InFamous [In-Character]

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Fima turned to the guy- Glass-Mason, wasn't it?- and blinked at the thing in his hand the size of an antique grenade. It looked like it's purpose was equally deadly. She glanced back at the attacker's general direction and a sudden wild, insane thought popped into her head that would probably kill her but at least deliver the glass "present" to the Shadowman who was, quite frankly, beginning to piss her off. She didn't need to think twice.

Fima quested through all the Conduit energies humming through the warehouse until she found him again. In a way, he was the most recognizable; his shadow power felt oily and slick, like a cancer pooling on one side of the building. She attuned to him, grimacing, and hesitantly stood up. The shattering of Arnold's glass shield meant a hole had appeared in the group's barrier. She stood straight in the middle of it. A small volley of shadow daggers immediately zoned on her. She bit her lip, forced herself not to flinch. The shadow projectiles wobbled. When they seemed to be aimed for her chest, they flew by her, harmless into the floor.

She exhaled. "Hey!" she shouted at Arnold and grinned, "I can get that close to him."

 
Great. Arnold couldn't help but give a smile back in return. God, grinning was infectious. He then gently lifted the orb towards her, careful to move it around the group while carefully moving it towards her hands. His eyes shifted, looking around for any signs of trouble or anything that could disrupt him. Seeing as the coast was currently clear and protected underneath a sheer wall of glass, he placed the watermelon sized caltrop gently in her hands while relaying to her the instructions.

" Okay. Number one. Don't let this thing hit anything. It will go off if so much as a raindrop hit i-"

Something shattered to his right. His neck ached as he turned it slowly, wrenching his entire head to look towards his side. A knife was coming slowly towards him, shearing the air apart. Approaching the caltrop. Arnold summoned his last wells of strength and placed his hands in front of the knife, ready to fire off a stream to reflect the-

- Oh shit. No glass.

Arnold realised it too late as the knife became embedded through one of his hand, the blade sticking out of his outer palm, as he felt it rip through his flesh like hot butter. Arnold gave a indignified yelp, trying to miff his scream, as his knees shook against the pain. The shadow knife then dissapeared into thin mist, leaving him with a stream of blood that was pouring endlessly out of his wound. He looked pained at the Conduit in front of him, breathing hard, before speaking slowly, a bead of sweat rolling down his fore-head.

" You heard what I said. Now, see it to me that the bastard gets blown up, okay?"

Arnold looked at his shaking right hand, inwardly wincing at the wound, as his flesh tried to seal itself back. It was a long wicked hole, jagged, with crusts of bone spiking out from the cut. He then signed as he looked towards the wall. Might as well try it. Arnold placed his bloodied hand on a portion of the wall and reabsorbed some of the glass, the glass forming over his skin and causing pounds of flesh to return where it once was.

(RECYCLED ABSORBING UNLOCKED)

A upside to his powers was that he didn't need to learn how to write with his left hand. Thank god for that.

@Atomyk , @SilentxChaos​
 
Kelly's stride bordered on a fast jog as she raced down the creepy alleys of Newport. The lights of street corners gave her pause as she made the choice again and again on whether to race on by or cross the road in search of more concealing shadows. A glance at the watch on her wrist reminded her acutely just how late she really was. Twice she had passed over the neighborhood, but over these past few months she had slowly found out that directions given for someone moving at street level did not always translate when flying a few hundred feet over the buildings. Even less so when looking for a dark building, on a dark street, in a dark neighborhood, in a dark town.

"There it is!" Kelly said with relief as she spotted the street signs marking that she only had about two blocks to go. Hopefully there would still be someone to let her in. Hopefully she wasn't walking right into a trap, nervously she swallowed remembering the man who had slipped her the hastily scribbled note. She had been patching the man up, a conduit who had walked the wrong street at the wrong time and found himself cornered by an unfriendly crowd, his teeth had been almost black, and even with the painkillers she had given him he sweat and shook the whole time she had stitched him back together. Kelly had worked long enough in the emergency room to spot an abuser when she saw one. As much as she wanted to believe that this was, at the very least, a chance to sleep somewhere that wasn't abandoned or impossible to reach from the ground, as she walked these dark silent streets. She could not suppress the shutter that rattled her wings, it would not be the first time a junkie sold out for a quick score.

"...-uckin freaks! Almost killed me!"

"What the hell?" Kelly whispered, drawing to a stop less then a black now from the warehouse. The sounds of shouts, cries, and a few muffled words drifted her way. As she drew silently closer the noise rose and her heart sunk. Shit shit shit shit, god damn fucking shit. No, she had to stay calm, this was not her problem, she had come late and if she spread her wings and took off it would be like she had never arrived at all. Right up against the side of the warehouse now she was within an arms span of the corner of the building. She could hear cries of pain as something heavy crashed into stone and flesh alike. People were yelling, hurried instructions, insults, and cries of pain all raised in equal measure. Dammit this wasn't her job, it had never been her job or even a consideration for her, she was a emergency room technician she dealt with aftermaths not front lines.

A sharp yell of pain cut through the air and sent a chill up her spine. "Oh for fucks sake!" She snarled in frustration. With one swift movement she swung her duffel bag off her shoulder, over her wing and deposited it on the ground. Short as she was her strides carried her around the corner and to the now ajar warehouse door. Kelly had had her fair share of people try and take a swing at her, she knew how to grapple, usually with a security guard or more nurses close behind, but she would have to make due.

