Othergrounds: The IC Edition (Act 8: The Strangest Days have gone By)

"Do you have control of your pheromones?" Dragonfly said, finally speaking. He had began pacing back and forth behind Nicole and Drake as they were talking. "Becausse I am not reacting well to them. They're messsing with my ssenssess. Asss if they were made to put off or weaken predatorss." Some mammals marked their territory to put off predators. Some did it to keep large and predatory lizard like Komodo Dragons and other large monitors from attacking their young. He was currently in his horizontal position, like a dinosaur, and was still about five foot six in height. A drop by seven inches, but enough to still look the other three in the eyes. He stopped and pivoted on one of his legs, and stepped out to face her with the other. "They call me Dragon, or Dragonfly." he said, flicking he head in Nicole and Drake's directions, respectively.

He rolled his eyes at Drake's speech. He couldn't help but let out a small snicker. If they had gone through the trouble of finding the girl, surely just asking her to follow them for a little bit and give her a good reason to would cause her to stay with them. It worked on him after all. He hoped that he could call Nicole and Drake his friends now.

"It iss nice to meet you, Leafnoess."

The girl looked more like a vampire now, upon closer inspection. Very bat like as he saw before, but still somewhat human. He took a step closer, craning his neck in different way to get a good look at her from as many angles as he could. While this could be considered weird, he honestly didn't care. He then stood back upright from his saurian position. This girl was changed, even more so than Nicole. She had lost her identity like he had. He had little to no human resemblances other than occasionally wearing pants, standing upright, and having five fingers. He only had three toes. He now looked like a modern day dinosaur more than anything else. This girl had become a bat or a person and was probably barely recognizable from her past self before the mutation.

If her mutation worked the same was his had, at least.

While he could relate to both Nicole and Leafnoes, as she called herself, he could relate to Leafnoes better due to the fact that Nicole had kept most of her human features and was actually pretty good looking (In his opinion at least). But he knew better then to let him mind wander. He was a solitary hunter and didn't do to well with romantically. And probably couldn't, after all, he was a giant lizard and was half insane at that.

He felt his bad side was going to spike soon. He didn't like to be suppressed for long.

Leafnose nodded at Dragonfly, "Nice to meet you, Dragonfly." She said, "As for my pheromones and controlling them, I can, and I can't. I can control what kinds I release, but I can't ever turn them off completely. If I give off anything other than what I'm currently releasing, it might really mess with everyone's behavior, putting off predators is the closest I can get to preventing my powers from altering mentality dramatically from what it originally is." What she meant by this was that if she released any other pheromone, people wouldn't act as they normally did. Leafnose could make friends for all the wrong reasons, and she didn't want to.

Drake

ViperaUnion wrote:

"Well, people call me Leafnose." She said, not bothering to say anything about the speech. Obviously, she was a bit put off by it, "Well, anyway, let's just go back and see what's happened?" She suggested.

"Errr, nice to meet you, Leafnose." Drake said hesitantly. He was about to laugh at the ridiculousness of her name when he stopped himself. He was going to ask for her actual name, then stopped himself again. The best he could do to alleviate the laughter was let out a wide smile. He moved on to her request about heading back... Right now he wasn't in the mood for anymore flight lessons. Especially since his body still hurts like hell. "Yeah, we can go back any time--- Just... let's walk.... Does that mean that you're on our side, hah?"

ViperaUnion wrote:

As for my pheromones and controlling them, I can, and I can't. I can control what kinds I release, but I can't ever turn them off completely. If I give off anything other than what I'm currently releasing, it might really mess with everyone's behavior, putting off predators is the closest I can get to preventing my powers from altering mentality dramatically from what it originally is."

Pheromones, huh? Drake thought. From what he was taught, pheromones can be a very powerful thing. Especially pheromones that affect people. He'd rather that he'd avoid her until he figured out what she does.... Or, he can be a CENSORED and take her powers for himself. It'd be best not to overstep his boundaries right now, so he put those thoughts aside. Jesus, Christ. Now I'm sounding like a power replicating maniac... There was also the matter of the next Meta-human that was about, the one Nicole said smelled like blood. That must mean that this person is gravely injured--- Or, anything really. Drake turned to Nicole and spoke, "After we get this wrapped up: how about we go check out that other mutant you were talking about?"



Johnny and Jake







The trio had enough time to turn down another hallway before Claire started blasted away lightning. Johnny was at his very tipping point. This... excuse of a human being has lost her mind. She came screaming at them and shooting lightning, then gets her panties in a twist when someone tells her about how stupid she's being. Now, she's lost her mind and trying to attack them when they're just trying to leave. It's about time that she find it. The hard way. It's obvious that she won't relent and allow them to just leave when that's all they want to do. No, she wants to drag this out and cause it to get anymore violent than it was. If it's a ass kicking she wants then she's going to get it. Johnny rested Sylvia down on the ground. "Jake, get her out of here." He requested.

"... What are you going to do?!" Jake asked as he walked over to tend to Sylvia.

"Knock some sense into her..." Johnny focused for a moment to gauge the emotional presences. There were three people, he assumed that they were Claire, Carole and TJ. He stopped focusing and the emotions disappeared from his extra-sense.

"Don't! Let's just make a break for it. If she comes I'll just----" Jake tried to plead with Johnny, only to be interrupted.

"No, I'm ending it here. Trust me. It has to be this way." Before going into focus again. Immediately, Johnny's being was covered in a white light, with vertical lines going up and down his being. He was now in his emotional energy form. While Sylvia was undoubtedly the one with the most raw power, she her powers were unskilled and uncontrolled. Jake has the ability to make any illusion, but lacked the heart for combat. Johnny was the strongest out of all three of them. "Just get out of here, please." Jake nodded and quickly both Sylvia and Jake disappeared.

Now, it was Johnny's turn to go on the offensive. He immediately sprinted out of the hallway, with speed four times his natural limit. He was swerving left to right down the hallway, leaving behind an after-image as he moved with large steps. He dodged some of the random barrage. He did get hit by some of it; fortunately his durability and pain suppression allowed him to shrug it off. When he got in range he made his hand into a finger gun and pointed it at Claire's face and fired off a Devil Kiss. The force of the object would hurt like hell, and would burn her skin.

