Lurking in the Dark [IC]

[Moogle-Girl]

[ Midday | Gothenburgh | Evergreen Spring Festival ]
[ Interaction: Mikaela Newton (@Strawberry275), Luca Carson (@MiNaGi) ]
​

Rekeren gave Mike what he hoped was a comforting smile. Gore was a fear he'd come across many times, but he usually kept it out of his shows as more often than not it inspired more feelings of disgust than terror. It was a good way to make him lose customers. He could sense Miki's worry, sniffing it out like a fresh pie placed on the windowsill, but chose not to feed from it out of respect for her. "I appreciate your honesty," he said. "Don't worry, I won't do anything you aren't comfortable with."

Luca took his leave, and Rekeren decided to follow suit, wanting to end the conversation on a high note. "I should be going as well. I have a lot of preparation to do for tonight's show. The festival always comes first, you understand. It was nice speaking to you." With that, he nodded at her and took off, disappearing into the crowd once more. It seemed like he could never have enough energy these days.​

 

[RaccoonKing]

Tori Jane Quinn

~~~

While the festival buzzed with liveliness there was a figure that seemed to oppose the light and fun nature of the event transpiring around her. The feminine figure was slumped back onto one of the old wooden benches to the side of stalls, arms thrown back over the rest while long legs were folded over one another at the ankle, head lulled back till her chin pointed up. By glance the woman was relaxed, arms spread out and breathing even, though a trained glance would notice the way her muscles were tensed and ready, hands curled into fists that made her skin go pale with the force of her own grip. Her gloss covered lips moved steadily with the lyrics of the song that was blasting from the earphones, not making a sound herself as she seemed to be distracted. Garbed in a large bulky army green jacket that reached her mid thighs, the hood was pulled over her face to conceal her eyes as she leaned back, her only noticeable features then being the raven black locks that cascaded down her shoulders and torso and the fact she seemed tall even sitting.

Though the music was blasting at almost a deafening level, Tori was far from focused on the song. A blinding anger seemed to fester in the recesses of her mind at the current events, more specifically the fact that Z had been captured by the ministry of all things. 'Insolent ministry dogs...' Internally Tori was rolling her eyes as the very thought of the government department brought up old resentments that seemed to make her strain her currently calm composure. 'Though the idiot got himself captured so cant blame the dogs completely...' She sighed out loud briefly as her nails began to dig crescents into the palm of her hand, black nail polish chipping with the force as lashes briefly flickered against shadow hidden cheeks. 'And I'm stuck here being the goddamned distraction...brilliant...-'

Her thoughts came to a halting stop when out of instinct her body seemed to jolt subtly, a movement in preparation to attack the disruption as hands remained pressed against the wood to give her a boost if it was required. Teal eyes had snapped open beneath their shadowed veil as the unnatural shade seemed to peer at the offending person with disdain, studying the child with obvious irritation, a look that basically screamed for the human to get the hell away. Though children always seemed unable to understand danger. "Miss...Are you okay?" The voice was muffled beneath the music and for a minute Tori was left to continue her glaring at the girl before she reached up to yank out the buds from her ear so that they fell limp against her chest. "Oi...Kid...Scram." She had pulled herself up to sit properly then leaning forwards to meet the girl's gaze, lips pulled back in a snarl that bore her teeth. The girl seemed to tear up in that moment, doe like eyes peering at her innocently as she stumbled out words. "I-I just wanted to see if you were okay! You w-were still and your lips w-were movin-""Right..Yeah...Ya' see kid, I don't really care what you were doing or really why..." Tori's lips pulled into a grin as she propped her elbow up on her thigh, holding her head in her hand. "So go ahead. Cry. I wont comfort you, Kid. It's just kind of pathetic you are crying at being told to scram...Geez..." By the soft huff at the end of her words, the kid had already vanished into the crowds. "Humans..."

Tori slipped her hands into her coat pockets as she finally gathered herself to stand, bringing her to an height of 6'0. Her appearance was more obvious now, showing the Rat member to be wearing a pair of black skinny waist high jeans with a grey tank top to match the grey converses worn on her feat. Her clothing was relatively simple with only a gold chain hanging around her neck, a feather shaped charm resting against her chest along with a watch on her left wrist. What need was there to dress up when she was just going to stir up some chaos here? Pulling one hand from her pocket, Tori took a glance at her watch before back to the crowds. "Still not time..." A bored expression settled on her features as she took a look around, only to shift on her heels and head to a nearby stall with slow, long strides. The monster easily ignored the humans that stood around the stall, pushing her way through before grabbing a handful of junk food. A bag of crisps, lollies, a chocolate and gum. Basically shoving her handful into vendors line of sight, she then used her other hand to drop the proper cash onto his products. Without even a sound, she had already turned and headed off in the opposite direction, dropping some of her recently purchased snacks onto the deep pocket of her coat before unwrapping one of the lollies to eat.

When realization hit her, Tori bit down on the stick of the candy before reaching into her pocket to pull out her phone while disconnecting it from her headphones, which were promptly dropped into her pocket. A quick press of the button had the large screen lit up till the light cast itself across her features, bathing teal orbs in a mischievous hue. Multiple messages lined her screen. The names of rat members also involved in their devious little plot seemed to flood her inbox, causing a cruel grin to tug at her lips where the word "ready" was repeated, messages still coming up in notifications. "Ooh this shall be good~" Tori purred quietly, flicking her screen up to check the rest of the messages properly. When she was sure all the responses were in from the members currently ready to stir up trouble, Tori gave a small chuckle before heading continuing her trek to the center of the festivities, a devious glimmer casting her unnatural gaze to look predatory as she studied the unaware humans excitedly. "Now just a message from Boss man to start and then boom..." Her phone was instantly made to light up as she waited, now just looming in the middle of the crowds. "I am going to kill Z later though..."​

 

[Wolfsin]

@Strawberry275
Heading to
@FrostedCaramel

"No rest for the wicked I suppose..."

Chad flipped his phone shut after reading the message, though his bored look was replaced with a near cynical grin. Chad surveyed the area around him and took another drag of his cigarette before slouching against a tree. In a lot of ways he was envious of them. They could so easily walk with creatures, relax and enjoy this festival without a care in the world. That was part of the job though right? They got to sit around oblivious to the real monsters that lurked in the darkness, and he was forced to endure that darkness so that they didn't have to. Not that he minded.

With another drag Chad let his cigarette hand hang at his side as he flipped open his phone again. He tapped the numbers to call Elias, only closed the phone just in time to see that he didn't need to call his hound.

"...if you keep that up you're gonna have a hard time chasing after monsters, y'know?"

Chad smirked and closed his phone again. "Sense when do you worry over my health?" Ignoring the caution and taking another drag from his cigarette before tossing it aside. "See anything of note on your patrol?" Course he didn't. There was no reason for them to even be here, but at least now... with Elias here they could get g...

"MONSTERRR RUNNN!!"

"Or.... not.."

Chad turned to see civilians running away from whatever it was they called a monster.. considering this whole fucking event was full of them. "We need to get back to the Ministry apparently there was a blackout, and knowing ol Zachary he wouldn't have called us unless it was important. Takes away ogling his sister time... after all."

But first. Well whatever was happening here needed to be dealt with. Chad drew one of his pistols, and did a quick survey of the weapon. Record as true as ever, there weren't any tranquilizer shots in his guns. "If you have anything to say... say it while we run. i wanna deal with this as quick as possible... and get going..

No way in hell was chad about to miss a real fight for penny enny bullshit at this cursed festival.​

 

[Strawberry275]

[[Afternoon, Gothenburgh Outskirts, Granny's Home]]
[[Interactions; Cergio @DoomyCakez, Prim @Wingless_Angel]]
​

Between floral-patterned curtains flecks of raindrops obscured the landscape beyond the window into a haze of grey, green, and brown shapes. Like always, the day of the Evergreen Festival had been filled with a steady trickle of rain. In her many years of attending the festival Eliza could count on her fingers the number of times it hadn't rained. Still, for now at least there was a break in the downpour, and though grey skies still loomed threateningly overhead outside her home was filled with a safe and cosy atmosphere of peace. She only hoped there wasn't a storm on the way.

Eliza sat in her usual spot, a worn out armchair by the fireplace, with a cup of tea by her side. In the past nothing would have been enough to keep her from the spring festival, but much as she'd like to even Eliza couldn't deny she wasn't quite as energetic as she'd been in her youth. On damo days like this the pain in her joints sometimes flared up and made even the walk to the bus stop down the road feel just a little too daunting. But there would be other days and other festivals to enjoy.

Comforting herself with this knowledge Eliza rested a hand on the soft fur of a tabby kitten asleep in her lap, one of the many strays to have found a home with her. Between the warmth and the soothing monotony of the kitten's breathing she may well have fallen asleep herself, were it not for the sudden knock at the door. Knowing she only had one guest who was that heavy-handed she stood and carefully placed the kitten back in the armchair before beginning her trip to the door. Old though she may be, she absolutely refused to use her walking stick inside the house. Yet.

It had been a while since Cergio's last visit - during which he had dropped off the aforementioned feline - so it was a nice surprise for him to drop by like this, especially on the day of the festival. Though, most likely he had found some other abandoned little creature that needed rescuing and that was why he had came. Eliza hoped it wasn't another bird. One or two small ones were fine, especially as most could be released again after they recovered, but if he made a habit of it she might need him to build some kind of aviary in the garden for them and if he started building structures for his little friends to live in who knew where it would stop? Though there were certainly worse uses for the land the prospect of looking after that many animals by herself was more than a little daunting to Eliza.

However when she opened the door to find Cergio carrying not a wounded animal as she had expected but a little girl, soaked from the rain and wearing only pajamas, even she was shocked.

"Oh my...where on earth did you find this little one?"

After taking a moment or two to recover she stepped back from the door to let them in. If they stayed out there much longer they were both going to get sick, and the little girl looked like she was halfway there already. "You'd both better come in and get warmed up. She needs a hot bath and a change of clothes...and you could probably do with something hot to drink yourself," She added, eyeing Cergio with a look of concern.​

 

[Little Fox]

green Time of Day: Afternoon
City: Gothenburgh
Location; Carnival
Interactions: N/A
Mentions: None
Mood: Content if a little melancholy
Theme Song: Silent Scream
Voice: J. Michael Tatum - Voice of Sebastian from Black Butler Dub

♪ I'm on the front line
Don't worry I'll be fine
the story is just beginning
I say goodbye to my weakness
so long to the regret
and now I see the world through diamond eyes ♪

The soft baritone voice drifted through the tent, rich tone softly singing as a lithe body danced gracefully to unheard music. The tall figure swayed and moved to a beat heard only in his head, his voice never faltering as he continued to sing quietly. As he moved passed the lantern, shadows were thrown against the wall, the antlers jutting out from his midnight blue locks looking long and terrifying. Though it was a festival day and most of Carnival had gone off to attend the festivities, Sebastian had chosen to stay behind. He had tried attending the Evergreen Festival when he first joined Carnival but the coveted stares and whispering behind his back at his strange looks became too much and now he didn't go beyond the Carnival tents if he couldn't help it. People seeing his show were one thing, they came looking for the strange and bizarre and as such his looks fit in with the criteria but if he simply walked the streets, people moved out of his way as if he had the plague and always threw his glances when they thought he wasn't looking. And the whispers. The whispers were perhaps the worst out of it all.

