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

"Sounds as good as any plan in this place, although we have to be careful, if there's automated systems maintaining the school, there might be automatic security systems, too, and I'm not talking about cameras or lasers. This place was built for meta-humans of every shape, size, and power, so they'd be sure to design something complex, and strong enough to keep us in line. Of course, I'm saying this completely oblivious to what happened earlier, so there's the chance I could be wrong. Still, it never hurt to be careful." Nicole said, polishing her quartz crystal.

Cyex

"You're correct, but I'm sure I can get around it. I can hack and control anything short of a Multi Server Mainframe. Main Frames are tricky though. Much more complex than any ordinary home PC. Never been able to take over one of those. Now I Have to focus if I'm going to do this."

So He closed his eyes and blocked out everyone else. Then He focused on the machine in front of him. He felt the limits of his mind being erased as he slowly found himself scyning himself with the machine. It took a few seconds but he was finally able to get into the machine. And the first thing he hit was a Firewall. It was clearly meant to keep out unauthorized users like hit. But after a moment of analyzing it he relized it was just a low level block to keep other employees from changing the settings. So he quickly bypassed it. Once he was around it he really didn't see much or rather find much. the programming within the robot itself wasn't that complex, well all programming was. But in this case it wasn't anything like say a govenment computer.

All the robot was as simply a set of protocols and predesignated commands. Basically he had complete control of the robot, but he didn't want that. This was just a springing-board, all he needed was the Radio and Wireless receivers. From there he could piggyback to the transmitter. It wouldn't tell him where it was at, but he might be able to find logged GPS data. Then he would know where they're at.

Drake


The second he saw the robot Drake immediately went into caution-mode. Both of his hands were enshrouded in an electrical aura, before his skin and the rest of his hands were nothing but pitch black shadows in a cloud of electricity. He was just about to fry the damned thing when Ceyx and the bird chick started talking about hacking it. He looked around nervously before nonchalantly coughing. "Yes... make the strange robot thingy your toy..." He spoke under his breath, quiet enough so that not a soul heard it but him. He looked around, while they were messing around with the robot, he sidestepped the group and walked around them. Before walking past the machine that was being hacked. He saw a map of the entire Dormitory Buildings, Theater, Staff Area, Student Lounge... Lunch room. Drake observed it for a few more seconds before he smiled "If ya'll are done playing with Eye-robot thingy, let's go out to get some food."

Before he started marching down the hallway.

Nicole looked after the person who had just spoken and walked off, before glancing between the technology guy, and then the dreadlocks kid. Really, she either didn't know their names, or she had been told them and then forgotten, she couldn't quite remember. Maybe her brain was still fuzzy from when she had been gassed to sleep, although that was unlikely. She shrugged, "I really don't know what to do now." She said, embarrassed, "I guess I'll just keep following whoever until something happens that I'm useful for." She said. In truth, the lunch room might reveal some degree of potential, considering that Nicole could smell tainted or rotten food quite easily, and that meant nobody would get food poisoning. "Well, I'm going to see what's there that can be prepared into a proper meal." The dreadlocks guy replied, folding his arms. Nicole frowned at this, perplexed, "You cook?" She asked. "Yes, I do, but considering that it's a bit specialized, don't ask me to fix you anything unless you want something high in protein, although I assure you, I'm pretty confident that it's edible, even if it doesn't sound that way. No supplements, I promise you." Although his tone was a bit gruff, for some reason it sounded like he really meant it. "I forgot to ask, what's your name?" Nicole asked. "Name's Tom, but people back home called me Riptide, although anymore, Goliath is a close second." He said. The bird girl thought for a moment, "Okay, I get the Goliath part, why Riptide?" She asked, "I used to be into surfing, swam out once and got caught in one. I escaped and lived to tell about it, so now all the surfer guys call me that. A lot of people tend to forget what you're supposed to do in that sort of situation, and I couldn't fight the current to begin with, I didn't even have powers back then. I was just really lucky."

With this, Tom walked off after the other guy, seeming to end the discussion. Nicole stared after, before looking at the electric guy, "I'm going to follow them, hopefully I can help figure out what's good and what's bad. Name's Nicole, by the way. I'll talk later, I got to catch up with those guys." With this, she ran off in the direction the two others had gone, clamping her wings to her sides in a manner that suggested a bird of prey in order to streamline her shape so she didn't catch all the wind resistance while moving.


Marie, meanwhile, watched all of what happened, and moved to stand next to the technology guy, "Do you require assistance in any way that can be provided?" She asked. With her monotone voice, she might as well have been a machine herself.

