Heroes in the Making

[BolinBurrito]

"We don't need to add to the already high death tally of tonight from carelessness. Come on." The girl to her left said as she dusted herself off. Ugh, the ashes of our classmates. Sig grimaced at the thought, but tried to focus on the situation at hand. A younger boy a small distance away was staring really intently at them, and it was starting to make her uncomfortable. He's looking pretty panicky, too. She tried to think of what they should do next.

"Where exactly are we supposed to go? We're all naked, all our classmates are dead, we have no transportation because the fucking cars were incinerated, and apparently some of us have been fucked with biologically." Sig tried to stay as calm as possible, but she was definitely yelling towards the end of her rant. All of sudden they heard a shrill scream from above them. Both Sig and the other girl looked up, seeing the class president being held by the winged woman by the throat. Then, the winged woman dropped her.

"Oh shit." Sig said quietly, as both her and the other girl stared shocked, not knowing what to do. Sig almost rushed forward to catch her, correctly herself immediately after the thought appeared. She'll just crush me at the rate she's dropping. As she landed, a boom rang throughout the clearing. No one moved. Sig and the girl watched as the class president lay there, then slowly get up. Completely uninjured. Oh my god, what happened to all of us. Suddenly, the sound of flapping wings brought Sig out of her head, and she snapped her head up to look at the winged woman.

"RUN!" screamed the class president, as she started sprinting towards the forest, the boy from behind them already running in that direction. Sig looked at the girl, saw her start to run, and finally started running herself. Only to her surprise, she was already in the forest. Okay, wait. She stopped, looking behind her and seeing that the others were WAY behind her. She started running again, this time trying to concentrate on what was happening around her as she was running.

The trees were rushing past her, so fast they didn't look like trees, until she remembered what she was doing, and all of a sudden, everything was crystal clear. Oh my god, I'm running. Really fucking fast. Sig stopped again as she began to see the trees come to an end and the horizon open up. Maybe I should wait for the others.

 

[Taco Mako]

Time stretched by as Germain stumbled, naked and alone through the dense forest. Seconds gave way to minutes, and minutes turned to hours through the long night. Germain could only vaguely sense the cuts and scrapes that crisscrossed his legs and feet. His limbs had long been rendered numb by emotional shock compounded with the draining chill of the night. He had come to the realization that he wasn't stuck in some horrible nightmare. The world around him was too sharp, too vivid. Germain had no earthly explanation for what had happened to him, but he was sure that it really had happened.

Walter's dead.

Germain's heart twisted, his eyes shed burning tears, and still he trudged on through the woods. He could now see the lights of home through the tangle of foliage, the solar LED lamps shining brightly along the walls that ringed the property. Germain pushed his way through the bushes that formed the boundary of the forest. Down, through the ditch, up and across the road, and over the vine covered stone wall he went. He plopped into the overgrown grass at the back of his family's half-acre with an awkward thump. Saber, Balto, and Irish lifted their furry heads as Germain stepped under the back porch awning. The big dogs huffed and went back to sleep. Some guard dogs y'all are. Germain bent and retrieved the spare key from the obviously fake rock in the planter next to the door. He tossed the key onto the kitchen table as he came in. Down to the booze cellar he went to grab a small bottle of dark bourbon. Cause you're supposed to drink something dark and strong when you're sad, don't you know? He could hear his cousin's sarcastic life lessons even now.

Walter's dead.

His feet carried him upstairs to his bathroom. Germain took a swig from the bottle as he sat in the tub, waiting for it to fill. The bourbon was disgusting and it made his head fuzzy, but he preferred that to the numbing pain that threatened to overwhelm him. When the water reached his ribs, he sat the bottle on the tile floor, turned off the knob with his toes, and slid down into the tub. Germain closed his eyes and eased into the warmth as the water washed over his face. Suddenly, he felt a chill, and could clearly hear the hum of the air conditioning. Is the water gone? He opened his eyes and was surprised to see a giant sphere of liquid floating over him. He opened his mouth to speak "What the fu-" only to choke and gag as the blob of water fell down onto his head. Germain sat there, completely confused, as what little of the water that landed back in the tub swished and swirled around him. He quickly decided that the world no longer made sense, and he need more booze. He leaned out from the tub and grabbed the bottle. Germain tipped the bottle over and downed what was left. He bent his arm back and tossed the empty bottle in a free throw motion across the bathroom. It missed the trashcan by a foot and shattered onto the tile. Germain sat in the water, staring at the shards. He decided that it didn't matter if he cleaned it up or not, and slouched back down into the tub instead. Germain let his head loll to the side and rest on the smooth porcelain lip of the tub. His vision was starting to spin so he shut his eyes. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he slowly drifted off into oblivion.

Walter's dead.

 

[Tofu__WU]

As Keith was Sprinting away from the woods and blast zone towards town his hurried mind was finally trying to make sense of it all now that he was not in immediate danger.

I'm naked.
I just survived some kind of explosion along with 6 other people, which burned off my clothes and..... oh god, this black soot on me is the rest of my classmates. He started wiping the soot off leaving black streaks of sweat.
The one who set everything off can not only fly but has some sort of power over smoke, and can probably set off another explosion.
Some of the survivors seemed to be able to perform astounding feats, That black boy could run ridiculously fast away from Death with wings, that one boy turned into a monster infront of him, The class president can live after a fall from approx: 120 feet, and someone teleported me to the other side of the blast radius.
I need to get home and tell my mother what happened; she will know what to do.

How many people are dead?
Don't think about that now, just get home without being arrested for running about town naked.

At this point Keith had run past the (Now closed) convenience store his mother had dropped him off at. There were still some car's abandoned in the lot by their now dead owners, waiting to be drug away.
"Ok, now you're in town." he thought to himself, "I wish I knew what time it was. I wish I had clothes. I wish that had not happened." Covering himself as best he could, Keith streaked through town, going behind buildings but following the streets his mother drove earlier that night. The town did not have many homeless in it, and the few he passed by whistled at his naked form, thinking he was just some prankster giving them a show.

Keith entered his residential area sweating, shivering, and tired, "Final stretch" he thought to himself. as he walked past the mansions on acres of land some area dogs shouted his presence, rushing his pace to get home. As he trotted past the 12 foot Black wrought-iron fence surrounding his parents 3 story mansion of a house, sitting on its own 2 acres of land, which are covered in his mothers various Flower gardens and bird feeders.

As he walked closer to the house he could hear that his mother was awake, as she loved to blare music on the house-wide surround sound system she had installed a few years ago. "TAKE ME DOWN TO PARADICE CITAY, WHERE THE GRASS SO GREEN...". "Oh god how do I explain why I'm naked?" he thought to himself. "I WANNA KNOWWWWWWW, I WANNA KNOOOWWWWW. OH WON'T YOU PLEASE TAKE ME HOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMEEEEEEEE YEA YEA YEA" Hoping to just not have to deal with the situation until the morning Keith rounded to the back of the house as the current song ended.

As a new guitar riff started playing; Keith snuck in through the back door of his own home using the spare key behind the smiling Sun hanging on the wall, his mother was either in the Kitchen dancing and baking, or she was in her dance studio just dancing. "Back in black I hit the sack, I been too long I'm glad to be back. " He peeked around the corner into the kitchen, no mom. He continued through the kitchen thinking to himself,"looks like all safe from here on." Keith, in his rush and tiredness, did not notice the piles of cookies on the counter, as he walked past them and straight up the stairs in the kitchen to the second floor and rushed up to his floor of the house, and hurried into his bathroom to remove the cremation from his skin. Without grabbing any clothes to change into, or a towel to dry himself off with Keith got into the shower, where he scrubbed himself red, and fell asleep against the corner thinking about everything on his mind with the water flowing over him.

 

[Coca-Korra]

Alice wasn't sure if that naked boy she ran past had heeded her warning and followed suit and she was sure she would feel terrible about it later, but right now the most important thing to do was get the hell out of there. She'd make sense of what was going on when she wasn't so hyped up on adrenaline and fear as she kept herself focused on dodging the trees. In the back of her mind, Alice knew she could literally run through these trees and not suffer any damage but a part of her wanted this to be some kind of sick dream. One she was desperate to wake up from.

It didn't take long for Alice to find her way out of the forest and at the edge of an empty road. The chill of the night air prickled her bare skin, reminding her that she was completely nude. Alice quickly tried to cover herself up with her arms but soon realized how much of a hindrance it was to run with her arms over her breasts and private areas. Besides, she wasn't doing much to cover herself anyway so by the time she reached the other side of the road, Alice was making a full sprint into town. The half moon resting high above her as well as the many closed shops she passed by gave her a general idea of what time it was; really, really late. Thankfully, the late hour meant few people walking around and the ones Alice unluckily saw were too drunk to realize that a naked girl was just down the sidewalk.

By the time Alice made it to her neighborhood, her feet and hands were numb with cold and her legs were straining from overexertion but she pushed through her exhaustion as she jogged over to her simple, two-story home. The lights weren't on, indicating that her parents were asleep and Alice prayed they stayed that way as she opened their front gate as quietly as she could. With her house key disintegrated along with the rest of her clothes, Alice needed another means of getting inside so once she quietly closed the gate behind her, she sneaked around to the back of the house. Since their backyard didn't provide much room for a full-out garden, her mother got creative and decided to plant flowers that grew vertically instead of horizontally. This lead to her father building a large trellis spanning almost the entire back wall of the house. It was more wide than tall but the trellis was high enough to reach the window sill of Alice's bedroom window. Alice always planned for the trellis to be an escape route out of the house rather than a way to sneak inside but she was incredibly glad at how annoyingly prepared she was as she climbed up the trellis. She opened her bedroom window with ease and at the sight of her bed just right under her window, decided to just flop down onto it and allow exhaustion and darkness overcome all her senses.

---

"Alice! Alice, are you there?!" Her mother's voice, accompanied by some frantic knocking of the door, woke Alice from her dreamless sleep. She was terribly groggy and severely out-of-it as she wondered why her mother was calling her. School was over and it was the weekend and-

Oh.

Oh shit.

Alice's eyes shot open before looking at her surroundings. She had (somehow) made it home in one piece last night and passed out once her head hit her bed. And although she had landed on her comforter, sometime that night she had been unconsciously crawled underneath both her blanket and comforter and wrapped herself in a warm, toasty burrito. Which in hindsight was a terrible idea since it left her sweaty and hot underneath all her covers, even if she was naked. Pulling the covers away, Alice cringed when she saw that her body had still been covered in ash and had left black stains all over her sheets. Those were the ashes of her classmates...

