QuietThinker

The League - First Blood (Persistent World Superhero Sci Fi and Fantasy, Always Open)

...Where is everyone?

Academy 218 - Superhuman School (Always open)

Mark

Last night had been spent following a girl in her ultimately fruitless pursuit for information. A sudden fear of loneliness kept him close to her, but it came to a point when he had to persuade her to leave it for tomorrow. He hadn't seen her since. He had met his roommate though; an angry provoker spoiling for a fight that Mark had no patience for. Luckily for him, his temper was non-existent and he managed to simmer the idiot down and get some sleep. Regardless, plans were made to get him out of the room before he woke up which, much to his amazement, he followed through on.

Aimlessly he wandered in a fresh pair of jeans and a long sleeved white T shirt. What happened yesterday had swirled around in his mind like a hurricane he found himself in the eye of. His thoughts were blank, calm even, but deep within him they raged with uncertainty and foreboding. Who had killed another student? What had left him unconscious in the rain with a bloody knee and cut cheek with no memory of the hour before that? Clutching what he now saw as contraband in his pocket, he hoped that those two events were not related. He looked at his watch and thought about heading to the library as he was keen to kill some time. The thought of running into other people right now however he wasn't so keen about. He continued to wander from landmark to landmark until the time for the assembly.

Mark entered the auditorium and found himself a chair by himself. The only part of him showing any emotion being the length of his stare: it was as though he didn't see the many others there. Perhaps that was what he wanted; to be alone. But he knew himself better. He yearned for a friend. Someone to turn his fears to fantasies and to joke with his troubles. A wry grin came and failed to form on his face.

I can't rely on that hope. I'm alone.

Having grasped what was truly bothering him, his head cleared. He'd deal with these issues when the time came, and he didn't need to rely on others to keep himself together. He'd be just fine. Just as he always had been. He bottled up his worries and his cold eyes grew warm again. Warm, yet wary. For once, he didn't want to analyse the other people before him, as for the first time in a long while, he had one interest and that held his attention. He was ready for whatever the Headmaster had to say.

Academy 218 - Superhuman School (Always open)

Damn, I'd like Mark to have had some moment with Abe, but he's inactive...

Guess I'm just going to have to be vague.

Academy 218 - Superhuman School (Always open)

Mark Heaton, Aislin Rose

The wound on his knee wasn't quite as painful as he had thought it would be, but the walk to first aid was still an irritation that forced a change in his walk. It was not on his mind though. He was desperate to try and remember how he had gotten there. He hadn't fallen out of his window even if opening it was the last thing he remembered: if he had, he wouldn't have been in front of the tower and a good walk away from the dormitories. With the hospital now in sight, he came to the conclusion that his power was to blame for his memory loss: he could remember that with extended use it could cause him to black out. He'd never let it before though, so what would cause him to now slightly worried him. As he got close, a girl came up to him that he didn't even notice. The limp to the confusion and the anxiety coursing through him were more than enough to keep him from seeing what was directly in front of him. She went under his arm and helped him into the building.

"Come on, let's get you into the hospital. Did someone attack you? What happened?"

Mark didn't say anything. He didn't know what to tell her. He didn't even tell her that the support was unnecessary, as he ordinarily would have, and let her shoulder some of his weight. He just felt weak. Sitting down in a seat she kindly found for him, he was aware of the call for a nurse and some towels from her friend in a wheelchair. Mark's mind was now completely blank: he was just being cared for now. Then the girl met his eyes.

"My name's Aislin. I don't believe we've met. I wish I could introduce myself in a better light," She briefly paused to look down at what he now realised were her torn and muddied clothes. "But it looks like both of us have had quite the shit day."

Mark had been somewhat devoid of emotion up until now. His face softened.

"So what happened to you?" He inquired with the a slight tired smile.

...She has really blue eyes.

Aislin chuckled, though it felt hollow. "If I told you, I know for certain you wouldn't believe me. It feels like I've crossed Hell's half acre." She gave him a serious look. "Tell me, do you believe in monsters?"

