“Every human being has inside them something more important than him or herself - his or her Gift.”~ Paulo Coelho - “Brida” Story: No one's quite sure what happened. The day had begun like any other. But the world was never the same afterward. It all seemed to begin in Daerg City's Central Park. It had been a normal day up until the park exploded. Out of no where, it erupted into a massive fireball of flame. It wasn't that simple though. The fire wasn't normal. In fact, it was out right strange. The fire only burned living things. Water passed right through it, and it didn't scorch stones or the benches. That wasn't the strangest part though. The fire was shaped like a giant rose. A giant crimson rose. From that day on, the world wasn't the same. All over the world, strange...powers began to emerge. People all over the world could suddenly use abilities formally thought of to be things of fantasy. Throwing fireballs, flying, telekinesis, and more. No one could explain why or how these people had powers. There was no pattern, no connection, no link. It seemed totally random. There was only one thing that seemed to connect the powers. None of the powers appeared before the fire in Daerg. So began the story of the Flame of the Crimson Rose. Now something has happened. Forces have been set into motion. Powers are stirring. Something or someone has set a series of events into motion that will change the world forever. And there are no heroes to stop it. No crusaders of justice, no defenders of the weak. Just the regular citizens of Daerg. Game: 1.It's been one month since the Flame of the Crimson Rose, a Saturday. Your characters has been going about their regular lives, just an average day in Daerg City 2.Daerg City consists of a large residential district on the east side, and a large business district to the west. The two halves are separated by the Buidhe river, but connected by the Daerg suspension bridge. Central park sits in the middle of the business district. Some notable locations are the Melloi highschool, the remnants of the central park, the large business building the Fenien building, and the Nuada Mall. 3.Since the Flame of the Crimson Rose, the presence of people with powers has become public knowledge. Most people with powers have tried to keep to themselves, but many have become hit-men, criminals, and government agents. 3.None of the characters know each other. They may know each other, even met before, but they don't really know each other very well. 4.Preferably, all characters are younger in age. From 14 to 23. Give or take a few years. If you really want an older or younger character, PM me with a good reason and I'll get back to you. 5.All characters are people with “Strange Powers” . They may not know it yet, but they are. Also, whether they know about their powers or not, none of them are very experienced with their abilities. Of course, they should be able to learn quickly. 6.Magic is a bit different in this world. Each character has a specific unique ability that they can use as often as they like, but that's they only ability they can use. For example, you cannot throw fireballs and fly. Of course, you could shoot flames from your hands and then use them as thrusters to allow you to fly. Creativity goes a long way. As long as it's at least fairly realistic (If you can freeze things, you can't make flying ice bridges. Physics doesn't work like that. But you can shoot missiles out of your butt. [Frozen air falls, missiles out of your butt with blow up on your pants and burn your rear, but if you make it with magic, its within the realm of realism.]) Check out my blog post for more details. 7.Be unique with your ability. Try not to use a classic like fireballs, walking through walls, heat vision, etc. Try something different and unique. It's not a requirement, but it would be greatly appreciated. Plus, it's just more fun to be able to create whips of liquid nitrogen than throw fireballs. 8.Unlike most RPGs, your ability won't be listed in your character profile. This is so that no one knows anyone else's abilities. Whether you realizes it or not, you react to characters according to what you know about their abilities. You're less likely to throw a fireball at the water mage than the firewood mage. This adds realism. 9.The only one who will know your abilities before hand is me. Everyone will need to PM me a detailed description of your ability so I can approve it. 10.This is still a story in progress, so there may be a hand full of times where things sort of slow down... Also, this is my first time GMing, so please be patient with me. Plus, please do not steal any of these ideas. If you want to use one for what ever reason, PM me and I'll try to work something out. Rules: YOU HAVE TO READ THESE! (Borrowed from DB with slight adjustments) 1.Read everyone’s posts! Not only does this keep us all on the same page, its fun to know your posts are being read and acted upon. Respond to stimuli and events from other player’s posts. 2. Avoid writing one-line posts or extremely long posts. A range of 40-300 words is good to shoot for. 3.Edit before posting, we’re all here to improve as well as enjoy. 4. No God-modding or perfect characters. God characters = boring RP 5. Fighting between characters should be kept to a minimum, but if there is going to be a fight, no one should die. Also, I would prefer that I be contacted to moderate the fight. I just might want to add in some outside stimuli. 6. Do not control another person’s character without their express consent. 7. If a player is AWOL and holding up the game the character will be NPC’d or brutally killed/tortured/beaten/eaten at the my discretion. If you know you’ll be gone for some time you may hand over your character to another player’s care. 8. Don’t flood the thread with long conversations or extensive actions. Give others a chance to post before moving on. 9. Please discuss any issues in the discussion thread or PM me with your concerns. Gossiping about issues or spamming up the story thread is counterproductive. 10. And lastly… the my word is the absolute law! Character Template: Name: Gender: Age: Appearance: (What your character looks like: clothing, height, build, eye/hair/skin color, etc.) Personality: (How your character acts/thinks.) Background: (Summary of your character's life to this point.) Equipment: (Useful or exceptional items that your character possesses. Remember, high school students don't have guns, swords, nor explosives. They're more likely to have a pocket knife, lighter, or car.)
