Fractured Dimensions

N E V E R N O R M A L
phase 2: b l o o d b a t h














ḟ̴̧͇̪̘̦̮͖͎͙̠͍͙̤̖̜̯̠̦̳̗̲̼̪̝͉̘͙̖͙̯̞̘̖̭̻̯̙̣̀̍͜ͅŗ̷̤̜̤̼̹̫̲͉̹͓̤̲̗̝̪̫̗͉̜̤͍͇̜͚̙̗̂̊̀̓͗̌͊̋̂̿̔͂̋̀͒͆͆̾̽͋̑͊̌̿̂̂̓̌̅̃̏̎̾̄̍̆̕̚̕͜͝͝ą̶̢̢̙͓͔͉̯͔̝̬̜̹̜̞̬̞̝͇̤̩̯̥̳̘͍̼͇̞͙̤͍͕͙͈̅̓̿͒̀́͆͐̐̄̔̓̎̓̽͌̌̓̅͆̔͗͐͂͐̇͘̕̕͜͜c̵̡̨͔͎̠̮͇̙̞̩͍̮̦͎̖̰̙͈̺̰̙͚͍̠̼͕̜̗̼̪͑̏̂̓̄̓̉̆̑̐͊͗̇͋̏͋̈̉͛̓͌̃̔͐̍͋͌̎́̀̏̏̄̏͊̕̚̚͜͝͝͠ͅt̷̖̙͕͖͚̜̫͎̗͈̬̻͖̠͕̟̳̠͈̖̖̋ͅų̴̡̨̧͎̗͔͉̯̥͙̪̹͚̦̥̟̠͙̖̟̭͉̗̖̭̻͙͔̥̬̖̜̰͚̤̣͚̊̈̍̊̐͐̌̐͊̏͐̔͋͒̿̀͜ͅr̷̢̧̢̧̛̖̪̞̻͈̭͎͇͍̣͎̳͔͔̣̯͎͖͍̟͈̺͚͚̙͕̗̯͚̦̼̟͓͓̹̾̋͋̉̇͒̇̿̀̎̌̌͛̀̓̂͘̕̕͜ͅͅė̵̡̨̧̞̙͚̝̼͓̯̭͈̯̲̘̖̭̻͎̺͚̳̩̜͔̮͔͇͖̤͍̝̖̫͈̪͊̈͐̓́͂͜͜ͅd̶̢̢͇͍͇͚͎͚͕͖̱̥̩̂͊̀͒̾͒̄͑̌̇̀̄̀̌̓̉̿̑̈́͗̅͜ͅ ̷̡̡͖̮̥͎̼̺̝̘͔̞͎̤̘̥̪̞̖̝̳̣̙͓̱͖͙̣̺̹̮͈̪͔̺̥̼̼͔̥̝͓̯̒̌̏̄̈́̔̋͑́͛́͋̾͊̔̽̔̽͋̉̈́̐̈́̌̆̒͗̈́͘͝͝͠ḋ̴̨̢̨̢̧̢̡͎͎̳̝͎͖̼̪͓̱͖͇̦̙̯̭͉̭͈͍͎̗̮͉́̒̉̈́̅͂̐̀̉̑̇͘̚͜͜ͅȋ̶̢̢̩̙̜̻̟̤͕̖̟̪̰͓̟̓̑̓͑̂͊̐͛̂̋̓̀̃͊̂̍̏͒̐̈̅̑̏͊́̅̒̇̒́̇̏̕̕͝͝͝͝͠͝ͅm̶͎̄̍̍͑̉̂͘ẻ̴̢̢̛͓͙̞̦̹͕̯͎̗̬̹̠̳̬̬̩̪̭̺̰̘̣͎͈̻̟͔͕͍͎̹̗̮̻̙̭̜̘͔̖̗͈͛̄̄͒̍͂̈̈͗̂̽̀̍́̇̿̽͒͌̈́͒̎̔̍̍͌̔̒̃̂͝͝͝͝͝͠n̴̡̢̙̰̺̥̠̟͚͔̦͓͔̳̪̗̗̖͔̗̫͙̽̔̔̾̓̓͆̽̈́͑͗͊̒̒͊̽͊̒̾́̄̄̕͘͝͝͝͝s̸̢̡̧̢̢̨̡̧̡̨̢̛͕̠͓͉̞̯̯̤̼͔̪͚̙̱̥̮̭͚͔͎̬̙̭̱̝̞̥̙̰̭͒͌͋̀͒́̀́̽̒̿̓̎̅̀̆͛̋̚ͅͅi̴̡͍͔͈̦̐̏̊͆̚ͅơ̴̢͖͇̱̞̫̠͙̣̼̫̜͇̜͍͓͓̦̪̦̝͕̣͇̞͔̲̣̙̞͎͙̥͚̪̅͂͑̂̾̉̎̀̔̑̀́̓̒̾̄̂̆̌̃̀̇̉͛̿̾̔̉́͋̓̄͋͊̾͌͂͘͜͝͠n̶̡̡̨̨̛̛͍̼̳͓̰͇̩̳̺̥͚̺̤͇̙̼̖̹͍͙͙̘̗͉͎̖̯͇̖̅͋̑͂̄̄̆̓̊̀̓̅͗̊͒̈̐̒̂͛̔̏̏͜͜͝͝ͅș̷̢̢̢͖͈͎̝͎͓̯̣̤̣̰̳̤̲̤̺̮̼̖̳̣͙̤̹̩̙͍̥̯̙̒͋́͛͑͜ͅͅͅͅ​











A lone figure arrived a moment before a loud clap of thunder. She donned the iconic four-pointed star of the prolific superhero group, Starteam, and wore a suit so white and bright it almost hurt to look at. Jupiter took to the air, her long gold-brown hair rising with the static energy that suddenly swelled around her, and spoke in a surprisingly soft voice. “Good work, boys.”

She said it neither unkindly nor mockingly and from behind her partial cowl, a soft, reassuring smile could be seen. However, she gestured towards the nearest alley, signaling without saying that it was now their time to leave. Without looking to see if they did so, Jupiter released a wave of energy straight towards the quickly approaching automatons. Bolts of white-blue lightning streaked and zigzagged their way across and throughout the plaza, though none made their way towards Miles or Willem.

Small claps of thunder sounded with each impact and although most hit their target, the wave of automatons kept coming. It didn’t seem to phase Jupiter, however, as a hungry smile stretched across her face. “Go,” Jupiter shouted, “It’s not going to be safe for much lo—”

Jupiter turned, eyes alight with confusion and worry as she witnessed a stark yellow-white portal open up behind both of the men. She didn’t have time to reach them or shout another warning before they were both swallowed and dropped into the unknown.








m̶̧̨̯͍̯̳̩̰̙͍̗̫̞͖̦̩̤̞͙͚͙͂̀̀͐̐͊͂̆͛̍̈̄͊̾̅̈́́̽͊͒̈́̐̾̍̒͂̓̐̑͆̔̆͒͐̔̕͜͝͝͝ḛ̷͔̲͉̳̖̤͕̥̈́͗̄́̍̀͆͋͌͂͋̊̎̅͗̇̆̀͐̾̀̅͐̿͛̃̎̕͠͝a̴̢̧̡̢̩̘̫̳̹̮̼͓̙͇͍̭̜̭̬͚̠̱͓̲̦͇̖̭̙̻̺͎̘̘̜̘͓̠̾̈́̍̆̈́͌͐͗͜͜͠n̵̢̢̡̧̞̬̦͓̘̻̱̠͖͎̩͚̫̤̩̖̓͆͂̾̓̎̊̉̽͛́̊̾̍̋͂̾̾͐͆̋̐̎͒̕͘͘͘͜͜͝͠͝͝ͅͅw̴̡̢̨̡̡͎̙͍͎͉̜̟̳̝̘͈̗̝͍̯͓̫͕̝̟̣͓̺̣̦̭̟̤͎̭̦͇̐̾̂́̓̒̀͊̔͜͜ͅͅḩ̶̛̪̭̬̮̻͍̺̮͈̰̟̰̣͕̖͇͎̝̜͓͓̤͎͊̋̀͛̑̔̃̽̈́̉̒̈́͒̏̓̂̏͊̐̾̈́̐̍́̄̂͛̍̎́̍̌̔̏̓̈́̕̚̚̕͠ͅi̷͈̣̩͕̝̤̪͇̠̜̬̺̜̗̹̝͇̤̟̟̬̻̦̯̗̙̠̠͌͊́̍͑̐͒̑̐̐̕͘̕͜͜ͅl̴̨̢̧̮̲̞̮͇̤͙͇͚̬͈͇͍̥͔̖͈̭̹̹̝̹̃͑̒͌̐̊̓̈́̒̑͊͑̚̚͝͝e̴̡̝̯͎͎͓̘̣̞͓̗̻̙͚͕̝͈̟̾̃̃́͐̑͛͒͗͊̔̉̅̋́̐̓̇̋̈́͊͐̃̏̃̌̓͂̋́̊̀̚̚͘͘͘͝ͅ​







Suddenly, the pleading, desperate, nearly inhuman screech emanating from the industrial park became overbearing. Glass quivered and shattered all throughout the park and Jolene, caught in the middle of whatever was happening, would find herself dazed and confused within the commotion. Within seconds of the newly invigorated scream, Jolene would find herself growing woozy, as if something was assaulting her senses. She would notice, if just barely, a shoulder-width portal open up beneath her feet and slowly and then all at once, consume her.








m̶̧̨̯͍̯̳̩̰̙͍̗̫̞͖̦̩̤̞͙͚͙͂̀̀͐̐͊͂̆͛̍̈̄͊̾̅̈́́̽͊͒̈́̐̾̍̒͂̓̐̑͆̔̆͒͐̔̕͜͝͝͝ḛ̷͔̲͉̳̖̤͕̥̈́͗̄́̍̀͆͋͌͂͋̊̎̅͗̇̆̀͐̾̀̅͐̿͛̃̎̕͠͝a̴̢̧̡̢̩̘̫̳̹̮̼͓̙͇͍̭̜̭̬͚̠̱͓̲̦͇̖̭̙̻̺͎̘̘̜̘͓̠̾̈́̍̆̈́͌͐͗͜͜͠n̵̢̢̡̧̞̬̦͓̘̻̱̠͖͎̩͚̫̤̩̖̓͆͂̾̓̎̊̉̽͛́̊̾̍̋͂̾̾͐͆̋̐̎͒̕͘͘͘͜͜͝͠͝͝ͅͅw̴̡̢̨̡̡͎̙͍͎͉̜̟̳̝̘͈̗̝͍̯͓̫͕̝̟̣͓̺̣̦̭̟̤͎̭̦͇̐̾̂́̓̒̀͊̔͜͜ͅͅḩ̶̛̪̭̬̮̻͍̺̮͈̰̟̰̣͕̖͇͎̝̜͓͓̤͎͊̋̀͛̑̔̃̽̈́̉̒̈́͒̏̓̂̏͊̐̾̈́̐̍́̄̂͛̍̎́̍̌̔̏̓̈́̕̚̚̕͠ͅi̷͈̣̩͕̝̤̪͇̠̜̬̺̜̗̹̝͇̤̟̟̬̻̦̯̗̙̠̠͌͊́̍͑̐͒̑̐̐̕͘̕͜͜ͅl̴̨̢̧̮̲̞̮͇̤͙͇͚̬͈͇͍̥͔̖͈̭̹̹̝̹̃͑̒͌̐̊̓̈́̒̑͊͑̚̚͝͝e̴̡̝̯͎͎͓̘̣̞͓̗̻̙͚͕̝͈̟̾̃̃́͐̑͛͒͗͊̔̉̅̋́̐̓̇̋̈́͊͐̃̏̃̌̓͂̋́̊̀̚̚͘͘͘͝ͅ​








THREE HOURS AND THIRTY MINUTES

Voltae’s odd reflection answered her call, appearing with a sudden yellow-white ring around her eyes. There was a curious expression in her face that hadn’t been there a moment before and the reflection continued to stare with a sense of contemplative judgement. After a moment or two, the reflection reached out to Voltaeiche, slowly placing her palm against the glass nearest Voltae’s own hand. It glanced between them, as if it expected her to mimik the gesture.

