The Freaks IC. Chapter One: The Stalker in the Shadows

Amanda and Daniel certainly seemed to have a rather interesting brother-sister dynamic, Leila thought to herself (Lust: Wouldn't be interesting to sleep with the both of them and see what it was like?) oh God why would you even think that, but the ravenous hunger that was presumably breaking down all the muscle and non-essential organs she could spare was what she was focused on at the moment. Psychoanalysis of the people around her could wait-besides, the demons were typically more than happy to do that for he-

Pride: Careful, milady. I think we're being followed.

Sloth: Eh, probably not. Lucifer blows things out of proportion.

Lust: Oh, but Belphegor, we simply cannot have any fun if we're busy fighting or being killed, can we?

Wrath, or if you wanted to get official with it, Amon, rarely spoke up. When he did, however, the inside of Leila's skull shook with the calm fury of each word, and the other voices stopped to listen (aside from Pride, who didn't seem to care much what the others thought of him).

Wrath: Leila, if I may offer some advice...these followers are above you, on the rooftop. To the right, about sixty-three degrees behind you. Spot them, there. There's only one, but he seems to be talking, as if to someone else. Perhaps is other follower is cloaked from sight, invisible. Wrath stood beside her, a mirror image of Leila herself, albeit with toned, lean muscle, a cold look of rage in her eyes, and a stance that very clearly indicated she was the predator, and everyone else the prey. It was the kind of no-holds-barred confidence Leila always longed for, but never managed to achieve. ...watch his eyes. Wrath-Leila's eyes lit up with a hellish red light, and she pointed to Mort up above, a beam of light directing Leila's view to the hooded figure. He's following someone around here...likely the invisible person. You could take your chances with letting him follow you, Leila. Wrath-Leila extended an open hand, which glowed intensely bright with Amon's sigils, which began to etch themselves across her face and and arms, visible across her chest and back as Wrath-Leila's clothes burned away from the sheer heat, ripples of invisible fire radiating off her. The single dancing flame of hellfire in her extended hand was painfully bright, like staring at a magnesium flare, and it both scared and entranced Leila. I do not have subtle plots or machinations like the others, Leila. I can merely give you the power to take what you already want. Nothing more. Wrath-Leila closed its hand and the demonic sigils began to fade, leaving Wrath-Leila looking a bit out of place, naked in the snow, but nonetheless formidable. ...call upon me if you wish to rid of these tails.

Wrath vanished, and after a moment of uneasy silence, the others began to pitch in again, but Leila's mind was occupied. Who was following them? And someone invisible, to boot? Leila'd seen the movies and stuff, where the government always hunted down mutants-was that happening here? But they were surely employing mutants if someone invisible was among them...Leila felt uneasy, a little off-guard, and it was in that kind of state the demons found her most easily tempted.

"Italian food, yes, let's." She followed Eli, a casual gait hiding up the very confused girl inside. Wrath and Pride were always the two hardest for her to resist (Lust: Ah, Leila, don't insult me, you know I'M the hard-) Shut up, Asmodeus, mainly because, well, their suggestions always seemed so spot-on. So...eerily right. Sure, what Wrath had advocated was a bit overkill but...she glanced down at her gloved hands, Wrath sigil still burned into her eyes from how bright it was, visible through the glove only to her.

Pride: Caution, madame. Amon may claim no second meaning to his word, but unleash hellfire here and you'll be in a very bad way. Law enforcement, the reaction of the angel boy, and whatever our tail is capable of...wait. You can afford to wait. You may find the gifts of some of the others more useful than raw force right now. It pained Lucifer to suggest the power of the other demons, knowing he'd potentially be forfeiting some of his own influence over the girl, but it was better than yielding more to Wrath; if Amon made more frequent appearances to Leila's psyche, they would have a very difficult time winning her back indeed. The irony of Lucifer having to choose the lesser of two evils was missed entirely upon him.

Lust materialized beside Leila, doing as Wrath had done and appearing exactly like her-like she wanted to be, save for the fact instead of angry confidence and strength, Lust was employing far more sensuous curves, an outfit that certainly wouldn't have fit Aurum High's dress code, and the aura someone gave off when they were the object of others' fantasies and knew it. Lust-Leila gave her twin sister a wink and whispered, You know, I think our little stalker's a man. I'm sure his invisible friend will enjoy watching.

Please just leave me alone.

Leila hurried her pace a little, glancing from Tank (Sloth: Eh, wouldn't it be awful to work out that much, to get to that level? Something of a freak, anyways, why'd you want to be like him) to Amanda (Envy: Mmmhmm, she's got fire in her, doesn't she? Shame you couldn't be that assertive, Leyls, you might start getting what you want in life) to Eli (Pride: So humble, the little angel boy, and with his eye set on you. He may have some awareness of our invisible follower-who isn't leaving behind any footsteps, by the way. If HE WHO IS has sent some of his agents here, Leila, we are in for a difficult battle indeed. One which you cannot hope to survive without our assistance...) to Daniel (Gluttony: You know what I bet the best thing about being blind is? You really can't see the looks on people's faces, their reactions to what you're doing. It wouldn't be total, but imagine all that, no one judging you, Leila, you get a lot of that already, don't you? I bet gouging out those pretty eyes of yours would just make your life SIMPLER.... and finally deciding on the grey snow she was making footprints in, deciding there wasn't much they could harass her about when it came to snow.

Dexter "Rush" Chertok.


"Most certainly." Rush says politely in response to Cassandra's request. He reached over and grabbed the electronic cigarette, looking at it. Examining the electronic cigarette was no more complicated than breathing air. Normally, just by being around technology he knows all sorts of stuff about them. How they work, what they do, how they're put together, the flow of energy through them. Which immediately gives him an innate "map" of how to correctly disassemble it, and correctly reassemble it. So, he didn't really need to look at it at all. Since he's keeping his magical gift a secret and all... Must keep gift a secret. People are smart. Smart enough to discover. Discover what are best kept secrets. No good. But despite this need to keep his power a secret, Rush had disassembled the electronic in the blink of an eye. I mean he disassembled it really fast. He was on his knees, with all the components neatly placed on the ground. He was careful as possible so that it doesn't get damaged. While he quickly disassembled the cigarette, he slowly examined it.

Just to appear as if he was actually examining it. Each and every piece was examined from every single angle, every last inch of it. Cassandra would call bullsh*t if he just immediately handed the electronic cigarette saying what was wrong (There was nothing even wrong with it to begin with). After a minute or so, Rush put the electronic cigarette back together just as fast as he took it apart. With one thought, it turned back on and working as it normally did. Rush stood straight up, with the electronic cigarette in his hand, which was presented to Cassandra. "... Everything's perfect. No issues-" Aside from microscopic defect "-evident." Rush couldn't really come up with any excuses that wouldn't make any sense.

"Cannot explain why it deactivated. Possibly. Something was loose. Error shouldn't occur again." Now Rush was wishing that he had his tools with him right now. He could have made the cigarette work even better. Possibly even correct that tiny defect.


Veronica Mia Valos.

Celo wrote:

"Hey," Bre gave the girl a friendly smile. "Art tips? Sure- you want some for just sketching or what? I kinda use several different art techniques. Acrylic painting, oil pastels, digital art, et cetera. I'm also always up for new tips for art."

Good. You don't sound like a complete bottom feeder. Veronica thought to herself as Bre spoke. So far that idea that Bre was a fool that's under Veronica was being proven wrong. Not immediately, there's plenty more tests that Bre has to go through before she'll actually get any real respect (Usually Veronica gives people the false variety). "Sketching." Veronica says warmly, as she was sort of warming up to Bre. Apart of that process was introducing herself. This was where Veronica had a problem. Bloody hell, how do I introduce myself here.... Is it sit down, introduce yourself and shake her hand... No, is it shake he- Screw it, I'm shaking her hand and introducing myself.

Veronica extended her hand to Bre. Softly saying, "Well, my name is Veronica..." While touching Bre would activate Veronica's power and give her the ability to do some pretty nasty things... She was a nicer person when not provoked and she had lines that were never crossed.

