Side Effects

W

Wastelander

Guest
Original poster
A contact in Washington D.C. was sending out a certain kind of drug. A drug called Paisine. This drug was said to help cure people that suffered from insanity, and only insanity. The truth was stretched just a bit. It was told that it was a drug that would take the stress off of someone who was very depressed and stressed about things in life....and for people that were mentally insane. Didn't quite match up right, but a group of people in numerous places, some close, some far, did not notice how sketchy it sounded. Once they were given the drug they took it on the spot...let's just say things didn't go as planned. Those people were given abilities, unbelievable abilities, they were abilities that no one could match ever in the history of the world, and even other worlds for that matter, but there was a catch. Whenever a power was used intense pain would be felt, it would course through your body, sometimes it would even feel like death, but you couldn't die from it. You can never die from it. The only thing you can do is find your way to that factory and kill whoever was cruel enough to make these horrible drugs. You have to find out where it is, and who says making it there will be easy. Hired assassins, mutants, and even the government are after you now. Spies will fill the streets. You'll have to avoid them, use your powers to get rid of them, (of course paying the price of feeling that pain) or let yourself be taken to the lab dead or alive to be experimented on.

You're journey begins during the day, sometime before you get the drugs in the mail, or at a doctor's office (your choice)
You're goal is to find everyone else who has taken the drug and to find the sick creator of it and have him killed.
You're powers go to any extent, just remember the more powerful they are the more pain you feel. (pick your own abilities)
Try not to god-mod too much,
Be careful. The walls have ears, and the streets have eyes.
((I'll be joining shortly after the first few people have posted))
 
(I hope we just start right in, please correct me if I am wrong)

Vince woke up like any other day. He stretched, showered, brushed his teeth, and followed his normal boring routine. Once he was ready for work, he walked over to his dog to say goodbye. "Hey boy, don't have too much fun without me here, ok? He laughed dullfully and played with him for a bit before departing. Vince walked outside and went to his mailbox, ready to collect his bills. However, among the piles of debt letters he noticed a small box. He wasn't expecting any packages so he was surprised, could something lift his life from the lowest trench it normally sat at. He read the package and the word Paisine was enough for him to eagerly rip the package open which reviled a prescription bottle. Inside were a few pills."I've heard about this, did my doctor prescribe this to me without my knowledge?" He did not think to much on it and took a few out. Grabbing the water bottle from his briefcase, he put a few in his mouth and swallowed them. " Here's to something....anything" After he finished, he put the both bottles in his case and walked to his car. After he was in he started it up and pulled out of his driveway. As he drove down the road, he began to feel indifferent. Suddenly a jolt of pain raced through his body, causing him to lose control and crash into a telephone pole, knocking him out. Eventually Vince woke up and realized what had happened. "What the....?" He crawled out of his car seemingly unhurt. In fact, he felt fine, better than fine. He checked his body, there were no bruises, cuts, or any sign of injury. He couldn't believe what had occurred. He looked at his car, which was totaled in the front. Vince, angry now, walked over to his car. "Piece of shit anyway, fuck now I will be late and lose my job." He went in to kick his car, which sent it skidding down the road, flipping. Vince's eyes shot open and he was in awe. Suddenly the pain he felt earlier returned and he dropped to the ground hitting the damaged telephone pole. It came crashing down impaling Vince in the shoulder with a stray piece of metal which acted as a ladder for workers. He screamed in pain and ripped the metal out, resulting in him picking up the entire pole. He could not believe what was happening. The pain was increasing and he dropped the pole beside himself. After a short while the gash which was bleeding profusely closed itself up instantly and healed. Vince screaming in agony, had no time to notice. He lied there wincing and shaking.
 
Leona was excited about the day that was ahead for her. She had just graduated from college and she was enjoying the small time of rest that she had before she went into the real world. While she got ready for the day, she kept an ear out for the delivery man. As she was putting on her make-up, she finally heard the door ring. She smiled and ran to greet the man with a smile. She signed for it and waved good-bye to the man while he walked to his truck, all while shaking the package. She had a pretty good idea what it was, but she still wanted to make sure. She ripped the brown paper off as if it was wrapping paper and saw that her suspicions were correct. It was the Paisine. Finally! She could get her Bursitis under control. She heard rumors that it was only for insane people. But after her doctor recommended it for her pains, that thought went straight out the window. She wasn't crazy, and she knew damn well that he didn't think that either.

