Jasper Ryder's Story

---

---

"Fuck," Jasper grumbled as he slowly pushed himself up to a sitting position. His head was pounding in a manner that he'd never grow accustom to, no matter how much he drank. He cradled his head in his palms, sighing. How much had he drank last night? He didn't even remember touching a bottle, let alone guzzling it down. He slumped back down, head resting on his pillow as he stared at the ceiling in an attempt to collect his scattered thoughts. "What happened last night?" His voice was raspy and deep from his slumber. He closed his eyes as he trailed his hand down his face, feeling like complete shit. Huffing, Jasper reached out his left hand to grabbed the bottle of aspirin that he always kept on the nightstand, but his fingers grazed smooth wood instead. Jasper furrowed his brows as he turned onto his stomach and looked at the nightstand. "Where are my pills...? Jasper groaned. Upon further inspection, he realized that this was not his nightstand. "Where the hell is my nightstand?"

The mere realization caused Jasper to look down at the bedspread, which he concluded were also not his. He abruptly jumped out of the bed, eyes scanning the roomwith a mixture of confusion and slight fear. His throbbing temple was now a dull reminder of last night's events. Anxiously, he scoped the place out, noting that it was a really nice setting. He could see himself staying here, however, none of it was his. The stress was getting to him as he felt the overwhelming urge to smoke; part of being an addict. Jasper reached into the pocket of his black jeans in hopes of finding the pack of cigarettes that he always kept on his person, but much to his dismay, he felt something crinkle in his pocket. Pulling out a piece of paper, Jasper furrowed his brows and frowned as he read the words.

"This is bullshit," The Russian huffed as he ran his fingers through his unruly mane. He stuffed the paper back into his pocket before pulling his sneakers on and walking into the living room, admiring the modern vibe, but it was a bitter sweet feeling. He liked the place, however the simple fact that he was practically kidnapped sort of put a damper on the luxury. Sighing, he exited his apartment, immediately spotting other people leaving their rooms down the hall. Jasper released an irritated groan. He wasn't looking forward to playing nice with others, just wasn't his thing. Silently, he watched them socialize then sneaked to the staircase in the opposite direction. He just wasn't one for social gatherings. He preferred to figure this all out on his own.

Jasper trekked down the stairs, taking them two at a time until he reached the ground floor. The heels of his Chuck Taylors clicked against the glossy clean floor as he made his way to the exit. Jasper pushed pass the double doors then inhaled the sweet familiar scent of lavender that emanated from the floral bushes. The young man stepped a few paces away from the large building, basking in its magnificence. He had to admit that this place looked legit. He glanced at the large gate that separated him from the rest of the world. With a shrug of his shoulders, he decided that this was as good a place as any to have a smoke. He reached into his back pocket, pulling out his lighter and pack of cancer sticks. Upon placing one between his lips and lighting the end, Jasper searched his memory for any piece of information that would explain his current state. Last thing he remembered was seeing...he didn't even want to think about her name, let alone what happened. Jasper physically shook the thought from his head and fast forwarded to after he saw her. He had been smoking in an alley when some red head came up to him. He remembered rudely telling her to 'eat shit and die,' before blacking out. Making a mental note to never smoke in dark alleys again, Jasper took a long drag of his cigarette then blew the smoke through his nose. He leaned against the gate, closing his eyes and basking in the nicotine as it calmed him.

He figured that this would be a good chance to make a run for it, but there was a festering curiosity that gnawed at him. He wanted to see what this 'Benefactor' guy was all about. Who knew, maybe there was big money in this. "Let's hope he can deliver."

Alton opened his eyes to a white ceiling. He felt groggy, and there was a slowness to his perception as he attempted to decipher a pattern in the blankness. Tiny black specs danced across his vision and he squeezed his eyes shut in annoyance. There was a lump on the back of his head, a big one, but it was suspiciously absent of any pain and he didn’t have a headache.

The boy sighed, his arms stretched perpendicular from his body on the bed. He was surrounded by silk sheets, and he could feel the cool texture pool around his weight. It led him to another question as he slowly opened his eyes: Why was the pain missing? Had he been drugged, something that effected his nervous system? But Alton had never heard of anything sort of substance that was capable of completely voiding one sense. He rolled over onto his side and looked at the nightstand, a piece of paper. It was folded neatly and the dark haired boy briefly considered not even touching it, in an act of meaningless rebellion. Alton wasn’t going to lie, he was a bit peeved that whoever that woman was had nulled his pain receptors. He didn’t get agitated often, but his relationship with pain was on thin ice.

He pushed himself up so he was sitting on the bed. The room was a bit small, his bed enclosed on three sides with small circular lights secured to the ledges above him. Empty book shelves lined the edges of the bed and he judged that he could probably fit a small portion of his collection of books. He rolled over and saw the handles below him. He tugged at it and watched as a giant drawer opened from under the bed. That would fit the rest of his collection easily. He looked up to see stacks of cardboard boxes. On each box his name had been hastily scrawled with a black pen. He squinted at the boxes, they were all stacked rather neatly, but one was sticking out at an angle. He curled and flexed his toes before moving to get off the bed. He tapped the sheets once with the tip of his middle finger before moving to the stacks. He looked over the box carefully before tapping the box and pushing it back into place. He tapped it once more once he had finished.

Alton walked around the room, noticing that he was still in his work clothes. His dark blue jeans coupled with an equally dark blue button up shirt. He was wearing a gray muscle shirt underneath and on his left breast a black name tag was sewn into the button up and in a generic white cursive was written Alton. On the bed’s headboard his cap was sitting precariously and after a tapping it with his finger he secured the hat on his head. He looked at his exposed forearms. In the whiteness of the room the bruising that never went away seemed even more prominent. The bruises coloring ranged from a sickly yellow-green to the more common blues and purples. The other scars, the less noticeable, where the circular burn marks and the laceration scars. He liked to think of his body as a war zone. Decorated and marked to document past brutality.

He finally got over himself, at that point, and Alton’s eyes travelled to the letter. He tapped it with his middle finger before picking it up, his eyes skimming over the content quickly. He sighed, it wasn’t too unbelievable. “Oh bloody Hell.” He muttered.

He looked towards his door, there were probably more people out there. And he debated with himself whether it would be better to just sit in his white room, or to figure out what was happening. He closed his eyes, remembering the lump on his head that he still couldn’t feel. It would be better to find some that would tell him how long this ‘No Pain’ effect of whatever they had drugged him with would last. He reached for the door, tapping the knob before pushing it open. In the hallway were a few people. Two woman, and a man, from what he could see. The two woman were talking while the male just lingered.

“Hello?” He asked loudly enough for them to hear. The red headed woman seemed to be more knowing, maybe she could answer some of his questions.

---

---

Jasper licked his lips, absentmindedly before taking another puff of his cancer stick. He blew the smoke into the atmosphere allowing the poisonous gas to mingle with the oxygen around him. He was hidden behind a veil of airborne nicotine, reveling in the sweet silence, save the occasional breeze rattling the emerald trees or the conversation between the robins. He took another puff, sighing contently in his solitude. He preferred moments like these, where he could just stand and listen to nature as he slowly killed himself. Jasper closed his sapphire eyes, holding the cigarette in his mouth and blowing out blasts of smoke through his nostrils like an undisturbed dragon.

He eyes snapped open, however when the faint titter of footsteps ruined his tranquil silence. He sighed, that could only mean one thing: people. More like a person. A girl scampered out of the building and resided just outside the premises. He could see her though the barrier of bushes, but he could barely determine her gender, but her sobs gave her away. So, she realized that she too was stuck in this fucked up wonderland.

Another puff of smoke through his nose as he watched her shoulders quiver as she cried. He wasn't one for emotions. In fact, he shut his off completely, numbing himself to the world and becoming as hard as cement. He sighed again, for her sobbing was irritating and messing up his zen moment. He made an attempt to ignore it instead of lending a helping hand. The mere thought of helping was almost laughable...too bad, Jasper doesn't really laugh or smile. He focused on the chirping birds as they sung their sweet melodies, but her noises were raking at his frontal lobe. Her cries resembled that of a dying whale. It was atrocious.

