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

[NeoAC]

Chris held the marble in her hand and just stared at it. Now that she had it, what the hell was she supposed to do with it? She thought of how the other rocks stuck to her, and she turned her hand around with her palm open and facing down, and lo and behold, the marble stayed on her palm, not dropping down. She looked towards Dom. "Just like the rocks on my feet." She turned her hand back around and concentrated a bit, moving the marble around her palm.

Her fear confirmed, she really had no idea what to think about it. After another moment, she looked up at the two. "...I...I think I may have caused that earthquake earlier today..." It was her fault. She could have hurt someone really badly. Maybe she did without knowing. "Oh god..." She buried her face against Dom and started to cry a bit. She had some kind of power that she may or may not be able to control, and she was able to create earthquakes. That did not sound like a good combo to her.

Kayla recognized that look on Chris' face. It was on her own not an hour or two earlier. "I should say....something... " She moved next to the couch. "Look, we're all just kind of realizing what's happening to us, so you can't really blame yourself for earlier. What matters is you're with people who can kind of understand what you're going through, and we can help each other get through this." It was turning into just as much comforting for Chris as it was reaffirmation for Kayla. Especially after Chris' reaction to the pan trick. "You're not alone."

Chris' revelation seemed to have cemented several of Dom's questions all at once. Though, his expression lowered as the girl took it in differently than he was expecting. "We're all in this, Chris. Every last one of us in here. Like Kayla said. That earthquake earlier wasn't your fault; you didn't know you could do it." Dom added.

Noel smiled and placed one hand on Kayla's shoulder and the other on Chris' knee, "They're both right. We're all in this together. We'll figure this out." She grabbed Chris' drink and held it up in front of her and Dom, "I freaked out just like you when I discovered my... abilities back at the bar. You know what's helped wonders?" She pointed to the drink in her hand, nodded and cocked her eyebrows, her smile transforming into a smirk.

Chris looked towards Noel with teary eyes and pushed the drink lightly away from her. "I'd rather not drink with an ability like this." she said with a tone one gets when crying. "What if I accidentally level a building without meaning to? What if I cause any deaths by shaking the earth just because I'm having an emotional day and can't control it?" She proceeded to bury her face back into Dom's chest and held her arms tightly around him. "I don't want this power..." she whispered into his chest, making Kayla and Adam unable to properly hear her, Noel somewhat able to hear her and Dom able to hear her the best. "This isn't happening..."

"Well I tried," Kayla noted as Chris then clutched at the other guy like a 14-year-old clutching a life-sized Bieber pillow. "This isn't awkward at all..." She took a big swig from the glass and walked over to where the pizzas were to get Noel's ready, letting the blonde's hand drop from her shoulder. And with that Kayla's sympathy had run its course.

Noel was disappointed, but at least she managed to break character long enough to show her that she had some modicum of empathy in her.

 

[Fappy]

Noel sighed, her smile contorting into a frown. She placed the glass on the table and put both her hands on Chris' thighs, "It'll be okay, Chris. I promise you, look!"

"Come on, Noel! You can do this! You can drive this point home! "

She threw her doubts aside and went all in. At a snap of her finger a tiny flame appeared and swayed back and forth atop Noel's thumb, "Look, Chris! Look! I just figured out that I could do this, this afternoon and I can already control it!" Despite surprising herself at her proficiency, Noel knew she was exaggerating. She had more reason to fear her own abilities than anyone else here, though she couldn't admit that now. She had to be strong for everyone else. "You can do it too, Chris. We'll help you figure it out. I promise."

Chris took her face off Dom's chest when Noel talked to her again and asked her to look. The fire was kinda pretty, but she couldn't quite bring herself to stop crying just yet. "You really think I could control it...?" Right now she wasn't too sure of herself. Perhaps she was able to, but right now, she wasn't in a mood to try and find out. She did feel a bit less like crying, but she wasn't stopping just yet.

Dom (finally) managed to wrap his arms around the girl. "Chris...of course you will! Not without a doubt in my mind. And we'll all have your back. Me, especially." With a determined smile, he gave her encouragement in an excited, rousing tone. He looked away some, putting a hand to his head. "I don't think we have much of a choice to be honest...seeing that we've all been affected in our own...special ways..." He added sheepishly, fingers brushing up against the bandage adorning his head. "But then, that's why I suggested we all keep in touch, yeah? So we can all be there for one another when we need to." Dom began looking around the room, eyes meeting up with the others inhabiting the space.

Chris looked up towards Dom and smiled a little, feeling at least a bit reassured, but still didn't let go of him just yet. "...Alright. I'll...I'll try to learn to control it. I have to, otherwise..." She didn't want to think of the otherwise. There was one good thing about this happening. "At least we learned about it before it could happen again and possibly cause more harm without me knowing it was me."

"Awesome. Now you guys want to come over here and finally make your pizzas so I can fire it in with the others?" Kayla shouted from the counter.

Noel's smile began to fade as the group moved back into the kitchen to make their meals. Dread and loathing crept into her mind as she stared down at the flame dancing on the tip of her thumb. Could she really control this power? Could she trust herself to control it? After a few moments the tequila bottle caught her eye, snapping her out of her trance. She dismissed the flame and snatched up the bottle, taking a swig straight out of the bottle as she got up from the couch.

She wasn't about to let a little fire ruin her night.

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

Noel woke from her drunken stupor with someone's finger poking her incessantly in the cheek. Barely conscious, Noel rolled over from her spot on the living room floor and groaned, "Wh-what? Who?"

Her sister, Saya, had returned home from her night-shift to find... an unbecoming scene, "Who are all these unconscious strangers?"

Noel started giggling, still quite drunk it seemed, "They're my... SUPER FRIENDS!" She clutched her stomach in barely controlled laughter.

"Well, at least you're not sulking anymore," Saya offered with a light chuckle.

A few hours later they scrambled to clean up the apartment in preparation for Mr. Brandt's inevitable return. After some pancakes, courtesy of Saya, Noel saw her friends off.

It had been quite a night.

 

[CounterAttack]

Sure enough, the next morning the Festival earthquake was on the news. Thankfully, there'd been minimal damage to the customers and staff, save for some spilled food and drink. The building itself, however, was another story entirely. Almost the entirety of the floor had been torn apart by the shaking ground, in a nigh-perfect circle around a central point near the bar. Curiously, the surrounding area was perfectly undamaged. The destruction had been contained to the bar itself.

The repairs were going to take ages. Lisette didn't know how long, but Mitchell had thanked God for having insurance. She'd pulled an almost-all-nighter with the rest of the staff on duty, taking notes on exactly how much had been damaged. The floor would need to be picked apart and replaced, while Mitchell placed orders for replacement cutlery, plates... and the good silverware, which had somehow congealed into a blob of tines, knives and spoons. When asked if she knew anything about that, Lisette managed to keep Kayla's outburst under wraps. Somehow.

She knew it had been Kayla who had done that. Just like she had frozen glasses of water, and Noel had started fires. Evidently this... this genobomb, had a different effect on each individual who had been exposed to it. Still nursing a state of fatigue from working late into the night, she staggered into her apartment's shower and hoped the heat would wake her up. Breakfast hadn't helped much, nor had the mere handful of hours she'd managed to sleep.

