Noah stared out the window of his hotel room, his eyes scanning the city below him. He struggled to wrap his mind around the events that had occurred, the end of the world, Lucy's message, everything. He was told that he had powers, yet he had little to no idea on how to use them. However, he could feel them, an unrecognizable force deep inside of him, wanting to be released. He sighed and walked away from the window. He was getting hungry, and worrying about it without any answers was pointless. He walked down the hall and stepped onto the elevator, pressing the button for the ground floor. As the elevator descended, he pulled out the debit card in his pocket. It was to some local bank, with his name on it and a number. Nothing odd about it, but the fact that it gave him access to so much money was truly suspicious. Whoever was backing him was very, very rich. His mind wandered to the others who were with him when he saw Lucy. If he had to guess they were in the same predicament as him, confused about what was going on. The elevator doors opened and he stepped out, leaving the hotel. He walked down the streets a couple blocks until he was pulled into a dark alley by a couple of ragged looking men.

"Hey, we saw you come outta that expensive lookin' hotel. That means you gotta be loaded. Give us all of ya cash before we have to do somethin'....drastic." One of the men said, pulling out a knife. Noah smirked.

"Useless trash." He quickly kicked the man's feet out from under him, causing him to fall on his face. He then brought his foot down on the man's arm, snapping it instantly. The other man rushed him, but was grabbed and trown head first into a wall, followed by a kick to the back of the head. Noah turned and left the alleyway, leaving the two in a broken heap.

"So, this city has those types here. This may prove to be annoying. Oh well if I couldn't deal with punks like this, I would be in trouble against these Black Emissary guys. If they have the power to end the world, then they must be strong." He continued down the road until he found a fast food restaurant. It would do. Noah stepped inside and took a seat.


"Well, that was entertaining. Seems like I made a good choice with this ones. I hope the others prove to be this effective when they awaken to their potential." A woman with blond hair and glasses, wearing a black suit sat on a bench across the street from where Noah handled the attackers. People passed by her, paying her no mind as if she didn't exist. Suddenly, another woman appeared on the bench next to her. She had bright white hair, and a black Japanese kimono. She was also ignored the the world, despite her odd appearance.

"Hello Lucy. It seems you have been busy, with trying to stop the Black Emissary and all." She had a gentle smile. Lucy sighed.

"What are you doing here Iza-" She was cut off.

"I go by Izzy now. Its so much cuter, don't you think?" She asked. Lucy smirked.

"Still cutting yourself off from the past, huh? Whatever, I couldn't give a damn what happens on the side of the world. Not part of my dominion." Lucy crossed her legs. Izzy shook her head.

"Oh, I have no dominion, not anymore. I am satisfied with just watching the world go by." She stood up. "I hope you are successful in stopping them. I do enjoy this world." With those words Izzy disappeared completely. Lucy also stood up.

"Silly girl, as if I'm going to let those bastards win." Lucy also disappeared.

((Long intro post for Nate :D. Woohoo, was so ready for this roleplay XP.))

Nate sat on the bench, one leg crossed over the over as she dipped her foot up and down. Random people walking down the street gave her the oddest look, as if they couldn’t quite figure her out. How could someone with such a feminine trait look and, to their eyes, be of the male gender? You’d think the general population had never seen a gay man, much less a girl who chose to cross-dress as a boy, for good reason, of course.

She peaked her eyes out from behind the newspaper that she held in front of her face, there was a young girl standing on the sidewalk staring at her. Nate lowered the paper the rest of the way and smiled pleasantly, then grit her teeth and snapped at the child, making her shake out of her daze and scurry away. Nate chuckled and went back to reading. Normally she would have just ignored the stares, but she was too busy concentrating to also deal with the chill of those who had their eyes on her.

The best thing she learned to do when in a new town was to read the newspaper. The newspaper told you everything about who was who and what was what… She sighed heavily and sat the paper down on the seat beside her. “Too bad I have no clue what I’m looking for,” she mumbled and got up and brushed off her front. As soon as she stood up, a man came running around the corner.

“Hey you little punk!” He said, pointing a finger at her. Her eyes widened and she pumped her arms and sprinted in the other direction. You see, she just couldn’t quite get used to this magic money that she somehow came into the possession of. You needed to put forth your blood, sweat, and make sacrifices to earn money in this world. Something had to be wrong with this money… There just had to be… At least, that’s how her reasoning worked.

And that’s why, instead of paying for a newspaper like any normal person, she decided to return to her street rat ways and swiped one from the nearest news-stand, and made the owner feel like he had to chase her to the ends of the Earth to make her pay. But could he really chase her to the end of the Earth, I mean, it was only in a years time after all. They didn’t have to run for long.

“Seriously!” She huffed and looked back over her shoulder. “It’s just a newspaper! How long are you going to keep this up?!” She jostled her way into a crowd of people, shoving past them until she was finally able to barricade herself into the mob. Mwahahaha, there was no way she would be found now. She shoved her hands in her pockets and whistled happily as she tried to blend in. She passed a fast food restaurant and then took a few steps backwards to do a double-take. Her mouth watered. Agh! Who cared if it was weird, voodoo, magic money! A homeless kid of three years had to eat! And there was a burger in there calling her name.

She went up to the register and ordered a double cheeseburger, watched with fascination as the cashier swiped her card and it actually worked, and went to sit down at one of the tables. She then proceeded to stuff her face. Oh, the glorious face stuffing.