Cyex Broke his focus for a second. He really didn't like doing that, but he needed Something to write on. If he hadn't already had the robot and the GPS data he wouldn't have done it.So he looked to the girl next to him. He can and was keeping the data in his head, but without a Computer connection it's useless. best to right it down and try to figure it out that way.

"Yeah actually I do. You have anything to write with? I found some data that might be useful. I can normally remember it, but It's encrypted and I can't break it."

Marie had with her a small grey backpack which she had been using to carry her things. She placed it on the ground and opened it, pulling out a composition notebook filled with loose scraps of paper that seemed to consist of sheet music, as well as what appeared to be algebraic equations. The backpack also had a large textbook that was for advanced placement biology, which was college level, for the most part. Marie opened the composition notebook and ripped out three sheets of paper that were still blank, and handed them to Cyex, before putting the notebook back in her bag and shifting it back onto her shoulders. Her backpack contained enough things to probably weigh the same thing as her, but if her back hurt, she wasn't complaining any. Perhaps just because she was forced to refrain from feeling things. She took a no. 2 pencil from a side pocket and placed it with the papers.

He watched as she got out some paper and a pencil. He noted how heavy the bag looked, but didn't say anything. Right now he needed to right down everything he could. It was quite a bit of information, but he knew he cold make it fit.

"Thank you. Just Give a minute and I'll give back your pencil."

He tok the paper and pencile and began writing downa complex series of numbers and symbols, some of them were standered prgramming code and some was his own short hand that he used to shorten things. it took him only a minute to fill all three sheets front and back. It wan't all the data, but it was enough he could work with it. Once he figueered it out he could just all the rest in his head.

He folded up the paper and stuck it in his back pocket. Then he handed to pencil back to the girl.

"Thanks. now lets go find the others. I'm sure they've found something interesting by now."

Jacob looked at the eye. It looked back at him. It stared right into him, not moving at all. Jacob just stared back. He kind of had a staring contest with it. He didn't blink. Neither did the eye. It couldn't. Jacob walked up to it waved his hand in front of it's fac- well, eye. It looked away for a second, then turned back. Jacob tapped it's glass container. It went back a bit. "Okay, this thing is weird." He walked around it, still looking at it from over his head. "I'm going to go with the others to get some food." He turned and ran down the hallway to catch up with the others. They weren't that far away. He walked up next to them and asked, "so, does anybody know where they're going?"

"We must wait for the data to be decrypted." Marie said. Like Cyex, she had followed the others after the eye had been examined thoroughly. "Until then, we shall see if there are still provisions in the cafeteria, and perhaps explore and look for more intelligent life that may have survived whatever fight occurred here. The entrance and windows were blocked with furniture, so there is a possibility that someone was hiding in the dorms." Tom just frowned at this, "You'd think they'd work harder to prevent stuff like that. I guess their school wasn't so well-designed as they thought it was."

Cyex

"Yeah I can't help but agree with that. I don't think they really imagined that anything like this would ever really happen, whatever it was that did happen. I just wish this data was encrypted with a protocal I knew. It seems to be a unique code only used here..... Meh I'll get it figured out later let's go eat."

Arloste/Torre

The two Had spent most of the time after the groups merged together. Mostly just talking. Torre was to see his sister was okay and glad to hear that she'd managed to help to other some as well. Arloste was just glad to finally have here brother here with her. She'd always felt afer with him around. They really hadn't done much to help the group since they found each other. They just hung back and followed everyone else. and they were glad to here that they were going to find some food. Thay were hungry.

Drake


With the group following his lead the group along down the pathway, following the signs until he reached the dining hall entrance. Which had a sign on it that said "DINING HALL". He tried pushing open the doors with no luck. The doors were large and made out of dark brown ebony wood and looked fancy, it would have pretty easy to get past even if it was locked. Except, during the attack it was barricaded with various tables and chairs which would have made it very difficult to enter, and without powers it'd be near impossible to enter. Drake could just burn it down, yet there were several risks with going with that. Or Tom could knock it down. Any fires would be put out by the legion of Eyes quickly as possible. The group could use that to their advantage and minimize the risk of destroying the school. There are also several air vents around. Too large for most average sized people to fit into, but small enough for a child, or if there's anyone who can transform into liquids or particles. However that would leave the question of how the rest of them would come in after.