Name: Adam Ronin Gender: Male Age: 16 Appearance: He is about 5'6, slim build, has light blonde hair and dark blue eyes. His face is kind of rounded, and his hair is past ear-length, and comes down his forehead to cover his eyebrows. He usually wears loose jeans, tops, and hoodies. Personality: He is extremely shy and not very outgoing, which makes it hard for him to make friends, and consequently he doesn't have very many, and no close ones. But, he is extremely nice, polite, and modest. Background: He lived in Daerg his entire life, in his family's large house, on the edge of the city. His father is the owner of the World's largest wind-energy company, owns thousands of wind turbines and has offices in the west district of Daerg. He recently changed schools to Melloi high school, and has had a rough time making friends as he is shy and not very outgoing. He is very good at roller-blading, since this was something he constantly did since he was about four years old. He has a little brother who is five years old. Equipment: Roller blades, and a fair amount of money in bank account.
Name: Bo Franco Gender: female Age: 17 Appearance: She's 5'3. She has green eyes and a light skin color. She has long brown curly hair. She likes to wear her summer clothes all year long with basics and leggings under het clothes. She wears a lot of skirts and shorts with decorated t-shirts. She always wears high heals and sunglassed when the weather is good. Personality: Bo is out-going and artistic. She tries to express her creativity in everything she does. She has a clear sense of what is important in life; family over friends, friends over boyfriends. Background: Bo has two older and two younger brothers. She grew up in the big city. Her parrents difforced when she was 10 years old. Bo and her brothers moved to Dearg a year ago to live with her father, because their mother died of cancer. Bo started taking piano lessons when she was 12 and stopped when she was 15. She stills loves to play. Equipment: A Vespa.
Name: Cole Harper Gender: Male Age: 17 Appearance: Tall and hip, Cole is in the "in crowd" in school. His eyes and hair are dark. He wears designer jeans, a T-shirt and a leather jacket. Personality: Cole is a good guy, but a bit of a snob. He's been the 'cool guy' for some time now and its gone to his head. Although not an attention seeker Cole has been content to let himself be the school star. For the past few weeks, however, he's been more reclusive and moody. At his heart he is noble, couragous, and a natural leader. Background: A self sufficient athlete; he's a soccer star but only an average student. He comes from a fairly well off upper-middle class family. He has a typical distant teenage relationship with his parents, and much younger sister. Lately, he seems to be addicted listening to his iPod, while tuning out everything that he's not interested in. Equipment: Cole carries a satchel bag with standard school supplies. He keeps his iPod with him, and his parents credit card
Name: Caleb Davidson Gender: Male Age: 17 Appearance: Tall, light blue eyes verging on grey. Longish brown hair swept across his forehead, just above his eyebrows. He has pale, clean skin, and a cheerful expression. His normal out fit is jeans, with converse sneakers, and a plain black or white collar shirt. Personality: Very cheerful, and out going. Caleb enjoys making others feel good, often at his own expense, and self respect. Caleb is very confident and enjoys such activities such as writing, acting, playing the violin, and writing the occasional poem. Caleb is often falling in love, (an apsect of his personality which he is quick to joke about), and his love interests often end in disaster with him doing nothing about it. Oh and he's also technophobic,and hates computers, insisting that they only crash and break when he's using them, and magically fix when someone else comes along. Background: Caleb Lives a content life with his family in Daerg city, however he is planning on moving out in the next two years. he loves both his parents and his younger brother and sister, and really has never had to work very hard for anything in his life. Hes lived a perfect life in which nothing bad has ever really happened to him, until the big rose explosion. Equipment: Witty dialogue, and catchphrases, A lack of money, an overdue library book, several folded notes in his pockets about novel ideas. Catch Phrases: - "Im Caleb, Writer, Actor, Musician, Poet, and just about every other profession that earns bugger all money" - "Making people feel better, yep, thats what my job is" - "My heart is a whiny sonovabitch, it isnt content unless its fallen in love three times a month, has been fed rejection and disappointment, and has made me contemplate jumping of a cliff. Before landing in marshmellows. What was i talking about again?" - "Tall, handsome and delusional speaking." - "I really ****ing hate computers. Their about as user friendly as a... not user friendly thing"
Name: Mackenzie Addison Gender: Female Age: 16 Appearance: Mackenzie is 5'7'' and fair skinned and has very light brown hair with highlights. Her eyes a are a dark brown and she is very pretty but still tends to wear lots of make-up. She generally weas nice jeans, black suede boots and trendy shirts with her black rain jacket. Personality: Mackenzie appears to everyone as the stereotypic popular girl: pretty, nice to peolpe she likes, and bitchy to everyone else. She is very smart and sarcastic and outgoing. However underneath it all she is actually a very honest and trustworthy girl who feels a little lost and isn't necessarily happy with who she is. Background: Mackenzie moved to Dareg City when she was eight and now attends Melloi High School. Her dad is a bussiness man who is almost always gone on some trip of another. Her mom has compensated for his absence by working hard to become one of the socialite mothers and thus instilled in Mackenzie the idea that she is supposed to be a popular girl. Mackenzie loves her mother very much and wants to make her happy because she knows how hard it is on her mom that her dad is always gone, and consequently she hates her dad for that. She has one older brother who is 20 that she is very close to. Equipment: a red cell phone, a wallet with a decent amount of money and a debt card, a lanyard with keys, a pocket knife, and a small flashlight hanging off
