forum •Apotheosis of Abnormality• [one/one]

Started July 27, 2022 by @Dayzed business

tune

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.

“That’s a shame, you have no purpose otherwise, abnormal.” She spat, readying herself for another attack. She dove out of the way, cursing.
The swing connected to her shoulder anyways, splintering and breaking the glass around it.
“You fucker!” She barely managed to spit out before Aaron had his gun. It left her no time to think logically. Out of pure instinct she bit down hard on her hand, drawing blood to the surface before lunging for Aaron. The moment her hand made contact with something solid her blood hissed, eating away at it like a strong acid.
This left her very open to Rae’s attack, the bat connecting with the sharp spines of glass covering her back. It shattered, cracking along her shoulders and sides. Anais cried out in anger, suddenly shifting her attack to Rae, using the same tactic as before by grabbing a hold of the bat and letting her blood do its thing.

Camilla’s angry and pained yowls filled the air. What little humanity that had held her back seemed to suddenly snap, her eyes now wild and angry like a rabid beast.
She threw her whole body towards Jen, Casimir’s slashes and Niveus’s bullets doing their job to send her crashing to the floor. She whipped around to face the closest attacker, crawling towards Casimir with the conviction of a cornered animal.

It really was unfortunate for them to leave Marcus all on his own with what he considered a puzzle.
The handcuffs had started to dig into his wrists, something that had grown extremely uncomfortable the moment he noticed it happening. Which led to his current predicament of having basically chained himself to the door.
After deciding that breaking his thumbs was the last option to consider, Marcus had next tried to wedge something into the handcuffs gears. That had failed the moment he realized he couldn’t see what he was doing enough to even get an object into the gears in the first place.
And so the next best option was breaking the chain somehow. Marcus’s dumb ass had decided to do so by hooking it around a solid object and pulling as hard as he could, the only option being the doorknob.
Unfortunately for him, he had managed to somehow cross the too-short chain and now found himself in a very awkward position, half bent forwards with his elbows stuck out at odd angles.. The doorknob dug into his skin and the handcuffs pressed sharply against his wrists leaving no space for him to just simply uncross his hands. The awkward angle his arms bent behind his back prevented him from even trying without the fear and stress of breaking a bone or dislocating his shoulder.
A soft laugh drew his attention away from his predicament, one that made his face flush tomato red.
“If I weren’t pissed about you getting caught I’d find your current position a very fun predicament.” Marx mused, or at least his apparition did.
Marcus huffed lightly, turning his face away to hide his embarrassment.
“Shut the fuck up. You’re not even actually here to help me right now.” The witch pouted, risking a glance back at the Marx that stood in front of him, looking almost as if he were actually standing there. Marcus knew better, the symbol for the spell was slowly burning itself into the wall behind the figure.
“Whose magic is this, anyways? I don’t remember any living members of the gang who learned how to use illusion frequencies.” Marcus almost hadn’t wanted to ask, just in case the means of such magic were… unconventional.
“Camilla made me a few items just in case. She’s a lot more talented than she lets us know.” Marx replied smoothly. “As for why I’m not there physically, I had to make certain you were still here and not in some A.C.E. transportation vehicle. Anais gave us the signal that you may have been taken already. The simple fact that I can reach you means you’re still here. Good.” The not-Marx illusion moved forwards, grinning wickedly as he studied Marcus closely. “Maybe I’ll try handcuffing you more often, it’s a good look on you.” He laughed when Marcus scowled at the idea. “Not a fan. Alright then. I’ll be there soon to come rescue you, Princess~”
And with that the not-Marx suddenly vanished, leaving behind a crackling sound and the slight smell of static and electricity.
Marcus groaned, trying his best to relax in a position that took the strain off his wrists. He was starting to go numb in the fingers…

As Anais lunged towards him, he took a step back to brace himself, his arms in front of him to block whatever attack she was going to throw at him next. Aaron had seen how Anais's blood had sizzled when it hit the floor the first time she had drawn blood from herself, still, nothing prepared him for the world of pain he would be in when Anais's blood melted part of his sleeves and made contact with his skin.
"Fucking shit!!" He yelled out, hissing at the blood that remained on his arm when Anais redirected her attention. The blood had burned through the top layer of his skin to show the raw flesh underneath. Tears pricked at the edge of his eyes as he gritted his teeth and stood back grabbing onto his arm, the part that wasn't affected. Pain was a part of the job, but Aaron absolutely hated it. The others had a pretty high pain tolerance, but Aaron was a different story.
"Fuck!" He hissed as Jake and Rae took over for a moment.
At Rae's successful attack, a smile spread across her face, her eyes brightening with joy at the fact that she was being part of the action. When the blood made contact with her bat, Rae whipped her gun out and shot. Jake was out of bullets at this point and had to reload which was a pain to do with a bleeding wound, his hands shook as he placed the bullets into their corresponding slots.

While that happened Casimir watched as Camilla fell, now trying to crawl towards him. He took a step back and away from her, she was still a threat, but now that they had this one under control if only barely, he could focus his attention on Aaron and the rest.
Niveus ran up past Jen and to Camilla, his submachine gun now pointed at her, he shot a few more times for safe measure, not enough to kill her, but enough to maybe get her to stop.
Jen stood back as Niveus and Casimir took care of Camilla. He looked to the other three. Aaron now having shaken off the burning pain in his arm. It still hurt like a bitch, but now he was pissed. Jake finished reloading his gun and pointed it at Anais. Both Aaron and Rae did the same, cornering her against the wall, anyway she tried to run or attack, they should shoot, and it would hit something a little more vital.

Camilla whimpered, curled up into a large mass of fur and blood. The poison was starting to slowly do its work, blurring the lycanthropes vision and clouding her mind. There was less humanity to her now, as far as anyone on the outside could tell she was an injured animal, curled in on herself and cringing away from touch.

It was hard to think straight with the constant gunfire and that eventually was her downfall. Anais cursed when she found herself cornered, scowling at the group around her.
“Can’t deny I’m a little disappointed… Thought we had you fairly distracted. Guess it’s time for plan B.” She grumbled, taking her dagger firmly in both hands and driving it into the wall behind her.
The wall rippled as if it was made of water before it began to crumble where the blade’s tip touched. Behind it was not the outside nor another room, but a gaping and vast void where the shapes of movement rippled as if they were underwater.
“I hope you have a strong constitution, that healing process is going to be rough. Lovely thing, demon’s blood is, especially my species of demon. Think of it like an anticoagulant, but for general healing.” She told Aaron, flashing him a grin and a wink.

Vance was the first to appear out of the hole Anais had created, taking a look around at the carnage with a disgruntled frown.
“You really fucked this up, didn’t you?” He huffed, stepping to the side to allow for Marx to step into the room next.
“Go to hell, Van. I did better than you ever could have.” Anais snapped back in return, shaking the glass armor off of herself.
The gang leader stood a little straighter once fully in the room, giving a charismatic grin to the others around. He held a gun in his hand, strange and intricate lines carved into its barrel. Anais eyed it wearily, sliding a little further away from the device.
“So, this is Apotheosis?” Marx glanced around the space, his eyes narrowing. “You’re all very impressive, to have managed Camilla. Unfortunately I can’t give you all the credit, she’s been growing increasingly more unstable, so I can’t say she was in peak condition.” He flicked his wrist and Van moved towards Camilla, pulling a long, thin vial from his jacket pocket. Marx gestured to Van before addressing the group. “Let’s call a truce here, for just a moment. I’d rather not have a final stage lycanthrope in such a small space and I’m sure none of you would want to take that chance. If you’ve never been around a stage five lycanthrope then I suggest you avoid it. The curse will want to spread before its host dies, and it won’t care if its current vessel no longer functions. I was informed that you have a child here. Or multiple, according to Anais. I’m sure you wouldn’t want them to be harmed. We definitely don’t want that.”
Van stole a quick glance to Marx, then to the hole in the wall, and finally to the members of Apotheosis. Why the gang leader was trying to reason with the group wasn’t clear, but Vance assumed there was a reason for it, even if it was just to momentarily stop Camilla from losing herself.

