Combing the Grid

[Connor Kent]

Continued from Connor Kent Biography

Connor walked away from the grocery store, bag in hand. 5 months he had been here. He’d thought that he’d be able to meet with someone at the Facility- get some information about the sickness. But after months of speaking to one underling after another, after getting shunted off to various departments, finally an administrator, Constantine, had shut him down. The Facility was not sharing their information or research with anyone. Any further inquiries would put him in danger of being investigated- with deportation back home the best of all possible outcomes.

Suddenly, coming here seemed like a mistake. That initial anger and sense of purpose- the drive to find answers for what happened to Hayden- slowly had dissipated with each failure. And in its place a gaping hole grew larger and larger. He missed his son so badly. What would answers do for him anyway? Hayden was gone. My son is gone. That overwhelming feeling of loss overtook him for a moment and his eyes teared up, blurring his vision. He just wanted to lose himself in the rum he had bought. It would be only a matter of time before Ivana told him he had to leave anyway.

He had no business being here. No business being anywhere.

No business being.

Connor continued down the street and turned a corner-

-and stopped. There standing with a sword in both hands was a small woman. Behind her stood a larger dark man, with another man off to the side. They were scanning the rooftops fearfully, looking this way and that.

Connor’s mind tried to process what he was seeing. All he could think of was “Everything alright?
”
Edited by Connor Kent, Jun 20 2014, 08:26 AM.

[Jensen James]

The slow worry that told Jensen the world was suddenly quite wrong clutched at his heart until he was looking upward as frantically as the others. Licking his lips did nothing to alleviate the tension, but drawing in more of the Gift did. He drew on it until he felt as thought the universe was going to pull him apart one hair at a time. The breeze became a slap on the face. The street lamp became a flood light. Sweat began to puddle the skin of his back.

The man's italian accent sounded like a mobster from a movie. Still as intimidating, too. His orders cut to the bone, and if they'd been directed at Jensen, he would have had a hard time dismissing them.

The stranger asked for her to share a weapon. She was practically a walking armory anyway. Jensen nodded agreement. "Look, is there something we can do to stop it without-"
but there was a flash of steel and a sudden rush that banged like a flashbomb in his mind. A surprised yell burst from him, but as he spun to see the culprit, it was already gone again. A shriek was left ringing in his ears.

The woman had fended it off with her sword. Ice-like fear flowed through his veins. There was something there, alright. Like it leapfrogged over him and hovered mere steps away. It was a pale, misty thing, half fog and half man. Though he could see right through it, Jensen was not of the frame of mind to wonder what sort of creature it could be, but to kill it? Barring a brown recluse, Jensen preferred to capture and release a spider when Jessika found one in the house.

Not giving a total stranger a gun was probably a wise move, but Jensen hesitated. The form wavered and billowed like a fog-machine trapped behind glass. It was kind of beautiful.

Forget for a moment that this woman seemed to know Jensen's Gifts, he wasn't sure if he knew how to freeze something solid, let alone whether he wanted to see this thing decapitated because of it. "I don't know ma'am-"


"Everything alright?"
someone called. Jensen turned immediately toward the sound, but all he saw was a grocery bag in the man's hand. I KNEW that store was around here somewhere!

Unsure how to answer, he surveyed his companions. A woman and now a man, both wielding swords, a tower of mist loosely shaped into the form of a man, and himself, hair curled and tucked behind his ears, hands half-up in the universal symbol for peace, and feeling like he were at the edge of an avalanche right before it gave way.

"Well, uhm, I'm not too sure right now."


When he turned back to face the creature, he gasped, startled. The thing had formed pits for eyes, and though swirling with mist and fog, Jensen knew they were staring back at him. They gripped his heart with fear, and he knew the sensation of a deer caught in the headlights.

Maybe a defense would be a good idea, after all.

But it wasn't ice and fire he chose to wield. It was the light itself. A glorious white pulse that had sent the old woman flying far and away from its prey.

He prayed it worked, stepped aside so the woman was out of the direct path, and thrust his palms outward as the gift built form in his mind.

The transition from holding the Gift to using it was too much. The mist monster dissolved in a billion invisible droplets only to reform directly in front of his face. Shock broke a yell out of him, and then the paralysis came. In the blink of an eye, his arms were limp and fallen at his sides. His back buckled beneath the strain, and he found himself on hands and knees. The Gift flowed through him with such force he would have vomited had he been able to heave. He became a conduit, and this thing was going to take it all.

He looked up, to anyone, everyone, and silently pleaded for help.

[Connor Kent]

The dark man turned to him.


"Well, uhm, I'm not too sure right now."



And then the man's eyes turned upward....


