AKA Nixer
Warehouse - The Artist Creature Formerly Known As Prince Eric
The monstrous form of Eric roared yet again, preparing to charge at Benjy...
...only to hesitate as the mutated bug jumped in front of Mirielle, protecting her.
A coherent thought managed to break through his haze of bloodlust.
Why? Why did he do that? I coulda sworn... Did his eyes just change?
In this brief moment of awareness, Eric found his voice, albeit distorted from his new lack of lips.
"Be~njy..." he managed to mutter, before the bloodlust took over yet again.
Eyes refocusing, trembling with rage, the creature slowly knelt down, eyes on the buglike superhuman at all times.
Then he leapt at breakneck speed, clawed fingers raised, mouth open and flashing his too-many teeth.
On the plus side, he was coherent enough to twist around to avoid catching Mirielle with his many sharp appendages, but that was a very small plus side.
edited 12th Oct '17 4:23:58 AM by Enirboreh
bork
Transcender of Gender
Principal's Office
The phone number was quick to grab Ciro's attention. He went to pick up the slip but then immediately retracted, the sight of the paper moving by itself making him feel queasy. It was really weird; watching something move, and knowing he was moving it, but being unable to visually connect the two points. Even knowing why it was happening, his brain was still yelling at him that something was wrong.
Attempt number two wasn't much better, though for a different reason. It was just a phone number, but it still felt wrong to take it. Already bad enough that he'd snuck in here, but that he was leaving with something too? Shooter would notice, and might assign even more blame to someone who didn't deserve it. Plus, well, Ciro was starting to feel a little bad for the principal as he continued to profess to his mother. Not enough to feel guilty about being mad at him, but the guy clearly didn't need any more stress than he was already suffering from.
Ciro took a breath, and closed his eyes. He couldn't afford to think too hard about it. He reached forward again, finding it easier now with his eyes closed, and picked up the paper. He could sense the weightless pressure of light against its surface, and almost unconsciously found himself deflecting it. When he opened his eyes again, the paper was gone.
Okay, job done, now he had to split. Not exactly the trove of information that he'd been hoping for, but it'd have to do. He made his way back around the desk, moving across the wall that was opposite to Shooter and the window, and found himself back at the locked door. Taking another breath, he pressed himself up against the wall and then, after a moment of hesitation, reached his hand over to knock briskly on the wood.
they/them || "Forgive me, regent of queer amphibians" - Lt.BGob
There were bigger fish to shame, though. Now the party...was Ivy really thinking of this like that? An RPG? Sure, there were people with a bunch of different talents (except Vivian...?) but it felt a bit too serious to put it in that kind of term. She didn't even like RPGs that much.
...Gang. Yeah. Like the Mystery Gang.
"O-Okay," she tried to say to the group, but didn't really manage to be any louder than her normal speaking voice, "W-We know where...Luna...the—there's a back—gym route, and...uh..."
She immediately stepped backward and said "N-Nevermind. Simon can t-t-talk."
edited 13th Oct '17 11:19:04 PM by wikkit
The Warehouse - Hans
Hans looked down for a moment as Mirielle declared she had faith in Benjy's humanity, and he looked over at the cocoons - the eminent statement to the contrary - and then back at her and Benjy, wondering what the circumstances were that led to all of this. Was this some sort of Jekyll and Hyde situation, where two sides of one mind were fighting against one another for control of the body? Was it something like where the body's natural instincts were overpowering the human side?
Hans breathed and then stopped regarding the whole thing in such a cold manner.
I need to know before I make any more moves what happened and—-woah!
Before Hans could think anything further, he saw Eric lunge right for Benjy and Mirielle, twisting a little. The young man grit his teeth and then stomped with his foot, sending a wave of updraft and upraised concrete between Eric and his target(s) as the same whistling sound occurred. Hans immediately regarded Eric - great, he thought, it looks like I might have to deal with another out of control monster.
Daigo - the Deal in the Car
This woman was pathologically against any sort of idea that might make her sound like she had anything less than the purest intentions...and this tremendously amused and intrigued Daigo. For someone who had accepted his own villainy for so long, it made him interested to see someone so interested in the idea of ambiguity but so resoundingly against anything but a high road.
And the mention of nothing happening in this town without her approval gave an additional vibe of a control freak, or, someone who had their own higher ups, who wanted something done, and within certain perimeters...
"Very well, I'll keep what you say in mind. No dirty deeds - you simply want a few things done at a time, and moving based on what our little "friends" do."
She then outlined what the first task was going to be, and Daigo considered both her terminology and what she asked. Again, the heavy emphasis on control. If she was working for Trump, no wonder - if anything happened out of order, the Orange One would throw a temper tantrum over the whole thing.
And the ragtag bunch of misfits led him to think they could be closer in thoughts than she perhaps believed. "Very well - I'll give you all the data I can find on these people. I think the incident was isolated to the school, and thus, we should be able to find the empowered and their data based on who is seen in security footage, connecting that up to their social media info."
Daigo looked over at Melissa and smirked a little when he saw how ambitious she was being. After the Agent sussed out Melissa's plan, and gave him her number, he nodded, and replied, "I'll get my gang together and we'll find out the information post-haste."
He then continued after a pause, "...and, I have been in the market for a new base of operations. Something nice and...Qin Dynasty themed, I think - I do adore the aesthetic, and the culture and philosophy offer very interesting perspectives. After I complete this, perhaps I might acquire this sort of thing?"
edited 27th Oct '17 10:49:46 PM by NickTheSwing
AKA Nixer
Warehouse - Eric Coulson
Entirely fixated on Benjy in his blood-rage, Eric never saw Hans' protective attack coming, instead slamming straight into the wall and spiralling to the ground with an explosion of dust and debris.