Niveus watched Camilla and a pang of pain struck his heart. Niveus loved dogs and seeing Camilla like this reminded him of an animal that was trying hard to survive. Still, his gun was on her.
Jake, Aaron, and Rae couldn't do anything but watch as Anais made a portal for others to come through, their guns still pointed in case of any sudden movements.
Aaron's eyes said it all as he was about to storm toward Anais and have another swing at her, but before he could, Marx and Van had come through.
"Peak condition or not. We still would have taken the mutt down." Aaron said, scoffing and giving Marx a dirty look, though, pain was written all over his face as he tried to hide it.
Jake eyed the gun. What the hell was that? He looked at Marx next, trying to get a better look at him even though it was still dark in the apartment. They were meeting the leader, in person now- the others had met Marx when he was in his other form, but not like this.
At Marx's words, Aaron gave a pained smile.
"Like hell." He bit back. Rae shot a glare at Aaron. Casimir was standing behind Camilla and Niveus by her head, they stood there, waiting for orders.

At this point, Jen's vision was starting to blur a little as he focused his attention on Marx.
"Why do you care about some kids?" He asked, the question being something he wanted the answer to. Jen thought it over, they would lose if they gave in. A.C.E would kill them. But which was better? Even if they continued to fight, the kids in the other room would get involved. He was sure they were already pretty scared with everything going on, he didn't need two dead kids on his conscience- especially not Andre's little brother. Then, there was his family which he would watch get killed if they didn't pull off killing all of the gang members. They needed to regroup and be prepared. They had been caught off guard.
"There is no truce" Aaron hissed as Jen thought it over, pointing his gun straight at Marx.
"Stop it, Aaron." Came Jen's voice. He had made his decision. Jake's eyes looked to Jen as he staggered a little. Staying in a standing position was becoming increasingly uncomfortable and he needed to sit down. His gun was hanging loosely in his hand while the other was covered in blood, holding the wound and trying to stop the bleeding.
They really couldn't lose this. They just couldn't.
"Jen," Jake said in a warning tone, but Jen shot Jake a glare.
"Fine, truce," Jen said, at last, his right hand holding the pole, while his left arm tipped to the side a bit. They had lost. His only question was why wasn't Marx trying to end them right now? This was the perfect time to slaughter them all. If Apotheosis healed, they would then have the upper hand when looking for them again. Weapons and all, but Jen wasn't about to complain. If this was Marx's way of offering 'mercy' on them, he would take it.
Aaron was beyond infuriated, but he had to respect his leader's order, just like everyone else. Still, the bubbling anger inside of him made his hand turn into a fist, squeezing the brass knuckles so hard, it dug into his skin. He lowered his gun finally and took a step back.

“Again, I won’t give you all the credit. She’s more than just a mutt.” Marx snapped at Aaron, glaring at him. Just because he was deciding to be civil about this didn’t mean he liked these people. They annoyed him. If things went south, Marx would take Aaron out first, purely out of spite.
He waited patiently for a response, glancing around at the room for a moment before he pulled a large, glass container from somewhere on his person. He opened the top of it, breathed in deep, and then exhaled a steady stream of red hot fire into it. It surprisingly held the flame with little resistance and continued to burn brightly even after the top of the container was closed. Marx set the new light source down, letting it illuminate the darkened room.
It also allowed Apotheosis to get a good look at the leader.
He was a tall man, with a mesomorph frame and a decent amount of muscle. There were tattoos covering almost every blank part of his arms, a mess of black-inked snakes and florals and daggers. His hair was a dark brown at the roots and tips, faded patches of bleached yellow making up the rest of it. It was long and thick, wavy and currently pulled up and out of his square face in a large bun. His eyes were dark, almost black, in color and narrow, always stuck in a permanent glare.

“I care because they are children. I guarantee that for whatever reason you wish to protect them I share the same one. We are not all inherently cruel or evil.” Marx replied cooly, stone-faced and steely.

When Aaron spoke up, Marx lifted his weapon, readying for a fight. Vance shifted his pose slightly, eyeing Jen and Aaron wearily for a moment.
The moment passed relatively quickly, however, and Jen’s words seemed to calm the leader and his group instantly.
“Good. Now, would you kindly have someone go get Marcus? He’s found himself in a predicament so be careful opening the door. For letting me help Camilla I’ll have Light heal your wounds enough it’s stable.” Marx found that to be a fair trade. One stability for another. Jen wouldn’t bleed to death - he’d still of course have to heal the rest on his own but he’d be more stable - and Camilla would get a few more weeks of guaranteed stability.
He once again motioned for Vance to go help the lycanthrope. Vance obeyed immediately, nearly running over to her. He placed a gentle hand on her side, not even flinching when she gave him a warning growl and uncurled to bare her fangs at him. He pulled a strange device from his jacket and placed vial nearly into its center. It looked a bit like a gun, though slightly modified. It wasn’t quite like a tranq gun, but one could call it that for the sake of simplicity.
Vance placed its barrel to Camilla’s side, patting her arm before he pulled the trigger. There was a sickening click as the gun embedded a row of needles into the werewolf. She howled angrily, attempting to slide away from Vance but the majority of the act had been done.
Once the vial was empty she began to sway back and forth, snapping her jaws at the air between her and Vance before slowly she began to transform back.
It wasn’t a pleasant transformation to watch, skin stretching tight, fur disappearing, and bones cracking with horrific configurations. By the end of it Camilla sat confused and exhausted, wearing a strange mesh suit that flowed faintly - something she made so she wouldn’t wake up naked should the transformations start happening without her consent.
Vance wrapped her in his jacket carefully, gently tapping her chin up when her head began to bobble.
“Stay awake.” He told her firmly, helping her stand and walk towards the portal, where a group of hands emerged to help her through it.

Anais seemed just as pissed as Aaron was, however, glaring daggers into the back of Marx’s head. She did nothing, however, instead letting herself collapse against the wall with a shaky sigh.

Aaron was itching to take out Marx and the rest of his crew, he couldn't stand being in the same room as them.
Jake watched as Marx created a new light source and set it down, everyone seemed to watch that, even Aaron.

Jen stayed quiet at Marx's explanation. Everything felt so wrong. Caring about children? These weren't exactly monsters that A.C.E. had painted them to be, still, just because Marx was protecting a few children meant nothing.

Looking Marx over, Jen could only stare at this man. He didn't know what to say. This was their first time meeting, what could he possibly say to him? Jen looked distressed as Marx spoke. He tiredly gestured behind Rae at the room Marcus was in.
"He's there. You can get him yourself." Jen said. Jake watched the interaction, having no objection. What Jen said, went. If he acted on his own, there would be more consequences than his own death.

The tension in the air was high as the two parties interacted. Nothing like when they had brought in Wynn and Marcus.
Jake slowly backed up and sat down on the couch, trying to focus on anything other than the burning pain on his side. He would kill Aaron later for that.
Rae seemed curious as Vance worked on Camilla, leaning from behind Aaron to get a better look. Aaron was no longer looking at anyone, clearly annoyed.

