Episode 5: When the Knights Go Marching In

[yoikes]

Mitch Castle
Location: Facility 108
Mood: Disoriented
With: Juliana Necessity4Fun

After miraculously completing the exam in one piece and without causing any big mess that causes panic and destruction, Juliana forced her to help her find Aaron and asked him to give her belongings back. Mitch quietly left Juliana in her own world, with mentions and hashtags and memes, as she tries to find some other friends she haven't greeted.

Then -- It happened.

There was a loud crash, coming from the direction of the parking lot. Then she saw a big, silver truck entering the facility at high speed. The crowd shouted, cried, and before Mitch could give a reaction herself, someone grabbed her arm and dragged her with them. Mitch was still in shock and offered no resistance.

She only snapped back to reality, to the chaos, when Juliana - out of all people - shoved her cellphone at her. Their eyes met and Mitch could tell Juliana didn't expect her, too.

"Stay quiet and whatever happens, don't.freak.out. or you'll kill us all." Juliana gave a "do or die" serious look. Mitch answered with a small nod. Then, she watched as Juliana suddenly stood and opened her arms wide, like making a T letter with her whole body... She closed her eyes...

And everything goes black.

Mitch was, reasonably, surprised by the sudden feeling blindness -- Especially with the sounds of gunshots and chaos around her. She covered her mouth with both hands, just in case she can't hold back a whimper that might reveal their position, and slowly dropped herself to the ground. Her legs feels week and she could feel her whole body shivered from fear and panic.

You can do this, you can do this, you can do this, you can do this-- 他妈的, c'mon, you've been through this -- She remembered the chaos, the rocks, the one that awakens her power -- C'mon!

She took several deep breathes to calm herself, thinking about the comfort of her room, her family -- Her family -- Mitch wondered if this accident will be broadcasted live in TV? America and their media...

As the temporary blindness from what she suspected to be Juliana's power started to disappear, she could hear voices of people who sounds like they are fighting back -- and gunshots. There something that alerted her, though. One, calculated shot, with a loud echo.

"Snipers." Mitch whispered. That's bad. This... assault, is not some random attack but a planned one. They must have already taken advantage point somewhere, one that's hard to spot and hard to attack.

Mitch looked up, to Juliana who still standing in her weird T figure. She said something about 'Shorty' before, she wondered if Juliana happens to recognize the owner of the voice of whoever tries to fight back. She easily noticed how worried she look.

"Hey," Mitch say in a whisper. "Are you... bending light away from us to create some... sort of, uh, one way mirror effect?"
"Listen, if it's giving you too much of a burden or stress, i might be able to help you... Judging what happened during exam, i think you can trust me." Mitch offered, as she stood up.

 

[Gus]

Hunter and Lucas​

Location: Red's Office
Nearby: Probably Page Morgan and Anneliese Van Can?
@s Zahzi ManicMuse B Bag o Fruit

Lucas had checked all the classrooms upstairs before starting on the offices downstairs. On the first office he popped into he found… “Ostie du marde!”

The world snapped into slow motion as the metal spike moved toward his face. He threw himself forward, trying to duck underneath it, but his depth perception was off, and it passed directly through his forehead on its way to embedding into the wall behind him. For a split second, he froze, horrified. As time resumed its normal flow again, he realized why it didn’t hurt, and he stepped to his left, allowing the spear to pass out the right side of his skull, strategically placing it between him and his assailant. Hoping against hope that he had not run into one of the terrorist attackers, he showed his hands to be empty and spoke as fast as he was able.

“HellomynameisLucas.I'mma108studentoratleastIusedtobe.MondieuIhopeyouareateacherbecauseifyouarenotI’mmahavetofightyou.IamsososorryIdon’tremembermuchanymore.Badbrain.”

He rapped twice on the sides of his head with his knuckles to emphasize the ‘bad brain’ point, gasped for breath, and shifted his hands to a neutral ready stance in case he had to fight the man.

“....Oh God Fucking Dammit.” Red retracted the metallic spike as he recognized the one-eyed ex-Student.
“Maybe not jump around from room to room like an asshole when there’s a situation like this? If you didn’t have your powers, you’d be as bad a memory as you're capable of.”

Lucas cautiously lowered his hands to his sides.

“You… you’re a teacher then? Somebody is attacking the school. I was searching room to room for help. I want to fight them. But… I think I remember… the last time I tried to fight without help, or a plan… I think that is when I lost the eye. Do you have a plan? I can help. I think.”

“REALLY? THE SCHOOL IS GETTING ATTACKED? YOU DON’T SAY?” Red exclaimed, gesturing out the window.
“And here I thought I got the slow kid.” he added, staring out at the courtyard.
“J’n’suispas completemente bete, tabarnak” Lucas muttered
“It’s going to take more than just two of us, though. They’re using a special gas. Can’t tell what it is yet...Nothing good I’m sure….Need to reach the others. Had a stash of rebreathers and other…..Things stowed away for this kind of shitstorm.”

Lucas thought for a moment. He knew he wasn’t immune to gases, but this man seemed to have some control over metal. He had reshaped the desk into a spear with hardly a thought. Which gave him an idea.
“I... I can travel through metal. If you can make me a path to your stash, I could go there and check if the coast is clear. I can’t bring anything back with me, but… would that help? I could also run messages to where ever you can get cable to. I don’t need to breathe while I am inside conductors.”

“Oh. No, no. I don’t need help FINDING the stash.” Red replied, returning to his desk and dropping a giant duffle back onto it with a resounding thud.
“The trick is getting some of this to Swan so he can start his usual sound shenanigans.” he added, opening up the bag, inspecting the contents.
“Rebreathers, Tactical visors, Explosives, some...Less than legal firearms……Plan B is always the best plan…”

“Is that the punching face plan? I am pretty good at punching. Also kicking. According to the records Ms. Morgan found for me, I was all state junior JKD champion three years ago. And that was before I got super powers.” Lucas grinned at the thought of taking the fight to the bad guys. Then his face fell. “Is… is that a dumb plan B?”

“Only if you want to live after.” Red retorted, sorting through the bag and picking out a few select pieces.
“We’re dealing with people who don’t want prisoners. They plan to kill everyone here. Supers and not. Are you prepared to put them down for good?”

Lucas hesitated a moment. Thought of Johana. And her father and his goons. His jaw set.
“Yes.”

“Good. Perhaps there’s hope for you kids after all.”

 

[yoikes]

Sato Tomoko & Naran Ihbarhasvad
Location: Facility 108
Mood: (ﾟДﾟ; ) & Alert
With: Erika Hawk (NPC), Tomoko's guardian

When the big, scary guys attacked the facility, Tomoko was holding hands with Erika. Not long after the megane nee-chan talked with her, Erika came back to take her around. She has the absolute fun, watching the senpai trying to conquer the exam arena and reached the finish line. She even get to watch the megane nee-chan finishing her's with her team.

But all that fun she felt like a dream, now that there are several scary figures with weapons, shooting and killing people (She tried to look away every time they pointed their gun at someone), preaching about something and playing some religious sounding music she doesn't understand from the drones hovering above their heads. Tomoko hid behind Erika, who holds her hand tighter.

Tomoko looked at the feet, looked at Erika's, anywhere but the blood on the ground and the dead bodies. She tried not to cry, fearing that she will attract unwanted attention to both herself and Erika, but tears already rolled down her cheeks. She quickly wiped it with her shirt.

Naran stood next to a young woman in her mid twenties, with a little girl trying to hide behind the older woman's legs. It seems like they knew each other, and it hurts her knowing that no child should ever experience or saw what's going on right now.

But to ensure that the little girl will be save, as with everyone here who managed to survive the random attack at the start, what can Naran do?

She is no Superman and they have snipers, well equipped and well trained.
Even with her endurance, Naran is not sure she can survive a shot in the head with those kind of bullets.

She should try to find allies, teachers and students who want to do something. But for now...

Naran clutched her left hand, and started moving her finger like she's holding a hand grip, and started building energy.

 

[welian]

Morgan Brahn

Overview

Location	Aegis clinic
Company	One angry churchy boye (and maybe Luther)
Mood	FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK
Actions	Roll over and die.
Tags	Syrenrei Lemon Boy Zahzi

This was factually, objectively, the worst day of Morgan’s life, followed very closely by the day he got his powers and the day he was born. The exam was awful. The moment he was launched on to the course, Morgan knew he was going to fail. The moment he stood up on the first floating platform and felt it bobbling and shifting under him, the way the horizon didn’t quite stay still, the smooth waves – that was the moment he knew he was going to be sick in front of everybody whose opinion he ever cared about.

The universe did not fail to shit on him.

It didn’t matter what happened. It was done and gone. The vomit was hosed off the course, his teammates continued without him, as did all the other teams afterward. He was dragged off to the clinic by no less than the beautiful Miss Luther that he totally did NOT have a crush on (as if this day could get any worse) and his own father, where he spent the remainder of the exam alternating between retching into the toilet and rinsing his shirt off in the bathroom sink.

Muffled, he could hear Swan’s closing announcements, and sighed. He couldn’t quite make out what was being said, but somehow, he got the impression that it sounded much more generous than the reality.

Then there was the music and the rumbling and the messages on the megaphone…

Morgan groaned. From all the stories he heard of previous classes at Aegis, he somewhat expected this – an extra exam, a mock situation. Like hell he’d want anything to do with that. This was bullshit. This was all bullshit. All of this because he could read minds, not that he even wanted to know what other people were thinking.

He opened the bathroom door, pale and shivering, his damp t-shirt draped over his shoulder, exposing his highly illegal and extremely adorable tattoo of a kitten mermaid near his hip.

“… What are you wearing?”

 

[Necessity4Fun]

Cecilia Rizzo Pellegrini

Location: AEGIS Facility 108 - Pier
People Around: Everyone -> Jeremiah and not sure about anyone else's positions

--OOC Notes: Here's Cecilia, you can interact with her if you want, but she's not in a good place right now >~<
Inferno sulla Terra = Hell on Earth--

*disoriented, confused, discouraged, scared, lost and in denial*

The exam hadn't been at all what Cecilia had expected when she had heard the words 'water' and 'course' together... She had expected it to be something fun, reminiscent of a water park or something similar, but what she got instead was a constant struggle, with herself.