Fortunately, this isn't the only entrance to the dining hall. There are at least three more entrances, if they decide to look for alternate entrances. Two were barricaded just as much as the one they're at now and isn't worth going into. Another one was riddled with at least a hundred bullet holes and everything from the door to the barricade are structurally weaker, thus much easier to break down. The last entrance didn't lead straight to the dining hall, but, to the kitchen (which is equally important). In order to get to this door the group would have to go up a floor (via the stairs or the elevator). It was a average sized metal door made out of iron--- which is very strong. There is a few bullet holes in it and is barely barricaded with small chairs. It would be three times as hard to get into with brute force, but much easier to sneak past than the other entrances. If anyone wants to risk it then the vents are a very valid option.

The dining hall itself was a very large room (the largest room in all of the Dorms) made to accommodate hundreds of people at a time. It is split up into three sections, two platforms on both sides of the room that were elevated to the second floor of the Dorms. Forming a bit of a valley with the main section which can be accessed by walking down some stairs with an even-ramp adjacent to it. There were thousands of large tables each made to seat eight people per table, with several kitchen utensils ((you should know this)) for all eight of them. Serving food to the students was like a buffet. In specific areas all around the dining hall were buffet tables with metal pans of various sizes grafted to them which are heated at the right temperature to keep them warm. There's an incredibly wide variety of food in them, and since the food is served 24/7 there was food fresh. In this room there were specially made Eyes which are programmed to maintain the dining hall and constantly provide fresh food for the students for every time of the day. So, that means that there will be plenty of edible food for the group to eat once they get inside.


However, they aren't like the other Eyes and can't do any heavy lifting or recycle like the other Eyes do. The dining hall is in general disarray during the fight. There are plenty of bullet holes in here as well as the rest of the Dorms. Plenty of the tables and chairs were flipped over and destroyed, while plenty more were used to barricade the doors. Many were left in peace and rest peacefully. Unfortunately the regular Eyes can't come to repair the damage and rearrange the school since the entrances are barricaded enough. If the barricades were removed them the Eyes can start doing their work in fixing up the place.


Drake kicked the door with no luck, "Crap... Anyone got any ideas?"

Marie came up from behind them, "The door is metal, which expands when heated, and contracts when cooled. If anyone here has the ability to control temperature, then they can weaken the structure by altering its temperature. Another option could be to rapidly oxidize it, as we could easily smash through Iron Oxide, and we would likely need not worry about contracting tetanus, as we are indoors and the bacteria is likely not present here. This depends entirely on if we have individuals present with such powers. If we could simply unlock the door so that it swung freely on its hinges, then we could break through the barricade quite easily." She said, running through different scenarios in her head.

Well, John felt pretty useless right now. He decided to go find a dark corner to sulk in while they found a temperature controller person. Actually, maybe he could try the vents. He kicked the cover of one off. Somehow, he was able to fit inside. Made sure to remember were he was, what was his entrance, and what routes he was taking. He didn't want to get lost and die in those vents.

10:00 AM

When she woke up in the morning, the first thing that struck Nicole was the smell. She probably hadn't noticed it before, although there was a certain possibility that it was recent, although several qualities of it made such things less likely. She thought she smelled another person; one that hadn't been in the group of recent arrivals. They were probably another meta-human, and although sometimes people could not help their scents, this one made Nicole extremely nervous. Whoever it was, they smelled like old blood, although curiously, they lacked the nauseating curdling that was present when bacteria began to grow. It reminded her somewhat of a hospital, the smell of bodily fluids, although somehow sterilized. Nicole also thought she detected traces of ink in the same scent, both the kind found in ballpoint pens, as well as the form that came from anyone that had tattoos. It was a curious scent, but unnerving as well. There were more things, too, but she didn't focus so much on them.

She got out of bed and scanned her room, which was not extremely fancy, but not like a prison, either. When she had come in, the door had been left ajar, and the dresser pushed up against the window in one wall. Although she was not nearly as strong as the others, especially not Tom, or Riptide, as he seemed to prefer, she was able to push the dresser along the floor so it no longer blocked the window. It was comforting, being able to see the sky, although technically she could not care much for her room's appearance in detail, as she did not recognize color. She got our of her bed and opened her wings, examining each feather and adjusting it until each plume was in its proper place. Although her flight was not silent, Nicole's wings were generally more quiet, and the flight was usually smoother, so long as she groomed them properly.

