The Goldmar Incident: A Superhero Role-Play { Accepting Applicants via PM }

[Dogmatic99]

"Oh, hey, Adam. Yeesh, look at you. You look like you've got a dozen colds at once."

"Huh, yeah I guess so." Adam said back, giving a half hearted laugh as he utterly failed to think of anything funny or witty to say back.

He took a few greedy gulps finishing the drink quickly and relishing the extra cold feeling of it. Lisette had added a little too much ice in the standard bar practice of using just that little less liquid than they had to. Well that was the way of the world. Adam took in the sights of the bar, this was his favourite time to come around the Festival. When there was enough people around for it not to be considered dead but with few enough that the sound wasn't deafening. Normally he'd come down with a few friends to hang out.

Jesus, I've barely spoken to anybody since the bomb.

Sure they'd called and a few friends had even come around to his family house but looking back at it he'd been a real antisocial, jerk. Looking around at the variety of people all gathered around in their groups. Then he looked down at himself, sweaty, tired and alone and looking like a crack addict. He needed to get his shit together.

I really have been wallowing.

There was a loud crash behind him and Adam turned round without thinking. Everyone had gathered around the entrance. Adam Bustled himself through the small crowd, trying to get a look at what was so interesting. Some girl had taken a swandive onto the floor and very few people seemed interested in helping.

"Hang on a minute. I know that girl, saw her on TV a while back with the President and that senator dude."

Adam and one of he barmaids broke into protest almost simultaneously. "Come on guys, show some goddamn decency!" He barked, shoving his way to the front and lowering the camera phones of the more stubborn onlookers. He shot a few dirty looks at the others, shaming them enough to make them back down.

"She okay?" Adam asked Lisette as he knelt down beside the prone girl. After a closer look he easily recognized her from the police station. What's her name again? He thought, feeling a little guilty. He barely remembered anything from the quick first aid course except when to try and move someone or not or if he was supposed to turn her on her side. Then he saw the small crater her head was resting in. Or maybe not. How hard did she hit the ground?

"Is there a phone in the bar? We might need to call an amubalnce."

 

[Fappy]

Noel woke in the center of what appeared to be a large lecture hall. Seated directly in the center of the hall she glanced around the large room. There was no one in sight.

"Do you know when this thing's supposed to start?"

Noel nearly jumped out of her seat. She had thought she was alone. Her eyes darted in the direction of the voice to see a familiar boy turned around in the seat directly in front of her. Where did she know him from?

"Oh, uh, I'm not quite sure. What exactly are they using the lecture hall for today?"

The boy's eyes widened. And as he stood a gaping hole in his midsection came into full view. Noel shrank back in her seat, holding her mouth so as to not vomit, "Retribution." It was too much. Noel's eyes began to well up, but oddly enough she hadn't vomited and she was clearly past the point of doing so.

"I died protecting your worthless ass and what have you done with that second chance?" As soon as his final words left his mouth he had disappeared. Noel, too frightened and shocked to move, sat there shivering. Terrified, "You've crawled into your shell," She jumped once more when he appeared sitting directly next to her, "You're hiding from the world. Hiding from your responsibility. Hiding from your desires..." He hissed as he stroked her arm with his cold, clammy hand.

"No..." Noel managed to squeeze out, shaking her head in protest.

"Well then, if vengeance isn't enough motivation... how about protection? The world is a dangerous place Noel. You know that now. I would hate for your sister to fall victim to it," As he spoke their surroundings had faded away and were replaced by a black abyss. They were standing now and the boy had grabbed the hand of a now visible Saya, leading her to face her sister.

Placing his hands on her shoulders he spoke, "She is what is most important to you in this world, is she not? How can you protect her when you're such a coward?"

Noel, trembling like a sick puppy, reached out to her sister. As soon as their hands embraced Saya began screaming in agony. She had been engulfed by an intense flame almost instantly. As her screams echoed through the infinite abyss, the boy smiled and Noel crumpled to her knees.

"Go ahead, hide. Do nothing as the world is enveloped in the chaos of your inaction. Watch the world burn around you. That's all that you're good for anyway."

*********************************************************************************************************************************************************

Noel jerked forward violently as her consciousness returned. Her vision was still hazy, but she made out a man and a woman nearby, "Wha--what happened?"

 

[CounterAttack]

Noel came round pretty quickly, Lisette figured. "Whoa there, careful," she cautioned, placing a hand on Noel's shoulder to keep her still. "You took a bit of a fall there, crashed onto the floor. Here." She tentatively held out the glass of water, unsure if it would help.

"Your purse was on fire," the other guy began to explain. "I put it out, but your phone was wrecked before I could get to it."

"We'll get to that later. For now, though..." Lisette looked over to Adam. "D'you think we might need an ambulance? I don't know what happened, so yeah. It might be best." Noel seemed to be conscious, she was moving a little bit, but Lisette had no idea if she was okay. She felt a bit warm to the touch... could it have been from the bar? No, she had been outside. A fever? Didn't look like it.

Today gets stranger and stranger. The thought came unbidden, and it gave Lisette pause.

 

[Dogmatic99]

"D'you think we might need an ambulance? I don't know what happened, so yeah. It might be best."

