GREY: A Story Of Heroes And Villains [IC]

by **Forest State** » Sun Jun 03, 2018 12:14 pm

GO TO OOC THREAD

CHAPTER ONE: THE HUNT FOR CASPER HATTON

“We’re setting them up to fail, Fantom. We’re putting our very lives on the line because you’re too impressed with this one person to realize the dangers,” said Izumi Satoshi, better known as Shogun. “And when I say our, I mean all of us. Staff. Student. Anyone else that happens to be tied to Specter. You know that I have a good sense for these things. If there’s any time that you’re going to trust me, you should make it now. Because I know what I’m talking about.”

“Yes, I’m aware that you aren’t happy about my appointments-”

“Appointment. Not plural. I think you’re a smart leader. I respect most of your decisions. But this one, this is one that I can’t live with. Not when we’re putting the students… The next generation of our kind, at risk like this. You’re not just fucking around with a team of your own, you’re fucking around with our future and you’re giving the Commission a chance to take us out in one blow-”

The man in the skeleton mask turned away from the window overlooking the academy, staring into Izumi’s eyes through the goggles of the mask. “You’re not forced to stay. If you disagree so much with Ruby being appointed to a staff position, you can leave and run your own operation. I also believe that your arguments against Ruby are completely unfounded-”

Izumi placed her hands on her hips in disagreement. “Bullshit. She does humanitarian work in Syria and then joins X Unit suddenly, and now they aren’t a team anymore? Who do you think is responsible for humanitarian work in war torn countries? She worked for the UN and the first time she joined a hero team, they end up disbanding because of pressure. You think those are just coincidences?”

“The vetting process has been completed and we’re confident in her loyalty,” stated Fantom, before starting to walk away. “I don’t want to hear anything more about this, and I don’t want it spreading to the other staff. Infighting is the quickest path to death, always remember that. I don’t want the staff hearing this, don’t want the students hearing it, it stays between us. Or we’ll have some problems.”

“You’re making a big mistake but fine, let’s let time prove me right. I just hope everyone isn’t dead when that happens.”

***

The large tugboat arrived at Hadley Island under the cover of night, with the stars visible in the sky and the campus only lit as much as need required, with small lamps and lanterns keeping the essential pathways visible. Just visible, not brightly lit. The goal was to avoid the island looking inhabited from the air, and that was the same reason they were arriving in the middle of the night, or more accurately, at about one in the morning. Some of the students would be below deck. Others would be near the front, watching as they inched closer and closer and rocked back and forth with the slow movements of the waves.

Trinity Mathieu had been alone when they arrived, standing on the right side of the ship and leaning on the railing, looking down at the waters as if she was deep in thought. She kept an observant eye on the others. Many of them were more nervous, more scared than she was. But this wasn’t scary to her. It was just another move, just like she had went from Grodno to Paris, and then from Paris to Belgrade to Bucharest. She’d already traveled more ground than some people traveled in their life, and this place was safer than the others she had went when she was on the run. At least, that was what they told her.

The boat docked at a harbor area and a man with an AK-74 rifle on his back stepped out of the wheelhouse and climbed down to the deck, gesturing for everyone to climb to dry land and follow him down the piers. “We’ve arrived at the destination. Follow me to the main square, and avoid straying off from the path for now. There will be time to explore the area after you’ve checked in and gotten your things placed in your rooms,” the man informed them. Trinity just shrugged and slung her bag around her shoulder again, silently following the man but staying behind the others. She didn’t feel like talking to anyone right now.

In the main square, all of the students would find a pair of the instructors standing in front of the largest meeting hall, which looked newly constructed unlike a few of the buildings on the island that looked renovated rather than newly made. The area was hardly lit properly, but everything that needed to be visible was visible. And the two instructors represented the two halves of the school. Daniel LaFlame was the head instructor of the heroes, and Izumi Satoshi was the head instructor of the villains. Before either instructor said anything, someone would walk amongst all of the students and hand each one a small slip of paper, that would tell them whether they were a hero or a villain.

by **The Cyberiad Council** » Sun Jun 03, 2018 3:44 pm

Cesar Wilder

"Seems a bit pretentious to me," Cesar said to no one in particular around him. "To tell us what we are, like they can tell for certain what we're gonna be." He adjusted the strap of his duffel bag and looked around. The group standing around him didn't seem too bad; a little motley, but not bad.

How did he get here? A rhetorical question to be sure, but one that deserved, nay, needed to be asked. He was just a boy from Portland, and now he was supposed to learn how to "fight the commission" or something to that effect. That was the impression he had gotten. Cesar turned his gaze to the instructors. They looked interesting to say the least; LaFlame looked like he'd be the kind of guy with a stick up his ass, but then so did Satoshi.

