×「 NEW MILLENNIUM━ ◟☆!ic

SECOND MISSION SET

GO	100.0%	[ 32 ]
Total Votes:			[ 32 ]

[saitama-san]

pc▬▬▬ WHEN I HEAR YOUR VOICE ❜ 「♚ ITS DROWNING ▬▬▬
layout and graphics made by petite comet pcpcpcpcpc██ :IN WHISPERS pc ██ :IN WHISPERS

pcpcpcIT'S JUST SKIN AND BONES, IT'S NOTHING LEFT TO TAKE
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pcpcpcpc&◞NO MATTER WHAT I DO I ▸CAN'T MAKE YOU ↺
pcpc feel better pc feel better pc feel better pc feel better pc feel better pc feel better pc feel better pc ■ ■ ■
layout and graphics made by petite comet
pcpcppcpcpcpcpcpcpcpcpcpcpcpc██ pc ██ pc ██ pc ██
layout and graphics made by petite comet
pcpcpcpcpc◤.if only i could find the answer ♚ ↙to help me understand — ❛ sometimespc
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layout and graphics made by petite comet
layout and graphics made by petite comet petite comet pcpcpc


' ********— '

Was the first word that occurred to her when her eyes met—no, saw, he didn't even looked at her—the carnal leer in Rampant's eyes. However her instinct to move away was a second too late, as he practically threw her off him (if he was even him anymore) and was flung across the street like a doll. " Ugh! " She let out a sharp cry as she was smacked away, if anyone could even call it a smack. Fortunately for Spica, she was cushioned by one of gang members and landed on top of him. Oof! She let out a soft groan and watched, helplessly and hopelessly the fleeting sight of him escape. " N-No!! " She gasped, as she tried to get up, only to fall to her knees due to the injury Ryder inflicted on her. She cringed and held her stomach, as if to inspect the damage done to her but not for long, for she tried to stand up again.

There was no way she was just going to let the redhead go that easily. However her body failed her and prevented her from his capture, barely able to stand and watch as he slipped from her grasp again. The image of his getaway mimicked a distant memory of hers, one where she was forced to watch her sister get taken away, unable to help her at all. Useless. " Tch, damn it all!! " Spica yelled, banging her fist against a nearby lamppost. Tears of frustration threatened to fall but she wiped them before they could. She was not going to cry, she could not cry. She could not show weakness—and she certainly wasn't going to in public. The female forced herself to move, regardless of Rampant or not, she had a job to do as a government agent. " Que get a move on it, you're too slow!! Hero girl make sure nobody else escapes! " Spica commanded them as she stuck the criminal she was on as well as a few others in her mirrors. Before long, the chaos that was brought upon downtown Washington D.C. was resolved and some of the gang members who started it, arrested as well. However Spica wasn't content one bit, her displeasure was written all over her face.

Once again, she had failed to lock up the red-haired punk.

And once again, she was a step away from the reunion with her beloved little sister.

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After the ordeal with Rampant was settled, Spica had returned to headquarters, of course, it wasn't to report to her superiors. She would leave that to Que, she didn't want to waste her time to hear their unneeded "lectures." Besides, she had other matters to attend to. Spica slowly made her way to her destination, the only sacred place in this damned building. (Though Lee would have said the opposite, dubbed as the Unholy Alliance by him and all.) Of course, she could have traveled via catoptric teleportation but she didn't want her friend to think she was injured to the point she couldn't use the door. It certainly was not because she was tired, pffbt what? She winced and held onto her stomach, a frown on her lips. " C-Cheh... ******** that b*****d with his inhuman strength. Next time I see him I'm going to give him a concussion--! " Spica cursed, indifferent if she was heard or not. However as she neared the door to Cecilia's lab, she stopped since she did not want to disturb her friend's work if she did had work and opened the door. " ..Ceci are you there..? " Relief instantly flooded her at the sight of Cecilia and Spica waved with her unused hand when she noticed her.

" Hello Spica... You're injured, aren't you? Come here. "

Well that was fast, though she shouldn't have expected less from her friend, much less a doctor. She gave her a faint smile and closed the door softly with her foot. " Ahaha..can't hide anything from you, can I? " Spica replied, her tone soft compared to the one she used around others. She obediently walked to a stool nearby her and sat on it. Wordlessly, she lifted up her shirt to reveal the bruise she had received oh so gratefully by Ryder so she could inspect the damage. " Well, it wasn't hard to figure out. Then again, I trust you wouldn't hide anything from me anyway. " She said as she turned to face her. At those words she couldn't help but sheepishly grin and agree with her. Cecilia really did knew her well.

When Cecilia examined her wound, the small frown on her face didn't go unnoticed. She heard her say 'I see' before she stood up and moved to several cabinets without another word. Spica watched her curiously, her eyes glazed over the ice pack and sheets of cloth she held when she returned. When she listened to explanation on why she needed her to lay down and place the ice on her bruise, she agreed and took the items. " I see then..go ahead, here's just fine. The punk hit me hard so its already a bit difficult to move without the pain. " A scowl made its way onto her face as she remembered the cause of her pain in the first place. Cocky piece of s**t. The reminiscence was brief though as she glanced around the room to lay down before she pushed herself on top of on of the desks with a slight grimace and laid on it. Spica then placed the wrapped ice pack and placed it on her skin, which gave her a small comfort as she did. " Ah that's more like it... " She closed her eyes as she relaxed herself, her breathing slowed as she did. ' Sleepy... ' She could almost fall asleep, the key word being almost as she heard Cecilia's voice again, this time about Ryder.

" So why were you and this "punk" fighting in the first place? Don't tell me you're getting into street fights now... " There was a joking tone in her voice but she could tell she held slight suspicions against her. Spica sighed before she answered, " You know that one b*****d I told you about—Rampant? Well, I was called up to handle a disturbance along with Que and I ran into him again. I almost had him but then he used his powers and... " She frowned, her eyebrows furrowed when she thought about the recent events. " ..I got hit and let him get away..again. Its really infuriating since I was so close but at the same time..not. " She clutched the ice pack and there was a pained, sorrowful look in her expression as she stared up at the ceiling, the distant, but translucent image of her sister rang clearly in her mind. Moments passed before she let out a light chuckle to ease the silence she caused. " Street fights? Pffbt—it wouldn't even be a fight. Besides I wouldn't do that, no point in it really. " " That was the day of the meeting, wasn't it? Don't let it get to you. If you come across him again, you know what to expect now. With how he seems to act, there'll definitely be another uproar involving him so just wait until then. " Her friend reassured her though with little effect, though Spica didn't want to worry her any further so she was thankful when Cecilia went onto how they should vent out their anger on their enemies.

The two chatted for awhile as if to catch up with each other. However among the midst of their topics of martial arts classes to gain some inner strength, Cecilia's offer to train with her, and Lee being a buttface as usual, Spica's mind lingered to her sister. At her next words, Spica's insecurities and doubts came out. " You can't have used it all up just yet. There's still a lot of years left in your life, you know? " " I don't know about that Ceci..for years I've been waiting and waiting... I don't get to see her, visit her, or receive any news about her. No one tells me anything. " She expressed, clearly exasperated. " When will I be able to see my little sister again Ceci, when? " She got up and looked at her, as if hoping her friend would tell her the answer she desperately wanted to know. After a good moment or so, let out a long sigh and looked away wistfully. " ...Sorry I shouldn't have asked, of course you wouldn't know. " She apologized, feeling guilty for questioning Cecilia something she couldn't possibly know. Spica got off the desk, ice pack still in place and glanced back at Cecilia. " Sorry Cecilia, I think I should go home now..lay down and rest, clear my mind y'know? Seeya Ceci. " She wore a bitter smile and turned to leave, her hand gave a short wave as she did. Without another word, she walked into the mirror and the lab and disappeared.