He took a frustrated drag of his smoke, blowing it out of his mouth as he tapped his foot and rubbing his bottom lip in annoyance. Her sadness was really fucking up his day. He didn't want to, but she drove him to it. He spoke, "My God! Will you quit the waterworks? I get it; you're sad, lonely, confused. We all are, but no one else is sitting down and throwing a pity party, so man the hell up, seriously." He knew he was being harsh, but sometimes harsh got the job done. "Look, whatever your name is...you look like a Selena...so I'm just going to call you that for now. Selena, I don't know your story and I'll be honest, I can give less than a damn, but I'm trying clear my head here and I can't do that when you're busy trying to do an impression of a whale giving birth. I suggest you suck it up because tears don't do shit, but make you look ugly."

---

---

As always, Nick groaned annoyed by his alarm going off with his ringtone of a mash up of Relient K’s hits. He first looked at the time on his cell phone showing a bright 9 o’clock and nearly pressed the ignore button, but then his eyes peered down at the Caller ID and saw that it was the Benefactor. Knowing he better not mess with his boss, Nick cleared his throat and answered the call. It seemed the Benefactor had figured it was time for the new recruits to get ready and he wanted him to meet with the females.

“Sure thing, sir!” Nick replied. He was always ready to meet the ladies. It was his favorite part of his job. The Benefactor knew that he was better suited for sweet talking them and so his assignment was set in stone. The Benefactor added that he had to apologize for the lack of an elevator and Nick had carelessly agreed before hanging up.

”Crud…Now I’m going to be mentioning that dang lack of an elevator business. I better find some way to smooth talk over that,” Nick thought.

Nick looked at himself dressed in some Nike blue short pants and a white tee shirt. ”Hmm I don’t think the ladies will like this…” Nick thought. He looked into his chestnut brown cabinet to see what kind of clothes he’s going to wear today. Taking out a white dress shirt, a black suit and its matching pants, Nick decided he was going to go formal today and be the gentleman. After changing his clothes and combing his hair just right for the role, he realized he forgot one more thing and took out his pair of shades from his night stand and put them inside his pocket.

He was about to shout and say, ”Hellooo ladiesss!!!” when he saw the boys coming out of their doors and realized, “Oh yeah… I’m in the guys section right now.” At first Nick was annoyed by the fact that he had to travel in a “U” shape to get to the girls but then he figured, “Oh well I might as well meet the guys as well.”

“Hello?” A guy in dark blue jeans and dark blue button shirt asked loudly as Nick opened the door. Nick went towards the guy and said, “Hey there man, I’m Nicholas Truman but you can call me Nick. I’m sorry, I really want to make introductions but you gotta get to Scar and I gotta get to the girls so we can meet the Benefactor. I’m heading that way and you can follow me or not but I gotta jet. See you soon!” Nick tried to walk but his feet were firmly planted on the floor. He then realized he forgot to say, "Oh yeah and um I'm sorry we don't have an elevator." Finding his feet can move continued his walk and saw two guy pass him without paying any attention, focusing on the staircase at the end of the hall near his room. He was about to call after him when he heard the sound of footsteps growing fainter and moving downwards in a fast motion. “I better tell Scar before the run off…” Nick thought.

Walking even further into the hallway, Nick saw another man leaning against the wall in front of his room who seems to be waiting for some kind of direction from someone. Nick wondered how Scarlet never got to the guys seeing as she’s usually the “early to rise” type of girl. He decided to end the guy’s misery and help him for awhile saying, “Hey there, I’m Nicholas Truman, but you can call me Nick! It seems you’re confused and not sure what to do. I have to go get the girls but you can follow me and I’ll lead you to Scarlet. She’s the one you’re supposed to be meeting. Oh and sorry about there being no elevator!” Nick regrettably left without checking to see if any of the guys were even following him. He had to make sure that he got to the girls for he didn’t want to make the Benefactor wait.

When Nick finally reached the girl’s section he was greeted by Scarlet who told him, “took you long enough.”

“Hey sorry Scar, I had to help a couple of your guys. They looked so confused. Hopefully they followed me…”Nick trailed off. He was about to greet the girls when he caught a glimpse of a short black haired girl running in the opposite direction down the stairs.

”Crud, I hope she doesn’t think of running away!”Nick thought. He knew he had to follow her to make sure but there was the matter of the other girls who were probably just as confused as she was. Regrettably he told them, “Hey ladies and gentlemen, I’ll be with the ladies in a moment to escort them to the Benefactor and the men will go with our lovely Scarlet. However, it seems that I need to make sure the little fox doesn’t run scot free. I’ll see you all in a bit and sorry but there is no elevator!” Before he moved, on he remembered putting something else in his pocket ahead of time that was meant for one of the girls. He took out the medication and gave it to Grey saying, “By the way, the Benefactor mentioned that there was a girl that would be needing some medication. I told him I would be honored to give this to you.”

Without waiting for any response, Nick ran down the staircase behind Scarlet and the others to follow the girl. When he got downstairs he saw the girl on the ground, knees to her chest and crying. He was about to approach her when another guy blowing his smoke shouted some nonsense about sucking it up. Nick can’t stand it when guys are rude, so he called him out saying, “Hey back off man! Let her cry if she wants to! She’s just confused and probably scared out of her mind. You don’t know what she’s been through. And we don't have an elevator so just be patient!”

Nick then knelt down in front of her and took out his handkerchief handing it over to her. “Hey there, don’t worry we’re not going to hurt you,“Nick said with a reassuring smile. “I’m Nick, what’s your name? Sorry we don't have an elevator...” Nick then laughed silently and nervously thinking "Great...I should've been more careful with agreeing to tell the others about the elevator."

Scarlet didn't say anything when Gray spoke, instead she kept leaning against the wall with her legs and arms crossed. "It's lovely to meet you, I'm Grey." she said with a smile that was meant to be warming, Scarlet on the other hand kept starring at her sharply, expressionless except from her eyes that said, 'I'm not buying the act... so drop it'. She then asked her about Nick looking for some sort of explanation, almost at towards the end she said something about not being different or special and she had made the mistake to lie . Scarlet shook her head almost showing her disapproval at the remark, almost feeling offended by it. After all Scar took pride in her job and the corporation, "Does it look to you like just anybody that damn pleases can work here?" she asked feeling highly irritated not only at her comment but at her lie, Scarlet was extremely skilled at spotting a liar and this time was no exception. "Don't bullshit a bullshitter" she thought with a smirk.

"Also, I really need to get home, there's something I really need... to do." she said to which Scar simply replied immediately with a bored tone sounding as if she had already said it countless times before, she had said it to other recruits often times so maybe that's why she sounded apathetic, "everything that you need..." she paused for a moment noticing that others had just gotten out of the room, "is in the room you woke up" she finally said eyeing the others, "But I am sure that most of you noticed that by now" she said knowing how Sylvester liked making feel everyone as comfortable as possible and giving them their own perfect little apartment, Scarlet shook her head in disagreement in Sylvester's arduous attempts to please them.

Scarlet stopped herself from giving any explanations waiting for more recruits to join, after all she hated repeating herself and she thought it useless if they were still missing some people, besides, she was to take on the guys and most of the people she could see so far were women and a few guys. Harper introduced herself followed by a shy wave and asking if they had gotten a letter too, which Scarlet completely ignored, soon after, a girl named Hailey joined too to which Makoto responded with a friendly introduction. Scarlet eyed the whole place again, searching for more recruits to join and to finally lead them to Sylvester, and she noticed Zeus waiting outside his room leaning against his door, waiting for her instructions. One by one, Scar was counting to see exactly how many of them were missing and so far everything seemed to be going well, they had more than half girls with Fiona's arrival but they were still lacking many of the guys and she had just noticed one of them leaving the scene walking away in the opposite direction, 'well that's just... perfect' she thought in annoyance.

It wasn't until she heard a male voice ask a bit confused, "Hello?" that Scarlet had finally had enough. "All right... that's it." she paused a bit irritated, "I am not giving any explanations until everyone is here." she said looking at everyone. Scar finally saw nick joining her, she gave him a look saying, 'you're late, again...' but she didn't say anything as he moved to her side, “Hey sorry Scar, I had to help a couple of your guys. They looked so confused. Hopefully they followed me…” he said. Scarlet didn't say anything as he explained the group that guys needed to follow her while the girls were on him, he obviously explained obediently about warning them of the out-of-service-elevator and soon after followed after the girl that had also exited the scene post haste, Scarlet hoped he would also bring the other guy that had left as soon as he walked out his door.