I bet I'm going to get along just fine. Cesar said sarcastically to himself. He was wearing a pair of worn out vans, the same that had carried him away from his home those few short weeks ago, black skinny jeans, and a white button down he had left open wit the sleeves rolled up. He stood out with his hair and tattoo, but he didn't care, it was just him. If people approved, great! If the didn't well, it wan't going to bring him down. His hand suddenly began to twitch rapidly, and he hurriedly grabbed it with his other. The hum stopped, and he massaged his palm. Cesar guessed he was just more nervous then he thought.

So, here he was, no family or friends in reach, everything familiar stripped away, leaving him exposed. It was time to run or fall, and he was damn good at running.

by **Khasinkonia** » Sun Jun 03, 2018 8:20 pm

This voyage by boat had been long awaited, at least on my end, and felt as if it took just as long. The whispers of the waves and the creatures within told me differently, but then, my internal clock was certainly not faring terribly well at the moment, and Mother Nature usually knew best. If there were anything that might be as honest with me as my body’s own sense, it was Mother Earth herself. She may lie to others, but not to me.

I sighed calmly as I listened in on the utterances of the boy next to me, feeling the sea wind billow through my flowy sea-foam blue maxiskirt, curl up into my tree-trunk brown shirt, and divulge the secrets of this patch of ocean’s depths to me in a barely audible whisper while it twirled and played with my hair. Although I suspected few others could hear, the waves were playing a gentle symphony on their drums and cymbals as they danced around the boat, sinking back to become one with the sea before rising once more, and continuing their cycle until they had no more heart to dance.

The gentle moon, my earth’s dear companion, cast its quiet glow down onto the sea and onto us, backed up by the myriad of distant stars—strangers going about their business in the vastness of the cosmos. As we pulled into harbour, I could hear quiet purring from the flora and fauna inhabiting the underbelly of the pier the calmly suggesting that I might watch my step, lest I fall into the water and disturb their home more than it already had. Even in this new place, Mother Nature welcomed me. As we walked through the sand, I heard whispers from the trees, suggesting we were rather unexpected guests to them, although I, at least, was a welcome one. As we were handed small strips of paper, I leaned over to the fellow who had muttered next to me earlier, who was seeming rather stressed, and spoke.

“The trees bid us welcome,” I softly said, my Franco-Breton accent swirling into the Newfoundlandic accent I had taught myself with every word that left my lips, “Their vines suggest we shall learn much safe from harm...”

by **Lunas Legion** » Mon Jun 04, 2018 9:07 am

Kaarina Laine

She wasn't sure what it was about boats, but she hated them. Not for any reason in and of themselves, more that it seemed, among other things, that she was extremely prone to being seasick. And so she'd found herself a spot at the side of the boat in the darkness where she could vomit her guts and bile out over the side in peace. And that was just on top of all the nervousness she felt about this entire situation.

Instinct told her it was a provocation. A way for the Commission to round them all up into one place and then pounce on them all at once with their full military might, crush them underfoot and they'd be done with. The Soviets had done that back in the 1920s, as she remembered from history class. She wouldn't rule out the Commission doing the same. But a place to settle down, to stop running? That... That sounded nice. She didn't like running, hopping from place to place, stealing, begging, mugging for the next meal and the next train fare onto the next country. If Europe actually had borders she'd have been screwed given she had no form of ID at all, but it didn't.

She didn't have much, since she'd learned to travel light. One large hiking backpack held all she needed, plus she could attach her skis and ski poles to it. 'I'm going skiing' had been a great cover story as long as she was going in the right direction or 'I'm on the way home from skiing' if she wasn't. Fleeced black trousers, too warm in this damn heat, a grey jacket tied around her waist and a white vest-top were her only clothes; she just had multiple copies of them, since that was what happened when you robbed a shop for clothing to survive. You grabbed the same stuff and ran. It was the same with make-up; most people on the run didn't need it, but for her, to cover up the white stripes on her face? To not be stared at for them, for the few who knew what they meant to scorn her over them? It was vital.

Even at night it was too damn hot here. Eventually they arrived at a harbour, and she just followed the others. She liked crowds. They were easy to fade into, easy to vanish in, and so she followed in a satisfied silence after wiping her mouth with the inside of her arm and then wiping that on the boat. There was barely any lighting, but she didn't mind. Darkness was the norm for her. She didn't bother taking much note of the instructors. Initial impressions were almost always wrong. You needed time to see how someone was. No one said anything, instead papers being handed out, one to everyone.

