Private Roleplay~ IOD

asi • 8 February 2013 at 12:56 AM

"Is that so," Raven murmured under her breath. A few turns later, she'd arrived at the first stop; Three's office. She didn't know that much about him, but from she had seen, he was smart, fairly decent, and he didn't appear to like Two much either. Still in a bit of a mood thanks to Riley, she barged in without knocking.

"Then I must be nobody," he replied, with a careless air of nonchalance which failed to disguise how serious he was; "since there's no where I'd rather be."
Spike walked over to her and took the stapler. He fired twelve shots in rapid succession at the wall. Though the target had seemed far out of range, they all hit and would have formed a perfect circle, had the last not failed to stick and fallen to the ground. Two shook his head in dissatisfaction and dropped the staple gun back on the desk.
"It's sort of about that, actually," he said, gaze dropping to the floor. "As result of this year's Truce, everyone but Col, you, and I have been replaced. Roles are going to be reshuffled, and One doesn't want a newbie replacing Nine's job of the main fighting- we're actually being pushed back in five areas," he frowned. "One won't tell me where they're sending Three... But as he's busy, it'll be me taking command."
It's been a while since I was on the field, Two pondered, and was surprised to find himself little apprehensive. If he had been in battle just now, that last shot might have just cost him his life... In truth, he'd always had horrible nerves going into things like this, where he had to wait, and because of this had used to rush into everything so as to not think and let it get to him. But he thought that by now, he might have gotten over it. It seemed not.
"So you'll have to get used to working with someone else. The new Nine seems pretty much a clone of the last to me, but if you decide you can't stand her, you can always send me a message and I'll blackmail One into switching her..." he finished.

smilies • 8 February 2013 at 6:07 AM

What a wreck... It looked like the aftermath of some massive explosive battle! Raven stared around her in disbelief. After a little thought, it reminded her exactly of the description she'd once heard of a place in A-E called the Valley of Smoke. It looked like Col had modeled his office in its likeness? In fact, she thought his name may have been mentioned in connection to the place once, but she couldn't recall what exactly had been said. Raven gave up trying to remember the old conversation when she spied the leader sitting coincidentally at his abstract mess of a desk.
"Oi, Three!" she said loudly. "I want Two's private records."
He didn't even glance up, just dug them out of a drawer and handed them to her.
She was the one who gave him a look. How strange that he would give these to her no questions asked! And weirder that he even had them on him... Raven had to be right if Three had also been investigating Two.
She skimmed the papers quickly before reading aloud; "'No record of arrival to IOD. Three years ago, April 14th; turned up at base alone, injuries mild severity.' April- that's Truce month. '16th; challenged and defeated Numbers Nine through to Five. 19th April; defeated Numbers Four through to Two. Failed to defeat One. Potientially fatal injuries. Deported to Coreka hospital. Survived.'"
Raven slapped the file closed. "That wasn't what he told me," she mutttered. He'd said that he'd once been in Third Division. And held the position of Three for a time, and had a brother as Nine. There wasn't any mention of the latter, and according to this, not only had Two not ever entered a division, he had skipped all the way to Two less than 24 hours; and that was completely ridiculous!

taffy789 • 8 February 2013 at 6:11 PM

"That's...curious." Zach sighed from the doorway of Three's office. He wasn't sure what was the strangest thing out of all that what was just said and done, but he decided that the information about Two took priority over Col handing out files to anyone who came through the door.


As Two took the stapler from her hand, Eight had to stop herself from flinching backwards. She thought that was silly- Two would never hurt her. Her memories, however...
...Oh yeah, her memories.
The Leader took another small breath, and she relaxed, now glancing up at Two; listening as he spoke.
"...Actually, Spike-y, dontcha think that the new Nine has to worry about working with ME?" Eight grinned, obviously back to her "normal" self.
"But it's going to stink not being able to work with you anymore. Really, the old Nine didn't like me that much, did she?" She pondered her own statement, frowning, before she continued."So if the new one is a clone, does that mean she'll dislike me also? I'm not sure how this I'll work out~. I think I'll find a way to have fun, though. I'm still upset that you're gunna be gone, however."
The girl pouted and stared to poke around his desk further, shuffling through random papers with over-interest."Have fun while being in charge of battle, mmkay? Kill lots and lots of things!" Eight giggled happily, making a slight mess with the papers on his desk.

asi • 9 February 2013 at 5:21 AM

Two didn't miss her expression in that moment while he was taking the staple gun. He should have expected such a response, but he was still affected. Everyone was afraid of him, right? The benefits of being the torturer, though he wouldn't be for much longer.
"I'm sure you will." He reminded himself not to worry about Eight, she could more than look after herself.
But when she said she was 'upset'... Upset that he'd be gone... Spike knew then that he'd definitely made the right choice in deciding to leave the base. Even so, he couldn't help but feel just the slightest bit happy.
To distract himself, he wandered over to the fridge- that was a habit of his, staring at the wall in which the fridge was hidden (impossible to see without knowing) and trying to work up the appetite to eat something- before remembering that he was going to torture someone later; even for him, milk products like frozen yogurt (all that was in the fridge, he wasn't sure why) beforehand was totally out of the question. Even though he'd already had his limit today, Spike settled for lighting a cigarette.
"Alright then," he said dismissively- because anything else felt too awkward- before starting out for the captive's cell.