After Nick left quickly running after the girl, she was left alone with the group once again. Annoyed at the whole dramatics, the chatter and growing more and more impatient at everyone that wasn't there she finally unfolded her arms and moved towards the rooms. One by one on the missing guys she knocked on their rooms, loud enough to give anyone a headache, it wasn't until she got the the room #276 that she noticed an open door. She entered the room quickly and as soon as she realized that there was nobody in the room she rolled her eyes, 'there always has to be that one guy doesn't it...' she started wondering. She pulled out her phone texting the idiot that had decided to play smart on her.


Scarlet walked out of the door closing it shut quickly making yet another loud noise. She looked around to the ones that were still talking with each other. She wouldn't have said anything if it were up to her but she thought that more would try to leave so at the end she finally decided to speak up, "something came up... stay here, Nick will be back soon and so will I" she said accentuating the stay, almost making it a command for everyone to follow. "You will soon meet Sylvester... " she paused for a moment knowing it would sound awkward on her lips, "I mean... The Benefactor. You may want to get to know each other seeing that you'll be living together from now on" and with further delay she headed down the stairs. She felt her phone vibrate on her black denim jeans,



It didn't take long for Scar to reach the door. She posed against the open door arch with her arms crossed as she had done in the morning. She was already on a bad mood so instead of looking relaxed as she had on the morning she looked a bit tense. It didn't take as long before she saw him walking towards her, "Hello mystery lady. Please tell me you're the one who's been texting me" he said as soon as he was close enough. Scarlet rolled her eyes in annoyance at his remark, "careful there, don't flatter yourself hotshot" she said moving past the door encouraging him to follow her.

As they walked their way on the direction where the others were waiting, "So how'd you get my number?" he asked but Scarlet kept walking ahead. "It probably helps that I put it on my contacts under 'My Number'. huh?" a small mischievous smile drew on her lips as she continued walking. "Well looking back on it now, it's pretty helpful, right? So why'd you text me?" he continued. Scarlet stopped walking remembering how troublesome he had been and she turned to face him now, "Because you were the only one dumb enough to leave." she said sharply before she gave him her back again and started walking at a faster pace now. It was a lie of course, some of them had indeed walked away, but that didn't mean that she would have to tell him that.

Scar finally reached the stairs but she didn't turn around to see if he was still following but she hoped that he was, after all she didn't want any more hassle than needed. She finally headed upstairs where she had told everyone to stay put, when she finally reached the place she eyed some of them that seemed to be already talking to each other, she turned around to see if Nick was already back from his little trip but he was nowhere to be seen. Before she did anything else, she turned around to see Daniel again, "I hope you don't give me any more trouble..." she finally said before she leaned against the wall again observing everyone a bit impatiently again, counting how many there were and hoping that they had more than the last time she had counted.

---

---

---

Jasper wasn't sorry, for remorse was an emotion that he refused to channel. He watched with uninterested eyes as an older man assisted 'Selena'. Bet it felt nice for someone to come to your aid, he wouldn't know.

“Hey back off man! Let her cry if she wants to! She’s just confused and probably scared out of her mind. You don’t know what she’s been through. And we don't have an elevator so just be patient!”

Jasper rolled his eyes as he took one more puff of his cigarette. He was tempted to say, I was simply giving her a proper welcome, in the most condescending and sarcastic tone he could muster, but he as he opened his mouth to say the words, music interrupted him. He turned his attention to the source, spotting a man in the backseat of the vehicle singing obnoxiously. The stranger was looking dead at Jasper, singing and mocking a guitar solo. Jasper's brows furrowed as he stared at the stranger as if he were a martian. He said absolutely nothing, eyes trained on the weird man before the car zoomed off.

"I've got to get out of this hell,"he said monotonously as he threw his smoke on the ground and stomped it out. Jasper walked into the building, pushing pass the man and the cry baby. "No elevator, huh? Noted," was all he bothered to say. He trekked up the stairs to where it all started. Lo and behold, the crowd of people had grown since he left. Joy! He stuffed his hands into his pockets and kept his face expressionless. He attempted to with the shadows, saying nothing and not bothering to introduce himself. His mind played out how that would go: Hi, I'm Jasper Ryder. I hate long walks on the beach, pink is a horrid color...that's right, I'm talking to you, Blondie, and I have a large dislike for the human race i.e. all of you. Die in holes. He chuckled inwardly, musing on how swimmingly that would go.

---

---

---

---

Maki could feel the tension in the air. Apparently, Ms. Scarlet was upset that not all the men were present and Maki automatically felt the urge to assist her, however she looked like she'd bite his head off if he even looked her way. Everyone seemed to be on edge, but that was to be expected, however, he just wished that perhaps one of them would be nice enough to actually hold a conversation. He just stayed quite, not wanting to step on any toes with his good mood. From the corner of his eye, he spotted movement, seeing a man enter the hallway through the staircase. He looked very anti-social, but Maki was pretty sure he could put a smile on the guy's face.

Mack placed a kind smile onto his face as he approached the stranger. "You seem a bit down," Makoto said, offering that usual friendly grin that he practically trademarked. "I'm Mack, he stretched out his hand for a handshake.

Jasper simply glared at Mack's out stretched hand before allowing his azure gaze to narrow at Mack's face. "And I don't like you. Fuck off."

Maki lowered his eyes in disappointment. So much for cheering him up...

---

---

---

---

---

A lot was going on, more people were flooding out of their rooms and approaching the group. She took note of people's name and managed to keep a shaky smile on her face. When one girl ran of she pushed her hands over her ears, hating the fact that someone could be so upset at this place. This place wasn't that bad... right? "Chill out Hailey it's just some emotional girl." She heard Penelope's words in her ears even if they were covered. She inhaled deeply, closing her eyes momentarily. "Hailey move your hands from your ears. You look like a freak when you do that." Penelope was being harsh to Hailey and it made Hailey tremble a little with anger. "Move your hands Hailey!" Penelope spat at her and Hailey let out a long breath. "Shut up, shut up, shut up." Hailey whispered to herself, closing her eyes even tighter than before. Hailey sighed softly, sliding her hands off her ears and glancing around at the group. She hadn't even noticed one male running off after the girl who was crying. What she did notice was that Makoto had left the group and was walking towards another male. She rose an eyebrow, wrapping her arms around her and dropping her gaze momentarily to the floor.

She didn't know what to do right now so when the Absent Minded part of her kicked in she hadn't realized why she was just staring at a wall. Lifting her head she looked over at Makoto once again, sighing softly as she turned away from him and looked at Fiona. She smile brightly at her, hoping she hadn't noticed the episode that she had there momentarily. "It's nice to meet you Fiona." She told the girl kindly then sighed softly. She looked around, suddenly wanting to take a walk. "I'm going to go looking around, so I'll see you later." She told Fiona, and started to walk away. She tightened her arms around herself as she walked away from Fiona, Makoto, and everyone else. She half debated whether or not she should just go back to her room so that she can relax just a little.

While walking she rubbed her arms, sniffling a little as she walked. Now it was completely setting in what was going on. Upon rounding the corner she shook her head of any bad thoughts. "You know you really should turn around and get to know some of these people." Penelope reappeared once again. Hailey groaned angrily and turned her head to look at the imaginary Penelope walking beside her. "You can't keep doing this Penelope. I want to seem normal okay? You've got to quit butting into my life. Aradia knows that I talk to you some times, but I don't want people to think I'm a freak when I talk to you then flip out." She whispered, and her response from Penelope was a roll of her eyes. "I'm just saying." Penelope grumbled in the girl's ears. "Well I'm just saying that you need to butt out. If I go talk to someone will you stay out of my business for even just a little while?" She asked in a hushed tone and smiled a little when Penelope nodded then vanished.

