VarionusNW

—(••[ 𝕎𝕀𝕊ℍ𝔼𝔸𝕋𝔼ℝ ]••)—

Allison Revel | Lawrence Ellison | Hazel Baker | Zoe Fletcher

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ℂ𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 ℙ𝕠𝕤𝕥 / / @VarionusNW@Snagglepuss89@GreenGoat@Lasrever

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𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥. 𝟟, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝕌𝕊𝔸ℝ𝕀𝕃ℕ 𝔼𝕒𝕤𝕥 / / 𝕊𝕖𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕪 𝕆𝕦𝕥𝕡𝕠𝕤𝕥: 𝕆𝕓𝕤𝕖𝕣𝕧𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 ℝ𝕠𝕠𝕞 𝟙 / / ~𝟙𝟞𝟜𝟝

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After returning to class, finishing the last crumb of food as she sat in her seat. She stared blankly at the form as it was handed to her, though her attention immediately shifted as Mr. Francisco started to explain "Flag and Seek".

Allison was stuck on a team with Lawrence, a girl named Hazel, and Zoe. Allison didn't know anything about Lawrence and Hazel, but considering what had happened with the spaghetti monsters, Allison doubted that Zoe held anything but contempt for her. It was fuzzy, but Allison did remember Zoe chewing everyone out while Allison was lying there, nearly unconscious. It would likely take a miracle to get Zoe to work with her. Luckily, Allison would have some time to talk to her, as their team wouldn't be playing in the first round, instead staying back and judging the actions of the other two teams.

The classes that followed passed by easily enough, leaving Allison to spend the half hour break fretting over the elective form. She wanted to put down the same elective as Angel for 1, but found it too awkward to go and ask her what she would put. Instead, Allison made the harrowing decision to try and figure out what she wanted to do.

Electives

Art/Photography: 5
Creative Writing: 2
Woodworking: 6
P.E.: 3
Film Study: 7
Music Theory: 4
Home Ec: 1
Computer Science: 8

Allison was alright with her choices. She didn't know how to cook, and wanted to learn. Barring that, Allison would be willing to settle for Creative Writing, as she had been doing creative writing for a while, though admittedly it wasn't exactly wholesome. She could feel the small black notebook burning a hole in her pocket. Her third pick was PE, as more exercise wasn't going to hurt. She had put music theory at 4, even though she hadn't played an instrument in over a year, and even then she only had minor lessons. The rest were much simpler decisions. She didn't have much of an artistic eye, she had no interest in woodworking, and she didn't know how to operate a computer.

Finishing the form only took Allison a few minutes, giving her enough time to rush back to her room with her pile of stuff, and mess with her new phone. Allison, admittedly, had never really used a cell phone before, and spent several minutes fumbling with the confusing device before deciding to leave it on the desk, and come back to it later.

---

Allison had been corralled with the rest of teams 3 and 4 into a security room of some sort. Here was where they would watch the battle between teams 1 and 2 unfold. Allison stood off to the side, refraining from interacting with anyone for the moment. She was hesitant to speak to her team, partially due to being unfamiliar with Hazel and Lawrence, but mostly because of Zoe.

Zoe had almost nothing on, which immediately drew Allison's attention. Zoe's state of undress likely had something to do with her power, but that didn't change the fact that the image was seared into Allison's mind. Even with her stigma dulled, Allison's mind still seemed to have its priorities.

Allison only turned away when she realized how much she was staring, just as Lawrence approached Zoe. She listened in as the two started talking.

"I admit, I would have preferred meeting again in the library. How've you been holding up?"

"Eh, at least I'm only half naked. Could be worse. Meeting in the library does sound a lot more relaxing than this, but just our luck, right? Don't get much of a break around here."

After his approach, Zoe replied to Lawrence with a forced chuckle. While she hadn't actually answered his question properly, the fact that she was sorely tempted to try and break someone's nose right now wasn't something she wanted to bring up. As it was, it was fairly obvious she was trying to dodge any kind of discussion, and a hint of something between hunger and fury would occasionally flicker across her expression.

At least he'd had the decency to make eye contact instead of looking anywhere else, which she was silently thankful for. Still, as much as she wouldn't mind an opportunity to get to know the guy, they were actually here for a reason. Plus, she needed a way to change the subject.

"Listen, I'd love to chat but wanna go get a hold of our teammates? You know, so we can figure out what we're doing instead of getting our asses kicked. I can fetch Allison, you bring Hazel over. I mean, if you know which one she is, 'cause I don't."

He simply shrugged in response, taking a quick glance to make sure there was coffee available before taking a sip from the thermos in his hand. It seemed the woman wanted to be all business, and considering how much more on edge she seemed than the other night: was probably dealing with stigma issues. He had more than enough experience to know that trying to force a casual conversation at this point was just asking to get punched. This was why he spent most of his sessions with people in the library reading: Aberrations were temperamental on the best days.

"If you want to take this seriously, sure. Was going to see if you all wanted to try hard or not during this thing. Hazel-"

He nodded towards the girl that was stripping a short distance away.

"Is the one trying to win a bare skin competition with you. I don't know if letting her continue is a good choice or bad one. She's... Well, the weirdest one of you guys I've met, and that's saying something."

Then he gave a nod towards Emma, a little further away.

"That's Emma, the only one on the other team I know. Turns out both are my roommates- go figure. So if you know the others we'll be up against that'd be helpful."

Lawrence didn't see much point in fetching Hazel, the girl would probably find her way to him and ask for orders if their last battle had been any indication- but if Zoe brought up breaking away then that meant it was probably what the woman wanted to do. So, with another shrug and a sip of a coffee he took a step towards his roommate.

"Guess I'll see you when you find this Allison then? I'll try to stop Hazel from getting completely nude."

Zoe nodded, a grateful smile appearing on her face as she realized Lawrence wasn't going to delve any deeper. Looking at Hazel, she raised an eyebrow. Considering the amount of time he'd been here, the fact that Lawrence found her weird probably wasn't a great sign. Still, it was probably good that he'd explained that because Zoe kind of felt like she was being mocked in the strangest way possible. She would probably have been offended if she wasn't so confused.

"So that's Hazel. Huh." She paused for a moment, slightly unsure how to react before grinning. She doubted the girl would have decided to start making fun of her out of nowhere, but her pride meant she couldn't keep from responding to Lawrence with a smirk. "For the record, I am totally winning that competition."

She thought for a second before speaking again. "As far as their team goes, I've met Brent and Savannah, that's it. And Allison..." She glanced around before spotting the girl, who seemed to be facing away a short distance from the two of them.

"Is over there. Just come over whenever you get Hazel to put her clothes back on. Or not, I guess. Up to her."

Meanwhile, Hazel had finished unbuttoning her blouse, and was fiddling with her skirt.

”Hazel! What are you doing?!”

"I'm taking off my clothes."

