Super Hero High: Prometheus Rising (IC, Open)

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Upon reaching the place where the 'Chupacabra' had been last sighted, the stench of death filled her nostrils, which she immediately covered with her sleeve. The smell of relatively clean cloth helped filter the awful smell better than her hand could have, or at least, that's what she believed anyway. When Michael gave out instructions, Sarah listened and then looked around, easily finding the trail of blood and branches. However, she decided to look around for a bit more before heading down that way.

It was then that he noticed Cassie, who seemed somewhat sick. Seeing that, despite her ailment, she was going to try to expend some energy in finding their target, Sarah did the least she could do. Casting a shadow over a branch, she created three curved blades which she then forced to spin at a great speed, acting as a fan, before adding some guards, so that nobody would cut themselves by mistake. With her shadow fan, Sarah approached Cassie and used it to push the horrid smell away from her.

"Don't overexert yourself." She said to her with a smile.

[Altruistic Paladins]

Bramwell halted his idea of organization when Cassie spoke. It was an idea he did not consider, and he felt idiotic for forgetting it. "Keep up the good work Sarah. Cassie, if you need a gas mask, just tell me. Beyond that, I will try to help if I can," Bramwell said in reference to the conclusion he and Cassie came to during breakfast. For that reason, Bramwell was then aware of Cassie's senses, even the kinesthetic sense, so that he may find some way to help. At the time, excitement built inside of him, for he was confident in Cassie's abilities.

[Orinon]

Jenkins
Jenkins listened in silence to Markus' explanation of the Avaloni people and the events following his people's war with them, nodding occasionally to show that he was listening. When Markus was done speaking he thought for a few moments before answering.

"Our war ended better," he explained, "because our enemy was sufficiently nonhuman to garner no sympathy. No one objected to 'finishing the job', as you put it. A nuclear deployment ensured that not enough of them remained to ever threaten us again. A rather efficient solution." After a further few moments of pondering he continued, "and since we were already divided into separate nations very few people sought any further large-scale conflict after the end of the war. A strange thought, that our divisive society might have actually spared us from further war."

"And," he continued, changing the subject slightly, "if you wish to see a psychologist we recently hired one to work with the students. I am sure he would be able to fit you in his schedule if you ask."

Markus waved his hand at Jenkin's offer.
"I'm good. I've got my ways of dealing with it. Plus, there were shrinks in Jusion's fleet, and we stopped over with them on the way here," he said, flicking a pen between his fingers, before trying the same thing with his artifical arm. This resulted in the pen breaking within 5 seconds. Sighing, Markus contented himself with flexing the arm.
"I'm surprised, actually. You lot aren't that far behind us, to be honest. I mean, yeah, your space technology sucks for the most part, but aside from that... I would even hazard a guess and say you're more advanced then us in some ways. Medicine, for example," Markus mused out loud.


As Abigale rounded out her lesson, she handed out more homework: This time a number of worksheets. As she shooed out the students, she waited until Josh was about to leave, then blocked his exit with her sword.
"Sit," she said, pointing at the nearest desk. Josh blinked for a moment, before sitting down once more. Abigale looked at him for a moment, then sighed. With that sigh, she seemed to almost shrink, to lose some of the aura of intimidation and indifference she normally held. If you looked closely enough, she was simply a 14 year old girl.
"Look... I know you're still pissed about Goltia-" She got cut off by Josh slamming his fist down on the desk surprisingly hard. Due (once again) to the differences between them and Earth humans, the desk caved slightly under the blow.
"Damn straight I'm fucking pissed, Abby. You let my twin, your older sister, charge off into the nastiest war our home has ever experienced!" he shouted, his anger manifesting as a angry looking glow around him. Abigale blinked, the only sign of her rather healthy amount of fear she held for her older brother.
"To find your best friend. Your only friend, I might add. And I didn't do it without reason," Abigale retorted. Josh scoffed.
"And what reason could possibly be enough to send our sister away?" Josh snarled. Abigale sighed, then started speaking. Josh realised she was speaking Sarvannan, and was explaining a plan. Her plan.

15 minutes later, Josh stared at Abigale, his expression blank.
"So. That's your plan," he said. Abigale nodded.
"All goes well, we'll be able to rid the universe of the Chessmaster, and provide Jusion the opening he's waiting for," she said. Josh rolled his eyes.
"You forgot the part where you're endangering an ENTIRE PLANET!" Josh shouted. Abigale flinched.
"It's worth it for our worlds back," she replied simply, coldly. Josh nodded. The cold bitch was back. He stood and grabbed his bag.
"I'm gonna be late for whatever class I have next. If you screw this up, I'll fucking kill you. If Goltia doesn't first," Josh said, before walking out of the class. As he walked, he mused to himself angrily. How could both Markus and Kara agree to this? And what about Goltia? This plan will be the end of us


Slipspace...