Oh, great, bureaucracy. She was last, because that's how it always was in these cases. 'The one who hasn't been given a slip of paper' was vague enough to get past her power but accurate enough so they knew who it'd be referring to. She squinted at it in the darkness. 'Villain', it read. Not surprising. She wasn't a hero. She just wanted to be left alone, to be normal. She crushed the piece of paper in her hand as she waited.

by **The Cross and Davids Star** » Mon Jun 04, 2018 10:16 am

Eli Stephens

Well, it's safe to say that I'm not going home anytime soon. The quiet ambience of the island was broken only by the sound of the waves of the shore, and the words of a girl beside me, who was definitely older. She was talking about how the trees welcome us or something like that, perhaps this would be a good way to start a conversation? I decided to try, I didn't have anything to lose.

"So, you can hear the trees talk? Are you like that one character in a kid's book, ah, I forget his name, but he 'speaks for the trees', or I think that's how it goes..."

Man, that was a bad start. I should have thought that over a bit more before I tried that. Shortly after, I, along with everyone else were led to a meeting hall, and received a piece of paper, for mine, it had a word on it, 'Villain'. Wait, what? Does that mean I'm going to be a villain here? Who in the world thought that would be best? I looked everywhere on the paper to see if there was something else, but no, there was only that one word. I pondered on why I was chosen to be a villain, perhaps it was a mixup, or was it something else? I didn't want to complain, so I simply stood where I was.

by **Khasinkonia** » Mon Jun 04, 2018 10:43 am

A children’s character who speaks for the trees? Now I did remember reading some story with that, although it took a moment of pondering to figure out what it was called. The Lorax, that was it. He wasn’t wrong; I do indeed speak for the trees. But the trees their own way of speaking to most too. The roots of trees don’t always break human structures simply by chance, after all. Sometimes a road being bent up by tree roots is a passive-aggressive comment telling people to slow down and drive more quietly, like a natural speed bump.

“Ah, yes, if you’re referring to the Lorax, I suppose you could compare us. Although I fancy myself a bit more than an orange furball,” I softly chuckled, opening my piece of paper to say ‘hero’, which must have indicated that I was expected or supposed to do good, and I was quite alright with that. Noticing the twinge of concern on his visage, I asked him, “Is everything alright?”

by **The Cross and Davids Star** » Mon Jun 04, 2018 10:59 am

Eli Stephens

She actually responded, which was quite a surprise to me, considering I was a social outcast in the past, but she knew what I meant. When she asked if everything was ok, I looked at her as if she just handed me a bar of gold, how long had it been since someone asked me such a question?

“W-well, sorta... I think someone had a mix up, because I’m assigned to the villains for some reason...” I said quietly, not sure what to say further. I looked down at the slip of paper, then gave it to the woman for her to see, hopefully to make sure I hadn’t gone crazy. This woman, who had I barely even met, gave more kindness to me than those I had known for years back home, aside from my parents. If we weren’t on seperate rosters, perhaps it would be easier to become friends with her...

by **Khasinkonia** » Mon Jun 04, 2018 11:13 am

I examined the piece of paper and read what was on it, looking intermittently back at him, and then holding the slip back for him. He certainly didn’t give me the impression of being a genuinely villainous sort, although I shouldn’t pretend to myself that I read fellow humans as well as I can understand the feelings of nature surrounding me. Still, he could likely use some reassurance.

“It would not surprise me,” I drawled, reaching my hand to pat his back, mentally inviting a warm breeze to hug him for me, the wind soon obliging with a gentle, yet comfortable breeze of air less stagnant and muggy that was around us before, “You don’t strike me as a villain. At least not one by nature, if that’s any solace.”

by **Forest State** » Mon Jun 04, 2018 11:28 am

Eventually, everyone had received a piece of paper, one that would only have one word on it, handwritten. Either “hero” or “villain” depending on which role the school judged someone being better in. The man handing out the papers withdrew to where the staff were standing, and the two instructors finished their brief conversation with each other. LaFlame turned to approach the students first, with Izumi staying further behind and watching carefully, her arms folded across her chest.

“Let me give you all a welcome to Hadley Academy, named after a figure you might recognize, former Order of Saints hero Ross Hadley. You may also recognize me, Daniel LaFlame, also known by the names Roach or Samsara. For those of you that have been given an assignment as heroes, I will be your main instructor. If your note says that you will be a villain, however, your head instructor is standing behind me. You will report to Izumi Satoshi, also called Shogun. From what I hear, she is considerably stricter, so tread carefully,” said LaFlame, pausing to give Izumi a chance to speak.

“Daniel may be a former member of the Order of Saints, and I am a former member of SUAHT, of course, but we’re working together for the same reason as everyone else on this island. If we’re divided, it will be much easier for the Commission to pick us off separately. I don’t know how long this peace will last, but while you’re on this island, you’re all on the same team. Even if you receive separate training and learn the skills that you will eventually use to fight each other,” Izumi stated. “You’ve already been briefed on the basics of this academy, but let me remind you all of this. Fighting each other is a quick way to helping the Commission, so think of that before taking certain actions. Second, classes may be hard. This won’t be a typical school. But we’re giving you these classes for your own benefit rather than ours.”