With no one actually stopping her, she stripped down to her underwears, both of simple black cotton. Hazel contemplated taking those off as well, but it didn't seem like stripping further would give her more of an advantage. Probably that was why that girl was in her underwears as well. Satisfied, she folded her clothes neatly and set it on the table, before noticing Lawrence approaching her. He was supposed to be teamed up with her, so perhaps he had come to tell her something?

Wondering what it was, she stood up straight and turned to him, waiting expectantly for Lawrence to speak.

I don't even care.

The swiftness with which he had become accustomed to his roommate's antics was surprising even to Lawrence, stoicism or no. Then again, by this point he had been at USARILN East for over a year, and the sheer bizarreness of his life up until this point had left him... lacking in the ability to be surprised by much anymore. Although he had somehow missed this new trend of women walking around half dressed without reservation. Too much time in the library? Who knew. He was just thankful she had stopped at her underwear.

"Hey Hazel, Zoe and I are just getting the team together to see what sort of plan we could come up with."

He looked to Emma then with a nod of 'Hello', having barely caught her admonishment of their roommate, before continuing:

"Do you know anything about the powers of the other team we're facing? I only really got to see Emma there in action."

"Apologies," she gave a slight bow, "But I am only familiar with Emma's ability."

So thats two of her teammates that she could identify. Who was the last one again? She had no idea, but that wouldn't stop her from performing at one hundred percent. The only problem was, she had no idea what any of them can do. Lawrence seemed to have the ability to influence people, but how it worked and the specifics of its workings was beyond her. Other than that, the rest was a complete blank. It was the same for the other team. She had no idea how the rest of the other team they were facing could do, with the exception of Emma. All she could do when the time comes would be utilizing her ability as best she could, and maybe follow with whatever plans they cook up.

With a sigh Lawrence ran a hand through his hair with a shrug of resignation. Things were looking pretty terrible as far as plan making possibilities went, but they still had two team members to grill for information. If it came to the worst- they at least could figure out each other's abilities and make a game plan based on that.

"Well, let's see what the other two know. Hopefully the other team is as blind as we are going into this."

Allison had watched Lawrence walk towards who she assumed to be Hazel. This Hazel was stripping as Lawrence approached, thankfully no further than her underwear. Were her teammates trying to kill her? If Allison was the type to have nosebleeds, she would have died of blood loss by then.

Allison didn't listen to what Lawrence and Hazel were saying, instead she moved over towards Zoe, before Zoe could have a chance to approach her. She felt a pang of guilt as she did. Everything that happened in that battle had been her fault, and she was the only one who had little memory of Zoe's anger. Allison expected Zoe to hate her guts, and Zoe had full right to.

"Hey Zoe." Allison said, her eyes resting on a point far past the girl.

With a terse nod, Zoe acknowledged Allison's greeting. Honestly, she'd been hoping for more time to sort out her thoughts, but the other two would be over soon. They needed to be able to work together if only so that no-one got themselves hurt, that was for sure, but Zoe wasn't about to say sorry. As far as she was concerned, she'd been right to say everything she did, but she figured the girl might want some sort of explanation.

Zoe was silent for a few seconds before sighing in irritation. "Is there anything you want to say to me?" She turned to face Allison, noting that the girl didn't even seem to be looking at her. It was kind of strange, but Zoe assumed her teammate was just pissed about everything from before. "We don't have much choice but to work together, so get it out of your system."

"Look, Zoe..." Allison took a deep breath, and looked straight at Zoe. "I'm sorry about... before.Everything was my fault. I nearly got myself killed, and I got Alexis killed. I fucked up, and we both know that. I hope we can still work together, and maybe, just maybe I can convince you to not hate me."

Zoe shook her head, looking at Allison with a slight laugh. "Hate's a pretty strong word. Not that I take back anything I've said - I think you're a liability that needs to toughen up, and I sure as hell resent being eaten alive 'cause people fucked up, but that's different."

Zoe shrugged, a resigned smile appearing on her face. "You guys thinking that was kind of the idea. As long as you're watching out for each other, what you think of me isn't my problem. Besides, my-" She stopped, mentally cursing. Even if she was trying to clear the air, her stigma wasn't something she wanted to talk about. Especially considering that while she didn't hate Allison, she certainly didn't like or trust her either. "It's easier."

"Alright then." Allison had expected the conversation to be a bit more dramatic, though she was relieved at how simple it ended up being. She looked off towards Lawrence and Hazel, who was still undressed, waiting for the odd pair to join Zoe and herself.

It didn't take long for Lawrence to head over to them- half naked Hazel in tow. With a sip of his coffee, he looked from Zoe to Allison, as if judging who he should speak to first, before simply addressing them both.

"So, what exactly do we know about this other team and what they can do? Emma there's a summoner, based on her emotions from what she told me on the way over to the first battle. Different emotion, different summon with different capabilities. I don't know the exact mechanics of it beyond that, but I remember her shouting orders to them. So, we can probably at least figure out what to expect from them by what we hear her telling them to do."

Shaking his head afterwards, he added:

"I'm not familiar with the others and neither is Hazel. So I was hoping you two might be able to give a bit more intel."

Zoe didn't have time to decide how she felt about the resolution before Lawrence approached. It had seemed easier than she'd expected, but the other girl had barely been conscious when Zoe had snapped at them. Hopefully this wouldn't end up with a repeat.

Seemed like Hazel wasn't putting her clothes back on after all. Zoe hadn't meant to be setting an example, but it was no skin off her back. Besides, questioning Hazel wasn't at the top of her priority list. As of right now, the girl seemed slightly creepy. Zoe glanced at Allison and then spoke. "I've seen Savannah and Brent's powers in action. Don't know the new guy."

She gestured towards Brent first. "Brent upgrades objects. Saw him change a set of weights into some electromagnetic thing. I think he needs to touch them, but judging by that getup he might be a pain in the ass."

"Savannah sets some kind of, uh, mark-thing that blows up on you like a firecracker if you use your powers. Needs to touch you first though and I don't think it works if you're not doing anything. She's half anyone's size so I'd say just punch her in the face."

She sighed. It was kind of irritating that the other team had some new kid appearing out of nowhere, but they just needed to deal with it. There was something else she needed to bring up, but she needed a moment to think it over. "Assuming no-one knows Ernest, what do you guys do powers-wise?"

Hazel blinked, before starting on describing her ability. "It has been called, Void Impact. Range, 15 meters. It has been classed as a variant of telepathy, using one's limbs to focus the ability. Effects, material displacement of anything within range, and powerful impact towards living beings. To visualize the effect and how it works, it would be akin to a larger version of the affected limb being used to attack."

She gave a side glance towards Lawrence. "That is the extent of my ability."

While she could theoretically do more, that was the basic of her ability, and the most prominent part of it.

Lawrence nodded in response to Hazel's explanation, almost identical to how she relayed her ability to him on the bus. It was confirmed then that she was a weirdo with everyone, and not just him.