Vincent sat on top of the roof, yawning, watching the gang and Apotheosis interact. He hadn't done anything yet even though he had been there for a while. He wanted to see what would happen. It's not that he was irresponsible, he deeply cared for the kids in his own way, but he was only one guy. He could maybe take out two or three of them. Marx, for starters. Then the one on the floor, Camilla, and Vance, the one who helped her.
He didn't understand why Jen wasn't fighting. Sure, he was hurt, but that was no excuse- or at least A.C.E would see it that way.
If Jen had given up, then he needed more training than they initially had thought. Either way, this mistake would not repeat itself. As long as everyone stayed calm, Vincent wouldn't do anything. One move from any of the gang members against Apotheosis and it was open fire, regardless if Apotheosis was hurt or not.

"I knew A.C.E. told their fellow humans we were monsters. I'm not even the least bit surprised they pinned as creatures that would prey on children." Anais huffed bitterly at Jen's silent reaction. Vance scoffed from where he was, rolling his eyes.
"It's not like we don't have children ourselves, you know. Not me, I don't want any. But there's a good portion of Abnormalities with children, human and otherwise. Look into your own files, it's all there. Don't you guys have some huge archive on us? The biggest collection of knowledge and data on Abnormalities? Next to your sister organization in Europe, that is, I think theirs is bigger." Vance asked casually. It was the first time he spoke civilly, no bite to his tone despite the annoyed expression on his face.

Both Vance and Anais watched wearily as Marx crossed the room towards the door Jen had gestured to, immediately on guard just in case Jen decided to turn on a dime like. All of A.C.E. was like that, they tended to do whatever was necessary to take the upper hand in any situation.
Marx, despite his earlier words, opened the door roughly. Marcus yelped loudly, tripping over his own feet as the door he was stuck to swung open aggressively.
"You're an asshole, Marx." Marcus whined when the grinning face of the gang leader peeked around the wood of the door.
"Isn't that why you stick around? I thought you like that I'm mean to you?" Marx shot back, pulling his specialty knife from his hip and spitting fire along it's blade until he deemed it hot enough. Marcus yelped again when the hot blade was pressed to the metal around one of his wrists. It burned red hot for a moment before Marx grabbed it and bent the metal until it snapped away.
Marcus pulled himself free, rubbing at his now burned wrist and shaking out his fingers to try and get the feeling to come back to them. The handcuffs dangled from his other wrist, left there for now as Marx led the witch back into the main room.
"Heal him, would you?" Marx lazily gestured at Jen as he moved to take his place by Anais. Marcus paused, a look of hesitation crossing his face. Marx gave him a warning growl, his lips pulling back into a snarl. "Do not question me. Heal. Him."
"I can't!" Marcus sputtered out quickly, lifting his arm to show off the other band around his wrist. "It blocks my magic."
Marx huffed, turning his gaze to Jen. "Well?" He gestured to Marcus, looking at Jen expectantly. "He can't heal you without magic." Now it was Anais's turn to snort.
"Of course, he can, it will just be normal human medical treatment. He's done his fair share of stitches." She looked Marcus up and down for a moment before grinning wickedly. "Nice pajamas, dipshit. You look like shit, by the way. What did you do? Throw yourself into Fatigue? You look like a ghost."
Vance lifted his head at that, looking over Marcus with a vicious sort of joy. "You do look like shit, holy fuck, you're so pale."
Marcus shot them both a glare, though the bright pink in his face revealed his embarrassment. "Shut the fuck up, you try going a few hours without your magic. My body runs at a higher temperature than other humans but it turns out that drops real quick when I don't have access to my fire. Makes you feel like shit." Marcus explained, huffing softly.

Jen felt his cheeks heat up at Anais's and Vance's response, he looked away, slightly ashamed at the fact that he hadn't put two and two together sooner. Jen's mouth went dry at the accusation. No. They weren't allowed to look into the archives unless they permitted it. They only knew what they were shown and told. Still, Jen was silent to it all, unable to give a proper answer.
When Marx crossed the room, both Aaron and Rae stepped aside to allow him to get to the door. They only gave each other looks but said nothing. Aaron would casually glance at Jen to see if there was any sign that he would change his mind, but Jen wasn't looking at any of them, a conflicted look clear on his face.
When Marx came back with Marcus, Jen looked up. His heart quickened when he was put on the spot of taking the bracelet off of Marcus. He swallowed and looked at Jake. He really didn't know if this was okay. For the first time, their leader didn't know what he was doing. This could be the biggest mistake of his career.
"No." Jen shook his head, gritting his teeth, not being able to look either Marx or Marcus in the eyes, his hand on his shoulder now as he had pulled out a small cloth from the back of his cargo pants, it wasn't big enough to cover the whole wound, but it would do for now. Jen looked to Niveus who knew exactly what to do. He walked over to Marcus and pulled out a small thin looking key with a series of bumps and indents on it. It didn't look like a regular key, just a straight metal piece that fit exactly into an opening on the side of the bracelet Marcus wore. The bracelet popped open with a tick!-ing sound. He was free.
Niveus looked at Marcus, pieces of earlier events replaying in his mind, the way Marcus had seemed so happy to win. He turned to walk away and stood by Jen, the gun now again in his hand.

Apotheosis watched the gang interact. They seemed more like a family than they let on, maybe a little rough here and there, but what family didn't have rough patches?
"If you're satisfied with what you have you can leave," Jen said getting up with a pained look. Jen would not be taking the kindness of Marx to heal their injuries- or well, his injuries. It wasn't that he wasn't grateful, he would always accept kindness from others, no matter who they were, but if their injuries healed, A.C.E. would suspect something far worse. Something like betrayal. Even the way they were now, it was going to be hard to explain exactly how they had let the gang go when they had them right there in their grasp.
"Thank you though, I appreciate it.." He said softly, looking more like a scared teenager at this point. He knew that nothing he would say would mend Apotheosis taking Marcus and Wynn away from the gang, but they had caused destruction. They couldn't just have let that slide.
"Speak for yourself." Jake thought of saying but didn't have the energy to challenge Jen. He wanted that heal, healing a bullet wound was going to be a pain in the ass. He leaned back into the couch, for someone who was as flirty and daring as he was, he was strangely silent. Maybe it was the pain of the bullet wound that made him speak less or the fact that he had nothing else to say.