She stepped out of her room at closed the door behind her, and was immediately struck by another meta-human's scent. This one was somewhat wild, smelling of twigs, leaves, sweat, wildflowers, as well as higher concentration of oil. It was by no means filthy, although the oil suggested that whoever it was, they did not shower very often. It struck Nicole after a moment that this person might be a little like her, for some reason their smell suggested a fur pelt. This was not all, however. She could detect pheromones much more easily than others, and while normally in low concentration, even on those that did not bathe frequently, this person's chemical signals were extremely potent. They were territorial, designed to discourage interaction, and also making Nicole a little bit worried at the thought of following whoever had produced them. She would have to ignore them, though, pheromones altered to an extent the way people thought. They worked on an instinctive level, rather than logical. Nicole could only guess that perhaps this meta-human had powers directly linked to chemical signals.

She stood there for a moment by her door, before gathering her courage. Breathing in deeply, and sighing, she proceeded down the hallway, preparing to face whatever occurred today. While robots seemed to maintain the entire school, she had not seen any people other than those who she had arrived at the school with. Now, there were two strangers, and she strongly believed now that they had been living at the school prior to whatever had happened. She didn't know where a majority of the students had gone, but she recognized that whatever fight had occurred, there were survivors drifting about. She inwardly wondered if they had simply not noticed anyone new. However, there was also a great possibility that whoever these people were, they were intentionally avoiding the recent arrivals. Nicole couldn't really blame them, if the fight had been as bad as she thought it was, she would be suspicious of strangers, too.

John woke up with a jump. What was he doing here? Oh yeah, now he remembered. While in the vent, he went on a section that was obviously not built for the American physique. He was pretty sure that that would be the end of him. Apparently he only hit his head and was knocked out. Speaking of which, his head hurt like a bitch. He was also hungry and thirsty. He was starting to regret ever listening to that brochure and coming here. If he could ever find a way to go back in time, he was going to punch himself in the face.

Light was pouring through the torn up curtains on the window. Jacob tried to turn away from the light, with not much effect. He opened his eyes a bit and looked at his wrist, only to find that his watch wasn't there. He must have left it in his bag… or maybe he hadn't brought it. Hopefully he hadn't put it down somewhere… Jacob walked over to the curtains and pulled them apart, accidentally ripping one of the frayed pieces off. "Ah crap. The stupid thing was going to fall apart soon anyway." He could hear other people walking around in the rooms next to him. It was a bit of a fluke that everyone was getting up around about the same time. Kind of weird… Jacob tried to recall what had happened yesterday. The got to a door… and… and someone got stuck in a vent… and then… uh… and then… then they… … and then what happened? The rest was kind of blurry. They got in somehow… then they ate… and now somehow they were here. It felt as if it never happened, and their whole day got skipped… but that was just bullshit. Jay walked back to the torn up curtain on the floor and picked it up again. He could keep it, but it was useless, so he chucked it out the window. As it fluttered down, he saw something below his room, on the ground. But as he looked properly at it, it wasn't something, it was someone. Someone who wasn't a part of their little group. He, or she, was one of the people that were here before them, by the looks of it. Someone who may know what the heck is going on. Really he would prefer to not meet more people, but this was kind of important. He strode over to the door and walked out into the hallway.

The group had all stayed in their own rooms that night, however there might have been some that slept in the same room. Jacob didn't really know. He was pretty sure that they had all been in the same corridor as each other though, so nobody was that far away. The place was all torn up and destroyed, and their rooms weren't much different. Jacob's door was all burnt, and the handle didn't work, but a slight push was enough to open the old thing. There were lights around, so it wasn't dark, however not all of them worked. The one in Jacob's room had smashed, but there was a desk lamp that worked fine. He hadn't really explored what was in the wardrobe and the desk, but there were a couple of pens and some sunglasses inside of the drawer in the bedside table. Half of his room was destroyed, and he didn't even know what happened to the other half of the desk. The front side of the room was black from fire, and the only thing Jacob could think of when he entered the room was what in the world happened to this place… Jacob walked out of his room and looked down the hallway. The only one there was that bird girl. "Hey, uh… well… you… I don't know your name, but there's other people out there. I saw them.

Nicole turned around to look at the one guy, "Name's Nicole, and I know. I've picked up at least two new scents that belong to someone we haven't met, but I think we should be careful. One of them smells like blood, and the other one smells like pheromones. They probably know we're here, and I strongly believe that they're intentionally avoiding us. If they're still wandering around, they either survived whatever happened, or just weren't present when it occurred. Whether or not we try to meet them really depends; I personally think we should go after the one that smells like blood, they might be wounded, and less likely to try to fight us, and the pheromone person might be able to manipulate us too easily."