"It's more than curious; it's downright stinking to high heaven with eight billion olfs of suspicious... Smell," Raven announced lamely, then added for the dumber than herself people; "An olf is a unit of odor."
She paced back and forth a few times. "It was almost like he wanted me to know something. This may seem like a pretty out-there theory, but what if... Two is a Feral? With his level of power, no one would be able to tell; especially if he's always been surpressing it. There's no way that any kind of shapeshifter could pull off a impersonation in this place, of someone so strong... It has to be the real thing. Only a power this smart wouldn't be likely to get the facts like these like this wrong. It has to mean... That the user is still in there, fighting." Raven's eyes shone. "This could be a major breakthrough. If he's still in there after the rebel's treatment, then we'll be able to save everyone else, right?!"
Col finally looked up. "Please. No pacing in my office. You're giving me headache."
Raven hastily quited Three's office and strode purposefully off down the corridor. Next stop, the Listener.

taffy789 • 9 February 2013 at 7:44 PM

"Yep! Alrighty then!" Eight repeated happily. She watched as Two exited, then quickly remembered something.
"Oh, yeah!" Grabbing his arm and pulling it into a hug, the girl let out another giggle. "Have fun torturing that guy! Goodbye for now, okay Spike-y?"
The Leader then dropped his arm, twirled around, and skipped down the hallway, once again in completely emerged in her own little world.

Five listened to Raven's theory, silently considering her statements. After she was done musing over her information, Zach closed his eyes, thinking, and followed her.
"The theory makes sense, I must admit. However, we can't be too sure.Theories might make sense, but they aren't always true." he pointed out, and continued, "Also, you saw Two somewhere else? ...I have a feeling I know where it was."

asi • 9 February 2013 at 8:19 PM

Two stopped and watched her go for a few seconds, in perfect silence.
He then turned and walked away.

Raven nodded. "That's why we're going to get proof," she smiled.
The Listener was a girl from First Division who could often be found daydreaming in the division-exclusive lounge. Her power allowed her to hear everything that was going on in the base, even in the most private rooms. Normally she would only ever reveal things to people it involved, however, if she liked you and you paid up good, you may get an exception.
"Hey, Lizz," Raven greeted her.
"It'll cost you," Listener's eerily absent gaze fell upon Raven, looking pretty displeased at what she knew Raven would ask her for. "The price is cigarettes. The good stuff."
Raven winced. The toll always changed, it seemed to just be her bad luck today. She didn't smoke, and it had been a while since she'd had a chance to play poker. She was pretty sure she didn't have any left over from last time, but she dug through her pockets anyway. "Zach, you got any?"

taffy789 • 9 February 2013 at 9:21 PM

"On me?" Zach replied, giving Raven a look that would remind one of the fact that they'd just gotten back from a mission.
In fact...
Five picked up a nearby cloth on a table, and pressed it against the wound on his head while lazily checking his pockets.
After not finding anything- as expected- he turned to the Listener.
"I don't have any cigarettes on me, but you can feel free to stop by my office and I'll pay up there." There was a short pause before he continued. "...Two packs."
Zach held up two fingers to stress the number.
Cigerettes were unsurprisingly hard to come by at IOD. Since they were great stress relief and no one on the God-forsaken isle knew they were going to live long enough for the effects to get to them, they were incredibly popular. However, addiction was tricky, and not worth it unless you were somehow loaded, or at least extremely good at cheating at poker, as Zach was.

asi • 10 February 2013 at 12:52 AM

"Great," Raven was relieved. Dragging this person along had turned out to have its uses after all!
"You know if he finds out, we will be in so much trouble..." Listener sighed at Raven's look. "Fine. I'm listening."

First, he got rid of any idle subordinates loitering around in his division, sending them off to do things such as clean up the mess in the cafeteria (Two didn't know for sure if there was any, but chances were there was), and so effectively ensuring that anyone who didn't want to be cleaning the cafeteria or worse made themselves busy.
Once he'd ascertained that he wouldn't be disturbed during this session (it's pretty annoying if someone interrupts when you're trying to scare a person), Two entered the prisoner's cell.
Sest was wide awake by this time and as soon as his eyes set on Two, they widened and he yelped, "You!"

"You?" Raven repeated. "That's what he said? Not, 'who are you?' or anything? It was definitely recognition?"
Listener rolled her eyes. "That's what he said. But it's not definitely recognition. Two's pretty famous, you know."
Raven glowered at the floor. "Just wait."

Two pulled up a chair then taking a deep drag from his cigarette, sized up the other guy. He didn't at all respond to the exclamation.
"Is this the Falchion's hospitality? I didn't know you had a place here," Sest continued. "Sneaky."

"Now that's recognition for sure," Raven stated. "He doesn't even know who Two is, in the Falchions I mean. That means he has to know him from elsewhere."

Two wasn't moving an inch.
"You're weirdly silent, you know that? Is this like your facade for the Falchions? That act's good, really good. But you're not fooling me." Sest shook his head. "Don't you remember? I was in the team which made the drug."
"... The drug." Two said softly.
"Yeah. Your drug. We followed the instructions just like you said," Sest gave him a strange look, suddenly having doubts.
The leader reached over and snuffed the cigarette out on the Feral's arm. "What drug?" Two asked, his voice icy and threatening.
"OUCH!" Sest yelled. "What the hell!" He swore a bit, and Two waited patiently, before insisting in a dull monotone; "What drug?"