Nicole nodded, "Yeah, the other one, the scent was a bit odd; like old, dried blood, but I didn't smell any infection, like it was sterile. I also think they have tattoos, and maybe they do a lot of stuff with ballpoint pens, too, there's a difference in the two kinds of ink." She shrugged at this. She thought for a moment, "Oh, also, I think I smelled something really odd, it was like a dog combined with a frog, and a lion from the zoo, and then there was this sort of smell I didn't even recognize, but it smelled like algae or reeds you'd find in a river, or something." At this Leafnose jumped up, "Oh! I think I know that guy! That's Barky!" Nicole raised one eyebrow at this, "Barky?" Leafnose wasn't really too silly a name from her point of view, but Barky was sort of juvenile. Leafnose's eyes just narrowed at this, "You got a problem with his nickname? He's a giant dog-manatee, He doesn't mind the nickname, but if you want to call him something different, you can call 'em Dog." After a moment, Leafnose just shrugged, "Eh, let's just go look for the other person, Barky will turn up somewhere eventually, no rush. I'd rather investigate people I don't know."

Nicole just stared for a moment, wanting to ask more questions, but she held her tongue, "Uh, okay, then, off looking for the other meta-human we go." She said, before turning around and walking away, starting to look for the smell of ink.

Claire





Claire saw Johnny coming, and rolled out of the way. The devil kiss grazed the right side of her head, leaving a nasty burn and crashing into the concrete wall. Her eyes glowed ever brighter, and her body became cloaked in arcs of electricity which surged across her body. The air was charged with energy, and began to make crackling noises. The floor under Claire began to get hot, and her fists glowed white.

"I'll f*ck you up Johnny!" she yelled. Claire brought her hands together, and blasted off a massive jolt of lightning. The room was filled with a massive crash, and Claire's severely damaged ears began to pulse with pain. But she wouldn't stop now. Claire Sparks always finished what she started, and if it killed her, so what? Her life was a sad joke without a punchline. She was unloved, unwanted, and uninvited. If she died, nobody would care. This was how Claire thought about every fight; go full out because no one cares. No one ever cared.

Dragonfly sighed as Leafnoes told him how she couldn't alter her pheromones without the chance of serious consequences. He would have to have his sense of smell limited unless he flicked his tongue everywhere. But it would have to do.

He perked up at the mention of the other mutant being partially frog. He himself had a few attributes of the amphibian race. It's what helped make his legs so dexterous when it came to running or jumping, because they packed a lot of power. While Nicole could hit someone with her wing like a swan, he could kick like an Ostrich, and he had the claws to pack some serious pain. As they began walking, he saw that Drake was still somewhat bleeding in different parts of his body. His eye in particular had a pretty nice one that he eventually whipped up.

As Dragonfly began to trail Drake, eventually walking beside him, he saw the many scars that littered his skin. He didn't have any scars as he shed his skin every month or so, and as his skin fell off so the the scars that had been left on his hide. But he was bothered. Drake seemed to have been hurt during the fall. "Are you allright, Drake? You look hurt." He said, trying to get the lightning mutant's attention. "Do you want any asssisstance?"

Even if Drake refused, he would at least know the Dragonfly cared about his well being. He needed to raise their opinions of him as high as possible for now, otherwise things could go bad fast if his bad side took over around them. He didn't doubt that they'd be able to suppress him for long enough for his good side to return, but what would they think of him?

His bad side was merciless. A more primal and insane version of his current self. One who thought that those he considered inferior to be eradicated. The only difference between him and a true animal was the fact that his bad side had little to no sense of self preservation. A literal beserker with the intelligence to boot. A great person to send into a fight, but who had no idea when to stop or who was on who's side.

And probably didn't care either.

Eventually, they got to the edge of the woods, and Nicole suddenly jumped, as though startled, although by what, nobody could say, "Uh...did anyone hear that?" She asked. Leafnose frowned, "Uh, no, what did you hear?" She asked. "Sounded like howling, for a minute..." Nicole hated listening to dogs howl, not just because it distracted her thoughts, but because the sound was typically extremely sad, and often made her want to cry. Suddenly, the howl came again, this time, just barely audible enough for the rest of the group to hear. It was just like a hound dog's, although a bit higher-pitched. Leafnose just had a distressed look on her face at this, "Poor Barky...that's him, I'm sure of it!" She said. The howl didn't seem to be one of pain, although there was deep sorrow in it. Nicole sniffed the air, "Well, if you want, we can go find him, the scent of that other meta is in his general direction, anyway. I'm sorry, I've only heard it for a few seconds and it's getting to me."

Jacob lowered his head down and looked at the table, avoiding eye contact with the muscle guy. It was his first morning at this school, and already people were hating him. What was it about his personality? Jacob tried to fit in, but all of the bullies still singled him out. It was like he had a sticky note on his back that said 'Pick on me'. Jacob had enrolled at the school thinking that it was different now, they were all the same, but was was he thinking? This is a school, and all schools have bullies, it's just that this one had mutant superhero powered strength bullies. And to even it out, there were epic wusses that couldn't do anything, like Jacob. If he wasn't like he was, he would have just marched over and yelled, "shut the hell up! You don't even know my name, let alone know me at all, so don't just think you can judge me and yell at me for one fucking sentence! I've heared you say way more bullshit than I have anyway!"
All of his rage built up inside of him, then he stopped biting his lip and put his head in his hands, letting his depression take over. He didn't notice that someone had sat down next to him, or that one of those freaky eye things had brought him Corn Flakes, or that they had started discussing something. He just though about how fucked up his life was, and let a tear fall onto his hand. If his power was to change into other people, he would probably never change back.

