Once more, Gloriosa, with the feels.

Lizzie was numb; her body was like a shell for her mind as thoughts, pictures and different signs rushed through her head. A bit dizzy she didn´t care to listen to the lady as she explained why they were here. She didn´t care because she understood everything. Lizzie herself couldn´t see the big picture nor why; but she just knew how to get herself out of this situation as she studied the young man. He was in the most awkward position she had ever seen and instantly she took a mental picture before chuckling for herself. But she was even more amused as he grabbed her hand before dropping it as if he came to realize what he was doing.


"Escape like the fox, dear. The name is Lizzie and from now on we´re partners at crime." A smirk graced her lips and her exaggerated way of speaking like an secret agent before she grabbed the mans hand. Giving him a brief wink as her eyes shone with excitement, she stared at the small hole in the police´s plan of keeping them there.


"I owe you one for taking away the guards attention. You see there," Lizzie pointed at the opposite side of where the crowd was facing, a bit to the left of the quarantine zone. "No guards in five meters, if we are stealthy we may even leave without them knowing!" Lizzie was far beyond excited, she was ecstatic; she could go to her angel, her very purpose of life. Her daughter. But sadly the lady guard from before had over-heard them and with a huff, she came over; her eyebrows raised at the two.


"And, Miss, where are you going?" Luckily none else seemed to notice their conversation since everyone was still in one big crowd; discussing why the government even wanted them here. Heck, why were they even tested upon? But one other feeling but relief entered Lizzie; rage. How dare she stop her from seeing her daughter? Who was she to even imagine such things?


Lizzie didn´t even think that perhaps she was overreacting and the lady was simply doing her job but with eyes dark of rage and just a tiny bit of hope which she refused to become crushed, she growled out a response that shook the lady to the core. "Out of my way, NOW! Or I swear to the mighty lord that made me, you´ll regret it..." The officer didn´t know what it was or even how she came to listen to the rude teenager in front of her but moving to the side, she let the two pass her before blinking once, twice and the third time one thought passed through her mind. Did that girl always have such a thick Russian accent?


Well out of the quarantine zone awhile after she turned around with her eyes wide. She was out of there. She was able to see her daughter! If she could find her... "So, what´s your name, sir?"
 
Lori was taken aback at Alani’s reaction. What had been intended as a joke had seriously backfired. She had to figure out a way to diffuse this and fast. Guilt washed through her. She had not meant to terrify the woman. So Lori backed off fast - up a few feet and to the side about 5 feet (Gerry’s right; Alani’s left). The idea was to draw Gerry’s attention away from staring at Alani.


“I’m sorry.” Lori cursed herself for her stupidity. Then her eyes fixed on the cell phone. Like flashlights its display had flickered. That gave her an idea.


She gave a moment then approached again. This time she ran her hand through Alani’s - the one holding the phone. First she did this once; then paused; then twice; another pause, then three times. Finally she backed off for a moment.


“C’mon, learn.” Lori fervently hoped that fear wouldn’t blind the woman to recognizing the pattern.
 
"Oh my God, no, none of this." Emilyn's eyes widened, or well, her eyebrows did, trust me, if she wasn't so stoned her eyes would have been as wide as cherry pies. She watched as first, the bearded man started to freak out, like he'd seen a ghost or some shit. "Man, I'm dealing with human-hugging plants and earthquakes I cannot handle any paranormal activity! Not down here!" She started and pressed herself against the cold dirt and concrete.


When the woman started to lose it, Emilyn just didn't know what to do. She swallowed hard and chewed on her bottom lip. The pigtails on either side of her dirty face were uneven and falling out but, She nervously smoothed them for comfort. Then the woman picked up a rock and started cussing at the bearded dude. Well, she cussed at everyone and everything so, aside from her normal, pleasant cussing, she was cussing all crazy-like at this guy. "Oh man, put that down, you'll hurt yourself!" Emilyn said, only a tad more audible than their yelling.


Emilyn was about to just take off down the tunnels, say screw all this crazy drama and leave them when her blue eyes, glazed with red caught the flickering of the woman's cell phone. For a moment Emilyn was caught in the trance of the flickering, just as she would be caught in any flickering of any lights at the moment. Then it hit her, Or well, it wasn't some big epiphany that would rock the universe and save them, she just remembered that the woman was still holding a rock. What if she freaked out and dropped it on herself? What if she freaked out and chucked that thing clear across the tunnel at her, or Puddin'. Emilyn knows darn well Puddin' doesn't need anymore brain damage.


Emilyn swallowed and looked at the hand held high up, gripping the brutal looking stone. She looked past it, at the broken up concrete. She licked her lips and held her hand out just a little bit in the woman's direction but still concentrated on the dirt right past her, falling between the concrete. She wanted to help and she needed to know just what was up with the plant thing. Emilyn's head began to throb and she gave a small frustrated sigh but didn't stop concentrating even though it was the hardest thing for her to do at the moment. Then, suddenly a warmth began to spread from her chest and across her body. For a split second within that warmth she feared she'd pissed herself but remembered that human's can't piss themselves from their chest, then she thought that perhaps she was pregnant and suddenly lactating at the precise wrong moment. She made a disappointed face and was about to look down at her body to make sure everything was okay when the dirt behind the woman began to move. The warmth in Emilyn's body grew stronger and she furrowed her eyebrows. She felt as if she was pulling something towards her, no not her, her body was doing this? "C'mon..." She murmured and curled her fingers in towards herself a little as the dirt began falling and moving from the cracks in the concrete faster. Then she saw it, a few roots were moving from the space between the broken concrete.


With one more pull from her mind and body she willed the roots to gently wrap around the woman's hand and rock, that way if she was to freak out and drop it, the roots would cradle it and it wouldn't fall and smack her in the head. She still had room to yank her hand down though, Emilyn understood not wanting to be strung up in this kind of situation. "Please don't freak! I'm only trying to help." She said, her voice giving away just how shocked she was at her own abilities.
 
"You good, luv?" The bearded man asked. At his show of concern, Sebastianne regained some of her mental footing, at least enough to know that she was coming off as weak and she didn't like it. Taking a few calming breaths to put herself together, she realized that for whatever reason the rixation of "thoughts", as she was starting to think of them, had died down to soft buzzes and ghosts. However, as she tried to catch what was being said, all that came to mind was a series of jumbled numbers and words...and maybe some faint voices?