It wasn't just the heat that woke her, however. She caught sight of her bare back in the bathroom mirror... and almost had a heart attack. Protruding from each of her shoulder blades was a white fuzzy thing about four inches in length. Lisette could see a basic shape beginning to develop on either side. Oh... oh my God. Are those... They moved. Simultaneously, they folded in on themselves a little bit before settling back into place. She reached around and tentatively touched one of them... it was fluffy. Almost like feathers... down feathers, that was it. Experimentally, she took hold of this new development, making note of the bone-like structure that she could feel underneath the fuzz, and tugged at it. Almost instantly she flinched and let go, feeling a twinge at her shoulder blade.

The touch confirmed her suspicions. This was why her back had been itching last night. They'd begun to develop and grow without Lisette noticing. She guessed that with time, they would expand into fully-sized wings... If I learned to control them... could I fly?

"The genobomb did more than just give me the ability to freeze things, or Noel's fires or Kayla's weird cutlery trick," Lisette quickly realised, speaking to herself since it sounded weird just in her head. "It's changing us. Each of us, the survivors. And in different ways, too, judging by the ... this is bizarre. But... but like I said last night. Who's to say we can't control these changes...? I've got to tell the others about this." Not before I'm properly awake though... Right. Shower.

[hr]

[HEADING=3]Chapter 01: Research & Development[/HEADING]​

Nefarious' Journals:

Project Transcendence Log Update: Public news mentions something about an earthquake... highly localised, confined entirely to that bar outside of Goldmar. The first signs are starting to show themselves. Excellent. Assign scouts their tasks and locations: time to see how the subjects react under basic testing. No need to worry about the scouts themselves; they're expendable. Plain-clothed - no uniforms - and only lightly armed. No sense in playing the stronger cards now.

The subjects may terminate their testing material if necessary. No sense in killing the subjects themselves: I want them and their powers to grow and become stronger. The objective from these first encounters is the footage from the skirmishes, so I can assess their progress. Ensure all cameras and microphones are recording prior to engagement.

 

[Pm0n3y]

"Uuggh..." Dominic awoke gradually, letting out a few coughs as he propped himself up straight. He rubbed the coal from eyes as he checked his phone. "No headache, no motion sickness...no hangover." He was almost disappointed at the results of last night's endeavors. The fact that he didn't get as intoxicated as he was hoping. "Not the news that both I and a bunch of people I know might be mutant freaks...that's uhhh...that's a whole 'nother thing entirely..." He let out a sigh. While he couldn't remember the time he got home (he remembers it being really late, and he walked Christine home as well), he did remember just about everything else that went down. "Chris didn't have that much to drink...Kayla was a super-mega-lightweight...I kept going to the bathroom..." He decided to head towards the lavatory with that particular thought, to begin his morning rituals.

He got a good look at himself as he looked into the wall mounted mirror, one placed right over the sink. "Huh, this bandage is starting to get a little ragged..." He mumbled, examining the worn, unraveling wrap used to protect his head stitches. In a fit of curiosity, he began unwinding the long strip of gauze, just to see how his head was healing. "I wonder what kind of scar this'll leave-?"

His face took on a look of unprepared astonishment. He was expecting to lay eyes on wreaked (yet slowly healing) site of substantial damage. What he found was...nothing. Everything was clean. No bumps, scratches, scars, bruises, anything. Even the stitching thread had been pushed out, having found a new home on the blood-caked bandages.

"I...whu..heh..huh...uhh..." At a lost for words, Dominic looked into the sink, splashing water onto his gobsmacked face. "Am I dreaming? Am I still 'sleep?" He gazed back into the mirror, further examining his scar-(and even blemish)-free forehead. A twinkle of thought went back to last night's events, the conversation he shared with Noel and the others. "Is this my ability? ...Is this what I can do?" As he mumbled, he could hear a subtle rustling coming from the room over, an indication that his mother was stirring awake. "She'll freak if she sees this!"

Rushing back into his room, he threw on the closest clothes he could find (a tank top, flip-flops, cargo shorts). "Gotta go, gotta go-!" He scooped up his phone and wallet lastly, his shoes flapping and slapping against the hardwood floor as he blasted out the front door. "I think...someone else is gonna want to know about this..." He gave a glance down to the phone still clutched in his hands before taking off down the block. He had a call in mind. At a time like this, he felt he knew just who to talk to about it.

"It's probably too early...but fuck it!" As he thought, Christine answered. "Hey Chris, hey, hi, good morning! So your earth power-stuff, yeah? I think my...stuff is starting to show itself too! Meet me somewhere, we'll sort this shit out, for real this time!" He spat out enthusiastically.

 

[Lambi]

Last night had been pretty fun. Many hi-jinx were involved, mostly coming from Noel and Kayla who Chris could only speculate as not having drank a lot before that night. Dom seemed to be able to hold his own, and Adam hadn't drank that much. She herself had drank even less because quite honestly, she didn't like the taste. Thanks to that night, she'd gotten a few ideas for drawings, which was great for her, and it wasn't like she was going to show them to everyone if the others didn't want her to.

Chris woke up that morning feeling pretty good. Last night had been just what she needed. A fun night with friends, even if she didn't know them too well, aside from maybe Dominic. She had her usual routine of brushing her teeth, taking a shower and putting on some fresh clothes before heading downstairs for some breakfast. Orange juice and toast was today's breakfast and it tasted great.

The twins, Hannah and Victor, woke up as well, wanting to hear about where Chris had been after she left home the day before. She told them about how she'd gone to the museum with Dom, and when they'd gone to the Festival, leaving out some details like when she had to snuggle up close to him to calm down during the earthquake, but not leaving the earthquake out of what she was telling them. They gasped when she did tell them about it, and were glad that she'd come out of it unscathed.

Then Chris mentioned how she and her new found friends had spent time at Noel's place, describing it as well as she could and how big it was. Victor looked at her with big eyes when she described it while his twin sister looked at Chris more normally than Victor, though she did have her hands under her chin while having a look of interest on her face.

Chris concluded the story shortly before she finished her breakfast and got a phone call from Dom. "Great timing." she said to herself before she answered the call. "Hey there, Dom." "Hey, Chris, hey. So, earth powers, yeah?" "Yeah?" she said back, making sure her siblings didn't hear what they were saying, which wasn't a problem as they were discussing some other things between themselves.

"I think my...stuff is starting to show itself too! Meet me somewhere, we'll sort this shit out, for real this time!" "Alright, we can do that, yeah. Not sure where, though..." They couldn't really go to a public place, but they couldn't exactly check it out at her place, and it sounded like he was outside so probably couldn't do it either at his house. "I'll head towards your house, and we can meet up on the mid-way between our houses." "Sounds good to me! See you then!" Then they both hung up.

Chris stood up and headed towards her room to grab a sweater, since that was the only piece of clothing she didn't have on aside from a jacket or shoes, and grabbed her handbag with her sketchbook and pencil, then headed outside. "See you guys later!~" she called towards the twins, who called back and wished her a good time with her 'boyfriend'. She would have stumbled at that, but her enhanced agility prevented her from doing that. It did not, however, stop her from blushing profusely. She didn't say anything in response and just closed the door before going to meet up with Dom.

