Awake in Prefeton (Superpowers Char RP|IC, Signup, Open)

[Dragos Bee]

Ascot Rider

“I… Thank you,” Ascot said to Kristen, surprised. Then he admitted something which had been on his chest for an hour or so, “But I’m not completely innocent. I failed to consider everyone else’s feelings when I did what I did.”

Then another tentacle surged towards him - Ascot triggered his power to show any aggressor their worst fears once more. Another six seconds’ respite, enough time for him to go to Nikolai and Nikita’s side. Breathing hard, in and out, and still carrying a bloody firefighter’s axe, he said, “Are you two all right? We can’t endure this much longer -”

Then the tentacles retreated, and Tefford ordered the boat to slow down. Ascot turned to the ‘Principal’ and said, “Slow down? Let me guess, there’s something even our pursuer fears?

[Europa Undivided]

Tentacles of the Atlantic

Nikolai nodded at Ascot as the younger boy asked if he and his brother were alright. "Да, Ascot. I'm just a little... whammied." He said this with quite a reassuring tone, though he refused to move from where he was even when the boat had been sped away from the Slaaneshi Nurglite tier Lovecraftian eldritch tentacle monster that had been trying to kill them a few seconds ago. Thanks to Kristen's rocket... feet and Allison carrying her like a jet engine, they are now away from danger... hopefully.

It was at this time that Nikolai tried to get up, only for him to fall back to his sitting position. "Aha, never mind.", he said as he just curled up into a fetal position right where he was lying propped against the boat's bridge. "I think I'll just stay here for now. I'm tired..."

He then faded into unconsciousness, as the lack of sleep, the energy expenditure from overusing his cryogenic abilities, and the adrenaline finally exiting his system came together. He slept, and looked peaceful while doing so.

"Well, there's that.", Nikita 'Sasha' said to Ascot as his brother drifted towards a nap. "I do hope that there are no more tentacles on the way."

[Grenartia]

John Tefford (or Tobias Scott?)

I'm on a boat
Allison Clark
...

" Hang on, everyone!!" Allison yelled out before Kristen did her thing. The track star started kicking her legs, using her powers to propel them faster than humanly possible. The velocity of her legs moving kicked up a lot of water, before the boat started moving forward faster than before. Allison nearly fell as the momentum of the boat moved forward, but she was able to keep upright, bracing one leg against the railing of the boat.

As quickly as the tentacles had appeared from the water, then suddenly shot back down, leaving nothing but ripples and a lack of sound. It wasn't that the ship was silent, far from it, there was still conversation, the slop of the waves and ripples hitting the hull, the groan of the damaged decking and, of course, the sound of Allison thrashing about in the water, but without the noise of battle it seemed almost silent in comparison.

Tefford stalked silently to the port side, sitting down where he could look forward, one massive arm draped over the gunwale. He frowned into the middle distance, seemingly lost in thought, cocking his head to one side like a bird studying a tasty morsel it had spotted in the grass. There was a long moment. Long enough for people to start to question what had gone on, before he spoke up, "Slow the ship down," he said, though he didn't offer any explanation for the sudden instruction.

"Are you telling me to slow it down, or telling the girls in back that they don't have to push any more?" Alyssa asked. Though, why he thought it was a good idea to go slower after the boat just escaped a literal Kraken attack, she couldn't even begin to ponder.

[Frisct the II]

Atalia Bayer


Atalia looked about, wide eyed, like a startled rabbit. She screwed her eyes shut, shimmering slightly, like she was trying to fade out of existence. In her head she counted, going through the same mental preparation she did when she was practising archery, One... Two... Three... Four... Draw... Anchor... Aim... Release. She opened her eyes again and the shimmering stopped. The panic was still there, but held back, at least for now, "I'm going to be useless here. I need to get something. Rashaad, do you trust me?" she didn't give him time to reply, just leaned down and kissed him again. It was the kind of kiss you got from someone who wasn't sure if they were going to see you again.

The moment she broke off, she was moving. She had gone from a middling athlete to faster than any of the non-meta students in the last few weeks. It was obvious to any of the other metas observing her that that was a nascent power, though it wasn't so obvious as to draw suspicion. Yet. "Hey!" she yelled, stopping to jump up and down, waving her arms in an arc over her head, "Over here!"

Immediately, she saw one of the little purple monsters turn in her direction, bounding towards her on stubby legs that nevertheless seemed to power the creature with unnatural speed. She took off, racing back in the direction of her house leading, the creature, and a handful of others after her. She would, hopefully, the pack away from Rashaad and his family, though if she managed to get home, she had something there that might give her a chance to even the score a little...

For Rashaad, there was a blessed few moments of quiet before a malicious set of red eyes blinked into existence near the fence line... then another... then a third. Atalia had dragged most of the creatures away, but there were still some here.

((Co-write between Frisct the II and Dragos Bee.))

Eren Fritz meets Leo Walker

..

Eren nodded, "Then let's go to my house - I'll show you the way."

And with that, Eren began fast-walking in the direction of the house he and his Mother lived...

“Okay.” Leo followed Eren as they made their way their way towards his house. There were questions floating inside his head now, but he could wait until they reached their destination and knew they weren’t being listened to to ask.

Much to Leo of Eren's bad luck though, they happened to be heading in the direction Atalia was coming with at least two dozen of the small purple monsters on her heels. They weren't as fast as her, though they would do a more than adequate job at catching either of the others. She skidded to a halt, just about colliding with the pair. The pack were probably less than 20 seconds behind and, now, closing fast, yapping, barking and cackling with sadistic energy, "You two, get off the street! Now! Run!!"

Leo stopped mid stride, quite stunned at the sight that had appeared before him. Purple monsters chasing Atalia, someone he knew of but didn’t know personally. It was then that it dawned on him that they were probably in just as much danger as she was at the moment, and let out a sigh.

“Oh you’ve got to be kidding me. Did I ask for too much when I wanted to find more metas?” As he said this he conjured a few throwing knives that housed his power — that being the power to create space between two points — and threw them at three of the monsters center of mass in order to sort of test the waters before turning to Eren in a rather panicked voice. “Whatever’s going on right now, we need to leave.”

He turned back to Atalia before speaking again. “We certainly can’t fend them all off as it is. Do you have a plan to get rid of them? Maybe we should just start running instead,” he said as he scratched the back of his head with a bit of a grin on his face. He then turned in the direction that Atalia was heading, waiting for their responses.

[Dragos Bee]

Eren Fritz

Eren didn’t need Atalia to tell him to run - He knew how dangerous those creatures were. Turning to Leon, the young man said, “Of course we’re running - We’ve talked enough already!”

He then turned to Atalia’s direction, fast-talking to her as he waited for the signal to run, “Name’s Eren Fritz - There are weapons in my house and not all of them are guns, so if you’re not already running to somewhere safe, I suggest we go there!”

