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

Johnny, Jake and Gabe

TheⓍperator wrote:: "My name is Dragonfly."
"And that iss why I am deciding to come with you. The ssub-basement is a place no being should want to go into willingly."

There were indeed rumors about a Dragonfly. Johnny, having his ear to the ground and always being aware of what's going on. This lizard-man, according to rumors, is a loon. The specifics are unclear. He was unsure of what to make of this--- Especially since the Blackmore siblings seemingly brought him in here. Regardless, if he's going to be an ally, then it'd be stupid to just to reject him merely because of rumors. Mostly because rumors can be a very harsh thing, and are extremely subjective. The Valos siblings were silent, except for what Johnny quietly whispered into Gabe's ear, "If he does anything, Gabe, put your fist through his chest...." Only receiving a nod in response.

Every last Valos, got a bit close to the forming expedition (Not too close) and hurdled together. They were talking quietly, so that nobody around them would hear (Without super hearing).

"Looks like we're goin' to be working with those freaks. Ugh..." Gabe says quietly to herself. Looking at Nicole, Sandy and Dragonfly, briefly. "If one of those ugly things even thinks about trying to get their grubby paws on me; they're going to be hauling 'em to the vet. Ha..."

"Gabe, don't start. If we're going to escape, we need their help." Jake pleads, "Can't you put your disdain for them aside for a few moments...?"

While Johnny personally was largely indifferent to the animal-types, he did know that it'd be stupid to alienate them for what they look like. It's more about how they act, or what they believe in. He just had to agree with Jake, "Yeah, Gabe. Remember, they may look like freaks, abominations, or just flat out ugly in general, but what the hell? I'm more than willing to put that small fact if they seem to be at least partly useful. So, just chill and ignore them."

"Eh, I'm not worried about their presence. What I don't want is for them to start... Never mind." Gabe cuts herself off. She was basically running around in a circle here, raging about how much she hates these Meta-humans. "Now, now. Jake, what are ya' going to do while we down there?"

"Set up the kitchen for when you get back. I can cook really well." Jake replies in a arrogant tone.

"Right... Ya' gon' be alright by yourself?" Johnny asks Jake, since they're all going to be underground, he's going to be alone. Facing whatever this school has to offer. While he does have his illusions, he can't do much on his own. Especially against Energy types.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Jake asks.

"Claire." Johnny just says. That girl was more of a pain in his ass than anything. Always acting like she has zero common-sense, and even less intelligence. But, if she runs into Jake... She could easily kill him. Was all Johnny is going to say. "Just, uhhhh, be careful around here. Don't rustle anyone. If anyone goes wrong... Just hide somewhere using your illusions."

"You don't need to tell me twice." Jake says, "I'll be fine. I always have been." He says with a warm, comforting smile.

"Riiiight, Jakey. I would stay up here with ya', but I want to make sure the zoo-animals don't get fleas all over the food. Heh." Gabe throws in. Looking back towards the group.

"You all should get a move on, then." Jake says as he turns around and leaves the group, heading out of the cafeteria. Towards one of the back

With that, Johnny and his siblings joined the expedition group.

Lily

TheⓍperator wrote:: "My name is Dragonfly."
"And that iss why I am deciding to come with you. The ssub-basement is a place no being should want to go into willingly."

This brought up a bit of interest in Lily. This lizard-man, while he creeped her out, may have been on to something. While he talked, she just listened. Not saying a word.

TheⓍperator wrote:: "It iss a labyrinth of twisstss and turnss. There iss no light that far down, as it becomes too dark to ssee anything."

"Even if Drake can light the path you walk, how do you know it iss the right one? You will become losst and potentially never reach the ssurface again."

This... Was disconcerting. The basement is like a maze, apparently. Which wouldn't have been good if they just went in, wandering around. Come to think about it; it would have been completely stupid to go down there without a single clue of where to go. Lily was partly riding on the fact that maybe if everyone pooled their powers together, they could make it through this and find the place. That was unlikely, but it was much better than nothing. "I... See..." Lily trailed off, putting her hand on her chin, looking directly at Dragonfly. "I am aware of the risks of going down there.... But, we cannot do nothing, if that's what you're trying to say. IF we don't get food then..." Lily trailed off. What happens if they don't get food will be obvious.

TheⓍperator wrote:: "You will all die down there if you do not have a guide." He said

I'll note this. Lily thinks to herself. That was just about it, there was no reason to say anything--- As Lily had nothing to say..

TheⓍperator wrote:: "And if you hold true to your plan, it would be rude of me to not give you the tour of my home."

"I know my home as well asss mysself."

This means... The Lizard-man knows the sub-basement well, and that was great. As mentioned before; wandering around down there would be near-suicidal, and retarded. If Dragonfly would be kind enough to lead the group around there, it would be hard, yes, with the apparent darkness and possible twists and turns. Then again, this whole scenario relies heavily on Dragonfly being trustworthy. If this is a trap... They're going to have a bad time. Though--- Lily shrugged off the thought. There was no certain way to tell if Dragonfly was telling the truth or not. If by any chance he wasn't, the group is (and this was pure forced, idealistic, naive, thinking) capable of handling whatever Dragonfly can dish out. Lily was going to go with this, "Alright, from what I'm getting from this; you want to guide us through the sub-basement, yes? That'd be... Helpful. Because, following what you're saying; it would be a very bad thing if we all got lost. So, I accept your offer to help us." Lily says, "Is there's any objections...?" No one says anything. Good. Lily says to herself.

Celo The Impossible wrote:: "Well, I can heal. I don't know if I should go or not. There could be an attack up here and no one to heal people, but then an attack down there and no one to heal people,"

This newcomer (what's her name?) did deliver some very interesting facts about her power. A healer, could be very, very useful on this mission. Crystal asked if she should go. Lily personally thought that Crystal would be much more useful with the group going down there. Because, up here, anyone gets hurt then they can just be hauled to the hospital (Hopefully before they bleed out). Underground, that was a whole different situation. If Crystal can heal people, and if someone gets hurt down there, she can patch them up down there. Instead of everyone freaking out and frantically trying to drag someone above ground. "Well... I think you should come down there with us. Not saying that you have to, before you get the wrong idea." Lily gives her own suggestion to what Crystal should do, then she gives the reasoning, "I just think you'd help the people down there if we get hurt.... Cause, according to our Dragon friend, it's dark, crampt and easy to get lost in. It'll be very hard to get someone to the hospital down there. You could just heal them, right?" If push comes to shove and someone gets really hurt; then Lily would have to swallow her fear of people knowing her abilities, and super-charge Crystal. It would either make people heal almost instantly, or very fast.

Celo The Impossible wrote:: "If the group were larger, I could suggest I stay here and then if anyone in the group gets hurt they could come up with someone to accompany them and I could heal them. I would suggest also going down, but if someone who stays gets hurt they wouldn't know where to go downstairs since there are probably several places. Someone downstairs going up would know that we are all in here, though, and wouldn't get lost trying to get healed."

"Actually..." Lily says to Crystal. This gave her an idea. "... That gives me an idea, you know? Someone should watch the door we go into. Just in case someone decides to 'play a joke' and lock us down there... Any volunteers?"

ViperaUnion wrote:: “We’ll come, too. You need someone who can find their way around, even if the environment is pitch-black. My sensory abilities are unrivaled, both in the natural world and among meta-humans. If there’s food, I’ll sniff it out, and I’m unlikely to require a light to see.”

The idea that Lily had of everyone using their powers to help was coming to fruition. Lily turned her head towards the table that the animal type Meta-humans. There was only one problem that she had with this plan... "That really could help... But, will you be okay with going down there with that leg...?" Lily skeptically asks. It would be best if they keep the wounded above ground. If a battle breaks out, they're going to be at disadvantage, trying to get the wounded out of the way, giving the heavy hitters room. Unless Crystal heals them, Lily thinks it'd be best if anyone hurt stays here. Though, she can't really force anyone to come or stay here, no matter how much she tries to reason. "You should stay up here, if it's really bad. We can't risk anyone getting hurt... Any worse."

This was a show of genuine concern for the well-being of the group.

ViperaUnion wrote:: “Hey, if there are rats present, leave the issue to me. I make it so creatures instinctively want to avoid us, so you don’t have to worry about dealing with rodents at all. Plus, I can also leave a trail to mark where we’ve been, and where we’re heading. That way, if anyone has second thoughts and wants to come, they can try to catch up later, and we can find our way back easily.”

Pheromones...? Was the first thing that Lily thought of. There was nothing else capable of doing what Sandy described (Unless she was talking about a different kind of trail). Then again, all Meta-humans are capable of strange things. "I don't think rats will really be an issue, ha. Unless any of you are afraid of those dirty things..." Like me. While she have a cliche fear of rats, that fear would be repressed, and replaced with her drive. "If you can leave us a way of coming back and forth, then you need to come with us..." Lily was about to call Sandy, "bat girl".

"Alright. We're almost done here, whoever's going to come, come. Everyone else will stay and do whatever. If you know these sewers so well, Dragonfly, then you can lead us to the nearest entrance." Lily tells the group. They were going to leave very shortly.

Crystal nodded, listening to what the girl was saying very carefully. The girl had seemed to taken on the role of leader, but she was fine with it. Less for her to worry about.

"I guess that I will go then," Crystal smiled. She suddenly remembered she hadn't introduced herself. "Oh- and my name's Crystal."

Crystal sighed, finally feeling relaxed and trusting all- well, most- of the people in the room, though she didn't know many names. Wait, the one girl... asked if she could just heal them? Crystal felt a sting of guilt for what she would have to explain. If only healing were that easy. "I can heal them, correct, but the way I heal is with.... brain power!" she laughed a bit at the way of explaining. "If I overuse my ability, I can get an extreme headache that would feel like a drill if going though my head," she casually pointed at the middle of her forehead. "It isn't the best feeling." Crystal didn't want to disappoint anyone, so she quickly added, "I can heal a lot before that happens, though. And if I feel any headache begin to form, I can just take a break and let the headache go before continuing."