The sudden rush of warmth in his chest when the bracelet clicked open nearly made Marcus double over with nausea. His fingertips tingled with the sudden rush of magic, the runes tattooed into his skin burning hot. It was equal parts relieving as it was uncomfortable.
"Thank you…" Marcus murmured softly, directing it towards Niveus and Jen though Marx seemed to misread it for himself. The gang leader grinned, pulling Marcus in close to press his hand against the runes across his arms, seeming not to even notice when Marcus flinched hard at the action.
"There's that fire… it smells wonderful, you know, your magic." He purred, pressing a soft kiss to Marcus's cheek and ruffling his hair before releasing him to address Jen. Marcus held back the gag that rose in his throat, turning away and pretending to fix his hair to hide the nauseated look on his face.
"I expected more of a fight. I'm surprised you haven't tried anything." Marx noted, staring Jen down before he picked up his light source and moved back to the strange hole in the wall. Anais was waiting impatiently by it, grumbling about having to be the last one out so it would close properly. "Fine. You don't have to accept anything from us. We'll leave, I'm satisfied that I don't need to do anything to you. From what I've gathered, your higher-ups aren't going to be very happy about this. This is as much of a damnation than had you died by our hands. Let's hope the next time we meet you'll fight tooth and nail for what it is you need to do to live, for your own sake, it would be a shame if you were executed alongside your prisoners." Marx sneered, gesturing for Marcus to join his side. The witch did so hesitantly, glancing over at Jake for a moment before he pulled one of the packages of wafers he had stuffed into the band of his pants to save for later and tossed it to him. He flashed him a grin, mouthing 'for the coffee' and hoping the other could read lips well enough to catch on. It was a slightly mocking action but there was a thinly veiled softness to it that Marcus couldn't explain away.
Marx watched him closely, his eyes flickering across Jake's form with a disproving scoff. He grabbed Marcus's arm roughly, pulling the witch towards the hole and leaning in to whisper something in his ear. Marcus went pale, a flash of regret crossing his face. The two disappeared into the hole, leaving Vance and Anais alone for a moment.
Vance pulled a large handkerchief from the inside pocket of his jacket, walking over to Jen and offering it to him. There was something sympathetic in his eyes.
"We're both groups with good people in bad situations, please consider that before demonizing us. We used to give you guys the benefit of the doubt you know? Before Anais was…" he glanced over his shoulder at her, pausing for a moment before he sighed deeply and shook his head. "Wynn was fed and safe, Marcus looks like he was patched up… thank you for not treating them badly." He dipped his head down in a polite bow before turning abruptly and stepping through to the other side of the hole.
Anais gave the group a distasteful glare, forcefully yanking her dagger from the wall. It crackled with energy for a moment before the wall seemed to slowly start returning to a solid state. Anais flipped the group off before she stepped through the hole, its edges already starting to close up.
The second they were gone, however, the wall returned to normal, looking as if nothing had ever happened to it.
The only signs that the group had been there at all were the piles of broken glass, the holes in the floor from Anais's blood, and the large smearing of dark red blood where Camillia had laid.

Jen looked so tired at this point, so he only nodded faintly, his eyes fluttering close for a second before he opened them again at Marcus.
Seeing Marx handle Marcus like that made Jake dig his nails into the bullet wound. Focus. Focus. He shut his eyes to block everything out, taking in a few labored breaths.
"I don't have the luxury to try anything," Jen said in return, his voice slightly broken. At Marx basically reading out their death sentences, he cringed, his body trembling a little at the thought, though he tried hard to stand tall and pretend things were okay.

Even though he looked unwell and had fear written on his body, he dared to look straight at Marx, eyes still as he gave him a silent warning with his eyes, there was something like determination behind them, something that told he wasn't broken easily even though it may look like it.
When Marx spoke his last words, Jake glanced over at the two, just in time to catch whatever Marcus had just thrown at them. His hand instinctively pulled away from the wound to catch it. He looked it over. It was one of the wafer packages, the strawberry kind. Strawberry Fraiser.
He looked up at Marcus to see him mouth his last words. A soft smile formed on Jake's lips, he watched Marx eye him when Marcus did so. He didn't say anything, just held onto the sweet treat with his free hand as the other went back to adding pressure to his wound.
Jake watched the last interaction between the two, something like sadness crossing his face before it went back to the same pained expression as before.

Jen was staring at the floor again when Marx and Marcus turned their backs to leave. Vance's action caught his attention. He looked at him with soft and rather kind eyes, trying his best to stay standing. He took the handkerchief and gave him a pained smile, the best he could muster right now.
"Thank you and…" Jen swallowed. He knew what they had done to Anais, and there was no taking that back now.
"I'm sorry" He whispered, not being able to convey his exact emotions through his words. He didn't say anything to Vance's last words. It didn't matter if they had treated Wynn and Marcus kindly, at the end of the day, they were still going to hand them over to A.C.E. and he didn't want someone to thank him for doing the bare minimum as a living being. He watched Vance bow and that action alone broke him.
Jake watched Anais flip them off and huffed, yeah, that was sort of deserved.

The apartment filled with silence, no one daring to break it.
Then there was Jake, who was messing with the packaging of the wafer cookies until it finally ripped open. He bit down on one with a crunch that made everyone turn to look at him.
"What? Suddenly it's a crime to enjoy a last meal before A.C.E gets here and we're all fucked?" He asked as he spoke the words no one wanted to say.
"That was Anais.." Jen said softly, the name finally ringing a bell after thinking about it so hard. They were told to forget those they brought in, but Jen had remembered them all clearly, some missing pieces here and there as he actually tried to do what they had told him and forget.
Niveus moved to the large patch of now-drying blood on the floor. He touched the blood gently as if Camilla were still there and he would be able to touch her.
Rae held up the bat she had used and turned it around, looking at the parts that had melted. Aaron scoffed at the rest and moved to walk down the hall and to the bathroom to take care of his wound. Casimir followed after him.

Vance gave him a stern look, shaking his head. “Don’t. Neither of us have time for apologies.” He left those words with Jen, sighing deeply.

The other side wasn’t the little house they had made their base but instead an old, dilapidated warehouse.
Camilla was laying on top of an even older looking table, her breath labored and her arm thrown over her eyes to block out the blinding, sterile lights of the warehouse. Another horned being - not unlike Anais but more human in appearance - was standing over her, caring for her wounds. He barked something in another language at Camilla when she moved to look at who had seemingly appeared out of thin air. She glared at him, snapping something back before sitting up slowly with a pained cry.
Vance moved to her side, pushing her back down “Dumbass, don’t move.” He looked up at the demon who was helping her, grinning a little at the annoyed expression on his face.
“Eadric, glad it was you who played medic and not that other idiot.” Vance mused, sitting down on the ground and leaning against the table leg. “We need a good healer. Marcus can help with the rest…” he mumbled, closing his eyes tightly. He had a long night ahead of him, if he didn’t get any rest in right now he wouldn’t for a few hours.

Marcus ignored Van volunteering him, making his way immediately to where Wynn was seated, surrounded by two or three other Abnormalities he didn’t recognize. Marx let him go, if the gang leader had even seen him leave. That was at least a relief.

“What are you doing?” He asked the siren, furrowing his brow as he watched as the other Abnormalities surrounding Wynn lodge a small piece of metal into the band around Wynn’s wrist.
“Trying to remove this damn thing… the sooner this siren gets his voice back the sooner we can get out of here.” One spoke. Marcus paused for a moment, humming lightly in curiosity. These were fae. Marcus wasn’t going to ask where or how Marx had managed to enlist fae to aid his cause… he didn’t want to know.
A soft click sounded and the band dropped off Wynn’s wrist, much to the siren’s delight. He grinned, giving a soft trill of delight.
“Good, thanks. Now I can actually go back with you guys. I need a nap.” He mused, looking far too upbeat for someone who had just been kidnapped.

Niveus immediately looked up to the doorway before the figure had even made his presence known. He stood up, straightening himself out as Vincent stepped through the doorway.
Vincent looked down at the door that had been ripped off its hinges. He gave a low whistle, his eyes flickering up to meet Jen's. He was a hot mess. Vincent gave a groan as he rubbed the back of his neck, making an annoyed tsk sound.
"A.C.E is going to rip you apart" Vincent commented.
Jen was adjusting the handkerchief Vance had given him before they left. It covered the bleeding area nicely, though, it immediately got soaked with blood. Jen pressed on it, hissing at the pain with tears forming in his eyes. It wasn't until Vincent spoke that Jen looked up. He paled.
"What are you doing here?" He asked.
"I was told to come and help, but it seems like you've got that covered" Vincent hummed, looking around. "I was a quick dispatch, A.C.E's trucks will be here any minute now"
Jake strained a smile at Vincent, acting like he wasn't in agonizing pain at the moment.
"You got here a little too late" Jake spoke, to which Vincent's expression turned serious as he looked at him.
"No," He said, now turning to look back at Jen. "I got here just in time to see you make the biggest mistake of your life" Vincent stared at Jen. It wasn't a glare, though it kind of looked like it. He looked more disappointed than anything else.
"You're only sixteen yet they have high expectations of you, I would make sure you never mess that up again. You've made one too many errors these past few months" He said casually. It seemed like Vincent could care less about Apotheosis' predicament, but internally he was very worried. There was just no way around it, there was nothing he could do.