Then he pointed in the direction of his well-to-do house near the edge of the suburbs and began running towards it - Said house was barely in sight and already locked-up, and it was a good thing Eren had a spare key. But should the young man see Atalia running somewhere else, he’d shift course to it so that there was no risk of their plans clashing with each other.

[Theyra]

Connor Vale

"That is over now", Connor said quietly to himself as lessen his grip on the side of the boat that was next to. He nearly felled down when Allison and Kristen did their thing. Propelling the boat forward and the tentacle whatever it was, let go of the boat. Connor looked around, and everyone seemed okay. Nikolai seemed tired before he just lay down and fell asleep. That was fast, Connor thought. His ice powers really tired him out, and Connor had to admit that he felt a little tired himself. Connor never used his powers offensively before, only had guessed to what he could do with aura energy now. Good to know that he can use it for attacks rather than just see people's auras.

He felt the urge to sit down after that stressful battle but fought against it. Connor would rather stand then sit down now even after what happened. When Tefford spoke about slowing down, Connor was confused, will the tentacle monster not purse them or something? "Why do we need to slow down? What if there are more of those things around or anything else that does not want us to reach the mainland". Surely he will give a reason why he wants to slow down now.

[Talchyon]

Free at last on a boat needing repairs
Kristen Lane

John Tefford (or Tobias Scott?)

As quickly as the tentacles had appeared from the water, then suddenly shot back down, leaving nothing but ripples and a lack of sound. It wasn't that the ship was silent, far from it, there was still conversation, the slop of the waves and ripples hitting the hull, the groan of the damaged decking and, of course, the sound of Allison thrashing about in the water, but without the noise of battle it seemed almost silent in comparison.

Tefford stalked silently to the port side, sitting down where he could look forward, one massive arm draped over the gunwale. He frowned into the middle distance, seemingly lost in thought, cocking his head to one side like a bird studying a tasty morsel it had spotted in the grass. There was a long moment. Long enough for people to start to question what had gone on, before he spoke up, "Slow the ship down," he said, though he didn't offer any explanation for the sudden instruction.

When Mr. Tefford, or whatever his name was, called out to slow down, Kristen stopped kicking and the boat slowed back down to what it had been doing. Whatever had happened, the tentacles were no longer reaching out to destroy them. Allison helped Kristen back onto the boat, and she felt the wind chilling her legs. But chilled and alive was better than warm and dead. She found her way back over to Ascot, who she wanted to talk to again, because of what he had said earlier when she had not been able to respond.

Ascot Rider

“I… Thank you,” Ascot said to Kristen, surprised. Then he admitted something which had been on his chest for an hour or so, “But I’m not completely innocent. I failed to consider everyone else’s feelings when I did what I did.”

When Ascot said his part, Kristen felt like she had even more in common with Ascot. But she had not been able to say anything due to the chaos of the battle scene. Now, approaching him with half-wet jeans, past a dozing Nikolai and the questions of Connor, Kristen waved and sat down beside Ascot. "Hey, sorry our conversation was cut off. I thought you were really courageous to say all that. Anyway, I thought you shouldn't feel too bad about that thing of not considering everyone else when you spoke up a long time ago. Welcome to my life. I've been hurting people's feelings too much and for no good reason either. I just wanted to say, thank you. You were right."

---

Fighting Furries in the Backyard
Rashaad Pennel

Atalia Bayer

Atalia looked about, wide eyed, like a startled rabbit. She screwed her eyes shut, shimmering slightly, like she was trying to fade out of existence. In her head she counted, going through the same mental preparation she did when she was practising archery, One... Two... Three... Four... Draw... Anchor... Aim... Release. She opened her eyes again and the shimmering stopped. The panic was still there, but held back, at least for now, "I'm going to be useless here. I need to get something. Rashaad, do you trust me?" she didn't give him time to reply, just leaned down and kissed him again. It was the kind of kiss you got from someone who wasn't sure if they were going to see you again.

The moment she broke off, she was moving. She had gone from a middling athlete to faster than any of the non-meta students in the last few weeks. It was obvious to any of the other metas observing her that that was a nascent power, though it wasn't so obvious as to draw suspicion. Yet. "Hey!" she yelled, stopping to jump up and down, waving her arms in an arc over her head, "Over here!"

Immediately, she saw one of the little purple monsters turn in her direction, bounding towards her on stubby legs that nevertheless seemed to power the creature with unnatural speed. She took off, racing back in the direction of her house leading, the creature, and a handful of others after her. She would, hopefully, the pack away from Rashaad and his family, though if she managed to get home, she had something there that might give her a chance to even the score a little...

For Rashaad, there was a blessed few moments of quiet before a malicious set of red eyes blinked into existence near the fence line... then another... then a third. Atalia had dragged most of the creatures away, but there were still some here.

To Atalia before she left, Rashaad said quietly, "Of course I trust you." How could he not? He was still thrilled she had come back and he wouldn't lose her!

Until, she kissed him, and got a determined look in her eye, and began to run off like bait to draw the mutants away. Or whatever they were. Rashaad looked in horror as Atalia committed this great self-sacrifice, and yet also was strangely proud of her. And maybe he didn't need to feel afraid for her. What she was doing, was working.

Except for a few stragglers. Pairs of eyes stared at him like he was the main course on the menu tonight. He broke out into a grin. Let's see if they have what it takes, he thought. He moved himself towards the edge of the deck he was on. Having "locked" his ability into place earlier, though still curious what that exactly entailed, Rashaad was ready to hurt some beasties up good.

Then suddenly, all ten of the psionic tentacles Rashaad had conjured earlier shot out towards the beasties in the dark. Flailing this way and that, Rashaad's tentacles struck several of them but covered a large area leading up to him. Howls filled the air, followed by the small scent of burning flesh. He had definitely moved beyond stunning them and messing with their carnal minds. Now Rashaad's mental ability was striking them down, he saw as one limped toward him with its leg severed off.

No words were needed. Just a big grin and engaged laughter.

[Nachfolgia]

Allison Clark

Suddenly it seemed like they were out of danger, prompting Tefford to called off the accelerations. Without hesitation, Allison lifted Kristen up out of the water onto the boat. Kristen's plan seemed to have worked, giving them a lot of distance between them and the shore line. Allison didn't feel exhausted but she had a feeling that Kristen would, having done most of the work. Smiling, Allison lightly tapped Kristen in the arm with her fist, making sure she didn't hurt her.

" Good work, Kristen. That was an awesome plan you came up with." Allison said, smiling and nodding her head in approval.

Allison then turned her attention to the others and the boat. There was some minor cracks in the deck and black ichor everywhere including herself, but everyone seemed to be ok. That was until she saw Nikolai on the deck unconscious. She was too busy helping Kristen that she didn't see what happened. Was he seriously hurt? Did a tentacle crush his body into nothing?

