IPAD: The Institute for Powers and Advanced Development (the remake ^^~)

Becca smiled at Abbie. "No, it doesn't work like that unfortunately. It'd be pretty cool, though," she admitted, letting go of her locket. Her eyes widen as she looks at Abbie. "Wow. That's weird. I mean, not your power, but hearing you talk in my voice," she explained quickly, hoping she hadn't upset the girl. Focusing on their path now, Becca grew uneasy. This place didn't seem like it belonged to a school. Abbie hid behind her leg and she did all she could not to seem like she was freaking out. The anxiety made her stomach churn uncomfortably and she had the sudden urge to sit for a while. Becca bit her lip, trying to push the emotions of the others from her consciousness. It didn't work too well, unfortunately, so Becca endured the threatening nausea as she shuffled through the darkness of the catacombs.


The beeping of the robotic things that were chasing them made Becca jump. For a horrible second, she thought she was going to be killed by the things that were supposed to protect the school. They seemed to stop, though, and survey the darkness. She wasn't sure how long the confusion of the drones had bought them, but she prayed that it would be long enough to find an exit or at least somewhere to hide. Rubbing her temples with her free hand, Becca quietly wondered if she would make it out. They were faced with what seemed to be never-ending darkness or the drones. It was pretty much the worst day ever, Becca decided. Still, she felt some sense of excitement that she thought was terribly demented. Why was she feeling that? Maybe this was the most excitement she'd ever had in her life.


As a shiver traveled up her spine, Becca was pulled back to the catacombs. The blinking light was getting annoying, but it was their supposed salvation. Not sure what to say, but knowing something needed to be said, she spoke under her breath to Abbie. "It'll be alright. We'll get out of here. It's really not so scary," she muttered, eyes grazing the darkness as they shot back and forth. She was sure glad Abbie couldn't feel her emotions.
 
“Welcome back… I was starting to wonder how long you were planning on sleeping.”


“Sleeping…?” Scarlet thought to herself, her mind immediately populating with various statistical information attributed to ‘sleep’. “I was sleeping? Is that an analogy? A comparison between sleep and death?”


“I… we… we didn’t know what to call you and so once we made it out of the meat locker we gave you the superhero name ‘Blink’ as we were naming the rest of us… Except Luke… Who is difficult.”


“Superhero…? But I’m not…”


“If you don’t like it… let us know… I’m ‘Frostfire’ or ‘Captain Frostfire’ previously ‘Captain Frost’ or… or j-just Talin…”


Scarlet looked out at ‘Captain Frost-fire’ confusedly. Every part of her mind screamed at her the very obvious fact that this was not a normal conversation. It was so forced, so awkward, so confused. Normally this wouldn’t be much of an issue, but when combined with the fact that all of these behavioral changes equated to no tactical advantage, things became a lot more confusing for her as well.


Her mind struggled to do what was required of it: calculating the complicated myriad of information in the world around her. Each detail was carefully compared to every other within her mind till finally something jarred her free of her impossible equations; “Cross!”


The suddenness and unexpectedness of it all forced her to pause, snapping her free of her own mind’s calculatory trance. Though she had not identified the point of the rambling, she had at least managed to deduce a rather simple fact: He did not believe he was dead, or at the very least he did not know it.


“I didn’t kill them?” she thought to herself as a wave of relief overcame her.“But then… Where am I? What place could have such an otherworldly landscape? Trees of glass that sway gently in a nonexistent breeze? A mountainous stone emitting such ethereal lights and sounds? How is it that I even came to be in this place? Wasn’t I in the headquarters of the enemy’s—”


‘The enemy…’ As she thought the phrase, her mind again did its natural job and presented her the images of her assault upon the would-be-school, moment by moment. There had been four more murders added to an unknowably large total. Each time, mother would promise that they had gone to a better place that had been described much like this and that they would stand before testament before passing on to a better world. Each time, mother would relieve her of the memories of the faces that normally rattled about permanently in her mind, but she would never be so kind as to erase the fact that it had happened in the first place. It was only now that she could truly comprehend that she hadn’t been the ‘loving daughter’ that mother always said she was, but rather a tool to her ends and desires.


“Blink…” came a voice a bit off to her side. She turned to look at the young girl with reddish-brown hair flowing down to near chest level. “You wouldn’t mind me calling you that would you?”


“I—” Scarlet began.


“First of all… What happened back there?” she suddenly continued with a stony expression upon her face.


Looking around to all those around her who had had their lives permanently altered by her actions, Scarlet couldn’t help but feel a deep sense of guilt and responsibility. It was because of her that everyone here, who previously had what was probably a normal life, had been subjected to such disaster; she owed them much more than an explanation…