"Did you do this?" Adam asked the dazed Noel, patting the dent in the sidewalk. If she did then how is there not pieces of brain lying around the place?

"Just take it easy, you could have a concussion, can you see alright?" He said softly in an attempt to sound reasuring, offering Noel his hand. "Either way we should get you inside."

 

[Fappy]

Noel held her head, groggy as all-hell while Lisette spoke. Then she heard the word ambulance and snapped back to consciousness, "Ambu--no, no ambulance. I can't afford to waste more time laying in a hospital bed." She leaned forward as she spoke, holding her throbbing head. What the hell had happened?

"Did you do this?"

She looked where his hand was patting the ground. Had she done that?! Her head hurt, yeah, but she'd be in a coma if she hit it that hard.

"Either way we should get you inside."

Instinctively, she reached out to grab his hand but pulled back at the last moment, "No, I--," She felt the heat inside her churning, uneasy and alive. When she noticed Lisette was touching her arm she violently ripped it from her grasp and inched across the wall to distance herself from the two of them.

She was trembling.

"I'm sorry, I mean---thank you for helping me, but I don't think it's safe to touch me. I'm... I don't know what's happening to me..."

She curled her body up against the wall as her temperature began to rise. She hadn't noticed it, but the temperature on the surface of her skin had risen dramatically. And while it would have been impossible to notice through sight alone, her skin had hardened to that of steel. Touching her now would be like touching a hot blade.

 

[CounterAttack]

"Whoa! Easy, Noel, try to relax. Take a breath, calm down a bit. Okay?" Lisette was a bit spooked that Noel had yanked her arm away with such force. "Just breathe for now... here. This might - might help..." She trailed off. Upon holding out the glass of water a second time, Lisette found that the entire contents of the glass had frozen solid. She too froze, though not in the same way. "What...?"

Her mind began to race. What in the world... this isn't normal. Can't be. That didn't freeze on its own. And it can't just be me if this is happening to Noel as well... She made the connection. My God. Noel was there, Adam was there... everyone in that lecture hall must be going through similar things. But this is insane. It doesn't seem possible.

... Is it, though? Lisette thought back to the lecture hall. What little she remembered of it. "What that purpose is... well, now that would be telling. You will find out in due course." That voice. The voice of a man who enjoyed playing with the lives of others. Lisette shuddered a little. But the words had a grain of truth to them: at least two of the students caught in the attack - herself and Noel - were learning the genobomb's purpose the hard way.

Her back itched again. Almost as if something was shifting beneath the skin. It felt weird.

"Guys... I think we may have a problem."

 

[Fappy]

Noel withdrew further as Lisette attempted to give her some water. She shook her head and held out a hand in protest, but her words had failed her. Lisette's face was painted with that of sympathy and concern... that is until...

"What...?"

Still shivering, Noel's eyes found there way to the glass in Lisette's hand.

Okay... that water WAS NOT frozen a second ago!

What in the nine fucks was going on here? Was she hallucinating? No... Lisette saw it too. Had she done that? She studied Lisette's face. Lisette was stunned. Utterly dumbfounded.

And then something in Noel pushed her forward. A primal curiosity took over her motor functions and had her act against her better nature.

"Guys... I think we may have a problem."

As Lisette spoke Noel placed her hand around the glass and lightly pulled it from her grasp. It was extraordinarily cold, but oddly enough it really didn't bother Noel in the slightest. She held the glass between the two of them and closed her eyes, concentrating on the glass in her hand and banishing all other thoughts.

When she opened her eyes the water in the glasses was bubbling over. It had begun boiling in mere seconds.

"Understatement of the year," She said as a nervious smile broke out across her face.

What the fuck...

 

[NeoAC]

The commotion was reaching a fevered pitch. After the bang it seemed like everyone, including the people behind the bar who should have been working on getting Kayla her food, were preoccupied with what was happening near the entrance from the looks of things. So once Kayla managed to get a look at what exactly was going on, it was a bit deep into the situation but the results were there. A charred bag. A dent in the floor. A glass of solid ice suddenly boiling. Something was definitely up with the ditzy girl who Kayla recalled from the police station. With Lisette's odd behavior continuing with that glass of hard water she tried to give, and another guy from the station emerging looking like he spent the week bobbing in the ocean like a corpse, things were getting really weird with the seminar survivors. Oh no...am I affected too?

"Guys... I think we may have a problem."

"Understatement of the year."

"Whoa, what do you mean a problem? What is going on here?" she asked the ladies who were talking. "What is wrong with you people?"

 

[Lambi]

Chris watched how intently Dominic was looking at the Japanese swords that were on display, and heard some of the kids coming their way. She turned her head towards them, and watched how one of them climbed up on one of the armors that were on display, lightly rocking back and forth on it. "Damn kids..." Chris said under her breath and made her way to the kid. While walking towards him, the helmet of the armor fell off and was headed for the floor. Chris quickly made her way over to it and grabbed the helmet right before it would hit the floor and put it back on, then took the kid down. "What were you thinking climbing on top of that? You could have hurt yourself or someone else." The kid wasn't really listening to Chris, only looking at her in awe of how fast she'd moved, but he still apologized to her. "I don't want to see you climbing on top of anything else again, understood?" The kid nodded and headed towards his friends, and while Chris didn't hear it, he began telling them about how fast she'd been.