When it wasn’t reciporcated immediately, the odd reflection backed away, haughtily and almost angry, and disappeared a moment later.

ONE HOUR AND TEN MINUTES

As Louis traveressed the dimensional mall, he would realize that despite the fact that it was eerily empty, spookily silent, and otherwise unperturbed even by dust, the mall was like any other. The decorum was still a rather dull, lifeless grey, but it was well stocked with all kinds of goods and merchandise that was real and solid to the touch. Removing an item from a store or stand wouldn’t set off any alarms and from the wide range of stores listed on the map, it suggested there was quite the variety.

If Louis decided to look at the gifted map, he would now notice two dots, one the color of his glow in the exact spot he was in, and one he could only assume was Voltaeiche. No matter what he did-- walk forward, back, or side to side, the dot on the map would react in kind. Perhaps a little disconcerting, but also quite useful. For now, everything seemed to be calm and peaceful and nothing stood in his way of exploring and gathering supplies.

THIRTY SECONDS

Once again, the building began to shake. It wasn’t as violent a shake as Voltaeiche would remember, but it was powerful enough to shake one from a slumber or catch one completely off guard. Noticed or not, the seconds ticked on, seemingly faster and faster as it did. And once the time was up…







b̴͚̺̘̪̺̖̫̝͇͙͎̘̜̺̝͋̑͐̔̈́͐̑̐̐̃̎̊͂͊͌͆̂͒̾̎͊̓̆̅́̋̾̅̐̓͋̚̕̚̚͝͝͠͝ ̸͙̥̳͈̠̙͓͇̳̅̈͛̏͆͛̀̇̚͘͝͝ļ̵̡̡̢̢̨̛̩͙͍͙͚͙͓̻̺̘̯̫̻̰͕̳͈̭͈̮͎̯̪̩̟͖̫̹̮͇̳̫͙̬͔͎͓̣̝́́͌͋̌̂͌̿͒̋̌̋̀̑̑̔̊̓̉̾͆̓͋̎̇̍͌́͐̿͆͌́̚͠͝͝͝͠ͅ ̶̛͕̣̥̐̊̒̈̆̇͑̆͑͂͆̒̍̇̇̃̽̓̈́͑̂͛̓̎̾̔̓̂̄̏͑̈̀͂̂̽͐̚͠͝͝õ̶̢̧̢̡͍̫̱̯̪̳͍̮̝̦̯͇̯̝̤̻͕̯̪̲̘̜͍̹̩͔͎͚͈̮̦̣͎͓͔͈̤̞̤̺̤̪̪̺͙̠̏͛̏̆͂̔̚͘͠͠ ̴̨̨̳̫̗̫̖̲̫͈͙͎̭̘̱͉̙̱͖͍̗͍͔̤̪̣͍͔̩͇̪͖͕͓͉͖̅̆͐̓͐̆̄̾̆͌̈̀̏͋͑̃̊̋̍͊̂͆̆̊̀͆̒̊́̑̄͗̍̃͑̅̽̈́̈́̚͘͘͜͝͠͝ö̸̧̢̨̠̤̹̖͕̞̥͙͍̱͍̥̥͓͎͙͈̯̙͕̻̯̠̙͈̬̯̳́̓̓́̆̈́͛̽͐̓̇̏̄̏͂̋̇͒͆̂̽̽̈́̇̀̆̀̐̔̇̐̍̎̈́́̋͘̚̕͜͠͝͝͝ ̶̢̛̥̗̞̱͉̭̫̫̰̫͕̲̮̦̦̫̑̇͊͒̾͋͋̉̂̂͗̽͆́̇͑̉̏̈́͒̉̽́͆͂̈́̋̽̈́̓̉̆̅̀͘͝͝ͅd̴̨̧̛̺̭͈̖̰͓̥̘̟͖̰͕̣̜͕̳͙́̊́̀̉̒̐̑̿͒̿̍͗͊͒̍̓͑̅̈́̊̑̒̽̀̋̽́͐̉̓͐̆͌̊͂̑̈́͘̕̕̕ ̶̨̢̢̡̨͇̰̞̺͈̭̞̯̤̭̩͍̪̪̪̠̗̝̣̩̫̥̺̥̱̭͖̙̬͈͙̮̖͎͖̻͇̗͓̮̩̻͙̼̉̿͐̅̈̑́̎̌̿̔̌̄͐̓̌̿̉̔̊̊̃̇̅͐͗͋̓̓̌͂̋̆̄̑̕͝ͅb̴̧̢̡̛͚̰̦̬̺͚͍̝̱̭̳̬̺͉̄͋̋̇̀̏̀͐̎͐̓̾͋̒̋͂̀̓̆͌̈́̎̒̈́̄̄̈͊͐̀͂̐̍̕̕͜͝͠͝͝ ̶̢̢̫͈̮̟̟̖̰̜̰̩̞̟̭͔̹̈̈́͋̔̒̓͜ͅą̸̧̛̪͔̣̙̗̜͖͓͓͙̱̘̙̫̫̲̳̘͉̼͕̣͖̦̰̼̱͔̤͔̻̥̪͔̪̯̰̙̜͙̤͆͊̏̌̎̂̈́̾́̌̄̒̌̀͂͌ͅͅ ̶͎̠͚̝̈́̍͑̈́̈́̽̐͊̈̂̾̉̈́̍̉̉̋͌̓̉̾͒̐͊̈́́̐͐͘͠͝t̸̨̠̫͚͈͎̪̏̈́̆̀̉̈́͊͗̄̋̎̐̔̐̓̎̃̐͑͋̇̍͆̓́̍̉͊̒̏̇̔̓̓̕͝ ̷̛̛̮̩̼̮̪̭̰̰̎̀̾͑̉͊̍̋̀̄̊͌̀͑̈́͋́̔̌̿̄͛̐̆̚͠͝͝͝h̴̛̛͍͒̎͐͒̂̐̆̓̆̽̈́̀̃͗͌̍̎̋̽̾̌̊̂͛͌̎̈̈͒̊̈̾͗͆̀͂̀͐͘̕͘̚͠͠͠ ̷̞̲̻̼̦̣̰͚̯̺̲̣̺͔̭͚̍̏͋̃̓͌̓̈́̑́̇͛̊̋̂̏͌́͊͌͐̈́̍̔͌̊́͆̅͒́̎̂̐̕̕͝ͅ​











Everyone found themselves alone, in an opaque glass-like dome that was impossible to see out of. Whatever was on their person prior to being sucked into the dimension remained, however, no signal could be found and certain apps and gadgets simply refused to work. No matter how hard one tried to escape, they simply couldn’t. It was nigh impossible to tell just how long they’d been there or how much time had elapsed, but after a while, things finally began…



Julian tried not to frown as he rubbed away at a tension headache just above his temple. It had been much, much harder to gather all of them here. Much harder than he originally anticipated. But here they were, in separate glass-like domes that they couldn’t see out of— not yet, at least —which formed a crescent around the Cornicopia. This newest test was inspired by a twenty-first century book he’d read a long time ago, on the behest of his first and favorite student aide. Thinking back, he always knew he would try something similar, as something inside him just knew it would force the best (and maybe the worst) out of his students. If it weren’t for the pounding headache, he would’ve been giddy with excitement.

From within his master dimension, he allowed his voice to travel to the five occupied domes. “WELCOME,” Julian exclaimed. “TODAY, YOU WILL BEGIN THE LONG AND ARDUOUS JOURNEY IN UNLOCKING YOUR TRUE SELF.”

The glass-like domes suddenly became transparent, allowing them to see one another. Of the six that were placed, only five of the domes were occupied and curiously, above each, were yellow glowing symbols. The pawn — the only dome unoccupied — suddenly lost its brilliant glow, and Julian Armine continued his speech. “THE FIVE OF YOU WILL BEGIN WITH A SIMPLE, BUT TELLING EXAM.”

Each dome was perhaps ten feet apart and about fifty feet away from the Cornicopia— a large, metal building with three flat sides and a roof, lit up by yellow lights. There was no entryway, but instead, open and freely revealing the cache of goods that laid within. Even with the distance between them, armor, weapons, and supplies could be seen. Each dome had a walkway, leading towards the building with built in lights guiding the way.

Everything else was surrounded in darkness.

Everything else was made of the unknown.

“TO PASS THIS EXAM, YOU MUST FIGHT. WITH OR AGAINST EACH OTHER, AS WELL AS…”

Before he could finish his statement, an unearthly moaning and growling could be heard from behind the domes. It wasn’t unsimilar to a growling dog and yet there was something eerily distinct about it as well. It slowly grew in pitch, until finally Julian spoke once more.

“GET READY, YOUR EXAM BEGINS NOW.”

A timer, which displayed ninety seconds, suddenly appeared above the Cornicopia. Within moments, the dome disappeared from around the Fang and he was free to travel towards the building. The Barman was next, ten seconds later. And then the Doorway, ten seconds after that. And then the Zephyr... and then the Crown.

The timer continued to shrink away and the moaning and growling continued to swell. It wasn’t until the timer struck thirty seconds that the gathered “students” saw what was making the inhuman noises. Tall, vaguely humanoid shapes revealed themselves, slowly crawling, walking, and making their way towards the Cornicopia. They seemed to be made out of the dark of the dimension itself and the only thing separating them from one another and the very darkness itself was an odd yellow outline and haunting yellow eyes.

”KILL OR BE KILLED. THE CHOICE IS YOURS.”
 
LOUIS BAUVER-CALDWELL

It was getting hard to pick up his legs and make them actually go. His head was swimming, his bones were achy, limbs sluggish. Too much had happened for Louis to process and frankly he wasn’t even sure where to start. At least he had a destination in mind. A temporary one. One that could be useful, and not just a totally random side quest posed by an all knowing voice in the sky. Fuck that guy.

Then there was Voltaeiche. She seemed sort of innocent, pretty nice, maybe not the most observant. It was comforting to know he wasn’t the only one trapped in this hell, unless she was just another figure of torment. His thoughts drifted back to the young man who had helped him back out there in the real world, and then had just been… falling. From the sky.

Boy, did he feel useless.

Three hours and thirty minutes. Louis figured that it was probably a courtesy warning; three hours and thirty minutes until their next adventure. So, he was gonna make the most of this. Stock up. Training montage. Go into the next fight battle ready.

He lasted in the sports store for about ten minutes after the map alerted him to a mattress store around the bend. In his bag beneath the layers of clothing he had stuffed a matchbox, a pack of baseballs, a swiss knife still in its plastic packaging, a pair of swimming goggles, a refillable water bottle, and a in his hand he dragged a baseball bat along the floor as he sought out the comfiest looking bed to test out. He fell asleep gripping the bat like a stuffed animal and the bag still slung over his chest.

The thirty second mark arrived and Louis woke with a start at the sudden shaking of the building. It took too much time to gather his bearings, and it wasn’t really like he could do much except sit there enveloped in plush pillows and wait for the ceiling to fall on top of him. Then, he was politely dropped into a glass dome.

Guess those three hours and thirty minutes were up.

He was surprised to still have his items and angrily took a swing at the foggy glass with his baseball bat as the Omniscient Voice drawled on about the next challenge. Fucking fantastic. Louis took one more swing before realizing it was useless, just as the glass became transparent and all of a sudden he could see four other people in this exact predicament. Voltaeiche among them. Goddamn it, was this some sort of twisted battle royale? He caught the gaze of one, a redhead, and the eye contact was held for an uncomfortable amount of time before Louis pulled his gaze away.