“Mother asked us, my brothers and sisters, to help her with a problem she was having with an old friend of hers. She told us that he had stolen away a great many of our other brothers and sisters and had convinced them to do horrible things. I was asked to help Dr. Mizrahi to retrieve many of the captured students so that he might find a way to prevent further brainwashing, and hopefully undo the programming already done. In particular, I was supposed to retrieve certain specific people as well… her old friend, Doctors Peter and Lisa Hall, Ritsa Lythe, an Abigail Perigard…and you three.” She explained, eventually pointing towards Ruth, Cross, and finally the child that asked her the question in the first place. “You were supposed to be priority, people we couldn’t kill even if we were trying to defend ourselves. Lastly, I was tasked with the utter destruction of an enemy communication and amplification system codenamed ‘False Enlightenment’ before it was activated, but I couldn’t find it in time. I planned and organized the operation… It feels so… odd. Without the voice, the world is so quiet”


~~~


“I’m not abandoning them… I’ll never abandon anyone again!” Ritsa mentally shouted at Trist before a wave of confusion washed over her, mixed with another terrible bout of nausea. “When have I ever abandoned anyone…?”


“You haven’t” Trist responded quickly with a hint of annoyance. “You’re practically a girl scout. I can’t begin to express how annoying it is to be deluged with those pathetic thoughts of yours.”


Ritsa slowly lead her charges though the catacombs, a trip greatly increased by her desire to fine a pathway to the surface. She had been wary of the light, and as it grew closer, she grew increasingly unsettled.


“Oh and this. I can copy your voice!” said the same girl from earlier, much to Ritsa’s relief.


Another voice that didn’t belong to her had come from this same little girl not that long ago. At the time, Ritsa was unable to determine the meaning behind it all. With the knowledge that she needed to hear the voice she was to copy before hand, it became evident to Ritsa that her brother had still been alive when they made it into the building. Knowing that he had probably just passed out due to overuse of his ability again made the world of difference to her. Though the story of her ‘better future’ had started so horribly, she was determined to help them bring it about just the same; for him, and her unborn child.


Given very little option, the group inevitably arrived before what was once just a faint glimmer of red. The impossible door-well stretched out to either side of the walkway, offering no possibility of walking around it. Though it had been faint, Ritsa could make out something like music coming off its slightly rippling field of red. It was alluring, calming, promising peace and rejuvenation; Despite all this, Ritsa was afraid. She had endured the last colony war, survived capture by terrorists, escaped wrongful execution, and defeated the most powerful psychic she had ever met: Trist. Though she had been afraid during each of these, none held a candle to the fear she felt right this moment.


“Lets get out of here!”Trist demanded. “What I said before is still true, we could easily go back through the droids. They might not even BE there anymore.”


“I can’t…” Ritsa said firmly. Though every fiber of her being wanted to put this doorway behind her as quickly as possible, she simply couldn’t; Not while there were so many that depended upon her. How would she ever face her child when she had let so many other children die just for the opportunity.


“I… I’m going to go ahead… To make certain it’s safe for the rest of you.”


“You idiot! What you cant do is go through that door!”


“If. If I don’t… If I don’t return…” Ritsa continued unabashed, turning towards Abigail. “Tell my brother: I’m sorry. He’ll look after you all, I know he will. He’s got a bit of a temper… but he’ll keep you all safe.”


Without another word, Ritsa turned and steeled herself taking a step closer to the doorway. Almost immediately, her apprehension rose to almost meteoric levels, yet this time there was something off about it all. It had only just occurred to her that this feeling of dread and foreboding had not been shared by any of the others.


“This feeling… Of all the students here, there had to be at least one other telepath or empath. We’re the most common type of psychic… How could nobody else feel this…?”


“Does it matter? We need to leave”


“It was you… You’re the one doing this aren’t you? You’re manipulating my emotions…” Ritsa reasoned. “Have you been able to do this the whole time…? How many of my choices have you influenced! What else have you done to me besides infesting my mind!”


Ritsa raced back through her memories, trying to discern exactly which moments she had been lead to a choice by feelings that were not hers. She searched for deception, and inevitably found it on a far greater scale than she expected. Every memory she possessed beyond about two years back had been fabricated. Every single day before she had met Darian and the others were false. Even Tomas, her fraternal twin, had been a work of fiction.


The gravity of it all hit her like a ton of bricks. Her entire life was a lie. Her current fear was a lie. Which meant…


“Strike what I just said… I think we’ll all be safe once we get through. I think, we were supposed to be here.”


Ignoring every negative impulse directed upon her Ritsa took yet another step forward, disappearing behind its wall of vibrant red. Immediately, her world changed from the bleak, ever-pervasive darkness of the catacombs. The darkness rushed away behind her in the blink of an eye, replaced by a long, twisting, mirrored tunnel that snaked violently as she was hurtled down it. Brilliant wispy strands of light extended from the walls in all directions, playing erratically against her skin before arriving to her destination in blinding flash.


(((All telepathic or empathic people can hear the music described by Ritsa. All people arrive at the crystal forest at the exact same moment regardless of when they enter the doorway. I’ll post Benji’s and Riddle’s portion tomorrow since it is obvious that they will never actually arrive at the forest, sorry about the delay.


From now till the server regains its ability to perform rolls, I will be using embedded rolls from ‘www.rolz.org’. I’ve used the site for a long time for my D&D group and only just remembered this particular function of it. Each roll will be performed in the room IPAD-RP and all rolls other than my own will be ignored for the sake of cheat prevention. Each embed will look something like this:
embed
))
 
Talin had turned back when Blink had started explaining her role in things so as to give the girl his full attention. About half way through her explanation the temperature in the air around him began to drop slowly, his embarrassment forgotten and fear rekindled as new pieces to their puzzle became available. All the while, however, he made certain that his pacing kept the entirety of the group in plain view as he needed their reactions to tell him how to spin this next. As she finished up, the boy started pacing thoughtfully in an attempt to not only figure his way through this new information but also as a means by which he could stay on his toes and ready should anyone attack anyone.


"Gee ... Now I feel unimportant," he muttered loudly enough to be heard when it was announced that he was not one of the people who had this "mother's" special protections. His tone was sardonic and annoyed but offered no hints as to the actual motives behind his rather unremarkable statement. In truth, as he paced and continued acting as though nothing had changed other than the fact the he had more to think on, the boy was using this simple statement as an attempt to test the teleporter. Should she defend the fact that he was unwanted it would prove that she wanted to be on their side, should she offer hope to him by way of encouraging him to get stronger with his abilities or explaining that his weren't needed it would imply she was working against them still, and if she should not reply the boy hoped her expression would offer him something.


All of these conclusions were drawn, of course, from the fact that his memory told him that he couldn't have been very well brainwashed in the span of the hour he had been here. When he was honest with himself, he had to admit that he didn't know if brainwashing could have altered his memories. That thought, while notable and rather disconcerting, offered variables to the puzzle that were outside of his scope of understanding and reasoning for now. As such, he locked it and all subsequent theories on it away for a later musing.


As he continued pacing, a realization overtook him. "After the boom, the giant woman will collapse the room. My mom is not my mom. I'm not crazy. The journal is hers; the body is not mine. Run away and you die - all seeing eye," he quoted with perfect dictation, actually pausing now as he leveled Blink with a rather confident and self-assured look in spite of the still falling temperatures. If she knew anything of the hidden room as he had speculated earlier, then perhaps she would give something away. "So ... Who is this "mother" woman? What does she want with us? How are Ritsa and the other school administrators involved in all of this that they need to be recovered by you? What were you looking for in the kitchen area? And why, for the love of god, if I am so damned unimportant did you bother rescuing me after I had startled you?"


It was childish; he recognized this much at least. In spite of this recognition, however, the fact that he was so easily marked for death should he cause any issues for them irked him severely. This just meant, rather counterintuitively, that he had every intention of causing many more issues for the organization that Miss Blink had previously worked for. How dare they overlook him and belittle him and the others who had been slaughtered?


Carefully masking this infuriation and the myriad of other emotions surging in him currently, the boy kept his calm and commanding gaze locked on the girl and waited for her answer. In spite of everything, he still felt safe near her, and his line of direct questioning stated that more clearly than words ever could have. If this girl had wanted him dead and had followed what she seemed to imply were her orders, then he would be dead. Quite to the contrary, however, she seemed to have risked herself to save his skin. The need to know why and to be able explain this was nearly maddening for him as he waited for his answers.
 
The girl before them stirred with her thoughts and for some reason it made Ruth feel uncomfortable. When she finally started to talk though Ruth’s eyes widen with the first word was uttered ‘mother’. It was all she needed in away and she glanced to Talin wondering if he understood as well. Anyone who worked under a ‘mother’ in that fashion was evil, it showed clearly in many shows, comics, and even video games. Sure some ended up good in the end but . . . slowly she looked back to Blink listening closely now although knowing this was probably one of those ‘if I told you I’ll have to kill you conversations.’