She inhaled deeply then turned around and hurried back to the group of people, hesitating as she neared them she noticed one girl who really popped out at her. Aradia! Hailey skidded to a stop and gasped before smiling happily. "Hailey! What are you doing here?" She faintly heard Aradia say to her. "Do you know what's going on?" Aradia addressed Hailey. At this moment Hailey was overwhelmed with happiness. She couldn't believe that her best friend was here with her. "Aradia! I'm so glad your here. I really have no idea what is going other than we were allowed a second chance or something." Hailey told her best friend honestly. She shrugged then thought for a moment, "Wait didn't you see the letter in your room? It should have been some where near your bed or something. I mean it was for me." She said then noticed that Aradia had her Cello with her. Cool! She had been glad that Aradia had her Cello with her because she knew Aradia was really good at playing it and Hailey loved listening to her play it.

---

---

Zeus sighed, standing there and kicking at the ground because honestly there was really nothing better to do. He had no reason to go see how the girl was that ran off and he had no reason to really talk to someone when it seemed that mostly just females were out and considering he isn't too much of a fan of females he knew it was just a good idea if he just stayed put where he was. He only glanced up momentarily when a male walked in from the stairwell and a male passed by him to greet the other male. Of course the male who appeared from the stairwell obviously had some kind of chip on his shoulder. He knew this because as soon as the male who actually had a smile on his face greet the other male he instantly responded to his hi with: "And I don't like you. Fuck off." Damn, that was actually pretty rude. He thought then shook his head. "Well wasn't that rude." He commented with a small sneer. "Obviously someone has a chip on their shoulder that they should lose." He mumbled to himself as he looked down at the ground once again. Never once did he take kindly to people being mean to other people. Especially if they didn't deserve it, for some reason his protective side of him ends up coming out for some weird reason. Finally he decided not to do or say anything more. It wasn't his place and he preferred just to stand here until they got further instructions on what they were going to do.

((OOC: Sorry my male is so short I just didn't know what to do with him right now.))

---

Daniel watched the contained chaos with amused interest. Two girls seemed to have had a pre-existing relationship while the others were just skipping about socializing. The rest of the guys mostly stood around on the sidelines, confused but not poking around, while the grungy smoker took some heat for bitching at someone. To Danny it was all very amusing. He enjoyed people watching more than anything, and if this wasn't just perfect for it, he didn't know what was. He leaned back against the wall with a casual tilt of his head, his line of sight moving from one clusterfuck of people to another. One had disappeared back into her apartment, there was a dude trying to corral, and his flame-headed mystery lady was still standing just a few feet away.

When his text tone went off in his pocket full blast, he cursed a little, turning it down as he looked at the screen. I thought I put that damn thing on vibrate, Daniel assumes. But then again he probably unconsciously turned it off in the car coming back. Not that Daniel cared, he usually always kept it on full blast. He just didn't want all the negative attention that was on Grungy Smoker man to be aimed towards him. This lot seemed like a sensitive bunch.

It was a text from Dick, of course. Dick was the only one he ever usually texted. He unlocked his phone, taking him straight to the message, and he almost burst out laughing.



Daniel thought about it and decided Fuck it before going to his settings and turning off all sound and his flash. As casually as he could, he held his phone up, angling it so it looked like he was texting. He quickly tapped several times on his screen to focus, pokerface engaged, and got the perfect shot of the fiery vixen standing across from him. He quickly sent it to his brother, lowering his phone to his crotch. As expected, Dick texted him back right away.



Daniel grinned and the fact that it pretty much looked like he was grinning at his crotch whilst he did so made him nearly laugh aloud. He would've sent his brother a reply but something moved in his peripheral. The scrawny Asian placed a kind smile onto his face as he approached the same guy Daniel had sung to just ten minutes before. Oh, I have GOT to see this, Daniel mused. "You seem a bit down.” The Asian kid said, offering that really friendly smile. "I'm Mack.” Bullshit, Daniel laughed to himself, watching the Asian kid stretch out his hand for a handshake.

Grungy Smoker man simply glared at Mack's outstretched hand before allowing his cerulean gaze to narrow at Mack's face. "And I don't like you. Fuck off.”

Ouch. Harsh.

Daniel sighed as the Asian kid practically pouted, Looks like it's Dan to the rescue. Seriously, who could just sit back and watch this guy be sad? Daniel walked up and wrapped his arm around the kid's shoulders, smiling down at him. “Hey buddy! I've been looking everywhere for you." He looked right at Grungy Smoker man and put on his best flirtatious smile, and said, “See you around starshine." Daniel sent the Melancholy Mary a wink before turning away with this so called 'Mack'. “So Fu-Man-Chu, what's your name? And don't say it's Mack, because we both know you shortened that shit." He heard the kid stumble for words and he chuckled, turning to face him with his hands shoved in his pockets. “Come on Jackie Chan, no need to be shy. This is a happy place." Daniel quickly tried to think of a way to make him more comfortable so he decided to copy his previous gesture. With a friendly smile he held out his hand, offering it to him in friendship. “I'm Daniel, by the way. Daniel Brennan."

---

---

Makoto's downcast eyes with on his sneakers as he tried to think of a way to bounce back from being brutally slammed down. "Okay... he said in a tone that expressed his growing nervousness. He was about to turn his back on negative man when someone wrapped their shoulder around his arm. He almost jumped out of his skin, “Hey buddy! I've been looking everywhere for you." The stranger smiled as if they've known one another for years. Maki furrowed his brows, looking at him in confusion. "I...I don't know y... He was immediately interrupted. “See you around starshine." He continued, eyeing the rude man, who simply sneered as a response. “So Fu-Man-Chu, what's your name? And don't say it's Mack, because we both know you shortened that shit." Maki was pulled away from the gloomy figure and ushered further down the hallway. “Come on Jackie Chan, no need to be shy. This is a happy place. I'm Daniel, by the way. Daniel Brennan."

"My...my name is Makoto Oshiro," he stuttered. His eyes flickered to Daniel's, lips pulling into a tight line as he surveyed the man's face. He wasn't sure if he should be offended or amused, so he settled for a raised brow and confused stare. "A pleasure?" He clasped his hand around Daniel, allowing a small smile to grace his face. He wasn't sure how to feel about Daniel, but he concluded that he'd be seeing him a lot. "Thank you, for helping me back there...It was really nice of you."

Scarlet moved her head to the side at the sight of all the people talking to each other. Sylvester had given them a report on every single one of them, as he always did with new recruits, so she wasn't surprised to see some of the interactions that were happening just a few feet away. She eyed everyone that seemed to be doing their own thing, it was then when she saw a much smaller and shorter figure roaming the the room trying to stay unnoticed, 'Kaylee...' Scar said in a low voice, her blonde hair could be seen behind Rosalina and Noah who seemed to be too deep into their conversation that they didn't notice when the twelve year old was eavesdropping on their conversation. kaylee then moved to Jasper, whom she saw being rude to someone else, she elbowed the young tall man purposely, "sorry about that" she tried saying in a sweet and endearing tone that yelled sarcasm all over, one that she had picked from Scar most likely. The young girl then stuck her tongue out to the young man and moved next to Zeus who the young girl thought seemed to be nice enough.

Scarlet couldn't help but to grin at the little girl's actions but her smile quickly vanished as soon as the soon to be teenager turned to look at her. Scarlet immediately changed her mood and looked at Kaylee scornfully as she always did when the young girl was trying to get in trouble. Kaylee, knowing she did not want to make Scar even madder, dropped her shoulders and started walking towards the red haired beauty who seemed far from happy with her arrival. She looked like a child about to be scolded by her mother, she had her eyes on the floor as she walked slowly towards her. Finally she was at hands reach from Scar, "I'm sorry" the young girl said. Scarlet moved her hand towards the little girl's head ruffling her long blonde hair, "Kaylee... you know that your Dad doesn't like it when you are playing around with the new recruits".

