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April Summers

Come on. Tell me you don't want a piece of this.

0 · 1,744 views · located in Psy Prep

a character in “Psy Prep”, as played by cirrus_sd

Description

Name: April Summers. Born April Rose Livey.

Appearance: Image
An English bombshell, April is as curvy as a Sine graph, and she knows how to work it. She has an athletic build that isn't overly-worked or ripped, but still quite toned and chiseled. She's tall for a girl, at about 5'9", and since she likes her heels, often appears even taller. She has long, flowing, wavy red hair and dark green eyes, a small nose and full lips that are often coated with some sort of gloss. She is long-limbed, particularly her legs, which she likes to flaunt. She takes meticulous care of her body, her skin clear, lips never chapped, her nails always looking recently manicured, her hair done exactly right (even without her styling it), and not an inch of body hair to be seen, ever. She isn't afraid to get down-and-dirty, though, and when she does she still manages to look perfect. Her usual facial expression is a half-lidded expectancy, a seductive smile playing at her lips and her eyes glinting with a strangely attractive sense of danger, as if she were daring you to make a move and try your luck, though chances are it's not in your favor.

Age: 17, nearly 18

Power: April can block the powers of others. She can prevent and and all psychic powers/abilities/enhancements from affecting her in any state of consciousness, and can also lessen the effect of the powers of those near her, regardless of whether they are targeted towards her or not, for as long as they are within her radius of influence (which is currently at 10 feet, though with further development it could expand). Touching someone immediately renders their power ineffective for as long as she is touching them and for a short period of time afterwards (again, as she develops this ability, that time can be lengthened until she could, theoretically, permanently take someone's power away, though she is a long ways off from that).

Unfortunately, due to the method of implantation and her age when it was done, April's body is slowly rejecting her blood, as the serum that granted her powers had combined with it. April was aware of the possibility of this, and is knowledgeable in the symptoms (which include coughing up blood, fainting spells, internal bleeding, and easy bruising), but does not yet know that she is suffering from it yet.

Sexual Preference: Straight

History: April was born to a modest, middle-aged couple in Manchester and grew up without too much trauma in her life. Her father was a butcher, and she learned a great deal about knives and anatomy from him. Her mother was a casual, stay-at-home florist, and had once been very attractive, but didn't age well. However, she did pass on a few beauty tips to her daughter, and would often dress her hair. April's relatively happy life came to an end when she and her parents were involved in a car accident that resulted in her parents' death. She was put in an overly crowded Children's Home. Since no one paid much attention to her, she was free to do what she liked without repercussion. She grew interested in computers, and continued her passion for knives. At the age of 12, the Home went to London on a field trip, but when it came time to leave, April stayed behind. She acquainted herself with the numerous other street children, and found that she could make money by running errands for the numerous mobsters around the city. She kept this up for about two years until she grew interested in the underground cyber-crime ring. She made a name for herself within the organization when she sold out the information of all the gangsters she gophered for. It was here that she met Mikhail for the first time. The two instantly grew attracted to each other, despite a warning from one of her coworkers. April asked him out when he didn't make a move, but he rejected her. Upset and emotions high, she finally did an online search on him. She discovered he was a spy for the Russians, sent to uncover this very crime ring, and she attacked him. He managed to escape, and April herself left before the ring was torn apart by investigation. Since then, she has been working as a hired hand for whatever organization pays her the most.

Personality: April is the ultimate femme fatale. Almost all of her sentimentality has evaporated, due in part to the death of her parents and Mikhail's betrayal. Although she acts the part of the sexy woman in red well, she feels nothing but boredom or slight amusement, and at times disgust or pity, depending on the man. She holds grudges, and is a strong believer in revenge. She isn't new to killing, and has grown desensitized to the deaths she inflicts. She can be cruel and sadistic to those who have wronged her, the biggest offender being Mikhail. She has a dirty sense of humor and a large ego. Most of her personality shifted for the worst after Mikhail, but some traits that have persisted include her secret fear of motor vehicles (which she plays down as a dislike, but she will slowly begin to freak out if you put her in a car), her dislike for rain, her practice of Victorian Flower Language, her quick-wittedness and love of puns, her nervous habit of twisting her hair around her fingers, her refined straight-forwardness, and, though she is trying hard to get rid of this one, her dreamy idealism. If you can get past her thorny exterior, she makes for a good listener, even if she doesn't look like it, and is good at giving honest analysis. If you really want to hear the truth, she'll give it to you, but depending on the situation, she'll make you work for it. She is quite good at lying, and has a good enough memory that she can remember the stories she tells, preventing inconsistencies. She isn't much for friends currently, as she finds most people pathetic and/or boring. She's good at faking any emotion, so it's difficult to tell what she's really feeling. She speaks with a Manchester accent, but can speak in any English accent convincingly. She is also conversationally fluent in Russian and French. Despite her extreme denial, she still harbors strong feelings for Mikhail.

Equipment

Psychic!

So begins...

April Summers's Story

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Mikhail Petrov Character Portrait: Zara Rodsky Character Portrait: Adrien King Character Portrait: Zoe Find Character Portrait: Axel Lerate Character Portrait: Hallie Green
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Chandler

Adrien returned his greeting while Danny started talking about soda. Chandler smiled at them both, saying, "Anything to drink would be looooovely," emphasizing the "ooo" instead of a normal "o" sound. He munched on a bite of pancake, imagining some orange juice would satisfy him the most. His eyes however distracted such thoughts of citruses.

Hallie was smiling, wider than he had ever seen. Back home, she had been a quiet girl for the most part (if not dancing on tables of course). It was a pretty sight, the entire reunion was. Now, James and April's little show, well...that wasn't as much. Chandler had half a mind to teleport to the hall and call it off before anything could happen, but knew he couldn't with April being at the destination. Who knew what would happen if he tried to teleport and suddenly his powers didn't work...strange images swirled in his head, his limbs mangled and confused at where they fit in with his anatomy...

His eyes switched back to Hallie, who suddenly had several questions posed to her at once from Liesel and Adrien. The white-haired girl blinked strangely, in her own little world with Mikhail. Chandler chuckled. She answered, "I'm Hallie. Nice to meet you." Her hazel eyes flickered to where April had been sitting, seeing she had gone. She faced Adrien then. "And the school's quiet. New guy though. Axel. He has some sort of aura and...I don't understand it. But Anna's back too. She was sick." Hallie's face lightened a little more. "Wasn't she your roommate?"

Chandler was interested in this new student. He remembered a little from Mikhail's phone conversation with her yesterday, but hardly anything helpful. He decided not to ask though, Hallie's hazel eyes turning to Mikhail again with a wide smile returning.

She looked so happy.

An empty feeling dropped into Chandler's gut. He missed home. He missed his friends. He missed his games. Glancing around the group, he knew he had found a niche here, on pretty good terms with everyone here but...nothing concrete. It felt too loose, too sudden still.

"I'll be right back," he said to no one and left the room.

Just down the hall, he noticed James' bronze hair disappearing into a room, a redhead following him. Lips tight, Chandler turned the opposite way. This way revealed his roommate Zoe disappearing into another room. Strange, he hadn't noticed her leaving. Carefully, he approached and knocked on the door. "You okay?" he asked.