Before anyone could say anything else, the sound of a few cars was heard outside. The loud engines running, massive specialty containment trucks that looked like they were built to hold a bomb arriving. And they were- as they were pulled from the military and specially altered for these types of situations. They looked just like the doors when Jake was introduced to the room of kids, made from the same material if not built stronger over the years. A few smaller cars parked beside the big trucks and some people stepped out. Some looked like they were straight from the military, Ezekiel being among them, others looked more like scientists in their long white coats. And finally, A.C.E officials stepped out, in their neat suits and perfectly combed hair.
"Fuck, get me out," Jake said, standing up with great effort to try and go hide in Andre's room, but he didn't make it far as he froze when he heard a familiar voice.
"Where are you going?" The voice asked as he too appeared in the doorway behind Vincent.
Vincent turned to look at the man. He was in his late-thirties and was in a suit. He had short pushed-back curly hair that was fluffy despite it being held in place by hair products. The man had steel-blue eyes, hard and unforgiving. His expression was serious, if not a little intimidating. His build was strong, looking like a heavy man with muscles and by gods tall.
"Ari" Vincent was the first to address him. Aristide looked over at Vincent, a neutral look on his face, though his eyes screamed murder.
"Vince," Aristide replied, before directing his attention back to Jake.
Jake's heart quickened as he turned around. The terrified expression was immediately replaced with a nervous smile.
"Daaaddd…." Jake said, his voice wavering as he tried his best to keep his voice light and high. "It's very nice to see you," He said, a fake smile plastered on his face.

A researcher wandered over immediately to the spots on the floor that had been singed by Anais’s blood, something like delight lighting up in her eyes. She immediately set a heavy-duty case down, unlocking a series of complicated locks along its front with ease. Within its depths she pulled out a set of tools and began to saw away at the surrounding floor.
The badge on her white lab coat read “Dr. Tove Martin”. She wasn’t anyone who stood out, her dark hair and green eyes nothing out of the ordinary. She wore a colorful sweater and a comfortable pair of pants underneath her lab coat. Her face was squared, with a semi-strong jaw that worked and flexed as she pulled the floorboard up and out.
She ignored Jake’s interaction with the large man, excitedly placing what she had collected into the case with a grin. Her eyes wandered across the space, landing on the large pool of blood on the ground.
She excitedly moved to it, looking up at Niveous.
“Is this Abnormality? There’s too much to be anything normal.”

A shorter man, with hay-blonde buzzed hair and a weaker frame climbed out of a small car, pulling a large paramedic bag out of the back. He was arguing with another, taller, man who climbed out of the passenger seat, his hair dark and pulled up in a messy man-bun. He was carrying a large assault rifle, his brow furrowed as he walked towards the group.
“I’m not saying you need to dress more provocatively, Ot. You just need to be less afraid of showing some skin. If you dress like… that,” he gestured to Ot’s clothing which consisted of a dark, long sleeved shirt, gloves that covered up to his fingertips, and heavy boots hidden under black cargo pants. “You look like the gritty, too-good-for-anyone protagonist of some action or horror movie. I know you can dress nicely, Otmar, you always do on our date night. You don’t have to be so serious for work.”
“We work for the government containing and eradicating Abnormalities, I think that qualifies as a horror movie, Flaren. You should also know that even if we work in a non-traditional workspace we should still be professional. This is appropriate work attire.” Ot replied, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Whatever, I’m also in work appropriate attire, I just look good too because I understand fashion.” Flaren replied with a big grin and a soft laugh. Ot game him an incredulous look before joining the rest of the group inside.

Flaren took one look at the scene and grew serious immediately. He nearly ran to Jen, dropping his bag and opening it quickly. He looked up at Jen, gesturing to the handkerchief. “May I?” He asked softly, holding up his own strip of fabric and some antiseptic.

Ot joined the high-ranking A.C.E. officials and narrowed his eyes at the group. They looked rough… it always pained him to see these kids after their encounters. He was one of the few members of the A.C.E. council who had asked to recruit older, more mature soldiers rather than train children. Unfortunately, Otmar wasn’t exactly the highest ranking member of the group and his vote was turned down in favor of more… obedient and pliable soldiers.
Ot side-eyed Aristide, a look of distaste momentarily crossing his expression.

Niveus watched the researcher ply the wood from the floor and place it carefully in the case she had brought. She reminded him of Blake, except Blake would examine the contents on the spot, not being able to wait to get to the actual research lab. She was very impatient in that sense.
When he was addressed, it took him a second to register what she had asked him.
"Oh, yes, it's from this really large dog-" He gestured with his hands, as if he could measure how big Camilla had been, though, his hands only measured the length of a medium-sized puppy at most. "Erm, well, woman. She was hurt badly" He said, relaxing his body as the tension faded with the conversation.
"She was so large…" He repeated again as if mourning the fact that he couldn't have interacted with Camilla in a more positive way.

Jen had slightly dark eyebags as he tried not to nod off. He just wanted to rest right now, but knew that it wouldn't be possible. They had to get cleaned up and present themselves and explained what had happened. That meant writing a report on every single detail that had happened that night. He was not looking forward to it.
Jen watched as Floren made his way over to him in a hurried manner. He managed a small smile and nodded, taking the pressure off his wound and gently peeling the handkerchief, which had started to stick to the wound itself. Jen gritted his teeth at the action, knowing that whatever was coming next was going to be far worse than simply taking the handkerchief off. He desperately looked around, trying to find someone to help him through this. The last time he had gotten hurt this badly, he had nearly knocked out the person who had worked on him and struggled a lot from the pain, they had two people hold him down. Something told him that he was going to need someone here while Floren worked on him.
Vince, who was keeping an eye on everyone caught Jen's eye and immediately knew what to do. He went over to him and held his wrists tightly, setting them in Jen's lap. Vince nodded to Floren to continue, though, the thought of being held down seemed to panic Jen even more than before as his breathing picked up.
"Breathe, remember, count to ten backwards, focus here," Vince said, tightening his grip on Jen's wrists so the pain was focused there, though he knew it wouldn't help much.

Meanwhile, Rae had escaped to check up on the kids that were still in the room, consoling them as they seemed very distressed.

Jake's eyes looked over to Jen as Vince tried to calm him. It would be a while before they could get to him, but that was fine. He might have been an asset to A.C.E but he always came second to Jen, besides, it looked worse for Jen than it did for him at the moment.
Aristide noticed that immediately and looked over at Jake, noticing how his hand had never left his side the entire time, it was covered in blood.
"Come, I'll help you with that," He said, turning to leave, but Jake stood where he was, a new sort of panic replacing his smile.
"Oh no, I'm okay, I can wait- really, it's no big deal" Jake protested. He did not want his father working on his wounds, he was way too rough with his care and it ended up being worse than the wound itself.
Aristide stopped at that and turned to look at Jake again, a calm look to his eyes, but with a hidden meaning. "You're refusing?"
Jake knew that look all too well and without another word, he walked forward to join his father and follow him out of the building, avoiding eye contact with anyone. Aristide gave Otmar a look, eyes lingering on him for a second too long before he made his way out.