It was then when they were interrupted by an older woman, Rosemary. She rushed her way in though the stairs and was having an agitated respiration as she had probably ran to search for Kaylee as she did so often being her Nanny. Finally, she spotted the young girl who was next to Scarlet, "Miss Crom...well" she said trying to catch her breath, breathless almost. "Rosy..." said the young girl in return and now hiding behind Scar not wanting to continue with her piano lessons. Rosemary waited for a few minuted trying to regain composure, Scarlet did not say anything and waited until she spoke again, "Ms. Romanov" to which Scarlet replied immediately, "Just Scarlet, Rosemary" she said annoyed though not being disrespectful. Rosemary was about to speak again when Scarlet cut her off, "that will not be necessary, I was about to tell her to return to her lessons" she said dismissing Rosemary for the moment. "But..." Kaylee started, "No buts, I know you want to come but you know you can't. I'll come and fetch you up as soon as I can ok?". Kaylee without second thoughts knowing she would keep her word simply replied, "Okay..." and Scarlet smiled at the young girl before she headed back.

As soon as Kaylee was out of her sight, Scarlet counted the number of people in the room again. Finally she counted the number she needed for the guys with the new addition of the last guy she needed, who looked just as baffled and confused as most of them, and she found Nick finally coming back with the last girl. She was about to make a remark on his, again, delayed arrival but she saw him answering the phone, Sylvester at the end of the line most likely. Finally, after hanging up he spoke again, “Good, okay folks it’s time to go meet your new boss! Scar you can lead the boys first, I’ll stay behind the girls to make sure they’re protected.” With that he winked at the girls followed by a smile directed at her but Scarlet couldn't help but to role her eyes, "Like you had to tell me twice..."

Finally Scarlet moved in front only turning back once, "You wanted some answers and answers is what you'll get. she paused for a moment to look at everyone and then turned to Nick, "You heard mister Claus here" she said calling him by the nickname she had given him as soon as she heard his name was Nicholas, "the guys come with me first." And with that she moved in front of everyone being careful to see that all of them followed. "The elevator doesn't work" she said before anyone was clever enough to ask why they couldn't simply go on the elevator, what Nick had already explained a couple of times; besides it was something that some of them, like the new guy were unaware of. They had to go up the stairs up to the sixth floor, Scarlet did not say anything as they moved their way up. She knew that Sylvester would be waiting and was starting to get impatient as he had called for Nick for an update, besides she wanted to get the empowering done as soon as possible as it would make her job easier.

Scarlet could care less if anyone complained at the stairway, once they were in the sixth floor she turned around to see if all of them were behind and to see if Nick was following behind though she thought that he would probably stayed longer behind flirting all the way up. Scarlet moved slowly towards Sylvester's office, she barged in the room where the door was already opened, she didn't see the point in knocking had the door been closed, either way she made her way in his office. "Here they are" she said signaling everyone, "you really know how to pick em" she said before she did as always, she leaned against the wall letting Sylvester do all the talking.

Jasper rolled his eyes as the Asian was 'rescued' by the same idiot that felt the need to sing to him earlier. He's barely been in this place for an hour and he already wanted to wring three people's necks. He glared at the floor, his sour mood only heightening when a little brat tried to show her ass and bump into him on purpose. "Damn kids," Jasper muttered, bitterly. He wanted to trip the little beast, but she got away before his foot could clip her.

A red head began spewing commands and Jasper shrugged his shoulders, forgetting the little girl completely as he trekked forward, following wordlessly. He was too curious at the moment to relatively give a damn about the fact that this lady felt like she was big and bad. Under normal circumstances, Jasper would have engaged her in a penis swinging competition. However, his mind was reeling with the multitude of possibilities. Was this like some secret agent type shit? Were they smugglers or something? He didn't know, but he was definitely intrigued. As he moved up the steps, Jasper played and pulled at his bottom lip while staring at his sneakers, out of habit, his ADD kicking in. His fingers fiddled with his shirt and worried his bottom lip until they reached their destination.

Jasper pulled his hands away from his lips and clothes, stuffing the restless digits into his pocket. That was when he looked up from his Chuck Taylors, eyes landing on an older man. "So, you're the asshole that kidnapped me...who the hell do you think you are?" He narrowed his icy eyes at the man, holding back nothing. Everyone was probably thinking it. He was just brave enough to say it.

Nicholas was enjoying his view from the rear eyeing the pretty girls that he sees yet cautious to Scarlet’s eyes. He was a bit startled by Grey skipping over to him and hooking her right arm to his left, yet he smiled at her as she introduced herself as Grey holding her free hand in front of him. “ …and thank you for kidnapping me” she said while giggling at the end. Nick had a hunch that the girl was not being quite truthful with her laughter as her smile was bigger and her laugh sounded a bit forced, yet he decided to go along with it, thinking to himself, ”Okay, here we go girl number two! I’m on a roll today!” He shook Grey’s hand gently saying in a smooth voice, “Ah how rude of me I don’t believe I had introduced myself very well back there so sorry. I had some business to take care of but no matter. I am Nicholas Truman, though call me Nick or Nicky if you wish.” He smiled at her and looked into her eyes as they walked up saying, “Oh you’re very welcome. I’ve always been the expert at catching the best fish in the sea. Though I apologize for having you walk four flights of stairs. Like I said before there is no elevator.” Nick continued to flaunt and flirt with Grey and look at the other women until they reached the Benefactor’s office.

---

The Benefactor leaned back on his desk as the new recruits slowly gathered inside his office. First the men appeared and then the women. As the Benefactor studied them closely without staring, he couldn’t help but notice how disheveled, confused, and even angry they looked. One of them had even called out "So, you're the asshole that kidnapped me...who the hell do you think you are?" The Benefactor wasn’t fazed by the anger that snapped out of the young boy. In fact he had to admit he was very straightforward which would be useful to him.

”Poor things,” he thought. ”They must’ve gone through some pretty rough times only to be brought to another adventure of their lives. No matter. It is now that they will begin their possible transformation.”

The Benefactor then stood up proud and as tall as he could clearing his throat and then greeting his new recruits with a “Welcome.” “My name is Sylvester Cromwell but I am usually addressed as The Benefactor. Although some of you may know that from reading the letter. Before we begin, I should let you know that should you desire to return to your rooms, the room number is placed in the back of the letter. If you by chance did not read your letter in your room or did not bring it with you and don’t remember your room, I will give it to you before we give you a tour of the places you will be working in the town.” Sylvester could see that some people seemed to look up or raise their eyebrows as though he had guessed correctly that some people haven’t touched or known about the letter. No matter, there is always an incident such as this one.

The Benefactor motioned to the two recruiters who had accompanied them to move aside as they always have done. He then motioned for the new recruits to come closer and he put his hands towards them palms facing forward. He wore white gloves that matched his formal business attire of a black suit, pants, and shoes. The room seemed to stir a bit and a wind picked up that shook some objects such as a lamp by the corner and some books in Sylvester’s shelf but not so hard that it would knock things to the floor. A faint glow came from underneath Sylvester and the recruits. It was obscure because of the many recruits, but there was a light sea green spell circle with intricate and ancient symbols. The same glow surrounded the people who may or may not have been a bit frightened but the Benefactor reassured, “Don’t worry and don’t be afraid. He is right now observing you and trying to gather information of your pasts, of your fears, of your strengths, and of sorrows. He is the one that will bestow your powers which you will utilize in your work. These powers are your Gifts of Innocence. You must now open your hearts, minds, and souls, and accept the Gift of Innocence as parts of you now.”

The glow emanating from the spell circle grew warm and surrounded the individuals as the Benefactor closed his eyes and concentrated. He could feel his strength diminishing bit by bit until the spell was complete. He doubled back and tripped but Nicholas ran to catch him in time.

“Thank you Nicholas. I’ll be fine don’t worry. Just be sure to fill in what I need you to fill in.”

“Sure sir. Hey wait, what do you need me to fill in?”

“You’ve already agreed Nicholas. You’ll see.”

---

The Benefactor then proceeded to walk towards each individual to inform them of their powers and their tasks. He first walked to Rosalina and said, “Rosalina, you’ve lost money and your life has gone in all sorts of directions, but now you can help others who were put in the same situation. You are the Loaner who has the power to produce blank checks to loan money to whoever needs it. The wielder of the blank check is able to create blank checks that can be at any dollar amount. They can be given to anyone poor or rich or somewhere in between as long as they meet the terms. It will be agreed upon by customers that there will be a set date for payment and a 1% interest is to be expected. The customer chooses the exact date and time for the payment but it cannot be altered no matter the situation. You will be working very closely with an old friend of yours.”

