forum •Apotheosis of Abnormality• [one/one]

Started July 27, 2022 by @Dayzed forum

tune

"In my book that's very impressive. It's also impressive that you got top priority on A.C.E's list. It's not just the fire, but everything combined. And you did have a good run, but I doubt it's over yet. You should be proud of yourself, not many are hard to catch for us" Jake agreed only because it was the truth, something he couldn't deny.
"It's nice to have friends," Jake said, though his words didn't seem all that genuine and instead seemed somewhat dismissive. In Jake's mind, friends were indeed good- they could be, but in this line of work those friends could easily be used against you. It was better to not get too attached, but at this point, it was too late for Jake. He had been with these guys for years and an attachment like that was hard to get rid of.

"Fuck off," Jake said, smiling, eyes looking to the side as Marcus talked. There was a sort of satisfaction on his face to know that Marcus liked it. He seemed content like he had won something.

"But no, sorry to disappoint but I don't have a soft side" Jake lied. "Glad you like it though, really boosts my ego" He teased, laughing softly and shaking his head slightly.

Jake's smile slowly faded a little, turning into something more sincere.
"I can be a 'big and scary hunter' when I need to. It's not my default, but it helps get me through the day- or whatever it is I need to do. You know, running away from your feelings and all that" Jake mused, though it wasn't much of a joke.
"Works really well in this job" Jake leaned off the counter and started to get the area he had used cleaned.

Rae gave Wynn a look, it was a smile paired with a knowing look.
"Thank you. I do try" She said though there was a hint of sadness in her voice. At the nudge though, Rae nudged back lightly, a small giggle leaving her.

Although the mention of Marx made Rae uneasy, something deep inside her really hoped he and the rest would come for Wynn and Marcus. Sure, that meant they would fight and people would get hurt, but Rae was on the fence about all of this. She didn't know what to do, what side to take. She wanted to be there for her family and the people who had given her a second chance but none of this felt right.

So she smiled, a tight-lipped smile.
"Well, if you're done eating, I can show you to one of the rooms? Unless you can fit more into that stomach of yours?" She asked. Rae had already finished her food and could still go for more, but she knew this was just a silly little competition of hers and in the bigger picture it was really just a pathetic attempt at getting her and Wynn's minds off what was to come next.

"I'm glad to have impressed you, you're definitely exactly what I was thinking of when I was trying to piss off an A.C.E. officer. I'll be sure to give the rest of them hell for you, then, they'll think twice about trying to control fire." He mused, giving Jake a wicked grin.
"It is…" Marcus agreed in a similar way, friends were nice until you were attached and they would willingly sacrifice half the world just for your sake. Wynn made sure Marcus didn't do anything too stupid and detrimental to his health and sometimes Marcus wished he could just drink himself into oblivion or maybe, perhaps, just a little bit, throw himself from the highest building he could find.

"Mm, you'll have to make me." Marcus snickered into the mug, rolling his eyes a little at the satisfaction on the other's face.
"Sure, sure. Of course I believe that. Someone with a soft side doesn't make a drink this nice without a little bit of love in it, isn't that always the secret ingredient~?" Marcus seemed a lot more comfortable now, all patched up and with a warm drink in his hand. He felt as if he could joke around like he could with the gang. There was about the same level of mistrust there.

"You know, you're really not convincing me that you don't have a soft side." The witch laughed a little, leaning back against the cupboards behind him. "But I know what you mean. Running from your emotions is easier. Does great when your job has a high risk of death." He watched as Jake cleaned up, taking in a shakey breath when he thought the other was no longer watching.
Truth be told, he hurt. All the joking and teasing and talking was just a way to distract himself from the burning that was settling into each scrape and burn.

"Good. Keep at it. Your group needs it." He added, nodding to himself.

He grinned at Rae, laughing a little. "I can always fit more in my stomach. But, I am also exhausted and as long as you don't mind shredded sheets I'd love to head off to sleep." Wynn laughed softly, his spines rattling in excitement. "These are sharp, give me the bad sheets. No need for blankets, I tend to ruin them." He explained, shrugging.

Wynn wasn't super concerned about everything. He knew Marx and Vance too much to worry over what was going to happen. If Marx was out and Marcus was unable, Vance would pick up the slack out of respect for their leader. Even if he was very obvious in his dislike of Marcus, Vance was very good at making sure the witch never left the gang leader's side.

There was a giant smile on Jake's face now.
"Mmm," He hummed as Marcus gave him a devilish grin. What a tempting thing he was. Jake seemed to watch Marcus carefully as he spoke, it was only when he heard the word 'love' mentioned that he came to.
Love. Him? Secret ingredient? Sure. Something like that.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Jake said, still, the light-heartedness in his tone. "You seem so sure that I have a soft side, and you got that all from a cup of coffee," He said as he put things back in their place and wiped down the counter. The small laugh that followed made Jake's heart beat a little faster, so he concentrated more on moving onto the dishes and washing them.
Right now, Jake didn't look like much of anything, he just looked like a guy taking care of chores, and with his back turned, his smile fell into something more serious. He watched as his hands worked the sponge on a glass cup. He wasn't upset by anything. It was just his expression when thinking about certain things.

"I'll finish up here, and once those two over there are done talking and go to bed, you can move to the couch. If you'd like I can put on a movie for you." Jake looked at the clock hung up on the kitchen wall. It was almost time for him to leave.
"Unless you want to sleep, and if you do, then by all means" Jake finished washing the few dishes in the sink and dried his hands off.
"I won't be around for much longer, so Jen will take over, or maybe Niveus. They'll keep watch over you guys." He faced Marcus again.
"A.C.E'll be here in the morning or afternoon, depending on how desperate they are to get here. Until then," Jake looked away. "all there is left is to wait."

"So what I heard was, give you very comfortable sheets, and a few blankets. Got it." Rae said as she got up and put her container on the couch where she sat. She motioned for Wynn to follow her as she went down the hallway and into a room.

"Don't worry about messing anything up, they're replaceable." She waved him off.
"Here, you'll stay here" She turned the lights on to reveal a very basic room. The sheets on the bed were of a solid color, and on the walls were paintings, mostly of landscapes. The room didn't have much in it but a simple desk in the corner with a few books on it and a closet. It was neat, with the bed made and everything. It looked like someone's room and not just a guest room, as there were small things here and there to indicate that someone had personalized it.
"I'll be out here, maybe in the kitchen if you need me for anything," Rae said softly.

"Hell yes I'm enjoying this. It's not every day I get to pick apart my enemy." Marcus mused, letting his eyes wander for a moment. "You can tell a lot about a person from how they make you something. It's like a key personality trait." He joked, not serious at all about his words. He mostly just enjoyed the light banter, for some reason getting Jake to enjoy his company had become Marcus's new slightly sadistic goal.
It definitely had nothing to do with making Jake smile as much as possible.
No way in hell would that be a reason.

Marcus turned his attention to the people on the couch, his expression dropping for a moment. A movie?
He never really could sit still long enough for those. Sitting for so long made him think and he did not like to think. It made his very marrow buzz with anxiety and he couldn't stand it.
His mood only dropped when he realized Jake wouldn't be sticking around. He had enjoyed the distraction in the form of banter and coffee.
"I won't sleep. I can already tell. You wouldn't happen to have anything more distracting, would you? Something I could busy my hands with?" What even was there to do in this situation that would be enough to make him less antsy?! He hardly had any hobbies. He doubted he could just casually ask them for the one thing that did help in these situations. It'd be fucking ridiculous of him to just ask these people for something so… docile? Soft?
"You wouldn't happen to have a violin would you? I'm definitely not soft and enjoy music and notes so pretty it makes your insides melt. I really am big and tough and strong, the fact that playing makes me genuinely feel emotions in a way I'm not sure I'm capable of doing otherwise does not make me soft." Yeah right. It would just give Jake and his group the satisfaction of having something to hold over his head.

