Black Fall - The IC (The Day a new Monster was Born)

Faith had not been expecting for Jack to openly announce his power. She concluded he was either an idiot or a show off. Both, probably. Faith was sighing in annoyance in her head. Of all the people in the world, her exact opposite was her step brother. She had a feeling he wasn't into anything she liked. Perfect siblings, huh? "I guess I can pay a bit," Jack smirked. At least the guy could take a small hint. That's good. Now, how was she going to get past the whole Rosemary deal? Jack seemed to enjoy making her want to crawl into a hole. Hopefully he'll get bored of it. It wa while Faith was pondering this she saw Charles take out a fork and examine it. Strange. She'll ask about it later, if she gets the courage to.

"Hi."

Faith hesitantly turned around to the direction of the voice. Some boy stood there- he seemed nice. "Um... Hi," She quietly said. Jack jumped into the greeting. "Sup, man?" He smirked. Seriously, what was with the guy smirking? It was as if everything he did was a trick. She hated tricks. They always made her blush from humiliation. Maybe Jack just had a look about him that made him seem that way, but really isn't. Or maybe he was just dropped on his head as a baby. Faith believed it was the second idea.

A few minutes after departing with Frillerfang, Sage heard a sound coming from somewhere nearby. The farther Sage whet the louder the noise became, until it became distinguishable as a sobbing voice. It sounded feminine, and it took no effort to locate the source. Sitting on a park bench up ahead was a goth dressed girl that looked like she'd been through hell.

She wore a threadbare hoodie over an unwashed and rather vulgar looking band tee. A tattered black miniskirt was ruffled about her, with coal colored leggings of equally bad condition poking out. On her feet were dark leather combat boots, that shined like new. The boots were clearly steel toe, and they went halfway up her slender calf. They looked out of place, not because of their style, but because of their pristine condition. Her face was burred in her hands, and she seemed to be shaking violently. An ornate heart shaped silver locket that was strung between her fingers swung like a pendulum of a clock timing the spectacle. The girl repeated the same phrase over and over without pause.

"It's never enough. It's never enough. It's never enough." Her voice carried frantic tones to the point where she should be exhausted, but she just kept going. Judging by a sizable puddle beneath her feet, the girl had already been there for some time.

It was clear that she was worked up over something. She wouldn't notice a plane crash in this state, let alone any passerby's.

Sage


The meeting with the Frillerfang is over. Sage decided it was just about time that they part ways anyway. If they're going to run into each other every time that it goes near water, then... Sage didn't exactly know. It just kept going on the path, hoping to find someone "normal" to talk to. Hopefully Colin's up and they can all go do some adventure or something. Sage didn't exactly have any plans for today, and it didn't want to head back to the manor. So, it just choose to do the usual and find something interesting to do. However, that something came to him, in the form of sobbing. Sage didn't who (or what) was doing the sobbing, but it did know that the sobbing was likely a female. That spark of adventurousness (And unconsciously, the Black Fall Effect) drove him towards the source. It did find the source, and it was less than enthusiastic upon approaching the sobbing girl. She (Emily) looked much like a Gothic girl in terms of attire and appearance. The way she dressed and looked just screamed typical emo-girl. Emily did look very distressed, with her face in her hands and sobbing. For a moment, it felt like it should comfort her. The androgyne took a few steps towards her and was about to sit down on the bench. Sage stopped itself dead in it's tracks, however.


That was one thing. While Sage was adventurous, it wasn't stupid. Pissing this stranger will only result in getting a steel-toe boot square in the face. Especially since she's likely "unstable" at the moment. It decided to try to ask permission before it sat down, "Hey, um, you okay? Mind if I sit down...?" It trailed off, hoping for a positive reaction.

As Sage finished it's sentence, the girl abruptly stopped crying and turned to face the stranger. Her face was thin, and her skin had a pale complexion. There were no dark streaks in her makeup, that one would from expect tears. Surprisingly she bore no piercings of any kind. Her most notable feature however were her eyes. The were large with lush lashes, but their color was a dull, dead grey.

Emily didn't know what to make of the blonde haired, boyish girl before her. Or at least she though it was a girl based on its choice of top. She studied it briefly, then quickly decided it didn't matter and turned away.

"What makes you care?" she solemnly. Then she added "It's a free country."

She scooted over slightly, and proceeded to clear a spot of leaves and debris. She placed some of the stuff into the one good pocket of her hoodie. Emily placed her hand back at her side, then stared off into the distance. Normally she'd have up and left, but something about the this person made her want to stay. She hoped that she wasn't making a mistake.

So far, things seemed to be going well for Jaylen. These people seemed rather polite to him. Maybe making friends in this new town was easier. He was well-aware that back in New Orleans walking up to a random group and saying "Hi." would get him beaten up. He wasn't quite sure what to say now. Hm...what does one say when they walk up to a random group of people and say hello? Hm... probably their name.

"I'm, um, Jaylen." He said to all of them "Sorry for just kind of barging in; I'm new in town. Just got off the bus actually." An awkward silence seemed to develop, and suddenly Jaylen felt the urge to smack around his brain for convincing him that walking up to a group of random people and saying "howdy!" was a good idea. So, he supposed he'd just wait for the situation to resolve itself. He was pretty sure at this point that the group would simply turn away and ignore him or laugh, but then again he didn't really know what groups did in general.

Jack smirked- the kid seemed a bit nervous talking to them. Maybe if he could get them to join in on the carnival the guy would be fun to trick. Yes, that would be perfect. Jack decided to end the awkward silence and speak up.

"I just got here an hour ago. I'm new here too, no worries." He looked around at everyone else, making them aware of what he was about to do, "We were just gonna go to the carnival, wanna join? We're all pitching in, so there's no harm in another person joining." He gave Charles an impish grin, "And if you don't have any money, I'm sure Charles can help pay." Hay, the guy offered to pay for the three of them, anyways. So one in replace of three is a pretty good deal, right? Plus he wanted to see what Charles' reaction would be. It was always amusing to see different reactions for the same things.

Jack kept the smirk on his face. He knew the at least someone wasn't going to be happy about him inviting a complete stranger- but wasn't that the fun of it? People forcing smiles on their face when they aren't really happy. That is the most amusing thought, for some reason, to Jack, even though he sometimes did the action, himself.

Charles

Maxx Toron wrote:

"I'm, um, Jaylen." He said to all of them "Sorry for just kind of barging in; I'm new in town. Just got off the bus actually."

The awkward silence that Jaylen caused did give Charles a few minutes to think about a few things. Such as reminding himself of the reason why he wanted to leave in the first place. Those weirdos. That was the reason why he wished that he had some form of extra-sensory or telepathic power at his disposal. Some day, that will eventually come. Eventually. They need to get a move on already, because crazy is just around the corner--- And, it didn't make Charles anymore comfortable. He gave Jaylen a warm smile and "Yeah, it's all good. We all have to start somewhere. Ha." He was unsure of if Jaylen was telling the truth or not.

Celo wrote:

"We were just gonna go to the carnival, wanna join? We're all pitching in, so there's no harm in another person joining."

The only outward reaction that Charles gave was a simple confirmation, "Yeah... I--- We, can show you around town while we're at it. What better way is there to show you around town?" While he really should get back to his mission of looking for Nell... At the moment, he has zero leads, and nobody seems to give a d*mn. Would it make him a bad person if he takes some time away from his search, which he isn't even supposed to be doing, or is going nowhere with? No. "Good" and "Bad" are subjective concepts anyway. Charles felt like he could (and should) pick up where he left off (Nowhere) later. There was something going here with these people, he felt like there was some sort of connection already.

Celo wrote:

"And if you don't have any money, I'm sure Charles can help pay."