She leaned back in her seat, examining the hospital's white walls with a delicate frown. Ugh, what was she saying? It was the devil that introduced himself with similar words, was she really so scarred that she'd quote the monsters themselves? It must have done something to her psyche; all she could think of was the cafeteria alighted in red and white ambulance lights. The scene filled her with dread, but she needed to know. Was it the killer? The timing couldn't have been more perfect. The entire school was dead in the water during the blackout. No communication, hardly any light and shitty weather. The conditions couldn't have been more ideal.

Mark raised his eyebrows and his gaze turned distant for a fraction of a second. It was a bizarre question to ask. "..No, I don't. But coming to this school and seeing some of the people here.. I guess it could be quite hard not to."

The girl nodded her head, expecting as much. "Yes, especially with teachers like Professor Olin walking around. He's only sinister if you royally piss him off, though." She cracked a smile, remembering how they first met over fish and a swallowed fork. That was before all this horror started.

"... You never divulged your name." Aislin tilted her head, abandoning her thoughts of the cafeteria for the time being. "But to answer your question, I would never relive this day. My friend tried to kill me. I woke up in the hospital only to head back into the jungle, upon which I almost died again. Today has been... well, stressful, to say the least."
He opened his mouth, about to give out his name to what he now realised was the first person since the receptionist, but the shock of her account had him uncharacteristically wide eyed.

"...I'm sorry, what?" he exclaimed incredulously.

Aislin rubbed the back of her neck self-consciously. "Yeah, I told you it'd be hard to believe. Adam made a similar face too. And then he proceeded to lecture me about going out without telling anyone." She rolled her eyes, slapping her palms on her knees. "But he locked the school down. Like, twenty minutes ago. No one knows because of the blackout, though."

"Wait wait wait wait.. Go back, you seem to have skipped over your friend trying to kill you." Mark said with fingers on his temples and a heavy frown upon his brow. He didn't quite know how to react to this information; or to how she was giving it out quite so easily.

"Yes, with good reason." Aislin said carefully. "It's not something I'd like to go into more detail with. My imagination is vivid enough as it is..." She shivered.
He raised a hand as if to apologise "Ok, thats fair enough. Sorry, it's just.. Its like I was expecting Friends and its turned into Breaking Bad. Its kind of a shock." A tinge of self awareness softened his expression. "..Ah, but I guess you're the one who should be saying that." He gave a pause, as if to acknowledge what he now recognised as selfishness. "So.. who's Adam? I haven't really met many people yet. Just got here today.." he trailed off.

"It's fine, I'd be concerned if you weren't curious." Aislin shrugged. "I arrived yesterday. Adam Blackmore is the leading Power Instructor and the Training Hall is his domain. Very powerful teacher, I'm glad we have someone like him. Well, especially now."

A tall nurse with streaks in her brown hair came up to the two students. She double-checked her clipboard. "Mark and Aislin, right? Dana told me I could find you here." Her eyes hovered on Mark's bloody jeans. "Would you two follow me please? This won't take long, I'm just going to fix those up." She nodded to Mark's injuries.

"Ah, sure thing."

Mark turned and gave Aislin a wry smile before standing and hobbling behind the nurse.

"Ooh, the hospital people know everything. Nice to meet you, Mark." Aislin laughed, grinning as she trailed close behind the nurse and her charge. He stopped for a full two seconds.

Mark you idiot! You forgot again!

"Ah yes, I'm Mark by the way. Mark Heaton." He held out a hand after having introduced himself for what he now realised was the first time since arrival.
"Pleasure's all mine, Mr. Mark Heaton." Aislin grasped his hand in a firm shake, snickering to herself.

It was only a 30-second walk to one of the smaller offices, the nurse quietly shutting the wood door behind them as the students filed in. Mark took a seat on the bench, crinkling the sheet of paper mesh under his weight. Aislin found an empty chair against the wall, briefly glancing over the cramped room. When the nurse said fixing up Mark wouldn't take long, she was right. A simple steralizing, wiping down and wrapping up with fresh gauze did the job. Mark had a small patch of bandage taped to his face, and his leg was wrapped likewise. The nurse also offered him a towel -- he was soaked, after all.

"I'll need you to drink fluids, stay warm and take it easy tonight." The nurse lady advised, holding open the office door for them. "You two are free to go, just be careful. The school is under lockdown, after all."

His gaze grew distant again for another fraction of a second.

"Why, has something happened?" Mark asked, sharing eye contact between the two women in front of him.