Wynn took his time getting up off the couch, yawning as he stretched himself out. He trailed lazily after Rae, giving Marcus a wicked grin full of sharp teeth as he passed by the kitchen. Marcus only gave him a stern look and a very quick middle finger in response. Wynn laughed and returned the gesture, knowing by the slight glint in Marcus's eye that it was all play to try and distract both of them from nerves.
He wouldn't worry too much, though, his throat was starting to burn with the familiar feeling of magic nearby and his sensitive nose could pick up an acrid, doggy smell mixed with the tinge of hard liquor.
Camilla was hard to miss even at the distance she was keeping.
Wynn knew it would be much later in the night when they chose to appear. This was merely the first of many scouting jobs.

Wynn took a glance around the room, humming lightly at it. Basic was good. He walked to the bed, letting his spines rise to their full positions before fall tightly against his back. Usually, he had another shirt or tank he'd put over them to keep them slim and in place but he felt awkward about asking for something while technically in custody.
"Perfect. Thank you." He rumbled, turning to face her and give her a small smile. "Don't let Marcus bully you while you're out there. He's unapproachable until you get him to talk about what he likes."

"And here I thought I was the only one flirting," Jake said, tilting his head up slightly, eyes still on Marcus. There was a new expression that took him over, something along the lines of playfulness yet dangerous eagerness.

"Hmm" Jake made a soft sound. "I guess you have me all figured out then, so much for remaining mysterious" He joked, though that fact didn't seem to bother him at all.
Jake listened to Marcus as he spoke, smiling when he said something about there being something more distracting. He covered his mouth slightly and looked away, it seemed like he was smiling at something he was thinking about.

He cleared his throat and crossed his arms again.
"I do have something more distracting but as I said, I won't be sticking around for much longer" The stupid smile on his face didn't seem to go away, showing one side of his canine teeth.
"I jest" He said at last. "I take it you're not the movie type" Jake commented and seemed to think for a bit.

"We have a dart board," Jake said finally, then his eyes lit up suddenly as an idea came to mind, but he frowned like he was unsure.
"You're unpredictable. Dangerous. Even without your abilities. I'm not sure if I feel alright doing this, but…" Jake's eyes darted to behind Marcus as both Jen and Niveus came out of Jen's room, having put Artemy down.
"How do you feel about playing at the arcade?" He said, his expression more serious this time around. It really wasn't a good idea to have Marcus in a place more accessible for an attempted escape. Jake wanted to keep an iron grip on Marcus in the sense that he should be kept in lockdown- in their apartment. Still, if both Niveus and Jen were there to keep an eye on him, that should be more than enough, right? But then that would mean that Rae would be left with Wynn, alone. He didn't like that one bit.
Jake's eyes looked over at the clock once more. He had to leave now.
"If you want to we'll let you, just don't get any ideas. Two of us will still be there to keep an eye on you. But if that idea doesn't sound appealing, then you can stay here and play the darts. We don't really have anything else but puzzles and coloring books" Jake said as the other two approached.

Rae watched as Wynn went over to the bed.
"If you'd like to change out of those clothes, I could look around for something more comfortable" She offered, knowing that they had done the same for Marcus.
"I'm used to bullies," Rae said, a smile now on her face. "But thank you for the tip, I'll make sure to be cautious" She looked over at the door, hearing the door to one of the other rooms open along with shuffling feet as the others walked out.

Rae wasn't too thrilled about there being only three of them with these two here. She knew Jake would be leaving soon, as he always did. Wynn and her, of course, had a nice conversation, and he seemed nice enough, but that didn't change the fact that he could be playing her. Everyone in Apotheosis knew how dangerous these guys were and while Rae wanted to give Wynn the benefit of the doubt, there was a feeling in her gut that told her not to be too trusting right away. She had already started to develop a soft side for Wynn, but still, some part of her was still fighting against that.

He shrugged, pretending to pick at something on his pants with a soft grin. "Maybe you managed to convince me it's fun?" He glanced up to gauge how the other felt about it, only to be met with eagerness. It made Marcus's blood run cold, but for what reason he couldn't say. He vaguely felt as if he maybe shouldn't walk that road.
Feelings hadn't stopped him before, however.

"Of course I do. You fit the exact definition of 'edgy, mysterious, and tortured soul.' I myself am one of those." Marcus grinned wickedly, wondering if the other would allow him to joke about that. He figured if Jake was just as mentally unstable as he was then it wouldn't be an issue.
"How unfortunate. I guess I'll just have to mourn your loss." Marcus joked. He brought the mug away from his face so he could read the text on it a few times over while Jake spoke.
He scoffed a little at being called 'unpredictable' again. Was he really all that dangerous? He was just 'some kid' to them wasn't he? A.C.E. was more pathetic than he thought if they found a group of kids to be so scary.
Maybe he could use that to his advantage, however.
"If you're really willing to let an 'unpredictable, dangerous Abnormality' roam around a place of enjoyment probably full of kids, I'd fucking love to go to an arcade." He grinned at the other, his eyes flickering to the other two approaching.
Marcus tipped the rest of the contents of the mug down his throat, hopping off the counter and stretching as well as he could without flinching.
"I'm not stupid enough to try something while you three are around. Not even running would be enough to help me at this point, right? If these things really do track us then I'd just end up leading you right to our little hideout. Not very smart of me, don't you agree?" He gestured to the device around his wrist, sighing softly.

"No need. These will be far more comfortable than anything you guys have. Specially made for me y'know?" Wynn rumbled, gesturing at his clothes and laughing a little. If you could call taking a pair of kitchen scissors to thrifted shirts as 'specially made'.
"Good. Don't let them get the best of you." Wynn muttered, something lingering in his voice that was strangely warm.

Rae had valid reasons to worry. Wynn could tell her as much if she ever asked about it. He wouldn't outright tell her the threat looming over her little group's shoulders, that would put him at a disadvantage and in this situation that wasn't allowed if he wanted to get out before A.C.E. dropped by.
He and Marcus were lucky that A.C.E. was the same as any other corporate American government and took one to two business days to react to anything.

Wynn wandered around the room, eyeing everything he could before he reached around to snap the tip off of one of his spines. He ignored the flaring pain and the small droplets of blood that followed, instead focusing on the task at hand.
While he couldn't channel magic through himself with the bracelets, Wynn had other means to at least infuse other items with the magic that naturally flowed through his blood.
There was a reason Siren's blood was sought after as a potion ingredient.
He wouldn't be able to do much with it, but all he needed was a single rune with a faint magical signal. One that could alert Vance and Camillia to where they were.

Wynn brought the broken spine to the wood of the doorway, digging it into the soft wood and carving out a very rough symbol. It was wobbly but it was probably enough to work. Wynn reached around to grab the other end of the broken spine, collecting as many drops of blood as he could into his hands before he turned to smear it across the carving.
A dull glow was his first sign it had worked.

The gang had less than thirty seconds to catch it.

Jake scoffed and rolled his eyes at Marcus' 'edgy, mysterious, and tortured soul' comment. It was odd for someone to put it that way, 'tortured soul', even though he fit the bill. What Jake considered normal was far from it, so he had never thought about it like that. He had issues sure, but didn't everybody?

Jake let out a small breath at Marcus' grin. How adorable.

"Yeah, that checks out" Jake smiles a little, no smart remarks this time.

It wasn't that A.C.E was petrified of some teenagers running rampant- well, maybe a little. It had to do more with the fact that they knew not to underestimate a threat when they saw one, no matter how small it may be. Underestimating the enemy could bring about the start of a downfall, cause a slip-up, and those were not things they could afford.