"As for me- I wouldn't get your hopes up ability wise. It's a bit hard to explain, but I alter someone's mental state so that it's in line with my own- whether I'm happy sad, etc. Might have some marginal use against Emma, but would be more helpful in keeping you guys level."

With a shrug and a sip of his coffee, he added:

"Still working out this other thing, but apparently I can cause... Muscle spasms? Situationally useful for sure, but it's something. I wouldn't build an entire strategy around what I can do though. If we're focusing on winning with our powers- then I hope you two are packing something more in line with what Hazel can do."

"Afraid not..." Allison let off a sigh as she looked her new allies over. Hazel, who's lack of clothing was still bothering Allison, seemed strangely mechanical. Not in the sense of calculated movements, but more in the fact that her motions and words felt stiff and lifeless. Allison found the girl to be unsettling, though she seemed to be powerful, based on her ability.

Allison found that Lawrence seemed lifeless as well, as if he'd seen enough shit to the point where nothing phased him anymore. Lawrence's disposition made sense, he had an ability that was nearly useless in combat, and he had been at USARILN East longer than the rest of them. If it wasn't for the fact that she had to fight alongside him, Allison would have felt some amount of pity for him.

"I can summon a blade that can cut through anything, so long as it isn't alive. It just passes through living things. As long as the blade maintains contact with someone, it stops their powers from being used. The blade has a maximum length of about twenty feet. The catch: it only lasts for a minute, and takes three to recharge. I'll be able to use it two to three times at most." Allison hunched forward, and stared at the ground. She let her face fall into her hand. "Oh, and Hazel, can you please put your clothes back on?"

"No."

Hazel didn't bother to elaborate, nor did the thought to pass her mind. To her, it was an odd request; neither Zoe nor Lawrence had commented on her appearance, and Emma had only asked her what she was doing. After all, Zoe was wearing about the same as her, and no one batted an eye at her. Or was it less her outfit and more her? Perhaps Allison simply did not like her. Or feared her more without her movements restricted by her usual garments.

"Well... Okay then." Allison would just have to deal with it, then. Her team was a horrible mess.

Zoe, having firmly classed Hazel under 'kind of creepy', had decided not to question the girl any further. At least she sounded powerful compared to the rest of them, although Lawrence's ability was a bit of a bust in terms of this whole fight. As for her own... "It's complicated. I could probably be useful, but..."

She looked conflicted for a brief second before assuming a relaxed expression and smile as if it didn't bother her at all. "I rot things alive. Have to make skin contact, but if I do it can work fast enough to pretty much melt them - it's not as fast if I move away, but I can keep it working either targeted or full-body if I stay within about ten to fifteen metres of whoever I touched."

She shrugged, forcing herself to keep the same unbothered expression. "Thing is, it's too easy for me to be lethal. At best, I'd seriously hurt someone or go too far, traumatise them and get myself a shock. At worst, the shock doesn't knock me out fast enough and I kill someone." Zoe glanced away, remembering her attack on Aaron after Green Team's fight. "I've already come close. There's definitely a risk."

Lawrence nodded in response to that. So one team member that was too lethal to use, himself, and then two they could actually work with. Not exactly the best match up in the world, but one had to work with what they were given. He would have preferred having more information on the other team, but for now he would just have to expect the unexpected.

They all would.

"Well, you do have your powers suppressed right now. If you have enough control over it to turn it off immediately after you activate it, you might just be able to give them a strong burn. Hopefully. It's really a great ability for preventing them from stealing your flags if you can manage it."

Running a hand through his hair, he continued with a sigh:

"Well, I think we should focus on defense then, track down this Sophia and keep her guarded, move as a group if we have the space for it. At the very least not have anyone go lone wolf. These flags are supposed to represent our life, right? Staying alive should always be the priority over killing the other guy unless you're trying to be a martyr."

—(••[ 𝕎𝕀𝕊ℍ𝔼𝔸𝕋𝔼ℝ ]••)—

Allison Revel

What had Allison just witnessed? In just over half the time allotted, team two had been annihilated by team one. Wasn't this supposed to be a game, a team-building exercise of some sort? It had ended up being so much worse. Multiple injuries, blood everywhere, and a distinct brutality that absolutely sickened the girl.

Allison made no attempts to hide her disgust. She had stared on as the events unfurled, powerless to stop the carnage. The USARILN staff were more heartless than Allison had thought, and it seemed that they got more heartless as the days passed. They had forced a bunch of untrained teenagers to fight monsters, with 2 deaths, and now they were forcing them to fight each other. Though, what seemed to be the worst part was that they had played along, they had attacked each other, and they had injured each other over a reward that just wasn't worth the suffering.

Allison's train of thought came to a halt as she was handed an evaluation sheet. She immediately picked up a pen and started writing, scribbling out the first section after she wrote it.

General Thoughts

What was that? That wasn't a game, and it was barely a fight. It was just a massacre. What was the goal of this, exactly? If it was to inspire teamwork, or to get a benchmark on it, it didn't work as intended. If anything, all this will have done is give them grudges to hold against each other. Do you intend to just destroy us, to rip us limb from limb one pointless skirmish at a time? You're lucky we seem to have no sense in us to prefer death to this suffering.

The fight seems like it was ineffective for whatever the purpose was. The battle was one sided, due to major mistakes on the part of team two. Many of the combatants need more training, due to terrible use of powers, and a lack of teamwork.Both teams talked too much.

Suggested Improvements

Grant proved to be the most useful member of team one in the end. His ability allowed him to take the flags without having to fight much. Angel seemed to take a backseat during the first few minutes of the fight, only really attacking Chris. It was surprising to see her attack anyone at all. Marcus' use of his powers seemed haphazard, could have been better applied. Sander was a monster, a horrible, awful thing. It seemed like he was acting solely on instinct.

Team two was a mess. Siena abandoned the fight, which may have cost her team the entire thing. Chris' attacks were ineffective, likely due to incompetence. Kusari cut off her own arms. Callan was the most effective member of team two, though having to fight both of the strongest members of the opposing team led to her failure.

Allison silently handed in her form.

—(••[ 𝕎𝕀𝕊ℍ𝔼𝔸𝕋𝔼ℝ ]••)—

Bonds of Friendship

Angélique Lachance | Fredric Francisco | Allison Revel

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𝕊𝕖𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕞𝕓𝕖𝕣 𝟟𝕥𝕙, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟘 / / 𝕌𝕊𝔸ℝ𝕀𝕃ℕ ℂ𝕒𝕞𝕡𝕦𝕤 / / 𝕃𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕖 ℍ𝕒𝕝𝕝 ℤ / / 𝟙𝟙𝟝𝟘

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_{Collab made by@Riffus Maximus @Baklava @VarionusNW}

Allison Revel was not having the best morning. She was barely able to get breakfast and a shower before she was escorted to a classroom by armed guards, and worst of all, her stigma seemed to be acting up today.