 

[Fappy]

Noel always hated upgrading phones. It wasn't that it took her long to get used to new functionality, but rather the time it took to get everything setup. Despite the fact that her old phone quite literally exploded in her hands the other day, she managed to get her old contacts transferred into her new one. Thank God for the Cloud.

It had been awhile since she'd last volunteered at the animal shelter and it appeared they'd received plenty of new residents during her absence. One new kitten in particular caught her attention. Its tail had been run over at a mere 2 months old and it had yet to acclimate to the stub that remained. She pitied the poor little guy, but couldn't help but giggle when he lost his balance.

While cleaning out the cage he shared with a few other male kittens he snuck up on her and leapt at her arm. He may have been trying to play, but his claws were as sharp as razors. He grappled her forearm and began gnawing. Strangely, however, while the initial attack stung the subsequent clawing and biting didn't seem to hurt. At all. In fact, despite not shaking him off, the little guy seemed to be loosing his grip and eventually slid completed off of her arm.

What the hell?

Upon closer inspection she noticed that the initial claw marks he had left were beginning the fade and none appeared where he had grappled her.

That should have broken the skin for sure...

Then she remembered the dent in the floor at the Festival. She began rubbing the kitten's belly as she instinctively whipped out her phone to text Kayla, "Hope the hangover isn't so bad 'cause shit's weird on my end. Have you noticed anything about your abilities other than control over metal, or whatever it is?"

After sending the message she went back to work. Cleaning cages may be a mindless task, but she had plenty to think about while she worked.

How am I supposed to control these powers if I don't even know what they are?

 

[tsatoma]

8:57 AM... 8:58 AM... 8:59AM...

The repetitive, five-second alarm on the phone went off once it reached nine o-clock; waking Izzy from her restless sleep. Even with the sound of the alarm blasting relentlessly, Izzy found it hard to even bring up the energy to open her eyes. Blindly, she reached across her small dining table to turn it off. Her headache was back after a few moments of trying to feel for the phone before concluding it was out of reach. Why in the world did I set it this early? she thought grumpily, feeling the phone through what felt like a separate finger suffering from pins and needles before feeling it more clearly as it was brought to her hand.

Lifting her head up, Izzy grabbed ahold of her phone and turned it off. She looked wearily at the tendril that was creeping its way back under her skin before placing the phone back down. Nine...so I've only been asleep for maybe four hours.

Her eyes felt like they were barely being kept open, even after she rubbed them to try to wake herself up. She closed and opened her weary eyes repeatedly until things became more in focus; including the numerous papers she had left on the table. Most were written on with small scribbles of various notes and doodles. Some had been crumpled up after she had fallen asleep on them. One right in front of her was even wet. I need to close my mouth when I sleep.

After she put them all up in a small pile she stood up and made her way over to the kitchen to grab some juice. Breakfast was not something she commonly ate, usually preferring brunch or just straight skipping to lunch itself. "Not that I feel like making anything anyways. I'll have to go out and get something for lunch," Izzy muttered, pouring herself a glass of apple juice before sitting back down.

She took a drink as she brought the papers before her, reading over things she had written down the night before. The first page had less-than stellar stick figure drawings of the various heroes that had been seen by the public recently. Nothing interesting there other than that I remembered all of them.

The next two papers had small things written down; such as 'Call parents/brother?', 'Test things!', 'Look for things on internet?', and 'Kill myself'. "I'll have to get back to this one," Izzy muttered, placing it separate from her doodle page.

After flattening out a blank and crumpled piece of paper, Izzy found the notes she had made last night. 'Tendril' works via the dictionary. Tendrils are dark red and somewhat circular. Narrower at the tip. Sprouts out of various areas of the arm; usually the upper forearm. Somewhat smooth in areas, though mainly has a bumpy texture. Can feel when it touches things (odd sensation, kinda numb-y)! Varying size! More than one! Tastes like iron. Hurts when hit/cut; feels quite painful! Springy feel when pressed against. Painless when exiting/entering skin. Difficult to control! Izzy read, glancing over every other sentence to look at the one tendril that was over her hand now.

The difficulty in controlling the tendril was certainly true. So far Izzy had been unsuccessfully making it come out on her own; though simply dropping something and trying to catch the object always brought it back out. My catching average has gone up. At least there has been one good thing.

The rest of the papers were useless. She sat them down to the side, keeping the one of notes in front of her as she rested her head back against the table and looked at the tendril. The initial disgust at the grotesque figure had receded now that she was growing accustomed to it. Not that anyone else will feel the same way. Guess this is because I know I'll be dealing with this for a while, Izzy thought tiredly, deciding to forgo going to get food for the time being as she fell back asleep.

 

[NeoAC]

Spoiler: OOC

Time for another collab post! This time, it's a two-person effort between myself and Dogmatic99. Someday he will post his own words in here again.

Owwwwwwww....why? Why did I drink? Why did I do all that? What did I even do? The thoughts running through Kayla's head were ones of confusion and regret, the latter familiar but the former not so much. Thanks to the Brandts, she awoke with her arm draped on Adam's chest, the boy still snoozing. Oh no...I didn't! Then she realized both of them still had all their clothes on. Oh good. I didn't.

Her head was still throbbing and her stomach felt like it was churning a few poison apples inside of her, the tequila having done it's worst to the first time drinker. Adam began to stir with a chorus of grunts, ever the heavy sleeper his body and mind went through their daily war of whether or not to get up. His eyes creaked open and he propped himself up, just now feeling the unfamiliar weight on him and coming to realize where he'd fallen asleep.

"Uuuh, morning..." He croaked to Kayla, his brain still taking its sweet time to kick in gear.

"Uh, hey," she mumbled as she moved to sit up. It was a bad decision, with her head informing her with another surge of pain, but it was better than being in the somewhat uncomfortable spot against Adam. "What...happened last night?"

Adam stretched out, almost like a cat on its back, trying to get rid of the stiffness all over him. It had been a while since he'd just crashed out like that and it felt like he was out of practice. Quickly enough he straightened himself out and sat up with his legs crossed. "Well it was either the best or at least the weirdest pizza party ever.... oh that was some beautiful food there - I don't think I thanked you."

Kayla looked away, a bit of blush on the cheeks present. "Thank you. I'm glad it turned out well. I don't normally cook for anyone but myself." I didn't think it was that good, but if he liked it. That's awesome.

Adam pushed himself to his feet, having one final stretch as he took in the aftermath of last night. I need to start getting out again, my stamina's gone to crap. He had been a real shut in since the lecture hall. His friends had made an effort to check in on him but he hadn't made it easy for them. Guess I'll have to fix that! He resolved. After some coffee.

Saya announced that breakfast was ready and the remaining party goers moved into the kitchen for food. Once the pancakes were gobbled up and the house was relatively tidied, it appeared to be time to depart.

"Guess I should get going." Adam said. "You got far to go?" He asked Kayla.

"A bit," she answered. "I'm over on Larchwood, pretty much just heading back to campus."