Crystal debated including the fact that she could also increase her five senses, but then if she did some people may ask her and then she would have to explain how she can't do it very much because it takes so much concentration. People have no idea how hard it is to visualize an increase in the senses. It's like having to imagine in extreme details the way something feels, smells, looks, sounds like, and tastes. It's more complicated then it sounds. In the end she decided against it and kept her mouth shut as she kept a small smile on her face.

Crystal then noticed a girl with a hurt leg (Nicole). She quickly spoke up upon noticing it, "OH, would you like for me to heal it? It won't take much concentration for me to, I don't think."

Willow, Nicole, & Sandy

"My leg...?" Nicole asked, suddenly lifting up the injured leg in its brace, standing like a flamingo on her good leg. She looked at it for a moment, before looking back at Crystal, "My fibula is broken, if you can heal it, I would be really grateful, but my bones aren't like a normal human's, they're hollow, like a bird's. It might be difficult, I'm not entirely sure." She looked at Bones, "If it works, you don't have to come." Bones then shook her head, "No way, Nicky, regardless of what condition your leg is in, I'm coming with you and Leafnose. I ain't scared of a sewer, and I stick with my friends." Nicole then nodded, "Okay, then, so should we take the brace off, or...?" She drifted off. Bones looked at Crystal, "We would really appreciate if you could heal Nicky's leg, but if you can, we want to leave the brace on so the fibula heals in the proper shape. If you need it taken off first, I can do that. I know how."

Crystal shook her head, "I can do it- it just might take a bit longer then planned. Seven minutes or so, at the most." Crystal carefully held out her right hand, "I hope you don't mind if I touch the hurt leg, though. It's the fastest way to heal it. If you want a more accurate recovery it may add a few minutes with the brace on, but I can still heal it."

Crystal felt more at ease since she was of some use. While waiting for a reply, she subconsiously took out her notebook and jotted down a few more notes, spacing out of the conversation a moment. As she placed the notebook back in her bag, Crystal also noticed that she had five oranges left in it. Must have forgotten to take them out in her dorm back before the attack. Oh well. Crystal shrugged off the mistake. Maybe later on in the trip trough the subbasement she could see if anyone gets hungry. Crystal zipped her backpack up an looked back at Nicole.

Dragonfly watched the Valos siblings huddle together. He had lived on the Othergrounds long enough to know that they were probably talking about him. Their body language suggested it. While he did have above average hearing, he did not catch anything besides whispers of the word freaks and threats that they would kill him if he pulled something, not that he would willingly. They had numbers on him.

But if he went bad down there? The only person who would stand a chance would be Nicole because of her hearing. Sight and smell were useless down there due to the lack of any form of light because there WAS no light (Visible, infrared, Ultraviolet, or otherwise), and the smell of rot and sewage would overpower any smell he had on him or the scent of edible food. If he went bad, he could scatter them, and pick them off one by one. If he couldn't do that, then he could always just keep them from leaving until they wasted away.

He shook his head, bad thoughts. He hoped Victoria didn't read them. He overheard this one girl, Gabe, speak of them as zoo animals. He gnashed his teeth together, cutting his gums on the bone razorblades which he had in his mouth, which hid behind his first set of crushing teeth that interlocked on the outside of his mouth like a crocodile's. "If you're here, you're jusst asss much asss a freak asss I am..." He hissed to himself. He already didn't like this girl. Maybe he would separate her on purpose just to teach her a lesson to not be such a jackass to the person who was going to be helping you save it.

"Sunlight does not reach where we are going. Vissible or otherwisse is abssent. I do not ssee where I go. I know bassed on trial and error. While my ssensse of ssmell iss not asss good asss yourss, I cannot ssmell the food. The ssmell of ssewage overpowerss it." Dragonfly said, trying to ground Nicole so she didn't do something they would regret in the basement and separate herself. While the smell might be different for her, she wouldn't be lead anywhere but into corners or to other turns, or even into water. He doubted that even with her smell, she wouldn't be able to sense it through all of the walls that separated them from the food. Bear smell or not, her smell would need sight to work right, and sight was nullified. "You might be able to ssee thingss I couldn't early on in our decent, but after a few minutess of walking..." He said, trailing off. She would get the hint. He wouldn't repeat himself. Nicole was a smart girl.

He turned his head abruptly at Leafnose's proposal to leave a pheromone trail. The was a brilliant idea. "Asss long asss it doess not affect me, then I couldn't agree more with your idea." he said, giving a slight smile. He looked to Lily who asked him where they should go to begin their decent. "There are many entrancess that I have made for mysself. For what we're looking for, the clossesst iss the manhole behind the hosspital. I will meet everyone who decidess to go there." He said, looking to Drake and nodding for a moment before crossing his arms over his chest and disappearing into his surroundings. While Victoria would know where he was, and Nicole could probably still see him, he would have appeared to have vanished.

This would probably put red flags up for most of the people at the table because of the fact that he could do this. Those who did not trust him would have found out that he could disappear and move like a ghost. This would be a horrifying things to experience in the sub-basement. He had done it for two reasons: Because he didn't have the best mental state and didn't think it through, and two- To intimidate anyone who didn't like the idea of him leading them.

In this case, if he couldn't be respected, then he would be feared.

Willow, Nicole, and Sandy

Nicole nodded at Crystal, "It's only the fibula, it won't hurt if you touch it." At this, Bones shrugged and got to her knees and began to take the brace off of her injured leg. When it was off, she carefully raised up the leg of her pants so that it was just below the knee, revealing that her legs were covered entirely with pure white feathers, although the bright, metallic markings seemed to be on the edge of each feather, just like a Snowy Owl. While her leg had this odd feature, its shape, overall, was no different than a normal human's, which was a lucky thing, as the original shape was easier for Bones to understand. She did, however, understand most animal bone structures, partially because her father had been an animal doctor who specialized in both exotic and equine medicine, and therefore had set the bones of dogs and cats, and on the rare occasion a parrot. Horses were unusual, but not unheard of, although most of the time the bone that was injured was a canon bone. The horse could still run, after that, but never as fast. Bones hoped Crystal's powers could make it so Nicole's bone was as though it had never been hurt in the first place.

Nicole nodded at Dragonfly's statement, aware that he was probably right. "I'll play it by ear, then." She said, a faint, knowing smile of sorts forming on her face. It was an inside joke, a pun, only people who knew her senses would get it, and her smile one that suggested she knew a secret she wouldn't tell if asked. She often didn't rely on her eyes, in the first place. With so much technology in the world, and in this school, in general, she had learned to use her ears first. Ever since her Omicron burst, she had been seeing a world somewhat more interesting, in a fancier way. Before, she had relied on ambient noises. Now, she could actually produce sounds others couldn't hear, and then read them when they bounced back, a form of echolocation or sonar. She could now not just determine if something was there, but its size and shape as well. She would be rendered blind in the dark, but like a bat, she didn't need her eyes to see. Besides, even if no ambient light was there, she would be able to detect other living things via their heat signatures.

Crystal was shocked when she saw the feathered leg, but the shock wasn't evident since she kept a smile on her face. She was always hiding feelings with a smile, mainly so she wouldn't have to worry about offending people. Crystal placed her hand on Nicole's injured leg and frowned, concentrating one the bone. It was a good thing she had been told the bone was hollow since it made it easier for the healing process to be visualized.

Crystal pictured a broken tube of some sort that had many ligaments dangling form either broken end. The ligaments slowly started pulling together, stitching themselves carefully and neatly. This was usually how crystal pictured broken bones. Except since she normally dealt with bones that weren't hollow she would just picture a broken stick of some sort. Crystal concentrated on every part of what her hands were feeling- the feathers made it a bit hard to feel the leg, but she could still manage. The pictured the bone beneath the leg slowly healing up. That's all her power mainly took- concentrating and imagery. It sounded easy, despite itself.

Crystal wasn't sure how much time had passed (probably about 5 minutes or so) but she finally saw the bone- or in her mind, the tube- completely connected. She quickly removed her hands, not wanting to use any more brown power on the leg since she didn't want to use any psionic brain power so needlessly. "Done," she smiled. "It may feel a bit sore a moment when you stand up since bones aren't used to healing so fast, but it will feel as good as new after a few seconds."

Crystal spaced out after the sentence, trying to think of what it was going to be like where the group was going. Not much light, according to Dragonfly. She was going to be in a dark maze with a bunch of people she didn't know the names of. Sure, she felt safe NOW, but what about later? People can lose trust and morals when in danger, so will that happen with her? Crystal shook her head, though she probably didn't even realize she had done so. No, it would be fine. Besides, if all else fails, she had her senses increase. But what about protections?

"Um.... does anyone have any weapon I could have? Just so I feel a bit safer down there?" she smiled, hoping that no one got the wrong idea. She really didn't need anyone thinking she wanted to kill them, since she didn't want to kill, at all, even. Her thoughts were cut short when she saw Dragonfly disappear, it seemed. This gave her a sudden moment of decision- reveal her other power or keep him invisible.

Crystal sighed as she closed her eyes, concentrating as hard as she could to try and give her sense of smell an increase. She imagined the way everything in the room smelled like- the tables probably smelled like cleaning supplies, her own arm probably smelt like iron since there was still caked on blood. Her bag like oranges- sweet, sweet, oranges. And that lizard kid..... had the slight trace of sewer smell to him. She opened her eyes and looked at where the smell was coming from, quickly letting her mind relax as she just stared into empty space. No one else would probably notice, but Dragonfly probably would. He was standing there, after all. She smiled, hoping he wouldn't think she was trying to be a threat before taking out her notebook and leaving a quick note about the surroundings and the smells in the room. It might seem strange, but it was good for sensory details in books. True, what she had done to find out where Dragonfly was was a waste.... but maybe not a complete waste. She shouldn't use her Psionic abilities for a while, though.