The man sat in his chair, looking at the screens in front of him. Some of the screen contained documents, details of ships and manpower. One contained a colored map, which contained ten spheres, two of which dwarfed, and were orbited by, the other eight. Another contained a picture of a very familiar blue planet, while another contained a picture of another planet, this one a savannah brown for the most part. Most of the screens, however, were taken up by intel reports. Reports about a certain family.
"So. Where do you think they went to?" the man asked, turning his glowing aqua eyes towards the room's other inhabitant: A young woman. Her hair was long and brown, and her eyes, strangely, a deep red. Her clothes were simple, practical. She seemed to be there of her own accord, but she knew better. No one did anything of their own accord onboard the Chessmaster's vessel.
"I don't know," she said, truthfully. She bit back a number of swear words and curses and inwardly hoped that she would be let out of the room. Something about the Chessmaster was.. .Wrong.
"Of course you don't," the Chessmaster replied softly, before turning his attention to the flashing screen in front of him. Pressing a button on his chair, the screen lit up, revealing a young man.
"Sir. We've done it. We tracked them to Jusion's Outlaws, and from there to a frigate called the Blood Rose, he said. The Chessmaster smiled.
"And the result?" he asked.
"A set of FTL co-ordinates. We've already plotted a course."
"Excellent. Send our young guest here back to her quarters. Contact me again when we leave Slipspace."

[Terintania]

Jay had come on the mission with everyone else despite his blindness. He felt like challenging himself, and just really hoped he wasn't to much of a burden on anyone else. He had done quite well so far, though he had stayed completely quiet so he could put his full concentration on not tripping or running in to something. He was starting to get a little tired of just following quietly, acting like he didn't exist, though.

When they reached the dead goat, he heard Cassie start gagging before he realized why. That was probably the only good thing he could think of about being blind: He couldn't see gross stuff or anything like that. It did, however, suck that being blind made his other senses more sharp, thus making it so he could smell stuff better then normal people. When the smell reached him, he started coughing slightly, but not like he was about to throw up, more like he just thought it stunk. It was probably the first sound he had made since the mission started.

After he recovered a bit, he decided to do what Micheal said, though he was pretty sure he would be absolutely useless in finding anything. He started clicking his tongue while turning in a slow circle, both trying to see if he could detect anything weird with his echolocation, which was doubtful since no one seemed to really see anything weird, and trying to get an idea of what the area around him looked like,

[Mighty Asgard]

Will had suddenly felt like a mental haze that was over his head was lifted after what seemed like a hour. It turned out, he had been sitting there for a hour. He knew that he was late for his classes, but at the moment he didn't even care. He slowly got up and left the cafeteria area. He made slow progress in getting to the infirmary, he had to stop and lean on a wall every couple of minutes. After an agonizingly slow walk he had finally arrived at the infirmary. He walked inside the infirmary and felt the rest of his mental strength leave him as he collapsed to the ground.

A nurse had approached Will as soon as he entered to see why he was there. Once he collapsed on the floor it became rather apparent that something was wrong with him so she called for help in moving him to one of the beds. A doctor rushed in soon after to examine him and find out what was wrong with him.

"He would p-personally ap-pologize for his y-younger sibling's ch-childish behavior. But I need the paperwork s-signed first. Y-your magic spell g-gave me m-more papers t-to sign just t-to enter t-this place. Please sign h-here, here, here, t-title here, i-initial here, n-name of spell h-here, i-in tr-triplicate." He said as he gave a pile of paperwork to John. As John looks at the man, he notice a multitude of arms holing paperwork, signing paperwork, taking paperwork from a floating inbox, putting paperwork to a floating outbox, the way the arms glimmer shows that the Chief of Bureaucracy is hiding them.

"M-my b-boss knows t-the i-importance o-of t-this world. O-other than be-being h-his f-favorite. H-he is a-against t-the way t-they are d-doing t-their j-job. I-instead of u-using their p-power r-responsively, they're j-just p-playing around. N-not to mention t-t-the L-lord of V-void." John would notice the man suddenly stopping, all of his arms stop what their doing, when he mention the name Lord of Void.