There was a slight disdain for Jack growing oh so subtly inside of Charles. He didn't know. The guy seemed like a Jack-@ss (Which is hilarious, given that his name is Jack) and becoming more and more like an attention CENSORED. It was downright obvious that he said this just to get reactions (Likely negative) out of him. It wasn't just the way he said it, it was that sh*t eating grin that Jack gave him that gave it dead away. Fortunately, he was smarter than that. "Yeah. I can." Charles said in the most deadpan and emotionless tone he could muster. "If we're going to go, then we should get a move on... Before they show up." Charles briefly looked back to that location.

Even though he has no personal encounters with those thugs, he felt like he wouldn't like it if he did.




Sage

Veriska wrote:

"What makes you care?"

"Just..." The Heavensent said, quietly, with it's soft voice, "... Just asking." It didn't know why it cared, or if it even did care. All that didn't matter, now did it? It just asked a stranger, who seemed to be depressed, a simple question out of empathy. Only to like it was scorned. Sage kept it's gaze on Emily, about to leave. Only for Emily to say something else.

Veriska wrote:

"It's a free country."

On que, Emily moved aside and cleared up some leaves. Like she was making a nice little spot for the androgyne. Sage looked at Emily, perplexed, and curious at the same time. This... Wasn't exactly a source of inspiration for Sage. Like, it was hard to explain the feelings that Sage felt at Emily's apparent act of kindness. Though, the way that she spoke was like she didn't want to do it, but--- Still hard to put into words that slight confusion. Sage just chose to sit down in the spot, hoping not to poke her buttons in the process. Both were silent for a few moments, naturally, Sage had something to say. The easiest thing to say to spark a conversation, "Yeah, hi, I'm Sage. What's..." It cut itself off, since it felt like Emily wouldn't react positively to a question like that. If she wanted to tell her name, she would tell it.

Ray & Ivete


After a few moments of silence, Ray decided it was time to leave Merry again, he has things to do. While the revelation that she was a Meta-human is certainly interesting, it was time that he moves on. He knew that if they really wanted to, they will cross paths again. Hopefully after he's gotten to the bottom of this, and he can probably start dedicating more time to social stuff... Though, he wasn't a very social person. People all around him, people he meets, his family, all say that he barely has any personal life. Always working on moving forward, opposed to having fun like the rest of the people his age. No matter what they said, he was far from changing. Being isolated was a blessing. He could stay focused, driven, without things like love, and friendship to truly hold him back.

Leaving the isolated bushes alone, was Ray. Hands in his pockets and his body leaned forward as he walked. He wished that he hadn't destroyed his apple showing off to Merry now. However, he shrugged off the thought as he remembered that he could easily get another one under a dollar. He kept moving forward, hoping to find someone, his oil-rig sunglasses obscured his eyes determined eyes from sight. There was one thing that he saw while walking. What he was looking for; one of the Valos. Ivete Valos, simply walking around the park. He knew her on sight, she was put in the newspapers a few times. With Ray's determination to find out his family secrets, and someone who may be connected to them. Ray picked up pace and walked over to her, until he was walking alongside her, "Hey, are you Ivete Valos...? Um, I'm Ray... Can I ask you a few questions?" He asked, somewhat nervously. He was unsure of how to go about this, because... How would you ask someone if you were connected to a strange family who may be, or may have been thieves?

Upon hearing this, Ivete turned over to Ray. She didn't know who exactly he was. But, he did look somewhat familiar. Like she has seen someone that looked like him, or may have been related to him. She stopped and gave him a curious stare. This guy could easily have been an insane stalker, his rough appearance didn't exactly sway that opinion. Ivete only stopped because they were in a crowded part of the park, by the statue of President William J. Bryan. People were all around them, no one, but the stupidest would try to kidnap her here with this many people. "Yeah... What is it?" Ivete says skeptically.

Okay, this is a start... Ray thinks to himself as he stands straight up and looked Ivete in the eyes. He personally wasn't even sure that he'll get an audience with one of the oldest high and mighty Valos. If she's open, then this may work out well. The problem that he was finding was how he was going to go about this. For a moment, he felt like he should have been with Merry when he did this... Like plenty of things in his life, he would have to do this alone. He sighed, softly and quietly. "I want to let you know something... I found this brown vase a little while ago..." Ray trailed off, pausing. Just to see Ivete's reaction so far (It was a mix of curiosity and a faint amount of fear). "It had something written under it, I think it was, um..." Ray finger qouted when he said this, "... Gift to the Valos from yours truly? Point is, I think it might be yours."

This piqued Ivete's curiosity. Like, how did this boy have this vase. It was something that was brought up several times, a missing brown vase that had something written under it. Jason, her father, did say that he wants this vase found soon as possible. "Um, sweetie, what did this vase look like?"

Being called a "sweetie" nearly made Ray splatter his brains on that statue. However, he would have to suck it up if he wanted to move on. "It looked pretty fancy and foreign. Like, it looked oriental, Chinese? It had those Asian dragons and castles integrated on it." This was going no where... Ray thought to himself, being impatient, which may be a risk. "But, I'm more interested in what was inside of it. Letters were stuffed into it...."

This may Ivete jolt slightly. Letters were also mentioned. This kid just came across this vase and it has all the letters intact. This boy must have stolen it, though, the idea seems a bit out there. Unless he's appearing to be some master thief. For now, Ivete is going to play it cool and probe for as much information as possible, "... And where did you find this, and what were these letters about?"

Ray sighed quietly, he was sure that she was going to ask for this Vase back. He wasn't going to give it back until he has no further use for it. "I found this in some abandoned apartment. And the letters were about some Sparrowdale academy about... Meta-humans or something like that." For a moment, he thought that he shouldn't have said that. However, all she needs to know about that he has them, not who or who isn't a Meta-human, "But, I'm not approaching you about where I got this from. I want to know what this vase, and your family, has to do with the Quinin family..." This was just about the breaking point for Ray. He was tired of this stupid exposition and he wanted to get to the point.

"Wait, you're..." Ivete asked. The name Quinin came up many times when she talked to her father and involved herself in his formal business. They weren't a family that was spoken fondly of. The details of their relationship was never truly touched upon. From the way Jason has been talking about them, it was safe to assume that. Plus, this boy is likely a Quinin... In procession of super secret Valos property, and letters to the Othergrounds. It is imperative that she tells Jason of this, this instant. "Oh, oh, oh, um, I have to go..." Ivete turned away quickly, and walked away from Ray fast enough that it's close to a run. She disappeared in the crowds of people.

"Wait, wait... F*ck..." Ray reaches out to Ivete, before stopping himself and returning to his usual disposition. Standing straight up, and looking around worryingly, like he felt like a freak in a crowd. "Sh*t, looks like I jumped the gun..." He muttered to himself. Perhaps he should have thought this one out better. People were staring at him, and talking about him. Which made him feel like a huge freak. People even stopped in their tracks just to look. Ivete was gone, and it was about time that he followed. If he was in his hoodie, then he'd throw it over his head and walk away. Since, he didn't have that, he just looked away and walked in the direction opposite to where Ivete went.

"Oh my," A new, soft, seductive, female voice says quietly from above. It was none other than May Pimm, first daughter of the Pimm generation, and servant of Caden. In her pink sparkling gas form, shaped as nothing but a wisp of smoke, no one would be able to make out her true identity. She heard the whole conversation and remembers plenty of times that Caden has mentioned this "Sparrowdale Academy". Much more importantly, the Valos have been revealed to be connected to it. This could be what Caden is looking for. This Ray kid knows something too. May figured that she should tell Caden this instant. Where ever he is. She disappeared into the sea of trees like a wisp of smoke fading away. "Caden will love knowing this... Haha..."

Ray had unknowingly set in motion a certain turn of events.... Caden's eyes of madness and darkness have been set upon Ivete Valos and Ray Quinin. Neither of them will enjoy what Caden has to offer.

Caden wrote:

"It gets even more interesting since you two kind individuals have such immense darkness in your hearts..."

Riley closed his eyes.

The dark woman held the duffel bag, which thrashed and kicked limply.