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It wasn't long before Spica made it home. Though it took some time to surf through the reflections because of her bruise, she managed somehow. Once she was in her apartment, she collapsed on top of her couch in her living room. A long sigh escaped her lips and she stared aimlessly into space. The recent turn of events left her exhausted, both physically and mentally and the urge to just sleep was strong. However the coldness she felt on her stomach reminded her of Cecilia's words. With a grunt, she pushed herself up and stared at the ice pack now in hand. ' What did Ceci say now..? Keep it on the bruise for 15 minutes and then let it warm up before putting it back on..? ' She glanced at the time and stared at it. She still had a few minutes left until fifteen minutes past so she held onto the ice pack and laid back on the couch and in a matter of moments, fell asleep.

It would be a few hours until she awoke.

Knock knock knock.

The first time she heard it she stirred slightly in her sleep.

Knock knock knock.

" Urgh, ******** off will you I'm trying to sleep!! "

Suddenly, she heard one of her windows shattered and alarmed, she got up immediately. " What the— " She frowned as she saw a shadow lurked over her living room window. ' Oh hell no, who the ******** this person thinks they're doing, breaking MY window and trying to break into MY house?!! ' Without another moment to waste, she got up from the couch and ran to the broken window and threw the ice pack at the culprit before she punched him right in the gut. Preferably, she would have kicked him in his nuts, but the wall was in the way and there was no way she was going to pay for any more damage. Spica then grabbed the b*****d by the collar who not only dared tried to break in her place, but to act cute as well. " You got one minute to explain why the ******** you broke my window and to pay for the damage or I'll push you off. " She threatened until the moonlight shone on the person's face and her eyes widened at the familiar sight.

" Zale?!! "

pcpcpc*.&there`s so many things that 」❜ ♕ I WANT YOU TO KNOW !
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pcpcpcpcpcpcI WON'T GIVE UP TILL IT'S OVER pcpcpc IF IT TAKES YOU FOREVER I WANT YOU TO KNOW
pcpcpcpcpc░█ name ❜♚ spica caelum₀₁ pc ░█ location ❜♚ cecilia's lab▸home₀₂ pc ░█ with ❜♚ ceci▸zale?!₀₃
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layout and graphics made by petite comet██ pc ██ pc ██ pc ██

[manoot]

After she handed the elderly man the bag of groceries she carried in her arms, Mary sat herself down beside him. "I thought maybe you'd appreciate a muffin or something, but I wasn't sure if you were allergic to nuts - I forgot to ask, sorry. But then I was all like what if this old dude has a serious craving for a banana nut muffin so I just got different kinds." The woman then took the grocery bag from his hand and retrieved several trays of muffins, presenting them to him somewhat proudly.

As a thought occurred to her, she became irritated and placed the two for one muffin tray back in the bag. "Damn, what if you don't even like muffins. What if muffins aren't even your thing?" The superhuman took a sip of iced coffee. "Right, you can have this too, I don't even remember buying this."

The homeless man let Mary ramble on for several more minutes, nodding and smiling at appropriate times. She wished he would stop her already; she was getting really worked up over this grocery shopping stuff. Shiste had been about to return the muffins when the man took the bag and thanked her. Finally, he spoke up and said, "Didn't you say something about a mission -"

"Right, right, right, right."

She had totally forgotten that she was technically on a mission at the moment. More of an errand, if you asked her, but she wasn't in a position to verbally complain. Mary leaned forward, moving from a sit to a crouch. "Yeah! I was wondering if you could give me directions or something. I'm kind of lost.' Mary nodded. "Must've printed the wrong address on Google maps or something. It happens."

He smiled accordingly. What a polite old man. Definitely didn't deserve to have to sit in front of the drug store all day to get by. Well, most people didn't.

After telling him the designated street, he drew a crude map and a set of directions on a napkin. Upon examination, she saw that he connected his s and a similar to how she did.

NICE.

Taking the napkin, Mary stood up and bowed her head briefly. "Thank you! See ya." She kissed the paper and gave him a thumbs up before wandering off.

It probably wasn't until she got there that she realized these directions were WRONG AS s**t.

Now Mary would have to ask for help again, hopefully from someone more competent and direction oriented, no offense to the old man. If only she could use her phone to call for assistance, she'd be there and back by now with the pickup in hand. But the battery was dead, not that she expected anything else from that piece of crap technological abomination.

You know, she didn't even want to look at the thing.

So instead, Spari laid her eyes on the prank and costume shop in front of her. Perfect, she loved pranks. Uh, unless they were pranks played on her. Talk about rude. And costumes were pretty sweet too, she supposed.

"Should I go in?"

Elysion was a pretty artsy name for a prank shop. She wasn't sure if she'd be able to handle it. Shyly, the girl tiptoed up to the building and pressed her face to the glass.

However, she couldn't seem to get a peek inside for the life of her.

"Tinted windows, who decided to invent something like tinted windows? Damn this new millennium." A marking of her nose was appeared on the window before gradually fading away. Mary used her sleeve to wipe at the nose print.

Even if she didn't want to pacify her curiosity (which she did), there wasn't really any place to go but inside now that she was utterly lost.

For the record, it was quite the accomplishment to get lost beyond hope. She had left her apartment thinking she knew where she was going and then somewhere along the way, life had gone Murphy's Law on her a** and now she was without a phone or understanding of where the hell she had taken a wrong turn.

And no one in this godforsaken city seemed to know their way around either, what, with all these incorrect and/or indecipherable instructions that kept being given to her.

What if she was just moving farther and father away from her destination by the second? What time was it anyways? Hey, she was hungry. And what if she died out here, all alone in the cold? Initially, she had thought they'd been using her as a cute little errand boy or something but what if she'd actually been sent on some ******** mission impossible? Consider the following, you know.

Okay, jeez, just open the door.

She opened the door.

Mary tried her best not to look startled when the bell above the door jingled. But most assuredly, she ended up looking twice as startled anyways. Loud noises always made her jump which was ironic because she was basically loud noise personified. She carefully shut the door behind her to prevent any further unpredicted movement from the bell.

Oh look, a girl! "HI. Hey. Excuse meee!" She offered a polite smile and shuffled towards the counter the woman stood behind. "This is a really nice place. Hey what's that?" The store clerk was given no time to answer. "My name's Marrin. I mean Mary. Don't call me Marrin." No, she couldn't get distracted, this was no time for games. Why was she introducing herself? That was silly. Right. Right, right, right. She folded her arms and leaned forward. I'm lost as hell."

Yeah.

Yeeeeeeeeah.

[sunset lullaby]

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　　　　　 　 __________________________________________________
　　　♛　( *CODE●NAME- ) nucleus
████████████████████　　──────: I'M THE SAME AS EVER
　　　i'm looking for meaning in life!

　　　　 　　▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ 　(　 content　 ▃▃× ♚reptile section at the zoo 　 )
　　　　 　　▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ 　(　 ▃▃× ♚love is too exhausting. 　 )

" How annoying ... " spoke the soft voice of a young female. Faded blue-grey eyes were trained onto a single sheet of paper with one name printed across the header.

Rhys Endrick.