Allison made a beeline for the back row of seats, disappointing to find that only one of the back-most seats remained, and it was in between someone Allison had never seen before and the boy who Allison remembered for being annoying days prior. Angel was only a few seats away, but she was surrounded on all sides, leaving Allison virtually stranded in a sea of people she barely knew.

Over the next several minutes, Allison found herself barely able to focus on the introductions of Mr. Francisco and Rosa, only somewhat rising from her thoughts when their requested items were being delivered, and only enough to acknowledge the items being handed to her.

There were too many people around. Allison felt hyper-aware of their presence, every breath, mutter, or slight movement set her brain off into a flutter of fantasies. If it wasn't for human decency and the fact that she didn't know most of them, Allison would have pinned the first person she could grab to the floor.

The actual classes didn't fair much better. Though the material was pretty easy, Allison's lack of focus made even following it a monumental task. By the end of the English lesson, Allison could tell you a three-part science fiction smut epic about Siena and Chris before she could remember what had just been taught. All she knew was that it was time for lunch, and food was always a good idea.

Allison also had an urge to talk to Angel. She was sure it was just the stigma talking, it had to be, but she decided to follow it anyway. Before Allison could even rise from her seat, though, the metal-head had already rushed out of the door. Allison pursued as fast as she could, jumping from her chair and bolting through the door after Angel.

___

Racing out of the classroom, Angélique had another idea in mind. While Christopher might be Aaron's roommate, he probably didn't know much of what had happened either. If the school was really involved by segregating her friend from the initial group he came from, she was damn sure they wouldn't reveal their reasons to the students. And that is why, as reckless as it sounded in her head, she had to ask personally to someone directly linked to the school's administration.

The young woman's eyes immediately followed the man that was supposed to be in charge of her group - Frédérique? - who had just got out of the classroom a few seconds before she did. It wouldn't hurt to try and ask the guy if he knew anything as to why Aaron wasn't with them today. Unlike normal school, Angel doubted the soldiers here would simply leave a teenager to his room if he was sick on his first day at USARILN, simply judging by how everyone was brought up in the classroom.

Decided on her course of action, Angel chased after Frederico, who had taken the lunchroom's opposite way. When she caught up to him, he was down the hall from the classrooms, accompanied by four guards surrounding. Damn, is that guy that dangerous of a Subnatural, or did he made a lot of enemies out of the students? Surprisingly, that wouldn't have surprised the black-haired Aberration. Being part of the establishment's staff despite being a Subnatural, it sounded like preferential treatment to the younger members of this institute, or a scheme to gain the student's trust.

Still, despite not trusting the guy, she required information from the man, and was willing to cast aside that lack of trust in order to find out her friend's whereabouts.

"Yo! Mr. Freddie? Mind if we talk for a bit?"

Fredric stopped and turned slightly, quirking an eye brow before his face lit up with recognition. "Ahh, Miss Angélique Lachance!" he smiled brightly, fully facing her with his hands in the pockets of his coat. The four guards stopped moving and also turned to face her.

"I'm always down for a chat! You've got something to ask me?" he said excitedly, staring down at her with unreadable stormy blue eyes.

"Yeah, I do..."

Angel hesitantly stopped, her gaze switching between each of the four soldiers that were accompagnying the guy in charge of their classroom. While the guards' presence didn't intimidate her as much as they should be, she was feeling sort of unwell to speak of matters concerning her friend in front of those watchdogs.

"Think we can have this discussion in private?"

The Aberration young woman's gaze shifted to the guards once more. Fredric leaned forward with an almost mockingly serious expression, eyebrows raised and lips pursed forward with seemingly genuine curiosity. He followed her gaze towards each of the surrounding soldiers.

"And no, I don't plan to bomb the prison. I just want to know something about a classmate."

His face broke back into a wide grin as he turned his gaze back onto Angel. "Oh, that's just Jake, Ryan, Cameron, and Paul. You heard the lady! Can we have a moment, s'il vous plait? I'll meet you fellas inside." His eyes never left the girl's face as he requested that they move on without him, which they did without question. The two waited in silence until the men rounded the corner. Fredric returned to his upright position, which only further emphasized the man's staggering height.

"You're wondering about Aaron Erikson," Fredric said, his voice and expression betraying no emotion, "Is that it?"

"Am I that obvious? Well, given the circumstances, I'm not surprised. Am I right to assume you know of something? Please, tell me he didn't get himself into trouble."

Bit by bit, Angel's hardened face softened up, her expression turning from a smug mocking facade to something more concerning, obviously worried. By the time the guards were not in sight, her tough girl acting almost faded away, but her strong will remained, burning with a passion to look out for the people that were close to her.

"I've got to know! It's no coincidence he wasn't with us all morning long. And this burst of activity from the guards, I haven't seen anything like it ever since I came here. What happened to my friend?"

Fredric gave a long sigh, glancing over her head at nothing in particular. "Boy, there sure are a lot of Nancy Drews in your bunch, aren't there?" he half smiled at her. His eyebrows knit together apologetically, "Sorry, dime. I can't help ya."

"Nancy what? Why? How? You must know something! It's your job supervising our classroom, right? Why can't you just at least say something beside the fucking 'can't help ya' gimmick?" Angel started being very persistent, somewhat desperate. If Fred couldn't say something to her, who else could she possibly turn to for finding out the truth?

His apologetic smile only widened. He winced and sucked a bit of air between his teeth at the sight of the upset teen. He sighed again, shaking his head. "I'm going to strongly advise you reconsider trying to find the answer to that question of yours, Miss Lachance. I know your upset, but that's how it's gotta be."

Throughout the discussion, Fredric's smile was getting on the Aberration's nerves. She was coping with it, but now that he flat out rejected her request, she couldn't hold her feelings anymore, anger that had been boiling up deep inside began to surface.

"I fucking knew I should've known better than to ask one of you higher-ups! THEY have been right all along! I shouldn't trust any of you institute lapdogs, no matter if some of you are the same as us!"

Angel snapped. Her voice had risen into considerate levels, not enough for actually screaming, but it was loud enough for everyone in the surrounding area to hear her outburst of anger, her tantrum amplified by her voice-enhancing power. While her face showed fury like she rarely exhibited, her clenched teeth and shaking fists showed she was struggling with something, as if she was fighting back something.

"Trust me. I'm going to figure out what happened, without your help. Thanks for nothing, sir." She hissed, the last word she pronounced spat like venom. His contrite smile remained, never missing a beat.

The black-haired X-marked turned her back to her would-be class supervisor and started running at the opposite direction.

Just as she left, Fredric's quartet of guards came bounding around the corner, rifles at the ready. The staff mage held up his hand, signaling for them not to follow. He chuckled solemnly, shaking his head one last time at the Angel's disappearing visage before continuing on his way down the hall.