Name: Kaz Tsho Gender:Male Age: 18 Appearance: At 5 foot 11, and with a muscular body, Kaz is easily the strongest boy in his class. He has ocean blue eyes and 2 silver fillings. He hates white, and prefers to dress in Black and Gold or Black and Green shirts along with rare Black jeans with a Green or Gold belt. His friends call him 'King Darkness' due to this. Personality: He may not look friendly, but he is. He is always thinking up jokes or puns to make people laugh and has no trouble making friends. Although he spends most his attention on jokes, he can think up hundreds of things to do and never gets bored. He relies on his strength to fight bullies. Background: He was born far from where he lives, and spent the first few years of his life there. He moved to his current location at 6 and joined the best school. He struggled to fit in at first, but eventually became the funniest and most popular kid in the class. He finished school and got an Ipod Touch as a reward, and a mobile phone when he got a merit in secondary school for protecting some kids from bullies. He is now in High School. Equipment: Mobile Phone, Ipod Touch with lots of apps like compass, google earth etc., 100 Dollars in a wallet.
Name: Samuel Teak Gender: Male Age: 17 Appearance: 5' 10" tall (or 4' 22" as he prefers to say) with uncombed brown hair and brown eyes. Due to a strange diet and high metabolism, Sam has managed to stay fairly thin, however a lack of exercise has left him anything but "in shape." He is somewhat insensitive to temperature changes, and thus will continue to wear sweaters into early summer and shorts into late fall. However, despite the season, he always wears a wool-lined aviator cap. Personality: Sam tends to be rather laid back and reclusive; preferring the worlds of textbook and sketchpad to the drama and stress of real life. Upon getting to know him, however, people find he is a nice enough guy, if a bit...eccentric. When he does socialize, he usually hangs out with his friends Richard Mackenzie and "Spud" Daniels. Background: Most of his life, Sam lived in a small town on the other side of the state. Though he has now lived in the city for a few years, he is still unfamiliar with it and tends to underestimate the dangers of wandering around certain neighborhoods. Equipment: Usually carries around a sketchpad, a couple pens and pencils, a wallet with a few bucks and $20 "emergency" cash (but it is never enough of an emergency to warrant using it in his mind), a hand towel, and dental floss
“Its not that bad Cole,” he heard her say as Juno Reactor's 'Master's of the Universe' blared through his ear buds. Coles dark eyes were on the soccer field but his mind was elsewhere. A cheer from the crowds surrounding him snapped him back to the game. Another goal for the away team. His school was getting beaten, and badly. ‘If only they’d let me play!’ he ran a hand through his tousled brown hair as other spectators around him sat back down on the bleachers. “I’m sure that coach will work things out, and you'll be able to play again. I think you’re the best player we have, I know I...” At this point Cole tuned the girl out completely. He didn’t even know her name, just another one of those starry eyed sophomores that always seemed to follow him around. Only right now he wasn’t interested in acclaim. His thoughts went back to the game last week. In the first half he had fumbled a pass, and been badly out run as the opposing team’s midfielder made a break-away down the field and slid the ball past his goalie. Cole smirked in his seat as his iPod continued to blare in his ears and the crowd cheered again. Being out run like that had made him pissed, really, really pissed. But the next half was different. With just a few seconds left to go Cole had stolen the ball that day and made a breakaway of his own down the length of the field. As he approached the goalie, the kid just seemed to stare at him and was far too late to block his well aimed kick. He remembered the feeling as he turned with victorious arms held high to face the crowd. But the crowd was not cheering that day, they just stared. His teammates down-field were staring too. Coach said he’d never seen anyone run that fast in his life. The other team was pissed, and called foul. They said he was one of those ‘freaks’ that had been turning up since the Flame. Some punks from the other team had even roughed him up after the game... Cole mindlessly touched his jacket sleeve and felt his right forearm beneath. He’d been cut in that fight. One of the little bastards had pulled a knife when the tussle got heated. They ran in the end, but his arm had never healed quite right. The bandage beneath his leather jacket hid the wound that had seemed to grow and spread after that night. It never had hurt but he still wore the bandage. It was just healing funny, he thought, it’d be better in a few days, or so he told himself. Cole didn’t want to be a freak. He rose from his seat and left the gushing sophmore girl alone in mid-sentence. The game was almost over, there was no way they’d tie the score. Cole had seen enough.