There were still a lot of questions she had about this peculiar character that weren't answered during the interrogation. The most important one was where did he really come from ? While Lee might have accepted his story, Cecilia wasn't going to fall for such a reason as his powers being affected by the new millennium when Rhys was attempting to travel across several decades before 2000. And where was this so-called time traveller now ? Being toured about their very own Octagon. She'd tried arguing with lee that it wasn't wise to show suspicious people everything in their headquarters, but he was too stubborn to listen to her words. At the least, Cecilia had successfully kept them out of wandering into her lab with a small threat ( " Lee ... if you bring your guest in here, I can't guarantee he'll be leaving in one piece. " ) With an almost inaudible sigh, Cecilia leaned forward and moved the paper off to the side with her fingertips. There was nothing she could do on the matter now. Just wait for anything to happen, and react appropriately when it did.

Strings of curses and insults muttered by a familiar voice drew her attention away from the matters of the professor. The only person who would boldly enter her room spoke up as she opened the door, " Ceci, are you there ? ". It brought a small smile to her face to see Spica once again though it diminished upon the sight of her holding her stomach. Apparently, it had happened that she ran into Rampant once again and he'd left her with a nasty bruise & an equally damaged pride. It didn't take long for Cecilia to patch her up, passing the time with idle chat on various topics. The conversation was cut short at the topic of the younger female's sister however. Cecilia bit her lip, knowing no matter what she said would be in vain. Neither of them had any information on Spica's sister. There were many different things she wanted to say, ranging from apologies to words of comfort, but it wouldn't change the fact that they honestly didn't know what had happened to the girl or when Spica would see her again. Eventually, Spica returned to her home to think more on the matter and get some rest. Turning back around in her chair, Cecilia could sense the stress gradually building up due to everything. " The X-virus, our powers vanishing, the Underground, and not to mention along with dangerous strays such as Rampant and Hellfire. How are we supposed to handle all of this ? First of all, I need .. to hurry up and figure out the secret behind the new millennium. If I can get back to my old body ... " She trailed off with her gaze now set on the photo beside her. The woman who stared back at her from the photo with a similar expression. Everyday, Cecilia would look at the photo with an odd look formed from nostalgia and hope. How long had it been now since she had that appearance ? Sometimes, she would wonder why she even bothered to try again, but her conversation with Spica had reminded her of that exact reason. " If I can do that much, I can help Spica and her sister. I might even be able to help everyone then. " The edges of her lips tugged upwards into a smile at the thought. She quickly shook her head and shuffled through the other papers scattering her desk. ' To do that though, I need to find out the correlation between the new millennium and why it only affects certain powers. ' Her fingers stopped and hovered over one of the folders. Before even a minute had passed, she was out of her seat and roaming the hallways. She knew the perfect person to study for that task, and as luck would have it, he was but a few hallways away from her own lab.

" Que. " She addressed the younger male firmly, causing him to stop in his tracks and wait for her. It didn't take long for her to catch up to his pace, and she glanced him over once she did to check for bruises. Que was fortunately one of the smaller people in the government which both made it easier to talk to him ( Leaning back to stare up would get rather tiresome after a while ) and easier to give him check ups. Noticing him opening his mouth to speak, she lifted a hand as a signal to stop before answering his unspoken question. " I'm .. fine. Even if I wasn't, it isn't something you should worry about. " Her eyes flitted away for a second, wondering how to word what she wanted to ask him. Cecilia didn't often spend time with the others, instead opting to work to pass the time. Even now, this simple request was work-related and she somewhat struggled on how to make it sound more casual so that he wouldn't find it awkward.. For a blunt woman such as herself, being sly was certainly not her strong point. " ... I was just checking up on you to see if you were okay from the mission. Remember if you're hurt, you can always stop by. " It wasn't a complete lie as she did welcome most of the superhumans to her lab whether injured or not. Cecilia brushed back a few of her own bangs before continuing, " Also, I'd like you to accompany me to the zoo. I'll give you some time to rest up from the mission, but we should go before it closes, okay ? "

██████　　　　　　TIME♛SKIP
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　IF WE COULD PUT INTO WORDS EVERY SECOND SOMEONE LIVES ON, WE FEEL OURSELVES LIVE ON. IF WE COULD PUT INTO WORDS EVERY SECOND SOMEONE LIVES ON, WE FEEL OURSELVES LIVE ON.
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　IF WE COULD PUT INTO WORDS EVERY SECOND SOMEONE LIVES ON, WE FEEL OURSELVES LIVE ON. IF WE COULD PUT INTO WORDS EVERY SECOND SOMEONE LIVES ON, WE FEEL OURSELVES LIVE ON.

" I always wondered how they captured these types of snakes. I don't think boa constrictors are dangerous per se, but their bites are painful and can get infected. I wonder if they have any poisonous ones ... "

Cecilia was currently musing to herself the ideas of how large snakes could be captured. Unfortunately, the one snake she found most interesting was currently asleep. The scientist couldn't help but smirk briefly to herself at the potential ideas floating through her mind. ' Not if I can help it. ' She turned to the male beside her, tilting her head slightly. " Do you have a favorite type of reptile ? Or rather ... what's your favorite animal ? " The female inquired towards Que with surprisingly genuine interest. On the way to the reptile section, they'd seen quite a few other animals but she hadn't bothered to ask if there was any in particular that he wanted to see. Cecilia had, at the least, made several attempts at small talk which was more than she usually had to and so she admitted inwardly that she felt quite accomplished with herself so far.

[IC4RU V-EG4]

millennium ██████████████████████ .★. ██████████████████████
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millennium i never wanted it to go this far , x never thought it would be so hard
millennium ▽x but now i'm left with nothing else
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"Nice name, I’ll consider using it," he commented boredly. "Was ‘hipster’ your idea of an insult? Creative. Half the school beat you to it." Marc didn’t understand why people called him a hipster all the time, but he didn’t really give a ********. He scoffed, running a hand through his hair. "It's Marc and that was history class—the one with the obviously unqualified substitute teacher. You barged in like it was a cheap sitcom, remember?"

"I couldn't help but notice that you've got a fancy folder there. Doing something illegal maybe? Because if you are, I'm pretty sure that the school should know about it, so."

So what?

"So let's go do something about that manila folder there, hm?"

"That’s the first thing a manila folder reminds you of? Have you ever thought it could be… gee, I don’t know, homework?" Cough—or government files. "I’m not a dealer and I doubt the school would believe a mainstream accusation from an attention-seeking new girl." Talk about nosy. Why was she observing him so closely anyway? His eyes narrowed into two silver slits. "Thanks, but no thanks. I'm busy, goodbye."

He shoved past her, ignoring her complaints and walking out the door. Ariadne, huh? For some reason, a tightness in his gut told him it wouldn’t be the last time she meddled in his life.

The Java Lamp Factory wasn't far from C. Courier. They were both located on the quieter side of DC next door to the suburbs, which had less people wandering around on the weekends. Suburbians often left their homes to spend their free time deep in the city, where it was more lively and active. Marc looked up and down at the old-fashioned apartments, thinking it was a shame the neighborhood wasn't appreciated enough. If he had the money, maybe he would have settled here instead of government housing. Although, he supposed the lack of appreciation was useful for now, since it made his job easier. As he turned onto the proper street, the large Javacadabra building was easily visible with its flashy purple logo—a floating coffee cup with genie dust hovering around it.

It was closed, but Marc was still able to peer through the glass. He examined the deserted counters and barred gift shop; he doubted any of the workers had work today besides the manager. There would usually be a tour, but it was empty inside besides a few security guards—few, but enough to be trouble. The warehouse was accessible from the inside from an opening garage door of sorts, but there were too many guards and cameras. He needed to find a more discreet way in.