The dust cleared, revealing that Eric's monstrous form now had a large, but rapidly healing gash.
"Ne~ed... to... sAvE..." he gurgled, before collapsing in a heap.
The blackened skin of his form began to shrivel, growing brittle and translucent. Eric's unconscious body, now with a hole in his jacket where the now-closed gash had been, could be seen curled up inside, attached loosely by what appeared to be a tiny nervous system.
edited 14th Oct '17 9:12:54 AM by Enirboreh
bork
Happy Box Hater
Auditorium to Bus Stop
Well that was a surprise. Most people, in Jacob's experience, were religiously devoted to not backing down from an argument, especially when met with angry words. Perhaps Barbra had a bit more sense than he gave her credit for? Doesn't matter, apologies were cheap. Jacob could deliver a few thousand sorrys a minute when his mother got on his back about something, but that never helped him escape punishment.
Looking back at her with a calmer, albeit still not free of anger, expression, Jacob said "No, it's fine. I'm just under a lot of stress. Would you believe that was the first time I've had any sort of punishment given to me at this school? I hate broken streaks. And I don't know what you can do, but you probably have some sort of power. You're just one of the lucky ones who doesn't have something as obvious as spontaneous combustion."
Getting control of his temper was important. Tantrums like this never benefited him, they only resulted in pain and regret. Mother stamped his anger issues underground but alive, a spring loaded trap just waiting to strike down on those who push Jacob.
A few deep breaths in. A few deep breaths out. In. Out. In. Out. Much better. Jacob responded to Barbra with "It's not me... probably. I can do... something, but it's not luck. It involves time and I don't really know how it works. Maybe someone else was blessed with luck and this is just some complicated step in a chain of coincidences that ultimately result in some good fortune for them? We shouldn't really be thinking about possible powers, the options are a bit too varied for speculation to get anything done."
Jacob would board the bus and pay the fare.
Why is a yam attacking me?
"No, I j-" Sigh. Truth be told, I do have something to say, of a sort, I just couldn't really find the way to say it. Can't think of anything I can do to slot myself into this jigsaw puzzle in here, or maybe it has more to do with the fact that I don't WANT to be slotted in here, in any way at all.
Clear throat, hold up hands. "Just wanna say...good luck. Seriously, I mean it, good luck unravelling this mystery, meeting the mysterious benefactor, unravelling the already said that- krhrmm finding more about your powers, 'bout yourselves, coming of age story, friendship forever, blah and blah. Seems like you all have things figured out on your own, so...yep. Just gonna leave you all to it."
Polite nod, quick turn, walk briskly away in the other direction.
The Fantabulous
The Corridor
Zia couldn't help but flinch when Vivian mentioned the possibility of removing her 'powers', if temporarily - she stumbled in her stride, her heart almost out of beat. The opportunity to rid herself of the voices, and the knowledge of the world's judgement was incredibly enticing. Then again, with so many super-powered kids running around to deny herself the potential boon would be unwise to say the least. Moreover, she was starting to get used to the ever present voices - it was like standing in a room full of people, all whispering and talking and yelling in her ear, but also a great symphony of humanity. Brayne shook off the thought, following the clothes laden student, "I mean, if I could fly and use magic I can't say I'd feel different, Viv." She shrugged and smiled, "But, at the risk of sounding cliche, you're awesome without crazy comic powers anyway."
The shiver of Vivian's nervous reaction reverberated through the telepath, taking a deep breath to stop her own body following suit, "I don't know if they were there yet - I was a little busy going bonkers - but I can find out." She grimaced, not relishing the idea of poking around those sickos' brain-cases, "I don't think they're very far away, I can already hear them... Talking to someone else..." Zia's eyes were almost glazed, focused on some unknown point as a swirl of once distant images came into focus before her. Her hands subtly conducted a 6/8 beat and signaled the other voices to quieten, slowly hearing Daigo's thoughts in better focus - she could practically see through his eyes.
A car. A small compliment of his gang, all afraid and covering it with bravado and threats. A strange woman, giving them an order, "They're talking to some woman... she wants them too..." She swore, lips curling into something like a snarl, "She wants to know who we are and our powers." Before she tried poking around in her head she instead focused on answering the question at hand. Slowly Zia dug deeper into Daigo's mind, pushing through waves of emotion to a muddled memory. "He was there - he and a few of his cronies. Melissa, Kev, Devin... Daigo thinks he's some kind of vampire - not the sparkly kind, either. But with a stupid Egyptian fetish." Dangling from this idea was a dark alley - a faint scream and blood, "Oh god I- I think he..."
Luna's question dragged the telepath away from the next memory, blinking and shaking her head as she tried to quiet the voices again, "Sorry, I was miles away. But yes - we bring modesty!" She forced a grin back onto her face and gave Luna a bit of a knock on the arm as if to say 'Weirdo? Really? Since when are we normal?' before mouthing 'She's fine', discretely. Zia also took the opportunity to glare at Simon as he tried to leave, again, "Simon, there's weird shit going on inside the school too - you can't hide here, and at least with us you'll have some back-up." She called and then took over for Ivy's stuttering, "You guys got bikes or shall we walk? I don't think Frankenbike can handle dinking us all, sadly. But we should get going, now."
“Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?”