At her speech though Ruth paled some even stepped backwards. Brainwashed? She couldn’t be brainwashed . . . she had all those nifty anime cons she remembered. Those jobs she had to help pay for the cons, the toys and collectables she gathered. It was expensive surely this girl was the one brainwashed after all she followed a ‘mother.’


The fact she was pointed out though, and Cross, and Spec . . . her eyes slowly went to Talin, and Luke. Then her eyes widen and she glanced around for Jason again . . . he was wearing her jacket! That paranoia sinking in more when someone pointed out that she was being after. “All the innocent deaths . . .” She stated as if it was an important fact to point out. “Gathering or not . . . to kill so many . . . that’s horrible!” Course she didn’t know what Blink killed, she meant the soldiers with the guns and she lowered her head some as if she might cry. If it was so simple, if she going with them would have saved so many lives . . . she may have easily gone willingly if asked.


Then there was an anger about her as her head snapped up and she glared down at Blink demanding. “Why us!? Why was she so interested in us that she slaughtered so many? Why couldn’t she just ask? If she wanted to live up to that nickname of hers, ask and you know what . . . if I could have saved lives I may have just came!” Yes now she was pissed, the weight of those students death felt like it was on her shoulders some. “And what do you even mean by brainwashed? We just arrived at this school! We left our homes, our families! Our lives to learn our powers some, to try to fit in more or learn to use them for the better good! It was suppose to be like X-men not some horror flick!”


Her eyes widen as she found even more things to get mad at. “I also never did anything bad! . . . well maybe pirate some shows or what not from the internet . . . but I usually bought them sooner or later so it would be okay in a court of law!” She then paused her eyes moving to her pocket where the watch suddenly felt heavy in. Glancing to the others watches as well before nodding towards the nearest one wondering if they understood. That if any of that story was true those watches were more dangerous than they first thought.


When Talin started to speak though Ruth started to feel bad . . . didn’t he realize though that being pointed out wasn’t any better? That so many lives were lost for some idiot reason or want of them. She had went out of her way to make sure that boy stayed safe for some reason. Sighing trying to calm, to help, to support she smiled making a slight joke in away. “You have to be important Talin . . . you just have to be . . . I mean if I was brainwashed it’s clearly to follow and protect you.” She tried to tease looking down some in shame if it didn’t work though.
 
Becca stood before the door and looked either way, realizing there was no way to go around it. It was then, as her eyes flitted back to the portion directly before her, that she heard music. Frowning and tilting her head to the left slightly, Becca stared at the door, listening intently. The music was calming and peaceful and Becca had the urge to step through the door and find out what was on the other side. She looked down at Abbie, eyes alight with excitement. She felt safe here. "Do you hear that?" she questioned. "Isn't the music lovely?" she added, voice soft as her eyes drifted back to the door.


Becca looked at Ritsa as she spoke. She wanted to ask if the woman really thought it could be dangerous. After all, she could surely hear the inviting music. It wasn't loud but she didn't really have to strain to hear it. There's no way anything bad could reside behind it. It wasn't as if they had much of a choice anyway. Becca couldn't go back. The drones were there and she'd be killed seeing as she had no watch to protect her and it wasn't as if they could stay here. Whatever was behind the door couldn't be as creepy and uninviting as the catacombs. Who was to say how long the drones would wait until they too plunged into the darkness after them. No, it seemed that the only plausible way to go was forward. Becca watched Ritsa as she stood before the door, pausing momentarily before telling them they should all follow. Becca's brows furrowed; she was confused at Ritsa's sudden change in decision but nodded firmly. Looking down at Abbie, Becca smiled, walking towards the door. She paused for a split second, taking a deep breath before slipping through the door. Becca couldn't say that she wasn't worried and she hoped nothing terrible would be waiting for them, for Abbie's sake.


The room of mirrors took her breath away momentarily and she looked around, trying to take it all in. Light danced about, reflecting from the mirrors. It was beautiful and Becca wished she had more time to revel in the dazzling light displays but she moved to quickly and was forced from the tunnel all too soon. There was a blinding flash of light that made her gasp and then it was gone. Becca, stumbling and almost falling to the ground as she came to an abrupt stop, looked around, taking in her surroundings. It was dazzling, the forest. Trees made of glass stretched on around them. Almost immediately, Becca's eyes were drawn to the towering stone slab. It felt so different here. This place felt safe and welcoming, she decided. Becca sighed in relief, looking to Abbie at her side.
 
Staring. That is all she had to do before she started to briefly break down. Sitting down silently on her knees with nothing but a distant look in her eyes Eliana frowned. She was one of them; the people whom was apparently to be fetched. She was one of the reasons so many children, kids barely of age got slaughtered! She wanted to fall down on the ground, cry herself to sleep to awaken in her bed or if possible ease to exist.


As Ruth and Talin spoke their thoughts, giving their opinion and the slight teasing Ruth attempted to lighten Talins fury she laughed. With out humor that is. "IF! The worst word in the entire world! If is a theory, nothing else." Standing up before dusting herself of; noticing Ruth and her subtle glance at the watches. Eliana would throw it away but sadly it had something; the small little watch had TCU:s help in it. "Let us stop being so deluded; Blink here is probably far beyond helpful." She spat, her eyes holding nothing but anger and a flicker of her sanity almost leaving.


"The only answers I want is this; Who is that mother of yours and were do I find her, so I can rip her throat out!" She claimed. Her small body shaking, tears blurring her vision. "If she wants me to get fetched by you, get me to her; Because I swear I´ll avenge every single life she has taken!" Feeling herself getting drained she glared at Blink.


Eliana wasn´t one to find herself wishing for another persons death but feeling the guilt, shame and embarrassment of being the reason of all those peoples death; Probably even Jason, if he was caught by those monsters for mercenaries. She had, if she could; gone willingly if it meant sparing every lost soul that had been taken this day.


"I´ve been living my whole life without a single moment of regret, not when I got my powers, not when I was shunned by the neighbors. Not even when my favorite tutor told me that I was abnormal, not when I was told that something as simple as playing tag is dangerous for my damned weak body! But...The fact that so many people have lost their children, their family or their friends MADDENS ME! It maddens me that I am a part of the reason and makes me regret even being ALIVE!" She whispered haughtily before staring at her companions.


"I owe you all an apology for putting you even in this situation, Forgive me...." She pleaded; her mind fussing with guilt, fear and slight hate for the being called Mother.
 
Talin looked at Ruth a bit worriedly when she spoke of being brainwashed to follow him. He tried to offer a frail smile to her, but the interesting train of thought that caught his attention made even that difficult. For a moment he considered the possibility of her joke. It made sense in a rather brilliant sort of way that he probably would have actually considered if he were on the other side. Going back in spite of his intention not to to the idea that brainwashing could alter one's memories, he considered for a moment that the easiest way to hide something which needed to be protected would be to erase what memories would single it out and have it lost among many things similar to itself. What if he had been a part of this?


Of course, such speculations were a way to drive himself insane in fairly short order, and he recognized that. Not a moment later, however, he was able to forget his speculations as the youngest girl in the group started to shatter in front of him. Reacting almost without conscious thought, he slapped her while intentionally pulling the blow just enough to prevent injury to the rather fragile child.


"Think about what you're saying, Eliana ... What was it that you told me? 'Get your head in the game?' What does giving the bitch what she want do? It doesn't bring anyone back ... It doesn't save anyone ... All it does is allow her to win ... You can't expect to take down someone who can throw an army at us by yourself," dropping to the ground next to the girl as he tried to gather her in his arms to hold her, Talin hoped that he was getting through.


"We're dangerous ..." he whispered softly, something strange and cold in his tone. "I've said it before ... We are living weapons with incredible potential and we increase that so much by sticking together. Together we'll find out more information, find ways to ruin her plans, and make damned certain that she can't hurt others ... But throwing your life away in some idiotic guilt trip does nothing for anyone and allows her to hurt more people overall. Besides, as Ruth and you have both stated, you are a good person who can't be blamed for sins someone else committed against you."


Talin sighed heavily as his eyes locked on Blink. "I think the only two here responsible for the loss of life are me and her," he muttered but their was no guilt in his voice now. "The deaths ARE NOT your fault ... The fall of the person responsible for them, however, can be. Stay with me ... Specs? Ruth? We find out more ... We end this ... Running will just mean that you get hunted down slowly and surrendering will just result in her winning."


The boy looked at Blink with the same commanding calm that he had originally been waiting with. "Also, Ruth ... Put on the fucking watch ... If the mission objective was to take out the system, then mother must be afraid of what it can do. It also seems to be giving me more control." He shrugged as a slight smile tugged at his lips. "Or haven't you noticed that the temperature fluctuations lessened once Effy turned the system on? If we have weapons to use, we sure as hell should at least try to use them ..."
 
Cross was not surprised he was pointed at,seemed he had a lot to do with things here though he didn't know why he didn't care. Listening to Talin and Ruth started giving Cross a headache,he had grown very tired of all this and wished they all could just stop and take a break from thinking about this.The oh 'Why us' and death here and there was more then enough to annoy Cross and make him not want to be part of this conversation. Before Effy had started talking Cross had laid down behind her on his side,resting his head in his hand to keep it up as his other hand rested in front of him. He closed his eyes and sighed once he started hearing Effy talking,"Why me?...."He whispered to himself sarcastically and almost annoyed.


