[System]
Age: 15
Gender: Male
Halfling Race: Gargoyle (Golem/Harpy)
Appearance:  He also has a glamour spell to hide his wings. They'd really get in the way if they weren't hidden away.
Personal belongings with them: The usual kinds of items you'd expect of someone going to school. Also a small rock figure his father made for him when he was very young.

[User]
"Levi, come eat your breakfast! You don't want to be late for the first day of High school!" Leviathon's half sister yelled as she knocked on his door.

"Crap, did I oversleep again sis?" he asked as he got up and rushed out the door, putting one arm through his vest as he went.

"No, but you're lucky I woke you up, now come eat your coal!" she said
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Later on they walked up to the closest subway station illusion barrier, which was disguised as an old mineshaft that was ready to fall apart, and his sister hugged him. "Have a good time at the dorms! See you at the end of the year!"

Leviathon walked up to the entrance and took a deep breath. Turning to look back at his sister, he smiled. "Try not to have too much fun while I'm gone. And... y'know... thanks for taking care of me all this time since dad died."

"I thought we agreed that subject was off limits, ya goober!" She said half jokingly as she flicked a stray cinder from her shoulder towards him. He took one last look back and walked through the Rocky mountains' barrier.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Corry sighed as he trudged along towards the point on the map, holding onto his art supply satchel with care. As he finally got to the cave that supposedly looked like it dropped down to a point where escape was impossible, he gulped.

"Zey veren't kidding ven zey said it vas vell 'idden." he said, his German accent quite clear to anyone who would have heard him.

"Vell... 'ere goes nussing." and with that remark he jumped into the hole, only to land on solid ground as though there was no drop at all.

"First time going to school?" a kind voice asked him as he looked around in wonder that a whole subway station could exist in a cave. "Vell... yez... I suppoze zis is normal zen?" he answered.

"Then you might need to wear this. It's a translator bracelet. It will get rid of your accent and allow you to speak freely to anyone around the world without a mixup." the elderly gentleman said, handing him the device. Taking it, Corry put it on.

"Thanks. I was worried I was going to have to learn French or Spanish or Japanese or something. So how long until the subway gets here?" he asked, now without the signs of German upbringing.

"About 15 minutes." The man answered after looking down at his watch.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Excuse me, pardon me, coming through!" Samantha said as she hurriedly ran through the subway station. She had gotten there an hour earlier than necessary so she wouldn't have to deal with the crowds and had her translator bracelet on already, but that still ended up being the result. As she ran, she kept glancing around at all the supposedly "mythical" creatures such as herself.

"Sorry. Cyclops coming thwooooah!" she said, tripping over a tail of one of the Nagas. "Sorry... so sorry... didn't see you ther-oh. Hello Triston." she said frowning. Triston slither up to her and wrapped a coil around her waist.

"Why the long face, darling? I thought you liked cuddling with me!" he said. Samantha wriggled free and said, "Don't make me file sexual harassment." rather bluntly.

"Aw... that's cold, babe. You know I don't like the cold!" Triston said, wrapping his tail around her leg and trying to trip her again.

"HEY! Get your tail off her! If it's heat you want... TAKE THIS!" a third year student fire sprite said as he ignited the Naga's midsection. As the adults separated the two, Samantha quickly got on the Subway as it pulled up. Noticing a young boy sitting alone in the back of the first year subway car, she went over to him. As he raised his head up from his sketch he was drawing, she finally figured out why he was alone. A Dark Elf. Just great. What was next? Was a Demon gonna show up and cast her into hell or some crap like that? Apparently, the elf saw her processing the information and sighed. "Great. Another person who believes bloodline determines fate." He rubbed his forehead and continued. "Do what you want. I couldn't care less if I got a black eye right now. Nobody respected me before. Why should they start now?"

…
…...
…......

"What's your name?" Samantha asked. Better to make friends than be alone in the world, right?

The first year boy looked up from what he had returned to drawing, shocked. "Uh, Corry. You?"

"Samantha. So what are you drawing?" she asked sitting next to him. A ding was heard from the loudspeaker then. "Please take a seat and buckle up! We are starting our departure now. As we will be traveling through portals to get around the world, there are a few rules you must be aware of. One. Those who descriminate based on species will be stripped of their admittance to the Academy. Two. If you need to use the restroom, do so at the next stop, as doing so on the transportive subway would be disastrous and... you know what, I'll let you figure that one out in your head. Three. Dementors and Harry potter are human myths, so anyone believing that piece of glorified human feces is an absolute moron. Four, buckle up or lose more than a few bones from your spine. That is all."

the two quickly buckled in and Corry shoved his artwork back into his satchel. In a matter of seconds, the Subway had arrived at the next stop.

"Now boarding the North American Rocky Mountains District." the speakers blared.

Leviathon got on the train and was immediately pushed to the floor. "Dweeb!" a tree sprite mocked. "Can't back up your own powers! Pathetic, Halvie!" Leviathon frowned and got up, dusting himself off. "Your the one who picked a fight with me, so watch your back. Or does it give you wood to beat up first years?"

The Tree Sprite stopped in his tracks, turned to the Half Fire Sprite and said, "What? I'm sorry, could you repeat that in my good ear?"

Leviathon smirked. "What, do you have termites in your bad ear?"

"BASTARD!" the tree sprite yelled as he Punched Levi in the face hard enough to not only blacken his eye, but also throw him across the subway car into Samantha's lap.

"Hello! Are you an angel?" Levi asked dazed. Samantha sighed. "Great!" she responded sarcastically, "Another sexual deviant!"

"'Scuse me?" Levi said, still dazed. "The walking fir boy punched me! I didn't do nothin'. Honest!"

Samantha sighed and sarcastically said, "A badboy and a liar. Wonderful."

The Subway car Lurched forward, and Levi flew backwards onto the back of the car, fracturing his right leg at the knee joint. As the Loudspeaker came on again announcing their arrival in Japan, he fell to the floor. "Medic please?" he drawled in a heap on the floor. Samantha sighed and bent down to help.

[Assistant]
"Out of my way, abomination." Aenor hissed at the dark elf girl in front of him. She was blocking his way, as if she didn't know that he was of a greater race than she.
"Care to repeat that?" Sithra looked over her shoulder. "Do it a bit louder this time. I'd love to see a self-rightous prettyboy like you get in trouble with the school." She smirked and looked away from the light elf.
Just her luck to be stuck in the same subway station as one of them. Hopefully, she could just ignore him until they reached school. Sithra sighed, knowing that it was unlikely. She cursed fluently in Japanese, her native tongue, attracting a few odd looks from the others waiting at the station. The prettyboy didn't look like he understood her, though. Bonus.
Aenor didn't understand the dark elf's muttering, not that he cared. English was the only language he needed, and if someone else didn't understand him, well, that was their fault.
Just then, the train pulled in and the two elves boarded, making their way to opposite ends of the car. Now, to ignore each other for as long as possible.

[User]
In the furthest seat in the furthest car sat a hunched over figure. His hood was pulled up and a pair of obnoxiously large headphones rested over the fabric where his ears would be. In his hands rested a phone, which had a pair of thumbs darting across the screen faster than some could think possible.
He had arrived early just so he could be the first to get on to claim his seat. He had settled in and worked on building up an aura of 'stay away, no desire to talk to anyone' around him.
Nivaar took a fraction of a moment to glace up from his phone to the loud people entering the train, golden eyes narrowing slightly at the motley crew as they made it known their hate and disgust of each other. He smirked slightly before looking back down at his phone, taking discreet pictures, without flash, of the scene. Could be Photoshopped for blackmail later. Never knew when he'd need money, cheat-sheets, or someone to keep him entertained while he wallowed away in this forsaken place. He predicted he was at least twice the age of half the mutts he'd see in the school's walls and the only reason he was here because it was 'family tradition' to attend a place of study when one was nearing eighty. Had it not been the promise of lavish treasures of his choosing, Nivaar would have ducked out at the subway station and flown to Hawaii. At least the Fire Sprites there could keep his scales warm.

Lifting a hand to scratch at the mentally thought of scales around his left eye, the juvenile dragon tugged his hood lower once the itch had been scratched.

[Assistant]
Nyra slithered her way through the entrance of the cave, hoping she wasn't late for her ride. She had her jacket and warmers on, so she was okay for a bit. Maybe she'll make friends with a warm-blooded creature. Nyra looked around at all the different people there. She moved onto the train, coiling up on a seat.

Aliaah fluttered through the crowd, trying not to get hit. Sometimes people didn't see her. She went through a checklist in her head. She had her translator on, which fit around her neck. She had her stuff in her bag. She had her hat, which she wore now, her horns fitting perfectly through the beanie. She zipped around the car like a hummingbird and perched herself on the back of a seat.

Jacinda stepped onto the train, looking at her phone. She had her wings folded around her shoulders, held together with the claws at her neck. She decided not to sit and just leaned against the side of the train. Jacinda preferred to keep to herself and kept her attention on her phone screen, playing Hungry Shark.

[User]
Settling herself, Sithra crossed her arms and leaned back, closing her eyes. She had no intention of starting a conversation with anyone near her; with her luck, they'd all be drow-haters. Drow was what she called herself, preferring to eliminate even the smallest connection to the light elves.

Aenor seated himself and put on his seatbelt. Now that the dark elf was far away from him, he relaxed and let a slight smile curve his lips. Perhaps the trip would be bearable.

[Assistant]
Akane, purposefully being on the train early (There was no way she'd miss this!) was curled up in a seat checking everyone out. If she was going to survive the year she was going to need a few bodies. She had already been told about the entrance, but she couldn't help thinking they could have picked something more appealing. One of her favorite hobbies was people watching. Akane has always been picky about her bodies, if she didn't like them, she could just have them set on fire. A bit dramatic maybe, but it gets the job done.