In hindsight, I'm not sure why Zia's comment bugged me as much as it did, why it got me to turn around and start a diatribe that got steadily more impassioned. It probably had mostly to do with the fact that everything I was about to say was already resting on the tip of my tongue, ready to be lashed against the world at large.
“Look, see, here’s th… Here’s the thing. I can live without my powers. And I do mean that. I can go through life, happy and fulfilled, without having to access my rubbish and terrible so-called gift. So maybe this guy is the sinister macguffin, maybe he can take away our powers, and maybe he really does want to be found. Setting aside for a second what kind of sicko thrusts this kind of shit upon people and makes some kind of a game out of it, I really could not give less of a shit. I have the ability to...to put my silent limping greyhound in the kennel and pronounce to the world that I have no dog in this race. So yeah, have fun with you all enjoying your powers, good luck with finding a way to be less bugs, sincerely. But as for me, I’m happy to say, I’m out.”
Dusting hands, and holding them in the air as I walk away.
Where am I? What's going on?
Corridor
Jenna still wasn’t too keen on confronting someone who was evidently so powerful, whether he wanted to be found or not. But Ivy and Luna were right: this was their best shot at getting answers about just what the hell had happened yesterday.
And then Luna ruined the moment with her breathtaking lack of tact.
“I’m nervous, okay!? I have a hard time finding words when I’m nervous!”
That... was probably uncalled for. Jenna was just a bit defensive about that particular nervous tic. But before she could apologize for her outburst, Viv and... Purple... arrived with her clothes.
“Thank you thank you thank you!”
Jenna almost started changing right then and there, before abruptly realizing that she was in the middle of a crowded hall. With an awkward chuckle, she simply pulled her phone out of the pocket of her newly reclaimed jeans and sent off a quick text to Destiny.
‘Des, if my parents ask, I spent the night at your house, and am doing same tonight. Long story, will explain later.’
She followed this up by texting her mom.
‘Spent night at Destiny’s, doing it again tonight. Forgot to tell you, hope you didn’t freak’
Jenna was vaguely glad that she was a cheapskate and still had an old model phone with a keypad. She wasn’t sure how she would go about using a touchscreen in her current circumstances. It was at this point that she finally tuned back in to the ongoing conversation.
Simon was trying to leave, and Purple (who looked mildly shaken for some reason) was trying to stop him. She honestly wasn’t sure why; what was the point of keeping him here if he didn’t want to stay? She doubted forcing him to come with them would result in anything but half-assed unhelpfulness.
Then the issue of transportation came up.
“I, uh, my bike got run over in the parking lot last week. Not sure I could even ride a bike like this anyway... Umm, out of curiosity, how far away is this guy’s hotel? Is walking even a, uh, viable option?”
edited 18th Oct '17 10:24:30 AM by PossiblyQuiteInsane
One Brunch Man
Rogers High School -> Oldport Streets
“Just don’t send it for like, four hours.” Hyeon said, closing the back door before opening the front. “The idea is to tell your parents we found you after we already have Smoke Snake Mc Gee strapped to the roof.” Sliding into the car backpack-first and setting the pack down into the space between the front seats, Kwang popped out his fuzzy head curiously before bounding over the pack’s lip and onto the front seat, coming to a stop in the center as he sniffed the air curiously. Hyeon reached up to adjust the rear-view mirror and center it on the bumper of the departing car as he considered Nadine’s question. “You know,” he said after a moment, keying up the ignition, “I don’t understand why anyone stays in this town, so your guess is as good as mine.”
Ruffling in his pack, he produced an iPod that he promptly slid into the cubby above the drink holder. Quickly thumbing through his playlists, he settled on “pH -0”, then quickly sorted through the cacophony of half-started first notes until he landed on one song in particular. He settled back with a satisfied smirk on his face as he glanced back to see Nadine’s reaction when “Incense and Peppermints” began playing, hoping for a choice reaction. Whatever the outcome, he would also catch a glimpse of Benedict’s studiously forlorn expression, and the same twang of emotion the musician had felt when he first ran into the boy that morning reared its head. “Tell you what, let's switch.” The Korean student said, slipping his own phone out of his pocket and making to lean back and swap it with Nadine’s clunker. “It’s got more music on it, Angry Birds if you get bored, and if you still want to program something my browser’s all clogged up with crap that you can fix up just as long as you don’t click on any of the links.”
Startling Kwang by making to toss Nadine’s phone onto the passenger seat, Hyeon shifted the gear into reverse, pulling out of the space before deploying the sun visor and twisting it around so it shielded his face from any bystanders on the driver’s side. Driving with his amber-tinted gaze straight ahead with little attention spared to the police presence that could derail their little misadventure at any moment, Hyeon let out a sigh of relief as they pulled out onto the main road. Looking over at Kwang as the latter sniffed at the blocky contraption, he seemingly met Hyeon's gaze as the Korean youth mouthed Lightning! with raised eyebrows, before shaking his head as they pulled into a traffic light. Rolling down his own window to further air out the car and to let his dangling arm tap out the song’s beat on the side of the car, he paid little mind to the flock of bobbing seagulls as glanced in the mirror to take in his passengers side-by-side. Nadine’s on clouds 6, 7, and 8, so I don’t know if she’s really taking this seriously. And Benedict’s wound so tight that if we go right for the jugular, he might end up giving himself a black eye. If only they could… switch…
Gaze leaving the mirror in favor of the forgotten phone on the adjacent seat, Hyeon brushed Kwang away before snapping the phone back open and scrolling through the contacts, working off a hunch. At the sight of a familiar name, he grinned again, before dialing the number and pressing the phone to his ear. “Heeeeeey, Eddie, how’s it going?” He would say, into the Contact screen that said some variation on Longhorn.
edited 18th Oct '17 11:17:55 PM by Uncandescent
If I had that kind of power, I'd have dropped a meteor on your house ages ago~
huzzaaaaaaaah
Luna did a little snicker and raised her eyebrow slightly once Ivy gave up on talking. "Are you offended that I pointed something out about you?" She asked, lowering her voice, before chuckling again. "I think your stutter's cool. It gives you an unique feature, even if it makes partnering up with you on presentations a total pit of despair."