In her mind she pictured exactly what she was going to do, grab a shoulder, pin the arm, sweep the legs, get this fucker down, what she didn't plan for was the wall of black that rose up in front of her. Charging through the door hoping to catch the attacker off guard she was unable to stop, as the person in the shadows raised a defensive barrier one section rose to meet Kelly's foot and she was sent sprawling forward. The last thing she saw as she tipped forward into the black was a ring of people, some standing behind what looked to be a thick glass wall others fighting off a storm of black projectiles, startled eyes followed her movement as one minute she was there, and the next she was swallowed up. Inside the darkness Kelly was completely blind, so was it luck or something less kind that carried her through and collide solidly with something or more specifically someone.
 
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Josh M said:
Bella tried not letting stress get to her as she played human shield for the group. Look at the shit hitting the fan, the young actress felt useless. Take a deep breath, Bella recomposed herself.

"We need some to get in close! I can corner him, I just need you guys to cover me!"

Taking off with her speed, Bella would try to Conner the intruder

@Klutzy Ninja Kitty @Atomyk @Borkasu Lazer @Jeremi @Verite @Enigma @SilentxChaos​
Click to expand...

"What the fuck do you think we've been doin'?!" Luciana shouted to Bella in a very annoyed and frantic tone. "Fine you want more cover? Here." Her bone dagger barrage intensified into the shadows. One of them had to hit this pendejo eventually right?

@Klutzy Ninja Kitty @Atomyk @Borkasu Lazer @Jeremi @Verite @Enigma @SilentxChaos @Josh M
 
Josh M said:
Bella tried not letting stress get to her as she played human shield for the group. Look at the shit hitting the fan, the young actress felt useless. Take a deep breath, Bella recomposed herself.

"We need some to get in close! I can corner him, I just need you guys to cover me!"

Taking off with her speed, Bella would try to Conner the intruder

@Klutzy Ninja Kitty @Atomyk @Borkasu Lazer @Jeremi @Verite @Enigma @SilentxChaos​
Click to expand...
Jeremi said:
"What the fuck do you think we've been doin'?!" Luciana shouted to Bella in a very annoyed and frantic tone. "Fine you want more cover? Here." Her bone dagger barrage intensified into the shadows. One of them had to hit this pendejo eventually right?

@Klutzy Ninja Kitty @Atomyk @Borkasu Lazer @Jeremi @Verite @Enigma @SilentxChaos @Josh M
Click to expand...
Cynthia couldn't help but spit out a string of curses when she would see the blood pouring from Arnold's wounds. She would wince and turn away from him afterwards, her attention being tugged away by the sound of Bella yelling out to the group. The blonde had been helping as best she could, but it had been a bit difficult for her to focus with how much blood Arnold had been losing. It was one thing to see blood in video games or television shows, and another thing entirely to see it in person.

"Let me help too! The more firepower the better, yeah?" she called out to Bella and Luciana before aiming her palm at the shadows. She would then release a string of blue-glowing, square projectiles as she had been doing before. This time, however, she aimed even more carefully and make sure to shoot them a bit faster. The more cover Bella could have, the better. Especially if she was certain she could corner the enemy with their help.

@Atomyk @Borkasu Lazer @Jeremi @Verite @Enigma @SilentxChaos @Josh M @E.T.​
 
Fima hid against the wall among summoned shadows, slowly making her way to the culprit. She watched one girl- Bella- start running towards the attacker's general vicinity and two others providing cover. Good, a distraction. She pulled more shadows and crept forward. Her vision was dark, but she could see a few feet from her nose, and oddly she did not feel blind. Rather, the shadows seemed to be acting as an extension of her senses; they slicked along the ground, alerting her to a pile of rocks, and she stepped around them soundless. Everything sounded muted, like she was underwater.

She gently shifted the glass bomb in the crook of her arm, wincing as a spike poked her. Just a few more feet. Fima could detect the intruder: a mass of shadows, like a black hole in her "senses" moving back and forth to dodge the attacks lucky enough to get near him. It was impossible to tell if one actually landed or if he was weakening in anyway.

Fima stopped five feet away from him, easy throwing distance. Very carefully, she lifted the caltrop and surrounded it in shadows. She began sweating, suddenly acutely aware of one graze of the shadows, one slip, would set off the fragile death-globe and kill everyone in it's radius. Fima bit her lip- and let go. The globe within shadows wobbled, then stilled, suspended. She breathed silent relief then began directing it towards the attacker. She sent it up, towards the ceiling. At the same time, she began drawing shadows around her, layering them over and over in a defensive shield.

The caltrop hovered along the ceiling behind, the attacker when the most unexpected thing happened: a girl flew through the doors, into the middle of their fight. Fima was in the process of raising another layer of defensive when the newbie's foot caught on it, causing her to trip. Like a slow-motion capture, she flailed, going down, before a wall of blackness- not Fima's doing- swallowed her whole. Fima had no time to react before the new Conduit was thrown into her. Apparently shadows did not protect against themselves as she made contact with Fima and both of them slammed into the wall. The wind got knocked out of Fima, sandwiched between the wall and the girl. Fima grabbed hold of her and forced her to the ground, fighting for breath.

At the same time, she realized she lost control of the shadows holding Arnold's bomb.

She looked up in time to see the shadows fade away from it, revealing it for all to see, and drop. Quickly she grasped it with new shadows but it was too late: she sensed their attacker looking up as a broken spike shattered at his feet.

"RUN!" Fima screamed and the bomb fell.

 
Garrott was dazed, for lack of a better way to put it. He watched as his people scrambled to defend themselves and each other. Fima replicated the shadows that cascaded around them. Vivisection was literally throwing bones and Glassboy had even made a bomb. They were all working together and what was he doing?

Standing there, frozen for the fight. It wasn't his fault, really. This was his first fight--ever. His reaction to it all was to be awe-inspired and dumbfounded at the same time.