"Is there some kind of festival going on for him to where those antlers?"
"What's wrong with his ears?"
"Best move away, he might have a strange disease."
"Does he think he looks cool?"

The whispers and the looks were what drove him to becoming the Carnivals resident hermit. It reminded him too much like them, those who harsh words and disgusting looks they threw at him forever haunting his dreams. His dancing paused and he sharply shook his head, singing louder to drawn out the hurtful words that started echoing through his memories. There was a feline sitting on his bed watching him, a stray who kept coming around for food and the occasional scratch behind the ears. Sebastian had offered her a home but she liked roaming the streets and only stopping by the visit. Humming now, Sebastian fell back onto his bed, receiving a disgruntled meow from the beds current resident. However, her grumbles were way-laid by a hand expertly scratching a spot on her ear. Sebastian smiled and closed his eyes, waiting for the rest of his family to return from their day off.
​

---

pink Time of Day: Afternoon
City: Gothenburgh
Location: Granny's House
Interactions: Cergio { @DoomyCakez } | Granny{ @Strawberry275 }
Mentions: None
Mood: Cold, hungry, and lost
Theme Song: Flashlight
Voice: Kanae Ito - Voice of Yui from Sword Art Online Sub

The man had been so silent in the space of time that Primrose had given her name that she wondered if he was going to answer back. When he did, she wasn't all that surprised by his voice. It sounded soothing and it fit him. An idle part of her brain wondered what he would sound like reading bed-time stories. Would he read through it with the same voice like mommy or would he do a voice for each character and make silly faces? She felt herself shifted in his arms and she settled down, hands still lightly clutching his clothes. "Cer..Gio. C-Cergio." Her tongue tripped over the new name slightly before she got the hang of it. "It's a nice name." She said, small head shifting until it was tucked under his chin. She noticed the sky had stopped crying. Hmmm, she had stopped crying to. Maybe...Maybe things would be okay now. A small yawn escaped her and she burrowed closer, eyes sliding shut as the child nodded off. She remained asleep even when Cergio moved her to the inside of his jacket, a small humming noise escaping her at the warmth she could feel. She awoke a little bit before he reached his destination, stirring in his arms as one tiny hand reached up to rub at her eyes. She lifted her head from where it had been pillowed on his shoulder and looked around curiously.

Before her sat a nice-looking house, the smell wafting from it making her tummy rumble with hunger. She noticed the man reaching for the handle on the gate and jumped in surprise when he ripped the handle clean off. Whoa! He was strong. Then he said something that made the child freeze, the girl leaning back slightly to look up at him with wide-eyes as one small hands reached up to cover her gaping mouth. "Ooooh, you said a swear." She whispered. She continued to stare at him in this way as he made his way up to the door. Her attention was stole as soon as she saw the plants surrounding the porch, the small girl shifting in his arms and reaching out a hand towards them. Her eyes closed briefly at the life force she felt and a small smile came to her lips, her face beaming with happiness for a few seconds. Her fingers brushed a leaf hanging close to her and she giggled very faintly as if someone had said something funny. She was broken from her trance however at a loud knocking sound, the child starting and clinging to Cergio as her wide eyes shot to stare at the door.

Upon seeing the elderly woman standing there staring at them in shock, Primrose buried her face against Cergio's chest, peeking out at the old woman through her tangle of hair, hands gripping the mans shirt tightly.​

 

[FrostedCaramel]

1st Rank Agents, Jonathan Adams and Chad Kaiser, and Hounds Anna Finch and Elias Bonner
Gothenburgh
Mid-Day
Evergreen Festival

A COLLAB BETWEEN @FrostedCaramel and @Strawberry275 and @Wolfsin

---

​

"Since if you're too busy wheezing to take down monsters it becomes my problem."

Before Elias could make any other borderline insulting remarks about Chad's health or protest the assumption he was at all worried about him the screams of the crowd interrupted. Whipping his head round in the direction they were coming from the wave of people moving towards him made it impossible to see what the source of it all was.

Well aware that Chad's method of 'dealing with it as quick as possible' was putting enough bullets in something to stop it moving and also well aware of the possibility that whatever monster was causing this didn't need to be killed for it Elias started running. Real bullets in this kind of crowd?

"You didn't even bring tranqs to the festival?"

Chad laughed as he started a light jog behind his hound. Elias was just as soft as he'd always been, it sometimes made him wonder if Elias was a monster at all, but unfortunately he'd seen the proof of that already."What? tranqs? Pftt I don't think we should be teaching the little ones that tranqs are the way to go, better they find out how to kill these things before.... yeah.. Never mind that lets just get going.

Chad did the remainder of his gun maintenance while running; a practice he'd become quite veteran with. The crowd was thinning out and then he heard it, sound of live gunfire and both he and Elias knew they had to pick up the pace. A few more shots went off while they were running up and despite his partners obvious disagreement with his methods, Chad ducked around one of the stalls and flicked the safety on his gun before glancing around to see ... "Adams.." Chad lowered his gun slightly noticing Anna slouched against him. "Oh this is a treat.. might get to shoot her today after all.." He snickered and then holstered his gun as he approached the two of them with Elias following just behind. "Oy Adams did doll-face over there fuck up that hard that you put her down before I could get here?" He knew well that Anna was still breathing, however Adams report would decide for how much longer. "Got problems at the Ministry, you really think we got time for you to be playing nursery for this thing?"

Adams looked up, sighing at the sight of Chad and Elias; whether it was relief or annoyance even he couldn't tell. Brushing some of Anna's hair from her face he started to talk, "No no, I think it's okay now. Situation handled, no one got hurt thankfully..." he looked back at Anna and then over to the severed arm as it sizzled and slowly melted into a puddle of indistinguishable gloop, "Well, no humans got hurt at least." he stood carefully avoiding Elias' gaze while bringing Anna up in his arms as he did so.

Turning fully to Chad and Elias he took a moment to pull Anna's hood over her wide open eyes to protect her from the rain. "I should probably get her back to the Ministry.... The Director is going to hang my ass over this." he said reluctantly. "Speaking of, shouldn't we all be heading back to the Ministry, or are you planning on staying away from the real work Chad?" he asked, not trying to be confrontational.

Elias just glared at Adams. 'No one got hurt'? 'No humans got hurt'? Did he think Anna was just a piece of meat that couldn't feel pain?! He'd been willing to overlook Adams hitting her earlier, sure, he was trying to help in the long run. But this...

He gritted his teeth at the sounds the severed arm was making as it melted. There had to have been a way to avoid this. If Adams hadn't fucked up earlier and made her run off...or if Chad hadn't been too busy being himself to try and not be an asshole for once... He hated just having to stay quiet like this. But knowing Chad he was just waiting for any excuse to shoot him, and lashing out at him or Adams would be more than enough reason to put a bullet in his head. Elias fixed his eyes on the ground, still glaring, and hoping Anna would be okay.

Chad turned and looked back at the goo that remained of the monster arm. His brow raised, but he didn't question Adams any further. "Yeah that sounds like me huh? At least that is what I would normally do in these situations, but for old man Zachary to call all of us back its bound to be a real shebang. I won't miss a chance to use these, God knows I didn't get to here..." Chad mumbled the last little bit under his breath and smiled. Chad looked back at Elias who was quiet as usual, but more of a brooding quiet this time. He wasn't dumb to the troublesome trio, and no doubt Elias had something to say. Chad just chalked it up to good training, that his hound knew better than to speak out of line. Fear did good things training mutts. "You sure that one is gonna be able to help you back at the Ministry Adams? She doesn't look too good to be honest..." He didn't care, in fact Chad found a sick enjoyment in the disabled state of Anna... but to some degree he didn't want Adams walking into a firefight thinking she had his back.. and finding himself on the wrong end of a monster spike or some shit.

Looking to Elias with a solemn gaze Adams was about to open his mouth when Chad began to answer. He listened for a moment, not surprised in the slightest at Chads blood thirsty persona before frowning softly at his final remark, "That would be a deft assessment of the situation Chad." he continued staring at Elias, "She lost it Elias--" he swallowed, "---She wasn't Anna anymore, but now she will be when she wakes up.". Looking back to Chad he continued speaking, "But I agree, she can't be following me back there, she hasn't even come to yet." he glanced at her, noticing the slow rise and fall of her chest beneath her cloak and her eyes still empty, still staring into nothing.

Shuddering for a moment from the rain and her gaze he looked back up at Elias, "She had turned... Well partially turned--" he motioned to the arm, now mostly goo on the ground, "She tried to take me down. But--" he shrugged as best he could as he held Anna, "--I took care of it, but only barely." he used his elbow to point at his side which he had only recently managed to stop the bleeding from. "She's got one hell of a right hook." he laughed at the comment, as morbid as it may be.

He looked to Elias, letting out a slow sigh he opened his mouth before his words caught in his throat. He coughed. "Elias look, there was no other way to handle this and I know you think there was but I promise, if I had only used tranquilizers... Well I probably wouldn't be standing here right now." he paused before looking back in the direction that the two children had run off in. "She was going to eat a child Elias."

Elias barely acknowledged Adam's justifications, still refusing to look at him. Even if she had lost it, even if it had been necessary, he still didn't have to be happy about it. Not even hearing what she had almost done - and to a child no less - was enough to change his mind, though he wished Adams had at least waited until Chad wasn't around to tell him. However this wasn't the time or place to argue.

Chad sneered while listening but he didn't interrupt Adams for once with some snarky comment. In fact he stood silently watching out into the crowds of people, but even then Chad didn't see them. He only could half hear what Adams was even saying; like a dulled sound when your ear popped from being under water. Chad caught enough of it though. "Hounds.... trained hunters for the ministry... thinking that these .. beasts aren't going to turn their claws on us all some day.... its pathetic." Chad spat on the ground and walked off a little ways. He didn't need to hear anymore... had it been his hound... she'd be dead, All of them... if he had his choice would be taken out and shot in the head in some random alley for rats and carrion to find them.

Chad clenched his fist.. thinking of the situation... the fact that just because.. she'd lost control, someone could have lost someone that they loved... It took everything in him not to turn and finish the job then.. but Elias' next sentence disrupted those thoughts.

"I'll take care of her. Worry about yourself."

Chad clicked his tongue. Then turned back to Elias walking over to him with nothing too happy on his face. "Taking up baby sitting now.. Elias.. Fine. Leaves me free to go handle things at the ministry without you." Chad turned his back to his hound and laughed a bit under his breath as he shook his head back and forth. "Think she's fond of you? Don't. She showed her true nature already.. Shes not like you Elias.. Timid and tame... No, that ones the real deal... and she wont stop to wait for you, or hear you calling her name when she decides its lunch time again..." Chad could have said more, but he didn't; clicking the safety on his guns again he started for the parking lot. "Alrighty Adams lets go do the job we get paid for."

"..."

Elias remained silent, choosing to ignore Chad's taunts. If he ordered Elias to accompany them to the ministry he wouldn't be able to refuse and they both knew that. He was just trying to mess with him and Elias wasn't going to take the bait. Not this time, at least. Glancing briefly between Anna's limp body and the still-panicked remnants of the crowd he sighed. Yeah, this was a problem. But not one that needed to be solved by killing Anna. "Just get going already."

Taking his cue from Elias, Adams let Anna slip from his hands into Elias's. "Just get her somewhere away from all of this, and keep her safe, I trust you with that much at least." he turned and jogged to catch up to Chad who was already entering the parking lot.