"You can spare the details, okay?" Raven tentatively told their bug.

taffy789 • 10 February 2013 at 1:48 AM

"Two himself isn't responding to the prisioner's knowledge of him." Zach pointed out, listening to the Listener relay the conversation. He turned to Raven."Are you positive it hadn't been a shapeshifter you saw?"

Even though she was sure it was all in her head, Annabell was sure that carrying the power-repressing serum in her pocket made it feel ten times heavier.
After much debating and a quick shower to clear her head, Annabell had decided that the best thing to try to do at the moment was to go to a higher power with the serum and see what actions should be taken from there. She'd only taken one with her, however... She wouldn't want to lose all of them just by tripping. A knife sheath had made the perfect carrying case for the one antidote, which was tightly secured to her belt.
All Annabell had to do was decide what Leader she would go to with it... The new Three seemed like the best option, even if she still thought badly of him from France. The thought of going to the Two, the torturer, slightly freaked her out- just a bit.

asi • 10 February 2013 at 3:02 AM

Her eyes narrowed in irritation. "Ugh, this is so infuriating! No, you're right, I can't be sure it wasn't someone impersonating him. Then again, if it was, they were doing an awful job. If they wanted to make people think they were Two, don't you think they would have tried to act like him? They seemed so different, but looked so similar..." Raven huffed in exasperation. "It was just like the difference between a user and their power...!"
This was so messed up. It seemed she had got herself into a lot more than she'd bargained for with Two.

"You already know what drug, it's yours!" Sest yelled.
Two seemed to consider something for a few minutes. "Maybe it is," he then gave a very un-Two-like smile. "You'll just have to remind me."
Sest shot him a strange look. "It's that smirk again... What's with you? It's almost as if you've still got your user in there, messing with your brain. Don't tell me your own drugs aren't working on you?"
The leader froze completely, then he slowly revealed a slightly timid, guilty and yet also childishly innocent expression. Like a kid caught spinning lies. It would have been completely shocking for anyone who knew Two to see him like this, because he seemed like completely different person. "My- my own drugs? My... User-deleter, that's what you mean?"
"Y-yeah..." Sest stared, completely caught off guard. "Wow, that act before was really, really good... How do you do it?"
"Heehee," Two giggled slightly. "Thanks! So you used my user-deleter? Did it work?"
"You saw it, it definitely worked. We have nearly forty free powers now," Sest told him happily, totally comfortable now, despite the burn from the cigarette earlier still badly smarting. "And we're at the Falchion's base now, so I guess we'll have great seats for your new upgraded repressor's major debut. We've already tried it on the girl, but nothing's working on her..."
Two faltered slightly. "Oh, that thing... So we're testing it here, I've completely forgotten!"
Sest rolled his eyes. "That's soo like you, Mael." He then paused. "Should I really be telling you this here? They don't record what happens in these rooms, do they?"

Listener paused. "I can't hear anything," she sounded strangely puzzled. "I've been shut out."
Raven stared off into space in a daze. This was absolutely unbelievable.

taffy789 • 10 February 2013 at 3:52 AM

Zach matched Raven's daze almost exactly. However, he found himself starting subconsciously to walk to a nearby chair, reaching under it, and drew out a stash of items which someone had hid under it long ago.
... Ah. His power seemed know exactly what he needed, hmm?
It was impossible to tell whose cigarettes and lighter they'd been before, and Zach now claimed them as his own.
He lit one, and took a long drag on it before being the first one to speak.
"...Well, that was pretty screwed up." He calmed the remaining explosion of thoughts by taking another drag.
Without even looking at Raven or the Listener, he absentmindedly offered them both one of the cigarettes as well.

asi • 10 February 2013 at 2:38 PM

Raven shook her head, tempting though it was. For once in her life, she was completely without direction on what action she should take.

"No one can hear us," Two spoke in a silly, sing-song voice. "Just you and me."
Sest grinned. "Well, okay. We've added the user-repressor to the Falchion's water supply already. It'll be a while before it takes effect, after being watered down, but it should happen sometime tomorrow. I can't wait to see this, you're so brilliant, Mael... The Falchions will rip themselves apart as they turn Feral. We'll get rid of a huge enemy and gather tons of new recruits in one clean sweep!"
Two was silent for several moments, taking this in. He leaned back slightly in the chair to stare at the ceiling, and his face fell into shadow.
"Mael?" Sest sounded confused.
"Who's Mael?" Two asked abruptly.
"Ehhh?" The possession-power started.
Spike reached into a pocket and drew out his lighter. He flicked it on, and slowly pressed the blue-white fire against skin... His own.
Sest watched in horrified fascination as the leader mutilated himself by burning a angry red line across his skin, around his arm like a bracelet. "It's a little hot," Two remarked calmly. His voice was back to normal.
Seat shivered. Now this guy was seriously freaking him out.
"Who is Mael? How did he get these drugs? What exactly are they made of? Who's this girl? Tell me everything you know," Two demanded.
"Y-you..." the rebel stammered slightly. "What...?" He couldn't think straight anymore as Two held the lighter right by his cheek, allowing the flame to lightly lick the power... Sest was tied down in his seat, the restraints were of steel and wouldn't budge an inch no matter how he struggled.
The fire burnt away at his flesh and he couldn't help but yell in complete agony.
"Talk," Spike instructed.

taffy789 • 10 February 2013 at 3:57 PM

Zach shrugged and pocketed the cigarettes. He then found a nice counter to lean against, and continued to smoke in complete silence.