As Effy continued talking Cross felt like she grew angry with every word,then she had apologized to them after which Cross did nothing to reply.Still not wanting to have a say in this Cross stayed quiet as Talin spoke up again,and then he hugged Effy and started whispering. Cross only caught some but was enough for him to know he didn't want to hear it,Talin continued on talking to where Cross could hear. Cross had dropped his head to the ground and stretched his arm along the ground over his head,He tried to think of something to get his mind off of all this. Course his past would help none and probably would make his attitude worse,thinking he felt like this was De ja vu.


Then he smiled and started to chuckle to himself as he remembered his father,He didn't care much about stuff like this ether. Remembering that Cross had also remembered many things his father had told him which also made him happy,and made him feel like such a fool."Maybe counter clocking... Mindsets...?"He chuckled again,"No....Not yet...hmm...Maybe another? Though I don't have my book..."Now somewhat wandering in his thoughts as he spoke he noticed his watch on his wrist and tilted his head with a curious look."Wonder what I should do....?Any thought?"He spoke somewhat directed to the watch wondering if it'd talk the way it does and cheer him up more.
 
Shock invaded Eliana as Talin slapped her, noticing it wasn´t as hard as it should be she fell to the floor, staring in bewilderment at the older boy. He had slapped her...She had gotten slapped....By Talin.


Her mind was going berserk; the one person that had been such a leader, rather calm person in their small group had just slapped her and this worried her. But soon enough her mind comprehended why. She was near insanity at the point and he was preventing her from breaking down; the suicidal thoughts she had ,going for someone which commands all these people. The people who eliminated all those students.


As Talin spoke, Eliana clanged to him as if he was her life boat; her eye-sight blurry as tears fell down. Her body was shaking from sobs and she had finally collapsed from the exhaustion her body had gone through; the physical trauma coming over her.


"Promise me...We´ll end this..." She whispered between sobs; still filled with grief and guilt.
 
“Gee… Now I feel unimportant.” Talin muttered suddenly, startling Scarlet.


Scarlet stood there for a while longer, staring out at the others once more. Their actions had all been so varied. One seemed to care very little while another seemed on the verge of collapse; and then there was Captain Frost-fire who seemed to imply jealousy.


“Could it be because of their programming…?” Scarlet asked herself as her mind flashed back to images of her ‘family’.


They had been through many missions together, but never had any of them had so varied a response. Viper, Python, Anaconda, Cobra, Mamba, Burmese, Boa… none of them ever seemed to to be so very chaotic. Even the other brothers and sisters who had not yet earned a name for themselves were more ‘uniform’ in their reactions.


“I—” Scarlet started before again being cut off.


“After the boom, the giant woman will collapse the room. My mom is not my mom. I’m not crazy. The journal is hers; the body is not mine. Run away and you die - All Seeing Eye” Talin said suddenly in a smooth even tone that reminded Scarlet of Dr. Mizrahi when he was lecturing at mother’s behest. “So… Who is this ‘mother’ woman? What does she want with us? How are Ritsa and the other school administrators involved in all this that they need to be recovered by you? What were you looking for in the kitchen area? And why, for the love of god, if I am so damned unimportant did you bother rescuing me after I had startled you?”


“I’m not—” She let out before yet again being cut short.


“All the innocent deaths… Gathering or not… To kill so many… That’s horrible! Why us!? Why was she so interested in us that she slaughtered so many? Why couldn’t she just ask? If she wanted to live up to that nickname of hers, ask and you know what… If I could have saved lives I may have just came! And what do you even mean by brainwashed? We just arrived at this school! We left our homes, our families! Our lives to learn our powers some, to try to fit in more or learn to use them for the better good! It was supposed to be like X-men not some horror flick!”


“X-men…?” Scarlet asked herself, her mind trying to piece together the meaning of this statement to no avail.


“I don’t—” Scarlet started after deciding that ‘X-men’ must be code for some form of militant group of psychics that had somehow been obscured from Python during her information gathering. Though many questions of her own began to bubble up about the strength of this force and why it wasn’t employed against the liberation team, she never had the chance to voice them as Ruth had already turned her attention back upon the captain previously known as Frost.


“You have to be important Talin… You just have to be… I mean if I was brainwashed it’s clearly to follow and protect you.”


“To protect him…? Is he so very important to the cultist’s agenda? Was it a mistake to save him…? He had appeared so… harmless. Was that an act? A means to conceal a vital player? But then… why did they…”


“…Let us stop being so deluded; Blink here is probably far beyond helpful. The only answer I want is this: Who is that mother of your’s and where do I find her so I can rip her throat out! If she wants me to get fetched by you, get me to her, because I swear I’ll avenge every single life she has taken!”


“Who is mother? She’s…” Scarlet thought before a chilling feeling ran down her spine. There had been nothing, no minuscule facts drawn to the surface, no image of her face, no height, no weight, no details at all; at least not any beyond that she was loving, honorable, virtuous, honest, and noble. There was nothing beyond that she was her favored daughter, and that everyone should follow her if they desire happiness. “…but, I’m not happy…”


A cold, empty feeling coursed through “Dragon’s” body as her mind recounted to her the fragmentary life still stored in her head. There was mission after mission, each involving the discreet removal of someone that had ‘threatened the coming happiness of the world’. There had been long stretches of siting before mountains of ‘case data’ so that she could formulate a plan of attack for her siblings when she herself was not on mission, there was the terrified face of the girl who had done nothing but witness her kill another student; but nowhere was there a trace of happiness within her; not a single iota.


“Was it all… a lie?” She thought, before she mentally shouted back at herself “NO! Mother would never!”


The whole of her shout felt so very unnatural. Everything pointed to the falseness of that statement and yet, somewhere deep down, she continued to insist it to herself. ‘Mother is honest’, ‘Mother would never hurt you’, ‘You must trust Mother’.


“Mother… lied. She lied!”


“SHE LIED! All of it! Every word! It was all a lie!” Scarlet suddenly shouted.


As she arrived to her no longer psychically impeded revelation, waves of burning anger surged up within her. Her face flushed, her teeth and fists clenched; every fiber of her being was at odds with itself. Two ‘truths’ competed bitterly against one another to have their voices heard inside her mind; but while one had years of perfectly recalled memories to back it, the other had nothing but promises. Why then did it feel so very compelling? Even now that she knew… she could still feel some small part of her deny it.


“I was the one…” she let out weakly, instinctively knowing the answers to the questions that burned in her mind. “I was the one that had been lied to… I was the one that was brainwashed… my whole life has been nothing but a lie…”


Anguish bubbled up to the surface, easily visible upon her face. “I… need to talk with mother… she must have had a reason… No, I’ll just be made to forget again… But, she wouldn’t… but, she has…”


Scarlet staggered a few steps backwards, shaking her head slightly in disbelief. It was as if the whole world was being ripped apart around her. Her mind struggled to put all the data back together into a coherent whole; something that would explain each conflict in a way that would make both true. Each time however, the result was the same; one plus one always equals two.


“I don’t— I don’t know what to do… I don’t even know which I am; Am I really Dragon, mother’s favorite… or, am I just a useful soldier… was I just made to believe it all. Am I mad?”
 
“Anything can be a weapon!” Ruth finally snapped at Talin sick of being called a weapon. “I don’t want to be a weapon! I want to help others . . . if I have to be anything CLOSE to being a weapon I want to be a shield. So please stop calling us weapons . . . anyone can be dangerous though with or without powers. Just look at those soldiers who attacked. If we are going to help, to shield and save others fine, but we can’t just do this out of stupid revenge or we may end up the bad guys. Wasn’t it just earlier you were saying the school can’t be trusted? Now you wish to take on the world, both parties? Isn’t it best we find out the truth, before we decide something is an enemy or not. I don’t like this mother chick, she screams facts of villain . . . but . . . how many innocence may we end up taking out if we aren’t careful? If we just go in with guns a blazing?”








When Talin went on about taken lives, perhaps the guilt there Ruth lowered her head some. “You did what you had to, to survive. You did what you have to when someone was coming for us. That’s defense Talin, there is nothing wrong with defending yourself. It’s when you take the trouble to hunt and kill . . . when you aren’t sure what’s going on, what side you really are on that you need to be more careful.” Course then he snapped at her for not putting on the watch and she glared coldly back. “Hell no, we don’t know who’s the good guys right? I know how dangerous things are to wear.” She sighed her hand moving to fiddle with it in her pocket. “Sides . . . they said keeping it with you was good enough as long as you didn’t let others have it.” She was guilty of at least doing that much. “That and maybe the watch didn’t give you control Talin, maybe the situations did. Like when a woman can lift a car if her child is under it. They basically said they monitor you with the watches . . . “





At Cross’s words ‘counter clocking mindset’ Ruth smiled having a guess only at what that may even mean. “You know . . . you may be one of those silent smart people.” She couldn’t help stating, pondering if he was one of those who only spoke to them when he felt her had something important to say. “Just remember . . . if you are . . . you probably have more important things than you realize and just are giving yourself too little credit.”





Ruth’s conversation was cut short though as Scarlet suddenly yelled. The poor girl had almost jumping out of her skin as she obviously was still uncertain about Blink, eyes slowly going to the woman, only to smile softly at the girl’s realization. If it was a lie . . . only to notice the battle the girl was having with herself. Perhaps it was best that Talin and the others went out of their way . . . maybe Ruth was wrong . . . maybe she could be saved.