Chris made her way back to Dom, who was apparently still in some sort of trance over the weapons. "Is everything alright?" she asked him, placing a hand on his shoulder to see if she could snap him out of whatever was keeping him staring at the weapons. Unaware of the slight tone of worry in the girl's voice, Dominic managed to peel his eyes away from the swords, but not without excitedly informing Chris on some facts about Japanese swordsmithing.

"Hey, did you know that there are nine different methods to constructing a Katana? The most common method was called Honsanmai, while the strongest method, Soshu Kitae, was constructed by the famous swordsmith, Masamune! Not to mention the seven different martial arts based around using the sword! There's kendo, iaijutsu, iaidō, kenjutsu, aikido, shinkendo, and even battōjutsu!" His mouth flew off the handle, spouting words that weren't even english (and pronouncing them with the greatest of ease) at a mile a minute. "There's myths about these swords, that they're sharpened to the point that they can shave the electrons off an atom and, and...the class is moving on." He calmed down almost instantly, looking away from the girl to notice the collection of students migrating into another section of the mueseum (with his mother at the head of the pack, eagerly signaling for the two to catch up).

Chris didn't know what to say to all that Dominic said to her. "Well, that is most certainly...something. Did you read all that from the plaque?" she asked him, a little overwhelmed by all that information. "I...uh...yeah...?" He looked back at the plaque, squinting. Skimming it, he noticed where it mentioned the swords, and saw that it was no less than a sentence. Most the information was aimed towards the exsistance, honor, and code of Samurai as a whole. "Huh? Where'd all that info come from?" He looked back at the equally bewildered Christine. "Uh...we, uhhh...we should go." He stammered a proper response.
[hr]
Once they were done at the museum and were back at Dom's home, Chris suggested to Dominic that perhaps they could head outside. "Might be fun what we could find~" the girl mused, wanting to to something more with him. "Heh. I'm down." The boy replied with a playful scoff. "You think The Festival might be poppin' right about now? I could definitely use a drink or two...or several." He said, beginning a slow gait away from the house. "We've been tense this whoooole week. It'd do the body good to go unwind and chill a bit." He let out with a relaxing sigh, making big, childlike steps as he began placing his hands behind his back.

Chris kept herself close to Dom as they walked. "I don't really feel like drinking, but I suppose there wouldn't be any harm in it." As they were walking, there were occasional small rocks that stuck themselves onto Chris' feet, but she didn't notice it just yet. "Yeah, that's the spirit! let's get fucked up like normal college students!" Dominic replied with a laugh, taking her okay and running with it. "...I'm kidding, of course, walking home balls-wasted drunk is no es bueno."

The walk to the The Festival was....not a fast one. The journey from Stonefalcon to Millennial requires several blocks of foot moving along with several bus transfers. Honestly, if would've been easier if they had got Dominic's mother to drive them. But, conveniently, the last bus needed to reach their destination had a stop right in front of said destination.

 

[elementsoul]

Marcus had been stuck in his apartment since he pretty much arrived back there from the police station. With the cops coming and going, the media frenzy, and the everyday people it wasn?t worth it to leave. Worse than leaving, would have been trying to hide by staying somewhere with his family. The warzone over there could have very well gotten someone else hurt or killed with all things given. Still being stuck in the same place for so long was starting to drive Marcus mad. I?m going out.

The discussion was likely rash, but being stuck to himself and his roommate?s comings and goings was just becoming depressing. First he needed a shower for the day. Some clean clothes if he had any. Going to a bar for some food and the NBA playoffs would be a good idea. With all of that decided Marcus took to the shower.

Starting out hot at first, the water suddenly took a dive to ice cold near the end. ?Damn that was cold. Did we run out of hot water in the building, or did the thing just break?? Marcus thought to himself as he dried himself off with a towel, before wrapping it around his waist and walking back to his room.

Okay I need some clean clothes now. I should check the weather. Marcus grabbed his phone and opened up the weather network app. Sixty-four degree Fahrenheit and cloudy. Might be a bit cold considering the rain. Likely going to have to go with the sweats until I get around to doing laundry at some point. Marcus thought as he put on whatever clean clothes he could find, accurately predicting the sweat suit.

Marcus grabbed his phone, wallet, and keys before putting on his shoes. Just as he was about to step out of the door Tommy, his roommate, opened the door and stopped him. ?It?s like a mosh pit of media out there. I don?t think they know which one our apartment is, but I wouldn?t go out that way,? Tommy said.

?Okay fine. I?ve got a backup plan. Go open the kitchen window.?

?Are you really going to climb out of the window?? Tommy asked as he walked over and opened the window on to be surprised as Marcus dove through the opening head first and rolled into a full sprint.

?Not exactly!? Marcus yelled back, as Tommy closed the large pane of glass and shook his head as he pulled the blinds shut. ?Crazy son of a *****. I hope the press didn?t see that.? Tommy muttered as he went back to his room.