That mere thought was enough to incite her gag reflex and Alice scrambled out of bed to throw up in her toilet in her adjoining bathroom. All the food she ate last night came roaring out of her in one painful upheaval. Once finished, Alice stared down inside the bowl in a daze, her thoughts finally daring to go back to last night. The party, the smoke, the woman, the explosion, the crater, the sky, the fall, and the escape. Every single moment of that night came rushing back in, bringing along realizations and feelings she couldn't concentrate on during her struggle for survival. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes and before she knew it, she was sobbing over the toilet bowl, her tears cascading down and mixing in with the gross contents of last night's meal. All her friends, acquaintances, rivals; all of them were gone in the blink of an eye. She didn't know every single person there but that didn't stop the wave of despair and loss from overtaking her.

Why did she live?

And what the hell did she gain from surviving?

Alice remembered that terrifying fall and how she had survived it with not a scratch on her. And she didn't feel any pain from the impact. Looking down at her shaking hands, Alice briefly wondered what happened to her before being cut off by another round of knocks on her bedroom door.

"Alice?!" Her mother called, her voice screeching from what sounded like worry. Alice quickly wiped her face with the backside of her hand and hurried to the door.

"M-mom?! I'm here!" Alice replied back, clearing her throat a second later when she heard how horse it was.

"Oh thank goodness sweetheart." Thankfully, her mother thought nothing of it as she continued to speak. "I didn't hear you come in last night. I was getting worried."

"Sorry, I was super tired after the party and didn't want to wake you." She hated having to lie but the truth was far worse to reveal to her mother.

"That party is actually why I woke you up so early dear." Alice's fear spiked through the roof when she heard these words. What did she know? If she knew more, she would have sounded a lot more frantic than relieved. Or maybe have her dad knock down her door. Come to think of it, where was her dad?

"I got a call from the principal saying that he needs you to go to the school." Her mother began to explain when Alice didn't reply back. "Apparently a lot of people didn't go home last night. Your father was called down to the precinct to check things out and the principal thought it would be best for all the people at the party who got home last night to meet at the school so they can talk to the authorities as one collective whole." That made a lot of sense since there were a good number of students who left the party before all hell broke loose. And if Alice remembered correctly, she wasn't the only one to survive the blast. She saw three, maybe four other people standing in the aftermath of the explosion. She wasn't sure who those three she saw across the crater but the image of the boy she ran past was branded into her brain. She also finally remembered his name, surprising since he was slightly famous among the seniors.

"O-okay mom, I'll be out soon." Alice said once she found her voice again. Her mother acknowledged her answer and Alice waited till she heard her walk away from her door before moving away from it. Her mind was in overdrive again as she tried to pull together pieces of a half-formed plan. She wasn't even sure what her goal was but she knew she had to get to those students she saw at the end of the explosion before anyone else did. She had to make sure she wasn't the only one suffering from strange side effects. There was that disfigured person but Alice wasn't even sure if they survived the night. It might have been a terrible effect to the explosion that left him dead moments later. Her head was spinning from all her assumptions and guesses. What she needed now were cold, hard facts. Facts she can only acquire from other people.

 

[Flame]

The next hour was a blur. He wandered about the forest, Torn between various emotions before he calmed himself. He had destroyed a few healthy trees in his despair, and he looked back on the path he had tread. It looked like a monster had torn through. He was that monster. He knelt down, and began to just focus on calming down. All of a sudden, he felt the bones in his arm move. He looked at the arm, and it appeared that the bones were shrinking and receding. He saw his hand again, and he felt his chest. No exposed heart. His hair was back to normal, and he felt shorter... A spark of hope ignited inside him. He could make it home. This was a thing that could be controlled, maybe. He turned the other way, and ran through the woods. He hardly cared that he was naked. At least he looked human.

The orphanage was on the edge of town anyway. He could probably walk through the woods and reach it. And so he did. He retraced his steps from the party, and ended up at the large house. All the lights were off. He snuck in through the front door, and climbed the steps, reaching his room un-noticed by a soul. He got some clothing, and went to take a shower. He had some time to think now. He went to the bathroom, and looked in the mirror. He looked normal, and, he couldn't change that. He instead took the shower, and got out, drying off and going to his room. To sleep. Maybe this wasn't real.

He woke in the morning to a phone being shoved in his face by one of the other children. "It's for you.", he said. Crys took it. Apparently, last night was real. The officer talked, and he just stared, not saying a word. The final thing said was that he should come to the school. "Yea...", he hung up, and laid the phone down, getting on some clothes he could actually wear outside. A red shirt and blue jeans... he didn't have a jacket anymore...

He drove down to the school, and ended up in the midst of a group of officers. They asked nothing of him but for him to wait for the other students to arrive so they could get things sorted out. He nodded, and stood by quietly.

 

[Tofu__WU]

Keith Awoke in the shower Freezing cold due to the hot water heater having given out hours ago. He finished washing himself thoroughly before getting out of the shower. Since he woke up from his terrifying nightmare about being chased through a frozen dungeon by some demon with black raven wings coming out of her shoulder-blades, wielding the demon sword from adventure time, and wearing Jasmines outfit from Aladdin; all he could think about was how in the dream HE had activated portals multiple times to get away from her. He tried every which way that made since to him trying to open portals in the air, but it joust didn't happen. When he got out of the shower it finally hit him, "Why am I waking up in the shower? Which lead the 20 ton train with "Life Altering" written across the front to hit him once more. Staring into his own eyes in the mirror, he felt like throwing up.

Me and my mother should leave this town.

He walked out of his bathroom into his bedroom and saw a pink note on his bed with $20 taped to it. In lime green ink it read,




_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
"I didnt even hear you come in honey I hope you had tons of fun with your friends, and were safe."
"Thank whoever drove you home and give them this for gas ----->"



"I hope to hear all about it at breakfast"
"Love"
"~~~~~~~~~MoM~~~~~~~~~"

"Ps: The Cookie Jar's are FULL!!!!!!!!!"
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Several iterations of, "Oh god what the hell am I going to tell Her???" went through his mind. The only responses being:
1) If she knew I was still there when what happened Happened, I'd be talking about it for the rest of my life. Do not tell her anything related.
When it does get brought up;
2) We need to leave. Move away, to another part of the world preferably.
3) How the hell do I ever explain people with superpowers??????

He never quite figured the last one out, so he just added it to the list of things he just wouldnt bring up. After taking the $20 off of the note, he figured that meant it was his, and as he tried to stick it in his pocket he realized another two things; Just how tired he still was, and he is still naked. While putting on plaid boxers and Harvard sleeping pants his mom bought him when he agreed to apply there; He sat down at his computer to look some things up.
What the fuck do I type into the search engine.
He went to bed leaving Google.com open on his Desktop.


At 10:00AM Keith's mother came in as she always did when he was asleep at this point, after all, the world wakes up at 7AM; the least he could do is be up by 10, she woke him up by throwing the curtains open thus blinding him with Rays of eye searing warmth. Keith threw the blanket over his face and rolled, wurbling somthing about 15's in his sleepy haze.
"WAAAAKEE UP SWEEAATHEART" and his 35 year old mother woke him up with the same level of joy and excitement as if she was a younger sibling rather than a maternal being, and used similar tactics: tickling.
*Giggleing laughter*
"MOM STOP!" came a yell from under the covers as she pinched his sides through the blanket.
"Wake up Batman, your Breakfast will get cold. I made egg's, bacon, biscuits, and pancakes. I left some of the cookies I made in the jar on your dresser." She slightly slammed his door as she left his room, jolting him to fully awake. After putting on a Robin's egg colored teeshirt Keith sat back where he left off last night. After looking down and seeing 10:47 in the bottom right corner with no other change on the screen, Keith went to go get his breakfast; which at this point was probably rather cold. As he walked downstairs his mother was, as usual blasting music, this time it was more modern music which meant there was an 95% chance she was in the kitchen dancing like she had just had a seizure. As he came downstairs he saw the perfect moment to describe his mother as a person:

She has been told her entire life she looks exactly like Carrie Fisher, and she dresses up as Princess Leia almost every Halloween. She was standing on the Island counter Thus making her 61 inch frame meet him eye to eye as Keith was halfway down the stairs. As typical she was wearing a weird medley of clothing starting with her loose-fitting fuchsia pants, forest green blouse with a prude collar, Bright red belt, and no shoes. Her straight Dark brown hair was kept up in tiny braids which were put up into two much larger braids which normally would go down to her waist, but they were too busy trying to attack the chandalier at the moment. The only other adonments she had, was a silver watch with sapphires in it his dad had given her when Keith was born worn around her tanned wrist. As she swirled around to the tune of,"Who has to know, When we live such fragile lives, It's the best way we survive." With a huge full mouthed grin, their brown eyes met, and she turned the music down to berate him about how much fun he did not have the night before.

She hopped down off the counter and nearly bashed her face into another one of the marble counters, for a woman so good at dancing his mother had absolutely no grace; she hurt herself by falling often. Yet she still acts as if it's never happened and like she has the grace of a thousand acrobats. She collected herself and picked up the huge plate of food meant for him to walk over and set it down on the table before sitting at one of the chairs with arms to drink her tea and stare at him with her legs danging over the arm. Keith B-lined over to the refrigerator to grab a glass of milk, before sitting at the seat his mother chose to place his food at. "So did you and your friends have fun last night?" came the daunting question from his mother.

"Uhm", Keith warbled as he tried to think of anything else to tell his mother besides what actually happened, "Yea there was allot of dancing, and loud music, some of the other mathletes invited me to go into the dance circle." He trailed off as his mother made false assumptions about how his night went. He took a large mouthful of eggs as he started putting butter and Strawberry Jam on his biscuit, and his mom asked a question which turned out to be even more dangerous than the first, "So were there any girls at this party?" And between her gasp of excitement, him almost choking on his eggs, and the heat he could feel coming off his face, he knew he was Ab-So-Lute-Ly scarlet red.

Oh god now I HAVE to come up with something.

"Some guy threw a beer at me to get me to drink it, and I threw it to her because I don't like beer, she's the one that drove me home." She's dead, and you were wearing her when you snuck in last night, her and everyone else that went to the party.