Adam checked his watch. It was now six o'clock in the evening, but as dark as ten. That was the only problem Adam had with the winter months in Daerg - it got too dark, too soon. He didn't mind it so much today though, he just wanted to be alone. So, instead of going straight home after school, as he normally did, he decided to roller blade around the city. His favourite place to do so was in the multi-story parking lot of the Nuada mall. Its spiraling car ramps were a great obstacle to mount, however, going down them was a bit dangerous. Adam stood on the open top floor of the car park, his elbows on the railing, staring out at the city below him, and the blank night sky above. The lights of Daerg never seemed to allow the stars to shine, although admittedly, it wasn't very late yet. The mall wasn't closing anytime soon, it was a Friday evening, and yet the car park was fairly empty. Ever since that fire in the park last month, strange things had been occurring, and people seldom wanted to venture outside. A familiar noise sounded, and something vibrated in Adam's pocket. He extracted his mobile phone, and flipped it up to receive the call - it was his mother, wondering where he was. Adam kind of felt sorry for her sometimes, as all she had to occupy herself with was taking care of his younger brother at home. A couple of years ago, his father's company, Ronin Enterprises, was taken to a global scale, and since then has generated enough money for his mother to quit her job and have another child. So, she was literally just at home, worrying about children all day. It got kind of annoying. Adam hung up, informing his mother he'd be home soon. A star twinkled in the sky above - the first of the night - and a soft breeze blew past him. Adam turned his attention back to blading. "We're not going home yet."
Kaz walked along the dark street. He thought it was just a perfect opportunity for a mugging or something. He thought he heard someone creeping about behind him, but he decided it was a rat, or his imagination, and kept walking. He pulled his iPod touch from his pocket and tapped the screen a few times. He then put in his ear-speaker-things, and his ear drums filled with music. But then another bit of music started. He turned the iPod off, frustrated that he should be called at that moment. Why that moment? He answered his phone. "Kaz! Get home right now!" "Mum, I'm 18 now..." "More like 17! Get. Back. Home." "Ok, ok." He hung up. Why did his mum always have to order him home so early. According to his phone, it was only 6 PM. But then it did get dark quickly.
"Eww! Don't buy that one! Buy that one over there! It'll look amazing on you!" "Yeah! Get that one, the other is like, so gross!" Mackenzie leaned against the wall listening to her friends arguing over which shirt was better. Her friends argued about stuff like that alot and usually she would have joined in, but tonight it was just irritating. She rolled her eyes in exasperation and wished someone would call her just so she could have a valid excuse to ignore them. "What do you think Addison?" For years she had gone by her last name only,she had never really liked the name Mackenzie. "Which one should Jackie get?" With a sigh at getting pulled into the discussion she looked at the two shirts Jackie was holding. "Get the pink, it'll go better with your hair." "What did I say? I told you pink would go better!" "Ok, ok I'll get the pink." With a buzz the phone in her pocket began to vibrate. Addison pulled it out and looked at the text, it was from her brother Gage telling her he had just got home and was at the mall to meet up with here. "Hey guys I gotta go. See you later." Without wating for a goodbye she sprinted out of the store and towards the mall's center court. Once there she searched around for her tall, brown haired brother. "Gage!!" She sprinted towards him and jumped into his arms for a hug, "How are you? How's college? How long are you home for?" "Addy! Take a breath girl" He laughed, "I'm good, and I'm home for the weekend. Whats new with you?" She smiled at him and was about to answer when her phone went off again, "Hang on a sec." She pulled out the phone and opened the text, it was blank. She looked at the phone slightly confused for a minute; however the number the message was from looked familiar, it was probably one of her friends showing her she was pissed because Addison had left without listening to them. With a dismissive shrug she deleted the message and started walking around the mall with Gage.
Nathan slowly strolled down the center of the high school’s main hall, like he had on so many nights beforehand. It was another off day at the electronics shop, less hours every week it seems, and needed to really clear his head. Most of the teachers and office workers had already left and his boss just said to remember to lock up before he left. Nate stopped by the athletics trophy wall and looked straight to the left bottom corner, as always. There he was, and his old friends encased in glass and two dimensional. He stared at the picture for what seemed like an hour, mind racing with memories of the old hockey group; and then what he did to break them up. He put his hand on the glass, as if he could pull back that time, when all was good. When his parents had money, when he was destined to be a legend in hockey. But those days are long since gone. And now he stands with a sheet of cold glass in between and a constant flow of memories in his mind. If it angered Nathan no one would be able to tell. His eyes just pierced the picture, as if he could pin it to his eyes, to his mind. Eventually he turned away and kept walking down the hall. Nathan pulled his cell phone out of his pocket to check the time. He felt a slight tingle up his arm as he did; it almost seemed to tickle has hand. Dead. It was always dead. “Every damn time,” he blurted out, “I can build electronics, but I can’t buy them. This new phone sucks.” He shoved his phone back in its home pocket angrily. He approached the exit door rather slowly, preparing for the bike ride home. As he reached the doorway, a large shock jumped of his finger and snapped at the door handle. He just smiled and shook his head, opening the door and walking out. “I swear…every damn time.”