Aislin leveled a flat gaze at him. "I only mentioned it five minutes ago. You didn't know who Adam was, remember?" She shook her head, giving the nurse a skeptical glance.

"..Wait, I meant-"

"I'll keep an eye on him. Besides, something has happened, actually. And we're going to go check it out." Aislin walked out the office door, not giving Mark a chance to ask more questions. "You coming or what?"

Mark sighed. Defeated "...I knew something had happened. I was just asking if.." He trudged after her into the rain as his voice glided away. He stuffed his hands into his pockets in bottled up frustration, when something connected with his finger. Something thin, and something wooden. He pinched it between his finger and thumb, and discretely pulled it out. It was a blood stained toothpick. Confused, he put it back where he found it, with growing sense of dread filling his stomach.

The nightly darkness was only intensified in the rain. Aislin flicked on the flashlight Mr. Blackmore let her borrow, following the sidewalk. She moved at a slow enough pace that Mark could easily keep up with her as they meandered to the cafeteria. By now most of the flashing vehicles had up and gone; only a few officials stood around, talking amongst each other with worried expressions.

"Well, that doesn't look good.." Mark quietly declared.

"Excuse me," Aislin walked up to one parameic standing by himself. "What happened here?"

The paramedic shook his head. "Sorry, I can't divulge that. The school will have an official statment for all the students in the morning."

Aislin raised an eyebrow, the perfect lie on the tip of her tongue. "I think you misunderstood me. I'm a close relative of the victim's family, plus I'm on the case to catch the fucker who did this. This is official bussiness, and I'd prefer your full cooperation in this matter. Or do I need to tell Mr. Dellamorte how I couldn't do my job right?" She glared.
Her new associate would have given a bemused laugh at the such a tenacious lie, but instead he gave an impatient and expectant look at the paramedic, adding to the ruse.

The man gave her a cynical stare. "Yeah, of course you are."

Mark snapped back to honesty. "Look, if this happened in a cafeteria, we're just going to hear rumours that are 1000 times worse than the truth. Just give us something."

The paramedic gave them both a look over, weighing up whether or not such an argument was credible or simply manipulative. He rolled his eyes. "Tsk. Fine.." He lowered his voice as if the information he was about to disclose would break if it were dropped. The pair quickly understood why.

"There's been a death. Vera Dubnin. I'd suggest that you don't go mouthing off about it, ya hear?"

Aislin remained expressionless, though in her chest her heart raced. What was known could never be unknown. Finally, the first answer. They were getting somewhere. "Thank you, sorry for taking up your time. I'll let you know if we have further questions." She said dismissively, turning away from the scene.

Mark nodded at the paramedic who proceeded to shoo them away with a hand motion. He didn't know what to feel. But fear gripped his heart like fingers on a cold iron hand. He followed after Aislin, expressionless and silent. He didn't want to be alone right now.

Academy 218 - Superhuman School (Always open)

Mark

Mark woke up. Not as though he were just breaking free of sleep while still remaining unwilling to get up; he was on wide awake. And he was face down on concrete in the pouring rain. He pushed himself up onto his elbows, and felt a throb of pain from his cheek. Touching it left blood on his fingertips. He pushed himself up to his feet and immediately a shock traveled through his left leg from his knee. Looking down, there was a red patch seeping through his jeans.

...What on earth happened.

The rain froze as Mark's mind was racing. He had no idea how he had gotten here or for how long. He worked his mind hard to try and remember; he knew that he'd been testing his power, but his last memory was opening a window. There was nothing else, and further effort proved fruitless. Wide and wild eyed, his gaze turned back to his knee. Gingerly, he rolled up the leg to try and inspect it. A sigh of relief came with the sight of a gash that wasn't particularly deep. He suspected that there was a bruise beneath though by the pain that it exuded upon putting weight onto it. He replaced the bloodied jean leg and now took a look at his surroundings. The tower right behind him, which caught his gaze as he briefly stressed about how he got here. Regardless, he knew where he was now. Limping off in the rain, he headed towards the hospital, only just realising the he was cold and soaked through.

Academy 218 - Superhuman School (Always open)

Does anyone wish to collab?

Academy 218 - Superhuman School (Always open)

I've got dinner soon, but after that, anyone interested in doing a collab?