"Let's get this over quick, it's just a black out after all. What's the worst that could really happen a few low security Monsters escape?" he said as he came to Chads side in the parking lot.

 

[Gladis]

【Gothenburgh • Afternoon • Evergreen Festival】
【Colaboration between @Wingless_Angel, @Gladis and @Aka~Kitsune】
【Interaction: Nico, Wren and Noelani】​

Noelani weaved her way through the large crowds, her steps deliberately slow and cautious as her eyes stared down into the bag holding the goldfish she carried. A small hum escaped her lips as she cocked her head in a moment of thought, only to sigh a few seconds later. She would need a fish bowl...Looking up to find out where she was, Noelani's observant gaze fell over each face before moving to the next. Her study of the crowd was supposed to be a quick glance over, though her attention was caught by the familiarity of two faces. Though it brought a frown onto her lips, brows knitted in obvious confusion.

As Wren guided Nico through the crowd, he felt a burst of relief as he saw he had not lost Noelani in the mass of people around them. He sped up his pace, drawing nearer and nearer to the faction leader. As they cleared a particular knot of festival-goers, he saw that Noelani had spotted them and was frowning at them. A trickle of nervousness shot through him. Was she upset? He hoped not. He wanted to do anything to make his leader happy and upsetting her was something he never wanted to do. The two eventually stopped in front of them woman and Wren found himself slipping his hand out of Nico's and bowing deeply at his waist, glasses almost slipping off his face. Of course, he didn't really need glasses but it helped explain his great eyesight to the humans.

"Nico....Wren?" She then turned her gaze to Nico specifically, expression still minimal but her tone was laced lightly with concern. "Why are you not with Makoto?"

Nico looked down, nervously scuffing his feet, hand still wrapped around the stick of the candied apple. It wasn't that he believed Noelani would be mad at him. She rarely ever was... but he still felt guilty for letting go of Makoto.

"I couldn't keep up with him... he was so mad, storming from one corner of the festival to the other, looking for you. At some point I accidentally let go and... and then I was lost." He paused, shyly glancing up at Wren as he took hold of his shirt sleeve, a grin spreading across his features. "But I was suuuuper lucky, bcause Wren found me! After that it wasn't as scary anymore."

Wren straightened from his bow, adjusting his glasses with the push of his index finger. He felt a tug on his shirt sleeve and glanced over, taking in Nico smiling at him. Wren felt the corner of his mouth twitch and he ducked his head in embarrassment, bangs hiding his eyes as his cheeks tinted a slight pink.

Noelani watched the two of them with a silence hanging around her, though clearly listening intently to Nico, her frown fading and expression settling. Her gaze slid first to focus upon Nico, a flicker of a smile dancing on her features at the human who was her adoptive son. A hand settled upon his hair as she nodded gently. "You definitely were lucky. I am glad you found Wren." She muttered, trying to purposefully ignore the bit about Makoto currently hunting her down. Noelani already knew she would be lectured by Makoto.

Nico's grin turned into a shy smile as he felt Noelani's hand drop down on his head, a warm and happy feeling blossoming in his chest.

The same softness seemed to linger on Noelani's features when she turned to Wren, though she raised a brow slightly. Noelani was a formal person but today was a festival...a day off...The watcher's general sighed softly before reaching over to ruffle the other's hair. "Thank you for taking care of Nico, Wren. Also...please relax... This is technically a day off, don't you agree?" The general paused for a moment befor her limbs began to move as she dragged two bags from her arm, passing one over to each of them. She had not planned for Wren but Noelani had a lot of candy still stashed hidden in her bag anyway... "Here. For both of you."

When they had been passed over she adjusted her grip to take in the fish and the one bag of candy left for Makoto. "Mhm...Have you both enjoyed the festivities then?"

Wren was taken aback when he felt a hand gently ruffle through his hair. He jerked in surprise, eyes shooting up to meet Noelani's. His blush brightened slightly and he reached a hand back, self-conciously playing with the hidden feathers at teh nape of his neck. "I-It wasn't a problem. I had...fun..while we were trying to find you. We got these apple thingys. They taste good though I still dont see why they dip them in sugar and it makes your mouth all sticky and-" He realized he was babbling nervously and cut himself off. He glanced down a his feet, shuffling back and forth before a bag suddenly entered his field of vision. He looked up at Noelani in shock, hand automatically reaching out and accepting the offering. He peeked into his and saw candy before looking up at his faction leader and bowing his head in thanks. "This is too much. Thank you very muc-"

A sudden ringing pierced through his sentence and he juggled his bag and apple as he fished his phone from his pocket. He glanced at the caller ID before pressing the green button and holding it to his ear. "Hello? Hi mom...The shop closed early so I'm at the festi-...What? He is? I'll be home right away." He ended the call and shoved it back into his pocket as he gave a hurried bow to both Noelani and Nico. "That was my mom. Adrian has gone missing so I need to get home right away."

Nico waved as he watched Wren take off through the crowd, dodging around people and soon disappearing entirely into the throng. Clutching the bag of candies under his left arm, whereas his right hand was still tightly wrapped around the stick of the candied apple, he turned to look back up at his adoptive mother, a content smile present on his features.

"We should probably try to find Makoto before he blows up completely."

 

[Katherine Sanderson]

-​

Mio stretched and yawned as she walked out of the area that counted as "backstage" towards the stall selling her favourite snack. The show was over and the audience had mostly left and she could finally get her popcorn.

"What size do ya want?" the young woman managing the stall asked.

"The largest you have please," Mio answered with a beaming smile on her face. Popcorn Heaven indeed.

'Come to think of it, maybe I should share this with Sebastian. I bet he's getting bored back home and this way he can get some of the festival feeling too.' She felt a bit guilty though that she couldn't share Popcorn Heaven with her new friend this time but it was for a good cause and she was sure she would get another chance to make it up to him.

And with these thoughts in mind Mio walked away from the Evergreen Festival not knowing what would happen so soon after she left.

 

[Sinopa]

Makoto approached the two from behind quickly after Wren left from their sights.
"Captain! Nico!" He called out, getting closer and closer to the two. "You two are in so much trouble! I can't eve- I'm going to-…" He was so made that the Lt couldn't get the right words out. He let out a frustrated, rageful growl before he released a deep sigh with closed eyes. When he opened them they remained filled with the fury that had been building up on this torturous day, but he was able to sort out his thoughts. He glared daggers at the two for a moment in silence, carefully planning his next actions.

Makoto could be absolutely terrifying. More terrifying than anyone Nico knew. More terrifying than even Lady Death and General War themselves. The fury burning in Makoto's eyes right at that moment reminded Nico of that, and he quietly took a few steps back, effectively hiding behind Noelani as he kept a tight grip of his bag with candy with one hand, gently grasping hold of her shirt with the other.

Noelani's gaze settled on Makoto, lips pursed as expression softened. She was long used to this and she rarely seemed phased by her lieutenant's irritation at her. Feeling the grip on her shirt, Noelani had reached around to gently take Nico's hand into her own. "I apologize Makoto...I had things to buy and thought it would be best if you and Nico were left to visit things you solely wished to see, not dragged around with me."

"So you thought, that by randomly disappearing, without letting us know where you were going, when you know you're horrible with directions, was actually helping me? Do you know the stress you've put me through? The trouble I had to go through? I ran into a first agent, Chad Kaiser no less. Had there not have been so many people around it would have ended in a fight to the death." Noelani's immunity to Makoto's rage irritated him even more. It was like she didn't seem to realize how she nearly gave him a heart attack. He scoffed and turned his gaze to the frightened Nico.
"And you. I specifically instructed you to not let go of me. So what possessed you to do just that? I was so worried! You can't do that to me!" He put his hand up to his head and sighed.

The moment he was addressed, his grip of Noelani's shirt tightened. He lowered his head, dark hair falling into his face, effectively hiding his eyes from their view. He was trying so hard not to cry, and yet his eyes were burning with tears.

"I-I'm sorry!" he mumbled, unable to keep his voice from quivering, "I couldn't keep up...a-asked you to slow down but...you didn't listen. I'm sorry, Makoto..."

Makoto let out another sigh. He couldn't blame the boy, the Lieutenant was going pretty fast and was too angry to really hear him. However, he wasn't going to let him off the hook that easily.
"That is no excuse. In a crowd full of people, you must stay close. Enemies lurk within the masses who would take advantage of opportunity, the chances of danger and injury are increased, and the chances of getting lost are even more." His expression softened, but only a little. "Next time I expect you to take extra measures to stay by my side."

Noelani simply listened, attentive and aware of her lieutenant's anger but she was seeming unaffected by it. Inside the guilt had appeared but outside it didn't show. However, her expression steeled with the mention of an agent, a eyes gaining a coldness to them as her lips pursed. Caution danced in her features as she studied Makoto carefully, only for her expression to soften once it was clear she was well.
"Chad Kaiser...first rank agent, huh?" Noelani however, ended up narrowing her gaze further as she looked at Makoto seriously. "How...did Kaiser know who you are?" Noelani kept tabs on the ministry...and they had yet to discover the existence of the watchers. This left her confused to how Chad knew, considering Makoto had very little evidence of being a monster. Instinctively at the increased grip, Noelani had reached around to pull Nico closer, ruffling his hair softly to try comfort the boy.

Makoto stood straighter when Noelani spoke, his full attention on her as she asked her question.
"I have no idea." The Lieutenant said with a complete change of tone. The air around him no longer screamed fury, but instead obedience and business. "But there was no mistaking it, he seemed to be informed about the Watchers and myself. Which poses a huge problem. I wonder just how much he knows."

She stared at Makoto intently, brows furrowed and lips pursed. Lost in her thoughts a moment, Noelani eventually huffed before shaking her head. Clearly her casual demeanor had vanished with the news. Her posture straightened up and her expression lost any of its warmth in those moments.
"Chad Kaiser...is now a worrisome problem." She mumbled, turning to look briefly at the crowds before looking to the two of them. "He will need to be watched...studied...we need to know more about him." Noelani muttered before looking to Makoto. "Tomorrow we will discuss Chad Kaiser...maybe for now we should leave..."

As the trio made themselves ready to leave, Nico let go of Noelani and took a few shy steps forward. During her and Makoto's short exchange he had been able to build up the courage, and he gave the the Lt's shirt a gentle tug to get his attention.

"I really am sorry, Makoto... I promise it won't happen again, so please don't be mad." He was gazing up at Makoto with large, dark eyes, a shy smile painting itself onto his features. "Everything is so much better when you smile."​

 

[RaccoonKing]

Tori's amusement had dulled with the passing minutes, lips now pursed and edging closer to a delicate curl of her lips to a frown while her eyes angrily glared at passing by humans, frightening off the low life mutts. A troubled sigh tumbled from her lips as her head lulled back till her eyes flickered to the sky above, teal depths staring blankly at the darkening skies. Her phone remained inactive and the blank black screen haunted her and made her nerves rise. No message from War. The planned attack was a hurricane in her thoughts, each one a passing flicker of what she predicted the result to be. Humans, agents, would hopefully be the mass of casualties to this mess..."But it's their fault for taking Z...for taking one of our own..." She hissed, her tone dangerous as it lowered.

Her grip tightened upon the phone in her hand, teeth grinding and knuckles becoming pale with the grip, before she angrily slammed her finger against the button to light up the screen before entering the password. Seconds later her angry stare was fuelled by the sight of no confirmation message. None. Tori audibly growled, tone quiet but threatening, before returning to the messages that were from her fellow rats in the festival.

'Start'.

