it was for their own good.
They'd know when it mattered, when Zoe had figured out enough. And the first step in doing that was to head north and find the last one of the fuckers that did this. One way or another, she'd find out why they'd taken her, why all of this had happened - no matter what that ended up taking. There was no reason for her to waste time. With a last nod of acknowledgement to the pair, Zoe walked away, quiet fury burning in her gaze.
Whoever this teleporter turned out to be, she was going to make them wish they'd never been born.
Member