~ Jacqli Labelle ~

Her shoes made a slight squeak every time she took a step; the noise though was so slight that it was drowned out by the voices and the chatter of the people around her. Jacqli pushed her glasses up her nose, and looked up to the skies above; the buildings here in this city were so tall that they very nearly blocked it from view. The bespectacled girl stopped walking and just looked up at the sliver of blue she could make out in-between those skyscrapers. It had not been so long ago that she had been looking up at this sky from her grandmother’s roof. Before . . . well, what occurred was not something Jacqli wanted to think about. She knew full well what had happened; there was no reason to go and constantly remind herself of those horrors, especially when she already had a mission to fulfill.

Lucy had sealed her fate, she was chosen to help prevent the world from ending by fire. Sure, Jacqli wasn’t exactly keen on this whole deal, she had been sucked from her normality, and plopped right into a storyline from a videogame or a manga! Nevertheless, at least it was something distracting; it kept her mind busy, and all of her dark little thoughts locked up in the edges of her brain. Jacqli was happy enough to take on the task of trying to save the world if it kept her from remembering, from thinking too much about her past. That was enough reason for her to do this. . . .

I can only wonder about the others, is anyone but me so . . . willing to take on a task of this magnitude? Closing her eyes, Jacqli sighed, turned her head down and ran a hand through her short, messy hair. It didn’t matter if any of the others chosen by Lucy were up to this task, she was, and if she had to, she would face these . . . ‘Black Emissaries’ on her own if the need arose. Although, Jacqli wasn’t even aware of how she could fight; after Lucy had reversed time and dropped her in the middle of Terropolis, there was something within her soul that was stirring.

A strange force that felt . . . well, it felt just a bit on the sinister side, yet at the same moment, it was something that was soothing. Jacqli felt like there was someone else inside of her, sharing her body, yet not making herself known yet. It was as if she was idly existing, watching every move she made without intervening. It felt peaceful enough, slightly sinister, but serene.

It was a knock against her right side that wrenched Jacqli from her thoughts, and very nearly made her glasses come flying off her face. She let out a yelp of shock as she caught hold of her spectacles.

A rather large man passed by Jacqli, looking at the thin girl with scorn upon his face. “Why don’tcha stop daydreamin’ in the middle of the road you idiot?” he seethed.

To his words, Jacqli’s face reddened, and she squeezed her eyes shut and shouted an apology to him quite loudly, “I’m so sorry!” Before dashing off, and heading off. A few people stared at her while she ran by.

I-I really need to learn to be more careful, I can’t just go off into lala land in the middle of the city! she chided herself, rounding a corner, gradually slowing herself down she came to a halt, panting heavily as she was not used to just jettisoning herself into a full on sprint as she did. Her cheeks were still flushed, and she felt tears pricking at her eyes from what the man had said; he had called her an idiot.He wasn’t wrong. . . .

Sniffling, Jacqli wiped at her eyes a bit and looked around at where she was; what part of Terropolis she had bolted into. Her hands clasped at her chest, she looked around a bit confused, it took her a few moments to realize her location and know she was in the upper class part of the city. “What . . . what was I doing?” she asked herself.

She couldn’t quite recall; she knew she had been out looking for the other people Lucy had summoned, and chosen, but she had been heading somewhere in specific. When her brain just couldn’t muster up the necessary information, Jacqli forlornly sighed, let her shoulders drop and continued on walking. It took a few blocks, but the teen’s stomach started to alert Jacqli to its growing hunger.

I’m an idiot, but even an idiot doesn’t deserve to starve. Craning her head up and around, Jacqli spotted a place where she could at least grab a bite of food that was semi-edible. It was one of those fast food chain restaurants, but it was at least somewhere. “And, even if the meat in their burgers is rubberlike, I can at least get down the fries. . . .”

So, Jacqli went on inside, the soles of her shoes squeaking on the tile as she went in. She looked to where the line formed, pushed her glasses up her nose so they were completely over her eyes, plastered on a smile for the people so they would think her somewhat normal and prepared to order her food.

She was polite, she thanked the cashier as she returned her debit card, took her tray of food and just as she was about to sit herself and her food down at a boothe, the brunette's foot happened upon a stray napkin that someone had left on the floor.

All it took was that, and Jacqli slipped, and went down, hitting the floor with a grunt; her tray of food landing next to her, splattering all over the tiled floor; some of her soda soaking her shirt and pants.

Reap opened his eyes hazily. Looking around he found himself in an abandoned warehouse. Scarcely furnatured with the occasional weapon here and there. Vaguely he recalled Lucy and what she had told him and the others. "Great, saving the world without getting paid so much as a single penny." He said to himself quietly. Reaching in hi pocket he pulled out a debit card. "I retract my prior statement." Standing up from the torn up sofa he was lieing on he dug out a smoke from under the seat only to be dismayed at not finding his lighter. Tossing the smoke on the ground he walked towards a dull, somewhat termite damaged wardrobe. Opening it he found his suit and most treasured weapons hung neatly.

A few minutes later Reap, now clad in a dark Genji complete with hood and mask leapt from the roof of the warehouse to the roof of a nearby store. He hit the roof in a roll and came up on his feet gracefully.Only to stumble as he felt a tugging in his gut, as if something was inside, roaring to be let lose. What the hell!? Reap thought as the feeling subsided, putting the event off his mind and moving with the agility of a trained acrobat he used the cities buildings to traverse some miles before landing one the top of a pawnshop. Silently he dropped into the ally next to it, landing by a overflowing dumpster. Turning he noted the back door was locked tight with a deadbolt. They never make it easy. He thought, before performing a spinning back kick and bashing the door in. If the public on the streets noticed they gave no sign.

Walking in, making no attempt to be silent Reap layed eyes on the owner of the shop, who was staring at Reap with wide-eyed fear. "Hello Ricky." Reap's dark voice cooly ebbed.