That all changed when he saw the bomb fall. It was a split second decision, getting out in front of his people in time. As the bomb hit the ground he pushed off the ball of his feet, launching himself toward the bomb. As if it was an extension of himself, he whipped his yo-yo toward the glass bomb, in an arc of radiating light. The aftershock was purely explosive,

The bomb went off, blanketing the area in shards of glass--imbued with the plasmic light-- and kinetic force. Garrott was thrown back, with a large shard fragment in his left shoulder. As he plummeted backward, he saw that the light had done what he'd expected: it cut through the darkness quite well.
 
Cynthia's cubes of light abated the darkness to lessen the amount of space the shadow Conduit had to hide with. It was not enough to reveal him precisely, nor was it enough to necessarily make him easier to hit; it was entirely possible that he had constructed physical barriers for himself that were hidden in the shadows.

Theresa could only find the words to tell Arnold to be careful, for she was spending too much of her effort on knocking the shadow projectiles out of the air to focus intently on where specifically they were coming from. At the very least, she had what the others couldn't block off covered, giving the group time to come up with some way to put an end to this.

Daemond marveled at the sheer competency he was seeing. Individually, it seemed this group of Conduits were powerful, enough so that he was swinging internally on how he felt about the vigilante idea. His face was still in pain, but he found himself smiling wildly amidst all the chaos. "You're all so..." If such Conduits could work together as a group, what possibilities would be open to them? This was already beyond Daemond's wildest imaginations for this group, and they had yet to even finish the evening. "... so, so good." Perhaps it was too soon to say considering that they were still at risk, but this was an entirely unexpected turn of events for Daemond. He had to wonder if this night was a stepping stone to something greater.

From the perspective of the group, the projectiles eventually slowed for no discernible reason. There was no cry of pain like the first time the shadow Conduit had been hit, so it did not seem likely Luciana's attack had landed. In truth, the shadow Conduit jad paused in his assault once he was acutely aware of intruders in what he considered his domain. He could not see through the shadows like his abilities might have implied, but instead, he made use of them as extensions of himself. He could feel their presence as they wandered closer toward him. He could even smell them.

For Bella, who had wandered beyond the safety of the lights, the world around her disappeared. The darkness was truly blinding, for it was a pure absence of light. That would have been bad enough, but the enclosed space around the attacking Conduit was like a death trap when one considered his ability make shadow take solid form. The darkness around Bella began to feel like it had actual mass, enough so to give the impression that she was standing underwater. It was thick and all-consuming, suffocating in more ways than one. The shadow Conduit worked to encase her in darkness made solid, not realizing the others that had gotten so close in the mean time.

He caught them at the last moment, feeling a ripple in the darkness. He lashed out quickly and threw up a quick wall of solid shadow to cut them off, startled not only by the first intruder incoming from the open door, but by the other who had somehow escaped his notice up until now. The darkness around Bella abated as the Conduit pulled back in an attempt to regain his senses, not realizing he had let a makeshift bomb get so close to him. He might have been able to stop it, if not for Garrot's quick thinking. The Conduit's shadows were banished, leaving him with only enough to cover himself like a second skin, but he knew it wouldn't stop the inevitable.

Theresa cried out and ran forward, realizing as she was doing it that it was probably way too late. She had no idea what Bella could do, but she was far too close to the bomb and Theresa knew she had to do something to help her. High-density energy collected at her feet as she ran, collecting enough mass after a few steps for her to extend it out from her feet and propel herself forward at a great speed. She flew through the air, slammed into Bella, and sent the both of them out the open door. Outside, they were free of the blast inside the building, but the same couldn't be said for everyone else.

Daemond was thrown to his stomach by Chris, who huddled over him as a shield like the dutiful bodyguard he was. In only a few seconds, a dull bang rang out, followed by shrapnel hurtling about the room. Chris grunted as a small shard embedded into his bicep, but he didn't let it stop him from jumping to his feet after the blast and rushing over to the shadow Conduit.

The attacker couldn't have been older than twenty-four, with long black hair that obscured most of his face. He was on all fours and weakly trying to get to his feet, but Chris was on him before he could. The big man slammed the Conduit's chest down to the ground and pinned his arms behind him. Whether or not this would inhibit the use of his powers wasn't clear, but the Conduit looked to be in no condition to fight any longer regardless. He was dressed all in black, his clothes now wet with blood.

"Fuck you... F-Fuck--"

"Is everyone okay?" Daemond asked. He was moving about the room, head whipping back and forth as he tried to assess the damage. "Come on, just let me see you if you're hurt. It's okay. It will be okay."

 
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Arnold slumped downwards after healing his hand, the residual pangs of pain still within his system, as he leaned against the cracking glass wall. He looked at his other fellow Conduits and gave a tired thumbs-up towards Fima who was running towards Teenage Heartthrob, any second now to deliver the payload.

" YEAH! You go get him, girl! Go get that son of a-"

" - Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb! Hello, world. I'm your little girl! I'm your ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb! Stone age love and strang-"

He was suddenly interrupted by a loud phone ring that buzzed incessantly in his pockets. Slightly miffed, he picked up the phone quickly, pressing the call button.

" Dude, Arnie. I really, really, really need to talk with you right now."

Oh shit. Why did Alejandro think he was the best adviser about his relationship problems? Arnold whispered, trying to block the sounds of energy blasts and breaking glass through the receiver of his phone.

" Look, Alajandro. Not really a great time right - OW!"

Great. There went his shoulder.

" I understand, hombre. It's just that I need to get a few pieces of advice from-"

Shouldn't take a genius to answer that question. Arnold yelped slightly as a knife nearly torn apart his arm in two, raising his arm upwards to dodge a knife that sliced past his armpit. Oh, god, that was nice leather!