"Hiya, Annie~!"
Jumping out of her skin, Annabell flipped around to come face-to-face with the bubbly, blue-haired Leader.
"Uhhh, hey, Eight." the girl gulped, not very happy about running into the crazy girl that always seemed to hunt her down somehow.
"It's very nice to see that you came back from the mission in one piece!" Eight giggled, taking the girl's hand and wildly shaking it back and forth.
"You got a prisoner too! That's great! Now, tell me, was this prisoner the thing causing all those people to be lost? I bet you did a good job by catching it! Something like that can get you promoted, you know! Let me see if you did a good job~."
Annabell flinched away as Eight started to move closer and stare at her- was the Leader trying to see her memories?!?
She remembered how Riley collapsed after she freed his own memories...what damage could this insane girl do to Annabell's mind?
"Well, actually," she started carefully, "I think a lot of things were causing the disappearances. There was...a feral, but the main problem were the rebels..."
Eight's grip on Annabell's wrist suddenly slacked.
"...The...rebels? ...What are those?" The Leader's face scrunched up in confusion. "I didn't think..."
"They are a group of rouge powers." Annabell started to explain, "You see, they have a way to over take users... I'm sure the Leaders of the group will report this, but there's this -"
A hand suddenly pulling her face up by the chin cut off the rest of Annabell's sentence. The girl only had a nano-second to register what she was eye-level with...Eight's face was a rigid mask of unspoken anger- an emotion that looked misplaced on the Leader's usually cheerful face.
"What-" was all that Annabell managed to choke out before the eyes parallel to her started to glow a light pink, and it suddenly felt as if she was being flipped upside-down.

asi • 10 February 2013 at 6:51 PM

It was almost an hour later when Two left the room. His breathing was faster than the norm and he leaned his back against the closed door several moments to recover his usual poise. Then he slammed a fist into the wall.
There was no mistake. His own little pretense had proved it. After the rebel, whom he'd never set eyes on before in his life, claimed to know him personally, it couldn't possibly have been any fans passing out his pictures. Either someone was impersonating him, or else they just happened to look a hell of a lot like him. When the rebel had commented on his 'strange silence', he'd felt a dreading icy chill creep up his spine. That's when he decided to test the rebel, by trying to act like the one person who just happened to look a hell of a lot like him. (The entire time he'd desperately wanted to melt into his shoes, he'd felt so stupid...).
Someone who looked like him and acted like THAT had been helping the rebels, given them these drugs. Spike had never heard the name Mael before, yet there was only one person who this Mael could be.
He sighed; "Damit."
As if that wasn't enough to utterly ruin his day, they had an incredibly dangerous drug in their water-system...
"Eight..." he murmured. As soon as he'd heard it, right away he should have left to tell her. But he'd been so, very mad and needed to make that stupid rebel HURT...
The more of the drug you took in, the worse it would be, much, much worse. He couldn't do anything about the time he'd already lost, but now he'd find her as fast as possible. And the only way to do that was...
"Eight!" She could be anywhere on the base by now, but he took off in the direction she'd left in nearly an hour ago, not caring that those from the Second Division still up this late were definitely stunned by the sight of their leader dashing past with all the speed and all the subtlety of a lightning bolt, and sending papers flying off desks...!
"... He's channeling the old Three's spirit," one declared. The rest nodded wordlessly in mutual agreement.

taffy789 • 10 February 2013 at 8:43 PM

As soon as the nausea started, it faded away, along with the grip of Eight's hand around Annabell's face.
Annabell quickly braced herself against the wall behind her, her memories from the last few hours swirling in her head like specks of snow in a shaken-up snow globe. She gagged- the experience of it all was making her dizzy. It was as if Eight had forcefully ripped a piece of her brain out, examined it, and shoved it back. Ugh...she wanted to throw-up.
"...Sorry I didn't look over them better." A quiet apology came from the Leader, standing by the wall opposite of Annabell. "When I rush through memories instead of slowly looking over them, it's kinda like I uprooted all the plants instead of just the weeds. If I would've taken my time, you wouldn't even have been able to tell...Sorry."
Annabell bit her bottom lip, and forced herself into a regular standing position, shaking off the spinning feeling.
"...It's okay?" It had to be asked in a question form because Annabell wasn't exactly sure if it was okay herself. Her brain still seemed to be rattling around in her head.
"So..." Annabell lifted her eyes to the Leader, and was surprised to see the expression on her face. It was hard to place...almost...anxiety? Worry? ...Fear? She paused, considering Eight, and continued, "you read my memories? What do you think about everything?"
A silence engulfed Eight. She rocked back and forth on the heels of her boots for a moment, before holding out her hand."...Let me see the needle."
Annabell was a bit taken back, and watched Eight for a moment, hesitating. Finally, with a sigh, she pulled the serum from it's hiding spot in its sheath and placed it in the Leader's hands.
"I suppose you read my memory to find this?" Annabell questioned, closing her eyes and sighing, "Look, with this, I think we can develop something to combat the ferals, or even their new-"
CRACK!
Annabell's eyes flew open in horror at the sound of the glass smashing on the steel floor of the base. Jaw hanging open, she turned to Eight, who was regarding the mess of glass and green liquid on the ground with little emotion.
Annabell could feel something catch in her throat, and she had to choke out the words to be able to speak.
"E-Eight! Why did you do that?!" she questioned, utterly horrified.