He could see the Cornicopia in the middle - a bounty. No doubt, probably a trap. But also probably useful, slightly imperative, and likely dangerous but necessary. Then came that terrible groan from behind, a creature that Louis absolutely did not want to meet. And then, the weird symbols on everyone’s domes. Voltaeiche had -- a door? That sort of made sense. Redhead had a bottle, creepy guy had a crown, pretty lady had a tornado. And he had… a fang. Interesting.

A part of him was relieved to have some people in his position, possible allies, including Voltae, but at the same time… Louis was not ready to shrug off the feeling that they could just as easily be his enemies. No. He had to have a plan, a self sufficient one at that. Grab whatever sharp, pointy, monster-worthy loot he could find, fend off whatever he had too, and find a hiding spot.

The timer went up and all of a sudden the glass that encased Louis disappeared. He stumbled out, staring bewildered at his surroundings and the fact that he was the only person released at that moment. Wasting precious moments of his headstart to fumble for footing, Louis finally decided that, with this little gift, he was going to sprint up to the Cornicopia and find something, anything, that would at least make him feel a little more confident to take on whatever creepy dark monsters their evil god had sent after them. Whatever shouts or yells came from the others, he did not hear them, insisting stubbornly that he was in this alone.
 
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Miles Haverstash
"Atombreaker"

A Collab With @CloudyBlueDay

Miles slapped his palms against the smooth stone flooring of his prison, and at once heaved himself back onto his feet. As the hero rose, he whispered a litany of vicious insults under his breath. He had seen the glow beneath his feet, and though it had swallowed him quickly, it did not swallow him too quickly. Miles grimaced. He had been all but rescued--handed his freedom by a member of fucking Starteam and somehow, someway, he still was captured. He shouldn’t have let his guard down, and now he was at the mercy of whatever twisted plan the mystery madman and his army of muncher-bots had in store for him.

The thought made Miles’s skin crawl.

The Atombreaker tried breaking the opaque walls through both force and transmutation and found, incredulously, that neither sufficed. In fact, his powers didn’t seem to have an effect on the walls at all. After a while of trying in vain to escape, Miles moved back to the center of his dome, his mind electrified with adrenaline and fury. None of this made sense. There wasn’t anything he couldn’t change, which had to mean his powers were being blocked somehow. It just didn’t fit the profile of a madman. Who was this mystery villain, and did he trash an entire plaza just to capture one person?

Of course not. What the hell is happening here?

And then he heard it. An omnipresent voice carrying the promise of a “long and arduous journey.” Miles rolled his eyes at the ceiling. Classic villain bullshit.

Wait. Did he say five of us?

Instantaneously the glass of each dome became clear, and light flooded the exterior chamber. Miles gritted his teeth as he tried to pay attention to the words of the villain, hoping to glean something useful about whoever had taken them all captive. Simultaneously, he scanned the room, taking stock of all the other prisoners. Unsurprisingly, the civilian was there. Miles had seen his portal too, and he gave the stranger a curt nod of sorrowful recognition. The fact that the civilian was here made the mystery of this villain’s motivations all the more obscure.

Miles tried not to waste time thinking about it. It was clear whatever was going to happen, it was going to happen soon, and he needed to get a grip on his surroundings before it did. The Atombreaker’s eyes continued to wander, making out two women in the semi-circle. They both looked about his age, maybe a little younger. From what Miles could tell, the other hostages all looked to be in various states of disarray.

Makes sense. Maybe we are random kidnappings. Maybe he’s taking people who he’s seen fight and exhaust themselves. Would be easier that way…

As he stewed on the thought, Miles glanced towards the last captive, his eyes going wide as he took in the stranger’s appearance. Whoever this person was, he was probably the youngest, and as the Atombreaker’s eyes adjusted to the light, he began to notice Louis’s frighteningly pale complexion, and gaunt, colorless features. Miles felt his gut twist at the thought of how long this poor boy must’ve been held here to be so obviously withering away, and became so lost in the thought of it that he barely realized he was staring.

Then, the first dome opened, and Miles’s eyes followed the stranger as he made a mad dash for the cornucopia. Miles didn’t blame him--he too could see the shadowed silhouettes approaching from the lightless exterior. Mile’s own dome seemed to seamlessly vanish a moment later, and the game began for him in earnest.

Miles didn’t look back at the others: this villain was running some kind of test which meant Miles could count on all of them remaining unharmed until their own domes disappeared. Villains trying to make a point about something usually followed their own rules. Well, at least to begin with.

“Hey!” Miles shouted between footfalls, his gaze fixed on the stranger ahead of him. “Hey man, wait up!” The allure of the cornucopia was not lost on Miles. Presumably, they were all about to enter combat, and they probably weren’t going to get a lot of time to prepare. Still, if the fear of the situation drove them to chaos, Miles had no doubt they were going to get picked off.

“Hey man, hold on!” Miles slowed to a jog as he approached the cornucopia. Even as he moved towards the boy, his eyes darted across the veritable smorgasbord of supplies splayed out in front of him. There were all kinds of things ranging from weapons and armor to foodstuffs and toolkits.

Food?

Miles swore underneath his breath, and glanced back briefly at the other hostages as they one by one were released. If there was food, that meant that their gamemaster’s spiel about a long and arduous journey was not, in fact, classic villain bullshit. Whoever the mystery man was, he wasn’t planning on letting them go anytime soon. The Atombreaker turned back to the kid, who--rather irritatingly--seemed to just be ignoring Miles.

“Jesus christ, say something, will you?” Miles paused, feeling a quick pang of guilt. The poor dude was probably terrified. One could only imagine what he had already been forced to do to survive. “I know this is a frightening situation--I get that.” Miles dropped to his knees besides the stranger, and began to start throwing bags of loot backwards towards the advancing hostages. They couldn’t all afford to waste time trying to discern what was useful and what wasn’t.

“--And I have a feeling you’ve been here for a while, and no doubt you’ve suffered already. But before those--those things--get here I need to know if there’s anything you know about them, or the asshole controlling them, that might help me get us out of here.”

At the first few shouts, Louis didn’t budge. He’d done this before. Been thrown into a sick experiment, like a lab rat in a maze. It had never helped him to rely on someone else. He’d escaped the SPME alone, and he’d escape whatever the hell this was alone, too. He couldn’t shake the feeling that all these fellow people, Carrothead in particular, seemed somewhat familiar, but it only made him more uneasy.

Louis hopped over a few crates and piles of goods to put as much distance between him and Miles, dropping the baseball bat to grab the first large handle of a weapon he could grasp. While Miles gave him a very nice, heartwarming and touching speech, Louis was attempting to yank out what seemed like a giant ass sword to wave in his face. Dear god, he was talking to him like he was a little scared kindergartener. Did he look that freaked out? Fuck, he probably did.

Everything that spilled out of Carrothead’s mouth only made Louis seethe more. Suffered enough already? Damn right. He didn’t need some random person to tell him that. They were just fellow prisoners in the same cell and he had endured that before. This giant sword or whatever he was trying to pull out wasn’t going to budge… and who was he kidding? Not like he was gonna swing it anyway.

Chest heaving, Louis finally looked Miles in the eye again, his own sea blue orbs hollow and aching. “Don’t pretend that you know anything.” Louis muttered, the flash of a symbol catching his eye. “And don’t act like I know anything either. Cuz I… don’t.” He turned and grabbed the handle, yanking out a strange, futuristic looking sort of gun.

“Th-this yours, Fanta?” Louis muttered, trying to still his shaky hands enough for him to level the gun threateningly at Miles.

“Woah, woah” Miles swallowed hard, and took a precautionary step back, arms raised. “We are going to have enough to deal--Wait,” Miles understood what the boy had meant: emblazoned on the top of the wide and rectangular barrel of the gun was a faintly-lit symbol. The Atombreaker’s fear was immediately replaced with a burning curiosity “Is that…”

The Bottle. A piece of this goddamn puzzle.

Entirely on impulse, Miles staggered forward and grabbed the barrel of the gun in Louis’s hands.

“Woah -- HEY!” Louis shouted, entirely unprepared for the impulsive reaction that followed next. Who in their right mind lunged at a gun that was pointed at them?! He’d had his finger over the trigger with no intention to pull it, but all of a sudden it was being yanked out of his hands and his finger slipped. Something pricked his finger, and though the pain wasn’t intense, the surprise of the entire commotion allowed Miles to grab the gun out of his hands as black blood dripped from Louis’ index finger.

“What the hell…?” Louis hissed. “How come you get a gun?”

Miles frantically flipped the weapon over in his hands in search of something--anything that might reveal why it bore his symbol. Though he was intent in examining it, there really wasn’t a whole lot to work with. Miles wasn’t a gun nut, and even if he was, this particular weapon looked nothing like any handgun he’d ever seen. The entire length of the piece looked to be made of the same silver-sleek metal, save for some kind of chestnut--or maybe cherry--wood grip around the handle. It was a strange, if beautiful piece of machinery. One that was maddeningly devoid of any kind of instruction.

“I-I don’t know.”

Miles barely realized Louis had said anything: the young hero’s attention was already divided between trying to keep track of the advancing shadow creatures, as well as the other hostages. Things were moving too quickly. What did the symbols mean? Where they merely arbitrary, or was unlocking their secret necessary?

There was just too little information, and even less time to parse it together. Not to mention they had less than thirty seconds before the bloodbath began. The realization that they were out of time hit him like a truck.

Less than thirty seconds. Fuck. Fuck.

Miles spun around. “Listen, we don’t have a lot of time but it stands to reason that these symbols--whatever they are--are important to this whackjob’s game. See if you can find yours--I’ll watch your back!” Miles didn’t wait for an answer. He didn't have time. Instead, the young hero jogged over the mounds of upturned baggage until he could see all the other hostages.

“The symbols! Look for the symbols! Weapons!” Miles paused to look back out into the gloom at the oncoming horde. “And stay the hell together!” So little of the room was lit that it was impossible for Miles to tell whether the gloom-creatures were all that awaited them beyond the boundary. Trying to go it alone was just not an option. Afterall, if the gun was in fact a gun and not just some obscure puzzle piece, then he had to believe it would protect them.

Miles sprinted back around the cornucopia to where he’d left Louis. He gave the strange kid one last look before spinning on his heels and aiming the gun into the unknown.
 
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-Some Creepy Dome Place Thing-
-Three and a half hours later-

Voltaeiche was taken aback at how quickly her reflection seemed to reject her, barely giving her a moments notice to try reciprocate before vanishing. "Well...I'll probably see it sooner or later if it was really important..." Voltaeiche thought, making a note to try find a mirror as well as she moved away from the window. She still needed to find a suitcase to carry the food in!

...which she didn't. In the end, a duffel-bag was the largest thing she could find in the mall, so a duffel-bag the food was to be carried in. On the plus side, all her journeying around the mall had let her find a Super-mattress store in the mall. Making her way back, she ended up staring at a mattress in the window, hemming and hawing for a moment on whether she should go find Louis first before she took a nap. "We did say to meet up...well...nothing wrong if I just lie...down...for a bit..." she thought, her head on the pillow for scarcely a moment before she was out.

-----

When the shaking began, Voltaeiche was tempted to just go back to sleep. After all, the bed was so soooft and fluffy an-

Shaking meant earthquake. The mall was going to fall on them.

Half-springing and half-falling off the bed, Voltaeiche's half-asleep body scrambled to disentangle her limbs and grab the bag of food before she got to her feet. "LOUIS," she shouted, making a few steps away from the bed to search for the boy before she was transported to the odd dome.

"Okay...okay okay okay, stay calm," Voltaeiche mumbled as she walked circles around the new glass prison. "You're still breathing...you have a bunch of food on you...medicine will...hopefully be enough..."