Unsure of how he got injured and fearing the worse, Allison went into panic mode and ran to him. She slide on her knees to his side and looked over his body, picking up his head and torso to support him. She didn't seem any blood and noticed that he was still breathing which was a good sign. Maybe he got hit in the head and got knocked out, but she didn't see any lump on his head or any signs of being hit.

" What happened? Is he ok?" Allison called to Nikita, who was standing by him.

[Europa Undivided]

Ah yes, pre-marital hand holding

Nikita had just been sitting beside his sleeping brother all this time, his face marked not so much by concern but more of relief; after all, they had just escaped from being grabbed by tentacles, dragged into the waters, and eaten by Cthulhu's children and relatives, in that order. There could be something far worse in the waters waiting for them, but at least they had a breathing space in between one crazy thing before another. However, not everyone thought that everything was well about Nikolai, as Allison soon came running to his unconscious frame.

"What happened? Is he ok?" Allison called to Nikita, who was standing by him.

Nikita almost chuckled at Allison's panic, but he somehow managed to keep it in. "He's tougher than he looks, Allison.", he said to her as he tousled his brother's hair. "Other than being thrown against the bridge by a tentacle, he's just tired. He hasn't had a lot of sleep in the past few days."

Ah well. This was quite a scene indeed, seeing Allison clutch... cuddle his brother like that. If their mother was here, she would be screaming bloody murder in a manner akin to a... what was it? A Karen, yes. Their father, however, would cheer her on.

As if in reply, Nikolai shook and grumbled in his half sleep. He spoke to no one in particular, not opening his eyes while doing so. "I told you... I'll live."

[Khasinkonia]

Annie O’Cassidy
Into the Shadows

“It’s not too far, you can hoof it right?”

That’s what Annie told Maurice when she jumped into the car to go pick up her cousins. Out of all things, she had not expected Tefford to be ready to go right away. If they were truly leaving tonight, she knew she had to hurry and get her cousins. Annie rushed off in her car, but tried to avoid breaking traffic laws. As desperate as the situation felt, it was important that she not alert any suspicion. She needed to get in and out as soon as possible, and that wasn’t possible if she was pulled over for running a red light. Usually, she kept the radio on for an enjoyable night ride, but this was anything but. It was a drive home to say goodbye and to at least make off with a few people: her cousins. Sitting at an empty intersection filled the air with a silent tension, as if the sky was becoming a gel. Like a stagnant Louisiana summer night, but cold.

As soon as the light turned green, Annie pressed on the gas and went a few over the speed limit. Not enough to draw the ire of the average cop, but every millisecond counted in her book. All of a sudden, there was a creature in the middle of the road. A purple fuzzy beast, like at the dance? She shook her head. No, it couldn’t be true. They couldn’t be back already. It was too soon; had the people at the boat house already left? Was this why Tefford was in such a hurry to leave?

An instant decision. She swerved and ran it over with her wheel. Two thunks assured her that, if it wasn’t dead, it was at least going to be disoriented enough not to see her car. She turned off her headlights. On arrival at her street, she parked at the end, and slid into the shadows of the night. She stayed out of the light, careful to avoid even her shape being seen in the lights of the street lamps. And she hurried, as fast as she could. Being without a real feeling of mass as a shadow let her move faster because it was easier to move, but at the end of the day it was still a sprint. And as she sprinted, one with darkness, she saw another one of the beasts mulling about in her front yard. She didn’t change from her shadow form. Instead, she slid between the door and into her house. A quick peek out the window showed that she hadn’t yet been detected, but there was no time to waste.

She grabbed a large duffle bag, and started stuffing it with her own essentials, mostly athletic clothes and some sweatpants. Then she did the same for her cousins. Moira-Lee stirred slightly. She made a peep—quite literally, and Annie popped out of the shadows to hush her.

“We have to move quickly,” she hissed to her half-awake little cousin.

Her pleas were met with nothing but drowsy confusion. Suddenly, Annie heard a faint crash, sort of like that of a raccoon getting into the trash. But in her heart, she knew what it really was from the screech that accompanied the clutter. Annie slung the bag over her shoulder, and held her hand to her mouth to hush her cousin. She slid back into the shadows and into Gilligan’s room. The boy was, luckily for his sake, sound asleep. Annie hurried to put on the baby carrier. She clasped her hand to Gilligan’s mouth as she plucked him straight from his bed and put him into the carrier. It was a tight fit for the poor boy, but when he mumbled complaints, Annie held her hand against his mouth tighter to muffle the sound. She slid back into Moira-Lee’s room. The young girl was groggy and crying a bit, more so from the upset of all that was going on than from sadness or real fear. She didn’t know what was happening.

And then Annie’s hand reached out and yanked Moira-Lee into the shadows. She yelped, but strangely, Moira-Lee was part of the shadows, just like Annie. Annie had expected so much more trouble, but there they were. She was in the shadows with both of her cousins. Safe. Or so it seemed. All she could do was hush her cousins until the creature left long enough to sneak out to her car...

[Dyelli Beybi]

On Land...

Eren Fritz

Eren didn’t need Atalia to tell him to run - He knew how dangerous those creatures were. Turning to Leon, the young man said, “Of course we’re running - We’ve talked enough already!”

He then turned to Atalia’s direction, fast-talking to her as he waited for the signal to run, “Name’s Eren Fritz - There are weapons in my house and not all of them are guns, so if you’re not already running to somewhere safe, I suggest we go there!”

Then he pointed in the direction of his well-to-do house near the edge of the suburbs and began running towards it - Said house was barely in sight and already locked-up, and it was a good thing Eren had a spare key. But should the young man see Atalia running somewhere else, he’d shift course to it so that there was no risk of their plans clashing with each other.

"What? No, just run!" Atalia urged, taking off again in the direction she had been heading before almost colliding with the group. She already had a plan and didn't have time to figure out if some other random person had a workable one, not with the creatures snapping at her heels.

A good half of them took off after her, though a fair number moved towards Leo and Eren. For everyone confronted by the creatures though, including Rashaad and Annie, the behaviour pattern was different. Last time they had attacked people in a frenzy, this time though they were searching, but once they found someone they didn't move in for the kill, just circled their targets, bailing them up without actually causing any harm... though that was little comfort to anyone who had seen them attack at the Harvest Ball; the creatures could move pretty quickly if they decided they did want to rip someone's throat out, after all.

For Rashaad, a couple of minutes passed, before the sound of running feet echoed down the street. The surviving creatures growled, then slunk away as suddenly a half dozen people in white CBRN defense suits appeared. They were armed and held the weapons at the ready. They looked like soldiers though it was hard to tell without any visible insignia and any uniform covered by the suits. A man stepped forward ahead of the others, his features obscured by the darkness and protective gear, "Rashaad Pennel?" he asked, "Why don't you head inside son, the streets aren't safe at the moment."

---

Meanwhile, at sea...