Marc walked back a couple paces to the alley beside the factory. If movies were cinematically correct about anything, it was that warehouses had more than one entrance.

And there it was.

Two guards stood in front of the warehouse side door. They were buff, bodyguard types with suits, sunglasses, and earpieces. Maybe they were even superhumans. Even if they were, Marc didn't know a super able to counteract his poison.

An ordinary dose of poison would probably kill off the guards, so he needed to dull it. For a government that had a lot of enemies to kill, they were strictly against killing anyone else. Marc stood with his back to the street and dug out a package of darts from his bag. The darts were small cylinders, about half the length of his palm and twice the width of a pencil. They wore safety caps, but once taken off, showcased a long, sharp needle that took at least a fourth of the dart's miniscule size. He relaxed, focusing on decreasing his poison lethality for a moment and uncapped a dart, holding the tip of the needle to the side of his cheek for a few seconds to let the poison surround it. Then, he loaded it into the dart gun.

And he shot.

The sound of a dart gun was soft like a bird beating its wings. It didn’t echo and it didn’t draw attention. The first victim's partner stood over the downed body with an expression of shock. He lifted his head, locking eyes with the boy to the far side of the alley. He pointed his gun and opened his mouth, “Stop—“

And the boy shot again.

With both of the guards napping on the concrete, it was safe for Marc to approach and admire his handiwork. He picked the needles from their bodies and pocketed them in a plastic baggie, which was to be disposed of later. Right now, he was busy with reconnaissance. Kneeling to the ground, he began searching for an ID card to use as a warehouse key. He would also probably need it to erase the footage from any hidden cameras later.


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━━━★ ★ ★ x ❝ you're so damn difficult. 》_______________

[NeverAging]

Que Zero;;


Ughh. He should not have eaten that salad for lunch today.

You see, this is how it usually goes down. Que would wake up, take about an hour to get out of bed, then wander around in search of breakfast. Today though, today he was particularly tired, and he honestly didn't feel like making a bowl of his usual trail mix cereal. He had a left over salad from last night's dinner, so he was just like "Ahh...I should just....finish....this..." So he did. A normal garden salad, nothing special. Just lettuce, tomatoes, and a couple other weird colored leafy things. Did anyone even know what those were? Those parts that kind of look like lettuce, but they're all purple and stuff. Que wasn't even sure they had a taste, but they didn't taste bad, so he ate them anyway. The tomatoes were a little soggy, since it had been left out on his desk all night and his room was probably the same temperature of the sun, so it didn't do much toward food preservation. But all of that was fine. It was what lurked underneath the lettuce and tomatoes that was the problem. His salad had a finely sliced boiled egg waiting under all the salad crap. Why was it under the lettuce? Who knows, but it was, and that egg was spoiled.

It's hard to avoid spoiled parts of a salad when you're half asleep and hungry.

Ughhhh. Que shuffled down the hallway towards the bathroom, looking slightly greener than usual. He could feel the tainted egg sitting in his stomach, slowly spreading bacteria and viruses throughout his body...if that's even how stuff like that worked. Que's intestine's tightened, and he clutched at his side. He felt hot inside, but his skin was cold and clammy...ah, so his skin was exactly the same as it usually was. He felt terrible though. Stomach acid crept up his throat. Que was swallowing spit every .3 seconds to keep the vomit down. The bathroom was just down this hallway, then he could throw up everywhere as much as he wanted. Not in the hallway though. He was stronger than that. Just down...this...hallway.

"Que."

...

...

......... =n=

Que stopped in his tracks. Ughhhh. His hearing was foggy, but someone had distinctively called his name. The footsteps grew closer. Ughhh. His vision unfocused for a second, and he leaned against the wall. Que closed his eyes. Waiting. Ughhh....he wasn't going to make it to the bathroom. He was going to blow chunks. Right. Now....no. No. Que pushed the feeling back down. It thankfully didn't take long for the footsteps to catch up to him. Que turned, opening his eyes. Ahhh..."Cecilia." Oh geez, even talking was difficult. Que shut his mouth before something other than words spewed out. She looked him up and down, checking him out in the most professional way possible. It warmed his little reptilian heart that she cared so much, even if it was kind of her job, but still, it gave him warm feelings. Or maybe that was the vomit.

Oh God.

Vomit.

There it was. He couldn't stop it this time. UGHHHHHHH. His mouth opened, but she lifted a hand as a signal for him to stop. No. NO, he was stronger than this. Que pushed it back down again. " I'm .. fine. Even if I wasn't, it isn't something you should worry about. " She answered a question that he hadn't asked, though, the answer was still nice. Que worried about her, he really did, and even though his insides felt like an ocean of spoiled egg and misery, he was glad she was feeling okay.

Cecilia's eyes flitted away, and Que sneakily wiped away a bead of sweat. "Ahh...yeah....the mission..." Was probably the last thing on his mind right now. "I'm...oka--uh...I am not injured by the....uh, mission." A seemingly harmless salad on the otherhand. "Right...I will remember to...stop by if hurt." Que took a few steps in the direction of the bathroom, but she kept talking, so he had to wait. Ughh. Que held his side again, playing it off as though he just had a simple itch. "The zoo?" What? It caught him by surprise. Why did she want to there? He would have questioned it, but...ugh, he was going to barf. "The zoo sounds..." Vomit. Vomit. Vomit. Vomit. "Uh...that sounds...n-" VOMIT. VOMIT. VOMIT. VOMIT. "...n-nice. Yeah...uh...sure. Just..uh, g-give...me a couple..........."

Que turned around and shuffled away.




**************


The zoo.

Mmmmmmmmmmm.

It was really....warmm.....hereeeee....

= u=

Que's palms were pressed against the heated glass cages. It felt surprisingly better than he had earlier, throwing up sometimes had that effect, but he certainly was not at 100%. All he really wanted to do was sleep, so Cecilia probably didn't even notice the difference. "Mmmmm....I'm sure if you give them food and a...mmm...warm cage...the snake would probably...willingly...go in..." So warm. Que pressed his tummy against the glass. AHHHH, yeah, that felt nice to his poor little sick stomach. Que wasn't so much interested in the reptile exhibit, mostly because...yanno, he could just look in the mirror and see most of the same stuff, but it was really warm and nice in here so he lingered.

"A favorite...reptile? Mmm..." Warm. "Well...I really like...hedgehogs..." He smiled softly. Those guys were really cute. They also didn't seem to get hungry around him, so that was a plus. Dogs, for example. Yes, Que was bigger than a dog, in most cases, so they weren't going to eat him or anything fatal like that, but it still creeped him out how dogs were a little too interested in licking him. "Mm...what about you? Talking with Cecilia...was..not strange, but uncommon. She seemed like she would like big animals though. The ones with power. Like, lions and tigers and bears.

Oh my.

Ughh.

Que put a hand over his mouth. Something was...something was coming up. Oh my. Que closed his eyes, expecting the worst.

He burped.

...ah. "Hah...sorry." That was a lot better than expected. He blinked with his clear second set of eyelids, looking over to Cecilia. "We should...mm...go to your favorite....mmm...exhibit." Maybe if she were distracted, she wouldn't noticed if he hurled chunks in a nearby bush. Although. Que paused, giving himself a mental health check. The feeling had passed, at least for now. He was good. Que nodded, mostly to himself rather than Cecilia.

[claw breeze]

For a brief moment, Zale was actually quite at home trying to be a cat. Cats were so much easier to be, after all. They didn't have to worry about police chases or hero-worship or even boogers. Did cats even have boogers? This was something he'd have to ask someone. Really, really soon.