With a stutter Ricky whimpered out his reply. "N-n-nights-s-shade. what-t d-d-do y-y-you w-w-want?"

"What do you know about a group called 'The Black Emissary'" Reap answered, yet to take his cold blue eyes off the pudgy, grey haired man.

"N-n-nothing I s-swear." Ricky said unconvincingly. Reap was about to press further when three large, bulky men who looked like bikers stormed in through the shop's main door. Looking at them Reap noted the knifes two carried, switchblades from the looks of it, and the 9mm the one in the middle carried. The one in the middle, at least two heads taller than Reap had brown eyes and a large beard, his hair was covered up by a bandana. He wore a muscle shirt covered by a sleeveless leather jacket that showed off rippling muscles. When he spoke his voice was like sand paper. "We got a problem Boss?"

Just what I need. Reap thought as Ricky backed up and nodded. The head of the three nudged his head in Reap's direction and the two others pulled their switchblades and began advancing. "You boys seem to have caught me weaponless." Reap said as he spread his hands palm up. When the first came at him with the switchblade in a stabbing motion Reap sidestepped it and caught the man's arm, then drived his knee up into the elbow causing a sickening snap as the bone was broken in two. Wasting no time Reap hooked the man's feet with his own and swept him to the floor, knocking him out with a decisive punch to the skull. The Second man ran at Reap's back, and was stopped in mid-place as Reap's leg launched out and caught the man directly in the gut forcing him to double over and lose balance. As he hit the ground Reap was on him, twisting the man's switchblade from his hand and digging it into the man's gut causing the man to whine slightly. Then Reap silenced him with a swift kick to the skull, causing a crack from the neck. Slowly standing up Reap examined the third Biker who watched, with a surprised expression on his face. Glancing at Ricky for a second his hand went for the 9mm on his waste.

Before it was out of the holster Reap had retrieved the switchblade from the other man's gut and spun around, throwing it neatly between the boss's eyes. He was dead before he hit the ground. "Now Ricky." Reap said with a threatening edge in his voice as he slowly turned towards the shop owner. "Start talking, or your next."

The mound buried underneath the sheets of the hotel's bed quivered ominously for a moment, stopping just as suddenly as it had begun. Just an instant later the sheets burst into the air, landing quite some distance from the bed. From the ruins of what was once a well made bed rose a wakening Martyn, lazily stretching out his arms. Not being much of a morning person, Martyn found his way to a sink and rinsed his face off to help shake off his grogginess.

After one last splash of water, Martyn quickly got himself dressed in the first set of clothes he found, which looked to be a school uniform that reminded him of the boarding school that he grew up in. Before he could get caught up in bad memories, a low rumble from Martyn's gut reminded him that he hadn't eaten breakfast.

With a distant frown, Martyn put on the rest of the outfit, which fit surprisingly well. He had a job to do now, despite how much he hated responsibility. The... eventful... trip to this place had left him without most of his belongings except the messenger bag that he had taken to wearing in place of a backpack. Even though its dark green color didn't go particularly well with the uniform, Martyn decided to take it along. There was no way that he could come back for it later.

Whistling a faint tune as he went, Martyn made his way to an elevator.

As the doors opened, he was greeted by the sight of a well-dressed middle aged man, caught in the middle of a sigh. With a grin, Martyn stepped inside, and tapped the lobby button even though it was already lit. "Do you already feel like it's going to be one of those days, sir?"

The man shook his head and gave a bitter laugh. "You shouldn't even know what these days feel like... at least I didn't when I was your age... but I guess things can't always stay the way they were. Times change."

Martyn laughed, maybe a little bit too much.

"Tell me about it."

~

Martyn made his way from the hotel, wandering for block after block. The city felt great to him, it was so easy to get lost in the crowds. For a while, Martyn completely forgot about his hunger, and instead wandered about the city streets in wonder, watching people live their lives. Quite some time passed before Martyn was forcefully reminded of his hunger yet again by another bout of rumbling from his stomach. Suddenly remembering that he did have a job to do, Martyn glanced about, trying to figure out exactly where he was. It clearly wasn't the nicest part of this town, though that wasn't saying much.

The building nearest to him was a pawn shop, the door oddly ajar. Martyn knew that if he didn't get directions to a good place to grab a bite to eat, he would never get started searching. Whenever he was the one who picked the restaurant, something awful happened. He gave an involuntary shudder at the memories.

"Not the most pleasant thought to have before a conversation..." Martyn muttered to himself.

He leaned forward and cautiously gave a knock on the door even though it was open. "Hello? Anybody home?" He took care not to stick his head inside the doorframe, somebody owning a pawn shop here would almost certainly be armed against robbers and such, and he didn't want to be mistaken for one.

Nate's face was buried in a burger when she suddenly heard a clatter and the precious sound of food hitting the floor. She turned her head and looked to see what was happening, with a piece of lettuce hanging out of the corner of her mouth. She chomped it down like a bunny rabbit. Usually she tried to stay out of other people's business, but why was everyone just sitting around when this girl was just sitting on the floor of the restaraunt, covered in her own food? Nate shook her head and sighed, oh well.

She got up and swiped a couple of napkins out of a holder as she walked past them. She leaned down near the girl and held a hand out for the girl to take, "Come on," she told her, "you look really stupid just sitting there, at least try to get up on your own."