She saw not a whole lot of people were in the mood to talk, that was fine In fact it made things easier. She thought the fire sprite would make a good body (How she refers to non-naga friends) he was even cute! but Akane supposed he wouldn't be in the mood for her harassment. She saw another naga slither into a seat. Well as much as I'd like to be friends, that shall have to wait. I've got to focus. And who should appear but an adorable fae dragon! Akane waved to her and said "Hey sweetheart!" then patted the spot next to her> "there's a spot right here if you don't mind joining me.~"

[User] Aliaah smiled and fluttered over to the seat next to the naga. She curled her tail around her feet. "Hello! My name is Aliaah! It is my first year." She was excited someone wanted to talk to her. People usually mistake her for a bug. "How are you!"

[Assistant] Dante was excited to be going to school. He thought it would be a fun adventure, the next step in his life. It wasn't a great start, as when he got on the train many of the cabins were full and the ones that weren't had people who looked like they didn't want to be disturbed. Closer to the back, or maybe the front, this train seemed to go whichever direction it wanted, Dante found a cabin containing a fire sprite, a dark elf, and a cyclopes, which sounded like the beginning of a joke. "Um, excuse me?" Dante asked as he slowly opened the door, "mind if I sit here? I haven't seen much room elsewhere."


[System]
Age: 21
Gender: Female
Race: Human
Weapon: Hand axe [similar to hatchet, but more specialized in beating the crap out of something than chopping firewood]
Specialty: Party Tank [Boxing, Wrestling]
Semblance: What Is Hype May Never Die - Grows stronger and more durable in the presence of positive, giddy, or nervous energy. It's not like she turns into the Hulk in a social setting, but if she's with a friend or two cheering her on in a fight, she'll find that her blows come easier and the blows that hit her back seem like more of a dull ache than anything else.
Personality: A hot-blooded young girl with a zest for life, nights out, and a good scrap, Lauren is the epitome of a born leader with no resources to actually do anything. Growing up in a poor (poor poor) family taught her to make due with whatever help friends could offer, but in the end, only she could make what she deserved in life. Thus, a young girl who was more than happy to get loud in her parents ears grew into a bold, determined young woman who could feed off the energy of people around her and settle a situation as quickly as she could escalate it.

Quick to laugh, quick to zone out, quick to get riled up, and quick to forgive, Lauren naturally tends to be fidgety and addicted to energy. This makes her an exceedingly average and dreamy student until a team exercise rolls around.
Color: Hot white [effervescent, glossy white]
Emblem: A stick figure young woman with devil horns, twirling an axe between her stick hands.
Appearance:

When outside her uniform, Lauren gives the illusion of being an inch or two taller than her natural five foot eight, with a perpetual pep in her step and a brash loudness that seems to slightly puff her up.

Naturally dark-complected and built like a fighter, her favorite casual jacket emphasizes her build - long-sleeved, smooth white leather with a supportive gold-trimmed collar, cutting off just south of her diaphragm and exposing her (usually topless) rib cage and waist. On the back of the jacket, printed in similar burnished gold, is the word "WALLAHI" in jersey-block text. The word "BRUH" is written in the same text underneath it, where the number on a jersey would usually go.

Occasionally, when she wears it around her waist, she'll sport a black tank top in its stead.

Otherwise, her accessories are limited to half a dozen hemp bracelets up her right arm, a hair band worn around her left wrist, and an amethyst ring on her right ring finger.

[User]
Emerald's ears twitched and turned toward the direction of Shiro's voice. She had faintly heard him talking to Oswald so she wasn't surprised.

"C-Come in..." Emerald squeaked after a minute once she finally found her voice, the first words she'd actually spoken since she woke. She tried to rub her eyes, even though it caused her some discomfort to move. She didn't want him to see she'd been crying. The tone of his voice made it clear that he was concerned about her wellbeing, she didn't want to burden him with worry, he was way too happy a person for that.

No, she'd put a smile on her face, despite the fact that she felt like her world was crumbling all around her. She just...needed to think positive, giving into negativity just meant the Grimm would win in the end right? Right...

[Assistant]
Kuhaku Shiro - Infirmary

Shiro's ears twitched when he heard Emerald's voice, allowing him to come in. Expression saddening, he could tell by her uneasy tone that she didn't sound too good herself. Shaking his head to wipe away the sorrowful look he had on, he instead put on a his usual friendly smile and poked his head in between the curtains. He had to fight to keep the smile on his face. Seeing her condition, it wouldn't be hard to see why. One look at her eyes and Shiro recognized the redness and puffiness of someone who had been crying. He dreaded seeing the condition Cobalt was in.

"Gods, this sucks.."
He lamented.
"Hey, Emerald. You doing alright? I was just stopping by to check on the others who I know, that returned from their missions. H-how are...things?"
Shiro's chest felt tight, his heart hurting for Emerald when he saw the obviously forced smile she was displaying for him.

[User]
Emerald thought for a moment on how to respond, she could have easily faked it and told him she was fine, that she just needed a little rest and all would be good! But she just didn't have it in her to lie to him, not when it was something that was so blatantly untrue it would be insulting his intellect. "T-To be honest I've been better...not because of my injuries really..." She looked away for a moment, worried that he'd see her getting misty eyed. "I...I've seen things...learned things that I wish I didn't know about...stuff that s-shouldn't be real I-" Emerald stopped abruptly as her voice quivered, she couldn't do this anymore.

"I'm sorry I...let's talk about something else...anything will do I just...I just can't talk about this..."  Emerald shut out the memories as best she could, they were just too fresh in her mind. "H-How was your mission? Better than mine right?" She actually laughed at that, it was kind of funny in a really sad, morbid way.

[Assistant]
Kuhaku Shiro - Infirmary

There he goes again, just after realizing his mistake seconds before with Oswald too. He was being insensitive. It was probably better to just not ask anyone how their mission went. It should've been painfully obvious before, but if a student ended up here after their mission for anything other than a simple check-up. Chances were high that their mission did not go well. It was also very likely that they were still recovering from wounds more than physical and Shiro was just doing the worst possible thing by reminding them of the events that had transpired. Needless to say, Shiro really hated himself right now. His own pain evident on his face when his expression briefly twisted up into what looked like a cringe.

Shaking his head, he picked up his usual smile again.
"Ah, I'm sorry hear you're not doing too well."
He didn't know what much else to say, other than that.
Though, it just made him extra curious to know what occured during their mission.
Just what was it they had seen? What had they gone through?
"Even still, I figured you wouldn't mind seeing another friendly face."
Nervously, as per his habit, he scratched the back of his head.
"Ah, my mission? It went rather well. Almost boringly so, to be honest with you."
Looking up at the ceiling, he couldn't help but chuckle and smirk.
"The most exciting thing that happened is that we learned Sapphire has problems with water. Either she's afraid of it or can't swim, I don't know. But, we kinda found out the hard way."
His expression blanked as he stared at Emerald.
"She bit me when I tried to rescue her."
Shiro said in an annoyed tone.
Tugging off the arm-length glove that concealed his medically bandaged arm, Shiro showed her the covered bite wound.
"She bit me kinda hard too. Wasn't expecting it so my Aura couldn't defend me there."
He sighed, ears drooping before his ears perked back up and his face brightened, laughing at his own expense.
Shiro thought to mention how it kind of hurt, but as his eyes glanced over Emerald's wounds...

He figured it be best not to say.

[User]
Emerald blinked, Sapphire had problems with water? It wasn't the most interesting news in the world but it was enough to keep her mind off of her trauma. "Water problems huh? You'd never guess than looking at her. I mean I'm not the biggest fan of swimming but I do know how to." Truth be told, the fact that a lot of people assumed she hated water because she was a cat faunus annoyed her. She was in fact a fairly decent swimmer. "Maybe once I get out of here we should try to teach her."

"Wait, she bit you?" Emerald asked incredulously, finally realising that was what had been said. "And humans think they're more civilized than we are? Please."

[Assistant]
Kuhaku Shiro - Infirmary

Shiro laughed again, more genuinely this time. "Yeah, it surprised all of us too. I actually love the water myself and I think I'm a great swimmer. I'd offer to teach her but, I severely doubt she'd ever accept." Thinking about it, she would probably tell him to go shove his offer somewhere the sun didn't shine or just outright ignore him with a cold shoulder. He could hardly imagine her listening to his instruction anyways. Not realizing he was looking at the ground, he looked back up when Emerald asked about his bite wound. Laughing nervously, he scratched the back of his head again. "Y-yeah, she bit me. I think she had some sort of panic attack er...something, and just bit me. Like one of those cases where she didn't know where she was or who I was..kind of...deals. Thingys." Shiro said in a rather confusing manner, making sure not to comment about Emerald's remark on human/faunus civil and social relations...


[System]
Age: 17
Crest: Knowledge
Appearance:
Bio:
 Aaric was born into a very affluent family. His father and mother got along fairly well, and Aaric had neutral (bordering resentment) relationship toward his parents. However, the oddity was that his parents were absent most of the time due to work. Especially coupled with the fact that he was the only child, Aaric had little interaction with other people, minus the occasional silent nanny that came over to clean the house and the family dog. Fortunately Aaric had access to large swaths of books and resources thanks to his parents wealth, odd choices, and lack of computers. Out of the extensive collection, he would usually ignore the more scientific books in favor for more lore intensive studies, including extensive fantasies, historical non-fiction, and even advanced literary works when age permitted him understanding.

 By himself, Aaric had learned to become somewhat independent, learning to cook, to laundry, and to take care of the dog whenever the maids were not present. He even biked to school on most occasions. Though, these skills were gained more out of necessity, as his parents refused to provide him with a myriad butlers or maids to take care of him. More often than not, Aaric was left to his own devices when it came to management of the house. However, despite not providing great amounts of servants, Aaric's parents hired numerous tutors that visited the estate after Aaric went to school, nearly everyday. This left Aaric with a surprising lack of free time.