When the dome's glass eventually cleared again (and after Voltaeiche nibbled her nails down and drawn meticulous circles in the ground with her pacing), she nervously glanced about at the other people. Fight? Dear god she hoped she didn't have to fight. She hated; no, abhorred fighting. She'd never been in a fight in her life! Seeing Louis in one of the other domes, she frantically waved, glad she would have at least one ally here.

"Louis!" she called, faltering slightly when he didn't respond. It was probably the glass blocking the sound and such. That was it. Noting the glowing icons above each dome, she frowned for a moment, knowing how the doorway applied to her, but...how did a fang apply to Louis? He'd been swimming in a flood, hadn't he?

Not that she had much more time to think about it, as the dome around her suddenly dropped and she made a similar beeline to the center cornucopia after Louis and the other guy.

"Louis!" she called again as she ran over. "Hey! Louis!" After the third or fourth time she was ignored, she slowed her frantic run, her thoughts trampling through her instead. "Why is he ignoring me? Is...is he planning to fight me? Oh please don't tell me he's going to do that...maybe I should just run...no I'm too close..."

Eventually shaking herself out of it, she made her way to a different part of the cornucopia from the other two, still somewhat dazed at the prospect of having to fight others when her hand brushed against a small rectangular box. "Is...is this a taser?" she thought, picking it up and turning it over to see the glowing doorway inscribed in it. "That's sort of morbid..." she mumbled to herself, pocketing the device as she heard someone shouting to stay together.

"Oh thank god someone's being a team player," she thought, glancing about and also grabbing a small mirror before she made her way to the front where the boy was. He looked a little familiar...but Voltaeiche couldn't put her finger on it. Besides, there were more pressing matters.

"W-what do you need me to do?" she stammered, letting out a nervous yelp at the approaching shadow figures. God, why couldn't it just be another building? She almost preferred that to the weird, shambling shadow zombies that were approaching.
 
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Current Identity: Willem La'Tour
A Dark Void
Surrounded By Monsters and Possible Enemies


It happened very quickly.

Sudden changes always did. Willem, however, was not unlike a cat, and while he was not necessarily ready to abruptly fall into a portal to some other hell dimension in which he was encased in a glass bubble, he was likewise not entirely unable to adapt. He rolled to his feet, his eyes flicking side to side as he tried to make sense of his new surroundings. A voice boomed somewhere - no doubt his kidnapper - and he narrowed his eyes in suspicion, rolling his shoulders as he paced the inside of the bubble. True self.... Unlikely. Willem was very aware of who he was.

Not a saint. A shaitan, an accuser of Man, meant to test and bring about better behavior from the apes that attempted to meet heaven. A man, with vision, and a purpose. He had no doubt that, from this person's verbiage, he must think himself the same. He would see whether that would bear out. Whatever the case, no doubt his plan was now abandoned. His mark would sit at home, unwitting of the atrocity he bypassed in this seemingly random act of fate. And he would be all the more ungrateful for it.

The dome dimmed around him to show a void about him, and five other domes, each with a glowing symbol and containing each a person. Across from his was Miles Haverstash, the Atombreaker, and his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Odd -- was this then a chance encounter, rather than directed? And this to be an exam as well... What was he testing? At the inhuman sounds that abruptly began, screeches and screams, he jerked to look, though his posture remained ready, his footing sure. He refused to be cowed. So this was a challenge of some kind.... He couldn't deny this was bizarre. Beyond bizarre, outside the norm of his entire experience. And there was the brief bite of fear, of panic.

But there was a more pressing order: Survive the next few minutes. Afterwards, consider the ontological ramifications of his kidnapping. After all, if he didn't succeed in the first, he wouldn't need to worry about the second.

Abruptly, the first of the captives was freed, and he was startled to find he recognized him: an escapee and fellow fugitive said to be some kind of dangerous metahuman, who claimed to have been captured by a secret group studying their kind. And then Haverstash, a former boy wonder turned lukewarm superhero. A girl whom he didn't recognize... Were they all metas of unparalleled caliber? What was this collection? It didn't take him long to realize they were all being released on a schedule, and he counted under his breath. Ten seconds. And then, of course, it was his turn. He had already dropped to a sprinter's crouch.

The dome fell. And Will ran for his life.

He was a streak of black against the ground, eating distance, but still it didn't seem fast enough. Behind him, he could hear the sound of the inhuman creatures - black humanoids in a myriad of shapes - trailing not far behind, and with a grit of his teeth, he focused on his hands. The bones began to shift, the tips of his fingers seeming to peel back out of the way of vicious looking claws--

LOOK OUT​

-- he threw himself to the side, and a humanoid lunged at the spot he had occupied, the extremist nearly losing his footing as he continued to run towards the building with its cornucopia of goods. Another swipe of an arm, and Will dug the claws in, shredding the limb apart with a hefty grunt. The creature screamed, and another seemed to fall in its place, Will narrowly dodging its inky grasp. Another, another, all seemingly a roiling black mass, encircling. He slashed, backed away, dodged, felled two, and yet another came to take its place. Only quick acrobatics over a back, a step to the side a way from a misshapen hand, kept him from being grappled.

He was being bogged down. He couldn't run any further. He needed distance. He needed distance.

He screamed.

It was an ear-piercing wail, and the creatures seemed more perplexed than afraid, backing away. Will used that time to make headway towards the pile, ducking and dodging the creatures that were beginning to gain on him. The pile grew closer, and he soon felt dismay as he realized it was largely junk -- food, scraps of items like armor that seemed random at best, a few weapons, though none that immediately seemed helpful. With a dash, he scaled the building with assistance from the claws as pitons, standing on its top. Down below, he could see the goods spread underneath him, his eyes scanning it quickly. Anything usefu--

Something piqued his interest, a bodysuit with a crown emblem, and his eyes flickered to the others.

Right. Them. Safety in numbers, if only for them to be handy bait.

"A higher vantage will allow for easier fighting," Will stated to them, voice croaking, leaving it up to them to join him.
 


JOLENE MOON


Jolene staggered, and covered her ears as the scream suddenly escalated dangerously. The piercing sound prevented her from focusing enough to use her ability, and then almost as instantly she began to feel extremely lightheaded. Jolene stumbled in her dizzied state, nearly falling over. When she stumbled she felt herself fall, as if the ground beneath her had given away. She focused herself just enough to realize that it was a portal, and in a matter of mere seconds, she had been entirely enveloped by it.

Jolene felt like it had been an eternity by the time the effects began, but she couldn’t really be sure how long it had *actually* been, but the disoriented feeling worried her deeply. She sat up from her position on the ground, and as soon as the dizziness wore off, Jolene realized that she was trapped under a nontransparent dome. Standing, she placed her hands on the glass, cursing under her breath. She knew that it would be futile to try and break through, and then there was also the fact that she didn’t have the tools to break through it. Her head snapped up and her eyes wandered curiously around her enclosure as a voice boomed overhead.

She wasn’t sure how seriously the voice was about *welcoming* them, because she certainly didn’t feel welcome. Not one bit. And as far as Jolene was concerned, she was as truly herself as she was going to get. Jolene knew her motives for doing what she liked to do, and she was happy with her employment. So what else was there for her to figure out, or as the disembodied voice put it, ‘unlock’.

Jolene pulled a gun from inside her jacket, the cool metal resting comfortably in her hand. With her free hand, she touched her hand to the front of her mask to make sure she hadn’t lost it in the portal and she exhaled in relief to find it still there, and secured properly.

When the glass dome suddenly became transparent, Jolene was shocked to see that there were other people there, four others under a dome similar to hers. She looked at each of them briefly, recognizing a couple of them. She also took notice of the large cornucopia, her adrenaline suddenly revving up as she prepared herself for what sounded like a battle royale.

As the first dome disappeared, and then the second, Jolene was quick to comprehend the pattern, and she readied herself to make a mad dash towards the cornucopia, making a mental list of things she hoped to find there. She had a gun and her ability, but there didn’t seem to be much to work with regarding their surroundings.

Jolene absolutely recognized the cornucopia as a possible trap, but she was confident enough in her ability to brave it and survive it. The very second her dome lowered, she ran as fast as she could, her gaze fixated on the cornucopia. Luck was on her side without her having to manipulating it, and no one seemed to be fighting to the death over anything. She got to the cornucopia quickly, listening to the others bark theories or orders. Almost immediately Jolene was drawn to a very sleek looking metal band that seemed to be meant to rest upon one’s head. On the front of the headband was the same symbol that had been over her dome, and with that connection, Jolene took it. She removed her rabbit mask and placed it on her head, surprised by how perfectly it fit, as if it had been tailored specifically for her. The front of the headband dipped down, resting on the bridge of her nose comfortably, and the silver-colored metal arched over her eyebrows into what closely resembled cat ears, though if someone wasn’t really attuned to detail, they wouldn’t really associate the pointed arcs with ears at all. It was a subtle thing that made Jolene wonder just who the master of this test was, and how much they knew about her and the others.

The hostage that had been released directly after her let out one hell of a scream, making Jolene clench her jaw tensely. If there was anything in the world she hated the most, it was definitely unnecessary noises, which included screaming.

Jolene touched the front of the band to adjust it just slightly, and upon her slight touch, the band gave a single very soft vibration that seemed to quell her anxieties and clear her mind. She was able to think clearly and without distraction. She gasped in a bit of surprise at how intensely the simple thing affected her, and Jolene registered the fact that this could very drastically increase her capacity to handle her power.

Though the contraption she wore was easily the most amazing thing she’d come across in her life, Jolene rummaged hastily through the cornucopia’s variety of useful objects. She grabbed a light chest plate which she buckled onto herself just as the revolting, nightmarish creatures appeared and immediately began making their way directly to the cornucopia. Jolene also grabbed a few packs of ammo to resupply her gun with, as well as an extra rifle for later use. She would have grabbed more, but the creatures were too close for comfort already. She stood swiftly, her eyes suddenly glowing bright red with the activation of her probability manipulation. She bent stochastic fields with every shot she fired at at the creatures, but nothing really seemed to end them for good. The ones she shot reacted to being shot by stumbling and groaning or screaming in pain, which was normal. But it wasn’t normal that they didn’t stop.

They just kept coming.

“Fucking shit.” She cursed aloud, glancing at the people she was being forced to side with.

“Listen— I can boost your accuracy and lessen the accuracy of these things! Whatever your abilities are, use them, and I can promise you they’ll work flawlessly!” She spoke, raising her voice so that they could all hear.

She did agree with the man on the top of the cornucopia regarding the advantage of being on the high ground, and upon quick inspection of the cornucopia she saw that there were handholds inlaid on both sides of the building’s front. She managed to get to them and flew up the side with ease, escaping several of the creatures by what looked like pure luck.

She huffed, and looked to the man whom she now shared the rooftop with, quickly looking him up and down. Jolene didn’t know who he was, and she was confident that this man and the other hostages didn’t know who *she* was.

“I think it’s safe to say that these humanoid things are part of the darkness surrounding this place, but more solid. And light may certainly take them out. Bullets unfortunately don’t seem to stop them.” She frowned in disappointment as she spoke again, still just loud enough for others to hear if they were listening at all, and she lifted her handgun, firing at two more of the creatures to show their ability to survive what should have been instant kills. Despite the current chaos, Jolene was still keeping her cool as she ran through all possible options in her head, trying to formulate a quick plan of action.



 
KILL OR BE KILLED. THE CHOICE IS YOURS.

Momentary reprieves were scarce once the timer reached its end. The dimensional beings, in their disfigured dash towards the cornucopia, were almost upon them, every moment that passed held a greater threat to be consumed. To be devoured in a horde of dimensional shadows. The fastest of the mass— those already infiltrating the designated safe zone —were attempting to chew, claw, rip, slice, and tear their way towards their preprogrammed destination, and anyone unlucky enough to be in their way.