Willow, Nicole, Sandy, & Toby

Nicole tested her healed leg, and while it was true it was sore for a moment, this pain was much more preferable to the grinding of bones she had felt while limping with the brace. She opened and closed the talons on the foot several times, before setting it back down and shifting her weight so that it was distributed between both of her legs. She did this with apparent joy, and even though she looked like a bird, and couldn't make traditional facial expressions, her beak clenched tighter in a form of smile, and the long feathers on her head that formed a crest, which took the place of her original hair, raised themselves slightly, in a clearly avian form of happiness.

Upon hearing Crystal ask about a weapon, Sandy frowned slightly, her hideous bat face making it an exaggerated grimace, "Well, actually, that's something that's bugging me, too. I have pheromones, but they're not useful in the company of allies for offensive purposes. Let's see if we can't fix that." She looked back at the crowd that was staying, "Hey! Toby! You coming, or what? Look, I know you don't find much use in your powers where we're going, but we need a guard dog over here!" Toby, who seemed to lack human features completely, save for the fact that he wore clothing, looked up, his button ears pricking up, "You want me? But I can't smell, or see in the dark. My speed powers are useless down there because I'll just run into something."

Bones frowned at this, "Now that doesn't sound like you, what happened to that cheery mood? You're the optimist, here, we need someone to cheer us up in a dark, depressing place, and you ain't the only one who's going to be blind down there. Besides, not all of us have strong combat skills." Sandy cut in, "Do you remember that cheer you came up with earlier?" Toby looked reluctant for a moment, but just as quickly as the doubt was there, it was gone, "You know what, I'm coming, too! We're a team!" He then ran up to the group, his tail wagging, "I'm gonna be the best guard dog ever!" He said, his sudden enthusiasm peculiar, but not unwelcome, as most would find it contagious.

For whatever the reason, Bones, Toby, Sandy, and Nicole seemed to have become their own tight-knit group, and even though for the most part it was because they were all animal metas, Bones was normal and human in form, suggesting that maybe to some small degree she liked the animal meta-humans more than others. It was mainly, though, that the three didn't judge her too heavily, and were truly good people, she felt. It also seemed that without any sort of exchange of words, the four together had in some way accepted Crystal as a friend and ally. It was clear without saying that they would look out for her, regardless if she had a weapon or not.

The Meeting

The Valos looked on curiously as Crystal healed Nicole's leg. One person who was particularly interested was Johnny. If someone could heal just like that, then maybe it'd be a great idea to get her on his side. Then his group would be unstoppable. He just watched with a heavy curiosity. After she finished healing up the bird-chick, Johnny couldn't help but comment, "Now, now, isn't that interesting...?" He spoke loud enough for Crystal, and Nicole's friends to hear him. Before a subtle smirk crept across his face.

"Now... The birdie's little leg is all fixed up...? That means the bird-brain is gonna come with us. Ah, well. The more zoo-animals we have the better." Gabe says sarcastically quietly. Again, no one outside of the Valos circle will be able to hear this. She gives the recently healed Nicole a hostile stare, with her arms crossed, giving that "bad-ass girl" vibe. While she really dislikes the animal Meta-humans, they're going to be forced together on this mission. The only reason why she was coming was because Johnny was going, and because she didn't want any nasty animal touching her food. She was probably going to insult them at every turn. Just to get across how much she doesn't like them.

The other two people interested in the scene were the two Blackmore siblings. Drake watched eagerly as Nicole's leg healed. This Crystal girl was appearing to be quite helpful already. While this wasn't enough to quash that sinking feeling in the back of his head about how Crystal could be an enemy, it did made him think slightly more of her. Trusting her a bit more. After Nicole's leg was healed, Drake said to Crystal, "Thank you for that, it'll really help." He spoke in a friendly, congratulatory tone.

Victoria, on the other hand, felt as if she should take this opportunity while it was still fresh. The second that Crystal started using her healing power, Victoria closed her eyes and put her fingers on the side of her head. She started reading the brainwaves of the far younger than her Psionist as she healed Nicole. As Victoria read more and more of Crystal's brainwaves, she eventually managed to use Crystal's brainwaves and tapped into her power. Then Victoria adjusted her own brainwaves to utilize the power. At that moment, she opened her eyes and put her hands back at her side. Cerebral-type Meta-humans were always had the easiest power to copy. Even though she never knew this herself. Fortunately for her, Crystal never would have known that she had her powers replicated. Unfortunately, for Victoria, she didn't get the healing part of Crystal's ability, only the weaker senses enhancement. Which, the Blackmore didn't know.

Did you try getting her power...? Drake sends a thought to Victoria, seemingly on que.

Yeah, I got it. Victoria replies mentally.

Good, run by the hospital and patch up Jia-li. Drake smiles as his eyes go towards Victoria. Jia-li will hopefully be alright after being healed, and she can help with the escape process.

TheⓍperator wrote:: "There are many entrancess that I have made for mysself. For what we're looking for, the clossesst iss the manhole behind the hosspital. I will meet everyone who decidess to go there."

The eldest Blackmore child was about to leave, when Dragonfly delivered this statement. Before he promptly turned invisible using his camouflage powers. Everyone ((That belongs to me)) was either confused, indifferent, or angered slightly. Gabe scowled, and thought to herself, Oi, that's great. The freak can turn invisible. Now isn't that fantastic? It was a very sarcastic thought, and she tightened her crossed arms. Johnny on the other hand gleefully smiled as he tilted his head downwards, his hat covered his eyes. He closed his eyes and concentrated. While Dragonfly was invisible to sight, there was something he could never hide, the emotions that are deep within him. Johnny immediately picked up his Emotional-Presence, in the large concentration of Emotional Presences that were in this room. Can't hide from me, lizardman. Emotions act as my eyes in darkness

Victoria had also picked up Dragonfly as he left the cafeteria using her telepathy. She was perfectly okay with Dragonfly, she trusted him. Just not absolutely, there was something off about him that she could easily pick up. For now, she was going to trust the Lizard-man with the life of her little brother. I'll come with you there, Drake. Then I'll see if I can heal Jia-li. Victoria sends another thought to Drake before following along.

Right. Drake acknowledged. He had not a single clue where Dragonfly is, nor did he care. He knew that Dragonfly was heading towards.

"Alright then! We should start moving!" Lily says, in a quirky and obviously nervous tone. She had not a clue where this location that Dragonfly spoke of is. "So... Um, by any chances, does anyone know where this entrance is?"

Drake smirked, only at Lily's determined feel to be the leader. Even though she's far too stressed and nervous to get anything done when it comes to leadership. "Haha... Matter fact..." For a brief moment, Drake turned his head towards Victoria, "We do."

At Drake's revelation, Lily's eyes looked around the room, she spoke in the same tone which denoted her nervousness, "Oh good. Lead the way." Lily got from off the table and started walking towards Drake, who silently turned towards the exit and started walking, leading the group like he was the leader. Lily walked alongside Drake, just to oversee everything. Everyone that was going on this mission was going with them. Everyone who wasn't going to go (Barring Victoria) stayed behind and went about their business elsewhere. They had Johnny, Sylvia, Gabe, Drake and Lily, among others, all walking through the halls of the dorm towards the exit. Their collective footsteps filled the halls of the dorms, and eventually, the vast spaces outside of the dorms.

After minutes of walking, the entire group made it to the man-hole behind the Hospital. Victoria split off from the group the moment they went around the hospital, to go directly through the front doors. To Johnny, and Sylvia, that manhole was a familiar sight. "So... Where's your dragon...?" Johnny sarcastically asks Drake (And the rest of the group).

Drake gave Johnny a narrow stare and looks around, "Yo, Dragon, we're here! Where are you!?"

...

The Hospital, minutes before current events...

In the empty halls of the Hospital, the injured Jia-li rests in her room, asleep and completely unaware of what is going on and what adventures the group of survivors are going on. She rests, snoring quite loudly, while an Eye watches the door. In the sudden span of a few seconds, the sound of frantic footsteps came charging down the hall at high speed. Such as someone in a rush to tell someone something. But, it was not Victoria or any member of the group. It was someone far worse. The Traitor, the very person behind the attack on Hunter, the death of John, and the destruction the Cafeteria... In a few moments, another murder. Wearing the same armor as before, covering up every detail of the Traitor's being, he/she ran up to the eye and panted, kneeling over and putting his/her hands on knees. This was a clever ruse to trick the Eye. While they were advanced, they were still easy to fool. "Doctor." The Traitor started off, "There's someone hurt down that hallway, he needs help right now!" The traitor spoke in a frenzied tone, but it was still convincing enough to trick the Eye. He/She also pointed down the same hallway he/she came from.

Spoiler:

The plan worked like a charm, "I will be back shortly. Do not disturb the patient." The Eye then hovered off, the Traitor wasn't going to follow those instructions. He/She opened the door into Jia-li's room, and closed and locked the door the moment the Traitor was through. The Traitor would need to end a life on it right now. A white pillow stolen from the dorms, and a massive kitchen knife hidden inside of it. The Traitor grasped the pillow tight in his/her right hand and the knife in the other. Slow, ominous steps were taken toward Jia-li, just to not alert her too early. The very second the Traitor got in range, it started. The traitor started off by stuffing the pillow into Jia-li's face, covering her mouth, and muffling any possible screams. Before she could even open her eyes. Seconds later, the Traitor raised the knife high up into the air, then brought it down at full force. Stabbing Jia-li square in the chest, and a muffled cry of pain and confusion could be faintly heard. Unfortunately for Jia-li, there was no one around to hear it. The blade of the traitor dug into Jia-li's chest, only to be pulled out a few moments later, and rammed back into various parts of her body with as much force that the murderer could muster. This process repeated itself. Until, the wounded Jia-li stopped resisting after the fifth or so stab. She was killed, dead. Viciously murdered for reasons that will be unknown to the group. Her body was riddled with several knife holes that leaked out blood on to her bed and a little bit on to the floor. However, the Traitor didn't want anyone finding the body just yet. No... The Traitor had planned on fueling paranoia and even more animosity among the group. The Traitor relented, leaving the pillow over Jia-li's cold face, and pulled the knife out of her body one last time. Hiding the blade back into the pillow. The Traitor threw a black cloth over Jia-li that covered her entire body.