Hesitating she moved to hug the girl tightly if the other allowed. Just that grip of embrace trying to comfort, if she couldn’t hug she would still state. “Shhh.” She started even willing to rock with her some if possible. “Shhh . . . sshhh if she had such a strong grip on you . . . shouldn’t you stay away. Grow safely for once? If we can find a safe spot, be happy . . . if you still want to talk to her, recover . . . then be strong enough? Sort it all out first?” For the first time real sadness was starting to show through on Ruth as she watched the girl before her. “You’re Blink now as a codename of sorts . . . and you can be called whatever real name you want.” She smiled weakly nodding. “You’re not mad . . . you were just . . . tricked . . . and that’s why if any of us decide to go against her . . . from the sounds of it you shouldn’t be one. You should stay back and be safe . . . be happy . . .”


Pulling away just slightly but willing to keep her arms around the girl if she let her she looked to Talin. “I think I’m willing to be a weapon now.” Her voice was so cold . . . so numb. “I don’t know if I will ever be one, or good at it but . . . if it’s to save people . . . if they’re doing this to many . . . someone has to stop them. Even if it ends up killing me . . . I want to be one of those who stops them.”
 
Abbie looked at their exit from the small of Becca’s back; the red glow alight the forms around her and her surroundings. This was the only way out, but even Ms. Ritsa was visibly weary of it, telling them she would go first. Becca seemed entranced on the other hand, suddenly asking her about music which made Abbie frown. The girl didn’t hear anything…and she had really good hearing, she did!


When Ritsa turned to her, she clenched Becca’s hand instinctively, listening to the woman’s directive before jerkily nodding. As the woman turned toward the doorway, she swallowed and the group waited for a pregnant breath before she turned to them again. She was clearly fighting with the decisions in front of her and the next choice definitely contrasted the last. Ms. Ritsa now wanted them to go in, the doorway was safe.


As the woman entered, Abigail clutched at Becca’s hand, now suddenly being pulled as the older girl walked towards the door as well. Hesitantly, she follows, finally letting go of the hand as the girl steps through. Abbie frowned, looking around worriedly before pushing through the doorway herself with a light squeal.


No longer was she grounded, instead the little girl was flung down a tunnel of mirrors, automatically moving through the twisting corners. A blinding flash made her shield her eyes, instantly reminded of her brother as she was tossed into the new world. It was if her feet had never left the ground, suddenly stumbling along the grass and falling flat on her face. She pushes her messy hair away from her face, suddenly looking around at the area they were now in.


“Where are we?” she wonders, forcing herself up and finding Becca next to her again, immediately, her hand finds the older girls for comfort.


((I went by Maple’s post. If you had something different planned for Abbie just poke me. Also... Benji? D: ))
 
Admittedly, Talin was a bit taken aback when the small technopath clung to him as if he were her lifeline. Her personality was so fluid and unrestrained by any definable characteristics; one moment she seemed cold and heartless and the next she seemed small and fragile. In and of itself that was confusing enough, but when you figured in that the boy was relatively inept in social situations it made for a rather confusing time for him. “We’ll damned well try …” he muttered as he rocked her slowly and let her cry, his eyes still locked on Blink even as Ruth embraced her in spite of the girl’s admitted past sins.


Ruth’s words and the harshness contained therein had gone right over his head as she didn’t currently require his help to stay stable. He was trying his best to fit into whatever role the group needed in order to keep going and currently that seemed to entail the role of teddybear for Effy. In good conscience, however, he could not let Ruth’s speech to the teleporter go unanswered. Ruth was trying. Talin recognized that immediately. Her wording choice, unfortunately, stood to cause more harm than good to the fragile mindset of the dangerous girl that they were trying to help.


“Actually …” he started to interject the moment that Ruth continued to assert that Blink was the girl’s new codename. His attempted interruption went unnoticed though, and he felt his heartrate jump as his grip on Effy tightened nervously. Assigning a codename to this particular girl was quite possibly the most foolish thing that could be done in this situation.


He could only imagine the atrocities that this girl had been made to commit, but one thing was certain in his mind: she did not want to be an agent of whatever organization had been puppeting her. “I’m not a dragon… THAT MONSTER ISN’T ME!”These words she had yelled in the kitchen shortly before severely injuring himself finally made sense now that she verbalized her doubts of being this “Dragon” who was mother’s favorite. Assigning her a new codename implied a new role in which she would be asked to fight and commit more sins which would undoubtedly weigh on her …


“Actually,” he continued again once Ruth had finally quieted for the time being, praying that he could reach the distraught and confused girl before her fear caused her to do something she may regret. “You aren’t even Blink … It’s not your codename, you aren’t being fitted for a role in our group. We want you to feel safe, yes, and so naming you was our way of trying to show that you were accepted here and we would like to get to know you as a friend. I want to help to help you … really…” His eyes stayed locked on her pleading with her to understand this was what Ruth had meant and what he had intended when he had spoken of her superhero name.


“To start out, however, I agree with the assertion you made in the kitchen. You are not a Dragon … not if you don’t choose to be. At the same time, you are not Blink unless it is what you want. It would be nice, however, if you could choose a name by which we could call you,” he offered her a small smile as he tried to relax his grip on the small girl holding on to him and stroked her hair lightly. “I think I’ve said it twice now, but you can call me Talin … what would you like to be called?” He also needed more answers about the school and how it was involved with this "mother" woman, but this calming attempt took precedence currently as he believed Ruth to be in danger. For that reason he was willing to start slowly to try to get the girl back to a calm and stable state.
 
Conflicting thoughts continued to rampage through Scarlet’s mind at a dizzying pace. Had mother really lied to her? Manipulated her? Molded her into some sort of personal zealot assassin? As her mind continued to calculate back through her history the answer became obvious, regardless of how vehemently another portion of his mind shouted otherwise. Why then was its voice so impossible to silence? The more she knew the truth… the louder it protested the very idea of her considering it.


Every one of the dozens of voices in her mind had been instantly quelled when she had suddenly been grasped. Her eyes widened as her mind recounted to her the most optimal way to free herself and incapacitate her ‘attacker’ while keeping her guard up as best as possible. Three quick moves were all that had separated this girl from an 84.9% probable death; Three quick moves were all that separated ‘Scarlet Lithe Ohara’ from ‘the Dragon of Marith’.


“Shh.” Let out the girl as she began to sway side to side.


At home… At the Marith institute… Contact with her was all but prohibited. She had been told she needed to keep her guard up constantly; She had been told that even the slightest touch was unacceptable. Her mind raced through thousands of possible threats: contact poisons, micro-tracking devices, hostile nano-machinery. Why then was she still alive after they had touched through her Quantum Teleportation barrier? Why had they even been allowed to do so?


She smelled of anguish; of sweat and fear, soot and death, and above all else: effort. They had all struggled to survive the nightmare that she had brought upon them… and yet, here she was all the same: rocking her trembling body back and forth as mother had done countless times in the past to calm her favored daughter. Despite everything, there was not even a hint of condemnation detectable in her voice.


“Shh… If she had such a strong grip on you, shouldn’t you stay away? Grow safely for once?”


“Grow…?”


“If we can find a safe spot, be happy…”


“Happy…?” The word surged through her mind as a furious lightning bolt, utterly lacking its normal connotations. Instead of some bright goal or aspiration, all the word meant to her was longing. Longing that she might one day be done with the bloody swath that defined her history. Longing for a different place in life… Longing for a different future than the one promised to her… Longing to just do nothing, or perhaps BE nothing. She had wanted ‘happiness’ for so long, but did she really deserve such a thing after all she had done?


“If you still want to talk to her, recover. Then be strong enough? Sort it all out first? You’re Blink now as a code name of sorts… and you can be called whatever real name you want.” The girl continued, nodding and smiling.


“Blink? My codename? I’m being recruited…?”


“You’re not mad; you were just… tricked. That’s why if any of us decide to go against her… from the sounds of it you shouldn’t be one. You should stay back and be safe… Be happy…”


The resemblances were obvious, even without her mind racing through every detail. The offers of happiness, the coddling demeanor, the requests to grow stronger… New conflicting thoughts began to crop up as wave after wave of warmth coursed through Scarlet. Just as her mind seemed to wrestle with itself, so too did her emotions. Her face flushed as her fists clenched themselves; she felt both at ease, and trapped by just another younger mother.


“…They’re the same. Instead of snakes, they’re ‘superheros’; but they’re just the same. From one mother to the next, I—”


“Actually” Spoke Captain Frost-fire Talin suddenly, locking his eyes with her own crystal blues. “You aren’t even Blink… It’s not your codename, you aren’t being fitted for a role in our group. We want you to feel safe, yes, and so naming you was our way of trying to show that you were accepted here and we would like to get to know you as a friend. I want to help you… Really…”


“Is he… reading my mind…?”


“To start out, however, I agree with the assertion you made in the kitchen. You are not a Dragon, not if you don’t choose to be. At the same time, you are not Blink unless it is what you want. It would be nice, however, if you could choose a name by which we could call you. I think I’ve said it twice now, but you can call me Talin… what would you like to be called?”


“What I would like…?” Such a simple question, and yet possessing so very much weight.


“What I… would like?” Scarlet said weakly, repeating her thoughts. “I… don’t know. I’ve never— I’ve never thought about it before…”