The second the sign appeared upon her screen indicating that the message had been received, a vicious grin decorated her features as she spun upon her heels. Tori collapsed herself into a nearby bench, throwing her arms onto her lap as she crossed her legs. "This shall be good~" The monster purred, passing humans turning to look at her with disgust. The velvety tone of her voice was poisonous and the humans foolishly must have believed that she had lost her wit... She cackled at that thought, her head lulling limply onto her shoulder as she looked over at one particular woman who gave her a nasty look.

"You should probably run, sweet heart~"

The woman looked at her in disgust before storming off, throwing her hair behind her in a dramatic way that had Tori fake gagging. The rat threw her own hair behind her before raising her head haughtily. Eventually she ended up laughing at her imitation, lazily muttering a small curse at the female before her grin was back with the loud sound of wood being shattered and metal being battered. The rats had leaked out from the dark corners of the festival in small groups, sinister grins on their faces as they quickly moved in to attack the stalls themselves. They were armed with a range of weaponry, some with guns, some with bats and some with just their visible monster features.

Tori herself was smiling a content an delightful smile as humans began to panic. Screams of horror and the loud sobs had her cracking up inside. The chaos was just perfect. They ran like cattle towards the exits, their fear of death driving them. Unfortunately, their deaths were not what the Rats were here for. Though Tori happily considered sending a message to the rats to actively start hurting people. No...She already went ahead with the distraction without War's confirmation to start so she'd try restrain herself for now...

A small amount of the festival's population had escaped from the masses and gotten out but many were still to tightly packed to escape quickly. The crowds were vicious, pushing and pulling to get forwards at the expense of their fellow man. Tori scowled, rolling her eyes as she pulled herself to stand. Heading over to a shadowed area of the festival she mumbled. "Pathetic mutts...At least we can stick by our own..." She spat, leaning against a nearby wall, consumed by the ever growing darkness of the alley.

By now a concentrated area of the stalls were smashed and shredded, cheers of delight from her fellow rats broke through the screams as they continued. A few people caught a few stray blows and some simply bugged a member and was in return, knocked down a peg. One rat member had even pulled out a match, as a fire soon roared where a crafted wooden stall once stood and drowned out the noise. Tori didn't even raise a brow, her arms folded lazily over her chest as her gaze flickered lazily from member to member. Humans had long since ruined her mood. Tori soon cocked her head, looking around the crowds with a curious hum escaping her pursed lips as she spoke with a bare whisper...

"Hope this is enough to get your attention, Agents.~"​

 

[FrostedCaramel]

1st Rank Agents Jonathan Adams and Chad Kaiser
Gothenburgh
Mid-Day
Evergreen Festival

A COLLAB BETWEEN @FrostedCaramel AND @Wolfsin

---

​

Slowing his pace as he caught up to Chad he began to walk in silence, not wanting to allow Chad a chance to delve deeper into what had happened with Anna and partially due to the fact that there was never much to talk about when he was alone with Chad. Walking for another few meters in complete silence Adams pulled out his pistol and began to check the weapon after its prior use, slipping out the still empty magazine he had used and replacing it with his second to last magazine of tranquilizers, 'Two Tranquilizer magazines left and four hollow point magazines, this better be just a black out or I'm not going to have enough to deal with it.' he thought as he let out a low whistle.

"Chad, you got a feeling this might be more than a black out? I mean... It's not like the Ministry is on it's very own power grid if there were really a black out then a portion of the area around it would be blacked out as well right... So once we get closer we'll get a pretty good feeling of what the hell is really going on." he looked at Chad through his peripheral not actually moving his head at all, "Any way if it's just a black out this will have been a waste to have left so early." he let out a laugh and winced at the shooting pain his side responded with.

Chad of course was doing his own maintenance check over his weapons when they got to their individual vehicles. A kit was on the back of his cycle that he used to decorate bullets and add an extra something special to his shots. He also didn't look up from his guns when Adams spoke to him. "Well like I said, for them to disregard public safety and call us all back I don't expect to walk in to a tea party..." To him it was common sense, but really it was just pessimism to the max. "If not well, then I have an excuse to take the rest of the day off and I might still be able to catch an hour of prime time leveling... if I hurry... So..." Chad closed his little kit box having chosen just what particular ammunition he would use and turned to look at Adams. "Guess we better hu..."

"Come on come on! Hurry to the streets!"

Police officers were directing traffic from the festival, and in quite the panic too.

Chad looked to Jonathan and both of them approached the cop who seemed to be in charge. "What is going on?" Chad asked taking the forefront. The Cop was obviously busy, but turned reluctantly to meet the two of them. "Monsters.. attacking the festival, There are a good lot of em ripping up the stalls and causing a major ruckus... we evacuated who we could but..."

"Monsters? Well that's just fucking great..." Adams said under his breath, "Chad one of us has got to stay now, and I'm not trying to pile this on you but you're probably the best person to take this one up considering my current ammunition situation." he lifted his jacket to allow Chad to see the last six magazines he had, "Not nearly enough for what's going on in the--"

"Just get goin. I got it." Chad cut Jonathan off as he started back towards the festival. "Explain the situation to the director... I'm not about to let these bastards fuck anyone elses life up!" Chad was starting to jog away then, as the cop reached out to stop him."Wait you can't g-"

Moving to step in front of the officer and keep him from stopping Chad, Adams smiled and pulled his badge from his jacket and let its meaning sink into the Officer, taking a slight amusement as his looked turned from confusion to a slight amount of awe, "I'm pretty sure he can handle this better than anyone else you're all thinking of sending into there." he smiled again and started to walk past the Officer. Patting him on the back as he passed he spoke back to the man, "Just cordon off the area, and get the people to safety. The Ministry will handle what's going on inside." he paused, "And on the off-chance that the gunfire in there stops and that man doesn't come back... Well then you're all screwed."

He opened the door to his car and got in, starting the engine before he had even closed the door he pulled out of the parking lot and hit the emergency lights, gunning it for the Ministry.

 

[DoomyCakez]

Location
"I'm in the big house... With the big dogs, now! Now, I just have to make sure I freaking stay here!"
♥ MMW HQ ♥ Midday ♥ Gothenburg ♥

OOTD
"Only the finest! I have to make a good impression!"
[spoili]

[/spoili]

Mention
"Ohhhhh~ I'm on the job now! On the clock~ Gotta make that bank!"
♥ Random NPCs ♥
♥ 1/C Agents ♥
♥ Hamster References ♥
♥ Monsters ♥

Interaction
"They are a bit on the boring side, aren't they? I guess only the 1/C's have the colorful personalities... Not everyone can be like him..."
♥ Random NPCs ♥

[spoili]

[/spoili]

'Listen here, Princess. It takes a lot more than passing a few tests to make it here with the big guys. This is a pretty strenuous job."

"How so? All I have done with you today is sit in this tiny room while you play finger soccer with your garbage ca-"

"Oi. oi. oi. Catching lip now, are ya'? I have half a mind to report ya' and get your little ass fired before you even start, cupcake."

This was the part of being a rookie that Shumi honestly did not enjoy. There was nothing really to do when you were forced to shadow the 3/C agents. Hell, this was not even HER agent that she was suppose to be shadowing, being that mostly everyone was out on duty at the festival. Because of this, Shumi found herself stuck at HQ with a guy that she had heard many people compare to a braindead chimp. In Shumi's opinion, that was an insult to the chimp... Despite that, Shumi was not going to let a minor setback like this destroy her chances of getting ahead of her comrades. She was already NOT at the damn festival with the true heros of the MMW...The last thing she wanted to do was stay some pencil pusher for the rest of her life. Where was the excitement? The adventure? The shitting-your-pants adrenaline? There was none of it here, unless you counted the oh-so intense game of finger hockey happening between the Agent Shumi formally refered to as Sausage Bob, and the tiny garbage can over the side of his desk. Why was he referred to as Sausage Bob? The answer was rather apparent in the odd smell that hung in the air whenever he was near. Had the man never heard of deodorant, or did he just have some sort of hatred for showers and soap. Shumi did not know, but it was a sent that oddly reminded her of the fresh meat markets back home in Taiwan.

"Oh, got nothing to say now that I got your balls in a vice, huh? Why don't you go and make yourself useful, short-stack. Get me a coffee."

Ohhh what Shumi would give to be able to smack him right between the eyes with a coffee mug; however, here was not the time, nor the place to make a fool of herself. Yes, despite her obvious absence in height, Shumi was known for the infamous "Napoleon Complex." She was indeed tiny, but she was a force to be reckoned with ... In her own right. She mainly stuck to her words, being that she barely held the weight of the paper wads that Good Ole' Bob was flicking off the table, but telling by the tightness of his shirt, she guessed that his diet and health were not exactly the best. It was to be expected that she were to find herself here, OF ALL FUCKING TIMES, in the pencil pusher department, being that all of the excitement was at the actual festival. A few rookies has been able to go; however, Shumi was still new to the MMW. It was only her first week afterall... She had not even seen where the coffee machine was... speaking of that...

"Shall I pour the whole bag of sugar in it for ya', Bob, or would you rather inject it into your veins?"

"WHY YOU LITTL- OI!"

Shumi was already up and moving, avoiding the flying name plate and pencil sharpener to disappear through the door with a odd cackle. She was honestly surprised with herself, being that she was not really know to be this...savage... Maybe it was because of her irritation of being left behind. Who knows what awesome things could be happening in downtown, yet she was stuck here... fetching coffee for a man that smelled of penicl erasers. It truly was sad, being that her... talents were being wasted...

"Pff..."

She almost lost it at that thought. She had no talents yet, said for her impecable memory. That was the only thing that had helped her get here in the first place. She had a good head on her shoulders She was a smart one, probably the smartest in her class when it came to random fucking knowledge. She never forgot anything, holding onto every word said or spoken to her as though she was some sort of human Iphone 6+. It was a nice skill to have, but what she would not give to trade it with some of the more athletic rookies. She felt like a potato compared to most of them, and that truly was a insult to potatos... speaking of which...

"I wonder how my little Potato is doing..."

It was a reference to her little hamster, who was probably at home having the time of his life on his new spinning wheel. She had been able to get him a bunch of new items with this promotion from a Trainee to a Rookie. She was actually getting paid a somewhat decent salary. It was not much, but it was a hell of a lot better than Part-time. Hell, who knows where she would have been right now if she had not chosen this path. She could still see the look on her parents faces when she told them that she wanted to hunt monsters for the sake of the human race. They had laughed at her...

"Well look at me now, Mommy! One day I am fetching coffee, and the next I will have a hound of my own... be a total badass..."

It was positivity like that that kept her going, the platform heels of her black shoes carrying her down the long hallway, past the offices of other underdeveloped workers and to the left to the small communial kitchen. Shumi did not like this floor. It was utterly boring, mainly because no actual phone calls were coming in. Why would they? Everyone was having a great time at the best festival ever... and she was stuck here... Shumi sighed, walking over to the counter to fetch Bob his cup of joe; however, luck would have it that the pot would be empty. Shumi hated that... utterly hated that, for people could be so rude. What of everyone else here? Did the last person to get coffee not believe that someone else would need the magic caffeine gods on their side? Apparently not, for the pot was drier than the Sahara... emptier than Potato's food dish on a bad day...

Shumi could not let herself dwell on it for very long, small form turning to shift through the cabinets that were within her reach, looking for the coffee grinds. She found them relatively quickly; however, they were on the top shelf. Did people here not know the meaning of cruelty? Was everyone here a fucking giant? What kind of psychopath would put something on the top shelf? Apparently the caffeine gods did not find favor in her... She would have to please them with a sacrifice... She would have offered up Sausage Bob, but he would be too chubby to fit anywhere else other than the protesting chair in his office...