"Same here." He chirped over the happy coincidence. "Don't suppose you feel like some company?" Adam scooped his hoody up in one hand and offered the other out to Kayla, the stricter parts of his upbringing showing plainly.

Kayla grabbed her glasses off the nearby table, before seeing that the hand was out. "Sure, couldn't hurt." She took Adam's hand and again tried to stifle a blush. This one's a real gentleman. Won't find that in California. That's for sure.

The two of them said their goodbyes and left Noel's lavish home, Adam holding the door open for Kayla as they went and casting one last longing glance at what he now thought of as his dream house.

Once her bag was retrieved from it's perch, Kayla followed Adam out the door. "So yeah, that was fun. I've never done that before," she told him as they headed down the pathway. "Never had the time to do something like that until now. I don't know if it will be a repeatable performance though."

"Maybe you just need more tequila." Adam teased as he took up a position by Kayla's side. "I get the feeling you don't... 'partake' of the devil's drink that often?"

"No! No, I mean, I've drank before. Just...just not that much," Kayla explained as they came up to the front gate. "But....uh....oh no,"

Kayla cut herself off as she got one of the blanks from last night filled in. A speed sign, proudly bearing "30mph zone" had somehow intertwined itself in the rods of the fence like a metal pretzel. It was amazing that there wasn't a major crowd in the vicinity, but one had to assume after yesterday's quake that all the media attention was going to be on The Festival.

"Uh.....I...better fix that...."

"Jesus Christ." Adam paced around the sign, giving it a few tugs, to no avail. "We're going to need to start keeping a scrap book of these moments or something."

"I'm not sure I want to recall this..." Kayla tried to jostle the sign off but it wasn't moving. She sighed heavily. "OK, I'm guessing I put this up here so I should be able to take it down right? Just have to..." She grabbed the sign again and tried to focus on taking it down. After a few seconds the sign started to move as the metal pole appeared to gain the consistency of rubber.

"Nice." Adam mumbled as he paced around the scene observing with a mixture of curiosity and caution. He prodded at the sign a little, just to see what it felt like. It wasn't hot or anything.

Kayla started sliding the sign out from between the posts and after about a minute it fell out on the outside of the fence. It wasn't perfectly straight but it looked passable. At least it looked like someone could have conceivably nailed it with their car. "I guess that's as good as it's getting."

Adam, who had been playing lookout while this happened, gave a quick sigh of relief. "Then may I suggest we cheese it before any witnesses show up?"

"Sounds like a plan." Kayla move out through the gate and spotted a hole that the sign had probably came from. She tossed the sign towards the divot trying to get it close enough that it would look natural. "Let's get out of here."

"Yay." Adam yawned and the two of them set off in the direction of Kayla's place. They walked in silence for a minute or two before Adam broke the quiet. "Looks like you're really getting a handle on your 'powers'." He hesitated on the last word a little, still not sure what to really call them.

Looking down at her hands, Kayla responded, "I guess so. I don't know. Still feels really weird, like it shouldn't be happening. But I guess if I'm quote unquote blessed with them, then I should know how to use them, to avoid stuff like...well, like that back there happening."

"Yeah..." Adam nodded, trying to ignore the tingling that occasionally ran up and down his arms. "Shame they don't have night classes for this kind of stuff."

A laugh escaped Kayla's lips. "I know. I'd be trying to get entry into that now, that's for certain." She stopped walking as the pair reached an intersection. "So what are you going to do with your...powers? I have to think there's some use for that. Maybe charge laptops or something..."

Adam gave a light snigger. "And bring a whole new meaning to 'electrical supply store'. Guess I gotta get it under control though, not sure I wanna count how many things I shorted out today. Hell if I heard right then I might have set the fuse box back at my dorm on fire." He laughed a little more, the whole thing was so damn absurd. "Looks like I'll have to move back farmside after all."

"What?" Kayla was actively concerned upon hearing of a fire on campus. Yikes. Between him and Noel I guess I really got off lucky... "Well, I guess if you need a place to stay, you can sleep at my place. I've got a couch, it's not much but it's probably better than having to go all the way out to the country."

"No, no thank you but I wouldn't wanna impose." Adam waved her off as the two of them crossed the intersection. "I checked in back at Noel's place, it was just a little thing. I'll just have to go without internet and lighting for a day or two while they replace it. I needed to start getting back into the library anyway." Aw crap there's gunna be smoke damage or something isn't there? They always mentioned stuff like that on TV.

"OK," Kayla looked away after the offer got rebuffed. "I'm sorry what are you studying again?"

"Criminal Psychology." Adam said, with no lack of pride. He'd been the first person in his family to go to college, it was something that had always given his mom no shortage of pride. "And I've already started to abuse my lecturer's patience for extended leave due to grief or whatever he called it. How 'bout you?" Gently placing a hand on Kayla's shoulder and steering her around a puddle of puke.

Kayla deftly stepped by the putrid pool and continued along with Adam. "I'm a double major. Physics and English, focusing more on Physics. I'm setting up for my Master's Program next year, which will be loads of fun. I'll get to have even less of a social life than I do now."

Adam gave a chuckle. "The professional student huh?" Still it was some impressive stuff, it all sounded way over his head at least. "Well you've got the super friends now." He said, quoting Noel. "And hey my non-super friends have always got something going on." In fact I swear they told me about a party or something coming up.

"That's good to know. I used to be a lot more active on the scene back in Cali. Maybe this whole gassing thing was what I needed to kinda break out of this cocoon I got into." Kayla's apartment building was coming into view. It looked like the swarm of reporters from before had disappeared, just as she predicted. Thank you Chris.

"So that's where you're from!" Her accent clearly wasn't a Silverhollow one but Adam sucked at placing people. He told Kayla as much. He walked her up to the door of her place, looking over the building as she searched for her keys. It was a nice looking place at least on the outside.

"Well it's been a pleasure ma'am." He said, doffing an invisible cap. "Keep in touch, I'll want to be updated in case any more road signs die mysteriously." And he began to take his leave. "Oh and stay hydrated." He called back, remembering that Kayla had apparently never drunk alcohol before tonight.

"I will," Kayla said laughing as she bowed towards her escort. "Thanks for walking me home, Adam." He didn't ask where I'm really from. Another plus for him. "I'll talk to you later." She pulled out her keys and headed for the door.

"No problem!" He waved back to her as he tried his best to remember his way back to dorms from where he was. Adam's pillow was calling out to him and he was determined to get some real rest. Lord knows the past few hours had earned him that much.

[hr]

Once back in her own apartment, Kayla collapsed in her bed, intent on regaining some of the lost hours of sleep from last night. She was only woken up by her phone alarm buzzing near her head. After fumbling around for both her glasses and her phone, she finally retrieved the message sent to her by Noel.

What is she talking about? More things other then metal?

She texted back,

No, although the metal was on full display last night apparently. Why? Something up with you?

 

[Dogmatic99]

"Shiiiiii..."

Adam clutched at his ears. He had already smacked the snooze button on his alarm clock but the high pitched droning wouldn't stop. It was that same one from yesterday when his 'power' had started flaring up. He'd heard it a little at Noel's last night as well but the bit of drink he'd had had muffled it mostly. It took him a while to realize what it was; it was the sound of electricity zipping through the wires something that, normally, was only on the edge of hearing at its worst. Guess that nailed down what the genebomb had done to him. It also explained why all the electronics had been going haywire around him the last day, he was pretty sure he was the reason for a blown light bulb in Noel's bathroom.