Expected casualties............................


...10-0 10-35........................"I'm sorry"...30UXc989681409 WGs84


Latitude (d:m:s) 51:31:7.35959................. unknown cause........"C'mon, learn"


10-34


.............Longitute (d:m:s) -0:7:55.57497





Sebastianne shook her head. Whatever those "thoughts" were, they made no sense to her, and were faint enough that she could sequester them off with the rest of the uninvited chaos. Sebby took a moment to appreciate the blissful near-silence before turning her mind to the situation at hand.


"Yeah," Sebby replied gruffly to the bearded man, her mind itching at his familiarity. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just having a hard time standing." Taking a breath and petting Isis for comfort, she ventured, "I know you from somewhere." It wasn't a question. She was bad at asking people questions, or asking them for help. She wanted to ask him if it would be okay to use him as a walking stick, but couldn't bring herself to ask. In retrospect, it was probably good she hadn't asked since any sanity remaining in the group collapsed in the next few seconds.


"Oi! If you're not a figment of my bloody imagination and can hear me, you mind maybe trying to prove I'm not a ******* madman?"





"I'll ******* scream! I swear to Jesus ******* Christ!"





"Please don't freak!"


And, then, just to top it all off, from out of ******* nowhere a plant circled around the girl who was now freaking out about aliens.


Sebastianne backed against the tunnel's wall, trying to flatten herself away from the madness that was transpiring before her. As she sunk down to a sitting position, curling up her good leg close to her body, Sebastianne picked Isis up and pressed the cat against her stomach, feeling wet and dusty cat fur through her torn shirt.


She noticed something glowing on the ground next to her-- it was Grass Girl's blunt that she'd dropped as she'd ventured downward into the tunnel, miraculously still lit. Sebby looked at it critically. Then she shrugged, picked it up, and took a drag. With all the shit that was already happening, what's the worst that could happen?
 
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"No, I haven't tried turning someone's powers back ON, but I'm not certain I'd be able to do it...it seems more like my ability is mostly centered around shutting people's abilities off temporarily. And no, I can't use other people's powers. Not that I know of, in any case."


Jevel glanced at the tracker around Robyn's arm.


"Ugh...yeah, it's probably best that we get that off of you. Will it hurt?" he asked tentatively, slowly taking the bolt cutters in his hands. "What if the tracker isn't just like a bracelet; what if it has a part that actually goes into your body? If that's the case, then removing it might be dangerous and will certainly be extremely painful."
 
From her backed off position watched the others react. And as she did so she received a number of normal surprises and face slapping surprises. Among those, was watching the Piercing girl picking up the tiny cigarette butt - which Lori was sure wasn’t tobacco - and taking a drag. Lori rolled her eyes. “Not helping.”


Her attention went back to the stoner girl - probably the one who had dropped it - and was actually surprised at the fact that the only one NOT stoned was the one who had paid attention to the flashing cell phone illumination.


Okay then, maybe something more recognizable…..


Lori moved back in, ignoring the movements of dirt and roots. She began to concentrate her attention on the cell phone. This time she decided to use something they might actually recognize as communication. A part of her smiled when she thought about how THIS might be misinterpreted. But she based her decision off of catastrophe psychology.


She started to caught the lights to flicker. Three shorts; three longs; three shorts. Wash, rinse and repeat. The traditional SOS. "C'mon .... learn."
 
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The bearded male watched with a slight grin as the ghost-girl began moving about, going behind the stern-gal's head and moving her hands about in a silly manner. Then counting and looking to him. He started to say something, started even to give a laugh, when everything went wrong in a manner of seconds.


The woman recoiled violently, a hurt and mistrusting look masking over her face. She cried a pleading cry of "What the ****?!" and her voice and aura shot up with terror and panic. The male moved backwards as well as she assaulted him verbally, pleading with him angrily to call off the apparition, as if he had any control over it. Not being able to get a word in at all over her snapped tones. And then she picked up a rock with intent to weaponize it and almost dared him to act with her glare. For the first time that day, Gerry's brow creased and his eyes twisted to slits.


"Are you ******* kidding me!?" he spat, throwing his arms to his sides and balling his hands into tightly knit fists. "You really think I can bloody control ghosts and would attack you?!" His words were cold, colder than he'd meant, but at that moment he wasn't thinking of any of it. The poor sod was hungover, annoyed and outright fed up with how the day'd been progressing thus far. "Why don't you hit me with the rock then, luv. Go on! Do ******* something instead of maybe trying to help figure out the god damn situation! You think this is easy for any of us?!"


Growling, he turned and stormed away, gripping his head in his right hand as colors flooded his vision. His own aura shifted in tone and flew around his body, the movement making him sickeningly dizzy for just a moment. The world swam. From the corner of his eye, he saw the 'ghost' again and grunted in dissatisfaction. "You can faff about all you bloody want, whatever you are. She's not gonna' see ya'." Turning toward the stoned chick, Gerry almost said something to her, his anger hardly sated. However, as he did, the rage was replaced by an almost euphoric feeling of awe and shock as roots crept up the woman's form. "It's official, the world's gone berserk."


Moving toward the pierced girl again, he strode past her and moved a few feet into the tunnel-thing they'd meant to venture forth to. With a shaking hand, he meant to lit a cigarette, but instead the reaching appendage found an edge to lean against. He pitched forward and retched violently, managing by some miracle not to puke on himself. Gasping at air for a second, he vomited a second time and, after a beat in silence, stood again. "Okay, I think I'm officially ready to go find a corner to crawl into so I can die peacefully," he croaked in a semi-joking manner, holding himself up carefully as the world returned to focus, strange colors and all.
 
Robyn blinked, pausing momentarily to consider Jevel’s words; the redhead hadn’t actually considered that. If the facility had managed to put a chip in her when she had slept, or the bracelet itself had managed to engrain itself. Then again, her wrist didn’t look any different…other than the massive purple and black bruises. She had pushed it up her arm early today and had no resistance….