It happened subtly, quickly, but soon enough, there would be no time left to flee, rummage through supplies, or find a better position. Soon enough, the cornucopia would be swallowed.












ḟ̴̧͇̪̘̦̮͖͎͙̠͍͙̤̖̜̯̠̦̳̗̲̼̪̝͉̘͙̖͙̯̞̘̖̭̻̯̙̣̀̍͜ͅŗ̷̤̜̤̼̹̫̲͉̹͓̤̲̗̝̪̫̗͉̜̤͍͇̜͚̙̗̂̊̀̓͗̌͊̋̂̿̔͂̋̀͒͆͆̾̽͋̑͊̌̿̂̂̓̌̅̃̏̎̾̄̍̆̕̚̕͜͝͝ą̶̢̢̙͓͔͉̯͔̝̬̜̹̜̞̬̞̝͇̤̩̯̥̳̘͍̼͇̞͙̤͍͕͙͈̅̓̿͒̀́͆͐̐̄̔̓̎̓̽͌̌̓̅͆̔͗͐͂͐̇͘̕̕͜͜c̵̡̨͔͎̠̮͇̙̞̩͍̮̦͎̖̰̙͈̺̰̙͚͍̠̼͕̜̗̼̪͑̏̂̓̄̓̉̆̑̐͊͗̇͋̏͋̈̉͛̓͌̃̔͐̍͋͌̎́̀̏̏̄̏͊̕̚̚͜͝͝͠ͅt̷̖̙͕͖͚̜̫͎̗͈̬̻͖̠͕̟̳̠͈̖̖̋ͅų̴̡̨̧͎̗͔͉̯̥͙̪̹͚̦̥̟̠͙̖̟̭͉̗̖̭̻͙͔̥̬̖̜̰͚̤̣͚̊̈̍̊̐͐̌̐͊̏͐̔͋͒̿̀͜ͅr̷̢̧̢̧̛̖̪̞̻͈̭͎͇͍̣͎̳͔͔̣̯͎͖͍̟͈̺͚͚̙͕̗̯͚̦̼̟͓͓̹̾̋͋̉̇͒̇̿̀̎̌̌͛̀̓̂͘̕̕͜ͅͅė̵̡̨̧̞̙͚̝̼͓̯̭͈̯̲̘̖̭̻͎̺͚̳̩̜͔̮͔͇͖̤͍̝̖̫͈̪͊̈͐̓́͂͜͜ͅd̶̢̢͇͍͇͚͎͚͕͖̱̥̩̂͊̀͒̾͒̄͑̌̇̀̄̀̌̓̉̿̑̈́͗̅͜ͅ ̷̡̡͖̮̥͎̼̺̝̘͔̞͎̤̘̥̪̞̖̝̳̣̙͓̱͖͙̣̺̹̮͈̪͔̺̥̼̼͔̥̝͓̯̒̌̏̄̈́̔̋͑́͛́͋̾͊̔̽̔̽͋̉̈́̐̈́̌̆̒͗̈́͘͝͝͠ḋ̴̨̢̨̢̧̢̡͎͎̳̝͎͖̼̪͓̱͖͇̦̙̯̭͉̭͈͍͎̗̮͉́̒̉̈́̅͂̐̀̉̑̇͘̚͜͜ͅȋ̶̢̢̩̙̜̻̟̤͕̖̟̪̰͓̟̓̑̓͑̂͊̐͛̂̋̓̀̃͊̂̍̏͒̐̈̅̑̏͊́̅̒̇̒́̇̏̕̕͝͝͝͝͠͝ͅm̶͎̄̍̍͑̉̂͘ẻ̴̢̢̛͓͙̞̦̹͕̯͎̗̬̹̠̳̬̬̩̪̭̺̰̘̣͎͈̻̟͔͕͍͎̹̗̮̻̙̭̜̘͔̖̗͈͛̄̄͒̍͂̈̈͗̂̽̀̍́̇̿̽͒͌̈́͒̎̔̍̍͌̔̒̃̂͝͝͝͝͝͠n̴̡̢̙̰̺̥̠̟͚͔̦͓͔̳̪̗̗̖͔̗̫͙̽̔̔̾̓̓͆̽̈́͑͗͊̒̒͊̽͊̒̾́̄̄̕͘͝͝͝͝s̸̢̡̧̢̢̨̡̧̡̨̢̛͕̠͓͉̞̯̯̤̼͔̪͚̙̱̥̮̭͚͔͎̬̙̭̱̝̞̥̙̰̭͒͌͋̀͒́̀́̽̒̿̓̎̅̀̆͛̋̚ͅͅi̴̡͍͔͈̦̐̏̊͆̚ͅơ̴̢͖͇̱̞̫̠͙̣̼̫̜͇̜͍͓͓̦̪̦̝͕̣͇̞͔̲̣̙̞͎͙̥͚̪̅͂͑̂̾̉̎̀̔̑̀́̓̒̾̄̂̆̌̃̀̇̉͛̿̾̔̉́͋̓̄͋͊̾͌͂͘͜͝͠n̶̡̡̨̨̛̛͍̼̳͓̰͇̩̳̺̥͚̺̤͇̙̼̖̹͍͙͙̘̗͉͎̖̯͇̖̅͋̑͂̄̄̆̓̊̀̓̅͗̊͒̈̐̒̂͛̔̏̏͜͜͝͝ͅș̷̢̢̢͖͈͎̝͎͓̯̣̤̣̰̳̤̲̤̺̮̼̖̳̣͙̤̹̩̙͍̥̯̙̒͋́͛͑͜ͅͅͅͅ​











The golems are faster than I intended them to be, Julian thought with a frown, readjusting himself in his chair, calmly making note of the disparity. As the scene before him progressed, the professor took a few notes and then calmly placed his holopad down with a resigned huff.

Julian was a simple man, who hated revisiting former decisions and losing control over things which he had absolute control over. The master dimension that Julian was now in allowed him autonomous control over everything within his dimensions, no matter how plural, save for the actions, emotions, and willpower of those he had taken in. So as he watched his new students gather supplies and begin their battles, without attacking one another on first sight, he was impressed. And a tad dissatisfied.

Opening a window to the ever descent of the Maren boy, Julian revisited his decision to keep him out of the current test. He thought about it slowly, carefully, and as the mass of dimensional shadow grew ever near the cornucopia, Julian made up his mind. He slowed the boy's descent, slowly at first, and then opened another portal in exam dimension number one.

”BONUS POINTS TO ANY AND ALL WHO DECIDE WHOLLY AND FERVENTLY ON WHAT TO DO NEXT. LET INSTINCT BE YOUR GUIDE. ARE THERE ANY WRONG ANSWERS?”

And then he dropped Monty Maren six feet away from the cornucopia.
 
LOUIS BAUVER-CALDWELL

"Voltaeiche, shut up!"

Did he say that? He might have. Louis was freaking the fuck out. The past few trials, it had been just him. Just him running through smoke and ash, drowning in wave after wave. No one's life on the line but his own and no one to help him but himself. Voltaeiche came with a little reprieve, like a rest stop, and he figured the moment of conversation they'd shared had been nothing more than a reminder that the person trapping them in here wanted them mostly sane.

This was all too familiar to him. It followed a formula that had tortured him, just with a little bit more creativity. Tests. Trials. Torture. Uneasy respite in a cage with company sharing your fate. Rinse and repeat. The only reason Louis was sure this wasn't the SPME was because they hadn't dug into his shoulder to reopen the crescent shaped scar. No, this was just another madman conducting another experiment, and because the universe just fucking despised him, he had somehow ended up a part of this game all over again.

Despite having done this already, he felt more terrified than the first time. His hands were sweaty. His heart was pounding. He was overwhelmed with options and possibilities and so many areas to fuck up and everyone around him seemed so ready to charge into battle - battle with monsters that Louis was beginning to realize reminded him a lot of... him.

No, no, no no no no. No. He refused to use his powers. He refused.

Louis swallowed past his dry throat. Carrot top was aiming a gun. Voltaeiche found a taser. Scary dude had a bodysuit, pretty lady had a crown - fucking hell, where was his power up? There was so much stuff to look through. Piles of food and ammo and weapons he didn't even know how to begin to use or where to start looking. "W-what do you need me to do?" "A higher vantage will allow for easier fighting." "Listen— I can boost your accuracy and lessen the accuracy of these things! Whatever your abilities are, use them, and I can promise you they’ll work flawlessly!”

He ignored their words and dove into the mountain of supplies, desperate to find the item with his seal and almost convinced that there wasn't even anything. Louis was actually doing a pretty good job of pretending not to see the shadow monsters charging forward or acknowledge his unhelpful panic up until their Evil Overlord spoke up.

Of course there are wrong answers.

Louis rose from his crouch knee deep in an assortment of weaponry to see a familiar face splayed on the ground in front. Fuck, it was him. A pang of sympathy hit him like a punch in the gut, and with a grunt, he stood fully, and brushed past the rest of his new teammates to rush out to Monty's side. Louis tugged at the young man's arm in an attempt to pull him up and towards the cornucopia.

"C-come on," Louis huffed, hands visibly trembling though he still tried to yank Monty up. "Come o-on or you're gonna get e-eaten!"
 
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Miles Haverstash
"Atombreaker"


“W-what do you need me to do?”

Miles turned his gaze to the sound of another, newer voice. The young hero didn’t dare break from his crouched position, but he spared a few seconds of staring down the barrel of his gun to look Voltaeiche over. Behind her, he could see the other two hostages sprinting for the center. Things had begun in earnest, and he didn’t exactly have time for a full battle plan. Miles opened his mouth to speak, but Louis beat him to the punch.

"Voltaeiche, shut up!"

The Atombreaker glanced back over his shoulder, his brow furrowing in confusion for just a moment as the realization dawned on him that the two strangers had met before. The corner of Miles’s lips pulled downward in terse disapproval.

“What was that you were just saying, kid? You don’t know anything?” Miles didn’t have time to get into it with a teenager. That was an interrogation for if they made it out alive. For now, they needed to focus. Miles turned back to Voltaeiche, and just as he did a familiar scream tore through the air around them. The civilian--who Miles was beginning to think was a hell of a lot more than just that--narrowly dodged one of the advancing monstrosities. The screamer was the last one to be let out of the cage, and the realization that time was officially up hit Miles like a train.

The Atombreaker’s attention snapped back towards the advancing shapes, but to Voltaeiche he continued to speak.

“Unless you have a way to hit ‘em from here, stay behind me and keep your back to the wall. If they make it to the line, get ready to start zapping with that thing. Otherwise--help the kid find his stuff!” Miles could hear the other two strangers as they clambered to the roof on top of him. It would’ve been smart for him to have gone above, but he couldn’t now: disregarding the fact that he had run out of time for a climb like that, he had a gut feeling that neither Voltaeiche or Louis--as she’d called him--were ready to hold the line on their own.

From above, a series of gunshots rained down into the advancing horde, but to almost no effect. Miles watched with widening eyes as the shadows seemed only mildly perturbed by shots which would have downed a man twice his size. That was bad news. Really fucking bad news. Miles tightened his grip around the gun, and aimed at the nearest shambling horror in the dark. Then, he pulled the trigger. The young hero barely registered the markswoman on the roof as she began to call out about superpowers and accuracy boosts. He barely noticed the portal either, as it suddenly appeared mere feet from the advancing horde. Miles couldn't focus on any of those things, because as he pulled the trigger, he felt a small, and sudden pinprick of pain that blossomed into a shooting sensation up his forearm. At once, Miles could feel his powers being activated--his telltale orange glow beginning to radiate from his irises. Then, just as suddenly as he felt the pain, it subsided. Miles wrenched the gun from his palm to see a blossoming bead of crimson upon his skin, and just the faintest, circular outline on the handle. The bottle on the barrel began to glow a deep orange, and despite not using his powers in any ostensible way, he still felt… activated.