His mother set down her tea and hopped up and down on her butt clapping her hands together. "Did you two do anything?" she asked both playfully and accusitorily.
"Uh", he said, "Can we not talk about it you're my mother"

He left the table without eating any more, the conversation mixed with him once again thinking about what happened the night before having killed any and all hunger his stomach once claimed to have had. He went upstairs, thanking himself that he had given himself an out, even if it was a weird one. His mom turned the music back up in his wake MENTAL WOUNDS NOT HEEEAAALING, WHO AND WHATS TO BLAME!?!?!?!? the song mixing with the Huge grandfather clock in the atrium of the house signaling 11 O'clock.

After changing into good fitting pants, Keith sat at his computer and looked up research materials. He bought Superpower Dictionaries, Super hero Anthologies, books on magic, voodoo, and supernatural things. Books on beings of myth from all religions, monsters, and people with supernatural capabilities. Thinking about this later, he realized this might have been some sort of mental break, but getting it all with overnight shipping just made sense at the time.

Later his mother walked in on him eating cookies and cruising every online news site that mattered to his area. "Get some shoes on and come with me to the school, the principal called and said that he wants everyone who went to the party to come to school.", she told him, "It might be related to the alcohol, you didn't drink any though it will be fine."

"Oh your sweet ignorance woman." went through his mind as he said out loud, "Ok mom, I'll be right down."

He went to his large closet full of finely colored clothing he pulled down a Shoe-box from the top shelf. Opening the box he revealed the nice all red running shoes his mother had gotten him for Christmas. He put them on and went down stairs. On his way down he performed a ritual common to men, the 3 point check; on failing all 3 points Keith remembered everything had burned last night and he needed a new phone, key, wallet, Credit and Debit cards, school books, and a new favorite backpack. He would order all of that later when he got back.

His mother drove them to school, the two of them singing the entire way. As always he felt cramped in her Mary Kay colored Minicooper. His mother parked up near the front of the parking lot, and gave him a speech about what he should say if they are to ask him anything about underage drinking, or drinking and driving. She started to bring up teenage pregnancy conveniently as he was getting out of the car.

 

[Karyra]

Clara... didn't have an answer for that question. "But there had been trucks and cars there before so... maybe there's a road nearby?" Clara said, trying to at least think of something. It was weak reasoning, but it was something more than she had before. Then she heard Alice scream and the woman who was responsible for all of this showed up yet again. Clara was frozen in fear again, still holding her tiny knife for all it was worth. Which wouldn't be much against that monster. When Alice fell back to earth, Clara was braced for the worst, but instead what she saw was Alice... completely fine and without any injury. "What-"

When Sig screamed run, Clara didn't argue. However, Clara soon found herself to be stumbling through the forest on her own. So that's what she meant by fucked with biologically. Clara felt a branch hit her wrist, knocking the knife away. Damn it! she cursed, pushing forward into town. Once she managed to reach the outskirts, Clara checked behind her, and seeing no angel, she stopped to catch her breath. None of this is real... it can't be.

Clara managed to sneak through just enough empty alleyways to get home, her mother and father would be out for a few more hours, and they always left a key under the plant anyway, so she managed to get inside. Once on the other side, Clara re-locked the door, it wasn't much but at least she would know if that crazed woman tried to get inside. Once she was done, Clara slid down leaning on the door, the tears starting to burn her eyes. She watched them all die and she did nothing. Why was she even alive?

Shower. I need to shower and get dressed, or Mom and Dad'll get suspicious. Clara halfheartedly showered and dressed in her favorite pajamas, the ones with the words, "I walked into Mordor and all I got were these lousy pajamas" written across the front. Once she was dressed, Clara buried herself under her blankets and sat awake for how much time she didn't know, but eventually the adrenaline that had been keeping her going vanished.

In her dream she was holding a mighty sword and cutting down villains left and right, until the angel showed up and destroyed her hometown. Clara was jolted awake as the fireball struck the town, breathing hard. When she looked over, she found a sword like in her dream being held in her hand. Clara was just about hugging the thing, as though it were a teddy bear. Shit. What's going on.

"Clara!" a voice from the kitchen yelled, "it's time for breakfast! I know you partied hard last night but you need to be up and bright eyed when you start job hunting tonight!"

Mom. Clara looked at the sword, thinking, maybe I can just pretend it's not there. It probably won't work, but it's my only option right now. so Clara closed her eyes and prayed the sword would go away.

"Hey sleepyhead! I said it's time to get up, goof!" Clara felt the covers be ripped from her and as looked at her mother as she waited for the question. "Come on, I made pancakes with chocolate chips." with that, Clara's mother left, seemingly without concern that her daughter had been holding a sword moments before. Clara's mind couldn't process what was going on. She'd had a sword right? Then where was it? Clara got up and tried to figure it all out, but was interrupted by the phone ringing.

What if it was the angel? Now I'm just being paranoid. Clara started to eat her pancakes as her mother picked up the phone. Dad's probably out working, I'm just glad I didn't have to go to the ER. He'd probably wonder what was going on.

"That was the school, apparently kids aren't returning home and the police want to interview everyone who was at the party. You're supposed to go to the school as soon as you can. Unfortunately, I have to pick up another shift at work today, so I'll need you to walk there. It's not far, but be careful, kay sweetie?"

"I will, Mom. I promise."

After quickly getting dressed into a black shirt and jeans, Clara grabbed the spare key and her wallet. Thank god I figured I'd leave it at the party so I left it here instead. The phone is gonna be another story. She sighed and walked to the school, looking at people and wondering how no one has noticed the lack of people in the town. How could they not know? She arrived at school twenty minutes later, sitting down on the benches they had in the lobby. Even surrounded by school, Clara felt vulnerable somehow. Like she was still in the woods completely naked. Another knife appeared in her hand, and Clara quickly made that too disappear. Thankfully, it didn't seem anyone had noticed.

 

[BolinBurrito]

I guess I'm too far ahead for anyone to catch up with me. I hope the others are okay.

Sig had waited for what she had estimated to be about 20 minutes. Finally, she gave in and decided to run home. Shouldn't take me long. She thought wryly as she began to walk down the road, looking for a street sign to see which one it was. Eventually she saw where she was and decided the route from there. As she ran home, fast as she was, Sig had nothing else to think about except for what had happened that night. Poor Lucy, what's her family supposed to think. Sig's eyes burned as the tears welling up whipped across her face from the force of the wind. I can't believe all those people died.

Sig quickly came upon her house, not quite slowing down right, and tripping and falling into some garbage cans outside her house. SHIT. Sig tried to muffle the sound as much as she could, but couldn't escape the barrage of noise that assaulted her ears as she finally came to a stop. She stayed as still as she could, which was harder than she thought it was going to be, because her left arm was vibrating intensely. Oh my god, why can't I stop?! She frantically looked around, trying to hold her arm to her side, hoping that would stop some of the motion, but it just made it worse. Now most of her torso was vibrating. Sig tried to concentrate everything on making her arm stop vibrating, but nothing was working.

"Meow."

Not expecting the noise, Sig jumped and looked around, spotting the cat that had made the noise. "Jesus, you scared me." Sig whisper-yelled at the cat as it went on its merry way. Hmph. Sig thought as she stood up from the trash. Wait. She looked down at her arm, now steady as rock, as it had always been. Well, that worked I guess. Sig sneakily maneuvered her way up the tree outside her window, reaching the end of the branch and jimmying the latch open. Thankful that she had fixed her formerly squeaky window, she smoothly slid it up and slipped inside. I need to take a shower, thanks to that garbage.

She went into her bathroom and turned the shower on high, making it as hot as possible without it burning her, before slipping under the stream to get her hair wet. Ugh, I'm so sore. Sig turned around to let the water run down her face. Also, I'm super fucking hungry. As she started to wash her hair, Sig again fell to thoughts about the aftermath of the party. I'm so glad Gunner wasn't there. She thought all of a sudden, as it came unbidden to her, shocking her to the core. She began sobbing, feeling guilty and relieved, but so, so, so, relieved that her brother had been home, as she sank to the floor of the shower. There were no words for the despair she imagined she would have had if he had been there with her. All those people. She hiccuped a breath as she thought of the families of all the people who had perished. She stood up, finished showering and got dressed before heading downstairs.

Why am I so hungry? Sig walked to the kitchen where she opened the fridge, looking in to see what she could eat. Ooh, Gunner made pie. She quickly took the whole pie out of the fridge and started to eat it right out of the tin. She moaned in delight as she tore through the apple and strawberry pie that her Mormor had made them on all their summer trips to Sweden. The same pie that Gunner had perfected through years of tutelage under her. You taught him well Mormor. Sig thought as she took another bite, almost all the way through the pie now. Sig was so invested in her midnight snack that she completely missed the sound of her father walking into the kitchen.

"Hade du kul på festen?" (Did you have fun at the party?) Her father asked as he came into the kitchen. Sig jumped and looked up at her father, a mouthful of pie stopping her from answering him immediately. Olaf raised one eyebrow at her, pointedly looking at the almost empty pie tin she was eating from. Sig swallowed loudly, before replying, "Ja papa, det var okej." (Yeah papa, it was okay.) I've never lied to him about something this big, but what am I supposed to tell him? Sig pushed around some flaky bits of crust left in the tin, before taking another bite. "Hur var resten av dagen på bilverkstad?" (How was the rest of the day at the auto shop?) She asked after swallowing the bite of pie in her mouth. Her father shrugged before going to the cabinet to get a glass, and then to the fridge to get some milk. As he poured himself a glass, he looked up and straight into her eyes. Sig shrunk back a little, and Olaf narrowed his eyes a little. He didn't say anything, instead taking the opportunity to drink his glass of milk. Sig went back to eating her pie, finishing off the last bite just as her father began speaking again.

"Är du okej, flicka?" (Are you okay, baby girl?) Sig looked up sharply at the term of endearment. It had been a while since her father had called her that. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she put down her fork and rushed into her father's arms. Not quite being able to control her speed, she thumped into her sturdy father, moving him a couple of inches back as she hugged him tight, pressing her face into his chest. Startled, Olaf hugged his daughter back just as tightly. He wondered what was bad enough to make her rush into his arm with the urgency she had. "Sigourney?" He asked as he stroked her damp hair back.

"Jag är okej, papa." (I'm okay, papa.) Sig said quietly into her father's chest. She looked up at her father, and smiled shakily. Olaf furrowed his brow, but kissed his daughter's forehead and let her go. "Gå vidare upp till sängen nu." (Go on up to bed now.) Olaf jerked his head upwards, signalling to his daughter to go upstairs. Sig nodded, putting her fork in the sink and throwing the pie tin away before going to her room. As she reached for the door, she stopped and looked over to where her brothers were sleeping.