“Just be careful of my arm” she finally notes, gently extending her arm out from her body, disgusted when she saw her own bone move slightly from the laceration. “We are about to see a doctor if it ends up hurting me” she reminds him, cringing against the pain. “Cut it off, then we can go back to St Anne’s…” she huffs out, her eyes dodging around the alleyway they had cooped themselves up in. This boy, he had been talking about powers like they were run of the mill, and she wondered what he had seen.


"What sort of powers have you seen?" Robyn finally bites, asking him what she had been wondering for a while now. Were there really such things as superheros?
 
"Well, I didn't see TOO much, just that fire-breather bloke I told you about, uh, some guy with really tough skin, and I think I might've saw someone fly. Well, not really FLY, but they got themselves off the ground for a good long bit," Jevel said casually. He continued to talk about his actions at the quarantine site and how he helped the police force calm the rioting.


He was fully aware that he was rambling, but he thought it might help calm the girl down as he brandished the bolt cutters and fitted the blades up against the bracelet- and her arm. The calmer she was for this, the less of a chance there was that Jevel would end up lopping her bloody arm off.


After a few moments, Jevel squeezed hard on the handles of the bolt cutters, and with a metallic crunching and snapping, the bracelet fell from the girl's arm.


"There, it's off. That wasn't too bad, was it?"
 
Fox it iz, I em Yurev. Partners then.


He replied, introducing himself. He hadn't noticed before but he swore she just had a Russian accent, a rather thin one too. At first he had wondered if she were mocking but then for a moment he found himself wrapped up in her words like they were the utmost truth, he felt himself trusting her almost instantly but then it faded. It faded so quickly he wasn't so sure he heard it at all or even felt it but he knew otherwise. He wondered if she too had powers or if she were just really good at mimicing accents. For the time being he ignored the slight oddity and pushed forward. She was right, there were no guards nearby to stop them, their route of escape was plain, for a moment he wondered if it were too plain. Ho worried it was a trap, some convoluted plan to trick them into escaping, thus giving 'them' an excuse to detain someone but that was merely his paranoia.


They made it through the gap with no trouble but their task was not yet over, they had to find Lizzie's daughter. They were not that far from the tent where people were separated after being tested, there would be the best place to start. He tapped on Lizzie's shoulder, pointed to the tent in question and gestured her to follow him there. Despite the amount of guards that had been surrounding them in the tent earlier there were no signs of them there. In fact, it was almost abandoned. Had it not been for the thrum of people in the 'Sorting Tent' Yurev might have thought they'd walked into some strange alternate universe that mirrored there own just with a lack of people.


He crouched low and snuck to the back of the white 'Sorting Tent' and pried open a flap, only so much as to give him a view of the interior, he gained his bearings and watched as yet more and more people were separated and lead down different paths. He closed the flap and gestured to Lizzie to follow him once more before heading for the appropriate tent. There he did not know what he might find. They approached the tent and already he could here the sound of voices, some were the shouts of angry people asking where their loved ones were, there were distraught cries and nervous chatter.


Yurev made his way to one of the corners, there was a gap between the flaps of white material that billowed in a soft breeze. He knelt down and peered through the slit, to his surprise he came face to face with a baby. Surprisingly still the baby belonged to the woman he had helped earlier, the one who had offered him the use of her phone.


Pssst! Pssst!


He hissed to gain the woman's attention, the first to notice him was her son, a smile spread across his face and he tapped his mother enthusiastically. The boy was smiling and just as he took a big breath of air Yurev noticed what he was going to do. Urgently he lifted his finger to his mouth and shook his head slowly to the boy.


Pssst! Pssst! Pssst!


To his credit, the young boy tapped his mother a bit more fervently and in a stunning act of cunning he wandered over to where Yurev peered through the hole and gestured calmly so his mother could see. The woman shifted over and leaned in close to him.


What the hell are you doing?!


She hissed at him as quietly as she could. Yurev cleared his throat and as quietly as was possible he whispered to her.


Look, I am not trying to get you into trouble but my friend here needs to get in there, her child is in there somewhere, they were separated. Can you all crowd around this corner while she tries to fit through?


He whispered as quietly as he could, he tried to keep his voice steady but he couldn't help but plead just a little. His heart was in his chest and he was wired with panic. To his great relief the woman nodded, her face was hard as iron, she knew that she wouldn't allow a single thing to come between her and her children, she would help and Yurev truly was grateful. He almost spewed up his guts a minute later when she called over a few people, he almost jumped away from the corner but she reassured him that they were friends. he eyed them suspiciously while she explained Lizzie's predicament. They all nodded solemnly and began crowding around the corner. Yurev nodded and went about untying the flaps.


He made short work of the nylon ties and opened up the white flap ever so tentatively, he didn't want to open it too wide but Lizzie would be able to fit through.
 
"Mam ...mam please stop asking questions. I already told you what I can tell you." The officer held nothing but a pistol which was tucked nice and neat in his leg holster. Kai couldn't count the night stick as a weapon. It look flimsy like a toy you would use when having intercourse. She was sitting in a chair, the rest of the people around her , those that were being detained. She didn't even know why, well not like she knew why on many things. " Alright can you at least tell me what corn is?" She tilted her head to the side, making her eyes wider than usual. The man had no time for her petty sarcasm and only turned his back on her. "Well I'll be damned...you can do more than just say Mam...mam please stop asking questions. " She said as she put her hands on her hips and shook her head about. Her hair flipping from side to side as she made a serious face.


The man turned around and pointed the night stick toward her. His eyes were wide and he leaned in to her like he was going to attempt to whisper from a few inches . Mrs. Don't test me. I have full authority to take you out if I deem you a threat. Kai nodded her head up and down as she rolled her eyes. "Sure you do pal...just like I have authority to kick your ass in front of these people." The man growled as he stepped closer to her. Kai returned the growl right back, showing more teeth and even did a cat scratch type motion. "Calm down honey bunch...aren't you a little fed up with not knowing what's going on. The only reason why you cant tell me a thing is because you yourself don't even know the situation." The man was quiet and could only do small glares. Kai took this as a win and through her hands up. " Hey hey....calm down man, I'm just saying. Little sketchy if you ask me. " "Shut up...and just be quiet, were working here.