Sam advanced carefully down the hallway. It was old, very old. Strangely luminescent slime dripped down the walls, oozing in and out of cracks in the mortar. The hall smelled of the hundreds of foul bodies that had paraded down it, of the ages of neglect that had filled it with mildew and cobwebs, of...sulfur? Strange. Beside him, a stockily built man glanced fearfully about, trying his best to keep his steel plate armor from clanking as he trudged nervously. "We shouldn't be here," he said. "This is far over out heads. We should go back." Sam ignored him, turning his attention instead to a door at the end of the hall. Carefully, cautiously, Sam edged closer to it and pressed his ear against it. Yes, there was definitely something there, something big. He could hear it's heavy breathing clearly through the thick oak. He quickly scanned the floor around him and removed a fist-sized chunk of a crumbling flagstone. His armored companion regarded him quizzically. "What's that for?" he asked loudly. Sam shushed him and carefully placed his ear back on the door. The breathing pattern was unchanged; whatever it was in there, it had fortunately not heard his companions outburst. "Okay," Sam whispered, "There's something big on the other side of this door. We don't know what it is..." "Are you kidding me? It's the freaking dragon, is what it is! I'm out of here." "We don't know what it is," he repeated, "so we need to take precautions. Remember that bag of infinite holding? The one we found the baron's firesword in?" Sam pulled the bag out, sliced it open, and stretched it across his companion's shield. Before his companion could object, he explained. "It held a flaming sword without even feeling warm. Therefore, the same material stretched over your shield should protect you from any dragon fire - or any other spells for that matter. Now, hand me your sword and your gauntlets." Sam put on the gauntlets and began spreading a thick paste on the sword. "Remember that cursed armlet we found? It only affected your health when you actually put it on, not when you picked it up wearing your gauntlets. Therefore, it must actually touch your skin to be effective, not just touch your armor. When we were last in town, I had it ground up and mixed it with some glue. This should give your sword a devastating extra kick and," he held up his hands, the gauntlets were smeared with the paste, "should give you a devestating punch." His companion nodded. "Not bad," he admitted, "but what about yourself?" "I've made myself a small buckler from another bag of holding. With any luck, it should protect me adequitely without affecting my spellcasting. As for the casting itself, I took the liberty of prying something from our friend the lich." He pulled a severed skeletal arm from his cloak, still gripping an onyx wand. "With any luck, this should boost my casting ability enough to be competant. But first, I have attached another cursed amulet to a portable trap. While you have it distracted, I will throw it at whatever we're facing, and it should give us the edge we need. "Alright, so you get it? You rush in, I hang behind and cast support spells. On the count of three. One, two..." The pair rushed through the door to come face-to-face with an enourmous, hideous creature, bat-like in appearace but wingless and four slimy tentacles, terminating in three sharp claws each, sprouted from its torso where its legs should be. For a moment it regarded them with beady black eyes, then it bared its thousand needle teeth and lunged. Sam reared back and threw the rock... "Wait just one second. You throw the rock!?" Richard looked up from behind his Game Master screen in disbelief. "Yeah, I picked it up didn't I? I don't see what's the problem." "The problem is it's an utterly stupid idea! You're a wizard, you can't do any damage with a freaking thrown rock. And you don't know what that thing is! If you don't stall it in one round, you could be toast! And what about Spud?" "Yeah, what about me?" Spud asked, in between handfuls of cheetos. "I'm the one taking all the risk; you're just hanging out by the door! You can't just abandon the plan like that!" "Yeah, but it would have been a waste. That trap was too valuable to throw at any random monster, I have to save it for the dragon!" "But if you don't use it now, we won't survive to make it to the dragon!" Richard applied his palm to his forehead. "I don't get you, Sam. One minute you bend the rules in incredibly brilliant ways to buff your characters, the next you pull an incredibly stupid, yet somehow premeditated, move like that that completely undermines your own battle plan!" He sighed and began rolling dice. "Okay, we'll go with it. You hit it with the rock for," -roll- "2 damage. It counters automatically with a clawed tentacle for," -roll, roll, roll- "85, no 86 damage. Your belly is sliced open and your intestines spill out onto the dungeon floor. You're dead." "And me?" Spud asked nervously. "Also dead, but yours is a lot quicker and less painful. Guess that's the benefit of getting so close to the monster." He stared for a minute at the character sheets scattered across the table. "So, reroll your characters?" "In a minute," Spud answered. "I'ma get something to drink." He stood up and trudged toward the kitchen. "You two want anything?" Sam nodded. "Yeah, I left an open can of ginger ale in there earlier. Should be good and flat now. I'll have that." Richard grimaced. "You have strange tastes, you know that?" "Not that strange." "Sam, you're salting a Hershey bar." Sam shrugged, put down the salt shaker, and took a bite of the chocolate. "It's really not so bad once you get used to it. It's like eating peanuts shell-and-all, you get more of the flavor this way!" Spud walked back in, set down three cans of drinks, and snatched up his dice. "Well, gentlemen, the night is still young. Shall we?"
