Fantasy Z O D I A C | Umbra [Currently CLOSED]

[Boss]

"..Officer John.... Soul Food.. Potential host incident.."

The voice scratched out of the earpiece of two armored Sentinel units who happened to be burning away the clock in an alleyway just a few buildings north of the reported event. The youthful looking unit pushed off from the wall he leaned on and beckoned the other with a head gesture. "Come on, we're down that way. Maybe we can catch some action." The other unit jumped to his feet in a sudden burst of adrenaline. It just so happened at that time that Zeke bolted past the alleyway junction that the two Sentinel units were facing. For a moment, the two glanced at once another before breaking into a sprint after the man. One rounded the corner into Zeke's alley while the other moved to cut him off up ahead. The chasing Sentinel was at least 50% faster than Zeke. The Dominion soldier was quick to close the gap, but it was the flanking soldier that split off earlier that came out of nowhere to tackle Zeke to the ground. "Quit your running!" The restraining sentry commanded as he forced Zeke belly-down to the cement. "Hurry up and check him." Inside the helmet of the free-handed Sentinel, Zeke's body was undergoing a scan for unnatural energy. In it's thermal-like vision, a faint glow was found centered in Zeke's body. "It's a host." He reported. The faint glow began to grow from a slow expansion to a steady spread over Zeke's body. "Be careful, he might retaliate."

Zeke would've felt a sharp pain his neck. The restricting Sentinel had injected s suspicious looking chemical into his system. It was beginning to make him faint.


A genocide sounded about right. Colt had expected Dominic to retaliate his anger on the Dominion. For years the two sides exchanged blows with nothing off limits. She feared the Dominion would use Logan's death to provoke Dominic into the open. "It's not a smart call, no." She voiced her concerns. "The Dominion are experienced in manipulation. I wouldn't put it past them if it was their plan to kill his son in order to get to him." Colt slid the bow down her upper body to stow it. "Dominic is going to walk into a trap, and I think he knows it." The host shook her head from side to side, visibly distraught. Colt walked up to Sam and patted him on his shoulder. "Keep your wits about you, shark man. Let's go gather the others in the village."


Dominic could hear the shifting of sand around him. Arbaaz's thick Arabian accent told him that the Zodiac had heard his calling. He turned to face the direction Langevin and Arbaaz's voice emanated from. "Conclude your scouting mission by sunfall. I need the two of you in Brookfield tonight to provide overwatch on a detention camp on 36th." He instructed. At this point, Kenshi had leaped down from the battlements to land on the wall below. The wolf's paw prints illuminated a bright red, creating a trail that faded seconds afterwards. "They will expect you, Dominic." Kenshi stated as he approached the trio. Nowadays, the wolf was beginning to hollow. It was no secret. His teeth harbored an unnatural sharpness. His eyes a ravenous red. Nonetheless, the two worked in perfect sync ever since they met."You haven't resurfaced in Brookfield in at least 6 months." "I won't cower here while they take apart my son like some lab rat. He deserves a proper burial." "Just don't forget that the entirety of the village looks up to you."


"You could always stay here and help out in the village," Camilla suggested. "I'm sure everyone would love to have an extra hand keeping this place safe." Camilla's expression darkened. "If I'm honest, I want to take on the Dominion." Her hand clenched. Last night was the first time she had seen the inside of a detention camp. Originally she thought it was a prison, but in actuality it was also a laboratory. She thought about all the helpless people held captive and forced under the scope of perverted scientists. "There must be countless others that live under the oppression of the Dominion, not to mention captured hosts. I want to bring them all here where it's safe. I'll do it myself if I have to." Camilla's passion to liberate the oppressed was cut off by the audible rumble of her stomach. Flushed, she chuckled. "After a good meal of course."

 

[silverlinedmist]

Running so long was taking a toll on Zeke. His legs were tired, his body felt unusually heavy. But when he caught sight of the Dominion officers nearby, his body somehow found a new burst of energy to use. They saw him, started chasing him, and he kept running. Unfortunately, the officers were much faster than him, and cornered him very quickly. He breathed heavily, his body hyped up on adrenaline and unsure of what to do with it. As he was forced to the ground, tears formed in his eyes again, this time out of fear. Memories of the rumors he's heard about hosts that get captured by the Dominion flooded his mind. What were they going to do to him? Would they kill him straight away? Would they use him for experiments? Lock him up?

Images of his siblings popped up in his mind, bringing him some brief sense of peace until he realized he may never see them again. No, he had to fight back. For them.

"No, no, no... Please, leave me alone, I don't want to die... I-I don't want to..." His pleading and struggling was interrupted by a sharp pain in his neck. Zeke felt his mind slipping, desperately looking for any way to break free of the situation. His Zodiac's words echoed through his mind. Maybe it had been right all along, but it was too late to mope about it now. If only he had the mask, he felt like he could do anything with it on. Maybe, just maybe....

 

[Boss]

The Sentinel planted his knee firmly against Zeke's back with his arms held behind him. His pleading only evoking annoyance out of the restrainer. "Shut your mouth, you freak." He sneered. The drug was settling in. Whatever the drug was, it was effective. It attacked his mind, body and soul all at once. Strength gave way to a numb feeling. His conscious slipping into darkness.

"Sentinel G1 and G2 is on scene. We bagged a runner out back of Soul Food about a block to the north. Send a prisoner transport."

"Get off of me."

The two soldiers glanced at one another. The drug should have completely knocked the host out. A wave of panic flushed through their bodies as they realized their neutralizer wasn't working. In reality, Zeke's veins had frozen up. His blood had worked to freeze the drug that intruded his system. Before the Dominion soldiers could react to the situation, all of Zeke's body heat had collected into a fine area where the Sentinel was touching him. He pulled back in a pained shout. All of that heat sundered the soldier's palm under his armored gauntlets as well as his knee. "Fff-.. Fuck! My hands! M-my.." He shouted. The other unit was at a lost. With the armor on, there was no way for him to completely understand what had transpired. "Are you alright? What's wrong?"

Zeke rose to his feet, his back turned to the Dominion patrol. In his hand was a plain mask. He rose it to his face and exhaled a cool mist before putting it on. "Get behind me, I'll deal with this fucker." called the unharmed Sentinel. Short blades shot out of both gauntlets - a special weapon used by that particular unit. Zeke turned to face his attackers. Sharp ice colored eyes gleamed through the holes on the mask. "Are all men in this era weak?" He questioned, his tone void of excitement. The Sentinel advanced forward, stance ready. A soft splash stopped the soldier in it's tracks, however. As he looked down, he saw that his boot had shared a frozen puddle of rainwater with Zeke's. The ice began to travel up the soldier's leg, the heat being sucked from his body like a vacuum. The ice had spread along his entire body and stopped at the neck. The heat was collected in Zeke's body, flushing the icy look in his eyes for a fiery orange hue.

Zeke nonchalantly stepped up to the Sentintel, hands in pocket. Hypothermia was settling into the mans' body. The other Sentinel could only watch as Zeke closely inspected the man's helmet with a hidden expression. "Interesting. I'll take it." Zeke stated, grabbing the unit by his neck and freezing it at the point of contact. With one yank, the soldier's head popped completely off from the rest of his body. Blood coated his decapitated body. "Shit..!" yelped the other Dominion soldier. His panic to escape caught the killer's attention. Again, all of the warmth in Zeke had collected into his hand, and with a gesture of his hand the heat had shot off towards the retreating unit. The heat blast distorted around the air as it passed by the second unit, instantly vaporizing his entire upper body down to his bones.