If the earthquake incident had taught him anything it was that state of mind was important when dealing with this. Otherwise it might sneak up on him... like when he just woke up! "God Dammit!" He brought his fist down on the clock in impotent frustration as it flared up again, leaving a big 'ol dent in it. Adam held his hand up to his face, it was covered in a coat of reflective metal. "Dammit..." He grumbled. At least the clock was silent now.

After a quick shower Adam managed to get himself together and "scrub" his metallic shell away as he managed to level his thoughts and clear his mind. I'm going to need to take up meditation or something. That or become a morning person.

He tried to go down to the library and get some work done. The rest of the world wasn't slowing down for his issues and his lecturers only gave Adam so long until he had to start handing essays back in again. Working in his room was out of the question sine the fuse box had blown. Luckily it hadn't caused much damage besides a nasty looking scorch and maintenance promised they were right on it.

The change of scenery didn't help. When Adam wasn't flinching away from the keyboard, afraid he might make it spontaneously combust, he was was spacing out. Thinking of what was happening to him, eventually he found himself trawling news sites and blogs all about these new "Super Heroes". Was that nutjob behind them too? Adam gave up on trying to get any work done, it was time to try and put that education to practical use.

There weren't any obvious links between the people that had developed these powers, at least not that Adam could see. A lot of the sites kept bringing him back to "Bastion". Detective Jack Hartfield of Silverhollow PD. He'd come along in recent years with a host of future tech in an effort to settle the gang wars that had been raging in Brightfield.

Mom always did tell me to stay away from there. Hartfield's inventions were definitely amazing and there were plenty of camera phone shots of them in action. Adam remembered thinking they were the coolest thing ever when he first heard about them, it had only made him more determined to join the force. For a moment it looked like SWAT would trump his first childhood dream of making detective. Hartfield was pretty open about his technical know how was a recent development. Maybe he knew something about all this.

But how do I get a meeting with him... turn myself in?

 

[CounterAttack]

Hi all. Just letting you know I plan to start learning more about these new powers we've gained. If you're interested in meeting up, I'll be in Manning's Park (20min W from Goldmar). Probably going to spend most of the day there. Bring supplies if you're in! -L

The message was soon fired off to Adam, Kayla and Noel, the three that had been there when Lisette had suggested learning to control the powers the Goldmar Incident had given them. She prepared another one to send to the rest of the numbers she'd collected recently:

Don't know about you guys, but some weird stuff went down last night. I think we might all be developing superpowers

- it felt so weird typing that, even after last night's conversation -

 as a result of the attack at university. I want to learn more about them. If you want to join me, I'll be in Manning's Park, 20min W from Goldmar.
-Lisette

Her messages sent, Lisette set to gathering things for her day of experimentation. A couple of sandwiches and some bottled water went into a cooler bag for later, but they weren't the supplies she had had in mind when texting the three from The Festival. Lisette filled a small travel jug with water, sealed the lid and set it in the bag with the rest.

"Is that going to be enough... no. Need more. Do I have any spare plastic bags?" she mused to herself. She found a couple; one was filled from the tap before she put it in the other one to avoid leaking, and tied the hand-straps of both so it wouldn't spill everywhere. That was better: a much larger source to work with. 'Course, the park had drinking fountains in the areas where it was often more populated...

But then, Lisette didn't plan to put on a show. She was going to the park because if she caused an accident there with her new freezing ability, the weather would probably clear it up. It was the first month of summer, after all, and the forecast had been for mostly fine weather. Her preparations complete, she packed it all up and headed out, doing her best to ignore the press that continued to linger at her apartment building as she drove away.

Do those guys ever sleep? Or, y'know, go home?

 

[Pm0n3y]

A bus stop bench came up to Dominic as he slowed down his frantic jogging. Deeming himself far enough away from his mother's house, he took a seat upon the bench, to gather his bearings, and catch his breath. "Okay...this is pretty close, right? This could be considered a half way point to Chris' apartment, right?" He panted in between words momentarily before letting in one sharp inhale. No more panting followed, his breath was all caught up. Was that it? Maybe I didn't run as much as I thought...." This observation was wrong however, as he realized he was at a number 43 bus stop, a line of transit known for not running through Stonefalcon. It was clear to him that this was another perk of his developing abilities. "Ah. Well then." With that, he rose from the old wooden bench, and decided to keep the jog going. "At this rate, I could probably reach Chris before she even makes it out of her door..."

Chris, in the meanwhile, was walking at her own pace, though she was walking a bit faster than usual. She wasn't in any particular hurry, but if Dom wanted to show her something about his abilities as soon as he could, she'd hasten her pace a bit. It wasn't long until she saw someone come jogging in the distance. Dom also recognized the jogger, only to realize that it was himself that she was referring to. He slowed his gait as the two neared one another. "Chris, hey! Firstly," He performed a quick bow (that resembled more of a big nod than anything). "How are you doing today? Secondly," He made obvious hand and eyebrow gestures in the direction of his forehead. "Anything look different?"

Chris bowed back to Dom after he did his. "I'm doing alright, thank you. And yeah, your head does look different. No bandages on it, and you don't seem to have any wounds or scars there. How did you heal so fast?" Not long after she asked, an idea hit her with a gasp. "You think it might have something to do with your powers, or whatever they are?" she asked him, very curious to know whatever powers he got. "Yup, I was just thinking that. I'm almost certain a human body doesn't spit out stitching on its own, at least, not the way it happened to me..." Their phones went off as he talked. Dominic didn't hesitate to check. "It's from Lisette." He mumbled in conformation as he mulled over the message. "Wait, she's getting powers too? Are there any other people that we don't know about?"

Chris checked hers as well. "Yeah, mine too." she replied and read the message. Once she'd done that, she said "Think we should go? I don't think it'd hurt to go." Dom answered both invitations, nodding with Chris as he typed into his phone.

"I'm with Christine right now. We'll be be there."

An idea materialized in his mind as he sent the message out. "Yeah! I'm feeling pretty ballsy today, i'll be able to see just how effective this new power of mine will be...Just gotta hope Noel shows up..." He gave Chris his attention. "Ohhh yeah, it'll be fun! Besides, Manning's not that far from here. C'mon, ¡vamos!"

"Alrighty." she replied and headed off with Dom. As they walked, Chris thought of how she could try to control her powers and what more she could do besides move rocks and create earthquakes. She also seemed to have some kind of enhanced agility that she hadn't even been aware that she'd used. "I wonder just how much we're capable of." she thought aloud, not paying attention to that she said it instead of just thinking it.

 

[NeoAC]

Kayla was groggily going through the motions of making a simple lunch while trying not to let the after effects of last night get the best of her when he phone buzzed to life. This is what I get for desiring for a better social life, huh? Next time I'll just keep my brain shut.

She checked the message, it came from Lisette. Hmmmmm. Think I know too much about these powers as it is. Her mind drifted back to the sign from earlier today. Supplies? What's she expecting me to bring? A spoon? A junkyard or something? A quick glance through bleary eyes didn't reveal any obvious choices on what she could do without. Maybe someone threw something out that I can 'practice' with.