~~~


The infinity of crystalline tree swayed suddenly and heavily in a phantom breeze centered upon the massive rock that all but dominated the star filled sky. It all seemed to happen so quickly after their abrupt but short fall. Though the feelings of security had grown ten-fold since their arrival, to Ritsa there was a more pressing feeling that demanded her attention: Nausea.


Unwilling to be denied any longer, today’s ‘morning sickness’ seized Ritsa and had her spewing the modest breakfast of bacon and eggs she had consumed before the Institute’s ruined opening. She doubled over almost immediately as she had regained her footing, feeling as if her throat was on fire.


Why had today gone so badly? The Institute for Powers and Advanced Development had been intended to be a safe-haven… a sanctuary. They were supposed to be cutting away the dark future that had been predicted by Peter Hall: mounds of bodies that continued on for as far as he could see, all locked in some unknown horrible agony. They were supposed to be giving these kids a chance… and yet all that had happened were these youths being subjected to death on a scale even she hadn’t seen before.


Finally finding the contents of her stomach all but emptied, Ritsa slowly rose upright and took in her surroundings. Pulse after pulse of brilliant light rolled off of a massive stone almost like the beating of a massive heart. Unintelligible whispers came with each ‘beat’, as if millions of people were all trying to speak, all at once. While she could not make out the exact words, the intent was readily available to her. ‘You are safe, You will learn, You will grow’


“This place… it’s impossible…” Ritsa gasped out, hoping she hadn’t inadvertently soiled herself with breakfast. “It’s breathtaking…”