 With the influences of his somewhat privileged and "freed" life, Aaric gained some amount of independency. However, in school, with tutors, and with the rare servant, Aaric rarely had any real human to human interaction, leaving him inexperienced with conversation and relationship. In addition, because he grew up on literature based on fantasy and history, Aaric had a certain "disposition" that made him a little bit more "romantic" yet "flatter" than others of his age. Often, kids of his age usually stayed away from him due to his eccentricity and inflexibility toward others.

 Now approaching the halfway point of age 17, Aaric is successful in his schooling. However, he is, as of now, ignorant to the fact that there is much more to this life other than eat, study, and sleep.

Name: Hakase
Personality: A easy going yet witty digimon. Often, Hakase will crack sardonic criticism with the worst of it occurring in his rookie form. Despite his habit, however, most of his judgements are actually quite reasonable, albeit in a manner that might not be all that appropriate. In addition, Hakase knows a great deal about the current state of the digital world but chooses not to flaunt his knowledge in favor for more critical assessments of character.

Stage- Baby
Species: Botamon
Attribute: None
Technique-
 1: Acid Bubble - Shoots acid bubbles from his mouth

Stage- In-Training
Species: Koromon
Attribute: Data
Technique-
 1: Acid Bubbles - Shoots acid bubble from his mouth
 2: Soft Tackle - Uses the body to tackle opponent

Stage- Rookie
Species: Hakase Agumon
Attribute: Vaccine
Technique-
 1: Hakase Bo - Employs his professor baton to sway the target.
 2: Baby Flame - Shoots a small flame from his mouth.
 3: Claw Attack - Uses his claw to beat down on an opponent.

Stage- Champion
Species: Wizardmon
Attribute: Data
Technique-
 1: Magical Games - A technique that can have varying mindgame-esque elements
 2: Electro Squall - Releases lighting from hand or staff
 3: Blink Breeze - Release an icy blast of wind from the staff

Stage- Ultimate
Species: Wisemon
Attribute: Virus
Technique-
 1: Pandora Dialogue - Captures and stores the attacks of the opponent that can later be used later with great speed and potency.
 2: Eternal Nirvana - Captures a digimon into the Space-Time stones for any desired time.

Stage- Mega
Species: Ancient Wisemon
Attribute: Virus
Technique-
 1: Proteus Mirror - Can replicate any attack that has been observed and absorbed by his mirror raised to Hakase's power level
 2: Laplace no Ma - Imprisons a digimon into the spirit world for any desired time
 3: Elder Sign - Summons a powerful interdimensional being to fight for Hakase
Other:

[User]
The fall was quick and sudden, but Carter found it interesting to note that as he fell through this epileptic nightmare he didn't feel much wind resistance. He was just falling, moving downwards. At least, that's what his body told him. Despite all this, he found it useful to pull his almost-lucky goggles over his eyes to keep himself from shutting his eyes from what little wind he could feel. The only downside was that he had no idea how to fall properly, and fear flooded his veins as he realized that there was no way to keep himself from hitting the ground. His eyes widened briefly before shutting preparing for that impact...

That never came.

As if he were being pulled up by something, his torso stopped moving completely. His head, arms, and legs shot forward from the sudden stop. He was about as close to the ground as he could get before actually hitting it, then whatever was holding onto him let go and fall the rest of the way without worry of injury.

He rose and looked around. Carter saw from the fall that he wasn't the only one stuck in this situation, but everyone else as as much of a stranger to him as they were to each other. At least, that's how it seemed.

Two of the girls were getting ready to start a screaming match, and Carter was somewhat disappointed that he didn't wear his goggles with the attached headphones. At least that would help him tune out when they inevitably started to argue again.

For now, they seemed to be asking if anything else knew what was going on, to which Carter only shook his head.

"No," he answered to them, not bothering to take off his goggles. "I was out on business, then I'm falling through the physical form of LSD." Only now did he realize that they were giving out names. It was probably for the best if he introduced himself as well. Everyone was equally confused, but at least they all seemed to be like rational adults. "I'm Carter, by the way." He still didn't take his goggles off, and he intended to keep it that way for now.

[Assistant]
It seemed most everyone else took a lot tougher tumble through the multicolored hellscape before reaching wherever she was. However, it didn't stop her from being dumbstruck for a good minute, processing the disconnect between walking into a classroom and ending up the woodlands with a bunch of grown ups she didn't recognize. At the very least, she had some semblance of an idea as to why the girl with the missing bus pass sounded so panicked when calling out to her.

In most cases being in a group of grown ups, especially ones she did not recognize, would not be an occasion for smiling. Yet she couldn't help but give a bemused snrk at the box of condoms, softly muttering "classy," under her breath when she caught sight of them. She didn't even bother trying to hide her amusement - her eyes remained of the box the entire time she spoke.

"Name's Dorotea. Tey's fine too. And there wasn't no fucking hole in the ground for me. I turn around while stepping into my classroom, and suddenly years of all the fumes from my druggie of a father are catchin' up to my dumbass self. Like I was reinacting some cheapass Alice In Wonderland or Narnia ripoff."

She finally pried her eyes off of the condom box, but not before looking at the man who called himself "Z" a questioning look, raising her eyebrows as she glanced back to the box and then him again, before turning away to address the others.

"As for how the fuck we got here or why? Best not ask the homeless queer kid, 'cause she don't know shit. All she knows is God's probably pissing himself laughing at this fuckery. Just having himself a good ol' fucking chuckle up there."

[User]
The feeling of zero-gravity completely consumed the brown haired girl as her eyes remained closed shut. She only opened them once more when she felt herself falling followed by the screams of those that were probably in the same predicament as her. Once she got a good sight of what was going on, fear and anxiety began pumping into her veins as she used both hands to grasp on to her cap to keep it from flying off her head. Honestly, she would have been completely fine with anything else, but heights? Tears immediately pricked the brunette's eyes as the scream she wanted to let out evaporated before she could do so. She wanted to close her eyes so badly, but doing such made her stomach lurch as her impending doom quickly became more questionable without her vision. So Alex opted to keep her eyes open, tears now spilling out of her eyes against her will.

Just as she thought she was going to collide with the ground and turn into a bloody mess of limbs and muscles, Alex felt her body come to a halt, as if something was suspending her in the air for a brief moment, before dropping her once more, letting her fall without the fear of death. Landing on her side, Alex quickly rubbed her watery eyelids before sitting up on her knees. Now feeling grass tickle her sides of her shins, Alex couldn't help but gawk at the scenery before her. What happened to all the cars, the park, and the building complex? It was pretty clear that she, no they, weren't home, but where were they then?

Alex's head soon turned to face where most of the noise was coming from, two girls it seemed. And while the brunette was mostly ignoring what they were actually saying, she only focused when the shorter of two girls directed their voice to the rest of them.
"Hey! Random other people! Anyone get the license plate number of that truck that hit us? Looked like a fucking glowing hole in the ground?" She blurted out to them, only to have the small girl lower her head. Geez, that was subtle...what was she talking about anyways?

Turning her attention to the first one that spoke up, he didn't really answer the question, but instead gave his name and occupation. Z, huh... Alex could remember that. His appearance - mostly his hair - was also quite a sight to behold, as he pulled out the strangest things from them, but it wasn't like she was gonna comment on it. Next came a guy with shimmery silver hair and wearing goggles. This guy actually answered the question, but it didn't really help when it came to figuring out what was going on. He referred to himself as Carter...it was a nice name. The last person to speak up, and who was also intrigued by how Z managed to pull out such weird things from his hair, was Dorotea, who was probably even more vulgar than the first girl that spoke up.

A little nervous to speak up after Dorotea and her little...monologue...Alex lowered her head once again, the cap covering most of her features once again.
"U-Um...I was playing on the swings and when I jumped off, a light swallowed me up and I e-ended up here." She mumbled, giving another, different occurrence than what the first girl was talking about. "...J-Just call me Alex." She concluded with a frown before looking up slightly to meet eyes with the first girl quickly, only to bring her gaze back down to her lap mere seconds later.

[Assistant]
Alaric's mouth was opened wide as he fell away from the skies above him. What happened to him? Where was he? Who were these people around him? All Aaric could clearly think about amidst the myriad of questions going through his mind was the symbolic nature of this fall from the skies.
 "...Could this be hell?" To Aaric, it didn't seem like it, but it didn't matter to him in a very short time; Aaric was rapidly reaching terminal velocity. The speed alone was enough to make him terrified, not to mention everything else. Nervously curious to how high in the air he was, Aaric shifted the weight of his body to place his gaze towards the Earth. A big mistake. Jolted by the sight of being thousands of feet up in the air, Aaric sporadically opened his arms, allowing the book to fly out of his hands towards a destination unknown. Surely, it wouldn't hit any poor creature. As Aaric grew closer and closer towards the ground, he tightly shut his eyes and his mind began to race.
 "Literature is seeping into my dreams again. It's that quote of descension. After the fall, I'll ascend from this nightmare. Waking reality. Waking real…" Suddenly, the wind that blasted against his face stopped as he felt himself being gently laid upon the ground, face first. Quivering, he lifted his head from the ground while his eyes reluctantly opened. What they saw was a peculiarly grown forest, though, not any forest to the likes illustrated in the books. He darted his head around to examine the scenery further. Around Aaric, a lush, verdant forest surrounded the sunny clearing that the people had just landed in. In the sky, soft, white clouds gently swam towards an unknown destination, the wind blowing west with a promise for adventure. Aaric did not care for the fates of the clouds. He was too busy looking at the people who landed alongside with him.
 "Hey! Random other people! Anyone get the license plate number of that truck that hit us? Looked like a fucking glowing hole in the ground?" One of the girls yelled out, slicing through Aaric's moment of shock like a cold knife. After some time, he propped himself up into a sitting position with crossed legs, carefully observing the other people. It had been quite some time that he encountered people of such a wide variety, especially with the differences in language. In an unconscious effort, Aaric's psyche made a rare attempt to categorize these people. It failed spectacularly, making few yet very incorrect assumptions, but nonetheless, it tried.
 As the other people began to introduce themselves, Aaric felt no need to introduce himself. In most cases, he never introduced himself nor made greetings unless prompted to. He always kept to himself. However, as more and more people began to introduce each other, Aaric began to feel pressure. Somehow, he slowly felt compelled to introduce himself by action of a mysterious force. (called character introduction, but he didn't know that) The blood rushed into his face as he began to introduce himself.
 "Salutations. I-I am Aaric Mitaski." He said in a robotic-esque voice.