The once orange hue returned to it's icy state. A cool sigh escaped Zeke as he casually walked away from the scene, the soldier's head in his hand.

 

[TerraBooma]

"Right, sounds good. And don't worry yourself ok arrowhead? We've been through tougher spots before. Teamwork makes the dream work." Sam grinned at his nickname, he was always changing the ones he used for Colt on account of how terrible he was at coming up with anything good. It may not have been the worst one he'd used for her- the time he referred to her as 'bow lady' sprung to mind- but it was also far from the best.

"So who we gathering up anyway? I know Dom's in this one with us, and obviously you and me, but how many we taking on the mission? All he told me were 'some others' would be coming. Not exactly much to formulate a strategy with. "

 

[KnightAarant]

Mika was pulled in so many ways in lieu of the chaos within Soul Food. For every word she wanted to respond with, more confusion and hostility bubbled in the melting pot. She wished so badly to escape this scene and try and meet with Langevin, but escape was out of the question. The two officers were on the suspicion that there was a situation to be found here. Her heart raced violently, thumping into her neck. She felt like she could almost swallow the thumps in her throat. Disarray peaked with the sound of the young man who serviced her before screaming from the kitchens. She almost ran forward to see what the trouble was but her fear of the officers kept her feet glued to the tiled floor. She looked around the cafe, the civilians were cowering from the twins who appeared to be relishing in all of this. They beckoned her with the temptation of fate once again, the two talking in metronome with one another. "Now, Mika is your time to act. You musn't think." Her Zodiac spoke from the echoing corners of her mind. "These officers are suspicious of you, these children aren't to hide their peculiarities. The young man from before is being accosted now as we speak." The Zodiac paused, Mika could feel what felt like a guiding hand on her shoulder but her Zodiac wasn't present to interact with her. "The twins, the augmented woman, and that young man are all tied to you now." Mika was in a cold sweat, she knew that whatever decision she made would change everything for the worse for her. But she couldn't leave the twins to whatever end the officers had planned. She already was awash with guilt over the news of the young man who served her. She still held the mocha and muffin in her hands, the drink still hot. She dry swallowed, and closed her eyes.

"Make peace with the life you lead before."

Mika postured her right hand to point the lid of the mocha towards Officer John, the hot mocha blasted from the plastic cup and doused Officer John in the face. Mika opened her eyes and threw her left hand, still holding the muffin, and a deep whistling boom sounded from her palm. Destroying the muffin but following the muffins destruction was a wave of heavy force that slammed Officer Matt in his chest. She ran sprinted for the two twins, grabbing them both by their hands. "You twerps owe me an explanation. We're going to run through the front..." She lowered her tone to a whisper. "I know somewhere we can go." She looked over towards the woman with the metallic arm, sighing in displeasure over what she was going to say next. "For some reason, you should come with me as well."

_____________________________________________________________________________
​

"Consider it done. For now, I'm going to study the most recent scene I found with Arbaaz. Where should we meet you in Brookfield?" Langevin asked checking his phone quickly before returning his attention to Arbaaz. "If only I was as free to control my shadows as much you could your sand. But do you remember the sightings I've found of Dominion scouting parties I've mentioned? To quickly fill you in before we leave out, one of them was close by. The nature reserve outside Armstrong Park. Our Boogeyman, and the Dominion are playing it too close to our doorstep. I hadn't gotten a lot of time to study this scene as I wanted to get the news to Dom' quickly. So we'll be scouring the place for anything that may bring us closer to the enemy of our enemy." Langevin stuffed his phone back into his pocket.

 

[Depresso Espresso]

-------Diana Young-------

Diana scoffed as she pulled the menu off her face, "And why in gods green earth would I go with hosts? I've got nothing to hi-" She cut herself off as she remembered that her arm was an illegal modification one, something neither the police or dominions looked highly upon. She jumped from her seat standing before quickly throwing a chair each at both John and Matt just for safe measures as she hurried along to stay with the three of them, "Can't believe I'm fucking doing this... Why hosts..." She said sighing inwardly before she reluctantly followed them to the front door letting the girl lead the way.
KnightAarant ​

 

[Boss]

The once calm and progressive feeling in the air gave way to the intense burst of movement from both the everyday Dominion soldier as well as the suspected hosts. The nearby patrons were thrown into a panic. Knowledge of loose hosts within the same dining area turned the center of the action into a danger zone which everyone tried their best to avoid. The hosts were treated like they had the plague. Upon Mika hastily bolting for the front door, it would have only budged slightly.

"Oop~ watch it there, missy."

A young, rebellious looking redhead peered through the glass of the double-door entrance and smiled at Mika. With a sudden explosion of force, the door was shoved inwardly, sending Mika to stumble backward into Diana. Now a clear path, the man walked into full view of the cafe. A darker shaded edition of Dominion armor shielded his body up to his head. The style resembled knightly armor, though modernized. Behind him were dozens of Dominion soldiers, weapons trained at the front entrance. From beyond the kitchen, more of the same units had already flooded in. The highly-charged hum of their experimental weaponry filled the tense air.

The man stroked his red goatee as he surveyed his surroundings. "Do any of you have any idea what happened to the detention center last night?" His tone was light, with a hint of jester. "Honestly, they flew me all the way from upstate to round up all the escaped hosts, and the first call I get is freckles and her merry band?" The man scoffed. He took anyone within arm's length of Mika as a host, including the twins and Diana. He tossed open palms in the air. "Do not worry, people of Soul Food. Your Templar Jakob is here~" After his announcement, his gaze fell down to the hosts before him. "I don't need any equipment to tell that you bunch aren't normal." He stated as his gaze focused on the twins, and then to Diana. "And you, bionic commando. That arm of yours is far from legal. I'll be wrapping you up along with these other creatures."

The Templar nodded his head to the side, and half a dozen soldiers marched into the cafe, restraints in hand.


Colt and Sam rounded corner and corner in the maze of the fortress. At least half of the building's structure was encased within a larger mountain. The more important facilities were built within the depths of the mountain. It took a solid 5 to 10 minutes before the two emerged on ground level at the foot of the castle. A common dirt place winded down the hillside to the village below. Their destination was within.

As they moved, Colt listened. She couldn't agree more that Dominic's plans for the next 12 hours was vague at best. "I believe he wants us to decide who to bring." She said. She could be wrong, but with Dominic's current mental state, she wasn't going to dare press on about a plan. "We may need someone with eyes and ears on the assault while it's happening. Someone capable of keeping a low profile while overseeing the battle. If this is going to be an ambush, then we ought to know what we're up against." The sunlight beat down on the hillside as they walked. Soon, they were entering into one of the more busy parts of the village: the market. Every now and then, items from neighboring cities and towns were brought into the village and sold using currency formed from a Zodiac. There were plenty of hosts within the spanning village to sustain a small economy. It became even more apparent as they entered the main strip. A couple of kids rushed by the two, nearly crashing into Sam. All around them were hosts and Zodiacs of different shapes and sizes. The majority of hosts appeared like normal human beings, but there were a number of them which had exotically colored skin, or some with a different kind of skin all together. One host in particular was vaguely see-through. Another was a bulky man at least 7" who was carrying two large baskets of wood on his shoulders.