|| What are you even talking about, Shumi? ||

She was getting in one of her moods. Shumi shook it off rather quickly, form turning as she stomped over to the small table near the back corner, grabbing a squeaking chair and dragging it back to the counters. This was utterly ridiculous. Did not one think to buy a stool here? Well... no one but Shumi was 5 feet tall... Nonetheless, it was always nice to have it just in case. Shumi bet that on the cooler floors they would have stools... Definitely with the First Class hunters...

She grumbled obscenities to herself as she pulled herself up ontop of the chair, holding on to the back to keep a bit of balance before straightening her form and reaching up to grab that jar of coffee grinds... Until...

ZZZZZZ

Everything went black... Oddly black, to the point that Shumi was not even certain that her eyes were open... Unfortunately they were , and unfortunately she was unable to see shit as the chair tipped a bit of far to the left, sending her crashing to the floor and spraying french roast all over the clean floors. "ACK!" She hit the ground with a hard thud; however, she had little time to dwell on that, an empty can of coffee grind smacking her atop the head with a small thunk. "Ouch!" It was a loud yelp that left her, Shumi sitting up in the darkness to gather herself. Her first priority was to grab her glasses, which she had to feel around for for a moment to get and place back on her face... Next.. .was the obvious issue of no light.

"What's happening?"
"Do you think it is some sort of drill?"

Shumi could hear all of the voices gathering from the workers outside as her hand moved into her pocket. She immediately fished out her phone, swtiching on the flashlight and holding it away from her, glancing around. What kind of shit was this? Did the whole building go out? Shumi was fairly certain that if there ws going to be a drill that they would have announced it, and she was sure that there was not any electrical work going on either... How odd... How utterly odd... She also had no idea how long it would take for the generators to kick on; however, she gathered herself and pulled her self to her feet, leaving the coffee mess as it was. She would clean it when the lights came one, but she made sure to step over it, listenig to the protests and rants of angry workers hitting heads and extremities in the darkness... You would have thought they would be more prepared for such an emergency. Nonetheless, she was already out the kitchen door, moving back down the hallway to Sausage Bob's office...

|| Wait... This is a good opportunity for you to get away and find some real action... ||

She stopped at the door, finding it to be open and Bob nowhere to be found... More than likely he was trapped in the bathroom after another round of his laxitive cottail he was prone to drink. Shumi did not think to hard on it, glancing down the hallway to see confused and annoyed workers, some on the phone to other departments and others over radio, already questioning the situation. Shumi definitely was not going to stay here another minute, dipping back into the office to gather her belongings. She pulled on her red cardigan, throwing her brown messager back over her side and pulling her hat onto her head. She reached over the desk, plucking a sugar free lemon candy from Bob's jar before turning and leaving, moving down the hall to the emergency stairs. There was no use in taking the elevator, for if the power was out, those were more than likely useless. She immediately went down, using her phone to light her path as she flipped through a few random pictures for inspiration. The main floor was probably going to be her best bet of finding anything to do here, plus, she wanted to at least know the cause of the blackout... Anything was better than sitting through another round of table tennis with the pencil pushers...

Maybe things were actually in her favor...

​

 

[Strawberry275]

[[Afternoon, Gothenburgh, Evergreen Festival - Deserted Park]]
​

Elias took Anna from Adams, for a moment immensely grateful that the amount she ate didn't correspond to her weight. He didn't exactly think of himself as weak but there were limits, and if he was trying to get her away from the crowds as quickly as possible it helped to still be able to run whilst carrying her. Still, he wondered how Anna felt about it? Most teenage girls would be thrilled to be able to eat whatever they wanted without worrying about gaining weight, but for her it just seemed like a huge burden instead. Maybe it was a silly thing to think about but any sort of distraction was welcome when he'd just seen his best friend's severed arm melt into a pile of goo.

By the time the attack on the festival started Elias was already several blocks away and unaware of the destruction and terror the rats were causing. Even if he had been, he couldn't exactly abandon Anna unconscious to go and help and taking her with him was an even worse option considering it would potentially endanger even more lives. Worrying about how things were going at the ministry wasn't going to help anyone either. Chad and Adams were on their way there to take care of it, and presumably Corrinne was too, meaning all three of the best agents would handle it. So it would be fine, right?

Eventually coming to a park with no one in sight Elias hesitated for a moment before deciding this was probably the best place he'd find and carefully laying Anna down on a bench. Her arm wasn't something he could treat without interfering with her body's natural healing, ie growing it back, and there wasn't much he could do for her other injuries either. The blood on her cloak was sure as hell going to stain but laundry wasn't a major concern right now.

As Elias leaned over her, his face clouded with concern, her pale hand reached up and brushed against his face for a moment before falling back to her side. He caught it, trying to detect any other signs of consciousness. "Anna? Can you hear me?" No response and a lack of movement from behind her eyelids showed that the tranquillisers Adams had shot her full of were still doing their job and Elias sighed, gently placing her hand back over her stomach.

If she was going to wake up soon he'd prefer to find something for her to eat first, especially considering what must have been her motivation to attack in the first place. A moment of searching revealed a convenience store on the other side of the park that appeared to still be open, but... "Anna...I'll be back as quick as I can, okay? Just wait here." There was no one around for her to attack even if she was still savage when she woke up, and he'd definitely hear it if she did. Right? Elias just had to hope that was the case and take the risk.

Within a few minutes he was back, having traded the remains of his money for whatever he'd managed to find that was edible. Setting the bag stuffed with sandwiches, chips, and other snacks down next to the bench he'd left Anna on he quickly checked to see if there'd been any change whilst he was gone.

"I'm back, Anna."​

 

[Strawberry275]

[[Afternoon, Gothenburgh, Evergreen Festival]]
[[Interactions; Rat NPC]]
​

With both Luca and Rekeren gone Miki had been left on her own and, after a little pouting, continued to explore the festival. After all, she didn't want Luca to completely miss out on everything so she could at least try to make up for it by finding him a gift he'd love. There were so many stalls it was difficult to choose but eventually she'd narrowed it down to some extremely pretty floral barrettes or a pack of citrus-scented tealights. She wandered between the two stalls for a short while before stopping.

"No...I gotta decide this properly!"

Stubbornly, she squeezed her eyes shut and tried to picture which Luca would like best without getting distracted by anything else. And it worked. Almost. Her eyes shot open when the screaming began and inbetween the panicked, already-fleeing crowd she caught a glimpse of the cause. Several people armed with guns, bats, and malicious grins were heading in her direction and most of the people around her, having already realised this whilst she was standing around like an idiot with her eyes shut, had bailed.

Too panicked to consider running around or through the attackers Miki decided her only option was ducking under a nearby stall to hide whilst they were still too far away to have noticed her. Drawing her knees up to her chest she sat in a tight ball, trying desperately to keep her breathing quiet and her pounding heart under control. What was going on? Who were those people and why were they attacking the festival?! This couldn't be real, right?

Squeezing herself tighter a sudden crash nearby was enough of a shock to send the tears that had already been welling up spilling over her cheeks. She wanted to go home. This was terrifying. Who would do something like this? Another crash, this one even closer. Wrapping her arms over her head she tried to figure out what she was meant to do in a situation like this but it was no good. She was far too panicked to try and think rationally about what was going on.

Suddenly a heavy boot kicked over the stall she was hiding under and collided with her forearm in the process, causing Miki to cry out in pain. Whirling round to see what had happened, the man who had done it looked just as surprised to see her there as she was. Without thinking she scrambled out between his legs, cradling her hurt arm to her chest and still crying as she ran blindly off in a direction she hoped was safe.​

 

[FrostedCaramel]

[[Afternoon, Gothenburgh, Evergreen Festival - Deserted Park]]

---

​

It was an odd feeling, watching your past play out in front of you, like a specter of yourself that screamed and cried and clawed at the past you in an attempt to undo what was already done, to change your decisions; but it didn't matter. Nothing you did would change what had happened, and no matter how much she wanted to look away she couldn't, an unseen force made her watch, made her listen, made her see all she had done. She was destined to watch the worst of what she was capable of unfurl before her eyes once more. Her specter cried.

She stood in the center of a familiar room, though she couldn't quite place where it was. The walls were cement, and strewn with deep scratches; jagged to the touch; the feeling sending a shiver down her spine. She moved to the doorway , a hefty looking five inch thick metal door; the kind you'd expect in a morgue; hung from a hinge bent in the opposite direction it was made to open in. She simply moved through it. Up the stairs, passing a still figure that lay at an odd angle, she registered that whatever it was it was dead. At the door leading out of the stairwell she stopped to read a small inscription. "Psalm 23:4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for y" the page ended with a tear. She reached for the door knob and her hand simply passed through. On the other side she found what it was she was drawn to, a massive figure was mercilessly slaughtering a group of people kitted up with body armor and sub-machine guns. Her specter watched in horror, glued to the scene of a figure in full body armor being torn in two before being leisurely tossed to the side by the figure. She could see the flashes of weapons all around her, but there was no noise. The beast turned and looked directly at her, it's deep red eyes glowing in the darkness. She could feel the sweat beading on the back of her neck. It began to move toward her, claws drawn back and ready to strike, and strike it did. Her specter watched in awe as the claws landed in her stomach, blood pouring forth. She screamed and stepped to the side in time to watch the beast remove it's claws from another figure in body armor who had been standing where her specter had been. The figure went limp, letting the sub-machine gun in its hands clatter silently to the floor.

The scenery changed. The hustle and bustle of a city in darkness, the occasional street light and car casting eerie shadows on the world. Her specter watched now, as the beast from before pulled a limp body against it and simply enveloped it into itself. If she had been able to vomit, she would have. Behind the beast came a familiar figure, but it was too dark to make out exactly who. The figure moved closer to the light just a meter now and she would know who it was...

"...be back...Just wait..."

The scenery changed again. She was standing in the rain watching herself as she clenched a small girls arm in her hand. She moved to the side, standing directly behind herself. Her right arm had changed completely to it's grotesque form and she could feel the hunger coming from herself.

"...back..."

Her specter stumbled at the jarring change of position. She was behind a stall, watching as she took on the same familiar figure. It was over in the blink of an eye and she watched as her past self crumpled beneath her cloak.

"...Anna..."

Anna jolted awake, sitting bolt upright. She wiped the rain from her face with her left hand and struggled to focus on the figure from before, her vision corrected itself and she came to recognize the same concerned and depressed face she enjoyed so much. "Sorry for causing you all some trouble... I just got so hungry." she said as she smiled at Elias.

 

[DustBunny]

WARNING: GRAPHIC VIOLENCE/BLOOD/GORE AHEAD
THIS POST IS NOT FOR THE WEAK OF STOMACH

[Gothenburg:Who Can Tell What The Hell Time It Is, Z Can't:Ministry Holding Cell -> Ministry Building:Interactions - @WitchesRayvyn]