The information dump that Zia had just delivered might have uninterested a lesser guide, but Luna was not that person. "Woah woah woah back up. Did you just say there's a woman who know who we are— and she wants to know what our powers are?!" She hissed, before brushing her hair back nervously. "Oh my god. Somebody knows what happened to us. And since that person didn't show up to talk to us... oh shit. I think we're dealing with a government conspiracy here."
Vivian wasn't exactly taken aback by the revelation, though one could assume that was the result of her powers. "I can create a portal for all of us to use." She said, before pointing at the occasional student walking down the corridor and past them. "Especially since we are discussing very secretive subjects out in the open."
"Yeah, good luck with the security footage." Agent Travers said, resting her head on top of her fist and looking out the window. "Whatever gave you kids those powers also wiped out all the footage. You're gonna have to do it by hand." When Daigo made his request, Travers sent him a confused look before shrugging. "Sure, I'm up for some cultural appropriation. Why the heck not? Also, drop me off here."
Kev stepped on the brakes as the car skidded to a halt near one of Oldport's many coastlines. With another city and harbor in the distance, Travers made sure her sunglasses were on tight before smirking at the others. "Alright. You kids stay safe, and... uh... I told you guys to not betray or fail me lest I probably end up killing all of you, right? I think I did. Right. See ya."
Stepping out of the car, she made her way to the edge of the road and pulled out her phone, speaking into it wistfully.
"... ram her." Melissa snarled, grabbing the back of Kev's seat.
"W-what?" Kev sputtered.
"I said ram her. Throw her off the fucking coast." Melissa shook Kev's seat, glaring at Agent Travers' back. "She knows way too much about us! Do you really want to work for some shadowy agent who's gonna hold you by the balls and keep you from achieving your true potential, Daigo?" She said to her boyfriend, glaring him in the eye. "Then you know what we need to do: ram her."
Kev looked at Daigo through the windshield, waiting for a command.
Strawberry Alarm Clock's 1967 hit elicited only one thing from Nadine: a groan. "You haven't changed at all, have you?" She said, making sure to show as much teeth as possible in her disapproving stare. "Of all the songs you could have played, you picked my least favorite. Congrats." She leaned back on her seat, averting her gaze. Truth is, no matter what Hyeon had picked, she would have said it was her least favorite. The last thing she needed were more memories of sitting under the afternoon sun with him, talking about politics and feeling like he was the only person who could ever understand her.
It was so sappy, so naive and so bullshit.
Benedict happily took the substitute phone, and Hyeon would immediately hear the sounds of incessant tapping. "Oh, yeah, this is much better! I can actually program a message collection app and get into the school's network from here, so this will give me a distraction." He looked up at Hyeon with a gaze that said something that sounded like though I'm actually more interested in how you broke up with this woman and actually survived to tell the tale.
The mention of the name Longhorn prompted Nadine to sit up. "You idiot! I haven't contacted him in, like, four months at least!"
"Oh, shit, what's up, Hy-Hy?" Eddie Longhorn's nasally voice sprouted from the phone, sporting more of a drawl than usual. "You won't believe it, but I've actually been working at your school. I won't tell you with what, but it's a super cool and secret job. Anyway, why you using Nadine's phone? Are you two back together again? Cause if you are, nice, dude, she's a really good score."
Nadine's eyes dug a hole through the back of Hyeon's seat as she mouthed the words I will kill both of you.
"Hey, boyo."
Once Simon was far enough from the other group to effectively consider himself no longer a part of their lives, a simple voice would echo right into his ear. For standing in the middle of a slightly dark corridor (it was the one with the partly broken light), leaning against the lockers with crossed arms and a satisfied smirk...
... no one, actually.
It seemed, for a moment, that someone had been standing just besides Simon, ready to talk to him. But if he were to look at the corridor, he'd see nothing. No one but a single student, who quickly grabbed her stuff and went back to class. Nothing but the silence and emptiness, until...
A light flashed at the end of the corridor, zipping through the distance between it and Simon before driving itself right into Simon's head.
Suddenly, the moody teen would see before him a vision, the exact one that Finn had been privy to only a few minutes ago. It was all there, from the exact same perspective, to the exact same events. Which included the last few moments where Ivy spoke to present-day Finn, telling him to kill three people- one of which was Simon himself.
Shooter immediately stood up once he heard the knocking coming from the door. "I'm here! The Principal's here!" He yelled to the door, slowly making his way towards it. "Mom, listen, don't tell anyone about this, but it might not be a good idea for you to hang out around the city anymore. Try making your way towards the country, spend a few days over at our old vacation home in the Midwest... I know your bridge club's in New York, but... just don't stay there for a while!"
Walking over to the door, Shooter reached for something underneath the hair covering the back of his head, pulling out a small round metallic device (almost like the head of a silver tack) which had been taped to his skin. "Mom, for once in your life, just do as I ask you to, alright?!" He said to the phone, placing the device on a table near Ciro as he unlocked and opened the door, smiling widely.