Tefford seemed relieved as the ship slowed down. He stared forward for a moment, cocking his head to one side... then suddenly lunged fully to his feet, sprinting for the boat's cab, almost yanking the door off in the process, "Everyone hold on!" he yelled, then grabbed the wheel, swinging the boat hard to port. It was a sudden, jarring movement that seemed to have no purpose at first...

A few seconds later there was a crunching impact from the starboard side that was hard enough to throw people from their feet. The boat groaned and squealed ominously as it dragged itself along the length of an invisible wall, "You remember what I said about sailing off the edge of the world?" Tefford called out, over the groaning ship "Well it looks like they've got the sides up after all! I'm sorry kids, but we'll need to head back to shore and work on finding another way off the island."

After a long moment the sound stopped and the ship seemed to be moving normally again, albeit back in the direction of the island. Looking back behind the ship would show only the slightest hint of something unusual in the pattern of the waves. The barrier itself remained completely invisible to the naked eye. Tefford growled, slamming his fist on the ship's wheel, pausing for a long moment before saying to the ship at large, "There will be a way on and off this island. There has to be. Is there anywhere where people seem to come out of or disappear into?"

[Dragos Bee]

Ascot Rider

“You’ve gotta be kidding me!” Ascot was unable to hold back his anger as he saw the boat hit an invisible barrier, a force-field which was not within the capability of any current technology. He then turned to Tefford/Tobias, “If we come back, we’ll be captured or worse - We’ve tipped our hand!”

Ascot was panicking, hyperventilating, knowing all the while he’d be embarrassing himself as he realized that this was why he had been allowed to conspire without keeping things much of a secret - The Military had all the cards in their hand all along. He looked at Jack, realizing that the latter would be embarrassed as well by being around him, then at Kristen and Nikolai, Nikita, Maurice, and everyone else who had relied on finding a safe way out of the island. Despite the fact that he had no authority over the others, Ascot felt as though part of this was his fault...

Eren Fritz

Eren decided to run after Atalia, taking Leo’s wrist and pulling him towards her - His own house can come later, as right now, they had to band together first!

[Nachfolgia]

Allison Clark

Allison looked down at Nikolai to see him half conscious, mumbling at he would be ok. This sent her into a state of relief, glad to see that he would be alright. She didn't want to any of her friends hurt or worse, let alone someone like Nikolai. Allison had always included him in her and Atalia's circle of friends. He was a cool dude and got to know him well.

Allison smiled as he watched Nikolai fall back asleep. " You loser. " She said jokingly as she flicked his nose. It wasn't enough to take off his nose, but it would hurt a little.

Allison's gaze shot up when Tefford yelled out for everyone to brace for impact. Instinctively, she grabbed onto the railing around the backside of the cabin and wrapped her other arm around Nikolai to keep him in place. The boat suddenly jerked hard to the left and scrapped against something. Allison's strength kept her and Nikolai in place during the entire movement. She would have been fine, but Nikolai, being unconscious, would have had some serious injury.

Once everything settled down, Allison let go of the rail and Nikolai. She stood up to see what the others were talking about. From what she saw, the ocean waves were hitting something invisible. She couldn't see the barrier itself, but the way the water was moving made it unmistakable that something was there.

" What the-?" Allison said, confused by what she was seeing.

Tefford's explanation that they would have to go back to shore and find another way off the island did not go well for the group. Allison was pissed that all their efforts had been for nothing and Ascot was freaking out again. The boy's inability to handle stress did not set Allison's nerves at ease and she finally decided to do something.

Allison walked over to Ascot and grabbed him by the collar. " Shut up and get a hold of yourself!! Bitching is not going to solve anything!" Allison said as she shook him violently. She then turned her attention back on Tefford.

" Is there any way through the barrier? Can I break through it or something? I don't think going back is a good idea." Allison asked, having let go of Ascot.

[Europa Undivided]

There will be a wall, and it will be an invisible wall, and all the sea creatures will pay for it!

Nikolai remained asleep even as the boat crashed into the invisible barrier that seemingly formed a second line of leaving-prevention from the island. His brother and Erika alike shook their heads in ensuing disappointment on Tefford's suggestion that they turn back and figure out another way earlier. There was the tentacle monster from earlier... and now this. Is there no end to their troubles of life?

Allison walked over to Ascot and grabbed him by the collar. " Shut up and get a hold of yourself!! Bitching is not going to solve anything!"

"Hey, hey.", Nikita said to Ascot as the boy seemed to be rather shaken from being... shaken. He quite instinctively hugged him and spoke to his ear. "Take a deep breath, and calm your mind. It is better if one remains as implacable as a mountain in a storm."

Nikita looked at their front. There was the invisible barrier in there, a machination of their most mysterious enemy that sought to keep them imprisoned in this island. If they were indeed so invested in krakens and Simpsons glass domes, one could conclude that they truly had something had bad in store for the high schoolers that just got their powers.

"Is there any way through the barrier? Can I break through it or something? I don't think going back is a good idea."

"Absolutely correct.", Nikita said as he put his hands in the invisible barrier, feeling its texture and... feel. "Doesn't feel like a standard sci fi energy field that can bend when touched... nor does it zap anything that touches it."

A pause. "Has anyone watched that time Simpsons when the town was surrounded by a glass dome and an elephant caused a crack that eventually destroyed the whole thing? No? Okay." He sighed, as he probably just caused cringe. "If this barrier acts in the same manner as reinforced glass, we could break at least a section of it if we applied enough pressure on one spot. Allison has the punching force of a freight train, so there's that... but if it lets liquids through..."

He looked down towards the waters. It was too dark to see anything clearly, but he was wagering whether or not the barrier allowed liquid water to pass through. Then if that water were to expand in the molecular level...

Nikita placed a hand on the barrier, apparently to test something. "Erika?", he call out to his hydrokinetic friend of few words. "See if you can make the water pass through."

The girl didn't reply; rather, she simply extended a hand and two tendrils of water began to emerge from the sea towards the barrier. Maybe...

[Theyra]

Connor Vale

After all of that, after stealing a boat and fighting off a tentacled creature. There is a friggin invisible wall blocking them from reaching the mainland. How is this possible? How can anyone just place something like this and does it surround the whole island? Maybe Connor should be less surprised about this since the apparent capabilities of the military have been shown to be above then what makes sense. How could the military do this and what else are they capable of? Connor just stared at the invisible wall in disappoint, how are they going to leave the island now with a literal barrier in their way?

Snapping back when Tefford said that they should return and find another way off the island. "Go back? We stole a boat and I am with Allison. Going back seems like a bad idea given what has happened". Listening to what Nikita was saying after Allison tried to calm Ascot down. Yeah, there must be a way to break the barrier. There must be a way or all of this was for nothing and Connor was afraid of what could happen to them if they returned to the island. As Erika started to see if water can move through the barrier. Connor's hands started to glow with blue energy and was ready to strike. Either way, after Erika figures out if water can past through the barrier, he was planning on seeing how much damage he can do before it tires him out.

[Talchyon]

The boat
Kristen Lane

When the boat took the hard turn, Kristen tumbled over from where she was sitting. Feeling it in her shoulder, the former track athlete yelped, though more at the surprise of it than from any lasting soreness. She was about to say something, when all of a sudden there was a scraping type of sound, and Mr. Tefford was explaining about some kind of barrier? Something that was keeping them in, that looked like the water and the makings of some land ahead. But it was definitely solid. As if the day couldn't get any weirder.

The g-forces kept her from doing much. As the boat scraped along the almost invisible barrier, Kristen noticed Nikita, Erika and Connor try things at it. Allison was in on it, too. But then, the boat kept turning, and suddenly they were headed back. They were headed back?! Why in God's green earth would they head back towards those tentacled-sentry creatures that almost destroyed them?!

Mr. Tefford was saying something. That they had to get back to the island and find a place where people had disappeared from or reappeared to. Kristen heard that, and put it on the back burner for now. Instead, she said, "Mr. Tefford? Turn the boat back toward the barrier! Ascot could," she struggled to come up with the right way to say it, "Ascot could... melt it. Or Allison could punch through it. Just bring us up there close to it."

Hopefully he'd listen. But what was that that he was saying? About a place that people could reappear from? The faintest glimmer of a memory began to stir in Kristen's mind, as if she thought it might have reminded her of something she saw some time ago. But what that was, was soon gone. Maybe, if she was lucky, the memory would come back.

---

His backyard on the deck
Rashaad Pennel

His psionic tentacles worked, and did some actual damage. The one beastie was limping, its leg severed clean off. Others had been brushed by his tentacles, and its acid path burned their fur, giving off a peculiar stench. Those that the tentacles swiped at, the acid burnt into their flesh as they both whimpered and growled. But they didn't lunge at him, which both confused him and made him extremely thankful. But they weren't the only strange sights out tonight...

On Land...

A good half of the creatures took off after her, though a fair number moved towards Leo and Eren. For everyone confronted by the creatures though, including Rashaad and Annie, the behaviour pattern was different. Last time they had attacked people in a frenzy, this time though they were searching, but once they found someone they didn't move in for the kill, just circled their targets, bailing them up without actually causing any harm... though that was little comfort to anyone who had seen them attack at the Harvest Ball; the creatures could move pretty quickly if they decided they did want to rip someone's throat out, after all.

For Rashaad, a couple of minutes passed, before the sound of running feet echoed down the street. The surviving creatures growled, then slunk away as suddenly a half dozen people in white CBRN defense suits appeared. They were armed and held the weapons at the ready. They looked like soldiers though it was hard to tell without any visible insignia and any uniform covered by the suits. A man stepped forward ahead of the others, his features obscured by the darkness and protective gear, "Rashaad Pennel?" he asked, "Why don't you head inside son, the streets aren't safe at the moment."

About the time Rashaad was feeling pretty comfortable against the mutants, six armed men in white hazmat suits showed up. Rashaad began to panic. Had they seen his tentacles? They probably did. It wasn't terribly dark out, and though his psionic tentacles were black-ish, they could still be seen in the dim evening. Oh, crap. He immediately shut them off so he looked somewhat normal. At least the beasties had gone.

And then one of the men spoke. He knew his name! "Rashaad Pennel? Why don't you head inside son, the streets aren't safe at the moment."

An idea came to Rashaad's mind. But to do it, he'd have to reset the psionic setting, which seemed that it needed a bit to do. Rashaad would have to stall them. "Really? You don't say. I actually hadn't noticed. Unsafe, you say? You were saying that the streets aren't safe? Like, there's burglars out or something? Well, technically, I'm not on the streets anyway. I was just enjoying a nice cool evening on my deck. But, what the heck. You guys look like you know what you're talking about. I'll just mosey on in..." Rashaad motored his wheelchair to make as if he was going back in...

And that's when he lunged at them with his tentacles. Set on bind, 8 of his 10 psionic tentacles grabbed the men, keeping them from shooting their weapons, trapping their hands and legs, wrapping around them. Rashaad drew them in, making sure that their weapons were not aimed at him or the house. And then, keeping them in mid-air about 10 feet away from him and about 10 ft. up in the air, the psionic tentacles wrapping around each of the unsuccessfully writhing men, Rashaad turned his chair around so he was looking at their psionic-tendril covered backs.

And with a sneer, Rashaad said, "What we have here is a failure to communicate. How 'bout you guys start talking, since you already seem to know about me. Who the hell are you, how do you know me, what do you want, and I'm guessing those purple things are your pets?"

[Frisct the II]

Eren Fritz

Eren decided to run after Atalia, taking Leo’s wrist and pulling him towards her - His own house can come later, as right now, they had to band together first!

“Woah!” Shouted Leo, almost being pulled off balance by Eren before correcting his own speed to match with Eren's. He could easily use his power to keep up pace without all this hard running, but it seemed like it would be a little bit of a waste of energy given the amount of those purple monster things they needed to outrun.

Hopefully a plan would be better explained upon reaching their destination, as he really had no idea what they were doing or why they were doing it. He did however know that now was not the time to ask questions, only follow. As such, Leo ran alongside Eren until their destination was reached or something else happened.

[Dyelli Beybi]

Atalia Bayer

Atalia was running back in the direction of her own house, though keeping up with her was next to impossible; apparently for all her protestations of having no super powers, she had developed some. She pelted around the back of her property, slamming the door behind her, which was no use for the two boys who had decided to follow her as they were now shut outside with the creatures.

There was a growl from behind them as hostile red eyes began to blink open in the shadows around the garden. There was, it seemed, nowhere left to run, though the creatures didn't close in on them. They kept their distance occasionally snapping and yapping as if waiting for some unknown cue to attack.

Abruptly, the door came flying open again and Atalia stepped out, though this time with a hastily assembled recurve bow: she hadn't taken the time to attach the stabilisers or sights, had just snapped on the limbs and strung it. She held the weapon at full draw, a quiver of brightly fletched arrows at her hip, "Why did you follow me? I thought you were going to your house with the many weapons?" she asked.

"I'm going back to Rashaad, I was going to go out the front door, but then I spotted you two..." her bow bobbed from side to side as she counted the eyes in the undergrowth, "Shit... come inside, we'll all go out the front, I can't shoot all of those. Follow me and try to keep up."

---

Rashaad Pennel

The men and women Rashaad had lifted up didn't seem particularly concerned at being lifted up. That probably wasn't a good sign. After a long, thoughtful, pause, the one who seemed to be the leader spoke up again, "Alright kid, I'll tell you what you want to know," he said, his voice muffled by from behind the suit he was wearing. There was a sudden crunching noise and his head fell back at an unnatural angle. Something seemed to be writhing inside the confines of the suit's headpiece, as if there was something in there other than the man. The wriggling stopped and something small and sharp sliced at the fabric at the back of his head. Blood dripped down onto the wheelchair. Something was moving up there. Then, without any further warning something that looked a lot like a small black eel launched itself at Rashaad's face with an angry hiss...

---

Meanwhile, at sea...

"You kids don't listen. No wonder they went with teenagers," Tefford growled, then, ignoring what everyone else was doing, went into the cabin to retrieve a life jacket, pulled it on, then, seemingly having forgotten about the tentacle monster from earlier, jumped off the side of the ship and began swimming towards the shore in a swift and efficient freestyle which appeared to be partly supplemented by his metahuman abilities. If the creature under the waves was interested in a swimmer, it hadn't come for him... yet.

Meanwhile, the surface layer of the wall had cracked, flaking off into the water to reveal what appeared to be a thick layer of steel reinforced concrete that had been concealed behind some kind of high tech camouflage. Once the camouflage layer was gone it made the wall seem a little more understandable.

[Fegun]

Kalos, the beasts come out at night

Annie O’Cassidy
Into the Shadows

“It’s not too far, you can hoof it right?”

That’s what Annie told Maurice when she jumped into the car to go pick up her cousins. Out of all things, she had not expected Tefford to be ready to go right away. If they were truly leaving tonight, she knew she had to hurry and get her cousins. Annie rushed off in her car, but tried to avoid breaking traffic laws. As desperate as the situation felt, it was important that she not alert any suspicion. She needed to get in and out as soon as possible, and that wasn’t possible if she was pulled over for running a red light. Usually, she kept the radio on for an enjoyable night ride, but this was anything but. It was a drive home to say goodbye and to at least make off with a few people: her cousins. Sitting at an empty intersection filled the air with a silent tension, as if the sky was becoming a gel. Like a stagnant Louisiana summer night, but cold.

As soon as the light turned green, Annie pressed on the gas and went a few over the speed limit. Not enough to draw the ire of the average cop, but every millisecond counted in her book. All of a sudden, there was a creature in the middle of the road. A purple fuzzy beast, like at the dance? She shook her head. No, it couldn’t be true. They couldn’t be back already. It was too soon; had the people at the boat house already left? Was this why Tefford was in such a hurry to leave?

An instant decision. She swerved and ran it over with her wheel. Two thunks assured her that, if it wasn’t dead, it was at least going to be disoriented enough not to see her car. She turned off her headlights. On arrival at her street, she parked at the end, and slid into the shadows of the night. She stayed out of the light, careful to avoid even her shape being seen in the lights of the street lamps. And she hurried, as fast as she could. Being without a real feeling of mass as a shadow let her move faster because it was easier to move, but at the end of the day it was still a sprint. And as she sprinted, one with darkness, she saw another one of the beasts mulling about in her front yard. She didn’t change from her shadow form. Instead, she slid between the door and into her house. A quick peek out the window showed that she hadn’t yet been detected, but there was no time to waste.

She grabbed a large duffle bag, and started stuffing it with her own essentials, mostly athletic clothes and some sweatpants. Then she did the same for her cousins. Moira-Lee stirred slightly. She made a peep—quite literally, and Annie popped out of the shadows to hush her.

“We have to move quickly,” she hissed to her half-awake little cousin.

Her pleas were met with nothing but drowsy confusion. Suddenly, Annie heard a faint crash, sort of like that of a raccoon getting into the trash. But in her heart, she knew what it really was from the screech that accompanied the clutter. Annie slung the bag over her shoulder, and held her hand to her mouth to hush her cousin. She slid back into the shadows and into Gilligan’s room. The boy was, luckily for his sake, sound asleep. Annie hurried to put on the baby carrier. She clasped her hand to Gilligan’s mouth as she plucked him straight from his bed and put him into the carrier. It was a tight fit for the poor boy, but when he mumbled complaints, Annie held her hand against his mouth tighter to muffle the sound. She slid back into Moira-Lee’s room. The young girl was groggy and crying a bit, more so from the upset of all that was going on than from sadness or real fear. She didn’t know what was happening.

And then Annie’s hand reached out and yanked Moira-Lee into the shadows. She yelped, but strangely, Moira-Lee was part of the shadows, just like Annie. Annie had expected so much more trouble, but there they were. She was in the shadows with both of her cousins. Safe. Or so it seemed. All she could do was hush her cousins until the creature left long enough to sneak out to her car...

Kalos sweated from the leg up moving at a slow pace toward home. A reluctant step and a prayer that maybe the cool air would freeze his movements and leave him trapped in a natural limbo. There was a lot to digest and for Tefford's urgency, Kalos could not bring himself to go. He had no friends here and his own mind was his adversary. He pondered many things as his scuffed shoes kicked the roads and the sounds of idle critters echoed away.



There was never true peace, there was still the occasionally form just out of his vision, steps off from his own rhythm, and breathing next to his ears. He never considered these things to be terrible till now, the goosebumps across his neck, the way they snaked into his mind no matter how much he covered his ears or closed his eyes. It was starting to resemble the many curses uttered in the spiritual books he studied. what he would give to have his mind whisked away by the chance at the power that would ultimately free him from his parents’ voices. Ah, his parents...that was odd he never even thought about them so what made them so important. He could barely form an image now that he was thinking about them, but he knew they were the twisted specters that seemed to penetrate everything he did. He blitzed at nothing disrupting the night with crackling blue rocks that popped like tiny fireworks.

Then on his way, he spotted what looked to be similar to what he encountered at school. He cursed his head for subjugating him to even worse than before, then a car erupted past and ran over the creature. The car then deftly corrected its course and started moving quickly down the next street without break. Kalos took no time to admire the driver’s handiwork opting to immediately start running home, real or not he couldn't risk being out here any longer he couldn't handle experiencing the dance again. He ducked around the corner following the path similar to the mysterious driver before happening about his block. He stopped and spotted another one of those purple monsters idling itself in the grass of his neighbor’s lawn. He had to breathe but his pale skin was lighting up far too much, his mind was going a mile at a minute, and he could see more in the corners of his vision with mocking faces. What gave him a small bit of reprieve was seeing the car belonged to someone familiar thought the driver wasn’t their anymore.

Before he could think further he was locked stock still in a staring contest with the lawn invader. The small almost unassuming yet bizarre creature stared at the boy and Kalos stared back their glow even becoming the same colors. Then, It attacked and Kalos ran.

Marcel

On Land...

Meanwhile, at sea...

Tefford seemed relieved as the ship slowed down. He stared forward for a moment, cocking his head to one side... then suddenly lunged fully to his feet, sprinting for the boat's cab, almost yanking the door off in the process, "Everyone hold on!" he yelled, then grabbed the wheel, swinging the boat hard to port. It was a sudden, jarring movement that seemed to have no purpose at first...

A few seconds later there was a crunching impact from the starboard side that was hard enough to throw people from their feet. The boat groaned and squealed ominously as it dragged itself along the length of an invisible wall, "You remember what I said about sailing off the edge of the world?" Tefford called out, over the groaning ship "Well it looks like they've got the sides up after all! I'm sorry kids, but we'll need to head back to shore and work on finding another way off the island."