Kai gave him a thumbs up after giving him a fake smile of understanding. She had put her chin on her arm as she tilted the chair forward. A boy watching her. You not sitting in the chair right...it's suppose to be the other way around. Kai looked over and gave him a thumbs up. "Thanks kid but...I think if I am going to die in five seconds ...I want to die doing the thing I never could." The kid gave a worried look, running of to what seemed to be his father who was pointing fingers at an officer. Kai looked away, annoyed by her situation at he moment. She is being watched by a guy who knows nothing and acts big and bad. She has a kid who keeps telling her to sit the right way and for he love of god she couldn't get the song she heard about an hour ago out of her head. "BLOODY HELL The guard quickly turned around with an alarmed look. Kai was on the floor holding her stomach as she pointed toward the man's face. "Priceless man...your face....you look like you shitted bricks...did you piss your pants man. Want me to get you a new pair.
 
"Not helping..." A silent, pseudo-voice prodded Sebastianne from the corner of her mind. Among the jumble of what was now half-heard "thoughts",the voice, however faint, jutted to the forefront.


"What are you, my mother?" She grumbled under her breath to the voice in her head. "I'll do what I damn well please." She took another drag of the joint to prove her point, trying to focus on the smoke instead of Bearded Man's screaming voice, hoping it would calm her frayed nerves and maybe relieve some of the pain in her foot.


A few moments of tense silence later-- well, near silence, the man beside her was now retching-- Sebastianne heard the voice again. "C'mon...learn." The almost-voice said, right before the consistent pattern of light flashed from the freaked out woman's mobile.


Okay, well. That was a little eerie. Sebby's eyes narrowed as the glanced the bearded man, who had spoken about seeing a person hovering above them. Could be that Beard man wasn't crazy, and that this thing actually exist and that Sebastianne could hear this ghost-thing's thoughts?Just like Sebastianne could apparently hear everyone else's thoughts? But, if so...why could she hear this ghost-person's thoughts and not the thoughts of the Grass Girl, the Angry Girl, or Beard Man?


Right now, most of those questions were irrelevant. "Hey, ghost? Or whatever you are... I think I can... hear you. Or what you're thinking. I don't know what the fuck it is, exactly. But stop with the light tricks and shit, because it's just adding to all the freaky shit that's happened today. Try talking to me," Sebastianne breathed in deeply, trying to calm her frayed nerves which the weed hadn't soothed at all, even though her mind was starting to feel a little...removed.


Next, Sebastianne shrugged off her rucksack and unwisely tried to stand. She winced as she put pressure on her left foot-- aparently the weed hadn't dulled the pain either. Grimacing against the sharp feeling in her hankle, she hobbled over to Grass Girl and returned the blunt to her, muttering, "Better to be stoned with grass than a rock." Then she walked over to the Angry Girl and, taking care not to get to close in case the Angry Girl felt like decking her, she reached over to grab the rock from the woman's captured hand, trying not to look too closely at the roots which were wrapped around her wrist. The unnatural roots only added to her unease.


Glaring at the woman through tear-stained racoon eyes, she lectured the woman acerbically, "Are you as dense at this stone? What, exactly, were you planning on doing with this?" Sebastianne shook her head, remembering rather than seeing all the pictures that had flown through her mind in the last hour. "Enough people have been killed today," she added quietly.


Then she hobbled back to her rucksack, nearly tripping over a bit of debris in the process. "Fuck," Sebastianne swore as a fresh dose of pain shot through her leg. When she finally managed to sit down, she looked back at the Bearded Man, and the pile of sick at his feet."Ew."
 
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Another wave of relief and excitement rushed through Lizzie as they safely made it through the gap. Luckily the tent were she was separated from her family was not far away from where they stood. Yurev had seemed a bit unsure, making Lizzie smirk. She found it quite amusing how they worked like a pair of secret agents, running around trying to figure out who the bad guy was. The only difference was they were looking for her daughter and avoiding the bad guys, the officers, instead of fighting them.


It wasn´t until they reached their destination that small butterflies start playing tricks in her stomach at the thought of being caught. The sound of cries for help, angry shouts and commotion bring her to reality. This was where people lost their loved ones, their family, their lovers; their sole reason for existences. This tent was the very place she lost her daughter. Lizzie wanted to do something to stop other people from feeling that hurt and decided that as fast as she found her daughter and Ann.


Thought that dream went into a slight rumble as she saw Yurev starting a conversation with a child! That fool was trying to get them caught, was he crazy? Wanting to smack him upside down just to return his common sense made Lizzie roll her eyes as she saw a kid and his mother. Was he going to try to make the woman feel sympathy? Yet when the child seemed to recognize him, she smiled. Perhaps he also had a family he had to return to?


She didn´t really have the time to ask as soon the woman had agreed to their plan and already set in motion, Lizzie had come inside the tent. After sending a smile she had quickly ducked down to the small opening, peeking through it she smirked at her new found friend. "You coming or should I leave you behind!?"


Instead of letting him answer her question she had tried to force him through the opening and with a small smirk she looked over the crowd. The place was full with black hair but this didn´t make it harder for Lizzie to recognize the people causing the small commotion at the side of the tent. Ann was screaming furiously as a officer held onto Amber´s arm and another two had tried to contain the crazy woman. Amber on the other hand was holding tightly to Ann´s leg and tears fell continuously from her big doe eyes. Anger rushed through Lizzie and with a force she never knew she had she took Yurev´s arm and went through the crowd.


Another officer had come to see her furious gaze set on her family and sighed. He was one of the few guards in the tent that was told to handle such situation with words rather then force and came up to the two. "Miss, is anything wrong? I believe everyone who was cleared green are to stand at the left while those that are yet to take the test are situated on the right. Or wasn´t that clear the first time the doctor told you?" His voice was gruff and absolutely annoying to Lizzie´s ears so with a glance of fury she huffed.


"Yes, sir; I know but my sister and mother are just there! I´ve been cleared, my cousin here has also been cleared and so has my family; it is just..." Lizzie used her teenage looks, widening her eyes in fear. "Well mother, you see; she was separated from us and I believe she was afraid that I was diagnosed wrongly." Giving her family a worried glance, making the officer give the commotion a look before sighing. She stared at him in fear as she looked at his big rifle, a trick she had learnt from Amber. "Luckily I wasn´t! If you don´t believe me, you could always just make me take the test again..."