"What can I do for you..." He exclaimed, his smile slowly disappeared once he realized nobody was on the other side. Stepping out and pocketing his phone, he looked around, trying to find out the source of the knocking. "I swear, if this is another prank, I'm going to find whoever did this and put him in detention for the rest of his adult life." He growled to no one in particular.
Hans would hear a loud scoff coming from Rose as she forced him to look at her. "Really? You think he wanted to kill all these people?!" He pointed at Benjy and the way he was holding tightly onto Mirielle, despite all the teeth chowing down on him. "Look at what he's doing. He's being attacked, and yet he won't let go of her. Don't you think that maybe, just maybe, attacking him blindly is not the solution?! Come on, Hans, you gotta be better than this!"
Benjy looked down at Mirielle with pleading eyes- despite the fact that those eyes were now a bright yellow and there were two more than usual- his features morphing into a semblance of a frown as he held onto Mirielle for dear life.
Luckily, Hans did listen to reason, and helped keep Eric from attacking the bug monster. That act of kindness prompted Benjy to quietly set Mirielle down, his wings fluttering slightly as he turned to the others, wincing. He leaned forward, bowing his head as he 'stood' on his two legs and two of his arms. His teeth clicked together as Benjy produced a loud, deafening buzz sound, which slowly subsided until it sounded something like the English language, filtered through at least two pitch-changers. "Beeeeeeeeeenjy."
Outside, due to a string of green lights and coincidences that gave the bus driver his best time yet, Barbara and Jacob dropped off, the former twiddling her thumbs as she watched Jacob finish explaining his powers. "That's cool, I guess. I don't know what I can do. Starting to think I'll never know. So, uh..." She waved at the warehouses in front of them. "Lead the way? I'll hide behind you because I don't want to die, Jacob."
edited 21st Oct '17 10:40:21 PM by Stratofarius
Happy Box Hater
Warehouse District
The bus really got there quickly! Jacob was almost convinced fate was paying him back for all those times that he was hindered by red lights and bad traffic, if it wasn't for the fact that arriving here in record time could easily mean dying that much quicker. Well, he supposed that being early to his own death would at least be fitting, even if he had no intention of dying if he could help it.
Seems Barbra didn't either, even if her method of accomplishing such a feat was quite callous. "Did I mention I hate this lack of thought you call a plan?" Jacob retorted back to her sarcastically. "Because I do. I hate it a lot." Despite this, Jacob advanced first.
They probably would have never found the right warehouse if there wasn't a distinct amount of noise coming from inside. There wasn't exactly high school age voices anywhere else within earshot, anyways. Jacob walked in just in time to catch the last syllable of Benjy's name, which didn't really sound like part of a word on it's own.
His eyes were instantly drawn to the monster that definitely did not look like a fly human hybrid. In a more rational situation he might have instantly ran away, but high stress has weird effects on certain people. Jacob choked out quite loudly "I... I thought he was supposed to look like a fly. Flies don't have tails Barbra!" It was easier to focus on the lack of proper information than how monstrous his fellow student had truly become.
The fact that everyone was not in some sort of life or death struggle at the moment did wonders for the neurotic high schooler once his brain finally registered it. "Is he... Is he safe now? Someone please tell me we're not all about to die," he said in a tone that was relatively calm, though his body language suggested a far more anxious and tense mind.
Oh those were corpses on the ground. Jacob's eyes darted between them and Benjy repeatedly, before settling on not looking at either. That was a nice wall, with all those weird green things... OK ceiling was good, ceiling had no cocoons or corpses or blood or not fly things.
Why is a yam attacking me?
Anti-Gnosis Weapon
Taken aback by the rapidity of the queries, Finn leaned back for a minute, blinking, then shook his head ruefully. "Shooter is a coward who gets through life by following orders without question and gorging himself on twinkies. I've got no reason to think he knew about any of this before he met mystery lady. Whether that makes him evil is up to you, but personally, I think abetting other people's evil by doing their bidding is almost the same."
Pausing a second to roll his shoulders as he contemplated the matter of his abilities, he brought up his hands for some illustrative gesturing. "How far back I can see depends on how long I'm in contact. I haven't had time to fully test yet, but I can definitely see the entire past of small to medium objects with a couple minutes, down to the moment they were created. I can remember everything I saw, but I don't know if that's inherent or related to the fact that I can suddenly remember every detail I observed in my life just by putting my fingers together. It works different when I use it on other living things; much slower, don't know if there's a limit to how far back it goes in that case. I can definitely choose what or when I want to see and get the closest thing to it, though, and it just seems to be recent events if I don't."
"And if I could see the future, this would all be a hell of a lot easier. No, I have to look moves ahead in the game the old-fashioned way. Going to the cops right now is really the least suspect thing for me to do, given what Shooter just pulled." The redhead leaned in, and lowered his volume further. "Plus, I recorded that whole conversation with him just now. Mystery lady was also worried 'the government' was watching in spite of being some kinda agent herself, so a power struggle within at least the Feds is likely. I'll take my chances with the cops until I have reason not to."
Having said all that, Finn hopped down from the stage and slapped Michael on the back a couple times as he departed. "Well, good luck! See you later, or maybe not."
Storming his way out of the auditorium with another easy vault over the "DO NOT CROSS" tape, the accused Flannagan stowed his hands in his pockets and strolled intently down the hallway like a man on a mission. A mission that was once again abruptly interrupted halfway through when he turned a corner into the nearly-empty hall with the broken fluorescent and came across—
"...Barclay?" the over-dressed teen prodded, eyebrow quirked, "Shouldn't you be in homeroom right now, or something?"