John hated this place with a burning passion. He was hungry, thirsty, and lost. What architect in their right minds would design so many twists and turns in one building. John's stomach decided to rumble loudly at that moment.
"This place needs to burn," he muttered under his breath.
Since he was getting no where fast, John decided to actually look around and play at being detective for a little bit. Bullet holes in the walls. Obviously there was some sort of conflict here. There was a distinct lack of bodies. That implies that the people who did this were professionals or something like that. Maybe they took the bodies and prisoners to some facility.
"Or maybe you have been watching to many B movies," said the snide part of his brain.
Anyway, time to keep moving.

The Students


On another side of the school were the survivors of the incident that left the school stranded. They were all packed into the hospital. Either injured, wide awake or stunned due to the darts of the aggressors. What happen varied in everyone's eyes. To some was a vague memory of what happened. To others they vividly remember exactly what happened. From knowledge there was a small army of soldiers invading the tranquil Academy. They had stealth on their side, they quietly dug in, deep inside of the school. Then they started opening fire on the students with specialized taser darts that's capable of instantly knocking most unconscious. Those that were by any chance immune to electricity were pelted with rubber or real bullets. It quickly turned into chaos, almost everyone was overcome with fear of these people-- It didn't help that they had no where to run.

So, there were only two choices; hide or fight. Many students choose to fight. There was an enormous battle taking place, naturally some of the students didn't stand by and let the soldiers run wild. Any and all combat capable students fought off against the army. Ultimately losing the battle. For those who were lucky enough to be close enough (or inside to begin with), Jade West, the headmaster's daughter gave the order for any students in the area to take shelter in the Hospital. Everyone possible charged inside, and promptly soldiers followed behind them. They couldn't risk them getting in, the Hospital went into lockdown. Every window, door and possible entrance were coated in a thick metal armor that'd take heavy explosives to open.

The soldiers didn't have the explosives to spare to capture a small amount of students. They promptly cut their loses and captured anyone else. Anyone killed or stunned by the darts were dragged off into the unknown. It could be the government putting their foot down, or mercenaries. It didn't really matter now that they tore the school apart. Every single student that couldn't hide well enough, or get to safety was captured. That was a small amount of people. This side of the story takes place with the surviving students. Either comatose due to injuries or wide awake. The attack on the school happened merely hours ago. The lock down on the building would only lift once the higher-ups decide to lift it, or in a few hours.

Jade West, the Headmaster, nor the Vice-head master was no where to be seen. There was no other options than to wait it out.


The Hospital was a very large building, much larger than regular hospitals outside of the school. There were five floors to it. Each lined with everything you'd see in a hospital (rooms, morgue, commons, small lunchroom, etc). Every patient room were small, and had a bed, two end-tables, and two chairs. Notably apart of the Medical wing were a special system of Eyes specially made for the medical field. There were three types of Medical Eyes; Doctor Eyes, which reside in every patient room to provide treatment for students. Surgeon Eyes, which were made to preform emergency surgeries that even the best surgeons on the planet can't match. Transporter Eyes, heavy-duty Eyes made to haul even the heaviest of students to the Patient Rooms, the ER or the Morgue. Of course there were the regular Eyes roaming the building repairing and cleaning up everything.



Hunter


Hunter slowly awakened in his hospital bed. Stark naked. Covers were thrown over his being. The last thing he remembers was being hauled to the hospital due to a severe lack of blood in his body. It was a side effect from his last attempt at the blood art technique. It wasn't too serious, he just got really light headed and was dragged to the hospital early in the morning... yesterday. All he needed was a little rest--- and, to learn how not to do stupid things like that anymore. He still felt a little sickly. He slide from under the sheets and sat on the side of the bed. On the table to his side held all of his attire. He looked up at the glass machine known as the Doctor Eye. In a few minutes he threw on his clothing and was already up. He was wearing a long black leather trench coat which enshrouded most of his being including his scars, a white T-shirt underneath. Ragged and torn jeans, combat-style boots on his feet. Over his hands he wore gloves that covered up the scars on his palm. The first thing he thought of doing was going back to his room and finishing his painting. It will be his masterpiece.



Drake


Drake woke up shirtless. Wearing nothing but jean shorts. Drake didn't mind walking around shirtless. He got straight out of bed, barring any usual morning routines. He walked to his (unlocked) door and opened it. Immediately, he let out a loud yawn. The first group of people he noticed was the bird chick, and the other (rather remarkable) guy in their group. Everyone else was either still in bed or somewhere else. He walked over to them and smirked, "Hey there, what are ya'll up to?"