She was so excited that she swallowed two of the pills dry. She knew that it was silly, but she was hoping that it would take affect immediately. Of course, it didn't, but she decided just to give it time. While she waited, she decided that she would take her little Beagle for a walk. Maybe she would feel it then. She grabbed her purse and stuffed it with some bags before she locked up and left. Lony, her beagle, started to run the second he was out of the house. She knew that he wouldn't go far so she just started to walk in the same direction. "No pain so far," she said to herself after walking for 15 mins. As she continued to walk, the pain never came. Leona was so excited that she started to run for no apparent reason. She ran and ran until she stumbled upon a car accident.

She stopped instantly in shock and started to think of what she needed to do. The first thing was to call an ambulance. She looked in her purse and then remembered that she had left it home. She didn't think that she would be out for that long. "Fuck!" She yelled and ran to the car. She was stunned to find no in the car. She went to the side and saw skid marks on the asphalt. 'Maybe the person fell out of the car somehow,' she said trying to find a reasonable explanation. She ran, following the skid marks on the asphalt, and found a man on the ground. She instantly bent down and gently shook him. No response. She wanted to turn the man over to see if her knew him, but she didn't know how badly injured he was. She decided to take the chance and slowly turned him over on his back. It didn't look like he had any visible injuries so she took that as a good sign. Until she looked at his shoulder. It was bleeding profusely with no signs on stopping. She looked around, trying to find what caused the injury, spotting a pole a couple feet away.

None of what was happening made sense! It was making her head hurt. She looked at the pole again and instantly felt anger. She had no idea why. And then the pole started to melt! Her eyes popped out of her head while she stared at it at disbelief. In the next second she started to feel an unbearable pain all over her body. She cried out in pain and crumpled to the ground.
 
Corvo just got back from the middle east in the army. He honestly wished he could have stayed...he had nothing to come home to, but his empty house and the stress relieving pills he had ordered a few weeks ago back in the battle grounds. He took the bus from the airport straight to the bust stop that stopped on his street. He walked down that road, while a few neighbors waved at him in excitement of him coming home. They didn't really care about him. They were kind of obligated to recognize his presence. He walked to his mailbox and checked to see nothing but a few bills and......hold on is that what it looks like? The drugs! They came! Perfect he thought to himself. Corvo walked in and set his stuff down. He turned on his T.V. and took off only his shirt before throwing back a few pills. He sighed in relief, the frowned....something felt different. Scars started to form on his arms and chest in a certain pattern, then black ink following. He went through tremendous pain during this. The T.V. started to flicker, then in the blink of an eye the electricity from the T.V. coursed across the room into him. He felt like he was being electrocuted, he rushed out of his room and barged through his reinforced door with no effort which he was really shocked about he yelled as he literally exploded with energy that he had absorbed on the way out of his house. The house broke down to pieces before his eyes. Corvo yelled in pain as he launched himself into the sky at a very fast speed. He landed on top of a Seattle building. He had then fainted from the amount of pain he had felt. Energy being radiated off of his body.
 