John looked down at the stack of papers he had been handed for a moment, and then unceremoniously tossed them on the ground. Looking back at the man in front of him his eyes were cold, dangerous. "I didn't ask for paperwork, and I frankly don't give a shit about it. If I decide to let your master set foot on this station I will let him, your contracts are worth no more than the paper they're printed on in that regard." The rhythmic tapping of the cane against his foot stopped. "Now, follow me."

The man wasn't given much of a choice whether to follow or not. The tone in John's voice made it quite clear that it was an order, and the armed guard walking behind them didn't leave much room for argument. After a short walk the two men and their armed escort arrived at the gym. John ushered the nervous man inside while the guard took up a position outside the doors. The gym was empty except for the two men who had just entered, a large circle of salt drawn on the ground, and twelve armed training drones standing at attention near the walls, just in case.

"This is how this will work," he said while turning towards the nervous man, "within that circle I will establish a small opening in the field. As long as your master stays within that circle there will be no trouble. If he steps out of it I will toss you both out the airlock. If he behaves I will call the headmaster so they can have a talk. Are we clear?"

Jenkins
Jenkins looked around the room for a moment before replying to Markus' observation. "Well, most of the technology here is at least a decade ahead of the rest of the world," he commented, "though we do share whatever can't compromise the security of the school or be used in the construction of weaponry. And after the war our scientists have been examining the technology left behind by the vampires. Their weapons weren't all that far ahead of ours, but their transportation technology was incredible. Instantaneous travel over great distances, folding space or something like that to create a doorway to another location."

"I think I read in a magazine," he continued after a few moments, "that we are just a few years away from practical application of that technology. On a small scale, of course."

Mission team
When Cassie used her power to look for the target she would only see it skulking in some bushes near a small stream, nothing that would give a perfect indication of where it was. When she informed Michael of this he nodded.

"Good job nonetheless, very good thinking Cassie," he said to her. Then he turned to the others, "right, we've found a trail, now we just need to follow it. I'll take the lead. Tara, you stay near the back with Dominic. The rest of you, as before, single file and keep your eyes and ears open." When they started moving again all three soldiers took up position at the rear, keeping their eyes on the students. At least the group could leave the smell of the rotting carcass behind, which was something they would all surely be thankful for.

After a short walk the blood track disappeared and Michael stopped the group. "The trail ends here," he explained, "does anyone have any ideas on how we should proceed?"

[Terintania]

Mission team
When Cassie used her power to look for the target she would only see it skulking in some bushes near a small stream, nothing that would give a perfect indication of where it was. When she informed Michael of this he nodded.

"Good job nonetheless, very good thinking Cassie," he said to her. Then he turned to the others, "right, we've found a trail, now we just need to follow it. I'll take the lead. Tara, you stay near the back with Dominic. The rest of you, as before, single file and keep your eyes and ears open." When they started moving again all three soldiers took up position at the rear, keeping their eyes on the students. At least the group could leave the smell of the rotting carcass behind, which was something they would all surely be thankful for.

After a short walk the blood track disappeared and Michael stopped the group. "The trail ends here," he explained, "does anyone have any ideas on how we should proceed?"

Jay stood quietly when Cassie explained what she saw, then as Michael spoke. When Michael said 'keep your eyes and ears open', Jay let out a sound that was kind of a high-pitched, humorless, laugh/scoff type of sound. He didn't seem annoyed at the comment about keeping his eyes open, but more seemed to find it funny in a slightly bitter way. He got in to single file as told, trying to avoid running in to anyone else.

He followed whoever was in front of him silently. Well, silently other then his constant humming. He felt sure he was going to lose his voice by the time the day was over, even if he wasn't humming that loud. When Michael stopped the group, he nearly plowed in to whoever was in front of him. "Hear any running water?" He asked, listening carefully himself. Cassie had said that she had seen it by a small stream, so if they could find the stream, that would be helpful.

(I asked Corrian if it was OK to post saying that Cassie had said something even though he hasn't posted yet, by the way.)

[Altruistic Paladins]

"Hmm, a scenthound would be helpful. Since I do not think we will be able to get one at this point, I must bring-up a law of forensic science. Locard's Exchange Principle means that, anytime two objects contact, trace evidence is formed. In order to find our spoor, we need to rely upon principles of tracking. If that fails, then baiting will be the next-best thing, something that we could do with a natural resource the spoor will need, such as water. Thank you for noticing that detail Cassie and Jay. For tracking, mud or soil should hold prints easily. If the plants in a print are dead, then we can reasonably assume this incident happened a while ago. Speaking of which, When was the goat found and where is the nearest source of water accessible to carnivorous animals?" Bramwell asked in a slower manner than he usualy did, something that was taking some effort and resulted in an awkward pacing at times.

