Private Roleplay~ IOD

taffy789 • 13 September 2013 at 12:22 AM

Although this time the Second Leader hadn't suddenly materialized behind her, it didn't stop Annabell from being caught off guard. Instinctively, she looked towards Jane to answer his question for them, but it seemed as if the assistant stood incapacitated... The bookish girl's hands hung limply at her side, with the smoke from the cigarette now brushing past her thigh as it drifted lazily towards the ceiling panels. Her mouth formed a small, open oval, but she made no attempt at speaking, and instead shuffled from foot to foot.
From observing Jane's wary eyes and slightly trembling lips, Annabell concluded that the girl needed a little help.
 "Nobody's in there." she helpfully informed Two, then returned to examining the frozen Jane with confusion. Giving an internal shrug, she gave up waiting for the Eighth girl's paralysis to end, and added, "I was just about to leave as well."
 Recovering her voice, Jane nodded submissively. "M-me too, actually..."
Annabell blinked, wondering where this unexpected stutter and timidness came from, considering she'd just been ranting about her boss and workload only a few moments ago...


"You're HEALERS- why are you complaining to me about your job?" Five growled through gritted teeth to the young man standing in front of him.
 "It's just that, well- we're used to having our top healer here to help us..." the healer replied, looking downcast and gloomy.
Zach, fingers tapping rhythmically and impatiently on his desk, fought the urge to facepalm and then literally boot the guy out of his office. Why he, of all people, had to be the Leader of the search and rescue team, he'd never know. He blamed a combination of poor choice on his part and the universe trying to screw with him again.
 At first, his placement as Five didn't seem all too bad, until he learned that, in times of crisis, just who was in charge of most of the rescue and recovery efforts. Whiney healers complaining to him about their missing worker, or how they were running out of supplies and cots for the injured only soured the deal.
 The most annoying excuse the healers gave him were that they were overworked and tired, and more irritating is that they tended to pound on his door, waking him up from his naps to tell him about these unfair hours.
 "My power isn't instant teleportation, so it's really no use to keep telling me about this missing guy." Zach told the young man curtly.
 "I know that..." the healer weakly protested, frowning. "But, we still are in need of more gauze and other supplies, though. I thought a teleporter was going to Coreka to pick them up?"
 "One has been sent already. They should be back soon." The fifth Leader kept a stoic expression, but thought back to how he'd first tried to write out an order for more supplies, only for the messenger to give it back saying even she couldn't decipher what his words were... After a quick verbal order, and many intimidating glares, the messenger finally understood what she was supposed to do. Still, it made Zach not look forward to writing reports in the near future.
"Another thing then-" the healer gasped, growing more exasperated as he ran out of things to complain about, "The mess hall... It smells too heavily of bleach! A few of us have already become sick from the stench..."
 Five stared down the young man, getting the sudden desire to commit murder.
 "... I hope you know that," he began as his fingers stopped tapping on the desk, "if they hadn't power washed the floor with cleaning liquid, then you would be working while standing in puddles of blood and many other things that should be only found inside bodies?"
 The healer faltered before hesitantly asking, "Was the it really that bad in there?"
 "Worse." Zach answered harshly, waving his hand towards the door, "Now really, get back to your job, or we'll have even more casualties on our hand, won't we?"
 Left to interpret the annoyed Leader's sentence however he pleased, the healer scampered out of Five's office- much in the fashion of a fearful dog running off with its tail between its leg.
 As soon as the door slammed shut behind the young man, Zach laid his head on the table, effectively and literally headesking from exhaustion.
Despite a whole three days passing since the attack, the Leader found himself as about rested as he'd been while fighting those ferals...
While the irritating healers were an obvious reason for this, another factor to his fitful sleeping were his idiotic memories- the ones he'd figured were caused by Eight's plunge into his subconscious, and that now kept resurfacing in his mind as he tried to rest...
Remembering them, Zach grimaced. The memories...not only were they unwanted, but lately, the scenes he envisioned were oddly mundane... like of himself, young, and drinking soup for lunch or counting cracks in the floor beneath him.
 In sum, Zach found the nightly trips down memory lane plain stupid and rather dull. He used them as further proof that his past was as boring as it was miserable.
Raising his head slowly, the Five forced himself to sit up- attempting to shake off his tiredness- and then stared at the laptop on his desk, willing it to disappear.
Although his office was still left in a state of chaos caused by rabid fangirls seeking memorabilia, some of his subordinates had moved a desk and laptop in- just so he could get started on his work.
 If Zach was a messy writer, he was an even slower typer. It was now that he started to wonder if becoming a Leader was all that great of an idea, even if it did have its clear benefits.
 Absentmindedly drumming his fingers against the laptop keyboard, Five wondered where his assistant was. Of course he'd hadn't bothered to seek Raven out after she'd drenched him with a bucket of water, but now that Zach thought about it, making her fill out all the paperwork for him would be a wonderful way to both get back at her while simultaneously getting out of work.
 Also, she owed him both her dessert privileges and more favors, and the Fifth Leader wasn't one to wait to cash in.

asi • 13 September 2013 at 8:16 PM

"..." If he found Jane's reaction odd, Two showed no sign of it. For the most part, it was something he was used to. He was the second most powerful user the Falchions had, and he specialized in inflicting pain. The library had its own section dedicated to horror stories about him, many of which contained a very scary amount of non-fiction. And the former One had banned him from ever, ever visiting the mess hall...
The individuals in the base NOT intimidated by him numbered at near zero. Col, Katrix, Vivian, even both Fain and the former One had all demonstrated this on occasion.
But he'd said 'near' because there was an exception.
There was Eight.
Two walked through the hole, across the office, up to the single door in the corner which led to the eighth leader's own private room. He opened it and stepped inside.

"You're completely healed?" Nine asked, watching carefully for signs of pain as gingerly, the girl extricated herself from the tangle of hospital bedsheets.
"Yeah," Lily nodded, slipping off the bed and allowing herself to float for a moment before lowering herself to the ground. "All better," she managed a weak smile.
"You're okay to get back to work?" Nine continued to question. "Three's still missing, but you shouldn't push yourself, Lily..."
"Karen, I'm fine now," she confirmed. "Don't worry about me. What about Dani?" the assistant to third suddenly remembered, eyes widening in alarm. "Oh no," she gasped. "Dani..."
"She's alive," Nine cut in abruptly.
Lily blinked anxiously, "B-but, I saw Two..."
The leader stiffened at the mention of him. It was true that the second in command had saved both Lily's life and Danielle's, whom Karen had been on the verge of having to kill, due to Dani's turning feral... But wasn't he also the cause of the problem in the first place? Mael had been the one to put the repressor in the water. True to his name, he'd made the maelstrom. Her own surroundings, the hastily-erected hospital in the Eastern Wing, served as a painful reminder.
If Karen's theory was right, and she had no doubts, Two and Mael, they were one and the same...
"He just knocked her out," she told Lily.
The blonde clapped her hands together in awe. "Wow, really? The skill needed to knock out a feral without killing, and Danielle at that, so easily! That's incredible... Two must be really, really good. I'm happy we have someone like that on our side," she now smiled a smile of genuine relief, seemingly oblivious to her friend's dark expression.

There were holes in the patchwork quilt of his memory. Some were ugly, jagged rips left by Raid's absence, but though the encounter with Eight seemed a lifetime ago, others were still in the process of returning slowly to him, and one of those was fighting.
A great deal of his previous schooling on the subject had been forgotten. When Riley had faced the previous Six, it had been on Two's training from scratch. Now...
"User Four has successfully completed level twenty-eight in three minutes, fifty-three seconds, with a score of nine thousand, six hundred and thirty. Suggesting a change of difficulty."
Riley smiled before wondering aloud; "Come to think of it, what is my current difficulty setting?" He wandered over to the screen, swords held loosely in hands.
There were ninety-one difficulty settings and his was on the top of them all. In this case, the "top" one being the lowest ranking... "Kiddiepats".
"..." The swords, he dropped them.

taffy789 • 14 September 2013 at 2:56 PM

As soon as Two left, Annabell took off her sunglasses and placed them back on Eight's desk. Beside her, Jane started to breath again, and stopped trembling.
 "Gaaah, I'm so sorry about freezing up there, Annabell. I'm so bad at that..." the assistant sniffled out loud, sinking into a state of self pity. She moaned on, "I can never seem to speak around him at all..."
Curious about what problems the girl had with Second Leader, Annabell lifted an eyebrow.
Sulking, Jane further explained, "Actually, it happens with all of the Leaders- that guy most of all, of course, who in their right mind isn't afraid of him- but, all in all, being around power intimidates me..."
 The explanation being that simple, Annabell dropped her eyebrow.
 Jane kept the sullen air. "I think it has to do with being a small, far-sighted girl standing next to somebody who could easily tear me in half if they wanted to." 
Realizing her words, she quickly added, "Uh, not that they would or anything! But I just can't help but to think that they COULD, and then I start to worry over nothing, and when I worry I start to sweat a bit and my mouth goes all dry, and then I can't talk more above a whisper, and I begin to feel so embarrassed-" Growing conscious of what she was blabbering on about, the assistant flushed a deep red. "Oh! Just-just forget everything I said!" she exclaimed, blushing and trying to shrink out of the spotlight she created on herself.
 Fighting the medically-induced urge to burst out laughing at how Jane's face looked like a big, shiny tomato, Annabell allowed no hint of amusement on her face as she shrugged, thanked Jane for everything, and walked away while holding in all traces of laughter.
 As soon as Annabell strolled out of sight, the Eighth assistant sighed, lit another cigarette, smoked for awhile and then left as well.


The ceiling- a dark, expansion of bright yet faded purple, tinged with blueish indigo and speckled with orange and pink- mimicked the sky at sunset.
 Eight loved the colors.
 She adored every inch of her room, with its purple-pink walls, soft, comfy bed, its pink dressers- and she especially loved her ceiling. She could stared up at it for hours, eyes wide as she took in all the different hues and shades; as the tiles shimmered with the sparkles that had been added to the paint to make it really look like the starry, fading sky spread out above her. Just the sight of it made her feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside, because nobody could ever think badly of such bright and cheerful colors.
 Pulling her eyes away from the pretty purple paint, the Leader hummed happily, tugging on big ears of the stuffed animal that sat in her lap, and wondered to herself when she would be able to see the really real night sky again.
 It'd been months since she'd been on an actual mission. Even though the last one had ended badly- with everyone besides her dying and her being sent to Coreka for a minor wound- Eight still thought she deserved to get some sun once in a while! It really wasn't fair; she really liked nature, and all the trees and other things had so many colors and sights and sounds!
 The girl pouted to herself, snuggling a bit deeper into the soft, fluffy blue sheets on her bed.
 No, but even she knew that the people all in charge of the base didn't like her running about.
This kind of stunk, since sitting around got so so very boring!
 The thought reminded her of how terribly, cruelly, unentertained she was currently, and Eight turned her sights to the door, waiting for Annie to come back.
...
...
...
She lifted her head back up and began to instead amuse herself by counting the different sparkles on her ceiling.
 One, two, three-
The door opened.
Curious, Eight brought her gaze back down, and her grin widened to both sides of her mouth when she saw who'd walked through her door.
"SPIKE-Y~!" the girl cheered joyfully, dropping her pink stuffed elephant as she waved her arms around in wild greeting.
 "Come on, come on~! Sit down Spike-y~!" She sing-songed, beckoning to him, ecstatic and bouncing up and down on her bed. "Yaay, you've stopped by! Did ya come to see me and chit-chat for a long time, huh? Did ya?" She clapped her hands together. "If not, you totally are now~! Come on, you hafta sit and tell me all that's going on and I'll tell you about my mean and rude nurses that act all mean and rude~!"
Eight grinned up at her friend, overjoyed at having somebody else to talk to.

asi • 15 September 2013 at 6:26 AM

"Excuse me, number Five?" Lily pushed open the door and stuck her head in. "Is maybe Raven here? It's just that I know she's your assistant and all, so I thought I should check here, though Karen, I mean, Nine, says she hasn't seen her for days, and that probably means she hasn't been working, but I've searched through the hospital wing and she isn't there either... I'm sorry for bothering you! Only I need to find her, because we are roommates, and the door is locked, and I dropped my keys somewhere and can't find them either..." She paused in her nervous chattering for a moment. "Come to think of it, do we have a lost property for the base?" she hovered, uncertain, at the entrance.
"Incidently... In the hospital wing, a girl with pink eyes was telling a bunch of people that you and Raven were playing strip poker during the attack," Lily blurted out, all innocence. "She was five feet tall, six inches, petite. Her hair was a light, chestnut brown and styled in large curls which reached approximately three inches past her shoulders, and she had a pale complexion, also wearing a bit of makeup, most notably concealer, most likely in order to hide freckles, and, uh... Let me know if you want her clothing or shoe sizes," she finished awkwardly, only just remembering the person she was talking to wasn't the former Three. "I just thought I should warn you, since as I was leaving, she was handing out shirtless pictures of you to the injured..." Lily trailed off anxiously.