She quietly opened the door and looked in on her brothers. Lief was sprawled spread eagle on his bed, laying almost diagonally, with a foot off the bed and his head coming dangerously close to doing the same. Sig then looked over at Gunner and smiled fondly. Gunner was curled up in a ball under his massive bundle of covers. She closed the door, and quickly slipped into Gunner bed behind him. Spooning him, Sig put her arms around her twin, thanking the universe for making her brother have a cold on the night of the party they were supposed to have gone to together. Pressing her forehead against Gunner's neck, Sig finally drifted off into a deep sleep.

Sig slowly came to awareness as someone repeatedly poked her in the forehead. "Mmrrhmm." She grumbled as she begrudgingly opened her eyes to bright daylight. As she became aware of her surroundings, she remembered what had happened last night, as well as realizing that the person poking her in the forehead was no other than her twin. Gunner was smiling softly as he repeatedly poked Sig in the forehead. "Wake up sleepyhead. Papa's calling for you." Sig grimaced and snuggled in closer to her twin. "Come on Sig, Papa said the school called for you." Hearing that, Sig's eyes flew open, and she jerked up, shocking Gunner. Her twin's face was shocked at the sudden movement, and he moved back, falling off the bed.

"Oh shit, sorry." Sig said as she quickly helped Gunner back into bed before kissing his forehead and trying to go downstairs at a normal pace. I really need to learn how to control this. She went downstairs to see her father and Lief at the kitchen table eating knäckebröd with ham and coffee with milk. Her father gestured for her to sit down with them, and Sig did, getting her own portion of knäckebröd and coffee before turning to her father. "Vad är det för fel papa?" (What's the matter papa?) Olaf looked at his daughter, finishing his coffee, before answering her.

"Skolan kallade ber om studenter som var på festen för att komma och prata med dem om vad som hände. Människor saknas." (The school called asking for students who were at the party to come talk to them about what happened. People are missing.) As he spoke, Sig refilled his cup, along with serving herself two more portions. Lief looked wide-eyed at how much food his sister had given herself, before turning to his father. "Betyder det att jag kan inte hjälpa på bilverkstad idag?" (Does that mean I can't help at the auto shop today?) Olaf shook his head. "Nej, du kan hjälpa, men bara med små jobb." (No, you can help, but only with small jobs.) Lief smiled, thanked his father and went upstairs to change.

Sig finished as quickly as possible, without speeding up, and went upstairs to change into black skinny capris and a white t-shirt and suspenders, before grabbing her keys. Shit, no wallet, no phone. She checked on Gunner, who was still laying in bed playing on his Xbox, saying he still felt sick. Sig hugged him goodbye before going downstairs, putting on her converse, and going out to her car. It was a big hulking old Land Rover, painted a dark forresty shade of green. At least I didn't drive you to the party Jormundgandr. She started her car, backed out of the driveway and headed towards the school.

As Sig got closer to the school, she remembered that she had her old driver's license in the glove box. She reached over at a stop light to get it, rifling through the things in her glovebox before finally finding it as the light turned green. She kept driving, but glanced at the card in her hand. I hope they don't mind me using this. I can just say I lost my wallet in the shop.

Suddenly, she saw something in front of her on the road. Sig screeched to a stop. "What the fuck!" Sig yelled as the boy who had been on his fucking phone, yelled back "Hey, I'm walking here!" before waltzing away as if nothing had happened.

That little fucker.


Here's Jormundgandr:

 

[Taco Mako]

Germaine floated in solitude on a midnight sea. The water shone like a mirror, reflecting the celestial light of the stars and moon above him. On a distant shore, the torch of a lighthouse burned brightly, cutting through the night as it swept across the water. Germaine floated along, staring up at far off galaxies. He began to slowly sink down into the dark water. As the water began to envelope him, Germaine went limp; he had accepted his fate. And then he heard something peculiar. A plink plink plink like someone stepping across wet tiles, and then a voice he knew all to well.

"G, get up"

It sounded like his cousin's voice. But surely that was impossible. Walter was dead. Germaine had seen him die, seen him burn.

"G, get up, I don't have time for your whiney 'oh woe is me' attitude, cut the shit and get up right the fuck now"

Ok yeah, that was definitely Walt. Germaine sat up in the water, finding that the sea had somehow become very shallow. Huh how convenient. Germaine stood up in the shifting sand and looked around, Walter was nowhere in sight.

"Down here," Germaine looked down to see an image of Walter in the still water looking down, up? No, down at him, as if Germaine was looking at him from below a glass floor. Walt was standing there staring at him, strong and confident. His hands were snugly nestled into his charred letterman, and half of his head was smoking and smoldering like a dying fire.

"What's going on Walt? I thought you died. How are we speaking now?"

"I did die, and as to how we're speaking now…I'm not really sure. Maybe im a ghost, maybe im a construct of your self-conscious, or maybe you're just a little crazy. Either way, I feel like im here to help you. I think I'm supposed to be your guide. We gotta talk G."

"Is it about your fucked up face? Cause honest to god Walt it's not that bad, chicks dig scars and all that," Germaine snarked back in a sarcastically reassuring tone.

"Nobody likes a smart-ass G. We need to talk about you. Your current mindset is gonna lead you down a road of depression and self-pity, so it needs to stop. Right now."

"That's easy for you to say, not much to worry about when you're dead Walt. I just watched you and all of my friends get burned to ash, I think I've earned at least one drunken bender."

"Oh poor Germaine, all his friends are dead, boo hoo hoo. Tough shit buddy. The world's not a pretty place. People die everyday. People suffer tremendous loss. Every. Single. Day. But for most people, when bad things happen there's nothing they can do about. But not you. You've got power, and you can use it to get some pay-back."

"Power? What power? If I had power none of this would have happened. If I had power, you wouldn't be standing there looking like two-face, talking to me from whereverthefuck."

Walter gave Germaine a flat look, as if to say

"Ok G, officially sick of your shit. After you were hit by that light, what happens whenever you hold your breath?" Walter didn't give him time to reply with another snarky comment. He stooped down and grabbed Germaine by his ankles. Suddenly the shallow sea floor fell away and Germaine was pulled down into the abys. Water began to rush into his mouth so he clamped it shut. Walter was pulling him down like an anchor. His lungs began to burn from panic and lack of oxygen. Up! I need to get up! I need air! Suddenly Germaine felt the water rushing past him. He and Walter were weightless, free of the sea, free of the earth, flying through the night sky.
In his best imitation of a classic character, Walter looked up at Germaine and said

Germaine looked back at his cousin and said

Suddenly the pair where struck by the beam of the lighthouse. Its light burned like a fiery eye upon them. Walter fell away to dust and shadow and Germaine's whole world turned white.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Germaine woke to the sound of a ringing phone. He groggily pulled himself out of the cold, dirty water and grabbed a towel off the hook on the wall. He patted himself dry as he through his room and out into the upstairs game room. He picked up the phone from it's place next to the pool table and pressed it to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Good morning ma'am, is this the home of Germaine Lafayette the second?"

"Uh, yeah" Ma'am? What the fuck?

"I'm calling from the school. As I'm sure you're aware, there was an end of the year party last night, but many of the students didn't come home last night. If Germaine is at home would you mind sending him to the school so the police can talk to him and some other students?"

"uh yeah, sure."

"Thanks, have a nice day ma'am –click-"

Germaine started to walk back towards his room, when an idea struck him. He stopped and looked at the cue ball on the pool table. Ok dream-ghost Walt, let's see if you were right. Germaine focused on the ball, did his best 'use the force' impression and held his breath. At first, nothing happened. Then the ball wiggled. Then it raised up!

"It floated!" Germaine shouted

"Good job G" Germaine looked up wide-eyed. Shocked to find his half burned cousin standing at the other end of the table,
"Now try to pull it to you."

"Walt, you're alive!"

"No, I'm not G. we talked about this already. Now pull the ball"

"The ball? Who cares about the ball? You're…you're here. Are you a ghost or something?"

"I think I'm supposed to be your guide, beyond that I don't know what I am. We can talk about it later, but for now," Walter looked down and gestured towards the cue ball, "Pull the ball"

Germaine huffed a sigh of convalescence and focused on the ball. He held his breath and extended his hand. This time the ball raised up right away. Germaine imagined the ball coming towards him. The ball wiggled in the air and flew at him. The cue ball slipped right through Germaine's fingers and smacked him in the eye.

"FUCK!" Germaine cringed and held his eye to sound of his cousin's laughter.

"Good job, next time let's work on control." Germaine looked up to say something smart-assed in response. I'll control your face next time. But when he looked up his cousin was gone. Germaine's head swam with pain and confusion, but there would be time to address both later. He went to his room and got dressed. His eye socket was already turning red so put on a pair of dark aviators. He grabbed a spare key and his old phone from his closet and left the house. The school was only a half mile away so he walked, trying to activate his scratched up old phone as he went along. He didn't hear or see the big truck until it screeched to a stop just in time to not kill him as he was walking across the street to the school. He smacked the big green truck on the hood and yelled at the blonde girl in the driver's seat in his best New Yorker accent, "HEY I'M WALKIN HERE!" before continuing across the street and into the school

 

[Tofu__WU]

The door slammed a little by accident, this fucking body is huge, Keith thought to himself; he still was not used to being so tall and (though not strong) muscular.

"Sigh" Looking over his mothers car Keith tried to decide if he was early, or if the amount of cars scattering the parking lot was accurate. How many died?
How many broken families are there now?
How much potential was ripped from this world last night...


Keith straightens his spine, pushing away the weights in his mind. I need to talk to the other survivors to see if they actually know what happened last night. What the hell do you even ask? UH "hello I know a bomb went off and we both survived it, but did you get a closer look at the trigger mechanism??". Shaking his head he finally walked away from the car, with a look over his shoulder he saw his mother reading one of her college books, She was trying to get her 8th Degree from a nearby college; this one in Anatomy. He longed for a life like his mother's, getting money without working, just getting to sit all day and learn what she wants to. Ignorant of the world. His mind added in at the end.

As he was walking between the few rows of cars there were between him and the school Keith straightened his clothes and looked around the lot for reckless teenage drivers, flying demons from hell, and anything else that might harm him. As he looked around he saw several other people walking through the parking lot, and then he saw her. The small Brunette that fell from the sky. He still had no idea what this beautiful pixies name was, But you do know what her breasts look like in free-fall. Keith stopped walking not knowing what to do; But he did not have to wait long as he watched her look him dead in the eyes.