The morning was cold. Ashen skies dropped a few ounces of what felt like liquid nitrogen onto his head.

The pelts tugged on his back, weighing him to the earth. Suddenly, the boy who had never before met someone equal to him in strength was barely able to stand. Beside him, Chloe smoldered, her normal brilliant flames now smoke...and ash.

The dark woman turned and looked at them, holding him in her gaze. Colder than the air around them. Colder than anything he'd ever seen. And suddenly, he didn't think all their strength combined would scratch her. She'd hunt them. She'd find how to kill them, learn of the old prophecies, the legends. The boy realized he was looking at the Reaper herself, and the furs on his jacket weighed even heavier.

The duffel bag shook back and forth once again. Chloe was pale-she was pale, she was never pale-beyond the bronze complexion of her skin and the glowing nature of her gifts, she didn't...she didn't frighten easily. But now she was. Flushed. Startled. Off-fucking-guard. Another gale of cold air sliced through them, and the woman gripped Chloe in her silent stare. She extended the duf-

"Riley." He was not standing beside a river. He was not about to watch a murder. He was standing in a park. And perhaps he was about to watch a murder, now that he considered it-Chloe had come close to igniting, now, her hair and eyes shimmering in color, from deep violet to brilliant golden to a fiery crimson. Her skin pulsated faintly with light, hardly noticeable in the daytime, but it was growing steadily-soon, she'd start to draw attention. Riley's face was broken, his eyes lost in a thousand-yard stare. It unnerved her-they were both supposed to have their game faces on, damnit. In the middle of a fucking standoff he'd lost his cool, although she doubted the Watcher would notice-such subtle changes in their appearances, their moods, it was the kind of barely-perceptible differences only lovers could notice. The faint, faint smell of smoke reached Chloe's nose, and she eased back on the intensity just a hair. No point in scorching her clothes off in the middle of a public park. Again.

"Yes, darling," he muttered, returning his gaze to the scene around them. Caden was gone-vanished, as if into thin air. Riley thought he caught a wisp of his scent, somewhere nearby, but there was no time to focus on it now. There was still the Watcher-and Chloe was going to set off every round in that handgun of hers if she pushed it too much hotter. And the Watcher's eyes were different. Riley didn't know exactly how, but he didn't like it. Riley shifted his position slightly, blocking a little more of Chloe's frame with his own. "Things...don't appear to have turned out as planned. So be it." Riley reached back and gripped Chloe's hand with his own. Her hand was painfully hot to the touch, but he wasn't cognizant of it-he was used to it, for one, and had other, more pressing, things to focus on. "This, it seems, has ended....rather unfortunately." Riley could pick up on the anger and the violence the Watcher had, it was practically radiating off of him-and you call yourself the protector of this city?-and it was all primed and aimed at Chloe. No, this would end in violence if it continued, and even if he instigated it, the police wouldn't be too happy to see Riley and Chloe. A little searching would reveal quite a lot. "We're leaving. Now. Attempt to follow us, and I will kill you. Understood?"

He didn't wait for an answer. Chloe was unsure of what Riley was doing, but knew better than to challenge him openly. It'd make them look weak, it'd make them look separate and unsure. She nodded and kept her eyes on the Watcher and Riley led them away, her glow slowly fading, her hair and eyes ceasing to fluctuate in color and settling for a mild red.

Emily cocked her head. "That's a pretty name..." She trailed off.

After a few moments pause she looked like she was going to say something, but instead just stared at her feet. Then she spoke again. "I'm sorry... it's just that... I'm not really all that used to talking to people." She said sheepishly. The girl then turned to face Sage. "Oh, I almost forgot. My name is Emily." She blushed, her cheeks turning a beat red. Emily felt the heat in her face and tried to retract into her hoodie. "See what I mean." She shifted uncomfortably.

"So what brings you here?" she prompted as she removed her hood revealing a neatly trimmed mass of unwashed hair. She shook her head a few times, then ran her fingers through it once. Parts of it stuck out, but Emily didn't seem to be the picky type.

The transit bus rolled into Black Falls, carrying a small handful of passengers.

One of whom, a rather pretty girl of seventeen, was snoring softly in the back, leaning against the window. Next to her was another rather pretty girl-her twin sister-who was staring ahead, bored and disinterested. A passenger up towards the front occasionally sent glances back towards the two of them, until Nastasha caught his eye and gave him the kind of glare that most soccer moms couldn't hope to rival. He stopped looking back after that.

The bus stopped, sending a slight kick back through the aisles and jostling Amanda awake.

"Mmm? We here?" she asked sleepily, opening her eyes a bit and looking around. This girl moved...strangely. It was hard to describe, but the way she swiveled her head about, yawning and looking out the windows-she was doing it all rather slowly, lazily. She took a long sigh and stood up with equal slowness, moving casually and calmly. It was evident from every aspect of her movement, her dress, that she was carefree in life, and she seemed quite content with it. On the flip side, however, there was Nastasha, who was waiting for her slowpoke sister with visible irritation.

"C'mon. Wake up."

"It's your fault," Amanda said after a second or two delay, letting out another yawn. "You have a Coke or something? I need a little caffeine." her voice was a steady, slow pace, with a faint Southern drawl to it. She shivered in her plaid, button-down shirt and arched her back in a stretch. She, unsuccessfully, tried to rub the drowsiness from her eyes.

"Not enough to help you. Let's go, this bus is going to take off again with you still standing here."

Nastasha exited the bus, her backpack slung over one shoulder as she looked around the city. This was Black Falls? Hm. She'd...she'd heard rumors. That there were lots of other metahumans here, living more-or-less in plain sight. It was difficult to imagine that, but she knew it was trickier for Amanda to grasp. At least Nastasha had the benefit of being in a slightly more tolerant section of the States; her sister had spent most of her time in their home of the deep South, whereas she preferred boarding school out West. Neither publicized their abilities, however. Nastasha's social life was pitiful enough without whispers of "she's a mutant!" going about. And poor Amanda, well, there were a few that she was slow. 'Course, she was literally a little slow, but not mentally handicapped. She just took life at her own pace, which happened to be about half that of everyone else's. But, hey, she'd outlive the rest of them.

Amanda exited the bus after Nastasha had time to think all of these thoughts, which should be ample testament to her walking speed, and the two stood at the bus stop for a moment, taking in the city. It was...interesting. Not massive, nowhere near New York (which Amanda had only been to once, and hadn't cared for-everybody was in too much of a hurry there) or even Atlanta, but was nonetheless a step up from their usual haunt.

"I'm thinking food," Amanda said after about thirty seconds. Nastasha raised an eyebrow-her sister didn't get hungry very often, mostly because you don't burn through many calories sleeping all the time.

"...alright. What're you in the mood for?"

Nastasha waited, patiently, for Amanda to think this through. About ten or fifteen seconds later, she replied, "...eh. Pizza?"

"Fine. I-" Nastasha stopped, looking around. She...she didn't know how to describe it, which bothered her, because Nastasha was usually the one that had a good idea of what most things around her were, but she felt a...tug. Of sorts. It was hard for her to explain, like a mixture of hunger and the butterflies and intuition. She was scarcely aware of it, just barely gnawing at the back of her consciousness, and she knew that Amanda hadn't felt it yet-or, if she had, she hadn't reacted at all, in typical Amanda fashion, but it was still rather peculiar. Nastasha brushed some of her hair back behind her ear to cover her momentary lapse and kept going. "...I guess we'll go find something, then." She tried to put that tug out of her head but found she really couldn't, it was a kind of barely-noticeable yet totally-influential magnetism. The hell was it pulling her towards? Nastasha turned and started walking, Amanda lagging behind with her casual pace, whistling merrily.

Unbeknownst to them, they were headed to the carnival.