When Veronica said sketching, Bre began automatically going through her mind for tips on the hobby. Don't use number 2 pencils.... Start with light sketches, trace over them later.... don't use your finger to smooth out the dark edges- use something dry for that... the facts were swirling throughout her mind and she was so deep in thought about it that it took Bre a moment to notice the girl introducing herself. Oops.

"Oh, nice to meet you. I'm Bre," she smiled, shaking Veronica's hand. Bre felt her sunglasses begin to slide down her nose and used her other hand to quickly push them back up.  For a moment, she was worried that Veronica had seen her eyes before remembering it was dark out. oh yeah- she should really try to remember these things a bit more often.
(the bell rang, so the post was shorter then planned)

Veronica Mia Valos.


The moment that Veronica's and Bre's hands touched, the former gained access to the latter's mind. Her thoughts, emotions, senses, were all being read. Her thoughts gave Veronica some interesting information. Bre's a Meta-human. Something that had to do with her eyes, Veronica wasn't sure. This interested her. Interested her much more than this artsy-crap she tried to engage her about a few moments ago. Veronica was interested in finding more Meta-humans. She broke contact with Bre and sat down in the bench next to her. Veronica needed a way to phrase this without upsetting Bre. Fortunately, she's a lightning fast thinker and knows exactly how to treat people she thinks are under her! Veronica spoke in a polite, arrogant, and condescending tone, "Look, Bre. How's about we cut the artsy-crap and get down to business. Shall we? Don't make a scene but, I know exactly what you are" She tried to talk quietly so that no one listens in. Veronica decided to just cut out subtly and cut to the chase. She was too haughty to waste her time trying to do something that can be accomplished in a few nice sentences.

"A Meta-human," Veronica started off. Since they broke contact, it'll be hard to subdue the girl if she panics. Nonetheless, Veronica will try to keep everyone calm, and say exactly what Bre wants to hear. "Just like me. Otherwise I wouldn't be talking to you, deary." Now Veronica waited for her reaction.

Bre's eyes widened as Veronica announced to her that she knew she was a meta human. She didn't even try to be subtle about the matter, either. "How did you kn-" Bre paused mid-sentence and looked at her hand. It wasn't until after shaking it that the girl claimed to know Bre was a meta-human. Maybe that physical contact that revealed Bre for who she was to Veronica. She balled her hand into a fist and held it to her chest, deep in thought.

"You're correct," Bre sheepishly nodded, her voice quiet as well so that no possible spectators would hear. "So what do you do? Read powers? Minds, maybe?" Bre shook her head, "Nevermind that. What do you want to discuss?" While she would feel more comfortable discussing art instead of powers and metas, Bre was willing to do so if the situation asked for it. And this one most certainly did.

Dexter 'Rush' Chertok.

True Night wrote:

Please let me compensate you, that saved me some hassle with the warranty."

Now, Rush, while he did some illegal and nasty things at times (Gross invasion of privacy, hacking, etc), he always did it for the right reasons. Or at least, that's what he keeps telling himself. Well, money isn't exactly the right reason - But, he's the type that likes to earn the money. Since it was all his fault the cigarette got like that in the first place; he would totally feel like an utter scumbag if he rips Cassandra off like this. It just wouldn't be proper usage of his abilities. Rush's composure didn't change at all, nor did he show any changes in outward emotion. He spoke to Cassandra, "No need. Won't charge you for my services." Regardless. Won't accept payment. Didn't earn it. "However. Should you need assistance again. Elsewhere. Request my services. My range of skill is quite wide. Repairs. Hacking. Salvaging. Will do my best." Rush handed her one of his little business cards that he had created. Nothing special, just a little card with his name and number on it.



Veronica Mia Valos.

Celo wrote:

"You're correct," Bre sheepishly nodded, her voice quiet as well so that no possible spectators would hear. "So what do you do? Read powers? Minds, maybe?" Bre shook her head, "Nevermind that. What do you want to discuss?"

"First we discuss powers," Veronica spoke, at the very second that Bre finished talking. Seeing that she had gotten the intended reaction out of Bre. Now, Veronica didn't want to find Meta-humans for nothing. No, no. She's not the type to look for them just because. She had her own reasons. Veronica was a girl that was smart enough to pick up on things. Such as the several timebombs that are waltzing around town in the shape of "Mutants." She knew that this idle peace-time won't last for long. It brought her great irritation but, she knew that soon enough some moronic knuckle-dragger will cause a stir and make it hell for all mutants. Especially the ones that don't give a d*mn and just want to be left alone - Which she so happens to be classified as. Veronica has a useful, powerful and versatile ability, but there's only so much she can do. She unfortunately, fails miserably in the offensive area, and she knows this. Which is exactly why she wants to find a good group of Meta-humans. To be her meat-shield when it all falls apart (Even if they annoy her, or she thinks they're stupid, they'll have uses). Veronica can contribute much to a group like that, so pulling her own weight wouldn't be a problem.

Immediately after finishing that last sentence, she adds on, "What exactly is your power? Mine is detecting other mutants. Except it's very inaccurate. I can only sense the general area of a mutant, I can only confirm it by touch. Even then it's still quite unreliable. I just got lucky this one time." Veronica spoke her lie convincingly, with utter confidence. It would be impossible to tell if she was lying unless Bre magically got some way to do so. Now, it was in Veronica's best interests to keep Bre out of the loop with her actual powers. Because Bre didn't need to know - And knowing Veronica's exact power will definitely cause some intense friction, distrust, disdain... None of the three are good options in this case.

Then mere seconds after speaking that other sentence, Veronica added on again, "I wish to find a group. Because believe me darling. Things may look quite grim now; they are about to start looking a lot nastier real soon. Your best bet is sticking with me. I actually know what I'm doing." The last part of Veronica's speech sounded condescending as hell. Because she's just that, a very condescending person. She's honestly hoping that Bre will let her assume the leadership position. Because there's literally no other way for this partnership to work otherwise.



((Still running low on materials here.))

MrAllenJ wrote:

"What exactly is your power? Mine is detecting other mutants. Except it's very inaccurate. I can only sense the general area of a mutant, I can only confirm it by touch. Even then it's still quite unreliable. I just got lucky this one time."

Bre hesitantly told Veronica her power, feeling even more awkward admitting it then she did speaking of powers in general.  She hadn't really ever talked to someone about her powers before, so it was something she wasn't used to explaining. Even so, Bre still tried her best to explain her power. Veronica, after all, had told her what her power was, so it was only right to do the same. "Anyone who makes eye contact with me freezes for ten seconds.  The problem is I can't control who looks me in the eyes and anyone who speaks to me i have to look directly at there eyes, so it's hard to avoid using it unless i wear sunglasses." She did a pretty good job explaining it, in her opinion.

MrAllenJ wrote:

"I wish to find a group. Because believe me darling. Things may look quite grim now; they are about to start looking a lot nastier real soon. Your best bet is sticking with me. I actually know what I'm doing."

Bre placed her elbows on her knees and her chin on her hands, a classic thinking position. she squinted her eyes at the park before her, thinking things through. She couldn't just know this Veronica girl was correct on this hypothesis, but still... her statement made sense. There were other Meta humans, and not all of them are good, just as not all normal people are good. Society is just waiting for one mess up from a meta human- just one rotten person in the bunch. When that happens, they were going to get targeted. It was a good idea to be teamed up with other meta humans.  She sat up, done thinking and turned to Veronica. "All right. I'll join this group you're forming, if you want me to."