James

He chose the room, with the bed, the closed curtains, the dim lights. No words were spoken. His smiled lessened, doubts swirling in his mind, but blood not churning in that direction. Briefly, he wondered where to start. But didn't think long. His fingers found her neck, a gentle push bringing her chin up to his, lips touching lightly. She smelled like some sort of flowers, or soap. He wasn't sure.

James deepened the kiss and decided to wait for any signal from her. Although he liked taking the lead in the bedroom, a girl's desires were more important to him.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: April Summers Character Portrait: James Black
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April

Naturally, April returned the kiss, but her thoughts were far from romantic, or even affectionate.

As she pushed him up against the wall, grinding her hips into his as she continued kissing him, she wondered what to do with him. For a while she contemplated doing the same thing to him as she had done to Zara. That would make 2 people unable to live without her, or at least the drug she had injected in them. But if the othets were to find James suddenly unconscious, everything would point to her so blatantly that she wouldn't be able to wriggle out of it. Plus she had surprise on her side with Zara. James would certainly remember if she had done it.

Then she considered poisoning him in other ways. As she began frenching him, she debated whether her toxic lipstick was worth the combined risk of retrieving it subtley and not accidentally ingesting the poison herself. Of course, she could always slip a drug into his food or drink, but that could get sloppy quite easily. Then there was the option of just killing him right now and blaming it on some rather unfortunate accident. She disregarded that thought quickly. James was one of the few people who didn't think she was completely evil. With Mikhail here, she'd need an ally. James was worth more alive than dead.

That left only one option. She'd have to make this the absolute best makeout session in his entire life. Withold the sex, but arouse him enough to make him want more. If she played her cards right, he'd come back for more. And she'd give it to him, but only if he did what she wanted. James had to be addicted to her.

April slowed her kissing, but continued moving her hips. She reached a hand under his shirt upwards to his chest before sliding downwards towsrds his pants...

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Mikhail Petrov Character Portrait: Zara Rodsky Character Portrait: Zoe Find Character Portrait: Hallie Green Character Portrait: April Summers Character Portrait: James Black
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James

Her reaction...needless to say...pleased him.

As he slender hand ventured south, he took matters into his own hands. Fingers grasping deep into her shoulders, he guided her backwards until she fell back onto the mattress that joined them. He smiled down to her at first, soaking in the moment and the gorgeous girl before him. A small shimmer of doubt sprang up in the back of his mind, in a corner he would never have listened to...

...if he hadn't have made a promise to his parents.

But what did that matter? He was an adult (almost) and knew how to take care of himself. Plus, he had a condom. He always had one. Just in case. Never knew what would spring up when boys and girls lived together. So, he was responsible. There.

He did barely know her. And Mikhail didn't trust her. Could he trust her?

Leaning back down, hips meeting hers again, he returned to kissing to shut up his thoughts. His hands grasped her wrists and held them tight above her head. Her floral scents dissolved any other thoughts he may have had. Abruptly, he stood up and tore his shirt off, blue crystal bouncing off of his chest excitedly. But he ignored it. No warnings or distractions were emitting from the crystal. All thanks to April.


Chandler

He did enter, thoughts drifting between James and April then to the others in the living room, until he saw Zoe. As always, she seemed lost in own world, thoughts amusing her slightly it appeared. She never spoke, well, rarely, not never. He closed the door and saw her touching the hem of her peach colored shirt. He liked the color on her, liking the color peach anyway, but her pale skin seemed a little warmer with the slight orange there.

"Not hungry?" he asked. When they first met, she had said she was "unlikeable." In that moment, Chandler felt guilty for not trying harder to befriend her. He crossed the room and sat on the bed. "Or are you hiding again?" Grinning, he patted the spot beside him, expecting her to ignore the offer.

He wondered internally about his own sudden feeling of loneliness and emptiness. It was strange, yes, but was this how Zoe felt? All the time? Not fun, at all. His grin slipped slightly with these thoughts and he added, "Or do I smell bad?"


Hallie

Her fingers snaked into Mikhail's, thumb running along the glove there. It wasn't warm, but it was Mikhail. She smiled to him. A thought occurred to her, seeing him here. Smiling. Radiant. Adorable. Russian. She giggled. Just that one night apart had twisted her heart terribly she realized and she needed him more than she thought.

Biting her lip, she glanced around, then whispered to Mikhail, "Is it okay if we go somewhere private? Or should you stay with Zara?"

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Mikhail Petrov Character Portrait: Zara Rodsky Character Portrait: Hallie Green Character Portrait: April Summers Character Portrait: James Black
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April

She smiled slightly at the shirtless boy. Not a bad sight. Though him holding her down was a tad bit unnerving. She preferred being on top. For a moment she wrestled with the idea of getting it back to her preference, but perhaps doing it how he liked for now would entice him more? Besides, she needed to know what he liked anyways to lure him in. Though most men weren't picky about these types of things.

Her shirt was still on, though the tank top wasn't much of a shirt. As they tongued, she debated whether or not to keep the bra on or not. Did she want him to reach 2nd base yet? Maybe just a flash...but not all the way. She'd also need to find some way to end it abruptly in a way that would leave him begging for more, but not make it too blunt. Until then, she hooked her legs behind his back and pulled him closer to her. His necklace--a blue crystal--dangled tantalizingly in front of her, and April quickly decided that this was her ultimate goal. She didn't exactly know what it did, but it had to be pretty important. She wrestled one of her wrists from his grasp and tugged on his bare back, arching up her own to meet him halfway.

Mikhail

Somewhere private? To talk or something else?

He looked at Zara, who had barely touched her pancakes. That was definitely not normal. Unless she was feeling nauseous. "Let me make sure she's feeling okay, first," he whispered back as he got up from the couch.

"Hey. Zara," he put a hand on her shoulder. Lazily, she looked up at him. Her eyes weren't as glazed over as before, but there was still something off about her. Like she wasn't all there. "Are you okay? You hardly ate your breakfast."

"Don't feel like eating," she mumbled. And yawned. "I've been feeling really strange. Maybe I should go back to sleep?"

"You sure?" he asked, concerned. "You're still tired?"

Zara nodded, getting out of the chair. "Maybe I'm not tired, but I still think I should lay in bed...for a while...."

Mikhail helped her out, and for once, led her down the hallway. He thought he heard some sounds coming from one of the rooms, but he ignored it after realizing it might be April.

"You sure you'll be fine?" he asked, lingering in the doorway as Zara laid out on the bed.

"Yeah," she said, waving at him, "I just....I just need to sort things out in my head."

"Okay...." Mikhail still dawdled. Zara laughed, a fragment of her typical laugh, "Go back to Hallie. I know you missed her. She missed you too."

Mikhail couldn't help but smile. "I feel bad, though, leaving you here."

"If you don't leave, I'll make you feel bad."

This time Mikhail laughed. That comment was unmistakably Zara. He obliged, "okay, okay" and shut the door.

His pace quickened slightly as he returned to Hallie. Taking her hand, he informed her "Zara's taking a nap or meditating or something. Either way, she didn't want me there. So. Did you want to go somewhere?" He winked, straight face tugging into a smile.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Mikhail Petrov Character Portrait: Zoe Find Character Portrait: Hallie Green Character Portrait: April Summers Character Portrait: James Black Character Portrait: Chandler Makey
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Chandler

She actually sat down beside him. He grinned, glad he was making progress and leaned away only slightly so he could still see her face. "So...you're a musician...you don't like games much...What else should I know about Zoe?" he questioned, snapping his fingers once. "We're roommates. We should have done this the first night. Now c'mon! I'll ask a question then you can ask me anything too, okay?"