The Benefactor walked over to Noah and said, ”Noah, you’ve abused drugs and even conjured your own, sometimes bringing others with you to your downfall. Now you will be a potions maker which is like a drug dealer only your potions are made through your gift of magic medicine. You will brew potions that will solve problems that the customer will have. Materials and the guide book will be provided by the Benefactor. However, the medicines are still drugs, which mean they have to be taken at certain dosages and in a limited amount of time. Make sure you take some funds with Rosalina.”

After talking to Noah, the Benefactor moved on to Hailey, Aradia, and Grey. “All three of you will be counselors though you differ depending on your power and experiences. Hailey and Aradia you’ve been best friends but the friendship hasn’t been exactly comforting and supportive has it? Hailey you will be the Empowerment Counselor, taking those who feel as though they are weak and help them take charge into their lives. You were given power to “take charge” because you have been used by another and have felt helpless. You will tell people to recite a mantra to help them take charge into their lives. “I am powerful. My actions do have meaning. I will take charge and control my destiny.”This mantra when recited helps the user to feel empowerment. The user can take charge in his or her life to the point where he/she is intimidating enough to make other people do as told. The mantra only lasts for twenty-four hours, but it can be said over and over again.

Aradia, you will be the Satisfaction Counselor, taking those who feel as though they are not satisfied with their life and are jealous of others. You will help them turn their jealousy around and replace it with feelings of wanting to know and understand the object of their jealousy more. You were given this power because you have felt jealous and have taken out your jealousy on another person. There is a mantra for this that you will teach. “I am satisfied. There is enough for me. I will turn jealousy into devotion and become a true friend instead.” This mantra when recited helps the user become more devoted to becoming a true friend rather than a jealous poisonous friend. Like the take charge mantra, it only lasts for twenty-four hours, but it can be said over and over again.

Grey, you will be the Death/Suicide Counselor who will try to help and understand victims of depression due to death and suicides. In order to understand your patients you were given the gift of empathy which allows you to feel the pain of your patients emotionally, physically, and mentally. You have experienced the feeling of guilt due to obliviousness. Your empathy is not limited to her patients however. You can also feel the pain of others around you when listening intently, usually asking others “Tell me, I’ll listen and try to understand” in order to activate empathy.

You three will be working very closely as counselors so I hope you get along nicely. The Benefactor said giving a warm smile to the ladies.”

He moved on to Zeus and informed him about his role. “Zeus, you will be working with the counselors as well with your role being the Psychologist. You will help people recover from traumatic experiences by permanently erase the painful memories of your patients. You have been sexually assaulted by other women and are always haunted by it, so now you can help others ease their pain by erasing their memory. However, in exchange you must peer into the memories of his patients and erase a happy and equivalent memory. He may use this power outside of work, but the people must be willing to have at least the bad memory erased for it to work.

He turned to Fiona and Alton to tell them about their roles. “You both will be Animal Rescuers and Trainers as you both have witnessed and or experienced pain. Fiona, you will be a friend to the animals, able to befriend animals easily and having them listen to your commands, as though they understand you completely. Friend of the Animals is given to someone who has been tortured by the various cruel deeds done on animals. You will show them a better life through taking care of them and training them in the special Animal Training facilities provided by the Benefactor.

Alton, you will help Fiona rescue animals from their various dangerous situations. To aid you, you will have the ability to not feel any pain, for you have been abused too many times without reason. It should be noted that the effect of feeling no pain lasts both in and out of the job. Make sure however that you rest periodically."

The Benefactor decided that since he just told the animal Rescuers their roles, he should designate the rescuer of people. “Forgive me, is it Jang or Jang Hyun? I have never been the best with Asian names. Anyway, you will also be a rescuer but of people with the gift of resurrection. You have lost many people in your life that you have loved through cruel fate, so now you can help others get that second chance of living. Just note that the people you resurrect will have their lives changed in ways that you need to discover on your own.”

Next he went on to another Asian to get the awkward names over with. “Another one ahh…Ma—ko—to? Anyways, you have been running away from a past of killings, being in the Mafia, and other wrong doings and want to get another chance under a new identity. You will allow people that chance as well. Under the guise of a prison guard, you will have the ability of a reset button, the chance to improve their current lives by allowing them to go back and fix the point in their lives that they think ruined them. Look in your hands and you will see that you have a literal Reset Button that has knobs that change the date and time displayed on it. A person can change it to whatever time and date they want to go back to. After they are done fixing their problem they are transported back in the new present There are however limitations as you will figure out."

He turned to Harper and said, “You’ve been in a lot of raping and prostitution business haven’t you? You feel worthless thinking that being a whore is your only worth and you’ve even panicked about that job of yours haven’t you? Don’t answer the call. You have another home now. You can help others by being the Empowerer. You are similar to Hailey in that you will help others get up from their sulking, agony, and lack of confidence. You will guide those who were lost, thrown away, and shunned by society to a new direction in life. Your Gift of Innocence, "Listen Well," enables you to allow the person she is talking to listen and obey her advice and commands. There are however, limitations to this power as the person must be able to actually hear it. Unlike the others you will search out those in the town rather than have your clients directed to you. We must always remember there are those who do not wish to actively change their fates, as you should know from experience.”

He turned to Jasper, the man who had spoken up to the Benefactor, and said, “I am someone who knows that you were blamed of murder incorrectly due to misunderstanding. You accuse me of kidnapping but it is merely a misunderstanding as I am helping you as you were at your lowest point. So you want to find the truth of things and you shall as a detective with the gift of Psychometry. It allows you to touch an object or person to see the recent past or future. However, note that you will not be given any indication whether it had happened in the past or will happen in the future.”

The Benefactor made sure to be more open and comforting when approaching Novia knowing that she will be more distrusting than the others. “Novia do not fear. Although I know that you are not legal here, let it be assured that your secret is safe with us and that I am not here to deport you. In fact come see me some time and I have connection that might help you get citizenship if you so desire. But in regards to your job, I know you are a bright person, yet you have been held back by poverty. Therefore you will be the Negotiator, negotiating with various salesmen for needed goods. If any of the workers or I need something we will turn to you for your negotiation skills will be so amazing it will be as though they cannot refuse. You will persuade them with “Do we have an accord?” and the item is yours! I trust that you are smart enough to know the correct amount to negotiate for and will give her a budget to abide by.

Sylvester made sure to hurry since he can tell that people were getting impatient and from the corner of his eye he could tell Jasper was itching to get out of here. “Finally Daniel, the man who was supposed to have been a father. I’m so sorry about the miscarriage and your wife. Trust me, I know how it feels to lose your significant other.” The Benefactor looked off in space about after he said that, thinking about…Clarissa… He shook his head to get back to reality knowing he had to continue and said, “Er Sorry. Anyway, you will be a Fertility Specialist, being able to let others have children the way they want them to be and at any time they wish for the baby to develop. The clients will also be able to pick specific traits for their unborn child. It should be noted that you can only induce pregnancy on willing women. And I would advise you please, do not make any of my staff pregnant. It would be very troublesome to have many little children even though Kaylee would love to have siblings.”

The Benefactor then walked to the front of the room pausing a bit to catch his breath from all of the talking and then finally opening his mouth to speak. “Nick I believe it is time for you to fill them in on what I cannot fill in, your power and Scarlet would you like to do so or as always leave it to mystery? Of course Nick you cannot refuse,” the Benefactor ended with a smile.
Nick sighed but he knew he had no choice so he stood in front of the crowd and said, “As you all know, I am a recruiter but I have the power of persuasion. I…used to not be able to commit to anything. I have so many jobs it’s hard to count, I have had many girlfriends that I haven’t had the courage to commit to, and I…” Nick paused but the Benefactor urged him to go on. “I left my fiancé at the altar. I couldn’t do it. I…I ran because I was too afraid to commit to something I wasn’t sure of. However, the Benefactor found me and gave me this power. Now I’m able to make commitments with ease. If I agree to something someone asks me to I will actually be able to do it! Though it goes the same with others. Just be careful, if I ask you to do something and you agree, you can’t run away and you have to go through with it.” As Nick finished he sighed having said this story to many new recruits to rile them up.