Then, he saw it. Miles’s stomach dropped, and he watched, stunned, as Louis started his sprint across the open arena and towards another stranger. One he hadn’t even seen arrive.

Oh no.

Instinct took over, and in moments, Miles was leaping through his makeshift barricade, the canvas backpacks and aluminum suitcases scattering across the arena floor as he did. The Atombreaker didn’t think--not about the gun in his hands, not about the glow still in his eyes--he just moved, his eyes locked on a cluster of advancing forms, each one appearing to be some kind of living shade. Miles made it about fifteen feet from the boys when he realized he wasn’t going to make it. The creatures were upon them, and The Atombreaker watched in terror as the first of them began to take a running leap towards its quarry.

As he skidded to a halt, Miles raised his gun. The Atombreaker pulled the trigger again, this time ready for the pain, and was pleasantly surprised when all he felt was a small prick. The gun fired, and the bullet struck the creature square in the chest. The hit knocked it off its trajectory, but though the creature landed a couple feet short, it was quickly getting back up. Like The markswoman's bullets before him, the creature seemed unaffected. Still, Miles knew he was missing something. He knew because his eyes were still glowing, and because he could somehow feel the bullet inside of the beast, like a phantom limb wriggling around inside of the murky blackness. Miles paused, the gun faltering for a moment in his hands as a radical idea wriggled its way into his mind.

With a thought, Miles pressed upon that phantom feeling, exerting his will to change the creature as though he himself were touching it. He watched in amazement as the monster began to slow--and then stop--before it’s entire chest burst outward in a fountain of newly-transmuted table salt. As it collapsed, Miles turned on the other two elusive enemies, firing the gun multiple times at each in rapid succession. He didn’t need to be too accurate--just one was all it took for him to get a hold on them.

Miles swallowed hard, focusing his will to transmute the beasts from within. As he quickly learned, he didn’t get a whole lot of time before the mysterious connection to the bullets faded. Thankfully, the strange shades seemed to be made almost entirely out of the same solidified substance, hastening the speed by which they could be turned. They also weren’t technically alive as far as Miles could tell, which was a definite plus.

As the other two oncoming foes collapsed to the ground in their own piles of salty viscera, Miles advanced towards where the newcomer had been so unceremoniously dropped. With a heave, he helped Louis pull Monty off the ground, before standing in front of the duo. He barely spared the gloomy teenager a look before dropping to one knee and firing out towards the next wave of attackers.

“Get him back to the middle--I’ll protect your rear.” Miles paused for a split second as he felt a familiar stab into the side of his palm. Somehow this weapon was drawing his power from him and transferring it to the bullets. Miles could barely fathom that kind of technology, and even though he had a hundred questions, he kept on shooting (and transmuting) from where he knelt until he was sure Louis had begun to retreat with the new kid.

Even though Miles was able to put down a handful of the creatures, the innumerable number of glowing eyes in the dark told him that he wasn’t going to be able to hold ground for very long. With Louis carrying a victim, and him having to both hit and transform every target manually, it was only a matter of time before the creatures overwhelmed them.

Shit..

Miles fired off another two shots. The first missed it’s target, and the second struck another in the arm. The Atombreaker hastily transmuted the limb to water, and watched with a growing sense of futility as more and more of the monsters began to stumble into the light. He swore under his breath, and between panicked shots, Miles called back across the arena to the markswoman on the roof.

“I need that boost if you’ve got it!”
 
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-The Cornucopia-
-Some time-

“Voltaeiche, shut up!”

Voltaeiche flinched at Louis’ words, as if the boy had slapped her across the face. “Nothing new. Not like you’re actually pleasant to be around,” she thought, curling up as she started to close off to the world. Why did she think she’d made a friend? He obviously thought she was a nuisance.

So deep was her wallowing that she almost missed it when the other guy started speaking to her. Glancing up again just as he jumped down, Voltaeiche found herself standing rooted to the spot as she watched the two run forward. Why were they ru-oh there was a guy down there.

Shit.

Shit shit shit. No, this was fine. Probably. Well, no, but fuck, and…

Voltaieche quickly slapped her cheeks to focus herself. “Don’t spiral, not now,” she thought, reaching into her pocket to check the stun gun she had found. She gave it a quick one-over, flipping it in her hand. It was a very utilitarian design; a black box with a glowing doorway on one side, a numbered dial on the other, and a button on the side between them. “Why does it go to eleven…?,” she thought, her eyes glowing their electric blue as she held down the trigger and spun the dial.

The sound alone made Voltaeiche jump. She couldn’t tell so easily with her ears, but her eyes told her what she was expecting; there was a lot of voltage between those prongs, and spinning the dial only increased it. Releasing the trigger, she took a deep breath as she tried to think. How much voltage did she need to use…?

No time, just guess,” she thought, spinning the dial to six as she climbed to the roof as well. Giving a slight nod to the masked woman and the older man, she stood facing the wave of dark figures, one hand out with fingers trembling as her eyes glowed.

You just need to make a path,” she thought as she tugged the particles around her. Nothing in air made for a good natural conductor, but that didn’t matter to her. She would make one. Even without the stun gun firing, Voltaeiche could already feel the power thrumming in the air, every particle she pulled from its natural state another piece of potential energy waiting to be tapped. She worked quickly, the path she made tracing it’s way from one prong, out towards the mess of approaching monsters, swirling back and forth at random between them, and back to the other prong.

And then she clicked.

The reaction was instantaneous. The energy didn’t spread like lightning; it flew along the path she’d made, blue like her eyes. She couldn’t see the flow, it was too fast for her to follow, but she could sense it. Sense it as it flowed to the first dark figure, crashing, spreading, lighting them up, and then moving through the next, and the next. Seven times it crashed, through seven figures, before finally flowing back to the other prong.

Voltaeiche felt...odd as she processed what she’d just done. She was...proud? That the years of control, of not letting loose, had come around in such a way. She was scared, so scared, of herself because she’d managed to use her powers at all to harm things in such a way, and it had cost her nothing. No pain, no burns like the ones crisscrossing her back. Her hands were shaking, so were her knees as her mind flashed back to the last time she’d used her powers to harm and oh god the smell. Burnt flesh and ozone wafted up to her, sickening reminders of what happened every time she wielded her weapon.

She couldn’t take it, her focus broken and finger off the trigger as she puked whatever food she’d had a few hours before. She wasn’t made for this, for hurting anything. “Useless when it matters most,” she thought, holding her stomach as she coughed and spat to try recover.
 
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Current Identity: Willem La'Tour
A Possible Paradise
Surrounded By Playthings

The terrorist watched with careful intention as the others of the group seemed to decide what they wanted to do. Another of their number had joined him atop the cornucopia, promising greater accuracy to those in the vicinity. Meanwhile, another boy was dropped - and his hackles seemed to raise, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. He knew that boy. He had a whole dossier on him, on what to do should he see him, see him attempt to stop his endeavors.

The boy was dangerous. But right now, these creatures were the worse of two evils. His eyes turned back to their number, seeing them pick up objects with strange symbols embossed in a glow across their surfaces, and again his gaze fell on the morphsuit down below. These things seemed to... enhance whatever abilities they already possessed. That girl and her ability to strike lightning through multiple foes was useful. Same to Atombreaker and his metamorphosis slugger.

He dropped down to the ground with an easy drop and crouch, dashing to the suit. He picked it up, the fabric like water in his hands, only slightly more viscous. Without hesitation, he began to slip it on over his office drone outfit, the suit seeming to wrap tight as he reached for the zipper. As it began to slide upwards, he felt the fabric... mold to him. An extension. A second skin, that reacted with him.

And with it came a feeling of power. A jolt of energy, as if he'd been wired. The hood came on over his head in a cowl. It began to wrap over his face of its own accord, causing him to briefly stagger back in surprise -- and maybe fear.

That didn't last long. He stood still, covered in the suit, the back glowing with the image of a crown, as if unaware of the fight going on around them.

And then, he was a blur of black.

Over-tendoned legs ate ground with splayed toes that gripped the floor, tall spines on his back and head tensing and raising at the slightest change in the wind. Eyeless, he seemed to navigate with ease towards the creatures, without fear or hesitance. Unceremoniously, clawed hands gripped one of them and began to beat a mob of them back with their compatriot, brutally smashing each in turn with some other piece of their fellows. A loud shriek split the air, staggering another group of black forms that looked eerily similar to him.

An intrepid creature raced to him, and the Will-Thing's mouth -- if it could be called that, a glowing white maw with a strange straight protrusion -- opened wide. Abruptly, a green jet of something hit the monster, and its skin bubbled, the creature writhing, before the bubbles popped. More of the poison spread with each burst, hitting its fellows and causing their skin to froth in kind. In an arc, he sprayed the others with acid, occasionally stopping to take another creature by the leg and break its brethren using its body.

Power. A drunken and obscene power. His own abilities, manifested tenfold, without restraint of fatigue or biomass. His body could become... anything.

Hands clasped together, creating a bone mallet. A shadow-creature splattered.

The hands came apart into claws, cutting them apart. There were so many, but that was good. He could play for as long as he liked.

Anything. He could become anything.
 
wretched-remains-bb.regular.png

@rissa

Monty noticed a handful of things within a short period of time. His mind was still a bit sluggish, half in consciousness and half not, but in that short period of time, he came to recognize three things: He was no longer falling. There was an awful pain in his left arm, or rather, what he thought was his arm. And that he was being dragged— his too-worn soles did little to mask the sensation of metal against sock. Without warning, Monty lurched to the side, just outside the inner portion of the cornucopia, and emptied his stomach. He haggard backwards, wiping his mouth haphazardly, eyes glazed, and tripped over a bag. Monty caught the edge of a metal container somewhat fast, and eased himself down. It took a couple seconds to right himself, wind still rushing in his ears, but after awhile he glanced up at Louis with a goofy, if somewhat glazed smile. “Hey, kiddo.”

Louis was pretty sure they were fucked. He was acting like an idiot, running out to Monty with no plan while a million hungry shadow monsters closed in on them. Where was his cool weapon? Sweaty palms slipping as he attempted to drag Monty away, Louis considered singing his prayers when Carrothead dropped right in front of them and began firing. ...Sort of badass. With Miles watching their rear and his help in pulling Monty off the ground, Louis successfully maneuvered them both back to the center, just in time for his friend to puke his guts up. Louis stumbled back slightly, face twisted in a mixture of panic and disgust, but the expression flickered once the smile arose on his face. Kiddo? Really? "D-dude, you have no idea what you just dropped into." Louis stuttered. "I saw you... falling."

At the word falling Monty visibly shivered and he fought back a gag that threatened to have him on his knees heaving. "Yeah-yeah," Monty replied slowly, finally coming back to his senses. It took another moment, for his head to clear entirely, and then he was back on his feet (only wobbling once or twice) in a matter of seconds. "What the h-e-double-hockey-sticks is going on here? Where are we? And what are those?!"

Once Monty had finished up Louis moved in closer, trying to catch the young man before he tripped over his own feet and fell back down. The way Monty shivered at just the word... Louis wondered if he had been falling this whole time. Sick fuck, their evil overlord was. That was a hellish punishment and it made Louis’ skin crawl at the thought. If they were under different circumstances Louis might have laughed at the hockey sticks comment. Instead, he looked grimly at the scene before him, monsters advancing and the spare few people in this realm struggling against them. He looked back at Monty, pale skin already seeming that much more ghostly and eyes dead with sorrow. “I think we’re in someone’s game. Someone’s realm. And he’s fucking with us, and he’s definitely fucked with you. And now he’s sent some shadow monsters after us and we’re supposed to, y'know, to eat or be eaten.” He shook his head. "Just another fucking game." Straightening his shoulders, Louis looked back to Miles as struggled against the shadowy figures. "Listen, uh, my name's... Louis. And when I go all spooky-monster, try to stay away... okay?"