Laughing a little, he started right away. "Favorite memory at a restaurant. Go."


James

If his crystal had been able to get a message to him, it would have burned a hole right through his skin.

As it was, James continued moving his tongue this way and that expertly, rocking gently to an unheard beat. He liked music during session like this. The rhythms helped and made it interesting when the song changed abruptly. Especially dubstep. He almost laughed at a few memories.

But in the present, his hands gracefully slid down her sides to the hem of her shirt. Leaning back, he began tearing the cloth over her head, red locks cascading back down around her face like a fiery waterfall. He felt tight. Lips smacking against hers once more, he decided to speed thing along.

He pulled her into a seated position, fingers fumbling with the back clasp of her bra as the heat of their combined bodies rose up around them like a bubble of pleasure.


Hallie

Leading him to an empty room, she sat him down on a mattress and took the seat beside him. She had questions about the redhead. She had questions about Zara's mysterious state. But sitting beside him like she was, all those worries melted away again.

"I missed you..." she stated, sounding almost surprised. Realizing how it must seem, she stood up, stomach fluttering. "It's been one night and...I don't know...is it wrong to feel weird?" Even asking this felt strange. She used to never confide in anyone. Now she wholeheartedly asked Mikhail personal questions, wanted his opinion on aspects on her own life. Spending one night away brought up all her previous doubts from before. What was wrong with her? Weren't things fine?

She started pacing, which was a bad idea. After three steps, her thigh protested and she limply fell against the wall in surprise. "Dammit," she sighed, standing straight again. She must look like a mad person. "I just...I missed you."

Returning to the bed, she kissed him hard, fingers tangling into his hair and breaths quickening. Suddenly only one course of action occurred to her, but...she knew Mikhail probably didn't think the same.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Mikhail Petrov Character Portrait: Zara Rodsky Character Portrait: Hallie Green Character Portrait: April Summers Character Portrait: James Black
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Zara

She stared up at the ceiling, guiltily enjoying this blanket-like feeling around her. That was the only way she could really describe it. She felt protected, shielded from anything. If she fell off the bed, she probably wouldn't even feel it.

Still, her consciousness was starting to return to her, and she wondered what exactly she was feeling. Was it drugs? How did she get drugs in her system? Was it the chloroform? Or something else? She vaguely remembered being on morphine many years ago, when she had hit her head. It was similar to this...but she had only been on it for a little bit. She liked to think she had a high pain tolerance. But this...this felt nice....maybe she was on morphine. Maybe they gave her morphine to help with the chloroform? Did that even make sense? Where would they get morphine? Maybe there was morphine in the walls. That would make sense. Maybe she could find it....

Zara rolled out of the bed and walked around the room, knocking on the walls. In reality, she was knocking pretty hard, but to her she barely felt it, and it sounded far away. Once she tripped, but she didn't feel that either, and just sat on the floor, dazed and smiling, before stretching out on the floor, tapping on the wood to see if there was any hidden morphine there as well.

April

When she felt James's hands on her bra, April knew she'd have to wrap things up quickly. He was already hard--she could feel that--which meant she really didn't have to progress things further. She'd hit her first mark. Still, she wondered how to cut this off without coming across as a total bitch. Which she didn't exactly mind, but she wanted to keep her desirability up there...

Just as April's bra came undone, her phone vibrated. Its timing could not have been more perfect. April stayed on James briefly before pulling away. She still kept up the sitting position, and as she reached for her phone, the straps loosened and fell around her shoulders, exposing....well, enough. She smirked slightly as James stared, and read the message. Apparently the outer forces had finally stopped shooting. She tapped out of the message, sighed reluctantly, and waved the phone by her head as she edged off of James and the bed.

"Sorry," she said apologetically, clipping the bra back on, "But I have to go talk to Liesel. However..." she reached for her shirt behind James, enclosing him in a half-embrace with one arm grabbing the shirt and the other pressing down on his thighs, and whispered in his ear, "I'd love to continue this at another, more convenient time." She teasingly spread her fingers towards his crotch before pulling completely away. She tugged the shirt on, fixed her hair, and left the room.

Mikhail

Mikhail gave a small shout when Hallie fell, jumping to his feet. But Hallie stood up again, not appearing to be in too much pain. Just as he was about to tell her that he missed her a lot as well, Hallie interrupted with her lips.

As her fingers curled through his hair, Mikhail felt a tugging in his gut and those little electric sparks starting firing. He ran his own fingers through her white locks, moving one hand to the base of her neck, where he caressed her jawline with his gloved thumb. It had only been a day, a night of separation. The last time they had made out wasn't very long ago either, a matter of days. But his fear and concern for her, the violent way she had been taken down, and the sexual tension between him and April made this moment all the more passionate.

Mikhail sat back down on the bed, and leaned back as if he were resting against an invisible cushion, Hallie still on top. Using his powers drew his mind away from the kissing for a bit, and he wondered how far they would take it. He doubted a mission was the appropriate time or place for much further, especially in the daytime!, and to top that, he didn't have any condoms on him. Not that he'd ever used them. The condoms Zara had given him were buried in his sock drawer back at Psy Prep. To be honest, he often didn't bring them so that he'd have an excuse not to go all the way. Not just for Hallie--who had really never been too pushy about it--but for himself. He didn't know why, but he just couldn't bring himself to go all the way. Maybe it was morals, or habit, or something else, but sex had been off the table for the past few years, and it would stay off the table. At least for the time being.

Still, there was no reason he couldn't just enjoy this. He began french kissing, something he knew he was good at, and began rubbing her back. "I...missed you too...a lot..." he said in between kisses, "And...no...I don't think....it's wrong....to feel weird..." He pulled her closer for a deep kiss, and as he took his breath he added, "You're perfectly fine the way you are."

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Mikhail Petrov Character Portrait: Hallie Green Character Portrait: April Summers Character Portrait: James Black
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James

The end was abrupt. James, embarrassingly, gave a conceding nod, a "o...kay" and stood there in the room alone, scratching the back of his neck. Things seemed to be going so well. Stupid cell phones.

What he did get to see peaked his interest. Very. Much. But, he admitted with a sigh, perhaps it wasn't meant to be. He knew that this was not the time, or place, and probably not the girl. Distantly he recalled Arian earlier in their stay at Psy Prep. It was the same feeling. Dislocation. Not nearly the match he needed. He felt like a square peg trying to push inside a circle hole. He laughed, then shook his head. Not the best image.

So he fell back on the mattress with a long, low sigh. Though moments before he had been about to have sex, he felt tired and uninterested in his surroundings. Something dulled his sense quickly. Was it defeat? Loneliness? Or was he really that conflicted about his situation that it tired him out?

Whatever it was, he ignored it and rolled over to rest his head on a pillow.


Hallie

His words helped little in her desires. She could feel his hesitation still though, wavelengths wavering between action and escape. It was a turn-off, for sure. Feeling his reluctance over and over wasn't helping her esteem at all. She wanted to understand, but it had been two weeks already. Wasn't that enough time?