"Don't worry, there won't be any kids there at this time, I doubt their parents let them go out this late into the night" Jake reassured. Had this been during daylight, there was no way in hell Jake would have proposed the idea. He knew better.
At Marcus' next words, Jake only stared at him, eyeing him suspiciously. He wasn't sure whether to buy it or not. There was a reason they were so high up on A.C.E's list, was he really going to ignore that fact?
But he was right. There were three of them, plus the tracker. Still, his gut told him not to do this. He didn't trust the situation, not one bit, and regretted putting it out there. Then again, there was a solution to everything.

"Right, so" Jake turned from Marcus to Jen and Niveus when they entered the kitchen. "Call Aaron and Casimir," Jake said.
"I'm leaving right now and I thought since this one here can't sleep, you two would take him to the arcade. Keep the two separate in case something does happen" Jake said casually. "And for safe measure, we'd bring the jackass here to keep an eye on Rae and Wynn"
Jen looked to Niveus, then Jake.
"Aaron is at his house, Jake. He's busy"

"Yeah, busy sleeping" Jake snapped. "Call him or I will" He threatened, giving Jen a sweet smile. Jen sighed and turned to go get his phone.
"Great. I'm gonna get going-" He paused when he turned to Marcus again and for a second, thought about ditching his work. Yeah. In his dreams. He looked away and walked out of the kitchen, not saying another word. Jake seemed desperate to get out of there as soon as possible. Why? No one knew, but it contradicted the way he felt.

Rae soon came into view and sat on the couch in the living room, staring at the screen that was still playing the movie from before, now in its ending scenes.
It took a few more minutes for Aaron and Casimir to arrive and it was only then that Jen and Niveus led Marcus out to the arcade. To their surprise, there was a little kid there, which only raised their guard around Marcus even more.

Marcus hummed lightly, pushing his hair out of his face. “One can only hope, right? No kids means it’s all just for me.”
The witch had to be honest, this really was more of a selfish thing. A chance to have fun away from the gang and away from even Wynn.
Not that he’d let any of them know this was a selfish act. They didn’t need to know he craved freedom so badly he would gladly let them take anything they wanted just to have a night away from it all.

Marcus pretended he wasn’t paying attention to their arguments, fluffing up the mess of curls atop his head while he waited for them to finish up.
When Jake turned back to him, Marcus gave him a playful wave and a near-leering grin.
“Have fun with your ‘job’.”

Marcus took a mental note of those filtering into the apartment and those leaving, a small frown tugging at the edges of his mouth.
A small tug of guilt pulled at his heart.
He was leaving Wynn with these people.
But the chance to have one opportunity to touch a peaceful moment was too tempting an offer to give up, even for someone as close as Wynn was.

Despite the company attached to him Marcus seemed relaxed, eyeing the kid with a sort of tiredness that reveled just how much he had wanted to have a near empty arcade.
He didn’t want that kind of noise. He wanted the sounds of the games to distract him. If he could help it, he’d stay at the far end of the place, eyeing his two bodyguards and scowling slightly.
“So, are you just going to watch me or are you two going to participate?” He asked with a wicked grin, wondering if these two were just as cold as they came across as. Well, Niveus at least. As much as Marcus tried to keep his bitterness towards the leader, Jen didn’t seem all that bad.

As the three walked in, Corin, the night worker, turned to look up at them from the magazine she had been focused on. She had sharp angular eyes giving her an 'I could not care less' look, black eyeliner smudged on the edges. Her hair was choppy and short like she had done it herself, pitch black with a dull look to it. She wore a black lace corset crop top, showing off most of her cleavage although most of her exposed skin was covered by a short leather jacket. Corin set down her magazine and walked out from behind the counter to greet Jen. The bottom half of her outfit was composed of black skinny jeans, though low-waisted to show off the g-string straps that hugged her hips. The chunky high heel boots she sported sounded heavy as she walked despite her slim appearance.
After eyeing the three, she focused on Marcus.
"Who's that?" She asked Jen who was leaning against the counter as Marcus looked around.
"Nobody, don't worry about it," Jen said as Marcus spoke to them. "He won't be around for much longer" Jen's eyes were still as he watched Marcus, his gaze going from him to the kid.
"Fine. You won't tell me, I'll find out myself" Corin began to walk towards Marcus but Jen caught her arm and gently dragged her back. Corin jerked her arm away and gave Jen a death glare.
"I would rather not have you involved" Jen looked over at her.

Niveus looked at the two as they spoke, Corin still having the intimidating air to her. Niveus had a hood to shade his face during the day and at night it was to keep warm, so his features weren't well known as a scarf also covered his nose and mouth.
Although Marcus invited them to play, Niveus did not move.
Jen leaned off the counter when he finished speaking to Corin and Corin went back to her station, flipping through her magazine, a semi-irritated look on her face.
"We're here to watch you, not to participate," Jen said, though his words weren't sharp or cold, more informative than anything else. Niveus pulled his hood back to reveal shiny white hair made into a low ponytail, some messy wisps framing his face. He pulled his scarf down as well and took a step forward. His face was flushed from the warmness of the layers he wore.
"I'm going to fall asleep at this rate if I don't do something" Niveus spoke, his voice soft and low as usual. He joined Marcus in one of the games that was meant for two.
Jen didn't say anything and allowed Niveus to play. Maybe they would take turns. Someone had to keep an eye on the door.

It was at least two hours later and Niveus was fiercely competing against Marcus, though, he didn't look like he was struggling, he was. The kid who had been in the corner was now standing beside Marcus watching him crush Niveus. He had chestnut brown eyes and gelled-down hair which had some parts undone. His clothes, which were a school uniform, seemed a little dirty and wrinkly. The kid appeared to be about ten years old and was captivated by the competition going on.
Jen's eyes at this point felt heavy as he kept watch. The kid had been watching them for a few minutes now and it didn't seem like there was going to be a problem.
The kid bounced slightly on his heels as Marcus kept the lead, he looked excited, and yet very tired as it was three in the morning now. He seemed like he wanted to join them, but didn't know how to approach the older 'adults'.

Marcus hadn’t seemed to notice Corin until she started to walk towards him. The movement had his immediate attention, his body language suddenly alert and ready, eyes narrowed as he looked her over suspiciously.
The look was given to Jen, next, when the other stopped her from approaching.

“You’re no fun.” He told Jen, huffing a little. “Learn to relax a little. I’m not going to stab you in the back. Yet.”
The moment Niveus agreed, Marcus seemed to drop whatever act he had taken up, grinning large and wide.
He acted like a kid the entire time they played, cackling every time he took the lead. Niveus put up a fair fight which made the whole thing a lot more enjoyable.
And he had to admit… the audience watching made him feel proud about his abilities, as childish as they were. The little guy seemed to be enjoying it and it made Marcus’s ego swell.
He nudged Niveus gently, in good spirits as he risked a glance over at the other. “Much more fun than standing guard like your friend, isn’t it?” He gestured over at Jen, flashing a wicked grin. “And we’ve managed to gain a viewer.”

Four hours.
Four long fucking hours.
Vance had been about ready to tell the others Marx had gone and kicked the bucket. Lucky for the gang leader Camilla just so happened to not be drunk off her ass that night and had managed to escape relatively unharmed once the building decided to crumble.
She did what she could for Marx, or so she said. Vance wasn’t sure he believed her fully. Some part of him knew she was hoping the bastard would keel over.
And so Camilla had led them to another witch. One that she claimed was better - as he wasn’t infected with Lycanthropy. Some fucker by the name of Oscar.
Vance didn’t like him either.
But whatever. Oscar gave the gang leader some sort of weird mixture that was far too thick to be a true liquid and then they sat. For four fucking hours.
The first thing out of Marx’s mouth was unsurprisingly a stream of curses. The second was him calling for Marcus.
Vance had been chosen to be the unfortunate soul to tell Marx the news.