"Anyone here would suffice, but we should find someone with actual fighting experience." Colt mentioned. As they walked, several hosts and Zodiacs exchanged quick greetings with the two with a "Hey!" or a synchronized nod. Soon, the two arrived at a spacious cabin. A wooden "Inn" symbol hung from the porch. Inside was a large clearing of long tables and chairs. At one end was an active fireplace and on the other was a bar. The style of the building was definitely medieval. Perhaps it was to compliment the castle? Nevertheless, the situation inside the end was chaotic as a chair had just cleared the entire entire assortment of furniture only to be blown away by a torrent of fire spouting from an individual's mouth. He ceased his attack with a steamy huff. His skin was mostly human, apart from patches along his face and exposed arms that were light green scales. "Now you're resorting to violence, huh?! Are you that primitive that you can't swallow the truth with dignity?!" he shouted at another figure from across the lobby. "There's just nothing true about it!" retorted a feisty tone. On the other side was a much smaller being. An angry bundle of white hair bounced on top of a darker-skinned female. "I am not related to anyone from the Dominion! The thought of that..!" The commotion was a spectacle that absolutely nobody paid attention to. The rugged and dusty looking bartender casually continued his conversation with a woman and her Zodiac. Several tables were still occupied with stories being told and dice games being played. Nearby the fireplace was one of the Inn's helpers tossing in a couple of logs to the fire. The dark-skinned host reached her hands towards another potential projectile, but ultimately it was halted by a sudden shout from Colt.

"Enough!"

Her voice was enough to pause the air. All eyes had focused on her and Sam. "About time they stopped.." sighed the bartender under his breath. "Where is your common sense, Abel?" Colt questioned the girl. "I-I'm sorry, .45. I've been irritable all day so far." "..Yeah no kidding." sneaked in the scaled man. Abel shot a glare at him, her mouth opened to fire back another one of her insults when she stopped herself and sighed. "..What brings you here? And Sam too!" She perked up as she noticed him standing next to Colt. "I have an important mission and I need volunteers." Colt answered. Immediately the smaller girl grinned. "Finally! Is it a sabotage mission? Do I spy on someone?" She began to name different possible tasks that Colt had in store as she ran laps around the two arrivals. "..Am I going undercover? An Assassination?" She smiled ominously. The scaled man, Johnny, casually approached them, briefly waving at Sam as he closed the distance. "What needs to be done?" He inquired firmly, looking to both of them for an answer.

 

[Depresso Espresso]

-------Diana Young-------

Diana scoffed lightly when she saw all the dominion taking a slight step back before the talked about her arm, "Oh go fuck yourself! You try getting a normal bionic arm around here you bastard!" She said extremely pissed off back at him before she took a step back, "Fuckers..." She said lowly as she dropped her arms into her pockets, quickly searching around for the small phone, clicking it instantly as it sent out the nearest contact, someone she had done a lot for in the past, a muffled ring was heard in her pants before she set it on loud speaker, "Diana? Is that you?" A mans tone was heard before she sighed pulling it up behind her back, "Yes it's me, look I need to call in a favor, all of them in fact," She said tensely as the dominion soldiers started closing in.

"Really? What's the ne--" He cut himself off as he listened to some of the diners, "Dominion soldiers! We're saved!" Someone yelled out as she happily squealed, Diana giving her a look as she quieted down, "I see, give me 10 minutes. I'd like to show the dominion this is not their turf, from what I'm guessing your in red light district correct?" He said as Diana scoffed lowly taking a couple steps back before she took the phone out from behind her back, no doubt the dominion bastards had guessed she wasn't talking to Mika or the twins, "Soul Foods, you better hurry your ass or I'm not killing another person for you ever again," She said quickly before she threw the phone on the ground and stomped on it, everything breaking into small pieces.

She quickly moved over to the girl who was happily looking at all the soldiers inside, yanking her up woke her out of her state as she pulled her into a head lock and moved her metal arm up to her head, clicking and whirring was heard as her fingers and arm started to easily click back into their new state, a large shotgun like item as it began to whir to life, a blue glow emitting form the arm, "W-Wait please no!" The girl screamed out as she held her in a lock, tears now streaming down the girls face, "Struggle and there's a bullet shoved in your brain miss pretty tits," She gave a look over at Mika and the Twins, "You three, get behind me already," She said quickly as she pointed her arm now closer towards the chick in her arms, "You better get here fast you bastard..." She said lowly to herself as she let out a sigh pointing her arm gun towards the roof, "Alright you dominion fuckers, make a move and I promise to take you wish me," She said loudly into the restaurant as the customers squealed and some began to break down in there stalls as she let out a sigh, a smirk now placed itself on her face, by this point she looked like an insane women.​

 

[TerraBooma]

Sam had been quiet, letting them argue it out. Truth be told, he wasn't really the closest with the people in the village. Sure he knew who they were, and he was on pretty good terms with the most of them, but he was far from as close to them as he was the residences of the castle, although he did know Johnny a bit better than the others. Still, he figured that he needed to present a strong face, even if he had his...many doubts as to the success or motive of this mission. He made a nod to Colt as he began to speak.

"Colt's right, we need the strongest hands we can get to go on a recovery mission...recovery might not even be the best word if I'm being honest here." He wasn't really sure how much of the situation he was supposed to speak about in public, so he was being...relatively vague. "There's a very important target that we need to go get. Long story short? We go in, raise hell, get what we came for, and get out. You guys sound interested in that?"

 

[Boss]

"Recovery?" Johnny echoed. Burly arms crossed, he nodded his head in contemplation. "..I see. Apprehend a Dominion officer for information." "Things like that require a gentle touch. That's something brutes like you aren't capable of." Abel directed towards Johnny with a shrug and a smug look on her face. For a moment the two exchanged intense glares. Such hostility was commonplace for as long as the two knew each other. "And a loose cannon such as yourself is a better alternative?" He returned calmly. The two hosts carried on, throwing insult after insult as per usual. Colt buried her face in her palm in attempts to quell the annoyance she felt.

"It's not a Dominion officer. It's one of ours. Dominic's son." The bickering ceased as the attention refocused on Colt and Sam. "Logan's under the possession of one of their detention camps. We smell a trap, so we'll need all the backup we can get." "That's troublesome to say the least." Johnny added. "Speaking as one of Dominion's escaped captives, their hospitality leaves a lot to be desired. They'll inject you with experimental drugs and play with your organs like it's a jigsaw puzzle. That's if they don't brainwash you and force you into their service." He spoke with a hint of spite. Abel's behavior had shifted the moment the taller host started talking. A spell of sympathy settled in for a moment before he resumed. "Whoever goes needs to hurry."

Abel nodded in agreement. "I'll go. I want to make myself useful and get on Dominic's good side." Abel noted. "That goes for me as well. What do you need of us to do?" "Meet Sam and I at the throne room tonight at sundown. If we're not there, wait for us." The two acknowledged Colt's orders. As Colt turned to leave, Abel spoke up. "Hey, if you two aren't busy at the moment, why don't you guys have a drink and hang out? There is a literal aura of dread surrounding you." Colt hesitated to leave. She was clearly conflicted, but in reality the two had the entire afternoon to themselves. Colt looked to Sam for an answer.