Luckily for Marcus and his roommates the Media hadn?t been watching that side of the building and only spotted Marcus as he turned the side of the building and took off down the street. Some rushed to get camera angles on him, while more desperate others, tried to chase after him; even then those reporters found a cloud of dust after he turned into an alleyway and seemingly disappeared.

Marcus slowed down after he saw that he lost the media and went into what he felt was a jog. The run itself felt refreshing after being cooped up, and Marcus took another turn down an alley just in case.

About halfway through the ally Marcus slipped and fell tumbling. There was a dull shatter that was deafened by the sound of Marcus rolling across the ground. A few small pieces of glass scratched his face, but otherwise he felt unharmed, if not just a little sore. Looking back at the alley, there was mostly the shattered remains of broken glass, and a couple stray puddles. ?Must have slipped on some of that glass.? Marcus thought to himself as he turned back and kept on running out of the alley.

Marcus stopped at the edge of the sidewalk and checked the traffic to see when it was clear to cross. Beside him was a BMW that was double parked with both meters out of time. Marcus stared at it for a second before jumping over the puddle on the side of the street beside him. The sewer drainage down the street had backed up and Marcus had just barely made it over the puddle when he heard someone call out to him.

?Hey asshole, watch my car! It?s worth more than your life!?

Marcus turned around and raised his arms like ?what-the-hell? only to see a guy in a suit sticking his head outside of the door of a cash for gold shop. Waving the guy off and kicking up some water from the puddle he had accidently stepped in as he turned around, Marcus suddenly heard a variety noises that sounded like a car crash. When he turned his head back around the BMW now had no less than twenty icicles puncturing the radiator and the windshield.

Without missing a second Marcus darted across the street, kicking up dust. As he ran he pulled out his phone, he had collected most of the numbers of the people who he met at the police station and sent them all to receive his text.

Has anyone else had anything weird happen to them?

(The message only had proper spelling and grammar due the phone?s auto correct feature.)

Marcus turned a corner and continued down a street. He had no idea where he was going at this point, instead just knowing that he needed to get away from what happened.

Marcus passed a bus and began looking around for somewhere to go and duck out for a while. He thought he saw a sign ahead of a place he?d seen on the ad boards at school, and sure enough it was fast approaching. Suddenly Marcus? foot lost all grip and he went tumbling full speed across the ground. His shoulders and legs killed as he rolled and skidded to a stop on the ground several yards from where he fell. Bits of ice trailed along the way as they broke off from his foot and shoe along the fall. The bus he had passed earlier now drove down the road past him.

 

[Dogmatic99]

"Guys... I think we may have a problem."

"Understatement of the year."

"Whoa, what do you mean a problem? What is going on here?" she asked the ladies who were talking. "What is wrong with you people?"

Everyone was talking over each other and that Noel girl looked like she was about to have a nervous breakdown. Not that he could blame her. It was only when the two girls started staring at it that Adam really noticed the glass of water and the tiny science show going on inside it.

This was all getting to be too much. Neither of them even seemed phased by the boiling water Noel was gripping in her hand. The cringe factor was enough to make Adam's skin crawl, only it didn't. It started as an itch and spread out like a wave, his body seemed to go rigid. Adam gave a quiet grunt. He rose to his feet, cricking his neck. No doubt he was just stiff from the run. Then he saw his hand.

The skin on it was... shiny. Not from sweat catching the light, he'd dried off a while ago. Small sparks of light played across the surface in the blink of an eye. Adam's eye's widened and his his jaw would have hit the floor if he hadn't reigned in the suprise. He quickly pulled his sleeve down over his hand.

"I think we all need help." He rasped, willing the blood not to drain from him.

That was when he noticed the confused look from the guy who'd tried to help Noel. The crowd was beginning to gather again and the cameras and phones were coming out. That was the last thing they needed.

"We need to get out of here." Adam stated, trying to sound certain.

 

[CounterAttack]

"Noel..." Lisette murmured as the other student took the glass of ice from her. Then she fell silent as she watched Noel turn the solid to its liquid form in a matter of seconds. My God. That wasn't... she did that. I don't know how, but she melted that ice... the ice I froze.

"Whoa, what?" The guy clearly noticed what was going on. "I, um, uh... I'll leave you guys to it, you know what you're doing." Concerned more for getting out of there now, rather than the well-being of the girl who dented the floor, he got up and hurried back inside.

More footsteps soon followed his retreat.

Click.

The familiar, slightly tinny sound went off as a phone's camera took a picture of the scene. Lisette glanced over: another crowd was forming. Damn it. Not this again. I have enough people with cameras outside my building. Don't need any more when I'm working.

"Hey! We're trying to make sure this girl is alright! Please, just give it a rest with the cameras," she told them. She hoped they didn't persist. Her getting angry as a result would not solve anything. "Please. Just... just go back inside. That or go find some other place to drink. Just give us some space, would you?" A good portion of the crowd left, going back into the bar. The rest that remained put their phones away, thankfully. However, they continued to observe, a fact that bothered Lisette.

"We need to get out of here," Adam noted.