And now here they were, standing awkwardly atop a building in the freezing night air while Camilla tried to get Marx to sit down for a bit.

“Well?! The fuck are they? You said you caught a signal, didn’t you?!” Marx barked at Vance, leaning back against a wall. His movements were sluggish, the affects of whatever poison had entered his systems still apparent.
Vance glared at the gang leader, tapping his foot impatiently before he pointed at the place in question. “There. Wynn is at least here.”
“I don’t smell Marcus, sir.” Camilla added, pulling a flask from within the depths of her jacket and taking a long sip from the mystery alcohol inside. It smelled strong. Vance would have to guess it was probably tequila.

“Then go find him, you can follow the smell, can’t you?” Marx growled. Camilla shrugged, taking another drink before she turned to leave. “And don’t do anything stupid.”
“I won’t! I’m not you, fucker.” She replied with a grin, flipping Marx off as she disappeared down the fire escape.

Jen arched an eyebrow at Marcus. The contradiction of that sentence almost made him crack a smile. Almost. Except it wasn't that funny when your life was on the line.
Corin snorted at Marcus.
"You'll never get this one to let his guard down. He's a goody two shoes." She said, briefly looking up to see Jen's reaction and smiling when she was satisfied with what she saw.
Jen was giving her a glare, yet he looked slightly offended.

During their playthrough, Jen found himself smiling a couple of times, watching mostly Marcus, it was his job after all, but his kid-like nature was contagious as well. He loved watching others be themselves, and grow into who they were supposed to be. He loved seeing others happy, he would give anything to cure the world of its current sickness. What he would have given to just have the chance to be a kid once, just once. Yet, it was what it was and he wasn't bitter about it. Well. He was in a sense, but he tried not to think about the past, it always upset him.

Niveus seemed neutral the whole time, yet very concentrated as he went up against Marcus. When Marcus nudged him, his eyes also glanced over at the other, and that was a fatal mistake on his part.
"It is very fun.." He said meekly, pulling up his scarf to his mouth slightly. Niveus didn't know how to interact with others very well when it came to socializing, so he looked aloof most of the time. He could get along with Apotheosis, it was easier, but still, sometimes there was a disconnect that confused both him and the others.
Niveus kept his eyes on Marcus for a second longer than he had meant to and in that time, he heard the music of the game go off.
GAME OVER!!! It flashed in different colors. He frowned and stared at the game as if it were its fault he lost, though he didn't make a scene. He wasn't like Jake who would rub it in your face when you lost, telling you, you owed him a coffee or something absurd like that. Niveus was the type to silently accept defeat, and then try again when he practiced and perfected his craft.

Jen pinched the bridge of his nose when Niveus lost, disappointed. Corin gave a wide smile as she put her hand out for Jen to give her something.
Jen begrudgingly dug into his pocket and pulled his wallet out, taking out two twenty-dollar bills and handing them to her. After they had started watching, Corin had started talking to Jen again, having finished her magazine and they struck a bet. Jen was easy to get pulled into bets like these, not because he enjoyed them, but because he didn't like being told he was "no fun". He could be cool and hip…
If Jake or any of the others heard him say that they would give him a sure.. sort of look which he hated. Most of the time they compared him to the person who had raised him, calling him an "old man". He was 16!

The kid, having been addressed by Marcus gave him a sort of dorky smile, bordering on shy and yet happy he had gotten acknowledged.
"You should go home kid. It's almost six in the morning" Corin spoke, pocketing her winnings with a smug look. Corin looked around the other's age, but more of a maturity to her. She was 21.

The kid looked down, playing with the hems of his tailored shirt. He had hoped his father would have gone looking for him at least. He knew things hadn't been so good after the passing of his mother, but he hadn't expected him to give up on him so easily.
"Don't you have school tomorrow?" She said lazily as if annoyed to have to take care of the kid. Jen looked at the kid curiously. He had seen him around the arcade for the past few weeks now and wondered where his parents were.
"Kohen?" Corin said, in a warning tone, but being gentle with him surprisingly. Kohen's face flushed as he looked away, pretending not to hear her.
Corin sighed. Every time. She was getting sick of this. She walked from behind the counter and to the kid who mischievously hid behind Marcus, gabbing onto his clothes. He didn't want to go home, it was so lonely there.

Aaron glared down the hall from his post by the door. Cas was faintly talking with Rae about her injury and if the bandages had kept up with all the running they had done that night. But Rae was avoiding talking about the subject as she continued to blabber on about Wynn and how good of a friend he made. It was all to get Aaron's attention so he'd give her a chance to pitch the idea she had to him, but Aaron wasn't having it and actively ignored her.
"He has a whole future ahead of him if he was just given the chance!!!" She whined to Cas, but loud enough so Aaron would hear. "If you'd talk to him, you'd understand! Just one conversation." She said, looking at Aaron from the corner of her eyes to see his reaction. Aaron shifted uncomfortably with a dead look to him. Absolutely not.

"Seems the type to be too good for play." Marcus hummed in return, giving Corin a wicked grin and laughing a little at the expression Jen gave her in return.

Marcus cackled at the screen, punching the air in victory. He stepped back and dramatically threw his arms out, spinning a little. "I win!"
The witch was 100% the type to boast about his winnings. He did so in good sport, however, giving Niveus a gentle pat on the shoulder and grinning.
"Good game. You're better than I thought you'd be. No offense."

Marcus seemed to sober up, however, when he turned his attention to the kid. He listened in intently to Corin, watching Kohen closely with an expression that didn't betray what he was thinking.
Marcus could recognize the signs of neglect. He had gone through them firsthand, after all, among other abuse. It wasn't lost on him that such a young kid out so late was a little… strange. If the kid had any sort of proper parents they would have come for him hours ago. Unless Corin was his guardian or sibling or something of the likes. The way she spoke to him, however, made him fairly convinced that Corin wasn't involved.
He glanced up at Corin when Kohen hid behind him, a slow smile making its way onto his face. He turned to look at the kid, flashing a kind smile.
"Who's this? Is he with you?" He asked Corin, reaching back to ruffle Kohen's hair.

If Wynn had to of guessed what way Vance would have slipped the message that they were there, it would not have been by the literal knock right outside the too-high window.
He cursed as he slid out of the bed, tiptoeing over to the middle of the room so he could glare up at the tiny window. Vance's grimacing face met his gaze. Wynn snickered quietly at it, waving at him only to be met with a scowl.
Oh Wynn was definitely going to be making fun of Vance afterward. He must be standing on someone or something to be up so high and the thought was amusing to Wynn.

The siren gestured towards the door before throwing his fingers up to indicate how many people he assumed were left in the building. Vance nodded, dropping down and out of view. Wynn could almost smell the small burst of magic that came next, curiosity eating away at his mind as he took a few steps backwards.
He could faintly hear the sounds of something being scratched into the building's exterior and took one more step backwards. Just to be safe.
An intense heat filled the small space, the smell of burning wood, insulation, and metal filling the air. It made Wynn uncomfortable, the moisture in the air drying up too fast for his liking.
"Hurry up." He heard Marx growl, the words slightly muffed by the thinning wall between them.

