Scarface nodded along with Jero's words. He was again dividing his attention between the team and his earpiece. He jutted a finger for one of the men in suits to write down whatever Dave reported to her from the boy's mind. He dealed microscopic nods to those who left, and relaxed his straitened stance as more of them disappeared.
The boy was still mumbling out words of confusion and fear, flailing at Dave's initial attempt until held still by a orcish bodyguard. His mind was about the same, chaotic, panicked, it contained no memories of the presiding events. His most recent one went thusly, complete with visuals.
'I'm walking home from school. All of a sudden my head starts hurting, and my body freezes up. I start going down a alley that was on the way home. I'm alone and my feet are moving without me controlling them. I try using my font to force it away, it doesn't work. My head hurts even more now, everything starts twisting and melding together. I'm at the end of the alley and this, thing, fades in. I know it's called The Unseen King, but I've never heard of it. I feel like screaming, like vomiting, but I can't open my mouth. I know The King has big plans for me to serve as it's messenger, but it hasn't said anything. My body goes numb as The King reaches out to me, then I black out.'
No other memories were of note, just the simple life of psychic fronted fifteen year old. The kid kept asking Dave if he was done from the second his started to the molment he finished, then continued to request he be sent home. Eventually he was taken away protesting by the police.
The traffic was terrible. The internet became inundated with fear and anger. More popular stances were that it was stupid to have such a open event, all gifted were freaks and failures in some way, or the fact the team couldn't defend their own boss proved they couldn't defend a entire city. The last of these was the most supported, and while there was a inkling of optimism for the group it was stifled quickly. The moon trailed the sky, shops were broken into, a arson attempt was prevented, and the sun rose.
The Center of Defense was tall and glassy, it was attached to the police station, shifting from fancy to functional in a few feet. The team were told to take the back entrance of the station, it was closer to their facilities anyway. The door was locked for whatever reason, and only after the last member arrived would it creek open. It was Mark the human janitor, he was a asshole. "Didn't go as well as you thought it was gonna huh?" He squeeked while peering from the cracked open door, widely smirking. He was grabbed from the head and shoved away, "Fuck off Mark." Scarface flung the door open, he was clearly sleep deprived and his suit was a mess. "Mrm, the Vi- fuck. The Minister will see you in his office."
The police office was a mess. Littered with papers and half-sleeping officers. Those lucid enough met the team with either jealous glares or nods of varying respect. The Center was a bit nicer, the suits put more effort into looking awake and pretending they didn't hate the team for sleeping when they could not. Valk's office had been cleared, it was now just gutted and blank with a desk in the middle. A newspaper hid whoever was in his big chair, a thin tower of smoke and pale, boney fingers all that could be seen of them. The headline read: 'DEATH OF VALK MORIDIN MARKS ROCKY START FOR GIFTED TEAM.' A unfamiliar voice crawled up from the paper, "Rocky doesn't begin to cover it. That was fucking horrendous."
Fantasy of all kinds★★!! Here's a list: modern/urban, magic and swords, otherworldly/fish out of water, faeries and unicorns, sometimes dark, sometimes superhero-ish, sometimes mixed with sci-fi. The Boo Girlie's always down for weird, wild or whimsical! Yayuh!! :3 Oh! And Sky Pirates too~~!!
'Mini' - Minaerva Black from The 81st Street Mission
<~~~★~~~>
The soured look upon her face when she saw Raiyen go blipping out of existence with Rose, was soon covered with a full on facepalm when Raiyen fell upon Dave and nearly missed Charlotte.
"Ughs... that's... I'm guessing that's the opposite of getting peeps to be teammates, n' fight for each other and never leave others behind...?"
Mini looked up in time to see a metal thing stop right in front of Rose's face. Then another opposite-of-getting-peeps-to-be-teammates-n-fight-for-each-other-and-never-leave-others-behind statement by Raiyen; basically saying that he would kill Rose if not for Raiyen's word to Valk. Idle threat? Perhaps but still one that did manage to darken at once those always clear and bright emerald-like eyes as she watched the loner fly off.
"Hey doncha' worry bout it none, chicas," she said turning her attention to Rose and Katalina, "I just checked and my girls just gots a new hashtag for ya both, yeeeeeaaaaayuh! So like they gots both'o'yous going all o'er the shizz as #DeadSexay and #RedHotRed-- iknowrite?! And they gots Raiyen as #SoOverated-- hahahahah... Jokes! Nawww, man, yours is legit, girls, but they actually gots hashtags for all'o'us Gifties!! Hold up... awww hell no. We gots haters, err'body. Check out this troll-lol-lol-ass comment--"
"--And You should shut up before I shut you up," Mini's pony-tailed babbling bobble head bounced back a bit as if Mini got smacked in the face.
"All of you make me sick to my stomach," another smack.
"I'll make my own way back, these people are more poison than anything." And then the final smack.
Sullen-eyed, lower lip pushed out a bit, she swiftly turned her back on Charlotte to face Davey and Faelon. "Hey, D-man... bruh. And M'elo, I'm sure she didn't mean those things right? Right...?! I'm thinking she's just upset that--" the swirling, sparking mass of arcana breaking through to another side cut her off. And like an old dog seeing others flock and gush over a new born baby in the house did Mini's face become as she watched Rose and Katalina traipse away together through the magical portal. A small green hand reached out and froze in the moment the portal closed.
"Well... didn't even say good-bye...
...to me."
A deep breath she took as her big eyes slowly closed, dark eyebrows slanting away as her chin hit her chest. A moment longer she took for herself then perked back up again, her giant phone seemingly to materialized in her hand out of no where. "But okay, so guys, dudes, bros! So looks like it's just us and-- awwwww MAN!! I gots this idea for like tonight, okay? So like muh girlies from the show just said--"
Dave had walked away to go deal with the teen. And Faelon just walked away.
Mini licked her lips. Mini scatched at the back of her skull. Mini put away her phone. Mini slowly trudged on over to Jero waiting by the van. Mini stood in front of him, chin heavy on her chest. Mini spoke in a very non-Mini kind of voice.
"Hey-hey, JJ..." she said with zero enthusiasm, "is it okay if we just stay at your place tonight? Me n' my girlfriend Shay are kinda' in an argument and... so yeah. Please...? But if not it's all cools too..."
Mini looked up now, big green gem-like eyes shiny and trembling. "Mr. Moradin is dead. Oh gosh... he's dead, J... And now err'body just left... I guess it's going to be a silent ride back huh?"
Mini gave up a small scoffing laugh. Mini realized just how that might sound coming from her mouth. Mini took a small breath. "We... we gettin' hate from all over. They don't think we good enough, J. They... They think we failures. We are failures, J--"
Mini leaned in and pressed her face into Jero's lower chest. A shuddering small wail she let out.
Jero watched with a curious eye as only Mini came out to the van. A long sigh escaped him as the realization washed over. Watching this group develope over the last while had been hard to do. All these people were soloists. Lone wolves who were trying to make a pack. With the Alpha down, and someone new going to take the reigns, Jero could only imagine what was being said and down once he left. Once Minaerva stood right in front of the man, he knew it was now or never. Either the unit will fall, or it will endure. "It ain't no issue baby girl." Jero leaned down and gave the goblinoid a gentle hug. "Shh. Shh. It ain't over. Come on. You can stay as long as you need to."
Jero opened the door and guided Mini into the passenger seat. But not before she had done enough crying. His vest was shot with tears and a little goblin snot. It was fine. Minaerva couldn't be put to blame. For as long as it took, Jero waited until their Merfolk friend finally arrived. A nod of the head followed before Jero invited Dave to discuss with them what he had found. As he climbed into the driver's seat, Jero looked to his party member with sympathy. He could understand her pain, but not completely. "You know, Valk was a good man. In this world, it is usually good people who are smothered out. But...It is up to those who knew them, to take up their work. To take it and finish it. This ain't an end. Just a blurry beginning." Finishing it off with a pat on the head before turning on the radio. "Dave. Where do you live? I'll drop you off. But not before you tell us the down-low."
For a time Jero simply drove for the sake of spending time with his teammates. He listened to Dave, what he had to say at least.
After driving for some time, doubling up and down streets, Jero finally arrived at his home. A small apartment complex surrounded by gates. It was one of the more up-scale burrows, and when he brought Mini into his home, she could see it reflexed in the wide open loft. Dark oak finishing on the floors and bookshelves. A wide window with sea-blue curtains. A wide television that was collecting dust. Same as some other fixtures and furniture.
Jero didn't utilize his home too much.
That night Jero would order takeout, whatever Mini wanted. Jero would do what he could to comfort her, but at some point, he just got too tired. "Alright Min, you can choose between the pullout or the queen sized. Pick your poision." Her choice would be the opposite of where he slept.
The next morning he dressed similarly to yesterday since that was his style. Driving Mini and himself down to the Center, Jero parked as close as he could to the back entrance before entering. Following Scarface's lead. He walked towards Valk's old room, dismissing the glares and glances. God, how many times has he felt those daggers?