The bed that the now deceased Jia-li was resting on had wheels on the legs, and was thin enough to be pushed out the door. While it, hopefully, wouldn't be noticed by the Eyes, the Traitor grabbed on to the sides of the bed and quickly pulled it out of the room. It was common procedure (Anywhere) for deceased students to be brought to the Morgue, which was the perfect hiding spot. Hidden, but, in plain sight. As long as the cloth stayed on top of Jia-li, no Eye would ask any question. The Traitor moved quickly, so that nobody (alive) would see. After a few minutes, the Traitor had hauled Jia-li into the hospital's elevator, and pressed the button for the 0 floor. The zero floor is technically the sub-basement, except it only held the morgue, and it was away from where the group was heading anyway. There was one large metal door, with a keypad on the side. This was the door to the morgue. It was locked down tight due to students that had powers related to the dead or just were into that. The Traitor had somehow acquired a way into this room. With Jia-li's death bed in one hand, the Traitor walked over to the keypad and put in a five digit code. The door propped itself open, and the Traitor just nonchalantly pushed Jia-li's bed inside. It was lazy, but the Morgue Eyes would handle it from here, properly putting Jia-li into storage. If they were commanded to, they would preform autopsy on Jia-li, or transport her body to the Graveyard for burial. They were not. The Traitor closed the door to the Morgue, as the Eyes scrambled to put Jia-li's body into a storage.

There may have been a few traces of Jia-li being killed, but that was nothing to worry about. If there is no patient in the room, then there would be no Eye watching the door, and they should be cleaning up the mess that the Traitor left behind right now. The only thing that needed for a perfect ruse is a new bed be put in. Other than that, the room would be full incognito. Which should be enough for anyone to miss the room. If someone did by any chance find out that Jia-li is gone/dead, they would have to look around really hard. Then there was the matter of getting into the morgue, which is difficult without a key inside.

With that, the Traitor scrambled, getting away from his/her current position fast as possible. There was no way that the Traitor was going to head back for any reason--- As this whole thing is going to handle itself. The Traitor wasn't going to risk being seen again, which ruined his/her last plan and alerted people that there is indeed a murderer running about.

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The story of Jia-li is over.

"I'll ssee you all at the hosspital." Dragonfly said ominously, before feeling eyes on him. Relying on instinct, he looked to the one girl, Crystal. She was staring directly at him like he hadn't changed at all. He squinted at her, his lips rising up to reveal the tips of his white teeth. He caught himself though, and let his aggressiveness fade. He turned around and made his way out. The only thing signifying that he had left was that the door opened all on it's own and then closed on it's own. The cafeteria now had one less reptile around.

Dragonfly stayed invisible throughout his journey to the hospital's area. As most people knew, he didn't like to be seen. He didn't want to be taken away by the eyes in the time where he actually had a reason to be around. That would be horrible, as waste. Many would die because of that mistake. This hell named paradise was showing it's ugly side to everyone now. It was horrible really. He continued his treck to the man hole, and as he reached it, he heard the sounds of wheels moving throughout the halls of his labyrinth. He made no notable movement, as this was a semi-common sound in this part of the sub-basement.

But what set it apart was a smell that he could differentiate among the sewers. It was the smell of blood. His eyes widened. What was this? The deceased were brought down clean and somewhat patched up. They smelt like the hospital. Not gore. He placed his hand on top of the manhole and lifted it out of the way, and grabbed the edge before swinging around to cling to the wall. He reset the manhole and allowed himself to fall down onto the Sub-basement floor. He followed the sounds through the maze before coming up on the locked door. He did not know the keypad name. But he knew something had gone wrong. He could feel it in the part of him that was still human. He rushed around the halls trying to find a secondary entrance into the area, but could find none.

So he backtracked, retracing his steps back to the manhole's entrance. He had no proof about anything, but he would remain suspicious about things. If something happened he would bring it up, or he would talk to Drake about it. He did not forget easily. He waited underneath the light of the manhole until he heard the sound of Johnny being sarcastic and Drake calling his name. "It's about time you showed up." He growled, becoming visible and jumping to the ceiling once again. He pushed the manhole up and out of it's pace so that it fell backwards on the outside to create the entrance.

"The dragon iss here." He said, poking his head through the hole to look at everyone. He wasn't amused by how Johnny had put his nickname. He looked around the group, sizing everyone up, before backflipping down to the Sub-basment floor. "There is a ladder. Come down one at a time pleasse. For your ssafety of coursse." He said, giving a small smirk to the group. They were coming down here, they probably weren't that concerned about their own safety. More so about getting in and getting out. "Drake, you will need to light the path I lead sso we don't accidentally sseparate. I dont think anyone will want to be holing handss the entire way."

Crystal felt more relaxed as different people thanked her. The animal meta-human group along with the Bones girl seemed nice. "Thank you," she smiled before grabbing her back pack and following the group out of the cafeteria. She wasn't surprised by the location, since it was where she had ran into Drake, Victoria, and Dragonfly. She looked down the man-hole. It was probably a good thing that she left her blood-stained shirt on. It wasn't going to turn out pretty either way she went in the clothing department when she goes down there. Not to mention what the smell was going to be like- she didn't have to remind herself twice to not increase her sense of smell. Hearing would be good if they're left in the dark, though. Yeah, that would help.

Crystal still felt a bit nervous on going down into the dark, though. Not being able to see anything or knowing what is even a foot in front of you can be a terrifying feeling. A feeling that Crystal didn't want to find out on this little "mission," if that was a correct title for it. She felt more relaxed to find out that Drake had some power that could light up the area around them, so the darkness wasn't going to be completely enveloping them.

Crystal stepped towards the entrance, "Well, let's go then," she smiled, keeping a calm expression. She still felt nervous inside her head, though not as nervous as earlier. "Oh, and I have a few oranges in my bag for if anyone gets hungry along the way." Crystal usually talked with a happy tone that seemed willing to socialize, though right now she just wanted to sit down and relax in complete silence. There wasn't going to be any for a while, though.

Johnny, Drake, Lily, Gabe and Sylvia

TheⓍperator wrote:: "There is a ladder. Come down one at a time pleasse. For your ssafety of coursse."

With Dragonfly making his rather amusing entrance and exit, that made it seem like it was high time to get moving. Drake decided since he was the one who was mostly going to illuminate everything, he should be the one to go down first. After Dragonfly went down, Drake took a few steps towards the man hole and looked down, like he was about to jump down. However, before he did anything, he looked back at the group. "I'm going in."

"No objections from me." Lily says, looking around with a nervous smile on her.

"It's yo' time to shine, Blackmore." Johnny says to Drake, "... Literally." Before he smirked fiendishly.

"Alright, f*gs. This motherf*cker's goin' in next!" Sylvia says, prompting dirty looks from everyone around her.

"What happened to the Sylvia last night that said 'I'm not going in no sh*tter'?" Johnny playfully asks Sylvia.

"She got f*ckin' pissed off and ready to fight." Sylvia hardily replies.

"Now, all of ya' ready to go down... So, yes, Blackmore, you first. We're not going down until it's properly illuminated, right boys, girls and zoo-animals?" Gabe says to Drake, and eventually the rest of the group, in a teasing tone.

After everyone threw in their two cents, Drake slide his tinted goggles off his forehead, moving them over eyes. It would have been impractical to put these on in the complete darkness that was the sub-basement. He always used these if he ever needed to use his powers in any way, especially with his electrical form which made it a bit difficult to see without them. He looked back at the group for a moment, before he made his descent into the sub-basement. He climbed down, slowly, and carefully. He certainly didn't want to jump the gun and fall down and break his neck. After a few minutes of slow and careful climbing, he made it to the ground floor. Dragonfly would be undoubtedly down here somewhere. It was pitch black down here, and his tinted goggles were the cause of this. However, Drake didn't go Thunder-God mode just yet. He took a moment or two to think about what is going on, and what he's going to do. He slanted his head downwards and grasped the silver locket that was always hanging off his neck and focused on it. Closing his eyes in the process. All the people down here couldn't possibly understand what was raging inside of him. Fear, of the unknown. Anger, at himself for not being strong enough. Sorrow, for John Doe's Death. He was good at keeping it bottled up.

"I am Drake Blackmore, and I am the light that shines in the darkest of days, when all is lost. This light's sole purpose is to let all who I hold dear know it is safe for me to guide them, to both victory, and safety." Drake quietly recited a quote that he made up and used since birth. It was something that the Blackmore siblings made up for themselves. To remind themselves of who they are, and what they are here to do. Drake knew what he was here to do. Give the group that light that shines in darkness and guide who he holds dear (and those he doesn't) through this. At this moment, Drake's eyes opened wide and started glowing white with intensity. A white bolt of electricity danced across his skin, traveling all over his body. Until he was enshrouded in white electricity, making his actual body nothing but a featureless black shadow. He did exactly what he was said he was going to do; illuminate the area. A light bright enough to be seen above ground. Drake took a few steps forward, away from the ladder. Waiting for everyone to.