He hadn't really been in her room before. Usually Eight was the one who called on him, not the other way around.
It really was a beautiful place. So bright, warm and happy; so Eight. So unlike his own dark pit of a bedroom. It almost made Two smile. Still, nothing drew his eye like the girl herself.
Of course the other leader acted as if nothing had happened. He hadn't for a moment thought Eight would do differently. Who knew if she even remembered, she had probably wiped it from her head completely like other of her bad memories. Two still had wished she would remember. It would have made today so much easier.
"Eight. Would you go out with me? Outside the base, off IOD," he ammended casually.
Behind him, a figure materialized; one of the base's invaluable teleporters, a girl whom Two favored for her completely disinterested disposition. Having to rely an actual person was inconvenient, but it was his own fault after all. The only remaining TELI device belonged to One, and she wasn't likely to lend him it for this purpose... The teleporter user nodded to show that she was ready, even slightly impatient to go.
"Then you can tell me all about your nurses." This time, he actually did smile, bitterly. And then he would tell her all that was going on...

taffy789 • 15 September 2013 at 10:52 PM

Sitting at his desk, hands resting on his laptop computer keys, Zach stared at Lily, expressionless; wordless.
Without giving any sort of reply to the girl, Five turned back to the screen in front of him and decided that since he'd spent the last fifteen minutes trying to get back into his email after accidentally logging himself out, his efforts were in vain due to his high technological incompetence. He didn't blame himself for his failure- that fact he could even start the browser was an achievement in his book.
 Having given up on that, Zach shut the laptop, and stood up, and walked straight past Lily and out of his own office. He only acknowledged the Third assistant when he breathed out an angry , "I'll go see what's going on." as he passed her.
 Walking in the direction of one of the many hospital wings now dotting the base, Zach wondered why the Falchion's One was bothering to waste time spreading rumors about him when the base was in such a wild state of orderly chaos.


Eight's eyes widened as big as saucers- or some kind of other big, round dish- at Two's question.
 Then she squealed- at a pitch "loud" could not even begin to describe... Already ten yards from Eight's door, Jane heard the excited screech, paused, and then kept walking, shaking her head in a reprehensive fashion.
 Back in her room, Eight now scrambled out from beneath her burrow of fluffy blue covers, throwing them off of her and sending her pillows, blankets, and stuffed elephant sprawling to the floor in a grand, messy manner.
 She sprung from the mattress so quickly the air caught the hospital gown she was wearing, and the fabric near her back billowed behind her as if it was a superhero cap. Landing back to the Earth, the Leader twirled around on her heel, smiling brightly to herself and to the entire world. She turned to Two, eyes still big and shining; excitement radiating from the overjoyed expression plastered onto her face.
 When she spoke, her high-pitched, face-paced words crashed together and were almost indistinguishable from one another.
 "EEEEEP, Spike-y, Spike-y, Spike-y, oh my gosh this is wooondeerfuull~, and you're so nice oh my gosh Spike-y, so nice oh my gosh." She jumped up and down, clapping her hands together and making short, delighted squeals every so often.
Taking in a large gulp of air, Eight explained hurriedly in one breath, "I needa go get dressed but I'll be out in a second so wait for me and don't leave or anything okay else I'll be upset and cry and scream." With that threat, she spun around and darted for her closet door, chatting still, "I can't believe I'm going out because the healers were sooo mean and were like, 'You can't go outside you're recovering still you were wounded'! But I really really really wanted to go out but they kept getting people to drag me back inside to my bed when I tried to walk around! They also put me in this stupid ugly gown for some reason because that's just how mean they are and-" 
At this point, Eight reached her closet and hopped inside, shutting the door behind her. Although the Leader kept talking her head off, the words came out muffled and inaudible on the side where Two stood. After a minute of the sound of ruckus and muted words, the door swung open and Eight popped out, now wearing shorts, sandals, and a blue t-shirt instead of the hospital gown.
 "-candy so that just makes them even meaner!" She chattered on, unaware that most of her speech had been cut out by the closed door. "Also they said something about my insides or something being new since they were healed so they should be sore or raw or something but that's kinda weird because who ever heard of guts being new? They're not cars or puppies and you can't just get new guts and stuff, right? That doesn't even make sense so it just proves my healers are dumb and laaamme!"
 The girl whined, and skipped over to where Spike and the teleporter waited, and grabbed both of their hands, eager to go.
 "Mmkay, Spike-y," she hummed, grinning up at her friend, "Where are we going?"

asi • 17 September 2013 at 2:13 AM

"I did tell you not to lie," a voice admonished from behind.
Lily, who had turned and watched the fifth leader leave, jumped and spun around to see the girl already inside, perched on Five's desk.
"Sorry!" Three's lieutenant fidgeted under her scrutiny. "I got carried away..."
"Great idea though!" Katrix exclaimed, all enthusiasm. "If I were to give away hot pictures of the leaders, their popularity would definitely increase... Yeah..." she got that scheming look in her eye, but then suddenly averted her gaze to the ground. "But sh-shirtless!? T-that's going too far," she stammered, blushing.
Lily blinked. "Um, okay... Now that's he's gone, may I ask what exactly you want with Five's rooms anyway?" she wondered.
"Of course, I'm going to redecorate! It's very important to make people feel comfortable and welcome in their new place, right?" From within one of her oversized sleeves, Katrix drew out a gigantic "CONGRATULATIONS FIVE!!" banner. It was emblazoned with bright, sparkly pink hearts, bright, sparkly pink unicorns and everything. "There's more where that came from," Katrix winked. "Wanna help?"
Lily shook her head slowly. "You have a little too much time on your hands..."

"Two did all of this?" Nine asked coldly, not taking her eyes off the scene before her.
The second division worker, despite having dealt with Two himself on multiple occasions, shivered before nodding. You couldn't really compare the two on their scary factor; that was no contest. But this new Nine... She didn't hold back. She was more straight-forward, head-first, and in an unpredictable way. Nine wasn't overly reckless and she was smart enough to plan her move, but once set, it was all or nothing for Karen. She'd interrogate her prisoners, not trick them into talking. She'd skip trying to topple them emotionally, and just get out the knife. Her pain would be sharp and shocking rather than burning and agonizingly slow. She'd break them and take what she needed from the pieces, instead of twisting them to her will. And unlike Two, she had emotions... Most predominantly anger.
Nine stalked up to the screen, split into surveillance of about fifty different prison cells. Falchions who had gone Feral thanks to the repressant in the water supply. All knocked out courtesy of the second leader, before being placed here in isolation. Some were wildly throwing themselves and powers at the walls, others curled up in corners... One had got out a permanent marker and was writing on the floor, "Excuz me, can I haz a bathroom break plz?"
"We've been monitoring their behavior carefully... It looks like subjects in screens #8, #26, #29, #34, #42, #46 and #47 have lapsed back into user-controlled states," the worker informed her.
"Fine. I'll converse with each to make sure-" Nine was saying when someone from first burst into the room.
"There's something you should see," they told her darkly.

Him, nice? That was a first... At least she seemed happy.
"If you wanted something, you should have told me." He wore a slight frown as Eight rushed off to get changed. He shouldn't have left her alone for three days.
He should have left her alone from the very beginning.
While these thoughts passed through his mind, Two was all too aware of the teleporter watching him closely, trying to read him. He shifted his dull, dark eyes to meet hers until she was forced to turn away. Two wasn't a book.
He dropped the frown and reverted to his usual bored indifference of an expression, or lack thereof.
When Eight resurfaced, he looked at her clothes and was about to warn her about the cold, when she started chatting about her new stomach.
Spike said nothing.
Then his hand was grabbed by hers before he could even react.
The same hand that nearly killed her... Didn't he feel any guilt at all? Shameless!
Two ignored the thought, returning his attention to Eight, who was at that moment asking about their destination.
The teleporter answered that in his stead soon enough.
It was dark, but at the same time, bright. Though black, the sky above was sprinkled with stars, the moon a glowing silver sliver in the night. However, all natural light was eclipsed by the soft yet powerful neon world around them. Every inch was bathed in color, blues, purples, and pinks dominating the scene. Even the trees were lit up, with a multitude of bright lanterns hanging from their branches. Stretching out before them, the calm waters of the lake reflected the entire dizzying spectacle right back at them, all gleaming buildings, wild roller coaster tracks and a towering ferris wheel. Finally, silhouetted against the sky sprawled a huge castle, exactly like something out of a movie. Which was exactly the point.
Even having came here a hundred times before, even the solemn Telly couldn't help but stand in awe of the magical sight.
Strangely, another wasn't similarly affected, despite it being his first time. Then again, that was Two. He pulled his hand free of Eight and looked at the teleporter, silently dismissing her.
Telly vanished... Only to instantly reappear, this time holding something in her hands, which she handed to Spike, before giving him a stoic 'thumbs up' sign and disappearing- this time for real.
He glanced down at the object labelled "candy floss", unamused.

taffy789 • 18 September 2013 at 1:20 AM

 Wordlessly, silently- which was incredibly strange, considering it was Eight- the girl stared up at all the wondrous sights surrounding her and overwhelming every sense. Her head tilted upwards: towards the sky; towards the rides; towards the coaster, the wheel, and her mouth gaped open in stunned fascination at the colors as they swirled around her.
 The plaza hadn't only awed the Leader- it had completely mesmerized her and had trapped her within its enchanting backdrop. Its effects on Eight shone bright as day when she finally pulled her gaze away from the scenery at beamed up at Two, with her smile wide and eyes dreamy- but not far away; instead in the moment, sharp, and sparkling brightly. Completely and utterly elated, she continued to grin up at her friend's face, looking delighted and extremely grateful, but still saying nothing.
Then, her focused shifted to the blue fluffy treat held in Two's hand, and started to stretch out her arms, reaching for it with a new emotion crossing her face- hunger and longing...
"I want it." she stated simply, childishly, giving more of a command than actually asking for the cotton candy.
 

Even after bursting into most of the hospital wings, Zach caught no sight of Kitty, and the only clear sign that any rumor was even spread was a guy in a cast who gave the Leader the "thumbs up" sign as he passed...
Five "accidentally" bumped into his crutch a few seconds later and sent said guy sprawling to the floor with a yelp of surprise.
 Now, speed walking through the halls of the base, Zach wondered where One could've scurried off to. The- Fourth assistant, was it?- might've been lying about the shirtless pictures, as his power told him that much, but his superior did seem to truly be spreading lies about a certain poker game...
Although the entire situation aggravated him, Five admitted to himself that rushing around the base searching up and down for One was much more interesting and less difficult than his real work was. Speaking of rushing around the base, he noticed he started to near a familiar room...
Stopping right in front of Raven's door, Zach pounded on the metal and waited for his assistant to answer. While he was in the area, he could always get her started on the paperwork and such, after all. There was no reason to bother with the girl other than that use, really.

asi • 30 September 2013 at 6:19 AM

... Only, Katrix was someone who didn't take no for an answer. She wouldn't let go of Lily, literally.
"How's this?" she asked, holding one end of the giant banner in place where the wall met the ceiling, her feet on a ninety-degree angle to the ground... Lily's power was control over gravity, but she truly did not feel entirely comfortable standing on the wall.
On the other hand, a certain brunette across the room with the opposing end of the banner seemed perfectly at home dangling upside down from the ceiling.
Katrix pouted, frowned, shouted; "Back a little more... Back a little... Too much! ... Okay, there."
Obediently, though with a smile perhaps a little forced, the assistant to third tacked the thing down at her end before floating gently back down to the floor.
Katrix flipped down.
"Show off," someone muttered under their breath.
"Hm, did you say something? Lily," One called in her sweetest voice.
She blinked innocently and pointed to her chest, "Who, me?"
After shooting her a sly, sneaky glance which Lily quickly thought she must of imagined, Katrix quickly "forgot" about it and skipped over, saying happily; "Well, that's the finishing touch! Four's room is next~ For him, it's pretty pegasi! You definitely want to see this," she tried in her most cajoling tone.
"Um, but, I uh, really have work to do..." Lily stuttered, then added; "In fact, Karen hasn't slept for days, she's been working so hard, and she needs all the help she can get."
Who was this girl, who thought she could just play around in other peoples' rooms while everyone else was working their butts off trying to fix everything? Not to mention Lily hadn't known about anyone having the same power as her, let alone being more proficient... Lily was assistant to third, after all! Who did she think she was?
Katrix flinched at those words, then to the assistant's shock, started to cry; "I'm sorry! I tried helping out at the hospital wing, but I got sick at the sight of blood. I tried helping with all the paperwork, but ended up jamming the printer. I tried helping repairing damages to the base, but I ended up damaging it further..."
Lily stared in disbelief.
... Forget more proficient. And people called HER a klutz.
"Kitty, Lily," Nine, abruptly throwing open the doors, didn't seemed surprised to find either of them there. "There's bad news," she said darkly. Katrix hurriedly rubbed her eyes before the other leader could notice.
"You mean your room?" the blonde raised an eyebrow, forgetting One's presence in the room.
"No, seen that already," Karen said indifferently. "This is different. Come."