" So, it's her birthday on Saturday and I'm deciding what to - "

Oh shit, not the balls, not the balls, not the ball-

" - I mean, not like a usual gift. She's a chef, so I was thinking of getting her a nice knife. One of those chinese ones= "

What? Why was there a new Conduit right no- A knife went whizzing, just barely grazing his knee-

" - But, the new wok in IKEA does seem nice as well. What do you think, Arnold?"

Arnold coughed slightly as he blasted away another knife with a pitiful spray of glass, redirecting it over to a nearly storage cupboard which was sliced in twain.

" I think the wok sounds better right about now."

Alajandro's voice raised to become slightly more cheerful as Arnold ducked, grasping the phone tightly like it was a life-line.

" Great! Thanks for the advice, homes! I'll be sure to say hello from you to Maria."

He didn't exactly ask for tha- Oh. Caltrop. Falling. Detonate. FUCCCKKK

" I'm sure-"

Arnold went sprawling, covering his entire face and palming himself hard on the concrete as he tried to shield himself from the blast.

" it'll-"

The caltrop, full of razor sharp projectiles, began to burst the moment it touched the floor. Interacting with Garott-s yoyo...

" be"

the potential energy was increased by a magnitude further, forming a shockwave from the site of the blast that expanded outwards and bent the glass shielding backwa

" a blast!"

Shards of glass radiated outwards from the blast site. The appropiate term for what could be described from the explosion was that it rent through the metal like swiss cheese, audibly ripping it apart as everything within a 40 foot radius of the bomb was turned to fine dust. Half of the warehouse looked as if it had been torn apart by a building-sized bear with visible cuts in the concrete.

Arnold stood upwards, coughing slightly as he looked at the surroundings with a mixture of horror and, hell, excitement. His hands trembling. The first signs of his powers to come as a Conduit. And a damn good obvious indicator of what was to come. Bombs.....What else could he do with his powers?

But, first, celebration. Arnold pumped a fist and leaped upwards, doing a victory dance. It was like he was living in a goddamned comic book. The rush, the adrenaline, oh, it was so great! He grinned with glee as that juiced up bouncer of Daemond tackled Teenage Heart-throb to the ground.

" Ha, ha! Suck it, you son of a - Why is my throat sore?"

Arnold looked downwards and saw that a shard of glass the size of a fist was imbedded right in his lungs. Oh. So, that was where the itch was coming from. Arnold snorted, rolling his eyes.

" Figures"

With a simple will of his mind, the glass shard was reconstituted back into his body, easy as pie, healing what would normally a trip to the ER, as he walked over towards Chris who was currently man-handling their Conduit offender. This was their first-time opportunity to look at their attacker and boy, he didn't disappoint. Black. Black as darkness. Black everywhere. Arnold would have wagered 50 dollars to claim that Teenage Heart-Throb carried mascara in his inventory.

Feeling a bit of rage propping up inside him as he walked closer, crouching down beside Chris to have a gander at the attacker. A wicked long blade was growing out between his right hand as he subconsciously pointed it nearer towards his chin, just wanting to gut the bastard for being a sanctimonious, hypocritical, racist fuck. His shoulder burnt fiercely with pain, reminding Arnold of all the wounds he incurred from fighting the damned bastard.

But, it wouldn't solve the problem. Would it? What was the point in trying to kill the bastard? Eye for a eye wasn't a applicable adage in the real world. Arnold shook his head as he forced the blade backwards into his body, a long hiss emanating from his arm. Arnold winced as he touched his bleeding shoulder. Fuck, Teenage Heart-throb did good damage.

" Hey, could anyone find me a piece of glass to absorb? Think that's better than you getting a fucked up shoulder."

Arnold stood upwards and dusted himself off before staring downwards at their attacker. Now, he just felt slightly repulsed by the image of a Conduit who would attack another Conduit. No more anger.

" Look, I think it's about time for you to cry uncle and explain to all of us who the hell you are and why you attacked us, Teenage Heart-Throb."

@Atomyk


​
 
Luciana was laying on the ground groaning. "Just fucking great thanks for asking." While her bone powers had giving a form of accelerated healing to compensate for her bones to leave her body...She still felt pain and she was hurting real bad right now.

Her mask better not be cracked or anything, Luciana had paid good money for it. Getting back up on shaky legs she'd look over to where the Conduit that had attacked them was and flipped him off. "So tempted to kick you damn head off pendejo!"

She looked around awkwardly to see if everyone else was getting up before she spoke up again. "So...what are we going to do with the guy?"


@Josh M @Borkasu Lazer @Atomyk @Enigma @Verite @SilentxChaos @Klutzy Ninja Kitty @E.T.
 

Fire.

That was Richard's ability. Fire. He had never really been too fond of the stuff in the first place. Not because he was scared of it or anything. He just never liked fire in general.

Funny how things work out, isn't it?

Richard's plane was about to leave. It was four in the morning. He had driven to the airport with his girlfriend, Isla, and was about to board said plane.

"I wish I could come with you." The red haired female said in a thick British accent, though this was in more of a cockney tone of voice due to the area they lived in. She was holding Richard tightly, her head resting against his chest. He was doing the same, reassuringly rubbing her long red hair to comfort Isla.


"I do too, Isla. But it's too dangerous. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you." The male said, having the exact accent as his girlfriend.

"I know. Just promise me you'll be safe, okay?"

"I promise. I'll be more safe than a nun's skivvies." This comment earned a light chuckle from Isla, looked up to give him a passionate kiss on the lips. He returned the kiss without hesitation, wrapping both of his arms around her back and pulling her closer into the kiss. Eventually the two parted lips with Isla ending the hug as well.