Connor dropped his bag with the rum in it....the shattering of glass was muffled, but the sweet scent drifted up. And Connor saw a mist...a cloud or fog...


It had eyes....


It has eyes. Connor tried to make sense of what he saw. It was some sort of apparition. A hallucination. It had to be.


The shape dissolved into the finest mist and reappeared next to the man. He dropped to the ground. Suddenly, the mist solidified again....and the man writhed on the ground, in pain.

What is this?!?! None of this made sense. His mind struggled to understand what he was seeing. He felt paralyzed with...

He didn't know what to do. The man was writhing in pain and he couldn't do anything. Suddenly, he felt a surge of anger in his stomach. He was sick of not knowing, sick of being helpless, sick of not being able to help. Not again...NOT AGAIN!.


He had to to do something. That irrational rage took over him. He had to do something...

something...I must do something...

The other man and girl stood with blades bare. Suddenly, Connor wanted a weapon...wanted to strike, to kill....

He growled in his throat. He stepped forward, toward the man, toward the mist.


Edited by Connor Kent, Mar 14 2014, 08:55 AM.

[Giovanni]

Weapons meant nothing to the creature, yet she still through the sword at him. Giovanni caught it watching another man approach. The creature...whatever it was...drew closer, and suddenly Giovanni felt something emanating from the man "noble" man he had seen earlier.

The man could channel and somehow the woman knew it. She had told him to use fire or ice to damage it. Giovanni was sure he could make a blast of fire, but was afraid to do it with so many nearby. Giovanni seized the power, holding it before deciding what to do.

Flinging fire about wouldn't end the issue. It might make it worse. He could hurt the woman, "Noble", or the newcomer.

That brought Giovanni's attention back to the newcomer. He said something and the creature - the woman had called it an Ijiraj - attacked "Noble" and the newcomer ran to assist.

If what the woman said is true, he can't do anything. He'll get himself killed, but he has guts, I'll give him that,
Giovanni thought.

Giovanni had to spring in and do something. Before whatever the creature was ripped "Noble" to shreds and then proceeded to his next victim. Giovanni ran forward and rolled to get close to the ijiraj, bringing his hand out to touch the thing, he channeled fire. Instead of coming out in a stream, it formed in his hand as he touched the creature. The creature screamed and jumped off of "Noble" as Giovanni stopped channeling.

Giovanni knew things might just start to get worse.

((OCC: I'll be out of town this weekend, so might not respond.))


Edited by Giovanni Cavelli, Mar 14 2014, 11:57 AM.

[Jensen James]

Time slowed to a crawl. Jensen could see every single grain of sand fall through the hour glass with each and every passing second. The Gift siphoned through him battered his body against a rocky shore. It was glorious and excruciating at the same time. His chest caved in. His head thought it would split. If he was going to die, which seemed increasingly likely, it would be wrapped in light.

The Gift surged alongside him. Somewhere in his field of view, power flowed through another. Orange light flashed, and the mist dissolved like fog from a cold mirror. Immediately there was a screeching wail of pain, and the crushing weight lifted. He was freed of its grasp.

He collapsed to the pavement, panting like he'd been running for his life. The Gift still surged through him, but he didn't have the strength to raise his arms and keep it from ripping his body apart.

He rolled to his back. The mist monster took a more solid form, but with its connection to Jensen severed, the Gift was his to use at will once more. A cold river fell through his thoughts, and he sent it coursing through the droplets of mist with the sheer focus of mind alone.

The creature shrieked, its hollowed eyes thrown toward the stars, but Jensen could do no more. His head dropped back to the pavement, praying the others could take over what he could not finish. He squeezed his eyes shut. Despite everything, he couldn't bear to watch what happened next.

[Connor Kent]

The universe had stopped making sense.

But the man was in pain. He had to do something. Just as Connor moved forward, the other man attacked the mist. His hand became red like fire and the mist moved away, shifting shapes.

Connor had no idea what was happening-.

No, need to focus. What can I do... He wouldn't just stand there. The dark man was lying still, as if he had been hurt. Connor went to him. He tried to assess the situation while looking back repeatedly at the other man and woman and the mist.

We've got to get away from that thing. He wondered if he could pull the man to safety....


Edited by Connor Kent, Mar 17 2014, 09:17 AM.

[Jensen James]

Next thing Jensen knew, he was moving. He tried to get a foot under him, but his knees did not want to cooperate. He threw an arm around the guy's shoulder and briefly met his eye. His devout concern was tainted by the wide eye of near panic, but Jensen barely had the energy to console him. "It'll be alright,"
he managed a breathless answer.

It was then he realized the man was pulling him farther away from the scene. It was Jensen's turn to panic. There were two innocent people left to fend off the creature on their own. One of them, both of them actually, had saved him. He'd not abandon them.