Eli's Group

Spoiler:

Ten minutes later

Eli, Daniel, Amanda, Tank, and Leila arrived at the Garlic Grove a few minutes after their conversation concluded. They were seated relatively quickly, and each of them were given a menu. A few moments after being seated, their waiter, a tall rather pale-skinned Italian man by the name of Armando, placed on the table an enormous bowl of house salad and two baskets of breadsticks. Eli looked around the restaurant; it was a rather casual Italian restaurant, with tacky paintings of Italian landscapes on the walls and shelves holding fake wine bottles and jars of pickled vegetables. The group of mutants was seated at a table clothed in a white tablecloth which looked much too formal to be in the middle of a casual Italian place. Thanks to some expert seat gerrymandering, Eli was able to get Leila to sit in the seat to his left and Tank to his right, with Daniel to Leila's left and Amanda to Tank's right. Eli examined his menu carefully, trying to pick out the healthier menu options. His football coach's strict diet plans had impacted Eli in such a way that he would always do a ritual such as this one. He was normally a very healthy eater, with the exception of the calamari appetizer he was planning on ordering for himself. Deciding on a meal, Eli closed his menu and grabbed the salad bowl. Realizing that he was being impolite, Eli turned to Leila and asked her "Would you like some salad?"

(Let's see how our demons react here)

On the other side of the restaurant, in eyeshot of Eli's table, sat Chandler at a table all alone. Persephone sat across from him, floating in a seated position an inch above the chair. Chandler watched the group closely, looking away occasionally to take a sip of water so as to not make himself look suspicious. Persephone moved to take an extra menu placed at the table by the waiter, and, remembering she could no longer eat, sighed and floated an inch or two lower to the ground.

"What's the matter?" Chandler asked uninterestedly, taking a look at the menu in front of him.

"It's nothing," Persephone sighed "I'm just not used to this ghost thing. You know, not eating or sleeping or being able to touch things."

"I figured you'd have gotten used to it by now," Chandler muttered "Considering you've been dead three months." Persephone's eyes welled up, and she looked away towards Eli's table longingly. Oh, what she'd give for a real friend. Chandler was so cold and cruel that sometimes it felt as if he didn't care about her. He wasn't a real friend; not a true one, at least. She was just his companion, passively following him wherever he went.

"It's not..." Persephone began, wondering why she wasted her metaphorical breath "It's not the same Chandler. You'll never know what it's like to truly be hungry until you reach out for a slice of bread to find that your hand now phases through it. It...it hurts. I'll never get used to it."

"It's better than Hell, is it not?" Chandler remarked, reading the list of salads on the menu's left flap. He muttered something under his breath about a certain salad, and then put the menu down to return to staring at Eli.

"I guess it's the lesser of two evils." Persephone sighed, crossing her arms on the table and laying her head on them. "But I wonder sometimes...is Hell really that bad? I m-"

"Yes, it is." Chandler cut her off coldly. He motioned for the waiter to come over, and promptly ignored Persephone. She looked up, and, once more, blew a kiss across the restaurant, causing a small cloud of lip-shaped vapor to float across the restaurant and land on Eli's collarbone. He shivered a bit, and looked across the restaurant towards Chandler's table. He just barely thought he saw the outline of a girl sitting across from a dirty-looking teenager with black hair, but then the silhouette vanished and he looked back at Leila.

Josh and Rachael

"Well that certainly isn't good." Josh mused at Vance's cold comment. He looked at his phone and saw that it was currently 32 degrees outside, which was odd since not long ago it had been around 38 degrees out. Must be a trick of the gas dome. Josh thought. Rachael shivered, and Josh put his arm around her tightly in a sorry effort to keep her warm. She leaned her head against his shoulder affectionately and smiled. She kissed him gently on the cheek, and he held her a little tighter. Oh, how beautiful it was being in love during the Holidays.

"It's nice to meet you, Vance." Rachael said smiling, extending a gloved hand to Vance.

"So we were just going to head down to the harbor for the holiday yacht parade." Josh commented "You guys could join us if you'd like. I have a friend who owns one of the yachts. There'll be a good bit of partying involved if you come".

(I suggest that anyone not in Eli's group moves to the yacht parade. I'll explain it more in the OOC)

Gluttony was having a field day.

Gluttony-Leila was lying across the table, practically swallowing breadstick after breadstick. Gluttony: Mmm. Leila, honey, you really can't beat the Italians when it comes to food. We don't ever get to go there, it's a real b*tch being that close to the Vatican, you understand, but sometimes we'll swing by Venice or-

Lust: Ah, Venice. Those gondolas are really something if you're into exhibitionism, love.

Gluttony cast an irritated glare at Lust, who was presumably somewhere over Leila's shoulder. Perhaps the cartoons' frequent depiction of a devil on the shoulder was a little more accurate than people thought. Gluttony: As I was saying before Asmodeus interrupted me...ah, CENSORED it. Eat, drink, and be merry, darling. You certainly have earned it, haven't you? Gluttony pointed a finger at Leila as Gluttony-Leila chewed on another breadstick, looking fat and happy and full of life. Not sickeningly fat, but cute fat, enough that she'd get cat-calls without having to skimp on meals, throw up in bathroom stalls, all the liquor she could drink and all the milkshakes she could slurp down. Gluttony-Leila's green eyes sparkled with happiness and energy and even if no one else could see her or talk to her, she was the life of the party.

It made Leila hungry. She ate a breadsticks as quickly, yet gracefully, as she could. She still hadn't opened up the menu yet. Leila was too distracted to have even remembered silly things like taking her silverware out of the napkin roll or reading the menu. Sloth: If I may, Leila, I'd recommend the, ah, what is it, I never can remember-ask Gluttony, he's got the palate out of all of us- Gluttony: A compliment? From you, Belphegor? Sloth: The bickering between all of us tires me.

Pride cut through the swarm of voices rattling within Leila's skull. Pride: Watch out, madame. The angel boy's offering you salad, and the stalker from earlier is in the restaurant. Whether or not he's keeping tabs on you specifically, I'm not sure, but should you require our services...

"I"m just fine, thanks," Leila said out loud, then blinked. Pride: I'm in here, milady. "I, uh, don't really like salad," Leila recovered, hopefully smoothly, putting on a smile as she said it. "Not enough carbs for me in croutons." she continued eating her breadstick, not saying too much. The ravenous hunger had stopped clawing at the inside of her stomach was good, but also confusing-she wasn't sure how much of it was a mind trick from one of the demons or actual hunger, she...she couldn't quite remember when the last time she ate was. Hmm. That wasn't...good.

Gluttony cast a lazy eye over at Leila and flickered back to the salad bowl. Gluttony: Aw, Leila, you're going to hurt his poor feelings.

A jolt of electricity ran down Leila's spine, settling somewhere below her waist and above her thighs. Lust: Ah, hurt feelings are my forte, Beelzebub. Leila, Leila...I notice the bathrooms are empty. The boy likes you, can't you smell it? One fling and he'd be drooling all over himself to make it up to you. Or you could be a naughty girl, right here at the table-maybe slip when you reach for the salad bowl, steady yourself on those arms of hi-

Gluttony silenced Lust with a raised hand, the first stern action the party girl had taken all night. Gluttony: Take the salad. You could do with a little more meat on your bones. The creeping hunger came back, taking all of Leila's composure to keep from hissing in discomfort. Her entire lower body seemed to be cramping up. "Actually, nevermind, Eli, I'm starving. I'll take some." Leila reached out and grabbed the salad bowl a bit forcefully, placing several tongfuls of salad onto her plate. Gluttony grinned, full of appraisal, and a trickle of warmth unrelated to her lessening hunger came into her. Ah, you're getting it now. Life's too short to be a killjoy, Leila. Enjoy. Perhaps a little wine afterwards could be arranged. She vanished off the table, and from Leila's head-for a brief while at least, leaving the other voices to their discussing.

Amelia wasn't sure what had possess her to, but she decided to take the long way home. Even though she was freezing and it was already rather dark outside. Perhaps the young girl wanted to delay arriving at home. There was no need to worry about finishing school work or getting to bed early so why not spend the nice night outside. It was also easier to think without a mother preening over her. As much as she loved her mother she loved to think. Amelia stood for a moment, watching the snow swirl down to the earth below. It would likely be gone tomorrow and might not come back for several months, so might as well try to experience it. She continued to walk, leaving footprints in the thin layer of snow that collected on the ground.