Internally, she sighed and knew that she shouldn't push. They were different. While she knew sex was special, she had a need for it that Mikhail seemed to be able to not conceive of. He held it on a pedestal where it definitely belonged. The intertwining of bodies and release was a special, even glorious thing. She shouldn't try to force it and ruin it.

Pulling out of the kiss, she gave him a tiny smile. It was hard though, him looking the way he did, the alone-ness around them, the inappropriate location and timing. But his intentions were so pure. He would never go for it.

Somewhere else in the mansion she heard a faint knocking sound. Was someone seriously at the door? Facing the door, she sighed. A distraction was probably good.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Mikhail Petrov Character Portrait: Zara Rodsky Character Portrait: Hallie Green Character Portrait: Liesel Engel Character Portrait: April Summers Character Portrait: James Black
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Zara

Zara continued tapping, down the hall, eyes wide and delusional. It was here, it had to be here! The drug...there were drugs in this place for sure! She could almost taste it! But these colors were so distracting...she shut her eyes finally and let her feet do all the looking.

Suddenly Zara heard a different sound. A hollow sound. She didn't know what it was, but it was different, so it had to be the one! She slid her fingers down the wood, feeling the grooves swallow her fingertips, until cold metal clashed against her skin. She felt the strange thing blindly. What was it? So smooth. She clasped it with both hands and twisted. She felt movement, and even though she fell hard onto her knees from the weight against the door, she didn't feel the pain. It was as if she had randomly teleported onto the ground. Had she turned into Chandler? Could she teleport now? Her knees scraped against the wood, travelling with the door until she was stretched across the door frame, still clutching the knob. Splinters stuck in them, but she didn't know. She didn't care. She let go and hit the ground with a thud, but the wood felt like a pillow, and the world had slowed down. The door grew taller and taller, and Zara felt smaller and smaller.

Were her eyes open? When did that happen?

She swiveled her head around, a dangerous task, and the room spun around twelve times until skidding to a stop. She blinked, and smiled when she recognized who was in front of her. Even in her drugged state, her power could still function....somewhat.

"Jaaaaaaaaaaaaamesssssss" Zara said with a giggle, extending the name. "JaaaAAAmmmessss.....Mmmmmmmmeeesssss" She grinned, completely forgetting that she was looking for drugs, and stumbled to her feet. "Mmmmmmmmmmmm" She held out a hand, "Will you dance with me?"

Mikhail

Hallie pulled away and was staring at the door. Mikhail wondered why until he heard a tapping. It sounded like it was below them, but he wasn't sure. Maybe it was April and James going at it? He grimaced.

Still, he wasn't sure why Hallie ended the kiss shorter than usual. He would have been all for continuing, but she seemed put off by something.

Was it April?

Mikhail sighed. Well, now that she was here, he might as well inform her about her. It was only fair.

"You must be wondering about April," Mikhail started, his tone a bit rueful as he rubbed Hallie's back, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about her before. At least, not directly. I just never thought I'd see her again." He sighed again before continuing, "She was an old..friend of mine, I guess. We never got past that. But we're not so much friends anymore. It wasn't really meant to be." As he remembered their good times, stuck in that teenage romance, he couldn't help but feel some sort of regret. If only he had been more truthful with April, maybe they wouldn't be like this. Then again, maybe he wouldn't be with Hallie right now either. Maybe he would have never met her. He stiffened slightly at the thought, and he gripped her shoulder a bit tighter.

"You shouldn't worry about her too much, though," he said, relaxing and smiling, "She's not the same anymore. I can see it in her eyes. So long as we're together, we should be able to keep each other safe. I know I'll need you hella lot!" He ducked his face into her neck and nuzzled his nose playfully into her collar bone before smooching it. "You're my wonderful little star, and April doesn't stand a chance against you!"

April

April found Liesel on the couch, playing PacMan and looking clearly agitated. "Come on," April said, grabbing Liesel's arm and half-dragging her to their room.

Inside, she shut the door and locked it. "So a ceasefire, huh?" she asked, hands on her hips, "What are we supposed to do now? What do they expect us to do? Mikhail's already suspicious as fuck, and Hallie probably is too. It won't be long before everyone is upon us. We might have James, but I don't know. I wasn't really putting my all into that case, if you know what I mean." April flopped down onto her chair, fingers pressed against her forehead. She glared at Liesel, who seemed to have this guilty air about her. April rolled her eyes.

"And what have you been up to, Miss Angel?" she demanded, "You look like a puppy just got drinking out of the toilet bowl. What's up with you?"

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Character Portrait: Adrien King Character Portrait: Liesel Engel Character Portrait: April Summers
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Liesel

Liesel was tugged away from her game by April, she had gotten a text of the ceasefire as well. "The ceasefire just means we don't have much time left, probably one day, two at most," she said. "But I texted them, they're going to send reinforcements, but when fighting against mutants normal humans could go out really quickly..." she said, her tongue sticking out in thought. Liesel really didn't know what to do..."It's Danny," she said, sighing "He's growing more and more suspicious of us and he's probably gonna start making Arian suspicious as well, they're in a relationship so information will spread through them easily" Liesel stated.

"Well, there's always a possibility for James, Adrien, Chandler, and Zoe to come onto our side," she stated after hearing Aprils comment about her and James. "Maybe..." she started, gears moving in her head, "Maybe, we can play a game?" She suggested, exhausted "Like poker or something, I dunno, something just to calm their suspicions, a time for us to all have fun," She said, it was the best she could come up with. She waited for Aprils response.

Adrien

Adrien rolled around completely bored on the couch. Everyone was gone and he had nothing to do. He sat back up, tapping his foot on the floor. He wondered what Annabel was doing back at the school. She hoped she was okay. He also thought about the new student, trying to come up with what he might be like. What if he and Annabel grew really close and he was still left as the lone person. He had to admit, this mission was really sucking, there was absolutely nothing to do, and no one to talk to. Hanging upside down, he began conjuring random tiny little things, like toy cars and other items to play with.

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Character Portrait: Liesel Engel Character Portrait: April Summers
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April rolled her eyes when Liesel mentioned Danny. “Oh, dear God,” she groaned. “And why did he get suspicious? What did you do? Don’t tell me you tried to seduce him…especially done up like that.” She gestured at Liesel. It wasn’t that Liesel was ugly, but she was too cutesy. Trying to pull a, well, an ‘April’ so to speak on a guy would just be weird.

“Great, just great,” April said. “So now there’re at least four people on our ass, and it’s going to spread. I dunno. Maybe you can get Adrien, because he seems harmless enough, and maybe we have Zoe, but that’s it. James and Chandler seem too close to Mikhail and Hallie to do much convincing—unless we’re really damn flawless about it—so we’re screwed.” And then, of course, there was Zara. Maybe drugging her so quickly wasn’t the best idea. Once Mikhail—or whoever—found out she was drugged, it would be all over for April. She wouldn’t blame them if they tied her up for it. Even so, though, April wasn’t going to give up hope on Zara yet. Perhaps she had underestimated their abilities—she honestly hadn’t been expecting anyone to find her for at least a day—but Oxycontin was a hell of a drug…it would be a matter of time before Zara would come crawling back for more.