Almost immediately as she spoke, the whispers suddenly ceased. A deep silence seemed to hang in the air before they all suddenly returned in unison; calmly, but demandingly beckoning “Approach, Milky way inhabitants”


~~~


“Your three!” Grey shouted as he leapt for cover from the wide kick of the massive statue.


Eliza, following his shout, likewise dived; taking cover behind a large support column holding up the second floor hallway that she had just recently fallen from.


“I know you’ve always said you had big enemies Grey, but don’t you think this is a bit much!” she shouted as she replaced the power clip of her arc rifle.


Following the satisfying ‘click’ of her rifle, she quickly popped out to fire a few rounds and cover Grey’s attempt to flank. The brilliant purple pulses of the arc rifle peppered at the core of the statue. While they were definitely having an affect, it just didn’t seem to be doing its work quickly enough.


“There is no alternative!” Came the statues booming echoed voice. “You will all serve me!”


“Sorry… I checked your health coverage.” Eliza shouted back “The dental sucks.”


Enraged, the marble fey rushed forward, trampling the greenery of the shrubbery maze in the process. With her shoulders low, the statue charged into her hiding place as a football player would make a tackle, sending huge slabs of stone flying everywhere.


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  • Eliza saw moments seem to collapse upon themselves as hundreds of ‘her’ flew about in seemingly all directions. The majority of them had been sent flying by the immense force of the statues tackle, finding themselves either crushed under huge slabs of rock and wood, or smashed against the wall of the garden in what resembled strawberry jam. Her gaze flitted back and forth at the myriad of disasters that occurred to her as confusion poured over her.


    “What the hell is all this…?” she thought as she watched herself die a billion times over. Though she had silently asked herself, she already had her hunches. This had been almost exactly like she imagined those old ‘choose your own path’ novels she had loved to read when she was a kid growing up in sector eight.


    Finally spotting a version of herself that wasn’t going to require being scrapped off the walls and floors, and running out of time to choose anything else, she sent her body hurtling in motion. She rushed out towards Grey as quickly as her body could manage.


    With a loud crash, the statue smashed into the support column, sending that portion of the second floor hallway warping drastically under its own weight. Wasting no time, the giant fey woman grabbed one of the large slabs of rock out of the air and hurled it towards her back. Without so much as a glance, Eliza dropped to the floor in a quick forward tumble ending in a large flop on her back. She grit her teeth just a moment before finally events caught up to her personal ‘novel’ and the slab crashed into her leg, crushing every bone in her foot.


    She cried out in pain as she leveled her gun backwards and squeezed the trigger, firing round after round of brilliant violet flashes, knowing it was now or never.


    “SHIT!” Grey shouted as he ceased his rearward charge. He absolutely refused to lose yet another friend… definitely not her; not with him so damned close!


    He squeezed firmly at the trigger of his own arc rifle which sent out another couple of flashes before wheezing out in the air.


    “You’ve got to be kidding me!” he exclaimed as he tossed the rifle aside, no longer having any clips left to replace into it.


    He watches as the statue charged forward in long strides, already pulling its huge ivory fist up into the air to literally pulverize her. He tried to come up with some brilliant plan to get them through it, but that had always been Eliza’s forte, and he simply didn’t have enough time. In a mad dash without a single thought in his mind beyond ‘save her’, Grey charged forward to meet the marble giantess. He drew his arc pistol from its side holster and cocked its hammer as he barreled past where Eliza had been pinned.


    Every fiber of his being demanded he slide along the fresh grass as the statue began to throw its fist at him, seemingly deciding one target was just as good as the other. These ‘demands’ had already served him so well… no point in ruining it when they had such a good thing going.


    He leapt forward onto his stomach as if he was some kid playing upon a ‘slip n slide’, managing only to get scraped along his back in the process. With his momentum finally coming to a halt behind her and a plan finally rushing into his mind, He quickly ejected the clip of his experimental pistol and slammed it back in in reverse.


    Immediately, the weapon started to buzz dangerously, leaving Grey with just one choice left: chuck it. He tossed the weapon at the giantess’s face as she turned, eying him in a combination of amusement and confusion. The butt of the gun crashed into her forehead with a light ‘thud’ before finally falling away into the grass beneath her.


    For a moment, the two simply stared at one another; Grey in fear, and the statue with a wide smirk along its cracked lips.


    “That… isn’t quite how I saw it… in my head” Grey let out weakly, only widening the smile of the statue as she slowly raised her foot into the air.





    • Without warning, the buzzing of the pistol rose in volume till it was almost deafening. Only moments later, a blinding flash of violet light raced through the large garden, filling both Eliza’s and Grey’s mind with cotton.


      The statue simply loomed there for a while longer, utterly lifeless. It did not, however, take long for gravity to work upon the precariously balanced block of marble. It careened ever more quickly backwards before finally crashing into the already compromised second floor hallway. Wood and stone splintered away under the sudden force and weight, collapsing the entirety of the hall with the large metal boxes that made the foundation for many of the ‘rooms’ sent sliding out like dominos, one narrowly missing Grey’s head in the process.


      “Eliza!” Grey stammered out as his mind slowly began to clear again.


      Faint coughing emerged from somewhere in the newly formed dust cloud before finally she shouted “I’m here… I— I’m fine.”








~~~


“…They really are idiots…” Python thought as the boy with the twinkling finger pointed at her.


She had thought the deflected bullet would serve as a deterrent, warning all to the vast difference between her and them; between mother’s wisdom and their cut-rate false enlightenment. Moreover, their worthless device was in plain view… even if they had been fooled into believing their technology was superior, surely they would have recognized the threat an already stronger enemy with it would present to them.


She had gone out of her way to let it all slide, a favor only earned due to the cuteness of the young boy. She had even gone so far as to ‘gently’ remove the idiot from her path, but if he actually fired, what was left for her to do but defend herself and send it bouncing right back.


As the light at his finger tips grew steadily stronger, Python discretely increased the strength of her barrier. If he was stupid enough to fire, he was stupid enough to die of his own attack.


—


They boy stood there with his hand outstretched, pointing at the clearly dangerous girl as he focused his power as intensely as he could manage. Finally, feeling as if it could no longer be held, he let it all out… all at once.


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  • He had intended a thin, disastrous beam of light that would sear its way right through his adversary; instead, each light upon the roof of the grand foyer found itself stolen away in brilliant white streaks. His finger felt red hot, glowing furiously before a light more akin to an incredibly bright spotlight raced forward in a quick flash.


    “Damn it!” Python shouted out as she rubbed at her eyes, blinded. “The hell kind of laser is that!”


    Once again the foyer had been plunged into darkness. Python staggered forward, attempting to grab at the boy but only managing to find thin air having actually stopped a few feet in front of him. She was furious, her normally pale face had gone a bright shade of red and her skin shown with a thin film of violet light. There would be no more kindness; if she touched him again… she would be certain to apply enough force to grind him to dust.


    [python blinded]


    [minor ability ‘ ’ unlocked]


 
As the others spoke among each other Cross paid no attention,he really didn't want to. He had sat up and stared at his hands as he messed with the note he grabbed out of his pocket,the only thing that did catch his attention what what Ruth had said to him, “You know . . . you may be one of those silent smart people....Just remember . . . if you are . . . you probably have more important things than you realize and just are giving yourself too little credit.” With that he had looked up at her and smiled,he did not agree with what she said but it could be true. He thought himself as just a burden like he's always been,never changing his perspective of that. His father was the smart one though never silent,thinking to himself and sometimes whispering he sat there staring at the note in his hands again.


Still waiting for the chatter to stop,Cross started listening more to their surroundings and heard his name called as before. Turning around to the direction he heard it he looked around,not as freaked out before but now more curious. Not seeing anything in the direction of where he heard his name called he stood up and looked around once more. Feeling his right hand to slightly burn he clenched it tight though showing no expression of pain,looking to the little group as if he was going to say anything he stopped when he heard the girl speak.“What I… would like? I… don’t know. I’ve never— I’ve never thought about it before…” Since Cross hadn't been paying attention he wasn't sure what she was talking about,though figuring if he just started talking about something random it wouldn't make much sense to them ether.Sighing he turned around to looked once again to the direction he heard his name,wondering if he should just go check it out by himself thought once again figured it wouldn't make matters better here.


He then remembered what the monkey had said it saw and they hadn't checked it out yet,wanting to tell the others yet not knowing how at the moment he just stood looking over to the team and sighed once again waiting.
 
Malcolm was amazed that the girl hadn't attacked him as he launched himself past. Looks like Benji distracted the freak... As Malcolm approached the headmaster,he was momentarily afraid. What if he's dead? Then we'd be screwed! Malcolm knelt down and examined the man's motionless form. He couldn't see his torso rising and falling. He couldn't hear him breathing. Malcolm quickly held his hand before the man's face,and waited...


There.


A breath. A warm rush of air,in contrast the the cool air around them. He's breathing. Therefore,his heart's fine,for now. He'll live.