~~~~~

The lights went out so quickly, it took his eyes a few more moments than normal to adjust to the pitch darkness that surrounded him. As he remained huddled in his crouch, a slow growl left his throat. He was on edge. Unsure of what to expect, he kept his eyes trained on where the door was. After a few minutes of no guards coming to his cell, he neared the door and placed his ear against it. Outside, he heard the clatter of footsteps quickly fading off into the distance. So, this was obviously a shock to the guards. Zilon's eyes grew, shedding clear mirth as he felt his mouth begin to twitch into a feral grin.

So. His 'friends' had come to release him.

As this realization washed over him, he began to pace around the room quickly, anxious to be free. His steps were quick and his torso was hunched over, his knuckles occasionally grazing the ground. His body began to shake with the heavy breaths that began coursing through his body, stopping his anxious pacing.

Zilon stood there, in the center of the room. Body still hunched, quick and heavy breaths audibly leaving his body. Arms dangling, body shaking and eyes staring at the door, his patience began to wear thin. In the darkness, his yellow eyes glowed brightly as the only confirmation of his presence in the room.

After mere minutes that seemed to drag on as hours for the anxious monster, he heard a heavy noise as the door began to open. A sound that seemed to be a mixture of a hiss and a growl emanated from the room before a body slammed into the door, knocking it all the way open with enough force to make it slam against the wall. The incredible sound echoed down the halls and Zilon looked frantically to his left and to the right, looking for something, anything. Sure, he was going to get out, but not before he got some payback.

The two of his fellow Faction members who had released him had already began their escape, entering a door and, presumably, heading to the upper levels. Zilon's grin seemed to split his face in half as it grew exponentially. He let out a monstrous howl that reverberated all throughout the bottom level and even up to some of the others. After the last echoes of his hunting call faded away, he charged.

Practically running with all four limbs, he charged the same way the other Rats had gone. He clambered loudly up the stairs that took him up a single floor, obviously alerting any nearby guards to his coming. Without slowing his charge, he threw his body into the hard door and it swung open hard enough to smash the handle into the wall.

As soon as he slammed through the door, he was set upon. A body flew into his, attempting to restrain him. Grabbing the arms, Zilon wrenched them of their grasp of his body and he swung the human around into a hug, squeezing with intense force. A feral hiss left the grin on his mouth as the sickening sound of breaking ribs echoed through the hall. The person in his arms didn't make any sound other than a gargling groan as so many of his bones were broken at once. With a sinister chuckle, Z threw the body hard at the wall, the head making an audible cracking and crunching sound as it connected with the wall.

Without even looking where the body was tossed, Zilon charged down the hall again, his feet clambering loudly as he followed the smell of his fellow Rat members. As he turned a corner, he noticed there was a guard frantically looking about at the end of the hallway. Zilon's eyes narrowed half a second before he charged, head forward and low. He was upon the guard in mere moments, his horns engorging themselves into the guards soft stomach. The guard could only shout in pain as Zilon kept running until the guard's back slammed into the wall. Quickly, Zilon began to violently rip his head to each side, effectively goring the human. Screams of pain emanated from the human as the blood from his abdominal area coated Zilon's hair and face. When he pulled away, Zilon grabbed the face of the guard and slammed his head into the wall repeatedly, skull opening and staining the wall behind him. Proud of his work, he took off once more.

As he tried to find his way up, Zilon came across many more guards. He had managed to make it up another floor, though his senses were slightly clouded by blood and bloodlust. Getting more angered by the fact he wasn't on the level with the exit, he stormed down the hallway. The next disgruntled guard he saw seemed to be waiting for him. This man was large and incredibly muscular. Zilon's head cocked to the side for a moment before he watched the man charge at him. Zilon was met with a swift punch in the jaw, an incredibly painful hit, but it barely seemed to jar the monster as his head moved only slightly to the side. After blinking twice, Zilon grinned maniacally and turned back to the human. The man punched at him again, but Zilon ducked under it and clawed violently at the shoulder, causing a small hiss to leave the man as he grabbed Zilon with his other hand. Zilon got tossed at a wall and landed hard against it with a small oomph. His grin morphed into a smirk as the human neared and punched at him again. However, Z ducked just in time and the man's fist connected with the wall, the bones in his hand breaking from the force. As the human recoiled, Zilon leapt up and clung to his frame and sank his teeth into the shoulder, biting and chewing viciously. The man groaned again and Zilon let go and hopped backwards as the man held his shoulder that was currently bleeding profusely. The arm hung lip at his side from violent goring, yet the human still walked at Zilon as if he could best the monster. His mouth stretched into an open mouthed smile as he walked towards the human. A joker-like laugh left his mouth and echoed down the hallway as he brought his foot up into the crotch of the man, causing him to fall to his knees from the pain. Zilon's grin, ever maniacal, he reached down and jammed his hands into the open wounds that connected the man's shoulder to the rest of his body and tore with all his might, the arm separating from the body with a sickening sound and a loud shout of pain from the human.