From the way the obstacles had been planned, to the group work, to her insistence on using her powers the least as possible, the whole thing had been pretty much set up for failure since the start. Her eagerness in moving forward set her team up for a trouble a couple times, her stubbornness in completing the tasks on her own stole precious time from them, and even the few times that she had indeed agreed to use the wind to help, it was to assist others and the limiter would be back at full dial right afterwards.

Long story short, Cecil had been a bit hard to deal with, and not because she had meant to. But the exam set up just made her so unbearably uneasy and uncomfortable that it had felt like she didn't belong, as if she was completely out of her habitat. It was still 108 and she still knew some of these people who were being really nice through the whole thing, but none of the comforting words would stick with her, always overlapped by a fearful thought in the next minutes. Their little victories hadn't helped her feel better either, but still, the girl pressed on, not wanting to make anyone needlessly worried about her.
By the end of the day, the little Italian didn't feel just physically, but also mentally, spent, wanting nothing more than to return home and finally set her thoughts straight again.

Back on land, Cecilia hadn't had time enough to talk properly to her teammates and apologise, being soon interrupted by the start of Director Swan's closure speech. Too filled with guilt and shame to even glance at the others, the girl had instead focused on the words of the speech itself, even though it didn't feel like it was for her, at least not that day. No, she had screwed up bad and the minimum she could give everyone was an apology and an explanation.
Which she would have absolutely done had 'Inferno sulla Terra' not happened!

A car flying, the truck invading with impressive speed, in a question of minutes, the parking lot had been reduced to flame and chaos, with even more cars appearing and blocking everyone's escape routes. Cecilia's mind spun unable to follow the events that were unfolding before her. The next thing she knew there were gunshots and people had started running in multiple directions!
She too had tried picking a path to go, decided to join up with her parents who had stayed in the back on the crowd with two other adults that she had not recognized at first glance. The Italian girl had turned around, able to locate her family, but as she had attempted to get there a group of panicked students had ran in the opposite direction, blocking her vision. When she could see past them again, her folks were no longer in that position.

"No, No! They couldn't have gone far could them?!", she kept going, hoping, praying that they were still there when she arrived.

Disoriented and scared, Cecil's thoughts start running rampant, the wind around her involving her in a turmoil of emotions with one single coherent line louder than the rest: WHY. Why were people attacking other people? Why were they invading a school? Why were they frightening students? Why were they getting shot at? Just WHY? They hadn't done anything wrong, they hadn't hurt anyone and if some had it most certainly wasn't the whole facility and this wasn't the way to go about it... So, why?
No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn't understand. It hadn't been just once either, the mall, the jailbreak... Why were these people she had never seen before, that none of them had seemed before so intent in destroying them??!! WHY?!! WHY?!

Her legs then gave out and Cecilia felt to her knees on the floor, the dress' skirt spreading all around her. She was nowhere near her destination, she didn't know what to do, and what if no one was there for her afterwards? Her mind was in such a state of confusion that the wind nearby passed by her strong enough to whistle continuously.

"Shouldn't you be fighting back, Cecilia?" "But then I'd be attacking people..." "Didn't they attack first?" "That would still not make it right..." "But they're hurting people..." "But they're people too and I don't know if I'm not going to create an even bigger mess by trying to help!!" "I can't! I shouldn't!" "It's too dangerous... Someone innocent could get killed and it would be all my fault!"

As more and more contradictions piled up, Cecilia felt like the weight of her doubt and fears were about to crush her into dust or tear her in half. Tears rose in the corner of her eyes and she felt like hiding her face as if she could hide her shame, her weakness... And then a figure stood up nearby making a move towards one of the drones in the sky and, wait, she knew that person...

Accompanying Jeremiah with her gaze, the Italian girl admired her new friend's courage. Though something was telling her that their attackers wouldn't leave it be... Once more the question nagged her: Could she do anything about it? And the Italian still didn't have an answer to give it, remaining on the ground, robbed of the strength to even get herself back up. Surely the teachers would do something, save everyone and then she wouldn't have to risk causing even more trouble than they already had... Yeah, everything was going to be fine in the end...

 

[Bag o Fruit]

GREEN GATORS “Yeah, we should probably just go without him.” Chris looked ahead at the first obstacle as Team Snowglobe sped ahead of them. “Okay okay okay okay, uh… Albert, can you get under the crushers?”

Albert reached out his arm and a vine slithered into a vertical position under one of the stomping columns under Chris and Isabelle. It was promptly flattened, but replaced by five more of its ilk. The crusher stalled a little before it successfully destroyed the vine structure, but fifteen more laid siege to it, and finally the hydraulic system was not strong enough to push down the block. Albert ducked under. “Yep!”

Bianca had gotten distracted from a face in the crowd, but she used her power to catch up. Not one to get wet, she floated over the water and glanced around for her group. Who were they again? Trying to remember a name or a face, she noticed the giant green guy making vines and knew that was them. Landing on the ground a few paces from the group, she stretched before jogging over to them. “Hey sorry I am late.” Glancing at their first obstacle she cocked her head to the side confused to why this was considered a challenge when they had powers. Shrugging she looked around at the other group, “So. This doesn’t look too bad. I can slow or stop most of this for us, but it’ll take a lot out of me and I can’t do much after that.”

Chris looked up. “Hey, you’re… um… Bianca?” He shook his head, no time for greetings at this point. “Okay, you can slow the… uh, hang on, can you fit under the stomper Albert stopped from stomping?”

Bianca looked over at the stomper and then at her think 5’7” frame, contemplating for a second she nodded. “Yeah I think I can.” She wasn’t used to working with strangers, so she tried to think about what is the most useful thing she could do for them. “Do you need me to stop it so the rest of you can get through?”

He briefly examined the stompers and the forest of punching bags. “... no. No, don’t waste your energy just yet. We can get through there.” he readied himself atop the arch. “Albert, prep some vines!” With another moment of timing, he leapt down from the top and rolled underneath a rising stomper, bracing himself against the wall and the underside as vines crawled their way into a pillar. Only approximately seven were in position when the stomper went down again, but with Chris holding it up, the vines survived as more reinforced them. Straining, Chris shouted through set teeth. “Izzy! Bianca! Get through! Albert and I will be right behind you!”

Isabelle followed Chris’s lead and landed in front of the stomper on all fours, then scurried through and was lost in the jostlers ahead. After a second of trying to get through, she wailed in frustration. “Guys! There are too many of these things!!”

Bianca nodded at Chris, she wasn’t used to taking orders, but she respected his authority enough not to back talk. This is a team building exercise after all. Hearing him call out she quickly slid herself through the stomper, almost running into the others. “Ah! Sorry!” She caught herself and did her best to back up on what room the had and looked over at Chris and Albert.

Albert snuck the fifteenth vine under the stomper and Chris collapsed onto his hands and knees underneath it, panting for a second, before he tucked and rolled into the jostlers. He bobbed and weaved, passing through the wobbling pillars like a breeze, and found Izzy, who had been knocked down and curled up on the ground. He knelt, getting a bit battered, and shielded Izzy from the worst of the blows. Fortunately, at the base of the pillars, the blows weren’t much to shield. “Albert!” He shouted “Come carry Izzy!”

“Got it!” Albert ducked and crashed his way through the narrow opening, tearing out his own vines behind him, and plowed his way through the first two rows of jostlers to where Izzy had fallen. He effortlessly picked her up from the ground and held her above the height of the jostlers, where she rolled over and perched all four limbs on one of Albert’s massive hands. With the other he bushwhacked his way through the remainder of the section as Chris resumed his gracefully evasive maneuvering.

Watching as the others passed her and leapt into the jostlers a bit surprised by their gusto. Not wanting to be the only one out of the loop Bianca waited as the fist jostler swung past her before leaping in. Bobbing and dodging around she did her best to avoid the rest of them. Small bushes hit against her arms and legs, but didn’t hurt much for her. Looking at the others she hopped out of the way of the last jostler and let out a sigh of relief. “Ok, what’s next?” Looking forward she raised a brow at the rotating squared and did her best to hold back a groan.

Izzy hopped out of Albert’s palm and landed in front of the crawlspace, promptly wriggling through. Chris followed suit, laying himself flat on the ground in front of the spinning cubes and dragging himself forward with his elbows. Albert crouched down and inspected the dimensions of the obstacle. “Uh… I don’t suppose you guys could give me a push and a pull? Heh…” He rubbed the back of his head, slightly embarrassed.

“C’mon through Albert! We’ll grab your hands!” Albert obeyed, and was able to get himself in up to his chest before getting stuck. Bianca reluctantly hoisted up his feet and slid her own against the ground trying to get him through. Chris and Izzy each took one of his wrists and hauled him through, after which point Bianca floated over the top of the arch. ”Now what?”

Chris looked over at the buttons on the crosses which stood before them. He gestured for Bianca to press one, and did the same. The next set of stompers started stomping, and Albert extended a frame of vines on his own initiative, allowing the rest of the team to crawl through and on to the second obstacle.

“What fresh hell is this?”

 

[The Fuzzy Pixel]

Logan Warrain
Location: Outside
With:
Necessity4Fun | Cecilia Pellegrini
Malikai | Jeremiah Johnson (Nearby?)​

His impromptu date with Susan had left his steps feeling a whole lot lighter than usual. It was a token of humanity that he had been missing out on for far too long, and even a retired terrorist wanted to feel like a normal person sometimes. As much of a 'tall glass of water' as she described him to be, Susan herself was a 'captivating depth of enticing charms.' Exploring these new unknown aspects of another human being would be an adventure in itself. One that he would gladly embark upon with Susan after another outing could be arranged. Maybe the day held more time for them still. He would most certainly need a ride home after the explosion in the parking lot.

After the exam had concluded Logan had left the festivities briefly to retrieve the suitcase he had left in Susan's classroom. He promised the woman he'd return in short order, but it seemed that he hadn't been quick enough. No sooner had he started mixing into the crowd did the obnoxious explosion go off in the distance, peppered with sporadic gunfire. Before he turned around the man closed his eyes with a tired sigh. The day had been so preciously close to ending without any incident. Finally turning around he easily spotted the line of armed figures marching their way over to the school's crowd. His eyes narrowed into a glare at how they threw their weight around against unarmed civilians. The sight stirred up unwelcome memories of his past with Rapture. Logan's free hand slid under his open suit jacket reaching for something as one of the Knights stepped forward to shout their intentions. Already the communications implant in his head had a number dialed allowing him to have a silent conversation.