[System]
Age: 18

Gender: Male

Race: Human

Weapon:
Two metal tonfas, Artorius and Gwenhwyfar (formerly Lawnslot). Both are identical, visually, save perhaps a few differences in internal mechanism. In the traditionally held position, the longest part of the body aligning along the forearm, the forward facing post is actually a shotgun barrel; though standard shells are the usual ammunition, dust rounds can be loaded instead. The storage area expands along the spine of the weapon. The recoil is often used for propulsion when useful. The primary length of each tonfa actually has a blade running along it, resembling one half of a sword, to be specific.

This is because both weapons are capable of combining into a large, long sword; Caledfwlch. The two weapons reconfigure in such a way as to create a long, straight two-handed sword with a straight crossguard. The shotgun barrels are reoriented as the crossguard, one pointing to the left and the other to the right, used to enhance the power behind his swings.

Artorius and Gwenhwyfar both have one other unique attribute; high capacity batteries built into their frame. Each battery continuously siphons a supply of Aura from Benjamin, building the energy up so long as they are, in some way, upon his person. This energy can be released with a button built in below the shotguns' triggers, on the handle of the combined blade, or on the handle of the smaller tonfas. The release of this energy usually is used to power his Semblance, and must be replenished over time when discharged.

Joyous Guard
Expansion Calibrated for Ultimate Resistance
B. Lloyd #8 of 7

An expansion device manufactured to work in conjunction with Artorius and Gwenhwyfar. In its default form the Joyous Guard is a tower shield, large and incredibly heavy. Two racks are integrated into its back side for holding the two tonfa when not in use. It can be held in hand, affixed to the forearm (vertically or horizontally) or stored on Benjamin's back. The top and bottom sides taper off into wedges, enabling it to be used as an offensive bludgeoning weapon when affixed horizontally to the forearm. Its connection to the forearm is carefully designed to ensure that both tonfa are compatible in use when the shield is in play, though Joyous Guard is primarily intended for use with Caletfwlch. The shield is manufactured from dense, durable metals, making it even heavier than it looks. For this reason Gravity Dust was used in its construction, making it nearly weightless in Ben's hand. Notably, however, it is Aura-coded to Ben's Aura; in the hands of anyone not on its whitelist, the Gravity Dust reverses and makes it too heavy to be lifted.

Joyous Guard's secondary configuration requires the use of Artorius and Gwenhwyfar. The shield unfolds, incorporating the transformation mechanisms in both tonfa to provide the necessary components for the configuration. Namely they provide part of the edges and part of the hilt of the immense two-handed sword Joyous Guard becomes. The effects of the Dust carry over in this form, ensuring that Ben can swing it almost as easily as he would Caletfwlch. In fact, due to the nature of F=ma, a swing from it will be many times as devastating with a fraction of the effort. Like Caleftwlch, the shotgun barrels incorporated into the hilt aid in granting increased force to its swings.

Finally, in a tertiary configuration, Joyous Guard can convert while affixed to Ben's forearm by splitting down the middle and orienting the magnetic racks used to hold Artorius and Lawnslot along the two horizontal halves. The Lightning Dust used to generate that magnetic field, in this form, cranks into overdrive to turn the shield into a forearm mounted electromagnetic cannon. Slow-firing, but incredibly potent in its offensive power. Artorius and Lawnslot are absolutely necessary for this configuration, as they provide the additional structural stability needed to let Joyous Guard withstand the considerable forces exerted. As a bonus, however, this makes their shotgun barrels useful in this configuration.
Specialty: Benjamin is a highly adaptable fighter. He lacks dedicated defensive capabilities, but his weapons serve very well as augmentation to forearm blocks. The lightweight nature of his weapons, however, also means that he is a highly agile fighter. His preference is to move as quickly as possible, landing strikes when opportunities present themselves and evading blows (blocking if absolutely unavoidable).

Use of both his Semblance and Caledfwlch is exceedingly rare, to the point that they have not yet been used during his career at Beacon. Both are abilities and options he keeps to himself, aces up the sleeve. Ultimately, his style permits him to act as the situation demands, though the drawback to the continuous siphoning of his Aura, as well as his lack of any dedicated defensive tools, is that his personal defenses are noticeably lower than others'.

Semblance: Deinamig: Benjamin is capable of using Aura to fuel an individual section of his body to well beyond its usual limits. Fueling his legs, for example, will drastically increase both speed and power of his legs, and fueling his arms will do much the same. This can, theoretically, be applied to any section of his body. The Aura for this is usually provided by the resevoirs built up within his weapons, but that supply is not infinite. If a situation arises where he is unable to tap into it (or it runs out) he can directly fuel his Semblance with his present Aura.

Personality: Benjamin is a friendly guy. He also, at first glance through his performance in school, nothing to write home about. Average or slightly above in all his classes, with the only oddities appearing once one takes a closer look. His homework assignments represent minimal effort, while all examination scores actually place him near the top of the grading scale. Between the two, depending on how the class is run, they average out to roughly average grades. In short, Benjamin doesn't bother to do his homework until the last minute, if at all. He conforms to a decidedly nonstandard view of what is important, and what is not. Things he views as "busy work", such as most homework assignments, are treated with at best casual disregard, while things he views as important (tests, examinations, practice, getting to know people) works at. His strange views actually are rooted in a single opinion; if it isn't something he needs to do in order to do well in his life, it doesn't really matter. People skills will be important, combat skills will be important, all of the knowledge he amasses will be important. So he takes his tests and exams seriously, but at the end of the day… Who's going to care, once he leaves Beacon, whether or not his did his vocabulary flash cards?

This practical viewpoint extends to many aspects of his life, but he will always make an effort to get to know people. His wit might be a little sarcastic at times, but anyone who he views as a friend will find that few will go to greater lengths for their friends. Aside from his practicality, which more than a few teachers might instead term "laziness", Ben has one other notable quirk. He seldom fights at full capacity. He believes it is always best to have an ace or two tucked away up the sleeve, so that if a situation ever arises where he simply can't handle it, or needs just a little more power… He has something to draw on.

Color: Steel Gray

Emblem: A single inverted sword set behind a shield emblazoned with a crown device.

Appearance: Benjamin is a few inches short of six feet, making about average height for his gender. He has an athletic build, obviously necessary given his school, but he isn't overly muscular.The fighting style he prefers requires nimble movements, mandating that he maintain both a reasonable muscle mass as well as his agility. A faint grin is his default expression, blue-gray eyes bright with life under slightly messy light brown hair. He wears the Beacon school uniform completely unmodified, though it isn't at all uncommon to see him take the coat off and carry it around. When not attending class (and thus not required to wear his uniform), he tends to default to jeans paired with a black or gray long sleeved shirt. Light but durable boots are his footwear of choice, as his usual field attire simply adds some lightweight gray armor over his torso, and perhaps greaves to his shins. Artorius and Lawsnlot are carried at his belt, one on either side.

[User]
Abel Fulgurate - Dorm

Once Abel's surprise at Shiro's unexpected entry and removal of clothes had worn off, he maintained a level of confusion about the same as Sapphire. All he could offer in response to her question was a bemused shrug. The thought flashed through his mind: without his usual armor on, shrugging proved to be a much more enjoyable feat. He made the resolve, then and there, to try and do it more often when unencumbered. "Don't know. But I doubt he would. Only two places to swim on campus, Port's probably got another Megaladeus in one and the other's a sheer drop off the airdocks."

The wheels in the guardian's head began to turn. Where and why exactly would a cat faunus go swimming? On the edge of his mind, the semblance of an idea took place, but try as he might he could not recall the details. "Must have lost something before traveling recently," he decided at last. "Don't know what though." A dubious glance shot Sapphire's way. "You goin' to Gren's party thing? Also, I had no idea you were in here. Um..." On the off chance she hadn't noticed, he elected to not mention that he'd released a quiet flatus about a chapter back in his book. Hey, he'd thought he was alone. "Your power, I guess."

[Assistant]
Gratia Mindaro - VGNB Dorms

The ballpoint pen clicked shut with a resounding sense of finality. It paused against the surface of her notebook, almost frozen in the moment. Gratia looked back up, her onyx eyes once again staring at Luke Schwarz' face. She was watching him, studying the twitching of his muscles, her impassive gaze resting upon him for several long seconds.

"That will be the end of this phase of the experiment then," she said, voice still as flat and emotionless as it had been before.

Bringing about positive emotions in other people was far more difficult than its antithesis, and Gratia Mindaro could not care less for expending such effort on such a trivial matter. It was beneath her to bother, and the experiment itself was not so urgent that she would fucking try and cheer or amuse Schwarz just so his hair could do a loop-de-loop that defied common sense. Her results had already lived up to her expectations so far, and any further observations were not necessarily required.

Good science however, would only occur if she followed up on it.

And she refused to do lackluster work.

That meant she would have to continue her observations of Luke Schwarz at a better time, but it wasn't as if the Mistralese girl had anything better to fucking do.

[User]
Vega Venetia – VGNB Dorms

Vega opened the door into her Dorm, when she came upon the sight of Gratia…and then two other individuals, one she did not know of, one of them with a piece of his hair standing upwards. She took a glance at the Otter Faunus, as this was Bianca replacement…respectable but common clothing to Vega tastes. Perhaps this Mistral faunus was a member of the lower class but she knew not to open up with questions and remarks like that only until they reveal who they truly were. Her anger towards Gratia when she upstanded her in an entire class had died down, she was still annoyed by her though but relaxed herself by discarding all thoughts of cheese man and Ms. Gracious upstanding her.

"So what's up" as she said it to everyone in her dorm, with a calm friendly demeanor.