Back on the station, Sakura and Makoto left quietly. For the reason of having no particular reason to stay in a class for fifteen minutes after it had ended. As Sakura walked with Makoto in tow, Makoto did not know what the next class was to be. She wondered if it was the class run by the nice history teacher. She wondered why she had not seen Doctor Segura anywhere, but she lost that thought quickly since she prefered the other history teacher for reasons of there being less conflicts in class. Currently she was more focused on the fact that Abigale was a person she was growing to hate. She thought that she would exactly the type of teacher who would put an instruction on a paper to just put a name on it and turn it in otherwise blank and how she was unsettled by Abigale even more than Doctor Segura's classroom, and Doctor Segura's class was convincing her that she needed more medication and even caused her to panic on more than one occasion.

[Kershya]

The Chief of Bureaucracy pick up the dropped papers and followed John to the gym. He sense some energy in the gym that's slowly fading. Hearing John's demand, he can only squeak.

"Y-yes s-s-sir." Sensing the energy, he can only ask. "D-d-did something h-happened h-here? I-I could s-sense s-some s-s-shadow magic. I-I'll h-have t-t-to s-sign m-m-more paperwork b-because of this."

[Zarkenis Ultima]

After being instructed to once again fall in a single line, Sarah did as she was told and got in line, letting the shadow 'fan' construct melt back into the shadow, and again took a position near the middle of the line, where she thought she could help out those ahead just as easily as she could help those behind if the need for that came up. However, it did not, and soon the group arrived at the spot where the 'Chupacabra's' trail seemed to end. They did not find the creature, but at least they were away from the dead goat's stench now.

When Michael asked if anyone had any ideas, Sarah did not reply, but instead, she focused. Closing her eyes and tuning out the voices of those around her, she concentrated, and felt the flowing blood and beating hearts of the members of the group. She did this in an attempt to try to detect any injured creature nearby, in hopes that it would be the creature they were looking for, the 'Chupacabra'.

[Corrian]

Cassie smiled at Sarah fanning the gross stench away from her. She really did appreciate it. She was one of those types that got easily sick to her stomach, and that smell was really making her sick. The sight of the goat didn't help, either, and she continued to try extremely hard not to look at the goat, for obvious reasons. She said thank you to Sarah for helping her, because she was someone who hated herself any time she forgot to thank someone for a nice gesture they did. She looked over at Bramwell too, and said, "I will be fine, Bramwell. I can do my clairvoyant detection by myself okay", while smiling a little.

Sadly, her vision of the creature was about as useless as she expected it to be. She had no idea where it was by what she saw, and it's not like a creek exactly narrowed it down either. Especially if you lived in Washington state. Or anywhere with lots of rain. Which made her feel a little useless again, because at first she was hoping that she could just use her ability and they would automatically know where to go, but then she thought about it and that wouldn't work at all. At least they had a general idea that it was by a river and not smack dab in the middle of a forest somewhere, so it was a little more helpful. Now, she just hoped her nerves would behave, so she didn't have an anxiety attack. And, she gave Michael a quick nod.

She did what she was told to do, and got into the single file in the group as they continued onwards. As they left the smell of the goat, she was relieved. It didn't feel so much like her small breakfast was about to come up anymore. Which, out here, when it was already hot a humid, was a good thing. Because the humidity and heat just made her feel like she was about to throw up even more.

When they stopped again, because the blood trail ended, she was trying to think of something they could do to try and see if they could track it. Hearing Jay's question, she shook her head, but wandered off a little closer to where she felt by just looking would be the most likely place for a stream, Obviously she wasn't stupid though, and she didn't completely wander off. Just a little ways from the big crowds of the group. Which was a mixture of a relief to her and not. A relief because she didn't like crowds, and not because she felt more like an easy target being alone like this, making her the easy prey and all. She just tried not to think about that, and instead tried her best to just listen for any sounds of running water, and let the others respond to Bramwell. Specifically the teachers and that sort.

[Mighty Asgard]

The Chief of Bureaucracy pick up the dropped papers and followed John to the gym. He sense some energy in the gym that's slowly fading. Hearing John's demand, he can only squeak.