"Let's not be too quick to jump to that one... the bar's got a room in the back for when companies need a place for staff functions. Let's just get in there, where we can have some privacy, and just sit down to talk about these... these new developments," Lisette suggested, clutching at straws a little. "Noel, do you think you're okay to move? Are you able to stand?" Hopefully she was. Moving into the function room would be better than staying out here where they could be watched.

"As for your questions, Kayla, I don't know for sure. I mean, I can guess, but... but not here," she added as an afterthought, to acknowledge Kayla's presence. Too many people around who didn't need to know the details of her guesswork.

 

[Fappy]

Noel continued to stare at the glass in her hand as the commotion around her picked up. There was only the boiling glass of water. Everything else was just noise. As she stared she felt as if her entire body was welling up with energy. The feeling was... pleasant, but indescribable beyond that.

Closing her eyes once more, Noel focused on the glass in her hand. Her forehead tensed as she squeezed her eyes shut, concentrating on the energy within her. Summoning it out from the depths of her chest and onto the surface. A warm sensation shot from her chest, up her arm and into her hand. When she opened her eyes the glass had completely fogged up and felt much lighter.

She had completely evaporated the water.

"Noel, do you think you're okay to move? Are you able to stand?"

Noel snapped out of her trance as Lisette spoke. No one else had noticed what she had done. It was probably better that way. After placing the glass on the ground beside her, Noel turned to face Lisette, "Yeah, I think I can," she said with a nod.

She struggled for a moment, bracing herself on Lisette's shoulder as she picked herself off the ground. A few seconds later and she had risen to her feet. A bit wobbly, but her composure was quickly recovering. Feeling more energized than ever, Noel straightened her back out as the heat continued to twist and twirl within her.

Despite her newfound fortitude her thoughts were still confused and hazy. She needed to sit down, process what was going on and drink some water. Preferably in liquid form.

Leaning against the wall, Noel exhaled sharply and gestured towards the door, "Lead the way."

 

[tsatoma]

Isabelle McCaffery could not stand to be in her studio apartment a moment longer.

The recent attention from the media that the survivors of the Goldmar University were receiving meant that Izzy had, for all intents and purposes, become a hermit. Hiding out in her small apartment living off of cereal and granola bars might not have been the best means of avoiding media attention, but staying at her parent's home in Stonefalcon could mean the media invading their privacy. And I don't want them to have to deal with that. The reporters want to talk to me about what happened...

Izzy was both surprised and ashamed at the fact that she had forgotten the majority of what had happened in Lecture Hall 3 at Goldmar University on the day a man who called himself Nefarious detonated what was described as a 'genobomb' amongst herself and her fellow university students. She had been invited to the lecture via an email stating that a 'Dr. Reynolds' would be holding a 'Q&A' for those interested in 'nursing specialties'. Being a student going through Goldmar's nursing course with an interest in potentially specializing in an area afterwards, the lecture seemed to be perfectly suited for her to attend.

I should have realized sooner that it wasn't for nursing specialties when I didn't see anyone in my classes attending. I saw freakin' Amy Johnson there, and she is majoring in mathematics! Stupid, stupid, she thought, berating herself for not catching on sooner as she made her way to her closet. Normally her current trend of a disheveled look was on purpose, but today she was not in the mood to spend an hour making herself look perfectly disorderly. Taking off her pajamas that she had stayed in for almost a week, Izzy felt the odd tingly sensation she had started to feel a few nights previously.

It had begun while she had sat in a chair eating food watching the president meet with some of the survivors ("At least I'm not the only one who didn't go.") when suddenly a bizarre sensation of something under her skin made her fear stricken. She did not sleep that night, afraid the feeling would return.

And now I'm starting to get used to the feeling. As long as this isn't something where I suddenly develop cancer than I should be good. After putting on a striped, long sleeve shirt to keep herself from scratching at the tingly sensations on her arms, Izzy opted for a pair of pastel green capris over shorts; completing her ensemble with some light brown sunglasses and a matching purse.

"Time to go and pick up my car," she muttered to herself after locking her apartment door, making her way to the stairwell instead of the elevator. Her car had been left at the university's parking lot since the incident, and Izzy had been in no rush to go and leave the comfort of her home to pick it up. Feels like I've been in in my room for weeks rather than days. Time just seems to be passing by so slowly.

So did the people outside on the sidewalk, as she came to find once leaving her apartment building. The street she was taking was commonly busy due to it connecting a number of important places, such as the university and the shopping district. Which reminds me...I need to try and get back to work soon. Her boss had been fine letting her take some time off after the incident, having no problem filling in her hours with the other workers. Need to get back before I get replaced by some other part-timers.

"Hey, watch where you're running!" yelled a man as she slipped by himself and another pedestrian, barely hearing him yell with the amount of distance she had covered in that time.

"I'm barely fucking walking you slow jackass!" she snapped back, continuing to keep her pace as she neared the university parking lot. What a jerk. I'm not even speed walking, she thought grumpily, furrowing her brow as she tried to put the thought past her. Her expression softened as she found her light blue car parked right where she had left it, unlocking it and sitting down in the driver's seat.

"How I've missed you, my love," she told it with a smile, turning on the vehicle and making sure everything was in order. Looking at her GPS, she noticed that the clock was only a few minutes past when she had left her apartment. "Dammit, I thought you would have been fine with being away from me for a week. Seems you can't even keep track of the time..." she told her car in a joking manner, pausing after looking at her phone's time and realizing they were the same.