Academy 218 - Superhuman School (Always open)

Alright, I know how I want to put Mark back into the story now: enough time has passed.

He'll be randomly passed out somewhere outside with no idea how he got there. The last thing he remembers is something about toothpicks.. He's been testing his power too much.

The League - First Blood (Persistent World Superhero Sci Fi and Fantasy, Always Open)

Wire

His hopes were well placed: his allies didn't miss his daring slide across the table, and they certainly didn't miss the chance to ventilate the aggressors he was now lying in front of. With a few well placed shots, the guns aimed in his direction were quickly thrown backwards. The newly floored bodies however opened his line of sight to the most bloodthirsty group of them all; one of which he made eye contact with. With sick satisfaction, he tore off a mans arm and began to head straight for him.

...
I'll admit it. That is quite horrifying.

With inhuman precision, the magazine was shoved into place. With force, he kicked himself backwards across the floor towards Marconi. He imagined that he would need to buy a new coat by the amount of mess his back was picking up off this floor, but that thought was only floating round his head to keep his nerve. Once again, time was slowed to a manageable speed and he aimed a bullet into the advancing monster's eye socket. It hit just to the left of his left eye, making a small explosion of human erupt from his face. Wire propelled himself backwards after catching a quick glimpse of what was behind him: mostly bodies and a barricade of overturned tables which Marconi had gotten himself behind. As he was below the table, it should be plain sailing.

His vision returned to the carnage before him, unaware of the full effects of his bullet and eager to get out of the way of any possible gunfire.

Academy 218 - Superhuman School (Always open)

Mark

A big frown was scrawled messily across his brow. His power was back in working order and, with hands clasped beneath his chin, he was staring out of his window at the water trickling down the glass. A wet toothpick was on the desk before him. With a deep breath, he shut his eyes.

So, I've learned something interesting. Theres more to my power than simple perception.. And that when I utilize this new development, it becomes very difficult to keep focus.. And as I had a conversation after using it quite a bit, I must of come across as ADHD. Brilliant.

Mark's nose crinkled at the thought, then opened his eyes. His vision rested on the toothpick.

Oh well, nothing I can do about it now. I can continue to test my new power though..

He picked up the small wooden weapon, and opened the window. He began to take in a deep breath, and before his lungs were full, he slowed the world down to a crawl. The rain stopped dead; he would have said it was stationary if he knew any better. With a silent grunt, he broke his arm free of time through a pain that had lost its bite. Then he freed his eyes. He raised the toothpick with a firm grip, and set his sights on a droplet as it crossed a line he had drawn along the top of the glass. The piece of wood chopped it clean in half.

Two.

It slashed again, and those two droplets split again.

Four.

The world began to speed up, as his power began to snap him back to real-time. Each individual fraction of the original was now divided again.

Eight.

The droplets from the droplet were starting to spread out. They were now collectively halfway down the pane.

Sixteen.

They were thoroughly scattered. As deftly as he moved his wrist, he knew he would not be able to cut all sixteen of the droplets now. He made it to the seventh droplet before they began to fall below the window. Determined that water from the heavens should not claim victory over him, he pushed himself to focus on the cascade before him. They slowed again, and Mark continued. His vision began to lose colour, and he could feel his skull beginning to feel heavy, but with a great effort, he swung his arm again, just as it reached the window sill.

His head fell backwards against his chair. Something close to headrush had taken hold and he was leaning heavily against his armrest, struggling to keep balance. The world faded to black and back, and he shook his head vigorously to try and combat the effects. They were diminished at the very least by taking a breath before hand: the immediate oxygen in his lungs seemed to help give him back his eyesight quicker. He paused. A massive grin grew on his lips.

"..Thirty two. Shut the front door."

He shut the window and reached for his pen, scribbling down that magic number down on a notepad, under 16, 23, 27, 26 and 29. He beamed with a pride unusual to him.

"Hehe.. So if I'm right and the raindrop is falling at roughly 25kmph, and I was allowed to cut it for roughly 1m.. I just cut a raindrop 32 times in 0.04 seconds. Roughly. Haha!"

A weary forehead fell into an open palm. The young man closed his eyes and calmed his mind, as he waited for his power to gain it's composure. Next time he will go for 33.