Vince, had been passed out from the pain, woke up however long after the incident. He thought perhaps it was a dream, but the warm concrete told otherwise. There was a crowd of people and some police officers walking up. He heard one of the officers as he spoke into his radio, "This is a 10-48, we have a male and female, lying on the ground. Male shows signs of movement." Vince stood up and put his hand on his head. "What the hell happened?" He saw his car was totaled a bit down the street. He then looked down and saw the lady the officer was addressing to the radio. " Did she try and help me?" An officer walked over and confronted Vince. "Sir, are you alright? Is that your vehicle?" "Yes it is officer, and I am fine." "Alright, is this your girlfriend, your wife?" Vince looked back down at her, "No, no I have never seen her before. What happened?" "Sir, we have no eye witnesses to this event. Only sounds of a car wreck it would seem. We have called an ambulance to come escort you and the female to the hospital. Can I have your name?" Vince looked at his body noticing no injuries. " Officer, I am fine, I do not need assistance." Suddenly a woman ran from her house after hiding. She was frantic. She was yelling as she exited. " Those two are freaks! They aren't human! I have it on video!" One officer went to restrain the woman and she showed him the video on her camera. "I was filming my boy's birthday party when I heard the crash. He kicked the car down the street. And then...the woman.....she melted the pole with out anything to do it with! They aren't normal!" Before the officer could react, Vince realized that what he remembers wasn't a dream and he quickly ran over to the girl, picking her up. She felt like a feather to him and he knew something had changed within him. He started running and the officers yelled to stop. One pulled his gun out and started firing. Once bullet pierced through Vince's arm but he ignored it. He ran down the road and the officers chased in pursuit. Vince knew he wouldn't make it far so he had to think drastically. He as angry at the officers and knew they would kill him. " I'll just scare them off..." Without setting the girl down, he lifted a car in a driveway with his free hand and threw it onto the road, accidentally clipping and killing an officer. He heard one of the officers call to retreat. Now in the clear, Vince ran some more down the road. Fearing the pain would return he made it to a safe area at a local creek before collapsing once more. The pain was just as intense and he tried his best to conceal any yells in pain. The pain did not seem to stop. He sat on the creek's bank clinching in pain. He hoped the lady would wake up soon.
 
Lyle was turning 16 the day of the pills arrival. He was depreesed beyond belief. He often thought of killing himself. He once even sat on the roof thinking about jumping. Since his house was 2 story it would be death.

Lyle walked down stairs to get the mall. He opened the door and smiled at the mail man. He nodded at him and got the mail. He checked through the letters and found a box with his name on it. He walked inside and sat on the table. He through the letters on the couch and opened his box. He found a box of pills. labeled "Anti depressants."

lyle smiled and popped on in his mouth. He hoped the pill will do what it was advertised to do. He swallowed it and went outside for a quick jog. Lyle was seld conscious about his weight. He often jogged just get going for the day. He jogged for about 15 minutes until he came upon a car crash. He started walking towards it. Police came and something wrong happened.

Lyle jogged off minding his own business until he gunshots. He started running towards them. Something inside him changed as he picked up speed with no effort. He came behind the officer. He was about to ask him what's going on until a car came at the two. He felt his legs burn. It was coming to fast to escape. Lyle closed his eyes accepting death until he felt himself leap. He doved through the passenger window exiting through the driver's side. He landed with a roll.

lyle rubbed his face and felt scratches and pieces of glass. He plucked them out and looked up. He noticed it must've been that boy who threw the car. He started breathing heavy as he turned around. The police were all pointing their guns at him. He held his hands up in defense.

"It wasn't me!"
He heard the weapons cock preparing to fire. He closed his eyes waiting.Before they could fire Lyle disappeared. He opened his eyes and looked around him. Everything was red,dark and on fire. He saw skinny creatures draggin people to pits were giant demons were eating them. Lyle looked at his body checking for bullet holes...None. Lyle then noticed his skin was now red with black markings.

He looked around again and realized it was hell. Everything was the same as on earth only amplified with pain and sorrow. He looked at the car that was thrown and almost screamed. The glass reflected lyle's image back to him. He had long black horns arching upwards toward the sky with dark blue eyes. He shook his head and started running away. He came across a creek with to demons knocked out by the water. He looked again and realized there was no water only blood mixed with tar.

He sighed and closed his eyes. When he opened them he was back on earth near the creek now with water. He looked down and saw the boy who threw the car accompanied by the girl. He looked at his skin and sighed realizing it was back to a light tan. He felt his head and felt two bumps where his horns were.

"Oh no..We are all damned."

The boy wasn't knocked out like Lyle thought he was sitting near the bank. Lyle approached him slowly.
"Hey..What happened?"
 
Vince noticed the boy that approached. "If I knew what the hell was going on, I would tell you kid." He was finally relieved of the pain, for now. He was never certain when it would strike. "Why did you follow me? A batter question would be, were you followed?" He stood up and looked around for any signs of police or people in general. "Look, if you know what's good for ya, I would try and leave now. Something is happening to me, and apparently her as well. I don't want to hurt you." He then muttered to himself, "What if it was those damn pills?" He examined his body to see if he had any injuries. None were apparent and he didn't feel any pain. None except that extreme pain that he would feel which seemed to come and go freely.
 