Allison Revel pulled her head away from the corner, and pushed herself up against the wall. She had just wanted to talk to Angel, and now she felt like a spy, or a voyeur of some sort. Her cheeks were hot at the thought. She had seen something not meant for her eyes. If only it was something more than just Angel questioning the disappearance of their former teammate, like Freddy pinning Angel down, and...

Allison shook the thought away. Her stigma had been getting worse as the day progressed. She needed to deal with it. Why did she want to talk to Angel so bad, anyway? It was just the stigma talking, right? Allison couldn't think straight, she never could. Her mind was battling with itself. Angel was looking for Aaron, so why was Allison not instantly willing to help? Aaron was kind of plain, there wasn't much to the guy, even if what was there was decent. He could also be dead, or dying. What if he was being tortured in some sick, secret underground room, and if they didn't save him in time, he would die? It was a far-fetched assumption for sure, but it was the best reasoning Allison could come up with to want to help Angel find Aaron.

Allison realized that an aberration pressed against a wall was oddly conspicuous. What would she do if anyone came down that hallway? She immediately removed herself from the wall, and started moving away from the hall that she had been eavesdropping on. What would she do if Angel came around that corner, and ran towards her? How would she explain being in a random hallway, but leaving her things in the classroom? Allison hoped that Angel would run in any other direction.

But as fate would want it otherwise, the two students' meeting was inevitable, as Angélique took a sharp turn onto the corner Allison had been watching from a few seconds ago. Blinded by anger and running as fast as she could, the ex professional musician couldn't see who was slowly walking off the corner of the wall, nor could she stop when she was unknowingly about to run into her friend.

The impact was quick and brutal. Angel had rammed into Allison with enough force to send the peeping girl onto the ground, and the shades-wearing young woman tripped onto her, lying on top of the other girl in a confused daze. Angel's shades were knocked off her face, falling next to Allison's head.

Lying on top of Allison for a few seconds, Angélique regained her sense and groaned loudly, rubbing off the slight pain from her nose. "W-what the hell... Allison? You alright? I-'m sorry... I wasn't looking where I was going..." she apologized as her bright emerald eyes stared in confusion at her friend's face.

Allison's mind was melting. One moment she had been eavesdropping, and now Angel was right on top of her. Allison's face was impossibly red, her breathing shallow. She could barely process the scene. The thoughts in the back of her head overran her, speaking up before she could silence herself.

"I'm better than alright." Allison's eyes were glazed over, as if she was off in some distant dreamland.

"Good...good."

Angel got off Allison after shaking off her mild confused state. Getting up on her feet, she extended a hand to the prone girl she had run into. At the same time she was reaching to Allison, Angélique seemed to look around around her, one eye firmly shut while the other was squinting.

"Where the fuck did they fall..." She mumbled lowly.

Allison was visibly disappointing when Angel got up, though she did manage to get herself somewhat under control after rising from the floor herself. Angel was squinting and seemingly looking for something.

"Did you drop something?" Allison looked around at the floor.

"Mhm..."

Angel simply nodded, spotting something black by Allison's feet. She picked it up, sighing in relief as it appeared to be her shades, still in good condition. She didn't lose any time putting them back on. It instantaneously felt right, her vision turning from blurry to clear, her eyes feeling less strained.

"Sorry again, for bumping into you. You'll have to excuse me, but I have something to take care of. I'll see you later at class."

Angélique gave a friendly pat on Allison's shoulder before setting off once more, towards Ground Zero. Her sudden encounter with Allison may have dampened her furious mood, or at least she tried to hide this ugly part of herself to her friend, but the rage still remained. The desire to tear something apart simply by screaming at it, at him, was still pounding inside the back of her mind, further accentuated by the voices that were almost practically yelling insults and taunts all the while, seemingly agitated by this event.

At first, she didn't want to admit it, as it felt like giving into those destructive desires, but the 19 years old Aberration eventually felt the need to sate these impulse, before they drive her into committing unforgivable accidents. She needed to be away from everyone else, to a place she could vent her unbridled fury safely.

"Wait!" Allison exclaimed meekly, stepping towards Angel and putting a hand on the girl's shoulder. "I... I was actually looking to talk to you. I was wondering if you wanted to... hang out... or something." Her voice seemed to wane as she spoke. She wanted to say something more bold, but whatever sensibility was left in Allison had other plans.

"I don't know, Allison. I..."

Angélique was at a loss of words as she reached out for Allison's hand on her shoulder with her own. She kept trying to find excuses to leave and vent her frustration all be herself, but all it accomplished so far was to make her even more frustrated. Hearing her friend telling her she actually wanted to speak and hang around with her, she just couldn't ignore her. Not that it had been so long, having hanged out with the others for a few days recently, but her old lifestyle was sort of lacking in thus kind of social activities. Actually, ever since she came here, she had never been so active into forming real close relationships.

"Alright then... Follow me."

Angel beckoned after a moment, figuring out that she might as well kill two birds with one stone, given Allison's proposal. Sure, she had to compromise with her plans, but what kind of friend would she be if she turned her back to someone she cared about?

As they walked out of the building and headed south towards the eerie-looking devastated part of the city, Angel turned her head to Allison, readjusting her shades that seemed to have gotten some slack ever since the small accident a few minutes ago.

"So, what did you wanted to talk about? You seem... at unease or something. Is there anything bothering you?"

"I don't think there's anything that hasn't been bothering me recently." Allison looked down at her hands, clasping her hands together as she walked. "I guess it's less that there's something I want to talk about, and more that I just wanted someone to talk to. You're the first person that I can really consider as a friend in this place."

"Yeah... lots happened, and keep happening." Angel replied, reminiscent about the current events and the past week. Truly, this had been an emotional rollercoaster, and mind-wrecking experience. Still, here there were, still living and forging deep bonds from this misfortune.

The raven-haired girl's heart fluttered when Allison told her that she was considering her a friend. She rarely had anyone saying those words to her.

"Guess crying on each other's shoulders bonded us, huh?" Angélique chuckled at this perspective, remembering their first meeting. "I... I'm glad to hear it. You are also someone I deeply care about."

Angel's face slightly reddened after saying those words, a bit embarrassed. She wasn't used to speaking to someone in this way, but her outgoing personality had no problem opening her heart to others.

Eventually, the girls reached where Angel initially wanted to go. Ground Zero. As the two X-marked they were, it took little time for the guards to let the subnaturals go through the gate to the ruined part of the city. At this time of the day, there were but a few students at this place, most likely because it was lunch time, whether half-crazed or a sane student. Angel had led Allison to the building she had trained with Siena a few days before. Astonishingly, the building that both girls had taken pleasure in ruining was still here, in the same condition it was before the Arbiter and Aberration duo took a shot it.

"I haven't had the opportunity to see what you were capable of during the last battle. What exactly can you do?"

Allison immediately summoned the shard, letting it extend to only about a foot. She shoved the blade into the nearest wall, making random slices into it with ease, causing several chunks of wall to topple to the floor.