Taylor; The Lake


At the very bottom of the Sparrowdale Academy lake, sleeping like an angel, was a pretty little blonde-haired girl wearing expensive looking silver flip flops and a matching bikini. This girl was Taylor L'eau, who had retreated into the lake when the attack had started the previous day. She was awoken by the vibrations in the water. She was very sensitive to this, being hydrokinetic, and was able to read these vibrations. She looked around her underwater paradise, thinking. This was some kind of explosion, far at the other side of campus. She concentrated harder, and realized that this was not an explosion, but a thunderbolt, the source of which was Claire. Taylor smiled her white, pretty grin. Claire would start throwing lightning bolts in the middle of a warzone, just for fun.

Taylor figured that it was safe to come out, so she pushed off the sandy bottom and gracefully swam up to the beach, where she walked out as if she were Lazarus coming forth from the tomb at the hand of Jesus. Her clothing was completely dry, despite the fact that she had just took a nap on the floor of the lake. She found her towel, rolled it up, and put it under her right arm. She looked around, seeing no other people, and began to walk across the park until she heard an interesting howl. Out of curiosity, she began to walk towards the source of the sound to find that it was coming from a strange creature, which looked like a mixture of a pug, a manatee, and a frog. Taylor was taken aback at a moment. This creatures looked very funny indeed. However, Taylor figured that she would try to talk to the creature to find out what she had missed.

"Bonjour!" Taylor said in her heavy French accent "Are you a, quel est le mot, student here?" Taylor's english was very broken, and she was still learning it over her beloved French. She looked around her, rather regretting that she only wearing a bikini.

"Forgive my outfit." Taylor continued "I was at the beach when le saluads came yesterday".

Toby just frowned at this, tilting his head to one side. Because his face was largely pug-like, his eyes were very large, and always had a sort of sad quality to them. However, it wasn't really scary, because a lot of people to begin with found pugs adorable in appearance. "I survived the attack, but my friends are now missing. I must find them. I do not know where they are." He said, seemingly distracted. Ever since he had come out from hiding, he had been running around the park inspecting dead bodies, hoping that none of them were people he knew, although nevertheless, it was a horrible sight to see. He had already come across one person who had been in his Drama Club, and that had been extremely painful, because he knew him. Toby was deeply distressed, he didn't know where everyone was. He didn't have a dog's sense of smell, or the sensitive hearing. He was just a big dog-manatee-frog with the power to run really fast.

Drake

TheOperator wrote:

"Are you allright, Drake? You look hurt." He said, trying to get the lightning mutant's attention. "Do you want any asssisstance?"

While Drake was following Nicole when he heard Dragonfly. It was kind of him to ask this. But, Drake was fine at the moment. Aside from hurting a bit and bleeding, all he needed to go was get patched up someone. There has to be a nurse's office somewhere. If not, he's more than capable of bearing it. "Nah, Dragon. I'll be fine. Unless I drop to the ground dead, then I'd love your help right there." He smirked, he wasn't being sarcastic. He did feel the need to thank Dragonfly, "But, thanks, bro. Appreciate it." Before walking forward.

ViperaUnion wrote:

Eventually, they got to the edge of the woods, and Nicole suddenly jumped, as though startled, although by what, nobody could say, "Uh...did anyone hear that?" She asked. Leafnose frowned, "Uh, no, what did you hear?" She asked. "Sounded like howling, for a minute..."

Drake stopped when Nicole jumped. He looked around as she and Leafnose conversed about what it was. He wasn't exactly in perfect shape, that was something he now regretted. Howling...? That means that, there must be something wild, "You think there's wild animals out here?" Drake asked. He felt like he can kick any human's ass, animals shouldn't be no different.

ViperaUnion wrote:

"Poor Barky...that's him, I'm sure of it!" She said. The howl didn't seem to be one of pain, although there was deep sorrow in it. Nicole sniffed the air, "Well, if you want, we can go find him, the scent of that other meta is in his general direction, anyway. I'm sorry, I've only heard it for a few seconds and it's getting to me."

Drake scratched the back of his neck. Is Barky like a pet dog... or...? He thought. Naturally, he assumed with a name like that it must be a pet (or a huge weirdo). For a school for Meta-humans, it would make sense for people to bring their animals. It didn't really cross his mind that they should divert from the other Meta-human to go find whatever this howling thing was. He wasn't going to bring up any serious objects, though, if they want to go find Barky then he'll just tag along. "Well... I guess we can go find this Barky thing first. Up to ya'll, I'm fine either way."



Johnny



Johnny predicted the attack well. However, he didn't dodge, he took the blast of lightning point blank while walking at Claire. His resistance and ability have given him the power he needed to avoid going down that easily. It caused a small amount of pain (that he'll be feeling later). "Oh really, Claire?" He said as he turned his walk into a sprint, "You can't even stand up straight." He jumped in the air and swung a powerful kick towards Claire's chest. If she can't move out the way in time, she's likely going to be knocked down.

Taylor smiled sentimentally, though her eyes were sad. She didn't know where any of her friends were either. She knew that annoying chic Claire was still alive, but Carole and her other friends were all unaccounted for. And then there was her sister Sasha. Taylor frowned suddenly, and looked back down at the giant dog-thing in front of her.

"I am Taylor, but the way." she said after a moment "I could help you find your friends if you'd...quel est le mot... like". She patted the creature on the head, assuming that all dogs, or anything that looked like a dog, enjoyed being petted. She shifted nervously, and looked over at a nearby pond, which was shaking ever so gently. There were other people nearby. Immediately, Taylor went on her guard. She looked around cautiously, as if an axe murderer was going to jump out at any moment.

"Nous ne sommes pas seuls". she muttered "We are not alone".


Claire, Carole, and TJ

That was the blow that would finish the fight. In truth, Claire was hardly standing up. She was battered, bruised, burned, and her ears hurt. She attempted to move out of the way, but her equilibrium was off, causing her to fall forwards towards the kick. It hit her dead center in the chest, knocking the wind out of her and sending her sprawling onto the floor, the wind knocked out of her. She began to wretch, as if she were being suffocated, and coughed like a 40 year old smoker. Carole rose to her feet when she heard that the fight was over, and touched the lock on the door. At her touch, the lock slowly turned into a spongey, foam-like material. TJ was easily able to shove the door open at this point and the two of them walked towards the fight. TJ slowly walked over to Claire, and cradled her head.