Lyle looked down as the man spoke. He winced as he felt his skin burn. He hit the ground and gripped his chest. He felt like the fire from hell stuck on his body. Smoke emanated from him as he tried to stand. He started to sweat as he spoke.

"D-Did you take the pills too..There's something terrible wrong. Just a minute ago I could swear I was in Hell..Literally."


Lyle rubbed his hand over the bumps on his forehead again.
 
"Wait, you took pills as well? Paisine?" He walked over to the boy. He helped in back to his feet. " Are you alright? Look, do you have any on you, I left mine back at my car...well what's left of it."
 
Corvo was positive that the cops were back at his house, but he still had the pills in his pocket. He could probably take a few more to make him normal once more. He took it out of his pocket and stared at the pills. He sat on the side of the building and popped back the rest. He felt nothing different. "Damn!" he exclaimed. He punched the top of the building where he stood, then it wasn't until a few seconds later he noticed it was crumbling down. Corvo finally figured it out...he absorbs any type of energy and his body turns it into raw strength, but every time he uses that ability critical pain hits him...he couldn't be the only one in the country who had taken the pills. He jumped off the crumbling buildings, and watched so many people point at the crumbling structure, police cars, ambulances, and firetrucks speeding up to it from a distance. He had to go find others. He took a look at the news in a tv store he had passed and heard about a car being literally kicked by a man into a police officer. While another man fled the scene by disappearing, and a woman found later who seemed to have melted a pole with out trying. It was either authorities are crazy, or these guys took Paisine. He had to make his way to them. He absorbed a little bit of electrical energy from the televisions so it wouldn't hurt as much. He winced at the pain, then ran at a speed that left him a blur to the naked eye. He still tried his best to stay in ally ways until he got to that street. He'd rather not be seen.
 
She woke up to the sound of running water. Was her mother home already? "Mama," she said groggily as she started to sit herself up. She didn't feel the usual feel of cotton in her hands. Her hands were on something grimy and wet. That woke her up real quick. She squeaked and pulled her hand away, not knowing what the hell she was touching. She saw that it was just dirt. Why was she sleeping on dirt!? She stood up quickly and scanned her surrounding. She was near the creek that her father took her whenever she was sad. Did she sleep walk there? The second after that thought ran through her head, the day's events came rushing back to her.

The pole melting. The man with the wounded shoulder. She wanted to go back to sleep. Nothing was making sense to her. It was making her head throb. She turned away from the creek and saw two men kneeling on the ground. That was him! The man from the 'accident.' He looked perfectly fine. Not a scratch on him. She ran to them and looked at them with a blank look on her face. There were so many questions that were going through her head, she couldn't even worry about Lony. But she was able to bring herself to ask one simple question, "What the hell happened?"
 
Vince looked over at the girl. "You're awake! Good. I can't really explain what happened. I'm not entirely sure. All I know is we are now being hunted by the police. I just have to ask one question. Did you take any pills today? Pills you haven't taken before?" Vince looked at his hands which looked rougher. They felt rough to, as he rubbed two of his fingers together.
 
"The police?!" She was getting even more confused. Wouldn't they be trying to help them after seeing that accident. She knew that she wasn't in it, but she did pass out from an unbearable pain. She took that out of her head for a second and answered his question. "Um, yes. Paisine. Why? Do you think it has something to do with it all this?" She wanted to look at the man like he was crazy but she definitely did not have the right to. She was hoping that he would tell her that all of what had just happened was just a dream and that they were old friends that had agreed to meet here. But the images just kept proving her wrong.
 
"Damnit. So all three of us took Paisine. At least we have that connection. Why has it altered us. This shit belongs in comics. Not reality. And why the pain? They horrible fucking pain!" Vince grew angry and his skin appeared to harden. He gripped the ground causing a large chunk to crack and separate from the earth. He quickly let go and took a deep breath causing his skin to return to a normal state. He shook his head and turned to the girl again. "We have to figure this out. We can't be the only three that have been effected by this. We need to find more. God knows what it has done to others." He stood up and looked at the two. "What do we do?"
 