Ezekiel watched Jake walk by him as he too entered to see the damage. They were going to need to pull a lot of money together to fix and clean the apartment up. He stood beside Otmar, a sort of sad expression on his face. If only he'd gotten there sooner, then maybe things would have been different. Maybe.

(Yaaaall I misspelled Floren's name even tho in my notes and in my head its clearly Floren not Flaren. My bad man XD I'll switch to that but uhhhh sorry about that, I'm dumb XD)

Tove seemed to grow more and more excited as Niveus explained. She kneeled down to examine the blood, humming in delight.
"Lycanthrope… a werewolf. Fascinating. And large? Did she look like a bigger wolf or more like the traditional werewolf?" She asked Niveus, smiling a little as she looked up at him and noticed how much more relaxed he was.
Tove took a few vials from her case, collecting a few swabs of the blood first before attempting to draw larger, purer samples using a syringe and needle. "While there are plenty of werewolves out there to study, we don't have a lot of research regarding live Lycanthropes in their final stages. Part of our agreement with those Lycanthropes still in able mindstates was giving them full control over what happens to any Lycanthropes that enter the final and fatal stage of werewolfism. We're not allowed to hold them for research or testing. It's unethical. But there's nothing against those that violate our agreement, we have full range on them. If she was less like an actual wolf then that is promising and very exciting for us." She explained as she worked, talking purely just to help Niveus relax a little more. "It would also mean that you guys have enough skill to take on a Lycanthrope in a tight space which is extremely impressive. Granted you have the advantage of numbers on your side but it's still a wonder no one was bit."

After pulling on a pair of surgical gloves on, Floren held up a pair of scissors so Jen could see them, giving him a small, weak smile as Vince restrained him. "Alright, I'm going to have to cut your shirt open, sorry for that but I don't want to risk having you take it off and straining yourself more. These are deep." He knew Jen was a hard patient to work on. Many of the other A.C.E. paramedics and doctors had deemed him 'too difficult' and so gave his cases over to those like Floren who had somehow found himself as a 'special case' medical professional. He didn't mind much. Floren didn't think that medical help should be restricted by if you were difficult or not. Often times those difficult or special cases were the ones that needed the most help.
In the case of this group, Floren had practically jumped at the opportunity to help. He was in the works of becoming permanently assigned to these kids because he knew he would give them the actual help they needed. Besides, Jen was a good kid who took his job as the parent of the group far too seriously. Having one less thing to worry about would do him some good.
"I'll tell you when I start actually working on the wound, how about that? I'm just going to cut this first, then I'll clean it just in case - we don't want you getting any magical poisonings or sicknesses - and then I'll stitch you back up. Don't do anything too strenuous after for at least a couple of weeks, alright? I'll do my best to keep those assholes called leaders off your back for a bit. No rigorous trainings… or punishments…" He spoke softly and calmly, leaning forwards to start cutting along the shoulder seam of Jen's shirt. He always cut at the seams, just in case the article of clothing could be saved if Jen wanted to keep it. (That was looking highly unlikely at this point, there was a lot of blood.)

Ot glared openly back at Aristide as he passed, a silent warning to treat Jake well or else. Not that the threat was a very big one… Otmar couldn't do anything about that. Apotheosis was as much under Ariside's control as it was A.C.E.'s. Aristide had just as much say. It pissed Otmar off to no avail.
He glanced over at Ezekiel when he moved to stand next to him, humming lightly in acknowledgment. Ot tossed his gun onto his back, taking his time tightening the strap across his body as he watched Floren work for a moment.
"Stop with that look, we did what we could with the timeframe. What did we expect would happen when we placed two violate Abnormalities in an apartment?" Ot growled to Ezekiel, his German accent thicker in a lower register. "We should have sent backup alongside these kids to the place the Abnormalities attacked. Not that I doubt Apotheosis, they are indeed an impressive group, but we haven't given them the tools they need to properly restrain and contain Abnormalities like Marcus Teague and Wynn Lyons. Especially with the rest of their group looking for them."

(LMFAO i literally, the whole time was going "huh, that's a really unique name even though it sounds like that one pokemon…" XD but don't worry, I edited my reply so it's Floren now, I got'cha lol)

"Big dog," Niveus said vaguely. "Very big dog" It seemed like those were the only words he was stuck on at the moment. He listened to Tove for a moment before frowning.
"She was a werewolf…" He trailed off. The thought of having someone, especially Camilla who seemed to already be suffering so much with everything, go through experimentation, ticked off a small part of Niveus' brain, though, his expression remained the same- neutral. He hadn't given it a second thought when Jake admitted to helping other abnormalities, actively disagreeing against it, but now that he had seen Camilla and the form she took, he seemed to be less thrilled at the idea of handing them over. Not because he believed abnormalities should be given rights or anything, but more because he saw them as a form of pet, the same way animals had a sort of protection against them but not exactly giving them a voice. It was a very fucked way to view things, and in a weird way he wanted to protect Camilla, not as a human being, but as a dog.

"Yes, the numbers helped, but when the rest came to join the other two there was nothing we could do. I don't understand how we're useful if we can't hold our own again all of them" He said plainly. "We didn't get bit thanks to Jen, but I'm sure if the woman had wanted to, she could have" He muttered at the end.

Jen watched as Floren pulled on his surgical gloves and then held the scissors up so he could see them. Jen eyed them and just very subtly seemed to shy away from them, though he tried to keep up a tough appearance like it wasn't bothering him at all.
Knowing what was going on really helped Jen. If they tried to forcefully pin him down and work on him without letting him see what was going on, it threw him into a massive panic mode and it was then that things got dicey. They had done that multiple times before they decided he needed more specialized care, getting more difficult every time he was brought in for first aid.

Floren's calm talking seemed to relax Jen a little as he explained what he was going to do, precisely when he was going to do it, and what he was doing now. Jen nodded, but when the cool metal of the scissors just faintly touched his skin when Floren was working, Jen's immediate reaction was to jerk back, though, thanks to Vince he didn't allow him to, keeping him steady for Floren to continue doing what he was doing. Jen sucked in shaky breaths, and when he realized that nothing was hurting him yet he calmed down a little, but still, his chest rose and fell a little faster than before. Jen didn't like being difficult to work on so he tried his hardest to force himself to accept things, force himself to calm down. It made him cry sometimes when the desperate feeling rose in his chest knowing that it was impossible for him to calm down. He wanted control over his fears so badly but he just couldn't get a grasp on them. He had been called "weak" and "pathetic" before for these very moments. You can take on dangerous situations but you can't handle this? It was like a slap in the face, it embarrassed him.

Aristide caught onto the glare but dismissed it, not really being the confrontational type. He didn't care what others thought of him, they had no power here after all.

At Otmar's scolding tone, Ezekiel stood a little straighter, lifting his head just slightly higher than it had been, he squeezed onto the weapon he was holding, eyes looking at the scene before them. Ezekiel was a soldier and had been trained as one since he was a kid. Any type of harsh tone, even just slightly, made him act the part. Though he knew Otmar, he had worked alongside him maybe once or twice, so his words didn't hold the same strict discipline his superiors demanded of him, it was more words of comfort to him. Ezekiel was used to getting yelled at a lot and put under unbelievable amounts of pressure in the military. He hadn't been deployed on any mission yet outside of the U.S., but he knew once he hit eighteen they would jump at the opportunity to do so. Everything they were doing now was to prepare him for that time.
"I agree, sir," Ezekiel said, though his tone wasn't the same as when addressing other officers in command higher than him, there was no fear here, it was more casual though still held a bit of weight, there being a level of respect there.
"We had Team B, trio number two, but Corin is on a break right now from the last time they went up against those pack of demons that were hiding out in the next town over. Her leg got pretty messed up in that fight. And you know Njeri and Darius, they don't exactly get along if Corin isn't there" Ezekiel explained, though he knew Otmar knew all of this already.
"But maybe we should have called Darius for backup at the very least. Everyone holds Jake to high standards, he is very good, but Darius gets overlooked a lot. He's just as good, if not better" Ezekiel didn't mean to praise Jake's brother, Darius, as much as he was doing now, but it was just the truth. Darius was older, twenty-two, and had more experience, yet Jake was the favorite in the Satori household.