10:01


Charles


As time went on, Charles decided it was high time that they moved on from the park. They weren't getting anything here done now. He looked around, seeing the absolutely large crowds of people wandering around. Playing, talking, and doing things usually seen at a park. He still wanted to find ways to touch Jack to see if he has a power. All it takes is one simple skin to skin touch and Charles will have the (annoying) guy's power. Hopefully it'll be a powerful ability, or a power that Charles wanted to get his hands on (EX: Shape-Shifting, Telepathy, Sound Manipulation, etc). However there was that fleeting feeling that Jack's power would be useless. That would make the guy (In Charles eyes) far less useful than he already is. Charles nonchalantly coughed, covering up his mouth with his hand, as he stopped looking around. There was that brief awkward silence again. It was because the subject had become so devoid of conversation that they were just standing there looking at each other. He decided that they should end their time here and move on to the carnival. He spoke to everyone, in an enthusiastic tone, "So, let's get it moving. There's a bus-stop not very far from here."

After the last words left his lips, he started walking at an accelerated pace. He knew the All-Fathers park rather well, which means that he knew where the nearest exit was from here. He was heading towards the exit that was closest to the Bus Stop. He (Hopefully) was leading the group away from Caden and those strangers (Unbeknownst to him, Caden was stalking them from the shadows, keeping his evil eyes on them). In a few minutes, they were all out of the All-Fathers park, moving on to the Bus stop. Charles kept his eyes pealed. Just in case they see Caden, or any other weirdo. Then he scolded himself for being so paranoid. Then the very thought made him laugh, he hadn't anything to do with those people and he's acting like they were. He kept his eyes forward, all he saw was sidewalk, with the occasional person walking by. That was one of the more interesting things he's noticed about Black Fall, looking at such diversity, in terms of looks and personality... And powers. After a few minutes Charles went around a corner, to see his objective, a dingy bus-stop on the sidewalk. It was one of your generic bus-stops with a metal cover, with glass, to protect passengers from the rain. Under the cover was three benches. This bus stop was littered with graffiti, which have been put there by punks in the night. The entire cover and most of the benches have been covered in this graffiti. The bus would be coming in a few minutes to take everyone to the Carnival.

The DJ sat down on the bench in the middle of the bus stop. He looked around again. He figured that he should make some small talk with the group, "So, um, hey. How are you all?" Charles wanted to ask some more personal questions... However he didn't want to weird out this new group.

Overhead was Caden, lying down on top of the building above the group. With his head poking out slightly enough for him to observe the group.


Sage

Veriska wrote:

"That's a pretty name..." She trailed off.

A smile almost crept across Sage's face, it looked directly at Emily. It always had thought it got an interesting name. The meaning behind Sage's name is Wise, and/or Prophet. It never felt like it was either. While it had angelic powers, like you'd see in the Bible, it was far from either. It was still young, naive, and had plenty to learn. For now, Sage simply appreciated the compliment--- If it could be called that, and said, "Thanks."

Veriska wrote:

"I'm sorry... it's just that... I'm not really all that used to talking to people."

It would take a complete and utter moron not to realize this. From the way she initially treated Sage... That was almost a dead give away. Hopefully, they both would put that behind them, Sage has already done that. "It's okay. Ha, maybe we can fix that, yes?" For a moment, Sage felt like he crossed some sort of line. Hopefully, if he has, it won't generate a negative backlash from Emily.

Veriska wrote:

"Oh, I almost forgot. My name is Emily."

"Nice to meet ya'." Sage says with a smile.

Veriska wrote:

"So what brings you here?"

For a few seconds, Sage thought about what to say. It could tell Emily about the long story of why it comes here every day. Well... It could just compress that story into one or two sentences, "Oh, um. I come here every morning," It starts off, briefly breaking eye contact with Emily for a moment. ", I usually come here with my younger brother, Colin.... It's like a little tradition we made up together. Spending the morning at the park before we move on." This made it ask a question to itself about Colin's whereabouts. He's probably still asleep, hopefully. In any case, Sage kept talking, "He's not here right now... It's only me."


In regards to Sage's question... Colin is being held up at the moment.

Mr Allen J wrote:

"It's okay. Ha, maybe we can fix that, yes?"

Emily looked slightly disheartened. She knew that she was cursed to always have poor conversation skills. Sage seemed trustworthy, but it was too risky to reveal much about herself. She sighed and replied "I think not... it's complicated." She then smiled weakly and added "It was nice of you to offer though."

Mr Allen J wrote:

I usually come here with my younger brother, Colin.

Emily was silent for a moment. She opened her silver locket and peered at the faces of her family. She shed a single tear that rolled down her cheek, landing amongst the others on the sodden earth below. Her voice quivered slightly as she spoke. "It must be nice to know your fam-" A chocking sob cut off her speech, as more tears streamed down her face. She felt helpless, and turned away so Sage wouldn't see her cry.

Sage

Veriska wrote:

"I think not... it's complicated." She then smiled weakly and added "It was nice of you to offer though."

"Alright, then." Sage kindly says, with a smile. It knew that it would have been a great idea to just drop it here, and move on. Emily didn't look like the kind of person who'd be that open this early. For a moment, Sage wondered why she was like this. Then again, some people are just like that. People disappoint them and they just push people away. To avoid further disappointment. Sage wasn't going to disappoint anyone, any time soon.

Veriska wrote:

"It must be nice to know your fam-"

Clearly, Sage even mentioning it's family likely has brought up some memory--- Or, Emily could have no family. Emily was quietly sobbing, and Sage was observant to pick up on that, and it also noticed that Emily was crying. It guessed that Emily never knew them, or... Something. Which certainly is interesting. It wanted to say something, but, there was that fleeting feeling that all it'd do is make things worse. Damn, it was hard to deal with people like these. Sage almost never knows what to say. There was a few moments of an awkward silence. A silence that denoted the lack of things to say. "Um...." There was little that Sage could actually say, "... What's wrong?" It asked, breaking the silence.



Charles


An awkward silence followed after Charles lead the group to the bus stop. He looked around, mostly at what little is going on around them. People walked by them, on their way to work or more interesting places. This bus-stop seems to be one of the least active parts of the area. Probably since there are probably other, better places to head out to the Carnival. The tourists weren't in this area. Tourists usually avoid the All-Fathers park. Mostly because it's simply not a very interesting sight for most tourists, who come to Black Fall for the Beaches and the Nightlife Aisle. Charles coughed again as he felt that feeling as if he was being watched. He quickly looked around again, this time, he tried looking at every roof and window. Caden backed away before he could be noticed--- Still intent on following them. Before the situation could get anymore awkward, the bus to the Carnival came in slowly. "Oh, good. It's here." Charles says enthusiastically, hopefully they'll do something fun and interesting and stop sitting around here. The doors of the bus opened and he was the first to step inside, leading everyone else in. Just to be a gentlemen; he dropped some money into the money deposit, enough to cover everyone. He raised his head and looked directly at the bus driver, and says loudly, and near-egotistically, "Alright there's enough for everyone in there."

The Bus driver nodded, as Charles and his friends took seats on various places on the Bus. There were several other people in this bus, and it felt rather cramp. He took a seat in the middle-area of the bus, and looked around. Every step he took, the random items he carries around jingles. People would notice that for sure. The Bus then started moving. Charles reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell-phone. It was a very simple and cheap cell-phone--- But, it contained one of the powers in his collection. He started looking at it to pass the time, and as a way to avoid conversation. He read someone that people are less likely to bother you if you look busy, and people did this trick all the time. The fork that's going to store Jack's power rested in his pocket, in hand's reach at any moment. Charles would probably keep Jack's power even if it was weak/useless. There's always a use for all power, there just needs a situation for it.