Looking slightly unsettled, he stared at Eight for one moment, before reminding himself about the important function of blinking.
So this is why... The thought had hardly started before Two had ended it. His gaze slid back to Eight, then again to the candy floss...
Was the stuff really edible? It sure didn't look like it. It looked like sheep's wool. It looked like sheep's wool which had been dyed blue...
"Great, because I don't," he rolled his eyes, pushing the stuff, whatever it was, into Eight's outstretched hands.
Maybe Telly wanted to take Gene's place, that would make sense. She was after power; weren't they all. If she knew how much work that was, she probably wouldn't be...
"Nurses?" he prompted, despite his complete disinterest for the issue. Eight not talking for so long was just strange.

On hearing the banging against the door, Raven paused in the inspection of her right hand.
"Riley?" she called out hopefully, thinking he must have come back. It probably wasn't Lily, because she had just been by. Somehow the girl must have lost her keys, because she hadn't been able to get in, and Raven had heard her swearing like a sailor... After a few moments of listening to those phrases with an expression unnerved to the extreme, she'd went to unlock the door, but her roommate had already left.
Now realizing that it was open, she hurriedly pulled on a sweatshirt over her singlet, a ploy to hide her arm. The jumper was purple and black and striped. Raven wasn't exactly into it in any sense other than literal, but she was kind of low on clothes items. She made a mental note to see if she could get some off Karen later. That girl was a leader, she probably had spare...
Wait a second. Karen was Nine. Meaning she inherited Evie's rooms. That girl probably had enough spare to clothe twice the population of the entire base...

taffy789 • 1 October 2013 at 12:42 AM

"Mmm~? What about nurses?" Eight hummed, pulling off cotton candy clumps by the fist full, and popping the sticky, fluffed sugar into her greedy black hole of a mouth.
 "I don't see any nurses anywhere!" she exclaimed after gulping down another large wad of the sweet treat.
 "But look what I do see! Pretty lights and music!" the girl clapped her hands together, grinning from ear to ear, and skipped off in the direction of the light-hearted sounds that drifted down the deserted street.
"Spike-y, Spike-y," she called out to her friend as she danced ahead of him, "are we really really off the base? I mean of course we are because our base is boring and stupid and this is very fun and exciting but still-! I've always wanted to come off the base, Spike-y! Always, always, always~! And now I am and that makes me happy!" 
She twirled around in delighted circles, and continued towards the multicolored flashing lights ahead, reaching her destination far before Two.
 The alarmed night-shift worker standing at the controls of the ride gave the duo confused stares as they neared the carousal Eight had been drawn to like a moth to a flame- or like a blue-haired peppy girl to a singing, spinning, brightly colored ride that included horses.
The worker was at a loss of words as Eight rushed up to him, waving both arms and animatedly explaining how badly she wanted to ride the horsies.
The man only gained back his power of speech after the girl paused mid-rant, gave him a weird look, and informed him matter-of-fact, "You have mouse ears on your head."
 "You seem confused by this." the worker muttered under his breath, "I was under the impression that all park attendees were suppose to be cleared out of here by now, so I guess we're in the same, perplexed boat here, huh?" He let out a tired puff of air, wondering to himself why the guards hadn't escorted the scene girl and her scary, emo boyfriend off of the premises yet.
"Yeah, I'm really perplexed and stuff too!" Eight agreed sincerely, without knowing what the word "perplexed" even meant. "Anywho, are you gunna let us ride the horsies?"
"If anything," the worker replied with an unpleasant grimace, "I'm going to call security."
Eight protested this decision. "Oh come OOOOOON!" she whined, throwing a glance at the man's name tag. "Come on... Gee-off!"
 "It's pronounced "Jeff"!" Geoff hissed back, unamused with the girl's antics. "That's it, I'm really calling security now..."
 Eight pouted and huffed in an annoyed manner as Geoff reached for the phone attached to the control panel.
She rolled her eyes, stomped a foot, and crossed her arms while pouting even more, before finally taking in a deep breath and resorting to screaming.
 Startled, the man's eyes flew upwards to see what was wrong, and at that moment, the Eighth Leader took advantage of her opportunity.
 For a second, both Geoff and Eight had a mini stare down, but it quickly ended as the girl pulled away- once again smiling, not pouting or screaming.
"Sooooo~, can-ya let us on the horsey-spinny ride now?" she asked sweetly, jumping up and down in excitement where she stood.
 The carousal-operator blinked, then shrugged, waving the two towards the ride.
 Squealing, Eight spun around to Two, grabbing his arm and tugging hard in an attempt to lead him to the horses.
 "Hehehe~ we can go have fun now, Spike-y~! I wanna get on the pretty brown horse with the blue saddle!" Lowering her voice a bit, she added off hand, and giggling mischievously,  "The guy thinks we have special night passes or something~! Hehehe, and he's also gunna have that one song about toddlers by that Joseph Barrel guy stuck in his head all night~!" She continued to giggle ferociously, and kept pulling Two towards the carousal.



While waiting for an answer to his knocks, Zach started to wonder why, exactly, he was standing around Raven's door in the first place.
 Even if he aimed to dump his paperwork and other duties on her, he didn't have to come directly to her to do so. Thinking further on the subject, he realized that he could simply send her assignments via messenger, and by that route could completely ignore the girl's existence! It wasn't as if he liked her- the devil had tossed a bucket of cold water on him only three days ago- so shouldn't that be what he strived to do in any case, pretend she was non-existent?
 Devising a cunning course of avoidance in his mind, Zach quickly created a complex system which utilized five messengers and a lot of careful schedule planning..

"Riley?"

...
 Seeing she was already awake, and his "cunning course of avoidance" would've most likely been a lot of work, Zach gave a mental shrug, ditched the entire thing, and went with his original course of action.
 "Sorry, Shadow, you should work to get better at guessing..." he called to the girl through the thick wall of steel. He then made the mistake of leaning against the metal door while shaking its handle, assuming it would be locked...
 To his immense surprise, the lock yielded; the door swung open, and he was tossed inside the bedroom, barely catching himself from landing splat on the hard floor tiles.
 Now standing in the middle of the bedroom, Zach kept an unwavering, straight face- succeeding at not coming off as surprised as he actually was.
 "... You should start locking your door. That's not safe." he criticized, mentally cursing his power for failing him at such a crucial time.

asi • 12 October 2013 at 3:51 PM

"What happened here?"
Forget the virtual waterworks minutes earlier; One's discontent was smoldering hot, to the point where if the target stayed still, her gaze would probably burn a hole right through it. Lily was astonished to see even her friend Nine forced to shift slightly on the spot under One's pressure, though the ninth leader's expression remained unchanged, as solemn as always. She continued to stare ahead, where the metal shone brightly with reflected light. Light that was too bright. Light that did not originate from the artificial light strips above.
Nine stepped forwards, allowing the small ray of light- sunlight, real sunlight- to fall upon her face as she looked up to examine the source. Her face only darkened slightly in response.
The assistant to third quickly adopted a more expressive frown as she too stared at the damage, but not because she knew what troubled Nine so much about it; she was really clueless. No matter how she looked at it, Lily had to concede that it was really just a small hole. Not big enough for a human, only about twenty centimeters at its widest part. While it was true there were some like Gale who could change their form to fit through, they weren't common. And right now, how would a breach be a problem? Anyone coming in, trying to infiltrate the Falchions, after this recent disaster? They would be spotted in seconds. And going out? How would that concern them at all? If someone was running away, then they simply had a death wish... Lily just frowned because otherwise, Katrix would think she wasn't taking it seriously, and then she'd be in trouble. But she didn't get why.
"Looks like it was some kind of energy redirection," Nine informed them. "They took the energy explosion and focused it straight up, probably just to save themselves. Maybe didn't even realize what they did to the base."
"So that's why, I thought that the explosion was comparatively small to ones prior," Katrix muttered. "Block it up."
Karen nodded, and at her signal several grunts rushed to do so. She lowered her voice to remain unheard by them. "But that's not the problem. Three still hasn't reappeared, has he? How long does it normally take him, no more than a day, correct?"
Starting, Lily remembered they were talking about her own leader. "You think that Three... Caused the explosion!? And then, um, his ashes, somehow..." she gave a sort of confused gestured up at the hole.
"Yes, I saw him explode, literally," Katrix confirmed quietly. "And the fact that he hasn't reformed in the base, nor have we found any ashes to sweep up... This breach would have been like a hole in a balloon; explosive energy would have got sucked through it and yes, it's possible, no, plausible, that it took him with it."
The other two girls stared at her.
Lily muttered, in a bewildered tone; "I don't get it..."

Memories, huh. The strangeness of the situation at that moment occurred to him. What kind of chance was it that the one friend he had- that was, if they could really even be called "friends"- happened to be Eight, someone with power over memories? That very special ability had brought her here, of course, to IOD, but it also saved her life. Now the answer as to their mystery antagonist's identity seemed to be, somehow, hidden in his memories. That's what One's little test had shown. The answer was something he already had, somewhere. Since he couldn't recall any particularly damaging instances of mind-wiping concussions, it didn't take much to figure out the where. A better question would be when, he thought, trying to think of the last time he'd-
Shut up, okay? I'm going to get a migraine if that continues.
Two simply allowed himself to be towed wherever the very silly girl wanted.

Raven quickly turned away, taken aback by the leader's unexpected and abrupt entrance. She didn't want to be seen right now, especially by this person who wasn't her friend. Weakness was something she had serious issues with, and Raven was admittedly not feeling so tough right then.
Internally, she responded with a deadpanned; 'Ha ha. Because you care so much for my safety.'
She didn't say that though.
"You should stop leaning against doors. And you definitely shouldn't be in my room," she replied tiredly, a tone which did well at hiding stress. "Just tell me what it is you want." Then get out, was the subtext.

taffy789 • 12 October 2013 at 6:42 PM

Eight dragged Two all the way up to the carousel- oblivious to all the strange looks Geoff continued to give them- and only let her friend go once they both were on the ride.
 The girl picked out a majestic steed right away, and scooted herself up onto its cold, plastic yet decorative saddle. As soon as she shifted into a comfortable spot, the ride lit up, and the entire platform started to spin around in circles, slowly and lethargically at first but eventually picked up a slight speed.
A happy, upbeat melody began to play and the plastic horses moved up and down, as if they were actually sentient and galloping ahead on a circular track. From her perch on the "pretty brown horse with the blue saddle", she took in the view, so delighted with the sight that she dropped her half eaten stick of cotton candy on the shiny wooden boards beneath her and didn't care at all.


Zach opened his mouth to reply, but then got the sudden feeling that he should really, really not let the words he was about to say leave his mind...
 He dismissed the warning. 
"There's a lot of work on my desk that needs to be done- work I'm leaving to you. It's been three days, and I think that's about time for you to get up."
 Somewhere, deep inside his gut, Five knew that he should prepare to dodge flying projectiles if they were thrown his way. No immediate ones were lobbed at his head, so he continued, "Taking care of paperwork and such is your job, after all. You need to pull your own weight."
 Zach told her this cooly, apathetically, and most of all, hypocritically- not mentioning anything about how logging himself out of his email, his failure at penning notes, and his high technological incompetence had led him to getting behind in his own workload.
Some things were simply better left unsaid.

asi • 12 October 2013 at 8:49 PM

"What don't you get!?" Katrix snapped, irritated.
"Why would Three use his power like that in the middle of the base? He wouldn't, I know that he could have destroyed the entirety of the base were it twice its size! Three wouldn't do anything like that, putting everyone at risk... And even if he's out there right now," again, the assistant to Third gestured up; "Why are you so worried? He's Three, the third strongest, and the Truce has barely just ended. There's no danger even if he reforms somewhere outside."
Nine and One exchanged looks.
Karen said carefully; "Lily, what about Three's mental or emotional state?"
She blinked. "Why... He's been depressed over Nine... I mean, Ivory, the previous Nine, that is. But he's fine now, right?"
One didn't say anything.

Well, she looks happy, Two assured himself, still standing by her majestic and simultaneously somewhat tacky steed's side on the ride as it went round.
He'd only managed to earn several seconds of shocked, mental silence. If Two could have seen Locke's face at that moment, it probably would have been priceless. Unfortunately, his power was only a headache-inducing voice in his head, so that was out of the question. The mental expression he did get, however, was pretty satisfying.
*What... You can hear me!?* the power yelped.
Two restrained himself from mentally facepalming and simply rolled his eyes.
*For how long?* Locke demanded, indignant.
*Oh, a hour or two,* he answered, figuring that if he didn't, his power would kept pestering him, and cutting off the guy's every sentence would eventually get a little tiring. It was kind of wasteful, the energy it took building a whole brick wall just to stop a sentence, mentally- though it was good practice and... Maybe just a bit fun?
Locke growled at him. *So childish! You know, you are really just ignoring yourself! ... Hey, do not look at me like that! ... I do know I am technically talking to myself...*
Mentally shaking his head, Two told him, *Now, see why these comments are ignored?*
*... Yes,* his power sulked slightly. *But Spike. You do know that I am right about this girl.* It wasn't a question. They were the same person in the end and knew the answer.
Still, Two was unmoved. *I know what I'm doing,* he stated, face unreadable.
Locke countered; *Do you? Because I am a part of you, yet I do not think I do.* The power's prescence then faded, sunk into his subconcious.