"O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain!" The cry echoed through the darkness of the room, suggesting it's size to all those who couldn't perceive the walls through the darkness cast throughout the chamber.
"Hamlet, act one, scene five." A monotonous voice answered through the darkness.
"What, my dear Lady Disdain! Are you yet living? My offense is rank, it smells to heaven!" The croaky voice cried again.
"Much Ado About Nothing, act one, scene one. Hamlet, act three, scene three..." The monotone recited in response.
"Hey, hey! You can't do that! Mixing to the lines of two different plays together defeats the purpose of memorizing the lines in the first place!" A new voice called out this time, younger and more energetic than the previous two.
"Shut it Riku." A deep gravely voice growled.
In the darkness a group of silhouettes stood around a large throne like seat, upon which an ancient man sat in the dim light.
"Why so serious Markus, I guess literature is a little to much for you, right?" The young man's voice called back tauntingly.
"Riku, you little-"
"Quiet!" The old man upon the throne cried out, anger invading his voice, "I require time to think!"
One of the silhouettes split away from the group, "Yeah, yeah... Enjoy your quiet time old man..."
"Where are you going?" Markus asked to the young man, leaving the group.
"Ahhh... I've got a date with fate which I'd rather not miss... Wanna come?" The glint of a devious smile flashed through the darkness.
After a moments hesitation, the man growled his answer, "As much as I hate you, I'd hate to see you pull something really stupid at such an early stage in the plan even more..."
With that, the largest silhouette in the group split off, and began to follow the young man towards the exit of the room, towards Terropolis.

Reap was nearing the Ricky now as the man stuttered to find a way out. Only a few inches away the man looked about to talk when a voice sounded from the doorway of the shop. "Hello? Anybody home?. Shit. Reap thought as Ricky bolted for the doorway. Reap quickly moved to cut him off, catching the man by the shoulder and using Ricky's momentum to send him flying into a nearby shelf of objects. Knocking it over and creating a chorus of clashing and banging from inside the shop. "Were closed, get out of here." Reap called out in his dark voice, however the sentence was betrayed by the moaning that came from Ricky shortly thereafter.

Reap was on Ricky quickly, pinning him against the ground with one knee and holding a sharp combat knife from the fallen shelf at his throat. "Talk Ricky, if you value the world of the living." he said, lightly pressing the blade against Ricky;'s neck and drawing a small amount of blood, much to the struggling man's panic. If whoever was at the doorway came in before Reap finished his little talk, he would have no choice but to take the innocent bystander out as well. Wrong place...wrong time. he thought grimly.

"Were closed, get out of here."

While the crashing and moaning coming from the shop didn't necessarily make the voice speaking from within a liar, Martyn didn't care whether the shop was open or not; he just needed somebody who was familiar with the area. "Uh..." Martyn paused and thought for a moment. Obviously, the owner of the shop was busy with something. He could ask his question from outside the door, or he could just leave.

Martyn weighed these options... for barely a second before his curiosity overwhelmed him. He started to step inside the shop and peek around.

"Don't worry, I don't need to buy anything, and I'll just take a second of y-" It was about then that Martyn processed the mess laid out before him. Three bikers, one obviously dead, one unconscious, and one who could go either way lay strewn about the shop. Of the two other people left in the room left capable of speech, one looked almost like a ninja, while the man that the ninja had pinned to the ground looked too terrified to do anything except being terrified.

"-our time. You know, on second thought, it seems like you two have quite some talking to do. I'll... come back later, I guess?" He began to edge his way back out the door, ready to bolt at a moment's notice. Martyn had always been a pretty fast runner, but he wasn't sure he could outpace a ninja.

Noah's glance shifted as he heard a loud thud nearby. He noticed a girl sitting on the ground, and he figured that she must have slipped on something. Ugh, people can be so clumsy. He thought. He considered going over to help her up, but stopped when he noticed another girl helping her. I suppose I have no need to go over there then. Suddenly, he felt a burning sensation in his chest. His eyes widened as he looked at the two. He recognized them, and the feeling in his chest confirmed this. He had seen them when he had spoken to Lucy.

They, they were with me...Then does that mean that they are in the same situation as well? And what is this feeling in my chest? Does it have something to do with them? He stood up and walked over to the two.

"You...what do you two know about this?" He asked. He must have sounded crazy.


Lucy watched from outside for a few minutes.

"Ha....So it's finally beginning to awaken. About damn time...I can feel the Black Emissaries making their move, and I don't have the strength to deal with them right now. They had best get a move on with awakening. I'm gonna be pissed if they all go and get themselves killed before the fight had even started..." She sighed and walked down the street, disappearing in the crowd.

Music filled an otherwise quiet street deep in the slums Terroplois. The source, it seemed, was what looked like an old abandoned bar. Inside, a juke box played "You ain't nothing but a hound dog" by one Elvis Presley. Laid across an old red leather couch that had seen better days, was a young man who had a wad of towels on his chest and was holding them down with his left hand. Gripped lazily in his right was a bottle a whiskey, mostly empty. Colin started to wake up, vision slowly coming back to his groggy eyes. He motioned to sit up but cried out in pain. "Ah! Feck'in banshee cunt." he yelled to himself. "I ain't never had a HO(hang over) like dis before." Colin looked down at the pain that surged in his abdomen area. He lifted up the towels and saw they were covered in blood, as his entire body was stained in it. Colin then notice that the source of the blood. On his right pectoral, some black thread was sown into a line, there was caked blood around it. On his left side of his stomach, a wound was half stitched, needle and thread still attached."What in the name of the immortal king?" Colin then saw looked to his right and saw a pair of tweezers sitting in a small bowl of red liquid. When he looked inside the bowl, he saw a few metal chunks and a bullet. Colin leaned his head back and thought about what happened before he passed out. Colin's eyes shot open, he remembered. "Dat's the last time I start throw'in round questions about dem......what were dey called?" While trying to remember, Colin poured out some whiskey onto his wounds and he cringed a bit.