That...is weird. Maybe I had read it wrong when I had left. Because it does not take two minutes to walk over here. It takes ten minutes when running. Being cooped up in my room is making me lose it. I need a drink, she resolved, reversing her car and making her way towards where her favorite bars were located.

"Most aren't open right now...except The Festival. That place is always open, thank god," Izzy said aloud, deciding that getting completely plastered was her best choice of action with everything that had been going on. The minutes inside the car seemed to never end as she drove the few miles over to where The Festival was located. Is everyone deciding to just be slow as shit today just to spite me, or what? I swear people must be trying to piss me off by driving like old women.

Pulling into a parking spot across the street from her destination was one of the best feelings Izzy had had in a while. Now time for the good stuff, she thought gleefully, crossing the street to the front of the shop after waiting for a bus to pass by. There was young man who seemed to have fallen on the ground further down the block, and the distraction made her almost trip in a dent on the floor after she opened the front door, netting a curse from her as she regained herself and approached the bar.

"So..." she began as she took a seat and tapped the bar with her knuckles, looking at the various shaped and colored bottles behind the bar with no one to serve her any. There were certainly a number of people gawking and discussing something that had happened, but none appeared to work there. "I'll just serve myself then," Izzy said, in no mood for waiting around for a bartender. She reached over and grabbed an empty glass, filling it with one of the local beers on tap before sitting back down and taking a sip.

Satisfied with her beverage, Izzy looked back at the patrons of the bar. Some had their phones out and were taking pictures, while a few seemed to be making their way to the back. I think I've seen a few of those over at Goldmar, she noted, scratching at the tingly feeling on her arm that was now back with a vengeance. Whatever is happening, it isn't affecting me, she thought, rubbing her arm against the bar to try to stop the feeling as she turned her back on the others and focused on her drink.

 

[Pm0n3y]

The thing Dominic and Chris noticed the most once approaching the bar, was the crowd slowly dissipating from around the threshold. "Looks like we just missed something." He said to the girl, beginning to make his way into the establishment. To busy pushing his way inside, Dom failed to notice the head-sized crater of cracked tile paneling left in the floor immediate to the entrance. Naturally, unprepared for a sudden concave, Dominic soon found himself losing a bit of footing as his phone went off.

Chris picked up her phone from her pocket and took a look at the text from Marcus. "Something weird? I haven't noticed anything weird myself. Aside from maybe what happened at the museum." She hadn't noticed it just yet, but when Dom had lost his footing due to the crater, she'd grabbed his arm to keep him from falling, she herself managing to avoid tripping over the small crater. "Heh, thanks for that." Dom replied, beginning to check his phone as well. He noticed the name of the sender before he read the message. "Marcus...marcussss...oh yeah, that only other brown guy at the station that wasn't me." He reminded himself as he read through the message. With Chris verbally answering the question he read, he could only assume that Marcus sent out a mass text.

"Well, nothing's been all that weird on our end-"

He looked away from his phone for the briefest of seconds to actually notice the impact dented into the ground. "Whoa. What made that?" He looked back at his phone, and began backspacing through his message.

"Well, not to me personally. But something's gone down at The Festival. Something's left a frickin' hole here. And the area around the impact site is pretty warm. Like, warmer than the rest of the place. How's that for weird?"

He edited the message before sending it back out. Now invested in his own inquiries, he wanted to know just what went down in this bar.

"Huh?" Chris looked up from her phone. She now noticed that she was holding Dom's arm. "When did I grab your arm? Not that I wouldn't want to, but I honestly don't remember doing it." This was strange. She would have definitely remembered if she'd grabbed him. Dominic looked back at her, a eyebrow cocked in confusion. "...When I almost tripped, not paying attention to the hole in the ground." And looking back, she noticed the small crater in the floor. "Did I also step over that without noticing?" Seriously, what was going on? She wasn't this forgetful or out of it. And now that he thought about it, he didn't really see her catch him. "...You okay?" Dominic asked in curious concern. "C'mon, let's find somewhere to sit."

"Yeah, that's probably best." Chris followed Dom, confused about her body apparently doing things she didn't remember doing. They motioned towards the seats in front of the bar and had themselves a seat. Seating themselves at the closest vacant barstools, Dom couldn't help but notice the short haired girl leaning over the counter to help herself to a frosty mug of brew next to them. He let out a light chuckle at the eagerness she displayed, but then he wondered just what happened to the bartenders. They sure weren't making tips when they weren't providing any services. "Heh, sometimes when you need a drink, you just need a drank." He said through a supportive scoff.

Chris gave a nervous chuckle. "Heh, yeah." When she'd sat down, she felt something hard hitting the stool she sat on, judging by the sound of it, and looked down to see the many small rocks that had assembled there. Reaching down to brush them off, she was now thoroughly confused and starting to panic a little. "What in the world is going on here?" she said, showing Dom her other foot she'd yet to brush rocks off of. They weren't sticking to her with glue, as was evident how easy it was to brush them off, but they were still sticking to her. "What the..." Was Dominic's response, as he felt the need to help her clean the yet-unattended-to foot. He would've made some sort of off-color comment about proper foot hygiene, but the rocky debris accumulating about as far as her ankle told him that something else was at play in this situation. "I think 'weird' is becoming a bit of an understatement."