The Bus ride was long, and awkward, and silent. Eventually, they passed Old World Black Fall, crossing the Three Wise Men, to the more exciting New Black Fall. Where the Carnival was located. The bus stopped, and the moment it did, Charles was the first to jump up, full of child-like energy. It wasn't an act that went unnoticed. Everyone looked at him for a second before getting up and getting off the bus. This didn't exactly phase Charles, he had more to worry about. He stepped off the bus, with his hands in his pockets and his grey-Kangol making him look rather sharp. Everyone else likely were following behind him. The area directly off the bus was the entrance to the Carnival. There was a large gate, with several ticket stands. This entrance had plenty of people moving in and out of the place. Charles took a few steps towards the gate, but stopped when he wanted to get something out of the way. He looked at everyone with him, "Alright. We're going to split to pay for everyone's tickets, yeah? I only have thirty dollars on me, so, I can't pay for everyone." Tickets for admission are around ten dollars per person.

Little did they know, Caden was also on that bus. He emerged and hid somewhere amongst the crowd. Watching the group from a distance, if they looked at him, he would teleport to another vantage point.

Lone wrote:

"Alright. We're going to split to pay for everyone's tickets, yeah? I only have thirty dollars on me, so, I can't pay for everyone."

Jack smirked as he held up a wad of cash, "I also have thirty dollars." Really and truly he had fifty, but Jack didn't want to spend all his money on some kids he didn't even know. He watched Faith search through her bag and pull out a neon blue wallet. "um.... twenty-five," she said after counting through the dollar bills, "And some change to the side, but I don't know how much." Jack remained silent. He had decided to wait a while and get Faith used to him before doing the trick he was planning. It was going to take a lot to see if he can get his step sister to actually show something besides fear or shyness, but he had a feeling this trick will make her so embarrassed she will be angry. Jack felt his smirk grow into a huge grin. He enjoyed using his power since it actually got people to react in different ways instead of hiding their feelings. Well, sometimes. Unless the person is good at maintaining a good and constant attitude.

"So, um..... who's... with who?" Faith asked, "Or is everyone staying together?" Jack shrugged, "I dunno, Rosemary, but I might go off by myself a while." Faith's face turned red again. Jack laughed in his head. Of course, she couldn't let Faith slip away from his annoying character (yes, he could tell the others found him annoying, though anyone could based on their reactions) THAT easily without making her feel awkward one more time. Jack had decided to wait until after the carnival for the trick. When they all meet up again would be a good time to do it.

Amanda opened her eyes.

She was still on the bus, now on route to the carnival.

She blinked her eyes a few times and looked around, her head swiveling slow and steady, before she focused on her sister next to her.

"...outdid yourself there," Amanda admitted with a reluctant smile. "Had me fooled. Thought we'd gotten off the bus."

Nastasha didn't show it, but there was a faint trace of pride that crept onto her features. Her sister might've acted a bit slow, a little too easy-going and laidback to be a MENSA member, but she was as sharp as they came. Amanda began to observe who else was on the bus after a minute, taking her sweet time analyzing the other passengers. Looked like it was a group of them, teenagers, much like themselves, and damnit if Amanda couldn't shake the feeling something was just a little off. She got the same feeling on occasion when Nastasha came back from school, for the summers, and Amanda managed to convince her to get her feet wet and do something outside for once, like hiking or carving their own trail somewhere. It was the feeling you got when you saw a rotted, hollow log, and thought it would be just a perfect spot for a snake to curl up and take a nap.

But there's not a snake on this bus. That'd be ridiculous.

And yet, still, Amanda readied herself for a fight. She didn't look like much of a brawler, but she had been in a few altercations. And she was damned hard to keep down. Nastasha? She was a featherweight. But Amanda wouldn't want anyone save her twin watching her back in a fight, even if Miss Prissy was a little inexperienced.

Nastasha, likewise, was analyzing the new kids on the bus. A few guys, a girl, your standard crew. One kid looked a little like a runner, he seemed to have more of an idea of what was going on better than the rest of them. A timid, waify little thing, Nastasha vaguely wondered what the best way to try and open a conversation without looking like an idiot when Amanda solved the problem for her.

"I get the feeling y'all are from around here?" Amanda asked, her drawl slow and cautious. She leaned back in the seat, stretching her legs out a bit. "We just rolled in. Literally, I suppose. Name's Amanda. This is my sister N-"

"Nastasha." Nastasha answered, trying to put on a smile. Did that look weird? Ah, damnit, how does she make this look so easy. "Chaconne." she added. Was the last name needed? Ah, CENSORED. "We're, uh, headed to the carnival, right?"

Mr Allen J wrote:

"... What's wrong?"

Emily choked as she tried to control her breathing. It took effort, but she was soon calm enough to give a response. She desperately wanted to confide in someone so she spoke the truth. "Have you ever felt like you don't know who you are? Well I don't." The worst part was over, she took a deep breath and continued. "I am trying to find my family, I know what they look like but nothing else." She sniffled but kept from having another outburst. "But I can't find anything about them no matter how hard I try."

She turned to Sage with tears welled up in her eyes "And I-" She cut herself off. As good as it would make her feel spill everything, she had said to much. She raised her sleeve to wipe her eyes and just said "sorry" then stared at her lap.

Charles

Celo The Impossible wrote:

"I also have thirty dollars."

"um.... twenty-five,"

As both Jack and Faith told how much money they had, Charles got the feeling that they all would have a good time here. That is if Jack doesn't screw anything up and started acting like a dumb-@ss, which Charles had the feeling that he would. However, he figured that it'd be best if Jack gets ignored, and that'd be the end of his attention whoring tendencies. "Alright, we have enough money to cover everyone now, I think."  Their two friends are surprisingly silent (If they even came along). "We should keep enough money on us, just in case, you know, we want to buy something...." Charles looked around for a moment or two. He swore that he nearly saw Caden, but when he looked, all he saw was something fading away in the corner of his eyes, before seeing nothing when it's front and center. He shrugged and focused back on the group--- However, he wasn't going to completely disregard it. Doing that would be near retarded.

Celo The Impossible wrote:

"So, um..... who's... with who?" Faith asked, "Or is everyone staying together?" Jack shrugged,

Now wouldn't that ruin the point of coming here, and the fun? Charles smiles and looks at Faith. They were here to talk and get to know each other and all that jazz. If they all split up then there'd be no point in staying here. Charles might as well go home if they do that. He started off with a quick chuckle, "How about we just stick together?" He states in an amused tone, "Because you know, we all came here to talk, and have fun. We can't do that split up, can we?" He sounded cool, when he spoke that.

Celo The Impossible wrote:

"I dunno, Rosemary, but I might go off by myself a while."

"... But, we all don't exactly have to stick together. Go right ahead." Charles subtly jokes. Before they could continue their conversation, two girls had approached them. Charles thought they were interesting, to say the least. They were clearly sisters (Or he had guessed himself) appearing around his age. They were fairly attractive, each in their own way. However, one looked a little off, in Charles's eyes. Like she was either very sleepy or high out of her mind. Or it could mean that she's just really chill. The other girl had that "angry" vibe that Charles has seen several times before. Hopefully, they can all get along here.

The Real Shade wrote:

"I get the feeling y'all are from around here?" Amanda asked, her drawl slow and cautious. She leaned back in the seat, stretching her legs out a bit. "We just rolled in. Literally, I suppose. Name's Amanda. This is my sister N-"

"Nastasha." "Chaconne."

Charles crossed his arms and looked at them. So, they were strangers here, huh? The way they dressed and acted certainly gave that away. It's funny, everyone seems to be flocking to them. Odd. Especially people who are apparently "new" in town. In either case, Charles was going to be a gentlemen, and politely introduce himself, "Yeah, we do know our way around town...." He briefly scratched the back of his neck, "Well, I'm Charles Blackmore and I run by the names Disco and Vantez. You wouldn't know this since you both new to town; but I'm a DJ... A really good one." He couldn't resist stroking his ego blatantly. "So, um, what brings you girls around these parts? Between us; we're all just at the carnival to have a good time. Before it runs out, you know?" Charles was running out of things to say other than introductions, so he said some random things.



Sage

Veriska wrote:

"Have you ever felt like you don't know who you are? Well I don't."