GM of AGOG S4: Frontiers RP; Sub-GM of TABA, SOTR, & UUA RPs
Transcender of Gender
Principal's Office
Shooter taking something off of his head was enough to halt Ciro's escape from the room. He already had the phone number, he didn't need anything else, but still a part of him was irresistibly drawn to the prospect of more information- a way to better justify his stupid decision to sneak in here in the first place. Even though he had no intention of taking whatever it was, he couldn't help but want to get a closer look at it.
He didn't dare move until Shooter was out of the room, and even then he hesitated, torn between the object and the open doorway. Precious seconds would be wasted if it turned out to be irrelevant, but what if it was important? Heart pulsing, once again having no time to think, he pulled his gaze away from the door and focused on the little metal circle.
There was a design on its surface, something black and circular, but he couldn't quite make it out. He reached forward with an invisible hand; he couldn't exactly pick the thing up, the paper had already shown that, so instead he went to nudge it a little more into the light. The same light that he could feel swirling around his finger as it pressed against the metal and-
Ciro stumbled back, tripped, crashed into the filing cabinet behind him, none of which registered as the intense shock shot up his arm and coursed through his whole body. A strangled yelp escaped as his legs gave out and he crumpled to the ground, his vision leaving for a brief second as his body tried to adjust to the shock. Even when it returned he couldn't move, his legs and arms too weak and shaky to coordinate. All he could do was realise- with a dulled, confused panic- that he was visible again.
they/them || "Forgive me, regent of queer amphibians" - Lt.BGob
Just to add to the absolute roller coaster of emotions she's been going through in the last half an hour, Ivy was dragged out of...whatever emotion she was feeling when Zia so dully announced that they were not alone. The feds WERE on to them.*
Images produced by Ivy's very healthy imagination, and what exactly people like them would be subject to if someone found them. Needless to say, she wasn't made any happier.
"Whatever, tele—portal, or just...anything, if someone's out there, we need to go now," Ivy said, her breathing picking up the pace. "Theres a-a-a person out there looking for us, and if I—we are right," with a brief sidelong glance to Luna, "they c-can't be alone, so...let's just go now. I don't—don't even care if..."
Okay, yeah, she did care about skipping school still, but that just was becoming hard to justify at this point. "F-Falstaff, where the Museum of Str—Oddites used to be, across the b-b-bay. Now let's g-go. Right now."
Blood Mage Apologist
Sebastain hadn't moved after Benjy had grabbed Mirielle, staring in shock. "Oh god," he breathed, "I think you're right." This was, of course, mostly directed at Rose- while Mirielle might have had a point, leaping in front of multiple attacks without any guarantee of rescue hadn't been a good idea, and he wasn't very inclined to fully agree with her at the moment.
Naturally, it was at that moment that Eric- or whatever Eric was- charged, leaping at Benjy, ready to tear him apart. But then Hans used his powers to do... something, he didn't quite catch it as he was focusing more on the two horrifying monsters in front of him, and Eric was sent crashing into the ground.
"... wow," Sebastian breathed, staring at Benjy as the bug-creature spoke. "Don't get too close to him, but... I think he might be in control again." Out of the corner of his eye, the teenager saw Barbra and Jacob arrive. Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing was up fore debate.
"Is Eric alright?" He asked, glancing at the fallen creature.
Wooze looks at Glass with a 'please take her away' look
The Warehouse
Hans kept himself wary in case anything went wrong, but for now he attached less hostility toward Benjy given that he demonstrated intelligence remained within there. Though, he did admit he wanted to know what brought Benjy to murder those guys - not that he was close to them any more. Hans tugged his hoodie's hood back over his head, giving the sense he was both relieved that a fight didn't happen, and ashamed a bit he threw the first punch so to speak without considering first what might have happened.
That was when Jacob arrived, and Hans recognized him from that night at the school, where everyone got their powers. Jacob...Hans also had some memory of the guy before all these events, a short chapter in his life, but one he did not actually regret.
Those days were during his more thuggish days, but he'd connected with how structured Jacob's life was, and maybe had wanted to introduce him to "freedom" - though he did wonder if that was "freedom" to follow some ideology or just in general.
"Well," he said looking between the other people here before walking over to check on Eric, hoping he hadn't used too much force in that, "...it seems Benjy might be able to be brought back to normal. I don't know the circumstances behind what he did to...those guys...but we still probably need to be careful just in case something unexpected happens."
Hans then realized if anyone was to be trusted to deal with a situation involving someone's mind, it was Zia - and started thinking, trying to do so "loudly", Zia! Zia! Its Hans, can you hear my thoughts!? ZIA! We found Benjy out in the warehouse district, and there might be a chance to bring his mind and body back to normal! I think we need your help!
Daigo - The Car
Daigo promptly chuckled a bit, both at the idea of smashing the agent off of the cliff, to her sure death below, and at the ambition his girlfriend was showing in doing this. However, he was coming up with a plan of his own, one which involved the death of the agent in a matter of speaking, but with some, shall we say, delayed gratifiction.
After all, when it came to pleasure, the best kind of gratification was the delayed kind, which you took exactly when it was most delicious.
"Remember, this is her car, and she has demonstrated she has advanced technology at her finger tips. I do not doubt she can stop the car in the middle of a charge." Daigo then took out his phone and dialed up a text message very quickly to send to Melissa, knowing she wanted some blood for the humiliation that agent wrought. "Let us hold off...for now."