"Now get out of here, mate. Do it before I freak." Isla stated, tears obviously forming in her eyes. Richard simply obliged and boarded the plane without another word.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The plane landed in Millenium a few hours later. After taking his luggage down his apartment (which had been arranged for him ahead of time by a friend of his who happened to live in the area), Richard also grabbed a milkshake from a local Sonic before finally heading to the meeting place for his fellow Conduits. Upon arriving, it seemed that a little scuffle had broken out as two women were thrown out the front door.


"Sorry I'm late. The flight was bloody awful. I take it this is the meeting place?"

Richard asked, looking down at Theresa and Bella as he nonchalantly sipped his milkshake.

@Atomyk

​
 
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What should have been a four hour drive turned into six after a collision caused traffic to come to a near-dead stop. That tragic inconvenience was followed up by rush-hour traffic and someone's inability to navigate through an unknown city. Sayuri pulled over to park a block or so away, realizing already that she was incredibly late but she didn't want to take the chance of parking too close. Her forehead smacked against the upper arch of the steering wheel as she reconsidered why she didn't just portal here.


It could be because she had just rushed out of the house all of the sudden and was thinking like her usual, human self instead of the Conduit freak she'd become. Maybe it was the need to FEEL human despite sacrificing so much time and energy to do so. Or maybe it was because she was still grasping for control of this strange ability and she wasn't really sure if she could portal all the way to Millennium City without somehow zapping herself into a wall, a volcano, or the nearby lakes.


With a sigh, she pulled a pack of cigarettes from her jacket pocket and lit one up, holding it between her lips as she stepped out of the car. For a moment, she just leaned there against her door, surreptitiously watching the area until she was sure no one was around before starting her 'block or so' trek toward the meeting place. The meeting was probably well underway now, and she couldn't imagine what valuable information she'd missed. She considered the possibilities, but was interrupted by the ground shaking and the blaze of a nearby explosion.


"Hell." Instinctively, Sayuri drew her sidearm, a portal sliding open in front of her. She stepped through it smoothly and when she emerged a few moments later, she was standing inside the warehouse that she had meant to appear outside of. Oh well. Too late now. She raised her weapon just a little, keeping it at a downward angle, but much more prepared to fire. This warehouse was full of people, bloody, injured people, and someone was holding a kid down in the middle of the room. She'd popped out right into the corner of the warehouse, hidden by shadow, but her hastily-made portal, now losing her attention, was anything but concealed. The air around her whipped up and was sucked in, trying to make it back to the other side which should have already been closed – but in all honesty, she would have no idea whether it had happened that way or not.


Burning cigarette still hanging from her lips, she took a few steps out of the corner, knees bent, and gaze settled sharply on the room's occupants as she readied for attack. The portal behind her finally flickered and wavered, making a strange vacuum-like noise as it shuddered closed at her back, causing the wind to die back down. Should probably work on that... "What the fuck is going on here?" She kept her eyes on everyone in the room as best she could, realizing now that she'd forgotten to give the 'password' and that she might be attacked at any moment as an intruder or something. "Iron butterfly or whatever. What the hell happened here?"
 
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Oh, you've gotta be fucking kidding m-!

Arnold held down a annoyed groan that threatened to race out from his throat. Footsteps nearing. His body tensed, nerves buzzing with energy. Conduits. His arms were raised in caution, ready to blast shards of glass even though battle fatigue caught up with him. Not exactly a threatening image to be feared, especially with the gaping wound in his shoulder. Arnold chuckled inwardly at how absurd the situation was. He should have been sleeping right now in a comfy dirt-hole in the backwater apartment's of Millennium City. Right now, he had just been through a fight with Teenage Heart-Throb and his body felt like a used pin-cushion.

Still, it seemed strangely more respectful than working 12 hours a day in a convenience store.

His arms now lowering at the sight a non-hostile Conduit, Arnold was utterly bewildered at her words. Late. Arrivals? Arnold found himself at a loss of words. Why they weren't clearly backing out of the warehouse at the sight of a long-haired punk boy star being wrestled to the ground by a man-servant was beyond him. If anything, anyone would try to call 911 immediately.

Maybe, it was the person emerging out of the portal. The absurdity of the situation caused him to chuckle at first, slight giggles escaping his throat before he couldn't hold it in any longer and began laughing out loud. The tension of the entire conflict had been swelling inside him and burst like a water balloon. Arnold wiped away a tear, as he tried to recompose himself. Okay. Calm yourself down. It's a woman with a gun. Don't make her think that you're some sort of laughing psychopath that needs to be put down.

" Oh, sorry 'bout that. Just...Could you put the gun down before we do story-time? Because, I really had enough of being shot this evening, thanks to Teenage Heart-Throb over here."

Arnold shifted his gaze towards his shoulder as he pointed towards their assailant, who was still being man-handled on the ground like it was nothing by the bouncer.

@Atomyk , @SoleStride​
 
The shadow Conduit groaned as Chris applied pressure to the hold, but he still attempted to crane his head to meet Arnold's graze. He managed a smile for a moment, showing a toothy grin marred with blood. "Why? Why wouldn't I? Look what you've done to me." He breathed out haggardly and dropped his head back to the concrete floor. "We're monsters. I should be dead right now, and yet..." He trailed off, going silent for a few minutes.

Theresa's ears were ringing. She felt a throbbing pain on the right side of her hip and she knew she'd landed on it a bit too hard. She was okay, at least, and she believed Bella was likely just fine as well. She knew well a Conduit's natural ability to take a hard fall. For many in their position, pain was only temporary.

Of course, Theresa was still not in a position to go jumping to her feet. She gingerly arose, first moving to her hands and knees, before finally sitting up on her knees to look up at someone who had seemingly just arrived. She at first reacted to him with confusion, her brow knitted as she tried to place his face. It eventually occurred to her he either show up late or turned up with the Conduit who had attacked them. Considering he was not throwing hands, Theresa figured he was not here for a fight. She could forgive the lack of a passcode in this instance.