Colin sat up and finished stitching the wound. He had obviously passed out while doing it. "Didn't know I was such a nancy. Couldn't even muscle my way through stitching. What would ye Da say if he could see you know Colin O'Gradey." Colin said to himself.

After he had finished, he bit the string off and made sure it was secure. He then wobbled to his feet. "Now dat dat's tak'in care of, time to aid me pound'in gulliver." Colin staggered over his way over to the bar, breaking his empty whiskey bottle on the floor. He pulled open the refrigerator and peered inside through squinted eyes. He pulled out one of the many pizza boxes, checked the content, and put it on the bar. He then pulled out a bottle of mead and placed it hard on the bar. He closed the door to the fridge and opened the alcohol. He took off the cap and broke the alcohol stopper with his fist. He took a big swig, the slammed it down on the bar. "Ah, much better." He then flipped open the pizza box and began shoveling the food down his gullet. He had been in this place for about a week, and all he had eaten was pizza, and all he had drunken was alcohol.

After he finished his pizza, he walked over to his guitar and grabbed it, mead still in the other hand. He plugged it into a row of amps, took another big swig, and started to play "Jailhouse Rock." The amps were turned upt to 10 and if he had any neighbors, they would have killed. He only assumed no one lived near him because the street was always eerily quiet. As he played the songs he loved and the music drifted farther and farther into this new city of his, he decided that he didn't care if the world ends in a year again. He wasn't upset about it then, and wasn't upset about it now.

Jacqli seethed, and felt herself tearing up a bit; after taking a fall like that and getting covered in soda, how could she not? She’d fallen in front of all of these people and embarrassed herself well and good. Her face went red, everyone was just staring . . . and staring at her! Please just stop staring at me already! I fell, I think that’s self explanatory!! Jacqli felt her chest beginning to ache a bit; the ‘other’ presence inside of her was squirming around, acting up more than it had to date for some reason; like she were reacting to something.

Normally she was so passive, so idle as she sat back and watched the world going on by Jacqli’s body without doing a thing. So . . . why now? When she saw someone’s foot, Jacqli’s amber eyes darted up and she looked at the face of the person who was making the presence inside of her react so very violently. It looked like it was a boy about her age, but a very lithe one who rather looked like a girl. . . . Strange, on top of that, he seemed very familiar. "Come on," he told her, "you look really stupid just sitting there, at least try to get up on your own." And with that a hand was held out to her, Jacqli looked up uncertainly, but quickly corrected her expression and put a smile over her face.

“Hahah, silly me!” she forced out a laugh; she sat up with that smile on her face and ran a hand through her sodden hair. “I guess gravity just doesn’t like me today.” Jacqli scratched her nose, doing her best to push down that sensation in her soul. Why was she reacting so to this guy? Unless . . . he were like her and had been chosen by Lucy? Was that possible?

"You...what do you two know about this?" Jacqli squeaked in shock when another guy happened up to her and the other boy.

She looked up at him with wide eyes, Know about what? What does he mean by that, just asking us so suddenly. . . ? The fake smile vanished from Jacqli’s face and she clutched at her shirt when her other self began to stir inside her once more, reacting even more strongly than it had been. It . . . kind of hurt. Jacqli knew that the force inside of her was of the sinister sort, but it didn’t seem like it wanted to hurt her. . . .

Pushing her glasses up her nose again, Jacqli clutched onto one of the seats of the nearby booth and got to her feet, the spots where she had been splashed by her soda were rather dark places on her clothing. She had a look of confusion on her face, and looked back and forth between the two people before her. “Does the name Lucy mean anything to you two. . .?” she asked quietly.

"So this is what its like to have a power...? I feel like I should be on television.

He sat alone on one of the skyscraper rooftops overlooking the city. He looked down to his left hand, and concentrating his "power" into it. It was a grotesque black color with climbing nails at the end of his fingertips. He popped the Vorpal Blade out of the bottom of his wrist and looked at it. A straight piece of black metal that didn't end in a tip, but a squared edge. It extended as long as his arm was. A literal extension of his being. He pulled it back into his body and rotated his hand and arm around, peering at it and studying it.

He let himself relax and the blackness rolled away, revealing his arm underneath. He pushed up his sleeve to cover the rest of the arm and placed his fingerless glove back on. It would take some getting used to, but it was life now.

He looked over the edge and saw all of the ants below, moving from place to place, pretending that they actually have an important existence. He pulled out his leather wallet and opened it up. Inside was a picture of him and his former fiance' Brandi, standing together. A reminder at what the world was like and to never forget a love. In one of the pockets on the right side, he pulled out a midnight blue colored card with his name and ID number on it. A credit card for money. He knew that there was an obscene about of cash in the card, enough to buy a condo and keep it maintained for years.

He was tempted to rent a boat and get out out of here, let the damnable world suffer on its own while he lives up in the mountains, away from everything. But something in the back of his mind told him "Do it and die" so he put off the thought.

He replaced the card in his wallet and put it into his jacket pocket. He ran a hand through his hair and got up, taking out his cigarettes at the same time. He lit one up and took a drag, letting loose a satisfying plume of smoke after a few seconds. I gotta quit smoking one of these days... He thought to himself. He took a look at the cigarette for a few short seconds. Eh, fuck it. I'll die doing what I love. He took another drag and went for the door down the stairs and towards ground floor. He figured he would take a stroll of this city to try and figure something out. Maybe grab a bite to eat.