"That... is about half of what I can do, I guess. Can't cut anything living." Allison was already feeling her head start to clear. This was her first time at Ground Zero, and she definitely found the idea of place you could recklessly destroy without consequence interesting, to say the least. At the very least, Allison could numb her urges and free her mind for a bit. "It only lasts for a minute at a time, so..." The shard shattered into dust as Allison spoke. "I'll have to wait 3 more until I can bring the thing back." She sighed and walked away from the small pile of rubble. "Never thought cutting into a wall would feel that good."

Angélique watches Allison cutting through the concrete wall as if it was mere paper. Half of what she could do? There was some potential into her powers, she figured. Not being able to slice through living matter appeared mundane, but being able to cut into any kind of non-living matter was incredibly useful, in Angel's opinion.

"I see... That's a cool ability, although the limit is kinda harsh." Angel analyzed, actually really interested to know about her abilities.

Angel reminded parts of the information that had been pinned on Death and Taxes. During their physics class, after being done with reading over everyone's profile Angel had requested, she had spent the class' duration reading about USARILN and the subnaturals. There was a lot of useful information to know, especially about X-marks and their stigma.

"Have you gotten the chance to read over that Death and Taxes chatroom thing? Apparently, we Aberrations find some kind of peace when destroying stuff. Sates our destructive impulses, I believe. I can tell, it's no bullshit. Went here the other day with Siena. Blew that building up together. Felt fucking great afterwards."

After Allison was done with the wall, Angel approached the building, faced the area her friend had just sliced into, and started shouting at it. There was a lack of power into her scream, due to the relaxed state she had been while chatting with Allison. But as it went on, as she used her power, it was as if the nagging frustration that she went throughout the day pent up, until it properly channeled into a devastating shriek.

Her screaming power not powerful enough to actually punch through concrete, she did however sent parts of the wall flying into the building mainly due to Allison weakening the structure with her earlier slashes.

Allison covered her ears as she watched Angel scream at the wall, retreating to a safe distance as Angel quickly increased the volume. Angel's screams were horrifyingly loud, and Allison knew that better than just about anyone. She wouldn't want to be on the recieving end of those screams.

Angel was clearly powerful, knocking away chunks of wall with just her voice. Allison imagined what it would be like to have a power like that. Could she have stopped him? Could she have saved them? Could she have stayed away from USARILN? No. If it wasn't for the shard, Allison would still be his. The shard gave Allison her freedom. Though, it also took everything else away. Allison let the wave of thoughts consume her as she watched Angel scream at the building.

The more she screamed, the more Angel was reminded of the earlier conversation she had with her classroom’s supervisor. The moment she was having with Allison, it had made her mostly forget about the reason she wanted to come here for. The anger, the rage, and the havoc she felt compelled to achieve in order to calm down. She could see now the smug, fake-ass smile that the dude had been giving her all the while they were speaking. Not giving a shit about how she felt towards a friend that had disappeared.

“Hypocrites, assholes, two-faced liars!”

She shouted before letting out another ravaging shriek, chipping away the hole both her and Allison made, making it progressively larger. Clearly, wrath was fueling her powers, and it was reciprocal. Her emotions was like a curve. The more she used her abilities, the more she was recalling of all that she had witnessed, and the more angst she was building.

By the time she had let out half-a dozen screams, Angélique coughed and panted. By then, she had vented most of her anger away, as shown by the ever-growing hole onto the building’s wall. Clearing up her throat, Angel turned to Allison, who had been silent for a while, standing a few ways off at a safe distance.

“Hey! How about… you show me… everything… you got? You said that… was only half… of what you… could’ve done, right?” Angel gasped and coughed mid-sentences.

"Well, yea. Do you have another scream in you?" Allison said, as she shuffled back towards Angel.

"I... believe I do. If I can still talk, I haven't screamed... enough to stop. Just need to catch my breath." Angel answered, coughing up one more time as she tried clearing her throat.

"Alright, I'll give you a moment, then. You sound pretty rough. Who knew screaming a bunch could hurt your throat?" Allison started pacing around the area, occasionally picking up small rocks and chucking them at the side of the building.

"Yeah... perks of using... your actual voice... as your power. I don't have to wait... like some of you guys... do. Limited to how much... my vocal cords... can take however." Angel wheezed through.

Taking a few shallow breathes in, the black-haired girl regulated her breathing, taking in the moment of silence to ease up her throat. Then, when Allison was far enough away from her, tossing rocks at the building, Angel took a step back, and shouted upwards. This time though, whatever sonic wave she usually emitted wasn't produced where she was shouting, but rather around her, as shown by the dust being swept and kicked up all around Angel.

"Oh fuck... did that felt great." She coughed up again. Her mind, however, felt at ease now, the voices in her mind somewhat quieted down, now mere whispering instead of pounding yells.

Allison ran up to Angel as soon as she finished shouting.

"Missed my cue, it seems. I guess I should have been more clear. I wanted you to be near me before you screamed. The second half of what I can do... I can stop your powers from working."

Angel took a step back, actually surprised by what Allison had just said. She wanted to stay close to her and cancel out her powers? Was she insane? Didn’t she hear what had happened to people who were standing close to her screams? No, she couldn’t risk injuring her friend, couldn’t afford to lose someone dear to her after what had happened two weeks ago.

“I… I can’t do that! What if I injure you, kill you? I… don’t want to rob anyone else’s life once more. Not again!”

"But I believe your words. There’s no need for you to prove it to me right now, right?”

"Yea, you're right... sorry, I guess I... triggered some bad memories there, or something? Sorry." Allison quickly walked towards the building, summoning the shard as she did. She had let it extend to almost it's full length, a massive 19 foot thing that appeared as a blade of jagged glass, just as it normally did. Allison hadn't manifested the shard to such a length before, so she was suprised when it was as weightless as it always was. The blade controlled the same at 19 feet as it did at 1.

Allison swung the weightless blade at the building, cutting through as much of the building as she could in a single stroke, and repeating until the entire thing had toppled into a pile of rubble and dust. It was an oddly cathartic experience, and Allison felt all the better for it. As the last of the building fell, the shard dissipated, and Allison ran away from the ruins, coughing as she escaped from the clouds of dust that had arisen as the building fell. She approached Angel.

"That felt fucking amazing." Allison's mind felt clear for once, a great weight lifted off of her subconscious. She could actually think without having to fight and restrain herself. She coughed as she spoke. "Aside from all the dust anyway."

Angélique stood silent and lengths away from the building and Allison as she watched just how much destructive power her room neighbor could actually inflict on buildings. It was frightening, really. Now if only all that power could affect monsters, now that would be quite something.

When Allison got back next to Angel, the screamer-turned singer chuckled in response to her friend’s statement. She gave the girl a pat on the shoulder, for a job well done.

“That’s terrific, girl. If I was a building, I’d quake myself to ruins.”