awesomeness • 10 February 2013 at 10:32 PM

"...What did I do?"
Eight's questioning reply, followed by a blank stare caught Annabell more off guard then the Leader smashing the repressor-drug did.
Seeing Annabell's face, Eight laughed slightly. "Oh~! You mean the drug breaking?" The Leader exclaimed, now looking at the mess on the ground with a bit of shame in her eyes- similar to a child who'd broken a vase that their parents had coveted. She met Annabell's eyes once more, smiling in apology.
"Sorry...it must've...slipped out of my hand." Eight muttered the last part slowly, her gaze once again settling to the mess on the floor. There was a bit of doubt in her voice, as if she didn't trust her own words.
Annabell wasn't buying any of it.
"Why did you let it slip out of your hands?! You read my memories- you KNOW how important it is!" Raising your voice to a Leader had to be on IOD's list of BIG no-no's, but Annabell couldn't stop herself. Eight's actions had made no sense- it was almost as if it had been her first reaction to smash the thing!
"...Annabell. Even if we did...mass produce this drug, think of what would happen." Eight's voice took on a strange, serious tone, and she still stared deeply at the spreading liquid at her feet, once again emotionless. "Things like this can be classified as bio-chemical warfare. Even if the rebels are using it...the Glaeroes won't know that. ...We both have the capability to fight in that way, yet we know if you start using drugs as such... It would be chaos. We need to figure out if there's another way to defeat the rebels first, and if not... We can resort to this. ...You have extras, right~?" Eight concluded, motioning to the puddle of green on the floor.
While Annabell did think that, in theory, Eight's reason for keeping quiet made sense, she also knew it was a load of bull. ...On another note, Annabell needed to change the hiding place of the other two needles.
"...If this gets too out of hand, I'm going to the others with the drug." The statement wasn't an opening for negotiation; it was a warning.
Eight nodded, smiling. "Of course! I would hate if it anything to drastic would happen~! And powers taking over sure is pretty drastic!" The Leader giggled, twirling in place.
"Sorry about dropping it again! You should get a mop to clean this up, sweetie!"
With that final note, Eight skipped off to her office, leaving Annabell in the hallway with a puddle of power-repressor and glass to take care of.

asi • 10 February 2013 at 11:27 PM

Luckily, her hair was blue today and very hard to miss. Two caught sight of her just outside her office and skidded to an abrupt stop right in front of the other leader.
"Eight! Hi," he said, appearing as impassive as ever, not even slightly out of breath, even though he'd just ran across half the base in record time. Spike hid his relief well at finding her so quickly. "I was wondering, do you have any music by Justin Bieber? Rebecca Black? Or even better, that song, Barbie Girl? That would be perfect," he mused. "Just anything really, really bad."

taffy789 • 11 February 2013 at 12:06 AM

Eight's frowned as she stood by her office door, staring at her hand holding the key card to unlock it. Her hand...it was still shaking. The slightest quiver. The rest of her had already stopped, yet her silly hand continued to defy the rest of her body and keep being scared. Really, Eight was getting a tad bit annoyed. It should stop by now. Before she happened to drop more stuff and people started to call her a klutz. Then again, she could always erase memories if that were to happen.
A gust of wind skidding to a stop in front of her caused Eight to blink, and turn to face Two.
Upon hearing his request, Eight's eyes lit up with joy, and even her hand forgot about being scared.
"Whaaat? Two-y, must you even ask?" The Leader giggled, almost jumping up and down with excitement. "I don't have many annoying 90's songs, but I do have plenty of the other two! Omgee, whatcha going to do with them? Are we going to blare them over the base's speakers, because I did that once and that tech people got mad at me." She finished solemly, shaking her head sadly.

asi • 11 February 2013 at 1:34 PM

"I know, unoriginal, but the occasion calls for it. And don't worry, they won't get mad at me," Two reassured her easily.
There were actually several good reasons for doing this. Firstly, less Ferals would want to come out if it meant having to listen to this horrible music. That was a fact. Also, it is much harder to fall to asleep when something particularly annoying was playing loudly, and it is much easier for powers to take over when the user is out. Frustration is also a useful tool when fighting, it lends strength. Oh, and because it was fun, because the world should end with Justin Bieber songs playing, and because it was the first thing he thought of as an excuse to see Eight. He wasn't about to burst out that they were all in danger and he cared about her more than the whole base (which he did, easily). Even though the only danger yet was from taking in water, he wasn't planning on letting her out of his sight.
"Come on." He walked on ahead into her office. "You take your pick, I'll hack into the loudspeakers..."