LaFlame gestured towards the dorm buildings on either side of them. Both looked new, just like the main meeting hall. “On either side of the main hall, you’ll find the dorms with your rooms. Left for the heroes. Right for the villains. The rooms may be small, but anything else that you need, such as the kitchen and showers, can be found in the same buildings. You may visit your friends in the other dorm, but we decided to separate students by alignment to… Instill loyalty to your own team. I suggest all of you take your things to the dorms and pick your rooms right now. You’ll be able to have a look around campus, ask questions, or eat when you finish with that. Make sure to head to the right building for your team.”

by **Forest State** » Mon Jun 04, 2018 2:04 pm

“Where are we going, exactly?” asked the college student in the back seat of the SUV, which was being driven by two of his roommates. “You still haven’t told me. I’m starting to get worried that you’re taking me out here to murder me or something,” he added, as they went further from the north of the United Kingdom and closer and closer to Scotland, which would be far away enough to hopefully throw the men in black off of the trail for a bit. “What the hell are we planning in Scotland?”

“We’re getting you out of here, Casper. Because even if you don’t think you need to get out of here, the tails that you’ve been getting from plain clothes MI5 officers say different,” said the driver of the car, Ellis. He looked back at Casper, his look not betraying the nervousness that even he was feeling. Someone had to be the strong one in the group, after all. “Not only that, but I’ve seen Commission vans rolling past in the middle of the night sometimes. I know I don’t have any powers, and Rhys doesn’t have any powers. They’re after you-”

“Yeah but they haven’t done anything yet, and I didn’t put in all the work getting into the University of Manchester and keeping my grades up to just run away because of some spooky men in black and a van or two,” Capser fired back, sounding frustrated. “You guys weren’t even going to tell me where we’re going until I asked? Weren’t even going to let me pack my bags?”

“Because it’s easier to get forgiveness than permission,” Rhys chimed in from the passenger seat. “Getting a degree and all is great, but it’s no use if the Commission takes you away and hauls you to who knows where. We’re taking you to Edinborough, and we’ll send you some money when we can. You need to get away from those agents, we’re helping you with that-”

“It’s help I never asked for.”

“But it’s what you need. You’ll thank us when you don’t get fucking arrested or killed. You can always go back to school later, you can’t say the same if they take you away or something. I’ve seen it happen to other friends, I’m not letting the same thing happen again,” said Ellis, and Casper finally fell silent as they made their way towards Edinborough. Well, they were on their way until traffic seemed to slow down significantly, and when they realized what the cause was, everyone was unsettled. Because there was a police checkpoint, and it wasn’t one that was supposed to be there.

“The fuck?” asked Rhys, and Ellis just shook his head to indicate that he didn’t have any more info than his roommate did.

“Probably not because of us. Let’s just act calm and see what this is about. Probably just bad timing on our part.”

And after minutes of sitting in traffic, they would attempt just that, as Ellis pulled the SUV up to the checkpoint and slowed down. But again, it was clear that the officers weren’t real officers, because of small differences in their uniforms. They didn’t seem to have real badges, just imitation ones that were off in a strange way, the way that a fake was when it didn’t quite stack up to the original despite being somewhat accurate.

“Can we have a look around the car?” asked the officer at the checkpoint, and when he had a closer look, he waved over other officers to come over. It was clear at that point that something was off.

“These aren’t even real cops!” Casper pointed out, and Ellis stepped on the gas and forced one of the fake cops to jump out of the way to avoid being run down. It nearly caused a crash with the car in front, but Ellis was able to navigate the SUV past despite scraping the railing initially, passing the traffic and getting back on the open road. “Jesus. Maybe you were right after all about needing to get out of here. Those guys must have been Commission… Or someone worse.”

by **Lunas Legion** » Mon Jun 04, 2018 2:33 pm

Kaarina Laine

She listened in silence, her head bowed. Names and words rolled over her, not-quite-meaningless noise that was ignored but for the things she picked out as pertaining her to some way, shape or form. She was a villain, therefore her head instructor who would apparently be this Shogun, Izumi Satoshi, who was in turn apparently was considerably stricter than the 'hero' instructor whom she'd largely ignored. He wasn't on her side of the fence as had seemingly been so arbitrarily declared by a slip of paper, but she saw no reason to dispute it. It'd be raising an unnecessary fuss, and draw attention to her and she wanted neither of those things. Attention was bad.