(THE POKÉMON 😂 I mean you right, it did XD XD thanks, I’m a dumbass sometimes but it’s fine.)

“Big dog. Got it.” She replied, though her tone indicated she was not fully satisfied with that descriptor. She could ask around, it would be fine.
Tove listened to Niveus with a soft hum, tilting her head once she had collected as much as she could and placing it in the chest with the rest.
“You managed to harm them, that’s more than useful in this situation. Of course you can’t hold your own against all of them, they have something you don’t: Magic. We’re working on items that will even that, though, so don’t feel too bad about it.” She reassured him, standing and patting him gently on the shoulder. “I’m sure if she wanted she could have. Take some comfort in knowing she didn’t want to. There is no current cure for Lycanthropy. You’d probably be fine for a few years but it’s practically a death sentence if your body tries to reject it.” She spoke as if she were fascinated by the whole ordeal rather than disturbed by that face, grinning brightly.

Floren paused for a moment when Jake reacted, muttering a soft “sorry” before he continued, trying to move as quickly and as carefully as he could. Once it was done he carefully peeled the fabric away from the wound, making a small noise of concern at it.
“Let’s get you all cleaned up okay? This only stings a little, it’s a saline mix.” Floren told him, half-crouching half-standing to be eye-level with Jen as he showed him the small bottle of the cleaning solution he had pulled from the bag. “Let me know when you’re ready and I’ll start.”

Otmar had always found it slightly amusing how the younger soldiers reacted to him. Especially those like Ezekiel who knew him. They still gave him respect but there was a level of comfort to the way they openly spoke with him he enjoyed.
Ot was much older than these kids, as was Floren, both in their early thirties at most, but that never seemed to get in the way of good conversation. These younger members were mature, something that Ot found both good and bad.
“Ah, I had forgotten about Corin’a absence. This was just an inopportune time then, for an attack.” Otmar chewed on the inside of his cheek, tilting his head slightly at the praise given to the oldest Satori brother.
“Darius is just as good. I’m still not convinced, however, that more numbers was what they needed… regardless what Satori we add to the group, these Abnormalities have the upper hand until we perfect anti-Abnormality weaponry.” Otmar shrugged lightly, crossing his arms and tapping against the fabric there.
Maybe he should change his work wardrobe some…
Though, Floren seemed to just want something to stare at during their downtime so maybe that wasn’t the best idea. Why Otmar had ever agreed to marry the man was beyond him, though he supposed the warmth in his chest whenever Floren smiled was enough of a reminder.

“What do you think of Marx’s group?” Otmar suddenly asked Ezekiel, turning to look right at the kid. “Their strategies? They seem too spontaneous, too overhasty.”

(not a dumbass at all just v v stressed rn is all <3)

Niveus nodded at Tove's words, noticing that his words hadn't been that helpful. He struggled a lot with that, which was why Jen was the one in charge of writing the report and not Niveus. He wasn't too bad at descriptions but his job was to keep his words short and sweet when reporting back directly to the head of A.C.E. He had gotten so used to that, that when communicating any type of information that needed more than what was required, he had to really think about it.
"Yes…" He said very solemnly, then nodded once more at her words. It would have been very bad if any of them had gotten bitten, it kind of made him wonder why Camilla hadn't and had only focused on Jen even though at any moment she could have gunned for any of the others. It was food for thought which left him stumped.

Jen let out a nervous laugh when Floren showed him the bottle and looked away.
"I'll be okay, thank you though" He lied, trying his best to expose as much of his shoulder and neck as he could so it wouldn't be too difficult for Floren. The last thing Jen wanted was to make Floren's job any harder than it already was. Aaron also needed to be attended and he didn't want to take up any more time than he needed to.
"You can go ahead," Jen said, gritting his teeth together as if preparing himself for the stinging. Vince's eyes softened as he reached over to wipe the tears that threatened to fall from Jen's eyes.
"Don't do that!" Jen hissed, though the touch only made him even more emotional, his expression now on the verge of losing all the effort he had put into staying composed.
"Sorry," Vince said gently, going to grab Jen's wrist again, not so tightly this time as to try to comfort him. Right now Jen was acting like anything but a leader, more like a kid- which he was. He was in pain and he wanted a parent- anyone to hold him, though he wouldn't say it out loud. Jen closed his eyes and let out a nervous huff, the tears still making their way down his cheeks.

Ezekiel nodded at that.
"I heard that the silver bullets used worked. If they worked maybe we could try and find a way to make them work for a longer period of time." He commented though he figured that was a lot harder than just saying it.
There was a moment of silence as Ezekiel saw their leader nearly break down. Jen was still keeping it together as best as he could, but he could see how uncomfortable the situation was for him. No matter how much they got hurt, they never got used to it. Not yet at least.
At Otmar's question, Ezekiel looked up at him and sort of also shifted to face him.
"I think they're strong," Ezekiel said firmly. "That's the first thing that comes to mind. Then… unfortunate." He said at last.
"It doesn't seem like they have much of a strategy. If they do, it's not a very good one. They seem to do what they want whenever they want. The attack last night was planned yes, but it seemed like they didn't fully think it through…though, I guess they don't have to if they're willing to sacrifice so many of their own. They also have strength on their side. Then again, they got too cocky this time around and got two of their best members captured. It's a first, but they were so important that they needed to come back to get them. The others that were captured before were put in jail but they never came for them. Maybe they thought it was too late for them." Ezekiel replied.

"PLEASE!" Jake cried, trying to wrestle his wrists from Darius' and Njeri's grip. Three other soldiers were holding him down as Aristide worked on him.
"They always use something so it doesn't hurt as much!" Jake threw his head back, trying to kick the people who had a hold of him. "UGH I'M GONNA KILL AARON" Jake screamed.
"Relax Jake, I'm almost done," Aristide said, pulling the bullet out with surgical forceps. "There. Done. No need for all the drama." He said placing it in a metal container and turning back to clean the area.

When the stitches were done and the site had been cleaned, Jake sat in the back of the ambulance that had come, the once hot tears now dried onto his face, the bit of eyeliner he had worn mixing with the tears, leaving a few streaks on the side of his face from when he had been laying down, other streaks, more recent, were stained on his cheeks.
Jake had been given a coffee to calm down and he held it in his hands, an 'eat shit' look on his face now. He looked like he would murder anyone who got too close to him at this point.

(Very fair very fair, XD)

Tove stood a little straighter and gave Niveus one last gentle pat on the shoulder. "Don't worry too much over it all, you did good." She assured, giving him a grin. "Now, shall we try and find this big dog of yours in our systems? I have a guess as to who she is but running a few tests never goes wrong." She excitedly hugged the case to her chest, grinning brightly.