Both girls seemed to be in a lighter mood after exhibiting their shows of powers. It would seem like this trip to Ground Zero was most beneficial after all. As predicted, they literally killed two birds with one stone here, getting to hang out with each other while sating the destructive instincts influenced by their stigma.

“Guess we did enough damage here. Feeling good enough to return to… class?”

"Yea, I guess." Allison said, stretching her arms a bit. For as much damage as she did, she didn't get that much of a workout. While she wasn't exactly exhausted, she was noticing that she was rather hungry. "Don't know if skipping lunch was that good of an idea, though."

"We could race back to the cafeteria. Grab a few pastries for whatever the 'elective class' is. Munch on those during class." Angel suggested, taking her phone out from the pocket of her jeans and noticing that, indeed, they didn't have much time to stop by the cafeteria and go to class.

"Sounds good, if we can make time for it. Race you there?" Allison didn't wait for an answer, and darted off.

“You’re o- hey you cheater!”

Angel in turn dashed after seeing Allison took a head start.

Allison was the first to reach the cafeteria. Both girls were quite fit, healthy young lasses, but Allison’s pride and Angel being more accustomed to jogging than sprinting had decided the results.

Inside the cafeteria, Angel had pressed to receptionist to be quick and let them eat quickly. Time was running short as the girls were choosing what their lunch will be. Angel, knowing that they will most likely be late, took anything that was quick and easy to eat on the move, such as raw vegetables and pastries. Not much of a change from what she usually eat, but it was simple and efficient.

Eventually, as they had been sitting at a table and started eating, a pair of guards showed up in the cafeteria, guns in hand and walked up to the two eating Aberrations.

“You’re late for class, subnaturals. Get up and head back to class, immediately. We’ll be right behind you.”

Angel got up from her chair without protest, pastries in hand and a mouthful of vegetables.

“Fine, but I’m keeping my food with me.”

Angel replied defiantly with her mouth full, the guards shrugging at the bold student. She started walking towards the class, wondering what was on schedule this afternoon. Allison was soon to follow, similarly carrying her food as the pair was escorted back to the classroom.

—(••[ 𝕎𝕀𝕊ℍ𝔼𝔸𝕋𝔼ℝ ]••)—

Allison Revel

Allison's vision was foggy, everything obscured by a thick haze. She stood underneath a massive oak tree, beside her the wall of an old cabin. From behind her, someone was speaking, though their voice seemed to be muffled, as obscured as her vision was.

Allison found her self staring down at the ground around the tree, which seemed to have been recently dug up and replaced. Tears rolled down Allison's face, her hands clenched. Everything felt so distant and fake. She found herself turning around to greet a pair of glowing, red eyes. And then the dream faded.

---

Allison Revel woke up to people murmuring about someone named Benediction. A precursor, apparently, as well as the reason Allison didn't feel like she was dying anymore. Unlike several other people in the room, Allison had no interest in seeking out Benediction. She just wanted to go home, though that meant a room in which she had few freedoms and little privacy now.

As soon as she was able to get herself out of the infirmary, Allison made her way to her room, walking slowly and carelessly. She was tired, not physically tired, but mentally. She was tired of death, and in a way, of other people. The two things she couldn't escape. Every step she made, she made out of hope, and everything would always come crashing down. It was always Allison's fault. Someone dies, and she never does anything to stop it.

How many was it now? 7? 8?

Allison entered her room and turned on the light. She hadn't actually looked around the room much. She found a bag full of her stuff. She dug around the bag until she found the only change of clothes she had, a tank top and shorts. There was also a men's long sleeve shirt that was much too big for her. Why was that in amongst her stuff? It was the closest thing to a jacket she owned, but she didn't want to wear his clothes. The stench of death still clung to it. She tossed the shirt to the side. She would need to get rid of that later.

Allison looked at the state of herself. She was still covered in blood and pasta sauce, and her shirt was torn. She needed a shower, and new clothes. Allison hadn't gone shopping for clothes in a long time. Most of her clothes were hand-me-downs, or bought by someone else. Can't really risk shopping when you're trying to hide.

She went to the showers, luckily there was no one there, and relaxed as the blood was washed from her skin. She went to put on her clean change of clothes, realizing that she didn't have any undewear. What kind of idiot doesn't pack extra underwear? She would have to shop for that as well. The next day was going to be hell. She put the not-so-clean underwear back on, and threw on the clean clothes.

Allison made her way back to her room, carrying the bundle of bloody clothes. She would have to get those washed tomorrow, even the shirt that was in tatters. She put the bloody clothes on top of the long-sleeve shirt on the floor. Allison looked over the papers on the desk. The tests were mostly done, she only had a few more pages to go. She sat down and got to work.

Allison was able to finish those last few pages in under an hour, and was feeling considerably more tired. She was ready to go to sleep, but there was also the question of the acquisitions form. Was there anything Allison wanted? She couldn't think of anything off the top of her head. She decided to leave it for tomorrow and went straight to bed. Allison was asleep in minutes.

---

Allison woke up around 8:00AM, and had started moving. She had grabbed something to eat from the cafeteria, and filled out the acquisitions form.

Allison's Acquisitions form

-basic profiles of the students who arrived with her
-basic bathroom supplies (soap, shampoo, etc.)
-a cell phone

She delivered the papers to the appropriate office, finishing all of her tasks by 9:00. She had found herself sitting on her bed, looking through one the two notebooks from her bag, a brown one. She hadn't touched the thing in a while. It was small enough to fit in her pocket, and was visibly worn with age. She had had it since she was kid. She flicked through the book until she found the beginning of a list. It was the last page in the notebook that had been written on, less than halfway through the pages.

Absolutes:
1. People die.
2. People are selfish.
3. People will lie.
4.--------------------------
5.----------------------------------
6.----------------------
7. This is -------'s fault.
8. This is my fault.
9.--------------------

Several of the entries were scratched out, to the point of ripping the paper. Allison wanted to prove the little notebook wrong, she wanted to prove everything on that list wrong, but everything she did seemed to prove them more and more right. Why was she looking at this again? A reminder of her failings? A reminder of how weak she was as a person? Wasn't she trying to be confident and friendly before? Who was Allison Revel?

Allison was the chaste, shy, friendly girl, right? No, that girl is dead. She died along with Tommy, John, Max, Laura, and Will. Allison Revel is not that girl. Allison Revel is the girl who wants to fuck everything that moves. Was that all that Allison was supposed to be now? No, no, no. Don't ignore who you were, just... add to it. Allison had no idea what she meant, but she supposed she would have to figure it out. She needed to go shopping.

Allison placed the notebook into the bag, grabbing the other notebook, which had a black cover, and a pen, and shoving them into her pocket along with her ID card. She left the room and headed out into the town, remembering that her choice in clothing wasn't too great for September.