With an ease attributed to his confidence an youth, Caleb swaggered down the busy side walk. His tall figure glided seamlessly between the mass of people, his enthusiastic face brimming with cheer. Some years ago he had found he had a knack for making people feel good, so he let this bleed into every aspect of his personality, and make it evident in his every action. He smiled at everyone who passed, and received a few grins in return, one from a very pretty girl. As the crowd thinned, and he faced a near empty street, he pulled out his small screenless pebble mp3. As the rock n roll rythems that he loved began to play, and his blood began to pump, he let his mind wander, as was his custom. It began with a mild pondering of which fast food was the best, followed by slightly more stimulating thoughts on the current political climate. Eventually, as usual his weary mind rested on warming memories of loves, past and present. He imagined himself with the girls he desired, not engaged in lustful sexual activities, (His friends regaled him with enough of those stories to last him a lifetime) But simply kissing, sitting, talking, and just being with those girls. He chuckled at his own fantasies, in fact he was so engrossed in his thoughts, that he did not immediately notice that his mp3's ear phones had cut out. He sighed as he fiddled around with the Mp3, but alas, there was no fixing it. Fortunately coming up on Calebs right was an electronics store. Caleb had to get home to finish up one of his final school projects, but he figured that a quick detour wouldn't hurt. Normally Caleb avoided technology like the plague, however he occasionally partook in brief forays into the world of souless machines, usually just to replace absolutely vital things. Like his earphones. Using what little money he had Caleb swiftly purchased his earphones from the spectacled, pimply teenager behind the counter, and was about to leave when something on one of the display tv's caught his ear. Caleb stopped in his tracks, and looked at the interview unfolding on the screen. The interviewer was talking to a violent looking man, with wild eyes, and equally unkempt hair. "-been quite vocal with your opinions on those affected by the flame in central park. Perhaps you would care to repeat your statement regarding these anomalies that have begun to manifest within people in the city," the interviewer said politely. The interviewee laughed an ugly laugh, and then spoke in a drawl, "I think we can be blunt. These 'anomalies' as you call it, are freaks. They are a disease, an infection. And like all infections, they should be purged-" Calebs fists clenched. The redneck choked on his next word, and then ceased speaking entirely. His eye began to twitch. Then as suddenly as it had begun, he reached for the glass of water on the small table next to his seat, before continuing to spew his hateful message. Caleb once again relaxed, and glanced at his palm. "Another one?" He murmured to himself before leaving the store. The crisp winter air mellowed his thoughts, and once again he began to think about girls. 'Lucy, Susan, Helen, Sally, Emily, Trisha...'
"Where was it?" "I don't know. It wasn't where he said." "What do you mean 'It wasn't where he said'?!" "Exactly that. I did exactly as we planned. And then some. It wasn't where he said." "D*** It!" Bright crimson fire surged up around the man, illuminating the the scene. It was already getting dark, but from the top of the rose building the fire would be hard to see. Of course, the group could still see most of the city from that height. "Do you think he could still be here?" "... Probably. Actually I'm sure he is. If he can really do what we think he can, then he's definitely still here." "Find him. Send everyone to their zones and find him. Destroy everything you see. Kill everyone. At some point or another he'll show up. Use Mentis to send the message." "Yes Aestuo." "Nex. Don't come back until you find it. We need that stone." ~~~~~~~~~~ Melloi High School Since it was already 6:00 and getting dark, Melloi High School was fairly empty. Most of those that remained were watching the Soccer game. "Quickly! Quickly!" A boy around Cole's age, a high schooler, seemed to appear out of no where and grabbed the soccer star by the sleeve. "We have to GO!" At the same time, a boy that was almost identical, except for maybe shaggier hair had grabbed Nathan Bowmen and dragged him away from his bike. "No time for that! We have to GO!" Right at the end of the game, almost synchronous with the buzzer, the main soccer field and the lobby of the school erupted in an explosion of crimson flame just behind Cole and Nathan. It must have been by pure luck, or perhaps fate, that Cole Harper and Nathan Bowmen had been dragged out of the way by the stranger. Debris from the field and school shot out around the two, clumps of the field, pieces of desks, shards of metal from the bleachers and chunks of concrete from the school walls. But the worst part wasn't shot out from the explosion, but the burning bits and pieces of the students and teachers that rained down afterward. "Don't look back. We have to get to the park." ~~~~~~~~~~ Nuada Mall Nuada mall was a popular place to hang out after work and school, so it was full of people. It was good that these people could enjoy themselves with the little time that remained. Mackenzie Addison had been enjoying walking around the mall when a young man, a teenager, well dressed and groomed, dragged her by the arm away from her brother. "We have to get out of here! We have to GO!" Before the girl could even argue or fight back, a column of fire exploded diagonally through the mall. Addison watched in horror as her beloved brother was eaten up by the fire. At the same time, a similar teenager had dragged Adam Ronnin out of the parking garage as a similar column tore down through the upper layers of the mall and down into the garage. "Don't look back. We have to get to the park." ~~~~~~~~~~ Residential District Just as Samuel Teak and his friends had begun to restart their game, a strange boy wearing thick glasses and a tie, a high schooler like Sam and his friends, barged through the front door and dragged Sam to the floor. "Stay down! We have