Nope. Sage thought to itself. For a few moments it pondered about who this stranger even is. Someone who doesn't know who they are sounded like something straight out of TV... Sage quickly (and blatantly) looked around just to see if there is anyone else around filming this. There was that ominous feeling that this could be some elaborate trap, related to those kidnappers, or something worse. "..."

Veriska wrote:

"I am trying to find my family, I know what they look like but nothing else." She sniffled but kept from having another outburst. "But I can't find anything about them no matter how hard I try."

This sort of cemented that feeling. All Sage thought about was how Emily would ask it to help her and then it'd get ambushed and kidnapped. There were two choices here; leave as fast as it could or press on. It choose the latter. Just to make sure. "... I, um, don't know... It must feel bad not knowing what your roots are." Even though I don't know who my biological father is.. I That was the best it could really come up with. Given that it felt a little bit awkward, and nervous. "I wish there was some way I could help..." This went up against the earlier thought that was inside of Sage, but this was more of being polite than an offer to help.

Mr Allen J wrote:

"I wish there was some way I could help..."

Emily looked up, she showed no signs of having been upset. In fact her makeup seemed to have miraculously fixed itself. She replied "It's no matter, besides we don't even know each other." she laughed to herself, then made eye contact with Sage. "your a nice person." Emily suddenly threw her arms around it and gave a brief, and rather painful hug. "There were two people on the bench earlier, I saw them do that to each other before they left... I wanted to give it a try." She fidgeted nervously as she spoke. "I hope I didn't hurt you..."

Charles wrote:

Charles crossed his arms and looked at them. So, they were strangers here, huh? The way they dressed and acted certainly gave that away. It's funny, everyone seems to be flocking to them. Odd. Especially people who are apparently "new" in town. In either case, Charles was going to be a gentlemen, and politely introduce himself, "Yeah, we do know our way around town...." He briefly scratched the back of his neck, "Well, I'm Charles Blackmore and I run by the names Disco and Vantez. You wouldn't know this since you both new to town; but I'm a DJ... A really good one." He couldn't resist stroking his ego blatantly. "So, um, what brings you girls around these parts? Between us; we're all just at the carnival to have a good time. Before it runs out, you know?" Charles was running out of things to say other than introductions, so he said some random things.

It took Amanda a second or two to reply, as if she was on a delay of some sort: Charles was halfway through asking what brought the girls to Black Falls when she registered he was a DJ and her eyebrows raised up just a bit: she didn't seem completely awestruck, but rather had more of a "That's pretty cool, bro" vibe about her. Amanda was the other side of the pillow, ya dig?

"Just wanderin'." Amanda said, thinking it wise to not reveal they were metahumans quite yet. She was pretty easygoing, but rather perceptive as well. Her own little gift was a little too tricky to explain in everyday conversation, mostly because she didn't fully understand it herself yet: she was constantly surprising Nastasha and herself with the odd ways it manifested. And yet revealing her own gifts would likely compromise dear Nastasha as well, wouldn't it? No one would buy that one of the twins was endowed and the other wasn't. So, for now, the smooth Southerner kept her mouth shut. "Heard this was a pretty neat place to come hang out, we had nothin' better to do anyways. Simple needs." her drawl, well, upon listening to it a little closer, it almost didn't sound quite like a drawl. There was a faint Southern accent, not enough to scream "hillbilly" but enough to  imply of her origins, yet her voice was separate from that. She spoke...slowly. As if she was chewing through each word before she spat it out, the whole time her half-lidded eyes casually surveying the carnival. Pretty neat carnival, looked like there was bound to be something good to eat here, somewhere. Besides, if any trouble started up, this place would be great for losing them in. Amanda may not have been an Olympic sprinter, but she could run longer than anybody chasing her. Only tricky part would be making sure her little (twin) sister didn't get caught up, but she could take care of herself, couldn't she?

Nastasha eyed Charles. Nice forehead. Aw, don't think that. That's pretty mean. Nastasha caught on fine to her sister's ploy, which was likely picked up on by another metahuman: maybe it was just her, but a pair of twins randomly showing up in a city known for its superhuman population probably seemed off. Nastasha was amused by the carnival, thinking it had been a while since she had ridden on any fun roller coasters or anything like that, but they didn't quite have lodgings and long-term plans worked out yet ("Aw, it'll all be fine, stop worrying so much," was Amanda's inevitable, infuriating response to her concerns), so maybe burning through their money on cheap thrills could wait. Charles could probably direct them to a decent place to stay, but she wanted to have a bit of a conversation first. "Hey, who are your friends?" Nastasha asked, looking at the small group of kids around Charles. She got a slight vibe from them, she didn't know quite what to call it, but something nudged her to stay and talk before blowing these kids off. Besides, getting Amanda to go anywhere in a hurry was an effort in futility. They had a fire at their house once, and her sister walked out of the burning building. Whistling.

Besides that, she didn't want to go off with just Amanda yet. There was another feeling she was getting, one she wasn't totally sure of. She'd heard about...shadow people...dancing just off the corner of your eyes, and she could've sworn she saw one coming in. Nastasha wasn't one to scare easily, but in a city with this many metahumans running around, she felt trusting her instincts to be a very, very good idea.

---


Leaving All Father's Park was straightforward; finding where to go after that was a bit more convoluted. The city was tricky for Chloe and Riley to traverse, mostly because both of them felt...unhinged? No. That wasn't quite right. Like something was amiss, and the very act of not knowing what was amiss was surely worse than the repercussions of whatever it was being amiss. Did that make any sense? Neither do Riley or Chloe. Such is the psyche of an emotionally unstable teenager.

"Well," Chloe muttered, one hand wrapped around Riley's, the other tense and ready to break off the Watcher's jaw and shove it up his own ass, should he show his face (metaphorically speaking) again. "Any idea of where to go?"

Riley closed his eyes for a moment, thinking things over. He inhaled deeply a few times, in through the nose and out through the mouth, and this was more than a breathing exercise or an attempt to calm himself. The Watcher and Caden hadn't unnerved him, not in the slightest: but the lapse he had did. Riley...Riley never wavered. Never faltered. He'd stared death in the eye how many times before, why now was he starting to slip? Lose control? And before, the previous night, Chloe's nightmares. It was nothing. This was just a brief lapse, from driving so much. It had nothing to do with a certain black bag and a certain woman, garbed in black armor. N-nothing at all.

The asphalt slipped out from under Riley's feet while the sound of a honking horn flooded his ears. Chloe jerked Riley back from oncoming traffic, making him stagger as he regained his balance. "Ri, I know you're damned hard to kill, but that seems like you're just pressing your luck." The tractor trailer truck roared by, the driver making a somewhat obscene gesture towards the two as he did so. Riley closed his eyes for a moment and sat down, letting the pelted coat warm him up for a minute or two. "Sorry. Just...a lot on my mind lately."

Riley might've been the one that could read thoughts (and especially fear, like a shark to blood was Riley to terror), but Chloe had the gift of female intuition, which is right up there next to telepathy and mind control in terms of forces to be reckoned with. She sat down next to him, the two taking up a decent swathe of the sidewalk as they just rested for a minute. Chloe's Beretta was cold against her chest, and even Riley felt a little chilly and clammy. Chloe, of course, was warm to the touch-not painfully hot, as she had been before. Her hair was changing color far more slowly, now, over the course of a half hour or so, and her eyes fluctuated to match.

"...I've got no idea. I think I've got Caden's scent, we could follow him."

"Not that there's somebody out there the two of us can't handle, but I think we should watch out for him. He's good." Chloe met Riley's eyes, something most couldn't do without enduring some rather horrible repercussions, and held the gaze for a while. She broke it only to deliver a rather scathing glare at someone who was snickering at the couple-he quite promptly realized such laughter might not be the best idea at the moment and quickly hurried by. Even the near-collision with the truck seemed distant, now, and the park and the hotel room were eons away.

"Yeah. We're better. Let's go, then."

"Look both ways this time."