Niveus gave Marcus a small smile when he patted him on the shoulder. He didn't say anything in return but kept thinking about how he could have done things better. Maybe not be so distracted. Niveus was down for one more game, wanting to win at least once until his attention was directed at the kid. Niveus gently slid his hood back on and properly adjusted his scarf, covering most of his face again. He watched silently as Marcus interacted with the kid. Didn't seem like someone who screamed danger.
Corin approached Kohen, but he simply shrank away. She narrowed her eyes.
"He comes here every day after school, sometimes he leaves early, sometimes he sleeps here," She said. "I don't exactly want to kick him out into the street so I let him stay here sometimes" Corin went over to Jen and shoved him at Marcus and Kohen.
"You get him. You're good with kids, right?" She asked, now leaning on the counter with her arms crossed, staring at the kid.
Jen nearly stumbled from the action. He gave Corin a slight glare but turned to Kohen. He watched how Marcus treated the kid, he felt sick at the thought of how little time was left for him.
"Uhm…" Jen started. He looked to Niveus for help, but his eyes were glued to the door in case anyone came in. "Are you hungry?" He asked kneeling to Kohen's level.
Kohen hung onto Marcus a little tighter but nodded.
"I can get something for you, would you like to come?" Kohen seemed hesitant at that, but slowly let go of Marcus. Seeing that, Jen stood up straight again.
"Alright. I'll take him, then find out where he needs to go. It's almost six am anyways, we should get going back to the apartment now" Jen announced and Niveus said nothing, waiting for Jen to take the lead and for Marcus and Kohen to follow.
Corin watched them go and after they were gone she went behind the desk and gathered her stuff. It was almost time for her to clock out.

Jake yawned as he stared down at the coffee cup in front of him. His eyes slightly drooped from how tired he was. He really couldn't keep doing this. He dropped his head onto the table and closed his eyes for a second and for a moment he felt okay. Sleep was Jake's favorite thing in the world, he would seek it out as much as he could without abandoning whatever it was he had to do that day.
"If you want to sober up quickly, which I recommend you do, drink some water for once in your life," Aaron said as he came into the kitchen, mainly to see if Jake would be ready to fight if they were attacked. A.C.E would be there any moment and if they found that they were not in top condition, there would be hell to pay.

Aaaaand there it went.
Jake lifted his head and gave Aaron a charming grin which was just a lazy half-smile. He had come in a few minutes ago, slightly tipsy from drinking with his customers. He found that if they were in a good mood, they were less likely to hurt him as much. He didn't like to get hurt when he was supposed to feel good, sex was the only thing he had left that made him feel better for a moment aside from sleeping.
"I actually want a smoke but I'm out. You wouldn't happen to have any on you?" He asked, knowing full well that Aaron didn't drink or smoke.
"Why don't you ask your boyfriend? Oh, right, he isn't here." Aaron threw back at him cooly. With that Jake rolled his eyes, he did not want to argue with Aaron right now. He had this massive headache coming on and he felt sore all over.
"Fuckin' shoot me" He muttered as he laid his head back on the table.

At that moment the front door opened and Aaron's eyes shot to the living room as he left. There was a faint conversation that happened when the rest came in. Jake massaged his neck, groaning softly as his fingers ran over the bite marks and bruises forming from the long night. He needed to take a shower, now, but he was stuck where he was, not having the energy to get up.

Marcus frowned a little, looking between Kohen and Corin. It wasn’t his place to say but… he didn’t think the kid would be sleeping here if things were okay at home.
Who was he to tell them that, though? If they didn’t see it then they were more ignorant than he thought.
Besides, what could he do? Tell the police?
No. There wasn’t much he could do.

Regardless, Marcus eyed Jen wearily when the other managed to convince the kid to go with them.
“Don’t be stupid about it.” Was all he said, folding his arms across his chest.
When it came to leave, Marcus gave Corin a weak smile and a nod, thanking her quietly as they passed by.

Dread set into his mind the moment they walked out into the cool air. It felt nice against his skin but it was heavy and thick. It was like he was slowly suffocating on smoke that only existed within his blood.
Marcus drew in a deep breath, counting to eight.
A familiar smell made him pause halfway through his grounding, holding his breath.
It was earthy, wet, and very unpleasant. Like a rotting animal that had been caught in the rain.
He released his breath, eyeing Niveus and Jen before risking a glance around.
Two glinting, yellow eyes met his own, hidden in the shadows of the alleyway to their left, too high up to be an animal but too animalistic to be human.
Marcus stared back, very gently shaking his head. There was a kid here.
Later…

In the end the hole only ended up just barely big enough to squeeze through.
Wynn didn’t appreciate it. His spines were going to be fucked for weeks if he attempted to climb through the tiny gap.
“Would you rather be stuck here for A.C.E. to study? You can’t afford to be prissy about this.” Marx snarled, reaching up to grab at the still-melting chunks of wall and pulling harshly at them. They gave away with a loud CRACK, making both Vance and Wynn cringe.
“Shut the fuck up, won’t you?!” Van shot back, baring his teeth angrily at the gang leader. “You’re very adamant on getting these guys back but gods are you fucking stupid.”
“Watch your mouth, Van, I’m the one above you.” Marx growled, but the chimera seemed too tired to do anything other than argue.

Wynn silently cursed both of them, flattening his spines as much as he could before he attempted to wiggle through the small opening out into freedom.

Jen looked up at Marcus when he spoke, he locked eyes with him and held it for a second longer than it was meant to- this was intentional. It wasn't a glare, but more of a warning to mind his own business. Jen had seen kids like these over and over again, hell, they had been these kids, but if there was something he knew was that it was either back to their parents or the foster system, and both were equally as turbulent for a child. Course, it has passed Jen's mind, turn them over to A.C.E, maybe they could find good homes for kids like this, but the last time that had happened, Apotheosis had been formed, and even Jen acknowledged that this was no way to live.
Still, Jen said nothing, stood up, and took the lead, gently guiding Kohen in front of him and out of the building.

Although very tired, Niveus caught Marcus shaking his head, just barely. He glanced over in that direction, but whatever had been in the shadows was gone before Niveus could even see who it had been. He dismissed it. Not because he didn't think it wasn't a threat. It was a threat. But right now, they had to get Marcus into their apartment safely, and if Niveus freaked out to Jen about there being an unwelcomed visitor, they might kick start the gang's plan before Apotheosis was even ready.

Jen lead Kohen into the living room as soon as they entered and sat him down. He looked to the kitchen to see Jake chugging a huge cup of coffee all at once. He cringed.
And without skipping a beat Jake got up, went to the fridge, cracked an energy drink open, and shotgunned it, drinking it in less than a few seconds. Jake tossed the can into the trash and wiped his mouth with his sleeves. He froze when he saw Jen staring at him.

Niveus stood by the door as he locked it. He shot Aaron a look as he went to talk to Jen, and he quickly caught onto what that look meant. Aaron looked at their leader who seemed completely oblivious to what was going on.
That was until he heard the loud CRACK-ing sound come from the room they had left Wynn in. Everyone seemed to freeze at that.

The sound of the clock ticked the seconds by as the room was dead silent.

"Cas," Aaron muttered under his breath as he stormed across the living room and down the hall to the room. Casimir followed suit, trailing after Aaron and unholstering his gun. Aaron counted to three before jerking open the door, only to catch the tail end of Wynn escaping through the window. Cas shot, not missing a beat, but his aim was a little off and even if he had aimed properly, it still wouldn't have hit considering that Wynn was basically already gone at that point.

Hearing the gunshot, Rae went into absolute panic mode.
"What are you doing?!" She screeched, before flinging herself off the sofa and running to where Aaron and Cas were. Aaron shot her a dirty look.
"What was that about, "just talking to him?" His eyes looked absolutely livid as he talked to Rae, mostly because they hadn't checked up on Wynn, not even once. All because Rae didn't want to "disturb" him from his sleep.
Rae's eyes darted all over the room as she stepped into it cautiously. Good, there was no blood. A small part of her celebrated the escaping, a relief flowing through her body, but now a new horror shook her to the core. Exactly what excuse were they going to give A.C.E? They had told them, they had two gang members on lockdown. There was no getting out of this. She could already hear the yelling.
Six. Six against two, what were you guys doing?! Taking a nap?!