April rolled her eyes at Liesel’s comment about a game. “Poker? With you? Please. Hardly anyone is sold on our ‘victim’ spiel. I doubt anyone will be sold on an innocent game either, especially with a world class cheat.” Though, speaking of abilities… “I think a more productive way to spend our time would be figuring out who can do what. I know it doesn’t matter for me, but if they’re really suspicious, they’re going to come after you. Especially if they’ve got a mind reader!”

April started pacing the room, tugging on her hair, “Now, I know they’ve got a teleporter. That’s Chandler. And James has this weird crystal around his neck. I think Mikhail mentioned something about ‘reading’, but I’m not sure. And I have no clue what Mikhail’s ability is, but…I have a feeling it’s telekinesis or something along those lines. And that’s all I know. Damnit!” April was frustrated now. The news of the ceasefire and more suspicious people was beginning to stress her out. She hadn’t signed up for this. Especially not with Mikhail on board. Though getting revenge on him would be sweet, would she even be able to with the fucking Justice League he brought along?

Some dust must have been stirred around in the air from her constant pacing, and April started coughing. Her fit didn’t stop easily, though, and as her coughs worsened, she hurried to the bathroom, slamming the door behind her and locking it. Old man coughs wracked her body, and her green eyes widened fearfully. What was going on??

Finally the coughing died down, but as April pulled her hands away from her mouth, blood speckled her cupped palms. “Shit,” she whispered. This was not good at all. They had told her there was a possibility that because of her age, her blood might not take to the serum well. She had been injected months ago, but apparently the fit wasn’t perfect. April washed her hands quickly, trying to erase the spots of blood, but her mind wasn’t calmed in the slightest. With this entire situation, they’d need a miracle to pull it together successfully. And with the footsteps coming towards their room, April didn't need to ask Liesel to know that the probability of that was very, very slim.

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Characters Present

Character Portrait: Mikhail Petrov Character Portrait: Zara Rodsky Character Portrait: Zoe Find Character Portrait: Hallie Green Character Portrait: April Summers Character Portrait: James Black
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Chandler

He laughed. "Never had a coke? Well...good!" Falling back on the mattress, he touched her shoulder and put on a half-serious face. "Because it's the devil." Laughing more, he felt a little better, the moment passing. In fact, he felt a little restless actually. Standing abruptly, he held out a hand and said, "Wanna go exploring?"


Hallie

Mikhail explained more about April. She felt better with each word, not surprising. Any time she felt weird or bad, Mikhail always helped. Always. She gazed into his eyes for a silent moment, smiling softly, musing about their time together, going over every moment that passed her mind's eyes like a movie on fast forward. Nearly laughing, remembering the flowers, she felt her cheeks reddening. Before Psy Prep, her flirting with guys had been driven by their emotions, not hers. Now that she had control of her power, Mikhail's emotions were beside hers, not affecting them, just sitting innocently there, twisting happily right now.

"You're my wonderful little star..." his mouth ended, the rest of the words blurring a little. Hallie smiled wider and hugged him tightly, feeling so small. If anything happened to him, she wasn't sure what she would do. Just the thought brought tears to her eyes, but she pressed her face into his shoulder to wipe them away before he could see.

"And you're my Misha," she giggled, pulling away and pecking him on the cheek. The wavelengths radiating from him like sun beams, strengthened and she couldn't help it. Pressing her lips to his, she pushed him onto the mattress and clung to his shirt with all of her strength, kiss deepening still. It seemed like nothing could distract her now, only Mikhail wrapping around her mind in a protective hug.


James

He jolted, hearing his name. Blearily, he raised his eyes, seeing Zara there. Not normal Zara either. Was she high?

"Whoa," he let out, hurrying to his feet and catching her arm while she was teetering on the spot. "Dance? Uh...why don't we...sit?" Leading her to the mattress, he wiped at his eyes, trying to focus on the situation rather than sleep or April. The blue crystal on his bare chest started warming up, a single word zipping across his mind.

Oxycotin.

If he knew anything about the drug, which was little but he did take a weird health class in high school that one took a weird turn in discussion, he knew that bad side effects could occur with the dosage that she obviously had. "Why did you take Oxycotin?" he wondered out loud, because she clearly wasn't going to be able to answer her clearly.

He wrapped his hand around the crystal and searched for the source, thinking of the basement, eyes trained on Zara's worryingly. If it was someone here they had to act. Now. Was Mikhail right? Could it have been...

April.

Red hot pokers seemed to bury themselves in James' stomach. But he could deal with that later.

Taking Zara by the hand, he led her down the hall and straight to the room where Hallie and Mikhail were, thanks to his crystal. (he noted to himself the quickness of his power under pressure. It was a good thing. He liked it very much, but had to focus.)

Hallie was straddling Mikhail and things were probably heading in a direction that James nearly went with April not too long ago, but he ignored it, quickly saying, "It was April. Its Oxycotin." His eyes went to Zara's face, his usual determined Polish face now twisted into a drugged grin. "What should we do?" His eyes never left hers.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Mikhail Petrov Character Portrait: Zara Rodsky Character Portrait: Hallie Green Character Portrait: Liesel Engel Character Portrait: April Summers Character Portrait: James Black
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Zara

The world seemed to speed up suddenly, and the hallway zoomed past her as she flew down it, following James closely. She was hardly aware that she was holding his hand.

Zara blinked, and now she was in another room. She saw Mikhail, and Hallie, combining into one person before separating. Like amoebas. Asexual reproduction. She giggled at the thought. She heard words spoken as if she was underwater. “….ril….ksy…COATin….” Coat in where? “The wardrobe?” Zara smiled. The witch will get you! she said, but no one heard it because the words never left her mind. No one laughed. She thought it was funny. She’d laugh instead. Ha ha ha!

Like a switch, Zara suddenly felt dizzy. She felt herself sway slightly, but caught herself appropriately. So she thought. In actuality, she nearly fell over, bringing James with her. All these faces appeared in front of hers. It was too close. Mikhail filled her entire vision, his brown eyes wide. He spoke, and in a brief moment of clarity, she heard “…with her pupils? Zara…..” before it fizzed out again. Like a fly. Or a bee. Beeee gooood.

Zara giggled, but changed expressions when a sudden churning erupted in her stomach. She felt sick. Was the floor rocking? Was she actually on a boat? Her face paled, and before she could stop herself, she vomited on the floor in front of her. The half of a pancake she had eaten hours earlier stared back at her, wondering why she didn’t eat the other half. Did she have to be so cruel to separate the two lovers? She started crying. “I broke them apart!” she sobbed, “They were meant to be!” The song from Titanic played in her head, and she cried harder, “Both of them could have fit!” She didn’t realize throughout it all that she was still gripping James’s hand firmly.

In another instant, she was flying again. Out of the room. Mikhail was speeding like a bullet train down the hallway. Light gushed into her vision, like blood in the Shining, and Zara stood stoicly, like a queen, taking it all in. Observing it. Let them eat cake. She briefly saw a blur that resembled Arian, and waved regally. No time for peasants. She was off to the ball. There would be wrestling, and she didn’t want to miss that.

April

The knocking gave it away, but April knew she had been found out when Mikhail started interrogating Liesel.

“Where is she?? Where the hell is she??”

A small smile broke through April’s face. She clearly hadn’t thought this through at all.