Alice stalked through the school parking lot, eyes frantically searching each face she passed. There were a surprisingly good number of students arriving; the principal probably asked the entire senior class as well as some other years who were active in preparing the party to come in today for questioning. Although she recognized some of them, they weren't the ones she saw survive that blast last night. She briefly wondered if the cops had seen the crater yet but they were probably already there if they were rounding up all of them at the school. Alice's stomach twisted uncomfortably when she thought of all the grieving parents. What was she supposed to tell the police? The truth? What conclusion would they come to if she didn't reveal what she knew?

Alice cut short her inner turmoil when she saw a tall figure walking towards the school. His face was one she would never forget as long as she lived seeing as he was the first person she clearly saw survive the blast. Alice sped walked towards him and grabbed his arm, pulling him between a parked van and pick up truck as she glanced behind her to make sure they weren't noticed. Once she saw that the coast was clear, Alice turned her attention to the younger teen.

"Glad to see you made it out in one piece." She stated first, glancing over his lanky form. He only seemed to suffer a few scratches and bruises from what she could see on his face and hands. "Keith, right? Who else did you see make it out of there?

Trying to stifle his mind and the goosebumps rushing from his elbow where Alice had touched him Keith stuttered, "Yes Keith it is. I saw a tall blond girl, that black guy that brought beer, the little brown haired girl, and you. The only other People I saw leave the blast site were that huge monstrous thing, and that fallen angel with the ball of death." Rubbing his arm without thinking Keith looked up and away, anywhere but at her, his awkwardness in the conversation nearly Palpable. Getting his mind back on track Keith asked Alice the biggest question that has been racking him since he saw her naked skydive,"How did you survive that fall last night?" Curiosity causing questions to spew from his mouth he continued without pause, "Did that woman say anything to you? Maybe about why she's here, what she wants, what she did that for?"

"I-I don't know." Alice mumbled as she felt fear prickle the back of her neck. She wasn't afraid of the initial fall since she obviously couldn't be hurt by it. No, she was afraid of what she had become. "And she didn't say anything to me." She added, her voice become stronger again when her thoughts returned to the matter at hand. "We need to find the other people who survived that night. C'mon, you got a better look at most of them than I did."

Alice grabbed Keith's wrist, sending butterflies through his stomach and lava through his face, and proceeded to lead him through the parking lot towards the school.

Just before the two made it to the glass doors of the school, Keith started paying attention to the world. She said find the other survivors, not imagine your life together.
He looked up from her chipped red nail polish back to the parking lot and the people walking through it and pulls Alice back from the two doors she was trying to open."Is that the tall Blonde girl from last night?" Keith said pointing at a large dark green Jeep pulling into the parking lot, with Sigourney at the helm of it.

 

[Coca-Korra]

As Sig drove into the school parking lot, a bit shaken up by the fact she almost ran over some stupid kid (wasn't that the same stupid kid from last night...?), she noticed a familiar, short girl dragging an also familiar, taller boy through the lot by the wrist. As she watched, she caught the look of the tall boy and saw his eyes light up in recognition. Before she knew it, he marches towards her car, pulling a very confused Alice. The duo walked up as Sig stepped out of the car before locking the doors behind her.

Almost immediately and without greeting, Keith asked, "Do you know what the hell happened at the party last night, and do you have any idea who that winged woman was?" Sig's first thought upon hearing these questions were along the lines of What the fuck?! but instead, she uttered a simple, "Um, I don't know, who are you?"

"OH I'M SO SORRY! My name is Keith and.... UH this is... Uh, Alice." Keith felt like he was actually drowning in his own awkwardness and embarrassment, especially with two pairs of eyes on him.

No one spoke for a few seconds until Sig finally answered the previous questions, deciding that it seemed safe to speak with them. She distinctly remembered gushing over Alice at the bonfire before shit hit the fan and she saw Keith from afar when they were inside the crater. "No, I basically almost electrocuted myself before she appeared. The next thing I know, I wake up naked and confused before I saw her go for that kid that was throwing beer cans at everyone. That Germain kid? I don't really know him, but I know- knew his cousin, he was on the football team." Her voice trailed off, waking Alice from her confusion. The short girl processed the new information and went through her mental check list of names. Germain definitely sounded familiar to her.

"Alright, we have to stop talking about this till we find everyone who survived that blast last night." Alice announced, looking over her shoulders to see a good number of students already gone. Shit, they were probably inside already. That would make finding any of the survivors a lot harder with cops snooping around. It wasn't that she trusted the police; her father was one after all. Alice simply wanted to get her facts straightened out and figure out who else had gotten these strange side effects. Who knows who might be called in if the authorities were informed. She and the rest of the students might have to be go through test after test while that lady roamed free, if they believed them.

 

[Karyra]

Clara waited for a few minutes before standing up and moving around to try and spot someone from last night. This can't be real. It can't be. I'm paranoid about an angel of death coming for me... I can summon weird weapons... and... and... Clara stopped in front of a window. And I'm alone in the school now. Anyone I knew or had the chance to know died in that explosion. Clara hit the wall next to the window, slamming her fist against it with all her might. "Damn it."

When she looked up she saw some the people from last night, including Alice. Clara stood there for a moment, wondering if she'd gone crazy. Any other day Clara would have brushed off the group of teens in the parking lot but today she thought that they were her salvation. They were the only people she knew for sure on campus. She looked behind for her for a police officer then started out towards the parking lot, waving towards Alice and the others.

"Heyy. You're late you know?" Clara said loudly, trying to get their attention.

 

[Tofu__WU]

Keith's head was still full of so many questions and these girls had just as many answers to them as Keith had.

Keith started to ask another question, "What do we say to the......" but was cut off by A brown haired woman with huge glasses driving by.

"Have Fun Sweetheart! Call me if your girlfriend cannot give you a ride home!! HIIIII I'm Ms. Porter! You're always welcome at our house!" His mother yelled from her powder pink Minicooper, "Oh and don't forget to give her the $20! Love you Sweetheart! She's Beautiful!" As she started to drive away she turned the radio on which started to blare pop music.

Great, now I need to borrow the principals phone to go home, and explain that crap to them.

Keith looked back from his eccentric mother to the weird looks from the two women. Both of whom you've seen naked. "UH yea, that's. uh. my mom." Keith barely got out. Acting as if his mother hadn't just broken the conversation, "So what do we tell the cops when they ask us what happened last night?"

Almost as soon as he finished the question Keith looked up at someone shouting in the parking lot; Pointing out the small brown haired girl walking toward them Keith asked,"Either of you recognize her from last night?"

 

[Taco Mako]

The first thing Germain noticed when he walked into school was the line of students in front of the front office. The next thing he noticed was the abundance of police officers. There was one going down the line with a tablet and stylus, two by the front door, and one on every corner down the hallways to the left and right. Sheesh that's a lot of blue, probably best not to attract attention to myself, what with the unexplainable supernatural powers and all.

"Yeah that's probably for the best," came Walter's voice from behind Germain.

Germain whipped around and said, "Dude, someone's gonna see you"

"What?" said the confused girl coming into line behind him. She didn't seem to notice Walter's half burned form standing next to her. In fact no one seemed to notice him, or the mischievous grin plastered across his face.

"Hey dumbass, I'm a ghost, or…something, remember?"

Germain's eyes narrowed in anger, he was going to say something smart-alecky in response, but decided against it. You just survived an otherworldly attack that gave you powers you don't fully understand yet, you might be going crazy, and you're surrounded by cops. Don't attract attention to yourself. Instead he watched as Walter chuckled at his cousin's frustration before fading into mist.

"Nothing sorry, I…thought you were someone else," Germain turned back around. The cop with the tablet was going down the line, writing down people's names and sending them off towards the cafeteria. Germain was thinking about what he should say to the police when something caught his attention.

"OH I'M SO SORRY," someone half yelled from behind him. Germain turned to see what the commotion was. A slender nerdy looking freshman near the front door was the one yelling. He was talking to a tall blonde…girl?…boy? No, girl, and standing next to her was Alice Beckett. Wait…ALICE BECKETT! She was at the party! Was she in the crater after that flash of light? Should I go talk to them? No wait that's stupid. What if they left early and didn't see what happened? What if they didn't get powers? What if I'm they only one seeing dead people? No I should try and find out if they have powers before approaching them. Germain took a half-step to the left so that he was partially concealed from them by the line of students and strained his ears to hear. The freshman's name was Keith and….something about electrocution (lightning powers?) and the blonde girl said something about being…naked! Ok so she was naked, either they survived the light, or they're talking about something really gross. Germain was about to step out of line to talk to them when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned and realized that he was now at the front of the line.

"Hey kid, wake up," said the annoyed officer through his bushy mustache.

"Oh, uh……yeah, hi"

"What's your name?"

"Uh, Germain."

The cop sighed with frustration, "full name kid"

"Oh, uh, Germain Lafayette the second"

"Were you at that party last night?"

"Yes?" shit! Why didn't I lie?!?

The cop scribbled something on his tablet then pointed to his left, "go to the cafeteria, sit in the section closest to the courtyard and wait to be called for questioning."

"Um, yeah, ok" Germain said before walking towards the cafeteria. It would look weird if I turn around now. I'll just talk with Alice in the cafeteria. As he walked into the cafeteria, the sparseness of the normally crowded tables struck him with a profound sadness. To his left, a mass of underclassmen filled most of the seats. On the opposite side of the cafeteria, the light coming through the glass wall of the courtyard shone down on nearly empty tables. Only a handful of upperclassmen sat waiting to be called. The ones that left the party early. Germain took a seat close to the glass wall, so he would be able to see the class president when she came down the hall. He didn't have to wait long, he looked down the hall and saw Alice making her way towards him, with the two she was talking to in tow. And a third actually. A slender, dark haired girl that seemed familiar. Was she at the party? Germain stood up and waved, just to be sure they saw him. Maybe now I can finally get some answers.

"Germain Lafayette?" came a voice with a thick Boston accent.
Germain turned to see a stern, but beautiful bronze-skinned brunette woman with a sharp pantsuit and even sharper eyes. Germain couldn't quite place her ethnicity. She was accompanied by a tall, broad-shouldered, red headed man staring down at him.

"uh, yes?"

The large man spoke down at Germain through his full beard, "I'm detective Davin Kearney of the N.C.P.D. This is agent Anna Longshadow with the bureau. Would you mind coming with us to answer a few questions?"

"Oh, um, yeah I guess, I just got here though. Isn't there a line or something?"