"I believe"

"Alright, motherf*ckas, head-b*tches go in first!" Sylvia loudly says, before jumping into the man-hole, riding the soundwaves on the way down. She landed with a thump and looked generally unimpressed at Drake's illumination.

"Careful. Don't get too close, you'll get shocked pretty badly." Drake looks back to warn Sylvia.

"F*ck all, if ya' shock me. I'm f*cking made of steel, like a god-d*mn." Sylvia hisses at Drake (Who shakes his head because of how annoyingly stupid Sylvia is)

The next person to come down was Lily, who slowly climbed down, shivering in fear. This place scared the piss out of her, but she will have to endure. Like all great leaders, she would have to shut out things like fear and doubt. Replace it with hardened leadership and pride. The moment she stepped off the ladder she looked at Drake, impressed with his electrical form. She did feel glad that he survived, but felt bad for herself that she just ran away. When she could have easily super-charged Drake and he could have killed the Zizz in one powerful blast of electricity. But, she fled like a coward. "Oh, um, Drake. I know this is late. But, sorry for running away when you needed me the most last night." It's never too late to make up for that.

"Yeah, it's okay." Drake says, staying focused on the hallway ahead of him. Appearing determined as ever. He wasn't going to blame anyone for what happened last night... Since he's already blaming himself for this. "There's nothing you could have done to help, is there?" Drake couldn't help but add on. He was feeling a bit suspicious about Lily's power since she's been rather closed about it.

"Well..." Lily says hesitantly, "... Let's, um, talk about it later..." And where these jackasses can't hear.

"Right. I'll hold you up to that." Drake assertively says.

The last two people to come down were the remaining Valos siblings. Johnny quietly climbs down the ladder and stands a few feet away from the ladder in the tunnel. Gabe, on the other hand, had some kind words to say about her favorite "Zoo animals". She turned her head towards Nicole and smiled arrogantly, Gabe taunted Nicole (And the rest of her friends), "Hey, birdie, ya' gonna' want to be real careful down there, with ya' pet friends. We are going to be in a tight space, and ya' won't have anywhere to fly off to if ya' get scared, won't ya? Heh, you'll be a caged little birdie then, won't ya? Like you and ya' friends should be. Hahaha..." Gabe started loudly laughing at her own blatant insults as she climbed down into the sub-basement.

"Now, let's get this party started!" Johnny loudly says. Looking around.

"Alright, Dragonfly, let's wait a bit for everyone else to get down. Then can you please lead the way?" Lily says to Dragonfly, wherever he is. They need to get moving soon as possible to find this food.

Crystal climbed down the ladder, skipping the last two steps down and jumping the rest of the way. She heard some girl insulting Nicole. She liked Nicole and the rest of the animal meta-human group (they seemed really nice) and felt some bitterness towards Gabe upon hearing the insult.

Crystal decided to speak up. "How about we keep the insults to ourselves?" she smiled, "It's best not to have any fights down here or else we won't be able to trust anyone. What sort of group can even be considered good when no one can trust anyone and work together?" Though Crystal had lost some trust for the girl who had thrown an insult (she didn't even know the girl's name at the moment) but she kept the thoughts to herself. Crystal took out her notebook then, not paying attention if there was a reply, and wrote down a few thoughts on the area. She was pretty sure that others were probably curious about what she was writing. She just didn't want to miss a single detail of the places and events. This could make a story better then any story she's ever written. She finished writing the notes before doing a quick examination of all the pages- various poems and short stories, followed by her notes for the Othergrounds. She placed her journal back in her backpack.

"So does anyone even know where this food storage area is? Or are we pretty much searching for something we don't even know still exists?" Crystal wanted to estimate how long they were going to be down there. Hopefully not very long, though she had a feeling it was going to be a while.

Claire, TJ, and Alejandro

As everyone else went their own little ways and this boring-@ss meeting dragged on and on, Claire began to get extremely fidgety, as was her usual. She had her feet kicked up on a lunch table, and was playing with one of the buttons on her short-sleeved plaid shirt. As the group moved to enter the sub-basement, Alejandro, who was sitting at Claire's right, got up and followed. He was the last to arrive at the entrance to the sub-basement, just after Crystal had. In this bulky form he was in now, Alejandro would be of little help to the group, but down in the dark he could transform into his much more dangerous nighttime form thanks to the darkness. He began to climb down the ladder as well, though his wings gave him some trouble, and arrived in the basement next to Crystal. As if on que, his skin started to glow faintly, and his form shrank as Alejandro morphed into his nighttime form.

"So what now?" he asked, hoping that someone would recognize him now.

Claire, meanwhile, was staring down at her ripped jeans, still fidgeting with the button on her shirt. After a rather awkward moment, she turned to TJ.

"We are going down there, right?" Claire asked.

"Who would we be if we didn't? Now let's go!" TJ took Claire by the hand and practically dragged her towards the sub-basement entrance. They ran as fast as they could, and TJ, it being his style, opened a portal in the floor above the entrance and one at the bottom. He jumped in, still holding Claire's hand, and pulled them both through. He flipped at the last second and landed on his feet, though Claire wasn't so lucky; she tumbled into a ball on the floor.

"Well that hurt." she grumbled. Before anyone could protest, TJ figured he'd save them some breath.

"Okay!" he began, talking extremely quickly "Long story short we're coming with you. You people and Claire play nice or I'll suck you all into an alternate dimension where there's no oxygen! Now we need to find the food supplies or we're all going to starve so who knows where they are!?" he looked around for someone to raise their hand, though didn't expect anyone to. TJ only knew of one person who spent most of their time down here.

"Alex," TJ said, looking over at the blue gargoyle propped up against the wall "Do you have something you'd like to share?" Alex tilted his head to one side and walked forward towards the portal TJ had just stepped into. The light was thrown onto his black hooded jacket, which Alex had decided to wear for some strange reason today. Now he knew why.

"I don't know this one mate." he said, opening his hands up wide in an empty kind of expression "I never really bothered to look".

"Lovely. Anyone else?"

Willow, Nicole, Sandy, & Toby

The animal meta-humans and Bones, in fact, had already labeled Gabe as a loudmouth prejudice person based on how she had treated them upon first seeing their faces. Bones descended into the sewer first, while Nicole clamped her wings closer to her body, keeping them scrunched up as she climbed down the ladder as well, a gesture that was clearly human. When she got down, she carefully folded her arms into a more comfortable position, making her look every bit like some sort of exotic humanoid owl. At the insults, she gave a little shrug of her shoulder, with a 'what are you gonna do?' sort of expression on her face. This was in response to Toby, Sandy, and Bones, who gave her a questioning look, wondering how she was going to react, once they were all down the latter. Clearly, what Nicole was going to do, was completely ignore Gabe, and pay no heed to anything she said. It was better that way, for everyone involved. They weren't any happier about having to work with her than she was with them. At this, Bones, Toby, and Sandy exchanged glances, before all of them shrugged, as though by silent agreement deciding to follow the bird girl's example. Bones, while having no physical mutations that were animal or plant-like in nature, saw herself as a member of the animal meta-humans, so even though the insults weren't directed at her, she felt as though they were.

The entire foursome stared at the next two people to stumble down from a mysterious entrance other than the manhole they had just come through. It wasn't so much the surprise (Anything could happen, by this point), but at the strangeness of their behavior, as though they were aliens, and they were trying to figure out which planet they came from. They did not know this pair, although a few of them had thought they had heard some pretty bad stuff about Claire, though they didn't quite remember where. It hadn't been important at the time, and they didn't really even remember what was so bad about her. It was very odd, when the one guy began asking questions in a demanding way, as though he were immediately in charge, by authority he didn't possess. In truth, making threats was not likely to help him in any way whatsoever.

Bones leaned against a wall and scowled, before looking in a direction where her gaze wasn't going to be directed at anyone in particular, "I've heard of making an entrance, but this is ridiculous..." She murmured, very quietly, under her breath. Nicole, the only person who could hear what she said, inwardly agreed with the statement. Bones pinched the bridge of her nose, as though she had a headache, and shook her head, before taking a deep breath and letting it out. With this, she turned back to her three animal-like companions, and they moved aside, consciously aware something might happen soon, of which they wanted no part.

Johnny, Gabriela, & Lily

The 12th Toron wrote:: "Okay!" he began, talking extremely quickly "Long story short we're coming with you. You people and Claire play nice or I'll suck you all into an alternate dimension where there's no oxygen! Now we need to find the food supplies or we're all going to starve so who knows where they are!?"

"Ayo, hold up a second." Johnny hisses at TJ and Claire. He gave the pair a narrow, yet hostile glare. He wasn't in the least bit pleased seeing Claire here. TJ tossing around threats certainly didn't help these sentiments either. While Johnny had nothing against TJ, he wasn't in no way above tossing him aside the very moment he starts being an inconvenience. The guy would be an idiot if he thought that he wasn't above such a thing. If a fight breaks out, from the way Johnny sees it, it'll be an easy win. He brought two heavy hitters with him, Gabe and Sylvia. The latter could easily tear through them with one focused sound blast, and the former would have a small form of resistance against Claire. Johnny himself felt as if he could probably take down both by himself. In either case, he sighed and tried to be reasonable as possible.