Malcolm looked at the door,and saw the girl still standing,lacking an autocauterized wound anywhere. She was,however,appeared to be suddenly drunk. She's blind! Must've been one helluva light show. Daft Punk grade. Malcolm gingerly moved the headmaster's unconscious form into a more natural position,and checked on his own right hand. It was nearly a fist now,thanks to the muscles naturally contracting,and rigor mortis. I hope our medics can work miracles... He looked at the girl,and his face hardened. She needs to die.


Malcolm stood up,and approached the girl at a swift walk...Which would put normal humans at a dead run. A strand of razorwire erupted from his right forearm's top surface,just behind the wrist,and began to spool out. He grabbed the end with his left hand,and held on tightly,ignoring the pain of it digging into his flesh. Malcolm wrapped the wire around his hand tightly and quickly,cutting to the bone at his palm. Bear the short term pain...Complete the long term objective...


The wire continued to spool out until two feet of razorwire hung between Malcolm's hands. Once it reached that point,the wire simply stopped spooling. Giving a sharp tug,bringing the wire taut,Malcolm was pleased that it didn't spool further. Just as I hoped... Malcolm was now upon the girl,and saw the bands of the Device the girl used as a choker. Malcolm opened his left hand,gritting his teeth against the pain,and briefly considered using the bloodied hand to quickly undo the bindings. His speed was for more than just running. It manifested,although in much smaller magnitudes,in every motion he made. It was as if he was living adrenaline. No. Too risky.


Malcolm closed his left hand whipped his arms above the girl's head,and snapped them down,then back. It was a blur,a motion that happened so fast that it was over when it began. But,when dealing with a person who could apparently manipulate their muscle density at will,you could never know. He crossed his forearms,and heaved up. Malcolm's exoskeleton would be able to take much of the load,and combined with his own superior size and,hopefully,natural strength,he'd be able to heave the girl off the ground...If he caught her.


"BENJI! GRAB A GUN AND SHOOT THIS LITTLE..." The expletive he used had four letters. He truly reviled this girl. We done nothing. Why are we under siege!?
 
“We’ll damned well try …” Satisfied with that answer, Eliana held onto Talin; listening intently to what they all had to say. Ruth with her soothing yet numb-like words which shoke Eliana the wrong way. Luke with his silence, annoying her slightly yet she couldn´t complain as she had not herself joined the conversation.


Talin and his calm demeanor which shattered as she felt him tighten his hold on her slightly; as if he needed support; his jumping heart another sign. Blink and her moments of revelation as she seemed to be on edge, near insanity. A bit delusional one could say; Cross almost implying that he was useless made Eliana remember what sort of position she was in.


It annoyed her how she was at the moment the most useless member of the group; A crying mess of a little girl with absolutely no physical strength. It annoyed her how she was clinging to her own sanity instead of trying to help out.


"If...If you don´t know....How about telling us your real name?" She mumbled suddenly, her voice shaky and husky of all the sobs she had let loose, hoping Blink would hear her. She had not let go of Talin as of yet but reached for the book she had obtained in the freezer.


"We should also re-think our situation. This place is foreign for me...And I suppose for all of us. We have no food, no sleeping tents; we don´t even have water...." She claimed, turning around her body to glance at Cross. "What did the Monkey come across? Anything? Nothing?" She questioned feeling a rush of her survival instincts kick in.


Afterwards, she had turned back to Talin; whispering in his ear for him alone to hear. She hid herself as if she was about to cry again, maybe go to sleep. "I´m going to read more of this book, maybe it´ll give us some clues about...this place and Blink...Please don´t tell the rest and hide me in your grasp..." She had whispered a bit soft before opening the book, flipping to the last page she read. Eliana let her fingers extract all the power she could muster.


Hoping she would once again be surrounded by a scene, letters and words.
 
Instead of the thin beam Benji was trying for, he was immediately blinded as several lights erupted from his fingertip, almost as if it was a disco ball. He cringed, shielding his eyes and taking a step back with the small tug on his arm. The boy blamed Malcolm, but if he had been blinded there was a good chance the girl had been as well. Not to mention it was dark… or maybe that was one of the effects of the light he shot.


He tensed up as he felt the figure lunge for where he was just standing and he lightly squeezed the hand that grabbed him in gratefulness. There was no way he could speak; the girl was right in front of them judging by her voice. Suddenly, there was movement, and it was a sound he heard before today, running down the hallways with his twin. Malcolm was moving, although where, he couldn’t be for sure still trying to rub the spots away from his eye.


The boy stuck close to the person who pulled him away, they had managed to save him once after all. When Malcolm sudden yell to him, he stiffened, shoot this little what? Benji hadn’t heard the term before… but it didn’t sound very nice. Frowning, he stepped in the opposite direction of the girl, keeping a hold of the hand that used to be on his arm. “HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO DO THAT!?” he yells, not sure if it was just dark or he was still blind...


--


Abbie watched with a frown as Ms. Ritsa bent over and threw up on the grass, tugging gently on Beccas hand away. Barfing, as her mom used to explain to her, was the body’s way of getting rid of bad things in your tummy. Ms. Ritsa must’ve been sick to expel so much out of her body at once…


Slowly though, the woman rose up, and took in the surroundings she has seen herself, trees that surrounded a massive stone in the middle. Abigail was intrigued, immediately wanting to walk towards the massive stone and starting to tread towards it. Words of the teacher behind her paused her journey, suddenly turning to hear Ms. Ritsa…


Beautiful…but impossible?


Abbie gave her a weird look, “…aren’t we impossible?” she notes, referring to the fact that they are gifted with powers. Turning back to the stone, Abbie starts heading towards it, and pulls Becca behind her.


(Pristine Dark Autumn)
 
Becca looked at Ritsa, feeling a pang of sympathy for the woman. She wanted to ask what was wrong, but decided she'd let it go for now. The more pressing matter was the voices. "Is this really a good idea?" she wondered aloud, hesitating momentarily before allowing Abbie to pull her along. Becca really didn't like the sound of those voices. This whole place had started to give her the creeps. Ritsa was right: the place was impossible and Becca certainly didn't want to be here any longer. They couldn't go back any longer, but Becca didn't want to go forward. She wondered if perhaps it would've been better if they had stayed in the catacombs.


After a few moments of walking behind Abbie reluctantly, Becca fell in step beside the young girl, her eyes flitting around. Every voice in her head was telling her that this was a bad idea. "What do you think those voices belong to?" she questioned Abbie, thinking that maybe the girl could give some insight. No one seemed to know what was going on here, so Abbie's guess was as good as anyone's.
 
"What did the Monkey come across? Anything? Nothing?" Was all Cross got from the group from Effy,and at that question Cross' eyes slightly widened as he realized. They weren't paying attention to anything,just this stupid conversation that was wasting precious time. He had already explained what the monkey said and he was sure he said it clearly to where they could all hear,yet they still do nothing. There are tons of kids and Jason could be there yet these people just stand around talking,this irritated Cross to his peak. He knew all to well anger did not end well with him but these people were starting to drive him crazy,Effy seemed to have already turned her attention to something else by the time Cross was going to say something,if he wanted to.


"What's the point anymore...." He had spoke out loud to himself,he was not going to repeat himself about what the monkey said nor was he going to wait around any longer to listen to this crap they were talking about that he had no part of. Turning around he started walking,leaving the others behind and heading to where he was sure these other kids were. It wasn't like the group would notice he was leaving,they were too caught up in their mess to care.
 
At the request of Pristine Dark this RP is being terminated and has been moved to inactive.


Thank you very much to all who were involved in it, and I truly hope that you find new and exciting stories to fall in love with.


~<3~ Chao
 
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