"Deep breaths, Claire." He muttered "Deep breaths. It's okay". Carole just watched from the sidelines, a bit taken aback.

"Um, should I get help?" she asked to nobody in particular.

Tom, in reality, didn't care very much for what other people thought about him. Their opinions were predictable, he might be physically very strong and muscular, but he was in no way a fool. He didn't need to listen to conversation to know they would think he was mean. He had decided, though, that if people didn't like him, they wouldn't bug him so much. He was the kind of person who liked being left alone, without outside interference. He didn't need to feel obligated to help other people, they only slowed him down and got in his way. It was more aggravating, than anything, and every moment he was around other people, Tom felt irritated by their very presence. He also didn't appreciate the 'big guy' greetings, not one bit. Maybe they didn't get it, but it was amazing they hadn't figured it out already. Didn't they even bother to know his real name? After he had deposited his tray where the eyes could get it, he began to leave the lunchroom. What he didn't expect, was that the little girl Marie had grabbed an apple and was now following him. She was the youngest kid he had seen in this school, and to be honest, she was a little bit creepy, with her grey appearance and strange, color-changing eyes. One moment she didn't say anything, and the next, she spoke in a manner not normal for most doctor jargon.

When they were far enough away from the lunchroom, Marie swallowed a bite from her apple, and spoke, "That wasn't very nice." She said to him. "Well, they were irritating, why do you care? I thought you hated emotions and anything that wasn't calm." Tom replied. "I don't hate emotions, I hate my powers being linked to them." Marie said, her monotone not betraying any sort of unease. "If I could even throw a tantrum now, it would be a luxury, to know I would not slaughter anyone in a fit of rage." It was a bit chilling, her words. "And your point?" Tom asked, "I can see this is going somewhere." Marie just looked calmly at him, "I must suppress my emotions because I could hurt someone, even kill them. You can feel emotion, and know that your own decisions will determine the outcome. Still, you should learn to tolerate others, they have emotions and intentions, too. You do not want to make enemies in this place. Strength is not everything."


Nicole led the others into the park, and immediately noticed two figures. One was a woman in a bikini, and the other must have been Barky, because he looked very much like what she had smelled earlier. He looked mostly like a pug with a lion's mane, but his back and tail were definitely a manatee's. Before she could say anything, Leafnose stepped forward and waved, "Toby! Where have you been?" She called. At this, he started to wag his manatee tail just slightly, and his ears pricked up, "Sandy! You made it!" He said, seemingly overjoyed. In a puff of dust, he was right in front of the new people, seemingly have ran that distance at incredible speed.

Johnny


Hmph. "Pathetic." Johnny's foot made contact with Claire's chest and she was easily defeated. With one hit, he had imagined that Sylvia had caused her some major damage, he expected that she'd take a bit more damage than that. He just put his hands into his pockets, and stared at Claire. Until TJ came and tried to help her, while Carole. Completely ignoring him. He was indifferent to both of them right now for lacking the common sense to just leave her. He just tilted his head to the left and smiled, "Ya'll should just leave that retard to wallow in her own pain. If she had a semblance of common sense she wouldn't be like this. Trust me." Johnny was still in his emotional energy form, he wasn't going to exit the form until he's quite a bit away from them. When he gets a pain overload he'll be helpless until the pain subsides, and just in case Claire isn't down and out for the count. Actually, he felt like he was going to go get a snack for her. He slowly scrolled over to Claire and walked around TJ and put his hand on her chest. Lights came from Claire's head and traveled up to his hand up his arm. He was absorbing the negative emotions that was welled up inside of Claire, her's was... immense. It was enough to power him for hours, he stood straight up afterwards. Johnny then turned around and walked away.

Before he escaped into the school he stopped a few feet away from them and turned back, just to give the pair a request, "Don't follow me. I'll know if you are." Right now all he wanted was to know where Sylvia and Jake are. He left the building by going down the stairs and out the front door. He now has to find another hiding spot. Maybe the arena or the tower?




Drake


Drake followed Nicole into another area of the school... It looked like a lake. With a beach around it, it looks like fun. He'll have to come back around and take a dip in the water. While he was paying more attention to the water, and thinking about how much fun he can have here: Nicole called out to a fellow she called "Toby" Drake turned to this person.... Immediately, he smiled a mile wide, looking like he's trying hard as he can to contain uncontrollable laughter. Toby just looked so silly to Drake. He looked like a pug, a lion and a manatee all got really drunk one night. Naturally, he turned around away from the group and tried to take subtle steps away. Before letting out a quiet laugh, before it quickly escalated into all out laughter. Drake laughed notably loud until he stopped and looked back towards the group.

"Uh... um..." His eyes darted to everyone in the group as he scratched the back of his neck trying to scrap together a believable excuse. Then he thought that it'd be best if he remains quiet from here on in.

Taylor

Taylor fell backwards when Toby took off without a warning, and smiled warmly when she saw him run so fast. She found it funny that an animal that ugly-yet-cute could run that fast. Luckily, it seemed as if the other people were friend of this dog-thing, so she casually walked up to them, taking long, graceful steps, as if she were a ballerina. She shuddered a little bit when she saw the face of the girl that Toby was talking to. Taylor hated bats, the way they flew around all willy-nilly and gave her the creeps. And their screech...She visibly shuddered, and turned to the only member of the group (besides the boy) that didn't freak her out; a slender, white-haired girl who appeared to have wings instead of arms.

"Bonjour." Taylor said "I am Taylor de L'eau. Is this your..." she paused for a moment, not sure what to call the frog-dog "friend?" Taylor's attention was caught by a strong-looking boy, laughing at the brute. Taylor smiled flirtatiously, and waved to him in that seductive, flirtatious way that some women can do which is barely noticeable but makes sure the boy knows that they're interested. Taylor liked strong-looking boys, especially strong-looking mutant boys.

Claire, TJ, and Carole

TJ ignored Johnny completely, and had to resist punching him when he absorbed Claire's energy. How someone could go from being a nice guy to being a total ass was beyond him, but TJ didn't want to start another fight. Claire relaxed when Johnny touched her, and seemed to have fallen into a deep sleep; what happens when she overuses her powers. Carole, not sure of what to do, just began to run after Johnny.