With an intense feeling of brain freeze, Zeke would have awoken on his bathroom floor, his hands and clothes still coated in the blood of his assailants, the mask nowhere in sight. On his bathroom counter sat the soldier's high-tech helmet. A pool of blood had formed around it and had already collected on the tile floor. The events of his detainment would have been blurry at best, but the more intense moments such as brutally mutilating those Dominion soldiers remained lost to him. He would have no idea how he ended up back in his apartment or why there was a bloodied helmet in his bathroom. One thing was for sure, and it was that he didn't have much time before they tracked him down. He was an official employee of Soul Food after all.

 

[silverlinedmist]

A cold sensation swept through his body as he woke on his bathroom floor, covered in blood. His head was pounding, and it was all he could do to open his eyes. A soft, pained groan escaped his lips, his eyes refusing to open for a moment. When they finally did, he felt as though he'd been hit by a semi. Eyes wandered all around him, to the blood on his body, the stained floor, and the puddled blood gathering in the cracks on the cool tiled floor. He couldn't believe it for a moment, as it took his brain a few minutes to register what it was he was surrounded by. Zeke gasped, sitting up as if he had been jolted awake from another horrible nightmare.
"What...." He tried to recall what happened. Brief fuzzy flashes appeared in his mind, of him running, him being forced on the ground, then... Nothing.
"...Happened... To me...?"

Zeke started to panic. Why was he covered in blood? How did he get back to his apartment? More importantly.....
His eyes shot to the helmet nearby, sitting in the center of the blood puddle on his floor. Zeke squinted a bit, taking a moment to realize the head was still inside the helmet. He screamed, pushing himself backwards on the floor, away from the decapitated head. Suddenly, he felt incredibly ill. He stood up, avoiding looking at the head too long, and instead stared at himself in the mirror. He looked like a killer, with the way the blood splattered against him. What a fucking mess. Frantically, he pulled off his shirt, then his pants, and threw them over the head. Water flowed from the faucet as he turned it on, desperately trying to wash himself clean of the blood that remained on his skin. The water felt comfortingly cold as he splashed it against his arms, his face, his neck. A shiver ran up his spine as he grabbed a towel to help get rid of the red stains. He stared at himself in the mirror again, visibly shaking, unsure of what to do. Obviously, he had to get away from here. It surely wouldn't be too long before they found him again. They seemed to be everywhere.

Satisfied with his cleaning job, he let the water run over his head for a moment to help him calm down. Didn't work, but it was worth a shot. He rubbed the towel all over his hair to dry it a bit before he went to his closet, picking out fresh, baggy clothes to wear for who knows how long. He left his apartment, locking the door and tossing the keys into a nearby trashcan. Where was he to go? He had no idea.

But he couldn't stay here.

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​

Irritated thoughts ran through a young woman's mind as she waited for someone to pick up her call. The line rang and rang, until she heard the same message once again. "You've reached Zeke, obviously I'm not able to talk right now, so please leave a message with your name and number, and I'll get back to you when I can. Thanks!"
beeeeeep
"How... Dare he not pick up. Is this what our relationship has come to? I know he's just at work, he can always take calls at work. So what is he doing! I've been calling for forty--" "Only fifteen." "...Fifteen whole minutes..." An exasperated sigh could be heard across the entire house. The woman fell dramatically into a chair in the living room of her home, her brother nearby to 'comfort' her in these trying times. He rolled his eyes.
"Don't you think you're exaggerating a bit here? He's probably just got his hands tied with work. You could learn to be patient for once."
"Don't you give me that rubbish!" Her hands gripped the chair's arms in anger.
"..When did you start saying that?" he mumbled, mostly to himself. He knew she wasn't listening.
"I am simply concerned about my dear brother, who I talk to daily. Who has not talked to me yet, even though it's around the usual time. Every. Day. Elijah, do you KNOW what this MEANS?!"
Pondering for a moment, the man responded. "It means he got a life?"
The most offended scoff came from the woman's mouth, her hand nearly slapping against her chest in disbelief. "You ought to know better than anyone else that Zeke could never actually get a life. He doesn't even want one. No way he would just up and decide, 'Oh, I think today is a good day to actually do something with myself. Maybe I'll even make FRIENDS!'" Her tone was mocking as she flipped her hair, standing up and walking to the door.
"Esther, where are you going?" he asked, almost reaching out to stop her, fearing the worst.
"I'm going to see my big brother. I miss him and it's been a while since we actually saw each other face to face. Do you want to come? Mom and Dad are sure to let us borrow some cash." A wry smile suddenly appeared on her painted red lips. He could only bury his face in his hands.
"You KNOW they are not gonna just give it to you if you tell them where you're going. They haven't spoken to Zeke since he left."
"Oh, I know. But that's why I just won't tell them. I'm a better liar than you and Zeke combined, you know."

He couldn't argue with that. Instead, he just shrugged and nodded, implying he would be joining her for this trip. She giggled and turned on her heel, ready to make arrangements immediately. Elijah stuffed his hands in his pockets, his brow furrowed. It has been a while since they saw their brother, and it would be nice to catch up in person. He couldn't help but feel a slight concern at his lack of communication recently, anyway. Calls have been short, which was unlike Zeke. He used to be able to talk their ears off about day to day happenings, even in as small of a city as he was living in. His red eyes looked to the window, watching as rain fell on leaves outside.
"I do hope you're okay, Zeke..."

 

[KnightAarant]

Mika slid around the waxed floor of the cafe on her back, sliding into Diana. She looked up to numerous soldiers barricading the door, brandishing their flashy tools and the ringleader reprimanding them over some events she was unaware of. She frowned, and rose herself up off the ground. She was zoning out the redhead's bravado and trying to figure out how to work her way through this. She could feel her strength returning, being lightly grazed by the sunlight cast by the open doorway. She couldn't work out what would be effective, with her ignorance of Dominion tech but she already came to the presumption their gear wasn't set to stun. Even if they were. "You're unfit for a challenge like this. I can take over for you, and guide you through your escape. On the condition you trust me to activate your vessel." Her Zodiac began, the echoes in the back of her mind creeping to the side of her head as she manifests besides Mika. Mika shot her a quick look, not taking the time to respond and slowly backed up. "Mika." Mika shut her eyes, squeezing them closed in frustration. "Just do it then!" Mika shouted at seemingly nothing. Her Zodiac disappeared. Her presence vanishing completely from the strange indescribable sense that Mika had with her Zodiac.

...

Mika's stature locked up. She became stiff, standing up straight with hands rigidly at her sides. Mika's hazel pupils turned a washed gray. The sunlight from the doorway slithered over, between, and under the line of soldiers like thin, silk weavings. The sunlight enveloped around Mika's body and gave off a glow akin to storybook divinity. Some strands of Mika's red hair shined with a golden hue. Concentrations of light passed through the strands. The bright glow dimmed, and focused around Mika's body shape into a thin yellow aura. The golden strands of hair had cast away from her head and beautifully traveled through the air in hypnotic slithering motions before dissipating into the atmosphere. Her body loosened, and her posture relaxed. She slowly rose from her feet, levitating a few inches off the ground. Her thick braided hair undid itself, flowing in the gentle breeze of her own power. She exhaled slowly and her skin faintly began to glow gold. A harsh but brief gust blew through the cafe sweeping objects not pinned down off the tables and counters. Mika rose her hands in front of her chest, like she was holding something in place.