"Yes there is, but we've been waiting to speak with you specifically. So please follow me."

Waiting for me specifically? This can't be good. "Ok, yeah sure" Germain replied with an uneasy smile.

Germain stood and followed the detective. The agent fell in behind Germain without a word, he could feel her piercing gaze drilling a hole in the back of his head. They led him a short distance away from the cafeteria to the principal's office, which they had apparently commandeered. Davin sat down in the principal's chair and motioned to the chair on the other side of the desk. As Germain took a seat, the agent closed the door behind them and leaned against it. Germain looked at her over his shoulder, and immediately regretted it. Agent Longshadow hadn't taken her eyes off him, the look in her eyes made him feel like prey.

"So how was the party last night?" asked detective Davin as he typed something into the principal's computer.

"uh, it was alright I guess," Can't let them find out what's really going on, they'd probably throw me in some government lab, or worse "I uh…left early though, so I don't know what all went on there"

"Is that so?" said Davin with a raised eyebrow, "when exactly did you leave?"

"Around eight I guess, I kind of lost track of time so I can't be sure."

The detective didn't seem to like that answer. He gave Germain a flat look and said, "Do you know a girl named Cynthia Jones?" as he continued typing on the principal's keyboard.

"The name sounds familiar, but I don't believe I do know her."

"She's in the future journalists' club at your school, and she's one of the students reported missing... She was at the party to report on it for the school paper. It seems she was uploading pictures to the journalists' club's Facebook page throughout the night." The detective swiveled the monitor around so that both he and Germain could see it. He had pulled up the FJC Facebook page and was clicking through their photos. He cycled through one of the class president angrily waving a beer can, and another of that blonde girl at the food table. Ok so she was definitely there. He stopped at one that showed the dance area, Germain was dancing happily in the center of the photograph and a very tall, angry looking boy was walking up behind him. Davin pointed at the screen. "This photo was uploaded at 9:37, it seems you were there later than you said."

"Oh, sorry about that. My uh...my stuff got stolen at the party. I didn't have my phone to tell time so I guess I just got home later than I thought"

"Uh huh," it didn't seem like Davin was buying his story, "What can you tell me about this?" He had clicked to a picture of several sparking cars engulfed in smoke. There were panicked teenagers in frame scrambling over each other to get away.

"Looks like someone needs to see a mechanic." Said Germain jokingly, attempting to put the detective at ease.

"Oh you think this is funny?" It definitely didn't work. "Are you aware that there are over 200 students missing? This is no time for jokes."

"Ok, I'm sorry I…I didn't mean anything by it."

Detective Kearney's eye's narrowed in annoyance and suspicion. He reached down under the desk and unzipped a bag. He produced a manila folder and slapped it onto the desk in front of Germaine.

"Open it" said the detective with a flat, aggressive tone.

Germain flipped the folder open to reveal several pictures. There was one of the crater in the woods, another of broken trees with deep gouges in them, and another of what looked like an impact point on the ground. It looked as if someone had dropped a boulder from a plane.

"Those look familiar kid?"

"Can't say they do," I gotta get out of here before they decide to arrest me.

"Really? You really have no idea what these marks or craters? You don't know anything about all the missing students?"

"Look, officer-"

"Detective"

"Detective, it's clear that something strange is going on here but I honestly have nothing to do with it. It would appear that whatever happened, didn't happen until after I left the party. Now, I'm still very tired from last night and I'd like to go home now. If I have your permission of course."

Detective Kearney jaw clenched in frustration. He was clearly suspicious of Germain, but there was nothing to prove he was guilty of anything. "Fine, you're free to go…for now."

"Thank you detective, good luck with your investigation." Germain stood and turned to go. The agent stepped away from the door and opened it for him, but stopped him with a hand to his shoulder as he was walking through.

"Kid," her voice had a stilling coldness to it that gave Germain the creeps, "don't leave town."
Germain stifled a shiver and smiled as he shrugged her hand off and walked out of the office.

I can look Alice up online and contact her later. I need to get the hell out of here before they change their minds.

 

[BolinBurrito]

All of a sudden, a bright pink Mini Cooper drove by and stopped where Sig, Alice, and Keith were standing. A woman with large glasses yelled something about getting a ride from someone else at Keith, who looked like he was slowly dying inside, and as she started to drive away she turned the radio on which started to blare pop music.
Alice and Sig shot confused looks at each other before directing them to Keith, who turned to them with a sheepish look on his face. "Uh, yeah, that's, um, my mom..." he said, then changed the topic. "So what do we tell the cops when they ask us what happened last night? Almost as soon as he finished the question, Keith looked up at someone shouting in the parking lot. Pointing out the small brown haired girl walking toward them, Keith asked,"Either of you recognize her from last night?"

"Uh, yeah." Sig said as she watched the girl come closer. "I don't know what her name is, but she was there right before the last time that winged woman came after us. I was faster than her running out of there. (No shit.) I tried to wait for her, but I must have been too far ahead. I'm glad she got home safe."

"Hey! You're late, you know?" Clara said loudly, trying to get their attention. They all turned back to her, watching as she finally came to stop where they were standing. "Late for what?" Sig said, confused as to what she was talking about. All of a sudden, the doors at the entrance to the school slammed open and two police officers came and headed to their car. Do we look weird standing in a group like this? "What are we gonna say to the police about last night?" said Alice quietly, all of them a little more nervous now that the reminder of what they were about to face resurfaced. "Hey, what's your name, we never caught it." Sig directed towards Clara.

"It's Clara." Sig nodded in confirmation then turned to the others. "Yeah, what's our cover? It has to match up at least a little bit." Keith piped up, "We can say we left when that weird, black mist showed up. Someone else is bound to mention it, so that's a safe lie." Clara chimed in, "But how did get home? All of us got rides there." God, Lucy. Sig thought, a little depressed. "What did we take the bus or something?" Sig snarked, not really thinking about what she was saying.

"Yes! That's exactly what happened, we all got weirded out, left and took the bus home together. I even have a bus pass, so no need to show receipts." Alice exclaimed, while pulling the card from her wallet. Clara pulled one out, too, confirming that it was a good idea. "But, I don't have a bus pass." Keith said. "Me neither." said Sig. They both looked each other and shrugged. "That's okay, we can just say that I paid for Keith and Alice paid for Sig." said Clara. They all agreed.

"I think we should go inside now. With all the disappearances, I'm sure the school and the cops are super antsy right now. I wouldn't be surprised if they came outside and questioned us for being suspicious." Sig said as she started walking towards the entrance of the school. The others followed her and when they entered the building, they saw a line forming at the front office. They all started to move to join the line when Sig saw something out of the corner of her eye. It's that kid who was dumb enough to cross the street while on his phone, then fucking yell at me for almost hitting him. "Hey look, it's that Germaine kid." Sig said to Keith, distracting him just enough to run into someone already in line.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!!" Keith half-yelled, embarrassing himself unintentionally. Sig grimaced as she noticed they were attracting attention. "Calm down." Sig said quietly, while elbowing him into line. Alice rolled her eyes and stepped forward, followed by Keith, Sig and then Clara. As they waited in line, Keith began talking again, nervous about the interviews. "So did you really almost electrocute yourself?" Keith whispered as the line slowly moved forward. "Uh, shit, yeah I guess so, usually I'm way more fucking careful than that, but I guess all that black fog was messing with my head. I sort of forgot about it, seeing as we woke up naked with that crazy winged lady chasing around." Sig whispered back, then shushed him quietly as a cop walked by.

Sig saw Germain getting questioned at the front now, then get sent to the cafeteria for more questioning. Shit, what did he say to them? All of a sudden it was Alice's turn to be questioned.

 

[Flame]

Crys followed the others in, keeping his distance, and observing them. They were blatantly talking about the events of last night... Pretty stupid. He hoped nobody recognized him, especially after what he had become. The girls probably had a strong chance of that... He recalled approaching them, unaware of the transformation. He stayed in back, trying not to seem suspicious. Apparently, the boy who had distributed alcohol yesterday was being taken away by the police for further questioning. It could have been over the alcohol, but he doubted it... the people in this line were the only ones who really knew what went on last night... The police wanted to know too, and he understood that. He'd likely be questioning them too if he were in their position. At the moment, he couldn't help them out and answer the questions honestly because he'd just get shipped off to an insane ward, or studied by the government. It was likely they had some strange power or transformation in them too... one person had moved quite fast, and he saw someone floating in his peripheral vision last night... He hoped they wouldn't do something stupid. All he wanted to do was remain under the radar for the time being.

 

[Tofu__WU]

"Oh, I'm so sorry!!" Keith half-yelled, his face turning red and his heart speeding up; he turned from watching Germain walk through the cafeteria to the slightly annoyed ginger he just ran into. Sig grimaced as she noticed they were attracting attention. "Calm down." Sig said quietly, while elbowing him into line behind Alice. Just Breathe, In out, in out. As Keith calmed himself down, Alice rolled her eyes and stepped forward into the line in front of him, with Sig standing behind him as if to contain the only possible leak in their machine.

Be cool, Just be calm and there will be no problems. Look at how calm all of them are, nobody but you is freaking out right now, there is a reason for that, MOST OF THEM DON'T KNOW ANYTHING, but that doesn't mean you should make the cops think you are guilty because of your knowledge. Dad wouldn't be freaking out, he would be trying to figure out the situation. Wait, did she say she almost got electrocuted? How is she not dead? Then again so should Alice. I should ask that new girl Clara how she almost died last night. Wait, what if we are all unkillable from that explosion last night.
Immortal.
This should be investigated.

Keith looked up to see the cop with the tablet just out of earshot taking students names. "So did you really almost electrocute yourself?" Keith whispered as the line slowly moved forward. "Uh, shit, yeah I guess so, usually I'm way more fucking careful than that, but I guess all that black fog was messing with my head. I sort of forgot about it, seeing as we woke up naked with that crazy winged lady chasing us around." Sig whispered back, then shushed him quietly as a cop walked by. What electrocuted you, and how many Amp's did you live through?


"What is your full name kid?" Mustache asked the ginger dressed like waldo in front of Alice.
"Willis Neal"
He writes on the Tablet and speaks in a bored tone, "Were you at that party last night?"

"No"

The cop scribbled something on his tablet then pointed to his left, "go to the courtyard, you will be allowed to leave soon."
The boy walked off as the officer turned to Alice and without asking her name said, "Alice Beckett, I was told that when you showed up we should send you to the Principals office, I'm sure you know where that is."

