A Certain City of Espers

(I think we're just going to move on, since there's nothing else we can do with our characters at school.)


Ayaka

They were all anxious to get out of class at the end of the day. They didn't think anyone would try to attack them in broad daylight, but they stayed together all the same. Takeo, Ayaka and Lena made their way over to the shopping mall. Jordan had asked if he could come along as well. Taki said it was fine, but the girls still seemed suspicious of him. Still, they decided to let him tag along. Cait left on her own to visit Ren's apartment. It wasn't like him to skip school, so she wanted to see if he was all right.

The four of them talked during the walk over. Well, Takeo and Lena talked, Ayaka and Jordan just sort of hung back and listened. Ayaka wasn't much of a talker, and Jordan didn't seem to want to talk at all. The two of them walked in the back while Taki and Lena talked up front.

Ayaka glanced at Jordan's face. He had a hard looking expression, like he was thinking about something important. She wanted to say something, maybe ask him what he was thinking about. She would have done just that if she hadn't noticed the sudden change in their surroundings. A few moments ago they streets and sidewalks were bustling with cars and people, now they were completely empty.

"Hey, guys?" she said, trying to get the others' attention.

Takeo and Lena both stopped to look at her. "Yeah?" Lena asked.

"Is it just me, or has everything suddenly become quiet?"

They both looked around at the empty streets. "Now that you mention it..."

Now that the two of them had stopped talking they could all really take in their surroundings. The streets were not only empty, but dead silent. Even the buildings were empty, no movement at all could be seen through the windows. It was so quiet they could all hear the blood flowing in their ears. Not even the hum of the nearby electric windmills could be heard.

"What the hell is going on...?" Takeo asked.

Before anyone could answer, they heard footsteps approaching from the distance. They all turned around to see someone walking toward them. It was a tall girl who looked to be around their age group. Her long black hair was done up in a very long ponytail and had a slight purple tinge to it. She wore a white T-shirt, blue jeans, and cowboy boots. The bottom of the shirt was tied in a knot leaving her stomach exposed, and the entire left leg of her jeans was completely torn off. She wore a thick leather belt with metal studs. Secured to that belt was a long katana with a black sheath, and black and red handle.

The moment the group saw this girl, they knew they were in trouble.


(I need Bianca and Sky to go to the antique shop and find the Virgo orb during this day.)

Jordan

Now was his chance. This was the time he needed to prove to them that he was 'trustworthy,' if they even viewed him as such. Honestly, he didn't give a damn, as long as he performed his task and got the orb to that Russian beauty...

But he would wait. What if she worked for the same woman, and they were on the same task? He wasn't quick to trust too many people, not even those that employed him and his dark talents... If it was the same situation, then forget it all and help the newcomer thrash the punks. But if not...

He growled under his breath, soft enough to barely be heard. What a predicament they were all in. He glanced at Takeo, more or less giving him the 'reassurance' that the poor boy needed. It was time for round two.

((Sorry for not posting, I've had a lot of homework recently...))

Lena

As I stared at the girl who just recently appeared on the street, a sense of dread washed over me. I glanced over at Taki, only to find fear shining in his eyes. His glace flickered over to Jordan, who gave him a comforting nod.

I still didn’t trust him. I have not idea why, but I just get the strangest feeling from him every now and then. I shook my head and concentrated on the problem now. I stared straight at her, she smirked when her gaze met mine.

“Where is the orb?” she questioned.

I step forward and glared at her smirk, a plan already in mind. If things did come down to a fight, I could tell Taki to take Akaya somewhere safe and stay with her. Jordan and me could stay here and fight, even though I didn’t exactly trust him.

(No problem. In a few days I'll start having the same problem too. )

"We don't have it," Lena told her. "We threw it away, and we don't know where it is now." She hoped the newcomer would believe her.

The girl frowned as she pulled her sword out of its sheath. "You're lying," she said.

"It's true, we don't have it!" Ayaka chimed in, trying to keep her voice as truthful as she could.