After forcing herself to turn and look, the message scrawled across the door caught Raven's eye. She didn't know if she'd have been able to guess who it had been if it weren't for Riley's unextraordinary but clearly legible handwriting, which she recognized, and the fact that she knew he'd been past and who else, really. But RSD? Those were his initials? She had no idea as to his second name. Raven hadn't even known he'd had one. In fact, the only reason she knew his last name was because of the number of times his twin sister, Alex, had been called to the principal's office back at school over the loudspeaker.
But anyway, his message had his training room number on it...
Oh. But she wasn't in any state for practice, not at this time... What should she do?
Remembering her leader, she quickly replied; "Fine." Raven had meant to snap or growl or something, but it only came out as a weary sigh. "Just, show me what I need to do, or whatever."
She'd have to think of some solution while she worked. An excuse for Riley, or an easy way to threaten the healers and patients into letting her cut the line... Fun.

taffy789 • 12 October 2013 at 11:30 PM

The carousel creeped to a halt after a few minutes of monotonous spinning.
 "Hey! It's stopped!" the park attendant called up to the them, "You can get off now!"
 Eight, still mounted on her horse, frowned. She looked puzzled and considered the command for a moment before making a decision.
 "... Hmmm, no, I don't wanna~!" she shouted back down to the man, "I want to keep riding~!"
 Back on the ground, Geoff resisted the urge to slam his head into his control panel. Although he wanted to get home already, the customer was always right, no matter how annoying they were or the color of their hair...
 He started the ride again.
 The whole world spun again, and Eight changed riding styles to side saddle, so she could now face Two.
The girl gave her friend a pouting, look, and glanced in the general direction of the park attendant, before commenting, "...That Gee-Off guy sure is cranky~. He must've not been loved as a child." She nodded to herself, agreeing fully with her own psychoanalysis.


Although he heard the weariness in Raven's voice, Zach did his best to ignore it.
 He turned from the girl, directed her to follow him, and then walked her to his office.
 The journey was quiet, and it gave Zach plenty of time to consider how his power had been acting lately. During the rebel invasion, the drug took a toll on him along with everyone else. His power hadn't attempted a takeover, but ever since then, it had been acting... strange.
"Strange" as in, warning him about non-life threatening dangers, like what foods were going to give him bad breath, or if there was a spider anywhere within a two foot radius of him.
 While knowing the location of potentially dangerous arachnids could, in theory, be helpful, to Five- who had conditioned himself to take every gut twist and shiver he received as a sign his life was about to end- it was all getting pretty annoying.
 This was probably the reason why, as he neared his office, he paid no attention to the mental sirens that blared at him, telling him to be wary about entering the room.
 Defiant of his power, Zach reached his door, and swung it open, blinking in surprise when suddenly faced with pink streamers and unicorns.
... Silently, he shut the door.
 Turning away from the horror he'd just witnessed, Five rubbed at the back of his neck and groaned, not in any sort of mood to deal with the decorations.

asi • 13 October 2013 at 12:52 AM

"Anyway," Lily shrugged, oblivious to the leaders' reactions, and wondered aloud; "Do you think his clothes reform with him?"
Katrix was instantly turned pink with blush at the thought. "What are you talking about!" she shook her head wildly, in total denial of the implications. "Of course they do!"
"Oh, so it's one of those powers where they focus as well on what they're touching then... Right?" Lily said, giggling slightly but managing to sound respectfully enough serious. "If so, then he could take other people with him. That'd be useful."
Blinking, Katrix could only say; "Um..."
"Now that I think about it, he does have quite a large closet, for a boy at least. Pffft..." The assistant to Third clapped her hands over her mouth to muffle the sound.
Karen sighed. "I kind of wanted to work with more males," she said lowly, only to herself. "They seem much more mature here when it comes to this sort of thing... Evie never had to deal with any of this..."

That was definitely not how Two wanted to start off this conversation, seeing as where psychology applied to himself would lead. Might as well instead just get it over with.
With his usual dull monotone, he started; "I should tell you that I'm leaving in a few hours. Chances are that I won't return to base again. I don't plan to, at least," he said with an uncaring shrug of the shoulders.
Of course, leaving base didn't mean anything, except for the fact that Eight barely left. Visits to the base from the front lines weren't especially hard, as the wounded went back and new reinforcements came in their stead regularly.
But since Two hadn't suffered so much as a broken fingernail for three years- that is, not counting the occasional headache from staring at screens too long, and that time a few days ago which had been all his power's fault... Yeah, nah, those he didn't count. He didn't have a reason to ever go back. If Eight became a reason to do so... Then it only proved how right Locke had been in his actions.
Two just wasn't going to go back.
"I wanted to say goodbye," he finished, his expression unchanging and unreadable.

Wow... At the sight of the fifth leader's interior dec, Raven was lost for words. It had been so completely unexpected that... Just, wow. Had that really been a pretty horse with... A horn sticking out of its head?
"OH," Raven said, eyes wide and voice full of disbelief. "So it's like that, is it? I see..." More out of habit than anything, she teased him, pretending to look at Zach VERY differently after this newest revelation about his room...
Though she was fairly certain he wasn't a flaming, pink-loving gay, it did cheer her up a lot out of her gloomy mood imagining it. Maybe someone was having a suckier day than herself.

taffy789 • 13 October 2013 at 2:15 AM

Taken back by the topic Two brought up, Eight fought to slowly register the information he'd given her.
 "...Whatcha mean, you won't come back?" Even if she had all the time in the world to try to understand, his wording would still confound her.
 "People always come back." she insisted, frowning in confusion.
 "They're like boomerangs and they always come back when you toss them! ... Wait..." Her eyes widened, and she looked at Two with an expression of extreme concern.
"Boomerangs don't always come back if something terrible happens to them, like if they get eaten by dingos or something! Spike-y~, don't tell me you're going to get eaten by dingos because that's such a horrible way to go!"
 She shuffled her body to a more comfortable position on the tacky plastic horse before adding, "Also I don't think the stupid IOD island-things even have dingos so if you do get eaten by one you would have to go to Australia or that weird little island near it or something!"
 The Leader now dropped all earlier traces of worry, instead taking on the tone of a pouty little kid.
"And if you go to one of those places you should take me with you because I've always wanted to see the Caribbean! Since you've taken me to this fun place now you hafta take me other places too this is how these things work!"
 Her head bobbed vigorously, but then paused, as she remembered what she was actually protesting in the first place.
"Oh! Yeah! So that's why you can't cannot come back Spike-y! Because death by dingos is pretty ugly and you need to visit so we can hang out and stuff!"
Eight smiled, looking pleased with having proven her case.


Producing a key from his pocket, Zach locked his office door to prevent anyone from walking in on that pink train wreck.
 Raven picked the "perfect" time to transform back into her normal, mocking self, but it was the Leader's turn to be the one not in the mood for hearing jokes.
"... I'm going to burn this." Five vowed, hands cupping a defeated, tired forehead.
"Forget work- I'm going to go eat lunch, and then I'm sending that ridiculous banner up in a pyre of flame that would make even the furtherest reaches of [Heck] jealous."
Sighing, he removed his palms from his face and addressed his assistant civilly.
 "Do you know if they still have that small flamethrower available in the the training rooms? And if not, where can I get a can of gasoline and a match?"

asi • 13 October 2013 at 4:18 AM

"I'm not going to get eaten, not by dingos or anything else," he rolled his eyes at the ridiculous idea, paused, then corrected himself; "At least, not while I'm alive. But it won't really be an issue to me what happens to my body once I've left it behind," Two pointed out dismissively.
In any case, he thought to himself, being eaten by dingos would be a better death than slowly being consumed by Raze. But he wasn't planning on mentioning that to Eight.
He shook his head slowly, bemused by her reaction. "Nothing horrible is going to happen to me," Two reassured her carelessly; "As if. In fact, your lack of faith in me isn't exactly inspiring, Eight."
Consistently for three years, he'd worn the same bored, disinterested attitude in absolutely everything. If Two were to be actually interested in something, what would he look like? Probably similar to how he appeared now.
His eyes were still the purest shade of deep, dark black, but they had a kind of light in them. If that kind of light had to be described... It would have to be likened to the look Ferals had in theirs. Maybe it had something to do with the Raze that flowed through his veins, or maybe not. It was something which could only be called "wild". And his expression... Wasn't entirely lacking any longer. It was "confident". Perhaps, if confidence could be considered an emotion, then maybe Two was feeling something.
"Things don't happen to me; I make them happen. So don't worry yourself over me, Eight," he shook his head again, finding the idea ridiculous. She was just teasing him, right? There was no way anyone could genuinely be concerned about his health, Spike's welfare. The guy was a sadistic, merciless killer, for god's sake. Two couldn't believe that. "Why would I make bad things happen to me? That would be stupid," he said, and, impulsively, Two reached out and ruffled Eight's cute blue mop of hair. Remembering similar situations in the past featuring that action, he felt a little comforted himself by it.
"Not coming back, it'll be because I've made something good happen to me," he explained simply.
"As for your traveling, it was Telly who brought you here. If you ask nicely, she'll take you wherever you want to go, so long as it isn't very populated... And not the front lines," Two added. "We aren't going to "hang out" anymore, but you'll get over it. If you have to, just forget about me," he said lightly, like it would be the easiest thing in the world.

Raven shrugged, then flinched slightly as the movement rolled down her arm. Ignoring her discomfort, she replied to Zach; "I don't know. After the explosion, people became much more focused on the art of putting out fires than making them," she managed some sarcasm. "But don't you have a cigarette lighter? Anyway, if you're busy, just send the work to me when you get it or something."
As much as she'd normally love to see that banner go up in smoke and Zach get in trouble for setting off fire alarms... Right now, Raven just wanted to retreat to her room and nurse her injury. Bickering with her leader, she made a mental note, would not aid that.

taffy789 • 13 October 2013 at 6:56 PM

Upon realizing that Two really wasn't coming back, Eight grew flustered as she tried to convince him that he couldn't do just that.
"But-but!" she protested, features contorting into a frustrated scowl as she floundered to find words to say.
"But, if only you make things happen to you, can't you make yourself come back?" She poked holes in his logic, determined to win this argument.
"And Spike-y, I can't forget you! It doesn't work that way- you only are supposed to forget bad memories! You've never done anything bad to me ever! You're nice! You talk and pay attention to me, and that's a lot more than anyone else does! Who am I supposed to chat with noooow?" She started to whine like a small child, causing a big fuss over the issue. Growing more upset, her eyes moistened and became reminiscent of the look sad puppies use to be let inside after getting thrown into the cold rain.
 "I don't care what that mean feral guy inside of you says or thinks- we're friends Spike-y, and friends are supposed to hang out with each other and do stuff! Not leave FOOORREEVVER~!" She stretched out the last word to emphasize the longevity of the promise of leaving.


"I may or may not be considering picking up a smoking habit, so I may or may not have a lighter on me at the moment." Zach answered Raven with yet another sigh.
 "But I'm going to need lighter fluid if I'm looking to impress [Heck]. But, whatever." He began to wave Raven away, but paused as he considered something.
 "... Do you know where they are serving food? The cafeteria was turned into a hospital."
 According to the annoying healers that bothered him at all hours of the day, the hospital/mess hall smelled too strongly of cleaning supplies, so Five doubted he would want to eat his lunch in there anyway. Also, due to the massacre of many that had been enjoying a midnight snack during the time of the rebel invasion, some ghost stories had already sprung up... Rumors got around fast in the Falchion's base, most likely because people had nothing to do but gossip.
...Speaking of gossip spreading, Zach was reminded of the little lie his superior One conjured up...
 In an act of pity, he wondered if he should warn Raven to prepare for risque stories popping up, but he wasn't exactly sure how to begin to approach the topic, so he said nothing.

asi • 14 October 2013 at 7:01 AM

After listening with growing disbelief to her protests, Two began to feel an itching sensation in the palm of one of his hands, something he knew to be indicative of a wish to have high velocity contact with his face, in particular an area often categorized as the forehead.
This was why he didn't want friends.
And Eight said he was nice, for the second time that day. She even said it in the very same sentence as she referred to him as Spike, with her own endearing "y" on the end... What a joke.
Locke had been so gallingly right. What had he been doing?
"How selfish," he remarked coldly. "If you were really my friend, you'd be happy for me."
He glanced outwards, to the star-scattered sky. "I've been waiting three years for this... There's no way I would give it up just to chat with you. I'm not going to visit because I won't have the time for you."
Locke stirred slightly at the key word. *Pun intended?* he asked sleepily.
Mentally, Two rolled his eyes yet again and his power responded with an impression of an appreciative smile, before drifting off again. The smile was childlike and simple. Two couldn't remember the last time he'd smiled at all.
"I have other reasons to stay away from base. Nine is already on my case, she suspects that I'm the one behind those rebels... I wonder how long it will take her to get the rest convinced. Then there's Katrix, always trying to get in the way..." he stopped there, and simplified it by saying, "It's best for me if I don't return. If you know me at all, Eight, then you should know I don't change my mind."
That's when he heard her mention his power.
Eight remembered?
He went to correct her misconceptions. "He's not a feral," Two's tone was ice. "And also... He's me."