Shaking his head at the poor girl, he looked at her mother and the small girl before smiling lightly. "Don´t worry, Miss. You and your cousin can go on..." Nodding she left the stupid idiot to go to her family and when she arrived she smirked at the shock faced Ann. Amber ran into her mothers arm after ripping herself from the officer suddenly. "Mom! I-I... y-you... WAAAH!" The officers gave each other a few looks before letting Ann go and muttering under their breath.
 
Jevel is rather chatty. Robyn didn’t really seem to notice it when she was busy running around calling the shots, but now the boy just talked. She figured it was probably a way to calm her, telling about how he was running around ‘touching’ people and helping out the police officers. Robyn figured it was a way to calm her, and once she realized that, she focused on him, rather than the bolt cutters he was brandishing. The girl needed to show trust in him if she was going to get it back, and that’s exactly what she was aiming for.


It was with a crunch and a snap that the slight weight was lifted off her arm, but a metal weight also seemed to strip free of her. Forgetting about the injury for a brief second, she tried to turn her arm and cried out in pain, blinking away tears from her eye. Jevel’s words come to mind, and she looks up sheepishly at the boy, “Not bad until I did that” she confessed. Then she picks up the dismantled tracker, throwing it very lopsidedly with her bad arm.


The only trace of her was in skin cells, which would be unrecognizable when the rats got to it. After a moment consideration, she takes the bolt cutters and slips them behind nearby bread boards. There was no way to store such an item without looking dangerous. Finally nodding to her pseudo-partner, she takes the lead on the way back to the church.
 
Alani was a bit confused, to say the least, by her bearded assailant’s commentary. Her mind, currently fragmented by terror, recalled some previous oddity whereby the kite high chick had freaked herself out by use of her own power. For a moment she had wanted to believe in him, desperate to find some sort of hope for safety and to trust in the benign nature of these inhumanely powerful individuals. That moment had abruptly ended as vines wrapped themselves around the stone in her hand, though. This alone was enough to suggest that they knew their abilities well enough to use them in an emotionally charged situation and obliterated any thoughts to the contrary.


Stupidly the girl had tugged quickly at the rock, noting the bearded man’s rather impressed look at the other woman’s power before he stumbled off to be ill. She watched as the one she had been helping finally decided that she was going to stand and act and felt fear creep through her. This one had calmly sat while the other two had proven just how powerless she, a mere mortal, was in comparison to their awesome ability. It was only when the girl had snapped at the ghost about the light show that Alani had even noticed her phone was going semi-berserk in her hand or that the chill that she had initially run from was present there. Up until this point, blind terror had focused her in on only the tangible things in the area.


“Cute,” she muttered in a sardonic and hushed tone as the universal distress call flashed quickly across its cracked screen. “Mocking me …”


Even this moment of sarcasm, however, was almost immediately overcome by another wave of terror as the punk girl grabbed at the weapon in her hand and chastised her. This close proximity was enough to finally push the fractured girl to movement, though, and she immediately let go of the stone as she attempted to bolt. It would have been brilliant - possibly the first sane thing she had done since the explosion - were it not for the fact that terror stole from her the necessary motor control and she dropped not five feet away.


Now, there is something to be said of a fear so great that it paralyzes you. All too often in the past Alani had herself been guilty of mocking the ridiculous female leads in horror flicks as they flailed about ungracefully in the presence of their killers. Even so, as her mind flashed over all the many slasher films that she had seen, the girl found her limbs entirely unwilling to acquiesce to her desperate attempts. This was the final straw for her as an unbidden and horrible realization overtook the girl and sent a shiver through the very core of her. She was beaten.


It was really so very simple. The man had asked his ghostly companion to prove his power and she had been attacked. Instead of calling it off he had retaliated against her terror and pleading by taunting her towards action. Hell, he probably knew the whole time that the weed girl would come to his aid. That one, previously overlooked in terms of threat due to her drugged state, had taken from Alani the slight safety blanket that she had gathered in the form of her makeshift weapon. The pierced girl had then made it clear through her confident and angry approach that none of the three found her to be the least bit of a threat. Now … now her own body was betraying her.


Yes, she was beaten.


“I … I’m done,” she whispered in a small voice, her tone broken and weak in the face of her own helplessness. “I … I’ll b-be good … promise … p-please?”
 
Surprisingly, by the time Horace had gotten to the medical tents, the press of people, the riot seem to have died down on both sides. That would make things a little less easy. Well, a lot less, really. Timing, timing, timing. It was almost as if he said Macbeth. He was not having a good day. No cameras, no audience, and no skill.


Of course, the fact he turned around and bumped into a policeman, feeling another sharp stab of pain throughout his body, looking into the fearful eyes of a rookie. A step back, another sharp pain, followed quickly by sweet darkness as electricity coursed through his body. He wasn't out for too long, just long enough for him to be deposited in a nicely furnished flat. It wasn't his, which was a shame. Two doctors were standing over him, and he would get up, accidentally elbowing one of them as he did.


"What am I doing here?"


"Sir, it seems you've been altered."


"No, you must be mistaking. I'm not altered. I'm normal."


A look of fear on his face, pushing past the scientists, out the door, seeing a few of the other apparently altered walking around. One was glowing, for Christ sake, he wasn't glowing. Policemen were placed strategically along the hall, and he was whimpering quietly as he slumped in the doorway, drawing his knees up to his chest.


"This, this isn't right."


A creature of ego, so flamboyant and outgoing. No, there must have been some mistake. His left eye started to twitch slightly. They were being kept in people's homes, the police and scientists were trying their best to keep those detained calm and in good health, Food was becoming available, and it seemed almost as if it was because they were scared of the altered. OF course, he was scared of them, he was normal. It was horrible bad luck he was here, that was all. If he managed to make them see reason.


Nothing was moving fast for him, his brain shut down as he was gently escorted back into the flat, blood taken from him, an injection, answering simple questions automatically without thinking. Oh Jesus, Ganesha, Buddha, could this be undone? he wasn't anything special, he was an actor, a being of pure ego. His left eye twitched a little. Ego. Of course. He wasn't some lab rat. His mind and body would slowly start realigning into the pure amount of self confidence that he was built upon. He was Horace Chase. This was his stage, his world, everyone else just stagehands, or people who sold popcorn.