In either case, they were outnumbered, and it shouldn't even come to that. All Johnny wants is for Claire to control herself or leave. He didn't want a fight here or that Girl going berserk and killing someone. Though, he didn't want to end their cycle of violence. The Negative Emotions both of them had for each other was enough fuel for him. He spoke in an clearly aggravated tone, keeping his attention on the pair, "Now listen here, TJ... And Claire...." Or should I call you your real name: piss for brains? Johnny thinks to himself. He wanted to say a lot of things here, most of them would excite a fight. But, right now Johnny wants to appear as if he's in the right, you know, the "good guy." Naturally, he was going to use his irresistible charm and look like a concerned citizen. "You all should be aware of me and my family's relations to Claire, so I don't have to go over it. I have quite a few things to say here, and don't take this the wrong way: you're a liability, Claire. And TJ, I don't appreciate your threats. We are civil here, so don't throw em' around, please." Unless you're ready to try it... Johnny started off, gaining the attention of everyone in the corridor (But, Drake) like they were expecting a fight to start soon. Now, Johnny went on to the reasons behind this, "You're violent, volatile, and out of control. And I don't feel comfortable having you on this mission when you toss around scary threats like: quote on quote..." Johnny raised his hands in the air and finger quoted, repeating exactly what Claire said to him last night in a amusingly monotone and stoic tone, "... I will f*cking murder you, b*tch. I will hunt you down and kill you like a dog. And I'll kill the rest of your f*cking family while I'm at it." He looked at Claire, then TJ. Awaiting the collective responses of the group.

Johnny smirked curiously as he sarcastically shrugs and looks around, "... If that isn't volatile and violence behavior mixed together, then I don't know what is. I just have the feeling that you'll try to make those threats a reality by trying to zap me or any of my lovely sisters that came along with me." All Claire has to do is get angry and Johnny will have all the ammo he needs to boot her from this mission.

So you're the mighty Claire...? Gabe thinks to herself. Her attention (and dispisal) had been taken off the Animal Meta-humans and put on the newly arriving group. Jake had told her all about Claire and her hissy fit yesterday. If Gabe was there herself she would have put down the . "Now, now, I gotta agree with Johnny here..." Gabe just inserts, crossing her muscled arms and looking both curious and angry. "Claire-girl, from what I'm told, ya' threatened my twin. I don't appreciate that." At this moment both of Gabe's hands started glowing bright orange as they started super-heating. A loud sizzling sound could be heard throughout the corridor and black smoke came from Gabe's arms. She wasn't looking for a fight, and she knew there was more important things here--- But, Johnny does have a point; she is a liability. "Now, I know we've never formally met 'fore, but until ya' show me otherwise; ya' worth less than these Zoo-animals..."

"Thank you for again, Gabe. I really needed that. No, really, I was just trying to be peaceful and you do the usual Gabe." Johnny looks back and sarcastically as possible says to his younger half sister. He wanted to peacefully get across a few things, and Gabe just threw that out the window. "Now disregard everything Gabe said, please, and take my points into consideration..."

This was going to escalate fast, and Lily knew it was apart of being a leader to lead the group away from this mindless bloodshed. She quickly stepped in between the two tense parties. Saying absolutely nothing for a few seconds. It was one of those tense moments, feeling like she's in between a bear and a wolverine that're about to fight. "Listen..." Lily started off, she spoke in a tone that was a mix of annoyed and afraid, "... We don't need to fight right now, d*mmit, and Johnny, you can't tell anyone to leave. IF you two cant put aside your stupid feuds for just ten minutes then you both need to get the hell out!" Lily says to everyone here, she was getting especially annoyed of Johnny. His arrogance was getting hard to tolerate very fast. While Lily barely could tolerate Sylvia, Johnny was pissing her off much more.

"No one is going to fight, unless one gets started, that is. And you're going to be wishing that I had her leave after she starts hurling thunder at you for the slightest offense..." Johnny narrowed his eyes and hissed at Lily.

Lily herself didn't know what to say. She was a modest person who never let anyone else paint pictures of people, and while what Johnny said could be true... Lily was going to see this for herself, "While I don't know her at all and what you're saying could be true... I'm going to decide for myself if she's good or bad. Not you. You need to back off...." Lily got closer and closer to Johnny, looking him dead in the eyes. It was a sign that says 'I'm not f*cking afraid of you, nor am I going to back down' "... Now."

"Hah, ya' funeral purple hair." Gabe inserts.

"Yeah... You're funeral..." Johnny says, as he continuously stares down Lily. "I can respect that. A girl who stands tall against world class excellence like myself... Heh. Shows that you fight for what you believe in." Surprisingly, Johnny complimented Lily on her standing against him.

Unsurprisingly, Drake would have jumped in by now and broke up the fight that was to come. However, he was held up in a mental conversation with his sister, Victoria.

Victoria & Hunter

Coming soon...

Last edited by TheⓍperator on Sun Jul 28, 2013 2:29 pm; edited 1 time in total

Dragonfly snarled in Gabe's direction, from the dark. The sound was audible enough to reach anyone who hadn't come down yet. He was tempted to just jump up and tear her a new one. Or perhaps drag her down and waterlog her with the sewer water. He hated being reminded of the fact that he couldn't be human any longer. "I hope you're talking about yoursself ssisster, becausse like it or not you're sstuck in the cage too, and you need uss to get you out!" he snarled. Gabe was really beginning to get to him.

He was becoming extremely ticked off at Gabe's seemingly uncalled for hatred for him and his animal like comrades. He wouldn't have volunteered to help if he knew Jackass four would be ridiculing him for something he couldn't change. He feel silent once again, trying to calm himself down so things didn't go sour. He waited, and soon enough Drake came down. He decided to put his anger away for now and use it some other time. He chose to distract himself by using Sylvia as a distraction. Damn, she had a mouth on her. And he liked it.

When Drake illuminated the area he shielded his eyes from the sudden light change. He needed a few seconds to adapt to the light change. As he got used to it, he dropped his guard and answered Crystal's question. "If you came down here not knowing if anyone knew where they were going, you were a fool to enter the ssub-bassement in the firsst place." He said bluntly. It was a rather dumb question. "You are in my housse and home. I know it better than anyone elsse on the Othergroundss." He was interrupted as this Claire and TJ joined the group suddenly, and started an exchange of threat and anger Dragonfly couldn't give a flying CENSORED about.

He was already ticked as it was, and this was drawing the line. They needed to get moving. He opened his mouth, his jaw unhinging and released his infamous hellish screech that he used while fighting Zizz. It echoed down the halls and overpowered every noise and shout going on in the sewer. "Would everyone pleasse SSHUT UP?!" He roared, looking around the group. "We don't have time for thiss crap! Deal with your feudss later on the ssurface or you can leave!"

Crystal's face turned red. She had just been asking that to make sure everyone was on the right page- she already knew Dragonfly was leading. "Then I guess I am a fool," she laughed, though she was a bit annoyed, in truth. She didn't seem annoyed though due to her smile. Always hiding things with a smile. She disliked it at times, but it kept her out of danger.

It was then some kid and a girl teleported in. Yeah, that is a big entrance. There was also some gargoyle meta-human that entered, also. Before she could say anything, one guy opened up his mouth and began trying to convince everyone to make the girl leave. According to the accuser, she was very hostile. Crystal quietly listened as everyone continued arguing, waiting for the matter to be settled. "Well, I think it's good to have some more people in the grou-" she was interrupted by a large screech echoing through the sewers, making her cover her ears.

The sound had come from Dragonfly, who seemed very ticked off. Crystal winced, the shrill sound from the meta-human still echoing through her eardrums. "Roger," she nodded. She quickly put a smile back on her face, "just lead the way, Dragonfly." She then turned to get a quick look at everyone, "So is now a good time for everyone to introduce themselves since so far I know hardly anyone's names?" She didn't like just thinking of people as, "This guy," and "that guy." Seriously, if she was going to travel with these people she would feel a bit better knowing their names.

TJ and Claire

MrAllenJ wrote:: "You all should be aware of me and my family's relations to Claire, so I don't have to go over it. I have quite a few things to say here, and don't take this the wrong way: you're a liability, Claire. And TJ, I don't appreciate your threats. We are civil here, so don't throw em' around, please."

"It wasn't a threat, dear, just a suggestion." TJ said, pacing around as he closed the portal in the middle of the room. Claire was pissed off at this point, causing her hands to glow an electric blue. TJ grabbed her very roughly on the shoulder and whispered something into her ear, which made Claire's electricity dim. Then Lily stepped in, the purple-haired girl who seemed calm as the azure blue sky on a cloudless day, and suddenly everyone was deaf and friends. Claire scrunched her face up and shot a dangerous look in Dragonfly's direction. Her ears were still sensitive from the day before (courtesy of Sylvia). Slowly but surely, Claire's blue streaks of electricity vanished, and she unclenched her fists. She quickly sized up this Lily chick. She [Lily] was a short, strange-looking girl with purple hair and a ton of piercings. Despite her scars and piercings, though, Claire seemed to find her rather attractive. TJ, who could practically read Claire's thoughts from their closeness, smiled wickedly, a smile which was soon replaced by an inhuman screech coming from an inhuman being.

"So that's all sorted out then. You can stop roaring lizard boy." TJ said, fiddling with his ear a bit and extending his opposite hand to Lily "TJ Eckleburg's my name, and that's my sis Claire. Say hello Claire."

"Sup." Claire said, crossing her arms and nodding. "I like the hair. Purple is totally the new black." TJ slapped Claire on the arm playfully with his other hand while Alejandro looked around the room a bit, eventually deciding to answer Crystal's request.

"I am Alejandro Elias." he said, walking up to her, a little skittish because of Dragonfly's noise "Can you please cut it out, friend? You're hurting my ears!" he yelled at Dragonfly, louder than he had meant it to be.

Willow, Nicole, Sandy, & Toby

Nicole flinched and put her alula-hands over her ears when Dragonfly screeched, but was relieved when he finally stopped. She knew it wasn't directed at her, and scary as it was, it was nice to know she wasn't the cause of the hostility that had seemed to be building. Also, on the bright side, the screech echoed, and because of how loud it was, it went for a long distance. She got a good look at the area they were now in, long past the range of light Drake gave off. It looked different than she had expected. Such a puzzling thing, the designs this school had been built with. It was a little odd, for her to be thinking about the layout of where they were, but it was anything to help distract from the tension that she could still feel in the group. As Dragonfly had said earlier, smell was all but useless, the sewage masked everything else, save the tang of electricity that came off of several mutants present.