"DAMN IT!" Raiyen shouted as he pounded his fist into a table. The had a detailed map laid out as well as pictures of criminals and gangleaders leaders pinned to various areas. Some of them where marked by a big red "X" sign signifying that they had been "taken care" of while others had circles or question marks on them. "Why did Valk have to die at a time like this?!"Raiyen thought in frustration. Was it because he had lost an important asset for his ultimate goal? or perhaps he actually cared about that naive comrade of his. Either way, he wasn't gonna rely on too much on the organisation that failed to keep their most important member safe.
He was in his secret hideout which was located deep within an old abandoned subway hidden from everyone through the use of his runes as well as the confusing maze-like pathway. This was where he spent a lot of his time doing whatever it is he needed to do which ranged from enchanting his weapons, practicing new moves as well gathering and evaluating information. Through the use of gift, font and "fight" money, he was able to reshape and modify the place to his liking. The interior of the hideout was adorned with many weapons, armor and bones collected from his defeated opponents back in his ring fighting days. From time to time, he would also train using other weapons within his arsenal just incase he ever need to fight with anything else besides his sword. The place was guarded by various kinds of animated armor that activate in response to an intruder. Raiyen favours having animated armor as henchman as they are much easier to maintain as well as to control. Aside from that, unlike his summons, he could bring as many as he needed without burdening himself. Besides that, the summoned replicas are not as strong as the real armor. The only downside being they fairwell in long drawn out battles unless their runes and enchantments can be refreshed frequently which would consume a lot of time and energy. "Its gonna be a long night...."Raiyen thought as he exited his hideout claded with a genuine Angelo armor followed by four animated angelo armor. As he took to the skies with his group of angels, he had but one desire at this moment, to answer the question of the night. Who, or what is the "Unseen King"? He a few possible sources for this information. He started with random thugs on streets, gang hideouts, and slowly moved on to more "difficult" and high ranking targets that had been stalking for a few weeks for other crimes.
Suffice to say, Raiyen did not get much sleep that night. He was so tired and exhausted that he had to take a taxi to get to their heaquaters. Try as he might, he was unable to hide the fact that he was limping due to fatigue as well as the injuries that he had sustained in the previous night. The look in his eyes gave it away. "Hopefully the medical team has more of that experimental revitalizing drug.." he thought to himself as he pratically shambled behind his teammates. He knew it was risky to go about it alone, but he also knew that at this point there was no one else willing to do it with him. Rose seemed to hate his guts for no particular reason after he had joined the team, Mini seemed to be terrified of him, Jero would most likely be against the idea, Faelon had disappeared without a trace, Charlotte would likely be too angry to talk to at the moment and Dave is not much of a fighter. He could only hope that the information he had gained from yesterday's crusade would be useful for any upcoming challenges that might impose itself on him as well as the team. He entered Valk's office along with the other members. He had prepared a presentation on his findings in a thumbdrive.
The sound of police sirens and the general chaos slowly fades away. Charlotte has been walking for a while now, simply walking away. Then she stopped, a single lamppost was above her illuminating her surrounding, it was serene. Her breathing was ragged, she decided to look around it seems she was in a park. Before she realized it, she was using the post as support as she slid onto the ground. She tries to stand back up to no avail. Now that there's no distracting doubt was once again returning. What did Valk see in us?She looks up at the blinding light above her. Nothing but a bunch of useless good for nothing, especially that goddamn Mini!Her mouth curls to a snarl before stuffing her face on her knees, she shouts as hard and as long as she can.
Light hits her face, it was bright and intense. "Morning Sunshine." a voice calls out to her. Charlotte instinctively covers her eyes as it adjusts to the light. It doesn't feel like she slept on the cold hard ground. In fact, it was rather soft and smooth feeling. "Now, now don't be alarmed. You're in good hands." The voice reassured her. Soon the blinding light fades she turns to see a huge green face staring right at her. She hurriedly tries to scurry up from the bed. "H-Hey now, don't be that scared I'm not that ugly. My name's Hollie." Charlotte had used a blanket as her shield while readying her weapon of choice, the fearsome pillow of smothering. The huge orc simply smiles "I've prepared a fresh set of clothes for you, I'll be outside when you are done."
A few minutes had passed before Charlotte finally think it's safe before emerging from her stronghold. Her throat was throbbing with pain. The room she was in was plain with a bed, window and a small table that laid her clothes. She quickly dresses. A plain white T-shirt, some cheap but comfy short pants, and flip-flops. However, underneath her all that was her bracelet that was now blinking from pink to red. She quickly wore it before leaving. As she opens the door, she is greeted with various races all living together "Ah, there you are. I thought you went back to sleep!" Hollie says. "Come, come let's get some food into your belly!" Before Charlotte could protest, she was forced to eat with non-humans. She was pulled towards the cafeteria and was served porridge the blandest kind. There was a lot of talking in the cafeteria but all of it came down to one thing Valk's death.
"Can't believe Valk is gone. What's gonna happen to us now?"
" I think those damn government officials are going to kick us out!"
" That Valk is too good for this city!"
" And those people that he said was gonna save us, they couldn't even save him!"
" Y'know what I think, those so-called heroes are nothing but useless scum!"
Hollie quickly moves to their table and gave them a good whacking before settling down next to Charlotte. "The lot of them are just scared but don't worry I think your people did all you could. No one could've expected that." Hollie continues while Charlotte tries to swallow another spoonful. " Valk built this shelter for those attacked and left homeless or just those that have no where else to go. I hope you and your people can really bring peace for Valk, us and everyone." As if it was scheduled, a man wearing a black suit and sunglasses walked up to them. Both of them knew what it meant "Good luck now."
She was entered an old black sedan with tinted windows. "Thought you hated anything that isn't human?" Sunglasses said with a smirk. Charlotte doesn't answer but instead starts to heal her throat. "Next time, if you go AWOL like that again- ". Charlotte stops him "I know." She touches the bracelet softly "I know.". As she arrived, she seems to be the last one to get there. She takes a look at everyone, especially Mini. Charlotte frowns slightly. With the arrival of Scarface she entered the building with the rest of them. Her frowns continue towards Valk's former office. "I blame it on the security team. Maybe if they were better Valk wouldn't be dead."
Fantasy of all kinds★★!! Here's a list: modern/urban, magic and swords, otherworldly/fish out of water, faeries and unicorns, sometimes dark, sometimes superhero-ish, sometimes mixed with sci-fi. The Boo Girlie's always down for weird, wild or whimsical! Yayuh!! :3 Oh! And Sky Pirates too~~!!
'Mini' - Minaerva Black from The 81st Street Mission
<~~~★~~~>
Of course, she took the hug. Of course, she cried harder. And of course, she felt much better, this was the J she knew and relied on after all. An appreciative smile could not help but halt her frown and tears. A couple of nods she gave to J as she mouthed the words 'Thank you.' When he released her from the embrace, she scampered to go off and gather her things.
Upon return, with face cleaned up and both shoes and socks on now, she hopped up onto the passenger's seat. Big green gem-like eyes turned to face Jero as he spoke in a calm and soothing manner. Mini nodded along and a genuine smile parted her green lips. "'Take it up n' finish it. Ain't the end... we just gettin' started.' Got it. And I believe it too. I really do, J. Like it's so stoooopid but... but like I do believe there is still good in this world."
A big yawn escaped her motormouth; she was soooo emotionally drained as of now she realized. Both arms stretched up high then fell back in place. "Know what? Someone had put my stuff altogether ready and waiting for me. They even folded my socks and put them all neat and tidy on top of my shoes. Like I said; stoooopid but... but still gives me faith people still believe in us. You're right, J. He was good that Mr. Moradin... oh gosh... h-he not gunna die in vain."
After the affectionate little pat on the head, a little green hand caught his hand and gently nuzzled it up against her cheek. "We gunna make it right. You keep picking us up no matter how many times we fall. J. Jero. Thank you sooooo much. Aaaaaand sorry 'bout your vest, 'kay? I can buy you a new one...? Yeah, hold up..." -- the giant phone's camera trained in on J's clothes then a few swipes and taps later-- "kay just bought one. Just like the snotted one! Sent it over to my girlie Honey's place."
A wide grin she shot Jero before returning to her phone as they waited for Davey. Several screens were opened up as she madly tapped, texted, screenshot, read, commented, liked, subscribed, enabled notifications, took a few selfies, consumed some media, vid chatted. In all the chaos and madness of her near unblinking state whilst interacting with her phone there was a method and logic to it all:
Mini was checking to see if there was any other incidents of teen boys or girls that got all catatonic or complained of being 'possessed.' She also cross-referenced the glaring red eyeball symbol that showed up with the 'Liberate you from Reality' slogan of the Unseen King and all its spoken 'names:' LiberatorChampionKINGMasterHeroUnseenUnheardUnknown. Those names.
Lids over sleepy big eyes fluttered a few times. Out the window she saw D-Man, tossed him a smile, a happy wave then suddenly those big eyes fluttered close one last time. Minaerva fell asleep. It truly was a silent ride back.