He smiled widely at the next question.


"I think you can take the rest of your questions, right now sir, and shove them so far up your arse you can blow your nose with it. Now get and get me a bottle of scotch, the good stuff, and something decent to eat, a steak or the like. Shoo."


His hands made flapping motions as he pushed the scientists out of the hall and slammed the door in their face. His eyes narrowed. now, how was he going to get out of here. Prepare a plan, put his skills to the test. Police, scientists, Altered which he was not one of. Cameras, air time. He could do this. He just needed to find everything he needed.
 
Daniel smiled for a second, as he shifted his hand through his right jean pocket, taking out a pack of cigarettes, Marlboro Red 100's, his favorite kind. He took a cigarette out and placed it into his mouth, as it hung half way, before grabbing his lighter in his left pocket and lit the cigarette. Inhaling a puff of smoke and exhaling slowly, with a grin half on his face. There were riots a bit earlier, but he chose not to get involved, instead keeping his head low and managed to get close enough to the medical tents.


Instead, he just pretended that he had a staring contest with a police officer that was staring at him with a blank face. He wasn't up to no good, he could tell that the police officer was just doing his job as he slowly shifted his eyes towards the man as he approached slowly. Instead he took the cigarette out of his mouth as he approached with a grin on his face saying.


" Oi, chap haven't I seen you before? "


He slowly shook his head in disagreement, well he didn't know he tried to process the police officer's face through his mind, but he couldn't remember. Instead he just responded with a simple.


" No. I don't think so, unless you go to Welford Airforce Base. "





His American accent was showing clearly as it echoed through his mind, his father was at the Airforce base, instead he forgot his cellphone in his car that broke down. He wished he had his truck back home in the states, instead he was stuck with some European car that didn't last as long. Instead he thought slowly as the guard replied. Welford was about 10 minutes away from Britain, it wasn't that far, he found himself making daily trips out of the Airforce base just to go work at a shop to fix vehicles.


" Oh, your from the states. I have seen you before, I usually work details near Welford base. What brings you to London? I don't suppose I can get a smoke can I? "


Daniel quickly put his lit cigarette back in his mouth as he took out his pack of cigarettes and held it out to the officer. He watched as the officer took it and lit the cigarette as he stood nearby Daniel as he waited to get checked inside the tents, he was sure his father was concerned about him, instead he was a moron who had forgot his cellphone at the time. He replied to the officer.


" My father is a Colonel up at the base, I live with him for the time being, trying to get by fixing vehicles out here. "





The officer shifted his head around as he inhaled and exhaled the cigarette smoke. He could tell that the officer was just trying to do his job as well, which he understood. The officer smiled at him as he took a step backwards and flicked the burnt up cigarette butt away and stepped on it with his boot, saying to Daniel in the process.


" Oi, well best of luck to ya chap. Good luck getting out of here, your lucky you didn't get caught up in the trouble earlier.... "


Daniel just nodded his head in agreement as he flicked his butt away as well. Moving up trying to get into the tent and out so he can leave.
 
Lori grinned half in awe, half in elation. One of them, the Pierced Girl had not only heard her, but responded. Then she listened as the one normal person among them caught on. Lori felt a twinge of guilt at the accusation about mocking. How to respond? She needed to organize her response well. Thing of it was, she wasn’t very good with people at all…


She moved closer to the Pieced Girl. “Okay. Let’s get a few things straight. First off, I am not a ghost. I am travelling astrally. I’ve been trying for a long time. Today was just the first time it worked. Second, if you would, please relay an apology to the one I played my little joke on. It was just that she was dressed the most normal of the lot of you. I was looking for … contrast. I was trying to do something you wouldn’t expect a ghost to do.


“Now then, that said, how would you like a schematic of the tunnels? If one of you has a cell phone, I could send them to you. The dummies running the cordone don’t seem to know how to run a real blackout. But I’d need a phone number to send data.


“I will also be able to speak with everyone that way if you place me on speaker. My end of the conversation would be secure. Yours will not, so you’d want to refrain from using names, speaking of abilities, or your location.


“You guys should have gone south. Shorter walk to get past the medical tents. Plus my - uhm - … the -- uhm … guy with me … H-he … uhm .. is pretty smart.” He said the explosion crater cut off the sewage lines between it and the Thames. But I guess you guys didn’t think of that. Too late now I guess. So … that phone number? And do you guys have a plan for once you get out?”
 
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Emilyn frowned as watched as the bearded man yelled at the frightened woman then threw up. "Whoa man, you need to just... yeah... chill." Her last two words faded out as he did on his own what she was suggesting, a few feet away from them toward where they were all heading. She frowned again as the pierced chick walked over to the frightened woman, yelled and took the rock that was gently wrapped in the roots that Emilyn was still astonished by the fact that she had coerced them to grow for her. She watched as the pierced chick walk and sit away from them, bear the bearded man.


Emilyn blinked a few times and scratched her ear as her eyes slowly made their way back to the frightened woman. She sighed and walked closer a few feet and with every step she took to the woman, she had the roots slink their way back into the dirt where they belonged. "I uh.." She started not sure of what to say, she was clearly still frightened by them and Emilyn had no idea how she could calm her or earn her trust. She was saying something about being good. Emilyn raised an eyebrow. "Haha, you make it seem like this is a hostage situation... man, I could go for a burrito about now..." She mumbled as she sat down next to the frightened woman and took a drag from the almost done joint that the pierced girl handed back to her.


"Puddin' loves burritos." She said matter-of-factly. "Speaking of Puddin..." She added and lifted her head to find her lovable and dumbass pug having a field day with the bearded man's vomit. "Puddin! Come on! No!" She called to her dog who looked up from the puddle of sick for a moment long enough to give a yap, lick it's nose and almost it's eyeball with it's ridiculously long tongue and go back to it's nasty meal. "No burritos for you!" Emilyn snapped tossed a small pebble at her dog who freaked out when it smacked it's butt by running in three circles before deciding to just collapse next to the bearded man and nap. Emilyn sighed. "Well, I don't want burritos anymore...' She grumbled with a disgusted face. "...soup... I want soup." She added thoughtfully.
 