The message read, Don't worry about the agent, my dear Melissa. The agent still has usefulness, but I will wring all of that out. Then, that agent will be used as an experiment for my vampiric powers.
He fully intended to see whether his group could exact upon those like Brock Turner the justice society did not see fit to deal to them. Perhaps with a mixture of mercury and my blood, I might be able to turn Brock Turner into something a little less than human. A whinging, squirming little mass of suffering. All that he deserves~
edited 27th Oct '17 10:51:04 PM by NickTheSwing
AKA Nixer
Warehouse - Eric Coulson
As Hans walked over to the decaying husk, the translucent skin finally gave way and burst with a sound akin to a snail shell being crushed underfoot.
Eric's weak form tumbled out, the thin nerves that attached him to the husk snapping easily under his weight.
He blearily opened his eyes, weakly scanning his surroundings, before his gaze finally settled on Benjy.
"S-So... *cough cough*... Is someone gonna fill me in on what the heck happened?"
His tone could be mistaken for casual, but his tough act couldn't prevent his wide eyes and trembling, pale form.
bork
huzzaaaaaaaah
Melissa huffed, and puffed, but the message seemed to calm her down. "Alright." She muttered, brushing her hair back with a hmph. "Alright. But we can't let people find out what we can do. If we want to use our powers to the best of our abilities, we need to keep them a secret. You two got it?!"
Devin and Kev just raised their hands in defense at the same time, as Melissa snuggled up against Daigo, brushing the creases out of his shirt. "So... how are we going to get all the information we need? We don't know how many people were there last night, and I doubt one of the teachers know. D'you think Jae or Destiny can help?"
"You got it."
Vivian motioned for everyone to step back, as she waved her hands around in a circular motion, chanting words that seemed like they were being played backwards. Within the next three seconds, a purple tear in reality formed, opening up until it was a round portal, showing an alleyway, and on the other side was the bright and beaming pride of the city, the brand-new Falstaff Hotel.
"Head right in."
Luna was the first to go, a big smile on her face, and once she landed on the other side, she turned to the portal and motioned for everyone to come through. "Oh my god, Ivy, it's a portal! You gotta walk through this, it feels like people tickling you, and we're actually at the hotel, I don't know how that's even possible, this reminds me of one of the videogames we used to play and—" Realizing she was attracting attention to herself, Luna coughed and shoved her hands in her pockets. "I mean, come on, guys."
It wasn't the sound of something hitting the file cabinet that sent Scooter scurrying back into his office. It also wasn't Ciro's yelp, no. Instead, it was the sound of his Twinkies box falling to the ground, since they had been placed on top of the file cabinet and were one of the many victims of Ciro's misguided attempt at collecting more information. "Oh no, oh no, oh—"
Shooter stopped at the door once he saw the student, on the ground, having suddenly appeared out of nowhere. And in that moment, he opened his mouth, summoning within him the eloquence that one can only gain after years of careful work within the high school context. He stumbled back, grasping the doorway and opening his mouth even more, preparing his body for a concentrated dosage of carefully crafted potency.
"What the FUCK?!"
He pointed a finger at Ciro, muttering a few random words ('you', 'how', 'where', 'when') before noticing the object on the floor and pointing at it and muttering another few random words ('that', 'did you', 'could you', 'do you', 'the woman') and then pointing at the door and muttering even more few random words ('but I', 'locked', 'you couldn't have', 'I didn't'). Shooter kept at this routine, changing the words every once in a while before his finger stopped at Ciro.
"Oh my God. You know about the woman, don't you?"
"Oh my God." Barbra mumbled, standing behind Jacob and holding onto his shoulders partly for support and partly so she could always stay right behind him. "FLY MONSTERS AREN'T REAL, JACOB! THEY CAN EVOLVE AND CHANGE THEIR FORMS, JACOB! THEY DON'T FOLLOW THE LAWS OF REALITY..." She shrieked, gripping Jacob's shoulder tightly before letting out a loud scream. "JACOB!"
"Will you two just shut up?!" Rose snapped at Jacob and Barbra, walking over to help Eric get up from his cocoon. "You're fine- he's fine!" She yelled to Sebastian. "To make a long story short, you turned into a monster, but then you got beat up and turned into a cocoon. Now you're a butterfly. And by butterfly I mean, you're just you." She looked back at Benjy. "Oh, and Benjy is back to normal. I think. I lost track of what normal is."
Benjy took a few steps forward, and as he did, his body shifted and changed. His form grew smaller and tinier, some of his arms retracted back into his body, fur began growing and falling from different spots of his skin and his tail slid right back into his behind, just as the two wings behind him shrunk down too. All in all, he now resembled more and more the initial Fly creature that Barbra had described, although he was still far taller than the other kids.
"Benjyyyyyyyyyy." He buzzed, waving one three-fingered hand at himself, taking a few weak steps forward- but still staying in front of Mirielle, trying to protect her. "Attack meeeee." He buzzed again, pointing at the cocoons. "Get angryyyy. Get not Benjyyyyy." He buzzed again, hugging himself and looking around in shame. "Coooooold."
Happy Box Hater
Warehouse
This whole situation was really hurting Jacob's head. But beneath the confusion was some level of actual excitement. While he didn't really register it now, later on as he sat awake in bed staring up at the ceiling Jacob would attribute it to the familiarity of the situation. There was something thrilling about being able to experience something out of one's preferred genre of book.