The girl sighed a little in frustration, then said, "Then I guess there's no reason for me to keep you all alive." She raised her sword to her side and gave it a mighty swing, even though she was nowhere near being close enough to slice anyone with it. A massive gale seemed to blast out from the sword. The moment the wind hit everyone small cuts suddenly started appearing all over their bodies, shredding their clothing and causing any exposed skin to bleed. The force of the gale itself knocked them all off their feet

The girl started to approach the group again. As she strode closer and closer, she said, "Don't force me to kill you. Just hand over the orb and I'll let you live."

Takeo

As the wind touched his skin, Taki winced, feeling the sharp cut of its power and then suddenly he was off his feet. Man! That was an epic sword, if he could just get his hands on a weapon like that- uh. Yeah. Brain check, scary girl threatening to kill them? Not good. Groaning, Taki scraped himself up to his knees and then suddenly the woman was in front of him, the sword directed at him. Dude. This so sucked.

"Must I ask you again?" she demanded, her voice dripping with power. Taki shook his head and swallowed thickly. If he only had the orb- what? He'd hand it over and all would be peachy? Yeah right. She'd kill them so quick, they wouldn't even know what hit them. Then again, that would be better than this slow torture. Ouch. His skin really hurt, there were cuts everywhere! And so much for new clothes huh?

"We don't have it," Taki said quickly. "Honest, it was giving me nothing but trouble."

"He told me you were stupid," the girl paused and let out a heavy sigh. "If I kill one of your friends, say this girl, then will you still not have it?" The sword point moved across until it was indicating Ayaka. Takeo drew a sharp breath. What could he say? That Ren had it? What would be the point in that, it was surely just as believable that he'd thrown it away.

"Search me!" Takeo shouted, tearing off the shredded top. "Look, no orb." He turned out what was left of his pockets. "Nothing. Come on guys, show her! We don't have it!" One by one the others, with different levels of enthusiasm, emptied their pockets and bags.

Lena

While she was busy watching us empty our pockets, I glanced around and noticed a fire hydrant not too far away. As soon as I saw it, a plan formed in my mind. Closing my eyes I focused on the water. As soon as I knew that I could control it, I then used both of my hands to guide the water at her.

She must have been surprised, because the water hit her dead on, and she tumbled back at the force. Everyone used this to re-group. I then used both of my hands to guide the water back to me, so that it was floating around me in a defense position.
The girl got up, anger flashed in her eyes and I could tell that the right fight was going to happen now.

***
((I would continued the fight, but I'm not very good at fight scenes. And I figured that the Lena was kind of like a water bender from Avatar: The Last Airbender. So that means she can control anything with water.But she can only do that if she becomes a level 4.))

(Don't worry, we'll be helping you out. If you don't know what to write, then just do your best to follow along. The best way to learn how to write different scenes is to practice them, that's what storybooks are for. )

The enemy lifted her sword for another swing, to send another gale their way, but stopped in mid motion when she saw what looked like a dark puddle forming around her feet. She jumped back and out of the way just before the black mass had a chance to swallow her. Jordan was in a stance of his own beside Lena. He had used his powers over darkness to try and ensnare their enemy. Even though she caught on and moved out of the way at least she was further away from them.

Lena looked over her shoulder at Takeo and said, "Taki, take Ayaka and get out of here!"

Taki nodded and grabbed Ayaka by the hand. He didn't even take two steps before he tripped and fell flat on his face. He looked to see what it was he had tripped on and found his foot was caught on a very, very thin wire thread. It was so thin that he hadn't even noticed it until now. As Ayaka helped him back up to his feet he spotted a few more wires here and there from the faint gleams of light they were casting. He started seeing more and more until his eyes registered every wire that filled the street. They were all over the place! They were strung between telephone poles, fire hydrants, the door handles of nearby parked cars, everywhere! It was a wonder none of them had noticed any of them up until now, let alone trip over them before the fight even began. It boggled Takeo's mind how much planning it must have taken to set all these wires up beforehand.

"Takeo, are you okay?" Ayaka asked. It didn't seem like she had noticed the wires yet.

Takeo

Escape! That was a brilliant idea, an excellent pla. Why hadn't Taki thought of it earlier? Because of course it was a villain's first point of call. Takeo stared at the wires in dismay and just shook his head, unable to express how frustrated and rotten he felt.