<~★~>
Mini truly was wowed by Jero's place. Yes, it was nice, but what wowed her the most was how... unlived in it felt. But all in all she was relieved and appreciative to be here. Dinner for Mini was usually raw-ish meats and veggies; something about her body rejected over-processed or over-cooked foods. The girl could be found at fastfood joints with her friends but no way would she eat there. Even soda pop she couldn't stomach. Regardless, her appetite was rather dull that night and she only poked at her food really.
When it came to sleeping, she chose the smaller bed of course. But she had napped and did not feel sleepy right away. So instead, once Jero fell fast asleep, Mini began the swirlling of her hands and put up a silencing wall of wind around J. And of course, as things went Mini could not help but do things as Mini could only do. A few puffs of some whacky-tabacky, a few shots from the bottle in her bag and a few phone calls later there was a soft knock-knock-knocking at the window.
The party was just about to begin.
Three of her friends slipped through the window: Shay, Mini's pure Succubus girlfriend, Avyah a pure Elf and Honey an Human/Orc. 'Slipping' through was not exactly how Honey got in, but still she did make it in. A bunch of squeals and hugs and a bunch more squeals and hugs errupted as the females joyously greeted each other. These were her best friends from the Inhuman Burlesque Troupe in which Mini performed.
"Sooooo...? You okay then, lover?" Shay pressed Mini to her breasts which were nearly as big as the little mix-breed's bobblehead.
"Yeah, Shay-shay. Sooooo.... like...You not mad at me no more?"
"Nawww bae, how can I be after all that hate you gots out there? Sooooo, you okay for reals?"
A locking of glistening eyes. A deep kiss. "For reals, bae. I'm good. Where's Blink?"
"Ohhhh... 'Volunteer Duty.' You know her..."
"Hey so who's the stiff lying there? Is that a genie? Wut? Hey, Motor, ya rub him a few times for a wish?! Hahaha--"
"Avyah. Chiiiiill, 'kay? That's "J," right? Yeah, he's the one that Mini told us about. The one with the pipe. Sweetheart totes, says little Motor. Truedat. #MistaSmokey, right?"
"Awwww... kay fine. My bad. But hey Honey, I'm sure you would totes smoke that pipe amirite? Whoooosh!"
"Whoooosh right back atcha, baby. Wellllll... he does look kinda' cute. For a non-orc, I guess..."
Shay started picking at the raw meat with one hand whilst the other held Mini around the shoulders, "Okay, but dat vest doe, lover....! Is that snot?! Ewwww! For reals?!"
"Umm. Yeah. It is. It's mine. Hey! Hold up, hold up! My feels was all sads and like... okay fine... I cried and he hugged me and so my snot--"
"Minaerva Black! What did I say about you crying, girlie?! Ughs!!"
"Eeeeasy. Ease back now, Shay-shay...! Motor's boss got all blown across the maps-- sorry, girl. That was insensitive. Ahem. Shay, Mini's boss was murdered. 'Member?"
"Yeah, that''s right, Hon. And I 'member like seein' a vid of Mini's team bestie just soooo totes dissin' our girlie! Amirite, Motor?! That red headed biyatch-devil took a stroll off without our girl. With some other flooze-hoe-bag too! Was that #DeadSexay? Like wut?! Thought they were cools..?"
"Naaaahhh... my bae don't need no #RedHotRed no more neither. Do ya, lover? Naw, girlies, she gunna be back where she belongs. With us. All'o'us. No more hurt, no more hate. Amirite? Right here. Right now. We gunna' kill it!!"
"Aww hell yeah! We gunna kill it with fire!" responded the rest of the girls to Shay's shine on. Avyah tore open some Orc-sized beers and tossed the drinks all around. The girls smacked their cans together and dropped the liquid down their throats in one go. Whooping and cheering went around and so did another round.
"To Motor's boss! Ummm... What's his name...?"
"It's... oh gosh... I-it's V-Valk Moradin," Mini faltered then took a nerve steeling breath then a flash of electricity in the mirrors of those big eyes: "That's MISTA' MORADIN to all'a'dose murderous back-stabbin' snakes! Take it up and finish it, bitches! To Mista' Moradin n' in yer face, haters! WHOOOOOSH!!!"
"To Mista' Moradin, haters!! WHOOOOOSH!!"
A few more Orc sized beers from Honey's stash. A few puffs Avyah's stash. A few more orders of raw-ish meat and veggies. A few more laughs, hugs and kisses and the party rocked on. Avyah and Mini took turns maintaining the Wind wall to make sure Jero kept fast asleep. But then as it always does with drunken gatherings, out came 'The Idea.'
"Hey shooooo like we shooooo needs to thanks Mista' Smoka' Jero for his hoshpitalicaties, Motor."
"Fo'sho, man...! Just don't wake him, laaaaadies, kay? Wait. Whacha' gunna do, Avs? Hon? Hey Shay-shay...? Bae, where ya goin'? Whooooaaa... whoa, hold up now! Why all'o'yous in your undies? I don't think we should do this... J's like... he's like my big bro. For reals, girlies?! The hell is up witchu all?! Shay I don't--"
"Awww... bae... ain't nuttin' kay? Jusht a little dance, kay? Ya dun gotsta join in, lover. Ya trusht's me right? Right?"
"Riiiiight..."
"Okay so alls ya gosht ta do is watch... and learn. Don't think you practiced thish numba' wit ush. Dis ish called Wrists' n' Knees Numba 6, lover. Watch. And. Learn. Ahem, ladies...? Very well then. Shall we...?"
The wall of Wind parted and the burlesque troupe oozed on over towards the sleeping Jero.
<~★~>
Mini startled awake. She sat bolt upright and scanned the immediate area. The girls were gone. There seemed to be no trace of them nor any trace of a party ever happening. Jero was still asleep. The place was as clean as it used to be. The only thing that seemed amiss was the smell of cleaning agents and the fogginess and pounding in her skull. Mini was surprised to find that her hair was damp and wrapped up in a towel.
"I'm... I'm clean? What the actual eff happened here--" she cut herself off the instant she felt the weight of the stare upon her. That stare. Blink was here.
"Oh, you know I made them clean it up. All of it. And same with you, Motor," the glaring of the red eyes were somewhat reminiscent of the awful, awful eyes of the 'Unseen King' but at least this pair she knew. Still, Blink was their leader. Gifted and rather intense. "They think you're quitting, girl. They think you're going back to the troupe and just gunna dance with us. Dat so, Miss Mini? Dat the truth right there?"
Mini sighed. "I... wellllll... Blink... I... it's sooooo hard to... it's just... it's j-just--"
"Girl, you were chosen for a reason! The hell you stammerin' about?! You. Were. Meant. For. This. Tell me I'm wrong, girlie... Go on. Tell Blink she's wrong..." red eyes ignited in pure fiery defiance.
"Blink...! Oh, Blink you're not wrong, okay... you're not... I just haven't decided for sure, kay? We gunna have a meeting later in the morning. I'll decide then."
"When you do, Minaerva...? When you make up your mind, you tell them. Face to face. You tell them you want to be a hero and you gunna 'take it up n' finish it.' You need to let them know what you are. You need to let yourself know just what you are--"
"You know what I am, Blink?! I'm scared okay? I'mma scared little girl who's gots no business-- none! --to be involved in all this! I ain't never seen no one die before!! Why don't you do it then? Huh? You're sooo Gifted! And in control of your power! Why don't you join the team then?! You have the total package they are lookin' for, Blink! You--"
"Because!! ...because, Motor. I ain't lookin' to be no hero, girlie. You know what I am. I'm doin' community service because of it. Look. I prevented some freaks from lighting up some place on fire last night. Did I feel like a hero? No. But even more so, Mini...? I don't care to be one.
But. You care.
Listen. You n' me sit on opposite sides of the same coin. We deal in crime. You the hero gunna' stop the criminals. I just take 'em out so my fam can flourish. Maybe one day, Motor... maybe one day we see each other on the edge of that coin. Maybe we see who we really are then. But until then...?
We're best of friends and I'm sooooo looking out for you. You need this Gifted gig more than you know. You were even trained for this. Hell, Motor... I even saw you rock the joint with a bolt of lightning from your fingertip. Whatever the answer to cope with your fear... to cope witchu being 'a scared little girl?' That answer... It's not just in your head. It's something you cherish every day, girl. You just need to say it out loud.
But there's time. Cuz it really is just the beginning, Minaerva; yer 'Big bro' over there is right.
'Take it up n' Finish it."
"Blink! Wait, Blink what do you mean it's not just in my head--"
Like an apparition, Blink disappeared. Only the afterglow of her red eyes remained and even they too faded but soon.
"B-Blink? Hey! Girl, wait!" Mini sat bolt upright and kicked the blankets off the pull out bed. Bright, glaring rays of the morning sun invaded her eyes. Mini was clean and so was Jero's place. It was as if the party never happened. None of it. Not even Blink's visit.