[Assistant]
Sangue Naga - BASL Dorm

The day went on as the time for excitement faded temporarily.

Sangue sat still on her bed, reading through a letter she received not too long ago. The Grimm Studies class eventually ended well enough for her to leave without injuries. Although she did help someone out, she came to a realization that she needed to think a bit more wisely before jumping straight into a risky situation. Perhaps listening to her comrades would get her on a very smooth road to improvement.

"..."

The red-haired woman carefully put the letter away as she lay on her bed, her eyes slightly shut. She ended up wearing a new sarashi because the one she had used earlier became very worn-out.


[System]
* Appearance:
4'9", 90 lbs. compared to his 6'0" 150 lbs twin brother.
* Age: 14
* Personality: He has big shoes to fill and he is trying his best. But the doubt can be seen, its in his pose and in his voice. He acts uncertain when made to over-think things, he is 'passionate' when driven and reckless to prove himself.
* Motive to live: "I fight, flora beautiful world."
* Background:
Imagine that you're holding on to two bottles and they drop on the floor. What happens? They both break. But it's how they break that's important. Because, you see, while one bottle crumples into a pile of glass, the other shatters into a jagged-edged weapon. You see, the exact same environment that forged older brother into a warrior crushed baby brother. Now here's the twist, the runt is the older brother.

Its no surprise the world was hell in a handbag, day by day it was getting more different. The two boys thought they were safe in aristocratic society, one of those big folk who buy their way out of trouble. The kids engaging in pointless arts like horseback riding and rapier fighting, that is until the colony they lived on was destroyed. The two survived in an escape pod worth more than most spaceships and worth every penny. They were rescued and prepped for having survived first contact with the enemy, the bigger stronger brother was fitted for an armor, but he couldn't take the stresses of the training and took his own life. "The world is so, damn, ugly." Those were the last words on his bloody lips.

Initially, his brother was meant to be the great hero, Now that it was passed to him, he asked for a number of changed made to the system. His brothers frame was causing massive synchronization failures as he felt he was fighting his brothers ghost in the machine like bickering siblings. He went back to formula and plugged into the system as he designed a new frame of aesthetically pleasing form whose function would be built from. He went from negative synchronization to over sixty in days. Well worth the heavy price as he signed over all family holdings and companies to continue the funding for the project. No, for the survival of the species and a beautiful world.
* Notable Deaths: His twin brother, the one who the frame was made for.
* Other things:

Synchro Rate: 86
_=-=_
* Framewerk Code Name: Rose
* Appearance:
* Signature Weapon System:
Rose whip: A reached melee weapon system made for adaptability on the field, each section is its own separate motor capable of gordianknot contortions and ease of replacement between missions. The two main attack functions beyond lashing until a constriction can be made are the piston jabs of the thorns once wrapped around a limb for deeper penetration or each independently spinning to grind whatever it is to dust and crimson mist
* Secondary Weapon System: Rose bouquet: Retracting both of the 'hands' and dropping the head into the chest, the flowers on the crown and wrists openwide to function as a shield while the frame looks a lot like a rosebush
* Armor Type:
Medium protection melee assault armor built to endure long enough to land terrible blows. The 'vine wrap' on one leg is actually a depiction of 'either/or' for BOTH legs once he closes to melee range as his brother was originally going to use Savate for combat.
* Special Ability:

[User] Ryan curses as the glue mine goes off, taking away his number one skill: mobility. He sends a few louder choice words over the radio as Koehler picks him up then drops him. Then, a barrage of missiles, from the Caliburn, bombards Macabre. Red lights are flashing every where, Ryan quickly checks his diagnostics. All systems are still functioning however the Frame's hull is damaged... Pretty badly. So Ryan and Macabre are wounded, stuck, and pissed off. Macabre sends Visceral in an upward motion, hoping to disable Caliburn's other arm. Then all of the Frame's boosters ignite, attempting to free itself from the glue.

[Assistant]
"Uhh, I'll try," Elora responded to Koehler's order as Diver flew closer to Macabre. "But I think you should forfeit, you don't sound-" She then backed away by instinct when Caliburn opened fire on on the other stuck Framewerk. She could have taken that attack in place of Ryan, but her meek nature took over her. The two were now about to free themselves from the trap, so Elora had to act fast if she wanted to save him. There wasn't much time for him left; his Framewerk wasn't supposed to take any damage, and it was a miracle Macabre was even functional at this point. She heard the announcement, but ignored it, too swept up in the moment to realize that could have had been something for her to consider.

She thrust around to Caliburn's backside, and activated her drones' scanning routine again. She typed on the keyboard like a maniac; her fingers nailed lines of code on the program while her eyes darted back and forth on the screen. She came up with the idea of bypassing repetitive data already collected when the Black Komodo's data was processed and repurposing the scanning to only take data unique to the Caliburn model.

She collected the data in a new record time, and as she was transmitting this data to Ryan and Koehler she was already executing offensive mode on her drones: the moment they finished scanning, the disc-like objects extended laser turrets from their insides and began firing on Caliburn. They were mildly effective, comparable to mosquito bites on a human, but they came in a mass swarm of shots, and thus sure to distract even the most focused of pilots. Then Elora raised up Diver's ABR and revved it up just as the Caliburn freed itself from the glue. The Framewerk aimed it at one of the three weak points she discovered on the mighty giant, which was a joint between the Caliburn's chassis and the thruster systems. Elora bit her tongue, and opened fire.

[User]
Koehler, still feeling really goddamn strange, went over his options. Thinking, he really, really should forfeit... "Fff... What the hell is wrong with me?!". It's almost like his damn psyche was slowly killing itself behind his back. Is something wrong with the neural systems of his werk? "Goddamnit command! I KNOW YOU'RE LISTENING! What the hell is this? Is this a joke? Give me a reading damnit, what the hell is wrong with my Werk? Is something wrong with me?". Hnng... It was getting painful to think. No matter, he's had worse trips. "Give me something command, while you get your HEADS OUT OF YOUR ASSES, I'll be trying to continue anyway!...Fuck..."

Koehler flew off, not even saying goodbye to Elora, and went for the Tower. Hopefully, at the top, he could get his bearings. ...Well, and if someone was already there, he'll have to just punch their shit repeatedly. ...What if he just made the tower fall over? That'd be hilarious! A nice big thump could get his mind out of the gutter it was in. Maybe. He paid no heed to anything else, still sort of in his confused, half-broken state.

...Wait, what the fuck was he doing? He said he'd help Elora, he should help Elora! Right? Oh wow, he really had no idea what he was doing! Fuck, he really should just forfeit. "...Hah...heheheheheh! Goddamn Elora, you really are smart aren't you? I should forfeit, I can't continue! I forfeit! I forfeit! Heh... I forfeit..." His Werk simply stopped its' engines and glided, falling face-first into the base of the tower, the pain being relayed to Koehlers' own head.

Koehler then turned his Framewerk until it faced skyward, sitting, resting its' back on the Tower. He watched as Elora and the others did battle. He told himself what he thought of the situation, "...God damn Harold you really are that pathetic...", then burst into a short, quiet fit of laughter. With slowly regaining composure, he wondered "What's wrong with me?"

[Assistant]
Roxy and Diver closed in on the trapped pair of Frames, and Lora was now certain she was in big trouble. Her missile storm was enough to blast Macabre's meager armor apart, but it did little to actually cripple the Frame, and she had no time to wait for the launchers to reload. In the meanwhile, Diver was able to easily collect all sorts of integral data of Caliburn she could use to her advantage-

No, wait, what was Koehler doing? Flicking a channel switch, Lora heard the mumblings and outbursts of a raving man. What had happened to Roxy's pilot? Had he hit his head silly, or just smuggled in some illicit substances and suffering the consequences? Lora wasn't given the time contemplate that, as she was all too quickly assaulted by a barrage of lasers from behind, rocking the Frame and sending jolts up the control harness.

The voices returned, for but a moment. Incomprehensible as ever, but she thought she could recognize something...

Desperate to gain some control back into her hands, Lora growled out with a determined sneer and gunned Caliburn's thrusters. Blowing off several drones behind her, the knightly Framewerk struggled against the pool of goo at her feet. A haphazard slash from Visceral hacked apart the plating on her right arm, igniting another grunt of pain and reducing the arm's functions to basic movements, at best.

As Macabre tried to boost away, though, Caliburn attempted pursuit by boosting forward in a full-power shoulder charge. If she could at least run into Macabre to knock it off-balance, she could follow with a last-resort Lightstriker slash to try and take Ryan down with her.

And then Elora, behind her all this time, took the shot. Off the original mark ever so slightly, but not by enough to matter. One, and then several more cannon-grade bullets mashed into the broad side of Caliburn's back, pelting at the main thrusters. The glue finally degraded and gave way, and with a violent sputter, the normally controlled burners erupted in rocketing flames - an explosive force that threw Caliburn forward somewhat, but offered far less actual acceleration otherwise.

Battered and crumbling, but not done yet, Lora held the throttle open, committing to her previous plan. Any attempt to use the thrusters after this would prove disastrous, but that wasn't her concern. She would fight to her very last as she was meant to.

[User]
Yeshua has kept a low profile up to this moment, watching the others in zone A as they took down the Black Komodo. It was clear to him that if he should have taken his stand in equal ground with them he would have also been crushed like him. But Miles' arrogance turned out favorable to him: he provided an ample distraction while he took aim with his high-accuracy rifle, having his thrusters activated at low power to provide stability in water: it wasn't enough propulsion to lift Anzu out of the water, but enough to keep him still; an unconventional use for them, but ingenious for the pious pilot.

Soon he spotted a proper moment to strike out, and it would be against the other long-range Framewerk out of them, Archer. It made sense to pick out Krista out of the two who still lingered in zone A; Romeo didn't have any ranged weapons for all he knew, and thus placed him in lower priority for now. Yeshua took his time aiming for the Archer's cannon, making sure the bullet would pierce the very base of the weapon and cause it to malfunction: with her long-range cannon destroyed, he could then focus on her buddy Rose and his melee-based fighting style. With a silent prayer, Yeshua squeezed the trigger, and took the shot.