After finishing up her toasted sandwich, Kayla tossed her phone and keys in her bag and headed out the door. Wanting to both avoid the press mob and check the dumpsters in the back, she exited from the rear of the building. Surprising the filth doesn't attract those rats. Giving the dumpsters a glance, she spotted a busted looking shelving unit, a couple levels tall, made of aluminum and painted an off shade of white. That should work. She picked up the piece of junk and continued on towards the park, hoping that the journalists wouldn't get wise and tail her.

 

[Dogmatic99]

Deciding what to do about this whole Bastion and powers thing was going to need some serious thinking and since Adam's batteries seemed to be running low he thought it best to make as much use of the computer as he could before he got charged up again and deep fried it. And eventually he ended up where every colledge student ends up when stuck on a computer in a serious situation. Procrastinating on Facebook.

He'd only been giving token responses to the wave of people sending "get well soon" and "Hope you're okay" messages on his wall. Some of his closer friends had sent him emails or private messages, he'd put a bit more effort into those but everything that had been happening had kept Adam's mind pretty occupied. But right now his screen was exploding with instant messages as Ed bombarded him with greeting, telling Adam that he wouldn't go away until he answered him. Eventually it all devolved into a stream of:

hey
hey
hey
heyheyheyheyheyheyhey
poke
hey
Ad
Adam
Ady.

Adam caved in and replied as the computer threatened to crash out of protest. Ed was one of the first friends Adam had made when he came to Goldmar. The two of them had actually spent most of their first encounters arguing and bicking about the tiniest things when they first met. Something about them just made them rub each other the wrong way. Ed (Edward if you're angry with him) had been out for years before he came to Goldmar. He'd met his share of homophobic jerks but all in all his coming out had been pretty easy compared to most people's.

When they first met Adam was still in deep denial about what he was, fighting with himself every day while Ed was always so sure about himself, confident in everything he did. He even joined the board of the LGBT society in his first year. MAybe it was this clash of acceptance levels that made them grind against each other but their lifestyles never came up once in any of their arguments.

Neither one could say when they really became friends, first they weren't and then one day they were. They both agreed they like this version better. Ed had kind of become Adam's mentor in all things gay. He'd helped introduce him to the community, helped him come to terms with what he felt and invited him to all the best parties. But most importantly he'd never rushed Adam while he was coming to grips with things.

Except here I guess. Sexual identity and genetic mutations probably need different therapy styles anyway.

They got to talking and Ed told him that they were going out for a friends birthday tonight. Crap, Mike invited me to that weeks ago. I totally forgot. He said he'd come out clubbing with them and show up for pre drinks too. Ed made him promise. He'd been saying for days now that he needed to get out more.

His phone went off, it looked like Lisette was being just as proactive about all this too. I might be a little late. He typed to Ed before logging off. He sent a quick reply to Lisette saying he'd be there soon before heading out to grab some lunch on his way.

 

[Fappy]

As Noel was putting the finishing touches on the last cage one of the older volunteers approached her from behind, placing a hand on her shoulder, "You've done quite enough already, Noel. Go home and get some rest for Pete's sake!"

She hadn't looked herself in the mirror since she got up that morning, but she had no doubt she looked just as shitty as she felt. Her phone had buzzed twice since she'd sent out that text to Kayla, but she hadn't had the chance to check her phone yet. She preferred to get the job done first, "Are you sure Mrs. Hanson? I've hardly been here two hours and--"

"Two hours is plenty, dear. You look exhausted, you should get some rest." Her eyes downcast, Mrs. Hanson paused for a moment. "You know, I am here if you want to talk to me about what happened. We're all here to help you if you need anything at all."

"... what happened..." "...help..."

Noel's thoughts wandered into dangerous territory. All she could picture was the boy's face. The gaping hole in his midsection. The lucid image of his his smiling corpse. Her world began to spin and an intense heat began to well-up inside her, "Dear, are you listening? Are you okay?!" Mrs. Hanson asked as she gave Noel a light shake on the shoulder.

Noel snapped out of it and shook her head, "I-I have to go!" She grabbed her purse and walked out the door at a brisk pace. Mrs. Hanson would have protested her hasty exit if it had not been for the muted pain in her hand. The palm of her hand, the one that had been on Noel's shoulder, felt as if she'd just touched a hot stove.

Noel walked several blocks before checking her phone. The fresh air was doing wonders to clear her mind. It turned out Lisette wanted to meet up and figure out these powers they've all come to possess. Perfect.

I'm heading over there right now. I'm already out, so I'm not bringing much. Let me know if you want me to stop somewhere on the way over.

 

[Lambi]

Adam strolled up the street to the park, a shopping bag full of corner store sandwiches and drinks (both alcoholic and soft because screw it, who wouldn't need a drink in the middle of all this) bumped against his leg. He cast his eyes around seeing if he could spot any of the others with no luck. He didn't care for parks much and wasn't really familiar with this one. Still the others would probably go to a secluded part to do this, right?

With that in mind he found a map in a hard plastic covered case near the gate to the park and scanned it for possible places to practice throwing fire and ice whatever else.

It didn't take long to reach the park, and when Chris and Dom arrived there, they saw someone familiar there. Once they were closer, Chris said "Hey there, Adam." "Huh, guess we weren't the only ones in the area." Dom piped up with his own greeting.

"Hey!" Adam waved back. Good, if he got lost then at least he wouldn't do it alone. "I'm guessing you guys are here for the same reason as me right?"

And they'd arrived together, weren't those two getting pretty close at Noel's place too? Wonder if they're a thing now?

"I'm pretty sure we are, yeah. Did you get a text from Lisette as well?" Chris asked, taking up her phone to show him her text. "The whole thing about our abilities...it's all still kinda hard to swallow, the way this is all happening..." Dom added, before adding again. "So! What'd you get?" He quipped trivially. The other thing he noticed on Adam's person, however, were the bags of refreshments. Dom raised an eyebrow at that. "Also, were we supposed to pick up snacks? I could've gotten some things before we got here."

"There it is!" Adam said like someone who had just found their keys under the couch.

He addressed Dom. "Nah I'm just fat at heart." He joked. "Plus I don't know what my... my thing will do if I start trying to use it on purpose." He'd started getting a little more grim as the subject of his power came up. "It really is weird talking about it huh?"

"Yeah, kinda. But we have to if we are to figure this out and be able to control it." Chris said, also noting the bags Adam had, but didn't have anything to add to what Dom had already said.

"Yeah." Adam said, remembering himself. "I can't flinch every time I try and use a computer." Not with three seasons of The Mentalist still to watch. "I guess we should start finding the others, or at least a good spot to practice." Adam suggested.

"Sounds like an idea. Lemme just first..." Dom pulled out his phone, and aimed to send out a mass text of his own.

"Adam, Chris, and I are all at Manning's. We're all..."

He paused for a second to glance at Adam's map and his surroundings before going back to his phone.

"near the south entrance, by the children's playground. That one with the swings, and the [i]biiiiig[/i] seesaws. Anyone else here, or are we just [i]that[/i] early?"