In response to Crystal's question, Bones turned to look at her, a smile of sorts on her face. She and her three animal-meta friends already liked this girl, as she had helped heal Nicole's broken leg. They might be a little mistrustful of strangers at first, but Crystal seemed to be a nice person, and there was every reason to show her respect. "Call me Bones, then, everyone does." She said, as usual, introducing herself by her nickname, rather than her real name, which was Willow. She then nodded at her friends, prompting them to tell Crystal their names, as well.

Nicole was next to introduce herself, "I'm Nicole, but you can call me Nicky, it doesn't really matter, either way is good." Being the one who Crystal had healed earlier, she already liked her, as with a healed leg, she could now fly and effectively land, and no longer needed Bones to aid her with walking. It was an arrangement both of them were happy with, as they weren't going to slow anyone down now. To be able to safely fly again was something close to the bird meta-human's heart, as flying had become a huge part of her life she couldn't imagine living without.

Sandy was the next to introduce herself, "Call me Sandy, although my nickname is Leafnose, seeing as my mutations are similar to a bat from that family. I know I look like a vampire bat, but I really don't have the same dietary preference, just so you know, people usually feel better when I tell them that. I sometimes make them nervous until I say something about it." Although the introduction was longer, it was with good reason. Because of her appearance, people sometimes falsely thought she had a diet consisting of blood, and although she enjoyed a nice rare steak like several others, she wasn't going to see the people around her as a meal. It was amazing how many times other people made that false assumption, but she supposed they thought so, because of her fangs.

Toby was the last to go, and he was already excited, you could just tell from the look on his ugly-yet-cute face, which looked just like a domestic pug's. "My name's Toby, but you can call me Dog, if you like. I like theater and acting, and I sing opera in my spare time." He looked around at the other people present, with a false pout on his face, "I just don't sing around anyone else, for some reason I can't figure out, people just don't seem to like the thought of me singing an Italian opera. Maybe the picture looks wrong, but either way, audience or no, I'm going to keep singing." In truth, he was openly admitting that the picture sounded wrong. It was hard to imagine a huge lion-dog-manatee hybrid ever singing the refined, high notes of tenor operetta.

Johnny, Sylvia, Gabe & Lily

TheⓍperator wrote:: "I hope you're talking about yoursself ssisster, becausse like it or not you're sstuck in the cage too, and you need uss to get you out!"

"And I really hope you're not talking to me." Gabe says to Dragonfly with a sarcastic smile on her face. It was so amusing seeing Dragonfly get all angry at her insults. It made it seem like she was getting to someone, which made her insults all the more enjoyable. If a fight breaks out, she's already super-heated, and she's experienced enough to take down anyone. "Listen here, Wally Gator, I'm in no cage because I'm a human, and I can get out on my own. I don't need any zoo-animals to help get out. Now can we get a bloody move on? I'm getting hungry."

Yes, feed me your anger. Johnny thinks to himself with a rapist-like pleased look on his face. He took his attention off the challenging Lily and on Claire. Johnny could notice the electricity on Claire's hands. Claire was just about to give him exactly what he wants. Attacking him would be the perfect example of why she shouldn't be here. D*mn what Lily says. "Now, Claire, are you going to prove my point here...?" Just to defend himself against any attack, he turned to his Emotional Energy form. A white light, which had patterns like static, covered his body. A rainbow colored light pulsed across his being from left to right. His entire body was hardened, harder than titanium. Enough to take what Claire can dish out. Gabe already had her fists super-heated as well. It was going to be a quick, clean fight. Johnny was going to round-house kick Claire at the speed of light and watch her limp off.

TheⓍperator wrote:: "Would everyone pleasse SSHUT UP?!" He roared, looking around the group. "We don't have time for thiss crap! Deal with your feudss later on the ssurface or you can leave now. "

Unfortunately, Dragonfly took it upon himself to end this conversation before it gets violent... With an ear cracking, blood curdling scream. Johnny didn't get hurt, but he certainly would after he drops the form. Everyone that didn't have some form of protection covered their ears, barring Sylvia, who was immune to all negative effects of sound.

"What the flying f*ck are you f*gs flipping out 'bout?" Sylvia nonchalantly asks everyone as she just stands there, "It's just a little bit of some god-d*mn noise. Not the f*cking end of the world." Sylvia was now just mocking the group.

"Very well, then, Dragon-man, you get your way...." Johnny took a few steps back from Claire's friends and Lily. If she was going have to come, then he's going have to suck it up. If she attacks him, then that's all the ammo he needs. Unfortunately, he wasn't going to let that happen. "Alright, if we gonna start moving, the two of us will be covering the rear." Johnny immediately moves past the group and gets all the way behind them. "Lead the way...."

"Dragonfly, please god don't do that again!" Lily was clenching her ears because the sound of Dragonfly's roar was quite painful. She spoke in an annoyed tone, showing how she felt about the situation, "That should be motivation enough for all of you to calm the hell down..."

Try that again and you'll be finding ya' self in a world of hurt, Lizard-freak. Gabe thinks to herself as she follows Johnny to the back of the group. She would have said that out loud, but they really don't have time for this.

The 12th Toron wrote:: "Sup." Claire said, crossing her arms and nodding. "I like the hair. Purple is totally the new black."

Lily looked around curiously. These new people seemed to have already taken a liking to her, all because she stood up to Johnny. This was what leaders were supposed to do, put down the unruly members. "Thanks. I put a lot of work into my hair.... Wait, um, d*mmit, no time for small. We need to focus on the mission, then we can talk." Lily says. While she did appreciate the compliment that Claire gave her, now wasn't the time for small talk.

Celo The Impossible wrote:: "So is now a good time for everyone to introduce themselves since so far I know hardly anyone's names?"

"I am Johnathon K. Valos, the Firestarter over there is my first sister, Gabriela Valos or prefers to be called Gabe... And that annoying little twat with the silver hair is Sylvia Bertoose." Johnny introduces everyone in the group that he's related to. "... I'm looking forward to working with you, Crystal."

"F*ck off." Sylvia hisses at Johnny.

In response, Johnny starts laughing quietly, he looked down the hallway at their illumination, Drake. He seemed to be completely in his own world. "... And our resident Thunder God, Drake, is down there..."

Victoria & Hunter

"... What...?" Victoria found herself flabbergasted. She was in the exact room that Jia-li was in. Except, there was no Jia-li, or her bed... There's ominous blood splats on the floor. That really gave her the thought that Jia-li isn't alive anymore. No body, no bed, only blood. "... Sh*t..." This was far too much for Victoria. She closed the door behind her with her leg and slumped down on her behind. Looking depressed and disheartened. She was easily the weakest out of all the Blackmores. Physically, not mentally or emotionally. She was even surpassed by her, several years younger than her, brother Charles. They were fighters, she was purely a thinker, always thinking out things. There was indeed something going on here, murdering people. What could Victoria do? She is alone, Drake isn't here to help her, nor is anyone else. For all she knows the traitor could be behind this door with a gun in hand, ready to blow her brains out. However, there was no chance that she would just go and give up. She doesn't want to do this alone, however. She would wait for them to come back up--- On second thought, she will alert Drake right now of what's going on. However, she heard slow footsteps coming down the hallway towards her. This immediately made her stop what she was going to do, and immediately use her telepathy. In the process of this, Victoria changed her brain-waves to use Telekinesis. If anyone came at her she wouldn't hesitate to snap their necks. However, violence was unnecessary.

It was Hunter coming down the hallway, single blood-sword in hand, the very point was inches off the ground. He was coming to protect Jia-li, unfortunately, he's a little too late. He tried opening the door, except Victoria was obstructing it. He looked in through the window and said, "Hello? Is someone there?"

Victoria was hesitant to say anything. She was reading Hunter's mind and learned that he had zero hostile intentions. Though, she still was hesitant, while she can read minds, she wasn't a master at it. "Yeah..."

"Hello? Can you allow me to come in?" Hunter asks.

"... Yeah... One second." Victoria stood straight up and took a steps back. She focused on the doorknob and turned it using telekinesis and opened it. Hunter took a few steps through. An awkward silence took place here, with Victoria being worried/scared out of her mind and Hunter, being Hunter.

"... Wasn't there someone here?" Hunter softly asks.

"That's the same d*mn thing I'm thinking... Jia-li... She isn't in any condition to be walking around enough to get up and leave...." Victoria starts off, looking around, "... And this blood makes me think something else happened...."

"I hate to say this..." Hunter starts off, apathetic and devoid of emotion, "... But, I fear we may have been too careless in leaving her alone. However, we never knew there was such a threat lurking around until now..."

"I don't want to say that she's dead--- No, not without looking for her...." Victoria was going to start searching for Jia-li this instant, "I'm going to do just that."

"You are not alone. I will assist you the best I can." Hunter tells Victoria.

"Thank you, but I have to stop to tell the group down there...." Victoria responds, before closing her eyes to focus really hard to tell Drake of the current situation. She was using the Mind-link between her and Drake to deliver Drake this news.

Drake & Victoria

This is the mental conversation that took place between the two siblings.

Drake, we have a problem. Victoria sends the first thought to Drake, starting their mental conversation.

What is it? Drake responds.

Jia-li is missing, I mean she's all gone. There's some blood left behind and just about anything could have happened to her... Victoria responds.

What the hell? We've barely been gone two minutes... Are you serious...? Drake was getting more and more angry, the emotions that raged inside of him were getting more and more intense.

I can't say anything now, me and Hunter are going to look around for her. Victoria responds.

I'm heading back up right now to help... Drake turned around and was about to leave.

No. You stay down there and help them, for now. We need food more than anything. Victoria pleads with Drake, given his stubbornness, he would probably ignore the order.

F*ck... I'll help these people, then. I'm going to join you the second we're done.