Nate felt her heart hammer out of her chest as the girl took her hand and Nate helped her to her feet. The girl began to talk about something, but Nate placed a hand to her chest, too freaked out by this weird feeling. Woah, that was strange. Alright, so she had been disquising herself as a boy for three years now, but she definetely didn't find other women attractive in that heart hammering, flustering kind of way. So why were her nerves reacting to this girl like this? "Yeah," Nate agreed to whatever the girl just said, because she hadn't really been listening.

"You.. what do you two know about this?" Some strange man came up to the two and Nate immediately tensed up. He didn't seem like the friendly sort, more intemidating than anything. Nate clenched her fists at her side, but she could be intemidating too if it came down to it. She got a strange feeling around this guy as well. She gulped, but what was it? She hated not knowing...

"Does the name Lucy mean anything to you two...?" The girl who Nate just helped asked them both. Nate inhaled, like she was about to say, "Ah! That's what this is!" But instead her mouth opened and closed, opened and closed like she just couldn't get the words out. Thinking about it for a moment, the end of the world and this strange being named Lucy wasn't something you'd normally bring up in a fast food restaurant... at least, it wouldn't have been Nate's ideal location. Could these people be trusted? The Black Emissaries know about Lucy too, right? So if they could be trusted and wanted to discuss Lucy because they were on the same team, the discussion would best be held in private. If they were Black Emissaries and could not be trusted, they best have their hides beaten in private... Either way...

"I think we should take this discussion outside," Nate suggested.

Riku closed his eyes and focused. Burned into the back of his eyelids he was able to make out the illuminated shapes of human beings, glowing a soft blue, a sea of soft blue. He changed his view to the fast food joint in-front of him. Inside the building he could make out a trio of orange silhouettes, pulsing in rhythm with each other, not human. Riku's mouth formed into a long, thin-lipped smile as he took a drag from his cigarette.
"Not here, the tall building, two hundred meters north... Fifth floor." Riku muttered to Markus, blatantly taking advantage of his companions inability to harness his erratic demon power's true potential. Markus grunted in reply, and lifted his foot to set off in that direction, but turned and gave Riku a look when he gave no sign of moving.
"What? Can't you give a gentleman time to finish his smokes?" Riku asked with false indignancy. Markus grunted again, and headed in the direction of the office building.
What a moron, I'd love to see how he handles getting to the fifth floor... Anyways, that's bought me a couple minutes, I better use them the best I can...
Riku waited until Markus had moved out of sight, then flicked his cigarette onto the curb, not bothering to stomp it out, and headed towards the burger joint.

I'll... come back later, I guess?

Reap's hand acted quicker than his mind. in a heartbeat the knife flew from his hand towards the voice, only slightly diverted as Reap saw the intruders face just in time. The knife skimmed past Martyn, just barely missing his neck and imbedded itself within the wall behind him. Reap had diverted his throw because he recognized Martyn as one of the ones standing around Lucy. "That won't be necessary." He said briefly but commandingly, then glared at Ricky again, who was studdering something about not knowing anything. At Reaps cold gaze Ricky seemed more agreeable.

"I don't know anything, b-b-but Drew Masonfield might. H-he has a ear in everything g-g-going on in this c-city." he said with a quiver.

"Location!" Reap demanded sternly, raising his fist for another blow.

"Ah eh, the docks! h-h-hes at t-t the docks!" Ricky admitted, now tears were flowing down the pathetic man's face. Sighing Reap knocked Ricky out with a blow to the temple. How worthless.

Slowly Reap stood up and pulled his mask off, hoping the man would recognize his face, since Lucy had summoned Reap while he was sleeping, not working. "Fate works in strange ways." He said as he approached Martyn. Who looked like he was about to run.

"You were one of the others with Lucy right?" It sounded more of a fact rather than a question. Coming to a stop near Martyn, Reap offered his hand, an event that rarely took place. "I'm Reap."

Martyn stared at the knife buried in the wall behind him while the ninja finished his 'conversation' with the other man. He had felt something flaring up inside of him response to the incoming threat, but it had turned out to just be terrifying, not deadly. A couple shades paler than he was just a moment ago, Martyn turned back towards the approaching man. Finally accepting that he wasn't going to die horribly (yet), Martyn pulled the rest of his body through into the shop to meet him.

As the man removed his mask, Martyn examined his face for a moment, without a response.

"Fate works in strange ways." The only emotion that registered on Martyn's face was confusion, a dull blink accompanied by raised eyebrows.

"You were one of the others with Lucy right?" All Martyn could do was gape. Had he found another of the group that she chose? Had he really lucked out that much? His obvious terror started to give way to warm curiosity in the blink of an eye.

"I'm Reap." With a sheepish grin, Martyn apologized. "Sorry, I didn't recognize you. I'm really bad with faces." He reached out and gripped the hand offered to him. "Martyn. Much obliged that you didn't kill me." On that note, Martyn leaned over to gaze at the mess behind Reap. "So, is all that back there related to our mission?"

Mere minutes later, Leon stepped into the Cafe'-ish fast food restaurant and was a bit disappointed at what he saw. Like most other restaurants, this was was greasy, dirty and full of degenerates. A few cute girls though, and from the subtle curves of one of them, a woman dressed as a man. How quaint.

He sat down at one of the booths and ordered one of their javas. He has always been a fan of java and smokes. Speaking of smokes...

He took out another one of his cigarettes and lit it up. He checked the box and sighed at what he saw. Already 8 cigs today. Good thing I got this card. At this rate, I'll be smoking the packages instead of cigarettes. he thought to himself. He shook his head and took a long, satisfying drag of his cigarette and blew it out in a wonderful plume. The blonde waitress came by and set down his Java with a smile. He took out the twenty dollars in actual paper money that he had left, besides the card, and handed it to the waitress. "But the Java's only a dollar seventy five, sir." Keep the change for yourself, love. She smiled and backed up, heading for the counter to switch up the change.