taffy789 • 11 February 2013 at 7:33 PM

Eight clapped her hands happily, overjoyed at the fact she would be able to cause mischief without getting into much trouble.
"Okay, Spike-y, I have lots of songs!" the Leader cheered, and rushed inside her own office.
Eight's office was...very much like her own personality. Indescribable- in a very negative way.
The use of bright, cheerful colors, mostly neons, really made eyes pop...out of sockets considering how bright the room was. Two out of the four walls in the room were lined with nothing but large filing cabinets- which was suiting, considering she commanded information branch of the Falchions. The last two walls were filled with nothing but taped up papers- old notes to herself and random doodles. There was also a large map of IOD hung up amongst all the loose paper, but it was hard to see from beneath all of the colored push-pins Eight had stuck in it, marking spots only the Leader knew the importance of. The floor sported a rug in the middle, and instead of regular chairs, Eight had cushioned and comfortable folding ones. There was an afflux of knickknacks scattered about the tops of filing cabinets... Despite the scattered-minded brain of Eight, her office was surprisingly tidy, especially her desk, which she plopped herself behind as soon as she entered the office.
Grinning to herself, she pulled open a drawer on her desk, and removed a simple pink IPod- the smaller, older kind without a touchscreen.
"Let's play "Baby" first! Then we can hit them with even worse stuff!" Eight giggled, spinning around in the rolling chair she was seated in. She then stopped herself with her foot, and tossed the IPod to Two, still laughing to herself.


The smoke was starting to get to Zach, if he was completely honest with himself. He considered the habit to be a rather nasty one, but it was a great reliever of stress. Now that the cigar had served it purpose and he'd regained his leveled head, he put out the burning end on a nearby metal table, sighing.
Five turned to Raven, one hand tentatively rubbing the side of his hair.
"...We need to go to another Leader- get another opinion on how to handle this." he stated, now taking in Raven's shocked expression with a slightest hint of amusement settling down onto his face.
Was that how he'd looked before he managed to find the cigarettes? No wonder why his power decided to try to calm him down- that expression didn't look good on anyone.

asi • 12 February 2013 at 2:41 AM

"Yeah? Like who, exactly?" Raven scowled. She would have talked to Riley, but she felt like he'd betrayed her for Two... That definitely counted him out. There was Col, Eight, and the new ones. Col was alright, but he seemed really distant nowadays, as just witnessed..."I know Karen a little," she admitted reluctantly. "But she's Nine." And really, how much help would a Nine be against Two?
An opinion, really? It was a generally accepted fact that all the leaders were crazy. Then again, she was talking to one of them right now.
*May I please have your attention?* Two's voice came across formal and subdued over the loudspeaker. *I just wanted to let you all know we've identified a lethal toxin in the water system. In order to isolate damages, we're placing the entire base in lockdown, effective immediately, so wherever you are, get comfortable. A medical scan will be run shortly and any of you found with exceptionally high levels of the drug will be taken for treatment. While we're at that, we may as well do a routine fitness check...*
As he said this, both doors in the First's lounge lowered shut.
*In the meantime, we'll play some calming music while you contemplate your impending death. Enjoy."
Justin Bieber's "Baby" began playing, loudly.
"... You know, it's really hard," Raven commented, "to know what to think of him..."

That taken care of, Two absently ruffled his already-messy hair, suppressing a tired sigh. Unfortunately, the knowledge had come too late for him, and he could already feel the drug's effects taking their toll.

taffy789 • 12 February 2013 at 7:59 AM

"Hmm?" Zach was barely listening, and honestly he didn't care, as he was too busy shuffling a deck of cards for poker. As soon as he heard the words "contemplate your impeding death", he'd known how he wanted to go out. Luckily, this was a break room, and a pack of cards had been on the metal table.
"If we're about to die, would anyone care for a round of poker?" He directed his question towards the only other two in the room, but wasn't expecting the Listener to respond in any case.

"There's a lethal toxin in our water system?" Eight questioned Two as she spun around in her chair.
"Why would some one do that? If they wanted to kill us, all you had to do was slip arsenic in it if the water system was so unprotected! And you'll get results right away, too. What's the drug do?"

asi • 12 February 2013 at 4:55 PM

"It wasn't so unprotected, we'd definitely have noticed arsenic." He pulled a packet of cigarettes out of his pocket. Spike stared at them for a bit. "You know, there's a lot of water in the water system," he rolled his eyes. "There would have had to have been absolutely tons of arsenic for any effect." He seemed to remember something. "Oh yeah... Don't cigarettes have arsenic in them...? Huh." He'd already had five today, his limit was four. "My assistant was always trying to get me to quit, but why worry about health when you're waiting to die...?
Did you know," Two started conversationally, "that the reason I started smoking was to remember someone? Lousy reason if there ever was one, but there it is. But now it's probably not the best idea to have to go through withdrawal when I get stranded in A-L. Eight? Remind me I'm quitting," he lobbed the packet into her rubbish bin.
Two sighed once before getting to addressing her question. "What it is really is a 'user-repressor'. Obviously, it represses users, effectively turning them Feral. It can be fought and it will eventually wear off, but if your power takes control, they're not likely to give it up... Death sounded so much more intimidating," he explained.