"Y-yes s-s-sir." Sensing the energy, he can only ask. "D-d-did something h-happened h-here? I-I could s-sense s-some s-s-shadow magic. I-I'll h-have t-t-to s-sign m-m-more paperwork b-because of this."

"One of your master's friends came through here. We killed it," John explained nonchalantly while examining the circle of salt to ensure that it was arranged properly. Once he was satisfied that everything was in order he reached down and touched the salt with his right hand. There was no visible change to indicate that something had happened, but suddenly there was a small opening in the magic shield. The entire gap in the shield was encompassed by the circle of salt, providing a small area that it was possible to magically teleport into.

"Your master may enter now, just remember what I said. Any trouble, and you go out the airlock."

Mission team
Michael nodded at Bramwell, "yes, very good observation. The goat was found yesterday, and unfortunately there are enough small streams in this forest that we can't narrow it down much. Searching for tracks was a good idea though, it rained yesterday so the soil should hold tracks well."

If anyone searched for tracks in the mud they would rather easily find them, though not of the kind they might have expected. In the soft mud there were rather obvious bootprints leading in the same direction as the blood trail. One pair of boots had walked the trail before them, but no monstrous clawed feet.

Sarah's searching didn't result in anything useful. Wherever the target was, it was too far away for her to find it with a quick search.

Dominic remained silent, keeping a watchful eye on Cassie as she searched for clues a little bit away from the group.

[Kershya]

The Chief of Bureaucracy pick up the dropped papers and followed John to the gym. He sense some energy in the gym that's slowly fading. Hearing John's demand, he can only squeak.

"Y-yes s-s-sir." Sensing the energy, he can only ask. "D-d-did something h-happened h-here? I-I could s-sense s-some s-s-shadow magic. I-I'll h-have t-t-to s-sign m-m-more paperwork b-because of this."

"One of your master's friends came through here. We killed it," John explained nonchalantly while examining the circle of salt to ensure that it was arranged properly. Once he was satisfied that everything was in order he reached down and touched the salt with his right hand. There was no visible change to indicate that something had happened, but suddenly there was a small opening in the magic shield. The entire gap in the shield was encompassed by the circle of salt, providing a small area that it was possible to magically teleport into.

"Your master may enter now, just remember what I said. Any trouble, and you go out the airlock."

The Chief of Bureaucracy then pull out a pile of paperwork as a desk and chair appear at the center of the circle. He put the needed paperwork on the desk.

The Lord of Balance then step through the open portal. His appearance looks like Slenderman wearing an outfit that looks like a combination of Confucius and the Pope, all in a shade of neutral grey with an equal amount of black and white embroidery. He wears a sliver crown on his featureless head and wields a staff with a greatly imbalanced silver scale at its top. Of course, only those who use magic can see him as this, to anyone else, the Lord of Balance would look sort of like the Jade Emperor in a grey color theme.

"P-please sign t-these, sir." The man said to his boss as he started signing the paperwork.

"Auxiliary paperwork for Article 45, Section 23, Clause 36, for unsigned or incomplete paperwork, auxiliary paperwork for Volume 36, Book 683, Article 29, Section 48-hcb, for not following proper channels. You really need some rest, we need you to be at tip top shape to help preventing the coming disaster." The Lord of Balance said to him.

"T-the b-b-balance isn't g-going well?" He asked.

"It's getting worse, even with what we're doing, at this rate, the multiverse will hit the metaphysical cliff. The plan has to work." The lord said as he look at the lopsided scale on his staff.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Sarah concentrated and tried to feel anything beyond the people gathered nearby, but failed to do so. The creature they were looking for was likely too far away for her to find through her blood sense, and so she stopped her efforts, sighing. She decided that her efforts would be better spend looking for clues through more, to put it that way, mundane means, and thus, hearing what Michael said about tracks in the soil, she began looking for exactly that.

It did not take her long to find what she was looking for. After a few moments of looking around, she called out to the rest of the group. "I think I found something." She said. She didn't begin to follow the mud trail just yet, waiting for Michael's instructions instead.