Other than that, the only things of relevance was that her dorm rooms were off to the right side of the hall since she was a villain. Didn't matter if the rooms were small, merely having a room was better than the streets or an overnight train or a hostel or a shelter or wherever she'd ended up sleeping. Having a kitchen and an actual shower around regularly sounded practically heavenly compared to running across Europe. But the hero instructor suggested they go to their respective dorms and choose their rooms, after which they could do whatever.

Well, setting down this rucksack and her skis and everything sounded nice, so she headed off in silence in the direction of the villain dorms.

by **Forest State** » Mon Jun 04, 2018 3:33 pm

Trinity Mathieu

So they would have their own rooms. Trinity found that interesting, and this would be the first time that she had been under an actual roof with her own room in…? She had lost track of the time, but she knew it wasn’t something that she had since leaving Paris while being pursued by the Commission. A small smile crossed her face, as she picked her bag up again and moved to get to the villain dorms before the others. She wanted her choice of room, and while she didn’t hate the idea of throwing punches to take which one she wanted by force, it wouldn't be a good idea to get in trouble this earlier.

There was that, and there was also the fact that she didn’t know the capabilities of the others, or what she was getting into with a fight with them. She would have to do her research in the coming days, because she doubted that it would be long before she was ready to slam someone’s head through a wall. If she wanted security for herself, she would have to prove that she wasn’t someone to be fucked with. And the sooner she proved that, the better. It just wasn’t time for it yet, though, because the staff were still standing right there, and she didn’t know if there were any other staff waiting around that she couldn’t see yet.

“I made it here for you, Gerek,” she said, reminding herself of her fallen ally as she stepped into the wooden dorm building, looking back at the girl behind her. The one with skis. She seemed like an interesting figure, bringing skis to a warm Asian island. But Trinity didn’t ask about it. Instead, she closed the door before the other girl could climb the steps, and she went into the room that was closest to the front entrance and set her bag down. If something happened, she’d rather be in a spot like this where she could get the hell out quicker than the others.

by **Lunas Legion** » Mon Jun 04, 2018 4:16 pm

Kaarina Laine

Well that was just rude. The girl or boy or she honestly really, really couldn't tell what gender they were from behind at least, had shut the door on her despite the fact that she was literally just about to climb the steps up to the building that was the villain dorm. Well, what was she expecting? The other people in the dorm were probably actual, genuine villains, robbers, terrorists, the bad guys that the news always kept harping on about as the reason to regulate Superiors.

Well, this was her life for... However long she was stuck here, but thank God they had showers and beds and all of that at least. She briskly made her way up the steps, feet scuffing against the steps before she reached the top and opened the door, making her way into the building. She didn't really care about where she ended up in the building, so she just picked the nearest available room and opened the door, dumping her rucksack against the floor, shutting the door behind her and beginning to unpack her meager stockpile of clothes, leaning her skis and ski poles against the wall next to the door before continuing to put her small pile of clothes into some semblance of order.

She'd probably go have a shower after unpacking everything and finding a towel or whatever since she didn't have one. It had been... Quite some time since she had a shower.

by **Llalta** » Mon Jun 04, 2018 4:26 pm

Esther Winterbourne

Being invisible had it's perks. For instance, you can be in crowds without anyone knowing. No more strangers judging. Oh, and the pranks.

It was mostly awkward tension, with everyone observing the people around them, as if wondering who to kill first. The night was still, yet muggy even though it was dark, just emphasising the tension in the air. I mostly stayed at the back, invisible of course, and ~~judge~~, I mean observe everyone. Such as the hippy and the skier that took a wrong turning. I'm guessing they had to be superiors too. Well, duh. I tried not to judge too harshly though, as some possess mind reading abilities. And apparently it can get pretty awkward. According to my dad, anyway. He's a superior too.

Another thing I noticed was that, most of these teens looked like the last shower they had was in 2012. According to my dad however, most superiors are kicked out or run away at young ages. I'm lucky I'm not. In fact they were here with me an hour ago before they left me on a creaking boat with unhygienic teens. I suppose I can forgive them though with all the conspiracies and hate towards us. Apparently where we're heading is a 'safe haven' for us, as if we're different. I'll get them back.

Anyway, I can safely say the boat ride was fun. Although, I had to cut down on pranks. It could lead to enemies and fighting, the superiors worst nightmare and could destroy them. So I only did one. I hope the tree hippie likes chilli flavoured water.

I decided to show my face when I departed the boat. My shaggy brown hair flapping in my face, not to mention my favourite bright yellow over sized hoodie, rippling in the wind. I wore bleached jeans with large rips and my yellow converses a gift from my dad. Another thing I noticed was that everyone looked like they were on a mountain hike, coats and all; I looked like I was going into town. They had huge bags while I had a small, leather and blue backpack.