 

[Boss]

It only took ten minutes for every tenant in the multi-story apartment building to evacuate on short notice. When it came to the detainment of a host, most people wouldn't feel safe three blocks off from the arrest. Retaliation was a common response, which was exactly why the apartment building had been surrounded. Each intersection at the corners of the block were closed off. Large troop transports sat in the middle of the junctions with at least a handful of soldiers guarding them. Drones flew back and forth between the alleys on the block, continuously scanning for unexpected movement. A squadron sat at the ready at the foot of the apartment building Zeke stayed in. Each soldier was armed with standard edition assault rifles and body armor, with the addition of one soldier carrying a breaching charge.

A helmetless individual stood apart from the group of soldiers, his arm held up in front of him. From his gauntlet projected a holographic screen displaying the ID of their target Zeke. "I would've liked to be there, but I've just been assigned to the investigation of the detention center." explained the voice of Len over an encrypted channel. "Rest assured, this is no different than dealing with affairs upstate. This man seems to be an inexperienced host." replied Cobalt, the man in charge of apprehending Zeke. His tone was deep, and years of experience showed in his expression. "Good luck. There's no telling what you'll find out here now that all of those captives are loose." With a quick bleep, the connection terminated and reverted back to their local channel. "Deadlock is active, sir." reported a voice. "Prepare to breach."

...

Zeke's apartment door blew open and slammed against the wall. A stream of soldiers flooded in, weapons at the ready and orders being yelled at one another. "Clear!" "Watch the corners!" and the like. Albeit small, the soldiers had spread out like water to cover the entirety of the abode. The last one in was the man in charge, who took interest in the living room and the state it was left in. To nobody's surprise, Zeke was gone. On the contrary, a startled soldier reared out of the bathroom he had checked in a hurry. Curious, Cobalt approached the bathroom and peered inside, only to find the head of a sentinel unit sitting atop the bathroom counter. The gruesome sight coupled with a putrid decaying scent that forced Cobalt to quickly face the other direction, a hand covering his nose and mouth. "Upload an ABP for a Ezekiel Kokinos to all the city drones and lock down this apartment for the investigative unit. Nobody is to be allowed in here."


Ever since Diana's hands disappeared into her pockets, the majority of the surrounding soldiers had their sights trained on Diana. The only reason the bullets hadn't begun flying was because of Jakob's brief hand gesture. He remained intrigued by Diana's gutsy move to - well.. move at all in her situation. "Do you honestly believe the Dominion is worried about a hostage situation?" He bragged. With a slight nod towards the troops in the kitchen, two taser prods were shot into Diana's back, short-circuiting her arm and sending her to the ground. The hostage took advantage of her redeemed freedom and bolted out of the heavily guarded front door. Two more tasers were fired into the back of the twins, rendering their muscles useless. The last host standing transformed. Many of Soul Food's patrons saw her as a bomb about to go off, invoking a mass panic the moment she began to glow. Nonetheless Jakob observed with great interest. "Cool!" He shouted. "I would kill to see what you could do, princess, but I guess I'll just have to read the autopsy report instead."

Jakob's confidence in his safety wasn't unwarranted. At the end of his words, gravity would have reclaimed Mika as her connection to her Zodiac is severed. Because of Soul Food's history and a host's tendency to flock to it, the new and improved cafe building included a built-in dead lock that could cancel out any supernatural energy within it's structure. All it took was a careful look through the building's breaker panel to flip the switch that would activate it. "Take them away." He ordered, turning his back to the situation and disappearing out through the front door. For each host including Diana, a pair of handcuffs were secured on their wrists accompanied by a collar that harbored the same nullifying technology as the building. In a line, the hosts were forcibly escorted to the back of a large personnel carrier that sat outside. Now that the majority of the operation was in perspective, there was no realistic way the group could have escaped. The Dominion, like in all their other operations, had completely closed off the block - not just Soul Food itself. The sheer speed at which the force had deployed and secured the area was insane. It felt as if the city itself had been designed to entrap hosts and aid the Dominion in the process.

The hosts were thrown in the back of the armored vehicle, which provided a third layer of their 'deadlock' technology. Sitting inside of it gave off a sleep-deprivation feeling to hosts. For Diana, it was simply a cramped metal box. Two Dominion soldiers brought up the rear, sitting closest to the double-door that shut behind them. "What do you suppose Jakob is going to do about that gang?" asked one. "Not even the crime families would attack an armed convoy. I wouldn't worry about that."

Judging by the loud whirring of the engine up front and the stable juddering of the cabin, the convoy was on the move.

"This would make.. 24 hosts, I think." "23. That girl's not a host." stated one soldier who gestured towards the restrained Diana. "Really?.. Okay. What are they going to do with her?" "You ask too many questions, greenhorn." "Right, sorry."

 

[TerraBooma]

Sam...also hesitated. He wasn't entirely opposed to the idea of sitting down, but there was a lot on the shark-man's mind. He was worried about a lot of things, and sitting around with Abel and Johnny wasn't going to help that...at the same time, they seemed like alright people, and Sam had spent far too long cooped up in the castle or Cetus' limbo. he paused for a few seconds, thinking about it. Maybe it was time for him to start talking to more people in the village more? He turned to Colt and shrugged.

"What the hell? Why not. Kind of feels like we could use it." Sam walked over to a seat and sat down, leaving a chair open for Colt to sit beside him if she wished. "What we doing then? And what's on the menu?"

 

[Boss]

Without any disagreements, Colt followed behind Sam to a table for four. Abel was the first to claim her seat, followed by Colt who said next to Sam. Johnny on the other hand looked troubled sitting next to the small firecracker that was Abel. Bulky scaled arms were crossed on his chest, and his eyes were shut in thought. In response to Sam's question, Abel threw her arm in the air to hail a helper. The bartender at the corner of the room took notice with his stern expression, and mouthed inaudible words towards a figure at the bar's counter. Emerging from the line of patrons at the counter was a male youth dressed with a messy apron layered over his clothes. He approached the table with an empty notebook and pencil in hand. "Haven't you already had enough, Abel?" His disappointed expression facing the girl. "Not for me, idiot. It's for Colt and Sam. Give 'em the usual." The waiter's attention shifted to that of Colt and Sam, and surprised he was. "Rare for the two of you to be down here in the village. OK, two servings of mead coming right up." "Make that three," Johnny sounded, his arm raised. "..the tab is on me."

The 20 minutes that passed flew by like 5. The effects of the mead were starting to get to Colt ever so slightly as a faint reddish blush formed on her cheeks. Johnny on the other hand was completely unaffected by the alcoholic drink, and was mildly miffed about it. The conversation was casual, and was mostly fueled by Abel's bizarre stories of misadventures she had with Camilla and the others. Eventually, a silence fell on them, which was broken by Johnny's more serious inquire.

"So what's actually going on with this mission? The full details please." Colt's eyes fell to the drink she had in her hand. "The thing is.." she started to explain, her finger rimming the edge of her glass. "Logan was killed under the possession of the Dominion." Shock jolted Abel to attention, while Johnny only sighed. "..You're kidding.." Abel muttered. "I wish it weren't true, but this news came from Camilla herself. He was shot right in front of her. The family's in a dark place right now, and Dominic wants to stage an assault on the facility where he was killed." "..He wants Logan's body, right?" Colt nodded. "Morality is nothing but a concept in those camps. They'll want to study his remains and won't care if they damage the body in the process."