"Johnny! Wait up! Don't leave me here with her! She could freak out again and kill me!" TJ rolled his eyes unpleasantly, and looked down at Claire, frowning. He brushed her hair off of her forehead, and lightly touched the burn on her right temple. She was so beautiful when she was asleep, yet so violent when awake, like the eye wall of a hurricane. He smiled, and picked her up as if she were a maiden in distress and he a knight. TJ pushed one of the doors to the detention center open, and began to walk towards the hospital, his princess in his arms.

Johnny and...


Johnny was out of the building and walking away with a stride. Completely proud of what he did here, he showed another fool what happened when you clash with the Valos. He completely didn't hear Carole since he was already gone before he even. He stopped for a moment after making it out of sight of the detention center to look behind him. What he needed to do was go out and find Jake and Sylvia. They couldn't have gotten far he hoped. He walked into the nearest wooded area and tried sensing other emotional presences for a moment before he took in a deep sigh. There was no one near by so he lowered his emotion detection. He mentally prepared himself to revert back to his human form. The white light around him dimmed until it was gone, then he was almost immediately overcome with the pain from Claire's attacks. He groaned and immediately dropped to his knees in agony. He gritted his teeth, and clenched the dirt. Staring directly at the ground yelling, trying his best to hold it in. Eventually after a few minutes, the pain went away. With no other side effects. He let out a sigh, and raised his head. Visibility shocked of what he saw when he got up...

A girl, with blonde hair and several horrible scars on her face. Wearing a bright red hoodie with black flowers integrated into it, regular colored jeans and a backpack slung over her shoulder. She was pointing the barrel of a custom Barrett REC7 assault rifle at him. It was one of the many guns used by the soldiers that attacked the place. It's previous owner was slain in the battle, and Lemontea grabbed the rifle before hiding in the sub-basement. It didn't use actual bullets, instead the taser darts. It wouldn't kill him if she pulled the trigger, but it'd definitely incapacitate him. Leaving him vulnerable to just about anything. She wasn't holding the rifle correctly (vaguely mimicking what she saw in movies) if she tried shooting it the recoil would cause the gun to smack her in the face. She'd also miss anyone that wasn't close. It didn't matter in Johnny's case since she was basically pressing the rifle up against his forehead. This girl was none other than Lemontea. After noticing Johnny she came to investigate. Immediately since she had him under her control. She kept her right hand on the gun, and pointed the palms up of her left hand towards the sky. A blue transparent orb appeared in the palms of her hand and quickly spread to a twenty foot radius around them. This was her power weakening field, and as long as Johnny's (or anyone else) is inside of it; their powers will get weaker. So will powers that bypass the field.

"Crap..." Johnny said, since he assumed that this was a soldier and Claire's little fight had attracted her to him. She was probably just waiting for the right time.

"Who are you? Where'd you hide? Why the hell are you and the rest of those kids acting like nothing happened here and going apeshit?" Lemontea questioned Johnny, before she pressed the barrel of the rifle against his head.

"Well, I'm Johnathon... Valos. I hid in the detention center with some help, and the only one going apeshit would be the morons that are back in the detention center" Johnny answered all her questions.

"Hm... Stand up." Lemontea commanded.

"Why...?" Johnny asked

"Boy, when someone's pointing a gun in your face, you don't ask why. You do it." Lemontea pressed the rifle against his forehead even harder.

"Fine..." Johnny stood straight up, with the gun pointed at his forehead at all times.

"Drop your coat." Lemontea asked before Johnny complies

"Am I being robbed?" Johnny sarcastically.

"No. Disarmed." Lemontea replied dead serious, "Now, where did you get food from?"

"We don't have any food..." Johnny trailed off.

"Don't lie. How'd you survive the night then?" Lemontea questioned.

"By starving our asses off until we knew it was okay. Listen chick. I don't want anything to do with you... so can you leave me alone...?" Johnny asked. Only for Lemontea to take her rifle off his forehead.

"Turn around." She told him, "We're going to the dorms, you'll be my shield." Johnny complied by turning around, and getting the gun pointed at the back of his head. There, they started walking towards the dormitories.

Nicole frowned, "Actually, we've just met him. We've been tracking surviving students all day. We found Leafnose first, and then we came here because I heard Dog howling. Apparently those two are friends." Sandy came over, seemingly oblivious to Taylor's disgust at her appearance, Toby following close behind, "Well, of course, us animal metas have to stick together, right?" She said. Nicole just smiled at this, "Yeah, birds of a feather flock together, isn't that the saying?" Toby just wagged his tail again, and sat back, freeing up his front paws, which upon closer inspection, had a shape that suggested fingers. "And together, we shall conquer!" He said, in a loud, booming voice used by stage actors, holding one paw up in the air as though beholding something. It made both Nicole and Sandy stare at him strangely, and he had a quirky sort of smile on his face. After a moment, he made a fake scowl, and went back on all fours, "Okay, fine, forget the conquering, it sounded good to me, at least." At this, Nicole was unable to continue frowning herself, and was forced to muffle laughter with her wing. Sandy didn't even bother hiding it, she started laughing right away, "You always know how to keep it real, Dog, always the drama, with you." Sandy said, somewhat sarcastic, although it was good-natured. Toby started wagging his tail again after this. It had been his intention to make them laugh, all along.

Taylor

"Ah, oui, I see." Taylor chuckled at Toby's joke and patted him on the head. His skin felt smooth and cool, like a frog's, and was quite enjoyable to touch. She kept her eyes away from the girl they called Leafnose's face, and looked around at the park, thinking. She stopped petting Toby and looked over at the dorms. Standing around a crowd of freaks while wearing a bikini was making taylor slightly self-conscious, so she figured that she would go to her dorm and change into something more tasteful and appropriate.

"Well, amis," she said after a moment "I must go change. I'm not sure if walking around in a swimsuit is my best option when those salaud's could still be around". She began to walk past the group, and paused close to Drake for a moment, where she whispered in his ear"call me". She kept walking, and after she was a few feet away, she turned around.