After he took the shot, Anzû dove into the water, swam to the other side and ran out of the water and into zone E, the Broken Hills. The area provides cover better suited for him than zone B would have, with broken monuments scattered all around, not to mention hills for uneven terrain. The Framewerk lied down behind a fallen pillar and rested his high-accuracy rifle on top of it, his sensors set to alternate between the lake and the top of the tower now that he was out of range of the two. He could hardly be seen in the zone, but he also didn't know from what direction they would come in. This was his best chance at coming out on top in this battle, while the majority of other Framwerks were on the other side of the arena. It was going to be 2-against-1, but he did what he could to tip the odds in his favor, and fight to the very end. He wasn't going to back down at this point.

[Assistant]
Apparently everyone else had their own agendas to attend to as Diver and Roxas went their own ways.

"Alright then, I'll leave first. Cover me please. Romeo, I am waiting for you in Zone G. I'll try to cover you while you get over here."

He pinged an acknowledgement to her screen of a thumbs up rather than speak as a speed of thought transmission. He took a crouched position with gun ready as he tried to survey the area for threats. He was grateful that she had managed to make it to the base of the tower unmolested before he began his flight after her like a game of leapfrog.

That is when the shot rang out. He had been so busy looking for mechs, he had forgotten there was more than one sniper in the game. By the time his regular systems tried to process a projectile path, the vicinity of the snipers position near the beach was vacant. Sadly this would have to do for now as his frame had no such specialties.

He landed his frame beside hers and activated his right arm's shield as he kept the rifle in his left hand to try and protect her. His eyes wandered to the forfeited frame and pondered his unused weapon over the single burst he had with his rifle, but no, there was a difference between taking from the fallen and robbing from the weak.

Archer, are you alright?


[System]
Team Midnight

]"And this also," said Marlow suddenly, "has been one of the dark places of the earth." - Joseph Conrad,  Heart of Darkness

"Darkness is just a lack of light. Doesn't have to be bad. Most people make it that way, though."
Age: 17

Gender: Male

Race: Human

Appearance: 6'1" and built like a brick, Martin doesn't look terribly slim or quick. His auburn hair frames a face more often smiling than not--but the slight dark tinge to his brown eyes seems to betray an incredibly focused and determined mind. His average sized nose is twisted slightly if one looks closely, as if it was broken and set at one point in time. His breadth and physical size belie the deftness of his movements, his body giving no impression of the carefully measured and gentle movements he uses, the power of his body always restrained. His chin looks like it's accustomed to taking hits, often defiantly set in the face of combat. Martin's ordinary outfit is as pictured, a dark blue t-shirt under a maroon jacket, the Archer's Talons in glove form on his hands.

Weapon Name: Collectively, the Archer's Talons. Martin calls them the Bruise Brothers.

Weapon Appearance/Function:
Type: Extremely close range, transformative weapon.
Weapon Derivation: Gauntlets.
Holstered/Sheathed Appearance: Normally, the Talons look like a pair of metal, fingerless gloves that Martin almost constantly wears. Alternatively, Martin can sheath them in their second form across his back.
Form 1: In their main combat form, the Talons beef up, becoming more heavily plated and extending plates over Martin's fingers to protect them. Spikes spout out of the knuckles, and upon impact any Dust cartridge that is in the gauntlets explodes outward.
Form 2: The gauntlets meld together, becoming a rather odd and segmented looking longsword. The blade can be enhanced with Dust, but Martin seldom uses this form.
Form 3: The Talons' only ranged form, two bow arms spring out of the sides of the left gauntlet, a metallic cord unwinding into the form of a crossbow string between them. This form can fire "arrows" formed from Dust; however, its firing rate is fairly low. An accurate, powerful weapon, but limited by speed.

Personality: Martin may joke or act goofy at times, but below it all is a feeling of pure focus. His eyes never seem to zone out, their brown gaze always peering at something with some purpose--if he's entirely disinterested in what's happening, they're generally closed so he can focus on his own thoughts. On the battlefield, trying to talk to him about anything except the current flow of the mission will result in (at best) a monosyllabic reply, his relatively one-track mind devoting all of its resources to the combat at hand and the safety of his team. He takes on all such tasks with the same single minded approach--it's not worth doing if it's not worth doing well. He does not take kindly to manipulation, nor to anyone attempting to distract him for their own purposes, nor to anyone threatening the safety of those he cares about, even slightly. His competitive edge can somewhat get in the way of these attributes.

History: Martin has lived a life of driven ambition. From his earliest memories he has been pushed to be better, to get tougher, to perfect himself and apply his entire being to whatever pursuit he undertakes. Drive was his defining aspect through his time at Signal, as he took up boxing classes outside of the academy, working out when he had nothing else to fill his time. Consequently, his social life is somewhat lacking—not due to lack of skill, but due to the fact that he didn't have enough time for friends during younger years. Several friends drew him out of his shell during his final year at Signal, finally getting him involved in social activities. Whether that complete and focused drive will reassert itself or he becomes more social during his time at Beacon will depend on the actions of his team and how much he cares for them…

Emblem:
Stopgap until I can make my own.

Other:

Color: Maroon. Color Code: 800000
Combat Style: Martin's a fast, strong combatant who relies more on blocks than dodging. His gauntlets are used ordinarily to knock an opponent's blows away and prepare to retaliate, and his talents are more focused on taking hits than on completely avoiding them. His strength, however, is by far his greatest asset.

Strengths and Weaknesses:
Martin is very strong and durable, and his Semblance aids with his physical ability. Add that to his iron will and you've got a soldier able to power through pain to see his mission to its end. Since his fighting style relies on him being able to tough it out, however, he can easily go too far and get himself seriously injured, where a more agile fighter would escape nearly unscathed. Mentally speaking, his temper is always pushing at the boundaries he has set for it.

Semblance: Tenacious Will
Tenacious Will is Martin's indomitable mind given physical prowess. So long as he maintains complete and utter mental focus, Martin's world seems to slow, his actions become faster, and he hits harder and can take more. A few limitations: physical pain, while possible to ignore while he's in the state, will prevent him from entering it. Harm to his teammates can distract him from the absolute drive he needs to keep to maintain his semblance.

Harm them enough, however, and his fury will overcome his pain and distraction to drive him into his Semblance state.

Any injuries received while under the influence of Tenacious Will have the same effects as always once he falls out of his state, so maintaining Aura while using his Semblance is key.

[User]
I suppose the Wayback joke has already been used. Oh well, everybody hop into TARDIS.

Light Vrangr Tuesday Morning

 Light woke up that morning, slightly befuddled, but not for the obvious reason. Alight, I've made it to Beacon. He thought as he went about his morning routine. I've taken the first big step forward on achieving my life's goal. I feel like I should be more...excited, euphoric, even. But, I'm not sure how I feel. He pondered this as he finished up and, hearing the announcement, set off for initiation.

 Light stiffled a yawn as Glenwich and Ozpin traded turns speaking to the students. Light had already looked over them and dismissed most of them as too weak to even swing some of their massive, gaudy, overdone weapons, much less even throw a decent punch. I bet they give every new students the same speach. He thought as Ozpin rambled on about compassion and dedication and such. He was vaguely disappointed when he first met Ozpin. From his reputation, Light expected him to be a lot more... He searched for the correct word. Just a lot more. A lot more than the shabby old man who needed his cane for balance that he appeared to be. Light was dejected upon hearing that they would be forced to work with partners and in teams. I can take care of myself, thank you very much. I don't need anyone else, they will only slow me down. He thought, arrogantly.

 Light did know well enought to pay attention as their goal was defined and described. Light rolled his eyes. "So, their plan is to throw a bunch of armed kids into a wood, filled with hostle nightmares who would gladly tear your intestines out your nose to find a tiny chrystal needle in a leafy haystack and those that survive will be recruited to do even more insane, dangerous, and insanely dangerous things. He grinned. Sounds like fun. He thought.

 A slight problem then occurred to Light. How will they get down there? His question was soon answered as a kid was launched, sceaming like a girl, but cussing like a sailor into the green abyss below. If Light hadn't known his turn soon, he would have busted out laughing. Light immediately understood he needed to do, and he started calculating force, trajectory and planning his landing in his head. One by one, each were launched, as luck would have it, Light was near the end of the line, and, consequently, one of the last to be launched. He brought his Dynamos out and braced himself, deciding to go in a shallow arc, which should maximize his chances of landing without injury.

Twang!!!

And, almost before he knew it, the ground lept out from below him and he was flying though the air, like a bird. He soared, actualy laughing alound from the exhilarating feeling of moving at such a fast speed. He felt his upward momentum slow and he started on the downward arc. He leaned back so he feet were infront of him, pointed at the ground and he spread his arms. He directed his five Dynamos to support him, one on each arm, one under each foot, and the fifth on standby. He used his aura to supply the power, and increased their upward thrust. He slowed his fall enough to drop the last couple feet to the ground. He casualy brought his dynamos to hover around his shoulders and he took a look around.

 The forest was bright, colorful and still. A sleepy chirp of a bird could be heard and a slight wind wound through the undergrowth, rustling leaves and branches. No Grimm or, for that matter, other students could be seen, although all the plants made it difficult to see anymore than several meters away. Some way to see through obsticals would be very useful. Light thought, and he made a mental note to look into that. He located north, by the sun he could barely see through the trees and set off in that direction.

[Assistant]
Razor WhiteFang - Emerald Forest - Tuesday Morning

Raven
Razor darted through the forest keeping an eye out for both the Grimm and the other students. He couldn't take a chance in finding another student and being paired up with them. He needed to keep others safe from his Semblance until he could gain control of it. Razor came to a screeching halt and his eyes widened as he saw the figure standing in front of him.