 

[CounterAttack]

"Okay... let's get inside." Lisette quickly led the way back into The Festival, Adam, Kayla and Noel soon following her. The four of them crossed the bar to a set of double doors, into which Lisette ushered the others. "Make yourselves comfortable. I just gotta explain the situation to my boss. Back in a bit," she told the others before she made for the kitchens. Mitchell wasn't too big a fan of interruptions when everyone was carrying on as per usual, unless it was important.

Lisette figured it was worth bringing to his attention. "Hey, um, Mitchell. I got a bit of a situation with some of the other... well, survivors. The Goldmar U attack," she hesitantly began, unsure of how best to describe it.

"Uh-huh... And?" Her boss didn't look away from the pans he was tending.

"And we need to borrow the function room for a bit of privacy to talk about it. Me included. There's some weird stuff going on," she explained. "I'll come in tomorrow night to make up for my absence." There were some days that she didn't normally work, instead only being called in when there was a shortage. Tomorrow was one of those nights.

"Alright... you sure you don't need some more time off to sort things out?" Mitchell wasn't the type to get on one's case about things as long as they had a viable solution or alternative. Besides, The Festival was in no short supply of volunteers from Goldmar who could receive some basic training to cover for the absence of a regular staff member.

"Honestly, boss-man? I don't know," was Lisette's response as she collected a spare pitcher, filled it with water from a tap and took a small stack of glasses. "I'm fairly certain I can keep working." Maybe this is just some kind of temporary thing... maybe.

"Long as you're sure, Lisette. Carry on. Just don't forget, yeah?" Their conversation concluded, Mitchell redoubled his efforts to finish up customers' orders. Lisette breathed a quiet sigh of relief as she left the hot kitchens. Her phone buzzed on her way back over to the others. Once back in the function room, she set the water down and pulled out her phone. She'd gotten a text:

Has anyone else had anything weird happen to them?

The message came from Marcus, the guy Lisette remembered as hanging out with that Titans ganger.

Yeah, a lot of us have. There's some abnormal stuff going on. Come to The Festival.

She quickly typed out the response before firing off her message and returning the phone to her pocket.

"So," she began as she took a seat at the rather large table in the center of the function room. The place was pristine, designed for large groups with expensive tastes. "Gonna just go with the obvious and say, what on earth happened out there?"

[hr]

"Hey now." A voice soon reached Izzy, belonging to the one other bartender on duty that evening. Roxy slid back behind the counter with a flourish. "I don't think I served you that one, miss. Gonna have to charge you a bit extra for that one. The rest are at standard prices, of course, and don't think you'll be helping yourself again tonight." It wasn't often that this sort of thing happened. It was standard procedure to always have one person, at minimum, manning the bar. Clearly tonight was a deviation from the norm.

"Anyways," Roxy continued, turning her attention to Dom and Chris. "Anything I can get you two?"

 

[NeoAC]

"Gonna just go with the obvious and say, what on earth happened out there?"

"Pretty sure I can ask the question to you as well," Kayla pointed out. "What has happened to you people that now makes spontaneous combustion and instant freezing par for the course?" She took a sip for the drink that she wasn't going to let supernatural happenings prevent her from getting the full $4 worth out of. A few shimmers of light glanced off of Adam as she talked. "And shiny, I guess I should throw shiny in there too. I mean, is this related to the attack? Do I need to be worried that I'm going to start shooting lasers out of my eyes or something? What the hell is all of this?"

 

[tsatoma]

Izzy didn't complain when two others took a seat at the bar next to her, smiling at the support the man gave to her for filling up her own glass. "Sometimes you just gotta when the service won't," she said, raising up her drink in their direction before taking a drink. Even though she was fond of simply drinking alone, sometimes company was welcomed as well. It was then that one of the staff returned to their position behind the bar.

"I don't think I served you that one, miss. Gonna have to charge you a bit extra for that one. The rest are at standard prices, of course, and don't think you'll be helping yourself again tonight."

An incredulous look crossed over Izzy's face at the comment the bartender made; though she made no remark until after she finished off what was left in her glass and handed it back over. "If you don't want your loyal, paying customers to serve themselves, maybe you should have someone always manning the bar instead of gawking at whatever is going on," Izzy replied in an unserious tone, though by the way she looked at Roxy it was easy to see that she was serious.

"What was going on anyways? There is a gaggle of people at the front taking up space, there is a big dent at the entrance that everyone is going to trip in, and all the people working here are off doing other things," Izzy noted, taking a look behind her to check things out. People were starting to disperse, with a few heading over into a different area in a rush. A few of the those that were heading into the back looked vaguely familiar, though Izzy just put it as them going to the same university due to the age group. Goldmar is a big university. Most people around my age are going to it. The two sitting next to me are probably students as well.

"Normally we do. Things have just been a bit weird tonight," Roxy explained, ignoring the look Izzy was giving her.