Right. I'll keep you posted... Victoria sends Drake one last thought before leaving with Hunter.

"F*ck!" Drake loudly shouts. Before he punched the nearest wall with his electrically charged fist. Small sparks of lightning shot off in every direction. The group gave him a narrow but curious stare, and he slowly turned his head toward them. "Let's get a god d*mn move on..." Drake says, angered, and completely unaware of what just happened.

Jake and...

Coming soon...

Crystal nodded as everyone introduced themselves, "Thank you guys for telling me your names. It clears things up a lot for me." She smiled before she continued talking, "After all, we have to work together and it's best to know the names of who you will have to work with, right?" She put emphasis on the word "together" as she glanced at Gabe and Dragonfly. What did the girl have against the animal based meta-humans, anyways? She kinda wanted to ask Gabe why she had said she was in no cage yet could escape the cage that she wasn't in? It sounded kind of funny.

Crystal was about to ask if anyone wanted some food when she looked around the group. It was a pretty large group. Her five oranges wouldn't fill anyone if split evenly. Might as well just save them only for emergency, then. Hopefully there wasn't going to be six people who end up starving to death. No one can just heal hunger.

Crystal jumped as lightning was shot off in every direction. Drake sounded mad. She began hesitantly walking towards Drake, slowing down once she got near Nicole. She was weary of Gabe already, so she decided to ask them if they were okay about the girl. "So you're just going to ignore Gabe, then?" she asked, only loud enough for the group of animal meta-humans to hear. "Why was she so rude anyways?" She decided if Nicole didn't seem to want to talk about it, she wouldn't prod any farther. Crystal just knew Nicole and her small group seemed nice enough to offer some information. Everyone else who seemed nice to Crystal looked bit too angry or annoyed to be able to talk to, at the moment.

Willow, Nicole, Sandy, & Toby

At Crystal's question, Nicole shook her head slowly, "A prejudice against animal meta-humans drives her to treat us the way she does." She said, keeping her voice low, so as not to be heard by others. "Though she may think because of what we are, we are inferior, we are no less important than anyone else here. We all serve our purpose, and are content with what we are, because there is no sense in seeking a way to change what we cannot control. Our mutations take different paths, nothing else sets us apart. I am proud to be what I am, and I see no need to be upset by insults. They are just words, and nothing more, they are only hurtful if I allow them to be." The other two animal meta-humans, and Bones, in addition, all nodded in silent agreement.

Nicole grabbed the quartz crystal hanging from her neck and began to polish it with her wing, out of habit. She then proceeded to speak, although there was nostalgia, as though it were of happier times, to distract from the tension that drifted about the air. "I am going to drift from that subject, I do not wish for it to trouble anyone. I want to talk about something with more meaning; for instance." She held up the quarts to admire the way it reflected the light. "I have no favorite color," She began, after a pause, "I never did. Some might say my favorite was indigo blue, because that is the color of my eyes, but why should I pick favorites, when I have never known what to like?" She withdrew the crystal and began to polish it again, "I am colorblind, and I have always been, since the day I was born. I see no color, none at all." She seemed to be thinking about this, reflecting on her own statement, "All I have ever known was monochrome shades of gray. You may tell me what color something is, but what you describe I cannot imagine. You tell me an apple is red, but all I see is the apple's shape, because I do not know what red looks like."

Upon changing the subject, Nicole did not care who heard, because people might find the way she saw things interesting, and to listen, was a calming thing. "Because of this, I like different things than other people. You might look at art on a canvas, and call it beautiful, because of the colors, but I do not know of the colors, so they do not concern me. I always preferred statues and carvings, to paintings, because they do not rely on color. I admire the texture, the way an object reflects light. These are the first things I notice. Is a stone rough and dull or does it shine like diamond? Perhaps cloth is not ragged like wool, but smooth, with a sheen like silk. Perhaps I see no color, but the luster, the way it feels to touch, interests me."

At this, Nicole looked back up at Crystal, "So, I cannot ask someone their favorite color, because it would have little meaning to me. Perhaps you have a favorite color, but do you have a favorite texture, a favorite way some object reflects light? My favorite texture, is that of an orchid petal. They are smooth and soft to the touch, and yet they are stiff, and upon closer inspection, each petal seems to faintly sparkle. Most look at the flower as a whole, and though that form is beautiful, the individual petals interest me with the way they are." She raised one feathery brow, in question, "So, with this, what would your favorite texture be, Crystal, have you ever thought of it before?"

Crystal listened with great interest to what Nicole was saying. She had never really though about things the way Nicole did. It was interesting, in Crystal's eyes, as of how Nicole favored things differently then others. Texture and light reflection... she had never payed much attention to the quality of items in such a way.

Crystal was quiet a few moments before replying to Nicole's question. "In all honesty, I don't think I've given it much thought," Crystal sheepishly admitted, "But I think I know what my favorite texture would be." She paused before continuing, "I like the way smooth pebbles feel that you can get from ponds and rivers. I like how they feel so smooth that things easily rub against them. Also the way that they are either cool or warm, never a normal room temperature feeling. At least I think they are. I haven't found any that are different then that yet," Crystal smiled. "I don't know if it's weird to like the feeling or not. I just do."

Crystal had a small flash back for when she was really little- around 5 or 6- when her dad would take her and her sister out to a lake that was near their house every now and then. She enjoyed looking at different rocks around the area, but Crystal had never known why. Well, maybe the reason why was the texture. Who knows. Her dad would sometimes help her collect so- nevermind. Crystal still felt anger towards her parents for sending her to the "Academy." She had told them it was a death trap for kids, but didn't mean literally. But if it hadn't been for them she wouldn't be worrying about death. Crystal zoned back into the conversation, quickly pushing the anger to the side. Best to focus at the task at hand and get to the food. Forget about parents, for now.

---
Lexy
---

Lexy's eyes snapped opened. She bolted upright and looked around. Lat she remembered was getting hit in the head and now... She was in a hospital room? She shrugged. This school was weird- all the floating eyes were funny. Then there were the animal meta-humans... They were so adorable she just wanted to hug them! She tried once and the kid snapped at her. C'mon, he was part kitty- so darn cute! Well, then there was the sudden attack that she had no idea what it was about. Lexy looked at the clock. What time was it anyways? She shrugged, getting out of the hospital bed. She was still in the outfit she was in during the attack- a white sundress with a colorful floral pattern on it. She noticed her bag at the foot of the bed an picked it up. Well wasnt it nice of them, putting her things in the room?

Lexy smiled as she found her neon pink flip flops beside the bed and slipped them on. She slung the purse over her left shoulder and began walking down the hospital hallways, humming no tone in particular and not worried about who heard her or if there were any attackers near by. Lexy paused to look at a colorful picture in the hall. It was of a field of flowers next to a river. "Beautiful," she smiled, talking to no one about the masterpiece. She was about to begin walking again when se heard talking. She smiled brightly as she began walking towards the place where she heard the conversation. A guy and a girl- and new people to talk to! Lexy quickly walked towards the voices, too naive to know that it could be dangerous.

She opened up the door to the deceased Jia-li's room and looked at the two people in there. Yes, she hadn't met these people yet! Lexy smiled brightly as she began talking, "hay! What's your name? I'm Lexy!" She proudly pointed at herself before her expression turned sad when she noticed the bed that had blood on it. "Wait, is everyone okay? Are either of you hurt? Need me to help? Of course I wouldn't be of much help but yeah." Lexy didn't think that either one of the kids in the room could be dangerous, she just wanted to help... And talk. Mostly talk.

Willow, Nicole, Sandy & Toby

Nicole pondered this, before responding, "There's nothing wrong with liking the feeling of a river rock in your palm. In truth, I polish stones in my spare time, for the very reason of giving them such a texture. They are not in any way as wonderful as a true stone taken from a river, however, because a real river rock would take years of drifting in currents, before it came to be so smooth. They are a small wonder of nature, that people would often disregard, only noticing for a fleeting moment, before they found a flat one, and tried to skip it across the surface." She tilted her head to one side, "As for why the stones are not the same temperature as the air around them, each one is different. If they are different colors, different shades, in my eyes, then they must be made from different things."

Bones, after listening, had been very quiet, before thinking about something, "When you mention it, my own favorite texture sounds even stranger than a river stone, or an orchid bloom." She said. "In my family, my mother was always cooking things, she used a lot of eggs, and wanted the best quality. She bought eggs from the store, and even though they were good quality, they were disappointing. Each egg, the same size, shape, color, and all of them smooth, with little stamps of approval on their shells." She frowned at the thought, "I can't help but remember thinking about the hens that laid those eggs, if they were free range or not. Industries treat their animals as though they were machines, rather than living things. All those eggs, you couldn't tell if there was a difference in any of those hens, they all looked identical." She caught herself straying from the main point, "At any rate, one day, my mother contacted a local farmer, and got fresh eggs, from hens that the woman raised. The birds were allowed out of their coop, and could scratch as they pleased, so long as they returned at night."

She smiled at the thought, "When we got that carton of eggs from the farmer, I was surprised when we opened them. The eggs were all brown, but that wasn't what was so strange about them. They weren't identical, not in the least. They were still egg-shaped, but some had thick shells, others thin. Some eggs were taller and others short. Some were smooth, and others were covered in little bumps." She grinned at something else, "But my favorite egg, was this tall one, that had a wrinkly shell. I never thought an egg could look wrinkly, but this one was." She put her hands in her pockets, "What I liked about those eggs, was that each time we got a new carton, I could always tell those hens apart, just by the eggs they produced." She shrugged. "Of course, the lady had a cow, too, and sold us cakes of butter. I can't tell you how many baking accidents there were at first. Fresh butter doesn't behave like the store bought variety. Something melted in the oven at one point, and that was quite the mess."

» Cast of the Othergrounds
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