'Commonwealth dispatch; this is Logan Warrain at AEGIS facility number One-Zero-Eight. The Knights of Raguel have staged an attack on the compound. Requesting immediate redirection of available local assets to this location.' Logan paused to glance at something sailing through the air as the dispatcher confirmed his instructions. A gas grenade of some kind. Another one was soon thrown towards the crowd, and its trajectory would make it land much closer to his position. He dropped his briefcase as he removed his hand from the inside of his jacket, pulling out his stun baton. It took only a moment to flick his wrist and extend the bludgeon out to its full length, and then he used both hands in combination with a baseball swing to bat the gas canister away from the crowd as it fell. He held his breath as part of the cloud still descended over him, but was quick to stumble backwards after realizing what the chemical agent was. His eyes began to sting and water prompting him to use the back of his tie to try and rub the substance off of his face.

'One last thing!' his thoughts practically shouted at the dispatcher, 'Tell the Director that a chain link fence and an experimental android are glaring faults with this private sector's security protocols!' Hanging up on the call Logan glared through the effects of the tear gas trying to regain his bearings. A lot of people were getting shot, shocked, or netted. Some poor bastards were getting a combination of the abuse. A lot of the crowd was panicking too, and understandably so. Nobody here deserved this, but everybody was going to suffer if something didn't change soon. Although he was willing to go to extremes to protect people he was only one man. Straightening his posture as he stalked forward the man shouted out authoritatively over the ruckus.

"The real exam begins now! This isn't about being a student or a hero any longer! This is about your family and friends now, and what you are willing to protect! Fight if you can fight, or rescue those who can't!"

He stopped beside a young brunette who looked about ready to cry on the ground. There was a strange whistling noise coming from the wind around her making Logan wonder if he should even touch her. Deciding to risk it in the heat of the moment he grabbed onto her arm near her shoulder and started to pull her up to her feet. If that was even possible in her shell shocked state at any rate, otherwise he'd try to support her as best he could. She didn't look to be in any state to fight, but maybe he could direct her towards someone who could keep her safe. Either one would be a vast improvement over waiting around to get shot like a deer in the headlights.

"Hey, we'll get through this, alright?" spoke the man in a calmer, but still firm tone. "My name's Logan, I'm with the Commonwealth. Can you walk?"

 

[Giyari]

Mood: Focused
Location: Examination area
Company: Imogen
@'s: Syrenrei
Other: -

Director Swan With his speech interrupted, Swan found himself dropping mike a brick from his makeshift podium. If it wasn't for the fact that he'd been using his power to spread his speech to everyone present, he would have heard the trucks spinning tires a mile away. Heightening his hearing while using his projection was however a pretty bad idea. Rolling across the ground as soon as he felt safe to do so, he took cover in one of the remaining refreshments tents close by. Jason listened to the words of the Knights as they opened fire and rounded the corner of the main building. There was still some distance between them but not enough to make any real moves, and they were nowhere close enough to fight hand to hand.

His eyes darted over the crowd he had been addressing moments earlier. They were understandably panicked. Drones appeared out of the surrounding disused industrial complex, letting loose nets to trap students, shots rang out from across the water milliseconds before the ground was chewed up by high calibre rounds. They were surrounded...

Moving slowly, Swan reached for his belt. After the mall and the jail, he had decided to go nowhere unarmed, however he only had a single clip. It wouldn't be anywhere near enough.

"Shit..." he muttered as the lead knight took a few steps forward and declared their intentions. This wasn't a show of force, it wasn't a political message, this was an extermination. Swans eyes darted to those close by. Imogen, and two other volunteers. There was no way he could save everyone at this exam, not against something of this scale, but he could at least help someone. Readying his gun, Swan looked to those inside the tent with him.

"I can get us to safety, but you have to trust me..." he whispered, hitting his limiter off with his free hand. The knights were slowly moving forward, he could hear the heavy footsteps of their armour as it rounded the tent. If they could slide under the tents walls they could skirt around the knights without being noticed.

"On my signal..." He muttered quietly, to the incessant disapproval of the two cowering volunteers. It couldn't be helped, he wasn't going to make himself a sitting duck because two people wouldn't follow his lead. The first rule about saving people was to save yourself. You can't help if you're dead.

"Two... one..." he whispered, before pointing quietly to the rear of the tent and applying his power. The inside of the tent fell whisper quiet, not a rustle or footstep to be heard. With a single move, Swan pulled the wall of the tent from the ground and rolled under, holding it open for Imogen to follow.

Pointing towards the ruins of the car par, He followed Imogen as the pair of them sprinted to some new cover, keeping low to the ground as Swan kept watch for any knights in the surrounding area. First glances showed that they were in the clear.

Stopping just around the corner of the main building, Swan looked back over his shoulder as the Knights continued their slow march forward, subduing any students that tried to make a move.

"We can't leave them... I, I can't leave them. Shit. Why now." Jason scowled looking down at the pistol in his hand. He was vastly outgunned, his power would cause as much havoc in as heavily populated an area as this as the knights, and he was by himself. Imogen was not a fighter, she may have been indestructible, but he couldn't picture the woman subduing an armoured opponent.

"Not again."

 

[ViAdvena]

no slide

no slide

[/div] [div class=text]
After going through a long but ultimately successful teamwork exam that they passed with flying colors (she was sure of it), Mary wanted to go home and relax in a self-made spa to celebrate the day. All they had to do now was to go through the closing ceremony. While Manami was attentive despite the language barrier and Kendrick was listening out of habitual politeness, Mary almost fell asleep standing to Director Swan's closure speech. Her mind began to drift off, dreaming up a nice cafe where she could order her favorite drink, shops where she could buy cute accessories, a nice warm bath where she could soak in—

Then the sky went dark, and everything became a hellish nightmare.

Her mind harshly slammed her back into the wakeful state right as the the truck bulldozed into the facility. People were screaming, drones were flying, distorted music echoing, and knights were raining bullets and hooked nets upon them.

"—Kendi? Mary? Are you ok? Sam? What is happening?”

If not for Manami and her own thick jacket, those hooks would be embedded into her skin instead. "I'm fine." Though a bit shocked, she regained enough composure to assure Manami. A part of her internally winced at the wounds the other girl bore, but another part of her was glad that those injuries were handled by the one with thicker skin. Hearing Kendrick rant next to them, she commented out loud,

"Attacking the opponent while they're distracted is a great strategy, actually." Those words were followed with a faint amused smile. "I'm not praising them - just reminding you that we might have to use that tactic ourselves, honorable or not." All is fair in love and war, after all. She made her way out of the net, carefully ducked her head down to avoid the hooks. "Thanks, Manami. If we can sneak into the clinic first to treat your-"

Mary blinked twice at Kendrick's speech. There was a noticeable change in the young master compared to their commonwealth day back then. "I didn't expect such adventurous words to come from you, Kendrick." She smiled. "Let us join your party, then. Wait..." She raised an index finger next to her head. A small portal opened before her eyes, oval in shape and only twice as big as a coin - though those that stand in front of her wouldn't be able to see it, since Mary's portal is one-way. Its pair manifested ten meters above, almost invisible against the sky.

"I see... five drones. One, two..." She counted the armored troops. "Ten knights? I can't see the snipers." She glanced around, at the cloud of sands from the fired bullets - and the twitching, fallen bodies of people that tried to go past the guarded perimeter. Internally flinching, she averted her gaze back to the less bloody sight. "—But perhaps I can find them if I follow the angle. Knights, sniper, it feels like deja vu... " Her brows knitted into frowns as she saw the creeping plume of gas, approaching from different sides. An uncharacteristic curse flew out of her mouth. "-gas. If it's poisonous we need to rescue people or ourselves first."[/div]

[class=sides]
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[Lemon Boy]

Mood: Proud & amused > Irritation, concern and doubt.
Location: Disused Industrial Complex
Company: Four Knights
@'s: Malikai The Oldest Blueberry The Fuzzy Pixel Necessity4Fun simj26 welian Syrenrei Giyari
Other: So like, I wrote this out before remembering about the Monday thing and then I thought, fuck it, we've already got a page of responses and It's been long enough anyway. Woops.

GOOD SHEPHERDTapping inputs into the holographic display to command the drones, Christian was thoroughly enjoying how well the situation was going for them so far which also meant that all of his drones were in good condition doing what they needed to be do. The Clinic was quite successfully being set up as a death trap befitting of Vietnam: S-mines, walls of wire to cut those who thought running was a good idea and a grenade or two being set up to blow the second someone tripped the connecting wire. Meanwhile the rest of his drones above the scattering crowds were doing just as well, nets catching groups of three or four at once, digging into flesh and keeping them down so the others could get the chance to deal with them in whatever way they saw fit. He was doing good. Raguel would be pleased.

Christian's enjoyment and pride, however, were quickly thwarted as he witnessed a shaft of light being thrown at one of his drones through the monitor. He reacted just a bit too late, evasive manoeuvres not enough as it's side was pierced. Red and orange warnings flashed across the screen, informing him of the damage. A couple of retracted tendrils shattered, propulsion hindered, one of the guns destroyed and as a result of the fact that a spear was impaling the drone, it's capacity to switch into it's land configuration was disabled. Fuck. Solutions and ideas formed in his head in how to respond and he went for the good old classic: retribution. With the impaled drone swirling throughout the air, dangerously close to grasping distance if someone merely jumped at it and incapable of acting in a useful fashion for a few moments, he got two other drones busy netting people to change course, twisting in the air and flying over the crowd to get within range. Moving a hand over the monitor, they switched gears. Non-lethal net launchers were traded out for the guns they were armed with. Taking aiming at the kid, the guns whirred briefly before firing their payload with the intent for disablement rather than outright death. Shoulders, knees, feet and arms were the primary targets, but a couple dozen of the bullets flew dangerously close to his head: not that Christian was concerned about the life of such an abomination.

As retribution was sown, Christian caught sight of a figure batting away a grenade and trying to help what he could only think of was one of the beasts, cowering at the justice being delivered. Easy pickings. Or so he thought before an android came rushing out of the main facility, launching a chunk of cement at his comrades that sailed through the air like a missile. Doubt crawled in. The drones were armed to the teeth with weaponry useful against light infantry but not the equivalent of a sentient tank and any Super who had the power to take a beating could easily be dealt with by some of the specialised gas they were armed with. Not this though. He'd much prefer the others get out of this unscathed yet he couldn't promise that not occurring if this man of metal continued functioning.