Thankfully, the heavens seemed to have heard him!

Though not in a particularly good way.

"Whoa, wha - " He barely had enough time to dodge the projectile coming straight at his face, hands going up to try and shield his face from whatever it was.

Turned out not to be a smart decision, as he suddenly felt a strong force against his gut. Enough to chase the breath out of his lungs, and god, was that one painful experience. Here he was, staining his clothes as he suddenly gripped onto his injured body, lucid for a second to wonder why the hell he was even supposed to be there, in front of a broken window. And really, had he really sliced his hand open like that? Tch. How careless -

The oncoming headache was interrupted by a hand that was suddenly grabbing at his collar and shaking him. Shaking him. That little thing. It took Zale blinking a few times to be able to see her properly, but she was so small. And cute. Almost enough to step on. Repeatedly.

" You got one minute to explain why the ******** you broke my window and to pay for the damage or I'll push you off - Zale?!! "

Zale managed to raise an eyebrow, strangely enough. "...who?" Because, honestly, he hadn't ingested that many memories that day to make him feel this dizzy - or more precisely, as if static was covering his head. Got loud enough to make his ears hurt, and he winced, vision clearing once more and focusing on the (tiny cute smashable thing - ) person in front of him. Who was apparently still waiting for an answer.

More than a few moments of silence paused before Zale made a clicking sound. And brought his palm to his face, slapping himself over the head hard. "Ah - ya mean me? R'ly?" He stared at the other ... girl, and started to laugh. "S'rry but, don'know ya kiddo. Afraid to tell ya that ya've got the wrong person'. See, my name's Mick. Mick Rogers." He'd gotten enough hiding tips from Heist. He'd even started using a cool codename to try and shake people off his track. Other than this girl, no one knew who he was. So quite obviously, she is a stalker. (Excluding the police, those two hobos and the neighborhood cat, after all ... )

His internal alarm system was going off.

Who was she? Was she planning on killing him? Did she want to take his intestines and eat them -

"Oh, forgo' 'bout the pretty red." He said, perplexed expression seeping off into a content ( but rather pinched ) smile, as he realized the reason his vision was blurry was that he'd just rubbed blood all over his face. He was brilliant!

He shoved the hand at the girl's face. "See this? Evil guys did this to me. So I had to punch your window to get yar attention. Because I'll die otherwise. Really. I'll die." He nodded gravely, as if he was telling her a secret that only she could know about.

"Ya're a nice kid, aren'tcha? You'll help Mick out, rig'?" Zale asked, patting the girl's shoulder with his injured hand, smiling expectantly.

His plan just could not fail.

Hiding an evil cackle was a bit harder to do than they said, especially as he looked over his shoulder and - "Wow, you've got a nice couch." So he pushed the girl to the side, and jumped inside like a ninja - jumping through the window and everything. Then he proceeded to plop down on her couch, and stretched like a cat.

"Really nice couch. I want to adopt this couch. That'd be fine, right?" And then he looked down, and saw that he'd smeared the red all over the pretty couch. "Aw. I'm sorry." He said it more to the couch than any actual person. AKA, the person who was in the room with him. Because there was no way she was going to make him leave this couch. Nope.

[Brethil24]

WHITETEXTIN【CODENAME-DATABYTE:~】jaden%▐▌
EMPTYSPACESINMYCODE░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ʜᴇʟʟᴏ ᴡᴏʀʟᴅ! ʜᴇʟʟᴏ ᴡᴏʀʟᴅ! ʜᴇʟʟᴏ ᴡᴏʀʟᴅ!

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Jaden kind of expected Lee would get mad at her for all the trouble she caused, and he did. It was loud, and there may have been some gesturing, but Jaden couldn’t really bring herself to be too upset with him because it was all true. She had made a huge mess and it caused people lots of problems, and yeah, maybe she had good intentions, but honestly? She should have known better and just let them handle it. So Jaden just quietly listened to Lee go on, and when it sounded like he’d finished she mumbled a quiet sorry, went back to his phone and entered sleep mode, all while mentally preparing herself for the punishment that probably awaited her.

Which was why Jaden was extra surprised when Lee woke her early the next day, proudly showing off a robot body. For her.

It was the previous model Dad had working on before he discovered a much more efficient energy source and a nicer material to form the skeleton with. He’d decided to start from scratch after that, which left the model with a lot of incomplete functions. But even with all of its imperfections it was a body, and it was being given to her just like that, and Jaden found herself tearing up with a mix of emotions she couldn’t quite tease apart.

On one hand she was finally getting a real body to do things with and go be in the world with people, but on the other… her dad had built this. Her paranoid, overprotective dad who freaked out about her rewatching Bambi because she cried the first time Bambi’s mother died (it’s a sad scene okay?), and who definitely wouldn’t just leave his work lying around, especially not one of her prototypes. If he had to leave her body like this… that meant something must have happened to him, right? And Jaden knew that her dad had to be in trouble, otherwise he would have contacted her by now, but she’d been so caught up in all this government stuff and enjoying her newfound freedom when he could be hurt or even worse and…

Jaden cried. And then she felt really bad about it because it made Lee freak out a little.

After they all calmed down, Jaden went ahead and uploaded herself, her mind spreading out to take control of the machine with little difficulty. There was some awkward wobbling, but Jaden managed to figure things out enough to give Lee a hug first thing (it was probably good that Lee was so sturdy because she was still getting used to regulating her strength output). Then after she got down the basics of having a physical body, they went out of breakfast. It was glorious.

They ended up going to a nearby McDonalds, where Lee let her order something even though she couldn’t eat. It was too early for burgers, so Jaden picked out some kind of egg and sausage sandwich with hashbrowns, and after poking and prodding and trying to smell it (an eventual feature that hadn’t been implemented yet) she finally surrendered the fast food and watched Lee eat it with much interest. They then walked around for a bit looking at dogs and stores and people, and it was great, and she was having tons of fun, except then Lee needed to go back to the octagon in order to give Rhys a tour, and Jaden couldn’t really protest about that because Rhys probably needed someone to show him around, though she wasn’t quite sure that Lee was the best person for that.

So they went back to the minivan and Lee was about to start driving when Jaden spotted and sign and well… “Wait! Ummm there’s a mall over there, and it looks kind of cool and er… maybe you could drop me off and come pick me up when you’re done? I promise I won’t get into any trouble I just… want to look around.” She’d fidgeted, not really expecting Lee to let her go, but he was being so nice, and it’d been such a good day so far that Jaden figured there’d be no harm in pushing her luck.

And strangely enough Lee agreed.

So here Jaden was, equipped with an iphone (Lee had a whole compartment of the things it was kind of scary) and a credit card (“You better be responsible with this I’m trusting you not to go crazy here”). She still had a decent amount of charge left (2 hours and 43 minutes to be precise) and she was standing in a few feet away from an automatic door. Jaden stared at the door. The door… did absolutely nothing because it was an inanimate object. She then walked up to it and the door slid open, releasing a cool rush of chilled air.

Best. Day. Ever.

Jaden wanted to skip. She wanted to sing. She wanted to shout at the top of her lungs ‘Look, I am Jaden Gravenstein, and I am in a shopping mall! Shopping!’ Except normal people didn’t do that every time they went to the mall and she was pretending to be a normal person so instead Jaden contented herself with swinging her arms back and forth and trying to remember to blink every few seconds. Now let’s see, there was one floor below this one, and two more above, but she hadn’t seen anything on this floor yet so she should probably window shop here first, right? Right! Spotting an interesting looking window display, Jaden walked closer in order to get a better look.