"It was," she said, finally getting back to her feet. She knew she looked like a mess; her hoodie was unkempt and her red hair was frazzled. She held out a hand to help Bella up and nodded back to the building. "Something bad went down. We were attacked. I need to check on the others."

Overcoming the pain, Theresa jogged back toward the building, reaching the inside just after a second new arrival had appeared. She knew the password and was also not throwing hands, so Theresa was at least thankful for that. She caught Daemond looking her way and saw him shake his head, indicating to her that the woman with a gun wasn't to be messed with.

"Is that someone else who came late?" Daemond asked, looking beyond Theresa to eye the man outside. "Bring him in then. We're all okay here, and we need to talk."

Doing what she was told, Theresa escorted Bella and the mysterious new guy inside so that he could get a good look at the aftermath of the battle. Theresa gave the woman who had arrived via a portal a wide berth for the time being.

Daemond sighed and looked toward the newcomers, which included Kelly as well. "I'm sorry about this. My name is Daemond Wright. That's my real name and not an alias. The girl with the red hair assisting me is Theresa and the man in the suit is Chris. You can give us whatever names you like. To give you a summary of this evening, our meeting was interrupted by this Conduit, and his motive is still unclear to us."

"Shadowman," said the Conduit. He wiggled in Chris' hold, but the man didn't budge an inch. "Conduits... me, you-- we're dangerous. You think you're the only ones coming together? This is what I do. I stop you monsters before you get out of control. I bet you wanna kill me now, huh? Well, get it over with. If you don't, I'm not stopping my crusade."

There was a stillness in the air while Daemond mulled this over. "Your crusade." He looked toward Theresa, who only shrugged. "... I see. I wanted to use this building a second time for a second meeting. I wanted us to come together... to bring Conduits and their peers together to support one another and to really think about our future as a species. This location is now compromised, but that's hardly the worst of it. This man's seen my face. He's seen all our faces, and he's probably got people out there with like-minded goals."

"I can make him disappear," Chris said, short and to-the-point.

"Jesus," Theresa blurted out. "Certainly there's something better? Can we... uh, can we like, keep him tied up or something?"

"You sure that's a viable option?" Daemond asked. He looked around the room, catching the gaze of all who stood in attendance. "I mean, sure, but really... I need to know what everyone else thinks. This is your problem now, too."
​
​
 
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Atomyk said:
The shadow Conduit groaned as Chris applied pressure to the hold, but he still attempted to crane his head to meet Arnold's graze. He managed a smile for a moment, showing a toothy grin marred with blood. "Why? Why wouldn't I? Look what you've done to me." He breathed out haggardly and dropped his head back to the concrete floor. "We're monsters. I should be dead right now, and yet..." He trailed off, going silent for a few minutes.

Theresa's ears were ringing. She felt a throbbing pain on the right side of her hip and she knew she'd landed on it a bit too hard. She was okay, at least, and she believed Bella was likely just fine as well. She knew well a Conduit's natural ability to take a hard fall. For many in their position, pain was only temporary.

Of course, Theresa was still not in a position to go jumping to her feet. She gingerly arose, first moving to her hands and knees, before finally sitting up on her knees to look up at someone who had seemingly just arrived. She at first reacted to him with confusion, her brow knitted as she tried to place his face. It eventually occurred to her he either show up late or turned up with the Conduit who had attacked them. Considering he was not throwing hands, Theresa figured he was not here for a fight. She could forgive the lack of a passcode in this instance.

"It was," she said, finally getting back to her feet. She knew she looked like a mess; her hoodie was unkempt and her red hair was frazzled. She held out a hand to help Bella up and nodded back to the building. "Something bad went down. We were attacked. I need to check on the others."

Overcoming the pain, Theresa jogged back toward the building, reaching the inside just after a second new arrival had appeared. She knew the password and was also not throwing hands, so Theresa was at least thankful for that. She caught Daemond looking her way and saw him shake his head, indicating to her that the woman with a gun wasn't to be messed with.

"Is that someone else who came late?" Daemond asked, looking beyond Theresa to eye the man outside. "Bring him in then. We're all okay here, and we need to talk."

Doing what she was told, Theresa escorted Bella and the mysterious new guy inside so that he could get a good look at the aftermath of the battle. Theresa gave the woman who had arrived via a portal a wide berth for the time being.

Daemond sighed and looked toward the newcomers, which included Kelly as well. "I'm sorry about this. My name is Daemond Wright. That's my real name and not an alias. The girl with the red hair assisting me is Theresa and the man in the suit is Chris. You can give us whatever names you like. To give you a summary of this evening, our meeting was interrupted by this Conduit, and his motive is still unclear to us."

"Shadowman," said the Conduit. He wiggled in Chris' hold, but the man didn't budge an inch. "Conduits... me, you-- we're dangerous. You think you're the only ones coming together? This is what I do. I stop you monsters before you get out of control. I bet you wanna kill me now, huh? Well, get it over with. If you don't, I'm not stopping my crusade."

There was a stillness in the air while Daemond mulled this over. "Your crusade." He looked toward Theresa, who only shrugged. "... I see. I wanted to use this building a second time for a second meeting. I wanted us to come together... to bring Conduits and their peers together to support one another and to really think about our future as a species. This location is now compromised, but that's hardly the worst of it. This man's seen my face. He's seen all our faces, and he's probably got people out there with like-minded goals."

"I can make him disappear," Chris said, short and to-the-point.

"Jesus," Theresa blurted out. "Certainly there's something better? Can we... uh, can we like, keep him tied up or something?"