"What's the matter, Takeo?" The girl sounded amused and she tipped her head to one side, examining his expression. Taki slowly raised his eyes to her level.

"Nothing," he lied. "Just disapointed I couldn't get Ayaka out the way before I kick your butt." It was all delivered in a sour, rather defeated tone. Taki didn't know why he bothered. At least the orb was safe. That made him feel a little better, she could kill them, but she still wouldn't get what she wanted. In fact, he felt his lips twitching into a smile at the thought, though it still rather sucked for them.

"Something funny?" the girl asked with a smirk. Takeo shrugged and his eyes lingered on her sword. Man. He really, really wanted a weapon like that. Maybe he could... Taki tried pulling at it gently, just wanting to get a feel for its weight, but he couldn't do much without alerting her to his interest.

"You know what," Taki said, suddenly feeling much bolder. "I really. Like. Your. Sword!" On the last word, he exerted all the power of his gift in one sharp, strong tug. If he could just get that weapons away from her... well he'd think of something even cooler to do after that.

(Yay! We're posting again! Looks like my patience has paid off. Have you settled into your new home all right, Kitty?)

The sword shook in the girl's hands and jerked forward. She had a moment to look surprised, but her expression quickly soured as she pulled her sword back. Takeo had been able to move the sword, but the girl's grip was too strong for him to pull it out of her grasp.

"Do you honestly think I would relinquish my weapon so easily?" the girl asked with an angry tone. She didn't give him a chance to answer before swinging her sword again.

Just like before, a strong gust of wind blew out from her swing. But after noticing the wires all over the place Taki could now see the real trick behind her technique. As the wind touched the wires they started to vibrate, causing a chain reaction with other wires that they were also connected to. By the time the wind reached them, all the wires were whipping all over the place, scratching everything they touched. It wasn't the sword that was causing the damage, it was the wires!

When the attack subsided, Lena looked over her shoulder at Takeo and said, "I told you to get out of here!"

"There are wires all over the place! It's not her sword that's doing the actual damage!" Taki warned her.

((Sorry for the shortness...^-^'))

Lena

Wires. Was he serious? Looking around she saw something glisten in the sun light, a wire. She sighed to herself and tried to think of something else. Could they possible try cutting the wires, but with what?

Wait a minute, this girl was after the orb, right? So why not tell her “where” it is. Perhaps we could lie to her, and get her to think that we are telling the truth. It wouldn’t permanently get rid of her, but it would by us a little time to figure out how to fight her, but so many things could go wrong, was it worth the risk?

It would be so much better if Taki and Akaya were not here. I wouldn’t have to worry about wither they would make it or not. But also another question, if she did lie, where would the orb be?

(No problem. I'm just glad we're all slowly starting to get back into posting.

In order to go through the plot the way I need us to, I'm going to take control of Knurla's character for a while, at least until she's ready to start posting again. It's probably partially my fault, since I hadn't exactly told her and Kitty to start the side-plot with their characters finding the Virgo stone yet. Oh well.)

Sky

Sky made her way over to the bus stop as she left the school. She began to wonder what she should do for the rest of the day. Maybe she should find Bianca and ask if she wanted to hang out for a bit? As if on cue, she saw Bianca running up to her from the front doors.

"Hey Sky, how are you feeling?" she asked.

"I'm feeling a lot better since yesterday, although I had trouble staying awake in my morning classes."

"That's good to hear. That was a pretty crazy stunt we pulled off yesterday, I'm just glad we're both still in one piece."

Sky nodded. "Tell me about it. If that girl from Judgement hadn't shown up I don't know what would have happened."

The two of them made their way to the bus stop together. As they waited for the next bus to arrive, Bianca asked, "So, any plans for today?"

"Not really," Sky said. Then she remembered the antique shop she saw this morning on her way to school. It had just opened the other day, and it was right on her bus route. She had been meaning to check it out all week. "Hey, you want to go check out this new antique shop I found out about?"

(I wonder why the spell checker button was taken away?)

(Come on guys, let's keep posting. I know you guys aren't lazy enough to let another storybook die before it's barely got off the ground.)