"Au revoir!" she bade the group "And bon chance to your search!"


Claire, TJ, and Carole


Coming soon...

Drake

ViperaUnion wrote:

"And together, we shall conquer!" He said, in a loud, booming voice used by stage actors, holding one paw up in the air as though beholding something. It made both Nicole and Sandy stare at him strangely, and he had a quirky sort of smile on his face. After a moment, he made a fake scowl, and went back on all fours, "Okay, fine, forget the conquering, it sounded good to me, at least."

Okay, the guy not only looks ridiculous. But, he's a freaking hammy too?! This school is awesome. Drake thought to himself as he started laughing uncontrollably. Not even caring if they judged him for doing so, he just can't hold it in. He knelled forward and put his hands on his knees. Before slowly standing straight up, the laughing lessened as he got it out of his system. "Okay... okay, I'm done." He still had an amused look on his face. Before long he spoke to Toby, "Seriously there air bud, are you for real?" He asked. Right he was a bit excited to meet the next meta-human. So far their group met a Lizard man thing, a bat face, and a dog. The only normal person was Taylor, and himself, Nicole would count if she didn't have the wings. Then again, who would provide the good looks if he wasn't around? He then thought of Dragon in a banana hammock and cringed. Drake put on a smug face, then he thought of coming back here later with some trunks on. Possibly with Victoria or any of the little group of friends friends they made today. He was being honest with himself that he didn't mind how they looked; it was their mutations that made them like this. It wasn't right to judge them on how they looked, even in the slightest. Fortunately, his powers are activated and he retains his good looks. He also thought that some of them just looked cool.

Maxx Toron wrote:

"Well, amis," she said after a moment "I must go change. I'm not sure if walking around in a swimsuit is my best option when those salaud's could still be around". She began to walk past the group, and paused close to Drake for a moment, where she whispered in his ear"call me". She kept walking, and after she was a few feet away, she turned around.

Speaking of providing the good looks... He thought when he saw Taylor. There was any manner of smooth things he could say right now. Right now he threw her a flirtatious look and looked at her swimsuit. "Don't worry... I scared away the--- 'salauds', when I showed up." Before realizing that he's in pain, covered in cuts and bruises from his crash. Which would pretty much turn away any self respecting girls.



Jake & Sylvia

Coming soon...

Toby just wagged his tail again, "Of course I'm for real, everyone is always so serious all the time, if I wasn't here, they'd probably sink into depression. It's nice to lighten up and laugh once in awhile, and I like making people laugh. Okay, so I'm a giant pug-manatee...lion...whatever, but the point is that it's not going to stop me from pursuing a career in entertaining others. There's too much negativity in life already, and nobody realizes that being whimsical or strange is part of being an actor. You have to get into character, and be the person you're playing. The weird people are the best actors, because we don't mind doing things normal people wouldn't do. For me, being weird isn't just a compliment, it's fun, too." He said. Sandy just rolled her eyes, "Well, we still have one more person we have to track down. You can feel free to start quoting Shakespeare, but please don't start singing some unnamed Italian Opera, we have a bird meta with sensitive ears who probably couldn't take it." She said. Toby just smiled at her, "And as thee doth command, I shall refrain from such." He said. It wasn't Shakespeare, but it was spoken in a somewhat similar manner.

Taylor

Imbecil! she thought as she walked away from the group. That boy had already fallen for her. Honestly, she had only flirted with him out of boredom, though the cuts told her that he was a person who fought a lot. Maybe he really had fought back the soldiers, but she seriously doubted it. He would last one night, maybe two with her, and then he'd be worthless. She liked the dog-thing, though; it was funny and fun to touch and pet.

Taylor entered the dorms through a different door than TJ had earlier, and immediately climbed the staircase to her room, which she opened with a key she had kept in her coin purse, which she had taken into the water with her. She pushed the door open to reveal a spacious blue and teal room with a dark wood floor. Her room was an interesting place suited to all of her quirks and talents. The walls on either side of the door were lined with fish tanks that were filled with an assortment of tropical fish from all around the world. The massive tank had an archway over her door that was a bubble column, making it look very cool indeed to walk into; as if you had really dove into the ocean. In the corner of her room was a bed, next to which was a hard wooden desk covered in schoolbooks, as well as a nightstand with a reading lamp, shaded in a cyan shade. It cast an odd light onto her silver bedsheets and massive pile of silver and whit decorative pillows, and made it appear as if you were underwater. The bed was a waterbed, of course, and Taylor used her powers on cold nights to heat the water up, warming her in her sleep. Adjacent to the bed was a bathroom, and next to that, a walk-in closet which Taylor had installed when she got there. The closet was packed with designer clothes from every designed in France.

When she got into the room, Taylor locked the door, took off her swimsuit, jumped onto the bed, and turned the TV on. She flicked through the channels, occasionally stopping for a few moments here and there to watch a news story or look at a diamond ring on one of those sales commercials. Unable to find something fun to watch, Taylor curled up by her pile of pillows and flipped through a copy of Vogue for a while until she finally decided to get dressed. She flipped through her closet and decided on a white stylish blouse with rose-colored frills and a matching white skirt. She stepped into a pair of open-toed white heels, and went into the bathroom to check her makeup and hair. Back in France, Taylor had her own hair servant, nail servant, and makeup artist, but she was not home, so she had to do it all herself, quite a chore for a woman who hated lifting a finger unless she was dressmaking or cooking.

Cooking, that's what she needed; food. Taylor scrunched her face up in a thoughtful expression, put on her beret, and hurried off towards the kitchen, locking her door and putting the key in a sleek silver Gucci purse.

Carole

"Oh, come on!" Now Carole was alone. She looked around nervously, disturbed by the thought of being completely alone in a warzone, and picked up her iPad, the screen of which was shattered. She cursed, and decided to go back to her dorm and sleep. She set off across the campus barefoot, leaving her shoes in the detention center absentmindedly.