That was all in her mind. Mini's thoughts and dreams were manipulated by her Gifted friend, Blink. Minaerva shielded her eyes from the sun with both hands as she rubbed her temples. There really was no hangover. There was however the tickling worry of what had transpired in her manipulated thoughts and dreams. And actually she felt rather alarmed as her mind replayed what was said. And that made her fear the Unseen King even more. Worse yet, it made her fear one of her best friends even more now too.
"Conduit..." she murmurred then a shiver ran down her spine.
<~★~>
Mini greeted Jero and tried to act as if nothing happened and he seemed none the wiser. They had their morning coffee in relative peace, Mini only really blabbering on about good ol' times when they were still training and fond memories of Moradin. A few more tears were shed, as were a few more hugs. And as soon as they were ready, they made their way down to the van.
Mini had roughly the same formal black attire save for a few changes. Her giant headphones were on her head coupled with her sun-goggles. The green-skinned girl's shoes were black but these were athletic ones meant for jumping, runinng and all other sorts of leaping Mini manoevers. And today black ribbons tied up her twin ponytails in honour of Valk Moradin.
It was not until they arrived did she decide to check her phone. She was still in the passenger's seat when she saw the texts. Honey had let her know that the vest was arriving today. But the rest of the texts? Honey, Avyah and Shay were all going off about the party last night. Thank goodness for Honey healing them of hangovers. They had sooooo much fun. Even if Blink got all finger-waggy and made them all clean it up.
"But... b-but... it was just made up thoughts... and m-made up dreams...? Wait. Wut...?"
Mini had gone into her phones gallery and scanned through them from the heads-up screen in her sun-goggles. Her eyes nearly popped out of her skull when she saw the sexy~sexy pics and vids. All. Those. Pics. And dose vids doe...? No, Mini did not partake in it. No. She just filmed it all. Well, at least it was all locked up tight in her phone--
And there it was. There was a sequence of pics and vids of the sneaky-sneaky girlies going into Jero's wallet and placing something small and plastic therein. At first Mini thought it was some kind of drug container but then she finally got a clear pic of what it was exactly.
It was a micro-memory card most likely of said pics and vids. But maybe not. It could very well just be--
"--wait till he gets a glimpshe of our thanksh for hoshpitalititishies... hahahahah! Man, we are flexible right! Whooosh!!--" said the recorded voice of Avyah into her headphones and Mini hit the lockscreen button. Slowly she lifted her sun-goggles from her eyes.
"Awwww fuuuuuuu--coming! Just a sec, J! I'm coming!" Mini hastily jumped out of the van and proceeded to follow J, perhaps with a bit too much colour in her cheeks.
She entered the office with Jero mindful of her manners but just could not seem to keep entirely focussed on her environment. Mini did not notice the stares and glares, nor did she catch the rough ribbing comment by the janitor. But when she heard the voice of someone who was not Scarface, the mixed-breed girl perked up. All thoughts of how to scam that memory card out of Jero's wallet dissipated. So this was the minister. This was the person ol' Scarface answered to. But more importantly...? Mini took a deep nerve-calming breath, straightened herself out and put on her best efforts to keep composed.
More importantly, this very well may be the person that had the authority to keep the team together. Or not.
Watching Rose close her eyes Kat tilted her head before watching the portal rip open. Hesitating for a moment the decision to enter was made for her as she felt a hand wrap around her wrist. Feeling the tug she was pulled into the portal. World falling around her Kat's mind reeled as if stretched incredibly. Feeling the air return to her she coughed once before opening her eyes and seeing the warming view of a living room.
Seeing the two parents Kat had a slight mental flash. Mind distancing itself part of her mind reconnected. Seemingly dumbstruck she stood there for a few moments before managing a meek wave. "Hello.." Kat spoke as she had images of her own parents cascade down her memory. While brief it caused a single tear to roll down her cheek. Not registering it and fully involuntary she wiped her cheek and felt the tear. Biting her lip she pushed it out of her mind before Rose reappeared.
Valk was dead, she hadn't expected that.. yet here she was watching it replay. "So thats what happened. I didn't see it in the back..." Kat spoke watching it in its entirety for the first time. That's when the smell of food hit her face. Not long after she found herself sitting at a table. Looking down at the plate in front of her, she felt her stomach rumble.
Pushing the horrific feeling of hunger from her mind she began to act like she was eating. It didn't make a difference, she was always hungry. But, atleast she knew it would do something. Even if she was never sated... she still needed to eat.
Rose didn't seem as usual and peppy as she normally was clearly distraught by the events. Perhaps it was just temporary shock or maybe unlike others, she just didn't care for Valk as much as they did. Her parents were concerned and when she reappeared in the living room they both rushed over to hug her but she held up her hand and gave them the cold shoulder. During dinner, she seemed a bit more talkative answering some of their questions, mainly about if anyone was hurt and if she is going to go back there tomorrow. They insisted the girls, both of them, not go there seeing as even adults and heroes of New Doma were so easily killed. Rose was determined, now more than ever. It wasn't the fact that Valk was dead that got to her, but the fact that when she checked her phone so many people were hating on her and her team. Not to mention that the team hated each other. Charlotte and Yen were going to be particularly problematic of that she was certain. Especially Yen after what he pulled with her. If she didn't think of the team first she'd have stabbed him with a piece of Arcana then and there. Fucker dared threaten her after everything they did together.
After the dinner the two had a shower each then retired to Rose's room which as one might expect was littered with various punk rock posters, anarchy symbols scratched into the walls, desk and even her laptop case. It was a small room with a single bed, closet, nightstand with a mirror and desk with laptop and now music player and headphones on it. There were some stains on the carpet from god knows how old spills and even some crumbles here and there. "It's not much but it is my own slice of privacy." She had already slipped into her pyjamas and handed Katalina a pair when she went into the shower. "You can take the bed, I got this sleeping bag, I don't think I washed it since last time I used so it's best I take it." She added a wink at the end just to make it sound more dubious as to how she used it.
Stretching Kat let out a small yawn. Looking over to Rose she listened. Smirking at the comment Kat nodded, she didn't really care what was with the sleeping bag, but if she insisted, she would go along with it. Sitting on the side of her bed she looked Rose over. Tilting her head to the side she continued. "You are adorable." Kat said before going in to take a shower. Coming out after awhile she came back out and quickly took her seat once more.
Leaning back she let her legs hand over the side, her shirt going up to reveal her stomach. "You have an amazingly soft stomach-I mean bed." Kat slipped up blushing slightly. Laying there she didn't move before suddenly sitting up and looking at Rose "I can sleep on the floor, I don't mind." She spoke up before standing and taking a seat next to Rose.
"First you say I'm adorable and now that I have an amazing stomach? If you went for brains instead I'd think you were a zombie." Rose said with a chuckle then pushed Kat back onto the bed before she could go down on the floor. "You're a guest here, you get the good bed, besides, the sleeping bag really does smell and I would be embarrassed if you slept in it surrounded by my... smell." Winking again she joined Kat on the bed swiping the phone off the desk to take a selfie together. She took one where she was smiling and one where she looked serious just to create some contrast. "I like having guests over, not a lot of people around these days I'm afraid." Her voice sounded almost sad and lonely about it. Like there was nothing to do outside of this new job she was given.
Being pushed back onto the bed Kat seemed to be baffled. Looking up at Rose she had a sudden urge to pull her with her but hesitated. Before she could try, rose was next to her anyway. Watching the girl take her phone Kat smiled as the selfie was taken. "Well, thank you for having me over. I don't remember the last time I was over at someones house." Kat said rubbing the side of her head. It was true, she couldn't remember at all. Exhaling she recollected herself before glancing over at Rose.
Wrapping her arms around the woman Kat pulled Rose down with her. "Well, I dont take up any room. So no need to sleep in the smelly sleeping bag." Kat chimed out letting her back rest against Rose's wall. Getting comfortable she partially surrounded herself with pillows making a small barrier between her and rose. "See, enough room for you as well."
"Fine, fine. I was just trying to be nice and let you have the bed all to yourself. I don't mind sharing if you don't." Rose got up to roll up the sleeping bag and put it away, hopefully in the laundry, but probably not. She was back in a jiffy and she jumped on the bed joining Kat. She didn't like spending too much time on top of the sheets so she quickly rushed herself underneath and snuggled up with the blankets. "I hope everything turns out better tomorrow. I don't want everyone to fight with each other. Those fucking idiots, all selfish thinking they can act however they want whenever they want. That's my thing, I do what I want, but even I know to keep it down for the sake of the team." Seemed it really bothered her that the team was so openly hostile to each other.
Listening to Rose she felt much of the same. "Well, I personally dont have trouble getting along with people. Even in the past... I think." She mumbled at the end. "As for the others, they will do as they wish. If they cant get along, well they will not do well when it all comes to matter. Atleast we get along." Kat yawned before burying her face in her pillows. Tossing for a few second she seemed like a cat trying to knead the bed to her liking. After a minute she stopped moving "Im comfortable now."
"Well, you're on oddball... I like you." Rose said getting into her usual sleeping position. On her stomach with one arm and one leg hanging outside of cover. Then she remembered that the light was still on so she just conjured up a small portal long enough to stick her hand through it and turn off the light. With a long audible yawn she shuffled a bit in her place and readjusted the pillow. "Alright, good night, Kat." Her voice was quiet and oddly small for how peppy she usually was. "Big day ahead of us tomorrow."