Now that Officer pornstashe was in front of him Keith could read his name tag. Officer Brennan Turned to Keith and asked him,"What is your full name kid?"

"Keith Thzalia Porter, the Z is silent; It's a family thing."

Officers Brennan's eyebrows raised for a second, and then lowered as is a typical reaction to people reading his mothers choice of a middle name. "Ok...Well did you go to the party last night"

"Yes I did"

Officer Brennan scribbled something onto the tablet then pointed once again to his left, "go to the cafeteria, sit in the section closest to the courtyard and wait to be called for questioning."

Keith started walking in the direction officer Brennan indicated. You could have lied there. He looked around at the amount of cops around the building for the first time since entering. Normally it would seem excessive, but right now, Keith felt it was not enough. That bitch shows up with that ball and there isn't anything that these guys could do, besides maybe shoot out one of her wing's. Why didn't I bring a book?

Before Keith could make it to the seat he was planning on sitting in a door opened up and out walked a beautiful bronze-skinned brunette woman with a sharp steel grey pantsuit and even sharper brown eyes, Her skin looked just like how Keith takes his coffee. As Keith was checking her out, he looked up to her face just to lock eyes. Suddenly he was looking at the floor which was made of some cheap kid of tiling, it was supposed to look like it was actual tile, but it did a very poor job; though it was probably cheap, and easy to clean. The chair he wanted came from out of the top of his vision, and Keith sat down in it as if it was a life support system.

"Whats your name son?" came the most life devoid singsong parade of Ice and Polar bears that was the voice speaking to him.
Keith Looked up to find the Pants-suited woman standing immediately in front of him, having to look down to meet his eyes. "My name is Agent Anna Longshadow with the FBI. Congratulations, you've been randomly selected to go next. Please follow me." Are you fucking kidding me.


Keith stood up and followed Agent Longshadow, Weird name, they walked past a Redheaded cop with a bread holding the door open into a hallway in the school that Keith had never been into. Trying to look anywhere but at Anna's ass; Keith looked at all of the terrible motivational posters the school had decided to hang up all the way down the hallway.

Agent Longshadow put her hand to her ear, Turned to the cop following Keith, and said," Kearney, take him to the usual room, Beckett is here." She looked at Keith,"I'll be right with you, please don't leave the room Officer Kearney places you in."



Keith sat for a while.

They know. There is no other reason that makes sense. They are trying to freak you out so you'll crack. Simple. Don't freak out. Keith's leg started quickly shaking up and down. Why is there no clock in here? just breathe until Agent Long shows back up.

Keith sat in the firm blue chair observing the room, It was the Vice Principals office. There was a Large wooden desk between him and a much more comfortable chair, 2 bookcases with crappy versions of the books he read for school, and other nick-nacks showing personality. The only two things on the desk were a calender set across it, A cup of pens and pencils with a lone highlighter, and a cheap desktop monitor.

Both the Redheaded policeman and the agent walked into the room to the sounds of Keith taking deep breaths and releasing them. In a deep voice "Nervous?"came from behind Keith, who turned as agent Longshadow walked into the room and shut the door behind her to lean on. The officer took his place in the leather wing-backed chair behind the desk.
"I didn't drink any alcohol, please don't let this go on my permanent record, I am planning to go to MIT." Spurted out of Keith's mouth, like a artery spraying blood.

The detective looked first at Keith then over his shoulder to presumably agent Longshadow with a puzzled look on his face, "I'm Detective Davin Kearney of the N.C.P.D. This is agent Anna Longshadow with the F.B.I. While we are aware that there was alcohol at the party last night that is not the reason we are here, but I am glad to know you did no illicit things last night." Except streak all the way home and look at naked underage girls. Actually you don't know how old any of them are. They're all older than you though. FOCUS ON LYING!

Keith said, "O-oh well why am I here, I've never been brought to the principals office before, or had to talk to the police before." he turned around to see what Agent Longshadow was doing, only to see her in the same position; leaning against the door, staring into his soul. "Or the FBI for that matter, then again I never suspected to ever have to." He finished rambling, A shiver going down his spine as he turned to face Officer Kearney who was typing on the computer. The best lies are mostly truthful. Don't overdo anything.

"So how did you like the party?" asked Davin

"Uh it was loud, and good, I think that Alice did a great job organizing everything, There were some amazing little sandwiches that someone made. Not really my kind of music." Keith stated.

"excellent, at what time did you leave the event?"

"uhm, I don't really know exactly"

"And why is that?"

Easy ,"My phone broke yesterday."

"How?"

FUCK "Uh I fell into our pool at home."

"Oh of course that's absolutely reasonable. Tell me what was happening at the party when you left."

UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH what the fuck do you say to that. Images of last night floating into his mind. He shrugged them away coming back into the situation he was in. "There was smoke coming from some of the car's surrounding the campground, so fearing they were going to explode me and some friends left on the bus." I hope that didn't sound rehearsed. You never rehearsed it though, so why would it?

"Ah ok that does make sense" Detective Kearney said as he typed away on the computer,"Who are your friends?"

Before he realized he was not at home talking to his mother,"Why do you want to know?" attacked the Detectives ears. Holy Shit why did you not just answer the question, now he's going to lock you in a cell until mom gives him money and then she'll kill me over it.

From the look on the Detectives face Keith assumed he had children of his own, "Look Keith, I read your profile; You're a smart kid, so smart you moved forward three grade levels. Is there anything that happened last night that you should be telling me?"

"The student that brought alcohol was black, He ran streaking away from the party, and I left soon after that. Can I go home?"

"No." Pierced Keith's spine from behind him, right at the base of the neck. A cold chill came through him, from that point.

Detective Kearney met eyes with the FBI agent for a while. "Did you see how the smoke started?"

"No I did not." But that would be helpful information.

"Did you see any suspicious characters"

Remembering a mix of both his dream last night and The winged angel of death clad in the armor of Joan of Arc, "Nobody that I saw."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I wasn't exactly looking around."

"Do not leave town." Growled from the beard.

"Why would I? Final exams are coming up." Keith retorted without at all thinking about it first. He stood and turned to look down to the eyes of Agent Longshadow. The winged bitch could be her for all you fucking now. Super-powered FBI agents? I'm in a shitty James Bond film. she's tall for a girl. Keith asked her, who was still leaning on the door, "May I go?"

"For now. We may have more questions for you later." Agent Longshadow said in a very creepy manner as she opened the door behind herself; allowing Keith to retreat to the Cafeteria and eventually the parking lot. On the way he was staring at his feet, his face hot, there was cold sweat dampening his undershirt and making the ice-cubes running up and down his spine all that much worse. Outside he paced like a mad man between a couple of trucks waiting for anyone he recognized; he was not at all thinking about going home yet.

 

[Coca-Korra]

As Alice stood in line waiting to be herded into the cafeteria, she ignored the mumbling of Keith and Sig behind her to focus on her story. She had to make sure she got all her facts straight but also not sound unnatural. Thankfully she had tons of practice speaking to authorities since her dad was a cop. Even most of the police here she already knew by name. "Alice Beckett," The sound of her name brought her back to reality as she looked up to see Officer Brennan standing in the front of the line. "I was told that when you showed up we should send you to the Principals office. I'm sure you know where that is." He stated calmly. Alice simply nodded, not completely trusting her voice as of yet as she headed down the hallway to her left towards her assigned room. It's only natural that I'm singled out from the rest of the students; I'm the class president who was in charge of the party. She mentally told herself but it was not enough to ease the frantic beating of her heart.

The door to the Principal's office was unlocked when she arrived and she silently walked into the empty room. The last time she was in here, she was arguing with the principal to let the seniors have their End of the Year party. Now... she'd be trying to convince the authorities that she had nothing to do with the disappearances of 99% of the senior class plus a few unlucky juniors and sophomores who had connections to get into the party. Not knowing what to do, Alice decided that taking a seat would be best thing to do since her legs were shaking from the impending interview. The minutes ticked on mercilessly as she felt her sanity slowly drain away with each ticking second. How long were they going to let her wait?

Just when she thought she'd explode from nervous anticipating, the door suddenly opened behind her and she spun around to see two adults walk into the room. She recognized the red-haired man with the bushy beard as Davin Kearney, a detective who moved to North City from Boston a few years ago but that was all she knew about him. He was one of the few members of the police force that didn't attend her dad's monthly get-togethers in their home so she never got the chance to learn more about Kearney. Who would have thought she would ever need that kind of information? The woman, however, was unfamiliar to the short girl. She definitely wasn't a part of the N.C.P.D. or else Alice would have remembered seeing the tall, tanned, and strikingly beautiful lady roaming the halls of the police department.

"Alice, my name is Detective Davin Kearney." The red-haired man introduced himself as he took a seat in the Principal's chair.

"I know. I remember you." Alice replied before she could herself. Dammit, she didn't want to sound too sure of herself. Luckily, the detective didn't think too much about it and motioned to the woman standing behind Alice.

"This is Agent Longshadow, from the F.B.I." Alice glanced back to see the Native American woman staring straight at her with a predatory glare. The short girl could feel a chill go down her spine when she locked eyes with the woman.

"Nice to meet you." She mumbled and she waited for a moment to see if Agent Longshadow would respond.

She didn't.

Not wanting to stare much longer into the cold, desolate pits that were Agent Longshadow's eyes, Alice spun back around to see the detective typing something up on the computer.

"Do you know why we called you here?" He began.

"It's about last night's party, correct?"

"That's right. Can you tell me about it?"

"The party started around 7pm but I was there at 6 to get everything ready. I spent most of the party yelling at people not to drink and picking up trash." Alice was proud of herself for sounding bitter when she said this but it wasn't that hard to get into character as she thought about the beginning of that fateful night. She was determined to find the son of a bitch who forced her to pick up trash during the biggest party of the year.

"And what time did you leave?"

"Uh... I don't know? My phone died midway into the party and I left with a couple of friends soon after this weird smoke appeared near the cars." She watched as Detective Kearney type something up on the computer, his face devoid of any emotion. Didn't this sound weird to him? Or did he hear it before? From who? She was the first of her friends who was being interviewed... right?

"How did you get home?" He finally asked, interrupting Alice's train of thought.

"By bus."

"And who were these friends of yours?"

"Sigourney Blum, Clara Reynolds, and Keith Porter." Alice had never been so grateful for her Class President position till today since she wouldn't have known their full names if she wasn't. She watched as Detective Kearney typed away on his computer for a few minutes, the silence in the room hanging heavy around the short girl. With no line of questioning to distract her, Alice could feel her frazzled nerves start to get to her. Unconsciously, she began to bounce her leg up and down using the ball of her feet.

