"Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one-- the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts." --The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis
Name: William Draeger Age: 16 Personality: Extrovert, emo if you will. Speaks only when spoken to –and not even then sometimes– and the little he says only hints at his true meaning or emotion. The years of solitary confinement have built up a defence of silent and emotionless stares: being a nobody with nothing to say protects him. Picture: Powers: Dark Shift, the ability to change one’s appearance, voice and personality (William’s personality is annulled during a Dark phase, thus making him a more agreeable person, but it is not often that William strays far from his original persona) Weakness: Apart from his inability to connect on a social level, William suffers from insomnia (due to an all-nighter drug tested on him) and occasional spasms of insanity. His symptoms included split-personality, voices, hallucination and schizophrenic-like disorders. Other: William’s character is obviously not up for love, but you can try.
Voices, voices in my head. The men who’d been testing on me had long ago left, my cell was empty and there wasn’t a living thing besides me and the bacterial specks floating in the air. Voices in such a soulless void confused and frightened me. What’s more, I couldn’t understand a word they said, almost as if they were speaking a foreign language or were to far away for me to distinguish individual words. “Please,” I whispered, curling into a tighter ball on the floor. “Leave me alone.” More voices. “No,” I moaned, covering my ears in a futile attempt to block them out. Suddenly –swish– something happened; something changed. I raised my head a centimetre from the cold cement floor and looked around my cell. Nothing had changed: there was the leaky, grime-filled sink, the steel bed with a thin mattress and scratchy blanket, the bare wall, the door… The door! I couldn’t believe my eyes: the door was gone! Not only that, the power was out all along the previously lit hall. I heard footsteps and voices, expressions of joy and happiness, energy surging out of contained beings like…like… I didn’t know how to express the feeling; it’d been so long since any emotion had even crossed my mind. Remaining dull and boring had saved me from taunting guards and repeated experiments, but it had done a lot to my soul at the same time: my being unable to find a name for the emotion I was feeling being a choice example. But feelings would have to wait until later, for now I needed to escape. I leapt up into the hall and sidled along through the darkest of dark shadows. I could sense other people there, but they were different from the ones I saw everyday, those…ksa…scientists. Nevertheless, I avoided any contact with them, being content to watch their over-expressed forms of passion. Lights up ahead. The voices returned, but now they were pointing me in the right direction. The general crowd moved along with me, walking upwards and out. Here and there I caught glimpses of faces, snatches of words from conversations I wasn’t a part of, rough sounds, hurried sounds, scared sounds: there wasn’t a single person in the hall that wasn’t making noise and lots of it…except me. It was what I’d become, and I didn’t fight it. Who can fight against their fate anyways? You can, William. I shuddered and pressed on, melting into shadow after shadow, keeping a low profile and staying silent. Seth…Kitty, Java…Christina…Names like leaves fluttered through my mind and gathered in a heap to be memorized later, for now I– Scientist? "That figure over there is my boss. May as well quit while I'm ahead no?" What was a scientist doing here? My mind passed over the possibilities of being re-captured and thrown into the hell-hole of a cell. Nothing could send me back now that I had tasted freedom. True, anyone looking at me wouldn’t know that I was literally bursting with motions, but then again, not many people looked at me; a much smaller group actually knew anything just from looking at me. Something had to be done. I looked around the room, seeing the door I’d come in close up with levitating crates and boxes, but I wasn’t in a hurry to go back there. There were other doors, but the one that caught my attention was the big, double-door that probably opened onto freedom. I made my decision and Dark Shifted, taking after the form of the scientist. Quickly, before anyone saw me, I strode through the doors and walked onwards. I was in a much larger room that was strewn with long conveyor belts and mechanical arms: it looked like some sort of robot assembly factory. More crates and boxes were piled here and there, machines with uses I knew not were heaped in corners, rusting their useless lives away, dust was on everything in the general ‘old-place’ feeling. All of this was seen and recorded by my eyes, but the most important was a small white door with a blinking green sign above it: EXIT. Smiling felt like a strain on muscles that hadn’t been used in years, but it felt worth it: smiling felt good. I pushed open the door and gasped. There was light…real light…sunlight.
Just then about twenty guards with riot shields began filing into the room, armed with tasers, mace, and of course the tranquilizers.