Ray


After his meeting with Ivete went less than stellar, Ray dispersed. Not even going after Ivete, that'd be too much. Especially since she's a rich girl... Some asshole might beat Ray into the dirt if he goes any further. There'd be another chance, as every dog has it's day. For now, he figured that he would take a break and move on elsewhere. Maybe find something else to do. He walked, talking heavy steps that empathized his strength, and both hands were moved to his pockets. After he's gotten a significant distance, he stopped for a moment to look around. He wants to smoke a cigarillo. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a 6-pack of cigarillo. He reached inside the pack and slide one in between his lips. Putting the pack away, and pulling out a lighter. Ray put the lighter up to his cigarillo and put his hand over it, to shield it from the wind, and he had tilted his head forward a bit. Focusing on his cigarillo. He swore that he felt as if someone was behind him. He quickly darted around, only to see no one. However, there was a strange man with red hair and a small hook hand in the background, looking around. Ray ignored this person and moved along with a cigarillo in between his lips. Every now and then he would blow the smoke out of his mouth.



Sage & Ray

Veriska wrote:

"your a nice person." Emily suddenly threw her arms around it and gave a brief, and rather painful hug. "There were two people on the bench earlier, I saw them do that to each other before they left... I wanted to give it a try."

It was certainly unexpected for Emily to just give Sage a hug for no reason. It was odd, and ended up being awkward. Especially since she didn't look like the kind of person to do that. What Emily said, did give it a small amount of insight on the girl. The hug hurt a bit, but nothing that Sage couldn't handle. After she let go, it looked at Emily with confusion and there was an awkward silence. As it had no idea what to say. As the silence continued on, Sage started lightly stroking it's blond(e) hair. As it looked around.

Veriska wrote:

"I hope I didn't hurt you..."

"It's..." And Sage was speaking from the bottom of it's heart right here, "Fine. Just don't do it as tightly next time... Please." It's tone made how it actually felt fairly obvious. It didn't know what to make of it, but still remained kind as it should be. After it spoke, a familiar face, Ray had approached. Recognizing Sage, as one of his friends. He stood in front of both of them on the bench for a few seconds before

"Hmph. Hope I'm not interrupting anything...." Ray says, in a sarcastic tone. He had a small smirk crept across his face.

"Oh, um, not really." Sage replied. Peering at Emily for a moment before diverting it's attention back on Ray. It was going to introduce itself to.

After Sage gave the word, Ray turns to Emily and speaks to her, "Yeah, I'm Ray... I'm kinda friends with Sage... In the broadest sense." Ray then maneuvers the cigarillo to the other side of his mouth and blows out a puff of smoke from the opposite side. Turning the cigarillo in a circle slightly, before inhaling another puff.


Charles & Caden

The Real Shade wrote:

"Hey, who are your friends?"

Charles looked at his "friends" briefly. They hadn't really said anything and he was basically carrying the conversation. Annoying, but it put him in the spotlight. Just like where it should be. He nonchalantly coughed. "Well, this is Jack, and this is my friend Faith---" Charles had seen a sight come from behind both Amanda and Natasha that made him stop mid-sentence and jolt slightly out of surprise. After the small shock wore off, his eyes widened and was focused on it... It was one of the people from before, and followed them here.

What Charles had saw was Caden Zorich, simply shadow-stepping behind the sisters in broad daylight like it was nothing. He gave the group a curious stare before he spoke in his usual tone to the people, "Hm. That's interesting. You've made plenty of friends since I last saw you all."

"Who the hell are you...?" Charles says to Caden in an obviously confrontational tone. Meaning he didn't want to know who Caden was--- It was a way of saying that he wasn't afraid of him. However, this guy was obviously a Meta-human the way he just teleported in. All Charles has to do is touch him, copy his powers. However, there was that feeling as if he should be more prepared for an attack by Caden.

"Doesn't matter to you, now does it?" Caden says with a sinister chuckle, this Charles fellow didn't seem to phase him in the slightest. He was much more interested in Faith and Nick. "My business is with the kind youngsters I was talking to before those unsavory individuals rudely interrupted." He started laughing loudly, before bringing himself to an abrupt stop, "Now, would you two enjoy finishing our conversation where we left off?" Caden says.

As Caden spoke, Charles took the golden opportunity to suit up. There's plenty of sand all around them from the beach that the Carnival is built upon. There's also broken glass and other things Charles can use as a weapon. He kept his attention on Caden as he started digging into his vest, looking for that silver locket that contains Sand Manipulation. He pulled out the broken silver locket from his pockets and grasped it tightly. A green light, much like electricity, came out of the locket and traveled up his arm, seemingly up into his head before disappearing. Now Charles wields the power of Sand Manipulation, and felt like if a fight broke out, he would have the advantage. He kept the locket held tightly in his hands.

Faith had been listening to the conversation, standing there awkwardly since she didnt really want to talk to any more new people. Lucky for her Charles was doing it. The two girls that were talking to them seemed nice, but she was still tired of meeting new people and feeling uncomfortable. She jumped when she saw the Caden guy from earlier teleport behind the two girls.

Charles seemed ready to fight him- it was easy to tell by the tone of voice and- this time there was no doubt she saw it- the green light traveling up his arm. Faith felt some curiosity about the green light and also still felt some curiosity about what Caden had been talking about earlier.

Faith opened her mouth to speak when Jack stepped forward, taking a few steps towards Caden. That idiot was going to get himself killed! Faith stood there, frozen. As Jack smirked at Caden. "Just who are you?" He asked, "you seemed to have teleported into your current position, didn't ya?" He let out a small laugh. "I believe by two youngsters you mean Rosemary and Nick, right?  They were the first of the group, I believe. Name's Jack."  Jack shrugged as he turned to Faith, "you sure do get around a lot."

Faith felt her face heating up. Jack was going to be dead in the next few days- she wasn't sure if it was going to be caused by her or some other annoyed person, though. She nervously stepped towards Jack, "u-um... I guess I know him. At least I only know his name."  She looked at Nick, wondering if it would be okay to talk to Caden. Sure, the guy was creepy, but he knew things about meta humans that Faith was curious about.

Mr Allen J wrote:

"Yeah, I'm Ray... I'm kinda friends with Sage... In the broadest sense."

Emily looked Ray up and down for a moment, she didn't know what to make of this newcomer. He didn't look very trustworthy and his shades didn't help. "Hello." she said hesitantly as not to be rude. Emily looked at Sage then Ray. They are so different, I have a hard time seeing them as friends she thought to herself. Or maybe that's why they're friends... Emily cast the thought aside, she had already spent more than enough time trying to comprehend friendship. She looked back at Sage, the way it had treated her gave her a strange sensation. Was that feeling similar? Emily sighed I'll probably never find out.

"Nice to meet you Jack, Faith. I'm Nastas-"

Nastasha was so rudely interrupted by teleportation boy, who talked like he was trying to talk down to all of them. Not to mention he was just creepy. Well, sort of creepy. He walked a razor's edge between the megalomania of a B-list horror villain and the cold brutality of someone that would, with no reservations, gun them down right here if he thought it would get them all ahead. He sees you as a stepping stone, Sasha. Careful you don't wind up that way. There was something else about him, though. She didn't know quite how to place it: not that the boy was cute or handsome by any means, he was as androgynous and feminine as they came, and those dreads were just ridiculous-but he had some kind of...magnetism? Nastasha didn't quite know how to describe it. She wasn't a follow the leader the type, save for her sister, who could give very good advice when she felt things severe enough, but some part of her clicked regarding Caden. He was going to go somewhere, or die trying. Die crawling towards whatever destination it was he had in mind. She got some creepy vibes from this kid, but some powerful ones, too. And Nastasha very quietly noted that as wise as it would be to avoid him, he would be a useful-if incredibly volatile-ally should their goals ever align. But if you're looking for the same end-game as he is, Sasha, you've got some real problems ahead. Nastasha noted that the two of them were the closest to Mister Caden Zorich out of everyone in the group, and wanted to be ready if something happened. While not moving her hands, she mentally readied herself to strike if Caden tried something. Or if the others tried something, for that matter-they'd be caught in the crossfire.