We walked onto the pier, a perfect place to blend in with the crowd. I hoped no one noticed a small 16 year old suddenly appear. I think they were too worried to notice. I hope. We walked into a small plaza where everyone crowded around two adults, who after my dad's advice, I knew as Shogun and Skull man. And no, I still don't remember skull man's name.

Next thing I knew they were handing out small slips of paper. I got mine and opened it, revealing 'villain'. Well thanks. I always wanted to be a villain! As if these people know me! Deciding my future as if they control me! If I hadn't had studied these creeps I would have grabbed my dagger and shanked them. I mean these crazy-ass instructors that are splitting us up. All I could remember was something about 'Oh don't fight.' Shogun, who was the 'villain' instructer and apparently quite strict, started rambling on about something. Probably safety. I looked around at some of the other 'villains'. I wouldn't call these people villains. They looked like normal teens. Normal people being forced into a life they never wanted. For all I know these people may have run across the World to escape the Commission. Then told by the people that are supposed to make them safe say, 'Oh! You're a villain!' I didn't like this place already. It made sick just thinking about it.

I kinda just zoned out after a while. So I decided to turn invisible and explore the campus. I had better things to do than to listen to their drivel.

by **Khasinkonia** » Mon Jun 04, 2018 6:34 pm

Since the little conversation I was having was put to an end by the announcement, I figured it might be time to head over to find myself a room, preferably one with either a nice window, or near to the entrances and exits. I briefly considered going off through the forest, so, being that I hadn’t yet had much time to know the flora and fauna here, I stuck to the path, hurrying to have choice of room next to the doors. As the people I’d stood next to were near the outskirts, it wasn’t difficult to remain ahead of the pack even with my belongings, heavy as they were. I soon made it, and chose my room, just next to the entrance. Perhaps it would grow tiresome hearing people come and go, but then again, who wouldn’t hear that door in these halls?

I figured a nice relaxing tune might help me relax and settle, so I pulled up and skipped forward through Autumn Forest by Adrian von Ziegler—an artist who I thought produced some excellent Celtic music, even if he wasn’t himself one. I began to take my clothes from my bag, and place them into drawers gingerly, organizing and folding them neatly while sitting on the bed, listening to the soft tune playing on my phone, and watching people slowly making their way past my room. If I were able, it would be rather nice to have a plant or two in here, though I don’t like the idea of taking any from their natural habitats here.

This place didn’t seem it at the moment, but I think it has potential to become rather homely in spite of the circumstances. Perhaps some of these people might prove excellent friends, or worthy foes. But maybe that was just the mood of the music talking in my mind with all this grandeur.

by **Forest State** » Mon Jun 04, 2018 7:22 pm

Mat Laurenti

The boat trip had been interesting to say the least. It wasn’t anything like living in luxury back in Italy, but Mat was used to that by now after being in the jungles of Cambodia to stay hidden. He hadn’t just learned valuable survival skills there, but learned about the simple reality of living without wealth, or much at all. And that, the skill of walking between both lives and being able to survive with or without plenty of money, was something that was worth just as much as the survival skills.

Mat wasn’t sure what his assignment would be, but he wasn’t surprised when his slip of paper said “hero” on it. After all, his family had believed in spreading the magical arts to the world, and improving things with it. Even with his hunt for vengeance, he wasn’t shocked at being assigned a hero, because he definitely didn’t have a villainous message behind his actions. Quite the opposite, actually.

He didn’t have much to take with him, just his sword and some clothes, really, so he was quick getting to a room and setting the bag down on his bed, strapping on his scabbard before stepping out into the hallway and looking for some of the others. One thing did get his attention. Music, of the Celtic sort. He followed the sound of it, standing in the open doorway and looking into the room for the one that was unpacking inside.

“Nice choice in music,” he stated, his voice sounding like the flat tone that it tended to be when he wasn’t in the middle of a mood swing.

by **The Cyberiad Council** » Mon Jun 04, 2018 10:37 pm

"Villain?" Cesar looked at the piece of paper with curiosity. He'd never thought of himself as a bad person, but he supposed it was a rare villain that did. Following the small group of villains toward their barracks. One turned invisible and headed off to parts unknown, while the first two seemed to have a tense exchange via the door. "Great. I guess 'villain' is code for anti-social." He said outloud hoping at least one of the other visible two could hear it. There was the girl he couldn't really remember, the invisible guy, and then... another one? That was yet to be seen, but they were intriguing.

Not daunted with his new group, Cesar found the next open room closest to the others and threw his stuff on the bed before kicking off his shoes and sitting cross-legged outside of his door, waiting for one of his charming associates to leave their rooms.

by **Khasinkonia** » Tue Jun 05, 2018 1:49 pm

I was sitting on the bed, listening to my music and finishing folding my pile of skirts, when a fellow came to my door, and commented on what I was listening to. He seemed to be a fairly decent fellow, although I personally think his face would look better with hair a bit longer, perhaps a more boy-next-door hairdo. But who am I to judge? After all, it’s not like my own appearance is the most popular among some folks; I’m in no position to make any comments.