Nicole looked over at the stranger she had met earlier yesterday. He did not appear to be wearing a shirt, but she ignored it the best she could. "Well, we're not the only people here, apparently. This guy here just saw someone outside the building, and I've picked up two new scents that don't belong to anyone we know. One of them would be pretty easy to track, they have a really strong pheromone trail. I dunno, though, pheromones are tricky things, but the other person smells like blood."

ViperaUnion wrote:

"Well, we're not the only people here, apparently. This guy here just saw someone outside the building, and I've picked up two new scents that don't belong to anyone we know. One of them would be pretty easy to track, they have a really strong pheromone trail. I dunno, though, pheromones are tricky things, but the other person smells like blood."

Drake slanted his head to the side. More people, huh? He mused. To be honest, he wasn't against the idea of the group staying here. Aside from the bullet hell the place turned into, they have near unlimited resources at their disposal. Not even counting that they (so far) have an entire mansion all to themselves. The only thing on Drake's mind would be partying. Well, some of these people looked too young and underdeveloped to party like he does. For now he figured that he'd help them with their search (judging from what Nicole worded her statements, they want to find these people). He could easily protect the two of them with the abilities he's currently gifted with. The "person smells like blood" statement didn't exactly fill Drake with confidence. "Um, yeah. I'll help you find these people if you want to look for them..." He looked down at his naked upper body, "... Just let me put a shirt on, really fast."

Claire and TJ; Sparrowdale Tower



Claire Sparks awoke in an unfamiliar place at an unfamiliar time. Upon opening her eyes, hot white light streamed in, and she was blinded by the morning sun. She held a hand up against the solar onslaught and blinked until the spots cleared her eyes. She looked around herself to find that she was in the top of a tower of sorts with a large bell in the center. She was leaning against the side of the tower, still dazed and confused. All she knew was that she was in a tower and her right arm hurt really badly. Her red and blue plaid shirt was spattered with blood, and her cotton tanktop was alight with static electricity, a sign that she had been using her powers. But when? And why? Claire didn't exactly zap people for looking at her the wrong way, so there must have been a real problem. She tried to rise to her feet, but fell back down, dazed and confused, as if she had been up late partying.

"What the hell did I drink?" she moaned out loud. Her moans and thoughts were stopped when she saw a calm, nonchalant pair of grey eyes staring at her from across the top of the tower; the eyes of TJ Eckleburg.

"We're at the school." TJ said, as if he had read her mind "There was an attack yesterday. You got hit by some kinda dart and passed out, so I took you up here. Are you feeling okay?" She lulled her head to one side, and smiled stupidly.

"Oh, that's where we are!" She laughed at her own stupidity, and then continued "So what of the others? Are we all that's left?" TJ walked out from where he was partially shielded by the bell. He wore a blue button-down dress shirt with a white tie and white blazer which had a spattering of Claire's blood on the left sleeve. His tan dress pants were also spattered with a few drops of blood. He looked down at the rest of the school through his glasses with his calm, mechanical eyes, and sighed.

"Well, there's definitely people still down there." he said. "I just don't know what kind of people". He thought for a moment, and then made a fist with his right hand. A white orb formed in it, and he made a throwing motion towards the floor of the tower. A shimmering white portal, about the width of a manhole, appeared on the ground. TJ looked over to Claire, who was still dizzy, and nodded.

"I'll go check. if I'm not back in half an hour, don't do anything stupid. Got it?"

"You know me." Claire responded, smiling.

"That's what I was afraid of." TJ walked over to the side of the tower and made another fist with his left hand, causing a black orb to appear. He threw the black orb down to the bottom of the tower, where it hit the ground. The colors from both portals faded, and they revealed a what was on the opposite side of the other. TJ walked over to the portal on the floor of the tower, nodded to Claire one more time, and jumped through.

When exiting a portal, it is extremely difficult to maintain directional focus and equilibrium. TJ had done this for a while now, though, so he knew exactly when to roll so as to exit the portal and land on dry earth without getting motion sickness. He wobbled a moment, and then clenched both his fists, causing the portals to close, cutting him off from Claire. He instinctively began to walk towards the dorms, assuming that someone would be there.

"Anyone here?" he yelled when he arrived in front of the shot-up building. After getting no response after a moment, he walked over to a door and tried it. Locked from the inside, and most likely with some kind of barricade in front of it.

"Alright then." he muttered "Have it your way." TJ walked over to a set of window panes and collection of broken glass that used to be a window, and looked in. It appeared to be a lounge with couches and a few vending machines. TJ threw a black portal at his feet, and tossed another one through the glass and onto the opposite wall. He jumped through the black portal and flew into the room with a crash as he smashed into a couch.