As Amelia walked she began to pick up on the conversations strangers were having around her. Many of them were chatting with friends about some sort of event taking place at the harbor. Something about yachts. The event sounded familiar, and she suddenly remembered why. Almost every year around this time of the Christmas season many of the richer civilians would dress up their boats and show them off in the harbor. It had been a few years since she had gone to one of these events and couldn't see the harm in attending. It might be fun to watch for a few minutes on the walk home.

Making a slight detour Amelia found herself at the harbor, glancing towards the show in the water as she walked past. It was a lot more elaborate then she remembered them being. There were so many large ships strung up with lights and decorations it was almost bright enough to look like day time. Amelia whist fully sighed. She adjusted her bandana and gloves, trying to retain her heat the best she could. She had stopped walking, finding herself wanting to continue watching the boats. A soft buzz and vibration shook her out of her staring. She fumbled with her gloves, trying to get her phone out of her pocket. The phone was a cheap one, a glorified track phone. She flipped open the screen, the soft glow of the message illuminating her face.

More voices. Great. Eli flinched a bit when Leila grabbed the salad bowl. She was certainly quite the eater, considering the amount of salad she had heaped on her plate. He tried to hide a smile, and then took a bite of his own salad. He saw something out of the corner of his eye; it was just a slight flicker that disappeared just as quickly. When he looked in the direction of the flicker; nothing. This was weirding him out. First voices (which were probably just him trying to block out his mind's fantasies about the girl next to him), now he was seeing things. He looked back over at the table with the weird kid in all black and, once again, saw a very slight flicker of movement come from across the table. He blinked a few times, and then looked back down.

"I must have something stuck in my contact." Eli muttered almost inaudibly. Of course, Eli wasn't actually wearing contacts, but it would explain him looking up every once in a while and blinking. Something very strange was going on around here. Eli tried to ignore it, though, and decided instead to go back to perusing his menu. He decided on a seafood pasta dish, and then decided to make a bit of small talk.

"So Leila," he began, turning towards the pretty girl to his left "what kind of music do you like?" This was one of the first questions Eli always asked girls that he was attracted to. He greatly enjoyed music, and a girl who liked terrible mainstream artists like Lady Gaga or Katy Perry was not going out with Eli, much less associating with him in general.


Persephone was not liking this situation. She too saw the strange flicker of motion out of the corner of her eye, and so did Mort. Something was in the restaurant. Persephone's vision was being exceptionally annoying considering that every moment or two she saw a one-frame flicker of motion come from Eli's table. There was most definitely something weird over there.

Chandler, being a medium, could see all of Leila's devils as they materialized and heard everything they said. This woman was obviously brutally afflicted by these demons. Some of them weren't too terrible; the demon who called himself Pride was obviously the brains of the operation, and Amon, the demon that appeared outside and made the snow melt, was the brawn. The rest were pretty much petty annoyances. Mort wasn't worried about the seven demons, though, as there was a much bigger problem; the blur that he kept seeing out of the corner of his eye. There was most definitely something here that was not related to those seven demons, and whatever it was, it seemed to be stalking Eli's table. Mort ordered his food calmly, and then turned to Persephone when the waiter was out of earshot.

"I don't like the look of that Perse." he said "Something's in here that's not supposed to be". He looked around as another person seemed to catch a white blur out of the corner of his eye behind them. This was no ghost. Whatever it was, it could cause some serious damage. Mort felt the pocket of his hoodie for the outline of his gun; a simple .9mm that he carried to protect himself while on the streets. If whatever this thing was attacked, he would have the firepower required to subdue it. Persephone just grimaced and looked back to Eli, that same look of depression on her face. She knew that there was nothing she could do to keep that monster from attacking Eli and ripping him to shreds. She was completely helpless.

Amanda, & Daniel Blackmore.

Spoiler:

While everyone was concerned with Leila and her demons, there was something else that caught Amanda's eye. Leaning back, with her legs crossed under the table, she had the menu she was given up to her face. In an half-assed attempt to cover her intentions. Across from the room, there was some guy alone on his table, and she was watching him from the very second they got it. It was her instincts calling her, telling her there was something wrong with this guy. He also seemed to be watching them, and talking to himself. But, this guy can watch them and talk to himself all he wants. If he tries anything, then Amanda will be the one to put him back down. "Weirdo..." Amanda muttered to herself, giving him a narrow glare before sliding the menu over her face, ignoring him and looking at the menu. She felt a little awkward here. A little. She noticed the tension going on between Eli and Leila. And she thought it'd be best that she and her little brother split off and leave the two love birds to themselves. Where to go afterwards was the question. There was that yacht parade...

Meh. It's just going to be a whole lot of rich sweaty guys engaging in an ego-stroking contest about their boats. But at least it's better than playing the third wheel.

That feeling got worse because she's not sitting next to Daniel. They can't talk to each other without everyone else butting in, or just them interrupting everyone else. Ugh. Amanda wanted to leave here soon as possible, but the idea of a free meal was too much to pass up. She stared at the menu, hoping to find something good for her. She wasn't planning on getting anything in large portions, really. To stay fit and sexy, she has to keep away from the fattening foods. She'll just get a salad, and move on - What was that? Something odd creeping in the corner of her eyes broke her reverie. It was like a flicker of sorts, the moment she blinked it went away. Amanda's eyes darted around, attempting to find this anomaly again, with no success. Now this made Amanda a bit more uneased. She was unsure if it was an hallucination or... If anyone else saw it. She wanted to ask if anyone else saw it. The only problem was that people might think she's crazy - Well, that's not really an issue. "Hey guys..." Amanda said, putting her menu down on the table. "... Anyone else see that weird blur thing creepin' in your gaze?"

The utensils that were near Amanda slide closer to her. Someone would probably notice - Which helps her, because she can just use that as an excuse to grab Daniel and bail.

The other Blackmore, Daniel R. was unaware of anyone watching them or any blurs. Nor did he really mind being a third-wheel to Leila and Eli. He's less than social to begin with, so such things didn't bother him even in slightest. He was pigging out on the breadsticks. Shoving them into his mouth. Since he wasn't in any way athletic or worried about his weight. Strangely, Daniel knew exactly where the breadsticks were. Without vision. Weird.


((CURSE MY AVERSION TO ITALIAN RESTAURANTS))



Veronica M. Valos.

Celo wrote:

"Anyone who makes eye contact with me freezes for ten seconds.  The problem is I can't control who looks me in the eyes and anyone who speaks to me i have to look directly at there eyes, so it's hard to avoid using it unless i wear sunglasses."

Immediately after Bre spoke, Veronica spoke up, "Interesting, dear. Perhaps you'll be of use to my cause of staying alive..." A very useful ability, Veronica could say. No where near as useful as Veronica's ability - But useful in certain situations. In a fight, your enemy being open for a second could be something that they could take advantage of... As long as Bre doesn't turn her power on Veronica, that is. Plus, Bre isn't annoying, and having on the sunglasses makes sense. So far Bre was nothing like what Veronica initially expected. This could be the start of a something great. Two people, more than human, forming an alliance taking on the world. Who knows what'll happen. The world is a crazy place. Perhaps they'll split up, perhaps they'll add new people. It'll be awhile, and a lot of warming up, before Veronica tells Bre of her true power.

Celo wrote:

"All right. I'll join this group you're forming, if you want me to."

"Alright, dear. We should head somewhere else to discuss further. Too many eyes here. I suggest the Yacht Parade... My family have a boat there. While they'll be people there. They won't be everywhere. They'll be plenty of places to discuss in private." Veronica immediately spoke to Bre, and stood straight up. Her words were fast as lightning, and she spoke like she knew exactly what Bre was going to say before she said it (Or something along the lines of that). Veronica was the least bit concerned about Bre discovering her wealthy heritage. Because if Bre tries something, she'll get put down. Hard. Veronica, while she doesn't look the part, is a competent fist fighter. Plus, she knows what Bre can do, and already thought of several means to counter it. On top of that, her power can probably render Bre's useless.