Abel's expression hid under the bangs of her white hair, yet the grinding of her teeth was enough proof that she was upset to say the least. "Dominic himself is going to lead this attack, but the Dominion may already know that he's coming. It's possible that his son's death is bait. Nonetheless, it'll be a bloodbath if he gets involved." "Good." Abel sounded. "They want to label us as monsters, so we may as well show them just how monstrous we can really be!" "..It's true that what they've done is unforgivable, but openly killing people is only going to prove that the Dominion was right all along about us." "Who gives a shit about what the human society believes anymore? They're all sheep who gobble up whatever is on the news. They'll NEVER see hosts as anything but terrorists and scum. You agree, right Sam?"

 

[TerraBooma]

Sam drank slowly. Ever since his contract, he'd been pretty good at taking his alcohol, but he still liked to pace himself. He liked to think he'd learned enough things from his zodiac's limbo; when the people your drinking with are technically non-exsistant, you tend to lose drinking contests...so Sam had learned to pace himself. Still, he found himself enjoying the company of the others. It was a refreshing breath of frehs air to hear misadventure and banter. It reminded him of back when he was just a teenage trying to save the world...which was a nice memory to have. As the conversation turned darker, Sam leaned forward, paying attention to each word but remaining silent. He sat still for a few moments once the conversation turned to him. His mind wandered slightly, thinking of the dominon tech he'd used for years. The pistol he'd use to safe countless lives back when everyone was working together.

"My...problem with bloodlust, you guys know that." He finally spoke after drawing the pause out for a few more seconds. "Comes with being a shark man, makes it hard to think straight when things start getting riled up. I think it's kind of like that. I hate the dominion as much as you lot, don't get me wrong. But we can't be the monsters like they want us to be. I ever tell you guys I wanted to be a cop? Way back when. My dad was one...a good one. Taught me that public perception is important." Sam shakes his head slightly, before taking another drink of the mead. "Think of it like this. We make ourselves out as monsters, and we're never getting help from anyone. Just wish we had our own station or something..." His voice trailed off before refocusing. "Point is, it's like my problem with blood. Going apeshit usually doesn't end up going too well. Besides Abel, think of how good it'd feel to prove those bastards we're better than them. Besides, I don't know about never...I helped Dom and the crew out before I had anything close to power, don't see why it couldn't be that way again. What you think Colt?"

 

[Boss]

Colt set her gaze on the bottom of her glass. Shaded eyes took in every detail of the mead that remained. "Dominic shepherded all of these hosts together and created a society without judgement." A faint smile began to form on her lips. "..Purely because humans can be and are unreasonable. I never knew him as a teenager like you, Sam, but something tells me that part of him died along with society's faith in hosts. He won't care how the public sees us, and that's what worries me the most." Colt paused, the silence being replaced with the distant banter of another group. "On one hand, I want humanity to accept us. Co-existence is exactly what we need. They aren't the only ones recovering from the war, but hosts and Zodiacs as well. On the other hand, the fact that most people never care to view the other side of the coin makes me feel as there really is no point in trying to ally ourselves with them."

"So in other words, you're on the fence about what direction hosts should take?" Johnny questioned her.

"Essentially."

Another spell of silence fell on the table. Each participant in deep contemplation of the future. In that moment, they listened to the ambient noises of the lobby, and the crackling of the fireplace on the other end of the building. It wasn't until Johnny cracked a smile at Sam. "So you knew Dominic in the past? Was he the saint people rumored him to be?" "I bet he was charming~" spoke a voice very akin to younger Dominic. Sitting in Abel's chair was an overly seductive version of Dominic in his younger years. His jet black hair swept to the side and glistening in the surrounding light. The shirt under his suit jacket unbutton enough to be suggestive yet not too revealing. A smug expression met Johnny's irritated stare. The younger Dominic planted his hand on his chest and spoke out in a dramatic tone. "'As your dear friend, I won't allow you to cross over to the dark side, Shun! Wait, was Dominic blind back then too?" "Abel, have you no shame?" "Whaaat? I'm being serious, I'm sure he was a ladies man before he became a Yakuza's version of Darth Vader."


The area Zeke resided in was considered a low income region. Brookfield's less financially-fortunate often moved into the multi-story apartment buildings that seemed to be on every block. Some of Brookfield's older stores resided there, decades later and untouched by modern technology. In a different light, it could be considered a historical region. After half an hour of aimless wondering, A voice called to Zeke from an alley next to an antique shop.

"Met with an unfortunate fate, huh? It's all over your face."

Slacked against a wall was the figure addressing Zeke as he passed. His outfit passed him as a thug and nothing more, yet the look on his face suggested he was into more than mugging people. "Iceboy, come over 'ere." He nodded back with his head, drawing Zeke into the alley and out of sight should he obey. "We've been watching you for quite a while now. That stunt you pulled on one of the city's MCs took some balls. That's exactly what we need." The thug's smirk quickly degraded. "-..Not balls, that is. We need your skills. Yeah. You want a job? How does a warm bed and a safe place away from the Dominion sound?"


The remainder of the ride was taken in silence. The only sound to accompany the captured hosts was the rumbling engine of the armored transport vehicle they were tucked away in. Eventually, the vehicle came to a stop some time later, and the back doors were pulled open by a Dominion soldier. Immediately the view of the surrounding buildings were filtered by a large chain-linked fence. One by one, the hosts were ushered out of the vehicle and forced to stand in a line, covered by over a dozen soldiers with their weapons. The hosts stood on a road that ran down to a large, closed garage door. Looking down the opposite direction was the way they came in, which was a large fenced gate that had just shut closed. For a minute, the hosts were ordered to stand there in silence before a professionally-dressed man approached them with his two guarded escorts. Tucked into his arm was a digital touchscreen pad which he tapped a few times. "O.K, not a rough looking bunch." He commented on the appearance of the hosts. His fingers took off, pressing buttons here and swiping there. On his screen, he was inputting information regarding the new prisoners, including their new names. "Process them. The non-host too." The man ordered.

The group was then herded off the road and through the surface of the base. For a detention camp, there wasn't much to see other than guard towers, a barracks, and a few smaller buildings. It suggested that the larger parts of the base was underground. Escorted by armed personnel, the group arrived at a bunker door, which was promptly opened for them. The path became incredibly narrow as they were taken down several flights of stairs. At every corner they turned, a guard was posted to monitor them. Their surroundings began to shift from it's dark stone walls to a clean-kept, white tile walls and flooring. The further they went, the more and more it began to look like a laboratory.

5 minutes and two checkpoints later, the escort led them into a spacious shower room, in which the handful of guards leading them stood by the door with their weapons at the ready. Following behind them was a far less-threatening individual dressed in a white and sky-blue prison jumper. He carried a stack of folded clothes, much like his, to the group. "Change into those, now." ordered a nearby guard as the employed prisoner set down the folded clothes in front of them. He turned on his heel and departed without a word or eye-contact.