The Benefactor then stood in front of Nick and asked, “Any more questions?”

"This is fuckery!" Jasper breathed with wide unblinking eyes as fear engulfed his entire being. The floor emitted a light that surround the group in rays of sea-green brilliance as wind caressed his porcelain skin, and just like that, the shroud of light covered him in a veil of crimson. The same happening to Maki, but in a mint green aura instead. However, his fear was extinguished only slightly when the light slowly faded. Jasper's hand flew to his face, touching the flesh to assure that nothing was amiss. He was enveloped in the initial shock of the floor glowing. He gazed at the strange man, quizzically as he when from screw up to screw up, nit picking at their problems and bestowing ‘gifts’ upon them. It wasn’t until he stopped at Jasper that the younger man finally released the breath that he didn’t realize he’d been holding.

“I am someone who knows that you were blamed of murder incorrectly due to misunderstanding. You accuse me of kidnapping but it is merely a misunderstanding as I am helping you as you were at your lowest point. So you want to find the truth of things and you shall as a detective with the gift of Psychometry. It allows you to touch an object or person to see the recent past or future. However, note that you will not be given any indication whether it had happened in the past or will happen in the future.”

"What the— “ but Jasper was too speechless to finish his sentence. How did he know that? This couldn’t be happening. No, this belonged in a syfy movie, not real life. He glanced around as a plethora of hues surrounded each individual in cloaks of luminescent light. He thought about what the man said. So, he had a gift…maybe this wasn’t so bad, He could feel it, chilling his bones and climbing up his back like a parasite. His eyes itched, but he resisted the urge to rub them as his blue orbs flashed to an inky black that consumed his eyeballs. Then, just as quickly as it appeared, his pitch-black eyes were gone and his azure gaze was back on his pale face without him realizing.



Meanwhile, Makoto’s heart was pounding in his chest like a jackhammer. His sun-kissed skin was flushed from both shock and excitement. He was almost giddy with the fact that he was being granted a second chance. The gift was merely a bonus. He glanced at Daniel, searching his unreadable face for any sign of emotion. “Man, we get powers, this is awesome.” Maki beamed in glee. "Dude, you are way too happy about this." Daniel chuckled. Maki simply shrugged. His gaze glinted in amusement before moving to Jasper.

Jasper was calmer than before, finally able to cope with this phenomenon. When The Benefactor asked if they had any questions, Jasper was about raise his hand when some loud mouth brunette stole his thunder. He raised a brow as she spoke.

"Why was I chosen?"

Jasper furrowed his brows, not holding back the thoughts that flew through his head. “Apparently, you weren’t paying attention when this guy,” he gestured to The Benefactor. “Was giving an overview of everyone’s life story. Obviously, simple bitch, you’re just as fucked up as the rest of the broken toys here.” He turned his gaze to the head-honcho, “I have a real question, Mr. B,” He said in irritation. “Can I just get the hell out of here?” He didn’t wait for a response before he shook his head, waving his hand as he turned for the door. ”You know, what? You don’t even have to answer that. I’m going to just go.” With that, he left without another word. Maki glanced at The Benefactor and shrugged, innocently.

---

"So, you're the asshole that kidnapped me...who the hell do you think you are?"

Daniel was barely able to stifle a laugh as Mr. Doom and Gloom hollered at the blonde man in front of the desk. Well, I wouldn’t call him an asshole, Daniel mused, but he could’ve called or something. Sent out a memo. Despite his sarcasm, Daniel was a bit on edge. Never in his life had he met these people and yet here they all were, brought here by one guy hell bent on giving them a second chance. It all seemed a little too hard to believe.

At the sound of the man clearing his throat, Daniel’s eyes were drawn to him, giving him his undivided attention. “Welcome. My name is Sylvester Cromwell but I am usually addressed as The Benefactor. Although some of you may know that from reading the letter. Before we begin, I should let you know that should you desire to return to your rooms, the room number is placed in the back of the letter. If you by chance did not read your letter in your room or did not bring it with you and don’t remember your room, I will give it to you before we give you a tour of the places you will be working in the town.”

The Benefactor motioned to the fiery redhead and the flirtatious man to move aside, and Daniel’s brow cocked in curiosity, moving forward as instructed despite his immediate inclination to back away. The Benefactor held up his gloved hands, palms pointed at the group of strangers that seemed to have huddled together since the beginning of the man’s introductory speech. Daniel felt a strange presence as the tension in the room shifted, a faint wind picking up around them as the books rattled on their shelves. Daniel’s eyes flickered about the room, taking in everything but saying nothing as he felt something tug on his heartstrings. A faint glow came from underneath The Benefactor and the recruits. It was misshapen, but there was a light jade spell circle with intricate symbols that reminded him of something he saw on Supernatural. The same glow shrouded Daniel, cloaking him and a few others in its luminosity as they began to panic. To his own surprise, Daniel wasn’t as freaked out as he ought to be.

However, the Benefactor was quick to reassure them, “Don’t worry and don’t be afraid. He is right now observing you and trying to gather information of your pasts, of your fears, of your strengths, and of sorrows. He is the one that will bestow your powers which you will utilize in your work. These powers are your Gifts of Innocence. You must now open your hearts, minds, and souls, and accept the Gift of Innocence as parts of you now.”

Who the fuck is He, Daniel mused, a little taken aback. Regardless, as the Benefactor closed his eyes, the aura around Daniel began to change. What was once a brilliant light emerald glow had transformed into a vivid orange radiance shrouding his feet. But at his feet it stayed. Nope, nope, nu-uh. I am not accepting any weird ass powers from some unnamed He.

“Man, we get powers, this is awesome.” Maki beamed in glee. Daniel glanced in his friend’s direction, taking his giddiness in with a chuckle. It was endearing, to say the least, to see this timid young man so adamant about receiving his gift.

“Dude, you are way too happy about this.” Daniel replied as he was engulfed entirely in that iridescent tangerine resonance. He glanced down, looking at his palms as they shined brighter than the rest of him. Turning his palms upwards, he caught sight of two symbols being engraved in light. He winced as the symbols were scorched into the flesh—on his left was the astronomical symbol for Mars, on the right it was the symbol for Venus. What the hell? He mused, shaking them feverishly until they dissipated. There was no mark left behind, no scar left in its wake even though he’d experienced the sensation of being branded.

Quickly, Daniel glanced over at Maki, catching sight of a bright mint aura shrouding his form. Further in his peripheral he saw the man he sang to earlier become engulfed in a sinister crimson glow, like the color of blood. He suppressed a shiver as the man’s cerulean gaze was dipped in jet blank ink, the substance nearly brimming over the edge of his eyelids. Daniel panted slightly, his throat constricting in near fright. Then, all the light vanished as The Benefactor nearly collapsed. The pretty boy quickly rushed to his side and helped him up, the older man responding with a near silent ‘Thank you’.

Daniel straightened himself up, wiping the palms of his hands against the front of his jeans. He ignored the man as he moved to each one of them separately. Though a part of him was just dying to know what they had done to get themselves caught up in this situation. But Daniel was dealing with his own problems at the moment, muttering to himself in an attempt to figure out why those symbols had been on their hands and what exactly this so-called ‘gift’ was. His interest sparked as The Benefactor stood in front of his friend, withholding his own surprise to discover that Maki had once been in The Mafia. And then the gloomy fellow…. Convicted of a crime he didn’t commit? Daniel was in awe. These people were in much deeper shit than he was. His life wasn’t perfect by any means, but in comparison…

And then The Benefactor stopped in front of him. “Finally Daniel, the man who was supposed to have been a father.” Once again, Daniel felt his airway constrict. His jaw clenched in pent up aggression, his first initial reaction being to strike the man standing before him. “I’m so sorry about the miscarriage and your wife. Trust me, I know how it feels to lose your significant other.” Daniel averted his gaze for a moment, his fists clenching despite the man’s apology. He only finally met the man’s gaze when he knocked himself out of his own reverie. Daniel collected himself, stowing away his anger as his curiosity reared its ugly head. “Anyway, you will be a Fertility Specialist, being able to let others have children the way they want them to be and at any time they wish for the baby to develop. The clients will also be able to pick specific traits for their unborn child. It should be noted that you can only induce pregnancy on willing women. And I would advise you please, do not make any of my staff pregnant. It would be very troublesome to have many little children even though Kaylee would love to have siblings.”