"Still getting used to doing that." he muttered to himself as he rose off the couch. He felt a hand; a cold, wet hand, and looked down to reveal that he was indeed laying on top of a dead body riddled with bullet holes and caked with blood, some of which as still wet. He gasped and jumped up, hitting his head on the ceiling, and stumbled backwards. The blood from the body was on his jacket, making him appear to be a well-dressed butcher, so he shed the jacket and opened the door to the lounge and out into the hallway. He paused for a moment, and pulled a dollar out of his pocket. He had just landed on a body and had survived an attack, but by God he needed a coca-cola.

Walking. Walking. Walking. This was getting boring. If something didn't happen, John was going to go insane. Well, at least he found water and a candy bar. It got rid of his thirst problem. Hunger, not so much. And so he kept walking. That is until he saw someone. Upon closer inspection, it seemed to be monotone girl from the group he left behind. He didn't know what to do so he kept walking.

Spoiler:

Dragonfly

He had woken up in the sewers again.

This was becoming a regular thing. If the transformation wasn't enough by ripping my identity, it made sure to finish the job by taking away half his sanity.

He had long since forgotten who he used to be.

He remembers that he was charismatic, or at the very least he had been told that he was; in truth, he had not contemplated his charm often, save for on occasions where it had been brought to his attention—when a loose and easy smile brought him the indulgence of his parents and teachers, or when that same charming manner attracted women into his arms. He had not been a particularly vain person, and physical beauty was not as important to him as it was to other men. If he was guilty of anything, it was a lack of pride; he was almost ashamed of his charm. To him, it were a hindrance; he had wanted to be taken seriously, and men seldom respect a womanizer.

He doesn't have that problem any longer.

He remembers the sensation of a hand gently stroking his cheek, of soft lips pressed against his own. He remembers when the world was beautiful and serene, and he remembers a time when death was a stranger to him.

But he cannot remember his former self.

Gone is the personality that inspired intrigue in women and mockery in men; it has been replaced with violent, unpredictable, prideful insanity, the product of cruel, hateful transformation. The change had robbed him of much more than his charm—it had stripped him of his identity. All the scales, the looks the other gave him simply pushed him towards the edge. But it was he, or at least part of him, who made him turn back, made him look at sanity and say no, he had felt the last lingering piece of his former self die, crushed inside a husk of a beast. It had been the final step of his forced reincarnation, and the first step towards his new life.

Insanity was his constant companion, and it is as much a part of him as his scales. Never again will he feel lips against his, never again will he go back to the painful familiarity of sanity without his good side winning, and never again will the world symbolize freedom and peace to him. Those days are over—that man is dead and it will do no good to mourn him.

At times he finds himself searching through his memories, trying to piece together a portrait of a charming man who is now a stranger to him. Each time he is unsuccessful, and it occurs to him that perhaps he does not want to remember. It is his current self that matters now; it is the one that strikes fear into the hearts of otherwise strong men, and the one that makes him the one of the most feared on a campus full of metahumans.

He, Dragonfly- a name that was now so familiar to him that he didn't even remember his real one, smelt something alien to him. It was something that he did not smell unless he was the cause.

He smelt death. The musky smell bodies produced as they began to stiffen. Most would not know the smell very well, but as a carnivore, he knew it like family. It leaked in from the ceiling above him. There was the occasional large bang. Many smaller ones were constant. Then, it ceased as soon as it started. Things were quiet once again, and the sewers knew no sound other than the drips of water and scurrying of mice.

But the smell, it was as evident as it had been at the beginning.

So he followed a different smell. One that he carried with him beneath the scales and the sewer water and the dirty, blood and grime stained pants. It was the smell of life, the smell of medicine and cleanliness. He knew exactly where this was. He had gone there the moment he was diagnosed with multiple personalities. It was the hospital.

The eyes would no doubt want to clean him down and try to examine him again, and he didn't enjoy being touched. He was untouchable. He was a monster in his own right, but in the mind as well. Not a day went by when his bad side wanted him to do something.

'Take one of them... Just make sure they wont be missed... What could go wrong?' it would say, and he would grab his head with his hands because his good side would take control and yell at the bad side for even thinking such a thing.

But he could suppress it. His good side would always remind his bad that there were other things. Keep him from messing up and doing something he can't fix. Taking a life, and potentially his own.