“Ah, you like it? It’s a composition by Adrian von Ziegler. I’m personally quite a fan. If I could, I think I’d make him an honorary Celt,” I responded, locking gazes with him, and making a small smile.

by **Forest State** » Tue Jun 05, 2018 3:03 pm

Mat Laurenti

“I’ve always liked the Celts. Been to Ireland a few times during my childhood, my family owned some houses there. In a lot of places across Europe, really,” Mat stated, losing track of his thoughts slightly before shifting his attention back to what was right in front of him. The girl in the room seemed interesting. Blue hair wasn’t something that you saw every day. But then again, his bleached hair wasn’t exactly common either, so he didn’t have room to talk. “Is that where you’re from?” he inquired curiously.

by **Khasinkonia** » Tue Jun 05, 2018 4:27 pm

“Well, yes, I am from Europe,” I nodded, “Although not from Ireland. I’m happy to know my accent in English is good enough to fool people, though! I’m actually from Brittany, in France, but the accent I learned for English is based in Newfoundlandish. If you like Celtic music, might I also recommend an artist by the name of Nolwenn Leroy? She has some wonderful covers of some old folk songs, as well as some of her own more modern compositions.”

I got up off of my bed, and opened a free drawer, placing my folded skirts in, and shutting it, then moving on to shirts.

by **Forest State** » Tue Jun 05, 2018 8:36 pm

Mat Laurenti

“France. That’s somewhere that I’m familiar with. Spent some summers there, learned the language. Albeit, much further southwards. In Lyon. I wish I could have been to Brittany at least once,” Mat said, leaving off the last part. That he wished he had went there before everything went to complete shit back in Verona, with the Commission raiding his family’s property and attempting to cut them off permanently with a battle that ended as a last stand for the Laurenti family and resulted in Mat being taken away to Cambodia to hide. Oh how different those jungles were from the places that he had grown up…

“But anyway. Thanks for the recommendation. My name’s Mat… Laurenti, by the way. And you would be…?” he asked. His accent probably didn’t give away the fact that he was from one of the countries next to hers, Italy. Because he’d been in enough places that his accent wasn’t really something that existed. It sounded European rather than American, but that was just about it.

by **Khasinkonia** » Tue Jun 05, 2018 9:54 pm

“Pleased to meet you, Mat. I’m called Corentina-Elouana Koaduuiueg. It means “light-hurricane of the worthy forest” in my native tongue, Breton. My full given name is kinda long, so you can just call me Elouana, or come up with a nickname if you prefer,” I replied, pausing for a moment to look him up and down, “You look like you’d enjoy the part I’m from. Huelgoat, or An Uhelgoad, is a little commune, a town, if you will, right on the edges of one of our last true forests. When it’s not a tourist season, it’s very peaceful, and even with tourists, and when hiding from the Commission, the beauty of the nature is still undeniable. It’s just a shame it’s not larger. Anyways, where are you from?”

by **Arengin Union** » Tue Jun 05, 2018 10:08 pm

Undisclosed Location in Siberia, Russia.
2024.

The cold, the unforgiving cold of this landscape that stretched for miles on end, that's everything Liam and Nina could feel. As they both ran across the snowy terrain of the Siberian forest, both exhausted and ever so weakening. Liam had Nina around his arms as both tried to run through the deep snow which was beginning to overtake their legs up to their knees. Nina shivered uncontrollably as she tried her best to keep the pace of her companion. Liam for his part felt the pressure on his bones as he pushed his body harder to try and move, but deep within himself he knew it was all for nothing, but he had to try, for her.

Not so far behind, the motors of snowmobiles could be heard across the mountain ranges that adorned this frozen land. The steps of men in dark uniforms were imprinted on the snow as they moved across the frozen river way, following the tracks of the two fugitives. Up on the ridge were the men in snowmobiles circled around as the armed men down on the frozen stream kept advancing. There was dozens of them, each adorned with a green arm band of unknown meaning to anyone who wasn't affiliated with the highest levels of authority in the land. Up on the sky, the shining beacon of a UAV was visible, the lens of its camera surveillant and piercing through the snowy canopy of the landscape, tracking close the moves of both Liam and Nina, unbeknownst to them.

The men in uniform and armed with assault rifles of differing models were following close, the drone up on the sky kept observing, the green signal of the men in military gear closing in towards the red signal of the two fugitives. The signal of the snowmobile men moving at a faster speed as they circled around the path Liam and Nina were taking, the two didn't know it, but they were already lost.