Robert glanced nervously over the crate at the subjects before darting back to the guards. "Took you long enough. Let me see that."
The guard he was speaking to gave the scientist a mulish scowl before handing him his megaphone. Robert turned towards the base's super-powered charges as the guards began to form a perimeter around the room.
"STAND DOWN. THERE ARE TWENTY ARMED GUARDS WITH ME, READY TO ESCORT YOU BACK TO YOUR CELLS. SURRENDER NOW AND YOU WILL NOT BE PUNISHED. RESIST, AND FACE THE CONSEQUENCES. YOU HAVE TEN SECONDS BEFORE WE OPEN FIRE."
"Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one-- the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts." --The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis
Timothy watched casually as Ali dropped from above and explained herself. When the angry-looking boy said that they needed to go, that he had heard them coming, or something like that, he'd felt a flash of annoyance. No matter how strong or fast he was, his hearing was the same as anyone else, and that made him jealous. There was, of course, the idea that the boy could read minds, and that was even more disconcerting. Oh, well, he thought. There's nothing worth hearing that's floating around my head at the moment.
He was brought back to reality when everyone twisted around to stare wide-eyed at someone lying on the floor. Timothy saw that it was Kitty, the one who had kissed him earlier. Someone was half-shouting at no one in particular to pick her up, so Timothy returned the attitude with a fiery glare as he walked over and took her in his arms. She was extremely light in his arms and she hung limply. Her hair fell over his arm softly as he adjusted her. Staring down at her face, Timothy realized that she was quite pretty, and even delicate. Suddenly, he felt a fierce instinct to protect her, no matter what the consequences. It was strange, really, to feel concern for someone other than himself, to have the opportunity even. Before this freedom had occurred, there had been no one, of course, that pitied him, or offered him kindness, or kissed him, no one for him to care about, only to hate. In that respect, the feeling was uncomfortable, but still welcome nonetheless.
Timothy looked up as his fellow former-prisoners began to hurry along, finally, deeper into the dusty warehouse. He followed, somewhat impatiently, knowing that he could beat them all, could race ahead of them, if not for the girl he held in his arms. And then--
"STAND DOWN. THERE ARE TWENTY ARMED GUARDS WITH ME, READY TO ESCORT YOU BACK TO YOUR CELLS. SURRENDER NOW AND YOU WILL NOT BE PUNISHED. RESIST, AND FACE THE CONSEQUENCES. YOU HAVE TEN SECONDS BEFORE WE OPEN FIRE."
Damn it! Timothy thought. Of course, the moment the action began, he was tied up and anchored to the spot he was in, stuck with the girl. He did like having her in his arms, but they were about to fight! Who could resist that?
"Not me, that's for damn sure," he decided as he put her down on her feet and supported her with a hand, the other none too gently smacking her face. "Hey! Come on! You have to wake up! Wake up! We're about to die if you don't, and I really don't want to have to blame this all on you! Wake up!"
*Maybe everyone should be split up into groups or pairs for this part? I just think it might be easier and more realistic that way.*
Last edited by Mr.Knightley on Tue Nov 10, 2009 12:19 am, edited 1 time in total.
"You laugh at me because I'm different. I laugh at you because you're all the same."
Robert saw the test subjects drawing further into the warehouse and nodded at the guards.
They gave chase, firing tranquilizer darts after the children.
"Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one-- the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts." --The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis
"Wake up!" I heard someone shout. A dull pain was starting to flower in my lower back, and new one starting on my left cheek. I opened my eyes and found the boy staring at me, leaning down at eye level. "Ok, ok!" I slapped his hand away. "I'm awake already! Jesus man, settle down!" I said, repeating a line I had heard a guard use once. I looked around. We were in the warehouse still, but in a different part of it. I went to turn around, bu the pain in my back reminded me I was hurt. I twisted around until I could see the spot, and there was a dart sticking out of me. "Oy!" I shouted, trying to inspect it closer. "Scuse me," I said, turning back to the boy. "Could you...?" He nodded, turning me around, and I felt a sharp pain this time, rather than a deep, dull one. "Thanks," I muttered, rubbing the spot. Just then someone fell to the ground, and I noticed the darts falling on the floor. "Duck!" I shouted, trying to run behind a crate. Lucky for me, my powers decided to kick in right there. I heard the air whizzing past my ears and a muffled, but still loud "oof!" as I fell to the floor.