She had no comment on his pyromania desires. There was, she had no trouble in admitting, a certain beauty in the way flames devoured...
Then Zach asked about food.
"No idea." Raven didn't even bother trying to give it any guesses. The base had a completely illogical floor layout plan. After several hours of studying, she could only conclude that there didn't seem to be any kind of sense behind different rooms' placements, and wherever they had set up the new cafeteria, chances were it followed tradition.
She, of course, hadn't been to the cafeteria, as the only food she'd had was from that time she'd been hanging out with Riley...
Anyway, the sooner she could get away and deal with the painful constant reminder of her battle-damage, and hopefully the source too...
"Well, if there's nothing else?" Raven raised an eyebrow, then said, "Oh, and smoking is a disgusting habit."

taffy789 • 14 October 2013 at 10:40 PM

Eight scowled at him when he called her selfish, and turned to look outward as well,  except her eyes were fixated on the lights and tall, lit structures that blurred past as the carousal spun around.
She drifted off yet again, but regained interest in the conversation when Two claimed Locke as himself.
 Eight giggled at him.
 "Twooo~," she sing-songed, "That's just silly. That's not you! The feral power guy had white hair that he wouldn't let me dye rainbow because he's mean and also yells. He also threatened me and then put a hole through my stomach with a sword!" The last sentence came straightforward and sincere- the only emotion tied to the words being the bemused way she smiled at the Second Division Leader. She found it funny that Two believed he was the one who caused all that- so very funny indeed!
 "You know what? That guy also said you didn't have a heart and that just proves how stupid he is and how you really can't trust a word that comes out of his mouth! Because if you didn't have a heart then you would be dead- or maybe a zombie." Suddenly, she faltered.
"... Are you a zombie? I... I don't think you are. Aren't zombies supposed to smell bad? How do you smell..?"
Her train of thought slowly screeched to a halt, and Eight shot her friend wary glances, as if considering wether she should give him a sniff or not, just to make sure...


"Well, it's a habit I can afford now." Zach replied in the same sharp voice he always used, and then trailed off, thinking about all the ways he could now use his power and position to blackmail the teleporters who smuggled in luxury items. The best prices on everything from cigerettes to small packets of chocolate chip cookies now belonged to him, he knew.
 "...And no, there's not anything else." he sighed, dismissing Raven, "I'll send you the paperwork later."

asi • 15 October 2013 at 12:05 AM

"White hair?" he quietly repeated aloud to himself when she mentioned it. Two naturally had black hair. If he merged with his power, did that mean the result would be grey hair? "..."
Anyway.
Eight wouldn't understand, it seemed. His power was a part of him, and if Two ever wanted to reach Unnoen, then he'd have to really become one and the same person...
After a pause, he said finally; "Is that what he did..."
What he'd done. What Two had done.
He'd yelled? That was... Strange. With that, Two thought maybe he was beginning to understand Locke more. That was good, as it was impossible to make the rank of Unneon if one didn't. In that way, he'd made it hard for himself. Though it had been necessary.
"I'm not a zombie; they don't regain their own consciousness, and can only follow the necromancer's commands. With some energy at the expense of the necromancer, the decomposition process can be slowed... But zombies certainly can't have powers of their own." He glanced at the ride's speakers and the music slowed to the point where it sounded more like a dirge.
"Eight," Two said seriously, meeting her eyes. "He's right, you know. What he meant wasn't a physical heart as such, but emotions. I don't have them. I'm unable to feel a thing.
"He, on the other hand... Must have felt confused, distraught, angry and abandoned," he looked off into the distance. He'd never really thought before about Locke's feelings. Mostly because there was no possible way for him to care. Still, Two could remember all too clearly what it felt like to feel those things, and the effects it must have had on the power, so long locked up inside, and alone... Not to mention, the power hadn't had much in the way of emotions beforehand. And then when it happened... Two really couldn't imagine the extent of what he'd inflicted. Then, even if he could, he wouldn't care.
"And yet his judgement seems to have been better than mine. Maybe I shouldn't have been so quick to throw emotions away. Or maybe he's just gotten better at dealing with them than I ever was. Whatever, that doesn't really matter now," he concluded casual-like.

"Okay, fine," Raven shrugged, and slunk off back to her room. That had sort of been a waste of time, but it wasn't like she was doing anything anyway. But it had been reassuring. If Zach hadn't noticed anything off about her or her arm, then hopefully she'd be okay.

taffy789 • 15 October 2013 at 10:06 PM

"But what do emotions hafta do with anything, really?" Eight asked innocently, big, ever-changing eyes meeting Two's as he looked towards her. She held his gaze- the same stare many flinched under and didn't dare meet- not wavering the slightest as she kept the questioning,  befuddled expression plastered on her face.
 "... But I agree, it doesn't really matter now!" she exclaimed, repeating his words, "The main thing is that you're leaving me all ALOOONNNE." She whined, crossing her arms against her chest.
"Well, maybe not completely alone, because I have people like Annie and my assistant June around, but I'm still pretty alone! Being alone stinks!"
 The Leader fell into yet another childish vow of silence, making angry, frustrated faces and sulking.
 ...Though, her act did not cause any immediate effect, so she recovered from it quickly.
 "...Spike-y~, if you're really gunna go off somewhere and do something you really wanna do, I guess you're gunna go do just that." Finally discovering that she was fighting a losing battle, Eight resigned from hassling Two about his choice.
"I'm just feel happy you're not a zombie!" she added sincerely, then suddenly clasped her hands together, remembering something.
 "Oooh~, Two! Did ja know that I have something very very secret that I've been waiting for forever and ever too? I'll tell you what mine is and you can tell me what you're doing, and then we can be like secret mission buddies~!"
 She lit up like a Christmas tree at the prospect of being "secret mission buddies" with her friend.


Little did Raven realize, Zach HAD noticed off with her, but kept his mouth shut in fear that if he brought it up, then she would try to use the injury to wriggle out of work. Not that it mattered now, as his office was plagued by pink, prancing horses and banners welcoming his arrival, so very little paperwork could get done in any case. Lingering near his door for a few moments after Raven left, Zach ran his fingers through his hair, wondering how in heck he was going to torch the pink demons, before he decided to leave the problem be and go grab lunch instead.

asi • 16 October 2013 at 12:26 AM

Aren't emotions everything, really?
Why did people live, day by day? Wasn't it so that they could feel things? Feel happy, feel sad, fall in love; experience life. If you were living without emotions, you weren't really experiencing, or living, life at all. That's why Two always thought people lived.
It had been three years without emotions. He didn't at all consider that living. He should know.
Of course, sometimes- when he was around Eight- but that was irrelevant.
She gave up, and he relaxed a little; a physically imperceptible amount, but still, it counted. See? She didn't really care. Everything was all right.
"... Sure," he answered her absently.
Two still lived for emotions, in truth. Just not any of the present. What else could have influenced him onto this path? Though he personally didn't feel them right at this moment... It didn't exactly mean they weren't there.
For one flickering moment, Eight's eyes appeared to him a bright, fierce shade of amber.

It was a bit over an hour before Raven forced herself out from the comfort and safety of the mother bird's downy, sheltering wing- that is to say, her room- for the second time. This time in search of Riley. It had been quite some time, so it couldn't be very likely that he was still inthe training room, but it was a place to start, and, though slightly further to walk, it was in a better direction than his office and bedroom unit.
Her own personal pain-in-the-posterior of a leader had his rooms in the same general direction as Riley. That fact was just piece of Falchion base trivia she felt like sharing at the moment, and had no relation whatsoever to how positive she considered the bearing. Because Raven wasn't a girl to let herself be affected by jerks like him. They weren't worth it.
"Keep telling yourself that," murmured a voice, one not unfamiliar.
Raven managed not to embarrass herself by jumping, and after a deep breath turned around left to face the branching corridor where she'd heard the voice coming from.
"You keep telling yourself that you'll catch up on the paperwork, that you'll clean the rooms, that you'll stop losing small yet important items like keys. Why do you always lose your room keys but find things like broken pens, chewing gum wrappers and random bits of string hoarded in your pockets? I don't even need to USE pens anymore..."
It wasn't just a voice, the person was there too; the assistant to third, Lily, a gravity-user and Raven's roommate. And much to the latter's relief, it seemed that not only was she talking not to Raven, but she was completely unaware of the shadow-girl's presence. Lily would have crashed right into her had Raven not loudly cleared her throat and thrust something into the blonde's hands; Raven's own key to the room.
"Oh," Lily said, waking up after a pause with a sort of flustered look. "Thanks, Ne- uh. Raven."
"Either's fine," Raven reassured her.
"Right, um, see you later." The other girl gave a quick, friendly smile before hurrying off.
She didn't usually get into arguments with people. Normally, Raven wasn't really a bad-tempered person...
She sighed a moment, then remembered her purpose and pushed on.

(P.s. Though of course there were some character things, there was no real POINT to that; unless you were worried Lily got stuck decorating all the new leaders' rooms with Katrix. Well, after the hole incident, One ran off to pull resources for finding Col, and Lily escaped...)

taffy789 • 17 October 2013 at 6:48 PM

"Okay!" Eight chimed, then began to rub her temple, as if thinking.
 "Hmm, ah, okay, so my thingy that I wanna do~~~" She mused, trying to recall her goal. After a period of hard concentration, a grin stretched across her cheeks when she remembered what her "secret" plan was.
"You know how Leaders stay Leaders for a long time and if they don't die they get to be on standby but do whatever they want? And how the standby people get to teleport around without anyone making a big fuss about it because they already did their four years of work?" She shone with glee as she simplistically explained, the very thought exciting her.
 "I wanna do that. I wanna get off of the base for good and then go and do stuff! Because then I could travel wherever I want and have fun in other places without worrying at all about useless things!" Eight gave a wide, pleased smile, but became dreamily distant as she drifted off into her imagination.
 "I'll be able to do all sorts of stuff... And everything will be so, so pretty and happy~ And at the other places you can meet a lot of people that will be very very fun to hang out and be friends with, and it will all be so much better than nasty old IOD and the base~..." There was a certain type of longing embedded into her voice and far stare; a wistfulness stemming from knowing something dearly wanted remained currently unobtainable.
 ...Blinking, the peppy girl resurfaced from her imaginative daze, dropping all traces of the yearning.
 "I only have two years left before I reach my goal!" She seemed proud of this, but the pride faded as a realization popped into her mind.
"...But thinking about it, if I look at right now- I'm already off IOD!" Eight pointed out this with delight and then contently patted the calf of the brown horse she still sat on, as if recalling where she was. "It's like I didn't even hafta wait two years..." Trailing off, she directed yet another sunny smile towards Two.
"That makes me happy."

asi • 3 November 2013 at 3:16 AM

For a response, he looked dully to the horse. Two had a feeling she was slightly mistaken as to the nature of retirement. You wouldn't just be able to go and hang out with normal people in the center of normal city, normal land. It wasn't a get out of jail free card, and they certainly weren't going to announce you cured; they didn't even think there was a cure for Raze. Even if you didn't have it, it wasn't like there was a way to prove it wasn't just lying dormant... It probably was.
However, Two did feel somewhat lighter after hearing Eight's "secret mission" plan. If Eight made it to retirement, she'd be... Well, as safe as you could be at IOD. The fact that there was currently a score of exactly nil people on standby said something. Still, it's practically as good as it gets.
Two had only a single year left of work.
He couldn't consider such an option.
"I suppose I should wish you luck then," Two said eventually, then paused, remembering he would now have to share his plans as well.
Briefly, he considered just saying no, he'd lied and wouldn't tell her, and it wasn't any of her business. Just to prove what kind of "friend" he was. Ironically enough, he remembered just how many secrets had been kept when he'd actually had friends. Secrets kept to protect which had only caused destruction.
Instead, he said; "If you really want to know what I'm going to do... I'll tell you," he shrugged, showing that it was no big deal. "All I have to do is fight and kill a certain person. Once they're dead, then, I'll finally be able to find peace and leave this place. It may not be that simple to get there... I might have to merge with my power," he mused for a moment, but again shrugged. "Whatever. If I knew exactly what was going to happen, if there wasn't any challenge to it, I'd probably end up sleeping through it all, and miss my chance," Two commented disinterestedly.