—(••[ 𝕎𝕀𝕊ℍ𝔼𝔸𝕋𝔼ℝ ]••)—

Allison Revel

Allison Revel couldn't think straight. She had hit the plate hard, with a piece of the plate now jutting from her side. She was bleeding profusely, the pain flooding through her just as quickly. Everything was pain. Her vision swam, a combination of nausea and the beating pain from the wound at her side destroying any semblance of coherant thought that she could muster. Allison was sure that she was going to die. She was bleeding out, right next to the mouth of a giant monster, and no one was there to help her. She was ready to resign herself to death.

Her hands grasped at the plate, desperately wanting to make sure she didn't fall off, though they found no handholds. She felt as if she was on an endless, hostile expanse of ceramic. Nothing made sense. Allison looked at her left hand, which still grasped the makeshift blade, her grip so tight that it had started to dig into her skin. She loosened her grip on the thing and tried to breath, her lungs filling with the nauseating fog, which only worsened things. The burning of her side seemed to increase with every minuscule movement, the plate digging further into her side. Allison stopped moving, taking several deep breaths, in the hope that she could just swallow all of the fog and drink in fresh air once again.

---

Allison's breathing stopped short as the plate beneath her seemed to fall away, leaving her floating, weightless, surrounded by nothing. There was nothing, except for Allison, and a vast ocean far below her, so far below. Allison began to float towards it, realizing that the she felt no pain from her wound as she did so.

As Allison approached the vast sea, she found an eternity beyond it. She could only see it in blurry glimpses, but beyond the surface was something incomprehensibly beautiful, everything just beyond her grasp, everything beyond the nothing in which she floated. She felt inherently separated from that vast, incomprehensible ocean, which only drove her to seek it more. She wanted what lay beyond her grasp, she needed it. Allison neared the endless ocean.

She reached out her hand, which seemed to lose it's weightlessness as she neared, becoming immensly heavy, taking her full will and determination to keep it straight. As her hand neared the surface, mere feet away from it, ripples formed on the pristine surface, and a single droplet of water pushed away from the surface, seeming more like a bead of glass than a drop of water. It was too perfect. It was as if the ocean was offering a piece of itself to Allison, a glorious gift that Allison had to accept. She moved her heavy hand to grab it, though the droplet seemed to shift as she did so.

The droplet began to glow, a brutal, sinister shade of red, seeming to glow brightest in Allison's direction, accusatory and hateful. The glowing droplet now resembled an eye, staring down Allison Revel, who floated in an endless nothingness.

Tainted, that was the word that came to Allison's numb mind first. This thing was tainted, a horrible machination with only the goal of causing pain and suffering. Allison was no different. The endless, pure ocean seemed to fall away with Allison's realization, being replaced by a sea of red, piercing eyes.

Tainted.

---

Allison was thrown back to reality, the pain in her side reminding her of her impending doom. The beautiful nightmare had felt like several minutes, though it seemed to occur in mere moments. Allison took several deep breaths as she considered what she had just seen, realizing that the air was clean. The fog was being blown away. Allison couldn't tell what had blown the fog away, but it was likely one of the other teams.

Allison took this as an opportunity to gather herself, though the nausea stayed constant, her vision still dizzy. At least now, her thoughts were clear aside from the sharp pain from her side. She needed to do something, if she was going to die she wouldn't let her death be in vain. She felt the cool ceramic against her hands, which were undoubtedly covered in blood and pasta sauce by this point, drew in a deep breath, and summoned the shard.

The shard appeared in Allison's hand in mere moments, much larger than it had ever been before. The thing was roughly 6 feet long, taller than Allison, though it had no weight to it. The shard now took the form of a massive sword, a feverish cross between several different kinds of sword that Allison couldn't name. It seemed to glow a deep purple, though emitted no light. Allison looked at the massive object in awe before swinging it through the sharp shards that jutted from the plate, following with wild, almost careless swings at the plate. She needed to cut as much as she could in the time she had.

As Allison swung, she felt the plate in her side dig further, the blood loss compounding with the nausea. She felt the full force of her exhaustion as she swung. Allison couldn't carry on much longer.

—(••[ 𝕎𝕀𝕊ℍ𝔼𝔸𝕋𝔼ℝ ]••)—

Allison Revel

A scream caught in Allison's throat as a noodle crept up leg, wrapping itself around her waist. She was an idiot. What was she doing? She was getting herself killed. Allison's grip tightened around the makeshift blade as she was lifted into the air, hopelessly dangling above the ceramic maw of the spaghetti monster. What was she thinking? Of course this was going to happen.

Allison screamed at herself in her head as she pulled at the pasta around her thigh with her free hand; the slimy noodle was too close for comfort. She was hanging right above the thing's mouth, but if she was able to swing just a bit to the side, she might be able to avoid certain death. It was do or die for Allison Revel. She would have to maneuver her body just enough to cut the noodle at where it wrapped around her leg first, though.

Allison moved quickly, bending her torso and making a swift chop at the noodle, swinging her free leg to the side as she did so. The nauseating fog hit Allison just as she swung.

—(••[ 𝕎𝕀𝕊ℍ𝔼𝔸𝕋𝔼ℝ ]••)—

Allison Revel

'What were you thinking? "revenge"? Idiot.' Allison looked out towards the thing that had killed Zoe, which floated in the air, just out of reach. Still, Allison had to do something. Now that she knew she could cut into the plate-maws of the monsters, she had no choice but to do something. She looked around at the chaotic battlefield.

The dragon had skidded back towards the trucks, clearly injured. That was supposed to be green team's trump card. If he was already injured, it was unlikely that any of them would leave unscathed. Green team was doomed.

The second spaghetti monster was joined by an ensemble of half-formed meat terrors, and Angel was unleashing a massive scream on them. The sound was terrifyingly loud. Allison couldn't imagine what it sounded like to those things.

The third creature was upside-down, writhing and whimpering under it's own weight. The thing was stuck. If it wasn't a disgusting beast made of pasta that had killed Alexis, Allison might have felt sorry for it. Now, there was really only one option for Allison. She sprinted off towards the downed spaghetti monster.

What she was doing was horribly stupid. More stupid than making a cleaver out of the side of a truck, more stupid than allowing herself to be convinced into going to USARILN, more stupid than trusting him at all. Though it was stupid, it was the smartest option for Allison. The plate was not part of the monster; the plate was not alive. Allison Revel stopped just in front of the massive creature. She would have to make her way up this sea of pasta to get to the plate.

She dug her fingernails into one of the noodles, half-holding onto the makeshift blade, and started to climb.

Hunger Games: THE SPAM BOWL: End of the Year Championship Round

Stefán Karl Stefánsson (Robbie Rotten) - The We are Number One meme guy who's cancer treatment was paid for by internet memelords. One of the few good things to come out of this trainwreck of a year.

Shifty Kebab Seller - 6, 7, 8

Harambe - One of the greatest memes of 2016.

Bernie Sanders - 4, 5

Adolf Hitler - 4, 7

Martin Luther King Jr.- 5, 6

Men vs. Women Race to 1000

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Men vs. Women Race to 1000

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