Or rather Jaden tried to walk closer and get a better look. Instead she kind of stumbled and flailed confusedly as her internal equilibrioception gauge freaked out, and after a few terrifying seconds of not knowing which way was up or down, Jaden realized she was falling. Right towards an escalator. An up escalator. Logically Jaden knew that the rate she was falling down would exceed the rate that the escalator was coming up which meant no perpetual falling, but that was not a very comforting thought. Jaden proceeded to scream very loudly.


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▇▇▇ ▇▇▇ ▇▇▇ ｓｏｍｅｄａｙ ｍｙ ｈｅａｒｔ ｗｉｌｌ ｂｅ ｅｒｒｏｒ ｆｒｅｅ

[cellebi]

x♔ x ♔ x ♔ xxxx ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
xxxxx EVEN xxx HEROES xxx HAVE xxx THE xxx RIGHT xxx TO xxx BLEED
xoxoxoxox☼ ☼ ☼ I T ' S xxxx A L L xxxx R I G H T , xxxx Y O U xxxx C A N xxxx S L E E P xxxx S O U N D xxxx T O N I G H T

It seemed that because Snow was, by all textbook definitions, a 'woman,' - though some may argue that fact - her father saw it fit that she should do whatever shopping needed. It had all started with that one fateful day at Fan-Mart. Accepting Scott's request to pick up that one item had basically been like selling her goddamn soul. In the end, Snow was grateful she'd done it. The girl liked to think that her presence when the fan had gone berserk had saved lives that day. It was why she did what she did, after all.

Fred, when he'd still been kicking with his ragtag gang, would have probably given her grief for all the property damage, but Snow felt that compared to what she'd done before, her hand in it had been fairly minimal. It wasn't like she'd worked alone, for god's sake. Anthony, the squirt, and other factors had played a part in the destruction.

Adjusting the Philadelphia Flyers cap on her head, Snow checked her list, grunted, and continued on her casual stroll down the mall's crowded hall.

"How the hell did I get roped into picking up boxers?" she asked the piece of paper in her hands. Unsurprisingly, it didn't answer, and she stuffed it irritably into her pocket and curled her lips. "I have an image to uphold, here."

Snow kept her shoulders back while she walked, the rough look to her clothes and the dirt on her boots earning her a few odd glances here and there whenever she entered a store. Not that she wasn't used to it by now. A crack leaving her shoulder as she popped a joint, Snow was just deciding to take a break and join up the ridiculously long lineup at McDonald's when she suddenly noticed that the heads of the people around her were faced up towards the ceiling.

Snow saw her before she heard her, but the scream still took a moment to register in her mind.

Man, she thought, dropping her bags unceremoniously towards the ground as a glow lit up beneath the membrane of her skin. These things just keep happening. I must have some awesome timing.

The girl looked to be in her teens, though Snow's first focus wasn't exactly her age age. And if someone didn't do something soon, she was going to crash into an escalator from the floor up above.

Pitching herself forward, Snow felt a rush of power thrum through her. She sent it to her legs, and they became a blur of color as she used her sudden strength to increase her speed. Dodging bodies, Snow leaped, landing seamlessly on the ramp of the escalator. Her feet sliding against the black rubbery-rail, Snow used it as her platform, the black soles of her shoes leaving large scuff marks from the inhuman pressure as she took three giant steps.

The rail was squished beneath her foot like Silly Putty as she jumped for the second time, despite her attempts to be gentle, and Snow stretched out her arms. Angling her body awkwardly so as not to jar the girl too much when she caught her, Snow put her arms out.

It was like catching a strangely shaped feather. Spacing out her powers to properly feel the weight that hit her arms as Snow caught the damsel in distress, she bent her legs as they fell back towards the ground like a stone. Turning her feet outwards as they landed in an empty space, Snow heard the tile cracking beneath her feet, but paid the damage little mind. For the first time, she took a good look at the other female in her arms, and there was something off about her, though Snow couldn't quite put her finger on it. Glassy blue eyes were framed by a pair of lashes, and when they met her own, Snow couldn't help but feel like she was looking at something not quite human. This was only accentuated by the startling shade of silvery hair.

Her first assumption would probably have to be alien.

A rough smile that rivaled Cam Gigandet's crossed her features. "That was quite the fall there, kid. You ok?" Gently setting the girl down when Snow was sure no bones were broken, she reached out to pat the girl's head, her fingers getting caught up in the mop of grey. "I bet you're a little shaken, huh? You coulda cracked your skull open, or somethin'. D'you have someone you can call?"

She was still keeping an eye out for more close calls. She still had time left on her Hero Up, and Snow hated wasting it.

Plus she really wanted to scram before security caught onto her. She didn't even have her Rave Breaker mask - it made her feel a little naked when she used her powers without it.

[silvieon]

Was there really anything as awesome as playing sets in sketchy little pubs in back alleys? No, you really needn't answer that, it was a rhetorical question, because there totally wasn't anything better than this. At least, not for David, always looking for small places to play at every other Saturday or so. Plus, they paid well - not that his mom was really happy with where he played all the time, but they were the only places who would hire someone like him, being 16 and all.

At least he still got to play, though, right?

"I'll be back in a few, I've got to go take a break right now!" He gave a small wave, holding his saxophone close, at the group of people who had all gathered around to watch him play, which David really would never get enough of, how many people liked to come watch him play. They always liked to push some of those baby tables closer to wherever he played to watch, instead of just letting the music wash over them as background noise. That had to be his favorite part.

"Hey, would you mind getting me a glass of water?" David called out to the bartender, plopping down inelegantly (although making sure to keep his saxophone out of the way) onto one of the stools closest to his stage. Carefully, he eased the ligature off of the head joint, sucking the reed up into his mouth before laying the ligature down gently onto the counter and pulling a handkerchief out of his pocket and gently cleaning his reed off.

The only thing that made him look up from his reed cleaning was the clink of something heavy coming far too close to his ligature. David glanced around sharply, mouth open and ready to reprimand whoever it was who was stupid enough to put anything near a part of his baby.

Whoops, never mind, it was that glass of water he'd asked for.

"Thanks, John!" he hollered down all five feet of the bar, waving happily at the bartender once he'd caught his attention. The man - John, actually - to his credit, pointedly ignored David to take care of his other customers. 'Probably five more minutes or so,' David mused, glancing down at his watch, and then at the bright green highlighter that had faded slightly since...

...wait, when did he write this again?

"N...r...mm? Is that an m?" He squinted, trying to angle his hand left and right, putting it right into the middle of the overhead light, even, but all of it was to no avail. The crowd he played to had since dispersed, going back to whatever corners they had come from previously (kind of like cockroaches, although his mom would definitely not approve of that imagery), which mean there was no...one?

Oh, hang on, how'd he miss that... David blinked, squinting in the low light of the bar. Was that a girl? Or a boy? "Hey, could you help me read this on my hand right here?" David grabbed at the (wo?)man's coat and tugged him (her?) closer to examine his hand. "See? Right here," he pulled his highlighter out of his pocket and twirled it around before tapping the back of his hand with it, "Can you read it? I'm wondering if I should rewrite it."

[silvieon]

Hipster here was just angling for her to punch him, Ariadne was certain of it. She leveled him a glare, as angry as the nonchalant expression on his face as he shoved her out of the way and - well, she really wished she could've said he was sashaying out of the place but, nahh. He kind of just stomped right on out of there.

Honestly, though. Did he really take her for a druggie? Okay, maybe, her stepdad's shirt with the sleeves shoved haphazardly up to her shoulders probably was not helping anything.