Monty shook his head resolutely. "Nah, not okay." He swallowed away his fears and took fifteen seconds to scan the area, arriving back in the same place he stood not a moment before. "So yeah, we're totally surrounded, but they only seem to be coming from that direction—" He pointed towards Myles and then his jaw went slack. "Wait a second, is that Kid Creator? Oh gosh, I gotta get his autograph for my sister Caoimhe—Oh right." Monty shook his head and pulled out an oatmeal bar from his pocket that had seen better days. He ate it quickly, as he did everything, and looked back at Louis as he zipped through the containers and bags littered around the cornucopia. "Hey, Louis, are you seeing little symbols above everyone's head too or is it just me? Because I think I'm going a little crazy but even those creatures got 'em and there's also a sword thingy over there that matches yours and— Oh good! I found more food."

What? Not okay? Louis blinked, stunned by the answer and the sudden gust of wind that followed it. Oh. Right. He was a speedster. Following Monty's pointed figure, Louis finally realized why Carrottop looked so strangely familiar. Kid Creator. Yeah, that definitely rang a bell. He wondered if Mr. Evil Overlord had maybe pulled people he had seen on the news, or something like that for his evil game. Symbols? "You... see the symbols? Above our heads? W-wait, my weapon!" Louis rushed to the direction Monty gestured to, and this time he could see it clearly: a strange, twisted hilt with the symbol of a fang on its end, Louis pulled it out of the pile of supplies. It was sleek, supple, and carried a surprising heaviness. Within its sheath the body was twisted like a delicate screw and the end looked sharp enough to cut him with just the slightest touch. Inching the cover open just slightly, he could see a body of black damascus steel, but the more of the dagger he exposed the more he could feel that angry voice in his chest grow louder. "You should have a weapon too," Louis mumbled, pulling his attention from the dagger to look back at the speedster. "I... still don't know your name. B-but, since it's not okay that you stay away, if I go out there to help ... Kid Creator, will you cover us?"

Monty nodded vigorously, already having ate four crunchy granola bars and feeling better than he had in a long, long time. He didn’t quite know what the kid meant about a weapon, but he swung the backpack containing food across his back and scanned through the rest of the pile in a flash. “Names Monty, by the way,” he replied through a bite of granola, “There’s some like... rock-like thingies I can throw to keep them from getting too close to y’all. I can cover while y’all get up top!”

"Monty." Louis echoed, letting the name roll off his tongue. "Cool... cool. Yeah. That'll work." He spoke shakily, wringing out his hands while still trying not let too much of his fear seep into his voice. Holy shit. Hoooly shit, he was about to do this willingly. Looking ahead, he could still see Carrothead firing his weird pokey-gun valiantly at the death monsters. Voltaeiche, who Louis realized he'd been kinda mean to in the thick of it all, zapping bravely with her new toy. The dagger felt heavy in his hand. Louis glanced to the sky, almost expecting to see a face that would fit the voice that had taunted him in this new universe. This guy wasn’t very original, if he was working separately from the SPME. Maybe he’d taken a couple pointers. He wanted to see their powers, and he wanted to see some team collaboration. Not Louis’ strong suit. Not at all. He loathed to use his powers, and this little gift in his palms was a surefire sign that it was going to be necessary to get out of this alive. Or whatever version of death one could achieve in a bubble of a universe. He considered the possibility of simply sitting back and watching, but remembered exactly what had happened when he’d tried that last time. A nice little look into Voltaeiche bleeding out. Uhg. Screw it. He wanted to feel useful and heroic for once in his life. Fuck you, Evil Overlord.

Louis unsheathed the dagger. The darkness that encased the pale young man came differently this time, in a way that only Louis would know. Usually, it clawed out of him. Painfully, forcefully, insistently. Now, it swirled, almost kindly, swallowing him whole and leaving not an inch of white skin visible. The only thing that stuck out of his dark form were his glowing green-black eyes. His new body now hovered eerily above the ground like a ghost, and drifted forward into the line of fire. This version of him looked like a man possessed, floating unnaturally and limbs bent awkwardly, hanging near unattached. Bringing out his powers had always needed to be done with purpose, given a target. His first was one headed for Voltaeiche, while she unfortunately puked up her guts. Moving with an uncanny swiftness Louis pivoted and plunged his dagger straight into the chest of one of the shadowy monsters. The creature froze and reeled, a guttural moan escaping it as Louis forced the dagger deeper, twisting it cruelly before yanking it out. Shadowy limbs stiffened before relaxing, and a vacant expression replaced the wild beast the monster had been moments ago. It stood still, like a robot waiting for instructions, and the darkened version of Louis cocked his head in confusion, mulling over the implications of the enemy’s change in temperament.

He simply moved onwards, skulking towards the next closest creature, and the one he had stabbed followed suit. The next was closer to Miles, and as Louis lifted his dagger to attack it, the monster now on his side did the deed first, launching forward to bring the other to the ground. Eventually they were going to be overrun, and there was no way Louis could individually stab each one of these creatures to turn them onto his side, especially it wasn’t even clear if it was possible to control more than just one. They’d be forced to the center and to defend the cornucopia. Until then, however, Louis could enjoy the newfound consciousness he held when maneuvering in his dark body to fight the monsters back. Finally the pilot’s seat was his, even if the transformation his powers had triggered made him seem almost soulless, and in a way, he was. Perhaps not soulless, just with a little less soul. Now there were two shadow-things on the field, both of their own genetic beastly design, rivaling the hordes swarming the rest of those who were still human. They'd certainly have something to bond over after this.

Ghostly fingertips raised the dagger and Louis dove for another silhouette.
 
WHAT COMES NEXT...?

Julian shifted in his seat as the youngest of the group finally, finally unleashed something that not only surprised him, but incited a genuine smile. Like the proud professor he was, he grabbed his holopad, jotted down some notes, and took stock of how everyone else was faring. It surprised him once more that no one, not even the man who wailed, had turned on anyone. With a cluck of his tongue, Julian decided it was time to ramp things up.

He cleared his throat and allowed his voice to travel through one dimension to the next.

”BONUS POINTS WILL BE REWARDED SHORTLY. YOU ALL ARE DOING A WONDERFUL JOB, BUT THE EXAM IS NOT YET OVER. YOU HAVE NINETY SECONDS TO COME UP WITH A PLAN. USE THE TIME WELL.”

With a flick of his wrist, he momentarily cut off the golems onslaught. For a few seconds they did nothing-- simply stood or crouched or hung in the air wherever they were. It was a nice reprieve, but of course, it couldn’t last for long. Fifteen seconds after Julian’s announcement, the golems jerked back to life. Instead of continuing their onslaught, however, the writhing masses coalesced, save for the two that Louis managed to stab, and formed one giant golem.

The timer continued to trickle on and when there was only fifteen seconds left on the clock, it roared.
 


JOLENE MOON




Jolene took a moment to watch the others, observing their abilities, cringing at Voltaeiche’s inability to hold herself together. She wasn’t sure how much she could boost the girl without causing her to become even more sick. Everyone seemed...normal, but one of them immediately stood out to her— the boy with the dagger and a dark form.

Him. He’s the one that I can allow to turn the tables on this creature.

Jolene studied him as he turned the golems against their own intentions to use for his own, and she smiled just slightly beneath her mask. The ominous and bright red glow of her eyes intensified when she put the bulk of her own ability towards bolstering Louis’ ability to control the beasts.

“You! Dark boy with the dagger! Do your best, and control that thing! I’ve got everyone else buffed up and ready to go as well, so do your worst, people!” She spoke so that everyone might hear.

The band around her head really was a thing of wonder. Jolene had always been able to deal with multiple things at once using her ability, but it was always difficult with those pesky intrusive thoughts that always flashed and flew around in her mind. She felt almost weightless, and euphoric with the band on, and the world seemed quieter without the noise she often created for herself. The quiet left so much room for her to focus her ability, to finely tune and adjust the things she needed to in order to achieve the desired effect.

Hopefully I can keep this thing for use outside of this place...If we ever get out.
 
  • According to Plan
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LOUIS BAUVER-CALDWELL

Just as Louis raised his dagger to plunge it into a third shadow creature, the Evil Overlord's voice boomed above them, halting his attack to listen. The longer he spent in this form, the further detached he would become from himself. Right now, with the dagger in his hand, Louis was in control. His fingers tightened against the hilt as an angry growl emitted from the dark shadow that had become of him. Exam? Exam? Every fiber of his being bristled, neck twitching so sharply that his head snapped another direction before slowly, eerily, slithering back into place as his mind went somewhere else.

"Mr. Bauver!"

The thwack of a ruler on his desk awoke Louis from his daydream. History. Fifth period. Pop quiz. He didn't know a damn thing on it. The teacher had spent most of his time dwindling on about lack of respect, classroom etiquette, and ranting about how metahuman children had discipline problems. Most of the time, Louis checked out. Between that and the over abundance of nurse's office visits pulling him out of class, Louis found himself in a daze most days. Time bled together. He'd reach his dormitory and suddenly it'd be dark outside. He didn't study enough. Didn't sleep enough. Didn't --

"Mr. Bauver! If you are going to daydream in my class, during a test no less, you can receive an automatic F!" The teacher moved to snatch the paper from his desk, and without thinking, Louis' hand jutted out, trapping the paper between his fingers. His classmates beside him tensed. Their single-seat desks were spaced far apart, making it feel more like a zoo than a classroom. But a hush settled over them all as his teacher's jaw tightened with anger.

"I want to take the test." Louis said quietly, eyes downcast. He couldn't control himself lately. The corners of his fingertips blackened, the tiniest of shadows snaking up his hands, and then arms. Seeing this, Mr. Jefferson's lip curled upwards in a snarl. "You know the rule. No powers in this classroom. To the principal's office. Now."

He stood up so abruptly that his desk clattered to the floor. Jefferson jumped back, redness rising in his face. "You - insolent
child! I will not have you disrespect me in front of this classroom. Principal's office n-- urk!" Before he could finish his threat, a darkened hand shot out, gripping Mr. Jefferson by the neck. He choked and sputtered, trying to pry Louis' fingers away from his skin, but to no avail. The darkness had not consumed Louis totally; it was up his arms, creeping past the collared uniform and blue-and-yellow tie, but while the shadow was climbing up his neck, his face was untouched, His glow was in full effect, face twisted in concentration and rage.

"Louis!" The voice of a classmate rang out behind him. Her name was Tiffany. She was sweet, shy, and barely ever spoke. But she was the only one to try to pull him out of it, while the rest of his classmates either sat frozen or were trying to get as far away as possible. He turned to look at her, just as the darkness climbed past his lips and up his nose, and saw the glow of her eyes. Bright red. Bright red bright red bright --


“You! Dark boy with the dagger! Do your best, and control that thing!" Louis blinked back to existence, his tight grip on the dagger wavering for a moment. He wasn't there. He wasn't there. Or maybe he was back in that terrible chair, the first to test out their new virtual reality, reduced to a lab rat yet again. It felt more and more possible. And this toy in his hands, it wouldn't last him long. He was slipping.

As Louis turned around to face the two monsters he'd impaled, head sagging like it was poised to slip off, he understood that they were under his control now. Whether that meant the scientist behind this experiment was happy with him, he didn't know, but he knew the consequences were real. And this monster coalescing in front of them would hurt these people if he didn't do something while he still had a sound mind.

After giving Jolene a nod that drooped longer than it should have, he jerked a thumb towards the mega monster. The two shadow beings lurched forward, giving him cover as he followed suit, shadowy body still hovering just inches off the ground as he attempted to reach the giant before Julian's clock ran out and set it loose. At its great roar, Louis' two goons jumped up, clawing at the beast's legs in an attempt to provide a distraction as Louis floated upwards. He wasn't a metahuman of flight, and his strange shadowy levitation didn't carry him very far. But reaching the waist of the mass of consolidating golems, he reared the dagger and plunged it in as deep as possible.