Being the first one awake Kat took the liberty of getting her things together. Not wanting to wake Rose yet she decided to take a seat against the side of the bed and relax. After about an hour Kat finally decided that poking Rose was the best idea. "Come on, we need to get going." Kat spoke before she finally woke. After some time Rose opened a portal for the two and stepped through. Staring for a few moments Kat hesitated. Not waiting as she did the last time, Rose reached in and pulled Kat through.
The portal went straight into the middle of the station where the two girls emerged mere seconds after the team passed by as they walked towards the waiting room. Rose followed along not really responding to any stinkeyes she was getting nor paying attention to much else really. She simply followed her supposed allies into where they were supposed to meet someone important that likely had nothing smart to say and instead delegate the blame onto them because someone from above did that to him or her already. Rose simply sighed adjusting her hair a little and fiddling with the music player in her pocket. As soon as the man started speaking she rolled her eyes nad put the headphones on raising the volume enough for others to hear she was completely clocked out of this conversation.
Yen's investigation yielded little fruit. Almost nobody even heard of the King, much less had information on his whereabouts. Only one man knew anything, a ex-cop with a grim disposition. He explained through broken teeth that there was a set of cases involving specifically illusion or psychic fronted individuals (one or two gifted with both) disappearing. Never a trace of struggle, just gone, no ransom either, they were less wealthy most of the time.
In his time on the job only one out of many was recovered, a young girl who could only remember going about her usual routine and suddenly blacking out. Somehow she knew the strange creature that appeared before she fainted was called the Unseen King. She was found confused and scared in a alleyway, over a month after her disappearance. No evidence could be drawn up, so the case was inevitably put on the backburner.
A grisly sigh difted up from whomever was behind that paper, then, a sharp bang introduced a bullet bursting from the newspaper and tearing through one of the portions of Rose's headphones that went over her ears. Bits of plastic and metal were tossed in every direction yet no damage came to the girl's ear. The headphones were broken beyond repair, now very awake officers looked over with wide eyes. The paper was folded by the skeletal hands, "What are you looking at? Get back to work." They immediately did so. The order was deadpanned by a slender woman, her face narrowed to a pointed chin, her long hair was in a odd stage between having blonde and graying. She gave off a frosty aura, her eyes two pieces of ice surrounded by red scanning the team. The police looked like they hadn't slept that night, she looked like she hadn't slept ever.
The woman allowed her pistol to copy her cigarette in trailing up smoke before returning it to her chest holster and covering it with her suit flap. "Your not paying attention. None of you are. Valk coddled you, his mistake, can't blame you for something you weren't prepared for no matter how much easier that would be. I'm sure you all think you've seen the dark side of this place, but you've done nothing but wade in the shallow end." She said all this with the most unhappy smile a humanoid could produce, like a thin crack across her concrete face.
"People want you disbanded now, just think of when you actually accomplish something. You need to pay attention. As Rose has just exemplified for us a lasp in perception can easily result in death. The only thing you can do is hope you see something, or someone else does and they're willing to tell you about it. That's why you're supposed to be a team, you'll all die if you don't. Two of your mates appear to have left, they didn't believe you had their backs, that they would die if they stayed here. We're going to soon see if they were right." She pulled out a file from the desk drawer and slid it over to them. "I would love to get some closure for this Unseen King scenario, but he's been a problem for a while, and leaves nothing to track himself with. Sending you after him is a massive waste, once we get something you can go right ahead."
A mug shots of a human with some elvish lineage only just in his adult years grinning like a lunatic. His grey hair is rather long and piercings cover his ears.
Name: Greggory Laudian
Age: 19
Hight: 7'4"
Weight: 94
Citizen: Yes
Eye Color: Green
Font: Earth, Gifted with Life/Death
So summarize the information, he was arrested for necromancy two years ago, reanimating the corpses of his grandparents. A few months later a very similar string of murders began, the victim was almost always a expert in history or the arcane and would have been stabbed in the crainum by what seemed to be sharp stone turned to dust shortly after. Most of the time the corpse was reanimated and focused on trashing the crime scene, also records on old battles and ritual magic were often found missing. Yesterday evening John
Aperdink, a professional in the study of ritual casting, was midway adding himself to the list of victims when police notified of the sounds of a struggle by neighbors busted into the room. They found Greggory with a group of files under his arm and a stone knife in his hand, which also was in John's brain. The young adult fled the scene using walls of stone and nearly completely draining a officer of his life force, not having been seen since.
The locations of the crime scene, Greggory's home, and the gas station in which he worked were also written down.
"Instead your going after this kid. He's a nercomancer who's been resently linked to a string of murders. On the run as we speak, so chop chop. You'll be heading to the sceen of yesterday's crime." She sighed like the depths of the earth. "Name's Kila by the way, former Vice Minster of Defense. Any questions?"
Being the one closest to the desk, Jero would keep a stone face as Kila barked down the group's throats. She was not wrong though. From an objective standpoint, there was no way the community would put a drop of faith into the team's hands. The former Minister was leading the team and on the inaugural display of the team, he dies. Clean and cut, case closed. The team, in all fairness, should be disbanded. However, Jero would not allow such a mistake to break him down. His eyes narrowed towards the new Minister of Defense as she fired off the gun.
His finger twitched as the bullet passed through the newspaper. A shout in his mind almost made it past his lips. This lady was way more hardboiled than Volk. With nothing but a deep breath to relax him, Jero nodded to the woman. "Obviously its been hell here. We won't cause more trouble. Madam Minister."
The gensie placed his hand on the file that was passed to them. Opening it, the man took a good look at the mugshot inside. Only an instant was needed for Jero to detest the wanted necromancer. "Bloody outlaw." Scanning the information, Jero memorized the details. "Got it. Mission understood. We will head out soon. Is it fair to assume we are still borrowing the van for this?" With a tiny pat on her head, Jero had to make sure Mini was there. Passing the file off to Raiyen, the second most serious person in this group. Or maybe he WAS the most serious. It was a mystery what these people did.
"Take a look everyone," Jero announced before looking to Rose. "Try to show a little more respect, Rose. If you can't..." Jero sighed before getting on the level with the younger, gifted human. He whispered, "If you can't then just pretend. Make it convincing." Stepping towards the door, Jero awaited his comrades. "Does anyone have anything else important to speak of before we go and tag an outlaw necromancer?"
Everyone that mattered was in the room, a few were missing but it was no consequence. She wouldn't have been here either if it weren't for that deal. BANG, A gunshot rang out, it woke Charlotte from her melancholy mood and she was back in the real world. She flinched at the sound and covered her face, a natural reaction. Mana was building up in her palm in defense but dissipates just ask quickly before turning around to only see a broken headphone and Rose's reaction. The one that pulled the trigger continued speaking as if it was the most natural thing to do. Charlotte couldn't help but be in awe, however, it but it was only a passing whim. She eyed the file that was slid towards Jero but stayed silent until…
"He's a nercomancer who's been resently linked to a string of murders."
"What? A necromancer?" Charlotte's muscles twitch as she heard those words. The words that came from Jero right after was sharp. She wanted to tell him that he doesn't understand, that it wasn't cut and dry but it wasn't appropriate. She lightly touches the pink bracelet on her arm before she snatches the file from Raiyen and began quickly going through the case file. As she skim-through file her grip on it slowly tightens and her brow furrowed. In a matter of seconds, she was done and the file was slapped back to Raiyen. She then promptly walked towards the door ignoring everyone's but before she turned the knob. Charlotte turns to face Jero only to shoot daggers at him and only for a second before exiting the room. However, She couldn't hide the tinge of sadness behind her resentful eyes. "I need a change of clothes. I will return shortly" she says plainly as she disappeared through the door towards the restroom.
The restroom was nearby and waiting nearby was the same guy in black with that same smirk. "Fun case eh?" He passes her a neatly folded suit the same one she wore last night. "Here's a little extra, some gloves. Wouldn't want your delicate fingers getting sliced by broken glass now." Charlotte scowled at him but quickly goes towards restroom and changed into more suitable attire. The glove fits…like a glove. She smiled a bit at her joke then it vanished as she walked out. The man takes her hand and placed a small unlabelled medicine bottle. "Whenever you feel the urge…" She places it into her inner suit pocket. He nods and walks the other way. "Have fun." Charlotte quickly walks back towards to group ready for the case.
"My my... and people said I was edgy.." he thought to himself as he tried to hide his amusement regarding what just happened. Although he would often get annoyed by Rose's attitude, he has never openly attacked her apart from training exercises and the idle threat he presented yesterday. Raiyen however, did become slighly irritated by the woman's tone but quickly calmed down since he knows that for the most part she wasn't wrong.