So with that, Veronica stood straight up, and started walking towards the street, with the intent of looking for a cab. Hoping for Bre to follow.

MrAllenJ wrote:

"Interesting, dear. Perhaps you'll be of use to my cause of staying alive..."

Bre winced a little bit at the statement. Staying alive... she never thought she would hear someone say that, but no matter. it was probably the truth, based on what veronica was saying. She seemed so sure of herself and quick to answer, after all... no way could someone so positive on a subject be wrong. She didn't seem to hold any doubt on the matter. Bre chose to remain quiet, then, as there wasn't really a way to reply to the statement with her opinion or anything.

MrAllenJ wrote:

"Alright, dear. We should head somewhere else to discuss further. Too many eyes here. I suggest the Yacht Parade... My family have a boat there. While they'll be people there. They won't be everywhere. They'll be plenty of places to discuss in private."

Bre nodded, feeling a little bit surprised. Her family owned a boat? Wealthy family, then. Bre wasn't one to really pay attention to social status, however. Her family was just a middle class, average family that lived in a normal, average, middle-class house in a normal middle-class family. Bre yawned, "Great. Let's go, then." She was really quite amazed at how quickly Veronica was replying to all her statements- as if she had already planned three steps ahead of each statement. It was really impressive.

Bre stood up, stretching a little bit before placing her sketch book in her bag along with her pencils. She straightened her sunglasses before following Veronica, who was heading towards the street. Bre figured she was looking for a cab, as it would make sense. So, it was to the yacht parade, then? interesting- she had only been to the parade a couple of times when she was younger, so it would be nice to go for a change even if it was for different matters then to just enjoy the parade.

Pride: Look at the boy, madame. He knows of us. The way his face twitches, the way he flinches when he speaks-

Envy: Oh please, darling. Lucifer over here wouldn't recognize young love if it shoved itself right up his pompous ass. Envy subtly took a seat at the table; the appearance was so casual and smooth Leila herself didn't notice, too distracted by the cacophony of voices around her, massive plate of food before her, and the potential assassin behind her to pick up on another member at the table. Envy smiled slightly, a wicked little grin that didn't reach her green eyes, and continued polishing her nails.

Pride let the insult slide by in a rather dignified manner. As I was saying, he is aware of your nature. It would be best for you to get him apart from the others and find out what he knows-

A voice slippery and smooth wafted in, for a moment commanding all of Leila's attention. It was masculine and sent shivers dancing across her body and rerouted all the neurons in her head for a moment with a rather primal focus. I like this plan, too, Leila. She knew it couldn't be real but strong arms were wrapping themselves around her-

The sensation stopped, Lust's psychic tease over. Pride's image before her, a rather confident Leila dressed in a business suit and sitting with perfect posture, arms crossed aggressively across her chest, wavered for a moment. Pride: Mine, Asmodeus Pride-Leila grimaced for a moment, stressed from the effort of warding off Leila's assault. A thought occurred to Leila-if he could hold Lust, one of the more seductive demons, off, perhaps with her help...Pride could silence all of them. No, wait, that's exactly what he's going for.

Clever girl, Envy chimed in, giving Leila a complimentary wink. Don't listen to a word he says, honey. Envy resumed painting her nails rather absentmindedly, her eyes flickering to Amanda and some of the female waitresses rather frequently.

Pride focused on Leila for a moment, but was once again interrupted, this time by the steady, powerful cadence of Wrath.

The boy is glancing to the stalker behind you. It would be wise not to take any chances. The candle on their table flared for a moment, melting the glass around it, sucking the oxygen out of the restaurant within a matter of seconds. A spark hotter than any nuclear fire blinded Leila before her vision returned to normal and the restaurant, unharmed, resumed in front of her eyes. She took to rubbing her eyes much as Eli had.

"Hm? Music? Oh, I like a lot of instrumental stuff. Movie soundtracks, instrumental covers, stuff like that."

Greed: Oh, Leila, you modest girl. Tell the boy you're more than mildly interested, that you go home and struggle with the violin for hours on end. Then tell him I'm your instructor.

Envy flashed an approving smile at Greed, who was identical to Leila, except for the clothes. Greed-Leila was buying her wardrobe from stores several social classes higher than Leila Septim's current one. Mmmm. You know, Leyls, out of all my roommates, I think Mammon makes the most sense. We'd make a good team, the three of us.

A foolish cho-

You two? You'd never last.

Sloth didn't speak, but the sound of a yawn was vaguely audible.

Enough of this nonsense. Will you let these people stake you out for hours on end? The second they think they can get away with it, that follower and his unseen disciple will cut you down-

These breadsticks are delicious, aren't they? I daresay we've earned another...

Greed winked back at Envy, enticed by the proposition. Lust, who was currently grinding on Eli in a manner that Leila couldn't avoid without rather pointedly staring away from Eli (which would be rude), giggled. Only if I get to watch.

More voices. Great Eli took a bite of a breadstick as Leila answered him, and shivered again, as if something was breathing down his neck. He heard the sound of heavy, animal-like breathing for a fraction of a second, but when he turned around, it was gone. He saw that creepy guy across the restaurant staring at him, and was about to say something when he heard a muffled gurgling noise coming from the kitchen.

Spoiler:

There were screams, and a waitress came sprinting out of the kitchen doors. She dropped a serving tray, causing her to trip over two steaks and a cheeseburger. She was caught around the waist mid-fall by a massive purple tongue which began to quickly retract into the kitchen. She grabbed the door frame and held on for dear life, screaming at the top of her lungs. Before anyone could react, a gunshot went off across the room. There was another muffled gurgling, and the tongue retracted. As the waitress fell to the ground unconscious, Eli dove from his chair and caught her heroically. He ran across the room and put her down on an empty bench. He looked across the room to the source of the gunshot, and saw Mort standing heroically, his eyes locked on the kitchen doors with anger and the smoking gun still in his hand. There was a ghastly moan, and high above the room Persephone materialized, her eyes glowing blue and her hair standing up in the way that a banshee's does. Eli was about to get everyone and leave when another gurgling noise came from the kitchen. The door blew off the hinges explosively, and a massive dark purple blob slopped out onto the floor.

The creature that materialized from the blob was massive. It was a gigantic toad, eight feet tall and fifteen feet wide, with dark purple skin covered in thick warts which had a slimy resin coming from them. Its mouth was nearly ten feet wide, and was lined with hundreds of tiny shark-like teeth. Its eyes were red like a Red-eyed Tree Frog's, and the tip of it's thick purple tongue hung out of the left corner of its mouth, the gunshot still trickling olive green blood onto the hardwood floor. As Eli moved towards the door, the toad vaulted over the table, landing between him and the door. It roared angrily, and poised to attack. The monster screamed, and belched out an enormous black cloud of smoke, smothering Eli. He began to cough, and then fell back onto the dinner table, dead. Mort ran across the restaurant to the table where the other mutants sat, and stood between the monster and Eli, gun loaded.

After a few moments, Eli's opened eyes glowed bright blue, and he took a massive gulp of breath. He began to cough again, causing the table's legs to snap and him to crash to the ground. The monster made a "huh?" sound, accompanied by what sounded vaguely like an idiotic giggle. Eli began to breathe heavily, his eyes still glowing brightly and his face locked in a terrified expression. If he wasn't breathing so hard, he would have been most likely screaming.

"What..." he choked out "the hell....is that?"

"It calls itself Terror." Mort said nonchalantly, looking and acting a lot less scared than he actually was "And he's very hungry". Terror roared again, and licked its lips with its bleeding tongue, ready for dinner. It was a perfect moment for the toad; it loved Italian.

Time stopped.

Such was a useful side effect of having seven demons in your head. This time, however, only three were really vying for Leila's attention.

Leila turned her around, the muscle-cramping hunger Gluttony had brought on and the muscle-cramping excitement Lust had induced both gone. She blinked, seeing Eli dive for the waitress in slow motion, followed by the doors...exploding. Oh my.