With a sigh, she glanced up at the mirror, wincing at the face that looked back. That one coughing fit sure did a number on her. Her eyes were watery, and her face looked just at tad haggard. Or maybe I’m just being hard on myself she thought through the incessant banging on the bathroom door. She was, after all, used to looking perfect.
The door suddenly crushed inwards on itself, and through the mirror, April saw Mikhail standing behind it, shoulders heaving and breathing hard.

Despite every intention in her mind and body, April felt her heart drop. In that split second, she wanted nothing more than to run to him, hold him, kiss him, make him hers. But the pain of past memories, her recently added mission, and her hardened heart took over and smothered that treacherous thought.

“What did you do to her?” Mikhail demanded darkly. April didn’t turn around, but she noticed Hallie next to him. Eyes on her reflection, she smirked slightly.

“Nothing yet,” she replied.

“I’m talking about Zara,” Mikhail said, clearly not amused. She saw him hold Hallie closer. “What did you do to Zara?”

April sighed. “I have a feeling you already know, hence why you’re here.” She turned around, finally, and leaned against the counter, palms down to hide any traces of the blood she had been coughing up earlier.

“Why did you do it then? Why would you drug her? What the hell is wrong with you??” Mikhail’s voice grew louder with each question, and she thought she detected a waver.

She didn’t answer, and only smiled. This agitated Mikhail more, and amidst his anger, she could see a desperation in his eyes. Almost fear. She had never seen Mikhail scared before. Was this torturing him? She remembered Vlad’s words, and smiled more. That’s right. She could torture him all she wanted. She began laughing. Mikhail just looked at her stonily before turning away.

“We’re leaving,” he said, “This time for good.” He nodded towards James. “We need to find Chandler.”

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Mikhail Petrov Character Portrait: Zara Rodsky Character Portrait: Zoe Find Character Portrait: Hallie Green Character Portrait: April Summers Character Portrait: James Black
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James

He held Zara's hand as tight as she held his, though she didn't appear to know it was his hand she was holding. That didn't matter though. She was out of it. Way out. She wasn't Zara. James wouldn't say it out loud, though Hallie could probably tell, he was scared for her.

Mikhail confronted April afterwards, James hardly able to keep up with everything. His thoughts still circled Zara when Mikhail said they needed to find Chandler. "What?" he said, eyes suddenly falling on April. Only minutes before he had been fantasizing about her. And now...now he saw the same girl, same curves, same hair...but it wasn't...right. "All right," he said, just to say something, to prove he was coherent, and took off down the hall. "Chandler!" he yelled.


Hallie

Hallie did her best. Mikhail's anger ripped through her so hard that her head pulsed at once behind the eyes. A sharp, repetitive stabbing. She followed him, absorbing what she could so he could speak clearly. But around April her ability wavered. The closer they got, the less she could control. Hallie fought and fought, hand shooting up to her head as the aching went to her vision. She saw spots.

She followed James out, sucking in a sharp breath and limping as her leg gave out. Not paying attention to it, she had stepped normally, the stitches probably opening. Sliding down the wall, she held her head, the hall spinning.

"Chandler!" James yelled again.

Hallie pointed down the opposite side of the mansion. "Down there," she said softly. "He's down there. With Zoe." The odd coupling didn't even cross her mind. She had her own anger to deal with as well.

April drugged Zara? April looked ten times hotter than she did? April was a spy too? April could nullify powers? April had feelings for Mikhail?

This was the kind of situation she would have avoided in her past life. Drama. Her most unfavorite thing. Hallie smacked herself internally for using such a word, but she couldn't think straight right now.


Chandler

Her heard James' shouts and turned from Zoe abruptly from surprise. "Wha..." he breathed, then faced her again. "C'mon." He led the way out and found James down on the other side of the hall with a distraught looking Hallie. "What's going on?"

"We're leaving," James said darkly. "Round everyone up."

"What? What happened?"

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Mikhail Petrov Character Portrait: Zara Rodsky Character Portrait: Hallie Green Character Portrait: April Summers Character Portrait: James Black Character Portrait: Chandler Makey
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Mikhail

He wasn't sure if leaving April by herself was the smartest thing, but right now he felt that if he stayed in the same room as her for too long, he'd do something he'd regret. Angry didn't even begin to cover what he was feeling right now. An uncomfortable pit was growing in his stomach, along with a strange sensation of something looming in the back of his mind. Like something he had kept shut was opening again. He recognized it from a few weeks ago, but couldn't pinpoint it. Either way, it wasn't good.

So Mikhail left her. He went out into the hallway, trying to distance himself and calm down. Intending to comfort and hoping to be comforted. Judging from Hallie's expression, April's ability hit her hard. And of course there was Zara. He felt torn between the two. Internally he shouted at himself for what had happened to Zara. He couldn't believe he didn't realize it before. This whole time he thought it was just an after-effect of the chloroform. He should have been more attentive. He wanted to punch himself in the face for it, though Zara dry-heaving did it for him.

He knelt down in front of her when she 'finished' and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight. Her head nodded and it sounded like she was trying to say something, but he couldn't make it out. Though her eyes were half-lidded, he could still see her pupils, scarily contracted. He pulled her closer to him until her head was in his chest, his back arched protectively over her. He thought about carrying her over to where Hallie was so he could attend to both of them, but Mikhail felt paralyzed by the realization that all this was really happening. He couldn't move. He didn't know what to do, and as the adrenaline died away, Mikhail felt truly afraid.

"What?" Chandler's voice echoed down the hall, "What happened?"

Mikhail gulped. His throat was suddenly dry, and he felt his heart beat faster. He didn't want to cry, not now, but he couldn't help it. He had tried so hard to keep Zara safe, to protect her, and he had failed. Was it because he was distracted? Inept? Incapable? Apathetic? No, not that. Bowing his head, he couldn't answer Chandler, and his shoulders shook as he cried silently.

April

After Mikhail left, April exhaled, long and hard. Although there was a smile on her face, her 'happiness' was shallow. The only thing she could be possibly happy about was the fact that she had hurt Mikhail with what she had done. And she would continue to hurt him. It was an order, after all. One she would follow gleefully.

Underneath that, though, she was beginning to panic. Leaving? How? Would they try to teleport again? It wasn't long before she heard Chandler's voice down the hall. Clearly he was clueless to everything.

A plan to buy time evolved in April's mind, and she acted quickly. Stepping out of her room, she strutted quickly and purposefully past Mikhail and Hallie and made a beeline for Chandler. Bypassing James, she grabbed the brunette by his shirt and pushed his face down to hers with her other hand, keeping contact with his skin. Before anyone could react, she forced her lips onto his and concentrated. If things went her way, she'd be able to buy a night. If not, then at least a few hours before Chandler could even think about teleporting.