"Pack 3 to Pack 1 & 2. We've got what looks like a heavily armoured android with an impressive level of strength. Doesn't look armed but still dangerous. Unless we've got armaments I haven't been told about, would recommend backing off and focusing fire on it.The drones got some hacking abilities that might help depending on the internal security of this android but I'll need time and for that thing to be preferably immobilised to get going. Moving in drones to provide covering fire and some light distraction. Sniper teams will try to spot any chinks in the armour, but we've got nothing so far. Stay safe. Pack 3 out," Christian said hastily, calling in three of the drones from the clinic and half of his current drones outside to engage. A mixed hailstorm of bullets, nets and grenades were fired at the robot in the hopes that it would go down.

Christian's focus on the man of metal and his concern about it's presence was enough to distract him from the sounds that the last two drones in the clinic caught.

 

[Bag o Fruit]

Chris Kravitz The Suspicious Eye

Spoiler: Green Gators Exam Pt. II

Approaching the next obstacle, the Gators quickly climbed up and into the simulated plane, finding the dummies. Bianca tried to float them up and out of the hull, but found they were made from some organic material. Undeterred, she picked one up in each hand and floated out of the plane herself. The course marshal checked off their victory and sent them on to their next obstacle.

After a moment’s observation, the team determined that the floor was shifting in a seemingly random pattern. Chris and Isabella stole across the chaotic surface like they were born for the task. Bianca de-gravitized her backpack and gave it to Albert to wear, allowing them to both float safely through the obstacle. Once, a block on the floor rose just high enough to knock Albert off-course and cause him to drift dangerously close to the ceiling, but Chris fell back behind him, jumped up with the momentum of another rising block, and knocked him back on course to the end of the obstacle.

The next course was slightly more challenging, but Bianca was able to drain the balls of their inertia, rendering the contents of the ball pit stationary and allowing the Gators to pass through unhindered.

At the next course, Izzy and Chris dove into the tangled web and were almost immediately crushed stuck by the cords. When Albert lumbered in to rescue them, and the cords hardly bothered with him, Chris figured out the nature of the obstacle and told Bianca to carefully float through. As she did, Albert slowly wove vines in between the cords and their captives, and expanded them equally slowly until Izzy and Chris were free. They then crept through the remainder of the obstacle to where Bianca stood waiting.

Chris made it through the Mattress Run obstacle pretty quickly, running sort of sideways along a track with no holes. Bianca flew evasively over the top, dodging the occasional geyser. Izzy was hit by a geyser, and Albert accidentally stepped in a hole, but created a path of vines for Izzy to run across, which blocked the worst of the geysers and allowed her safe passage across, and followed after her as soon as the hole deflated.

Bianca scoffed at the gravity effects of the next obstacle, and floated through the whole course, carrying Izzy with her. Albert laboriously pulled himself through the grey crosses and flopped through the 2G zone. Chris fell into the zero-G area, pushed himself back to the start, and jumped in again at just the right angle that when he fell at double the gravity, he landed hard on the second green ball and bounced straight to the end. Together, they released the glass barrier and moved on.

Right away on the next obstacle, Albert stepped on a grey square and was stuck. Bianca hauled him up from above and Chris and Izzy heaved him off from below, and he landed back on the starting platform. Chris jumped onto a green square and gave it a kick, causing him to jump straight up and down on the square a few times, as he observed the obstacle ahead of them. He determined from their movement that the blue squares had far more bounce than the green, and he warned Izzy of this as the two of them bounced their way across and Bianca and Albert floated over the top with the backpack maneuver from the third obstacle.

Although at first Chris and Izzy accidentally trapped themselves ahead of their teammates, they pulled the lever again and kept themselves together throughout the rest of the obstacle, and reaching the last…

Chris and Izzy watched helplessly as the steep path ahead of them turned into a slick landslide of inky foam. Chris thought he recognized one of the volunteers shooting soap onto the staircase and flipped him off. Albert began to produce three long spools of vines, the ends of which Bianca took and flew up to the top of the stairs, tying them securely around the arch. Isabelle and Chris both marched up the slope, grabbing a new section of vine every few feet. Albert struggled copying this, and about a third of the way up, lost his grip on the vine and began to fall down the stairs. Chris and Izzy both heard him go down, and Chris loosened his grip on the rope and slid down aerodynamically. He quickly caught up with Albert, who was trying to stop his descent, and hooked his feet under the green giant’s arms to catch him. Izzy arrived at their level and helped Albert recover, and soon all three of them were at the top, grinning, and ready to slide down to the bottom.

And then, finally, the exam was over. They had done it, and only with four out of six team members.

Chris realized once again how tired he was. At the edge of the course, he knelt down and cupped a bit of water to splash into his face, then dried himself off with the corner of his hoodie. He stood up and straightened his shirt, then turned to look at his teammates. “Okay… That was awesome, right? That was pretty cool.”

Albert grinned and nodded. Izzy once again ineffectually wiped herself down. “It could have been… drier. Fur doesn’t react well to water, y’know?"

“We made it.” She said as she reached the bottom alongside the others. Moving over to the edge of the course she wiped some sweat off her brow. Looking at the liquid she wiped it on her pants as behind her, Chomper, her robot backpack climbed up on her back. Resting itself there Bianca latched him back into place and smiled. “That was actually fun! I honestly didn’t expect that.”

Chris watched, squinting, as Chomper ascended. “Wait, that thing mov- y’know what, I don’t know why I’m surprised by this.” He shrugged. “I think we did really well!” it was at this point that the aqua-launcher operator curtly ‘ahem’ed at the four of them. Chris turned around. “Oh, right. Shotgun! … Is there a shotgun?” he climbed onto what was roughly the front right quadrant of the launcher. Izzy carefully edged her way on to the launcher and clung desperately to a seemingly safe spot close to the dead center. Albert simply walked on the launcher, which in response dipped a few inches further into the harbor. Bianca floated up and off to the docks, and the operator shrugged and sent them hurtling off after her.

By the time Swan began his speech, Chris's lack of sleep was turning into a rapidly worsening headache. The thrill of victory was nearly fully faded, and his new quest was for a free coffee pot. It seemed, however, that they had either run out of coffee that morning or they never had it out. Chris wasn't sure. He tried to rack his brain for any memory of seeing coffee here this morning, but racking his brain really hurt. What hurt even worse, he discovered from experience, was the sound of the guy named 'Audio' giving a speech. Chris began looking for the exit...

It took him far too long to recognize the semi-truck for what it was. The force of the explosion knocked him off balance, he took one too many steps backward and plunged into the harbor. He swam up underneath one of the docks, and held his nose above the water for a bit, trying to get a good view of the situation. None was readily available, which at least meant he was out of sight of the attackers. He noticed his pulse drumming in his ears, his breathing came in shallower and shallower sips, and it was not for want of air.

"Okay okay okay okay okay okay..." he braced his feet on the underside of the dock and let his body float freely in the water, taking deep breaths in, holding them, and letting them go. He was not going to shut down now... he needed to think. He opened his eyes, sat up a little in the water... and there he saw the aqua launcher.

... hmm...

 

[Bag o Fruit]

(Yes I checked with them first)

There was a knock at the door of Hunter's office. He exchanged a glance with Lucas, pulled the hammer on his Desert Eagle, and held it aimed with the door from the opposite corner of the room. Lucas ducked low, not moving his feet, so as to make no sound, but preparing to dive toward the door's hinge so as to get behind whoever was out there in a hurry if needed. "It's unlocked." Hunter grunted. The knob turned slowly,

Spoiler: and the door opened...

NPC Card:

--Name--

Bruce​

--Power--

Self-replication​

...to reveal Bruce. Physically, he was uninjured, but about half of him was covered in blood and he stared blankly forward at nothing in particular. He didn't even seem to notice the gun trained on his head. "H-hey," he said "Heard y'all talkin'. Uh... Lissen, I figger yer all busy with th' Knights out there, but there's a, uh... S-s-some kinda monster. Runnin' aroun' out here. Thought ya'd wanna kn-" He jolted at some sound he thought he had heard, his head darted left and right down the hall.

"Yeah, uh, can I come in now? Please?"

Zahzi Gus

 

[Giyari]

Written by: Gus, Giyari
Featuring: Aaron, Kezia​

Aaron was already near the edge of the crowd when the truck bomb went off. He had been half listening to the director’s speech, but felt bad about having cracked the sidewalk (again) and went looking for LARRY to apologize in person. When the running and screaming began, he started plodding toward the sound of gunfire. A young woman stepped forward out of the smoke, announcing herself as a member of the Knights. Aaron narrowed his eyes but managed, for the moment, to keep his cool. He raised his hands, palms forward, elbows down and leaned forward slightly as he approached, mindful that any ricochets would be deflected downward into the ground.

“Good evening! My name is Aaron Mallory. I have, the last few months, been debating theology with a group that meets at The Basilica. I don’t suppose you’d care to discuss this?”

Kezia burst into fits of laughter behind her mask. Was this guy serious? His name however did ring a bell, Aaron, the "black hole" of 108 according to his files. Perhaps the strongest Super at the facility, and maybe even in the United States. But no one was without their flaws.

"Theology? Ahaha! You really did pick the wrong person to try and talk down…" Kezia hissed. Reaching to a bandolier. With one fluid movement of her hand she unclipped and tossed a canister towards the hulking man's face.

The canister began to discharge just as it made contact with the bridge of Aaron’s nose, and in his startled attempt to swat it away, he ruptured it. The slivers of metal were of no concern, but the rapid depressurization caused the contents to fill his eyes, nose and throat before he could attempt to hold his breath, or even blink. The results were immediate, and horrible. He was coughing harder and faster than he could inhale to replace the lost air. His eyes were streaming and snot was clogging up his airway so fast that he choked. He fell to one knee, covering his face and trying desperately to breathe. Dry heaving, he held back the urge to vomit by pressing down on his collarbones and swallowing as hard as he could. Through a haze of tears, he could just make out the woman standing over him, her stance exuding smug triumph. Making a guess at which image corresponded with where she was actually standing, he gathered himself for a sudden lunge forward.