Pride-Leila appeared next to her, well-dressed body and manicured nails offset by the grimace of pain on her face. Madame, I cannot hold your reflexes at this level for very long.

Leila frowned. I didn't tell you to do that.

Pride grunted with exertion and clenched her fists. Pride: You haven't stopped me, either. I'm confident we can overcome this thing if-

Leila's voice, albeit a hundred times more powerful, resonated throughout the entire restaurant (within Leila's mind, of course). Wrath: Stand aside, Lucifer. This is no place for a bit of extra dexterity. Wrath-Leila sat at the table, staring at the candlelight. It began to burn as hot and bright as hell, literally, making the air around Leila feel like an oven, pressing against her skin, scorching her through her clothes. One word, Leila, and that thing will be a scorch mark on the floor. You needn't worry about retribution, or the others turning yo in. With what I can let you do, they will never turn against you. Never speak out. Do not listen to the others. An old Italian pupil of mine, Machiavelli, had it right. Some problems can only be solved by force. This is one of them.

Envy giggled, ruffling Wrath's hair. Wrath-Leila's eyes burned white-hot, but no harm came to Envy-Leila: they couldn't damage one another, oddly enough. Such was a side effect of a hallucination. Envy: See, it's real cute that Wrath wants to go all ape-CENSORED on everybody, but think this through, honey. What do you think angel boy can really do? she pointed at Eli, who resuscitated himself amidst the cloud of what appeared to be really deadly smoke. You'd rather turn into a human flamethrower than be able to heal yourself? Do what you want, darling, but you know what the others offers you pales to what they can do. Not to mention your other guests look like they had a few tricks up their sleeves...talents you could only dream of...

A rather sleepy voice spoke succinctly. Sloth: My suggestion is to lay your head down and sleep. I will watch over you while you rest. When you wake, the authorities will believe you were knocked unconscious. I can keep you from breathing in the smoke, keep your body running slow enough to avoid that being's notice.

"No, all of you, be quiet, leave me," Leila muttered, her eyes closed, sweaty hands trembling on the chair. Pride's influence vanished and her perception sped up to regular speed, as a man with a gun stood between them and the beast, said the thing's name was Terror. Aptly named, Leila thought, as a rush of fear came surging into her. That thing had almost CENSORED killed Eli by breathing at it-what the hell chance did she have? This was bad this was bad this was bad-

A scream started to escape Leila's lips but Wrath clasped his hand over her lips, making her whimper with pain (she wasn't sure if this was audible to anyone else or not) as Wrath-Leila's grips threatened to break her jaw inwards. Wrath: Silence. Accept my offer. Fear is no longer a necessity for you, Leila Septim. We both know it.

The others urged to resist, to stop, that they were super-

"Enough." Leila hissed, her hands now gripped on the table (when had that happened?), sending cracks into the wood. The white tablecloth beneath her fingers began to singe and burn and heat rolled off her in constant waves, far too hot to be normal body heat. The candle on the table began dancing furiously, melting the wax into boiling jelly within a second or two, and Leila stood up, turning around.

Wrath-Leila stood beside her, arms folded over and a wicked smile across her face. I am glad you have finally come to me. I think we shall have a successful partnership. He raised a hand and the other voices stopped, the power of Leila's influence giving him authority over the rest. They shall trouble us no longer. Now, this thing appears quite deadly, but if it breathes a chemical, it will likely stop functioning when you inhale it. Your blood's running around a thousand degrees right now. Wrath-Leila's hair burst into a mane of white-hot fire, her eyes flickering a violent crimson. Strike now. If you must hit the man with the gun, so be it.

What? No, he's trying to help-

Leila. Stop being a fool. Either he dies or you all do, don't be ridiculous

The worst part was, Leila wanted to. She felt the fire running through her veins, felt the way she could bring the building down to its foundations with just a bare minimum of effort. But something screamed at her not to listen to Wrath, not to give in entirely, and she closed her eyes, gritting her teeth. "No. No. I..." she opened her eyes, which were now crimson, bloodshot and unfocused. "Get out of my way." she snarled to Mort, her voice a far harsher tone than she would ever use normally. "I'm going to make Terror my b*tch." Leila's hands curled into fists and her clothes began to singe, wisps of smoke rising up around her. It reeked of sulfur.

The candles in the place began burning intensely bright, throwing a harsh glare into whole room, and for a moment a second Leila flickered behind the first, as if her shadow stood up off the ground and took form for a moment. Leila raised her hands towards Terror, roared at Mort to get the hell out of her way, and threw a blast of hellfire at Terror. It felt good leaving her skin, like a hit of ecstasy while being struck by lightning. The flame left her hands, screaming, and went flying in a concentated spear at Terror. The air around it boiled and it melted clean through a table on its way to its target. At the same time, flame licked back up Leila's arms, burning through most of her shirt sleeves.

Leila staggered back, blinking rapidly. What are you doing? Again, before it recovers! You gave it time enough letting Mort get out of the way! A faint red sigil in some forgotten language lit up both of her palms for a brief second and her eyes darkened before going back to her normal green. Leila feel to one knee, feeling a pretty brutal head rush, and tried to get her thoughts together. That was bad, what she just did was really, really bad, but it had felt so damned good, after all the sh*t she'd gone through, didn't she deserve a little power, a little authority of her own?

You do. But you'll only have authority over the dead if you don't get back up. No weakness. I can show you how to counter whatever it does, if you will let me. Leila's conscience screamed at her, not to do it, but damn if the rest of her wasn't begging Wrath to show her.

Meanwhile, the other demons watched, suddenly wondering about their job security.

Amanda, & Daniel Blackmore

Spoiler:

"Now's my time to shine." Amanda said, gleefully upon making eye contact with the frog demon thing. While other people would have been horrified or scared, she was actually glad to come face to face with such a creature. Because she's just the woman who likes the unexpected and strange - Like running into some sort of abomination that she's never fought before. Especially because fighting a monster is much better than playing third wheel to these love birds. Time is nigh to show them the god-like power of the Blackmore family. "Dannyboy," Amanda started off, standing straight up and slowly undoing her ponytail, by pulling her band out. Letting her hair go free. "Think you can switch to your other power?" She asked curious. Amanda kept her focus on the Terror.

"What the hell is going on?!" The blind boy shouted, totally oblivious to what the hell just happened. Screaming, shooting... At this point, Daniel had hidden himself under the table (With the breadsticks). He was confused and had no idea what the hell was going on. So his first instinct was let his older, stronger sister do the fighting. While he gets protection from Amanda. When he was asked about his power... It was difficult for him to answer. Since he always had a hard time switching powers he's had stored inside of him, unless the situation was dire... "... N-no... Ju-Just keep whatever away from me!" Daniel pleaded with Amanda while he hid.

With a nod of her head, Amanda spoke to Daniel, "Keep your head down, or you'll lose it, Dannyboy." Before she got a chance to lay down the power, Leila turned out to be a mutant too. A fire-type, to be exact. Amanda could feel the scorching heat generated by her blood-red flames. She was impressed... But her own ego and arrogance automatically made her believe that she'll do a better job at killing it. Leilia's attack provided Amanda with the perfect cover while she activates her power. Amanda's body began to blatantly alter itself. Her jet-black flowing hair turned into metal - Specifically silver. Much of her body started to coat itself in various metals. Her hands were coated in a shiny steel, it appeared like the metal was embedded in her hands. Amanda's eyes turned into platinum as bronze coated the right side of her face. Several of Amanda's other body parts were coated as well. Her right shoulder was coated in titanium, her breasts were coated with Osmium, feet were coated in gold, and so on.