She could feel something drawing into her, an energy of sorts, that dissipated throughout her body uselessly. The others were probably beginning to react, and she tightened her hold, putting both her hands on either side of his face to maximize physical contact.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Mikhail Petrov Character Portrait: Zara Rodsky Character Portrait: Adrien King Character Portrait: Zoe Find Character Portrait: Hallie Green Character Portrait: Arian Moira Fay
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Adrien

Adrien glanced at Danny as he brought him into stopped time. Something that he had to admit, wasn't as cool as he thought it would be...it was even cooler! But Adrien's smile disappeared when Danny told them about the girls not being trustworthy. They seemed somewhat normal to him but if everyone else thought so then he guessed he was just missing something. Adrien nodded, saying okay to Danny as he started blanking out again at all of the tense situations. That was when he heard a lot of shouting and yelling, "What's that?" He asked silently to himself, standing up to investigate, "C'mon," he called to Danny as he raced through the olden mansion to find a frenzy in the halls, Mikhail began crying, Zara was seemingly going crazy, April started kissing Chandler. He heard them saying that they were going to go but now all this was happening. He was really confused.

Liesel

Liesel wasn't sure of what to do, April didn't seem right. She seemed like she was losing it. Liesel had to hold her self back from doing anything when Mikhail started talking to April, luckily succeeding. She watched as they all piled out of the room, talking about leaving not good. Liesel put another hand gun in her back pocket, concealed by her shirt. She followed after April, watching as she planted a kiss on Chandler. It was a rash move, but everything depended on his reaction. She was ready for violence just in case. Liesel wasn't sure what to do, if April's strategy didn't work, there were only two things left to do...

Zoe

Zoe was happy. She wasn't tired, sad, angry, she was just happy. Chandler started feeling better, joking around and enjoying himself again. "Wanna go exploring?" Zoe wasn't sure...she was never asked to do much of anything with another person, let alone explore. Zoe smiled a bit, taking hold of his extended hand. She was about to say okay but then they heard James shouting for Chandler. He left and she followed behind him, startled by what was going on.

The next view events were somewhat of a blur. She saw Mikhail crying...she wanted to say she was happy about it but she wasn't, she felt sympathy for him still, even after everything. They were going to leave, according to James the girls weren't to be trusted. But what happened next definitely came as a shock to her. April came in the hall with Liesel following shortly behind...and April started kissing Chandler. Zoe's fists clenched as she stood motionless, awaiting his reaction.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Mikhail Petrov Character Portrait: Zara Rodsky Character Portrait: Adrien King Character Portrait: Zoe Find Character Portrait: Hallie Green Character Portrait: Liesel Engel
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Daniel

About halfway through explaining everything to Adrien, Danny realized he'd been out of time too long. It wasn't that he couldn't keep it up any longer, but it was getting harder, and if he overstayed it would take him a while before he was ready to do it again. Knowing how things were probably going to come to a head soon, he decided to hop back into normal time for the rest of the explanation. Of course shortly after that, and maybe five seconds after he finished talking, there was some kind of huge commotion down the hall. He and Adrien seemed to reach the same conclusion, and they both raced down the hall to find...

Well, actually, he had no idea what they'd found. Mikhail was crying, Zara was completely loopy and April was kissing Chandler. After a few moments of stunned silence to take this in the first thought in Danny's head was She was with James earlier. What a slut. And around then he came to his senses. This was probably- No, this was definitely more emotional manipulation, and he hadn't had time to warn Chandler. For a moment he seriously considered stopping time, grabbing one of the iron pokers by the nearby fireplace and just smashing the two spy girls on the head, but aside from being reckless and violent, that might also accidentally hurt Chandler. For now he waited tensely for someone to make the next move... and for April to quit eating Chandler's face already.

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Characters Present

Character Portrait: Mikhail Petrov Character Portrait: Zara Rodsky Character Portrait: Zoe Find Character Portrait: Hallie Green Character Portrait: April Summers Character Portrait: James Black
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Chandler

The feeling of lips wasn't foreign to Chandler. Despite being a gamer, he didn't follow the stereotype well at all, especially after learning of his ability and having tons of stolen cash at his disposal. He was a romantic at heart and loved taking girls out, and making out and well...he was a guy. Stuff happened.

This was similar in feel, but dissimilar as well. She was rough, as if hanging on for dear life. Like kissing him was the last desperate act she could do before dying. Chandler's hands went straight up, indicating he wasn't for this, at all. In fact, only moments before he had been wondering what Zoe's lips would feel like...and now this. This wasn't Zoe.

Before he could push he away, her fingernails beginning to dig into his cheeks, he felt...weak. Emptied. Suddenly his vision spun and his eyelids fell. Limp, he fell forward a bit, then caught himself blearily. Still, April didn't let go.

Not until a white head of hair appeared anyway.


Hallie

Still weak from April, Hallie caught her breath and tried to assess what the hell was happening. Perhaps coming here was a bad idea, but seeing Mikhail told her that she was needed. For once. She may be powerless, but she wasn't helpless against bitchy girls.

Striding forward, she made a fist and easily clocked April in the jaw. That distracted her from her power sucking smoochies. Chandler stumbled backwards, colliding with Zoe and then falling to the floor. He was dazed, but alive. As for April, Hallie smiled with satisfaction, liking that she couldn't feel anyone's emotions at that moment. She relished in her own, and they were angry. Jealous? Maybe. April had a history with Mikhail that Hallie would never be able to tear. Despite his words, she could tell he had mixed feelings about the redhead. But he was hers now, not April's. She had her chance and whatever she did to mess it up was on her.

So yes. Hallie acted on impulse and jealousy. But she didn't feel one bit of guilt.


James

Honestly, James cheered Hallie on. After discovering what April did to Zara, he couldn't care less what happened to the girl, even though she was still...well...hot. His attention turned to Mikhail and Zara, the Russian boy tearing up and trying to hide his silent sobs. Taking a knee, James managed to catch his eye. "I don't think Chandler's going to be able to take us anywhere any time soon," he said, glancing over to the bespectacled boy. "April did a number on him. But," he went on, "there's cars in the garage. I saw we make a break for it. Leave them here."

His crystal pulsed softly. April's proximity dimmed his ability, but she was all the way down the hall. Distantly, he felt something about Mikhail, a great dragon of pain descending upon him. It was strange. James fell back against the wall, holding his head. Very...strange...

Names flitted across his mind. Among them Hallie's and Zara's...James knew of Mikhail's past. Knew of his friends and the truth of the bombing. He knew more than he should. But this...this was different. This...hadn't happened yet. This was...the future?

The near future. As in, about to happen. And what he saw, wasn't good. The images played over and over, bits and pieces of what was to come. His head pulsed oddly and he tried to contain it, but couldn't. Zara's mumblings, the others down the hall, Mikhail's sniffles...What he saw exploded in colors, erupting in his mind. It wasn't supposed to be there. How could he see this?

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Mikhail Petrov Character Portrait: Zara Rodsky Character Portrait: Hallie Green Character Portrait: Liesel Engel Character Portrait: April Summers Character Portrait: James Black
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April

The sucker punch was definitely unexpected. April didn't fall to the ground, but she definitely staggered backwards and collided with the wall. Hard. She started coughing again, but forced herself to stop, a feat that was very uncomfortable. She checked her hand for blood and was relieved when she didn't see any.

So Hallie was that kind of girl, huh? April grinned against her throbbing jaw. She was tempted to lash out physically, but withheld herself. Now was not the time. She'd let Hallie relish whatever stupid feeling of superiority she had right now, but April would pull it out away from her when the time was right.

She stiffened a bit when she heard James mention cars. Her grin turned into a frown. She hated cars. Why did they even have cars here? They knew she hated them.