Then the unthinkable happened. At first it was just a tingling in his extremities, but it rapidly spread, expanding through his body as a wave of chilling numbness. His arms went weak and wobbly, then his legs. And then he was falling. He managed to turn his head, just barely in time to keep his mouth and nose from being buried in the dirt. He coughed once more, spasmodically, as his chest hit the earth. Then he lay still.

"Not so special now, are you..." the armour clad woman sang with a voice dripping in venom. Kezia raised her rifle and took aim. It was instantaneous, the sudden red flash from her rifle lit up the mist as the beam of light found its mark on a fleeing students leg, searing a hole clean through the young teens flesh.

"Did I say you could leave!? Sit down! You are here to be judged, to suffer, and to plead for mercy! You are here to entertain me! You are here because I have not yet gave the order to erase your existence!" She roared, firing off another blast of light into the ribs of an older gentleman who had attempted to rush her underling. Watching his grimacing face as he slid to a crumpled heap on the concrete, Kezia raised her rifle once more and readied another shot.

Aaron lay in the dirt at her feet, this bigot, this terrorist. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched taking aim and firing a burst of laser-light. She was hurting his students, and there was nothing he could do about it. He could barely even inhale now, his diaphragm almost too heavy to move at all with his power suppressed. His breaths whispered in and out with asthmatic little wheezes, and his vision was beginning to fade. Fighting to stay conscious, and with no further recourse open to him, he began to pray. Heavenly father, who are holy above all others, my strength is from your hands. Father, I do not ask you to take this trial away from me, only that you lend me courage enough to face it. Not my will, but your will be done. Amen.

He blinked and through his tears and graying vision, he saw the bigot woman’s foot, mere inches from his right hand. With a herculean effort, he lifted his arm and flopped his hand forward onto her instep, pinning her foot to the ground.

“Didn’t... say... you... could leave... either!” he wheezed.

Then he smiled, and closed his eyes.

"Oh for fuck sake!" Kezia yelled as she felt her foot weighed down by Aarons's ungodly weight. She wasn't stuck stuck, but it was going to take some effort, and time, to wriggle her toes out from under the man's ten ton fingers.

Wriggling her foot the best she could, Kezia continued to keep a look over the events unfolding in front of her, pointing to her fellow knights to get on things as they needed to. Pulling two more canisters from her belt, she tossed them into the crowd , signalling to the other members of her team to follow suit.

As the cannisters spiralled through the air, leaking their noxious fumes, the transmission from Christian came through her communicator, and Kezia let out a sigh. Pinned by this hulking weight of a man's fingers, she now had to potentially deal with an irate android. Hopefully it wasn't armoured against energy weapons but that was a guess at best.

"Roger that, 3. Team, stay wary… And can someone help me get this waste of flesh off my foot?!"

Mentions: Any characters still in the vicinity.

 

[Gus]

Kate Barrett
​

Mood: Combative
Nearby: A drone in death's shadow.
@s Lemon Boy

As the speeches began, Kate switched on a recording device and flipped open a notebook, scribbling down impressions of the reactions of the crowd. The supers and the civilians all seemed lifted by a wave of optimism. It had been a good day. Humanity at its best, coming together to showcase the growth of the youth, and celebrate.

And then the violence had begun. At the first distant rumbling crash, Kate had blasted off without a second thought. Her arm was already around Richard’s waist and he barely weighed enough to even need compensation. Seconds later she deposited him on the deck of the Momo-Taro with the startled Hamasakis. He protested vociferously, shouting at her that Isabelle needed his help. She fixed him with a withering glare.
“No, Richard. She doesn’t. She is far more capable than you think. You are the one that needs protecting. You, and them. Keep him safe. I’ll be back with more civilians soon.”
As she blasted back into the early evening sky, she could feel her powers beginning to fade. Not good. She needed to top up, in case this became a protracted battle. She shot straight up about a thousand more feet and then stopped thrusting. She basked in the sunshine, soaking it in, charging her internal stores, dropping faster and faster all the while. Somewhere far below there was an explosion, and the distant sound of gunfire.

One Mississippi.

Two Mississippi.

She fell spread eagled into the wind, eyes closed, trying not to grin. This was deadly serious.

Not a game?​

Three Mississippi.

Four Mississippi.

Be honest, you’ve wanted a piece of these turkeys since January.​

Five Mississippi.

Six Mississippi.

Somewhere nearby, she heard music playing. Bad music. She opened her eyes and scanned the rapidly approaching ground. There. A drone. Thank goodness for the music, or she’d likely never have spotted it! She rotated her body and flipped forward through the air, accelerating further as her wind profile decreased. Bringing her legs together in a kneeling position, she adjusted her path with slight adjustments of her outstretched arms. Still absorbing sunlight and spending none, she dropped like a stone toward the drone’s spinning blades, her speed now topping out at just over 200 miles per hour.

 

[Malikai]

Jeremiah "JJ" Johnson
Location: Edge of the crowd
Around: Still the drone( Lemon Boy ), mentioned shot by ( simj26 )
Anybody else that really thinks their character is nearby​

Jeremiah smirked as he saw the spear of light impale the droid. The spear was currently sticking straight through the metallic beast and it had done a fair bit of damage. At least from what he was able to see. Unfortunately the nerves he had pushed down had begun to rise up, and he took a few steps backwards wanting to run if the drone fired back at all. Just as he was doing so he felt something just barely cross behind him. A blast of something, he wasn't too sure and didn't have the time to think about it. The shot made him stumble forward, moving as if there would be any way he would've been able to dodge it.

As he moved forward the fear broiled up to the surface and gone was the idea that Jeremiah could be any kind of hero. Jeremiah's smirk completely faded away, as did any semblance of confidence he had left. There wasn't much time for him to recognize this however as he soon felt a few major pains. One that was localized on the right side of his head, he wasn't sure what it was and couldn't really hear anything on that side that might have hit it. Another pain was in his right thigh, a blazing circle of pain that felt like it was dug straight into his skin and muscle. The final pain was only a minor one, it was located on the edge of his left kneecap. The minute this pain roared to life in Jeremiah he fell to the ground, his thoughts being overwhelmed with pain.

The fear that had consumed him was being covered up by sheer terror, and he found himself completely unable to talk. Blood began to pool around his form lying down, he attempted to form some sort of light shield around the spot that used to have his missing right ear but he only succeeded in giving himself a headache and increasing all the pain. Tears streamed down his face and mixed in with the blood, hardly making their presence known. Attempting to call for help only earned him a squeak and a bigger headache. All the power usage he had just done was more than he had been practicing for the past week, and it was definitely making it's toll known to him now, I couldn't even save a random woman. I couldn't even save my mom, much less some random woman. Jeremiah found it increasingly hard to even think at the moment, and so all of his efforts went to focusing on his breathing. Maybe if he could just focus on that the pain would go away. Jeremiah lay his head still against the ground, some blood collecting on his face as his chest heavily rose and then sank.

 

[Syrenrei]

Susan Sanders
"Undine"
Location: Crowd Observing Exam (Pier of AEGIS Facility 108)
Nearby: Logan Warrain ( The Fuzzy Pixel ) & anyone else in the crowd ​

Undoubtedly, given what she had told Logan and what was officially on record with AEGIS headquarters, she should have been shocked, scared, and panicking. In another situation she might have played the part if it would have helped her in some way (people didn't view a terrified enemy as a threat) but this was neither the time or place. There were far too many people in danger. Susan would not wantonly jeopardize innocents. With a deadly calm demeanor she slipped her phone out of her pocket, let it read her thumbprint, and quickly pressed two buttons. The recipient, and text, were pre-saved and needed nothing more than her shortcut to spring into action.

BB

me

The following message is automated and encrypted.

me

L will be d/e. Chess on board. Unk # of EC. Req b/u. MC % is high. CS still intact. Auth code to notify ICOD is 3032.

There was no immediate response but she didn't expect one. Even if the contact was sitting on their phone and attentive she had things to do besides wait for the ping of her phone and blinking light. Slipping the phone back into her pocket she then twisted a completely clear ring off her middle finger of her right hand. The transparent hue and material utilized made it functionally invisible. Susan couldn't see the limiter in her palm, only feel it, and taking a deep breath she tossed it over her shoulder discreetly. Disengaging the safeties of the limiter would be worrying for the Commonwealth but not the sort of thing that would make them fly into a blind panic. An S-Rank super removing it completely, however, would send a loud alarm across several offices. In her mind she could hearing the blaring of horns and buzzing of bright red text across screens saying 'UNDINE LIMITER REMOVED. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. S-RANK SUPER HAS REMOVED LIMITER WITHOUT AUTHORIZATION.' Well, if that didn't get their attention nothing will. Very little sprung the Commonwealth into action as fast as having verifiable proof one of the weapons of mass destruction in their country was without restraint and there was no way to immediately monitor them.

Now that her equivalent of a 'Mayday Signal' had been sent out she turned her attention to her immediate surroundings. Drones had thrown nets on students, volunteers, parents, news reporters, and staff without preference to who they injured and trapped. One super student, a girl with aquatic features, had managed to get herself free. If she remembered her notes correctly this was Manami. One student, she thought his name was 'JJ' was trying to take on a drone. Not the best choice she imagined. Behind them, from the water, were sniper shots that whizzed past in warning that soon deadly bullets would follow. One of the Knights of Raguel, undoubtedly a leader, had said something about them being judged. Aaron Mallory, one of the instructors here, and an S-Rank in his own right, tried to negotiate with a Knight and was dropped by what she presumed was a gas that negated his powers or induced an unconscious state. The leader also fired on a few panicked innocents. More bodies would be hitting the floor soon.

Susan expected, especially after passing the exam, that many of the students believed themselves truly ready to take on the Knights of Raguel. Unfortunately, she did not share their confidence. In their lessons a misstep would result in destroyed property, hurt feelings, scolding, and/or government oversight. If they so much as looked at these Knights of Raguel in the wrong way, or dodged to the left when they ought to have gone right, they would be dead. There would be a funeral and survivor's guilt for those left behind. Teenagers would be grappling with thoughts of whether or not their actions directly contributed to a loss of life. Aaron Mallory had already been neutralized- and fortunately not killed- and that was just their opening number.

She was compelled to intervene.

As far as she knew the Knights of Raguel didn't know who she was. She was new to the school, freshly added to the roster only a week ago, and her start date had not yet officially arrived. This gave her the unique opportunity to use her powers and have her opponents guessing who in the large group of people was the super with water abilities. As an added bonus taking off her limiter made the 'guessing game' twice as hard. This could mean they shot indiscriminately, but she wasn't going to give them a chance. All they had to do was hold out until the cavalry arrived.