 

[Depresso Espresso]

-------Diana Young-------

Diana kept quiet only groaning occasionally to "Hurry up" or something along the lines. As they made their way into the shower room she let out a sigh as she looked at the other prisoner carrying in their jumpsuits. Given the order to change she once again groaned before she let out a sigh, "I just have one question, why am I being processed with hosts? Sorry if I'm not allowed to ask questions this just confuses me why I'm not being processed into a normal prison." She said as she finished her thoughts giving a look at the number of guards around her before she began changing into the jumpsuit, a look of displeasure and anger mixed in one as she did so.​

 

[TerraBooma]

Sam chuckled good naturally. "No, I don't remember him quite being a heartthrob. But yeah, he could see. Was a nice guy, and always a good leader. Somehow wherever that guy went he was bringing people together...wasn't a village back then though, just a band of misfits who got in way over their head. " He took another swig of his mead before continuing. Leaning back as he tried to remember back to before all of this. Before the war, before he had even made his contract with Cetus and to before the battle with Fushinsetsu had even begun. "I can't remember how I came to attend school with him, but I started noticing that things were weird about him and the group of friends he was with. They seemed to be in a lot of different weird happenings, so I kept investigating. I was a curious shit before my contract, that's for sure. Almost cornered one of his closer friends at a school dance, probably terrified the guy. Felt too bad to chase him after he bolted from the confrontation. I stopped for a bit when one of my own friends- a gal named Alice- asked me to slow down, she'd explain in time. I backed off for a bit, but it ended up sweeping up me and a few other friends of mine who were hostless at the time. That...well, I'm sure you can imagine entering a world like the one we got with zero information whatsoever." He chuckled, knowing many knew that experience all too well, but his tone quickly shifted as his mind proceeded forward in events. Past messing around with friends, pass a silly camping trip trying to find the world's rarest flower. His voice became more distant, and there seemed to be a heavier weight on his shoulders, he closed his eyes before he continued speaking.

"I entered the battle under informed and under equipped, can't even remember if I knew much about zodiacs at that point. Just that there was a bad guy who needed stopping, thought I could lend a hand. I...never really knew Shun, before he turned into a monster. I'm sure he was a nice guy, but...well. Like I said, we were under-equipped. Back then, we still weren't sure what the dominion was all about, and they provided me and the other non-hosts with some weapons to fight with. We did our best to help, but without training? Well...there were three non-hosts that went after Shun, only two came back." His memories flashed, and he remembered the carnage of those first few battles. Of his friend's head severed, the body collapsing to the floor. Being unable to do anything more than just lay down covering fire as host powers rained across the field of battle. Had he even made a difference? His hands started shaking lightly. Suddenly, his eyes opened and he stood up, chair scraping as he did so.

"I...I need some air. I'll be back."

The sandy haired man quickly left the tavern, not going far, just taking a moment to lean against the side of the building. Slowly, he took deep breaths, trying to gain his composure again.

 

[silverlinedmist]

Zeke had been so focused on looking as casual and nonchalant as he could as he walked down the street, he almost didn't hear the voice calling out to him. The first comment the stranger made convinced Zeke to keep walking, however, hearing a stranger refer to him as iceboy sent a very different chill down his spine. He stopped, turning towards the ruffian-looking guy with a suspicious look on his face, a slight hint of anger underneath as his eye twitched. Zeke took a step towards him, looking both ways back and forth to make sure it wasn't some sort of ambush waiting to happen. Even if it was, he thought, maybe he would be fine. After all, he was attacked earlier but ended up back in his apartment, bloody and only slightly bruised. At least it wasn't his blood.

He stepped into the alley, walking right in front of the man, making some attempt to be intimidating. A place to stay safely away from the dominion was ideal, but Zeke wanted to know what was going on first. He had already assumed that godforsaken Zodiac had done something to him earlier, but what he lacked was the details of the whole scenario. Trying to think on it too much only made his head pound.

"You liked that, huh?" he asked, his eyebrow raised as he looked the guy up and down. No obvious sign of any threats so far. "Where were you when that was going down? I didn't see any bystanders when I was dealing with those assholes." He didn't see anything at all at that point because his stupid Zodiac shoved his conscious out of the way to take over, but they didn't need to know that.

 

[Boss]

Disperse and Destroy
Sam
​

Night fell upon Brookfield and the pieces were in place. What remained of Detention Camp 49 after the host breakout was swiftly converted into a small, fortified lab. Years of the camp's operation resulted in the accumulation of countless research on the supernatural. The site was considered compromised and unusable, so an order had been placed to relocate the camp's research to a more secure facility uptown. This meant that as the day rolled into night, convoy after convoy of large cargo trucks came through the area, arriving empty only to depart full of lab equipment and host corpses. Every truck was required to be scanned at the gate by a couple of guardsmen before it was given entry for pickup. One of the many Dominion-branded trucks enroute to Camp 49 was at the mercy and complete possession of hosts.

Abel was at the wheel. Her physical appearance had completely changed into that of a disgruntled truck driver in a company uniform and matching hat. With one hand lazily placed at the top of the wheel, the other propped up her head as the truck and trailer drove down the four-lane road. "How's my driving?" she asked. A hidden transmitter buried in her clothing relayed her words to the concealed occupants in the trailer being pulled. "Stop running over potholes." Colt's voice returned over the scratchy radio. Inside the trailer was Johnny, Sam, and Colt, who was among an array of containers fit for corpse transport, albeit empty. The dark interior was unsettling, but the presence of the degrading 'coffins' proved more upsetting than the lack of lighting. Johnny's large figure was too much to conceal, so for the entire ride he had sat silent at the back of the trailer, eyes shut. Colt on the other hand sat atop a container facing the double doors at the end.

The truck's momentum came to a halt. They had arrived. Spotlights skimmed the perimeter of the half-destroyed camp, briefly lighting up the truck cabin with it's oppressive light. The truck ahead of their own had just been granted access after being scanned by it's gate staff. "Sam, you're up." Abel announced as they approached the now closing gate. The plan was for Sam to use his concealing ability to mask their presence during the scan. It was their best way into the camp without a fight. One member of staff approached the driver side window and peered up at the disguised Abel, who returned the glance with an emotionless glare. Obnoxiously, the guard held his flashlight up to Abel's face. "You're here a little early." The guard stated. The second staff member walked down the other side of the truck, scanner in hand. With his finger holding down the trigger, a light blue cone of light passed over the truck itself, then began to scan the trailer itself. "I just want to get this over with." Abel sighed. "You're telling me. I've been doing this since nine this morning." "Then you can take this-" Abel returned, reaching for an unopened soda and offering it down to the guardsman, who took it with a smile. "Hey, good looking out. How's the scan, Jefferson?" "I'm getting to the trailer now, just wait!" The other guard snapped.

Den of Snakes
Ezekiel Kokinos​

"Animals are witnesses too." The thug replied to Zeke as he smirked at a pigeon on a fire-escape railing just down the alley. "They tell me things. Does my bidding, you know." He swung his attention back to the man on the run and gave him the spill. "My.. employers have taken notice in your actions and want your particular set of skills." He explained. "In exchange for your co-operation, you'll receive a safe haven from those Dominion meatheads. Oh, and they'll be safe, too." The thug's message was eerie, but the feeling couldn't be shook that he referred to Zeke's siblings.

The Calling
Diana Young​

Any concern for the well-being and thoughts of the base's prisoners were non-existent. Diana was processed and labeled as dangerous, despite the lack of supernatural talent. Three hours had passed since security had forced her and the twins into a holding cell with other hosts. Little to no interaction had occurred between anyone. Some of Diana's cellmates seemed to be mentally unstable or downright unresponsive to their surroundings. The only thing they had in common was the prisoner getup they all wore.

"Shiiit, it really is true. They locked up a human together with hosts. A little girl no less." Words of awe were expressed by a passing guard who took interest in Diana's presence and stood at the bars to peer in. "What did you do to get into this situation, girl?"