Jake stepped out of the kitchen and into the living room to see what was going on. Jen hadn't moved from Kohen's side, acting sort of like a shield should anything come through either side of the living room. Niveus was already cocking his gun and unlocking the door to follow after Wynn, realizing what had happened.
"Stop," Jen said, his eyes darting around the floor for a second as he thought. They had two kids here now, a prisoner, and there were six of them. One of them had to make sure the kids wouldn't be in any danger should anything else happen and at least two of them should stand by Marcus. The other three- or two could technically go after Wynn and whoever had broken him out, but that would leave the four here vulnerable to any more attacks. Jen had no way of knowing how many of them were out there, so everything was up in the air with ifs and maybes. He hated this part. The part where nothing was certain and he had to make the right call, but that was the exact reason he had been put in this position. The higher-ups thought that greatly of him, and if he let them down…
He swallowed.

Before he said or did anything, he waited for a second longer to see if anything else happened. Surely they would come for Marcus next, and if they did, Jen would have to make decisions. Fast.

Marcus snickered softly as he too watched Jake, glancing at the empty can as it was tossed. That was enough caffeine to kill a horse.

The crack brought a wicked, crooked grin to Marcus’s face.
He wandered as close as he could get to the hall, peeking into the open doorway just in time to see Wynn shimmy the rest of the way out, leaving a broken spine or two behind.
The gunshot startled him, and yet he could still hear Vance curse from beyond the wall and Wynn cackling in delight.
Marcus took a few steps back, trying to place himself as close to the main door as he could.
Rae’s panic was the next thing to startle him, her yelling causing him to flinch away and instinctively cover his face.
As the two bickered, Marcus slowly lowered his arms, stealing a glance towards Niveus and then at the door.
He could make a run for it while they were all distracted and shocked. He could do it.
And yet something held him rooted to the floor; a small amount of fear that tore up his insides everytime he thought about those guns and how awful it felt to no longer feel his fire in his veins.

And so he waited with the rest of them, listening quietly.

A low, snarling growl slowly filled up the quiet, followed immediately by the sounds of heavy claws against the main door.
Marcus’s grin grew wider, a wicked sort of delight to it.
“Oh you’re fucked even if us Abnormalities don’t make it out of here alive.” He muttered, taking a step away from the door this time. Just in case.

And just like that, the atmosphere of the room changed completely. There was an unspoken thought that ran through everyone's minds. Survive.
Casimir was immediately on it. The phone that was. He was speaking to someone in a calm and clear tone as something threatened to rip the front door open. He glanced over to it, but not once did he hesitate to provide everything they needed on the other side.
Niveus who was closest to the door, also backed up, knowing it would give way if any more pressure was added to it. He stood by Jen, gun in hand, and pointed at the floor. Rae came into the living room, eyes wide, but not with fear, more with a look that was lethal to look at. She went over to Jen as soon as he called to her and ordered her to take Kohen and Artemy to a different room.

Change of plans. The two kids would be in the room nearest the bathroom, hopefully, safe with what was about to happen. Failure was not an option. Jen repeated that to himself over and over again. Failure was not an option.
Even though most of their weapons were in his van, and there was no backdoor, Jen looked at what they had. He didn't have his sniper rifle with him, not that it would help the situation anyways. All of them had bullets and guns on them. Casimir had his daggers, which he refused to part ways with even for a second, Jake had a shitty switchblade and Aaron had his brass knuckles. He was more of a physical fighter anyways. The problem was Niveus and Rae. They didn't deal that much with Abnormalities, it's not like they were new to this either but they would probably struggle a lot more than the rest of them that were already on thin ice.
"Back to the basics," Jen called out and Casimir opened the closet that was opposite the bathroom, beside the living room. He pulled out an aluminum bat, a thick metal polearm that didn't have an edge to either side. This weapon had been used by Jen to practice, it was mostly to relax and have fun with since they already did intense training, but in times like these it was heavy and sturdy enough to deal a lot of damage.
The pole was given to Jen and the bat to Rae. Niveus was given the only other gun that they had with them. Ezekiel's submachine gun.

Aaron wasted no time in grabbing Marcus and handcuffing his hands behind his back, ignoring the obvious threat that was looming over them, the one Marcus spoke out loud. He dragged him into one of the empty rooms, the one closest to the living room and farthest from the kids. He shoved him into the room and closed the door, Rae now standing closest to it.
Jake stepped into the living room and watched Marcus get dragged away, with absolutely no emotions in his eyes. His eyes shot to Jen when he spoke again.
"Ezekiel will be here soon, I just wish Andre would have shown his face around this time," Jen said, clearly with an irritated tone.

Marcus didn’t fight the cuffs, but he did fight the rough treatment that followed. He snarled at Aaron as he was forced down the hallway.
“Hope you fuckers know how to cure Lycanthropy.” He spat before the door closed fully, laughing once more.

The door gave away to long, wicked claws that ripped it off its hinges. The beast connected to those claws filled the entire space uncomfortably, far too large to be any sort of natural being.

It was neither human nor wolf, hunched over and large. The fur covering its body was short and matted, even missing in certain places. Its ears were pointed and pinned flat against its thin and angular head. It’s chest rose and fell in stuttering, heaving motions as if every breath was agonizingly painful. It reeked of wet animal and rotting blood, a smell that quickly filled the small apartment.
The beast crawled forwards, a low growl starting in its throat as it sized up the group with wild and deep set eyes. Droplets of something sticky and thick fell from its mouth and into the fur upon its chest.

If Marcus would have been out in the main room he could have recognized the figure from anywhere, though she looked much less animal and more monster from the last time he had seen her. This was Camilla.
It appeared she had far fewer transformations than they had all assumed if she was struggling this badly to keep the bloodlust at bay.
She raised her large snout to the air and bared her large fangs, opening and snapping her jaw shut in a show of intimidation.
“Light.” The sound reverberated from deep within her body, hoarse and scratchy and inhuman. If one paid close enough attention they’d find that Camilla never moved her mouth to speak.
A slow, angry, and almost horrified expression crossed the beasts expression as it sniffed the air. “No fire… you’ll all suffer. I’ll rip you apart. Light. Where is he?”

Another quieter giggle followed the lycanthropes threats. A small figure forced themselves around Camilla, tiny in comparison but just as horrific looking.
Two curling, antler-like horns grew from their head, looking as if they had been broken and filed down excessively. Horrific scars covered the majority of their dark gray skin, looking like blotches of deep, sticky ink set into their skin. The scarring had permanently disfigured their face, leaving their lip forever upturned into a sort of snarl. Their teeth barely fit in their mouth, sharp and pointed.
Although they were no taller than Rae, their limbs were almost too long, bending in places they never should bend, with long legs that looked closer to the hind legs of an animal standing upright. There were rows and rows of sharp, rock/like ridges along their arms and back, all meeting to points at their back, elbows, and fingers that did not look fun to be anywhere near.
“Don’t rush it, let’s have some fun~” the being sung, her eyes narrowing at the group. This was Anais, a demon who had done their fair share of run-ins with the labs of A.C.E. One who had made a blood pact with a scientist to get out of the horrid place called A.C.E.