That was part one of Amanda's offensive, part two came simple. There's a reason that Amanda wore that much jewelry. She took slow steps towards the Terror, making a loud thud sound with each step. Like she was made out of metal. All the metal jewelry that was on her turned into a thick metal paste, and quickly molded into large blades that floated around Amanda. There were at least twenty blades. These blades were arrowhead shaped, wide, and one-foot long. At first, these were visibly multiple different kinds of metal. Though, with one snap of her fingers, all these blades turned into titanium. The temperature of these blades shot up (Leila helped). She kept it low enough so that the metal wouldn't reach it's breaking point - Or lose durability. "Flame tits," Amanda shouted, directed at Leilia, "... And everyone else; stay the hell out of my way. Because It'd be a damn shame if one of you handsome young men got castrated by a titanium blade or two." She says with a cheeky grin. "But, sh*t happens."

"Hey Terror," Amanda says, while she grins wide. She then yells, "Let me show you a real f*cking terror! Hahaha!" All the titanium blades surrounding Amanda flew at the Terror at high speeds. With hopes that they'd pierce the Terror. Any blades that stabbed the Terror would immediately turn to mercury - In an attempt by Amanda to poison it. These blades would dig deeper and deeper into the terror. Any that missed were brought back to Amanda for the next part of her plan.

It would be hard to snap Amanda out of her combat high.


Ray J. Drager, & Dexter 'Rush' Chertok.


The roar of gunshots in the distance was not a good sign. Even if it wasn't close to them. There was likely something going on elsewhere... Ray didn't want any part of it. Rush wasted enough time playing techie to Cassandra. "Time to go." Ray said blankly, as he started to walk off. Without even saying a good-bye. He was the least bit concerned with being cordial.

The gunshot worried Rush too. Which made him all the more eager to get out of here. Cassandra hadn't spoken in a little bit, so there was little reason to stick around here. More importantly his power was starting to make him feel stuffed because he was standing still for too long. If Cassandra needed them, she has their number. Rush nodded at Cassandra, "Until we meet again. Cassandra." He stated, blank and emotionless, as he left the place as well. Police ETA. Few minutes. Not on good terms with law. Best avoid them. Whenever possible. He thought to himself as he caught up to Ray. It was best that they avoid the police, and whatever the hell is going on. Because in Aurum City, it's best that people stay out of what doesn't involve/concern them.

After they left, they thought about where to go from here. There weren't anywhere for them to go other than back to Rush's "workshop." The side-effects of not having too much of a social life is that there's no one for them to head out and talk to. Other than each other, and some friends. Nor is there really an urge (From them) to find those people. There was the yacht parade. It would be a sausage feast, but it'll be fun. Ray remembers heading to those parades with his mother when he was younger... It was hard to enjoy such events. Since even when young; Ray is quite stoic. But, Ray will give this place a chance.

After several minutes of walking around. The pair somehow made it to the yacht parade. They stood by the entrance. They observed the scene from afar. Talking to each other quietly. With their hands in the pockets. Looking like badasses... And they totally looked like they were up to no good. May have been the vibes that Ray gave off. Looking shady.

"You know I don't like these things." Ray says, blankly. Eyes forward.

"I do. May meet interesting individuals." Rush says blankly.

"Like?" Ray asked, raising an eyebrow, turning his head, halfway, towards Rush.

"The Androgyne. Sage. Stated to be here." Rush says.

"Yeah... It's funny how we're friends with... Sage." Ray says, turning his head back towards the boats.

"Plus. I see job opportunities. Many cellphones. Unattended. Families paranoid. Much. Much. More." Rush says.

"Yeah." Ray says.


Veronica M. Valos.


After a short cab ride. Both Bre and Veronica arrived at the Yacht Parade. Veronica took slow steps towards the entrance and got a good view of the place. She noted the two shady looking men not too far away from them... But payed them no mind. Only the ballsy would contend with Veronica. "Now, isn't it fabulous?" Veronica says, near-sarcastically. Because she actually found this parade to be the opposite. "You've got underaged drinking, and shortly; copulation, rich people who take too much pride in their less than impressive, and the masses who consistently participate in these silly events." She smirked at her her joke. "Ah, that's Aurum City for you. City of both pollution and fools. Now, if we're done taking in the scene, Dear. Our boat is over there...." Veronica pointed in the distance at the boat that the Valos owned.


((Since I have no idea what the place looks like, I'm going have to be vague as possible with the yacht parade. At least until I get an accurate description))

Spoiler:

Mort dove out of the way as the massive spear of fire blasted towards Terror. He hit the ground, his forearm landing in a plate of spaghetti. He watched eagerly as the fire arced towards Terror. The toad closed its eyes and mouth, and lowered its head towards the blast. The fire blasted away at its tough hide, but did no more than give the monster a few burns, which only pissed it off. The array of titanium blades soared at Terror, and collided with its tough hide. One or two of the blades made small cuts, barely enough to draw blood, but most of them bent and flattened when they struck the beast's hide. Terror let out a deafening "RIBBIT!" and, opening its eyes, let out a massive smokescreen of toxic gas. Mort crawled under a table and held his shirt over his mouth and nose to prevent himself from inhaling the smoke, and Eli dove out of the way, still weak from the first dose of gas he had taken. Through the smokescreen, Terror shot its massive bleeding tongue as fast as it could straight at Leila, with the hopes of sticking to her so that it could devour her before she could attack again. Mort rolled onto his back and fired three times at Terror's head, but the bullets all collided with its thick hide and bounced off. The toad's armor was thicker and stronger than kevlar. Persephone watched helplessly from above as Terror filled the restaurant with thick toxic smoke. Anyone who breathed in the smoke would most likely choke to death.

Amanda & Daniel Blackmore.


"... Okay... That didn't go as planned." Amanda says dishearteningly, after her attack did nothing to the Terror. She was hoping that her blades would turn the frog into swizz cheese. She quickly retracted her blades and they floated around her as she tried to come up with another plan. Any bent blades were quickly corrected back to their previous flawless state. Amanda needed a bit more fire power for this, she turned the blades into steel. She made the various utensils that were on the tables float up into the air, and they melted into a liquid-metal paste. They quickly molded into more identical blades, made out of steel. Worse comes to worse, then Amanda will have to whip out the radioactive metals; uranium, and plutonium. When the Terror's poison smoke screen came. Amanda sprung into action quite fast. She spread out the blades in front of the group, and made them spin very, very, fast. Making a fan, which pushed away the smoke. Keeping the noxious fumes away from the group. When the Terror opened it's mouth to extend it's tongue at Leila, Amanda was less concerned about the girl, and more concerned with something else. The Terror gave Amanda an opening. Five of the blades were retired from fan duty, and sent flying straight into the Terror's mouth.

There's great darkness in you... The thought popped into the back of Daniel's head. It was time for him to stop being a coward and hide and awaken one of the dormant powers inside of himself. He got a flash back from not too long back. Where he met a girl. A girl he liked. He was close to her, near romantically. This girl had the ability to control darkness itself, as well as the darkness inside of people. The memory that had the biggest impact on him was when she was leaving. That moment, he acquired her power over darkness. The Flash-back ended, and he was snapped back into reality. In Daniel's mind, it felt like a few minutes. In reality, it was merely a few seconds. With the flash back gone, Daniel had swapped out echolocation for darkness manipulation. He slowly crawled from under the table, and rose to his feet. With a thick aura of darkness around him. Making him look like an evil, pitch black, monster. Slowly, he walked with his cane tapping the ground. Daniel stood next to Amanda and a thick bubble of darkness surrounded the two Blackmores. It would be hard enough to stop most basic attacks. Heavier attacks will pierce it. For the most part, it stopped the smoke from touching them.

"Knew you'd come round, Dannyboy." Amanda said.

Bre nodded in response to Veronica's joke that she honestly found so true that it was humorous, using her left hand to straiten her sunglasses. She could sense the evident sarcasm in Veronica's voice, and didn't blame her. The parade, while no doubt fun, was still a city event. And city events, as many know, are just ways to mask certain crimes or to show off. Veronica then pointed at their destination- the boat her family owned. Bre nodded once again, "Alright," she smiled and began walking towards the location. She wasn't really paying attention to any of the outside scenery going on at the moment- she was too busy wondering still about this Veronica girl's group. How many people were in it? Or was she the first one? Also, was she the most trustworthy person? she did, after all, just meet her. What if it was all just a trap or something? No... the situation set before her couldn't possibly be made u. Besides, even if it were, she could easily just take off her sunglasses and...