 

[Azukai]

An Eastern Wind Blows West​

One by one, projected screens materialized in the open air which defined an expansive space that was clad in a shroud of dusk. Dim flames flickered from lanterns posted on numerous marble pillars that rested along the perimeter of the square-like region that was centered by a single, silken mat that bore the weight of an elderly gentleman. Just below his mat was a thin layer of bamboo sheets, while above his head was an upturned roof, similar to that of a pagodas. All around him, the screens began a connection with Templars from around the globe--an aspect that felt very out of place given the traditional atmosphere of the region.

"Why have we been summoned." Was but one of the many irate comments that were spoken in rapid procession by the collective of Templars whose lives had been disturbed by an unforeseen conference. "Is it not the right of one, to speak to all when there are matters that concern us?" Spoke the elder in a calm, patient voice that was lathered with a heavy Chinese accent. Several of the Templars fell silent, their screens dimming in luminosity, as they considered the elder's words; however, many remained unimpressed as they pushed for further details. "Your Chinese parables mean nothing to us. What has occurred that requires our collective attention." Every screen dimmed as they awaited a response from the elder who began to chuckle while furiously stroking his wispy beard. "Perhaps, we should ask a particular region...A region that falls within the 'so-called" greatest strength of the organization." The elder paused his announcement and rose to his feet. There were dozens of a screens, each representing a region from around the globe; however, it was towards a particular screen at his forefront that he choose to direct his concluding inquiry. "Perhaps, the Americas would prefer to speak on my behalf, particularly concerning recent failures and future..liabilities..that are now contained within their grasp."

There was a scoff from the American Templar who responded with his own snide towards the elder's accusations, "And perhaps you would like to explain how we managed to contain your...problem children...something you failed to accomplish while they still remained on your soil." Heavy silence befell the conference, at least until hearty laughter exploded from the elder who bent to the screen's level and stared into the Templar's eyes. "You have contained the children solely because they...no, because the gods favored such an outcome. You are more than a fool if you believe they would act so carelessly without reason."

Again, there was a heavy silence until another Templar exhaled an exasperated sigh. "I fail to see how your squabble concerns the world...Adiue." There were immediate nods of agreement and soon, screens began to vanish until all that remained was the elder and the American Templar--both unfazed by the sudden exodus.

"As soon as those children set foot on American soil, the problem became my regions, no longer yours. We will handle the situation, just like we handled every other up until now. Let's not forget who fueled the fire of our crusade." The Templar announced in a tone that dared the elder to contest his stance.

"And let us not forget who has grown weak out of your fear of the hosts. You spend your days persecuting them...for what gain? You claim it is to uncover the truth about them but has your science left you any gain. Perhaps, this will be a promising lesson for you. The answers you seek already exist in the very enemy we fight. Perhaps, one day you will come to realize this...the true value of those twins..."

"You--" The Templar started; however, he was silenced by the elder who cut him off. "Oh...I forgot to mention. You have guests in your country. Do well to show them your fine American hospitality...please." And with that the connection was lost...

 

[TerraBooma]

When Sam had first made his contract with Cetus, his stealth ability had been for him and him alone. It was...spotty at first. Something that worked sometimes, but only sometimes. With time, he had learned to extend the aura outward. He concentrated, a beat of sweat suddenly forming on his brow. The rest of the truck would feel a sinking feeling in the pit of their stomachs for a few seconds before fading away, and if they opened their mouths their ears would pop. It was as if they had been suddenly submerged in water, though there were no further effects. He held his breath as the scan started, suppressing every possible indication that they might be there. He held up his hand in a thumbs up as he concentrated. He could handle this.

 

[Teron Rose Tyron]

A cold, lonely and just as quiet night.
Teron Tyron strolled through the alleys, used to the lack of action. However, that was only on some days. Others, he wouldn't get a break, which lead him to wonder if there was ever going to be an inbetween.
Hot on the tail of a particular murderer, he sped up the pace a little, lightly jogging. This person was what he considered to be another minor issue, though he wouldn't take it any less seriously.
Eventually seeing some commotion, he dashed over, his tie and suit flailing with the wind and momentum.

"Gimme ye fookin' muns!" An English lad screeched at a small man, the same man cowering in fear and dropping his wallet.

Teron loomed over the lad, clapping his head in, the lad collapsing onto the ground with a thud. "...Go." He ordered quietly to the small man.
Naturally taking the advice, he ran away.
From behind was 15 thugs, all wielding baseball bats and clapping them with their hands in order to express their intent.

Muttering a curse, Teron ran forward toward them - with no real choice. They blocked the only exit to this alley, the other end blocked with a fence and a large amount of inconvenient boxes. Punching one of the guys unconscious in a swift motion, he was battered by 14 other guys.

What proceeded to be - for all but Teron - was a painful fight, Teron eventually coming out on top due to his lack of pain, though injured. He stood over the mound of unconscious thugs, panting and bleeding. "...Cease." He murmured, stumbling toward the exit of the alley. If you looked at him for one moment, you'd tell the blood and injuries weren't normal, even if he looked just as handsome with all the mess. Clutching the brick walls of the alley, he lit a cigarette and puffed it for a while, waiting to regain composure.

 

[foxlaux]

"One more set!" Lou's kickboxing instructor yelled at the group, as they were rotating through jabs, crosses, hooks, and uppercuts. Lou wore her long black hair in a single braid down her back. She loved punching the lifeless bag in front of her. It was such a great release of stress for her. "Alright, you guys can take your things and head home now." Their instructor dismissed them, and Lou began to make her way to the showers.

"Lou, wait up!"

Lou turned to see who was yelling for her, and making her wait any longer to wash herself of the sweat and stench that follows after a tough workout.

"Oh, Matthew. What is it?" Matthew had been a member of the kickboxing group for two weeks now, and he was always trying to walk Lou home. "Are you sure you don't want me to stick around and walk you home tonight? It's awfully dark out."

This again, really? Lou was sick of him. "No, thanks Matthew. I walk home alone every night. I have to shower, anyway. Goodbye." She turned away from him and continued to make her way back to the showers. She wasn't trying to be harsh, she just didn't want the guy to get the wrong idea.

After showering, Lou packed up her things in her gym bag and left the facility, telling her instructor goodbye on her way out. Her walk home was honestly quite short, the kickboxing place is only a block away from her home, and she typically never runs in to trouble.

On this particular night, however, trouble was brewing. Lou heard a lot of thrashing around and what seemed to be a fight. A man was trying to take on an entire pack of thugs on his own. Unsure of what to do, Lou watched from afar as the man continued to fight them. "..do I call the police? I can't that fight many men, I'm really not even that skilled of a fighter.." She mumbled to herself, trying to calculate the best protocol for this kind of situation. That's when Lou looked up, and saw the man who she was sure was toast, heading toward her the end of the alley.

"H-How.." She mumbled again in awe.

Lou was quite frankly amazed. As he got closer, he stopped, lighting up a cigarette. Lou could tell he was bleeding, and badly injured. He hadn't noticed her.

"H-Hey!" She found her voice and spoke up, calling out to him. She gripped the strap of her gym bag tightly, and cautiously took a few steps closer to him. He did beat up a bunch of guys, so he may not be the safest person. Lou, however, was concerned for his well-being. "Are you sure you should be smoking right now? Do you need to go to the hospital?"​