When the door was thrown off its hinges, everyone took a step back from the menacing beast that fit itself inside the building. Niveus looked more present than ever, his distant eyes replaced with a wide determined look now. Rae gripped the bat with a death grip as she watched Camilla speak, the voice making a small shiver run down her spine.
Aaron and Casimir were side by side, Cas ready with his knives, a calm look to him, and Aaron narrowing his eyes as he flexed his fingers to feel the metal against his skin, holding the gun in his other hand, pointed at Camilla now.
Jen's eyes screamed bloody murder, his teeth gritted and bared more from one side of his mouth as the other being made its presence known.
"Not here," Jen said, holding his weapon in a position that would allow him to swing quickly should he need to, which at that point, there was going to be a fight whether they liked it or not.
"A.C.E. has already taken him," Jen said, his eyes strangely still as he spoke to Camilla. This was a bad idea, lying, but anything to buy them a few more seconds of time. All that was needed was a second to change the outcome of someone ending up dead. No one batted an eye when Jen said this, all focused on the threat before them.
"Maybe if you're all fast enough, you'll catch up with the transportation taking him to A.C.E. right now" Aaron added. "The other little runt was supposed to be next" Aaron growled.
Jake's head spun with all the noise and imminent fight that he would have to pull off somehow. His eyes looked over Camilla, then Anais. Were there only two? Were there not more? Did they think that only these two could take down Apotheosis?

No one made a move yet, watching, anticipating.

Vincent crossed his legs, propping them over the desk in front of him, leaning back in his chair. His thick steel-toe boots made a soft thump as they were placed.
Office work. Office work. Office work. He messed with a wrapper of sour patch kids as he chewed the one he had popped into his mouth. Ten years of working for this damn company and they were still punishing him by making him do office work. Literally, anything else would do. Intense training till he threw up? Fine. Torture? Sure, throw it up there. Patrolling during the day? As boring as that was, he would still take it.
Vincent had a rough look to him, a bit of fuzz on the bottom portion of his face, his beard wasn't anything impressive. He shaved whenever he could, but it still grew at an enraging rate. His short brown hair stuck around wildly, the left side longer, but not so as to restrict his vision. It looked dull as products were used on his hair and slightly wavy as the hair curved here and there but were straight in some parts.
He flicked some crumbs off his pants that were military grade- green. His shirt was a beige color and fitted to his body so much so that you could vaguely see every curve of his body build underneath. He was strictly mesomorph, with a lot of muscle to him.
Military tags hung around his neck.

GLYNN
VINCENT T.
7383298341
A POS
NO PREFERENCE

The phone suddenly rang and Vincent looked at it, bored. He grabbed the phone and put it to his ear.
"A.C.E. fucking headquarters, please state your name, concern, and address." His voice sounded dull and bassy as he grabbed a pen and went to write something down on a piece of paper.
"Mhm, yeah, we'll be right out," He said watching the monitor's screen in front of him. It displayed an open stream where someone was playing COD.
"Fuckin' idiot, flank!" He exclaimed at the computer and let out a sound that he was done with whoever was playing. The person was still on the other end of the line.
"No ma'am. Not you, the idiot on my screen" He said. A few more words were exchanged and then he hung up. That was another form to be filled out and sent to whoever the fuck so they could check out whatever the hell the problem was. He could have done it. But he wasn't allowed to help anyone after pulling a risky move when they went out on a mission. Three had died and they were beginning to think he was unstable. He wasn't. He had made a call. If it had been any other way, they would have all died.

“What a shame. Just missed him then. The little bitch should have listened to Marx like he’s told to.” Anais sighed, looking around at the group with a bored expression. The demon lifted her arm, digging her sharp claws into the flesh of it until black, thick blood bubbled from the wound. As it dripped onto the floor, it sizzled. She used the black substance to draw a small symbol on her palm that glowed for a moment before she closed her hand and it vanished.
“Vance can take care of that, why don’t we show them what happens when they trade lives for a living?” Anais asked with a wicked grin, stealing a glance up at Camilla. She had her head raised as if trying to escape the sudden smell of tar and ichor that radiated from Anais’s still bleeding arm. Her nose twitched once or twice before her eyes lit up with a wild rage.
“Liar.” The lycanthrope spat suddenly, her teeth bared and a low growl starting in her throat. She had her eyes trained on Jen. “I can smell him still.” She took a step forwards to remove herself from the too-small doorway. Now able to stand comfortably, Camilla stretched herself out to her full size: fucking massive.
Anais hummed at that, stealing a glance around the room.
“I couldn’t care less about where he is. I don't much like him, but Marx is insistent on getting his boytoy back that bastard.” The demon muttered under her breath, scowling lightly. “He wouldn’t be doing anything about your little group here if you hadn’t touched his precious little Light. Some of us are here for actual reasons.” She pulled a large, wicked looking dagger from the depths of her clothes. It’s blade glowed faintly, symbols carved along its length that shifted and moved and whispered.
“You’d all be stupid to think I’m not going to take the chance to maim at least one of you, regardless if Teague is actually here or not.”
Anais’s expression grew into crazed excitement, something snapping in an instant within her mind. “You’ll pay for the torture you caused me. You’ll pay for every part of me they ripped out just to look at, the blood and skin and bone they took to watch my body rebuild itself. I killed the scientists who touched me and I’ll kill the group that sent me.”
Camilla’s head snapped towards Anais, a warning growl following suit. She placed a large leg in front of Anais and snapped her teeth.
“No, there are children here too. Don’t be stupid. Marx will have your head.”
Anais’s groaned, rolling her eyes.
“Fuck. Fine. Check if Teague is actually here or not and then leave… do me a favor and bite whoever you can. I doubt A.C.E. will be keen to deal with lycanthropy.”
Camilla nodded, lowering her head and snarling at the group.
It was Anais that made the first move, attacking not the group, but the light above their head. It shattered over the two monstrous beings, shards of glass falling into Camilla’s fur and reflecting like morbid glitter.
The few shards that landed on Anita’s, however, warped and twisted into long, thin needle-like blades that attached themselves to Anais’s skin like some strange armor.

Jen's eyes were still on Camilla as she spoke to him, unwavering, even though she had caught onto his lie.
Precious. The word rang in Jake's head. So they were dating. How funny that was the only thing he picked up from what Anais said. Now was not the time though, and they needed to get this situation under control fast.
As soon as Anais pulled out her weapon, Casimir's eyes landed on it, the rest too focused on Camilla, everyone except Jake and Casimir that was. Jake was looking at Anais for a different reason now though because after she said the group that sent me, it was like it hit him all at once.

When Camilla stopped Anais, Jen had a confused look on his face now. Why did they care about two kids? Marx cared about kids? Why? It was the most insane thing he had heard all day, and it made him hesitate.

Lycanthropy. That's what Marcus had said. This person had Lycanthropy? Jake questioned himself.
The thing had Lycanthropy. Aaron gritted his teeth now. What the fuck were they going to do if one of them got bit?
There was no more room for thinking as Anais shattered the light above their heads.
"Hija de tu-" Jen hissed as they were cast into the dark, only the light from the kitchen was on, making it so that they weren't at a complete disadvantage, even though they were already very heavily at a disadvantage.

Aaron was the first to shoot when Anais moved. They were fighting in such close quarters that it was nearly impossible to miss, yet with Anais' reckless movement it was also hard to pinpoint her.
As soon as the first bullet was shot, everyone else followed suit.
Jake was the one to get in Anais' way despite the needle-like blades on her skin. He grabbed his switchblade and spun it in his hand once before putting a firm grip on it and swinging. Jake's thought was to shatter the shield Anais had around her before he did anything else. Aaron's idea was to put a bullet in her head as quickly as possible and the two worked together to try and take her down, blocking her path to the room Marcus was in.

Jen didn't focus on anything else but Camilla's teeth and the threat of keeping everyone from being infected. He swung the heavy pole at her face, hoping to get her to catch it with her canine mouth, if that failed, he would quickly spin the pole around in a fluid motion and try again, not leaving any room to dodge. Camilla was larger than all of them and Jen obviously couldn't take her on alone, so Casimir joined him instead of joining Aaron and Jake. Still, he kept track of everyone's movements, especially Aaron's.