"Raven?" Riley called out, confused. He'd given permission for her to enter when the system's smooth, monotone voice had asked, and had quickly exited the SIM for its control room... Yet she wasn't there, it looked just the same as he'd left it. "Raven?" he shouted again, louder, as if she'd hear him from outside. Realizing this, he strode over to open the door and see what had happened... When she tapped him on the back of his shoulder, making him jump. "You snuck up on me!" he accused, somewhat bewildered by her antics.
"You were too loud! Do I need to announce my entrance by yelling every time I enter a room?" Raven rolled her eyes.
He blinked. "... Sorry. Just, forget it." She was acting... Strangely.
Raven felt slighty guilty once he apologized, and quickly moved to change the subject. "Anyway. You've been working hard..." she noted as unawkwardly as possible. He looked a little tired, Raven couldn't blame him for not managing to sense her in the room. "You've been at it the whole time since leaving me that message? You should really take a break."
"Okay," he agreed, not missing the implications that she'd been awake when he'd called. Riley narrowed his eyes slightly, searching her face for answers.
And that didn't go unnoticed by Raven either. Internally, she winced. This had been a bad idea, coming here. She should have stayed in her room. She just didn't want her friend to worry about her... "So yeah, I got your message," she stalled lamely, then remembered; "Though your initials kind of stumped me for a minute. RSD? What does the S stand for?"
It worked, he was distracted. "Right, of course you wouldn't know! That was dumb," Riley facepalmed. "It seemed kind of strange to write my name or number there though, because anyone walking past would know... And this place is kind of a rumor mill..."
You don't say... Raven had passed some Seventh division girls busy gossiping on her way, and the snippets of that particular conversation which she'd inadvertently received, she would certainly not repeat.
"My middle name is Spencer," he added, slightly embarrassed, on remembering her actual question.
"Huh," was all Raven could think to say to that. She was forced now to remember that the two of them had... Had two very different upbringings.

"There's something I forgot to tell you."
Though the ice-power walked as slow an unhurried as ever, the healer had over the past few days learnt to discern that strained edge to his tone, evidence of his worry.
Bliss carefully lowered the test tube back into its holder before gesturing that Zan was allowed to continue. He liked to think that the power had waited out of consideration for his delicate work, rather than the alternative that Zan was just really that lethargic.
The younger male gave one of his usual enigmatic, chilly half-smiles; like he was too lax to even finish the expression, and proceeded to ice the door shut.
After three days of living in the same room as the guy, during which Bliss had barely left for anything longer than bathroom trips, there were some aspects of the ice-power's personality which he was starting to find rather GRATING.
Not to mention living here in general. For instance, Bliss was practically imprisoned in the room due to the fact that if he ran into a power in the base, THEY WOULD PROBABLY TRY TO KILL HIM, if he was lucky. If he WASN'T lucky, then it would be a power who wanted to utterly destroy him, so that there wouldn't even be enough of him to cremate... Another thing that annoyed Bliss? How about the fact that right at this moment, Zan was closing the door... With a wall of solid ICE. Apparently these powers were too into destroying things that making something, even anything as crucial as a door, was off the menu. When he'd brought this up, Zan had said, and this was a quote; "We do too make doors... Darling Lyrics made one just the other day, you saw it, remember?"
And Bliss had replied, eye twitching; "You mean that giant hole smashed through the rock?"
"Yeah, well. What is a door really but a way through?"
It was kind of fortunate, if he thought about it, that he was sharing a room with Zan... Bliss couldn't exactly make and do away with a blockage of healing powers... Still, it was all awfully inconvenient for him.
And yet another irritating thing? The items he had referred to as a "test tube" and its "holder"... Were more like, "a drinking glass" and a "the bench surface", respectively. Zan had suggested he use the power's artificial ice as a substitute for both objects, and only after Bliss had explained several times how vital the temperature was to science and how very important it was that he was not freaking out about the possibility of it melting, did Zan reluctantly steal for him the glass item. At least he had most of the chemicals he needed in decent order. Still, something like the power-suppressor was hard enough to make with ideal ingredients...
"Well, what is it?" Bliss questioned anxiously. He was stressed enough as it was, finding sleep elusive and when caught, plagued with nightmares, the kind he hadn't at all missed over the past three years on the mainland.
"Hmm?" Zan looked at the healer, and Bliss didn't need to be any sort of seer-type to know that crap about his British accent was what was coming.
"Zan, darling," he pronounced with painstakingly clarity and as much sarcasm as he could muster into three syllables.
The ice-power grinned lazily and yet fixed Bliss still with the solemnity in his cold eyes. Behind all that bravado, the healer was reminded, was a being of pure icy power, one that wasn't exactly human. "Okay, okay," Zan shrugged, and for once, skipped the chase. "Raid's talking about moving. It's long past the usual time and some powers have been getting restless... Er, even more restless than usual, despite destroying half the mountain's insides..." Zan corrected, shaking his head slow as if disappointed by his "comrades'" behavior. "Really now, I'm just surprised there's any rock at all left."
Bliss was thankful he had taken the precaution of putting down his test tube, else he was convinced he would have dropped it just to try and properly convey his shock. "Moving? You never told me about the rebels moving! How are we going to move all our equipment without getting caught!? Zan...!" he protested.
"That's not even our main problem," Zan mused. "What I want to figure out is what Raid and Mael want with you. In his instructions, Raid singled you out as someone to be taken, then not to undergo the treatment to place the power in control... Yet it's been three days and you haven't even been asked after."
"Gee, thanks. Well, I am a healer. It's reasonable that they aren't overly concerned for my health," Bliss pointed out.
The ice-power said slowly; "The reason Raid said we haven't moved already? Some people were injured during the invasion."
Eyes widening, Bliss finished; "Yet they didn't want to use a healer... Wait, did you say... That Raid asked for me specifically during the attack on the Falchion's base?"
"Huh?" Zan frowned. "Yeah, that's what I said. Why else would I bother going after you, if I hadn't received instructions to? No offense, but you really don't look like much, Newton."
Bliss gaped at him. "They knew where I'd be?"
"What's so shocking about that?" Zan rolled his eyes, and Bliss was about to respond, when he stopped himself.
"Someone's coming," the healer whispered urgently, after a moment of hard concentration.
"Oh?" The power arched an eyebrow. "Perhaps it's that hot babe Stella finally changing her mind about my offer. Da Vinci, I may have to kick you out after all."
"Ha ha," Bliss ran a hand through his hair with some exasperation. "Don't suppose your "hot babe" could have an aura white as snow, hair black as night, eyes also as black, standing at about five foot five, and oh, yeah, he's male."
Staring, Zan said; "Man, you can tell all that from here?"
"No," Bliss scoffed. "I just recognize the aura."
"... Crap," the power swore.
"Hide the stuff," Bliss agreed.

taffy789 • 6 November 2013 at 12:32 AM

 Eight didn't reply for a long time.

 Although that was mainly because she'd wandered off mentally yet again, and hadn't been interested enough to pay attention to Spike's goal. Instead, she favored whatever her mind was focused on over listening to the young man's future plans.
 She snapped back to reality shortly after Spike finished talking, blinked, then fought to recall her friend's words.
 "Uhhh, okay, yeah!" She exclaimed with a nod, remembering. "Well~, I don't see why you need to kill some one to leave the amusement park, but if you do you should kill that Geo-Off guy 'cause he's ANNOYING!" Eight complained loud enough for half the world and the park employee to hear her.
 "It's strange that murder is the only way that you can get out of this place. You would think that would bring down the amount of customers that come in here! The girl wondered out loud, throwing Two  looks of increasing befuddlement.
 "Like, why would you come here in the first place if it's that difficult to leave?"
Trying her best to understand the reasoning, her fingers madly danced a jig on the plastic horse's thigh as she concentrated. Finally, she gave up with a final exclamation, "I really don't get it; it's too silly!"
 "... Anyway," she began again after a pause, "I don't think you should even talk with your power! He's a real jerk." Eight advised him candidly.
 "And I don't really get the merging powers stuff? It seems weird, and scary, and you shouldn't do it. I say stay away- far away!"
 As she concluded, the carousel's happy music began to slow, matching the speed of the ride itself. Soon, both completely stalled, and the girl hopped down from the highly ornate horse, now bouncing up and down with excitement.
 "Ooooh, Spike-y, let's go on something else now!" she exclaimed joyously, switching topics.
"Like a roller coaster or bumper cars, or running around and messing with all of the park employees for fun!" 
Since her eyes glinted with such an innocent mischievousness, it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Eight's idea of "messing" with the employees most likely included erasing their memories and leaving them to stumble around in the darkness of the amusement park until she grew bored with the sport.


The Leader faced her foes from across the largely empty space. Her wide bladed saber drawn, Gale cautiously eyeballed her opponents, breathless as she planned her next attack. Four impenetrable metal walls surrounded her on all sides, and her adversaries outnumbered her three to one. Her only option appeared to be a head-on attack. The tactic was barbaric and suicidal, but she charged forward never-the-less, the strength of her steel sword only matched by her unbreakable will.
 She came up on them fast and they did nothing to hinder her progress. With a simple swipe of a sword, Gale decapitated three heads in a single swoop. They hit the floor with little grace and then proceeded to roll lazily about at her feet. 
Grimacing, the Seventh Leader gave one of them a good, moody kick, and sent the wooden dummy's cranium smashing against the metal wall of her training room with a loud, ear-splitting "TWANG!"
 Grimace only growing more sour, the girl rubbed at her ears, all the while asking herself why the base was made out of so much darn metal. It really made things annoyingly loud when one was in a "I'm going to throw hard things at the wall" mood.
 Not that Gale felt like that, no, not at all.
 She remained her same, passive, impassionate, and indifferent self even when running on three hours of sleep, or at least, that's what she was trying to convince herself.
 Reaching down, Seven retrieved one of the severed wooden heads from the floor, and admired its fine features for a moment. She'd been working on her swordplay for so long now that she'd taken a liking to her three wooden practice dummies, and had even gone so far as to draw faces on them and give them names. For example, the poor, unfortunate fellow with the monocle and mustache Gale held in her hands was Sir Lemonsworth.
 ...
While staring into the sharpie drawn-on eyes of Lemonsworth, it occurred to Gale that she wasn't quite sure what compelled her to name the wooden dummy something so silly, let alone give it a goofy face.
...
Perhaps, the girl decided, it would be best if she took a quick break.

The last thing the Seventh Leader expected to see when exiting her personalized training room was her fellow Leader and official superior, Five, carrying a large trash bag slung over his shoulder. Curious, she watched as he disappeared into his own training area, and then took a minute to decide whether she should follow him or not. The guy looked ticked off, but from the little Gale had seen of him already, he always looked like that, so it could be his default expression, or something.
 Her growing curiosity got the better of her as thin ribbons of smoke began to curl out from under Five's door. When that happened, the obvious choice was to go see what he was up to. For all Gale knew, the guy could be destroying evidence of a gruesome triple murder or summoning Beelzebub. Possibly both.
 Seven's heart sank as she saw that Five had shut the door behind him. She felt assured that she would be locked out from whatever murder-evidence-burning/demon worship was going on in the room, as she didn't yet feel confident enough to enter under the door via wind transformation. This was because- even though she would never say it out loud, and hated admitting it to even herself- her power momentarily taking over had shaken the very rock solid foundations she considered herself built on.
She could no longer concentrate on things like desk work or simple small talk since the rebel invasion. To make matters worse, vicious nightmares plagued her still, and the lack of sleep made her feel jumpy, panicked, and caused her to start naming the training dummies idiotic names...
 Gale shook off the tired thoughts and tried the handle of Five's door. To her pleasure, it opened, and she easily pushed her way inside.
As she entered, she saw a pile of junk being hungrily consumed by flames, and a Five standing a few feet away from the burning garbage, looking irritated as ever. 
 He said nothing as she stepped through the door, but the look he shot her conveyed a clear message. Gale deciphered it as both a questioning, "What are you doing here?" and an annoyed "Get out of my sight." She had to give him props- that was a hard combination to pull off.
 "I'm sorry for intruding." Seven stated in a perfectly executed, lofty and mildly unapologetic tone of voice. "I saw the smoke and thought there was a rouge fire."
 The last part was a lie.
 It had to be. Seven wasn't about to admit that she'd entered the room expecting him to be burning the remains of a dead body. Her first impressions to the guy were already crud without her mentioning she'd suspected him of murder.
There was silence, and Five didn't bother to fill it. He kept his sight trained on her, and Gale found herself feeling as annoyed as the Fifth constantly looked.
Where were his manners? Hadn't the guy been taught that staring was creepy and impolite?
 "...Pretty stupid of you to think there was a fire in here." he finally spoke up, putting blunt force behind his words.
Outwardly, Seven's unflappable expression showed no change, but, inwardly, her brain began to grow hot and throbbing with irritation. Yep. This guy never took lessons in common courtesy.
 She regained her impassive mental composure and shrugged her shoulders.
"An explosion recently took out like a fourth of the base. Better safe than sor-" She stopped talking as the the flaming pile of junk made a strange, popping noise and burped up a flurry of pink embers that swirled chaotically in the air, like a bunch of dazed, burning butterflies that were caught in a strong gust of wind. The sight was strangely pretty.
Even prettier, and equally strange, the bonfire in front of her began to burn a deep, hot pink color...
 Five glanced towards the girly flames, and then back at the other Leader. He saw Seven's questioning look and explained with a brief, "That's just the kindling." 
 "Ah." 
 It took Gale a while to come up with an apathetic yet snarky comment about the hot pink hot flames, but Five piped up before she could utter it.
 "What in the world are you holding?"
 Wait, she'd been holding something?
 Looking down, Gale internally groaned. The head of Sir Lemonsworth still sat in her hands, his sharpie-drawn smile shining bright, but his black, oval eyes screaming why, why did you decapitate me Abigail? Why?
 Seven drew in a sharp breath, then tossed the head into the flamboyant fire. She watched it be consumed by the pink flames before whipping back to Five.
"It's kindling." She echoed nonchalantly, cutting the conversion short before it grew any more awkward for both parties involved.
 The other Leader blinked, shook his head slowly, and then completely ignored her.
 Gale wondered if that reaction meant that he was willing to pretend their little chat never happened, or if he was just being a prick.
She guessed both.