Liam looked behind him, he saw the dark figures of their pursuers, closing in fast while he and Nina were weakening and going slower and slower by the second. They would soon be face to face with these men, Liam knew it. He stopped, Nina stopped with him, the two looked around as the men in snowmobiles began to encircle them, and finally the armed men on foot surrounded them.

One of the masked men, his rifle raised to Liam and Nina yelled at them.

"You're surrounded, get away from each other slowly and get your hands up!" The man said, authority in his voice as he kept the rifle aimed at Liam, the other men with rifles had their guns aimed at either Liam or Nina as the ones in snowmobiles kept ready to start their vehicles again if need be.

Liam and Nina looked at each other, sadness in both's eyes. Despaired and scared as they knew they would be separated, away from each other to be locked away, maybe even experimented as some sort of science class project. Nina shed a tear as she hugged Liam, Liam had anger in his eyes.

"GET AWAY FROM EACH OTHER AND HANDS UP!" The man commanded again.

Within a second, a ray of electricity hit the soldier and several others. Liam's entire body covered in waves of electricity that would flicker and bolt as he moved to attack again. Nina for her part revealed her electrical based powers as well, her body covered in waves of electricity as she fired bolts of them at the men surrounding her and Liam.

The two metahumans fired bolts and waves of electrical currents as their foes who began to scatter. Soon, the two metahumans began receive incoming bullets from the armed men. The ones in snowmobiles moved quick to circle around the two metahumans, Liam fired a bolt that hit one snowmobile which destroyed it and its passenger, Nina tried to do the same but she was suddenly hit in the ribcage by a bullet. Nina went down on the floor, screaming in pain as the white snow was now covered in red blood. Liam quickly took notice and kneeled to her, trying to comfort her despite the various bullets swinging by and hitting the surrounding snow.

Liam had Nina in his arms, her powers vanished as she turned pale, her last act, to touch Liam's cheek, softly and with care as she muttered three words. "I love you..." With that, she closed her eyes to embrace death.

Liam yelled in furry as the electrical currents surrounded him, a tear coming out of his eye. The armed men approached slowly, weapons ready as two helicopters began to fly up close to the ground. In one of the helicopter was a single sharpshooter at the side of the door, taking aim with a big rifle he aimed at Liam's head.

"Target acquired, requesting permission to eliminate." The sharpshooter said over the comms of his helmet.

"Permission granted." A commanding voiced answered.

A loud gunshot was heard, what seemed to be a fast lighting bullet pierced through Liam's head, ending the electrical waves around him and leaving his lifeless body in a knelt position, with Nina's in his arms. The armed men got closer, one of them approached the two bodies, and as if it was two toy dolls he casually injected a syringe into each of the dead metahumans, extracting a pint of blood and promptly leaving towards a landing helicopter, the helicopter had a logo on it's side, a golden logo with the words.

OMEGA HORIZON.

by **Forest State** » Wed Jun 06, 2018 12:15 am

Mat Laurenti

“I’ll call you Ellie. Seems a bit easier to remember and say than the full thing,” Mat chuckled. The name made him wonder about her background. Was she from a higher up family like his had been before their fall? Her name definitely didn’t sound like one that a working class person would have, after all. And on that note, he wondered how much, if at all, she knew about his own family. Their work with the magical arts, and the resulting controversies, had put them on the map. Then again, they hadn’t had much of an impact after the Three Gorges incident, because most of them were dead.

“I’m from Verona, Italy. You know, the city that everyone knows for Romeo and Juliet. It’s nice. Typical Mediterranean buildings, old churches all over the place, it’s that kind of city. But I spent a lot of time traveling growing up. Lyon, New York, Buenos Aires, Rome, I spent time in all of those places for a bit,” he continued. “But that was a while ago. The last place I spent any significant time in was Cambodia, and if you like nature, I think you would love the spot that we settled in. It was like this island, but the wildlife took over the area more than it did here. Lots of trees everywhere, some rivers too, and we passed an ancient structure or two.”

by **Khasinkonia** » Wed Jun 06, 2018 12:32 am

I peeked up as he mentioned the jungles of Cambodia. I’d read about such majestic nature, although I hadn’t before dreamed of being able to visit it before. Perhaps one day I’d be able to see such things, as the world seems as if it could use heroes in many places, although the incident at the Three Gorges Dam still left the world with a sour taste towards us, it seemed. Perhaps I, along with others, might be able to redeem our kind in the eyes of the average person.

“Fair,” I agreed, “I think I’d like to see Cambodia. Places where Mamm Douar has free reign are usually very beautiful, at least in my eyes. I must say, this island is quite nice as well. A bit hot for my tastes, but being able to see the true beauty of the night sky is a privilege we rarely get these days.”

GREY: A Story Of Heroes And Villains [IC]

GREY: A Story Of Heroes And Villains [IC]

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