Nicole shrugged at Toby, "Well, okay, then, nice to meet you, Dog. As I said, we got one more person to track down." Just as he always seemed to do, Toby wagged his tail again, "Okay, I'll come with you!" He said. Nicole then isolated the smell of ink and old blood, and started to follow it, not bothering to fly this time. The scent was close, and soon, they stood at the eerie gates of what appeared to be a cemetery. Nicole shivered at the sight, smelling death and decay, "Uh, why is there a cemetery in this school?" She asked. Toby stopped smiling, and stood on his hind legs, using his weight to push open the gates. They swung open with a loud clang, that seemed to echo in the silence that prevailed in this area. Sandy just sighed and shook her head, "Students die here, sometimes. This is where we have their funerals and bury them. So whoever we're looking for is in the cemetery, what if they're dead?" Nicole shook her head, "No, they're alive, I just wish they hadn't gone to a place like this, it's creepy."

Jake and Sylvia


Somewhere around the hospital, Jake had managed to haul off Sylvia. He lifted the veil of invisibility around them before resting Sylvia on a bench. Which is under a tree. He was getting exhausted. The excessive use of his powers was starting to wear down on him already. Sylvia was hurt and the only way to help her was to get inside the hospital. The only other option was to find one of the mini-nurse's offices inside the dorms. He didn't want to risk going inside of there without Johnny who can detect people. He then thought of the risks of just standing out here when there could be snipers on the roof. They could just be aiming their guns at them. In a second the pair disappeared again. He didn't want to risk getting seen because of just how easily TJ found them. Sylvia on the other hand was just regaining consciousness from Claire's lightning attack. She was still stunned and in immense pain from her burns. Groaning she touched her freakish burn scars on her arm. She immediately felt a bit of delight. This burn will scar, and scars add to her self-proclaimed badass status. "Cool..." She quietly moaned as she sat upwards slowly. She was still a bit blurry and in much pain from the attack. She looked around and saw Jake, "Sup fag."

Jake quickly turned around and was surprised that she even managed to retain consciousness, "Woah, you're awake?"

"What does it look like, limp dick?" Sylvia said in an annoyed tone, "Did I take the bitch out? Because, I'm not going to let little miss asshole think she can run around and screw with me."

Jake ignored the first sentence Sylvia said, he answered in a nervous tone, "Um... Well... You did mess her up... but Johnny stayed and fought her... You know Johnny, the most powerful out of all of us."

"Good fucking riddance. That asshole should know better than to screw with us when the bitch's alone.," Sylvia said, before trying to stand up.

"Don't get up! You're injured." Jake pleaded

"Don't fucking hold me down, Jake. You two were the dumb asses that left in here there with those ditsy broads that caused all of this." Sylvia loudly hissed at him.

"It was Johnny's idea. Claire wasn't going to st---" Jake tried to explain, before he was cut off by Sylvia

"Then why didn't you use your balls for a change!?" Before Sylvia smirks, and says under her breathe quiet enough for no one to hear or understand, "... Because they were probably never there... Hehahahahaha" She started laughing at Jake until she went back to her serious deposition, "Where's Johnny? No one that took a point blank from my Dubstep bomb should be THAT tough..." She looked around for him.

"I don't know..." Jake muttered. He turned himself towards the detention center. He focused for a second as one of his illusion duplicates was quickly assembled. It stood like a statue. Jake could see what it sees and command it to do anything.

"Niice." Sylvia said, "Now how's about you stop ego jerking and go look for him!" She shouted. Before the duplicate sprinted off. One of the pros of this duplicate was that he could go anywhere and scout without risking himself harm. In a few minutes, it was near the detention center. He had noticed the thin blue veil that was moving, and decided to investigate it. After he got close, he stepped inside of the field. Strange enough, the duplicate had begun to heavily disrupt. The duplicate began to become nothing more than static. Does it mean that this is an energy field? Or a Cerebral Field? Jake mused to himself. He started moving towards the center before the duplicate fell apart. That's when he saw Lemontea holding Johnny at gunpoint leading him towards the Dorms. The duplicate was destroyed due to the effects of Lemontea's power dampening field and immediately faded away. Fortunately, before the duplication was destroyed he was not noticed.

He turned to Sylvia and said, "Johnny's in trouble! Some blonde chick has him at gun point. They're going towards the Dorms" Jake immediately ran off to intercept. "Stay here. You're hurt!"

"To hell with that!" Sylvia started floating into the air, riding the sound waves. She started following Jake.





Drake



Drake contently followed after the group after they added Toby to their ranks. It was quite interesting. It made him feel like they were in one of those stories where they recruit a few people and go off on a grand adventure to fight the evil overlord. He envisioned himself as the leader of the group, the strong and mighty knight that'd face down even the strongest of all villains and come out on top. Nothing less is expected from a Blackmore. Then he thought of riding Toby like a horse. He looked at the dog man and laughed. While that would be hilarious; Drake thought it'd be better if he thought as him--- No, all of them, as humans. Just different looking. Just because they look like animals doesn't make them that. He saw that there was a human in their past. To be honest with himself, he felt like he was no different. Just that he's the master of his powers, he doesn't transform unless he wants them to. Once again, that is expected for a mighty man like himself. For a second he stopped at the Grave Yard gate while everyone else went through. This place likely would be full of people. He looked up at the signs before reaching into his pockets for his carton of cigarettes, he slide one cigarette in between his lips before reaching into his other pocket for his lighter--- "Ah hell..." His lighter was destroyed in his crash. Which still hurts him like hell. He had to use an alternative.

He put his right hand over the lighter and it turned his hand into lightning. Enshrouded by electricity, leaving his hand nothing but a shadow in the face of a electric sun. The cigarette lighted and his hand turned back to normal. He blew out a puff of smoke before walking back to the group.

ViperaUnion wrote:

"Students die here, sometimes. This is where we have their funerals and bury them. So whoever we're looking for is in the cemetery, what if they're dead?"

"What if this guy we're looking for isn't dead, but a zombie." He loudly chuckled, putting his cigarette in between his index and middle finger. He blew a puff of smoke out of his mouth. "Then we'll have some real walking dead ish going on!" Drake wasn't fazed by the cemetery. When he was younger he lived by one of these places. During the day he used to play on the graves until he was chased away by the pissed off mourners. Which was a waste of time because he'd always come back there the next day. And the next day. And the next day.