Daniel smirked, despite himself, ducking his head as the man backed away. He listened passively as the pretty boy recruiter, known as Nicholas, shared his own life story—appropriate, Daniel decided, since everyone else’s was put on display. He was slightly bitter about that, but as The Benefactor asked for any questions, the scene that ensued brought that lopsided grin back on his face.

"Why was I chosen?”

"Apparently, you weren’t paying attention when this guy,” Jasper gestured to The Benefactor. "Was giving an overview of everyone’s life story. Obviously, simple bitch, you’re just as fucked up as the rest of the broken toys here,” Daniel suppressed a laugh, covering his smile with his palm as the gloomy guy looked to the guy in charge, "I have a real question, Mr. B. Can I just get the hell out of here?” He didn’t wait for a response before he shook his head, waving his hand as he turned for the door. "You know, what? You don’t even have to answer that. I’m going to just go.” Daniel watched him leave, his eyes lingering as well as the smile on his face, slightly bemused as his mystery lady followed after his mystery guy.

"Yes, I have one too.. and only one! Why does the elevator not work?”

Daniel immediately turned his head. His expression was comically serious as he raised his hand half-hearted, holding up a finger to interject, “I agree with the former hooker,” he blurted out, “Why is that a thing?” he asked, with a shrug, shoving his hands in his pockets. “I don’t know, it just seems like a lot of walking.”

Scarlet waited patiently as Sylvester did all his magic tricks and moved aside even before he signaled her and Nick to do so. As she always did before the empowering, she listened cautiously almost studying every words muttered as he gifted each and everyone in the room. As predicted some were baffled and startled while others were scared out of their wits. She smiled in amusement at the scene, this was always her favorite part of her job after all. She saw Nick glancing at some girls, as always, and rolled her eyes at the flirting fool.

Obviously she did not say anything when Sylvester signaled her to reveal her own... gift, 'they'll find out sooner or later...' was all she could think of.

Finally she heard some recruits ask questions, 'that's a new one...' she thought sarcastically. Grey asked about why she had been chosen while Harper asked about the elevator, Scar let out a laugh at that one but nobody seemed to hear it as they were all still focused on Sylvester. She couldn't help but to grin as Jasper dissed her too, "Obviously, simply bitch, you’re just as fucked up as the rest of the broken toys here," but it wasn't until he tried leaving that her mood was truly ruined. Immediately Scarlet followed the guy outside Sylvester's office and quickly blocked the guy who was about her height, with the help of her high-heels of course. She almost let out a growl in annoyance, from the beginning they had not gotten off the right foot with his "Eat shit and die" and her "Fuck you".

"Look asshole or broken toy whichever suits your delicate needs." she said almost throwing knives, "I could give less of a shit about your tantrums and your oh so dramatics, in fact they are quite enjoyable, keeps things interesting anyways. But, you are going nowhere, not now that you have been given your power" she paused for a second but not long enough to let him to interrupt her. "You just said so yourself, everyone you just saw in there and myself included are indeed fucked up in ways that not even you could imagine" she paused for a moment finally letting go of her tight grip on his shoulder. "But this is your last chance and that's all you've got left".

The redhead moved back giving her back to Jasper returning to Sylvester's office.

Alton felt his body tense up when the surroundings began lighting up. That wasn’t a good thing, glowing people were never a good thing, they weren’t good in tele programs, and they weren’t good in the real world either. He glanced around at the others, each of them seemed to be experiencing the same phenomenon as he was. Each of them glowing and reacting in their own time. The Benefactor and those other two didn’t seem bothered by the occurrence, despite The Benefactor also glowing, so Alton forced himself to relax. Though he admitted that the temperamental man was interesting, his anger was interesting. He seemed like the type of person that wasn’t afraid to hit, and by the looks of it he could probably pack quite the punch.

He was distracted from the angry man when the glowing subsided that The Benefactor began talking again. It seemed each of these people had their own background, their own stories of pain and hardship, just has Alton had. He listened carefully though, identifying each face with their pain, he could probably do a few profiles from memory, distort them with their issues. He wondered if that was immoral, of disturbed, but he decided no one would see them in the end so it wouldn’t matter what they thought.

He felt a wave rock his body, it was cool and slow and dissipated just as The Benefactor turned his attention towards him and a ditzy looking girl, her name was Fiona. He hadn’t a care for the job he was given, he had never really cared for animals before, but he supposed he could have gotten a worse job. He eyed up his supposed partner again, she seemed like she could be tolerable to work with. “Alton, you will help Fiona rescue animals from their various dangerous situations. To aid you, you will have the ability to not feel any pain, for you have been abused too many times without reason. It should be noted that the effect of feeling no pain lasts both in and out of the job. Make sure however that you rest periodically.”

Alton felt himself pale, his fingers twitched and he felt his fingers move back to his forearm, his fingers digging into his skin. There was nothing though, just a soft pressure against his arm. It was dull and offered none of the relief he usually got to scratching. He bite his lip, eyes darting around the room for a moment, he felt very twitchy and very uncomfortable standing in that room. He looked at The Benefactor, if this man had known so much about him why would he be given a gift that went so entirely against everything that kept him stable. He watched as Jasper left, seeing an opening for him to get out as well.

“I’m getting out of here too.” He muttered as he shoved his hands in his pockets before making a beeline for the door. He felt like he was on the verge of a panic attack, not to mention it was turning into a sob fest in there, something he wasn’t too keen about sticking around for. He began towards the door when the red headed woman slipped ahead of him. He walked out just as she was stepping aside. His eyes flickered between the two of them. Both seemed rather abrasive and crude, traits that he admired in people, and he cleared his throat. “Listen, I’m just going to go back to my flat, the atmosphere in there right now is pitiful and I don’t want to deal with it. So if you don’t mind, I’m going to try to come to terms with the fact that pain isn’t available to me anymore.”

The dark haired man felt his fingers move back down to his forearm, his nails digging into his skin and him not being able to feel the acute pain it should have been producing.

Jasper reached into his pocket for his pack of Newports, aching for a smoke. All of this drama, magic, and memories about his past were gnawing at him and he was doing what he did best; he pushed away the assistance and ran from it. The pads of his fingers brushed the box when he heard the click of high heels against the floor. He felt her hand on his shoulder and he froze, almost turning around to slap her hand away, but he refrained, hold back his pending anger...that was, until she spoke.

"Look asshole or broken toy whichever suits your delicate needs." she said almost throwing knives, "I could give less of a shit about your tantrums and your oh so dramatics, in fact they are quite enjoyable, keeps things interesting anyways. But, you are going nowhere, not now that you have been given your power." He opened his mouth to interrupt her, but she continued. He simply shook his head in annoyance. She was like a damn bee buzzing in his ear and he damn sure wanted to slap her away. To stop himself from spitting acidic words her way, Jasper placed a cigarette between his lips before grabbing his lighters and flicking it to life. As soon as the ember was lit, Jasper stared at the red head with lifeless eyes, hiding his brewing frustration. "You just said so yourself, everyone you just saw in there and myself included are indeed fucked up in ways that not even you could imagine."

Jasper's eyes flashed, rage fester inside of him, growing into an inferno of caustic words. I blew his smoke out of his nose and took the cigarette from his lip and tapped some ash onto the floor merely out of disrespect. “Listen, bitch. Last time I checked, you bought me here against my will. I don’t remember telling you that I wanted a second chance or something like that, so you can shove that ‘we can save you’ shit right up your ass, okay. You think just because you’re huffing and puffing at me, I’m just going to listen? Oh, you are going to be disappointed because I’m staying my ass, right here.”

"But this is your last chance and that's all you've got left".

“Really, now?” Jasper said, puffing more smoke, giving her a cynical glare as he leaned against the wall. “Well, I guess what I do with it is my choice and you can fuck off.” He puffed more smoke as she turned and stomped off. He sighed, picking at his shirt idly as one thought roamed through his head. Bitch…