"Thank you." Raiyen said to Jero with a smile as he took the file before it was intercepted by a certain blue-haired munchkin. Raiyen turned towards the girl and raised an eyebrow before catching the file back. "You are welcome" he uttered followed by his a smile as he opened the file himself and came to a conclusion regarding Charlotte's sudden weird behaviour. "I see. So thats why...." he thought to himself as scanned through the case file before passing it to Rose who was the closest one next to him. "Here." he said to her with a neutral tone while smiling as usual. But knowing Rose, she would probably be too busy saying something witty or raging at the fact that her headphones just got destroyed. All the same he quite curious to what her reaction would be towards this transgression.
After the debriefing, Raiyen approached Jero who was already at the door. "Jero. Unfortunately, I am not in any condition to go on this mission..........at least not at this moment. I trust that you will be able to lead the team?" he said as he placed his hand on Jero's shoulder. Raiyen believed that at this moment, Jero was the most capable to be leader of the team in his absence. In his view, everyone else was either too headstrong or lacked experience. "Here, take this. It allows me stay connected with you guys and warp into your location using the HQ's warpgate. Do no hesistate to call me if things go south." he said to Jero as he handed him metal bracellet with runes inscribed into it. "Now if you all would excuse me, I need to go to medbay to be revitalized. Good luck with the mission, team." he said, bidding them farewell as he made his way towards the medbay.
Once the revitalizing treatment was done, Raiyen would enter his on-site armory to work out what weapons and tools were needed for this mission. "To think that I would work so hard for the words of a dead man, I really have gone soft." he thought to himself, shaking his head in annoyance and amusement.
Fantasy of all kinds★★!! Here's a list: modern/urban, magic and swords, otherworldly/fish out of water, faeries and unicorns, sometimes dark, sometimes superhero-ish, sometimes mixed with sci-fi. The Boo Girlie's always down for weird, wild or whimsical! Yayuh!! :3 Oh! And Sky Pirates too~~!!
'Mini' - Minaerva Black from The 81st Street Mission
<~~~★~~~>
BANG!!
Mini jumped and shrieked at the same time. But as embarrassing as that was, she felt a sudden awe dawn upon her. Big emerald eyes stared in bewilderment as the newspapers rustled away in the ministers hands. As soon as the mixed-breed girl lowered her own hands the rustling stopped. Her gaze then fell upon her hands as they balled into little fists.
No, she may not have been quick enough to have saved Rose from a gunshot, but she was quick enough to react to the source of the danger. She did not even have to 'wind up' with hand motions like she usually did when she used her Font. A small smirk formed around one of her ivory tusks. But then it faded once she thought of Moradin and how helpless she was to save him. A soft sigh she conceded.
Her head then slowly swivelled towards Rose to check and see if her bud was okay. Upon seeing that Rose was still free of bullet holes, she nodded at the redhead, a small re-assuring smile given despite the lingering hard feelings she felt towards both Rosée and Lady K. Oh, but Mini knew that Rose would be absolutely displeased with the minister right now, to say the least. Mini would have lost it if it had been her own headphones that were destroyed. The little motormouth literally bit her tongue and kept that motormouth closed and refocussed her attention in on the minister. If her redheaded pal wanted to further fan the flames, Mini felt Rose had every right to do so and it was not her place to stop the redhead from venting.
The scolding took place and all Mini could do was stare at her black athletic shoe's laces as if they were the most interesting thing in the whole entire world. When the minister mentioned both Davey and M'elo abandoning the group, Mini secretly wished that she had done more than merely ruffle the pages of the newspaper. One of her hands went to her neck and began to slide the links of her beloved chain through her fingers. Once she reached that certain flawed one, something inside her hinted to her that there was something else she could have done; there are some things much, much, much faster than wind afterall.
<~★~>
The file was tossed before them and Mini fluttered her hand to manipulate her Font, and flew in a half-circle, whisking past a couple of desks and propped herself up on a nearby chair, looking over Jero's shoulder. Somehow a coffee mug got into one small green hand and a pen got into the other. She took a swill of coffee as she read along with Jero, and the pen started to tap a rhythmically clinking beat against the side of the ceramic mug. "My Rocket Fuel!!" declared the side of the mug. Another swill she took then the annoyed owner of the pen, mug and chair appeared and pushed her off said chair, but not before ending the rhythmic tapping by reclaiming their pen and Rocket Fuel. Mini landed softly, both feet on the floor and offered up a polite smile and shrug in apology.
The eye daggers that Little Miss C shot over at Jero she did miss witnessing, however, the way the Water Font wielder stormed out did not go unnoticed. Mini just thought she was upset with something she read in the file. The little mix-breed girl herself was upset with what she read. This guy was bad news and they had no idea if he was working with anyone else who might be just as dangerous. But perhaps Charlotte was upset that they were put on another case that was not involving solving Moradin's death. That sentiment had definitely stabbed at Minaerva's heart no doubt. But then again, Little Miss C was being Little Pissy yesterday so who knew what crawled up that chick's butt today...
Raiyen was bowing out of this one, but he did bring up something that she had totally forgotten about! The warpgate! And the sneaking suspicion in the back of her mind slid to the foreground of her thoughts as she glanced once more at the minister. "Pleased to meet you, Ma'am," Mini said politely and bowed graciously at the silvery-blonde woman, "thanks soooo much for giving us a shot. We won't disappoint."
Once more Mini literally bit her tongue. The urge to blabber away was so strong that she faked a cough and covered her mouth with both hands... and with J asking if anyone had anything to say…? The little thing nearly exploded at the seams. Luckily for her, Little Miss C returned and provided her an exit opportunity. "My turn!! Peeeeee!!! NOW!!" she exclaimed and bolted towards the door, "I'll meet all'o'yous in the van, kay?! But first Mini PEE!! NOW!!"
<~★~>
Through the bathroom doors and into a stall she went. With one hand she closed the stall door and locked it, the other hand whipped out her phone. She just had to check. The footage of Moradin's death scene that she refused to ever view again came into view. "Okay.. oh gosh… oh gosh… NOOOO!!! Oh Mr. Moradin… oh no…" Mini sobbed but then she stopped as soon as she got to the part she was looking for. She paused the vid, emerald eyes trembling as she stared at what tickled her brain.
"This was right before that giant eyeball in the sky appeared… just where the hell did they come from. And what are they…?" The paused image was that of several floating wild arcane lights the moment before they entered Moradin's fallen body. Mini smacked the screen of her giant phone and let out a sound of disgust. "Those things that went into Mr. Moradin… they can't just appear out of no where…? I know it's not our case anymore but…"
Mini took a screen shot, sent out some messages and then tucked her phone away. "'Wading in the shallows,' eh Ms. Kilas…? Like we're some kinda' 'massive waste.' Wut-effin'-evah…! Naw, sister, you the one with the 'massive waist…!' Whooooosh! We gunna' kill this case. Take it up n' finish it. Dat's right. We gunna' kill It with fire…"
With a bit of swagger in her step now, Mini marched on over to the van and took some selfies while she waited.
"NOW LISTEN HERE YA C---" Rose wasn't the one to keep her mouth shut, she was the sort to tell people just where exactly they belong according to her. And this new Minister was not going to be in the line of fire if not for one small detail. She shot at Rose... With a gun... It started out small, will Rose growing red in the face but not from shame but fuming restrained anger. Then her nose started to twitch, noticeably. It started to disfigure her face into a type of snarl but she still gritted her teeth and waited for others to say their piece and leave. But no, there was more than that there. It wasn't just this woman that pissed her off, it was the way this team was acting that had been grinding on her from the moment they met with her very vocally calling them names for their behaviour. Then last night it all went to shit in the worst way possible. Mission zero and the two biggest outcasts in the group had to go and be themselves and act like jerks. This shot that broke her headphones, cut out her music which was just about the only thing that was keeping her from voicing her opinion was the final drop, the straw that broke the camel's back.
"YA CUNT! I made a deal with Valk to come and help this shitty fucking team to do YOUR DAMN JOB! YOU are the one that had the entire PD running about all night like a bunch of wankers chasing fucking shadows! Did you even have a lead?! Spare me the high and mighty, YOU broke the law right here and now! Discharging a firearm without a reason and within a densely populated area. -seemed those books Valk demanded they read proved useful- Furthermore, you aimed it at me, you fucking git! And you want respect?!" Rose approached her desk fuming with rage hair flowing out charged with energy she could not control while letting her wrath out. Arcana sparked from her shoulders and fingers. She slammed her fist into the wooden desk singeing the polish with stray arcana. "Respect is earned! Valk knew that! Despite how much I disliked him he understood who he was working with and knew how to earn and demand respect! You are a stuck up dickhead, too moronic and arrogant to ever understand that you are always one bad day away from being killed, just like Valk. You fucked up EVERYTHING so far! The public hates us? OF COURSE! You didn't issue a press release or anything of that sort explaining NOTHING could be done to save Valk, nor anything saying that the attacker was dealt within seconds of appearing! Nor was Valk made into a Martyr to further show why this team is needed! YOU FUCKED UP, BITCH! DON'T PUT IT ON ME OR ANY OF US!" By now she had slammed her fist into the desk repeatedly and had almost punched a hole into it just with raw strength and stray arcana escaping her as sweat dripped down her temples. "I don't HAVE to be HERE! I COULD just leave! I'm here because I want to help, because I know I CAN. This is the second time some shithead that was supposed to be on the same team as I, fucking SHOT at me! Next time it happens I leave for good."