 

[elementsoul]

Don't know about you guys, but some weird stuff went down last night. I think we might all be developing superpowers as a result of the attack at university. I want to learn more about them. If you want to join me, I'll be in Manning's Park, 20min W from Goldmar.
-Lisette

Fuck Lisette really needs to learn to sleep in. Marcus thought to himself as he checked the time and weather on his phone before putting back on his bedside table. ?Nine?s too fucking early for anyone in college. Could she not build their class schedules around afternoon and night classes or something?? Marcus muttered to himself as he got out of bed and grabbed some clean clothes out of a drawer.

The temperature was finally above 75 degrees and Marcus was breaking out shorts for the first time this year. Dark blue denim shorts and a white t-shirt with a charging rhino on it were his first and final selects as he threw them on. Some quick deodorant on his pits and he was still good considering how late he showered last night.

Looking at his phone he reread the message. So I assume she means getting used to our superpowers. Not sure why?d she choose an open park for that. On top of that where is this place anyways? Who uses a compass direction for directing someone to a location? Marcus thought to himself as he put some bread in a toaster and checked Google Maps for the park?s location.

If I can get those leftover water balloons from the little war with the girls down the hall and Tommy?s Camelbak that will hopefully get me enough water to bring there. I mean it doesn?t exactly look like this place has a pool or pond or something. Marcus thought to himself as his toast popped and pulled it out before spreading some strawberry jam on the pieces.

?You?re making me breakfast how sweet.? Marcus heard come out of a freshly opened bedroom door. Well at least I don?t have to sneak into his room. ?Nope, but I?ll trade you it for your Camelbak and the leftover water balloons,? Marcus replied as he put more bread into the toaster and grabbed his phone as he remembered something important.

You wanted to know if anything was up. One of the girls is going to Manning?s Park for power practice or some shit. I?m heading down there soon.

Marcus texted to Izzy after sending her a follow up Google Maps link with the park?s location.

?Okay?Sure?Why?? Tommy asked as he grabbed the plate of toast and started eating it.

?Group meeting or something with some people from the attack.? Marcus replied as he typed out a message to Lisette.

I?ll be going there soon. Invited another survivor with powers.

Marcus messaged Lisette back.

?Water balloon fight seems like a bad idea for support group meeting.? Tommy said as he finished the first piece.

?Ya it?s not for that exactly.? Marcus said as he turned on the tap in kitchen sink and stuck his hand into the water before it froze up to the faucet.

Tommy?s mouth hung open and the piece of toast dropped from his mouth and landed on the plate jelly side down. It took him a minute before he managed to form his words. ?Justin wake up and get in here!? Tommy shouted before a groggy Justin in his boxers appeared in the kitchen.

?What?? asked Justin not noticing the ice structure Marcus had left in the sink.

?Show him Marcus.? Tommy said before Marcus repeated the trick. Justin?s eyes opened wide when he saw it.

?Okay Marcus, I?ve got ask. If you can create ice, why the fuck do you have such a problem filled the ice trays in the freezer? Too slow for you or some shit?? Justin asked cause Tommy to snicker.

?Hey Marcus. My third month with Melissa?s coming up. Think you can make an ice sculpture of me as a gift?? Tommy asked still chuckling now getting Justin going.

?You going to start playing hockey now or something? I?m pretty sure Disney could make a fourth Mighty Ducks movie about your ass.? Justin fired at him again.

Did I honestly expect a normal freak out from these two retards? Shit I?m going to be open season for a while. Marcus thought to himself as his toast popped and he spread some jam over it.

?I wonder what they?ll start calling me after I freeze your pasty asses solid for making those corny jokes.? Marcus said as the two played out their giggles and proceeded to eat his breakfast.

With nothing else coming to mind Tommy struck the piece of toast in his mouth and walked back to his room. A minute later he was back out with the Camelbak and the leftover water balloons. Justin walked back to his room to go back to sleep after saying something about not waking him up again unless Marcus suddenly got the power to teleport fine ass naked women into their apartment.

?I?ve already got that power,? Marcus chirped back as he filled up the Camelbak from the sink while he finished his toast and filled the rest of the bag with full water balloons, a can of coke, and a deli meat sandwich.

?I?ll see you later.? Marcus said to Tommy who turned on ESPN and waved goodbye in the form of a middle finger and the simple phrase, ?have fun making it past the press.?

I didn?t think about that one. Marcus stopped in his tracks and headed back into his room and grabbed his bike, lock, and key. Running past the paparazzi might not work, but biking past them might give me a better speed advantage.

Walking to the front entrance the paparazzi were stationed about thirty yards back from the entrance. To Marcus? lack of knowledge the super attendant had a cop friend show up and threaten to issue fines for creating a fire evacuation hazard if they weren?t at least this far back.

This was good news for Marcus as he pressed the wheelchair door button and both the inside and outside entrance started to open. Once fully open Marcus started pedaling from within the building and blazed past the waiting press after making it out of the building and down the road.

A couple minutes later Marcus arrived at the West entrance to the park and locked up his bike. His phone had gone off while biking and he checked it to find Dom?s message.

 Adam, Chris, and I are all at Manning's. We're all near the south entrance, by the children's playground. That one with the swings, and the biiiiig seesaws. Anyone else here, or are we just that early?

Marcus found a similar map by his entrance and found the big arrow and star showing him where he was.

Here. West entrance by the bike rack. Where we meeting up?

Marcus sent back to Dom and Lisette before seeing the time on his phone.

That?s a faster time than I expected. I could have sworn something with the gears is fucked. The chain kept skipping.

 

[tsatoma]

The cellphone on the pile of papers beeped, telling Izzy that she had just gotten a message. It can wait until I get some form of sustenance, she thought as she poured the last of her milk into a bowl of cereal; cleaning out the empty jug and tossing it into the recycling trash can. Once she had sat herself and the bowl down, she picked up her phone to take a look at the message.

You wanted to know if anything was up. One of the girls is going to Manning's Park for power practice or some shit. I'm heading down there soon.

"And he even sent a map, how thoughtful," she mumbled as she took a bite, texting a quick response that she'd be there shortly before placing the phone back down. This should at least bring about some explanations...or perhaps even just make me feel less like a freak of nature.

Izzy quietly ate her cereal as she thought over a few things. One was what she'd be wearing today which, after a quick look at the weather, was sorted out quickly enough. The other thing was how best to evade the paparazzi that were scattered outside, waiting to barrage her with the same questions they had been asking for days now. "I do have one advantage," she said aloud after finishing, placing the empty bowl into the sink before going to change.

The warm weather allowed Izzy to wear a more summery outfit; letting her wear a pair of white shorts, a grey V-neck, and a denim jacket in case a breeze came. Normally she'd wear flip-flops for this sort of ensemble, but since she would be doing some sort of activity at the least she opted for some worn out Sperry's she had. I feel less bad if they get ruined, and I can make it work with a whole 'worn down' sort of look.