[Altruistic Paladins]

"Well, I am surprised I did not notice that before. Good job Sarah either way. I will need to have an eye test after this. We are either dealing with a chupacabra in a human suit, a very elaborate and well-done example of fraud, or a shape-shifter that luckily includes clothes in his forms. Wait, I do not want any overstatements to go over anyone's heads. Possible assailants of the victim include a chupacabra with access to boots and potentially more clothes, a fraud with a costume that is impractical in which to actually fight, or a hostile that is not always a chupacabra that for some reason killed a goat without his shoes being torn apart by the transformation until after he killed the goat when the assumption is that his shifting does not include clothes as a part of the deal. Either way, assumptions are not decent at this portion of this animal cruelty case that perhaps may not be adapted into a homicide or taking case. Let us keep following the evidence," Bramwell said in a calmer manner. His awkward pacing was gone, and was back to his regular pace. "We should be ready once Cassie has finished her task," Bramwell said at a higher volume.

[Kershya]

Isaac simply go with the group, his power of being lucky has made him found a number of nick-knacks, from a rock with ancient writing to a Spanish gold coin.

"I won't be surprise if you'll find a lost city of gold. You already found a lost temple." A soldier said to him as the group then found the remains of a dead goat.

Looking at the mud trail Sarah found, and trusting his gut, he said.

"I think we may find what we're looking for in that direction. Of course, I got a bad feeling about this."

[Terintania]

Jay listened to what everyone said, raising an eyebrow slightly when Bramwell said something about a trap. He was thinking that this thing hadn't been caught yet, and he was sure people had tried, so why would it just walk into a trap for them? It didn't seem very logical, but he stayed quiet. When it was suggested that they look for tracks in the mud, Jay just kind of blinked and stood there, knowing he would be of no use in that area, so he just continued to stay quiet and listen, as well as use his echolocation to try to find anything that might be off.

When Sarah found the boot prints, he went over to her. "So...it wears boots? Assuming it's not the prints of some guy who lives in the woods. I mean, they might have nothing to do with the chupacabra. But I guess it's all we have to go off of, so..." He trailed off, 'looking' up at the trees. "Just to make sure we cover everything, anyone see any kind of disturbance in the branches up there? Like something that could indicate that something was climbing through the trees?" It was times like these when he disliked being blind: Having to ask someone else if they could see anything.

[Orinon]

"Hmmm," was Markus' reply. He stared at the ceiling for a moment, then grab the phone off the desk and dialled in the number for the station's directory. A pleasant, and familiar, voice answer.
"Station Directory. What's your request?" a obviously pre recorded clip of Kara asked. Markus snorted softly.
"Very funny Kara. I know you're listening," he said. There was a click, followed by a sigh.
"Yeah yeah. Whatcha need?" Kara proper asked.
"Do up a patrol route for me. Need to... Check the dorms and some of the unused classrooms," Markus said. The line went dead and Markus put the phone back down.
"I think she's angry at me. Auron knows why," Markus said with a smile.He then opened the expected email on the desk's computer and printed off the attached map, before standing and stretching.
"I need to walk. I'll be back," he said as he walked out of the office.

[Camicon]

"Are you really that dense, Bramwell?"

I'd stayed quiet until now, relegating myself to the task of keeping an eye and ear out, reading for the off chance that this chupacabra attacked us, or the more likely possibility that one of our military "escorts" got a little trigger happy, and tried to shoot some of us. But Bramwell's incessant yammering, and blinding stupidity, was starting to irritate me.

"When you've got a blood trail , and foot prints, what's your first thought? Because mine is 'somebody is injured, and is probably going to collapse soon without medical help'. The first thing I'd do would be to check whether or not the boot print is disrupting the blood trail. If it is, that would indicate that someone else is going after whatever laid the blood trail, as well as whatever did lay the blood trail is able to move without leaving tracks in the mud. Personally, I'm leaning towards the latter. Either way, we need to pick up the pace, and be alert. An ambush would be easy, with all these plants around us."

I think I may have come off a little harsher than I intended, but I wasn't use to the overpowering, omnipresent heat, and stifling humidity, of the jungle. The simulator had mimicked it, somewhat successfully, but not perfectly. It was a far cry from the woods back home, and it was putting me into a sour mood.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

"It's the best lead we have, Jay." Sarah said in response to what the blind man said to her, and straightened up from looking at the mud tracks. Listening to his question about disturbances in the branches of the nearby trees, she looked up, wondering if she would find out anything from that small action. However, before she could act on or inform others of her discoveries, if any, she was interrupted by the sound of Tara's voice as she spoke addressing Bramwell, and rather aggressively at that.

When Tara was done speaking, Sarah put a hand on her classmate's shoulder. "Please calm down, Tara. The things you said we should check can be checked quickly. There is no need to act aggressively towards our own allies." She said, and then looked at the mud tracks to see if they in fact disrupted the blood trails or not. "Although..." She said, still looking down. "There is something that causes me concern. Are we sure that the blood from the trail belongs to the creature we've been calling 'Chupacabra'?" She inquired.