"Fine, leave," April said vehemently, gesturing them dismissively, "I'll warn you that the withdrawal will be...highly painful." She nodded towards Zara, who was shielded by Mikhail's shaking back. Was he crying? April hadn't seen Mikhail cry either. A strange feeling washed over her, but she wasn't sure what it was. Frankly she didn't want to know what it was, and she turned away from him to look back at James, hand on hip.

Mikhail

The tears were streaming pretty freely now, and although he struggled to keep it inconspicuous, his crying escalated. His chest hurt, and it felt like something sharp was stabbing into it.

He had failed. Even though Zara was still alive, and would eventually recover, he had still failed.

Failure was foreign to him. Some missions had gone awry, but never failed. All his team-mates made it out all right. They got the job done. April was probably the closest he had ever come to failure, but even then he escaped the feeling with the justification of his job. He hadn't gotten close enough to feel enough regret. There was still some regret, but not nearly as much as he was feeling now.

Was it because he was too close? Did he get too close to Zara? Were they too friendly? Too affectionate? He held no romantic feelings for her, but there was a platonic love that definitely bonded them. If it weren't for that, would this not have happened? Or at least these feelings...

Wait, what was he saying? Wasn't it good that he cared for Zara?

But he wasn't supposed to care at all...

He was confusing himself. Was it better to care, or not to care? Was he not close enough, or should he have been more distant? This had happened to Zara. What would happen to Hallie?

He struggled to think rationally about this, but nothing helped. He was blaming himself for everything. But wasn't it actually April's fault? It was April who had done it. She was the one who had drugged Zara. Who was hurting him.

But if he wasn't friends with Zara, she wouldn't have followed him here. She wouldn't even be here.

But if April wasn't here, she wouldn't be drugged.

The guilt had transferred off of his shoulders to April. This was April's doing. It was her fault. He had known from the beginning that it was her, and he was right! The tears stopped in time to hear April's words. She was probably referring to the drugs. It was clear that she wanted them to stay. For what reason, Mikhail didn't know. But if he was forced to stay in this hellhole, it would be through his own conditions only.

He stood up, leaning Zara carefully against the wall. He glanced at the room that Liesel and April shared, Liesel poking out the doorway. His gaze strengthened, focusing first on Liesel's feet to anchor her, and then to the area directly above her. Within seconds, the ceiling began crumbling, and the doorframe suddenly collapsed. A chunk of floorboard crashed into the room, smashing a bed, and the rest of the mansion shook as the gravity strengthened in that small section.

Liesel, however, he kept unharmed. For the most part. The loosened stones above the doorframe had lodged against each other, but in a way that the only thing keeping them from crushing the girl's head was Mikhail's ability. He strengthened her gravity further so that she would be unable to move. Cracks appeared in the ceiling of the hallway right in front of her as well, ensuring that she wouldn't be able to escape even if he lost his hold.

He turned to April. His eyes looked darker, sharper, harsher, and his tone reflected such. "If you want us to stay, we're taking you hostage. If you say no, I release the stones and Liesel dies. If you touch me, I release everything and Liesel dies. If you say yes, I'll release Liesel and she lives."

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Mikhail Petrov Character Portrait: Zara Rodsky Character Portrait: Zoe Find Character Portrait: Hallie Green Character Portrait: Liesel Engel Character Portrait: April Summers
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James

He wasn't okay. Vision popping with stars. What he saw wasn't right. He shouldn't see it. He found April's eyes on him when he managed to straighten up slightly, her words garbled in his ears. Where she stood dulled his power more, the images fleeting. But he remembered every second.

He just had to keep it from happening.

Mikhail's next actions didn't help that plan. With Liesel in trouble, what he saw was more likely to come true sooner. "Mikhail!" he barked, struggling to stand, equilibrium off. "Knock it off, you're not killing anybody!"


Hallie

By then Chandler was standing with Zoe and April was silent. Hallie watched in horror. The young man she had spent the last three weeks with was gone. Vanished. Vanquished, maybe. His replacement stood taller, casting a shadow down the narrow hallway upon each of them. James tried to talk sense, but words weren't helping.

She rushed forward, pushing past April. "Misha..." she breathed. Prioritizing, she grabbed Zara and pulled her away from Mikhail at once, now standing beside James. Liesel remained in the doorway, unable to move and probably freaking out. Not that Hallie could tell. April was too close.

"Mikhail," she chastised, leaving Zara with James and walking straight up to him. "Stop!"

His face was screwed up in some twisted version of anger, a deeper anger that she had never seen before, but remembered feeling once. This looked worse though. What was happening to him?

"Mikhail, you wouldn't hurt her," she told him, not liking that April would probably say the same thing. "That's not you. Please, stop."

Without her power, she couldn't take her anger into her body. She couldn't help. Setting her jaw, she reached forward and took his hand. "This isn't you."

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Mikhail Petrov Character Portrait: Zara Rodsky Character Portrait: Hallie Green Character Portrait: Liesel Engel Character Portrait: April Summers Character Portrait: James Black
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April

April watched the display unimpressed, if a bit amused. Would Mikhail really kill Liesel? It was almost worth watching, worth saying no to see if he would really do it. Another first.

It was clear that he had changed. He wasn't crying Mikhail anymore. He was blackmailing, murdering Mikhail. Hostage? April didn't like the sound of that. Was this her doing? Was this what would happen if she continued to push Mikhail? Would he eventually devolve into something he wasn't?

Watching Hallie try to get him to stop was a convincing reason to keep pushing him. Clearly this wasn't the Mikhail Hallie was used to either. If she kept pushing MIkhail, would Hallie leave him? Could April have him this way?

Still, as much as April desired revenge, and as little as she actually liked Liesel, she would have nothing to gain by having her die. That would just make her lose an ally, and she would be completely outnumbered. Why did the Germans only send two people for this? Shouldn't they have been evenly matched?

With a roll of her eyes, she sighed. "Fine. You can take us hostage," she said, and began inspecting her nails.

Mikhail

As he had promised, he released Liesel. The weight of holding up the upper levels was getting to him though, and he released everything once Liesel was safely out of the way. As he watched the heavy stones crush into the ground, his stomach flipped. Had he really been so prepared to do that to Liesel if April said no?

Suddenly he felt sick. He clutched his stomach and keeled onto his knees. Hand over his mouth, he began dry-heaving. Whatever dark thing had been possessing him just seconds before had been expelled just as quickly as it took over. He was shaking, eyes wide, and more tears pricking at the sides.

He needed to get out. Out of the mansion. He was going to collapse in on himself if he stayed inside much longer. Stumbling to his feet, he dashed out, shoving the front door open before he passed through. The withering grass greeted him as he fell to the ground, dry-heaving once more. The wintery wind brushed through his hair, causing goosebumps to rise on exposed skin. He clutched at the dying grass, dirt filling his fingernails, as he stared at the ground, horrified with what he had nearly done.

What was happening to him? Hallie's words, her pleas--which he had ignored in his previous state--flooded back to him in greater volume. You wouldn't hurt her. That's not you. Please, stop. Stop! Please!

But he wouldn't have killed her. It was April. If April had said no, then Liesel would have died. This was all April's fault, right? But why did he feel so awful, so sickened?

"Hallie..." he croaked, tears mixing with the dirt, "Hal...Hal-lie..."