The water in the bay erupted up behind them in a thick wall of liquid. Trash, fish, and other impurities fell out as it lifted, nearly five feet in width, to a height of fifty feet, and then crashed over the crowd to form a barrier between them and their armored assailants. The sides also poured over, completely encompassing them in a protective bubble. Susan was, understandably, used to being around this much water,but it would likely be absolutely jarring to everyone else. With as much water separating them from the rest of the world as there was it felt like being in a bubble on the bottom of the swimming pool. Bullets and nets fired would be repelled and/or slowed by the sheer amount of water creating the dome shape. That meant they were safe- relatively. The Knights could still breach the wall with a concentrated, coordinated effort, as she could not maintain its structure with a full out assault. It was her sheer willpower, control, and focus that held it together. If anything got through and hit her it would completely fall apart. Allies and enemies alike could see through the water barrier. It was thick, but relatively pure, and so Susan remained unassuming in her posture in the hopes she would not be pinpointed.

Canisters, which had just been flung by several Knights of Raguel at the crowd, were pushed back by the descending waves. Some of the crowd might already immediately be suffering ill-effects from the gases contained within, but Susan had her limitations. Outside, undeterred by her five-foot deep curtains of water, the gas would spread like a thick fog she estimated. Those who strayed outside were lost to her protection; hopefully they would not act foolishly.

"Do you see where the snipers are behind us?" she whispered to Logan or whomever might be nearby and not losing their mind.

 

[Necessity4Fun]

​

Location: AEGIS Training Facility 108 - Against the wall of the building that's nearest to the pier.
People Around: Head-to-head with Mitch (Copy Machine)
Status: Invisible (and as a consequence, also blind)

Interactions: yoikes

--OOC Notes: If you see any irregular verb mess ups in the dialogue, they're on purpose~!--

A lot of my body hurts. I'm so not enjoying this. #Worstdayever.

Even more shots echoed from the background making Juliana extremely nervous. There was a chance that one of those would miss their intended target and then hit one of them instead. It happened all the time with shootings near the favelas in her home country, including stories of stray bullets hitting students that were in class... It was real and a very very very scary possibility that she hoped with all her heart that didn't come to pass right now.

Being hidden like this was a nice advantage, though being able to see jackshit left her, constantly glancing left and right in alert and with a running imagination as to what the noises corresponded to and what the phrases she heard were for. For example, she had heard this male teen's voice yell something about a 'snowglobe'... At a time like this...
Uhh, what?? Unless you're actually grabbing a goddamn snowglobe and then chucking it at someone's head, there's no way a snowglobe is going to help anything. Not to mention that sure, bad guy get's hit with a snowglobe, then bad guy two decides to shoot whoever threw the thing and bam, you're done. What a great plan that was.

Really, if it wasn't for the fact that she had just rendered herself blind, Juliana would have been searching for an escape route!! Just 'au revoir'! I'm outta here! Although....... no... No! NO. This is the fucking absolutely wrong fucking time to think about JJ. It's cool, he is cool. He'll be fine...
Hnnng, probablyyyy-? Argh, dammit, why was this so hard???

"Hey,", a known girl's voice whispered so close to her face that Juliana could feel that air shift in the area as she spoke, "Are you... bending light away from us to create some... sort of, uh, one way mirror effect?"

...S-seriously?! Nooooo. No, Mitch is kidding, right? She must be kidding, there's no way this is real:

"I don't know. But hey, maybe if you give me my phone I could read the note on my power to you, letter.by.letter since we have all the time in the world to spend... Oh wait. No, no we don't. We're under the threat of having our asses shooted with bullets by attackers I can't.see. But thanks for having your priorities into place as always, Copy Machine, very appreciated."

Juliana had retorted, through her teeth, heavy with sarcasm. It had actually been quite the effort to keep her voice down during that. It just, urgh! That was obviously not an appropriate question for the time. Can't you stop being a nerd for a single minute?! We're all going to fucking die! No one has time for stupid Physics!!!!!!
But then the girl's next phrase made Jú feel like an asshole for that. Mitch was offering to help her out and truth be told, even if she had been able to lock up into the dumb T pose so far her arm was starting to hurt. It was just like playing the statue game and it wasn't being a walk in the park, neither a garden of roses or any other cheesy metaphors. Honestly, BEING A STATUE SUUUUCKED AAAAAAAAASS:

"Okay, sorry. Stressed is definitely the word. Uhh, what do you suggest? Do we just trade places or something? 'cause I gotta say, my arms and legs are totally not liking this position... I'm going to be sore for daaaaaays..."

Just as she had said that a lot of new sounds echoed behind her, some that she could make out better from the rest of the cacophony in the background. Without moving Jú had just moved her gaze towards where the sounds seemed to be coming from, as if that would have helped her hear better, which it would not. There was a man's voice making some sort of speech, maybe he was a staff member? Whoever he was, the message was clearly encouraging people to fight-back to which Juliana could only kind of shake her head at. Nu-uh, bad plan, not listening!!
After that, there were more gunshots, explosions, a wicked laugh, gunshots and explosions again, but at some point a weird 'hiss' noise too. Something about that one was really off-putting, especially since it did not stop and did not seem like it would do so any time soon... What could that be? She had been about to ask Mitch her opinion --Since she IS really smart-- but then a new noise caught her completely off-guard... Was that...liquid? Water?! Oh, I know. There's something in the water now too, right? Oh great. This day just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?

Jú sighed and returned to the task of asking Copy Machine about the hissing noise, which, something in her brain was telling her that she knew was it was? But even so, she just couldn't find the goddamn answer by herself! BECAUSE, MEMORY. And that's when something else entirely just 'clicked'. The other's demeanor earlier, how calm she was, and even a single word, a whisper, that though the Brazilian had indeed heard, hadn't been properly processed until just now.

"Wait there a minute..."

She tried laying her head even closer to whisper the message, which with how Juliana's vision is currently pitch black (and their height differences) might have ended up with her nose accidentally booping Mitch's forehead or something of the sort:

"...You can still see?!"

 

[Syrenrei]

Luther Rousseau
"Reliquary"
Location: Outside Men's Bathroom, Inside Facility 108
Nearby: Morgan ( welian ) and Gil ( Zahzi ) ​

Even if she was somehow able to miss the sound of a careening truck impacting with the car park, she couldn't have missed the self-righteous assholes attacking the facility spouting their rhetoric outside. If this wasn't a life-or-death situation Luther would have exploded herself over the loss of her motorcycle. Her motorcycle! Perhaps it was time in the military that made her process a deadly situation with enough calm to think about her motorcycle. There would be paperwork and waiting and processing times to contend with as she filed her insurance claim. That didn't even take into her policy was less than ideal. Until now she didn't think paying a few hundred dollars extra a year for a 'replace or upgrade' program was really worth. Suddenly she decided she'd listen to her parents' advice a little more often. The thought of a downgrade or rental car churned her stomach.

Hostiles entering the area, no matter how well briefed, probably would not immediately recognize the staff and students on sight at all. Luther decided the best way to keep herself alive, and have a possible edge on her opponents, was to look less threatening. Wearing her super suit was practical but not absolute necessary. She oscillated between going naked for shock value or wearing something skimpy but unassuming. Fortunately for Romeo of the porcelain throne she chose the latter. Flattening herself against a wall and taking off her shoes Luther absorbed the rest of her clothing into her body: undergarments, socks, shirt, and pants. Half a second later she ejected a skimpy nurse costume.

There wasn't really time for apologies for Gil Brahn. With a violent attack on the school she didn't imagine it was his top priority, and she knew based on the fact he had two sons he had seen a woman naked before, so she elected to skip the explanation altogether. Perhaps whatever assumptions he made would be more entertaining than the reality of her reasons. The short white skirt barely reached past the crotch and had a bright red trim. Her midriff and arms were completely exposed. What the costume called a 'top' covered her shoulders and bust barely; it looked as if it was being stretched within an inch of its life. Luther had initially thought this meant the size she selected was too small but apparently that was just the 'sexy' style.

It was as she was strapping on white heels (that were easy to step out if needed) that Morgan decided to make his grand entrance. If Luther hadn't been all business and no play at that particular moment she might have had more vulgar thoughts. Surprisingly Morgan only glimpsed some idle appreciation for his exposed torso, and the tattoo, before she replied. "I admit it's not usually meant for wearing outside, but we've got a bit of a situation," she stated. Her numerous tattoos and somewhat muscular physique would be intimidating in another outfit, but instead she just looked like a 'bad girl' that got lost on her way to delivering a telegram that involved dancing or clothing removal.

Casually she pulled out a Mark XIX Desert Eagle pistol, checked to make certain it was loaded, disengaged the safety, and tucked into the back of her skirt. It made the skirt uncomfortably tight on her waist to say the least, but concessions had to be made. "Hey Papa Bear," she said, addressing Gil for the first time, "you have any experience with firearms? Any preferences? I'd prefer not to tango with whatever is out there without back up. I'm going to try to clear this floor of hostiles and establish a sniper nest if possible. " Her voice was calm and even so as to keep Morgan from panicking... but she had a feeling he'd freak out regardless. Maybe the costume would be enough of a distraction he would not be so hysterical she'd have to also physically haul him from room to room. There was no way in hell she was leaving him behind.

 

[Zahzi]

Gil Brahn
Commonwealth Soldier RETIRED
Location: Outside Men's Bathroom, Inside Facility 108
Nearby: Morgan ( welian ) and Luther ( Syrenrei )
Disposition: DID SHE JUST

Gil has seen plenty in his various tours of service, whether it be the face of feral desperation or cruel calculation. He would admit, he wasn't too fond of going back into the fray like this. His back was killing him. Why can't he ever have a normal outing with the family? He envied his daughter sometimes. Never having to worry about the bullshit around Supers used to be nice....Nevertheless, he would need to go back to his training. Nothing must get the better of him here. He had to keep calm to make sure his family would get out of this.

Unfortunately, that calm, collected mind was shot out the fucking window when the person helping him with his son magically lost her god damn clothing right in front of him without even so much as a warning. OH YEAH, FULL BLOWN EXHIBITIONISM, NO BIG DEAL, RIGHT? If Jules ever found out about this she'd have another aneurysm on top of-OH FOR THE LOVE OF, THE FUCK IS THIS OUTFIT NOW? WHAT PARTY CITY DID SHE RAID FOR THIS BULLSHIT!?