"So EXCUSE ME for being a little angry and disrespectful of someone that just got a promotion because Valk died!" With one final punch against the desk, she broke off a piece off the edge her hand bloody and bruised arcana licks flying off her. She left the office and headed straight for the Van. She was human being just like any of them, not a fucking punching bag for them all to throw their threats and displeasure at. All the looks she got getting into the station she returned with twice the intensity and visible rage trailing off her body. This was beyond her punk personality, this was a warning for people not to try and threaten her ever again. Teammate or not she wasn't going to take the abuse. Her fist bloody she didn't even bother getting anyone to heal or look at it instead she kept clenching it and relaxing until the bleeding stopped.
It was an understatement to say that when the little skeleton heard a gunshot in the office that he was supposed to go into, followed by screaming, he hesitated. Hesitation was useful. Hesitation was the little voice in the back of his skull reminding him that there are countless things that could all be equally deadly just past that door.
The guy that had talked him into doing all this in the first place had gotten splattered during the inauguration. Who's to say that something equally horrific was going on in that office right now? And man oh man did that send a shiver down his spine. He felt eyes on him, and a brief side glance left him know that there were a few people in the room who seemed a little bit wary of his presence. Not of the gunshot or the ballistic chewing out behind the door, but wary of him. Whatever. They were background noise, static. Completely useless in the grand scheme.
When the door was flung open and he caught sight of the red haired beast of a human marching out of the office, he made damn well sure to disappear. Or at least cast an illusion around himself in order to appear to disappear. Because nope, nope, hella nope, not dealing with that first thing in the morning after seeing the old boss get splattered on a live stream. He slipped into the room in her wake, only dropping his illusion once the door clicked shut behind him. "I think I just missed a character defining moment." He commented thoughtfully as he took in the expressions of the people left in the room. The woman behind the desk was armed and dangerous. The girl who he'd seen walking back into the room felt dangerous. The gensie he happened to be standing next to was a hard read and left him feeling more guarded, but also had a more protective vibe?
Tiresias decided to label him as confusing and move on. "Sorry I'm late, I had some business to wrap up at the lab. The name's Tiresias, and I'll be working with you from here on out. Hopefully we won't all get each other killed." He introduced himself with his standard half grin, his chipped tooth looking a bit sharper than the rest. Combined with his glowing mismatched eyelights, one could almost call the pointed look he aimed at the new boss lady deadly. However, any sense of calm that he'd managed to fake when entering the demon den was starting to die out, so he wanted to get the hell out of there before he spontaneously combusted. "So I heard something about a necromancer and a van. I can get the details on the way there."
Dave had considered quitting for a long, long time last night, but Ethan had changed his mind this morning.
You can't just quit, he had argued. So your boss exploded. He has a replacement. What do you wanna do now, huh?
I could go back to acting, Davy said/thought.You know how good I do on stage. You know-
Ethan had stood up in a flash. "Don't fucking 'you know' me," he had said out loud, startling Davy. "Listen up, you sorry sack of shit. You're going back up to the department today, right now, or I'm gonna fucking kick you out. "
"I live here-" Davy started.
"And I fucking pay for most of it," Ethan snapped angrily. "So get your sorry ass up there."
Now it was Dave's turn to spring up angrily. "I can't believe you'd throw me out on the street just because I won't take this fucking high-risk job that almost got me killed! I almost got Valked, okay? I almost got blown up! And here you are, probably worrying about the fact that I'm a penniless punk who barely helps pay rent and-and that I'm a fucking waste of air!" Dave's eyes had started to tear up a little, so he turned his back to Ethan.
Ethan hadn't even bothered replying to that. He had stormed off to his room instead. And Dave sat there, angrily wiping away the tears. God damn it, he thought to himself. I'm really gonna have to go up there now.
So he had come back, leaving Ethan alone in the apartment and walking the long walk to the department.
By the time he got there, he had already missed the commotion, and was in fact entirely unaware that anything had taken place. He strode in with his best confident walk, and immediately faltered at the tense atnosphere.
"Uhh.... hey," Dave said, letting his eyes wander around the room a bit. "Sorry I'm late. Did I, uh, did I miss anything?"
Kila scoffed lightly when Jiro said no more issues would occur, then rose a eyebrow. "That old thing? Sure, it's yours." She was already focusing on her computer and pulling out papers. When Charolette had returned from changing the Minister scanned her attire and sighed. "When you get payed, buy a different suit." Every so often her eyes would scrape across Yen, about every time he said anything. It was pure coincidence that she started massaging her head as soon as Mini began speaking and also by chance that she stopped when she closed her mouth, unquestionably so.
The graying woman moved her documents off the desk when Red began to explode. She then proceeded to look at her with that concrete expression as she screamed. Her sleepless eyes were trained on the girl's with steel cables, her body was nearly a statue. She remained like that until Tiresias spoke, "Yeah you get going." Her body relaxed, she finally blinked, "Nothing. I'm your boss now, your going after a necromancer murderer, and if you don't start focusing your all going to die." She referred to Dave, "Rest of the group already going to the van, they got the file. Oh, and get along with the skeleton, he's on the team now." She mechanically returned to her work.
John Aperdink was the owner of a smaller, yet clearly expensive home. He lived on North Star Hills, one of Grand Doma's rich suburbs. His house was a older one, brick, a bedroom, a bathroom, and a living room partially converted into a study. The whole thing was only about a thousand square feet, the crime scene however, was not so small. From a broken sliding door there was a trail of upturned earth and deep gashes of decay that went on for nearly a mile. Several policemen were there at the team's arrival, most of them brightened weakly at their presence.
Among those present were:
The two first responders - A pudgy dwarf (Rocco) and a bird man (Lance) both with a number of bruises. The bird man has his left wing in a sling and the dwarf looks a sickly pale.
Witnesses - Old Miss. Villath, the human who called for the police when she heard a struggle at John's house, also claims she saw a mysterious character a few molments before that time.
The orcish Golnath couple, saw someone running through their backyard soon after Gregory lost the police.
The Coroner - A large, imposing man with the autopsy all ready to go.
Autopsy: John suffered multiple stabs to the head, quite clearly matching the description of the murderer's stone knife, however only one actually pierced the skull and another nearly did so. Some other light gashes and stabs around his body too. he was strongly built for his age and was a very healthy human.
Inside:
Bedroom - Neat and orderly, nothing to see here.
Bathroom - Nothing out of the ordinary, except for a little of powdered stone and bits of brick near the far wall.
Living room - A desk sits against the east wall, while a bookshelf rests at the west. Two overturned chairs lay by the back, behind them a glass door, shattered with its shards on the backyard grass. Small splatters of blood litter the room. The white tape depicts a large man laying in a odd position (after being suddenly dropped by Greg, assumedly) Something has clearly been taken from the bookshelf, papers littler the floor, and the desk looks like it has seen some damage.
Fantasy of all kinds★★!! Here's a list: modern/urban, magic and swords, otherworldly/fish out of water, faeries and unicorns, sometimes dark, sometimes superhero-ish, sometimes mixed with sci-fi. The Boo Girlie's always down for weird, wild or whimsical! Yayuh!! :3 Oh! And Sky Pirates too~~!!
'Mini' - Minaerva Black from The 81st Street Mission
<~~~★~~~>
Mini's tapping, swipes, clicks, likes, subs and notifications on her giant phone paused momentarily. She sighed and ended her online searching. A smirk and sideways glance slipped across her little bobbleheaded face as she slipped out from her seatbelt. As she did with the others when they first met, Mini leaned over, pressed in close and promptly took a selfie with the newest team member, Tiresias.
And then she decided to chat with the poor fella...
"'Sup skellay! Hey! So like you're made of bone right? But like your head is like a skull but like not a skull. It's cools. Totes, bruh...! Cuz like my skulll is a bit different too. Like one time I got my head all stuck between metal fence posts and like they had to use soap, grease, pliers, hammers and prybars to get me out and like they said something was wrong with my head after that. Or maybe they said that before that happened? Anyways, if you try to read my mind or stuffs like that... it's all scrambly. Ask Davey-- WHOA!! So like you have the coolest pants, bruh. Is that like part of your Font? Cuz like one time, me n' Rosee thought of making matching uni's but like having a theme attached to them so like mine would be like a Cutey-markup upside my butt with like storms and clouds, I think? Oh! And like I forget who had the crotchless design...? But! Oh dude! Sorry! Where are my manners?!