Even though she was sure what she was feeling was her impending loss, not death, Raven nodded her head vacantly anyway.
It couldn't possibly be what she thought it was, could it?

taffy789 • 12 February 2013 at 8:02 PM

"Okay, you're quitting." Eight helpfully reminded the leader, and continued to spin around in her chair.
"You know, I used to try to remember things too, but then I remembered that remembering stuff SUCKED." She pouted on the last word, and stopped her wild rotation with her foot. The blue-haired girl then stood up, grasping the edge of her desk to keep from tumbling over, and started to giggle from dizziness.
"Anyway, a user-repressor? That sounds a bit bad, ferals can be so mean, it seems....and very mean to their users at that!" Eight shook her head disapprovingly, as if she was merely discussing little children who couldn't behave correctly.
"Well, if its a user-repressor, and you said that we were treating people, right? Then everyone is fine and we're all good." She smiled as if all their problems were suddenly non-existent.
Still smiling to herself, Eight pulled open a drawer in her desk, retrieved a few items from it, and then proceeded to lay on her rug, the new objects, a coloring book and a pack of sixty-four Crayolas, scattered around her.
"I'm glad I eat more popsicles than I drink water. If they'd tainted the popsicles, who knew what'd happened~. It stinks that I won't be able to dye my hair soon- blue is getting OLD." Eight complained, and proceeded to color a picture of a duck green.


"Okay then. We're playing Hold 'Em. I have nothing to bet, however." Zach dealt Raven in, sat himself down in a chair, and lazily glanced at his own cards.
"Huh. So, Shadow, what do you make of all of this? You've been pretty quiet- not that I'm complaining or anything." He smirked and glanced back down at his hand. There was a slight pause.
"Because I know what I'm thinking." he concluded, muttering under his breath.
Five was thinking that what he really needed was another cigar. Then again, if he smoked one every time he felt as if there was a problem, an addiction would certainly appear.

asi • 13 February 2013 at 6:00 AM

"..." He really didn't see his memories like that at all. But now wasn't the time for that. Reminiscing was not where he wanted to go if he was trying to avoid succumbing to the drug.
As for her response to the bad news... Two shook his head silently. Treating people? Oh yes, they'd be treating people, but not how he'd made it out like. There was no antidote, nothing they had could counter this drug's effects. He'd lied there to keep everyone calm(ish). How were they treating people? By killing anyone who turned feral, obviously, the same as they did to any other on IOD.
"You don't seem remotely worried." He didn't like how she wasn't acting the slightest bit uncomfortable with him here. Did she think she was safe right now, with him? More likely, she just wasn't thinking at all. Sigh.
He wandered over to the pin-cushion of a map, though it didn't hold his interest. "You've met your power, right? Of course you have. What are they like?"

Raven rolled her eyes. "Without betting? What, you can't magic poker chips out of thin air, only cigarettes? ... This'll be fun," she yawned, picked up her two cards and checked them out, then said. "It's just that... The chemical in the water, I might know what it is..." she wondered aloud, face hidden behind her hand.
Meanwhile, Listener had fallen asleep on the couch, and weirdly enough, her hair seemed to be growing darker...

taffy789 • 13 February 2013 at 8:06 AM

"Why should I be worried?" Eight questioned in a tone that either implied that:
A. She truly wasn't all that worried
Or
B. She'd already forgotten what she was supposed to be concerned about.
"My power? Hmmm, why are you assuming I've met it?" The leader started to kick her feet up and down behind her, pondering his question.


"Already checked- no chips in here." Zach stated without looking up from his cards. Oh, a king and a queen. Goodie.
"That's good Shadow, you seem smarter than I previously thought. It was a presumption that wasn't all very hard to beat, but you still beat it." One might say that this mocking came at a rather bad time, considering the situation and all. Zach however, felt it was completely necessary.
"Considering what we heard the rebel tell Two... and what was said over the intercom... I think I have a feeling we're on the same page."
In Zach's opinion, having powers that could fact-check for you was a big bonus when it came to this sort of stuff.
"I raise." The Five laid down his cards, and then smirked.
"So, what does this drug DO, exactly? ...More importantly for me, when do you think it entered the water system?" he mused, tapping the edge of the metal table.
"If it went in before the Truce... I got injured. Of course they had to clean out the wound... I doubt a direct to blood contact will do me any good..." Zach shook his head, smirking bitterly, and picked up his cards once again.

asi • 14 February 2013 at 1:38 PM

(Worry, anxiety or fear is an instinctive human response intended to warn when your continued existence may be threatened, so that you take measures to ensure survival? When you're in danger, it keeps you alive.)
The response came to mind unbidden and Spike gave the slightest pained smile. "No reason," he said instead. "It's not important."
In a grey flash, he vanished.
If anyone had been paying attention, they may have noticed strange pale vanilla streaks appearing in his naturally pure black hair. But there had only been Eight and of course she hadn't.