"Wait, please wait."
He tugged on the man's sleeve like a child attempting to hold their father back, although the two men were not so different in size. The arm he'd thrown around the man's shoulder dug a deep grip, and although Jensen practically leaned every ounce of his weight on him, the lock of his jaw was set. The gift coursed his veins, and the peppering of ice pellets solidified into a harsher attack.

Jensen's eyes were glued upon it, and slowly the swirl of water took an opaque shape, like an ice sculpture and he were the one carving it into permanent form.

He forgot the man holding him. He barely felt his own skin. His coat had blown open. His hair whipped around his cheeks. He had one goal: to join his Gifts with those of the other man's until together the creature was solid enough to taste the edge of a sword.

It was sickening, but Jensen saw no other choice.

[Connor Kent]

He picked the dark man up by running his arms under his armpits and across his chest. The man was light, as if a hollow shell. He started dragging the man backwards away from the mist. The dark man shifted and started to mumble something that Connor couldn't make out. His eyes were locked on the mist, shimmering as the other man continued to touch it with his fiery hand.

Connor licked his lips. What is going on?!?!. His heart beat loudly in his chest. The dark man started to struggle, tugging at his sleeve but he was tired. "Wait, please wait
," he said weakly.

The man's coat suddenly blew open, a blast of cold wind around Connor's face and he stopped. Ice- hail- formed from the air and flew into the mist. The hail got denser and bigger and seemed to hit the mist more frequently.

The mist's movements were slower under the attack, as if it were stiffening, freezing.

Connor continued to stare, completely unaware of the weight of the man he was holding, the thought of getting away vanished.

[Aria]

Everything moved quickly. The shadowed man moved in quickly to save the other, fire erupted from his hands.

Holy mother of god! What the hell? Does everyone wield the power of the gods in this town. Or was it her, was it Aria's fault she kept meeting these gifted individuals? But there was little time to think much less contemplate the issue at hand. The Ijiraq misted out of view but it had only been injured. It had eaten enough and was circling again in mist form.

Movement caught her attention as a third man moved in to pulled the fallen from the area.

There was little time to think as frozen water came pouring from some unknown source. Aria looked back and saw what was going on. She sighed, at least he did it now.

The Ijiraq slowed and Aria moved in. She stared it in it's cold black eyes and she saw fear. She felt fear. Fear was a drowning emotion. It could encompass one and paralyse them, or give them the strength of courage when it was overcome. This monster had never felt fear before, and it was looking death in the face.

Aria swung her sword, arching at the neck. There was little resistance with the new blade. It sang it's way thru the monster. It was a wonderful sound.

It crumpled to the ground, Adrenaline was the only thing keeping Aria upright, she was exhausted, she could feel her own security bubble collapsing around her. The monsters emotions had taken it's own toll on her. She wavered and sat on the ground in the now forming pull of oozing blood.

She looked around at her three comrades and sighed. This world was full of people should she kill. "Everyone survive?"



Edited by Aria, Mar 18 2014, 07:48 AM.

[Connor Kent]

The barrage of ice continued to hit the mist. It was definitely having an effect. It's movements were slower and it had started solidifying. The dark places where it had its eyes became more defined.

Movement to the left took Connor's eyes off the creature, as he saw the small woman dart in with her sword and swing at the place where a neck should have been. It crumpled to the ground, a pool of blood growing.

The woman stood for a moment, looking stunned. Then she wavered and sat on the ground, heedless of the blood.

Connor looked at her and then remembered what he had in his arms. He crouchedt, gently putting the dark man down to the ground, though he didn't immediately move away. The man seemed weaker than before and Connor wanted to make sure that he didn't sway or fall over. Instead, he let the man lean against him for support.

He looked at the woman as she looked at the other men, as if in thought. Finally, she said "Everyone survive?
" She looked tired.

Now that the danger seemed to have passed, Connor felt tired himself. the adrenaline charge having finally ended. His brain was tired. He still had no clue what had happened, who these people were or what that thing was.

His eyes went back to the crumpled form of the...not mist anymore. And it had bled when she cut it. "What was that
?" he asked. Then he looked at the three of them. A dark man with longish hair, stubble on his face. Being this close, he could see pain in his eyes. Another man, clean cut, handsome features, sharp blue eyes looking about warily. And a diminutive woman with dark hair and eyes, elflike features stunningly beautiful...who wielded a sword against some monster like some action hero out of a movie. All of this was beyond his ken.

"Who are you people? How did you..
.", and then he gestured vaguely with his hands, unsure how to continue. How did you make ice appear from thin air and turn a mist-monster solid? How did you make your hand into fire?...How did you do magic?


Edited by Connor Kent, Mar 17 2014, 04:05 PM.