Floren frowned, not fully convinced but pulled a plain plunger syringe from his bag and filled it with the solution. He took out his own fabric, gently holding it under the wound. "Breath, Jen." He murmured softly when Jen began to cry, pausing for a moment before he reached deep into one of his pockets. He grinned when he found what he was seeking, pushing a round, flat stone into one of Jen's hands. There was a small smooth indent carved into its surface. "Focus on that, it's a worry stone. I have plenty of them." Floren hummed proudly, lifting the syringe so Jen could see it. "I'm going to start cleaning this now, it'll sting." He started the first flush of the wounds, keeping it at an easy, constant stream. As he worked he continued to talk:
"I've been diagnosed with a panic disorder so having little things to hold or play with in my pockets has been a must. Gives me something to focus on and I don't end up destroying my fingers by picking at them anymore. It doesn't always help to stop the panic episodes but it always helps to calm me afterward. I like worry stones because they're both smooth and shaped, you can turn them over in your hands and they fit nicely in pockets…" He flushed the wound three or four more times throughout his small ramble before he set everything down and picked up the numbing agent. He applied it carefully around the area, humming lightly.
"There. Now, while we wait for that to numb, we can take a small moment."

The corners of Otmar's mouth twitched upwards slightly. Smart kid. He nodded curtly, pulling a bullet from the ammo pouch at his hip and holding it out for Ezekiel. It gleamed with a strange light that didn't quite match the rest of the place. "They still work, kid. They seem to be only slightly more effective than regular bullets though unless you know what to use: Witch-blessed silver is what you need to get the job done. A.C.E. doesn't approve of them, though, unless it's an extermination order - those are rare nowadays."
Otmar paused with Ezekiel, watching Jen with a stern expression. Poor kid… The sooner they captured these Abnormalities and got that general population under control, the sooner this would fade into a specialized team that wouldn't have to worry so much about all of this.

Ezekiel's response brought a surprised expression to Otmar's face - one mixed with interest and slight consideration.
"Interesting views," Ot replied, studying the younger soldier for a moment. "Good job, kid. You have a good head on you. I'd have to agree. They jumped the gun and it cost them. I don't expect they'll repeat that error. I also don't think they would have come if it had been any other two members. Teague is too high up in the ranks to just simply be left behind and the siren follows Teague around too close to be someone he'd let get left behind. Marx is methodical, of course, he doesn't waste precious resources. Those who have been left behind and taken in by us had lost their usefulness to him. As far as I can tell, there are two main parts of his group: the main gang and those he deems no longer of use. That main gang is small and a little more tightly-knit than we first thought."

A man outside muttered hurriedly with someone on the other end of a phone, pacing back and forth as he conversed. It was obvious he was trying to calm down the other end, but was failing miserably to do so. After a few minutes of back and forth and slightly raised voices, the man lowered the phone and paled. He looked around for a moment, panic evident on his face.
He scurried over to Aristide first, as he was the closest high-ranking official nearby, and nervously standing at attention.
"Sir, Officer Gallegos is on his way." Gallegos. He wasn't exactly an 'officer' per se but he sure as hell was at the top. This man had worked closely with all parties to establish Apotheosis. Everything he did had to be top-level and near-perfect and he held that expectation to everyone under him. A strict man with a vision that he enforced upon everyone under his control.
The issue of his arrival laid within the simple fact that Gallegos was arriving with the belief that two high-level Abnormalities were contained and ready to be transported. No one had yet to relay the current crucial information there were no Abnormalities here to him.

(<3)

Niveus looked at Tove's hand which gave him a pat on the shoulder again. No one really touched Niveus even in a friendly manner, not even the members of Apotheosis, but it was strangely warm and a small part of him liked it. He had thought the same when Marcus had nudged him while playing at the arcade. Maybe it was because he seemed so distant all the time that others gave him a lot of space.
At Tove's words, Niveus dipped his head slightly, almost like a nod.
"I'll follow," He said softly and only moved to go when Tove led the way.

Jen only opened his eyes when he felt something smooth placed into his hand. He looked down with his eyes, not moving his head. He turned it around in his hand, feeling how impossibly smooth the stone was. It felt….nice, actually.
When Floren started on the wounds Jen flinched a little and although it did sting like a motherfucker, he pressed his thumb into the stone's indent, rubbing at it rather harshly. He still closed his eyes rather tightly as everything was being flushed out and the cream was applied. At some point, Vincent had let go of Jen and Jen hadn't noticed until he turned back around to see Vince with a giant grin on his face. The combination of the gentle talking, the feeling of the stone, and taking things slowly seemed to work and Jen seemed a little shocked at how well it had.
"Thank you…" Jen whispered, barely being able to get anything out, not because of the pain but because somewhere in his heart he felt a warmth spread. It expanded with gratitude that people hadn't given up on him yet, at least, not all of them.
Vince nodded at Floren, a genuine smile on his face as if thanking him deeply for his services.
"We appreciate everything you do," Vince said at last.
Jen still looked very tired still and seemed to sway a little as the time passed, closing his eyes but then remembering to stay awake. Vincent scooped Jen up, which caused him to let out a surprised yelp, though by this point the numbing agent has done its work and Vince made sure to be careful with Jen.
Vince sat down and set Jen on his lap, turning the wounded area to Floren so that Jen's head rested on Vince's chest. As they got settled Jen seemed to slip in and out of consciousness, not being able to fight his tired brain. Vince held onto Jen, sort of hugging him, wrapping his arms around his waist and not his shoulders as Floren still had work to do there.
Although Vince put on a tough act, there were clear signs of tiredness and worry that age his face slightly. Jen had been placed in his care and he cared for him as his own child, even if he didn't exactly know what to do sometimes.

Ezekiel eyed the bullet, looking it over, curious. He took it from Otmar's hand and turned it over, examining it.
He nodded as Otmar spoke. It was rare. When Apotheosis first started, they would often time see others getting sent out on missions to exterminate them more frequently, but that seemed to diminish over time until eventually they were only sent on one extermination per year now.
Ezekiel looked back at Otmar when he spoke again, handing him back the bullet.
"Teague, the second in command, right?" He asked, unsure, though it rang a bell. Ezekiel frowned at the sentence that followed. No longer of use?
"That's….unfortunate" Ezekiel repeated himself, more so that the gang leader was simply using others to fight for him, then throwing them away as if they meant nothing.
"Do you think they're like Apotheosis?" Ezekiel questioned. "You know, kind of like family even though none of them are related? I know it sounds absurd, but doesn't a gang start with the idea of gathering people who don't belong and making themselves a place where they do?" The thought gave him a sort of soft feeling in his heart.

Aristide had been cleaning his hands with a rag when the man approached him, cleaning the last bit of blood on him. His eyes landed on the man with a cold gaze, yet a smoothness to them that made it seem even more chilling.
At the mention of Gallegos, a grin appeared on Aristide's face. The first time he had shown any type of "positive" emotion.
"I see. Thank you for informing me. When he arrives, be sure to let me know. I'm assuming he's arriving with the impression that Apotheosis has caught the two abnormalities." His eyes looked over at Jake who was now trying not to nod off with the cup of coffee still in his hand.
"I'll be the one to tell him," Aristide said firmly, knowing that Gallegos would be anything but pleased at the news, but someone had to do it.

Aristide did not know what Gallegos- or the rest for that matter, would do with Apotheosis, but that didn't matter. His concern was with Jake. Gallegos- and the higher-ups of A.C.E, were just as in charge of Jake and specifically Jake as Aristide was. Aristide did not make choices for Jake, the whole counsel did, unlike the rest. The reason being that Aristide had given Jake over to them as a weapon from the moment he was born. Jake was no accident, he had been born with that sole purpose and Aristide had forfeited his rights to Jake the moment that contract was signed.