One step would put me into my freedom and future, but something held me back. Coward. "Shut up!"I screamed, grabbing at my head in a desperate attempt at silencing the voice. Instead of silence, I got gun shot sounds and screams. Something was happening to the group back there! They were complete strangers to me, I didn't know anything about them, but...I couldn't explain my emotion: something drew me to them. They had been imprisoned like me, they were probably experimented on as well. I quickly threw my chance at freedom to the wind and re-entered the room. Someone needed to do something. I was almost knocked over by the flood of people running from the room, but there were still others. Tranquilizer darts ricocheted around the room, some hitting their targets, some missing by far. Quickly I dropped my form and Dark Shifted into something strong, something with thick skin... Without thinking, my body conformed to something like a massive, bulky boulder. Rough skin that felt a half foot thick covered my arms and body: there was no way those bullets could hurt me now. But the power was sapping my energy, I could feel it like a straw sucking out my lifeblood. Quickly I grabbed random people in my over-sized hands and shielded the rest with my body. "Run!" I shouted to those I couldn't carry; my voice sounded like I'd had gravel for breakfast. Even as I carried the half a dozen others, I could feel my body shrinking and growing weaker. My Dark Shift phase was finishing. With a last effort I threw everyone into the warehouse and rolled to safety, shutting the door tightly behind me.
((White Shadow, what are your character's powers? You should post them with your name. Also, I might upgrade William's powers to the level of transforming other objects as well, might make him too powerful though.))
Kitty's feeling and eyesight randomly tune out so her smelling and hearing become super amazing. It's kind of hard to describe in a few words, if you know what I mean...
Timothy watched as Kitty tumbled clumsily down behind a crate for cover from the whizzing projectiles. "Duck!" she yelled at him as she smacked the floor with an explosive, "Oof!"
Instead of ducking down as a spinning dart headed towards his face, Timothy pivoted to the side and, with amazing accuracy, caught it in midair. Without missing a step, he threw it end over end as hard as he could back the way it came. Either the shooter was too far away for any sound to be heard, or the dart had simply not him, because the satisfying thump he had been hoping for didn't reach his ears. Well, there would be plenty of other opportunities for Timothy to exact his revenge on his captors.
"Stay here!" he shouted at Kitty over the chaos. He didn't stop to see her response, and he doubted she would even listen. He wished he could have stayed with her, or she with him, but there would be no escape for any of them if they all decided to huddle close together and hope for a miracle; they would have to find that for themselves.
He darted between boxes at top speed, a blur to anyone who was watching. He slid feet first down onto the ground when another dart came flying at him, and, so as not to lose momentum, he turned the slide into a front hand spring that had him on his feet again at the same pace as before. It only took him several seconds to reach the shooter, and when he did, he seized the weapon the man was holding with enough force to dislocate his shoulder. Timothy then threw an elbow at the man's face in a blow that crushed his nose and sent him into unconsciousness. He spared a moment to study the cold weapon the man had been using, and, deciding he had no idea how it worked, threw it onto the ground where it shattered into several pieces.
Timothy began running again, this time around the perimeter of the room. With a shock, he could feel himself tiring slowly, and his empty stomach was rumbling. He hadn't eaten for nearly two hours, and in his present situation had completely forgotten that he would need to again soon. He leapt onto a cluster of crates that would give him a good vantage point of the scene below. They all needed to get out of here soon, or else some of them would never leave again.
Mustering up what strength he had left, he dropped down into the fray again.
"You laugh at me because I'm different. I laugh at you because you're all the same."
I ran with the others as tranquilizer darts filled the air. I deflected some, but others came speeding towards us. We ran, there was the warehouse, just a little farther and they'd make it... Then something sharp hit me in the back of the neck, puncturing my skin. I felt the drug beginning to flow through my veins. I forced myself to continue running. My limbs felt heavy, like lead. My vision began blurring. No... just a little farther... I stumbled after Java, and we were in the warehouse. I collapsed to the floor as I heard the warehouse doors clang shut. Everything went black.
Just another quack spoutingpsychobabble.
"If I win, I'm a prodigy. If I lose, then I'm mad. That's the way history is written."
((Wait, I thought we were already in the warehouse.))
"Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one-- the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts." --The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis
