Fantasy Code: Feral

[SilverFlight]

Calista's curses became steadily more colourful as she watched what was happening on screen. Something wasn't right. What was that weird viscous liquid oozing out of the truck? And those animals, they weren't bonded, she knew that but they should have been panicking...on screen though they seemed almost...enraged.

Duik collided with Leandra but because the jump had been calculated for Alec he crashed headlong into her chest. They hit the floor and Duik sprang to his feet with a snarl, lashing out with glistening teeth. He danced back but his attention was on Leandra now, he began circling like a wild predator. Suddenly a high pitched cackle escaped him, nothing like the happy laughter he'd always had. This was the laugh of wild hyena about to go in for the kill.

It was that laugh the snapped Alec out of his shock. All that time working with unbonded animals and his instincts began to kick in. He leapt to his feet, grabbing the sheet of canvas that had once been covering the Russian's weapon. Suddenly Duik yelped in pain and Alec watch him fly backwards, hitting a stack of crates in a shower of splintering wood.
Alec stifled the flood of rage as he saw Simon standing over Leandra. He ran to Duik and hurled the sheet over him, jumping on top of it and trying his best to hold the struggling animal down.

"Hey! Team!" Calista's voice sounded through the com. "The van I gave Alec, it's got tranqs in it! I knew we'd be dealing with unbonded. If you can get to them you can deal with those animals no problem!"
Amber was the first to lunge for the van. She grabbed what they needed and loaded the guns in swift, fluid motions that came with thousands of repetitions. She tossed them out to anyone who was near.
"Sedate them and only hurt them if you can't avoid it!" She barked, and as she said it she sent a dart straight for the bear. It caught the animal in the soft flesh behind its jaw bone, but it would still be a few moments before the drug took effect.

Meanwhile the polar bear was back on all fours and loping purposefully towards Beth and the dazed Feral driver. If not stopped, it was going to tear them both to pieces.
The tapir and the wolverine decided to charge Simon and the Ocelot bounded up, taking a swipe at the hovering BB.

At the last few shots the lions retreated further. The leader finally gave the signal to retreat, but not before they grabbed several of the weapons that had been brought for the buy off.
Two large mountain gorillas hefted the cargo onto the back of a small truck and then piled into it, waiting for the engine to start.

"Guys! Watch the phoenix!" Calista yelled in their ears. On her screen the bird now just looked like a molten white sun, getting large and brighter with each passing second.

zCrookedz Flutterby Bolts Lioness075

 

[Flutterby]

Beth saw it in slow motion- the polar bear looked at her, locked eyes on her weapon, on her face behind it. And then it lowered itself to all fours and started moving, one foot back, and then lunging, in her direction.
It covered a full pace before she remembered to breath. Another, before she remembered she was holding a gun. On the third pace, she remembered how to use it, but her hands were shaking for the first time in a year.

Beth moved her finger off the trigger guard, fumbled it on the side of the trigger. Her grip loosened, the barrel tipped away.
The bear was still several stride away, when she found the trigger, and fired a shot toward its head.
Her aim was off. The bullet buried itself in the edge of a crate.
She fired again, hand only slightly more steady. Missed again.
On her third shot, her hand was steady, and she had aimed for its right shoulder.
God help me if this misses.

"Luness stop!" Totus shouted, as his outstretched talons missed her head by mere inches. He felt the heat coming off her, the flames licked the bottom of his feet, but he moved to fast for them to burn him. Yet. If the phoenix didn't stop, he might have to actually touch her.
Lioness075

 

[deer]

Deafening sounds of shots fired and voices ringing out was her immediate distraction. Xiao Hui wasted no time in looking for a first aid kit to patch up the wounds of the Italian and his dobermann. Her eyes glanced towards the others who were behind the van with her briefly as she nodded towards them before looking at the rhino. There wasn't any time for amazement or second thoughts. Xiao Hui quickly worked to stopping the blood as best as she could for the two wounded.

"Can you walk? Will you be able to pick up arms?" She questioned, working quickly.

Xiao Hui's eyes widened as she turned her attention towards the truck that came through revealing the others in the animal rescue mission. She would have smiled in relief if it wasn't for the fact that there were other feral animals in their midst. Without even a pause, Xiao Hui nearly choked on a sob as she watched the scene play out next. Hot tears watered around her eyes realising her mistake. She wasted time.

Getting off her feet, she stared at the "newcomers" around her.

"Make yourselves useful and grab the tranq guns from that turned over vehicle. Get as many of those feral animals stabilised as you can." Xiao Hui looked between the Nigerian and Australian. Whether they chose to help or not was up to them, but she hoped they did if they wanted to come out alive.

However, before she could get to the vehicle and grab the weapon, Xiao Hui quickly moved her eyes away from the bright-lit enflamed phoenix hearing Calista's warning and Amber's words.

"Anyone have a visual?" She called out, hearing BB and Totus' voice in the air as she avoided the heated light.

As the sound of shots being fired brought her attention towards Beth, Xiao Hui quickly made her way around before seeing other enraged animals: a wolverine and tapir.

"Wǒ cào." Xiao Hui swore under her breath, taking out her own pair of needles.
Laohu! Where are you?

Laohu, on the other hand, found himself beneath the debris of the explosion of the van and the warehouse. It wasn't until he heard Xiao's voice that he came through as he slowly stood up, shaking his head trying to get a visual and idea of what was happening. How did he get here? Oh, right, they were chasing that truck.

Here!

Frantically, Laohu moved only to feel his muscles aching. But, as his vision slowly cleared, he hissed at the loudness and the chaos that laid before him. It was only when he noticed Simon took a hold of his best friend, throwing him out of the way and the screeching of his winged-friend did Laohu snap back to reality. Growling in a defensive position at seeing that there were other ferals in the arena, Laohu, without a moment's hesitation moved inside the van just as Amber came and took a tran gun as instructed. Her aim had been towards a polar bear and Laohu looked behind her, staring down at the other animals he didn't know.

Seeing Xiao at the corner of his eye, he quickly tossed across the tranq gun near her foot, wanting her to arm herself despite her distaste of guns. Once he saw that she was able to take arms, Laohu turned back to the matter at hand, pawing at the ground.

He growled lowly once more as he wanted to race towards the retreating lions and gorillas. But, with other animals blocking the way, Laohu waited for an opportunity to let out an earth-shattering roar, hopefully it would stumble any movements from occurring as a distraction.

tags: SilverFlight , Bolts , Lioness075 , zCrookedz , Flutterby

 

[Lioness075]

Name: Manjano
Manjano's Attire: Red-Brown Hair Dye, Dark Green Eye Contacts, Maroon Suit, Torn Black Shirt, One Black Dress Shoe (Right Foot)
Location: Warehouse
Tagged: zCrookedz (Simon and Jimbo), Flutterby (Beth and Totus), SilverFlight (Amber, Duik, and Alec), Bolts (BB), deer (Xiao Hui and Laohu)

Chaos unfolded around Manjano and it was all he could do to follow each event as it unfolded. As much as he would not want to admit it, his eyes blurred with tears from the gunshot wound to his foot. He could only hope that nobody would notice with everything going on. Wiping his eyes hastily, he leaned around his crate to see that most of the smoke had cleared now, revealing the overturned van and various angered animals attacking his team. Manjano could not tell what had caused their anger, but he could see Beth closest to him struggling to get an injured man from the front of the van.

Manjano's eyes flitted to the side to see a bear lurching towards Beth, one of the angered animals that had just arrived on the scene. Hastily, he tried to get to his feet and shout a warning to Beth, but his left leg gave out on his injured foot and he instead collapsed back to the ground. Cursing, he slammed a fist on the ground before hearing Amber shouting nearby about tranquilizers. Gritting his teeth, he pushed himself up into a sitting position and waved his hands to get Amber's attention. Catching the tossed tranquilizer gun, Manjano quickly brought it to his shoulder and took aim at the charging polar bear. Taking a deep breath, he tried to steady himself, as he quickly shot three tranqs at the polar bear's hind legs. His heart was in his throat and he prayed Beth would be all right.

He could only hope that was enough to stop the bear, as there was nothing else for him to do while he was grounded. Hearing shouting and a hyena laugh beyond the van, Manjano shifted his gaze just in time to see Leandra on the ground with Duik circling her. Everyone was getting attacked all around him and all Manjano could do was feel useless in the moment. Adrenaline and anger coursed through him, as he used the crate for leverage and forced himself to his feet despite the pain. The bullet wound in his left foot had bled through his sock and attempt at a bandage by now. Stumbling forward, Manjano left a single bloody footprint path behind him.

Hoping the tranqs would stop the charging bear and putting his family first, Manjano limped past the van and towards his sister, who was lying on the ground still, in shock. Luness was flaring nearby, but her light was already dimming under the sprinklers and Manjano knew better than to look at her. She was distracted for now and his focus was entirely on his sister. Simon had gotten to her first and Manjano all but collapsed onto his knees beside them, putting himself at Leandra's head. He shakily helped her up partway into his lap while Simon tried to talk to her. She did not seem responsive, but Manjano simply put a hand against her chin and slowly shifted her gaze onto his own face. She slowly blinked at first and then in a flash, she gasped and seemed to come back to the present. Manjano's tears were mixed in with the water trickling down his face from the sprinklers, but he gave her a warm smile before saying softly, "You're safe now, Lea. I've got you."

 

[Lioness075]

Name: Leandra Sinciato	Companion: Luness
Leandra's Attire: Dirty Blonde Hair Dye, Hazel Eye Contacts, Khaki Traveler's Jacket, Grey T-Shirt, Light Jeans, Cream Tennis Shoes	Luness' Attire: Crimson Feather Dye, Dark Orange Eye Contacts
Location: Warehouse
Tagged: zCrookedz (Simon and Jimbo), Flutterby (Beth and Totus), SilverFlight (Amber, Duik, and Alec), Bolts (BB), deer (Xiao Hui and Laohu)

Hearing BB's voice, Luness' glare shifted to the tiny hummingbird in a flash. Nothing seemed to get through to the phoenix, as she began to shift her momentum to fly towards the hummingbird. Before she could, Totus flew in and brushed past her head. With an angry shriek, she shifted away from the owl and tried to flare up more to get the birds away from her. Yet, the sprinklers were doing their job and her flames were already beginning to die down. This frustrated her further, but the owl had already left her alone with the hummingbird. Her attention immediately returned to the little bird and Luness swooped at her. Her talons glinted in what little light was left, as she reached out for the humming bird in a rushed attack.

Tears blurred her vision, as Leandra witnessed her companion going feral beyond what the Ferals did. Luness was attacking her own friends, holding nothing back anymore. To make matters worse, Leandra had lost her mental link with Luness. She had never felt so alone. Leandra closed her eyes when Duik laughed, her heart now in her throat. This was it. This was how it all fell apart. Yet, before the hyena could make his move, he was gone and suddenly Simon was at her side. In response to his questions, Leandra merely whimpered. Immediately after, she began coughing and gasped when she realized how pained her chest was now. She had clearly bruised her ribs, maybe even worse with how much it hurt to try and catch her breath after her coughing fit.

Before she could even try to get a word out, Manjano was at her side and then she was partly in his lap. Seeing the fear and worry in his expression, Leandra could not get a word out and instead began crying while she tried to feebly hug her twin brother. It was all too much for her. Her heart hurt, her chest throbbed from her injuries, and she had lost her connection with Luness. She could not bear it all on her own.

 

[Lioness075]

Name: Falarion
Attire: Dark Brown Eye Contacts, Maroon Scarf around Neck, Dark Orange Fur Dye, Black Fur Dye on Mane and Legs, Cream Fur Dye Underneath Snout and on Belly and Tail
Location: Amber and Calista's Hotel Room
Tagged: SilverFlight (Calista), Bolts (Barry)

Watching the monitors and hearing everything on the coms left Falarion's heart racing while he whimpered at Calista's side. So much was unfolding and going wrong, yet he was stuck here at the hotel instead of at his companion's side. It was just so wrong. It felt wrong and all he wished was that he could run to Manny's side right now. Hearing an odd noise behind him, Falarion glanced back in time to see Barry joining his side, concern etched all over his face. It was agonizing to be stuck in the background this time around. Falarion should have known better about letting Manjano go on without him. Something always went wrong on their missions.

Just then, there was a knock at the hotel room door and Falarion nearly leapt out of his skin, slapping a paw on Calista's keyboard before falling down beside her. "Oomph!" Hastily, he stood back up and tried to play it off cooly, as he shakily headed over to the door. He had completely forgotten about his ordered food until the knock and while he was concerned for their team, he really could not ignore his growling stomach another second. After a brief exchange, Falarion trotted back to the desk and found an empty space to the side where he carefully put down his plate full of potato skins. He snatched one up and then glanced over at Calista and Barry, who were both practically glued to the screen. Guilt washed over him for letting food distract him from the team and his companion, but Falarion felt useless right now. He could not do anything to help and starving himself would not do him any good, right?

 

[zCrookedz]

Simon watched as Leandra's eyes went back and forth around the place after he pushed Duik off of her. She didn't answer him, but she was conscious still which was a good sign. In an instant Manjano was there as well to comfort his sister and Simon's could feel a bit of relief that the pair was together. But something felt off. Simon looked down at his hands, and found that his fists had collided with the side of Duik that had been coated in the purple ooze that had leaked out of the van and covered the other animals. the same animals that were hurting his friends and had had somehow turned Duik against them. Simon's fists closed around the back of his knuckles as the thought of Duik leaping for Leandra sprang to the front of his mind. Why had he done that? Why was one of the best companions that he had ever come to know now hell bent on attacking the group. They were friends, weren't they? You should never attack your friends! It a betrayal!
Simon could feel the warmth of blood begin to trickle from his palm as his nails cut into them from his grip. He was so angry, so angry at the situation. Angry that things had gone so sideways, so fast. Angry that he had barely done anything to help. ANGRY that one of his own team mates had just attacked them.
His eyes lifted to find Alec struggling with the hyena under a tarp of some sorts. He gritted his teeth and growled under his breath as he lifted himself back to his full height and began walking through the chaos, his eyes not leaving Alec and Duik wrestling on the ground.
"LET HIM GO ALEC!! HE ATTACKED LEANDRA! HE'S A DANGER TO US ALL AND WE WILL NOT HAVE A TRAITOR IN OUR MIDST!"
It was then that Simon felt several things slam into his side knocking him to the ground. The first was large and solid, the Tapir had rammed itself into Simon's legs and brought them out from underneath him with relative ease. The second was much more dangerous, with claws and lots of fur, the wolverine lept onto Simon's chest and sank its teeth into Simon's shoulder. Simon let out a loud yell as the teeth tore through flesh and reached bone. Simon's anger doubled as he reared back his fist and slammed it into the side of the Wolverine. The wolverine retaliated, with a quick swipe across Simon's face over his left eye. Blood coated his vision as Simon continued to strike the Wolverine in the shoulders and then in the head. With a yelp, the wolverine finally released his shoulder and rolled to side as Simon jumped back to his feet. The tapir stood before him, while the wolverine climbed to its feet behind him. Simon's grip on his knuckles tightened even more as the rage began to overflow. He felt his thumbs slide over the dial on the knuckles, pushing them to the point were one good strike would kill either one of his attackers in an instant.

Jimbo watched as the chaos of the warehouse unfolded around them. Through the view finder of his canon, he noticed that the enemy was taking full advantage of the chaos and was beginning to fall back. He wasn't really concerned with that at the moment. What he was concerned with was the overwhelming amount of rage that was beginning to spill over into Jimbo's mental link with Simon. He searched for his brother among st the chaos and found him squaring off against a Tapir and a Wolverine. He could also see, and feel, the blood lust coming from Simon. It was something he had never felt from Simon before. Hatred was not something the big guy had EVER shown. This alone made Jimbo drop the canon to the floor and go for a tranquilizer .
Jimbo stepped forward and aimed his tranq gun at the Tapir first, then the Wolverine. He popped two shots per, and then lowered the gun as he looked to Simon.
"Simon! Snap out of it!. Whats wrong with you?"
He was almost unrecognizable to Jimbo. He turned towards him, full of hatred and yelled at the gorilla.
"WHY DID YOU DO THAT!? THEY NEED TO BE DESTROYED! I CAN TAKE CARE OF MYSELF YOU GOOD FOR NOTHING MONKEY!"
Jimbo was stunned into silence. Frozen in place, as Simon began to make his way towards Jimbo, the gorilla watched as his brother raised his fist ready to strike him with his anger.

 

[Bolts]

BB tried as hard as she could to move but seeing Luness lord over her as licks of flame and smoke rose over her kept the small bird in place. She could feel the heat radiating even with the distance in between. Seeing the significantly larger Phoenix shift to her in an obvious geared up attack, all she could feel was the eagle swooping to her so long ago. As he had but given up, the sudden burst of feathers that belonged to Totus entered the fray. The heat was off BB for a moment as the rush of attacks surprised the fire bird. She couldn't breath but her heart beat felt faster than it should ever be. Seeing two large birds fight wasn't a safe spot her her. Suddenly, she felt her tail feathers part suddenly. It was the Ocelot that broke out trying to jump to her. Her panic turned into fear at the thought of the goo hitting her tail, but no sign of the stuff was on the it's claws.
"ALRIGHT, THAT'S ENOUGH OF THAT." She yelled down to the Ocelot. "I might be frightened of those two, but no way am I gonna do the stereotypical Cat and bird thing." She hovered a little higher to make it more work for the feline.

With another close call, she felt the heat of her crazed friend dawning on her. With an eek, She rolled out of the way with the tips of her feathers singed. "I JUST HAD THOSE DONE! LULU, I KNOW THAT ISN'T YOU ANY MORE BUT YOU'VE GONE TOO FAR.... CATCH ME IF YOU CAN!" She said taking off well above the Ocelots current attack range and egging Luness on enough to follow her. Better to let the Phoenix fire focus her than someone of a much bigger size. She did her best to locate Totus in the confusion and yell to him. "HEY TOTO, CAN YOU FETCH A DART FOR ME? I'M GONNA BE STUPID AND RAM HER. BETTER I GET GOOED THAN ANOTHER.....POTENTIAL THREAT!" She couldn't believe her own words but someone had to do it. Everyone was too busy with ground threats. Who knows, maybe she would be less scared if she didn't know what was going on. Not like humming birds have much threat for attacks anyway. In all fairness, she just didn't want to deal with two birds of prey after her. One nightmare was enough.

~~~~~

Barry couldn't believe what he was hearing right now. All the mess going on over there was so much to handle. It would have been easier to deal with these thoughts if he was there in person. At least then he could do something rather than stand there like a scarecrow. It sounded way too chaotic to just be in a semi-quiet hotel room with no way to help. Once the door rang, Barry jumped a little. Being so focused on the screen, all outside forces seemed too distant to bother with. He was focused mainly on his companion in the mess. She was quick, but easy to hurt if given the chance. His teeth were clenched hearing her talk to the corrupted Luness. Easy enough to pick up from all the comms firing up. His heart sank though as she uttered her plan. He raised a pointer finger in the air, fear and frustration clear as day. "I swear, you better not do that. SO HELP ME!" He thought to himself while his body did its best to convey those words. At that point, he was exhausted. The rush back to the room, the feel of fear via his connection to BB, the still present knock to the head from before. He couldn't stand anymore. He renounced to the bed, laying face first. Clinging to the feeling of BB. All he could do was send prayers to her now.

SilverFlight Lioness075 zCrookedz Flutterby deer

 

[SilverFlight]

The polar bear was nearly on top of Beth when suddenly it stumbled. The colourful feather tuft of the dark jutting out of its white fur. It paused, then staggered and then, it was hit by two more. Amber reloaded in a flash and snapped the cartridge into place. She nodded at Beth as the bear became sluggish.
"Keep your distance, it'll take time to knock it out."
Flutterby

The other weapons dealers snapped to attention when Xiao shouted at them, Amber reluctantly provided them with weapons and they set about trying to support the Watch agents to the best of their abilities.
The Italian and his doberman partner sat close by, the dog watching as his human companion was treated.
"We owe you and your people a debt." The dog said carefully. "You've done our family a great service."
Laohu's roar startled the gorilla loading the truck and the weapon he was carrying slipped from his grasp, landing on his foot. The howl that ensued alerted his companions, who grabbed him instead of the load. Feral escaped, but they didn't escape with everything.
deer

Meanwhile, Alec struggled to keep a full grown hyena under control. he was nearly bitten through the tarp twice and he knew that if Duik got his jaws about a limb, tarp or no, the bone would be snapped in two.
"Someone with a tranq gun!" He yelled. A pair of boots came into his view, it was Simon. He looked up in horror as the man roared at him.
"What the hell are you saying?!" Alec yelled back, clinging to Duik protectively now.
Suddenly Simon was gone, rammed by the tapir. Alec caught Amber's gaze across the room, but they both turned to watch what happened next. There was something wrong with Simon. Something very wrong.
It only took seconds for Amber to act, she caught Alec's eyes again and lifted the gun. Alec twisted, putting Duik in front of him, writhing under the tarp, Amber fired and Alec felt the hyena twitch as the dart found its target.
Not a second after that Amber moved the gun, leveling it on one of her oldest friends. She fired at Simon. Twice.
zCrookedz

Alec was vaguely aware of a truck screeching off into the distance. He saw the weakening bodies of the Tapir and the wolverine. The bears were already out.
"Calista," Alec breathed into the com, as soon as Duik's struggles began to weaken. "Get the Watch medic team here now. Bring the quarantine unit. We're dealing with something really strange..."

The fight wasn't over yet. There was still one creature left. Luness. Alec felt an icy fear creep into him. He'd never had to contain a phoenix before...and he had no idea how.
Lioness075 Bolts

Calista had already sent for the medics. She'd seen the purple ooze and warned them about it. "Yeah I know." she replied to Alec, "Last thing we need is more victims of Feral's freaky science project. Hang in there Champ, we're getting you help." The door sounded and Calista jumped with Falarion, though her exclamations were by far more offensive.
"Touch my keyboard again Fals, and I'm having you neutered." She said slowly.
"Ok people, don't fall apart, we need to be ready. Some of those injuried are hospital-worthy, so we're gonna meet them there. Barry! Please tell me you can drive."
Lioness075 Bolts

 

[Lioness075]

Name: Leandra Sinciato	Companion: Luness
Leandra's Attire: Dirty Blonde Hair Dye, Hazel Eye Contacts, Khaki Traveler's Jacket, Grey T-Shirt, Light Jeans, Cream Tennis Shoes	Luness' Attire: Crimson Feather Dye, Dark Orange Eye Contacts
Location: Warehouse
Tagged: zCrookedz (Simon and Jimbo), Flutterby (Beth and Totus), SilverFlight (Amber, Duik, and Alec), Bolts (BB), deer (Xiao Hui and Laohu)

As Simon suddenly lurched away from her and began shouting, Leandra whimpered and pulled herself closer to Manjano. Fear swept over her, her hands trembling without her connection to Luness. Her brother was right beside her, hugging her, yet she had never felt so alone. Her heart ached and her head throbbed from her initial impact with the concrete. A faint trickle of blood rolled down the side of her head and down her cheek, which Manjano carefully wiped away. Simon scared her even more when he charged at Alec and Duik, but Leandra closed her eyes and continued to cry. It was so unlike her, but she was drowning in a pain that was beyond any physical pain she had endured before.

Meanwhile, Luness was still rampaging nearby. Her attack attempt with BB was thwarted by the ocelot. While BB was small and agile enough to dodge the swipe, Luness had misjudged her trajectory and shrieked when the ocelot's swipe struck her in the chest. The phoenix fell backwards onto the ground, her breath knocked out of her briefly. With a chortle, she was back on her talons with her wings splayed out beside her. Her attempt to look bigger gave the ocelot pause before it snarled and leapt at her. Her eyes glowed, as she flared up once more, blinding any who looked at her, including the ocelot. It cried out in alarm before it tackled Luness to the ground. Her left wing got crushed underneath their combined weight, but her anger and adrenaline masked the pain. The resounding crack from her wing could be heard by any near her. Shrieking and pecking at the ocelot's eyes, Luness' fire enveloped herself and the ocelot. Screams echoed in the area from the ocelot, one of its eyes bloodied while fire began to consume it alive. As it stumbled back and collapsed near Luness, she slowly stood up with her left wing dangling at an odd angle beside her. The ocelot continued to burn beside her, but its screams had died off by now. The glow of the flames lit Luness up from below and her flames seemed to be dancing within her eyes. She began to look around for her next prey with a striking calmness that the other frenzied animals did not display, but if one looked inside her eyes long enough then they would know that her calm was a front for the anger raging within.

 

[Flutterby]

A splotch of bright color appeared on the bear's fur, but it wasn't the color she was expecting. Beth stumbled back a few steps, as the bear slowed, and met Amber's eyes. The agent just nodded, and Beth nodded back. She skirted the bear's range until it went down, limping over to see if the driver of the van was still alive and present.
SilverFlight

Totus took a wide arc after his pass of Luness, and by the time he turned around, the phoenix was on the ground. The ocelot had attacked her, but Luness seemed to be fairing just fine in her rage.
The owl heard BB, but didn't really like the plan. A quick sweep of his teammates showed that none of them had a gun trained on Luness yet, so Totus called out,
"If no one is going to shoot Luness with a tranq, BB is going to do it herself." Totus swooped down to the ground, locating a cartridge and fumbling with it until he had isolated a dart.
"I've got a dart down here with your name on it, BB. But I don't like this idea. This is what the guns are supposed to do."
Bolts

 

[zCrookedz]

Simon loomed over Jimbo, his fists clenched and covered in a mixture of blood and the purple ooze that had coated them when he punched Duik. The gorilla was trying to keep his cool, but the anger and rage in his brothers eyes was so hardened on him that he felt his legs shaking under him. Simon and him always sparred together, so Jimbo new he could take him down with enough force. But with his knuckles fully charged, he knew that one good punch would send him sprawled out on the floor passed out, or worse. Jimbo's dark hazel eyes fixed with Simon's as he stepped closer.

"Simon, come on. Whats gotten into you! Snap out of it you big dumb idiot!"
Simon roared as he reared back his fists and his body to swing for Jimbo. Jimbo was ready to move, anywhere but where Simon was, when he saw Simon twitch abruptly. Jimbo froze, he could see the tuft of a dart sticking out of Simon's shoulder. He glanced around along with Simon who found the source was a tranquilizer in the hands of Amber. He winced as another dart flew from the gun and embedded itself in Simon's chest. Simon staggered back a step before lifting his rage filled eyes toward Amber.

His breathing grew deeper as he began to move his feet away from Jimbo and towards Amber. He had begun to foam in the corners of his mouth, and with the blood from his eye mixed in it gave Simon a terrifying, crazed expression.
"You.....out of everyone here, I thought I could trust you the most! That you would have my back! That you felt the way I did!! BUT NOW I SEE! Your just as big a traitor as the monkey is!!

Jimbo new what was coming, and now that Simon was moving closer towards Amber, he had a shot. Without warning, Jimbo was across the short distance between him and Simon, and flung himself at Simon's back. Simon roared when Jimbo's arms and legs clasped around him in a death grip. The pair hit the ground, Jimbo on top of a struggling Simon who was yelling and spitting on the floor. But he could already feel the tranq's beginning to work. Simon's jerking movements weren't as strong as they normally were, and his speech was beginning to slow.
"I'll.......I'll kill......you ALL!! Your all.......TRAITORS!!! I......I.............."
Simon jerking began to slow, and his speech became nothing more than mumbles in the dirt as Jimbo rolled them both over to the side panting. He looked up to Amber, his concern and fear in his eyes was now clear as day to her.
"I'll hold him here. So he doesn't hurt himself until the darts fully kick in. Thank you, Amber."

 

[Bolts]

BB stayed put in the air, hoping Totus would nab her a needle. If Luness wanted to play cat and mouse, it would best not be near the others. It was utter chaos from what she was hearing. She looked back to her target who seemed to be preoccupied now by the pesky ocelot. BB let out an audible "oof" as the cat tackled her flaming friend. She was glad that wasn't her still getting swiped at. Those were some dirty moves being played out. It wasn't till the fighting continued where she got concerned for everyone around. The tall tale signs of her flash banging began to play out and BB tried her best to take cover and look away. Behind a beam, the light burst around her which left her blinking out the mild blindness. As the whiteness faded, she was in full view of the horrid sight. The poor ocelot being cooked and the shrieks that followed left her hollow. "I...I didn't realize how savage she was..heh.." She knew how animals fought was pretty rough at times but a mystical creature was something else to behold. Had Luness been able to fly, BB was fairly sure she wouldn't be able to move. Sadly and luckily, the Phoenix was grounded for good.

As Totus flew beside her, she let out a short squeal. She looked at the dart for far too long and back at the cooking Ocelot. Finally, looking up to the flaming bird herself, she could see that unbridled anger building up. With a short motion, she took the dart, making her drop slightly. "I don't like it either... but everyone is busy keeping things contained and not going crazy like a few of us." With a quick hoist, she geared up for a quick nose dive into fear. "I don't want people to experience that Ocelot's fate either." She let the initial weight of the dart take her down into the dive before speeding things up herself. She was going straight for her friends center. Those eyes beaming at her made her blood flow, and her wing ache. "I'm the predator now!" She said closing her eyes as the air grew hotter. It was in action now, no stopping. A one way ticket right for the body.

~~~

Barry lay there hearing the commotion between Calista and Fal. With all the stress Calista had with calls and stats and Fal's likely fear, he didn't want to get in the way. Things seemed to be getting under control, though with hefty injuries on all sides. The Med team was well on their way and things would be taken care of. Then, face in a pillow, Barry felt the second wave of fear. It was enough to push him off the bed and to his feet. Just as Calista hurriedly tried to pull them together, Barry nodded. He had to go see her at least after the fight was finished. "Hang in there." He thought to himself as he pulled himself together to leave.

 

[Lioness075]

Name: Luness
Attire: Crimson Feather Dye, Dark Orange Eye Contacts
Location: Warehouse
Tagged: zCrookedz (Simon and Jimbo), Flutterby (Beth and Totus), SilverFlight (Amber, Duik, and Alec), Bolts (BB), deer (Xiao Hui and Laohu)

Hearing BB, Luness' gaze slowly shifted to the swift hummingbird, as she darted about and then retrieved a dart from Totus. The phoenix stood up straighter, defiant against the little bird who dared challenge her. Yet, this fight was not in her favor. As she began to raise her wings to make herself look bigger, Luness belatedly felt the pain shooting up her left wing and into her shoulder. She let out an angry shriek when she stumbled back a step and found herself right in BB's diving path. Looking up at BB, Luness felt the sharp jab as the tranquilizer struck her in the chest and she gasped. Her vision began to shift focus and she stumbled sideways before falling down on her right side. The sprinkler water continued to fall down on Luness, the drops of water splashing against her feathers. The ocelot that had burned near her was no longer engulfed in flames, instead some smoke drifted off of its charred body. As her breathing slowed, Luness could just make out Leandra with Manjano a distance away and Luness had to wonder why tears were being shed. Then her vision faded and she fell asleep.

 

[SilverFlight]

Amber couldn't tear her eyes away from Simon, as he lay pinned under his 400 pound companion. He was frightening. His words cut into her so deeply she physically winced, closing her eyes finally and turning away. She was glad she had a bit of distance, her hands were trembling.
She pulled out her com badge and spoke into it.
"Med team bring quarantine gear, the feral van was carrying a psychoactive liquid that affects victims by dermal contact, prepare to transport to nearest hospital, we have severe injuries, gunshot wounds, lacerations, likely broken bones."

Alec only became aware of the world around him when Duik stopped struggling. He rolled away and lay on his back, chest heaving. His mind was oddly blank, he could barely string a sentence together in his thoughts. Shock. This was shock. The break in his contact with Duik had been so abrupt, so violent he could barely describe it.

When the medical team finally arrived they were in full-body suits. He wasn't sure if he answered their questions right, but eventually they helped him to his feet, and hefted Duik onto a guerney, hooking him up to a drip that would keep him under. They did the same to the other companions, hefting the remaining unpaired animals into containment units to be checked over by a veterinarian.

~*~*~

The hospital was clean and bright, and seemed a world away from the warehouse they had just left. The Australian and Nigerian dealers had long since vanished, but the Italian had been admitted to the hospital too, his doberman companion sitting out in the waiting room, straight-backed and stiff.
Alec was out there too, waiting while they checked Duik for injuries before they brought him round. Amber had ordered all animals that had come into contact with the strange chemical be woken up in cages, and Luness sealed in a flame-retardant chamber with a glass viewing window.
He sat with his elbows on his knees, hands folded and pressed against his forehead. His vest was filthy and his hair disheveled and he twitched at the slightest movement near the examining room doors.

Suddenly the main entrance doors opened and Calista came running in, the first of the three members that had been left at the hotel. For once, the civet didn't have a critical comment or a rude retort. Instead she just bared her teeth and shook her head.
"What a frickin' mess."

Amber hadn't left Simon's side. She stood against the wall of the room they had put him in. The doctors had removed the chemical substance from his skin and for security reasons, strapped him down the bed. Amber ordered the restraints doubled. Only after that did she ask that the anti-anesthesia be administered.
She swallowed hard, still shaken and still afraid, but determined not to show it. She was their leader. People looked to her for strength. She began to wonder if Simon would remember the moments after he had been affected. She hoped he didn't.

zCrookedz Bolts Lioness075 Flutterby deer

 

[Lioness075]

Leandra's tears slowed and sniffling ensued while the chaos around her began to settle. BB's valiant dive at Luness had downed the phoenix, the last enemy the team had been facing. Luness looked so peaceful now that she was asleep and it made Leandra wonder if she had been imagining what just happened. Yet, a glance at the smoldering corpse of the ocelot told her otherwise. Her heart began to race again and she hugged her brother.

"How could she?"

It came out as a pained whisper and Manjano winced before responding gently, "She wasn't herself, Lea."

Soon, the sounds of the ambulances and medics arriving filled the air and flashing lights reflected around them. Leandra closed her eyes while two medics helped her onto a stretcher. Her brother anxiously tried to help, but another pair of medics noticed his foot and he was soon forced onto his own stretcher. Hopeful to encourage his sister, Manjano cried out, "It's okay, Lea. We're okay now!"

She blinked away tears and muttered, "Is it?"

In the hotel, Falarion glanced up at Calista with a half-eaten potato skin in his mouth. He tried to respond, but it came out as muffled, "Mmrghumph." Swallowing his food, he then added, "I'm jumpy, okay, sorry." His ears dropped to his head just as he heard an haunting shriek from the coms and he immediately dropped to the floor in fear. "What was that?" His eyes soon saw Luness on a screen and he whimpered. He proceeded to cover his face with his paws while the battle ensued.

Hearing Barry moving about and then Calista saying it was time to go, Falarion slowly stood up and saw Luness had been downed now. "Scary," he muttered as he trotted after his hotel buddies.

~~~~~~

At the hospital, Luness was curled up in her glass box, still dozing quietly as if nothing had ever happened. Her left wing was wrapped up in a brown ACE wrap and was limp beside her body instead of tight against it like her right wing. She made a soft purring noise each time she exhaled and it was hard to imagine how dark and enraged she had been just hours ago.

Nearby, the twins were on beds beside each other. Manjano's left foot had some small metal rods in it and was in a small cast that just reached his ankle. The gunshot wound had resulted in several metatarsals fracturing and the surgery had been tedious because of all the bone fragments that had to be removed carefully. Manjano was beginning to wake from the anesthesia and he drowsily glanced sideways at his sister to see her already awake. Her expression was distant, though, and when Manjano tried to get her attention, Leandra seemed to look right through him. She was not nearly as bad off and only had a few bone contusions on her ribs to heal. She was confined to her bed while the worst of her injuries healed. She had a minor concussion, but had mostly healed from it with what rest she had managed thus far.

Sighing, Manjano looked away from Leandra in time to see Falarion charging his bed. "Woah, Fal, stop!" Falarion skidded to a halt in front of the bed, slipped on the freshly mopped tile, and proceeded to slide past Manjano's bed and into a rolling table nearby. The fresh snacks that had been neatly placed on it scattered to the floor and Falarion was back on his paws in a flash. "Uh, sorry!" He said to a nearby nurse before running back to Manjano's bed. The nurse grumbled to herself, as she began picking up the ruined snacks.

Stopping at Manjano's bedside, Falarion whimpered and shoved his head into Manjano's hands. He was overdue for some pets after he was stuck in that hotel room for the fight and everything. Falarion’s tail began wagging and thumping against the floor while Manjano smiled warmly at him. The excitement made Falarion want to jump on Manjano's lap and snuggle into him, but he had to resist the urge. He did not want to injure Manjano any further.

Leandra had registered the blur of fur as Falarion, but even after he crashed and announced his presence, she could not bring herself to look over at him. She knew she would see a happy and pleasant reunion, but all she could think of was Luness. She glanced over at her sleeping companion and felt a shiver run down her spine. She feared her companion now, the closeness and love diminishing. The anger that had radiated from Luness earlier had been horrifying and Leandra had been powerless to stop her companion from killing someone. Leandra fought back more tears and resorted to staring at the ceiling instead.

 

[zCrookedz]

Spoiler: Crooked & Silverflight colab post (Warning, SUPER long.)

Jimbo hadn't left Simon's side through the ordeal after the med team showed up. He watched over Simon as the team approached, bound his hands and feet, patched his face, and then loaded him up into the ambulance. He sat and quietly answered the med teams questions about the event, but when they realized he wasn't in a talking mood, they moved on. Jimbo ignored the bumpy ride through Singapore, and tried to focus on his bond with Simon. It was nearly non existent. It felt like trying to breathe through a straw 10 feet under water. Gasping for what little air he could get, before the crushing loneliness sucked him back down again. Only when the doors to the back opened up and they began to unload Simon and the others did he snap to attention and carry on. What Jimbo hadn't counted on, was Amber's attendance to Simon as well. Through the discussion with the doctor about Simon finally stabilizing, and how he would likely loose the vision in his left eye, Amber had been right there with the pair of them. He knew why, the way Simon had spoken to the pair of them back at the warehouse had caught both of them off guard. It had cut deep, deeper than any knife or blade could have penetrated. Jimbo felt it, and he knew Amber could too.

When the doctor finally gave them the all clear and left them, Jimbo released what felt like the first breath he had taken since Simon had attacked them. The gorilla lumbered over to the side of the bed and eyed Simon's restraints, which had been insisted by Amber. He agreed, there was just no telling what would happen when Simon woke up. Or the others fro that matter. Luness could have turned them all into charcoal smears on the pavement. Duik could have ripped Alec or Leandra to shreds. It was a safety precaution that they all had to take until they woke up. Jimbo gave the binding across Simon's chest a tug and pulled the hospital blanket a little further up his chest before sitting back by the aside of the bed. He was big enough that even sitting on the floor he could watch over Simon, and see Amber leaning on the wall across from him. His brown eye went from her and back to Simon before he grunted softly and looked to her. "Calista and the others are probably here by now. I can watch over him if you need to go check in with her and the others. Doubt he's going anywhere anytime soon.."

Amber’s eyes shifted over to the ape sitting on the floor by Simon. “I trust Calista to handle things.” It was her captain speak for ‘I don’t want to leave.’ In truth she was afraid that if she moved, the flood of fear, anger and sadness that had been building up over what had happened might burst through her carefully-crafted damn. Simon’s words echoed back into her mind and suddenly she couldn’t meet Jimbo’s eyes anymore. “You must be pretty upset.” After a moment of silence she decided to turn the conversation around. “Wanna talk about it?”

Jimbo eyes flicked away from Amber to an empty spot on the wall beside the bed. He had been so preoccupied with Simon's injuries that he hadn't had time to think about what had really happened, or what was said. He reached up and scratched at his temple lightly as he thought. "Ya know, its hard to say honestly. Whatever that stuff did to Simon and the others, obviously some pretty severe aggression inducing stuff. But......" Jimbo closed his eyes and tried to focus on the connection to Simon again. It had grown larger, and he could begin to feel a bit more of Simon's "normal" unconscious connection. But it was still distant and strained.
Jimbo's eyes opened and he flung his hand up in exasperation. "He's always been impulsive and rash. But that sort of hate. It just wasn't him. I just can't let myself believe anything else Amber."

“I know it wasn’t him.” Amber said, voice resolute. “Don’t worry Jimbo, we already have our best analyzing that substance. We’ll find out what it’s done to him.” She looked back to the bed, to the motionless figure of her teammate and suddenly anger flashed in her eyes. “You stupid idiot. How many times have I tried to tell you not to jump into every situation head first? Are you ever going to learn before it kills you?” It was unprofessional, immature even, but she felt she had to speak her mind, even if it was just to an unconscious body. “I was almost about to put the gun down.” She told Jimbo quietly. “But then he called you a ‘stupid monkey’. That’s when I knew, none of what he was saying was really him.”

Jimbo sighed as he folded his arms over his broad chest and fixed his eyes on Simon again. He took comfort in Amber's words. It was something he had been the most shocked about during the ordeal, his brothers wrath and verbal attack was by far the most painful part of the entire day. Hearing Amber's support against the poisonous thoughts that those words had injected, gave him a large measure of comfort. He couldn't help but crack a faint smile at her scolding, he had been thinking the exact same words for far to long now. They were words that he knew Simon was far to familiar with, having heard them from just about every person who had ever cared for him his entire life. Though, Amber's next words did raise a hairy brow from the gorilla. It had been a hard choice to make, sticking those darts in Simon. One Jimbo hadn't considered until it was obvious that Simon wasn't going to stop. He had been glad Amber had been able to do what he hadn't. "Thank you for that Amber. I don't know if it was just the shock of the situation, or just me being a "stupid monkey", but I just couldn't find the strength to pull the trigger on him. That's why he needs you around him, ya know. As thick headed as he is, he needs someone with more push to help keep him in check."

It was Amber's turn to be amused, and her mouth twitch with the hint of a smile. "Yeah well let's hope I don't have to shoot him again." She grew a little more serious, and suddenly she couldn't look back at the gorilla. "He doesn't need me...He does need you though Jimbo, you're not stupid. You, are just about the only impulse control that man has, and if a silverback gorilla can't stop him, what chance does anyone else have?" There was a short pause before Amber stood and stretched, clasping her hands and brining them out in front of her. "So, should be give him the anti-anesthesia?"

Jimbo smiled, but it faded when Amber grew more serious. Her words where heavy, and for the most part they were true. But Jimbo could tell that Amber wanted to move on from the conversation with mentioning the ant-anesthesia. Jimbo let his mind wander back his connection with Simon and found it to be in an acceptably normal state. He nodded to Amber and grunted before he reached over beside the bed and pressed the big red button to call the nurse. The nurse came in and Jimbo explained they wanted to try and wake Simon up. "Ok, he may be uncomfortable with the eye. But the pain should be ok with the morpheme." The nurse reached into the rolling cabinet and retrieved a syringe. She stuck it into the IV drip and pushed the plunger. "It could take a few moments, but the staff is just outside if things aren't.......right." Jimbo nodded and thanked her as he focused on the connection. The hazy cloud of the medication began to lift, and he felt Simon's consciousness. He glanced up at Amber one more tine as he shifted closer to the bed. "Before he wakes up, there's something you should know Amber. After everything happened here........with the team. Simon's not the one who wanted to leave The Watch. I was. I begged him to. He wanted to stay, he didn't want to leave you alone. If you hate me for it, i understand. But its been something I've regretted for a long time. So, I'm sorry." The sheets under Simon's restraints rustled a bit, and Jimbo could see his fingers flexing under the thick fabric. Under his visible eye lid, he could see Simon's eye rolling around, before it slowly opened and he made a small gasping noise. The noise made Jimbo jump to feet and set his hair knuckles on the bed. Simon's eye went to Jimbo, and a smile began to grow before he looked to Amber and he looked a bit pained. He cleared his dry throat a bit, and his voice came out a bit horse as his eye flicked back and forth between the pair. "I......am I.....in trouble again?"

Amber stared. The shock broke through her calm mask to appear on her face. “Simon had wanted…to stay?” Her back found the wall again and she braced a hand against it to steady herself. “All this time I thought…” but her words left her. She ran a hand through her hair, pulling more dark strands from her disheveled bun. Suddenly Simon was awake and Amber was looking at him like he was someone she didn’t know. She blamed herself for what happened to their team, she thought he blamed her, but had he? After a moment she mustered the strength to go over to the bedside. The fact that he seemed to be back to normal made her smile with relief. “What do you remember?”

Simon blinked several times as he tried to focus on Amber. His vision was a still a little fuzzy, and for some reason he could only see out of his right eye it seemed. The left side of his face felt numb, which was a n odd sensation that he wanted to explore more, until he realized that his arms and legs were strapped down to the bed. He had never seen so many restraints on on hospital bed before, and they were keeping him from moving at all. He was confused and honestly a bit frightened at what the reason could possibly be that they had resorted to so many restraints. Simon blinked and relaxed as he looked to Jimbo. The gorilla was smiling at him with his signature half cocked smile, but there was something amiss behind his brown eyes. Something that Simon could feel when he reached out to touch their connection, which felt slightly odd as well. Jimbo gave him a slight shake, and Simon knew that was his way of saying, "Not now". So he returned his gaze to Amber, and tried to relax a bit more before he tried to remember how, and why, he had gotten into this predicament. "Huh, well.......I remember.......standing over Leandra. Duik was......DUIK!! What happened to Duik?? Is he alright? He was about to attack Leandra!" Jimbo placed a hand on Simon's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "He's here too. Everyone made it back, in relatively one piece. We'll talk about that later. What else do you remember?" Simon still looked worried, but he returned to trying to concentrate. "I remember looking at my hands, and seeing the goo all over them. Then, I started to get upset about the mission going so badly.........and then.......its just sort of bits and pieces.........I remember standing over Alec and Duik, then....there was something with claws. You were there Jim........and the last thing I remember was you Amber. Before everything went dark."

Amber reached out at the same time Jimbo did, pressing against Simon’s chest to keep him from sitting up too quickly. “That chemical tampered with the minds of anyone it touched. The fact that you’re talking now is a good sign, it means the effects aren’t permanent. We can try to bring the others around.” Amber then looked a little sheepish, “The drug raises levels of aggression, you were out of control…I had to subdue you.” Instead of explaining Amber tapped a point on his chest, where the skin was beginning to bruise around two neat, pin-sized puncture wounds.

Simon glanced down at Amber's finger tips and noted the pin sized puncture wounds and the bruised skin. He made small choking sound, his dry throat wheezing softly as he took in a breath and the choking sound got a bit louder. He shuddered a bit, which made Jimbo sit up a bit more in alarm as if something was wrong. But as Simon's head leaned back, Jimbo sighed as the mans big goofy grin had grown and he was softly chuckling to himself. His eyes were closed and he just kept chuckling to himself for a few second before he looked up at Amber with a joyful tear resting on the side of face from the laughter. "YOU finally did it. I knew one day you would, but I never expected it like this. You actually shot me."

Worry coursed through amber as Simon began to choke, it took a moment to realize that he was actually laughing. She sat back on the bed with a sigh of relief, wrinkling her nose in irritation. “And you’re making me want to do it again.” She took the pitcher from the bedside table and filled a glass with water, bringing it close so Simon could drink. “Well I’m glad you think it’s funny. Things could have gone a lot better.” They could also have gone a lot worse, at least they were all alive. Amber wanted to question Alec on what had happened with the van, but that could wait. As Simon sat there grinning to himself Amber couldn’t help but smile too. By some miracle they had made it out of a horrific situation…again.

deer SilverFlight Lioness075 Bolts Flutterby

 

[Flutterby]

With Luness subdued, Totus returned to Beth, landing lightly on her shoulder. They both turned at the sound of some shouting, which now stood out against the relative quiet. They shared a look as Simon was finally brought down, and Totus nibbled the top of Beth's ear gently.
~~~~~
It didn't take long to patch Beth up. She had sprained her wrist at some point, and was covered in small bruises and cuts. There was a graze from a bullet along her thigh that had caused some fuss, but within a couple hours she had discharge papers in her hand. Her belongings were returned to her, and she pulled on her own clothes against despite their condition.
She had considered going to see Manjano, but when she walked past his room, he was still asleep, and he had been placed with Leandra. It didn't feel right to join the siblings, at least not yet.
So instead, she joined the group in the waiting room. When she plopped down next to Alec, Totus hopped off her shoulder and onto the chair next to her.
Silently, Beth reached inside her jacket, and pulled out a silver flask. She offered it to Alec first. If he took it and unscrewed the top, he would get a whiff of bourbon. She wasn't sure if that was allowed in a hospital, but at this point she wasn't sure she cared.
"Helluva day," She said softly, "I'm sure he'll be out soon."
From behind her, Totus grumbled, "Elizabeth, put that-" But a quick glare silenced him.
SilverFlight (and others in the waiting room)

 

[zCrookedz]

Jimbo watched the exchange between Simon and Amber, and felt a little misconducted from the conversation. As Simon took some sips from the glass, Jimbo placed a hand on his leg over the blankets and gave him a slight smile.
"Sit tight big guy. I'm gonna go find a doc and see if we can't get these restraints taken off of ya."
Simon didn't really have time to retort as Jimbo got moving towards the door. He tried his best to avoid Amber's gaze, but couldn't help but glance back at them both before he left the room. He pulled the door shut behind him and made his way down the hall a bit before he came to a nurse's station with the nurse from early sitting at the desk.
"Hey, Sinclair seem's to be good. Not sure if you need a commanding officer to give the word or not, but I think we can take the restraints off of him."
The nurse smiled at Jimbo and nodded. "Once the doc gives us the thumbs up, we will get those off of him. I'll let him know that he can come and check on Mr. Sinclair."
Jimbo thumbed the counter top and gave her a nod. He turned as if to head back, but his hesitation got the better of him and he turned back to the nurse once more.
"Uh, where can I find the Sinciato siblings?"
The nurse looked at a chart on the desk and then peered over the desk at a room a few doors down. "They're in there. I think the young man's companion just arrived. So they might be up for a visitor."

Jimbo gave the nurse a nod and began to lumber towards the door she indicated. The hospital was surprisingly quiet, with only a few actual people in the hall's and the rooms themselves were mostly peaceful. Jimbo was grateful for the peace, the last twenty four hours had been filled with no end of stress and commotion. Between the whales, and the ambush at the warehouses, Jimbo was glad for the small amount of peace they were getting. Though, he wasn't especially fond of how they had gotten here.
As Jimbo rounded the corner of the room, he peered through the window and could see the twins in their beds next to one another. They were both awake; Manjano petting Falarion while Leandra seemed lost in her own thoughts. Across the room, he could see Luness sleeping in a clear box, the sight of which made Jimbo cringe inside. He had seen the furry that Luness had rot when she lost control. Though, like with Simon, Jimbo was certain that it was the chemical and not his companion who had lost control.
The gorilla made his way to the door frame and wrapped his hair knuckles on the metallic frame.
"Heya guys. How's everyone doing in here?"

SilverFlight Lioness075

 

[Lioness075]

Falarion perked up immediately at the sound of someone entering their room and he gave Jimbo a happy bark. Manjano smiled faintly at the gorilla, though his smile faded when he saw Leandra merely blink in response. She seemed to be looking right through Jimbo and Manjano's brows furrowed with concern. He did not understand how to break Leandra out of her stupor and he worried how she would react to Luness when the phoenix was finally conscious again. She had murdered that ocelot earlier and Manjano had barely recognized her in the moment. The fury she had radiated seemed inhumane, evil, and...the opposite of who Luness is. He had seen a bit of the turmoil that could happen in a relationships between human and companion before, as he had struggled to get along with Falarion for quite some time as well. But he worried how deeply this set Leandra and Luness apart from one another.

Realizing he had gotten lost in his thoughts and that Falarion's mental link had done the same thing to the maned wolf, the pair suddenly shook their heads in unison before looking back at Jimbo. Coughing into his hand, Manjano cleared his throat, "Ah, sorry. It's been a long day...for all of us." Leandra was looking down at her lap again and Manjano was torn with how he could best help her. Falarion whimpered and left Manjano's side to go join Leandra's side instead. He laid his head down on her lap with his ears flat against his head, but she continued to look through everyone and merely sighed.

Looking at Luness, Manjano wondered aloud, "I'm sure Luness must be waking soon." Leandra did not react to this and Manjano matched her sigh. Raising an eyebrow at Jimbo, Manjano decided to at least strike up a conversation to pass the time. "I assume Simon is doing better now." He still was not the best at conversing like most people, but Manjano liked to think he had vastly improved considering he used to not speak at all.

zCrookedz

 

[Bolts]

Barry kept his cool during the drive over. He wasn't in the mood for conversation not that it was really the situation for small talk. He waited patiently for the moment he could burst into the room. When he got the go ahead, there wasn't much reason for directions. The loud singing was enough of a hint. He stood at the door, hand on the knob, and took a deep breath to keep his peace.
"If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends! Gotta get with my friends." She sang loud as could be. The door clicked open and the song stopped wish a quick fwoosh noise. Stepping into the room, he looked around but no small bird could be seen. With an audible sigh, he sat down and crossed his legs. All was silent in the room, not even a peep. Sure enough, however, the buzzing of wings filled the air before small feet landed on Barry's head. "So...Come here often?" Her shrill voice filling the air. Barry didn't look up but simply put a finger out for her to land on. Spring boarding off Barry's forehead, she came to rest in full view. Her color was still shining and nothing was broken, he couldn't help but fixate on the blacked tufts of her feathers than had been singed and charred.

BB stepped to the side to put the feathers out of view. "Hey bud, trust me, it looks worse than it is. Nothing but a few less feathers. Who knew Luness was hot in temperature as well! Well... I should have known that. It seems pretty obvious actually now that I think about it. Isn't her kind like the physical embodiment of fire? Oh well, at least the sprinklers were going off, things would have been a whole lot worse!" She didn't want to look at him. She knew he would have a disapproving stare for her. "She was going to go crazy, I could see it. I even over came my set back to pull diving into her! You can't blame-" She was caught off guard by the sudden hug and nuzzle from her partner. Even in this situation, he didn't have anything to say. He was just glad it wasn't the last time he got to see her. BB shrunk as she accepted the silent thankfulness. "Really? No 'don't do that again' or 'what you were thinking?!'" Ending the embrace, he shook his head, nothing to retort with. "Woooooooow, you're getting soft on me. You sure that bang to the head didn't mess you up? WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH BARRY BOI!" She flew up into the air full of energy like always. "Alright, can I get out of here now? It's way too stuffy in here." Flying to the door Barry followed after without objections. "You think it would be okay to check out our possibly enraged friends? I kinda want to talk to Luness in her sleep. Maybe see if I can get her mind to not hate me when she wakes up. Last thing I need is literal flame to be after my tail all the time."

They walked to the rooms where the affected group was held. Barry was keeping an eye on his friend as she flew around. She seemed way too peppy after such an event. BB zipped by Jimbo like he wasn't there. Barry nodded at the gorilla as he slipped past and gave a short wave to the twins. Seemed just about everyone had an injury of some kind. As they got to the cages, both stopped in place with sad expressions. "Yeah, tell me about it. Pretty freaky to think they went crazy out there. I hope it's only temporary. It would be way too much for everyone to handle. Though, it do think it would be funny to go crazy as I am. I'd be even more annoying pecking at people!" Rolling his eyes and landing on her, Barry wasn't fond of the comment. "Kidding! Geez. Still, it can't be comfortable for any of them." She fluttered to the glass that held Luness and peered inside to see her sleeping. Standing close by, Barry kept an eye on the situation. He wasn't about to let her get more burnt. "Hey my fire friend. I hope you're not too mad about, well, you know. The whole body slamming and possible hazardously stabbing you. All in good fun and rage right? Yeah, you get me. I hope you feel better soon and can actually talk. I don't think I could go for round two." She remained perched while talking nothings into the glass.