He took a sip of the cinnamon flavored Java and couldn't help but enjoy the little things like this.

Colin finished up his jam session and turned off the jukebox. He quickly threw on his pants, boots and jacket. His motto was, "Go commando, or go home." Colin grabbed the keys on the table and was out the door. He locked it up behind him and hoped over the fence that separated the bar from the street. Colin walked to the middle of the street and stood there for a moment, absorbing the silence. Colin looked about. "Well, might as well stretch the old legs, see more of the city. Maybe meet a few bonnies who'd enjoy a round with old Colin." he laughed to himself. Colin then got deadly serious and widened his stance. His face began to turn red as his body trembled. Then, suddenly, black and grey goop began to pour out of his pores and other openings and began to consume Colin's body. After a few seconds of re-shaping and odd jerks from Colin, he stood there in his demon form. The concrete beneath his feet immediately cracked from his weight.

Colin crouched, hands back in the air. Odd tentacle arcs began to come out of his legs, they seemed to pulse, as if something was being pumped through them. The without warning, he launched himself into the about 30 feet. His arms suddenly became blackened and extended. He flung his clawed hand toward a building and his arm extended to it. He then continued this method until he was out of the slums.

When he entered the more populated are, Colin switched to rooftops. He ran from roof to roof, well, more like stampeded. He left a trail a footprints in rubble covered roofs. He was sort of destroying a lot of roof tops, so he decided to change it up. He found the nearest tallest building and began to run up it, destroying the concrete where he stepped as he went. When he got to the top, he looked out over the city. "DIS IS FECK'IN DEADLY!!" Colin yelled out in a very distorted voice. "But why is everyting in blue. I realize i don't really have eyes in dis form, but why does everyting have to be blue." Colin then looked at his hands. "And why in the name of St. Michael am I glowing orange!" Colin then stopped for a moment and began to laugh. He laughed for a good minute before he began to calm down. "I don't question da fact dat I got shape shifting demon powers, but why everything is blue, HA!" Colin calmed down and refocused on the city. "Well, let's do this." With that, Colin jumped off the edge of the building. After about 2 seconds, Grey flesh began to stretch and attach the underside of his arms to his waist. The same thing with the inside of his legs. In moments, he had himself a pair of makeshift wings.

Colin pulled up sharply and began to soar over the buildings of Terroplois. He surveyed the whole of the city as he glided over the rooftops. "Now dis.....dis is deadly." Colin whispered to himself. He looked upon the blue city and the blue people below him, who for some reason never looked up. He found this odd, why wouldn't you look up at this gorgeous sky? Colin began to think about how great the sky was, and now he finally got what Elvis was singing about.

Colin noticed he was losing altitude and landed on top of building. His webbing receded back into his skin and his heavy foot steps began to walk to the edge. He looked down and saw an odd diner of sorts. When he looked inside, he saw a few people inside that were glowing orange, like him. A few in a group, and one sitting off by himself. "I wonder..." Colin walked back a few steps, then jumped clear off the building and across the street. He grabbed on to the taller building behind the eatery and slid down the side, tearing the walls up as he went. He landed with a loud thud that shook the building a bit and cracked the part of the roof he was on. "Woops, nice goin dere Colin." He then stood up and began convulsing. The black and gray flesh armor began to recede and soon he was his old self. He brushed himself off and jumped off the low building and landed on the sidewalk in front of the place.

As he was about to enter the establishment, he accidentally knocked into a man with gelled hair and a nice suit. "Oh terribly sorry fella, completely my fault. I rarely look where I'm goin dese days and I keep running into things, here." Colin rummaged in his coat pocket and pulled out a cigarette. "Have a cig on me fella. Have good day." Colin said in a friendly manner and entered the eatery.

Colin decided to avoid he group and head for the lone man. While a waitress wasn't looking, he snagged a coffee from her tray. Without any words, he plopped it down on the table and sat in the booth across from the man. He pulled out a cigarette and a match and lit it off his boot. He took a long drag let the smoke out away from the man. Took a sip of his coffee, placed it down, then reached into his jacket.

He could see the man was a bit wary when he did this, so he put his hand up and pulled out the letter Lucy had given him and he assumed the others. He then slid the folded note over to him and then leaned back while taking another drag. He put his boots up on the table and smiled at him.

Reap watched the emotions play out on Martyn's face. Fear, confusion, and finally, recognition.

"So is that mess related to our mission?" Martyn asked. Reap looked partially over his shoulder, at the chaos he had performed inside the shop. Bodies, broken glass, knocked over shelf, and of course the rather large puddle of blood staining the carpet. Looking back at Martyn, Reap just shrugged and headed out the door, sliding his mask back on as he did so. He Felt slight hunger in his stomach but ignored it, more important things were going on.

"All things come with a price, and Ricky over there paid his. As for our mission, i might have gotten a lead on some information on our....targets." He said, because that was how he thought of them. Briefly Reap glanced at the rooftops, before discarding it as a means of travel now that Martyn was with him. "We can pursue the lead, or try to find the others first." Personally Reap was eager to get to the docks, leads came and went as quickly as peace. However, he also knew that finding others would aid the two in the long run.

While he waited for Martyn's answer he focused on identifying the strange feeling that had made its way to his mind. It was almost like a living being, whispering to him. A sort of darkness that could be felt through the rest of his body, one seeking to encase the body and change it in someway. No doubt the 'power' Lucy mentioned giving him. he thought as he felt the strength it possessed. Reap had a feeling he could release it at any time, and see just exactly what it was, but decided to wait a little longer. Their was a right moment for everything, and this was not it.