It took EVERYTHING in him to keep a neutral face at this show. When she......Addressed him in that name he was not even going to repeat in his own head, he gave a sigh, looking at his current weapon. And old G18. Nice for close-quarters engagements, but it lacks a punch.
"...If...You have an M16, that'd work. Burst fire and Armor Piercing rounds would be nice."

There was a whurring in his pocket from a phone. He pulled it out and looked at the screen.
"....Oh, nice. Morgan, your brother's already working on getting an armed response here, blocking traffic for them to get here faster. Can't let him outshine us, right?" ​

 

[The Fuzzy Pixel]

Khan
Giyari : Butcher | Lemon Boy : Good Shepard | simj26 : Wargrave
The Oldest Blueberry : Larry​

"...sn't look armed b.. ...angerous."

Christian's voice sputtered in and out of Ushi's ears like the signal was breaking up. It made him wish the other Knight would finally fix his tech more instead of fawning over it. Opening his eyes to banish the darkness from his vision Ushi blinked several times. Things were fuzzy, making him think something had damaged his cameras. Funnily enough, Christian's voice quickly started to become clearer as his own vision did as well. Other voices spoke up over the radio, a private frequency for his team overlapping with the local chatter.

"Droid spotted!" declared one member of the three man team.

"Junk it! No point holding back against a bot," shouted the other Knight in Ushi's team behind the noise of his assault rifle prattling on with gunshots, "Khan, how's the head?"

Ushi was only half paying attention. Christian was providing some kind of plan regarding the robot. Kezia sounded like she was talking to someone, something about entertainment and existing. The man was also distracted by the fact that he was on all fours all of a sudden, when he had been standing last he remembered. His shotgun had fallen inches away from his hand, and he reached for it. As he grabbed it he noticed the cement chunk on the ground just as far from him as his firearm was. Merely looking at it birthed a painful throb into the back of his head. Rising to his feet with a scowl Ushi turned towards the charging android. Its movements were far too fluid for his liking. Almost human-like, even. Abominations all around, as he guessed his brothers in arms would say.

"Did that fuck just throw a rock at me?" asked the man to his team with a sharp edge of loathing. Had the projectile hit someone else he might have laughed at the notion of an android using such a primitive weapon, but the joke had lost its humor on him now. Instinctively he shouldered and readied his shotgun, but held off on firing. Rubber slugs probably wouldn't do much against a robot. Ejecting the drum magazine from his weapon and stuffing it into a pouch on his belt Ushi was quick to replace it with a similar magazine holding steel slugs. The two Knights accompanying him were already firing upon the robot, but how fancy of a droid could this shitty little school even afford?

"Roger that, 3. Team, stay wary… And can someone help me get this waste of flesh off my foot?!"

The shout of distress snapped Ushi's head towards the direction of its owner. Upon first glance Kezia seemed fine. She was still standing, and as angry as ever. His gaze dropped down to her feet next. The problem didn't become apparent until Ushi identified the big man laying next to Kezia. 'Well shit,' spoke his thoughts emphatically.

"Pack 1, form up on Butcher and give her a hand! She's got dead weight holding her down, literally. My team will keep the bot busy," spoke Ushi into the Knights' universal channel. "Pack 2, you got a shot yet?"

The sound of roaring water made him pause. God damn, it was loud. Looking up he arched a brow at what he saw. When the liquid came crashing down between them and the freaks he fully expected it to continue forward and sweep the Knights away, but fortunately that wasn't the case. Yet, anyway.

'Sure. Why not?' his thoughts muttered darkly. He was going to slap their intelligence gathering people upside the head after this operation was done. Nothing in the briefings had mentioned any super that could control water. With a shake of his head he turned his attention back to the android. If it was still moving despite the gunfire from his compatriots Ushi would join in with gusto.

 

[welian]

Morgan Brahn

Overview

Location	Aegis clinic
Company	Papa Bear and Sexy Nurse
Mood	This started out like an uncomfortable porno and now I'm going to die a virgin.
Actions	Freaking out.
Tags	Syrenrei Lemon Boy Zahzi

Morgan looked between his teacher and his dad – or rather, he gawked openly at Miss Luther’s curves and her outrageous costume, forgetting for a few mere moments that they were all suddenly in very grave danger, and then glanced at his father as if to ask “Are you seeing this shit?”

They were, in fact, both seeing this shit – and to make sure his dad stopped seeing this shit, Morgan promptly flung his damp shirt over his dad’s face.

Or, he would have, if the adults hadn't been handling (presumably) loaded weapons. There were many voices inside Morgan’s head, increasingly louder and louder as panic and confusion spread through the not-as-distant-as-he-would-have-preferred crowd. It was an unnerving contrast to Miss Luther’s level voice and his dad’s casual note of Jordan’s actions.

Classic Jordan, always saving the day, classic Jordan, always seeming to have the right solution at the right time, classic Jordan who was probably single-handedly guiding little old ladies into a suddenly-extant and extremely convenient bunker from the safety of a giant mech that he probably ordered from an orbital drop that was casually set up during daycare, because it’s not like rocket science is hard, guys!

Morgan’s eye twitched. He was angry. Angry at himself for being angry, and angry for being scared – no, mortally terrified.

“Wait a minute… Hostiles and sniper nests? Armor piercing bullets? You’re kidding, right?” His voice cracked, and his knuckles were white as he wrung out his shirt and put it back on, shivering like a wet cat. They were not kidding, of course.

“Well, shit,” he muttered darkly. It was just like his mother’s nightmares because sure, why not? There was even a skimpy outfit involved. But that was neither here nor there at the moment. His freakout could wait until after he could afford therapy, or the afterlife, whichever came second.

 

[Gus]

Lucas Marsolet
​

Mood: Curious --> Terrified --> Curious again
Nearby, Bruce, Metal-man, Director Swan, and Imogen
@s: B Bag o Fruit Zahzi Giyari Syrenrei


Lucas stood up from his crouch. The new kid seemed to be a student. Or at least not a threat. He felt like maybe he ought to reassure the kid. That he was safe now. That the scary man with the huge handgun was a teacher and would protect them. That everything would be all right. But he was sure of none of those things. He grabbed the edge of the door and pulled it wide, made a jerking motion with his head. It was not exactly an invitation, but then, this wasn’t his office either.

Just then, something changed in the quality of the air. Something alarming, like the pressure drop that presaged a heavy downpour. He darted over to the front window, careful to stay near the edge of the frame for shelter; even a single drop of water could give him a painful burn.

What he saw peeking out the corner of the shattered front window made his guts feel loose and hollow. The ocean had risen. It was coming to claim him. His knees went weak and his half ducked, half fell behind the pathetic protection of the window sill, groping blindly for an outlet to escape. “Maman, Je viens…” he whispered.

There was a terrifying sound of the great wave crashing down.

And then, after a long moment, he realized it had gone quiet. He sat up cautiously and poked his head out the window. There… there seemed to be an enormous dome of clear water over his embattled classmates and their families, sealing them off from their attackers.

“Sac a papier!” he gasped. “Mr. Teacher gun-man… Are you seeing this? Am I dreaming?”

He leaned a little further out the window, trying for a better look. Down at the far end of the building, creeping around the corner and toward the front door he saw two figures, a man and a woman. Something in the man’s posture… and then he caught a glimpse of the eyes! Whatever he had been called to that man’s office for as a student was lost to him. But the impression of those eyes… that had lasted.

“Is that... Director Swan?”

Manami Hamasaki
​

Nearby: Kendrick, Mary, Sam, and an awesome weight of water
@s Necessity4Fun ViAdvena Lioness075


Manami smelled the ocean before she saw it. The smell was strangely pure, as if all the filth and muck and dead fish had been drained out. It called back memories of patches out in the deeps of the pacific from her childhood (such as it was) far from the shipping lanes, hardly touched by civilization. As she widened the hole in the net for her friends, she pushed it back over her head. It draped down her shoulders like a gown designed by a vicious sadist, but she was no longer paying any attention to the hooks at all. She stared, open mouthed, as the ocean covered the sky. There are probably noises, but she hears nothing, eyes wide in reverent awe.

“Suuuugoiii!” she called out, her voice thickened by emotions rising from deep in her soul.

Kyo and Makoto Hamasaki
​

Location: The Momo-Taro, about 150 feet from the dock
Nearby: Richard Chase, Drones and Snipers
@s simj26 Lemon Boy


As the strange blonde woman had disappeared in a blaze of light, Kyo had sprung into action, and not a moment too soon! Shots were already ringing out across the harbor as he dashed into the wheelhouse. “Shita ni iku, anata! Hanabi o junbi shite-kure na!” He slammed the door and pulled a cord that dropped the heavy duty blackout curtains over the bridge’s sturdy windows. They allowed barely a slit to navigate by, but that was all he would need.

Makoto moved just as swiftly down the stairs into the bowels of the Momo-taro, beckoning the strange man to follow. “Shita ni kiitte kudasai ne, Chesu-san?” She glanced back just in time to see him run to the side of the boat and dive into the water, presumably going after the blonde woman. Air hissed in through clenched teeth as she moved through the hold, shaking her head at the strange ways of foreigners. He wasn't going to be much help to anyone paddling about in the water. Whatever he was up to, she wished him well.

She wasn’t sure what was going on, but she knew it was trouble. Manami and her friends were going to need help, and whatever it took to keep her safe, she would do it. As the ships engines roared to life, she placed a hand to the walls, partly steadying herself as she scurried deeper into the hold, but mostly drawing reassurance from the thrumming rhythm resonating through the heavily reinforced hull. After a moment, she heard the engine straining a bit, and the ship heeled over slightly before righting itself again. The ocean sounded rather odd, and she blew into the pipe leading to the bridge before calling into the tube, “Anata? Dou?”

Then she listened for a moment before his voice came back to her faintly

“Daijobu! Tsunami to omotandesu. Jya nai. Shiranai desunga… 108 no sensei to omoimasu!”

Satisfied the boat was in no immediate danger, she hauled on the chain to open the deck hatch, and then started prying open a large wooden crate underneath the open sky...