[Altruistic Paladins]

"You made a helpful observation, Jay. Thank you for that, as it will mean the canopy shall be watched more observantly than previously. Thank you for that. Wait; did I repeat myself?" Bramwell said in a congradulatory tone before his questioning of his repetition. "That was an aggressive tone? Nevermind that insignificant instance. What is important is the fact that you have a bright observation that will help the investigation. I did not think of that possibility or the idea that there may be blood from something else among the rest of the blood. The problem will be the time it will take for microsatellite analysis and cross-checking human DNA with CODIS. Then again, that is under the assumption that is not an example of information for which they are withholding from us for educational purposes. Since there is a possibility that is the case, has there been any microsatellite analysis of the blood?" Bramwell said as he paced constantly, his eyes never ceasing their movement. Bramwell's eyes never focused on other people's eyes. The focus was on outlines of trees, as he thought that he may just find a chupacabra interrupting a tree's outline.

[Terintania]

"You're welcome," Jay said, thinking about the word 'observation'. Could you observe when you couldn't see? He decided they had way more important things to worry about. After a bit of thought, he seemed to think about something. "Has anyone considered the idea that maybe it's leading US into a trap?" He asked, looking kind of worried about the idea. "Just a thought," He added, letting out a few clicks with his tongue.

Other then throwing out possible ideas, he was feeling quite useless. He couldn't help look for any evidence or anything to help them find the chupacabra. He was just happy his echolocation was working good, at least for now, so that he wasn't a burden, he just wasn't helpful. At least, that was how he saw himself.

[Corrian]

While Cassie was doing her bit of wandering from the main part of the group, she was doing her best to block out everyone talking so she could focus on trying to hear some water. But as she walked farther away (not too far, though, she's not stupid), she started to look for the creature again, just because she felt uncomfortable and she was getting nervous that maybe the creature was watching her in one of the trees. Or someone else. She figured it probably wasn't, but better safe then dead. She heard some running water too, but right now was too busy focused on making sure the creature wasn't watching them now.

[Mighty Asgard]

The Chief of Bureaucracy then pull out a pile of paperwork as a desk and chair appear at the center of the circle. He put the needed paperwork on the desk.

The Lord of Balance then step through the open portal. His appearance looks like Slenderman wearing an outfit that looks like a combination of Confucius and the Pope, all in a shade of neutral grey with an equal amount of black and white embroidery. He wears a sliver crown on his featureless head and wields a staff with a greatly imbalanced silver scale at its top. Of course, only those who use magic can see him as this, to anyone else, the Lord of Balance would look sort of like the Jade Emperor in a grey color theme.

"P-please sign t-these, sir." The man said to his boss as he started signing the paperwork.

"Auxiliary paperwork for Article 45, Section 23, Clause 36, for unsigned or incomplete paperwork, auxiliary paperwork for Volume 36, Book 683, Article 29, Section 48-hcb, for not following proper channels. You really need some rest, we need you to be at tip top shape to help preventing the coming disaster." The Lord of Balance said to him.

"T-the b-b-balance isn't g-going well?" He asked.

"It's getting worse, even with what we're doing, at this rate, the multiverse will hit the metaphysical cliff. The plan has to work." The lord said as he look at the lopsided scale on his staff.

John examined the so-called lord of balance with indifference, finding nothing about the creature to be impressed about.

"Welcome to the Academy for the Empowered, Mister Balance," he said coldly, "I'll call for headmaster Anderson." He pushed a finger to his left ear, opening a channel on the small radio he carried but saying nothing.

A few moments later Anderson walked into the room. He looked no more impressed than John, but he looked less openly hostile than his tattooed colleague.

"I am rather busy, so I'll get right to business," the headmaster said to the lord, stopping a few yards away from the circle on the floor, "what is it you wanted to speak about?"

Mission team
"The blood," Michael said, "probably comes from the goat. We have no reports that indicate that the target has been injured during any encounter, it seems smart enough to avoid confronting any armed people." He approached the tracks in the mud and bent down to investigate them, though taking care not to disturb any of them. "Perhaps it is because the target is a superhuman on the run, which would explain its intelligence and apparent affinity for boots." He stood back up, "these tracks are the best clue we've got to go on, whether they belong to the target or someone else tracking it as well, so let's see where they lead."