Amanda had similarly given Caden the casual look-up, look-down, which was not driven by sexual interest or a curiosity for his fashion (which was nonexistent, much like Amanda's), but rather a plain and simple tactical check-out. Kid looked like he had some weight to throw around-metaphorically speaking. Amanda was pretty sure his scrawny little ass couldn't hold up for five minutes in a fistfight, which was her preferred means of confrontation. Still, he either had power, or thought he did. That much was evident from the way he walked, wannabe dramatic way he burst into their conversation. Kid meant business. Amanda didn't much care to get involved in affairs that weren't her own-she was the type to live and let die, unless it involved her sister, but she didn't like seeing bullies, either. Amanda made a quick mental note to not turn her back on....whatever his name was. Had he said? Amanda seemed to be picking up on the details of the conversation more slowly than the others-she reacted to Caden's arrival a few seconds after he materialized before them and began assessing whether he could hold his liquor a few seconds later. The girl was either slow, stoned as hell, or the most laidback person on earth. Perhaps all three, given the time of day. Amanda noticed the girl, thought her name was Faith, wasn't that what Charles had said?-blushing a bit. You and this boy have history? Ooh, honey. Have some standards for yourself.

"You didn't have any trouble comin' out of the metahuman closet, did you?" Amanda asked, smiling a bit, half-lidded eyes glinting with either good humor or wary vigilance. "Dancin' in the shadows, nice trick. Bet you could make a killin' at one of those haunted houses they put up 'round Halloween time." Her drawl seemed a little accentuated, as if she was thickening it just a touch. She always liked to defuse a potentially dangerous situation or make a fool of herself when meeting potentially deadly types-made them lower their guard.

Caden & Charles

Celo The Impossible wrote:

"Just who are you?" He asked, "you seemed to have teleported into your current position, didn't ya?" He let out a small laugh. "I believe by two youngsters you mean Rosemary and Nick, right?  They were the first of the group, I believe. Name's Jack."  Jack shrugged as he turned to Faith, "you sure do get around a lot."

"Yes. I am referring to the two I was talking with earlier." Caden starts off, completely nonchalant, "Hopefully, for you all, I won't get interrupted... Again." He sized up this Jack fellow, average looking, slight tan, has little darkness in him. Caden just dismissed him, he knew that Jack was just some average person, posing little to no threat. It's amazing how many ways he could end a life with a flick of a wrist. However, he had restraint, and never ended a life with no reason... As long as they don't give him a reason, then they don't have to worry about anything.

It was a bit troubling how Caden spoke, and his entire vibe. While he looked like Caden poses little to no threat, the way he just teleported in and started speaking gave Charles some rather negative vibes. However, it fully appears that Caden isn't here for him. More like he was here for what happened before at the park. Charles constantly remained on guard.

Celo The Impossible wrote:

"u-um... I guess I know him. At least I only know his name."

"While I did say it didn't matter to all but Faith and Nick... My name is Caden Zorich, and I wish that our time together is quite enjoyable...." Caden adds on, looking at every single member of the group. Then giggled quietly. "Now would you all tell me your names? It's only fair."

There was no way in hell that Charles was going to tell his name to such an odd person. His real name that is. He thought of movies where someone gives an alias. He tilted his head and gave a fake name off the top of his head. If his "allies" here were intelligent enough to pick up on this, they wouldn't say anything of it. "My name is Timothy Robinson." A fake name. Plain and simple.

"Now isn't that interesting? Are we being truthful here...?" Caden asks, he wasn't sure if Charles was telling his true name.

"Y-yup." Charles yips. Hoping that Caden would back off by now.

The Real Shade wrote:

"You didn't have any trouble comin' out of the metahuman closet, did you?"

Caden sizes up the two girls in the group as well. They didn't seem to be native to these parts. The way Amanda talked seemed to give away a southern heritage. However, Amanda seemed to be "slow" in terms of reactions. Their darkness was average, meaning that they haven't done anything naughty (yet). The small amounts of darkness that everyone present had, was uninteresting. Means that they have never done anything such as ending a life, or a life of crime. So boring. At least those two people from before seemed to be interesting. In any case, Caden, nonchalantly as always, says "Nope. Not at all. Some day I will change the rules of the world. A change that will allow our kind to no longer hide in the shadows, and one day get to use their powers on the streets like it's... Nothing...."

This creep's definitely a Meta-human. A powerful one. Charles thinks to himself. The illusion of power that Caden was giving off definitely convinced Charles that he was certainly a threat. The funny thing is that everyone that crossed Charles who thought they were strong and he was weak, found out that the opposite was true. Regardless of if this change benefited him or not; Charles wanted nothing to do with it. This Caden guy was trouble.

The Real Shade wrote:

"Dancin' in the shadows, nice trick. Bet you could make a killin' at one of those haunted houses they put up 'round Halloween time."

Caden scowled, "That'd be incredibly degrading. That'd be like becoming a prostitute." It was one thing that Caden despised were Meta-humans who used their gifts to parade themselves for money. "My gift isn't just some skill to get a quick buck. It's a gift which makes ME superior to the common man in every single way--- And those who say otherwise are, as we could say, narrow...." Caden looked around before a fiendish smirk crept on his face, "I could kill every last person here before police could even get called, leave, and then come back to kill the responding police officers... But, I don't kill without reason, it's just... An example."

It was time to get back on track, these two were interesting, but not what he wants. Caden turned to Faith and just so nonchalantly revealed her Meta-human status, "Now, Faith, if I remember correctly... You stated that you're a Meta-human, yes? I wish to indulge on that." This will either benefit Caden in some ways, by hoping that the rest of the group will reveal their Meta-human status, or it will do nothing. In either case, it won't impede Caden or his plans in any way.

Faith a Meta-human...? No... He thought to himself, before quickly peering towards Faith.. Okay, now Charles was having enough of this guy. A fight was going to start shortly if they aren't miles away from each other in the next ten seconds. Whether he starts it or not won't matter. Just in preparation, he started drawing all the sand and glass to him. Very slowly, it would be hard for people present to notice. The people around them would probably think that it's wind blowing the sand... If they were stupid. This was risky, but Charles isn't worried. Who would think that a guy just started tossing sand at a darkness weirdo?



Ray & Sage


Hmph, that it? Ray humorously thinks to himself as a sarcastic smile creeps on his face. Emily only said "Hello" to him, before going silent. That faint amusement soon went away when he remembered something. One of the letters to this academy were out to Sage, and some of his siblings. He wanted to ask it about them, but for the short while, Ray is going to slow down for a little bit and maybe... He didn't know. Make some allies? He wasn't good at this, the only real reason that he knows Sage was for purely business reasons. While it wasn't a good basis for friendship--- He stopped that train of thought right there. He constantly reminded himself of how shitty he is at socializing (Maybe his time with Merry was close enough to being a social situation). Ray put his cigarillo in between his index and middle finger and tilted his body forward towards Sage and whispered quietly into it's ear, "Be quiet," Ray whispered into Sage's ear, "This might interest you. I would be a bit careful with that." Ray then reaches into his pockets and pulls out the letter for Sage (Magically knowing which one it is) and hands the letter to it. Taking a few steps back, before his eyes went towards Emily for a moment.

Sage looked around for a moment, holding the letter with both hands, and slowly opening it up and examining the contents. It's a letter for Sage to the Othergrounds, interesting. It had no idea it was invited to any schools for Meta-humans like itself. Somewhere it can be at home, and truly have it's own paradise. Where it can fly free. There was the small question of... "... Where did you get this from, Ray?" It curiously asked, out loud, loud enough for everyone present to hear..

"... Just, uh..." Ray starts off, unsure of what to say, "I... Found it."