So like 'sup! My name is Minaerva. Most peeps calls me Mini. My girls from the dance troupe call me Motor. People from the mission and the institute call me Talkie. And like I do Wind Fonts and have what is called a 'Tempest Gift.' That means I am certified to shoot lightning from my hands. OH! BUT DUUUUUDE!!! I can shoot it from other parts of my body too! 'Kay so like one time, I had like allergies to something...? I think it was like cuz I ate a plastic fork again...? I have a hard time processing unnatural foods. I dunno but anyways, so like we were in mess hall and like I sneezed and a jolt of electricity blasted out from my nose and like it zapped Davey's food. And so like I ruined his lunch and he had my snot all over-- DUDE!!! Do you like to eat?! Like I just thought of that. You're a skelly so like what do you eat? Can you eat?! Cuz there's this place that serves seared coyote meat? It's like still raw in the middle but like charred on the outside. And it's like soooo cheap too. Maaaaan... I love raw meat. But I ate already so like naaaaaahhhh... no thank's bruh, I'll pass on the eats for now, kay?
Hey, so like what's your tags? Ya gots InstaGlyphs...? SnapCasting...? FaceTome...? Like wut? I'll sooooooooo add you. Oh here, check this. This is a pic of Davey's underwear. And this is J's... And this is Rosée's... and here's Faelon's-- FANSSSAYYY!!! Iknowrite?! That is like pure elven silkiness, man! Legit! I dunno but like I think this was when we were still in training and like I got bored and so I went through the hamper and--Oh! Wut. 'Sup with your face. You look like-- Oh! Man! DUDE!! Like I saw this show once! The guy had this green mask thing and like when ever he had it on, his face and body could do like cartoon thingies with big teeth and eyes and like "SOMEBODY SHTOP MEEEEEEHHHH!!!!" Hahahahahah! Awwwwwww yeeeeeeahhhh... so funny right?
Okay but like you have soooooo gots to stop blabbering here right? Cuz like you're kinda' like distracting me here, new guy. Like I soooooo needs to get back to looking up stuff-- research --for the case with the killer dude and his stone knives. Oh but DUUUUDE!!! That Ms. Killass... wait. That's her name right? Anyways, what do you think of her? Iknowrite?! She totes needs to gets laid. You said it bruh. Fistbump...! Yayuh! Kay, stop distractin' me now, 'kay silly skillay? Hold up... SELFIEEEEEEE...! Now... Vid cap...."
After her little introduction, the little mixed-breed girl primped herself up, checked her look, and even her breath before starting up the live stream. A thoughtful pose she gave, index finger pushing up at her puckered up lips, gem-like eyes cast away with much consternation. Then:
"It's time! It is time, err'body!!! ~~'Sup to my girlies, the Mission, and all'o'dem Sexays n' followa's? HOLLLLLLLLAAAAAAA' !!! Yayuh! It's your girl, Mini of the 81st Street Mission comin' atcha live to gets you live! Like ya know!!! We are here on location, ridin' dirty in the Shadyvan with #MistaSmokey at the wheel! Shout out to my girl #RedHotRed and my boy #DManChill ova dere! Operation: Go BOOOOOM!! In effect! WUT! Yeah~yeah... ai'ight then... right beside your girl Mini is the newest addition to Team Shadows Run; da magical skeleton #SkillayOne!! That's riiiiight!! Check out dem threads! Cosmic pants!! That's all for now, Sexays!!! Hey! Hands up, all ya' shady characters, ya posers n' fakers, ya inbetweens and nuttin' at alls... check yaselves cuz we comin' 'atcha. Where the shadows run is where we at cuz we run the shadows. We the Gifted ya don't want but the Gifted ya deserve! Where The Shadows Run!! Represent! Yayuh...!
We out..."
A smile, wink, nod, an invisible mic drop and the feed cut out. Mini slipped back into her seatbelt and continued her research for the case. After a few minutes she shifted uncomfortably in her seat and sighed once more. Both small hands went up and removed her giant headphones.
"Hey... ummmm sooooo anyone else ever wonder where those magical lights came from...? Y'know... the ones that went rushing into Mr. Moradin just before he like... yeah. Just wonderin' ya knows... that's all..." she said into the air, eyes downcast, a small frown creasing her fine green facial features.
<~★~>
For the most part, Mini was checking up on the previous murders via online research. She would take note of news feeds, articles, public records, court records and even some off-the-record commentary and see what discrepancies or similarities could be found with the current case. In particular, patterns of victims; what was their link to the 'serial' part of the killings and what kind of ritual it could be to use such items to kill the victims.
At the crime scene, undoubtedly, she would follow Jero's lead and follow him around, taking pictures and recording testimonies of the witness where she could. The little thing would not have the first clue as to how to find clues here, so she would default to being a 'gofer' and errand girl. Where she could be of use with her Wind Font would be to take flight to get better visual vantage points. So from a bird's eye view, she may be able to see things that may be missed from ground level. Perhaps she may even linger about where the decay trail ended to find a lead to where the suspect went and how he travelled from there?
But all in all, she knew how serious such an event would be and she would keep true to her word to the new minister; she would try her damndest to not disapoint.
Dave made a much quieter exit than Mini, though he did wave coquettishly for whatever reason at the new guy, this Tiresias. He settled into the van fairly calmly, though when Mini asked the question about the lights he only responded with a shrug. To be honest, he still felt embarassed that he'd arrived late. He was even more embarassed that his roommate and admittedly best friend had to convince him to even come today. Oh well. Water under the river, he supposed.
--~--
By the time they arrived at the crime scene, Dave was back in the groove of things. He had spent the time in the van catching up on the file.
"Let me interview the witnesses and first responders," he said to the group. He left it unsaid that he had experience being a people person and his Psychic font wouls aid him.
He approached the witnesses and first responders respectfully, then started off with a polite greeting and apologized to them about being caught up in the mess. He started off with basic questions - Name and other basics like age and occupation - before moving onto more advanced questions, like what they saw, why the first responders were bruised, what they believed occured at the home, and if they consented to a quick mind probe by Dave, a mostly painless procedure.
Tiresias followed along with the crowd out to the van in extremely relative silence, considering that he was ensnared in an extremely one sided conversation with the hyper green Mini. Of course he noticed the little wave from the merdude that had slipped in behind him back in the boss lady's office, his grin widening a bit into a full smile as he dipped his head in return. "Just add Bone-ifiedGenius on IG and SC." He cut in when Mini asked for his social media info.
As he got into the van, he wasn't sure if he should have felt annoyed, embarrassed, or vaguely flattered by all of her comments. Then there was the video livestream something or other, his expression kept to his typical grin as he flashed a peace sign to whoever the audience was, despite the fact that he wasn't sure if he was being mocked for his fashion choices. He liked his pants, they had sentimental value, and fuck everyone who says they look tacky.
His grin fell at the mention of the inauguration ceremony gone wrong. He dug into one of his hidden pockets and pulled out a full sized notebook, flipping through it to a page of barely legible chicken scratch. He glanced over it one last time before voicing his thoughts. "Yeah, there was something weird going on there. An illusion could have concealed them coming in, but that's a tough trick to pull off on fast moving projectiles. At first I thought maybe they were explosives wrapped in lit tungsten, so probably some high powered earth font, but that shit burns way too hot and too fast to match with the frame by frame I pulled from the livestream and still deliver an incompromised payload. And you guys would've heard it coming if we were following that scenario." He stated. "I have a computer breaking down a bunch of feeds back at the lab to see if we can locate a casting point and identify what fonts were being used. It's still highly developmental tech, but it produced solid results in a lab setting, so maybe we'll find something that gets us moving somewhere."
Arriving and the crime scene, Tiresias took one look at the witnesses and was sincerely relieved when DMan, he really needed to learn names, stepped up to deal with them. They probably wouldn't share any information with the little terror since he was a skeleton working a necromancy case. And he wasn't exactly an outgoing person anyways. He instead strode over to the house, a heavily modified, somewhat clunky looking old-school camera in hand. He loved his portal pockets.
One of things that was studied at the lab was the efficiency of casting. The camera he held in his hands was the first tool that they designed in order to reveal the magical structure of many fonts. They hadn't been able to test it on necromancy because of legalities, but they did have some highly educated guesses as to how it worked. The camera would show any excess magic that was expended in a cast, and the broken structure of it after the cast as well. Using the photos, he would be able to recreate what happened using his illusions and give everyone a picture of what they were dealing with. He began to snap pictures.
Charlotte came back to see a Dave and… a skeleton? She gave a bit of a puzzled look before shaking it off and its introduction. "At least most of us are still alive right now." she told it with a dismissive tone before briskly walking towards where the Van was while not acknowledging Dave's presence. She was still tense, a necromancer for her first case seems a bit like a cruel joke and now a skeleton. This type of irony could only come from fiction but this is real.
She took on the mantle of the driver for the van not wanting to share seats with anyone that was sitting behind her. She got a few odd looks from officers and was nearly pulled over before they reached the site. The moment she got off the van she could feel it, things were off and it felt familiar. She went towards the Coroner. "Give me the Report and I presume that the body is at the nearest morgue?". Charlotte was after the dead guy's memories maybe it will show her the moments leading up to his death. After hearing from him she then went towards the sight of the decay to feel if there was still a connection, a faint trail that would lead her to where the necromancer. She had learned that each necromancer had a pattern in their mana signature more distinct than most. Using her gift she created a sort of detection net around her that would mark the trails if there was any.