asi • 9 December 2013 at 1:07 AM

"Raven, I..." Riley started, stopped, stared at his shoes. They were a mockery of the color white, with ruthless wearage transformed into almost anything but. Shoe cleaning wasn't exactly on his high list of priorities... However, the thought brought back a rumor he'd heard; that if one wanted a quick laundry, all you had to do was drop the item around the Second Division's offices, and walk around the block thrice whilst muttering, "The crow flew over the river with a lump of raw liver, the crow flew over the river with a lump of raw liver," non-stop. Apparently it would be so clean it could literally blind you when you got back. "... We need... I'd like to talk to you," he finished finally.
Raising an eyebrow, she began, "We are already-"
"Well yes," he interrupted frustratedly, knowing what Raven was about to say. "But this is serious!"
"... You aren't breaking up with me, are you?"
He looked at her with a sideways glance, and as she couldn't help but chuckle darkly, groaned, pulled off and threw one of his road-weary, track-filthy shoes at her. Riley must have been tireder than the both of them had thought, because it missed utterly. In response, she just smirked broader at him, and he dropped his head into his hands.
"I'm not in the mood for serious!" she was suddenly sullen. "You'd think a world of the dying would be more fun."
"Why?" he looked up to give her a weird face.
Raven shrugged. "You know, last few days to live, may as well make the most of them."
"No one's that optimistic, especially not you!"
"..."
Riley stood up abruptly and, offering a hand to help her up, said; "Come on, let's go somewhere else."
"Why?" she pointedly ignored his gesture until it was withdrawn.
"Because we can." He frowned at the girl still on the floor.. "Another thing I could do is lock you in here."
"..."

"Bliss."
"Spen... Mael."
"Zan," Zan said loudly.
"Yeah, he can leave," Mael mused, eyes sweeping the room. After the initial acknowledgement of the healer, he paid more attention to the non-existant awnings than the power. An inordinate display of arrogance, in Zan's over-qualified eyes, it looked like the kid was either drowning in his own arrogance or trying too hard. There was no way to pull that kind of attitude off at that age, he only ended up looking childish and immature. Zan tried not to roll his eyes, and failed.
Bliss attempted with much more successful a show of friendliness, smiling awkwardly and managing to pronounce with record intelligibility; "Ah, hullo, is there anything I can do for you?"
So polite. Zan was feeling he ought not to spend his eye-rolls so frivolously, when these beggars had clearly known nothing in their lives but harsh eye-roll famine. Although he wouldn't say that he didn't find Mael the least bit intimidating- he had to have something in order to... "deal" with whatever had happened to Angel like that- even so, Zan definitely would say Mael was a conceited brat.
"I only stopped by to see how you were doing," the youngest brushed a few black locks out of his blacker eyes, all innocence. "Settling in alright?"
Bliss looked everywhere but the ice-power, and it didn't take a Riley to know that he was thinking about the icicle stalactites, and his ill-concealed fear of becoming a human popsicle. "Yeah..." he said finally, in a way that in no way conveyed finality.
"If that's all, you can leave now," Zan cut in, eye twitching ever so slightly.
The next thing he knew, a hand was around his throat and his back nearly broke through the ice.
"Don't sell me short," Mael spoke forcefully, each word slow and domineering, yet before the ice-power had even time to struggle he was dropped roughly onto his stomach, then cruelly kicked over. "Get rid of your girly ice sculptures. Oh, and get the f*ck out."
Holy crap. Bliss was gaping in shock. Zan could only fumble backwards into the wall, feeling the bruises blossom under his skin while his mind was stalling under the sudden pain.
Mael scowled and wrenched him up by the collar before throwing him in the direction of the door. He didn't weigh a lot, but physics couldn't seem to process in Bliss's brain.
"Let's not do this the hard way." Mael was pushing his sleeves up to his elbows as he stepped over to where Zan lay on the floor, struggling to pull himself even to his knees against the debilitating surrealism of it all. He wasn't weak, not by any measure- save of course for an Unnoen's- but he was just stunned by this... Child. What WAS he?
"Get out and take your filthy ice with you, or you better f*cking believe I'll make you!" Mael yelled.
"You called this guy your friend?" Zan managed to hiss, clutching his stomach where he'd been kicked the hardest. He was faintly surprised at the lack of broken ribs.
Hearing that, Bliss hardly reacted at all, just started in surprise and looked at the ice-power with an utterly disorientated expression. However, Mael appeared to calm somewhat, long enough for Zan to recover enough to force himself to his feet, and sprint out of the room, tripping and stumbling for his life. The cold followed him faithfully, not because of his obeying Mael but from his sudden depletion in energy. It seeping out of the room like shadows before the sun, and then the two were alone.

taffy789 • 12 December 2013 at 12:50 AM

The hot steam from the shower had fogged up the bathroom mirror, which annoyed Annabell to no end. She sat precariously perched on the edge of the sink countertop, balancing a hairbrush on one knee, her toothbrush on the other, and fighting to pull her wet blonde locks into a small ponytail. She squinted at her reflection, trying to see herself through the thick condensation that had collected itself on the glass.
She could /kind of/ see an image of her face in the mirror, and she assured herself that she looked perfectly fine... you know, most likely. There was a ten percent chance that, despite all her frantic scrubbing, some ash and blood still clung to parts of her body...
 But she didn't focus on that disgusting possibility. She FELT squeaky clean and refreshed after a nice, warm rinse and another new pair of clean clothes, and how she viewed herself was all that mattered, right?
Annabell fully convinced herself of this only after finishing up in the bathroom, exiting the showers, and deciding that the looming cloud of self-consciousness trailing behind her was petty.
Admittedly, her appearance didn't really matter all that much anyway, since so many others were walking around the base with sleepless, bloodshot eyes and unkept hair.
The poor state of the people who passed by her in the hallways reminded Annabell that she should go volunteer her time to helping out the medics in the hospitals... But then her stomach gave an unearthly moan, loudly protesting the mere THOUGHT of doing any sort of work while running on empty.
The girl gave a sigh, and then set out on a grand, fantastic journey all around the disorganized base to discover where the food was being hidden away at.


- Magical time skip w/ Eight and Mr. Scary Emo Kid ...Wait... TIME SKIP? *imagines Two skipping* *gags and shutters with horror* -

After ten straight trips through a colorful cultural display featuring creepy dolls singing an annoyingly repetitious song, Eight decided she finally had enough of the ride. She hopped out of the slow moving gondola(which the girl had almost fell out of a total of three times, due to becoming overexcited about all the different sights) and twirled in joyous circles as soon as her feet hit solid ground. 
"Spike~y," the Leader called out to the friend she was still dragging around every corner of the amusement park, "I'm hungry." 
She stopped her wild spinning after stating this, and faced Two, frowning slightly.
"I feel like I haven't eaten FOREVER~" she complained loudly, ignoring- or maybe forgetting- how changing the memories of a nearby hot dog vendor in order to get free food was one of the first things she did after leaving the carousel area.
"When and what are we gunna eat?" Eight asked, blinking wide and hungry eyes at Two.

asi • 15 December 2013 at 6:06 AM

Forty coiled yards of the mountain's labyrinth and pounding footsteps later, Zan's sides were burning and he was forced to lean against the wall, winded. He was forced to contemplate the question as to whether Blaine had ever ran in his life, and it was a waste of time because he already knew the answer.
There isn't much chance of a run in a two-by-three meter cell. Exercise is rather strained when you're busy considering how much air you've got left to last you 'til the next time the door opens.
Bliss looked like a pretty crap runner, for all his work in the "health" sector. The thought held little comfort, but he could probably beat the doctor in a race. Then again, it reminded him that the prospects of their chances in a fight, if they ended up having to escape the rebels... Were freezing at best.
If Mael could believe Bliss was on his side, that they weren't plotting anything, the power supposed that was for the best. It still didn't make Zan feel any better about what had just happened.
From around the next twist, Zan could hear voices. He ducked into a slim off-shooting corridor, but as the approaching sounds grew ever louder and impending, he could only gather his breath and slip into a room, picking a door at random.
Or not. It seemed like even without a user he still had a fully functioning "subconscious", because Zan wasn't someone who believed in coincidence. He'd... He'd have to ask Bliss about that...

Two, wearing the same expression he used for most everything else and expressed just about nothing, followed her patiently around, rather like... The responsible parental supervision?
Well, that was probably what it looked like, but he didn't necessarily feel like that. Despite her nearly falling out of a slowly moving gondola with proper regulation safety features a total of three times, she wasn't actually the most irresponsible person he'd met. In comparison, Eight wasn't even the least bit of a worry, she was just downright cute.
And what did he care if she got hurt. It wasn't his problem, and nor was hunger. He gave her a blase look. "I'm not hungry. I suppose you'll eat when we get back to base. I'll have to meet with Nine before I leave," Two remembered aloud, though he'd never truly forgotten, he just hadn't wanted to think about it. Nine had made no effort to hide her animosity towards him, and he found the whole thing boring and tiresome. He didn't consider her anything worth worrying about, despite her determination to expose him as a traitor, or whatever it was she wanted. She was too much like Evie, and it would probably get her killed.
"And Katrix," he reluctantly added as barely more than a mutter, "will probably be her usual self." As tempting as it sounded, it wasn't going to be worth the effort trying to avoid that encounter.
He'd been looking out in the direction of the gate this entire time, so when the teleporter materialized in front of it the leader didn't miss a beat. "Right on time," he said.
The girl spotted them quickly amongst the various deserted rides and attractions, and teleported to a convenient yet respectful proximity. As she awaited instructions, Telly attempted to furtively search Two's two black orbs for answers. What had the two leaders been doing out here, really? It didn't look as if they were... Involved, per se, as she phrased it mentally. But actually holding an intelligent discussion with Eight was, according to the base's general consensus, impossible. Yet most importantly there was no way Two could possibly be here to play in a theme park...!
Of course, the only thing she could find in those empty dark eyes was nothing at all.

A young lady sat at the bedside, a soft yet strained smile etched across her face. She seemed strung between discomfort, tears and relief, a fact which was missed utterly by the other occupant of the room.
"Are you really okay?" she asked, tucking a strand of blonde behind her ear anxiously.
"I'm fine," came the simple, with a hint of impatience, reply.
"I know an apology isn't worth anything, but... I'm sorry." Angel couldn't find a way to really express what she felt. There was no way to ever make up for what had happened. She'd be apologizing for the rest of her life, she knew.
There was no way to ever make up for the loss of a limb, and the other as of yet unknown affects, temporary and permanent, physical and mental, of the damage she'd done.
What Angel didn't know was how shocking this scene was. Everything from the clean bed to the bandages to the very fact that a patient existed was extraordinary among the rebels. She hadn't the least idea that Stella should have been left to bleed to death on the floor, and none of the powers would have batted an eyelid unless they were the one ordered to clean it up.