After grabbing a pair of sunglasses, her cell, and a small wallet, she left her apartment; heading up the stairwell instead of down. Why the door at the top of the stairwell was never locked she would probably never know, but Izzy wasn't complaining this time as she exited to the roof top. Looking down over the edge of the front of the building showed a half dozen paparazzi lounging about, with a few more potentially hidden away in cars or inside any of the various shops across the street. They certainly wouldn't be looking up here for their scoop, Izzy thought, backing away and looking at the rooftops to her right.

The closeness of her apartment to the adjacent ones and their similar heights would make jumping across an easy task with the new found speed Izzy had taken note of. "I only need to get over onto the third one to be clear of any trouble anyways. And the fire escape will take me close to the park."

Though the task was easy, Izzy found it difficult to make the first jump; wishing she had had some liquid courage beforehand. "It is just a simple jump. You are definitely fast enough to make it with ease! You probably could have made it even before you got the speed boost," she told herself to battle the nerves, taking one more deep breath as she looked from the opposite side of the roof to where she needed to go.

One moment she had barely placed one foot in front of the other, and the next she found herself skidding on the far side of the other roof. "Hah. Okay, next time let us try not to overshoot the jump," she said in giddy excitement after the successful jumping, making her way to the opposite side for the last jump over.

The last jump was easier than the first, with Izzy landing almost on target on the roof top at the corner of the block. "Now to get down." Though she did want to try out various ways of climbing down now that she had powers, the boost of confidence that the jumps had given her were not enough to try anything more than just climbing down the fire escape.

"Next time," she told herself with a sense of pride at what she had accomplished, heading on down to where Manning's Park was after making it back onto the street. The walk was a quick one, and soon enough she found herself walking along the park's fencing over towards one of the entrances.

 

[CounterAttack]

The drive was more or less uneventful. Smooth sailing, aside from a short conversation on the radio about the Festival quake. Lisette grimaced at that. She was of the mind that she'd need to balance out her work and studies with the new development of superpowers. Hearing her phone buzz, she pulled up at Manning's eastern entrance, where the largest parking lot was situated, and promptly checked the messages: a handful of confirmations from Dom and Christine, plus Adam and Noel. Marcus had also sent in a response.

Adam, Chris, and I are all at Manning's. We're all near the south entrance, by the children's playground. That one with the swings, and the biiiiig seesaws. Anyone else here, or are we just that early?

Here. West entrance by the bike rack. Where we meeting up?

Where to meet up... that was a good question. The park was sparsely populated, but Lisette wanted a spot that was both quiet and out of the way. If I remember correctly, there's a small patch of trees near the center... that should be good.

Head for the middle of the park, where the trees are. I'm gonna set up near the base of one of the big ones,

she replied to the questioning parties before she took her bag from the passenger seat and got out, locking the car behind her.

[hr]

Two suits in a plain white sedan watched Lisette enter the park. She looked like any other student here for lunch, maybe some studying... except she had no textbooks or anything of the sort.

"Okay, we tracked her here. Now what?" one asked the other.

"Our orders still stand. Subdue, detain and bring her back to HQ for further testing," the second stated. "Shouldn't be an issue."

"What if she resists?"

"Detain her by force. Duh. You new to this deal or something?"

"I do surveillance, not bloody hostage-taking in broad daylight," the first retorted.

"Whatever. Boss thought you were good enough for the job." Second sighed. "If you do shoot her, though, put a round through her leg, not the chest like you were taught in basic. Better to have a crippled experiment than a dead one." With that, they too left their vehicle and began to follow Lisette from a distance.

[hr]

Cooler bag in hand, Lisette soon found the place she wanted: the base of a rather large tree. Never really know what these ones are called... might have to look up the name at some point. Setting up was quick enough: all she had to do was find a spot to sit down and take out the sealed jug.

"What to do now... how best to get started, I guess, is a better question," she mused to herself. She removed the lid from the jug and set it aside, before cupping her hands and drawing a small amount of water from the jug's supply. Here goes... nailed it. Sure enough, within a second or so the withdrawn water had chilled and frozen.

Hmm. How did I not freeze the whole jug's worth when I first touched it? ... Wait, what the? She couldn't move her fingers. The residue water from the jug had frozen as well, encasing her fingers in a solid but somewhat thin layer of ice. "That's new."

 

[NeoAC]

The strategy had paid off. The reporters were nowhere to be seen. Good thing they they didn't follow me. I don't know what explanation I would be able to give for lugging this thing around. Kayla was just outside the western entrance to the park, shelf resting on the ground beside her. Her phone had given her directions since the setting was unfamiliar. There wasn't much reason to come out to the urban green spot since there were always things to read and food to be made. The Midwestern air didn't compare to the ocean-spray breezes of the California coast. Still, if she was going to actually do something with this "gift", it would be best to practice it in the same manner as she did her usual coursework.

Kayla took out her phone and texted Lisette.

I'm at the West entrance. Where are you? Don't tell me I lugged this junk out here this early for nothing.

As she sent it off, she grasped at her head, still not thrilled to be active so soon after her adventures chasing the worm.

[hr]

In a brown Dodge Charger, a man whose grey-specked beard informed the populace that he was on the wrong side of 30 gazed out at the young Asian-American. He pulled into a parking space across from the park, down the street from where Kayla was fiddling with her phone.

I guess talking with the Boss paid off. This cutie don't even look too dangerous. Though I don't know what's the deal with the shelf. Can't be moving day this late in the month.

The man took his own phone out of his windbreaker pocket and opened up a recorder. "Target has stopped on Cowlishaw Drive...grasping at her head. Possible telekinetic ability developing? Still in surveillance mode. If she proceeds into Manning Park, move will be made to confront and subdue there."

 

[Fappy]

Noel had been midway through texting the group regarding the meeting location when her phone died on her. You know how you're supposed to let a new phone battery fully charge before using it? Yeah, Noel didn't have time for that. She gritted her teeth and tossed the piece of plastic into her purse, "God dammit..."

Maybe if she had Adam's powers she'd be able to recharge it herself. She could always ask him once she found the group. Then again, they had no idea how to use their powers yet, so she'd probably just end up with another fried phone. She had lied to her father about it already and she wasn't sure he'd buy the same story twice.

Noel made a quick stop at a convenient store to pick up some chips and pretzels before arriving at the east entrance of the park. As she crossed through the parking lot she recognized Lisette's among the few parked there.

Hopefully I am not too late...

She picked up the pace but slowed to a crawl when she noticed something... odd. Two men in suits were walking side-by-side ahead of her, taking in their surroundings in an almost methodical fashion. She had seen this behavior many times before.

Come on, Noel... don't be paranoid! I am sure they're just here to... uh... have a picnic? Who wears a suit to a park?!

They had nothing on them and weren't speaking a word to one another as the walked deeper into the park. The signs were there, but Noel refused to acknowledge them. She wanted to believe that it was all okay. That there was nothing to worry about. Then the paranoia set in. She was trembling as she took shelter behind a tree and pulled out her phone.

Fuck.

In her panic she'd forgotten her phone was dead. If these guys really were a threat of some kind, how could she warn the others?! Then again, maybe it was nothing to worry about at all. Maybe Noel had just lost it. It could be that these two just wanted to take a brief stroll through the park.

Noel exhaled sharply and looked past the tree to see them farther up. It wouldn't do any harm to follow them for a bit. Would it?