After a long moment the sound stopped and the ship seemed to be moving normally again, albeit back in the direction of the island. Looking back behind the ship would show only the slightest hint of something unusual in the pattern of the waves. The barrier itself remained completely invisible to the naked eye. Tefford growled, slamming his fist on the ship's wheel, pausing for a long moment before saying to the ship at large, "There will be a way on and off this island. There has to be. Is there anywhere where people seem to come out of or disappear into?"
"You kids don't listen. No wonder they went with teenagers," Tefford growled, then, ignoring what everyone else was doing, went into the cabin to retrieve a life jacket, pulled it on, then, seemingly having forgotten about the tentacle monster from earlier, jumped off the side of the ship and began swimming towards the shore in a swift and efficient freestyle which appeared to be partly supplemented by his metahuman abilities. If the creature under the waves was interested in a swimmer, it hadn't come for him... yet.

Meanwhile, the surface layer of the wall had cracked, flaking off into the water to reveal what appeared to be a thick layer of steel reinforced concrete that had been concealed behind some kind of high tech camouflage. Once the camouflage layer was gone it made the wall seem a little more understandable.

Marcel had been in a daze between andrej's outburst, the harbor escape, the tentacles it was all too much. But it was going to be worth it right? All the stress had to amount to some kind of success in the long run. Everyone had done so much to fight, to win, to live...with a sobering thought he realized he hadn't done much at all. Was this why he got put with his uncle because he didn't fight. Did his parents hope he'd wise up and just call home asking to come back to get a spine. Even if he didn't agree with the method he had to admit it all seemed very obvious now. How they encouraged him to call, to visit, to just see them but he was always too scared to do so. He was so scared of just fucking it up.

Now he was relying on a classmates, people who probably have dealt with and our currently dealing with worse instead of helping them. What an example he was making even his juniors had more of their shit together than he did. He could've certainly continued with another list of 100 hundred reasons but the boat hitting a solid wall stopped him. He stood up and looked around and saw nothing blocking their path. "What the hell?" was all Marcel could say before his defeatism became indignation and rage.

"what in god's do you mean by 'sorry kids' and 'all sides up' this is bullshit! Everyone is fucking shaken, up hurt, and on the verge of tears and all you can say is sorry goddam kids." He threw his hands into the air and paced around while smoke acculated around him like mood cloud. "HOw about before you pack up your things and just fucking leave us all out to dry we try and brainstorm Something." Marcel started up toward the edge of the boat ready to just jump in after the man and possibly try and drown him in the heat of anger. "I swear by the lord name if you even survive going on shore. I'm gonna to beat your ass the minute I see you again! Didn't even give us a fucking chance huh!" Marcel spat into the water and took a deep breath to calm himself. The smoke around his body imploded on itself and absorbed inside him before went into the cabin. "If I didn't have friends here I turned this boat around and just hit you with it dammit..." He whispered under his breath. He spotted a mirror though and realized for a moment that maybe this anger was unjustified.

[Dragos Bee]

Ascot Rider

Ascot pulled himself back from the brink of panic as he looked at the others and said, “All right, we can do this. I promised to protect you all, didn’t I?”

As they prepared to break through the wall, unified once more, Ascot saw the latest betrayal - Telford abandoning them to whatever fate awaited the small group on the shore. To be honest, Ascot should have expected this, to be honest, Ascot should not have trusted Tefford and Maurice with this matter. Granted, there was probably a reason why they shouldn’t break through the wall, but can’t Tobias Scott - Telford’s apparent real name - Have been more forthcoming with them?

Either way, Ascot thought as he got back up, he was going to have trust issues from this if he survived. Looking at the concrete-and-steel wall, the boy willed the concrete to break, to begin flaking off, and for the steel to rust. He will gather every inch of power from whatever source of… Metahuman energy he was drawing it from. But before that, he had the presence of mind to turn to Nikolai and say, “Nikolai? I have a request. If me breaking this larger dome puts us in more danger than coming back - If the dome breaking leads to something bad like letting something in worse than the Kraken… Can you seal it?”

A deep breath, “Because I’m going to break it. Because we’re all going to do our parts to escape this… This cage they put us in.”

He then walked closer to the wall - As close as he could - Focusing his powers once more. Willing the concrete and steel to chip and rust once more, Ascot had the presence of mind to say to the others again, “This is just my suspicion, but I have a feeling that through this dome lies either several tons of earth or an actual ocean, or even a cold vacuum - Anything is possible right now. So make the resulting hole as small as possible at first…”

Then the boy turned to his ex-boyfriend, Jack, “Or send someone to phase through it to see what lies beyond. If Tobias Scott turns out to be right after all, we turn back.”

Eren Fritz

Eren responded to Atalia with, “I felt the need to stick together - I was part of your first bonfire when it all started!”

Either way, Eren would follow Atalia into the house - He hoped Leon would follow as well. He knew that his powers were largely useless without the weapons, but that Atalia was their best chance of getting a coherent group going… Not that they are likely to actually get one because most everyone else wanted to be apathetic or willfully ignorant of the risks they faced. Well, except for those who decided to be dumbasses instead and try and rally people to their side without providing proof of leadership ability.

Far better for himself to be a follower.

[Europa Undivided]

SMASH!

Nikita only looked with an expression of incredulity as Tefford jumped off the boat and began swimming back to the island. "Did... did he just swim back to the one place where there the drunken love child of Slaanesh and every perverted manga reader resides?", he said to no one in particular as Tefford disappeared into the darkness of night. "This is bad... very bad. Can someone please call him back?

Meanwhile, the surface layer of the wall had cracked, flaking off into the water to reveal what appeared to be a thick layer of steel reinforced concrete that had been concealed behind some kind of high tech camouflage. Once the camouflage layer was gone it made the wall seem a little more understandable.

"Well, well, well, will you bloody look at that.", Nikolai suddenly said from behind everyone else as he stood up from his sleeping point with some difficulty. "Reinforced concrete wall hidden by technologically advanced optical camouflage... these people are really dedicated are they..."

He muttered to himself, shaking his head at the wall. "A wall. Why did it have to be a bloody wall? In the middle of the ocean, of all places..."

A deep breath, “Because I’m going to break it. Because we’re all going to do our parts to escape this… This cage they put us in.”

"I can only make up to 25 kilograms worth of ice at any given time.", Nikolai answered to Ascot, looking over at the wall with utter scrutiny. "So just... don't make a very big hole yet. Just a small one, for now."

In the back of his mind, though, he still considered turning back. After all, their benefactor just left them, and there was no telling how thick this wall was; or what's on the other side. Could always figure ways out later...

[Lessoni]

Then the boy turned to his ex-boyfriend, Jack, “Or send someone to phase through it to see what lies beyond. If Tobias Scott turns out to be right after all, we turn back.”