At the very center of the base, there was a fake garden of sorts. The plants were so obviously ill-cared for and neglected that it would be better described as a courtyard, though it gave the impression that once, it had lived up to its name. In the corner, a bunch of druggies sat smoking and looking generally disorientated.
"Nice."
Riley shrugged in response to her dry statement. "It's a reminder of the real world, I suppose."
"A mockery of it, or a true portrayal?" she questioned, eyebrow raised.
"Does it matter? I don't think anyone would rather be confined to six sides of metal." Riley looked up at the flaky painted sky above and sighed. "Some of IOD's areas do look truly beautiful. Have you seen the mountains of A-C at sunrise? I've heard it's some sight," he remarked.
"Beauty is deadly; is that what you're going for?" Raven sounded amused.
"Yeah, I suppose so. What I wanted to talk to you about was... Well, the fact is, neither of us have powers anymore," he glanced around furtively as he said that, and she understood. If word got about his loss, Riley would definitely be in trouble. Judging by their experience with the Truce matches, it was likely number Four would get killed off just for show when they replaced him. Even though the person they guessed was One probably knew already and didn't seem to care in the least, that would no doubt change if rumors started spreading.
Raven glowered at the unwelcome reminder.
"I talked with... People, and you have the option to go home," he said quietly.
She started in surprise. "What?!" In a flash Raven was on her feet. "What are you... You told someone about my condition?" she forced herself to reduce the shouting to an angry hiss.
"No, no, well... Yes," Riley flinched. "But he kind of already knew; otherwise he'd have never let you out."
She scowled, she hadn't even thought about whether or not Two had known. The very idea that he would gossip with others was ridiculous and of some reassurance, but he could always nonchalantly let it slip... "Why were you even talking to him?" she glared.
He blinked, taken a little aback by her attitude. Riley knew she held a little distrust for the other leader, but... "Since when was that a crime?"
"All the evidence points to him being the bad guy, doesn't it?" she growled. "And we KNOW he's A bad guy; he tortures people for a living, for god's sake Riley! Until we actually have a reason not to expect a horrible betrayal from him, is it really that difficult to stay clear?"
"... He's still training me," he confessed to her.
Her jaw slackened. "What?"
"You know, giving me lessons on fighting and stuff. He started it to prepare me for the arena, but didn't stop afterwards... I figured it might be a thing, like older leaders training the newer ones, to make sure their skills are up to scratch and stuff..." Riley trailed off, then shook his head. "This is all beside the point. Raven, you have a chance to leave."
"I... What about that infection thing?" she frowned.
"They have tests back at the hospital, apparently. If it all checks out, which it should, you'd be able to go live a normal life..."
Staring at the floor, Raven did not answer immediately.

The girl in the bed just sincerely wished this dumb blonde would make like a tree, that is, shut up and leave. In fact, if it wasn't for the fact that a certain boy had stopped by earlier to warn against it, Stella would probably be making like a cheese grater and... Manipulating metal into the shape of a cheese grater, and using this sickbed visitor as the cheese. It wasn't the best simile, but she felt it expressed accurately her feelings. What she wanted was Angelina shredded into tiny little pieces, and she wanted it done by her hand, or at least, her metal.
By the earlier visitor, she had meant Mael, who had smoothly persuaded her that attacking dumb blondes who happened to have placed her in this state in the first place wasn't in her best interests. The power certainly hadn't meant Zan, though he also fitted the criteria... With conscious effort, she broke off her thoughts of the icy-eyed, black-haired snow leopard of a power.
Ugh. Stella was bored, the company was making it worse, she was injured and confined to bed, the company was responsible for that, and she wasn't allowed to kill or make it bleed even a little. If there ever was a time when a power prayed for a knight in shining armor to rescue them... This was it.

That's when Zan stumbled into the room, looking for all the world like he'd just been used as some mexican wrestler's punching bag.

taffy789 • 16 December 2013 at 1:48 AM

"What's this about Nine and the Matrix?" Eight questioned, but lost the thought as she followed Two's gaze to the gate and caught sight of the teleporter.
 "Aaawww, are we leaving ALREADY?" she complained, letting out an annoyed puff of air from her nose.
"I don't want to go back to the base! Especially after the all those people died! Now it's going to be harder for me to mess around with the people there, and if I can't mess around with the people, everything's going to be SOOOOO BORING." Reaching out a hand, the Leader began to tug on Two's shirt sleeve to protest of the decision to head back. 
After a few tugs, she absentmindedly rolled his sleeve up a bit, then rolled it back down. Then, with a look of extreme concentration etched on her face, she repeated this process quite a few times, as if completely absorbed by the strange properties of clothing, before getting back to her plea.
"So yeah," She spoke again suddenly, snapping her head up from the shirt, "I think we should never, EVER go back to the base ever again and we should just stay here forever and live off hotdogs and lemonade and a bunch of other good stuff~" The Leader stated this with conviction, and held a full belief that her plot was a viable option at this point.
 "... Also I really don't want to go back to my dumb healers." Eight added in as an after thought.


Of course, the make-shift cafeteria just HAD to be thrown in a corner of the base somewhere completely out of the way where no one would find it without having to first walk around the entire base twice. Which was what Annabell did, naturally.
 By the time the cafeteria workers unceremoniously threw her brown sack lunch at her and shooed her out of the line, the girl's calfs, which still dully shined a raw red, were KILLING her- figuratively speaking, of course.
 As she opened the brown paper bag and caught glimpse of the food she'd struggled so hard for to receive, Annabell wondered if the pitiful ham sandwich and bruised yellow apple were even worth her effort.
 She walked, slowly as to not cause her legs any more pain than they were already in, down the halls of the base, snacking on her food along the way. There was little traffic where she was at, so the only noises she heard were the sound of her boots squeaking on the metal floors, and the loud crunch that echoed with every bite of the apple.
It was quiet, and Annabell wondered where Raven or Riley were, who she would much rather think about than the syringe case that weighed heavy in her left pocket.
Actually, she really, really didn't want to recall ANY of events from a mere three days ago. The feral girl's unearthly screams, One's words, and a cleaved body all swarmed like angry insects at the back of her mind, and Annabell dearly wished she could somehow distract herself with something else, instead of focusing constantly on all things that were so tragically, pathetically out of her control...
 Without warning, two girls, chatting audibly, entered Annabell's hallway.

 "Did you hear about Five and his assistant? I heard that..."
 "Oh yeah! But I thought that..."

... Amazingly, by pounding on her chest and gagging, Annabell managed to rescue herself from choking to death on a chunk of apple.

asi • 16 December 2013 at 5:05 AM

"I love being me." After a moment of silence, while the two users watched Zan disappear, Mael turned to Bliss and spoke those words, a huge grin on his face. "You have no idea what you're missing out on."
Bliss's expression paused, unreadable, then slowly crumbled into utter disbelief and wonder. He stepped forward slowly, and seemed hesitant, as if Mael was going to flicker and vanish like an illusion. "Spence... It really is you. I, I didn't believe it... You acted like you, and yet not, but... It really is. It's not a trick, an impersonator, a double, a power, or anything else... It's really you," Bliss seemed about to break into tears. "The real you. You're okay."
He rolled his eyes, but there was a small smile Mael couldn't keep off his face. "Don't you go and cry on me now, Bliss. I can't believe you wasted any worry on me! Pfft, you should know I'm the one who can look after himself."
"Y-yeah," the healer managed to sniffle.
Though he made a show of being reluctant, Mael still went on to pull Bliss into a hug.

A sad ghost of a smile tugged on Two's lips as Eight tugged on his shirt, but quickly died its undead death before it even had a chance to come properly into being. He didn't smile. According to the base's general consensus he never had, and some rumors even went as far as to claim he in fact had a medical condition in his facial muscles which prevented him from ever even being capable of doing so. That was of course an utter lie, but he didn't want to spoil it because, well... He just didn't have it in him to begrudge them their fun.
After a few moments of deep consideration for Eight's words, Two gave a sharp nod, and said slowly and seriously; "You know, you're absolutely right."
He walked over to Telly and took her hand anyway, and the carnival melted away around them all.

"Blaine!" Angel jumped to her feet as he fell through the door, fumbling to shut it quick behind him. "Are you okay?" she ran her eyes over his injuries in a state of total shock.
Turning to face her, the boy gave her a strange look, one she couldn't decipher at all.
"Uh, let me grab the bandages!" she immediately slid down to her knees, moving to begin rifling through the drawers, much to his exasperation.
"Don't bother, it won't do any good; all the bleeding's internal," Zan informed her, and when Angel didn't seem to hear, he walked over and grabbed a hand to stop her. Hers was shaking, and she continued to stare blankly into the draw's depths, a mess of scissors and nail clippers, tissue packets, plasters, and tiny assorted medicine bottles.
He looked at her hand a moment in concern, before tilting her head to make her look at him, then said, with what could be easily mistaken for a somewhat flirtatious smile; "I'm the one who should be asking that question. Angel, are you okay?"
Hurriedly, she pulled herself to her feet, stepped back to escape his reach and purposely avoided meeting his pale blue eyes. Rubbing her upper arms as if to keep warm, she answered softly, "Yes, of course. There's nothing wrong with me."
While the blonde wasn't looking, Stella watched silently as Zan nicked a couple of med bottles and slipped them into his pockets. Apparently, he'd completely forgotten about the other power in Angel's presence.
Though she still wouldn't make eye-contact, her gaze was held again by the new bruises appearing all over his exposed arms. "Blaine, what happened to you?"
On the other hand, he had no such reservations; Zan saw that he eyes were now a faintly glowing purple. They were beautiful in a way, but unnatural, and instinctively he shuddered at the sight. Still, he could tell she didn't want to talk about that.
"I just had a bit of quarrel with..." He decided to be totally honest, "That black-haired kid, ah... Mael."
She looked stunned. "Mael? You can't be serious." Angel even smiled. "He's been helping me these past few days to... Calm down. He's really a very sweet kid."
Sweet kid...!? Zan struggled to keep his mouth from falling open.

"What about you?" Raven asked eventually. "Don't you have that option too?"
Her own question twisted knots inside her stomach. On one hand, she wanted her friend more than anything to escape this place to safety, especially in his condition. They all had their lives at risk here, but Riley had already lost his once... Shouldn't he go and steal as much time as possible, make the most of a chance no other dead were given? But at the same time, there was the fact undeniable in its plausibility that someone's power was the thing keeping Riley here. And if it worked at all like Kitty's, he could crumble to dust if he went too far away from the caster...
"I'm a leader, remember? Besides... Both my sister and Angel are missing. They're... They mean everything to me. There's no way I can rest until they're safe."
She nodded slowly, empathy in her eyes.
Riley gave a small smile while he pointed out; "Besides, it's not so bad for me. To be honest, I never really relied so much on my power in battles. In a fight, there's barely enough time to break in, decode someone's thoughts and react appropriately. I ended up using my power to learn to read body language instead; it's actually a lot quicker."
"Is that so?" Was all Raven could think up to say.
His smile tightened as he added; "And in a way, Raid is me, isn't he? I don't think that's a book I need to open."
"... Did Two tell you that?" she found herself accusing without knowing fully why. It just sounded like it. Illogical and inscrutable, the second leader was like a burning itch in her mind, and she hated how her friend had anything to do with him.
"Yeah," Riley seemed surprised. "Look Raven, I know you don't trust him, but-"
"We can not trust him," she gritted out, interrupting him. "We don't know anything about him!"
"That's the thing," the former mind-reader pressed. "I feel like I do. Understand some things about him, somehow. It's just this feeling I get... I honestly don't think he's our enemy, Raven."
She shook her head, frustrated beyond words by how strangely stubborn and completely irrational attitude towards the higher leader was. "Whatever! Just know that I'm staying. Obviously someone here has to look after you!"
"There is Annabell," he pointed out, with a bittersweet smile of amusement.
"Yeah well, she has enough to worry about, what with Leon..." The both of them fell into troubled thought.

The metal-power hated Zan.
He was utterly incomprehensible, like a math equation that didn't work. Just from his expressions, the way he moved, she could tell this; there was something WRONG with him. Didn't he feel the urge to kill, the all-consuming desire to destroy? Wasn't that what made them powerful? All of the other rebels sensed it too, they all steered clear of the misfit. She didn't necessarily hate him because he was different from the others, exactly. She hated him because she didn't understand him in the least.
Another factor may have to do with him being extremely attractive physically, which powers did notice, though they were generally loathe to admit it. Especially when it was someone they didn't like, which was practically everyone, but this guy most especially for Stella- and in extension the entire rebel base.
She cleared her throat loudly, hating being ignored.
"Oh, hey Stell, didn't see you there," he gave her a cool, lopsided smile.
For instance, why was he so freaking friendly?!
"Get out, you're disturbing a patient's rest," Stella glared at the both of them.
"Oh, I'm sorry...!" Angel apologized anxiously, then there was nothing for the two of them to do but get out.
They stood silently outside the door for a few minutes, Zan wincing slightly as he crossed his arms and hit a sore spot.
"I've got to go somewhere," he said suddenly. "But I'll catch up with you later, okay?"
"Yeah," Angel murmured as she watched him go.

He'd wanted to sneak back to his and Bliss's room; make sure the latter was okay, and maybe spy on them just a little. Although normally his laziness conquered his sense of curiosity, well, he couldn't exactly lay around in the corridors anyway.
Hesitantly inching his head around the corner, Zan glimpsed in to see Bliss and Mael... Hugging.
Wow, for an awkward moment there, he'd thought- Nope, they were definitely only hugging in a bro-type way.
... Phew.
Wait, Bliss was just acting, right? There wasn't a chance that somehow, especially after that display, Mael had convinced him he was the good guy? Though he felt panic clench around his stomach, Zan forced himself to breathe quiet and listen hard.
Unfortunately, it seemed he'd missed whatever it was Mael had came for, because he was now leaving. The power could only duck back around the corner and out of sight, until the danger had passed.