"Wow." Raven stated sarcastically. "Somehow, you're even more of a jerk that I previously believed even possible, but would you believe it, it turns out even I'm wrong occasionally." She looked up and searched his face carefully for any signs of him turning, or the fatigue of the user being subdued. She shrugged. "Going feral would probably have to be an improvement on your manners. I call."

taffy789 • 14 February 2013 at 8:39 PM

"Then why did you-"
A confused look spread across Eight's face as she glanced up from her coloring book and saw nothing but empty air in her office.
"Spike-y?" she questioned the air, and slowly picked herself off the floor. The leader scanned her office once more for her acquaintance, and was baffled to find that he'd suddenly vanished.
Frowning, the girl crept up to the window on her office door, and peered out of it cautiously.
Weren't there people in the base that were turning into ferals right about now~?
Ferals were mean. Ferals killed people. This, along with the fact that there was a drug in the water system, is what Eight knew.
Now, she was feeling a bit bad about her past actions...
...Maybe it was necessary to go see if that Annie girl was doing well?

"Considering the more wild, hunger-stricken ferals turn to... unsavory food sources, I doubt its would be much of an overall improvement." Zach pointed out to Raven, slightly smiling in amusement at her previous "jerk" comment. He then flipped over the first two cards on the top of the deck, revealing a jackof hearts and two of spades, and rose his bet.
Perhaps it wasn't the best move, but at this point, he really didn't even care. Not to mention that they weren't playing for real money anyway. If playing poker could somehow starve off his lingering urge to pass out cold on the floor from sheer exhaustion, then he supposed it was worth a try.
"So, Shadow, do you think you're immune to this drug now? Or must we both worry about you turning feral and taking both of us out?" There was a somewhat mocking tone in Zach's voice, and he did little to disguise the fact that he thought the idea he just suggested was improbable.

smilies • 15 February 2013 at 4:55 AM

Raven glanced between the two cards on the table and her own with a careful poker-face. "There really isn't any point in raising or folding without anything to risk," she frowned. "If we're assuming we aren't going to die, why not play for favors?" she smirked, pretending not to notice or be concerned over him. He did look a little bit faint... "I'm a little unusually drowsy," she admitted. "I think I may be feeling it; if it's what I think, a user-repressor, then it doesn't actually do anything to strengthen the power, just places users in a state that's very easy to take over. So I should be fine, worst case I fall asleep," she considered. "With the base in lockdown, the upside is being safe from everyone outside this room. The downside is being trapped like rats. Meaning that if you go Feral, there's no where to run, and I'm going to have to kill you. I call," she repeated dispassionately.

Meanwhile, within the lonely Area-I, was the rebel's base...
Zan cast a bored sweep over the assembled powers. The vast majority of them were ever so dreary, tirelessly spoiling for fights, destruction and death. Those were not his kind of powers. In his opinion, they seriously needed to get a life. Sit back. Enjoy the scenery. Snack on some good old sardines...
"It should be starting to turn them all right about now," the steely-haired metal-power was reporting to the group. Zan could see many smiling maliciously, the air radiated the power as they got revved up for action.
He sighed. "Please, everyone. Be patient. We should wait until they've most all been taken over. We'll have enough trouble attacking there as it is, the Falchions have many strong users who have completely forced powers into submission, and they'll be the ones least effected. I don't think any one of us, or even four or five combined, is really of the level where they can take down someone like their Two or Three without serious risk. Wait until they're as weak as possible."
This was met with great resentment, however, the group reluctantly consented, even Chase, though the speed-power looked as his co-leader with a hint of doubt.
That guy... It wasn't natural for a power, their very being of chaos and raw energy, to be so... Placid. Zan was a black sheep if there ever was one, and yet Raid had thought him strong enough to place the ice-power in command during his absence. Well, Chase could hardly wait until their leader was back amongst them. Even if it he had to work with Zan to do it.

asi • 15 February 2013 at 5:04 AM

Now that he knew, Two realized he could trace the drug's effect way back to yesterday when he'd had Eight send the team including Four, Five and the rebel girl off on the investigation in A-C, when he'd first felt a headache. While this was not an uncommon occurrence for him, and he'd thought nothing of it at the time...
Back in Eight's office, he'd became increasingly alarmed with how tired he grew so quickly. When Two had noticed his hair color fading into the sandy-white, he'd immediately teleported out of there- though there was nothing stopping his power from using it to go straight back if it so wished, after taking over. Now the headache was much, much worse, and on top of that, he was also feeling nauseous. By the time he reached his desk, Spike was seeing double. The dead rebel had said that it was possible to resist the drug and your power, yet it wasn't just completely overwhelming; there didn't seem to be any foot-holds at all, nothing to start fighting against. It was like trying to hold back water or the wind, impossible. Or even more so; like trying to stop time, something even he couldn't do.
Still, he did what he could- smashed his teleportation system on the desk, destroying it, the chemical battery leaking out and seeping through the piles of papers which Eight had rifled through only a single hour ago.
Spike had programmed the lockdown so it could only be lifted through Eight's computer. Therefore, so long as she remained inside, she'd be safe from anything except those who could teleport or had devices like his, namely, One and Col, who should be fine. (Of course, there was the slight hitch that Eight mightn't manage to work out how to undo it... The cancel button was pretty obvious though, he tried to reassure himself.)
With that teleport device gone, his power wouldn't be able to get very far, just within this area of the lockdown. There shouldn't be many Falchions stuck in the corridors considering the time of day, so the damage he could do was minimal.
However, there would really be a problem if his power decided to use it's power- that would definitely be a problem...
Since there was no going back in time.