 

[welian]

Dr. Mrs. Jules Lacy Brahn

Overview

Location	GIANT WATER BUBBLE OF SAFETY-SAFE
Tags	Fuck if I know

Mrs. Brahn always did enjoy the water. Cephalopods were charming and intelligent creatures, and there was something soothing about the idea of being pulled down into a dark, vast ocean where all was quiet, and the world was far, far away.

Unfortunately, the world was very much right here and right now and in her face, and a massive wall of water was the only thing protecting a squishy and powerless middle-aged mother from an evangelical cult shooting up a school. Also unfortunately, the rest of her family was (as far as she knew) on the other side of this makeshift barrier.

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no… no, not again…” Her eyes were blank and haunted as she huddled behind the crowd.

Every shot fired, she heard twice, once in real time and once in her memories. There were people in front of her, yes, but also people standing inside her mind. Men in gas masks and armor, eyes glowing red like coals in a furnace. A three-eyed shadow, a window that wouldn’t stay latched. Papers scattered from files dropped, a desk drawer left open, cables left behind where a computer should have been.

White hair, red eyes, a battleax, a helicopter, hundreds of pieces of shredded paper dancing through the air like a thousand razor blades, an ambulance.

Stifled sobbing.

Mrs. Brahn rubbed her eyes, tears flowing freely. Her hair was short now, a surgery corrected her vision. She had no glasses to hide behind, no mane of hair to shroud her. Her older son and her husband were completely unaccounted for, and her younger son was somewhere between her and the rifles, instead of behind her.

Everyone was terrified, and just like twenty years ago, she was completely and utterly helpless to protect anyone – not herself, not her children, not her husband. If she closed her eyes, she could still see it just like yesterday, the blood all over Gil’s face, the ventilator down his throat.

“This is all his fault…”

 

[Necessity4Fun]

Cecilia Rizzo Pellegrini

Location: AEGIS Facility 108 - Pier, inside the giant bubble
People Around: Logan -> ??????
Interactions: The Fuzzy Pixel

*consumed by an unbearable turmoil of emotions plus an earth-shattering wish of being away from absolutely everything and everyone*

Having instinctively grasped onto denial to maintain her sanity, Cecilia kept doing her best to overshadow each and every doubt that resurface with positive thinking and hope. Because Good always beats evil, there was no way that this atrocity would be allowed to continue, something, someone was bound to save them all.
Surely someone would talk sense into these people and bring out what little of good they still had! No one was inherently bad, there was always something really deep down that shone bright, they only needed a little help to see it!! Because people... They had their reasons to do the things they do. Sometimes all they need is someone willing to understand, willing to offer them patience and respect...
Then everyone was going home, the bad guys would go to prison, think about what they did and everything would go back to normal. Yeah, yeah! No one had a reason to be fighting anyway, it was probably just a huuuge misunderstanding...

The little Italian kept lying to herself like that, little by little her trail of thought expanded into something akin to a utopia, nothing more than a fantasy. But the girl wasn't aware of what she was doing consciously, she kept on desperately stacking faulty logic over even further faulty logic, as if building a fortress to shield herself from the cold hard truth that her heart just could not accept. As her condition worsened and she managed to calm herself down, the wind started growing peaceful again, until it fully ceased any unnatural movement when a new voice surprised her:

"Hey, we'll get through this, alright?", a white-haired man stranger, confident and calm, "My name's Logan, I'm with the Commonwealth. Can you walk?"

The man's words were the nail in the coffin. Had he just said Commonwealth? Did that mean they were coming? Were they saved?! The hope provided in these few words became Cecilia's new fuel. They gave her an extra push, a new reason to not give up here. Thus far it had been just her trying to convince herself, but to have another person, a commonwealth agent confirm those thoughts had been a blessing, if not also dangerous.

"Y-yeah...", she dried her tear-filled eyes with her left hand, "I'm okay."

She reached out to him and forced herself back up. Had Logan extended his hand back or not, the Italian girl had used his arm as support and was soon standing by herself again, though not as stable as she probably should. Looking around at the scenery made her feel nervous and to combat that she took a couple steps back, away from the worse of the commotion, now staying beside the man but at the same time a little behind him. Hiding like that, behind someone that was a lot more capable than her was somewhat reassuring:

"W-why is this happening...?", her voice was frail and wavered, heavy with emotion.

There was a lot more that she wanted to ask, but none of those questions had managed to reach her mouth. Just that one, the 'why' stubbornly demanded an explanation, a fair reasoning behind all of the suffering and all of the hurt that she was seeing and living.

That's when a figure stepped forward, addressing one of the attackers diplomatically. As soon as she recognized the person Cecilia's whole demeanor brightened. Of course! If there's someone that could talk sense into anyone it was Mister Aaron! He was so understanding, gentle and really knew how to get to people, as in, truly get to people. If there was a person for the job, it was definitely him.
Watching the interaction attentively, she internally rooted for the Collateral Damage & You teacher, eagerly awaiting the moment when his arguments started making the other side rethink about their choices, maybe learn to see things differently and regret what they were doing.... except that it wasn't what happened.

As soon as the knight replied with a condescending laugh and a malicious tone, the girl realized that something was really off. Her suspicions only got stronger when that same person, who had been attacking them all this time, reached for her clothing. It was then that an alarm went off inside her head, she wanted to yell 'run' at Mister Aaron even if it wouldn't have helped. But it was all too late.

Though he had just tried to strike a conversation, the teacher had been mercilessly attacked. Cecilia didn't have a grasp on what exactly had happened or why, it was going on too far and too fast for her to see, but the last thing she remembered was seeing Aaron fall and it was as if the world had started going in slow-mo. She widened her eyes in alarm as the man plummeted towards the ground, and slowly, doubts and worries returned to bother her. Slowly, the fortress she had built had started to crumble, the fantasy was crushed and the reality of the situation started to catch up to her.
Once Aaron hit the ground, her heart skipped a beat:

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!"​

Cecilia instinctively brought her arms to her head in an attempt to shield herself again and the wind's response was immediate. From her position, something akin to an air-blade sprout and expanded itself, in a circumference, about 6 feet outwards, pushing everything in its way as it passed. In its wake, little objects had been thrown aside like nothing and people nearby had been dragged away from Cecil. Some might even have been knocked out of their feet depending on how good in maintaining their balance they were.
As the blade travelled away, a new structure formed itself nearby. Beginning from ground level and rising upwards, the wind slithered and spiralled incredibly fast, separating the girl from the rest of the world, hiding her away in a funnel-like miniature whirlwind that made approaching her into a tough job.

With the destruction of the illusion she had built, Cecilia's values had started conflicting with each other so deeply that her mind had been rendered null, with nothing more than the word 'no' looping endlessly. Her inner turmoil and confusion had become so thick and heavy that reality itself had faded into nothing to her.
At this point, she wasn't aware of the people that were close by, of what she was doing, of what had been happening... Not even the bubble of water that had been brought into existence by someone else, and where she resided currently, had been taken notice of.

Alongside silent sobbing, the only other sound that came from inside the structure was that of the panicked beeping of her limiter, struggling to keep the strength of such an emotional outburst at bay. The device itself threatening to malfunction and short-circuit at any moment.

 

[Syrenrei]

Luther Rousseau
"Reliquary"
Location: Outside Men's Bathroom, Inside Facility 108
Nearby: Morgan ( welian ) and Gil ( Zahzi )
as well as drones ( Lemon Boy ) ​

"I have a M16A2 5.66 Rifle," Luther shared. The gun exited her abdomen, stock first. When smaller items were withdrawn from her portal the process was so quick it was easy to miss it visually. Because Gil Brahn had requested a rifle (instead of a pistol or smaller weapon) it was impossible to miss. The rifle appeared to be manifesting as it lazily exited. Portals usually denoted some sort of glow or change in color. Luther's body looked exactly the same, however, and it was jarring to see a gun apparently connected to it even if her abilities dictated she was a doorway of some sort. The Physical Discipline Assistant grabbed the free end and, as the end of the barrel came free, she handed it over to 'Papa Bear.'

"Since I'm not technically in the military or military consulting business anymore, I've lost access to most of my special ammunition. I can dip into my reserves if we have to, but I'd rather wait and confirm the nature of our hostiles before I blow through my stock. It's already loaded with standard ammunition," she noted. It was the nicest way she could say she wasn't wasting bullets until she knew, for certain, that her expensive ones were absolutely needed. Maybe Gil was swimming in armor-piercing ammo and could use it on anything he wanted at his leisure- but she didn't have that luxury. Especially since she had to buy a new goddamn motorcycle.

Luther tried not to let her rage consume her. In truth her attachment to her mode of transportation was a symptom of a larger problem: holding people at a distance. She had been told this explicitly after a psychological assessment when she was a glorified mercenary work, but having a sniper who really loved their car wasn't deemed a big problem compared to the other issues most ex-soldiers had.

"Morgan." She turned and placed her hands on Morgan's shoulders, frowning slightly at how cool and damp his shirt was. Really he would have been better without it. Modesty was so weird. "I want you to try and block out whatever is going on outside and focus on the building. Let me know if you can feel anyone that could be a threat and is coming for us. Once we can clear a safe area you can help us figure out what's going on out there, and how to get them in here where it's safe, okay? And if that's too hard, just focus on what I'm thinking. I promise it won't be anything Mama Bear and Papa Bear disapprove of... well, at least for the time being." She winked, kissed him on the cheek, and then turned once more to walk down the hall towards the clinic. Her ungodly tall platform heels made a loud clack clack noise as she approached the death trap. Luther had no idea it was a death trap but she was about to.

"I'll open the door first, draw any initial fire, or try to misdirect if possible, so use me as cover Papa Bear," she said right before she swung open the door. Her powers had been activated this time to open the portal to 'entry.' Luther didn't spot any mines- not yet- but she did happen to notice that there were two drones hovering inside that would almost certainly open fire any second. It was a shame that her unconventional method of distraction would go unappreciated. Not every combat situation was so lucky as to have an exhibitionist hedonist dressed like a slutty nurse.

"Hello boys," she greeted the drones right before a grenade popped out- and a replay would indicate it was from either her upper thigh or somewhere rather unmentionable- and hit the floor. Luther gave it a swift kick to propel it further in the room before trying to closer the door and bolt back towards the bathrooms. The hand grenade she had 'deposited' into the clinic was one of the ones with a pin already pulled and she had not kept track of how many seconds they had before it exploded.