Cait

Cait looked at her watch. After 5... She frowned as she looked up, just sitting stationary on her bicycle. What happened to Ren? She had noticed he hadn't been at school. Maybe he was sick? Or hurt? Or something else....?

Stop it. Calm down. Just ride over there and check on him. She nodded her head firmly. She set her backpack on her shoulders and pressed the pedals, racing toward Ren's home. But she couldn't help but have these random thoughts go through her mind. What if something did happen? No... But maybe... No...

She reached the front door and skid to a halt, letting her bike lean against the wall. She took the stairs three at a time all the way to his room, where she stopped to catch her breath. She lifted her hand, and knocked. "Ren? It's Cait."

Lena

At that moment I had made my decision. Taking a deep breath, I stood up straight and looked the girl in the eye. “I’ll take you to the orb.” I said with a smirk plastered on my face, “It’s been such a hassle to keep anyway, so why not just give it to you?” I could feel the perplexed stare of the others and the hard stare of the girl. I hoped that they couldn't tell I was lying.

The girl stared at me for several seconds, but each second that I went past, I somehow managed to hold her gaze. Letting out a chuckle, she walked over to me, grabbed my arm in a tight squeeze and then jerked it toward her. “Great, now where is it?” she questioned. “Why would I tell you that?” I questioned right back, “Plus, if I did then you would probably just kill us right after I told you. I told you I’d take you to the orb, not tell you where it is.”

Laaaazy? My friend you underestimate me, I am plenty lazy :p However, there shall be a post for you very soon. I'll edit it in here in about half an hour, I've just got to go see the English department about some module handbooks first

Bianca

"Antique shop?" Bianca repeated uncertainly. She wasn't the type to spend hours roaming around shops, and even by normal girl standards, it seemed a strange place to go. What would a young girl want with antiques? Weren't those the sort of things rich business men and old people bought? She turned the idea over in her head, thinking it through as she followed Sky to the back of the bus.

"Well?" Sky prompted. Bianca shrugged and nodded.

"I suppose we could," she said. It still sounded like a dull idea but Bianca had decided she liked Sky and it was about time she learned to hang out with female friends. Besides, it was better than going dress shopping. At least this wouldn't require her to try anything on.

"Awesome!" And the two girls fell into waves of awkward conversation as the bus trundled toward their stop. Bianca just didn't know how to interact with a girl but by the time they were walking down the street, she'd decided to just treat Sky as she would any of her guy friends.

"Do you think they'll have any swords? Those are antiques right?"

"No, it's more likely to be furniture and stuff."

"Oh."

"You don't have to come-"

"No, no, I want to! Honest! It will be fun looking at- furniture. And stuff." Bianca gave Sky a half smile and then both the girls laughed as they reached the front of the store. It was painted green and the sign said in peeling, gold lettering: Ye Olde Antiques. "Huh. Charming I'm sure." Bianca pulled a face at the dingy looking interior but was soon being dragged around by Sky.

"Oh look, isn't this pretty!"

___________________________________
Takeo

She was lying. She had to be lying, or so Taki thought, but she didn't look like she was lying. He felt the hairs rising all over his body and was practically shaking with anger.

"Hey!" he yelled. "What gives you the right to think you can tell her where my orb is?" The irrational desire for the object was pushing all his intelligent thoughts out the way. Taki wasn't a mean child. He didn't like that people were being hurt for his sake. But he loved that orb, more than he'd ever loved anything else. He knew it didn't make sense but he just couldn't help it.

"Just because you found it, doesn't make it yours," Lena countered.

"Smart girl," the woman said. "Now get moving, show me where my orb is."

"Nooo!" Taki ran forward, reaching out to try and grab hold of Lena, but his body hurt so much from all the tiny cuts and the woman easily pulled Lena out of the way. Taki stumbled and fell to his knees. The woman seemed to pay no more attention to Taki now than she would a flea. He was no longer of importance. Taki would have felt relieved and pleased that she cared more for the orb than their destruction except he couldn't seem to think clearly at all. He found himself dragging his body to his feet and tried to run after them.