"In a hurry to leave Ms. Beckett?" A chilling voice behind her made Alice jump and she glanced back to see Agent Longshadow still standing in the same position Alice last saw her in; leaning against the door with her arms crossed over her chest.

"I-I'm just anxious to hear about what happened after I left." Alice nervously stated, mentally scrambling for a believable angle. "I saw online that some people never made it home."

"And why do you think that's happened?" Agent Longshadow continued as she finally moved away from the door and walked around to fully face the brunette. Alice shrunk under the woman's gaze, her mind scrambling to figure out what to say.

"I don't know but I want to help you guys find the answer." Alice suddenly blurted out. "I-if you'd let me." Yes, that's right. This is what she would say if she didn't know what was going on. However, Agent Longshadow's gaze did not let up and showed no sign of believing what Alice had just said. Thankfully, the typing finally subsided and Detective Kearney's voice broke through the tension.

"Then help us Alice. Is there anything you saw or heard that would help with our investigation? Something that could have caused this?" The red-haired man slid a manila folder across the desk towards Alice and she gingerly opened it to see several different photos of the former party site, now a giant crater with a small crater on one side of it. Alice gulped, remembering what caused that smaller crater.

"What is this? What the hell happened?" She said, her voice rising with each sentence. "I don't know anything about this!"

"Calm down Ali-"

"No! Tell me what's going on! What happened to everybody?!" Alice was screaming now and tears pricked the corners of her eyes. It would have been a spectacular performance if she was completely acting. But no, the tears that began to stream down her face were real. She felt utter despair and sadness for the lives lost that night and this was as good as any time to release all that pent up emotion. She did, however, need to keep some of her composure if she wanted to keep up her innocent bystander act.

Thankfully her water works did have an effect on at least one of the two authoritative figures in the room as Detective Kearney's eyes soften just a bit. He reached over and closed the file before pulling it back towards him. "We... don't know what happened." He confessed. "But we have everyone in the police department on it. That's also why Agent Longshadow came in today; to aid in our investigation." Alice simply nodded in understanding, her throat tight with emotion. Awesome. Keep at it Alice.

"I think that's all we need from you today." Detective Kearney concluded as he stood up. He walked over to the door and opened it, signalling that Alice was free to go. Alice got up, almost a little too quickly for her liking, but the detective didn't seem to notice. At least he was easy to fool. The intense pierce of Longshadow's gaze on the back of her head proved the Native American woman was not.

"Thank you for keeping me in the loop." Alice choked out once she reached the open door, silently impressed at how believable it sounded.

"Not a problem. Just keep what you heard quiet and let us know if you hear anything new." The detective instructed. Alice nodded again and walked out, making sure she walked as slow as she could. Once she turned the corner and was out of the their sights, Alice broke into a run. She needed to get out of here. Away from the police. Away from her.

That agent knows I'm lying.

Alice didn't stop running until she made it to the parking lot where she caught her breath behind one of the vans. Dammit, what was she supposed to do now? She wanted to leave as soon as possible but the others were still going to be interviewed. She had to wait for them or else go insane figuring out everything all by herself. That's when she saw a familiar figure pacing back and forth between two trucks farther down the parking lot. Alice jogged over and saw that it was none other than Keith, looking like a nervous wreck himself. "If you keep walking like that, everyone here will know you're hiding something big." She stated as lightheartedly as possible. "Are you the only one who finished so far?"

 

[Tofu__WU]

Keith had been in the parking lot for quite a chunk of time. His mind was mulling over the possibilities of the universe based on the last 24 hours of his life. He was pacing the length of the white Ford Super-duty next to him and everything that had happened was finally actually getting to him. His mind clouded by Depressed scenario's, Paranoid delusions, and Truths too true to wrap the mind around.

Superpowers?!?!? Aliens would have been simpler. It may be that you never know. Turn
Aliens and F.B.I. agents with superpowers now your in Men in Black Turn
WHAT HAPPENED LAST NIGHT! Who was that woman? How are Alice and Sigourney alive? Could any of the group be in on what happened last night? I wouldn't even know, there could be a mole in the class, helping to clean up those who lived, That might be why Alice lived. She May be in on it!

And Alice conveniently chose that moment to walk up and talk to Keith.
"Are you the only one who finished so far?" Is all he really heard outside of his head. He looked up and tried to act normal as possibly the Winged woman herself trotted up.
What Keith looked like in his own mind.

What Alice saw:

"Uh yea, I haven't seen anyone else walk out, but I haven't seen Germain either."

Suddenly all he wanted to do was go home.

 

[Karyra]

Clara had to just remember the plan. Bus passes and everything. The only problem was if the police checked her buss pass. She hadn't used it last night and -thankfully- her wallet with it inside had stayed at home. The phone though... how was she going to explain it? Maybe she'd left it behind at the party on accident? They had to have found the crater, because the thing was way too large for no one to have noticed and if they were looking for missing kids that would be the first place to check for clues. Clara just had to remain calm, she reminded herself as she stood in line to be moved around. She'd admit to being at the party but say she left because she felt uncomfortable. If possible she wanted to not mention the smoke, because she didn't know how much the police knew and she didn't want to give them any more information if she could help it at all. It was strange to think of the police as the enemy-

"Miss? Miss?" The uniformed police man said, loudly jarring Clara out of her thoughts. "Name please, full."

"Clara Reynolds," she said, looking at the police man without fear. Looking away made her seem guilty.

"Were you at the party last night?" he asked this, so completely bored that it showed in his tone.

"Yes." Clara replied, nodding for emphasis.

He wrote on his tablet and nodded as well. "Go to the cafeteria, you'll be called when they want to question you. Next!"

Clara obeyed and sat down in the cafeteria corner on the floor as far away from the others as possible. She liked sitting there before, and she could see everyone in the cafeteria. Alice wasn't there and Keith was called earlier than herself. That angel... was she blessing or a curse? Clara wondered this because of what she saw last night but the woman didn't even seem to care at all about hurting them. She threw Alice high without fear and she seemed so eager to mark herself as an enemy going as far to call herself The Adversary. Was she evil? Were there more than the hundreds- Clara felt something catch in her throat as she thought about watching people disintegrate so calmly at the party.

She'd had... no one important to her there. Germain had his cousin, Keith had friends, Alice had classmates... but Clara had nothing but her studies and her phone at the time. She should have gone home to continue to be a lonely fixture of the background but now...

Well, Clara would have gone to school during the summer if she had the chance and now her wish had come true, in the most twisted and cruel way imaginable. She was here as a suspect or a witness to mass murder of the most frightening kind. The unstoppable, unexplainable kind that you couldn't stop from replaying in your head fifty times and the idea that an angel from hell killed so many for the sake of 'the light'.

This was the time that Clara wished she was so desperately wrong about one of her haphazard guesses.

"Clara Reynolds?"

Clara stood and was moved to a room set aside for the interviews. It was the teacher's lounge, she'd been in there on occasion scanning papers and doing the usual teacher assistant work that came with the internship. She'd been lucky the teacher had liked her so much that they insisted on making her their TA so she could quote, "for once do something besides study and be bored in class." It felt like a lifetime ago though, a different Clara. A different set of students that she'd seen.

"Wait here. Agent Longshadow and Detective Kearney will be with you in a bit."

Clara nodded and moved over to the chairs. She tried to find the broken clock, only to notice that someone had finally taken it down. So she waited... and waited... the time seemed endless as she tried to suppress questions she wanted to ask the others when she managed to finally leave the room.


A redheaded man and a native american woman entered the lounge when Clara was about to burst from nervousness. Did she remember the lie? Perfectly. She just needed to keep calm and not let them suspect her. Her short stint watching the drama team would pay off well here.

"I'm Detective Kearney and this is Agent Longshadow of the FBI, we want to ask you a few questions about the party last night," the redheaded officer said, setting down his files across from Clara.

Agent Longshadow didn't say anything and leaned against the wall behind the detective.

"So," he said, "how was the party? I hear it was fought hard for by the class president. Alice I think?"

"Y-yeah that's right. The teachers thought it would make students drink alcohol and do drugs under their lack of supervision."

He wrote down something in his notes. "So, why did you leave the event early? Alice stated that she and you left early with a couple other students."

"Alice was uneasy about something and I wasn't really into partying anyway. It wasn't my scene and I didn't like the creepy feeling I was getting from some of what I saw."

"Black smoke?" Agent Longshadow chimed in.

Clara didn't let herself be startled by the gaze the woman was giving. "I think I saw some of the cars giving off some smoke... but I was in a rush to leave."

"How did you get home?" Kearney asked.

"By bus, I think Alice," Clara remembered that last names were necessary but she had to use them sparingly no one just rattled off last names off the cuff. "Beckett, Keith... Porter, and Sigourney something or other. I can't pronounce her last name so I always forget."

Kearney wrote down something else.

"Do you have anything else for me to answer?" Clara asked, looking up at Longshadow as though to quietly defy her. The woman's gaze made Clara nervous, and if she could get it to shift off her for just a minute...

"Do not leave town." Longshadow said in reply to Clara.

"Leaving town would mean I have something to hide. I don't. I just want to know what's going on though... I knew some of the people who have vanished."

"It's not important." Longshadow said.

"It seems that would be." Clara replied.

"You don't seem to be the type from what I've seen of your grades to actually care about any of your class. For all I know you did this." Longshadow.

"I'm not a psychopath." Clara.

"You are generally unlikable aren't you?"

"People like me."

"Right. Stay in town." Longshadow repeated before signalling with her hand for Clara to leave.

"People like me!" Clara disobeyed the silent command but the other woman's stare was enough to force Clara to leave the room and not look back.

Clara marched out to the parking lot, looking up to see Keith and Alice talking to each other. It seemed Kieth was pacing and worried about something, but Clara at this distance couldn't make out what they were saying. She walked up to the pair waiting to find a good point in their conversation to interrupt and talk to them.

"So, that makes three people who are done with their interviews. Did anyone mention the smoke? We need to know how much the police know if we're going to keep lying to them." Clara said, all business.

Her plain speech was a cover for how deep Agent Longshadow's words had cut. Clara wasn't so crazy as to kill her classmates, and she wasn't uncaring about their plights, but she'd never bothered to talk to any of them. Most of them didn't even bother to talk to her either, so she wondered if she really was unlikable...