"You sure that's a viable option?" Daemond asked. He looked around the room, catching the gaze of all who stood in attendance. "I mean, sure, but really... I need to know what everyone else thinks. This is your problem now, too."
​
​
Click to expand...

A Conduit attacking Conduits because they are Conduits? "You self hating little shit." Luciana spat towards the one calling himself Shadowman. "If you hate Conduits so fucking much why don't you just kill yourself and leave us alone huh? Or are you just a sad cabrón who just fucks it up for everyone else?"

She looked around the crowd before she continued. "I was expecting the damn cops to fall down on us here but a self hating Conduit? How fucked up are people really?"

​
 
Arnold pondered over this new development, still struggling with the ever present pain in his shoulder. A self-hating Conduit. It boggled his mind of how ridiculous it was, of how damned stupid it was, of how counter-intuitive it was! A self-hating Conduit was a one in a chance encounter. Something that never should have happened in this world. He nearly wanted to slap the man's face, that smug self-righteous face, to get some common sense into him.

Something stopped Arnold, however. A sudden realization hit him in the face.

'....That could have been me....'

No. It wasn't so ridiculous after all. Those gaunt eyes. Hollow. Black. Like a endless pit of shadows. That'd been him. Months ago in the ER, waking up dazed. Discovering his powers. Thinking that he was some sort of monster. Blaming himself for surviving. His doctor's said his emotional state was a natural reaction to trauma. As if his powers were natural in the first place. It was only through luck that he managed to knock himself out of that line of thinking in time before he came to Millennium City.

Or else he could have become like the man in front of him right now. Never-mind the hairstyle or the fact that they had different powers, Arnold's feeling of loathing for the man laying pathetically on the ground in front of him had evaporated and had been replaced with pity.

God, where was this guy during the Great Disturbance? Who was his Hal Foreman? What happened to his dreams, his hopes, his aspirations? All because he became a Conduit.

He replied towards Luciana's outburst of anger snarkily as he pinched his chin, wondering what to do about the man in front of them.

" I was fucked up once. Now, that I look at it, I pity the man more than I hate him."

No way in hell that he was calling him Shadow-Man.Arnold steeled himself out of his current pity as he heard Daemond's analysis of the situation. He was right. The man was hell-bent on making sure that they were all dead, no matter the cost. Their faces were burnt by cold-hard effort into his mind and he would remember them as long as he could breathe.

The scales were being weighed. All he didn't know was which side would be more heavier than the other.

Arnold grunted as he tried to formulate a proper response to Daemond's statement, trying to distance his internal bias away from the decision. It was all logic now. Not the heart.

" It's not in our best interests to be judge, jury and executioner. That's all I'm gonna say. I'm not gonna go for the hatchet if someone here wasn't born to a rich CEO."

He stared pointedly at Daemond, having said his judgement.

@Atomyk, @Jeremi
​
 
Story-time? There better damn well be a story-time to explain the ridiculous scene in front of her. These people were bruised and battered beyond what a small scuffle could do and the room was blasted to shit. When the same guy started giggling, she seriously considered shooting him in the leg to remind him of the situation. He got smart quick enough though and started speaking again, asking her to put down her gun. Part of her wanted to comment that it wasn't even raised yet, but semantics, right? Her gaze swept the room once more to make sure there were no lingering threats before she slowly holstered her gun at her hip.


Sayuri took note of the guy's arm as he pointed out the hole in his shoulder, but decided not to even mention the first aid kit in her car for now. She needed to hear this story first. Before it could even begin, the dark-haired dude on the floor decided to take a few shots at Conduit-kind despite being held down by someone who looked like he could seriously tear some ass up. The woman pulled the cigarette from her mouth and finally exhaled, a large plume of smoke permeating the air, thick enough to obscure her view for a moment. She took that moment to rub at her forehead with the heal of her occupied hand while the free hand dipped down into her pocket.


"I'd be more worried about the monster on top of you than the rest of us. Pray he doesn't eat emo boys like you for his nightly snack." She sat the cigarette back between her lips and inhaled, releasing the retained smoke from her nose this time. Her eyes stilled on the red-head who'd come in, taking in the way she kept a distance. Guess that's what happens when you make an entrance with a gun. Take note of that for next time; social interactions already aren't your greatest skillset, baka. Since her gun was holstered, Sayuri took a few steps closer. All these people are Conduits, huh? A few more moments were spent looking over everyone in the room that she could see. Limping red-head. Bloodied giggle-maniac, a couple Latinas, dude here, blonde dude there. Man, she wished she wouldn't have missed the introduction stage, though she couldn't help but be both glad and disappointed to have missed the fight that happened here.


It looked like the group was trying to make a decision on whether to off the kid or not. Guess he was the cause of the fight and explosion? The whole Conduit group was pissed off at him and he didn't seem to feel any remorse for anything. Missing the whole ordeal made her feel pleasantly disconnected from the issue so she turned around on her heel, stepping right through a portal that opened up almost a moment too late. Just about stepped right through air. The portal closed behind her for only a few seconds before reopening somewhere else with a gasping, sucking noise. This time, the portal popped up practically on top of some blonde guy and when she stepped out of it, she had to side-step him to even get her whole body out of it. Smooth move… She chided her faulty internal GPS, but did her best to play it off cool when showing back up. Her right arm and shoulder was taken by a duffle bag, so she reached over with her left hand to grab the blonde guy's arm so he wouldn't get pulled back into her portal before she could close it. The thing was making some angry noises, which she blamed herself for.