Even though she knew the questions was rhetorical, she shrugged. Why were they altered? Was all of this planned? Was someone making them there life sized comics? And more importantly, why did they feel that unbearable pain??? Her anger was staring to come back and she was afraid of what she would do. She thought that she would accidentally melt his face off. She took some deep breaths and calmed herself down enough for her to be able to listen to the man. 'You're right,' she says under breath. There just had to be more people that was experiencing this. Her eyes almost popped out of her head when he asked them what they should should do. "Um, I honestly thought you would have an idea. All I can think about for us to do is to look for more people like us. But how the hell are we gonna be able to do that with police on our asses!" She yelled and threw a rock at a tree.

She had to look close at the tree to make sure that her eyes weren't fooling her. The rock that she had thrown at the tree went right through it. Leaving an uneven hole in the trunk. "What the f-," before she could finish the pain ripped through her, making her crumble to her knees.
 
Vince stepped over to help her out. "Look, obviously using these "powers" we have obtained only brings us pain. We should only use them if we must. We need to take it easy and map out a plausible route out of the area. While we still can. If we still can." He made sure the girl was alright before continuing." Let's start off right. My name is Vince, I worked a normal job and lived an average life. I took the pills because I am medically depressed." He sighed at the admitting of it. He never spoke of his condition but now seemed a better time than ever.
 
She took rapid breaths through her clenched teeth as she waited for the pain to subside. After what felt like hours, the pain went away and she was able to pick herself up. She dusted of her knees and thanked him. She gave him her undivided attention as he gave her some background on himself. Vince? That name rung a bell. But she just shrugged it off and took a deep breath. "Well my name is Leona and I'm a college graduate. I was suppose to be in California to look for a career in singing, but I stayed for my parents. I took the pills for my Bursitis; a medical condition that causes severe pain in my joints."
 
Corvo skidded to a stop at the crime scene. He stood behind a house so he couldn't be seen, then he sneaked pass them sliding down a foresty area leading straigh to creek, where he would turn his head down the stream and hear voices. He decided to follow the voices until he had found those people. He then hid behind a tree to listne to the conversation to makesure it was actually them, the causers of all that destruction.
 
Lyle rubbed his shoulder while everyone introduced themselves. He stopped forward feeling the stumps on his head grow a little piercing his skin.

"My name is lyle..I uh also took the pill so I guess we are all infected.." He was about to continue further on until something in his mind began talking.
"Kill them lyle..Do it for the lord..Do it for your bloodline..You haven't escaped hell unnoticed.." Lyle shook his head banishing the voice mentally.

He then looked up. "I think we should leave the city..or at least the area or county. While you guys head out I'll head to the police station and destroy their radios. That'll stop them from comunicating and tracking us. Maybe I can even knock out some telephone poles."

Lyle crumpled to the ground gripping his chest. and hit the rolled on his back in pain. He felt his ribs grow smaller and more solid. He felt his spine thin out and grow solid.

He slowly rolled on his stomach and got up. "Something's very Wro-" Before lyle could finish he disappeared back in hell. He stood in the same spot but yet again his skin was red with long arching horns on his head. He sighed and looked behind him. He saw a tail and almost screamed as a tall brutish man stood before him.

"Obey me!"
The man swung his fist and hit Lyle. Lyle flew in the air heading towards the ground fast. He covered his face and screamed.
"Get me out!"
He opened his eyes and appeared in a tree over the group. He sighed and was about to jump down until he looked at his hands. His skin was a dark red tint with black religious marks. He then felt something cut into his back. He looked back and almost screamed. He had a tail with a sharp spade on the end. He shook his head and rubbed his head feeling his hair and HORNS.

lyle couldn't let the other's see him. He didn't want to risk them trying to kill him. He sat in the tree and watched the 2 people.
 
Vince looked around, trying to spot Lyle who vanished. "Great, I really didn't expect that to happen! Now it's just us, I think. Look we should get moving. I am not sure if Lyle went to the police station or not, but we need to move out. If it's all the same to you, I'll take lead." Vince started off down the creek, keeping close eye towards the road. He could hear sirens but it was nothing close.