Cognitive dissonance, according to that modern Library of Alexandria we call Wikipedia, is "is the discomfort experienced when simultaneously holding two or more conflicting cognitions: ideas, beliefs, values or emotional reactions". Beyond the fact that Leila was almost always experiencing seven-fold cognitive dissonance, she was sure as hell experiencing some now.

Every mortal instinct in Leila's body was screaming at her to run, to scamper off, to leave the fighting to the man with the gun and the boy who could resurrect himself. But the whispers-harsh and guttural-of Amon urged otherwise. To stand and fight until this shitty Italian restaurant looked like Dresden and the air inside that beast's lungs burned hot enough to roast it from the inside out.

Don't. Wrath commanded as the tongue came flying at Leila-she flinched back but held her ground, trusting the demon's superior knowledge of fighting. As the tongue drew nearer, Leila's hair exploded with a white-hot fire, her skin causing the air around her to shimmer and mirage with heat. Being close to Leila would become physically uncomfortable: both the intense heat and the nauseating smell of sulfur rolled off of her. As the tongue drew near, it would come into contact with her bare skin: her clothes had melted off at this point, burned into wisps of smoke and ash. There was no shame or weakness in Leila's nudity, or even anything sexual: the angrier she got, her jaw clenched furiously and her eyes dancing with adrenaline and hellfire, the more her body began to glow and spark, concealing her naked form somewhat.

Leila's voice came out an octave lower, sounding like she'd gargled hydrochloric acid before she spoke. "This was a very, very poor move on your part." If Leila's hellfire had scorched the outside of it, there was no telling what she'd do to its fleshy, less defended tongue: she let the thing wrap around her as much as the creature wanted, trusting on Amon's heat to hurt it more than it could hurt her.

Wrath-Leila stood before her, waving an arm and making the walls of the building around her erupt in flames. The other voices were silent. You cannot hold back if you wish to live. Collateral damage is a necessity at this point. Direct all of your efforts towards the toad and do not let up: I have dealt with creatures such as these before. If you can get it towards the kitchens, the oil should ignite and help you. Likewise, if you bring the rafters down, it will hinder it considerably. I will protect you from the smoke and the flames. Surely enough, the cloud of dark smog headed towards Leila seemed to be buffeted upwards by the intense thermals rising up off the girl: of course, she was bound to get trace amounts of the fumes in her system, but for the next minute or two she'd likely be functional.

Leila couldn't understand why the other two-who both had powers as well, it seemed-were being so useless. As were Mort and Eli. Eli. Pathetic. Wanting to sleep with me when you can barely manage to stay alive for a minute in a fight? And Mort holds the result of thousands of years of warfare in his hand and still can't use it well enough to bring the beast down. Put two in its eyes and the rest down its throat, you foolish bast-

Leila shook herself free of the reverie, albeit barely. She was so angry, her hands and arms trembling with both the force of all the fire she was slinging around (indeed, the far walls of the restaurant were beginning to smolder and burn from the fire that splashed off Terror, and a few spots on the floor had already become something big enough to set off a fire alarm. Smoke began to mix with the toxic cloud above) and her perhaps dangerously high blood pressure. Every b*tch who had ever insulted her, every ex-boyfriend who had ever f*cked her over, her parents, her rivals, every time her car wouldn't start or teacher who'd screwed her over, they all began to blur and mix in front of her eyes, and for a rather alarming second Leila couldn't tell apart the sudden visions from reality. A blast of fire the size of a basketball went flying from her hand towards one of the football players who spread some rather unfortunate photos of her around school, barring the whole Lust incident, and it took Leila a moment to realize he wasn't there. Only the frog was.

Stop. Leila insisted, making Wrath-Leila turn her head. I'm naked and trying to kill people who aren't even there, what are you-

Debate morality with me later. Kill that thing now. Leila bit back a retort and turned her focus to the frog, trying to suppress the seething anger that kept throwing bad memories before her, trying to block them all out save Terror. As she did, the flames on her body begin to wither, and the intense heat around her (which she was vaguely aware of but unharmed by) began to die down a bit.

Wrath-Leila flickered for just a moment and cast a rather disapproving glare her way. There was no time to worry about the ethics of the situation or what state her soul would be in afterwards-she could repent after she killed this thing.

Leila gave into the urges with a rather primal scream and began hurling fistful after fistful of demonic fire at the toad, walking closer to it as she did so. If she could get her hands on it, she was going to melt through its skin, tear out its f*cking heart, and force-feed it to the beast. Wrath watched with a little smile on her face, just barely visible behind Leila (although he'd probably go unnoticed amidst the poisonous gas and fire and man-eating toads and whatnot)

Terror's tongue collided with Leila's burning body, and it let out a howling scream. The fire set its tongue ablaze. The monster began to scream in agony, and, as the fire began to travel down its massive tongue, closed its mouth. Most of Amanda's knives bounced off of the creature's tough hide, but one stuck right in its right nostril. The monster cried out once more, and bit down as hard as it could. Its tongue fractured cleanly and fell to the floor in front of it, still writhing and still burning. The monster stared down at its own tongue with a look of shock on its face. Mort took this opportunity to aim at Terror's left eye and fire. The monster roared as the bullet collided with a thick protective film covering its eyes. It's vision clearly impaired, the monster began to blink rapidly, and woke back up from its trauma-induced trance. It roared deafeningly, and breathed out an enormous smokescreen of toxic gas so thick that it became impossible to see. The smoke burned the eyes and breathing it in would be fatal. Eli looked around for something to use to fight the toad, and then had an idea.

"Great idea!" he cried out "Hold this monster off! I need to find something!" Eli rushed off into the kitchen just as Terror came plowing through the barricade of spinning utensils set up by Amanda. The smoke rushed forth, and turned the entire room almost pitch black. Terror made sure to direct the gas away from Leila; she would be his...last resort in this fight.

Spoiler:

(fifteen minutes later for the Yacht group)

Josh, Rachael, Selena, and Vance all stood on the back of a large yacht sitting in the middle of the Aurum Bay. The Yacht was about twenty feet long, painted seafoam green with the words "The Mako" scrawled in golden cursive on the side. The boat's deck was strung up with lights, and an enormous blowup of Santa Claus sitting on his sleigh sat at the ship's bow, with eight inflatable reindeer hanging off the end to make it look like they were flying. The boat was slowly cutting across the icy waters of the bay towards the staging area for the parade, which started in five minutes. The back of the boat was bustling with people making small talk and looking out at the other yachts making way to the staging area. Waiters clad in white button-down shirts and black vests made their way through the crowds with trays of alcoholic drinks ranging from egg nog to brandy. Josh and Rachael were leaning on the light-adorned guardrail that ran around the boat's deck, each of them clutching a glass of egg nog in their hands. For as good a good girl as Rachael was, she drank a good bit, much to Josh's contentment. His arm was around her to shield her from the cold, and she was leaning against him, not drunk on alcohol, but on love.

"This is a great night." Josh whispered to her "Are you enjoying yourself?"

"Very much." Rachael responded happily "This egg nog is pretty good, and the company isn't too bad either." They shared a laugh, and Josh pecked her on the cheek. They couldn't have been happier together than they were on that night.

But, deep under the water, something was not very happy. For just a fraction of a second, Josh saw a shimmer under the water that appeared to be the scales of a fish. He found it curious how long this fish seemed to be, but it simply passed through his mind and out the back. From the boat's bow watched a teenager in the green hoodie, the hood of which was pulled over his head and draped his eyes in shadows. Raphael watched the water intently, a glass of water in his hand. As he drank, he could sense them; hundreds of strange creatures were swimming down below the surface under the boats, just as Mort said it would be. Raphael placed his glass down as the yacht approached the staging area, and prepared for a fight to the death.