Not helping matters was that Barbra seemed to be taking it even worse than he was. Clearly Jacob's experience with bottling up his emotions was serving him well here, because the alternative presented by Barbra didn't look too inviting. Being kind of sensitive to pain, he tried using his hand to remove Barbra's grip on his shoulder. "I think we're fine here..." he said in a tone that sounded very unconvincing. "Yeah, it's fine. Worst comes to worse we can just run away from him, I don't think he'd be able to catch me."
There was a part of him that just wanted them, all of them, to stop moving for a bit so he could leave unnoticed. It would be simple with his powers to do it, assuming it worked the same on people as on objects. But this was his responsibility now, like it or not, and Jacob did not try to run away from his responsibilities. Looking at Rose defiantly, he responded "I come in to see dead people and a monster that looks worse than I expected. Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I feel pretty justified in freaking out over this."
The transformation Benjy underwent didn't elicit much more than a cringe from Jacob, his mind distracting itself by focusing on the blatant disregard for mass he was witnessing. Unless Benjy's new form was composed with a lot of empty space for things to retract into he had just destroyed matter. Not that silly from the perspective of someone that could mess with time, but it was a less stressful thing to think about. "I... uh... I guess bugs don't like the cold that much." It was kind of stupid, but there wasn't much else he could think of saying. "I... I'll take it you can't go back to being... smaller and... not have wings and the compound eyes?"
Why is a yam attacking me?
Wait, what?
Having a look around now... Maybe that girl over there?...She doesn't seem to be interested though? Did I imagine it? Am I hearing things? Hallucinations, maybe, doesn't seem like there's a shadow of a draaAAAH what the fuck what the fuck what the fuck?! I'm in a tunnel- no, I'm seeing a tunnel. People are fighting, turning into monsters, what the fuck am I looking at...wait, wait wait wait is that Ivy?! And those other people, are they from...but they're different looking, older. They're talking about something. Flannagan? 'He knew this would happen', knew what? That there's be monsters? Where is- 'Before we knew who he really was' what the hell? Wait wait...she's saying...he's predicting this? Three years...hunted by the world...w...what? Kill m...why kill me, why'd she say kill ME WHO IS SHE
"WHAT?!" Where am I? Tiles, lockers, brown paint...I'm back in the corridor. Back here, in the present. Stomach's turning, head pounding, bad thoughts, shadows, sparking, made of bugs, why the fuck would she say to kill me?! Sudden noise, lash out- No, wait, it's...it's Finn. Finn fucking Flannagan, they said they predicted it, he's got to know something, grabbing him by the lapels now. "...F...Flannagan," finding my words, getting my thoughts collected, would he even know what I'm talking about, maybe I just hallucinated it all, maybe I'm going insane FOCUS. "...I want you...to explain to me what the fuck I just saw. I just...it...what was it, what was it 4.23! That's it. Does the time 4.23 AM mean anything to you?" God dammit, I sound like a fucking madman, probably look like one too, no doubt. "That's...that's the time when...in what I just saw, it...that's when it happened. When it's going to happen. The Ivy said that you knew."
someone
Mirielle, Factory
Mirielle was glad to be back on solid ground, and was much happier now that people had stopped attacking. When Benjy said his name, she smiled. "Yes, Benjy. That's you. Benjy Pathik. Hello. Thank you for protecting me," she said, looking up at him. She noted Jacob and Barbra's arrival, but was more focused on who was ahead of her. When he began to talk again, she put what he was saying together.
"They... attacked you..." she said slowly. "You got angry... and lost yourself... oh Benjy. It's not your fault." Almost absentmindedly, like it would do something, Mirielle took off her cardigan and offered it to him.
[TOP SECRET]
AKA Nixer
Warehouse - Eric Coulson
Due to the shock, Eric was still fairly dizzy, and as a result, could only say one coherent word in reply to Rose's explanation.
Scanning the surrounding area again now that he wasn't on the floor, he watched as Benjy shifted back into... well, still a fly monster, but less of a fly monster.
As it finally registered in his brain what had just happened, he fished inside his now tattered jacket for a toothpick.
It was times like this that he wished he smoked, but lung cancer was a little too big of a repercussion for him.
But it worked as therapy, at least.
"So, let me get this straight. Fly monster Benjy who isn't actually that monstrous coccooned some buggers because they were attacking him. We come in, immediately assumed he is a mindless beast, attack him out of blind rage, and nearly kill one of our own in the damned process?!"
He had roared the last part of his little tirade, his cockney tone having completely vanished.
He quickly calmed down, taking a hissing breath through his teeth.
"So..." he began, his accent returning. "What're we gonna do now? Cops are probably coming, remember?"
edited 29th Oct '17 4:49:44 PM by Enirboreh
bork
Mirielle, Abandoned Factory, There Are Two Ways This Can Go
Mirielle could see the shadow spear coming, but to dodge would mean letting it hit Benjy. So she just braced as best she could, and waited...
... only to be grabbed, by six arms. With a surprised squeak, she opened her eyes, and came face to face with bug chest. "Benjy!" He had, had, saved her. "Thank you so much." This just proved her point. There was at least some Benjy in there, some humanity. And that sound was almost frighteningly familiar. "Benjy, what's wrong?" She was still grabbed, and now they were going upwards. She wanted to be a friend, not foe, so she relaxed a little, and yelled back at Hans. "He protected me, Hans, at the cost of getting injured himself. I think I trust him, at least a little. I owe him that. The least I can do is find out what's wrong!"
[TOP SECRET]