There was a dim thought that a weapon given to him by the man who made the villain wouldn't work so easily. But he had seemed pleased with his actions, like the monkey was doing its task properly. A low growl emitted from Louis as he twisted the dagger in. He wanted this insanity to stop.
 

-The Cornicopia-
-Some seconds later-

“Bonus...points? What kind of sick exam is this?”

Voltaeiche didn’t end up having lots of time to ponder the oddity of their situation. Wiping the remains of the vomit from the edge of her mouth, she took a moment to try to center herself. Everything was going to be fine. She would make it through whatever else was coming, alongside these random strangers whom she could definitely trust and definitely wouldn’t leave her behind. She’d probably have to use her powers again and hurt and burn and shock and

“Don’t think about that.”

Another shaky breath went through Voltaeiche. The man said there would be more to come. Staring out nervously from atop the roof, she watched as the weird monsters all stopped moving. ‘The calm before the storm’ if she’d ever seen, felt one before. But...perhaps this was their chance to escape?

She didn’t get a chance to voice that thought though as the monsters began to move again. Bracing herself, she watched in confusion as they all began to...merge?

Ah. Aaaaah. That was bad.

Would electricity even work on something so big? Did she dare to even try? Oh god now Louis was diving at it and fuck could she hit it without hitting Louis? Did she even want to? She’d probably lose it again and miss or even worse hurt someone and then she’d be even more of a deadweight.

She didn’t want to shoot any more lightning. And she didn’t want to be useless. It wasn’t like she could do much else, not like...like…

“...I can fly,” she muttered before frantically slapping her cheeks to think clearly. She could make herself fly by moving charges but...how could she make others fly? The cornucopia was metal; would it conduct electricity? Maybe. Sending a quick jolt into it said probably. Cool. She could probably do this.

“Hey uh…” she started, leaning out over the edge of the roof. “Uhm...okay...hoo okay yeah I can make us fly. L-like all of us. B-but I need you to have...something like...something metal on you s-so that you’ll get pushed. I mean lifted. I-If you want to, I mean.”

She wasn’t sure how much more time they had, but regardless she placed her hands on the metal roof at her feet and began pushing charge in from her body as fast as she dared to.
 
Miles Haverstash
“Atombreaker”



The plan was not working.

Miles knew at least that much. Even with their combined superpowers, fancy new swag, and relatively-effective teamwork, the kidnapped metas had not gained any ground against the ceaseless tide of punching-bags that their overlord had laid out before them. The thought left a pit in Miles’s stomach, but if their tormentor was hoping to crush his will to continue fighting, then their enemy had not done his research well enough.

Two more shambling shadows exploded on either side of Miles--as soon as his bullets hit them, their bodies rapidly expanded, before bloating and popping like walking blisters. With mild interest, Miles took note of their withering corpses, before turning his gun back on the next creature in line. There was a rhythm to it, he found, and despite how dire the situation was, Miles was settling into that rhythm fast. The Atombreaker would kill a few, then retreat a several steps into a new crouch, and then kill a few more. Rinse and repeat.

Shoot, run. Shoot, run.

Three more wilting husks of salt and sand collapsed to the ground in front of Miles--the smoke still trailing from the rapidly heating barrel of his most unconventional weapon. Miles barely noticed them--he was running on autopilot, and had stopped seeing the monsters as individual targets. Instead, he was beginning to more or less sense them; their movements were becoming almost as regular as his own, and so it was with practiced efficiency that Miles dropped another four shades, before rolling backwards out of the way of a fifth.

Shoot, run. Shoot, run.

The line was getting tighter, and with it, the tempo of the battle was beginning to go beyond what Miles was capable of matching. As soon as Miles put down another pair of shades, a third lunged at him from the side, it’s gnarly grasp centimeters from his shocked expression before something truly surprising happened. Another one of the creatures intercepted his would-be assassin, tackling it to the ground and mauling with vicious efficiency.

Miles blinked, and suddenly the world came back into focus. With a start, The Atombreaker spun on his heels just in time to watch Louis surge past him, wreathed in inkly darkness and wielding a knife like the star of a fifties-era psycho-slasher film. The sudden and completely unexpected display of violence from America’s least-interested teenage metahuman stunned Miles for a moment, his mouth slack-jawed and eyes wide with disbelief.

The plan was definitely not working.

As if to punctuate that thought, the loudspeakers roared to life, and their enigmatic overlord once again addressed the crowd.

”BONUS POINTS WILL BE REWARDED SHORTLY. YOU ALL ARE DOING A WONDERFUL JOB, BUT THE EXAM IS NOT YET OVER. YOU HAVE NINETY SECONDS TO COME UP WITH A PLAN. USE THE TIME WELL.”

Miles’s frown deepened: he didn’t like satisfying the megalomaniac that had kidnapped them. If his mystery captor was pleased with their progress, it only confirmed that they had done virtually nothing to upset this simulation--if it could be called that. Still, the shades seemed to slow their advance and the nearest of them had made it less than six feet from where Miles knelt before the call came. Any longer, and he might’ve been overrun.

Of course, the break didn’t last long.

Miles didn’t consider himself a fast learner. He had never been witty, or particularly clever, but The Atombreaker took some small measure of pride in the knowledge that even if he was a slow learner, he did learn. So it was that as the shades began to gather and conjoin with one another, the young superhero’s adrenaline-addled, an dehydrated mind came at last to the realization that what he was seeing was not merely some bizarre mosh-pit, but in fact the combination of many small enemies into one, massive, super-enemy.

“Oh.” Miles muttered. “Oh, fuck.”

Like a machine, Miles dropped to his knees, and began to unload into the beast, but the rate at which he could transmute the bullets was not faster than the rate at which the creature was gaining mass. After emptying four or five bullets into the behemoth, Miles stopped, grinding his teeth together in frustration for a moment before he heard Jolene’s voice from the cornucopia.

The Cornucopia

He had forgotten about it--and the heroes on it--in the haze of battle, and the rhythm of his defense. He had forgotten that he wasn’t alone. Miles turned back in the direction of the voice, and watched with even more surprise than before as Louis, now bolstered by whatever it was the rooftop stranger had done, went flying directly for the beast. Miles understood then. He understood that he had underestimated not just the civilian screecher, but everybody that had been looped into whatever nightmare they were sharing.

With a beleaguered sigh, Miles holstered the gun, and paused for a moment to inspect the gruesome sight of his trigger hand which had been stabbed at least twenty times by the tiny needle. The palm of his hand was slick with blood, and the muscles sore from their treatment. Still, it had been a small price to pay--and one he had no doubt he would continue paying.

With a huff, Miles pushed himself to his feet, and wiped his hands clean against the fabric of his pants. He didn’t have time to be tired, or confused. There was a shadow monster that needed destroying, and the collective plan of the moment was to let a teenager with a spooky knife rush it and then just kind of hope for the best. Even Miles could see that was a shit plan.

Thankfully, Voltaeiche seemed to have a better one. Even though Miles had his back to her, he could tell she was the same frantic, frizzy-haired girl he’d met just a few moments earlier. Thankfully, she didn’t sound hurt, which gave Miles some measure of relief.

“Hey uh… Uhm...okay...hoo okay yeah I can make us fly. L-like all of us. B-but I need you to have...something like...something metal on you s-so that you’ll get pushed. I mean lifted. I-If you want to, I mean.”

Pushed… lifted?

Miles looked back at her, puzzled for a minute before the proverbial light-bulb went off inside of his head. With a start, The Atombreaker began ripping at his gloves, and just as soon as they came free, he slapped both exposed hands against the cool, featureless flooring. They didn’t have a plan--not really--but just about anything was better than letting that Louis kid fight a giant shadow beast on his own. The gun hadn’t made enough of a difference, but the bullets were small and their power decayed quickly. If Miles was going to help, he’d need more direct contact, and he’d need to be able to channel his power from the source.

Miles closed his eyes, and concentrated on where his hands lay pressed against the floor. He could feel the uniformity of it all--sense it, even. If they were anywhere in the real world, Miles would never have found such consistency in form: whether in nature or in the city, the ground was a costly thing to transmute in great quantities, since it was so often riddled with a million different things, each made of a variety of materials.

Here, the ground was one thing.

With a single deep breath, Miles pushed his power out from himself, guiding it’s direction with his mind, and intent. At once, the surface of the ground beneath his hands transformed from the impressionable and unidentifiable mystery-stone to a plain, but undeniably conductive sheet of iron, which traveled in two directions away from him: one path led all the way across the surface of the ground back to the Cornucopia, and the other traveled forward to beneath the monster’s feet. The metal moved quickly, though not instantaneously, and Miles hoped that the shadow beast was either too stupid or too disinterested to notice the change in substance.

Transmutation had been easier in this realm, but with Jolene’s added power-boost, and the uniformity of the ground itself, it was hardly a strain at all to give Voltaieche a highway of conductive material to levitate across. As a last measure, Miles transmuted the soles of his boots, and palms of his gloves with the same metal, before turning back to where he saw the female meta a moment before.

“Voltaeiche!” He called, “Give the road a charge--and then get me flying!

Their last plan hadn’t worked. Miles hoped that this one might.
 
Current Identity: ?????-- Willem La'Tour
A Possible Paradise
Surrounded By Assets

Drunkenness. It was a fever dream of destruction, of freeing, liberating exhaustion. He could fight as long as he wanted. He could destroy as much as he wanted. He could unleash that ungodly vitriol he felt in every aspect of his waking, social life onto these feelingless creatures, these golems that were little more than shadow and make-shift tissue. He loved it, ripping and tearing his way through them. Every swipe, every dig, every spurt of acid was another thing he could control and dismantle out of his path. It had never been this easy, and it was so addicting. But, of course, the high was wearing off.

His higher mind was coming back. A man without codes is not a man, but an animal. And he loved being an animal perhaps too much.

Finally, he halted, and the black suit pressed against his face, only the hollows of his eyes, the protrusion of a nose, the dip of his open mouth suggested human features inside the suit as he panted in the relative safety of the cornucopia. He dug his fingers into the face of the suit, holes tearing into the liquid to reveal his human features. His chest heaved, his lungs expanding capacity. So easy to shift. It usually took him far more energy to increase cellular output.

He finally stopped to take in his.... 'comrades' was a strong word. Fellow captives. They all seemed to have benefited from these items as well, most of all the dark teenager that was stabbing the creatures and turning them to his will. His eyes sharpened as he watched, a thought entering his mind, inspiration. Of fungus that worms into the flesh of spiders, of tumors spread from face to face by a bite...

Of course, an intercom came on to tell them they were doing well in this... test. Now the true intent of their captor was revealed. This was an assessment. He recognized he should be enraged that he'd been coopted for something so trivial, but he understood the design. Admittedly, he didn't feel like complying. A plan.... Suddenly, everyone was running into action. Miles planned to fly at it. Cute. What exactly would that do? Who knew? His slugger might work.

But that was no sure bet. Time to hedge those bets.

"You -- woman. You help me aim," he stated to Jolene, not in the mood to waste time on pleasantries like names. "I'll be shooting,as well."

A crackling noise came from the terrorist's arms as arms lengthened, split, deformed into wings. Will barely winced as they restructured into a set of functional, feathered wings, a single powerful burst of sending him into the sky to circle around the creature from a height, fluttering as he got the hang of his abrupt creation. Funguses working into flesh, a fluke controlling an ant, a tumor passed from fang to fang, a spear shot into prey to paralyze... His jaws worked, rewriting DNA, reworking saliva into enamel and poison.

Finally hitting a smooth glide, Will spat a long and ugly tooth, seeking to implant a harpoon of a sharp fang into the creature's neck, to paralyze, to slow, and maybe even to control.