It was open fire for Niveus at Camilla, mercilessly holding down the trigger, trying to slow her down, yet stopping when Jen got in the way. Rae stood at the back, sort of guarding the room the witch was in. She was mainly a tail gunner, being the last man standing. Usually, this only applied when they were surrounded and the back needed defending, but Rae would still be the last person standing should the rest fail. It was a lot of faith to put on Rae, but everyone had decided on it as the best course of action.

Anais spat a line of curses when the bullet hit. It had managed to slip past It sizzled the moment it broke skin, her blood working quickly to melt the foreign object. It burned with agonizing intensity.
She was lucky it didn’t hit anything important.
Jake’s first swing took her by surprise, her mind still a little cloudy from the initial attack. Anais barely managed to lift her own blade to block his. She glared at him, her eyes reflecting a faint green in the dim light, like a cats. Or perhaps a possum.
“My nose might not be as sharp as Camilla’s but you reek up close. Like emotions. Exhaustion.” She noted, looking Jake up and down. “Makes me hungry though I’m sure your energy tastes sour.”
Anais took the opportunity to swing with her free arm, using the sharp armor on the outside of her arm as a weapon itself.

Camilla took the bait all too eagerly, biting down hard on the pipe and grabbing the other end with a large, clawed hand. Her eyes flashed angrily as she pushed forwards, snapping her jaws around the pipe a few times. It bent lightly, just barely, but stayed fairly firm in her teeth.
Niveus’s aim had hit its mark a few times over, but all the bullets had managed to do was make her angry. And bleed… it stained her fur in dark, wet patches. That was going to hurt like hell later…
She pulled her head to the side twisting the pipe as much as she could in Jen’s hands, just to see if she could somehow wrestle it out of his hands.
She eyed the other who had joined Jen, forcing another step forwards just to get a better angle.

Jake's switchblade clashed with Anais's but he didn't stop there, he put all his body into the swing and even after it had been blocked, he kept forcing her blade down, pushing and pushing.
"Emotions? Yeah, I have a lot of those, unfortunately," Jake commented as the tension between their blades held them both in a position where no one could back down. The first that did, would be at a disadvantage.
"I have that kind of effect on people" He smirked, talking about the 'hungry' bit. His smirk quickly faded though as what he was afraid of happening, happened. His blade snapped with all the force added to it, flinging it back towards him, barely scraping the top layer of the skin on his face as he had almost no time to dodge it. He quickly took a few steps back trying to get away from Anais if she decided to try and slice him in half right there.
And just like he predicted, she swung, not with her blade though, with her arm. Jake had backed up at this point, but not far away enough to completely miss her blow. Her arm connected with his as he used it to shield himself, the thin needle-like blades digging into the flesh, so deep that it made him whimper as he tried not to let out a string of curses.
Aaron was right there and for a moment he stopped when Jake got hit, something like satisfaction flashing across his face before he shot again and again, now that Anais' attention was on Jake.

Jen wasn't sure if Camilla would actually take the bait, but he knew that once she did, she would have the upper hand against him. Even so, he still went for it.
As soon as her teeth connected with his pole, he felt the force of her being as she bit on it several of times. It was hard to keep ahold of his weapon as she pushed against it, making him slide back significantly as he tried to keep his ground, but he didn't let go, he wouldn't back down. When she attempted to jerk the pole out of his hands with that quick movement, Jen still didn't let go, but now she was pulling him towards her, not being to keep his own against the massive beast she was. It was like watching a dog wrestle a rope away from a kid, trying everything to free it from their hands, except this wasn't exactly fun.
At that moment, Casimir jumped on Camilla, using the furniture to boost himself up to have a better chance of landing on her. His poison-dipped daggers dug into her, not deep, but enough to pierce the skin. When he pushed the knife all the way in, he twisted it in a fast snapping motion. The poison was one of the best Andre and Blake had made, but someone as big as Camilla- he wasn't sure if it would work as quickly, or if she could just tank it and keep going.

“It’s like a beacon to my kind. Better watch who you’re hooking up with, I’ve been told we’re quite predatory.” She dared to muse, flashing her teeth in a wicked grin. Anais looked Jake up and down and gave him a look of disdain. “Oh don’t flatter yourself, you’re not my type.” She said right before taking action.
Anais gave a triumphant cry as her attack connected. She opened her mouth to gloat only to be met with bullets. She growled, ducking to the side and wrestling Jake between her and Aaron’s barrel, trying to dodge as many as she could and using Jake as a sort of human shield.
She pouted at Aaron, her eyes flickering to the flecks of red now staining the pinpoints of her glass armor. Something like hunger flashed behind her expression for just a moment before it disappeared.
“You’re all too depressed and stressed, it’s not satisfying at all.” She complained loudly, snarling. Marx had promised good emotions to devour. She was hardly getting anything from these people. It wasn’t fair, she was hungry.

Camilla rumbled in delight when Jen was dragged closer, swiping at him with large claws. Casimir’s attack was enough to ruin her plans.
She roared as the daggers pierced her skin, immediately letting go of the pipe and rearing back in an attempt to throw Casimir off. Camilla howled in pain as the knife was buried deep into her flesh, turning her head to try and bite at him blindly in retaliation.
The poison was potent, not a large enough amount to do major harm, but just enough to make things a lot worse.
Her head started to swim, a dizziness and nausea following suit that made the lycanthrope stagger. She shook her head to clear it, alarm growing in her mind when nothing seemed to come from it.
She surged forwards, lashing out at the one who was still in her sights: Jen.

Jake didn't have time to reply to her, or else would have something along the lines of "Thanks for your concern sweetheart, but I can take care of myself." Jake tried to pull away from Anais but the more he tried, the more painful it was as the armor of thin blades on her moved around in his arm.
When he realized what she was doing, this time he didn't have an option, he was not about to die at the hands of Aaron. Though he tugged a second too late and Aaron shot him in his side before he ripped his arms from Anais. At that moment he stumbled backward and smacked right into Jen who was now pulling away from Camilla- it made him almost trip forwards and it was then that Camilla swung at Jen and her paw connected with his shoulder, making three deep slices on his skin. Thick red liquidy blood immediately oozed from the wounds.
Jen hissed at the pain, eyes wide as he let go of the pole he had been so desperately holding onto.

"We're not here to satisfy you, abnormality" Aaron growled back as he took his left hand and swung at Anais when he got close enough to her. The metal on his knuckles would surely shatter whatever armor Anais had around her if he put enough force into it, so that's what he did. Switching quickly to his gun again to shoot after the attack, in case it didn't work, and if it did, then hopefully he'd catch her off guard enough to put a bullet in her head.

Jen would have been a dead man had Casimir not jumped in when he had. He had gotten a little too close to Camilla enough for her to shred him to pieces had she not been distracted. The pole was now on the ground between Camilla and Jen, Jen having backed up, breathing heavily as he lost blood quickly. He didn't dare touch the wounds on his shoulders, a little more to the left and Camilla would have gotten the artery that went straight to his heart. He needed to stop the bleeding, but there was no time for that.
Casimir was almost thrown off, but instead of waiting for Camilla to crush him against the wall, he jumped off and immediately went to work on incapacitating her via her legs. If he cut in the right places and deep enough, maybe he could get her to drop down and stop.
Jen who was still recovering looked at the pole and gunned for it just as soon as Camilla decided to go at him again.

It would have been wiser to dodge to the side when Camilla went for him, but he was not about to let anyone else get hurt. Jake was on the ground, hand on his side as blood also poured from the bullet wound, and with great effort he stood, finally using his gun to switch sides with Aaron. Now Aaron would be on the attack and Jake would back him up from behind.
Niveus at this point stayed at an angle where he wouldn't hit any of his companions and shot at Camilla's legs as well when he saw what Casimir was doing. Rae, who saw that Jake was somewhat out of commission, jumped in to help Aaron with Anais, swinging her bat at Anais from the side, a wave of wild anger hitting her as she saw what went down.