to GO!" Just as the household was about to react to the intrusion, something massive tore through the side of the house, just barely missing Sam and the stranger. It was another house. Before Sam could even comprehend why a house had just flew through his own or where his friends had gone, the stranger dragged him to his feet and started running out of the house. "Don't look back. We have to get to the park." ~~~~~~~~~~ Streets of Daerg Just like with both the Nuada Mall and Melloi high school, fire and explosions tore through the other buildings and the streets of Daerg City. And just like with the other attacks, a stranger, always slightly different in appearance, dragged someone to safety just before the attack. This time it was Kaz Tsho and Caleb Davidson. And once again, the stranger said the same thing, "We have to GO!" just before the attack. The buildings around Kaz and the electronics store by Caleb both exploded with flames as the stranger dragged them along. "Don't look back. We have to get to the park." ~~~~~~~~~~ None of the people who had been dragged away by the stranger wanted to be dragged away from their loved ones, friends, peers, and family, but before any of them could even argue or pull themselves away, they found themselves at Daerg Central Park. It seemed like time had just vanished and they had appeared at the park. The speed wasn't possible. It took at least an hour to get from the Residential District to Central Park on foot, even if you sprinted. And yet, everyone was there in seconds. Through the smoke and debris from the attacks and the growing darkness, it was almost impossible to navigate through the decrepit park. And yet, each of those that had been saved made their way to the center of the park. As each person had arrived at the park, the stranger had told them to go to the center of the park where the old statue of some general or another stood. "Go to the center of the park, you know, where that old statue is. It's safe there." Was what he had said. Despite all of their doubts, everyone had complied. Now everyone stood in front of the old statue, none any wiser than the other as to what had just happened. With any luck, the stranger would come back and explain something.
Caleb sputtered, and coughed the dust from his mouth, and stumbled over to the statue. He then leant against it, and tried to regain his barings. He was in smokey central park. Figures of other people were scattered around him, their facial features obscured by the wafting smoke. "Don't you just hate it when your entire city explodes, while your trying to get home and do an assignment?" he weakly joked out loud. Wait. Entire City? He hoped he was wrong. A brief flash of his families remains blazed before his eyes, forcing them shut. 'No,' he thought, 'He wouldn't expect the worst.' Instead he staggered over to the nearest person, and recognised him. "Hey Cole," Caleb said as cheerfully as he could manage. Caleb vaguely knew Cole, as most teens who paid attention to the local soccer circuit did. Caleb also attended Coles school, and occasionally they were put together as Science partners. Although Caleb was strictly opposed to idolising people. He never understood how someone could worship someone else, (like many people worshipped Cole), and yet have such a lack of confidence in themselves. As such, Caleb never bugged Cole like many other students did. Caleb often just greeted him, and made polite banter during science class, never the slack jawed admiration that many other students bestowed upon him. Regardless, he hoped Cole would be an ally in whatever was to come.
Addison stumbled slightly as she walked towards the statue. She vaugely recognized the fact that there were other people around her and that some of them seemed familiar from somewhere, but none of it was registering. Only one thing seemed locked in her mind; Gage. He had been right there. Right in front of her. His arm around her shoulders holding her the way he had since she had been born. And then someone had grabbed her, pulled her away as Gage had been swallowed up in crimson flames. He was gone, and somehow she was here. Her mind was blank and numb, she couldn't even cry she was still in shock, she still didn't know what had happened Somewhere off to her right she heard someone talking, sounding like they were making a joke but her ears weren't working properly and she couldn't understand them. Gage, what had happened to him? Where was he? With sudden desperation she grabbed her cell phone and put it to her ear, it was already ringing by the time she had it there. She waited, but it just rang and rang and rang, until it gave a strange sputtering noise and stopped. Pulling the phone from her ear she stared at it for a long moment. Gage should have answered, he would have answered. He always answered, except this time. The only reason he wouldn't was if....he couldn't. "Gage." Her voice was choked with dust and the tears that had finally sprung to her eyes. "No, please no. God no. Please please please. Don't. No. Gage..." her voice choked off in sobs and she stumbled forward again needing confirmation, needing to see if there was any chance that he was ok; any chance that he was still alive. She wanted to go back to the mall but she didn't know which direction that was, smoke and tears clouded her vision and she walked into somebody falling to the ground as more tears blinded her.
"Hey Cole," The boy approaching Cole was vaguely familiar, he squinted his eyes. Everything was muddled, a moment ago he was leaving the soccer game, the next there was a violent explosion, and a strange kid dragged him to the park. It took a moment, but finally his memory cleared. "Its Charlie right? from physics lab? Yeah, you crashed the lab computer right?" Cole was glad to see a familiar face even if there it was that dweeby kid from lab. He continued in low tones, "Listen, what the hell is going on here? I was at the field just before everything blew up. What's going on?" As he spoke he looked around at the others arriving at the statue. Some of them he was sure he knew from school. Most looked dazed, he could hear a girl sobbing nearby. His mind was swimming with possible explanations, but none of them made any sense.