They had been reunited, mother and child at last. Their reunion was touching and Yurev was glad for the duo but his job was done and they didn't need him quite so much anymore. Relieved he felt like a weight had lifted from his shoulders but he needed to know what was going to happen next, were they all going to be let go now that they were in a different tent? Or, were they going to be held indefinitely? He wrinkled his face somewhat and decided he would yet again try his luck with a guard, who knew, maybe he'd be lucky the second time around too? So he rolled his shoulders and took a deep breath in preparation before he walked as calmly and naturally as he could, though an uneasy feeling settled over him and he couldn't shake it.


He approached a young female officer, she was dressed similarly to the rest of her colleagues, though she wore her auburn hair in a tight ponytail. She looked relatively young, possibly in her early or mid twenties, she even wore a name tag on her right breast. It read; Hello, my name is Lisa. He found it odd that this one woman amongst a whole platoon of officers was the only one wearing a name tag. He looked at her as he approached, she returned the look with a smile, her eyes glistened slightly. While he approached the woman his head was struck by an immense migraine, the pain was too much and he couldn't keep his feet. He dropped to his knees and grasped his aching cranium with his hands. The pain had become unbearable and his pain threshold was splintered and he yelled out in anguish.


Beyond the tears in his eyes he could make out people moving away from him, he rolled on the ground a moment before the pain instantly subsided. The sudden absence of pain left him somewhat light headed and confused, when he regained his footing he noticed that some of the doctors on hand had come closer but none of them had managed to through the crowd to help him. There was still one person who hadn't moved; Lisa. He hadn't realised it moments ago but he saw that she was walking inexorably towards him. Her hands swung languorously to and fro, he fingers thin and graceful. When she reached arms length Yurev reached out a hand, took a step forward and wrapped his arm lightly around her waist. She took a sharp breath, her eyes wide in surprise but before she could do a thing he leaned forwards, her feet lost purchase on the ground and he felt the majority of her weight rest upon his arm. Now they were face to face and with a long lingering stare they kissed.


He didn't know how long the kiss was but it ended abruptly just as it had begun. One moment he was kissing a beautiful red haired woman, the next he was lying back towards the ground and the air pushed from his lungs from a swift smack to his chest. Lisa leaned into sight and she smiled winsomely at him, it was almost satisfied but it only lasted a second before a second officer, one he didn't know stepped into sight and sent the but of a rifle slamming into his temple, efficiently throwing him from the ledge of consciousness into the black depths of a dreamless sleep.


When he next awoke, he found himself in the back of a truck, or at least what he surmised was a truck before. He only caught so much before his head was covered in a black cloth sack. His hands and legs were bound, but he was not gagged. So Yurev took the opportunity to string together a chain of insults that would have left any rough and tumble Russian naval officer red with offense. There was a silence before the door was closed and he was left alone in the vehicle. Sketchy pieces of his memory returned; he saw flashes of a white tent, the feeling of a soft pillow beneath his head, the sound of gurney wheels chattering over stone and the huff of the people pushing him to his destination. Beyond that however his head was in too much pain for him to think of anything but a sliver of worry worked its way into his head which made the pain so much worse for some reason.
 
When they get back to St. Anne’s the doctor is waiting; a somewhat elderly man by the name of Anthony. The man doesn’t say much to Robyn, asks her only simple diagnostic questions, and his age seems to have no effect on his handiwork. The Reverend only checked up on the man twice, and one of them was to deliver clean water. Still, Robyn was rather shifty, as the man had to cut her hospital blouse from her as to not jolt her arm and or ribs. So while they were in a private room, she still sat very much half-naked in a church.


After the man had fully examined her, he went about actually bandaging her up, giving her no warning when he grabbed her arm and popped bone back into place. She yelled against her clenched teeth and he explained to her that she needed to be relaxed beforehand. Then he carefully wrapped the arm and wrist up in the same cast, providing a support for the wrist that seemed to ‘only be sprained’. Before the man provided her with a sling, he wrapped her cracked rib and helped Robyn into her T-shirt at her request.


With her arm slung, and everything else on the mend, Robyn nodded her thanks and offered him a folded up bill to which he shook his head at. Before he left, there were some strict instructions on when to take the cast and bandages off, and although he offered something for the pain, she shook the idea off, she had been ignoring it this whole time. Then Anthony left, leaving her to shimmy out of her scrub bottoms and into some black sweats. Flip flops replaced the slippers that were practically unable to be called shoes anymore, and Robyn was thankful she had the money to get other material-things. Picking up her old pants, she discarded them in the same garbage as her shirt.


Finally exiting the private room, Robyn went looking for Jevel.
 
Alani shivered slightly as the girl came to sit next to her on the dirty floor of the abandoned tunnel system. Fear caused her eyes to flash brilliantly with distrust and her hands to clench in her lap. This caused the now sleeping phone to slide harmlessly from her lap, but she had mostly forgotten about it already. Beyond this slight quiver of terror, however, she allowed nothing of her reaction to break the desperate bargain she had offered. She would behave, and she would survive … what else was there to be done?


You could attack now…


The unbidden whisper of thought caused a renewed twinge of fear to trace up her spine. The realization was right, she noted quietly. Now would be the most opportune time to strike at these inhumanely talented individuals. As far as she could tell, this one was the primary threat of the group. The other two were terrifying by way of information gathering, but their abilities seemed minimally effective in a fight – at least from what little she had seen. This offered her little comfort due to the fact that she had no experience when it came to combat and would probably do more harm to herself then to the others, but that was another matter. If she were to strike now she could possibly take this one out… unless the other two could hear her thoughts …


“Hostage situation …” she parroted somewhat robotically as her eyes met the girl’s with a quiet pleading. More had been said after that thought, but that was all that really managed to resonate with her. Alani shook her head slightly. This didn’t feel like a hostage situation to her as much as she felt like a cornered individual – mostly because there was nothing that she was being hostaged against. “Not … not a hostage.”