It would probably be best to go back to her book. Which she had just left on that comfy armchair. 'Crap!'

Okay, maybe hipster - Marc could get away for now, but Ariadne would catch up to them, as soon as she tucked her book away into her bag (which she had also left with her wallet in it too - wow, points for her today) and scurried out of the bookstore.

"Now then, if I were a hipster, where would I go with a manila folder, if I'm not going to smoke it up, get high, and go do some art?" she muttered to herself, glancing up and down the street. "Ah, well, let's flip a coin."

She went left.

Incidentally, that was where hipster - Marc was headed too; Ariadne could see his bag at his waist. Well, follow the hipster. As stealthily as possible, though, which meant hiding behind walls and casually turning down alleyways whenever she thought he was looking, which was probably a lot more than he actually looked back at her, but hey. Better safe than sorry.

So when they got to the warehouse, she was more than a little surprised. 'Must've had to refuel his hipster,' she thought, scoffing as Marc pulled a pack out of his pocket. What was he going to do, throw tissues at th -

Oh, that was a pretty long needle there.

Ari leaned out a little from her hiding place further down the alley behind a trashcan, watching hipster - Marc shoot the guards out cold.

Well. You learn new things every day, they say.

And now he was looking for a warehouse ID. That was some pretty damn incriminating evidence right there; the idiot even went right out in the open and casually took his time to recollect his darts. Ari shook her head in frustration, almost pushing the trashcan over at his incompetence. Didn't this kid know anything about sneaking around?

Rolling her eyes and sighing, Ariadne closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and spread her awareness out, looking for the security cameras. She passed over the darts she felt in hipster - Marc's pockets and the metal on the guards, trying to home in on the gold that was always in cameras and technology in general. 'Subtlety or not?' she mused, a smile playing on her face at the thought of cameras blowing up all of a sudden.

But no, that was probably a very bad idea. Subtlety was probably smart here. So instead, she casually moved the metal atoms around to perhaps speed them up a bit and melt all the metal in them. No big deal or anything.

"Hey, so, next time you're going to go out in the open after killing - you didn't kill those guys did you? I mean, you're a minor and all, but you'll still get tried as an adult for that. Okay, but yeah, take the security cameras out first next time, okay? Come on, I'll get us in, but only if you tell me what we're doing here." Ari stooped down, rooting around for the security guard's left hip, where his key chain was. When she pulled it out, she made a triumphant noise, waving them in Marc's face before pulling them away and smirking. "Let's go see what's in this mysterious...Java Lamp Factory? What the hell? What kind of a mission are you on here?"

She rolled her eyes, motioning for hipster - Marc to follow her as she wandered over to the door. Metal knobs. Of course. Pfft, she didn't even need these security keys. "Here, put this back on that guy's chain there, I've got the door open already," Ari called over her shoulder, tossing the key card behind her as she frowned at the lock, nudging the bolts in the door around before pushing it open and gesturing for hipster - Marc to go inside. "After you, hipster."

[silvieon]

What did he just said.

LITERALLY. WHAT. DID HE. JUST. SAY.

"RHYYYYYYYYS, GET YOUR a** BACK HERE. NOW."

Really, if you wanted to live, it was in your best interests to listen to what Lee had to say sometimes. Plus, he had been trying to make sure Rhys didn't touch anything that, hm, might be a little bit fatal to people? You know, people who aren't Lee, of course. It was a little difficult to kill Lee, after all.

"Come with me, you little ********. I told you NOT TO TOUCH ANYTHING. What the hell were you THINKING," Lee hissed, hauling Professor Rhys over by his collar. Because, really? He could've forgiven the touching of things like a hyperactive child, but spilling things on Lee? Now that was definitely pushing it. He had to draw the line somewhere, after all. "No. Touching. Anything." Each word was punctuated with a jab to Rhys' chest.

It was bad enough with actual teenagers. Now he had a grown man who acted like a five - year old. What was this nightmare. What was his life. How has it come to this, herding children - and children - like adults - around everywhere. He was supposed to be in charge of an elite virus - fighting team.

Instead he's stuck with all these guys.

And Ceci and Spica. ******** Unholy Alliance. So unholy that they deserved capital letters, of course.

"Ugh, now I have to go do that safety shower thing thanks to you. And you're not going anywhere, either. Get over here." Lee would've hauled Rhys onto his shoulder again, except for the weird, green formula that was staining his clothes and -

- hang on, was it eating his clothes?

Maybe this stuff was slightly dangerous. Best not to haul Rhys onto his shoulder.

"Where's the ******** safety shower," Lee growled out at one of the poor lab assistants, or scientists, or what the ******** ever; this green thing was tingling weirdly. At least nothing was eating his flesh (yet?).

"O - over there!" the poor assistant (scientist?) squeaked out, hands flailing inefficiently in the direction to the right.

Well, that was good enough for Lee.

"If you run off while I'm getting this stuff that YOU THREW ON ME, BY THE WAY, I will THROW THIS ON YOU. And I'm fairly certain it's eaten through part of my shirt, so I have to wonder what it might do to you." Lee rolled his eyes, peeling his shirt off and throwing it onto the ground before flipping the shower on.

So far this probation thing? Not working out so well.

"AND IF YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT TOUCHING ANYTHING ELSE RIGHT NOW, I WILL THROW YOU DOWN THE ELEVATOR SHAFT." That, unfortunately, had been the fate of Lee's first secretary.

They don't like to talk about Jack. That was not a pretty day.

[monsieur sushi]

If anyone were to ask what type of sound Rhys just made right then, he'd say it was definitely not a high - pitched shriek because Professor Rhys Endrick does not shriek, thank you very much. And if anyone were to say otherwise . . . well. They'd be right. Because he did just shriek a tiiiiny bit (more like a lot) as Lee hauled him by the scruff of his collar.

"Ummmmmm . . . " He made a show of steadily tapping his chin, feigning ignorance at the whole 'incident'. Not really knowing what else to say, he opted to point out the obvious (which was becoming more and more frequent now that he thought about it). "I think it's eating your shirt." Rhys said this like he didn't just spill acid all over Lee.

He was about to pat the burnt shirt bits until he realized he wasn't wearing gloves. And so Rhys casually withdrew his hand and scratched the back of his head with a small, timid smile. "Oooohhh," his eyes seemed to grow wide with excitement."A safety shower? Can I try it too? Can I? I haven't been in one since . . . hmmm . . . nineteen fifty something!" He received a few stares from the people around him. "I was in college." He added, as if it clarified the entire thing.

Rhys made a move to follow after his companion until he realized Lee probably wouldn't like that very much. "On second thought, maybe I'll pass . . ." He backed away slowly, laughing apprehensively at the thought of Lee strangling him with the acid - soaked shirt. The scary part? Lee would try to do something like that.

"I will just--" The time traveller looked around. A shiny, silver stool called out to him from the corner. "--sit on that chair! And wait. Quietly." He nodded to himself then hurriedly added: "Without touching anything."

He quickly shuffled towards the corner and sat himself all proper - like with his hands folded in his lap.

A more observant watcher would notice that he held a silver vial in his hands. Whoops. Rhys figured as long as Lee didn't know, he wouldn't be in danger of getting thrown down an elevator shaft. He involuntarily shuddered at the mental image.

. . . .

. . . .

Urgh. Wow this was terribly boring. Couldn't Lee hurry up or something.

"Is this how time normally passes?" He asked the entire room. Several scientists gave him an odd look. ". . . reaallllllyyy slowly . . . and in the right order . . . ?"

Dead silence.