ViperaUnion wrote:

Nicole shook her head, "No, they're alive, I just wish they hadn't gone to a place like this, it's creepy."

Drake was immediately reminded of a story that he had when he was younger. He decided to share the story with his new friends, "Ya' know, Nicole. This reminds me a time when I was like thirteen and my boy dared me to sneak out at night into the local cemetery at night. Naturally I was a little scared, but once I learned that there was no such thing as Zombies or Vampies it was all good... Just tombstones and dead people..." He looked at the nearest tombstone before blowing another puff of smoke out of his mouth, "... But, there was such a thing as feral dogs. Good thing back then I was fast. So, where's mystery person number three, Nicole?!"

Carole

Carole was trudging across the ground, careful not to step on anything that could possibly hurt her feet, when she saw jake appear in the corner of her eye. She turned to her right towards him, when suddenly, out of nowhere, the copy disappeared. Carole looked slightly past it, and saw a blonde woman holding a gun at Johnny. She stopped in her tracks, mouth agape. So apparently all the soldiers weren't gone. Johnny had seriously pissed Carole off when he left her with Claire the walking attitude problem, but he was still her friend, and she had to help him. Carole closed her eyes, concentrating her powers, and concentrated on the gun. She had a lot of trouble concentrating, but was finalyl able to hit the gun with a blast of her alchemy powers. It was extremely hard to control for some reason however, which didn't make much sense, since Carole wasn't that far from Johnny and Lemontea. The gun slowly began to soften, and the barrel half-morphed into a yellow, spongy material, causing it to soften and bend like a wet noodle, pointing to the ground. Carole tried as herd as she could to transform the darts as well, but collapsed to her knees with a headache. A rock near Johnny split clean in two, and the air around Carole shimmered slightly as a tiny nuclear reaction began to occur.

Taylor

After a long, rather uneventful walk, Taylor arrived in the cafeteria. She sat down at one of the tables to think for a second, and ordered a bowl of french onion soup with a turkey wrap and an apple. The soup wasn't nearly as good as her family's recipe, but the eyes that controlled the cafeteria wouldn't let her in the kitchen, so she had to settle for their sorry excuse for a soup. Taylor didn't bother to get a drink, as she had just what she wanted up in her dorm. While she waited, Taylor noticed that the lunchroom was crowded with a wide assortment of mutants, though she hadn't the time or patience for socializing right now. She left the cafeteria with her tray in hand, speaking to no one, and went back up to her room, where she put the tray on a wooden table and went into her closet.

In the very back left corner of her massive clothing closet was a fire extinguisher console. However, a girl who could control water didn't need a fire extinguisher in her closet. This had baffled the people who had built the closet, as well as anyone who went in there. Little did they know that the fire extinguisher console was Taylor's own private wine rack. She closed her closet door and opened the console to reveal several bottles of Pinot Noir wine, kept cool by a nearby AC vent. Those bottles had been almost impossible to get into the school, and had cost her a king's ransom with all the people she had to bribe to get them. She grabbed a half-empty bottle, and reached behind the clothing, where her wine glasses were hidden; their brackets disguised as coat hangers. She left the closet with her wine and poured herself a glass of the luscious red liquid. After such a stressful day, she seriously needed some alcohol.

Claire and TJ

TJ carried Claire to the hospital, and sat her down next to the front doors. He looked around a moment, angry. The hospital was still on lockdown. However, lockdown had never stumped TJ Eckleburg, and never would, as when there's a portal, there's a way. He paced around a bit, thinking, Claire still unconscious, not that she'd have any good ideas if she were awake. Then he thought of it. He sat Claire down on a bench under a tree, and regrettably ran towards Sparrowdale Tower without her.

Nicole rolled her eyes, aware that Drake was teasing her, "Sure, Zeus, feral dogs are so scary when you can kill a man with a blow from your wing. Just because a place makes me nervous doesn't mean I'm going to chicken out." She looked around, sniffed a few times, and then suddenly sneezed. "Ugh, it's hard enough tracking people with the smell of decay already, can you please put out that cigarette? The smoke's drowning out everything else, and this person I'm tracking already has a smell that could easily blend into the Graveyard's." She said. She flapped one of her wings to clear away some of the smoke and make it easier to breathe. She took a quick sniff again, and then moved in the general direction that the new meta-human's scent was in. The smell was elusive, blood and decay were very similar, it was only the ink that seemed to make the stranger something she could track.

Sandy frowned, "Has anyone considered why this person is in the graveyard, to begin with?" She asked. Toby raised one eyebrow, "The school is littered with dead people, at least here, they've all been buried, and you probably don't know them." In a nutshell, he had explained a perfect reason for being in the graveyard. It wasn't fun to see dead bodies of people you knew. Nicole, meanwhile, was peeking around a gravestone, when she jumped back, startled, "Hey! Who are you? What are you doing here?!" the new voice was a sort of soprano, but it had great power behind it, and projected quite easily, with a darker timbre, and just a slight raspy quality. It also came out as a thick, indignant, southern drawl. Emerging from behind the gravestone came a normal-looking girl who could have easily been a model. She was tall, slender, with an hourglass figure, and a long neck that wasn't awkward in appearance. Her face was oblong in shape, and her eyes were roundish-almond in shape. The irises were so brown that they were almost black, and her eyelashes were remarkably long. A short stacked asymmetrical bob of straight auburn-brown hair framed her face, the longer side hanging over her left eye slightly. With a small mouth, pale ivory skin, and well-formed nose, she was far different from the rest of the metas the group had tracked down that day. However, her clothing, in contrast, was very simple. A brown zip-up hoodie over a moss green camisole, with blue jeans and black tennis shoes.

Nicole winced, "Well, we smelled your scent, and we followed it here-" The strange mutant cut her off, "No, I want to know, why were you following me? Hasn't the world been crazy enough already without strangers stalking me?" She snapped harshly. "I ain't seen your faces around here before, so start explaining!" Compared to when they had met Sandy, it was obvious to the group that this girl wasn't frightened, but angry at their intrusions.