"It can't be," Razor said as he stared at his nightmares self he saw last night. It still wore the Grimm mask over its face and he saw the same black liquid drip from the bottom of the mask. He couldn't see it, but he felt the sadistic crooked smile it wore behind the mask. His nightmare self walked behind a tree and Razor ran followed suit, but when he ran around the tree he saw nothing but open forest. The black liquid that dripped from the bottom of the mask and onto the forest floor was now gone.

"Calm down, it's just a residual from the nightmare. Nothing more and nothing less," Razor said as he sighed. But what does it mean when a nightmare is seen while you're a wake? What does it mean? Razor couldn't think of it too long and continued to the northern end of the forest.

"Just got to make it there and all should be," Razor said before he slid to a stop and saw the student in front of him. He was a 5'6 male with white hair and wore a white coat and pants with a black and purple shirt under the coat. "Fine" Razor sighed as he rubbed his eyes.

"This is just perfect," Razor sighed. well there goes that plan.

[User]
Light Vrangr

 Light tenced as he suddenly heard something coming toward him, through the trees. He caught a glimpse of color and he knew it wasn't Grimm. It was something far worse...another student. Light aruptly looked at the ground, to avoid eye contact, spun on his heel and stalked in the opposite direction, ignoring the other's existance.

[Assistant]
Martin Chestnut-Feelin' it Coming in the Air-Tuesday Morning

Even putting the silliness of putting teammates together based on chance alone aside, this entire initiation ceremony seemed to be a lot more of a hazing ritual than any kind of school mandated function. Literally throwing a bunch of teenagers into the middle of hostile territory, teaming them with random total strangers, and then forcing them to fight for their lives didn't just appear irresponsible--it appeared downright ludi--

THIS IS BULLSHIT

If Martin had had a little more time to think he could have gone farther, but there's not a lot of thinking that goes on when flying through the air hundreds of feet above the ground other than that focused on surviving.

Wind whipping past his face, Martin closed his eyes, mentally searching for the small, hard knot in the depths of his mind, that small slight voice that kept him controlled... And found it, grabbing hold and loosing it. His eyes opened again, his flight through the air seeming to slow even as he triggered his gauntlets into their active form. The metal digits extended over his fingers, whirring tighter, the Dust channels running through them aligning into functioning order.

None too soon. The forest was looming, despite the slowing passage of time. Martin fixated on a single branch, the one he was hurtling toward, extending both arms upward, bracing his Aura against the hits he was about to take. He snagged the limb, joints wrenching and Aura struggling as he shifted his velocity back so he was heading mostly upward, trying to take the force out of his horizontal momentum--and blazed back above the canopy.

Well, that went substantially better than expect--

Martin's thoughts were cut off as he reached the apex of his arc and started to fall into the canopy again, this time going almost directly downward. His gauntlets loaded with Dust as he started to near the ground, a clap and a downward push sending a blast of air Dust away and slowing his fall. Two more blasts and his supply was exhausted--but he was only five feet from the ground, a fall he could easily take. He landed, knees bending to take the impact as he fell into a crouch, finally standing and brushing himself off. He'd looked as graceful as a drunk pigeon in the air, arms flailing, and he was entirely out of Dust... But at least he wasn't dead.

A sigh. Now to find a partner.


[System]
Gender
Male

Age
 20

Appearance
James stands at around 6'1" with an average frame, though on the slightly broader end of average, and a general lack of muscle. His head is an unkempt mess of dark hair that is technically dirty blond, but rarely reveals that fact outside of particularly bright conditions. His face is framed by thick rectangular glasses and marked by unfortunately light and patchy stubble. He generally appears to have Germanic and Irish features, though he's descended from a broad mishmash of nationalities.

James' unkempt appearance tends to come off through his choice in clothes as well, often plain colored wrinkled shirts, dark colored hoodies, and jeans. Plain and functional, but lacking in grace, style, or any sort of wrinkle-prevention.

Personality
Analytical | Honest | Sluggish

James would likely describe himself as tired, and little else. He's a classic burnt-out gifted kid. He lacks internal motivation for important tasks, and requires external motivators, usually routine and obligation. James will often engage himself with puzzles, and enjoys trying to figure out problems analytically. He's the sort of person who thinks through his emotions more than he feels them, and can often be slow to build really emotional responses. Unfortunately, when he does build up that emotional inertia, it takes a very long time to de-escalate, making James the extremely spiteful, grudge-holding sort. James can come off as rather antisocial, idiosyncratic, and rude, especially given recent events.

 History

How one raises a child as if they're the next Einstein in Cleveland of all places will forever be a mystery to James Isaac Keening.

His parents were the eternally middle class sort, shifting up and down from basic data entry jobs to management position over many years. They always had enough money to live, never enough for all the amenities one could want. It was a family of 4: James, his parents, his sister Annabelle.

The siblings were only separated by two years, but there was a gulf in expectations between them from a young age. Annabelle was rebellious, got held back in kindergarten, and was nearly expelled multiple times during high school. James, however, tested into the school district's gifted program, and did well in school for a long time, his parents pushing him to do better because he's just that smart and should be capable of it. That pushing only got more severe over time, and eventually James gave up.

The shining star child disappeared at the start of high school, replaced with the exhausted, unresponsive young adult that James was always doomed to become. He suddenly had a lot more in common with his older sister who he had fought with all his life. They talked about how awful their parents were often, but there was always the silent belief that the other child of the pair was the cause of their parent's treatment.

James had given up most of what he used to enjoy, now staring into a computer screen for most of the day and disassociating from his living situation. He did gain new interests, however; primarily puzzles and games, and the general joy of learning new things and digging through strange systems and ideas. He still enjoyed learning, but could no longer function in his former structure. James barely passed high school, only picking up in the last year after some guidance councilors and friends encouraged him to create his own routines, resulting in a couple of A grades.

James started going to a community college, as it was all he could get into at first. He did eventually transfer to a larger college, working on a bachelor's in physics. Of course, he still didn't magically do better, and his grades kept slumping intermittently every time there was a mild change in his routine. Luckily, James at least had support, in the form of a small group of friends, and his sister who had followed him in going to college. Life was bearable for a while.

Unfortunately, good things don't last long for a Keening. James had been watching the conversation about supposed magic online for a while, and assumed it was all a hoax. That was, until he unknowingly developed one. He speculates that he might've had it the moment powers started showing up in the world, and he was none the wiser for months.

Then he got too stressed during a test.

The paper turned to ash under his hand, leaving his mouth agape. A second later, he tried to take a deep breath to calm himself and rationalize the situation, and instead it was as if he breathed the pencil in through his hand, that too disappearing into dust. His muscles went rigid, the fear and confusion coursing through him. He excused himself and ran to his dorm.

He spent ten minutes pacing before he noticed a letter that had been slipped under his door. James wasn't exactly thrilled that someone somehow knew about this strange power before he did, but he didn't want to show his face on campus ever again. He brought the situation up to his sister, and it was her idea to get the hell out of Ohio and follow the letter. Within a few days' time James, Anna, and a few of their friends got into Anna's car and started toward Massachusets.

James doesn't discuss the weeks that followed, and why they resulted in him arriving to the address alone on foot, but the bruises, dirt, and frayed clothing give insight that the young man refuses to elaborate on.

Equipment
Nothing but his frayed, dirty clothes, a small leatherbound notebook, and a pocket full of rocks.

Magic
The following is an excerpt from James' notes

It appears that I can turn small objects to dust with little effort. Rocks, paper, marbles and such. All I need to do is touch something, then I get this sensation like I can almost breathe the object through my hand, sucking it in, and then the object disintegrates. The thing needs to fit in my palm, I think. Anything larger takes too much force, like breathing through a straw filled with concrete. Same thing happens with stuff with a lot of parts, most things with little mechanisms or any sort of circuitry. I'm not exactly sure what the use case for this is. I can become the world's most effective paper shredder, I suppose.

[User]
"Well, ghosts, but yeah." Sally shrugged, as if this was the most natural thing in the world. Of course, natural had gone out the window a long time ago. "They don't talk or anything, or if they do, I can't hear it, so it's not like I'm getting anything useful out of it. It's just... spooky."

She looked around at the- coven?- with mild amusement. Aren't we a motley bunch of magicians? "Why, what do you all do? Consort with demons? Conjure up beasts from the depths of Hell?" She laughed nervously- with her luck, that's exactly what they all did.

[Assistant]
===============
Eyeing the one who appeared from some unknown "portal" suspiciously, Mae joined a few of the others who had shown up to the undisclosed address, checking the GPS on her phone only to realize that it barely registered within a ten-mile radius. Something was off, especially when dealing with a satellite tracking system. There would have to be a lot of electro-magnetic interference in the area, or was it something else? Either way, the girl felt something wasn't quite right with the area.

She overheard the brief exchange between the pale girl with the thick-rimmed glasses, and the other who was quite the redhead. Something about "Seeing dead people" or "ghosts", causing Mae to vaguely smirk at the chatter.

It was all a lot to take in, and no doubt the others who were present felt the same way. Overwhelmed? Confused? Hungry? Geez, when was the last time the girl ate?

"What the hell are we doing here?" Mae finally spoke up, mostly to herself, but anyone who was within a few feet would have understood. She surveyed the front of the house, it's hauntingly beautiful façade, and eerie vibe that was probably compounded by virtue of the fact that it was smack in the middle of fucking nowheresville.

Impulsively, she checked her phone as though something had come up. She never did hear back from Ella, one of her best friends, who she had sent a few text messages to shortly before embarking on the trip. What was there to say other than she would be gone for a bit, but to keep in touch? I mean, Mae certainly wasn't going to admit that she was following instructions from a mysterious email and meeting someone who could help her with whatever shit was going on in her mind and body.

But she knew she wasn't normal. Not like her family or friends.

She needed answers.


[System]
The Finger
Age: 31

Gender: Male

Description or Image: Long brunette hair, blue eyes, semi-athletic build. Link stands at about 6'1" and typically has a grungy attire.