WELL THEN. He crossed his arms and hmphed. Rhys could not do the whole 'sitting in one place QUIETLY' thing. Nope. This was basically torture for him. Even though he had only been sitting silently for a grand total of . . . ten seconds.

"Hey Leeeeeee," Rhys piped up from the corner. He began to tap a beat on the stool with his foot. One, two, three, four. "You should show me around the city after you're done with your shower ~ Since I haven't been outside this . . . erm . . ." He glanced about the room, a bit hesitant to honestly describe the Octagon. He thought it was all rather dull and boring and bluhhhhh. The hallways simply needed more colour. Maybe a lovely shade of TARDIS blue would do. Eh. Well. He might as well stick with his default adjective. "Groovy place. I PROMISE NOT TO RUN AWAY AND GET LOST. Really. Cross my heart." Rhys even made the whole crossing motion on his chest.

Actually, he probably would get lost and not even realize it. Sigh.
x

[Artemyes]

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____________________ ⊰ if i go crazy then will you still call me superman? ⊱ ____________________________________ ⊰ if i'm alive and well will you be there, holding my hand? ⊱
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Rather quickly it seemed, the musician sought out a break.

When the music finally tapered off then, the crowd that had gathered close to the stage began to dissipate, with their entertainment momentarily put on hold. Finishing off his drink with one final swig, the alcohol warming his throat and insides. Ryder was the last one to move from the standing area in front of the stage, absently swirling the ice in his glass as he watched the musician - who was quite young, he was somewhat surprised to realize - hop onto a bar stool with a severe lack of elegance, though he did seem to mind his instrument.

Taking a seat once again, Ryder set the glass onto the counter with a bit of a firm hand, the sound enough to alert the bartender. Tapping the rim of the glass with a finger, he made a sign for another round, to which the man stared for a moment more, before nodding again, as if resigned to the fact that this particular patron did not care to ingest liquor despite it still being afternoon. He was likely used to such occurrences as well - this was not the first time Ryder had visited this particular little pub after all.

"Hey, could you help me read this on my hand right here?"

There was a tug on his jacket, as the person tried to pull him to his left. A look told him that - lo and behold - it was the musician kid with his instrument in a few 'pieces' and a glass of water set in front of him. Shrugging his shoulder to adjust his jacket rather coolly, Ryder accepted his second glass from the bartender without so much as a look this time, curious on as to what it was the kid was pointing at; not to mention, he didn't seem particularly troubled by grabbing at random anybodies for - help deciphering weird scribbles. Deciding to humor him though, Ryder leaned over taking less than a second before going about answering. "Tha's a bunch of s**t scribbles, kid." He replied, his tone amused and amicable almost, despite his choice of words. He really did look like a kid too, though maybe he was not so young, he mused; like the kind of guy who'd be talked into willingly giving up his wallet, or something. That thought was amusing in itself as well - not that he was that type of guy. Yup.

"Why don't ya just stick to music?" he continued, motioning over to the saxophone with his glass before taking a drink. "Tha' thing you were playing, s'pretty cool. You're pretty good, aren't ya? Y'do this kinda gig thing a lot?" He supposed the kid did, or he wouldn't be as good as he seemed to be at playing. Then again though, Ryder was not exactly the most knowledgeable about the mechanics of actually creating music. Listening was good enough, really.

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⊰ i really dont mind what happens now and then, as long as you'll be my friend at the end ⊱

[C A P T A ii N - - GUAVA]

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The DVD store was nothing fancy. Far from it. It was located on the first floor of some worn down building, in some dingy alleyway. Next to the store is a cell phone service shop that nobody visits, and on the other side is a candy shop. A few streets down is that church organization, the one that keeps some orphaned kids fed. A year back they got themselves a gaming console. Most of the kids are too young to know how to use it, but it keeps the older ones busy. Including Jude. He used to visit the DVD store to rent movies to watch, but with the gaming console here, he began renting games too. The money he used were meant to buy him lunch when he’s at school.

He came to this DVD store so often that past year that the owner -- often stoned -- knows him. “Need help?” Jude had asked once, when the guy was too high to stack his DVDs properly. After that, Jude was hired. Well, “hired”. There was no contract, no signatures. He comes here a couple of hours every day, and he gets a couple of bucks for organizing the DVDs and cleaning the shelves and racks. Everything was so dusty at first that Jude had to wrap a towel around his face to prevent breathing in all the dirt. It’s better now. Clean, at least.

There are movies, documentaries, live recording of concerts, games, music CDs, and, hidden in the back, porn. Most guys come to rent porn. Very few girls come here. Jude’s “friends” -- kids from the same orphanage -- come here to get themselves movies or games. With Jude working here, they know they can get away without paying. They’re here now, just done with today’s school... even though they don’t have backpacks or anything like that with them. Most of them go to school empty handed and come back empty handed. Jude isn’t the one to judge though -- he’s been skipping. Again.

“You heard that news?” One of the bigger boys was muttering to his minions, pretending to look through the selection the store had to offer.

“What news?” A lanky fellow asked. He didn’t have to ask, but when the alpha posed a question that needs prompting, you do the prompting.

“Apparently, this kid from class B died last night. The blonde one, with curls. Fat.”

A few gasps followed. A few asked how.

“Someone said he jerked off fifty times last night, none stop.” A pause for dramatic effect here. “It killed him.”

Was the topic about jerking off again? Jude looked up from his NDS, wondering if this group ever talked about anything other than masturbation.

“That’s disgusting.” The only girl in the group snorted. She was too young to have breasts big enough for bras to be necessary, but her legs were all out in the open. It’s a wonder her panties are not showing with how short and tight her little skirt is.

Doesn’t she get cold?

She looked towards Jude, caught him looking at her legs, and smirked. Jude looked back down at his NDS, but his concentration on his game was broken again when the group migrated his way. The big one looked around to make sure the owner wasn’t in sight. Unfortunately, the owner had gone out earlier, telling Jude that he had to “go pick up some stuff from a friend”.

“Hey,” the alpha called, waving two DVDs. “We’re taking these, ‘aight?”

Jude is smart enough not to pick fights with those who are a foot taller than he is. “Get them back by tomorrow.” he said, even though he knows the guy probably won’t do it. Jude always goes to fish out the “borrowed” DVDs from the TV or from the guy’s room. Jude was angry at first, but now he couldn’t bother.

“Jude,” the girl was leaning over the counter. “We got some cigarettes...” she looked back over her shoulder at the others conspiratorially before turning back. “Wanna’ come smoke with us?”

Smoking is a group activity. It’s “cool”. You have to do it in secret, though.

“Stop teasin’ him. Can’t you see he's busy?” the big guy answered for Jude, his mouth twisting into a lop-sided smirk. “Let’s go before that pot-head comes back.”

And so the group left, leaving Jude alone in the DVD store once more. The blonde let out a big, tired sigh. He looked towards the digital clock hanging askew on the wall behind him. Ten more minutes. Ten more minutes and he will be able to leave. The owner had better come back before then, because otherwise Jude will demand to be paid for overtime....which, get to think of it, might not be that bad. Overtime means more money, and more money means he’s closer to his goal of buying Galaxy Troopers, the sequel game to Galaxy. It will be out soon, and Jude wants the collector’s edition. Collector’s edition is always more expensive, but with how awesome Galaxy Troopers will be, Jude is certain the money is worth it.

Jude smiled to himself at that thought, the image of that nice pair of legs he just saw immediately replaced by spaceships and laser guns.




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a l l i a n c e ::neutral
p o w e r s ::power cancelation
l o c a t i o n ::some dingy DVD store
c o m p a n i o n ::none