Noah's stomach clenched. So I was right about all of this. He looked at the two. At closer glance he could tell the one dressed like a man was indeed a female. He cared little for other's...fashion sense. All that mattered at this point was obtaining answers.

"I think we should take this discussion outside," The tomboyish one suggested. She was right. If there were indeed people who were trying to end the world, then being around them and talking about plans to stop them didn't seem like a very bright idea.

"Alright then, please come with me." Even though it sounded like an offer, it was more like an order, as he grabbed the girls by the hands and led them outside. Noah looked around and noticed a small alleyway near them. Leading them to it he released them.

"Let me begin. My name is Noah. I have been dropped in the middle of the city with little to no idea what is going on. All I know is that I have an important job to take care of, and if I'm right, you do to." He paused and took a breath. "Do either of you have any information on the Black Emissaries?" He took a stern look as he asked this question.

Reap seemed pretty nonchalant about the violence that had obviously just passed. Not wanting to seem like too much of a coward, Martyn tried to imitate his indifference as best as possible. With a slight adjustment of his messenger bag, he followed Reap out of the door.

"All things come with a price, and Ricky over there paid his. As for our mission, i might have gotten a lead on some information on our....targets." Martyn gave an impressed nod. "We can pursue the lead, or try to find the others first." Reap continued.

It took Martyn a moment to realize that he was being asked for his opinion.

Martyn scratched his chin thoughtfully as he tried to keep pace with Reap. "Well, that depends. Is the lead solid enough to forego finding the rest of our allies?" He shrugged. "But, regardless of what I think..." He paused for a second, trying to find the right words. "...based on recent evidence, I have come to the firm conclusion that you are somewhat more qualified for this whole job than I am. So, I'll do whatever you decide."

Martyn, having said his piece, fell quiet, and began to idly observe the other pedestrians around them, imagining both what would happen if they followed this lead, as well as how the rest of Lucy's group would turn out.

Riku stared at the cigarette the young Irish man had shoved into his hand in bemusement for a moment, then shrugged and lit up. As he took the first drag, the group of three with demon power exited the restaurant. Well more like the red-head exited, and the other two trailed behind on the ground at the rate they were being dragged. Riku smiled, and followed after them at a casual pace.

The trio walked into an desolate alleyway. Riku just stood by the entrance smoking, ears perked, listening for conversation.
"Let me begin. My name is Noah. I have been dropped in the middle of the city with little to no idea what is going on. All I know is that I have an important job to take care of, and if I'm right, you do to."
Riku nodded his head, and muttered, "Yes, yes, we know this bit..."
"Do either of you have any information on the Black Emissaries?"
"Straight to the point ain't ya..." Riku smiled, and took a deep breath. Everything around him began to slow, but with this slowness, came a darkness. First colors began to fade, then the light. When it was almost pitch black, Riku, using the little light that was left to navigate, rounded the corner, and strolled around the trio into their view. He took a drag of the ciggarette, then with a snap of his fingers, things returned to normal. Normal, except he had moved the distance between them in a mater of picoseconds.
With an exhalation of smoke he spoke, "You know, there's that saying... Something like if you call the devil's name, he shall come... Yeah... That's such a shit introduction, let me have another go... Good day, kind creatures. I'm your welcome wagon, call me Riku, it's less of a mouthful..."

Leon watched the man sit down in front of him and hand a note then place his boots on top of the table in a rather disgusting manner and start smiling all over the place. Without reading the note, he picked up the note and slotted it between his index and middle fingers, furrowed his brow and then spoke to the man.

First, feet off the table. Damn owners paid for this table to be eaten on, not to be your footstool. Respect it. Second, the fuck is this? Some love note?

He slid the note back towards the man and frowned. He didn't like the look of this man nor the way he acted. He let an eye drift towards the girl dressed as a man to check how she was doing before he snapped back to the man in front of him.

I'm starting to get a migraine from this type of light exposure, so I'm sure that whatever I can't read in the note, you can speak. So speak quickly.

He stared the man down now, even if it was through his sunglasses. He lit up a cigarette without breaking the line of sight with the man and took a couple drags before letting it rest in the slot between his index and middle fingers.

"Don't man-handle me," Nate thought, as the young man they met at the restaruant dragged both her and the other girl to the backalley for a chat. "I'm not a rag doll, I can walk on my own." She scowled as she followed them out the heavy metal door and let it close behind them. At least here things seemed more confidential and private. As private as you could get in a bustling city.

She listened with her arms crossed over her chest as the redhaired man spoke. "Let me begin. My name is Noah. I have been dropped in the middle of the city with little to no idea what is going on. All I know is that I have an important job to take care of, and if I'm right, you do to... Do either of you have any information on the Black Emissaries?"

Nate grinned. "Nice to meet you Noah, I'm Nate," she didn't reach a hand forward for him to shake. "And that depends, a little cash and I'll tell you all I know." She quirked her mouth to the side. Well wait, it's not like she really needed any cash anyways, not with that card loaded with money. Plus... "Aish," she scowled and rubbed the back of her head. This lifestyle of hers was going to be hard to let go of, but she knew she'd have to shape up eventually, maybe bring her old reliable and responsible self back for a change. "Ah, nevermind. Sorry, but I have nothing. Don't know where to even begin looking."

But maybe she didn't have to look too far... Not if she knew what she was searching for would find her first instead, like when the lights began to fade, reality seemed to warp itself, and Riku appeared before them. All smoke and mirrors. Nate clenched her fists at her side and held her ground. She felt her heart begin to pound against her chest almost immediately, responding to his presense. What was this feeling? Like an electric current flowing through her.