Zilon stepped over to where the arm lay on the ground and picked it up by the hand. He walked over to the man who was still clutching at the open wound and he snickered to himself. Holding the arm by the hand, he smacked the human over the head with the stump at the top. Zilon slowly began to laugh as he continued hitting the human over the head with his own arm. "Why you hitting yourself, huh? Why? Why you hitting yourself?" The words left his mouth through his laughter as he continued to violently smash the human's face in with his own arm, blood spraying along the rest of his body. Zilon stopped long after the human was dead. Still holing onto the arm, he walked down the rest of the hallways and up to the next floor.

Anyone else that Zilon came across, they were savagely beaten to death with a dismembered arm while Zilon's laughter rang throughout the institution. It didn't take long for him to come across a familiar smell. "Ah. So that's where you are." He said to himself as he walked down some more hallways. It didn't take him long to make it to where the surveillance room was. With a grin, he tossed the arm up against the window, the blood making it stick slightly and slide down the window slowly.

He neared the door and kicked it in, almost knocking it off of it's hinges. Stepping in, he noticed the familiar smell that belong to none other than Lilith. He crossed his arms and raised his head, a grin spreading across his face. Blood dripped down his hair and face, his clothes soaked dark with the fluids. The only two words that Zilon spoke were very sing-songy.

"I'm baaaaaaaaack~"​

 

[MiNaGi]

[[ Afternoon, Gothenburgh, Evergreen Festival ]]
Interaction: NPC

Okay, this is too fucking silly. I'm not some damsel in distress, I can't just sit here and look like a little lamb all day. With a sudden sprout of determination, Luca suddenly stood up from his table, walking with determination to the door, leaving behind the empty glass containing a soft drink. When he stepped out into the fresh air, the rain had cleared up. The change in scenery further boosted his want to go and find his family.

The last thing he wanted was to see his family members right now, but if he didn't, he wouldn't be able to keep his promise to Miki. That didn't change the fact that he was still lost and unable to even figure out where to start his search. He could go to the left, or right, as it looked right now. With the appropriate decision to play eeny-meeny-miny-moe, he ended up going right, umbrella dangling from his hand, handbag bouncing on its strap on his shoulder.

Somewhere in the distance, Luca was spotting smoke. It was off to his left, and he decided that whatever it was, he wasn't too keen on going in that direction anytime soon. He didn't seem to be the only one thinking this way. Mothers were pulling their children in the opposite directions, couples were discussing worriedly what the source of the smoke could possibly be.

They had yet to realize that the Evergreen Festival was in the process of being trashed to oblivion by the rats, as the destruction had yet to reach their area. Luca walked through the crowds of people with resolve, wanting to find his family and get it over with. He found himself at an open area of the festival when a small group of people stormed out from the corner of his vision, going right in his direction. In the flurry of people, someone bumped right into Luca, and he just managed to keep upright, catching the person in his arms.

"What's wrong?!" He inquired at the scared, young girl held between his hands. She ripped away from him with a scream of "Coming! They're coming after us!"... and she was gone. Wary, Luca knew he didn't have the time to run away in case someone.... or something was coming.

The shop people had already fled, and Luca jumped behind one of the stalls in the far back, hiding under the counter. From a small crack in the makeshift counter, he could see clearly when "they" passed by. His breath caught in his throat.

Rats....

For a few moments, he sat there in complete silence, begging that they wouldn't find him. When he managed not to get caught and was left alone, he sat in silence for another few minutes before ducking out from under the counter, traversing behind the stalls until he had the opportunity to walk off in a direction that wasn't where the rats had just gone, or where they had originally arrived from.

There were no people down the grassy road. Luca had a case of nerves. A real bad one. His hairs were standing on his neck, and he could feel his breath catch as he tried to breathe quietly while moving as quickly as he could, mumbling "shit..." several times in a barely audible voice. A burst of color caught his eye.

It was a sign on one of the stalls. Something about it seemed familiar. It was the store sign for a candy shop, but it was a little peculiar. It had little birds on the sides of the design, painted in mostly blue and pink.

"This sign..."

He remembered his dad talking about it.

"That'd mean..."

He set off in a run, worries flurring inside his chest the closer he got to the meeting place. If they were there... but what if they weren't... as he ran, he barely had any view of his surroundings. That is, until he saw his umbrella lying in the grass in front of him, his vision static on the ground.

There was a burning pain in his wrist and neck, and when he finally regained self-awareness, he realized he was within the grip of an unknown assailant. He could barely breathe, and clawed with his free hand at the arm around his neck as he coughed and gasped for air. The arm almost crushing his airways was so strong that the petite Luca was almost lifted off the ground from the sheer strength of the person behind him.

All he saw as a cloth was jammed over his nose and mouth was the strangely colored sign that almost seemed like it was from some dream at this point....​

 

[Esmeray]

[ Evening | Gothenburgh | MMW HQ ]

[ Interaction: Monster NPCs, Lilith, Zilon ]

[ Mention: Rat NPCs, Ministry NPCs, Lilith, Tori, Zilon,]

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

It's eerily quiet. Not a sound to be had in this space of perpetual darkness.There's no color. No life. Just a cold emptiness that continues forever undisturbed. Yet, with in this place where no life can breathe a creature has found its home. Someone who is neither living nor dead. Someone who exists, yet shouldn't. An unnatural conundrum that has grown to love this blissful blackness. A creature that welcomed it's icy embrace so easily, while others, much like children, were so terrified to be alone and lost in it. Amused by this the creature chuckles softly, yet no sound resonates from him. The space begins to howl like a quiet storm and suddenly pockets of light in all shapes and sizes begin to speckle the darkness like stars. Door ways to another world, a world this chuckling nyctophile used to love. Their body shifts and lumbers to one of these doors, and when he touches it sound only they can hear reaches their ears. There is a mass panic at the festival, just according to his plan. They did not even have to be present for this plan to work, as his soldiers were so capable of remaining diligent on their own. This mission was going to be a success, but he surely wouldn't be able to rally new troops if he did not make some sort of appearance. Traveling through the empty space, the creature approaches another door of light. Touching it he can see inside the ministry, chaos can be found behind this door too. Though it was much bloodier and entertaining to watch. Zilon was so creative in his brutalities, but that will not excuse him from being captured. This mess was his fault after all. The manicured hands press inward on this mirror and they phase through it it takes the creature to a world far away from his comforting emptiness. He passes the corpse of a man who had just lost his arm, and his life, and begins to search the other levels for monsters to free.

Stepping out of the shadowed hallway and into the view of a security camera, this hideous creature that should no longer exist is none other than a young woman with long golden locks cascading down her back. Her vibrant blue eyes easily notice the black bulbous camera attached to the ceiling in the corner ahead. The woman waves at it, knowing full well that her soldiers Lilith and Zilon were watching. She blows them a short kiss before turning the corner, the only thing they can see is her long golden hair swishing back and forth against the small of her back. Any agents or guards that were previously in the area were now gone from this world or out of terror because of Zilon's antics. She enters a dark corridor, and once again disappears from the view of any camera's, and then reappears from the shadows on an entirely different level. She had found another level dedicated entirely to holding captive monsters, though this one seemed connected to some kind of lab. It wasn't hard to put two and two together, and the woman found her blood starting boil.

"How dare they do this to my kind, I had heard horror stories and rumors…..but I never expected Zachary to allow such a vile experimentation and lab work." Her raspy voice startles some of the patients of this research lab, while others began to beg for their release. Any release. Sympathizing with them all, she assures them that freedom is theirs for the taking. With a mere hand gesture, the woman's own shadow begins to warp and twist unnaturally before flying outward in a blur. The sound of metal violently clanking echos in the room as the locks on all the cages are broken or missing. A few doors hang slightly a jar hinting that a force of impact caused them to open slightly after being unlocked so roughly. When the realization that they could exit their cages finally settled in, a handful of the fellow monsters began to crawl out of their cells.

"Make your way to the back alley of the building. There will be Rat Sentries there to lead you to the safety. If you wish, you can seek shelter at The Rat's Nest or find your way to your original factions. I highly recommend at least resting at our home though." She carefully instructs those brave enough to leave behind their cells. She hopes that they are still sane enough to make their way out of the building. Now all she had to do was coax the rest out of their cages, assuming they hadn't been broken yet. After some time had passed, it was apparent that no amount of coaxing would ever get them to leave. Their spirits had been broken a long time ago, they had forgotten who they used to be one way or another. Now she was left with the choice of granting them a merciful death or taking them to the headquarters for treatment by force. She ran a hand through her locks with a frustrated sigh, as it has been a while since she has done something of this caliber. Shifting over to the center of the room, she stretched out her limbs as if preparing for strenuous work out. With little amount of time, she had prepared her body for her next move and took in a deep breath. She relaxed her muscles as she exhaled, and continued to focus on her breathing until her mind was left entirely blank. Every shadow including her own began to expand and retract as if in sync with her breathing, and when a full connection was made her body finally began to move. With slight hand movements she beckoned forth every shadow within the lab to come to her aid. The shadows began to expand further and further until the entire room was swallowed up in a mass of pitch black. The terrified screaming of the monsters suddenly cut short right at the end, as if sound had become void. As if they no longer existed. In the blink of an eye, the darkness implodes on itself and the shadows shrink back revealing that the lab had been utterly destroyed. The woman immediately brings out her burner phone and dials a number. After the third ring someone answers. "General War making a quick report. I transferred some monsters in need of mental rehabilitation to our cargo hold. They are probably very distraught, please send a team to fetch them and lead them to the infirmary for mental rehabilitation. Force may be necessary."

"Sir, yes sir."

She, or rather He, hangs up in annoyance realizing that he can no longer hear. He took a quick glance at his hands to see that the decay has started with this current body. He had just killed his current host with the transfer he just did. How annoying….now I need a new one. I should have just killed them. He thought starting to feel as if he had been inconvenienced. Black ooze began to leak from his host's eyes staining her sunken cheeks. The light sound of this dripping dark liquid hitting the pavement was the only sound left in this room. There was not a living soul left in this room, and General War pressed onward. He traveled down the hallway, a trail of the noxious ooze following him until he and the ooze disappeared in the shadows once again. It was time to regroup with Lilith at the security hub and get a report on the mission. He felt it was time to wrap things up. He twists his body out from underneath the station's desk, something like out of a horror movie, and casually greets his subordinates. "Package secured?" He glances at Zilon confirming his own question. He brushes past Zilon, giving him a stern look, and stands at the door. "Time to go home. Mission isn't a success until we've made our exit. You two, round up the others and make your way back to The Nest. If you find any freed monsters lost in the sewers show them the way. I will return shortly." He paused for a moment and turned to look at Zilon just over his own shoulder. "Welcome back...now get to work."