He changed his coloration, blending into his surroundings like a ghost. He didn't like being watched. He didn't want to be looked at for the monster he was. For something he couldn't change, and shed his pants. He would come back for them later. Fighters would face their enemies, while ghosts haunted them. The wall above him had a large hole carved out in it. Large enough for him to fit through with ease. He had gone gamma one time and carved it out. There were several entrances he had tactically made around the campus. But a few still had no entrance due to him not going gamma in a long while.

The clusters of pipes were easy to maneuver around as he climbed his way to the surface. Eventually, he came to the toilet, which was still connected to the pipes to preserve its functionality. The smell was growing stronger now. He could sense the strong scent of alcohol and the clean scent that bandages and gauze had. His tail was prehensile enough to where he could wrap it around the piping to study himself and keep from moving as he raised his clawed hands.

He dug his claws into the bottom of the toilet, and began to push it to the side. As the toilet began moving to the side, he had to move his legs from the piping to the wall to keep himself angled to continue moving and add the last of the strength he needed to move the toilet.

The hole he had made was now just large enough for him to squeeze through. He released his grip on the piping with his tail and jumped with his feet, allowing his claws to catch the floor in the bathroom. As he pulled himself up and pushed the toilet back into place, he noticed he was in the girl’s restroom. There were no urinals. He decided to play it safe and not risk running into anyone while camouflaged, and instead take to the ceiling and allow his body to rest from it's power usage.

He climbed to the ceiling, as to keep from being noticed. People rarely looked up.

He was lucky there was no one else in the restroom. It would've been awkward to be watching someone use 'it'.

He stiffened his tail so it would stay flat against the ceiling and not hang down, and then crawled out of the restroom, disappearing into the hallway. A few people meandering in the hall stopped and looked over when the heard the door open, and then gave a look of confusion when no one came out.

As he crawled along the ceiling, Dragonfly noticed all the doors and windows were on lockdown. Which was strange. He was on the surface world half the time normal people were, but this was the first time he had seen it like this. The first thing that really spiked his interest was a phenomenal scent. One that was very strong. But he probably had a very strong one himself. Or he just smelled bad. Probably a combination of both as he did live in the basement sewers half the time.

His yellow eyes scanned the floor below him as the eyes and other students traveled the halls, some hurt, unconscious, or even dead. One student was being carried on a stretcher, and locked eyes with him. A bewildered look on his face as he was carted away.

Dragonfly had had enough. He changed his skin once again and continued down the hall like a ceiling ghost. Now trying to find the source of the pheromones.

Marie, was wandering about the hallway when she saw the one person, who was sometimes invisible, pass by, only giving her a moment's regard before continuing to walk. He looked bothered by something, "You appear to be bothered, sir. Are you perhaps looking for something as well? I myself am currently unable to locate the library, although considering this campus is a collection of buildings, the library may very well be separate from the dormitories. Perhaps you could help me look for it? At my age I should not leave a building without a chaperone, and as there are no teachers around, I must settle with that I should not be alone as we do not know if the grounds are still safe." Marie's voice could still be considered monotone, although she changed her voice very slightly when asking a question, just enough so that people would not mistake it for a simple sentence. When someone else came walking down the hallway, though, she seemed to flinch and turned around to look at them. This person, she had never seen before, and he had blood on his clothing, although he only held a dollar in his hand. She stood there for a moment, her eyes flashing yellow, before speaking, "Who are you?" She said, this time no tone suggesting a question, although the nature of her words was obvious.


Nicole just nodded, "Okay, then, we'll go after the pheromone person first, just remember that if you start to feel like you shouldn't be wherever we're going, that's the territory pheromones meant to repel you. Try your best to ignore them, your instincts will go wild depending on chemical messages you get." She said. She then waited for him to go and get a shirt. She then turned to the other person, "Well, at any rate, if we run into someone dangerous, the three of us should be able to fend them off. I know I don't exactly seem to have a lot of offensive powers, but if you've ever seen a swan hit someone with its wing, you'll know I can hurt someone pretty easily."


The source of the pheromones was not, in fact, located in any building, although the various scents were scattered all about the campus. They were left wherever the mutant had walked, and lasted surprisingly long, being produced at an amazingly high concentration. The mutant, whose name was Sandy, was hiding in the woods on the outskirts of the campus, unsure if it was still safe. She had fled there and was now sitting up in a tree, unseen in the foliage, unaware that she was being tracked by four different mutants. It was one of her weaknesses, her pheromones. She could never hide from anything that recognized her scent, and she couldn't cancel out her powers entirely. She sat there, wondering if a stranger was going to show up at any moment and shoot her, dragging her away to who-knows-where. She didn't want to know, but something wasn't right. The school was supposed to be safe and hidden, so what happened?