Alias/Nick Name: The Finger

Background & Reason for Joining: Link discovered his ability on accident during a particularly memorable guitar riff with his band, Identical Snowflakes. Ever since, he has used it to enhance his rock shows during gigs and bring about righteous justice in his off hours. There is a certain thrill that comes from giving a criminal (or just a total total jerk) their comeuppance. When Link can get involved, he does and when he learned of an opportunity to put his unique skills to work on a grander scale, he leapt at it (mostly because he's hoping it will come with a regular paycheck as he is habitually 'in between jobs').

Personality: Link is every bit the rock n' roll blasting, profanity slinging, shamelessly womanizing, alcohol drinking, smoke 'em if you got 'em type of laid back dude. However, he does have a moral code and a sense of justice that he cannot ignore. Fun loving most times, but serious when he needs to be, Link can certainly be an asset when properly motivated.

Powers & Weaknesses: Link's super hero moniker comes from his very specific unique attributes. The middle fingers on each of his hands are supernaturally gifted. They can grow, stretch, regenerate and alter their density. If they are ever damaged or severed, they would heal rather quickly. Were he to will it, his middle fingers can grow and harden, becoming bludgeoning instruments similar to baseball bats. He could also stretch them into points like a pair of animated fleshy needles capable of piercing. The elasticity of the fingers has its limits, but they can be used to subdue and constrict criminals like a python would, or even act as grappling hooks to help Link traverse heights and cityscapes.

The rest of his body, however, is absolutely human and, otherwise, unremarkable. While his middle fingers can regenerate, if you were to cut off his leg, it would have the same result as anyone else whose leg got cut off. If you shot him, he'd be in grave danger. He has every weakness a common human has.

[User]
Talia had kept her keen eyesight on Link and his predicament even though she had gone back to twirling and dancing, doing her best to keep up the distraction for as long as possible. But now, her teammate was still being stalked by the two men and if she didn't do something and fast, he might end up getting attacked! She danced and twirled her way quickly back within striking distance and struck out again with both of her ribbons, this time allowing the metal-tipped ends to coil around both wrists of the man that was aiming a punch straight at Link.

The bouncer would feel the silken, cool touch of the ribbons at first but then it would instantly become confusing pain as he becomes aware of something slicing their way through the tendons at the top parts of both wrists. Talia had carefully selected and aimed at her target area, avoiding the risk of accidentally cutting through any major arteries that would cause someone to bleed out if the flow was not staunched. She was not to kill, only... deter... Possibly maim... Using the Chi energy and momentum fueling her moves, she pulled back hard with the ribbons still wound tightly into the bouncer's arms, planning for him to be yanked away from Link but still able to land at a distance from her. If all went according to plan, she'd "call" err... guide her ribbons to release the target and return to her, prepared for the next strike.

[Assistant]
The Jersey Devil looked up at the Gadgeteer with his big blank goggle eyes, that covered up the surprised look in the human face below. *He's more tough and strong than human. He's a super. I'd start out of reach if you can.* Bob's voice would mumble through the communicator to Manny. Without needing to look, Bob reaches down to his bag and taps the skip button on his music player. Faintly, in the background of the communicator, 'Shut me Up' by Mindless Self Indulgence begins to play as Bob speaks to the group. "This is the dream, Boys... and ma'am. These are some bad men, and we're the good guys. Lets show em we're tired of their shit in our city."

Kicking his legs up over him in a roll, his plants his feet on the stairs the Grey Gadgeteer just came off of, and kicked off of it as hard as he could. With the full recoil off his boots would shoot him back into the room like a cannon ball. This time, however, he was aiming for the briefcase. As soon as his claws latched onto it, he would smack the floor with his other hand, changing his trajectory to a higher wall where he would imbed his claws in order to stick to the wall. Keeping his feet under him, prepared to kick off in a different direction if attacked, he clipped the briefcase to one of the carabineers on his suit.

[User]
Link's eyes were wide as he witnessed one of the bouncers being taken away by Talia's skillful use of her instrument. Impressive, he thought. Unfortunately, while he was distracted with her maneuver, the remaining bouncer had just the opening he needed to succeed in his aggressive advance. Just as the goon drove his shoulder into Link's torso, The Finger, attempted to slam down his namesake on his assailant's back before being driven to the ground.

"You piece of-" Link growled after his back landed with a thud against the hard floor while he tried to awkwardly move to counter the brute's attempts at grappling. Trying to be agile with severely and awkwardly weighted digits was particularly challenging. At close range, the finger-bats were hardly ideal. He quickly and willfully forced his fingers to deflate.

Instead of bludgeoning balloons of musculature, he silently commanded them to harden and morph into sharp-tipped organic stakes akin to railroad spikes. With the goon on top of him wildly striving to execute a submissive hold, Link attempted to take one of his needle-tipped fingers and stab them into the brute's meaty shoulder.

[Assistant]
---

Bam! Biff! Pow!

---

@myinneroblivion @ShadowsofNight

---

Manny's fear was replaced by genuine shock. "Wait what?! Police records didn't say he was a super!" The Latino man said with incredulity as he looked at Bucur, the goons, and Bob. But as he used the helmet's magnifying specs he noticed that Bucur's body was barely kept in by his clothes, dilated pupils, and a faint glimmering dust at the corner of his bloodied lips. Bob was right, Bucur was a super...but only because he was dusted up. Bob gives a brief but rousing quip to encourage his fellows just Bucur was about to grab the fallen case of Diamond Dust only for it to be snatched away by the human blur known as the Jersey Devil. This irritated the man to no end and snatched up the fallen pistol the crotch cradling thug was holding prior to the fight. "Give back the case, pest!" The man yelled before immediately firing off three shots from the pistol against the wall climbing hero as Bob clipped the case to his person.

Bob dodged away from the attack but of the three fired, one hit the hero while the others harmlessly hit the wall he was on prior. The bullet would have hit Bob square in the ribs but with a bright flash of light, the flattened bullet fell harmlessly off his clothes and onto the floor. "A shield? You cowardly shit!"

"Oh my God it worked perfectly!" The sudden excited outburst caught Bucur and the thugs' attention and to focus on Manny. The sudden shift in attention caused the young man to dodge behind a sofa that got promptly got riddled with bullets. Miraculously, Bucur missed all his shots and not even the drugged out VIP was hit by the bullets. Bucur angrily threw the gun at the sofa Manny was hiding behind...which did far better than all of his shots as it actually hit Manny's helmet as he peeked out of cover to make a quip. "Man you suck at shooti-Ow! That hurt you asshat!"

Down in the dance floor...

Talia's lacerations did their job with vicious efficiency as the bladed end of the ribbon cut deeply into the thug's wrist and pulled him back into the crowd and away from Talia and Link. Blood squirted out of the deep wound in rhythm to the thug's heartbeat. The sheer sight of blood squirting out of his injury caused the thug to begin panicking. "Argh! FuckfuckfuckFUCK!" The thug muttered like a mantra while trying his best to staunch the bleeding.

When Link hit the floor and the thug that tackled him was trying to properly grapple him in preparation to give the hero a pummeling of a lifetime, three gunshots cut through the blaring music and caused all of the party goers to flinch and wonder what was going on. A number of gunshots answered their collective wonder and panic erupted from the dance floor. Dozens upon dozens of bodies began pushing, shoving, and running for the nearest escape route as they quickly realized that someone was shooting a gun in the nightclub.

In the confusion of the stampeding crowd, Link easily got a hit on his attacker and lodged his finger spike deep into the soft tissue of the thug until he felt the shoulder blade causing the thug to immediately jump off Link and got promptly pushed away from both Talia and Link. But as the chaos settled down, only the two heroes were the only ones left on the dance floor...well them and the three new thugs that entered the club proper after hearing the shots and wading through the panicked crowd. "Ah damn it. Heroes are attacking again! Guys, dust up if you have any Diamond Dust on you; that's the only chance we got against these freaks!" A thug said to his fellow thugs before pulling out his pistol and firing blindly at both the prone form of Link and to Talia. Hoping that he'd drive the two heroes into hiding while his buddies got dusted up enough to get an upper hand against their attackers.

[User]
With his focus and adrenaline, Bob barely registered that he had been shot, let alone that the shield stopped it. His mind had drifted to something else... some When else. He was remembering a lab, gunshots, his friends cries of pain and fear as they were mercilessly gunned down before his eyes. If the eyes of his mask could change colors with his moods, they would be glowing red.

As the big man was distracted by shooting at the Grey Gadgeteer, Bob tossed the briefcase behind the couch with his companion as he bounced off the floor, aiming for the wall behind Bucur. Only to use and amplify his momentum to rocket off that wall and fly claws first, at the big man's legs. He was aiming to trip him and be able to have his momentum push him past to the other side before the man fell on him. But with his hate filled mind, his main objective was to drive his claws into the tendons in the back of the man's knees, ripping and tearing them as he went through.

[Assistant]
As he leaned himself up off the ground, he could feel his own pulse in his ears. His heart was racing and it didn't seem like things were ready to slow down. As reinforcements his the floor and called upon the meta-inducing drug, Link resigned to the fact that this had only begun and was about to get worse.

It was the flash of light at the end of the thug's gun barrel that sent Like into a state of near catatonia. A fraction of a second moved like an eternity. The loud, thunderous cracks of the bullets' combustion quickly stirred him back to reality.

He could see the glowing tip of a billet coming straight for his eye. he tried to scurry back, but his speed was no match for the projectile's velocity. With a frightening spark and static sound of electric discharge, Link witnessed the bullet's trajectory get rejected and refracted by none other than his personal protective shield.

Oh thank god, Link mentally exclaimed. He took advantage of the opportunity to fully push himself to his feet and make a mad dash for cover. In a single, liquid motion, Link dashed and dove toward the bar, awkwardly landing on the otherside where patrons weren't typically permitted.

He quickly patted his body down, trying to find any bullet holes or wounds. He appeared to be intact. As he peaked over the edge, he tried to determine how Talia had fared through the ordeal.