Just what was going on? One minute she was in her house, the next she was being dragged to her van while someones jeep flew through her bedroom window, and after that she and her van were in central park. It wasn't possible. And yet... It just had. Just as Susanna had begun to get her mind around what was happening, another girl, probably just a few years younger than herself, ran into her and knocked both of them to the ground. Susanna couldn't quite see her face, mostly due to her having landed on top of her, but she couldn't definitely hear her crying. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Susanna asked as she lifted the sobbing girl up and sat her across from herself. "What happened to you?" Susanna asked with compassionate eyes.
"Its Charlie right? from physics lab? Yeah, you crashed the lab computer right?" Listen, what the hell is going on here? I was at the field just before everything blew up. What's going on?" Coles reply elicited a laugh from Caleb. "Well your right about the computer, wrong about the name. Im Caleb. As for whats going on, well, my friendly local electronics store exploded," Caleb continued as light heartedly as he could manage, "Usually I'd greet such an event with glee, but it seems a few other buildings exploded as well, so your guess is as good as mine. See if you can gather everyone else, and see whats what." Caleb patted Cole on the shoulder, and jogged off in the direction of the sobbing. The smog cleared, revealing two woman around Caleb's age sitting on the ground, one comforting the other crying girl. Caleb recognised one of the girls as one of his classmates although he had never caught her name. He hunkered down next to them, nodding to the girl who seemed to be holding up all right. He put a compassionate hand on the shoulder of the crying girl, who he noticed, was very attractive. "There, there, its going to be ok. Whats the matter? Apart from the obvious of course," Caleb cooed gently, even this sentence unable to escape his odd humour.
As Nathan appeared in the park, seemingly from nowhere, he was stumbling and fell face first into the dirt around the statue. A sharp pain bit him in the back. “What the F***?!” he roared, reaching behind for the pain to remove it. As his hand moved across the spot that fueled his rage, coming about a piece of concrete lodged there. With a yell he grabbed hold and ripped it out, shocking the people around him. The blood flowed out of the wound at an alarming rate, but Nathan was far too angry to actually notice the dizziness coming on. He used his right hand to grab a dirty rag from his bag and slapped it on to the hole. “F*** me…,” he blurted out and stumbled back down onto one knee. He tried to think of what happened before he had randomly appeared here. His bike, leaving the school, large explosion, and then some kid. Some punk grabbed him and now he was here. Put the blood loss was starting to really get to him. Nathan grew quite faint as the seconds rolled by. His anger subsided into confusion and worry. “…help…”
“…help…” Cole saw the him collapse. Rushing over he immediately noticed the man's blood soaked back and the dirty rag he was clumsily using to stop the bleeding. Cole looked briefly at his own bandage wrapped arm. He had just put a clean one on that morning. He really didn't want to take that bandage off. But was dark enough, maybe no one would notice. "Hey, somebody help me with this guy!" he shouted tearing off his jacket, and quickly removing the bandage to staunch the bleeding. 'Jeez, that rag was filthy, its probably going to get infected,' He thought to himself.
"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Susanna asked as she lifted the sobbing girl up and sat her across from herself. "What happened to you?" Someone's hands lifted her up into a sitting position and finally someones wordsa managed to cut through her foggy mind. Another hand placed itself on her shoulder gently with a new voice joining the first. "There, there, its going to be ok. Whats the matter? Apart from the obvious of course," The voices managed to sharpen her senses enough so that she could see and comprehend a little bit more. A young woman who looked only slightly older than herself was sitting across from her holding her up, the first voice had been hers. The hand resting on her shoulder belonged to a boy she recognized from somewhere...school perhaps, she wasn't sure at the moment. Slowly she realized she should answer their question and she struggled to find words. "Gage..." She muttered, "Gage...he's....he's...gone. The flames. I...I need to find...him" She turned her tearstained face imploringly too them, begging them mutely to tell her that somehow what she knew to be true wasn't actually true.
Sam leaned against the statue, breathing heavily. It had been weeks since he had had a proper bout of exercise, and this sudden run had certainly caught him off guard. Running all the way to the park had completely worn him... Hang on, he thought, the park is completely across town. How did I get here so fast? I can't have run this whole way this quickly! And I've never been able to make it all the way here in one stretch, even back when Richard had roped me into that jogging club thing a few years back. Richard. Spud. What had happened to them? Were they still alive? At the time everything had moved too fast for Sam to fully comprehend what was going on, but now that he had time to think the questions were racing in his head. What happened back there? Something had ripped right through Spud's living room. He was sure he had seen that. Something huge. It had looked almost like another house, but that couldn't be it...could it? He wasn't sure. Ever since that strange fire a month ago he had seen, even done, several things that he previously had only thought possible on the screen or in a book. Looking down, he noticed he had absentmindedly pulled a pencil out of his pocket and had begun doodling on the statue's marble base. He quickly smudged the drawing out. Shivering, he jammed his hat tighter on his head. It was certainly starting to get cold now. A sweater was certainly no longer doing the job. What month was it, February? Perhaps it was time to start wearing a jacket... "Hey, somebody help me with this guy!" Sam looked over and saw a young man, about his own age, bent over another young man with a large and particularly nasty-looking wound in his back. Running over, he produced his hand towel from his back pocket and offered it. "Here, use this. It's clean, mostly."