The portal slammed shut with a force that belied her nonchalance, and she attempted to cover the foul-up with distraction by tossing the OD green duffle bag onto the floor in the group of injured people. "Med bag. You're all welcome to it." The bag would be plenty stocked with an overwhelming amount of gauze, lidocaine, Quik-Clot, wound wash, needles and thread, scalpel, compression dressings, trauma sheers, and a few CAT tourniquets. "You guys going to kill him?" She asked in a deadpan tone, one of her fingers scraping absently against the handle of her sidearm. She took another long draw of smoke, glancing over at the blondie she'd almost plowed into while making her re-entrance while she considered the fact that THE Daemond Wright was here and was apparently a Conduit. Hmm. She mused on this, wondering if the affluent heir would really have some Conduit kid fitted with cement shoes. For some reason though, instead of all the questions she could ask, the words that came out of her mouth were, "Shadowman is such a shitty name. Just… terrible. No creativity at all."


@Josh M @Borkasu Lazer @Atomyk @Enigma @Verite @SilentxChaos @Klutzy Ninja Kitty @E.T. @thatguyinthestore @Jeremi
 
As Kelly careened towards Fima, sending them both tumbling to the ground, the little voice in the back of her head that had told her to just walk away could not resist a little "I told you so" before the crunch of glass brought her sharply back to reality. She had only the span of a single breath with which to take action. Almost without thinking she twisted one arm around Fima's waste, dragging her underneath her as Kelly's wings swept in and pulled tight around the pair. The explosion went off and though they were barely six feet from the blast Fima could have sworn that it had been nothing more than a large firework. As the wave of energy hit them Kelly's powers flared and the energy dissipated in the area immediately around her. Crystals, like grey quartz, began to form along the side of Kelly facing the blast, starting at her wings and migrating out. If the blast itself had not done its best to rupture everyone's eardrums the sharp click of glass against crystal would have echoed out as the deadly shrapnel ricocheted off.

"Not my best—OW." Kelly cut off as she attempted to push herself up as the ringing faded from her ears, only to find that her left elbow and knee had grown crystals inside the joints as well as outside. Lip curling in pain she slowly pushed herself to her feet, suppressing choice words on how it felt to have tiny crystals being slowly ground down inside her joints. Once she was upright, standing uneasily on her own two feet she took deep steadying breaths as the others turned their attention to the man that had been attacking them, and was now getting up close and personal with the concrete courtesy of a large man wielding a gun. Focusing she turned her concentration inward and as she did so the crystals shivered and began to move and morph. It was strange watching something so obviously solid flow and shift like water across her skin. Slowly steadily the crystals navigated themselves to her wings, forming structures nearly three inches long in a few places, leaving just a few patches of glittering jewels around her left eye and at her elbow.

Tentatively Kelly stretched her arm, then her leg, they were still sore and quite stiff, but that was something she could work with. Now there was just this other problem….

No, looking from one person to another, there was a whole mess of trouble to be dealt with. Everything seemed to be devolving around her and she could hardly begin to form a sentence as one person after another spoke, some cursing, some offer suggestions that ranged from bad to worse to unhelpful, some just made halfhearted observations, and one seemed bordering on shock as he started to giggle. That strained sound snapped something back into place and Kelly straightened herself to her full unimposing height, there were people who were injured, she could help that.

Briskly she pushed past Daemond and the others marching purposefully out of the door she had so unceremoniously barged through earlier, less than a minute later she returned, having collected her bag from the street corner where she had dumped it. Silently she deposited the bag next to where Chris was just about sitting on top of the kid calling himself "Shadowman". Rummaging around for a second she pulled out a few zipties which she promptly used, with Chris's assistance, to secure the man's hands behind him before rolling him over onto his back.

"Sir can you tell me if you have allergies to any medications?" she asked wasting no time pulling up Shadowman's shirt to get a look at the wounds he had gotten this fight. Her question appeared to shock the young man as he just managed a few spluttered syllables followed by a curse. As Sayuri popped back into existence Kelly had to suppress a jump that radiated up her spine. A the words Med bag however Kelly leaned over and dragged the bag over and began digging through it to see what the girl had.

"Thank you, and could you put that disgusting thing out before you stink up this entire room please." She said briskly sparing only a half glance up before getting back to her work on the Shadowman, ignoring the curses he was flinging her way, her hands only hesitating at the word "kill".

"I suppose you could always prove him right. Monsters...every last one of us." This time she paused a little longer, her eyes flicking up to sweep from one person to another before returning to her work. "I worked in an emergency room for a livingbefore all this shit went down. So you know, for tonight, I am going to pretend that instead of a winged freak, I am a decent fucking human being. Who doesn't think that every problem can be solved with putting a bullet in someone's head." Kelly's voice was icy cold, a rising anger so tightly under wraps that it was only perceptible in its absolute absence. Was there a hint of bitterness as well in her voice? Very likely, at least these people could pretend most days, lose the masks, sketchy outfits, and bad attitude they could stroll through the Commons without a second look. Maybe, just a part of Kelly with that she had the balls to rip her wings out at the sockets.

"So Call me a coward, but I didn't show up to be drafted into some kinda hit squad."
 
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Recovering from the attack, Bella coughed widely.

"Uggh. That was a bad idea."

As Bella gained her strength, it seemed like more people arrived, and yelling about what to do about there attacker started.


"We're not killing anyone, Jesus christ. Let's stop that thinking right now."

Bella wasn't really who she was talking, but she moved her way to her attacker.

"Are you okay?

A slight pause as Actress nodded to the new person.

"Shadowman is a pretty bad name. But anyway, unlike some people here, I get it. But you know killing us won't make things better. You think any of us really want this?"

Well, in a weird way ,Bella did. Still, her point stood.​

@SoleStride @Jeremi @Borkasu Lazer @Atomyk @Enigma @Verite @SilentxChaos @Klutzy Ninja Kitty @E.T.
 
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