"We'll assume that we're getting closer to the target, and that it might be hostile, so be careful. If any of you notice anything out of the ordinary while we're moving, speak up," he instructed, and then turned to Dominic, "and Dominic, be ready to deploy an air drop if we run into any big trouble." Dominic just chuckled at that, again taking up a position near the back of the column when they began moving again.

When Cassie looked for the creature with her powers she would only see it trudging through the forest, with no real way to tell where it was.

After a few minutes of following the trail in the mud they reached a small stream. It was only a few feet across but quite clear and cold, and Cassie might recognize it from her first vision. There were rather obvious signs that something had been there before them. In the relatively dry grass next to the stream there was a depression as if something had been sitting there, and next to the depression a few handfuls of bloody leaves were strewn about. Michael noticed this but didn't stop, waiting to see which of the students would be first to notice it, and if none of them did he would just have to point it out to them.

[Corrian]

Cassie let out a sigh when she just saw it trudging through the forest. That served no use at all for her. At least it showed her that none of them were about to be mauled by something with claws that could probably kill them instantly. Or at least tear them up and hospitalize them, which she would really prefer to avoid right now. She had no interest in being rushed to a medical place again, especially so soon after her car accident. Nor did she have any interest in seeing anyone else get seriously hurt.

"The creature is no longer by the water" Cassie told the others, coming back into the group. "And I heard running water not far ahead" She added quietly. At least, she thought it wasn't far ahead. She knew sometimes you could hear water from far away, and the water was actually still a long ways away before you actually got to it and saw it. Not that she had experienced that a whole lot in her sheltered teen life.

Cassie had to wonder how it could be so damn muddy and hot at the same time. She figured they probably got hot tropical rains, and it was probably muddy just from the humidity. She didn't voice this, though, and continued to follow the group in silence. When they got to the stream though, she instantly recognized it. "This looks like the area I saw in my first vision" She commented, biting her lip nervously and starting to shake, because being closer to where she relatively recently saw it wasn't pleasing to her. And being the paranoid girl she was, she looked to see where the creature was located yet again, beginning to worry about straining herself some more.

Caitlin
Caitlin personally liked the idea of it being a superhuman much more then a Chupacabra, because the concept of a Chupacabra continued to sound like a load of bullshit to her. So it being a superhuman seemed much more plausible. The fact she hadn't found any clues herself disappointed her a little, but she figured there was still time for her to find something along the trail. They hadn't finished finding this thing yet after all.

Now, when they got to the creek, she instantly noticed the place where it looked like something had been and the bloody leaves. Hearing Cassie say it was the spot she saw in her vision confirmed to her more that it was probably a sign. Unlike Cassie, she was less nervous about it though, but it didn't mean she wasn't worried at all. She was. Just not as much as Cassie. She had better control over it.

"Look. Bloody leaves" Caitlin pointed out to everyone else, pointing towards the spot. Cassie glanced over but quickly looked away, because she seemed to be the type that got squeamish around gory and bloody scenes, even if there wasn't a lot of blood. It didn't bother Caitlin. She had trained herself to be tougher about things like that. She watched a lot of horror movies, too. Yes, horror movies were fake, and seeing the real thing was different. But it had actually helped her, to her own surprise. Cassie had probably seen enough real blood in her short lifespan to last a lifetime, yet she still wasn't used to the sight of blood. Probably because it was too close to home on so many different occasions that it bothered her in various different ways.

[Altruistic Paladins]

"Cassie, it seems your vision was right. The spoor was here. The bloody leaves raise the question of whether the spoor has any injuries or if it was a prey animal. The impression can be inferred to be that of a bipedal spoor, which lends credence to the idea that our target is either a thorough hoax or the spoor is an actual oddity as opposed to an invasive predator," Bramwell said as he continued to pace, this time nearby the depression in it. Bramwell made sure to step only on dry-areas. "Thank you for the astute observation Caitlin. There is now a question of what value the bloody leaves hold to the investigation. If the leaves were large enough, I could understand someone being desperate enough to desenrascanco a dressing. Then again, that is just a hypothesis at this point unless Mister Moreno confirms it," Bramwell said. Bramwell forgot that most people in the group did not have the context to understand "desenrascano" unless Portuguese was a language any member of the group knew or they shared a certain interest of Bramwell's. Even then, Bramwell noticed the heat and humidity, but was not as distracted by it as other members of the group were. The reasons were that he experienced hot summers on numerous occasions and that the fatigues mitigated factors that distracted Bramwell.