Jack Brekker

Jack had a dirty secret, one that Ascot's suggestion put at risk of revealing. It wasn't one that he guarded closely, but it was one he wouldn't reveal, not until he had to. This seemed like the situation where he had to. See, Jack was not a standard superpowered individual. He was something far more likely to survive. Something special.

Jack Brekker was a coward.

"Yeah, no way in hell am I trying that. Firstly, ain't looking to be the first guy on the other side. Second...ly... I'm not going through alone. If I break out, something tells me I won't be breaking back in. Let's listen to the guy who actually knows what he's doing, yeah? And please do not volunteer me for things that might get me killed. Never gonna say yes. Just... putting that out there."

Jack looked around at the assembled teens. Friends some, neutral others, thankfully no enemies. "Hello everyone, I'm resident idiot Jack Brekker. You may know me as the guy who stole the keys for this little venture. We have no fuckin' idea what's on the other side of that dome, and frankly? If we break through, anyone who might be looking for us will know we did. Are we gonna halfass this, break through with no plan, and that's assuming we even can! We had a plan before, or I'm assuming the one real adult among us did, but this obviously threw us all a bad left hook. Let's just head back to the island and figure out what to do next, instead of screwing any chance we might still have. Of course, that's just me."

He paused for a moment. He wanted to continue, and indeed had plenty more to say. The whole plan was risky in the first place, and it seemed even the seniors seemed desperate to run around like chickens with heads cut off. But he couldn't say that. He didn't feel like alienating anyone any further.Though, he was slightly proud of himself. That was surprisingly easy for him. He didn't even want to go ghost and hide in a locked room. The lack of locked rooms might've contributed to that.

[Bingellia]

Maurice Williamson

No plan survives first contact with the enemy. In Maurice’s mind, this was the most obvious maxim for the rapidly changing situation he had found himself in. New variables both at sea, and, thanks to his link with Annie, on the island had made themselves apparent with the complications they both brought. He should have adapted. After all, this plan was a long-shot at the end of the day, but Maurice was human at the end of the day. Stress and anger won out over cold logic as one word ran through his mind over and over again;

fuck.

The seemingly overconfident and overeager voices within the group proved to only worsen Maurice’s mood. Jack’s notable resistance to the idea had only prevented Maurice from completely losing control of his emotions as he scowled at the wall that blocked them from safety. This was reinforced concrete and they had no idea about the thickness. If they could break it, it would take time to make a large enough hole from the boat. Time which they didn’t have given the Kraken thing, which there was probably more waiting for them on the other side.

“Listen up,” He loudly spoke over the crowd, “We’re going back to the shore. Breaking through the wall is too risky. Beach the boat close to town if it means avoiding the kraken.” His posture was incredibly tense as he looked over the others. He brought them all this way, he’d be the one to get the back. “Before we go,” he continued with a more commanding tone, “someone take a picture of the damned wall. We’ll need it to convince the others why taking a boat won’t work. Now, I know there’s something going on in the town. I know what I’m about to say sounds insane, but we need to get many of the other kids with powers as we can and go to the military base.”

Maurice paused for a moment, letting the idea linger in the air as he once again looked over the others. “And I need to know if anyone here can fly,” he added with a sigh. “It’s risky, but we need to know what’s waiting for us at the base before we get there.”

[Fegun]

Marcel

Maurice Williamson

No plan survives first contact with the enemy. In Maurice’s mind, this was the most obvious maxim for the rapidly changing situation he had found himself in. New variables both at sea, and, thanks to his link with Annie, on the island had made themselves apparent with the complications they both brought. He should have adapted. After all, this plan was a long-shot at the end of the day, but Maurice was human at the end of the day. Stress and anger won out over cold logic as one word ran through his mind over and over again;

fuck.

The seemingly overconfident and overeager voices within the group proved to only worsen Maurice’s mood. Jack’s notable resistance to the idea had only prevented Maurice from completely losing control of his emotions as he scowled at the wall that blocked them from safety. This was reinforced concrete and they had no idea about the thickness. If they could break it, it would take time to make a large enough hole from the boat. Time which they didn’t have given the Kraken thing, which there was probably more waiting for them on the other side.

“Listen up,” He loudly spoke over the crowd, “We’re going back to the shore. Breaking through the wall is too risky. Beach the boat close to town if it means avoiding the kraken.” His posture was incredibly tense as he looked over the others. He brought them all this way, he’d be the one to get the back. “Before we go,” he continued with a more commanding tone, “someone take a picture of the damned wall. We’ll need it to convince the others why taking a boat won’t work. Now, I know there’s something going on in the town. I know what I’m about to say sounds insane, but we need to get many of the other kids with powers as we can and go to the military base.”

Maurice paused for a moment, letting the idea linger in the air as he once again looked over the others. “And I need to know if anyone here can fly,” he added with a sigh. “It’s risky, but we need to know what’s waiting for us at the base before we get there.”

The tall boy moved from his rummaging in the cabin to walk outside and see they now had a couple of people on the fence. He was going to test maybe seeping through or something but he couldn't think straight. As he moved to maybe get Kristen's thoughts on the situation Maurice's voice broke through the slowly impending chaos of the boat. For a second Marcel was actually considering listening to Maurice until he suggested like Tefford going back the smallest consolation that at least Maurice had a plan. That didn't do much as Marcel walked straight over to him, "I hate to do this but weren't you the one who was onboard with Tefford's plan in the first place...haha, I'm not trying to be an adversary here," He palmed his face and took a deep breath. "But we're stuck between a rock and hard place and honest to god I think I'd rather take my chances with breaking the rock righ' now, you know," He rubbed his arm for a minute before taking a minute to finally look Maurice in the eyes. "Tell me why in the hell I should listen to you when it seems between you and Ascot shit always seems to go down when you try and make goddamn plans. I'm tired especially of shit that doesn't seem to work," finally his anger subsided for a moment to allow Maurice to reply.

[Europa Undivided]

The Great Wall of Prefeton

"I can't believe I'm saying this.", Nikolai said in response as Marcel seemed to be rather agitated by Maurice suggesting, no, commanding them all to go back to the island. "But our dwarven friend is correct. The wall is an unknown variable in our quest, and the one person who would know anything about this is... out there.", he said, referring to Tefford, who's seemingly just left the small group to hang.

A pause. "I'd rather not force Jack, or anyone, to do anything. At this point, the wisest course of action is for... let's say a tactical adjustment. But this plan of going to the military base, that one I'm not so sure about..."

"Some people disappeared.", Nikita added as his phone made the soft 'click' of taking a picture of the wall. "They are probably there, too. Maybe we can... save them if we do."

Nikolai coughed. "Let's just put it this way. We go back, for now, and sort all of our other issues while we are at it. The military base was very fishy, even before everything happened. But yes."

He glanced at both Ascot and Maurice, tilting his head rather slightly. "We need better plans..."