Was this really her speaking? The words weren’t at all fitting for her and the tone was rather pathetic as well … She was not this pitiful little punk. “I’m not a hostage ,,, I’m just … just frightened,” she admitted with a slight air of bravado as something broke and the words started to tumble out rather uncontrollably. “I … I just feel alone right now … you guys all have IT. You have power … you’re terrifying … you’re something beyond normal … What ARE you!? Are you guys even HUMAN!? I need to fucking know … I … I need …” Her eyes shifted quickly to the ill man who was crouched over a bit farther down the tunnel. “Why was THAT necessary? I’m just normal … Not like you … not incredible – just human. I … I don’t have powers … or anything … I …”


Silence followed. Amidst the cascade of words rushing from her in this unbidden rant some far corner of her still sane mind managed to regain control. Why was she telling them all of this? Why was she admitting to this at all and why on earth was she admitting it to THEM!? They were the enemy … They had threatened her and put her in a place beneath them on the tier of power. A rather horrified expression passed over her face as she froze up. For a few long moments her mouth worked silently before she glanced down at her lap in embarrassment and finally noticed that she was crying.
 
Sebastianne was a little shocked to say the least that the ghost-person had replied to her so easily. It seemed that the Bearded Man had been telling the truth-- that he hadn't been controlling the ghost, and it seemed to have a mind of its own. She tried to listen as best as she could while the ghost-thing "spoke", or whatever it was doing, it was hard to hear what the ghost was saying over the real voices, the ones that she could hear with her ears.


If she had to hazard a guess, she'd say that the voice was female, but it was hard to tell for sure...


"I...I'm done. I...I'll b-be good...promise...p-please?"


"Haha, you make it seem like a hostage situation...man, I could go for a burrito right about now."


"Ladies and gent, this voice is trying to talk to me, and it's a little hard to hear over you lot--" Sebastianne, ignoring how mad that sentence sounded, looked pointedly over to the Angry Girl who was now snivelling and the Grass girl who was going on about nothing important.


"Alright, the first part is that apparently she's not a ghost, she's travelling by asteroid or some shit--" The word "astral" wasn't in Sebastianne's vocabulary "-- sorry, didn't really understand that part. But it sounds like she just got this power today, to. And-- she's sorry for the prank she pulled-- You damn well better be, you ghost-thing," Sebastianne added darkly. Although the Angry Girl had become somewhat pathetic, she'd still been the one to help Sebastianne to walk over the crater, and Sebby was grateful, although she had a hard time demonstrating her thanks.


"Secondly--- hey, can you shut up?" Sebastianne frowned at the Angry Girl, who didn't follow the suggestion and started speaking frantically, among other things "You have power...you're terrifying...you're something beyond normal...What ARE you!? Are you guys even HUMAN?"


Sebastianne couldn't help it. Something just behind her eyes started to tingle and her chest swelled with anger-- and maybe it was just because her fuse had already been shortened by all the yelling, but Sebby couldn't stop herself. In a voice that was deeper and louder than anyone would have expected from a small, thin woman, she yelled, "HEY! Stop B****** And Shut The Fuck Up! I didn't ask for this power-- and you know what? It fucking scares me too! I didn't ask to become inhuman-- Do you know how badly I would have liked to have woken up and found out that I was normal, like you?! And whatever this fucked up power is, it's been is a b**** since I got it, but I'm still trying to use this bloody power to help understand what the hell is going on! If you can figure out how to take this fucking power from me-- that's great! You can have it!"


As the she yelled out the fury that had wound up her insides, she became to loose her steam. However, still fuming, Sebby added, "But right now, we're stuck in a bloody tunnel and we don't really have a plan and this...ghost-thing seems to think that she can help us! So stop giving us all a fucking hard time for having goddamn powers, because we're only trying to help. Just like you helped me walk across the crater."


Sebastianne looked down at her own boots, appalled by her own outburst-- especially once she'd realized that the Angry Girl had begun to cry. She took a few calming breaths and muttered. "So, does anyone have a smartphone, and what's the number? Mine's just a normal mobile, and this ghost-thing says she can send us a map of the tunnels."
 
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Jevel was waiting patiently outside the building, sitting on a park bench and gazing dreamily up at the clouds. His expression reflected the feeling of one who is tired of being cooped up and just wants to catch the next plane and travel the world.


When the girl walked back out of the church in new clothes and a bandaged arm, Jevel snapped out of his daydreaming trace and stood up. He looked her up and down.


"Nice duds. Although, I must admit I had no idea you had this many injuries. What did you get yourself into out there?"
 
So … tensions were high … like really fucking high. She had known this from the start but had somewhat forgotten it as her own terror stole from her most of her reasoning capability. The tirade of insults and shouts brought her out of her own egotistic slump, however, as the pierced girl went off on her before seeming to get it mostly out of her system and speaking a bit less harshly. Surprisingly, although she doubted it had been the girl’s intent, the rant had calmed her a bit as it gave her a slight piece of new information to play with – they hadn’t known about these powers until just recently. Already they were intuitively playing with the various uses of the abilities, but that made this group of superhumans no less new to their abilities.


"So, does anyone have a smartphone, and what's the number? Mine's just a normal mobile, and this ghost-thing says she can send us a map of the tunnels."


This made Alani raise an eyebrow at the girl as she fought to prevent herself from making a decidedly snarky comment … fear was a rather strong deterrent against such lip, but her nature fought violently in favor of the quip anyway. In the end she forced such thoughts away for the time being and just picked up her phone from the floor. “Yea … I’ve got one … map would be a bit fucking difficult, though …” she noted as she once again grimaced at the cracked screen of her iphone. With a slight bit of hesitation she recited the eleven digit number of her cell before holding it out to the pierced chick.


For a moment she considered trying to re-explain the situation as she saw it but decided against it. Instead she offered a rather weak attempt at a grin which was mostly foiled by her still leaking eyes as she waited for the other to take the phone from her slightly trembling hand. “Hey … truce?” she offered finally with as much sincerity as she could muster. From where she sat it looked pretty damned much like she didn’t have a choice either way … going back would be dangerous and going forward was dangerous. At least going forward with people willing to shout feelings and explanations at her would offer her some sort of grounding for a while … she wasn’t entirely certain what would happen if she went back to the riot.
 
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