Then he was gone.​

 

[RaccoonKing]

A well polished shoe tapped impatiently against the floor of the car as it bolted through the streets with urgency. Blaring horns broke the silence around the director but did not deter him from his consuming thoughts. The driver knew that Zachary's patience was being worn down and so was moving at a speed beyond the limit, knowing Zachary would deal with the consequences of their hurry. Teeth were digging into the flesh of his lower lip as gray eyes were focused upon the passing sights from the window, foot tapping and fingers playing a song against the glass. Zachary could not understand how a black out of all things had occurred within the walls of their headquarters...unless the systems were messed with.

Anger and the sense to remain calm flooded him, combating one another as there was a lack of decision on how to feel about the possibility. Anger was natural but in his position...he needed to remain calm. A trouble sigh trembled from his lips, his spare hand moving to push his glasses up his nose as he leaned his head back with a groan. This all spelled out trouble. Stress was already causing a nagging ring to begin its tune within his head, causing the director to wince. It need to be dealt with and dealt with it would.

The car came to a screeching halt as the driver turned to look over his shoulder and towards Zachary. Though the action was not necessary as the white haired director had already thrown open the door with a sound resembling a growl coming deep from his throat. A hand reached into the depths of his designer suit jacket till he pull out a pistol and held it to his side. The seriousness of the situation decorated his cold and calculating gaze as he took off forwards, having surveyed the area momentarily for hostile movements. Just in case.

He did not try to talk himself around into believing it to either be an attack or just an blackout. He would determine the situation with cold, hard evidence. Observable evidence would determine his actions. Bringing his gun up till it was held in front of him but pulled to his chest for now, he had taken one of the less used side entrances to the ministry. The lack of power within the building had disable the usual retinal scan and need for a code, something that only stirred the director's anger further till his lips were pulled back into a vicious snarl. The ministry was his...it would run efficiently and achieve its goals efficiently...this black out was not acceptable. Being attacked was not acceptable.

Yanking out his mobile from his pockets he quickly entered the pass and turned on the flashlight, letting the white hue illuminate the previous void like halls. He wasted no time in scoping out the halls, only for disgust to twist itself into existence upon his already tensed features. Bodies of agents were scattered around and the blood...the blood brought the taste of bile to his tongue and a rush of adrenaline to his veins. "I will make sure you all receive a deserved goodbye..." He whispered, passing each one just causing his anger to increase. "This attack will not go unnoticed..." Zachary's voice being reduced to a angry snarl by this point.

He crept through the halls, gun ready and aimed ahead, with the stealth and training he received as an agent himself. He only caught glimpses of more bodies, tangled and marred, in the usual busy and lively halls of his work...It took a while but he had found his way to the top floor without one noticing his presence or running into one of the attacks. Curiosity though, had brought up the question of who exactly enacted such a vicious massacre, and almost left him wanting to run into the culprit in question. Zachary had lost the will to look at the corpses and so silently, looking straight up, walked into his office with a goal in mind.

Once inside, Zachary sighed tiredly and dropped his gun into his pocket before turning back to face the security by the door. Lucky his office had a separate generator, though temporary, for situations where he needed to regain control...and right now he needed control. A passcode was punched in quickly and the lights flickered on with a wince of Zachary's features as he adjusted to the bright light. Everything in this isolated room back on. His phone was then discarded into his pocket as he moved over towards the computer hastily, dropping into the leather office chair before booting up the device and logging in.

Light seemed to illuminate the frames upon his features, hiding the cold murderous glimmer in the Director's gaze as he quickly moved through the files and codes required to reach the program he desired. Within moments it had loaded up and the status of the generators was clear to see. "What the..." Zachary had to physically come closer to the monitor before he shoved his body backwards, grumbling a range of curses in disbelief. Considering the status of shut down...the emergency generators had been sabotaged somehow... Spinning the chair around he stopped himself when face to face with a draw at his side, instantly reaching forwards to grasp at the handle of a draw he soon enough yanked open with enough force to empty is contents. Uncaring off the mess he hastily grabbed at the walkie talkie before switching it to the channel he knew after months of repeated reading was the one the maintenance crews used.

Pressing upon the button at its side, Zachary spoke with the usual calm authority he usually held. "Maintenance crew...anyone...I want anyone and everyone of you available or not to move to the generators. I believe that they have been sabotaged. I want them fixed ASAP, No complaints." Without waiting for a response the device was tossed back onto the floor into the pile of papers as he turned back to the monitor with a scowl on his lips. Closing the system that displayed the emergency generators, Zachary quickly moved on to directing a portion of the small power he had for this office to the security systems, more specifically for the cameras.

It took a few minutes to send enough to power them back up once more but soon the blue screen separated in multiple small squares, each representing a camera within the ministry. For the moment the little screens were left in the darkness, only the small white numbers giving away the fact his computer was working and still on plus the cameras were working. Till the maintenance staff had fixed the generator, he was stuck.... Minutes passed and Zachary had leaned back within the padded comforts of his chair, fingers rasping methodically against the arm and eyes flicking back and forth between the camera footage...waiting...stressing...his mind nagging at him relentlessly and his anger at the wait coming forwards with a vengea-

The sound of everything outside switching on broke his vengeful plotting.

A moment of calm seemed to make its way onto his expression as he gathered his composure...only for it to shatter at the sight of a familiar being...no, monster. A sharp intake of breath left Zachary collapsing back, fists tightly closing and his grip on air growing stronger. Disbelief, shock, anger and other emotions were trying to consume the dominant part of how he felt but instead he was temporarily left in a lapse of stillness, feeling nothing. The familiar black shadows, moving sly but quick before vanishing had stunned him, even if it was only for a second and he was left questioning what he saw. It took two minutes for him to gather his wits and throw himself forwards to rewind the footage...only to curse. Loudly.

"Shit..."




​

 

[WitchesRayvyn]

[BCOLOR=#090909][/BCOLOR]
[BCOLOR=#090909][[ Evening, MMW Headquarters ]][/BCOLOR]
[BCOLOR=#090909][/BCOLOR]​

[BCOLOR=#090909]Lilith watched the carnage of Z's release unfold on the security screens with a glee bordering on manic. Though her particular style of killing was much less messy and quite, she did enjoy watching Zilon play. When the arm slammed against the room's large window she jumped back and hissed, whirling around to face Z , her fangs bared, as he entered the room with the kind of flair that only he could manage. She grinned and roll her eyes as he announced himself. "Welcome back Z. Doesn't look like you enjoyed your vacation too much. Service suck? Room too small? Not enough humans to kill?" movement on one of the monitors catches her eye and she turns slightly to check it out. A woman she's never seen before walks into view. She smiles up at the camera and waves, then blows a kiss before turning a corner. Lilith's smile grew. "Looks like the General has arrived."[/BCOLOR]​

[BCOLOR=#090909]When War's borrowed body left the screen she signed and sat against the desk, her back to the screens. She was itching to go back out into the halls. She didn't really like staying in one place too long, especially when that place was crawling with monster hating humans. Her gazed moved from monitor to monitor, watching her leaders progress through the building. Due to Zilon's earlier killing spree through the halls, there wasn't much in the way of resistance and the General reached what looked like a lab with easy. She could see the angry that flashed across the woman's pretty face and shivered. There weren't many things that she was scared, aside from Zilon, but when War got angry...She shivered a second time, but never took her eyes off the screen that showed the image of the leader of the Rats.[/BCOLOR]​

[BCOLOR=#090909]She found herself hissing softly when she saw the condition that her fellow monsters were in and the too small cages they were forced to reside in. She relaxed slightly as she watched the woman release those that were willing to go, wishing that the damned screens had sound. She gave a low whistle when War's shadows consumed the whole lab, causing the screen she was watching to go completely black. "The General must be really pissed if he's going this far." She spoke aloud more to herself than Z, though she hadn't forgotten he was there. You never forgot you were in a room with Zilon if you were smart. While the screen was dark she noticed that her mouth and chin were still covered in the blood of the guard she had killed and she gagged slightly. She turned, her light blue eyes searching the bodies of the guards for something she could use to clean herself up with. Her gaze flickered to Z and she shook her head as she tore fabric off some fabric from the petrified guard's shirt. "I don't see how you can stand to be covered in [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=#090909]their[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=#090909] blood. I mean, yes I know it means they're dead, which is always a good thing, but still. Makes me sick to my stomach." in the time it took her to clean her face, the camera in the lab had video again and the carnage that War had unleashed upon the room was thrilling and terrifying at the same time.[/BCOLOR]​

[BCOLOR=#090909]When said leader appeared in the room with her and Z, she straightened a bit, both out of fear and respect. She feared him for his powers and his ruthlessness when dealing with those that hurt his people, but she also respected him for that and much more. He and the Rats had given her a purpose, a direction after Sam's death. She owed him her life and greeted him with respect. "General." When he directed them to head out, collecting and directing any wayward monsters they happened to encounter on the way, Lilith nodded and headed towards the destroyed door and slipped into the hall. She hadn't made it very far before the lights flickered back on and she growled softly as her eyes took a moment to readjust to the lack of darkness. There was still no sign of any other guards, which was a pity really, she had hoped to have another chance to kill some of them before she went. She did come across a couple of other monsters in the halls, her eye flashing in anger when she saw their current state of being. "You're going to be okay now. General War has offered you a place to stay in the Nest. If that's where you'd like to go you can follow me. If not, you can still follow me to the exit, but you're on your own from there." She lead the freed monsters out of the building, keeping them behind her as she made sure the halls were clear before moving on. Once they were out of the building, she directed the ones who wished it on how to get to the Nest through the sewers and wished those that did not wish to come good luck. As she was ducking her head into the entrance, she hesitated slightly, pulling back and turning toward the building they had just come from. A nagging feeling that crawled up her spine had her backing away from the exit and moving closer to the building. Something was about to happen.[/BCOLOR]​