"As for what's going on? I got almost no idea, sug. Seems one of the girls who was in the media with the President - one of the Goldmar survivors I mean - tripped and fell on her way in... no idea how she caused that big a dent in the floor though. Gonna need to patch it up at some point."

"What?" Izzy asked with confusion, trying to make sense on with the information she had just been given. There is no way that dent was made by someone unless they had some metal plates in their skull. And even then, the ground would have to be pretty weak in the first place. Whatever, it doesn't matter to me, she thought to herself after eying the dent that was over by the entrance briefly. "Can I get another of the local one on tap?" she asked, deciding it was easier to not make too much of a fuss about the beer debacle.

Roxy chuckled. "Sometimes you just need a drink, eh? Fair enough." She refilled the glass Izzy had used for her first one and slid it back over.

At least the people here understand that, Izzy thought amused before grimacing at a sudden jolt of pain that emanated on her arm. Distracted by the onset of the quick sharpness of pain, Izzy failed to grab the beer sliding towards her. "Shit," she cursed as she noticed it about to go over the edge, reaching out for the cup before it crashed onto the floor.

She thought it was too far out of reach to catch, but somehow she had managed to grab it before it hit the ground. That is goo- She stopped when it crossed her mind that the distance between her hand and the glass was much too far to work. I'm touching it though...I can feel it.

Lifting up her arm and the glass delicately so she could see them more clearly, Izzy left out a gasp once she got a good look. Coming out from under her sleeve was what appeared to be some sort of dark red vein that was gripping at the glass. The weird, vein-like thing seemed to decrease in size as it neared its tip, pulsating slightly as she stared at it. Just as soon as she had a good look at it, the vein-like thing seemed to slither back up underneath her sleeve, letting go of the glass. It bounced as it hit the floor, as Izzy rolled down her sleeve to try and see where it went. What in the fuck...? she thought, staring wide-eyed at her arm before glancing up to see if anybody else had noticed what had happened. Most of the patrons looked over when they heard the glass of beer hit and spill onto the floor, but turned away when they thought it was just because of some girl having too much to drink. This...isn't good.

 

[Fappy]

"... Do I need to be worried that I'm going to start shooting lasers out of my eyes or something? What the hell is all of this?"

Noel had to pull herself together.

Lisette seemed as calm as ever, if not a bit frazzled. Kayla on the other hand... she needed to make sense of the situation and Noel couldn't blame her for it. This really was happening.

What the fuck was this, anyway?

She thought of those people she'd been seeing in the news lately. Did they have something to do with it? Did they have something to do with the attack? No. No that didn't make any sense. None at all.

Noel was confused, flustered and far outside of her element. If she didn't start moving her mouth soon her thoughts would drive her to madness. She blinked a few times as if to wake herself from a dream and spoke, "You know, at this rate I wouldn't be surprised if one of us started shooting spider webs out of our ass."

Either her attempt at humor was lacking or everyone was far too shaken up to laugh.

"Okay, that was a bad joke. But listen guys, we can figure this out. You know those people who've been on the news? I mean, I have never heard of any of them blowing up phones in their hands but doesn't this all seem a bit... I don't know, similar?"

She paused for a moment and continued, "Maybe we should take this to one of them... maybe they've heard of this Nefarious guy before..."

Noel just let herself ramble. She hadn't realized where she was going with her thoughts until she stopped talking. She sounded like an idiot in her own head, but who knows, maybe she had struck gold.

 

[CounterAttack]

"I mean, is this related to the attack? Do I need to be worried that I'm going to start shooting lasers out of my eyes or something? What the hell is all of this?"

Perhaps it was time to voice the thoughts that Lisette had had earlier. The purpose behind the attack. Everyone who had had some sort of weird event happen to them, that she knew of, had been in that lecture hall. She remembered them being at the hospital with her.

"But listen guys, we can figure this out. You know those people who've been on the news? I mean, I have never heard of any of them blowing up phones in their hands but doesn't this all seem a bit... I don't know, similar? Maybe we should take this to one of them... maybe they've heard of this Nefarious guy before..."

"I have a theory. But you guys probably won't like it," she hesitantly began. Hearing no objections from the other three in the room, she continued. "The... the genobomb. Nefarious said it had a purpose. Maybe this is it. Maybe the attack at Goldmar U was deliberately designed to... y'know. Do this." She had meant to say, 'give us these powers.' It sounded bizarre in her head, and it would sound even stranger spoken aloud.

Lisette continued. "Those guys on the news. Bastion, Ghost and Chang are all out there with their own... well, powers. Could that Nefarious guy have intended to do the same to us... if so, why?" She took one of the glasses, and a slightly shaking hand filled it.

She was trying an experiment. Knowing that she had frozen water unintentionally, could she do it again with that knowledge in hand?

Freeze it... There we go. Sure enough, as soon as Lisette set the pitcher down and raised the glass to take a look, the touch of her hand turned the water in her glass frozen solid. "I don't know if that was me focusing on it, or if it was out of my control, but... I'm fairly certain I did that." Accepting the fact out loud felt a bit better, though Lisette was still at least somewhat stressed by the night's events. She had a bit of a crazy thought. "Do... do you guys think, maybe, we could learn to control these... occurrences?"