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[zCrookedz]

Jimbo watched the pair with interest. Manjano was obviously the more lucid of the pair, Leandra's stare seemed to go right through him into the hallway behind him. She had been through a lot, like the rest of them. Though he imagined that the line that had been crossed during the fight, might be what she was struggling with at the moment. It was obvious that something was bothering the girl, but Jimbo wasn't about to pry too much into anyones elses affairs. Specially when everything was so fresh.
When BB zipped by and Berry followed, Jimbo nodded to the pair and then turned back to Manjano.
"Yea, actually he just woke up. Ambers in there with him now. Seems that the stuff that got on him didn't have any long term effects on humans. He's back to his idiotic self. "
Jimbo chanced a glance over at Luness asleep in, what Jimbo assumed, was a fire proof case incase she woke up in a fiery mood again. He nodded towards the case addressing Manjano again after BB asked about Luness.
"Did the doctors say anything about her status? Is she going to be ok?"
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[Lioness075]

Manjano began to reply to Jimbo, but was cut off by a long sigh. It sounded muffled and a quick glance at the glass cage revealed a dazed Luness blinking. She slowly looked at BB, but did not seem to fully understand what the hummingbird was saying to her. She slowly shook her head for a moment and then said, "Hello, BB, dear. How are you?" She began to slowly take in the view around her and she narrowed her eyes. "Why are we in a hospital?" Her eyes then settled on Leandra and there was a surge of relief between their mental link. But her feelings were suddenly cut off when she tried to reach out to Leandra. Surprise flickered over her face before she confusedly looked at Manjano. Leandra still refused to speak and found the ceiling more fascinating than anything else.

Manjano felt a strong urge to leave the room and give Leandra and Luness space. He felt trapped in his own bed, though. His foot was elevated at the end, but he wondered if he would be allowed in a wheelchair if his foot could still be elevated in it. Nodding at Jimbo, Manjano said, "Perhaps I could get a wheelchair and we could go see Alec and the others? I think us, Simon, and Duik got the worse of it there." Hearing this, Falarion perked up and left Leandra's side to press a button on Manjano's bed with his nose. It began flashing red and a nurse would soon come by to help Manjano. While they waited, Manjano used his mental link and had Falarion trot over to join Jimbo's side. He then whispered to the gorilla, "The doctors didn't really know what to say about Luness since she's not any kind of animal they've really cared for before." Pausing, he then added his own thoughts, "I guess she'll just be a bit drowsy for now. It looks like she doesn't remember what happened right now, so maybe short term memory loss?"

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[zCrookedz]

Jimbo watched as Luness began to stir and wake at the sound of BB. At a first glance, she seemed to be back to her old self addressing BB like she one would expect her to. Btu when she didn't remember why she was in a hospital, Jimbo let a deep breath go that he hadn't realized he had been holding. When Falarion came up beside him and whispered to him, he huffed a little bit and whispered back to him.
"Simon lost bits and pieces of what happened. He doesn't remember much, but he remembers flashes. Maybe the side effects are stronger on animals than it is on humans?"
It didn't take long before the nurse from the nurses station arrived. Jimbo politely asked for a wheel chair, and although the nurse didn't look super thrilled with the idea of Manjano getting out of bed, Jimbo assured her he would be with him and keep an eye on him. When she agreed, she brought a wheel chair into the room and locked it beside Manjano's bed side. Jimbo thanked her and then stood on his back legs and lumbered over to the beside.
"I'll help you get settled into the chair. If your alright with that?"
When Manjano gave him the go ahead he lifted him carefully out of the bed, paying close attention to his foot in the sling, and set him down gently in the chair with his foot raised in the chairs own portable sling.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Simon had been sitting in the room with Amber waiting for the doctor to come in after Jimbo had left for a bit now. Since his departure, Simon had felt that there was something wrong with Jimbo but he was taking evasive action at Simon's poking and prodding over their mental link. Mostly just relaying to him what he was finding out about the others, which Simon relayed to Amber to fill the space before the doctor arrived. When he finally did arrive, He told Simon that his vitals all looked stable, and other than his eye he would be 100% in no time. When Simon inquired about his eye, the doctor told him that the wound had been deep and jagged. The wolverine had ripped through his eye like a steak knife through bread. While that had done the most damage, an infection had already begun to start and at that point, there was no saving his eye.
Simon looked a bit troubled by the news, but thanked the doctor who then proceeded to undo the bindings that held Simon down. When he was finished, Simon lifted his arms and stretched, his joints poping and clicking from the lack of movement for so long. He lifted himself up the bed a bit, wincing at the slightest movement that was unfavorable for the cuts and bruises he had acquired, before settling back down with a sigh. He smirked and looked back to Amber,
"Well, that sucks about the eye. I wonder if Nigel can hook me up with some fancy gadget eye? Maybe something that can shoot lasers?"

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[SilverFlight]

Alec turned as Beth sat down. He stared at the proffered flask for what seemed like ages before a half-smile appeared through his exhausted expression. He took it and had a good long drink.
He handed it back with a grateful nod. "I feel lost." He admitted. "Duik...he's everything I have."
Alec could feel despair snapping at the back of his mind, but he had to keep it together. If Duik came round he would need to be strong. That was the way it worked. Alec could be strong if it was for Duik, but take him away, and he folded like a house of cards.
Calista was uncharacteristically silent. With a double-check glance at Beth Alec held out the flask for the civet, who bared her teeth in a bestial grin and held up her small paw.
"No thanks Blackjack, you need it more than I do."
Flutterby

Amber stood aside as the doctors undid the restraints and watched as Simon began to move.
"Take it easy." Amber cautioned as he began to stretch, surprising herself. She never fussed, yet seeing Simon earlier, face down on the warehouse floor, with cuts and bruises and a ruined, bloody eye...it made her feel much more protective than she had ever felt. It was an uncommon reminder that Simon wasn't indestructible, despite how he made things seem.
"You'll make a more convincing pirate for the Halloween party next year." She shot at him without a hint of remorse.
"If you can walk we should go see the others. No doubt they could use the morale boost."
zCrookedz

The movement of the doors made Alec jump again and he nearly sent the flask into the air. Alec capped it and handed it back to Beth hastily as the nurse came to a stop by their bench. Alec shot to his feet.
"Your partner's awake." The nurse said, but she didn't look happy. Alec's stomach dropped.
"I-is he okay?"
"The injuries are minor, we treated a cracked rib, mild bruising but...his mind..."
Alec didn't wait for her to finish, he raced past, stumbling into the room where the hyena had been taken.
There was a cage at the back of the room, partially-obscured by the large operating table in the center. Alec skirted the table and stopped as the thing in the cage spooked and snarled.
Duik's back was arched, his head low. His teeth flashed and there was no recognition in his eyes. Alec could feel his heart breaking.
He reached out with his mind even as his hands extended, but the hyena snarled again and his mind was feral and blank.
"D..." Alec's voice was small and pleading and almost drowned by the long, low growl coming from the animal in the cage.
"C-come on buddy...you have to beat this...D...Please I--" His voice broke and he swallowed hard. "I can't do this without you."
Slowly he put a hand out, touched the bars. The hyena backed away from it, curling into a corner furthest from him. Alec closed his eyes and bowed his head.
Seconds ticked by on the big clock on the wall. The noise of it was intrusive, offensive.
Duik stopped growling. Alec couldn't see but something was beginning to change: His ears came forward and one slanted sideways, they way it usually did. His head came up and his eyes, once dark and stormy, regained their deep, warm, mahogany colour. Duik's brows relaxed and he shifted out of the corner, squinting for just a moment.
"A-Alec?"
Alec's head came up, his eyes wide, thinking at first that he'd imagined his name spoken, the familiar voice that spoke it, but when he looked, he wasn't staring into the eyes of a beast anymore. It was Duik. He was back.
"Alec what happened....dude, why am I in a cage...are you crying?"
Alec tore at the latch, tears clouding his sight and making it harder. Finally he wrenched the door open. Duik didn't need another cue, he leapt forward and landed awkwardly in Alec's lap, throwing his head and a forearm over Alec's shoulder. Alec hugged his partner tightly. He buried his face into Duik's neck and sobbed.

Anyone who followed Alec

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